The history of russia

Tai Lieu Chat Luong


THE
HISTORY
OF RUSSIA


ADVISORY BOARD

John T. Alexander
Professor of History and Russian and European Studies,
University of Kansas
Robert A. Divine
George W. Littlefield Professor in American History Emeritus,
University of Texas at Austin
John V. Lombardi
Professor of History,
University of Florida


THE
HISTORY OF
RUSSIA
SECOND EDITION

CHARLES E. ZIEGLER

The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations
Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling, Series Editors

GREENWOOD PRESS
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC


Copyright 2009 by Charles E. Ziegler
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ziegler, Charles E.
The history of Russia / Charles E. Ziegler.—2nd ed.
p. cm. — (The Greenwood histories of the modern nations)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-36307-8 (paper : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-313-36308-5
(ebook) 1. Russia—History. 2. Soviet Union—History. 3. Russia
( Federation)—History—1991- I. Title.
DK40.Z54 2009
947— dc22
2009028949
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09

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This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.
ABC-CLIO, LLC
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This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America


To Janna and Alan


Map of Russia. [Cartography by Bookcomp, Inc.]


Contents
Series Foreword

ix

Preface

xiii

Preface to the Second Edition

xvii

Timeline of Historical Events

xix

1

Russia and Its People

1

2

Kievan Russia and the Mongol Experience

9

3

Muscovite Russia, 1240–1613

21

4

Russia under the Romanovs: Empire
and Expansion, 1613–1855

33

5

Reform, Reaction, and Revolution, 1855–1921

51

6

Building Communism, 1921–1953

71


viii

Contents

7

De-Stalinization and Developed Socialism, 1953–1985

95

8

Gorbachev, Perestroika, and the Collapse of Communism

123

9

Russia’s Search for Democracy: The Yeltsin Era

149

10

Return to Authoritarianism: Putin and Beyond

181

Notable People in the History of Russia

209

Glossary of Selected Terms

213

Bibliographic Essay

217

Index

225
A photo essay follows page 122


Series Foreword
The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series is intended to provide students and interested laypeople with up-to-date, concise, and analytical histories of many of the nations of the contemporary world. Not since the 1960s
has there been a systematic attempt to publish a series of national histories,
and as series advisors, we believe that this series will prove to be a valuable
contribution to our understanding of other countries in our increasingly interdependent world.
Some 40 years ago, at the end of the 1960s, the Cold War was an accepted
reality of global politics. The process of decolonization was still in progress,
the idea of a unified Europe with a single currency was unheard of, the United
States was mired in a war in Vietnam, and the economic boom in Asia was
still years in the future. Richard Nixon was president of the United States,
Mao Tse-tung (not yet Mao Zedong) ruled China, Leonid Brezhnev guided the
Soviet Union, and Harold Wilson was prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Authoritarian dictators still controlled most of Latin America, the Middle East
was reeling in the wake of the Six-Day War, and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was at the height of his power in Iran.
Since then, the Cold War has ended, the Soviet Union has vanished, leaving
15 independent republics in its wake, the advent of the computer age has radically transformed global communications, the rising demand for oil makes


x

Series Foreword

the Middle East still a dangerous flashpoint, and the rise of new economic
powers like the People’s Republic of China and India threatens to bring about

a new world order. All of these developments have had a dramatic impact on
the recent history of every nation of the world.
For this series, which was launched in 1998, we first selected nations whose
political, economic, and socio-cultural affairs marked them as among the most
important of our time. For each nation, we found an author who was recognized as a specialist in the history of that nation. These authors worked
cooperatively with us and with Greenwood Press to produce volumes that reflected current research on their nations and that are interesting and informative to their readers. In the first decade of the series, more than 40 volumes
were published, and as of 2008, some are moving into second editions.
The success of the series has encouraged us to broaden our scope to include
additional nations, whose histories have had significant effects on their regions,
if not on the entire world. In addition, geopolitical changes have elevated other
nations into positions of greater importance in world affairs and, so, we have
chosen to include them in this series as well. The importance of a series such
as this cannot be underestimated. As a superpower whose influence is felt all
over the world, the United States can claim a “special” relationship with almost every other nation. Yet many Americans know very little about the histories of nations with which the United States relates. How did they get to be the
way they are? What kind of political systems have evolved there? What kind of
influence do they have on their own regions? What are the dominant political,
religious, and cultural forces that move their leaders? These and many other
questions are answered in the volumes of this series. The authors who contribute to this series write comprehensive histories of their nations, dating back,
in some instances, to prehistoric times. Each of them, however, has devoted a
significant portion of their book to events of the past 40 years because the modern era has contributed the most to contemporary issues that have an impact
on U.S. policy. Authors make every effort to be as up-to-date as possible so that
readers can benefit from discussion and analysis of recent events.
In addition to the historical narrative, each volume contains an introductory
chapter giving an overview of that country’s geography, political institutions,
economic structure, and cultural attributes. This is meant to give readers a
snapshot of the nation as it exists in the contemporary world. Each history
also includes supplementary information following the narrative, which may
include a timeline that represents a succinct chronology of the nation’s historical evolution, biographical sketches of the nation’s most important historical
figures, and a glossary of important terms or concepts that are usually expressed in a foreign language. Finally, each author prepares a comprehensive
bibliography for readers who wish to pursue the subject further.

Series Foreword

xi

Readers of these volumes will find them fascinating and well written. More
importantly, they will come away with a better understanding of the contemporary world and the nations that comprise it. As series advisors, we hope
that this series will contribute to a heightened sense of global understanding
as we move through the early years of the twenty-first century.
Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling
Indiana University Southeast


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Preface
Russia is a very large country with a long and complex history. This book
provides a brief, accurate introduction to Russian, Soviet, and post-Soviet history in a readable format that will be of use to high school students, college
students, teachers, and nonspecialists. It includes major social, cultural, and
economic developments so that readers new to the subject will come away
with a good general understanding of this fascinating and troubled country.
For those who wish further reading, the bibliographic essay includes some of
the better known accessible works.
For those who grew up in the post–World War II United States, Russia (or
more accurately, the Soviet Union) was a constant source of fear and attention.
Secretive leaders in the Kremlin, the massive stone fortress in the heart of
Moscow, had sworn to spread communism across the globe. At any time they
might rain thousands of nuclear warheads on America. School children in the

1950s learned to “duck and cover”—to hide under their desks and put their
hands over their heads in the event of a nuclear attack. U.S. taxpayers spent
billions and then trillions of dollars on bombers, missiles, fighter aircraft, submarines, aircraft carriers, troops, tanks, and the other war paraphernalia to defend against the communist threat. Leftists and communist sympathizers were
hounded and persecuted by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American
Activities Committee in the 1950s. The United States lost 58,000 men and rent


xiv

Preface

itself apart trying to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam in the 1960s
and early 1970s. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan swept into office on a
strong anticommunist platform, pledging to build a space shield that would
provide a comprehensive missile defense for America.
Few experts or government officials expected the Soviet communist government to collapse in 1991. When it did, Americans were overjoyed, expecting that once Russians had rejected dictatorship and socialist economics, they
would quickly learn the ways of democracy and market capitalism. Russians
likewise expected that within a few years they would be as affluent as the
West Europeans, Japanese, or Americans. After all, Russia was a highly educated nation with talented people and vast natural resources. Sadly, as the
20th century drew to a close, these expectations had still not been borne out.
Russia’s economy had shrunk nearly every year since 1991. The government
was deeply in debt, joblessness was rising, and crime was rampant. Russia
had managed to hold several rounds of relatively free presidential and parliamentary elections, but the country’s new democracy was still quite fragile.
Moreover, democratic Russia had had only one president, Boris Yeltsin, and
he was frequently sick and unable to govern.
Americans seem to have lost interest in Russia now that it is no longer communist and seems to pose no threat to the United States or its allies. Russia,
however, is still a major nuclear power, and its leaders are determined that it
will be influential and respected around the world. And Russia may some day
extricate itself from the economic morass into which it has sunk. If that happens, Russia will indeed once again be a power to reckon with.
A brief note on transliteration and pronunciation: Russian names are written

in Cyrillic, and so must be transliterated into the Latin alphabet. This means
that occasionally the same word will be rendered by two different spellings:
for example, tsar and czar. In most cases, I have followed the Library of Congress transliteration style used in the United States, with a few minor modifications for common usage (Trotsky instead of Trotskii). In Russian words and
names, unlike French, all the letters should be pronounced.
Readers should also be aware that until the 20th century, Russia followed
the old, Julian calendar abandoned by Europeans in 1582. The Julian calendar
was inaccurate, so in Russia dates were 12 days behind the modern Gregorian calendar in the 19th century and 13 days behind in the 20th century. The
Bolsheviks adopted the Gregorian calendar in February 1918, but the Russian
Orthodox Church still celebrates its holidays according to the older calendar.
Different dates for events in Russian history therefore are often referred to as
“Old Style” or “New Style,” depending on which calendar was in effect.
Chapter 8 draws in part from Charles E. Ziegler, “The Collapse of the Soviet
Union, 1985–1991: Interpretive Essay,” in Events That Changed the World in the


Preface

xv

Twentieth Century, edited by Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995).
I would like to thank Bruce Adams of the History Department at the University of Louisville for his helpful comments on various chapters. Frank
Thackeray, one of the series’ general editors, also gave me useful feedback
on the manuscript. I am grateful to Dianne O’Regan for compiling the index
and to Justine Ziegler who helped with the proofreading. My greatest debt of
gratitude, however, is to my wife Janna Tajibaeva, whose many insights and
suggestions from her years inside the Soviet Union made the book much better. Her tolerance and encouragement are deeply appreciated, and it is to her
that I dedicate this book.


This page intentionally left blank

Preface to the Second Edition
When this book went to press in 1999, Russia was still struggling with the
transition from communist dictatorship toward a new political and economic
order. The 1990s had been a period of political anarchy, with President Boris
Yeltsin presiding over the dismantling of the planned economy, and newly
rich oligarchs amassing huge fortunes from the privatization of governmentowned assets. The country was not a stable democracy, but at least elections
were held on schedule, dozens of political parties competed for votes, the
media were relatively free to criticize government officials, and Russians were
free to travel and worship as they wished.
Yet many believed the costs of political and economic liberalization were
too high. More than a third of Russians were living in poverty, crime had
soared, disease and alcoholism had contributed to a gradual decline in population, and the nation seemed to be going through a spiritual crisis. Russia was
no longer a respected world power; instead, the Americans and Europeans
ignored Russian national interests and humiliated the nation, while China’s
rise in the east presented a long-term threat.
Vladimir Putin’s popularity can only be fully understood within this
context. His eight years as president saw record economic growth, the stabilization of everyday life, and the restoration of Russia as a powerful state
respected on the world stage. Much of this success had little to do with Putin’s


xviii

Preface to the Second Edition

governance (the country’s economic performance was due mostly to record
high oil and gas prices, for example), but Putin did restore order in Russia,
largely through authoritarian measures that eroded the country’s chances for
developing into a working democracy. He leveraged Russia’s natural resource

wealth into considerable foreign policy influence, at least along the periphery,
if not globally. And Putin made Russians proud of their country once again.
But Russian nationalism resurgent had a dark side, too, in the form of bellicose anti-American rhetoric and skinhead attacks on foreigners.
Chapter 10 takes the reader through the Putin era and into early 2009. I
have also updated the list of notable people, the glossary of terms, and the
bibliographic essay, and have added a list of Web sites for those interested in
keeping current with Russian politics. Once again, I would like to thank Frank
Thackeray for his support and his helpful comments on revising the manuscript. Special thanks, and the dedication, go to Janna Tajibaeva and Alan Taj
Ziegler.


Timeline of Historical Events
1000–700 b.c.

Cimmerians rule southern Russia

700–200 b.c.

Scythians occupy southern Russia

200 b.c.–a.d. 200

Sarmatians rule southern Russia, region had close links
to Greek world

200–370

Goths control Russian steppe

370–453

Rule of Huns

fifth–ninth centuries Various Turkic peoples inhabit southern Russia
862

Riurik of Varangians (Scandinavian tribe) establishes
Riurikid dynasty

980–1015

Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev

988

Official conversion of Kievan Rus to Orthodox
Christianity

1132–1136

Emergence of Novgorod city-state

1147

First mention of Moscow in the chronicles

1237–1240

Mongol conquest of Russian lands

xx

Timeline of Historical Events

1242

Aleksandr Nevskii defeats Teutonic Knights

1327–1341

Ivan I (Moneybag), Grand Prince of Moscow

1337

Holy Trinity–Saint Sergius Monastery founded

1367

Stone fortress (kreml) constructed in Moscow

1462–1505

Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow

1478

Moscow annexes Novgorod

1547–1584

Ivan IV (The Terrible), tsar of Russia

1552

Conquest of Kazan; construction of St. Basil’s Cathedral
in Moscow

1582

Ermak’s conquest of western Siberia

1584–1613

Time of Troubles

1613

Mikhail Romanov elected tsar (1613–1645); start of
Romanov dynasty

1645–1676

Reign of Tsar Alexis

1649

Adoption of Law Code (Ulozhenie)

1653–1667

Orthodox Church reforms lead to schism

1667–1671

Rebellion under Stenka Razin

1682–1725

Reign of Peter I (The Great), tsar of Russia

1689

Treaty of Nerchinsk between Russia and China

1700–1721

Sweden and Russia fight Northern War

1703

St. Petersburg founded as Peter’s “Window on the
West”

1709

Russian victory over Swedes at Poltava

1714

Establishment of Naval Academy in St. Petersburg

1722

Establishment of Table of Ranks

1736–1739

Russo-Turkish War

1741–1761

Reign of Tsarina Elizabeth

1755

Establishment of Moscow University

1762–1796

Reign of Catherine II (The Great)


Timeline of Historical Events

xxi

1768–1774

Russo-Turkish War

1773–1775

Pugachev Rebellion

1781–1786

Ukraine absorbed into the Russian Empire

1787–1792

Russo-Turkish War

1793–1795

Second and Third Partitions of Poland

1796–1801

Reign of Paul

1801–1825

Reign of Aleksandr I

1801

Annexation of Georgia by Russia

1807–1811

Mikhail Speransky’s reforms

1812

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia

1819

St. Petersburg University established

1825

Revolt and suppression of the Decembrists

1825–1855

Reign of Nicholas I

1830–1831

Polish Rebellion

1842–1851

Construction of St. Petersburg-Moscow railway, the
first rail line in Russia

1853–1856

Crimean War

1855–1881

Reign of Aleksandr II, the “Tsar Liberator”

1861

Emancipation Manifesto frees serfs

1864

Zemstvo (local government), legal, and education
reforms

1865–1885

Conquest of Central Asian regions, absorption into
Russian empire

1872

Publication of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital in Russian

1877–1878

Russo-Turkish War

1881

People’s Will assassinates Aleksandr II in St. Petersburg

1881–1894

Reign of Aleksandr III

1891–1892

Famine in Russia

1891–1904

Construction of Trans-Siberian railway


xxii

Timeline of Historical Events

1894–1917

Reign of Nicholas II

1898

Founding of Russian Social Democratic Labor Party
(RSDLP)

1902

Vladimir Lenin publishes What Is to Be Done?

1903

RSDLP splits into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions at
second congress

1904–1905

Russo-Japanese War

1905–1907

Bloody Sunday massacre leads to Revolution of 1905;
Duma created

1911

Assassination of Prime Minister Peter Stolypin

1914–1918

World War I

1916

Murder of Gregory Rasputin, confidant of the Royal
Family

1917

February Revolution; abdication of Nicholas; rule by
Provisional Government; Bolshevik coup in October

1918–1921

Civil War pits Reds against Whites; tsar and family
killed at Ekaterinburg

1920

War with Poland

1921

Tenth Party Congress; ban on Party factions

1921–1928

New Economic Policy (NEP)

1922

Joseph Stalin appointed General Secretary of Communist Party

1922

Union Treaty creates Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

1924

Death of Vladimir Lenin

1928

Start of Five-Year Plans

1929

Stalin defeats the “Right Opposition,” consolidates his
power

1929–1939

Collectivization of agriculture

1932–1933

7.5 million die from famine

1934

Assassination of Leningrad Party Secretary Sergei
Kirov

1936

Promulgation of Stalin Constitution

Timeline of Historical Events

xxiii

1936–1938

Show trials, purges

1939

Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact

1940

USSR annexes Baltic states

1941–1945

Great Fatherland War (World War II)

1945–1948

Communist parties consolidate control of Eastern
Europe

1946–1948

Zhdanovshchina, cultural repression and isolation

1949

Victory of communists under Mao Zedong in China

1949

Formation of Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

1950

Mao visits Moscow; Sino-Soviet Treaty signed; outbreak of Korean War

1953

Death of Joseph Stalin; Nikita Khrushchev becomes
General Secretary

1955

Formation of Warsaw Pact military alliance

1956

Twentieth Party Congress; Khrushchev’s
De-Stalinization speech

1956–1962

The Thaw (period of cultural relaxation)

1956

Soviet troops crush Hungarian Revolution

1957

Anti-Party Group tries to oust Khrushchev and fails

1957

Soviet Union launches first spacecraft, Sputnik

1957

Creation of regional economic councils (sovnarkhozy)

1958

Boris Pasternak awarded Nobel Prize for Dr. Zhivago

1959

Sino-Soviet split becomes public

1961

Construction of Berlin Wall

1962

Publication of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the

Life of Ivan Denisovich in Novyi Mir

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis

1964

Khrushchev deposed; Leonid Brezhnev becomes Party
General Secretary; Alexei Kosygin becomes Premier

1965–1968

Kosygin economic reforms

1966

Trial of dissidents Iulii Daniel and Andrei Siniavsky


xxiv

Timeline of Historical Events

1968

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

1969

USSR and China exchange fire along Sino-Soviet
border

1972

Beginning of détente: SALT I and ABM Treaties, U.S.Soviet summitry

1975

Physicist Andrei Sakharov awarded Nobel Peace Prize

1977

Promulgation of Brezhnev Constitution

1979

SALT II Treaty

1979

Soviet troops invade Afghanistan

1980–1981

Solidarity labor movement in Poland

1982

Brezhnev dies; Iurii Andropov becomes General

Secretary

1984

Andropov dies; Konstantin Chernenko becomes
General Secretary

1985

Chernenko dies; Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General
Secretary

1986

Explosion at Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine

1986

Nationalist demonstrations in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan

1987

Gorbachev begins economic reforms; political liberalization accelerates

1988

Nineteenth Party Conference discusses reform

1989

Elections to Congress of People’s Deputies; Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan; Eastern Europeans abandon
communism; fall of Berlin Wall; conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabagh; Gorbachev repairs
Sino-Soviet relations

1990

Elections to Russian Congress of People’s Deputies;
Gorbachev elected President of USSR; Conventional
Forces treaty in Europe

1991

Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns, warning of coup d’état; Boris Yeltsin elected President of
Russia; conservatives attempt coup d’état in August;
dissolution of USSR and formation of Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS)