Top 100 Russian History Podcast Episodes from 25 different podcasts including Hardcore History by Dan Carlin, Stuff You Missed in History Class…
The history of the Russian people began with the Slavic tribes. As the Western Slavs settled in Poland and the Southern Slavs…
The first formations of a state emerged around Kiev in the 9th century. Russia was then dominated by Viking traders. After 250…
The history of the Russian people began with the Slavic tribes. As the Western Slavs settled in Poland and the Southern Slavs…
The first formations of a state emerged around Kiev in the 9th century. Russia was then dominated by Viking traders. After 250…
Ivan the Terrible conquered lands and used terror against his people. The following Time of Troubles nearly finished Russia as an independent…
Tsarist Russia became an empire during Peter the Great. Russia’s victory over Napoleon raised it to the level of the world’s other super…
As a result of the World War I catastrophe, the people of St. Petersburg took to the streets and forced the tsar to…
The Bolshevik victory in the civil war transformed into the dictatorship of Stalin. World War II was followed by a bipolar Cold…
Russia’s search for its new post-Soviet identity has been undertaken with great difficulties. After the decade of Yeltsin’s capitalism, Putin has turned back…
The first state on the territory of Russia was established by the Viking clan called the Rus in 882 to trade with the…
Prince of Novgorod. Rurik was the semilegendary first ruler of Russia. His dynasty ruled over Russia for the following 700 years. Background…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Oleg was the mythical founder of Kievan Rus’. He was a Varangian prince, possibly a relative to Rurik.…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Igor was the son of Rurik and the third ruler of Kievan Rus’. He was also a brave…
Grand Princess of Kiev (regent). Olga was the first female ruler of Kievan Rus, also one of the first who adopted Christianity…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Svyatoslav was the greatest warrior among the Kievan princes, the conqueror of Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria. At the…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Saint Vladimir was the founder of the Russian Orthodox Church. He unified his people under Christianity, thereby laying the…
Prince Vladimir I united all of his subjects under one Christian faith in 988. By doing so, he strengthened his power and…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Yaroslav’s reign marked the cultural and territorial peak of Kievan Rus’. Although his military campaigns failed, he is…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Vladimir Monomakh was one of the wisest and most legendary rulers of Kievan Rus’. After many military campaigns…
Grand Prince of Kiev. Yuri Dolgoruky is known as the founder of Moscow (1147). He was also a Grand Prince of Kiev…
Grand Prince of Vladimir. Saint Andrey Bogolyubsky took less interest in Kiev and founded his own capital in Vladimir. From this time…
Grand Prince of Vladimir. The long rule of Vsevolod the Big Nest was the Golden Age of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. He was the…
Mongol Tatars were the biggest threat to the 13th-century Christian world. They established the largest empire of all time. Russia was under…
Grand Prince of Vladimir. Alexander was a legendary ruler and hero who successfully fought against German and Swedish knights. His victories were made possible…
The Moscow Princes were the smartest in dealing with Mongol conquerors. Their Duchy of Moscow gradually annexed all neighboring principalities and became…
Grand Prince of Moscow. Ivan I (Kalita – Moneybags) was the tax collector of the Mongols. He took advantage of the Mongol Great…
Grand Prince of Moscow. He was the first Russian prince who openly challenged the Mongols and defeated them in a decisive battle.…
Moscow’s victory was a turning point in the 250-year-long Mongol Tatar yoke in Russia. Although Mongol rule lasted for another century, it slowly…
Grand Prince of Moscow. Vasily II’s reign was overshadowed by the greatest civil war of the era. That also cost him his…
The first really strong and powerful ruler of Russia was Ivan III (The Great). He proclaimed that Russia was The Third Rome −…
Tsar of Russia. Ivan III is known as the founding father of the Russia state. His wise political and military skills made…
Tsarina of Russia. She was the Byzantine-born wife of Ivan III, the first tsarina of Russia. She had an enormous influence on the…
Tsar of Russia. Vasily III successfully completed his father Ivan the Great’s policy of uniting the Russian territories under the tsar’s firm…
Ivan the Terrible conquered lands and used terror against his people. The following Time of Troubles nearly finished Russia as an independent…
The process of centralizing power was completed under Ivan IV (the Terrible). He expanded Russia’s territory in great magnitude and caused the death…
Tsar of Russia. Ivan was the first crowned tsar of Russia. He centralized power and laid foundations to the tsardom as we…
Tsarina of Russia. Anastasia was the first crowned tsarina of Russia, the first of the total seven wives of Ivan the Terrible.…
Military officer. He was the first political dissident of Russia. Andrey was a close friend of Ivan the Terrible, until defecting to Poland…
The weakest point in the history of the Russian state. 15 years of civil war and famine killed one-third of the population…
Tsar of Russia. “The Bellringer” was the last ruler in the line of the 700-year-old Rurik dynasty. He was feeble-minded, and his regent Boris…
Tsar of Russia. One of the most controversial rulers in the history of Russia. He began his rule peacefully as a regent…
Tsar of Russia. He was the most successful usurper of the Russian throne in the Time of Troubles. He remains the only…
Tsar of Russia. Vasily IV Shuisky is one of the most controversial tsars. He was a master of intrigue who changed sides many…
Tsar of Russia. He is the second of the three impostors who claimed the Russian throne in the Time of Troubles. He…
The first Romanov tsar began as a weak compromise candidate in favour of the powerful boyars. Nevertheless Romanovs became one of the…
Tsar of Russia. He was the first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov. His coronation marked the end of the long period…
Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was the regent and actual ruler of Russia on behalf of his son Michael I Romanov.…
Tsar of Russia. The eventful reign of Alexis I was characterized by active foreign and domestic policy. Alexis was a balanced and…
Statesman. He was the most prominent and educated statesman and diplomat of the 17th century Russia. His liberal reforms predicted the innovations of…
It was one of four popular rebellions against tsardom between 1600-1800. It was not the biggest nor the most dangerous, but it was…
Tsar of Russia. During his short reign, Fyodor III continued the social and state reforms that had been initiated by his father and…
Tsarina of Russia (regent). She was the first female ruler of Modern Russia. Although never officially crowned, her reign as a regent…
Statesman. He was the wisest and most educated Russian statesman of the 17th century. Golitsyn was the Foreign Minister and a lover…
Tsar of Russia (co-ruler). Ivan V, Peter the Great’s half-brother, was his formal co-ruler for 14 years. He was mentally and physically disabled…
Until the 1700s Russia was still way behind the rest of Europe. Tsar Peter I (the Great) literally dragged the country out of…
Emperor of Russia. He was the first crowned Emperor of Russia. By far the greatest reformer in Russian history, he turned Medieval…
The Great Northern War permanently changed European balance of power. Sweden was no longer an empire and it never recovered from it.…
Military officer. Apraksin was one of the first distinguished Russian Admirals. He was a close friend of Peter the Great and one of the…
Military officer. He was one of the most notable war commanders of Peter the Great. Field Marshal Sheremetev was the supreme commander…
Tsarist Russia became an empire during Peter the Great. Russia’s victory over Napoleon raised it to the level of the world’s other super…
The period between Peter the Great and Catherine the Great is called the Era of Palace Revolutions. During that “second time of…
Empress of Russia. She was the first Empress of Russia, following her husband Peter the Great. During her very short rule Peter…
Statesman. He was Peter the Great’s most prominent advisor, a war commander, governor and a friend. After Peter’s death, Menshikov became the…
Emperor of Russia. Peter II was the grandson of Peter I. He was the teenage Emperor who spent his 3-year reign feasting, courting…
Empress of Russia. She was the daughter of Ivan V (the co-ruler of tsar Peter the Great). Her stable and peaceful reign…
Emperor of Russia. He is probably the most tragic among Russian rulers. Though he was the only rightful heir, he spent 20…
Empress of Russia. Elizabeth of Russia successfully continued her father Peter the Great’s policy. She set new standards for European courts and…
Statesman. He was the chief advisor of foreign policy in the time of Empress Elizabeth. He was one of the best diplomats…
Military officer. Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev was one of the most distinguished Russian military commanders of the 18th century. He was the hero…
Emperor of Russia. Peter III was murdered after only 6 months of reign. He is by far the most ridiculed emperor in Russia’s history. Most…
The reign of Catherine II (the Great) is known to history as the Age of Enlightened Absolutism. Two generations of people grew…
Empress of Russia. She was the first Enlightened Ruler of Russia, a clever diplomat who expanded the power of nobility. Contrary to…
Statesman. He was the chief foreign policy advisor of Catherine the Great in the first half of her reign. His idea of…
Nobleman. Orlov was the first of the two most important favourites of Empress Catherine the Great. He personally carried out the palace revolution…
Statesman. Potemkin was the most influential man during the second half of Catherine the Great’s reign. He was her secret husband and political…
Military officer. Admiral Fyodor Ushakov was the greatest Russian Naval Commander in history. Among his 43 naval battles he never lost one…
Pugachev’s Rebellion was the largest popular uprising against central power in Russia before the 20th century. It affected various social groups and made…
Emperor of Russia. The policies of Paul I and his incomprehensible decisions were so widely unpopular that it was predictable that he…
A period of hope for liberal reforms, triumph over Napoleon and disappointment as the first constitution project failed and was replaced by…
Emperor of Russia. Alexander, known as the “Liberator of Europe”, was the tsar who defeated Napoleon. He also promised to give the people…
Statesman. Emperor Alexander I’s most influential advisor in the first half of his reign. He prepared great social liberal reforms, that would…
Statesman. Alexander I’s most prominent political advisor during the second half of his reign. Extremely reactionary. He helped build a police state. Background…
Statesman. He was the Russian Foreign Minister in the time of Alexander I and Nicholas I. During his forty years of ministry he…
Napoleon’s failed attempt to invade Russia was the turning point in all the Napoleonic Wars. Until then he had been invincible. The…
Military officer. The greatest military leader in the history of Russia. He never lost a battle. He was also the first outstanding…
Military officer. Kutuzov was the second greatest Russian war commander after Suvorov. He successfully pushed Napoleon out of Russia after the massive Battle…
Military officer. One of the most prominent Russian war commanders in the Napoleonic Wars. His strategic retreat tactics gave Russia a decisive…
The Decembrist Revolt was carried out by the small elite of military officers. It failed. It was the first revolutionary uprising for freedom…
Grand Duke of Russia. He was the junior brother of Alexander I, who was to succeed him to the Russian throne. His…
Russia was turned into a bureaucratic police state where all aspects of life were regulated and punishments imposed. In the era of…
Emperor of Russia. Nicholas I was the most reactionary leader in Russian history. His long autocratic reign earned him the nickname “Gendarme of…
The European conflict over dividing the weak Ottoman Empire. It was the first modern war, where technological backwardness resulted in a shameful defeat…
The era of liberalism and long-delayed reforms. Alexander II abolished serfdom and introduced reforms that modernized the economy and enabled Russia to…
Emperor of Russia The emancipation of the serfs gave Alexander II a lifelong reputation as “The Tsar Liberator” and one of the…
Empress of Russia. Maria Alexandrovna was the Empress and Consort of the Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Background Lived: 1824-1880. When Alexander…
Statesman. Minister of the Interior during the reign of Alexander II. He prepared the first constitution plan that would have given Russia its…
Statesman. One of the most outstanding diplomats of the 19th century. As a Foreign Minister he succeeded in reversing the humiliating peace…
Alexander III suspended all of his father’s reforms. His reign was all about repression, censorship and Russification. But most importantly, it was…
Emperor of Russia. Alexander III was known as “The last true autocrat” and “Peacekeeper”. His reign did not see a single war. He is…
Empress of Russia. Empress Consort and wife of Alexander III of Russia. She was very popular and loved. She outlived her tragic…
Statesman. The most important Minister of the last two Emperors of Russia. Under his supervision, Russia finally entered the Industrial Age and…
The reign of Nicholas II was a chain of disasters and miscalculations that took the country closer to an inevitable revolution and…
Emperor of Russia. The last tsar of Russia. He was forced to abdicate in 1917 during the February Revolution, and his entire…
Empress of Russia. The last Empress of Russia, the wife of Nicholas II. Her general unpopularity and her blind faith in Rasputin…
Tsarevich of Russia. The only son and heir of Russian Emperor Nicholas II. That sick child with hemophilia was the only hope for the…
A colonial conflict between the weak old empire of Russia and the rising power of Japan. It left Russia crumbling with disgraceful…
A tragic event when the imperial soldiers opened fire at a peaceful demonstration in front of tsar’s palace. It was the pivotal moment when…
The Revolution of 1905 was the Russian people’s first open clash with the tsar. It gave Russians their first civil rights, over…
Statesman. A very contradictory Russian Prime Minister. His capitalist agrarian reforms perhaps might have taken Russia to a more liberal, democratic path.…
Russia paid a high price during World War I. Of the 12 million men, who were fighting, over 8 million were lost.…
Clergyman. A Russian monk with alleged healing powers. He had great influence on the Emperor’s family and he occasionally interfered with the…
Military officer. General Alexey Brusilov was an outstanding Russian war commander in World War I. His famous Brusilov Breakthrough was the only…
Grand Duke of Russia. He was tsar Nicholas II’s uncle and the most charismatic figure in the Romanov family. His term as…
Statesman. Russian Prime Minister during World War I. He was a reactionary monarchist and a conservative old man, whose ineffectiveness helped monarchy…
As a result of the World War I catastrophe, the people of St. Petersburg took to the streets and forced the tsar to…
What was originally a peaceful Women’s Day demonstration in Petrograd, grew into a general strike and mutiny. Tsar Nicholas II had no…
Grand Duke of Russia. Emperor Nicholas II’s younger brother, who said no to the Russian crown that was offered to him after…
Between the February Revolution and the October Revolution, Russia was governed by two concurrent governments: the liberal Provisional Government and the radical Petrograd…
Statesman. The first post-Imperial Prime Minister of Russia. His Provisional Government failed to solve any of the impending problems that Russia was facing.…
Statesman. The most outstanding liberal politician during the time of Russian Revolution. As a Foreign Minister of the Provisional Government he failed…
Statesman. Prime Minister of Russia who failed to restore order after the tsar had been deposed. He was an excellent public speaker…
A crisis when the revolutionary Sailors of Kronstadt spontaneously marched to the Tauride Palace to put down the Provisional Government in 1917. The…
An attempt by General Kornilov to overthrow the Provisional Government, that was a disappointment to everyone. He represented the most conservative part of society who wanted to restore…
A silent bloodless coup led by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd at night. The outcome was the world’s first socialist state where Lenin’s…
Leader of the Russian SFSR The ideological leader of the Soviet cause in Russia. He was the first Premier of Soviet Russia.…
Stateswoman. She was Vladimir Lenin’s wife and caretaker, a lifelong comrade in the Communist party. Also an advocator of education and women’s…
Statesman. As the military conductor of the October Revolution and the Civil War, Trotsky was the most charismatic and popular man after…
Statesman. One of the three closest associates of Vladimir Lenin. He held several key positions in the Soviet state apparatus and was…
Statesman. One of the most prominent Soviet political leaders. He was one of three closest companions of Lenin and the leader of…
Statesman. One of the greatest theorists among the Soviet leaders. His writings form the theoretical basis of Soviet economy. After using him…
Statesman. The “Iron Felix” was the founder and chief of the Soviet Russian secret police Cheka. It executed a comprehensive terror campaign…
Statesman. Yakov Sverdlov was the formal head of state of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. He was a loyal ally of…
Statesman. One of the highest ranking statesmen in the early Soviet Russia. He was the formal successor of Lenin as the Prime…
Statesman. Minister of the Enlightenment, responsible for culture and education in Soviet Russia. He made attempts to preserve Russian cultural heritage and…
After the abdication of the tsar, the Constituent Assembly was universally agreed to be the only rightful body to decide the form…
The Russian Civil War saw more casualties than World War I. It was the bloodiest military conflict on Russian soil. The extremely…
Signing an extremely disadvantageous peace treaty with Germany was the only option for the Bolsheviks to maintain power after the October Revolution. Lenin…
Military officer. For one year during the Civil War, Admiral Kolchak was the internationally recognized leader of Russia. He united all the…
Military officer. Most successful military commander of the White Movement in the Russian Civil War. Upon defeat he left his southern army…
Military officer. One of the greatest White Army commanders of the Russian Civil War. His army was the last to stand up against…
Military officer. An outstanding White Army commander in the Russian Civil War. He was very close to capturing Petrograd − the heart…
Military officer. A victorious Red war commander of the Russian Civil War. Frunze was one of the founders of the Red Army.…
Military officer. The most controversial Soviet military leader. He was a war hero of the Civil War, a great theorist and reformer…
Military officer. Legendary Soviet Field Marshal of the Russian Civil War. He became a symbolic war hero and a star of many…
The Bolshevik victory in the civil war transformed into the dictatorship of Stalin. World War II was followed by a bipolar Cold…
The NEP was Lenin’s plan to help Russia’s economy back on track after seven years of war. He allowed private enterprise to some…
Kronstadt Uprising was the single most dangerous act of rebellion against Bolsheviks and their Soviet rule. It had profound impact and resulted…
Stalin’s reign was the time of great terror, collectivization and industrialization. It was a war against his own people. Fear paralyzed all…
Leader of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin is one of the most blood-thirsty, most powerful and feared dictators in the history of…
Statesman. Stalin’s Foreign Minister during the times of World War II and Cold War. As an outstanding diplomat and intellectual, he was…
Statesman. Voroshilov was one of Stalin’s most devoted and submissive associates. He was one of the few Stalin’s old companions who survived…
Statesman. Stalin’s close associate. Mikoyan was a great political survivor, and very unique as such. He was in the top Communist hierarchy…
Statesman. Stalin’s loyal associate and partner in Great Terror and forced Collectivization. Not too bright nor educated, he was the second important…
Statesman. Mikhail Kalinin was a formal president of the Soviet Union. Nicknamed “Grandpa Kalinin”, he was merely a symbol with no power.…
Statesman. A close comrade of Stalin. His immense growth of popularity made him a dangerous rival to Stalin’s power. His assassination gave Stalin…
Statesman. Yagoda was the much-feared chief of the Russian secret police. He executed Stalin’s Great Terror with all its atrocities and was…
Statesman. The head of the NKVD. During his two years of “Yezhovshchina”, Stalin’s Great Terror reached its peak. Over million people were…
Statesman Beria was the chief of NKVD and a powerful statesman during the final 15 years of Stalin. He attempted to seize power…
Statesman. Chief Prosecutor and Foreign Minister of Soviet Union. He performed a leading role in Show Trials, where old Bolshevik leaders were staged…
The inevitable military conflict that grew out of the consequences of WWI. The Soviet Union came out of the war more powerful…
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was the final preparation for World War II. Germany and Soviet Union ratified their European spheres of interest and agreed…
Military officer. The most glorified military commander in Russia. He was the supreme commander of Red Army that defeated Nazi Germany in…
Military officer The second greatest Soviet commander of World War II. He was the key figure in defending Moscow, made a breakthrough…
Military officer. One of the most celebrated Soviet Field Marshals of World War II. He was the chief mastermind of the massive…
The largest battle with the most casualties of all time. Over two million men died during one and a half years. The…
Hitler’s plan in World War II was to break down the strategically important Leningrad by blockade. During the 900 days of siege,…
A period of bipolar world order that saw Communist Russia with its satellite states and the USA with other capitalist Western states locked…
A failed attempt by Stalin to push the Allies out of Berlin. It marked the turning point in the Cold War as Stalin…
Khrushchev’s Thaw was the most promising, open and relaxed period in Soviet history. Khrushchev broke the chain of Stalin’s terror and improved people’s…
Leader of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev is probably the least criticized leader of the Soviet Union. His de-Stalinization healed society a great…
Statesman. Malenkov was the universally acknowledged successor of Stalin. He took over Stalin’s post as a Premiere, but was then completely outwitted…
Statesman. Nikita Khrushchev’s Prime Minister. He backed Khrushchev’s power struggle after Stalin’s death, but betrayed him just two years later and was…
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was the first major popular uprising agains Soviet regime. It was put down ruthlessly by the army…
Soviet Union began secretly constructing nuclear missile sites in Cuba. American intelligence protested and there were fears of a possible nuclear war.…
After Khrushchev’s eventful reign the more reactionary Era of Stagnation followed. It was the time of Leonid Brezhnev, relaxed international relations and…
Leader of the Soviet Union He became the leader of Soviet Union because the Party needed someone more predictable than Khrushchev had…
Statesman. Prime Minister in a joint leadership with Brezhnev and Nikolay Podgorny. His liberal economic reforms faced firm resistance and gradually all…
Statesman. The chief ideologist and the most prominent party functionary in the cabinet of Leonid Brezhnev. Suslov was an ultra-reactionary and conservative…
Statesman. One of the foremost Foreign Ministers of the Soviet Union. During his 28 years of service, he was the main architect…
Prague Spring was a brief period of hope and liberal reforms in Soviet Czechoslovakia. The czechs’ attempt to develop “socialism with a…
Soviet Union’s intervention in the Afghan War to support the communist government was a failure. After a decade of devastating war, Russia…
Leader of the Soviet Union. Yuri Andropov’s reign lasted only 15 months. It was the era of Gerontocracy. There were three state…
Leader of the Soviet Union. A sickly old party apparachik, whose reign lasted less than a year. He enclosed the Era of…
Perestroika and Glasnost were hoped to cure the Soviet Union, but instead the situation got out of hand and resulted in the…
Leader of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of Soviet Union, started out as a great reformer, but the process…
The August Putch was a failed attempt of a small group of hardline communist ministers of the Soviet Union to push Gorbachev…
Russia’s search for its new post-Soviet identity has been undertaken with great difficulties. After the decade of Yeltsin’s capitalism, Putin has turned back…
Boris Yeltsin’s reign was probably the hardest time for Russian civilians after the war. The “shock therapy” economic reforms pushed Russia into…
Leader of the Russian Federation. One of the most loved politicians in the final days of Soviet Union but much hated after the…
Statesman. The author of the “Shock Therapy” plan of economics in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. He was hated…
Statesman. The Prime Minister of Yeltsin in nearly all of the 1990s. The former Gazprom manager was brought to the cabinet as…
Statesman. The Fourth Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. As a former Head of the Intelligence Service Primakov was a man of…
The Constitutional crisis was a conflict over the extent of presidential power in Russia between Boris Yeltsin and the parliament. It caused…
After a Yeltsin’s decade of instability his successor Vladimir Putin was initially well received. Putin then firmly re-centralized the state and renewed…
Leader of the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin’s term has marked, after ten years, the comeback of a centralized state and an autocrat ruler.…
