· Eastern European Social System
o Serfdom remains as peasants are tied to the land
o Eastern lords sell directly to West; leads to no middle class or towns
o Lords are now landlords
o Economic crisis ends to postpone marriage & limit family size
· Peter the Great
o Born 1672
o Took throne at age 10
o Offensive and boisterous personality
o Loved boats, but Russia had no navy or warm water ports; sought to create a Russian navy
o More aware of West than predecessors
o Undisciplined education
o Arranged marriage with first wife, who he sent to a monastery
o Married a Lithuanian peasant named Marta, who became Catherine I
o Would dismiss boyars & raise members of peasantry into government
o Became aware of western government & social structures, and realized Russia was viewed as a dark, gothic, backward country
o Visited West in 1690’s, mixing with common people and learning how the western economies and cultures worked
o Started westernization program
§ Dress western
· No beards
· No veils
o Streltsi Uprising-1698
§ Moscow guard were supposed to protect Moscow & the Czar
· So much power they could make or break Czar
· Discussion of choosing another candidate to become Czar
§ Forced peter to return to Russia
§ Uprising brutally crushed; rebellious guar tortured & killed
o Swedes
§ Battle of Narva-1700
· Victory for Sweden
· Revealed Russian military had to be reformed
§ Battle of Poltava-1709
· Charles XII crushed
· Ended Sweden’s power
§ Gained territory on Baltic & built St. Petersburg
o Streamlined political bureaucracy
§ Guberni-local political organizations that answered directly to Czar
o Procurator of the Holy Synod
o Centralized, absolute authority
o Son Alexis wanted return to old ways, but Peter had him killed
§ Successor could be chosen by current Czar
§ Peter never named a successor; Catherine became Czarina when Peter died in 1725
