Republic of the Philippines

Bicol University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Daraga, Albay

WORLD HISTORY

ABSOLUTE RULERS
OF RUSSIA

Prepared by: Antito Carl R. Aplacador

Kyle R. Amatos
Jan Erika A. Balintong
Czyra Camille Y. Garganta

Adviser: Dr. Maribel M. Naz 1

 ABSOLUTE RULERS OF RUSSIA
What is this lesson about?
Ivan IV, called Ivan the Terrible, came to the throne in 1533 when he was only
three years old. His young life was disrupted by struggles for power among Russia’s
landowning nobles, known as boyars. The boyars fought to control young Ivan. When
he was 16, Ivan seized power and had himself crowned czar. This title meant “caesar,”
and Ivan was the first Russian ruler to use it officially.
Over time, the Romanovs restored order to Russia. They strengthened the
government by passing a law code and putting down a revolt. This paved the way for
the absolute rule of Czar Peter I. At first, Peter shared the throne with his half-brother.
However, in 1696, Peter became sole ruler of Russia. He is known to history as Peter
the Great, because he was one of Russia’s greatest reformers. He also continued the
trend of increasing the czar’s power.

What will you learn?

At the end of discussion, you will be able to:
1. Identify the absolute rulers of Russia
2. Analyze the contribution of the absolute rulers to Russia.
3. Explain how Peter the Great tried to westernize Russia.
4. Determine the ways Peter took to expand the borders of Russia.

Let’s Read!

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 Ivan III of Moscow, who ruled Russia from 1462 to 1505, accomplished several
things. First, he conquered much of the territory around Moscow. Second, he liberated
Russia from the Mongols. Third, he began to centralize the Russian government. Ivan III
was succeeded by his son, Vasily, who ruled for 28 years. Vasily continued his father’s
work of adding territory to the growing Russian state. He also increased the power of
the central government. This trend continued under his son, Ivan IV, who would become
an absolute ruler.

THE FIRST CZAR:

Ivan IV, called Ivan the Terrible, came to the throne in 1533 when he was only
three years old. His young life was disrupted by struggles for power among Russia’s
landowning nobles, known as boyars. The
boyars fought to control young Ivan. When
he was 16, Ivan seized power and had
himself crowned czar. This title meant
“caesar,” and Ivan was the first Russian
ruler to use it as an officer. He also married
the beautiful Anastasia, related to an old
boyar family, the Romanovs.

The years from 1547 to 1560 are often

called Ivan’s “good period.” He won great
victories, added lands to Russia, gave
Russia a code of laws, and ruled justly.

Rule by Terror

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 Ivan’s “bad period” began in 1560 after Anastasia died. Accusing the boyars of
poisoning his wife, Ivan turned against them. He organized his own police force, whose
chief duty was to hunt down and murder people
Ivan considered traitors. The members of this
police force dressed in black and rode black
horses.

Using these secret police, Ivan executed

many boyars, their families, and the peasants
who worked their lands. Thousands of people
died. Ivan seized the boyars’ estates and gave
them to a new class of nobles, who had to
remain loyal to him or lose their land.

Eventually, Ivan committed an act that was

both a personal tragedy and a national
disaster. In 1581, during a violent quarrel, he
killed his oldest son and heir. When Ivan died three years later, only his weak second
son was left to rule.

Rise of the Romanovs

Ivan’s son proved to be physically and mentally incapable of ruling. After he died
without an heir, Russia experienced a period
of turmoil known as the Time of Troubles.
Boyars struggled for power, and heirs of
czars died under mysterious conditions.
Several impostors tried to claim the throne.

Finally, in 1613, representatives from

many Russian cities met to choose the next
czar. Their choice was Michael Romanov,
grandnephew of Ivan the Terrible’s wife,
Anastasia. Thus began the Romanov
dynasty, which ruled Russia for 300 years
(1613–1917).

PETER THE GREAT

1672–1725

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 Peter the Great had the mind of a genius, the body of a giant, and the ferocious
temper of a bear. He was so strong that he was known to take a heavy silver plate and
roll it up as if it were a piece of paper. If someone annoyed him, he would knock the
offender unconscious.

Peter the Great Comes to Power

Over time, the Romanovs restored order to Russia. They strengthened the
government by passing a law code and putting down a revolt. This paved the way for
the abso-lute rule of Czar Peter I. At first, Peter shared the throne with his half-brother.
However, in 1696, Peter became sole ruler of Russia. He is known to history as Peter
the Great, because he was one of Russia’s greatest reformers. He also continued the
trend of increasing the czar’s power.

Russia Contrasts with Europe

When Peter I came to power, Russia was still a land of boyars and serfs. Serfdom
in Russia lasted into the mid-1800s, much longer than it did in western Europe. Russian
landowners wanted serfs to stay on the land and produce large harvests. The
landowners treated the serfs like property. When a Russian landowner sold a piece of
land, he sold the serfs with it. Landowners could give away serfs as presents or to pay
debts. It was also against the law for serfs to run away from their owners.

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 Most boyars knew little of western Europe. In the Middle Ages, Russia had looked
to Constantinople, not to Rome, for leadership. Then Mongol rule had cut Russia off
from the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration. Geographic barriers also isolated
Russia. It's only seaport, Archangel in northern Russia, was choked with ice much of the
year. The few travelers who reached Moscow were usually Dutch or German, and they
had to stay in a separate part of the city.

Religious differences widened the gap between western Europe and Russia. The
Russians had adopted the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity. Western Europeans
were mostly Catholics or Protestants, and the Russians viewed them as heretics and
avoided them.

Peter Visits the West

In the 1680s, people in the German quarter of Moscow were accustomed to

seeing the young Peter striding through their neighborhood on his long legs. (Peter was
more than six and a half feet tall.) He was fascinated by the modern tools and machines
in the foreigners’ shops. Above all, he had a passion for ships and the sea. The young
czar believed that Russia’s future depended on having a warm-water port. Only then
could Russia compete with the more modern states of western Europe.

Peter was 24 years old when he became the sole ruler of Russia. In 1697, just
one year later, he embarked on the “Grand Embassy,” a long visit to western Europe.
One of Peter’s goals was to learn about European customs and manufacturing
techniques. Never before had a czar traveled among Western “heretics.”

Peter Rules Absolutely

Inspired by his trip to the West, Peter resolved that Russia would compete with
Europe on both military and commercial terms. Peter’s goal of westernization, of using
western Europe as a model for change, was not an end in itself. Peter saw it as a way
to make Russia stronger.

Peter’s Reforms

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 Although Peter believed Russia needed to change, he knew that many of his
people disagreed. As he said to one official, “For you know yourself that, though a thing
be good and necessary, our people will not do it unless forced to.” To force change
upon his state, Peter increased his powers as an absolute ruler.

Peter brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state control. He abolished
the office of patriarch, head of the Church. He set up a group called the Holy Synod to
run the Church under his direction.

Like Ivan the Terrible, Peter reduced the power of the great landowners. He
recruited men from lower-ranking families. He then promoted them to positions of
authority and rewarded them with grants of land.

To modernize his army, Peter hired European officers, who drilled his soldiers in
European tactics with European weapons. Being a soldier became a lifetime job. By the
time of Peter’s death, the Russian army numbered 200,000 men. To pay for this huge
army, Peter imposed heavy taxes.

Westernizing Russia
As part of his attempts to westernize Russia, Peter undertook the following:

• introduced potatoes, which became a staple of the Russian diet

• started Russia’s first newspaper and edited its first issue himself

• raised women’s status by having them attend social gatherings

• ordered the nobles to give up their traditional clothes for Western fashions

• advanced education by opening a school of navigation and introducing schools for the
arts and sciences

Peter believed that education was a key to Russia’s progress. In former times,
subjects were forbidden under pain of death to study the sciences in foreign lands. Now
subjects were not only permitted to leave the country, many were forced to do it.

Peter Expands Russia’s Borders

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 Seeking a Warm-Water Port, Russian seaports, located along the
Arctic Ocean, were frozen over during the winter. To increase
Russia’s ability to trade with the West, Peter desperately wanted
a warm-water port—one that would be free of ice all year round.

The nearest warm-water coast was located along the Black Sea.
To gain control of this territory, Peter had to push through the
powerful Ottoman Empire. In the end, Peter was unable to defeat
the Ottomans and gain his warm-water port, but the later Russian
monarch Catherine the Great would achieve that goal before the
century ended.

The Great Northern War

In 1700, Peter began a long war against the kingdom of Sweden, which at the
time, dominated the Baltic region. Early on, Russia suffered humiliating defeats. A
Swedish force of only 8,000 men defeated a Russian army five times its size.
Undaunted, Peter rebuilt his army, modeling it after European armies. Finally, in 1709,
he defeated the Swedes and won territory along the Baltic Sea.

Establishing St. Petersburg

To promote education and growth, Peter

wanted a seaport that would make it easier to
travel to the West. Therefore, Peter fought
Sweden to gain a piece of the Baltic coast.
After 21 long years of war, Russia finally won
the “window on Europe” that Peter had so 
desperately wanted.

Actually, Peter had secured that window many years before Sweden officially
surrendered it. In 1703, he began building a new city on Swedish lands occupied by
Russian troops. Although the swampy site was unhealthful, it seemed ideal to Peter.
Ships could sail down the Neva River into the Baltic Sea and on to western Europe.
Peter called the city St. Petersburg, after his patron saint.

To build a city on a desolate swamp was no easy matter. Every summer, the army
forced thousands of luckless serfs to leave home and work in St. Petersburg. An

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estimated 25,000 to 100,000 people died from the terrible working conditions and
widespread diseases. When St. Petersburg was finished, Peter ordered many Russian
nobles to leave the comforts of Moscow and settle in his new capital. In time, St.
Petersburg became a busy port.

For better or for worse, Peter the Great had tried to westernize and reform the
culture and government of Russia. To an amazing extent he had succeeded. By the
time of his death in 1725, Russia was a power to be reckoned with in Europe.

”English Embankment” St. Petersburg, RussiaSt. Petersburg, Russia

"Palace Square" St. Petersburg

"Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood" St. Petersburg, RussiaSt. Petersburg,

Russia

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How Much Have You Learned?
To find out more how much you have learned from this lesson, try and answer the
question below. Write your answer on the space provided.

1. Who do you think was more of an absolute monarch: Ivan the Terrible or
Peter the Great? Why?
2. How did Ivan the Terrible deal with his enemies during his “bad period”?
3. What is the effect of Ivan's murder to his oldest son and heir?
4. What are the ways that Peter took to westernize Russia?
5. What is the impact of Peter's victory against Sweden to the expansion of
Russia?

Let’s Apply What You’ve Learned

Essay
Write a 1-2 paragraph expository essay explaining which of Peter the Great’s
actions reveal that he saw himself as the highest authority in Russia.

Suggested Readings and Websites References:

http://www.kpsdschools.org/cms/lib02/NJ01001889/Centricity/Domain/425/9
th%20G rade%20World%20History%20Textbook/04%20Chapter%204.5.pdf
http://sequimhs.ss14.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_1015277/Fil
e/corcoran/Ch%205- 4%20Absolute%20Rulers%20of%20Russia.pdf
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/warm-water-port.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/most-important-russian-tsars-4145077
https://youtu.be/RFD9V5jvAJw
https://youtu.be/wAd_Z8KNm1k

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