Eastern Europe and Russia: Stav 3

A. How did Eastern Europe become a Third World area?

1) World commercial center shifts from Asia to Mediterranean, then to Atlantic through what developments?

 

 

2) What was Eastern Europe’s economic status before the grain trade with the West developed?

 

 

 

3) How did the grain trade change this status?

 

 

 

 

4) What did Western Europeans trade for the grain? Why did they have this product to trade?

 

 

 

5) Why didn’t Eastern Europeans make their own textiles?

 

 

 

6) What was the role of the Eastern European nobility in the economic changes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

 

 

 

B. Russia the special case in Eastern Europe:

1) Authoritarian; low agricultural productivity; high pop growth; late and spotty growth of industry; harsh geography and climate; Mongol invasions; no religious secularization, or scientific revolution or Enlightenment; no separation of Church and State, no autonomy of the individual; no representation.

 

2) Monarchy more absolute: tsars had total authority over property, aristocracy; small, insignificant capitalist class; capitalism doesn't develop; yes, there's lots of trade, internal and to the east; yes all classes do it, but under state control; economy not dominated by an incipient capitalist class; rather, Tsar monopolized commodity trade.

 

3) Internal colonization; wars; serfdom reimposed 1500s as tsar gives nobles free rein over peasants;

4) Russia self sufficient economically; NOT DOMINATED BY EUROPE OR BY MONOCROP EXPORT AGRICULTURE; but not a well diversified economy; still agricultural, still feudal; yes enserfment, but not for export to west.

 

Indus under Peter 1780- but with serf labor; few linkages, mostly to military and the state;

Iron depleted forests and THERE WAS NO COAL CLOSE TO IRON DEPOSITS.