In the mid-17th century, the Orthodox Christian states of Ukraine and Russia, located in eastern Europe, merged into a unified state.

In August 1689 Peter I officially came to power.

At the end of the 90s of the 17th century, the explorer Johann Patcourter successfully formed an alliance between Russia, Denmark and Saxony through the Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye, and the three countries launched the Northern Russian Campaign in 1700. After the Northern War of 1700-1721, Russia gained access to the Baltic Sea from the Kingdom of Sweden, transforming Russia from a landlocked country to a coastal state.

After 1712, Tsar Peter I of Russia moved his capital to St. Petersburg (renamed Petrograd during World War I) to get a glimpse of the European continent.

In 1721, Tsar Peter I of Russia changed the name of the country to the Russian Empire and called it Peter the Great.

In 1812, the Russian Empire successfully repelled the French army under the leadership of Napoleon I, the First Emperor of the French Empire, in the Russo-French War.

In December 1825 the aristocratic revolutionaries staged an uprising in Petersburg (the Decembrist uprising), which was suppressed.

In 1861 Alexander II abolished serfdom.

Russia in 1462~1533

Russia in 1462~1533

In the 18th century, the Russian Empire began to modernize and expand everywhere, becoming one of the European powers, and in conflict with the Qing Dynasty of China, China and Russia successively signed the "Sino-Russian Treaty on the Survey and Partition of the Northwest Boundary" (Tongzhi 3rd year, 1864), "Tacheng Boundary Treaty Renewed" (Tongzhi 8th year, 1869) and "Ili Treaty" (Guangxu 7th year, 1881) unequal treaties, respectively, to occupy the great northwest of China and the land of the "Ten Territories in the Northwest of Tangnu Ulianghai" (now belonging to Mongolia, Republic of Tuva, Russia), totaling more than 700,000 square kilometers. The Sino-Russian Treaty of Aihui and the Sino-Russian Treaty of Beijing ceded 1 million square kilometers of land north of the Heilongjiang River and east of the Ussuri River to the Russian Empire. At the same time, Tsarist Russia waged a series of wars against Turkey (Russo-Turkish War) and seized large territories. During the reign of Tsar Nicholas I, Tsarist Russia also intervened in the revolution of 1848 in Europe, and at one time boasted of being the gendarme of Europe.

Russia's foreign expansion

Russia's External Expansion [4]

However, from the beginning of the 20th century, the power of the Russian Empire began to decline, and the people became increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo. In 1905, Tsarist Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War. In 1914, Russia, which was suffering from internal and external troubles, was involved in the First World War, and from 1915 it was in a stage of war disadvantage, the people were in dire straits, and the revolution was about to break out. In March 1917 (February of the Russian calendar), the February Revolution broke out in Russia, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II abdicated, and the Russian Empire collapsed. In November of the same year, the October Revolution led by Lenin broke out, overthrowing the provisional government established after the February Revolution, withdrawing from World War I, paying huge reparations to enemy Germany and ceding more than 1 million square kilometers of territory in western Russia. Lenin changed the name of the country to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (abbreviated as Soviet Russia or Soviet Russia). In order to combat the anti-Soviet forces, the local Soviet authorities ordered the execution of the abdicated emperor Nicholas II and his family. In 1922, Soviet Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Transcaucasian Federation and other countries formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Soviet Union was established as a sovereign state.

Early history

Early history

Early history [3]

The ancestors of the Russian nation were a branch of the Eastern Slavs who grew up in the Eastern European Plain. The Russian nation is a people who are good at itinerancy, which Solovyov called a "liquid factor". As a tribe of the Eastern Slavs, the early Russians lived on the vast Eastern European Plain, stretching from the Dniester River in the west to the Dnieper River in the east and the northern shore of the Black Sea. The geography of the land is characterized by forests and swamps, rivers and sandy clays, and is connected to the savannah.

At the beginning of the Common Era, the Eastern Slavs also retained a clan system, with each tribe consisting of several clans. They cut down forests, level the land, engage in farming, raise livestock en masse, hunt and fish, and all matters are decided by the clan assembly. [3]

Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus' era

Kievan Rus' era

The state of Ancient Rus' was formed in the inland plains and forests of eastern Europe at the end of the 9th century AD. In 862, Rurik ruled Novgorod. In 882, Rurik's relative, Grand Duke Oleg of the Novgrad Principality, conquered the Principality of Kiev and some other tribes, and gradually established a state centered on Kiev (historically known as Kievan Rus'), obtaining the title of Grand Duke of Kiev.

Later successors included: Igor (912~945), Olga (Igor's wife 945~962), Svyatoslav (965~973), Vladimir I (r. 978~1015)...... The country has undergone an evolution from autocratic rule (862~1132) to the period of the nobility of the fiefdom. At the beginning of the 13th century, Kievan Rus' declined, and feudalism was separated from the princes.

Golden Horde

In 1237, the Mongol Empire, founded by the Mongols, a nomadic people who arose in the Mongolian steppes of northeastern Asia, invaded Northeast Rus, a region of northeastern Europe, and captured Ryazan, and in 1240, Kiev. The secession of the princes and the rise of Muscovy. Ivan Khalida, Grand Duke of Moscow (1325~1340), received the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir and All Rus', and was known as "Ivan I" in history. He was succeeded by Ivan II (r. 1341~1359).

Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, who reigned in 1359~1389, led the Russian principalities to defeat the Mongol Golden Horde for the first time and achieved temporary independence, but soon the independence was canceled.

In 1380, Grand Duke Dmitry (reigned 1359~1389) led his army to defeat the Mongol army in the Don Plain, and was honored as Dmitry Donskoy (also known as "Dmitry of Don"). There were also princes in Moscow: Vasily I (1389~1425), and relations with the Golden Horde were good and bad, and conflicts broke out from time to time. At this time, Muscovy annexed other Russian principalities in the surrounding area, and continued to accumulate strength, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow began to have the strength of national independence. Vasily II (reigned 1425~1462), Ivan III (reigned 1462~1505).

Grand Duke of Moscow

Ivan III (reigned 1462~1505) played a huge historical role. Ivan III was the Grand Duke of Moscow, one of the most famous Grand Dukes in Russian history. During the reign of Ivan III, Moscow united the Russian principalities of Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Tver, and Perm. Ivan III was a very lucky Grand Duke of Moscow.

In 1472, he married Sophia A. Brown, niece of Constantine XI, the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Paleorog as his wife, in 1480, in the battle with Ahmad Khan, the greedy Ivan III fled from the battle, but the Russian army still insisted on not retreating, due to the cold weather, Ahmad Khan retreated without a fight, Ivan III heard that the Mongol-Tatar army had retreated, so he returned to the front line under the persuasion of the people around him, picked up a victory, and then stopped paying tribute to the Golden Horde (Goldenhorde), ending two and a half centuries of Mongol rule, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow became independent. In the late 15th century, there was a growing narrative in Moscow that Muscovy was the successor to the Byzantine Empire, and that Moscow was "the third and permanent Rome". Ivan III occasionally gave himself the title of "царь" on two occasions in his documents, but he never dared to openly and officially call himself Tsar. It was Ivan IV (1547) who was officially crowned Tsar and openly called Tsar.

In 1497, Ivan III promulgated the Code of Laws (sudebnik), which initially established the government institutions of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In this code, the Byzantine double-headed eagle coat of arms was specified as the coat of arms of Russia. In the same year, a gilded double-headed eagle emblem was installed on the Kremlin's Spasskaya Chamber. Russia received a symbol of its own country. In the same code, he restricted the movement of peasants and allowed them to move around from the land only during the two weeks before and after St. Yuri's Day (November 26 in the Russian calendar), thus opening up the process of serfdom in Muscovy.

Vasily III

Vasily III Ivanovich, son of Ivan III and Sofia. Grand Duke of Moscow. Inheriting the father's policy, striving to unify Russia. In 1510, the Principality of Pskov was annexed, and in 1521, the Principality of Ryazan was annexed, which roughly completed the unification of the principalities of Northeast Russia. He declared that "my will is the will of God", that the nobles and princes would not be involved in politics, and that all problems would be solved in an authoritarian manner. During this period, someone (the monk Philofa) gave a tribute to the Grand Duke, saying that "Moscow is the third Rome and will always prosper", glorifying this autocracy. Severe penalties were imposed on opponents of ecumenical politics. Therefore, Neil Shuyski, Maxim Gelek and others caused trouble. In terms of foreign policy, contacts with the Crimean Khanate and the Kazan Khanate, which were split from the Golden Horde, were gradually put on the agenda. The war against Lithuania was also intermittent.

Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV Vasilyevich, son of Vasily III and Elena Grenskaya. He ascended the throne at the age of three, and his mother was temporarily regent, but he suffered from the tyranny of the great nobles. In 1547, he was crowned Tsar, and Russia began a policy of foreign expansion. With the support of the feudal lord class, a special council was established in 1549 to compile a new code of laws, reform the local and central political, administrative, economic, military, especially military reforms, so that Russia became stronger; In 1547~1552 the expedition destroyed the Kazan Khanate, and in 1556 the Astrakhan Khanate was also annexed. By 1557, the Siberian Khanate was also subject to Ivan. Then bring the Great Nogai Khanate to the submission of Russia.

During the time of Ivan IV, Russia began to become a multi-ethnic state. In 1572 the Crimean Khanate was crushed. The destruction of the Kazan Khanate was a major turning point in the history of Russia, marking that the Russian power was stronger than that of the Mongol Tatars, and the defeat of Kazan changed the balance of power between the Russians and the Mongol Tatars; the crushing of the Crimea was of great significance, the Crimean Khanate was the whip of the Ottoman Turks at that time, and the shadow of the Ottoman Turkey's advance and aggression hung over the entire Eastern European continent, and the crushing of the Crimean Khanate made it impossible for the Ottoman Turks to rule Russia and Eastern Europe again; and opened the way to Siberia.

Taking the opportunity of the opening of the northern route by British ships, Ivan began to explore shortcuts to Western Europe. In 1558, the Livonian War was launched in an attempt to expand into the Baltic Sea. Hindered by the intervention of neighboring countries and the opposition of the nobility, the war was prolonged, and it was fought for twenty-five years. Although it did not achieve the desired goal, it demonstrated Russia's national power to Europe.

It has a profound influence on the history of Russia, and there are many myths and legends about Ivan the Terrible in Russia, and they are still widely circulated in modern times. He was a brilliant politician, military strategist, diplomat, writer, and a model of national wisdom, but he bordered on a madman. Although Ivan was a wise and capable monarch, on the other hand, he had a strong suspicion of character, was agitated, cruel, and severely suppressed the nobles. In a fit of rage, he actually killed his eldest son, Prince Ivan, with a cane, which made people feel particularly horrified and terrified. Hence the nickname "The Terrible".

Fedor

Fedor Ivanovich (1557~1598) Russian Tsar of 1584~1598.

Son of Ivan IV. The mother is Anastasia Romanovna. Married Irina Godonova. Childless, there was a daughter, Grand Duchess Feodosia Fedorovna. After Fedor's death, the Rurik dynasty became extinct.

Boris Godunov

Boris Fedorovich Godunov (Борисфедоровичгодунов, 1552~1605) was a Russian Tsar from 1598~1605.

Tatar aristocratic origin. Served Ivan the Terrible. His sister Irina married Fedor, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible. Fedor was ill and intellectually unsound, so power was in Godunov's hands. Fedor died in 1598 without children. The Rurik dynasty fell. The All-Russian Gentry Council elected Godunov as Tsar of Russia. Carrying on the legacy of Ivan the Terrible, he stopped the war with Poland and waged war against Sweden in the north, expanding the Baltic Sea to the sea. The invasion of the Siberian Khanate continued to the east, and the Crimean Khanate was at war in the south, with the construction of a series of fortress cities. He promoted the process of serfdom in Russia, stipulating that if a freeman worked for another person for more than six months, he became a slave of that person. It was also announced that the period of pursuit of fugitive serfs was five years. At the end of his reign, there were constant serf uprisings in Russia. He died in 1605. His son Fedor ascended the throne and was soon killed by the insurgents.

Vacant period

The period of vacancy is the period of Russian history from 1605 ~ 1613.

In 1591, Russian Tsar Fedor Ivanovich's half-brother Dimitry, who had the right to inherit the throne, was secretly killed by Boris Godunov. In 1604, a man claiming to be Dimitri appeared, supported by King Sigismund III of Poland. In 1605, Godunov's son Fedor II was killed, and Dimitri ascended the throne as "Pseudo-Tsar Dimitry" or "Pseudo-Dimitri".

As a result of his pro-Polish policy, Pseudo-Dimitri angered the great Russian nobility. Under the leadership of the great nobleman Vasily Shuisky, Dimitri was killed, and Shuisky ascended the throne as Vasily IV (1606-1610). In 1607, another pseudo-Dimitri appeared, again supported by Poland. In 1610, after defeating the Russian-Swedish army at the Battle of Krushino, the Polish army captured Moscow, and Shuisky was killed. This time, Sigismund wanted his son Vadislav to inherit the Russian throne, and later changed his mind to become the Russian Tsar himself. But the Polish invaders were expelled in 1612 by troops gathered by Russian nobles such as Pozharsky.

In 1613, the All-Russian Council of the Gentry (Zemskysobor) proclaimed the 17-year-old Mikhail Romanov Tsar. The Romanov dynasty began.

Peter the Great

Peter I

Peter I [4]

Russia began as a small country near Moscow, and its imperial status was not recognized by Europe. In 1696, the young Peter I became Tsar, initially in order to protect the south