The+Rise+of+Russia

18.1 Day 1 - The Mongol occupation affected Russian civilization by reducing the vitality of Russian culture, and crippling the Russian economy. Still, Russia continued to maintain their identity, as the Mongols only sought to control Russia as a tributary state. New Russian leaders in the 15th and 16th century also used the Mongol occupation of Russia to justify rebellion against their Central Asian overlords. Adopted Mongol styles of dress and social habits. Reduced literacy among priest (lowered education standards).
 * Describe the effects of Mongol occupation on Russian civilization.**

- After the they had overthrown their Mongol leaders, Russians began to adopted a territorial expansion policy focused on central Asia. Russian leaders began to recruit peasants, called cossacks, to migrate and take control over new lands, particularly to the south and east of the center of the Russian empire. By 1598, the Ivans were able to expand the Russian empire from the Barents Sea in the north to the Caspian Sea in the south to parts of Siberia in the west.
 * Trace Russian expansion under the Ivans.**

- Russia controlled by the highely influential Romanov dynasty that would wield power over the entirety of Russia until the 20th century. - "Time of trouble" --> Confusion between boyar ruling class over who ruled Russia - Frequent invasions --> from the Poles and Swedes || - Tsarist control, westernization (western diplomatic, cultural practices, military organization, artistic influences and imports), expansionist policies - Reform force (reduced power of the aristocrats - Improvement of bureaucracy || - Required men to shave beards - Abolished older, strictly Russian practices --> shift towards western Europe - Chancery of Secret Police ---> Russian police force + gatekeepers of Russian ideology - Capital moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg (symbol of westernization) || - Very few experienced western intellectual shift (at least initially) esp. poor countryside dwellers - Complete cultural westernization not achieved || Long-Term Effects - Selective westernization of some the Russian upper classes. - Western values repelled by Russian commoners; leads to constant protests by serfs - Older mongol cultural practices abolished ||
 * Name of Leader: **Peter the Great** ||
 * Lifespan: **1630-1735** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Title: **Tsar** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Country/region: **Russia** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Years in Power: **1689-1725** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ideology, Motivation, Goals:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Significant Actions & events During Term of Power
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Short-Term effects:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- unstable political leadership following the reign of Peter the Great <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> --> also strong backlash against Westernization and frequent confrontations with the Ottoman Empire. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Promoted the Tsarist notion of autocratic control Centralized political leader <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Characterized as an enlightened despot ---> use of rationality and reason to benefit the state and the masses. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Might have killed her retarded husband. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Banned some literature + other intellectual work (Radishev) who vied for abolition of serfdom <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- robust bureaucracy <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Pugachev rebellion - used as a pretext by Catherine the Great to create stronger centralized state || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Encouraged enlightened thinking <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">---> promoted western arts and sciences + some philosophy <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">> but not politics (Rashidev; weary of French revolution; wanted to maintain autocratic rule) || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Long-Term Effects <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Restablished a feudal state as an enlightened despot <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Gave power to nobles (regulated peasants life) w/ agreement that tsar was absolute ruler ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Name of Leader: **Catherine the Great** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lifespan: **1792 - 1796** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Title: **Empress of Russia** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Country/region: **Russian Empire** || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Years in Power: **1762 - 1796** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ideology, Motivation, Goals:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Significant Actions & events During Term of Power
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Short-Term effects:

18.2 Comparison of Russian and Western Expansion

- Govts. promoted policies that encouraged individuals to take on new enterprise (govt. in the west backed expansionist commercial corporations by granting monopolies, govt. in Russia encouraged peasants (Cossaks) to settle new lands) - Both used religion to justify expansionist policies (missionaries in the West and "protectors of Christianity" in Russia) - Some underlying economic drive that fueled expansion. - Built strong, centralized armies armed with cutting-edge military technology. (military superiority) - Prior control of Russia by the Mongols and prior control of Europe (Spain by the Moors, Ottoman incursions) fueled expansionist tendencies. - Dependence on coercive labor system (economienda system in Spanish colonies; African slaves used by Dutch and British; strenghtening of serfdom - cossaks) - Agriculture = important (Russia = estate agriculture; Western Europe = plantation agriculture - cash crop agriculture) - Female leaders supported expansion (Catherine the Great in Russia; Elizabeth I in Russia and Isabella in Spain
 * Similiarities**

- Russian expansion focused on expanding into territories immediately surrounding the base of the Russian empire, while Western European nations tried to colonize far-flung nations thousands miles away. - Independent corporations and economic gain played a greater role in Western expansion (venture capital = private ---> gains more commerical) than in Russian expansion (venture capital = states ---> gains strenghten political control of the state) - Russia = weak navy; Western Europe = strong navy - Russia = land based empire; Western Europe = sea based empire Between 1400-1800, Western European expansion centered around private, sea-based, commercial enterprise while Russian expansion focused on land-based, centralized, political control. Still, both regions relied on coercive labor systems and military superiority to maintain their expansionist vigor.
 * Differences**
 * Thesis Statement: Compare and contrast Russian expansion with Western Europe 1400-1800.**

18.2 - Day 2 Main Idea: Early Modern Russia relied almost entirely upon the coercive labor system of serfdom, effectively enslaving commoners and forcing them to work on agricultural estates. - Form of coercive labor system (form of slavery) that played in favor of the powerful nobles - Government's way to regulate peasant's life and satisfy nobility. - By 19th century, more than half of Russian people were enserfed. - If one was born into serfdom, there was no way of practicing social mobility (just like African slvaery) Main Idea: Early Modern Russia, which remained mainly agricultural, relied on Western European manufactured imports because they lacked a strong manufacturing sector themselves. - Traded furs and other economic goods with Central Asia - Agriculture went into decline because of greedy landlords (who often surplus crops from serfs) --> this, in turn, discouraged serfs from overproduction ---> no economic growth - Manufacturing relatively slow to develop. - Russian society made of landlords, serfs, bureaucrats, professionals, and a small merchant class - Cities were dependent upon Western European imports (Russia remained mainly agricultural) Main Idea: The Russian common class, living in poor conditions and with no possibility of social mobility, often rebelled (although these rebellions were put down by govt. leaders) - Landlords continued to hold absolute power (remained the ruling class for hundreds of years of Russian history) - Peasants respect the tsars but resented landlord authority and sometimes even rebelled. - Pugachev's rebellion = promised to end taxes, serfdom, military conscription; rebellion put down by Catherine the Great Main Idea: Eastern Europe, the region between Russia and Western Europe, remained a "fluctuating borderland," influenced by both Eastern and Western cultural and political movements. - Regions of west Russia continued to "form a fluctuating borderland between western Europe and eastern European influences) - Some Eastern European scientists took part in Scientific Revolution (Copernicus) + other Western cultural moments influenced Eastern states - Poland, once one of prominent powers of Eastern Europe, began a gradual decline that saw eventually saw its dissolution as an independent state in three separate partitions (1772, 1793, 1795)
 * Serfdom**
 * Trade and Economic Dependence**
 * Social Unrest**
 * Eastern Europe**