Moscow State: the formation of a culture of modern times

The Moscow state or Muscovy is the name of Russia in the period from the beginning of the reign of John III (1478) to the transfer of the capital of the state to St. Petersburg (1712). Sometimes this period is limited to 1547 year.

The tradition to call Russia pre-Petrine times the Moscow kingdom was accepted and supported by historians of the 19th century, which were based on the fact of the change of capitals. Scientists of the Soviet period adopted this name.

Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the concept of "Moscow State" was mentioned in the meaning of the Moscow Principality as part of the Russian kingdom.

The process of the formation of the Russian state, which, in addition to the Moscow principality, included the Novgorod Republic, as well as the Yaroslavl, Tver, Rostov and partly Ryazan princedoms and cities of Chernigov, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky, influenced the development of cultural features and the formation of a special "subculture".

After the decline of Kievan Rus culture of the Moscow state began to develop on a very special path. The path towards the Christian Western countries was not accepted. The formation of cultural characteristics was primarily due to geographical and political factors. The Russian state has not joined either the western or the eastern directions of historical development. But it absorbed, however, many features of one and the other culture. In addition, the development of the state was influenced by the Orthodox Church and pagan traditions.

The Moscow kingdom was strongly influenced by the Golden Horde. On the one hand, the Tatar-Mongol yoke significantly slowed the cultural development of the Russian land, as cities were destroyed, many crafts and culture of agriculture lost. The country was thrown back in time. On the other hand, contradictory relations with the Horde sent the state along a completely new path of development.

Thus, the socio-political system in the 15th century Moscow kingdom bore the imprint of a strong Eastern influence. This manifested itself in the despotism of the management system and the way of life in general.

Many features of the worldview, characteristic of medieval Russia, formed under the influence of the east. In addition, with the fall of Constantinople, Russia begins to realize itself as the only defender of Orthodoxy and further separates itself from the Western countries in a cultural sense.

As a result of the influence of all these factors, the Moscow state in the 16th century was distinguished by the following features of culture and national identity.

The spirituality characteristic of the East was combined with the desire for freedom peculiar to the people of the West.

At the same time, personal self-consciousness was weakly expressed, collectivism prevailed. Orthodoxy remained the determining factor for the formation of the worldview. Thus, such traits as sacrifice, selflessness, acceptance of one's destiny acquired great value.

In the system of values of a person of that time, one of the central places was occupied by the state and the interests of the state. The concept of the motherland has always been very important for the Russian people.

From the point of view of cultural development, the 17th century is a turning point. The system of values and worldview are changing. The cyclic perception of time is replaced by such concepts as the past, the present and the future.

The Moscow state in the 16th and 17th centuries was on the way to the formation of a national character as a stable combination of features characterizing the nation. It was in the 17th century that such a combination became noticeable, and representatives of other cultures began to describe it.

Also in the period of the Moscow kingdom there is a process of leaving art from the influence of church canons. In the 16th century, large chronicles were created, and in the oral folklore, historical novels replaced historical epics.

In the 17th century, the first signs of a modern culture began to appear .

We can say that from the 14th to the 17th century the formation of the Great Russian ethnos and its main features took place in the Moscow kingdom. This period is also characteristic of the self-determination of the Russian Orthodox Church. These changes left a mark on the further development of Russia.