Russia is in the EAST!! Notice that our course is Western Civilization. We discuss how religion, politics, economics, and "western" ideas (liberalism, democracy, free speech, secularism, etc) shaped the West. RUSSIA is the EAST. It's ALL different there. VERY rarely will they seek to "join" with the West. (Peter the Great is interested in the West as is is Catherine the Great. Notice they're both GREAT?")  We do see Russia and it's relationship tot he west the entire year. Basically, when we think of western ideas and how they evolve over the year i want you to know that Russia, more or less DOES NOT change. There are attempts. So success MUCH backlash. Even their revolution in the 20th century devolves back into a new form of absolutism. Not royal absolutism but STATE absolutism. 

 

--Russia does not celebrate the Catholic Mass so therefore were never part of the religious reformation that we saw in the west. It celebrates the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Traditionally, the Czar (or Tsar, CAESAR) is not only the head of the county (king) but he is also the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is in charge of all things state and religious. As the west develops reforms, Russia (and the east in general) will maintain their CONSERVATIVE order. (king, centralized govt, state religion) There is a lot of pride in Russian THEN and NOW about all things Russian. Tradionalists in Russia take pride that Russia is indeed NOT the West. The terrible wars and revolutions t hat we'll see in the west throughout the year will to really happen in Russia. (undoubtedly it'll effect them!) 

 

Noticing that Russia was indeed backwards, behind the west Peter the Great sets off to modernize Russia. Peter the Great saw the west as technologically advanced, scientifically modern, militarily strong and economically rich. Peter LOVES boats and ships. GREAT POWERS have great navy's. This for military strength and for trade. Unfortunatly for russia, they'll only have one warm water port. It's frozen during the winter! How can you get new ideas without access to western, outside ides. remember, most of russia is landlocked so new ideas and diversity is lacking. Peter will go to the netherlands and england to see how they build ships and how great they are. He'll also work to rebuild the military. He'll also work to CENTRALIZEthe government and take control from the hands of the nobles. The nobles are traditionalists and won't wanna change. Peter believed in service and that he could help modernize russia. %%%%%Modern countries cannot became "modernized" unless they embrace the new ideas of the rest. Russia is slow to modernize. Much of it has to do w it's landlocked status(they don't have any real ports, YET!) it's size and it's commitment to Russian culture. (the Orthodox Church, Slavism, and autocracy--rule of the czar!)