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Founded in the 12th century, the Principality
of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol
domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer
and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century,
a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across
Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony
was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed
the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial
acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Repeated devastating
defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread
rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the
overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists
under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the
USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1928-53) strengthened
Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of
millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated
in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV
(1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring)
in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives
inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered
the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then, Russia
has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political
system and market economy to replace the strict social, political,
and economic controls of the Communist period. While some
progress has been made on the economic front, recent years
have seen a recentralization of power under Vladimir PUTIN
and an erosion in nascent democratic institutions. A determined
guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya. |
