The Story of Russia

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The Story of Russia, by R. Van Bergen

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Title: The Story of Russia
Author: R. Van Bergen
Release Date: March 23, 2007 [EBook #20880]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. Author's spelling has been maintained. Missing page numbers correspond to moved illustrations.]
[Illustration: Map]

THE STORY OF RUSSIA
BY
R. VAN BERGEN, M.A.
AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF JAPAN," "THE STORY OF CHINA," ETC.

NEW YORK-:-CINCINNATI-:-CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

Copyright, 1905, By AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
STORY OF RUSSIA
W. P. 2.

To
HENRY MATHER LOWMAN
AMICUS CERTUS RE INCERTA CERNITUR.

PREFACE.
Recent events have drawn the attention upon Russia, a country of which but little is known here, because the intercourse between it and the United States has been limited. In my frequent journeys to the Far East, I found it often difficult to comprehend events because, while I could not help perceiving that the impulse leading to them came from Russia, it was impossible to discover what prompted the government of the czar. I felt the necessity to study the history of Russia, and found it so fascinating, that I resolved to place it in a condensed form before the students in our schools. They must be the judges of how I have succeeded.
R. VAN BERGEN.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Realm of the Czar 13
II. Early Records of Russia 23
III. The Norsemen (or Varingians) in Russia 29
IV. Saint Vladimir and Iaroslaf the Great 41
V. A Russian Republic 49
VI. Troublous Times 57
VII. The Yellow Peril 63
VIII. Russia Under the Mongol Yoke 71
IX. Lithuania and Moscow 79
X. Decline of the Tartar Power. Dmitri Donsko? 87
XI. Ivan III, the Great 97
XII. Russia becomes an Autocracy 106
XIII. Ivan IV, the Terrible 111
XIV. Russia Under Ivan the Terrible 122
XV. Feodor, the Last of Rurik's Descendants 129
XVI. Michael Feodorovitch (Son of Theodore) the First Romanof 137
XVII. Early Years of Peter the Great (Peter Alexievitch) 145
XVIII. Peter the Great and His Reign 153
XIX. Peter the Great and His Time 162
XX. The Successors of Peter the Great 173
XXI. Russia Under Catherine II (the Great) 183
XXII. Russia During the Wars of Napoleon 194
XXIII. An Eventful Period 208
XXIV. Alexander II, the Liberator 219
XXV. Great Events During Alexander's Reign Nihilism 229
XXVI. Alexander III, the Peasants' Friend 241
XXVII. Russia Methods: The War with Japan 251
XXVIII. The Origin and Growth of The Asiatic Empire 259
XXIX. Russian Methods. The War with Japan 267
XXX. Russia Loses her Prestige 277

THE STORY OF RUSSIA.

I--THE REALM OF THE CZAR. (p.?013)
When we think of our country, we feel proud of it for other and better reasons than its great size. We know how its extent compares with that of other nations; we know that the United States covers an area almost equal to that of Europe, and, more favored than that Grand Division, is situated on the two great highways of commerce, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Europe is as far from the latter, as Asia is from the former; and these highways, powerful means toward creating prosperity, remain at the same time barriers whereby nations that find greater delight in the arts of war than in those of peace, are restrained from disturbing our national progress.
At the beginning of this twentieth century the nations upon which depends the world's peace or war, happiness or misfortune, are the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia, Japan, and in the near future China. Here we see that Europe, although little larger in area than the United States, is represented by seven nations, Asia by two, and the Western Hemisphere by one which by its institutions stands for peace and progress, for law and (p.?014) order. Hence we, its citizens, are known all over the world as Americans.
If we compare the area occupied by the several European powers with that covered by the main body of our republic, that is, not including Alaska and other outlying territories, we find that Austria-Hungary has four thousand square miles less than Texas, while Germany lacks forty thousand square miles in comparison with the Lone Star State. France is four thousand square miles less than Germany, and Italy is only a thousand square miles greater than Nevada. The British Kingdom in Europe is about twice the area of Illinois. Among the great nations of the world, aside from outlying possessions beyond the Grand Division, our country stands third, and should occupy