The races who peopled Russia were vaguely known to the ancients as
Scythians, and their country as Sarmatia. It received its name from
the _Ruotsi_ or _Russ_, a tribe of Norse “rovers” or freebooters,
who entered the country from the west about the eighth century. The
name was later applied to the realm of Moscow, and modified to
Russia.
=Early Traditions.=--Three brothers, Rurik, Sineus, and Truvor,
Scandinavians, were invited, according to tradition, to come and protect
territory in northwest Russia against the Finns and the Lithuanians.
They and their successors built new forts, and took part in wars. The
times of the “Sunny Vladimir” (980-1015) are the “heroic” epoch of early
Russian history, and the feats and feasts of Vladimir and his “war
companions” have been handed down through ages in legend and song; while
his conversion to Christianity made him the hero of the annals written
by monks.
=Kieff the First Historic Center.=--The first half of the eleventh
century, during which Yaroslaff the Wise was grand prince at Kieff, was
the most brilliant time for Kieff, then the “mother of the Russian
towns.” The great cathedral of St. Sophia was built at that time;
schools were opened, and the first written Russian law was compiled. At
his death (1054) Yaroslaff was ruling over most of the Russian towns.
The next two centuries of Russian history correspond to the feudal
period of Western Europe. The Russians at that time were steadily
extending their territory toward the east; they colonized the Oka, the
Don, and the Finnish territories in the northeast.
=Settlements in and about Moscow.=--Owing to the gradual colonization of
the basin of the Oka and the upper Volga, a new Russian territory had
grown in importance in the meantime. Suzdal and Rostoff were its chief
centers. It differed from southwest Russia in many respects. Its
inhabitants were Great Russians--a hard-working race, less poetical and
less gifted, but more active than their southern brethren. Besides, a
good many of its inhabitants were peasants, settled on the lands of the
boyars, and the cities themselves, being of recent creation--like
Vladimir and, later on, Moscow--had not those traditions of independence
which characterized Kieff or Novgorod. It was therefore easier for the
authority of the prince to develop in the northeast, under the guidance
of the church and the boyars.
The first Suzdal prince, Andrei Bogolubsky (1157-1174), was the first
representative of that policy. He invited many Kieff boyars to settle in
the land of Suzdal, and finally he took and burnt Kieff (1169).
The supremacy of Kieff was thus destroyed, and the land of Suzdal became
the Ile-de-France of Russia--the nucleus of the future Russian state.
The Suzdal land continued to grow and to enjoy prosperity during the
next fifty years; economical, educational and literary progress were
marked, and the Russian territory extended farther eastward.
=Tartar Invasion.=--But in the thirteenth century a great calamity
visited Russia: a Mongol invasion suddenly put a stop to the development
of the country and threw it into a totally new direction.
The Tartars first appeared in 1224, but their real conquest, under Batu
Khan, was made in 1238 and the years immediately following. They subdued
all the little Slav states except the republic of Novgorod. Latterly the
rulers or princes of Moscow gained an ascendency over the other states,
and formed the nucleus of a central sovereignty.
=Ivan III. Expels the Tartars.=--The Tartar supremacy lasted till about
1480, when Ivan III. (1462-1505) succeeded in throwing off their yoke.
He did much to consolidate and extend his kingdom, and conquered
Novgorod in 1478. The reign of Ivan IV. “The Terrible” (1533-1584) is of
great importance. In 1547 he assumed the title of Czar or Tsar, a
variant of Cæsar. He conquered Kazan and Astrakhan, and the conquest of
Siberia was begun in his reign. The epithet “terrible” has reference to
his cruel persecution of the boyars, a kind of powerful baronial class.
=House of Romanoff Established.=--The accession of the still-reigning
Romanoff house took place in 1613 when the States-General elected
Michael Romanoff as ruler. Under Alexei (1645-1676), son of Michael,
territory was won from Poland, the Cossacks of the Ukraine had to
submit, and the power of Russia greatly increased. The reign of Alexei’s
son, Feodor III. (1676-1682), witnessed a war with Turkey, but was
signalized by many important reforms. His imbecile brother Ivan was heir
apparent, but Feodor willed the throne to his half-brother Peter, known
in history as the Great; but Peter only obtained sole power in 1689
after overthrowing Sophia, Ivan’s sister.
=Under Peter the Great.=--Peter the Great opened what may be called the
European period of Russian history. (See Peter the Great.) He made his
country a European state. He gave it a standing army, a navy on the
Baltic, the embryo of a modern administration, a diplomatic service, and
a financial organization. He made canals, encouraged industry,
literature and art. The heart of Russia might remain at Moscow, but
henceforth it was to have also a head that looked out westward from the
Neva.
On the other hand, Peter increased taxation; his cruelty was oriental,
and serfdom under him became more and more extensive.
He completed the conquest of Siberia, waged successful war with Charles
XII. of Sweden, and by the treaty of Nystad in 1721 obtained Esthonia,
Livonia, Ingermannland, and part of Finland, thus gaining a large
maritime territory on the Baltic Sea. He founded Petrograd in 1703, and
made it the capital in place of Moscow.
=The Eighteenth Century= in Russian history is a century of empresses.
Peter the Great was succeeded by his wife, Catherine I. (1725-1727). A
grandson of Peter the Great, Peter II., followed Catherine, reigning
from 1727 to 1730. The next sovereign was Anna (1730-1740), whose reign
was a period of German influence. Ivan VI. (1740-1741) was soon
displaced by the anti-German party, and Elizabeth (1741-1762), daughter
of Peter the Great, ascended the throne. A part of Finland was obtained
by the treaty of Abo, and Russia took part against Prussia in the Seven
Years’ war. The first Russian university, that of Moscow, was founded in
1755.
The death of Elizabeth and the accession of Peter III., in 1762, greatly
relieved the hard-pressed Frederick the Great, because Peter at once
reversed the Russian policy.
=Catherine II.=--In July, 1762, he was deposed by his wife, Catherine
II. (1762-1796), whose reign is of great importance in the progress of
Russian power.
Under Catherine II. successful wars were carried on against Turkey,
Persia, Sweden and Poland, which largely extended the limits of the
empire. The acquisition of the Crimea, which gave Russia a firm footing
on the Black Sea, and the first partition of Poland, were two most
important steps toward the consolidation of the empire.
=Napoleonic Period.=--Catherine’s son and successor, Paul I.
(1796-1801), at first, through apprehension of the revolution in France,
joined the Austrians and British against France, but soon after
capriciously withdrew, and was about to commence war with Great Britain
when his assassination took place. A palace conspiracy put an end to his
reign and life.
His eldest son, Alexander I. (1801-1825), was at the outset desirous of
peace, but was soon drawn into the vortex of the great struggle with
France, in which he played a prominent part. (See Alexander I. and
Napoleon.) The Holy Alliance and the example of conservative policy set
by Austria exercised a pernicious influence on the later part of his
reign; and the higher classes, who had looked for the introduction of at
least a portion of the liberal institutions they had seen and admired in
Western Europe, became so dissatisfied that, when his youngest brother,
Nicholas I. (1825-1855), from whom they had nothing to hope, succeeded,
they broke out into open rebellion, which was speedily crushed.
=The Turkish Wars.=--A full stop was now put to the intellectual
development of Russia. Wars were declared with Persia and Turkey; and a
long and deadly struggle commenced with the Caucasian mountaineers. The
cession of Erivan and Nahitchevan by Persia, of the plain of the Kubañ,
of the protectorate of the Danubian principalities, and of the free
right of navigation of the Black Sea, the Dardanelles, and the Danube by
Turkey only induced him to further prosecute his aim of conquering for
Russia a free issue from the Black Sea in the Dardanelles.
In 1830 he converted Poland into a Russian province; in 1849 he aided
Austria in quelling the insurrection of the Magyars; and in 1853 he
began a war with Turkey which became the Crimean war, and in which,
though the allies, Great Britain, France and Sardinia, did not obtain
any decided success, Russia suffered immense loss.
=Alexander II.=--The accession of Nicholas’ son Alexander II.
(1855-1881)--one of whose first acts was the conclusion of the peace of
Paris (1856), by which Russia lost the right of navigation on the
Danube, a strip of territory to the north of that river, and the right
of keeping a navy in the Black Sea--was the signal for a general revival
of intellectual life in Russia. Obligatory military service for all
Russians was introduced in 1874.
The insurrection in Poland was suppressed with extreme severity, and in
1868 the last relics of Polish independence disappeared in the thorough
incorporation of the kingdom with the Russian Empire. The subjugation of
the Caucasus was completed in 1859. Russian supremacy was established
over all the states of Turkestan. In 1876 the administration of the
Baltic provinces was merged in that of the central government; but the
autonomy of Finland was respected and even extended.
=Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.=--In 1877 the Russo-Turkish war broke
out. At first the Russian progress was rapid; but the energy displayed
by the Turks during the summer, and the resolute defense of Plevna by
Osman Pasha from July till December, checked the progress of the Russian
army. During the winter, however, she crossed the Balkans, and her
vanguard, reaching the Sea of Marmora, stood in view of Constantinople.
The armistice signed in January, 1878, was followed in March by the
treaty of San Stefano; and after diplomatic difficulties that seemed for
a time not unlikely to issue in war between Russia and Great Britain, a
Congress of the Great Powers met at Berlin in June, 1878, and sanctioned
the cession to Russia of the part of Bessarabia given to Moldavia in
1856, as also of the port of Batoum, of Kars, and of Ardahan.
=Rise of Nihilism.=--The growth of revolutionary discontent, leading to
severe repressive measures, was marked by several murders of high
officials, and on March 13, 1881, Alexander II. was killed by the
revolutionists.
=Reactionary Reign of Alexander III.=--The reign of Alexander III.
(1881-1894) was in the main characterized, in contrast to the liberal
reforms of the last reign, by reactionary steps. Press freedom
disappeared completely, and the universities were again suppressed. The
Dumas, or representative assemblies, were deprived of all real
independence in 1892. Alexander II.’s judicial reforms were partly
undone, and the village communities, known as mirs, were brought under
the more direct control of the land-owners. Russification was vigorously
pursued in Poland and the Baltic provinces, and in 1890 the first steps
toward the Russification of Finland were taken.
Alexander III. was not friendly to Germany, but avoided hostilities more
serious than those of a tariff war, although the Bulgarian crisis of
1885 subjected their relations to a severe strain. Russia and France now
began to draw close together, but a Franco-Russian alliance was not
officially admitted till 1896-1897, and its terms were secret. Merv was
annexed in 1884, and the occupation of Penjdeh in 1885 nearly led to war
with Great Britain. Alexander III. escaped several attempts at
assassination, and died of disease in November, 1894.
=Russia in the Far East.=--After the reign of Alexander III. comes the
fateful reign of his son, Nicholas II. In 1896 China granted permission
to carry the Siberian railway (begun in 1889) through Manchuria to the
far eastern Russian seaport of Vladivostok. In December, 1897, in
consequence of the Germans having acquired Kiauchau from China, Russia
occupied Port Arthur, and in the following year obtained from China a
lease of it and some neighboring territory, although in 1895 she had
taken the chief part in preventing Japan from taking it as a prize of
victory. She shared in the international expedition to China in 1900,
and herself suppressed risings in Manchuria with the utmost cruelty.
Professing to be ready, and even anxious to evacuate Manchuria as soon
as possible, she was preparing for virtual annexation; but her
aggressive action in Korea aroused Japanese opposition, and led to the
war of 1904-1905.
By treaty of Portsmouth (1905), which ended this war, Russia lost--for
the time being at least--all influence in Manchuria, Korea, and China,
and had to cede to Japan Port Arthur and its territory, and also
southern Sakhalien.
=The Imperial Duma.=--In August, 1905, the czar issued a manifesto
ordering the election of an Imperial Duma or Parliament. Count Witte was
made president of a reorganized Council of Ministers, with instructions
to form a reform cabinet. The general strike in Finland compelled the
czar to restore Finland’s constitution and liberties previously taken
away in 1903. The bureaucrats attempted to discredit the reform movement
by instigating attacks on Jews, and other outrages, especially in
Odessa, where the authorities permitted appalling atrocities.
The Imperial Duma, promised in 1905, was duly elected early in 1906, and
held its first meeting on May 10 at Petrograd. It was dissolved later in
the year because too liberal, and a second one, elected in 1907, met the
same fate. By various devices the government managed to get a less
advanced Duma elected late in 1907, which did some useful work in 1908.
An important Anglo-Russian convention was signed in 1907, the
signatories agreeing to respect the territorial integrity of Thibet and
the suzerainty of China. Other conventions were signed (1910) between
Russia and Japan respecting the status of Manchuria, and between Russia
and Germany in 1911.
After declaration of war by Austria against Servia in 1914, Russia
announced that her support would be given to Servia. Consequently Russia
joined France and Great Britain in the conflict that followed. (See
further under European war.)
=Books of Reference.=--Wallace’s _Russia_; Leroy-Beaulieu’s _The Empire
of the Tsars_; Norman’s _All the Russians_; Drage’s _Russian Affairs_;
Suvorin’s _All Russia--a Directory of Industries_, etc.; Stepniak’s
_King Log and King Stork_; Krapotkin’s _Memoirs of a Revolutionist_;
Morfill’s _Russia_; Villari’s _Russia under the Great Shadow_;
Wellesley’s _With the Russians in Peace and War_; Ganz’s _The Downfall
of Russia_; Milyoukov’s _Russia and Its Crisis_; Meakin’s _Russia,
Travels and Studies_.