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A Short History of Russia: How to Understand the World's Most Complex Nation

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Oct. 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite that orbits the Earth in about 98 minutes and spurs the Space Race. In 1961, Soviet Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to fly in space. It is also fascinating to see the constant tension between the elites in Moscow or St. Petersburg and the rest of the country—the peasants and the serfs as there was no middle class to speak of. The serf system was central to Russia for so long and, despite reform efforts from the top by Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, they were ultimately unsuccessful, leading to bottom-up revolution. Here, though, even this effort was ultimately unsuccessful as the Communist party simply became the new ruling class over homo sovieticus. Nov. 6-7, 1917: The violent Russian Revolution marks the end of the Romanov dynasty and Russian Imperial Rule, as the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, take power and eventually become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Civil War breaks out later that year, with Lenin’s Red Army claiming victory and the establishment of the Soviet Union. Lenin rules until his death in 1924.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia continued its expansion in the Far East; Chinese Manchuria was in the zone of Russian interests. Russia took an active part in the intervention of the great powers in China to suppress the Boxer rebellion. During this war, Russia occupied Manchuria, which caused a clash of interests with Japan. In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began, which ended extremely unfavourably for Russia. The Mongols dominated the lower reaches of the Volga and held Russia in sway from their western capital at Sarai, [56] one of the largest cities of the medieval world. The princes had to pay tribute to the Mongols of the Golden Horde, commonly called Tatars; [56] but in return they received charters authorizing them to act as deputies to the khans. In general, the princes were allowed considerable freedom to rule as they wished, [56] while the Russian Orthodox Church even experienced a spiritual revival.In 1831, Nicholas crushed the November Uprising in Poland. The Russian autocracy gave Polish artisans and gentry reason to rebel in 1863 by assailing the national core values of language, religion, and culture. [120] The resulting January Uprising was a massive Polish revolt, which also was crushed. France, Britain and Austria tried to intervene in the crisis but were unable. The Russian patriotic press used the Polish uprising to unify the Russian nation, claiming it was Russia's God-given mission to save Poland and the world. [121] Poland was punished by losing its distinctive political and judicial rights, with Russianization imposed on its schools and courts. [122] Russian Army [ edit ] Monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square, Saint Petersburg This week Russia held its annual Victory Day parade in Moscow. Delayed by the coronavirus and decidedly more muted than parades past, the event nonetheless displayed its usual pomp and circumstance. President Vladimir Putin welcomed the presidents of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia as well as the presidents of Abkhazia, Belarus, Moldova, Serbia, and South Ossetia. He had hoped to host western leaders but whether their absence was covid-related or Crimea-related is open for debate (perhaps a little of both). By the mid-1980s, with the weaknesses of Soviet economic and political structures becoming acute, Mikhail Gorbachev embarked on major reforms, which eventually led to the weakening of the communist party and dissolution of the Soviet Union, leaving Russia again on its own and marking the start of the history of post-Soviet Russia. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic renamed itself as the Russian Federation and became the primary successor state to the Soviet Union. [5] Russia retained its nuclear arsenal but lost its superpower status. Scrapping the central planning and state-ownership of property of the Soviet era in the 1990s, new leaders, led by President Vladimir Putin, took political and economic power after 2000 and engaged in an assertive foreign policy. Coupled with economic growth, Russia has since regained significant global status as a world power. Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula led to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to significantly expanded sanctions. Under Putin's leadership, corruption in Russia is rated as the worst in Europe, and Russia's human rights situation has been increasingly criticized by international observers.

Yaklaşık 2000 yıllık bir tarihi, bir kültürü ve majestik olayları 300 küsür sayfada anlatmak herkesin harcı değil. Ascher'in biyografisine baktığınızda Rusya tarihi hakkında gerçekten söyleyecek çok şeyi olan birisi olduğunu rahatça görüyorsunuz. The war ended in 1721 when an exhausted Sweden sued for peace with Russia. Peter acquired four provinces situated south and east of the Gulf of Finland, thus securing his coveted access to the sea. There, in 1703, he had already founded the city that was to become Russia's new capital, Saint Petersburg. Russian intervention in the Commonwealth marked, with the Silent Sejm, the beginning of a 200-year domination of that region by the Russian Empire. In celebration of his conquests, Peter assumed the title of emperor, and the Russian Tsardom officially became the Russian Empire in 1721. After the Nihilists failed to convert the aristocracy and landed gentry to the cause of reform, they turned to the peasants. [148] Their campaign became known as the Narodnk ("Populist") movement. It was based on the belief that the common people had the wisdom and peaceful ability to lead the nation. [149] Of course, with any “myth” there are convenient facts left out, such as the Soviet Union’s signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The non-aggression treaty is often forgotten or portrayed as nothing more than a tactical measure to delay the onset of the war with Germany—a clever tactical move by Stalin, not a shameless play to seize Polish territory. On the eve of the parade, President Vladimir Putin penned a lengthy essay laying the blame for World War Two at the “Munich Betrayal”, which showed Moscow the West would pursue its aims without considering Russia’s interests. How We See Ourselves and Others See Us

After the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander presided over the redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815), which made him the king of Congress Poland. He formed the Holy Alliance with Austria and Prussia, to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe that he saw as immoral threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He helped Austria's Klemens von Metternich in suppressing all national and liberal movements. [114] Dec. 25, 1991: Following an unsuccessful Communist Party coup, the Soviet Union is dissolved and Gorbachev resigns. With Ukraine and Belarus, Russia forms the Commonwealth of Independent States, which most former Soviet republics eventually join. Yeltsin begins lifting Communist-imposed price controls and reforms, and, in 1993, signed the START II treaty, pledging nuclear arms cuts. He wins reelection in 1996, but resigns in 1999, naming former KGB agent Vladimir Putin, his prime minister, as acting president.

Terrific - and an amazing achievement to cover so much ground in such a short and wonderfully readable book." -Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads An informative, perceptive and exhilarating canter through 1,000 tumultuous years." - The Spectator Although the Russian Empire would play a leading role on behalf of conservatism as late as 1848, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress of any significant degree. As West European economic growth accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, sea trade and colonialism which had begun in the second half of the 18th century, Russia began to lag ever farther behind, undermining its ability to field strong armies.the formation of a nation through its early legends, including Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great June 12, 1991: Boris Yeltsin wins Russia’s first popular presidential election, urging democracy. Soviet Union Falls The alliance collapsed by 1810. Russia's economy had been hurt by Napoleon's Continental System, which cut off trade with Britain. As Esdaile notes, "Implicit in the idea of a Russian Poland was, of course, a war against Napoleon". [108] Schroeder says Poland was the root cause of the conflict but Russia's refusal to support the Continental System was also a factor. [109] The entry of Russian troops into Paris in 1814, headed by the Emperor Alexander I

Peter the Great died in 1725, leaving an unsettled succession, but Russia had become a great power by the end of his reign. Peter I was succeeded by his second wife, Catherine I (1725–1727), who was merely a figurehead for a powerful group of high officials, then by his minor grandson, Peter II (1727–1730), then by his niece, Anna (1730–1740), daughter of Tsar Ivan V. The heir to Anna was soon deposed in a coup and Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I, ruled from 1741 to 1762. During her reign, Russia took part in the Seven Years' War.The Great Patriotic War, as World War Two is known in Russia, is a central feature of the country’s identity. The heroic sacrifice of over 26 million Russians in the fight against Nazi Germany, including upwards of 10 million military personnel, is a defining feature in the country’s historical memory. By comparison, the United States lost 407,000 service members and the United Kingdom 383,000. From a western perspective, it is hard to fathom that kind of loss and the impact that it had on a country. He discusses Catherine II (the Great) who ruled during the Age of Enlightenment and is credited with some reforms. He states that "Catherine merely paid lip service to the principles of enlightenment" His example is the Pugachev rebellion (1774). But in describing it, he notes that Catherine refused to let Pugachev be tortured, and that he was executed before his body was dismembered (Dismemberment while alive was the punishment for treason). There is ample evidence that she tried, with some successes, to curb some of the army's and nobles excesses.

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