Absolutism in Russia

  1. Background (1)
    • Russia invaded by Mongolian Tartars (1240)
    • becomes the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire
    • Muscovy (Moscow): favorite city of the Tartars
    • Collection of high taxes by Ivan I (Ivan Moneybags)
  2. Background (2)
    Ivan III
    • declares Russia's independece from the crumbling Mongol empire in 1480
    • builds the Moscow Kremlin
    • Declares Moscow the "3rd Rome"
  3. Background (3)
    Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) (r. 1533-1584)
    • Crowns himself the 1st Czar (from the word "Caesar") in 1547
    • becomes an absolute ruler; expands the country; centralizes power; reforms government, army, economy, and church
    • defeats remaining Tartars; builds St. Basil's Cathedral in celebration of victory
    • fails in attempt to conquer Poland and Lithuania
    • divides country in two; Oprichnina (territory governed by only him) and Zemschina (territory governed by boyars-nobles)
    • Oprichniki: secret police used to arrest and imprison opposing boyars
    • Time of Troubles: time period b/w Rurik Dynasty and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty (1613); ignited by Ivan's death and lack of a strong heir
    • Fedor I hands power to his brother-in-law, Boris Godunov; Russian Famine (1601-1603)-1/3 of population dies; False Dmitry I rules from 1605-1606
    • shortly after Godunov's death, Moscow falls under Polish control until 1613 (Polish-Muscovite War), ending the Rurik Dynasty
    • Russian boyars choose Michael Romanov as their new czar (r. 1613-1654), ending the Time of Troubles; Michael's father=Patriarch Filaret
  4. Romanov Dynasty (1)
    Peter the Great Background (r. 1682-1725)
    • co-ruled with Ivan V until his death; Ivan's regent=Sophia Alekseyevna
    • Sophia Alekseyevna: wanted Streltsi to kill Peter; rebellion in 1682 leads Peter to distrust Streltsi
    • went on a Grand Tour; it was cut short by another Streltsi Rebellion
    • Grand Tour: traditional trip by young and upper-class European males that served as an educational rite of passage; popular from 1660-mid 1880s; standard itinerary of taking travellers through W. Europe and exposing them to languages, horseback riding, fencing, dancing, etc.
  5. Romanov Dynasty (2)
    Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725)
    • strenghtens absolutism; takes title of Emperor of all Russia (1711)
    • creates a strong army loyal to him; disbanded the Streltsi (royal guards of Moscow)
    • ruthlessly crushes boyar revolts
    • extends government control over Russian Orthodox Church; abolishes Patriarch and replaces it with the Holy Synod (council of 10 loyal clergymen)
    • attempts to modernize Russia; models culture after W. Europe; introduces Western ideas on science, education, military training, and industry; imports technocrats (specialists) to modernize Russia
    • builds a new capital in 1703; Saint Petersburg (Leningrad); "Window on the West"
    • Gains a seaport; battles Charles XII of Sweden; wins territories along the Baltic Sea in the Great Northern War (turning point=Battle of Poltava-1709); same time as War of the Spanish Succession
    • Peace of Nystad (1721): makes the acquisition of Russia's territories from Sweden official; gains access to warm waters
    • Czarist Russia establishes itself as a new power in Europe; decline of Swedish Empire and Poland-Lithuania
    • Peter's biggest hurdle=religion (Russian Orthodox Church)
  6. Romanov Dynasty (3)
    Peter the Great's Table of Ranks
    • list of positions in the Imperial Russian gov. and military
    • social position and privileges based on an individual's rank in the gov. or military rather than on having noble status (nobility must serve the state)
  7. Romanov Dynasty (4)
    Catherine the Great (r. 1762-1796)
    • Peter the Great leaves no successor
    • weak Peter III becomes czar; murdered with wife Catherine's approval
    • her reign marks the Russain nobility's high point of influence in the government; boyars hoped to establish a constitutional monarchy with either Catherine or her son, Paul I (does not happen)
    • further imports Western ideas; applies modern scientific methods to agriculture; supports inoculation against smallpox; patron of the arts (more than any Russian sovereign before or after); Hermitage Museum (largest collection of paintings in the world); correspondence with French Enlightenment writers
    • extends boundaries S. and W.; victory in wars w/ Turks increases territory near the Black Sea; makes Russia dominant power in S.E. Europe; alliance w/ Austria and Prussia to dissolve an independent Poland; 1st Partition of Poland (1772)
    • rapidly modernizing Russia has nobles embracing W. technological advances, fashions, food, and art at great financial cost to the entire country
    • landowners increase tax burdens on serfs to counterbalance their expensive standard of living
    • Pugachev's Rebellion: largest peasant rebellion in Russian history; supported by peasants, cossacks, and Old Believers; peasants engage in mass protests and revolts through rioting and engaging in uprisings against aristocracy
    • Catherine rules an empire of Slavic (Russian, Ukranian, Polish), Baltic, and Asian people
  8. 18th Century Struggle for Power (1)
    Quadruple Alliance
    • forms after the War of Spanish Succession (1714)
    • Britain, France, Netherlands, and Austria
    • main goal=weaken Spain through revisions of treaties from the war
  9. 18th Century Struggle for Power (2)
    War of Polish Succession (1733-1735)
    • France and Spain vs. Russia and Austria
    • Russia and Austria win
  10. 18th Century Struggle for Power (3)
    War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748)
    • Britain vs. Spain and France
    • merges into the War of Austrian Succession
  11. 18th Century Struggle for Power (4)
    War of Austrian Succession (1740-1749)
    • Frederick the Great of Prussia invades Maria Theresa of Austria's Silesia
    • Prussia, France, Spain, and Bavaria vs. Austria, Britain, Netherlands, and Saxony
    • war is fought in Europe, Caribbean, and North America
  12. 18th Century Struggle for Power (5)
    Peace of Aix-la-chapelle (1748)
    • ends the War of Austrian Succession and attempts to restore balance of power prior to the war of Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
    • Prussia officially gains Silesia, confirming Prussia as a great power
    • Pragmatic Sanction is recognized
    • House of Hanover's lands in Germany=recognized
    • doesn't end colonial disputes b/w Britain and France
    • Austrian Hapsburgs are forced to give up territories in N. Italy and Silesia because of diplomatic pressure from their ally, Great Britain
    • growth of Prussian power, though dangerous to Austria, was welcomed by the British, who saw it as a means of balancing French power
    • Britain decides Austria is no longer powerful enough to check France, so they align with Prussia
  13. 18th Century Struggle for Power (6)
    7 Years' War; a.k.a. the French and Indian War (1756-1763)
    • also a continental and colonial war
    • Diplomatic Revolution (1756): reversal of longstanding diplomatic alliances which were upheld through the War of Austrian Succession and then reversed in the Seven Years' War; Prussia becomes Britain's ally, and Austria becomes France's ally
    • Continental; Frederick the Great invades Saxony; Prussia and Britain vs. Austria, France, Russia, and Saxony; anti-Prussian alliance falls apart when Peter III of Russia pulls out of war
    • Colonial; British win decisively over French
    • Treaty of Paris (1763): ended fighting b/w France and Britain
    • Treaty of Hubertusburg (1763): ended fighting b/w Prussia and Austria
  14. 18th Century Struggle for Power (7)
    American Revolution (1775-1783)
    • France aids the 13 colonies against Britain
    • didn't care about what the Americans wanted; only wanted to weaken Britain
  15. 18th Century Struggle for Power (8)
    Partitions of Poland
    • 1st Partition (1763): initiated by Catherine the Great and Frederick the Great
    • 2nd Partition (1793)
    • 3rd Partition (1794): Poland no longer exists as an independent state; recreated following W.W.I
  16. Ottoman Empire (1299-1922) (1)
    • The largest and most stable political entity since the Roman Empire
    • 1453: Mehmet II conquers Constantinople (renamed Istanbul); Hagia Sophia becomes a mosque
    • Religious Toleration (kind of)
    • Millets: religious communities
    • Devshirme: Sultan's army took boys from their families, educated them, converted them to Islam, and trained them as soldiers; became loyal elite soldiers known as Janissaries (1st standing army of the Ottomans; replaced tribal warriors, ghazis, whose loyalty wasn't always guaranteed
  17. Ottoman Empire (1299-1922) (2)
    End of Ottoman Expansion
    • Ulama: Islamic scholars who dominated religious institutions, schools, law courts, and advised the sultan; persuaded the sultan to abandon the ideas of the printing press and schools of technology when Ottomans attempted to import them
    • local leaders and nobles begin to assert independence in their Eastern European lands
    • losses at the Battle of Lepanto (against Spain in 1571) and Battle of Vienna (against Austrian Hapsburgs in 1683); Treaty of Karlowitz (1699): forced Ottomans to give up valuable territory in Hungary; land goes to Austrians
    • Europeans advance in science and technology while the Islamic world remains stagnant; Europeans circumnavigate the Middle East to get to India and China
    • Europeans at the dawn of the Enlightenment view the Muslim world as backwards
Author
AnnieK_1996
ID
118962
Card Set
Absolutism in Russia
Description
A.P. European History
Updated