Ch 5 – Section 4

Absolute Rulers of Russia

Main Idea: Peter the Great made many changes in Russia to try to
make it more like Western Europe

Why It Matters Now: Many Russians today debate whether to

model themselves on the West or to focus on traditional Russian
culture
 Ivan III
• Ruled from 1462-1505 (43 years)
• Accomplished 3 things:
① Conquered area around Moscow
② Freed Russia from Mongols
③ Centralized Russian government
• Son was Vasily
• Grandson was Ivan IV
 Ivan the Terrible
• Came to power at age 3
– Boyars tried to control Ivan and kingdom
• At 16yrs Ivan officially became czar of Russia
• Married Anastasia (Romanov family)
 Ivan’s Moods
• Good Period (1547-1560)
– Won wars, added land, ruled justly
• Bad Period (1560-end)
– Wife died (murdered?)
• Accused boyars of poisoning her
• Created his “Special Forces”
– Hunt down those responsible
– Thousands die
• Gave land to “new” nobles loyal to him
 Ivan’s Descendents
• 1581- Ivan killed his eldest son and heir to the
Russian thrown
– Left a weak son to rule instead
• Dies leaving no heir
• Imposter tries to take thrown
• Relatives of the czar start to mysteriously die
• Russian nobles select the Romanov family to
rule
– Related to Ivan the Terrible and his wife
 Peter the Great
• Peter I finally comes to power
• Serfs still employed in Russia
– Serfs were property, sold and bought, given as
presents, used by the rich
• Peter wanted to change Russia, Westernize it
to be more like Europe
– Grand Embassy took place
• Long visit to Europe with the “heretics”
(Catholics/Protestants)
 Westernization Continues
• Peter increased his power to westernize his
nation
– Got rid of Church Patriarch and made church follow
his orders
• Group called the Holy Synod
– Hurt powerful landowners, took their land and gave
it to lower-ranking families
– Hired European officers to modernize his army
• Heavily taxed the people to help support all this
– Increased education of Russians
 St. Petersburg
• Peter built a new city in Swedish land
– Fought wars to gain this new area
– Called it St. Petersburg
• Became a warm weather port to reach Europe
and the capital of Russia