Northern Eurasia

Japan Daimyo = Regional warlords who gained control of Japan –Emperor only ceremonial power –Disunity for 400 yrs –Invasion & Occupation of Korea ( ) Tokugawa Shogunate ( ) –Loyal Lords = Farm lands in Central Japan (4 main islands) –“Disloyal” Lords = Undeveloped lands in the North / South Decentralized Govt. has direct effect on economy –Regional Lords = Development of many Urban centers –Roads & transport improve –Relative peace= decline of samurai

Fall of the Shogunate Japan “Closed” –1649 after a rebellion was blamed on Christians (Jesuits) –Intended to prevent the spread of foreign influence –Dutch given limited access / “Dutch Studies” allow access to European knowledge Population & Economic Growth Changes Political Power –Pop. Growth strains agricultural economy –Rice Prices Rise = Samurai dependent on loans from merchant class –Economic growth exceeds Pop. growth (illegally traded w/ Korea & China) –Merchant class gains power in the 1700’ s Forty-Seven Ronin Incident (1702) = transformation from military to civil society

The Russian Empire Former Mongol Controlled Areas –Diverse populations =‘Russia’ –Cossacks = Independent Central Asian “guns for hire” –Boyars = Russian Aristocracy –Russian Peasants legally made serfs in 1649 –Siberia = Furs, Timber, Metals Peter ‘the Great’ (r ) –Goal = Use European Tech / Culture to make Russia a European Power –Well educated and well traveled –Modernized (Westernized) Russia’s Economy, Military, and Education system –Reduced power of nobles (Boyars) –Built St. Petersburg as new capital (110,000 people died in construction) –Heavily taxed Russian people

Peter’s Legacy & Catherine the Great Impact of Peter’s Rule –Russia became a powerful European country –Advanced the role of women in Russia –Fought in expensive and costly wars against Swedes & Ottomans –Destroyed many Russian traditions in order to modernize Catherine the Great (r ) –Russia = Largest Empire in the world –Continued policies of Peter (very harsh on serfs) –Friend of the Enlightenment = Western European Law, Art –Economy built on territory, agriculture, logging, fishing, furs