List of Russian monarchs
This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. It includes the titles Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev, Grand Prince of Vladimir, Grand Prince of Moscow, Czar of All Rus', and Emperor of All Russia. The list begins with the semi-legendary Rurik, Prince of Novgorod, sometime in the mid 9th century and ends with the Emperor of All Russia Nicholas II who abdicated in 1917, and was executed with his family in 1918.
The vast territory known today as Russia covers an area that has been known historically by various names, including Rus', Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Czardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, and the sovereigns of these many nations and throughout their histories have used likewise as wide a range of titles in their positions as chief magistrates of a country. Some of the earliest titles include Kniaz and Velikiy Kniaz, which mean "Prince" and "Great Prince" respectively but are often rendered as "Duke" and "Grand Duke" in Western literature; then the title of Czar, meaning "Caesar", which was disputed to be the equal of either a king or emperor; finally culminating in the title of Emperor. According to Article 59 of the 1906 Russian Constitution, the Russian Czar held several dozen titles, each one representing a region which the monarch governed.
The Patriarchs of Moscow, who were the head of Russian Orthodox Church, also have acted as the leaders of Russia from time to time, usually in periods of political upheaval as during the Polish occupation and interregnum of 1610–13.
Princes of Russia, 862–1547
Parts of the land that is today known as Russia was populated by various East Slavic peoples from before the 9th century. The first states to exert hegemony over the region were those of the Rus' people, a branch of Nordic Varangians who entered the region occupied by modern Russia sometime in the ninth century, and set up a series of states starting with the Rus' Khaganate circa 830. Little is known of the Rus' Khaganate beyond its existence, including the extent of its territory or any reliable list of its Khagans.Princes of Novgorod
Traditionally, Rus' statehood is traced to Rurik, a Rus' leader of Holmgard, a different Rus' state.Grand Princes of Kiev
Rurik's successor Oleg moved his capital to Kiev, founding the state of Kievan Rus'. Over the next several centuries, the most important titles were those of the Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Novgorod whose holder could claim hegemony.Grand Princes of Vladimir
By the early 11th century the Rus' state had fragmented into a series of petty principalities which warred constantly with each other. In 1097, the Council of Liubech formalized the federal nature of the Rus' lands. By the 12th century, the Grand Duchy of Vladimir became the dominant principality, adding its name to those of Novgorod and Kiev, culminating with the rule of Alexander Nevsky. In 1169 Vladimir-Suzdal troops took Kiev. This act underlined the declining importance of that city.Grand Princes of Moscow
After Alexander Nevsky, the region once again broke up into petty states, though the Grand Duchy of Moscow, founded by Alexander Nevsky's youngest son Daniel, began to consolidate control over the entire Rus' territory in the 15th century, starting the story of Russia. Following the Mongol conquests of the 13th century, all of the Russian principalities paid tribute to the Golden Horde, effectively operating as vassals of the Mongol state. The Russians began to exert independence from the Mongols, culminating with Ivan the Great of Moscow ceasing tribute to the Horde, effectively declaring his independence. His son Vasili III completed the task of uniting all of Russia by eliminating the last few independent states in the 1520s.Tsars of Russia, 1547–1721
Vasili's son Ivan the Terrible formalized the situation by assuming the title Tsar of All Rus' in 1547, when the state of Russia came into formal being.Dates are listed in the Old Style, which continued to be used in Russia until the revolution.
Following the death of the Feodor I, the son of Ivan the Terrible and the last of the Rurik dynasty, Russia fell into a succession crisis known as the Time of Troubles. As Feodor left no male heirs, the Russian Zemsky Sobor elected his brother-in-law Boris Godunov to be Tsar. Devastated by famine, rule under Boris descended into anarchy. A series of impostors, known as the False Dmitriys, each claimed to be Feodor's long deceased younger brother; however, only the first impostor ever legitimately held the title of Tsar. A distant Rurikid cousin, Vasili Shuyskiy, also took power for a time. During this period, foreign powers deeply involved themselves in Russian politics, under the leadership of the Vasa monarchs of Sweden and Poland-Lithuania, including Sigismund III Vasa and his son Władysław IV Vasa. As a child, Władysław was even chosen as Tsar by the Seven Boyars, though he was prevented by his father from formally taking the throne. The Time of Troubles is considered to have ended with the election of Michael Romanov to the throne, who established the Romanov dynasty that would rule Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917.
The Time of Troubles came to a close with the election of Michael Romanov as Tsar in 1613. Michael officially reigned as Tsar, though his father, the Patriarch Philaret initially held the real power. However, Michael's descendants would rule Russia, first as Tsars and later as Emperors, until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Peter the Great, a grandson of Michael Romanov, reorganized the Russian state along more Western lines, establishing the Russian Empire in 1721.
Emperors of Russia, 1721–1917
The Empire of Russia was declared by Peter the Great in 1721. Officially, Russia would be ruled by the Romanov dynasty until the Russian Revolution of 1917. However, direct male descendants of Michael Romanov came to an end in 1730 with the death of Peter II of Russia, grandson of Peter the Great. The throne passed to Anna, a niece of Peter the Great, and after the brief rule of her niece's infant son Ivan VI, the throne was seized by Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great. Elizabeth would be the last of the direct Romanovs to rule Russia. Elizabeth declared her nephew, Peter, to be her heir. Peter spoke little Russian, having been a German prince of the House of Holstein-Gottorp before arriving in Russia to assume the Imperial title. He and his German wife Sophia changed their name to Romanov upon inheriting the throne. Peter was ill-liked, and he was assassinated within six months of assuming the throne, in a coup orchestrated by his wife, who became Empress in her own right and ruled as Catherine the Great. Following the confused successions of the descendants of Peter the Great, Catherine's son Paul I established clear succession laws which governed the rules of primogeniture over the Imperial throne until the fall of the Empire in 1917.