Empires and Other Political Systems h 157Western craftsmen with him. In order to bolster trade, Peter fought a war with Sweden in
which he not only greatly reduced the military power of Sweden but also gained for Russia
a warm water port on the Baltic Sea. Peter also moved his capital from Moscow to a new
city on the Baltic that he named St. Petersburg. He then created a navy for Russia. Con-
tinuing his policy of westernization, Peter required boyars to shave their beards and wear
Western clothing. He also brought the ballet from France to Russia and allowed women of
elite classes to attend public events for the fi rst time.
In spite of his interest in Western technology, Peter the Great did not accept Western
democratic trends. Unimpressed with parliamentary government, he continued to favor
absolute monarchy. He set up controls over his subjects by creating a secret police and
encouraged the continuation of serfdom. Serfdom, which differed from slavery in binding
laborers to the land only, kept the Russian economy focused on agriculture, in spite of the
westernization policies of Peter the Great.
Catherine II (the Great), who ruled from 1729 to 1796, continued the expansionist and
westernization policies of Peter. Laws restricting serfs were harsher than before. Catherine
upheld the concept of absolute monarchy but also brought ideas of the Enlightenment (see
Chapter 19) to Russia. She reduced severe punishments for crimes in order to bring the
Russian justice system more in line with that of Western Europe and encouraged Western
art and architecture. Catherine added new territory in the Crimea, Alaska, and northern
California to the Russian Empire.Ming China
The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, a warlord who had assisted in the
expulsion of the Mongols from China. The Ming dynasty, which reacted against Mongol
rule by returning to Chinese tradition, lasted from 1368 to 1644. Under Ming rule:- The revered position of the scholar-gentry was restored.
- The Confucian-based civil service exam was reinstated and expanded. Women, however,
continued to be banned from taking the exam. - Public offi cials who were corrupt or incompetent were beaten publicly.
- Thought control, or censorship of documents, was sanctioned by the government.
- Neo-Confucianism, which supported strict obedience to the state, increased its infl uence.
- Women continued to occupy a subordinate position in the strongly patriarchal society.
Between 1405 and 1423, the Ming dynasty, under the leadership of Zheng He, engaged in
several major expeditions of exploration and trade. Des igned to impress the remainder of the
Eastern Hemisphere with the glories of Ming China, the Zheng He expeditions sailed through
the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. By the 1430s, however, the scholar-
gentry had persuaded Ming leaders that the expeditions were too costly in light of the need to
spend the empire’s funds on restraining continued Mongol threats to China’s northern border.
In the late sixteenth century, Jesuits such as the scholar Matteo Ricci were allowed to
enter China. More interested in the Jesuits’ transmission of scientifi c and technological
knowledge than in Christian theology, the Ming Chinese allowed some Jesuits to remain
in China throughout the Ming era.
During the last 200 years of the Ming dynasty, China was ruled by incompetent rulers.
The maintenance of dams, dikes, and irrigation systems was neglected, and nomadic peoples
continued to exert pressure along the Great Wall. In 1644, the Jurchen, or Manchus, a
nomadic people on China’s northern borders, conquered the Ming dynasty. The new Qing
dynasty ruled until the early twentieth century as the last Chinese dynasty.http://www.ebook3000.com