Renaissance Influence On Russia

A main reason for the differences of Western Europe and Russia is their initial time periods. The beginning of the uprising of Western Europe is in 476 AD once the Western Roman Empire finally came to an end. More than 400 years after the spark of Western Europe, Russian civilization would begin. By that time, Vikings had already ravaged Europe, Germans had invaded and ruled England, and Charlemagne had stabilized Western Europe and brought peace to his kingdom and the surrounding regions during his reign. Russia would only begin to be influenced by Christianity until the late 10th century.

The instant consequences to the emancipation of the serfs left Russia crippled, ironic, when alleged that it intended to advance Russia’s status. Many historians argue that despite abolishing serfdom, the means in which it was carried out didn’t coincide with reality. Subsequently, there were many riots which caused a rise of political groups such as Narodnik movement whose existence proves that Russian society was changing. Disorder spread with calls for change within Russia like In May 1862 where a number of pamphlets were issued including the radical Young Russia. Such propaganda aimed to gain support and create challenging individuals which would pressure the Tsar to make further changes. One could argue that as a result this led to the 1905 revolution and the end of Tsardom.

Nicholas II was known, not only for being the Emperor of Russia but also for his character and personality which undoubtably led him to his own downfall. Nicholas was often referred to as not being ready to become Tsar as well as being a weak leader. Firstly, Nicholas II himself, amongst a very large proportion of Russian society, believed that he was not prepared to be coronated Emperor. Nicholas himself stated “What is going to happen to me and all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.”. (Russian Revolution Quotations 2015). Nicholas was aware of what he was getting himself into and that he was not prepared for such a role. This is further corroborated by the

The introduction of Christianity into Russia spurred the development of the country’s fine arts. For 600 years, Christian forms of art dominated Russian painting, music, architecture, and literature. Russian artists, however, applied their unique vision and dramatically altered the style imported so it became their own. Especially in painting, the blending of foreign influences with native genius produced some of the world’s most beautiful icons. In the early 15th century Andrey Rublyov, one the greatest of

     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.

During the 1900’s the Russian Government made it extremely hard for the Bolsheviks to progress which made them revolt against the government making this a prime matter for the start of the Revolution. The Czarist government was ostracized by the common people of Russia so Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Provisional Government, whom later on were overthrown by Lenin and shortly after the Bolsheviks took control over Russia. Russia was hard to develop because of the major leaders who had control; Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. Almost overnight an entire society was destroyed and replaced with one of the most radical social experiments ever seen. Poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism

The renaissance is defined as the “rebirth” of civilization in Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries (General Characteristics of the Renaissance). A renewed interest of classical world spread from its beginning in Italy, north to Germany and

The people saw a time of unification and of increased economic profits.  For about 175 years, the Russian Empire experienced a little bit of everything, from Industrialization to revolutions, to social changes, to numerous wars. At the beginning of this time period, the Russians found themselves struggling with some of the most basic things the rest of Europe had--roads.  Russia had been lacking the infrastructure to connect its' large territory, and help bridge the gaps between the people in the empire.  Not only that, but after all of the famines and other difficulties Russia was having, there was a large migration into urban areas, leaving many places along the countryside to fend for themselves.  And the peasants in these areas were often burdened with such heavy taxes, they could not afford to feed their own family, let alone get to a market in an attempt to make a

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,

This production most likely strengthened Russian industry and the military. Peter I’s Table of Ranks was a formal list of government and military promotions based on various titles and honorifics, with the statement “To attain these ranks, nobles had to serve in the civil service or military” (Doc 3). This suggests that promotions were no longer hereditary, but based on merit, so anyone could work their way up the hierarchy with enough hard work and skill. The boyars most likely resented this new system because they could no longer rely on their bloodlines to move up the bureaucratic hierarchy.

Before there was a rebirth in Europe, there was instability that resulted into deaths, famine, and destruction. Therefore, the renaissance played a crucial role in Europe, specifically in Italy. The renaissance would be defined as a cycle where Europe practiced a rebirth of antiquity based on the Greeks and Roman culture. For instance, the people of Italian Europe studied religion and the Northern people established several teachings of learning on topics of technology, philosophy, and science. Wherefore, the social status of artists changed since advanced ideas of art was always available in Europe l throughout the Renaissance. This had an impact on the church to be more stabilized because of how their power was drained in the past. In addition,

Three ways Russia differed from Western European counties was one, the religions . As you may know Europe was very catholic but Russia was not. Russia mainly followed the religion of Orthodox Christians which was very different from the Catholic religion. Two, Russia was ruled buy Czar till late 1800s Western Europe was never ruled by Czar. This is different because they had two different rulers and that heavily impacted the ways of the counties.

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.

Italy began the Renaissance because of its “cultural advantage, as it connected the East and the West. Trade between the two sides created trade-rich cities, which in turn became affluent city-states.

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.