Russia
Russia
Russia (Russian: Россия, romanized: Rossiya, [rɐˈsʲijə]), or the Russian Federation,[c] is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world
encompassing
one-eighth of Earth’s inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time
zones and shares land boundaries with fourteen countries.[d] It is the world’s
ninth-most populous country and Europe’s most populous country. The country’s
capital and largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia’s cultural
centre and second-largest city. Other major urban areas in the country include
Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, and
Kazan.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus’, arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Rus’ ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history.
However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia’s monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world’s first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives,
the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s, and later played a decisive role for the Allies of World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence; the Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since the turn of the century, Russia’s political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin,
under whom the country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift
towards authoritarianism. Russia has been involved militarily in a number of
post-Soviet conflicts, which has included the internationally unrecognised
annexations of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the
further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.
Internationally, Russia ranks amongst the lowest in measurements of democracy, human rights and freedom of the press; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption. The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP, relying heavily upon its abundant natural resources. Its mineral and energy sources are the world’s largest, and its figures for oil production and natural gas production rank high globally. The Russian GDP ranks 65th by per capita,
Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, and has the
third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, the SCO, BRICS, the
APEC, the OSCE, and the WTO; and is the leading member state of post-Soviet
organizations such as the CIS, the CSTO, and the Eurasian Economic Union
(EAEU). Russia is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Etymology
Main article: Names of Rus’, Russia and Ruthenia
The name Russia comes from a Medieval Latin name for Rus’, a medieval state
populated primarily by the East Slavs.[19][20] In modern historiography, this
state is usually denoted as Kievan Rus’ after its capital city.[21] The name
Rus’ itself comes from the early medieval Rus’ people,
who were originally a
group of Norse merchants and warriors who relocated from across the Baltic Sea
and first settled in the northern region of Novgorod, and later founded a state
centred on Kiev.[22] Another Medieval Latin name for Rus’ was Ruthenia.[23]
In Russian, the current name of the country, Россия (Rossiya),
comes from the Byzantine Greek name for Rus’, Ρωσία (Rosía).[24] A new form of
the name Rus’, Росия (Rosiya), was borrowed from the Greek term and first
attested in 1387,[25] before coming into official use by the 15th century,
though the country was still often referred to by its inhabitants as Rus’ or
the Russian land until the end of the 17th century.[26][27] There are two words
in Russian which translate to “Russians” in English – русские (russkiye), which
refers to ethnic Russians, and россияне (rossiyane), which refers to Russian
citizens, regardless of ethnicity.
History
Early history
Further information: Ancient Greek colonies, Early Slavs, Huns,
Turkic expansion, and Prehistory of Siberia
See also: Proto-Indo-Europeans and Proto-Uralic homeland
The first human settlement on Russia dates back to the Oldowan period in the
early Lower Paleolithic. About 2 million years ago, representatives of Homo
erectus migrated to the Taman Peninsula in southern Russia.[29] Flint tools,
some 1.5 million years old, have been discovered in the North Caucasus.
[30] Radiocarbon dated specimens from Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains estimate the oldest Denisovan specimen lived 195–122,700 years ago.[31] Fossils of Denny, an archaic human hybrid that was half Neanderthal and half Denisovan, and lived some 90,000 years ago, was also found within the latter cave.[32] Russia was home to some of the last surviving Neanderthals, from about 45,000 years ago, found in Mezmaiskaya cave.[33]
The first trace of an early modern human in Russia dates back to 45,000 years, in Western Siberia.[34] The discovery of high concentration cultural remains of anatomically modern humans, from at least 40,000 years ago, was found at Kostyonki–Borshchyovo,[35] and at Sungir, dating back to 34,600 years ago—both in western Russia.[36] Humans reached Arctic Russia at least 40,000 years ago, in Mamontovaya Kurya.[37] Ancient North Eurasian populations from Siberia genetically similar to Mal’ta–Buret’ culture and Afontova Gora were an important genetic contributor to Ancient Native Americans and Eastern Hunter-Gatherers.[38]
Bronze Age spread of Yamnaya Steppe pastoralist ancestry between
3300 and 1500 BC,[39] including the Afanasievo culture of southern Siberia
The Kurgan hypothesis places the Volga-Dnieper region of southern Russia and
Ukraine as the urheimat of the Proto-Indo-Europeans.[40] Early Indo-European
migrations from the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and Russia spread Yamnaya
ancestry and Indo-European languages across large parts of Eurasia.[41][42]
Nomadic pastoralism developed in the Pontic–Caspian steppe beginning in the
Chalcolithic.[43] Remnants of these steppe civilizations were discovered in
places such as Ipatovo,[43] Sintashta,[44] Arkaim,[45] and Pazyryk,[46] which
bear the earliest known traces of horses in warfare.[44] The genetic makeup of
speakers of the Uralic language family in northern Europe was shaped by
migration from Siberia that began at least 3,500 years ago.[47]
In the 3rd to 4th centuries CE, the Gothic kingdom of Oium
existed in southern Russia, which was later overrun by Huns.[48][failed
verification] Between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, the Bosporan Kingdom, which
was a Hellenistic polity that succeeded the Greek colonies,[49] was also
overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes such as the Huns and
Eurasian Avars.[50] The Khazars, who were of Turkic origin, ruled the steppes
between the Caucasus in the south, to the east past the Volga river basin, and
west as far as Kyiv on the Dnieper river until the 10th century.[51] After them
came the Pechenegs who created a large confederacy, which was subsequently
taken over by the Cumans and the Kipchaks.[52]
The ancestors of Russians are among the Slavic tribes that separated from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who appeared in the northeastern part of Europe c. 1500 years ago.[53] The East Slavs gradually settled western Russia in two waves: one moving from Kiev towards present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk towards Novgorod and Rostov. From the 7th century onwards, the East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in western Russia,[54] and slowly but peacefully assimilated the native Finnic peoples.
Kievan Rus’
Main articles: Rus’ Khaganate; Kievan Rus’; and List of tribes
and states in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine
Kievan Rus’ after the Council of Liubech in 1097
The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th century coincided
with the arrival of Varangians, the Vikings who ventured along the waterways
extending from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas.[55][failed
verification] According to the Primary Chronicle, a Varangian from the Rus’
people, named Rurik, was elected ruler of Novgorod in 862. In 882, his
successor Oleg ventured south and conquered Kiev, which had been previously
paying tribute to the Khazars.[48] Rurik’s son Igor and Igor’s son Sviatoslav
subsequently subdued all local East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the
Khazar Khaganate,[56] and launched several military expeditions to Byzantium
and Persia.[57][58]
In the 10th to 11th centuries, Kievan Rus’ became one of the
largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The reigns of Vladimir the Great
(980–1015) and his son Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054) constitute the Golden Age
of Kiev, which saw the acceptance of Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium, and
the creation of the first East Slavic written legal code, the Russkaya
Pravda.[48] The age of feudalism and decentralisation had come, marked by
constant in-fighting between members of the Rurik dynasty that ruled Kievan
Rus’ collectively. Kiev’s dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in
the north-east, the Novgorod Republic in the north, and Galicia-Volhynia in the
south-west.[48] By the 12th century, Kiev lost its pre-eminence and Kievan Rus’
had fragmented into different principalities.[59] Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky
sacked Kiev in 1169 and made Vladimir his base,[59] leading to political power
being shifted to the north-east.[48]
Led by Prince Alexander Nevsky, Novgorodians repelled the
invading Swedes in the Battle of the Neva in 1240,[60] as well as the Germanic
crusaders in the Battle on the Ice in 1242.[61]
Kievan Rus’ finally fell to the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240,
which resulted in the sacking of Kiev and other cities, as well as the death of
a major part of the population.[48] The invaders, later known as Tatars, formed
the state of the Golden Horde, which ruled over Russia for the next two
centuries.[62] Only the Novgorod Republic escaped foreign occupation after it
surrendered and agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols.[48] Galicia-Volhynia
would later be absorbed by Lithuania and Poland, while the Novgorod Republic
continued to prosper in the north. In the northeast, the Byzantine-Slavic
traditions of Kievan Rus’ were adapted to form the Russian autocratic state.
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The destruction of Kievan Rus’ saw the eventual rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, initially a part of Vladimir-Suzdal.[63]: 11–20 While still under the domain of the Mongol-Tatars and with their connivance, Moscow began to assert its influence in the region in the early 14th century,[64] gradually becoming the leading force in the “gathering of the lands”.[65] When the seat of the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church moved to Moscow in 1325, its influence increased.[66] Moscow’s last rival, the Novgorod Republic, prospered as the chief fur trade centre and the easternmost port of the Hanseatic League.[67]
Led by Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow, the united army of
principalities inflicted a milestone defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle
of Kulikovo in 1380.[48] Moscow gradually absorbed its parent duchy and
surrounding principalities, including formerly strong rivals such as Tver and
Novgorod.[65]
Ivan III (“the Great”) threw off the control of the Golden Horde
and consolidated the whole of northern Rus’ under Moscow’s dominion, and was
the first ruler to take the title “Grand Duke of all Rus'”. After the fall of
Constantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of the Eastern
Roman Empire. Ivan III married Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of the last
Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, and made the Byzantine double-headed eagle
his own, and eventually , coat-of-arms.[65] Vasili III united all of by
annexing the last few independent states in the early 16th century.[68]
Tsardom of Russia
In development of the Third Rome ideas, the grand duke Ivan IV
(“the Terrible”) was officially crowned the first tsar of in 1547. The tsar
promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik of 1550), established the first feudal
representative body (the Zemsky Sobor), revamped the military, curbed the
influence of the clergy, and reorganised local government.[65] During his long
reign, Ivan nearly doubled the already large Russian territory by annexing the
three Tatar khanates: Kazan and Astrakhan along the Volga,[69] and the Khanate
of Sibir in southwestern Siberia. Ultimately, by the end of the 16th century,
expanded east of the Ural Mountains.[70] However, the Tsardom was weakened by
the long and unsuccessful Livonian War against the coalition of the Kingdom of
Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (later the united Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth), the Kingdom of Sweden, and Denmark–Norway for access to the
Baltic coast and sea trade.[71] In 1572, an invading army of Crimean Tatars
were thoroughly defeated in the crucial Battle of Molodi.[72]
The death of Ivan’s sons marked the end of the ancient Rurik dynasty in 1598, and in combination with the disastrous famine of 1601–1603, led to a civil war, the rule of pretenders, and foreign intervention during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century.[73] The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, taking advantage, occupied parts of , extending into the capital Moscow.[74] In 1612, the Poles were forced to retreat by the volunteer corps, led by merchant Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky.[75] The Romanov dynasty acceded to the throne in 1613 by the decision of the Zemsky Sobor, and the country started its gradual recovery from the crisis.[76]
Russia continued its territorial growth through the 17th
century, which was the age of the Cossacks.[77] In 1654, the Ukrainian leader,
Bohdan Khmelnytsky, offered to place Ukraine under the protection of the tsar,
Alexis; whose acceptance of this offer led to another Russo-Polish War.
Ultimately, Ukraine was split along the Dnieper, leaving the eastern part,
(Left-bank Ukraine and Kiev) under rule.[78] In the east, the rapid
exploration and colonisation of vast Siberia continued, hunting for valuable
furs and ivory. explorers pushed eastward primarily along the Siberian River
Routes, and by the mid-17th century, there were settlements in eastern Siberia,
on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, and on the coast of the Pacific
Ocean.[77] In 1648, Semyon Dezhnyov became the first European to navigate
through the Bering Strait.
Imperial Russia
Under Peter the Great, was proclaimed an empire in 1721, and
established itself as one of the European great powers. Ruling from 1682 to
1725, Peter defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700–1721), securing
access to the sea and sea trade. In 1703, on the Baltic Sea, Peter founded
Saint Petersburg as new capital. Throughout his rule, sweeping reforms were
made, which brought significant Western European cultural influences to .[80]
The reign of Peter I’s daughter Elizabeth in 1741–1762 saw participation in the
Seven Years’ War (1756–1763). During the conflict, troops overran East ,
reaching Berlin.[81] However, upon Elizabeth’s death, all these conquests were
returned to the Kingdom of by pro-Peter III of .
Catherine II (“the Great”), who ruled in 1762–1796, presided
over the Age of Enlightenment. She extended political control over the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and annexed most of its territories into making
it the most populous country in Europe.[83] In the south, after the successful
Russo-Turkish Wars against the Ottoman Empire, Catherine advancedboundary to
the Black Sea, by dissolving the Crimean Khanate, and annexing Crimea.[84] As a
result of victories over Qajar Iran through the Russo-Persian Wars, by the
first half of the 19th century, also conquered the Caucasus.[85] Catherine’s
successor, her son Paul, was unstable and focused predominantly on domestic
issues.[86] Following his short reign, Catherine’s strategy was continued with
Alexander I’s (1801–1825) wresting of Finland from the weakened Sweden in
1809,[87] and of Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812.[88] In North America,
the became the first Europeans to reach and colonise Alaska.[89] In 1803–1806,
the first circumnavigation was made.[90] In 1820, a expedition discovered the
continent of Antarctica.
Great power and
development of society, sciences and arts
During the Napoleonic Wars, joined alliances with various European powers, and fought against France. The French invasion of at the height of Napoleon’s power in 1812 reached Moscow, but eventually failed as the obstinate resistance in combination with the bitterly cold winter led to a disastrous defeat of invaders, in which the pan-European Grande Armée faced utter destruction. Led by Mikhail Kutuzov and Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, the Imperial Army ousted Napoleon and drove throughout Europe in the War of the Sixth Coalition, ultimately entering Paris.[92] Alexander I controlled delegation at the Congress of Vienna, which defined the map of post-Napoleonic Europe.[93]
Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow by Albrecht Adam (1851)
The officers who pursued Napoleon into Western Europe brought ideas of
liberalism back to , and attempted to curtail the tsar’s powers during the
abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825.[94] At the end of the conservative reign of
Nicholas I (1825–1855), a zenith period of power and influence in Europe, was
disrupted by defeat in the Crimean War.
Great liberal reforms and capitalism
Nicholas’s successor Alexander II (1855–1881) enacted
significant changes throughout the country, including the emancipation reform
of 1861.[96] These reforms spurred industrialisation, and modernised the
Imperial Army, which liberated much of the Balkans from Ottoman rule in the
aftermath of the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War.[97] During most of the 19th and
early 20th century, and Britain colluded over Afghanistan and its neighbouring
territories in Central and South Asia; the rivalry between the two major
European empires came to be known as the Great Game.[98]
The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist
movements in . Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by revolutionary
terrorists.[99] The reign of his son Alexander III (1881–1894) was less liberal
but more peaceful.
Constitutional monarchy and World War
Under last emperor, Nicholas II (1894–1917), the Revolution of
1905 was triggered by the failure of the humiliating Russo-Japanese War.[101]
The uprising was put down, but the government was forced to concede major
reforms Constitution of 1906), including granting freedoms of speech and
assembly, the legalisation of political parties, and the creation of an elected
legislative body, the State Duma.
Revolution and civil
war
In 1914, Russia entered World War I in response to Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on ally Serbia,[103] and fought across multiple fronts while isolated from its Triple Entente allies.[104] In 1916, the Brusilov Offensive of the Imperial Army almost completely destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Army.
[105] However, the already-existing public distrust of the regime was deepened by the rising costs of war, high casualties, and rumors of corruption and treason. All this formed the climate for the Revolution of 1917, carried out in two major acts.[106] In early 1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate; he and his family were imprisoned and later executed during the Civil War.[107] The monarchy was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties that declared itself the Provisional Government,[108] and proclaimed the Republic. On 19 January [O.S. 6 January], 1918, the Constituent Assembly declared a democratic federal republic (thus ratifying the Provisional Government’s decision). The next day the Constituent Assembly was dissolved by the All-Central Executive Committee.[106]
An alternative socialist establishment co-existed, the Petrograd
Soviet, wielding power through the democratically elected councils of workers
and peasants, called soviets. The rule of the new authorities only aggravated
the crisis in the country instead of resolving it, and eventually, the October
Revolution, led by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Provisional
Government and gave full governing power to the soviets, leading to the
creation of the world’s first socialist state.[106] The Civil War broke out
between the anti-communist White movement and the Bolsheviks with its Red
Army.[109] In the aftermath of signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that
concluded hostilities with the Central Powers of World War I; Bolshevist
surrendered most of its western territories, which hosted 34% of its
population, 54% of its industries, 32% of its agricultural land, and roughly
90% of its coal mines.[110]
Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky during a 1920 speech in Moscow
The Allied powers launched an unsuccessful military intervention in support of
anti-communist forces.[111] In the meantime, both the Bolsheviks and White
movement carried out campaigns of deportations and executions against each other,
known respectively as the Red Terror and White Terror.[112] By the end of the
violent civil war, Russia’s economy and infrastructure were heavily damaged,
and as many as 10 million perished during the war, mostly civilians.[113]
Millions became White émigrés,[114] and the famine of 1921–1922 claimed up to
five million victims.
Soviet Union
Command
economy and Soviet society
On 30 December 1922, Lenin and his aides formed the Soviet
Union, by joining the SFSR into a single state with the , Transcaucasian, and
Ukrainian republics.[116] Eventually internal border changes and annexations
during World War II created a union of 15 republics; the largest in size and
population being the SFSR, which dominated the union for its entire history
politically, culturally, and economically.[117][failed verification]Following
Lenin’s death in 1924, a troika was designated to take charge. Eventually
Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, managed to
suppress all opposition factions and consolidate power in his hands to become
the country’s dictator by the 1930s.[118] Leon Trotsky, the main proponent of
world revolution, was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929,[119] and Stalin’s
idea of Socialism in One Country became the official line.[120] The continued
internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the Great Purge.
Stalinism and violent modernization
Under Stalin’s leadership, the government launched a command
economy, industrialisation of the largely rural country, and collectivisation
of its agriculture. During this period of rapid economic and social change,
millions of people were sent to penal labour camps, including many political
convicts for their suspected or real opposition to Stalin’s rule;[122] and
millions were deported and exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union.[123] The
transitional disorganisation of the country’s agriculture, combined with the
harsh state policies and a drought,[124] led to the Soviet famine of 1932–1933;
which killed up to 8.7 million, 3.3 million of them in the SFSR.[125] The
Soviet Union, ultimately, made the costly transformation from a largely
agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse within a short span of time.
World War II and United Nations
The Soviet Union entered World War II on 17 September 1939 with
its invasion of Poland,[127] in accordance with a secret protocol within the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany.[128] The Soviet Union later invaded
Finland,[129] and occupied and annexed the Baltic states,[130] as well as parts
of Romania.[131]: 91–95 On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet
Union,[132] opening the Eastern Front, the largest theater of World War
II.[133]: 7
Eventually, some 5 million Red Army troops were captured by the Nazis;[134]: 272 the latter deliberately starved to death or otherwise killed 3.3 million Soviet POWs, and a vast number of civilians, as the “Hunger Plan” sought to fulfil Generalplan Ost.[135]: 175–186 Although the Wehrmacht had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the Battle of Moscow.[136] Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943,[137] and then in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943.[138] Another German failure was the Siege of Leningrad, in which the city was fully blockaded on land between 1941 and 1944 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered.[139] Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe in 1944–1945 and captured Berlin in May 1945.[140] In August 1945, the Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the Japanese from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory over Japan.[141]
The 1941–1945 period of World War II is known in Russia as the
Great Patriotic War.[142] The Soviet Union, along with the United States, the
United Kingdom and China were considered the Big Four of Allied powers in World
War II, and later became the Four Policemen, which was the foundation of the
United Nations Security Council.[143]: 27 During the war, Soviet civilian and
military death were about 26–27 million,[144] accounting for about half of all
World War II casualties.[145]: 295 The Soviet economy and infrastructure
suffered massive devastation, which caused the Soviet famine of 1946–1947.[146]
However, at the expense of a large sacrifice, the Soviet Union emerged as a
global superpower.
Superpower and Cold War
After World
War II, parts of Eastern and Central Europe, including East Germany and eastern
parts of Austria were occupied by Red Army according to the Potsdam
Conference.[148] Dependent communist governments were installed in the Eastern
Bloc satellite states.[149] After becoming the world’s second nuclear
power,[150] the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact alliance,[151] and
entered into a struggle for global dominance, known as the Cold War, with the
rivalling United States and NATO.
Khrushchev Thaw reforms
and economic development
After Stalin’s death in 1953 and a short
period of collective rule, the new leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin
and launched the policy of de-Stalinization, releasing many political prisoners
from the Gulag labour camps.[153] The general easement of repressive policies
became known later as the Khrushchev Thaw.[154] At the same time, Cold War
tensions reached its peak when the two rivals clashed over the deployment of
the United States Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Soviet missiles in Cuba.[155]
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the
world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, thus starting the Space
Age.[156] cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth,
aboard the Vostok 1 crewed spacecraft on 12 April 1961.
Period of developed
socialism or Era of Stagnation
Following the ousting of Khrushchev in
1964, another period of collective rule ensued, until Leonid Brezhnev became
the leader. The era of the 1970s and the early 1980s was later designated as
the Era of Stagnation. The 1965 Kosygin reform aimed for partial
decentralisation of the Soviet economy.[158] In 1979, after a communist-led
revolution in Afghanistan, Soviet forces invaded the country, ultimately
starting the Soviet–Afghan War.[159] In May 1988, the Soviets started to
withdraw from Afghanistan, due to international opposition, persistent anti-Soviet
guerrilla warfare, and a lack of support by Soviet citizens.
Perestroika,
democratization and Russian sovereignty
From 1985 onwards, the last Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who sought to enact liberal reforms in the Soviet
system, introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika
(restructuring) in an attempt to end the period of economic stagnation and to
democratise the government.[161] This, however, led to the rise of strong
nationalist and separatist movements across the country.[162] Prior to 1991,
the Soviet economy was the world’s second-largest, but during its final years,
it went into a crisis.[163]
By 1991, economic and political turmoil
began to boil over as the Baltic states chose to secede from the Soviet
Union.[164] On 17 March, a referendum was held, in which the vast majority of
participating citizens voted in favour of changing the Soviet Union into a
renewed federation.[165] In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly
elected president in history when he was elected president of the SFSR.[166] In
August 1991, a coup d’état attempt by members of Gorbachev’s government,
directed against Gorbachev and aimed at preserving the Soviet Union, instead
led to the end of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[167] On 25 December
1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, along with contemporary ,
fourteen other post-Soviet states emerged.
Transition to a market
economy and political crises
The economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union led into a deep and prolonged depression. During and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, wide-ranging reforms including privatisation and market and trade liberalisation were undertaken, including radical changes along the lines of “shock therapy”.[169] The privatisation largely shifted control of enterprises from state agencies to individuals with inside connections in the government, which led to the rise of the infamous oligarchs.[170] Many of the newly rich moved billions in cash and assets outside of the country in an enormous capital flight.[171] The depression of the economy led to the collapse of social services—the birth rate plummeted while the death rate skyrocketed,[172][173] and millions plunged into poverty;[174] while extreme corruption,[175] as well as criminal gangs and organised crime rose significantly.[176]
In late 1993, tensions between Yeltsin
and the parliament culminated in a constitutional crisis which ended violently
through military force. During the crisis, Yeltsin was backed by Western
governments, and over 100 people were killed.
Modern
liberal Constitution, international cooperation and economic stabilization
In December, a referendum was held and
approved, which introduced a new constitution, giving the president enormous
powers.[178] The 1990s were plagued by armed conflicts in the North Caucasus,
both local ethnic skirmishes and separatist Islamist insurrections.[179] From
the time Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an
intermittent guerrilla war was fought between the rebel groups and forces.[180]
Terrorist attacks against civilians were carried out by Chechen separatists,
claiming the lives of thousands of civilians.[e][181]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, assumed responsibility for settling the latter’s external debts.[182] In 1992, most consumer price controls were eliminated, causing extreme inflation and significantly devaluing the rouble.[183] High budget deficits coupled with increasing capital flight and inability to pay back debts, caused the 1998 financial crisis, which resulted in a further GDP decline.
Foreign
relations
had the world’s fifth-largest diplomatic
network in 2019. It maintains diplomatic relations with 190 United Nations
member states, four partially-recognised states, and three United Nations
observer states; along with 144 embassies.[265] is one of the five permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council. It has historically been a
great power,[266] and a former superpower as the leading constituent of the
former Soviet Union.[147] is a member of the G20, the OSCE, and the APEC. also
takes a leading role in organisations such as the CIS,[267] the EAEU,[268] the
CSTO,[269] the SCO,[270] and BRICS.[271]
maintains close relations with
neighbouring Belarus, which is a part of the Union State, a supranational
confederation of the two states.[272] Serbia has been a historically close ally
of , as both countries share a strong mutual cultural, ethnic, and religious
affinity.[273] India is the largest customer of military equipment, and the two
countries share a strong strategic and diplomatic relationship since the Soviet
era.[274] wields influence across the geopolitically important South Caucasus
and Central Asia; and the two regions have been described as “backyard”.
Countries on “Unfriendly Countries
List”. The list includes countries that have imposed sanctions against
for its invasion of Ukraine.
In the 21st century has pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at securing
regional dominance and international influence, as well as increasing domestic
support for the government. Military intervention in the post-soviet states
include a war with Georgia in 2008, and the invasion and destablisation of
Ukraine beginning in 2014. has also sought to increase its influence in the
Middle East, most significantly through military intervention in the Syrian civil
war. Cyberwarfare and airspace violations, along with electoral interference,
have been used to increase perceptions of power.[277] relations with
neighbouring Ukraine and the Western world—especially the United States, the
European Union, the United Nations and NATO—have collapsed; especially
following the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 and the consequent
escalation in 2022.[278][279] Relations between and China have
significantly strengthened bilaterally and economically; due to shared political
interests.[280] Turkey and share a complex strategic, energy, and defence
relationship.[281] maintains cordial relations with Iran, as it is a strategic
and economic ally.[282] has also increasingly pushed to expand its influence
across the Arctic,[283] Asia-Pacific,[284] Africa,[285] the Middle East,[286]
and Latin America.[287]
Military
The Armed Forces are divided into the
Ground Forces, the Navy, and the Aerospace Forces—and there are also two
independent arms of service: the Strategic Missile Troops and the Airborne
Troops.[9] As of 2021, the military have around a million active-duty
personnel, which is the world’s fifth-largest, and about 2–20 million reserve
personnel.[289][290] It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be
drafted for a year of service in the Armed Forces.[9]
is among the five recognised
nuclear-weapons states, with the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons;
over half of the world’s nuclear weapons are owned by . possesses the
second-largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines,[292] and is one of the
only three countries operating strategic bombers.[293] maintains the world’s
third-highest military expenditure, spending $86.4 billion in 2022,
corresponding to around 4.1% of its GDP.[294] In 2021 it was the world’s
second-largest arms exporter, and had a large and entirely indigenous defence
industry, producing most of its own military equipment.
Human rights and corruption
Violations of human rights in have been
increasingly criticised by leading democracy and human rights groups. In
particular, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say that is not
democratic and allows few political rights and civil liberties to its
citizens.[297][298]
Since 2004, Freedom House has ranked Russia as “not free” in its Freedom in the World survey.[299] Since 2011, the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked as an “authoritarian regime” in its Democracy Index, ranking it 146th out of 167 countries in 2022.[300] In regards to media freedom, was ranked 155th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index for 2022.[301] The government has been widely criticised by political dissidents and human rights activists for unfair elections,[302] crackdowns on opposition political parties and protests,[303][304] persecution of non-governmental organisations and enforced suppression and killings of independent journalists,[305][306][307] and censorship of mass media and internet.[308]
Russia’s autocratic[309] political
system has been variously described as a kleptocracy,[310] an oligarchy,[311]
and a plutocracy.[312] It was the lowest rated European country in Transparency
International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021, ranking 136th out of 180
countries.[313] has a long history of corruption, which is seen as a significant
problem. It impacts various sectors, including the economy, business, public
administration, law enforcement, healthcare, education, and the military.
Muslims, especially Salafis, have faced
persecution in .To quash the insurgency in the North Caucasus, authorities have
been accused of indiscriminate killings, arrests, forced disappearances, and
torture of civilians. In Dagestan, some Salafis along with facing government
harassment based on their appearance, have had their homes blown up in counterinsurgency
operations.[328][329] Chechens and Ingush in prisons reportedly take more abuse
than other ethnic groups. During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has set up
filtration camps where many Ukrainians are subjected to abuses and forcibly
sent to ; the camps have been compared to those used in the Chechen Wars.
Law and crime
The primary and fundamental statement of
laws in Russia is the Constitution of the Federation. Statutes, like the
Civil Code and the Criminal Code, are the predominant legal sources of law.
has the world’s second largest illegal
arms trade market, after the United States, is ranked first in Europe and 32nd
globally in the Global Organized Crime Index, and is among the countries with
the highest number of people in prison.
Culture
Russian culture has been formed by the nation’s history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. writers and philosophers have played an important role in the development of European literature and thought. The have also greatly influenced classical music, ballet,[504] sport, painting,[506] and cinema. The nation has also made pioneering contributions to science and technology and space exploration.
is home to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 19 out of which are cultural; while 27 more sites lie on the tentative list.The large global diaspora has also played a major role in spreadingculture throughout the world. national symbol, the double-headed eagle, dates back to the Tsardom period, and is featured in its coat of arms and heraldry.The Bear and Mother are often used as national personifications of the country.Matryoshka dolls are considered a cultural icon of .
