russian czars increase power from ivan to the romanovs
TRANSCRIPT
Ivan III (1462-1505)
-conquered area around Moscow
-liberated Russia from Mongols
-centralized Russian gov’t
-laid the foundations for absolutism in Russia
Ivan the Terrible
*Ivan IV (aka: Ivan the Terrible) 1533-1584-first Czar or Tsar (“Caesar”)-boyars: Russia’s landowning nobles-wife: Anastasia from the Romanov family
-killed in 1560-began Ivan’s “bad period”
-turned against boyars-organized police force to use terror-executed many boyars
-1581 killed his oldest son and heir-left his weak second son to rule
Time of Troubles
-Ivan V (son of the “terrible”) died w/o an heir
-boyars struggled for power
-in 1613 representatives elected Michael Romanov as czar (random relative of Anastasia)
-began the Romanov dynasty (1613-1917)
Peter the Great
*Peter the Great Takes the Throne
-1672-1725
-great reformer and absolute ruler
-Russia’s differences from Europe:
-serfdom
-cut off from the Renaissance and the age of Exploration (geography)
-Eastern Orthodox rather than Protestant or Catholic
Peter Visits the West
*Expedition into Europe was called the “Grand Embassy”
-wanted to learn about western culture and industrial techniques-kept his identity a secret (hard
to hide when you are 6’7”!)-visited England, Austria, and
the Netherlands-inspired by western methods
Peter Rules Absolutely-Westernization: using Western Europe as a model to
make Russia stronger-Peter’s reforms
-increased his absolute power-brought the Russian Orthodox church under gov’t control-reduced the powers of landowners (Boyars)-hired European officers to modernize the army
-imposed heavy taxes-believed in the importance of education -St. Petersburg
-new capital along the sea (swamp)-By his death, Russia was a powerful nation