Paragraph on “History of Russia” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

History of Russia

It was in 882 that the Vikings established the first Russian state at Kiev which became an important trading centre. In those days Russia consisted of a large number of nomadic tribes scattered all over the countryside. In the last part of the 10th century the area was ruled by Vladimir-I who imposed the faith of the Russian Orthodox church upon t he people. In the beginning of the 13th century the Mongols invaded and destroyed most of Russia. It was only about two an 4 half centuries later that the Russian Czar, emperor, Ivan-III pulled Russia out of Mongol control and established his own control over, Moscow. After the death of Ivan-III, Ivan-IV, also called ‘Ivan the Terrible’ came into power, he was a very harsh ruler and the common peasants suffered under him and the land owners. The period between 1604 to 1613 was a difficult one and Russia faced many civil wars and attempts to overcome the throne. This period ended in 1613 when Michael Romanov took over the throne. In the year  1682 Peter the Great became the next Czar of Russia. lie ruled well and expanded the empire to gain control of the Baltic coast. He reformed the educational system and modernised the industry. He also built a new capital at St. Petersberg. His rule was followed by the rule of Catherine the Great. In the year 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia but failed because his army perished in the cold Russian winter. In 1914 Russia joined World War-1 against Germany and lost a very large number of soldiers in 1916. The Russian Czar Nicholas-II was blamed for this defeat and after his abdication he was arrested and executed by the ‘Bolsheviks’, a revolutionary group. After this Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks, set up the world’s first communist state and declared it as a Soviet Republic. In the coming years this republic went on to become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which too was subsequently dissolved.