History and Population: Russia

Early Peoples and States

Russia’s history extends back to A.D. 600s– Slav farmers, hunters, and fishers settled near the

waterways of the North European Plain– These people became, over time, distinct cultural

groups West Slavs: Poles, Czechs, Slovaks South Slavs: Bulgarians, Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes East Slavs: Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians

– Settled along the Dnieper River in the west and Volga River in the east

Kievan Rus

A.D. 800s– Varagians (Scandinavian Warriors) settled among the Slavs

along the Dnieper and Volga River They adopted the Slavs language and culture They organized Slav communities into a loose union of city-states

ruled by princes– Known as Kievan Rus

– Internal fighting weakened Kievan Rus, and in the early A.D. 1200s Mongols from central Asia conquered Kiev, and much of the region

Mongols allowed the Slavs to self-rule

The Rise of Russia

As Mongols conquered Kiev, many Slavs fled into nearby forests

Some of these people started a settlement along the Moskva River

– The settlements grew and the territory was called Muscovy, and at its center was the city of Moscow

– For nearly two centuries, Muscovy kept peace with the Mongols

– However, by the late 1400s, Muscovy became strong enough to overrun the Mongols, reclaiming much of the lost Slav territories

Ivan III “The Great”

During this period of conquest, Muscovy was led by Ivan III, aka Ivan “The Great”– The land Ivan conquered eventually became known

as Russia– Ivan III built a huge fortress called the Kremlin, and

filled it with churches and palaces

Ivan IV, “The Terrible”

In 1533, the grandson of Ivan III became the first crowned czar (supreme ruler) of Russia

– Ivan IV crushed all opposition to his power, and became a great conqueror, expanding Russia’s borders

After Ivan IV reign, Russia faced foreign invasion, economic decline, and social upheaval

– When the Romanov dynasty came to power in 1613, they responded to this decline by tightening its grip on the Russian people

– This led to the oppression of the common people, and by 1650 many peasants had been forced into serfdom

Serf – laborer obliged to remain on the land where he or she works

Peter the Great

For years Russia continued to decline, being left behind in science and technology by its western European counterparts

This began to change in the late 1600s as Czar Peter I, known as Peter the Great, came to power

Peter I was determined to modernize Russia, and under him Russia:– Enlarged its territory, built a strong military, developed trade with

Europe, acquired land along the Baltic Sea from Sweden, and strengthened Russia’s control over Siberia

Peter also created a new capital, St. Petersburg, which was built along the Gulf of Finland

– St. Petersburg provided access to the Baltic Sea, and became Russia’s “window to the west”

Empress Catherine the Great

During the late 1700s, Empress Catherine continued to expand Russia’s empire

– Most importantly, Russia gained a warm-port on the Black Sea By this point Russian nobility had began to adopted western

European culture This cultural gap, as well as the continued poverty of the

common people, led to tensions between commoners and the nobility

Tensions also rose between the nobility and non-Russians living in Russia, who were forced to adopt Russian culture (including language and religion) in a process called Russification.

Socialism / Marxism

This discontent amongst the commoners for the nobility, led to the Russian Revolution

Many of the people, seeking greater equality amongst the Russian people, were favorable to socialism, especially the socialism preached by Germany’s Karl Marx

Karl Marx (Marxism) – promoted public ownership of all land, and a classless society with an equal sharing of wealth

– Marx believed the tensions between the rich and the poor would eventually lead to a revolution by the working class, overthrowing the power of the wealthy

The Russian Revolution

In 1917, Marx’s prophecy became reality in Russia, as Russians weary from World War I and poverty flooded the streets of the St. Petersburg, the capital

By November of 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, had seized control

– They promoted a communist society in which the workers led the country– The Bolsheviks withdrew Russia from WWI, and using their great power

began to take over Russian industry, direct food distribution, established an 8 hr work day, and reformed the army

The Bolsheviks were not without opposition in Russia, and a civil war soon broke out between the Bolshevik Red Army, and anti-Bolshevik White Army

– In 1921, the Bolsheviks, now called Communists, won the civil war– The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established, with Moscow as its

capital