The History of Russia (Until Ivan the Terrible)

Update: I have no idea why this post or this blog is so popular/has so many comments, but I'd just like to say that thank you for all the kind comments, but I'm not going to continue this blog. Also, I changed the design of this blog completely to a standard default template provided by Blogger, because apparently the site that I designed looked pretty bad on some browsers and on mobile. This is because I did not know anything about browser compatibility when I made this site. Anyway, although I've been interested in history since high school, I was always a more science/technology gal, so I am currently in university doing a mechatronics engineering undergrad. I'm pretty sure everyone knows how hard engineering is, so naturally, I do not have more time updating this blog. I have been updating my personal one though: http://phantomkirby.blogspot.ca (and I do update this personal blog rather than the one you're on right now). Thank you all who have said kind words about this blog or this particular post. :) You guys have reminded me of why I liked history. I sometimes wonder what would my life be like if I chose history as my major...

As Winston Churchill said, Russia is "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma".

It's important to note that Russia is a nation of many peoples - from Slavs, Finns, Turks, and Mongols.

The geography of Russia is important - its rivers, especially. Without the rivers, Russia couldn't have expanded so vastly. For example, in the 9th century, the vikings used the Dneiper (crosses modern Ukraine), the Don, and the Volga Rivers as a shortcut to go to the orient - a.k.a. Constantinople (the capital of the Byzantine Empire).

Dneiper, Don, and Volga Rivers

These "vikings" were not really the vikings from Scandinavia - they were instead called the "Rus". They gave Russia, or, the land of the "Rus", its name.

By the 10th century, the land of the Rus were just numerous warring city states; princes against princes. The most major city-state was Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine). Vladimir was the most powerful prince of the land of the Rus because he was the prince of Kiev. (He could also be called Vladimir the Great, or St. Vladimir the Great). However, he didn't want to be the first among equals (a.k.a. the other princes) - he wanted to be the god-given ruler of all of the Rus. He couldn't just use pure military force to conquer all of the land of the Rus - instead, he needed a better way. What better way than religion?

In the legends of Russia's birth, prince Vladimir searched for a single religion that will unite all of the pagan Rus. He sent messengers to notable Muslims, Christians, and Jews in a quest to find the one, true faith. When one of the messengers came to Constantinople, the shear aesthetic beauties there made prince Vladimir convert all of Russia into the Eastern Orthodox Christian religion. Note: anyone who did not convert would face his wrath.

The Hagia Sophia

Sadly, when prince Vladimir died, he left his kingdom divided among his sons, and civil wars between rival brothers threatened to tear the country apart.

One of the brothers, Sviatopolk I, was determined to rule all by himself. However, he feared that his brothers, Boris and Gleb, would stand in his way.

Boris and Gleb

Although Boris and Gleb say they don't want to reign, Sviatopolk still doesn't trust them and kills the two. As a consequence, Sviatopolk's ruthless ways made the Rus  go to war and want to avenge the two innocent brothers. Ironically enough, after the war, Sviatopolk was exiled and the two brothers were canonized, being the first saints of the Russian orthodox church. They were canonized mainly because they accepted their deaths by Sviatopolk's wrath because they knew that if they opposed him, Russia would be forever divided. In order to ensure a united Russia, the country only can have one leader.

It is now nearing the 12th-13th centuries. The Mongol Horde now unleash their fury on the west and the Rus. In just 3 years (not 3 decades... 3 years), they subdued all of Russia! What's amazing is that in 1000 years to come, only the Mongols could ever subdue Russia!

In 1240, Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, sieged Kiev - the heart of medieval Russia. They pretty much burned Kiev to the ground because Kiev refused to surrender. Thus, the Golden Horde (the Tatars) would rule Russia for close to 2 centuries. Because these Tatars were not really occupiers - more like dominators, they would choose a Russian prince to be in charge while they were not there - the donor of the richest tribute would be awarded the title "Grand Prince of Vladimir" (the prince of princes). Rival princes would compete for the title, and the Mongols successfully divided the Rus. The city of Moscow, a growing city (which was originally just an isolated fort), had a prince named Ivan I who cut a deal with the Mongols. Ivan would collect tribute from all nearby lands, which gave him the name "Kalita", a.k.a. the moneybag.

Ivan I "Kalita"

The Muscovite prince, and future successors knew how to play the Mongols well - so much in fact, that they made Moscow a major city.

Overtime, the Muscovites would increase growing and make an army large enough to push the Tatars away. In 1380, Dmitri, now the prince of Moscow, had over 50 000 warriors, and along the river Don, he commenced a battle against the Mongol Horde. Prince Dmitri himself was near-dead, but survived the battle. The Russians won the battle! However, the Mongols weren't so discouraged. Over the next 100 years, battle for Russian freedom would pursue. Eventually, because there were internal conflicts between the Mongols themselves, the Russians drove them away.

In 1480, Ivan III cut the Mongols off since his power actually rivaled the Mongols' power. He affirmatively stopped the regular monetary tributes that Russia was forced to pay to the Tatars. Ivan III successfully united Russia, and would be called the czar. The first czar.

In 1453, Constantinople, fell. It was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, so that empire fell too. A new empire would soon arise - the Russian one. Ivan III (coronated in 1502, a.k.a. "Ivan the Great") transformed his dominion into a Russian Empire. He married Zoe Palaelogue (later called Sophia Palaelogue), the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constatnine XI. The Double-headed eagle that was the signature emblem of the Byzantine Empire was now adopted to make Russia's personal emblem. Now, the Russian royals would be forever related to the Ancient Roman Emperors. Thus, because of this relation to this "used-to-be" grand Empire, Ivan III called himself a czar (a.k.a. Russian for "Caesar"). He made Moscow and the Kremlin into a new Rome - an imperial holy city.

Moscow Kremlin

Although he did some amazing things, Ivan III wasn't all that nice to his peasants. If you didn't know, before his reign, peasants could actually farm anywhere, as long as they pay taxes to the landlord. If the taxes were too high, they could roam away and farm on someone else's land. Ivan III changed that, and now, they could only have a slim possibility to move somewhere else in the dead cold middle of winter (and as you know, Russian winters are very harsh). Historians say that he is now beginning a slippery slope which will make the peasants eventually into bondage and become serfs (a.k.a. slaves).

After Ivan III died, Vasiliy III, Ivan's son, came into power. The most famous historic thing that Vasily III did was a romantic one. He locked away his first wife (Solomonia) into prison because she failed to give him a child. Then, he married another woman named Elena. The Orthodox church condemned Vasily's sinful marriage (because obviously, you can't just divorce a woman and remarry another). According to some texts, the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem said that Elena and Vasily's son would be wicked and that Moscow will burn and there will be lightning and thunder.

August, 25th, 1530. Ivan IV, the Terrible, was born. (*crash!* *LIGHTNING!* *thunder*)

Ivan the Terrible

When Ivan IV was JUST three, Vasiliy died. This created a huge power struggle because obviously, babies can't rule properly. The boyors (the nobles) fought for control. They ruled very weakly because the government was just not stable because of the constant conflict. Ivan's mom may even be a victim. Elena died when Ivan was just 7. Poison some claimed.

All of this violence that the boyos did was stuff that Ivan saw as a kid. This must have tramatized him, because it is said that he threw cats and dogs out of windows from the Kremlin!

When it was his time to be finally coronated (1547), he used the term "tsar" of ALL of Russia to define him - a term that was only used OCCASIONALLY by his grandfather, Ivan the Great (a.k.a. Ivan III). Thus, he was the first to be called Tsar of all of Russia - he made it "formal".

Even though he had all of Russia, he wanted more and expanded his dominion into a true Empire, conquering many peoples.

In 1552, Ivan and his army lay siege to the Tatar stronghold of Kazan. This stronghold defended the Volga, the old Rus traderoute to the riches of the orient. Kazan fell. Ivan now had control of the Volga, all the way up to the Caspian Sea (which is what the Volga drained into). He even got Astrakhan, another Khan stronghold on the edge of the Caspian Sea.

Because of the success of the capturing of both Kazan and Astrakhan, he built Saint Basil's Cathedral (not to be confused with the Kremlin).

St. Basil's Cathedral - Moscow

Ivan also married and got a wife - Anastasia, who was a Romanov. They basically started the Romanov dynasty. Ivan loved her very much and during their marriage, there were no executions. This was the finest time of his reign. His power was even envied by the Poles, Germans, and even the English. Anastasia even gave him a son, Ivan Ivanovich.

Sadly, there was a city-wide fire in Moscow, and Anastasia also grew sickly. Anastasia quickly died after. Ivan then became really really mad. He even thought that there was some conspiracy. If his mother might have been poisoned, Anastasia could have too, right? So, then, he began to turn on the boyors and they were cast into poison, executed, and tortured.

A saying was made. "The closer to the czar, the closer to death". Ivan IV, because of this, is now called "the Terrible". He alienated some of his best friends and advisors. In 1564, Andrey Kurbsky, an intimate friend of Ivan, and also the top general, was victorious during the Livonian War while he sieged the fortress of Dorpat. Ivan failed to renew his commission, and thus Kurbsky defected to Lithuania, citing "impending repressions" as his reason. Thus, he is seen as the first Russian political emigre. This, and Anastasia's death, sent Ivan to his breaking point.

Finally, in December in 1564, Ivan made a genius move and falsely stated to everyone in Moscow that he is abdicating the throne because he "was not being allowed to rule. That they are being cruel and that they are not allowing him to punish the wrongdoers". This was a coup d'état he knew he was going to be asked back to be the czar and be allowed to do WHATEVER he wants.

Famous quote: "Sheep cannot be without a Shepard. You may do whatever you want".

The reign of terror began.

 Ivan's private army, the oprichniki, were black-robed monk-look-alikes who rode on horses and were responsible for the torture and murder of internal enemies of the Tsar. They are comparable to modern "death squads" or even the "secret police". (Cherry: Badass ne? XD)

For years Ivan's reign of terror weakened the empire. Russia's real enemy, the Tatars, exploited Russia's weakness and in 1571, sweeped through the Crimea and sacked Moscow. Moscow burned to the ground (again). Over 60 000 people died.

One day, as Ivan and his son, Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (yes they have the same names) had a fight because Ivan the Terrible did not approve of Ivan Ivanovich's soon-to-be wife. Thus, Ivan the Terrible, with his heavy metal rod, killed his own and ONLY son/heir.

Ivan holding his dead son.