name
- 日本語表記は以前はよりロシア語名に近いロシヤと書かれることが少なくなかったが、1980年代頃からギリシャ語風の（つまり他のヨーロッパ諸国の名称に合わせた）ロシアという表記が完全に主流となった。なお1991年（平成3年）の内閣告示『外来語の表記』には、細則的な事項として「イ列・エ列の音の次のアの音に当たるものは、原則として「ア」と書く。」とあり、これに従った場合の表記はロシアになる[18]。現代日本語の漢字表記は露西亜で、略称は露。江戸時代にはオロシャ、をろしやとも呼ばれた。これは、中国語の「俄羅斯」およびモンゴル語のОрос（オロス）に近い呼び名である。日本の江戸時代から戦前にかけては魯西亜という表記が主流で、1855年に江戸幕府とロシア帝国の間で初めて結ばれた条約は「日本国魯西亜国通好条約」という名称になった。この漢字表記について1877年（明治10年）にロシア領事館から「魯は魯鈍（愚かなこと・様子）を連想させる」との抗議を受けた当時の日本政府は、ロシア側の希望を容れ表記を露西亜とした。だが露の字も「日（＝日本）が昇ると露（ろ・つゆ）は消える」というマイナスイメージがあることから、この様な表記の変更を敢えて受け入れたことに当時の対ロシア観が現れているとする見方もある。なお、白川静の『字統』によると「魯」の原意は「おろか」でなく「よろこび」。ロシアの国名は、現在[いつ?]のロシア北西部とウクライナ、ベラルーシにあたるルーシという国家のギリシア語名Ῥωςから派生したῬωσσία（現代ギリシャ語ではΡωσία）の発音によって生まれた名前である。この名は、ルーシの北東の辺境地に起こったモスクワ大公国がルーシ北東地域を統合し、“ルーシの遺産の争い”をめぐってリトアニア大公国と対立していた16世紀のイヴァン4世（雷帝）の頃に使われ始め、自称に留まったロシア・ツァーリ国を経て、18世紀初頭のピョートル1世（大帝）がロシア皇帝（インペラートル）と称したことにより対外的にも正式の国名となった。
national flag
俄罗斯国旗演变史
来源：«透视俄罗斯» - http://tsrus.cn/shiting/tubiao-xinwen/2013/01/24/20473.html, http://tsrus.cn/lishi/2017/06/12/657897
anthem
- The anthem was first published on 7 November 1943. It was played for the first time on Soviet radio at midnight on 1 January 1944, and officially adopted on 15 March the same year. The new lyrics had three refrains following three different stanzas. In each refrain, the second line was modified to refer to friendship, then happiness, then glory. Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union's war against Germany were originally invoked in the second and third verses, respectively. Reportedly, Stalin was opposed to including his name in the lyrics but relented after some Politburo members insisted.With the process of de-Stalinization after Stalin's death, the lyrics referring to him were considered unacceptable, and from 1956 to 1977 the anthem was performed without lyrics.[10] A notable exception took place at the 1976 Canada Cup ice hockey tournament, where singer Roger Doucet insisted on performing the anthem with lyrics after consultations with Russian studies scholars from Université de Montréal and Soviet team officials.[11][12] In 1977, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution, revised lyrics, written in 1970 by original author Sergey Mikhalkov,[13] were adopted. The varying refrains were replaced by a uniform refrain after all stanzas, and the line praising Stalin was dropped, as were the lines referring to the Great Patriotic War. Another notable change was the replacement of a line referring to the Soviet national flagwith one citing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the form of "Partiya Lenina" (The party of Lenin). These lyrics were also present in the original party anthem at the same place in the melody, but followed by the lyrics "Partiya Stalina" (The party of Stalin).
- https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Stalins-name-removed-from-the-Soviet-anthem-but-Lenins-name-was-left-in
Emblem
- The state emblem of the Russian Federation - the double-headed eagle - happens to be one of the oldest Indo-European symbols. Its history is a mixture of Christianity, Paganism, Zoroastrianism, the epochs of great empires and those of feudal fragmentation. Entire states and civilizations vanished, but the double-headed eagle continued to soar above the people of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Here's how it evolved. The double-headed eagle first appeared on the coat of arms of the great Hittite Empire, which occupied the territory of present-day Turkey in the 17th-12th centuries BC.http://rbth.com/arts/2014/07/13/from_byzantium_to_modern-day_russia_the_double-headed_eagle_still_soars_38131.html
- https://www.rbth.com/history/327634-why-is-double-headed-eagle-a-symbol-of-russia
- bears have indeed been venerated in Russia since ancient times. For pagan Slavs, the bear was in effect a totem animal. It is also known that for several centuries in the Middle Ages, troupes travelled all around Russia with tame bears that were trained to dance, do simple tricks and beg. One of bears' main “vocations” at that time was performing executions. This had been practiced for a long time, but it was under Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century that bear executions went mainstream. Sometimes bears were used indirectly in the execution process: a convict would be sewn up into a bear skin and then dogs would be set on him, tearing apart the bear skin along with the unlucky guy inside.back then the original source was advertising by shrewd English merchants. From the mid-16th century, these merchants regularly visited Russia. Meanwhile, ordinary British people's idea of Russia was shaped by the exports coming from there: honey, furs, wool, fat, wax, and what inhabitants of good old England believed to be bear’s grease. In other words, bear’s grease did to the image of Russia what croissants did to the image of Paris.Merchants promoted Russian bear grease as the best remedy for hair loss. On what grounds? Well, on the grounds that bears are very hairy. The fact that grease came from far away in Russia explained the exorbitant price.Another reason Russia was associated with bears in the eyes of Europeans was a famous bear academy that was established in the 17th century in the town of Smorgon. Calling it an academy was probably a bit ambitious for what was really just a private school that trained bears for circuses throughout Europe. And it did not matter that at the time Smorgon was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The average European was not particularly bothered with geographical accuracy. They knew that it was somewhere in the east, and they knew that somewhere in the east was Russia. It is therefore not surprising that when England began to produce political cartoons and engravings in the 19th century, Russia was always depicted in them as a bear. This image was picked up by others, and during the Cold War the bear became a metaphor for the cruel, bloodthirsty policies of the USSR.https://www.rbth.com/history/330484-russian-bear-became-symbol
Heraldry
- http://rbth.com/multimedia/infographics/2013/04/08/the_evolution_of_russian_heraldry_24791
coat of arms
- The Soviet Union was founded in 1922.For the first few years, the Soviet Union used this coat of arms.https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-most-mind-blowing-facts-about-communism
Ancient monuments
- RBTH explores six monuments from the time when Russia was inhabited by early primitive peoples, and six ancient Christian monuments created by the ancestors of the Russians.https://rbth.com/articles/2012/04/20/russias_12_oldest_architectural_monuments_15362.html
Lipetsk Oblast
- According to archaeologists and historians, the territory in which for the time being is the Lipetsk Oblast was inhabited since ancient times. Even before the arrival of the Mongol-Tatar troops here were of Elec, Dobrinskaya (now the village of Good) Oaklet (now the village Oaks) (Dankovsky District), Old fort (Bogorodskoye Dankovsky district) Vorgol (destroyed), Onuza (destroyed), Voronozh (destroyed ), Lipetsk (destroyed) and others. During the Mongol invasion of Rus', many fortified cities had been destroyed. Earth Lipetsk Oblast at the beginning of the period belonged to the disintegration of theChernigov principality. After 1202, after the death of Chernigov Prince Igor SvyatoslavichYelets arose, Lipetsk and Vorgolskoe fiefdoms. Taking advantage of the weakness of the principality of Chernigov, Ryazan princes seized all the lands of the upper Don, Voronezh River and annexed them to his possessions. For the newly acquired territories in the south of the Ryazan principality subsequently established name "Ryazan Ukraine." The revival of the territory began after the expulsion of the nomads. In a relatively short period of time (end of the 16th and early 17th centuries) were built fortified city: Duncan Talitskii jail, Eletskaya fortress Lebedian. In 1635, construction began on a strong fortified line - Belgorod defense line, which in the Lipetsk region within a modern fortress stood out: Good, Sokolsk and Usman. Near the plants have populations of workers. One of these settlements was working Lipetsk settlement that gave rise to the city of Lipetsk. At this time, because of the creation of the Navy and the regular army increased the need for flax, hemp and wool. So begins to actively develop agriculture. In the 18th century the continued growth of large landed estates. Lipetsk region, rich black earth, was the breadbasket of the state. Subsequently, he became widely known as a resort and mineral waters.
rurik dynasty
- Rurik (also Riurik; Old Church Slavonic Рюрикъ Rjurikŭ, from Old Norse Hrøríkʀ; c. 830 – 879), according to the 12th-century Primary Chronicle, was a Varangianchieftain of the Rus' who in the year 862 gained control of Ladoga, and built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod. He is the founder of the Rurik Dynasty, which ruled the Kievan Rus' and its successor states, including the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Tsardom of Russia, until the 17th century. The only information about Rurik is contained in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle written by one Nestor, which states that Chuds, Eastern Slavs, Merias, Veses, and Krivichs "...drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves". Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order. Rurik came in 860-862 along with his brothers Sineus and Truvor and a large retinue. According to the Primary Chronicle, Rurik was one of the Rus', a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, Angles, and Gotlanders. Sineus established himself at Beloozero (now Belozersk), on the shores of lake Beloye, and Truvor at Izborsk (or at Pskov). Truvor and Sineus died shortly after the establishment of their territories, and Rurik consolidated these lands into his own territory.
- In Estonian folklore there is a tale of three brothers, who were born as sons of a peasant, but through great bravery and courageousness later became all rulers in foreign countries. The brothers were called Rahurikkuja (Troublemaker), Siniuss (Blue snake) and Truuvaar (Loyal man)(estonianized names for Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor), names given to them by their childhood friend, a blue snake.
- The Rurik dynasty (or Rurikids) went on to rule the Kievan Rus', and ultimately the Tsardom of Russia, until 1598, and numerous noble Russian and Ruthenian families claim a male-line descent from Rurik. Vasily Tatishchev (a Rurikid himself) claimed that Rurik was of Wendish extraction and went so far as to name Rurik's wife, Efanda of Norway (Edvina); mother, Umila; his maternal grandfather, Gostomysl; and a cousin, Vadim (apparently basing his account on the lost Ioachim Chronicle).[citation needed]
As part of the Mongol invasion of Europe, the Mongol Empire invaded Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, destroying numerous cities, including Ryazan, Kolomna, Moscow, Vladimir and Kiev. The campaign was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River in May 1223, which resulted in a Mongol victory over the forces of several Rus' principalities. The Mongols nevertheless retreated. A full-scale invasion of Rus' by Batu Khan followed, from 1237 to 1242. The invasion was ended by the Mongol succession process upon the death of Ögedei Khan. All Rus' principalities were forced to submit to Mongol rule and became part of the Golden Hordeempire, some of which lasted until 1480. The invasion, facilitated by the beginning of the breakup of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, had incalculable ramifications for the history of Eastern Europe, including the division of the East Slavic people into three separate nations: modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, and the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
- St. Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Яросла́вич Не́вский; pronounced [ɐlʲɪˈksandr jɪrɐˈsɫavʲɪtɕ ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj]; 13 May 1221[1] – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40 and 1240–56 and 1258-1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand Prince of Vladimir(1252–63) during some of the most difficult times in Kievan Rus' history. Commonly regarded as a key figure of medieval Rus', St. Alexander – the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest – rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over German and Swedish invaders while agreeing to pay tribute to the powerful Golden Horde. He was canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church by Metropolite Macarius in 1547.Born in Pereslavl-Zalessky, St. Alexander was the second son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and of Rostislava Mstislavna, daughter of the Kievan Rus' Prince Mstislav Mstislavich the Bold (died 1228). Alexander seemed to have no chance of claiming the throne of Vladimir. In 1236, however, the Novgorodians summoned him to become knyaz (or prince) of Novgorod and, as their military leader, to defend their northwest lands from Swedish and German invaders.Nevsky proved to be a cautious and far-sighted politician. He dismissed the Roman Curia’s attempts to cause war between Russia and the Golden Horde, because he understood the uselessness of such war with the Tatars at a time when they were still a powerful force. Historians seem to be unsure about Alexander's behavior when it came to his relations with Mongols. He may have thought that Catholicism presented a more tangible threat to Russian national identity than paying a tribute to the Khan, who had little interest in Slav religion and culture. It is also argued that he intentionally kept the North Slav principalities and city states as vassals to the Mongols in order to preserve his own status and counted on the befriended Horde in case someone challenged his authority (he forced the citizens of Novgorod to pay tribute). Alexander tried to strengthen his authority at the expense of the boyars and at the same time suppress any anti-Mongol uprisings in the country (Novgorod Uprising of 1259). The Orthodox Church also emphasizes tolerating present civil authority of any kind more than other Christian churches (see Romans 13), which in this case would include accepting Mongol vassalage as divine judgement. According to one interpretation[who?], Alexander's intentions were to protect scattered principalities of what would become Muscovy from repeated invasions by the Mongol army. He is known to have gone to the Horde himself and achieved success in exempting Russians from fighting beside the Tatar army in its wars with other peoples.[citation needed] Some historians see Alexander's choice of subordination to the Golden Horde and refusal of cooperation with western countries and church as an important reaffirmation of East Slavs' Orthodox orientation (begun under Duke Vladimir of Kiev and his mother Olga).Medieval russia
- http://rbth.com/travel/destinations/moscow/2016/08/04/the-right-way-to-visit-medieval-moscow_617999
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (/ˈaɪvən/; Russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич, tr. Ivan Vasilyevich; 25 August 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584),[2] commonly known as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome (Russian: Ива́н Гро́зный (help·info), Ivan Grozny; a better translation into modern English would be Ivan the Formidable), was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547, then Tsar of All Rus' until his death in 1584. The last title was used by all his successors. During his reign, Russia conquered the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Sibir, becoming a multiethnic and multicontinental state spanning approximately 4,050,000 km2 (1,560,000 sq mi). He exercised autocratic controlover Russia's hereditary nobility and developed a bureaucracy to administer the new territories. He transformed Russia from a medieval state into an empire, though at immense cost to its people, and its broader, long-term economy. - Ivan was the first son of Vasili III and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya, who was of half Serbian and half Lipka Tatar descent, the Glinski clan (nobles based in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) claiming descent from the Mongol ruler Mamai (1335-1380.)[11][12] When Ivan was three years old, his father died from an abscess and inflammation on his leg that developed into blood poisoning. Ivan was proclaimed the Grand Prince of Moscow at the request of his father. His mother Elena Glinskaya initially acted as regent, but she died of what many believe to be assassination by poison,[13][14] in 1538 when Ivan was only eight years old. The regency then alternated between several feuding boyar families fighting for control. According to his own letters, Ivan, along with his younger brother Yuri, often felt neglected and offended by the mighty boyars from the Shuisky and Belsky families.
- 「雷帝」という渾名は彼の強力さと冷酷さを共に表すものである。ただし、ロシア語における渾名「グローズヌイ（Гро́зный）」は、本来「峻厳な」「恐怖を与える」、「脅すような」といった意味の形容詞で、この単語自体に雷の意味はない。元となった名詞に「雷雨」ないし「ひどく厳格な人」という意味の「グロザー（Гроза́）」があり、この単語との連関から畏怖を込めて雷帝と和訳されたといわれる。
The oprichnina (Russian: опри́чнина, IPA: [ɐˈprʲitɕnʲɪnə]) was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 and 1572. The policy included mass repressions against, public executions of, and confiscation of land and property from Russian aristocrats. The campaign included creation of a special army that at various times included anywhere from 1 to 6000 men called oprichniki, and the term oprichnina applies both to this force and to the corresponding period of Russian history, and to the territory in which, during that period, the Tsar ruled directly and in which his oprichniki operated. The term oprichnina, which Ivan coined for this policy, derives from the Russian word oprich (Russian: опричь, apart from, except).
- cause - In 1558, after the Livonian Confederation refused to pay tribute to Russia, Tsar Ivan IV started the Livonian war. A broad coalition, which included Poland, Lithuania and Sweden, became drawn into the war against Russia. The war became drawn-out and expensive. Raids by Crimean Tatars, Polish and Lithuanian invasions, famines, a trading blockade and escalating costs of war ravaged Russia. In 1564 Prince Andrei Kurbsky, who had defected to the Lithuanians, led the Lithuanian army against Russia, devastating the Russian region of Velikiye Luki. Tsar Ivan began to suspect that other aristocrats were also ready to betray him. V.O. Klyuchevskii and S.B. Veselovskii explained the oprichnina in terms of Ivan's paranoia and denied larger social aims for the oprichnina.[4] However, historian Sergey Platonov argued that Ivan IV intended the oprichnina as a suppression of the rising boyar aristocracy.[5] Professor Isabel de Madariaga has expanded this idea to explain the oprichnina as Ivan’s attempt to subordinate all independent social classes to the autocracy.
- The oprichnina consisted of a separate territory within the borders of Russia, mostly in the territory of the former Novgorod Republic in the north. This region included many of the financial centers of the state, including the salt region of Staraia Russa and prominent merchant towns. Ivan held exclusive power over the oprichnina territory. The Boyar Council ruled the zemshchina ('land'), the second division of the state. Until 1568, the oprichnina relied upon many administrative institutions under zemshchina jurisdiction. Only when conflict between the zemshchina and oprichnina reached its peak did Ivan create independent institutions within the oprichnina. Ivan also stipulated the creation of a personal guard known as the oprichniki. Originally it was a thousand strong. The noble oprichniki Aleksei Basmanov and Afanasy Viazemsky oversaw recruitment. Nobles and townsmen free of relations to the zemshchina or its administration were eligible for Ivan’s new guard.
- in arts and culture
- Ivan Lazhechnikov wrote the tragedy The Oprichniki (Russian: Опричники), on which Tchaikovsky based his opera The Oprichnik. In turn, Tchaikovsky's opera inspired a 1911 painting by Apollinary Vasnetsov, depicting a city street and people fleeing in panic at the arrival of the oprichniki. A fantasy variation on the Oprichnina appears in the Japanese light novel franchise Gate. It retains the name, purpose, activities, dog head motif, and even the use of brooms from the historic original. Vladimir Sorokin's 2006 novel Day of the Oprichnik envisions a dystopian near future in which the Russia monarchy and oprichnina have been reestablished. The novel's oprichnina drive red cars with several dog heads as hood ornaments, rape and kill dissenting nobles, and consume massive amounts of alcohol and narcotics, all while praising the monarchy and the Russian Orthodox Church.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/ivan-the-terrible-painting-sent-for-auction-had-been-looted-during-nazi-occupied-ukraine/2018/12/21/d0a43c68-0546-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html
The Time of Troubles (Russian: Смутное время) was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the lastRussian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601–03, Russia suffered afamine that killed one-third of the population, about two million. At the time, during the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–18) (known as the Dimitriads), Russia was occupied by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and suffered from civil uprisings,usurpers and impostors.
Pugachev's Rebellion (or the Cossack Rebellion) of 1773-75 was the principal revolt in a series of popular rebellions that took place in Russia after Catherine II seized power in 1762. It began as an organized insurrection of Yaik Cossacks headed by Yemelyan Pugachev, a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Russian Imperial army, against a background of profound peasant unrest and war with the Ottoman Empire. After the initial success, Pugachev assumed leadership of an alternative government in the name of the assassinated Tsar Peter III and proclaimed an end to serfdom. This organized leadership presented a challenge to the imperial administration of Catherine II. The rebellion managed to consolidate support from various groups including the peasants, the Cossacks, and Old Believers priesthood. At one point, its administration claimed control over most of the territory between the VolgaRiver and the Urals. One of the most significant events of the insurrection was the Battle of Kazan in July 1774. Government forces failed to respond effectively to the insurrection at first, partly due to logistical difficulties and a failure to appreciate its scale, but the revolt was crushed towards the end of 1774 by General Michelsohn at Tsaritsyn. Pugachev was captured soon after and executed in Moscow in January 1775. Further reprisals against rebel areas were carried out by General Peter Panin. The events have generated many stories in legend and literature, most notably Pushkin's historical novel The Captain's Daughter (1836). It was the largest peasant revolt in Russia's history.
- Salawat Yulayev (Bashkir: Салауат Юлай-улы, Salawat Yulay-ulı; Russian: Салават Юлаев; 16 June 1754 – 26 September 1800) is a Bashkir national hero who participated in Pugachev's Rebellion.
Alexander I (Russian: Александр Павлович, Aleksandr Pavlovich; 23 December [O.S. 12 December] 1777 – 1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1825) was the Emperor of Russia(Tsar) between 1801 and 1825. He was the eldest son of Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. Alexander was the first king of Congress Poland, reigning from 1815 to 1825, as well as the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland, reigning from 1809 to 1825.
- france
- https://www.rbth.com/history/331794-why-did-napoleon-invade-russia In 1807, Emperor Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon signed the Treaty of Tilsit, which ended the War of the Fourth Coalition (Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain against France) with France winning. According to the second Treaty of Tilsit, signed between France and Prussia, the Prussian king ceded almost half of his pre-war territories to Napoleon. On these territories, Napoleon created the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Duchy of Warsaw and the Free City of Danzig; the other ceded territories were awarded to existing French client states and to Russia.The Treaty of Tilsit between Russia and France made the two great empires allies against Great Britain and Sweden. This created a harsh situation that very soon, in 1809, resulted in the War of the Fifth Coalition – a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's France and its allied states. Prussia and Russia didn’t participate in this war, but it became apparent that Russia was the next country on Napoleon’s list. In 1811, Napoleon said to Dominique Dufour de Pradt, the French ambassador in Warsaw: “In five years, I shall be the master of the world, Russia alone remains; but I shall crush her... I shall then also be the master of the seas, and all commerce must, of course, pass through my hands.” The ‘friendship’ of the two emperors was shaky, to say the very least. “He’s a real Byzantine,” Napoleon said famously about Alexander, who was very elusive and didn’t like to be frank.According to the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia was to join the continental blockade against British sea trade: Britain was to be banned from exporting goods to continental Europe. And what did they export mainly at the time? Iron and textiles – the basic needs of any army that needs guns and uniforms. So with the blockade, Napoleon also wanted to deprive the armies of European countries, Russia included, of supplies. Also, because of the blockade, Russia’s export of grain, according to Russian historian Lubomir Beskrovnyi, decreased fourfold.Napoleon didn’t have royal blood, and he wanted at least to marry into royalty. Twice he made marriage proposals to Russian princesses. By doing so, he also hoped to gain control over Russian politics through private influence. In 1808, shortly after the Treaty of Tilsit, French foreign minister Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand personally conveyed to Alexander I Napoleon’s proposal to Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna (1788-1819), Alexander’s sister. The proposal was turned down by Alexander – in his characteristic style of not saying anything specific. In 1810, Napoleon proposed again, this time to 14 year-old Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865), later Queen of Netherlands, also Alexander’s sister. After this proposal was, too, turned down, Napoleon quickly married Marie Louise (1791-1847), daughter of Francis I (1768-1835), the Austrian Emperor. It was quite an obvious move: Napoleon needed this alliance with Austria if he wanted war with Russia, so his marriage exacerbated the relationship between two countries, already very damaged. note in particular the satirical cartoon https://www.rbth.com/history/331794-why-did-napoleon-invade-russia
Serfdom
- On Feb. 19, 1861 (Mar. 3 according to the calendar used today) 1861, Russia abolished serfdom, a system that had forced peasants to work for a feudal lord while denying them the right to work for anyone else or of obtaining land for their own use.The changes that came about during the peasant reform were certainly not forced upon Russia. Indeed, the country could not and would not live by the rules of the past any longer. However, nothing at the time prevented Tsar Alexander II from ruling the old way, in the image of his uncle and his father, the emperors Alexander I and Nikolas I. He could very well have kept the emancipation of the serfs progressing at a snail’s pace by organizing an endless series of commissions to examine the peasant issue, then reading their reports before filing them in a drawer to wait for better days. Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-1856 against a coalition made up of the British, French, Ottoman Empires and the Kingdom of Sardinia was certainly humiliating, but not necessarily a death blow since there was no catastrophic loss of territory. Yet after this event, Alexander and his entourage saw more clearly that maintaining the old order would cause Russia’s developmental lag behind other nations to evolve into an irreversible catastrophe. The tsar and his advisors knew that delaying reforms or major changes was impossible, so disregarding the reticence of the majority of landowners who had no desire to put an end to their supply of free labor and their established power, they set to work and began the process of dividing up lands and emancipating the serfs. It is possible to criticize Alexander for his lack of preparation and haste in implementing serf reform. Or, like Soviet historians, accuse him of “pillaging” (plots of land were reduced by an average of 20 percent in the country). On the other hand, it’s also this tsar who rejected the Baltic model (1818-1819) of serf emancipation, one that gave freedom without land. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, the tsar and Nikolai Milyutin all insisted the peasants be landowners. http://rbth.com/articles/2011/03/07/giving_the_tsar-liberator_his_due_12528.html
Selling alaska
- Then the Crimean War broke out, and Britain, France and Turkey stood against Russia. It became clear that Russia could neither supply nor defend Alaska — the sea routes were controlled by the allies’ ships. Even the prospect of mining gold dimmed. There was a fear that the British might block Alaska, and then Russia would be left with nothing. Tensions between Moscow and London grew, while relations with the American authorities were warmer than ever. Both sides almost simultaneously came up with the idea of selling Alaska. So Baron Eduard de Stoeckl, Russia’s envoy in Washington, opened talks with U.S. secretary of state William Seward on behalf of the tsar. While the bureaucrats were negotiating, public opinion in both countries opposed the deal. “How can we give away land that we have put so much effort and time into developing, land where the telegraph has arrived and where gold mines have been found?” the Russian newspapers wrote. “Why does America need this ‘ice box’ and 50,000 wild Eskimos who drink fish oil for breakfast?” the American press asked indignantly.
http://rbth.com/arts/2014/04/20/why_did_russia_sell_alaska_to_the_united_states_36061.html
- ******** [from wikipedia]Russian America was settled by promyshlenniki, merchants and fur trappers that expanded through Siberia. They arrived in Alaska in 1732, and in 1799 the Russian-American Company(RAC) received a charter to hunt for fur. No colony was established, but the Russian Orthodox Church sent missionaries to the natives and built churches. About 700 Russians enforced sovereignty in a territory over twice as large as Texas.[3] In 1821, Tsar Alexander I issued an edict declaring Russia's sovereignty over the North American Pacific coast north of the 51st parallel north. The edict also forbade foreign ships to approach within 115 miles of the Russian claim. US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams strongly protested the edict, which potentially threatened both the commerce and expansionary ambitions of the United States. Seeking favorable relations with the U.S., Alexander agreed to the Russo-American Treaty of 1824. In the treaty, Russia limited its claims to lands north of parallel 54°40′ north, and also agreed to open Russian ports to U.S. ships. By the 1850s a population of 300,000 sea otters was almost extinct, and Russia needed money after being defeated by France and Britain in the Crimean War. The California gold rush showed that if gold were discovered in Alaska, Americans and Canadians would overwhelm the Russian presence in what one scholar later described as "Siberia's Siberia".[3] In any future war with Britain, the hard-to-defend colony would be easily captured. Therefore, Emperor Alexander II decided to sell the territory. The Russian government discussed the proposal in 1857 and 1858.[5] Perhaps in the hope of starting a bidding war, both the British and the Americans were approached in 1859. However, British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston steadfastly rejected the offer, arguing that Canada (which was not independent at the time but a number of separate British colonies with varying arrangements for democratic representation) had enough uncharted wilderness to deal with, and that Britain would overstretch its resources in maintaining Alaska as well as its existing territories and colonies. Then the Russians offered to sell the territory to the United States, hoping that its presence in the region would offset the plans of Britain. However, no deal was reached, as the risk of an American Civil War was a more pressing concern in Washington. Grand Duke Konstantin, a younger brother of the Tsar, began to press for the handover of Russian America to the United States in 1857. Konstantin's letter was shown to his brother, Tsar Alexander II, who wrote "this idea is worth considering" on the front page. Supporters of Konstantin's proposal to immediately withdraw from North America included Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin and the Russian minister to the United States, Eduard de Stoeckl. Gorchakov agreed with the necessity of abandoning Russian America, but argued for a gradual process leading to its sale. He found a supporter in the naval minister and former chief manager of the Russian-American Company, Ferdinand von Wrangel. Wrangel pressed for some proceeds to be invested in the economic development of Kamchatka and the Amur Basin. The Emperor eventually sided with Gorchakov, deciding to postpone negotiations until the end of the RAC's patent, set to expire in 1861. Over the winter of 1859–1860 de Stoeckl held meetings with American officials, though he had been instructed not to initiate discussions about the sale of the RAC assets. Communicating primarily with Assistant Secretary of State John Appleton and California Senator William M. Gwin, de Stoeckl reported the interest expressed by the Americans in acquiring Russian America. While President James Buchanan kept these hearings informal, preparations were made for further negotiations.[8] De Stoeckl reported a conversation in which he asked "in passing" what price the U.S. government might pay for the Russian colony and Senator Gwin replied that they "might go as far as $5,000,000", a figure Gorchakov found far too low. De Stoeckl informed Appleton and Gwin of this, the latter saying that his Congressional colleagues in Oregon and California would support a larger figure. Buchanan's increasingly unpopular presidency forced the matter to be shelved until a new presidential election. With the oncoming American Civil War, de Stoeckl proposed a renewal of the RAC's charter. Two of its ports were to be open to foreign traders and commercial agreements with Peru and Chile to be signed to give "a fresh jolt" to the company. Russia continued to see an opportunity to weaken British power by causing British Columbia, including the Royal Navy base at Esquimalt, to be surrounded or annexed by American territory.[9] Following the Union victory in the Civil War in 1865, the Tsar instructed de Stoeckl to re-enter into negotiations with William H. Seward in the beginning of March 1867. President Johnson was entangled in negotiations about Reconstruction and Seward had alienated a number of Republicans, so they believed that the purchase would help divert attention from the domestic issues.[10] The negotiations concluded after an all-night session with the signing of the treaty at 04:00 on March 30, 1867,[11] with the purchase price set at $7.2 million ($109 million in 2018), or about 2 cents per acre ($4.74/km2).An Aleut name, "Alaska", was chosen by the Americans. This name had earlier, in the Russian era, denoted the Alaska Peninsula, which the Russians had called "Аляска" (Alyaska) (also Alyaksa is attested, especially in older sources).
civil war
- 遠東共和國The Far Eastern Republic (Russian: Дальневосто́чная Респу́блика, ДВР, tr.Dalnevostochnaya Respublika, DVR, IPA: [dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə]), sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East. Although theoretically independent, it largely came under the control of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which envisaged it as a buffer state between the RSFSR and the territories occupied by Japan during the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922. Its first president was Alexander Krasnoshchyokov.The Far Eastern Republic occupied the territory of modern Zabaykalsky Krai, Amur Oblast, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, and Primorsky Krai of Russia (the former Transbaikal and Amuroblasts and Primorsky krai). Its capital was established at Verkhneudinsk (now Ulan-Ude), but in October 1920 it moved to Chita.The Red Army occupied Vladivostok on 25 October 1922. Three weeks later, on 15 November 1922, the Far Eastern Republic merged with the RSFSR.
soviet
- https://www.quora.com/Where-did-the-word-Soviet-come-from-and-what-exactly-does-it-mean-in-that-language “Soviet” means “council” in Russian. It refers to a form of government, which is supposed to be a kind of representative democracy. It was not appropriately representative and democratic, because it was strongly controlled by the Communist party and its police and security forces, so people with dissenting opinions were completely filtered out, but it was presented as more democratic than the experiments with a representative legislature of the pre-1917 Russian Empire.
soviet republic
- http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2017-03/17/content_28592782.htm The utopian vision for a redeveloped Moscow 100 years ago is the focus of an exhibition which opened on Wednesday at London's Design Museum.
soviet union
- constitution
- The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the Stalin constitution, redesigned the government of the Soviet Union. Beginning in 1936, December 5th was celebrated as Soviet Constitution day in the USSR until the 1977 Soviet Constitution moved the day to October 7. Before 1936, there was no Soviet Constitution day.
- At the 7th (Special) Session of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Ninth Convocation on October 7, 1977, the third and last SovietConstitution, also known as the Brezhnev Constitution, was unanimously adopted. The official name of the Constitution was "Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (Russian: Конститу́ция (Основно́й Зако́н) Сою́за Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик).
- General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (Russian: Главное управление по охране государственных тайн в печати при СМ СССР) was the official censorship and state secret protection organ in the Soviet Union. The censorship agency was established in 1922 under the name "Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Affairs at the RSFSR Narkompros", abbreviated as Glavlit(Главлит). The latter term was in semiofficial use until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since the word "Glavlit" hints at "literature", the organization is often confused with Goskomizdat, which performed another type of censorship: it controlled the political content in fiction, poetry, etc.
- The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Russian: Всесою́зный ле́нинский коммунисти́ческий сою́з молодёжи (ВЛКСМ)), usually known as Komsomol (Russian: Комсомо́л, a syllabic abbreviation of the Russian kommunisticheskiy soyuz molodyozhi), was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it was officially independent and referred to as "the helper and the reserve of the CPSU". The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Young Communist League, or RKSM. During 1922, with the unification of the USSR, it was reformed into an all-union agency, the youth division of the All-Union Communist Party. It was the final stage of three youth organizations with members up to age 28, graduated at 14 from the Young Pioneers, and at nine from the Little Octobrists.
- industrialisation
- At the First Conference of Workers in 1931, Stalin delivered a passionate speech, commanding workers to play a crucial role in industrialization. He said: "We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make up this gap in ten years. Either we do it or they will crush us."https://www.quora.com/Was-Stalins-industrialization-at-the-cost-of-millions-of-lives-justified
- Unlike the previous famine of 1921–22, Russia's intermittent drought was not severe in the affected areas at this time. Some historians, such as Robert Conquest, claim that the government's forced collectivization of agriculture as a part of the Soviet Union's first five-year plan, forced grain procurement, and political repression in the countryside were the main reasons for the famine. Conquest, and others, additionally claim that the famine was a deliberate act of genocide against ethnic Ukrainians, although some disagree. Historian Mark B. Tauger of West Virginia University suggests that the famine was caused by a combination of factors, specifically low harvest due to natural disasters combined with increased demand for food caused by the collectivization, industrialization and urbanization, and grain exports by the Soviet Union at the same time. A similar view was presented by Stephen Wheatcroft, who has given more weight to the "ill-conceived policies" of Soviet government and highlighted that while the policy was not targeted at Ukraine specifically, it was Ukraine who suffered most for "demographic reasons". Stalin ordered that kulaks were "to be liquidated as a class" and this liquidation was considered by many historians to have resulted in the Soviet famine of 1932–33. The Soviet authorities labeled the richer peasants 'kulaks" and portrayed them as class enemies, which started a Soviet campaign of political repressions, including arrests, deportations, and executions of millions of the better-off peasants and their families in 1929–1932. Attempts to identify the number of deaths arising from the executions of kulaks range from as many as 6 million suggested by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whereas the much lower number of 700,000 deaths are estimated by Soviet sources. The "Decree About the Protection of Socialist Property" – nicknamed by the farmers the Law of Spikelets – was enacted on August 7, 1932. The purpose of the law was to protect the property of the collective farms. It was nicknamed the Law of Spikelets because it allowed people to be prosecuted for gleaning leftover grain from the fields. There were more than 200,000 people sentenced under this law.
- language
- In the 1920s the government of the Soviet Union created alphabets for many of the languages that were spoken there. These were either alphabets for languages that had never been written before that, or languages that were written in the Arabic alphabet. Some examples of these languages are Azerbaijani, Tatar, Kazakh, Bashkir, Adyghe, Chechen, and many others. Towards the end of the 1930s practically all of them were switched again to the Cyrillic alphabet. In the 1990s a few of them switched to Latin again, most notably Azerbaijani, Turkmen, and Uzbek. The government of Kazakhstan announced that it plans to switch to Latin in the coming years. The language of Moldova is the same as Romanian, but while Moldova was in the Soviet Union, it was written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but when it became independent it switched to Latin, and now it’s completely the same as Romanian (although the Cyrillic alphabet is still used in the Transnistria region). Tatar and Chechen attempted to switch to Latin after the fall of the Soviet Union, but they are spoken inside Russia, and the Russian parliament passed legislation demanding that languages spoken in Russia be written in the Cyrillic alphabet. https://www.quora.com/Has-any-language-ever-switched-from-Latin-alphabet-to-another-script/answer/Amir-E-Aharoni
- https://www.quora.com/In-the-Soviet-Union-were-you-allowed-to-choose-your-own-job
- education
- pioneer camp https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2017/08/23/how-pioneer-camps-bred-new-soviet-man_827048
- https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-disturbing-fact-about-Russia-that-most-people-dont-know
- propaganda
- https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/326723-10-soviet-advertising-posters
- https://www.rbth.com/arts/326709-most-impressive-soviet-war-memorials
- usa
The fate of the early immigrants to the USSR is well documented, thanks to the obsession of the Finnish Lutheran Church on bookkeeping. Some 15,000 American and Canadian Finns moved to the USSR in the late 1920s and early 1930s to escape the turmoil of the Great Depression. Many of them had managed to eke out some property and machinery, which they took with them. Initially everything went fine - they founded kolkhozes and many were employed in mining and forestry. But soon troubles began to arise.https://www.quora.com/What-became-of-the-100-000-Americans-who-fled-to-the-USSR-during-the-Great-Depression
- 蘇聯和沙地在1920-1930年代一度關係非常密切，甚至是第一個承認伊本·沙特的漢志國王的地位。但後來史太林的外交態度轉變，覺得放棄阿拉伯會有利對英外交，在大清洗期間將圖爾亞庫洛夫和卡奇莫夫召回蘇聯，秘密處決。但消息通過新的蘇聯使節傳到沙地國王伊本·沙特，導致國王龍顏大怒，相信他視兩人是真朋友，更拒絕新任蘇聯使節的國書，表示只接受死去的兩人擔當蘇聯使節。1938年國王更指蘇聯誘發沙地內部革命，與蘇聯斷交，更驅逐使節。直至蘇聯解體，俄羅斯才重新和沙地建立外交關係。http://glos.world/article/?p=11581
- https://www.rbth.com/arts/326806-10-things-you-can-understand-ussr
- On November 30, 1983, Herbert E. Meyer sat at his desk at the Central Intelligence Agency to write a prescient essay. His composition had an audience of two: CIA director Bill Casey, and United States President Ronald Reagan.The memo pointed to several factors supporting his conclusion:
- The Soviet Union was not a coherent whole. The disparate elements had “failed utterly to become a country.” The Union was home to more than one hundred different nationalities, all jostling for more political and economic freedom. Russian domination of these groups simply could not last.
- The Soviet economy was “heading toward calamity.” Soviet annual growth rates averaged 2 percent, while military spending averaged 4 percent annual growth rates. With sharply rising energy costs, living standards would inevitably decline.
- The Soviet Union was a “demographic nightmare.” Russian women averaged among the highest abortion rates in the world: up to six abortions per woman.[5] A precipitous drop in the birth rate meant less workers for state factories. (This warning was also prophetic: demographic declines continue to this day, with estimates of the Russian population dropping from 150 million to 100 million by 2050.)
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April 1870[1] – 21 January 1924), better known by his alias Lenin,[b] was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1922 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia and then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party communist state governed by the Russian Communist Party. Ideologically a communist, he developed a variant of Marxism known as Leninism; his ideas were posthumously codified as Marxism–Leninism. Born to a moderately prosperous middle-class family in Simbirsk, Lenin embraced revolutionary socialist politics following his brother's 1887 execution. Expelled from Kazan Imperial University for participating in protests against the Russian Empire's Tsarist government, he devoted the following years to a law degree. He moved to Saint Petersburg in 1893 and became a senior Marxist activist. In 1897, he was arrested for sedition and exiled to Shushenskoye for three years, where he married Nadezhda Krupskaya. After his exile, he moved to Western Europe, where he became a prominent theorist in the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). In 1903, he took a key role in a RSDLP ideological split, leading the Bolshevik faction against Julius Martov's Mensheviks. Encouraging insurrection during Russia's failed Revolution of 1905, he later campaigned for the First World War to be transformed into a Europe-wide proletarian revolution, which as a Marxist he believed would cause the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement with socialism. After the 1917 February Revolution ousted the Tsarand established a Provisional Government, he returned to Russia to play a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the new regime.
- Lenin's father, Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, was from a family of serfs; his ethnic origins remain unclear, with suggestions being made that he was Russian, Chuvash, Mordvin, or Kalmyk.[3] Despite this lower-class background he had risen to middle-class status, studying physics and mathematics at Kazan Imperial University before teaching at the Penza Institute for the Nobility.[4] Ilya married Maria Alexandrovna Blank in mid-1863.[5] Well educated and from a relatively prosperous background, she was the daughter of a wealthy German–Swedish Lutheran mother, and a Russian Jewish father who had converted to Christianity and worked as a physician.[6] It is likely that Lenin was unaware of his mother's half-Jewish ancestry, which was only discovered by his sister Anna after his death.[7] Soon after their wedding, Ilya obtained a job in Nizhny Novgorod, rising to become Director of Primary Schools in the Simbirsk district six years later. Five years after that, he was promoted to Director of Public Schools for the province, overseeing the foundation of over 450 schools as a part of the government's plans for modernisation. His dedication to education earned him the Order of St. Vladimir, which bestowed on him the status of hereditary nobleman.
- 俄羅斯總統普 京罕見地一周之內兩度批評前蘇聯領導人列 寧，指責列寧在建立蘇聯時按照民族原則劃 分行政區域，賦予加盟共和國享有自由脫離 的權利，為國家埋下 「定時炸彈」 ，導致蘇 聯解體。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20160127/PDF/a13_screen.pdf- https://www.rbth.com/travel/331502-sculptures-moscow-metro The other side of the same station features a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with Child. Interestingly it decorates the transfer elevator to Ploshchad Ilyicha station (Station of Vladimir Lenin), which just shows that we can’t avoid Soviet era themes.
People
- Vasili III Ivanovich (Russian: Василий III Иванович, also Basil) (25 March 1479 – 3 December 1533, Moscow) was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. He was the son of Ivan III Vasiliyevich andSophia Paleologue and was christened with the name Gavriil (Гавриил). He had three brothers; Yuri, born in 1480, Simeon, born in 1487 and Andrei, born in 1490, as well as five sisters: Elena (born and died in 1474), Feodosiya (born and died in 1475), another Elena (born 1476), another Feodosiya (born 1485) and Eudoxia (born 1492).[1]Vasili III continued the policies of his father Ivan III and spent most of his reign consolidating Ivan's gains. Vasili annexed the last surviving autonomous provinces: Pskov in 1510,appanage of Volokolamsk in 1513, principalities of Ryazan in 1521 and Novgorod-Seversky in 1522. Vasili also took advantage of the difficult position of Sigismund of Poland to capture Smolensk, the great eastern fortress of Lithuania (siege started 1512, ended in 1514), chiefly through the aid of the rebel Lithuanian, Prince Mikhail Glinski, who provided him with artillery and engineers. The loss of Smolensk was an important injury inflicted by Russia on Lithuania in the course of the Russo-Lithuanian Wars and only the exigencies of Sigismund compelled him to acquiesce in its surrender (1522). In 1521 Vasili received an emissary of the neighboring Iranian Safavid Empire, sent by ShahIsmail I whose ambitions were to construct an Irano-Russian alliance against the common enemy, namely Ottoman Turkey.[2] Equally successful were Vasili's actions against the Crimean Khanate. Although in 1519 he was obliged to buy off the khan of the Crimea, Mehmed I Giray, under the very walls of Moscow, towards the end of his reign he established Russian influence on the Volga. In 1531–32 he placed the pretender Cangali khan on the throne of Kazan.
- Michael I of Russia (Russian: Михаи́л Фёдорович Рома́нов, Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov) (22 July [O.S. 12 July] 1596 – 23 July [O.S. 13 July] 1645) became the first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov after the zemskiy sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia. He was the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov (later known as Patriarch Filaret) and of Xenia (later known as "the great nun" Martha). He was also a nephew of Feodor I (the last Rurikid Tsar) through his aunt Anastasia Romanovna (his paternal grandfather's sister) and through marriage with Tsar Ivan IV of Russia. His accession marked the end of the Time of Troubles of 1598-1613.
- Michael's grandfather, Nikita, was brother to the earlier Tsarina Anastasia and a central advisor to Ivan the Terrible. As a young boy, Michael and his mother had been exiled to Beloozero in 1600. This was a result of the recently elected Tsar Boris Godunov, in 1598, falsely accusing his father, Feodor, of treason. This may have been partly because Feodor had married Ksenia Shestova against Boris' wishes.[1] Michael was unanimously elected Tsarof Russia by a national assembly on 21 February 1613, but the delegates of the council did not discover the young Tsar and his mother at the Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma until 24 March. He had been chosen after several other options had been removed, including royalty of Poland and Sweden. Initially, Martha protested, believing and stating that her son was too young and tender for so difficult an office, and in such a troublesome time.
- Grandduchess Ella, born a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and widow to Nicholas’s uncle. Sainted Ella on an Anglican cathedral https://www.quora.com/Was-it-possible-to-save-the-lives-of-Tsar-Nicholas-II-and-his-family-Did-anyone-seriously-try
- The two government offices (prikazes) that were most important politically were Posolsky Prikaz ("Foreign Office") and Razryadny Prikaz (a Duma chancellery and a personnel department for both central and provincial administration including military command). Those offices could be pivotal in struggles between Boyar factions, so they were traditionally headed not by Boyars but by dyak (professional clerks).Three other strategic offices were Streletsky Prikaz (in charge of streltsy regiments who served as Moscow garrison), Treasury (Prikaz bolshoy kazny), and Aptekarsky Prikaz("Pharmacy office", in fact ministry of health, most particularly the tsar's health).
- 在执政的大部分时间里，米哈伊尔并不是唯一的统治者。他继位之后，母亲玛尔法（Marfa）接任摄政王。然后，他的父亲菲拉雷特（Filaret）从波兰被释放回国后，也成为共同统治者。父亲是族长，但在文献中被称为“伟大的君主”。
来源：«透视俄罗斯» - http://tsrus.cn/lishi/2017/11/09/659609 - 有人说，米哈伊尔非常喜欢花，曾经引进过一些品种。在米哈伊尔统治期间，玫瑰园首次出现在俄罗斯。
来源：«透视俄罗斯» - http://tsrus.cn/lishi/2017/11/09/659609 - 他还邀请外国人来俄罗斯建立工业。其中之一便是来自荷兰的安德里斯·维纽斯（Andries Winius），他在图拉港附近开展钢铁和火炮生产。此后，图拉成为俄罗斯的主要武器生产中心之一。
来源：«透视俄罗斯» - http://tsrus.cn/lishi/2017/11/09/659609
- http://rbth.com/multimedia/pictures/2015/02/17/the_yusupovs_the_wealthiest_family_in_imperial_russia_43801?crid=325359
- Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov(/ˌlɒməˈnɔːsɔːf, -sɒf/; Russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Ломоно́сов; IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ləmɐˈnosəf]; November 19 [O.S.November 8] 1711 – April 15 [O.S. April 4] 1765) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was theatmosphere of Venus and the Law of Mass Conservation in chemical reactions. His spheres of science were natural science,chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art,philology, optical devices and others. Lomonosov was also a poet and influenced the formation of the modernRussian literary language.
- Catherine II (Russian: Екатери́на Алексе́евна, romanized: Yekaterina Alekseyevna; 2 May [O.S. 21 April] 1729 – 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796), also known as Catherine the Great (Екатери́на Вели́кая, Yekaterina Velikaya), born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following a coup d'état that she organised—resulting in her husband, Peter III, being overthrown. Under her reign, Russia was revitalised; it grew larger and stronger, and was recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was crushed following victories over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars, and Russia colonised the territories of Novorossiya along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine's former lover, King Stanisław August Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russia started to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.Catherine reformed the administration of Russian guberniyas, and many new cities and towns were founded on her orders. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernize Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labor. This was one of the chief reasons behind several rebellions, including the large-scale Pugachev Rebellion of Cossacks and peasants.Catherine decided to have herself inoculated against smallpox by a British doctor, Thomas Dimsdale. While this was considered a controversial method at the time, she succeeded. Her son Pavel was later inoculated as well. Catherine then sought to have inoculations throughout her empire and stated: "My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger". By 1800, approximately 2 million inoculations (almost 6% of the population) were administered in the Russian Empire.The period of Catherine the Great's rule, the Catherinian Era,[1] is considered the Golden Age of Russia.[2] The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the Empress, changed the face of the country. She enthusiastically supported the ideals of the Enlightenment and is often regarded as an enlightened despot.[3] As a patron of the arts she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe.
- https://www.quora.com/What-happened-to-Catherine-II-of-Russias-illegitimate-children The Russian Empress Catherine the Great had one confirmed illegitimate child - a son from her relationship with Prince Grigory Orlov. Born in 1762 and named Alexei Grigoryevich Bobrinsky (from a village Bobriki that he was granted), Catherine’s son was raised by her close confidantes as a proper aristocrat and a cavalry officer.Alexei had a wife and five children (four legitimate and one illegitimate). His son Alexei Alexeyevich Bobrinsky (1800–1868) grew up to be a major innovator and a genius businessman of the Russian sugar industry. He made chocolate available to the general Russian public.
- Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (Russian: Ники́та Ива́нович Па́нин) (September 29 [O.S. September 18] 1718 – April 11 [O.S. March 31] 1783) was an influential Russianstatesman and political mentor to Catherine the Great for the first 18 years of her reign. In that role, he advocated the Northern Alliance, closer ties with Frederick the Greatof Prussia and the establishment of an advisory privy council. His staunch opposition to the partitions of Polandled to his being replaced by the more compliant Prince Bezborodko.
- Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova (Russian:Екатери́на Рома́новна Воронцо́ва-Да́шкова) (28 March [17 March o.s.] 1743 – 15 January [4 January o.s.] 1810, though her memoirs list her birth date as 1744, they are footnoted as a "slip of the pen") was the closest female friend of Empress Catherine the Great and a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment. Her name was often spelt in English asPrincess Dashkov.
- Paul I (Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич; Pavel Petrovich) (1 October [O.S. 20 September] 1754 – 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1801) reigned as Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III (reigned January to July 1762) and of Catherine the Great (reigned 1762-1796), though Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her lover Sergei Saltykov.[1]Paul remained overshadowed by his mother for much of his life. His reign lasted five years, ending with his assassination by conspirators. His most important achievement[citation needed] was the adoption of the laws of succession to the Russian throne - rules that lasted until the end of the Romanov dynasty and of the Russian Empire. He became de facto Grand Master of theOrder of Hospitallers, and ordered the construction of a number of Maltese thrones (as of 2016 on display in the State Hermitage Museum, Gatchina Palace and the Kremlin Armoury).
- Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly[nb 1] (27 December [O.S. 16 December] 1761 – 26 May [O.S. 14 May] 1818) was a RussianField Marshal and Minister of War during Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and War of the Sixth Coalition.
- Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen (Russian:Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен; April 6 [O.S. 25 March] 1812 – January 21 [O.S.9 January] 1870) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russiansocialism" and one of the main fathers of agrarian populism (being an ideological ancestor of the Narodniki, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Trudoviks and the agrarian American Populist Party). He is held responsible for creating a political climate leading to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. His autobiography My Past and Thoughts, written with grace, energy, and ease, is often considered the best specimen of that genre in Russian literature. He also published the importantsocial novel Who is to Blame? (1845–46).
- Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov (Дмитрий Владимирович Каракозов in Russian) (October 23 Old Style (November 4 New Style), 1840 – September 3 Old Style(September 15 New Style), 1866) was the firstRussian revolutionary to make an attempt on the life of a tsar. Karakozov was born in the family of a minornobleman in Kostroma. He grew to hate his class because all they did was "suck the peasants' blood." He studied at Kazan University 1861-64 and at Moscow State University 1864-66. He was expelled from both which led to depression and a failed suicide bid. In early 1866 he became a member of the "revolutionary wing" of theIshutin Society, founded by his cousin Nikolai Ishutin in Moscow in 1863. In the spring of 1866, Karakozov arrived in St Petersburg to assassinate Alexander II. He circulated his hand-written proclamation called "Друзьям-рабочим" ("To Friends-Workers"), in which he incited people to revolt. He wrote a manifesto to the St Petersburg governor blaming the Tsar for the suffering of the poor: "I have decided to destroy the evil Tsar, and to die for my beloved people." This note never reached anyone; it was lost in the mail. It is possible 1866 was the year chosen because of the character of Rakhmetov in What Is to Be Done?. This fictional inspiration of revolutionary youth plans for a revolution to coincide with the apocalypse according to Newton-1866.
- Anastas Mikoyan was a Soviet statesman who held top positions in the government for over 40 years – starting his career under Lenin and ending it under Brezhnev. Anastas Mikoyan was born in the village of Sanain in the southernmost part of the Russian Empire (present day northern Armenian) in 1895. His father was a carpenter and his mother wove rugs. His younger brother, Artyom Mikyoan, later became known as an outstanding plane constructor and co-creator of the famous MIG military aircraft. The Mikoyan family was very religious and thus Anastas’s father chose to send his young son to a theological seminary in the city of Tiflis (now Tbilisi, capital of Georgia). Later Anastas entered the seminary in the city of Echmiadzin in Armenia, which is the residence of Katolikos - the head of Armenian Christians to this day. But, the more young Mikoyan studied the word of God, the closer he moved toward atheism. Mikoyan once said about his school years: “I had a very distinct feeling that I didn't believe in God even after I had received a certificate in materialist uncertainty; the more I studied religious subjects, the less I believed in God.” He took courses in liberalism and socialism and step by step, was drawn closer to the revolutionary movements gaining strength throughout Russia.
- Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia(Russian: Елизавета Фëдоровна Романова, Yelizaveta Fyodorovna Romanova; canonized as Holy Martyr Yelizaveta Fyodorovna; 1 November 1864 – 18 July 1918) was a German princess of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, fifth son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia andPrincess Marie of Hesse and the Rhine. She was also a maternal great-aunt ofPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Elizabeth II.
- Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev[a] (April 15 [O.S. April 3] 1894 – September 11, 1971) was a politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of theCouncil of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour(Russian: Храм Христа Спасителя, Khram Khrista Spasitelya) is a cathedral inMoscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 103 metres (338 ft), it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world.[2]The current church is the second to stand on this site. The original church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build. It was destroyed in 1931 on the order of the Soviet Leader, Joseph Stalin. The demolition was supposed to make way for a colossal Palace of the Soviets to house the country's legislature, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Construction started in 1937 but was halted in 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II. Its steel frame was disassembled the following year, and the Palace was never built. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the current church was rebuilt on the site during 1995-2000. The original church was the scene of the 1882 world premiere of the 1812 Overturecomposed by Tchaikovsky, which became internationally famous.
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and theEastern Orthodox coalition led by the Russian Empire and composed of several Balkan countries. Fought in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, it originated in emerging 19th-century Balkan nationalism. Additional factors included Russian hopes of recovering territorial losses suffered during the Crimean War, re-establishing itself in the Black Sea and supporting the political movement attempting to free Balkan nations from the Ottoman Empire. As a result of the war, Russia succeeded in claiming several provinces in the Caucasus, namely Kars and Batumi, and also annexed the Budjak region. The principalities of Romania,Serbia and Montenegro, each of whom had had de facto sovereignty for some time, formally proclaimed independence from the Ottoman Empire. After almost five centuries of Ottoman domination (1396–1878), the Bulgarian state was re-established as the Principality of Bulgaria, covering the land between the Danube River and the Balkan Mountains (except Northern Dobrudja which was given to Romania), as well as the region of Sofia, which became the new state's capital. The Congress of Berlin also allowed Austria to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina and Great Britain to take over Cyprus.
The Lena Massacre or Lena Execution (Russian: Ленский расстрел) refers to the shooting of goldfield workers on strike in northeast Siberia near the Lena River on 17 April [O.S. 4 April] 1912. The strike had been provoked by exceptionally harsh working conditions, and when the strike committee was arrested, a large crowd marched in protest. They were fired-on by soldiers of the Imperial Russian Army, causing hundreds of casualties. The incident did much to stimulate revolutionary feeling in Russia, and Kerensky's reporting of it in the Duma brought him to public notice for the first time.
The Gulag (Russian: ГУЛАГ, tr.GULAG; IPA: [ɡʊˈlak]; acronym ofRussian Главное управление лагерей "main administration of the camps", usually translated "Chief Directorate of Camps") was the government agency that administered the main Sovietforced labour camp systems during the Stalin era, from the 1930s until the 1950s.
- The Gulag Archipelago (Russian: Архипела́г ГУЛА́Г, Arkhipelág GULÁG) is a book by sociologist and historian Aleksandr Solzhenitsynabout the Soviet forced labor camp system. The three-volume book is a narrative relying on eyewitness testimony and primary research material, as well as the author's own experiences as a prisoner in a gulag labor camp. Written between 1958 and 1968, it was published in the West in 1973 and, thereafter, it was circulated in samizdat (underground publication) form in the Soviet Union until its appearance in the Russian literary journal, Novy Mir, in 1989, in which a third of the work was published in three issues.Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, The Gulag Archipelago has been officially published and since 2009, it has been included in the high school curriculum in Russia as mandatory reading.
- https://www.quora.com/Why-was-escape-from-Stalins-gulags-virtually-impossible-Is-there-anyone-who-did-it
- The Gulag Archipelago (Russian: Архипела́г ГУЛА́Г, Arkhipelág GULÁG) is a book by sociologist and historian Aleksandr Solzhenitsynabout the Soviet forced labor camp system. The three-volume book is a narrative relying on eyewitness testimony and primary research material, as well as the author's own experiences as a prisoner in a gulag labor camp. Written between 1958 and 1968, it was published in the West in 1973 and, thereafter, it was circulated in samizdat (underground publication) form in the Soviet Union until its appearance in the Russian literary journal, Novy Mir, in 1989, in which a third of the work was published in three issues.Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, The Gulag Archipelago has been officially published and since 2009, it has been included in the high school curriculum in Russia as mandatory reading.
- https://www.quora.com/Why-was-escape-from-Stalins-gulags-virtually-impossible-Is-there-anyone-who-did-it
- https://www.rbth.com/history/331201-ussr-gulag-camps
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictatorship of Joseph Stalin.[1] Delegates at this Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were given no advance warning of what to expect. Indeed, proceedings were opened by Khruschev's call for all to stand in memory of the Communist leaders who had died since the previous Congress, with Stalin being mentioned in the same breath as Klement Gottwald. Hints of a new direction only came out gradually over the next ten days, which had the effect of leaving those present highly perplexed. The Polish communist leader Bolesław Bierut died in Moscow shortly after attending the 20th Congress. The congress elected the 20th Central Committee.
The Sino-Soviet border conflict (中苏边界冲突) was a seven-month undeclaredmilitary conflict between the Soviet Unionand China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split in 1969. The most serious of these border clashes—which brought the two communist-lead countries to the brink of war—occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island (珍宝岛) on the Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii Island (Остров Даманский) in Russia. Chinese historians most commonly refer to the conflict as the Zhenbao Island incident (珍宝岛自卫反击战). The conflict was finally resolved with future border demarcations.
reference material
- Bylina or starina (Russian: были́на; pl. были́ны byliny; also ста́рина; pl. ста́рины stariny) is a traditional East Slavic oral epic narrative poem. Byliny songs are loosely based on historical fact, greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole to create their songs.[2] The word bylina is derived from the past tense of the verb “to be” (Russian: быть byt') and implies “something that was.”[3] The term most likely originated with scholars of Russian folklore; in 1839, Sakharov, a Russian folklorist, published an anthology of Russian folklore, a section of which he titled “Byliny of the Russian People,” causing the popularization of the term.[4][5] Later scholars believe that Sakharov misunderstood the word bylina in the opening of Igor’ Tale as “an ancient poem.” The folk singers of byliny called these songs stariny (Russian: старины) or starinki (Russian: старинки) meaning “stories of old” (from Russian: старь star'). Most historians of East Slavic and Russian folklore believe that byliny as a genre arose during the Kievan period, during the tenth and eleventh century; byliny continued to be composed till about the arrival of the Tatars in the thirteenth century and the destruction of the Old East Slavic civilization.[6] Byliny incorporate elements of history from several epochs into their stories. For example, byliny singers refer to many of the enemies of the Kievan people as Tartars though the stories originally referred to other steppe peoples in conflict with Kievan Rus’. The character of Prince Vladimir refers to a generalized “epic Vladimir” rather than an allusion to a specific historical Vladimir.ブィリーナ（露: были́на)は、ロシアに伝わる口承叙事詩。代表的なブィリーナとして、イリヤー・ムーロメツの物語がある。なお、日本語ではヴィリーナとも表記される。ブィリーナは口承であるために、発生・成立がいつごろなのかについて、はっきりしたことは分からない。おおむね10世紀末から12世紀初頭にかけて、キエフ大公国{added by me - kievan rus'}の勃興・隆盛と時期を同じくして民衆の間でブィリーナは生まれたのではないかと考えられている。また、成立事情のほか、ブィリーナを創造・伝承した社会層やそのイデオロギーをめぐっても、さまざまな見解がある。ブィリーナの存在が歴史的に確認されたのは、17世紀である。現代におけるブィリーナの「発見」は19世紀後半であり、以降、ロシアおよびソビエト連邦の研究家によってブィリーナの採録・研究がすすめられた。現在、およそ100の主題について2,000のブィリーナのテクストが知られる。ブィリーナが集中的に残っていたのは北部ロシアであり、このほかシベリア、ドン川下流域などでも採録された。しかし、物語の主要な舞台であり、ブィリーナの成立にも関わると考えられているキエフをはじめ、ウクライナや中央ロシア、ノヴゴロドではほぼ口承が失われていた。これらの原因についても諸説あって定かでない。19世紀以降、口承が残っていた地域でも、採録が進んでテクストが充実したのとは逆に、口承の伝統そのものは衰微し、現在では事実上途絶えたものと見られる。ブィリーナは韻文形式で伝承され、各行に二、三のアクセントを含み、独特のリズムを持つ。リズムや物語の細部は語り手によって差異が認められるが、特定の形容語句・決まり文句の多用や重要な場面で同一動作を三度繰り返すパターンなどが特徴として共通する。ブィリーナの題材は、その多くがロシアの民族・国土を守って敵と戦う英雄を主人公としており、キエフ大公国を舞台として「太陽公」ウラジーミルに仕える勇士たちの活躍を描くものが中心的である。イリヤー・ムーロメツの物語は、そのなかでももっとも有名なものであり、イリヤーはブィリーナ最大の英雄とされている。このほか、キエフ・ルーシ以前のより古い時代からの由来を思わせる物語や12世紀ごろに栄えたノヴゴロドを舞台とする物語などが伝えられている。ブィリーナは、歴史歌謡のように具体的な史実そのものを描いたものではないが、そこにはかつてのロシア人の世界観、風俗習慣、文化が反映されており、史料としても貴重である[2]。ブィリーナは語彙の面で多くの古語や方言を含み、接頭辞や接尾辞を駆使して、ロシア語特有の指小形、指大形、表愛形など情緒的喚起力の強い言葉を自在に作り出している[16]。
句・節・文のレベルでは、常套的表現が多用される。例えば、「雄々しい若武者」、「老練の武者」、「心やさしいウラジーミル公」といった枕詞で、これらは語り手による違いがない。特定の比喩も多く、例えば、「イリヤ・ムーロメツは敵を、草を刈るように薙ぎ倒す」といったもので、傷つき倒れる戦士を刈り取られる穀物の束に喩えている。このほか戦争の場面では、敵軍を黒雲に、大軍の進行を川の流れに、都市を囲む大軍を春の水の氾濫に、戦場で流される血を川の水に、など一定の形式を有した比喩が見られる[16]。さらに、「作法にたがわず十字を切って/型どおり頭を下げて会釈をし」のような複数の行にまたがる決まり文句も好まれ、酒宴の場面、自慢話の場面、旅立ちの場面などに代表的に現れる。これはブィリーナの主要な様式のひとつであり、作品の大部分を構成している[16]。これらの常套形式は、一般的には暗誦を容易にするためのテクニックと説明される。つまり、語り手たちが師匠からブィリーナを習い受け継ぐ際に、これらの部分をキーポイントとして念入りに覚え、その他の部分を呼び出す手がかりとすることで長い内容の作品を覚え、よどみなく語ることを可能にしたのではないかと考えられている。しかしそれだけでなく、様式としての美的価値が認められる[17]。また、昔話によく見られるような、似通った状況や動作を3回反復する場面がしばしば現れる。これによって、節の展開が緩やかになり、聴衆に与える印象を強める効果がある。同時に、こうしたテンポの「ほどの良さ」が生活そのものによって要求されたものと考えられている[17][16]。
- very detailed description in japanese wikipedia version
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign (Old East Slavic: Слово о плъку Игорєвѣ, Slovo o plŭku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as The Tale of the Campaign of Igor, The Song of Igor's Campaign, The Lay of Igor's Campaign, The Lay of the Host of Igor, and The Lay of the Warfare Waged by Igor. The poem gives an account of a failed raid of Igor Svyatoslavich (d. 1202) against the Polovtsians of the Don River region. While some have disputed the authenticity of the poem, the current scholarly consensus is that the poem is authentic and dates to the medieval period (late 12th century). The Tale of Igor's Campaign was adapted by Alexander Borodin as an opera and became one of the great classics of Russian theatre. Entitled Prince Igor, it was first performed in 1890.The story describes a failed raid made in year 1185 by Kniaz Igor Svyatoslavich, Prince of Novgorod-Seversk (of the Chernigov principality of ancient Rus') on the Polovtsians (Cumans) tribe living in the southern part of the Don region. Other Rus' historical figures are mentioned, including skald Boyan (The Bard), the princes Vseslav of Polotsk, Yaroslav Osmomysl of Halych, and Vsevolod the Big Nest of Suzdal. The author appeals to the warring Rus' princes and pleads for unity in the face of the constant threat from the Turkic East. The descriptions show coexistence between Christianity and ancient Slavic religion. Igor's wife Yaroslavna invokes natural forces from the walls of Putyvl. Christian motifs are presented along with depersonalised pagan gods as among the artistic images.
- authenticity issue - according to the majority view, the poem is a composition of the late 12th century, perhaps composed orally and fixed in written form at some point during the 13th century. Some scholars consider the possibility that the poem in its current form is a national Romanticist compilation and rearrangement of several authentic sources. The thesis of the poem's being a complete forgery has been proposed in the past but is widely discredited; the poem's language has been demonstrated to be closer to authentic medieval East Slavic than practicable by a late 18th-century forger. It was not until 1951 that scholars discovered ancient birch bark documents with content in this medieval language. One of the crucial points of the authenticity controversy is the relationship between The Tale of Igor's Campaign and Zadonschina, an unquestionably authentic poem, which was created in the 15th century to glorify Dmitri Donskoi's victory over Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo and is preserved in six medieval copies. There are almost identical passages in both texts where only the personal names are different.
Education
- https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/how-russian-kids-are-taught-world-war-ii-57930 Russia’s history teachers are finding themselves under pressure to conform to the Kremlin’s interpretation of the war. “Everything that is forced is bad,” says Alexander Abalov, a history teacher at a prominent Moscow school. Abalov is not the only history teacher worried about the state’s interference in his job. Teaching history has never been easy in Russia, where archives are closed and transparent discussions about the country’s Soviet past are met with hostility. Even then, teaching World War II is more difficult: with every year that Putin is in power, Russia fails to confront its role in the war head on. In August 2016—on the eve of the new school year—a new Education Minister, Olga Vasilyeva, took office. Vasilyeva is perceived as a supporter of the conservative Orthodox agenda. She has also defended Soviet policies and made controversial statements about Stalin. While control over the classroom is supposed to be in the teacher’s hands, a new set of history textbooks introduced this year presents a view of the Soviet role in the war uncannily close to Vasilyeva’s—and the Kremlin’s. In September 2016, three history textbooks were sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, all of which gloss over Stalin’s crimes and his initial alliance with Nazi Germany. “My main issue with the textbooks is that they do not reveal the whole truth,” says historian and teacher Leonid Katsva.
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