Russia is known as the largest country in the world. This means that the cultural diversity here is very big thanks to the fact that the Russians interacted with countless civilizations and cultures throughout their history. Even when they invaded and conquered a new territory, they took some parts of the culture back to Russia. Lately, we see a much greater change in Russian culture due to the fact that technological advancement gives us the opportunity to communicate and exchange information much more easily. It is very interesting to see how this amazing culture transformed over the years. We have listed some of the key moments and transformations that created the Russian culture we all see today.
The Start of the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire started sometime after the Renaissance but until then the Russians were dispersed in small communities that were united into a whole country at the beginning of the Medieval Era. This is the moment when the Orthodox religion became very powerful in Russia and led to multiple transformation in mentality. The order was established with the blade and this is why they were considered a very violent nation. They had to constantly defend their territories from the neighboring nations and this is how the militaristic culture was born.
The Influence of Religion
Religion shaped the Russian culture immensely. Most of the traditions that last even today were influenced by religious processions or by the religion itself. From the moment a person was born until the death, there were a chain of processions that had to take place. The Renaissance came quite late in Russia and this is why the paintings of that time have a local and national style. This lasted for many years because the Russian artists followed art schools in Russia and not many afforded to go abroad. You can even see the influence of the Russian religion in their artwork.
Medieval Era
Medieval Era Russia was very militaristic, and this is why many European countries considered it a violent country. This feeling continued even after the 17th century because the militaristic spirit was already there. During the 17th and 18th century Russia started engulfing some European trends in arts and etiquette. This is due to the fact that the Imperial Russian family started to make diplomatic alliances in Europe and wanted to adapt in order to be more successful. The upper class immediately adopted the new trends and you would see new palaces designed in French style rising on the streets of the Russian cities.
Recent Times
During the Revolution and afterwards, the culture transformed a lot. People would become much more nationalistic in order to preserve the culture of the country. During the Communism, this feeling will be at the maximum. The European ideas and trends entered Russia very hard and this is why during this time there was not so much change. After the 90’s, we see that the new Russia is very opened to new trends and ideas. The youth is very curious, and we see the new ideas merging with the old traditions. If you visit Russia today, you will no doubt see all of these various influences in their culture and the people.
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