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

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The first major East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, is founded and led by the Viking Oleg of Novgorod (although some historians dispute this account). Kiev becomes the capital 20 years later.

Unlike his father, the new tsar Alexander III (1881–1894) was throughout his reign a staunch reactionary who revived the maxim of " Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and National Character". [151] A committed Slavophile, Alexander III believed that Russia could be saved from chaos only by shutting itself off from the subversive influences of Western Europe. In his reign Russia concluded the union with republican France to contain the growing power of Germany, completed the conquest of Central Asia, and exacted important territorial and commercial concessions from China.Perfectly fine for a neophyte like myself, but nothing spectacular, just the facts, ma'am. This book surveys the millenium and a half of Russian history well enough. I learned quite a bit. I think this book especially puts Putin into perspective, and the people who continue to support him. I see the Russians this way: they are an incredibly intelligent and deep thinking people, but they are also used to bearing pain and keeping their large and soulful thoughts to themselves, or deflecting them into the arts. Part of the Russian need to feel longing and pain as a part of their character, or something. It is a land of beauty, creativity, and strong patriotism.

The Russian statehood survived the "Time of Troubles" and the rule of weak or corrupt Tsars because of the strength of the government's central bureaucracy. Government functionaries continued to serve, regardless of the ruler's legitimacy or the faction controlling the throne. [51] However, the Time of Troubles caused the loss of much territory to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Russo-Polish war, as well as to the Swedish Empire in the Ingrian War. the rise and fall of the Romanovs, the Russian Revolution, the Cold War, Chernobyl and the Soviet Union In the late 1870s Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. The Russo-Turkish War was popular among the Russian people, who supported the independence of their fellow Orthodox Slavs, the Serbs and the Bulgarians. Russia's victory in this war allowed a number of Balkan states to gain independence: Romania, Serbia, Montenegro. In addition, Bulgaria de facto became independent. However, the war increased tension with Austria-Hungary, which also had ambitions in the region. The Tsar was disappointed by the results of the Congress of Berlin in 1878, but abided by the agreement. [143]For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. After Russian armies liberated allied Georgia from Persian occupation in 1802, they clashed with Persia over control and consolidation over Georgia, as well as the Iranian territories that comprise modern-day Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They also became involved in the Caucasian War against the Caucasian Imamate and Circassia. In 1813, the war with Persia concluded with a Russian victory, forcing Qajar Iran to cede swaths of its territories in the Caucasus to Russia, [107] which drastically increased its territory in the region. To the south-west, Russia tried to expand at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, using Georgia at its base for the Caucasus and Anatolian front. Fascinating... One of the most astute political commentators on Putin and modern Russia." - Financial Times

His presentation of Russia as a bulwark against the decadent and morally corrupt west is no different than Russia’s presentation of itself as the “third Rome” and the “cradle of true Christendom.” Yet today he uses it to advance his political interests in a cynical effort to retain power by mobilizing an older generation uncomfortable with the LGBT community. In foreign policy, he sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. He modernized the military command system. He sought peace, and joined with Germany and Austria in the League of the Three Emperors that stabilized the European situation. The Russian Empire expanded in Siberia and in the Caucasus and made gains at the expense of China. Faced with an uprising in Poland in 1863, he stripped that land of its separate Constitution and incorporated it directly into Russia. To counter the rise of a revolutionary and anarchistic movements, he sent thousands of dissidents into exile in Siberia and was proposing additional parliamentary reforms when he was assassinated in 1881. [142] The Russian and Bulgarian defence of Shipka Pass against Turkish troops was crucial for the independence of Bulgaria Alexander was succeeded by his son Nicholas II (1894–1918). The Industrial Revolution, which began to exert a significant influence in Russia, was meanwhile creating forces that would finally overthrow the tsar. Politically, these opposition forces organized into three competing parties: The liberal elements among the industrial capitalists and nobility, who wanted peaceful social reform and a constitutional monarchy, founded the Constitutional Democratic party or Kadets in 1905. Followers of the Narodnik tradition established the Socialist-Revolutionary Party or Esers in 1901, advocating the distribution of land among the peasants who worked it. A third radical group founded the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party or RSDLP in 1898; this party was the primary exponent of Marxism in Russia. Gathering their support from the radical intellectuals and the urban working class, they advocated complete social, economic and political revolution. [155]During the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618), Polish–Lithuanian forces reached Moscow and installed the impostor False Dmitriy I in 1605, then supported False Dmitry II in 1607. The decisive moment came when a combined Russian-Swedish army was routed by the Polish forces under hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski at the Battle of Klushino on 4 July[ O.S. 24 June]1610. As the result of the battle, the Seven Boyars, a group of Russian nobles, deposed the tsar Vasily Shuysky on 27 July[ O.S. 17 July]1610, and recognized the Polish prince Władysław IV Vasa as the Tsar of Russia on 6 September[ O.S. 27 August]1610. [77] [78] The Poles occupied Moscow on 21 September[ O.S. 11 September]1610. Moscow revolted but riots there were brutally suppressed and the city was set on fire. [79] [80] [81] I have only just started but I wanted to get a few thoughts down. His writing style is good, straightforward, and pretty readable considering the scope of the book. Some of the things that give me pause, however, and the general gist I get is that early Russian history is not the author's main interest or area of expertise. He's vague, not terribly objective, and has a lot of hand-wavey explanations. See also: Russian nihilist movement Russian writers of the second half of the 19th century: Leo Tolstoy, Dmitry Grigorovich, Ivan Goncharov, Ivan Turgenev, Alexander Druzhinin, and Alexander Ostrovsky These myths and stories, this fiction-non-fiction hybrid history, shapes how countries see themselves and how other countries see them. In the United States, we have our own myths, the shining city on a hill, the beacon of freedom and liberty, the immigrant nation. Today we find ourselves grappling with what those myths are and how we should interpret them, too often choosing an either-or analysis, rather than a complex understanding of our country’s past. 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

After the socialist revolution of 1917 in Russia, Moscow became the capital once again, and the state system of the large Russian country had changed completely. The followers of the communist ideas of Karl Marx and the ideology of the Russian revolution leader Vladimir Lenin took over. Until 1922 there was a civil war and the formation of the state, which entered the history as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union existed for 70 years and was the body of 15 Soviet republics to the West, Southwest, and Southeast of what was once the Russian Empire. During its existence the Soviet country has significantly raised the educational level of society, through the access to free education system, which was compulsory for all layers of population.Hay un buen abordaje sobre la rus de Kiev y la dominación mongola explicando sus principales aspectos, y el como la horda dorada, le dio autonomía a los moscovitas o la propia eliminación de la veche, como lo poco democrático que tenía el territorio ruso. By the time of her death in 1796, Catherine's expansionist policy had made Russia a major European power. Alexander I continued this policy, wresting Finland from the weakened kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812. His key advisor was a Polish nobleman Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. [106] It is also hard for the West to understand how the Russians, whether politically prompted or otherwise, grate at the fact that in Western narratives it is the United States and the United Kingdom that saved the world from the tyranny of Nazis. In reality three-quarters of Germany’s losses were at the hands of the Soviet Union. Thus, the first East Slavic state, Rus', emerged in the 9th century along the Dnieper River valley. [34] A coordinated group of princely states with a common interest in maintaining trade along the river routes, Kievan Rus' controlled the trade route for furs, wax, and slaves between Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire along the Volkhov and Dnieper Rivers. [34] Afantastic read... insightful and leaves the reader wanting more in the best of ways." -Diplomatic Courier