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146-503: This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia . The list begins with the semi-legendary prince Rurik of Novgorod , sometime in the mid-9th century, and ends with Nicholas II , who abdicated in 1917, and was executed with his family in 1918. Two dynasties have ruled Russia: the Rurikids (862–1598) and Romanovs (from 1613). The vast territory known as Russia covers an area that has been ruled by various polities since

292-639: A vassal of Vladimir, but soon it absorbed its parent state. A major factor in the ascendancy of Moscow was the cooperation of its rulers with the Mongol overlords, who granted them the title of Grand Prince of Moscow and made them agents for collecting the Tatar tribute from the Russian principalities. The principality's prestige was further enhanced when it became the center of the Russian Orthodox Church . Its head,

438-503: A Tatar prince who had been baptized and given his own principality; Ivan returned to the throne the following year. Ivan was succeeded in 1584 by his only surviving son, Feodor , who died without an heir, marking the end of the Rurik dynasty. In 1581, Ivan the Terrible killed his firstborn son Ivan Ivanovich in a fit of rage, leaving only Feodor I to succeed him. Feodor died childless, marking

584-566: A bone fragment found in Denisova Cave , belonging to a female who died about 90,000 years ago, shows that she was a hybrid of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father . Russia was also home to some of the last surviving Neanderthals - the partial skeleton of a Neanderthal infant in Mezmaiskaya cave in Adygea showed a carbon-dated age of only 45,000 years. In 2008, Russian archaeologists from

730-491: A coalition of Rus' princes and attacked Galicia-Volhynia, but Roman defeated them and captured Kiev in 1200. However, because the old capital of Kievan Rus' was no longer a strong power centre by that time, Roman kept the prosperous Halych as his capital and appointed subordinates to administer Kiev in his name. He then mounted two successful campaigns against the Cumans, in 1201–2 and 1203–4. In 1203 Roman also extended his rule to

876-599: A compromise agreement was concluded in 1214 between Hungary and Poland, who partitioned the Galician lands. The throne of Galicia–Volhynia was given to Andrew's son, Coloman of Lodomeria , who had married Leszek the White's daughter, Salomea. In 1221, Mstislav Mstislavich , son of Mstislav Rostislavich (descendant of the princes of Novgorod), liberated Galicia–Volhynia from the Hungarians and Poles. During Mstislav's 1221–1228 reign,

1022-561: A daughter of Peter the Great. Elizabeth would be the last of the direct Romanovs to rule Russia. Elizabeth declared her nephew, Peter , to be her heir. Peter, who would rule as Peter III, was a German prince of the House of Holstein-Gottorp before arriving in Russia to assume the imperial title. He and his German wife Sophia changed their name to Romanov upon inheriting the throne. Peter was ill-liked, and he

1168-626: A huge (Europe's biggest) earth- and wood-fortified grad inhabited around 500 BC by Heloni and Budini . In 513 BC, the king of the Achaemenid Empire , Darius I , would launch a military campaign around the Black Sea into Scythia, modern-day Ukraine, eventually reaching the Tanais river (now known as the Don ). Greeks, mostly from the city-state of Miletus , would colonize large parts of modern-day Crimea and

1314-475: A hundred years the throne itself has ceased to exist. Nevertheless, when in 1915 Nicholas II, before the lack of successible grand dukes, allowed them to retain their personal rights, as it had happened in practice with Alexander II after his second and morganatic marriage, Kirill Vladimirovich's issue was never deemed to be considered morganatic, nor were they demoted from grand dukes to mere princes. History of Russia The history of Russia begins with

1460-686: A powerful, autocratic ruler, a tsar. The first Russian ruler to officially crown himself " Tsar " was Ivan IV . Ivan III tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde over the Rus', renovated the Moscow Kremlin , and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Biographer Fennell concludes that his reign was "militarily glorious and economically sound," and especially points to his territorial annexations and his centralized control over local rulers. However, Fennell argues that his reign

1606-661: A quarter century. In March 1238, he defeated the Teutonic Knights of the Order of Dobrzyń in the Battle of Dorohychyn  [ uk ] . Daniel captured Kiev in 1239, just before the Mongols besieged, conquered and sacked the city in late 1240 . On 17 August 1245, Daniel and his brother Vasylko defeated the Polish and Hungarian forces (weakened by the first Mongol invasion of Poland and

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1752-629: A result, the Grand Duchy of Moscow tripled in size under his rule. During his conflict with Pskov, a monk named Filofei (Philotheus of Pskov) composed a letter to Ivan III, with the prophecy that the latter's kingdom would be the Third Rome . The Fall of Constantinople and the death of the last Greek Orthodox Christian emperor contributed to this new idea of Moscow as New Rome and the seat of Orthodox Christianity, as did Ivan's 1472 marriage to Byzantine Princess Sophia Palaiologina . Under Ivan III,

1898-437: A significant strengthening of Moscow as Ivan increased its wealth and purchased more land, including entire appanages from bankrupt princes. Ivan was also able to convince the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to move to Moscow, and Vladimir remained in the hands of the princes of Moscow. Ivan's son Simeon was the first prince to adopt the style of grand prince of Moscow and Vladimir. The princes of Moscow and Suzdal entered

2044-707: A single state. Between 1922 and 1991 the history of Russia essentially became the history of the Soviet Union . During this period, the Soviet Union was one of the victors in World War II after recovering from a surprise invasion in 1941 by Nazi Germany and its collaborators , which had previously signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union's network of satellite states in Eastern Europe, which were brought into its sphere of influence in

2190-419: A struggle for the grand princely title following the death of Ivan II , with Ivan's son Dmitry Ivanovich (later known as Dmitry Donskoy) taking the throne from Dmitry Konstantinovich in 1363. The Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 marked a turning point, with the prince of Moscow seen as the dominant prince. After the death of Dmitry Donskoy, the throne of Vladimir was passed to the prince of Moscow, thus usurping

2336-557: A successful invasion, capturing and annexing Galicia in 1349. The Romanovichi (branch of the Rurikid) dynasty of Daniel of Galicia attempted to gain support from Pope Benedict XII and broader European powers for an alliance against the Mongols, but ultimately proved unable to compete with the rising powers of the centralised Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. Only in 1349, after

2482-523: A successor. Officially, Russia would be ruled by the Romanov dynasty until the Russian Revolution of 1917. However, direct male descendants of Michael Romanov came to an end in 1730 with the death of Peter II of Russia , grandson of Peter the Great. The throne passed to Anna , a niece of Peter the Great, and after the brief rule of her niece's infant son Ivan VI , the throne was seized by Elizabeth ,

2628-566: A vassal to the Golden Horde, not having the strength to resist its power. Daniil Aleksandrovich , the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, founded the principality of Moscow (known as Muscovy in English), which first cooperated with and ultimately expelled the Tatars from Russia. Well-situated in the central river system of Russia and surrounded by protective forests and marshes, Moscow was at first only

2774-462: Is important for its introduction of a Slavic variant of the Eastern Orthodox religion, dramatically deepening a synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next thousand years. The region adopted Christianity in 988 by the official act of public baptism of Kiev inhabitants by Prince Vladimir I . Some years later the first code of laws, Russkaya Pravda ,

2920-581: Is rated as the worst in Europe, and Russia's human rights situation has been increasingly criticized by international observers. The first human settlement on the territory of Russia dates back to the Oldowan period in the early Lower Paleolithic . About 2 million years ago, representatives of Homo erectus migrated from Western Asia to the North Caucasus (archaeological site of Kermek  [ ru ] on

3066-699: The Arab Caliphates . In the 8th century, the Khazars embraced Judaism. Some of the ancestors of the modern Russians were the Slavic tribes , whose original home is thought by some scholars to have been the Pripet Marshes . The Early East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia in two waves: one moving from Kiev (present-day Ukraine ) towards present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk (present-day Belarus ) towards Novgorod and Rostov . From

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3212-870: The Brodnici on the Black Sea . After Daniel's death in 1264, he was succeeded by his son Leo , who moved the capital from Chełm to Lviv in 1272 and for a time maintained the strength of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Unlike his father, who pursued a Western political course, Leo worked closely with the Mongols, in particular cultivating a close alliance with the Tatar Khan Nogai . Together with his Mongol allies, he invaded Poland. However, although his troops plundered territory as far west as Racibórz , sending many captives and much booty back to Galicia, Leo did not ultimately gain much territory from Poland. Leo also attempted, unsuccessfully, to establish his family's rule over Lithuania . Soon after his brother Shvarn ascended to

3358-572: The Cossack leader Stenka Razin , who led a revolt in 1670–1671. In 1721, in the wake of the Great Northern War , Tsar Peter the Great renamed the state as the Russian Empire ; he is also noted for establishing St. Petersburg as the new capital of his Empire, and for his introducing Western European culture to Russia. In 1762, Russia came under the control of Catherine the Great , who continued

3504-714: The Khazars , ruled the lower Volga basin steppes between the Caspian and Black Seas through to the 8th century. Noted for their laws, tolerance, and cosmopolitanism, the Khazars were the main commercial link between the Baltic and the Muslim Abbasid empire centered in Baghdad . They were important allies of the Eastern Roman Empire , and waged a series of successful wars against

3650-737: The Kingdom of Poland , Moldavia and the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights . The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle reflected the political programme of the Romanovich dynasty ruling Galicia–Volhynia. Galicia–Volhynia competed with other successor states of Kievan Rus' (notably Vladimir-Suzdal ) to claim the Kievan inheritance. According to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle , King Daniel

3796-820: The Metropolitan , fled from Kiev to Vladimir in 1299 and a few years later established the permanent headquarters of the Church in Moscow under the original title of Kiev Metropolitan. By the middle of the 14th century, the power of the Mongols was declining, and the Grand Princes felt able to openly oppose the Mongol yoke . In 1380, at Battle of Kulikovo on the Don River , the Mongols were defeated, and although this hard-fought victory did not end Tatar rule of Russia, it did bring great fame to

3942-504: The Pontic Steppe was known as " Scythia ". ) Remnants of these long-gone steppe cultures were discovered in the course of the 20th century in such places as Ipatovo , Sintashta , Arkaim , and Pazyryk . In the later part of the 8th century BCE, Greek merchants brought classical civilization to the trade emporiums in Tanais and Phanagoria . Gelonus was described by Herodotus as

4088-656: The Principality of Peremyshl for the Crown of Poland , while the rest of the territory belonged to a member of the Gediminid dynasty of Liubartas . Eventually by the mid-14th century, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania divided up the region between them: King Casimir III took Galicia and Western Volhynia, while the sister state of Eastern Volhynia together with Kiev came under Lithuanian control, 1352–66. Following

4234-585: The Principality of Pereyaslavl . During his absence, Rurik II retook and heavily sacked Kiev in 1203 with the help of Polovtsians and Chernihivians. In 1204 Roman recaptured Kiev once more, marking the height of his reign: he briefly became the most powerful of the Rus' princes. He married the niece of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III , for whom Galicia was the main military ally against the Cumans . The relation with Byzantium helped to stabilize Galicia's relations with

4380-623: The Rus' population of the Lower Dniester and the Lower Danube. In 1205, Roman's alliance with the Poles broke down, leading to a conflict with Leszek the White and Konrad of Masovia . Roman was subsequently killed by Polish forces in the Battle of Zawichost (1205), triggering a war of succession , while his dominion entered a period of rebellion and chaos that lasted almost 40 years. In this time,

4526-677: The Russian Revolution in 1917. The end of the monarchy initially brought into office a coalition of liberals and moderate socialists, but their failed policies led to the October Revolution . In 1922, Soviet Russia , along with the Ukrainian SSR , Byelorussian SSR , and Transcaucasian SFSR signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR , officially merging all four republics to form the Soviet Union as

List of Russian monarchs - Misplaced Pages Continue

4672-485: The Russian Revolution of 1917. Michael was succeeded by his only son, Alexis , who in turn was succeeded by his eldest son of his first marriage, Feodor . Following the death of Feodor, there were two candidates for the throne: his brother Ivan and his half-brother Peter , who were fifteen and nine years old, respectively. Each candidate was supported by a competing clan, the Miloslavskys and Naryshkins . At first,

4818-633: The Russian famine of 1601–1603 and increased the social disorganization. Boris Godunov 's reign ended in chaos, civil war combined with foreign intrusion, devastation of many cities and depopulation of the rural regions. The country rocked by internal chaos also attracted several waves of interventions by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . During the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618) , Polish–Lithuanian forces reached Moscow and installed

4964-557: The Russian language was little influenced by the Greek and Latin of early Christian writings. This was because Church Slavonic was used directly in liturgy instead. A nomadic Turkic people, the Kipchaks (also known as the Cumans), replaced the earlier Pechenegs as the dominant force in the south steppe regions neighbouring to Rus' at the end of the 11th century and founded a nomadic state in

5110-726: The Sea of Azov during the seventh and sixth centuries BC, eventually unifying into the Bosporan Kingdom by 480 BC, and would be incorporated into the large Kingdom of Pontus in 107 BC. The Kingdom would eventually be conquered by the Roman Republic , and the Bosporan Kingdom would become a client state of the Roman Empire . At about the 2nd century AD Goths migrated to the Black Sea, and in

5256-416: The Stolypin reforms of 1906–1914, the constitution of 1906 , and the State Duma (1906–1917) attempted to open and liberalize the economy and political system, but the emperors refused to relinquish autocratic rule and resisted sharing their power. A combination of economic breakdown, mismanagement over Russia's involvement in World War I , and discontent with the autocratic system of government triggered

5402-465: The Taman Peninsula ). At Bogatyri/Sinyaya balka  [ ru ] , in a skull of Elasmotherium caucasicum , which lived 1.5–1.2 million years ago, a stone tool was found. 1.5-million-year-old Oldowan flint tools have been discovered in the Dagestan Akusha region of the north Caucasus, demonstrating the presence of early humans in the territory of present-day Russia. Fossils of Denisovans in Russia date to about 110,000 years ago. DNA from

5548-413: The Time of Troubles , ending with the coronation of Michael Romanov as the first Tsar of the Romanov dynasty in 1613. During the rest of the seventeenth century, Russia completed the exploration and conquest of Siberia , claiming lands as far as the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century. Domestically, Russia faced numerous uprisings of the various ethnic groups under their control, as exemplified by

5694-415: The Treaty of Pereyaslav between Russia and the Ukrainian Cossacks . In the treaty, Russia granted protection to the Cossacks state in Left-bank Ukraine , formerly under Polish control. This triggered a prolonged Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) , which ended with the Treaty of Andrusovo , where Poland accepted the loss of Left-bank Ukraine, Kiev and Smolensk . The Russian conquest of Siberia , begun at

5840-406: The boyar class of Galicia, who were able to challenge and undermine the authority of the Rostislavichi princes. Galicia and Volhynia merged around 1198 or 1199 into the principality of Galicia–Volhynia. This happened when the local Galician branch of the Rostislavichi clan died out, and Roman Mstislavich of Volhynia also took possession of Galicia, establishing a dynastic union. Galicia–Volhynia

5986-415: The first Mongol invasion of Hungary in early 1241 ) in the Battle of Yaroslav  [ uk ; pl ; ru ] ( Jarosław ), taking full control of Galicia–Volhynia. The brothers also crushed their ally Rostislav Mikhailovich , son of the prince of Chernigov . Daniel strengthened his relations with Batu Khan by traveling to his capital Sarai and acknowledging, at least nominally, the supremacy of

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6132-409: The petty principalities around Moscow had been united with the Grand Duchy of Moscow , which took full control of its own sovereignty under Ivan the Great . Ivan the Terrible transformed the Grand Duchy into the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. However, the death of Ivan's son Feodor I without issue in 1598 created a succession crisis and led Russia into a period of chaos and civil war known as

6278-470: The 12th century due to their commercial advantages. In part, this was because land trade routes in Asia Minor were severely disrupted due to the Byzantine–Seljuk wars (1046–1243), diverting numerous merchants coming from the east heading for Constantinople via Alexandria in Egypt, while others circumvented Anatolia via the port of Sudak (Sougdaia) in Crimea. The flourishing of the latter commercial hub soon attracted Kievan Rus' traders, who rerouted some of

6424-444: The 17th century, culminating in the first Russian colonisation of the Pacific in the mid-17th century, the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) that incorporated left-bank Ukraine, and the Russian conquest of Siberia . Poland was divided in the 1790–1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, south of Siberia. Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia Roman

6570-420: The 3rd and 4th centuries AD, a semi-legendary Gothic kingdom of Oium existed in Southern Russia until it was overrun by Huns . Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Bosporan Kingdom was also overwhelmed by successive waves of nomadic invasions, led by warlike tribes which would often move on to Europe, as was the case with the Huns and Turkish Avars . In the second millennium BC, the territories between

6716-436: The 7th century onwards, East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in Western Russia and slowly conquered and assimilated the native Finnic and Baltic tribes , such as the Merya , the Muromians , and the Meshchera . Scandinavian Norsemen, known as Vikings in Western Europe and Varangians in the East, combined piracy and trade throughout Northern Europe. In the mid-9th century, they began to venture along

6862-441: The 9th century, including Kievan Rus' , the Grand Principality of Vladimir , the Grand Principality of Moscow , the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire , and the sovereigns of these polities have used a range of titles. Some of the earliest titles include knyaz and veliky knyaz , which mean "prince" and "grand prince" respectively, and have sometimes been rendered as "duke" and "grand duke" in Western literature. After

7008-419: The Byzantine Empire in 988, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated as a state due to the Mongol invasions in 1237–1240. After the 13th century, Moscow emerged as a significant political and cultural force, driving the unification of Russian territories . By the end of the 15th century, many of

7154-548: The Galician and Volhynian armies participated in the Battle of the Kalka River (1223) against the Mongols, but in 1228 the boyars expelled him and transferred the Principality of Galicia to the king of Hungary. It was Daniel of Galicia , son of Roman, who formed a real union of Volhynia and Galicia. Daniel first established himself in Volhynia. After failing to retake his father's other throne in 1230–1232 and 1233–1235, Daniel succeeded upon his third attempt and conquered Galicia in 1238, reunited Galician and Volhynia, and ruled for

7300-466: The Galician boyars made efforts to prevent the establishment of a hereditary princely dynasty, especially by Roman's son Daniel, and instead put all sorts of puppets on the throne which they could easily control. Thus weakened by war between Galician boyars and some appanage princes, Galicia–Volhynia also became an arena of rivalry between Poland and Hungary, which intervened in the region several times. Roman's successors would mostly use Halych (Galicia) as

7446-400: The Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy . Moscow's leadership in Russia was now firmly based and by the middle of the 14th century its territory had greatly expanded through purchase, war, and marriage. In the 15th century, the grand princes of Moscow continued to consolidate Russian land to increase their population and wealth. The most successful practitioner of this process was Ivan III , who laid

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7592-402: The Great adopted the title of King of Poland and Ruthenia, and the territory was transformed into the Ruthenian Voivodeship ( Latin : Palatinatus Russiae ) in 1434. The Principality of Volhynia may have emerged as early as the late 10th century, with Vsevolod, a son of Vladimir I of Kiev , mentioned as a prince of the city of Volodymyr . Igor Yaroslavich reportedly briefly reigned as

7738-452: The Great united the principalities of Galicia and Volhynia at the turn of the 13th century. Following the destruction wreaked by the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' (1239–1241), Prince Daniel of Galicia and the other princes of Rus' pledged allegiance to Batu Khan of the Golden Horde in 1246. The Polish conquest of the kingdom in 1349 led to it being fully absorbed by Catholic Poland. Upon annexing it in 1349, Polish king Casimir III

7884-437: The Horde, effectively declaring his independence. Ivan III also greatly expanded his domain with the annexations of other principalities; his son Vasili III completed the task of uniting all of Russia by annexing the last few independent states in the 1520s. Princely succession in medieval Russia proceeded along the lines of the eldest son usually being the being chosen, with the condition that substitution did not take place if

8030-517: The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of Novosibirsk , working at the site of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia , uncovered a 40,000-year-old small bone fragment from the fifth finger of a juvenile hominin , which DNA analysis revealed to be a previously unknown species of human, which was named the Denisova hominin . The first trace of Homo sapiens on the large expanse of Russian territory dates back to 45,000 years, in central Siberia ( Ust'-Ishim man ). The discovery of some of

8176-405: The Kama and the Irtysh Rivers were the home of a Proto-Uralic-speaking population that had contacts with Proto-Indo-European speakers from the south. The woodland population is the ancestor of the modern Ugrian inhabitants of Trans-Uralia. Other researchers say that the Khanty people originated in the south Ural steppe and moved northwards into their current location about 500 AD. A Turkic people,

8322-416: The Khazars. Thus, the first East Slavic state, Rus' , emerged in the 9th century along the Dnieper River valley. 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. By the end of the 10th century,

8468-404: The Kievan inheritance, Galicia's rulers were not concerned by religious succession. This differentiated them from their rivals in Vladimir-Suzdal , who sought to, and attained, control over the Kievan Church. Rather than contest Vladimir-Suzdal's dominance of the Kievan Church, the Ruthenian rulers merely asked for and obtained a separate Church from Byzantium. Galicia–Volhynia also differed from

8614-590: The Lithuanian throne in 1267, he had the former Lithuanian ruler Vaišvilkas killed. Following Shvarn's loss of the throne in 1269, Leo entered into conflict with Lithuania. From 1274 to 1276 he fought a war with the new Lithuanian ruler Traidenis but was defeated, and Lithuania annexed the territory of Black Ruthenia with its city Navahrudak . In 1279, Leo allied himself with king Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and invaded Poland, although his attempt to capture Kraków in 1280 ended in failure. That same year, Leo defeated Hungary and annexed part of Transcarpathia , including

8760-447: The Mongol Golden Horde . After meeting with Batu Khan in 1246, Daniel reorganized his army along Mongol lines and equipped it with Mongolian weapons, although Daniel himself maintained the traditional attire of a Rus' prince. According to Vernadsky (1970), Daniel's alliance with the Mongols was merely tactical; he pursued a long-term strategy of resistance to the Mongols. On the other hand, Magocsi (2010) argued that Daniel submitted to

8906-427: The Mongolian general Boroldai in 1260; however, Daniel was forced to accept their authority and to raze the fortifications he had built against them. Under Daniel's reign, the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia was one of the most powerful states in east central Europe, and it has been described as a 'golden age' for Galicia–Volhynia. Literature flourished, producing the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle . Demographic growth

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9052-455: The Mongols, and left no heirs. After the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty in Galicia–Volhynia in 1323, Volhynia passed into the control of the Lithuanian prince Liubartas , while the boyars took control over Galicia. They invited the Polish prince Yuri II Boleslav , a grandson of Yuri I, to assume the Galician throne. Boleslaw converted to Orthodoxy and assumed the name Yuri II. His encouragement of foreign colonization led to conflicts with

9198-439: The Mongols, citing the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle , which decried Daniel 'is now on his knees and is called a slave' and called this event 'the greatest disgrace'. Magocsi stated that, 'although he never acknowledged it', Daniel was a Mongol vassal, who collected the Mongol tribute, and generally helped 'establishing Mongol administrative control over eastern Europe in cooperation with those Rus' princes who could be made to see

9344-423: The Polish prince Władysław IV Vasa as the Tsar of Russia on 6 September [ O.S. 27 August] 1610. 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. The crisis provoked a patriotic national uprising against the invasion , both in 1611 and 1612. A volunteer army, led by

9490-433: The Rus' principalities, along with tax collection by various overlords such as the Crimean Khans , continued into the early 16th century, despite later claims of Muscovite bookmen that the indecisive standoff at the Ugra in 1480 had signified "the end of the Tatar yoke" and the "liberation of Russia". The Mongols dominated the lower reaches of the Volga and held Russia in sway from their western capital at Sarai , one of

9636-495: The Russians defeated the Crimean Tatar army at the Battle of Molodi and Ivan abandoned the oprichnina . At the end of Ivan IV's reign the Polish–Lithuanian and Swedish armies carried out a powerful intervention in Russia, devastating its northern and northwest regions. The death of Ivan's childless son Feodor was followed by a period of civil wars and foreign intervention known as the Time of Troubles (1606–13). Extremely cold summers (1601–1603) wrecked crops, which led to

9782-412: The Russians in such areas as military tactics and transportation. Under Mongol occupation, Muscovy also developed its postal road network, census, fiscal system, and military organization. At the same time, Prince of Novgorod, Alexander Nevsky , managed to repel the offensive of the Northern Crusades against Novgorod from the West. Despite this, becoming the Grand Prince, Alexander declared himself

9928-450: The Sit' River , and then moved west into Poland and Hungary . By then they had conquered most of the Russian principalities. Only the Novgorod Republic escaped occupation and continued to flourish in the orbit of the Hanseatic League . The impact of the Mongol invasion on the territories of Kievan Rus' was uneven. The advanced city culture was almost completely destroyed. As older centers such as Kiev and Vladimir never recovered from

10074-407: The Soviet Union , leaving Russia again on its own and marking the start of the history of post-Soviet Russia . The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic renamed itself as the Russian Federation and became the primary successor state to the Soviet Union . Russia retained its nuclear arsenal but lost its superpower status. Scrapping the central planning and state-ownership of property of

10220-527: The Soviet era in the 1990s, new leaders, led by President Vladimir Putin , took political and economic power after 2000 and engaged in an assertive foreign policy . Coupled with economic growth, Russia has since regained significant global status as a world power. Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula led to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union . Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to significantly expanded sanctions . Under Putin's leadership, corruption in Russia

10366-471: The advantages of the new Pax Mongolica .' According to Magocsi, Daniel's submission to the Mongols ensured the strength and prosperity of Galicia–Volhynia. He did renew his alliances with Hungary, Poland and Lithuania, making plans to forge an anti-Mongol coalition with them to wage a crusade against the Khan; although these were never carried out, it would eventually lead to Daniel's royal coronation by papal legate in 1253. This brought Galicia–Volhynia into

10512-424: The boyars cooperated with the first Romanovs, enabling them to finish the work of bureaucratic centralization. Thus, the state required service from both the old and the new nobility, primarily in the military. In return, the tsars allowed the boyars to complete the process of enserfing the peasants. In the preceding century, the state had gradually curtailed peasants' rights to move from one landlord to another. With

10658-435: The boyars, who then poisoned him in 1340 and offered the throne to Liubartas, within the same year Casimir III of Poland attacked Lviv . In winter 1341 Tatars, Ruthenians led by Detko, and Lithuanians led by Liubartas were able to defeat the Poles, although they were not so successful in summer 1341. Finally, Detko was forced to accept Polish overlordship, as a starost of Galicia. After Detko's death, Casimir III mounted

10804-404: The centralized Russian state was formed, this was followed by the title of tsar , meaning " caesar ", which was disputed to be the equal of either a king or emperor, and finally the title of emperor . According to Article 59 of the 1906 Russian constitution , the Russian emperor held several dozen titles, each one representing a region which the monarch governed. In traditional historiography,

10950-420: The century, only three cities – Moscow , Tver , and Nizhny Novgorod – still contended for the title of grand prince of Vladimir. The grand princely title occasionally reverted to Tver, but in the end, the Moscow branch of Rurikids established by Daniel successfully claimed the title for themselves exclusively. Ivan I was able to collect tribute from the Russian princes to the Golden Horde and his reign saw

11096-493: The city of Mukachevo . In 1292, he defeated fragmented Poland and added Lublin with surrounding areas to the territory of his kingdom. After Leo's death in 1301, a period of decline ensued. Leo was succeeded by his son Yuri I , who ruled for only seven years. Although his reign was largely peaceful and the Galicia–Volhynia flourished economically, Yuri I lost Lublin to the Poles in 1302. From 1308 to 1323, Galicia–Volhynia

11242-511: The closing stages of World War II, helped the country become a superpower competing with fellow superpower the United States and other Western countries in the Cold War . By the mid-1980s, with the weaknesses of Soviet economic and political structures becoming acute, Mikhail Gorbachev embarked on major reforms, which eventually led to the weakening of the communist party and dissolution of

11388-477: The contrary, Roman curbed their power, expelled any boyar who opposed him, and increased the influence of the urban and rural populace. In Roman's time Galicia–Volhynia's principal cities were Halych and Volodymyr. Roman was allied with Poland, signed a peace treaty with Hungary and developed diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire . The grand prince of Kiev, Rurik Rostislavich (Rurik II), forged

11534-569: The death of Alexander Nevsky , the Grand Principality of Vladimir split into various appanage principalities, with Alexander's youngest son Daniel being the first permanent ruler of Moscow . The territory of Vladimir proper was received by the Horde to one of the appanage princes, who performed the enthronement ceremony in Vladimir, but remained to live and reign in his own principality. By the end of

11680-440: The death of Casimir the Great in 1370, Galicia–Volhynia was ruled by Vladislaus II of Opole in 1372–1379 and 1385–1387, as Lord of Ruthenia ( Terre Russie Domin ), being a descendant of princes of Belz and a subject of King Louis I of Hungary . Vladislaus strongly contributed to the establishment of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv as part of Polish Catholicisation . Geographically, western Galicia–Volhynia extended between

11826-430: The decades to come, despite Kiev losing almost all of its former glory and power. In March 1169, a coalition of princes led by the grand prince of Vladimir , Andrey Bogolyubsky , sacked Kiev and forced the ruling prince, Mstislav II , to flee to Volhynia . Andrei appointed his brother, Gleb , as the prince of Kiev, while Andrei himself continued to rule his realm from Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma . Andrei styled himself as

11972-627: The declining Golden Horde , now divided into several Khanates and hordes. Ivan and his successors sought to protect the southern boundaries of their domain against attacks of the Crimean Tatars and other hordes. To achieve this aim, they sponsored the construction of the Great Abatis Belt and granted manors to nobles, who were obliged to serve in the military. The manor system provided a basis for an emerging cavalry-based army. In this way, internal consolidation accompanied outward expansion of

12118-527: The designation of their combined kingdom. King Andrew II of Hungary styled himself rex Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ , Latin for "king of Galicia and Vladimir [in-Volhynia]", a title that was later adopted by the House of Habsburg . After Roman's death, the Galician boyars first drove Roman's widow Anna-Euphrosyne and two sons Daniel and Vasylko from the region. From 1206 to 1212, the Principality of Galicia

12264-557: The devastation of the initial attack, the new cities of Moscow, Tver and Nizhny Novgorod began to compete for hegemony in the Mongol-dominated Rus' principalities under the suzerainty of the Golden Horde . Although a coalition of Rus' princes led by Dmitry Donskoy defeated Mongol warlord Mamai at Kulikovo in 1380, forces of the new khan Tokhtamysh and his Rus' allies immediately sacked Moscow in 1382 as punishment for resisting Mongol authority. Mongol domination of

12410-525: The earliest evidence for the presence of anatomically modern humans found anywhere in Europe was reported in 2007 from the Kostenki archaeological site near the Don River in Russia (dated to at least 40,000 years ago ) and at Sungir (34,600 years ago). Humans reached Arctic Russia ( Mamontovaya Kurya ) by 40,000 years ago. During the prehistoric eras the vast steppes of Southern Russia were home to tribes of nomadic pastoralists . (In classical antiquity,

12556-663: The end of the 16th century, continued in the 17th century. By the end of the 1640s, the Russians reached the Pacific Ocean, the Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev , discovered the strait between Asia and America. Russian expansion in the Far East faced resistance from Qing China . After the war between Russia and China, the Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed, delimiting the territories in the Amur region. Rather than risk their estates in more civil war,

12702-638: The end of the Rurik dynasty and the start of a succession crisis during a period known as the Time of Troubles . The first non-Rurikid tsar was Feodor's brother-in-law and regent, the influent boyar Boris Godunov , elected by the Zemsky Sobor (feudal parliament). Devastated by famine, rule under Boris descended into anarchy. There followed a series of impostors, known as the False Dmitrys , each claiming to be Feodor I's long deceased younger brother ; however, only

12848-684: The faction controlling the throne. 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 . In February 1613, after the chaos and expulsion of the Poles from Moscow, a national assembly elected Michael Romanov , the young son of Patriarch Filaret , to the throne. The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia until 1917. The immediate task of

12994-467: The father died before the grandfather. The grand princes of Moscow, once they entrenched their status as the supreme prince with regard to other Russian princes, typically left a will in which they appointed their eldest son as heirs to the title of grand prince; this did not fully conform to traditional succession practices, and in 1497, Ivan III went one step further by crowning his grandson Dmitry as co-ruler, bypassing his son Vasily , who, according to

13140-567: The first Russian feudal representative body ( Zemsky Sobor ), curbed the influence of the clergy, and introduced local self-management in rural regions. Tsar also created the first regular army in Russia: Streltsy . His long Livonian War (1558–1583) for control of the Baltic coast and access to the sea trade ultimately proved a costly failure. Ivan managed to annex the Khanates of Kazan , Astrakhan , and Siberia . These conquests complicated

13286-462: The first Russian monarch is considered to be the semi-legendary Rurik , the first prince of Novgorod . Rurik's successor Oleg moved his capital to Kiev , founding a state denoted in modern historiography as Kievan Rus' ( Russian : Киевская Русь ) or Ancient Rus' ( Russian : Древняя Русь, Древнерусское государство ). Over the next several centuries, the most important titles were grand prince of Kiev and prince of Novgorod , whose holder (often

13432-471: The first central government bodies were created in Russia: Prikaz . The Sudebnik was adopted, the first set of laws since the 11th century. The double-headed eagle was adopted as the coat of arms of Russia . Ivan proclaimed his absolute sovereignty over all Russian princes and nobles. Refusing further tribute to the Tatars, Ivan initiated a series of attacks that opened the way for the complete defeat of

13578-484: The first impostor ever took the capital and sat on the throne. A distant Rurikid cousin, Vasily Shuysky , also took power for a time. During this period foreign powers deeply involved themselves in Russian politics, under the leadership of the Vasa monarchs of Sweden and Poland-Lithuania, including Sigismund III Vasa and his son Władysław . As a child, Władysław was even chosen as tsar by the council of aristocracy , though he

13724-461: The foundations for a Russian national state. Ivan competed with his powerful northwestern rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , for control over some of the semi-independent Upper Principalities in the upper Dnieper and Oka River basins. Through the defections of some princes, border skirmishes, and a long war with the Novgorod Republic, Ivan III was able to annex Novgorod and Tver. As

13870-469: The grand prince of Vladimir, although the less important prince in Kiev would still bear the title of grand prince; the last prince to bear the title of grand prince of Kiev was Michael of Chernigov , who died in 1246, while the grand princes of Vladimir retained their title. The other future grand princely titles were derived from the grand princely title of Vladimir. From that time onwards, Vladimir became one of

14016-623: The histories of the East Slavs . The traditional start date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' state in the north in the year 862, ruled by Varangians . In 882, Prince Oleg of Novgorod seized Kiev , uniting the northern and southern lands of the Eastern Slavs under one authority, moving the governance center to Kiev by the end of the 10th century, and maintaining northern and southern parts with significant autonomy from each other. The state adopted Christianity from

14162-464: The imperial throne of Russia have been repeatedly questioned following his marriage with Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The principles laid down by Paul I in the Act of Succession 1797 turned out to be not completely flawlessly formulated, and, as a result, the interpretation of these is not always obvious, and Russia now has no indisputable contender for the throne. Moreover, for more than

14308-523: 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

14454-414: The largest cities of the medieval world. The princes had to pay tribute to the Mongols of the Golden Horde, commonly called Tatars ; but in return they received charters authorizing them to act as deputies to the khans. In general, the princes were allowed considerable freedom to rule as they wished, while the Russian Orthodox Church even experienced a spiritual revival. The Mongols left their impact on

14600-407: The merchant Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky , expelled the foreign forces from the capital on 4 November [ O.S. 22 October] 1612. 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

14746-549: The migration of aggressive nomadic hordes from Asia to Europe via the Volga and Urals . Through these conquests, Russia acquired a significant Muslim Tatar population and emerged as a multiethnic and multiconfessional state. Also around this period, the mercantile Stroganov family established a firm foothold in the Urals and recruited Russian Cossacks to colonise Siberia. In the later part of his reign, Ivan divided his realm in two. In

14892-406: The minority Norse military aristocracy had merged with the native Slavic population, which also absorbed Greek Christian influences in the course of the multiple campaigns to loot Tsargrad , or Constantinople . One such campaign claimed the life of the foremost Slavic druzhina leader, Svyatoslav I , who was renowned for having crushed the power of the Khazars on the Volga. Kievan Rus'

15038-423: The monarch's will in appointing the successor in his reign"), a major political treatise written in its defense, which was only circulated widely following Peter's death, and argued on the basis of an abundance of examples from both biblical and secular history that it was fully correct for a ruler to appoint his own successor without being bound by traditional family succession rules. Peter died in 1725 without naming

15184-472: The most influential principalities. In the south-west, the principality of Galicia-Volhynia began to emerge as a local successor to Kiev. Following the Mongol invasions , three powerful states emerged: the Grand Principality of Vladimir in the north-east, which would evolve into the Grand Principality of Moscow and become the center of the autocratic Russian state; the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia in

15330-659: The new monarch was to restore peace. Fortunately for Moscow, its major enemies, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden , were engaged in a bitter conflict with each other, which provided Russia the opportunity to make peace with Sweden in 1617 and to sign a truce with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1619. Recovery of lost territories began in the mid-17th century, when the Khmelnitsky Uprising (1648–1657) in Ukraine against Polish rule brought about

15476-408: The northern and eastern principalities of the former Kievan Rus' in terms of its relationship with its western neighbors. King Danylo was alternatively an ally or a rival with neighboring Slavic Poland and partially Slavic Hungary. According to historian George Vernadsky (1970), the kingdoms of Ruthenia, Poland and Hungary belonged to the same psychological and cultural world. The Roman Catholic Church

15622-410: The occupation of Galicia–Volhynia by an allied Polish-Hungarian force, was Galicia–Volhynia finally conquered and incorporated into Poland. This ended the vassalage of Galicia–Volhynia to the Golden Horde. From 1340 to 1392, the civil war in the region transitioned into a power struggle between Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary. The first stage of conflict led to the signing of a treaty in 1344 that secured

15768-520: The orbit of the western European feudal order, and the Roman Catholic Church. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV allowed Daniel to be crowned king. Daniel wanted more than recognition, commenting bitterly that he expected an army when he received the crown. Although Daniel promised to promote recognition of the Pope to his people, his realm continued to be ecclesiastically independent from Rome. Thus, Daniel

15914-467: The periphery of Kiev, would establish the basis for the modern Russian nation. The invading Mongols accelerated the fragmentation of the Rus '. In 1223, the disunited southern princes faced a Mongol raiding party at the Kalka River and were soundly defeated. In 1237–1238 the Mongols burnt down the city of Vladimir (4 February 1238) and other major cities of northeast Russia, routed the Russians at

16060-567: The population were subject to military levy and special taxes. Riots among peasants and citizens of Moscow at this time were endemic and included the Salt Riot (1648), Copper Riot (1662), and the Moscow Uprising (1682). By far the greatest peasant uprising in 17th-century Europe erupted in 1667. As the free settlers of South Russia, the Cossacks , reacted against the growing centralization of

16206-505: The prince of Volodymyr in the 1050s. Iaroslav Sviatopolkovich ( r.  1100–1118 ) was the only prince in Kievan Rus' to oppose Vladimir II Monomakh 's reign on the grounds of agnatic seniority , but after Vladimir ousted him in 1118, his Monomakhovichi descendants established a local dynastic branch. Roman Mstislavich , the great-great-grandson of Monomakh, inherited the throne of Volhynia in 1170. The Principality of Galicia

16352-613: The princely family that ruled it collectively. Kiev's dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in the north-east, Novgorod in the north, and Halych-Volhynia in the south-west. Conquest by the Mongol Golden Horde in the 13th century was the final blow. Kiev was destroyed. Halych-Volhynia would eventually be absorbed into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , while the Mongol-dominated Vladimir-Suzdal and independent Novgorod Republic , two regions on

16498-401: The reign of Ivan IV (1547–1584), known as "Ivan the Terrible". He strengthened the position of the monarch to an unprecedented degree, as he ruthlessly subordinated the nobles to his will, exiling or executing many on the slightest provocation. Nevertheless, Ivan is often seen as a farsighted statesman who reformed Russia as he promulgated a new code of laws ( Sudebnik of 1550 ), established

16644-403: The right of the khan to appoint the grand prince. The grand princes of Moscow later adopted the title of sovereign and grand prince of all Russia , with the unification of other principalities with Moscow cultivating a sense of an imperial role for the grand prince as the ruler of all Russia. The Russians began to exert independence from the Mongols, culminating with Ivan III ceasing tribute to

16790-518: The rivers San and Wieprz in what is now south-eastern Poland , while its eastern territories covered the Pripet Marshes (now in Belarus ) and the upper reaches of the Southern Bug river in modern-day Ukraine . During its history, Galicia-Volhynia was bordered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Principality of Turov-Pinsk , the Principality of Kiev , the Golden Horde , the Kingdom of Hungary ,

16936-530: The same person) could claim hegemony. The gradual disintegration of Kievan Rus' began in the 11th century, after the death of Yaroslav the Wise . The position of the grand prince was weakened by the growing influence of regional clans. In 1097, the Council of Liubech formalized the feudal nature of the lands. The Liubech conference resulted in the creation of a federative structure, with the different principalities within

17082-500: The south-west, which was later annexed by Poland and Lithuania; and the Novgorod Republic in the north. By the 12th century, the Grand Principality of Vladimir became the dominant principality in the north-east, adding its name to those of Novgorod and Kiev, culminating with the rule of Alexander Nevsky . In 1169, Andrey I 's son sacked the city of Kiev, but Andrey instead stayed in Vladimir and made it his capital, while taking

17228-502: The state now fully sanctioning serfdom , runaway peasants became state fugitives, and the power of the landlords over the peasants "attached" to their land had become almost complete. Together, the state and the nobles placed an overwhelming burden of taxation on the peasants, whose rate was 100 times greater in the mid-17th century than it had been a century earlier. Likewise, middle-class urban tradesmen and craftsmen were assessed taxes, and were forbidden to change residence. All segments of

17374-598: The state, serfs escaped from their landlords and joined the rebels. The Cossack leader Stenka Razin led his followers up the Volga River, inciting peasant uprisings and replacing local governments with Cossack rule. The tsar's army finally crushed his forces in 1670; a year later Stenka was captured and beheaded. Yet, less than half a century later, the strains of military expeditions produced another revolt in Astrakhan , ultimately subdued. Much of Russia's expansion occurred in

17520-412: The state. By the 16th century, the rulers of Moscow considered the entire Russian territory their collective property. Various semi-independent princes still claimed specific territories, but Ivan III forced the lesser princes to acknowledge the grand prince of Moscow and his descendants as unquestioned rulers with control over military, judicial, and foreign affairs. Gradually, the Russian ruler emerged as

17666-401: The steppes along the Black Sea (Desht-e-Kipchak). Repelling their regular attacks, especially in Kiev, was a heavy burden for the southern areas of Rus'. The nomadic incursions caused a massive influx of Slavs to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north, particularly to the area known as Zalesye . Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated as a state because of in-fighting between members of

17812-473: The structure remaining bound to Kiev as the center of the state. This structure allowed for some of the principalities to develop into semi-independent polities, with conflict between the principalities intensifying in the 12th century. After Mstislav 's death in 1132, Kievan Rus' fell into recession and a rapid decline, marking the end of a unified state. The throne of Kiev became an object of struggle between various territorial associations of Rurikid princes in

17958-447: The territories of modern-day Belarus and Ukraine as well. Peter issued a decree in 1722 in which the sovereign would be free to appoint a successor, referring to a number of historical precedents, including the conduct of Ivan III, who initially chose his grandson as his successor. This was later detailed in Pravda voli Monarshei v opredelenii Naslednika Derzhavy Sovei ("The righteousness of

18104-571: The throne at the age of 17 with the assistance of another streltsy uprising in 1689. Peter then became the sole monarch in 1696 upon the death of Ivan. The Russian Empire was proclaimed by Peter the Great in 1721 following the creation of the imperial title in the aftermath of the Great Northern War . Russia's territorial gains and increased standing as a key player on the European scene allowed it to upgrade its official status from tsardom to empire . The full imperial title proposed in 1721 to Peter

18250-425: The throne was given to Peter, but as a result of the streltsy uprising in Moscow, a compromise solution was found and both Peter and Ivan were made co-monarchs in 1682, with Ivan's older sister Sophia ruling as regent. Ivan was considered the senior tsar and Peter the junior tsar; however, due to Ivan being considered unfit for the role, Peter was able to remove his half-sister Sophia from power and take control of

18396-399: The title of grand prince to claim primacy, leading to political power being shifted to the north-east. Following the Mongol invasions , the principalities started paying tribute to the Golden Horde (the so-called "Tatar yoke"). Until the 15th century, Russian princes received a yarlyk from the khan; it was not until about 1480 that the Mongol domination of Russia formally ended. After

18542-491: The traditional system, would have been the heir, although in the end Vasily was made co-ruler and this arrangement did not work out. Ivan III also used the title of tsar in his foreign correspondence, but it would be his grandson Ivan IV who would be crowned as the first Russian tsar. Ivan IV ("the Terrible") assumed the title of tsar in 1547. Succession was treated in an unorthodox manner under Ivan IV, who, in 1575, formally transferred his powers to Simeon Bekbulatovich ,

18688-855: The waterways from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas . According to the legendary Calling of the Varangians , recorded in several Rus' chronicles such as the Novgorod First Chronicle and Primary Chronicle , the Varangians Rurik , Sineus and Truvor were invited in the 860s to restore order in three towns – either Novgorod (most texts) or Staraya Ladoga ( Hypatian Codex ); Beloozero ; and Izborsk (most texts) or "Slovensk" ( Pskov Third Chronicle ), respectively. Their successors allegedly moved south and extended their authority to Kiev , which had been previously dominated by

18834-434: The western and southern branches of East Slavs and consolidating their identity, and becoming a new center of political and economic life after the decline of Kiev. The principality was divided into several appanage duchies and lands: Notes: The senior branch of Rurikid dynasty, in the 14th century Galician rulers came in close relations with Mazovian Piasts ( Duke of Mazovia ) and rising Gediminids which established

18980-566: The westernizing policies of Peter the Great, and ushered in the era of the Russian Enlightenment . Catherine's grandson, Alexander I , repulsed an invasion by the French Emperor Napoleon , leading Russia into the status of one of the great powers . Peasant revolts intensified during the nineteenth century, culminating with Alexander II abolishing Russian serfdom in 1861. In the following decades, reform efforts such as

19126-427: The would-be Byzantine goods (occasionally through itinerant Jewish merchants) to Poland, Hungary, Bohemia and Germany, via the towns of Volhynia and Galicia. Their new status as transit hubs for commerce between the northern Black Sea ports and central Europe brought Galicia and Volodimer-in-Volhynia tremendous wealth and increasing political power in the late 12th century. Trade and salt mining in particular empowered

19272-500: The zone known as the oprichnina , Ivan's followers carried out a series of bloody purges of the feudal aristocracy (whom he suspected of treachery after prince Andrey Kurbsky 's betrayal), culminating in the Massacre of Novgorod in 1570. This combined with the military losses, epidemics, and poor harvests so weakened Russia that the Crimean Tatars were able to sack central Russian regions and burn down Moscow in 1571 . However, in 1572

19418-508: Was "Father of the Fatherland, Peter the Great, All-Russian Emperor". At his accession as the sole monarch of Russia in 1696, Peter held the same title as his father, Alexis : "Great Lord Tsar and Grand Prince, Autocrat of Great, Small and White Russia". By 1710, he had styled himself as "Tsar and All-Russian Emperor", but it was not until 1721 that the imperial title became official. The adjective "All-Russian" had been increasingly used to refer to

19564-448: Was also "a period of cultural depression and spiritual barrenness. Freedom was stamped out within the Russian lands. By his bigoted anti-Catholicism Ivan brought down the curtain between Russia and the west. For the sake of territorial aggrandizement he deprived his country of the fruits of Western learning and civilization." The development of the Tsar's autocratic powers reached a peak during

19710-529: Was assassinated within six months of assuming the throne, in a coup orchestrated by his wife, who became Empress in her own right and ruled as Catherine the Great . Following the confused successions of the descendants of Peter the Great, Catherine's son Paul I established clear succession laws which governed the rules of primogeniture over the imperial throne until the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917. The rights of Kirill Vladimirovich and his heirs to

19856-464: Was controlled by the three sons of the Novgorod-Seversk prince Igor Svyatoslavich : Vladimir III Igorevich , Svyatoslav III Igorevich , and Roman II Igorevich . They were defeated by Galician boyars, and the boyar Volodyslav Kormylchych  [ uk ] assumed the throne of Galicia in 1213 or 1214, the only non-Rurikid ever to rule any of the Rus' principalities. After he was removed,

20002-438: Was created following the death in 1198 or 1199 (and without a recognized heir in the paternal line) of the last Prince of Galicia, Vladimir II Yaroslavich . Roman acquired the Principality of Galicia and united his lands into one state. He did so upon the invitation of the boyars of Galician boyars, who expected that Roman would be an " absentee " Volhynian prince ruling from afar so that they could increase their own power. On

20148-508: Was enhanced by immigration from the west and the south, including Germans and Armenians . Commerce developed due to trade routes linking the Black Sea with Poland, Germany , and the Baltic basin. Major cities, which served as important economic and cultural centers, included Lviv (where the royal seat would later be moved by Daniel's son), Volodymyr, Halych, Kholm (Daniel's capital ), Peremyshl , Dorohychyn , and Terebovlya . Galicia–Volhynia

20294-470: Was formed in the years 1124–1144 by Vladimirko Volodarovich 's unification of the principalities of Zvenyhorod , Peremyshl , and Terebovlia . Since the 1080s or 1090s, all three had been ruled by sons of prince Rostislav of Tmutarakan , who may or may not also have been a prince in Volhynia and Galicia c. 1054/1060 to 1067. Both Volhynia and Galicia had experienced a remarkable economic development in

20440-613: Was important enough that in 1252, Daniel was able to marry his son Roman to Gertrude of Babenberg , heiress of the Duchy of Austria , in the vain hope of securing the latter for his family. Another son, Shvarn , married a daughter of Mindaugas , Lithuania's first king , and briefly ruled that land from 1267 to 1269. At the peak of its expansion, the Galician–Volhynian state contained not only south-western Rus lands, including Red Ruthenia and Black Ruthenia , but also briefly controlled

20586-431: Was introduced by Yaroslav the Wise . From the onset, the Kievan princes followed the Byzantine example and kept the Church dependent on them. By the 11th century, particularly during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise , Kievan Rus' displayed an economy and achievements in architecture and literature superior to those that then existed in the western part of the continent. Compared with the languages of European Christendom,

20732-572: Was jointly ruled by Yuri I's sons Andrew and Leo II , who proclaimed themselves to be the kings of Galicia–Volhynia. The brothers forged alliances with King Władysław I of Poland and the Teutonic Order against the Lithuanians and the Mongols , but the Kingdom was still tributary to the Mongols and joined the Mongol military expeditions of Uzbeg Khan and his successor, Janibeg Khan . The brothers died together in 1323, in battle, fighting against

20878-591: Was prevented by his father from formally taking the throne. The Time of Troubles is considered to have ended with the election of Michael Romanov to the throne in February 1613, thereby establishing the Romanov dynasty . The Time of Troubles came to a close with the election of Michael Romanov as tsar in 1613. Michael officially reigned as tsar, though his father, the patriarch Philaret (died 1633) initially held de facto power. However, Michael's descendants would rule Russia, first as tsars and later as emperors, until

21024-531: Was seen as a neighbor and there was much intermarriage between the princely houses of Galicia and those of neighboring Catholic countries. In contrast, the Westerners faced by Alexander, prince of Novgorod, were the Teutonic Knights , and the northeastern Rus experience of the West was that of hostile crusaders rather than peers. In Ukrainian historiography, the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia played an important role, uniting

21170-503: Was the last ruler of Kiev preceding the Mongolian invasion and thus Galicia–Volhynia's rulers were the only legitimate successors to the Kievan throne. Until the end of Galician-Volhynian state, its rulers advanced claims upon "all the land of Rus'." The seal of King Yuri I contained the Latin inscription domini georgi regis rusie. In contrast to their consistent secular or political claims to

21316-509: Was the only member of the Rurik dynasty to have been crowned king. Daniel was crowned by the papal legate Opizo de Mezzano in Dorohochyn 1253 as the first King of Ruthenia ( Rex Russiae ; 1253–1264). In 1256, Daniel succeeded in driving the Mongols out of Volhynia, and a year later he defeated their attempts to capture the cities of Lutsk and Volodymyr . Upon the approach of a large army under

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