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