The Rise of Prussia and Its Army

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The Rise of Prussia and Its Army
Prussia
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The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia

• A rise that was a surprise!
• A scattered nation
• Small population
• Few natural resources
• 3 factors for rise to power
• (1) leadership from the Hohenzollern dynasty
• (2) efficient use of resources
• (3) an outstanding military tradition

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Frederick William, the Great Elector
Important army positions Power over serfs
Junkers
Accepted Hohenzollern leadership and excise tax
(1640-1688)
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The Skeleton of the Prussian State

• General War Commissariat collected taxes
  (originally to provide for army, but evolved into
  a state bureaucracy)
• Enhanced the army to 40,000
• Practiced mercantilism
• (1) established monopolies
• (2) raised tariffs
• (3) promoted economic development

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Frederick William I

• Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia ? King of Prussia
• Strict, paternalistic, self-disciplined
• Efficiency and duty took preference over all else
• State funds used to increase army (83,000 by his
  death)
• Introduced merit to government service
• Created the Postsdam Regiment

(1713-1740)
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Peter and the Westernization of Russia
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Russias Unique Position

• Much of Russia is in Europe, but Russia has not
  always been of Europe
• The themes of Russias experience
• (1) expansion
• (2) relative backwardness

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Early Modern Russia

• Both succeeded in driving out the Mongols
• Both established administrative structure and a
  military class (streltsy)

Time of Troubles (1604-1613)
Period of instability and foreign invasion Not
resolved until the feudal estates (Zemsky Sobor)
elected Michael Romanov (1613-1645) as the tsar
of Russia
1530-1584
1440-1505
Ivan IV
Ivan III
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Stable But Still Behind

• A divide between Russia people and government
• A conflict between tradition and modernization

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Stable But Still Behind

• Russias oppressive system of serfdom was put
  into legal form
• Serfs bought and sold like cattle
• The slave-like existence often provoked massive
  rebellions

Stephen Razin
1630-1671
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Stable But Still Behind

• Russias dominant religion was tradition-bound
  Russian Orthodox
• Nikons undertaking of reforms leads a group
  called the Old Believers to oppose the reforms

Patriarch Nikon
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The Reforms of Peter the Great

• On one hand, attracted by all that was modern
• On the other hand, could be brutal and ruthless
  in pursuit of his goals
• Hoped to bring Russia into the European state
  system

1682-1725
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Peters Great Embassy

• 1697-1698 a trek to the west with hundreds of
  advisors
• Attempted to travel incognito
• The trip was cut short due to rebellion at home
  by the streltsy
• Storehouse of new technical skill
• Built Russias first navy
• Modernized the army

A statue of Peter I working incognito at a Dutch
wharf.
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Strengthening the Nation

• Taxes were imposed on a variety of items
• Poll tax
• Pursued mercantilist policies to make Russia a
  commercial nation
• Russians also needed to look modern
• Required all members of the landowning class to
  engage in state service
• Later evolved into system of merit known as the
  Table of Ranks

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Strengthening the Nation

• Eliminated feudal structures of self-government
• Divided nation into 10 governing units
• Senate of advisors to assist him with day-to-day
  administration
• Eliminated position of Church Patriarch and
  placed church under control of the state
• Power thru Holy Synod of bishops

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The Great Northern War
1700 - Battle of Narva
vs.
Charles XII
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The Great Northern War

• 1709 Russia and Swedish fight again
• Peter used the Russian winter to his advantage
• At Poltava, Peter crushed Charless army
• Treaty of Nystadt (1721) Russia gained
  significant territory in the Baltic
• new capital city ? St. Petersburg window to
  the west

Peter I in the Battle of Poltava
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Peters Legacy

• He left Russia a great power of Europe when he
  died
• Many elites in Russia eagerly adopted Peters
  reforms
• Most of Peters reforms came at the expense of
  the masses serfs, Old Believers, lower classes
• Autocratic system fastened more tightly on the
  nation than ever before
• SHORT RUN Russia now a major power and always
  posed a threat of expansion
• LONG RUN perennial issues of backwardness and
  autocratic rule will contribute to the Russian
  Revolution in the twentieth century