Moscow, Russia — History and Culture
For eight centuries, Moscow has confronted waves of invaders, from Mongols to Napoleon to Hitler, and emerged victorious, though usually at a terrible cost. The notorious Golden Horde was the first of these invading forces who, following two centuries of Mongol dominance, were finally defeated during the reign of Prince Ivan III (the Great). It was Ivan III who also set about constructing Moscow's most famous landmark, the Kremlin fortress, using a skilled Italian workforce. Ivan's successor, Ivan IV (the Terrible) continued the building tradition by adding many gold-domed Orthodox churches to the city's skyline. Moscow gradually grew in influence and by the turn of the 17th century, it had become the largest city in the world with a population of over 200,000. Peter the Great was not as keen on the city as his forbearers and decided to move Russia's capital north to what would become known as St Petersburg. This shift prompted a lengthy decline for the old capital but it finally recovered and regained its importance in time for Napoleon's ill-fated attack during 1812. Moscow played a crucial role in the revolutionary events of 1917 and, fearing a German attack on St Petersburg, Lenin ordered that the capital be reverted once more to Moscow. Later, under Stalin's leadership in the 1930s, the city underwent a program of massive industrialization with a new urban plan for the city that unflinchingly destroyed much of old Moscow in its wake. Thankfully Hitler never quite managed to reach the city to finish the job as, like Napoleon, his plans were thwarted by the arrival of the Russian winter. The Moscow that stands today presents a composite picture of the city's history: a place where medieval churches and fortifications, Stalinist central planning, Krushchev-era public housing projects and post-Soviet modernism can all be found side by side.
