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Time Of Troubles
Ivan the Terrible's last son, the feeble-minded Fyodor, inherited
the crown. Fyodor's brother-inlaw, Boris Godunov, was elected regent
and virtually governed the country. In 1598, when Fyodor died (and
with him the House of Rurik), Godunov, who wasn't even a member
of the higher nobility, was elected to the throne by the Imperial
Assembly, which consisted mainly of the discontented gentry. Godunov's
reign (1598-1605) ushered in the Time of Troubles: famines swept
the land and there was increasing unrest among peasants, boyars,
and Cossacks.
In 1591 , the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitri, mysteriously
died. But in 1604, a false Dmitri (claiming he had escaped an assassination
attempt) turned up in Poland and claimed to be the rightful heir
of Moscovy. Supported by the Russian boyars, gentry (who thought
the Poles respected the rights of noblemen), and a Polish army (which
also had an eye on the territory), Dmitri advanced on Moscow. Boris
Godunov died before Dmitri reached the city, paving the way for
Dmitri to claim the throne. He was murdered shortly thereafter.
A second false Dmitry attempted to gain control of the city with
the remaining Polish army. Russian forces united in fear of a Polish
invasion. Headed by the rugged Cossacks, this army emerged victorious.
The Council of All Russia elected Mikhail Romanov, from an influential
boyar family, their new czar in 1613. The Romanov Dynasty would
rule over
Russia for the next 150 years.
In 1652, Nikon, during the rule of Mikhail's son, Alexcei I (1645-76),
became church patriarch. Nikon immediately set out to reform Russian
Orthodoxy. This resulted in a violent schism within the Orthodox
Church. Those in favor of reform assembled under Nikon. Those opposed
called themselves the Old Believers and were led by the monk Avvakum.
Those who rejected the reforms were tortured and hanged; many of
the Old Believers fled into the northern woods to escape persecution.
When Alexcei's eldest son, Fyodor, died in 1682 after only six years
as czar, a struggle broke out for the throne. Ivan V and his halfbrother
Peter I were proclaimed joint czars, with their older sister Sophia
acting as regent. When Ivan died. Peter the Great became sole ruler
and emperor of all Russia. Moscow, capital of the Russian Empire
for almost two centuries, was fated, as Pushkin described, "to
bow to a new capital (St. Petersburg) as the Queen Dowager bows
to a young Queen."
Peter The Great
Peter the Great, one of Russia's most enlightened and driven rulers,
pulled Russia out of her dark feudal past to equal status with her
European neighbors. With an intense curiosity toward foreign lands,
he opened Russia's window to the West and became the first ruler
to extensively journey outside of Russia.
When Peter's father. Czar Alexcei, died, his son Fyodor III succeeded
to the throne and reigned from 1676 to 1682. During this time, his
half-brother Peter, along with the ill-favored Natalya, was sent
to live in the country. Instead of the usual staid upbringing within
the Kremlin walls. Peter had the freedom to roam the countryside
and make friends with peasant children.
When Fyodor died, a rivalry broke out between the two families over
which son would gain the throne. Peter won the first battle and
was proclaimed czar at the age of 10. But soon Ivan's side of the
family spread rumors to the Streltsy (military protectors of Moscow)
that the Naryshkins were plotting to kill Ivan. The Streltsy demanded
that Peter's half-brother be crowned too. So for a time, the throne
of Muscovy was shared by the two boys, the feebleminded Ivan V and
the robust, but young. Peter I. But it was Sophia, Peter's older
half-sister, who ruled as regent for seven years with the help of
her lover. Prince Golitzin.
Peter spent most of his time in the country. One fateful day, the
young boy discovered a wrecked English boat that could sail against
the wind. He had the boat repaired and learned how to maneuver it.
Infatuated now with sailing, he also immersed himself in the study
of mathematics and navigation. In addition, the young czar loved
working with his hands and became an accomplished carpenter, blacksmith,
and printer; he even mended his own clothes. As a child, he loved
to play soldier and drilled his companions in military maneuvers,
eventually staging mock battles with weapons and uniforms supplied
by the royal arsenal. Peter was also quite fascinated with the techniques
of torture. (Later in his reign, fearing a plot against his life
organized by Alexcei, his son. Peter had Alexcei imprisoned and
tortured to death.)
Sophia was eventually removed from court affairs and sent off to
live in Novodevichy Convent outside of Moscow. When Ivan died. Peter
I, at the age of 22, assumed the throne as the sole czar and took
up his imperial duties in earnest. On the throne, his first real
battle was against the Turks; the plan was to take the Sea of Azov
at the mouth of the Don River in order to gain access to the Black
Sea. Peter built a fleet of ships, and for the first time in her
history, Russia led a surprise attack from the water. The Turks
were defeated and Russia had her first southern outlet to the sea.
After this successful campaign. Peter traveled to England, France,
and Germany, and he worked as a shipbuilder in Holland. Back home,
the Streltsy, with the help of Sophia, began to organize a secret
revolt to overthrow the Czar. Peter caught wind of their plans;
upon his return, he captured and tortured almost 2,000 men and dissolved
the corps. By this time, the now cultured ruler had lost interest
in his first wife and sent her off to a convent in Zagorsk, the
czarist equivalent of divorce.
Peter was greatly impressed by Western ways, and he was determined
to pull Russia out of her isolation. He tolerated new religions,
allowed the practice of Catholics, Lutherans, and Protestants, and
even expressed approval of Galileo's sacrilegious scientific theories.
He exercised state control over the Russian Orthodox Church by establishing
the Holy Synod. In 1721 , Peter declared himself emperor of all
Russia.
During the Great Northern Wars, while chasing the Swedes out of
the Baltic, Peter began building the first Russian Navy on the Gulf
of Finland. It was during this time that he met and fell in love
with a good-natured peasant girl named Catherine, whom he later
married; Empress Catherine ruled for two years after his death.
In 1703, Peter began the construction of a new city in the north,
where the Neva River drained into Lake Ladoga. The city was built
on a myriad of islands, canals, and swamps. The conditions were
brutal; nearly 100,000 workers perished the first year alone. But
within a decade, St. Petersburg was a city of 35,000 buildings of
granite and stone, and the capital of the Russian empire. Peter
commissioned many well-known foreign architects, including the Italian
Rastrelli, the German Schluter, the Swiss Tressini, and the Frenchman
Le Blond, who created Petrodvorets, Peter's summer palace. Montferrand
later designed St. Isaac's cathedral, which took over 100 kilos
of gold and 40 years to build. Peter brought the majesty of the
West to his own doorstep; it was no wonder that St. Petersburg was
nicknamed the "Venice of the North."
Golden Age
Peter I introduced Western culture, commerce, and technology and
constructed St. Petersburg's first buildings, which included an
Admiralty and shipping yards. Every structure had to be made from
stone; builders of wooden structures risked banishment to Siberia.
Peter immediately brought in 1,000 aristocratic families, 500 families
of the best merchants and traders, and 2,000 artisans and craftsmen.
Foreign architects designed some of the most splendid buildings
that Russia had ever seen. Both Westerners and Russians flocked
to the new capital. By 1725, the year of Peter's death, St. Petersburg
had over 75,000 inhabitants.
Over the next 150 years, especially during the reign of Catherine
the Great, St. Petersburg became the host to Russia's Golden Age
and a Mecca to some of the world's greatest dancers, artists, composers,
and scientists. It was the home to Lomonosov, Mendeleyev, and Pavlov,
and to distinguished architects such as Montferrand, Rossi, and
Rastrelli. As the catalyst for Russia's Renaissance, St. Petersburg
paved the way for the poetry of Pushkin, Lermontov, Blok, and Akhmatova,
and the novels of Gogol, Dostoevsky, Corky, and Nabokov.
Revolutionary Times
St. Petersburg was also destined to become the cradle of the Russian
Revolution. The first general strikes in Russia  occurred
in 1749 under Empress Elizabeth. After Napoleon was defeated in
1812 during the reign of Alexander I, secret societies sprang up
throughout the country calling for the abolition of serfdom. One
of these movements, a group of dissatisfied nobles known as the
Decembrists, also petitioned for the end of autocracy. On 14 Dec.
1825, they marched into Senate Square with soldiers who had refused
to swear allegiance to the new czar, Nicholas I. The uprising was
crushed within a few hours and the conspirators immediately hanged.
Pushkin, whose personal censor was the czar himself, composed a
poem about the event: "He was made emperor, and right then
displayed his flair and drive: Sent to Siberia 120 men and strung
up five."
Petrashevists
Twenty-three years later, in 1848, another revolutionary circle,
known as the Petrashevists, was sparked into action by the writings
of Belinsky. Fyodor Dostoevsky became a member of this group. The
aim of the society was to prepare for an uprising, and the members
secretly printed material that advocated emancipation. But the secret
police uncovered their plot, and on 22 April 1849, Count Orlov,
Chief of the Gendarmes, had all of them arrested and imprisoned
in Peter and Paul Fortress. With the earlier Decembrist revolt in
mind, Nicholas I exiled the conspirators to penal servitude in Siberia.
But before the prisoners were to hear their sentences, Nicholas
I set up a mock execution. Dostoevsky, along with five others who
spent eight months in solitary, was led outside expecting to be
executed. Only at the last minute were the prisoners informed that
the Imperial Majesty had granted them their lives. In a letter to
his brother, Dostoevsky wrote: "Today, December 22, we were
driven to Semyonovsky Parade Ground. There the death sentence was
read to us all, we were given the cross to kiss, swords were broken
over our heads, and our final dress was arranged. Then we were set
against the posts so as to carry out the execution."
Freedom Group
In 1861 , under increasing pressure and protests, the next czar,
Alexander II, signed a decree abolishing serfdom. This action, however,
fell far short of revolutionary goals. Words by the Russian poet
Nekrasov show that the people were still disenchanted with their
way of life. "Do not rejoice too soon! Tis time to march ahead.
Forget your exultation. The people have been freed. But are the
people happy?" With the publication in Russia of Karl Marx's
Das Kapital in 1867, the first Marxist groups were formed within
the country. Revolutionary activities mounted, and on I March 1881,
the Narodnaya Volya ("People's Will or Freedom Group")
succeeded in assassinating Alexander 11-but not in stopping czarist
oppression. The country remained in a state of turmoil. Six years
later, five students, including Lenin's older brother, tried to
kill Alexander III, but their attempt failed. All were hung in the
Kronstadt Fortress.
Bloody Sunday
Czar Nicholas II, fated to be the last czar, began his reign by
marrying Alexandra, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Nicholas, a
weak and superstitious man, held a paranoid and deep dislike for
the intelligentsia and politicians. Proletarian organizations continued
to gather. The Social Democratic Labor Party was founded in 1898.
In 1903, the Labor Party Congress split into two factions: the Mensheviks,
led by Martov, and the Bolsheviks, headed by Lenin. Two years later
Nicholas presided over Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War.
In the same year, 1905, Russia's first revolution received a bloody
baptism. On 9 Jan. a huge procession of dissatisfied workers, headed
by Father Capon, marched into Palace Square. By carrying icons and
chanting "God save the czar," the protesters hoped to
get Nicholas's attention. In the czar's absence, the director of
the police department commanded his men to open fire on the group.
Hundreds were massacred. This watershed event is remembered as Bloody
Sunday.
A tide of strikes and protests ensued, and the czar was forced to
establish a limited consultative parliament called the State Duma.
The Soviet of Workers and Soldiers became the organ of the proletariat.
To gain some control, Nicholas appointed Stolypin his premier; Stolypin
proved ruthless in suppressing any further revolutionary activities.
During 190709, at least 2,000 people were executed. Stolypin himself
was shot to death in the Kirov Theater in 1911 . Nicholas's hold
on the country was further weakened by the outbreak of World War
I in 1914. Due to anti-German sentiment, the city's name was Russian
zed to Petrograd. The notorious Rasputin, brought into the court
to heal the Imperial Family's hemophiliac son, had a strong influence
over Nicholas and Alexandra and practically ran the country for
a few years, until his death in 1916.
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