A time-line of RussiaWorld News | Politics | History | Editor(Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi) |
A timeline of Russiac800: the Varingian Rus (Vikings?) reach the lands around Kiev from the north c862: the Rus viking Ulrich founds Novgorod 860: a Rus fleet attacks Constantinople 863: Cyril and Methodius from Constantinople write the Slavic bible c879: the Rus Viking Rurik founds Kiev c882: Oleg of Russia captures Kiev from the Khazars c900: Oleg unifies the Baltic city of Novgorod and Kiev 911: the Rus and the eastern Roman empire sign a treaty 921: Rurik's son Igor moves the capital of the duchy from Novgorod to Kiev 911: the Rus raid Caspian communities by ship 968: Khazars are defeated at Sarkel by Svyatoslav of Kiev and the Khazar empire is destroyed 980: Vladimir of Novgorod conquers Kiev and creates a unified Rus with capital in Kiev 988: Vladimir, now the Rus ruler of Kiev-Novgorod, a kingdom that extends from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea (the largest European state), marries the sister-in-law of the Byzantine emperor, converts his people to Christianity (the Greek-Orthodox brand of Christianity) and builds the first church (Church Of the Holy Virgin), while the Patriarch of Byzantium appoints a primate of Russia who is a Greek 996: the Church of the Assumption ("Church of the Tithes") is completed 1018: There are already almost 400 churches in Kiev 1024: Suzdal is founded 1030: Yaroslav, the Rus ruler of Kiev-Novgorod, builds Hagia Sofia (St Sophia) in Kiev 1035: the city of Cernigov builds the Church of the Transfiguration 1045: Yaroslav of Kiev issues the "Russkaia pravda" to regulate the princes of the confederation of Kiev 1047: St Sophia is completed in Kiev 1050: the ascetics Anthony and Theodosius found the Monastery of the Caves (Pecherska Lavra) in Kiev 1050: Hilarion is the first native Rus to head the church of Kiev ("metropolitan") 1054: Yaroslav splits the kingdom among his sons: to Iziaslav the capital Kiev, to Svjatoslav the city-state of Chernigov, and to Vsevolod the Pereiaslavl, Rostov-Suzdal and the Volga River region 1093: Vladimir Monomakh initiates a campaign to unite Kiev and northeastern Rus 1108: the city of Vladimir is founded by Monomakh 1113: Monomakh is proclaimed prince of Kiev 1125: Monomach dies and is succeeded by his son Mtislav in Kiev 1132: Mtislav dies and Monomakh's sixth son Yury Dolgoruky, lord of the Kievian province of Suzdal, tries to seize power in Kiev but the state disintegrates in a loose federation of city-states 1147: the Russian city of Moscow is founded 1154: Yury Dolgoruky is accepted as grand prince of Kiev 1156: Yury Dolgoruky builds the first (wooden) kremlin in Moscow 1157: Yury Dolgoruky dies and his eldest son becomes the grand prince of Kiev 1169: Another of Yury's sons, Gleb Yuriyevich, becomes grand prince of Kiev 1174: Yury Dolgoruky's tenth son Vsevolod III becomes the grand prince of Kiev 1176: Yury Dolgoruky's tenth son Vsevolod III becomes the grand prince of Kiev 1200: Vsevolod III proclaims himself grand prince of Kiev and grand prince of Vladimir-Suzdal 1212: Vsevolod III dies 1215: Yury II founds the eastern-most of the Russian princedoms, Nizhny-Novgorod, on the Volga and Oka rivers 1222: Yaroslav II becomes prince of Novgorod 1223: a first Mongol horde defeats a coalition of Russian princes on the Kalka river 1236: Yaroslav II moves from Novgorod to Kiev, leaving his son Alexander in charge in Novgorod 1237: the Mongols invade Russia 1238: Yaroslav II becomes prince of Vladimir 1240: Novgorod prince Alexander "Nevsky" defeats the Swedes on the Neva river 1240: Mongol leader Batu raids Kiev, destroying the Church of the Assumption, the Rurikid princes becomes subjects of the Mongols, and Moscow becomes the new center of Russian culture 1243: Yaroslav II of Vladimir accepts to become a vassal of the Mongols 1246: Yaroslav II of Vladimir dies and the Mongols split his duchy between his children Alexander Nevsky (Kiev) and Andrej (Vladimir, Suzdal) 1248: Andrej rebels and the Mongols, after defeating him, install Alexander "Nevsky" as prince of Vladimir 1256: prince Danylo Halitski of Galicia founds Lviv 1303: under the leadership of Iurii Danilovic, the princes of Moscow refuse to recognize the Rurikid heir and convince the Mongols to accept the Danilovic dynasty 1303: Youstol Dispage Fromscaruffi dies 1310: the city of Novgorod builds the fortress Karela in Finland to protect from Swedish invasions 1325: Ivan I becomes ruler of Moscow-Vladimir 1326: prince Ivan Danilovic builds five stone churches inside Moscow's kremlin 1328: the Metropolitan moves the capital of the Russian church from Vladimir to Moskow 1328: the prince of Moscow, Ivan I, is appointed grand prince by the Mongols, thereby ending the grand principate of Vladimir 1350: Sergius of Radonezh founds the Monastery of the Holy Trinity (at Sergiev Posad), the new center of Russian christianity 1380: Dmitrii Danilovic of Moscow, leading a coalition of Russian cities (except Tver and Novgorod), defeats the Mongols at Kulikovo 1386: Galicia is conquered by Poland 1389: Cyprian becomes metropolitan of Lithuania and Kiev 1439: the Orthodox Church of Russia refuses a fusion with Roman catholicism 1453: when the Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople, Orthodox Church of Russia splits from Byzantium 1461: the Orthodox Church of Russia changes the title of the metropolitan of Kiev to "patriarch of Moscow and all Russia" 1462: Ivan III becomes ruler of Moscow and re-organizes Moscow as an absolutist state 1472: Ivan III of Moscow marries Sophia Paleologa, niece of the last emperor of Byzantium 1478: Ivan III of Moscow annexes Novgorod 1480: Ivan III of Moscow assumes the title of Tsar of Russia 1485: Ivan III of Moscow annexes Tver 1485: Construction of the new Kremlin begins in Moskow 1500: The princes of Novgorod, Chernigov and Starodub secede from Lithuania and join Muscovy 1556: Ivan IV the Terrible conquers the Mongol khanate of Astrakhan, i.e. Russia reaches the Caspian Sea 1558: Ivan IV the Terrible grants the Stroganovs territory west of the Urals and the Stroganovs hire Cossacks to subdue the Tatars 1571: the Tartar khanate of Crimea raids Moscow 1581: Cossacks begin colonizing Siberia 1584: Ivan the Terrible dies 1589: the patriarchate of Moscow is created 1591: the Tatar sack Moscow 1598: the last Rurikid dies and a council elects Boris Godunov as czar 1598: the king of the Tatars is finally defeated by the Cossacks 1608: Poland invades Russia and conquers Moscow 1609: Sweden invades Russia and conquers Karela 1612: Moscow is liberated by an army of Russian nobles 1613: a council elects Mikhail Romanov as czar and inaugurates the Romanov dynasty 1617: at the end of the Swedish war, Russia loses Karelia but regains Novgorod (treaty of Stolbovo) 1617: Poland invades Russia and conquers Smolensk and Chrnigov 1619: the first Russian envoy reaches the court of China 1624: Peasant rebellions led by Cossacks in Ukraine against Polish rule 1627: Russia builds a fort at Krasnoiarsk 1632: Russia builds a fort at Iakurst 1639: the Cossacks reach the Pacific Ocean 1643: Russians discover Lake Bajkal 1645: Alexis, son of Michail, becomes czar 1648: the people of Moscow revolts when a tax on salt is introduced 1648: the Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev discovers that a straight separates Asia from America 1649: a council compiles a new code of law 1651: Russia's eastward expansion reaches Lake Bajkal 1654: Ukraine secedes from Poland-Lithuania and demands integration into Russia, Russia declares war on Poland and captures Minsk and Vilna 1655: Sweden invades Poland-Lithuania ("First Northern War"), causing the death of millions, while Russia, Denmark, and the Empireside with Poland-Lithuania 1662: people revolt because of inflation 1667: the peace treaty of Andrusovo limits Poland to western Ukraine while Russia obtains Smolensk and Kiev (Ukraine) 1667: peasants revolt led by Stephan Razin 1671: Stephan Razin is hanged in Moscow TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. 1689: the czar Petr the Great modernizes Russia 1689: China signs a border treaty with Russia (first bilateral agreement with a European power), the treaty of Nerchinsk, to settle the border between Russian Siberia and Chinese Manchuria, declaring Outer Mongolia a neutral land (partition of the steppe world between Russia and China) 1699: Denmark, Poland and Russia attack Sweden, but Charles XII's army invades Poland, Saxony and Ukraine 1707: Sweden, having defeated Poland, invades Russia 1709: Sweden is defeated by Russia at the battle of Poltava 1713: Petr builds a new capital, St Petersburg 1717: Poland becomes a Russian protectorate 1718: Russia defeats the Khazak horde 1721: at the peace of Nystad, Russia obtains from Sweden some of its Baltic territories (Estonia and Livonia) 1721: the Patriarchate is abolished, hermitages are banned and the Russian Church is subjected to the czar 1722: Petr triumphs against Persia 1725: Petr the Great dies and is succeeded by his wife Ekaterina I 1727: Ekaterina I dies and is succeeded by Petr II 1728: the Russian explorer Vitus Bering sails beyond Kamchatka 1741: the Russian explorer Vitus Bering "discovers" Alaska 1741: Elizabeta becomes czarina 1755: scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov founds the Moscow State University, the first Russian university 1756: Friederich II of Prussia invades Saxony, starting the Seven Years' War, pitting France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden and Spain against Prussia and Britain 1762: Elizabeta dies and the new czar Petr III switches alliance, joining Prussia 1762: Ekaterina the Great becomes czar 1768: Jews are massacred during riots in Russia-occupied Poland 1768: Ottoman-Russian war 1772: a renegade cossack, Pugachev, leads a revolt 1772: a Polish rebellion is crushed by Russia that partitions one fourth of Poland with Prussia and Austria 1774: the Russians defeat the Ottomans and annex Crimea 1783: Ekaterina annexes Crimea 1793: Ekaterina of Russia invades Poland, abrogates the constitution and partitions half of Poland between Russia and Prussia 1795: a third partition of Poland divides the whole of Poland between Russia (that takes all of Lithuania) and Prussia, thereby removing Poland from the map 1796: Ekaterina the Great dies 1798: Russia expands to Poland, Ukraine and Belarus 1801: Russia annexes Georgia 1802: Alexander I becomes czar 1804: first war against Persia 1808: Russia establishes the colony of Noviiy Rossiya in California 1809: Russia invades Sweden and Sweden cedes Finland to Russia 1812: Napoleon invades Russia and Russians burn Moskow 1814: Napoleon is defeated 1822: the ban on hermitages is repealed and a hermitage is built at Optina Pustyn 1825: Alexander I 1825 dies and is succeeded by Nicholas I 1825: The "Decembrist" revolt is suppressed 1826: second war against Persia 1828: Persia loses the Caucasus, and Russia annexes Armenia and Azerbaijan 1829: Russia defeats the Ottomans and helps Serbia and Greece become independent 1849: Dostoevsky is jailed for subversive activities 1853: In the Crimean war Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire fight Russia 1854: Russia annexes Khazakstan 1855: Russia and Japan establish diplomatic relations 1855: Nicholas I dies and is succeeded by Alexander II 1856: Russia's Black Sea fleet is destroyed but the the Ottoman empire loses the Crimean War and the treaty of Paris gives the Ottomans a protectorate over Moldavia, Wallachia and Serbia (treaty of Paris) 1859: Dostoevsky is released from detention 1859: Russia annexes Chechnya 1861: Czar Alexander II abolishes serfdom 1863: Russian ships help the Union win the civil war in the US 1864: Russia annexes the Caucasus 1864: Russia expands in Central Asia 1865: Russia conquers Tashkent 1866: the Ottoman protectorates of Moldavia and Wallachia unite in the federation of Romania 1867: the USA buys Alaska from Russia 1868: Russia conquers Samarkand and Bukhara 1869: Dmitri Mendeleev publishes the periodic table of the elements 1871: The first oil well is drilled in the Caucasus (near Baku) 1873: Russia annexes Uzbekistan 1875: Russia exchanges with Japan the Kurile Islands for the island of Sakhalin 1878: Russia defeats the Ottomans and at the Congress of Berlin the states of Serbia and Montenegro are granted independence and Bulgaria is granted broad autonomy 1878: Ludwig Nobel introduces the first oil tanker in the Caucasus 1881: Persia loses Turkmenistan to Russia 1881: Alexander II is assassinated by nihilists and is succeeded by Alexander III 1881: a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms causes mass migrations of eastern European Jews (2.5 million Jews settle in the United States, thousands settle in Palestine) 1882: Russia abandons Turkestan which is annexed by China 1882: Youstol Dispage Fromscaruffi dies 1883: Alphonse Rothschild, a French Jew, loans money to build a railroad to Baku 1884: Russia conquers Merv (Turkmenistan) 1886: The Rothschild family founds the Black Sea Petroleum Company 1890: The population of St Petersburg is 1,033,600 1891: The great famine kills 500,000 people 1891: USA oil accounts for 78% of illuminating oil exports vs 29% of Russia 1892: Sergei Witte minister of finance and launches an ambitious program of industrialization 1892: Marcus Samuel, a British Jew, introduces an oil tanker that can sail through the Suez canal to Bangkok 1892: Russian botanist Dmitri Ivanovsky discovers the first virus, the tobacco mosaic virus 1894: Alexander III dies and is succeeded by Nicholas II 1895: Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) is arrested for revolutionary activities 1898: Marxists groups unite in the Social Democratic Labour Party 1898: China grants Russia a lease for Port Arthur in Manchuria 1900: The population of Russia passes the 100 million mark and Moskow passes one million 1901: Tolstoj is excommunicated by the Russian church for advocating the true spirit of the gospels and separation from the state 1903: Sergei Witte is dismissed by Nicholas II 1903: The Social Democratic Labour Party splits into Bolsheviks (led by Vladimir Lenin) and Mensheviks (led by Julius Martov) 1904: the Trans-Siberian Railroad is completed 1904: Japan attacks Russia in Manchuria and Korea 1905: after Japan destroys the Russian fleet at the battle of Tsushima, Russia withdraws from Manchuria, loses Sakhalin, and recognizes a Japanese protectorate over Korea (treaty of Portsmouth), the first time that a non-European country defeats a European power 1905: Cossacks fire on peaceful protesters in St Petersburg 1905: Protesters march on the Winter Palace and "soviets" (worker's councils) are set up 1905: Czar Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, a sort of constitution that establishes Russia's first parliament (Duma) 1905: Nicholas II falls under the spell of Rasputin, a Siberian peasant who pretended to be a healer and a prophet 1905: Leon Trotsky develops the theory of "Permanent Revolution" 1907: Britain and Russia sign a treaty dividing Iran into respective spheres of influence 1907: Britain and Russia negotiate the status of Persia, Tibet and Afghanistan 1910: The population of St Petersburg is 1,905,600 1911: Russia invades the northern provinces of Iran 1914: World War I breaks out in the Balkans, pitting Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, USA and Japan against Austria, Germany and Turkey (400,000 Russian soldiers die in 1914 alone) 1914: St Petersburg's name is changed to Petrograd 1915: At the Zimmerwald Conference, Vladimir Lenin causes the end of the Second International 1916: Grigori Rasputin is murdered by a prince 1916: Russia has already suffered almost two million deaths in WWI 1917: bending to riots by women, striking workers and defecting soldiers, Czar Nicholas II abdicates, thereby ending the Romanov dynasty ("february revolution") (Click here for a more detailed chronicle of the revolution) 1917: Aleksandr Kerensky is appointed by the Duma as prime minister of the provisional government 1917: Bolsheviks overthrow the Kerensky government and install Lenin as leader of Russia ("october revolution") 1918: Czar Nicholas II, his wife and their children are killed by the secret police of the Bolsheviks 1918: Lenin orders the secret police to arrest and/or kill the anarchists 1918: Lenin signs a truce with Germany and accepts territorial losses 1918: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan proclaim their independence 1918: Lenin nationalizes the factories, collectivizes the farms and outlaws the church 1918: Civil war erupts between the Red Army of the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks (helped by Britain, Japan, USA) 1918: Lenin changes the name of the Bolshevik party to Russian Communist Party 1918: at the end of World War I, Romania gains Transylvania from Hungary and Bessarabia (Moldavia) from the Soviet Union thus doubling in size 1919: the Armenian mystic Georges Gurdjieff establishes the "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man" 1919: China invades Mongolia 1920: Jozef Pilsudski defeats the Soviet army and Poland annexes western Ukraine and Belarus 1921: The civil war ends with Lenin's victory (millions have died of starvation, the population of Petrograd has dropped from 2.5 million in 1917 to 0.6 in 1920) 1921: Lenin enacts the New Economic Policy 1921: the Mongolian communists expel the Chinese from Mongolia and install a dictatorship 1921: UKraine is annexed to the Soviet Union 1922: The Soviet Union is created by uniting Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbajan) 1923: Poland regains Galicia TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. 1924: The Soviet Union adopts a constitution based on the dictatorship of the proletariat 1924: Lenin dies and is succeeded by Joseph Stalin 1927: The Soviet Union launches a compaign of eradication of Islam 1928: Stalin enacts the first Five-Year Plan for rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union 1929: Leon Bronstein (Lev Trotsky), who opposes Stalin, is deported to Turkey 1929: Stalin orders the persecution of "kulaks" (capitalist farmers), 15 million peasants are deported to the Arctic regions and 6.5 million die 1931: the Soviet government destroys the Christ the Savior Cathedral 1932: one million people in Kazakhstan die of famine (caused by forced collectivization) 1932: anti-communist rebellion in Mongolia 1933: five million people in Ukraine die of famine (caused by forced collectivization) 1934: Stalin's main advisor, Sergei Kirov, is assassinated, prompting Stalin to begin the "great purge" of the Communist Party (thousands of communists are deported to "gulags") 1935: the miner Aleksej Stakanov becomes a Soviet hero for his amazing productivity 1936: the first show trial against communist leaders is held in Moscow (the defendants "confess") 1937: 2.5 million Soviet citizens are arrested and 700,000 are executed during the "great purges" 1938: Nicholas Bukharin "confesses" treason at a show trial 1938: the communist regime of Mongolia destroys 900 temples and kills thousands of Buddhists 1939: Laurenti Beria becomes head of the secret police 1939: Stalin and Hitler sign a non-aggression pact including the partition of Poland (and assigns the Baltic states to the Soviet Union) 1939: World War II begins with the invasion of Poland by Germany 1939: Soviet troops invade eastern Poland 1939: Russian aviator Igor Sikorsky invents the helicopter 1940: The Soviet Union invades Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 1940: Romania returns Bessarabia (Moldavia) to the Soviet Union 1940: Leon Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico City 1941: Germany invades the Soviet Union 1943: The Soviet Union launches a counteroffensive 1944: Finland surrenders Karelia to the Soviet Union 1944: eastern Galicia is conquered by the Soviet Union and eventually annexed to Ukraine 1945: Germany surrenders 1945: At the Yalta conference the Soviet Union, Britain and the USA partition Europe in spheres of influence 1945: Germany and Berlin are divided in four sectors, soon to be come "western" and "easter" (Russian) sectors 1946: the Soviet Union begins a secret program of biological weapons (plague, smallpox, anthrax) at Sverdlovsk 1946: Famine kills one million people in Russia and Ukraine October 1946: The Greek communist start a civil war February 1948: Communist coup in Czechoslovakia June 1948: The Soviet Union enacts a blockade of West Berlin September 1948: communist North Korea declares independence under its leader Kim Il Sung, chosen by the Soviet Union November 1948: The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee is disbanded February 1949: The Pravda launches an antisemitic ("anticosmopolitan") campaign June 1949: 30,000 Greeks are deported from Georgia to Kazakhstan August 1949: Several leaders of the Communist Party in Leningrad are arrested, accused of a USA-funded conspiracy against Stalin (the "Leningrad Affair"), and many are executed after a secret trial August 1949: Communists seize power in Hungary and enact a socialist constitution August 1949: The Greek communists are defeated 1949: The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb (based on American designs stolen by Klaus Fuchs) 1949: The Soviet Union forms the Comecom, an economic alliance of the communist countries 1949: 90 thousand people are deported from the Baltic republic to Siberia, as well as 94 thousand Moldavians and 60 thousand Greeks, Armenians and Turks from the Black Sea 1949: The communists win the Chinese civil war 1949: The Soviet Union explodes its first nuclear weapon 1950: The Soviet Union defeats the OUN in Ukraine June 1950: communist North Korea (with approval from Stalin) attacks capitalist South Korea, but the invasion fails after USA intervention May 1952: The leaders of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee are tried and 13 are executed after a secret trial October 1952: The official propaganda reveals the Jewish conspiracy against the Soviet Union January 1953: The "Doctors' Plot" (to assassinate the Soviet leaders) heralds a new wave of anti-semitic persecution January 1953: The Gulag contain 2.7 million prisoners in 500 work colonies, 60 labor camps and 15 "special-regime" camps for political prisoners (mostly nationalists from Ukraine and Baltic republics) March 1953: Stalin dies and an amnesty releases 1.2 million prisoners June 1953: Beria is arrested March 1954: The KGB takes over the role of the NKVD 1955: The Soviet Union forms the Warsaw Pact to counterbalance NATO with Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Rumania 1955: the Soviet Union builds the world's first tokamak nuclear reactor in Moscow 1956: Soviet troops crush democratic movement in Hungary killing 2,800 people February 1956: Nikita Krushev denounces Stalin' crimes in a secret speech to the Communist Party (beginning of the "Thaw") October 1956: An anti-communist popular uprising led by Imre Nagy in Hungary is crushed by Soviet troops killing 2,800 people 1957: The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, the Sputnik November 1957: The first World Conference of Communist Parties votes to hang Hungarian communist Imre Nagy (all vote in favor except the Polish leader Vladislav Gomulka) July 1958: Bloody insurrection in Chechnya 1959: The communists led by Fidel Castro win the civil war in Cuba 1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first astronaut 1961: Stalingrad is renamed Volgograd 1961: Yugoslavia leaves the Soviet camp and leads the non-aligned movement 1961: The Soviet Union builds a wall between East and West Berlin 1962: Krushev and Kennedy risk a nuclear war over Cuba 1964: Krushev is replaced by Leonid Brezhnev 1965: The Soviet Union funds and arms North Vietnam against the USA 1966: The Chinese Cultural Revolution further alienates Mao and the Soviet Union August 1968: Soviet troops crush the democratic movement in Czechoslovakia 1969: Soviet and Chinese troops clash in Asia 1970: "Venera 7" makes the first landing of an Earth's spacecraft on another planet (Venus) 1971: an outbreak of smallpox in Aralsk (Kazakstan) caused by a military program of biological weapons kills dozens of people 1971: "Mars 3" makes the first (successful) landing of an Earth's spacecraft on Mars 1972: Breznev signs the first arms-control treaty 1972: Breznev signs a treaty to ban biological weapons but secretely continues producing them 1978: A polish cardinal, Karol Joseph Wojtyla, is elected Pope John Paul II 1978: a Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov, is killed with poison by the Bulgarian secret service December 1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan 1979: Leonid Brezhnev is awarded the Lenin Prize for Literature (because his books "had an enormous influence on all types and genres of literature") 1979: the accidental release of a biological weapon causes an outbreak of pulmonary anthrax in Sverdlovsk 1979: Pope John Paul II visits Poland and supports the anti-communist movement 1980: Lech Walesa leads Polish workers in a strike 1981: a Bulgarian agent tries to kill the Pope 1982: Brezhnev dies 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new leader of the Soviet Union, removes foreign minister Andrei Gromyko, and launches a campaign of political openness ("glasnost") and economic restructuring ("perestroika") 1985: 21-year old Garry Kasparov becomes the youngest world champion of chess of all times 1986: A nuclear accident in Chernobyl spreads nuclear radiations around Europe, killing 70 people (the Ukrainian government claims that it caused the death of 4,229 people from 1986 to 1996) 1986: Russia launches the permanent space station MIR 1986: a nuclear reactor in Ukrainia (Chernobyl) explodes 1986: the US has 14,000 nuclear warheads and the Soviet Union has 11,000 1986: two Soviet ships collide in the Black Sea and 398 people die 1987: Gorbachev publicly criticizes Stalin 1987: Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros sets up the Soros Foundation to promote democracy in the Soviet Union 1989: the Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan 1989: the Soviet Union holds the first free elections since 1917 1989: In Poland the communist government and Solidarity agree to share power 1989: In East Germany mass demonstrations force the communist government to resign 1989: The Berlin Wall is destroyed by millions of ecstatic Germans, thus leading to the reunification of east and west Germany (november) 1989: The communist government of Bulgaria resigns 1989: The communist government of Czechoslovakia resigns 1989: John Paul II meets Gorbachev, the first meeting between a Pope and a Soviet leader 1989: The communist dictator of Romania is executed 1989: Armenia and Azerbaijan begin fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh 1990: Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian Federation 1990: Lech Walesa elected president of Poland 1990: Hungary holds first free elections 1990: Lithuania declares its indipendence from the Soviet Union, soon followed by Estonia and Latvia 1990: democratic revolution in Mongolia 1990: Aleksy II (Mikhailovich Ridiger) becomes the first patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church since 1917 to be elected without government intervention 1991: A plot to overthrow the Gorbachev government is foiled by Boris Yeltsin 1991: Ukraine declares its independence 1991: Armenia declares its independence and Levon Ter-Petrossian is elected president 1991: The Soviet Union is dismantled and Russia becomes an independent federation under Boris Yeltsin (december) 1991: Chechnya declares independence from Russia, but Russia objects 1991: Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev hijacks a Russian plane to Ankara, demanding independence for his country 1992: Yeltsin cancels the secret program of biological weapons 1992: The provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia declare their independence from Georgia, igniting a civil war 1993: Boris Yeltsin suspends the Supreme Soviet and uses the army to quell the revolt 1993: A new constitution is enacted, with a State Duma replacing the Supreme Soviet 1993: Russian troops invade the runaway republic of Chechnya 1994: a Russian astronaut spends more than one year in the MIR space station 1994: general Aslan Maskhadov leads the Chechen arym against Russia 1994: Leonid Kuchma is elected president of Ukraine TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. 1994: a ferry capsizes in Estonia killing 1049 people 1995: Chechen separatists led by warlord Shamil Basayev take thousands of hostages in Russian villages (100 die when Russian soldiers free them) 1995: a Russian astronaut spends more than one year in the MIR space station 1996: Boris Yeltis wins the first presidential elections 1996: Russia withdraws from Chechnya, after tens of thousands of people died, and leaves Chechnya de facto independent 1996: China, Russia and three (later four) former Soviet republics (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) form the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 1997: general Aslan Maskhadov is elected president of Chechnya 1997: Bagabandi is elected president of Mongolia 1998: Russia joins the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 1998: Armenian president Ter-Petrossian resigns and is prelaced by Robert Kocharyan 1998: the rouble collapses and Russia's GDP is down by 40% from its level in 1991 1999: general Aslan Maskhadov is ousted as president of Chechnya and returns to lead the guerrilla against Russia 1999: the prime minister of Armenia is assassinated and replaced by Andranik Markarian 1999: Chechen separatists are blamed for terrorist attacks on Moscow that kill nearly 300 people 1999: Chechen separatists led by Shamil Basayev try to invade Dagestan 1999: Yeltsin resigns and appoints Vladimir Putin as his successor 1999: Russia has 2.7 million legally registered private enterprises 1999: Ukrainian and Russian arm dealers sell cruise missiles to Iran and China 2000: The sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine and the fire that damages the Ostankino television tower mark the decline of Russia as a power 2000: the first suicide bombing in Chechnya 2001: Russia's share of the world's gross domestic product is only 1% 2001: there are 20 million Muslims in Russia (15% of the population) 2002: 120 Russians soldiers die when Chechen rebels shoot down a helicopter 2002: Russia becomes an ally of NATO 2002: Chechen guerrillas directed by Basayev take 700 Russians hostage in a Moscow theater (129 die when Russian soldiers storm the theater with poisonous gas) 2002: suicide bombers kill 80 people in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya 2003: mass graves are discovered in Chechnya with thousands of bodies 2003: 59 people die in a bomb attack on Russians in Chechnya 2003: Chechen suicide bombers hit a rock concert in Moscow and kill 15 people 2003: 50 people are killed in a suicide bombing at a military hospital in North Ossetia 2003: the Russian government arrests Yukos' chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky (who owns 36.6% of the company), one of the richest men in the world 2003: Eduard Shevarnadze resigns as president of Georgia amid mass protests 2003: Chechen rebels blow up a train and kill 40 people 2003: between 1999 and 2003, Russia economy has grown by about 33% 2003: the Putin government acquires all national tv stations 2004: Chechen terrorists bomb the Moscow underground, killing 39 people 2004: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia join the European Union 2004: Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed by terrorists 2004: Chechen rebels kill 92 people in neighboring Ingushetia 2004: Chechen terrorists of Basayev's group blow up two Russian airplanes, killing 89 people 2004: Chechen terrorists led by Shamil Basayev take more than 1,000 hostages in a Beslan school and kill 331, mostly children 2004: Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev is assassinated by Russian agents in Qatar 2004: due to low birth rate and high death rate, the population of Russia declines by 3.5 million between 1991 and 2004 2004: pro-western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko wins elections in Ukraine after rigged elections had initially favored pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych 2005: Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov is killed by Russian forces 2005: the opposition in Kyrgyzstan forces the resignation of president Askar Akayev, who is replaced by Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the winner of national elections 2005: hundreds die in anti-government protests in the Uzbek city of Andijan (the USA and Britain protest, China supports the crackdown) 2005: a Caspian oil pipeline opens that bypasses both Russia and the Arab countries 2005: Russia ends its de facto dollar peg and aligns the rouble with the euro 2005: four bombs explode in the southern republic of Dagestan and kill eight people 2005: USA television channel ABC interviews the most wanted terrorist in Russia, Shamil Basayev 2005: Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev sets a new record for the most cumulative time in space (800 days) 2005: 50 Chechen militants are killed when they attack the southern Russian city of Nalchik 2005: Nambaryn Enkhbayar is elected president of Mongolia 2005: Russia sells "defense" missiles to Iran 2005: a row between Russia and Ukraine causes shortages of Russian gas supplies to Europe 2006: Russia shuts down two newspapers that reprint ironic cartoons about the Islamic prophet Mohammed 2006: the Uzbek government jails dissidents Sandjar Umarov and Mukhtabar Tojibayeva 2006: Russia starts building an oil pipeline near Lake Baikal, that holds more than 20% of the Earth's nonfrozen fresh water 2006: Chechen leader Shamil Basayev is killed 2006: Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who was a critic of Russia's policies in Chechnya, is murdered 2006: Turkmenistan's president Saparmurat Niyazov dies and is succeeded by Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov 2007: Kamzan Kadyrov, suspected of human-rights abuses and of involvement in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, is elected president of Chechnya 2007: for the first time since the death of Czar Aleksandr III in 1894 the Orthodox church presides over the funeral of a state figure (former president Boris Yeltsin) 2007: ethnic Russians riot in Estonia to protest the removal of a Soviet monument 2007: Andranik Markarian dies of heart attack and Serzh Sarksyan is elected prime minister of Armenia 2007: Putin threatens to retaliate against a proposed USA anti-missile defense system in Europe 2007: Russian president Vladimir Putin appoints Victor Zubkov prime minister 2007: Driven down by AIDS, alcohol and suicide, the population of Russia declines by 700,000 people a year 2007: serial killer Aleksandr Pichushkin confesses to 61 people 2007: Putin is the first Russian leader to travel to Iran since 1943 2007: Vladimir Putin's party wins more than 60% of the vote in parliamentary elections 2007: Russian scientists dive underneath the North Pole leading Russia to claim half of the Arctic seabed March 2008: Dmitry Medvedev wins rigged elections in Russia and succeeds Putin, who is appointed prime minister August 2008: Russia sends tanks into Georgia and bombs Georgian air bases after Georgia launches a military offensive to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia September 2008: Russian stock markets lose more than 50% of their peak value of May 2008 October 2008: Russia's Supreme Court rules that the last czar, Nicholas II, should be rehabilitated as a victim of political persecution October 2008: A Russian military convoy is attacked by Muslim sepatarists in Ingushetia Jan 2009: Russian patriarch Aleksy II dies and is succeeded by metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk Apr 2009: The counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya is officially ended May 2009: Unemployment skyrockets in Lithuania (from 4.3% in 2008 to 16.8%), Latvia (6.1% to 17.4%) and Estonia (3.7% to 13.9%) Jun 2009: A sniper kills the interior minister of Russia's Muslim region of Dagestan and a suicide car bomber tries to assassinate the president of Russia's Muslim region of Ingushetia TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. |
KievRurik of Novogorod (862 - 879) Oleg (879 - 912) Igor (912 - 945) Olga (945 - 955) Sviatoslav (955 - 972) Yaropolk (973 - 980) Vladimir I (980 - 1015) Sviatopolk (1015 - 1019) Yaroslav I (1019 - 1054) Izhaslav (1054 - 1073) Sviatoslav (1073 - 1076) Vsevolod (1078 - 1093) Sviatopolk (1093 - 1113) Vladimir II (1113 - 1125) Mstislav (1125 - 1132) Yaropolk (1132 - 1139) Vsevolod (1139 - 1146) Izhaslav (1146 - 1154) VladimirYuri I Dolgoruki (1154 - 1157) Andrey Bogolyubski (1157 - 1175) Ysevolod (1176 - 1212) Konstanin (1212 - 1218) Yuri II (1218 - 1238) Yaroslav II (1238 - 1246) Andrey (1246 - 1253) Aleksandr Nevksy (1253 - 1263) Taroslav of Tver (1263 - 1272) Basil (1272 - 1276) Demetrius (1276 - 1293) Andrey (1293 - 1304) Michael of Tver (1304 - 1318) Yrui Danilovich (1318 - 1326) Alexander of Tver (1326 - 1328) MoscowIvan I (1328 - 1341) Simeon (1341 - 1353) Ivan II (1353 - 1359) Demetrius Donski (1359 - 1389) Basil I (1389 - 1425) Basil II (1425 - 1462) Ivan III (1462 - 1505) Basil III (1505 - 1533) Ivan IV Grozny (1533 - 1552) CzarsIvan IV Grozny (1552 - 1584) Fedor I (1584 - 1598) Boris Godunov (1598 - 1605) Fedor II (1605) Dimitri I (1605 - 1606) Basil IV Shuisky (1606 - 1610) Dimitri II (1607 - 1610) Wladyislaw of Poland (1610 - 1612) Michael Romanov (1613 - 1645) Aleksei (1645 - 1676) Fedor III (1676 - 1682) Ivan V (1682 - 1689) Petr I (1682 - 1725) Ekaterina I (1725 - 1727) Petr II (1727 - 1730) Anna (1730 - 1740) Ivan VI (1740 - 1741) Elizabeta Petrovna (1741 - 1762) Petr III (1762) Ekaterina II (1762 - 1796) Paul I (1796 - 1801) Alexander I (1801 - 1825) Nicholas I (1825 - 1855) Alexander II (1855 - 1881) Alexander III (1881 - 1894) Nicholas II (1894 - 1917) Communist SecretariesLenin (1917-1924) Stalin (1924-1953) Nikita Krushev (1953-1964) Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982) Yuriy Andropov (1982-1984) Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985) Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) Boris Yeltsin (1991-1999) Vladimir Putin (2000-2007) Dmitri Medvedev (2008-) |
| (Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi) |