History of Moscow
Brief history of Moscow summarized
It was not always the capital of Russia. Here we will see a brushstroke to the history of Moscow.
The early days of Moscow
The great city of Moscow was first mentioned in writing in 1147. In 1156 wooden walls were built around the Kremlin. However, this did not stop the Mongols in 1237, when they burned Moscow.
But they recovered from the disaster, Moscow was rebuilt and became more prosperous and important. Unfortunately, history repeated itself when the Mongols returned in 1382 and burned Moscow again. The city recovered quite quickly and in the 15th century it had a population of about 50,000 inhabitants.
And history repeated itself for the third time, the Crimean Tatars burned Moscow again in 1571. And they returned to regenerate the city; at the beginning of the 17th century, Moscow had a population of about 200,000. By the standards of the time it was a very large city.
In 1712 Tsar Peter the Great moved his capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. As a result, Moscow entered a period of decline. Things were getting worse, for in the 1770s Moscow suffered an outbreak of the bubonic plague. Moscow University was founded in 1755 and in the early 19th century Moscow was flourishing again.
However, in 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia. Muscovites, in retreat, set fire to their own city, so as not to lose their customs. But Moscow was soon rebuilt, and in the late 19th century the Industrial Revolution began to transform Russia.
Modern Moscow
In 1917 the communists made a revolution and imposed a totalitarian regime in Russia. In 1918 Lenin moved his government to Moscow. Lenin was followed by Josef Stalin. Under Stalin many historical buildings in the city were demolished. The first subway line was inaugurated in 1935.
In 1941 the German Nazis invaded Russia. They reached the outskirts of Moscow in early December, but were later expelled. After World War II, Moscow continued to grow, even though many nations boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
Communism collapsed in Russia in 1991. In 1997 Moscow celebrated its 850th anniversary. Today, the population of Moscow is about 15 million inhabitants.
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