Russia Anna Evmenova

Russia

Anna Evmenova

Fast Facts Capital: Moscow Population: about 200 million Language: Russian Size: 7,000,000 square miles slightly less than 2 times the size of the US (as big as the United States and Canada combined) 10 time zones Religion: Mostly Russian Orthodox

Geography • There are varieties of geographical landscapes: treeless tundra – in the far north, taiga – the south of tundra with huge number of forests, and steppe – dry grassland in the south of Russia • Climate varies from Subtropical to Arctic - extremes of heat and cold • Flag: Three horizontal stripes: white – pure; blue – noble; and red – brave was first used by the Russian Empire from 1699 to 1918

Christianity • The beginning of Russia was in the early part of the ninth century • By 989 Vladimir considered a number of available faiths and decided upon Greek Orthodoxy • Christianity was done against people’s will • Russian Icons weren't painted to be charming but to inspire reflection and self-examination

Ivan IV the Terrible (1547 – 1584) • Ivan IV (the Terrible) in 1547, reorganized the military, and prepared to smite the Tatars invaded Kiev Russ • Ivan was not terrible at the beginning but by the 1560s he carried out a pretty horrific campaign against the boyars, confiscating their land • In 1581, in a rage, he struck his son and heir Ivan with an iron rod, killing him

St. Basil Cathedral

Peter the Great (1682-1725) • Peter the Great introduced military conscription, simplified the alphabet, changed the calendar, changed his title from Tsar to Emperor, and introduced a hundred other reforms • In 1703 transfer the capital from Moscow to a new city. Later that new city was called St. Petersburg

Triumph Arch

Catherine the Great (1762-1796) • Catherine went on to become the most powerful sovereign in Europe. She continued Peter the Great's reforms of the Russian state, further increasing central control over the provinces • The rising influence of European culture in Russia during the 17th and 18th centuries brought Russian artwork closer to the familiar traditions of western painting

Nicholas II Romanov (1894-1917) • The reign of Russia's last emperor, Nicholas II, began as tragically as it ended, when some 1,500 of his subjects were crushed to death • Nicholas attempted move Russia toward a constitutional monarchy • Culture was determined the schooling received by all members of the imperial and other elite families. • During revolution Nicholas II and his family were sent into internal exile, and eventually killed in July 1918 on Lenin's orders

October Revolution • Because of the war with Japan in 1905 and the First World War, Russia suffered severe food shortages, and soon suffered an economic collapse. February of 1917, the workers and soldiers had had enough. On October 25, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, they stormed the Winter Palace. • After the 1917 Revolution the art was in new Bolshevik regime. They produced political posters, organized street pageants and fairs

Soviet Russia/J. Stalin • The first few years of Soviet rule were marked by an extraordinary outburst of social and cultural change. Lenin's death in 1924 was followed by the decade of Joseph Stalin. • Agricultural lands were Alexander Gerasimov collectivized, creating large, state-run farms. • Art and literature were placed under much tighter control – the era of Soviet realism. • Religion was violently repressed, as churches were closed, destroyed, or converted to other uses.

World War Two and Postwar Years • With the outbreak of the • Stalin remained in Second World War, the power until 1953 Soviet Union found itself • Almost immediately unprepared for the conflict. after the death of Stalin, Industrial production was many of the repressive slow in converting from policies that he had civil to military production. instituted were • The war took twenty million dismantled lives. • Folk art of the Soviet • Russia gained considerable Union reflected the rich territory and now ranked as cultural diversity of the one of the greatest world fifteen republics. powers

Breaking of the Soviet Union • In 1990, the Soviet Union • In March of 1985, when itself began to unravel Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary, • The same year Yeltsin the need for reforms was became the first president pressing. of Russian Federation. • Gorbachev's platform for • On December 25, a new Soviet Union was Gorbachev resigned, and founded on two nowon midnight of December famous terms--glasnost 31, the Soviet flag on top (openness) and perestroika of the Kremlin was (restructuring). replaced by the Russian tricolor.

Russian Art Nowadays Nowadays, twice during the century, Russian culture happened to be separated. But Russian art will always be unique and intriguing

Easter Eggs Gzhel

Birch-bark

Fedoskino

Vologda lace