Russia: From the Vikings to the last tsar
A beginner's guide
Ivan the Terrible to the Romanovs
Ivan IV of Russia
www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madrus.htm#grosny
Although cheeky in tone, this website provides a full account of the life of
Ivan the Terrible.
The Terrible Ivan
http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/russia/
lectures/09ivanIV.html
Lecture on Ivan IV by Professor Gerhard Rempel of Western New England College.
Much to be admired here, but not the terrible background of bears.
Excerpts from GURPS Russia
www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/Russia/excerpts.html
An odd one, this. 'GURPS' stands for 'Generic Universal RolePlaying System',
and GURPS Russia (now out of print) is a book by S John Ross that
'presents the Russian world from its beginnings in the 10th century to its
new beginnings in the early 18th … complete details on the history,
folklore and daily life of medieval Russia' – presumably for computer
games designers to use to create new games. The excerpts here, which primarily
cover the 16th century, are full of fascinating information, and there are
useful histories of Ivan the Terrible and the Time of Troubles.
Muscovite conquest of Kazan
www.xenophon-mil.org/rushistory/battles/kazsiege.htm
Article by John Sloan that provides a background to the conflict and gives
a rounded description of the siege of 1552. There are photographs of a diorama
of the siege in the Artillery Museum in St Petersburg, plus drawings of the
siege towers used.
Poles on the warpath
http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/
russia/lectures/09ivanIV.html
Another lecture by Professor Gerhard Rempel of Western New England College
(with the same awful bears – see 'The Terrible Ivan' above). This time
he is covering the Polish invasion and occupation of Russia in the early 17th
century, a period known as the Time of Troubles.
The Time of Trouble
www.abcgallery.com/list/2001oct01.html
www.abcgallery.com/list/2001oct16.html
This period of conflict in Russian history was witnessed by the Dutch silk
merchant Isaak Abrahamsz Massa, who wrote a report about it. This is discussed
in two articles on the Olga's Gallery website, illustrated by paintings
of the events described.
Russia: The Romanovs
http://workmall.com/wfb2001/russia/
russia_history_the_romanovs.html
Part of the 'Library of Congress Country Studies' series, this covers Russian
history from the death of Ivan the Terrible, the Time of Troubles, the new
dynasty of the Romanovs and the Cossack rebellion of 1671.
The origin, growth and abolition of personal servitude in Russia
http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/
3ll3/kovalevsky/modcus6
Lecture by Maxime Kovalevsky (part of the 'Modern customs and ancient laws
of Russia' course at McMaster University in Canada) on Russian serfdom, established
legally as the 'bondage to the soil' in 1648. This is just a typescript, and
therefore is dense and hard to read, but it is worth the effort as it covers
the subject extremely well.
Russian boys' clothes: Serf boys
http://histclo.com/country/rus/cr-serf.html
Part of the rather peculiar Historical Boys' Clothing website, this
has lots of information on serfdom and the general situation of boys under
its yoke (as well as information about their clothes). There is also a biography
of Aleksandr Nikitenko, who wrote an account of his life as a serf from 1804
to 1824. Simply click on 'cancel' on the pop-up boxes that ask you to connect
to the website; if you don't connect, the only penalty seems to be that you
won't have access to the illustrations.
