Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was an <a href="/facts/Empire/dsjWjBBd">empire</a> that spanned most of northern <a href="/facts/Eurasia/KlLI9GDM">Eurasia</a> from its proclamation in November 1721 until the proclamation of the <a href="/facts/Russian_Republic/u3Nd32Ir">Russian Republic</a> in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it the <a href="/facts/List_of_largest_empires/zudjlgmV">third-largest empire in history</a>, behind only the <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British</a> and <a href="/facts/Mongol_Empire/cfddtfIK">Mongol</a> empires. It also <a href="/facts/Russian_colonization_of_North_America/FMzCbIKX">colonized Alaska</a> between 1799 and 1867. The empire's <a href="/facts/1897_census/JqHhxJbD">1897 census</a>, the only one it conducted, found a population of 125.6 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity.
From the 10th to 17th centuries, the Russians had been ruled by a noble class known as the <a href="/facts/Boyar/pajqankB">boyars</a>, above whom was the <a href="/facts/Tsar/qTE59C0T">tsar</a>, an absolute monarch. The groundwork of the Russian Empire was laid by <a href="/facts/Ivan_III/PDrI0no8">Ivan III</a> (r. 1462–1505), who greatly expanded his domain, established a centralized Russian <a href="/facts/National_state/1T5FVEJP">national state</a>, and secured independence against the <a href="/facts/Tatars/hgokK6aw">Tatars</a>. His grandson, <a href="/facts/Ivan_IV/T0kT4xAs">Ivan IV</a> (r. 1533–1584), became in 1547 the first Russian monarch to be crowned <a href="/facts/Tsar_of_all_Russia/IC2nkbFX">tsar of all Russia</a>. Between 1550 and 1700, the Russian state grew by an average of 35,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi) per year. <a href="/facts/Peter_the_Great/plNUAaWM">Peter I</a> transformed the tsardom into an empire, and fought numerous wars that turned a vast realm into a major European power. He moved the Russian capital from <a href="/facts/Moscow/XUU6VkdY">Moscow</a> to the new model city of <a href="/facts/Saint_Petersburg/pNuCBxaM">Saint Petersburg</a>, and led a cultural revolution that introduced a modern, scientific, rationalist, and Western-oriented system. <a href="/facts/Catherine_the_Great/FTVM1heM">Catherine the Great</a> (r. 1762–1796) presided over further expansion of the Russian state by conquest, <a href="/facts/Russian_colonization_of_North_America/FMzCbIKX">colonization</a>, and diplomacy, while continuing Peter's policy of modernization. <a href="/facts/Alexander_I_of_Russia/rjCk3Rr2">Alexander I</a> (r. 1801–1825) helped defeat the militaristic ambitions of <a href="/facts/Napoleon/8TKBIjPM">Napoleon</a> and subsequently constituted the <a href="/facts/Holy_Alliance/TPRMzUqI">Holy Alliance</a>, which aimed to restrain the rise of secularism and liberalism across Europe. Russia further expanded to the west, south, and east, strengthening its position as a European power. Its victories in the <a href="/facts/Russo-Turkish_Wars/bzagTz56">Russo-Turkish Wars</a> were later checked by defeat in the <a href="/facts/Crimean_War/v163wdr8">Crimean War</a> (1853–1856), leading to a period of reform and <a href="/facts/Russian_conquest_of_Central_Asia/tu6VsJoF">conquests in Central Asia</a>. <a href="/facts/Alexander_II_of_Russia/rcFpTjFH">Alexander II</a> (r. 1855–1881) initiated <a href="/facts/Government_reforms_of_Alexander_II_of_Russia/tnkpdvDR">numerous reforms</a>, most notably the <a href="/facts/Emancipation_reform_of_1861/DWRtVJWW">1861 emancipation</a> of all 23 million serfs.
By the start of the 19th century, Russian territory extended from the <a href="/facts/Arctic_Ocean/l6HS3QyV">Arctic Ocean</a> in the north to the <a href="/facts/Black_Sea/M0rLKvge">Black Sea</a> in the south, and from the <a href="/facts/Baltic_Sea/jbQJGLQX">Baltic Sea</a> in the west to <a href="/facts/Russian_America/Sq6hjdkU">Alaska, Hawaii, and California</a> in the east. By the end of the 19th century, Russia had expanded its control over <a href="/facts/Russian_conquest_of_the_Caucasus/Vs5xkuIa">the Caucasus</a>, most of <a href="/facts/Central_Asia/rB8k0CyT">Central Asia</a> and parts of <a href="/facts/Northeast_Asia/2oh4HM7W">Northeast Asia</a>. Notwithstanding its extensive territorial gains and great power status, the empire entered the 20th century in a perilous state. The devastating <a href="/facts/Russian_famine_of_1891%E2%80%931892/TAB61SHE">Russian famine of 1891–1892</a> killed hundreds of thousands and led to popular discontent. As the last remaining <a href="/facts/Absolute_monarchy/bw15yYtX">absolute monarchy</a> in Europe, the empire saw rapid political radicalization and the growing popularity of revolutionary ideas such as <a href="/facts/Communism/PkUwa9xK">communism</a>. After the <a href="/facts/Russian_Revolution_of_1905/lXFBKGXN">Russian Revolution of 1905</a>, <a href="/facts/Nicholas_II/l4PRkopq">Nicholas II</a> authorized the creation of a national parliament, the <a href="/facts/State_Duma_(Russian_Empire)/FQmkytLN">State Duma</a>, although he still retained absolute political power.
When Russia entered the <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">First World War</a> on the side of the <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_I/HBo9sw1M">Allies</a>, it suffered a series of defeats that further galvanized the population against the emperor. In 1917, mass unrest among the population and mutinies in the army culminated in the <a href="/facts/February_Revolution/erTxrbYX">February Revolution</a>, which led to the abdication of Nicholas II, the formation of the <a href="/facts/Russian_Provisional_Government/TbI9uI5T">Russian Provisional Government</a>, and the proclamation of the first <a href="/facts/Russian_Republic/u3Nd32Ir">Russian Republic</a>. Political dysfunction, continued involvement in the widely unpopular war, and widespread food shortages resulted in <a href="/facts/July_Days/A16oIR5Y">mass demonstrations against the government in July</a>. The republic was overthrown in the <a href="/facts/October_Revolution/5q9GlMv9">October Revolution</a> by the <a href="/facts/Bolsheviks/UAHzalnN">Bolsheviks</a>, who proclaimed the <a href="/facts/Russian_Socialist_Federative_Soviet_Republic/W9pC4bK6">Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic</a> and whose <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Brest-Litovsk/M89HC5pP">Treaty of Brest-Litovsk</a> ended Russia's involvement in the war, but who nevertheless were opposed by various factions known collectively as the <a href="/facts/White_movement/lAGgYPBE">Whites</a>. During the resulting <a href="/facts/Russian_Civil_War/MLfkI67n">Russian Civil War</a>, the Bolsheviks conducted the <a href="/facts/Red_Terror/7sQLIjYn">Red Terror</a>. After emerging victorious, they established the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> across most of the Russian territory; Russia was one of four continental European empires to collapse <a href="/facts/Aftermath_of_World_War_I/47nhUht5">as a result of World War I</a>, along with <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">Germany</a>, <a href="/facts/Austria%E2%80%93Hungary/9WPUPj0W">Austria–Hungary</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>.

Russian Empire open-in-new

Russian Empire