Explain the role of religion in Russian expansionism. How was Moscow a "Third Rome"? How did this compare to the role of religion in Ottoman expansion?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A. Role of religion in Russian expansionism
1. missionaries opened roads to convert people in the forests and tundra
a. helped Russian world expand northward in the late fourteenth
and early fifteenth centuries
2. missionaries, seeking to convert pagans, formed the vanguard for
Russian conquests in the north
a. expansion became conscious crusade justified on religious grounds
B. Moscow as a "Third Rome"
1. Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453
2. Muscovites saw their city as, potentially, the "Third Rome," replacing
Constantinople
3. similar to how Constantinople replaced Rome as the great imperial capital
C. Role of religion in Ottoman expansion
1. mastered the art of keeping subjects of diverse religions loyal to them
a. tolerated Jews, Christians, and Shiites, but had no qualms about
levying punitive taxes on these minorities
b. Christians
1. imposed a levy of male child slaves, who were brought
up as Muslims to form the Janissaries, an elite corps of
the armed forces, and staff the ranks of the administration
2. system provided servants for the state, and converts for
Islam, while keeping Christian communities in
Submission
c. accommodated people of many religions and customs
1. sultan functioned as head of two linked systems of law
and justice