Introduction to the Russian Revolution course. This presentation begins with geography and then describes major periods in Russian history; Kievan Rus, Mongols, Rise of Muscovy, Third Rome, Time of Troubles, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great

1. The Russian Revolution
1815-1924
Session 1
The Setting;
862-1796

2. Major Points of This Session
• Geography
• Широка Страна Моя Родная (SheroKA StranA MoYA RodNAya--Broad
is my native land)
• The Importance of Rivers; The Search for a Warm Water Port
• Major Themes of Russian History
• The Rus
• Under the Mongol Yoke
• Expansion of the Duchy of Muscovy
• Third Rome
• Tsar

3. Major Points of This Session
• Dynastic Change
• Time of Troubles
• The Romanovs
• Two Great Rulers
• Peter I (1672-1682-1696-1725)
• Catherine II (1729-1762-1796)

4. Geography

5. The Russian Lands

6. The Russian Lands

9. днепр
Dnepr
Dnieper

10. днепр
Dnepr
Dnieper
KIEV
“The Road
from the
Varangians to
the Greeks”

11. Волга, Волга, Мать Родная
Kama
Ural

12. White
Sea
Baltic
Ob
River
Black Sea
Caspian Sea

13. White
Sea
Baltic
Ob
River
Volga
River
Black Sea
Caspian Sea

14. White
Sea
Baltic
Ob
River
Volga
Don River
River
Black Sea
Caspian Sea

15. White
Sea
Baltic
Ob
River
Dnepr
(Dnieper)
River
Volga
Don River
River
Black Sea
Caspian Sea

16. White
Sea
Baltic
Neva
Western River NOVGOROD
Volkov River
Dvina River
Route of the Ob
Kievan Rus River
Dnepr KIEV
(Dnieper)
River
Volga
Don River
River
Black Sea
Caspian Sea

17. The Search for a Warm Water Port

18. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)

19. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans

20. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans
• 1790s--Catherine the Great gained a permanent Black Seacoast

21. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans
• 1790s--Catherine the Great gained a permanent Black Seacoast
• but then the Ottoman Turks controlled the Black Sea Straits

22. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans
• 1790s--Catherine the Great gained a permanent Black Seacoast
• but then the Ottoman Turks controlled the Black Sea Straits
• 1860--Alexander II gained Vladivostok (Might of the East)

23. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans
• 1790s--Catherine the Great gained a permanent Black Seacoast
• but then the Ottoman Turks controlled the Black Sea Straits
• 1860--Alexander II gained Vladivostok (Might of the East)
• but it was iced over six months of the year and was far from the imperial
center

24. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans
• 1790s--Catherine the Great gained a permanent Black Seacoast
• but then the Ottoman Turks controlled the Black Sea Straits
• 1860--Alexander II gained Vladivostok (Might of the East)
• but it was iced over six months of the year and was far from the imperial
center
• 1897--Russia extracted a lease of Port Arthur from China, her first
warm-water port which couldn’t be “bottled up”

25. The Search for a Warm Water Port
• 1703--the Russian State was land-locked until Peter the Great’s
“Window on the West” (St Petersburg)
• but then the Swedes controlled the Baltic and Denmark-Norway its access
to the world’s oceans
• 1790s--Catherine the Great gained a permanent Black Seacoast
• but then the Ottoman Turks controlled the Black Sea Straits
• 1860--Alexander II gained Vladivostok (Might of the East)
• but it was iced over six months of the year and was far from the imperial
center
• 1897--Russia extracted a lease of Port Arthur from China, her first
warm-water port which couldn’t be “bottled up”
• resentment of this was one of the causes of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-6

26. Sankt Peterburg, 1703

27. Sankt Peterburg, 1703

28. Sankt Peterburg, 1703

29. Sankt Peterburg, 1703

30. Sankt Peterburg, 1703

31. The Black Sea Coast, 1790s

32. The Black Sea Coast, 1790s

33. The Black Sea Coast, 1790s

34. The Black Sea Coast, 1790s

35. Vladivostok, 1860

36. Vladivostok, 1860
Vladivostok

37. Vladivostok, 1860

38. Vladivostok, 1860

39. Vladivostok, 1860

40. Port Arthur, 1897

41. Port Arthur, 1897
Vladivostok

42. Port Arthur, 1897

43. Port Arthur, 1897

44. Port Arthur, 1897

45. Port Arthur, 1897

46. Major Themes of Russian History

47. The Rus
Justice in Kievan Rus

49. • Н.К.Рерих "Заморские гости". Серия "Начало Руси. Славяне". 1901. Холст, масло. 85x112,5 см. Государственная
Третьяковская галерея, Москва.
• Nicholas Roerich "Guests from Overseas". The Series “The First Rus. Slavdom”. 1901 … in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

51. Rurik
Mythical(?)
Historic(?)
founder of the dynasty which
ruled Kievan Rus,
later Muscovy, 862-1598
from Teutonic Myth and Legend, 1912

52. Saint Vladimir (980-1015)
• first of the great Kievan princes
• pagan, warrior
• 987-sought “the best religion”
Icon of
St. Vladimir
• 988-chose Christianity in Cherson to Novgorod
win the Byzantine princess Anna
16th century
• forcibly converted his subjects to
Orthodox Christianity
• last of the Varangian, first of the
Christian rulers, begins the tie to East
(Second ) Rome, i.e., Byzantium

54. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:

55. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989

56. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040

57. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043

58. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043
PECHENEG ATTACK IN KIEV 1036

59. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043
PECHENEG ATTACK IN KIEV 1036
TERRITORY OF THE KIEV STATE, end of
the XI century

60. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043
PECHENEG ATTACK IN KIEV 1036
TERRITORY OF THE KIEV STATE, end of
the XI century
TERRITORY ADDED DURING THE X-
beginning of the XI century

61. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043
PECHENEG ATTACK IN KIEV 1036
TERRITORY OF THE KIEV STATE, end of
the XI century
TERRITORY ADDED DURING THE X-
beginning of the XI century
BORDER OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

62. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043
PECHENEG ATTACK IN KIEV 1036
TERRITORY OF THE KIEV STATE, end of
the XI century
TERRITORY ADDED DURING THE X-
beginning of the XI century
BORDER OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
RED LETTERS INDICATE SLAVS

63. CAMPAIGNS OF THE KIEVAN PRINCES:
VLADIMIR 981-989
YAROSLAV 1030-1040
YAROSLAV’S SONS AGAINST
BYZANTIUM 1043
PECHENEG ATTACK IN KIEV 1036
TERRITORY OF THE KIEV STATE, end of
the XI century
TERRITORY ADDED DURING THE X-
beginning of the XI century
BORDER OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
RED LETTERS INDICATE SLAVS
BLACK LETTERS=OTHER PEOPLES

64. The Baptism of
Saint Prince
Vladimir --
1890 sketch for a fresco
by Victor Vasnetsov for
Vladimir Cathedral

65. 19th Century Saint Vladimir Cathedral

66. 19th Century Saint Vladimir Cathedral
• begun by Tsar Nicholas I to
commemorate the 900th
anniversary of Russian
Christianity

67. 19th Century Saint Vladimir Cathedral
• begun by Tsar Nicholas I to
commemorate the 900th
anniversary of Russian
Christianity
• constructed 1862-1896

68. 19th Century Saint Vladimir Cathedral
• begun by Tsar Nicholas I to
commemorate the 900th
anniversary of Russian
Christianity
• constructed 1862-1896
• dedicated by Nicholas II and
Tsaryevna Alexandra

69. Baptism of the Kievan Rus--Lebedev, Klavdiy Vasilievich

70. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054

71. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita

72. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita
• sent north to rule in Novgorod the Great

73. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita
• sent north to rule in Novgorod the Great
• figures prominently in the Norse sagas

74. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita
• sent north to rule in Novgorod the Great
• figures prominently in the Norse sagas
• 1014-1016-fought his half-brothers for Kiev

75. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita
• sent north to rule in Novgorod the Great
• figures prominently in the Norse sagas
• 1014-1016-fought his half-brothers for Kiev
• established the first law code, Russkaya
Pravda

76. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita
• sent north to rule in Novgorod the Great
• figures prominently in the Norse sagas
• 1014-1016-fought his half-brothers for Kiev
• established the first law code, Russkaya
Pravda
• 1036--conquered the Pechenegs

77. Yaroslav I “the Wise” c.978-1054
• a younger son, out of wedlock?, or by
Anna Porphyrogenita
• sent north to rule in Novgorod the Great
• figures prominently in the Norse sagas
• 1014-1016-fought his half-brothers for Kiev
• established the first law code, Russkaya
Pravda
• 1036--conquered the Pechenegs
• 1037--built the cathedral Kievskaya Sophia

78. Kievskaya Sophia
1037-mid xiii century

79. Kievskaya Sophia
1037-mid xiii century

80. Kievskaya Sophia
1037-mid xiii century

81. Under the Mongol Yoke

82. Under the Mongol Yoke
Mongol
Horse Archers

83. Pre-Mongol Eurasia

84. Pre-Mongol Eurasia
Mongol homeland

86. "For our sins", writes the Rus’ chronicler of the time,
"unknown nations arrived. No one knew their origin or
whence they came, or what religion they practiced. That
is known only to God, and perhaps to wise men learned in
books".

87. Gengis Khan’s Empire
History’s longest
cavalry raid
5,000 miles
3 years

89. Great Expansion under Ogedei Khan
• 1227-Gengiz Khan dies
• 1237-after conquering the peoples of
the South Russian steppe, Batu Khan
turned on the Rus
• 1240-all the cities except for a few
northern ones became tributaries of
the Golden Horde
• Mongol (indirect) rule would continue
until the end of the fifteenth century
• traditional histories equate Russian
autocracy and submissiveness to the
brutal experience of the Mongol The sacking of Suzdal, 1238
conquest from a 16th c. chronicle

95. Drang nach Osten--1242-1942
• the Teutonic Knights tried to take
advantage of Russia’s plight
• 1242-German and Lithuanian invaders were
thrown back by the Prince of Novgorod &
Vladimir, Alexander Nevsky (c. 1220-1263)
• the Rus actually felt that the Catholic
Swedes and German crusaders were a
greater threat than the Mongols
• Alexander Nevsky paid tribute to the
Mongols who weren’t out to change his
religion
“Whoever attacks us by the sword • this WW II poster, like the Eisenstein film
of 1938, compared Hitler to the
by the sword shall he die” unsuccessful Teutonic Knights
ALEXANDER NEVSKY

96. Expansion of the Duchy of Muscovy

97. Early Foundations of Muscovy
• 1263-Daniel Alexandrovich, Alexander
Nevsky’s youngest son inherited
Moscow, the least of his father’s
possessions
• like his father, Daniel, Grand Duke of
Muscovy, held his title as a vassal of
the Mongols
• 1299-the head of the Russian Church,
the Kiev Metropolitan fled to
Moscow, further enhancing its status
• mid 14th century-Mongol power was
declining to the point that the Russian
vassals felt strong enough to oppose Genrikh Semiradsky, Alexander
them Nevsky in the Horde. 1876. Oil on
canvas. The Russian Museum

98. Dmitri Donskoy is blessed on his way to battle
Эрнст ЛИССНЕР (1874-1941). Троице-Сергиева лавра. Бумага, акварель. 1907.
English: Ernst Lissner. Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Paper, water-colour, 1907.

99. The Battle of Kulikovo, 1380
• 1370-Tatar warlord Mamai took
power in the Golden Horde
• 1378-he sent forces to Moscow to
enforce obedience. They were defeated
• Mamai enlisted the aid of Russian rival
Prince Oleg of Ryazan and Lithuania
• Dmitri of Moscow, Grand Prince of
Vladimir, with other Russian allies
marched south to confront the Mongols
• after a three hour battle with heavy
casualties on both sides the Russians
prevailed
The Battle of Kulikovo (1850). Huge canvas from the
Grand Kremlin Palace • final emancipation came a century later

100. The “Third Rome” Concept
Byzantine
eagle

101. The “Third Rome” Concept
Russian
eagle

102. Ivan III 1440-1505
• 1462-Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand
Prince of All Russia, Gatherer of the
Russian Lands
• tripled the territory of his state
• renovated the Moscow Kremlin
• laid the foundations of the Russian
state
• one of the longest-reigning rulers in
Russian history

105. Sophia Palaiologina (c. 1455-1503)
• niece of the last Byzantine emperor
Constantine XI Palaeologus
• second wife of Ivan III
• born in Morea (Greece), she was taken to
Rome as a child after the Ottoman
conquest in 1460
• 1469-Pope Paul II offered her to the
widowed Russian prince hoping to unite
Catholic and Orthodox churches
• 1472-wedding took place in the
Dormition cathedral, Moscow
• Sophia introduced Byzantine ceremonies
to the Kremlin

106. Destruction of the Novgorod Republic by Ivan III
Klavdie Vasilivich Lebedev, 1904

107. Ivan III tears up the Khan’s letter, 1480
Aleksey Kivshenko (1851-1896)

108. Tsar

109. Tsar
Helmet of Ivan IV
1547
Kremlin Museum

110. Царь
• older transliteration--”Czar”
• modern, “Tsar”
• the character at the end is not a letter, rather an operator (called
“soft sign”) affecting the pronunciation of the “r”
• the Slavic spelling of “Caesar”
• just as the Germanic title of emperor is “Kaiser”
• although Ivan III used it in his correspondence with western
rulers and was accorded the rank of emperor (Imperator, Lat.) by
them, his grandson Ivan IV would be the first to be crowned as
Tsar of All the Russias in 1547

111. Ivan IV Vasilyevich 1530-1584
• the sobriquet “Terrible” is better
rendered “Awe Inspiring” or “Dread”
• 1533-Grand Prince of Moscow at his
father’s death
• 1547-assumes the title “Tsar of all the
Russias” Царство Русское
Portrait of Ivan IV by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1897
(Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

112. Ivan’s Accomplishments
• war against the Mongol borderlands
• capturing Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556)
• bringing the entire Volga basin under Russian control and opening Siberia
• opening the Caspian Sea, Persia and Central Asia to commercial and diplomatic relations
• 1558-1582-war against the Livonian Order of the German Knights
• establishment of autocratic government over the boyars (nobles)
• his “secret police” prototypes, the oprichnina
• Caesaro-papism
• 1555-began trade with England through Arkangel & the Muscovy Co.
• 1574-began the expansion into Siberia

113. Loe thus I make an ende
None other news to thee
But that the country is too cold,
The people beastly bee.
Ambassador George Turbeville
Reporting to Queen Elizabeth I

114. “Ivan IV shows his treasure to Jerome Horsey”
Alexander Litovchenko, 1875

115. Yermak the Cossack invades Siberia
“Yermak’s conquest of Siberia” by Vasily Surikov, 1895

116. Иван Грозный и сын его Иван 16 ноября 1581 года
Ivan the Dread and his son Ivan 16 November 1581

120. The End of Rurik’s Dynasty
• Ivan’s second son was mentally
retarded
• his brother-in-law, the boyar
Boris Godunov, ruled as quasi-
regent
• Feodor spent his time in
prayer
• at his death in 1598 he left no
male issue
• Russia was devastated by the
ensuing succession strife
Tsar Feodor I (1557-1584-1598)

121. Dynastic Change

122. Dynastic Change
“The Cap of Monomakh”
Traditional crown
of Russia’s
tsars

123. Time of Troubles
Смутное Время (Smutnoe Vremya)

124. Time of Troubles
Смутное Время (Smutnoe Vremya)
памятник Минину и Пожарскому
(pamyatnik Mininu i Pozharskomu)
monument to Minin and Pozharsky
1612-1812, unveiled in 1818

126. Patriotic
WW II
Poster

127. Patriotic
WW II
Poster
OUR MIGHT
UNDIMINISHED

128. Chronology of the Time of Troubles
• 1598-1605-Tsar Boris Godunov’s troubled reign
• 1603-1606-False Dmitry and Polish noble supporters
• 1606-1607-peasant uprising led by Ivan Bolotnikov
• 1606-1610-Prince/Tsar Vasily Shuisky and second Polish invasion
• 1610-1612-throne vacant, national uprising led by Minin &
Pozharsky
• 1612-1619-Tsar Michael Romanov consolidates his reign against
Polish and Swedish invaders

130. Rzeczpospolita (Polish-Lithuanian Republic)

131. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

132. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

133. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

134. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

135. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

136. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

137. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

138. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

139. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

140. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

141. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

142. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

143. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

144. Scenes from the Time of Troubles

145. День народного единства
Icon of Our Lady of Kazan
(Dyen na rod novo ye din stva) Putin at Easter Mass
Day of National Unity
4 November 2005

147. The Ro•man•ovs, 1613-1917

148. The Ro•man•ovs, 1613-1917
A crowd at the Ipatiev Monastery
imploring Mikhail Romanov's
mother to let him go to Moscow
and become their tsar (Illumination
from a book dated 1673)

149. Russia under the First Romanovs, 1613-1682
Romanov Yurevich
Anastasia Romanova Nikita Romanov
(wife of Ivan IV)
Philaret
(Patriarch, 1619-33)
Michael
(1613-45)
Alexis I
(1645-76)
Feodor III
(1676-82)

150. Michael
(1613-1645)
his father, the Patriarch
Philaret was his powerful
chief minister. The first job
was restoration of order.

151. Alexis I
(1645-1676)
in alliance with the cossacks
he began the war against
Poland known there as “The
Deluge” (1654-1667) Russia
gains Kiev and Smolensk

152. The Commonwealth’s losses-1667-1686

153. Stenka Razin’s cossack revolt, 1670-1671
by Surikov, 1906

154. Feodor III
(1676-1682)
“hopeless invalid from birth”
his death led to the Streltsy
Uprising and the dual
monarchy of Ivan V & Peter
under their sister’s regency

155. Scene from the Streltsy Uprising
Ohrenburgsky-xix century

156. Two Great Rulers

157. Two Great Rulers
With Peter I’s coronation
the Imperial Crown replaces
the “Cap of Monomakh”
Crown

158. Peter I
(1682-1696-1725)

159. Peter I
(1682-1696-1725)
by Paul Delaroche
1838

160. Великое Посолство (Grand Embassy)
Velikoye Posolstvo
1697-1698

161. Великое Посолство (Grand Embassy)
Velikoye Posolstvo
1697-1698
Statue in Skt Peterburg
showing Peter working
incognito in the Dutch
East India shipyard

163. Peter as “Westernizer”

164. 17th century Nemetskaya Svoboda (German “Freedom” Settlement)

165. 1698 Uprising by the Moscow Streltsy Regiments
Text
“Morning of the execution of the Streltsy by tsar Peter I”--Vasily Ivanovich Surikov
1881

166. Bulavin’s Cossack revolt, 1707-1708
by Repin

167. The Great Northern War, 1700-1721
• bringing down Sweden, the Baltic great power since the Thirty Years War
• Peter allies with Denmark-Norway, Saxony and Poland-Lithuania
• 1700-Narva, an instructive defeat. Peter’s army reforms along Western lines
• Charles XII turns to fight the Poles and Saxons 1704-Peter takes Narva
• 1708- Charles invades Russia, suffers first defeat, invades the Ukraine
• 1709-along with cossack ally Mazeppa is defeated at Poltava
• 1714-Peter’s galley fleet defeats Swedes at Gangut (Hanko Head)
• 1721-Treaty of Nystadt strips Sweden of her “overseas” territories. Russia
gains Livonia, Ingria and much of Karelia. Sweden becomes a second class
power and Russia a great power

168. Scenes from the Great Northern War

169. Scenes from the Great Northern War

170. Scenes from the Great Northern War

171. Scenes from the Great Northern War

172. Scenes from the Great Northern War

173. Founding of Sankt-Peterburg, 1703

174. Founding of Sankt-Peterburg, 1703
Commemorative medallion
from the Tricentennial, 2003

175. The Bronze Horseman--медный всадник

176. The Bronze Horseman--медный всадник

177. Pushkin’s poem, 1833--окно к западе
And thus He mused: "From here, indeed
Shall we strike terror in the Swede;
And here a city by our labor
Founded, shall gall our haughty neighbor;
'Here cut'--so Nature gives command--
'Your window through on Europe ; stand
Firm-footed by the sea, unchanging!'
Ay, ships of every flag shall come
By waters they had never swum,
And we shall revel, freely ranging."

178. Alexandre Benois. Peter the Great Meditating the Idea of Building St Petersburg at the Shore of the Baltic Sea.
1916

179. Model of the Swedish fort at the mouth of the Neva
Captured in 1703 during the Great Northern War (1700-1721)

180. Petropavlovka (the fortress of Peter and Paul)
Peter’s first construction in his new city, 1703
picture in a postcard, 1900

181. Peterhof
Text
Peter’s “Versailles” completed in 1724

182. Peter’s domestic reforms
• 1700-when the Patriarchate of Moscow fell vacant, he refused to
appoint a successor. Twenty-one years later he created the Holy
Synod, a ten man body with a lay head to govern the church
• 1714-required the sons of the nobility to receive education in the
sciences
• 1722-the Table of Ranks reduced the independence of the nobility.
Traditional precedence was replaced by merit and service to the
empire
• replaced previous land based tax structure with a resented soul
(poll) tax which brought in more revenue
• the famous and exaggerated proscription against beards and
traditional long coats

183. Peter interrogating the tsarevich Alexei Repin

184. Final Thoughts

185. The Throne Under Stress: 1725-1762

186. The Throne Under Stress: 1725-1762
The years between [Peter I and Catherine II] included
the reigns of six rulers, three female and three male. Of
the women, the first was amiable but incapable, the
second neither amiable nor capable, and the third
reasonably acceptable. Of the males, the first was a child,
the second an infant, and the third an adult with the
personality of a child. The situation invited the results
which were produced during the period: an upset of the
balance, a redistribution of power, and a weakening of the
throne.
Harcave, Russia, p. 116

187. Catherine II

188. Catherine II
Note the Imperial
Crown, Orb & Scepter

189. a loveless marriage
• 1729- born in Stettin, a German princess of
Anhalt-Zerbst
• 1745- married at age 16, after instruction in
the Orthodox faith and the Russian language
• during the long wait for the throne, both
took lovers
• January, 1762-Empress Elizabeth died, and
the couple acceded to the throne
• the “Miracle of the House of Hohenzollern”
• June, 1762-the bloodless coup
• July, 1762-Peter is assassinated Peter III and the tsarina and tsarevich

190. patroness of the arts
• her art collection formed the
basis for the Hermitage Museum
in the Winter Palace
• Catherine's patronage furthered the
evolution of the arts in Russia more
than that of any Russian sovereign
before or after her. (Wikipedia)
• 1764-she founded the Smolny
Institute to educate the daughters of
the nobility
• she wrote a manual for the education
of young children based on the
writings of John Locke
circa 1770

191. Smolny
Plan by its Italian architect. Quarenghi

192. Enlightened Despot
• widely read herself, she praised the
French Encyclopedists, offering them
refuge from Louis XV’s persecution
• Voltaire repaid her correspondence by
praising her
• 1767- she praised Montesquieu’s Spirit of
the Laws to her Legislative Commission
• after more than 200 sittings the
commission dissolved without getting
beyond the realm of theory
• 1777- she wrote to Voltaire that her legal
innovations in apathetic Russia were
progressing “little by little”
Shubin’s statue of Catherine as Minerva

193. Catherine’s Foreign Policy
• wars added some 200,000 square miles mostly at the expense of
the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
• 1768-1774-First Russo-Turkish War
• 1770-the naval victory at Chesme is considered the Russian navy’s “birth”
• 1787-1792-Second Russo-Turkish War
• begun by Turkey, proved catastrophic for them, legitimized Russia’s hold on
the Crimea
• Admiral John Paul Jones wins a victory in the Liman
• three partitions of Poland; 1772, 1793, 1795
• Russia gains the lion’s share. Prussia and Austria devour the rest

194. Winnings of the First Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774
site of the Potëmkin villages

195. DNEPR
LIMAN
site of the
principal
battles of the
Second Russo-
Turkish War
Winnings of the First Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774
site of the Potëmkin villages

196. The Chesme Column
at
Tsarskoe Celo
constructed 1774-1778
by Rinaldi at the
Catherine Palace

197. James Gillray’s 1791 caricature of Britain’s effort to mediate in the
Second Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792

199. 1st
3rd 1772
1795
2nd
1793

200. Catherine becomes reactionary

201. Catherine becomes reactionary
• 1762-1769-more than 50 peasant revolts occurred protesting the
nobles’ harsh treatment of their serfs

202. Catherine becomes reactionary
• 1762-1769-more than 50 peasant revolts occurred protesting the
nobles’ harsh treatment of their serfs
• 1773-1775-these culminated in the rebellion of cossack Emilyan
Pugachev

203. Catherine becomes reactionary
• 1762-1769-more than 50 peasant revolts occurred protesting the
nobles’ harsh treatment of their serfs
• 1773-1775-these culminated in the rebellion of cossack Emilyan
Pugachev
• he claimed to be the murdered tsar Peter iii. He recruited Tatars and
Bashkirs as well as his fellow cossacks

204. Catherine becomes reactionary
• 1762-1769-more than 50 peasant revolts occurred protesting the
nobles’ harsh treatment of their serfs
• 1773-1775-these culminated in the rebellion of cossack Emilyan
Pugachev
• he claimed to be the murdered tsar Peter iii. He recruited Tatars and
Bashkirs as well as his fellow cossacks
• finally defeated, he was brought in a cage to Moscow for execution

205. Catherine becomes reactionary
• 1762-1769-more than 50 peasant revolts occurred protesting the
nobles’ harsh treatment of their serfs
• 1773-1775-these culminated in the rebellion of cossack Emilyan
Pugachev
• he claimed to be the murdered tsar Peter iii. He recruited Tatars and
Bashkirs as well as his fellow cossacks
• finally defeated, he was brought in a cage to Moscow for execution
• the American and especially the French Revolutions brought
Catherine to reconsider her earlier endorsement of
Enlightenment thought

206. Catherine becomes reactionary
• 1762-1769-more than 50 peasant revolts occurred protesting the
nobles’ harsh treatment of their serfs
• 1773-1775-these culminated in the rebellion of cossack Emilyan
Pugachev
• he claimed to be the murdered tsar Peter iii. He recruited Tatars and
Bashkirs as well as his fellow cossacks
• finally defeated, he was brought in a cage to Moscow for execution
• the American and especially the French Revolutions brought
Catherine to reconsider her earlier endorsement of
Enlightenment thought
• When Alexander Radishchev published his Journey %om Saint Petersburg to Moscow in
1790 (one year after the start of the French Revolution) and warned of uprisings
because of the deplorable social conditions of the peasants held as serfs, Catherine
exiled him to Siberia.

207. Vasily Perov. Pugachev's Judgement. 1875. Oil on canvas, 150x238 cm. The History Museum, Moscow,
Russia

208. Catherine’s personal life

209. Catherine’s personal life

210. Catherine’s personal life

211. Concluding Observations

212. Concluding Observations
During her reign, Catherine II had successfully asserted Russia’s
position as one of the five great powers of Europe. She had added to
Russia a broad belt of rich territory, from the Baltic to the Black Sea,
the western boundary of which lay in the heart of Central Europe.
Together the newly acquired regions brought Russia much wealth, new
centers of domestic and foreign commerce, and new taxpayers and
soldiers. They brought also the disquieting promise of increased
Russian involvement in European diplomatic complexities.
Harcave, Russia, p. 160