How Western Was Russia

The impact of the Mongol conquest of both the Islamic heartlands and Russia was extensive and long lasting. After the Mongol conquests into the regional cities of Russia, they established a long run for two and a half centuries. Russians had to pay tribute and turn over all their goods to the Mongol overlords. These peasants essentially became serfs as they were giving their goods for protection in turn. On the other hand, Moscow prospered despite being destroyed during the conquests. With its rebuilding, it became the tribute center for the Mongol lords, and the center for the Orthodox Church. To

To begin with, perhaps, due to the historical remoteness of the period of his reign, scrutinized through the prism of our contemporary perspective, the image of Ivan III (ruled from 1462 to1505) , despite having exerted significant impact on the development of the Russian monarchical figure, is still, to a certain extent, entwined in obscurity. Born in tumultuous times, when Moscovy was under Tatar rule, thanks to his military prowess and flexible diplomatic skills he managed to regain control over the vast Rus’ lands, whilst establishing Muscovy a dominant position in comparison to the other regions and managed to lay the groundwork of a centralized Russian state. Even though some of the reforms he intended to introduce later, for example, the secularization of church lands, did not succeed and his form of rule remained of a

Once Mongol power declined in the 14th and 15th centuries, Moscow surfaced as Russia’s new capital. The first Tsar (ruler) of the Russians, Grand Duke Ivan IV, was crowned in 1547. In 1618, Michael I, the first of the Romanovs, was crowned tsar. Russia continued to expand throughout Siberia in the 17th century to the Pacific Ocean. Under the rule of Peter the Great, from 1682-1725, Russia’s power was extended to the Baltic Sea, and its capital shifted to the newly founded city of Saint Petersburg; a move that has been described as a "window opened upon Europe” to replace its long-standing cultural and economic center, Moscow. By the turn of the 18th century, the Russians had expanded their empire further into Europe and Asia (Gall, 2012).

Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west shaped his views in a major. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilization and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor III” (Britannica

     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.

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).

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

Though it may sound heartless and selfish, the needs and aims of countries usually are the primary factor controlling their foreign relations. During the period of the czars, from 1547 to 1917, Russia’s need for land and modernization shaped its relationships with Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire, causing Russia’s leaders to respect and imitate Western Europe while competing with the European powers to fill the power vacuum of the failing Ottoman Empire.

As an enlightened despot, it was common for rulers to change every law and policy possible in order to make life better for their people as according to enlightenment ideals. The ruler was seen as being in charge only to serve the people (Document 3). The ruler was to put the needs of his people before the needs of himself, and could not do anything that would harm them (Document 4). In Russia, this was prominent amongst rulers. Peter the Great believed and acted on these ideas. He offered rights to the serfs in order to help them and made it so that anyone, no matter of their social standing, would suffer the same consequences for breaking the laws (Document 10, 6). According to Document 3, “the ruler and the ruled can be happy only if they are firmly united.” This shows how the people expected their rulers in this time to meet their needs to make them happy and to help them flourish as a

Finally, Peter the Great reformed Russia by reorganizing the country’s economic structure and altering the social scene to mirror Western culture. Historically, Russia was an agricultural country whose tiny middle class took on the tax burdens of the exempt nobility. After traveling abroad, Peter the Great saw the need for internal reform, wanting to apply ideas of western mercantilism to stimulate economic growth by developing industry and commerce. For “When Russian

Tristan Maracha Mr. McKinney Global 10 December 18, 2014 Peter the Great What is an absolute monarch? This is a form of government in which the ruling monarch has absolute power amongst the people.

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.

The reforms and westernization of Peter the Great made Russia a more modern and stronger power in Europe under his rule and until his death in 1725. Peter was a powerful and forceful leader with a vision. He wanted to westernize Russia and bring the state to a more modern era in order to compete with Europe for goods and services.

For three centuries before the revolution, life in Russia was not peaceful. It was cold, hard, and bitter instead. “The end of serfdom was a major event in Russia; yet it just wasn 't enough.”, in 1861. Serfdom, under feudalism, is the the status of peasants in which they are bound to a lord, or master, works on their land, and can be sold like property. Despite serfs being given ‘freedom’, Russia was mostly ruled by the czar and nobles. The average person was, and stayed, poor. Therefore, World War I was not the main cause of the Russian revolution. This outdated feudal class structure, inability to modernize, lack of peace, and czars’ inept leaderships lead to the Russian Revolution.