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__RUSSIA__   1450 C.E **. 1462 //Much of Russia freed from Tatars by Ivan the great// 1480 //Moscow region free; Russian expansion presses south// 1533-1584 //Ivan IV was first to emphasize the title of tsar, boyar power reduced// 1552-1556 //Russia expansion in central Asia, western Siberia// 1604-1613 //Time of Troubles// 1613-1917 //Romanov dynasty// 1637 //Russian pioneers to Pacific// 1649 //Law enacted making serfdom hereditary// 1689-1725 //Peter the great// 1700-1721 //Wars with Sweden// 1703 //Founding of St. Petersburg// 1762-1796 //Catherine the Great// 1733-1775 //Pugachev revolt// 1772,1793,1795 //Partition of Poland// 1785 //Law enacted tightening landlord power over serfs//
 * Timeline [|Russia's Complete Timeline]
 * 1600 C.E. **
 * 1750 C.E. **

By the time of the goloden age of the Qing Dynasty, the Russian empire had expanded eastward to the Pacific coast. Russia expanded to a point where it curves around the North Pole in a huge arc; Russia (The Russian Confederation) spans almost half the globe from east to west and about 4,000 kilometers from north to south. Divided into eleven time zones, Russia is by far the world's largest country. It occupies much of Eastern Europe and northern Asia. The country's terrain is diverse, with many forests, numerous mountain ranges, and vast plains. On and below the surface of the land are extensive reserves of natural resources that provide the nation with enormous potential wealth. =**__Russia's Social Life__**= Russia's society differed greatly from the west. It focused mainly on serfdom and a deep-rooted peasant culture. In Russia, landed nobles tended tobe divided between a majority of great magnates, who lived in major cities and provided key cultural patronage, and smaller landowners, whose culture was less westernized and whose lifestyle was much less opulent. ** A. Serfdom ** During the 17th and 18th centuries, the power of the nobility over the serfs increased steadily. After the expulsion of the tsars, increasing numbers of Russian peasants fell into debt and had to accept servile status to the noble landowners when they could not repay. The Russian government encouraged this process from the 16th century and on. Serfdom gave the the government a way to satisfy the nobility and regulate peasants when the government itself lacked the bureaucratic means to extend controls over the common people. By 1800, half of Russia's peasantry was ensefred to the landlords. An act in 1649 fixed the hereditary status of serfs, so that people born to that station could not legally escape it. Russia's system of serfdom was very close to slavery. Serfs were able to be bought and sold, gambled away, and punished by their masters. Serfs on the estates of eastern Europe were taxed and policed by their lamdlords. In Russia, whole villages were sold as manufacturing labor- a process that Peter the Great actively encouraged. Most peasants were illiterate and poor. They paid high taxes, and they owed extensive labor service to the landlords or the government. The labor obligation tended to increase steadily. The economic and legal situation of the peasantry continued to deteriorate. A law of 1785 allowed landlords to punish harshly any serfs convicted of major crimes or rebellion. [|Serfdom in Russia] ** B. Trade ** In between serfs and landlords, there were few layers of Russian society. Cities were small, and 95 percent of the population remained rural. Small merchant groups existed as well, although most of Russia's European trade was handeled by Westerners. Russia's social and economic system worked together in many respects. Russia was able to trade in furs and commodities with areas in central Asia outside it's boundaries, which meant that its export economy was not totally oriented toward the more dynamic West. It underwrote the aristocratic magnates and their glittering, westernized culture. Despite periodic famines and epidemics, the overall economy had advanced. ** C. Social Unrest ** Russia's economic and social system led to protest. By the end of the 18th century, a small but growing number of Western- oriented aristocrats such as Radishev were critizing the regime's backwardness, urging measures as far- reaching as the abolition of serfdom. Russian peasants for the most part were politically loyal to the tsar, but they harbored bitter resentments against their landlords, whom they accused of taking lands that were rightfully theirs. Periodic rebellions saw peasants destroy manorial records, seize land, and sometimes kill landlords and their officials. Peasant rebellions had occurred from the 17th century onward but the the Pugachev rebellion was one of the strongest. Pugachev promised an end to serfdom, taxation, and military conscription. His forces roamed over southern Russia until they were finally defeated. Pugachev was brought to Moscow in a case and cut into quarters in a public square.
 * __Russia's Geography__ **

[|Pugachev rebellion]

__** Russia's Politics

[|Russia's Politcal Leaders] **__ The Romanov dynasty, was a family which ruled Russia for a very long time. For the first few generations, the Romanovs were happy to maintain the statuesque in Russia. They continued to centralize power, but they did very little to bring Russia up to speed with the rapid changes in economic and political life that were taking place elsewhere in Europe. Peter the Great decided to change all of that. the Western military organization, Peter created a specially trained fighting force that put down local militias. Furthermore, he set up a secret police to prevent dissent and to supervise the bureaucracy.This secret police survived to the 1990s, under different names and with changning functions. Peter warred with Sweden, and gained territory on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, thus providing Russia with a large ice-free port. From this time on, Russia became a major factor in European diplomatic and military alignments. The tsar honored Russia's shift of interests westward by moving his capital from Moscow to a new Baltic city that he named St. Petersburg.
 * - Peter I, also known as Peter the Great **
 * ​ **Peter the Great was born in 1672 and he died in 1725. Peter was tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725. His self-given title was Peter the Great though he was officially Peter I. Peter the Great was a vigorous leader of exceptional knowledge and ruthless energy. He extended his predeccessors' policies of building up tsarist control and expanding Russian territory. Peter added more definite interest in changing selected aspects of Russian economy and culture by imitating Western forms. He traveled widely in the West, seeking Western allies for a crusade against Turkish power in Europe. Peter was clearly an autocrat. He enhanced the power of the Russian state by using it as a reform force, trying to show that even aristocratic habits could be modified by state decree. In addition, Peter extended an earlier policy of recruiting bureaucrats from

Peter tried to streamline Russia's small bureaucracy and alter military structure by using Western organizational principles. He developed a more well-defined military hierarchy in addition to improving the army's weaponry and he created the first Russian Navy. Peter completely eliminated the old noble councils, creating a set of advisors under his control. His ministers extended the law codes and revised the tax system, with taxes on ordinary Russian peasants increasing steadily. Peter's economic interests focused mainly on building up metallurgical and mining industries, using Russia's extensive iron holdings to feed state-run munitions and shipbuilding facilities. All of Peter's reforms changed the Russian economy. Landlords were rewarded for using serf labor to staff new manufacturing operations. This gave Russia the internal economic means to maintain a substantial military presence for almost two centuries. Peter wanted economic development to support military strength rather than to achieve wider commercial goals.

Peter was eager to do many things while he was in power. He wanted to cut the Russian elite off from its traditions, to enhance state power, to commit the elite to new identities, in addition to making Russia culturally respectable in Western eyes. Peter forced the Russians to change many of their traditions and cultures, supplementing bureaucratic training. Overall, Peter built Russia into a Western cultural zone, and Western fads and fashions extended easily into the glittering new capital city. However, many peasants resented the westernized airs and expenses of their landlords, and elements of the elite opposed Peter's thirst for change, arguing that Russian traditions were superior to those of the West. Peter the Great died in 1725, after which there were several decades of weak rule in Russia.

- Catherine the Great [|Catherine the Great] She was known as Catherine II until her reign over Russia from June 28th, 1762 to November, 17th 1796. Catherine took power after a conspiracy deposed her husband, Peter III (1728–1762), and her reign saw the high point in the influence of the Russian nobility. Catherine was a centralizer and certainly an advocate of a strong tsarit hand. Like Peter the Great, Catherine was also a selective westernizer, summoning various reform commisions to discuss new law codes and other Western-style measures. Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its administration, and continued to westernize. Catherine’s rule re-vitalized Russia, which grew ever stronger and became recognized as one of the great powers of Europe. During her reign Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward and westward to absorb New Russia, Crimea, Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powers – the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Her successes in complex foreign policy and her sometimes brutal reprisals in the wake of rebellion (most notably Pugachev’s Rebellion) complemented her hectic private life. She frequently occasioned scandal — given her propensity for relationships which often resulted in gossip flourishing within more than one European court. Catherine, throughout her long reign, took many lovers, often elevating them to high positions for as long as they held her interest, and then pensioning them off with large estates and gifts of serfs.

By the time of Catherine's death in 1796, Russia had passed through three centuries of extraordinary devlopment. It had won independence and constructed a strong central state, though one that had to maintain a balance with the local political and economic interests of a powerful nobility. It had brought new elements into Russia's culture and economy, in part by borrowing from the West. Furthermore, it gained control over the largest land empire in the world.

In the 9th century, a Scandinavian migratory group named the Varangians settled in an Eastern region of Europe known as Russia. At this time, Russia was a collection of divided cities. The Varangian's warrior leader Rurik, settled in Novgorod and his succesor Oleg expanded southward into Kiev. From Kiev, Russia was unified as an empire in 882AD which lasts for hundreds of years. In 989AD, Vladimir the First forces Russia to adopt the Greek Orthodoxy as the official religion. This allows Russia to ally with Byzantium and Constantiople. As the Russians adopt the Cryllic alphabet from the church, Russia remains seperated from western Europe. Between the 9th and 13th centuries, the first stone and wooden churches are constructed. Byzantine icons and fresco paintings are introduced to Russia and over 100 handicraft industries are developed. Mongol Influence In the 13th century, the Kievan Rus' try to maintain power, but the ferocious Mongol tribes overcome them. The Mongols (Golden Horde) took control of Russia, however regional princes are spared. The regional princes are forced to extract regular tribute and supply the Mongols with them. This tributary system limits economic mobility and poverty is abundant among peasants for many years. Under Mongol rule, there is a revival of religious art in Russia. Because the Mongol threat was a devastating and depressing one, people were often inspired to look toward religion for spiritual guidance and support. Iconography and fresco paintings recieved greater interest and value. The Russian language also started to change due to the mongol presence. People borrowed from the Mongol and turkish languages and these contributions helped to form the modern russian language. Around the 14th century, northeastern cities started to become influential, most notably **Moscow.** The Eastern Orthodox church moved to Moscow thereby making it Russia's official capital. By 1480, Moscow became strong enough to free the city of Mongol rulership. Romanov Influence In 1682, Peter the great became tsar of Russia and made significant cultural contributions. Peter the great worked extensively to **westernize** Russia. Peter observed the advancements and progressive lifestyle that Europe enjoyed. Looking back at Russia, he felt almost as if Western Europe put them to shame. Peter the great then established an acedemy of sciences that was based on western european knowledge. He also simplified the russian alphabet, introduced arabic numerals, and authorized the publishing of Russia's first newspapers. Peter the great even went as far as having men shave their **//traditional//** russian beards and adopt European styles of fashion. Peter the great held the idea of Russia being a great modenized power that mirrored western concepts and themes. He believed Russia could obtain this only if they left behind traditional and archaic values. His radical ideas would be further persued by that of Catherine the Great.
 * __ Russia's Culture __**