Comprehensive Vocabulary for Russian History 90A Final Exam

Volga

Europe's longest river and Russia's most important commercial waterway.

Caspian Sea

the body of water into which the Volga empties.

Ural Mountains

the dividing line between Asiatic and European Russia.

South Caucasus (AKA Transcaucasia)

the region comprised of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, all of which were part of the Russian Empire until 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Central Asia

the region comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, all of which were part of the Russian Empire until 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Bulgaria

a country that was never part of the Russian Empire, although its language is Slavic.

East Slavic

a language group formed by Russian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian.

West Slavic

a language group formed by Polish, Czech, and Slovak.

South Slavic

a language group subdivided into Western (Slovenian, Serbian, and Croatian) and Eastern (Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Old Church Slavonic).

Vladimir Propp

(1895 - 1970) a folklorist who analyzed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their structural units. He published "Morphology of the Folktale" in 1928.

Baba Yaga

a witch who flies around with a broom, lives in the forest in a house on fowl legs, and is known to eat small children. Her most famous line is, "I smell Russian flesh/spirit!"

Alexander Afanasyev

(1826 - 1871) a Russian ethnographer who studied Slavic folk beliefs, myths, and fairy tales. He published a collection called "Russian Fairy Tales," as well as "Russian Folk Religious Legends," the latter of which was banned in Russia due to censorship and was deemed blasphemous by the Orthodox church.

Batu Khan

Genghis Khan's grandson who attacked Rus in the 1200s. His forces captured Riazan in 1237 and Kiev in 1240. Novgorod was NOT captured.

Novgorod

this city was NOT captured by the Mongols led by Batu Khan in 1240; it is also known for its influential veche and boyars, who were more powerful than its princes.

Golden Horde

(1200s - 1500s) a term referring to the Mongols, their territory, and the people they ruled.

Battle of Kulikovo

(1380) the first Russian victory over the Mongols, which raised hopes that the Mongols could be overthrown.

1480

the year in which Mongol rule officially ended in Russia, under the leader Ivan III.

Moscow

the city that became powerful in the 1300s, just as the Mongols were losing influence.

1453

the year in which Constantinople (and the official Byzantine Empire) fell.

Ivan III

(r. 1462 - 1505) the Grand Prince of Moscow known as the Gatherer of Russian Lands. He was in charge of Russia when the Mongol rule ended in 1480.

Ivan I

a politically skilled and financially savvy prince from Moscow, known by the nickname Ivan Kalita, or "moneybags."

Ivan IV

(r. 1547 - 1584) known as Ivan the Terrible, this tsar expanded Russia to the East; conquered the khans of Kazan and Astrakhan; fought the Livonian War for 20 years; and started the oprichnina (his secret police). He was the first Russian monarch to claim the title "tsar" outright, asserting his authority over other princes in Russia.

Sudebnik

(1550) Ivan IV's law code, which sought to centralize government and church power in Moscow, partially to combat corruption - but mostly to give Ivan more power. It was largely a judicial code, which revised a similar code from 1497, instituted by Ivan III.

oprichnina

from the word for "separated," this domain consisted of policemen who served Ivan IV. They wore black gowns, rode black horses, carried brooms "to sweep away treachery," and held dogs' heads "to show that they were ready to savage their enemies."

Fyodor

(r. 1584 - 1598) Ivan IV's son who inherited the throne from his father and died without an heir, ending the Rurikid dynasty. His death caused the Time of Troubles (1598 - 1613).

Time of Troubles

(1598 - 1613) a turbulent era in which Russia lacked strong leaderships and experienced war and famine. It ended with the election of Mikhail Romanov.

Boris Godunov

(r. 1598 - 1605) a boyar and advisor to Ivan IV and Fyodor who was chosen by a zemskii sobor to rule after Fyodor's death. Although he was a competent ruler, his reign was marred by famines and strife (the former of which killed 1/3 of the Russian population), so he was hated by the Russian people. Soon after his death, Pseudo Dmitri I seized the throne.

Peter I

(r. 1682 - 1725) AKA Peter the Great, this ruler westernized Russia, built St. Petersburg, reorganized the army, created a meritocracy through the Table of Ranks, imposed a beard tax, simplified the Russian alphabet, decreased the power of the Orthodox church, and started the Russian navy.

The Grand Embassy

Peter I's "study-abroad" trip to Europe in which he attempted to travel incognito (though people recognized him easily, because of his height). It ended in 1698, when Peter returned to Russia to quash a streltsy (Russian infantry) revolt.

Table of Ranks

(1722) Peter I's system that outlined fourteen parallel ranks for state service (military, government, and court), turning Russia into a meritocracy, where people could ascend social ranks based on qualifications and not birth.

Catherine II

(r. 1762 - 1796) AKA Catherine the Great, this ruler married Peter I's grandson, Peter III, whom she assassinated to take the throne for herself.

Paul I

(r. 1796 - 1801) Catherine II's paranoid son, who ruled briefly after her death and was known as the Russian Hamlet. His relationship with his mother was about as good as that nickname implies.

Alexander I

(r. 1801 - 1825) Catherine II's grandson and Paul I's son, who was raised by Catherine in the Enlightenment. His appearance meant he was often compared to an angel.

Nicholas I

(r. 1825 -1855) Alexander I's younger brother and Catherine II's grandson, whose ascension to the throne incited the Decembrist Revolt in 1825. He hated aristocracy and liberalism and should be associated with these three core beliefs Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality.

Alexander II

(r. 1855 - 1881) a ruler best known for emancipating the serfs in 1861, though he also reformed zemstvos (loacl governments), the judicial system, and the military, largely based on Western principles. Despite all these reforms, he held tenaciously onto autocracy.

Nicholas II

(r. 1894 - 1917) Russia's last tsar.

Battle of Borodino

(Sep. 7, 1812) the most significant battle of the Patriotic War of 1812, when Napoleon invaded Russia and fought against General Kutuzov. Oddly, both sides consider this battle a victory.

Decembrist Revolt

(1825) this aristocratic conspiracy occurred after Alexander I died and the throne bypassed his brother Constantine to the youngest brother Nicholas I. Most people involved were well-educated, liberal landowners, following in Catherine the Great's tradition of the Enlightenment, hoping for a liberal transformation into a constitutional monarchy "from above." Their goal was to force Nicholas to abdicate and Constantine to take over. However, the revolt was crushed, over 1,000 people were killed and 100 of the leaders were arrested and sent to Siberia for hard labor, while five were hanged.

zemstvos

a term for local governments.

Realism

a literary genre popular in the second half of the 1800s, exemplified by writers such as Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov.

Romanticism

a literary genre popular in the first half of the 1800s, exemplified by writers such as Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol.

Mikhail Lomonosov

(1711 - 1765) a reforming poet and polymath who co-founded Moscow University and outlined three language styles: 1) sublime (Church Slavonic); 2) medium (Slavonic and Russian); and 3) low (colloquial Russian).

Nikolai Karamzin

(1766 - 1826) a poet, prose fiction writer, journalist, translator, and historian, who wrote the best-selling novel "Poor Liza" (1792) and "The History of the Russian State," which chronicled up to 1612.

Alexander Pushkin

(1799 - 1837) the poet, playwright, novelist, and historian credited as the creator of the modern Russian language and literature. Some of his most famous works include "Boris Godunov," "Eugene Onegin," "The Bronze Horseman," and "The Captain's Daughter," the latter of which is a historical novel about the Pugachev Rebellion.

Mikhail Lermontov

(1814 - 1841) a poet and prose fiction writer best down for his poem "Death of a Poet" and the novella "A Hero of Our Time," which is a classic of Russian realism.

Nikolai Gogol

(1809 - 1852) a prose fiction author and comedy playwright who often wrote magically-realistic satires, such as "The Dead Souls," "The Government Inspector," and "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka."

Ivan Turgenev

(1818 - 1883) the author of "Father's and Sons" and "A Sportman's Sketches," the former of which was the first Russian novel popular in the west.

Feodor Dostoevsky

(1821 - 1881) a novelist who served exile in a prison camp for four years. His main stories are "Crime and Punishment," "The Idiot," "Brothers Karamazov," and "The Possessed."

Lev Tolstoy

(1828 - 1910) praised as the greatest novelist in the world, though he only wrote three: "War and Peace," "Anna Karenina," and "Resurrection."

Russian White Romanesque

an architectural style popular from the 900s to the 1200s. It is rather plain but aesthetically pleasing. Examples include St. Sophia in Kiev, Intercession on the Nerl, and St. Sophia in Novgorod.

Italy

this country sent many architects to Russia, influencing the style of construction from the 1400s to the 1500s (especially the Kremlin cathedrals: the Dormition Cathedral, Annunciation Cathedral, Cathedral of the Archangel, Ivan the Great Bell Tower, and St. Basil's Cathedral).

Moscow Baroque

along with Neoclassicalism, this was a popular architectural style from the 1600s to the 1700s. It is known for its ornate, busy facades and exteriors. Examples include the Winter Palace and the Church of the Savior on Blood.

nave

a central part of a Christian church that stretches from the main entrance to the transept of the apse (the longest part of the T).

apse

the semicircular termination to a part of a building, which usually holds the altar (the top of the t).

transept

the part or "arm" that crosses the nave of the church at a right angle to produce a cross shape (the cross on the t).

Neoclassical

an architectural style popular in the 1800s, resembling the Vatican in Rome, with many columns and stony exteriors.

Kazan Cathedral

(1801 - 1811) a Neoclassical building designed by Andrei Voronikhin, which resembles the Vatican in Rome, with its semi-circular arch of columned buildings.

Winter Palace

(1754 - 1762) a Baroque building designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli and designed for Tsar Elizabeth.

Church of the Savior-on-Blood

a church built in the Russian Revival style where Alexander II was assassinated. It resembles St. Basil's Cathedral but is located alongside a river, rather than in the Red Square.

Domostroi

a detailed instruction manual from the 1500s on Russian household management.

synod

a council of a church; an assembly of the clergy.

Russkaia Pravda

(1016) Russia's first legal code, instituted under Yaroslav the Wise.

zemsky sobor

a council of boyars and representatives of other classes.

serf

an unfree person who, historically, could be sold only with the land to which they were "attached."

Livonian War

(1558 - 1583) the war Ivan IV led in order to seize a territory in modern-day Latvia and Estonia, which would give Russia access to the Baltic Sea. The war dragged on for years, because of the strength of Polish-Lithuania and the distraction caused by Tatar raids on Russia's southern border. In the end, Russia lost territory to Poland and Sweden, rather than gaining anything.

Thirteen Years' War

(1654 - 1667) the Russo-Polish war that was spurred on by Russian intervention in Ukraine's revolt against Polish rule in the late 1640s.

Great Northern War

(1709) the war in which Peter the Great fought against and defeated Sweden, Estonia, and Livonia, in order to gain access to the Baltic Sea.

Battle of Poltava

(1709) a decisive Russian victory against the Swedish that established Russia as a major European power. Afterwards, foreign rulers became anxious to improve their ties with Russia through regular diplomatic relations and dynastic marriages. Ensuing marriages strengthened Russia's position in the Baltic

February Revolution

(1917) the revolution in which a group of protestors marched on the capital to bring attention to bread shortages and call for the tsar's abdication. They were mostly women, spurred by International Women's Day. Over the next several days, the protest intensified, as more people joined the protestors - including the troops meant to keep order in the capital. In just over a week, Nicholas II agreed to abdicate, making the entire event fairly swift and bloodless.

October Revolution

(1917) the revolution that put the Bolsheviks in charge when they ousted the provisional government.

Vladimir Monomakh

(r. 1113-25) a Kievan prince and the grandson of Yarsolav the Wise, whose son saw the dissolution of Kievan Rus. He is best known for writing the Pouchenie, warning his sons not to fall into princely strife.

Vladimir the Great

(r. 980-1015) the Kievan prince responsible for the Christianization of Russia in 988. He selected this religion mostly for the aesthetic, and also because he wanted to marry a Byzantine princess.

Yaroslav the Wise

(r. 1016-54) a Kievan prince and the son of Vladimir the Great, who mandated the Russkaia Pravda, Rus' first legal code.

Yaropolk Svitoslavitch

(r. 972 - 978/80) the death of this ruler's father threw his siblings into civil war and strife. After all his brothers were killed, he became the sole ruler of Rus.

Minin and Pozharsky

a butcher and minor prince, respectively, who started an army of the people to take back Moscow from Polish occupation from 1611 - 1612, during the Time of Troubles.

Sergei Prokofiev

(1891 - 1953) along with Shostakovich, a Soviet Avant-garde composer, who died on the same day as Stalin and wrote the music scores to the Eisenstein films we watched for this class ("Ivan the Terrible" and "Alexander Nevsky").

Mikhail Glinka

(1804 - 1857) the "founding father of Russian classical music." He was the first Russian composer to become internationally famous and cultivated an intentionally "Russian" style of composing. His work falls under the label of Early Romanticism, and his "The Patriotic Song" (1833) became the official Russian anthem from 1991 to 2000. He also composed operas.

Alexander Borodin

(1833 - 1887) one of The Mightly Handful, who wrote an opera based on "The Tale of Igor's Campaign." He died before he could complete it, so Rimsky-Korsakov finished it for him.

Ivan Kireevsky

(1806-1856) the Slavophile who wrote "On the Nature of European Culture and Its Relation to the Culture of Russia," which was published in 1852. He strongly believed in the benefits of Orthodoxy on Russian culture and the spirituality of the people.

Pyotr Chaadaev

(1794-1856) the Westernizer whose first "Philosophical Letter" catalyzed the Westernizers-Slavophiles movement. He wrote a total of eight philosophical letters, all in French, claiming that Russia had contributed nothing of value to civilization and that Peter the Great's policies could advance the country.

Slavophiles

those who believed that Russia was better before it was Westernized; supported Orthodoxy; idealized the peasant commune; and worked to protect traditional Russian culture.

Westernizers

those who believed that Peter I helped Russia by Westernizing it; supported industrialization; imagined that Russia had to "catch up" to Europe; and insisted that Russia had not contributed to culture or civilization.

Sobornoe Ulozhenie

(1649) a Russian legal code that formally established serfdom and replaced the 1550 Sudebnik. It was passed by Tsar Alexei (Peter the Great's father).

Dormition Cathedral

one of the Kremlin cathedrals; the mother church, coronation place, and main cathedral of the Moscow Patriarch.

Annunciation Cathedral

one of the Kremlin cathedrals; the private church of the tsars.

Archangel Cathedral

one of the Kremlin cathedrals; the necropolis (burial place) for Moscow tsars and princes.

Raskol

(1666) the religious schism known as the Nikonian reform (because Patriarch Nikon sought to better align the Russian church with modern Greek traditions), which led to the sect of Old Believers, who resisted the move away from traditional Russian Orthodoxy and continued to cross themselves with two fingers rather than three.

Simon Ushakov

(1626 -1686) a revolutionary iconographer who started a new school merging Byzantine and Western styles. He didn't break completely with tradition, but he did sign his icons and encouraged what he saw as much-needed updates to iconography.

Vladimir Monomakh

Kievan prince and grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, known for writing the Pouchenie warning his sons against princely strife.

Yaroslav the Wise

Kievan prince who mandated Russkaia Pravda, the first legal code of Rus.

Yaropolk Svitoslavitch

Ruler whose father's death led to civil war among siblings, becoming the sole ruler of Rus after their deaths.

Minin and Pozharsky

Butcher and minor prince who led an army to reclaim Moscow from Polish occupation during the Time of Troubles.

Sergei Prokofiev

Soviet Avant-garde composer who wrote music scores for Eisenstein films like 'Ivan the Terrible' and 'Alexander Nevsky'.