THE DEVELOPMENT OF

RUSSIA

Essential Question:How did Slavic, Viking, and

Byzantine influences impact the development of Russia?

Russia is the largest country

in the world

Russia’s land is in two continents; the more populated part of Russia is in Eastern Europe, while the vast

majority of it stretches across Asia

Russia

Just how big is Russia? Currently, it takes up 6.6 million square miles and mainland Russia has 12

time zones; by comparison, the U.S. has four time zones and occupies 3.8 million square miles

Russia

The development of Russia was

influenced by several different

groups of people

Russia’s development into a country of its own

was mainly impacted by the Slavs, the Vikings, and the

Byzantine Empire

Russia

The Slavs were a people who lived in the forests that were north of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe

The Slavs

The Slavic people had similar

languages, but no political unity

The Slavs

They worked primarily as

farmers, but also hunted and fished

to survive

The Slavs

The Slavs were polytheistic; their most

important gods existed in nature or were animals (the bear god was the

master of the forest, the wolf god was master of

the hunt)

STATUE OF PERUN, THE SLAVIC GOD OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

The Slavs

As the Germanic “barbarians” began attacking the Western Roman Empire and moving into its territory, the Slavs began

spreading out into the fertile areas of Eastern Europe

The Slavs would be the basis of the

culture that would become Russia

The Vikings

The Vikings, also called “Northmen” or “Norsemen”, were a Germanic people who lived in Scandinavia (present-day

countries Denmark, Norway, and Sweden)

VIKING HOMELANDS OF SCANDINAVIA

(TODAY’S DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN)

The Vikings

Vikings worshipped multiple gods and their religion was based on war and conquest

The Vikings

Their winters were especially

cold, which led to difficulties with farming; they

turned to conquest as a way

of attaining resources

They were fierce warriors who raided Western Europe with terrifying speed

Using swords, spears, axes, and heavy shields, these helmeted seafaring warriors would beach their ships,

attack quickly, and move out to sea again

The Vikings

The Vikings

They were gone before the people being attacked could mount a defense

The Vikings

The Vikings were not only warriors; they were traders, farmers, and explorers as

well, venturing far beyond

Western Europe

The Vikings

They journeyed down rivers into the heart of what would become Russia and as far south

as the Byzantine and Islamic Empires

The Vikings

The Vikings traveled across the icy waters of the North

Atlantic Ocean; Viking explorer

Leif Ericson reached North America in the

year 1000, about 500

years before Christopher

Columbus did

The Vikings

When the Vikings attacked Europe, the non-Christian warriors had no qualms about

attacking churches and monasteries

inside villages and towns; they would brutally slaughter priests and monks

The Vikings

In fact, churches were a favorite target because of their gold crosses, chalices, and expensive artwork

The Vikings

Gradually, the Vikings stopped raiding Europe

and instead peacefully

settled in it, eventually accepting

Christianity, too

The Vikings

As the Vikings traded with the Slavs and Byzantines, they

settled in parts of Eastern Europe

A group of Slavs invited the Viking

chief Rurik to be their king; Vikings and Slavs

intermarried, and a new culture emerged

from their union

Vikings were the founders of a city called Kiev; they

called themselves the Kievan Rus

(“People of Kiev”); this was Russia’s first

unified territory

Kiev would become the kingdom of

Muscovy, which later would become

Russia

The Vikings

The Byzantines were the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, the part that did not fall to the Germanic barbarian invasions

The Byzantines

The Byzantines

The Byzantine Empire survived for a thousand years, preserving Greco-Roman culture for use

by future societies (such as Emperor Justinian using Roman laws to create the basis for

modern legal systems)

Under Justinian, the Hagia Sophia (pronounced “ah YEE ah so FEE ah”) was built, which was the

largest Christian church in the world

The Byzantines

The Byzantines

Under the rule of the Byzantine

emperors, Christianity grew in the

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Byzantines

The Byzantine Empire was

located close to the Slavs of

Eastern Europe; merchants from Kiev (where the

new Russian culture was emerging), traded with

Constantinople BYZANTINES

SLAVS

The Byzantines

This trade increased Russia’s wealth and

led to cultural diffusion between the

Byzantines and the Russians

Byzantine missionaries (those who spread religion)

brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity north to the Russians

The ByzantinesTo help themselves spread their religion in Russia, two

Byzantine missionaries (Saint Methodius and Saint Cyril) developed an alphabet for the Slavic languages so the Russians could read the Bible in their own language

This new alphabet became known as the Cyrillic alphabet, which is what Russians and other

Eastern European people use today

The ByzantinesThe curved “onion” domes of Russian architecture

were influenced by Byzantine designs

The Byzantines

The Byzantines

King Vladimir of Kiev sent his people to observe the

major religions of the time; they were

unimpressed by Islam, Judaism, and Western Christianity (Catholics)

The Byzantines

The Russians were highly impressed by Eastern Orthodox Christianity

One report stated: “They led us to buildings where they worship their God, and we did not know if we were in Heaven or on Earth. For on Earth, there is no such splendor or beauty, and we are at a loss as how to describe it. We only know that

God dwells there among men.”

This report convinced King Vladimir to convert the

Russian people to Eastern Orthodox Christianity

The Byzantines

Vladimir liked the Byzantine idea of the emperor being the supreme ruler of the

Church

The Byzantines

Eventually, Russian kings viewed Russia as the “Third Rome”, after Rome (the “First Rome”)

and Constantinople (the “Second Rome”)

The Byzantines

Russian kings took the title of “czar”, a Slavic term which

derives from “Caesar”, the Roman

and Byzantine title for “emperor”

This mixture of Slavic,

Viking, and Byzantine cultures

shaped the culture and

development of Russia

VIKINGS

BYZANTINE EMPIRE

SLAVS

Kiev

Originally created by

Christopher Jaskowiak