Editing Russians (section)

==History==
=== Ancient history ===
{{further|Rus' people|Old Russians}}
[[File:East Slavic tribes peoples 8th 9th century.jpg|thumb|[[East Slavs|East Slavic]] tribes and peoples, 8th–9th century]]
The ancestors of modern Russians are the [[List of ancient Slavic peoples|Slavic tribes]], whose original home is thought by some scholars to have been the wooded areas of the [[Pripet Marshes|Pinsk Marshes]], one of the largest [[wetland]]s in Europe.<ref>For a discussion of the origins of Slavs, see {{Cite book|last=Barford, P. M.|title=The Early Slavs|publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=15–16|isbn=978-0-8014-3977-3|year=2001}}</ref> The East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia with [[Moscow]] included in two waves: one moving from [[Kiev]] toward present-day [[Suzdal]] and [[Murom]] and another from [[Polotsk]] toward [[Novgorod]] and [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]].<ref name="Christian">{{Cite book|author=[[David Christian (historian)|Christian, D.]]|title=A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=1998|pages=286–288|isbn=978-0-631-20814-3}}</ref> Prior to the Slavic migration  in the 6-7th centuries, the Suzdal-Murom and Novgorod-Rostov areas  were populated by [[Finnic peoples]],<ref name="backus">{{Cite journal |last=Backus |first=Oswald P. |date=1973 |title=The impact of the Baltic and Finnic peoples upon Russian history |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01629777300000011 |journal=Journal of Baltic Studies |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1080/01629777300000011 |issn=0162-9778}}</ref> including the [[Meryans|Merya]],<ref>{{Cite book|author=Paszkiewicz, H.K.|title=The Making of the Russian Nation|publisher=Darton, Longman & Todd|year=1963|page=262}}</ref> the [[Muromians|Muromian]]s,<ref>{{Cite book|author=McKitterick, R.|title=The New Cambridge Medieval History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=15 June 1995|page=497|isbn=0521364477}}</ref> and the [[Meshchera]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[Aleksandr Mongait|Mongaĭt, A.L.]]|title=Archeology in the U.S.S.R.|publisher=Foreign Languages Publishing House|year=1959|page=335}}</ref>

From the 7th century onwards, the East Slavs slowly assimilated the native Finnic peoples,<ref>Ed. [[Timothy Reuter]], ''The New Cambridge Medieval History'', Volume 3, Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 494-497. {{ISBN|0-521-36447-7}}.</ref> so that by year 1100, the majority of the population in Western Russia was Slavic-speaking.<ref name="Christian"/><ref name="backus"/> Recent genetic studies confirm the presence of a Finnic substrate in modern Russian population.<ref>
Interactions between gene pools of Russian and Finnish-speaking populations from tver region: Analysis of 4 million snp markers. 2020. Bull Russ State Med Univ. 6, 15-22. O.P. Balanovsky, I.O. Gorin, Y.S. Zapisetskaya, A.A. Golubeva, E.V. Kostryukova, E.V. Balanovska. doi: 10.24075/BRSMU.2020.072.</ref>

Outside archaeological remains, little is known about the predecessors to Russians in general prior to 859 AD, when the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'' starts its records.<ref>The ''Primary Chronicle'' is a history of the Ancient Rus' from around 850 to 1110, originally compiled in [[Kiev]] about 1113.</ref> By 600 AD, the [[Slavs]] are believed to have split linguistically into [[South Slavs|southern]], [[West Slavs|western]], and eastern branches.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

=== Medieval history ===
{{main|Kievan Rus'|Grand Duchy of Moscow|Tsardom of Russia}}
[[File:Lebedev baptism.jpg|thumb|''The [[Baptism of Kievans]]'', by [[Klavdy Lebedev]]]]
The Rus' state was established in northern Russia in the year 862,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roesdahl |first1=Else |title=The Vikings |date=30 April 1998 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-194153-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9XNbDqS7dsC |language=en |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=7 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907233142/https://books.google.com/books?id=S9XNbDqS7dsC |url-status=live}}</ref> which was ruled by the [[Varangians]].{{sfn|Borrero|2004|p=3}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Riasanovsky |first1=Nicholas V. |title=Russian Identities: A Historical Survey |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-515650-8 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xno8DwAAQBAJ |archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928153551/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xno8DwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Staraya Ladoga]] and [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] became the first major cities of the new union of immigrants from [[Scandinavia]] with the Slavs and [[Finnic peoples|Finns]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Russian Nationalism, Past and Present |publisher=Springer |year=1998 |isbn=9781349265329 |editor-last=Hosking |editor-first=Geoffrey |page=8 |editor-last2=Service |editor-first2=Robert}}</ref> In 882, the prince [[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]] seized [[Kiev]], thereby uniting the northern and southern lands of the [[East Slavs]] under one authority.{{sfn|Borrero|2004|p=3}} The state [[Christianization of Kievan Rus'|adopted Christianity]] from the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 988. [[Kievan Rus']] ultimately disintegrated as a state as a result of in-fighting between members of the princely family that ruled it collectively.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Channon |first1=John |last2=Hudson |first2=Robert |title=The Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia |date=1995 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-86461-4 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kewWAQAAIAAJ |language=en |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=7 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907233145/https://books.google.com/books?id=kewWAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the 13th century, [[Moscow]] became a political and cultural center. Moscow has become a center for the [[Collector of Russian lands|unification of Russian lands]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moss |first1=Walter G. |title=A History of Russia Volume 1: To 1917 |date=1 July 2003 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-023-5 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHdPAgAAQBAJ |language=en |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928153551/https://books.google.com/books?id=bHdPAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the 15th century, Moscow united the northeastern and northwestern Russian principalities, overthrew the "Mongol yoke" in 1480,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chew |first1=Allen F. |title=An Atlas of Russian History: Eleven Centuries of Changing Borders |date=1 January 1970 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-01445-7 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ShZK2-Fz-kC |language=en |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=7 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907233142/https://books.google.com/books?id=5ShZK2-Fz-kC |url-status=live }}</ref> and would be transformed into the [[Tsardom of Russia]] after [[Ivan the Terrible|Ivan IV]] was crowned tsar in 1547.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Payne |first1=Robert |last2=Romanoff |first2=Nikita |title=Ivan the Terrible |date=1 October 2002 |publisher=Cooper Square Press |isbn=978-1-4616-6108-5 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1abtsPCPm8C |language=en |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928153552/https://books.google.com/books?id=p1abtsPCPm8C |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Modern history ===
{{main|Russian Empire|Soviet Union|Russia}}
[[File:Максимов Бабушкины сказки 1867.jpg|thumb|220px|''Grandma's Fairy Tales'', by [[Vassily Maximov]]]]
In 1721, Tsar [[Peter the Great]] renamed his state as the [[Russian Empire]], hoping to associate it with historical and cultural achievements of ancient Rus' – in contrast to his policies oriented towards Western Europe. The state now extended from the eastern borders of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]], and became a [[great power]]; and one of the most powerful states in Europe after the [[French invasion of Russia|victory over Napoleon]]. Peasant revolts were common, and all were fiercely suppressed. The Emperor [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] [[Emancipation reform of 1861|abolished]] [[Serfdom in Russia|Russian serfdom]] in 1861, but the peasants fared poorly and revolutionary pressures grew. In the following decades, reform efforts such as the [[Stolypin reform]]s of 1906–1914, the [[Russian Constitution of 1906|constitution of 1906]], and the [[State Duma (Russian Empire)|State Duma]] (1906–1917) attempted to open and liberalize the economy and political system, but the Emperors refused to relinquish [[Tsarist autocracy|autocratic rule]] and resisted sharing their power.

[[File:Percentage of Russians by region.svg|thumb|Percentage of ethnic Russians by [[federal subjects of Russia|federal subjects]] of Russia according to the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census]]:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_etn_10.php |title=EAll- Russian population census 2010 – Population by nationality, sex and subjects of the Russian Federation |work=Demoscope Weekly |year=2010 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819112304/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_etn_10.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{legend|#ff0000|above 80%}}]]
A combination of economic breakdown, [[Russia in World War I|war-weariness]], and discontent with the autocratic system of government triggered [[Russian Revolution|revolution in Russia in 1917]]. The [[February Revolution|overthrow of the monarchy]] initially brought into office a coalition of liberals and moderate socialists, but their failed policies led to [[October Revolution|seizure of power]] by the [[Communism|communist]] [[Bolsheviks]] on 25 October 1917 (7 November [[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style]]). In 1922, Soviet Russia, along with [[Soviet Ukraine]], [[Soviet Belarus]], and the [[Transcaucasian SFSR]] signed the [[Treaty on the Creation of the USSR]], officially merging all four republics to form the Soviet Union as a country. Between 1922 and 1991, the history of Russia became essentially the [[history of the Soviet Union]], effectively an ideologically based state roughly conterminous with the Russian Empire before the 1918 [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]. From its first years, government in the Soviet Union based itself on the one-party rule of the Communists, as the Bolsheviks called themselves, beginning in March 1918. The approach to the building of socialism, however, varied over different periods in Soviet history: from the [[New Economic Policy|mixed economy]] and diverse society and culture of the 1920s through the [[Stalinism|command economy and repressions]] of the [[Joseph Stalin]] era to the [[Era of Stagnation|"era of stagnation"]] from the 1960s to the 1980s. The actions of the Soviet government caused the death of millions of citizens in the [[Soviet famine of 1930–1933|famine of 1930–1933]] and the [[Great Purge]]. The [[Operation Barbarossa|attack]] by [[Nazi Germany]] and the ensuing [[World War II|war]], together with [[the Holocaust]], again claimed [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|millions of lives]]. Millions of Russian civilians and [[German atrocities committed against Soviet prisoners of war|prisoners of war]] were killed or starved to death during Nazi Germany's genocidal policies called the [[Hunger Plan]] and the [[Generalplan Ost]], including one million civilian casualties during the [[Siege of Leningrad]]. After the victory of the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]], the Soviet Union became a [[superpower]] opposing Western countries during the [[Cold War]].

By the mid-1980s, with Soviet economic and political weaknesses becoming acute, Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] embarked on major reforms; these culminated in the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], leaving Russia again alone and marking the beginning of the [[History of Russia (1991–present)|post-Soviet]] Russian period. The [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] renamed itself the [[Russian Federation]] and became the [[Succession of states#Soviet Union and the Russian Federation|successor state to the Soviet Union]]. One of the negative consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union was the problem of discrimination against the 25 million ethnic Russians living in a number of [[post-Soviet states]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-surname=Curtis |editor-given=Glenn E. |title=Russia: A Country Study |series=Area handbook series |others=Library of Congress, Federal Research Division |edition=1st |place=Washington, DC |publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-8444-0866-2 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/97007563/ |archive-date=2021-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611210545/http://countrystudies.us/russia/ |url-status=live |page=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210518024135/http://countrystudies.us/russia/76.htm 429] |quote=The problem of discrimination and ethnic violence against the 25 million ethnic Russians living in the new states was a growing concern in relations with several of the former Soviet republics.}}</ref>