The Rise of Russia

Question 1

Russia

Answer 1

• under control of the Mongols
• began rise after Mongols were driven out by Alexander the Great
• the rise of Russia and it’s empire involved only limited commercial exchange
• Russia pushed eastward after freeing themselves form the Mongols
• extension of territory in eastern Europe also occured
• Russia had been unimportant in world affairs prior to the 15th century, but entered into contacts with the West without losing its distinct identity which had been influenced by the Byzantine empire

Question 2

Russia had freed itself from Mongol rule

Answer 2

• Ivan III gave his government a military focus, nationalism, and Orthodox Christian religion to create a large independent state
• Russia proclaimed third Rome

Question 3

note

Answer 3

• Mongol occupation had not reshaped basic Russian culture (tribe v. full government)
• however, it did reduce the vigor of cultural and economic life
• literacy declined
• economy became purely agricultural and dependent on peasant labor
• Ivan III restored centralized rule and claimed supervision of all Orthodox churches
• claimed succession of Byzantium as Third Rome
• ## territorial expansion focused on central Asia

Question 4

Why was Ivan III great?

Answer 4

• united the Boyar against the Mongols
• used Orthodox Christianity as a unifier
• used Byzantine as a unifier
• 1462-1480 freed Russia from the Mongols

Question 5

Ivan IV

Answer 5

• continued the policy of expansion
• was not great
• increased Tsar’s power by executing Boyars
• earned him the name of Ivan the Terrible
• British merchants established trading contacts
• Italian artists built churches
• on the death of Ivan IV (no heir)
• boyars tried to control the government while Sweden and Poland seized territory
• in 1613, the boyars chose a member of the Romanov family as tsar
• the times of trouble ended without placing lasting constraints on the tsar’s power

Question 6

Mongol Rule

Answer 6

• Positive:
• mongols brought the idea of bureaucracy
• Russians adopted Mongol dress
• Maintained Christianity
• Negative:
• arts diminished
• trade and manufacturing diminished
• increased taxation put peasants into debt to Boyars - became serfs

Question 7

Cossaks

Answer 7

• Russian pioneers
• half cowboy-half warrior
• willing to move to the borders and expand into Siberia and the steppe

Question 8

Czars

Answer 8

• contact with the west