Imperial Russia
Soviet Russia
Politics
Literature
Music
Cinema
Holidays
Cities
Geography
100
He was the first ruler to call himself Emperor of Russia and modernized the army and navy in the early 18th century.
Peter the Great
100
This Soviet cosmonaut became the first human in space on April 12, 1961.
Yuri Gagarin
100
This 1917 political event brought the Bolsheviks to power under Vladimir Lenin.
October Revolution
100
Author of The Brothers Karamazov.
Dostoevsky
100
This composer wrote Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
100
This 1997 Russian film became a cult classic for its portrayal of post-Soviet life and follows the story of a young man navigating crime and family in St. Petersburg.
Brother
100
Russians celebrate this holiday on January 7th according to the Orthodox calendar.
Orthodox Christmas
100
The city of Russia’s tsars from 1712 to 1917.
St. Petersburg
100
This river is the longest in Russia and in Europe, flowing into the Caspian Sea.
the Volga River
200
This Russian tsar, known for his harsh rule, built Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.
Ivan the Terrible / Иван Грозный
200
This 1980 event in Moscow was heavily boycotted by Western countries.
the 1980 Summer Olympics
200
The Russian parliament is known as…
The State Duma
200
In 1933, Ivan Bunin became the first Russian writer to win this international award.
the Nobel Prize in Literature
200
This rock musician and frontman of the band Kino became a cult figure in the late 1980s USSR.
Viktor Tsoi
200
The Soviet director of Battleship Potemkin and pioneer of montage.
Sergei Eisenstein
200
Russians eat blini during Maslenitsa as a symbol of this.
the sun
200
This Black Sea resort city hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics and is famous for its beaches and subtropical climate.
Sochi
200
This mountain range is considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia.
The Urals
300
This French leader invaded Russia in 1812 but was ultimately forced to retreat.
Napoleon Bonaparte / Наполеон Бонапарт
300
This decades-long geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union shaped global politics after World War II.
the Cold War
300
Yeltsin banned this political party in 1991 after the collapse of the coup.
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
300
This Russian author wrote historical novels like War and Peace, exploring life during the Napoleonic era.
Leo Tolstoy / Лев Толстой
300
This avant-garde composer created The Firebird ballet and influenced Russian classical music in the early 20th century.
Stravinsky
300
A 1966 Tarkovsky film about a medieval Russian icon painter, exploring faith, art, and violence.
Andrei Rublev / Андрей Рублёв
300
During New Year celebrations, children traditionally receive gifts from this fictional character.
Ded Moroz / Grandfather Frost?
300
Known as the “Venice of the North,” this city has over 90 islands and more than 300 bridges.
Saint Petersburg
300
In 1891, construction began on this major infrastructure project that spanned the empire.
the Trans-Siberian Railway
400
This German-born ruler became Empress of Russia in the 18th century and is famous for expanding the empire and supporting the arts.
Catherine the Great / Екатерина II
400
Winston Churchill coined this term in 1946 to describe the political and ideological barrier dividing Eastern and Western Europe.
the Iron Curtain
400
This Soviet leader gave a “Secret Speech” in 1956 denouncing Stalin’s crimes.
Nikita Khrushchev
400
This Russian author, born in 1918, wrote extensively about life in the Soviet Union and the Gulag system.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn / Александр Солженицын
400
This composer wrote a piece famously used in cartoons with marching animals.
Prokofiev — Peter and the Wolf
400
This director was famous for long takes and philosophical slow pacing, exemplified in films like Stalker and Mirror.
Andrei Tarkovsky
400
Maslenitsa, also called "Butter Week", is a holiday that marks this season in the calendar.
the week before Lent / the end of winter
400
This city is the northernmost Russian city with a permanent population above 100,000 and is known for its Arctic port.
Murmansk
400
This lake in Siberia is the deepest freshwater lake in the world.
Lake Baikal
500
In the 18th century, Peter the Great introduced this unusual "tax" to encourage Western fashion among men.
The Beard Tax. This reform of Peter the Great forced Russian nobles to shave their beards or pay a tax.
500
On December 26, 1991, this official act marked the end of the Soviet Union.
the dissolution of the USSR
500
Gorbachev introduced these two key policies, often translated as "restructuring" and "openness".
perestroika and glasnost
500
This Russian author, born in 1860, is famous for writing short stories and plays such as The Seagull and Uncle Vanya.
Anton Chekhov / Антон Чехов
500
Known as the “Soviet bard,” he wrote and performed songs often critical of Soviet life and spread them via homemade tapes.
Vladimir Vysotsky
500
This 1987 Leningrad-based film starred Viktor Tsoi and became iconic for its depiction of underground rock music in the late Soviet Union.
Assa / Асса
500
The Old New Year is celebrated on this date according to the modern (Gregorian) calendar.
January 14th
500
The Trans-Siberian Railway connects Moscow to this Pacific city.
Vladivostok
500
This remote region, infamous for Gulag camps, was called the “Land of Gold and Death.”
Kolyma