Russian History

•Kiev -important trading center

•Kiev’s early rulers were Scandinavian traders (Vikings) called Rus

•The people of this region were called the Slavs

Kievan Rus 800’s

KremlinTrade centers >> cities

Built a fort in Moscow called the Kremlin

Inside the Kremlin protected government buildings, churches and palaces

Today the Kremlin is like our Washington, D.C.!

Religious Influence1100’s

Eastern or Orthodox, Christianity

Mongol Invasion1240-1500’s

Result?Mongols increased trade with Western territories.

Russian Expansion• 1480 Ivan III (Ivan the Great)

defeated the Mongols• 1547 Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible)

crowns himself first Russian czar (tsar) and pushes the Mongols out

1637 Sea of Okhotsk (uh-kawtsk)

Gradually Russian fur trappers , hunters, and pioneers migrated eastward and reached the Pacific Coast at the Sea of Okhotsk.-The Cossacks –helped eastward expansion & established settlements.

Russian Expansion cont’d

1860 Amur River Region-Russia took much of this region From China…later in the

1905 Russo-Japanese War–Russia lost to Japan!

1682-1725 Czar Peter the Great

Peter the Great made impressive strides toward expanding and modernizing Russia.

-moved the capital from Moscow toSt. Petersburg to try modernize Russia

Rationales (reasons) for expansion:-to spread Christianity- Russian Orthodox to Islamic territories-to restore Eastern Europeans to their Slavic heritage

1795 Catherine the Great-Expands to North of Black Sea and Volga River regions

Russia lags behind Western Europe

-territorial growth was rapid, but its progressive was less impressive

-Russia did not begin to industrialize until the late 1800’s.

Until the 1800’s Russia was one big FARM!

End of an Empire

Late 1800’s Russia began to industrialize, however it resulted in harsh working conditions and low wages.

Russia was still a country of poor peasant farmers called serfs .

Serfs –tied to the land

1861- Alexander II frees the serfs

Results:-Trans-Siberian railway built-updated legal and banking systemsSounds great however…

there were food shortages, people were divided by class (nobility, clergy, intellectuals and peasants) and an economic depression.1914 WWI –Russia suffered huge losses in war.

The people of Russia are angry and frustrated…who do they blame??czars

1917 Russian Revolution

A small group called the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the government

Two very important members we will see later in history: Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky

1918 Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate He would be the last czar of Russia

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

1868 – 1918

1922 Union of Soviet Socialist

RepublicsUSSR

What are some factors that led to the fall of the czar?

Poverty, food shortages, losses in WWI