There have been many rulers in the history of Russia, but not all of them can be called successful. Those who could have expanded the territory of the state, won wars, developed culture and production in the country, and strengthened international ties.
Yaroslav the Wise
Yaroslav the Wise, the son of Vladimir the Saint, was one of the first truly effective rulers in Russian history. He founded the fortress city of Yuryev in the Baltics, Yaroslavl in the Volga region, Yuryev Russian, Yaroslavl in the Carpathian region and Novgorod-Seversky.
During the years of his reign, Yaroslav stopped the Pechenegs' raids on Russia, defeating them in 1038 at the walls of Kiev, in honor of which the Cathedral of St. Sophia was laid. Artists from Constantinople were summoned to paint the temple.
In an effort to strengthen international ties, Yaroslav used dynastic marriages, gave his daughter Princess Anna Yaroslavna in marriage to the French king Henry I.
Yaroslav the Wise actively built the first Russian monasteries, founded the first large school, allocated large funds for translation and correspondence of books, published the Church Charter and Russian Truth. In 1051, having assembled the bishops, he himself appointed Metropolitan Hilarion, for the first time without the participation of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Hilarion became the first Russian metropolitan.
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Ivan III
Ivan III can be confidently called one of the most successful rulers in the history of Russia. It was he who managed to gather the scattered principalities of northeastern Russia around Moscow. During his lifetime, the Yaroslavl and Rostov principalities, Vyatka, Velikaya Perm, Tver, Novgorod and other lands became part of the unified state.
Ivan III was the first of the Russian princes to accept the title "Sovereign of All Russia", and introduced the term "Russia" into everyday life. He also became the liberator of Russia from the yoke. The standing on the Ugra River, which happened in 1480, marked the final victory of Russia in the struggle for its independence.
The Code of Law of Ivan III, adopted in 1497, laid the legal foundations for overcoming feudal fragmentation. The Code of Law had a progressive character for its time: at the end of the 15th century, not every European country could boast of a single legislation.
The unification of the country demanded a new state ideology and its foundations appeared: Ivan III approved the two-headed eagle as the symbol of the country, which was used in the state symbols of Byzantium and the Holy Roman Empire.
During the life of Ivan III, the main part of the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin, which we can observe today, was created. The Russian tsar invited Italian architects for this. Under Ivan III, about 25 churches were built in Moscow alone.
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible is an autocrat, whose reign still has very different, often opposite, assessments, but at the same time its effectiveness as a ruler is difficult to dispute.
He successfully fought the successors of the Golden Horde, annexed the Kazan and Astrakhan kingdoms to Russia, significantly expanded the territory of the state to the east, subjugating the Great Nogai Horde and the Siberian Khan Edigei. However, the Livonian War ended with the loss of part of the land, without solving its main task - access to the Baltic Sea.
Under Grozny, diplomacy developed, Anglo-Russian contacts were established. Ivan IV was one of the most educated people of his time, possessed a phenomenal memory and erudition, wrote numerous letters himself, was the author of the music and text of the service of the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir, the canon to the Archangel Michael, developed book printing in Moscow, supported the chroniclers.
Peter I
Peter's coming to power radically changed the vector of Russia's development. The tsar "opened a window to Europe", fought a lot and successfully, fought against the clergy, reformed the army, education and tax system, created the first fleet in Russia, changed the tradition of chronology, carried out regional reform.
Peter personally met with Leibniz and Newton, was an honorary member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. By order of Peter I, books, instruments, weapons were purchased abroad, foreign masters and scientists were invited to Russia.
During the reign of the emperor, Russia established itself on the shores of the Azov Sea, gained access to the Baltic Sea. After the Persian campaign, the western coast of the Caspian Sea with the cities of Derbent and Baku retreated to Russia.
Under Peter I, outdated forms of diplomatic relations and etiquette were abolished, permanent diplomatic missions and consulates abroad were established.
Numerous expeditions, including those to Central Asia, the Far East and Siberia, made it possible to begin a systematic study of the country's geography and develop cartography.
Catherine II
The main German woman on the Russian throne, Catherine II was one of the most effective Russian rulers. Under Catherine II, Russia was finally entrenched in the Black Sea, the lands that received the name Novorossiya were annexed: the Northern Black Sea region, Crimea, Kuban region. Catherine took Eastern Georgia under Russian citizenship and returned the West Russian lands that had been torn away by the Poles.
Under Catherine II, the population of Russia increased significantly, hundreds of new cities were built, the treasury quadrupled, industry and agriculture developed rapidly - Russia began to export grain for the first time.
During the reign of the empress, paper money was introduced for the first time in Russia, a clear territorial division of the empire was carried out, a secondary education system was created, an observatory, a physics office, an anatomical theater, a botanical garden, instrumental workshops, a printing house, a library, an archive were founded. In 1783, the Russian Academy was founded, which became one of the leading scientific bases in Europe.
Alexander I
Alexander I is the emperor, under whom Russia won a victory over the Napoleonic coalition. During the reign of Alexander I, the territory of the Russian Empire expanded significantly: Eastern and Western Georgia, Mingrelia, Imeretia, Guria, Finland, Bessarabia, most of Poland (which formed the Kingdom of Poland) passed into Russian citizenship.
Not everything was going smoothly with the internal policy of Alexander the First ("arakcheevism", police measures against the opposition), but Alexander I carried out a number of reforms: merchants, bourgeois and state settlers were given the right to buy uninhabited land, ministries and a cabinet of ministers were established, a decree was issued about free farmers, who created the category of personally free peasants.
Alexander II
Alexander II went down in history as the "Liberator". Serfdom was abolished under him. Alexander II reorganized the army, shortened the military service, and under him corporal punishment was abolished. Alexander II founded the State Bank, carried out financial, monetary, police and university reforms.
During the reign of the emperor, the Polish uprising was suppressed, the Caucasian war ended. According to the Aigun and Peking treaties with the Chinese Empire, Russia annexed the Amur and Ussuri regions in 1858-1860. In 1867-1873, the territory of Russia increased due to the conquest of the Turkestan Territory and the Fergana Valley and the voluntary entry of the Bukhara Emirate and the Khiva Khanate on the vassal rights.
What Alexander II still cannot be forgiven is the sale of Alaska.
Alexander III
Russia has spent almost its entire history in wars. There were no wars only during the reign of Alexander III.
He was called "the most Russian tsar", "Peacemaker". Sergei Witte said about him in the following way: "Emperor Alexander III, having received Russia at a confluence of the most unfavorable political conjunctures, deeply raised Russia's international prestige without shedding a drop of Russian blood."
Alexander III's foreign policy merits were recognized by France, which named the main bridge over the Seine in Paris after Alexander III. Even the German Emperor Wilhelm II, after the death of Alexander III, said: "This was really the autocratic Emperor."
In domestic politics, the activities of the emperor were also successful. A real technical revolution took place in Russia, the economy stabilized, and industry developed by leaps and bounds. In 1891, Russia began construction of the Great Siberian Railway.
Joseph Stalin
The era of Stalin's rule was controversial, but it is difficult to deny that he “took the country with a plow and left with a nuclear bomb”. Do not forget that it was under Stalin that the USSR won the Great Patriotic War. Let's remember the numbers.
During the reign of Joseph Stalin, the population of the USSR increased from 136.8 million in 1920 to 208.8 million in 1959. Under Stalin, the country's population became literate. According to the census of 1879, the population of the Russian Empire was 79% illiterate, by 1932 the literacy of the population had risen to 89.1%.
The total volume of industrial production per capita for the years 1913-1950 in the USSR increased by 4 times. Growth in the production of agricultural products by 1938 was + 45% compared to 1913 and + 100% compared to 1920.
By the end of Stalin's reign in 1953, the gold reserves had grown 6.5 times and reached 2050 tons.
Nikita Khrushchev
Despite all the ambiguity of Khrushchev's internal (giving up Crimea) and external (Cold War) policies, it was during his reign that the USSR became the world's first space power.
After Nikita Khrushchev's report at the XX Congress of the CPSU, the country breathed more freely, a period of relative democracy began, in which citizens were not afraid to go to jail for telling a political anecdote.
This period saw the rise in Soviet culture, from which the ideological shackles were removed. The country discovered the genre of “areal poetry”, poets Robert Rozhdestvensky, Andrei Voznesensky, Evgeny Yevtushenko, Bella Akhmadulina was known to the whole country.
During the reign of Khrushchev, International Youth Festivals were held, Soviet people gained access to the world of import and foreign fashion. In general, it became easier to breathe in the country.