HIST 1003 Chapter : Russia And WWII
Document Summary
Roughly 1/8th of the earth"s surface is russia. Issue russia has always faced: almost no access to ocean or water. Russia has always sought access to warm water. Peter the great: 1689-1725. first tsar to take the initiative to try and modernize russia. Tsar was head of the eastern orthodox church. Russia needed desperately to move out of the middle ages. Built new capital: st. petersburg, near the shores of the baltic sea. Russia nobles (boyar) refused to have anything to do with government, yet only people with education. Peter required nobles to work in the government. When he died, russia had advanced at least 3 centuries under his rule. Russia was still distinctively different in relation of peasantry to the rest of society. By 18th century, serfdom had ended in the rest of europe= peasants (free farmers). Agriculture in russia remained normal thing, because serfs had no initiative to change.
