Russia: Land of the Tsars

How did Winston Churchill describe Russia?

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

What factors make Russia different?

Size, partly in Europe, partly not.

The distance from one end of the Russian Empire to the other is the same as the distance from Moscow to ____.

Chicago

The highways of the Russian Empire.

Rivers.

What group of Scandinavian people invaded the region between Europe and Asia?

The Russe Vikings.

How did Russia get its name?

Land of the Russe. Named by the native people.

What did Prince Vladimir of Kiev think would bring him power and glory to unify the Rus?

The Orthadox Church.

Who became the first saints of the Russian Orthodox Church?

Boris and Gleb.

What did Boris and Gleb do?

Allowed themselves to be killed to prevent war.

In 1237, who attacked the Rus?

The Mongols.

How long did it take the Mongols to subdue Russia?

3 years.

What city did the Mongols lay siege to in 1240?

Kiev

What happened to Kiev?

They refused to submit and burned to the ground.

How long did Mongol rule in Russia last?

2.5 centuries

What did the Russians call the Mongols?

Tatars.

What were the Mongols interested in?

Exacting tribute through terror.

What city learned to hold the Mongols favor?

Moscow

What fortress was Moscow built around?

Kremlin

What deal did Ivan I strike with the Mongols?

Collected tribute for the Khan from Moscow + other nearby towns.

Nickname for Ivan I

Money bags

What year did Prince Dmitri rally Moscow’s forces against the Mongols?

1380

What was the impact of Moscow’s revolt against the Mongols?

1,00s died, but the Russians won the battle. Beginning of their freedom.

The end of Mongol rule was a ____ not an ____.

process, not an event

What year did Ivan III of Moscow cut off tribute to the Mongols?

1480

What new title did Ivan III of Moscow take for himself?

Tsar

When did Constantinople fall to Muslim invaders? (Important date).

1453

Who did Ivan III take for a wife?

Sophia Paleologue or Zoe

What is Tsar Russian for?

Caesar

From where did Ivan III import architect from?

Italy

How did IVan III change the rules of life for Russian peasants?

Only allowed them to move once a year, in the winter.

When did Ivan III die?

1505

Who took the throne after Ivan III?

Vasily

What omen occurred on the night Ivan IV was born?

Lightning struck the kremlin.

What warned was given about Ivan IV?

That he would be born a monster.

How did Ivan IV show young cruelty?

Threw cats and dogs off the cathedral.

What was Ivan IV plotting?

His revenge.

What did Ivan IV make clear up on coming to power?

The crown and power were his.

When was IVan IV crowned tsar?

January 1547.

Russia was twice as large as England, _____ and ______ combined!

France and Spain

The tsar’s powers were ____.

Absolute

Under Ivan IV Russia became a true _____ in the mid sixteenth century.

Empire.

Ivan IV preached ____.

Autocracy

At what rate did Ivan the Terrible’s empire expand per day?

50 square miles.

What happened to Ivan IV in 1560?

Fire swept across Moscow and his wife died.

The closer to the tsar, the closer to ______.

Death.

What choice did Ivan IV make in 1564? Why?

To leave the post of Tsar. Knew his people would call him back, and he could have even more power.

What did Ivan IV know the people would eventually do (in no small part because of the mood against the boyars)?

Ask him back to the be tsar.

What one condition did Ivan IV demand upon his return?

He must be able to rule and punish as he chose.

What did Ivan the Terrible now order?

The execution of 100s.

Through what organization did IV spread a Reign of Terror?

Oprichniki

What did Ivan IV do to the families of executed boyars? Why?

Massacre them so they couldn’t pray for the dead, stretching his power into religion.

Who attacked Russia in 1571?

The Tatars

What city did the Tatars sack?

Moscow

How many people died in Moscow when the Tatars attacked?

60,000

What effect did the Tatar sack of Moscow have on Ivan’s Reign of Terror?

It dissipated it.

What did Ivan IV do to his son and heir?

Struck him with a staff and killed him.

What was Ivan IV and his son’s argument over?

His son’s bride.

How did Ivan IV try to seek absolution for all the sins he had committed?

The names of those who died were written down.

On what night did Ivan’s mystics and stargazers tell him he would die?

March 18th 1584

When did Ivan IV die?

March 17th 1584.

What was the Time of Troubles?

The early 1600s, a traumatic time of upheaval. Famine, sickness, etc.

How was the Polish imposter to the tsarist throne sent home “Russian style”?

Killed and burned him, used a cannon to launch his acshes toward Poland.

Who was crowned Grand Prince of Moscow (making him autocrat and tsar of all Russia” in July 1613?

Micheal Romanov

How long would the new Romanov dynasty last?

3 centuries

What was serfdom?

Give any landholder unlimited time to find/return peasants.

When was Peter the Great born?

May 30 1672

Why was it unlikely that Peter would ever becomestar?

He wasn't the next in line, he had two half brothers. His half sister also wanted the throne.

What impact did the revolt of the Streltsy have on the young Peter?

Scarred him forever.

Who became regent of Russia on behalf of the ten-year old Peter?

Sophia, his half sister.

What did Peter build at the age of 13?

A stronghold/wooden fortress.

When did Peter take the crown (along with his brother Ivan V) from his half-sister Sophia?

1689

Who did practically all of the military regiments (and the people as a whole) support in this conflict?

Peter

What did Peter do with Sophia?

Banished her to the nunnery.

What two significant Wester movements had Russia not experienced.

Renaissance, scientific revolution.

When did Ivan V die?

1696

For Peter, what symbolized the new Russia he hoped to build?

Ships/Navy

Where did the tsar now set his sights?

In the Black Sea.

By the following spring, what had Peter succeeded in building?

A fleet of battle galleys/ships.

To where did the tsar of Russia (Peter) travel to in order to learn more about maritime knowledge?

Western Europe.

What sort of things did Peter study while he was away?

Printing, iron casting, art, surgery, dentistry.

What happened in Russia while Peter was partying in Vienna?

A Striltizi revolt.

When did Peter return home from Europe?

1698

Why was Peter unhappy upon his return from Europe?

Moscow seemed medieval. The Orthodox Church had too much power. Army musketeers were in revolt.

What did Peter demand of his noblemen (boyars)?

To westernize their appearance by cutting their beards and hair short and changing their clothes.

For whom did Peter save his greatest ire?

The Striltzi

What obsession of Peter’s remained upon his return to Russia?

To create a Russian port on the Baltic Coast.

Who did the Russians go to war with in 1700?

Sweden

Peter believed that all resources under his control now existed for what purpose?

To build Russia into a military power.

What new city did Peter build on the coast of the Baltic Sea?

Saint Petersburg

The Russians would say “St. Petersburg was built on ___”.

Bones

With his new palace, what glories did Peter seek to outdo?

The glories of Versailles.

To where did the Swedish army now march?

Moscow

What strategy did Peter employ as the enemy approached?

He torched the Swedes’ path.

Where did the Russians finally defeat the Swedes (becoming a great European power)?

Outside Poltava.

TO where did Peter move his capital after he defeated the Swedes?

St. Petersburg

List some of Peter’s innovations and reforms.

Newspaper, hospitals, museums, larger navies, and schools.

What new regal title did Peter bestow upon himself?

Emperor.

In what ways was Peter’s son Aleksei different from his father?

Short, lazy, not as bright.

Who did Peter marry in secret (and later publically?)

Martha, a peasant “camp” follower. Later renamed as Katherine.

What did Peter have done to his son Aleksei?

Wanted to send him to the monastery, but Aleksei ran. When he was brought back, Peter tortured and killed him.