FIGHTING FOR POWER
9 century
860 Varyags (Normans) Askold and Dir, two warriors Rurik, led a campaign against Constantinople.
On the their way to Constantinople they stopped in the city of Kiev, on the bank of the Dnieper.
They helped the people of Kiev to free themselves from the power of the Khazars, gained a strong military support and established their power in Kiev. 882 Oleg approached Kiev in order to conquer the south. Oleg fighters presented themselfes as merchants. Askold and Dir came to meet them with no guardians. Oleg fighters rushed at Askold and Dir. «- You are not Princes and not a Princely family. Here is son of Rurik»- and Oleg pointed to little Igor. Oleg's warriors killed Axold and Dir. Oleg of Novgorod became supreme ruler of the Rus from 882 to 912, laying the foundation of the powerful state of Kievan Rus.
10 century
972-78 Civil strife of the sons of Svyatoslav Igorevich - after the death of the Prince he had three sons who had the right to inheritance.
The rules of inheritance from father to eldest son did not exist then.
Yaropolk Svyatoslavich - received power in Kiev;
Oleg Svyatoslavich - the territory of Drevlyan;
Vladimir Svyatoslavich - Novgorod, and later - Kiev. Vladimir and Oleg wanted to get complete independence from Kiev. They made the first campaigns against each other.
Yaropolk attacked Oleg, who was not prepared. Drevlyane, along with his Prince, were forced to retreat.
As a result, during the retreat, Prince Oleg died. Drevlyans began to obey Kiev. Prince Vladimir, having learned about the death of his brother and the outbreak of family strife, fled to the Varangians.
970s Vladimir returned to Russia with the Varangian army. As a result of the battles with the troops of Yaropolk, Vladimir managed to recapture Novgorod, Polotsk and moved towards Kiev.
One of the advisers of Yaropolk (the traitor) persuaded the Prince to leave Kiev and hide in the city of Rodna. On the way he was killed by two Varangian warriors.
Vladimir (1 Svyatoslavich «Red Sun») became a Prince in Kiev and ruled there until his death.
11 century
1015 Vladimir («Red Sun») died in 1015 without leaving the rule of inheritance. The adopted nephew of Vladimir Svyatopolk seized power.
The son of Vladimir Boris was brutally murdered by Svyatoslav on the Alta River when he was returning from a hike with the Pechenegs.
After the murder of Boris Svyatopolk called his brother Gleb to Kiev and killed him (he was scared for Gleb revenge).
Boris and Gleb are canonized.
1015-19 The war began between the sons of St. Vladimir («The Red Sun») - the struggle for power between Svyatopolk and Yaroslav («The Wise»).
1016 Yaroslav at the head of the 3,000-strong Novgorod army and Varangian troops moved against Svyatopolk, who called for help from the Pechenegs. Two troops met on the Dnieper near Lyubech, and for three months neither side risked crossing the river. Finally it was done by the Novgorodians, who got the victory. Yaroslav became Grand Prince of Kiev.
1018 A battle on the Bug River: Svyatopolk with the Polish Tsar Boleslav (father-in-law) opposed Yaroslav. Yaroslav was defeated, and Svyatopolk began to rule in Kiev.
1019 Jaroslav returned to Novgorod and gathered a new army.
The army of Yaroslav ("Wise") defeated the army of Svyatopolk on Alto.
Svyatopolk gave way to Yaroslav and fled to the Pechenegs.
Yaroslav («The Wise») began to rule in Russia, uniting under his rule Kiev and Chernihiv side of the Dnieper, when his brother Mstislav died in Chernihiv without heirs.
At the insistence of Yaroslav Svyatopolk («Cursed») is cursed by the Christian Church.
Yaroslav in advance established the order of power inheritance: from senior to junior.
12 century
1125 According to the rule of inheritance by Vladimir Monomakh, his son Yury Dolgoruky received Rostov and Suzdal. Yuri was the seventh in the line of inheritance. The ambitious Rostov-Suzdal Prince was not pleased with this prospect.
Yuri Dolgoruky joined the internecine struggle, which struck all of Russia after the death of Monomakh.
Yuri Dolgoruky twice drove his nephews out of Kiev and became the Grand Prince, but in 1157 he was poisoned by the Kiev boyars. The son of Yuri Andrei Bogolyubsky in the last years of his father’s life reigned in Vladimir-Zalessky.
After the death of Yuri Dolgoruky Andrei became the sole ruler of Rostov, Vladimir and Suzdal and also began to claim the great reign. It was he who made North-Western Russia truly independent of Kiev.
During the reign of Vsevolod the Great Nest Great the principality of Vladimir reached the highest power.
1169 Twelve Princes appealed for help to Andrei Bogolyubsky against the rule of Mstislav Izyaslavich in Kiev. Andrei Bogolyubsky sent warriors, led by his son Mstislav Andreevich. Kiev was taken (burned) , and the Prince was replaced.
13 century
1211 Question of succession: the eldest son of Vsevolod Konstantin demanded authority over Vladimir and Rostov, and Yuriy should be given Suzdal. Then Vsevolod deprived Constantine of the rights to a great reign in favor of Yuri: Yuri was appointed to Vladimir, and Constantine - to Rostov. This was the cause of the war between them after the death of Vsevolod.
In 1247 Prince Yaroslav, son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, died. The grand Prince's throne was inherited by his brother Svyatoslav. T he sons of Yaroslav longed for power- Alexander Nevsky and Andrei came to the Horde for a label to reign. As a result, Alexander received the great reign of Kiev and Novgorod , and Andrei - the Vladimir principality.
Alexander, desiring complete power, arrived at the Horde and reported that Andrei had hidden some of the tribute from him. As a result Mongolian troops moved into Russia, invaded Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and Galitsko-Volyn land. Andrei fled to Sweden.
1277 Alexander Nevsky's son Dmitry received the Vladimir principality.
But after 4 years his brother Andrei Gorodetsky received from Khan a label for reigning and drove Dmitry out of Vladimir. Between the brothers began a fierce struggle for reign.
1277-94 In order to prevail over each other the brothers turned to the help of the Mongols. As a result during their reign 14 cities were destroyed.
Pereyaslavl passed to the youngest of the sons of Alexander Nevsky - Daniel of Moscow.
14 century
The southern and western regions of Russia became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the beginning of the 14th century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became very powerful.
Poland and Hungary got some of Kievan Rus lands. Kiev lost its significance as a political center, and the Grand Prince Vladimirsky began to be recognized as the main Prince.
The struggle of the Moscow and Tver principalities for power began. In rivalry for power the Moscow principality won.
The population of Tver rebelled against the Horde. Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita united his forces with Khan against rebellions.
Brutal actions against Tver defended Ivan’s own principality.
The competent policy of Ivan Kalita and other Moscow Princes made Moscow the center of Russian lands.
Mid-14century In the Golden Horde, regular wars for the throne took place - «Great Jamming». From 1359 to 1380 more than 25 Khans changed on the Golden Horde throne, and many uluses tried to become independent. The territories subject to the Mongols also began to rebel.
In the period of the «Great Jamming» Dmitry Donskoy was able to defend the rights of the Russian Princes on Kulikovo Field and achieve independence.
In the period from 1380 to 1382 Russian Princes did not pay tribute.
The next ruler of the horde, Tokhtamysh, achieved the restoration of the payment of the tribute. Tokhtamysh united the White and Blue Hordes, forming the Golden Horde, and launched a massive military punitive campaign against the Russian principalities between 1381 and 1382, restoring Turco-Mongol power in Russia after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo.
1391-96 Tamerlane, the Central Asian ruler, struck Tokhtamysh. The battle between the two Mongol rulers played a key role in the decline of the Mongol power over early Russian principalities.
15 century
1425 The reign of Vasily II Vasilyevich began in Moscow. His guardian became Vitovt, Grand Prince of Lithuania.
He defended his heir from the claims of Yuriy Galitsky. 1425 Pskov came under the rule of Vitovt, Grand Prince of Lithuania.
1430 After the death of Vitovt, an armed clash took place between Vasily II and his uncle, Yuri Dmitrievich Galitsky, who claimed the throne of Moscow.
1432 Novgorod came under the patronage of Svidrigailo, Grand Prince of Lithuania.
1433-53 The feudal war began in the Moscow principality for the right to inherit. On one hand: Yuri Dmitrievich and his sons Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka. On the other hand: Yuri's brother Vasily I and his son Vasily II.
1434 After the death of Yuriy Galitsky his sons Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka continued to fight with Vasily II for possession of Moscow.
1446 Dmitry Shemyaka captured Moscow and blinded Vasily II (Dark).
1448 With the help of Kasim Khan and Yakub Vasily II the Dark conquered Moscow from Dmitry Shemyaka.
1449 With the help of the supreme clergy of Vasily II the Dark forced Dmitry Shemyaka abandon claims to Moscow.
1450 Dmitry Shemyaka last time attacked Moscow. Vasily the Dark captured Galich. Shemyaka disappeared in Novgorod.
1453 Dmitry Shemyaka was poisoned in Novgorod.
1471 The 1st campaign of Ivan III against Novgorod took place (Shelon Battle).
1478 Veliky Novgorod lost its independence and was attached to Moscow.
16 century
During the infancy of Ivan the Terrible his mother, Elena Glinskaya, ruled the state.
In 1538 she died suddenly and the power actually passed to the Boyar Duma. In 1547 Ivan IV was crowned as Tsar. 1549-60 Ivan IV was ruling the state, relying on the informal government - the «Elected Rada». As a result of government reforms a centralized state with developed legislation and public institutions was created.
1553, 1560 After the betrayal of Sylvestre and Adashev during a serious illness on the verge of life and death in 1553, and after the death of his beloved wife Anastasia in 1560, Tsar Ivan IV turned from a pious and wise monarch into a tyrant and unbridled ruler.
1575-76 Ivan IV unexpectedly abandoned the royal throne and put the baptized Tatar, Kasimov's Khan Simeon Bekbulatovich, as the Grand Prince in Moscow. In 1576, Ivan IV returned to the royal throne (Karamzin in The History of the Russian State does not mention the fact of ruling of Simeon Bekbulatovich).
Ivan the Terrible had 4 children from his first marriage with Maria: Dmitry (died as a baby), Ivan (Ivan the Terrible was accused of his death in 1582, but there is no consensus), Evdokia and Fyodor (according to Ivan the Terrible are weak-willed and unfit for power). From the 2nd marriage with Maria, Vasily was born (died 2 months old).
The last son Dmitry was born from an illegal marriage with Maria Naga. In the Time of Troubles the name of Tsarevich Dmitry became a cover for many impostors.
Before his death Ivan IV established the Regent Council among the most influential boyars to help Fedor. The death of Ivan the Terrible marked the beginning of a intense struggle for power among the boyars.
From 1587 (during the reign of Tsar Fedor Ioannych) power in the country was actually concentrated in the hands of boyar Boris Godunov.
The younger brother of Fyodor Dmitry was sent by Boris Godunov to Uglich in 1584. Dmitry, even if he was illegitimate son, was the direct heir of Ivan the Terrible and could become a competitor to the power-loving Boris Godunov . He died in Uglich in 1591. Popular rumor blamed Boris Godunov for this death, but there was no direct evidence.
1598 Zemsky Sobor voted to secure Boris Godunov’s right to reign.
17 century
The beginning of the 17th century is called in Russia «Time of Troubles».
The population was unhappy with the rule of Boris Godunov. During his reign a three-year famine began, during which up to a third of the total population died. 1601 Under these conditions a young person appeared in Poland, posing as miraculously escaping Tsarevich Dmitry, - False Dmitry I. Vasily Shuysky (boyar, the last descendant of Rurikovich), began to prepare a plan against False Dmitry I.
1603-04 Poland began preparations for the «return» of False Dmitry to the Russian throne. False Dmitriy promised to introduce Catholicism , to assist Sigismund III in the conflict with Sweden. To Poland he promised to give Smolensk and Seversk lands.
1605 After the death of Boris Godunov and the transfer of his army to the side of False Dmitry, Tsar Fedor 2 Borisovich was overthrown. The False Dmitry I entered Moscow and the next day he was crowned Tsar.
As a result of the boyar conspiracy, False Dmitry I was killed during the riot of the townspeople. The body was later burned and with dust fired from a cannon in the direction of Poland.
1606-10 The second stage of the Troubles: Vasily Shuisky was brought to power by the boyars after the murder of False Dmitry I. Shuisky lost control of the country - Swedes invited by Shuisky occupied the north-western regions of Russia, and the Polish Tsar Sigismund III officially attacked Russia, seizing Smolensk and attacking Moscow.
1607 A False Dmitriy 2 appeared, nicknamed the Tushino thief. Supported by the Poles and declaring himself miraculously survived False Dmitriy 1, he marched on Moscow.
1610 LzheDmitry II was killed. Polish army , taking advantage of the complete collapse of power in Russia, in September entered Moscow . As a result of the conspiracy, Tsar Vasily Shuisky was overthrown, the Boyar Duma took over and the Seven Boyars (a group of 7 boyars) took over.
Seven Boyars promised the Poles not to elect a representative of the Russian clans to the royal throne.
Seven Boyars invited to the throne the Polish Prince Vladislav with the condition of his conversion to Orthodoxy.
1610 The Polish Tsar Sigismund III demanded that not his son Vladislav, but himself was recognized the Tsar of all Russia. The government of Seven Boyars secretly let the Polish troops into Moscow - this fact became an act of national treason.
1611 Several Russian cities were preparing a new revolt against the Poles. Nizhny Novgorod became one of the centers of the resistance movement – its residents were constantly meeting to decide how and when to rise against the occupiers.
1612 The people's militia (Narodnoe Opolcheniye) headed by K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky liberated the Moscow. Exhausted by siege and famine, the Polish garrison surrendered to the victors.
1613 Zemsky Sobor elected to reign Mikhail Romanov, son of the boyar Fedor Romanov, nephew of Ivan the Terrible's wife, tonsured as a monk under the name of Philaret. Philaret was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Rostov.
1682 After the death of Tsar Fedor (Mikhail Romanov -> Alexey Mikhailovich -> Fedor Alexeevich) a sharp struggle of two court parties began - of the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins.
Alexey Mikhailovich + Miloslavskaya = son Fedor, son Ivan, daughter Sofia;
Alexey Mikhailovich + Naryshkina = son Peter;
1682 After the Streltsy revolt Ivan (weak health) was crowned as the «first» Tsar , and his stepbrother Peter - the «second» Tsar. But the real power was concentrated in the hands of the elder sister of Princess Sophia.
1689 The marriage of Peter (to Lopukhina) deprived Sophia of custody.
1698 Strelets riot: Sophia's supporters intended to bring her back to power. Riot was suppressed by Peter. After the execution the body of the archers hung at the walls of the Novodevichy Monastery in front of the windows of the Sofia cell.
18 century
1718 In the Trubetskoy Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress the son of Peter I (28 years old) Alexei died (or was killed). The version exists that Peter the Great killed his son. Possible reasons: the reformer-Tsar Peter I feared that his son Aleksey could oppose Peter's radical transformations such as multiple reforms, long war and the flow of foreigners.
Peter I did not leave a clear Will, and after his death began the Epoch of palace coups. After the death of Peter I the Guards regiments led by Menshikov raised to the throne Catherine the Great (wife of Peter I).
After the death of Catherine 1 the argument began again who will rule. The 12-year-old grandson of Peter I - Peter 2 - became the emperor. On the night before the planned wedding Peter 2 died of smallpox.
Again, the argument arose who will rule. They recalled Anna Ioanovna (the Duchess of Courland from the Baltic States) - Peter's niece 1 from his stepbrother Ivan. Dying, in October 1740, Anna Ioannovna appointed her great-nephew 3-month-old Ivan Antonovich as emperor.
Elizaveta Petrovna, 30-year-old daughter Peter I, also claimed the throne.
November 25, 1741 Elizabeth, wearing a cuirass (armor), appeared at the barracks of the Preobrazhensky Guards. At the head of several hundred guards and her small group of conspirators, she advanced to the Winter Palace, where the sentries were bloodlessly captured or joined the conspirators.
Ivan Antonovich was sent to prison and sat there separately from his parents.
Elizabeth Petrovna had no children. As an heir she brought her nephew from Europe - her sister Anna Petrovna’s son. Karl-Peter-Ulrich arrived to Russia at the age of 14, and was baptized under the name Peter III. Peter III became emperor after the death of Elizabeth.
June 1762 On the birthday of Peter III
With the agreement of Catherine II a jailbreak of legal heir, Ivan Antonovich, was organized. He was killed while trying to escape.
Paul 1, the son of Catherine II, was her unwanted son. On the day of Catherine's death the publication of the manifesto on the removal of Paul was expected to be announced. It is widely believed that while Paul was waiting for his arrest, Catherine's Will was destroyed.
Emperor Paul 1 came to the throne at the age of 42 years.
19 century
Paul 1 was killed as a result of a palace coup March 11, 1801. Paul did not yield to the demand of the conspirators to agree to the abdication of the throne. Alexander I, son of Paul 1, died unexpectedly, far from Petersburg, in Taganrog. He had no son, and the heir to the throne was his brother Constantine, who abdicated the throne (he was married to a simple noblewoman, and this could have caused him to abdicate the throne).
Nicholas I began to rule - the third son of Paul 1. Many of the Tsar’s contemporaries believed that he committed suicide under the influence of bad news about the course of the Crimean War.
Alexander II, son of Nicholas I, became emperor in 1855. He maintained a generally liberal course. Despite this, he was a target for numerous assassination attempts (1866, 1879, 1880).
The most significant attempts to kill Alexander II: the revolutionary terrorist Karakozov, teacher and member of the society «Earth and Freedom» Solovyov, an attempt to undermine the train, on which the emperor and his family members were traveling, the explosion in the Winter Palace.
In 1881 members of the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) party killed him with a bomb. The first bomb was thrown under the horses of the emperor's carriage, the second bomb, wrapped in a napkin, was thrown under the emperor’s feet. The Emperor had earlier in the day signed the Loris-Melikov constitution, which would have created two legislative commissions made up of indirectly elected representatives, had it not been repealed by his reactionary successor Alexander III.
1887 Alexander III, son of Alexander II, was assassinated by a group of St. Petersburg students, called the Terrorist Fraction of the Narodnaya Volya Party.
20 century
1917 During the February Revolution, members of the State Duma announced the creation of a Provisional Government .
In parallel, the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and Social Democrats formed their own governing body
- Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, which also claimed leadership. Both authorities sat in the Tauride Palace.
Despite various political goals, the both sides were waiting for the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. Nicholas II signed the abdication (including on behalf of his son, Tsarevich Alexei) in favor of his brother, Mikhail Alexandrovich, not knowing that his brother refused to accept the throne.
By the end of August the people had lost faith in the Provisional Government. The popularity of the Bolsheviks was growing in the country. Lenin decided to concentrate power in his hands through an armed uprising and the seizure of power.
The October Revolution marked the transfer of power to the Bolsheviks.
1924 Lenin did not name anyone as his successor. The power was claimed by: Trotsky (army), Zinoviev (the Comintern), Stalin (General Secretary), Kamenev and Bukharin. The real struggle unfolded between Trotsky and Stalin.
1927 On the 10th anniversary of the revolution, the «Trotskyists» (Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev) launched a mass agitation in favor of their slogans. The Stalin-Bukharin fraction turned to decisive measures to defeat the «Trotskyists», which marked their expulsion from the party. The power struggle was actually won by Stalin.
1953-55 The struggle for power after Stalin’s death at the initial stage was waged between Malenkov and Beria. Beria was shot in 1953 as an enemy of the people . In 1954, Malenkov was removed from his post as head of government.
1955-58 Malenkov teamed up with Molotov and Kaganovich ("opposition"). Khrushchev was removed from the post of Secretary General and appointed Minister of Agriculture. At the plenary meeting of the Central Committee «opposition» was dismissed. The power struggle was actually won by Khrushchev.
1964 The senior management was dissatisfied with Khrushchev’s policy. Khrushchev was summoned from his vacation in Pitsunda to an emergency meeting of the plenum of the Central Committee (conspiracy of Brezhnev, Kosygin, Suslov, Podgorny ). The KGB and the armed forces were actually controlled by the conspirators. After the removal of Khrushchev, Brezhnev took the post of first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
1991 The State Committee for the State of Emergency (Emergency Committee) tried to remove M. Gorbachev from the post of President of the USSR (August Putsch). The aim of the Emergency Committee was an attempt to change the course pursued by Gorbachev to Perestroika and publicity. Gorbachev refused to cooperate with the State Emergency Committee .
Boris Yeltsin, President of the RSFSR, arrived at the House of Soviets of the RSFSR (the White House), and refused to recognize the Emergency Committee. Yeltsin qualified the creation of the Emergency Committee as an attempted coup. State Emergency Committee members were arrested. Gorbachev resigned as secretary general of the CPSU.
Yeltsin headed the Russian government.
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