Eastern Absolutism

Eastern Absolutism

Romanov dynasty

Russian ruling family that began in 1613, generally favored the nobles, expanded the Russian empire further east, and fought several unsuccessful wars until there demise in 1917.

tsar

Slavic contraction for caesar; held absolute power and ran country as an autocracy.

Peter the Great

(1672-1725). Russian tsar who enthusiastically introduced Western languages and technologies to the Russian elite; attempted military expansion; moved capital from Moscow to new city of St. Petersburg

Westernization

Peter the Greats attempt to 'modernize' his state by adopting technology, culture, and social changes from more advanced European states.

autocracy

A form of government led by a ruler with absolute power.

boyard nobility

the most powerful landowning members of the Russian aristocracy

Streltsky

Guards of Moscow garrison; challenged tsar's authority in Russia during Time of Troubles. Rebelled in 1698; Peter the Great brutally suppressed the rebellion

Great Northern War

1700-1721. Russian war against Sweden for territory. Peter established interlocking military-civilian bureaucracy with everyone starting at bottom and working way up. Peter's army crushed Sweden's in Ukraine at Poltava in 1709. Russia eventually annexed Estonia and present-day Latvia, making Russia dominant power on Baltic Sea.

St. Petersburg

Built for military access to ships. New capital of Russian Empire under Peter the Great; capital for 200 years. Nobles paid for canals, parks, infrastructure while peasants worked on the city. Showed westernization and modernization of Russia during Peter's rules and exemplified his absolute power

Catherine the Great

Ruled Russia from 1762-1796. Admired reforms from Enlightenment. Reduced internal barriers to trade, rewarded supporting nobility with land and serfs; created 50 provinces under nobility control after a peasant revolt. Fought a successful war against Ottoman Empire; annexed Crimea in 1783.

Enlightened Absolutism

a system in which rulers tried to govern by principles of toleration and progressive reform while maintaining their full royal 'absolute' powers

Partition of Poland

Division of Polish territory among Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793, and 1795; eliminated Poland as independent state; part of expansion of Russian influence in eastern Europe.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The official Christian religion of Russia which mirrors Roman Catholicism in nearly every manner but rejects the authority of the pope.

Mongol Yoke

the 200 year period in which the eastern Slavs were ruled by the great Khans and unified under their command, submitting tribute and slaves in payment for survival.

Ivan III

Completed process of consolidating territories around Moscow, Novgorod, almost reaching Baltic Sea. Prince of Moscow, an autocrat, and tsar; married to daughter of last Byzantine emperor. Strong enough to not acknowledge khan as supreme ruler. After fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, tsars also saw themselves as heirs to caesar and Orthodox Christianity.

service nobility

Newly emerging class who held the tsar's land on the condition they serve in the tsar's army.

Ivan IV "the Terrible"

Tsar of Russia; pushed aside boyar advisers at age 16; added vast territories in Russo-Tatar wars. Abolished distinction between boyars & service nobility (all required to serve). Started brutal reign of terror weakening boyars; purged land , depopulating Russia; fought to keep nobles and peasants under his control. Led to "Time of Troubles" after his death.

Cossacks

Free groups and outlaw armies of peasants who fled to wild territories in the east and south to escape the tsar and service nobility

Time of Troubles

Era of confusion and violent struggles for power after death of Ivan IV's son who died without an heir. Great social upheaval also occurring. Ended when nobles elected Ivan the Terrible's grandnephew, Michael Romanov, as heir to the throne.

Stenka Razin

Led a Cossack revolt in 1670-71. Gained masses of peasant supporters killing nobility and landlords while moving up the Volga River. Defeated by gov't nobles whose primary goal became keeping peasants from rebelling

The robot

A condition of the enserfed peasantry by which they were required to serve three days each week in unpaid labor to a lord.

siege of Vienna 1683

The military event between the Ottomans and the Eastern European nations who held out for 2 months and eventually forced an Ottoman retreat, which would be the farthest the Ottomans would reach in Eastern Europe and became an important Habsburg victory.