EARLY RUSSIA
Introduction
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5600 mi from East to West and 3100 from North to South
Ural mountains divide Russia into a European and Asian part
Population of about 143 million (3/4 live in the European part)
Moscow is the capital and the largest city (11.8 million)
Russian is official language but many others in component parts
President is Vladimir Putin
Geography of Russia
Geography of Russia
• Area: 6,591,027 square mi…TWICE the U.S.
• Climate: ranging from sub-arctic in Siberia to
humid in much of European Russia.
• Terrain: Low hills, steppe, forest, arctic tundra,
mountains….
– Despite its size, much
of the country is either
too cold or the soil is too
dry for agriculture.
In the beginning……
First came the
Slavs who settled
along the rivers of
Southern Russia
and the Ukraine
in the 6th Century.
The Vikings
Then came the
Vikings who in the
9th century
established the large
and powerful state of
‘Kievan Russia.’
Kievan Russia
• Free peasant farmers
• City dwellers
• Small ruling class of nobles & princes
• some slaves
• Traded with the Byzantine Empire from which
Russians learned : skills, culture & religion –
Orthodox Christianity.
• 988 AD it became the official religion.
Early Byzantine Influences:
Cyrillic Alphabet
Byzantine missionaries, Cyril and Methodius sent to convert
eastern Europe and the Balkans created the script
The Mongols
Then came the Mongols….In 1236 a vast Mongol horde
successfully invaded the Russian city states. For the next
240 years, the Russians were forced to pay tribute to the
Mongol khans.
Moscow’s rise to power
Moscow grew in power as the
chief tax collector for the
Mongols.
In the 14th Century, Moscow’s
Grand Prince led several other
cities in a battle to overthrow
the Mongols.
They were successful and this
marks the beginning of a
united Russia.
Ivan the Terrible (1533-84): Russia’s first tsar
WRITE
Czar = Roman word “Caesar”
Mother was poisoned when he was
7yrs old. Ivan developed a
DON’T
dangerous paranoia.
WRITE
Would throw live animals from the
palace towers for fun.
After his wife, Anastasia died, Ivan
developed a really nasty streak –
sentenced thousands to death,
would give detailed instructions on
how to torture victims so as to
‘recreate hell’.
Killed his own son in a fit of rage.
Then came a period of remorse.
Became a monk towards the end of his
life and prayed for the souls of his
victims.