A CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF
RUSSIA
862 The Varangian chieftains Rurik, Sineus, and Truvor settle at Ladoga, Bielo-ozero and Izborsk. This date is purely conventional.
865 Askold and Dir, two Varangian chieftains who had settled at Kiev, lead an unsuccessful expedition against Constantinople.
879 Rurik dies, leaving the regency of the principality and the guardianship of his son Igor to Oleg.
882 Oleg takes possession of Kiev after killing Askold and Dir, and makes that city his capital.
907 Oleg leads an expedition consisting of eighty thousand men and two thousand boats against Constantinople. A treaty of peace and commerce is concluded.
911 Oleg renews the treaty with the emperor of Constantinople securing valuable trading privileges for the Russians.
913 Oleg dies, and is succeeded by Igor.
941 Igor leads an expedition against Constantinople. His ships are destroyed by the Greek fire, and with great difficulty he brings his troops back to Kiev.
Igor leads a second expedition against Constantinople. The Byzantines rid them
selves of the barbarians by renewing the treaty that had been made with Oleg and also paying a ransom. The treaty is given in full by Nestor. Of the fifty names attached to it three are Slavonic and the rest Norse, which shows that the two races, the conquerors and the conquered, are beginning to be fused.
Igor is killed by the Drevlians, a Slavonic tribe. His wife Olga assumes the regency
during the minority of his son Sviatoslav.
955 Olga embraces Greek Christianity. Her subjects, however, remain on the whole pagans.
964 Sviatoslav assumes the rule. He is the first of the Varangians to bear a Slavonic name.
968 Sviatoslav, in the pay of the Byzantine emperor Nicephoros, leads an army of 60,000 men against the Bulgarians of the Danube.
970 Sviatoslav, after dividing the country among his three sons, again marches to Bulgaria, this time on his own account.
Sviatoslav is defeated at Silistria and compelled to evacuate the Balkan peninsula.
On his retreat, Sviatoslav is surprised and killed by the Petchenegs of the Dnieper.
977 Rout of Oleg by Iaropolk and his death.
980 Vladimir, after killing Iaropolk, becomes sole ruler.
988 Vladimir is baptized and makes Greek Christianity the state religion. On the day of his baptism he marries a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Romanos П.
1015 Vladimir dies and the country is divided among his eight sons and a nephew.
1019 Iaroslav, prince of Novgorod and the youngest son of Vladimir, finally becomes grand prince, and removes his capital to Kiev.
1054 Iaroslav dies. The country is divided among his five sons, one of whom, Iziaslav, is recognised as grand prince of Kiev. The custom, first introduced by Sviatoslav of breaking up the country into appanages, has now reached its full fruition. Russia has become an extremely loose federation of principalities. The central authority has been reduced to a nullity, and the period is filled with wars among the petty princes. This, of course, weakened the power of Russia for resisting foreign invaders, and made it an easy prey to the eastern nomadic tribes, from the Polovtsi to the Tatars. The chief events during this period are the foundation of Moscow (1147), the rise of Suzdal in Vladimir, and the pillaging of Kiev (1169) by Prince Andrew Bogoliubski of Suzdal. The hegemony of Kiev comes to an end for all time. The principal figures during this period are those of Vladimir II, surnamed Monomakh (1113-1125), and of Andrew Bogoliubski (1157-1175), who strove to re-establish some sort of unity and was assassinated by his nobles.
The people of Kiev liberate Vseslav and make him grand prince.
Iziaslav is restored by Boleslaw the Bold of Poland.
1073 Iziaslav is again expelled from Kiev by his brothers Sviatoslav and Vsevolod. Sviatoslav becomes grand prince.
Death of Sviatoslav. He is succeeded by Vsevolod.
Iziaslav is again restored to the grand princedom.
Iziaslav dies and is succeeded by Vsevolod.
1084 Failure of Vsevolod's attempt to conquer Tmoutorakan (Tmutarakan).
1093 Death of Vsevolod and accession of Sviatopolk, the second son of Iziaslav. The Polovtsi defeat the Russians in the battle of Tripole.
1097 The congress of princes at Lubetz.
1100 The congress of princes at Uvetitchi.
1111 Defeat of the Polovtsi on the Sula.
1113 Death of Sviatopolk and accession of Vladimir Monomakh.
1125 Death of Monomakh.
1147 Legendary date for the foundation of Moscow.
1157 Andrew Bogoliubski becomes prince of Suzdal.
1169 Kiev is captured and plundered by Andrew Bogoliubski.
1175 Andrew Bogoliubski is assassinated.
1221 Nijni-Novgorod is founded by Iuri, grand prince of Suzdal.
1223 First invasion of Russia by the Mongols under Jenghiz Khan. The Russians are defeated on the banks of the Kalka, near where it flows into the Sea of Azov and adjoining the present site of the town of Mariupol.
1237-38 The Mongols, under Jenghiz Khan's grandson, Batu, invade northern Russia, burn Moscow, defeat twice the army of Suzdal (at Kolomna on the Oku and on the Sit), and plunder Riazan, Suzdal, Iaroslavl, and Tver. But Novgorod is spared.
1239-40 The Mongols ravage southern Russia, burn Tchernigov and Kiev, and extend their conquests as far west as Volhinia and Galicia. All Russia is now under the yoke of the Mongols, except the territory of Novgorod.
1240 Alexander, prince of Novgorod, defeats the Swedes on the Neva; whence his surname Nevski.
1242 Batu establishes the Golden Horde of Kiptchak, with Sarai, on one of the mouths of the Volga, as its capital. It constituted one of the five divisions of the great empire of Jenghiz Khan.
1245 Alexander Nevski defeats the German Sword-bearing Knights on Lake Peipus, in the " battle of the ice."
1260 Novgorod submits to the Mongols and consents to pay tribute.
1263 Death of Alexander Nevski.
1303 Death of Daniel Alexandrovitch, founder of the Moscow dynasty.
Prince Michael of Tver is executed by order of the khan.
Vladimir in Volhinia is conquered by the Lithuanians. Kiev and all west Russia soon
become Lithuanian.
1404 Smolensk is annexed to Lithuania. A son of Alexander Nevski, named Daniel, was the founder of the principality of Moscow, to which he added the cities of Kolomna and Pereiaslavl. He was succeeded by his son Iuri Danilovitch (1303-1325), who annexed Mozhaisk. In 1313 he marries a sister of Usbek Khan. In 1320 he is appointed grand prince in place of his murdered rival, Michael of Tver. Iuri is the initiator of the Muscovite policy to dominate Russia with the aid of the Tatars, for whom the Muscovite princes henceforth act as tax collectors. In 1325 he was assassinated by Dmitri, son of Michael of Tver, and Alexander, Michael's second son is appointed grand prince. But the grand princedom soon reverts to Moscow, and Alexander is executed in 1329. Iuri is succeeded by his brother Ivan Kalita (1328-1340), who receives from Usbek Khan Vladimir and Novgorod together with the grand princedom, and who also adds Tver to his dominions. He assures the pre-eminence of Moscow in the Russian church by inducing the metropolitan to reside there, thereby also securing the alliance of the all-powerful church in the realisation of his political schemes. Simeon the Proud, son of Kalita (1340-1353), Ivan II, (1353-1359), brother of Simeon, and Dmitri Donskoi (1359-1389), son of Ivan II, continue the policy of dominating Russia with the aid of the Tatars, whom they conciliate with Russian gold, while they gain the support of the nobles by enhancing their power at the expense of the princes of appanages. Towards the end of his reign Dmitri feels himself strong enough to resist the Tatars, whom he defeats in the battle of Kulikovo (1380); but two years later the Mongol general, Toktamish, invades Russia, burns Moscow and puts to death a great number of the inhabitants. Dmitri was succeeded by his son Vasili (1389-1425). On the death of the latter, first his brother, and then his brother's son, laid claim to the succession; but the direct lineal succession triumphed twice in the person of Yasili's son, known as Vasili tho Blind (1425-1462).