Lesson 2: the Russian Empire

Notably, the Imperial flag is just the modern Russian flag, except there’s a two-headed eagle crest on a yellow square in the top left.

So why does the eagle have two heads? One keeps an eye on the west, the other keeps an eye on the east. The eagle itself is a symbol of Rome. Romanoff/Rome, Tsar/Czar/Caesar. This is ALL deliberate. The Russian Empire has very much styled itself as an heir to Rome.

Kievan Rus’ was the first roman state. It was founded in Kiev, and lasted from 882-1240. It was the biggest unified state in medieval Europe! The populace was comprised of a mixture of Slavs, Iranian/Turkic peoples, and Varangians (Vikings). That’s an important detail to remember about Russia in any time period: it’s a multi-ethnic state (like the United States and as opposed to the mono-ethnic ideals of the 19th century). Kievan Rus was founded by Rurik the Viking; these Vikings were mercenaries--fighters who wanted to do business. They wanted to trade. Specifically, they wanted to trade with the Byzantines (which is to say with the still-extant Eastern Roman Empire). Because the Byzantines were RICH. The most important leader of Kievan Rus was St. Vladimir the Great (980-1015), who made the state Christian (in an attempt to unify the three peoples). The story goes that he basically went on a religious shopping spree. He looked at Judaism (losers; the Turks own Jerusalem), and Catholicism (boring), and Islam (no booze; that’s a deal-breaker right there), before being REALLY impressed by Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Haggia Sophia.

Things go bad when the Mongols show up! ‘cause that’s what Mongols do! They’re the last, greatest horse nomads, and they take conquest and mess-making seriously. In 1240 they take over and sack/burn all the major cities in Kievan Rus, and they rule Russia until 1480. Their policy is simple but effective: terrorize 100, control a million. The Mongols left behind informers that were the beginning of the tradition of ‘secret police’ that terrorize Russians to this day. The Russians called the Mongols the Tatars (who were just ONE tribe of Mongols). And, as such, they called the system of tribute imposed upon them the ‘Tatar Yoke’. The Mongols didn’t control anything DIRECTLY, they just made the nobles collect tribute for them. Nobles who didn’t cooperate were executed (along with their family) in ingenious and nasty ways. So, yeah, this is the seminal event for Russian paranoia. Our next notable Russian state is Muscovy. Which is to say Moscow. The first time we hear about Moscow is in terms of a guy called Grand Prince Daniil I. It’s a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. The idea of it becoming the capital of the country is absurd! But that’s WHY it 'became capital; Moscow was too small to bother sacking. Daniil started building resistance out in Moscow. He didn’t do too well himself but eventually, in 1380, Grand Prince Dmitriy Donskoy, operating out of Moscow, actually beat the Mongols in open combat. That’s a first. He eventually ended up collecting taxes for the Mongols, but that victory was still a big deal. The Russians later come up with Streltsy (shooters). They’re knight-archers (work like knights in terms of horses and pay and stuff) who use an arquebus on foot. Thanks to those guys, the muscovite (IE from Muscovy) prince Ivan the Great beats the Mongols once and for all at the battle of the Ugra river in 1480.

Ivan the Terrible became the first Tsar (from Caesar) in 1547 and promptly declares Russia the third Rome. Terrible in this case means dreadful/awesome (old-school, as in ‘awe-inducing’)/terrifying, not ‘awful’. He conquers Kazan(modern Kazakhstan) in 1552, and then starts exploring Siberia. But he gets nutty in 1560 after someone (probably) poisoned his wife. He’s basically bipolar. Except he’s paranoid when he’s manic. He makes the first proper Russian secret police (the oprichniki) and claims half of the country for himself PERSONALLY. He then beat his competent son to death in a fit of paranoia, leaving a less competent son (he has mental problems) in charge when he dies in 1584. This causes…

The Time of TroublesWhen the dumb son dies in 1598, the secret police head Boris Gudunov takes over. Then a huge famine strikes from 1601-1603. Then Dmitriy (a guy who clames to be Ivan’s son, who he isn’t) oustes Gundunov in 1605 and takes over. He lasts only a year before Vasily IV (who makes the same claim) kicks him out. And then he bites it in 1610 and in 1611 the Poles invade and burn Moscow! Kuzma Minin (just some guy; he’s not even noble) organizes the defense of Moscow, and afterwards he gets people together and they choose the 17-year-old Mikhail Romanov to be Tzar.

Our next big name is Peter the great: 1682-1725

After all that mess, Russia looks outward again and they go “FUCK! when did all this technology stuff happen?”Peter was born in 1672. He’s classically ADHD and 6’8”, which made him a giant in his time. He’s also good with his hands, and very hands-on. His big plan is Westernization: He goes out on a tour of London, but instead of the normal ‘great man tour’ he wants to see stuff like ‘how ships are built’ and ‘how cannons are made’ and smelters and stuff. He realizes how behind Russia is and concludes that if they don’t catch up, they’re gonna get conquered and it’ll be the Mongols ALL over again. So he brings contractors (Scots, Germans, etc) in to be foreign experts and to teach his people. The Streltsy (the current dominant class) rise up, and an army lead by Peter’s contractors put it down. Then Peter tries to fight the Swedes. They kick his ass at the battle of Narva in 1700. In an attempt to establish a base to keep fighting that war, he establishes St. Petersburg in 1703. By 1709 he convinces the swedes to invade Russia again… and then doesn’t fight them. He just backs up and up and up all the way to Ukraine. Rule 1 of invading Russia: DO NOT CHASE RETREATING RUSSIANS! It is always a trap. The Swedes are finished, both in this invasion and as a world power, in the battle of Poltava in 1709. And so, Russia is on the map again.

Next big deal is Catherine the GreatShe’s German: born as Princess Sophia (Wisdom in greek) “Figchen” of Anhalt-Zerbst. She’s smart, interested in politics and law and stuff, and married to Tsar Peter III ‘the stupid’. He’s badly educated and flakey--he spends his day hanging out with the military, despite a lack of military training or skill. She basically runs the state for him, until she decides he doesn’t need him anymore. She recruits Prince Grigoriy Potemkin and they inform Peter III that his services are no longer needed. She takes over (technically as Regent for a tiny infant son named Paul) and takes the name Catherine. She sends Potemkin to take over the Crimea; that’s the battle of Larga (1770). It works. Potemkin also invents the Potemkin Village (fake storefronts), because he’s trying to create the illusion that he’s gotten around to improving the local infrastructure in Crimea after taking over, when he very much hasn’t.And then the peasants revolt in 1773 lead by a guy named Y.I. Pugachev. He’s a serf. He tries to make himself Tsar (instead of Paul), so the revolution goes poorly. Catherine had originally had some thoughts about setting up a parliament and stuff, but Pugachev’s revolt changed her mind.

War with Napoleon: The Russians don’t like the French revolution. And they fight Napoleon from 1792-1815. The French HATE fighting them. General Suvorov (70 years old) leads an army through the alps (last done by HANNIBAL) in 1799 and thumps the French. Thus we learn two things;

1. Russians under competent Russian commanders are very effective2. the French do NOT like fighting in Winter.

Next big fight is the Russian defeat at, and retreat from Austerlitz on December 2, 1805; while ultimately defeated by their own poor leadership, the Russians still did very well in the wintery conditions. Napoleons very first PERSONAL non-victory is the Battle of Eylau (where the Russians fought him to a standstill). The Russians have no allies, so Tsar Alexander I decides

to sign a treaty—the Peace of Tilsit—with Napoleon on July 7, 1807. The Russians violate the treaty and Napoleon invades in 1812. The Russians don’t’ fight; they just retreat. The Russian general in charge tells the serfs to burn their crops and fight a geurilla war. And that’s the patriotic war. They lure the French DEEP into Russia and fight them right in front of Moscow. And then Russia’s greatest general gets involved: General Winter. Napoleon is finished.

Next on the slate are The Decemberists: Alexander I dies in 1825. And then the Russian officers start thinking ‘hey, maybe we should have a constitution’. They start agitating. Prince Constantine is SUPPOSED to take over when Alexander Dies, but he doesn’t want to be Tsar. At all. His brother Nicholas DOES want to be Tsar, and he gets him to sign over the Tsardom. The generals tell their soldiers to chant for ‘Constantine and constetutia’ (Constantine and constitution, though the soldiers think constetutia is Constantine’s wife! They just hate Nicholas). Nicholas doesn’t like that. The protests start on December 26, and he has cannons brought in to put down the revolt and executes the ringleaders. This moment defines Nicholas’ mindset: he can’t trust his own people.

Same old, same old: Nicholas I the gendarme of Europe runs Russia as a police state and rents his army out to smash revolts all over Europe! He’s supported by the ‘slavophiles’ who say that Russia doesn’t need constitution because they’re different from Europe. In their eyes, the combination of Autocracy, Orthodoxy (liking the orthodox church in public), nationality (speaking Russian) makes you an honorary. Opposing them is the intelligentsia; westernizers, scholars, and that sort. Nicholas doesn’t like them. He thinks they’re trouble. He organizes The Third Section: secret police who infiltrate and arrest the intelligentsia.

The Crimean War: Nick thinks he’s got the best country in Europe. As a result, he tries to fight the British and French and Turks in Crimea. His army has smoothebore muskets with 100 yards range against rifles with 300 yards range. The Russians lose (and nick dies), but they manage to keep the peninsula anyway. Nick’s son, Alexander II (the new Tsar), realizes things have to change. He notices that only 6% of the population lives in cities; the nobles are 12% and the rest are serfs! so he goes out in the countryside, talks to serfs (!), and ultimately Emancipates the Serfs on March 3, 1861. Hence his being known as the Tsar-liberator. This is step 1 for his Great Reforms: Now for the restFirst he needs money. To get it, he sells Alaska.He sets up Judicial Reform in 1864, instituting trial by jury and an independent judiciary (and ending capital punishment, at least on paper)He also rolls out local self-government, with elected representatives, starting in the countryside in 1864 and moving to the cities in 1870.The final subject of his reforms is Military Conscription in 1874. He implements a new reserve mobilization system, brings in railways for transporting troops, requires officers to be educated, and ends corporeal punishment. This goes well: He invades Turkey in 1877-1878. The new Russian army STOMPS in and thumps the Turks around, ultimately taking a big chunk out of Turkey with theTreaty of San Stefano on Marcy 3, 1878. They think they can take out Turkey. The rest of Europe gets mad. They send in Otto von Bismarck (one of the big names in European Diplomacy). He sets up the

Congress of Berlin and forces Russia to give back their bits of Turkey. Russia is, understandably, pissed with Europe in general and Bismark (and therefore Germany) in specific.

And then comes the People’s Will (Narodnaya Volya in Russian): a terrorist organization/party whose policy is basically “the people of Russia are too stupid for reforms on their own. We’ll just kill the tsar and take over.” Lenin’s older brother is involved. They shoot a bunch of people and set off a bunch of bombs and eventually succeed in killing Alexander II. After his death, his son Alexander III takes over. He’s pissed. To deal with the People’s Will he sends in the newly-formed Okhrana—plainclothes secret police with the job of infiltrating and arresting dissidents—and then executes all of the People’s Will members they manage to round up.

The state of the empire in 1914: There’s rot on the inside. The intelligentsia are making trouble. Compared to Germany, they’ve got nearly three times as many people, but have a GDP almost 1/10th the size, produce less than half as much steel, and have a military only slightly (1.4 million soldiers) larger.