The Russian EmpireAnd its Many Peoples

Introduction

A. Foundations of an Absolutist State

• Gathering of the Russian Land• 1480 Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow,

Muscovy, Novgorod• Recruited peasants “Cossacks” (meaning?)

(Turkish for free men)• Strong Centralized government

The Time of Troubles• Opposition to tsarist centralizing and expansionist policies• Boyars, elite military aristocracy (like knights or Samurai)• Tsar Ivan IV (reigned 1533-1584) began rule age 16 • Known as “The Terrible”

•

Ivan the Terrible

• Oprichniki, new aristocracy to settle on redistributed lands• Russian Civil War, famine, Poland & Sweeden invaded • 1613 Mikhail Romanov new tsar, dynasty lasted until 1917

B. Westernization and Empire

• Tsars Peter I and Catherine II: Massive westernization• Strengthened tsarist state, consolidated

vast Russian empire

A Window on the West

• Tsar Peter I (1682-1725) liked Western ideas and inventions)

• Forced & rapid westernization • Military, Navy, Bureaucracy: taxes, Peter the Great

industrial production• Culture: Social reforms,

abolished harem, mixing gendershacked off beards

• St. Petersburg: new capital city on Baltic Sea

•

The Limits of Westernization

• Catherine II (1762-1796) most able successor• Continued western imitation• Elightened despot: keep power & authority but

improved lives• 1773 Pugachev rebellion

crushed• French Revolution alarmed

Growing Russian Empire• Russian Empire in Europe• Powerful state, $, advanced military, empire until 1991• Siberia, Ukraine, Poland, Balkans

• Russian Empire in Asia• Mongol states divided Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimea by 16th C• Ivan IV took Kazan in 1552, Astrakhan, Volga • Turkish and Mongol people under Russian rule• Stroganov: 1581 captured Siberia in Urals: furs• By 1763, 420,000 Russian migrants doubled pop. Siberia

D. Cultures in Tension• Russia vast but sparsely populated•

• Muscovite Society before Westernization•

• The Growth of Trade and Industry• Peter the Great brought many foreigners to Russia• Population doubled during 18th C, Peter’s rule,

15 to 37 millionIncorporation of many indigenous peoples

E. Indigenous Peoples of Russia

• Adyghe, titular nation of Adygea• Altay people, titular nation of Altai Republic and Altai Krai• Bashkirs, titular nation of Bashkortostan• Balkars, titular nation of Kabardino-Balkaria• Belarusians (see Belarusians in Russia)• Buryat people, titular nation of Buryatia, Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug and Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug• Chechens, titular nation of Chechnya• Chuvash, titular nation of Chuvashia• Cherkess, titular nation of Karachay–Cherkessia• Ingushs, titular nation of Ingushetia• Kabardins, titular nation of Kabardino-Balkaria• Kalmyks, titular nation of Kalmykia• Karachays, titular nation of Karachay–Cherkessia• Karelians, titular nation of Karelia• Khakas, titular nation of Khakassia• Komi peoples, titular nation of Komi Republic• Mordvin people, titular nation of Mordovia• Ossetians, titular nation of North Ossetia• Mari people, titular nation of Mari El• Russians• Tatars, titular nation of Tatarstan• Tuvinians, titular nation of Tuva• Udmurts, titular nation of Udmurtia• Ukrainians (see Ukrainians in Russia and Ukrainians in Kuban)• Yakuts, titular nation of Sakha Republic

E. Cultural Clashes

• Crisis in the Russian Orthodox Church• Spirit of reform and regulation also inspired Church• Monk Nikon in mid-17th C, led to deep schism over sign of

cross

Westernization and the Enlightenment of Russia

• 1714 Elementary education: read, write, basic science • Catherine: literature, satire, diverse opinions, wrote plays • Intellectual class: intelligentsia: journals• French Revolution brought speedy end to intellectual &

cultural experimentation

Conclusions: Culture in the Russian Empire• Russia grew from small regional state to vast continental

empire• Expansion brought resources and problems: strained labor &

resources• Interaction with Western Europe led to further tension• Reforming tzars remodeled along European culture• Encouraged selective cultural imitation • After French Revolution abandoned program of reform