Absolute Rulers of Russia

1. While reading, list in chronological order the rulers of Russia.

Ivan III
Ivan lV
Michael Romanov
Peter the Great

2. Identify the following terms: boyar, czar, westernization

Boyar- When a young life is disrupted by the struggles for power among Russias
landowning nobles.
Czar- An emperor of Russia before 1917.
Westernization- Using western Europe as a model for change.
4. Why did Peter the Great believe that Russia's future depended on having a warmwater port?
He depended on having a warm-water port because it was needed for trade. A
warm water port allowed more European ideas and technologies to comeinto
Russia which made them more modernized.
5. What were some of the ways Peter attempted to westernize Russia?
He introduced potatoes, which became the a huge part of the
Russian diet.
Peter started Russia's first newspaper and edited it's first issue
himself.
Peter raised women's status by letting them attend social gatherings.
He opened a school of navigation and one for the arts and sciences.
He made the nobles to give up their traditional clothes for Western
fashions.

6. Who do you believe was more of an absolute monarch: Ivan IV or Peter the Great?
Explain with
evidence to support your answer.
Peter because he did so much good for Russia. Peter was known for trying to
make Russia more modern. He was the ruler who got the power back for the
monarchy. Peter removed his sister from power and took over at age 17. Peters

navy took up the campaign against Azov and then the Turks surrendered. He
realized that Russia needed to be more modernized to be equal with the rest of
Europe so he began a journey to Western Europe to see what changes he could
do. In addition to modernizing the army, Peter made many other reforms. Peter
wanted Russians to adopt European styles of clothing and grooming. He also
founded a new city of St. Petersburg.

7. Which class of Russian society probably did not benefit from Peter's reforms? Why?
The lower class because he didn't reform anything for them.
8. How might Peter's attempts at westernization have affected his people's opinion of
Christians in Europe?
They might have seen that the Europeans with Catholicism or Protestantism and
embraced that instead.
9. Which event in your reading do you believe had the most impact on modern Russia?
Why?
Peters reforms were a step toward the westernization of Russia. The country
continued with democratization.
10. Write a one-paragraph expository essay explaining which of Peter's actions reveal
that he saw himself as the highest authority in Russia.
Theres a lot of proof that Peter thought of himself as the highest authority in
Russia. First of all, he removed his stepsister from the throne. He also took men
from lower ranking families and put them in positions of authority and gave them
land, but took away power from the great landowners. He also made the army
more modernized and hired officers from Europe who drilled the soldiers in
European tactics with European weapons. By the time of Peters death, the
Russian army had about 200,000 men. To pay for this huge army, Peter made
heavy taxes. Many things were modernized and changed in a positive under Peter
the Greats rule.