5.3.4


 * Russia through the 18th Century - Analyze the major political, religious, economic, and cultural transformations in Russia including.**

**Civilization Development:** Russia's Geography
The western civilization developed differently then the east. The main reason of this is from the difference in Geography. Russia had three regions, each zone had different climates and resources that helped to shape early russian life. The first region is the Northern part of Russia. The northern part of Russia is a cold and snowy climate. It has large forests that supplied lumber for building and also for fuel. The fur bearing animals were great for clothing and for trading. This harsh climate made the soil to be poor, the soil had very few nutrients to be able to support crops or grazing for animals. The second region is just below the first, around the middle of Russia. The land is fertile there and farmers lived to produce crops. It contains the country we call today Ukraine, which was the home of the first civilization of Russia. The third and last region is the southern steppe. The southern steppe was a treeless grassland. It offered great pastures for herds and the horses of the people of the land. This region had no natural barriers, which allowed the nomad people to migrate. They migrated from Asia into Europe settling and conquering new territory. The [|Vikings] spread from present Ukraine, Poland and Belarus into Russia during the 500's and 600's. Vikings were a simple political organization. They were organized into clans, and lived in small villages. They were farmers and traded along the rivers that ran between the Baltic and the Black seas.These vikings were called Varangians by the Russians. In the 700's and 800's, the Vikings left Scandinavia. They traveled south along the rivers to trade and collect tribute or even forced payment from Slavs.
 * Vikings:**

**Cultural Development:** Russia
One of the influences on Russia were the Byzantines. They converted the Cyrillic alphabet to Russia which is still used to this day. They converted because they used it to translated it to the slavic tongue. In 957, the princess Olga of Kiev converted to Byzantine Christian. When her grandson Vladimir came into power the new religion spread widely. Vladimir after converting married the sister of a Byzantine emperor. Then he changed Russians religion to Orthodox Christianity and align his kingdom wit the Byzantine empire. Later Russian rulers eventually came to control the church. They got control by making them dependent on there support. After they made then dependent, the Russian Orthodox Church became a pillar of state power.

The Mongols ruled Russia, after the invading of Russia, sometime between 1236 and 1241. Batu, grandson of Genghis, led the Mongols armies into Russia. Many people referred these invaders as the Golden Horde, because their tents color. These invaders looted and burned Kiev and other Russian towns. The areas that were not directly controlled by Mongols suffered destructive raids from the armies of the Mongols. Though the Mongols weren't always this way, if they were payed their tribute they left things alone. Mongols converted to Islam, but they tolerate the Russian Orthodox Church. They didn't make the Russians convert. The Russian Orthodox Church grew more powerful during this period. Mongol forces conquered a vast empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe. Mongols were the most skillful horsemen in the world, and had very strict military discipline. In the next 150 years they dominated much of Asia. In the next 150 years they dominated much of Asia. In the 1200’s and 1300’s the sons and grandsons of Genghis Khan established peace and order within their domains. As long as the Mongol empire prospered, contacts between Europe and Asia continued. The Yuan dynasty declined after the death of Kublai Khan, which occurred in 1294. Heavy taxes, corruption, and natural disasters led to frequent uprisings. Ming Took over the Mongol empire, they pushed the Mongols pass the Great Wall. They would travel over seas to explore and trade. They stopped exploring over seas and trading with an unknown reason.
 * Mongols**

[|Ivan the Great] brought much of northern Russia under his control between 1462 and 1505. He also recovered Russian Territory that had fallen into the hands of Lithunania. He built the framework for complete control.

[|Marco Polo] an Italian merchant, was one of many visitors to China during the Yuan dynasty. Marco Polo spent 17 years in Kublai’s service. Marco left a vivid account of the wealth and splendor of China.
 * Marco Polo**

[|Peter the Great] used his power to put Russia on the road to becoming a great modern power. Peter took the throne in 1682, at the age of 10 years old. He used autocratic methods, he pushed through social and economic reforms. He imported western technology, improved education, simplified the russian alphabet, and set up academies for the study of mathematics, science, and engineering. 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. Peter started a long war against the kingdom of Sweden in 1700, which he lost but came back and defeated them finally in 1709.
 * Peter the Great**

A new monarch took the reins of power firmly in hand, and known as [|Catherine the Great.] Catherine the Great reorganized the provincial government, codified laws, and began state-sponsored education for both boys and girls.Catherine the Great wanted to bring Russia into European cultural and political life. Catherine the Great won the Ottoman Empire to gain the warm-water port. To avoid fighting one another, the three monarchs,Russia, Prussia, and Austria, agreed in 1772 to partition, or divide up Poland.
 * Catherine the Great**

Ch. 12 Sect. 2 Ch. 16 Sect. 5 Ch. 9 Sect. 2
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