Russia Part 1 traces the origins of modern Russia and Ukraine among Slavic tribes, Viking raiders,

and the medieval kingdom of Kievan Rus. Mongol hordes brought death and destruction, but under
the first Tsars, a strong Russian state slowly emerged.

A note on 'Ivan the Terrible' - in Russia, Ivan IV has the epithet 'Гро́зный', which means 'Great' or
'Formidable'. So why is he called Ivan 'the Terrible' in this video? Because he was evil or useless?
No, it is because 'Гро́зный' was first translated into English many years ago as 'Terrible', when the
word commonly meant awesome or formidable (see definitions 3 & 4 here:
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/terr...). And in English, Ivan IV has been known as Ivan the
Terrible ever since.

From Prince Rurik to the Russian Revolution, this is a compilation of the first 5 episodes of Epic
History TV's History of Russia.

A note on 'Ivan the Terrible' - in Russia, Ivan IV has the epithet 'Гро́зный' meaning 'Great' or
'Formidable'. So why is he known as Ivan 'the Terrible' in English? Because he was evil or useless
or because of anti-Russian bias? No, because 'Terrible' in English also means awesome or
formidable - this was well understood when 'Гро́зный' was first translated into English centuries ago,
but now fewer people understand this. (see definitions 3 & 4 here:
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/terr...). The name stuck, and Ivan IV has been known as Ivan the
Terrible ever since.

Epic History TV's history of Russia continues! Emerging from the Time of Troubles, Russia fights
back against foreign invaders, as Prince Pozharksy and Kuzma Minin liberate Moscow from Polish
forces. Russia's assembly, the Zemsky Sobor, turns to a 16 year old boy, Mikhail Romanov, for
leadership. He and the early Romanovs oversee a turbulent period of war, reform and rebellion: all
Russian peasants are made serfs by the terms of the Sobornoye Ulozheniye, while Patriarch Nikon's
religious reforms split the Russian Orthodox Church between Reformers and Old Believers. The
Thirteen Years War (1654 – 67) against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth brings Smolensk and
Kiev under Russian control, as Cossack renegade (and folklore hero) Stenka Razin leads revolt in
the south.

In 1689, Peter the Great seizes power from his half-sister, Princess Regent Sofia. Peter is
determined to make Russia a great European power, and travels to the Dutch Republic and England
to study the latest developments in science and shipbuilding. He wages successful wars against the
Ottoman Empire, acquiring the Black Sea port of Azov, and defeats Sweden in the Great Northern
War, winning one of Russia's most famous victories at Poltava in 1709. He builds a new capital,
St.Petersburg, as well as a Russian navy, and reforms education, industry and government. Not
without internal opposition, Peter's boundless energy transforms Russia.

The second half of Russia's 18th century is dominated by female rulers. Under the reign of Empress
Anna Ioannovna, Vitus Bering charts the coast of Alaska and discovers the Aleutian Islands.
Empress Elizabeth leads Russia into the Seven Years War against Frederick the Great, with
Russian victory at Kunersdorf in 1759, and oversees construction of St.Petersburg's stunningly
lavish and expensive Winter Palace. While Peter III falls victim to a conspiracy by his wife Catherine
and army officers, leading to his own death, and the reign of Catherine the Great..

The History of Russia continues with the reign of Catherine the Great, a time of cultural splendour,
'enlightened autocracy', and enormous territorial expansion. Catherine's reign saw the annexation of
Crimea, and the Partition of Poland, and the settlement of Novorossiya by Russian colonists under
the supervision of Count Potemkin. European migrants, such as the Volga Germans, settled in
Russia, while Russia's new Jewish population lived within the 'Pale of Settlement'.
Catherine was horrified by the execution of Louis XVI during the French Revolution, and turned her
back on liberal ideas. The reign of her son, Paul, saw the great victories of Marshal Suvorov against
Revolutionary France, but ended in the Emperor's murder during a palace coup.

The reign of Emperor Alexander I saw modernising reforms by the brilliant Count Mikhail Speranksy,
but was dominated by war with Napoleon. In 1812 the French Emperor invaded Russia, but following
the Battle of Borodino and the burning of Moscow, he was forced to retreat, and his Grande Armee
was destroyed. Alexander's reign also saw the annexation of Finland, expansion into the Caucasus
and Balkans, and himself take the title 'King of Poland'.

The History of Russia continues with the accession of Emperor Nicholas I in 1825, who survives the
Decembrist Revolt to adopt a doctrine of 'Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality'. Russia is victorious
against Persia (1828) and the Ottoman Empire (1829), and crushes the November Uprising in
Poland (1830).

In 1837 Russia's greatest poet Alexander Pushkin is killed in a duel. In 1851 Russia's first major
railway opens, connecting Moscow and St.Petersburg, and one year later 'father of Russian
socilaism' Alexander Herzen emigrates to London.

In 1853 Russia defeats the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Sinop, but Britain and France then declare
war on Russia to prevent it making further gains at Ottoman expense. They besiege the Crimean
naval base at Sevastopol and blockade St.Petersburg, forcing Russia to sign a humiliating peace.

Alexander II succeeds his father, and decides urgent reform is required in Russia. In 1861 he
abolishes serfdom. This wins him the title 'The Liberator', but serfs still struggle with poverty and
debt.

The Russians put down another Polish revolt in 1861, victoriously conclude the long Caucasian War
in 1864, and make big gains in Central Asia. This brings them into conflict with the British Empire.
Both sides become entangled in 'The Great Game', using spies and diplomats to undermine each
other's position in the region.

In 1867 Russia sells Alaska to America for $7.2 million (a tiny fraction of its worth), and two years
later Leo Tolstoy publishes War and Peace. Russia then defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-
Turkish War of 1877-78, and helps secure independence for Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and
Bulgaria.

But radicals within Russia, who suffer severe persecution, are furious at the lack of reform from
Alexander II. A terrorist group, 'The People's Will', after several failed attempts, finally succeeds in
assassinating the Emperor in 1881.

The History of Russia continues with the aftermath of the assassination of Alexander II in 1881. The
reign of his son, Alexander III, saw a return to Russian autocracy, as revolutionaries were pursued
by the Okhrana - the Tsarist secret police - and Jews were targeted in pogroms. Sergei Witte helped
to modernise Russia's economy, and work began on the Trans-Siberian railway.

Under Nicholas II Russia suffered a humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Discontent with
the Tsarist government led to the 1905 Revolution, and the Tsar was forced to make political
concessions and promise a constitution. Pyotr Stolypin, the new prime minister, passed land reforms
to help Russia's peasants, but was assassinated by a revolutionary in 1911, while Siberian faith
healer Grigori Rasputin found favour with the imperial family.

World War One proved disastrous for Russia. There were enormous casualties at the front, while
food shortages caused unrest in the cities. When striking workers were joined by the soldiers sent to
disperse them, it became clear the Tsar's government had lost control of the situation. Nicholas II
agreed to abdicate, but a new Provisional Government could not halt Russia's slide into political,
economic and military chaos... paving the way for a second, Bolshevik revolution.