A Brief History of Russia
-
Upload
deepakchaurasiya -
Category
Documents
-
view
27 -
download
1
description
Transcript of A Brief History of Russia
![Page 1: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Russia: a brief history
![Page 2: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Introduction• 9000 km from East to West and 5000 from North to South• Ural mountains divide Russia into a European and Asian part• Population of about 143 million (3/4 live in the European part)• Moscow is the capital and the largest city• Russian is official language but many others in component parts• President is Dmitry Medvedev
![Page 3: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Geography of Russia
![Page 4: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
![Page 5: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
• Area: 17,025,200 square km. Around twice the size of the U.S.
• Climate: ranging from sub-arctic in Siberia to humid in much of European Russia.
• Terrain: Low hills, steppe, forest, arctic tundra, mountains….
• Despite its size, much of the country is either too cold or the soil is too dry for agriculture.
![Page 6: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
In the beginning……
First came the Slavs who settled along the rivers of Southern Russia and the Ukraine in the 6th Century.
![Page 7: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
The Vikings
Then came the Vikings who in the 9th century established the large and powerful state of ‘Kievan Russia.’
![Page 8: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
• Free peasant farmers• City dwellers• Small ruling class of nobles & princes• some slaves• Traded with the Byzantine Empire from
whichRussians learnt : skills, culture & religion – Orthodox Christianity.
• 988 AD it became the official religion.
Kievan Russia
![Page 9: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
The Mongols
Then came the Mongols….In 1236 a vast Mongol horde successfully invaded the Russian city states. For the next 240 years, the Russians were forced to pay tribute to the Mongol khans.
![Page 10: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Moscow’s rise to powerMoscow grew in power as the chief tax collector for the Mongols.
In the 14th Century, Moscow’s Grand Prince led several other cities in a battle to overthrow the Mongols.
They were successful and this marks the beginning of a united Russia.
![Page 11: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Ivan the Terrible (1533-84): Russia’s first tsarMother was poisoned when he was 7yrs old. Ivan developed a dangerous paranoia.
Would throw live animals from the palace towers for fun.
After his wife, Anastasia died, Ivan developed a really nasty streak – sentenced thousands to death, would give detailed instructions on how to torture victims so as to ‘recreate hell’.
Killed his own son in a fit of rage. Then came a period of remorse.
Became a monk towards the end of his life and prayed for the souls of his victims.
![Page 12: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
The Romanov RulersPeter the Great (1682-1725)
Determined to make Russia a modern European state.
Just about 2.3m tall.
Built a new city on the boggy banks of the River Neva and named it St Petersburg.
In 1712 he declared this city the new capital of Russia.
![Page 13: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Catherine the Great (1762-96)Overthrew her feeble husband Peter III (who soon afterwards died ‘in an accident’) and took over the throne with the help of her lover.
Russia became even more powerful and prestigious during her reign, gaining more land.
Turned St. Petersburg into one of the most impressive European capitals.
Story of her death is shrouded in myth and mystery. It definitely did not involve a horse although she may have been on the toilet.
![Page 14: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Last of the Romanovs
Tsar Alexander II: a ‘great reformer’ although still disliked by others. Abolished serfdom. Ended up being blown up by a bomb.
Tsar Alexander III: tall, mean, liked a drink, and drank himself to death.
Tsar Nicholas II, last Tsar, he and his family executed in October Revolution, 1917.
![Page 15: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
• Mainly from western educated elite• Various attempts to overthrow tsar
failed – severe punishment.• 1840s & esp. after 1860: most
revolutionaries wanted a socialist govt.• Economy in hands of the people• Against constitutional democracy• 1881 Tsar assassinated- no peasantry
involvement
Revolutionary Movements 1800s
![Page 16: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
1880s
• Ideas of Karl Marx: • No socialist rev. until capitalism had
developed, industry built, so that a new class of workers-factory workers =the proletariat became the majority.
• 1890s. Organised small groups of Marxists= Social Democrats
• 1903 national party: Mensheviks, Bolsheviks
![Page 17: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
• Mensheviks- Russia should follow Western European socialist parties(democratically run party)
• Bolsheviks (followed tradition of Russian revolutionaries): tightly run & organised group of prof. revs. who would order the proletariat, take charge of rev. Led by Vladimir Ulyanov- Lenin.
![Page 18: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
1905 Revolution• “ Bloody Sunday” Set off by peasants,
workers’ strikes, business people & professionals, along with mutinies by the armed forces
• St. Petersburg workers formed a council= “soviet” to run the strike
• Oct. 30, 1905. Tsar Nicholas II relented, est. a parliament Duma, first ever
• Basic civil rights for people & limited powers to the parliament
• Then Tsar hunted down the revolutionaries- fled overseas
![Page 19: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Work of Duma
• Legislation to improve people’s life:• Laws to protect factory workers• Education expanded• A progamme to improve peasants’ life;
free to move & aid to improve farms• BUT TSAR still had a lot of power:• 1. could appoint & fire all ministers• 2. Control over foreign policy & military
budget
![Page 20: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Powers of the Tsar
• TSAR still had a lot of power:• 1. could appoint & fire all ministers• 2. Control over foreign policy &
military budget • 3. Veto all legislation & manipulate
parliament with other powers he had retained
• Most Russians very poor. Time needed for reforms to be completed
![Page 21: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
1914 WWI
• Russia suffered , not able to withstand a modern German army
• Late 1914-1917: > 8 million soldiers killed, wounded, or captured
• Civilians could not find basic nec. for survival
• MARCH 1917 demos. in Petrograd supported by workers & soldiers
![Page 22: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
February 1917 Revolution
Started with protests about food shortages in St. Petersburg. Russia was doing very badly in World War I. Ended with the Tsar abdicating and the start of a new Russian Parliament.
![Page 23: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Problems• Economy• Backwardness• What direction to take in the
future• Shortage of FOOD!
![Page 24: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
General Institutions of Communist Regime
• Single Party State System• Dictatorship of the Proletariat • Central Planned Economy• Abolishment of Private Property
Rights • Collectivisation• Universal Public Programs• Surveillance System • Strong Military Unit under Party
Control
![Page 25: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Provisional Government
• Unable to control the armed forces
• Thwarted by the Bolsheviks• Petrograd Soviet in charge• Lenin decided to overthrow Prov.
Govt.• Autumn 1917: WWI still going on-
unpopular • November 6-7, 1917 Bolsheviks
grabbed power
![Page 26: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
October 1917 Revolution
Lenin and the Bolshevik Party seized power after storming
the Winter Palace.Bolshevik
Dictatorship: LeninTrotskiStalin
![Page 27: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Nov. 8, 1917
• Land decree- confiscated landlords’ estates & church lands to hand over to peasant committees.
• Peace neg. with Germany- Treaty of Litovsk: Russia had to cede a lot of territory to Germany & left the Allies (GB, Fr, US) to negotiate on their own with Germany
![Page 28: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
After a long and bloody civil war 1918-1920, the Bolsheviks (now
the Communist Party) took complete control of Russia, or the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republic.
They were inspired by the ideas of Karl Marx and claimed that they would establish a state
in which power and wealth would be held
by the masses and not the few.
Cheka: secret police. Arrests & execution w/o trial.
One party dictatorship- crushed all opponents, no non-Bolsheviks in govt.
![Page 29: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
NEP: New Economic Policy
• Peasants allowed to sell food on the open market• Many factories & businesses returned to private ownership• Govt. controlled :factories, railroads,
mines• Widespread and rapid economic
recovery• Food supplies replenished in 2 years
![Page 30: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
Lenin’s Legacy 1917-1924• Successfully
overthrew the Tsar Empire, first communist country.
• Successfully improved Russian economy by adopting New Economic Policy
![Page 31: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
A popular joke set-up is Lenin interacting with the head of the secret police, Dzerzhinsky in the Smolny Institute, seat of the revolutionary communist government in Petrograd, or with khodoki, peasants that came to see Lenin.
During the famine of the civil war, a delegation of starving peasants comes to the Smolny, wishing to file a petition. "We have even started eating the grass like horses," says one peasant. "Soon we will start neighing like horses!" "Come on! Don't worry!" says Lenin reassuringly. "We are drinking tea with honey here, and we are not buzzing like bees, are we?"
![Page 32: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
Lenin’s death
Lenin had a series of strokes and died in 1924.
In his will, he warned of the dangers of letting power fall into the hands of one
particular man…
![Page 33: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Josef Stalin (“Uncle Joe” to the Americans)
“A loveable rogue” who completely transformed Russian life and was largely responsible for the deaths of millions of
Russians.
Born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili.
During the Revolution he named himself Stalin: “man of steel”.
![Page 34: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Stalin’s purges 1922-1953400, 000
Suspected critics or opponents (army officers, revolutionaries, peasants, landowners,
intelligentsia) , or anyone that Stalin didn’t like the look of were systematically rounded up and
executed.
Or, if they were lucky, they were sent to a Siberian labour camp for maybe 10 or
20 years.
Class struggle
Regional conflicts
Social unrest
![Page 35: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
Collective farming
Stalin’s policy was to organise farms into collective units which would ‘feed the state’.
This turned into a disaster and he was responsible for one of the biggest man-made
famines in history.
![Page 36: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
Generalissimo Stalin
Stalin stayed in power through a
mixture of propaganda, terror,
and genuine devotion from some
Russians.
He attained god-like status particularly after defeating the
Nazis in World War II.
Cult of Personality
![Page 37: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
Made Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1942for holding the Nazis at bay.Although true this showed how little Americans actually knew of Stalin. They thought his methodstough but fair.
![Page 38: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
Stalin Joke
• "Comrade Stalin! This man is your exact double!"
• "Shoot him!“• "Maybe we should shave off his moustache?“• "Good idea! Shave it off and then shoot
him!".
![Page 39: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
Stalin Joke no. 2
• Stalin reads his report to the Party Congress. Suddenly someone sneezes. "Who sneezed?" (Silence.) "First row! On your feet! Shoot them!" (Applause.) "Who sneezed?" (Silence.) "Second row! On your feet! Shoot them!" (Long, loud applause.) "Who sneezed?" (Silence.) ... A dejected voice in the back: "It was me" (Sobs.) Stalin leans forward: "Bless you, comrade!"
![Page 40: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
Nikita Khrushchev1958-1964After his death, Khrushchev, his
successor, denounced some of Stalin’s
policies at a communist party
congress.
![Page 41: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
Revisionist Khrushchev 1953-1964• Labeled Stalin as Cult of
Personality, began de-Stalinisation *
• Could not attempt reform without opposition
• As he didn’t have a power base like Stalin
![Page 42: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
De-Stalinisation• 1954 Released labour camp prisoners• 1956-7: closed labour camps, more release of
prisoners• Eased censorships for writers & artists• Raised standard of living by increasing food
supply; new housing• Improved relations with the West & US,
toured 1959• 1955 Withdrew occupation forces from
Austria• 1963 Signed agreement with US banning
above ground nuclear testing
![Page 43: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
Krus hc he v (c on t.)
• But in 1961 Berlin Wall built
• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
![Page 44: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
Krushchev (cont.)
• Space Race: 1957 Sputnik I, first artificial satellite first man to orbit Earth first man to spacewalk first woman in space first rocket to hit the moon
![Page 45: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
First man in Space: Yuri Gagarin
![Page 46: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
Krushchev’s failures & the end of reforms
• 1. impatience• 2. commitment to Soviet’s policies, eg,
collectivisation• 3. failures in F.P. (Foreign Policy)• 4. Opposition from those who would lose their
positions if K. continued his reforms. (1962- K. wanted to reorganise the C.P. but many opposed this.)
![Page 47: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
Krushchev (cont.)
• He failed to reform Stalin’s institutions• Left economy tightly controlled by the govt. &
inefficient• Secret police was still part of daily life, KGB• These problems would be left unaddressed for
2 decades.
![Page 48: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/48.jpg)
Why was Khrushchev deseated? — Because of the Seven "C"s: Cult of personality, Communism, China, Cuban Crisis, Corn, and Cuzka's mother
In Russian this is the seven "K"s. To "show somebody Kuzka's mother" is a Russian idiom meaning "to give somebody a hard time". Khrushchev had used this phrase during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly referring to the Tsar Bomba test over Novaya Zemlya.
![Page 49: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/49.jpg)
Leonid Brezhnev 1964-1982• Stabilty & Stagnation
![Page 50: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/50.jpg)
Technocrat Brezhnev 1964-1982
• The “happiest time” for Russians in the 20th century.
• Russia peaked its highest status in international game.
• Lack of reforms also symbolised this decade. It seeds the decline of the Empire.
• Brezhnev Doctrine: labeled the revival of Soviet Power and its hostility toward the international society (and its own decline)
![Page 51: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/51.jpg)
Brezhnev
• Clamp down on intellectuals• Raised std. of living• Strengthened USSR’s security by
catching up with US in arms race, & reduced tension with US. Mid-1970s relations with US good.
• Reforms failed as party élite were left untouched
![Page 52: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/52.jpg)
Brezhnev
• 1979 • Relations with US down, arms build
up .• Invasion of Afghanistan• Dissidents • Economy stalled • Brezhnev died Nov. 1982
![Page 53: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/53.jpg)
Photograph by: Wally McNamee, 1973 Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev eyes actress Jill St. John at a poolside reception hosted by President Nixon in California.
![Page 54: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/54.jpg)
Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker
![Page 55: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/55.jpg)
Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker
![Page 56: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/56.jpg)
After the Wall fell in 1989
![Page 57: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/57.jpg)
One of the greatest kisses in History is the one that took place between communist leaders Erich Honneker from East Germany, and Brezhnev from Soviet Union, during the 30th Anniversary of the GDR in June 1979. Despite the controversy and ridicule arisen in the West, this was actually a common sign of socialist solidarity, very used since Khrushchev era. It seems, moreover, that both leaders were very keen on kissing.
![Page 58: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/58.jpg)
Andropov 1982-1983
• Chernenko • from 1983 to 1985.
![Page 59: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/59.jpg)
• "What is the main difference of succession under tsarist regime and under socialism?" "Under tsarist regime the power transferred from father to a son, and under socialism - from one grandfather to another." (A wordplay: 'grandfather' in Russian is traditionally used in a sense of 'old man')
![Page 60: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/60.jpg)
Gorbachev 1985-1991
![Page 61: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/61.jpg)
The final 50 years in a nutshell
Russia remained part of a huge ‘Communist empire’
ruling large parts of Eastern Europe during the cold war.
By the late 1980’s the cracks were beginning to show and
in 1991 the Communist system collapsed, bringing
in a new era of capitalism to Russia.
![Page 62: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/62.jpg)
Rise of a Superpower
![Page 63: A Brief History of Russia](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062409/55cf91d2550346f57b91081e/html5/thumbnails/63.jpg)
Leaders• Lenin 1917-1924• Stalin 1924-1953• Khrushchev 1953-1964• Brezhnev 1964-1982• Andropov 1982-1984• Chernenko 1984-1985• Gorbachev 1985-1991• Yelstin 1991-2000• Putin 2000-2008• Medvedev 2008- present• Putin again??