Russia during the Early Modern
Age1450-1750
Russia Under the Mongols
Russia Under the Romanovs
• Ivan III (a.k.a. Ivan the Great)• Claimed succession from the Rurik dynasty and from the
old Kievan days• Freed part of Russia after 1462• Patronized Orthodox Christianity• In 1480, freed Moscow from the Mongols and conquered
the Polish Lithuanian kingdom• Called Russia a “third Rome” because of its potential• Labeled the empire as “tsar”• Recruited peasants called Cossack to go to newly
conquered land
Ivan the Great
• Ivan IV (a.k.a. Ivan the Terrible)
-Expansionism
-Emphasized tsarist autocracy
-Killed boyars (Russian nobles)
Ivan the Terrible
• Built up tsarist control• Expansionism• Interested in altering the Russian economy and culture
with Westernization• Traveled to the West in order to seek Western science
and technology• Allied with Western states against the Turks in a crusade• Specially trained military• Chancery of Secret Police- stop bureaucracy from
corruption• New capital at St. Petersburg
Peter the Great
Peter the Great
• First Russian navy• Appointed provincial governors• Town councils & magistrates• Training institutes for the bureaucracy and
officers• Built metallurgical and mining industries• Iron holdings contributed to shipbuilding• Gave more freedom to upper-class women• More education in math and technology
Peter the Great
• Western fashion and fads• Established senate• Got rid of Patriarchate (noble councils)• Personal nomination rather than hereditary
succession • Ballet was imported from the West and became
a cultural icon in Russia• *Westernization was only used to encourage the
autocratic state and NOT to provide new political ideas*
Catherine the Great
• Peter the Great died in 1724• Army officers fought for power• Peter III became the tsar and married Catherine,
a German-born princess• Put down peasant uprisings due to serfdom• Combined Enlightenment ideals with Russian
aristocratic ideas• Commissioned new laws that used Western
ideas• Less severe punishments
• Gave nobles more control over their serfs• Patronized Western art and architecture• Sent children to schools in the West• Censored Russian intellectuals who sought Western
political reforms• Campaigned against Ottomans• Gained territories in central Asia• Colonized Siberia• Gained Alaska• Partition of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria
Catherine the Great
Russian Society• Boyars- Russian nobles• Russian landlords adopted Mongol dress and social
habits• Women gained more freedom and were allowed to go to
public events• The status of women remained unchanged among
peasants because they were not effected by westernization
• Male nobles had to shave their beards off because they were a sign of Mongol domination
• Russians were urged to move to newly conquered lands, where they formed their own regional administration
• Multicultural empire
Russian Society• Nobles gained more power over serfs• -Ennobled officials chosen by tsars• -Gained new power to punish their serfs• -Treat serfs like property• -Could levy taxes of money and goods• Pugachev Rebellion- peasant uprising that led to the
extended powers of central government into regional politics
• Serfdom became hereditary• No artisan class (artists were imported from Western
Europe)• Small merchant groups because trade was mostly
controlled by Westerners
Christianity under the Russians
• Russian Orthodox still the primary religion • Muslim minority were observed by the government• Muslims not forced to integrate into Russian culture• Catherine the Great converted to Russian Orthodox• Alexis Romanov gained new power over the church by
getting rid of the superstitions and problems created by the Mongols
• State controlled Church• Religious conservatives called Old Believers sought
religious freedom in Siberia and Southern Russia• Christmas trees imported from Germany
Arts and Architecture: West and Russian
Combined• Westernization began under Peter the Great• Ballet imported from France• Italian artists and architects build churches that
combined Renaissance styles with Russian architecture• Ornate, onion-shaped domes• Catherine the Great patronized the art and architecture
of the West• Little motivation to improve technology because any
excess was taken by the landlord• Traditional agricultural methods• Ballet imported from France
Various Trademark Buildings
Hermitage Museum builtHermitage Museum built
by Catherine the Greatby Catherine the Great
Cathedral of St. Cathedral of St. Basil built under Basil built under Ivan IVIvan IV
Italian Architecture in Russia
Rococo Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedral built by the Italian architect Rococo Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedral built by the Italian architect Rastrelli Rastrelli
Bolognese Architecture in Russia
Cathedral of the Dormition built by Cathedral of the Dormition built by Aristotle Fioravanti, an Italian Aristotle Fioravanti, an Italian architectarchitect
Theories and Education: A Noble Practice
• “Seditious” writings of liberals or democrats were banned• Peter the Great built garrison schools for the children of
soldiers• Peter the Great simplified the alphabet and changed the
calendar• Catherine the Great built the Hermitage Museum• Statue for Schools- every town had some sort of schooling• Catherine the Great patronized the creation of a small-pox
vaccine• Catherine the Great patronized the first College of
Medicine• Western-inspired radicals• Radishev wanted an end to serfdom and liberal rule
Trading and Manufacturing:
On a Small Scale• Trading connections with Asia• Ivan the IV allowed British merchants to create
ports in Russia• Sold fur and other raw materials• Peter the Great visited the major manufacturing
cities of the West• Established a port on the East coast of the Baltic
sea• Produced grain to be sold to the West• Traded fur with Central Asia
Trading and Manufacturing:
On a Small Scale• Catherine the Great built the first School of
Mines• Mined silver• Built and repaired roads and bridges• Primary exports: hemp, leather, furs, cloth, linen,
timer, and iron• Imported silks, cottons, tea, silver, and tobacco
from China• Peter the Great created companies that
controlled factories and workshops
Serfdom: The Major Source of the Russian Economy
• Had to pay extensive tribute to Mongols until independent
• Trade and manufacturing decreased• Dependent on peasant labor• Rise of serfdom• Landlords could levy taxes• Serfdom grew as Russia expanded• Produced grain to be sold to the West
Serfdom: The Major Source of the Russian Economy
• Peasants paid high taxes• Serfs owed labor for farming, mining, and
manufacturing• Sufficient revenue to support Russia• Catherine the Great sought new farmers in
foreign newspapers• Catherine the Great encouraged new methods
to breed sheep and cattle• Social unrest due to serfdom• Pugachev led a revolt to end serfdom and
abolish the aristocracy
Pugachev Rebellion