Russian History Timeline

Events 1 - 200 of 1,103

• 0911-09-02 Viking-monarch Oleg of Kiev-Russia signs treaty with Byzantines
• 0990-01-01 Russia adopts Julian calendar
• 1057-05-12 The Ostromir Gospel, now the oldest surviving Russian manuscript is recorded completed by its scribe Deacon Grigory [1]

• 1223-05-31 Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol force led by Jebei and Subedei defeat a Russian alliance, after feigning their retreat, leading to the death of 20,000 Russians
• 1237-12-21 Mongolian forces take the Russian city of Ryazan after a five-day siege during their invasion of the Rus
• 1238-02-07 Mongolian forces led by General Batu capture and burn the important Russian city of Vladimir, after an eight-day siege
• 1238-03-04 Battle of the Sit River: Mongol forces of Batu Khan overcome Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal near Yaroslavl in Russia, ending Russian resistance
• 1323-08-12 Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) regulates the border for the first time
• 1326-06-03 Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark
• 1399-08-05 Battle at Worskla: Tataren beat Russians and Litouwers
• 1514-09-08 Battle of Orsha: Polish Lithuania army defeats the Russian army

• 1557-02-27 Osep Gregoriwich Napea, the 1st Russian ambassador to England, arrives in London
• 1558-04-04 Tsar Ivan IV gives the patent to colonize "the abundant region along the Kama River" of North-Russia to the fur trading Stroganov merchant family
• 1561-07-12 "Trinity Church" (now Saint Basil's Cathedral) is consecrated in Moscow, Russia, built to commemorate defeat of the Mongols at battle of Kazan
• 1563-02-15 Russian troops occupy Polotsk Lithuania
• 1579-07-08 Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan
• 1582-01-15 Russia cedes Livonia & Estonia to Poland, loses access to Baltic
• 1589-01-26 Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
• 1598-01-07 Boris Godunov seizes Russian throne on death of Feodor I
• 1598-02-17 Boris Godunov chosen as Tsar of Russia
• 1598-02-21 Boris Godunov crowned Tsar of Russia
• 1605-06-10 False Dimitri I, an impostor, crowned Russian tsar (rules 1605-1606)
• 1606-05-16 2,000 foreigners murdered in Russia
• 1608-06-01 Valse Dimitri forms his 2nd Russian anti-government

• 1610-08-27 Polish King Wladyslaw IV Vasa claims crown as King of Russia (disputed)
• 1612-11-01 (22 October O.S.) Time of Troubles in Russia: Moscow, Kitai-gorod, is captured by Russian troops under command of Dmitry Pozharsky
• 1613-02-07 Michail Romanov (aged 16) becomes Tsar of Russia
• 1613-02-21 Michael Romanov, son of the Patriarch of Moscow, is elected the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov
• 1617-03-09 Sweden & Russia sign Peace of Stolbowa
• 1618-12-11 The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia agree to the Truce of Deulino ending the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)
• 1634-02-19 Battle of Smolensk: King Wladyslaw IV of Poland beats Russians [NS=Mar 1]
• 1634-03-01 Battle at Smolensk: Polish King Wladyslaw IV beats Russians
• 1634-06-14 Russia and Poland sign Peace treaty of Polianov
• 1642-03-27 The sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joseph takes office.
• 1645-07-13 Aleksei Romanov succeeds his father Michael as Tsar of Russia
• 1649-02-08 Sobornoye Ulozheniye of 1649: Russia adopts new code of laws, consolidating serfdom (OS 29 Jan) [1]
• 1649-06-01 Russian Tsar Alexis throws English merchants out of Moscow
• 1652-07-25 Nikita Minin becomes patriarch of Russian Orthodox Church
• 1653-10-01 Russian parliament accepts annexation of Ukraine
• 1654-09-16 Russian troops occupy Smolensk in Poland
• 1655-07-31 Russo-Polish War (1654-1667): the Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years
• 1656-10-24 Treaty of Vilnius: Russia & Poland sign anti-Swedish covenant
• 1656-11-03 Treaty of Vilnius: Russia & Poland sign anti-Swedish covenant [NS]
• 1659-06-29 The Russians, led by Prince Trubetskoy are defeated by the Ukrainian armies of Ivan Vyhovsky in the Battle of Konotop
• 1661-06-21 Treaty of Kardis: Russia & Sweden sign peace treaty
• 1665-05-05 Dutch politician Nicolaas Witsen visits the politically powerful Patriarch Nikon, head of the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow
• 1667-01-03 Resistance of Androsovo in Russia-Poland
• 1667-01-20 Treaty of Andrussovo ends 13 year war between Poland & Russia
• 1667-01-30 Treaty/Truce of Andrusovo signed between Tsardom of Russia & Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
• 1667-02-09 Treaty of Andrussovo: Russia and Poland signs peace treaty
• 1670-10-01 -4] Battle at Simbirsk a/d Wolga: Russian army beats Boers
• 1671-04-14 Cossacks capture Russian peasant leader Stenka Razin
• 1675-08-06 Russian Tsar Alexis bans foreign hair styles to those below the nobility
• 1676-01-29 Feodor III succeeds his father and becomes Tsar of Russia

• 1689-08-27 The Treaty of Nerchinsk is signed by Russia and the Qing empire
• 1689-09-08 China & Russia sign Treaty of Nertsjinsk (Nierchul), checked Russian expansion but opened trade further between the two countries
• 1696-07-19 Russian Tsar Peter I's fleet occupies the southern mouth of the Don River and gains access to the Sea of Azov, after the surrender of the Ottoman Azov garrison
• 1697-03-10 Tsar Peter the Great of Russia begins a tour of Western Europe
• 1698-01-07 Russian Tsar Peter the Great departs Netherlands for England
• 1698-08-18 Russian Tsar Peter the Great arrives in Zaandam
• 1698-09-05 Russian Tsar Peter the Great imposes a tax on beards
• 1699-11-22 Treaty of Preobrasjensku Denmark, Russia, Saksen and Poland divide Sweden
• 1699-12-20 Russian Tsar Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed from Sept 1 to Jan 1
• 1700-01-01 Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire
• 1700-02-12 The Great Northern War begins in Northern Europe between Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia and the Swedish Empire.

• 1703-04-21 Battle at Pultusk: Swedish army beats a Saxon-led force during the Great Northern War
• 1703-05-27 Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Russian Tsar Peter the Great
• 1706-02-13 Battle at Fraustadt: Swedish army beats Russia and Saxon forces, one of Swedish's Greatest victories in the Great Northern War
• 1706-09-24 Treaty of Altranstädt: Charles XII of Sweden & August II of Saksen; Augustus renounces his claims to the Polish throne and his alliance with Russia
• 1708-07-04 Battle of Holowczyn: Swedish King Charles XII defeats superior Russian force in surprising vctory
• 1708-10-09 Great Northern War: Battle at Lesnaya (N.S): Russian army captures Swedish convoy
• 1709-06-27 Great Northern War: Peter the Great of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava; Charles goes into exile in Bender, Ottoman Empire
• 1709-07-08 Battle of Poltava; Russians defeat Swedes, end of Swedish empire as a major power
• 1710-01-27 Tsar Peter the Great sets first Russian state budget
• 1713-07-27 Russia and Turkey sign peace treaty
• 1714-07-14 Battle of Aland, Russian fleet overpowers larger Swedish naval force
• 1714-07-27 Battle at Hango (Hangut): Russians beat Swedish fleet
• 1714-08-07 The Battle of Gangut: the first important victory of the Russian Navy during the Great Northern War against Sweden
• 1716-11-03 Treaty signed ending the Polish civil war between the Tarnogrów confederates and Saxon forces led by Augustus II. Tsar Peter the Great's influence and support for Augustus II leads to the Silent Sejm and Russian involvement. [1]
• 1717-02-01 Silent Sejm session of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth parliament marks the end of Augustus II's attempts to create an absolute monarchy and the start of Russia's influence and control over the Commonwealth [1]
• 1718-06-26 Peter the Great's son, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia dies from the effects of torture after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him
• 1720-07-27 The second important victory of the Russian Navy - the Battle of Grengam
• 1721-01-25 Tsar Peter the Great makes the Moscow patriarchate and Russian Orthodox Church subordinate to the state
• 1721-08-30 Russian and Swedish sign Treaty of Nystad, ending North Sea War
• 1721-10-22 Tsar Peter the Great titles himself "Emperor of All Russia"
• 1722-09-12 Russian troops occupy Baku & Derbent in Persia
• 1723-06-26 After a lasting siege and bombardment by cannons, Baku surrenders to the Russians.
• 1724-01-28 The Russian Academy of Sciences founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in a Senate decree. Called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
• 1724-06-23 Russia and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople

• 1726-02-08 The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia

• 1727-05-07 Jews are expelled from Ukraine by Empress Catherine I of Russia
• 1727-05-29 Peter II becomes Tsar of Russia aged 11
• 1727-10-21 Russian & Chinese accord to correct boundaries
• 1728-01-09 Coronation of 12-year-old Peter II Alexeyevich as Tsar of Russia takes place in Moscow
• 1730-02-28 Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna revokes "the conditions" and dissolves the Privy Council, re-instituting autocracy
• 1732-01-21 Russia and Persia sign the Treaty of Riascha
• 1734-06-30 Russian army occupies Danzig
• 1734-12-13 Britain and Russia sign trade agreement
• 1735-03-10 An agreement between Nadir Shah and Paul I of Russia is signed near Ganja and Russian troops are withdrawn from Baku
• 1739-10-03 The Treaty of Nissa is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736-1739.
• 1740-07-11 Jews are expelled from Little Russia by order of Tsarina Anne
• 1740-10-17 Ivan VI becomes Tsar of Russia
• 1740-10-28 Ivan VI becomes Tsar of Russia [OS=Oct 17]
• 1741-07-28 Danish Captain Vitus Bering, on a Russian expedition, is the first European to sight Mount Saint Elias, second-highest mountain of Canada and the US
• 1741-08-20 Alaska first sighted by Danish explorer Vitus Bering at head of Russian expedition

• 1741-12-05 -6] Russian princess Elisabeth Petrovna grabs powers
• 1741-12-07 Elisabeth Petrovna becomes Tsarina of Russia
• 1742-04-25 Elizabeth of Russia crowns herself Empress in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow
• 1742-11-07 Empress Elizabeth of Russia proclaims her nephew Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (later Peter III) her heir
• 1742-12-01 Empress Elisabeth orders expulsion of all Jews from Russia
• 1743-08-17 Treaty of Åbo signed in Turku by Sweden and Russian Empire, ending the Russo-Swedish War (1741-1743)
• 1746-05-22 Russia and Austria sign treaty of cooperation
• 1746-06-02 Russia and Austria sign agreements
• 1751-09-13 Britain signs Austrian & Russian alliance
• 1755-01-25 Moscow University is established by Elizabeth of Russia and founded by Mikhail Lomonosov on Tatiana Day
• 1755-04-26 1st Russian university opens in Moscow
• 1755-09-19 Great Britain & Russia sign military agreement
• 1756-07-30 Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly-built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers in Russia
• 1756-12-31 Russia joins the Alliance of Versailles
• 1760-09-28 Russian and Austrian armies occupy Berlin
• 1760-10-02 Russian and Austrian army evacuates Berlin [NS=10/13]
• 1760-10-09 Seven Years' War: Russian and Austrian forces occupy Berlin [OS=Sep 28]
• 1760-10-13 Russian and Austrian armies evacuate Berlin

• 1762-07-17 Catherine II becomes Tsarina of Russia following the murder of Peter III
• 1763-09-01 Catherine II of Russia endorses Ivan Betskoy's plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow

• 1768-08-19 Saint Isaac's Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• 1770-07-05 First day of three day naval Battle of Chesma between the Russian and Ottoman Empires off the coast of Anatolia won by the Russians
• 1770-08-01 Battle of Kagul: smaller Russian army defeats larger Ottoman and Cossack force in Moldavia, the major land battle of the Russo-Turkish War and one of the largest battles of the 18th century
• 1772-04-06 Catherine the Great Empress of Russia, ends tax on men with beards, enacted by Tsar Peter the Great in 1698
• 1774-07-21 Russo-Turkish War, 1768-74: Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the war
• 1774-09-15 Cossack pretender to the Russian throne Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev captured
• 1783-04-08 Catherine II of Russia annexes the Crimea
• 1783-07-24 Georgia becomes a protectorate of tsarist Russia
• 1784-01-06 Turkey & Russia sign treaty in Constantinople
• 1784-09-22 Russian trappers establish a colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska
• 1785-04-21 Catherine II of Russia confers on the nobility the "Charter to the Nobility", increasing further the power of the landed oligarchs
• 1787-08-16 Turkey declares war on Russia (Russo-Turkish War 1787-92)
• 1787-10-01 Russians under Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn
• 1788-02-09 Austria declares war on Russia
• 1788-06-11 Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska
• 1788-12-17 Russian army of Grigory Potemkin assaults and captures the fortress of Ocharov in modern day Ukraine after a 5 month long siege in one of the major events of the Russo-Turkish War
• 1790-07-09 Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund - in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian fleet
• 1790-08-14 Sweden & Russia sign Peace of Verela
• 1790-12-22 Supposedly impenetrable Turkish fortress of Izmail stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92)
• 1792-01-09 Russia & Turkey sign Peace of Jassy
• 1792-05-19 Russian army enters Poland
• 1794-06-23 Russian Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great) grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev
• 1794-11-09 Russian troops occupy Warsaw
• 1795-03-28 Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland, a northern fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.
• 1798-01-01 Russia appoints 1st Jewish censor to censor Hebrew books
• 1798-12-24 Russia & Britain sign Second anti-French Coalition
• 1799-06-22 Britain and Russia decide to invade Batavian Republic
• 1799-08-30 Batavian fleet surrenders to British navy during Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland
• 1799-10-02 Duke of York & Russians capture Alkmaar in Netherlands
• 1799-10-06 Battle of Castricum: Franco-Dutch army beats British-Russian army
• 1799-10-10 Convention of Alkmaar: British-Russian invasion army departs Holland
• 1799-10-22 Russia leaves second anti-French Coalition

• 1805-11-16 Battle at Schongrabern: Russian army stop French
• 1805-12-02 Napoleon defeats Russians & Austrians at Austerlitz
• 1807-02-08 Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and the Russian Empire, first battle Napoleon isn't victorious
• 1807-06-19 Russian Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroys the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos during Russo-Turkish War

• 1808-02-21 Russia invades Finland, then part of the Swedish Kingdom, with 24,000 troops
• 1808-05-03 Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia
• 1808-09-13 Finnish War: In the Battle of Jutas, Swedish forces under Lieutenant General Georg Carl von Döbeln beat the Russians, making von Döbeln a Swedish war hero.

• 1809-09-17 Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
• 1811-02-02 Russian settlers establish Ft Ross trading post, north of San Francisco
• 1812-03-15 1st Russian settlement in California at Russian River
• 1812-06-24 Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armée numbering half a million begin their invasion of Russia by crossing the Nieman River
• 1812-07-23 Battle of Mogilev: first significant fighting during Napoleon's invasion of Russia results in minor French victory
• 1812-09-07 Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Bonapartre wins a pyrrhic victory against Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov in the most ferocious battle of the Napoleonic era, 70,000 are killed

• 1812-11-03 French Napoleonic armies defeated at Vyazma by a Russian force commanded by General Miloradovich
• 1812-11-29 Napoleon's Grand Army crosses Berezina River in retreat from Russia
• 1812-12-14 The French invasion of Russia, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, officially ends with the French having lost as many as 530,000 people
• 1814-02-10 Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Champaubert, the French beat the Russians
• 1814-02-17 Battle of Mormant: French Imperial army defeat Russian Austrian forces (War of the Sixth Coalition)
• 1818-11-21 Russia's Tsar Alexander I petitions for a Jewish state in Palestine

• 1824-04-17 Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54° 40'N
• 1825-02-22 Russia and Britain establish the Alaska-Canada boundary
• 1825-12-26 Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins [O.S. 14 December]
• 1827-10-01 The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Armenia
• 1827-10-20 Naval Battle of Navarino (off the Peloponnese coast): English, Russian, French combined fleet beat a Turkish and Egyptian force, paving the way for Greek independence
• 1828-02-22 Russia and Persia sign the Peace of Turkmantsjai
• 1828-04-26 Russia declares war on Turkey to support Greece's independence
• 1828-08-27 The Russians defeat the Turks at the Battle of Akhalzic.

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