Changes And Continuities And Changes In Russia From 1480

     During this same time Peter the Great sought to ¡°westernize¡± Russia. An autocratic tsar who had absoluter power, he did not wish to share it with his royal court. He moved the capital to St. Petersburg, and absorbed western intellectual and cultural trends. He forced all his nobles to cut of their beards, and instructed them to learn modern Western dances. Russia historically had an autocratic tsar like Peter, + the nobles have no political clout in the government. However, the nobles in Russia are huge landowners and had enormous powers over the serfs on their estates. This economic power, b/c serfs were almost like slaves, made them wealthy + prosperous. Thus, although Peter the Great rules without the input of anyone else, the nobles were westernized under his rule + enjoyed power over their serfs and economic gains.

Peter the Great wanted to westernize Russia. He was eager to borrow European technology, the kind that could give him the army and navy he needed to make Russia a great power. Peter wanted to reorganize the army. He employed both Russians and Europeans as officers, built a standing army of 210,000 men, and formed the first Russian navy. Peter divided Russia into provinces in order to impose the rule of the government more effectively. He wanted to create a "police state," by which he meant a well-ordered community governed by law. After his trip to the West, he introduced Western customs, practices, and manners into Russia; he even ordered the preparation of the first Russian book of etiquette to teach Russians. He changed traditional Russian

Ivan IV, also known as “Ivan the Terrible,” lived from 1530 to 1584 and was the first Tsar of Russia. He officially reigned from the age of three; however, he did not have any real power until he crowned himself “Tsar” of Russia in 1547. He went on to conquer vast amounts of neighboring territories, eventually controlling the largest empire in the world at the time. In addition to increasing the Russian Tsardom’s size, he also completely restructured the political system. He took away all power from the noble boyar elite, and became an absolute monarch. This was good because the boyars at the time had been corrupt, and more interested in their personal interests than the interests of the state (Ivan the Terrible).

Russia before Peter the Great was disconnected from Europe and did not have the technology that the rest of the world had. This position was largely caused by the Mongol invasion of Russia around the 14th century. However, before the Mongol rule, the city-states of Kievan Rus predominated the region. This settlement was established when the Vikings began migrating from Scandinavia to the Black Sea, merging with the East Slavic people. Soon after the creation of Kievan Rus, they converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and began trade with the Byzantine Empire. About 250 years later, the Golden Horde began controlling Russia, cutting it off from the rest of the Europe. When the Russians finally broke free from Mongol rule around the 15th

Peter westernized Russia and embarked on the ideas , technology and culture from the west. He forced the landowning nobles to shave their traditional beards and wear western style clothes. Peter also passed laws ensuring that nobles retained control over their lands and the serfs that were tied to it. Peter expanded Russian territory on the Baltic Sea ( document 4) . Peter created a strong army out of nothing that was feared by all. When he died he left behind a fleet of 48 ships and a army with over 200,000 men. Even though Peter helped his country expand its territory his lack of initiative and enterprise remained one of Russia’s greatest social weaknesses (document

The first of these tsars, Ivan III, also known as “Ivan the Great”, defied Mongol control and declared the autonomy of Moscow. Ivan III was soon followed by Ivan IV, also known as “Ivan the Terrible”, who declared his power by pushing aside his advisors, crowning himself tsar and crushing boyars, who were Russian nobles. At first, Ivan’s reign was successful as he added vast new territories to the Russian empire. Later, after his wife’s death, Ivan’s power and prosperity declined because he started persecuting those whom he believed opposed him. This resulted in the execution of many nobles and their families, friends, servants and peasants, in which he replaced with a new service nobility, whose loyalty was “guaranteed by their dependent on the state for land and titles.” [1] Ivan the Terrible nor Ivan III were never absolute rulers- their ways of ruling just helped lay the foundation for Russian absolutism. After Ivan IV and his successor died, Russia entered a “Time of Troubles”, which lasted from 1598-1613, in which the peasant warrior bands known as Cossacks, rebelled against their nobles who fought back and defeated the Cossacks. Ivan’s grand-nephew, Michael Romanov, was soon elected by the Zensky Sober- a body of nobles, and placed efforts toward state-building. He was succeeded by “Peter the Great”, the Russian king that truly consolidated Russian

Russia emerged as a significant power during the 1500s through war. It fought its neighbors and expanded its territory aimlessly. Ivan the Terrible’s expansion brought him into contact with both Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Aiming to gain a port and outlet to the Baltic,

Ivan the Great was the first Russian Ruler to receive full independence for the Golden Horde. Since 1472 he payed no respect to the khan. Ivan unified Russia in 1472 and 1480. After he got married he ran into some ceremonial conflicts. Ivan the Great became to be know as the spokesman of Rome After he unified Russia he made the strength of the bond stronger than it was ever. His reign marks the beginning of Muscovite Russia. He assumed the title of 'Sovereign of all Russia', and adopted the emblem of the two-headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire. Ivan's refusal to share his conquests with his brothers, and his subsequent interference with the internal politics of their inherited principalities, involved him in several wars with them, from which, though the princes were assisted by Lithuania, he emerged victorious. inally, Ivan's new rule of government, formally set forth in his last will to the effect that the domains of all his kinsfolk, after their deaths, should pass directly to the reigning Grand Duke instead of reverting, as hitherto, to the princes' heirs, put an end once and for all to these semi-independent

Until the end of the 15th century, the vast territories to the west of the Ural Mountains, what is now known as the European part of Russia, were far from a single united state. Rather, it was a patchwork of small principalities ruled by different princes, united in their faith under the Russian Orthodox Church, but otherwise in fierce competition between themselves. The situation was complicated further by the Mongol overlords, requiring regular tributes ever since they conquered most of the Russian principalities back in the first half of the 13th century. On the other side, the Teutonic Knights and the Swedes, sensing the lack of power and unity from the Russians, tried to conquer the Russian lands closest to them. Squeezed between two formidable enemies, from East and West, the Russians had to fight for the very survival of

There culture has changed over the years with the heir to a different king or queen of the family. Some king are very successful, some are just outright awful to the point where they cause a revolution to force to change the country. Russia has always been considered to a powerful nation, before WWI, Russia owned several nations, before being forced to give them up after the loss in WWI. A lot of the countries do not exist or have there own sovereignty. One key piece that did shape Russia into the way It is, has to be when during the Russian revolution.

In 1237 Batu Khan launched an invasion into Kievan Rus '. Over the next three years the Mongols destroyed almost all of the major cities. For the next century or so it was pretty quiet. Around the 14th century, the city of Moscow started growing in influence. To show the city 's importance the patriarchate of Russian Orthodox Church moved to the city. In 1598, Boris Godunov was made Tsar. Following this, invading armies from Poland led by people claiming to be Dmitre failed to take Moscow. In June of 1812, Napoleon began his Russian invasion. An army of half a million started the march to Moscow. The Russians knew they couldn 't take the army head on and decided to mount a defensive campaign of strategic retreat, devastating the land as they fell back and harassing the flanks of the French. By September the French army had been reduced by two thirds. When Napoleon 's army arrived in Moscow on September the 14, they found it depopulated and void of resources. That night buildings in Moscow caught fire leaving the French troops without shelter. By the time the troops returned, only ten thousand men survived. This war ensured Russia 's status as a power in Europe after Napoleon. In 1894 Nicholas II took the throne. He wasn 't the smartest leader, and his ministers were almost all reactionaries. In 1905 the Japanese attacked Russia. Russia suffered several defeats that dissolved any

Even though Russia wasn’t founded until 25 December 1991, its history traces back to the 9th century. During this period, the first signs of the country’s infrastructure began. Creation of trade routes enabled empires being supplied, while leading to the country’s growth. When the 10th century hit, we got the first mention of Moscow. At the time, Moscow was a small settlement that would soon become the pre-eminent city in Russia (A Brief History of Russia). By the 15th century, Moscow became the capital of, which consequently became, Russia. Moreover, in the centuries that would follow, Russia would battle through many wars, variety of leaders who wanted to take the country in different directions, weak infrastructure, communism, and failures of economic growth.

The Russian Revolution was supposed to bring about change for the better and be a fantastic new beginning for the troubled state of Russia. However, the concept of a revolution is sometimes a lot more appealing than the actual results of a revolution. Revolutions never occur without hurting a certain group of people, which goes without saying, but they also try to better life for other groups. The Russian Revolution seemed to cause much pain and misery, but the benefits from this revolution appeared to be few if any. Nobles, who once had incredible power and prestige, were then stripped to single room houses and bitter cold because

There was a time from the 14th century to the 17th century, that a particular movement flourished and was at it’s highest. This happens to be the Renaissance. The Renaissance is a cultural movement that begun in Italy and later spread to parts of Europe, and continued spreading to the rest of Europe. Yet, to be more specific, the Renaissance spread to places like Hungary, The Netherlands, and Poland. But in this case, we’ll be talking about Russia and how the effect of the Renaissance played a part in Russia during the 14th and 17th century.

Territorial expansion into new lands had been one of the most important political agendas of the Russian Tsar since the time of Ivan IV (r.1533-84), but the