History

The vikings came from the north and interbred with the Slavic folk. However in the south and on the Wolga many immigrants came from Asia.

At the turn of the 18th century, the Zar, Peter the Great, opened the country with its middle aged structure to the influence of the west of Europe and encouraged research and culture.

Demonstrations, restlessness and violence prevailed in the country. Russia fell more and more into the background, and Europe gained more power. The era of industrialisation swept over Moskau and St. Petersburg, but did not reach the provinces in the country, as a result the rest of Russia sunk in poverty.

Lenin was the founder of the first working and farmer class. He is recognised, along with Marx and Engels as the creater of Socialism.

The successor of Lenin was Josef Stalin. The industrialisation and the infrastructure, particularly in the asian part of the country, was encouraged and further developed, and farming was carried out collectively.

When the Germans attacked the Soviet Union during the Second World War, the Red Army lost millions of soldiers and when Leningrad was sieged, over one million civilians died of hunger. However, in Moskau, Stalingrad and Kursk, the Red Army defeated the German troups and finally took Berlin in May 1945. In total between 1941 and 1944 approx. 6-8 million people lost their lives in the Soviet Union, most of them were civilians. The Red Army also took over some Japanese areas in the far east.

Perestroika was introduced by the President of the Soviet Union, Michail Gorbatschow and lead to political and economic reforms in the Soviet Union and in Glasnost. The president also lead reforms to ensure more transparency in the political world and honesty towards the people of Russia. This was a turning point in the history of Russia, and since then the individual republics have been striving towards independence.

Shortly before the official ceremony to sign the Union Contract the conservative communists rose up against Gorbatschow to prevent this happening. As a consequence, the Russian President made a decision to disband the Soviet Union.

Under the leadership of Boris Jelzin sections of the Russian economy were privatised and democratic reforms were carried out. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful and lead to the callapse of the economy, high inflation and an unstable political system. According to the opinion of many Russians, the political and economic situation has improved since the election of Wladimir Putin in 2000. The high price of resources, tax reforms and capital flowing back into the economy has enabled this development.

The President Wladimir Putin has been successful in attaining more political and economical stability, this has been at the cost of freedom for the media and the people. He built his power by:
- He restricted the power of the Government in each region.
- He has restricted the freedom of the media.

Dmitri Medwedew was elected on 2. March 2008 as the successor of Wladimir Putin.