Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine P. Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. Author's spelling has been maintained. Missing page numbers correspond to moved illustrations.] [Illustration: Map] THE STORY OF RUSSIA BY R. VAN BERGEN, M.A. AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF JAPAN," "THE STORY OF CHINA," ETC. NEW YORK-:-CINCINNATI-:-CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1905, By AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Entered at Stationers' Hall, London STORY OF RUSSIA W. P. 2. To HENRY MATHER LOWMAN AMICUS CERTUS RE INCERTA CERNITUR. PREFACE. Recent events have drawn the attention upon Russia, a country of which but little is known here, because the intercourse between it and the United States has been limited. In my frequent journeys to the Far East, I found it often difficult to comprehend events because, while I could not help perceiving that the impulse leading to them came from Russia, it was impossible to discover what prompted the government of the czar. I felt the necessity to study the history of Russia, and found it so fascinating, that I resolved to place it in a condensed form before the students in our schools. They must be the judges of how I have succeeded. R. VAN BERGEN. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. The Realm of the Czar 13 II. Early Records of Russia 23 III. The Norsemen (or Varingians) in Russia 29 IV. Saint Vladimir and Iaroslaf the Great 41 V. A Russian Republic 49 VI. Troublous Times 57 VII. The Yellow Peril 63 VIII. Russia Under the Mongol Yoke 71 IX. Lithuania and Moscow 79 X. Decline of the Tartar Power. Dmitri Donskoi 87 XI. Ivan III, the Great 97 XII. Russia becomes an Autocracy 106 XIII. Ivan IV, the Terrible 111 XIV. Russia Under Ivan the Terrible 122 XV. Feodor, the Last of Rurik's Descendants 129 XVI. Michael Feodorovitch (Son of Theodore) the First Romanof 137