Vintage Images Of Russian Women's Fashion

In medieval Eastern Europe the first Russian state was founded as the Rus' state in 862. The Rus' state was said to be ruled by Vikings, who were a tribe of people who had originated from Scandinavia. The amalgamation of tribes who were referred to as 'Norse' were immigrants or tribes of people who originated from ancient or medieval Norway and Scandinavia. The term Rus' referred to Varangians, Varyags or Vikings.

Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod became the first major cities of the original amalgamation of immigrants from Scandinavia, Slavic tribes and Finno-Ugrians, and some of the Finno-Ugrians were considered to be a culmination of Mordvins, Hungarians, Fins, and Estonians as well as other tribes of people from surrounding regions who spoke the Uralic language.

Prince Oleg (845 - 912) was a Varangian prince who was said to have ruled Novgorod, and all of the lands inhabited by the Rus' tribes during the 9th and 10th century. In 882, Prince Oleg of Novgorod invaded and successfully acquisitioned Kiev territory, thereby unifying Northern and Southern lands of the Eastern Slavs under one authority. Henceforth, Prince Oleg proclaimed Kiev as the capital of the state of Kievan Rus'. However, it has been reported that some historians still debate the precise dates of Prince Oleg's supposed governance of those territories.

The state of Kievan Rus', adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988. The amalgamation of Byzantine and Slavic cultures was forever integrated and thereafter formed or defined the Orthodox Slavic culture for the next 1,000 years. Between 1237 and 1240 the Mongolians launched invasions against and eventually defeated the region of Kievan Rus', many of the Kievan Rus' population were slaughtered, and many of the cities within were taken over by the Mongolians. The Mongol feudal lords ruled large parts of Kievan Rus' or ancient Russian territories, from the 13th century to most of the 15th century.

Moscow was founded in 1147, and eventually became the home of many of the Rus' people or tribes. Moscow's economy began to grow steadily over the next century, and the population steadily increased. Moscow invested in building a greater army, and eventually ventured successfully to acquisition more territory and thereby expanded its regions. After the 13th century Moscow had achieved great economic and political success, and in addition Moscow had acquired a very powerful army. Then in 1440, the Rus' army daringly launched invasions against, and finally defeated the Mongolian forces by around 1480, to reclaim lost territories. And by the end of the 15th century Moscow had united all of the territories it had gained up to that point in history, henceforth, Moscow became the centre of the unification of all the Rus' regions, all of which became known as the territories of 'The Grand Duchy of Moscow' which became the Tsardom's of Rus' in 1547.

Ivan IV (25 August 1530 - 28 March 1584) also known as 'Ivan the terrible' became Grand Prince of Moscow, when he received his coronation as Tsar (Emperor) of Rus' at just 16 years of age, on 16 January 1547. Ivan had cleverly appointed a group of reformist nobles as his council, they became known as the 'Chosen Council'. And as one of their first duties, Ivan had ordered his new council of nobles to ordain him with the title of Tsar. The Tsardom of Rus' also known as the 'Tsardom of Muscovy' was first founded by Ivan IV, when he impudently ordained himself with the title of Tsar or Emperor. Tsardom or autocratic rule was a political system that began in Russia in 1547, and this system of government continued steadfastly over hundreds of years until the Russian revolution in 1917, which was partly orchestrated by the communist Bolsheviks.

Two weeks after his inauguration, Ivan married his first wife, Anastasia Romanova, who was the daughter of the aristocrat Romanov family. Henceforth, the Romanov dynasty would rule Russia over the following 300 years, until the upheaval of the Russian revolution, in 1917. Ivan's reign proved to be one of the most eventful in the history of the Russian monarchs. Ivan had commanded his armies to invade and wage wars against some of Russia's neighbouring nations, in the attempt to win more land and attain greater power. Ivan IV gained a reputation to swiftly and violently suppress any hints of people's revolts within his Empire, and was said to be eternally vigilant for betrayers and conspirators within his parliament, as well as being unforgiving and as vengeful as the grim reaper. Moreover, his reign served him with the unfortunate dilemma of having to deal with the irrepressible old enemies that has haunted medieval Russia over many centuries, the scourge of famines and plagues that perennially descend upon the continent of Europe.

Ivan the terrible ruled as his pseudonym implied, dictatorial, ruthless, and tyrannical, indeed he became infamous for his murderous fits of rage and paranoid behaviour, which festered rumours about his mental health. There are historical documentation which state that on one occasion Ivan IV, became involved in an altercation with his eldest son 'Ivan Ivanovich' which tragically resulted in Ivan IV becoming so enraged, that he brutally slayed his eldest son, and his eldest son's unborn child. There are many other such historical accounts of Ivan's brutal acts of violence against unfortunate individuals, so much so, that Ivan's tenure became known to be a reign of terror. Nevertheless, during his rule, Ivan IV was credited with enacting a number of new laws which were considered beneficial to the Russian Empire, at that particular time in history. Including the 'Zemsky Sobor' meaning 'assembly of the Land' which was the first Russian parliament of the states of the realm, that convened in order to settle important issues, including certain disputes, and which comprised of Nobles, the Orthodox clergy, the holy synod (council of the church), the high bureaucracy (non-elected governing officials and administrative policy makers), as well as the representatives of the 'commoners' which included merchants and towns people.

Peter I (9 June 1672 - 8 February 1725) also known as 'Peter the Great' reigned between 1682 and 1725, and was officially declared Tsar by the Russian senate, in 1721. Although, Peter I had ruled unofficially declared by the Russian senate, co-jointly as Tsar, with his brother Ivan V, before the date of 1721. Peter I renamed Moscow as the 'Russian Empire' in 1721. When spanning the medieval ages, to a lesser or greater degree, each generation of Russians and their monarchs, had suffered the curse of feuds, famine and diseases, as was the case during the reign of Peter I, however, he had proved himself to be more worthy than most of his predecessors in coping with such adversities.

Peter the Great was a Russian czar, who harboured high expansionist ambitions, which was not unlike his predecessors, except Peter Great was remarkably successful in his many war campaigns against other nations, which resulted in the capture of new lands and the expansion of Russian territory. In Russian history, Peter Great is famous for being the first Russian monarch to successfully build a powerful Russian navy. Peter the Great was also the founder of St. Petersburg on the 27 May, 1703, which became the capital of the Russian Empire, until 1918. Also, he was praised and admired for spearheading a cultural, political and economic revolution in Russia which was based on western ideologies, the success of which had changed the Russian Empire into a major European power, from that particular time in history.

The Emperor Alexander II (29 April 1818 - 13 March 1881), abolished Russian serfdom (owned peasants or agricultural labourer), in 1861. Nevertheless, this reform was not enough to satisfy many within the Russian parliament, the proletariats (working class) or the new political movements that were gaining popularity within Russia at time, which added more pressure upon the Russian monarchy for political reform. Thus in the following decades, during the reign of Nicholas II, born 1868 and died 1918, there were further efforts by the Russian parliamentarians to reform the Russian government, such as the constitution reform in 1906, the Stolypin reforms 1906 - 1914, and the State Duma reform 1906 - 1917, all of which were attempts to reform the political and economic systems in Russia. However, ultimately those reforms failed, because the ruling Tsar stubbornly refused to relinquish his autocratic powers or share any more of his great wealth.

Great sections of the Russian population expressed continual discontentment and descent against the autocratic system of government by the Tsar and his parliament. The Russian government's economic failures, and the increased wide spread poverty throughout Russia, eventually precipitated the first Russian Revolution which began during the first World War, starting with the 'February Revolution' otherwise known as the 'February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution' and also known as 'The March Revolution' which had taken place in 'Petrograd' now known as Saint Petersburg, between 8 February and 16 March, 1917. The end of the Russian Empire and its ruling Romanov dynasty occurred on 15 March, 1917, with the abdication of Nicholas II, his execution occurred on 17 July 1918, and he was the last Tsar of Russia.

Remarkably these momentous events had taken place during the First World War, which eventually resulted in the overthrow of the ruling Romanov monarchy. After which it was believed that amidst the chaos, that ensued a semi-representative advisory or legislative body within the Russian Parliament, known as Duma, had assumed temporary control of the Russian government, until a coalition of Liberals and Moderate Socialists, seized control in order to administer their own policies. However, it was said that the new coalition had disastrously mismanaged the Russian government and its economy, which eventually led to a takeover by the radical, far left, Marxist political group, the communist Bolsheviks, later that year on 25 October, 1917.

Communism materialized in Russia as a consequence of the 'October Revolution' also known as the 'Great October Socialist Revolution' which occurred 25 October, 1917. This was the second revolution in Russia, and it was instigated by the Bolshevik party, which partly contributed to the Russian Civil War which happened over the years 1917 - 1923. The Bolsheviks (founded 1912), were a radical far left, and revolutionary Marxist faction established by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov, that separated from the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), which was a socialist political party founded in 1898. Subsequently, in 1922, Soviet Russia along with Soviet Ukraine, Soviet Belarus, and Transcaucasian (SFSR), signed the treaty on the creation of the USSR (United Soviet Socialist Republic).