The New Kingdom has considerable archaeological evidence of the pharaohs’ palace complexes. This, in addition to the depictions of domestic life in the tomb paintings, has provided insights into palace life. The palace construction and decoration had to signify the importance of kingship and reflect the pharaoh’s political and religious... More
Umm El Qa’ab is the necropolis at Abydos housing the tombs of the earliest dynastic rulers (1st and 2nd Dynasty). The area also has predynastic grave sites, indicating that its significance predated Narmer, the first acknowledged pharaoh. Whilst the attribution of Narmer’s tomb is not definitive, there appears to be... More
The Battle of the Kalka River (1223) should have served warning to Kievan Rus of the existential threat posed by the Mongols, but instead the competing principalities remained divided. In 1237, a much larger Mongol army, under the command of Batu Khan, returned to administer the coup de grâce. Batu... More
At the end of the Rurik Dynasty in 1598, a short period of civil unrest followed before the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty, which would last for over 300 years between 1613–1917. During this time Russia expanded massively, taking over much of northern Asia and moving into eastern Europe through... More
When Ivan IV’s son, Feodor, died in 1598 his regent, Boris Godunov, was elected tsar. Godunov’s initially enlightened rule was beset by devastating famine (1601–03): social order broke down and, upon his death (1605), the political order also collapsed. The three ‘False Dmitris’, pretenders claiming to be the youngest son... More
Peter the Great oversaw a period of modernization and military expansion throughout his reign, bringing Russia to a level of development that was comparable with the monarchies of western Europe. He recognized that Russia needed to expand its maritime presence and as such aimed to secure a warm-water port on... More
In 1922, Russia, weakened by civil war and humiliated by a series of military defeats, was determined to regain its prestige by becoming a formidable military power. This meant funnelling resources into arms production. The Germans, who were blocked from armaments manufacture by the Treaty of Versailles (1918), entered into... More
Russia emerged from the Napoleonic Wars as the most powerful terrestrial power in Europe. In 1807, by switching sides to support Napoleon, they had obtained Bialystok at the Treaty of Tilsit, and then Tarnopol by the Treaty of Schonbrunn in 1809. When Napoleon then turned on Russia, his Grande Armée... More
Throughout the 19th century, Britain and Russia were both expanding their empires into the rich trading territory of Asia. As both empires had conflicting interests in the region, an era of diplomatic confrontation arose between the two, which became known as ‘The Great Game’. In 1830, Britain began the formation... More
After crossing the Russian border on 24 June 1812, Napoleon falsely believed that he would quickly defeat the two main Russian armies. His X corps, under Maréchal Macdonald, was to guard Napoleon’s northern flank, while Prince Karl von Schwarzenberg’s V corps and General Reynier’s VII corps protected the southern flank.... More
With the Allied evacuation of Gallipoli at the end of 1915, substantial Ottoman forces would be released to reinforce their other fronts. Realizing this, the Russians made a pre-emptive strike in eastern Anatolia with an army of 300,000; their first target being the formidably fortified city of Erzerum. After routing... More
At the turn of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte began a campaign of French imperial expansion across much of Europe. Russia’s stance towards Napoleon changed a number of times between 1800 and 1809 when the alliance between the two countries began to slip. After Alexander came to power in 1801,... More