Russia's History

In the 8th Century BC the ancient Greeks called the disorganised tribes of the Russian Steppes (plains) Scythians. The earliest Slavs are thought to have originated around the Pripet Marches in Belarus while Vikings using eastern Europe’s waterways as highways traded (and robbed) their way inland becaming Kings of Novgorod, Kiev and reaching the Caspian Sea. In 988 Byzantine Orthodox Christianity was accepted in Kiev and spread. Mongols overran much of Russia and governed their Khanate of the Golden Horde from 1223-1502. Moscow (later St Petersburg) became the seat of power and the rise of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613 ushered in a time of rapid expansion and modernisation that was not halted until Russia’s defeat by Japan in 1905. Napoleon’s Army captured Moscow in 1812 but perished on the way home, however Russia was defeated in WWI and the Communists came to power in 1917 murdering the Royal Family. During WWII Stalin’s firm hand united the Soviet Union in defeating the Axis and the Iron Curtain came down on Europe, only ending in 1989 with Gorbachev’s ruinous misrule. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has steadily recovered, again taking its place as a region superpower.

Right Now

Russia’s long history and harsh climate shows in the character of its many long suffering peoples. The nuclear power had great difficulty transforming from a centralised command economy to capitalism and in the process many unscrupulous opportunists grew fabulously rich acquiring state assets for peanuts. However Russia has now acclimatised to the new economic order and has indeed prospered thanks to the high price of oil and gas which are the country’s two main exports. Russia’s often painful past has left behind a myriad of historical and cultural landmarks which prove thrilling attractions which fascinate tourists and the nation’s cities and breathtakingly beautiful countryside have to be seen to be believed.

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