Timeline of Russian history

__NOTOC__This is a timeline of Russian history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Russia. See also the list of leaders of Russia.

"This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing. Please help add to it."

9th - 10th - 11th - 12th - 13th - 14th - 15th - 16th - 17th -
18th - 19th - 20th - 21st

9th century

12th century

15th century

1707 || October 8 || "Bulavin Rebellion": A small band of Don Cossacks killed a Russian noble searching their territory for tax fugitives.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1708 || July 7 || "Bulavin Rebellion": After a series of devastating military reversals, Bulavin was shot by his former followers.
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December 18 || An imperial decree divided Russia into eight guberniyas (governates).
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1709 || June 28 || "Battle of Poltava": A decisive Russian military victory over the Swedes at Poltava marked the turning point of the war.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1710 || October 14 || The Russian guberniyas were divided into lots according to noble population.
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November 20 || "Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)": Charles XII of Sweden persuaded the Ottoman sultan to declare war on Russia.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1711 || February 22 || "Government reform of Peter I": Peter established the Governing Senate to pass laws in his absence.
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July 21 || "Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)": Peace was concluded with the Treaty of the Pruth. Russia returned Azov to the Ottoman Empire and demolished the town of Taganrog.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1713 || May 8 || The Russian capital was moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | July 17 || The Riga Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Livonia.
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The territory of the Smolensk Governorate was divided between the Moscow and Riga Governorates.
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1714 || January 15 || The northwestern territory of the Kazan Governorate was transferred to the newly established Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.
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1715 || October 11 || Peter demanded that his son, the tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, endorse his reforms or renounce his right to the throne.
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1716 || || Alexei fled to Vienna to avoid military service.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1717 || rowspan="2" valign="top" | November 22 || The Astrakhan Governorate was formed on the southern lands of Kazan Governorate.
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The territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reincorporated into the Kazan Governorate.
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December 12 || "Government reform of Peter I": Peter established "collegia", government ministries that superseded the "prikazy".
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rowspan="4" valign="top" | 1718 || January 31 || Alexei returned to Moscow under a promise he would not be harmed.
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February 18 || After torture, Alexei publicly renounced the throne and implicated a number of reactionaries in a conspiracy to overthrow his father.
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June 13 || Alexei was put on trial for treason.
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June 26 || Alexei died after torture in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1719 || rowspan="3" valign="top" | May 29 || Lots were abolished; the guberniyas were divided instead into provinces, each governed and taxed under a preexisting elected office (the Voyevoda). Provinces were further divided into districts, replacing the old "uyezds". The district commissars were to be elected by local gentry.
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The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reestablished.
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The Reval Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Estonia.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1721 || January 25 || Peter established the Holy Synod, a body of ten clergymen chaired by a secular official, that was to head the Russian Orthodox Church in lieu of the Patriarch of Moscow.
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August 30 || "Great Northern War": The Treaty of Nystad ended the war. Sweden ceded Estonia, Livonia and Ingria to Russia.
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October 22 || Peter was declared Emperor.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1722 || || Peter introduced the Table of Ranks, which granted the privileges of nobility based on state service.
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July || "Russo-Persian War (1722-1723)": A Russian military expedition sailed in support of the independence of two Christian kingdoms, Kartli and Armenia.
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1723 || September 12 || "Russo-Persian War (1722-1723)": The Persian shah signed a peace treaty ceding the cities of Derbent and Baku and the provinces of Shirvan, Guilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad to the Russian Empire.
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1725 || January 28 || Peter died of urinary problems. He failed to name a successor; one of Peter's closest advisers, Aleksandr Menshikov, convinced the Imperial Guard to declare in favor of Peter's wife Catherine I.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1726 || || The Smolensk Governorate was reestablished.
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February 8 || Catherine established an advisory body, the Supreme Privy Council.
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rowspan="4" valign="top" | 1727 || || Catherine established the Belgorod and Novgorod Governorates and adjusted the borders of several others. Districts were abolished; uyezds were reestablished.
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May 17 || Catherine died.
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May 18 || According to Catherine's wishes the eleven-year-old Peter II, the son of Alexei Petrovich and grandson of Peter the Great, became tsar. The Supreme Privy Council was to hold power during his minority.
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September 9 || The conservative members of the Supreme Privy Council expelled its most powerful member, the liberal Menshikov.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1730 || January 30 || Peter died of smallpox.
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February 1 || The Supreme Privy Council offered the throne to Anna Ivanovna, the daughter of Ivan V, on the conditions that the Council retain the powers of war and peace and taxation, among others, and that she never marry or appoint an heir.
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March 4 || Anna tore up the terms of her accession and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1736 || May 20 || "Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)": The Russian army captured the Ottoman fortifications at Perekop.
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June 19 || "Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)": The Russians captured Azov.
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1737 || July || "Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739)": Austria joined the war on the Russian side.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1739 || August 21 || "Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739)": Austria agreed by the Treaty of Belgrade to end its participation in the war.
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September 18 || "Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739)": The Treaty of Nissa ended the war. Russia gave up its claims on Crimea and Moldavia and its navy was barred from the Black Sea.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1740 || October 17 || Anna died of kidney disease. Her will left the throne to her adopted infant son, Ivan VI.
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October 18 || Anna's lover, Ernst Johann von Biron, was declared regent.
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November 8 || Biron was arrested on the orders of his rival, the Count Burkhard Christoph von Munnich. Ivan's biological mother, Anna Leopoldovna, replaced Biron as regent.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1741 || August 8 || "Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)": Sweden declared war on Russia.
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November 25 || Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Peter the Great, led the Preobrazhensky to the Winter Palace to overthrow the regency of Anna Leopoldovna and install herself as empress.
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December 2 || Ivan was imprisoned in the Daugavgriva fortress.
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1742 || September 4 || "Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)": Encircled by the Russians at Helsinki, the Swedish army surrendered.
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1743 || August 7 || "Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743)": The Treaty of Åbo was signed, ending the war. Russia relinquished most of the conquered territory, keeping only the lands east of the Kymi River. In exchange Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, the uncle of the Russian heir to the throne, was to become King of Sweden.
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1744 || || The Vyborg Governorate was established on conquered Swedish territories.
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1756 || August 29 || "Seven Years' War": The Kingdom of Prussia invaded the Austrian protectorate of Saxony.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1757 || May 1 || "Diplomatic Revolution": Under the Second Treaty of Versailles, Russia joined the Franco-Austrian military alliance.
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May 17 || "Seven Years' War": Russian troops entered the war.
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1761 || December 25 || "The miracle of the House of Brandenburg": Elizabeth died. Her nephew, Peter III, became tsar.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1762 || May 5 || "Seven Years' War": The Treaty of Saint Petersburg ended Russian participation in the war at no territorial gain.
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July 17 || Peter was overthrown by the Imperial Guard and replaced with his wife, Catherine II, The Great, on her orders.
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1764 || July 5 || A group of soldiers attempted to release the imprisoned Ivan VI; he was murdered.
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1767 || October 13 || "Repnin Sejm": Four Polish senators who opposed the policies of the Russian ambassador Nicholas Repnin were arrested by Russian troops and imprisoned in Kaluga.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1768 || February 27 || "Repnin Sejm": Delegates of the "Sejm" adopted a treaty ensuring future Russian influence in Polish internal politics.
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February 29 || Polish nobles established the Bar Confederation in order to end Russian influence in their country.
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September 25 || "Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)": The Ottoman sultan declared war on Russia.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1771 || September 15 || "Plague Riot": A crowd of rioters entered Red Square, broke into the Kremlin and destroyed the Chudov Monastery.
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September 17 || "Plague Riot": The army suppressed the riot.
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1772 || August 5 || The first partition of Poland was announced. Poland lost thirty percent of its territory, which was divided between Prussia, Austria, and Russia.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1773 || || "Pugachev's Rebellion": The army of the Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev attacked and occupied Samara.
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September 18 || A confederated sejm was forced to ratify the first partition of Poland.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1774 || July 21 || "Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)": The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed. The portion of the Yedisan region east of the Southern Bug river, the Kabarda region in the Caucasus, and several Crimean ports, went to Russia. The Crimean Khanate received independence from the Ottoman Empire, which also declared Russia the protector of Christians on its territory.
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September 14 || "Pugachev's Rebellion": Upset with the rebellion's bleak outlook, Pugachev's officers delivered him to the Russians.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1783 || April 8 || The Crimean Khanate was incorporated into the Russian Empire.
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July 24 || Threatened by the Persian and Ottoman Empires, the kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk under which it became a Russian protectorate.
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rowspan="4" valign="top" | 1788 || || "Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)": The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia and imprisoned her ambassador.
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June 27 || "Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)": The Swedish army playacted a skirmish between themselves and the Russians.
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July 6 || "Battle of Hogland": The Russian navy dispersed a Swedish invasion fleet near Hogland in the Gulf of Finland.
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October 6 || "Great Sejm": A confederated sejm was called to restore the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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1790 || August 14 || "Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)": The Treaty of Värälä ended the war, with no changes in territory.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1791 || May 3 || "Great Sejm": Poland's Constitution of May 3 was ratified in secret. The new constitution abolished the "liberum veto", reducing the power of the nobles and limiting Russia's ability to influence Polish internal politics.
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December 23 || Catherine established the Pale of Settlement, an area in European Russia into which Russian Jews were transported.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1792 || January 9 || "Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)": The Treaty of Jassy was signed, ending the war. The Russian border in Yedisan was extended to the Dniester river.
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May 18 || "Polish-Russian War of 1792": The army of the Targowica Confederation, which opposed the liberal Polish Constitution of May 3, invaded Poland.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1793 || January 23 || "Polish-Russian War of 1792": The second partition of Poland left the country with one-third of its 1772 population.
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November 23 || "Grodno Sejm": The last "sejm" of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ratified the second partition.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1794 || March 24 || "Kościuszko Uprising": An announcement by Tadeusz Kościuszko sparked a nationalist uprising in Poland.
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November 4 || "Battle of Praga": Russian troops captured the Praga borough of Warsaw and massacred its civilian population.
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November 5 || "Kościuszko Uprising": The uprising ended with the Russian occupation of Warsaw.
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 1795 || September 11 || "Battle of Krtsanisi": The Persian army demolished the armed forces of Kartl-Kakheti.
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October 24 || The third partition of Poland divided up the remainder of its territory.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 1796 || April || "Persian Expedition of 1796": Catherine launched a military expedition to punish Persia for its incursion into the Russian protectorate of Kartl-Kakheti.
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November 5 || Catherine suffered a stroke in the bathtub.
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November 6 || Catherine died. The throne fell to her son, Paul I.

19th century

21st century

{| class="wikitable" width="100%"! style="width:6%" |Year || style="width:10%" |Date || Event
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rowspan="2" valign="top" | 2002 || October 23 || "Moscow theater hostage crisis": Chechen rebels seized the House of Culture theater in Moscow, taking approximately 700 theatergoers hostage, and demanded an immediate Russian withdrawal from Chechnya.
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October 26 || "Moscow theater hostage crisis": The police pumped anesthetic into the building, then stormed it from every entrance. The subsequent gunfight left 42 terrorists and 120 hostages dead.
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rowspan="3" valign="top" | 2004 || March 14 || "Russian presidential election, 2004": Putin won re-election to a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote.
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September 1 || "Beslan school hostage crisis": A group of Chechen terrorists took 1300 adults and children hostage at School Number One in Beslan.
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September 3 || "Beslan school hostage crisis": At one in the afternoon, following the sound of explosions, Russian police and soldiers stormed the school. The ensuing battle left 344 civilians and 31 of 32 hostage-takers dead.
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2005 || October 13 || "October 2005 Nalchik attack": A large group of Fagsic militants assaulted and captured buildings throughout the city of Nalchik. By afternoon Russian soldiers surrounded and entered the city, forcing their enemies to retreat. Some 136 people were killed.
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2008 || March 2 || "Russian presidential election, 2008": Dmitry Medvedev won, earning 70.5 percent of the vote.