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800
Scandinavians & Slavs
The Scandinavian warriors (Varangians) and Slavs settle near Volga & Dnieper Rivers. The Varangians had viking rule over the Slavs after the conflict between the Slavs and Finnic tribe, where the Slavs invited the Varangins to rule them and keep the peace. They went to Volga for the trade route to trade their many goods for coins. -
1200
Mongols & Kiev
The Mongols invaded Kiev and ruled it for 200 years. They destroyed many of the major cities in Kievan Rus' and forced Russia to be apart of the Golden Horde, which was the khanate in Russia ruled by the Mongols until it fell. The invasion ultimately led to the division of the Slavic People into modern-day Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. -
1470
Ivan III
Ivan III aka Ivan the Great ended Mongol rule in Russia in 1480 after the Mongols failed to subjugate the Russians when Ivan stopped his allegiance to the Golden Horde. After he captured this city once the Mongol empire weakened, he took the land of his brothers, expanding the territory and empire. -
1530
Ivan IV
Ivan IV aka Ivan the Terrible became Russia's first crowned czar (supreme ruler). He was Moscow's first ruler and at the start, was a good ruler that kept peace, but after, became a ruthless leader that killed thousands, and is believed to had killed his own son. The country dealt with invasions, economic decline, and social upheaval. -
Serfs
Serfs became peasants, who were enslaved workers bound to their land and under the nobility. Only Russian nobles and the government had the right to sell their serfs as slaves, students, and servants. Serfdom became the main relationship between serfs and noblemen in the 17th century. -
Peter I
Peter I aka Peter the Great came to power with the intent to modernize Russia to fit the new western style. He enlarged the territory, strengthened the military, and started trade with Europe, which Russia didn't do before. He also made education and clothing match western styles. He made the new capital St. Petersburg in order to be closer to the ports and trade with the west. -
Alexander I
Czar Alexander I was czar of Russia until 1881 when he was assassinated. His reign was known to be very peaceful and full of advancements. He improved the railroad and communication systems in Russia, improving the overall economy, increasing trade with the rest of Europe. -
Bolsheviks & Nicholas II
Czar Nicholas II was the last emperor of Russia until the Bolsheviks forced him to renounce his throne to them. Vladimir Lenin then took power and was head of the gov't from 1917-1924, where he changed the Soviet Union into a one party Communist state where he executed and persecuted many high-class citizens. -
Joseph Stalin
Stalin governed the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. He was a very strict and cruel dictator and he caused the deaths of millions of people, like the mass starvation of almost 4 million Ukrainians in the Holodomor. He defeated Hitler in WW2, and unrealistically demanded half of Europe be apart of the Soviet Union. -
Present Time
Communism collapsed when the Republics declared independence from them. Then, Boris Yeltsin became the 1st president, where the command economy switched to the market economy. Then, in 1999, Vladimir Putin became president of Russia till now, after 6 consecutive terms.