2. Importance of Location
• Taiga – has great forests + rainfall
Steppe – below taiga, grassy plain with
fertile soil provides a natural highway for
nomads.
• Network of rivers provide transportation
and led to trade, particularly with the
Byzantine Empire.
• Kiev is located at the center of trade
among the Vikings, Slavs, and Byzantines.
3.
4. Kievan Russia
• Rurik was leader of the Rus people.
The Rus took over and ruled Kiev and
the Slavic people. Rus “Russia”
• Kiev was capital for over 300 years.
• Vladimir I adopts Orthodox
Christianity, and Russia then
spreads it to much of
Eastern Europe.
5. • Trade routes spread culture. Cultural Diffusion
• Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054AD) Built
many churches and the 1st Russian
Law Code the Pravda Russkia
Influence of Byzantine Culture:
• Cyril creates the Cyrillic alphabet
which enable Slavs to read the Bible.
6. Church Architecture and Religious Art
• Onion-shaped domed
churches,
modification of
Byzantine domes.
• Icons and mosaics
used as decoration
for buildings
7. Mongol Conquest
• Golden Horde, led by Ghengis Khan, conquers
early Russia.
• Massive destruction occurs: Towns are
destroyed and people are killed.
• Russia is in state of decline and cut off from
Western Europe under Mongol rule.
8. • Moscow grows in importance after Kiev’s
destruction.
• Church grows more powerful, since the
Mongols tolerate the Eastern Orthodox
church.
• The Mongols built roads and improved
taxation and communication. Trade routes
between China and Eastern Europe open
up.
9. Russia Emerges
• Russian Princes gain more power under Mongol
rule and adapt the Mongol leadership model of
absolute rule.
• Ivan the Great (Ivan III) rejects Mongol rule and
unites Russia as an independent state.
• Moscow become the capital and the “Third
Rome” when the Ottoman Turks crush
Constantinople.
10. • Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV) takes the title
of Czar, absolute ruler. He killed many
people who opposed him.
• Boyars – Russian nobility who advise
ruler.
• Russian territory expands as does the
Orthodox Church.
