Russian Empire

The Russian Empire^{[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]} was the final period of the Russian monarchy. It spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in 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 third-largest empire in history, behind only the British and Mongol empires. It colonized Alaska between 1799 and 1867. The 1897 Russian census found a population of 126 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity.

From the 10th to 17th century, the Russian lands were dominated by a noble class known as the boyars, above whom stood the grand prince and later the tsar, an absolute monarch. The groundwork of the empire was laid by Ivan III (r. 1462–1505), who greatly expanded his domain, established a centralized Russian national state, and secured independence from the Tatars. His grandson, Ivan IV (r. 1533–1584), was the first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar in 1547. Between 1550 and 1700, the Russian state grew by an average of 35,000 km² (14,000 sq mi) per year. Peter the Great transformed the tsardom into an empire, and fought wars that turned Russia into a major European power. He moved the capital from Moscow to the new model city of Saint Petersburg, and led a cultural revolution that introduced a modern, scientific, rationalist, and Western-oriented system. Catherine the Great (r. 1762–1796) presided over further Russian expansion by conquest, colonization, and diplomacy, while continuing Peter's policy of modernization. Alexander I (r. 1801–1825) helped defeat the militaristic ambitions of Napoleon and constituted the Holy Alliance, which aimed to restrain the rise of secularism and liberalism across Europe. Russia further expanded to the west, south, and east, strengthening it as a European power. Its victories in the Russo-Turkish wars were checked by defeat in the Crimean War (1853–1856), leading to a period of reform and conquests in Central Asia instead.^[1] Alexander II (r. 1855–1881) initiated major reforms, most notably the 1861 emancipation of all 23 million serfs.

By the start of the 19th century, Russian territory extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south, and from the Baltic Sea in the west to Alaska, Hawaii, and California in the east. By the end of the 19th century, Russia had expanded its control over the Caucasus, most of Central Asia, and parts of Northeast Asia. Notwithstanding its territorial gains and great power status, the empire entered the 20th century in a perilous state. The devastating Russian famine of 1891–1892 killed hundreds of thousands and led to discontent. As the last remaining absolute monarchy in Europe, Russia saw political radicalization and the growing popularity of revolutionary ideas such as communism.^[2] After the 1905 Revolution, the last emperor, Nicholas II (r. 1894–1917), authorized the creation of a national parliament, the State Duma, though ultimate political authority remained with him.

When Russia entered the First World War on the side of the Allies, 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 February Revolution, which led to the abdication of Nicholas II, the formation of the Russian Provisional Government, and the proclamation of the first Russian Republic. Political dysfunction, continued involvement in the widely unpopular war, and widespread food shortages resulted in mass demonstrations against the government in July.^[3] The republic was overthrown in the October Revolution by the Bolsheviks, who proclaimed the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and signed a treaty that ended Russia's involvement in the war, but who nevertheless were opposed by various factions known collectively as the Whites.^[4][5] After emerging victorious in the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks established the Soviet Union across most of the Russian territory; Russia was one of four continental European empires to collapse as a result of World War I, along with Germany, Austria–Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.^[6]

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