Russia

Russia

Russia was a very poor country. Houses were poor. Early Russia was so poor that even the upper class would have only been middle class in comparison to other countries during that time period. Serfdom was also a large part of early Russia which basically legally bonded peasants to work in one area, similar to slaves. The fur trade, and farming made up most of early Russian peoples occupations. Early Rus people were conquered by the Mongols in the early 13th century using superior weapon technology such as recurve bows and double cinch saddles, but their reign declined by the middle of the 14th century. The land was then ruled by several “princes” until Ivan III (The Great) eventually took over by gathering large amounts of land and proclaiming himself the ruler of Russia. His son Ivan IV (the terrible) was the first to call himself the Tsar. The religion during this period was Christian, as evident by the Crosier of St. Stefan in the 15th century. Praying to God and other forms of Christian religion are portrayed several times in the book, which leads me to believe that early Russia was a very religious place. There were also several large churches, namely the Church of the Intercessions, constructed in early Russia once again leading me to believe that early Russia had a dependency on religion. The pictures represent how the Russian families were stern, simple, and close. The bourgeois families were fairly well of, but still remained simple in dress and their homes. Nothing was too elaborate and things always seemed to worry them. Clothing among people had some European in it, since Peter the Great was interested, this style remained in the dress of Russian people for many years. Men often wore beards to show their faith in Orthodoxy during this time period as well. The people of Russia mixed traditional clothing with European, to make a distinctly western style. Workers would even wear suits at times, showing the rapidly changing society. Society was changing...

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