I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Early Russian History
Early Inhabitants (700 BC-600 AD)
a. Scythians
b. Sarmatians
c. Goths
d. Huns
e. Slavs
Khazars
a. Strong Army
b. Support of the Slavs
c. Trade
d. Religious Tolerance
e. Good at farming, fishing
f. 737 AD defeat by the Arabs
Vikings (Varangians, Norsemen)
a. Battles with Khazars
b. Expansion of Trade
The Kievan State (800 AD-1200 AD)
a. Rurik 862
b. Oleg 882-913
c. Igor 913-945
d. Olga 945-962
e. Sviatoslav 962-972
f. Vladimir (980-1015)
Let’s take a break from all of these names and look at
Kievan Society.
a. Occupations
b. Communes
c. Feudalism
d. Exposure to many cultures
e. Adoption of Christianity 988 AD
1
VI. Last Kievan Guy we will talk about
a. Yaroslav the Wise (1015-1054)
i. Rotation system
ii. Expansion
iii. Society
VII. Fall of Kiev (~1200)
a. Succession problems
b. Economic Problems
c. Civil Wars
d. Invaders
e. New towns flaunt power
f. Never really unified
VIII.Significance of Kiev
a. Formation of Russian Culture
b. National Pride
c. Orthodox Christianity
THE MONGOLS!!!
A.k.a. “The Devil’s Horsemen,” “The Golden Horde,”
“Tatars,” “Tartars,” “Your Daddy.”
I. Nomadic; in Russia centered around the city of Sarai
(on the Volga River).
a. Def. of ‘civilized’
b. First conquest was in to China; adopted many
Chinese customs.
c. Largest Empire EVER. Ever. (See map)
II. What were the Mongols like?
a. War-like, excellent tactically
b. Greedy
c. Ruthless
d. Unified
2
e. Great leadership/bureaucracy
f. Unconcerned/tolerant of religion
g. Smart
III. Mongols in Russia (~1200-1500, height of power
~1237-1360)
a. What is going on in the world at this time?
b. First Mongol raid in 1223
i. Left because Genghis Kahn died
ii. Genghis succeeded by Ugeday Kahn
c. Mongols back in 1237, lead by Batu Kahn
i. Destroyed Kiev, Moscow
ii. Novgorod escapes because of Alexander
Nevsky (To be continued)
d. Mongol Rule
i. Tributes and Taxes
ii. Relations with local leaders (rise of the Boyars)
iii. Encouraged feudalism
iv. Secret Police
v. Asianization and Western isolation
e. How did Russia change the Mongols?
i. Monetization
ii. Urbanization
IV. Appanage Era of Russian History
a. Yaroslav’s death in 1054 to about 1500, when
Moscow unified Russia.
i. Appanage Russia = politically fragmented.
ii. Invasion (esp. Mongols)
iii. Regional Differences
1. Great Russians around Moscow; White
Russians and Ukrainians to the west,
southwest
3
iv. Economic Stagnation (decline of trade)
V. Novgorod
a. Alexander Nevsky (1220-1263)
b. “Democracy Experiment” (veche)
c. Resistance to Western attacks
d. Extension of Kievan culture
e. Closer ties to the West
VI. Rise of Moscow
a. Early History
b. Why Moscow?
i. Security
ii. Organized
iii. Good at Diplomacy
iv. Church moved to Moscow 1328
v. Location, location, location
vi. Commerce
vii. Luck
c. Ivan I (Ivan Kalita=John Moneybags) 1326-1341
i. Seriously.
ii. Good relations with Mongols (made grand
prince)
iii. Brought Church to Moscow
iv. Expansion of Moscovy
d. Dmitrii Donskoi 1359-1389
i. Gap in years b/c Dmitrii was still a child
ii. Military Success
1. Lithuania
2. Mongols 1380 (but they burned Moscow in
1382)
iii. Expansion
4
e. Basil I (1389-1425
i. Built economic strength
ii. Expanded Moscow’s territory
f. Basil II (The Blind) 1425-1462
i. Refused to pay tribute to Mongols
ii. Mongols try for ten years (1451-61) to take
Moscow; they fail.
VII. End of the Appanage Era
a. Ivan III “the Great”
i. Unified much of NE Russia, including Novgorod
1471
ii. Acquisition of Novgorod doubled Moscow’s
territory
iii. Final defeat of Tver 1485
iv. Defeat of Lithuania 1500-1503
v. End of Mongol control 1480
vi. First to officially call himself “Tsar”
b. Society under Ivan III
i. Central, autocratic control
ii. Code of law 1497
1. Limited movement of peasants
iii. Land given to boyars (nobility) by Tsar; limits
their power
iv. Boyar Duma
1. Advise Tsar, pass laws
v. Basil III (ruled 1505-1533) continued policies of
Ivan III
VIII. Ivan the Terrible
a. What do you remember about him?
i. Consolidated power
ii. Conflict with boyars
5
iii. Foreign Affairs
1. Tatars, Poland-Lithuania, Swedes hurt
Russia after Reign of Terror
2. Expansion in to Siberia
3. Cossacks
IX. The Time of Troubles/End of Moneybag’s dynasty
a. Feodor and Boris Godunov
i. Feodor dies 1598; Boris in charge
ii. Zemskii Sobor
iii. Limits power of peasants, boyars
iv. Regain some territory
v. Tried for closer relations with West; this was
unpopular
b. Dynastic Crisis
i. Death of Dmitrii, Feodor’s younger brother 1591
1. Godunov killed him?
ii. Famine seen as sign of God’s anger at Godunov
iii. First false Dmitrii
1. Becomes Tsar in 1605 when Godunov dies
iv. Overthrow of first Dmitrii
v. Basil IV
1. No control over Russia
a. Rebellion
b. 2nd False Dmitrii
2. Poland Invades, conquers 1610-1613
vi. Liberation of Moscow
vii. Michael Romanov chosen as new Tsar
1. Seen as weak
2. Compromise
6