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HIST 202: European Civilization, 1648-1945

Lecture 04 - Peter the Great. Peter the Great's historical significance stems not only from his military ambitions and the great expansion of the Russian Empire under his supervision, but also from his efforts to introduce secular, Western customs and ideas into Russian culture. Despite his notorious personal brutality, Peter's enthusiasm for science and modern intellectual concerns made an indelible mark both on Russia's relationship to the West and on its internal politics. The struggle under Peter's reign between Westernizers and Slavophiles, or those who resist foreign influences, can be seen at work in Russia up to the present day. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 04 - Peter the Great

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Peter the Great and the Territorial Expansion of Russia
[00:07:37] 2. Russia as a European Power: The Influence of the West on the Russian State
[00:14:47] 3. The Peculiarities of Peter the Great: The Peasant Czar
[00:27:37] 4. A New Culture: Divergences from the Russian Orthodox Religious Tradition
[00:32:40] 5. The Boyars: Junior Partners in Russian Absolutism
[00:37:29] 6. Peter the Great: The Ambivalent Child of European Rationalism

References
Lecture 4 - Peter the Great
Instructor: Professor John Merriman. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - Absolutism and the State
Lecture 03 - Dutch and British Exceptionalism
Lecture 04 - Peter the Great
Lecture 05 - The Enlightenment and the Public Sphere
Lecture 06 - Maximilien Robespierre and the French Revolution
Lecture 07 - Napoleon
Lecture 08 - Industrial Revolutions
Lecture 09 - Middle Classes
Lecture 10 - Popular Protest
Lecture 11 - Why no Revolution in 1848 in Britain
Lecture 12 - Nineteenth-Century Cities
Lecture 13 - Nationalism
Lecture 14 - Radicals
Lecture 15 - Imperialists and Boy Scouts
Lecture 16 - The Coming of the Great War
Lecture 17 - War in the Trenches
Lecture 18 - Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning (Guest Lecture by Jay Winters)
Lecture 19 - The Romanovs and the Russian Revolution
Lecture 20 - Successor States of Eastern Europe
Lecture 21 - Stalinism
Lecture 22 - Fascists
Lecture 23 - Collaboration and Resistance in World War II
Lecture 24 - The Collapse of Communism and Global Challenges