Russian Czars Increase Power From Ivan to the Romanovs

Ivan III ( ) -conquered area around Moscow -liberated Russia from Mongols -centralized Russian gov’t -laid the foundations for absolutism in Russia

Ivan the Terrible *Ivan IV (aka: Ivan the Terrible) first Czar or Tsar (“Caesar”) -boyars: Russia’s landowning nobles -wife: Anastasia from the Romanov family -killed in began Ivan’s “bad period” -turned against boyars -organized police force to use terror -executed many boyars killed his oldest son and heir -left his weak second son to rule

Time of Troubles -Ivan V (son of the “terrible”) died w/o an heir -boyars struggled for power -in 1613 representatives elected Michael Romanov as czar (random relative of Anastasia) -began the Romanov dynasty ( )

Peter the Great *Peter the Great Takes the Throne great reformer and absolute ruler -Russia’s differences from Europe: -serfdom -cut off from the Renaissance and the age of Exploration (geography) -Eastern Orthodox rather than Protestant or Catholic

Peter Visits the West *Expedition into Europe was called the “Grand Embassy” -wanted to learn about western culture and industrial techniques -kept his identity a secret (hard to hide when you are 6’7”!) -visited England, Austria, and the Netherlands -inspired by western methods

Peter Rules Absolutely -Westernization: using Western Europe as a model to make Russia stronger -Peter’s reforms -increased his absolute power -brought the Russian Orthodox church under gov’t control -reduced the powers of landowners (Boyars) -hired European officers to modernize the army -imposed heavy taxes -believed in the importance of education -St. Petersburg -new capital along the sea (swamp) -By his death, Russia was a powerful nation

St. Petersburg- Swamp

St. Petersburg-Naval Academy

Baroque Architecture Absolute Monarchs attempted to display their supreme power with “over-the-top” Baroque palaces. Many of the absolute monarchs modeled their palaces after Versailles in France