A Brief History of

Russian Dynasties.
Mikhail Nokhov
 Russian tradition places the
beginning of Russia, Kievan
Rus' as 862 AD. Oral traditions,
and the Russian Primary
Chronicle tells the story of
Russia's emergence as a nation
and how the house of Riurik
became the rulers. This story
tells how the Slavs, after
driving out the Varangians and
forcing them to return to
Scandinavia, were faced with
such disorder that they
requested the return of the
Varangians to rule them. At this
request, three brothers
returned, Riurik, Sineus and
Truvor. Each took a different
city to rule. Riurik became the
Prince Riurik prince of Novgorod and when
the other two died he gained
862-879 control of their cities also.
 Prince Riurik and Prince Oleg (879-912)
When Riurik died, his son, Prince Igor, was
recognized as the heir. However, he was too young to
rule and a man named Oleg was chosen to rule
instead until Prince Igor was old enough to rule. Oleg
greatly expanded the borders of the fledgling
country. One of the cities he conquered was Kiev,
which became the control center. With this, Kievan
Rus' began.
Monument to Prince Oleg in Novgorod.
Prince Oleg and Prince Igor Prince Oleg’s shield on gate of
Tsargrad

Prince Oleg’s warriors

 Funeral of Prince Oleg.
Prince Igor and princess Olga
are sitting on the hill.
Prince Oleg is talking to a magus.

Prince Oleg is at the skeleton of

his horse.
Prince Igor. (912- 945)
The battle between Prince Igor’s regiment and the
Polovtsi.
The Battle field after the Bloody Battle


Prince Igor in a hostile camp as a

prisoner of war.
Russian epos
teller
 Prince Igor succeeded Oleg and
continued to build up Kievan Rus'.
His wife Olga succeeded him to the
throne after he was murdered. She
sought to avenge her husband's death
and on three occasions slaughtered
numerous Derevlians (the group
responsible for his death). Olga
converted to Christianity in about
954, although her son and successor
Sviatoslav remained pagan. As the
first Russian ruler to do so, she
helped bring about the tradition of
Christianity in Russia. Thirty years
later in 988, under the rule of
Vladimir, Christianity became the
official state religion, and the
Russians became tied to Byzantine
and Constantinople.
Princess Olga (945-957)
Prince Svyatoslav (957- 972)
Prince Yaropolk
(972-980)
  These ties were furthered by
Vladimir's marriage to the
Byzantine emperor's sister.
One of the results of this was
that the Russians adopted the
Cyrillic alphabet rather than
the alphabet used by the rest
of Europe. These religious
ties helped separate Russia
from the rest of Europe. The
rivers that ran through
Kievan Rus' led the Russians
to still maintain contact with
Europe. The Dnieper River,
along with Kiev was an
important trade route. The
importance of this trade
route is also one of the
reasons that Kiev was chosen
as the center for control.
Prince Vladimir (980-1015)
Prince Vladimir’s Christian Icons
baptism in Kiev
Svyatopolk Damned (1015-1019)
 Kievan Rus' continued to grow
until, at its peak, it reached
from the Baltic Sea to the Black
Sea and from the Carpathian
Mountains to the Oka river. At
this time, Prince Yaroslav the
Wise was the ruler. Yaroslav
expanded economic relations
with Europe and Asia, built
schools and libraries and
encouraged scholars and
artists. He also implemented
the first Russian laws, called
The Russian Justice. However,
the end of Yaroslav's reign
brought disunity to Kievan
Rus' as he divided the country
among his sons, telling them to
obey the eldest as the Grand
Prince of Kiev. This did not Yauroslav the Wise
work and political unity was
weakened. (1019-1054)
Monument to Prince Yaroslav the Wise in Kiev.
Prince Izyaslav I Yaroslavich (1054-1078)
Prince Vsevolod I (1078-1093)
Prince Svyatoslav II (1093-1113)
Prince Vladimir II Manomakh (1113- 1125)
Prince Mstislav I (1125-1132)
Prince Yaropolk II
(1132-1139)
 Prince
Vsevolod II Olgovich
(1139- 1146)
Prince Igor II Olgovich (1146)
Prince Izyaslav II Mstislavovich (1146-1154)
Prince Rostislav –Mikhail Mstislavovich
 Following Yaroslav 's reign, wars between the princes were
common. An agreement among the princes to acknowledge the
boundaries of each one's area coexisted with an agreement to
unite in the face of outside invasion. This agreement indicated
that the people thought of themselves as a nation but the plan
didn't always work and Kievan Rus' was weakened by wars
between the princes and raids from neighbors. Kievan Rus'
was further weakened by Andrei Bogolyubsky's attack of Kiev
in 1169. He plundered the city and assumed the title of Grand
Prince. However, he did not rule from there. Kiev lost its
position as capital. These events brought about the end of
Kievan Rus'. With the loss of their capital, and weakened by
wars between the princes, Kievan Rus was highly vulnerable to
outside attack. They were threatened by many groups, and
were finally overcome by the Tatars.
 Tatar Overlordship
 Russians lived under Tatar overlordship from 1236 until
1452. The Tatars invaded a Kievan Rus' that was being
destroyed by internal warfare. The first attack against the
Russians occurred in 1223. The Tatars swiftly defeated
the combined forces of Russians and Polovtsy but then
left, not to return for another fourteen years. At the time,
the Tatars had been on a return trip from conquests in
northern China and central Asia. In 1236 the Tatars
began their attack on Russia in earnest. From 1236-1238
the Tatars gained many important Russian grounds,
including Novgorod. While the majority of the cities were
destroyed by the Tatars, Novgorod, which was
surrounded by dense forest and bogs was only forced into
paying tribute to the Tatars. In 1240 the Tatars renewed
their attacks and conquered Kiev and Galicia and also
Hungary and southern Poland in their attempts to
conquer Europe. This westward assault on Europe only
ended when the Great Khan Ogedei died and the
campaign was called off. The Tatars divided their vast
territory into khanates and Russia became part of the
khanate known as the Golden Horde.
 The Tatars did not directly rule the people of Russia.
Instead, the princes maintained their ruling positions
while paying tribute to Tatars. The khans granted official
appointments to the princes. Initially, the tribute was
collected by Tatars and all of the princes were of equal
importance. However, Tatar rule eventually weakened
and the prince of Moscow was put in charge of collecting
the tribute. The prince of Moscow then became the
Grand Prince, and Kiev was no longer be an important
city in Russia. Other northern cities such as Novgorod
and Tver also gained importance.
 The Tatars destroyed many Russian cities and killed
thousands of Russians. However, they left many of
Russia's cultural elements. Russians were allowed to
continue worship under the Russian Orthodox church,
and the princes continued to rule. Also, by appointing a
Grand Prince the Tatars reinforced the idea among the
Russians that the Grand Prince held dominion over
Russia and the rest of the princes. Despite not being a
political entity, the Russian people continued to be
bound together by the ideology of the Russian Orthodox
church and by their cultural identity.
 The northern princes of
Russia attempted to act
independently of the
Tatars, and each had their
own army, capital and
form of government.
These princes were all
descendents of Riurik and
so the Riurik dynasty
remained intact. It is
from these northern
areas that the Russians
began to regain their
power and defeat the
Tatars. The family of Yuri
Dolgoruky, who was the
Prince of Rostov until Prince Yuri Dolgoruky
1157 gained control over
the rest of the princes. (1155-1157)
Monument
to Prince
Yuri
Dolgoruky
in Moscow
 His son, Andrei
Bogolyubsky took Kiev,
and with it the right to
the title of Grand
Prince. From then on
all of his descendants
would be Grand
Princes. Prince
Andrei Bogolyubsky
(1157-1159)
 Prince
Rostislav-Mikhail
(1159-1167)
 Prince
Mstislav II
(1167 – 1169)
 Prince
Andrei Susdalsky
(1169-1174)
Prince Mikhail Yurevich (1174-1176)
Prince Vsevolod III A large Nest (1176-1212)
Prince Georgy II Vsevolodovich (1212 -1216)
Prince Konstantin 1 Wise (1216-1219)
Prince Yaroslav II (1238-1246)
Prince Andrei Yaroslavich (1249-1252).
 Prince Alexander
Nevsky, who ruled
from Novgorod, was a
famous prince of this
family. He defeated a
Swedish invasion along
the Neva River, earning
him the name Nevsky.
He also began the
consolidation of power
for his family by
cooperating with the
Tatars, freeing himself
to concentrate on
gaining power in the Prince
north. Alexander Nevsky
Prince Yaroslav III (1263-1272)
Prince Vasily Yaroslavich (1272-1276)
Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich (1276-1294)
Prince Mikhail II Yaroslavich (1304-1319)
Prince Georgy III (1319-1322)
Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Stern Eyes (1322-1326)
Prince Alexander II Mikhailovich (1326-1328)
Ivan I - Kalita
Prince Semeon Ioanovich Proud (1340-1353)
Prince Ivan II Meek
Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich (1359-1363)
Prince Dmitry Ioanovich Donskoy (1363-1389)
 Prince Dmitry Donskoy and Sergey
Radonezhsky before the Kulikov Battle
Prince Vasily I Dmitriyevich (1389- 1425)
Prince Vasily II Obscure (1425- 1462)
Map of the Golden Horde
His descendants followed this
practice and by the reign of Ivan the
Great, a free Russia was beginning
to form. By this time, the Grand
Princes had moved to Moscow. Ivan
the Great began what came to be
known as "the gathering of the
Russian land." He set out to
conquer all of the lands that had
been a part of Kievan Rus'. Ivan the
Great gained control of Novgorod,
Tver, and parts of Poland. He was
however, still paying tribute to the
Tatars. They could see that he was
quickly gaining more power than
them and sent troops to Moscow to
take the city. Ivan the Great sent his
troops to meet the Tatars, but a Ivan III– the Great
battle never happened. (1462- 1505)
 The Mongols at the battle near the Kalka.
Instead, when the promised Lithuanian
reinforcements didn't show up, the Tatars retreated
after a seven month stand off.
In 1480 the year of this stand off, Moscow and its
territories ceased paying tribute and became officially
free of Tatar overlordship.
How Moscow grew, 1300 - 1462
Prince Vasily III Ioanovich (1505-1533)
With Feodor's death,
Russia was, for the first
time left without any
legitimate heirs to the
throne. A time of troubles
hit Russia, as various
princes and boyars fought
to gain power and war and
famine spread throughout
Russia. Ivan IV‘ s reign
had left Russia weak and
without a strong ruler to
maintain the country.
Ivan IV- the Terrible
(1533-1584)
Ivan the Terrible and the Death of his Son.
 Tsar Feodor I
Iovanovich (1584-1598)
Tsarina Irina (1598)
Tsarevitch Dmitry I, killed in Uglich.
The country went
through many rulers
after Feodor's death
until the beginning of
the Romanov dynasty.
The first was Boris
Godunov, a boyar who
had gained much power
during Feodor's reign.
Godunov had been
elected by a zemskii
sobor, however his reign
was short, lasting only
from 1598 to his death in
1605. His reign was not a
peaceful one; the
country was afflicted
with Church and boyar
opposition, peasants
fleeing from the estates,
and Cossack rebellions. Tsar Boris Godunov
  At Boris Godunov's
death, a man
claiming to be
Dmitri, a young son
of Ivan IV‘ s who
had died
mysteriously,
organized a group
of rebels and took
the throne. His
reign lasted less
than a year because
he was murdered by
Pseudo Dmitri I
dissatisfied boyars.
(1605-1606)
 Next, Prince Vasilii
Shuiskii reigned from
1606-1610 as Vasilii
IV but civil strife and
foreign intervention
continued to be a
problem. His reign
too was full of
problems. Moscow
suffered from a
Cossack rebellion
which was put down
and a second fale
Dmitrii, followed by
two years of civil war. Tsar Vasilii Shuiskii
(1606-1613)
  Finally, another
zemskii sobor
elected Mikhail
Romanov to be
tsar.
 This was the
beginning of the
Romanov dynasty.

Tsar Mikhail Romanov

(1613-1645)
  The Romanov Dynasty began
with the election of Mikhail
Romanov, a 16 year old boyar,
by the zemskii sobor. The
Romanov family ruled Russia
from 1613 to 1855 and during
this time, Russia became a
major European power. The
first rulers of this dynasty
struggled to end internal
disorder, foreign invasion and
financial collapse. Mikhail
Romanov was a weak ruler, his
father Metropolitan Filaret was
the real power until his death in
1633. After Mikhail's death, his
son Alexis ruled from 1645-1676.
Mikhail and Alexis relied on the
Tsar Alexis I advice of the zemskii sobor,
which grew in power.
(1645-1676)
 It passed some legislation
and represented the gentry
and merchants against the
boyars. However, Alexis
often deferred to his boyar
advisors who usually did
not work for the best of the
country and peasant
uprisings and Cossack
revolts were common.
Revolts occurred in 1648,
1662 and 1670-1671. The
revolt from 1670-1671 is the
most famous. It was led by
a Don Cossack named
Stepka Razin who become
a hero for the common
people. He was eventually
executed. However, while
the Cossacks rebelled, they
also helped Russia by
leading the way in
expansion into Siberia.
Tsar Feodor III (1678-1682)
 Peter the Great's reign
transformed Russia. He
strengthened the rule of the
tsar and westernized Russia
while at the same time making
Russia a power in Europe and
greatly expanding Russia's
borders. During his reign,
Russia became an empire and
Peter became the first
emperor of Russia. Peter
became co-ruler with his half
brother Ivan when Peter was
ten. As both Peter and Ivan
were young, Sofia , became
regent. Peter was mostly
ignored and so spent much
time with the foreigners in
Russia. He became very
interested in western ways
and in warfare. A favorite
childhood activity involved
directing troops he gathered
and playing war games.
Tsar Peter the Great
Sofia – regent (1682-1689) Ivan V, Peter the Great’s Cousin
(1689-1696)
 The two troops he started as a child
continued to exist and became the
elite guard regiments the
Preobrazhenskii and Semenovskii.
Peter also made two tours of Europe.
He was the first Russian ruler to travel
outside of Russia. While on these
tours he learned about European
dress and culture and warfare,
especially naval warfare. He learned
to do many trades, from shipbuilding
to shoemaking. Peter the Great
wanted to make Russia more modern
militarily, economically and socially,
while strengthening the power of the
state and of the tsar. One of his most
famous measures towards
westernization was the order for
noble men to shave their beards.
Further changes included abolishing
hereditary positions with the creation
of the Table of Ranks that gave people
privileges based on their ability and
position within the Table of Ranks.
Peter required all men to serve the
state
Emperor Peter the Great.
(1696-1725)
 Military campaigns were a large part of Peter's
rule. He greatly improved the army and created a
navy, even building a ship by himself. Some of
Peter's earliest military victories came at the
beginning of his reign when he overcame coup
attempts staged by Sofia. He eventually had her
confined to a convent and her followers executed or
exiled. The navy Peter had built and the army he
created were very effective and Russia's territory
grew during his reign. The Great Northern War
against Sweden was the longest lasting battle of
Peter's reign. This war led to Peter's famous
decision to melt the church bells to create
cannonballs. These wars, while increasing Russia's
size and power were very difficult for the people to
support. They were very expensive and the people
were forced to pay heavy taxes. In addition, so
many people were forced to join the army that their
homes often suffered. As part of his westward
expansion, Peter had St. Petersburg built, and
called it his Window to the West. This too was very
costly.
 Peter the Great made another major reform with
the Russian Orthodox church. In the past, the
church had acted as the moral conscience of the
nation and a check on the tsar's power. However,
Peter the Great made the church the servant of the
state. The biggest change he made to the church was
the creation of the Ecclesiastical College, a
governing board of clerics, to replace the
patriarchate. Along with changes to the church,
Peter increased the education that Russians
received. He created the first universities in Russia.
 Another change made by Peter was his declaration
that ascent to the throne would not be based on
hereditary principles such as the rule of
primogeniture. Instead, he said that the tsar would
name his own successor. However, Peter died
without naming someone to succeed him. There was
no obvious choice either, as Peter had been married
twice. His first wife, Evdokia was forced on him by
his mother and he had had her sent to a convent. He
later married a woman named Catherine, who he
also made Empress and so many felt that Peter the
Great meant for her to succeed him. However, Peter
the Great also had a son by Evdokia named Alexis.
Alexis did not support Peter the Great and when
Alexis had a son, named Peter, Peter the Great told
Alexis that he must support him. Alexis did not and
eventually Peter the Great had him killed. Also both
Peter the Great and his former co tsar Ivan V had
daughters who could possibly rule.
 This resulted in a
quick succession
of rulers,
Catherine I ruled
for less than two
years.

Empress Katherine I
(1725-1727)
 Emperor Peter II
ruled from
1727-1730
 He was followed by
Empress Anna I,
who ruled from
1730-1740
 Empress Anna II,
ruled from
1740-1741
 Empress Anna
Leopoldovna with
her son Ivan VI
(1740-1741).
( killed in prison)
 These rulers were
followed by the
relatively long reign of
Elizabeth I, Peter the
Great's daughter. She
reigned from 1741-1762
and under her reign St.
Petersburg became a
beautiful city. She
hired an Italian
architect who built
some of Russia's most
well known buildings.
These include The
Catherine Palace and
the fourth Winter
Palace, which is now
the Hermitage
museum. Empress Elisabeth I
Empress Elisabeth I and the Prince Peter III
 She was followed
by Peter III, who
lasted only a few
months when, due
to his unpopular
actions and anti-
Russian feelings,
the military
sponsored his wife
in a coup that
succeeded and
Catherine the Great
began her rule of
Russia.
Emperor Peter III
(1761-1762)
 Catherine the Great was
born Sophie Augusta
Frederica. She was a
German princess. She
married Peter III at the
invitation of Peter III‘ s
mother, Elizabeth I. At
the time of her marriage,
she took the name
Catherine and became a
member of the Russian
Orthodox church. Peter
III and Catherine the
Great were very
different. Peter III
idolized Frederick the
Great of Prussia and
ended a war Russia had
been fighting with
Prussia by conceding all
of Russia's gains to Emperor Peter III and
Prussia. Empress Catherine II
 Peter III did not
particularly like Russia.
Catherine however,
sought to become more
Russian. She learned the
language and customs
and learned about the
court. Within a few
months of Peter III
coming to power, the
royal guard deserted him
and helped Catherine
gain the throne. The coup
that brought Catherine to
power and saw her
crowned Empress of all
Russia was organized by
Count Grigorii Orlov, one Empress Catherine
of Catherine's lovers.
II (1762-1796)
 Catherine the Great helped make her popularity grow by
minimizing her European connections and focusing on her
support of Russia. Yet, while Catherine the Great sought to
minimize her connections to Europe, she also tried to
continue westernizing Russia as Peter the Great had done.
She wanted to bring the Enlightenment to Russia and
admired the French philosophers. Catherine attempted to
create a progressive law code and created the Great
Instruction to work towards this goal. She presented the
Great Instruction to a group called the Legislative
Commission who were supposed to codify laws. However, the
Legislative Commission was unsuccessful in creating laws
and when war broke out in Turkey Catherine disbanded the
group. She also read authors such as Voltaire, Diderot and
Montesquieu and incorporated their theories into her ruling
ideas. Catherine also encouraged the publishing of numerous
books and periodicals, including satires on Russia court life
and the nobility. Catherine was a patron of the arts. During
her reign, Catherine the Great improved the lives of the
nobility while decreasing the status and rights of the peasants
and serfs. Catherine was dependent on the nobility for her
power. She knew that they had helped her come to power and
that if she didn't satisfy them they could plan a coup against
her.
 One of the first controversial things Catherine did was to
secularize the church lands. The Metropolitan protested
and excommunicated those involved with the process,
however others in the church did not support the
excommunication and the Metropolitan eventually lost his
position. Catherine promoted local government and
created governing districts. In 1785 the Charter to the
Nobility was passed. This recognized the gentry of each
province as a group with an elected leader that could
directly petition Catherine. It also restored previous rights
and privileges of the gentry. The gentry were free from
obligations to the state and from taxation. They also gained
greater property rights. They were the soul owners of their
estates and gained much more control over the serfs.
During this time, the poor and the serfs lost much of their
privileges and revolts occurred. The most famous and
largest of the revolts was led by the Cossack Emelian
Pugachev and lasted from 1773-1775. It ended when
Pugachev was captured and brought to Moscow where he
was dismembered and burned. Catherine also helped
spread the institution of serfdom by giving away large
tracts of land and the people on the land as gifts and
rewards thus increasing the number of serfs and the places
where serfdom was common.
 Catherine worked to increase education in Russia.
She created elementary and secondary schools
and universities. The elementary schools and
secondary schools were supposed to be free to all
but economics often kept the poor people out of
the schools. Elementary schools were largely
private schools that poor people could not afford
to attend, and therefore they could get into the
secondary schools. Catherine also established a
medical commission in 1763 which helped to
improve medical conditions in Russia. She led the
way in vaccinating Russians by taking the first
vaccine. She also wanted Russia to be able to
produce its own medicines and surgical
equipment. Catherine helped expand Russia
through two Russo-Turkish wars, one in
1768-1774 and one from 1787-1792, through the
addition of Ukraine from 1781-1786 and by gaining
portions of Poland through paritions of Poland.
 Catherine died in
1796 and was
seceded by her
son Paul I who
ruled from
1796-1801. He
was mentally
unstable and in
1801 a group of
conspirators
killed him and his
son Alexander I
became the
emperor.
Emperor Paul I
(1796-1801)
 Alexander I ruled from
1801-1825. Paul I had placed
many restrictions of Russian
life that Alexander I changed.
He restored the rights of the
nobles ended the ban on
foreign study and the
importation of foreign
books, removed the
restrictions on the private
printing of books and
released people who had
been imprisoned for
offending Paul. Alexander I‘ s
first act as Emperor had been
to announce that he would
reign as Catherine the Great
had done and his actions
proved to the people that he
wanted to serve them.
Emperor Alexander I
(1801-1825)
 Alexander ruled with the aid
of four friends who became
unofficially known as the
Committee of Friends and as
a result of their
recommendations major
administrative changes were
made. Later in his reign,
Mikhail Speransky served as
advisor and his main job was
to create a constitution.
Speransky's plan was never
fully carried out and Russia
did not gain a constitution.
While the first years of
Alexander’s reign brought
reforms and improvements,
the second half was
reactionary. Alexander
became most interested in
religion and began to follow
an obscure form of Russian Imperial
Christianity Coat of Arms
  Alexander also began to
believe that Russia needed a
larger army and that the best
way to do this was to create
military colonies. He had
farming villages created that
were staffed by military. The
farmers/soldiers were thus
to support themselves
through farming and protect
the country as soldiers. This
system was not very
effective. Alexander‘ s
Minister of Education felt
that the only useful
knowledge was contained in
the bible, and so education
also suffered setbacks
during Alexander I‘ s reign.
When Alexander died in
1825 he left behind a
Emperor Nicholas I troubled country for his
brother Nicholas.
(1825-1855)
 During Alexander I‘ s reign Napoleon invaded Russia. This
event is one of the things Alexander I is most famous for. In
1812 Napoleon began his invasion of Russia. His troops
were superior in skill and in numbers. So, Russia, rather
than fighting began to retreat creating a path of destruction
as they retreated. Napoleon followed and finally on
September 7 in Borodino, a village west of Moscow a battle
was fought. The Russians lost and further retreated leaving
Moscow to be taken. However, by this time Moscow was
deserted and Napoleon's armies were far from their supply
lines. Also, the night Napoleon claimed Moscow fires broke
out in the city leaving Napoleon's army without both food
and adequate shelter. Napoleon finally decided to retreat.
He left Moscow and was forced by Russian troops to follow
the same route they had used when entering Russia. The
area around this path had suffered heavy destruction when
Napoleon entered Russia which left Napoleon's armies
without adequate food and shelter on the return home. The
effects of winter and gorilla warfare attacks on the
retreating army significantly reduced its numbers and
Napoleon lost his power. Russia had defeated the mighty
Napoleon.
 Nicholas I gained the throne of a troubled country in
November 1825. He was not the person most of Russia
expected to become emperor. His older brother
Constantine was next in line but Constantine had earlier
renounced his right to the throne and Alexander I and
Constantine had named Nicholas I as the heir. Also, a
group of young nobles launched a revolt on December 14,
known as the Decembrist Revolt. The leaders planned to
force Constantine to the throne. This revolt was easily
defeated. Nicholas I‘ s motto became Russian Orthodoxy,
autocracy and nationalism. This meant that he upheld the
rights of the church, and of his own autocratic rule. By
focusing on Russian Orthodoxy, he also felt that he had the
God given right to rule. Nationalism favored ethnic
Russians over other ethnic groups. Mikhail Speransky
remained influential and worked to reform Russia's laws.
He and others succeeded in publishing a Complete
Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. These volumes
were meant to make rulings through out Russia more
uniform. The Soviet KGB has its beginnings in this time.
One of the Departments Nicholas created was in charge of
monitoring subversive groups. This department was the
precursor to the KGB.
 During Nicholas' reign and his successor Alexander
II‘ s reign some of the most important Russian
writers, artists and composers worked. Fyodor
Dostoyevsky wrote Crime and Punishment, The
Possessed, and The Brothers Karamazov.
Alexsander Pushkin wrote, among other things, The
Captive of the Caucasus, The Fountain of
Bakhchissarai, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Boris
Godunov, Eugene Onegin, and the Bronze
Horseman. Nicholas Gogol was one of the best
fiction writers. Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, and
Anna Karenina. The musician Tchaikovsky wrote
1812 Overture, Nutcracker Suite, Swan Lake, Romeo
and Juliet, Eugene Onegine, and Sleeping Beauty.
One of the most famous paintings of this time is
Ivan the Terrible and the Death of His Son by Ilya
Repin.
 Nicholas' reign was a very conservative one. He was
confident in Russia's military and diplomatic
capabilities. However, the Crimean war at the end
of his reign made it obvious that reform was needed
in Russia.
 This task came to his son,
Alexsander II. Alexsander
ruled from 1855-1881. He
became known as the Tsar
Liberator because he freed
the serfs. Alexsander II
could see the forced labor by
the serfs was a very
uneconomical way for
Russia to operate. Also,
many of the nobles were
beginning to think that
serfdom should end. Serfs
were beginning to be seen as
people as a result of the
popular Hunting Sketches
done by Ivan Turgenev that
portrayed rural life.
Alexsander II freed the serfs
with the Emancipation Act of
February 18, 1861. 52 million
serfs were freed, this was Emperor Alexander II
about 45% of the population.
(1855-1881)
 This emancipation did not solve Russia's
problems of peasant unrest and may have made
things worse immediately following the
emancipation. Only serfs that had farmed were
given land, house serfs were not given land. Also,
serfs had to continue working for the estate
owners two years after being freed and had to
pay for the land they were given over a 49 year
period. Peasants were still tied to the land
because they lived in communes called a mir.
However in the long run freeing the peasant was
an important reform for Russia. Nicholas made
other reforms and together these came to be
known as the Great Reforms. Local governments
were developed to replace the collapse of power
of the wealthy land owners. The military was
reformed and one of the most important changes
made to it was to shorten the required time of
service for peasants from 25 years to 6 years.
The judicial system was also reformed.
  This system badly needed
reform. The legal profession
was created, open trials and
equal treatment under the
law was instigated. However,
the reforms to the legal
system did not apply to the
peasants. The education
system also grew. The
Ministry of Education created
a national system of primary
schools beginning in 1864. As
people became better
educated they became more
critical of the government.
University students especially
began to question the regime.
As people gained freedoms
they began to want more
changes and when Alexsander
III, Alexsander II‘ s son,
gained the throne he was
forced to deal with this
Emperor Alexander III unrest.
(1881-1894)
 Alexsander III responded by tightening
control of people and removing the political
freedom they had been experiencing.
Alexsander III renewed the policy of
Russian Orthodoxy, autocracy and
nationalism. Marxism began to grow during
Alexsander III‘ s reign. The Bolshevik and
Menshevik groups formed and
revolutionary leaders such as Lenin,
PLekhanov, Vera Zasulich, Paul Akselrod
and Pavel Martov were emerging as
revolutionaries. They originally were part of
the Labor Party which split to form The
Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and the
Mensheviks led by Martov. Alexsander III‘ s
son Nicholas II began ruling in 1894 when
Alexsander III unexpectedly died.
  Nicholas II was a weak ruler
and could not successfully rule
Russia. Industrialism was
finally reaching Russia and a
working middle class was
emerging. Nicholas II however
did not want to allow workers
to unite and form unions as
they were elsewhere in the
world. He created state
approved unions and a strike
by one of these groups helped
illustrate Nicholas II‘ s poor
ruling ability. The people had
long believed that the tsar was
the protector of his people and
so the group was peacefully
marching to the tsar carrying
icons and portraits of the tsar
when Nicholas II refused to
meet with them and ordered to
Emperor Nicholas II have them fired upon.
(1894-1917)
 This killed hundreds of
innocent people and
public opinion turned
against the tsar. This
event came to be known
as Bloody Sunday and
helped set off a revolt in
1905. To help calm the
unrest in the country
Nicholas II agreed to
the October Manifest
which gave people civil
liberties and created
the Duma.

Emperor Nicholas II
 World War I began in 1914
when Austria declared war
on Serbia. Russia went to
war to defend the Serbs but
was ill prepared for the
battle. They had inadequate
weapons and poor
leadership. Nicholas II went
to the lines to lead his armies
but this proved to be a poor
move. Problems increased
and prices rose dramatically.
Women organized
themselves to protest high
bread prices. Food and fuel
shortages and outbreaks of
diseases were a major
problem. Also, many soldiers
deserted. These soldiers
were important in a final
revolt in 1917 which brought
about the end of the
Romanov Dynasty. Nicholas
II and his family were put
under house arrest and in
July of 1918 were murdered.