Absolutism in Russia For a long time Russia was isolated from the rest of Europe. It did not experience many of the things that happened in western Europe like new technology, Renaissance, the Protestant reformation, and the spread of many ideas. Russia’s temperatures were frigid and resulted in there being no warm-water port. A warm-water port was necessary for year-round trade and growth. Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV known as “Ivan the Terrible” had become czar at the young age of only three. He ruled over Russia for 51 years. He is known as “Ivan the Terrible” because of the slaughter he had on his own people. He was a failure to the Russian people in many ways. He failed to obtain a warm-water port for Russia which kept it isolated for many …show more content…
As a result Peter III eventually gained some power. Peter III was married to a German Princess named Catherine II. Peter III was unpopular in Russia and was assassinated in 1762. His wife Catherine II took the throne and ruled Russia for 34 years. She was the 13th Romanov monarch. She was given the name “Catherine the great”. One of the things Catherine did was integrate an education system for both boys and girls in Russia. She created a strong military and improved the economy. Catherine also gained another warm-water port on the Black Sea by defeating the Ottoman Empire. Poland was an unstable country and had invaded Russia before which gave Catherine an interest to take land from them. Catherine met with two other rulers, Frederick William II from Prussia, and Maria Theresa from Austria to divide the land in Poland to go to each of them. This event is known as the first partition of Poland. There were two more partitions in 1793 and 1795. Catherine did a lot for Russia but was not seen as good by Russian peasants. The policies enforced by Catherine only benefited high class Russian people. This caused many peasants to rebel against Catherine
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Show MoreHe started the trend of “czars” in Russian government and declared himself the czar or Caesar. He was also referred to as the “gatherer of the Russian lands”. He realized that there was a problem with having 5 princes govern the same area and made strives to gain complete authority. He used several different methods to take control away from his brothers and the author says that despite his skilled efforts (diplomacy, force) luck was a vital component to his gaining the power. 2.
Part A: Two continuities that Ivan III, Ivan the IV, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great used to consolidate their political power over Russia was the use to religion and military support to gain more power. Ivan III thought that the smart way to consolidate his power would be to organize a strong army which held an emphasis on military and to also tie in religion and nationalism to gather and gain support for his campaigns. This also can be shown how Peter the Great created a stronger and more organized military and also improved weaponry. Another continuity was through expansion which all these leaders did. When Ivan III gained control he chose to unify city states and make ongoing changes which showed how Russia was growing and changing.
Cathrine II is the most renowned and longest ruling female monarch of Russia. She began her rule in 1762 when her husband, Emperor Peter III, was overthrown. She ruled until her death in 1796. Cathrine made various new cities and towns, along with reforming the administration of Russia guberniyas, a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. She also believed in the policies of Westernization, causing her to modernize Russia.
Positivity arose from his complete renovation of the Russian government, area, and culture, along with his first wife, who tamed him some. His personal murdering capital, emotional breakdowns, and inconsistently erotic and voluptuous lifestyle, however, has pegged him as one of the most ruthless leaders in monarch history. Born the grandson of former Russian prince Ivan III or Ivan the Great, Ivan IV had a less fortunate fate that started at a young age. He was born August 25, 1530 in Grand Duchy of
Peter the Great had secretly married Catherine and a couple of years later Peter had a public wedding making Catherine known as Tsaritsa (Warmes
Throughout Ivan the Terrible’s life and his reign, he had a strong mistrust of the boyars. He believed they had a hand in his mother’s death when he was a boy and that they had something to do with the death of his wife Anastasia. His paranoia went into overdrive and he left Moscow and was ready to abdicate the title of Tsar. The boyars and the people pleaded for his return. He agreed but said he would only come back if they agreed to give him absolute power.
Overall, Vladimir III was a benevolent Absolute Monarch. He strengthened his country and the people in it using his power and authority and the backing of the
Czar Ivan IV inherited the throne, which made him the ruler of Russia. He was considered an absolute monarch and killed those who opposed him. Czar Ivan rises to power by expanding Russian territory. By expanding the Russian territory, he accomplished in taking over the influential regions of Kazan and Astrakhan. The challenges that Czar Invan IV faced were drought, famine, and the loss of his wife, which left him mentally unstable.
Also, Prussia was ravaged by the nomadic Tatars of the Crimea, which, in turn, gave Frederick the ability to increase his power. The Crimean attack proved to be beneficial for Frederick because it "softened up the estates and strengthened the urgency...for more military funding" (McKay). The slew of attacks that Prussia faced provided Frederick with the momentum he needed to create an absolute monarchy, as his goal of creating a strong military caused the estates to give him full control of the country. Similar events occurred in Russia, as the Great Northern War destroyed Russia, causing Peter the Great to use the military to make himself and Russia more powerful. Peter was determined to rebuild and improve the army, and he did so by creating new rules and laws to ensure the army's greatness.
As an absolute monarch, Catherine the Great changed Russia in many positive ways; multiple historians even consider her to be one of the most enlightened rulers of her time. Catherine was the longest reigning female monarch of Russia and accomplished many things during her 34 years in the crown. She dreamed of establishing a reign of order and justice, of spreading education and of developing a national culture. By writing several books, pamphlets and educational materials, she improved Russia’s schooling system. Looking to improve the education of her people, Catherine studied the systems created by other countries.
Ivan the Third was born amidst the brutal civil war between his father’s supporters and his uncles’. Much Ivan’s early reign is still unknown today, but we do know that his childhood bride died, leaving him with one son, until three years later he married Zoё Palaeologus, the niece of the the last emperor of Byzantium. Ivan, during the rest of his reign, set himself upon the task to capture Lithuania-Poland and some of the Ukraine territories. He was aligned with the Mongols, but had to deal with the danger of his brothers, Andrey and Boris, rebelling. In the end, they sent their armies to the western fronteirs, but eventually brought them back.
“I will drag you kicking and screaming into the modern world”, this famous quote from the Czar, Peter the Great involved a lot of symbolic changes. In the 16th to 17th century Russia was considered to be a country that was out of order and brutal in the eyes of major powers in Europe. However, after the rule of Peter the Great, this view changed and Russia was no longer seen as a “backwards” nation. Peter the Great modernized Russia by infusing 'western' technology and by forcing his people to reject many of their orthodox christian, 'tradition-bound' customs. Specifically these included: forcing the male population to wear western clothes and cutting their beards (or pay tax), building a modern Navy, melting down Church bells to make cannons, and lastly, building a new capital city his so called, "window to the west."
Much like Peter she was bent on establishing naval bases for the Russian navy and was able to once again secure ports as Russia annexed Crimea and land along the Black Sea from the Ottoman Empire. An excellent example of this was Catherine the Great as she sought to emulate the West, by releasing statements in support of Western ideals of human rights. But in reality she also expanded serfdom and violently crushed peasant revolutions. This shows, that although Catherine may have wanted to emulate western culture, she also wanted to maintain her power and would crush these uprisings at the cost of these values.
Throughout Russia’s history, there have been many rulers that tried to manage their country in different ways. Even though, all of these rulers had their own unique ways of ruling, all of them were seen as terrible by the people. This eventually led to a tipping point for the Russian citizens and the Russian Revolution took place. The goal for these people was to gain freedom from their oppressive czar but instead, they got an even worse leader. Joseph Stalin was a leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953 and he was known for his ability to strike fear into people.
Perhaps one of the most influential leaders in Russian history, Catherine the great’s 34 year long reign was characterized by her incredible foresight and transformational leadership which modernized Russia. Despite being of German descent, Catherine was able to assume supreme power as empress of Russia by winning the support of her subjects. During her reign, Russia was transformed from a remote, underpopulated land with poor education, and little patronage for the arts to a political superpower. Immediately upon arriving in Russia, Catherine began learning Russian so that she could better pursue her dream of expanding the Russian empire. In order to do this, she attempted several reforms to support education, and extended the political rights of poor people.