Russia - Prior to 1670s - No warm water port - Bottled in by Sweden + Ottomans - Have vast potential - Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917) - Michael Romanov - after ?time of nobles? - Elected by nobles to end chaos - Tsar - Modest bureaucratic centralization (still weak) - Too much power - Boyars (nobles) - Strelsky - Moscow guard - Peter the Great (1682 - 1725) - 10 years old - Rules alone - 1689 - Conclude - 1 - Tsar must secure power from Boyars and Strelsky - 2 - Russia must be a military power - Resemble Louis XIV - Fronde - 1697 - peter?s famous trip to west - Wants to imitate west - 1698 - Strelsky revolts - crush brutally - Military - Loyal to him - Conscription ? 300,000 (a lot) - Boyars - Change culture (shaves beards)