The History of Moscow

The city of Moscow (Russian: Moskva) was first mentioned in 1147 in the Russian chronicles and in 1156 Prince Yuriy Dolgorukiy ordered the construction of a wooden wall and moat around Moscow to improve its fortification.  In 1237-1238 the Mongols burned Moscow to the ground and killed its inhabitants.

Moscow was rebuilt in 1328 and became the capital city of the independent Great Moscow Principality.  Under Ivan I, Moscow became the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal and it became the sole collector of taxes for the Mongol rulers.  In 1380 Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow led a united Russian army to an important victory over the Mongols.

In 1480 under the rule of Ivan III, Moscow was the capital of all of Russia and Siberia .  In 1612 a people's volunteer corps led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Nizhny Novgorod merchant Kozma Minin liberated Moscow from Lithuanian and Polish invaders (a monument commemorating the victory was due to be erected in the Red Square in 1812 - the 200th anniversary of the victory, but it was delayed until 1818 because Napoleon invaded Moscow in 1812).  While the liberation was an act of great patriotism, the other important fact was that Kozma Minin was suffering serious trade difficulties because of the occupation of Moscow and by financing the liberation and persuading the Prince to lead the liberation, he also removed some significant trade barriers.

In 1672 Peter the Great (Peter I) was born in the suburbs of Moscow and in 1703 Peter the Great founded St Petersburg and (despite being a Muscovite himself) he moved the capital to St Petersburg from Moscow .

In 1755, Russia's first University was founded - the Moscow University and it is still in existence today, operating as the Moscow State University (MSU).  Qualifications obtained from MSU still carry great weight in Russia.

In 1812 when Napoleon invaded Moscow, the city was evacuated and once again it was almost totally destroyed by fire.  The Russians claim that the French started the fires and the French claim that the Russian patriots started the fires.

In 1872 the first horse-drawn tram line (called Konka) was put into service along Tverskaya Street and in January 1905 the position of Mayor of Moscow was created and Alexander Adrianov became the first Mayor.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Lenin and the leaders of the Revolution, fearing a possible invasion from the West, moved the capital back to Moscow on 5 March 1918 - not so close to the West.

In 1935 the first line of the Moscow Metro was opened.  The Metro is very deep and it was designed that way as it was also to be used as an air raid shelter.  The Metro station at Chistie Prudy near the centre of Moscow contained a special Stalin shelter.

In 1939 regular television transmissions commenced in Moscow.

In November 1941 Hitler's army reached the outskirts of Moscow (coming as close as 30 kilometres from the Kremlin) and in the Battle of Moscow that took place, over 700,000 Russian's were killed in the successful defence of Moscow.  During the Battle of Moscow although many people and most of the Government were evacuated, Stalin remained in Moscow and refused to leave the capital.  On May 8, 1965 Moscow was awarded the title of Hero City by the Russian Government.

In 1980 Moscow hosted the summer Olympic Games and introduced "Misha" the bear - the 1980 Moscow Olympic mascot to the world.  Misha was designed by Victor Chizikov, a renowned illustrator of children's books.

On 21 August 1991 there was an attempted coup in Moscow by various government members opposed to the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev.  After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Moscow remained as the capital city of the Russian Federation.