Absolute Monarchy

In Russia

17.5

Peter the Great

  • Curious, he spent hours in the German quarters where many Dutch, Scottish, & English artisans lived.
  • Hearing about the advanced technology that helped monarchs build empires, he became very curious.

Journey to the West.

  • He studied western technology himself. He visited factories, art galleries, observed people, learned anatomy & how to pull teeth.
  • Russia returned to Russia with a group of technical experts, teachers, soldiers, & nobles recruited in the west to reshape Russia.

Autocrat & reformer

  • Determined to centralize power, he put all Russians, including the Church, under his control.
  • He spread serfdom in Russia, forcing some to become soldiers or laborers in government projects.
  • He imported western technology, improved education, set up academies for the study of the sciences.
  • He adopted mercantilist policies.
  • Peter insisted that nobles shave their beards & replace their robes with western European clothing.
  • He held parties to end the isolation of women.

Russian Expansion:

  • Peter created the largest standing army in Europe.
  • Search for a warm-water port.
  • Peter defeated the Swedes & won land along the Baltic, but still needed a warm-water port
  • Peter fought the Ottomans over the control of the Black Sea & failed, but Catherine the Great won it.

Peter’s City

  • Thousands of serfs died in draining the swamps & Italian architects & artisans built St. Petersburg.

Toward the Pacific

  • Russian traders went across Siberia to the Pacific & Peter signed a border treaty with Qing’s China.
  • Russian pioneers crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska & traveled as far as California

Peter’s Legacy

  • Peter died in 1725, leaving a huge Russian territory, new ports on the Baltic, & the largest army.

Catherine The Great

  • Nobles got back their strength until Catherine became the ruler.

Absolute Rule

  • Czar Peter III, Catherine’s crazy husband, was killed by his officers & Catherine became queen.
  • She reorganized government, education, laws, & took on western ideas. She also spread the French language & customs.
  • Catherine gave nobles exemption from taxes but more control over the peasants. She crushed a peasant rebellion.
  • She got the Black Sea warm-water port from the Ottomans & land from Poland.

Partition of Poland

  • Poland used to be a great European power, but its rulers could not centralize power or decrease the power of the nobles. This made Poland divided, weak, & an easy prey.
  • In 1770s, Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great of Prussia, & Joseph II of Austria agreed to divide Poland between them.