RUSSIAN HISTORY

By: Amira Ayadi

4.4
RUSSIAN EMPIRE
o After the 13th century, Moscow became a cultural center. By the
18th century, theTsardom of Russiahad become the huge Russian
Empire, stretching from the Polish border eastward to the Pacific
Ocean. Expansion in the western direction sharpened Russia's
awareness of its separation from much of the rest of Europe and
shattered the isolation in which the initial stages of expansion had
occurred
o Successive regimes of the 19th century responded to such
pressures with a combination of halfhearted reform and repression.
Peasant revolts were common, and all were fiercely
suppressed.Russian Serfdomwasabolished in 1861, but the
peasant fared poorly and often turned to revolutionary pressures. In
following decades reforms efforts such as theStolypin reforms, the
RUSSAIN REVOLUTION OF
1917
o two revolutions, the first of which, in February (March, New Style), overthrew the
imperial government and the second of which, inOctober(November), placed the
Bolsheviksin power.
o By 1917 the bond between thetsarand most of the Russian people had been broken.
Governmental corruption and inefficiency were rampant. The tsars reactionary policies,
including the occasional dissolution of theDuma or Russian parliament, the chief fruit of
the 1905 revolution, had spread dissatisfaction even to moderate elements. The Russian
Empires many ethnic minorities grew increasingly restive under Russian domination
oBut it was the governments inefficient prosecution ofWorld War 1that finally provided
the challenge the old regime could not meet. Ill-equipped and poorly led, Russian
armies suffered catastrophic losses in campaign after campaign against German armies.
The war made revolution inevitable in two ways: it showedRussiawas no longer a
military match for the nations of central and western Europe, and it hopelessly
disrupted the economy
RUSSIAN
REVOLUTION
o A committee of the Duma appointed aProvisional
Governmentto succeed the autocracy, but it
faced a rival in the Petrograd soviets of workers
and Soldiers Deputies. The 2,500 delegates to
thissovietswere chosen from factories and
military units in and around Petrograd.
oMeanwhile, soviets on the Petrograd model, in far
closer contact with the sentiments of the people
than the Provisional Government was, had been
organized in cities and major towns and in the
army. In these soviets, defeatist sentiment,
favouring Russian withdrawal from the war on
almost any terms, was growing. One reason was
that radical socialists increasingly dominated the
soviet movement. At the First All-Russian Congress
of Soviets, convened on June 3 (June 16), the
Socialist Revolutionaries were the largest single
bloc, followed by the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
 TATAR INVASION
o In the 13th century Kieran Rus was invaded
by the Tatars. Their state, the Empire of the
Golden Horde, ruled over Russian lands for
almost three centuries. But in 1380 a
Muscovite prince, Dmitry Donskoy, won a
major battle against the Tatars under the
command of Khan Mamai at Kulikovo Field.
Donskoy became a popular hero and the
words the slaughter of Mamai now mean a
carnage or terrible defeat. And Mamais
invasion is a name to jokingly describe
troublesome or unwelcome visitors.
oAnd if you find out that walking like a pig
has nothing to do with the grunting animals
youve got another epic battle to blame the
Battle of the Ice in 1242. Hoping to exploit
the Russians weakness after the Tatar
invasion, the Teutonic Knights attacked the
city of Novgorod. The German crusaders were
defeated in a fight on Lake Peipus, between
modern Estonia and Russia. During their
retreat, many knights drowned in the lake
when the ice broke under the weight of their
 IVAN TERRIBLE
o Meanwhile, Moscow replaced Kiev as the new centre of spiritual and political power, becoming the
Grand Duchy of Moscow. In 1547 Ivan IV (the Terrible), who was also Grand Duke of Moscow,
crowned himself the first Tsar. Ivan wasnt of course born the Terrible. He earned his nickname for
his ruthless campaigns against the nobility, confiscating their lands and executing or exiling those
who displeased him. It was a drive that strengthened Russias monarchy like never before. But he
started out as a reformer, reorganizing the military, proclaiming a new legal code and curbing the
influence of the clergy. It was Ivan who turned Russia into a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state.
oIn 1552 Ivan crushed the Tatar stronghold of Kazan. The campaign began Russias expansion into
Siberia, annexing a large Muslim population. One of Moscows most famous landmarks is another of
Ivans legacy. St. Basils Cathedral on Red Square was built by his order. The cathedral is a
collection of nine chapels put on a single foundation. The central and tallest one commemorates
the invasion of Kazan while the rest celebrate other key victories in the Tatar campaign. A popular
legend has it that the work was done by two architects Postnik and Barma (although some say it
was one and the same person). When Ivan saw the finished cathedral he liked it so much that he
had the architects blinded to prevent them from building anything like it elsewhere.
RUSSIAN HISTORY TIMELINE
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