Transcript Russia & Europe/ Two World Wars

Jeannie Sullivan, Cecilia Bellet, Shelbi
Matthews
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After thirty years of turmoil in Russia, Michael
Romanov took over as the first Romanov tsar
and restored the country’s prosperity.
Another Romanov, Peter the Great, took
Russia to the next level and transformed it
into a major European power.
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Peter was the son of Michael Romanov, he
became tsar when he was ten years old in
1682.
Peter was enthralled by technology and
traveled abroad to various Western European
countries (such as the Dutch Republic &
England).
While abroad, Peter studied Western culture
and brought back many modern ideas to
Russia.
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(1700-1725) The Great Northern War- a war
between Russia and Sweden that resulted in
Russian dominance of the Baltic Sea.
Russians believed that having control of the Baltic
was critical to become a major European power.
St. Petersburg was built in 1703 and was made the
new capital in Russia. It was a way of celebrating
Peter the Greats success after the war.
It was made using urban principles from the West.
The most drunken council was made by Peter the
great. It was a meeting of Peter and his friends
drinking, violent jokes, and criticism of the
Catholic church.
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It was a decree by Peter in 1722 that
restructured civil and military administration
into a system of advancement based on merit
Administrators received noble status as they
moved up instead of paying for a rank.
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Catherine(original name: Sophie) married Peter the
Great’s grandson Peter III. She plotted a coup d'état
against Peter with her lover
He was soon killed and Sophie became successor of
the throne and changed her name to Catherine II the
Great.
She took over ecclesiastical lands and became one of
Russia's most powerful rulers. She dramatically
expanded Russia’s borders and joined in the partition
of Poland.
She also fought two wars with the Turks. These
conquests along with the partitions of Poland rivaled
Peter the Greats advances in the Baltic region and
established the western, modern boundaries of
Russia.
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Catherine encouraged colonization.
At the end of her reign the Russian empire
contained dozens of different ethnic and
religious communities.
Cultural diversity in the Russian empire
rivaled that of the Habsburg lands.
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Division of Poland carried out by Austria,
Prussia, and Russia. In 1772 1792 and 1795
leading to the end of an independent Polish
State.
Russia instigated a civil war in Poland by
demanding full toleration for its protestant
and orthodox inhabitants.
Attempting to put an end to that civil war
Austria, Prussia, and Russia proceeded to
divide up sections of Poland among
themselves.
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Emelian Pugachev: (c.1742-1775) Cossack who
claimed to be Peter III and led an unsuccessful
rebellion of thousands of serfs against Catherine
the Great.
Pugachev’s revolts were unique because of their
size and social composition (social status of
people included in the revolts).
Pugachev was taken to Moscow in a cage and
executed
Although the revolt failed it was a sign of deep
social crisis in Russia.
The rebellion a demand for a end to serfdom,
taxation, and military drafts.
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In 1740 Frederick II of Prussia attacked Maria
Theresa of Austria, beginning the War of the
Austrian Succession.
Frederick was seeking Silesia, the richest of
Austria's territories.
He took advantage of the questioning of
Maria Theresa’s legitimacy to the throne and
claimed that Silesia rightfully belonged to
Prussia.
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In 1740 Britain joined Austria in the fight
against Prussia, renewing the British-Austrian
alliance that had been forged in the wars
against Louis XIV.
Britain during this time was also engaged in
war with Spain, fighting over trading rights
therefore, decided to interject in war with the
French residing in India and North America
At the wars’ end Prussia emerged victorious,
keeping Silesia and the French and British war
ended indecisively.
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War broke out again in 1756 between Austria
and Prussia over Silesia.
◦ Russia this time was helping Austria
France and Britain continued their wars in India
during the Sven Year War
◦ France concluded an alliance with Austria so Britain
joined Prussia in the diplomatic revolution
◦ War ended in 1763
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18th Century Warfare
◦ by this time in Europe constant war was veiwed
as inevitable
◦ because of this many aspects of warfare were so
deeply embedded into the peoples minds that
nothing ever changed
◦ For example:
 the king as head of military
 shifting of alliances
◦ But now, in the 18th century, war became more civilized
 Louis XIV made having a standing army a standard feature in Europe
 with the exception of Britain who preferred a smaller army but provided
financial aid to their allies's forces
 Armies now had better weapons and were much more disciplined
and trained
 Armies now had less of an impact on the civilians because of better
discipline and less pillaging
◦ Warfare also became more of a science
 Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban for example improved and
supervised the building of French fortresses
 other military scientists improved military drills so that the soldiers
were better trained, in line and knew military maneuvers
 nobles who were the heads of armies were educated about drill and
battle-field tactics which they then taught to their own soldiers
◦ These new military systems also affected the
government of countries
 because even distribution of power seemed to work
very well with the military, countries such as France
tried to restore balance after wars by giving each
state even power according to size, population etc.
 this though, made competition with states more
scrambled, and religious division in states and
countries a smaller role in wars. Now territory,
power and prestige were much larger roles in wars.
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When the war ended in 1763, there were clear
winners and losers:
In central Europe, FREDERICK II was a WINNER
b/c Silesia was never returned to Austria.
AUSTRIA was a LOSER. The shock of Silesia’s
loss was great, and influenced the decisions
of political leaders such as Maria Theresa.
Austria’s defeat in war led to radical social
reforms intended to increase peasant
prosperity, which in turn would allow for
higher taxes and more money for the army.
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Although Austria did end up losing the battle,
Maria Theresa tried everything in her power to
strengthen the country. She founded a military
academy, introduced advanced drill and
maneuvering techniques.
Maria also imposed new taxes on the Catholic
Church for she believed that the church should
assume a greater part of the expenses needed to
defend the state against competitors.
When Maria Theresa died in 1780, she was
succeeded by her son, Joseph II, who was also
determined to strengthen Austria against Prussia.
Joseph II took a more radical approach, and in
1780 he abolished serfdom as a whole. He also
imposed state taxes on the ex-serfs.