Chapter 32, Sections 1,2,3.

Three Nations on the Road to Modernization

And

Regional and Global Issues.

The USSR (Union of Soviet Republics) stretched 6000 miles across Europe and Asia, from the

Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

Now Russia is still the largest country in the world, despite the breakup of the USSR.

Russia has sought warm-weather ports in the south (especially on Black Sea, with

access the Mediterranean Sea).

This has led to wars.

Diversity

There were over 100 ethnicities in the USSR. This helped break up the nation, as groups wanted independence.

The 1st Russian state emerged in the Ukraine in 800AD.

The Vikings conquered the Slavs there and ruled over loose confederation of city-states. It was called Kiev, and traders carried fur, honey and farm products to Constantinople (capital of the Byzantine Empire).

Ivan the Great (1462-1505) ended Mongol rule by refusing taxation. Built strong government on

Byzantine traditions.

He used the title Czar and ruled as an autocrat. His grandson, Ivan the Terrible, created a new law code, expanded the borders and encouraged feudalism.

Czar Peter the Great set out to introduce Russia to Western values and culture. He reformed the government and increased his authority over the

church.

He built a new capital- St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea, a window on the west.

Russian Society- despite adapting French culture, autocrats ruled in a way that stifled

reform.

The nobles owned the land, and there was a small middle class with no power. The majority were serfs who were the property of nobles and

had no rights.

The Russian Orthodox Church- the Church was the servant of the czar and supported the social order. The czar gave financial support and the

Church backed autocracy.

Many peasants never traveled far from their birth village. The mir (village commune)

regulated life.

It was run by a council of heads of families. It divided and controlled land, and gave enough of it so that peasants could farm and pay taxes.