Russia under the Romanovs
Peter and Catherine
The Time of Troubles Ends
• After 30 years of struggle and fighting, one boyar family emerged as
the most powerful in Russia, the Romanovs.
• The Romanovs rule as Absolute Monarchs.
• Remember, Russians are Orthodox Christians
• This means they are NOT Catholic but they are NOT Protestant either.
• The most important Romanov ruler is Czar Peter I.
Russia is bootleg?
• 1696 – Russia is WAY behind the curve when compared to other
European Nations.
• WHY?
• Mongol rule had cut Russia off from the rest of Europe.
• Russia never experienced the Renaissance (which brought other
European nations out of the Middle Ages) or the Age of Exploration
(which gained other European nations colonies with which to
practice mercantilism)
• Because of this, Russia peasant farmers were still living EXACTLY
like medieval surfs of a 800 AD.
• ******Russia also had NO WARM WATER PORTS******
The Travels of Czar Peter
• In his first year as Czar, Peter I decided to hit the road.
• He wants to see how Western European countries run themselves and
how their people live.
• He falls in love with Western Europe’s culture!
• He returns to Russia and begins his process of WESTERNIZATION.
• This means making Russia look and act like Western Europe.
• He uses his power as Absolute Monarch to do this.
• The Boyars are extremely proud and unwilling to give up their
lifestyles.
• So…Peter uses the ideas other Absolute rulers had used to keep their
nobles in line.
Czar Peter flexes some muscle
• Like Louis XIV, he hires men from lower ranking families instead of
looking for help from the powerful boyars.
• Like Louis XIV and Frederick of Prussia, he creates a trained standing
army.
• He even hired Western European officers to train it.
• He forces Russian farmers to grow potatoes which become a chief part
of the Russian diet.
• He starts (and writes!) Russia’s first newspaper
• He allowed women to attend social gatherings.
• He forces his boyars to wear western clothing and makes them cut off
their beards because Western Europeans didn’t wear beards.
• Opened schools to teach sea navigation as well as arts and sciences.
Peter’s Window on the West
• Russia has ALWAYS NEEDED A PORT ON WARM WATER!!!!!
• DON’T EVER FORGET THIS PROBLEM!!!
• To get his warm water port, he went to war with the Ottoman Empire
and Sweden and won a chunk of land on the Baltic Sea.
• He then orders the construction of an entirely new city, St. Petersburg.
• It was hard labor, that took the lives of many Russian peasants.
• It was supposed to look like and function like a modern Western
European city.
• In the end, it becomes a major trading port and helps lead to the
modernization of Russia. BUT ITS NOT A WARM WATER PORT
Peter the Great?
• Peter’s Legacy is a mixed one.
• After his death, the boyars went back to their old way of life.
• Russian peasants were even more like serfs after his rule.
• He had brutally opposed any threat to his rule.
• He did help modernize Russia and end its isolation.
• It was also now a major power in Europe thanks to his army and
conquests.
Catherine the Great
• A descendant of Peter the Great married a little known German
princess called Catherine.
• That descendant would be assassinated by palace guards and with the
support of the military of Russia, Catherine would become the new
Czaress.
• Catherine’s Rule
• Embraced Westernization, like Peter had
• She was a ruthless woman who put even more Russian peasants into
serfdom.
• She won the war against the Ottoman’s that Peter never could and gained
Russia’s first access to a warm water port on the Black Sea.
• She helped break Poland up into three pieces and she, Frederick of Prussia
and Joseph II of Austria each took a slice for themselves.