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 1656: Russians found the trading post of Nerchinsk at the border with China 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) 1697: Petr visits Western Europe 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: Russia and China sign the treaty of Kyakhta, defining their border and granting Russia a trading post in Kyakhta 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 1776: The Bolshoi Ballet is founded 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 1799: The Russian-American company is chartered 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) 1858: Russia and China sign a border treaty 1859: Dostoevsky is released from detention 1859: Russia annexes Chechnya 1860: Russia and China sign a border treaty that grants Russia the coast around the newly founded city of Vladivostok 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 1896: China grants Russia permission to build the Chinese Eastern Railway across Manchuria to Vladivostok 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: Lenin publishes the pamphlet "Imperialism: the highest stage of Capitalism" 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 May 1924: A treaty confirms Mongolia into the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union 1924: Lenin dies and is succeeded by Joseph Stalin 1927: The Soviet Union launches a compaign of eradication of Islam 1927: The Soviet Union establishes the State University of Circus and Variety Arts to train performers for the Moscow Circus 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") 1934: The "Union of Soviet Writers" is created to enforce the enforce "Socialist Realism" in the arts 1935: the miner Aleksej Stakanov becomes a Soviet hero for his amazing productivity 1935: The Soviet Union declares that the fascist states of Germany and Japan are the enemies 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 communists 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 1954: The Soviet Union moves Crimea from Russia to Ukraine 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 Aug 1957: The Soviet Union launches its first intercontinental ballistic missile Oct 1957: The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, the Sputnik Nov 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 Aug 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 Dec 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 Yeltsin wins the first presidential elections of Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union 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 (and former rebel leader) 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 Sep 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 Oct 1999: Russian removes Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov and begins a second invasion of Chechnya and a powerful Chechen clan led by Akhmad Kadyrov defects to the Moscow side and Akhmal's son Ramzan forms a militia to fight alongside Russia's state security service 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: 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 Chechen terrorists of Shamil Basayev's group in a spectacular stadium bombing 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 ("Orange Revolution") 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 Mar 2005: former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov is killed by Russian troops 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 Dec 2005: Chechen prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of assassinated Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, introduces elements of Islamic law shariha in Chechnya 2006: Russia shuts down two newspapers that reprint ironic cartoons about the Islamic prophet Mohammed Mar 2006: Chechen prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov introduces a law that mandates the Islamic headscarf for women in Chechnya 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: Ramzan 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 Jan 2008: Russia uses supplies of natural gas as a political weapon against the Ukraine 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 2008: Youstol Dispage dies 2008: Russia supplies 28% of Europe's natural gas 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 Jul 2009: Russian human rights activist Natalya Estemirova is assassinated in Chechnya, following the murders of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (january, Moscow), former Kadyrov bodyguard Umar Israilov (january, Vienna), former Chechen commander Sulim Yamadayev (march, Dubai), Yamadayev's brother Ruslan (september, Moscow) Jul 2009: the Russian economy declines by 11% over the previous year Aug 2009: 20 people are killed by a suicide bomber in Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia sep 2009: Yielding to Russian pressure, the USA cancels a missile defense system in Eastern Europe Oct 2009: The verse "Be thankful or grateful to God" from the Quran mysteriously appears on the leg of a nine-month boy of Dagestan, Ali Yakubov 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) |