Great Themes in Russian HistoryDuring the 18th and 19 Centuries

GCCC Encore Fall 09 InstructorJoe Boisvert

St. Petersburg

Venice of the North

Timeline of Russian Czars

1696-1725: Czar Peter I the Great, Emperor of All Russia (From 1721 onwards, the Russian czar was proclaimed Emperor of All Russia. 1725-1727: Catherine I, Empress of All Russia1727-1730: Peter II, Emperor of All Russia1730-1740: Anna Ivanovna, Empress of All Russia1740-1741: Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia1741-1761: Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia1761-1762: Peter III, Emperor of All Russia1762-1796: Catherine II the Great, Empress of All Russia1796-1801: Paul I, Emperor of All Russia1801-1825: Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia1825-1855: Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia1855-1881: Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia1881-1894: Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia1894-1917: Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia

1707: Sweden, having defeated Poland, invades Ru1709: Sweden is defeated by Russia at the battle of Poltava 1713: Peter builds a new capital, St Petersburg 1717: Poland becomes a Russian protectorate 1718: Russia defeats the Khazak horde 1721: at the peace of Nystad, Russia obtains from Sweden some of its Baltic territories (Estonia and Livonia) 1721: the Patriarchate is abolished, hermitages are banned and the Russian Church is subjected to the czar 1722: Peter triumphs against Persia 1725: Peter the Great dies and is succeeded by his wife Catherine I 1727: Russia and China sign the treaty of Kyakhta, defining their border and granting Russia a trading post in Kyakhta 1727: Catherine I dies and is succeeded by Petr II 1728: the Russian explorer Vitus Bering sails beyond Kamchatka 1741: the Russian explorer Vitus Bering "discovers" Alaska 1741: Elizabeta becomes czarina 

1772: a Polish rebellion is crushed by Russia that partitions one fourth of Poland with Prussia and Austria 

Russian History Timeline

1755: First Famous scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov founds the Moscow State University, the first Russian university 1756: Friederich II of Prussia invades Saxony, starting the Seven Years' War, pitting France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden and Spain against Prussia and Britain 1762: Elizabeta dies and the new czar Petr III switches alliance, joining Prussia 1762: Catherine the Great becomes czar 1768: Jews are massacred during riots in Russia-occupied Poland 1768: Ottoman-Russian war 1772: a renegade Cossack, Pugachev, leads a revolt 

Russian History 1755 to 1772

1774: the Russians defeat the Ottomans and annex Crimea 1783: Ekaterina annexes Crimea 1793: Ekaterina of Russia invades Poland, abrogates the constitution and partitions half of Poland between Russia and Prussia 1795: a third partition of Poland divides the whole of Poland between Russia (that takes all of Lithuania) and Prussia, thereby removing Poland from the map 1796: Ekaterina the Great dies 1798: Russia expands to Poland, Ukraine and Belarus 1799: The Russian-American company is chartered 

Russian History 1774 to 1799

1801: Russia annexes Georgia 1802: Alexander I becomes czar 1804: first war against Persia 1808: Russia establishes the colony of Noviiy Rossiya in California 1809: Russia invades Sweden and Sweden cedes Finland to Russia 1812: Napoleon invades Russia and Russians burn Moskow 1814: Napoleon is defeated 1822: the ban on hermitages is repealed and a hermitage is built at Optina Pustyn 1825: Alexander I 1825 dies and is succeeded by Nicholas I 1825: The "Decembrist" revolt is suppressed 1826: second war against Persia 1828: Persia loses the Caucasus, and Russia annexes Armenia and Azerbaijan 1829: Russia defeats the Ottomans and helps Serbia and Greece become independent 1849: D1853: In the Crimean war Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire fight Russia 1854: Russia annexes Khazakstan 1855: Russia and Japan establish diplomatic relations 1855: Nicholas I dies and is succeeded by Alexander II 1856: Russia's Black Sea fleet is destroyed but the the Ottoman empire loses the Crimean War and the treaty of Paris gives the Ottomans a protectorate over Moldavia, Wallachia and Serbia (treaty of Paris) 

1801 to 1856

1866: the Ottoman protectorates of Moldavia and Wallachia unite in the federation of Romania 1867: the USA buys Alaska from Russia 1868: Russia conquers Samarkand and Bukhara 1869: Dmitri Mendeleev publishes the periodic table of the elements 1871: The first oil well is drilled in the Caucasus (near Baku) 1873: Russia annexes Uzbekistan 1875: Russia exchanges with Japan the Kurile Islands for the island of Sakhalin 1878: Russia defeats the Ottomans and at the Congress of Berlin the states of Serbia and Montenegro are granted independence and Bulgaria is granted broad autonomy 1878: Ludwig Nobel introduces the first oil tanker in the Caucasus 1881: Persia loses Turkmenistan to Russia 1881: Alexander II is assassinated by nihilists and is succeeded by Alexander III 

1861: Czar Alexander II abolishes serfdom 1863: Russian ships help the Union win the civil war in the US 1864: Russia annexes the Caucasus 1864: Russia expands in Central Asia 1865: Russia conquers Tashkent ostoevsky is jailed for subversive activities 

1858: Russia and China sign a border treaty 1859: Dostoevsky is released from detention 1859: Russia annexes Chechnya 1860: Russia and China sign a border treaty that grants Russia the coast around the newly founded city of Vladivostok 

1858 TO 1881

1890: The population of St Petersburg is 1,033,600 1891: The great famine kills 500,000 people 1891: USA oil accounts for 78% of illuminating oil exports vs 29% of Russia 1892: Sergei Witte minister of finance and launches an ambitious program of industrialization 1892: Marcus Samuel, a British Jew, introduces an oil tanker that can sail through the Suez canal to Bangkok 1892: Russian botanist Dmitri Ivanovsky discovers the first virus, the tobacco mosaic virus 

1881: a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms causes mass migrations of eastern European Jews (2.5 million Jews settle in the United States, thousands settle in Palestine) 1882: Russia abandons Turkestan which is annexed by China 1883: Alphonse Rothschild, a French Jew, loans money to build a railroad to Baku 1884: Russia conquers Merv (Turkmenistan) 1886: The Rothschild family founds the Black Sea Petroleum Company 

RUSSIAN HISTORY 1881 TO 1892

1894: Alexander III dies and is succeeded by Nicholas II 1895: Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) is arrested for revolutionary activities 1898: Marxists groups unite in the Social Democratic Labour Party 1898: China grants Russia a lease for Port Arthur in Manchuria 1900: The population of Russia passes the 100 million mark and Moskow passes one million 

THE LAST TWO TSARS

The Great ThemesWesternization Especially under Peter the

Great and Catherine the GreatBuilding of New Class of Educated Nobles

put in Charge because of Merit not BirthrightReforming of the Russian Orthodox Church

begun by Patriarch Nikon 1620 to 1682. Move to go back to Byzantine Roots repression of “old Believers”, continues in 18th Century

Reforms of Patriarch NikonSets up Religious Tensions

The Great Themes ContinuesCreation of huge amounts of Serfs by unintended

Consequences of actions by Peter and Catherine the Great!

Repression of SerfsAfter Voluntary National Service put in place by

Catherine the Great; Some Nobles go back to their land as Gentry.

Overriding Theme in Agriculture, Complete reliance on huge manual labor pool.

Gentry (land owners) wish to maximize profits with goal of minimizing negative effects on Serfs.

Catherine the Great and Potomkin

The Great ThemesEmancipation of the SerfsThe formation of the Intelligencia, The revolutionaries (foreign and Russian)The AnararchistsDivine Right of the Ruler of RussiaSmall Elite Ruling Class, Small Group of

Nobles in Positions of AuthorityHuge hordes of Conservative Serfs/ Peasants

Alliances made and broken as the situation dictatesReasonsMany WarsNecessity of TradeImportation of Skills not present in RussiaCountries trying to Exploit RussiaPublication of Literature, Including Scientific, Poetry and Novels.

Emperors' and Empresses‘ forge Different and Changing Foreign Policies and Political Alliances

Examples of Alliances 18th and 19th Century

Great Britain, Prussia, United States after the Revolutionary War, France before the French Revolution, Germany, Austrian

Relations with FranceStrong ties to Imperial France, influence of

the Courts, Adoption of French as langue of Court.

Nobility tried to Copy French Style, dress, manners, court entertainments, dance, music

Catherine the Great became very wary of the French before and after the French Revolution

Alexander the 1st tried to make alliances with Napoleon

Great BritainThe Strongest Sea Power During this Time

PeriodWanted to Copy it NavyMost Important Diplomatic and Commercial

ties were to Great BritainTrade in Tobacco between Russia and

England

Relations between Russian and British Colonies in North AmericaBegan even before American Revolution

Peter the Great met with American Colonist William Penn in 1698 on Peters Trip to London.

They talked about America, Quakers, Religious Tolerance, tobacco and possible trade but never reached any agreements.

The close ties to England prevented a lot of discussions

Russia and The United StatesNo official contact until just a few decades

before the American Revolution.Exchange of IDEAS between Ben Franklin and

Lomonosov (first Russian Scientist) included electricity, temperatures and the development of a trade route between Siberia and the United States.

Catherine liked the enlightenment but the looming American Revolutionary War and Russia pending First Turkish War kept Catherine from pursuing these ideas.

Catherine and the New United StatesBy the Time Catherine Seriously started thing

about having serious conversations and negotiations with the still then colonies both wars had begun.

Catherine because of Russia’s Strong links with Great Britain was not necessarily sympathetic to the American Cause.

However she was not appalled with the situation as she was with the French and the French Revolution.

Russia and The American RevolutionMany Russians came to America during the

Revolution that were sympathetic to the American Cause.

The Revolution cause a great Strain of Relations between Russian and England.

Catherine refused to send 20,000 Russian Troops to Canada as Requested by King George of England.

Additionally she signed the Treaty of Armed Neutrality refusing to take England side in the War

Russian and US Relationships started and stopped

Jefferson arranged for the Naval Hero John Paul Jones to become an admiral in the Russian Navy in the Second War with the Turks.

John Quincy Adams delegate to Saint Petersburg 1809

Alexander 1st and President Thomas Jefferson had strong semi-official ties, they discussed ideas on constitutional issues and land settlement. Their discussions led to an Official Recognition of the United States by Russia.

Russians had strong trade with United States during this period

Fell out over tensions regards new settlements in the Louisiana Territories. The new United States were moving westward and Russia were moving Eastward.

The Russians Developed a colony north of San Francisco in the early 19th Century

These two leaders discussed theConstitution and Expansion of TerritoryOne Eastward one Westward

Who are they and when would They be talking???

Two Famous Americans Involved in Russian and US History

John Paul Jones Went to Russia After The American Revolution was over fought the Turks Caused Great Scandal.