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Russia - A Chronology of Events 7th century B.C. Founding of Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast; occupation of south Russian steppe by Scythians 3rd century A.D. Goths settle on western steppes of Russia 4th century Huns invade southern Russia 5th century Bulgars settle middle Volga area 8th century Khazars, a Turkish tribe, take control of the steppes, settle near the Volga; Eastern Slavs establish themselves at Kiev in the south, Novgorod in the north, and Tmutarakan in the southeast 9th century Cyrillic alphabet developed by Cyril and Methodius; Varangians make contact with Constantinople and keep trade route open to the south; Rurik established at Novgorod 862 Novgorod becomes capital of Rus 882 Oleg founds the Russian state at Kiev 988 Conversion of Vladimir 1, ruler of Kiev, to Christianity 1019 - 1054 First code of Russian law established during reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 1147 First mention of Moscow in the Russian Chronicles 1156 First Kremlin, a wooden stockade, built 1223 Mongols begin to conquer Rus 1238 Batu, Genghis Khan's grandson, burns city of Moscow and the Kremlin 1240 Mongols sack Kiev; Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes on the Neva 1242 Alexander Nevsky defeats Teutonic knights at Lake Peipus (Lake Chudskoye) 1272 Nevsky's son, Prince Daniel, inherits principality of Moscow and the Kremlin 1326 The center of the Orthodox Church is moved from Kiev to Moscow Cornerstone laid of Cathedral of the Assumption 1326 - 1333 Cathedral of the Archangel Michael erected 1328 Metropolitan see officially transferred from Vladimir to Moscow; Ivan Kalita ("Moneybags") becomes grand prince 1330 Church of the Savior in the Forest completed 1337 Moscow and much of the Kremlin devastated by an uncontrollable flash fire 1339 Ivan Kalita begins rebuilding Kremlin, replacing its pine palisades with oak walls 1353 Black Death ravages Russia, claiming Ivan's disciple and successor, Simeon the Proud 1359 - 1374 Grand Prince Dmitri, Ivan's grandson, replaces wooden stockade with stone walls and new towers 1365 Second burning of Moscow 1368 Lithuanians attack Moscow, burning all houses outside the Kremlin walls 1370 Citizens of Tver, in league with the Lithuanians, burn Kremlin environs a second time 1380 Dmitri defeats Khan Mamai at Kulikovo pole, near the river Don, destroying myth of Mongol invincibility 1382 Khan Tokhtamysh sacks Moscow, captures Kremlin through deception 1389 Kremlin spared in third burning of Moscow 1396 - 1416 Building of first Cathedral of the Annunciation 1408 - 1409 Kremlin walls, mounted with cannon, withstand Tatar raid 1425 - 1452 Civil war between Muscovite princes 1448 Russian Church breaks with Rome 1453 Constantinople captured by the Turks 1456 Moscow takes over Novgorod 1468 Ivan III marries Sophia, the only niece of the last Byzantine emperor 1471 Two Russian architects lay the foundations for new Cathedral of the Assumption 1472 Unfinished cathedral collapses during earthquake; Ivan III (the Great) marries ZoE Palaeologa 1474 Ivan dispatches first mission to Venice to hire architects to construct new Kremlin 1475 Aristotele Fieraventi arrives in Moscow, begins rebuilding the Cathedral of the Assumption 1478 Cathedral of the Assumption completed 1480 Ivan III (the Great) finally defeats Tartars, and absorbs Tver and Vyatka into Muscovy 1482 - 1490 Construction of second Cathedral of the Annunciation, designed by Russian architects; Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solario reconstruct Kremlin walls and towers 1484 - 1493 Additional envoys dispatched to secure assistance of Western European artisans 1487 - 1491 Palace of Facets and lower section of Savior Tower, Kremlin's main gate, finished 1490 Forest Gate built by Solario, chief architect of the Italianate Kremlin 1493 Ivan III evacuates fire-damaged quarters in Kremlin 1505 Alevisio Novi commissioned to rebuild the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael; death of Ivan the Great 1508 First section of Terem Palace finished 1510 Moat built along east side of Kremlin 1515 Frescoes of Cathedral of the Assumption finished 1533 Accession of Ivan IV (the Terrible) 1534 - 1538 Masonry walls erected around the perimeter of the Kitai Gorod, Moscow's trade center 1547 Ivan IV crowned Tsar and Autocrat of All the Russias in the Cathedral of the Assumption; fire destroys 25,000 dwellings in Moscow and badly damages the Cathedral of the Annunciation 1549 First zemski sobor (parliament) convened 1552 Russians capture Kazan from Tartars and start the trek east to the Pacific 1553 English adventurer Richard Chancellor visits the Kremlin; Muscovy Company established 1556 Astrakhan, last Tatar enclave, falls to Ivan's army 1558 Grigory Stroganov begins development in the east 1560 Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed consecrated; Moscow dubbed "the Third Rome" 1565 Foreign Office constructed within Kremlin walls, Reign of Terror begins 1571 Crimean Tatars plunder Moscow 1581 Yermak leads expedition to Siberia, defeats the Tatars Ivan accidentally kills his son and heir 1584 Death of Ivan the Terrible and appointment of Boris Godunov as Lord Protector; beginning of the "Time of Troubles" 1586 Forty-ton Tsar pushka, world's largest cannon, cast in Moscow and displayed in Cathedral Square 1589 Metropolitan of Moscow elevated to the rank of patriarch 1591 Dmitry, son of Ivan IV, found dead Muscovites repel last serious Tatar incursion 1598 End of old dynasty; Boris Godunov becomes tsar 1600 - 1603 Belfry of Ivan the Great erected during severe famine in Moscow 1604 False Dmitry invades Russian Ukraine 1605 Boris Godunov dies, succeeded by first False Dmitri 1605 - 1613 Time of Troubles 1606 Murder of false Dmitry; Basil Shuisky becomes tsar 1608 Second False Dmitri establishes himself at Tushino, seven miles outside Moscow 1610 Poles invade Russia; Swedes take over Novgorod Second false Dmitry murdered by one of his followers 1612 Moscow and the Kremlin retaken from Poles under the leadership of Prince Pozharsky 1613 Michael Romanov crowned in Cathedral of the Assumption 1625 Gothic superstructure added to Savior Tower 1642 - 1644 Vaults and walls of Cathedral of the Assumption embellished with new icons 1644 Poiarkov reaches the Amur River 1648 Traders reach the Pacific Ocean - Semyon Dezhnev discovers Bering Strait 1649 Ulozhenie (code of laws) handed down from the tsar 1650 Yerofei Khabarov leads expedition to the Amur River Renovation of the Terem Palace completed 1651 Work begins on the Amusement Palace 1652 Nikon, the patriarch, calls for reform of the church 1666 - 1667 Alexis I holds church council in his Kremlin palace; denounces patriarch and establishes supremacy of the State over the Church 1670 - 1671 Cossack peasant revolt led by Stepan Razin 1680 Tsar Tower, last addition to the Kremlin battlements, completed 1682 Archpriest Avvakum burned at the stake Mutiny of the streltsy; accession of Peter I (the Great) as co-tsar with his half brother Ivan 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk signed by China and Russia 1694 - 1725 Peter the Great modernizes Russia with Western European technology and ideas 1695 Tsar Peter I declares war on Turkey 1696 Capture of Azov 1697 Vladimir Atlasov discovers the Kamchatka peninsula that juts into the Pacific 1697 - 1698 Peter makes grand tour of Western Europe 1698 Peter returns to suppress last streltsy rebellion; mass executions in Red Square 1700 Peace with Turkey; beginning of Northern War against Sweden 1700 - 1721 Great Northern War with Sweden 1702 - 1736 Construction of Arsenal Building at the Kremlin 1703 - 1723 Peter erects St. Petersburg, his "window to the West"; Kremlin falls into disrepair 1705 Beard tax 1707 Anticipating a Swedish attack, Peter constructs a new line of fortifications outside old Kremlin walls 1709 Battle of Poltava 1714 Battle of Gangut, first Russian victory at sea 1710 - 1713 Turkish War 1721 End of Northern War 1722 - 1723 War with Persia 1724 Vitus Bering explores Bering Strait Peter's second wife, Catherine I, crowned Empress of Russia in Cathedral of the Assumption, Kremlin 1725 Death of Peter I 1727 Peter's grandson and heir, Peter II, briefly moves capital back to Moscow 1732 Anne, Peter II's successor, returns with her court to St. Petersburg 1762 Catherine II (the Great) deposes her husband, Peter III, in a bloodless coup and has herself crowned Empress of Russia in the Cathedral of the Assumption 1762 - 1796 Catherine the Great expands Russia south to the Black Sea 1769 Catherine commissions Vasili Bazhenov to undertake massive renovation of the Kremlin 1770 - 1774 War with Turkey 1773 Cornerstone of new Kremlin laid 1773 - 1774 Uprising led by Yemelyan Pugachov 1775 Pugachov tried in Kremlin palace and executed Bazhenov's work on Kremlin halted on Catherine's orders1778 - 87Senate Building erected 1776 -1787 Senate Building erected 1787 Catherine the Great inspects Russian possessions in the Ukraine and the Crimea 1796 Catherine dies of a stroke 1801 Tsar Paul assassinated 1812 Mikhail Speransky exiled; Napoleon invades Russia Napoleon occupies Kremlin; several walls and towers damaged by fires and explosions 1814 Alexander I enters Paris in triumph; reconstruction of Red Square begins under supervision of Osip Beauvais 1818 Monument honoring Minin and Pozharsky unveiled in Red Square 1825 Decembrist revolt crushed by Nicholas I 1826 Beauvais lays out Alexandrovsky Park along the eastern side of the Kremlin 1830 Amusement Palace restored 1836 Tsar Bell mounted on a granite base 1839 Konstantin Ton begins construction of Cathedral of the Redeemer to commemorate victory over Napoleon 1839 - 1849 Grand Kremlin palace, designed by Ton, erected 1853 - 1856 Crimean War 1855 Death of Nicholas 1 1861 Alexander II frees the serfs, but most continue to live in great poverty 1863 Imperial serfs freed 1864 Russian troops wipe out rebels in Caucasus Mountains 1865 - 1885 Russia establishes control over Central Asia 1867 Russia sells Alaska to the United States 1870 Kornilov is born the son of a Cossack officer 1874 -1883 Historical Museum built along western edge of Red Square 1875 Acquisition of Sakhalin 1881 Alexander II assassinated 1891 - 1905 Trans Siberian Railroad built 1894 Accession of Nicholas II to the throne of Russia 1896 Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra in the Cathedral of the Assumption 1901 Socialist Revolutionary Party founded 1898 First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Party is held 1896 May Coronation of Nicholas as Czar of all the Russians 1903 Congress of Social Democrats in London splits into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks 1904 February 8 Russo-Japanese War begins with the Japanese attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur 1905 January 22 "Bloody Sunday." Lenin returns from Switzerland to St. Petersburg. Marchers fired on by Imperial Troops. After internal riots and unrest Nicholas re-establishes his power September 5 Russia defeated. Treaty of Portsmouth marks the end of the Russo-Japanese War. October 26 First meeting of the St. Petersburg Soviet October 30 Czar proclaims October Manifesto including the establishment of a Duma 1906 Duma - Russia's first elected parliament 1907 Russia, England, and France form Triple Entente 1911 - 1913 Series of Balkan wars 1914 August 1 Germany declares war on Russia 1916 December 29 Assassination of Rasputin 1917 March 16 Abdication of Nicholas II and formation of the Provisional Government April 16 Lenin returns to Petrograd July 17 Uprising led by the Bolsheviks crushed by the Provisional Government. ("July Days") September Kornilov refused to resign as commander-in-chief of the army. His march on Petrograd fails November 6-7 Bolsheviks seize key points including the Winter Palace. Provisional Government is overthrown and Bolshevik government is formed 1918 March 3 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Bolsheviks negotiate a separate peace with Germany March 12 Capital is transferred from Petrograd to Moscow July 16 Czar Nicholas and his family executed at Ekaterinburg November 11 World War I ends 1919 Founding of the Communist International. 1920 Civil War continues in the Ukraine, the Baltic and Siberia. 1921 March Lenin announces the New Economic Policy {NEP)— temporary postponement of socialist measures in agriculture and commerce. War gradually comes to an end with victories of Red Army. Uprising at Kronstadt naval base brutally suppressed. Ban on factions within the Communist Party. 1922 March Stalin is named General Secretary of the Communist party at the eleventh Party Congress Formation of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). 1922 May Lenin suffers first stroke Beklemishev Tower at Kremlin damaged during the bombardment, fully restored Diplomatic recognition of Soviet Union by Great Britain 1923 Communists convert Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed (at Kremlin) into an anti-religious museum 1924 January 21 Lenin dies 1925 Work begins on Lenin's red granite mausoleum Struggle for leadership of Communist Party gradually won by Stalin and his supporters. 1927 Trotskv (Stalin's leading opponent) exiled. Winter grain crisis. 1928 Publication of first part of "The Quiet Don" by M. Sholokhov. Stalin begins enforced collectivization. Millions of peasants resist and are killed End of NEP. Beginning of first 5-year plan and campaign for the collectivization of agriculture. 1930 Temporary halt to collectivization. Suicide of the revolutionary poet Mayakovskv. 1931 Collectivization recommenced. 1932 Many prominent citizens, including senior Bolsheviks, put on trial for political "crimes". 1933 Widespread famine caused by collectivization. Diplomatic recognition of Soviet Union by USA. 1934 Setting up of Writers' Union. Murder of Kirov (Leningrad Party chief) followed by mass arrests and trials. 1935 First stage of Moscow metro opened. Launching of Stakhanovite campaign for higher production. 1936 Death of Maxim Gorky. New "Stalin" constitution introduced. Beginning of carefully managed "show trials" for political crimes. 1937 Record harvest. 1938 Show trials continue. Tens of thousands of ordinary people, as well as three fifths of all army officers and many famous wrilters and artists sent to prison camps in Siberia, where most of them die. 1939 Pact between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union - Poland divided between the two of them. War between Finland and Soviet Union. 1940 Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania forcibly incorporated into USSR. Trotsky murdered in Mexico by Soviet agent. 1941 June: Germany invades Soviet Union. Stalin taken by surprise. December Battle for Moscow - Germans held back. 1942 Germans in occupation of most of western Russia. Battle of Stalingrad: Germans eventually thrown back. 1943 Two-thirds of occupied territory recaptured by Russians. German army defeated at Stalingrad 1944 Liberation of all Soviet territory from Germans. Russians advance on Berlin. Soviet troops occupy East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Germany divided into zones occupied by allies. Russians occupy part of Berlin and most of eastern Germany. 1946 Reconstruction of towns and factories begun. Arbitrary arrests resumed - continue until 1953. Resumed persecution of artists and writers. 1946 - 1950 Kremlin walls and battlements restored 1947 Czechoslovakia becomes a Soviet satellite. 1948 Russians break with Yugoslav communists; Tito maintains independent pollcy. 1949 First Soviet Atom Bomb exploded. Formation of Comecon to promote economic co-operation between communist countries. 1951 Deepening of "cold war" between USA and Soviet bloc. 1953 Death of Stalin. Leadership taken over by Malenkov, Molotov and Khrushchev. 1954 Khrushchev visits China. Launching of plan to plough up the "virgin lands" of Kazakhstan and southern Siberia. 1955 Khrushchev emerges as new dominant figure. Signing of military pact by communist countries of eastern Europe (the Warsaw Pact). Kremlin opened to the public 1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin in "secret speech" to 20th Party Congress. Demotion of some of Stalin's close associates, rehabilitation of some of his victims. Rebellion crushed in Hungary. 1957 Launching of Sputnik I. 1958 "Doctor Zhivago" published in Italy. Pasternak awarded, but forced to reject Nobel Prize for literature. 1959 Khrushchev visits USA. 1960 Stalin's bodv removed from mausoleum in Red Square. Rift between Soviet Union and China. Death of Pasternak. 1961 First flight in space by Yuril Gagarin. Decision to build wall dividing Berlin. Kremlin Palace of Congresses completed 1962 Publication of "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Solzhenitsyn — based on his experience of prison camps. 1963 International crisis over placing of Soviet missiles on Cuba. 1964 Khrushchev voted out of office by his colleagues. Replaced by Joint leadership consisting of Brezhnev, Kosygin and Podgorny. 1965 Nobel Prize for literature awarded to M.Sholokhov. 1966 Trial of young writers Sinyavskii and Daniel for publishing abroad. 1967 Completion of Bratsk High Dam. 1968 Armed action taken by Soviet Union and allies to keep Czechoslovakia firmly in Soviet bloc and to reverse liberalization measures. 1970 Solzhenitsyn awarded Nobel Prize for literature. 1971 Death of Khrushchev. 1972 Brezhnev and U.S. President Nixon sign an arms control agreement in Moscow. 1974 Solzhenitsyn expelled from Soviet Union. Second visit by President Nixon to Moscow. 1975 Helsinki agreement on co-operation and security in Europe. Apollo-Soyuz link-up in space. 1977 New constitution adopted. Podgorn\ retired from office: Brezhnev becomes president as well as Party leader. 1978 Prominent dissidents put on trial. 1979 Armed intervention by Soviet Union in Afghanistan. 1980 Olympic Games held in Moscow, boycotted by USA and some other countries 1982 Brezhnev dies and is replaced by Andropov 1984 Andropov dies and is replaced by the elderly Konstantin Chernenko 1985 Chernenko dies and Gorbachev replaces him 1986 Gorbachev begins policies of perestroika and glasnost 1987 Arms reduction treaty signed between Soviet Union and U.S.A. 1988 Soviet Army withdraws from Afghanistan 1989 Yeltsin elected leader of Russia 1991 Coup to overthrow Gorbachev fails. Yeltsin gains influence Eleven republics form the C.I.S. 1992 A Federation Treaty is signed by 15 Russian republics |
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