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300
Invasions
In 300- 600 AD, the Ostrogoths, the Avars, and the Huns were invaded by Russia. The Ostrogoths were originally Indo- European. The Avars were a Turkic group of people who first lived in Central Asia. The Huns were Turkish, and history thinks that they came from Western Canada. -
Jan 1, 1000
Byzantines Convert Russia
The neighboring Byzantine Empire, which came from the Roman Empire, was a Christian nation. They believed that they should send missionaries out. These missionaries converted most Russians to Eastern Orthodoxy. -
Jan 1, 1067
Capital Moved
The Russian capital was moved from Novgorod to Kiev. Kiev became the center of a new kingdom called Kievan Rus. Kievan Rus was prosperous through trade. In modern times, Kiev is the capital of Ukraine, a former Soviet nation. -
Jan 1, 1200
Mongol Invasion
In the 1200's. the Mongols, fierce, horseback warriors from the Asian steppe, expanded their empire. Kievan Rus was weak from civil war and they were taken over by the Mongols. The western part of Russia was taken over by Poland and Lithuania. -
Jan 1, 1480
Independence for Russia
In 1480, Ivan III rejected Mongole rule and declared independence. This was not easy to gain because the Mongols were rutheless. Ivan III was later named "Ivan the Great" due to his great strength in ruling. -
Jan 1, 1547
The First Czar
Ivan IV was a descendent of Ivan the Great. He declared himself the first czar, or emperor, in 1547. He was a brutal man and used secret police to carry out his will. However, he expanded the Russian empire to the Caspian Sea and past the Ural Mountains. -
Peter the Great
During this time, Peter the Great built a new capital called St. Petersburg by the Baltic coast. Peter the Great was from the House of Romanov. By his rule, the Russian Empire went to the Pacific. -
Alexander II
Alexander was a czar from the House of Romanov, like Peter the Great. Alexander abolished serfdom. Serfs were farm working slaves that could be bought and sold with land. Alexander also sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States. -
Scythians
A people called the Scythans lived in Russia in about 500 BC. The Scythians were a Slavic people. They were nomadic and they inhabited the steppes. -
Vikings and Slavics Unite
Vikings from Scandinavia and Slavs were both moving into Russia. They united to form a kingdom with its base at Novgorod. Their kingdom covered what is now western Russia.
