Political Changes

The first ruler or Prince of Moscow was Alexander Nevsky. The Prince of Moscow was the absolute ruler of Russia and was called an autocrat. In 1840 when Ivan III was ruler, he felt that he was the supreme ruler, instead of the previously acknowledged Khan. Ivan's son Ivan IV "Ivan the Terrible" was the first ruler to give himself the title of tsar which is Slavic for Caesar. Ivan fought many wars and gained a lot of territory. After his death, there was confusion and struggle for power. Ivan's grandnephew, Michael Romanov was the new tsar. After a few more tsar's Peter the Great took over and made important reforms involving militarism and westernization.