List of rulers of Russia: Knyazs, Tsars, Leaders, and Presidents of Russia (and USSR) / Правители России: Князья, Цари, Императоры, Вожди и Президенты России и Советского Союза

It is advisable to view the timeline in full-screen mode. Dates and times are indicated depending on the calendar, style, and time that was in use at that time. All dates before February 1918 are listed in the old style (Julian calendar). Список правителей России (RU): https://docs.google.com/document/d/12_mcKeeNSUhtS1MK72nhKri0HEbIxHSvotVDusTaids/edit?usp=sharing List of rulers of Russia (ENG): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QKZ8b8tGYug3siZSJoDOSAqSzkq9n6PcTRw4WNcdhpY/edit?usp=sharing Attention! The word "князь / knyaz" is related to the words "konung" (Swedish), "König" (German) and "king" (English). Therefore, the title of Russian Knyazs is equal to the king. The title "tsar" comes from "Caesar". This word is related, for example, to the German "Kaiser". Therefore, the title of tsar is equal to the title of emperor. Before Vasily the Dark, the title of Grand Knyaz was inherited in accordance with the rota system (lestvitsa - лествица) of succession to the throne. The eldest person in the Rurikovich (Rurikid) dynasty became the heir to the throne. However, the children of those who were not the Grand Knyaz could not become the next ruler. Such people were called izgoi (изгои), so "excluded" or "orphaned" knyazs. After the victory in the last feudal war in Rus' (1425 - 1453), Vasily the Dark abolished the ladder, replacing it with the succession from father to son. The accession to the throne in Russia was a ceremony of "посажение на стол" / "planted on the throne" (enthronement). With the adoption of the title of Tsar (4 February 1498), the Byzantine ceremony "венчание на царство" (coronation) appeared. All the coronations took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1721, Peter I assumed the title of emperor, which is actually equal to the title of Tsar (Caesar, Kaiser). Peter I replaced the principle of succession to the throne. Now the heir was determined by the will of the previous autokrator. Because of this, there was complete confusion in the 18th century, a lot of palace coups. The situation was changed by Paul I, who established the traditional system of succession to the throne - from father to eldest son. On 2 March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated for himself and his son Alexei in favor of his brother Mikhail. However, Mikhail renounced the throne on 3 March 1917 transferring all state power to the All-Russian Provisional Government until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. On the night of 25-26 October 1917 the Bolsheviks arrested most of the members of the Provisional Government, and on 27 October they created their new Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government. After the collective withdrawal of the Bolsheviks and the left SRS, the Constituent Assembly lost its quorum and became illegitimate to make a decision. The illegal assembly decided that Russia should become a Russian Democratic Republic. The next day, the sailors did not allow the members of the Constituent Assembly to enter the Tauride Palace. The dissolution of the Assembly was legitimized by the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets. On 30 December 1922 Russia annexed Ukraine, Belorussia and the Transcaucasian Federation, which had previously withdrawn from its composition. Gradually, the number of republics reached 15 (from 1940 to 1956 - 16 republics). In 1933 the last representative of the Romanov royal dynasty who had the right to the throne died. Any other Romanov claiming the Russian throne is an impostor. On 15 March 1990 the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR created the post of President of the Soviet Union. Before that, there was no juridical head of the Soviet Union, his role was played by the General Secretary of the Soviet Union - Leader, or Vozhd (вождь). Mikhail Gorbachev, pursuing a policy of perestroika, decided to grant more sovereignty to the Soviet republics. On 17 March 1991 the first and last All-Union referendum on the preservation of the Soviet Union was held in the history of the USSR. 77.85% of Soviet citizens expressed their will to keep the Soviet Union intact. However, the text of the referendum ballot referred to a "renewed" Soviet Union. In April 1991 the Novo-Оgarevо process of writing a new Union Treaty began. On 20 August 20 1991 the new Union treaty was to be signed, which would turn the Soviet Union into a confederate state - Union of Sovereign States. The Soviet ministers realized that this was the collapse of a single country, so they carried out a coup d'etat, seizing power in Moscow. However, Yeltsin was able to gather democrats around him and defeat the coup. Now none of the leaders of the republics wanted to sign a new Union treaty. On 8 December 1991 the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, as the founders of the Union Treaty of 1922, signed an Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Belovezh Accords). So they implemented the "renewed Union" on their own. On 21 December 1991 the Alma-Ata Protocol were signed. 8 more Soviet republics joined the Commonwealth of Independent States. However, the Soviet Union continued to exist. On 16 December 1991 in the Soviet Union remained one republic - the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. On 25 December 1991 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation and the collapse of the Soviet Union. On 25 December 1991 at 19:37 Moscow time, the red Soviet flag was removed from the Kremlin, and the flag of Russia was raised instead. On 15 March 1996 State Duma declared the Belovezh Accords invalid on the issue of the collapse of the Soviet Union. In other words, the Russian Federation recognized the collapse of the Soviet Union as illegal. On 5 October 2022 the Congress of People's Deputies in exile took place in Jabłonna (Poland), declaring themselves the only representatives of society and the state with democratic legitimacy. Other timelines about Russia: History of the Russian flag: https://time.graphics/line/443824 List of wars involving Russia over the past 220 years: https://time.graphics/line/442652 History of the Russian New Year: https://time.graphics/line/454828 Who do you think deserves the right to be called the best ruler of Russia? Write your answer in the comments. ⠀​