The Imperial Russia

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The Imperial Russia

• Lecture 2
• Lyra Riabov
• Associate Professor
• Southern New Hampshire University

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Russian Empire1613-1917

• Romanov Dynasty
• Westernizing Russia
• The Golden Age of Russian Culture

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Northern Russian Architecture, XVIIth Century,
Kizhi
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Russian Architecture, XVIth - XVIIIth Centuries
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The Romanov Dynasty
MIKHAIL FEODOROVICH 1613-1645
ALEXEI MIKHAILOVICH 1645-1676
FEODOR ALEXEEVICH
1676-1682
IVAN V (IVAN ALEXEEVICH) 1682-1696
SOFIA ALEXEEVNA 1682-1689
PETER THE GREAT EMPEROR OF ALL RUSSIA 1721-1725

CATHERINE I 1725-1727
PETER II 1727-1730
ANNA IVANOVNA 1730-1740
IVAN VI 1740-1741
ELIZAVETA PETROVNA 1741-1761
PETER III 1761-1762
CATHERINE THE GREAT 1762-1796
PAUL I 1796-1801
ALEXANDER I 1801-1825
NICHOLAS I 1825-1855
ALEXANDER II 1855-1881
ALEXANDER III 1881-1894
NICHOLAS II 1894-1917
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Peter The Great1689 - 1725

• Transformed Russian Society to its foundation
• Military reform Russia was at war in every year
  of Peters reign but one
• Peter ordered thousands of Church bells to be
  melt down and made into cannons and cannonballs
• His army numbered more than 200,000 regular
  troops, the largest in Europe
• He built ships and had 28,000 sailors
• Built St. Petersburg, a new capital of Russia
• Placed Church under control of Holy Synod, a
  secular office

• Peter defeated the Swedes in the battle of
  Poltava in 1709, obtained territory on the Baltic
  coast, and marked the emergence of Russia as a
  military power in Europe
• Developed economy and created a better, more
  enlightened administration
• Introduced sweeping government reforms, using
  western European models a Senate was created
  with Twelve colleges/ministries
• Foreign trade increased by 400
• Introduced new taxes
• Decreed to shave beards, westernized clothes,
  encouraged learning foreign languages

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In 1703 Peter said, Here shall be a town.
Peter I in 1716 Summer Palace of Peter the Great
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Peter I Bust in CopenhagenGrand Palace and
Fountains in Petrodvorets
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St. Petersburg A Window on the West
St. Peter Paul Fortress
Kunstcamera, Peters First Museum
Peter the Great
The Admiralty
Vasilievsky Island The place of original Peter
the Greats Port More Views
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Catherine the Great
Catherine II to Peter I
They both admired Western Culture Peter had
practical nature imported western
technology Shipbuilding fascinated
Peter Catherine was interested in culture and
ideas. She built palaces and purchased grand
collections of art Catherine corresponded with
French philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau. She
also was the author of essays, plays, poems and
music. Peter was traveling in Europe as a workman
learning shipbuilding, navigation,
geometry,dentistry, and carpentry.
The Bronze Horseman On the Shore by the desolate
waves He stood, with lofty thoughts, And gaze
into the distance Alexander Pushkin (1833)

• Reigned 1762-1796
• Born in Germany
• Married Peter III in 1745
• Great intelligence, strong will
• Passionate and clever woman
• Turned her romances to the advantage of the state

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Palaces of St. Petersburg, XVIIIth - XIXth
Centuries
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St. Petersburg Peterhof, XVIIIth - XIXth
Centuries
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Catherine the GreatMy aim is to do goodto
bring happiness freedom and well being to my
subjects

• Publication of books increased from 600 during
  Peter the Greats reign to 7,500
• Built Smolny Institute for noblewomen
• Founded Odessa, a southern port and stronghold on
  the Black sea
• Established Russian Academy of Science
• Ended the initial concord between the empress and
  the writers
• Signed the execution sentence of Alexander
  Radishchev for his pamphlet Journey from St.
  Petersburg to Moscow, in which he described the
  evils of serfdom.
• Ended Pugachev rebellion in blood

• Peter the Great had ended the threat to Russia
  from Sweden,and Catherine did the same from the
  Ottoman Empire and Poland
• Expanded Russian territories annexed most of
  Poland, the Crimea,and the Northern Caucasus
• Confirmed and strengthened gentrys ownership of
  land and serfs. Peasants were serfs since XVIth
  century.
• Seized Church lands for state needs
• Emancipated Nobility from compulsory state
  service, and granted freedom from taxation

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1812 Russias War against Napoleon
Kutuzov, Commander-in -Chief of Russian Army
Alexander I 1801-1825 Interested in the ideas of
constitutional government and corresponded with
Thomas Jefferson Won the war over Napoleon This
was an epic and popular victory for Russia, later
celebrated in word (Tolstoys War and Peace) and
music (Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture)
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte invaded
Russia with 600,000 troops in 1812. Only
one-tenth of this number left Russia alive. The
end of Napoleonic Empire was in sight.
Kutuzov is at Fili meeting before the Battle at
Borodino
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Emancipation of Serfs in1861 It is better to
abolish serfdom from above rather than await the
time when it will begin to abolish itself from
below Alexander II 1855-1881 50 million serfs
received freedom
Ilya Repin. Barge Haulers on the Volga.
1870-1873. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum,
St. Petersburg, Russia
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In Search for Truth
It was a quest to grasp the idea of Russia, its
nationality, its character, its history, its
customs and conventions, its spiritual essence
and its destiny.
Nowhere has the artists been more burdened with
the task of moral leadership and national
prophesy, nor more feared and persecuted by the
state. Alienated from official Russia by their
politics, and from peasants by their education,
Russias artists took it upon themselves to
create a national community of values and ideas
through literature and artif we look carefully,
they may become a window on to a nations life.
Orlando Figes, Historian
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The Golden Age of Russian Culture
Pushkin
Lermontov
Gogol
Turgenev
Leo Tolstoy
Glinka
Tchaikovsky
Dostoevsky
Borodin
Musorgsky
Isaac Levitan
Mendeleev
Hertzen
Repin
Karl Brullov
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Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836)Alexander Pushkin
Evgraf Davydov
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Nikolai Ge (1831-1894) What is Truth? Peter
is Interrogating his Son Alexis
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Karl Brullov (1799-1852)Self-portrait The Last
Day Of Pompeii (Detail)
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Ivan Kramskoy (1837-1887) Leo Tolstoy
Christ in the Wilderness
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Serov, Levitan, Miasoedov XIXth XXth Centuries
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The End of Romanov Dynasty 1613 - 1917
Nicolas
Alexandra
Olga
Tatiana
Marie
Anastasia
Alexei