Editing Moscow (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Moscow}}
{{For timeline}}

===Prehistory===
The site of modern-day Moscow has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Among the earliest finds are relics of the [[Lyalovo culture]], which experts assign to the [[Neolithic]] period.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mos.ru/en/news/item/22507073/ |title=The origins of Moscow: What archaeological finds, chronicles and urban legends tell us |work=[[Mos.ru]] |date=5 April 2017 |access-date=12 November 2020 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030183623/https://www.mos.ru/en/news/item/22507073/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> They confirm that the first inhabitants of the area were hunters and gatherers. Around 950 AD, two Slavic tribes, [[Vyatichi]] and [[Krivichi]], settled here. The Vyatichi may have formed the majority of Moscow's indigenous population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moskau.ru/moskau/lexikon/geschichte_moskaus_vom_dorf_zur_metropole_3.html |title=History of Moscow - from village to metropolis |work=moskau.ru |access-date=12 November 2020 |archive-date=24 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524051043/http://www.moskau.ru/moskau/lexikon/geschichte_moskaus_vom_dorf_zur_metropole_3.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Early history (1147–1263)===
{{Further|Vladimir-Suzdal}}

Moscow is first mentioned in chronicles under the year 1147, as part of the principality of [[Rostov-Suzdal]], which emerged from the disintegration of [[Kievan Rus']].{{sfn|Fennell|2023|p=45}} It was referred to as a meeting place of [[Yuri Dolgorukiy]] and [[Sviatoslav Olgovich]]. At the time, it was a minor town on the western border of the principality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-39352451 |title=Начало Москвы: пир после убийства |website=BBC News Russian |date=11 April 2017 |access-date=6 July 2021 |archive-date=10 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710045539/https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-39352451 |url-status=live }}</ref> The importance of Moscow greatly increased during the second half of the 12th century, and it was converted into a fortified ''gorod'' (stronghold) in the 1150s, with the first walls of the [[Kremlin]] being built.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=46}} During the [[Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'|Mongol invasions]] of 1237–1238, Moscow was sacked following the destruction of [[Ryazan]].{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=46}}

The first prince of Moscow was [[Daniel of Moscow|Daniel]], the youngest son of [[Alexander Nevsky]], and in 1263, he was given Moscow as an ''[[votchina|otchina]]'' (hereditary land), where he established a local branch of [[Rurikids|Rurikid]] princes.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=47}} Two chronicles refer to [[Mikhail Khorobrit]] as "Mikhail of Moscow" in the mid-13th century, but Daniel is generally considered to be the first prince of Moscow.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=47}} On Mikhail's death in 1248, if it is assumed that an [[appanage]] principality was created, Moscow reverted as an escheat to the grand prince of [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]].{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=47}} Until 1271, the principality was ruled by the governors of Daniel's uncle [[Yaroslav of Tver|Yaroslav]], who was given [[Tver]] as an appanage.{{sfn|Kuchkin|2013|p=308}} Daniel himself is first mentioned in chronicles under the year 1282 as taking part in a feudal war between his two older brothers.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|p=47}}

===Grand Principality (1263–1547)===
{{Main|Grand Principality of Moscow}}
[[File:Facial Chronicle - b.10, p.049 - Tokhtamysh at Moscow.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|The [[Siege of Moscow (1382)|1382 siege of Moscow]], miniature from the [[Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible]]]]
[[File:Вид на Спасскую башню от Исторического музея.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|The [[Spasskaya Tower]], built in 1491|alt=]]
[[File:Polish plan of Moscow 1610.PNG|thumb|upright=.8|The Sigismundian Plan of Moscow (1610), before the city's destruction in 1612 and changes to streets. The north is to the right.]]

By the turn of the century, Moscow was one of the leading principalities within [[Vladimir-Suzdal]], alongside [[Principality of Tver|Tver]].{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=48}} On the right bank of the Moskva River, at a distance of {{convert|5|mi|km|0|spell=in|order=flip}} from the Kremlin, Daniel founded the first monastery with the wooden church of St. Daniel-Stylite, which is now the [[Danilov Monastery]]. Following Daniel's death in 1303, the territory of the principality had almost tripled in size, encompassing the entire Moskva River along with its [[Tributary|tributaries]], which allowed Moscow to become self-sufficient.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|pages=50–51}} The principality was also provided with an excellent river network that facilitated trade.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=55}}

Daniel's descendants struggled with the princes of Tver for succession to the grand principality.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=60}} [[Yury of Moscow|Yury]] won recognition from the Mongol khan as the grand prince in 1318, but he lost the title four years later.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=87}} [[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan I]] recovered the grand princely throne from Tver after proving himself to be a loyal servant of the khan.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=145}} Ivan collected the tribute to the khan of the [[Golden Horde]] from dependent Russian princes and he used the funds he acquired to develop Moscow.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|Steinberg|2019|p=73}} The metropolitan of the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Church]] also found an ally in Ivan and moved his seat from the nominal capital of Vladimir to Moscow.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|p=40}}{{sfn|Riasanovsky|Steinberg|2019|p=73}} The foundation of Moscow's first stone church, the [[Dormition Cathedral, Moscow|Dormition Cathedral]], was laid in 1326, and the metropolitan chose to be buried there – an act that would cement Moscow's status as the spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|p=40}} Masonry building continued in the following years with the construction of additional stone churches.{{sfn|Smirnova|2013|p=273}} The limestone walls and towers of the Kremlin were built in 1366–1368.{{sfn|Smirnova|2013|p=273}} A distinct [[Moscow school|architectural school]] emerged in the late 14th century.{{sfn|Smirnova|2013|p=273}}

The khan of the Golden Horde initially backed Moscow in an effort to halt the eastward expansion of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], but he continued to meddle in Moscow's relations with other Russian princes to prevent it from becoming too strong.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|pages=211–212}} In 1353, the [[Black Death in Russia|Black Death spread from northwestern Russia]] to Moscow, causing the deaths of [[Simeon of Moscow]], his sons, and the metropolitan.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=217}} The ruling family of Moscow remained small as a result and a new vertical pattern of princely succession from father to son was defined.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|pages=170–171}} During the reign of [[Dmitry Donskoy]], the Moscow principality greatly expanded in size.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|page=49}} In 1380, Dmitry led a united Russian army to an important victory over the Mongols in the [[Battle of Kulikovo]], which greatly increased Moscow's prestige and solidified the status of its rulers as the military leaders of the nation.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|p=51}} Following his death in 1389, the thrones of Vladimir and Moscow were permanently united.{{sfn|Fennell|2023|page=306}}

During the reign of [[Vasily II of Moscow|Vasily II]], a civil war broke out after [[Yury of Zvenigorod]] challenged the succession of his nephew in 1425.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|page=69}} Moscow switched hands numerous times, and Yury's son, [[Dmitry Shemyaka]], continued to offer resistance until his appanage center of [[Galich, Russia|Galich]] was captured in 1450.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|page=75}} In ecclesiastical matters, Vasily disapproved of the [[Council of Florence]], leading him to arrest the metropolitan upon his return in 1441 for having it signed.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|page=72}} Seven years later, a council of Russian bishops elected their own metropolitan, which amounted to a declaration of [[autocephaly]] by the Russian Church.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|page=72}} The [[fall of Constantinople]] in 1453 was viewed by the Russians as divine punishment for [[apostasy]], and in 1492, Moscow was called an imperial city for the first time by the Russian metropolitan.{{sfn|Crummey|2014|p=135}}

During the reign of [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]], nearly all of the Russian states were united with Moscow and the foundations for a centralized state were laid.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|Steinberg|2019|pp=77–79}} His [[Great Stand on the Ugra River|defeat of the Tatars]] in 1480 also traditionally marks the end of [[Tatars|Tatar]] suzerainty.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|Steinberg|2019|p=78}} Ivan did his utmost to make his capital a worthy successor to Constantinople, and he had the Kremlin reconstructed after inviting architects from [[Renaissance Italy]], including [[Petrus Antonius Solarius]], who designed the new Kremlin wall and its towers, and [[Marco Ruffo]] who designed the new palace for the prince. The Kremlin walls as they now appear are those designed by Solarius, completed in 1495. The [[Ivan the Great Bell Tower]] was built in 1505–1508 and augmented to its present height in 1600. A trading settlement, or ''posad'', grew up to the east of the Kremlin, in the area known as ''Zaradye''. In the time of Ivan III, the [[Red Square]], originally named the Hollow Field, appeared.

Ivan's son [[Vasili III of Russia|Vasily III]] continued the expansion of the Muscovite state and annexed the remaining Russian territories.{{sfnm|1a1=Crummey|1y=2014|1p=92|2a1=Riasanovsky|2a2=Steinberg|2y=2019|2p=79}} His reign also saw the continued development of the doctrine of Moscow as the "[[Moscow, third Rome|third Rome]]".{{sfn|Crummey|2014|p=136}} In 1508–1516, the Italian architect [[Aloisio the New|Aleviz Fryazin (Novy)]] arranged for the construction of a moat in front of the eastern wall, which would connect the [[Moskva River|Moskva]] and [[Neglinnaya River|Neglinnaya]] and be filled with water from Neglinnaya. Known as the Alevizov moat and with a length of {{convert|541|m|ft|abbr=off}}, width of {{convert|36|m|ft|abbr=off}}, and depth of {{convert|9.5|to(-)|13|m|ft|abbr=off}} was lined with limestone and, in 1533, fenced on both sides with low, {{convert|4|m|ft|spell=in|abbr=off|adj=mid|-thick}} cogged-brick walls.{{anchor|Tsardom}}

===Tsardom (1547–1721)===
{{Further|Tsardom of Russia}}
[[File:Moscow StBasilCathedral d28.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Saint Basil's Cathedral]], built in 1561]]
[[File:Mikhail Feodorovich Izbranie.jpg|upright=.8|thumb|The election of [[Michael I of Russia|Michael&nbsp;I]] as tsar in 1613]]
[[File:Kremlenagrad.jpg|upright=.8|thumb|The [[Kremlin]] during the reign of [[Alexis of Russia]], 1663]]

In 1547, [[Ivan the Terrible]] was [[Coronation of the Russian monarch|crowned]] in Moscow as not only the grand prince, but also the first [[tsar of all Russia]].{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2011|p=48}} In the 16th and 17th centuries, three circular defenses were built: [[Kitay-gorod]], the White City and the Earthen City. However, in 1547, fires destroyed much of the town, and in 1571 the [[Crimean Tatars]] [[Russo-Crimean Wars|captured Moscow]], burning everything except the Kremlin.<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=i85noYD9C0EC&pg=PA260 The Unending Frontier: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122224602/https://books.google.com/books?id=i85noYD9C0EC&pg=PA260&dq&hl=en |date=November 22, 2022 }}''". John F. Richards (2006). [[University of California Press]]. p. 260. {{ISBN|0-520-24678-0 }}</ref> The annals record that only 30,000 of 200,000 inhabitants survived.

The [[Khanate of Crimea|Crimean Tatars]] attacked again in 1591, but were held back by new walls, built between 1584 and 1591 by a craftsman named [[Fyodor Kon]]. In 1592, an outer earth rampart with 50 towers was erected around the city, including an area on the right bank of the Moscow River. As an outermost line of defense, a chain of strongly fortified monasteries was established beyond the ramparts to the south and east, principally the [[Novodevichy Convent]] and [[Donskoy Monastery|Donskoy]], [[Danilov Monastery|Danilov]], [[Simonov Monastery|Simonov]], [[Novospassky Monastery|Novospasskiy]], and [[Andronikov Monastery|Andronikov]] monasteries, most of which now house museums. From its ramparts, the city became poetically known as ''Bielokamennaya'', the "White-Walled". The city's limits as marked by the ramparts, are now marked by the [[Garden Ring]]. Three square gates existed on the east side of the Kremlin wall, which in the 17th century, were known as Konstantino-Eleninsky, Spassky, Nikolsky (after the icons of Constantine and Helen, the Saviour and St. Nicholas that hung over them). The last two were directly opposite the Red Square, while the Konstantino-Elenensky gate was located behind Saint Basil's Cathedral.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The [[Russian famine of 1601–1603]] killed perhaps 100,000 in Moscow. Between 1610 and 1612, troops of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] occupied Moscow, as its ruler [[Sigismund III Vasa|Sigismund III]] tried to [[Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)|take the Russian throne]]. In 1612, [[Nizhny Novgorod]] and other Russian cities led by prince [[Dmitry Pozharsky]] and [[Kuzma Minin]] rose against the Polish occupants, [[Time of Troubles|besieged the Kremlin, and expelled them]]. In 1613, the [[Zemsky Sobor]] elected [[Michael I of Russia|Michael Romanov]] aa tsar, establishing the [[Romanov dynasty]]. The 17th century saw several risings, such as the liberation of Moscow from the Polish–Lithuanian invaders (1612), the [[Salt Riot]] (1648), the [[Copper Riot]] (1662), and the [[Moscow uprising of 1682]].

During the first half of the 17th century, the population doubled from 100,000 to 200,000, and it expanded beyond its ramparts in the latter part of the century. In the middle of the 17th century, 20% of Moscow suburb's inhabitants were from the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], being driven from their homeland by the Muscovite invaders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Абецедарский |first=Л. С. |title=Белоруссия и Россия |year=1978 |location=Москва |pages=213 |language=ru }}</ref> By 1682, there were 692 households established north of the ramparts, by [[Ukrainians]] and [[Belarusians]] abducted from their hometowns in the course of the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|Russo-Polish War]] of 1654–1667. These new outskirts became known as the ''Meshchanskaya [[sloboda (settlement)|sloboda]]'', after Ruthenian ''meshchane'' "town people". The term ''meshchane'' acquired pejorative connotations in 18th-century Russia and today means "petty bourgeois" or "narrow-minded philistine".<ref>П.В.Сытин, "Из истории московских улиц", М, 1948, p. 296.</ref> The entire city of the late 17th century are contained within what is today Moscow's [[Central Administrative Okrug]].

Numerous disasters befell the city. The [[Black Death|plague]] epidemics ravaged Moscow in 1570–1571, 1592 and 1654–1656.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=IcljzNyv4EgC&pg=PA17 Bubonic Plague in Early Modern Russia: Public Health and Urban Disaster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122224545/https://books.google.com/books?id=IcljzNyv4EgC&pg=PA17&dq&hl=en |date=22 November 2022 }}''. John T. Alexander (2002). [[Oxford University Press US]]. p. 17. {{ISBN|0-19-515818-0 }}</ref> The plague killed upwards of 80% of the people in 1654–55. Fires burned out much of the wooden city in 1626 and 1648.<ref>M.S. Anderson, ''Peter the Great'' (1978) p. 13</ref> In 1712, [[Peter the Great]] moved his government to the newly built [[Saint Petersburg]] on the Baltic coast.

===Empire (1721–1917)===
{{Main|Moscow Governorate}}
{{Further|Russian Empire}}
{{Panorama
|image=File:Круговая панорама Москвы со Спасской башни Кремля.jpg
|fullwidth=12569
|fullheight=600
|caption={{center|A [[Panorama|panoramic]] view of Moscow from the [[Spasskaya Tower]] in 1819–1823}}
|alt=Panorama of Moscow in 1819-1823
|height=175
}}
After losing the status as capital, the population at first decreased, from 200,000 in the 17th century to 130,000 in 1750. But after 1750, the population grew tenfold over the remaining duration of the Russian Empire, reaching 1.8 million by 1915. The [[1770–1772 Russian plague]] killed up to 100,000 people in Moscow.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Melikishvili |first=Alexander |year=2006 |volume=36 |pages=19–31 |journal=Critical Reviews in Microbiology |title=Genesis of the anti-plague system: the Tsarist period |issue=1 |url=http://cns.miis.edu/antiplague/pdfs/melikishvili.pdf |doi=10.1080/10408410500496763 |citeseerx=10.1.1.204.1976 |pmid=16610335 |s2cid=7420734 |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123034404/http://cns.miis.edu/antiplague/pdfs/melikishvili.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1700, the building of cobbled roads had begun. In 1730, permanent street lights were introduced, and by 1867 many streets had a gaslight. In 1883, near the Prechistinskiye Gates, arc lamps were installed. In 1741 Moscow was surrounded by a barricade {{convert|25|mi|km|order=flip}} long, the Kamer-Kollezhskiy barrier, with 16 gates at which customs tolls were collected. Its line is traced today by several streets called ''val'' ("ramparts"). In the early 19th century, the Arch of Konstantino-Elenensky gate was paved with bricks, but the Spassky Gate was the main front gate of the Kremlin and used for royal entrances. From this gate, wooden and stone bridges stretched across the moat. Books were sold on this bridge and stone platforms were built nearby for guns – "raskats". The [[Tsar Cannon]] was located on the platform of the [[Lobnoye mesto]]. The road connecting Moscow with St. Petersburg, now the [[M10 highway (Russia)|M10 highway]], was completed in 1746, its Moscow end following the old [[Tver]] road, which had existed since the 16th century. It became known as ''[[Leningradsky Prospekt|Peterburskoye Schosse]]'' after it was paved in the 1780s. [[Petrovsky Palace]] was built in 1776–1780 by [[Matvey Kazakov]]. Between 1781 and 1804 the Mytischinskiy water pipe (the first in Russia) was built.

[[File:Fireofmoscow.jpg|thumb|Napoleon retreating during the [[Fire of Moscow (1812)|Fire of Moscow]], after the failed [[French invasion of Russia|French invasion]]]]
[[File:Moscou. Le Kremlin LOC ppmsca.52725.jpg|thumb|[[Moskva (river)|Moskva]] riverfront in the 19th century]]

When [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] [[Napoleon's invasion of Russia|invaded]] Russia in 1812, the Muscovites were evacuated. The [[Fire of Moscow (1812)|Moscow fire]] was principally the effect of Russian sabotage. Napoleon's ''[[Grande Armée]]'' was forced to retreat and nearly annihilated by the devastating Russian winter. In 1813, following the destruction during the French occupation, a ''Commission for the Construction of the City of Moscow'' was established. It launched a great program of rebuilding, including a partial replanning of the centre. Among many buildings constructed, or reconstructed, was the [[Grand Kremlin Palace]] and the [[Kremlin Armoury]], the [[Moscow University]], the [[Moscow Manege]] (Riding School), and the [[Bolshoi Theatre]]. The [[Arbat Street]] had been in existence since at least the 15th century, but it was developed into a prestigious area during the 18th century. It was destroyed in the fire of 1812 and was rebuilt completely in the early 19th century. [[Moscow State University]] was established in 1755. Its main building was reconstructed after the 1812 fire by [[Domenico Giliardi]]. The ''[[Moskovskiye Vedomosti]]'' newspaper appeared from 1756, originally in weekly intervals, and from 1859 as a daily newspaper.

In the 1830s, general [[Alexander Bashilov]] planned the first regular grid of city streets north from Petrovsky Palace. [[Khodynka Field|Khodynka field]] south of the highway was used for military training. Smolensky Rail station (forerunner of [[Belorussky Rail Terminal]]) was inaugurated in 1870. [[Sokolniki Park]], in the 18th century the home of the tsar's falconers well outside Moscow, became contiguous with the expanding city in the later 19th century and was developed into a public municipal park in 1878. The suburban [[Savyolovsky Rail Terminal]] was built in 1902. In January 1905, the institution of the City Governor, or [[Mayor]], was officially introduced, and Alexander Adrianov became Moscow's first official mayor.

When [[Catherine the Great|Catherine II]] came to power in 1762, the city's filth and the smell of sewage were depicted by observers as a symptom of disorderly lifestyles of lower-class Russians recently arrived from the farms. Elites called for improved sanitation, which became part of Catherine's plans for increasing control over social life. National political and military successes from 1812 through 1855 calmed the critics and validated efforts to produce a more enlightened and stable society. There was less discussion about the poor conditions of public health. However, in the wake of Russia's failures in the Crimean War in 1855–56, confidence in the ability of the state to maintain order in the slums eroded, and demands for improved public health put it back on the agenda.<ref>Alexander M. Martin, "Sewage and the City: Filth, Smell, and Representations of Urban Life in Moscow, 1770–1880", ''Russian Review'' (2008) 67#2 pp. 243–274.</ref> In 1903 the Moskvoretskaya water supply was completed.

===Soviet period (1917–1991)===
[[File:Plan of Moscow 1917.jpg|upright=.8|thumb|City plan of Moscow, 1917]]
In November 1917, upon learning of [[October Revolution|the uprising in Petrograd]], Moscow's [[Bolsheviks]] [[Moscow Bolshevik Uprising|began their uprising]]. On 2 November (15), 1917, after heavy fighting, [[Soviet power]] was established in Moscow.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aha.ru/~mausoleu/documents/moscow_1.htm |title=Revolutionary war history. Moscow |website=www.aha.ru |access-date=23 October 2021 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411165331/http://www.aha.ru/~mausoleu/documents/moscow_1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Vladimir Lenin]], fearing invasion, moved the capital back to Moscow on 12 March 1918.<ref name="prlib">{{cite web |url=https://www.prlib.ru/en/history/619089 |title=Moscow becomes the capital of the Soviet State |access-date=12 March 2019 |date=2018 |publisher=Presidential Library |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401151158/https://www.prlib.ru/en/history/619089 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Kremlin once again became the seat of power, political centre of the new state.

With the [[Russian cultural heritage register#Denial of heritage (1917–1941)|change in values imposed by communist ideology]], the tradition of preserving cultural heritage was broken. Independent preservation societies, even those that defended only secular landmarks, were disbanded by the end of the 1920s. A new anti-religious campaign, launched in 1929, coincided with the collectivization of peasants; the destruction of churches in the cities peaked around 1932. In 1937 letters were written to the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] to rename Moscow to "Stalindar" or "Stalinodar".<ref>One from an elderly pensioner whose dream was to "live in Stalinodar" and had selected the name to represent the "gift" (dar) of the genius of Stalin. Sarah Davies, Popular Opinion in Stalin's Russia: Terror, Propaganda and Dissent, 1934–1941</ref> Stalin rejected this suggestion.<ref>And after it was suggested again to him by [[Nikolai Yezhov]], he was outraged, saying "What do I need this for?". This was following Stalin banning the renaming of places in his name in 1936. Simon Montefiore, The Court of the Red Tsar</ref>

During World War II, the Soviet State Committee of Defence and the General Staff of the [[Red Army]] were located in Moscow. In 1941, 16 divisions of the national volunteers (more than 160,000 people), 25 battalions, and 4 engineering regiments were formed among the Muscovites. Between October 1941 and January 1942, the German [[Army Group Centre]] was stopped at the outskirts of the city, then driven off in the [[Battle of Moscow]]. Many factories were evacuated, together with much of the government, and from 20 October the city was declared to be in a siege. Its remaining inhabitants built and manned antitank defenses, while the city was bombarded from the air. On 1 May 1944, a medal "For the defence of Moscow" and in 1947 another medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow" was instituted. [[German casualties in World War II|German]] and [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|Soviet casualties]] during the battle have been debated, as sources provide different estimates. Total casualties between 30 September 1941, and 7 January 1942, are estimated to be between 248,000 and 400,000 for the [[Wehrmacht]] and between 650,000 and 1,280,000 for the Red Army.<ref>''Moscow Encyclopedia'', ed. Great Russian Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1997, entry "Battle of Moscow"</ref><ref>Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1973–78, entry "Battle of Moscow 1941–42"</ref><ref>John Erickson, ''Barbarossa: The Axis and the Allies'', table 12.4</ref>

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During the postwar years, there was a [[housing crisis]], solved by the invention of [[Tower block|high-rise apartments]]. There are over 11,000 of these [[Residential building series|standardised and prefabricated apartment blocks]], housing most of Moscow's population, making it by far the city with the most high-rise buildings.<ref name="hrranking">{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/statistics/skyline-ranking |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106210644/http://www.emporis.com/statistics/skyline-ranking |url-status=usurped |archive-date=6 November 2012 |title=Skyline Ranking |website=Emporis }}</ref> Apartments were built and partly furnished in the factory, before being raised and stacked into tall columns. The popular Soviet-era comic film ''[[Irony of Fate]]'' parodies this construction method. The city of [[Zelenograd]] was built in 1958 at {{convert|37|km|abbr=off}} from the city centre to the north-west, along with the [[Leningradskoye Shosse]], and incorporated as one of Moscow's [[Administrative divisions of Moscow|administrative okrugs]]. [[Moscow State University]] moved to its campus on [[Sparrow Hills]] in 1953.

[[File:Stalin's funeral procession entering Manezhnaya Square from Okhotny Ryad.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Stalin's funeral procession, 1953]]
In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev launched [[Russian cultural heritage register#Khrushchev's offensive (1959–1964)|his anti-religious campaign]]. Of Moscow's fifty churches operating in 1959, thirty were closed and six demolished. On 8 May 1965, due to the actual 20th [[Victory Day (9 May)|anniversary of the victory]] in World War II, Moscow was awarded a title of the [[Hero City (Soviet Union)|Hero City]].

The [[Moscow Ring Road]] (MKAD) was opened in 1961. It had four lanes running {{convert|109|km|abbr=off}} along the city borders. The MKAD marked the administrative boundaries of the city until the 1980s, when outlying suburbs beyond the ring road were incorporated. In 1980, Moscow hosted the [[1980 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympic Games]], which were boycotted by the US and other Western countries due to the Soviet Union's invasion of [[Afghanistan]] in 1979. In 1991 Moscow was the scene of a [[Soviet coup attempt of 1991|coup attempt]] by conservative communists opposed to the [[Perestroika|liberal reforms]] of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].

===1991–present===
When the USSR was dissolved in 1991, Moscow remained the capital of the [[Russian Federation]]. Since then, a market economy has emerged, producing an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles. The city continued to grow during the 1990s to 2000s, its population rising from below nine to above ten million. Mason and Nigmatullina argue that Soviet-era urban-growth controls produced controlled and sustainable metropolitan development, typified by the greenbelt built in 1935. Since then, however, there has been a dramatic growth of low-density suburban sprawl, created by heavy demand for single-family dwellings as opposed to crowded apartments. In 1995–97 the MKAD ring road was widened from the initial four to ten lanes.

In December 2002 [[Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo]] became the first Moscow Metro station that opened beyond the limits of MKAD. The [[Third Ring Road (Moscow)|Third Ring Road]], intermediate between the early 19th-century [[Garden Ring]] and the Soviet-era outer ring road, was completed in 2004. The greenbelt is becoming more and more fragmented, and satellite cities are appearing at the fringe. Summer dachas are being converted into year-round residences, and with the proliferation of automobiles there is heavy traffic congestion.<ref>Robert J. Mason and Liliya Nigmatullina, "Suburbanization and Sustainability in Metropolitan Moscow," ''Geographical Review'' (2011) 101#3 pp. 316–333.</ref> Multiple old churches and other examples of architectural heritage that had been demolished during the Stalin era have been restored, such as the [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]].
In 2010s Moscow's Administration has launched some long duration projects like the ''Moja Ulitsa'' (in English: ''My Street'') urban redevelopment program<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rbth.com/politics_and_society/2016/11/04/city-of-the-future-moscow-gets-a-much-needed-makeover_644341 |title=City of the future: Moscow gets a much-needed makeover |first=special to |last=RBTH |date=4 November 2016 |access-date=23 May 2018 |archive-date=24 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524081811/https://www.rbth.com/politics_and_society/2016/11/04/city-of-the-future-moscow-gets-a-much-needed-makeover_644341 |url-status=live }}</ref> or the Residency renovation one.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/31/moscow-residents-vote-russia-demolition-rehousing |title=The wrecking ball swings at Moscow – a photo essay |first=Chris |last=Leslie |newspaper=The Guardian |date=31 October 2017 |via=www.theguardian.com |access-date=27 January 2019 |archive-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228205451/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/31/moscow-residents-vote-russia-demolition-rehousing |url-status=live }}</ref>

By its territorial expansion on 1 July 2012, southwest into the [[Moscow Oblast]] the area of the capital more than doubled, going from {{convert|1091|to|2511|km2|sp=us}}, resulting in Moscow becoming the largest city on the European continent by area; it also gained an additional population of 233,000 people.<ref name="Merger2">{{cite web |url=http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/461491.html |title=Expansion of Moscow borders to help it develop harmonically: mayor, Itar-tass, July 1, 2012 |date=1 July 2012 |publisher=Itar-tass.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113003818/http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/461491.html |archive-date=13 November 2013 |access-date=9 July 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Mos.ru">{{cite web |url=http://www.mos.ru/about/history/ |title=Moscow city government official site |publisher=Mos.ru |access-date=9 July 2014 |archive-date=20 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720113907/http://www.mos.ru/about/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The annexed territory was officially named ''Новая Москва'' (New Moscow).