Rise+of+Russia

1. How did Mongol occupation affect Russian civilization? 2. Trace expansion under the Ivans.
 * Mongol occupation shaped culture and social habits like dress, lowered literacy and deteriorated economic life. Mongol occupation, mainly expelling them, was also used as justification for the Ivans' rules.
 * 1468 - Independence from Tatars under Ivan the Great (III)
 * 1480 - Russia begins to push south to Caspian Sea
 * 1552-1556 - Pushed into Central Asian, east into the Ural mountains

** 1. Leader Analysis Sheets **
 * **Name of Leader:** Peter the Great ||
 * **Lifespan :** 1672 - 1725 || **Title:** Tsar, son of Alexis and grandson of Michael ||
 * **Country/region:** Russia || **Years in Power:** 1689 - 1725 ||
 * **Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power:**
 * Autocratic tsars
 * Michael Romanov expanded to Kiev and bordered the Ottomans
 * Alexis Romanov empowered the tsar by abolishing assemblies and gaining influence over the church
 * **Old believers** were exiled, but performed colonization for Russia in Siberia
 * Russia was the “Third Rome”
 * Weak economic sector due to the Mongol occupation
 * Mongol tradition due to the Mongol occupation
 * Strong boyar presence (elected the Romanov family into power) that did not inhibit the tsarist regime ||
 * **Ideology, Motivation, Goals:**
 * Strengthen the tsarist regimes and expand Russian territory
 * Autocratic
 * Motivated by the absolutist regimes in Western Europe
 * Wanted to make Russia a westernized state without losing its identity
 * Economy supported military conquest not welfare of the state ||
 * **Significant Actions & events During Term of Power**
 * Toured Europe and brought back western artisans and sciences
 * Professionalized the army
 * Established a bureaucracy
 * Filled with people outside of aristocratic ranks
 * Enforced by a secret police
 * Warred with the Ottomans and Sweden
 * Crippling Sweden as a military power
 * Gained ice-free port into the Baltic sea
 * Made St. Petersburg the new capital
 * Created the first Russian navy ||
 * **Short-Term effects:**
 * Lightened the cultural patterns towards upper class but not peasant women
 * Forced the boyars and nobles to adopt Western-oriented wardrobes || **Long-Term Effects:**
 * Crippled Sweden
 * Established secret police
 * Established an effective bureaucracy
 * Established the Russian navy
 * Eliminated old noble councils and replaced them with personal advisors
 * Systematized law and revised tax system (became more burdening for the peasants)
 * Began bureaucratic training and education for the elites
 * Changed Russian economy without massive urbanization or large commercial class
 * Built around metallurgy and mining
 * Promoted serfdom by rewarding the use of serf labor ||




 * ** Name of Leader: ** Catherine the Great ||
 * ** Lifespan: ** 1729-1796 || **Title:** Empress ||
 * ** Country/region: ** Russia || **Years in Power:** 1762-1796 ||
 * ** Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power **
 * Weak rulers succeeded Peter the Great
 * Fueled dissent towards the westernization
 * Classes with the Ottomans due to expansionism ||
 * ** Ideology, Motivation, Goals: **
 * Strong central monarch
 * Enlightened Despot
 * Selective westernization ||
 * ** Significant Actions & events During Term of Power **
 * **Pugachev rebellion** was used as a reason to extend powers of the central government
 * Empowered the aristocracy over their serfs
 * Staffed the bureaucracy as bureaucrats and officers
 * Service, not independence, aristocracy
 * Banned works from intellectuals like **Radishev** who promoted the abolition of serfdom
 * Won Crimea from Ottomans
 * **Partition of Poland** puts a majority of Poland in Russia control (1772, 1793, 1795) ||
 * ** Short-Term effects: **
 * Requested French enlightenment thinkers to comment on art, science, law, and punishment
 * Acceleration of colonization of Siberia || **Long-Term Effects:**
 * Created a feudal state for serfs
 * Involvement of the Russia state in European affairs
 * Spread borders to Amur River
 * Empowered the boyars ||

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 * 2. Notes**
 * 1) Serfdom
 * By 1800, half of the peasantry was enserfed under an oppressive system that defines the social pattern for this period
 * Serfdom was done through a debt process
 * Sponsored by the government from 16th century onward
 * Laws tired serfs to the land and empowered the legal rights of landlords
 * Able to exert any judicial power on their land
 * 1785 law allowed lords to severely punish dissidents
 * Village government still existed under the serfdom
 * 1) Trade and Economic Dependence
 * Russia's economy was an agricultural system that was efficient enough to meet the demands of the empire. It was based of trade and manufacturing that was at the cost of the serfs, creating great discontent.
 * Small cities since 95% of the population was rural
 * Little urbanization and commercialization
 * Manufacturing was done in the countryside
 * A small merchant class was constituted by western merchants and restrained by opposition from nobles
 * Population doubled by the 18th century
 * Agricultural improvement was not supported by the serfs nor lords
 * Depended on metallurgy and mining
 * Trade was primarily orientated to the west though they did trade furs with central Asia
 * 1) Social Unrest
 * Periodic rebellions started from the 17th century onward with great force. Despite quelling the Pugachev rebellion, protests did not stop and aristocrats were beginning to promote radical ideas.
 * Periodic rebellions that were fierce and destructive
 * By the 18th century, there were growing numbers of aristocrats and radicals like Radishev who promoted the abolition of serfdom
 * 1) Russia and Eastern Europe
 * Russia was a single state amongst various Eastern Europeans states, but it became a major influence after the partitions of Poland.
 * Fluctuating borderland between Western and Eastern Russia
 * Many small eastern European nationalities were conquered by western powers
 * The decline of Poland, despite being one of the largest state, was the beginning of Russian presence in European affairs


 * 3. Thesis for comparison between Russian serfdom and Spanish Encomienda System**
 * During the 1400-1800, Russian and Spanish expansion led to the development of slavery-like institutions, but Russian serfdom was the deliberate process supported by the government while the Spanish encomienda system was a de facto system.

Paragraph 1:

Serfdom and the encomienda system were practically slave systems. In Russia, free peasants were greatly impoverished after the expulsion of the Tatars. As a result, peasants have to accept servile status to repay their debts. The serfdom was inescapable and extremely oppressive. Landlords had uninhibited power in taxation and punishment and treated the serfs as property, often selling and gambling them. In Latin America, Indians were given away as workers as encomiendas. The encomiendas were inherited by the encomederos, the owners, and escaping was very slim.

Paragraph 2:

In order to promote expansion, Russian government sponsored serfdom while the encomienda system was a product of the conquistadors and not the Spanish government. Beginning in 1649, when serfdom was was hereditary by law, the government had promoted serfdom. Peter the Great rewarded landlords for using serf labor and condoned the practice of selling whole villages as laborers. Catherine the Great, despite her displays of an enlightened despot, empowered the landlords nearly completely. In 1785, a landlord could punish any dissidents to their discretion by law. In Latin America, the abusive encomienda system was denounced by the crown. The practice was banned by the mid-16th century yet it continued to exist.