The beginning of the Rurik dynasty in Rus'.

Tags: Slavic History, Kievan Rus', Dynasty

Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus', baptised a Christian

Tags: Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Church, Kievan Rus', Religious Conversion, Byzantine Empire, Middle Ages, Slavic History

– The Ostromir Gospels of Novgorod are written.

Tags: Manuscript, Eastern Orthodox Church, Novgorod, Medieval Russia

After the Great standing on the Ugra river, Muscovy gained independence from the Great Horde.

Tags: Political Independence, Russian History, Golden Horde, Khanate, Sovereignty

Grand Prince Ivan the Terrible is crowned tsar of (All) Russia, thenceforth becoming the first Russian tsar.

Tags: Tsar, Ivan the Terrible, Monarchy, Russian History, Autocracy, Tsardom, Imperialism

Time of Troubles: Vasili IV becomes Tzar of Russia.

Tags: Time of Troubles, Russian History, Tsar, Monarchy, Succession, Political Instability, Romanov Dynasty, Crisis

The Time of Troubles in Russia ends with the establishment of the House of Romanov, which rules until 1917.

Tags: Time of Troubles, Romanov Dynasty, Dynastic Change, Political Instability, Monarchy, Tsar, Ivan the Terrible

Peter the Great becomes joint ruler of Russia (sole tsar in 1696).

Tags: Russian Empire, Tsar, Monarchy, Succession, Romanov Dynasty, Political Power, Regency

The Treaty of Nerchinsk established a border between Russia and China.

Tags: Treaty, Diplomacy, Border Dispute, Qing Dynasty, Geopolitics

1699: Grand Embassy of Peter the Great to Western Europe.

Tags: Peter the Great, Diplomacy, Westernization, Modernization, Foreign Policy, Travel, European History

The Treaty of Karlowitz ends the Great Turkish War.

Tags: Treaty, Warfare, Ottoman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Territorial Changes

Kingdom of Prussia declared under King Frederick I.

Tags: Kingdom, Monarchy, Frederick I, Holy Roman Empire, German History, Political Transformation

Saint Petersburg is founded by Peter the Great; it is the Russian capital until 1918.

Tags: Peter the Great, Capital City, Imperial Russia, Modernization, Tsardom, Empire Building, Urban Planning

Peter I reforms the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tags: Religious Reform, Peter the Great, Tsarist Russia, Church and State, Imperialism

The Treaty of Constantinople is signed, partitioning Persia between the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

Tags: Treaty, Imperialism, Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Geopolitics, Partition, Territorial Disputes

Austro-Spanish alliance revived. Russia joins in 1726.

Tags: Alliance, Diplomacy, Great Powers, European Politics, Balance of Power, Treaty, Habsburgs

1796: Reign of Catherine the Great of Russia.

Tags: Monarchy, Tsardom, Enlightened Absolutism, Imperialism, Catherine the Great, Romanov Dynasty

The Kalmyk Khanate dissolves as the territory becomes colonized by Russians. More than a hundred thousand Kalmyks migrate back to Qing Dzungaria.

Tags: Migration, Imperialism, Colonization, Khanate, Qing Dynasty, Russian Empire, Nomadic Peoples

1795: The Partitions of Poland end the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and erase Poland from the map for 123 years.

Tags: Partition, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Territorial Division, Geopolitics

Russia imposes a reduction in autonomy on the Zaporizhian Cossacks of Ukraine.

Tags: Russian Empire, Cossacks, Autonomy, Imperialism, Sovereignty

Russian Empire annexes the Crimean Khanate.

Tags: Imperialism, Expansionism, Geopolitics, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Annexation, Catherine the Great

Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow by Alexander Radishchev

Tags: Enlightenment, Serfdom, Social Commentary, Russian Literature, Censorship, Autocracy, Imperial Russia, Social Reform

Alexander I of Russia becomes tsar after the assassination of his father.

Tags: Russian Empire, Tsar, Monarchy, Succession, Imperialism, Political Instability

First treaty of Tilsit: Russia allies with France against Britain in the War of the Fourth Coalition

Tags: Napoleonic Wars, Treaty, Alliance, Diplomacy, Napoleon Bonaparte

Second treaty of Tilsit: Napoleon reorganizes Eastern Europe; rump Prussia becomes ally.

Tags: Napoleonic Wars, Treaty, Diplomacy, Napoleon Bonaparte, Geopolitics, Alliances

The Congress of Vienna redraws the European map. Reaction and conservatism dominate all of Europe. The Concert of Europe attempts to preserve this set...

Tags: Restoration, Conservatism, Nationalism, Liberalism, Geopolitics, European History

The Decembrist revolt in Russia is suppressed.

Tags: Russian Empire, Rebellion, Political Repression, Autocracy, Tsarist Russia, Secret Societies, Liberalism

Anglo-Russian rivalry over Afghanistan, the Great Game, commences and concludes in 1895.

Tags: Great Game, Imperialism, Geopolitics, Colonialism, British Empire, Russian Empire, Diplomacy

Moritz von Jacobi invents the first practical electric motor.

Tags: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Revolution, Physics

Death of Alexander Pushkin.

Tags: Literature, Russian Literature, Poetry, Romanticism, Authors, Cultural Impact, Imperial Russia

Moritz von Jacobi invents electrotyping.

Tags: Electrochemistry, Printing, Communication, Materials Science

The United States purchases Alaska from Russia.

Tags: Expansionism, Territorial Acquisition, Diplomacy, United States History, Russian Empire, Manifest Destiny, Geopolitics, Alaska

Leo Tolstoy publishes War and Peace.

Tags: Literature, Russian Literature, Novel, Realism, Warfare, Peace, Russian Empire, Social Commentary

Fyodor Pirotsky invents the first electric tram near Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Tags: Transportation, Urban Development, Industrial Revolution, Public Transit

1877–1878: Following the Russo-Turkish War, the Treaty of Berlin recognizes formal independence of the Principality of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania....

Tags: Treaty, Independence, Autonomy, Nationalism, Russo-Turkish War, Geopolitics, Diplomacy, Eastern Question

Nikolay Benardos presents carbon arc welding, the first practical arc welding method.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Metalworking, Manufacturing

Tsar Alexander II is assassinated.

Tags: Assassination, Tsar, Political Violence, Autocracy, Populism, Imperialism

1899–1900: Open Door Policy proclaimed to protect China.

Tags: Imperialism, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Trade, International Relations

July – August: In Russia the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks form from the breakup of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.

Tags: Socialism, Marxism, Russian Revolution, Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, Political Parties, Ideology, Political Division

June 21: Trans-Siberian Railway is completed.

Tags: Railroad, Infrastructure, Transportation, Russian Empire, Industrial Revolution, Modernization, Geopolitics, Economic Development

January 22: The Revolution of 1905 in Russia erupts.

Tags: Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II, Protest, Political Unrest, Autocracy, Social Reform

August 31: The Anglo-Russian Convention bring an end to the Great Game in Central Asia.

Tags: Imperialism, Great Game, Geopolitics, British Empire, Russian Empire, Diplomacy, Colonialism

December 30: Grigori Rasputin is assassinated in Russia.

Tags: Assassination, Russian Empire, World War I, Political Intrigue, Tsar Nicholas II, Romanov Dynasty, Monarchy, Political Instability, Conspiracy

March 8: Russian Revolution ends the Russian Empire; beginning of Russian Civil War.

Tags: Russian Revolution, Russian Empire, Tsar Nicholas II, Civil War, Bolsheviks, World War I, Political Instability, Revolution

November 7 (O.S. October 25): October Revolution in the Russian Republic.

Tags: Russian Revolution, Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, Soviet Union, Communism, Socialism, Civil War

December 6: Independence of Finland.

Tags: Independence, Nationalism, World War I, Russian Revolution, Self-determination

January 22: Ukraine declares independence from Russia.

Tags: Independence, Nationalism, World War I, Russian Empire, Self-determination, Revolution, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

July 16 – 17: Assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Tags: Russian Revolution, Romanov Dynasty, Bolsheviks, Civil War, Communism, Political Violence, Monarchy, World War I

March 2: Communist International established in the Kremlin to coordinate Communist parties worldwide.

Tags: Communism, Soviet Union, Political Ideology, Cold War, Revolution, Moscow, World War I

December 30: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the world's first officially Communist state, is formed.

Tags: Communism, Soviet Union, USSR, Russian Revolution, Ideology, Vladimir Lenin, Totalitarianism, Cold War

January 21: The death of Vladimir Lenin triggers power struggle between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.

Tags: Communism, Soviet Union, Political Intrigue, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Russian Revolution, Totalitarianism, Dictatorship, Ideology

September 14: The Soviet Union generates first electricity by nuclear power.

Tags: Soviet Union, Cold War, Energy, Atomic Age, USSR

May 26: Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.

Tags: Cold War, Nuclear Arms Race, Arms Control, Richard Nixon, Treaty, International Relations, Diplomacy

July 10: Boris Yeltsin becomes the first President of Russia.

Tags: Cold War, Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, Presidency, Democracy

December 26: Dissolution of the Soviet Union and independence of 15 former Soviet republics. Beginning of the Algerian Civil War.

Tags: Cold War, Soviet Union, Independence, Geopolitics, Civil War, Decolonization, Vladimir Putin

1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement.

Tags: Border Disputes, Diplomacy, Cold War, Soviet Union, International Relations

November 20: A Russian Proton rocket is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the first segment of the International Space Sta...

Tags: Space Exploration, International Cooperation, Space Station, NASA, Cold War Aftermath, Aerospace

July 17: Nicholas II of Russia and his family are buried in St. Catherine Chapel, 80 years after he and his family were killed by the Bolsheviks in 19...

Tags: Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty, Orthodox Christianity, Tsar, Monarchy

Vladimir Putin becomes the President of Russia.

Tags: Presidency, Authoritarianism, Geopolitics, International Relations, Elections, Leadership

November 2: International Space Station begins operations; its first crew, composed of three men, arrives.

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Station, International Cooperation, Scientific Advancement, NASA, Astronauts, Orbital Mechanics

March 26: Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.

Tags: Elections, Presidency, Leadership, Governance, International Relations

August 27 – 29: The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Tags: Nuclear Proliferation, Diplomacy, International Relations, Denuclearization, Security

Orange Revolution in Ukraine.

Tags: Democracy, Elections, Protests, Political Corruption, Geopolitics

November 1: Former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko dies from poisoning in the UK.

Tags: Assassination, Espionage, Cold War, Political Intrigue, Human Rights, Intelligence Agencies, Poisoning, International Relations

May 7: Vladimir Putin is elected president of Russia for the third time.

Tags: Presidency, Vladimir Putin, Elections, Political Leadership, Authoritarianism

February: Euromaidan protest in Ukraine sparks a revolution and the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, leading to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the w...

Tags: Revolution, Geopolitics, Annexation, Warfare, Cold War Legacy, Nationalism, Vladimir Putin

July 14: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement reached, setting limits to Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Tags: Nuclear Proliferation, Diplomacy, Sanctions, International Relations

Assassination of Boris Nemtsov.

Tags: Assassination, Political Violence, Opposition, Human Rights, Vladimir Putin

The United Nations lifts sanctions from Iran in recognition of the dismantling of its nuclear program.

Tags: Nuclear Proliferation, Sanctions, United Nations, International Relations, Diplomacy, Middle East Politics

Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, is assassinated at an art exhibition in Ankara.

Tags: Assassination, Diplomacy, International Relations, Political Violence, Terrorism

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign the Ecumenical Declaration.

Tags: Christianity, Ecumenism, Catholicism, Pope Francis, Cold War

Four people are poisoned with a nerve agent, one fatally, in Salisbury and Amesbury, England in a suspected Russian assassination attempt.

Tags: Assassination, Espionage, Cold War, International Relations

August 31: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, dies at age 91.

Tags: Soviet Union, Cold War, Glasnost, Perestroika, Democratization, Political Leadership, Geopolitics

The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

Tags: War Crimes, International Law, International Criminal Court, Vladimir Putin, Justice, Accountability

December 6: Results of Romanian presidential election annulled by Constitutional Court amid allegations of Russian interference

Tags: Elections, Romania, Political Crisis, International Relations