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KEY POINTS: Chapter 18
Essential Question: How did Peter the Great consolidate power and borrow from the West to
create a modern Russian state?
Identify:
Boyars – Russian aristocrats; possessed less political power than W European counterparts
Cossacks – recruited peasants migrate to Siberia; combined agri. w/ military conquests; spurred add’l frontier conquests & settlements
Old Believers – Russians who refused to accept ecclesiastical reforms of Alexis Romanov; exiled to Siberia as part of colonization
Obrok – labor obligations of Russian peasants to aristocratic landlords/state; typical of increased labor burdens during 18 th century
Incognito – in secret, in disguise
Describe Russia before 1450.
It had little impact on the world. Culture in Russia developed closely to the Byzantine Empire from the 9 th century onward. It had
converted to Orthodox Christianity, bringing its vibrant cultural traditions and rich art to Russia. Two centuries of Mongol rule
reduced Russia’s cities and trade and lowered it cultural and educational levels.
List what four characteristics about Russia and Eastern Europe last to this day.
Dominance of Russia, formation of a Eurasian Russian Empire, capacity for change, ambivalence toward the West
Russia’s Expansionist Politics Under the Tsars 1450-1650
Describe how Ivan III (Ivan the Great) consolidated his power in Russia.
He organized a strong army, gave the new gov’t military emphasis it would long retain, and used loyalties to Orthodox Christian faith
and Russia to win support.
What were the Russian territorial borders in 1480?
Polish-Lithuania kingdom to Ural Mountains
Explain how Mongol rule changed Russia and describe what had not changed.
What had changed: clothing styles, social habits, reduced vigor of cultural life, lower level of literacy, economic life deteriorated,
dependent on peasant labor, trade down, manufacturing limited, become purely agricultural
What hadn’t changed: basic Russian values, religion, most local admin issues remain in hands of regional princes, landlords, or
peasant villages, set to resume many of earlier patterns when fully independent
Why had Russia developed a purely agricultural economy by the 15 th century?
Trade was down and manufacturing was limited
Explain how the Russian territory was settled under both Ivan III and Ivan IV.
They got the Cossacks to settle in the new lands.
Describe what consequences Russian expansion had for both Russia and Asia.
Eliminated independent central Asia, added to Russia diverse new peoples, addition of large Muslim minority
Describe what types of contacts Russia made with Western Europe during the 16 th century.
British merchants established trading contacts with Russia, selling manufactured products for furs and raw materials. Western
merchants established outposts in Moscow and other Russian centers. Italian artists were imported to design churches and palaces.
What was The Time of Troubles? How was it ended?
They were some power claims by the boyars and Swedish and Polish attacks. It was ended when an assembly of boyars chose a
member of the Romanov family as tsar.
Under Michael Romanov, what boundaries were established in Russia?
Ukraine, Kiev, and to the Ottoman Empire
Describe Alexis Romanov’s policies.
To abolish assemblies of nobles, gain new powers over Russian church, purge the church of many superstitions and errors from
Mongol times
Russia’s First Westernization 1690-1790
Describe how Peter I (Peter the Great) built up an autocratic state.
Enhanced powers of the state by using it as reform force, recruit nonaristocratic bureaucrats, imitate Western military organization,
secret police to prevent dissent and check on bureaucracy
Why did Peter move his capital to St. Petersburg? LOOK AT THE MAP!
Access to Baltic Sea, which they had just gained control of after winning the war against Sweden
What country’s power was reduced as Russia’s grew? Sweden
Describe what political, economic, and cultural changes Peter the Great made.
Political: more well-defined military hierarchy, functionally specialized bureaucratic departments, improved weaponry, 1 st Russian
navy, eliminated noble councils, create set of advisors, provincial governors appointed, town magistrate appointed,
systematize law codes, revised tax system, training institutes for aspiring bureaucrats and officers
Economic: build up metallurgic and mining industries, reward landlords for using serf labor to staff new manufacturing operations
Cultural: nobles shave off beards, Western clothes, more education in mathematics and technical subjects, founded scientific
institutes and academies along Western lines, discuss about latest scientific and technical findings, ballet, Christmas trees,
upper-class women could attend public events, whip to groom symbol of power abolished
Who was the most/least affected by these changes?
Ordinary people of Russia least affected; nobility and upper class most affected
What was Peter’s goal in selectively borrowing from the West?
Encourage autocratic state; retain strong separate identity
Explain how Catherine the Great is considered both enlightened but autocratic.
She was enlightened in that she was a selective Westernizer, played with ideas of French Enlightenment, imported several French
philosophers for visits, patronized the arts and sciences. She was also autocratic in that she gave new powers to the nobility over the
serfs, made nobility become a service aristocracy, and allowed the landlords to run most of administration.
Explain why peasants actually suffered under Catherine’s rule.
She allowed the landlords to demand peasant labor, levy taxes in money and goods, impose punishments for crimes b/c landlorddominated courts administered justice, and increase harshness of punishments nobles could put on serfs.
Who was Radishev? How did Catherine deal with him? Why?
He was a noble who sought abolition of serfdom and more political rule. He was vigorously harassed by Catherine’s secret police
and his writings were banned because she didn’t want any French cultural influence from the French Revolution of 1789.
List what Russian territorial gains were made during Catherine’s rule.
New territories in central Asia, Crimean Peninsula, Alaska, northern California, most of Poland
Explain how and why Russia was able to partition and gain control of Poland.
The Polish gov’t was extremely weak and their nobles could basically veto any new law, which sparked the interest of more powerful
neighbors. So, Russia, Austria, and Prussia all agreed in the partition of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795. Russia got the biggest part.
Themes in Early Modern Russian History
Describe what Russian serfdom was like.
It gave the government a way to satisfy the nobility and regulate peasants when the gov’t itself lacked the bureaucratic means to
extend direct controls over the common people. By 1800, ½ of the peasantry were serfs and the other ½ owed comparable obligations
to the state. An act in 1649 fixed the hereditary status of the serfs so that those born to that station could not legally escape it. It was
nearing outright slavery because serfs could be bought, sold, gambled away, and punished by their masters. They were taxed and
policed by their landlords. Whole villages were sold as manufacturing labor.
What product was produced for Western Europeans and what products were imported?
Export: grain
Import: manufactured goods
Why was it so difficult to escape serfdom in Russia?
High taxes/obligations, hereditary act in 1649, laws in 17 th & 18th centuries
How much of the Russian population was rural?
95%
What groups were included in Russian society?
Bureaucrats, professionals, merchants
In what ways was the Russian economy of the 18 th century doing well?
Social & economic system, produced enough revenue to support expanding state and empire
In what ways did it lag behind Western Europe?
Traditional agricultural methods, little motivation for peasantry to improve b/c increased production taken care by state or landlord,
landlords talk about improvement but do not act to improve, manufacturing lagged behind W standards
Who was Pugachev? Why was he significant in 18 th century Russia?
He was a cossack chieftain who claimed to be the legitimate tsar and promised an end to serfdom, taxation, and military conscription
along with the abolition of the landed aristocracy. He was important b/c the triumph of Catherine & nobility highlighted mutual
dependence of gov’t and upper class but didn’t end protest.
Why was Russia more successful at maintaining a multinational (multiethnic) empire than others?
They had a larger core of ethnic groups ready to fan out to the frontiers and establish pioneer settlements that sometimes developed
into larger Russian enclaves.
What areas of Eastern Europe were more influenced by Western European culture?
Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
Which areas of Eastern Europe lost autonomy to larger empires?
Hungary, Bohemia (Czech lands), Poland