Russia: Difference between revisions

The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. The medieval state of Rus' arose in the 9th century. In 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus' ultimately disintegrated until it was finally reunified by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 15th century.

In development of the Third Rome ideas, the Grand Duke Ivan IV "the Terrible" was officially crowned first ''Tsar'' of Russia in 1547. The ''Tsar'' promulgated a new code of laws, established the first Russian feudal representative body, curbed the influence of the clergy, and introduced local self-management in rural regions. During his long reign, Ivan the Terrible nearly doubled the already large Russian territory by annexing the three Tatar khanates (parts of the disintegrated Golden Horde): Kazan and Astrakhan along the Volga, and the Siberian Khanate in southwestern Siberia. Thus, by the end of the 16th century, Russia expanded east of the Ural Mountains, thus east of Europe, and into Asia, being transformed into a transcontinental state. In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonization of the huge territories of Siberia was led mostly by Cossacks hunting for valuable furs and ivory. Russian explorers pushed eastward primarily along the Siberian River Routes, and by the mid-17th century, there were Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

In the 1920's the European Economic Crisis and it's lead up hit Russia especially hard. In 1922 a series of crop failures along with poor financial decisions made by the Russian imperial authorities caused a financial crisis known as the Russian depression (part of the extended European economic crisis of 1922 - 1928). During the depression massive famines in the Ukraine and the Don Kuban region sent thousands of refugees north towards urban centers such as Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev which led to food riots, strikes and crackdowns by imperial authorities. Around every large city in Russia large shanty towns informally known as "Czartowns" started popping up; these shantytowns were overcrowded and disease outbreaks were common in them. During this time period anti-elite, anti-czar and pro-republican sentiments started to grow throughout the Russian empire. In 1923 the Russian Republican Congress (the largest republican organization in Russia at the time, also known as the R.R.C.) had over a million members in the Muscovite region alone. By the winter of 1925 the situation in Russia rapidly deteriorated with most citizens believing that the Czar mishandled the economic crisis and exacerbated the famines in the rural south through poor economic policy. Additionally there was an outrage at the continued opulence of the Czar, Czarina and nobilities lifestyles while so many of the lower classes starved.

==== Storming of the Winter Palace & the Birth of Republican Russia ====

On December 3rd the winter palace was surrounded by a bread riot that swept through Moscow and after 6 hours of rioting the Winter palace was stormed by the protestors. The nobility left the previous day to St. Petersburg (but after hearing of the storming of the palace left to Britain). After 2 days of further agitation and the break down of imperial civil control in Russia the Russian Republican Congress declared the first Russian Republic and the end of imperial rule. The imperial military after a week of tension with the new government reluctantly agreed to back the new government.

For the first month of it's existence the new Republic was struck in deadlock between the two major factions in government, the liberal republicans and the nationalist republicans. Additionally after the Czar fled many non Russian regions of the empire declared independence, while the Russian military acted mostly autonomously from the Republics congress. In February of 1926 after the first wave of elections was marred with controversy the Nationalist Republicans walked out of congress and started to conspire to overthrow the liberal-republican dominated congress. The next week after a series of negotiations with the military (led by General Mikhail Orlov) and the leaders of the Cossacks, the newly reformed Nationalist Republican faction now known as the 'Russian National Congress' declared the Russian Republican Congress illegitimate.

==== Russian Civil War ====

The Russian Republican Congress reacted harshly to the National Congresses declaration and started to raise militias from loyalist cities and regions. By March of 1926 the country was spilt between the Liberal Russian Republic would relied on a decentralized system of militias with dubious loyalties and often recruited from rebellious national interest groups who feared that the Russian Nationalists would destroy the local autonomy given to them by the Czar's Viceroy system. This faction was often known collectively on the battlefield as the Tricolor army due to their use of the Russian white, blue & red tricolor flag. Initially the Tricolor army was able to hold on to the southern Russian viceroys as well as regions in Northern Russia.

In contrast the Nationalists were able to take control quite rapidly of the core of Russian ethnic and industrial land in the Muscovite region and from there consolidate rule with a variety of social and work programs which alleviated the worst of the effects of the famines and economic crisis as well as the use of harsh authoritarian crackdowns on dissenters. The Russian Nationalists were able to push the Tricolor Republic army out of North Russia by the summer of 1926 and then slowly turn their attention to their core region of support in south Russia. Throughout 1927 the Liberal Republic would try desperately to gain a foreign backer, first from the British and then the Ottomans but as the European Economic Crisis raged and the tensions in the continent grew their was little desire of the powers of Europe to get involved in a civil war that seemed to be already lost and by the winter of 1927 the Liberal Republic realized their plight was doomed and so used their resources to provide an a exodus route for the leaders, military and businesspeople of the ill-fated republic. By February of 1928 there was only pockets of isolated fighting as the Nationalists swept in to Southern Russia and gain control and by March the last battle of the Russian Civil War was over.