Week 5: Conflict and Empire in the 1600s and 1700s

Read

The Rise of Nationalism & The Nation-state

Primary Source Readings

Your assigned readings are the next section of this module, Primary Readings, and the detailed description of assignment requirements are in the Dropbox folder for this week’s Primary Source Reading.

This semester, you will read two primary sources every other week. The topic of each reading set relates to the subjects that we will be studying in the history of Western Civilization. I have selected two readings for every topic that contrast and conflict one another.

Watch the Following Supplemental Videos

1. Russia, The Kievan Rus, and The Mongols: [Enter key starts video]
   In which John Green teaches you how Russia evolved from a loose amalgamation of medieval principalities known as the Kievan Rus into the thriving democracy we know today. As you can imagine, there were a few bumps along the road. It turns out, our old friends the Mongols had quite a lot to do with unifying Russia. In yet another example of how surprisingly organized nomadic raiders can be, the Mongols brought the Kievan Rus together under a single leadership, and concentrated power in Moscow. This set the stage for the various Ivans (the Great and the Terrible) to throw off the yoke and form a pan-Russian nation ruled by an autocratic leader. More than 500 years later, we still have autocratic leadership in Russia. All this, plus a rundown of some of our favorite atrocities of Ivan the Terrible, and a visit from Putin! Created by EcoGeek.
   
2. The Seven Years War: [Enter key starts video]
   In which John teaches you about the Seven Years War, which may have lasted nine years. Or as many as 23. It was a very confusing war. The Seven Years War was a global war, fought on five continents, which is kind of a lot. John focuses on the war as it happened in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. the “great” European powers were the primary combatants, but they fought just about everywhere. Of course, this being a history course, the outcomes of this war still resonate in our lives today. The Seven Years war determined the direction of the British Empire, and led pretty directly to the subject of Episode 28, the American Revolution. Created by EcoGeek.