Russia

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Russia

Pre-classical Age (1200 B.C.E - 800 B.C.E)

Cimmerians

The Cimmerians were the first people historically to settle in Russia as far back as 1200 B.C.E. Although their history remains mostly obscure, an abundance of historical evidence has been found to shed some light.

According to Livius.org, it is stated, "In the Assyrian language, the last name means something like "people traveling back and forth (Jona Lendering)."" They then state the significance behind this name was that it revealed what these Cimmerian did. they were a nomadic tribe, known to frequently travel around. although they hailed from southern Ukraine. 

The findings of the Cimmerian people recorded in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine are that most scholar considered the Cimmerians as Indo-Europeans. 

Above is a depiction of Cimmerian warriors during the Timber-Grave culture, which was a bronze age.The Cimmerians were great Archers, but had other weapons on hand.

Cimmerian Warrior (Above)

Kimmeriitsy, Terenozhkin A. “Entry Display Web Page.” Entry Display Web Page, 2001, www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath. Accessed 26 Mar. 2017

Some, however, thought of them to be Iranians based off recorded names of leaders such as one named Tygdamme and his son, Sandakhsatra. Aside from this, it is not certain where they came from exactly. After some time, they were driven out by the Scythian people, leaving some Cimmerians to travel along the Black Sea, and others to conduct violent campaigns (Terenozhkin).

According to The Encyclopedia of Britannica, those involved in the campaigns had invaded ancient Armenia in 714 B.C.E, but were soon driven back by Sargon II of Assyria. Following this, they conquered Phrygia in 695 B.C.E and even took Lydia's capital, Sardis in 652 B.C.E, which is when the Cimmerians were at their prime. From that point, the Cimmerians and historical evidence of them dwindled (Cimmerian).

Scythians

The Scythians aren't commonly heard of, except for a mentioning in the bible from Saint Paul, as Edwin M. Yamauchi of CBE International points out in Colossians 3:11, "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."The Scythians' history is found mostly through references such as these, or historical records from Herodotus. In many references though, Scythians have been thought to be a peculiar type of Barbarian as well as a kind that may even have been a slave (Yamauchi).

Scythians were warriors who rode on horses, like the Cimmerians, and traveled thousands of miles through the great plains of Eurasia. The earliest historical evidence of them traces back to around 9th century B.C.E, and a lot of their history involves conflicts they've been in. Archaeological evidence shows they may have lived around the Altai Mountains in Siberia. They had even encountered the Cimmerians, only to eventually hunt and push them out the region in seventh century B.C.E (Yamauchi).

  Yamauchi, Edwin. "The Scythians-Who Were They? And Why Did Paul Include Them in Colossians 3:11?" CBE International. N.p., 2017. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Image source: Cimmerian tombstone (above)

“Cimmerians.” Cimmerians - Livius, 1999, www.livius.org/articles/people/cimmerians/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2

Some time later, they traveled to what is now modern day Turkey then moved south into the land of the Medians and obliterated Gordium, which was the capital of Midas. This was not the end of the many raids the Scythians had conducted, as Yamauchi talks about, "They then in 644 B.C. attacked Sardis, the capital of the Lydian king Gyges, who is credited with the invention of coinage. They attacked the Ionian Greek cities on the west coast of Turkey, including Ephesus, Smyrna, and Magnesia on the Maeander (Yamauchi)."

 Again, the Scythians were not typical barbarians. As stated in the Encyclopædia Britannica, The Scythians succeeded created a strong, wealthy empire. The Scythians left behind a plethora of gold artifacts in the wake of this wealth. They occupied Ukraine and southern Russia during their time (Scythians). They centered their kingdom in Crimea.
The Scythians had not lived in settlements, but rather mounds called Kurgans, as Andrew Curry from National Geographic explains.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Scythian.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Nov. 2014, www.britannica.com/topic/Scythian. Accessed 27 Mar. 2017.

From the American Journal of Anthropology, authors Alla A. Movsesian and Vavara Yu. Bakholdina share some research of these peculiar nomads. After their numerous military campaigns, the Scythians had still been around for a few centuries, however from 625 to 585 B.C.E the strength of their military diminished  because of Cyaxares, the king of Midas. Those who lived came back to the northern part of the Black Sea and from that point on, the Scythians would spend their time ruling the Black Sea steppes for the next couple centuries.


Movsesian, Alla A., and Varvara Yu. Bakholdina. "Nonmetric cranial trait variation and the origins of the Scythians." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 162, no. 3, 2017, pp. 589-599. OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center, doi:10.1002/AJPA.23159.

 
 Andrew Curry of National Geographic, again, writes about findings of gold artifacts in a grave mound and found a surprise.While these gold bowls were used during Scythian rituals, criminologists also found traces of opium and cannabis. These bowls, such as the one shown, were essentially used as bongs (Curry).

 Not only does the image above show that the Scythians had drug rituals, but the images themselves are something to cherish for their craftsmanship. "To archaeologists, the information contained in the images on the gold is exciting. From the warriors’ shoes to their haircuts, the depictions are amazingly lifelike (Curry)."

 In the vessel shown above, the image of an elder stabbing a younger man may be referencing an event called "The bastard wars". This was a time when, the Scythians had fought Persia for 28 years and came home to wives who bore bastard children. The children were then slaughtered in retaliation (Curry).

Image: Scythian gold bong (above)

    Curray, Andrew. “Gold Artifacts Tell Tale of Drug-Fueled Rituals and ‘Bastard Wars.’” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 24 Mar. 2017, news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150522-scythians-marijuana-bastard-wars-kurgan-archaeology/#/02scythiangold.jpg. Accessed 26 Mar. 2017.  

Russian classical era (800 B.C.E - 1468 )
Unification of Russia and The Mongolian Invasion

The slavic people settled in Russia. In the meantime of this happening, as according to Karen Carr, author of the article Early Russian History, the Vikings Of Scandinavia had done a good deal of trading and equipped themselves well, to later settle into Russia and actually unite with the slavs to create the Kingdom of Russia. It was at this point that Russia had become formed and started its history, or what I would say is the start of their classical age.

Russia did not unite until around 800 A.D, between 300 and 800 A.D, Russia had some difficult and unknown activities. The Scythians were the only known prominent settlers and were only around until 500 A.D. Between 300 and 800 A.D, Russia was invaded by Ostrogoths, Avars, Huns and the Magyars. By around 800 A.D was when Russia was finally united, sort of how Charlemagne united Western part of Europe (Karen).

This occurred when the Vikings took advantage of the trade on the Silk road and byzantine empire, which during this time if you traded alongside that, you were set for life, and obtained excellent steel weapons. After this, the Vikings (from Scandinavia) united with the slavs who have moved into the area some time prior and formed the Kingdom of Russia with the capital being Novgorod. Only the westernmost part of Russia and most of Ukraine had been taken over (Karen).

Carr, Karen. "Early Russia." Early Russian History - History of Russia - Quatr.us. Quatr.us Study Guides, 01 Nov. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

As these new united people flourished, they began the foundation of what is known today as Russia. After taking the city Kiev (known today as the capital of Ukraine) through a deadly fight between him and several brothers, Vladimir I had been proclaimed prince of Russia. Before this, Russia was stilled ruled by Vikings. He is most revered for his actions later as Gascoigne explains, “...in about 988 he takes a step which gives Russia its characteristic identity and brings him personally the halo of a saint. He sends envoys out to discover which is the best religion (Gascoigne).” After the envoys came back with their findings, Vladimir I finds the Greek Orthodox version of Christianity to suite his kingdom best.Vladimir then presses the religion onto his people and forces baptizing. 

When Vladmir’s time came, his son, Yaroslav rules in place of him, taking the throne in the same manner as his father. Yaroslav rules Russia in the conventional medieval style as countries in Europe had. “It also secures the throne for a dynasty which survives in direct descent for six centuries (till the time of Boris Godunov) (Gascoigne).” He had transformed Kiev into a place of Christianity and decorated it with cathedrals, golden gates and monasteries while founding the code known as “Russian Truth”.  Yaroslav secures a viable strategy for succession without risking warfare, however around a hundred years after his death, cousins fight for the throne and through a series of events, Kiev is no longer the capital as power was moved to Moscow. After a series of events such as trade disruption, conquering via rival families and a Mongol invasion, Kiev is destroyed and  annexed by Lithuania (Gascoigne).

Unfortunately, Russia was taken over by the Mongols from 1200 A.D to 1468 A.D. in which Karen Carr states, "in the 1200s Russia was weak from civil wars, and the Mongols attacked Russia and forced the eastern part into the Mongol empire (Karen)." Despite this, the Mongolians helped Russia gain better access to trade along the Silk Road which in turn allowed Russia to accumulate more wealth for a couple centuries. The downside to this was that the travelling had exposed Russians to foreign pathogens from other countries, resulting in a deadly epidemic known as The Black Plague (Karen). Eventually, the Black Plague resided, however years of much colder winters had taken place, creating a miniature ice age which debilitated crops, causing food supply to dwindle and perish the Mongolian Empire. From this, Russia was free once again (Karen).

Carr, Karen. "Late Medieval Russia." Late Medieval Russia - European History - Quatr.us. Quartar.us Study Guides, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Vladimir I (Above) had to choose between the three major religions, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. He chose of course, Christianity, adopting the eastern orthodox sect. He brought religion on in order to bring the people of Rus together rather than the tribe-like lifestyle they had previously.

Vladimir I image Source (Below)

Laparenok, Leonid. "Prominent Russians: Vladimir I." Vladimir I – Russiapedia History and Mythology Prominent Russians. TV-Novosti, 2005. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

             Mongolian Invasion (Left): The Mongolian leader Batu Khan captures the city of Suzdal. They ride into battle on horses, assaulting the citizens and burn down an Easter Orthodox Church.    

History of Russian Literature. "Chronicle-Writing." History of Russian Literature. WPZOOM, 2017. Web. 25 Apr. 2017

A first-hand account of a time during the Mongolian, or whom they call Tatars, invasions. This particular account was written in 1243, the identity of the original writer unknown but this was all translated and published by Paul Halsall. 

He first describes who the Mongols were, that these Mongol invaders were greedy, brutish, brisk, and misleading. Although they used a variety of weapons, they are especially proficient in the skill of Archery. The man also comments on their armor in which Paul also translates, "...they have expelled lions, bears, & such like tintarned beasts, with their bows, and other engines. Of the hides of beasts being tanned, they use to shape for themselves light but yet impenetrable armor (Halsall)." The Mongols were polytheistic and believed that everything made belonged solely to them and they held no remorse when dealing with those who opposed them (Halsall).

In the rest of the translated writing the man notes the Mongols taking over other lands while claiming to have a good reason when they do not, other than to take over more lands. The Mongols would say that their reasons are to punish the Romans, who have bullied them before, to learn French war strategies , or even to find more land to produce agriculture. The leaders of other countries such as these believed these claims and cooperated with the Mongols. The Mongols then violated these claims and proceeded to dominate them (Halsall).

Halsall, Paul. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University, 1996. From Richard Haakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation. Ten vols. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1927. Vol. 1, pp. 91-93. reprinted in Warren Walsh, Readings in Russian

Post-Classical Era (1468 - 1725 A.D)
Ivan IV "Ivan the Terrible" and Peter Alexeyevic "Peter the Great"


Biography.com. "Ivan the Terrible." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

Ivan the Terrible in full dress, posing for a portrait (Above). After the Mongol Empire had dissipated and Russia had been free once again, soon after came Russia very first Tsar. This Tsar, Ivan IV or more commonly known as Ivan the Ivan the Terrible had a significant impact on Russia and actions that would echo through history. The post classical era starts here as Russia is a bit "late in the game", but with the coming of Peter the Great, Russia will catch up.

The editors of Biography.com provide much about his life and reign, which lasted from 1533 A.D to 1584 A.D, in their article Ivan the Terrible. Ivan the Terrible was the grandson of Ivan the Great, and in his reign he had expanded much of Russia's territory by taking it through merciless means (Biography.com).

There there is not very much detail on what his childhood was like, it is thought that the environment Ivan grew up in plays a big part in his personality throughout his life. At the age of 3, Ivan's father had passed away and 5 years later his mother, who was ruling at the time in place of a previously deceased leader, had also perished. When this happened, Royal families gossiping Ivan's own had been questioning her rule in the first place and in no time, the land had become disorderly. This created a continuous threat for Ivan. It has been said that he would inflict pain on small animals, but also adore literature and music (Biography.com).


This kind of unpredictable, shifting personality would show later in Ivan's life, according to Russiapedia.com Ivan the Terrible had sporadic attitudes, "Fits of rage were replaced by bouts of religious humility; drunken feasts were followed by frantic prayers and fasting in remote monasteries (Russiapedia.com)." One regretful day for Ivan was when he had a vicious confrontation with his eldest son, where in Ivan's anger, he struck him in the head with a pointed cane, accidentally killing him. The painting above depicts the tragic event (Russiapedia).

 His temper and paranoia got the best of him many times as all throughout his rule, Ivan had a great many people, especially nobles killed and terror had been spread from his Oprichniki, who tortured and maimed  throughout Russia in an attempt to prevent any treason, which in turn left vasts amount of agricultural land unattended (Russiapedia.com).

RT. "Prominent Russians: Ivan IV the Terrible." Ivan IV the Terrible – Russiapedia The Ryurikovich Dynasty Prominent Russians. TV-Novosti, 2005. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

the editors of Biography.com continue,talking about his reign. At the age of 16, Ivan was crowned Tsar and set up an advisory board to help set his refinements in motion. Ivan started making changes by showing the rural areas self-rule, changing how taxes are collected and regulated the noble class whom he despised for speaking out against his mother's rule and he thought may have played a role in her death (Biography.com).

Ivan wanted to remove anything left of the Mongols and reach the Baltic Sea with his rule which as stated in the article, "Ultimately, he aimed to conquer all remaining independent regions and create a larger, more centralized Russia (Biography.com)." As this period dragged on and Ivan conquered an immense amount of land from Russia and he centralized the government the economy began to suffer. Eventually, Ivan started dying and when he did perish, the country was left in a wreck for a century until the rise of Peter the Great (Biography.com).

Biography.com. "Ivan the Terrible." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

Peter the Great and Russia's Modernization

Peter the Great was the man who took Russia out of its slum left by Ivan the Terrible. Before going into the summary of his life and rule, Bishop Burnet wrote about his view on Peter in his own record in 1698. This source was acquired from Forham University's site.

According to Burnet, Peter was quick to anger and difficult to work with. He also drank often in which I quote him, "He raises his natural heat by drinking much brandy, which he rectifies himself with great application (Burnet)." Simply put, his anger was strong and barely controllable. As for his qualification for his position, Burnet claims that Peter was born merely to construct ships than to rule because he shows to be more mechanically inclined, he even focused his research on ship-building. Nonetheless, he was admirably purposeful, acknowledging the church's beliefs and wanted to help his people be educated, but he did not understand war very much, nor did he appear inquiring of it (Burnet).

Bishop Burnet had numerous conversations with Peter and wondered how God could make such a man have all power over Russia, yet there must have been a reason. He came to Moscow one day with some sort of suspicion or finding and in his rage, hanged several hundred people and may have conducted a few be headings himself. "it was said that he cut off many heads with his own hand; and so far was he from relenting or showing any sort of tenderness that he seemed delighted with it. How long he is to be the scourge of that nation God only knows (Burnet)."

Burnet. "Peter the Great." Guided History Peter the Great and the Modernization of Russia Comments. Fordham University, 1998. Web. 28 Apr. 2017


According to the Royal Trust Collection's website and description from which I used this image, this painting of Peter the Great was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1646 between January 11 and April 24 when Peter was visiting William III in London. From this tour, he was fascinated by the ships. which inspired him to build the Russian navy when he returned. "The Tsar is here shown wearing armour with an embroidered gold, ermine-lined cloak, his crown on a cushion in a niche; ships can be seen at manoeuvres through a window (Royal Trust Collection)."

Fun fact: Peter the Great was one of the tallest rulers Russia has ever had with an astounding height of 6 feet, 8 inches.

(1646-1723), Sir Godfrey Kneller. "Your Share Link Is..." Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) - Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia (1672-1725). Royal Collection Trust, 12 July 1698. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.
( start the post-classical era off from there and show the significance of Iconography, also remember the significance of the "onion" domes) Also mention Ivan the Terrible and Peter the great, as peter the great made russia modernized (born 1672)

Peter I's Modernization of Russia

Despite the criticism, Peter the Great had a positive turn-around for Russia by modernizing it. W.J Rament of InDepthInfo.com sheds light on his reforms. Russia before Peter the Great (before 1682) was predominantly agricultural still and lacked warm-water ports which it needed to conduct trade and boost its economy. Russia required a strong individual leader, which it lacked, to rule or else the noble class would declare authority. This ruler was called a Czar or Tsar (same meaning, different spelling) who acted much like a Caesar. On top of political instability was the issue of Russia's own military, which also worked in self-interest (Rament).

"There was devout fear of change among the people. Xenophobia (fear of anything foreign) and anti-intellectualism was rampant among all classes of society (Rament)." After Peter I came into power with aid from the Streltsy, or Russian Army,  he was interested in how Europe managed to do so well in its ruling, what Europe had that Russia had not. From this curiosity, Peter took a great tour of Europe in 1697, "visiting with powerful monarchs, scientists, men of business, engineers, and technicians (Rament)." In this tour, he found out that the Europeans were stronger because they were a far more advanced civilization than Russia, which was still behind. Technologically, they needed to improve and Peter was determined to bring Russia to the same level (Rament).

He began his reforms by impelling the Nobles (called Boyars) to work loyally for the government instead of their own selfish desires. Then he dealt with the Army who acted with mutiny while Peter was on his tour, in which is when Peter had conducted the numerous executions and torturing to bring them back to loyalty. Corpses were left out to deter any more rebellion and that settled the dispute in a short period of time. He then reorganized the Christian Orthodox church ranks so that he would have more voice, created a senate to run the country continuously, sent away promising individuals to learn to work industries, and "established iron mines and steel mills in the Ural Mountains. Most of the industries he sponsored, especially ship building, were done to enhance the military status of Russia (Rament)."

The Founding of St. Petersburg 

Rament continues on Peter's reformations with the events which birthed a new great city and further developed the country. Now, all that was needed most importantly, was the establishment of a warm-water port for a fix trade throughout the whole year with every other society. Peter had to war with Sweden in order to further this task. In the warring with Sweden, Russia had taken Estonia, Livonia and some of Finland. This gave Peter the opportunity to create St. Petersburg, which had a number of warm-water ports to create trade and so, became Russia's new capital. Houses and building held the European theme aside from a few which boasted an onion dome to symbolize to others that this was Russian territory (Rament).

Peter the Great died in 1725 in St. Petersburg, but his rule as Tsar had finally advanced Russia, becoming strong and robust in its military power and politics. This is in turn made Russia into the powerhouse in which is known for today (Rament).

Rayment, W.J. "Peter the Great and the Modernization of Russia." InDepthInfo. InDepthInfo, 1999. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Conclusion and Final Words

All research and writing of this blog, paraphrased, summarized and quoted, is based solely on each of the sources listed above.

I have learned a whole lot about Russia in the making of this project. There were so many in-depth details too, but much had to be left out for consistency. The history of leaders leading ruthlessly and determined make me think about how leaders following would be as such. Examples are Catherine the Great, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Whether or not these leaders could be regarded as morally inclined is an entirely different discussion, however it is good to know Russia's history that spawned a great people.

I had no idea prior to now that Russia took so long to become a nation and lagged behind other nations before it became what it is today. It's history is a bit convoluted, with nomads coming and going during what would normally be the Pre-classical to classical eras, which is why the eras occor later, changing the outline a bit. I also like the role of religion and how it was used to unite Russia in the first place. I had not known that a lot Russia was Christian Orthodox, I thought it was primarily Muslim after conversing with a person from Russia. It was also fun to learn who exactly Russians descended from, which were the Viking and Slavic tribes which explains why there a lot of blonde people in Russia.

I've seen Russia boasting about its people being very strong-minded and tough, and saw some truth to that, yet seeing what people had to live through for centuries, it is no surprise that they can be named as such. I knew this would an interesting country to research.