Why go
Novgorod, Kyiv and Moscow belong to different stages of this story. Following the shift between them clarifies why the history of Rus’ reaches beyond modern national borders, while the later empire raises different questions about power, land and social change.
The full story
The early history of Rus’ involved East Slavic and Finnic peoples alongside Scandinavian rulers and traders. The chronicle tradition associates Rurik with Novgorod in 862 and Oleg with the establishment of rule in Kyiv in 882. These accounts combine historical memory with narratives written later. Christianity adopted from Byzantium in 988 became a lasting cultural influence. The Mongol invasions of 1237–1240 devastated the principalities. Moscow subsequently grew into a centre of religious and political authority, while Novgorod and Pskov retained distinct regional importance. By the eighteenth century, expansion had created an empire reaching the Pacific. Imperial reform repeatedly encountered the limits of autocratic rule. The abolition of serfdom in 1861 changed the legal position of peasants without removing their economic difficulties. The creation of a national legislature after the upheavals of 1905 introduced another institution, but did not resolve the conflict over how much power the monarchy would share.