History of Russia
1. Slavic tribes were the ancestors of modern Russia. The first Russian
state was founded when they elected a Viking chieftain to be their prince in
862 in the area between the Volga and Dnieper river basins and gradually
expanded the state into the areas of Asian nomadic steppe people
2. In 882 Prince Oleg of Novgorod seized Kiev, bringing the northern and southern lands of the Eastern Slavs under one authority
3. They spoke a Language called "Proto eastern-Slavic", which evolved into Russian and Ukranian and adopted Christianity in 988, when Vladimir I introduced the religion from the orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire
4. Yarolsav the Wise in 11th century introduced the first code of laws, Russkaya Pravda
5. After his death the state slowly fragmented into competing princedoms with constant wars with nomadic tribes "Steppe Peoples" (like Volga Bulgars, Khazars and Kipchaks )
6. In 1223 Mongols (Tartars) under Genghis and Batu Khan invaded Western Kievan Rus' and established a state called "The Golden Horde" with the Rus' princedoms as their Vassals
7. The Mongol Empire broke into smaller khanates as the region saw the growth of more powerful states like Poland, Lithuania, and the grand Duchy of Moscow.
8. Led by Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow with aid from the Russian Orthodox Church, the united army of Russian principalities defeated the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.
9. Ivan III ("the Great") finally threw off the control of the Golden Horde bringing Central and Northern Rus'under Moscow's dominion. He honoured himself with the title "Grand Duke of all the Russias".
10. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire with the new idea of Moscow as 'New Rome' and the seat of Orthodox Christianity.
11. By 1547, Moscow had become a regional power, with Ivan IV or the Terrible being crowned the first Tsar, the Russian word for "Caesar". Ivan also renamed the state "Russia".
12. In 1580, Russia expanded beyond the east of Ural mountain when they conquered the khanates of Sibir, renaming the area "Siberia"
13. In 1601 the Russians faced a succession crisis called Time of Trobules. The country was in anarchy with the danger of being absorbed by Poland
14. In 1613, the Poles were expelled from Moscow, a national assembly, composed of representatives from fifty cities and even some peasants, elected Michael Romanov, as the new Tsar, established in the Romanov dynasty
15. By 1667, Russia won the Russo-Polish war with the help of the subjugated steppe peoples called "Cossacks" They expanded their territory into southeast, and part of Poland called "Ukrania"
16. Russia's most famous Tsar was Peter the Great (1672–1725) modernized the army, built the Empire's first navy, traveled the west and brought back ideas and technology of the
enlightenment, built a new city and founded it as the country's new capital. Saint Petersburg.
enlightenment, built a new city and founded it as the country's new capital. Saint Petersburg.
17. German born Catherine the Great killed her husband and seized the throne for herself openly embraced the enlightment and incorporated most of its territories into Russia during the Partitions of Poland,advanced Russia's boundary to the Black Sea, defeating the Crimean Khanate
18. Russian armies liberated allied Georgia from Persian occupation in 1802, they clashed with Persia over control over Georgia, Azerbaijan and Dagestan.
19. Russia became part of second, third, and fourth coalitions against Napoleon but got defeated with the french army capturing Moscow in 1812.
20. Napoleon waited for months for Russia to surrender and had to retreat from Russia due to lack of supplies. Most of the retreating french army died in hte snow, the tide was turned in Russia's favor.
21. In 1853 - 1856 Crimean war fought for the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land, which was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Russian Empire got defeated to an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, and Sardinia.
22. In 1861 Russia abolished serfdom ( the emancipation)
23. In 1894, Tsar Nicholas II and the mystic Rasputin, became the last emperor of Russia.
24. Monarchy was slowly losing its power due to the revolts against the political system. During World War I,, Russia, an ally of Serbia took steps to protect the Baltic Slavs from the Astro-Hungarian invasion
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25. The chaos and famine of the war led to the two Russian Revolutions in 1917 to set up the provincial government, highly influenced by the Soviets who were workers unions inspired by Marxisism.
26. Vladimir Lenin's bolshievik party seized power in the october revolution
27. The Russian civil war between the reds and the whites led to the breakaway of Poland and Baltic States and Finland. The R.S.F.S.R. was renamed the U.S.S.R
28. Joseph Stalin came to power when Lenin died. He has the aim of spreading communism throughout the world and killed an exiled millions of people.
29. Stalin made non-aggression pact with the Nazi-Germany and at the start of second world war, Germany and Russia invaded and divided Poland in two. Hitler invaded Soviet Union but got defeated because of the harsh winter. Soviets occupied territories became communist puppet states.
30. The USSR became the first nation to send a human in space
31. USSR witnessed poverty and political unrest and numerous proxy wars (cold war) with united states
32. Mikhail Gorbachev implemented perestroika in order to modernize Soviet communism making changes in the party leadership
33. The USSR finally collapsed forming a sort of democratic republic the Russian Federation
34. Poland and East Germany broke away from Russian control along with Belarus and Ukraine
35. Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, became president of Russia made huge changes to the foreign policy
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