As prepared by Sesan Michael Johnson, smbafrica@gmail.com 08099312551; December 2012 Page | 1 The Romanov Dynasty 1613 – 1917: 300 Years of Russian History Russia Up To the Beginning of Tsarism Russia is, and always has been, mysterious. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies one-sixth of the world’s land surface (making it 91 times larger than Great Britain) and has about eleven time zones. Rossiya or Russia means “land of the Rus”. Russia stretches between the Arctic Ice and the Black Sea. Predominantly, the Slavs occupied the area. The Slavs were the ancestors of modern Russian people. For centuries, Russians were in the captivity of the Mongols. The Mongols built large empire in Euroasia from the Dardanelles to the Baltic Sea. Russians did not become independent of the Mongols’ rule until 1480. This was after the Mongols had laid siege on the country for about 200 years. Russia was largely speaking an isolated territory. In fact, its isolation robbed it much of its needed development and glory. It was a country far isolated from the development in the West and almost completely cut-off as a landlocked country. Perhaps we may wish to ask about the causes of this isolation during our period of study. Reasons for Isolation: 1. The Asian influence on Russia was far more than European influence. Russia was closer to Asia than Europe and this was also fuelled by 200 years of Mongols’ rule. In other words, Russia became more Asianized than she was Westernised with the consequences that the economic and scientific influence which created European development was scarce in Russia 2. Whereas much of Europe had gained their civilisation from the West, particularly from Greece and Rome, Russia got its civilisation from Constantinople and Byzantine