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the city was fortified, the Cathedral of St. Sophia
was restored after centuries of neglect, and the
baroque style Church of St. Andrew was built. In
the 19th century Kiev emerged as an important
commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural
center, with a large multiethnic population that
included Ukrainians, Jews, Poles, and Russians.
During the 1905 Revolution, the city was the site
of political disturbances and a
POGROM
against its
Jewish population. The period of the Russian Rev-
olution and civil war (1917-21) ranks among the
most chaotic of Kiev's long history. At different
times Ukrainian nationalists, Germans and Poles
controlled the city, before the Soviets emerged
triumphant in 1920. In 1934, Kiev became the
capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Repub-
lic, replacing its recent rival, the industrial city of
Kharkov. The German Army occupied Kiev from
1941-43 causing great damage to the city and its
people. Close to 200,000 of its inhabitants were
killed, of which the mass execution of Jews at
BABI YAR
ravine is the best known and most infa-
mous example. Widespread reconstruction after
World War II restored Kiev to its position as the
third-largest city of the Soviet Union. After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, Kiev, now known by
its Ukrainian name, Kyiv, and with a population
of almost 2.7 million, became the capital of the
new independent Ukraine.
the process of fragmentation that set in after the
death of Yaroslav. The continuation of these
feuds after the death of Vladimir Monomakh
contributed to the disintegration of Kievan Rus
and the rise of regionalism in areas like Galicia,
Volhynia, Novgorod, and Vladimir. Kiev's decline
also corresponded to broader shifts in the pat-
terns of international trade and political relation-
ships. The negative impact of the Crusades on the
Byzantine Empire was felt in Kiev, which was sit-
uated on the great trade routes from Scandinavia
to Byzantium, and from western Europe to Cen-
tral Asia. The rise of princely rule in Vladimir, an
oligarchic republic in Novgorod, and a landed
nobility in Galicia all contributed to the weaken-
ing of the prestige of the grand princes of Kiev.
By the time of the
MONGOL CONQUEST
(1237-40),
Kiev had entered a period of decline and frag-
mentation. Nevertheless, the memory of the
Kievan era provided a strong unifying symbol
for Russian princes under the long period of
Mongol rule. The princes of Moscow in particu-
lar attempted to claim for themselves the mantle
of the Kievan legacy, as part of the process of
“gathering of the lands” that had belong to
Kievan Rus. Competing claims to the Kievan
legacy have been one of the many points that
long divided Russians and Ukrainians.
Klimov, Elem Germanovich
(1933-2003)
film director
As newly elected secretary of the Filmmakers'
Union in 1986, Klimov helped lead the charge
that gave artistic and intellectual momentum to
the first years of
GORBACHEV
's perestroika (restruc-
turing). Klimov began his professional life as an
aviation engineer but later migrated to film, grad-
uating from the prestigious All-Union State Insti-
tute of Cinematography (VGIK). As a student he
gained a reputation for provocative, satirical short
films. His first full-length feature,
Welcome, or No
Trespassing
(1964), was a satirical look at the
socialization of children in a Young Pioneer camp.
In
Adventures of a Dentist
(1967), he continued his
Kievan Rus
An East Slav state that flourished between the
ninth and 13th centuries around the city of
KIEV
,
Kievan Rus is considered the cradle of Russian
culture and civilization. In the ninth century,
Kiev emerged as an important center of trade on
the Dnieper River linking Scandinavia with
Byzantium. Over the next two centuries Kievan
Rus produced a number of outstanding rulers.
These include Princess Olga (ca. 890-969), who
converted to Christianity;
VLADIMIR
the Great
(ca. 956-1015), who introduced Christianity to
Russia; Yaroslav the Wise (1019-54), who intro-
duced the first Russian legal code; and Vladimir
Monomakh (1053-1125), who briefly checked
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