Historical Background

Russia, country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and
northern Asia. Once the preeminent republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (U.S.S.R.; commonly known as the Soviet Union), Russia became an
independent country after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
Russia is a land of superlatives. By far the world’s largest country, it covers nearly twice
the territory of Canada, the second largest. It extends across the whole of northern
Asia and the eastern third of Europe, spanning 11 time zones and incorporating a great
range of environments and landforms, from deserts to semiarid steppes to deep
forests and Arctic tundra. Russia contains Europe’s longest river, the Volga, and its
largest lake, Ladoga. Russia also is home to the world’s deepest lake, Baikal, and the
country recorded the world’s lowest temperature outside the North and South poles.

The Russian republic was established immediately after the Russian Revolution of
1917 and became a union republic in 1922. During the post-World War II era, Russia
was a central player in international affairs, locked in a Cold War struggle with
the United States. In 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union joined with
several other former Soviet republics to form a loose coalition, the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS). Although the demise of Soviet-style communism and the
subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union brought profound political and economic
changes, including the beginnings of the formation of a large middle class, for much of
the postcommunist era Russians had to endure a generally weak economy, high
inflation, and a complex of social ills that served to lower life expectancy significantly.
Despite such profound problems, Russia showed promise of achieving its potential as
a world power once again, as if to exemplify a favourite proverb, stated in the 19th
century by Austrian statesman Klemens, Fürst (prince) von Metternich: “Russia is
never as strong as she appears, and never as weak as she appears.”,

The Bolshevik Revolution

The provisional government lost support because of its failure to end the war, which
had cost so many lives and its
failure to enact social reforms.
Many Russians were impatient
for peace and for radical
reforms. Lenin appealed to
them with his slogan Peace!
Bread! Land! The Bolsheviks
had much support among
soldiers in Petrograd. On 6
November 1917, the
Bolsheviks led them in a revolt in Petrograd. They seized key buildings. On 7
November 1917, they seized the winter palace and arrested most of the provisional
government (Kerensky escaped and fled abroad). The Bolsheviks quickly seized
central Russia. During the civil war, the Communists simply took food from the
peasants by force whenever they needed it. The harsh policies of the Communists
provoked unrest. In 1921 there were strikes in Petrograd and mutiny at Kronstadt naval
base, which was crushed by force.
 However, Lenin made a strategic retreat. He
announced his ‘new economic policy’. The
peasants were allowed to grow food and sell it
for profit. In the towns, some free

enterprise was allowed. The Communists only

retained control of the ‘commanding heights’ of
industry (the most important ones). The new
economic policy helped Russia to recover from
the devastation wreaked by the civil war.
However, time was running out for Lenin. In
1922 he suffered the first of a series of strokes
and he died in January 1924. Following Lenin’s death, the cunning and devious Stalin
(Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili 1879-1953) took power. By 1928 he had made
himself dictator. His main enemy Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein 1879-1940)
was exiled in 1929. In 1940 he was assassinated in Mexico. Stalin was determined to
crush the Ukrainian peasants and he caused a terrible famine in 1932-33 that took the
lives of millions of innocent people. In 1932 collective farms were given completely
unrealistic quotas to fill. Soviet law decreed that the peasants would not be allowed to
keep any grain until they had met their quotas. They could not, of course, meet them
so Soviet officials simply confiscated all the grain
they wanted leaving the peasants to starve. How
many people died in this man-made famine is not
known for sure, but it was probably about 7 million.
In 1939 Stalin made a pact with Hitler. In 1939 the
two men divided Poland between them. Then
Stalin demanded that Finland give him territory,
which he hoped would make Russia easier to
defend. When the Finns refused Stalin went to
war. The Russians attacked Finland on 30
November 1939. At first, the Finns successfully
resisted but superior Russian numbers eventually
overwhelmed them. The Finns surrendered in March 1940. In 1940 Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania were still independent. However, in the summer the red army entered them,
and they were absorbed into the Soviet Union. The Germans and Russians fought a
great tank battle at Kursk in July 1943. The result was a resounding Russian victory.
Afterward, the red army advanced rapidly. In November 1943 they liberated Kiev. Early
in 1944, the red army entered the Baltic States. In June they began a massive offensive
in central Europe. Romania surrendered on 23 August 1944. Although Bulgaria was
not officially at war with Russia, she had helped the Germans. So, in September Russia
declared war and occupied Bulgaria. Finland surrendered in September 1944. In
January 1945 the Russians advanced across Poland. In April they entered Berlin.
Furthermore, during the 1970s Soviet economic growth slowed and by 1980 it halted
altogether. The Russian people depended on grain imported from the west. When he
died in 1982 Brezhnev was succeeded by Yuri Andropov who died in February 1984.
He, in turn, was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko who died in March 1985. Mikhail
Gorbachev then became the leader of Russia.

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979 by

troops from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan
communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas during
the Afghan War (1978–92) and remained in Afghanistan until mid-February 1989.
The Fall of the Soviet Union was officially issued on December 26, 1991, as
Proclamation No. 142-H [1] recognizing the independence of the 15 republics of the
Soviet Union. As a result, 12 former Soviet republics formed after the collapse, one
undivided economic and regional organization called the "Commonwealth of
Independent States".

Cultural Background

Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some

100 languages. According to the 2002
census, 142.6 million people
speak Russian, followed by Tatar with
5.3 million and Ukrainian with 1.8 million
speakers. Russian is the only official
state language, but the Constitution
gives the individual republics the right to
make their native language co-official
next to Russian. Despite its wide
dispersal, the Russian language is
homogeneous throughout Russia.
Russian is the most geographically
widespread language of Eurasia and the
most widely spoken Slavic language. Russian belongs to the Indo-European
language family and is one of the living members of the East Slavic languages; the
others being Belarusian and Ukrainian (and possibly Rusyn). Written examples of Old
East Slavic (Old Russian) are attested from the 10th century onwards.

cultural traditions close. They may speak languages or follow religions/customs that
are specific to their people. Ethnic minorities are also often more collectivistic, showing
strong loyalty and pride for their group. In some cases, people may have a stronger
 loyalty towards their ethnic identity
than the Russian identity.
However, this is not usually the
case for ethnic Russians
(russkiye) who make up most of
the

population (77.7% as of 2010 est.). They generally see themselves as “100%” Russian
(rossiyanin) and may simply further define themselves by their region of birth.

An important part of Russian culture is the country’s literary heritage. The works
of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin, and Griboyedov have been translated
into many different languages. Characteristic features of Russian literature include in-
depth descriptions of heroes’ emotional experiences, picturesque and evocative
descriptions of natural landscapes, and studies of the inner worlds of human beings.
The “silver age” of Russian poetry in the late 19th century and early 20th century
yielded beautiful works by poets such as Anna Akhmatova, Sergei Yesenin, Marina
Terentieva, Alexander
Blok, and Valery
Biryukov. Literary works
produced during the
Soviet era have also had
an enduring impact on
Russian culture, with
writers such as Arkady
and Boris Strugatsky,
Vladimir Vygotsky, and
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
known across the world.

The genre of sculpture developed unevenly in Russia. The Slavs carved wooden and
stone idols that symbolised different elements or spirits. After the advent of Christianity,
the art of creating such sculptures almost died out due to the ban on idolatry in
Orthodox Russian culture. However, the genre developed in the form of bas-reliefs and
the design of building façades. The practice of sculpture took off again in earnest during
the reforms of Peter the Great, when
much was adopted from the Western
European style. Significant attention
was paid to sculpture in the Soviet era,
with leaders and public figures
honoured and immortalised in marble,
stone, bronze, or plaster.

The clothes of the Slavs, like those of

many ancient peoples, protected the
wearer in both a physical sense (from
the elements) and a symbolic sense
(for example, from the evil
eye). Traditional men’s clothing was simpler than women’s, consisting of a loose linen
shirt, canvas trousers, and a belt. In Russian culture, the belt was an indispensable
attribute of “human” clothing. According to the Slavs, only evil spirits and the dead did
not wear a belt. To protect a man from evil spirits and give him courage and clarity,
various amulets were embroidered on clothes. The embroidery was usually on the
collar and, of course, the belt.

Political Environment
Type of State

Federal republic of Russia

Current Political Leaders

President: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (since 7

May 2012; re-elected on March 18th, 2018) –
United-Russia
Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin (since 16
January 2020) - United Russia

Next Election Dates

Presidential: March 2024 State Duma: September 2026

Current Political Context

On February 24th, 2022, Russia initiated a military conflict on the Ukrainian territory,
which profoundly upsets the current political context in both countries and will have

substantial political and economic ramifications.

Main Political Parties

In Russia, the powers of the executive were greatly increased by the adoption of a new
constitution in 1993. The political apparatus is overwhelmingly in the hands of the
United Russia party. While opposition parties are authorised, there is little chance for
these parties to wield any real power. The main parties are:

United Russia: centrist, remains the largest and seemingly most popular party in
Russia, self-declared focus on 'Russian conservatism'
Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF): left-wing, seeks to establish
modern socialism
A Fair Russia (CP): centre-left, ally of United Russia
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR): far-right, opposes communism and
capitalism, self-described as centrist, an extreme right nationalist political party.

Executive Power
The President is the Head of State. He is elected by universal suffrage for six years.
He is the commander-in-chief of the army and the real centre of power in the country.
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government. He is appointed by the President, with
the approval of the lower house of Parliament, and manages the everyday business of
the country.

Legislative Power
Russia has a two-chamber legislative power. The Parliament, called the Federal
Assembly, is composed of the Council of the Federation (upper chamber), which has
170 seats, and the members are appointed by the regional governors and legislative
institutions, for a four-year term of office; and the State Duma (lower chamber), which
has 450 seats; its members are elected by direct universal suffrage from partisan lists,
for a four-year term.