Russian Empire
The Russian Empire
' (Russian: Российская империя, tr: Rossiyskaya Imperiya'') was a state that existed from
1721 until it was declared a republic in August,
1917.
The Russian Empire formed from the powerful medieval state of
Muscovy, which was ruled by the successors of
Ivan IV as
Tsars. Though the empire was only officially proclaimed late in 1721 by Tsar
Peter I, it was truly born when Peter became Tsar in early 1682. Peter was disgusted by what he saw as the backwardness of his kingdom, and so, prior to his gaining the throne, he travelled about Europe, working in various jobs and gaining the experience necessary to bring Muscovy into the then-present. Following a war in the Baltic in the early 1700s, Peter gained a foothold along the coastline, and founded the city that would be the capital of his empire for almost 200 years,
Saint Petersburg. By the end of the 19th century the size of the empire was about 22,400,000 square kilometers (almost 1/6 of the Earth's landmass); its only rival in size at the time was the
British Empire. However, at this time, the majority of the population lived in European Russia. More than 100 different
ethnic groups lived in the Russian Empire, with the majority ethnic
Russians comprising about 45% of the population.
In 1914 the Russian Empire consisted of 81 provinces (
guberniyas) and 20 regions (
oblasts).
Vassals and
protectorates of the Russian Empire included the
Emirate of Bukhara, the
Khanate of Khiva and, after 1914,
Tuva (Uriankhai).
In addition to modern Russia, prior to 1917 the Russian Empire included most of present-day
Ukraine, (
Dnieper Ukraine and
Crimea),
Belarus,
Moldova (
Bessarabia),
Finland (
Grand Duchy of Finland),
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Georgia, the Central Asian states of
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan (
Russian Turkestan), most of
Lithuania,
Estonia and
Latvia (
Baltic provinces), as well as a significant portions of
Poland (
Kingdom of Poland) and
Turkey (today the provinces of
Ardahan,
Artvin,
Iğdır, and
Kars). Between
1742 and
1867 Russian Empire claimed
Alaska as its colony.
The Russian Empire was an
hereditary absolute monarchy headed by an autocratic Emperor (
tsar) from the
Romanov family.
Russian Orthodox Christianity was the official faith of the Empire and was controlled by the tsar through the
Holy Synod. Subjects of the Russian Empire were segregated into
sosloviyes, or social estates (classes) such as "
dvoryanstvo" (
nobility),
clergy,
merchants,
cossacks and
peasants. Native people of Siberia and Central Asia were officially registered as a category called "inorodtsy" (non-Slavic, literally: "people of another origin").
In addition to Russia proper, the empire consisted of the
constitutional monarchies of the
Kingdom of Poland (1815-1831) and the
Grand Duchy of Finland (1809-1917).
After the overthrow of monarchy during the
February Revolution of 1917 Russia was declared to be a republic by the
Provisional Government.
This period, together with overlaps with the preceding and subsequent periods, is covered in the following articles.
*
Russian history, 1682-1796*
Russian history, 1796-1855*
Russian history, 1855-1892*
Russian history, 1892-1920Peter the Great changed his title from
Tsar in 1721, when he was declared
Emperor of all Russia. While subsequent rulers kept this title, the ruler of Russia was commonly known as
Tsar or
Tsaritsa until the fall of the Empire during the
February Revolution of 1917.
*
State symbols of Russian Empire*
Library of Congress Country Studies:
Russia*Hingley, Ronald.
The Tsars, 1533-1917. Macmillan, 1968.
*Warnes, David.
Chronicle of the Russian Tsars: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Russia. Thames & Hudson, 1999.
*
The Empire that was Russia: Color photographs of Tsarist Russia
*
Russian Army during the Napoleonic WarsSimple:Russian Empire"
