1721-1905

Ideas, Events, Dates, and Dilemmas

Ulozhenie - Week 3
one of the most significant parts of Aleksei Mikhailovich's domestic reforms (other than the ecclesiastical reforms); new law code of 1649, revised and expanded the Sudebnik of 1550, implimented by Ivan IV; most important significance is that it enserfed the Rusian peasantry; prior to that, they were tied to their lands, but could ocassionally move off of the land for their own purposes; it was 2 weeks a year, but declined to 1day/year by the 1640s; with new law, serfs could not move at all, until law was amended in 1861 by Alexander II, when he emancipated the serfs; the Ulohenzie was not superceded until the reign of Nicholas I in 1835. LectureNotes #3b:7. Text: 165, 169, 172-3, 175-7, 306.
Holy Synod - Week
in 1700 Patriarch Hadrian of the Orthodox Church died, and Peter the Great chose not to replace him; instead, with the Spriritual Reglament in 1721 he created the Holy Synod, which was overseen by a secular Ober-Procurator, who served as a link between the sovereign and the senate, created in 1711 (213); institution remained in effect until 1917; originally 10, and later 12, clerics replaced the position of Patriarch; similar to the Lutheran system, it "did enable the government effective control over Church organization, possessions and policies" (215); believing that monks were a drain on society, Peter treated them as such; he limited ecclesiastical landholding and monetary expenditures; also, Peter was more tolerant of religious differences, and allowed shunned groups such as the Old Believers to practice their religion out in the open (as long as they paid extra taxes!); this provided the Russians with more money and access to the iron ore in the Vyg community of the North; he removed restrictions vs. intermarriage, and now allowed other Christians to marry Orthodox; this greater tolerance was echoed by Catherine. Nicholas II was a pupil of Ober-Procurator Pobedonostsev, and relied on him to implement his "temporary restrictions" (369); Alexander III and Pobedonostsev increased the number of church schools, and strengthed the ties between religion and education (417). LectureNotes #3c:10. Text: 213,215, 363, 369, 417.
Great Northern War - Week 3
Peter the Great spent 29 of his 31-year-reign (1694-1725) fighting wars; the most famous was against Sweden and her allies; Charles XII, the new 18-year-old king of Sweden, was a military genius, but he was outsmarted by Peter; Charles attacked Russia at Narva, and won in a battle the Russians were outmanned; 10,000 were killed. While Charles turned his attention towards Poland, Peter advanced into Livonia and Estonia. In fact, he built the beginning foundations of what later became the town of St. Petersburg when he established a fortress on the Neva river in 1703. by 1706, he completed building a new fleet on the Baltic, and was ready for the Swedes. After Charles defeated the Poles, he moved his men into the Ukraine in 1708-09. However, his place of attack was at Poltava, and he was crushed; the majority surrended, though Charles escaped. Although Charles continued to try to gather support to fight against Peter, he was killed in 1718 (while considering a surrender). In 1721 a peace treaty was signed with Sweden, and Russia received Livonia, Estonia, Latvia, and southern Finland. The Russian Senate declared Peter to be Emperor, and Peter considered himself the successor to the boyar duma and the zemskii sobor. This was the start of the Imperial period. LectureNotes #3c:7-8; his successes were not matched until Catherine the Great fought the Turkish and Poles (245) some 50+ years later. Text: 201, 204-12, 257, 261.
Nakaz - Week 4
the Instruction to the 1767 Legislative Commission created by Catherine II to replace the 1649 laws; based on the philosophe ideas, especially of Montesquieu, it was very liberal for its time; it was banned in France; the Nakaz relied on Beccaria's Crimes and Punishments; group was selected to represent society, but excluded serfs and clergy; it lasted only 18 months (Catherine disbanded it: war vs. Turkey 1868 is rational), and the members split along class lines, and failed to reach agreement. LectureNotes #4b:3. Text: 239-40.
Decembrists - Week 5
after Alexander I's death, group of radicals took advantage of confusion over succession to Nicholas I (disinheritance of Constantine was not known); primarily army officers; believed Russia needed to liberalize - had seen impact of French Rev on France; staged rebellions in Moscow & St. Petersburg; demanded constitutional monarch; men counted on for support did not show - too cold; leaders captured & hanged; others sent to Siberian exile; amongst supporters were Alexander Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet - under house arrest, so not there. LectureNotes #5b-5. Text: 298-300; 303; 334-335; 339; 344; 354.
Slavophiles - Week 5
a group of romantic individuals that developed during the 1840s and 1850s, despite the crackdown on publishing under Nicholas I; created an ideology based on the idea of the superiority of the historical mission of Russia and of Orthodoxy; individuals were mostly landowners, with a wide variety of interests; they were leading members of society, who formed sobernost - a religious foundation which believed in love, freedom, and truth of believers as the basis of Orthodoxy; their ideals were believed to be historically found in the lives of the peasants; they lived in communes, and formed zemskii sobor - land councils; the opposite ideals were rationalism, necessity, and compulsion, believed to be introduced into the country by Peter the Great, who seduced the country into ideas originating in Catholicism and other Western ideas and religions; they believed their responsibility was to cure Russia by returning to the native peoples, and then to bring that cure to the West. LectureNotes #5c:1-3. Text: 158, 182, 221, 334, 338040, 345, 347, 354, 421; philosophy and leaders, 335-7; on serfdom, 336-7, 344).
Westernizers - Week 5
group that opposed the Slavophiles; not as cohesive, and more fluid intellectually, their basic belief is that Russia can only achieve her mission of superiority in the context of Western, and hence European, civilization; praised the ideas of Peter I, but demanded further reform and westernization; they fostered a turn from all things Russian, including language, history, and art; their writings and demands ranged from moderate to radical; most famous of group is Alexander Herzen and Mikhail Bakunin. LectureNotes #5c:4. Text: 335, 354, 433; philosphy and leaders of, 337-9; on serfdom, 344.
1861 - Week 5
Emancipation of the Serfs, by Alexander II, was implemented; not a complete emancipation, it affected 52 million serfs (20 m on private estates); it failed to satisfy the radicals, and it was not enough to survive land to the serfs; they received 1/2 the land they worked before, if they took out preposterous loans for the govt; or 1/4 the amt of land, without owing $; giving the land to the communes was a BIG mistake. LectureNotes #5d:2-3. Text: 342-48.