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After the last ice age, the lands now
known as Russia, began to be populated by
tribes migrating from the south. Through
time, cities grew, with each city, and
the land around it, having its own ruler.
In the early 9th Century, the Varancians
from Scandinavia began attacking and
capturing these cities. In 989, the
Scandinavian, Vladmir I, became ruler of
all the cities.
Although the Mongols invaded the area
in 1233, they left the regional princes
in control, under an agreement they paid
for the privilege. The lands were then
known as the Empire of the Golden
Hoard.
Moscow became the strongest city in
those lands. In 1480, Ivan III (The
Great) of Moscow, ended the Mongol rule,
then began taking control of the other
cities. His son, Vasily III, married
Yelena Glinskaya, a princess of Mongol
origin. The first of their two sons was
born August 25th 1530, the son that would
become known as Ivan the Terrible.
When Ivan was three years old, his
father died of an infection, leaving
instructions for Ivan to become ruler
when he reached the age of 15. The Boyars
(members of the Russian Aristocracy) took
control at that time. Ivan's mother
managed to wrestle control from the
Boyers with the intention of ruling until
Ivan came of age. The death of his mother
four years later, led Ivan to believe she
had been poisoned by the Boyers.
The death of Ivan's mother allowed the
Boyers to take complete control of the
lands, using Ivan only to give people the
impression the monarchy was still stable.
The Boyers rule was cruel and
unforgiving.
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Growing up in that environment
seemed to affect the young Ivan to
an extent he began showing signs of
Insanity, torturing and killing
defenseless animals.
On January 16th 1547, Ivan was
crowned Tsar (Emperor) of all
Russia. On February 3rd 1547, he
married the first of his seven
wives, Zakharyina - Yurueva.
He soon improved life in Russia
by making one law for the whole of
the land, producing a list of
crimes along with a list of
punishments to go with each
crime.
He also reformed the government
before setting out to build the
Russian Empire.
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In 1552, he led an army of 100,000
against the Mongols, capturing Kazan. In
1554, he captured another Mongol
stronghold, Astrakhan, extending the
Russian nation to the Caspian Sea, south
of the Ural Mountains and into
Siberia.
By 1558, Ivan had secured the Baltic
seaport of Narva in Livonia and began
trading with European countries. In 1560,
when Ivan was still at war in Livonia,
his wife Anastasia died of a lingering
illness. Anastasia was his favorite wife.
Her death seemed to effect him deeply as
at that time, he began showing signs of
insanity again.
The return of Ivan to Moscow saw the
Boyars tortured and killed as he thought
they had poisoned his wife. He had become
paranoid, thinking everyone was trying to
overthrow him.
To protect himself, Ivan founded the
Oprichina, which became a separate police
state. The Oprichiniki people began
torturing and murdering anyone showing
signs of treason. In 1570, the citizens
of Novgorod were accused of treason.
Although the case was not proven, Ivan
had all the citizens massacred, he then
ruled Russia by fear.
This time of internal fighting,
allowed the Mongols and Poles to regain
the land they had lost to Ivan. In 1581,
when his eldest son said something to
upset Ivan, he hit him on the temple with
his staff, killing him.
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Ivan died of a fever March 18th
1584. His remaining sons were soon
murdered, allowing Michael Romanov
to be elected Tsar. The Romanov
Dynasty went on to rule Russia for
the following 304 years.
In those days, Russia used
mercury in cosmetics and medicine.
It is unclear if women of that time
were really being murdered, or if
they were slowly poisoning
themselves.
The Basilius cathedral situated
in Red Square/Moscow, was built
between 1555 and 1561. It was built
on order of Ivan IV to commemorate
the capture of Kazan and
Astrakhan.
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