Russia is largest country in the world which has 10% of the total land of Earth. It is about 5 times of India in area and almost double of USA. Its population is about half of USA. Majority ethnic group is Russian (East Slav, Vikings) who are about 81%. It is Christian country by majority (73%) with 10% Muslims, 15% no religion. It is 6th in GDP in world ranking with quality of life 34th in world. Moscow State University which stands first in Russia holds 93rd rank in world. It is second biggest exporter of military weapons after USA.
The main history of Russia lies in 23% of total area of Rus which is west of Ural mountain. Mainly only two dynasties ruled on this area for centuries. There were no significant contemporary dynasties therefore the history of Russia is not as intricate as of India. Siberia was sparsely habited region and was taken over without opposition by Rus in 16th century.
Russia Before 800 AD
Before 800 AD Khazar and Turk tribes lived in Western Rus independently. Gradually Eastern Slav came from Baltic region of current Belarus, Prussia, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, North Eastern Turkey and Ukraine. They followed Jews and Pagan religion. French used the word ‘Rus’ for Eastern Slav people and hence this area established by Slav was called ‘Rus‘. Later this changed to Russia. During this time Siberia was independent habitat of different tribes.
Russia from 862 AD – 1598 AD (Rurik Dynasty)
A branch of Vikings from Denmark, Sweden and Norway was called Rurik. They were warriors, looters, explorers by nature. They came to this region and settled. They united different tribes living here and setup an empire called “Kievan Rus”. Founder of Kievan Rus was Rurik-I. Later his son Vladimir-I became the monarch. He was attracted towards Islam but he did not like “khatwa” and hence drawn towards Christianity which also allowed polygamy. He performed mass conversions in 988 AD in whole Kiev Rus and was then known as Saint. Meanwhile Tatars tribe from Mongolia attacked the Kiev Rus region and disintegrated all these united tribes of Kievan Rus. Mongols remained in this region from 1283 to 1480 (200 years). Mongols were then driven out by Moscow princely state monarch Dimitri Donskey. He ruled in Kievan Rus from 1359 to 1389. He integrated Moscow and Kiev Rus and hence expanded Rus further. Moscow became new capital of Rus.
After Dimitri, Ivan-III, The Great who was duke of Moscow expanded the Rus kingdom three times by defeating some Baltic regions. His son Ivan -IV, The Terrible was first Czar ruler (also spelled as Tsar). He was very ruthless, cruel and autocratic to the extent that he killed his own son and wife. But he brought some positive development of life of Rus people in form of new code of law, self governance in rural areas, attacked bureaucracy, introduced parliament system of Czars and first regular army of Russia.
The Russian Conquest of Siberia had already begun by Ivan-IV, The Terrible. The Khazak warriors were well trained by Polish-Lithuanian forces and Ivan-IV used them in uniting Siberian tribe under Rus flag. It is said that intention of Rus was not to colonize Siberia but to make it part of Rus Empire. The Siberia conquest started in 1580 and was easily taken over as it was sparsely populated. By 1922 all Siberia became part of Russia.
But severe mistrust, autocracy, suppression were the causes of downfall of Ivan IV and Tataars from Crimea sacked this Moscow kingdom and arsoned, looted the whole region in 1571.
Russia from 1598 AD – 1612 AD (Period of Trouble)
After Ivan IV was the period of trouble also called Dark period of Russian History. Since Ivan-IV killed his own son there was no heir to Moscow throne. In this period Polish–Lithuanian forces and Swedish forces attacked Russia and installed a false heir of Ivan IV. This period was ruled by fake Czars named False Dimitri I, False Dimitri II and False Dimitri III from 1607 to 1612.
Russia from 1613 AD – 1917 AD (Romanov Dynasty)
All Romanov dynasty monarchs were Czars.
Due to own domestic commitments these Polish-Lithuanian forces retreated back in 1613. Luckily parliament made by Ivan-II continued to function and they elected Michael I as next ruler.
Michael -I Romanov (1613-1645) – He is first elected monarch Romanov dynasty which ruled up to 1917. After Michael-I the important rulers were Peter-I the great (1682-1725)- He was monarch after Michael-I and is credited with modernization of Russia. He worked in Europe as ordinary labor in disguise and learning from there he industrialized Russia. Western culture and dress sense was adopted in country. He captured the ports of Baltic countries and hence was able to trade into Europe. He made St. Petersburg his capital. He made Russia a super power in Europe and laid foundation of imperial Navy.
Catherine the great (1762-1796)- She came after 40 years of death of Peter the great. She did not lose a single battle in her reign. Napoleon attacked during her time in 1799. After her Paul-I, Alexander-I ruled. During Alexander-I time wars with Napoleon and Persia were fought.
Nicholas II (1894-1917) – He was last Czar of Russia. By 1914 Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus were part of Russian empire. In his time the Russian revolution took place. His regime ended by Bolshevik revolution. Lenin was head of Russian revolution. Nicholas II and family were murdered in 1918.
Romanov period is known for commissioning Trans-Siberian Railway (1891–1905) and larger migration to Siberia took place with development of
coal mines, better agriculture methods and by 1922 whole of Siberia was part of Russian Empire. But Russia lagged in catching up with Europe’s Industrial revolutions.
Russia after 1917
After 1917 revolution monarchy in USSR ended and socialism was seeded by Lenin in 1917 revolution.
Lenin (1917-1923) led the stricken Russians in 1917 revolution. This was to alleviate the general public from disasters of WW-II, save them from starvation, support equality, remove Czardom on account of their bad administration and dictatorship, alleviate the sorrows of farmers. Lenin gave more importance to people than expansionism. He uprooted Czar and signed derogatory treaty with Germany as penalty from Russia’s World War exit. It gave Germany the territory of Ukraine, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Though later in 1940 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were amalgamated in Russia.
Stalin (1924-63) took over as leader after death of Lenin. Though he made Russia a super power yet his dictatorial attitude were causes of his fall. His period was dark period in history when millions of people were forcibly migrated to leave their homeland for ethnic cleansing. Stalin thought that by uprooting original ethnicity from their homeland will give more authority to central govt and revolts be corked. He locked his opponents in Siberia detention centers and executed them on baseless allegations. Millions of farmers refused to cooperate with Stalin’s orders and were shot or exiled as punishment. He established communist governments throughout Eastern Europe, and in 1949 led the Soviets into the nuclear age by exploding an atomic bomb.
Khrushchev (1953-1964) Though he largely pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, the Cuban Missile Crisis began after he positioned nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. At home, he initiated a process of “de-Stalinization” that made Soviet society less repressive. His spirit of reform lived on during the perestroika era of the 1980s. Khrushchev approved the construction of the Berlin Wall in order to stop East Germans from fleeing to capitalist West Germany.
Breznev (1964-1982) – He is known for its massive build up of nuclear arms, but at great cost to the Soviet economy. Breznev Doctrine expounded by Leonid Brezhnev in November 1968 affirming the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in the affairs of Communist countries to strengthen Communism and also justified interference in Afghanistan. This doctrine was based on fear of Czechoslovakia slipping from his grasp.
Gorbachev (1985-91) The recipient of a wide range of awards—including the Nobel Peace Prize—he was widely praised for his pivotal role in ending the Cold War, curtailing human rights abuses in the Soviet Union, and tolerating both the fall of communism in eastern and central Europe and the reunification of Germany. He was ousted in brief bloodless coup as he was held responsible for disintegration of USSR to Russia on account of Glasnost and Perestroika.
Yeltsin (1991-1999) – He supported Gorbachev in USSR disintegration, tried to bring free market reforms (demand supply based) and privatization. His economic plan was known as “shock therapy”. This move towards capitalism caused suffering. Shock Therapy was a process of transformation of an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist system. This was called shock therapy as state controlled industrial sector sold 90% of industries at throwaway rates. Due to this sudden shock economy suddenly faltered and currency value went very low. Sudden privatization divided people among rich and poor. In addition, he is criticized for Chechenia crisis.
Putin (1999- ) – The basic change which came to USSR after 1990 was the disintegration of USSR and fall of socialism pattern of society. It followed free market, privatization. In 1999 Putin took over Russia and now he is very popular among Russians not because he made Russia a super power again but – because people are not fed up of revolution, wars with Baltics and any kind of change. 20 millions of people in Russia are still below poverty but still they support Putin as they have confidence on him. They do not want wars or any more changes for worse. For them status quo is more than going worse. This is Putin’s Russia today.
Modern Russia
Earlier before breakup of USSR the prices were fixed but after 1990 these are based on demand supply.
Major cities of Russia
Moscow is capital and largest city. Population 10 million, central industrial area. St. Petersburg is next largest city with population of 5 million. During WW-II, seize by Germany about 1 million people died of starvation and almost whole city was vacated. Peter the Great built it and named after St. Peter of Bible. It is a cultural center for Russia and a major tourist destination. It is also known for shipbuilding, oil and gas trade, manufacturing, and finance. Novosibirsk, the third-largest city in Russia is home to 1.4 million. The city is not only noted for its industries but it is also the region’s center for the arts, music, and theater. It is host to a music conservatory and a philharmonic orchestra, a division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and three major universities.
Water Resources of Russia
Lake Baikal (640 KM long, 80 KM wide) holds more fresh water than all the US Great Lakes together and about 20 percent of all the liquid fresh water on the earth’s surface. Its depth has been recently measured at 5,370 feet (1.5 KM). Volga river is Europe’s longest river and connects all industrial towns for transport. The Irtysh, Ob, Yenisey, and Lena are the main rivers that flow north through the region into Siberia and on to the Arctic Ocean. To the east, the Amur River creates the border between Russia and China until it flows north into the Sea of Okhotsk. In addition to waterways, Trans-Siberian Railway is transportation is a link from Moscow to Vladivostok.
Physical attributes Siberia
Siberia is bigger than USA in size, but home to only 15 million people. Its cities are located on strategic rivers with few overland highways connecting them. This area is sparsely populated and very rich in minerals which are yet to be extracted in future. Vladivostok (population about 578,000) is primary city of Far East of Siberia. Sakhalin Island and its coastal waters have oil and mineral resources.
What to visit in Russia
As compared to New York, London, Paris it is cheaper to travel in Russia.
Many tourist companies conduct the tour to Russia to cover these cities mainly.
Trans-Siberian rail trip is always in bucket list of enthusiast travelers. There is one direct train from Moscow to Beijing (blue color). Takes your own noodles as hot water is available in trains. The food in car pantry is very expensive. The checks at border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan may take time. Language is problem.
Epilogue
Many people dream to visit Russia but put it off thinking it is too far, too cold, only snow, Siberia and sparsely populated, not tourist friendly, too different from their culture. But modern Russia is closer to Western culture which was adopted in Peter, the Great time. The transportation is far too good. Majorly visiting sites are in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Murmansk. If you want to windup quickly you can cover these cities in 6 days. If you are adventurous take a 15 days journey by Trans-Siberian rail up to Beijing, Ulan Bator, Almaty or Vladivostok. Russia is rich in history and many monuments are UNESCO World heritage.
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