A portrait of Stalin, 1933. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The Romanov family: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia with his wife, Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt, and her daughters, Ol'ga, Tat'jana, Marjia e Anastasia and Aleksej. 1913

circa 1935: Studio portrait of Russian Communist leader Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940), wearing eyeglasses and a white jacket. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

U.S. President Bill Clinton breaking into laughter after Russian President Boris Yeltsin made a comment about journalists at a news conference in Hyde Park, New York on October 23, 1995.

A Russian armored troop-carrier moves with soldiers atop next to a house set on fire by South Ossetian militia on in August, 2008.

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HISTORY

America’s Founding Fathers decided that one elected civilian—the U.S. president—would lead the executive branch of the federal government, a governmental structure that has remained in place for more than 200 years.

U.S. Presidents

The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.

Cold War

1988

Explore the wars, battles, leaders, civilizations, regimes, prominent figures and major events from the continent that encompasses 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. From Stonehenge to the Great Awakening to the French Revolution to the rise and fall of Communism in Russia, see how Europe’s often tumultuous history unfolded.

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Great Terror

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Stories

How a Five-Day War With Georgia Allowed Russia to Reassert Its Military Might

Lenin vs Stalin: Their Showdown Over the Birth of the USSR

When a Russian President Ended Up Drunk and Disrobed Outside the White House

The Trotsky Assassination

This Day in History

Renowned Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov visits United States