Absolutism in Russia
Ivan to Peter
Russian Beginnings before 9th C
 Many
Ethnic Groups in Russia
 Scythians
 Alans
 Finns
 Turks
 Magyars
Siberia  “Permafrost”
 Average temperatures of
January
vary from 0 to -50°C, and in
July from 1 to 25°C
 A former “gulag”
Soviet prison camp.
 150,000,000 population.
Slavs move in
 Farmers
 Grew
barley, wheat, rye
 Traded forest products:
 Timber,
fur, fish
Vikings take over
 Slavs
peaceful—do not fight
 Rurik moves in: First Viking
Ruler
 Oleg, his successor, captures
Kiev
Early Russia
Kieven Rus
 Good
location for trade
 On Dnieper River
 Constantinople nearby
 Trade forest products for
manufactured goods and ideas
Early Byzantine Influences:
Orthodox Christianity
Early Byzantine Influences:
Orthodox Christianity
Cyril and Methodius
 Monks
 850 AD
left Constantinople to
spread Christianity to Slavs
 Created Cyrillic language
 Taught Slavs their alphabet—
from Greek language
Early Byzantine Influences:
Cyrillic Alphabet
988—Vladimir I
 Vladimir
renounces his pagan
ways and wives
 Accepts Christianity
 999—orders all Kievens to be
baptized
 Christian world—one leader:
Pope in Rome
1054—Christianity splits
 Patriarch
of Constantinople
refused to accept Papal
Supremacy
 Split continues today
 Eastern/Greek Orthodoxy
centered in Constantinople
1453—Constantinople Falls
 Turks
sack Constantinople
 Power of patriarch reduced
 Russian Church leaders gain
power
16th Century Church
 Russia
independent of Greek
Orthodox Church
 Rejected control of Patriarch in
Constantinople
 Moscow becomes center of
Russian Orthodoxy
Patriarch’s influence
 Russian
Patriarchs close to
Tsars
 Encourage strong control over
Peasants
 Russia separated from Western
Ideas
 Split with Rome
Russian Separation
 Native
Russian used in Church,
not Latin
 Russian scholars isolated from
intellectual developments in
West
Decline of Kieven Rus
 Despite
advantages: good soil,
rivers, Black Sea trade
Many Problems: Succession of
Rulers had to hold territorial
seats to become ruler
Threats of (Mongol) nomads,
Loss of Northern trade
1223: Golden Horde Enters Russia
 Batu
Khan+ Gold Colored tents
 1240: sacks Kiev
 Only Novgorod Free, but forced
to recognize Tatar Ruler for 200
years
Novgorod
Mongol Rule
 Loose
control of Russia
 Russians paid tribute to Khan
 Could manage their own affairs
 Russian Princes wanted to
unite,
 Appealed to West for help—
none came
The Mongols Invade Russia
Mongol Rule
 No
help from West
 Asian customs adopted
 Women’s status declined
 Slavs poor; few rights
 Tatar words, clothing,
architecture accepted
 Autocracy
Emergence of Moscow
 Moscow
Princes gained favor
from Tatars
 Right to collect taxes
 Moscow River replaces Dnieper
as main trade route
 1299—Head of Russian
Orthodox church moves to
Moscow
Moscow
 Church
became unifying factor
for Russian People under Tatars
 Moscow strongest and largest of
small Russian states
 Gains control over lesser
Princes
Ivan III 1462-1505
 Ivan
the Great: Founder of
Russian Nation State
 1st to use title “Tsar”
 Refused to pay tribute to Tatars
 Mongols divided; lost power
Ivan the Great (r. 1462-1505)
Ivan III Tearing the Great Khan’s Letter Requesting
More Tribute in 1480.
Ivan III 1462-1505
 1472:
married Sophia, niece of
last Byzantine emperor
 Moscow becomes 3rd Rome—
New holy city
 Autocratic rule
Serfdom in Russia
 Before
Tatar invasion, serfs free
to move around
 Invasion destroyed: fields,
animals, buildings
 Peasants sold labor or promised
part of their crops to get loans
Serfdom in Russia
 Poorest
most vulnerable could
not pay off debt
 Debt serfdom replaced by legal
serfdom
 Serfs tied to land by law
 Could not move
Serfdom in Russia
 As
nobility grew, so did serfdom;
 Labor laws passed
 Peasants stayed on land and
worked for landowners
 Deadening effect on economy
 Inefficient work
Serfdom in Russia
 Serfs
not motivated as in West
 Serfs poor
 Whole nation affected
 Lasts until 1861
Ivan IV 1533-1584
 Grandson
of Ivan III
 Orphaned at age 8
 Becomes Tsar at 17
 Extended Russian boundaries
and drove to Siberia
 Destroyed power of Boyars
Ivan IV 1533-1584
 Thousands
executed
 Kills Ivan, his oldest son
 1584—Russia stronger
Time of Troubles 1584-1613
 Who
will be heir?
 Dmitri, child of Ivan’s 7th wife
would not be recognized by the
Church
 Feodor was retarded; spent
most of his time in prayer
Time of Troubles
 Feodor
‘ruled’ 14 years
 Boyars began fighting autocracy
 Boris Godunov becomes regent
 Defeated the Romanov family
(killed many important members;
they were still popular w/people)
Time of Troubles
 1591:
mysterious death—10year old Dmitry is found dead,
with his throat cut
 Death ruled accidental: he was
playing with a knife and had an
epileptic seizure; killed himself
 Was it Godunov?
Time of Troubles 1598
 Feodor
dies w/out heir
 Boris Godunov is elected Tsar
by zemsky sobor
 Godunov: popular, experienced
in government, honorable
Time of Troubles
 Godunov
tries to stabilize
Russia: destroy boyars, rest of
Romanovs
 Favored enlightenment
 Tried to set up university in
Moscow—church balked
 Sent students abroad to study
Time of Troubles
 1601:
Drought/famine hit Russia
 Godunov tried to collect and
redistribute food;
1
million die
 Armed mobs ravaged towns,
looking for food
Time of Troubles
 Rumors
spread that Dmitry was
not really dead—they knifed the
wrong boy
 A young man appears and
claims to be the true prince of
Russia (False Dmitry I)
Time of Troubles
 False
Dmitry I got recognition
from Poland;
 In exchange for support, he
promised to make Russia
Catholic once he takes the
throne
Time of Troubles
 1604:
Polish Warriors,
Cossacks, peasants support
False Dmitry I; invade Russia
 Boris Godunov fought, but with
victory in sight, Godunov
becomes sick and dies
 1605: False Dmitry entered
Moscow—crowned Tsar
Time of Troubles
 False
Dmitry reigned 13 months
 Poles antagonized Muscovites,
tried to make them submit to
Catholicism
Time of Troubles
 Finally,
Prince Vasily Shuisky
organizes Russian soldiers,
townsfolk
 Slaughtered the Poles; executed
False Dmitry; burned his remains
 Stuffed them into a cannon and fired
towards Poland
 Elected Shuisky Tsar
Time of Troubles
 1606-1613
Shuisky is a BoyarTsar: no power base
 Ivan Bolotnikov led a mass
revolt of Cossacks, runaway
peasants, and vagabonds
against all authority and property
owners; reached Moscow before
it was defeated
Time of Troubles
 Other
Pretenders tried to take
the throne: False Dmitry II—set
up headquarters in Tushino: 2
Tsars w/equal followers
 1610 Shuisky deposed
 False Dmitry II murdered over $
Time of Troubles
 Russia
had no Tsar, no
government
 Ineffective Duma (led by boyars)
tried to rule
 Western claims made: Sweden,
Poland seized territories
Time of Troubles
 Russian
People rallied together:
Begun in churches
 “3rd Rome must not be allowed
to fall to Catholic ‘heretics’ of the
West”
Time of Troubles
 Citizens
of Novgorod gave 1/3 of
all possessions to finance
crusade
 Great national army formed:
Marched on Moscow and wiped
out the Polish garrison there
 Neither Poland nor Sweden
challenged it
Time of Troubles
 Zemsky
Sobor elected new Tsar:
16 year old Michael Romanov
 Acceptable to Muscovites and
Cossacks: linked to Ivan IV by
marriage
Time of Troubles ends
 Michael
is weak Tsar
 Son Alexis and grandson Feodor
III also weak
 1689: Peter I crowned Tsar