Nation and Memory in Eastern Europe

1. Nation and Memory in Eastern Europe Lecture 3 Russian History I Week 3

2. Outline • The Kievan Rus and Christianisation • The “Mongolian yoke“ and the rise of Moscow • The imperial Byzantine Heritage 4. Expansion and Westernization between the 16th and 18th centuries 5. Conclusion

3. 1000 1000

4. Influences • The Principality of Kiev

5. 1200

6. Outline • The Kievan Rus and Christianisation • The “Mongolian yoke“ and the rise of Moscow • The imperial Byzantine Heritage 4. Expansion and Westernization between the 16th and 18th centuries 5. Conclusion

7. Influences • The Principality of Kiev • Mongolian heritage – for 200 years part of a Mongolian empire (1240 – middle of the 15th c.) 1300

8. Influences • Mongolian heritage – for 200 years part of a Mongolian empire (1240 – middle of the 15th c.)

9. 1400

10. Aleksander Nevsky during the Battle of Lake Peipus or Battle of the Ice, 1242, scene from Alexander Nevsky by Sergei Eisenstein, 1938

11. Battle of Kulikovo, 1380, Painting 1850

12. Geography • Forests in Moscovian heartland • Peripheral location • Vast Russian plain • Dense and viable network of rivers • Spring and autumn: mud, time of immobility

13. Outline • The Kievan Rus and Christianisation • The “Mongolian yoke“ and the rise of Moscow • The imperial Byzantine Heritage 4. Expansion and Westernization between the 16th and 18th centuries 5. Conclusion

14. 1500

15. Influences • Byzantine heritage – Orthodox faith – Third Rome

16. Cathedral of St. Basil, Moscow Ivan IV “the Terrible”

17. The Gathering of the Lands of the Golden Horde • After end of Mongolian Empire and defeat of successors – power vacuum in the East, filled by Moscow • Conquest of Kazan and Astrachan 1555 • Conquest of Kazakh steppe • Colonization of Siberia • Subjugation of Central Asia

18. 1600

19. Moscow and the idea of the Third Rome • After fall of Constantinople 1453 Moscow princes see themselves as legitimate heirs of orthodox emperor • 17th – 19th centuries: several wars against Ottoman Empire • Access to the Black Sea • Conquest of Crimea • Caucasus and Transcaucasus with orthodox Georgian nation • Russian Emperor: Protector of Orthodox population in Ottoman Empire

20. Autocracy • Greek origin: self-ruler (samoderzhets) • Form of government • Unlimited power held by one individual • Used by Byzantine Emperor • Transferred with idea of Third Rome to Moscow Measures: • Ivan IV: Oprichnina 1564 ff: persecution of old nobility with help of 'oprichniki' • Sack of Novgorod in 1570

21. Outline • The Kievan Rus and Christianisation • The “Mongolian yoke“ and the rise of Moscow • The imperial Byzantine Heritage 4. Expansion and Westernization between the 16th and 18th centuries 5. Conclusion

22. Influences • Influences of Western and Central Europe (Polish, German, Swedish, French) – 17th c. – 20th c.

23. Andrey Ryabushkin, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Holding Council with the Boyars in his Royal Chamber, 1893

24. The Gathering of the Lands of the Rus • Conquest of Novgorod • Several wars against the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth • 1654 Treaty of Pereyaslav with Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky • 1667 Peace Treaty of Andrusovo, West Bank Ukraine and Eastern part of Belarus join Russian Empire • 1772 First Partition of Poland, Right Bank Ukraine and Western part of Belarus • Russian Emperor: Protector of Orthodox population in Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth • 1793/95 Second and Third Partition of Poland, eastern half of Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth goes to Russian Empire

26. Peter the Great, portrait by Paul Delaroche

27. Westernisation I • 1682/1689-1725 Peter I. (the Great) • 1697 “Grand Embassy” to Western Europe • Government and administrative reforms – more effective administration: Swedish, Dutch, German example • Land tax and household tax replaced by capitation: payable also by serfs • Reform of the Russian Orthodox Church: Patriarch of Moscow replaced by Holy Synod (10 clergymen) • 1721 Title “Emperor” • 1722 Introduction of a new order of precedence: the Table of ranks: privileges of nobility based on state service

28. 1700

29. Access to the Baltic Sea • Great Northern War against Sweden 1699-1721 • Conquest of Ingermanland • 1703 Foundation of St.Petersburg • Integration of Estonia and Livonia 1721 • 1809 Finland becomes part of the Russian Empire

30. Skyline of St. Petersburg in the 19th c.

31. Battle of Poltava, 1709: Russia vs. Sweden and Cossack Allies (Mazepa) Beginning of end of Cossack autonomy

33. Catherine the Great Portrait by Dmitry Levitsky

34. Westernisation II • 1761 under Peter III.: Liberty of nobility: no longer obliged to serve in the military or civil service • 1762-1796 Catherine II. (the Great): Westernisation continues • Enlightened Absolutism: administrative reforms, attempt to organise society in well defined social groups – estates • Charter to the Nobility (1785) and Charter to the Towns • 1790 Aleksandr N. Radishchev publishes “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”: attack on serfdom and autocracy

35. 1800

36. Outline • The Kievan Rus and Christianisation • The “Mongolian yoke“ and the rise of Moscow • The imperial Byzantine Heritage 4. Expansion and Westernization between the 16th and 18th centuries 5. Conclusion

37. Influences • Byzantine heritage – Orthodox faith – Third Rome • Mongolian heritage – for 200 years part of a Mongolian empire (1240 – middle of the 15th c.) • Influences of Western and Central Europe (Polish, German, Swedish, French) – 17th c. – 20th c.

38. Key questions • Autocratic tradition – no estates: weakness of society • Nobility vs. Peasants (serfs) • Weak middle class • 'Backwardness' • Multiethnic empire • What is Russia? What is Russia's role in the world? • Relationship to Europe, to Asia