RUSSIA: GEOGRAPHY Russia lies on the Eurasian plain. Cartographers show the Ural Mountains in

Russia as the boundary between Europe and Asia.

Russia does not have many mountains and there are few obstacles to movement.

Russia is divided into 3 broad areas Tundra-a frozen plain without trees Steppe – a great plain with few trees that

extends from Russia east into Asia. A wide band of forests

GEOGRAPHY Rivers have always been important to

Russia. They serve as highways for travel and trade. Dnieper Don Volga

These are the most important rivers. They once linked Russia with the Byzantine and the Arab peoples.

RUSSIA: LANGUAGE AND RELIGION 800s: Byzantine missionaries tried to

spread Eastern Orthodox Christianity to the Slavs But the Slavs had no written language. So

the missionary Cyril created the Cyrillic Alphabet using symbols from Greek and Latin to make the sounds that the Slavs spoke.

Today: The Cyrillic Alphabet is used in most Slavic languages, and Slavic Christians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church

RUSSIA: POLITICAL CONTROL 1200s: The Mongol Tatars conquered

Russia Mongol Khans were brutal rulers, but they

helped Russia as well. Based on document 2: How did the Mongols protect Muscovites

(ppl who lived in Moscow) from invasion? How did the Mongols influence the

Muscovite leadership style? How did the Mongols impact the Russian

economy?

IVAN THE III (THE GREAT) The first Russian ruler to declare that the

Muscovite region was known as “Russia” 1472: Married the last Byzantine Emperor’s

niece and declared Russia was the “Third Rome” (Byzantine was the 2nd Rome) and adopted the double-headed eagle symbol

1476: Ivan’s wife Sophia helps to convince him to make Russia independent from the Mongol Tatars. He refused to pay Mongol taxes, goes to war against them, and wins.

IVAN THE IV (THE TERRIBLE) Beyond his terrible characteristics,

Ivan IV was the first Russian leader to call himself Czar/Tsar

He continued to fight against the Mongols

How did he use technology to expand Russia’s territory and defeat Mongol defenses?

PETER THE GREAT Russia was much less developed

than Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – they had not experienced the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Commercial Revolution, Scientific Revolution, or Enlightenment

Based on the clip from Engineering an Empire: Russia, how did Peter the Great advance Russia?

ST. PETERSBURG St. Petersburg was built on the Baltic

Sea, a cold-water port (it freezes in the winter)

Describe the city of St. Petersburg and how it impacted Russia

ST. PETERSBURG AND VERSAILLES

How is the building of St. Petersburg similar to Louis XIV building the Palace of Versailles? In how it looks:

In how the King used it to gain power:

CATHERINE THE GREAT Catherine the Great expanded

Russia’s territory to the Black Sea, a warm-water port

Describe the other ways that Catherine the Great changed Russia

HOMEWORK Complete document questions for

documents 1-3 about Peter the Great and Catherine the Great and then answer this question:

How did Peter and Catherine the Great control people to change Russia and why did they do it? Use the lines next to this slide and

the next slide for your answer