Leonardo dicaprio mini biography of stalin

The Russian state can be traced as far back as the sixteenth century to the rule of Ivan the Terrible. Under Ivan, the warring factions, which had previously characterised the Russian political landscape, were unified, creating an early blueprint for a centralised body of governance. Ivan oversaw significant developments during his long rule from 1547 to 1584; chief among these was the establishment of a standing Russian army. However, personal and domestic chaos blighted many of his achievements, and by the time he died, Russia was economically deprived and politically unstable.
Uncertainty endured for almost a century thereafter. It was not until 1682, and the coronation of Pyotr Alekséyevich (Peter the Great) that Russia was similarly unified under a single ruler. A student of Western thought and culture, he remodelled Russian statecraft along European lines, seeking an economic and philosophical proximity with the centres of modern industrialism. Along with his sweeping political reforms, Peter is also remembered for his successful military campaigns which resulted in the expansion of Russia’s territory.

Russia did not have to wait long for another leader of Peter’s calibre. Just four decades after his death, Catherine the Great assumed the throne and set about carrying out his legacy. Like Peter, Catherine staunchly believed in the power of culture and in Western thought, and particularly the Enlightenment movement sweeping across Europe at the time. She ushered in the Golden Age in Russia; a period defined by the unbridled growth of culture and art, continued military expansion and the development of industry. Under Catherine, Russia joined the ranks of the world’s great powers.

The Russian monarchy, through its subsequent leaders, succeeded in maintaining Russia’s status over the next century. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth, when, under the reign of Tsar Nicholas II,

ST. PETERSBURG — Leonardo DiCaprio braved scary skies to get to a summit devoted to saving the worlds’ tigers, donating $1 million to the cause and earning high praise from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The Hollywood star arrived in St. Petersburg on Tuesday after two flight dramas, Putin said, just managing to make the meeting where officials from the 13 countries where tigers still live in the wild agreed to a program to save the big cats from extinction.

DiCaprio was one of more than 200 people aboard a Moscow-bound Delta flight that had to return to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Sunday when other pilots reported seeing a flash in one engine of the departing plane. The actor then took a private jet that had to land in Finland early Tuesday for refueling because of strong wind, Putin said.

“Not everyone would be willing to take a plane again after what Mr. DiCaprio experienced, but he did,” he told the audience at a rock concert dedicated to the tiger conservation effort. “Here, in Russia, we call such a person a ‘real man.’”

“If wildlife and tiger conservation is in the hands of people with such character, we are destined to succeed,” he said.

DiCaprio, who watched Putin at St. Petersburg’s historic Mikhailovsky Theater, committed $1 million to World Wildlife Fund to help support anti-poaching efforts and protect tiger habitat, the group said in a statement Tuesday. DiCaprio, 36, has already helped the group raise $20 million for tiger conservation earlier this year, it said.

“Illegal poaching of tigers for their parts and massive habitat loss due to palm oil, timber and paper production are driving this species to extinction,” DiCaprio said. “If we don’t take action now, one of the most iconic animals on our planet could be gone in just a few decades. By saving tigers, we can also protect some of our last r