IN 1553, wool-merchant Richard Chancellor found a passage from England to Archangel around northern Scandinavia, bypassing the jealous nations of the Hanseatic League that controlled Baltic trade.* Ivan’s grandson Ivan IV,* who also felt trapped by the League, was as delighted as Chancellor himself, and sent him home with letters for King Edward VI offering his new English friends favoured status as a trading partner.
Unfortunately, Ivan IV’s reign was followed by a succession crisis, the Time of Troubles,* and the instability broke the fledgling partnership with England. But the first of the Romanovs, Michael I, steadied the State; and during a historic European tour* his grandson Peter visited London, Oxford and Manchester in 1698 to research urban design for his new city on the River Neva, St Petersburg. In 1732 it became Russia’s capital — an Imperial capital, for Tsar Peter had declared himself Emperor in 1721.
See Merchants of Muscovy.
Ivan IV reigned as Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547, and as Tsar of All the Russias from 1547 to his death in 1584. ‘All the Russias’ meant ‘all the states of the Rus’ people’. The title had in fact been used by his grandfather Ivan III, but Ivan IV was the first to adopt it officially. History has named him Ivan ‘the Terrible’, in the sense of awe-inspiringly magnificent. Compare Psalm 47:2.
See Dmitry the Pretender.
See The Grand Embassy.
Précis
The reign of Peter the Great brought Russia (now declared an Empire) into greater contact with the West, and saw the Tsar visit Britain in 1698. As Russia’s influence grew, so did conflict with Britain, especially during the Napoleonic Wars. However, Russia and Britain eventually combined to frustrate Napoleon’s ambitions of empire, at his retreat from Moscow, and at Waterloo. (60 / 60 words)
The reign of Peter the Great brought Russia (now declared an Empire) into greater contact with the West, and saw the Tsar visit Britain in 1698. As Russia’s influence grew, so did conflict with Britain, especially during the Napoleonic Wars. However, Russia and Britain eventually combined to frustrate Napoleon’s ambitions of empire, at his retreat from Moscow, and at Waterloo.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, may, must, or, otherwise, ought, until.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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