{"id":516,"date":"2020-07-03T09:14:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T09:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/?page_id=516"},"modified":"2023-05-18T16:01:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T16:01:42","slug":"russia-1600-1800","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/russia-1600-1800\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of  Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/07\/Tsars-Alexis_to_Catherine2x5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-569\" width=\"590\" height=\"420\" usemap=\"#image-map1\">\n\n<map name=\"image-map1\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Alexis on Wikipedia\" title=\"Alexis on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alexis_of_Russia\" coords=\"0,0,113,154\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Feodor III on Wikipedia\" title=\"Feodor III on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Feodor_III_of_Russia\" coords=\"114,0,238,154\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Peter the Great on Wikipedia\" title=\"Peter the Great on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peter_the_Great\" coords=\"239,0,356,154\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Catherine I on Wikipedia\" title=\"Catherine I on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Catherine_I_of_Russia\" coords=\"357,0,478,154\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Anna on Wikipedia\" title=\"Anna on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anna_of_Russia\" coords=\"0,155,113,307\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Ivan VI on Wikipedia\" title=\"Ivan VI on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ivan_VI_of_Russia\" coords=\"113,152,237,307\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Elizabeth of Russia on Wikipedia\" title=\"Elizabeth of Russia on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elizabeth_of_Russia\" coords=\"238,152,360,307\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Peter III on Wikipedia\" title=\"Peter III on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peter_III_of_Russia\" coords=\"361,152,478,307\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Catherine the Great on Wikipedia\" title=\"Catherine the Great on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Catherine_the_Great\" coords=\"482,152,602,307\" shape=\"rect\">\n    <area target=\"_blank\" alt=\"Peter II on Wikipedia\" title=\"Peter II on Wikipedia\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peter_II_of_Russia\" coords=\"480,0,602,152\" shape=\"rect\">\n<\/map>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em>Click on a portrait of a Tsar to go the Wikipedia page for that ruler (opens in new tab).<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Timelines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>There are quite a few timelines around, some less accurate than others (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-17840446\">BBC<\/a>, for instance). The Wikipedia one is very detailed:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Timeline_of_Russian_history\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ek-link\">Wikipedia timeline<\/a><\/strong> This detailed timeline also offers links to other Wikipedia articles covering events by year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EMF7mgycg9M\">The animated History of Russia<\/a><\/strong>. Covers a lot of ground from earliest days on beyond 1800, but the first half is as good a quick introduction as anything (4minutes!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Maps &amp; Atlases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Maps are a bit of a problem for this period of Russian history, not least because many of them are, not unreasonably, in Russian. Use Google Translate (which may happen automatically, certainly in Microsoft Edge, or Google Chrome) to get them in English.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Routledge Atlas of Russian History<\/em><\/strong>, Martin Gilbert, 4th Ed. 2013. Only twenty or so maps on Russia prior to 1917, and all in black &amp; white. Quite hard to use, I find, but I find this is true of all his atlases. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Routledge-Russian-History-Historical-Atlases-ebook\/dp\/B00BYVEWYO\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=routledge+atlas+of+russian&amp;qid=1594126734&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At the heart of much of Russian expansionary policy and practice over five hundred years plus is the irreducible problem of its geography. This article makes a good fist of explaining the essential geo-political issues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/research\/russia-and-the-geo-of-its-geopolitics-52857\/\">Russia and the \u2018Geo\u2019 of its geopolitics<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>And a contemporary take, but with the same themes perhaps more elegantly expressed: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/ukraine\/2016-04-18\/russias-perpetual-geopolitics\"><strong>Russia\u2019s Perpetual Geopolitics<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The critical nature of geography and political history is the subject of a famous essay by Halford Mackinder in 1904:\u00a0 <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iwp.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20131016_MackinderTheGeographicalJournal.pdf\">The geographical pivot of history<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3><strong>Books<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This list will grow over time. Please let me know if there are books you have found that can be added to this list. Where a book is available from Cumbria Libraries, this is is shown, as well as a link to the appropriate Amazon page.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tsars &amp; Others<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Alexis: Tsar of all the Russias<\/em><\/strong>, by Philip Longworth, 1984 shows how much Peter owed to his father. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Alexis-Tsar-Russias-Philip-Longworth\/dp\/0436256886\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Alexis%3A+Tsar+of+All+the+Russias&amp;qid=1594049947&amp;sr=8-1\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Peter the Great <\/strong><\/em>by Robert Massie. A very readable account of the life, and covers quite a lot of the political and nation-building too. Quite long, at 945pp. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Peter-Great-compelling-created-Petersburg-ebook\/dp\/B008TT4P46\/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robert+Massie&amp;qid=1593880946&amp;sr=8-3\">Amazon<\/a>, and Cumbria Libraries<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Russia in the Age of Peter the Great<\/strong><\/em>, ed Lindsey Hughes, 1998, a broad range of topics and great scholarship. &nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/0300075391\/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1\">Amazon<\/a><\/em> <em>and Cumbria Libraries<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Catherine the Great, <\/strong><\/em>also by Robert Massie. Equally comprehensive, and nearly as long, and very well reviewed at the time of publication. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Catherine-Great-Portrait-Robert-Massie\/dp\/1784975842\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robert+Massie&amp;qid=1593881135&amp;sr=8-1\">Amazon<\/a>, and Cumbria Librarie<\/em>s<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great,<\/strong><\/em> by Isabel de Madariaga, 2002 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Russia-Catherine-Great-Phoenix-Press\/dp\/1842125117\/ref=rtpb_3\/261-7544804-5158944?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=1842125117&amp;pd_rd_r=36104167-d048-4223-8952-7662350c9a5b&amp;pd_rd_w=RUC0o&amp;pd_rd_wg=DuUD4&amp;pf_rd_p=a8cfd057-ca3a-4bdc-a002-589a7993c909&amp;pf_rd_r=S3DV1JHK5PX9XVXV7JR5&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=S3DV1JHK5PX9XVXV7JR5\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Catherine the Great and Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair, <\/strong><\/em>by Simon Sebag Montefiore <i><a class=\"color1\" title=\"Find all the author's book\" href=\"https:\/\/b-ok.cc\/g\/Montefiore%20Sebag%20Simon.\">Amazon.<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><em><strong> Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin<\/strong><\/em> by Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2001 Hard to come by, but Cumbria Libraries have a copy <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Potemkin-Catherine-Greats-Imperial-Partner\/dp\/1400077176\/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&amp;keywords=potemkin&amp;qid=1594104938&amp;sr=8-16\">Amazon<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Pupils of Peter the Great<\/strong> <\/em>by R N Bain, 1897: the full text of this book is available in many formats at the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/PupilsOfPeterTheGreat\/page\/n1\/mode\/2up\">Internet Archive<\/a><\/strong>. It covers the lives of Catherine I, Peter II, and Anna. Material hard to find anywhere outside Wikipedia, although obviously the scholarship is outdated.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Romanovs: Ruling Russia 1613-1917<\/strong><\/em>, by Lindsey Hughes, 2009. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/0826430813\/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2\">Amazon <\/a><\/em>The first half of this is a wonderful overview of all aspects of the development of Russia and its rulers, both thematic and chronological. Simon Sebag Montefiore probably makes it all more entertaining, but this is solid historical scholarship.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Romanovs 1613-1918<\/em><\/strong>, by Simon Sebag Montefiore, 2017, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Romanovs-1613-1918-Simon-Sebag-Montefiore\/dp\/1474600875\/ref=pd_sbs_14_1\/261-7544804-5158944?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=1474600875&amp;pd_rd_r=a75813e5-7559-4849-8c05-d465cb0c6742&amp;pd_rd_w=VpWFt&amp;pd_rd_wg=0bgap&amp;pf_rd_p=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&amp;pf_rd_r=YGKCRQP92HR4WR7GPPR0&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=YGKCRQP92HR4WR7GPPR0\">Amazon<\/a><\/em> and Cumbria Libraries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Russian History of the Period<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Modernisation of Russia, 1676-1825 (New Approaches to European History)<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong> 2008, Simon Dixon <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Modernisation-1676-1825-Approaches-European-History\/dp\/052137961X\/ref=rtpb_5\/261-7544804-5158944?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=052137961X&amp;pd_rd_r=11c2f989-041a-4c19-a599-300e033d5f2f&amp;pd_rd_w=Pb5Yv&amp;pd_rd_wg=9SgG9&amp;pf_rd_p=a8cfd057-ca3a-4bdc-a002-589a7993c909&amp;pf_rd_r=Q0QSHX6G0ZN21C4NP7X3&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=Q0QSHX6G0ZN21C4NP7X3\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Russia&#8217;s Age of Serfdom 1649-1861<\/strong><\/em> (Blackwell History of Russia), by Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter &nbsp;2008<\/li>\n<li>\n<div id=\"bylineInfo_feature_div\" class=\"feature\" data-feature-name=\"bylineInfo\">\n<div id=\"bylineInfo\" class=\"a-section a-spacing-micro bylineHidden feature\"><em><strong>Russia: People and Empire: 1552\u20131917, <\/strong><\/em>by Geoffrey Hosking 1998<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Making of Russian Absolutism 1613\u20131801<\/strong><\/em>, P Dukes, 1990<em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Russian-Absolutism-1613-1801-Longman-History-ebook\/dp\/B00HUTSOL6\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=The+Making+of+Russian+Absolutism+1613%E2%80%931801&amp;qid=1594050416&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>, but at a frightening price!<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Empire of the Periphery, Russia and the World System<\/strong><\/em>, by Boris Kagarlitsky, 2008 The first half of this book is relevant. Strongly based in historiography and applies a world system approach to the context of Russian history.&nbsp; <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Empire-Periphery-Russia-World-System\/dp\/074532682X\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=empire+of+the+periphery&amp;qid=1594068378&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\">Amazon&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong> Claiming Crimea: a history of Catherine the Great\u2019s southern empire, <\/strong><\/em>Kelly O\u2019Neill, 2017 a dense, archive-based, multi-dimensional study of the initial \u201cquiet conquest\u201d of the region. Topical, I guess. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Claiming-Crimea-History-Catherine-Southern\/dp\/030021829X\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Claiming+Crimea&amp;qid=1594105331&amp;sr=8-1\">Amazon,<\/a><\/em> horrendous price.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 1, From Early Rus&#8217; to 1689<\/strong><\/em> 2015 Maureen Perrie (Ed). Not a chronological survey, but excellent chapters on topics. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Cambridge-History-Russia-Early-1689\/dp\/1107639425\/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=cambridge+History+of+Russia&amp;qid=1594118610&amp;sr=8-3\">Amazon<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 2, Imperial Russia 1689-1917 <\/strong><\/em>ed Dominic Lieven 2006.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The New Cambridge Modern History : Vol.6, The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688-1715 \/25<\/strong><\/em> by J S Bromley (ed). 1970. <em>Cumbria Libraries and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/NEW-CAMBRIDGE-MODERN-HISTORY-1688-1715\/dp\/0521075246\/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=The+New+Cambridge+Modern+History%2C+Vol.+6&amp;qid=1594119182&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-3\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>. Three good chapters on Russia in the period, and general chapters that contain good social, economic and military commentary. Uses maps from Martin Gilbert&#8217;s Routledge Atlas of Russian History.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Russian History: A Very Short Introduction<\/strong><\/em>, Geoffrey Hosking 2012.&nbsp; The chapters on the period are succinct and useful. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Russian-History-Short-Introduction-Introductions\/dp\/0199580987\/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&amp;keywords=geoffrey+hosking&amp;qid=1594801723&amp;s=digital-text&amp;sr=1-5-catcorr\">Amazon<\/a><\/em> <em>and Cumbria Libraries<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>A Course in Russian History: The Seventeenth Century&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em> 1994, &nbsp;V.O. Kliuchevskii perhaps rather old now, but available to <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/historyofrussia03kliu\/page\/n11\/mode\/1up\">download via the Internet Archive.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>A Cultural History of Russia<\/strong><\/em>, Orlando Figes 2002. Obviously covers a much wider period, but lots of nice background. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Natashas-Dance-Cultural-History-Russia\/dp\/0140297960\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=natashas+dance&amp;qid=1594971224&amp;sr=8-1\">Amazon<\/a><\/em> and Cumbria Libraries<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"a-row\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em><a class=\"a-link-normal\" style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/0674241851\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Spies and Scholars: Knowledge in the Quest for a Russian Far East, <\/a><\/em><\/strong><a class=\"a-link-normal\" style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/0674241851\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Gregory <\/a><\/span><\/span>Afinogenov, 2021.&nbsp; Probably a bit specialised, but absolutely fascinating: on my personal pile.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/0674241851\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\"><em> Amazon<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Information and Empire: Mechanisms of Communication in Russia, 1600-1854,<\/em><\/strong> Simon Franklin, 2012.&nbsp; Again rather specialised, but it&#8217;s on my reading list. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/1783743735\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Gates of Europe,<\/strong><\/em> Serhii Plokhy 2015, Useful on the early issues in the south and west and the rise of Kiev, still relevant in Catherine&#8217;s time. Sometimes quite a slog! <em>Cumbria Libraries, but I have the copy since February and Ulverston Library not yet open to&nbsp;<\/em><i>return<\/i>&nbsp;it!<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Peter The Great&#8217;s Revenge,&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em>Boris Megorsky, 2018&nbsp; The story of the Siege of Narva 1704, critical to Peter&#8217;s efforts to make St Petersburg work. But chock-full of wonderful detail on the military organisation and methods of the time. Like an Osprey book on steroids. There are one or two others covering the Great Northern War in the series. Not cheap on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/191162802X?psc=1&amp;pf_rd_p=b3104185-aeb8-4926-9b18-10dc930c841c&amp;pf_rd_r=986FZ4XAREKZXEDX135Z&amp;pd_rd_wg=71ASF&amp;pd_rd_i=191162802X&amp;pd_rd_w=76Dni&amp;pd_rd_r=8371d076-bffd-4839-b0ec-abe03e0d0610&amp;ref_=pd_luc_rh_crh_rh_bxgy_01_02_t_img_lh\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a>, but also available from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibliophilebooks.com\/epages\/Bibliophile.sf\/en_GB\/?ObjectPath=\/Shops\/Bibliophile\/Products\/88154\"> <em>Bibliophile<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Wikipedia<\/h3>\n<p>Apart from the mostly very good pages on the individual Tsars of the period, linked to from the images at the top of the page, there are a series of other Wikipedia articles that can send you on a long chain of reading. One extra benefit of the better Wikipedia pages is the &#8216;Further Reading&#8217;, &#8216;See Also&#8217; and &#8216;References&#8217; sections at the bottom of each page.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a series of pages offering a synoptic view of the period:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_Russia\">History of Russia&nbsp;<\/a><\/strong> The whole sweep from earliest times<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Expansion_of_Russia_1500%E2%80%931800\"><strong>Expansion of Russia 1500-1800<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tsardom_of_Russia\">Tsardom of Russia<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russian_Empire\">Russian Empire<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_Russia_(1721%E2%80%9396)\">History of Russia (1721\u201396)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The series of wars that involved Sweden and Russia are well covered:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Second_Northern_War\">The Second Northern War &nbsp;<\/a><\/strong>1655-1660<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russo-Polish_War_(1654%E2%80%931667)\">The Russo-Polish or Thirteen Years&#8217; War<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; 1654\u20131667<\/li>\n<li><strong><a title=\"Scanian War\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scanian_War\">The Scanian War<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp; &#8211; 1674\u20131679<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Northern_War\">The Great Northern War<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; 1700\u20131721, including of course, the<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Battle_of_Poltava\">Battle of Poltava<\/a> <\/strong>July 1709<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And other wars in all directions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russo-Persian_War_(1722%E2%80%931723)\">Russo-Persian War (1722\u20131723)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_wars\"><strong>History of the Russo-Turkish Wars<\/strong><\/a> including the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Crimean_campaigns_of_1687_and_1689\">Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Other topics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Territorial_evolution_of_Russia\"><strong>Territorial Expansion of Russia<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/a> &nbsp;Useful list of dates and links to events 1600-1800 with links to appropriate maps<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Serfdom_in_Russia\">Serfdom in Russia<\/a><\/strong> A good starting point with lots of references and links<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russian_conquest_of_Siberia\">Russian Conquest of Siberia<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Northern_Expedition\">Great Northern Expedition<\/a> <\/strong>1725?-1743 and early <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russian_America\">Russian settlement of Alaska<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russian_Enlightenment\">Russian Enlightenment<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp; A reasonable place to start with a link to the great Russiann polymath <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mikhail_Lomonosov\"><strong>Mikhail Lomonosov<\/strong><\/a> .<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Other Websites<\/h3>\n<p>There are, not surprisingly, a lot of websites that cover this period in Russian history which are in Russian. Google Translate is your friend! If you go to the site via Google, it will usually (depending on your browser set-up), offer to translate them, and nowadays it usually does a pretty good job.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/nlr.ru\/res\/refer\/romanov\/\">Home Romanov<\/a><\/strong>: a lovely site which uses a literal tree to provide biographical details of the whole Romanov clan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>YouTube<\/h3>\n<p>There are lots of YouTube videos covering all periods of Russian history,. Many of them were produced before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but for the most part this doesn&#8217;t affect their usefulness, though he tone may grate!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"style-scope ytd-watch-metadata\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/LuEhWdpgykQ\">Russia: 1000 Years Of History &#8211; History Documentary<\/a>&nbsp; <\/strong>A quick romp through centuries in 180 minutes. Not sure what the source is, but quite a professional production.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"style-scope ytd-watch-metadata\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qUgzqkCW6A4\"><strong>The origins of Russia &#8211; Summary on a Map<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp; A quick summary in 15 minutes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>In Our Time (<em>BBC Sounds<\/em>)<\/h3>\n<p>There are two episodes that cover the period:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p003hycx\">Catherine the Great<\/a><\/strong>. First broadcast on&nbsp; 23 Feb 2006, with Janet Hartley, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics; Simon Dixon, Professor of Modern History at the University of Leeds; Tony Lentin, Professor of History at the Open University.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b00jts6k\">The Building of St Petersburg.<\/a><\/strong> First broadcast on 23rd April 2009, with Simon Dixon, Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College London; Janet Hartley, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics; Anthony Cross, Emeritus Professor of Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Other Media<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b0978qtm\">Catherine the Great<\/a><\/strong>, in the series Russia in Five Babushka dolls. First broadcast on 9th October 2017.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Episode-1\/dp\/B071KMTHNL\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=ekaterina&amp;qid=1595072364&amp;sr=8-1\">Ekaterina: The Rise of Catherine the Great <\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>The&nbsp; series (three series now) on Catherine&#8217;s rise, is available on Amazon Prime and Netflix.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/oyc.yale.edu\/history\/hist-202\/lecture-4\"><strong>European Civilization, 1648-1945 Lecture 4 &#8211; Peter the Great<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/a> A Yale Lecture, 37 mins long, by John Merriman, Charles Seymour Professor of History at Yale University. The delivery style leaves much to be desired, but the approach is interesting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>People<\/h3>\n<p>Obviously there are hundreds of people who could be listed here, but a few who are critical to the story of Russia in this period, and some interesting British and Irish characters who served Catherine in various capacities, are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alexander_Danilovich_Menshikov\">Alexander Menshikov &nbsp;<\/a><\/strong>This Wikipedia page is very sparing, but reading Robert Massie&#8217;s <em>Peter the Great<\/em> gives a much stronger impression of the extent to which Menshikov was a force of being alongside Peter.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grigory_Potemkin\">Grigory Potemkin<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;A much fuller account of the role and character of Potemkin<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Browne_(soldier)\">George Browne<\/a><\/strong> An Irish soldier of fortune, he ended up as Governor of Livonia from 1783&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Charles_Cameron_(architect)\"><strong>Charles Cameron<\/strong><\/a>: A Scottish architect. An online monograph on him and his buildings with lots of old pictures is <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.alexanderpalace.org\/cameron\/\">here.<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;And a short piece in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottishfield.co.uk\/culture\/the-scotsman-who-made-a-lasting-mark-on-russia\/\">Scottish Field<\/a><\/strong> is nicely drawn.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p id=\"firstHeading\" class=\"firstHeading\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mikhail_Lomonosov\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Mikhail Lomonosov<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">:&nbsp; <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Russia&#8217;s first polymath.&nbsp; He made important contributions to literature, education, and science.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Table of Ranks<\/h3>\n<p>Introduced by Peter the Great in 1722, the Table remained a crucial part of Russian life until 1917, and was tinkered with from time to time, especially by Catherine the Great.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Table_of_Ranks\">Table of Ranks<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp; &#8211; Wikipedia, and also <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/lea.vitis.uspnet.usp.br\/arquivos\/arttableofrankslea.pdf\">an interesting piece<\/a><\/strong> about its form in English and Russian. Also <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/marksrussianmilitaryhistory.info\/Ranks.html\">a chart<\/a><\/strong> showing changes over time&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/pdf\/2493380.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A00d6d0129dad206da6e9b47696e5904b\">Implementation of the Russian Table of Ranks during the Eighteenth Century <\/a><\/strong>via Jstor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Military History<\/h3>\n<p><strong>General Books<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>The Military History of Tsarist Russia<\/em><\/strong> ed.Frederick Kagan, Robin Higham, 2002. The first half is relevant to the period. Largely schematic, and very broad coverage of campaigns. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Military-History-Tsarist-Russia-ebook\/dp\/B01FY9ZDRQ\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=military+history+of+tsarist&amp;qid=1594125177&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\">Amazon<\/a>&nbsp; link for reference only: eyewatering price!&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong>Russia at War [2 volumes]: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond<\/strong><\/em>, Timothy C. Dowling&nbsp; 2015. An encyclopedia of battles, themes and people.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Major Campaigns<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Poltava<\/strong><\/span>: <em><strong>Poltava 1709 Russia comes of age, <\/strong><\/em>Angus Konstam, 1994. An Osprey battle series book, with good writing and context and lots of illustrations. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Poltava-1709-Russia-comes-Campaign\/dp\/1855324164\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=poltava&amp;qid=1594126161&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>Articles on the Web<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/historythings.com\/historys-nutcases-peter-iii-of-russia\/\">History\u2019s Nutcases: Czar Peter III of Russia<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3>St Petersburg<\/h3>\n<p>A couple of years ago, I prepared a presentation on the origins of of St Petersburg as part of our topic at the time: 1700-1710. A PDF copy of this can be seen here: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/07\/The-Founding-of-St-Petersberg-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Founding of St Petersburg<\/a> <\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Peter Lavington&#8217;s presentation: <br>Peter&#8217;s Transformation of Russia<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/01\/Peters-transformation-of-Russia.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Peters-transformation-of-Russia<\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also available as a<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/01\/Peters-transformation-of-Russia.pdf\" class=\"ek-link\">download here<\/a><\/strong> (clicking this will open the PDF in your browser at a size that makes it readable, and downloadable).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Rosie on Menshikov:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/What-do-we-know-Alexander-Menshikov.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">What do we know Alexander Menshikov<\/a><\/div>\n<p><br>Also available as a<strong> <a class=\"ek-link\" href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/What-do-we-know-Alexander-Menshikov.pdf\">download here<\/a><\/strong> (clicking this will open the PDF in your browser at a size that makes it readable, and downloadable).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>John Kaye on The Great Northern War:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Great-Northern-War.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Great Northern War<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Also available as a <a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/Great-Northern-War.pdf\"><strong>download here<\/strong><\/a> (clicking this will open the PDF in your browser at a size that makes it readable, and downloadable).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Rosie on Elizabeth, Empress of Russia:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Elizabeth-of-Russia.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Elizabeth of Russia<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Also available as a <a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Elizabeth-of-Russia.pdf\" class=\"ek-link\"><strong>download here<\/strong><\/a> (clicking this will open the PDF in your browser at a size that makes it readable, and downloadable).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Grete On Ivan VI:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Ivan-VI.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Ivan VI<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Also available as a <a class=\"ek-link\" href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Ivan-VI.pdf\"><strong>download here<\/strong><\/a> (clicking this will open the PDF in your browser at a size that makes it readable, and downloadable).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click on a portrait of a Tsar to go the Wikipedia page for that ruler (opens in new tab). Timelines There are quite a few timelines around, some less accurate than others (BBC, for instance). The Wikipedia one is very detailed: Maps &amp; Atlases Maps are a bit of a problem for this period of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/russia-1600-1800\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The History of  Russia<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":7,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-516","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":142,"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":960,"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/516\/revisions\/960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessu3a.org\/worldhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}