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Partitions of Poland
The Three Partitions of Poland took place in 1772, 1793 and 1795. These partitions erased an independent Poland from the world map for over one hundred years, dividing Polish territory up between Russia, Austria and Prussia. From the Russian…
Pope John Paul II's Visit to Poland
In 1979, Pope John Paul II visited Poland and was greeted by massive crowds of Poles demanding to worship God. These crowds, in part for want of religious freedom, later contributed to the Solidarity movement that overturned the Communist government…
1863 Polish Uprising
In 1863, many Poles rose up against the Russian government. One of the motivating factors was the religious difference: that Roman Catholic Poland was displeased with the control exerted by the Russian Orthodox Church. But when the uprising was…
False Dmitrii I (Lzhedmitrii)
The figure of False Dmitrii I is, possibly, among the greatest mysteries of Russian history. His story is inherently related to the history of Russian-Polish struggle. False Dmitrii I, a pretender, who claimed to be the son of Ivan IV the Terrible,…
Damansky Island Conflict
After the collapse of Sino-Soviet relations in the 1960s, the Chinese began to dispute the current borders on the argument that "unequal treaties" by the Russians had stolen Chinese territory. On March 2, 1969, the border units of the Soviet Union…
Trans-Siberian Railroad
The Trans-Siberian Railroad was the material display of Russia’s desire for a permanent foothold on the Pacific coast. Not long after the Amur region had come under Russian control, the imperial government recognized the need for a railroad to…
The Treaty of Nerchinsk
As Russia sent explorers and settlers eastward in the mid-seventeenth century, they struggled over the land in the Amur basin. At the time of Yerofei Khabarov’s 1649 expedition, one bank of the Amur river was ruled by the Daurians and the other by…
The Treaty of Aigun
The Amur region grew in importance for Russia during the 1850s. Count Nikolas Muravyov-Amursky led expeditions into the region during the first part of the decade, and during the Crimean War of 1853-1856, the Russian presence in the Amur region was…
Complementary Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation
After treaties in 1991 and 2001 were not able to complete define the disputed border between the Russian Federation and the Republic of China, the two states were party to the Complementary Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the…
Yeltsin Visits the White House in 1992
U.S.-Russian relations improved following the collapse of the Soviet Union. President Boris Yeltsin's visited the White House in January 1992 in an attempt to strengthen ties between the countries. This was a momentous visit during which Yeltsin…
Russian Immigrant Settlement in the U.S.
U.S.-Russia relations have improved at times and worsened at others which has significantly contributed to rates of immigration. Over the past few centuries, Russian immigration has ebbed and flowed due to changing Soviet policy. During the 1970s,…
First Russian Settlement in Alaska
Alaska was the site of the first major Russian settlement in North America. Grigory Shelikhov (1747-1795), a fur trader, established the Three Saints Bay colony at Kodiak Island. For the next century this colony represented a core area for fur…
Edward Snowden Controversy
The recent controversy surrounding Edward Snowden has again tested the relationship between Russia and the United States. On June 23, 2013, Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who leaked thousands of pages of classified…
Rosenberg Trial and Execution
In 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested for allegedly passing nuclear secrets to the soviets. The two were convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 and sentenced to death. Despite concerns over the quality of the convicting evidence and…
Orthodox Church Politics
In 1811, the Russian Orthodox Church takes over the Georgian Orthodox Church at the direction of Russian officials. Previously, the common Orthodox religion of Georgia and Russia had served as part of the means of bringing the two closer together.