Russia

__Day 1:__

1. The effects of Mongol occupation on Russian civilization were that the church steadily began to gain in power unnoticed, until Alexis Romanov came into power and purged the churches' powers and influence. Aside from that, Russians adopted their style of dressing and their social behaviors as well. The basic Russian values went unchanged for the most part despite Mongol influence because the Mongols only demanded tribute, not control of the government. However, literacy levels did decrease among the priesthood, and the vigor of cultural life was poor compared to Europe at the time. Also, the economy suffered as well, with Russians only focusing on agriculture rather than manufacturing and trade.

2. Under Ivan III, a large majority of Russia gained independence from the Mongols, and the creation of a well-developed army had allowed Russia to gain a territory spanning from the Polish Lithuanian kingdom to the Ural Mountains. Both Ivan III and Ivan IV recruited cossacks, peasant-adventurers or pioneers w/ military knowledge, to migrate south to the newly gained lands. thereby pushing Russia downwards to the Caspian Sea. The cossacks managed to push into western Siberia and across the Urals. Central Asia as a result became for the most part Russian territory.

Peter the Great

Catherine the Great

__Day 2:__

__Serfdom:__ MI: Serfs in Russia were used primarily to advance economic progress, which in turn helped develop the Russian army, but were not valued as much. This practice became well entrenched in Russian society, uninfluenced even by the growing popularity of Westernization. +: Landlords were rewarded for using serf labor to advance manufacturing, providing the economy needed for a strong army. +: Catherine the Great had allowed nobles to give out stricter punishments towards their serfs. +: Despite Europe banning serfdom at the time, Russia was uninfluenced in their selective Westernization, and serfdom continued to exist.

__Dependence:__

MI: Russia looked to the West for new ideas and thoughts about how to improve their own culture; however they did so selectively, meaning that they only picked out the ideas that would be preferable to them. +: The class of serfdom, for example, was not abolished in Russia unlike the West due to their economic significance in maintaining an army. +: Tsars imported Western scholars and artists to share ideas and promote education, and request orders for creating well-designed structures, like palaces, respectively. +:In a way, Russia depended on other nations for its own power; Russia wanted other nations to recognize their potential as a society and be recognized as one of the great nations.

__Social Unrest:__

MI: Peasants resented that all the beneficial change from Westernization were only benefiting the nobles, while others were resentful that the tsars adopted ideas that they did not find favorable, personally. +: Peasants disliked how the nobles were gaining more power over them (stricter punishments) and how even their landlords were no longer Russian. They raised revolts/rebellions, the most notable being the Pugachev Rebellion. +: Some elites were traditionalists; they believed that the customs of Russia were far superior than the customs of the rest of Europe. +: Others criticized that the tsars were adopting too many of their customs and were losing their identity as a separate nation.

__Eastern Europe:__

MI: Russia maintained a large influence over Eastern Europe via diplomacy, and while it did not try to actively gain lands in that direction, it did still gain lands through peaceful means. +: Catherine the Great was able to partition Poland into three sections for three nations, with Russia gaining the larger part. +: There began an involvement of Russia in Eastern Europe's affairs, thus their power/influence was recognized by other nations, something that they wished for.