ABSTRACT
In modern times Russia has been thought of as a monolithic colossus, weighed down by its oppressive social structure and autocratic government and therefore forever lagging socially, politically, culturally, and technologically behind Europe. The Russian autocratic state coalesced in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially during the reigns of Ivan III, the Great, and Ivan IV, the Terrible. The Mongol conquest had a major influence on the development of the Russian state. The lack of natural frontiers meant that any area conquered immediately required yet another annexation to protect its security. Westerners were imported to provide the knowledge and skill for Peter’s many projects; the Russians supplied the sacrifices. Russia’s first modern industries were built and staffed by thousands of conscripted state peasants—unfree peasants living on state-owned land—who were attached to the factories for life, as were their descendants.
