1.) Ivan IV reigned over a period in Russian history where the growth of the central government was rapid and intrusive to local administrators. Was centralizing Russia a positive or negative idea?….regardless of whose in charge?
2.) What was the role of the Zemskii Sobor? The “Assembly of Land” took place centuries after Ivan IV, what does this reveal about Russian culture?
3.) How does The Reign of Terror represent Ivan’s irrational approach to ruling over Russia?
I’d also like to discuss in class the Zemskii Sobor, just to have a better understanding of how that assembly would function.
Additionally, in speaking of the Reign of Terror, this reminds me in itself of Ivan IV’s nickname. In English, it is translated as “Ivan the Terrible;” however, in Russian, it has another connotation, as the word for his nickname is “Ivan Groznyi,” (Иван Грозный) instead of “Ivan Strashnyi” (Иван Страшный) or “Ivan uzhasnyi” (Иван Ужасный). Was the change to the English word “terrible” just so it would have a better ring to it? This really brings up a question for me about how Russian history is translated into English in general and how this could give false or inaccurate connotations about characters or events in history as a whole.
I also was pondering over how Ivan’s centralization was a positive or negative change to the governmental structure of Russia. Overall, I think that this change was not a matter of if but when the rapid centralization would occur, as Europe was beginning to expand its sphere of influence at a much faster rate than it had previously.