From Kievan Rus to the Russian Empire

By zoenethery
  • 882

    c 882

    The first formal Russian state, 'Kievan Rus', established by Prince Oleg of the Rurik Dynasty with its capital in Kiev
  • 988

    988

    Kievan ruler, Prince Vladimir (r 978-1015), accepted Orthodox Christianity
  • 1240

    1240

    Kiev conquered by Mongol invaders who ruled over Rus until the 1400s
  • 1325

    1325

    Russian Orthodox Church established a centre in Moscow
  • 1533

    1533-84

    Rule of Ivan 'the Terrible' (Ivan IV), first ruler to be proclaimed 'tsar', in 1547

  • 1598-1613

    The time of troubles

  • 1613

    Mikhail Romanov elected tsar by the National Council, beginning the Romanov dynasty

  • 1682-1725

    Rule of Peter I ('the Great'), first tsar to use the title 'emperor'

  • 1703

    St Petersburg established as the new capital

  • 1772-1814

    Romanov empire expanded to include Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia and some parts of Poland

  • 1812

    Napolean invaded Russia; Tsar Alexander I ordered the burning of Moscow, resulting in Napolean's defeat

  • 1825

    Russian army officers tried to force the new tsar, Nicholas I, to introduce political reform in the Decembrist Uprising

  • 1853-56

    Crimean War resulted in a humiliating defeat for Russia

  • 1861

    Emancipation Edict abolished serfdom in Russia

  • 1881

    Alexander II assassinated by Terrorist group The People's Will

  • 1894-1917

    Rule of Nicholas II

  • 1903

    Russian Social Democratic Party split into Menshevik and Bolshevik factions

  • 1904-05

    Russo-Japanese War resulted in the 1905 Revolution and the announcement of the October Manifesto

  • 1904

    Strikes in St Petersburg's Putilov metalworks factory spread quickly to other parts of the empire

  • Bloody Sunday

    Bloody Sunday shootings led to widespread unrest

  • Sergei assassinated

    Russia's Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was assassinated

  • Public demands for autonomy

    Some peasant groups and national minorities made public demands for autonomy, threatening the stability of the empire

  • Soviet established

    The first Russian 'soviet' (workers and soldiers council) was established to organise political activity in protest against the tsar. Soviets would become an important political force again in 1917

  • Unrest triggered mutiny

    Unrest reached Russia's military, and the sailors on the Potemkin battleship were mutinied

  • October Manifesto

    Facing as many as 2 million strikers across the empire and increasing terrorist activity, Nicholas released the October Manifesto. Most strikes were settled, but assassinations and revolutionary activity continued.

  • 1914-1918

    Russia involved in the First World War

  • 1917

    Nicholas II abdicated and power was transferred to the Provisional Government

  • 1917

    Bolshevik party seized power from the Provisional Government in a coup

  • 1918

    The Romanov family executed in Ekaterinburg by Bolshevik agents as the Russian Civil War escalated.