Eastern Europe Consolidates: Crash Course European History #16

While the focus has been on Western Europe so far, there has also been a lot going on in Eastern Europe, which we'll be looking at today. The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, The Ottoman Empire, and Russia were all competing at the eastern end of the continent/landmass of Europe at during the 16th century. You'll learn about the various Ivans in Russia, and the Time of Trouble that followed them, and you'll learn about the Ottomans' expansion into Europe. You'll also learn how the great power you may not have heard of, Poland-Lithuania was right in the middle of all these events, from the rise of the False Dmitry to the Battle of Vienna.

Sources
-Hosking, Geoffrey A. Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
-Hunt, Lynn et al. Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2019.
-Kivelson, Valerie A. and Ronald Grigor Suny. Russia’s Empires. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
-Parker, Geoffrey. Global Crisis: War Climate Change, and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.
-Peirce, Leslie. Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2017.

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[ОлегКозлов-ют]

Facts you may find interesting about Ivan the IV:
1. During his childhood Ivan witnessed a murder of some family members during power struggle between noble clans. As a result he gradually developed psycologic conditions which worsened with age.
2. Ivan was the longest-ruling head of Russia: more than 62 years!
3. Ivan was deeply in love with his first wife. It was said she was the only one who could calm his anger. When she died, he became notably paranoid.
4. Ivan invented the first secret service in Russia: "oprichnina". It worked very much like KGB of its time. A word "oprichnik" is still used as a swear-word for state terror.
5. Ivan won several wars against foreign states but also burned down some Russian cities as he thought they were too independent.
6. In his old age he often prayed to God for forgiveness of his sins. He even established a pension for the families of his executed political rivals.

Enough for now, I'll write the rest if someone cares =)

[matthewmcneany]

'In 1654 Russia joined the Russo-Polish war' That must have been a somewhat one sided war before 1654.

[jigurd]

"...Not the last time that Ukraine's abundant farmland would make it a center of expansionist attention."

Well, that aged well.

[istanbulite]

Just wanna amend two things :
1- As everybody mentioned, it was Mehmed II who conquered Constantinople ( hence the nickname "Mehmed the Conqueror"
2- The method of killing a dynasty member was strangling, not stabbing as showed in the thought bubble. You cannot spill the blood of a dynasty member.

The rest of the Ottomans section was surprisingly objective and thank you for your dedication. DFTBA.

[tassosxenakis]

I'm pretty sure that you're referring to Mehmed the second, not the first - he was the one to conquer Constantinople.

[chrissr]

When ever I'm watching other crash courses most of the time all I hear is "Hi, I'm Not John Green and this is Crash Course."

[viliussmproductions]

Hey, Eastern Europe in a Crash Course video! Finally!

[ofthehunt]

"Iron Hand"?? So you're saying they weren't as tough as rules who use a Topaz Fist.

[scopophobemusic]

As someone from south eastern Europe I think that it is important to understand that the ottoman devshirme or the blood tax wasn't just drafting or levying. The age that people were taken was often 8-10. A lot of the times you had people forcibly maim their children to avoid being ripped away from their family while other families did give away their sons typically because they were already poor and opportunities were limited. After being taken these kids often didn't get to see their families until they rose up high enough in the ranks to win some form of autonomy.

This is a sore subject in the region and is not well known in many western European countries or in america and I think it is important that anyone that is trying to understand this from the outside know that the issue is pretty complex.

[EpicStudios]

this ukraine stuff really aged well huh

[TheMichchaal]

Okay, but bear in mind that in Poland queen is only the wife of a king, and Jadwiga, which you mentioned earlier had the title of the king of Poland. just fun fact

[DB-thats-me]

“No life is lived in the long run, including yours.”
This should be taught to all. Both those in power and those who simply want to live their lives.
Most inspirational sentence I have heard in a long time.

[roryokane]

I was waiting for the “AGH! PUTIN!” moment. I was not disappointed.

[LlamaCourt]

More Eastern European Crash Courses please! This was so interesting

[thejessejoint]

Johns comments on ukraine take on a different light today.

[matthias]

Ahhh, I always wondered why there used to be so many Jewish people in Poland.

[nycstamps]

Great as always; will there be a chapter on Southeastern Europe/The Balkans?

[wargriffin]

An interesting note:

- The King of France was seated on the "Holy throne of God" of the CATHOLIC world
- The Tsar of Russia was seated on the "Holy throne of God" of the EASTERN ORTHODOX world.

[Livlikeliv]

The Ukraine jokes have aged interestingly...

[johnnywoodson]

No joke, John straight up looks and sounds happier when he's not talking about West Europe.