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Varangian chieftain Rurik is invited to Novgorod to rule. His line would come to rule all of Russia marking him as the founder of the Russian monarchy. -
After his death, Rurik's kinsman Oleg succeeds him as Prince of Novgorod. His conquests lay the foundation for the Kievan Rus. -
Oleg the Wise conquers the southern lands along the Dnieper river, capturing Kiev, declaring it should be the "mother of all Rus' cities". With the centre of authority moved from Novgorod to Kiev, the Kievan Rus' state is born. -
Son of Rurik, Igor succeeds Oleg as Prince of Kiev. -
Sviatoslav Igorevich succeeds his father as Prince of Kiev. -
Yaropolk Sviatoslavich succeeds his father as Prince of Kiev. -
Vladimir Sviatoslavich, Prince of Novgorod, succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
At the behest of Vladimir the Great, the pagan people of the Kievan Rus' are baptised by the eastern churches. Some members of the ruling dynasty had already converted such as St Olga of Kiev but slavic paganism remain entrenched in the peoples' lives. The Christianisation of the slavic peoples was a long process. -
Sviatopolk Vladimirovich, Prince of Turov, succeeds his father as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Rostov and Prince of Novgorod, succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Iziaslav Yaroslavich, Prince of Turov and Prince of Novgorod, succeeds his father as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Vseslav Bryachislavich, Prince of Polotsk, succeeds his cousin as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Iziaslav Yaroslavich succeeds his cousin as Grand Prince of Kiev for the second time. -
Sviatoslav Yaroslavich, Prince of Volhynia and Prince of Chernigov, succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Vsevolod Yaroslavich, Prince of Chernigov and Prince of Pereyaslavl, succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Iziaslav Yaroslavich succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Vsevolod Yaroslavich succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev again. -
Sviatopolk Iziaslavich, Prince of Novgorod and Prince of Chernigov, succeeds his uncle as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Vladimir Monomakh, Prince of Smolensk, Prince of Chernigov, and Prince of Pereyaslavl, succeeds his cousin as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Mstislav Vladimirovich Monomakh, Prince of Rostov and Prince of Novgorod, succeeds his father a Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Yaropolk Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Prince of Pereyaslavl, succeeds his father as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Vsevolod II Olgovich, Prince of Chernigov, succeeds Viacheslav as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Viacheslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk, Turov, Pereyaslavl, Peresopnytsia, and Vyshgorod, succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Igor Olgovich, Prince of Chernigov, succeeds his brother as Grand Prince of Kiev, ruling very briefly -
Iziaslav Mstislavich, Prince of Pereyaslavl, Turov, Rostov, and Volhynia, succeeds his cousin as Grand Prince of Kiev. -
Mongol hordes siege the largest city in the Kievan Rus', Kiev. The Principality of Galicia-Volhynia is forced to submit to Batu Khan and his advance west is halted only by the death of Ögedei Khan. The event marks the end of the already declining Kievan Rus' state. -
A standoff on the banks of the Ugra River between the forces of Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, and Grand Prince Ivan III of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Not much fighting took place but it is seen as the end of oppressive Tatar yoke. -
Ivan Vasilyevich, Grand Prince of Moscow becomes the first Tsar of all Russia. He ruled with a group of reformers known as the Chosen Council, established the Zemsky Sobor, revised the legal code, and created the first standing army (the streltsy). -
Ivan the Terrible issues a legal code aimed at centralising power and reforming justice, replacing the 1547 Sudebnik. It reduces corruption by paying judges salaries, introduces an appeals system, and imposes harsher penalties for bribery. It also reinforces military obligations for nobles and limits peasant mobility, strengthening serfdom. -
Seeking to gain access to the Baltic sea for trade, Russia invades the Baltics, leading to a war against Denmark-Norway, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden which Russia loses with the latter nations gaining control over the region.
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The Oprichnina was a policy enacted by Ivan the Terrible that relinquished land from the boyars and carried out public executions against them.
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Russian forces led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky did battle against the Crimean Tatars led by Khan Devlet I Giray, achieving victory and avenging the burning of Moscow a year earlier. -
A treaty is signed between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ending hostilities after the successful campaign of Stephen Báthory. -
Feodor Ivanovich the Blessed succeeds his father as Tsar of all Russia. Siring no children, he becomes the last Rurik leader of Russia. -
Upon the death of the last Rurik Tsar, Feodor I, the country fell into chaos with famine, political unrest, pretenders and invasions by Sweden and Poland. It ended with the accession of Michael I of the House of Romanov.
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A meeting of the Estates of the realm seeking to end the Time of Troubles. With the expulsion of Polish-Lithuanian forces from Russia, the Zemsky Sobor elected Michael Romanov to take the throne as Tsar of all Russia. -
To end the Time of Troubles, Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov is elected Tsar of all Russia beginning the Romanov dynasty. -
Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov succeeds his father as Tsar of all Russia. -
A series of reforms promulgated by the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Nikon of Moscow at the behest of Tsar Alexis. The reforms sought to align the Russian liturgy more with the Greek, leading to schism and the establishment of the Old Believers, followers of the old style of liturgy.
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A Pan-Orthodox synod called by Tsar Alexis to depose Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. The synod anathemitised those who practiced the old Russian liturgy as well as the Stoglav. -
Fyodor Alekseyevich Romanov succeeds his father as Tsar of all Russia -
Ivan Alekseyevich Romanov succeeds his brother as Tsar of all Russia, ruling jointly alongside his brother Peter. -
Pyotr Alekseyevich Romanov succeeds his brother as Tsar of all Russia. He ruled alongside his brother Ivan who is also crowned Tsar. -
Russia led by Tsar Peter the Great wages war on Sweden seeking to gain access to the Baltic sea.
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Peter the Great, having solidified his control, turning Russia into an effective police state, proclaimed himself the emperor and autocrat of all Russia, the title used by future successors although the term Tsar was still commonly employed synonymously. -
Peter the Great leads troops to extend Russian influence over the Caucasus and Caspian regions, seeking to curtail the influence of the Ottomans at the expense of Persia. -
Following Peter's failure to designated an heir, his wife Catherine Alekseyevna Mikhailova, born Marta Helena Skowrońska, became Empress of Russia -
Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov succeeds his grandfather's wife as Emperor of Russia. He dies at 14 of smallpox on the day of his marriage. -
Anna Ivanovna Romanov succeeds her cousin as Empress of Russia. -
Ivan Antonovich Romanov succeeds his grandaunt as Emperor of Russia at 2 months old. He is swiftly overthrown by his cousin and spends the rest of his life in captivity. -
Elizaveta Petrovna Romanov succeeds her cousin as Empress of Russia, overthrowing the young emperor -
Pyotr Fyodorovich Romanov succeeds his aunt as Emperor of Russia. He reign is very short and he is overthrown by his wife the same year. -
Catherine the Great succeeds her husband as Empress of Russia after overthrowing him in a coup. -
A massive peasant uprising led by Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev, who claims to be the deposed Tsar Peter III. It gathers support from serfs, Cossacks, and ethnic minorities angry at harsh conditions under Catherine the Great. The revolt sweeps across southern Russia but is eventually crushed by imperial forces. Pugachev is captured and executed.
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With political instability in Persia, Catherine the Great seeks to extend Russia's influence over the Caucasuses leading to a territorial dispute and conflict. -
Pavel Petrovich Romanov succeeds his mother as Emperor of Russia. -
Aleksandr Pavlovich Romanov succeeds his father as Emperor of Russia. -
The French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest military generals in history, seeks to establish French dominance, facing off against several coalitions of European powers. Russia allies with and fights against France. Eventually culminating in the defeat of Napoleon and his exile.
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The Russian Empire and the Persian Empire enter into a territorial dispute over Georgia and the Caucasuses.
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A war between Sweden and Imperial Russia. Finland was annexed into the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland. -
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invades Russia. Initially he is successful, however, the wintery conditions of the Motherland bog down his troops, alongside a scorched earth policy, it becomes one of the worst campaigns in military history. It was a major contributor to Napoleon's fall. -
Russian citizens and troops flee Moscow. Whilst under occupation by French forces, Moscow is set ablaze, destroying most of the city, weakening Napoleon's army. -
With Napoleon defeated, the major powers of Europe met in Vienna for a series of conferences to restore the balance of power. Russia gained the eastern territories of the recently created Duchy of Warsaw. -
Nikolai Pavlovich Romanov succeeds his brother as Emperor of Russia. -
Russian army officers lead about 3,000 soldiers in protest against Tsar Nicholas I’s accession. Motivated by liberal ideas and opposition to autocracy and serfdom, they call for constitutional reform. The uprising is swiftly crushed, and its leaders are executed or exiled. Though unsuccessful, it becomes a symbol of resistance and inspires future revolutionary movements in Russia. -
The final conflict between Persia and Russia over the Caucasus region. Russia gains control over the area.
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An alliance between Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia wage war against the Russian Empire, seeking to reduce its influence and settle religious disputes.
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Aleksandr Nikolayevich Romanov succeeds his father as Emperor of Russia. -
Fyodor Dostoevsky's book Crime and Punishment is published. It is regarded as one of the greatest works of fiction written, delving into philosophies such as nihilism, rationalism and utilitarianism. -
Leo Tolstoy publishes his work War and Peace, one of the best books written. -
Fyodor Dostoevsky publishes his novel The Idiot, a take on religion and the spirit of Russian Orthodoxy. It is regarded as a masterpiece of literature. -
Fyodor Dostoevsky publishes his book The Brothers Karamazov in installments from 1879-80. It is regarded as one of the greatest books ever written, touching upon the complexities of faith and atheism. -
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Romanov succeeds his father as Emperor of Russia. -
Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov succeeds his father as Emperor of Russia. He is the last Emperor of Russia. -
Territorial dispute in the east led to conflict between Russia and Japan. The war ended in a Japanese victory. -
After the assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, Austria-Hungary declares War on Serbia. Russia, honouring her alliance, declares war on Austria-Hungary. A series of alliances come into play until the conflict becomes the First World War.
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With the monarchy viewed increasingly weak, unpopular, and damaging. Peasants in Peteograd rise up in revolution, leading to the establishment of the Provisional Government. With the revolutionaries in control of Petrograd, Tsar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate. -
After assassination attempts on Vladimir Lenin's life, orders were given to the Cheka, the secret police, to use violence and killing to eliminate political opposition.
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Displeased with the Provisional Government, the situation with the Bolsheviks and Petrograd soviet led by Leon Trotsky became critical. Calling for armed revolution, Bolshevik Red Guards mobilised and began an armed uprising against the government, escalating into the Russian Civil War. -
Following the October Revolution, communist Bolsheviks Red Army began fighting the White Army, seeking to gain control of the country. With charge of the industrial centres such as Moscow, the Reds emerged victorious, establishing communism in Russia.
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Russia signs a treaty with the Central Powers, withdrawing from World War One and handing over massive swathes of land including Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltics, and Finland. Losing nearly a third of the Empire's population. -
After abdication, the imperial Romanov family was kept under house arrest. On the night of 16th July 1918, Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, their 5 children, Olga (22), Tatiana (21), Maria (19), Anastasia (17), and Alexei (13), and members of the household were shot. The children survived the shooting, leading the murderers to stab them with bayonets. When this proved ineffectual, more shots were taken to kill them. The bodies were disposed using grenades and acid. -
With victory in the Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party legislates the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a union comprised of several communist nations, most formally in the former Russian Empire. -
Vladimir Illych Ulyanov, called Lenin, dies after a series of strokes that diminished his motor faculties. His body is embalmed and entombed for all to see to this day. -
As a result of Stalin's five year plan economic policies of industrialisation and agricultural collectivisation, millions of Ukrainians starved to death. -
Following the assassination of Sergei Kirov, Stalin's paranoia, brutality, and callous ambition reached its pinnacle with a series of show-trials and mass murder of political opponents, intellectuals, religious leaders, and prominent citizens conducted by the NKVD.
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Signed between Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, Germany and the Soviet Union entered into a non-agression pact, agreeing to partition eastern Europe. -
Adolf Hitler, with ambitions of German dominance and pursuing racial policies of extermination against Jews, Slavs and all undesirables, begins conquering Europe leading to the Second World War, the most deadly conflict in human history.
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Assurances secured by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviets invade Poland a couple weeks after Nazi Germany's invasion, occupying all eastern locations and annexing them into the Soviet Union. -
The Soviet Union invades Finland to realign its borders for the better protection of Leningrad. -
Nazi Germany executes the largest military invasion in history against the Soviet Union, penetrative deep into Russia, devastating the land, dragging the USSR into the Second World War against the Axis Powers. -
The Great Patriotic War is the eastern front of the Second World War when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, penetrative deep and close to Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kursk. The war cost millions of lives. Eventually the side turned in Russia's favour and the Germans were driven all the way back to Berlin.
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The most brutal battle of the Great Patriotic War ends in Soviet victory, turning the tide of the war in the Allies' favour. The average soldier's lifespan was 24 hours in Stalingrad. -
After the Second World War, the US and USSR became the dominant world superpowers. The Cold War was a series of conflicts and espionage fought across the world backed by the 2 power, influencing nations to promulgate their ideology, Capitalism (America) and Communism (Soviets). The war ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
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After intense fighting in the streets of Berlin against the last remnants of the Wehrmacht, SS, armed German civilians, and Hitler Youth. The Soviets finally capture Berlin. Adolf Hitler, several days prior on the 30th April, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. -
Nazi Germany unconditionally surrenders to the Allied Powers marking the end of the Great Patriotic War in Europe. The Russian people celebrate so hard they run out of vodka in Moscow. -
When America detonated its atomic bombs over Japan, the Soviets began rushing to create their own. Using espionage, to further their scientific program, the Soviets eventually developed an atomic device, RDS-1 "First lightning", testing it at Semiplatinsk. -
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin né Dzhugashvili dies from a hemorrhagic stroke. Afraid of him, no one comes to help until a maid enters his room. Due to his persecution of doctors, no one can save him. -
Several Eastern Bloc nations, under communist puppet governments sign a mutual defence treaty. -
Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite is launched by the Soviet Union, beginning the Space Race. The launch scared Western countries, afraid of the potential technological prowess of the USSR. -
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human being to leave Earth and enter space, marking a great scientific and technological achievement for mankind, and one for the Soviets in the Space Race. -
An American U-2 spy plane captures photographic evidence that the Soviets have stationed nuclear weapons in Cuba, causing a major international incident. A blockade is called, and when the Kremlin does not back down tensions become critical, America goes to DEFCON 2, preparing for all out war. An agreement is made between Kennedy and Krushchev removing the missiles. The U.S. removes missiles from Turkey, agreeing not to invade Cuba. This is the closest mankind has ever come to thermonuclear war. -
Backing the Afghan military against the rebelling Mujahadeen, Soviet forces enter Afghanistan. The war significantly weakened the Soviets and they did not emerge victorious.
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When the the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union exploded, it leaked large amounts of radiation into the surrounding area. The situation presented a crisis that could endanger the lives of millions. Working hard and quickly, the disaster was contained but now Pripyat is a ghost town. -
After splitting the people of Berlin, Berliners begin marching on the wall, dismantling and scaling it, reuniting with their fellow countrymen and loved ones, accelerating the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, and reducing Soviet influence. -
In a last ditch attempt to save the Soviet Union, communist hardliners staged a coup d'état. The coup apprehended Gorbachev but failed to arrest newly-elected President Boris Yeltsin, who famously stood on a tank and gave a speech. The coup was disorganised and failed quickly, placing the final nail in the coffin for the USSR. -
With economic stagnation, political and social unrest, and the rise of nationalist movements, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed and formally dissolved, bringing an end to Communism in Russia after 69 years. -
Chechnyian seperatists establish the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a breakaway state after the collapse of the Soviet Union, causing conflict with the Russian Federation. Eventually Russian forces withdrew from the region, agreeing not invade again.
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When Chechen Islamists bomb apartments in Dagestan, Russia blames Chechnya leading to war and the fall of the Chechen Republic and its incorporation into the Russian Federation
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Since Georgian independence, Ossetian seperatists have been in conflict with the nation. With the establishment of a pro-west government in Georgia, the Russian Federation backed Ossetian forces, who committed an ethnic cleanse of Georgians in the area. -
Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity which ousted Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Russia invaded and annexed several areas of the nation, sparking military conflict.
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Russian forces occupied the Crimean peninsula, installing a pro-Russian government and holding a dubious referendum that voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Ukraine opposes the move. -
Vladimir Putin orders a special-military operation to be carried out by Russian forces in an effort to annex the provinces of Donestk and Luhansk as well as the prohibition of Ukraine ever joining NATO.