Download The Byzantine Empire leads to the Russian Empire

The Byzantine Empire leads to the Russian Empire
Vocabulary: Test December 4th
Ch 9:
Byzantine Empire
Kievan Russia
Ch 20:
Muscovy
Ural Mountains
tsar
Siberia
Cossacks
Serf
Peter the Great
Ch 24
none
Copy map on p. 270
Reading Assignments:
Ch 9 Christian Europe Emerges, 600–1200 p.252
The Byzantine Empire, 600–1200
An Empire Beleaguered • Society and Urban Life • Cultural Achievements
Kievan Russia, 900–1200
The Rise of the Kievan State • Society and Culture
Ch 20 Northern Eurasia, 1500–1800
p. 587 - 591
The Russian Empire
The Drive Across Northern Asia • Russian Society and Politics to 1725 • Peter the Great •
Consolidation of the Empire
Comparative Perspectives
Political Comparisons • Cultural, Social, and Economic Comparisons
Ch 24 Land Empires in the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1870
p. 696 - 698
The Russian Empire
Russia and Europe • Russia and Asia •
Cultural Trends
Summary:
The Commonwealth of Byzantium
BYZANTIUM IN PERSPECTIVE
A series of problems, including political and social turmoil as well as military threats
from outside forces, brought an end to the classical societies in the centuries after 200 C.E. The
lone exception was the Byzantine Empire. After the collapse of the western half of the Roman
Empire the Byzantine eastern section survived for another millennium. The Byzantine Empire
developed into a dramatically different society than its Roman predecessor. Far more than
merely surviving, however, Byzantium dominated the eastern Mediterranean world politically
and economically for centuries. Even after its collapse the Byzantine Empire’s influence could
be seen in the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe and Russia.
The Early Byzantine Empire
Byzantium began as the Greek village of Byzantion, a small trading town important only
for its strategic position on the Bosporus. Eventually Constantine chose Byzantion, renamed
Constantinople, to be the capital of the Roman empire because of its position as the center of the
wealthy eastern half of the empire. At its height Byzantium included Greece, Anatolia, Syria,
Palestine, Egypt, northeast Africa, and the Balkans. Byzantium faced threats from the Sasanid
dynasty in Persia but managed to escape the Germanic invasions that had devastated the western
half of the empire.
Politically, the Byzantine state was marked by a highly centralized rule centered around a
remarkably powerful emperor. Byzantine emperors wielded a mixture of political and religious
authority known as caesaropapism. At least in theory, the emperor possessed absolute authority
in all political, military, judicial, and religious affairs. Justinian, despite humble origins, would
bewas the most influential of the Byzantine emperors. Ably advised by his wife Theodora,
Justinian attempted to re-create the Roman Empire. Hagia Sophia is representative of the
brilliant building program started by Justinian to reconfigure Constantinople. Justinian’s
codification of Roman law, as seen in the Corpus iuris civilis, was the emperor’s most influential
legal and political contribution. The general Belisarius’s conquests reconstructed most of the
Roman Empire. In the end, however, a combination of limited Byzantine resources and Arabic
expansion made holding the old empire together impossible. Nevertheless, the theme system
allowed for a temporary reinvigoration under Basil II in the early eleventh century. The former
western half of the empire increasingly fell to successor states. The Frankish king Charlemagne
received an imperial crown from the pope in 800 and Otto of Saxony claimed to rule the west in
962.
Byzantine Economy and Society
While its political authority fluctuated over the centuries, Byzantium remained an
economic power. Anatolia and the area around the lower Danube produced enormous supplies
of wheat. Byzantium was at its strongest when free peasants formed the engine that drove the
state. The position of the free peasants was bolstered by the theme system that provided land in
return for military service. The consolidation of power and land in the hands of the nobles not
only hurt the peasants but also damaged the Byzantine empire militarily. Constantinople
remained the major center of trade and industry in the Mediterranean world. One of the major
innovations was the rise of a silk industry. Byzantium’s domination of trade is probably best
shown by the fact that the bezant became the standard currency in the Mediterranean for
centuries. Constantinople—the largest city in Europe, with a population of around one million—
stood in the center of everything and was a worthy successor to Rome as “the city” of the
Mediterranean basin.
Classical Heritage and Orthodox Christianity
Despite its early connection to Rome, Byzantium was most strongly influenced by Greek
culture. Greek became the official language. Philosophy was shaped profoundly by Greek
thought. Byzantine education clearly showed the Greek influence, and a state-supported school
system provided for widespread literacy. A school for the study of law, medicine, and
philosophy in Constantinople survived for a thousand years.
The differences between the western and eastern halves of the empire are probably most
obvious in ecclesiastical matters. The Byzantine emperors played a very active role in religious
issues, as seen in Constantine calling together the Council of Nicaea to attack Arian views on the
nature of Jesus. The patriarchs of Constantinople were chosen by the emperor and remained
firmly under imperial control. Leo III’s iconoclasm is a classic example of imperial meddling in
religious affairs. Monasticism, shaped by the rule of St. Basil, grew rapidly during the Byzantine
age. Byzantine monasteries were known less for their scholarly contributions than for their
spiritual and social aid to their communities. Tensions over issues ranging from doctrine to
power led to the patriarch and pope mutually excommunicating each other in 1054, the date still
accepted for the beginning of the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic
churches.
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe
Byzantine power was threatened by internal social problems as well as challenges from
the west and east. The sacking of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 devastated
Byzantium and only increased tensions between the old halves of the Roman Empire. The
victory of the Saljuq Turks at Manzikert in 1071 led to the loss of Anatolia and economic
devastation. After centuries of decay, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. While
Byzantium’s direct hold on the Mediterranean world was threatened by Islamic expansion, its
influence on the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe and Russia only increased. Greek Orthodox
missionaries spread the faith northward. Two missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius, adopted
the Greek alphabet to the Slavic tongue to create the Cyrillic alphabet, which allowed for the
further spread of religious as well as secular thought. Prince Vladimir’s conversion turned Kiev,
the first center of Russian power, into a center of Byzantine culture. By the sixteenth century
Russians spoke of Moscow as the world’s third Rome.
Kievan Russia, 900–1200
The Rise of the Kievan State
Russia includes territory from the Black and Caspian Seas in the south to the Baltic and
White Seas in the north. The territory includes a series of ecological zones running from east to
west and is crossed by several navigable rivers.
In its early history, Russia was inhabited by a number of peoples of different language
and ethnic groups whose territory shifted from century to century. What emerged was a general
pattern of Slavs in the east, Finns in the north, and Turkic tribes in the south. Forest dwellers,
steppe nomads, and farmers in the various ecological zones traded with each other. Longdistance caravan trade linked Russia to the Silk Road, while Varangians (relatives of Vikings)
were active traders on the rivers, and the Khazar Turks built a trading kingdom at the mouth of
the Volga.
The Rus were societies of western Slav farmers ruled by Varangian nobles. Their most
important cities were Kiev and Novgorod, both centers of trade.
In 980, Vladimir I became Grand Prince of Kiev. He chose Orthodox Christianity as the
religion of his state and imitated the culture of the Byzantine Empire, building churches,
adopting the Cyrillic alphabet, and orienting his trade toward the Byzantines. Internal political
struggles and conflict with external foes led to a decline of Kievan Russia after 1100.
Society and Culture
Kievan Russia had poor agricultural land, a short growing season, and primitive farming
technology. Food production was low, and the political power of the Kievan state relied more on
trade than it did on landholding.
The major cities of Kiev and Novgorod had populations of 30,000 to 50,000—much
smaller than Constantinople or large Muslim cities. Kiev, Novgorod, and other much smaller
urban areas were centers for craftspeople and artisans, whose social status was higher than that of
peasants.
Christianity spread slowly in the Kievan state. Pagan customs and polygamy persisted
until as late as the twelfth century. In the twelfth century, Christianity triumphed and the church
became more powerful, with some clergy functioning as tax collectors for the state.
CHAPTER 20
Northern Eurasia, 1500–1800
The Russian Empire
A. The Drive Across Northern Asia
1. Following the dissolution of Mongol power in Russia, the city of Moscow became the
foundation for a new state, Muscovy, which absorbed the territory of the former
Kievan state and Novgorod in the west and conquered the khanates of Kazan, and
Astrakhan and the northern Caucasus region in the east. The Muscovite ruler Ivan IV
took the title of tsar in 1547.
2. The natural direction for Russian expansion was east; expansion in Siberia was led by
groups of Cossacks who defeated the only political power in the region, the Khanate of
Sibir, and took land from the small hunting and fishing groups of native people. Siberia
was valued first for its furs and timber; after 1700, for gold, coal, and iron; and as a
penal colony.
3. In the 1650s, the expanding Russian Empire met the expanding Qing Empire in
Mongolia, Central Asia, and along the Amur. Treaties between the two powers in 1689
and 1727 had the effect of weakening the Mongols and of focusing Russian expansion
eastward toward the Pacific coast and across to North America.
B. Russian Society and Politics to 1725
1. As the empire expanded, it incorporated a diverse set of peoples, cultures, and
religions. This often produced internal tensions.
2. The Cossacks belonged to close-knit bands and made temporary alliances with
whoever could pay for their military services.
3. Despite the fact that the Cossacks often performed important services for the Russian
Empire, they managed to maintain a high degree of autonomy.
4. Threats and invasions by Sweden and Poland and internal disputes among the Russian
aristocracy (boyars) in the seventeenth century led to the overthrow of the old line of
Muscovite rulers and the enthronement of Mikhail Romanov in 1613. The Romanov
rulers combined consolidation of their authority with territorial expansion to the east.
5. As the power of the Romanov rose, the freedom of Russian peasants fell.
6. In 1649, Russian peasants were legally transformed into serfs.
C. Peter the Great
1. Peter the Great (r. 1689–1725) fought the Ottomans in an attempt to gain a warm-water
port on the Black Sea and to liberate Constantinople (Istanbul) from Muslim rule, but
he did not achieve either goal. Peter was more successful in the Great Northern War, in
which he broke Swedish control over the Baltic and established direct contacts
between Russia and Europe.
2. Following his victory in the Great Northern War, Peter built a new capital, St.
Petersburg, which was to contribute the westernization of the Russian elites and
demonstrate to Europeans the sophistication of Russia. The new capital was also
intended to help break the power of the boyars by reducing their traditional roles in the
government and in the army.
3. Peter wanted to use European technology and culture to strengthen Russia and to
strengthen the autocratic power of his government; he was not interested in political
liberalization. As an autocratic ruler, Peter brought the Russian Orthodox Church under
his control; built industrial plants to serve the military; and increased the burdens of
taxes and labor on the serfs, whom the Russian Empire depended upon for the
production of basic foodstuffs.
D. Consolidation of the Empire
1. Russian expansion in Alaska and the American northwest was driven by the search for
furs, which British and American entrepreneurs had also been interested in. Control of
the natural resources of Siberia put the Russians in a position to dominate the fur and
shipping industries of the North Pacific.
2. During the reign of Catherine the Great (r. 1762–1796), Russia was the world’s largest
land empire, built on an economic basis of large territory, agriculture, logging, fishing,
and furs.
IV. Comparative Perspectives
A. Political Comparisons
1. Between 1500 and 1800, China and Russia grew dramatically, both in territory
controlled and population.
2. Despite being headed by an emperor, Japan’s size, homogeneity, and failure to add
colonies disqualify it from being called a true empire.
3. Japan and Russia made greater progress in improving their military than did China.
4. Of Japan, Russia, and China, Russia did the most to build up its imperial navy.
B. Cultural, Social, and Economic Comparisons
1. As they expanded, both China and Russia pursued policies that tolerated diversity
while promoting cultural assimilation.
2. While both Russian and Chinese leaders were willing to use foreign ideas and
technologies, they tended to see their own culture as superior.
3. Merchants occupied a precarious position in both China and Japan.
CHAPTER 24
Land Empires in the Age of Imperialism,
1800–1870
The Russian Empire
A. Russia and Europe
1. In 1700, only three percent of the Russian population lived in cities, and Russia was
slow to acquire a modern infrastructure and modern forms of transportation.
2. While Russia aspired to Western-style economic development, fear of political change
prevented real progress.
3. Nonetheless, Russia had more in common with the other European nations than did the
Ottoman Empire.
4. Slavophiles and Westernizers debated the proper course for Russian development.
5. The diplomatic inclusion of Russia among the great powers of Europe was countered
by a powerful sense of Russophobia in the west.
B. Russia and Asia
1. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Russian Empire had reached the Pacific
Ocean and the borders of China. In the nineteenth century, Russian expansion
continued to the south, bringing Russia into conflict with China, Japan, Iran, and the
Ottoman Empire.
2. Britain took steps to halt Russian expansion before Russia gained control of all of
Central Asia.
C. Cultural Trends
1. Russia had had cultural contact with Europe since the late seventeenth century.
2. The reforms of Alexander I promised more on paper than they delivered in practice.
3. Opposition to reform came from wealthy families who feared reform would bring
about imperial despotism, a fear that was realized during the reign of Nicholas I.
4. The Decemberist revolt was carried out by a group of reform-minded military officers
upon the death of Alexander I. Their defeat amounted to the defeat of reform for the
next three decades.
5. Heavy penalties were imposed on Russia in the treaty that ended the Crimean War. The
new tsar, Alexander II, was called upon to institute major reforms.
6. Under Alexander II, reforms and cultural trends begun under his grandfather were
encouraged and expanded.
7. The nineteenth century saw numerous Russian scholarly and scientific achievements,
as well as the emergence of significant Russian writers and thinkers.