Encyclopedia of Russian History

by James Millar

  Although the mir was an ancient form of peasant self-administration, it was also the lowest link in a chain of authorities extending from the individual peasant to the highest levels of state control. It was responsible to the state and later to the landowners for providing taxes, military recruits, and services. The mir preserved order in the village, regulated the use of communal arable lands and pastures, and until 1903 was collectively responsible for paying government taxes. Physically, the mir usually coincided with one particular settlement or village. However, in some cases it might comprise part of a village or more than one village. As its meaning no longer differed from obshchina, the term mir came out of use at the beginning of the twentieth century. See also: OBSHCHINA; PEASANT ECONOMY; PEASANTRY

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Grant, Steven A. (1976). “Obshchina and Mir.” Slavic Review 35:636-651. Moon, David. (1999). The Russian Peasantry 1600-1930: The World the Russian Peasants Made. London: Longman. Robinson, Geroid T. (1967). Rural Russia under the Old Regime. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  STEPHAN MERL

  MIR SPACE STATION

  The Mir (“world”) space station was a modular space facility providing living and working accommodations for cosmonauts and astronauts during its fifteen-plus years in orbit around the Earth. The core module of Mir was launched on February 20, 1986, and the station complex was commanded to a controlled re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on March 23, 2001, where its parts either burned up or sank in the ocean.

  MIR SPACE STATION

  The Russian Space Station MIR, photographed from the cargo bay of the U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis. © AFP/CORBIS

  The core module provided basic services-living quarters, life support, and power-for those staying aboard Mir. In subsequent years, five additional modules were launched and attached to the core to add to the research and crew support capabilities of the space station; the last module was attached in 1996.

  More than one hundred cosmonauts and astronauts visited Mir during its fifteen years in orbit. One, Soviet cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, stayed in orbit for 438 days, the longest human space flight in history. Beginning in 1995, the U.S. space shuttle carried out docking missions with Mir, and seven U.S. astronauts stayed on Mir for periods ranging from 115 to 188 days. These Shuttle-Mir missions were carried out in preparation for Russian-U.S. cooperation in the International Space Station program.

  Toward the end of its time in orbit, there was an attempt to turn Mir into a facility operated on

  MOISEYEV, MIKHAIL ALEXEYEVICH

  a commercial basis: for instance, allowing noncos-monauts to purchase a trip to the station. However, Mir was de-orbited before such a trip took place.

  The primary legacy of Mir is the extensive experience it provided in the complexities of organizing and managing long-duration human space flights, as well as insights into the effect of long stays in space on the human body. As the Mir station aged, keeping it in operating condition became a full-time task for its crew, and this limited its scientific output. See also: INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION; SPACE PROGRAM

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Burrough, Bryan. (1998). Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis aboard Mir. New York: HarperCollins.

  JOHN M. LOGSDON

  MNISZECH, MARINA

  (1588-1614), Polish princess and Tsaritsa of Russia (1606).

  Marina Mniszech was the daughter of Jerzy Mniszech (Palatine of Sandomierz), a Polish aristocrat who took up the cause of the man claiming to be Dmitry of Uglich in his struggle against Tsar Boris Godunov. The intelligent and ambitious Marina met the Pretender Dmitry in 1604, and they agreed to marry once he became tsar. After invading Russia and toppling the Godunov dynasty, Tsar Dmitry eventually obtained permission from the Russian Orthodox Church to marry the Catholic princess. In May 1606, Marina made a spectacular entry into Moscow, and she and Tsar Dmitry were married in a beautiful ceremony.

  On May 17, 1606, Tsar Dmitry was assassinated, and Marina and her father were taken prisoner and incarcerated for two years. Tsar Vasily Shuisky released them in 1608 on the condition that they head straight back to Poland and not join up with an impostor calling himself Tsar Dmitry who was then waging a bitter civil war against Shuisky. In defiance, Marina traveled to Tushino, the second false Dmitry’s capital in September 1608, and recognized the impostor as her husband, thereby greatly strengthening his credibility. Tsaritsa Marina even produced an heir, Ivan Dmitrievich. When Marina’s “husband” was killed in 1610, she and her lover, the cossack commander Ivan Zarutsky, continued to struggle for the Russian throne on behalf of the putative son of Tsar Dmitry. Forced to retreat to Astrakhan, Marina, Zarutsky, and Ivan Dmitrievich held out until after the election of Tsar Mikhail Romanov in 1613. Eventually expelled from Astrakhan’s citadel, the three were hunted down in the Ural Mountain foothills and executed in 1614. See also: DMITRY, FALSE; DMITRY OF UGLICH; OTREPEV, GRIGORY; SHUISKY, VASILY IVANOVICH; TIME OF TROUBLES

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Dunning, Chester. (2001). Russia’s First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Founding of The Romanov Dynasty. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. Perrie, Maureen. (1995). Pretenders and Popular Monar-chism in Early Modern Russia: The False Tsars of the Time of Troubles. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

  CHESTER DUNNING

  MOISEYEV, MIKHAIL ALEXEYEVICH

  (b. 1939), Army General Chief of the Soviet General Staff from 1988 to 1991.

  Mikhail Moiseyev, born January 2, 1939, in Amur Oblast, was raised in the Soviet Far East and attended the Blagoveshchensk Armor School. He joined the Soviet Armed Forces in 1961 and served with tank units. Moiseyev attended the Frunze Military Academy from 1969 to 1972 and rose rapidly to the Rank of General-Major in the late 1970s. He graduated from the Voroshilov Military Academy of the General Staff as a gold medalist in 1982.

  Moiseyev enjoyed the patronage of several senior officers in the advancement of his career, including General E. F. Ivanovsky, I. M. Tretyak, and Dmitri Yazov. In the 1980s Moiseyev commanded a combined arms army and then the Far East Military District. With the resignation of Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev in December 1988, Moiseyev was appointed chief of the Soviet General Staff, a post he held until August 22, 1991, when he was removed because of his support for the hardliners’ coup. His tenure saw the culmination of intense arms control negotiations, including the

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  MOLDOVA AND MOLDOVANS

  Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty; the de-establishment of the Warsaw Treaty Organization; and increased military activism in domestic politics. In 1992 Moiseyev defended his dissertation, “The Armed Forces Command Structure,” at the Center for Military-Strategic Studies of the General Staff. He served as a military consultant to the Russian Supreme Soviet in 1992.

  Following his retirement, Moiseyev joined the board of the Technological and Intellectual Development of Russia Joint-Stock Company. In December 2000 he founded a new political party, Union, which was supposed to attract the support of active and returned military and security officers under the slogan, “law, order, and the rule of law.” President Vladimir Putin appointed Moiseyev to the governmental commission on the social protection of the military. In this capacity he has been involved in programs to provide assistance to retiring military personnel. See also: ARMS CONTROL; AUGUST 1991 PUTSCH; MILITARY, SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Borawski, John. (1992). Security for a New Europe: The Vienna Negotiations on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, 1989-90 and Beyond. London: Brassey’s. Golts, Aleksandr. (2002). “Trend Could Hatch Dozens of Pinochets.” The Russian Journal 40(83). Green, William C., and Karasik, Theodore, eds. (1990). Gorbachev and His Generals: The Reform of Soviet Military Doctrine. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Odom, William E. (1998). The Collapse of the Soviet Military. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

  JACOB W. KIPP

  MOLDOVA AND MOLDOVANS

  The indepe
ndent Republic of Moldova has an area of 33,843 square kilometers (13,067 square miles). It is bordered by Romania on the west and by Ukraine on the north, east, and south. The population of as of 2002 was approximately 4,434,000. Moldova’s population is ethnically mixed: Moldo-vans, who share a common culture and history with Romanians, make up 64.5 percent of the total population. Other major groups include Ukrainians (13.8%), Russians (13%), Bulgarians (2.0%), and the Turkic origin Gagauz (3.5%). Approximately 98 percent of the population is Eastern Orthodox.

  Historically, the region has been the site of conflict between local rulers and neighboring powers, particularly the Ottoman Empire and Russian Empires. An independent principality including the territory of present-day Moldova was established during the mid-fourteenth century C.E. During the late fifteenth century it came under increasing pressure from the Ottoman Empire and ultimately became a tributary state. The current differentiation between eastern and western Moldova began during the early eighteenth century. Bessarabia, the region between the Prut and Dniester rivers, was annexed by Russia following the Russo-Turkish war of 1806-1812. Most of the remainders of traditional Moldova were united with Walachia in 1858, forming modern Romania.

  While under Russian rule, Bessarabia experienced a substantial influx of migrants, primarily Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, and Gagauz. Bessarabia changed hands again once again in 1918, uniting with Romania as a consequence of World War I. Soviet authorities created a new Moldovan political unit, designated the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, on Ukrainian territory containing a Romanian-speaking minority to the east of the Dniester River. In June 1940, Romania ceded Bessarabia to the Soviet Union as a consequence of the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement, allowing formation of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia.

  Independence culminated a process of national mobilization that began in 1988 in the context of widespread Soviet reforms. In the first partly democratic elections for the Republican Supreme Soviet, held in February 1990, candidates aligned with the Moldovan Popular Front won a majority of seats. The Supreme Soviet declared its sovereignty in June 1990. The Republic of Moldova became independent on August 27, 1991. The current constitution was enacted on July 29, 1994.

  Moldova’s sovereignty was challenged by Russian-speaking inhabitants on the left bank of the Dniester (Trans-Dniestria), and the Gagauz population concentrated in southern Moldova. The Gagauz crisis was successfully ended in December 1994 through a negotiated settlement that established an autonomous region, Gagauz-Yeri, within Moldova. The Trans-Dniestrian secession remains unresolved. Regional authorities declared indepenMOLDOVA AND MOLDOVANS dence in August 1990, forming the Dniester Moldovan Republic (DMR). Since a brief civil war in 1992, Trans-Dniestrian President Igor Smirnov has led a highly authoritarian government in the region, with the tacit support of the Russian Federation.

  Trans-Dniestria has been a central issue in Moldovan foreign affairs. While officially neutral, Russian troops supported the separatists in the 1992 conflict. In August 1994 the Russian and Moldovan governments agreed on the withdrawal of Russian forces from the region within three years; this, however, did not occur. The situation has been complicated by the presence of a substantial Russian weapons depot in Trans-Dniestria. Despite the Trans-Dniestria issue, Moldova entered the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on a limited basis in April 1994 and has maintained positive, if guarded, relations with Russia since then. In 2001, Moldova and the Russian Federation concluded a bilateral treaty that named Russia as guarantor of the Trans-Dniestrian peace settlement.

  Moldova’s relationship with Romania has become increasingly difficult following independence. Romania was the first state to recognize Moldovan independence. Many Romanians supported unification with Moldova, which they consider an integral part of historic Romania. Romanian nationalists view Moldovan concessions to separatists and the Russian Federation as treason against the Romanian national ideal. This attitude led to a sharp decline in relations, especially following 1994 elections that brought more independence-oriented leaders to power in the capital city of Chi?sina?u. Following the return to power of the Moldovan Communist Party in 2001, hostile rhetoric from official Moldovan sources regarding Romanian interference in Moldovan affairs increased, as did the anger of Romanian nationalists over Moldova’s continued relationship with Russia.

  The head of state of Moldova is the president of the Republic. The president is charged with guaranteeing the independence and unity, and overseeing the efficient functioning of public authorities. The president may be impeached by vote of two-thirds of the parliamentary deputies. The president can dissolve parliament if it is unable to form a government for a period of sixty days. The president names the prime minister following consultation with the parliamentary majority. Once selected, the prime minister forms a government and establishes a program, which is then submitted to parliament for a vote of confidence. Until 2000 the president was chosen through a direct popular election. In that year, following a long-lasting deadlock between the executive and legislative branches, parliament passed legislation according to which the president is elected by the parliament.

  The government of Moldova is made up of a prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and approximately twenty ministers. Parliament is given the power to dismiss the government or an individual member through a vote of no confidence by a majority vote.

  Moldova has a unicameral legislature made up of 101 deputies elected to four-year terms by means of a direct universal vote. Legislators are elected through a proportional representation closed list system, with a six percent threshold for participation. In a move that distinguished it from the vast majority of proportional representation systems, the Moldovans adopted a single national electoral district. The parliament passes laws, may call for referendum, and exercises control over the executive as called for in the constitution.

  Moldovan economic conditions deteriorated disastrously in the post-communist period. The collapse of its agricultural exports to Russia badly hurt the rural sector. Simultaneously, the secession of the territory on the left bank of the Dniester dislocated industrial production throughout the republic. Without any significant energy resources, Moldova accrued massive external debts for oil and natural gas imports. Finally, the economic decline was also a consequence of its leaders’ failure to provide any clear policy direction. A decade after independence, Moldova was poorer than any other country in Central Europe. See also: COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES; GAGAUZ; NATIONALITIES POLICIES, SOVIET; NATIONALITIES POLICIES, TSARIST; TRANS-DNIESTER REPUBLIC

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Crowther, William. (1997). “The Politics of Democratization in Post-communist Moldova.” In Democratic Changes and Authoritarian Reactions in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, eds. Karen Dawisha and Bruce Parrott. London: Cambridge University Press. Dryer, Donald, ed. (1996). Studies in Moldavian: The History, Culture, Language, and Contemporary Politics of the People of Moldova. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs.

  MOLOTOV, VYACHESLAV MIKHAILOVICH

  King, Charles. (2000). The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.

  WILLIAM CROWTHER

  MOLOTOV, VYACHESLAV MIKHAILOVICH

  (1880-1986), Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician, often regarded as Stalin’s chief lieutenant.

  Vyacheslav Molotov was born at Kukarka, No-linsk district, Vyatka province, on March 9, 1880. His father was the manager of the village store. Molotov’s real name was Skryabin; he was the second cousin of the composer and pianist Alexander Skryabin (1872-1915). After attending the village school, he was educated at Kazan Real School from 1902, and became involved in the 1905 Revolution in Nolinsk district, joining the Bolshevik Party in 1906. Engaged in revolutionary agitation in Kazan, particularly among student groups, he was arrested in 1909 and exiled to Vologda province.

  In 1911, at the end of his period of exile, he enrolled first in the
shipbuilding department but soon transferred to the economics department at St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. He continued his revolutionary agitation, again especially among student groups, and from 1912 was involved in the production of the early numbers of Pravda, to which he contributed a number of articles. It was at this time he first called himself Molotov (from the word for “hammer”) after the hero in Nikolai Pomyalovsky’s 1861 novel. In 1915, having been sent by the party to Moscow, he was again arrested and exiled to Irkutsk province, but escaped in 1916. Returning to St. Petersburg to continue his revolutionary activity, he was one of the leading Bolsheviks there in March 1917. He was prominent during the early weeks of the Russian Revolution, again working for Pravda and serving on the St. Petersburg Soviet, but retired into the background with the return of Lenin and other senior leaders from exile.

  Molotov was involved but did not play a leading part in the Bolshevik revolution in October 1917. In March 1918 Molotov became chairman of the Sovnarkhoz (Economic Council) for the northern provinces, thus assuming responsibility for economic affairs in the Petrograd area. In 1919, during the civil war, he was in command of a river steamer charged with spreading Bolshevik propaganda in provinces newly liberated from the White armies. He then spent short spells as a party representative in Nizhny Novgorod and the Donbass.