Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible and his impact on Russia Ivan the Terrible was a fierce leader and a cruel tyrant. His traumatic and depressing childhood could be seen in he ruling style. Ivan's father died when he was three years old. Ivan's Uncle Yuri attempted to take the throne from Ivan, but was soon imprisoned. Shortly afterward his mother, Elena Gilskaya assumed the throne. In 1538 she died from poisoning, thus leaving Ivan an orphan. As a child he was often neglected and frequently went with out food and proper clothing. In 1547,when Ivan was 17 years old he assumed the throne. Later that year he married Anastasia Romanovna, she bore his six children but only two lived past infancy. In his early years of his reign he passed several reforms. Some of them included reforming the government. This was on of the most important and monumental reforms in Russian history. He centralized the government. By 1558 he had conquered the Kazan, Astrakan, and the Baltic cities of Narva and polotsk. In March of 1553 Ivan had fallen ill with a high fever. His illness was life threatening. During his illness Ivan demanded that all the Princes and the Boyars would swear an oath of allegiance, to young Dmitri. Almost none of them were willing to do so. Later that month Ivan recovered, but he never forgave the Princes and boyars. It is this point in Ivan's Reign that he began to exhibit a large amount of paranoia and suspicion. Later in that year A Nurse dropped Demiti into a river and he drowned. To add to Ivan's problems his beloved wife had died in the year 1560. Her death was a result of a lingering illness. After her death Ivan suffered a SEVERE emotional collapse. He exhibited severe signs of depression and rage, some of them included the destruction of the palace furniture and even banged his head on the floor in front of his court and advisors. Other "episodes" include Ivan leaving the Royal palace the night before Christmas in 1564, with all his belongings. Ivan's paranoia increased, he created a secret police that terrorized the locals. Ivan impact was profound. Ivan created Serfdom, which tied the peasants to the land. The practice of serfdom lasted until the last days of the Czar. Ivan also centralized the Russian government. When Ivan died in 1584 he left Russia terrorized, but reformed and a larger empire.

Peter the Great and his impact on Russia

Peter the Great was one of the most influential Leaders in Russian history. His westernazation of Russia is believed to have help make Russia a world power.

Peter was born in Moscow in the year 1672 Peter's father was Alexis I who was the ruler of Russia from 1645 to 1676. Alexis had 13 children but only two of them were sons. Alexis I's original heir Fyodor III died with out an heir in 1682. After a
struggle for power, Peter was nine years old when he assumed the throne in 1662, but due to his young age his mother was put in charge instead. As a child Peter frequented the immigrant quarter of Moscow, it is there where he found his life-long
passion of shipbuilding. His passion of the sea and shipbuilding which could be seen later in his reign. In the foreign quarter he was facinated with the free mixing of men and women, its mechanical gadgets and its use of tobacco. It was in the city where he realized the Russia must industrialize in order to maintain its independence.

At age 17 Peter seized control of the government. Peter insisted at starting at the bottom of the ladder. He was a carpenter, dentist, mechanic, a barber and others.In March of 1697 peter dispatched a team of 250 people to go learn about the west. There was a second objective to Peter's mission. He wanted to form an allegiance against the Turks. Before the team left Peter joined them incognito. Peter returned 18 months later, in the year 1687, along with approximately 750
foreigners to serve Russia. Most of these people were doctors, artisans, and soldiers. Upon his return Peter was absolutely determined to westernize Russia.
Some of the reforms passed
were necessary but some of them were out of the ordinary. Peter ordered that all men shaved their beards, this upset many Russians because the Russian populace was religious. They believed that shaving the beards was defacing the image of god, Peter also promoted tobacco use. Some of the meaningful westernazation reforms that he passed were the changing of the Old Russian calendar with the Julian calendar, and was able to westernize Russia's navy.
Government reforms were also passed under Peter. He insisted that all children receive an education and that all people wishing to enter the government must enter at the bottom, and family wealth or influence meant nothing. The army greatly increased in size, under his reign the number of people in the army increased to 210,000. That is extremely impressive for a country with a population of only 13,000,000.
Scholars believe that one of the most impressive achievements by peter was able to expand education, the army, the navy and the government all with out foreign or individual loans and with out even going into debt. Other government reforms included bringing the church under control of the state and establishing St. Petersburg as the new capital of Russia. Peter moved the Capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg because it was more Asscessable from the west, than land locked Moscow. Peter also started his own national news paper, switched to Arabic numerals nd change the date of the new year form the first of January,
In the November of 1724 Peter was whitening a Ship wreak. Peter, as usual wanted to help, with out a moment of hesitation Peter jumped into the frigid waters of the Russian North. He died several months later, due to an illness related to the
insident. To insure that Peter's westernazation efforts will still be followed, he introduced the practice of marring Russian Princes to Western Princess. After Peter almost every Russian Czar married a western wife.

Peter the Great had one of the largest impacts of any Russian leader. He was able to Westernize, but the cost in money and lives was large. Peter was able to increase the size of the army, and establish a strong navy. The problem with his efforts was that all people did not grasp the concepts of the west. A majority of the people in Russia were now not only separated economically, but culturally as well.

Catherine the Great and Her impct in Russia

Catherine the Great was born on May 2, 1729, in the Baltic Seaport town of Stettin, which at the time was a part of the German Pomerania. Her father was a Military Princeling named Christian August. Her mother was Princess Joanna Elizabeth. Catherine was summoned byElizabeth (the ruler of Russia at the time) in late 1743. Catherine and her mother finally met Elizabeth on February 9, 1744. The reason behind Elizabeth's summons was to give her a husband. Catherine's husband to be was a great disappointment to all. He was a sickly,mean, spirited and ill equipped to mentally or physically to rule a vast empire like Russia. Elizabeth constantly pressured the couple to have a son, thus securing the dynasty. It was obvious this would not occur, so Elizabeth allowed an affair between Catherine and a Russian Officer Serge Saltyov. Catherine bore a son, Paul. Paul was accepted by Catherine's husband Peter as his own. Elizabeth died on December 25, 1761. Thus leaving the Throne to Peter, who as leader became known as Peter III. Peter was quick to adapt to all things Prussian. He ordered that the imperial guard uniforms (that have been in use since Peter the Great) to be dispose of and exchanged for the Prussian style. Peter III also began to favor a Prussian style military, which turned the armed forces against him. All classes soon began to dislike Peter. On June 28,1762 Catherine organized a coup, and later that day she murdered (not directly) her husband. Catherine took control of the throne on September 22, 1672. As a ruler was known as Catherine II. It was later found out that Peter was murdered by her lover Orlov, Peter's brother and several henchmen. Peter was soon forgotten. Catherine rewarded her supported,with high government positions, serfs and land. Catherine rapidly began to make changes in her government and even Russian society. Shehad a bases for this changes, she often studied the Enlightenment. Catherine also studied ancient Roman authors and French philosophers, as a bases for her ideas on how to rule. Catherine was deeply devoted to the establishment of the arts, music, and education. She also spend millions of Rubles (when they were still worth something) on a creation of the Hermitage collection, an art museum which is still can be seen today.
Catherine would never remarry but it was rumored that had a secret lover who she married in
a church is St. Petersburg. Catherine's son Paul grew up hating ad despising his mother. He believed that she had a greater role in the death of Peter than she had told him and he never accepted the fact that his real father was Serge Saltykov. Catherine refused to allow Paul to ascend to the throne because she felt that he would undo all of her reforms. Catherine wanted to make her favorite grandson, Alexander to rule after her death. Catherine felt she would be around at least a couple of years longer so she waited to make arrangements for the transition of Alexander after her death. Plans were spoiled for her when she died suddenly form a heart attack on November 6, 1796. The throne went to Paul. >

Catherine had many achievements as ruler. She left Russia more beautiful, prosperous, and stronger than she had found it. Unfortunately she failed to in some of the things she set out to do. This was because she refused to use force and terror (like Ivan) to transform society. She was more patient. Catherine hoped to raise the level of culturally education, example and by legislation.