30 - Russia, Prussia, and Austria (abridged)

Third Rome

Russian claim to be the successor state to the Roman and Byzantine empires based on the continuity of the Eastern Orthodox church in Russia after the fall of Constantinople in 1453

boyars

Russian landowning nobles

Grand Prince Ivan III the Great of Moscow

Rurik dynasty prince of the Duchy of Moscow; responsible for freeing Russia from Mongols after 1462; took title of tsar (from ceasar), the equivalent of emperor

Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible of Russia

(1530-1584) Rurik dynasty Russian tsar; confirmed power of tsarist autocracy by attacking authority of boyar aristocrats; continued policy of Russian expansion; established contacts with western European commerce and culture

Time of Troubles

violent chaos that followed death of Ivan IV without an heir; boyars attempted to use vacuum of power to reestablish their authority; ended with selection of Michael Romanov as tsar in 1613

Michael Romanov

(r. 1613-1645) Russian boyar elected czar by an assembly of boyars ending the Time of Troubles

Romanov dynasty

Russian dynasty elected in 1613 at end of Time of Troubles; ruled Russia until 1917

Cossacks

peasants recruited to migrate to newly seized lands in Russia, particularly in south; combined agriculture with military conquests; spurred additional frontier conquests and settlements

Peter I the Great of Russia

(r. 1689-1725) Russian czar who continued growth of absolutism and conquest; wanted to modernize Russian economy and culture by imitating western Europeans

St. Petersburg

Russian capital and port city founded by Peter the Great as Russia's "window on the West"

Catherine II the Great of Russia

(r. 1762-1796) German-born Russian tsarina; ruled after assassination of her husband; gave appearance of enlightened rule; accepted Western cultural influence; maintained nobility as service aristocracy by granting them new power over peasantry

Siberia

Russia's sparsely populated vast frontier region east of the Urals to the Pacific; settlement began in 1500s; a massive territory not well-suited to farming but rich in timber, minerals, furs and oil;

Hohenzollern dynasty

noble family who transformed the German state of Prussia into a great military power by the 1700s

Brandenburg-Prussia

north German territories ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty

Junkers

Prussian nobles; served as officers in Prussian army

Frederick William I of Prussia

(r. 1713-1740) the Soldier King; created strong absolute monarchy; drilled strict military values into every aspect of society; "Sparta of the North"

Frederick II the Great of Prussia

(r. 1740-1786) Prussian king; attempted to introduce Enlightenment reforms into Germany; built on military and bureaucratic foundations of his predecessors; introduced freedom of religion; increased state control of economy; enlarged Prussia by winning land from Austria

War of Austrian Succession

war launched by Frederick II of Prussia upon Maria Theresa of Austria in 1740 upon her inheritance of the Hapsburg throne; inconclusive

Seven Years' War

conflict fought in continental Europe and overseas colonies 1756-1763; resulted in Prussian seizure of Polish land from Austria and English seizures of French colonies in India and North America; aka French and Indian War

Hapsburg dynasty

dynastic family that ruled 1/3 of Europe and the Spanish American colonies at its peak in the 1500s; after Charles V the family lands were divided between the Spanish and Austrian branches

Charles V

(r. 1516-1556) Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain; defender of the Catholic faith who failed to stop Protestantism because he was preoccupied fighting the Ottoman Turks and France

Pragmatic Sanction

1713 agreement to allow Hapsburg lands pass to a female successor, Maria Theresa

Maria Theresa of Austria

Hapsburg female ruler whose inheritance of the throne in 1740 sparked the War of the Austrian Succession

Partitions 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