The Westernizing of Russia

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Section 5.26

• The Westernizing of Russia

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IntroductionRussian Absolutism
Schism b/t RC and Eastern Orthodox
Fall of Constantinople
Time of Troubles
1054 1242 1453 1533-1584 1598-1613
1649 1682-1720
Reign of Ivan IV (The Terrible)
Reign of Peter the Great
Mongol Yoke
Serfdom Legally Returns
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Important Tsars

• Ivan IV (The Terrible) 1533-1584
• Peter the Great 1682-1725
• Catherine the Great 1762-1796

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Introduction

• Still out of the loop during the Renaissance.
  Why?
• Influence comes from Constantinople
• Mongol invasions (1240)
• Not until 1480 that Ivan III gained Muscovy
  independence
• No warm water port

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Prussia v. Russia

• Prussian parallels with Russia
• Great plains culture
• State (sovereign power) created in order to
  support a modern army
• Autocratic governments
• Powerful Noble class
• Weak Middle Class
• Imported new skills from western Europe

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Prussia v. Russia

• Differences from Russia
• Germanic vs. Slavic
• Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox
• European universities vs. no universities
• Close to commercial activity vs. distant from
  commercial activity
• More European vs. More Oriental
• Russia develops a unique blend of European and
  non-European traits

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Russia before Peter the Great

• Slavic in language
• Huge territory
• 11 time zones
• Diverse population
• Great Russians
• Tartars
• Cossaks
• White Russians
• Little Russians

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Russia before Peter the Great

• Economically
• Overwhelmingly agricultural
• Trade focused on the east
• Europe in rear of Russia
• Militarily (Politically)
• No standing army, no navy
• Dependant on Boyar cavalry
• Infantry play secondary role
• Made up largely of peasants
• Poorly equipped, poorly trained and poorly
  motivated
• Western Europeans
• Placed heavy emphasis on highly trained infantry,
  musket fire, bayonet charge
• Very expensive

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Russian culture before Peter the Great

• Asiatic
• Course
• Men
• Beards, skirted garments
• Drunkenness, religious piety
• Women
• wore veils and were secluded
• Religion was mystical and superstitious
• Little respect for life
• Little support for education or charitable
  institutions

Hello Ladies!! How you doin?
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Russian culture before Peter the Great

• No respect for learning or sentiments of humanity
• Geometry was a sin
• Abhorred of God is any who loves geometry it is
  a spiritual sin Russian bishop
• Manufacturing was non-existent
• Some European characteristics
• Manorial and feudal organization
• Duma (Parliament)
• Characteristics of absolutism

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Early TsarsSociopolitical Developments

• Ivan the Terrible (1553-1584)
• the first Tsar
• Creates an autocracy
• Centralizes authority under his title
• Creates Service Nobility
• Boyars (noble class) must serve Tsar to retain
  land
• Apprecniki
• Secret police (monks)
• Instrument of terror
• Weakened Old Boyars and their families
• Cossacks
• Peasants fled and formed outlaw armies
• Ivan reduced peasant mobility to 2 weeks a year
• Royal monopolization
• Ivan seized control of profitable industries
• Weakened fledgling middle class
• Anit-Lockean
• Murders son (heir to the throne)

Early footage of Ivan being Tsar
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Early TsarsSociopolitical Developments

• Time of troubles(1604-1613)
• Political intrigue
• Famine, starvation
• Cossack Rebellion (Ivan Bolotnikov)
• War
• Poles occupy Moscow
• Result
• Scarred Boyars straight
• 1613 Michael Romanov (17)
• elected Tsar (by Boyars)
• begins to repress representative institutions
  (Duma)

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Serfdom in Russia

• Stenka Razin led (Great Peasant Revolt (1670-71)
• A Don Cossack
• Part of Cossack establishment
• Given tribute by Tsars in return for defense
• Russian Robin hood
• Outfitted fleet up the Volga
• Killed landlords and gov officials
• Plundered Persian ships on Caspian Sea divided
  it evenly
• 1670 pamphlet
• to establish the Cossack way, so that all men
  will be equal
• Razin Drawn and Quartered in 1671
• Results in more repression of the serfs

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Who was Peter?

• Tall Intimidating
• 6 7
• Energetic
• Curious
• Met Europeans of other nationalities in Moscow
  (German quarter) when he was a boy
• Met Westerners at Archangel and took lessons in
  navigation
• An Expansionist
• 35 of his 36 year reign saw war
• Ambitious
• Seeks to reform Russia militarily
• NOT interested in Westernizing Russia
• BUT wants to learn from them to keep Russia
  strong (militarily)
• Europeanization would have been more gradual
  w/out Peter

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Peter and the Orthodox ChurchCultural
Developments

• Under Ivan IV Orthodox Church is largely
  controlled by the Tsar after 1589
• Why? Terror
• Nikon
• Initiated religious reforms in 1652
• Wanted to model it after Greek Church
• Reforms led to split between new and old
  believers
• Peasants viewed Nikon as Anti-Christ trying to
  destroy holy Russia
• Old Believers formed
• 20 thousand burned themselves alive while singing
  hallelujah (3 xs rather than twice)
• Further divides the peasants (old believers) from
  the government
• Peter puts control of the Church under a
  committee of bishops with a civil representatives
• secularizes the Church
• Russian Church now only exists because of State
  support

Defiant Old Believer arrested by Czar authorities
in 1671. She holds two fingers raised a hint to
the old, i.e., "proper" way of putting a cross
unto oneself with two fingers, rather than with
three
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Peter v. Orthodox Church
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Foreign Affairs and Territorial

• After building a small naval force Peter
  conquered Azov in 1696
• Took 250 officials on 18 month tour of western
  Europe
• Saw how backward Russia was
• Disguised as ordinary Russian
• Investigated technological and medical
  breakthroughs
• Especially fascinated with ship building
• Party animal

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Exposure to the West
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The Great Northern War1700-1721

• Russia v Sweden
• Peter formed alliance with Denmark and Poland
  against Sweden in 1697
• Charles XII
• Only 18
• Military genius
• Routed Peter at Narava in 1700
• Charles had been outnumbered 8 to 1
• Forced Peter to initiate aggressive reforms

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War and Imperial RussiaPolitical Centralization

• eliminates the elite but rebellious streltsi
• Reactionary nobles (with own private armies) who
  had murdered members of his family
• Required state of service
• every noble to serve in army or civil
  administrative for life
• Created schools and universities to train them
• 5 year compulsory
• Imported experts from west
• Conscripted peasants (200 thousand) to form
  standing army
• Embryonic Meritocracy
• Abolished rule of hereditary succession
• Created 14 hierarchical ranks
• Everyone starts at bottom
• Non nobles rose to high positions
• Got rid of Duma and national assembly
• Made a senate dependent on himself

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Streltsi
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Founding of St. Petersburg

• Swedish outpost on marshy island (Baltic coast)
• Seized by Peter in 1702
• Built capital city named after himself and patron
  saint
• Called it his Window to the West
• Meant to be new symbol of Russia (facing Europe)
• Characterized by wide, straight roads, uniform
  houses, parks, canals, gaslight streets
• Buildings built in regulated baroque style
• All nobles required to live there most of year
• Castle size must be proportional to number of
  serfs
• drafted 20-40 thousand peasants to build it
  during summer
• taxed every 15 peasant households with 1 worker
• built on bones

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The Window to the West
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Economic and Social Changes under Peter

• Mercantilism encouraged
• Taxes on land inns, mills, hats, leather,
  coffins, right to marry, sell meat, wear a beard,
  be Old Believer
• Fell mostly on peasants
• Organized commercial companies and gave them
  capital, labor supply (serfs)
• Serfs in Industry
• Gave owners right to sell serfs without land and
  move them from landed estates into mines, or
  industrial activity

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Peters Social Revolution

• Attempted to reeducate Russians
• Simplified Russian alphabet
• Ordered book of etiquette
• Ordered beards to be shaved
• No respect for aristocratic status

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Swedish threat recedes

• Peter modernized army in Western model
• Charless army destroyed at Poltava in Ukraine
  (1709)
• Peter conquered Livonia, parts of Finland and
  went as far as the Elbe
• Treaty of Nystadt (1721) ended Northern War and
  gave Russia Baltic shore
• A warm water port

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Swedish Threat
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Results of Peters Revolution

• Resistance to Reform
• Some thought he was going too fast, xenophobic
• Son, Alexis said he would stop Peters program
  (Peter had him tortured)
• Died in 1725
• His changes stuck
• The methods used, forced autocracy, serfdom,
  bureaucracy on country
• Exclusion of Peasants
• Still regarded as brutes and children and did not
  become European by Peter

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Family Feud