Russian History: Leaders

Ivan III (The Great)

Apr 5, 1462

Ivan III Vasilyevich was known as the grand prince of Russia and ruled from 1462-1505. He was one of the longest reigning rulers over Russia. When Ivan III was in rule, he tripled the territory of Russia, remodeled the Moscow Kremlin, ended the control of the Golden Horde over Russia, and created the structure of Russia.

Ivan IV (The Terrible)

Dec 3, 1533

Ivan IV was not only Intelligent, but awful in his ways. He used brutal punishments and believed God was the same way. He reigned from 1533-1584 and was the first ruler to be named Tsar of all Russia. He also transformed Russia into an empire from its medieval state. During his reign, he conquered Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. This transfored Russia into a mutliethnic state.

Michael Romanov

Feb 21, 1613

Michael Romanov ruled Russia from February 21, 1613-July 12, 1645. He was the founder of the Romanov dynasty, which ruled until 1917. Getting Russia out of the troubled times was part of what Micheal did for Russia. He ended internal conflicts and resumed relations with other states.

Peter I (The Great)

May 7, 1682

Peter I, or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov reigned from May 7, 1682- February 8, 1725. He was known for pulling Russia out of harsh times. He strengthened the government, created a navy, modernized the army, and created a domestic policy which allowed him to execute an aggressive foreign policy.

Catherine II (The Great)

Jul 9, 1762

Catherine II Reigned from July 9, 1762-November 17, 1796. She came into power after her husband's death. During that period, it was known as the Golden age of Russia and the Russian nobility. Catherine continued the westernization that Peter I had started before her. The good for Russia was her main priority. She carried many qualities that no other leader before her had, Some of her greatest achievements were providing the first education for girls and medical care for her people.

Alexander II

Mar 2, 1855

Alexander II was in reign from March 2, 1855-March 13, 1881. His first year in reign was dedicated to the action of the Crimean War, after the fall of Sevastopol. He maintained a generally liberal progression throughout his reign, although he was a target for several assasination attmepts.

Nicholas II

Nov 1, 1894

Nicholas was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and the King of Poland. He was the third richest man in the world at one time in history owning 253.3 billion dollars in U.S dollars. Under his rule Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, inlcuding almost total annihilation of the Russian Fleet. He approved the Russian Mobilization of August 1914, which marked the beginning of Russian involvement in World War I. And he reigned for 22 years until March 15, 1917.

Alexander Kerensky

Jul 21, 1917

Alexander Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917. Kerensky served as the prime minister of the Russian Provisional Government from July 21st, 1917 through November 7th, 1917.

Vladimir Lenin

Nov 8, 1922

Vladimir was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who the led October Revolution of 1917. He was in power from November 8th, 1922 through January 21st, 1924.

Joseph Stalin

May 6, 1941

Joseph Stalin was the Primier of the Soviet Union from May 6th, 1917 through March 5th, 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution, and later held the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee in 1917. Stalin replaced the New Economic Policy with a highly-centralised command economy and five year plans that launched a period of rapid industrialization in the countryside.

Nikita Khrushchev

Sep 14, 1953

Nikita led the Soviet Union through the Cold War. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 through 1964. He was responsible for backing progress of the Soviet space program, and for several liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Oct 1, 1988

Mikhail is a former Soviet statesman, a former General Sectretary of the Communist Part of the Soviet Union, and the last head of state of the Soviet Union. Mikhail was in office from October 1st, 1988 though December 25, 1991.

Boris Yeltsin

Dec 25, 1991

Boris was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 though 1999. He vowed to transfrom russia's socialist command economy into a free market economy, and implemented shock therapy, price liberalizatoin and privatization programs.

Vadimir Putin

Aug 9, 1999

Vladimir is a Russian Politician who served as the Second President of the Russian Federation and is the Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia. Vladimir is credited with bringing political stability, and also restored the territorial integrity of russia via the second Chechen War. Putin won the 2000 presidential election and in May 2004 he was re-elected for a second term which lasted until May 7th 2008.

Dimitry Medvedev

May 7, 2008

Dimitry is the third president of the Russian Federation. He put an end to the large scale tax evasion and asset stripping that was going on in the company by the previous corrupt management.He served in the government until now.

Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev

Mar 2, 2022

Vladimir was a grand prince of Kiev and was the ruler Kievan Russia during 980-1015. He converted to Orthodox Christianity in 988 and changed the official religion of Kievan Russsia to Orthodoxy. He had an important influence of the future of Russia when he converted religions from Islam and Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy.