Russia: A Quick History

Russia: A Quick HistoryThe Byzantine EmpireAfter Constantinople was sacked during the 4th Crusade by Catholic knights, the Empire went into serious declineEmpire fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453; Constantinople renamed Istanbul and made capital of the Ottoman Empire

Cyril & Methodius827 869 (Cyril)826 885 (Meth.)Brothers who became monksPracticed in Eastern Europe, converting Slavs to Christianity

Developed the Cyrillic alphabet to translate the Bible into Russian

Byzantine ChristianityIn 1054, The Great Schismsplit Christianity into the Catholic and Orthodox Churches

Catholicism v. Orthodoxy CatholicismHeaded by popePriests cant marrySermons in LatinChristmas more importantOrthodoxyHeaded by Byzantine emperorPriests can marrySermons in GreekEaster more importantIconsByzantines believed that ALL art should be religious in nature

Russia9Kievan RusCity of KievDeveloped as a trading center between Byzantines to the south and the Vikings to the north Developed the Cyrillic alphabetPrince Vladimir forced his people to convert to ChristianityCity declined in 1100s as trade decreased

The Mongols in RussiaIn mid-1200s, Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, burned Kiev and conquered RussiaMongols ruled Russia for 240 years, but actually continued to let the Russian princes govern their city-states

Rise of MoscowUnder Mongol rule, Moscow became the most powerful city in Russia both the political capital and the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox branch of ChristianityIn 1380, Moscow led the overthrow of the Mongols, freeing Russia from foreign ruleIvan III (or Ivan the Great) united Russia into one nation between 1462 and 1505 and took the title Czar

Ivan IV (the Terrible)Grandson of Ivan IIIAt the same time much of Western Europe was getting rid of feudalism, Ivan introduced it to RussiaWas unstable; killed his own son and grandchild in a fit of madnessHad secret agents called oprichniki who roamed the countryside, killing the czars enemiesAfter his death in 1584, Russia fell into chaos

Feodor the Bellringer1557 1598Ivans sonMentally retardedLet his brother-in-law run the governmentSuffered a mental breakdown when his only child died at 2

14Mikhail Romanov1596 1645Elected tsar in 1613Brought peace to Russia after 15 years of unrestEstablished the Romanov dynasty which would rule until 1917

15Alexei I1629 1676Tsar at 16Expanded Russias bordersGave refuge to English royalists who fled when Charles I was beheaded

16Pyotr the GreatPeter became czar at age 10, but did not assume control until age 17 in 1689In 1697, he traveled to Western Europe to investigate stories of fantastic new technologies; he learned about new inventions, new forms of government; he hired many specialists to return to Russia with himIn order to force through his western ideas, which were opposed by many in Russia, Peter became an absolutist

Pyotr the GreatAbsolutistPeter wanted nobles free to serve the state; this meant that they had to have a regular income, so Peter added more serfsForced educational and economic reformsForced the nobility to shave their beards and to adopt western fashionsHarshly put down anyone who opposed him, executed thousands

Pyotr the GreatExpanded Russias bordersneeded a warm water port (Russias ports were on the Arctic Ocean and iced in during the winter)tried to seize Black Sea ports from Ottomans, but failedfought a war with Sweden and did manage to secure access to the Baltic Seaon this new land, Peter built a new capital (called St. Petersburg), a sort of Russian version of VersaillesPushed Russias borders as far east as Alaska (N. America)

The Russian EmpireMassive empire was part European, part AsianFeared and respected by the rest of Europe simply for its sheer sizeAfter Peter the Great, however, the czars were reluctant to modernize Russia because they feared changeAbsolute monarchy and feudalism continued to survive in Russia long after it had disappeared in the rest of Europe, meaning most Russians were still serfs

Katerina the Great1762 - 1796Prussian princess who had married the Russian czar Peter IIIIn 1762, Peter III was murdered by a group of military officers who then made Katerina czarinaKaterina was one of the Enlightened Despots and made many social and political reforms:Increased government efficiencyopened many public schoolsfreed the nobles from paying taxes (a move which only served to further strengthen serfdom, because then the serfs had to pay the taxes)

Katerina the GreatExpanded the Empire:defeated the Ottomans and seized valuable warm-water ports on the Black Seamade a series of agreements with Prussia and Austria to completely divide Poland up between the three of nations

Pavel I1796 1801Was raised by his great-aunt and had a strained relationship with his mother, KaterinaPavel attempted to force the military and the nobility (both of whom had been strong allies of Katerinas) to make major reforms, which they resentedAfter a short reign, Pavel was assassinated by disgruntled army officers who favored his son Aleksandr as czar

23Aleksandr I1801 1825Raised by Katerina the Great, who had intended him as her heirStarted reign as a reformerEased censorshipPlanned to free the serfsAfter Napoleon invaded in 1812, however, Aleksandr abandoned his reforms out of fear of the kinds of changes that had occurred elsewhere in Europe

Aleksandr IAfter the Napoleonic wars, Alexander became very conservative and deeply religiousAleksandr died while touring the southern part of his empire, but there were some who suspected that he had faked his own death so as to live out his remaining days as a monkWith no surviving children, Aleksandrs brother Constantine became czar

25Nikolai I1825 1855When Aleksandrs brother Constantine refused to serve as czar, their younger brother Nikolai took the throneThe Russian military had preferred Constantine to Nikolai, and attempted to overthrow Nikolai on the very day he was crowned, which would have forced Constantine to become czarNikolai suppressed this Decembrist Revolt, but it only reinforced his autocratic tendencies

Nikolai IAutocratic leadershipUsed spies to root out his political enemiesBanned many books, limited access to educationExiled thousands of liberals to Siberia (the far east)Controlled the Russian Orthodox ChurchRe-centralized the governmentOppressed non-Russians in his empire

Nikolai IUnderstood that Russia needed serious economic reformsWanted to industrialize and build railroads, but lacked the resourcesWanted to free the serfs, but could not figure out how to do so without sacrificing power to the nobility

The Crimean War1853 1856War fought by Russia against Britain, France, Sardinia, and the OttomansThe first modern warPhotographedNew weapons used like artillery and the rifleRailroads and the telegraph were used to aid military planning for first timeRussia lost, largely due to poor military leadership, but was able to sue for peace thanks to Nikolais death from pneumonia, which allowed his son to get a fresh start with Russias enemies

Aleksandr II1855 1881Having witnessed the failure of Russias serf armies during the Crimean War, Aleksandr II freed the serfs in 1861 Sadly, this actually hurt the serfs:Too poor to buy good landLand they could get was too small and poor for productive farming

Aleksandr IIDecentralized the governmentMade local assemblies responsible for decisions about roads, schools, and agricultureMade legal reformsTrial by jury introducedReduced capital offensesMade military reformsReduced mandatory serviceEased military punishmentsPromoted industrialization

Aleksandr IIStill, many Russians remained unhappy:Peasants wanted landLiberals wanted democratic governmentIn March 1881, having already survived three previous assassination attempts, Aleksandr was blown up by anarchist nihilists

Aleksandr III1881 1894Responded to his fathers death by cracking downRe-established secret policeRe-enacted censorshipMade the Russian language mandatoryMade Russian Orthodox Christianity mandatoryPersecuted Jews and Muslims

Nikolai II1894 1917Desperately tried to build up Russian industry in order to catch up with Western powersMade efforts to modernize Russias obsolete militaryBuilt the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the longest in the world, stretching from Moscow to VladivostokDespite his efforts, the extreme poverty suffered by most Russians led many to take an interest in socialism

Nikolai IIThe czars popularity (and the Russian economy) was badly damaged by Russias humiliating defeat by Japan in the 1904 Russo-Japanese WarRussia was supposed to win, but instead lost their entire navy

Nikolai IIIn 1905, factory workers marched to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to petition the czar for a constitution, but were fired upon by the palace guardsThis led to a general workers strike in protest to the Bloody Sunday killingsAdditionally, with the Russo-Japanese War going badly, there was unrest within the military and an open mutiny aboard the battleship Potemkin in the Black Sea

Nikolai IIIn an effort to make amends and end the conflicts, Nicholas promised to make sweeping reforms:Promised freedom of speech, press, religion, and assemblyPromised to create an elected legislature (the Duma) , which would have the final say on lawsWhile the promises brought temporary peace, Nikolai failed to live up to his promises, leaving many still dissatisfied with his rule