A CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA
862 The Varangian chieftains Rurik, Sineus, and Truvor settle at Ladoga, Bielo-ozero and Izborsk. This date is purely conventional.
865 Askold and Dir, two Varangian chieftains who had settled at Kiev, lead an unsuccessful expedition against Constantinople.
879 Rurik dies, leaving the regency of the principality and the guardianship of his son Igor to Oleg.
882 Oleg takes possession of Kiev after killing Askold and Dir, and makes that city his capital.
907 Oleg leads an expedition consisting of eighty thousand men and two thousand boats against Constantinople. A treaty of peace and commerce is concluded.
911 Oleg renews the treaty with the emperor of Constantinople securing valuable trading privileges for the Russians.
913 Oleg dies, and is succeeded by Igor.
941 Igor leads an expedition against Constantinople. His ships are destroyed by the Greek fire, and with great difficulty he brings his troops back to Kiev.
944 Igor leads a second expedition against Constantinople. The Byzantines rid themselves of the barbarians by renewing the treaty that had been made with Oleg and also paying a ransom. The treaty is given in full by Nestor. Of the fifty names attached to it three are Slavonic and the rest Norse, which shows that the two races, the conquerors and the conquered, are beginning to be fused.
945 Igor is killed by the Drevlians, a Slavonic tribe. His wife Olga assumes the regency during the minority of his son Sviatoslav.
955 Olga embraces Greek Christianity. Her subjects, however, remain on the whole pagans.
964 Sviatoslav assumes the rule. He is the first of the Varangians to bear a Slavonic name.
968 Sviatoslav, in the pay of the Byzantine emperor Nicephoros, leads an army of 60,000 men against the Bulgarians of the Danube.
970 Sviatoslav, after dividing the country among his three sons, again marches to Bulgaria, this time on his own account.
972 Sviatoslav is defeated at Silistria and compelled to evacuate the Balkan peninsula.
973 On his retreat, Sviatoslav is surprised and killed by the Petchenegs of the Dnieper.
977 Rout of Oleg by Iaropolk and his death.
980 Vladimir, after killing Iaropolk, becomes sole ruler.
988 Vladimir is baptized and makes Greek Christianity the state religion. On the day of his baptism he marries a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Romanos II.
1015 Vladimir dies and the country is divided among his eight sons and a nephew.
1019 Iaroslav, prince of Novgorod and the youngest son of Vladimir, finally becomes grand prince, and removes his capital to Kiev.
1054 Iaroslav dies. The country is divided among his five sons, one of whom, Iziaslav, is recognised as grand prince of Kiev. The custom, first introduced by Sviatoslav of breaking up the country into appanages, has now reached its full fruition. Russia has become an extremely loose federation of principalities. The central authority has been reduced to a nullity, and the period is filled with wars among the petty princes. This, of course, weakened the power of Russia for resisting foreign invaders, and made it an easy prey to the eastern nomadic tribes, from the Polovtsi to the Tatars. The chief events during this period are the foundation of Moscow (1147), the rise of Suzdal in Vladimir, and the pillaging of Kiev (1169) by Prince Andrew Bogoliubski of Suzdal. The hegemony of Kiev comes to an end for all time. The principal figures during this period are those of Vladimir II, surnamed Monomakh (1113-1125), and of Andrew Bogoliubski (1157-1175), who strove to re-establish some sort of unity and was assassinated by his nobles.
1068 The people of Kiev liberate Vseslav and make him grand prince.
1069 Iziaslav is restored by Boleslaw the Bold of Poland.
1073 Iziaslav is again expelled from Kiev by his brothers Sviatoslav and Vsevolod. Sviatoslav becomes grand prince.
1076 Death of Sviatoslav. He is succeeded by Vsevolod.
1077 Iziaslav is again restored to the grand princedom.
1078 Iziaslav dies and is succeeded by Vsevolod.
1084 Failure of Vsevolod’s attempt to conquer Tmoutorakan (Tmutarakan).
1093 Death of Vsevolod and accession of Sviatopolk, the second son of Iziaslav. The Polovtsi defeat the Russians in the battle of Tripole.
1097 The congress of princes at Lubetz.
1100 The congress of princes at Uvetitchi.
1111 Defeat of the Polovtsi on the Sula.
1113 Death of Sviatopolk and accession of Vladimir Monomakh.
1125 Death of Monomakh.
1147 Legendary date for the foundation of Moscow.
1157 Andrew Bogoliubski becomes prince of Suzdal.
1169 Kiev is captured and plundered by Andrew Bogoliubski.
1175 Andrew Bogoliubski is assassinated.
1221 Nijni-Novgorod is founded by Iuri, grand prince of Suzdal.
1223 First invasion of Russia by the Mongols under Jenghiz Khan. The Russians are defeated on the banks of the Kalka, near where it flows into the Sea of Azov and adjoining the present site of the town of Mariupol.
1237-38 The Mongols, under Jenghiz Khan’s grandson, Batu, invade northern Russia, burn Moscow, defeat twice the army of Suzdal (at Kolomna on the Oku and on the Sit), and plunder Riazan, Suzdal, Iaroslavl, and Tver. But Novgorod is spared.
1239-40 The Mongols ravage southern Russia, burn Tchernigov and Kiev, and extend their conquests as far west as Volhinia and Galicia. All Russia is now under the yoke of the Mongols, except the territory of Novgorod.
1240 Alexander, prince of Novgorod, defeats the Swedes on the Neva; whence his surname Nevski.
1242 Batu establishes the Golden Horde of Kiptchak, with Sarai, on one of the mouths of the Volga, as its capital. It constituted one of the five divisions of the great empire of Jenghiz Khan.
1245 Alexander Nevski defeats the German Sword-bearing Knights on Lake Peipus, in the “battle of the ice.”
1260 Novgorod submits to the Mongols and consents to pay tribute.
1263 Death of Alexander Nevski.
1303 Death of Daniel Alexandrovitch, founder of the Moscow dynasty.
1320 Prince Michael of Tver is executed by order of the khan.
1321 Vladimir in Volhinia is conquered by the Lithuanians. Kiev and all west Russia soon become Lithuanian.
1404 Smolensk is annexed to Lithuania. A son of Alexander Nevski, named Daniel, was the founder of the principality of Moscow, to which he added the cities of Kolomna and Pereiaslavl. He was succeeded by his son Iuri Danilovitch (1303-1325), who annexed Mozhaisk. In 1313 he marries a sister of Usbek Khan. In 1320 he is appointed grand prince in place of his murdered rival, Michael of Tver. Iuri is the initiator of the Muscovite policy to dominate Russia with the aid of the Tatars, for whom the Muscovite princes henceforth act as tax collectors. In 1325 he was assassinated by Dmitri, son of Michael of Tver, and Alexander, Michael’s second son is appointed grand prince. But the grand princedom soon reverts to Moscow, and Alexander is executed in 1329. Iuri is succeeded by his brother Ivan Kalita (1328-1340), who receives from Usbek Khan Vladimir and Novgorod together with the grand princedom, and who also adds Tver to his dominions. He assures the pre-eminence of Moscow in the Russian church by inducing the metropolitan to reside there, thereby also securing the alliance of the all-powerful church in the realisation of his political schemes. Simeon the Proud, son of Kalita (1340-1353), Ivan II, (1353-1359), brother of Simeon, and Dmitri Donskoi (1359-1389), son of Ivan II, continue the policy of dominating Russia with the aid of the Tatars, whom they conciliate with Russian gold, while they gain the support of the nobles by enhancing their power at the expense of the princes of appanages. Towards the end of his reign Dmitri feels himself strong enough to resist the Tatars, whom he defeats in the battle of Kulikovo (1380); but two years later the Mongol general, Toktamish, invades Russia, burns Moscow and puts to death a great number of the inhabitants. Dmitri was succeeded by his son Vasili (1389-1425). On the death of the latter, first his brother, and then his brother’s son, laid claim to the succession; but the direct lineal succession triumphed twice in the person of Vasili’s son, known as Vasili the Blind (1425-1462).
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
1407 The river Ugra is made the boundary between Moscow and Lithuania.
1408 Invasion of Moscow by the Tatars, who burn many towns and villages, but fail to capture the Kremlin.
1412 Vasili Dmitrievitch goes to the Horde, pays tribute, and the khan confirms to him the grand princedom.
1435 Vasili Vasilievitch blinds his cousin Vasili Kossoi.
1446 Vasili Vasilievitch is blinded by Dmitri Shemiaka of Galicia.
1448 The archbishop Jonas is elected metropolitan by an assembly of the Russian bishops, without regard to the patriarch of Constantinople.
1453 Dmitri Shemiaka is poisoned.
1462 Ivan III, son of Vasili ascends the throne. He assumes the title gossudar (lord, autocrat), and is regarded as the founder of autocracy.
1463 The princes of Iaroslav cede their domain to Moscow.
1464 Ivan gives the hand of his sister to Vasili, prince of Riazan, thus making sure of the approximate annexation of that appanage.
1469 The khanate of Kazan becomes a dependency of Moscow.
1472 Ivan conquers Perm. Marries the Byzantine princess Sophia, niece of the last emperor of Constantinople, Constantine Palæologus. Assumes the title of czar and adopts the two-headed eagle as the symbol of his authority. In consequence of this marriage many Greeks come to Moscow, bringing with them Byzantine culture.
1474 The princes of Rostov sell their domain to Moscow.
1478 The republic of Novgorod is annexed. The principal citizens are brought prisoners to Moscow, their property is confiscated, the possessions of the clergy serve to endow the boyar followers of Ivan. Ahmed, khan of the Golden Horde, sends ambassadors demanding homage. Ivan puts the envoys to death, except one, who was to take back the news to his master. The reply of Ahmed to this outrage is a declaration of war.
1479 Ivan issues Sudebnik, or Books of Laws, second Russian code after the Russkaia Pravda of Iaroslav. A comparison of two codes shows how much the Russian character was lowered by Mongol domination; it is in the reign of Ivan that we first hear of the use of the knout.
1480 The Mongols invade Russia. The two armies meet on the banks of the Oka and flee from each other in mutual fear. On his retreat Ahmed is killed and his army is annihilated by the Nogai Tatars.
1482 Cannon is used for first time at the siege of Fellin in Livonia. It was founded by the architect and engineer Aristotle Fioraventi of Bologna, the builder of the Kremlin.
1485 The principality of Tver is annexed to Moscow.
1485 The last prince of Vereya leaves his domains by will to Ivan.
1489 Viatka, a daughter of the city of Novgorod and Pskov, and like them a republic, is annexed.
1489 Poppel comes to Moscow as the first German ambassador.
1491 Mines of Petchora discovered. For first time silver and copper money is coined at Moscow from produce of Russian mines.
1492-1503 A large part of Little Russia is reconquered from Lithuanians.
1494 Alexander of Lithuania marries Ivan’s daughter Helen.
1495 Ivan, considering himself to have been insulted by a Hanseatic city, orders all merchants of all the cities of that union at Novgorod to be put in chains and their property confiscated. This marks the end of Novgorod’s commercial greatness.
1499 The princes of Tchernigov and Novgorod-Seversk come over to Moscow.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
1501 Russians routed in the battle of the Siritza, near Izborsk, by the grand-master of the Teutonic order, Hermann von Plettenberg.
1503 A treaty is concluded with Lithuania. Moscow retains all her conquests, and Ivan is granted the title of sovereign of all Russia.
1505 Death of Ivan. Vasili, second son of Ivan, succeeds him.
1508 The Russian army is defeated by the revolted people of Kazan. The victors unite with the Tatars of the Crimea, invade Russia and carry their ravages up to the gates of Moscow. Vasili pays a large ransom for the safety of his capital, and signs a treaty by which he engages to become tributary to the khan. Thirty thousand prisoners are carried off by the invaders, and sold at Kaffa to the Turks.
1510 Pskov, last Slavonic republic, annexed.
1514 Smolensk is taken from the Lithuanians after being held by them for 110 years. But in the same year the Lithuanians defeat the Russian force at Orsha, on left bank of the Dnieper. Thirty thousand Russians are said to have fallen in battle.
1521 Riazan and Novgorod-Seversk, the last independent principalities, are annexed. Crimean Tatars devastate the country.
1523 A second expedition against Kazan, consisting of 150,000 men, fails of its object; one of its two divisions is almost annihilated.
1530 Third expedition against Kazan. The city is surprised by night and 60,000 inhabitants are massacred. But the Russian commander, bribed, it is said, by the remaining Kazanians, enters into a treaty of peace with them.
1533 Vasili dies. Regency of his wife, Helena Glinska, 1533-37. Supremacy of the Shuiski, 1537-43. Ivan is under the influence of the Glinski till 1547, when they were torn in pieces by the infuriated Moscow populace. Such was the youth of Ivan the Terrible.
1547 Ivan is crowned and takes the title of Czar.
1550 The Sudebnik of his grandfather Ivan III is revised.
1551 The Stoglav, or Book of the Hundred Chapters, by which the affairs of the church were regulated, is issued.
1552 Kazan, which had freed itself during his father’s reign, is annexed.
1553 Chancellor arrives at Archangel and proceeds to Moscow. The English secure great trading privileges and establish factories in the country.
1556 Astrakhan is annexed. The power of the Mongols is now almost completely broken.
1558 Treaty with Elizabeth of England. A Russian army invades Livonia and takes several towns. The Teutonic Order thereupon makes an alliance with Poland.
1564 Ivan, with a few personal friends, retires to Alexandrovskoe, near Moscow, and does not return until after repeated supplications by his nobles. A printing press established at Moscow.
1571 The Mongols of Crimea invade Russia, burn Moscow, drag 100,000 Russians into slavery. Next year they make another raid, but are defeated.
1580 Conquest of Siberia by the Cossack Iermak as far as the Irtish river.
1581 Ivan kills his eldest son in a fit of fury.
1582 Peace of Sapolye. Ivan is forced to surrender to Stephen Bathori (Battori) king of Poland all his conquests in Livonia. The attempt to open for Russia a passage in the Baltic fails for the present.
1584 Death of Ivan. Feodor, his weak-minded son, succeeds Ivan. Boris Godunov, Feodor’s brother-in-law, is the real ruler.
1587 A company of Parisian merchants obtains trading privileges.
1590 War with Sweden.
1591 Dmitri, the younger brother of Feodor (Ivan’s son by his seventh wife), and the only obstacle to Godunov’s ambition, dies at Uglitch. The khan of Crimea makes one of his periodical raids against Moscow, but is repulsed with great slaughter.
1592 Godunov issues a ukase (edict) binding the peasant to the soil, thus reducing him to unmitigated serfdom. As a result, peasants emigrate in large numbers to the Cossacks in order to preserve their freedom.
1597 An edict is issued prescribing the most vigorous measures for the recovery of fugitive serfs.
1598 Death of Feodor, last of the Ruriks. Boris Godunov is elected to succeed him, first by the Council of Boyars (douma) and then by a General Assembly (Sobór).
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
1601 A terrible famine, accompanied by pestilence, devastates Russia. Boris causes immense quantities of provisions to be distributed in Moscow, whither multitudes flock from all the provinces. Five hundred thousand are said to have perished in Moscow alone, which had become a city of cannibals.
1604 Dmitri the Impostor invades Russia and is victorious on the Desna.
1605 Dmitri is defeated on the plain of Dobrinitchi, not far from Ord. Godunov dies. His son Feodor is proclaimed his successor. Basmanov, commander of the army, proclaims Dmitri. Feodor and his mother are strangled and Dmitri enters Moscow.
1606 A rebellion breaks out under Vasili Shuiski. Dmitri is killed. Shuiski is proclaimed emperor.
1608 A second false Dmitri defeats Shuiski’s army near Volkhov, but fails in an attack on the Troitsa monastery, near Moscow. He is murdered by one of his followers in 1610.
1609 The Poles invade Russia and lay siege to Smolensk.
1610 Shuiski is defeated at Klushino and Wladislaw, son of the Polish king, is crowned czar.
1611 Revolt of the patriots led by Minin and Prince Pojarski.
1612 The Poles are driven out of Moscow.
1613 Michael Romanov is chosen czar.
1617 Wladislaw appears with an army under the walls of Moscow, but is repulsed. The Treaty of Stolbovna is brought about by the mediation of England and Holland: the Russians give up Kexholm, Karelia and Ingria to Sweden, and receive in return Novgorod, which was lost during the Troublous Period.
1618 Wladislaw consents to abandon his claim to the Russian throne, the czar gives up his claims to Livonia, Tchernigov and Smolensk, and an armistice is concluded for fourteen years.
1619 Philarete, the father of Czar Michael, comes back from the Polish captivity, is elected patriarch, and becomes his son’s associate in the government of the country.
1627 The Cossacks of the Don conquer Azov, which they offer to the czar. After convoking a sobor, which shows little enthusiasm for the enterprise, the czar orders the Cossacks to evacuate it.
1633 War with Lithuania.
1634 Peace of Polianovka: the czar surrenders all claims to Livonia and all the country that once belonged to the Order, as well as to Smolensk, Tchernigov and Seversk. The Polish king abandons his claim to the Russian throne.
1645 Death of Michael. He is succeeded by Alexis.
1648 Revolt at Moscow against misgovernment of the czar’s favorites, particularly Morosov, and depreciation of the coinage. This revolt led to a new codification of the laws (the Ulozhenie), which was based on the preceding codes of Ivan III and IV, and was sanctioned by a sobor convoked at Moscow. A new police institution, the “chamber of secret affairs,” is created for the prevention and suppression of popular uprisings. The Cossacks of the Ukraine revolt from Poland under the leadership of Bogdan Chmielnicki.
1649-50 Khabarov occupies the course of the Amur.
1654 The Ukraine becomes a Russian protectorate. War with Poland.
1655 Outbreak of war between Sweden and Poland. The Russians occupy Vilna and join the Swedes in their march upon Warsaw.
1656 Truce with Poland. The Russian arms are turned against Sweden. At first they were successful, and Narva, Dorpat and other places in Esthonia were taken, Livonia was conquered, but Riga was besieged in vain, and after many losses all the conquests are restored.
1655-56 The patriarch Nicon calls two councils of the church for the purpose of revising the Bible and service-books. In consequence of this change a great schism takes place in the Russian church. The adherents of the old books are known as Raskolniki, and are to this day subjects of persecution.
1667 Peace of Andrussov with Poland: Little Russia east of the Dnieper, including Smolensk, Kiev, Seversk, Vitebsk, and Polotsk are acquired by Russia. Thus the territory which had been taken by the Lithuanians and annexed to Poland by Treaty of Lublin (1569) became Russian again.
1670 Rebellion of Stenka Kazin. He takes Tzaritzin, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara, Nijni-Novgorod, Tambov, and Penza.
1671 Stenka Radzin is defeated near Simbirsk and executed at Moscow.
1676 Death of Alexis. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Feodor. During his reign the books of pedigrees (razviadnie Knigi), which determines the rank of each family and the office to which it was entitled (mestnichestvo), were destroyed.
1682 Death of Feodor. After a sanguinary outbreak of the Strelitz, which lasted three days, Ivan and Peter were declared joint sovereigns, and their sister Sophia was to act as regent during their minority.
1689 Treaty of Nertchinsk: the fertile region of the Amur, conquered by a handful of Cossacks, is restored to the Chinese, and the fortress Albazin is rased.
1696 Peter takes from the Turks the fort of Azov, situated at the mouth of the Don, and converts it into a naval port. In its vicinity he commences the building of the new town of Taganrog.
1697-98 Peter makes his first journey through Europe.
1698 The Strelitz break out into open revolt, which is suppressed with great bloodshed. Their corps is dissolved.
1699 Peter forms a coalition with Poland and Denmark against Sweden.
1700 Beginning of the Northern War. The Russian forces sustain a severe defeat at Narva. The beginning of the new Russian year is changed from the first of September to the first of January.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
1703 Peter begins the building of St. Petersburg.
1706 The Cossacks of the Don revolt.
1707 The secret marriage of Peter with Catherine takes place.
1709 Mazeppa, hetman of the Little-Russian Cossacks, revolts. Battle of Pultowa.
1710 Turkey declares war against Russia.
1711 The old supreme council of boyars (douma) is replaced by the senate, into which merit and service might obtain admission independently of noble origin. By the terms of the Treaty of the Pruth Peter surrenders to the Turks his artillery, gives back Azov, and undertakes to rase Taganrog.
1714 The Russians gain over the Swedes the important naval victory of Åland or Hankül. Peter becomes master of Finland.
1717 Peter makes a second tour through Europe. A general police, modelled on that of France, is instituted.
1718 Peter’s eldest son, Alexis, is executed. The old prikaz is replaced by colleges for foreign affairs, finance, justice, and commerce.
1719 The Russians ravage Sweden almost up to the gates of Stockholm.
1720 The Russians renew their devastation of Sweden, notwithstanding the presence of an English fleet.
1721 Treaty of Nystad with Sweden: Peter is left master of Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, and the districts of Viborg and Kexholm in Finland. Peter promulgates an ukase (afterwards abrogated by Paul) that the sovereign has the right of naming his successor. The Patriarchate is abolished and its income united to the public revenue. In its place the holy synod is established for the supreme direction of church affairs.
1722 The tchin is established: whoever enters the service of that state becomes a gentleman. The exporting of merchandise through Archangel is prohibited in favor of St. Petersburg.
1722-24 War with Persia. The provinces of Ghilan, Mazandaran, and Astrabad (Astarabath) are annexed to Russia.
1725 Death of Peter. He is succeeded by his second wife, Catherine.
1726-27 The St. Petersburg Academy of Science founded.
1727 Death of Catherine. She is succeeded by Peter II, son of Alexis. Menshikov, who was the real ruler of Russia under Catherine, is banished to Siberia.
1730 Death of Peter II. Anna, daughter of Ivan, the brother of Peter the Great, is chosen his successor after submitting to the terms dictated by the great nobles—terms intended to convert the government into an oligarchy.
1733-35 War of the Polish Succession: Russia intervenes on behalf of the elector of Saxony, Augustine III, and defeats the French attempt to replace Stanislaus Leszczynski on the throne of Poland.
1735 Russia surrenders her Persian possessions in return for extensive trading privileges to Russian merchants.
1735-39 War with Turkey, in conjunction with Austria. The Russians conquer Otchakov at the mouth of the Dnieper and the important fortress of Khotin on the same river. But at the peace of Belgrade, hastily concluded by the Austrians, they retain only Azov.
1740 Death of Anna. Ivan VI, her grand-nephew, succeeds her, with Biron, duke of Courland, as regent during his minority.
1741 A coup d’état, led by Field-marshal Münich deposed Biron and raises Princess Anna, mother of Ivan, to the regency. But Münich is the real ruler. A palace revolution deposes Ivan, sends Münich to Siberia, and raises to the throne Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great by Catherine. Sweden, urged on by France, declares war. The Swedes are defeated at Vilmanstrand.
1742 Seventeen thousand Swedes surrender at Helsingfors. The Armenian churches in both capitals are suppressed by order of the holy synod.
1743 Treaty of Åbo with Sweden; Russia acquires the southern part of Finland as far as the river Kymmene.
1753 The custom-houses of the interior, as well as many toll duties, are suppressed.
1755 The first Russian university is founded at Moscow.
1756 The first Russian public theatre is established at St. Petersburg. Three years later another theatre is established at Moscow.
1757 The Russians under Apraxin defeat at Jägerndorf the Prussians under Lewald.
1758 The Russians under Fermor are defeated by Frederick the Great at Zorndorf. The Academy of Fine Arts is established at St. Petersburg.
1759 Saltikov defeats Frederick at Kunersdorf.
1760 The Russians plunder Berlin.
1762 Death of Elizabeth. She is succeeded by her nephew, Peter III, son of her sister Anna. He makes peace with Frederick, restores to him east Prussia, which was entirely in the hands of the Russians, and orders his army to aid Frederick against the Austrians. Peter issues an ukase freeing the nobility from the obligation of entering upon some state employment; is assassinated and is succeeded by his wife, Catherine. Catherine recalls the Russian armies from Prussia.
1764 Assassination of Prince Ivan. Resumption of the ecclesiastical lands with their one million serfs by the state.
1766-68 A great sobor is convened, first at Moscow and then at St. Petersburg, for the compilation of a new code. It fails of its object.
1767 An ukaze forbids serfs to bring complaints against their masters, who were authorised to send them at will to Siberia or to force them into the army.
1767-74 War with Turkey.
1768 Massacre of Jews at Uman, in the Government of Kiev, under the leadership of the Cossack Gonta.
1769 The Russians under Galitzin take Khotin.
1770 Rumiantzev is victorious over the Tatars on the banks of the Larga and over the grand vizir at Kagul. Three hundred thousand Kalmucks, with their wives and children, their cattle and their tents, flee from Russia to China.
1771 Conquest of the Crimea by Dolgoruki. Annihilation of the Turkish fleet at Tchesme.
1772 The Congress of Fokshani fails to bring about peace and the war is renewed. First division of Poland. Russia acquires White Russia, including Polotsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Mohilev, Mstislavl, Gomel.
1773-74 Pugatchev’s revolt.
1774 Peace of Kutchuk-Kainardji: the sultan acknowledges the independence of the Tatars of the Crimea, the Bug and the Kuban, and cedes to Russia Azov on the Don, Kinburn at the mouth of the Dnieper, and all the fortified places of the Crimea.
1775 The Zaparog military republic of the Cossacks is dissolved. The empire is reorganized. Instead of fifteen provinces there are created fifty governments subdivided into districts.
1783 Formal annexation of the Crimea and the country of the Kuban.
1787-92 Second war with Turkey in conjunction with Austria.
1788-89 War with Sweden. The Peace of Varela restores the status quo ante bellum.
1788 The storming of Otchakov by Potemkin, accompanied by an indiscriminate massacre.
1789 Suvarov wins the battles of Fokshani and Rimnik. Potemkin takes Bender.
1790 Suvarov takes Ismail. The Austrians sign the Peace of Sistova, but the Russians continue the war. Repnin defeats the grand vizir at Matchin.
1792 Treaty of Jassy. The Russians retain only Otchakov and the seaboard between the Bug and the Dniester.
1793 Second division of Poland. Russia obtains an enormous extension of territory in Lithuania and absorbs the rest of Volhinia, Podolia, and Ukraine.
1794 Kosciuszko is defeated by Fersen at Maciejowice and Suvarov storms Praga, a suburb of Warsaw.
1795 Third division of Poland. Russia obtains the rest of Lithuania, besides other territories which at one time had been Russian, while Poland proper is divided between Austria and Prussia. The former power also obtains Galicia or Red Russia. Courland is annexed by Russia. Its last duke, Peter Biron, voluntarily renounces it in return for a yearly revenue.
1796 Death of Catherine. Accession of her son Paul.
1798 Paul promulgates the line of succession according to primogeniture, with precedence in the male line. Russia joins the second coalition against France, with England, Austria, Naples and Turkey.
1799 Suvarov defeats Moreau on the Adda, Macdonald on the Trebbia, and Joubert at Novi. Korsakov is defeated by Massena at Zurich, and Suvarov is forced to make his memorable retreat across the Alps.
1800 Reconciliation with France, chiefly owing to the English occupation of Malta.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1801 Assassination of Paul. His son Alexander succeeds him. The new emperor concludes treaties of peace with England, France, and Spain. Georgia, or Grusia, is formally annexed, and a war with Persia follows in consequence.
1802 Eight ministries are established in place of the colleges founded by Peter the Great.
1804 The Persians are defeated at Etchmiadzin.
1805 Alexander joins the third coalition with Austria and England. Battle of Austerlitz.
1806 Conquest of the Persian province of Shirvan, and the taking of Derbent.
1806 War with Turkey. Alexander joins fourth coalition, of which Prussia is also a member. Battles of Pultusk and Golymin.
1807 Battles of Eylau and Friedland. Peace of Tilsit. Russia acquires Bielostok, a part of Prussian Poland.
1808 War with Sweden. Finland is overrun by a Russian army.
1809 By the Treaty of Fredrikshamn Sweden surrenders Finland. The Finns are allowed complete autonomy, the czar being its grand duke. War with Turkey. The Russians are defeated at Silistria.
1810 The Russians are victorious over the Turks at Batyen on the Danube.
1811 The Russians are victorious at Rustchuk. Twenty thousand Turks surrender at Giurgevo.
1812 By the Treaty of Bukharest Russia acquires Bessarabia and a large part of Moldavia, with the fortresses of Khotin and Bender. The Pruth becomes its boundary. The district of Viborg, which was acquired from Sweden in 1744, is added to Finland. Count Speranski, leader of the liberal party, is dismissed. Later he was exiled to Peru. Invasion of Russia by Napoleon. Battles of Smolensk and Borodino. Firing of Moscow. Napoleon orders a retreat (October 18). Battle of Malojaroslavetz compels Napoleon to retreat by his old route. The Beresina crossed (November 26th-29th).
1813 By the Treaty of Kalish Alexander engages not to lay down his arms until Prussia had recovered all its lost territories. The Russians and Prussians are defeated at Lützen and Bautzen. The allies are repulsed before Dresden. Battle of Leipsic. Peace of Gulistan with Persia. Russia obtains Baku and the western shore of the Caspian.
1814 The Russians invade France together with the allies. At the congress of Vienna Alexander insists on the creation of a kingdom of Poland under his rule.
1815 By the Treaty of Vienna Alexander obtains all of Poland, except Galicia, Cracow, and Posen. Conclusion of the Holy Alliance.
1816 Abolition of serfdom in Esthonia.
1817 Abolition of serfdom in Courland.
1818 Abolition of serfdom in Livonia. In all Baltic provinces the emancipated peasants receive no portion of the land, which remains in possession of the nobles. A constitution and separate administration are granted to the Polish kingdom.
1819 Establishment of military colonies in the border provinces of the north, west and south.
1825 Death of Alexander. His brother Nicholas I succeeds him. Revolt of the Dekabrists.
1826 War with Persia.
1827 War with Turkey. The Turkish fleet is destroyed at Navarino by the combined fleets of England, France, and Russia.
1828 Peace of Turkmanchai. Persia cedes the provinces of Erivan and Nakhitchevan, pays a war indemnity, and grants important trading privileges. The Russians invade the Danubian principalities and take Varna. Paskievitch takes Kars.
1829 Diebitsch defeats the Turks at Kluvetchi, takes Silistria, crosses the Balkans, and takes Adrianople. Peace of Adrianople. Russia gets control of the mouths of the Danube, of a portion of Armenia including Erzerum, and receives a war indemnity.
1830 The new code, a complete collection of the laws of the Russian Empire, is promulgated. Polish insurrection. The Russians are compelled to evacuate the country.
1831 Paskievitch takes Warsaw. The building of new Roman Catholic churches in Poland is prohibited.
1832 Poland is incorporated with Russia. The constitution granted by Alexander is annulled, and Poland is divided into five governments.
1833 By the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi Russia obtains additional rights to meddle in the internal affairs of Turkey.
1839 A Russian expedition to the khanate of Khiva is compelled to return.
1849 A Russian army is sent into Hungary. Capitulation of Görgei at Villagos.
1853 The Crimean War. The Russians occupy the Danubian principalities. Destruction of the Turkish fleet at Sinope.
1854 France and England join Turkey. Battle of the Alma. Siege of Sebastopol. Fall of Bomarsund.
1855 Sardinia joins the allies. Battles of Balaklava, Inkerman, and Tchernaia. Fall of Sebastopol. Bombardment of Sveaborg. The Russians take Kars. Nicholas I dies. His son Alexander II succeeds him.
1856 Treaty of Paris. Russia relinquishes the mouths of the Danube and a portion of Bessarabia, restores Kars, gives up the protectorate over the Oriental Christians and the Danubian principalities, and agrees to have no war vessels in the Black Sea.
1858 General Muraviev signs the treaty of Aigun with the Chinese, by which Russia acquires the entire left bank of the Amur.
1859 Capture of Schamyl.
1861 Emancipation of the serfs.
1863 Polish insurrection.
1864 Final pacification of the Caucasus. Reforms in judicial administration. Institution of representative assemblies (zemstvos) for governments and districts. By ukase, Polish peasants are given in fee-simple the lands which they had cultivated as tenants-at-will.
1865 Tashkend taken from the emir of Bokhara; organisation of the province of Turkestan.
1866 Karakozov fires at the emperor at St. Petersburg.
1867 Governor-generalship of Turkestan created. Sale of Alaska to the United States. A Slavophil congress is held at Moscow. The prince of Mingrelia relinquishes his sovereign rights for one million rubles. Russian is substituted for German as the official language of Livonia, Esthonia, and Courland. Peasants are given the ownership of the lands which they occupied as tenants.
1868 Samarkand taken from Bokhara.
1870 Khiva is stormed by General Kauffman.
1871 The Pontus Conference, held at London, abolishes paragraph 11 of the Paris treaty delimiting Russian fortifications and naval forces on the Black Sea.
1873 The right bank of the Amu Daria (Jaxartes) is annexed and the rest of Khiva becomes a vassal state.
1874 Universal compulsory military service is introduced. The vice-royalty of Poland is abolished, and its administrative fusion with Russia becomes complete.
1875 Russia cedes to Japan the Kurile islands. Japan gives up its claims to the southern part of Sakhalin.
1876 The khanate of Khokand is absorbed and transformed into the province of Ferghana.
1877 War with Turkey. The Russian advance is beaten back in Europe and in Asia. The Shipka pass alone remains in Russian hands. Three defeats before Plevna, which is besieged and forced to capitulate with 40,000 men. Kars is taken.
1878 The Russians cross the Balkans. The Shipka army is captured, Adrianople taken, the last Turkish army is almost annihilated, and the Russians reach the Sea of Marmora. Treaty of San Stefano: Treaty of Berlin. Assassination of General Trepov at St. Petersburg, and acquittal of Vera Zassulitch. Assassination of General Mezentsev, chief of gendarmerie.
1879 Soloviov fires six shots at the emperor. An attempt is made to wreck the train by which the czar was travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
1880 An attempt is made to blow up the Winter Palace. Loris-Melikov is placed at the head of a commission with dictatorial powers.
1881 Assassination of the emperor. The Tekke-Turkomans are subjected by Skobelev. Anti-Jewish riots in southern Russia.
1882 The “May laws” of Ignatiev issued against the Jews. Agrarian disturbances in the Baltic provinces give the government a welcome pretext for additional measures of russification.
1883 Alexander III is crowned at Moscow.
1884 The Turkomans of the Merv oasis make submission to Russia. The emperors of Russia, Germany and Austria meet at Skierniewice, where they form the Three Emperors’ League for the term of three years.
1885 The Afghans are defeated by General Komarov at Penjdeh. The Trans-Caspian railway is begun.
1886 Contrary to Article 59 of the Treaty of Berlin, Batum is transformed into a fortified naval port.
1887 A convention between England and Russia is signed for the delimitation of the Russo-Afghan frontier. The Russian advance in the direction of Herat is stopped.
1888 An army officer named Timoviev makes an attempt on the czar’s life. The Trans-Caspian railway is completed. Samarkand is linked with the Caspian. The imperial train is derailed at Borki. The czar and his family escape injury.
1890 Three commissions are appointed to prepare plans for assimilating the Finnish postal, monetary, and fiscal systems with those of the empire.
1891 A French squadron under Admiral Gervais visits Kronstadt. A succession of famines begins. An ukase is issued directing the construction of a railway line which should connect the European system with the Pacific coast. Work is commenced on seven sections simultaneously.
1893 A Russian squadron under Admiral Avelan visits Toulon.
1894 A military convention, arranged by the military authorities of Russia and France, is ratified. Death of Alexander III and accession of Nicholas II.
1895 An Anglo-Russian convention is signed settling the disputes as to the Pamirs. Russia, in conjunction with Germany and France, forces Japan to revise the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki by giving up the Liao-tung peninsula. Russia obtains the right to carry the Siberian railway across Chinese territory from Stretensk to Vladivostok, thus avoiding a long detour, besides getting control of North Manchuria.
1896 Coronation of the czar at Moscow. Catastrophe on the Khodinski plain. The emperor visits Germany, Austria, England, and France.
1897 President Faure makes an official visit to St. Petersburg, and the term “alliance” is for the first time used in the complimentary speeches. Specie payment is established.
1898 Russia leases Port Arthur and Talienwan, and obtains leave to carry a branch of the Trans-Siberian line through Manchuria to the sea. An imperial decree declares that the powers of the Finnish diet are to be limited to matters of strictly local, not imperial, concern. General Bobrikov is appointed Governor-general of Finland.
1899 During the Boxer uprising the Chinese authorities in Manchuria declare war against Russia. The Russian authorities retaliate with the massacre of Blagovestchensk. Russia assumes the civil and military administration of Manchuria. Peace Conference held at the Hague.
1900 The Bank of Persian Loans is founded by the Russian government.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
1901 The state monopoly in the manufacture and sale of spirits is extended to the whole empire.
1903 Vice-Admiral Alexiev appointed as first Russian viceroy of the Far East.
1904 Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war.
THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
showing the Accessions since Peter the Great