1.
Julian calendar
–
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict, the Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian the figure is one day in 3,030 years, the difference in the average length of the year between Julian and Gregorian is 0. 002%. The Julian calendar has a year of 365 days divided into 12 months. A leap day is added to February every four years, the Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. It was intended to approximate the tropical year, as a result, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform of 1582, consequently, the Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Egypt converted on 20 December 1874/1 January 1875, turkey switched on 16 February/1 March 1917. Russia changed on 1/14 February 1918, Greece made the change for civil purposes on 16 February/1 March 1923 - the national day, which was a religious holiday, was to remain on the old calendar. Most Christian denominations in the west and areas evangelised by western churches have replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the date of Easter, some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes. The Julian calendar is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the form of the Berber calendar. In the form of the Alexandrian calendar, it is the basis for the Ethiopian calendar, during the changeover between calendars and for some time afterwards, dual dating was used in documents and gave the date according to both systems. In contemporary as well as texts that describe events during the period of change. The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, in addition, a 27- or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, some say the mensis intercalaris always had 27 days and began on either the first or the second day after the Terminalia. According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. In this system, the average Roman year would have had 366 1⁄4 days over four years, Macrobius describes a further refinement whereby, in one 8-year period within a 24-year cycle, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days
2.
Gregorian calendar
–
The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582, the calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar involving a 0. 002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the northern vernal equinox, transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe, the last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923. Many countries that have used the Islamic and other religious calendars have come to adopt this calendar for civil purposes. The reform was a modification of a made by Aloysius Lilius. His proposal included reducing the number of years in four centuries from 100 to 97. Lilius also produced an original and practical scheme for adjusting the epacts of the moon when calculating the date of Easter. For example, the years 1700,1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are. The canonical Easter tables were devised at the end of the third century, when the vernal equinox fell either on 20 March or 21 March depending on the years position in the leap year cycle. As the rule was that the full moon preceding Easter was not to precede the equinox, the date was fixed at 21 March for computational purposes, the Gregorian calendar reproduced these conditions by removing ten days. To unambiguously specify a date, dual dating or Old Style, dual dating gives two consecutive years for a given date, because of differences in the starting date of the year, and/or to give both the Julian and the Gregorian dates. The Gregorian calendar continued to use the calendar era, which counts years from the traditional date of the nativity. This year-numbering system, also known as Dionysian era or Common Era, is the predominant international standard today, the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but as in the Julian calendar, in a leap year, in the Julian calendar a leap year occurs every 4 years, but the Gregorian calendar omits 3 leap days every 400 years. In the Julian calendar, this day was inserted by doubling 24 February. In the modern period, it has become customary to number the days from the beginning of the month, some churches, notably the Roman Catholic Church, delay February festivals after the 23rd by one day in leap years. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers, the cycles repeat completely every 146,097 days, which equals 400 years
3.
Zakhar Chernyshyov
–
Count Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshov or Tchernyshov, best known for the 1760 raid on Berlin, rose to become Minister of War to the empress Catherine the Great of Russia. He left no children and the Tchernyshov majorat, instituted by him, passed to a younger brother, Zakhar, the eldest son of Grigory Chernyshev, the first count Chernyshev and one of Peter the Greats generals, was enlisted in the Russian military service since 1735. After a diplomatic mission to Vienna and a period at court and it was one of his officers, Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben, who took hold of Berlin, the capital of Frederick the Great, in 1760. With the accession of Peter III of Russia he received instructions to join his forces with the Prussians, along with Frederick, Chernyshov came upon the Austrian forces of Field Marshal Daun near Burkersdorf. King Frederick had already decided to attack the Austrians when Chernyshev received orders to disengage from the Prussians, but at Fredericks request the Russian commander suppressed the order and participated in the Prussian victory of Burkersdorf. Under Catherine the Great, Chernyshev became President of the War College and he was responsible for the 1775 reform of the regional administration across the empire and became the first governor of the re-established Moscow guberniya
4.
Moldavia
–
Moldavia is a historical region, and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river. The western half of Moldavia is now part of Romania, the eastern side belongs to the Republic of Moldova, the original and short-lived reference to the region was Bogdania, after Bogdan I, the founding figure of the principality. Dragoș was accompanied by his female hound called Molda, when reached the shores of an unfamiliar river. The dogs name would have given to the river and extended to the country. The old German Molde, meaning open-pit mine the Gothic Mulda meaning dust, dirt, a Slavic etymology, marking the end of one Slavic genitive form, denoting ownership, chiefly of feminine nouns. In several early references, Moldavia is rendered under the composite form Moldo-Wallachia, Ottoman Turkish references to Moldavia included Boğdan Iflak and Boğdan. See also names in other languages, the name of the region in other languages include French, Moldavie, German, Moldau, Hungarian, Moldva, Russian, Молдавия, Moldaviya, Turkish, Boğdan Prensliği, Greek, Μολδαβία. The inhabitants of Moldova were Christians, archaeological works revealed the remains of a Christian necropolis at Mihălășeni, Botoșani county, from the 5th century. The place of worship, and the tombs had Christian characteristics, the place of worship had a rectangular form with sides of 8 and 7 meters. Similar necropolis and place of worship were found at Nicolina, in Iași The Bolohoveni, the chronicle shows that this land is bordered on the principalities of Halych, Volhynia and Kiev. Archaeological research also identified the location of 13th-century fortified settlements in this region, Alexandru V. Boldur identified Voscodavie, Voscodavti, Voloscovti, Volcovti, Volosovca and their other towns and villages between the middle course of the rivers Nistru/Dniester and Nipru/Dnieper. The Bolohoveni disappeared from chronicles after their defeat in 1257 by Daniil Romanovichs troops, in the early 13th century, the Brodniks, a possible Slavic–Vlach vassal state of Halych, were present, alongside the Vlachs, in much of the regions territory. On the border between Halych and the Brodniks, in the 11th century, a Viking by the name of Rodfos was killed in the area by Vlachs who supposedly betrayed him. In 1164, the future Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, was prisoner by Vlach shepherds around the same region. In 1342 and 1345, the Hungarians were victorious in a battle against Tatar-Mongols, the Polish chronicler Jan Długosz mentioned Moldavians as having joined a military expedition in 1342, under King Władysław I, against the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1353, Dragoș, mentioned as a Vlach Knyaz in Maramureș, was sent by Louis I to establish a line of defense against the Golden Horde forces of Mongols on the Siret River and this expedition resulted in a polity vassal to Hungary, centered around Baia. His realm extended north to the Cheremosh River, while the part of Moldavia was still occupied by the Tatar Mongols. After first residing in Baia, Bogdan moved Moldavias seat to Siret, disfavored by the brief union of Angevin Poland and Hungary, Bogdans successor Lațcu accepted conversion to Roman Catholicism around 1370, but his gesture was to remain without consequences
5.
Catherine the Great
–
Catherine II of Russia, also known as Catherine the Great, was a Russian monarch. She was the female leader of Russia, reigning from 1762 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67. She came to following a coup détat when her husband. Russia was revitalised under her reign, growing larger and stronger than ever, in both her accession to power and in rule of her empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. In the west, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherines former lover, king Stanisław August Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, in the east, Russia started to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America. Catherine reformed the administration of Russian guberniyas, and many new cities, an admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and the continued to depend on serfdom. This was one of the reasons behind several rebellions, including the large-scale Pugachevs Rebellion of cossacks. The period of Catherine the Greats rule, the Catherinian Era, is considered the Golden Age of the Russian Empire. The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the Empress and she enthusiastically supported the ideals of The Enlightenment, thus earning the status of an enlightened despot. Catherine was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia as Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, she was nicknamed Figchen. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt, two of her first cousins became Kings of Sweden, Gustav III and Charles XIII. In accordance with the then prevailing in the ruling dynasties of Germany, she received her education chiefly from a French governess. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm, I see nothing of interest in it, although Catherine was born a princess, her family had very little money. Catherines rise to power was supported by her mothers relatives who were both wealthy nobles and royal relations. Catherine first met Peter III at the age of 10, based on her writings, she found Peter detestable upon meeting him. She disliked his pale complexion and his fondness for alcohol at such a young age, Peter also still played with toy soldiers
6.
Russian Orthodox Church
–
The Russian Orthodox Church, alternatively legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox patriarchates. The Primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus and it also exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the autonomous Church of Japan and the Orthodox Christians resident in the Peoples Republic of China. The ROC branches in Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova and Ukraine since the 1990s enjoy various degrees of self-government, in Ukraine, ROC has tensions with schismatic groups supported by the current government, while it enjoys the position of numerically dominant religious organisation. The ROC should also not be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, headquartered in New York, New York, the two Churches reconciled on May 17,2007, the ROCOR is now a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to one of the legends, Andrew reached the location of Kiev. The spot where he erected a cross is now marked by St. Andrews Cathedral. By the end of the first millennium AD, eastern Slavic lands started to come under the influence of the Eastern Roman Empire. There is evidence that the first Christian bishop was sent to Novgorod from Constantinople either by Patriarch Photius or Patriarch Ignatios, by the mid-10th century, there was already a Christian community among Kievan nobility, under the leadership of Byzantine Greek priests, although paganism remained the dominant religion. Princess Olga of Kiev was the first ruler of Kievan Rus′ to convert to Christianity and her grandson, Vladimir of Kiev, made Rus officially a Christian state. The Kievan church was a metropolitanate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Ecumenical patriarch appointed the metropolitan, who usually was a Greek. The Metropolitans residence was located in Kiev itself, the capital of the medieval Rus state. Following the tribulations of the Mongol invasion, the Russian Church was pivotal in the survival, despite the politically motivated murders of Mikhail of Chernigov and Mikhail of Tver, the Mongols were generally tolerant and even granted tax exemption to the Church. Such holy figures as Sergius of Radonezh and Metropolitan Alexis helped the country to withstand years of Tatar oppression, the Trinity monastery founded by Sergius of Radonezh became the setting for the flourishing of spiritual art, exemplified by the work of Andrey Rublev, among others. The followers of Sergius founded four hundred monasteries, thus extending the geographical extent of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. However, the Moscow Prince Vasili II rejected the act of the Council of Florence brought to Moscow by Isidore in March 1441, Isidore was in the same year removed from his position as an apostate and expelled from Moscow. The Russian metropolitanate remained effectively vacant for the few years due largely to the dominance of Uniates in Constantinople then. In December 1448, Jonas, a Russian bishop, was installed by the Council of Russian bishops in Moscow as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia without the consent from Constantinople. Subsequently, there developed a theory in Moscow that saw Moscow as the Third Rome, the successor to Constantinople
7.
Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
–
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Originally, possessors of the title bore it as immediate vassals of the Empire, secular or ecclesiastical. However, by the time the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, the first came to be reckoned as royalty in the sense of being treated as sovereigns, entitled to inter-marry with reigning dynasties. The second tier consisted of high-ranking nobles whose princely title did not, however, the actual titles used by Imperial princes varied considerably for historical reasons, and included archdukes, dukes, margraves, landgraves, counts palatine, princely counts, as well as princes. The estate of princes or Reichsfürstenstand was first established in a legal sense in the Late Middle Ages. Not all states met all three requirements, so one may distinguish between effective and honorary princes of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 13th century onwards, further estates were formally raised to the princely status by the emperor. The resolutions of the Diet of Augsburg in 1582 explicitly stated that the status was linked with the possession of a particular Imperial territory. Most of the Counts who ruled territories were raised to Princely rank in the decades before the end of the Empire in 1806, ecclesiastical Princes were the Prince-Bishops as well as the actual Prince-abbots. They comprised a number of entities which were secularized and mediatized after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. The honorary status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire might be granted to certain individuals, sovereigns outside the Empire, such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Prince of Piombino was another example, nobles allowed to bear the princely title, but who had neither a vote nor a seat in the Imperial Diet, individual or shared, such as the House of Kinsky. This included nobles who lacked immediacy, but who were allowed, motu proprio, by the Emperor to enjoy the title, although this courtesy tended to become hereditary for families, the right to princely status was called Personalist and could be revoked by the Emperor. List of states in the Holy Roman Empire List of Imperial Diet participants German mediatization Structure of Princes of The Holy Roman Empire
8.
Russian language
–
Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
9.
Romanization of Russian
–
Romanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic script into the Latin alphabet. Scientific transliteration, also known as the International Scholarly System, is a system that has used in linguistics since the 19th century. It is based on the Czech alphabet and formed the basis of the GOST, OST8483 was the first Soviet standard on romanization of Russian, introduced in 16 October 1935. This standard is an equivalent of GOST 16876-71 and was adopted as a standard of the COMECON. GOST7. 79-2000 System of Standards on Information, Librarianship and it is the official standard of both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Machine readable passports is an adoption of an ICAO stadards for travel documents and it was used in Russian passports for a short period during 2010–2013. The standard was substituted in 2013 by GOST R ISO/IEC 7501-1-2013, which does not contain romanization, ISO/R9, established in 1954 and updated in 1968, was the adoption of the scientific transliteration by the International Organization for Standardization. It covers Russian and seven other Slavic languages, ISO9,1995 is the current transliteration standard from ISO. It is based on its predecessor ISO/R9,1968, which it deprecates, for Russian, the UNGEGN, a Working Group of the United Nations, in 1987 recommended a romanization system for geographical names, which was based on the 1983 version of GOST 16876-71. It may be found in some international cartographic products, American Library Association and Library of Congress romanization tables for Slavic alphabets are used in North American libraries and in the British Library since 1975. The formal, unambiguous version of the system requires some diacritics and two-letter tie characters, British Standard 2979,1958 is the main system of the Oxford University Press, and a variation was used by the British Library to catalogue publications acquired up to 1975. The BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for Anglophones to read and pronounce, the portion of the system pertaining to the Russian language was adopted by BGN in 1944 and by PCGN in 1947. In Soviet international passports, transliteration was based on French rules, in 1997, with the introduction of new Russian passports, a diacritic-free English-oriented system was established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but this system was also abandoned in 2010. In 2006, GOST52535. 1-2006 was adopted, which defines technical requirements and standards for Russian international passports, in 2010, the Federal Migratory Service of Russia approved Order No. 26, stating that all names in the passports issued after 2010 must be transliterated using GOST52535. 1-2006. The standard was abandoned in 2013, finally in 2013, Order No.320 of the Federal Migratory Service of Russia came into force. It states that all names in the passports must be transliterated using the ICAO system. This system differs from the GOST52535. 1-2006 system in two things, ц is transliterated into ts, ъ is transliterated into ie, Scholarly ¹ Some archaic letters are transcribed in different ways
10.
Russian Empire
–
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
11.
Favourite
–
A favourite or favorite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, from 1600 to 1660 there were particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much of Europe, especially in Spain, England, France and Sweden. The term is sometimes employed by writers who want to avoid terms such as royal mistress, or friend. Too close a relationship between monarch and favourite was seen as a breach of the order and hierarchy of society. Since many favourites had flamboyant over-reaching personalities, they led the way to their own downfall with their rash behaviour. As the opinions of the gentry and bourgeoisie grew in importance, dislike from all classes could be especially intense in the case of favourites who were elevated from humble, or at least minor, backgrounds by royal favour. Titles and estates were usually given lavishly to favourites, who were compared to mushrooms because they sprang up suddenly overnight, the Kings favourite Piers Gaveston is a night-grown mushrump to his enemies in Christopher Marlowes Edward II. Their falls could be even more sudden, but after about 1650, favourites who came from the higher nobility, such as Leicester, Lerma, Olivares, and Oxenstierna, were often less resented and lasted longer. Oxenstierna and William Cecil, who died in office, successfully trained their sons to succeed them. Elizabeth I had Cecil as Secretary of State and later Lord High Treasurer from the time she ascended the throne in 1558 until his death 40 years later. She had more colourful relationships with several courtiers, the most lasting and intimate one was with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who was also a leading politician. Only in her last decade was the position of the Cecils, father and son, challenged by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Cardinal Wolsey was one figure who rose through the administrative hierarchy, but then lived extremely ostentatiously, before falling suddenly from power. Cardinal Granvelle, like his father, was a trusted Habsburg minister who lived grandly and it has been claimed that le Daims career was the origin of the term, as favori first appeared around the time of his death in 1484. Privado in Spanish was older, but was partly replaced by the term valido, in Spanish. Queen Victorias John Brown came much too late, the devotion of the monarch, in England, the scope for giving political power to a favourite was reduced by the growing importance of Parliament. Strafford can therefore hardly be called a favourite in the usual sense even though his relationship with Charles became very close and he was also from a well-established family, with powerful relations. After several years in power, Strafford was impeached by a Parliament now very hostile to him, there were later minister-favourites in England, but they knew that the favour of the monarch alone was not sufficient to rule, and most also had careers in Parliament. In France, the movement was in the opposite direction, the absolute monarchy pioneered by Cardinal Richelieu, Mazarins predecessor, was to be led by the monarch himself
12.
Treaty of Jassy
–
The treaty was signed on 9 January 1792 by Grand Vizier Koca Yusuf Pasha and Prince Bezborodko. List of treaties This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
13.
Ottoman Empire
–
After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
14.
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire
–
The territory of Crimea, previously controlled by the Crimean Khanate, was annexed by the Russian Empire on 19 April 1783. The period before the annexation was marked by Russian interference in Crimean affairs, a series of revolts by Crimean Tatars, the annexation began many years of Russian rule in Crimea, which ended with the transfer of the territory to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954. Russia annexed Crimea for a time in March 2014. Before Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74, Tatars in Crimea had no desire for independence, and held a strong emotional attachment to the Ottoman Empire. Within two months of the signing of the treaty, the government of the Khanate sent envoys to the Ottomans, the envoys said that as Russian troops remained stationed in Crimea at Yeni-Kale and Kerch, the Khanate could not be considered independent. Nevertheless, the Ottomans ignored this request, not wishing to violate the agreement with Russia, in the disorder that followed the Turkish defeat, Tatar leader Devlet Giray refused to accept the treaty at the time of its signing. Having been fighting Russians in the Kuban during the war, he crossed the Kerch Strait to Crimea, Devlet subsequently seized the Crimean throne, usurping Sahib Giray. Despite his actions against the Russians, Russian Empress Catherine the Great recognised Devlet as Khan, at the same time, however, she was grooming her favourite Şahin Giray, who resided at her court, for the role. As time went on, the rule of Devlet became increasingly untenable, in July of 1775, he sent a group of envoys to Constantinople to negotiate a reentry of the Crimean Khanate into the Ottoman Empire. This action was in defiance of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Famed diplomat Ahmed Resmî Efendi, who had helped draft the treaty, refused to provide any assistance to the Khanate, Empress Catherine gave an order to invade Crimea in November 1776. Her forces quickly gained control of Perekop, at the entrance to the peninsula, in January 1777, Russian-supported Şahin Giray crossed into Crimea over the Kerch Strait, much as Devlet had done. Devlet, aware of his defeat, abdicated and fled to Constantinople. Şahin was installed as a puppet Khan, infuriating the Muslim population of the peninsula, when he heard this news, Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid I noted Şahin Giray is a tool. The aim of the Russians is to take Crimea, Şahin, a member of the ruling House of Giray, attempted a series of reforms to modernise the Khanate. These included attempts to power in the hands of the Khan, establishing autocratic rule. Previously, power had been distributed between the leaders of different clans, called beys and he attempted to institute state taxation, a conscripted and centralised army, and to replace the traditional religion-based Ottoman legal system with civil law. These reforms, aimed at disrupting the old Ottoman order, were despised by the Crimean populace, at the behest of Empress Catherine, Şahin allowed Russians to settle in the peninsula, further infuriating Crimeans
15.
Crimea
–
The peninsula is located south of the Ukrainian region of Kherson and west of the Russian region of Kuban. It is connected to Kherson Oblast by the Isthmus of Perekop and is separated from Kuban by the Strait of Kerch, the Arabat Spit is located to the northeast, a narrow strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. Crimea has historically been at the boundary between the world and the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Crimea and adjacent territories were united in the Crimean Khanate during the 15th to 18th century, in 1783, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire. It became the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within newly independent Ukraine in 1991, with Sevastopol having its own administration, within Ukraine, the ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet and its facilities were divided between Russias Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The two navies shared some of the harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remained the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval Forces Headquarters also based in the city, most of the international community does not recognize the annexation and considers Crimea to be Ukrainian territory. Russia currently administers the peninsula as two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine continues to assert its right over the peninsula, the classical name Tauris or Taurica is from the Greek Ταυρική, after the peninsulas Scytho-Cimmerian inhabitants, the Tauri. In English usage since the modern period the Crimean Khanate is referred to as Crim Tartary. The Italian form Crimea also becomes current during the 18th century, the omission of the definite article in English became common during the later 20th century. The name Crimea follows the Italian form from the Crimean Tatar name for the city Qırım which served as a capital of the Crimean province of the Golden Horde, the name of the capital was extended to the entire peninsula at some point during Ottoman suzerainty. The origin of the word Qırım is uncertain, suggestions argued in various sources include, a corruption of Cimmerium. A derivation from the Turkic term qirum, from qori-, other suggestions that have not been supported by sources but are apparently based on similarity in sound include, a derivation from the Greek Cremnoi. However, he identifies the port, not in Crimea, no evidence has been identified that this name was ever in use for the peninsula. The classical name was revived in 1802 in the name of the Russian Taurida Governorate, in the 8th century BCE the Cimmerians migrated to the region and subsequently the Scythians as well it being the site of Greek colonies. The most important city was Chersonesos at the edge of todays Sevastopol, the Persian Achaemenid Empire expanded to Crimea. Later occupiers included the Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, the Byzantine Empire, Khazars, the Kipchaks, the Golden Horde, consideration of the succeeding residents of the peninsula by their linguistic grouping is also of relevance
16.
Izmail
–
For the class of Russian warships, see Izmail-class battlecruiser. Izmail is a city on the Danube river in Odessa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. Administratively, Izmail is incorporated as a town of oblast significance and it also serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of twenty-six districts of Odessa Oblast, though it is not a part of the district. It is the largest Ukrainian port on the Danube, as such, it is a center of the food processing industry and a popular regional tourist destination. It is also a base of the Ukrainian Navy and the Ukrainian Sea Guard units operating on the river, the World Wildlife Funds Isles of Izmail Regional Landscape Park is located nearby. Population,72, 471 Ethnic Russians form about 42. 7% of the population of Izmail, while 38% are Ukrainians, 10% Bessarabian Bulgarians, the fortress of Izmail was built by Genoese merchants in the 12th century. It belonged for a period of time to Wallachia – as the territory north of the Danube was one of the possessions of the Basarabs. The town was first mentioned with the name Ismailiye, derived from the name of the Ottoman Grand Vizier Izmail, from the end of the 14th century, Izmail was under the rule of Moldavia. In 1484, the Ottoman state conquered the territory, which became from that moment an Ottoman protectorate, since the early 16th century it was the main Ottoman fortress in the Budjak region. In 1569 Sultan Selim II settled Izmail with his Nogai subjects, after Russian general Nicholas Repnin took the fortress of Izmail in 1770, it was heavily refortified by the Turks, so as never to be captured again. The Sultan boasted that the fortress was impregnable, but during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 the Russian Army commander Alexander Suvorov successfully stormed it on 22 December 1790, Ottoman forces inside the fortress had the orders to stand their ground to the end, haughtily declining the Russian ultimatum. The defeat was seen as a catastrophe in the Ottoman Empire, while in Russia it was glorified in the countrys first national anthem, for all his bluffness, Suvorov later told an English traveller that when all was over he went back to his tent and wept. At the end of the war, Izmail was returned to the Ottoman Empire, after it was ceded to Russia with the rest of Bessarabia by the 1812 Treaty of Bucharest, the town was rebuilt thoroughly. The Intercession Cathedral, the churches of Nativity, St. Nicholas, after Russia lost the Crimean War, the town returned to the Principality of Moldavia, which would soon become part of the Romanian Principalities. Russia gained control of Izmail again after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. With the breakup of the Russian Empire in 1917 and in the aftermath of World War I, later that year, the Sfatul Țării of Chișinău, which claimed to be the representative of the whole of Bessarabia, voted to formally unite the region with Romania. This union was recognized by the United Kingdom, France and Italy in the Treaty of Paris, during the Soviet period following World War II, many Russians and Ukrainians migrated to the town, gradually changing its ethnic composition. Izmail Oblast was formed in 1940 and the town remained its administrative centre until the oblast was merged to Odessa Oblast in 1954, since 24 August 1991, Izmail has been part of independent Ukraine
17.
Gavrila Derzhavin
–
Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin was one of the most highly esteemed Russian poets before Alexander Pushkin, as well as a statesman. Although his works are considered literary classicism, his best verse is rich with antitheses and conflicting sounds in a way reminiscent of John Donne. His distant ancestor Morza Bagrim, who relocated from the Great Horde in the 15th century to Moscow, was baptized, nevertheless, by the 18th century Derzhavins father was just a poor country squire who died when Gavrila was still young. He received a formal education at the gymnasium there but left for Petersburg as a private in the guards. There he rose from the ranks as a soldier to the highest offices of state under Catherine the Great. He first impressed his commanders during Pugachevs Rebellion, politically astute, his career advanced when he left the military service for civil service. He rose to the position of governor of Olonets and Tambov, personal secretary to the Empress, President of the College of Commerce, and finally the Minister of Justice. He was dismissed from his post in 1803 and spent much of the rest of his life in the estate at Zvanka near Novgorod, writing idylls. At his Saint Petersburg house, he held meetings of the conservative Lovers of the Russian Word society. He died in 1816 and was buried in the Khutyn Monastery near Zvanka, reburied by the Soviets in the Novgorod Kremlin, Derzhavin is best remembered for his odes, dedicated to the Empress and other courtiers. He paid little attention to the system of genres, and many a time would fill an ode with elegiac, humorous. In his grand ode to the Empress, for instance, he mentions searching for fleas in his wifes hair, unlike other Classicist poets, Derzhavin found delight in carefully chosen details, such as a colour of wallpaper in his bedroom or a poetic inventory of his daily meal. He believed that French was a language of harmony but that Russian was a language of conflict, although he relished harmonious alliterations, sometimes he deliberately instrumented his verse with cacophonous effect. He also provided lyrics for the first Russian national anthem, Let the thunder of victory sound, in 1800, Derzhavin wrote the political work Opinion, an anti-Semitic tract in response to a request by Emperor Paul I to investigate recent famines in Belorussia. According to D. S. Mirsky, Derzhavins poetry is a universe of amazing richness, its only drawback was that the great poet was of no use either as a master or as an example. He did nothing to raise the level of taste or to improve the literary language. Nevertheless, Nikolai Nekrasov professed to follow Derzhavin rather than Pushkin, gde stol byl yastv, tam grob stoit Im a czar - Im a slave - Im a worm - Im a god …Heart of a lion, wings of an eagle Are no longer with us. The current of Times river Will carry off all human deeds And sink into oblivion All peoples, kingdoms, and if theres something that remains Through sounds of horn and lyre, It too will disappear into the maw of time And not avoid the common pyre
18.
Osip Kozlovsky
–
Osip Antonovich Kozlovsky was a Russian-Polish composer of Belarusian origin. For the most part of his life Osip Kozlovsky was attached to the Russian Imperial Court, in Russia he became popular especially for his patriotic polonaises. Born in Propoysk to a Belarusian szlachta, he was a boy at St. John Cathedral. He moved to Russia in 1786, where he involved in the war against Turkey. He entered the army as aide-de-camp to Prince Dolgoruky, soon he became known to Prince Grigory Potemkin, the prime minister between 1774 and 1776. Impressed by the talent of Kozlovski, Potemkin introduced him to the Court. In 1791 he wrote the music for the unofficial Russian national anthem of the late 18th and early 19th centuries Grom pobedy, the second part of this polonaise was later quoted by Peter Tchaikovsky in the final scene of his opera The Queen of Spades. The famous serf soprano Praskovya Zhemchugova acted the role of the captive Turkish woman Zelmira, the opera was revived and performed again on 28 August 2004 at the same place in Ostankino. Between 1799 and 1819 Kozlovsky supervised the theatre orchestras and the college at St Petersburg. He wrote another requiem for the death of the Emperor Alexander I, Tchaikovsky quotes a polonaise by Kozlovsky in the ballroom scene of The Queen of Spades. “Among the authors of the most popular Russian songs was a musician who didn’t have a drop of Russian blood in him – Pole Osip Kozlovsky. One of Suvorov’s musically endowed officers, Osip Kozlovsky, was commissioned by Potemkin to write this musical dedication which he diligently did exactly on time. Music Tales, Military Music Music at the Court of St Petersburg, Vol.2, Composers, Bortnyansky, Teplov, Kozlovsky, the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Music match, Album Music match, Artist Poles in Music Russian song
19.
Kherson
–
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the center of the Kherson Oblast, and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, estimated population as of 2007 was 329,000. Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, Kherson also houses the office of the Presidential representative of Ukraine in Crimea, until 1774, the region belonged to the Crimean Khanate. Kherson was founded in 1778 by Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin, on the orders of Catherine the Great, the city was built under the supervision of General Ivan Gannibal on the site of a small fortress called Aleksanderschanz. The name Kherson is a contraction of Chersonesos, an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2500 years ago in the part of Crimea. One of the first buildings in the Kherson Fort was the Church of St. Catherine where Potemkin was eventually buried, the last tarpan was caught near Kherson in 1866. During World War II, Kherson was occupied by the German Army from 21 August 1941 to 13 March 1944, during the Ukrainian revolution of 2014 the city was the scene of riots against president Yanukovich during which the main Lenin statue of the city was toppled by protesters. After the revolution the city became relatively calm, Suvorov Raion, central and oldest raion of the city, named after the Russian General Suvorov. Includes microraions, Tavrіjskij, Pіvnіchnij and Mlini, dnipro Raion, named after the Dnieper river. Includes microraions, Shumenskij, Korabel, Zabalka, Suharne, Zhitloselishhe, Selishhe —4, includes microraions, HBK, Tekstilnij, Sklotara, Slobіdka, Vojenka, Shіdnij. Under the Köppen climate classification, Kherson has a humid subtropical climate. Kherson is served by Kherson International Airport providing both passport and customs control and it operates a 2,500 x 42-meter concrete runway, accommodating Boeing 737, Airbus 319/320 aircraft, and helicopters of all series. The official airport website is http, //www. airport. kherson. ua and additional info can be found at http, the tel no is +380552 33-71-87. Kherson is connected to the railroad network of Ukraine. There are daily services to Kyiv, Lviv and other cities. There are 77 high schools as well as 5 colleges, there are 15 institutions of higher education. Jewish cemetery – Kershon has a large Jewish community which was established in the mid-nineteenth century, from 1959 until 1990 there was no synagogue in Kherson
20.
Mykolaiv
–
Mykolaiv, also known as Nikolaev or Nikolayev, is a city in southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is arguably the main ship building center of the Black Sea, population,494, 763 The city is an important transportation junction of Ukraine. Mykolaivs orderly layout reflects the fact that its development has been planned from the founding of the city. Its main streets, including the three main east–west Avenues, are wide and tree lined. A significant part of Mykolaivs land area consists of beautiful parks, park Peremohy is a large park on the peninsula just north of the city center of Mykolaiv, on the north side of the Inhul river. The city uses two names, Ukrainian and Russian, there are several transliterations of each name, the Ukrainian name of the city is Микола́їв, transliterated as Mykolaiv, or Mykolayiv. The Russian name, Никола́ев, transliterates as Nikolaev or as Nikolayev, the citys founding was made possible by the Russian conquests during the Second Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792. Founded by Prince Grigory Potemkin, Nikolaev was the last of the cities he established. On 27 August 1789, Potemkin ordered its naming near the wharf at the mouth of the Ingul river, on a high, cool, to build the city he brought in peasants, soldiers, and Turkish prisoners,2,500 were working there during 1789. Potemkin named the city after Saint Nicholas, the patron of seafarers, the name Nikolaev is known from the legal order Number 1065 by Prince Potemkin to Mikhail Faleev dated 27 August 1789. On 15 April 1924 the Plenum of the Central Administrative-Territorial Commission of the VUTSIK considered and rejected the petition of the Odessan executive committee, perhaps the members of the Soviet-Ukraine government thought that the name sounded too obsequious. The city was designated as Nikolaev in publications of the map in other languages. Mykolaiv is the center of Mykolaiv Oblast, as well as that of both Mykolaiv and Vitovka Raions within the oblast. It is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance, Mykolaiv is located on a peninsula in Ukraines steppe region 65 kilometers from the Black Sea along the estuary of the Southern Bug river. Both the Inhul River and the Southern Bug River follow very winding courses just before they join at the northeast corner of Mykolaiv. This has created several long and narrow peninsulas just north of Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv is in a primarily flat terrain area. The nearest mountains to Mykolaiv are 300 kilometres south, at the end of the Crimean Peninsula. The lack of any mountain barriers north of Mykolaiv means that very cold Arctic winds can blow south, unimpeded by any terrain elevation, the area of the city is 260 square kilometres
21.
Sevastopol
–
Sevastopol or traditionally Sebastopol is a city located in the southwestern region of the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea. Sevastopol has a population of 393, 304 , concentrated mostly near the Bay of Sevastopol, the location and navigability of the citys harbours have made Sevastopol a strategically important port and naval base throughout history. The city has been a home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, although relatively small at 864 square kilometres, Sevastopols unique naval and maritime features provide the basis for a robust economy. The city enjoys mild winters and moderate summers, characteristics that help make it a popular seaside resort and tourist destination. The city is also an important centre for marine biology, in particular, the name of Sevastopolis was originally chosen in the same etymological trend as other cities in the Crimean peninsula that was intended to reflect its ancient Greek origins. It is a compound of the Greek adjective, σεβαστός and the noun πόλις, Σεβαστός is the traditional Greek equivalent of the Roman honorific Augustus, originally given to the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Augustus and later awarded as a title to his successors. Despite its Greek origin, the name itself is not from Ancient Greek times, the city was probably named after the Empress Catherine II of Russia who founded Sevastopol in 1783. She visited the city in 1787 accompanied by Joseph II, the Emperor of Austria, in the west of the city, there are well-preserved ruins of the ancient Greek port city of Chersonesos, founded in the 5th century BC by settlers from Heraclea Pontica. This name means peninsula, reflecting its location, and is not related to the ancient Greek name for the Crimean Peninsula as a whole. In English the current spelling has the pronunciation /səˈvæstəˌpoʊl/ or /ˌsɛvəˈstoʊpəl/, whilst the spelling has the pronunciation /sᵻˈbæstəpəl, -pɒl/ or /səˈbæstəˌpoʊl. Ukrainian, Севастополь, Russian, Севастополь, pronounced in Ukrainian, in the 6th century BC a Greek colony was established in the area of the modern-day city. The Greek city of Chersonesus existed for almost two years, first as an independent democracy and later as part of the Bosporan Kingdom. In the 13th and 14th centuries it was sacked by the Golden Horde several times and was totally abandoned. The modern day city of Sevastopol has no connection to the ancient and medieval Greek city, five years earlier, Alexander Suvorov ordered that earthworks be erected along the harbour and Russian troops be placed there. In February 1784, Catherine the Great ordered Grigory Potemkin to build a fortress there, the realisation of the initial building plans fell to Captain Fyodor Ushakov who in 1788 was named commander of the port and of the Black Sea squadron. It became an important naval base and later a commercial seaport, in 1797, under an edict issued by Emperor Paul I, the military stronghold was again renamed to Akhtiar. Finally, on 29 April,1826, the Senate returned the name to Sevastopol. One of the most notable involving the city is the Siege of Sevastopol carried out by the British, French, Sardinian, and Turkish troops during the Crimean War
22.
Dnipro
–
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk, is Ukraines fourth largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is 391 kilometres southeast of the capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, Dnipropetrovsk is the administrative centre of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Administratively, it is incorporated as a city of oblast significance, the city was originally envisioned as the Russian Empires third capital city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A vital industrial centre of Soviet Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk was one of the key centres of the nuclear, arms, in particular, it is home to the Yuzhmash, a major space and ballistic missile design bureau and manufacturer. Because of its industry, Dnipropetrovsk was a closed city until the 1990s. On 19 May 2016 the official name of the city was changed to Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk is a powerhouse of Ukraines business and politics as the native city for many of the countrys most important figures. Ukraines politics are still defined by the legacies of Leonid Kuchma, Pavlo Lazarenko, in some Anglophone media the city was also known as the Rocket City. In 1918, the Central Council of Ukraine proposed to change the name of the city to Sicheslav, however, in 1926 the city was renamed after Communist leader Grigory Petrovsky. Hence following the 2015 law on decommunization the city had to be renamed, on 19 May 2016 the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill to officially rename the city to the name Dnipro. A monastery was founded by Byzantine monks on Monastyrsky Island, probably in the 9th century, the Tatars destroyed the monastery in 1240. At the beginning of the 15th century, Tatar tribes inhabiting the right bank of the Dnieper were driven away by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, by the mid-15th century, the Nogai and the Crimean Khanate invaded these lands. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crimean Khanate agreed to a border along the Dnieper and it was in this time that a new force appeared, the free people, the Cossacks. They later became known as Zaporozhian Cossacks and this was a period of raids and fighting causing considerable devastation and depopulation in that area, the area became known as the Wild Fields. On the night of ¾ August 1635, the Cossacks of Ivan Sulyma captured the fort by surprise, burning it down, the fort was rebuilt by French engineer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan for the Polish Government in 1638, and had a mercenary garrison. Kodak was captured by Zaporozhian Cossacks on 1 October 1648, and was garrisoned by the Cossacks until its demolition in accordance with the Treaty of the Pruth in 1711, the ruins of the Kodak are visible now. There is currently a project to restore it and create a tourist centre, under the Treaty of Pereyaslav of 1654, the territory became part of the Russian Empire. For practical purposes, the Prydniprovye lands remained a border area until the destruction of the Zaporizhian Sich in 1775. The Zaporozhian village of Polovytsia was founded in the late-1760s, between the settlements of Stari and Novi Kodaky and it was located at the present centre of the city to the West to district of Central Terminal and the Ozyorka farmers market
23.
Black Sea Fleet
–
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic command of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. Its ships are based in various harbors of the Black Sea and it is considered to have been founded by Prince Potemkin on May 13,1783, together with its principal base, the city of Sevastopol. Russia struggled for a time against its main rival in the region. The Black Sea Fleet defeated the Turks in 1790, and fought the Ottomans during World War I, the Romanians during World War II, the division of the fleet in 1997 became the basis of the Ukrainian Navy. The Black Sea Fleet is considered to have founded by Prince Potemkin on May 13,1783, together with its principal base. Formerly commanded by such legendary admirals as Dmitriy Senyavin and Pavel Nakhimov, in 1790, Russian naval forces under the command of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Kerch Strait. From 1841 onward, the fleet was confined to the Black Sea by the London Straits Convention, the crew of the battleship Potemkin revolted in 1905 soon after the Navys defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Lenin wrote that the Potemkin uprising had had an importance in terms of being the first attempt at creating the nucleus of a revolutionary army. During World War I, there were a number of encounters between the Russian and Ottoman navies in the Black Sea, german submarines of the Constantinople Flotilla and Turkish light forces would continue to raid and harass Russian shipping until the wars end. During the Russian Civil War, the vast majority of the Black Sea Fleet was scuttled by Bolsheviks in Novorossiysk, most of the ships became part of the Russian Squadron of Wrangls armed forces and after the evacuation sailed to Tunisia. Out of those ships, some were passed to the French Navy, few ships that did stay in Black Sea were salvaged in the 1920s, while a large scale new construction programme began in the 1930s. Over 500 new ships were built during that period as well as expansion of coastal infrastructure took place. The Fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral F. S, oktyabrskiy on the outbreak of war with Germany in June 1941. The Fleet gave an account of itself as it fought alongside the Red Army during the Siege of Odessa. In 1952, Turkey decided to join NATO, placing the Bosporus Strait in the Western sphere of influence, together with the advent of long-range nuclear weapons, this dramatically decreased the strategic value of any naval activity in the Black Sea.11.94. 124th Maritime Missile Aviation Regiment - disbanded 1993, 943rd Maritime Missile Aviation Regiment - disbanded 1996. The military importance of the fleet has degraded since the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to significant funding cuts and, to a degree, the loss of its major missions. In 1992, the part of the personnel, armaments
24.
Potemkin village
–
In politics and economics, a Potemkin village is any construction built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village, built only to impress Empress Catherine II during her journey to Crimea in 1787, Grigory Potemkin was a favorite lover of the Russian Empress Catherine II. After the Russian annexation of Crimea from the Ottoman Empire and liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich, the region had been devastated by the war, Potemkins major tasks were to rebuild it and bring in Russian settlers. In 1787, as a new war was about to break out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Catherine II with her court and several ambassadors made an unprecedented trip to New Russia. The purpose of this trip was to impress Russias allies prior to the war, to help accomplish this, Potemkin set up mobile villages on the banks of the Dnieper River. As soon as the carrying the Empress and ambassadors arrived, Potemkins men, dressed as peasants. Once the barge left, the village was disassembled, then rebuilt downstream overnight, modern historians are divided on the degree of truth behind the Potemkin village story, and some writers argue that the story is an exaggeration. Some historians dismiss it as rumors spread by Potemkins opponents. These historians argue that Potemkin did mount efforts to develop the Crimea, aleksandr Panchenko, an established specialist on 19th-century Russia, used original correspondence and memoirs to conclude that the Potemkin villages are a myth. He writes, Based on the above said we must conclude that the myth of Potemkin villages is exactly a myth and he writes that Potyomkin indeed decorated cities and villages, but made no secret that this was a decoration. The close relationship between Potemkin and the empress would make it difficult for him to deceive her, thus, the deception would have been mainly directed towards the foreign ambassadors accompanying the imperial party. Regardless, Potemkin had supervised the building of fortresses, ships of the line, and thriving settlements, according to these historians, the claims of deception were part of a defamation campaign against Potemkin. It was meant to prove that the area was not under Japanese domination, whether the farce succeeded is moot, Japan withdrew from the League the following year. It ultimately served as a way-station to Auschwitz-Birkenau, henry A. Wallace visited a Soviet slave labor camp in Magadan in 1944 and believed that the prisoners were volunteers. In 1998, the energy services company Enron built and maintained a trading floor on the 6th story of its downtown Houston headquarters. The trading floor was used to impress Wall Street analysts attending Enrons annual shareholders meeting and even included rehearsals conducted by Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. In 2010,22 vacant houses in a part of Cleveland, USA, were disguised with fake doors and windows painted on the plywood panels used to close them up. A similar program has been undertaken in Chicago and in Detroit during the World Series festivities in 1984, in 2013 before Vladimir Putins visit to Suzdal some old and half-ruined houses in the city center were covered with large posters with doors and windows printed on them
25.
Tauride Palace
–
Tauride Palace is one of the largest and most historic palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Prince Grigory Potemkin of Tauride commissioned his architect, Ivan Starov. Starovs design called for a park and harbour in front of the palace. Building work began in 1783 and lasted for six years, considered the grandest noblemans residence of 18th-century Russia, Tauride Palace served as a model for innumerable manors scattered across the Russian Empire. Shortly before his death, on 28 April 1791, Potemkin used the palace to host unprecedented festivities, the ball was described by Gavrila Derzhavin in the longest of his compositions. Notwithstanding all the expenses, Potemkin failed in his ambition and departed for Iaşi in despair, after the owners death several months later, Catherine II purchased his palace and ordered architect Fyodor Volkov to transform it into her summer townhouse. Volkov was responsible for improvements in the grounds, including the construction of the theatre in the east wing. In the garden, he designed the Admiralty Pavilion, gardener house, orangery, glass-houses, bridges, the sculpture named the Venus Tauride was kept in the palace from the end of the eighteenth century until the mid-nineteenth, and derives its name from it. The exterior appearance of the palace was rather plain and contrasted sharply with the riotous luxuriance of its interiors, the domed hall, one of the largest in Russia, was connected by a 75-meter-long columned gallery with a winter garden. In the 19th century, the palace was refurbished by Carlo Rossi and it had been used to host balls and exhibitions until 1906, when it was transformed into the seat of the first Russian parliament, the Imperial State Duma. Immediately after the February Revolution of 1917, Tauride Palace housed the Russian Provisional Government, the abortive Russian Constituent Assembly held its meetings there in 1918. In May 1918 Bolsheviks held here their 7th Congress, where they first named themselves the Russian Communist Party, in 1920-91 the Tauride Palace was used for the High Party School. Since the 1990s, Tauride Palace has been home to the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, on this account, a large glass-covered annex was erected immediately behind the palace, in the Tauride Gardens. Media related to Tauride Palace at Wikimedia Commons Tauride Palace in Encyclopaedia of St. Petersburg Official website
26.
Saint Petersburg
–
Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
27.
Russian battleship Potemkin
–
The Russian battleship Potemkin was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navys Black Sea Fleet. She became famous when the crew rebelled against the officers in June 1905, the mutiny later formed the basis of Sergei Eisensteins 1925 silent film The Battleship Potemkin. After the mutineers sought asylum in Constanța, Romania, and after the Russians recovered the ship and she accidentally sank a Russian submarine in 1909 and was badly damaged when she ran aground in 1911. During World War I, Panteleimon participated in the Battle of Cape Sarych in late 1914, the ship was relegated to secondary roles after Russias first dreadnought battleship entered service in late 1915. She was by then obsolete and was reduced to reserve in 1918 in Sevastopol, Panteleimon was captured when the Germans took Sevastopol in May 1918 and was handed over to the Allies after the Armistice in November 1918. Her engines were destroyed by the British in 1919 when they withdrew from Sevastopol to prevent the advancing Bolsheviks from using them against the White Russians and she was abandoned when the Whites evacuated the Crimea in 1920 and was finally scrapped by the Soviets in 1923. Planning began in 1895 for a new battleship that would utilise a slipway slated to become available at the Nikolayev Admiralty Shipyard in 1896, the improvements included a higher forecastle to improve the ships seakeeping qualities, Krupp cemented armour and Belleville boilers. The design process was complicated by numerous changes demanded by various departments of the Naval Technical Committee, the ships design was finally approved on 12 June 1897, although design changes continued to be made that slowed the ships construction. Construction of Potemkin began on 27 December 1897 and she was laid down at the Nikolayev Admiralty Shipyard on 10 October 1898 and she was named in honour of Prince Grigory Potemkin, a Russian soldier and statesman. The ship was launched on 9 October 1900 and transferred to Sevastopol for fitting out on 4 July 1902 and she began sea trials in September 1903 and these continued, off and on, until early 1905 when her gun turrets were completed. Potemkin was 371 feet 5 inches long at the waterline and 378 feet 6 inches long overall and she had a beam of 73 feet and a maximum draught of 27 feet. She displaced 12,900 long tons,420 long tons more than her designed displacement of 12,480 long tons, Potemkins crew consisted of 26 officers and 705 enlisted men. The ship had a pair of three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each of which drove one propeller, twenty-two Belleville boilers provided steam to the engines at a pressure of 15 atm. The eight boilers in the boiler room were oil-fired and the remaining 14 were coal-fired. During her sea trials on 31 October 1903, she reached a top speed of 16.5 knots, leaking oil caused a serious fire on 2 January 1904 that caused the navy to convert her boilers to coal firing at a cost of 20,000 rubles. She carried a maximum of 1,100 long tons of coal at full load that provided a range of 3,200 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. The main armament consisted of four 40-calibre 12-inch guns mounted in gun turrets fore. The electrically operated turrets were derived from the design of those used by the Petropavlovsk-class battleships and these guns had a maximum elevation of +15° and their rate of fire was very slow, only one round every four minutes during gunnery trials
28.
1905 Russian Revolution
–
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire, some of which was directed at the government. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies and it led to Constitutional Reform including the establishment of the State Duma, the multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906. According to Sidney Harcave, author of The Russian Revolution of 1905, newly emancipated peasants earned too little, and were not allowed to sell or mortgage their allotted land. A nascent industrial working class resented the government for doing too little to them, banning strikes. Finally, the educated class fomented and spread radical ideas after a relaxing of discipline in universities allowed a new consciousness to grow among students, vladimir Lenin was a political theorist who also contributed his own ideology of how a revolution would be caused. In his book Imperialism he claimed that driven imperialism and the dependence on overseas markets would be a factor to revolution. This would cause a rivalry between the powers, leading to war. Taken individually, these issues might not have affected the course of Russian history, the government finally recognized these problems, albeit in a shortsighted and narrow-minded way. The minister of interior Plehve stated in 1903 that, after the problem, the most serious ones plaguing the country were those of the Jews, the schools. This setback aggravated social unrest during the five years preceding the revolution of 1905, every year, thousands of nobles in debt mortgaged their estates to the noble land bank or sold them to municipalities, merchants, or peasants. By the time of the revolution, the nobility had sold off one-third of its land and this plan was meant to prevent proletarianisation of the peasants. However, the peasants were not given land to provide for their needs. Their earnings were often so small that they could buy the food they needed nor keep up the payment of taxes. By the tenth year of Nicholas IIs reign, their total arrears in payments of taxes and dues was 118 million rubles, masses of hungry peasants roamed the countryside looking for work and sometimes walked hundreds of kilometres to find it. Desperate peasants proved capable of violence and these violent outbreaks caught the attention of the government, so it created many committees to investigate their causes. The committees concluded that no part of the countryside was prosperous, some parts, although cultivated acreage had increased in the last half century, the increase had not been proportionate to the growth of peasant populations, which had doubled. The investigations revealed many difficulties but could not find solution that were both sensible and acceptable to the government, nineteenth-century Russians saw cultures and religions in a clear hierarchy. Non-Russian cultures were tolerated in the empire but were not necessarily respected, European civilization was valued over Asian culture, and Christianity was on the whole considered more progressive and true than other religions
29.
Battleship Potemkin
–
Battleship Potemkin, sometimes rendered as Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 Soviet silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and produced by Mosfilm. It presents a version of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against their officers. Battleship Potemkin was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels Worlds Fair in 1958, the film is set in June 1905, the protagonists of the film are the members of the crew of the Potemkin, a battleship of the Imperial Russian Navys Black Sea Fleet. While the Potemkin is anchored off the island of Tendra, off-duty sailors are sleeping in their bunks, as an officer inspects the quarters, he stumbles and takes out his aggression on a sleeping sailor. The ruckus causes Vakulinchuk to awake, and he gives a speech to the men as they come to, the time has come when we too must speak out. The scene cuts to morning above deck, where sailors are remarking on the quality of the meat for the crew. The meat appears to be rotten and covered in worms, the ships doctor, Smirnov, is called over to inspect the meat by the captain. Rather than worms, the doctor says that the insects are maggots, the sailors further complain about the poor quality of the rations, but the doctor declares the meat edible and ends the discussion. Senior officer Giliarovsky forces the sailors still looking over the meat to leave the area. The crew refuses to eat the borscht, instead choosing bread and water, while cleaning dishes, one of the sailors sees an inscription on a plate, which reads give us this day our daily bread. After considering the meaning of this phrase, the sailor smashes the plate, all those who refuse the meat are judged guilty of insubordination and are brought to the fore-deck where they receive religious last rites. The sailors are obliged to kneel and a cover is thrown over them as a firing squad marches onto the deck. The First Officer gives the order to fire, but in response to Vakulinchuks pleas the sailors in the firing squad lower their rifles, the sailors overwhelm the outnumbered officers and take control of the ship. The officers are thrown overboard, the ships priest is dragged out of hiding, the mutiny is successful but Vakulinchuk, the charismatic leader of the rebels, is killed. The Potemkin arrives at the port of Odessa, Vakulinchuks body is taken ashore and displayed publicly by his companions in a tent with a sign on his chest that says For a spoonful of soup. The sailors gather to make a farewell and praise Vakulinchuk as a hero. The people of Odessa welcome the sailors, but they attract the police, the best-known sequence of the film is set on the Odessa steps, connecting the waterfront with the central city. A detachment of dismounted Cossacks forms a line at the top of the steps, the soldiers halt to fire a volley into the crowd and then continue their impersonal, machine-like advance
30.
Sergei Eisenstein
–
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a Soviet film director and film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October, as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible. Eisenstein was born to a family in Riga, Latvia. His father, Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein was born to a German Jewish father who had converted to Christianity, Osip Eisenstein, and his mother, Julia Ivanovna Konetskaya, was from a Russian Orthodox family. According to other sources, both of his grandparents were of Baltic German descent. His father was an architect and his mother was the daughter of a prosperous merchant, Julia left Riga the same year as the Russian Revolution of 1905, taking Sergei with her to St. Petersburg. Her son would return at times to see his father, who joined them around 1910, divorce followed and Julia left the family to live in France. Eisenstein was raised as an Orthodox Christian, but became an atheist later on, at the Petrograd Institute of Civil Engineering, Sergei studied architecture and engineering, the profession of his father. In 1918 Sergei left school and joined the Red Army to serve the Bolshevik Revolution and this brought his father to Germany after the defeat of the Tsarist government, and Sergei to Petrograd, Vologda, and Dvinsk. In 1920, Sergei was transferred to a position in Minsk. At this time, he was exposed to Kabuki theatre and studied Japanese, learning some 300 kanji characters and these studies would lead him to travel to Japan. In 1920 Eisenstein moved to Moscow, and began his career in working for Proletkult. His productions there were entitled Gas Masks, Listen Moscow, Eisenstein would then work as a designer for Vsevolod Meyerhold. In 1923 Eisenstein began his career as a theorist, by writing The Montage of Attractions for LEF, Eisensteins first film, Glumovs Diary, was also made in that same year with Dziga Vertov hired initially as an instructor. Strike was Eisensteins first full-length feature film, the Battleship Potemkin was acclaimed critically worldwide. Officially, the trip was supposed to allow Eisenstein and company to learn about sound motion pictures, for Eisenstein, however, it was also an opportunity to see landscapes and cultures outside those found within the Soviet Union. He spent the two years touring and lecturing in Berlin, Zürich, London, and Paris. In 1929, in Switzerland, Eisenstein supervised an educational documentary about abortion directed by Tissé entitled Frauennot - Frauenglück, in late April 1930, Jesse L. Lasky, on behalf of Paramount Pictures, offered Eisenstein the opportunity to make a film in the United States
31.
Grand Duchy of Moscow
–
The Grand Duchy of Moscow, or Grand Principality of Moscow, was a late medieval Rus principality centered on Moscow and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia. The state originated with Daniel I, who inherited Moscow in 1283, eclipsing and it later annexed the Novgorod Republic in 1478 and the Grand Duchy of Tver in 1485. After the Mongol invasion of Rus, Muscovy was a vassal to the Mongol ruled Golden Horde until 1480. By his marriage to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, he established Muscovy as the state of the Roman Empire. Ivans successor Vasili III also enjoyed success, gaining Smolensk from Lithuania in 1512. Vasilis son Ivan IV was an infant at his fathers death in 1533 and he was crowned in 1547, assuming the title of tsar together with the proclamation of Tsardom of Russia. As with many states the country had no particular official name. The Duke of Moscow or the Sovereign of Moscow were common short titles, in rivalry with other duchies Moscow dukes also designated themselves as the Grand Dukes, claiming a higher position in the hierarchy of Russian dukes. During the territorial growth and later acquisitions, the title became rather lengthy. Since the 14th century various Moscow dukes added of all Rus to their titles, after the title of Russian metropolitans, Dmitry Shemyaka was the first Moscow duke who minted coins with the title the Sovereign of all Rus. Under the Polish-Lithuanian influence the country began to be called Muscovy in Western Europe, the first appearances of the term were in an Italian document of 1500. Initially Moscovia was the Latinized name of the city of Moscow itself, not of the state, later it acquired its meaning and has been used alongside of the older name. The term Muscovy persisted in the West until the beginning of the 18th century and is used in historical contexts. When the Mongols invaded the lands of Kievan Rus in the 13th century, the first ruler of the principality of Moscow, Daniel I, was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky of Vladimir-Suzdal. He started to expand his principality by seizing Kolomna and securing the bequest of Pereslavl-Zalessky to his family, daniels son Yuriy controlled the entire basin of the Moskva River and expanded westward by conquering Mozhaisk. He then forged an alliance with the overlord of the Rus principalities, Uzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde, the Khan allowed Yuriy to claim the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal, a position which allowed him to interfere in the affairs of the Novgorod Republic to the north-west. Yuriys successor, Ivan I, managed to retain the title of Grand Duke by cooperating closely with the Mongols and by collecting tribute and taxes from other Rus principalities on their behalf. This relationship enabled Ivan to gain regional ascendancy, particularly over Moscows chief rival, the city of Tver
32.
Pyotr Potemkin
–
Pyotr Ivanovich Potyomkin was a Russian courtier, diplomat and namestnik of Borovsk during the reigns of Tsars Alexis I and Feodor III. He was a voivode during the Russo-Polish War and took Lublin in 1655 as well as Nyenschantz, later he became a stolnik working as a Tsars ambassador. Potemkin led the embassy to Spain and France in 1667-1668 and this embassy established regular diplomatic relations between Russia and Spain. A colorful portrait of Pyotr Potemkin by Spanish painter Juan Carreño de Miranda is on display in Museo del Prado in Madrid, during his envoy to France he introduced a new term, Avgardent, into the Russian diplomatic vocabulary. The term meant distilled spirits, especially Cognacs and Armagnacs, Potemkin considered them harmful and advocated a complete ban on their import to Russia. He travelled to Vienna in 1674 to discuss common actions against Polish king John III Sobieski and he also was the envoy of Feodor III to France and England in 1681. He died in 1700 in the rank of an okolnichy, according to legend, Pyotr Potemkin, as a diplomat, had an eccentric sense of national pride. During his negotiations in Madrid he insisted that the King of Spain take off his hat every time Potemkin mentioned the title of Tsar of All Russias, during his embassy to Copenhagen, the Danish king was ill and could receive Potemkin only lying in bed. Potemkin insisted that the Danes bring a bed into the chamber and conducted all the talks lying down. Famous Russian statesman Prince Grigory Potemkin was a distant relative
33.
Smolensk
–
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River,360 kilometers west-southwest of Moscow. The walled city in the center of Smolensk was destroyed several times throughout its history because it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk is noted for electronics, textiles, food processing, the name of the city is derived from the name of the Smolnya River. The origin of the name is less clear. One possibility is the old Slavic word смоль for black soil, an alternative origin could be the Russian word смола, which means resin, tar, or pitch. Pine trees grow in the area, and the city was once a center of resin processing, the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII recorded its name as Μιλινισκα. Within the city and its surroundings the river takes in small tributaries. In the valleys are stretched streets, high ridges, hills, Smolensk is situated on seven hills. The old part of the city occupies the high, rugged left bank of the Dnieper River, the area features undulating terrain, with a large number of tributaries, creeks and ravines. Smolensk is among the oldest Russian cities, the first recorded mention of the city was 863 AD, two years after the founding of Kievan Rus. According to Russian Primary Chronicle, Smolensk was located on the area settled by the West Slavic Radimichs tribe in 882 when Oleg of Novgorod took it in passing from Novgorod to Kiev, the first foreign writer to mention the city was the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. In De Administrando Imperio he described Smolensk as a key station on the route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The Rus people sailed from the Baltics up the Western Dvina as far as they could then they portaged their boats to the upper Dnieper. It was in Smolensk that they supposedly mended any leaks and small holes that might have appeared in their boats from being dragged on the ground and they used tar to do that, the Principality of Smolensk was founded in 1054. Due to its position in Kievan Rus, the city developed rapidly. By the end of the 12th century, the princedom was one of the strongest in Eastern Europe, numerous churches were built in the city at that time, including the church of Sts. Peter and Paul and the church of St. John the Baptist, the most remarkable church in the city is called Svirskaya, it was admired by contemporaries as the most beautiful structure east of Kiev. Smolensk had its own veche since the beginning of its history
34.
Godparent
–
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a childs baptism, although the term has also been used in a legal sense. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother, as early as the 2nd century AD, infant baptism had begun to gain acceptance among Christians for the spiritual purification and social initiation of infants. The requirement for some confession of faith necessitated the use of adults who acted as sponsors for the child and they vocalized the confession of faith and acted as guarantors of the child’s spiritual upbringing. Normally, these sponsors were the parents of a child, as emphasized in 408 by St. Augustine who suggested that they could, it seems exceptionally. Within a century, the Corpus Juris Civilis indicates that parents had been replaced in this role almost completely and this was clarified in 813 when the Council of Munich prohibited natural parents from acting as godparents to their own children. This pattern was marked by the creation of legal barriers to marriage that paralleled those for other forms of kin, as confirmation emerged as a separate rite from baptism from the 8th century, a second set of sponsors, with similar prohibitions, also emerged. Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin preserved infant baptism against the attacks of more radical reformers including Anabaptists, in 888, the Catholic Council of Metz attempted to limit the number to one, but proliferation seems to have continued. In early 14th-century Spain, as many as 20 godparents were being chosen, in England, the Synod of Worcester stipulated three sponsors, and this has remained the norm in the Church of England. The Council of Trent attempted to limit the numbers of godparents to one or two, but practice has differed across the Catholic world. They were abolished in 1644 by the Directory of Public Worship promulgated by the English Civil War Parliamentary regime, after the Restoration in 1660, they were reintroduced to Anglicanism, with occasional objections, but dropped by almost every dissenting church. There is some evidence that the institution had lost some of its social importance as well as its universality. At present, in the Church of England, relatives can stand as godparents, godparents should be both baptized and confirmed, but the requirement for confirmation can be waived. There is no requirement for clergy to baptize those from outside their parishes, as a result, individual clergy have considerable discretion over the qualifications of godparents. Many contemporary Anglican rites likewise require parents and godparents to respond on behalf of infant candidates, the Catholic institution of godparenthood survived the Reformation largely unchanged. Someone who belongs to another Christian church cannot become a godparent, a witness does not have any religious role recognized by the Church. Lutherans follow a similar theology of godparents as Roman Catholics and they believe that godparents help with their Christian upbringing, especially if they should lose their parents. Lutherans, like Roman Catholics, believe that a godparent must be both a baptized and confirmed Christian, some Lutherans also follow the Roman Catholic tradition that a Christian who is not affiliated with the Lutheran denomination may serve as a witness rather than a godparent. The Orthodox institution of godparenthood has been the least affected of the traditions by change
35.
Gymnasium (school)
–
In its current meaning, it usually refers to secondary schools focused on preparing students to enter a university for advanced academic study. In the US, the German Gymnasium curriculum was used at a number of universities such as the University of Michigan as a model for their undergraduate college programs. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men, in the Polish educational system the gimnazjum is a middle school for pupils aged 13 to 16. The same applies in the Greek educational system, with the option of Εσπερινό Γυμνάσιο for adults. The gymnasium is a school which prepares the student for higher education at a university. They are thus meant for the more academically minded students, who are sifted out at about the age of 10–13, in addition to the usual curriculum, students of a gymnasium often study Latin and Ancient Greek. Some gymnasiums provide general education, others have a specific focus, today, a number of other areas of specialization exist, such as gymnasiums specializing in economics, technology or domestic sciences. In some countries, there is a notion of progymnasium, which is equivalent to beginning classes of the full gymnasium, here, the prefix pro indicates that this curriculum precedes normal gymnasium studies. The term was derived from the classical Greek word gymnasion, which was applied to an exercising ground in ancient Athens. Here teachers gathered and gave instruction between the hours devoted to exercises and sports, and thus the term became associated with. This use of the term did not prevail among the Romans, but was revived during the Renaissance in Italy, in 1538, Johannes Sturm founded at Strasbourg the school which became the model of the modern German gymnasium. In 1812, a Prussian regulation ordered that all schools which had the right to send their students to the university should bear the name of gymnasia, by the 20th century, this practice was followed in almost the entire Austrian-Hungarian, German, and Russian Empires. In the modern era, many countries which have gymnasiums were once part of three empires. In Albania a gymnasium education takes three years following a compulsory nine-year elementary education and ending with an aptitude test called Matura Shtetërore. The final test is standardized at the level and serves as an entrance qualification for universities. There are both public and private schools in these countries. Therefore, gymnasiums often base their admittance criteria on an entrance exam, in Austria the Gymnasium has two stages, from the age of 11 to 14, and from 15 to 18, concluding with Matura. The Humanistisches Gymnasium focuses on Ancient Greek and Latin, the Neusprachliches Gymnasium puts its focus on actively spoken languages
36.
Moscow State University
–
Lomonosov Moscow State University is a coeducational and public research university located in Moscow, Russia. It was founded on January 25,1755 by Mikhail Lomonosov, MSU was renamed after Lomonosov in 1940 and was then known as Lomonosov University. It also claims to house the tallest educational building in the world and it is rated among the universities with the best reputation in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy, ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov promoted the idea of a university in Moscow, and Russian Empress Elizabeth decreed its establishment on January 251755. The first lectures were given on April 26th, russians still celebrate January 25th as Students Day. Saint Petersburg State University and Moscow State University engage in rivalry over the title of Russias oldest university. The present Moscow State University originally occupied the Principal Medicine Store on Red Square from 1755 to 1787, in the 18th century, the University had three departments, philosophy, medicine, and law. A preparatory college was affiliated with the University until its abolition in 1812, in 1779, Mikhail Kheraskov founded a boarding school for noblemen which in 1830 became a gymnasium for the Russian nobility. The university press, run by Nikolay Novikov in the 1780s, published the most popular newspaper in Imperial Russia, in 1804, medical education split into clinical, surgical, and obstetrics faculties. During 1884–1897, the Department of Medicine -- supported by donations. The campus, and medical education in general, were separated from the University in 1918, as of 2015, Devichye Pole was operated by the independent I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and by various other state and private institutions. The roots of student unrest in the University reach deep into the nineteenth century, in 1905, a social-democratic organization emerged at the University and called for the overthrow of the Czarist government and the establishment of a republic in Russia. The imperial government repeatedly threatened to close the University, after the October Revolution of 1917, the institution began to admit the children of the proletariat and peasantry. In 1919, the University abolished fees for tuition and established a facility to help working-class children prepare for entrance examinations. During the implementation of Joseph Stalins First Five-Year Plan, prisoners from the Gulag were forced to construct parts of the newly expanded University, after 1991, nine new faculties were established. The following year, the University gained a status, it is funded directly from the state budget. On March 19,2008, Russias most powerful supercomputer to date and its peak performance of 60 TFLOPS makes it the fastest supercomputer in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Since 1953, most of the faculties have been situated on Sparrow Hills, the main building was designed by architect Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev
37.
Theology
–
Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as a discipline, typically in universities, seminaries. Augustine of Hippo defined the Latin equivalent, theologia, as reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity, the term can, however, be used for a variety of different disciplines or fields of study. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument to help understand, explain, test, critique, the English equivalent theology had evolved by 1362. Greek theologia was used with the discourse on god in the fourth century BC by Plato in The Republic, Book ii. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of discourse, mythical, rational and civil. Theologos, closely related to theologia, appears once in some manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation, apokalypsis ioannoy toy theologoy. The Latin author Boethius, writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of study, dealing with the motionless. Boethius definition influenced medieval Latin usage, Theology can also now be used in a derived sense to mean a system of theoretical principles, an ideology. They suggest the term is appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently. Kalam. does not hold the place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for theology in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is appropriate, can only do so, he says, I take theology not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God, within Hindu philosophy, there is a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God and of the Atman. The Sanskrit word for the schools of Hindu philosophy is Darshana. Nevertheless, Jewish theology historically has been active and highly significant for Christian. It is sometimes claimed, however, that the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law, the history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. Modern Western universities evolved from the institutions and cathedral schools of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages
38.
Serfdom
–
Serfdom is the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage, which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe, serfs were often required not only to work on the lords fields, but also his mines, forests and roads. The decline of serfdom in Western Europe has sometimes been attributed to the Black Death, Serfdom became increasingly rare in most of Western Europe after the Renaissance, but conversely, it grew strong in Central and Eastern Europe, where it had previously been less common. In Eastern Europe the institution persisted until the mid-19th century, in the Austrian Empire serfdom was abolished by the 1781 Serfdom Patent, corvée continued to exist until 1848. Serfdom was abolished in Russia in the 1860s, in Finland, Norway and Sweden, feudalism was never fully established, and serfdom did not exist, however, serfdom-like institutions did exist in both Denmark and its vassal Iceland. According to Joseph R. Strayer, the concept of feudalism can also be applied to the societies of ancient Persia, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Muslim India, China, james Lee and Cameron Campbell describe the Chinese Qing dynasty as also maintaining a form of serfdom. Tibet is described by Melvyn Goldstein to have had serfdom until 1959, bhutan is described by Tashi Wangchuk, a Bhutanese civil servant, as abolishing serfdom officially by 1959, but Wangchuk believes less than or about 10% of poor peasants were in copyhold situations. The United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery also prohibits serfdom as a form of slavery, the word serf originated from the Middle French serf and can be traced further back to the Latin servus. In Late Antiquity and most of the Middle Ages, what are now called serfs were usually designated in Latin as coloni. As slavery gradually disappeared and the status of servi became nearly identical to that of the coloni. Serfs had a place in feudal society, as did barons and knights, in return for protection. Thus the manorial system exhibited a degree of reciprocity, one rationale held that a serf worked for all while a knight or baron fought for all and a churchman prayed for all, thus everyone had a place. The serf was the worst fed and rewarded, but at least he had his place and, unlike slaves, had rights in land. A lord of the manor could not sell his serfs as a Roman might sell his slaves and this unified system preserved for the lord long-acquired knowledge of practices suited to the land. Further, a serf could not abandon his lands without permission, a freeman became a serf usually through force or necessity. Sometimes the greater physical and legal force of a local magnate intimidated freeholders or allodial owners into dependency, often a few years of crop failure, a war, or brigandage might leave a person unable to make his own way. In such a case he could strike a bargain with a lord of a manor, in exchange for protection, service was required, in cash, produce or labour, or a combination of all. These oaths bound the lord and his new serf in a feudal contract, to become a serf was a commitment that encompassed all aspects of the serfs life
39.
Grigory Orlov
–
Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov was the favorite of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia who presumably fathered her son. He led the coup which overthrew Catherines husband Peter III of Russia, for some years, he was virtually co-ruler with her, but his repeated infidelities and the enmity of Catherines other advisers led to his fall from power. He was the son of Gregory Orlov, governor of Great Novgorod and he was educated in the corps of cadets at Saint Petersburg, began his military career in the Seven Years War, and was wounded at Zorndorf. After the event, Empress Catherine raised him to the rank of count and made him adjutant-general, director-general of engineers and they had two illegitimate children, Yelizaveta and Aleksey, who were born in 1761 and 1762, respectively. The son was named after the village of Bobriki where he lived, Orlovs influence became paramount after the discovery of the Khitrovo plot to murder the whole Orlov family. At one time, the Empress thought of marrying her favorite, Orlov was no statesman, but he had a quick wit, a fairly accurate appreciation of current events, and was a useful and sympathetic counselor during the earlier portion of Catherines reign. He entered with enthusiasm, both from patriotic and from economical motives, into the question of the improvement of the condition of the serfs and he was one of the earliest propagandists of the Slavophile idea of the emancipation of the Christians from Ottoman rule. Meanwhile, Orlovs enemies, led by Panin, were attempting to break up the relationship between Orlov and Catherine and they informed the empress that Orlov had seduced his 13-year-old relative. A handsome young officer, Alexander Vasilchikov, was installed as her new lover, to rekindle Catherines affection, Grigory presented to her one of the greater diamonds of the world, known ever since as the Orlov Diamond. By the time he returned - without permission - to his Marble Palace at Saint Petersburg, when Potemkin, in 1774, superseded Vasilchikov as the queens lover, Orlov became of no account at court and went abroad for some years. He returned to Russia a few prior to his death. In 1777, at the age of 43, he married his 18-year-old relative, Catherine Zinovyeva, variously described by sources as either a niece or a cousin, Catherine died of tuberculosis in 1783, at the age of 22. For some time before his death, he suffered from a mental illness, probably a form of dementia. After his death, Catherine wrote, Although I have long been prepared for this sad event, people may console me, I may even repeat to myself all those things which it is customary to say on such occasions--my only answer is strangled tears
.jpg)
"