Want to keep your beard? Pay a tax! The 18th-century Russian leader Peter the Great ordered all men who lived in cities to shave off their beards—or pay a tax. He also entirely banned traditional Russian clothing in urban centers in favor of its European counterpart.
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Sign up for freeWhich strategic territory did Catherine the Great acquire on the Black Sea?
When did the Tsar allow for a constitution and a parliament?
What is another term for Russian absolutism?
Who was the first Russian ruler to use the term "emperor"?
Russia considered itself a successor of which empire?
Which is NOT an aspect of absolutism?
Who rebelled against the Russian monarchy in 1825?
When did tsarist rule end in Russia?
When did Alexander II emancipate the serfs?
Which Russian ruler wanted to Europeanize Russia?
Which strategic territory did Catherine the Great acquire on the Black Sea?
When did the Tsar allow for a constitution and a parliament?
What is another term for Russian absolutism?
Who was the first Russian ruler to use the term "emperor"?
Russia considered itself a successor of which empire?
Which is NOT an aspect of absolutism?
Who rebelled against the Russian monarchy in 1825?
When did tsarist rule end in Russia?
When did Alexander II emancipate the serfs?
Which Russian ruler wanted to Europeanize Russia?
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Team Absolutism in Russia Teachers
Peter the Great enjoyed substantial power and is considered one of Russia's foremost absolutist leaders. In Europe, the age of absolutism was between the 17th and late 18th centuries. In Russia, however, absolute monarchy is associated with the 18th and 19th centuries. Ultimately, absolutism ended by limiting a ruler’s power through a constitution, parliament, or revolution.
Fig. 1 - The Barber, 18th-century Russian woodcut. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
Absolutism (absolute monarchy) is a government in which a single ruler controls the entire state. Usually, the monarch held political power over the nobles and could carry out his decisions using a vast bureaucracy and the military.
Muscovite Russia began its rise in the 15th century after overthrowing Mongol rule in 1480, following more than two centuries of vassalage. Tsar Ivan III (1440-1505) began consolidating power and territories around Moscow.
Did you know?
The Russian word "tsar" ("czar") comes from the Latin word "caesar," meaning "emperor." Ivan III was the first Russian ruler to use the term "tsar." Previous leaders used the term "prince" (kniaz) or "grand prince."
In the 17th century, the Romanov dynasty arose after decades of Russian political weakness with Tsar Michael I (1596-1645). Eventually, the Romanov dynasty produced strong leaders such as Peter I the Great and Catherine II the Great in the 18th century. Both rulers consolidated the power of the Russian state, expanded its bureaucracy, carried out reforms, subordinated the nobles, and grew Russia's military might and territorial possessions. These two rulers are usually associated with absolutism in Russia, also called autocracy.
Absolutism continued into the next century with tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I. However, Alexander II undertook significant reforms by the middle of the 19th century, including freeing the serfs in 1861. The changes were gradual, and Russia experienced growing social unrest. In 1906, Tsar Nicholas II attempted to modernize the Russian political system by allowing for a constitution and a Parliament. However, these changes were insufficient. The First World War exacerbated the situation, and Russia ultimately experienced a Revolution in 1917.
Serfs were unfree peasants (farmers) linked to feudal estates owned by the nobility in an agricultural society.
The early 17th century in Russia is known as the Time of Troubles (1598-1613). The monarchy was weak, and the population declined due to a major famine. There were also questions of royal succession after Fyodor I, one of the last Rurikid rulers, died.
The Rurikid dynasty ruled Russia since the 9th century.
Fig. 2 - Michael I Romanov of Russia, Johann Heinrich Wedekind, 1728 (a copy of a 1636) painting. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth invaded and occupied Russia in an attempt to install its rulers in Moscow. In 1612, the Russians successfully expelled the Poles. The following year gave birth to the last Russian dynasty, the Romanovs, who ruled Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Their first tsar was Michael I (1596-1645). Michael I, was elected by the Zemsky Sobor, a kind of parliament of the nobility. At this time, the Russian rulers were not absolutists.
For example, the country had powerful noble (boyar) factions.
However, the Tsar was able to strengthen the Russian state after the Time of Troubles. He also encouraged eastward expansion through Siberia and toward the Pacific Ocean.
Russia's late 17th to late 19th centuries is a period of autocracy (absolutism). Russian autocrats had a substantial degree of political power.
Enlightened absolutism was the time in European and Russian history when the rulers used the ideas of the Enlightenment to amass more power.
The Enlightenment was a period in European history that focused on rational thinking, scientific development, and individualism.
In Russia, empress Catherine the Great corresponded with the French Enlightenment intellectuals such as Voltaire for about 15 years.
One example of an Enlightened absolutist ruler in Europe is Louis XIV.
Russia had several lifelong monarchs in the time of absolutism, including:
Peter I the Great (1672-1725) is one of the most important Russian leaders. Inspired by countries like the Netherlands, his reforms sought to make Russia more socially and culturally aligned with Europe.
For example, in 1703, he founded Saint Petersburg, Russia's new northern capital. Modeled and built from scratch in a barren, marshy area, Saint Petersburg's historic buildings reflect Peter's preference for European architecture.
Fig. 3 - Portrait of Peter I of Russia, Maria Giovanna Clementi, 18th century. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
In 1721, Peter I began to call himself an emperor and Russia—an empire. He made this decision after a series of significant military victories:
The latter resulted in Russian expansion into the Baltic and becoming a great power.
Peter facilitated exchanges between Russia and Europe with European specialists working in Russia and Russians studying abroad. Shipbuilding was one key area of growth, along with science and business. He also introduced many reforms through his orders (ukaz) that went beyond Europeanizing the Russian ways.
Catherine II the Great (1729-1796) was another influential leader in this period and the longest-ruling woman in Russia. Catherine was of German descent, and her real name was Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. She continued many of Peter's initiatives to make Russia an even greater power.
Fig. 4 - Catherine the Great Visits the Russian Scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, Ivan Fedorov, 1884. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain)
Catherine was considered an Enlightened ruler. She communicated with European intellectuals like Voltaire and Diderot and implemented Enlightenment ideas in her initiatives. Catherine promoted arts and sciences and introduced a higher-learning school to educate noble women, the Institute for Noble Maidens. Like Peter, Catherine expanded Russia by acquiring new territories such as Crimea—a strategically important place on the Black Sea.
Periodically, Russia experienced social unrest and even rebellions. The specific causes varied, but they all presented a challenge to the ruling order.
The Pugachev Rebellion (the Peasants' War), of 1773–1775 was an insurrection by Cossacks and peasants. There were many reasons for this revolt, including serfdom in Russia. Catherine confirmed the nobles' rule over the serfs, who lived in unfair conditions, to consolidate power.
Cossacks were self-governing military people who lived in present-day southern Russia and Ukraine. They often served alongside the Russian Imperial Army.
The rebellion's leader, Yemelian Pugachev, attempted to create an alternative government. At first, his campaign was successful, and Pugachev even captured the city of Kazan. Ultimately, the monarch saw the seriousness of the situation, crushed the rebellion, and publicly executed Pugachev in 1775.
Fig. 5 - Yemelian Pugachev. Execution in Moscow (1775), a pretender to the throne in the reign of Catherine II, A. Rudnev, 1865. Source: Library of Congress, Wikipedia Commons (public domain).
Another important revolt took place in 1825 between the death of Alexander I and the beginning of the rule of Nicholas I. The uprising took place in December, hence the name of the group. The Decembrists were primarily of noble descent and sought significant liberal reforms that challenged the monarchy. Ultimately, the insurrectionists failed, and the punishment for the majority of those involved was exile in Siberia.
The second half of the 19th century was a time of intellectual development in Russia, especially in student circles which included radical left-wing, revolutionary ideas. Many revolutionary groups operated in Russia at this time:
Some members of these organizations were peaceful. Others engaged in terrorism.
The most notable case was the assassination of Tsar Alexader II in 1881 by the People's Will. Paradoxically, Alexander II carried out several liberalizing reforms, most notably, the emancipation reform freeing the serfs in 1861—the same year the United States abolished slavery. However, the radicals thought that these reforms did not go far enough.
Fig. 6 - The Assassination of Tsar Alexander II, the 1880s. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain)
In the early 1900s, the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, attempted to reform the state and limit his power.
For example, he allowed for a constitution and a Parliament (State Duma) in 1906.
The tsar undertook these reforms after the unsuccessful Revolution of 1905. This event had many causes, including general social unrest and the loss of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. However, these changes were insufficient, and the start of the First World War in 1914 exacerbated the social conditions in Russia.
Ultimately, Tsar Nicholas gave up his throne in March 1917. Interim leaders, called the Provisional Government led by the lawyer Alexander Kerensky, took over in the summer of that year. However, a small radical group of revolutionaries known as the Bolsheviks overthrew this government in November 1917. This time was the end of the Romanov autocratic rule.
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How did a tradition of absolute rule develop in Russia?
Absolutism developed gradually in Russia. After Russia won its freedom from the Mongol rule of the Golden Horde (1480), its rulers began to consolidate their power and expand their territories. Ivan III (1462–1505) was the first ruler to call himself a Tsar, whereas Peter the Great (1672-1725) began to refer to himself as Emperor. Peter the Great and Catherine the Great (1729-1796) are some of the Russian rulers associated with European absolutism.
How was Russia an example of absolutism?
In the 18th-19th century, Russian rulers had a significant degree of power. For example, Catherine the Great (1729-1796) was considered an Enlightened absolute monarch. The nobles were subordinate to her and worked with her politically in exchange for keeping their power over the serfs. She was also able to use an extensive bureaucracy to her advantage and the military to expand the borders of Russia.
When did absolutism end in Russia?
Absolutism failed in Russia in the early 20th century. There were attempts to give some of the control of the country to the elected Russian parliament (Duma) in 1906 instead of the Tsar. Ultimately, Russia stopped being a monarchy after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
Who started absolutism in Russia?
Absolutism developed gradually in Russia. From the 16th century, Russian rulers began to consolidate power. Typically, 18th-century monarchs Peter the Great and Catherine the Great are considered examples of absolutism in Russia because they had a significant degree of power over Russia.
Why did absolutism fail in Russia?
Absolutism failed because of the growing dissatisfaction of the people with the Russian monarchy. In the mid-19th century, the Russian tsar undertook liberalization reforms, such as freeing the serfs. However, the problems of the ordinary people compounded in the early 1900s. The tsar attempted to resolve these issues through the Parliament (Duma) (1906). However, the start of WWI (1914) exacerbated the social conditions, and Russia had a Revolution in 1917 that effectively ended the tsar's rule.
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