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143-783: It is named "Southwestern" because it is Southwest of Moscow , despite being in the Northern part of Ukraine. As of 2008, SWR's rail system included 4,668 km (2,901 mi) of track, of which 93,3% were electrified. The SWR consists of five sections (directions) named after the cities of their administration seat The above mentioned directions administrative seats beside regular train stations have also locomotive and railcar depots. In addition such depots also are located in Shepetivka , Darnytsia (left-bank Kyiv), Bakhmach , Vorozhba , Hrechany (neighborhood of Khemlnytskyi ), and Snovsk (formerly Shchors). There are 315 railway stations in

286-641: A tram system , a monorail system , and the Moscow Metro , which is the busiest metro system in Europe and one of the largest rapid transit systems in the world. The city has over 40 percent of its territory covered by greenery, making it one of the greenest cities in the world. The city's name is thought to be derived from the Moskva River . Theories of the origin of the name of the river have been proposed. The most linguistically well-grounded and widely accepted

429-551: A condemnation of the Home Office. In a political conflict on land reform, Vyacheslav von Plehve accused him of being part of a Jewish- Masonic conspiracy. According to Vasily Gurko , Witte had dominated the irresolute tsar, and his opponents decided that was the moment to get rid of him. Witte was appointed on 16 August 1903 ( O.S. ) as chairman of the Committee of Ministers , a position he held until October 1905. While officially

572-623: A crusade against the evils of drunkenness, Witte established a state monopoly on alcohol, which became a major source of revenue for the Russian government. In 1896, he concluded the Li–Lobanov Treaty with Li Hongzhang of the Qing dynasty . One of the rights secured for Russia was the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway across northeast China , which greatly shortened the route of

715-415: A daily newspaper. In the 1830s, general Alexander Bashilov planned the first regular grid of city streets north from Petrovsky Palace. Khodynka field south of the highway was used for military training. Smolensky Rail station (forerunner of Belorussky Rail Terminal ) was inaugurated in 1870. Sokolniki Park , in the 18th century the home of the tsar's falconers well outside Moscow, became contiguous with

858-421: A delegation of intellectuals led by Maxim Gorky , who begged them to negotiate with demonstrators. After the government's postings of warnings of 'resolute measures' against street gatherings led by Father Gapon , they worried about violent confrontation, which did take place. They were unsuccessful as the government had believed they could control Fr. Gapon. Leaving his visiting cards with Witte and Mirsky, Gorky

1001-458: A few months Witte fell into disgrace as a reformer because of continuing court opposition to these changes. He resigned before the First Duma assembled on 10 May [ O.S. 27 April] 1906. Witte was fully confident that he had resolved the main problem: providing political stability to the regime, but according to him, the " peasant problem" would further determine the character of

1144-486: A nationally uniform country and not a heterogeneous Empire. To achieve that goal there is but one way, namely to give up our border provinces, for these will never put up with the policy of ruthless Russification . But that measure our ruler will, of course, never consider. On 10 November, Russian Poland was placed under martial law . Witte's position was not well established. The Liberals remained obdurate and refused to be cajoled. The All-Russian Peasant Union asked

1287-411: A promotion, the post had no real power. Witte's removal from the influential post of Minister of Finance was engineered under the pressure of the landed gentry and his political enemies within the government and at the court. But historians Nicholas V. Riasanovsky and Robert K. Massie say that Witte's opposition to Russian designs on Korea resulted in his resigning from the government in 1903. Witte

1430-572: A prosperous city that would eclipse its parent principality of Vladimir by the 1320s. On the right bank of the Moskva River, at a distance of eight kilometres (5 mi) from the Kremlin, by 1282 Daniel founded the first monastery with the wooden church of St. Daniel-Stylite, which is now the Danilov Monastery. Daniel died in 1303, aged 42. Before his death, he became a monk and, according to his will,

1573-503: A record 411 hours in July 2014, 79% of possible sunshine. December 2017 was the darkest month in Moscow since records began, with only six minutes of sunlight. Temperatures in the centre of Moscow are often significantly higher than in the outskirts and nearby suburbs, especially in winter. For example, if the average January temperature in the north-east of Moscow is −6.2 °C (20.8 °F), in

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1716-516: A strongly worded prohibition of any further agitation in favor of a constitution. By spring a new political system was beginning to form in Russia. A petition campaign was conducted seeking a wide variety of proposed changes, such as ending the war with Japan, which lasted from February to July 1905. In June mutiny broke out on the Russian battleship Potemkin . The tsar called upon Witte to negotiate an end to

1859-448: A symptom of disorderly lifestyles of lower-class Russians recently arrived from the farms. Elites called for improved sanitation, which became part of Catherine's plans for increasing control over social life. National political and military successes from 1812 through 1855 calmed the critics and validated efforts to produce a more enlightened and stable society. There was less discussion about the poor conditions of public health. However, in

2002-499: A week or two at a time. In the winter, average temperatures normally drop to approximately −10 °C (14 °F), though almost every winter there are periods of warmth with day temperatures rising above 0 °C (32 °F), and periods of cooling with night temperatures falling below −20 °C (−4 °F). These periods usually last about a week or two. The growing season in Moscow normally lasts for 156 days usually around 1 May to 5 October. The highest temperature ever recorded

2145-416: A year to the government (exact amount unknown because of accounting defects). In 1892 Witte became acquainted with Matilda Ivanovna (Isaakovna) Lisanevich in a theater. Witte began to seek her favour, urging her to divorce her gambling husband and marry him. The marriage was a scandal not only because Matilda was a divorcee but also because she was a converted Jew. That cost Witte many of his connections with

2288-528: Is 19.7 °C (67.5 °F). The lowest ever recorded temperature was −42.1 °C (−43.8 °F) in January 1940. Snow, which is present for about five months a year, often begins to fall mid-October, while snow cover lies in late November and melts at the end of March. On average, Moscow has 1731 hours of sunshine per year, varying from a low of 8% in December to 52% from May to August. This large annual variation

2431-607: Is a surname, most common in Russia, Bulgaria , Ukraine and North Macedonia . Additionally, there are similarly named places in Poland like Mozgawa . According to a Finno-Ugric hypothesis, the Merya and Muroma people, who were among the pre-Slavic tribes which inhabited the area, called the river Mustajoki "Black river", and the name of the river derives from this term. Other theories, having little or no scientific basis, are rejected by linguists. The original Old Russian form of

2574-472: Is about −7.0 °C (19.4 °F). At the end of January–February it is often colder, with frosts reaching −30.0 °C (−22.0 °F) a few nights per year (2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013). The last decade was the warmest in the history of meteorological observations of Moscow. Temperature changes in the city are depicted in the table below: Moscow is one of the few cities with paleontological monuments of world significance on its territory. One of them

2717-590: Is among the world's largest cities , being the most populous city in its entirety in Europe, the largest urban and metropolitan area in Europe, and the largest city by land area on the European continent. First documented in 1147, Moscow grew to serve as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Moscow . When the Tsardom of Russia was proclaimed, Moscow remained the political and economic center for most of its history. Under

2860-415: Is considered one of the greatest errors Witte made during his administration. According to Harold Williams: "That government was almost paralyzed from the beginning. Witte acted immediately by urging the release of political prisoners and the lifting of censorship laws." Alexander Guchkov and Dmitry Shipov refused to work with the reactionary Durnovo and to support the government. On 26 October (O.S.),

3003-480: Is due to convective cloud formation. In the winter, moist air from the Atlantic condenses in the cold continental interior, resulting in very overcast conditions. However, this same continental influence results in considerably sunnier summers than oceanic cities of similar latitude such as Edinburgh . Between 2004 and 2010, the average was between 1800 and 2000 hours with a tendency to more sunshine in summer months, up to

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3146-534: Is from the Proto-Balto-Slavic root * mŭzg -/ muzg - from the Proto-Indo-European * meu - "wet", so the name Moskva might signify a river at a wetland or marsh. Its cognates include Russian : музга , muzga "pool, puddle", Lithuanian : mazgoti and Latvian : mazgāt "to wash", Sanskrit : májjati "to drown", Latin : mergō "to dip, immerse". In many Slavic countries Moskov

3289-437: Is global, not regional. During the summer, extreme heat is often observed in the city (2001, 2002, 2003, 2010 , 2011, 2021 ). Along with a southern part of Central Russia , after recent years of hot summer seasons, the climate of the city gets hot-summer classification trends. Winter also became significantly milder: for example, the average January temperature in the early 1900s was −12.0 °C (10.4 °F), while now it

3432-642: Is known for its display of Russian architecture , particularly in areas such as the Red Square and buildings such as the Saint Basil's Cathedral and the Moscow Kremlin , the latter of which is the seat of power of the Government of Russia . Moscow is home to Russian companies in different industries and is served by a comprehensive transit network, which includes four international airports , ten railway terminals,

3575-443: Is one of Europe's most visited cities . Moscow has the sixth-highest number of billionaires of any city. The Moscow International Business Center is one of the largest financial centers in the world and features the majority of Europe's tallest skyscrapers . Moscow was the host city of the 1980 Summer Olympics and one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup . The city contains several UNESCO World Heritage Sites and

3718-628: Is one of twelve Hero Cities . The demonym for a Moscow resident is rendered as Muscovite in English. The site of modern-day Moscow has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Among the earliest finds are relics of the Lyalovo culture , which experts assign to the Neolithic period. They confirm that the first inhabitants of the area were hunters and gatherers. Around 950 AD, two Slavic tribes, Vyatichi and Krivichi , settled here. The Vyatichi may have formed

3861-733: Is the Gorodnya River with its tributaries, on the banks of which outcrops of the Quaternary and older Cretaceous periods are located. Fossils of the bivalve mollusk Inoceramus kleinii and tubular passages of burrowing animals, described in 2017 as a new ichnospecies Skolithos gorodnensis , were discovered in the Coniacian deposits near the stream bed of the Bolshaya Glinka River. Ichnogenera Diplocraterion , Planolites , Skolithos and possibly Ophiomorpha were found in

4004-614: The 1905 Russian Revolution , Witte framed the 17th the October Manifesto and the accompanying government communication to establish constitutional government . However, he was not convinced it would solve Russia's problems with the Tsarist autocracy . On 20 October 1905 Witte was appointed as the first chairman of the Council of Ministers (effectively prime minister). Assisted by his Council, he designed Russia's first constitution . But within

4147-462: The 2021 Russian census , the population was 13,010,112; up from 11,503,501 in the 2010 Russian census . Sergei Witte Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte ( Russian : Сергей Юльевич Витте , romanized :  Sergey Yulyevich Vitte , IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈjʉlʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈvʲitːɛ] ; 29 June [ O.S. 17 June] 1849  – 13 March [ O.S. 28 February] 1915), also known as Sergius Witte ,

4290-564: The Albian deposits. Paleolithic flint tools were discovered in the Quaternary deposits of the Bolshaya Glinka stream bed. In 1878, paleontologist Hermann Trautschold discovered the left flipper of an ichthyosaur near the village of Mnevniki, which later became part of Moscow. In 2014, the animal was named Undorosaurus trautscholdi , after its discoverer. Trautschold determined the age of

4433-516: The Caucasus , and his grandmother was Princess Helene Dolgoruki . Sergei had two brothers (Alexander and Boris) and two sisters (Olga and Sophia). Helena Blavatsky , noted as a mystic, was their first cousin. Witte studied at a Tiflis gymnasium, but he took more interest in music, fencing and riding than in academics. He finished Gymnasium I in Kishinev and began studying Physico-Mathematical Sciences at

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4576-514: The Governor of Saint Petersburg , Dmitri Feodorovich Trepov , who wielded considerable influence at court. Only when Nicholas II's cousin Grand Duke Nicholas threatened to shoot himself if he did not agree to Witte's demands, following the tsar's request for him to accept appointment as dictator, would the tsar agree. He was embarrassed to have been forced by a former "railway clerk", a man who

4719-642: The Li–Lobanov Treaty ), which led in 1898 to Russian occupation and administration (by its own personnel and police) of the entire Liaodong Peninsula. Russia also fortified the ice-free Port Arthur and completed the Russian-owned Chinese Eastern Railway , which was to cross northern Manchuria from west to east and link Siberia with Vladivostok. In 1899, the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and the Chinese attacked all foreigners. A large coalition of

4862-554: The Ministry of Education to Evgenii Troubetzkoy . Pavel Milyukov and Prince Georgy Lvov were also offered ministerial posts. None of those liberals agreed to join the government, though. Witte had to form his cabinet from 'tsarist bureaucrats and appointees lacking public confidence'. The Kadets doubted that Witte could deliver on the promises made by the tsar in October, knowing the tsar's staunch opposition to reform. Witte argued that

5005-690: The Moja Ulitsa (in English: My Street ) urban redevelopment program or the Residency renovation one. By its territorial expansion on 1 July 2012, southwest into the Moscow Oblast the area of the capital more than doubled, going from 1,091 to 2,511 square kilometers (421 to 970 sq mi), resulting in Moscow becoming the largest city on the European continent by area; it also gained an additional population of 233,000 people. The annexed territory

5148-524: The Moskva and Neglinnaya and be filled with water from Neglinnaya. Known as the Alevizov moat and with a length of 541 metres (1,775 feet), width of 36 metres (118 feet), and depth of 9.5 to 13 metres (31–43 feet) was lined with limestone and, in 1533, fenced on both sides with low, four-metre-thick (13-foot) cogged-brick walls. In the 16th and 17th centuries, three circular defenses were built: Kitay-gorod ,

5291-545: The Moskva River in Central Russia , with a population estimated at over 13 million residents within the city limits, over 19.1 million residents in the urban area, and over 21.5 million residents in its metropolitan area . The city covers an area of 2,511 square kilometers (970 sq mi), while the urban area covers 5,891 square kilometers (2,275 sq mi), and the metropolitan area covers over 26,000 square kilometers (10,000 sq mi). Moscow

5434-581: The Novorossiysk University in Odessa in 1866 and graduated at the top of his class in 1870. After completing his studies he devoted some time to journalism in close relations with the Slavophiles and Mikhail Katkov . Witte had initially planned to pursue a career in academia with the intention of becoming a professor in theoretical mathematics. His relatives took a dim view of that career path, as it

5577-870: The Okhrana , the tsarist secret police, had been involved. During the winter season, Witte lived in Biarritz and started writing his Memoirs, but he returned to St Petersburg in 1908. During the July Crisis in 1914, Grigori Rasputin , and Witte desperately urged the Tsar to avoid the conflict and warned that Europe faced calamity if Russia became involved. The advice went unheeded. French Ambassador Maurice Paléologue complained to Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Sazonov . Witte died in February 1915 at his home in St. Petersburg; his quick death

5720-532: The Republic of Crimea . The areas operate in what is referred to in international standards as Moscow Standard Time (MSK, МСК ) , which is 3 hours ahead of UTC , or UTC+3 . Daylight saving time is no longer observed. According to the geographical longitude the average solar noon in Moscow occurs at 12:30. Moscow has a humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb ) with long, cold (although average by Russian standards) winters usually lasting from mid-November to

5863-572: The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the established state church. Witte argued that ending discrimination against religious rivals of the Orthodox Church 'would not harm the church, provided it embraced the reforms that would revive its religious life'. Although the Church's 'senior hierarchs' may for some time have played with the thought of self-government, Witte's demand that it would come at

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6006-750: The Russo-Japanese War . He was sent to the United States for the talks, as the Russian emperor's plenipotentiary titled "his Secretary of State and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Emperor of Russia," along with Baron Roman Rosen , Master of the Imperial Court of Russia. The peace talks were held in Portsmouth, New Hampshire . Witte is credited with negotiating brilliantly on Russia's behalf during

6149-537: The Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) , he had risen to a position in which he controlled all the traffic passing to the front along the lines of the Odessa Railways . As finance minister from 1892- 1903, Witte presided over extensive industrialization and achieved government monopoly control over an expanded system of railroad lines. Following months of civil unrest and outbreaks of violence in what became known as

6292-453: The Treaty of Portsmouth discussions. Russia lost little in the final settlement. But the loss of the war with Japan is believed to have marked the beginning of the end of Imperial Russia. For his efforts, he was made a Count ( Russian : граф , romanized :  graf ). After that diplomatic success, Witte wrote to the tsar stressing the urgent need for political reforms at home. He

6435-667: The Wehrmacht and 650,000-1,280,000 for the Red Army. During the postwar years, there was a housing crisis, solved by the invention of high-rise apartments . There are over 11,000 of these standardised and prefabricated apartment blocks, housing most of Moscow's population, making it by far the city with the most high-rise buildings. Apartments were built and partly furnished in the factory, before being raised and stacked into tall columns. The popular Soviet-era comic film Irony of Fate parodies this construction method. The city of Zelenograd

6578-556: The "White-Walled". The city's limits as marked by the ramparts, are now marked by the Garden Ring . Three square gates existed on the east side of the Kremlin wall, which in the 17th century, were known as Konstantino-Eleninsky, Spassky, Nikolsky (after the icons of Constantine and Helen, the Saviour and St. Nicholas that hung over them). The last two were directly opposite the Red Square, while

6721-418: The 15th century, but it was developed into a prestigious area during the 18th century. It was destroyed in the fire of 1812 and was rebuilt completely in the early 19th century. Moscow State University was established in 1755. Its main building was reconstructed after the 1812 fire by Domenico Giliardi . The Moskovskiye Vedomosti newspaper appeared from 1756, originally in weekly intervals, and from 1859 as

6864-538: The 1890s. His goal was peaceful expansion of trade with Japan and China . Japan, with its greatly expanded and modernized military, easily defeated the antiquated Chinese forces in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). Russia had to confront collaborating with Japan with which relations had been fairly good for some years or acting as protector of China against Japan. Witte chose the second policy, and in 1894, Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to soften

7007-432: The 1990s to 2000s, its population rising from below nine to above ten million. Mason and Nigmatullina argue that Soviet-era urban-growth controls produced controlled and sustainable metropolitan development, typified by the greenbelt built in 1935. Since then, however, there has been a dramatic growth of low-density suburban sprawl, created by heavy demand for single-family dwellings as opposed to crowded apartments. In 1995–97

7150-709: The Council of Ministers. The position and influence of General Trepov, Grand Duke Nicholas, the Black Hundreds , and overwhelming victories by the Kadets in the 1906 Russian legislative election , forced Witte on 14th to resign, which was announced 22 April 1906 (O.S.). Witte confessed to Alexander Polovtsov in April 1906 that the success of the repressions in the wake of the Moscow uprising in 1905 had resulted in his losing all influence over

7293-478: The Duma's activity. He is widely considered to have been one of the key figures in Russian politics at the end of 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. Orlando Figes has described Witte as the 'great reforming finance minister of the 1890s', 'one of Nicholas's most enlightened ministers', and as the architect of Russia's new parliamentary order in 1905. Witte's father, Julius Christoph Heinrich Georg Witte,

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7436-695: The General Staff of the Red Army were located in Moscow. In 1941, 16 divisions of the national volunteers (more than 160,000 people), 25 battalions, and 4 engineering regiments were formed among the Muscovites. Between October 1941 and January 1942, the German Army Group Centre was stopped at the outskirts of the city, then driven off in the Battle of Moscow . Many factories were evacuated, together with much of

7579-407: The Imperial Council I made it clear that the Procurator of the Most Holy Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev , could not remain in office, for he definitely represented the past." He was replaced by Prince Alexey D. Obolensky. Trepov and Alexander Bulygin were dismissed and, after many discussions, Pyotr Nikolayevich Durnovo was appointed as Minister of Interior on 1 January 1906; his appointment

7722-409: The Konstantino-Elenensky gate was located behind Saint Basil's Cathedral. The Russian famine of 1601–03 killed perhaps 100,000 in Moscow. Between 1610 and 1612, troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied Moscow, as its ruler Sigismund III tried to take the Russian throne. In 1612, Nizhny Novgorod and other Russian cities led by prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin rose against

7865-419: The MKAD ring road was widened from the initial four to ten lanes. In December 2002 Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo became the first Moscow Metro station that opened beyond the limits of MKAD. The Third Ring Road , intermediate between the early 19th-century Garden Ring and the Soviet-era outer ring road, was completed in 2004. The greenbelt is becoming more and more fragmented, and satellite cities are appearing at

8008-429: The Mongols under Batu Khan burned the city to the ground and killed its inhabitants. The timber fort na Moskvě "on the Moscow River" was inherited by Daniel , the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky , in the 1260s. Daniel was still a child at the time, and the big fort was governed by tiuns (deputies), appointed by Daniel's paternal uncle, Yaroslav of Tver . Daniel came of age in the 1270s and became involved in

8151-405: The Polish occupants, besieged the Kremlin, and expelled them . In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Michael Romanov tsar, establishing the Romanov dynasty . The 17th century saw several risings, such as the liberation of Moscow from the Polish–Lithuanian invaders (1612), the Salt Riot (1648), the Copper Riot (1662), and the Moscow Uprising of 1682 . During the first half of the 17th century,

8294-401: The Russian people to refuse to make redemption payments to the government and withdraw their deposits from banks that might be subject to government action. He promised an eight-hour working day and tried to secure vital loans from France to keep the government from bankruptcy. Witte sent his envoy to the Rothschild bank ; they responded that "they would willingly render full assistance to

8437-439: The SWR and the Ukrzaliznytsia was also built in that year. Between 1871 and 1876, lines from Zhmerynka to Volochysk and from Berdychiv to Shepetivka were added, and between 1890 and 1897, the lines from Zhmerynka to Mohyliv-Podilskyi , Koziatyn to Uman , Khrystynivka to Shpola and Berdychiv to Zhytomyr ; 1897 was also the year when the Fastiv Railways were added to the SWR. Volyn Railways were brought into

8580-413: The SWR in 1902, the same year that the line from Kyiv to Korosten was built. By the beginning of World War I , the total length of the SWR system was 3,096 km (1,924 mi). Among the most notable directors of Southwestern Railways was Sergei Witte , who later became the Prime Minister of Russia . Moscow Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia . The city stands on

8723-447: The SWR system. SWR's route map includes all the railroads in the Kyiv , Zhytomyr , Chernihiv , Vinnytsia , Khmelnytskyi and Sumy oblasts (provinces of Ukraine). Its territory borders Belarusian Railway to the north in Belarus , Moscow Railway to the north and north-east in Russia , Calea Ferată din Moldova to the south-west in Moldova , and three Ukrainian territorial branches of Ukrainian Railways , Lviv Railways to

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8866-463: The Trans-Siberian Railway to its projected eastern terminus at Vladivostok . However, following the Triple Intervention , Witte strongly opposed the Russian occupation of Liaodong Peninsula and the construction of the naval base at Port Arthur in the Russia–Qing Convention of 1898 . In 1896, Witte undertook a major currency reform to place the Russian ruble on the gold standard . That resulted in increased investment activity and an increase in

9009-425: The Tsarist regime could be saved from a revolution only by the transformation of Russia to a 'modern industrial society', in which 'personal and public initiatives' were encouraged by a rechtsstaat who guaranteed civil liberties. In the two weeks following the October Manifesto , several pogroms took place against Jews, especially in St. Petersburg and Odessa . Witte ordered an official investigation, where it

9152-491: The US and other Western countries due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. In 1991 Moscow was the scene of a coup attempt by conservative communists opposed to the liberal reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev . When the USSR was dissolved in 1991, Moscow remained the capital of the Russian Federation . Since then, a market economy has emerged, producing an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles. The city continued to grow during

9295-438: The White City and the Earthen City. However, in 1547, fires destroyed much of the town, and in 1571 the Crimean Tatars captured Moscow , burning everything except the Kremlin. The annals record that only 30,000 of 200,000 inhabitants survived. The Crimean Tatars attacked again in 1591, but were held back by new walls, built between 1584 and 1591 by a craftsman named Fyodor Kon . In 1592, an outer earth rampart with 50 towers

9438-477: The White Russians, and 35 per cent, of the population is non-Russian. It is impossible to rule such a country and ignore the national aspirations of its varied non-Russian national groups, which largely make up the population of the Great Empire. The policy of converting all Russian subjects into "true Russians" is not the ideal which will weld all the heterogeneous elements of the Empire into one body politic. It might be better for us Russians, I concede, if Russia were

9581-448: The actual 20th anniversary of the victory in World War II, Moscow was awarded a title of the Hero City . The Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) was opened in 1961. It had four lanes running 109 kilometres (68 miles) along the city borders. The MKAD marked the administrative boundaries of the city until the 1980s, when outlying suburbs beyond the ring road were incorporated. In 1980, Moscow hosted the Summer Olympic Games , which were boycotted by

9724-405: The aftermath of the Kishinev pogrom in 1903, Witte had said that if Jews 'comprise about fifty percent of the membership in the revolutionary parties', it was 'the fault of our government. The Jews are too oppressed'. Milyukov once confronted Witte to ask why he would not commit himself to a constitution. Witte replied that he could not 'because the Tsar does not wish it'. Witte was worried that

9867-424: The agricultural regions of the northern part of today's Odesa Oblast with Odesa , a seaport on the Black Sea coast. The direct predecessor of Southwestern Railways was Kyiv–Balta railways that, in 1870, linked Kyiv with Odesa Railways through [Balta. Just before that, in 1868 in Kyiv began construction of an important piece of infrastructure, the Struve Railroad Bridge , which, in 1870, connected both banks of

10010-507: The ancient " Novgorod Chronicle " and made it a propaganda vehicle for his regime. The original Moscow Kremlin was built in the 14th century. It was reconstructed by Ivan, who in the 1480s invited architects from Renaissance Italy , such as Petrus Antonius Solarius , who designed the new Kremlin wall and its towers, and Marco Ruffo who designed the new palace for the prince. The Kremlin walls as they now appear are those designed by Solarius, completed in 1495. The Kremlin's Great Bell Tower

10153-475: The attention of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich , who commuted his prison sentence to two weeks. Witte had devised a novel system of double-shift operations in his efforts to overcome delays on the railways. In 1879, Witte accepted a post in St. Petersburg , where he would meet his future wife. He moved to Kiev the following year. In 1883, he published a paper on "Principles of Railway Tariffs for Cargo Transportation" in which he also discussed social issues and

10296-658: The authorities ignored the attacks. On 8 November, the sailors in Kronstadt mutinied. The same month, the border provinces were clearly taking advantage of the weakening of Central Russia to show their teeth. Witte later wrote in his Memoirs about the empire's ethnic minorities: The dominating element of the Empire, the Russians, fall into three distinct ethnic branches: the Great, the Little, and

10439-495: The autocracy not from the outside like revolutionaries but from the inside. Witte failed to retain the confidence of the emperor but continued in Russian politics as a member of the State Council but he was never again appointed to an administrative role in the government. He was ostracized by the Russian establishment. In January 1907 a bomb was found planted in his home. The investigator Pavel Alexandrovich Alexandrov proved that

10582-416: The capital city of the newly established Russian Federation. The northernmost and coldest megacity in the world, Moscow is governed as a federal city , where it serves as the political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe . As an alpha world city , Moscow has one of the world's largest urban economies . The city is one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations and

10725-511: The censorship of magazines and newspaper was released. On 16 December Trotsky and the rest of the executive committee of the St. Petersburg Soviet were arrested. The Minister of Agriculture Nikolai Kutler resigned in February 1906; Witte refused to appoint Alexander Krivoshein . In the next few weeks, changes and additions to the Russian Constitution of 1906 were made, so that the emperor

10868-441: The city and −30 °C (−22 °F) in the suburbs to above 5 °C (41 °F) in the winter, and from 10 to 35 °C (50 to 95 °F) in the summer. Typical high temperatures in the warm months of June, July, and August are around a comfortable 20 to 26 °C (68 to 79 °F), but during heat waves (which can occur between May and September), daytime high temperatures often exceed 30 °C (86 °F), sometimes for

11011-569: The city over Dnieper . That year, Kyiv was also connected to the rest of the Russian Empire's railroad system by a track from Kyiv to Kursk with Kursk – Kyiv branch. The history of the SWR began on 7 June 1870, when the construction of these railroads was launched and making it the third oldest railway system in Ukraine after Lviv and Odesa. The Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station , the main railway station of

11154-498: The city. The plague epidemics ravaged Moscow in 1570–1571, 1592 and 1654–1656. The plague killed upwards of 80% of the people in 1654–55. Fires burned out much of the wooden city in 1626 and 1648. In 1712 Peter the Great moved his government to the newly built Saint Petersburg on the Baltic coast. After losing the status as capital, the population at first decreased, from 200,000 in the 17th century to 130,000 in 1750. But after 1750,

11297-438: The cost of religious toleration 'guaranteed to drive them back into the arms of reaction'. Witte had made that demand (self-government in exchange for religious toleration) in the hope of 'wooing' the important commercial groups of the ethnic minorities of Jewish and Old Believer communities. According to Dmitry Filosofov , Witte was the only talented person in the government, but he brought many troubles to Russia. He destroyed

11440-560: The course of the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) . These new outskirts became known as the Meshchanskaya sloboda , after Ruthenian meshchane "town people". The term meshchane acquired pejorative connotations in 18th-century Russia and today means "petty bourgeois" or "narrow-minded philistine". The entire city of the late 17th century are contained within what is today Moscow's Central Administrative Okrug . Numerous disasters befell

11583-457: The court was only using him, as had emerged in talks with members of the Kadet Party. After his skillful diplomacy Witte was appointed as Chairman of the new Council of Ministers , the equivalent of Prime Minister, and formed Sergei Witte's Cabinet , not belonging to any party, as there were none. No longer was the tsar the head of the government. "Immediately upon my nomination as President of

11726-450: The data to justify those reforms. By 1900 the growth in the manufacturing industry had been four times faster than in the preceding five-year period and six times faster than in the decade before that. External trade in industrial goods was equal to that of Belgium . In 1904, the Union of Liberation was formed, which demanded economic and political reform. Witte controlled East Asian policy in

11869-905: The destruction during the French occupation, a Commission for the Construction of the City of Moscow was established. It launched a great program of rebuilding, including a partial replanning of the centre. Among many buildings constructed, or reconstructed, was the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin Armoury , the Moscow University , the Moscow Manege (Riding School), and the Bolshoi Theatre . The Arbat Street had been in existence since at least

12012-409: The economic theories of Friedrich List and justified the need for a strong domestic industry, to be protected from foreign competition by customs barriers . A new customs law for Russia was passed in 1891, spurring an increase in industrialization by the turn of the 20th century. While Witte worked to achieve industrialization, he also fought for practical education. He said that railways operated by

12155-456: The end of March, and warm summers. More extreme continental climates at the same latitude – such as parts of Eastern Canada or Siberia – have much colder winters than Moscow, suggesting that there is still significant moderation from the Atlantic Ocean despite the fact that Moscow is far from the sea. Weather can fluctuate widely, with temperatures ranging from −25 °C (−13 °F) in

12298-478: The end of that period, he was appointed as chief of the traffic office. After a wreck on the Odessa Railways in late 1875 cost many lives, Witte was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison. However, while he was still contesting the case in court, Witte directed the Odessa Railways and achieved extraordinary efforts towards the transport of troops and war materials in the Russo-Turkish War and attracted

12441-666: The end of the 1920s. A new anti-religious campaign, launched in 1929, coincided with the collectivization of peasants; the destruction of churches in the cities peaked around 1932. In 1937 letters were written to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to rename Moscow to "Stalindar" or "Stalinodar". Stalin rejected this suggestion. During World War II, the Soviet State Committee of Defence and

12584-467: The establishment of new "commercial" schools. He was known for appointing subordinates by their academic credentials or merit, rather than because of patronage political connections. In 1894, he concluded a 10-year commercial treaty with the German Empire on favorable terms for Russia. When Alexander III died, he told his son on his deathbed to listen well to Witte, his most capable minister. In 1895, on

12727-487: The expanding city in the later 19th century and was developed into a public municipal park in 1878. The suburban Savyolovsky Rail Terminal was built in 1902. In January 1905, the institution of the City Governor, or Mayor , was officially introduced, and Alexander Adrianov became Moscow's first official mayor. When Catherine II came to power in 1762, the city's filth and the smell of sewage were depicted by observers as

12870-511: The fringe. Summer dachas are being converted into year-round residences, and with the proliferation of automobiles there is heavy traffic congestion. Multiple old churches and other examples of architectural heritage that had been demolished during the Stalin era have been restored, such as the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour . In 2010s Moscow's Administration has launched some long duration projects like

13013-546: The government, and from 20 October the city was declared to be in a siege. Its remaining inhabitants built and manned antitank defenses, while the city was bombarded from the air. On 1 May 1944, a medal "For the defence of Moscow" and in 1947 another medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow" was instituted. German and Soviet casualties during the battle have been debated, as sources provide different estimates. Total casualties between 30 September 1941, and 7 January 1942, are estimated to be between 248,000 and 400,000 for

13156-548: The inflow of foreign capital. Witte also enacted a law in 1897 limiting working hours in enterprises, and in 1898 reformed commercial and industrial taxes. In 1899 the Petrograd Polytechnical Institute was founded on his initiative. In summer 1898, he addressed a memorandum to the Tsar calling for an agricultural conference on the reform of the peasant community. This resulted in three years of talks about laws to abolish collective responsibility and facilitate

13299-427: The latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва , Moskva , which is a result of morphological generalization with the numerous Slavic ā -stem nouns . The form Moskovĭ has left traces in other languages, including English: Moscow ; German : Moskau ; French : Moscou ; Portuguese : Moscou, Moscovo ; and Spanish : Moscú . Moscow has acquired epithets , such as The Third Rome . Moscow

13442-400: The leader of the demonstration to leave the country. Witte recommended that the government issue a manifesto related to the people's demands. Schemes of reform would be elaborated by Ivan Goremykin and a committee consisting of elected representatives of the zemstva and municipal councils under the presidency of Witte. On 3 March the tsar condemned the revolutionaries. The government issued

13585-417: The leading Moscow weather station is situated, is 156 metres (512 feet). Teplostan Upland is the city's highest point at 255 metres (837 feet). The width of Moscow city (not limiting MKAD ) from west to east is 39.7 km (24.7 mi), and the length from north to south is 51.8 km (32.2 mi). Moscow serves as the reference point for the time zone used in most of European Russia , Belarus and

13728-579: The loan, but that they would not be in a position to do so until the Russian Government had enacted legal measures tending to improve the conditions of the Jews in Russia. As I deemed it beneath our dignity to connect the solution of our Jewish question with the loan, I decided to give up my intention of securing the participation of the Rothschilds." On 24 November by Imperial decree provisional regulations on

13871-461: The major Western powers and Japan sent armed forces to relieve their diplomatic missions in Peking . The Russian government used that as an opportunity to bring a substantial army into Manchuria . As a consequence, by 1900 Manchuria was a fully-incorporated outpost of the Russian Empire, and Japan prepared to fight Russia. Witte, in a memorandum, tried to turn the reports of the zemstvo presidents into

14014-459: The majority of Moscow's indigenous population. The first known reference to Moscow was in 1147, as a meeting place of Yuri Dolgorukiy and Sviatoslav Olgovich . At the time it was a minor town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. In 1156, Dolgorukiy fortified the town by creating a wooden wall; this structure became the Kremlin. In the course of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' ,

14157-519: The medieval Muscovy state). He began fighting the Tatars, enlarged the territory of Muscovy, and enriched his capital city. By 1500 it had a population of 100,000 and was one of the largest cities in the world. He conquered the far larger principality of Novgorod to the north, which had been allied to the hostile Lithuanians. Thus he enlarged the territory sevenfold, from 430,000 to 2,800,000 square kilometres (170,000 to 1,080,000 square miles). He took control of

14300-500: The moat. Books were sold on this bridge and stone platforms were built nearby for guns – "raskats". The Tsar Cannon was located on the platform of the Lobnoye mesto . The road connecting Moscow with St. Petersburg, now the M10 highway , was completed in 1746, its Moscow end following the old Tver road, which had existed since the 16th century. It became known as Peterburskoye Schosse after it

14443-588: The most powerful cities in Russia. In 1380, prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow led a united Russian army to an important victory over the Mongols in the Battle of Kulikovo . Afterward, Moscow took the leading role in liberating Russia from Mongol domination. In 1480, Ivan III had finally broken the Russians free from Tatar control, and Moscow became the capital of an empire that would eventually encompass all of Russia and Siberia , and parts of many other lands. In 1462 Ivan III became Grand Prince of Moscow (then part of

14586-472: The name is reconstructed as * Москы , * Mosky , hence it was one of a few Slavic ū -stem nouns . As with other nouns of that declension, it had been undergoing a morphological transformation at the early stage of the development of the language, as a result, the first written references in the 12th century were Московь , Moskovĭ ( accusative case ), Москви , Moskvi ( locative case ), Москвe/Москвѣ , Moskve/Moskvě ( genitive case ). From

14729-561: The peace terms that it had imposed on China. Japan was forced to cede the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur back to China (both territories were located in south-western Manchuria, a Chinese province). The new Russian role angered Tokyo, which decided Russia was the main enemy in its quest to control Manchuria , Korea and China. Witte underestimated Japan's growing economic and military power and exaggerated Russia's military prowess. Russia concluded an alliance with China (in 1896 by

14872-493: The political programme of the Liberation Movement , were an attempt to isolate the political Left by pacifying the liberals. Witte emphasised that repression would be only a temporary solution to the problem and a risky one because he believed that the armed forces, whose loyalty was now in question, could collapse if they were to be used against the masses. Most of the military advisers to the tsar agreed with Witte, as did

15015-424: The population doubled from 100,000 to 200,000, and it expanded beyond its ramparts in the latter part of the century. In the middle of the 17th century, 20% of Moscow suburb's inhabitants were from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , being driven from their homeland by Muscovite invaders. By 1682, there were 692 households established north of the ramparts, by Ukrainians and Belarusians abducted from their hometowns in

15158-466: The population grew tenfold over the remaining duration of the Russian Empire, reaching 1.8 million by 1915. The 1770–1772 Russian plague killed up to 100,000 people in Moscow. By 1700, the building of cobbled roads had begun. In 1730, permanent street lights were introduced, and by 1867 many streets had a gaslight. In 1883, near the Prechistinskiye Gates, arc lamps were installed. In 1741 Moscow

15301-491: The power struggles of the principality with lasting success, siding with his brother Dmitry in his bid for the rule of Novgorod . From 1283 he acted as the ruler of an independent principality alongside Dmitry, who became Grand Duke of Vladimir . Daniel has been credited with founding the first Moscow monasteries, dedicated to the Lord's Epiphany and to Saint Daniel. Daniel ruled Moscow as Grand Duke until 1303 and established it as

15444-585: The reign of Peter the Great , the Russian capital was moved to the newly founded city of Saint Petersburg in 1712, decreasing Moscow's influence. Following the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Russian SFSR , the capital was moved back to Moscow in 1918, where it later became the political center of the Soviet Union . In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Moscow remained

15587-667: The resettlement of farmers onto lands on the outskirts of the empire. Many of his ideas were later adopted by Pyotr Stolypin . In 1902 Witte's supporter, Dmitry Sipyagin , the Minister of Home Affairs, was assassinated. In an attempt to keep up the modernization of the Russian economy, Witte called and oversaw the Special Conference on the Needs of the Rural Industry. The conference was to provide recommendations for future reforms and compile

15730-468: The role of the monarchy. Witte gained popularity in the government. In 1886, he was appointed manager of the privately-held Southwestern Railways , based in Kiev, and was noted for increasing its efficiency and profitability. Around then, he met Tsar Alexander III , but he conflicted with the tsar's aides by warning of the danger in their practice of using two powerful freight locomotives to achieve high speeds for

15873-591: The royal train. His warnings were proven in the October 1888 Borki train disaster , Witte was then appointed as Director of State Railways. Witte worked in railroad management for 20 years after he had begun as a ticket clerk. He caught the attention of Finance Minister Ivan Vyshnegradsky , who appointed him as Russian Director of Railway Affairs within the Finance Ministry, where he served from 1889 to 1891. During that period, he oversaw an ambitious program of railway construction. Until then, less than one fourth of

16016-574: The sediments from which the specimen was taken to be Kimmeridgian , but, according to more recent studies, they were formed in the Tithonian age of the Jurassic period. Albian foraminifera and ammonites also known from the Moscow deposits. Fossils of various organisms are on display in Moscow museums, including the Orlov Museum of Paleontology and Vernadsky State Geological Museum . According to

16159-404: The small railway systems were under direct state control, but Witte set about expanding the rail lines and getting the railway service under control as a state monopoly. Witte also obtained the right to assign employees based on their performance or merit, rather than for patronage for political or familial connections. In 1889, he published a paper, "National Savings and Friedrich List", which cited

16302-579: The sole collector of taxes for the Mongol rulers, making Moscow the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal . By paying high tribute, Ivan won an important concession from the Khan . While the Khan of the Golden Horde initially attempted to limit Moscow's influence, when the growth of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to threaten all of Russia, the Khan strengthened Moscow to counterbalance Lithuania, allowing it to become one of

16445-449: The state would be useless "unless it does its utmost for spreading technical education..." Tsar Alexander III appointed Witte in 1892 as acting Minister of Ways and Communications. That gave him both control of the railroads in Russia and the authority to impose a reform on the tariffs charged. "Russian railroads gradually became perhaps the most economically operated railroads of the world". Profits were high: over 100 million gold rubles

16588-439: The suburbs it is about −8.3 °C (17.1 °F). The temperature difference between the centre of Moscow and nearby areas of Moscow Oblast can sometimes be more than 10 °C (18 °F) on frosty winter nights. Recent changes in Moscow's regional climate, since it is in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, are often cited by climate scientists as evidence of global warming , though by definition, climate change

16731-957: The title of Count to be given to his grandson, L. K. Naryshkin (1905-1963). Witte's reputation was burnished in the West after his secret memoirs were published in translation in 1921. They had been completed in 1912 and kept in a bank in Bayonne , France. He had left orders that they could not be published during the lifetimes of him and his contemporaries. The ambassador in France, Vasily Maklakov , received them from his widow. The original manuscript of his memoirs are now held in Columbia University Library's Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture. The Sergei Witte University of Moscow, with campuses in Ryazan, Krasnodar and Nizhny Novgorod

16874-508: The tsar appointed Trepov as Master of the Palace without consulting Witte, and had daily contact with the emperor; his influence at court was paramount. "In addition mass violence broke out in the days following the issuance of the October Manifesto. The major source of the unrest was unrelated to the October Manifesto. It took the form of attacks by gangs in the cities on the Jews. In general,

17017-462: The tsar with two choices: either appoint a military dictator, or agree to broad and major reforms. In a memorandum arguing for a manifesto, Witte outlined the reforms needed to appease the masses. He argued for the following reforms: creation of a legislative parliament ( Imperial Duma ) elected via a democratic franchise; granting of civil liberties; establishing a cabinet government and a 'constitutional order'. Those demands, which basically comprised

17160-453: The tsar. Despite Witte's protests, Durnovo was allowed to 'carry out a brutal and excessive, and often totally unjustified, series of repressive measures.' In 1906, Father Gapon returned to Russia from exile and supported Witte's government. On 30 April 1905 Witte proposed the Law of Religious Toleration, followed by the edict of 30 October 1906 giving legal status to schismatics and sectarians of

17303-631: The upper nobility, but the tsar protected him. In August 1892, Witte was appointed to the post of Minister of Finance, which he held for the next eleven years, and he nearly doubled the revenues of the empire. (Until 1905 matters pertaining to industry and commerce were within the province of the Ministry of Finance.) During his tenure, he greatly accelerated the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway . He also emphasized creation of an educational system to train personnel for industry, in particular,

17446-597: The wake of Russia's failures in the Crimean War in 1855–56, confidence in the ability of the state to maintain order in the slums eroded, and demands for improved public health put it back on the agenda. In 1903 the Moskvoretskaya water supply was completed. In November 1917, upon learning of the uprising in Petrograd , Moscow's Bolsheviks began their uprising . On 2 November (15), 1917, after heavy fighting, Soviet power

17589-542: The west, Southern Railways to the east, and Odesa Railways to the south. The Chernihiv–Ovruch railway that passes Chernobyl Power Plant and has restricted use also passes across the territory of neighboring Belarus . The first railway to be built in the Ukrainian part of the Russian Empire was a track from Odesa to Balta . It was 213 km (132 mi) in length and was built in 1865. This railroad connected

17732-405: The working classes from suffrage . The proposal was greeted by numerous protests and strikes across the country, which became known as the Russian Revolution of 1905 . Witte described the regime's usual "incompetence and obstinacy" in response to the crisis of 1904–1905 as a "mixture of cowardice, blindness and stupidity". On 8 January 1905, Witte and Sviatopolk-Mirsky had been approached by

17875-459: Was 38.2 °C (100.8 °F) at the VVC weather station and 39.0 °C (102.2 °F) in the center of Moscow and Domodedovo airport on 29 July 2010, during the unusual 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves . Record high and average temperatures were recorded for January, March, April, May, June, July, August, November, and December in 2007–2022. The average July temperature from 1991 to 2020

18018-439: Was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire , replacing the emperor as head of government. Neither liberal nor conservative, he attracted foreign capital to boost Russia's industrialization . Witte's strategy was to avoid the danger of wars. Witte served under the final two emperors of Russia , Alexander III ( r.  1881–1894 ) and Nicholas II ( r.  1894–1917 ). During

18161-580: Was a bureaucrat and "businessman," to relinquish his autocratic rule. Witte later said that the tsar's court were ready to use the Manifesto as a temporary concession, and later return to autocracy "when the revolutionary tide subsided". In October Witte was charged with the task of assembling the nation's first cabinet government, and he offered the liberals several portfolios: Ministry of Agriculture to Ivan Shipov ; Ministry of Trade and Industry to Alexander Guchkov ; Ministry of Justice to Anatoly Koni and

18304-490: Was arrested, along with the other members of the deputations. In later 1905 Witte was approached by the tsar's advisers, in an effort to save the country from complete collapse, and on 9 October 1905, he went to the Winter Palace for a meeting. Here he told the tsar 'with brutal frankness' that the country was on the verge of a catastrophic revolution, which he said 'would sweep away a thousand years of history'. He presented

18447-471: Was attributed to meningitis or a brain tumor . His third-class funeral was held at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra . On the black granite slab, in addition to the usual dates of birth and death, another date was carved: 17 October, 1905, the date he presented the Manifesto. Witte had no children, but he had adopted his wife's by her first marriage. According to Edvard Radzinsky , Witte asked in vain for

18590-468: Was brought back into the governmental decision-making process to help deal with growing civil unrest. Confronted with increasing opposition and, after consulting with Witte and Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky , the tsar issued a reform ukase on December 25, 1904 with vague promises. After the Bloody Sunday riots of 1905, Witte supplied 500 rubles, the equivalent of 250 dollars, to Father Gapon in order for

18733-511: Was built in 1505–08 and augmented to its present height in 1600. A trading settlement, or posad , grew up to the east of the Kremlin, in the area known as Zaradye . In the time of Ivan III, the Red Square , originally named the Hollow Field appeared. In 1508–1516, the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin (Novy) arranged for the construction of a moat in front of the eastern wall, which would connect

18876-498: Was built in 1958 at 37 kilometres (23 miles) from the city centre to the north-west, along with the Leningradskoye Shosse , and incorporated as one of Moscow's administrative okrugs . Moscow State University moved to its campus on Sparrow Hills in 1953. In 1959 Nikita Khrushchev launched his anti-religious campaign . Of Moscow's fifty churches operating in 1959, thirty were closed and six demolished. On 8 May 1965, due to

19019-425: Was buried in the cemetery of the St. Daniel Monastery. Moscow was stable and prosperous for many years and attracted refugees from across Russia. The Rurikids maintained large landholdings by practicing primogeniture , whereby all land was passed to the eldest sons. By 1304, Yury of Moscow contested with Mikhail of Tver for the throne of the principality of Vladimir . Ivan I eventually defeated Tver to become

19162-494: Was confirmed as the dictator of foreign policies and the supreme commander of the army and navy . The ministers remained responsible solely to Nicholas II, not to the Duma. The "peasant question" or land reforms was a hot issue; the influence of the "Duma of Public Anger" had to be limited, according to Goremykin and Dmitri Trepov. The Bolsheviks boycotted the coming election. When Witte discovered that Nicholas never intended to honour those concessions, he resigned as Chairman of

19305-409: Was considered unsuitable for a noble or aristocrat at the time. He was instead persuaded by Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Machabelov , Minister of Ways and Communication, to pursue a career in the Russian railroads . At the direction of the count, Witte undertook six months of training in a variety of positions on the Odessa Railways to gain a practical understanding of Russian railways operations. At

19448-421: Was dissatisfied with proposals by Alexander Bulygin , the successor of Sviatopolk-Mirsky. Even figures like Mikhail Osipovich Menshikov and Vladimir Meshchersky agreed. A 6 August (O.S.) manifesto created a Duma as a consultative body only. Elections of its representatives would not be direct but be held in four stages, and qualifications for class and property would exclude much of the intelligentsia and all of

19591-562: Was erected around the city, including an area on the right bank of the Moscow River. As an outermost line of defense, a chain of strongly fortified monasteries was established beyond the ramparts to the south and east, principally the Novodevichy Convent and Donskoy , Danilov , Simonov , Novospasskiy , and Andronikov monasteries, most of which now house museums. From its ramparts, the city became poetically known as Bielokamennaya ,

19734-421: Was established in Moscow. Vladimir Lenin , fearing invasion, moved the capital back to Moscow on 12 March 1918. The Kremlin once again became the seat of power, political centre of the new state. With the change in values imposed by communist ideology , the tradition of preserving cultural heritage was broken. Independent preservation societies, even those that defended only secular landmarks, were disbanded by

19877-475: Was from a Lutheran Baltic German family. He converted to Russian Orthodoxy upon his marriage with Yekaterina Fadeyeva. His father was made a member of the knighthood in Pskov but moved as a civil servant to Saratov and Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia ). Sergei was raised on the estate of his mother's parents. His grandfather was Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeyev, a Governor of Saratov and Privy Councillor of

20020-559: Was officially named Новая Москва (New Moscow). Moscow is situated on the banks of the Moskva River , which flows for just over 500 km (311 mi) through the East European Plain in central Russia, not far from the natural border of the forest and forest- steppe zone. 49 bridges span the river and its canals within the city's limits. The elevation of Moscow at the All-Russia Exhibition Center (VVC), where

20163-596: Was paved in the 1780s. Petrovsky Palace was built in 1776–1780 by Matvey Kazakov . Between 1781 and 1804 the Mytischinskiy water pipe (the first in Russia) was built. When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, the Moscovites were evacuated. The Moscow fire was principally the effect of Russian sabotage. Napoleon's Grande Armée was forced to retreat and nearly annihilated by the devastating Russian winter. In 1813, following

20306-412: Was revealed that the police in the former city had organised, armed and gave vodka to the anti-Semitic crowds, and even participated in the attacks. Witte demanded the prosecution of the chief of police in St. Petersburg, who was involved in the printing of anti-Semitic pamphlets, but the tsar intervened and protected him. Witte believed that anti-Semitism was 'considered fashionable' among the elite. In

20449-616: Was surrounded by a barricade 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, the Kamer-Kollezhskiy barrier, with 16 gates at which customs tolls were collected. Its line is traced today by several streets called val ("ramparts"). In the early 19th century, the Arch of Konstantino-Elenensky gate was paved with bricks, but the Spassky Gate was the main front gate of the Kremlin and used for royal entrances. From this gate, wooden and stone bridges stretched across

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