The Rise of Russia - If You Want To Know More...

Question	Answer
steppe	open, treeless grassland that offered pasture for the horses of Russian nomads
Cyrillic	Cyril and Methodius adapted the Greek alphabet so they could translate the Bible into Slavic; created an alphabet which became the written script still used today in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria
Golden Horde	Mongol armies led by Batu into Russia, overran Russian towns and ruled for over 150 year; opened up new trade in the east, but cut off contact with Western Europe
Ivan the Great	recovered northern Russia and territory in Lithuania; built the framework for absolute rule; adopted Byzantine rituals to emphasis Russia's role as the heir to Byzantine power
Ivan the Terrible	1st Russian ruler crowned tsar; further centralized royal power; oprichniki - agents of terror who enforced his will
Kiev	capital of present-day Ukraine; the center of the 1st Russian state; cultural mixing of Slavs and Vikings
Rurik	Prince of the Rus; began his rule of Novgorod in 862; often recognized as the origin of Russia
Genghis Khan	young leader who united the Mongols; Batu (his grandson) overran Russia
Moscow	Capital of Russian Orthodox Church; in 1380, the princes of Moscow rallied and defeated the Golden Horde
tsar	Russian word for Caesar; Ivan the Terrible was the first Russian ruler to be crowned tsar

Resource summary

	Created by hlehmann almost 9 years ago