History of Moscow, Russia

My hometown of Moscow, Russia has seen a lot of events since it has been officially established in 1147. Moscow has seen a lot of deaths, wars, fires, and even executions on the main square within its long history. It's a very vibrant city that carries out a lot of memories. 

 By the early 13th century, Moscow turned into a huge medieval city. The ancestor of the dynasty of Moscow princes was the son of Alexander Nevsky,  Daniil. Enemies tried to destroy Moscow during his reign and in 1238 Moscow was ruined by Batu Khan. In 1382 the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh took Moscow by fraud and the Kremlin was burned to the ground. 

During reign of Grand Prince Ivan III, Moscow became the capital of the centralized state. Ivan III sought to turn Moscow into a “third Rome” in exchange of Constantinople. Moscow grew rapidly due to the large-scale construction of fortifications and temples, grand restructuring of the Kremlin after being burnt down, and Moscow's well-known cathedrals.  The construction of Moscow was carried out in circular layout creating the Red Square.

St. Basil's Cathedral

The Kremlin wall was followed by China-town walls. Next came the wall of the White City; its outlines are now the Boulevard Ring of Moscow. The Boulevard Ring was followed by Earth wall, which led to  the so-called Garden Ring. In the 15th century, Moscow became the largest cultural center with the territory and population surpassing London, Prague and other European cities. 

Having multiple enemies forced Moscow to expand their manufacturing. In the early 1800s, Russian focus was largely on grain and timber. Russian leaders developed stable trading relationships with other European nations, exporting large amounts of grain and timber produce. Industrialization wasn't quite there yet as aristocrats were opposed to it. A century later, Russia shifted its focus at heavy industry of mining, steel production and oil drilling. Emancipation of the serfs happened in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II in the hopes of them being mobile labor force in the areas where industrial workers were needed the most. However, it did not happen. Later on a better railroad system helped Moscow to import and export goods. 

In the mid 19th century, Moscow had more of the heavy machinery manufacturing  than any agricultural production. There was a huge need for bigger agricultural productions to accommodate a growing population. Moscow's government decided to keep manufacturing in town as soil wasn't nutritious enough for growing stable corps. Previously agriculture was supported by peasants collecting crops for the aristocrats, so demand wasn't as crucial. Once focus was shifted to West and East for crop production, Russia started producing more potatoes, cabbage, wheat, and even rice. Interestingly, production of hempseed oil was centralized in Moscow up until late 1990. Private markets were dominant for goods exchanging between families for many centuries and in fact, they're still functioning today! 

Nowadays, people that own land in Moscow can use it to grow corps with the help from the government. Many people grow strawberries, blueberries, and even watermelons! Industrialization, however, did a lot of damage to the water in Moscow as well as Moscow's soil. A lot of chemicals and oils were leaked into the water systems and killed fish. Land usage increased significantly which led to more crop productions but not as high quality of soil. Air and water pollution was so high that mushroom hunting in the forests was prohibited for a while. In 2010, one of the factories had a massive fire along with the wildfire. This led to a horrible air quality for months. Moscow has recovered since then, however water quality still remains a concern.