Slavic 50 Midterm Study

Who was Jan Hus?

14-15th century Czech priest, philosopher at University of Prague. He was the first Church reformer and key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the 16th century. Mentioned priests/monks have become materialistic.

Peter the Great When did he rule? What dynasty did he belong to?

1682 - 1725 Romanov Dynasty

When was the Battle of Poltava? Who was it against?

1709. Against the Swedes.

When was the Patriotic War? Against whom was it fought? Who won?

1812. Fought between France and Russia. Russia won.

When was the emancipation of serfs in Russia?

1861 by Alexander II (the Liberator)

When was Bulgaria liberated? By whom? From whom?

1878 - Russia liberated Bulgaria from Ottomans after hearing about the failed, bloody April Uprising (same year)

When was the first Balkan War?

1912

Who was Riurik?

A Varangian (Viking) invited by the Slavic tribes to govern them. This began the first Russian-ruling dynasty, called the Rurikovich (sons of Riurik). Riurik ruled in Novgorod, but successor moved the capital to Kiev.

What is oprichnina?

A decree passed by Ivan the Terrible that confiscated land from Russian aristocrats and distributed the land to his guards/secret police. Since the land could not be passed down to the guards' children, the guards exploited the lands and tried to take as much as they could.

What is the Primary Chronicle?

A history of Kievan Rus from about 850 to 1110 Entries were written by monks, explaining everything through religion (everything good is God's responsibility, everything bad is human's responsibility). Praises Christianity, details Vladimir's conversion to Christianity.

Nation

A large group of people united by a shared history and has a mass culture, economy, uniform rights, and duties.

Myth

A sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be.

What was the Battle on the Ice? When? Against whom?

Battle (1242) fought between the Republic of Novgorod led by prince Alexander Nevsky and the Teutonic knights. Notable for having been fought largely on a frozen lake. Significant sustained by the the Teutonic Knights, driving them back from invading Novogrod.

What was the Moravian Mission?

Brothers (Cyril and Methodius) from Northern Greece asked by Rostislav to translate the gospel into some sort of Slavic language. Legend has it that Cyril prayed and prayed and the Slavic letters came to him from God. The invented language was the Glagolitic alphabet. Initially welcomed by Rostislav, but Cyril, Methodius, and their disciples later got persecuted by Rostislav's successor when he decided to shift the written language back to the Latin.

Who was Alexander I? When did he rule?

Catherine's grandson. Reigned from 1801-1825

The Republic of Novgorod. Why is it a "republic"?

City-state and capital of Rus until 882. Novgorod is a republic because it had developed procedures of governance that held a large measure of democratic participation far in advance of the rest of Europe. The people had the power to elect city officials (mayors/posadniks) and they even had the power to elect and fire the prince.

Who are the Cossacks? Name one famous Cossack we discussed.

Cossacks were orthodox while most people in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth converted to Catholicism. Bohdan Khmelnytsky led uprising against Commonwealth and established state (1649)

Ethnicity

Cultural distinctiveness among groups.

What are Slavic languages?

East Slavic Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian West Slavic Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Upper/Lower Sorbian South Slavic Languages: Slovenian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, etc.

What period of the Russian history is called The Times of Trouble?

End of the Rurik Dynasty (1598) and beginning of the Romanov Dynasty (1613). Dark period of Russian history (occupied by Polish, Lithuanian commonwealth). Suffered from usurpers, uprisings, impostors (claiming to be Tsar).

What was Russkaya Pravda?

First legal code of Kievan Rus, written during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. More humane than Byzantium law. Everything is resolved through payment (No capital punishment).

Battle of Kalka 1223

Fought between forces of two Mongol generals and two Russian princes at the Kalka River. Defeated the Russian forces, but left after pillaging a couple towns.

Who was Catherine the Great? When did she rule?

German wife of Peter III, came to power after his assassination in a coup d'etat Reigned from 1762-1796

What have we read by Gogol, Pushkin, Hasek, Andrie, Mickiewicz?

Gogol: St. John's Eve, Christmas Eve Pushkin: The Bronze Horseman, Lukomorje Hasek: The Good Soldier Schweik Andric: Bridge on the Drina Mickiewicz: Forefathers, To Russian Friends

Who is Boris Godunov?

Got land from Ivan the Terrible and strengthened his position through marriage. Was elected ruler and ruled as regent until 1598. The Times of Trouble happened after his reign.

Who are the Slavs?

Indo-European people occupying Eastern Europe. Slavs word origin from the word "slovo." The Slavs are categorized into East Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) South Slavs (Slovenians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins) West Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Sorbs/Lustasians, Kashubians)

Why was the Golden Horde so successful in taking Rus? What explanation does "The Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan" give? What are the other possible explanations?

It is a punishment from God for the sins of Rus Other possible explanations include Mongol military might, a disorganized Russian defense as a large portion of Rus elite were occupied with in-fighting.

Why did Vladimir convert to Christianity?

It was all political undercurrents. Vladimir need to secure an alliance with Byzantium by securing a marriage with the Emperor's sister. In order to do that, he had to convert.

When was the end of Mongol-Tatar yoke? Who was the ruler then?

Ivan III (also known as Ivan the Great) ended the Mongol-Tatar yoke in 1480.

Name important people from the Bulgarian National Revival

Ivan Vazov, Hristo Botev

Name important people from the Czech National Revival

Josef Jungmann, Frantisek Palacky

When was Kiev baptized? By whom?

Kiev was baptized in 988 by Vladimir

Who was Charles IV?

King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor

What is Kievan Rus?

Loose federation of Slavic and Finnish tribes under the reign of the Scandinavian Rurik dynasty. Oleg expanded Kievan Rus. Included most of present-day Ukraine and Belarus and part of northwest Russia. Kievan Rus grew steadily in power and influence until it was later weakened by internal disputes and fell to the Mongols by 1240.

Which Slavic Holidays do you know?

Maslenitsa (celebrated the last week before Great lent but also known as the sun festival that celebrates the end of winter) Known for eating large portions of blini, pancakes that look like the sun Kupala (holiday celebrating the middle of summer, also the shortest night of the year) Strange things are supposed to be happening that night (e.g. ferns blooming)

What is Pan-Slavism?

Mid-19th century movement for political unity for all Slavic peoples based on notions of nationalism inspired by unification of Germany and Napoleon's inspirational bs. Part of a larger Romanticism movement which is more idealistic in nature, so people like Karel Havlicek Borovsky criticized it to be a "great, attractive, but feckless idea"

What empires did we talk about?

Mongol Empire, Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Holy Roman Empire

What is an empire?

Multiple ethnic groups within a sovereign state One nation dominates the rest and has influence over others' culture and derives economic benefits.

Who else was Russia fighting with besides Mongol-Tatars?

Northern European invaders (the Teutonic Knights of Germany)

When was the rule of Ivan IV the Terrible?

Ruled from 1533 to 1584 as Grand Prince of Moscow.

Who were the Decembrists? What did they want?

Russian army officers & their armies who protested Nicholas I's ascension in Peter's Square

Who was Alexander Nevsky?

Russian commander in Battle on the Ice against the Teutonic Knights. Highly successful military commander against the northern European Invaders. Made a saint in the 16th century.

Who is Ivan Susanin?

Russian villager who misled Polish troops into the woods where they perished and never returned. Susanin became a term for someone who claims to know the directions (to a place) but don't actually know the the directions

Which Slavs are Orthodox?

Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbians, and Montenegrins

Which Slavs use Cyrillic?

Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians because they are all Orthodox Christian. All the other Slavic groups use Latin because they're Catholic.

Nationality

Sense of community between people of a nation based on cultural, ethnic, religious, similarities.

Who are the slavs who lived in the Balkans?

Serbians

Which city did Peter build? With what purpose?

St. Petersburg, with the purpose of making it the capital of Russia and to make it a new cultural hub like Paris was at the time, part of his campaign to westernize Russia

Name the most important Ukrainian Poet.

Taras Shevchenko 1814-1861 Established foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and language

What is dual faith?

The combination of different forms of belief or practice. In particular, many Slavic belief systems comprised of Christian faith mixed with pagan elements

Culture

The customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group

What is the purpose of writing the Life of a Saint?

The purpose of hagiographies is to promote Christian faith through any way possible (whether it's through fake miracles in the biography or some other way).

How many partitions of Poland? When? Between which countries? With what result?

There were 3 partitions. First: 1772 between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Prussia gained control of over 80% of trade. Second: 1793, between Prussia. Poland gave more land to Prussia for military alliance and then Russia. Third: 1795 between Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary.

When did WWI begin? What was the cause?

WWI began in 1914 after Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated

What kind of country was Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?

Was the state of Poland and Lithuania together (bi-confederation), ruled by a common monarch (King of Poland + Grand Duke of Lithuania). Collapsed after 3rd Partition.

What is the difference between the catholic cross and the orthodox cross?

While the Catholic cross is the typical 4-pointed cross, the Russian (and most of Eastern Europe) Orthodox cross has eight points (two horizontal bars and one slanted bar at the bottom representing Jesus's head, arms, and feet locations).

Dmitry Donskoi, Battle of Kulikovo against the Mongols in 1380

battle fought between armies of the Golden Horde and various Russian principalities under the united command of Prince Dmitry Donskoi of Moscow. It was the first Russian victory against the Mongols. Two years later, however, Moscow was retaken by the Mongols.