It’s not as if there was a time when people gathered and decided to launch the Russian state. However, there was a time, place, and a person who consciously created the foundations of the Russian state. There’s more than one answer to the question, “When was Russia founded?” because there were, so to speak, several different Russian states throughout the course of history.
So, the first mentions of ‘Rosses’ and their land refer to the Kievan Rus’, a loosely organized state with a capital in Kiev that existed in the 9th-13th centuries and later crumbled under the pressure of the Mongol-Tatars who invaded the Kievan lands in the 13th century. The Mongol-Tatar invasion eventually made the Russian princes consolidate their powers in the North-Eastern lands of Central Russia. In the 13th century, Daniil Aleksandrovich (1261-1303), a Rurikid, became the first ruler of Moscow as a prince. From this time on, and especially under Daniil’s son, Ivan Kalita (1288-1341), Moscow became the most important city of North-Eastern Rus.
Emergence of Moscow
Moscow began leading the struggle of the Russian duchies against the Mongol-Tatar state of Golden Horde, with the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), won by a Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy (1350-1389), being the first major victory of Russian duchies, led by Moscow, over the Mongol-Tatars. Historians agree that the struggle against the Golden Horde was one of the main reasons for the consolidation of the Russian lands under the power of Moscow and the formation of the Moscow Tsardom. But it wasn’t yet called Russia!
By the mid-15th century, Moscow had become so strong that it managed to gather Russian princes and their forces into one army that successfully carried out a standoff against the army of the Golden Horde known as the Great Stand on the Ugra River. The forces of Moscow were led by Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow (1440-1505), who bore the title of Gosudar’ (ruler) of All Rus’.
Ivan III was the man who finalized the formation of the Moscow State with several powerful reforms. During his rule, the Moscow Kremlin we know today was built by Italian architects, including the creation of the Dormition Cathedral, the biggest and most richly decorated cathedral in the Russian lands of the era. Also under Ivan III, the Code of Law (Sudebnik) of 1497 was introduced, thus creating a unified legal environment for the citizens of the Moscow State, and the two-headed eagle was applied as the coat of arms of this state – it appeared on the Great Seal of Moscow created in 1497.
Ivan III was also the first Moscow ruler to use the title “Tsar” in his diplomatic correspondence – a title that earlier was used by Russians in reference to the Khans of the Golden Horde. So, using this title in reference to the Grand Prince of Moscow finalized the appearance of an independent Moscow State on the political map of Europe.
In 1547, when Ivan IV the Terrible (1530-1584) was crowned as the Tsar, his official title included the words “Tsar of All Rus’” – so we can say Russia as an independent state was formed under Ivan III of Moscow, and it became a Tsardom under his grandson Ivan IV the Terrible.
Geography
The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States. It occupies most of eastern Europe and north Asia, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south. Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area, but it's unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world. Much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture. Russia contains Mount El'brus, Europe's tallest peak, and Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. Lake Baikal is estimated to hold one fifth of the world's fresh water.
Russia shares borders with fourteen neighboring countries. In order of shared border length, these are: Kazakhstan (7,644 km), China (Southeast - 4,133 km) and (South - 46 km), Mongolia (3,452 km), Ukraine (1,944 km), Belarus (1,312 km), Finland (1,309 km), Georgia (894 km), Azerbaijan (338 km), Latvia (332 km), Estonia (324 km), Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast - 261 km), Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast - 210 km), Norway (191 km), and North Korea (18 km).
Government
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The Russian Federation is a federal semi-presidential republic. A semi-presidential system is one in which there is a prime minister who leads the legislature and exercises some authority, but there is also a president who fulfills an executive role in the government. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and after a series of political crises the current constitution was adopted and the government formed in 1993. Since then, there have been four presidencies split between three presidents (Vladimir Putin being the second president from 2000?2008, and the fourth since 2012).
The Russian government has been dominated for over a decade by the United Russia Party, most famous for its not having a fixed long-term platform. Called a "catch-all party," the party responds to particular political issues or figures as they arise, or on a case-by-case basis. Most often, these responses reflect the opinions of leading figures Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev (the third president of Russia who made Putin his prime minister, and whom Putin made prime minister in turn upon his reelection). The party officially self-identifies as a Russian Conservative party, but the ideological meaning is unclear except in its opposition to the rival Communist Party.
International Affairs
International Disputes: Russia remains concerned about the smuggling of poppy derivatives from Afghanistan through Central Asian countries; China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with the 2004 Agreement, ending their centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia's military support and subsequent recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence in 2008 continue to sour relations with Georgia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the sea; Norway and Russia signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following World War II but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands; Russia and Estonia signed a technical border agreement in May 2005.
Russia recalled its signature in June 2005 after the Estonian parliament added to its domestic ratification act a historical preamble referencing the Soviet occupation and Estonia's pre-war borders under the 1920 Treaty of Tartu; Russia contends that the preamble allows Estonia to make territorial claims on Russia in the future, while Estonian officials deny that the preamble has any legal impact on the treaty text; Russia demands better treatment of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia and Latvia; Russia remains involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine while also occupying Ukraine?s territory of Crimea
Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as an EU member state with an EU external border, where strict Schengen border rules apply; preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov is suspended due to the occupation of Crimea by Russia; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US; Denmark (Greenland) and Norway have made submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and Russia is collecting additional data to augment its 2001 CLCS submission
Human Trafficking:
Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; with millions of foreign workers, forced labor is Russia?s predominant human trafficking problem and sometimes involves organized crime syndicates; workers from Russia, other European countries, Central Asia, and East and Southeast Asia, including North Korea and Vietnam, are subjected to forced labor in the construction, manufacturing, agricultural, textile, grocery store, maritime, and domestic service industries, as well as in forced begging, waste sorting, and street sweeping; women and children from Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central Asia are subject to sex trafficking in Russia; Russian women and children are victims of sex trafficking domestically and in Northeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia, Africa, the US, and the Middle East
Tier Rating: Tier 3
Russia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making a significant effort to do so; prosecutions of trafficking offenders remained low in comparison to the scope of Russia?s trafficking problem; the government did not develop or employ a formal system for identifying trafficking victims or referring them to protective services, although authorities reportedly assisted a limited number of victims on an ad hoc basis; foreign victims, the largest group in Russia, were not entitled to state-provided rehabilitative services and were routinely detained and deported; the government has not reported investigating reports of slave-like conditions among North Korean workers in Russia; authorities have made no effort to reduce the demand for forced labor or to develop public awareness of forced labor or sex trafficking (2015)
Illicit Drugs:
Limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; major consumer of opiates
Culture
Although much of Russia's cultural legacy bloomed after Peter the Great started westernizing the country, the Russian tradition is distinct and widely regarded. The nation's writers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers are studied in universities around the world. Some of the country's most prominent cultural icons include Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace), Feodor Dostoevksy (The Brothers Karamazov), Aleksandr Pushkin (Eugene Onegin), Modest Moussorgsky (A Night on Bald Mountain), Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin) and many more. Russian works have regularly been adapted for different audiences.
Many readers will be acquainted with Russian handicrafts from the Faberg Eggs to the humble matryoshka (also known as the Russian nesting doll). The country's traditional toys and decorative items are visually stunning. Many of these items date back from before the founding of "Russia," and many originate from Russia's diverse (and widespread) ethnic groups. These artifacts form a unique material archive that bridges hundreds of years and thousands of miles of Russian cultural history.
CONCLUSION
The Conclusion looks at various interpretations of the rise of the Soviet Union. Does ideology constitute the key to understanding the development of Soviet totalitarianism? What elements of Marxism–Leninism were to blame? It is beyond question that ideology was of central importance in determining the course of the Bolshevik revolution. All Bolsheviks believed in the Marxist vision. It is that the Bolsheviks were incapable of realizing their ends. It is their blindness rather than their vision that is striking. Policy was frequently the outcome of improvisation and pragmatism rather than the drive of ideology. The relationship between belief and action was complex. What questions did the revolution raise about justice, equality, and freedom? Are they still relevant today?
