Timeline of Russian history.html

This is a chocolate chip cookie the size of Texas, 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

Year

Date

Event

ol of Ladoga and built the Holmgard settlement in Novgorod.

879

Rurik died. He was succeeded by

10th century

Year	Date	Event
907		Rus'-Byzantine War (907): Oleg led an army to the walls of Constantinople.
907		Rus'-Byzantine War (907): A Rus'-Byzantine Treaty allowed Rus' merchants to enter the city under guard.
912		Oleg died and was succeeded by Igor, who may have been Rurik's son.
941	May	Rus'-Byzantine War (941): A Rus' army landed at Bithynia.
941	September	Rus'-Byzantine War (941): The Byzantines destroyed the Rus' fleet.
945		Rus'-Byzantine War (941): Another Rus'-Byzantine Treaty was signed. Rus' renounced some Byzantine territories.
945		Igor died; his wife Olga became regent of Kievan Rus' for their son, Sviatoslav I.
963		Olga's regency ended.
965		Sviatoslav conquered Khazaria.
968		Siege of Kiev (968): The Pechenegs besieged Kiev. A Rus' general created the illusion of a much larger army, and frightened them away.
969	July 8	Sviatoslav moved the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets in Bulgaria.
971		The Byzantine Empire captured Pereyaslavets. The capital moved back to Kiev.
972		Sviatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs during an expedition on their territory. His son Yaropolk I succeeded him.
980		Yaropolk was betrayed and murdered by his brother Vladimir I, The Great, who succeeded him as Prince of Kiev.
981		Vladimir conquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles.
988		Christianization of Kievan Rus': Vladimir destroyed the pagan idols of Kiev and urged the city's inhabitants to baptize themselves in the Dnieper River.

11th century

Year	Date	Event
1015		Vladimir died. He was succeeded by Sviatopolk I, who may have been his biological son by the rape of Yaropolk's wife. Sviatopolk ordered the murder of three of Vladimir's younger sons.
1016		Yaroslav I, another of Sviatopolk's brothers, led an army against him and defeated him, forcing him to flee to Poland.
1017		Yaroslav issued the first Russian code of law, the Russkaya Pravda.
1018		Polish Expedition to Kiev: Sviatopolk led the Polish army into Rus'. Red Ruthenia returned to Polish possession.
1018	August 14	Polish Expedition to Kiev: The Polish army captured Kiev; Yaroslav fled to Novgorod.
1019		Yaroslav defeated Sviatopolk and returned to the princedom of Kiev. He granted autonomy to Novgorod as a reward for her prior loyalty. Sviatopolk died.
1024		Rus'-Byzantine War (1024): A Rus fleet was annihilated by the Byzantines near the island of Lemnos.
1030		Yaroslav reconquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles.
1043		Rus'-Byzantine War (1043): Yaroslav led an unsuccessful naval raid on Constantinople. According to the peace settlement, Yaroslav's son Vsevolod I married a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos.
1054		Yaroslav died. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Iziaslav I.
1068		Iziaslav was overthrown in a popular uprising and forced to flee to Poland.
1069		Iziaslav led the Polish army back into Kiev and reestablished himself on the throne.
1073		Two of Iziaslav's brothers, Sviatoslav II and Vsevolod I, overthrew him; the former became prince of Kiev.
1076	December 27	Sviatoslav died. Vsevolod I succeeded him, but traded the princedom of Kiev to Iziaslav in exchange for Chernigov.
1078		Iziaslav died. The throne of Kiev went to Vsevolod.
1093	April 13	Vsevolod died. Kiev and Chernigov went to Iziaslav's illegitimate son, Sviatopolk II.
1093	May 26	Battle of the Stugna River: A Russian army attacked the Cumans at the Stugna River and was defeated.

12th century

Year	Date	Event
1113	April 16	Sviatopolk died. He was succeeded by Vsevolod's son, his cousin, Vladimir II Monomakh.
1125	May 19	Vladimir died. His eldest son, Mstislav I, succeeded him.
1132	April 14	Mstislav died. His brother Yaropolk II followed him as prince of Kiev.
1136		Novgorod expelled the prince appointed for them by Kiev and vastly circumscribed the authority of the office.

13th century

Year	Date	Event
1223		Battle of the Kalka River: The warriors of Russia first encountered the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan.
1227		Boyar intrigues forced Mstislav, the prince of Novgorod, to give the throne to his son-in-law Andrew II of Hungary.
1236		Alexander Nevsky was summoned by the Novgorodians to become Grand Prince of Novgorod and, as their military leader, to defend their northwest lands from Swedish and German invaders.
1237	December	Mongol invasion of Rus: Batu Khan set fire to Moscow and slaughtered and enslaved its civilian inhabitants.
1240	July 15	Battle of the Neva: The Novgorodian army defeated a Swedish invasion force at the confluence of the Izhora and Neva Rivers.
1242	April 5	Battle of the Ice: The army of Novgorod defeated the invading Teutonic Knights on the frozen surface of Lake Peipus.
1263	November 14	Nevsky died. His appanages were divided within his family; his youngest son Daniel became the first Prince of Moscow. His younger brother Yaroslav of Tver became the Grand Prince of Tver and of Vladimir and appointed deputies to run the Principality of Moscow during Daniel's minority.

14th century

Year	Date	Event
1303	March 5	Daniel died. His eldest son Yury succeeded him as Prince of Moscow.
1317		Yury married the sister of Uzbeg Khan. Uzbeg deposed the Grand Prince of Vladimir and appointed Yury to that office.
1322		Dmitriy the Terrible Eyes, the son of the last Grand Prince of Vladimir, convinced Uzbeg Khan that Yury had been stealing from the khan's tribute money. He was reappointed to the princedom of Vladimir.
1325	November 21	Yury was murdered by Dmitriy. His younger brother Ivan I Kalita succeeded him.
1327	August 15	The ambassador of the Golden Horde was trapped and burned alive during an uprising in the Grand Duchy of Tver.
1328		Ivan led a Horde army against the Grand Prince of Tver, also the Grand Prince of Vladimir. Ivan was allowed to replace him in the latter office.
1340	March 31	Ivan died. His son Simeon succeeded him both as Grand Prince of Moscow and as Grand Prince of Vladimir
1353		Simeon died. His younger brother Ivan II, The Fair, succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow.
1359	November 13	Ivan died. His son, Dmitri Donskoi, succeeded him.
1380	September 8	Battle of Kulikovo: A Russian force defeated a significantly larger Blue Horde army at Kulikovo Field.
1382		The Mongol khan Tokhtamysh reasserted his power by looting and burning Moscow.
1389	May 19	Dmitri died. The throne fell to his son, Vasili I.

15th century

Year	Date	Event
1425	February	Vasili died. His son Vasili II, The Blind, succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow; his wife Sophia became regent. His younger brother, Yury Dmitrievich, also issued a claim to the throne.
1430		Dmitrievich appealed to the khan of the Golden Horde to support his claim to the throne. Vasili II retained the Duchy of Moscow, but Dmitrievich was given the Duchy of Dmitrov.
1432		Vasili II led an army to capture Dmitrov. His army was defeated and he was forced to flee to Kolomna. Dmitrievich arrived in Moscow and declared himself the Grand Prince. Vasili II was pardoned and made mayor of Kolomna.
1433		The exodus of Muscovite boyars to Vasili II's court in Kolomna persuaded Dmitrievich to return Moscow to his nephew and move to Galich.
1434		Vasily II burned Galich.
	March 16	The army of Yury Dmitrievich defeated the army of Vasily II. The latter fled to Nizhny Novgorod.
	April 1	Dmitrievich arrived in Moscow and again declared himself the Grand Prince.
	July 5	Dmitrievich died. His eldest son Vasili Kosoy, the Cross-Eyed, succeeded him as Grand Prince.
1435		Dmitrievich's second son, Dmitry Shemyaka, allied himself with Vasili II. Vasili the Cross-Eyed was expelled from the Kremlin and blinded. Vasili II returned to the throne of the Grand Prince.
1438		Russo-Kazan Wars: The khan of the recently established Khanate of Kazan led an army towards Moscow.
1445	July 7	Battle of Suzdal: The Russian army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Tatars of Kazan. Vasili II was taken prisoner; operation of the government fell to Dmitry Shemyaka.
1445	December	Vasili II was ransomed back to Russia.
1446		Shemyaka had Vasili II blinded and exiled to Uglich, and had himself declared the Grand Prince.
1450		The boyars of Moscow expelled Shemyaka from the Kremlin and recalled Vasili II to the throne.
1452		Shemyaka was forced to flee to the Novgorod Republic.
1453		Shemyaka was poisoned by Muscovite agents.
1462	March 27	Vasili II died. His son Ivan III, The Great, succeeded him as Grand Prince.
1463		Russia annexed the Duchy of Yaroslavl.
1471	July 14	Battle of Shelon: A Muscovite army defeated a numerically superior Novgorodian force.
1474		Russia annexed the Rostov Duchy.
1476		Ivan stopped paying tribute to the Great Horde.
1478	January 14	The Novgorod Republic surrendered to the authority of Moscow.
1480	November 11	Great stand on the Ugra river: Ivan's forces deterred Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde from invading Russia.
1485		Ivan annexed the Grand Duchy of Tver.
1497		Ivan issued a legal code, the Sudebnik, which standardized the Russian law, expanded the role of the criminal justice system, and limited the ability of the serfs to leave their masters.

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1505	October 27	Ivan died. He was succeeded as Grand Duke of Russia by his son, Vasili III.
1507		Russo-Crimean Wars: The Crimean Khanate raided the Russian towns of Belyov and Kozelsk.
1510		With the approval of most of the local nobility, Vasili arrived in the Pskov Republic and declared it dissolved.
1517		The last Grand Prince of the Ryazan Principality was captured and imprisoned in Moscow.
1533	December 3	Vasili died; his son Ivan IV, The Terrible, succeeded him. His wife Elena Glinskaya became regent.
1538	April 4	Glinskaya died. She was succeeded as regent by Prince Vasily Nemoy.
1547	January 16	An elaborate ceremony crowned Ivan the first tsar of Russia.
1552	August 22	Siege of Kazan (1552): Russian armed forces arrived at Kazan.
	October 2	Siege of Kazan (1552): The Russian army breached the walls of Kazan.
	October 13	Siege of Kazan (1552): The civilian population of Kazan was massacred, the city occupied.
1556		Russia conquered and annexed the Astrakhan Khanate.
1558		Livonian War: Ivan demanded a back-breaking tribute from the Bishopric of Dorpat. The Bishop sent diplomats to Russia to renegotiate the amount; Ivan expelled them and invaded and occupied the Bishopric.
1560	August 2	Battle of Ergeme: Ivan's army crushed the forces of the Livonian Order.
1561	November 28	The Livonian Order agreed to the Union of Wilno, under which the Livonian Confederation was partitioned between Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark. Lithuania and Sweden sent troops to liberate their new territories from Russian possession.
1565	February	Ivan established the Oprichnina, a Russian territory ruled directly by the tsar.
1569	July 1	The Union of Lublin was signed. Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were merged into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Poland began aiding Lithuania in its war against Russia.
1572		The Oprichnina was abolished.
1581	November 16	Ivan killed his eldest son.
1582	January 15	Livonian War: The Peace of Jam Zapolski ended Polish-Lithuanian participation in the war. Russia gave up its claims to Livonia and the city of Polatsk.
1582	October 23	Battle of Chuvash Cape: Russian soldiers dispersed the armed forces of the Siberia Khanate from its capital, Qashliq.
1583		Livonian War: The war was ended with the Treaty of Plussa. Narva and the Gulf of Finland coast went to Sweden.
1584	March 18	Ivan died of mercury poisoning. The throne fell to his mentally retarded son Feodor I; his son-in-law Boris Godunov took de facto charge of government.
1590	January 18	Russo-Swedish War (1590–1595): The Treaty of Plussa expired. Russian troops laid siege to Narva.
1590	February 25	Russo-Swedish War (1590–1595): A Swedish governor on the disputed territory surrendered to the Russians.
1591	May 15	Dimitriy Ivanovich, Ivan the Terrible's third and youngest son, died in exile from a stab wound to the throat.
1595	May 18	Russo-Swedish War (1590–1595): The Treaty of Tyavzino was signed. Ingria went to Russia.
1598	January 7	Feodor died with no children.
1598	February 21	A zemsky sobor elected Godunov the first non-Rurikid tsar of Russia.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1604	October	False Dmitriy I, a man claiming to be the murdered Dmitriy Ivanovich, invaded Russia.
1605	April 13	Boris died. His son Feodor II was pronounced tsar.
	July 1	A group of boyars defected in support of False Dmitriy, seized control of the Kremlin, and arrested Feodor.
	June 20	False Dmitriy and his army arrived in Moscow.
	July 20	Feodor and his mother were strangled.
	July 21	False Dmitriy was crowned tsar.
1606	May 8	False Dmitriy married a Catholic, inflaming suspicions that he meant to convert Russia to Catholicism.
	May 17	Conservative boyars led by Vasili Shuisky stormed the Kremlin and shot False Dmitriy to death during his escape.
	May 19	Shuisky's allies declared him Tsar Vasili IV.
1607		False Dmitriy II, another claimant to the identity of Dmitriy Ivanovich, obtained financial and military support from a group of Polish magnates.
1609	February 28	Vasili ceded border territory to Sweden in exchange for military aid against the government of False Dmitriy II.
1609	September	Polish-Russian War (1609-1618): The Polish king Sigismund III led an army into Russia.
1610	July 4	Battle of Klushino: Seven thousand Polish cavalrymen defeated a vastly superior Russian force at Klushino.
	July 19	Vasili was overthrown. A group of nobles, the Seven Boyars, replaced him at the head of the government.
	July 27	Polish-Russian War (1609-1618): A truce was established. The boyars promised to recognize Sigismund's son and heir Władysław as tsar, conditional on severe limits to his power and his conversion to Orthodoxy.
	August	Polish-Russian War (1609-1618): Sigismund rejected the boyars' conditions.
	December	Hermogenes, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, urged the Russian people to rise against the Poles.
	December 11	False Dmitriy II was shot and beheaded by one of his entourage.
1612	November 1	Polish-Russian War (1609-1618): Russian nationalists rising against the Poles recaptured the Kremlin.
1613		Ingrian War: Sweden invaded Russia.
1613	February 21	A zemsky sobor elected Michael Romanov, a grandson of Ivan the Terrible's brother-in-law, the tsar of Russia.
1617	February 27	Ingrian War: The Treaty of Stolbovo ended the war. Kexholm, Ingria, Estonia and Livonia went to Sweden.
1618	December 11	Polish-Russian War (1609-1618): The Truce of Deulino ended the war. Russia ceded the city of Smolensk and the Czernihów Voivodeship to Poland.
1619	February 13	Feodor Romanov, Michael's father, was released from Polish prison and allowed to return to Russia.
1632	October	Smolensk War: With the expiration of the Truce of Deulino, a Russian army was sent to lay siege to Smolensk.
1634	March 1	Smolensk War: The Russian army, surrounded, was forced to surrender.
1634	June 14	Smolensk War: The Treaty of Polyanovka was signed, ending the war. Poland retained Smolensk, but Władysław renounced his claim to the Russian throne.
1645	July 13	Michael died. His son, Alexis I, succeeded him.
1648	January 25	Khmelnytsky Uprising: A Polish magnate, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, persuaded the Cossacks of the Zaporizhian Sich to join him against the king.
	June 1	Salt Riot: Upset over the introduction of a salt tax, the townspeople launched a rebellion in Moscow.
	June 11	Salt Riot: A group of nobles demanded a zemsky sobor on behalf of the rebellion.
	July 3	Salt Riot: Many of the rebellion's leaders were executed.
	December 25	Khmelnytsky Uprising: Khmelnytsky entered the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
1649	January	A zemsky sobor ratified a new legal code, the Sobornoye Ulozheniye.
1653		Raskol: Nikon, the Patriarch of Moscow, reformed Russian liturgy to align with the rituals of the Greek Church.
1654		Khmelnytsky Uprising: Under the Treaty of Pereyaslav, Left-bank Ukraine, the territory of the Zaporozhian Host, became a Russian protectorate.
1654	July	Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): The Russian army invaded Poland.
1655		Deluge (history): Sweden invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
	July 3	Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): The Russian army captured Vilnius.
	July 25	Deluge (history): The voivode of Poznań surrendered to the Swedish invaders.
	November 2	Russia negotiated a ceasefire with Poland.
1656	July	Russo–Swedish War (1656–1658): Russian reserves invaded Ingria.
1658	February 26	Dano-Swedish War (1657-1658): The Treaty of Roskilde ended Sweden's war with Denmark, allowing her to shift her troops to the eastern conflicts.
	September 16	Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): The Treaty of Hadiach established a military alliance between Poland and the Zaporozhian Host, and promised the latter a separate state within the Commonwealth.
	December 28	Russo–Swedish War (1656–1658): The Treaty of Valiesar established a peace. The conquered Ingrian territories were ceded to Russia for three years.
1660	April 23	Deluge (history): The Treaty of Oliva ended the conflict between Poland and Sweden.
1661		Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): Polish forces recaptured Vilnius.
1661		The Treaty of Valiesar expired. Russia returned Ingria to the Swedish Empire by the Treaty of Cardis.
1662	July 25	Copper Riot: In the early morning, a group of Muscovites marched to Kolomenskoye and demanded punishment for the government ministers who had debased Russia's copper currency. On their arrival, they were countered by the military; a thousand were hanged or drowned. The rest were exiled.
1665		Lubomirski's Rokosz: A Polish nobleman launched a rokosz (rebellion) against the king.
1665		The pro-Turkish Cossack noble Petro Doroshenko defeated his pro-Russian adversaries in the Right-bank Ukraine.
1667		Raskol: A church council anathematized the Old Believers, who rejected Nikon's reforms.
1667	January 30	Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): The Treaty of Andrusovo ended the war. Poland agreed to cede the Smoleńsk and Czernihów Voivodships and acknowledged Russian control over the Left-bank Ukraine.
1669		Doroshenko signed a treaty which recognized his state as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire.
1670		The Cossack Stenka Razin began a rebellion against the Russian government.
1671		Razin was captured, tortured, and quartered in Red Square on the Lobnoye Mesto.
1674		The Cossacks of the Right-bank Ukraine elected the pro-Russian Ivan Samoylovych, Hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine, to replace Doroshenko and become the Hetman of a unified Ukraine.
1676		Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681): The Ottoman army joined Doroshenko's forces in an attack on the Left-bank city of Chyhyryn.
1676	January 29	Alexis died. His son Feodor III became tsar.
1680		Russo-Crimean Wars: The Crimean invasions of Russia ended.
1681	January 3	Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681): The war ended with the Treaty of Bakhchisarai. The Russo-Turkish border was settled at the Dnieper River.
1682		Feodor abolished the mestnichestvo, an ancient, unmeritocratic system of making political appointments.
	April 14	Avvakum, the most prominent leader of the Old Believer movement, was burned at the stake.
	April 27	Feodor died with no children. Peter I, The Great, Alexis's son by his second wife Natalia Naryshkina, was declared tsar. His mother became regent.
	May 17	Moscow Uprising of 1682: Streltsy regiments belonging to the faction of Alexis's first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya, took over the Kremlin, executed Naryshkina's brothers, and declared Miloslavskaya's invalid son Ivan V the "senior tsar," with Peter remaining on the throne as the junior. Miloslavkaya's eldest daughter Sophia Alekseyevna became regent.
1687	May	Crimean campaigns: The Russian army launched an invasion against an Ottoman vassal, the Crimean Khanate.
1687	June 17	Crimean campaigns: Faced with a burned steppe incapable of feeding their horses, the Russians turned back.
1689	June	Fyodor Shaklovity, the head of the Streltsy Department, persuaded Alekseyevna to proclaim herself tsarina and attempted to ignite a new rebellion in her support. The streltsy instead defected in support of Peter.
1689	October 11	Shaklovity was executed.
1696	January 29	Ivan died.
	April 23	Second Azov campaign: The Russian army began its deployment to an important Ottoman fortress, Azov.
	May 27	Second Azov campaign: The Russian navy arrived at the sea and blockaded Azov.
	July 19	Second Azov campaign: The Ottoman garrison surrendered.
1698	June 6	Streltsy Uprising: Approximately four thousand streltsy overthrew their commanders and headed to Moscow, where they meant to demand the enthroning of the exiled Sophia Alekseyevna.
1698	June 18	Streltsy Uprising: The rebels were defeated.
1700	August 19	Great Northern War: Russia declared war on Sweden.
1700	October 16	Adrian, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, died. Peter prevented the election of a successor.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1707	October 8	Bulavin Rebellion: A small band of Don Cossacks killed a Russian noble searching their territory for tax fugitives.
1708	July 7	Bulavin Rebellion: After a series of devastating military reversals, Bulavin was shot by his former followers.
1708	December 18	An imperial decree divided Russia into eight guberniyas (governates).
1709	June 28	Battle of Poltava: A decisive Russian military victory over the Swedes at Poltava marked the turning point of the war.
1710	October 14	The Russian guberniyas were divided into lots according to noble population.
1710	November 20	Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711): Charles XII of Sweden persuaded the Ottoman sultan to declare war on Russia.
1711	February 22	Government reform of Peter I: Peter established the Governing Senate to pass laws in his absence.
1711	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.
1713	May 8	The Russian capital was moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.
	July 17	The Riga Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Livonia.
	July 17	The territory of the Smolensk Governorate was divided between the Moscow and Riga Governorates.
1714	January 15	The northwestern territory of the Kazan Governorate was transferred to the newly established Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.
1715	October 11	Peter demanded that his son, the tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, endorse his reforms or renounce his right to the throne.
1716		Alexei fled to Vienna to avoid military service.
1717	November 22	The Astrakhan Governorate was formed on the southern lands of Kazan Governorate.
	November 22	The territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reincorporated into the Kazan Governorate.
	December 12	Government reform of Peter I: Peter established collegia, government ministries that superseded the prikazy.
1718	January 31	Alexei returned to Moscow under a promise he would not be harmed.
	February 18	After torture, Alexei publicly renounced the throne and implicated a number of reactionaries in a conspiracy to overthrow his father.
	June 13	Alexei was put on trial for treason.
	June 26	Alexei died after torture in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
1719	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.
		The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reestablished.
		The Reval Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Estonia.
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.
	August 30	Great Northern War: The Treaty of Nystad ended the war. Sweden ceded Estonia, Livonia and Ingria to Russia.
	October 22	Peter was declared Emperor.
1722		Peter introduced the Table of Ranks, which granted the privileges of nobility based on state service.
1722	July	Russo-Persian War (1722-1723): A Russian military expedition sailed in support of the independence of two Christian kingdoms, Kartli and Armenia.
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.
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.
1726		The Smolensk Governorate was reestablished.
1726	February 8	Catherine established an advisory body, the Supreme Privy Council.
1727		Catherine established the Belgorod and Novgorod Governorates and adjusted the borders of several others. Districts were abolished; uyezds were reestablished.
	May 17	Catherine died.
	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.
	September 9	The conservative members of the Supreme Privy Council expelled its most powerful member, the liberal Menshikov.
1730	January 30	Peter died of smallpox.
	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.
	March 4	Anna tore up the terms of her accession and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council.
1736	May 20	Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russian army captured the Ottoman fortifications at Perekop.
1736	June 19	Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russians captured Azov.
1737	July	Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739): Austria joined the war on the Russian side.
1739	August 21	Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739): Austria agreed by the Treaty of Belgrade to end its participation in the war.
1739	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.
1740	October 17	Anna died of kidney disease. Her will left the throne to her adopted infant son, Ivan VI.
	October 18	Anna's lover, Ernst Johann von Biron, was declared regent.
	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.
1741	August 8	Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743): Sweden declared war on Russia.
	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.
	December 2	Ivan was imprisoned in the Daugavgriva fortress.
1742	September 4	Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743): Encircled by the Russians at Helsinki, the Swedish army surrendered.
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.
1744		The Vyborg Governorate was established on conquered Swedish territories.
1755		Mikhail Lomonosov and Count Ivan Shuvalov founded the University of Moscow.
1756	August 29	Seven Years' War: The Kingdom of Prussia invaded the Austrian protectorate of Saxony.
1757	May 1	Diplomatic Revolution: Under the Second Treaty of Versailles, Russia joined the Franco-Austrian military alliance.
1757	May 17	Seven Years' War: Russian troops entered the war.
1761	December 25	The miracle of the House of Brandenburg: Elizabeth died. Her nephew, Peter III, became tsar.
1762	May 5	Seven Years' War: The Treaty of Saint Petersburg ended Russian participation in the war at no territorial gain.
1762	July 17	Peter was overthrown by the Imperial Guard and replaced with his wife, Catherine II, The Great, on her orders.
1764	July 5	A group of soldiers attempted to release the imprisoned Ivan VI; he was murdered.
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.
1768	February 27	Repnin Sejm: Delegates of the Sejm adopted a treaty ensuring future Russian influence in Polish internal politics.
	February 29	Polish nobles established the Bar Confederation in order to end Russian influence in their country.
	September 25	Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774): The Ottoman sultan declared war on Russia.
1771	September 15	Plague Riot: A crowd of rioters entered Red Square, broke into the Kremlin and destroyed the Chudov Monastery.
1771	September 17	Plague Riot: The army suppressed the riot.
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.
1773		Pugachev's Rebellion: The army of the Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev attacked and occupied Samara.
1773	September 18	A confederated sejm was forced to ratify the first partition of Poland.
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.
1774	September 14	Pugachev's Rebellion: Upset with the rebellion's bleak outlook, Pugachev's officers delivered him to the Russians.
1783	April 8	The Crimean Khanate was incorporated into the Russian Empire.
1783	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.
1788		Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792): The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia and imprisoned her ambassador.
	June 27	Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790): The Swedish army playacted a skirmish between themselves and the Russians.
	July 6	Battle of Hogland: The Russian navy dispersed a Swedish invasion fleet near Hogland in the Gulf of Finland.
	October 6	Great Sejm: A confederated sejm was called to restore the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1790	August 14	Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790): The Treaty of Värälä ended the war, with no changes in territory.
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.
1791	December 23	Catherine established the Pale of Settlement, an area in European Russia into which Russian Jews were transported.
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.
1792	May 18	Polish-Russian War of 1792: The army of the Targowica Confederation, which opposed the liberal Polish Constitution of May 3, invaded Poland.
1793	January 23	Polish-Russian War of 1792: The second partition of Poland left the country with one-third of its 1772 population.
1793	November 23	Grodno Sejm: The last sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ratified the second partition.
1794	March 24	Kościuszko Uprising: An announcement by Tadeusz Kościuszko sparked a nationalist uprising in Poland.
	November 4	Battle of Praga: Russian troops captured the Praga borough of Warsaw and massacred its civilian population.
	November 5	Kościuszko Uprising: The uprising ended with the Russian occupation of Warsaw.
1795	September 11	Battle of Krtsanisi: The Persian army demolished the armed forces of Kartl-Kakheti.
1795	October 24	The third partition of Poland divided up the remainder of its territory.
1796	April	Persian Expedition of 1796: Catherine launched a military expedition to punish Persia for its incursion into the Russian protectorate of Kartl-Kakheti.
	November 5	Catherine suffered a stroke in the bathtub.
	November 6	Catherine died. The throne fell to her son, Paul I.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1801	January 8	Paul authorized the incorporation of Kartl-Kakheti into the Russian empire.
	March 11	Paul was killed in his bed.
	March 23	Paul's son, Alexander I, ascended to the throne.
1802		Alexander established the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
1804		Russo-Persian War (1804-1813): Russian forces attacked the Persian settlement of Echmiadzin.
1805		The Ottoman Empire dismissed the pro-Russian hospodars of its vassal states, Wallachia and Moldavia.
1805	December 26	War of the Third Coalition: The Treaty of Pressburg ceded Austrian possessions in Dalmatia to France.
1806	October	To counter the French presence in Dalmatia, Russia invaded Wallachia and Moldavia.
1806	December 27	Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812): The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.
1807	June 14	Battle of Friedland: The Russian army suffered a defeat against the French, suffering twenty thousand dead.
	July 7	The Treaty of Tilsit was signed. Alexander agreed to evacuate Wallachia and Moldavia and ceded the Ionian Islands and Cattaro to the French. The treaty ended Russia's conflict with France; Napoleon promised to aid Russia in conflicts with the Ottoman Empire.
	November 16	Alexander demanded that Sweden close the Baltic Sea to British warships.
1808	February 21	Finnish War: Russian troops crossed the Swedish border and captured Hämeenlinna.
1809	March 29	Diet of Porvoo: The four Estates of Finland swore allegiance to the Russian crown.
1809	September 17	Finnish War: The Treaty of Fredrikshamn was signed, ending the war and ceding Finland to the Russian Empire.
1810		The first military settlement was established near Klimovichi.
	January 1	Alexander established the State Council, which received the executive powers of the Governing Senate.
	February 20	The Russian government proclaimed the deposition of Solomon II from the throne of Imereti.
1811	March 27	Regional military companies were merged into the Internal Guard.
1812	May 28	Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812): The Treaty of Bucharest ended the war and transferred Bessarabia to Russia.
	June 24	French invasion of Russia (1812): The French army crossed the Neman River into Russia.
	September 14	French invasion of Russia (1812): The French army entered a deserted Moscow, the high-water mark of their invasion.
	December 14	French invasion of Russia (1812): The last French troops were forced off of Russian territory.
1813	October 24	Russo-Persian War (1804-1813): According to the Treaty of Gulistan, the Persian Empire ceded its Transcaucasian territories to Russia.
1815	June 9	Congress of Vienna: The territory of the Duchy of Warsaw was divided between Prussia, Russia, and three newly established states: the Grand Duchy of Posen, the Free City of Kraków and Congress Poland. The latter was a constitutional monarchy with Alexander as its king.
1825	November 19	Alexander died of typhus. The army swore allegiance to his eldest brother, the Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich. Constantine, however, following Alexander's choice of successor, swore allegiance to his younger brother, Nicholas I.
	December 12	Under pressure from Constantine, Nicholas published Alexander's succession manifesto.
	December 14	Decembrist revolt: Three thousand soldiers gathered at the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, and declared their loyalty to Constantine and to the idea of a Russian constitution. When talk failed, the tsarist army dispersed the demonstrators with artillery, killing at least sixty.
1826		An imperial decree established the Second Section of His Majesty's Own Chancery, concerned with codifying and publishing the law, and the Third Section, which operated as the Empire's secret police.
	July	Nicholas established the office of Chief of Gendarmes, in charge of the Gendarmerie units of the Internal Guard.
	July 16	Russo-Persian War (1826-1828): The Persian army invaded the Russian-owned Talysh Khanate.
1828	February 21	Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) Facing the possibility of a Russian conquest of Tehran, Persia signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay.
	May	The Russian army occupied Wallachia.
	June	Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829): The Russian armed forces crossed into Dobruja, an Ottoman territory.
1829	September 14	Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829): The Treaty of Adrianople was signed, ceding the eastern shore of the Black Sea and the mouth of the Danube to the Russians.
1830	November 29	November Uprising: A group of Polish nationalists attacked Belweder Palace, the seat of the Governor-General.
1831	January 25	November Uprising: An act of the Sejm dethroned Nicholas from the Polish crown.
	January 29	November Uprising: A new government took office in Poland.
	February 4	November Uprising: Russian troops crossed the Polish border.
	September	Battle of Warsaw (1831): The Russian army captured Warsaw, ending the November Uprising.
1836		The Gendarmerie of the Internal Guard was spun off as the Special Corps of Gendarmes.
1852	December	The Ottoman sultan confirmed the supremacy of France and the Catholic Church over Christians in the Holy Land.
1853	July 3	Russia invaded the Ottoman provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia.
1853	October 4	Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.
1854	March 28	Crimean War: Britain and France declared war on Russia.
1854	August	Crimean War: In order to prevent the Austrian Empire entering the war, Russia evacuated Wallachia and Moldavia.
1855	February 18	Nicholas died. His son, Alexander II, became tsar.
1856	March 30	Crimean War: The Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the war. The Black Sea was demilitarized. Russia lost territory it had been granted at t