Leaders Flashcards
Who was Ivan the Terrible?
Ø Comparable to Henry VIII
Ø 16th C
Ø He establishes the benchmark for how Russian rulers should lead- have to be ruthless
Ø He doesn’t begin with territory but begins to build it. Began with Muscovy- area around Moscow.
Ø You have to be brutal to create such an empire.
Ø ‘The Terrible’ -Wanted to punish his son for not being harsh enough on Southern Russians in Novgorod. He hits him over the head with the sceptre- the prince dies in his father’s arms.
Ø Stalin was obsessed with Ivan - commissioning films about him. Perhaps modelled himself on him.
Ø (Stalin’s family life wasn’t rosy either. Stalin doesn’t bargain for his son when he is captured during WW2).
Ø Ivan sets up the beginnings of the Russian secret service. Including a section of the army that are there to keep order -government agents- symbol of the broom with the head of the dead dogs attached as they ride into a town to create terror. -Graphic symbol of the authority of the Tsar.
Who was Peter the Great?
Ø 18th C
Ø Wants Russia to compete with the Europeans by copying them. Dress like the people from the Courts of Versailles, doesn’t speak Russian in court- French/German.
Ø He builds St Petersburg- German ending- as opposed to ‘Grad’.
Ø Is Russia European, is it Asian?
Ø He was very much of the age of enlightenment. Science, technology, logic.
Ø You had to have off your beards to enter St Petersburg to show ‘Europeanness’.
Who were the Cossacks
Ø Often the backbone of Russian Army- Loyal to whoever is leader. They get privileges for them and their families. Often come in riding their horses. Well known for horse-riding, drinking vodka, dancing. Still Cossack regiments in the Russian Army.
Ø Images of the Cossacks- riding into the Nevsky Prospect during Bloody Sunday 1905.
Ø Big part of Russian Society Tolstoy even wrote about them in his book The Cossacks, 1863. Ø Derives from Turkish word Kazak meaning 'free man'. Ø They tend to lie a more autonomous lifestyle in semi-military communities. Ø They are mostly East Slavic speaking people. Ø Switch to Comms.
