1. Note that the Time of Troubles ended with a new triumph of the rich landowners at the expense of the serfs, and of the autocracy at the expense of democratically minded elements among the upper classes. In other words, despite the terrible carnage of the period, Russian history simply resumed course as though nothing had happened.
2. The new tsar was Michael Romanov (nephew of the influential Moscow Patriarch Filaret). The Romanov Dynasty ruled Russia until 1917. Michael (1613-1645) was sickly and weak and allowed the Boyar Duma (the tsar's council of noble advisors) to have influence in state affairs.
3. His son Alexis (1645-1676) was physically more robust, and became famous for his piety (he attended church for hours each day. During our next segment, we will talk much more about the Romanovs and the development of Russia into a European Empire.
4. In 1649 a new official Law Code, known by its Russian name Ulozhenie (oo-luh-ZHEN-yuh) was passed. The Ulozhenie strengthened the Moscow tsar's centralized power and made serfdom (krepostno¡e pra¡vo the binding of peasants to particular estates or to particular noble families for life) an official policy of state. This law code generally made social mobility of any kind more difficult to achieve.
5. Note that tensions and sometimes warfare continued between Russia and Poland after the Time of Troubles (pp. 152-5). By the late 1700's, however, Russia would swallow up Poland, which disappeared from the map until 1920.
   

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1. Read HANDOUT on the conquest of Siberia. See map on p. 151.
2. Know: cossacks, Yermak, Khan Kuchum of Sibir, voyevoda (vuh-ya-VOD-uh) military leader, later a governor in eastern lands annexed by Russia; it's also my last name, Vajda).
3. In class we will discuss much detail that is not in your book, as Russia's acquisition of Siberia is one of the crucial turning points in its history.
4. Know also that before 1600 North Asia (Siberia plus the North Pacific Rim) was inhabited by many nationalities of East Asian not European origin who had been there for thousands of years and were completely unrelated to Russians. About 26 of these peoples still exist as tiny minorities in Russian Siberia today. You have to take my course EAST ASIAN 210: INTRODUCTION TO NOMADIC CULTURES if you thirst to learn more about them.
5. We'll discuss Russia's annexation of Ukraine (pp. 151-153 only after TEST ONE and you will not be responsible for this information now).
   

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Pp. 152-167. From peasant to serf

1. Make sure you know which Romanovs ruled Russia in the 1600's: Mikhail (mik-high-EEL) 1613-1645; Alexis 1645-76, Fedor II 1676-82, Peter I and Ivan V as co-rulers under their wily regent sister Sophia from 1682-89, and Peter I (the Great) from 1689-1725.
2. Know: Cossacks (Slavic freemen who lived on the borders of Russia in agricultural camps; served as mercenaries), Zaporozhe (Za-pa-ROZH-yuh), Sich (Cossack fort), hetman (Cossack military leader). Why did the Orthodox Russian Cossacks of Ukraine hate Catholic Poland? Know the details of Cossack hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky's successful revolt against Poland in 1648 and his pogroms (pogro¡my, murderous riots) against the Jews.
3. Also know the basic details of how Russia annexed Ukraine (Bogdan Khmelitsky and Tsar Alexis agreed to a Union in 1654, but the absorbtion of Ukrain into Russia was recognized by Poland only with the Treaty of Andrusovo in 1667). In class we will discuss how Ukrainians and Russians came to be a different nationality in the first place.
4. Due to the absorption of former Polish territory, foreign influence in Russia increased. During the 1670's this precipitated a momentous change in the Orthodox church. In class we will discuss Patriarch Nikon (introduced stylistic changes into the liturgy and icon painting) Archpriest Avvakum (leader opposed to any change in form and to Nikon), and the Old Believers, who might better be called "Old Ritualists"in English (staroobrq¡dcy). Read about this controversy on pp. 159-162. The followers of Avvakum were branded heretics and had to flee to Siberia.
5. Note that the Time of Troubles, in destroying old loyalties and local power structures, also paved the was for the introduction of European influence. The Zemsky Sobor (ZEM-skee Suh-BOR, ze¡mskij sobo¡r, or local assembly) persuaded the government to create a special foreign ghetto (sloboda¡) in each large town, where European merchants could live and set up shop.
6. Note the gradual development of serfdom in Russia (pp. 162-166). What was the significance of St. George's Day (Nov. 26, {/r;ev den;)? Who was Stenka Razin and what happened to him in 1666?
   

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Pp. 171-188. Peter the Great (He was, if you don't care about serfs)

1. Note the turbulent early family life of Peter, the feud between the Miloslavskys (the family of Alexis's first wife) and the Naryshkins (Peter's mother's family). Who were Fedor III (FYOR-door), Ivan V, and Regent Sophia? Know that Peter I was co-tsar from 1682-89 and tsar from 1689-1725. Know Peter I's nickname (the Great) and that he was probably Russia's most influential tsar.
2. Know who the streltsy (musketeers, strel;ty¡) were and why the revolted against Peter in 1698. What happened to Sophia after this revolt?
3. What was the purpose of Peter's Great Embassy to Europe? (To collect data about Western technology and culture).
4. Understand how Peter built a modern Russian army and navy.
5. Know Sweden's ingenious young military king Charles the Twelfth; the Battle of Narva (Sweden creams Russia in 1700); how, why and where Peter founded St. Petersburg in 1703; the Great Northern War with began in 1700 and ended with the Treaty of Nystadt in 1721; the Battle of Poltava (Peter totally crushes the Swedes); Mazepa (Cossack hetman who betrayed Peter).
6. Understand the civil and religious changes Peter created: reformed the alphabet, removed the capital from Moscow, replaced the Patriarch with a Holy Synod, took the title of Emperor (impera¡tor), streamlined the system of administration(see p. 182), began the scientific exploration of Siberia and the North Pacific.
   

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Pp. 189-198. The westernization of high culture in Russia

1. Know how Peter replaced traditional Russian architecture, dress, painting and court life with Western models.
2. Know what the Table of Ranks was. Peter tried to replace a purely hereditary aristocracy with a meritocracy (people rise according to their talents). Everyone in the entire country served Tsar and State.
3. What was the main effect of Peter's rule on the peasantry? (they became poorer and more enslaved).
4. Know the events surrounding the abolition of the Patriarch. The Holy Synod was simply a branch of Peter's government.
5. Also know that Peter was probably Russia's most unpopular tsar during his reign. He had many opponents and dissenters, with whom he dealt harshly with only if they actually took action to oppose him. For instance, Peter bundled his first wife Eupraxia (you-prak-SEE-yuh) off to a nunnery and arrested their son Alexis was arrested for treason. Alexis dies mysteriously during "interrogation" in Peter's fortress dungeon on Rabbit Island in the center of St. Petersburg (in what came to be known as the Peter and Paul Fortress).
   

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Pp. 199-210. The era of palace revolutions (or: all the crummy tsars between Peter and Catherine)

1. Note that 1725-1762 was a time of weak central leadership. What does your book say was positive during this period (p. 199)?
2. The rulers during this time were: Empress Catherine I (Peter's crude and uneducated second wife, from peasant stock) from 1725-27; Peter II (Peter's young airhead grandson) from 1727-30; Empress Anna (the hedonistic, distracted, overweight daughter of Ivan V, Peter's elder half brother) from 1730-40; Ivan VI for a few brief months in 1740-41 (Ivan VI was the infant son of Peter's half brother Ivan V); Empress Elizabeth (Peter's party-loving daughter) from 1742-1762; and Peter III (Empress Elizabeth's socially undeveloped nephew). More important than the rulers themselves were the court favorites. Some were German, others French. Several times the Imperial Guards overthrew the monarch. During Anna's reign (1730-40) the Germans were in control and Ernst Biron (bee-RON; in German, Bühren) conducted a reign of terror agains rival nobles. Other important names are Menschikov (Peter's favorite, who controlled affairs during the reign of Peter's wife from 1725-27 and was exiled to Siberia in 1727); he was followed by Prince Golitsyn (an influential minister in the late 1720's who tried to establish limitations on tsarist power -see his list of eight Conditions on pp. 200-201).
3. Know that Empress Elizabeth (1741-62) was credited with chasing out the Germans, but French influence soon replaced the German as Russia continued by inertia to follow Peter the Great's legacy.
4. Know: dvorianstvo (the post-Petrine service gentry). There really weren't any independent boyars left, only nobles who were allowed to be nobles because they served the tsar. The obligatory service of the nobility was ended in 1762 by Peter III. Know that Peter III, despite his personal shortcomings, passed a number of other liberal laws in his brief reign (a social misfit, Peter III was soon overthrown by his wife, who became Catherine the Great).
5. Read the discussion of incipient Russian literature and science patterned on Western models (p. 206). In particular, know the name of Mikhail Lomonosov (luh-man-OSS-uv), a peasant-born intellectual who founded Moscow State University.
   

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Pp. 211-227. Catherine the Great (She was too, if you like censorship)

1. Know what caused the palace revolution of 1762. What was Catherine the Great's (Catherine II) ethnic background? Know the basic biographical facts of Peter III and Catherine II. Catherine (ruled 1762-1796) was one of Russia's most important rulers.
2. Catherine had many lovers (favorites), the chief of whom were Count Orlov and Count Potemkin (puh-TYOM-kin). In class I will tell you what a "Potemkin village" is.
3. Catherine was famous during her lifetime for toying with liberal ideas, but she never implemented any of them and when her reign ended serfdom and autocracy were little improved. She did, however, maintain two liberal policies adopted by Peter III in his brief reign (1762-63): tolerance of Old Believers and other dissenting Christians, abolishment of torture. These policies remained in force until after the Communist revolution.
4. Catherine was really important for: grabbing large parts of Turkey and Poland, encouraging the nobles to get a Western-style education, instituting state censureship to protect her absolute power. In fact, Catherine was so successful that in 1795 Poland ceased to exist as an independent country, and Turkey began to be known as "The Sick Man of Europe".
5. Know the name of General Suvorov (sue-VOR-off), the brilliant campaigner who made most of these military gains possible.
6. Why was the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (July 1774) important? (It gave Russia the north coast of the Black Sea and suzerainty over the Crimea.
7. In class I will tell you Catherine's opinion of the United States, which came into being during her reign.
8. Who was Thaddeus Kosciuszko? (unsuccessful Polish independence fighter who had earlier participated in the American Revolution.)
9. What does the oxymoron Enlightened Despot mean and was Catherine really one in deed as well as word? We'll discuss this in class.

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Pp. 227-242. Russia and Napoleon, or "Next time remind me to pack that extra parka"

1. Who was Emelyan Pugachev (poo-ga-CHOFF)? What happened to him after 1774?
2. Know the name of Radishchev, a nobleman and author of the anti-serfdom "Journey from St.Petersburg to Moscow", a 1789 book that caused his exile to Siberia.
3. Who was Nicholas Novikov? What whas the literary journal Drone (tru¡ten;) like (p. 236)

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Pp. 243-257. Cracks in the imperial armor: the Decembrist Revolt of 1825

1. Know the "Mad Tsar Paul" (Catherine's son who ruled from 1796-1801). How did his reign end?
2. Know that "Mad Paul", during his brief 5-year reign, succeeded in modernizing the Russian army and navy to compete with the legacy of Prussia's Frederick the Great and with the rising French Napoleon Bonaparte, who was soon to be proclaimed Emperor of France. Paul also introduces much stifling regimentation and severe punishments for small infractions, policies that made him widely hated. He also changed the rule of succession back to primogeniture, so that each new tsar would not arbitrarily designate a successor, as had been done from Peter through Catherine. And Paul made peace with Napoleon and formed an alliance against England instead, something that infuriated many of his nobles.
3. Why was Alexander I (Catherine's grandson who ruled 1801-1825) called the Enlightened Tsar? In reality, like his grandmother Catherine, he showed interest in reforms but never carried them out. In general, Alexander I was indecisive and superficial, despite his excellent education and natural charm and intelligence.
4. Who were La Harpe and Arakcheev?
5. In class I'll tell you about the writer Nikolai Karamzin (kuh-ram-ZEEN) and the beginnings of modern Russian literature.
6. Who was Mikhail Speransky? (pp. 249-50)
7. What was the Arakcheevshchina (a-rak-CHEY-uv-shee-na)? (pp. 252) In class I'll tell you why Arakcheev's military-agricultural colonies failed.
8. Know the details of the Decembrist Revolt (1825). Who was crowned Tsar at that time?

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Pp. 258-268. Russian imperialism, or "Wasn't Russia already the biggest country?"

1. What was the role of Russia in the Frence Revolution? How did Russia deal with Napoleon in 1805-07? In class I'll describe the basic events of Napoleon's rise to power. Why did Alexander I and Napoleon conclude the Tilsit Alliance in 1807? What turned out to be bad for Russia in Napoleon's Continental System (a Europe-wide boycott of trade with England, the only other European nation besides Russia still independent of France).
2. Know the details of Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia. Know that the Battle of Borodino (buh-ra-dee-NO) failed to stop the Frence advance toward Moscow. What happened to Moscow? Know that the Russian General Kutuzov (koo-TOO-zuff) was the military hero in the national resistance against Napoleon, a war the Russians call the Fatherland War (Ote¡hestvennaq vojna¡). Why did Napoleon lose and what happened to his Grand Army? See map on p. 264. What great Russian novel by Leo Tolstoy (Lev Tolsto¡j) uses this war as its backdrop? (answer: War and Peace, Vojna¡ i mir)
3. Know that after Napoleon's defeat, Russia acquired most of the land occupied by Poles. Know that Russian rule was different in 1) Finland (which was considered a Grand Duchy under Russian protection) and 2) Poland (which had its own constitution, though firmly part of the Russian Empire). Serfdom was also ended in the Baltic, so that the non-Slavic, European parts of the Russian Empire had somewhat of a better social situationt than the rest of the empire.
4. What was the Concert of Europe, formed after Waterloo in 1815?
5. What was the Greek Revolt (early 1820's) and its effect on Russian intellectuals?
   

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Pp. 269-280. The Russian intellectual: hero, orphan, or hooligan?

1. In class I will discuss the frustrating feeling of powerlessness among Russian intellectuals and the notion of the superfluous man. We will also discuss the notion of the "superman".
2. Russian literature, painting, and music reach a golden age in the 1800's. We will discuss: 1) writers: Pushkin (father of Russian literature), Gogol (surrealist), Dostoyevsky (social realist, very religious and conservative thinker) 2) music: Glinka (the father of Russian classical music; 3) painting: Academy of Arts, Briullov (bryoo-LOFF), Ivanov (ee-VAN-off). Read attached HANDOUTS on Russian Music, Painting.
   

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Pp. 281-291. Nicholas I: barracks, trains, and Crimean War defeat

1. Why was Nicholas I (1825-56) nicknamed the Iron Tsar and the Gendarme of Europe? Note that the official watchwords of his reign were "Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationalism."
2. Know that Nicholas created the infamous Third Section (tret;e otdelenie), a secret police organization designed to stop anti-government activity.
3. How did industrialization and the building of trains proceed under Nicholas (answer: poorly and slowly compared to Europe). What did Nicholas pride himself on?
4. Note Russia's suppression of the Polish Revolt (1830-31), expansion into the Caucasus, and into Central Asia.
5. What was Nicholas I's role in the Europe-wide Revolution of 1848?
6. What caused the Crimean War (1853-56)? Who won and who lost? Know: Seige of Sevastopl, Charge of the Light Brigade, Florence Nightengale (brought modern nursing to the battlefield). What did the war reveal about Russia's economic conditions?

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Pp. 291-296. Russia at the crossroads: East or West?

1. Who was Pyotr Chaadaev (chuh-DIE-uff) and why was he put in an insane asylum in 1836? Read attached HANDOUT on Chaadaev.
2. What is a Slavophile? A Westernizer?
3. Who was Belinsky? (a social activist, strong Westernizer and prominent literary critic)
   

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Pp. 299-315. The serfs get emancipated (sort of)

1. Why did Alexander II (son of Nicholas I) abolish serfdom in 1861? Why did I say "sort of"? What were the other Great Reforms of this era?
2. What is a zemstvo ? (rural council) duma? (city council)
3. How did the tsarist government deal with Jews? With Polish and Ukrainian nationalists?
   

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Pp. 316-329. Peasant and proletariat

1. In class we will discuss the daily lives of the peasants (krest;q¡ne, most of the population) and of the small but growing group of factory workers.
2. What was the role of the Russian church in social reform during the mid 1800's? (it was generally a conservative force opposing change).
   

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Pp. 332-345. Russia in the age of European great power rivalry

1. In class we will discuss Russia's traditional system of alliances with or against other European powers.
2. What is Pan-Slavism? (a conservative Slavophile idea that Russia should unite and rule all the Slavic peoples under the tsar and the Orthodox Church)
3. In class I will discuss Russian rule in: the Baltic area, the Balkans, Poland, Caucasus, Central Asia, the Pacific Rim.
4. We will also discuss in class which of the European powers really had the most in common with Russia (I will argue that Russian shared most in common with the countries that it later fought against in the First World War, particularly with Germany.)
   

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**Discussion questions for TEST II (choose three of five)

1. Describe and assess the reforms of Peter the Great in the Church, the military, the relation between tsar/nobility/serf, as well as on upper class Russian culture.
2. Catherine was the last Russian rule to be called "The Great". What things of greatness dish she accomplish? In what ways was her long reign a great disappointment and a time of fatally missed opportunities for the Russian state?
3. Discuss the life and work of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, or Dostoevsky. Or choose any particular Russian poem, story, or novel of the 19th century. What was it's significance and purpose? You may have to use library resources for this question.
4. Describe the Great Reforms of the late 1850's and early 1860's under the young Alexander II. What triggered the government's decisions to reform? How were the reforms sucessful and how were they merely half measures that didn't solve the real problems at hand?
5. Discuss the Slavophile/Westernizer controversy. If you were a Russian, which side would you imagine yourself taking?
   

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