The+Rise+of+Russia



Describe the effects of Mongol occupation on Russian civilization


 * Mongol presence and dominance in Russia for what was several centuries certainly had a prominent effect on Russian politics and life. As tax collectors under Mongol rule, Russian princes gained much political experience from the Mongols. Furthermore, the Mongol occupation of Russia reduced teh vigor of Russian cultural life, as books and literature were scarce during that time (Priesthood levels decreased.) Economic life also deteriorated because of the lack of manufactured products, as the region was now adapted to utilizing an agricultural economy rather than a commercial one. Mongol rule didn't really reshape core Russsian traditions, as the Mongols were only interested in tribute rather than imposing their own ideals on the Russian populace.

Trace Russian expansion under the Ivans.

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 * As can be seen in the map above, territorial expansion through military conquest was a major objective of all of the Ivans, as the sought to again fulfill their role as the "Third Rome," both in a territorial and religious sense. Because Russia was composed of flat, low plains, Russian expansion was easier. Cossacks, or peasant-adventurers, were initiated in these new frontiers as expansionist spirit peaked among these peasants. With these new lands, the tzars could offer certain portions of these acquisitions to reward loyal bureaucrats or nobles. This strengthened the rule of the tzar and also began to decrease diversity among the Russian populace, with now many more ethnicities being governed under the Tzars. Russian's early expansion got rid of nomadic groups in central Asia.

Leader Analysis Sheet
 * Name of Leader: Catherine II ||
 * Lifespan || Title: Catherine the Great ||
 * Country/region: Russia || Years in Power: 1762-1796 ||
 * Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power
 * Weak leaders followed Peter the Great, due to powerful military officers who chose the successors.
 * Weakness of stardom encourages grumblings about westernization
 * Church takes new initiatives to gain greater freedoms to maneuver.
 * Territorial expansion was still in place. ||
 * Ideology, Motivation, Goals:
 * Combined genuine Enlightenment interests with her needs to consolidate power as a truly Russian ruler.
 * Strengthening the central government
 * Selective modernization just like Peter the Great; only certain aspects of Western society taken. ||
 * Significant Actions & events During Term of Power
 * Put down the Pugachev rebellion and used it as an excuse to extend powers of central government in regional affairs.
 * Empowered the nobles of the serfs by staffing the bureaucracy with landowners
 * Created a service aristocracy that was not to dangerous to the monarch
 * Radishev’s work is banned from Russia because of his outcry against serfdom.
 * The partition of Poland gave Russia European territory – closer to the West ||
 * Short-Term effects:
 * Cultural influences of Europe were put down
 * Did not risk major wars with European nations
 * Agreed to a commercial treaty 1766, but stopped short of a military alliance. || Long-Term Effects
 * Made the serfs officially subordinate to the nobles and cemented their position there.
 * Enlightenment ideas continued to effect Russia
 * Extended borders of Russian empire southward and westward and south-westward

Serfdom Economic Dependence  Social Unrest  Eastern Europe
 * This was a form of slavery, which was taken from the Europeans because it was labor enforced on their own kind.
 * Serfdom gave government to regulate peasant life and satisfy the nobility. Around 1800’s half of Russia’s peasantry was enserfed to the landlords
 * By the 1800 half the population was bound to serfdom while the other half owed obligations to the state.
 * Peasants also had to pay high taxes or obligations to the state
 * Agriculture suffered due to landlords stealing from the serfs. This discouraged the serfs from overproduction which in return had affected the Russian economy.
 * Russian expansion caused a period of population growth.
 * The Russia society wasn’t just made of landlords and serfs. There were also noble bureaucrats and professionals and a small merchant group.
 * Manufacturing was slow to develop in Russia
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Landlords in Russia become extremely powerful, just as they did under Catherine the Great
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Peasant rebellions occur from the 17th century onward
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Pugachev rebellion especially powerfull in resisting landlord power
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Cultural exchange with the Ottomon empires created circulation of ideas
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Poland <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> began contributing to major advances in Scientific revolution.
 * <span style="background: white; color: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Poland <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;"> goes into decline in 1600, but has changes tremendously since.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">See page on Latin America for an excerpt of the essay comparing Spanish and Russian labor systems.