ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Biographies : History of Eastern Europe </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2004-2006 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/wh/tleeurope.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/whchapters.html"> <img src = "../../region/banners/banbiography.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Historical Dictionary </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on May 26th 2004 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Biographies : History of Eastern Europe </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/biographies/wh/bioeeurope.html </i></font> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "150"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "alexanderi">Alexander I.</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "alexanderii">Alexander II.</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "alexandernevsky">Alexander Nevsky</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "ataturk">Ataturk</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "berkekhan">Berke Khan</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "brezhnev">Brezhnev, Leonid</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "catherinethegreat">Catherine the Great</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "nicolaeceaucescu">Ceaucescu, Nicolae</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "djindjic">Djindjic, Zoran</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "dracul">Dracul</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "yurigagarin">Gagarin, Yuri</A> <BR> <A NAME = "gorbachev">Gorbachev, Mikhail</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "ivantheterrible">Ivan the Terrible</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "justinian">Justinian</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> Kemal, Mustafa <BR> <A NAME = "khrushchev">Khrushchev, Nikita</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "lenin">Lenin</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "milosevic">Milosevic, Slobodan</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "nicholasii">Nicholas II.</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "peterthegreat">Peter the Great</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "gavriloprincip">Princip, Gavrilo</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "pugachev">Pugachev, Emilyan</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "rurik">Rurik</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "stalin">Stalin, Joseph</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "stephendusan">Stephen Dusan</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "suleimanthemagnificent">Suleiman the Magnificent</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "theodora">Theodora</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "theodorelascaris">Theodore Lascaris</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "tito">Tito, Josip Broz</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> Ulyanov, Vladimir Ilyich <BR> Vlad Tepes <BR> </font></TD> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> see also <A HREF = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/biographies/wh/bioorthodoxy.html">Biographies : History of the Orthodox and Eastern Churches </A> <BR><BR> born in 1777 as grandson to Catherine the Great; Czar of Russia 1801-1825. One of the <BR> most prominent figures of the Vienna Congress. <BR> born in 1818; Czar of Russia 1855-1881, liberated the serfs; regarded a liberal (that is, <BR> among the Czars); assassinated in 1881. <BR> born in 1220; Prince of <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#repnovgorod">Novgorod</A> 1236-1251; in 1240 defeated the Swedes, the Teutonic <BR> Knights in 1242. Since 1251 Prince of Vladimir; died in 1263. Regarded a saint in Russia. <BR> born Mustapha Kemal, in Salonica, in 1881. Military officer; stopped the British invasion <BR> at Gallipoli 1915-1916. Late in 1918, the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ottomanempire">Ottoman Empire</A> on the verge of collapse, he <BR> went to Ankara, set up a Turkish Republic, organized a Turkish army out of the remnants <BR> of the Ottoman forces. He rejected the terms of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#treatyofsevres">Treaty of Sevres</A>, defeated the <BR> Greeks in the Battle of Sakarya 1922. In 1923, in the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#treatyoflausanne">Treaty of Lausanne</A>, he achieved <BR> int'l recognition for his Republic of Turkey. Elected president; in a thorough reform <BR> program, he turned Turkey into a secular state; introduced Latin alphabet, emancipated <BR> the women. Died in 1938. <BR> succeeded his brother Batu as Khan of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#goldenhorde">Golden Horde</A> in 1257, ruled for ten years (until <BR> 1267); he and his people converted to Islam. Berke Khan was engaged in war with the <BR> Il-Khanate. <BR> born in 1906; succeeded Nikita Khrushchev as Secretary General of the Central Committee <BR> of the Communist Party of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ussr">USSR</A> in 1964, held that position until his death in 1982. In <BR> foreign policy, established Brezhnev-Doctrine (Invasion of Czechoslovakia 1968), approved <BR> detente-policy, in 1979 ordered invasion of Afghanistan. In domestic policy he <BR> administrated the status quo. <BR> born in 1729 as Sophia Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst; was married to future Czar <BR> Peter III. in 1745. On the death of Czarina Elizabeth in 1762, her estranged husband Peter <BR> III. inherited; he had an "accident" shortly after and Catherine was crowned Empress <BR> (1762). An avid reader of the works of the French enlightenment philosophes, she wanted <BR> to implement many reforms and modernize Russia. Her attempt to liberate the serfs was <BR> cancelled in the course of Pugachev's rebellion, and instead she extended the privileges of <BR> the nobility. She did reform the Russian educational system; gained large stretches of <BR> territory from the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ottomanempire">Ottoman Empire</A> and from Poland-Lithuania (Partitions) and invited <BR> settlers to cultivate the steppe of Ukraine. Ahe abhorred the French revolution. <BR> born in 1918, elected head of the Romanian Communist Party in 1965, President of State <BR> Council in 1967. Became a dictator in Romania, whose secret police was feared; in foreign <BR> policy the enfant terrible of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#warsawpact">Warsaw Pact</A> (R. did not participate in the invasion of <BR> Czechoslovakia in 1968, did not boycott the Olympic Games in L.A. in 1984). Following <BR> the revolution in R. in 1989, he and his wife Elena were executed. <BR> born in 1952, Serbian democratic politician, campaigned against President Slobodan <BR> Milosevic in the years of Serbia's international isolation, pm of Serbia 2001-2003, <BR> had Slobodan Milosevic arrested and handed over to Int'l Court of Justice in Den Haag <BR> in 2001; was assassinated in 2003. <BR> Vlad Tepes, byname Dracul, the impaler. born in 1431 as son of the Prince of <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#walachia">Walachia</A>; <BR> Ottoman prisoner 1444-1448; released in 1448 when he succeeded his father as Prince. <BR> When the Hungarians invaded, he fled to <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#moldavia">Moldavia</A>; he returned in 1456, now seizing the <BR> throne. Ruled with excessive brutality, had his victims impaled, decapitated, boiled .. <BR> died in 1476. inspired Bram Stoker to write 'Dracula'. <BR> born in 1934, cosmonaut, first man in space 1961, died in 1968. <BR> born in 1931, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the <BR> <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ussr">USSR</A> 1985-1991. Slogans <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#glasnost">Glasnost</A> and <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#perestroyka">Perestroyka</A>; implemented major reforms, such <BR> as permitting free elections, permitting the satelite countries in Eastern Europe to turn <BR> into multiparty democracies, to let the Russian Ruble float; cut down on the Soviet <BR> military engagement in Afghanistan. In 1991 hardline communists attempted a coup <BR> d'etat, which was foiled by Russian president Boris Yeltsin. At the end of the year, <BR> Gorbachev resigned; the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ussr">USSR</A> disintegrated, as no successor was chosen. <BR> born in 1530; crowned Czar as Ivan IV. in 1547. Ruled with a hard hand, had numerous <BR> real or potential opponents executed, among them his own son. Conquered <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#kazan">Kazan</A> in <BR> 1552, <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#astrakhan">Astrakhan</A> in 1556, waged war in Livonia, Lithuania. Died in 1584; Russia then <BR> entered the Time of Troubles (-1613). <BR> born in 483, became Byzantine Emperor in 527; married Theodora, an actress-<BR> prostitute; had Roman law codified; had the Hagia Sophia built; waged war against <BR> Persia, had the Vandal and Ostrogoth kingdoms conquered, parrt of the Visigothic <BR> kingdom as well. While he had taken over a full treasury, he piled up huge state debts. <BR> He died in 565. his successors were not able to defend the country, as they could not <BR> pay for defense. <BR> see under Ataturk <BR> born in 1894; Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of <BR> the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ussr">USSR</A> 1953-1964; in 1956 he criticized Stalin for numerous ills in Soviet Society <BR> (<A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#destalinization">Destalinization</A>); presided over an era of liberalization. His attempts to deescalate the <BR> Cold War were obstructed. In 1964 disempowered, succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev. <BR> born in 1870 as Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, in 1895 imprisoned in Siberia; became <BR> Communist (Bolzhevik); went into exile to Switzerland. After the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#februaryrevolution">February Revolution</A> <BR> in 1917, he returned, having entered into a secret deal with the German govt., that would <BR> enable him to finance Bolzhevik propaganda. Following the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#octoberrevolution">October Revolution</A>, he <BR> became the factual head of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#rsfsr">RSFSR</A>, unelected and without holding a title. In 1918 he <BR> survived an assassination attempt. Launched <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#nep">NEP</A> in 1921; died in 1924. <BR> born in 1941, ex-communist turned Serb-nationalist demagogue, elected president of <BR> Serbia 1989. Blamed for the escalation of violence in the disintegration of <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#yugoslavia">Yugoslavia</A> <BR> 1991-1996 (War in Croatia, Bosnia (with the Yugoslav-Serb Army fighting makeshift <BR> forces) and ethnic cleansing. In 1996-1999 another ethnic war fought against the <BR> Albanian majority in the Serbian province of Kosovo, until NATO intervened in 1999. <BR> Defeated in elections in 2000; arrested and handed over to Int'l Court of Justice in <BR> Den Haag in 2001, to be tried as a war criminal. <BR> born in 1868; Russian Czar 1894-1917. Continued anti-Semitic policy of his father; <BR> held on to autocracy; during Russian Revolution of 1905 he conceded <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#duma">Duma</A>, political <BR> parties, but engineered the Duma to make it docile. During WW I, in 1916, he took <BR> personal command of the army. Abdicated during the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#februaryrevolution">February Revolution</A>; together <BR> with his family, he was executed in 1918. <BR> born in 1682, co-Czar since 1682; sole Czar 1689-1725. Traveled to western Europe <BR> twice; was intent to reform Russia. Constructed a navy, waged war on the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ottomanempire">Ottoman <BR> Empire</A>, on Sweden (Great Northern War 1700-1725), constructed St. Petersburg as <BR> new capital. Had the nobility to adopt western fashion; had his own son killed. <BR> Replaced Patriarch of Moscow by (malleable) Holy Synod. <BR> born in 1894 or 1895 as a Bosnian Serb; as Serbian secret agent, on June 28th 1914 <BR> in Sarajevo he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, starting a chain <BR> reaction that escalated into WW I. Arrested on the spot, sentenced to life in prison <BR> (because legally he still was a minor); died in 1918 of tuberculosis. <BR> born c.1741, in 1773, claiming to be Catherine the Great's deceased husband Peter <BR> III., he took the lead in a major Russian peasant rebellion, the Pugachevchina. Taken <BR> prisoner in 1774, executed in 1775. <BR> Viking, of Swedish (and, as claimed by Russian historians, also of Slavic) descent, <BR> established control over <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#repnovgorod">Novgorod</A> in 862. Founder of the Rurikid dynasty which <BR> ruled Kievan Rus. <BR> born Iosip Vissarionovich, a Georgian, in 1879. Joined the Russian Communist Party, <BR> became Bolzhevik, spent years in Siberia as prisoner; an important figure during the <BR> Russian Civil War; in 1922 appointed Secretary General of the Central Committee <BR> of the Communist Party; by 1928 virtual dictator; ended <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#nep">NEP</A>, replacing it by a <BR> policy of industrialization (5 Year Plans); persecuted the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#kulaks">Kulaks</A>, eliminated <BR> potential rivals in show trials and party purges. In 1939 agreed to Non-Agression Pact <BR> with Germany; the German invasion of 1941 turned him into a US and British ally <BR> (Uncle Joe). After 1945 he became the foe of the west (Cold War); Stalin died in <BR> 1953. <BR> born c.1308, Serbian King 1331-1346, Serbian Czar 1346-1355. Under him, medieval <BR> Serbia had its greatest extension. <BR> born in 1494, Sultan of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#ottomanempire">Ottoman Empire</A> 1520-1566. inder him, the O.E. took <BR> Rhodes from the Kinghts of St. John 1522, crushed the Hungarian army in 1526. <BR> born c.500, a one-time actress and prostitute, in 523 she married Justinian who <BR> became Emperor in 527. Contemporary historian Procopius of Caesarea described <BR> her as scheming, and partially controlling her husband. died in 548. see article <BR> from <A HREF = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century)">Wikipedia</A> <BR> son-in-law of Btzantine Emperor Alexius III. when the latter was deposed in 1204 <BR> and crusaders established the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#latinempire">Latin Empire</A>. Lascaris fled to Nicaea, took control <BR> of the province, had himself crowned Emperor of Nicaea in 1206. Made Nicaea the <BR> first among the Orthodox successor states of the <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#byzantineempire">Byzantine Empire</A>. died in 1222. <BR> born in 1892 as Josip Broz; during WW II he became commander of the communist <BR> Yugoslav <A HREF = "../../histdic/wh/hdeeurope.html#partizans">partizans</A>, operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina (then part of Croatia). Head <BR> of a Provisional Government established in 1943; prime minister, since 1953 also <BR> president of Yugoslavia. Under him, Yugoslavia was given a federal constutution; <BR> ethnic strife was suppressed. Y. became a people's republic; early in the 1950es <BR> Tito was suspicious of Stalin and approached the US; a Y.-US defensive alliance <BR> was signed in 1951. Y. accepted Marshall Plan money. Later Yugoslavia pursued <BR> a neutral foreign policy, claiming leadership in the Non-aligned Movement. <BR> Tito died in 1980. <BR> see under Lenin <BR> see under Dracul <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "700"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> List of Byzantine Emperors, from <A HREF = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Emperor">Wikipedia</A> <BR> List of Muscovite Grand Dukes, Russian Czars, from <A HREF = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar">Wikipedia</A> <BR> Lists of Statesmen from <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Albania.htm">Albania</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Belarus.html">Belarus</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Bosnia.html">Bosnia-Herzegovina</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Bulgaria.html">Bulgaria</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Croatia.html">Croatia</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Cyprus.html">Cyprus</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Greece.html">Greece</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Macedonia.htm">Macedonia</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Moldova.htm">Moldova</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Yugoslavia.html">Montenegro</A>, the <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Turkey.html">Ottoman Empire</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Romania.htm">Romania</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Russia.htm">Russia</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Yugoslavia.html">Serbia</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Turkey.html">Turkey</A>, the <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Russia.htm">USSR</A>, <A HREF = "http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia</A>, posted by Ben Cahoon </font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> </DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? "/" + file : file; referer = (document.referrer) ? document.referrer : ""; document.write("<script type=\"text/javascript\" "); document.write("src=\"" + path_to_counterfile + "?chCounter_mode=js&status=" + cstatus + "&visible=" + visible); document.write("&seite=" + file + "&referer=" + referer + "&res_width=" + screen.width + "&res_height=" + screen.height + "\"></" + "script>"); //--> </script> <!-- End of CH Counter --> <BR> </body> </html>