Contributions of Individuals in Russia

Past and Present

Built a new capital – St. Petersburg

“Venice of the North”

Peter the Great, Early 1700s

Built on more than 100 islands

Peter the Great, Early 1700s

Designed like a

European city with elegant palaces, public squares and canals.

Peter the Great, Early 1700s

St. Petersburg

Freed the serfs

Alexander II, 1867

Opened the way for industrial development.

Alexander II

“Father of Russian

Revolution”

Vladimir Lenin

Headed the communist government and oversaw the Russian Empire's transformation into the USSR.

Vladimir Lenin

Joseph Stalin: Communist Leader 1924 -

1953Stalin pursued an economic policy of mobilizing the entire country to achieve the goal of rapid industrialization.

Joseph Stalin: Communist Leader 1924 -

1953He guided Russian forces to victory in World War II.

Joseph Stalin: Communist Leader 1924 -

1953

He helped create the Cold War.

Leonid Brezhnev: Soviet Leader 1964 -

1982He saw to it that the Soviet Union's military-industrial complex was greatly expanded and modernized.

Leonid Brezhnev: Soviet Leader 1964 -

1982His continual buildup of his defense and aerospace industries left other sectors of the economy increasingly deprived of funds. Soviet agriculture, consumer-goods industries, and health-care services declined throughout the 1970s and early '80s as a consequence.

Leonid

Brezhnev

Mikhail Gorbachev: USSR Leader 1985 -

1991Recognized that his nation was falling economically behind the rest of the world and could no longer afford to compete in the Cold War.

Mikhail Gorbachev: USSR Leader 1985 -

1991He introduced policies designed to decentralize the Russian economy and open up the state, called perestroika and glasnost, and ended the Cold War.

Mikhail

Gorbachev