👑The Romanov Dynasty
The Grand Duchy of Moscow under Prince Ivan III was the first unified state on Russian territory. With him began the Rurikid Dynasty (the Rurikid had been around for a long time along hoards of tartars).
The Rurikid ruled from the 1400s until the 1600s. Ivan III can be considered the founder of Russia. While the Rurikid were in power, the Romanovs were boyars (nobles) in their courts. When the Ruriks became extinct, the Romanovs took over. The "Zemsky Sorbor" (a rudimentary parliament) elected Mikhail Feodorovich as the first Romanov Tzar.
The direct male line of the Romanovs ended with Elizabeth of Russia, who was childless. Her nephew Peter III, a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp (a cadet branch of the German House of Oldenburg that reigned in Denmark), ascended to the throne and adopted his Romanov mother’s house name. Descendants after Elizabeth are sometimes referred to as "Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov."
The above is a gross oversimplification of a very complex course of events.
Highlights about each Romanov Tsar/Tsarina:
👑Mikhail Feodorovich (1613 - 1645): First Romanov Tsar
👑Alexei Mikhailovich (1645 - 1676): Encouraged trade and cooperation with Europe. Father of Peter the Great
👑Feodor III (1676 - 1682): Had very poor health and spent most of his reign in bed
👑Peter I and 👑 Ivan V (1689 - 1785): It was complicated. The two of them were Tsars under the regency of their older sister Sophia.
👑Peter I (1689-1725): Reformed Russia's politics, government, and culture. Made Russia a military power.
👑Catherine I (1725-1727): At the time of Peter the Great's death, the mechanism for succession consisted of the Tsar selecting his successor, but Peter did not elect one before dying. His wife became the Tsarina, but others governed through her.
👑Peter II (1727-1730): Peter's grandson; ascended the throne at 11 and died at 14. The "Privy Council" or "Soviet" ruled through him.
👑Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740): Daughter of Peter's half-brother Ivan. The Privy Council invited her to rule (wanting her to be a puppet), but she disbanded them and ruled herself successfully.
👑Ivan VI (1740-1741): One-year-old son of Ana's niece. She left the throne to him, expecting his mother to govern. Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, deposed him (and his mother.)
👑Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761): Last Russian on the Russian throne; her twenty-year reign was successful.
👑Peter III (1761-1762): Grandson of Peter the Great and next in line for the throne after Elizabeth. Ruled for only half a year before being deposed by his wife, Catherine. He was murdered soon after the coup d’etat.
👑Catherine the Great (1762-1796): Her accomplishment went from the Empire’s territorial expansion to political development to the proliferation of sciences. However, the Empire had an enormous external debt by the end of her reign.
👑Paul I (1796-1801): Paul, the son of Catherine the Great and Peter III, became Emperor at 42 after the death of his mother. He started a lot of major military and political reforms. Paul was murdered in a coup d'etat. Paul decreed house laws for the Romanovs (the Pauline laws) – among the strictest in Europe – which established semi-Salic primogeniture and required Orthodox faith for the monarch and dynasts
👑Alexander I (1801-1825): During his reign, Russia defeated Napoleon's forces (which got as far as Moscow in their attempt to conquer Russia.) There was also great development in culture and arts.
👑Nicholas I (1825-1855): Paul I’s third son, younger brother of Alexander. Started railroad construction in Russia, boosting industrialization. Codified Russian laws and reformed finances.
👑Alexander II (1855-1881): His major reforms included the peasant emancipation of 1861, military reform, and the introduction of new types of self-governing village societies and more. Unfortunately, he fell victim to a terrorist after five attempts.
👑Alexander III (1881-1894): Russia didn’t enter any wars in his time. His domestic policy was conservative. He amended the Pauline laws. The economy flourished. But the revolution was brewing below the surface.
👑Nicholas II (1894-1917): His policies were unsuccessful. Established the first official Duma in 1905, but it was too little too late. With the advent of WWI, the Russian Empire ceased to exist. He abdicated. (gcl)
Sources:
Panov, A., Delaroche, P., & Abramuchkin, Y. (2021, July 31). The Complete List of Russian Tsars, Emperors, and Presidents. Russia Beyond. Retrieved June 20, 2023, from https://www.rbth.com/history/334065-complete-list-of-russian-tsars-emperors-rulers-presidents
