8.4.1 THE RISE OF RUSSIA

Moscow was a small principality that grew into an empire. It was spared Mongol devastation by its cooperation. It became the headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1325.  It defeated the Mongols in 1380. In the 1200s - 1700s Russia was isolated from Western Europe and did not take part in the crusades, the renaissance, or the reformation. Its civilization based on the Eastern Orthodox Church and Byzantine traditions. Ivan the Great (1533–1584) thought of himself as a successor to Byzantium and adopted Byzantine ideas. He reduced the power of nobles and expanded foreign trade. When he died in 1584M there was turmoil until the Romanov dynasty took over in 1613. Peter the Great who reigned (1648-1725M) started modernizing Russia along West European lines. He traveled to Western Europe to learn modern ways, built the city of Petersburg as a window to Western Europe, introduced new technology, started a central bureaucracy, and put the Orthodox Church and nobles under his direct control. He increased tax collection, improved trade and manufacture. The Russian Empire gained control of Siberia in 1689M. In the 1700s Russia claimed the Bering and started colonizing Alaska and California. The empire spread to include many territories in Asia. In 1762M Catherine the Great ascended the Russian throne. She expanded the Southern borders and took territory from Poland. On her death in 1796M she was the last absolute ruler in Europe. The 19^th century was a time of much discontent because of the oppressive serfdom system. An attempted revolution in 1825 failed however in 1862 Czar Alexander freed the serfs but they had no land of their own and had to become tenant farmers. Signs of Russia’s weakness were its humiliating defeat in the Crimean War, an uprising in 1905 that was put down, and defeat by Japan in 1905.

8.4.2 THE FIRST EUROPEAN WAR AND THE REVOLUTION

In the 1914-18 was the Russian army suffered many casualties and the Russian people suffered from a lot of deprivations. By 1917 there was a lot of discontent and the country had lost the will to fight. Czar Nicholas was politically incompetent and the royal couple fell under the control of a mystic called Grigori Rusputin. After onset of rioting the Czar abdicated in 1917, a provisional government was set up, and elections were promised. Lenin returned from exile and led the Bolshevik coup d’etat that overthrew the provisional government. The new government took Russia out of the war but soon a civil war broke out, 1918-1920, between monarchists and communists. By 1921 the communists were victorious. The economy was in shambles.

8.4.3 INTERLUDE BETWEEN THE 2 EUROPEAN WARS

In 1921 Lenin announced the New Economic Policy (NEP) that was a mixed economy as a transition to communism. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed in 1922 and entered the League of Nations in 1934. Britain recognized the USSR in 1924 but the US did not give recognition until 1933. Lenin died in 1924 and after a period of power struggles, Stalin asserted himself in 1928 as the new leader. He stopped NEP and used 5-year plans to push industrialization and collectivization which changed Russia from a backward country to an industrial and military power. Civil liberties were restricted. Purges were common in the 1930s. Every aspect of life including art was controlled. Stalin advocated socialism in one country and abandoned for a time the strategy of spreading socialism everywhere.

8.4.4 THE SECOND EUROPEAN WAR AND WORLD POWER STATUS

The German attack on Russia in 1941 was slowed and then defeated by Russians resilience and the severe winter. Russia lost 20 million dead and ¼ of all its property was destroyed. It emerged stronger out of the war. In 1949 it produced its first atomic bomb. By 1950 it had become the world’s second largest industrial power. Its post-war industry emphasized military and not consumer production. Russia then built its empire with client states in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. It engaged in a cold war against the US. It tried to expel Western powers from Berlin in 1949. It fought proxy wars against the US in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.  By the 1970s some form of détente had been achieved with the US.

8.4.5 DECLINE OF RUSSIA

Following the death of Stalin in 1953 reforms were undertaken. In 1956-1964 Krutchev pursued a policy of de-Stalinization.  However economic failures and the adventures in Afghanistan led to serious decline and break-up of the Russian Empire. Many new countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia regained their independence.