Imperial Russia, 1613–1796
In 1613 a national assembly, made up of representatives of some 50 cities and towns, was formed to elect a new czar. It chose Michael Romanov, the son of Philaret Romanov, a powerful boyar. During most of Michael's reign his father was the patriarch of Moscow and was the real ruler. Civil order was restored and some territory was regained from the Poles and Swedes. Western influence began to be felt in' Russia. The wealthier nobility adopted many western European customs, and foreign mercenaries trained and led the regular Russian army.
In 1645 Michael was succeeded by his son Alexis I. Serfdom was made official by the legal code of 1649. There were many peasant revolts, the most serious being that of Stenka Razin and his Don Cossacks (peasant horsemen from the Don River). Stenka led his Cossacks through Russian lands, causing the peasants to rebel against their landlords, but he was finally defeated. Alexis fought two wars with Poland and won most of the Ukraine, but tried without success to win territory on the Baltic Sea in a war with Sweden. Another important event was the church schism caused by the reforms of Nikon, who became patriarch in 1652. Most of those who refused to accept the reforms joined together to form a sect called the “Old Believers."
Meanwhile, by the mid-1600's, fur traders had crossed Siberia and extended the empire's frontiers to the Pacific Ocean in the east and to China in the southeast.
By his first wife he left two sons, Fyodor and Ivan, and a daughter, Sophia, and by his second wife he left four-year-old Peter. Fyodor became czar but died in 1682. Ivan and Peter were then proclaimed joint czars under the regency of Sophia. In 1689 Sophia was driven from power by Peter's mother and forced into a convent. The sickly Ivan died in 1696, leaving Peter as the sole ruler.
The young czar was a giant in size. He had driving energy, wide interests, and a deep curiosity. He was ruthless in demands on his people. Violent in his rages, he was often savage and brutal.
Peter devoted most of his reign to wars of expansion. In 1696 he captured the fortress of Azov on the Black Sea from the Crimean Tatars, vassals of the Ottoman Turks.
The czar realized he must modernize his country before he could make it a great power. In 1697 he spent several months visiting western Europe, where he absorbed much that he saw. He had to hurry home to put down a revolt. Peter ordered his people to adopt Western dress and the men to shave their beards. He also began to import more Western technology, to modernize the army, and to build a navy.
The czar made an alliance with Poland and Denmark, and in 1700 began war against Sweden to gain control of the eastern Baltic. In the Battle of Narva the Russian army met disaster at the hands of Charles XII. Peter rebuilt his army and in the Battle of Poltava in 1709 destroyed the Swedish army. When the war ended in 1721 Russia gained most of the eastern Baltic. Peter received the title of “Emperor of All the Russias." In the south Peter was unsuccessful in war with the Ottoman Turks and had to give up Azov.
Although Peter added new taxes, he also increased the efficiency of government and made a number of other reforms, largely as an outgrowth of his constant need to support his war efforts. The census of 1718 was taken so that the government could keep a better account of the taxpayers, and the efficiency of tax collections improved. Peter reformed the state administration and set up an advisory body called the Senate. He also established schools to provide trained administrators and industrial technicians. To increase Russia's military potential, Peter brought in Western experts to improve industrial production.
He abolished the patriarchate, and set up the Holy Synod under government control. Peter also improved the training of priests.
Most of Peter's reforms were set up in haste, and few were completed when he died. The people suffered from overtaxation and from fulfilling Peter's continual need to replenish his armies. As a result of the census of 1718 and the poll (head) tax that followed, increasing numbers of peasants were reduced to serfdom. This was because landlords, in reporting to the government, did not have to make a distinction between peasants and serfs. The landlord therefore tended not to make a distinction in other situations and to treat his peasants as if they were his serfs.
On the land won from Sweden Peter built his new capital, St. Petersburg. Peter made Russia more Western in its outlook and ways of doing things.
For nearly 40 years after Peter died in 1725 the imperial guards and the nobles made and unmade rulers. Most of these monarchs allowed court favorites, who were often German, and adventurers to run the government.
In 1741 a palace revolution supported by the imperial guards gave the crown to Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great. French influence then became dominant. Russia became increasingly involved in European politics and wars. In the Seven Years' War (1756–63) Russia joined Austria, France, Saxony, and Sweden in war against Prussia, Great Britain, and Hanover. In 1762, when the Russian army was on the verge of complete victory over Prussia, Elizabeth died.
Elizabeth was succeeded by Peter, her nephew. He admired Frederick the Great of Prussia and saved him from disaster by making peace. In July, 1762, Peter was overthrown and murdered in a palace revolution led by his wife, Catherine, a German princess.
The reign of Catherine was a time of great power and splendor for Russia. The empress directed every area of state policy and was skillful in choosing talented officials and generals. She corresponded with other monarchs and with leading intellectuals of Western Europe. She drew up elaborate plans for reforms. There were many serf rebellions, notably one led by Emelyan Pugachev, a Cossack who claimed to be czar. Many nobles were killed during Pugachev's rebellion, leading Catherine to abandon her plans for reform.
In the late 18th century, Russia acquired much territory in the west as Poland was divided among Russia, Prussia, and Austria. In two wars with Turkey, Russia gained nearly all the northern shoreline of the Black Sea. Russia strengthened its hold on eastern Siberia and established trading posts in Alaska. Catherine reorganized the provinces, set up local administrative districts, and established a more efficient system of courts. After the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Catherine, fearing a revolution in Russia, adopted a policy of repressing all new ideas.
