(LBE) The Rise of Russia Lesson

The Rise of Russia Lesson

The rise of the Russian Empire, unlike the rise of Western colonial empires, although altering power balances through Eurasia, involved only limited commercial exchange. After freeing themselves from Mongol domination by 1480, the Russians pushed eastward. Some extension of territory also occurred in Eastern Europe. Regional states, many differing from Russia, were present, with Lithuania and Poland rivaling Russia into the seventeenth century. Russia, with its Byzantine-influenced culture, had been unimportant in world affairs before the fifteenth century. Russia then entered into new contacts with the West without losing its distinct identity. Between 1450 and 1750, many lasting characteristics of the eastern European world were formed.

 

Russia's Expansionist Politics under the Tsars

During the fourteenth century, the duchy of Moscow took the lead in liberating Russia from the Mongols. Ivan III gave his government a military focus and used a blend of nationalism and the Orthodox Christian religion to succeed by 1480, in creating a large independent state.

 

The Need for Revival

The Mongols, content to leave local administration in indigenous hands, had not reshaped basic Russian culture. The occupation did, however, reduce the vigor of cultural and economic life. Literacy declined and the economy became purely agricultural and dependent on peasant labor. Ivan III restored

The tradition of centralized rule, added a sense of imperial mission, and claimed supervision of all Orthodox Churches. Russia, asserted Ivan, had succeeded Byzantium as the Third Rome. Ivan IV continued the policy of expansion. He increased the power of the tsar by killing many of the boyars (nobility) — earning the name of Ivan the Terrible—on the charge of conspiracy.

 

Patterns of Expansion

Territorial expansion focused on central Asia. Russians moved across their region's vast plains to the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains. By the sixteenth century, they moved into Western Siberia. Peasant Cossacks (adventurers) were recruited to occupy the new lands. Loyal nobles and bureaucrats received land grants in the territories. The conquests gave Russia increased agricultural regions and labor sources. Slavery existed into the eighteenth century. Important trading connections opened with Asian neighbors. The Russian advance, along with that of the Ottomans to the south, eliminated independent central Asia as a source of nomadic invasions. Russia became a multicultural state. The large Muslim population was not forced to assimilate to Russian culture.

 

Western Contact and Romanov Policy

The tsars, mindful of the cultural and economic lag occurring under Mongol rule, also began a policy of carefully managed contacts with the West. Ivan III dispatched diplomatic missions to leading Western states; under Ivan IV, British merchants established trading contacts. Italian artists brought in by the tsars built churches and the Kremlin, creating a distinct style of architecture. When Ivan IV died without an heir early in the seventeenth century, the Time of Troubles commenced. The boyars tried to control government, while Sweden and Poland seized territory. In 1613, the boyars chose a member of the Romanov family, Michael, as tsar. The Time of Troubles ended without placing lasting constraints on the tsar's power. Michael restored internal order, drove out the foreign invaders, and recommenced imperial expansion. Russia secured part of Ukraine and pushed its southern border to Ottoman lands. Alexis Romanov increased the tsar's authority by abolishing the assemblies of nobles and restoring state control over the church. His desire to cleanse the church of changes occurring during the Mongol era created tensions because conservative believers resisted changes to their established rituals. The government exiled these "Old Believers" to Siberia or southern Russia.

 

Russia's First Westernization, 1690-1790

By the end of the seventeenth century, Russia, although remaining more of an agricultural state than most leading civilizations, was a great land empire. Peter I, the Great, continued past policies but added a new interest in changing the economy and culture through imitation of Western forms. It was the first Westernization effort in history. Peter traveled incognito to the West and gained an interest in science and technology. Many Western artisans returned with him to Russia.

 

Tsarist Autocracy of Peter the Great

Peter was an autocratic ruler; revolts were brutally suppressed. Reforms were initiated through state decrees. Peter increased the power of the state through recruitment of bureaucrats from outside the aristocracy and by forming a Western-type military force. A secret police was created to prevent dissent and watch over the bureaucracy. Foreign policy followed existing patterns. Hostilities with the Ottomans went on without gain. A successful war with Sweden gave Russia a window on the Baltic Sea, allowing it to be a major factor in European diplomatic and military affairs. Peter's capital, reflecting the shift of interests, moved to the Baltic city of St. Petersburg.

 

What Westernization Meant

Peter's reforms influenced politics, economics, and cultural change. The bureaucracy and military were reorganized on Western principles. The first Russian navy was created. The councils of nobles were eliminated and replaced by advisors under his control. Provincial governors were appointed from the center, while elected town councils were under royal authority. Law codes were systematized and the tax system reformed to increase burdens on the peasantry. In economic affairs, metallurgical and mining industries were expanded. Landlords were rewarded for using serfs in manufacturing operations. The changes ended the need to import for military purposes. Cultural reforms aimed at bringing in Western patterns to change old customs. Nobles had to shave their beards and dress in Western style. Peter attempted to provide increased education in mathematics and technical subjects. He succeeded in bringing the elite into the Western cultural zone. The condition of upper class women improved. The first effort in Westernization embodied features present in later ventures in other lands. The changes were selective; they did not involve ordinary people. No attempt was made to form an exporting industrial economy. Westernization meant to Peter the encouragement of autocratic rule. These changes brought resistance from all classes.

 

Consolidation Under Catherine the Great

Several decades of weak rule followed Peter's death in 1724. Significant change resumed during the reign of Catherine (1762-1796). She used the Pugachev peasant rebellion as an excuse to extend central government authority. Catherine was also a Westernizer and brought Enlightenment ideas to Russia, but centralization and strong royal authority were more important to her than Western reform was. She gave new power over serfs to the nobles in return for their service in the bureaucracy and military. Catherine continued patronage of Western art and architecture, but the French Revolution caused her to ban foreign and domestic political writings. Russian expansionist policies continued. Territories, including the Crimea on the Black Sea, were gained in central Asia from the Ottomans. Catherine pushed colonization in Siberia and claimed Alaska. Russian explorers went down the North American coast into northern California. In Europe, Catherine joined Prussia and Austria to partition Poland and end its independence. By the time of her death, Russia had completed an important transformation. Over three centuries the tsars created a strong central state ruling over the world's greatest land empire. New elements from the West had entered and altered Russia's economy and culture.

 

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