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The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian: Pоссiйская Имперiя, Modern Russian: Российская империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The Romanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet and See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union. The Tsardom of Rus' (Царство Русское was the official name for the Russian state between Ivan IV 's assumption of the title of Tsar (Emperor in 1547 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 It was the second largest contiguous empire the world had seen. This article provides a list of the largest Empires in world history. At one point in 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe, across northern Asia, and into North America. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia was the largest country in the world, extending from the Arctic Ocean to the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean on the east. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Across this vast realm were scattered the Emperor's 150 million subjects, who represented a great disparity in economic, ethnic, and religious positions. Its government, ruled by the Emperor, was one of the last absolute monarchies left in Europe. Absolute monarchy is a monarchical Form of government where the king and queen have absolute power over everything
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History
The Russian Empire was a natural successor to the Tsardom of Muscovy. Early history Pre-Slavic inhabitants See also Steppe nomads, Scythians, Bosporan Kingdom, Khazaria In prehistoric times The Tsardom of Rus' (Царство Русское was the official name for the Russian state between Ivan IV 's assumption of the title of Tsar (Emperor in 1547 Though the empire was only officially proclaimed by Tsar Peter I following the Treaty of Nystad (1721), some historians would argue that it was truly born when Peter acceded to the throne in early 1682. The Treaty of Nystad (Ништадтский мир Uudenkaupungin rauha was signed in 1721 in the then Swedish town of Nystad (which is called Uusikaupunki
The eighteenth century
Peter I, the Great (1672–1725), consolidated autocracy in Russia and played a major role in bringing his country into the European state system. Romanovcesar 2 and its gratitive sunlithg sundhie compared themselves ina servantly structure from its parative From its modest beginnings in the 14th-century principality of Moscow, Russia had become the largest state in the world by Peter's time. It spanned the Eurasian landmass from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. Much of its expansion had taken place in the 17th century, culminating in the first Russian settlement of the Pacific in the mid-17th century, the reconquest of Kiev, and the pacification of the Siberian tribes. The history of Siberia may be traced to the sophisticated Nomadic civilizations of the Scythians ( Pazyryk) and the Xiongnu ( Noin-Ula The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called the War for Ukraine, was the last major conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th century when the Siberian Khanate had become a loose political structure of Vassalages which were becoming However, this vast land had a population of only 14 million. Grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling almost the entire population to farm. Only a small fraction of the population lived in the towns. Slavery remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter the Great converted the household slaves into house serfs. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679. The origins of Serfdom in Russia are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century [2]
Peter was deeply impressed by the advanced technology, warcraft, and statecraft of the West. He studied Western tactics and fortifications and built a strong army of 300,000 made up of his own subjects, whom he conscripted for life. In 1697–1698, he became the first Russian prince to ever visit the West, where he and his entourage made a deep impression. The Grand Embassy ( Великое посольство in Russian) was a Russian Diplomatic mission, sent to Western Europe in In celebration of his conquests, Peter assumed the title of emperor as well as tsar, and Muscovite Russia officially became the Russian Empire late in 1721.
Peter's first military efforts were directed against the Ottoman Turks. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish His attention then turned to the north. Peter still lacked a secure northern seaport except at Archangel on the White Sea, whose harbor was frozen for nine months a year. Arkhangelsk (Арха́нгельск formerly called Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast The White Sea (Бе́лое мо́ре Vienanmeri is an Inlet of the Barents Sea on the northwest coast of Russia. Access to the Baltic was blocked by Sweden, whose territory enclosed it on three sides. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Peter's ambitions for a "window to the sea" led him in 1699 to make a secret alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Denmark against Sweden, resulting in the Great Northern War. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officially the Commonwealth of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also known as the Most Serene Republic The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe The Great Northern War (1700-21 was fought between Russia and Sweden for supremacy in the Baltic Sea. The war ended in 1721 when an exhausted Sweden sued for peace with Russia. Peter acquired four provinces situated south and east of the Gulf of Finland, thus securing his coveted access to the sea. There he built Russia's new capital, Saint Petersburg, to replace Moscow, which had long been Russia's cultural center. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River
Peter reorganized his government on the latest Western models, molding Russia into an absolutist state. An autocracy is a Form of government in which the Political power is held by a single self-appointed ruler He replaced the old boyar Duma (council of nobles) with a nine-member senate, in effect a supreme council of state. A Duma (Ду́ма is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history The countryside was also divided into new provinces and districts. Peter told the senate that its mission was to collect tax revenues. In turn tax revenues tripled over the course of his reign. As part of the government reform, the Orthodox Church was partially incorporated into the country's administrative structure, in effect making it a tool of the state. Peter abolished the patriarchate and replaced it with a collective body, the Holy Synod, led by a lay government official. In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called Meanwhile, all vestiges of local self-government were removed, and Peter continued and intensified his predecessors' requirement of state service for all nobles.
Peter died in 1725, leaving an unsettled succession and an exhausted realm. His reign raised questions about Russia's backwardness, its relationship to the West, the appropriateness of reform from above, and other fundamental problems that have confronted many of Russia's subsequent rulers. Nevertheless, he had laid the foundations of a modern state in Russia.
Nearly forty years were to pass before a comparably ambitious ruler appeared on the Russian throne. Catherine II, the Great, was a German princess who married Peter III, the German heir to the Russian crown. Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years She contributed to the resurgence of the Russian nobility that began after the death of Peter the Great. State service had been abolished, and Catherine delighted the nobles further by turning over most government functions in the provinces to them.
Catherine the Great extended Russian political control over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with actions including the support of the Targowica confederation, although the cost of her campaigns, on top of the oppressive social system that required lords' serfs to spend almost all of their time laboring on the lords' land, provoked a major peasant uprising in 1773, after Catherine legalized the selling of serfs separate from land. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officially the Commonwealth of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also known as the Most Serene Republic The Targowica Confederation (Konfederacja targowicka was a konfederacja of Polish and Lithuanian Magnates agreed upon on 27 April 1792 in Inspired by another Cossack named Pugachev, with the emphatic cry of "Hang all the landlords!" the rebels threatened to take Moscow before they were ruthlessly suppressed. Catherine had Pugachev drawn and quartered in Red Square, but the specter of revolution continued to haunt her and her successors. Red Square ( Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad) is the most famous City square in Moscow, and arguably one of the most
While suppressing the Russian peasantry, Catherine successfully waged war against the Ottoman Empire and advanced Russia's southern boundary to the Black Sea. Russo-Turkish War may refer to one of the following conflicts between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire: Russo-Turkish War (1568–1570 The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey Then, by plotting with the rulers of Austria and Prussia, she incorporated territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Partitions of Poland, pushing the Russian frontier westward into Central Europe. For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the By the time of her death in 1796, Catherine's expansionist policy had made Russia into a major European power. This continued with Alexander I's wresting of Finland from the weakened kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and of Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812. Alexander I of Russia ( Russian: Александр I Павлович / Aleksandr I Pavlovich (23 December 1777 – November 19 1825 served as Emperor of Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Bessarabia ( Basarabia in Romanian, Бесарабія in Ukrainian, Бессарабия in Russian, Бесарабия in Bulgarian
First half of the nineteenth century
Napoleon made a major misstep when, following a dispute with Tsar Alexander I, he launched an invasion of the tsar's realm in 1812. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. The French invasion of Russia in 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign was a catastrophe. Although Napoleon's Grand Armee made its way to Moscow, the Russians' scorched-earth strategy prevented the invaders from living off the country. A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method (possibly more often referred to as a tactic but this is not entirely correct as there is a difference between In the bitterly cold Russian weather, thousands of French troops were ambushed and killed by peasant guerrilla fighters. The Russian (or Soviet) Winter is a common excuse for military failures of invaders in Russia As Napoleon's forces retreated, the Russian troops pursued them into Central and Western Europe and to the gates of Paris. After Russia and its allies defeated Napoleon, Alexander became known as the 'savior of Europe,' and he presided over the redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna (1815), which made Alexander the monarch of Congress Poland. The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of the major powers of Europe, chaired by the Austrian statesman Clemens Wenzel von Metternich Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye
Although the Russian Empire would play a leading political role in the next century, secured by its defeat of Napoleonic France, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress of any significant degree. As West European economic growth accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, which had begun in the second half of the 18th century, Russia began to lag ever farther behind, creating new problems for the empire as a great power. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Russia's status as a great power obscured the inefficiency of its government, the isolation of its people, and its economic backwardness. Following the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander I had been ready to discuss constitutional reforms, but though a few were introduced, no thoroughgoing changes were attempted. The early Russian system of government instituted by Peter the Great, which consisted of various state committees each named Collegium with subordinate
The relatively liberal tsar was replaced by his younger brother, Nicholas I (1825–1855), who at the onset of his reign was confronted with an uprising. The background of this revolt lay in the Napoleonic Wars, when a number of well-educated Russian officers traveled in Europe in the course of the military campaigns, where their exposure to the liberalism of Western Europe encouraged them to seek change on their return to autocratic Russia. The result was the Decembrist Revolt (December 1825), the work of a small circle of liberal nobles and army officers who wanted to install Nicholas' brother as a constitutional monarch. But the revolt was easily crushed, leading Nicholas to turn away from the Westernization program begun by Peter the Great and champion the maxim "Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Respect to the People. Together known as Official Nationality Orthodoxy Autocracy and Nationality (Правосла́вие самодержа́вие и наро́дность "Pravoslavie Samoderzhavie "
After the Russian armies occupied the allied Georgia in 1802, they clashed with Persia over control of Azerbaijan and got involved into the Caucasian War against mountaineers, which would lumber on for half a century. Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South The Caucasian War of 1817–1864 also known as the Russian conquest of the Caucasus was an invasion of the Caucasus by the Russian Empire ended with the Russian tsars had also to deal with two uprisings in their newly acquired territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: the November Uprising in 1830 and the January Uprising in 1863. The November Uprising (1830&ndash1831&mdashalso known as the Cadet Revolution &mdashwas an armed rebellion against the rule of the Russian Empire in Poland The January Uprising ( Polish: powstanie styczniowe, Lithuanian: 1863 m
The harsh retaliation for the revolt made "December Fourteenth" a day long remembered by later revolutionary movements. In order to repress further revolts, schools and universities were placed under constant surveillance and students were provided with official textbooks. Police spies were planted everywhere. Would-be revolutionaries were sent off to Siberia; under Nicholas I hundreds of thousands were sent to katorga there. Katorga (ка́торга from medieval Greek: katergon κάτεργον Galley) was the precursor to the Gulag system
The question of Russia's direction had been gaining steam ever since Peter the Great's programme of Westernization. Some favored imitating Western Europe while others renounced the West and called for a return of the traditions of the past. The latter path was championed by Slavophiles, who heaped scorn on the "decadent" West. A Slavophile is an intellectual movement originating from 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed upon values and institutions derived from its early history The Slavophiles were opponents of bureaucracy, preferred the collectivism of the mediaeval Russian mir, or village community, to the individualism of the West. Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral political or social outlook that stresses human Interdependence and the importance of a Collective, rather than The Russian word mir (мир besides its direct meanings of peace and world,had some other meanings related to social organization in Imperial Russia Obshchina (община literally "commune" were peasant communities as opposed to individual farmsteads or Khutors in Imperial Russia. Alternative social doctrines were elaborated by such Russian radicals as Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Bakunin, and Peter Kropotkin. Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen ( Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен) ( —) was a major Russian pro-Western writer and thinker known as the "father Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin ( - July 1 1876) was a well-known Russian Revolutionary and theorist of Collectivist anarchism.
Second half of the nineteenth century
Tsar Nicholas died with his philosophy in dispute. Economic development The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were times of crisis for Russian nuts One year earlier, Russia had become involved in the Crimean War, a conflict fought primarily in the Crimean peninsula. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым Since playing a major role in the defeat of Napoleon, Russia had been regarded as militarily invincible, but, once pitted against a coalition of the great powers of Europe, the reverses it suffered on land and sea exposed the decay and weakness of Tsar Nicholas' regime.
When Alexander II came to the throne in 1855, desire for reform was widespread. Alexander (Aleksandr II Nikolaevich (Александр II Николаевич ( Moscow, 29 April 1818 – 13 March 1881 in St A growing humanitarian movement, which in later years has been likened to that of the abolitionists in the United States before the American Civil War, attacked serfdom. Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South In 1859, there were more than 23 million serfs living under conditions frequently worse than those of the peasants of western Europe on 16th-century manors. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here Alexander II made up his own mind to abolish serfdom from above rather than wait for it to be abolished from below through revolution.
The emancipation of the serfs in 1861 was the single most important event in 19th-century Russian history. The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of liberal reforms affected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia. It was the beginning of the end for the landed aristocracy's monopoly of power. Emancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities, industry was stimulated, and the middle class grew in number and influence; however, instead of receiving their lands as a gift, the freed peasants had to pay a special tax for what amounted to their lifetime to the government, which in turn paid the landlords a generous price for the land that they had lost. In numerous instances the peasants wound up with the poorest land. All the land turned over to the peasants was owned collectively by the mir, the village community, which divided the land among the peasants and supervised the various holdings. Although serfdom was abolished, since its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants, revolutionary tensions were not abated, despite Alexander II's intentions.
In the late 1870s Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. From 1875 to 1877, the Balkan crisis escalated with rebellions against Ottoman rule by various Slavic nationalities, which the Ottoman Turks suppressed with what was seen as great cruelty in Russia. Russian nationalist opinion became a serious domestic factor in its support for liberating Balkan Christians from Ottoman rule and making Bulgaria and Serbia independent. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country In early 1877, Russia intervened on behalf of Serbian and Russian volunteer forces when it went to war with the Ottoman Empire. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 had its origins in a rise in nationalism in the Balkans as well as in the Russian goal of recovering territorial losses it had suffered Within one year, Russian troops were nearing Constantinople, and the Ottomans surrendered. Russia's nationalist diplomats and generals persuaded Alexander II to force the Ottomans to sign the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, creating an enlarged, independent Bulgaria that stretched into the southwestern Balkans. The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War 1877–78. When Britain threatened to declare war over the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano, an exhausted Russia backed down. At the Congress of Berlin in July 1878, Russia agreed to the creation of a smaller Bulgaria. See also Berlin Conference (1884-85 re Africa and Berlin Conference of 1954 (Cold War As a result, Pan-Slavists were left with a legacy of bitterness against Austria-Hungary and Germany for failing to back Russia. Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid 19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been The disappointment as a result of war stimulated revolutionary tensions in the country.
Following Jeffrey Kotokoto's assassination by the Narodnya Volya, a Nihilist terrorist organization, in 1881, the throne passed to his son Alexander III (1881–1894), a staunch reactionary who revived the maxim of "Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Respect to the People" of Nicholas I. Many organizations that are accused of being a terrorist organization deny using Terrorism as a Military tactic to achieve their goals and there is no international Alexander III Alexandrovich ( 10 March 1845 – 1 November 1894) (Александр III Александрович reigned as Emperor Together known as Official Nationality Orthodoxy Autocracy and Nationality (Правосла́вие самодержа́вие и наро́дность "Pravoslavie Samoderzhavie A committed Slavophile, Alexander III believed that Russia could be saved from chaos only by shutting itself off from the subversive influences of Western Europe. A Slavophile is an intellectual movement originating from 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed upon values and institutions derived from its early history In his reign Russia concluded the union with republican France to contain the growing power of Germany, completed the conquest of Central Asia and exacted important territorial and commercial concessions from China. The Franco-Russian Alliance was a Military alliance between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire that ran from 1892 to 1917 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National
The tsar's most influential adviser was Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev, tutor to Alexander III and his son Nicholas, and procurator of the Holy Synod from 1880 to 1895. Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev ( Константин Петрович Победоносцев in Russian) ( May 21, 1827 - March He taught his royal pupils to fear freedom of speech and press and to hate democracy, constitutions, and the parliamentary system. Under Pobedonostsev, revolutionaries were hunted down and a policy of Russification was carried out throughout the empire. Russification (in Russian: русификация rusifikátsiya)is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attribute (whether voluntarily
Early twentieth century
Alexander was succeeded by his son Nicholas II (1894–1917). Radical revolutionary parties During the 1890s, Russia's industrial development led to a significant increase in the size of the urban Bourgeoisie and the working The Industrial Revolution, which began to exert a significant influence in Russia, was meanwhile creating forces that would finally overthrow the tsar. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the The liberal elements among the industrial capitalists and nobility believed in peaceful social reform and a constitutional monarchy, forming the Constitutional Democrats, or Kadets. The Constitutional Democratic Party ( Constitutional Democrats, formally Party of Popular Freedom, informally Kadets) was a liberal Political Social revolutionaries combined the Narodnik tradition and advocated the distribution of land among those who actually worked it—the peasants. Another radical group was the Social Democrats, exponents of Marxism in Russia. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Gathering their support from the radical intellectuals and the urban working class, they advocated complete social, economic and political revolution.
In 1903 the party split into two wings—the Mensheviks, or moderates, and the Bolsheviks, the radicals. The Mensheviks (Minority (Меньшевик) were a faction of the Russian Revolutionary movement that emerged in 1903 after a dispute between Vladimir The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction The Mensheviks believed that Russian socialism would grow gradually and peacefully and that the tsar’s regime should be succeeded by a democratic republic in which the socialists would cooperate with the liberal bourgeois parties. The Bolsheviks, under Vladimir Lenin, advocated the formation of a small elite of professional revolutionists, subject to strong party discipline, to act as the vanguard of the proletariat in order to seize power by force. [3]
The disastrous performance of the Russian armed forces in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) was a major blow to the Tsarist regime and increased the potential for unrest. The Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 Romaji: Nichi-Ro Sensō Русско-японская война Russko-Yaponskaya Voyna;, 10 February 1904 – 5 September In January 1905, an incident known as "Bloody Sunday" occurred when Father Gapon led an enormous crowd to the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg to present a petition to the tsar. For other incidents referred to by this name see Bloody Sunday. Georgiy Apollonovich Gapon (Георгий Аполлонович Гапон &mdash) was a Russian Orthodox Priest and a popular Working class leader See also The movie Russian Ark, an innovative single shot walkthrough with period reenactments spanning three hundred years of court meetings Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River When the procession reached the palace, Cossacks opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds. The Russian masses were so aroused over the massacre that a general strike was declared demanding a democratic republic. This marked the beginning of the Russian Revolution of 1905. See also Russian Revolution (1917 The 1905 Russian Revolution also known as the Failed Russian Revolution of 1905 was an empire-wide struggle of Soviets (councils of workers) appeared in most cities to direct revolutionary activity. A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. Russia was paralyzed, and the government was desperate.
In October 1905, Nicholas reluctantly issued the famous October Manifesto, which conceded the creation of a national Duma (legislature) to be called without delay. The October Manifesto (Октябрьский Манифест Манифест 17 октября was issued on October 17 1905 ( October 30 in the The right to vote was extended and no law was to go into force without confirmation by the Duma. The moderate groups were satisfied; but the socialists rejected the concessions as insufficient and tried to organise new strikes. By the end of 1905, there was disunity among the reformers, and the tsar's position was strengthened for the time being.
Tsar Nicholas II and his subjects entered World War I with enthusiasm and patriotism, with the defence of Russia's fellow Orthodox Slavs, the Serbs, as the main battle cry. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, In August 1914, the Russian army entered Germany to support the French armies. However, the weaknesses of the Russian economy and the inefficiency and corruption in government were hidden only for a brief period under a cloak of fervent nationalism. Military reversals and the government's incompetence soon soured much of the population. German control of the Baltic Sea and German-Ottoman control of the Black Sea severed Russia from most of its foreign supplies and potential markets.
By the middle of 1915 the impact of the war was demoralizing. Food and fuel were in short supply, casualties were staggering, and inflation was mounting. Strikes increased among low-paid factory workers, and the peasants, who wanted land reforms, were restless. Meanwhile, public distrust of the regime was deepened by reports that a semiliterate mystic, Grigory Rasputin, had great political influence within the government. His assassination in late 1916 ended the scandal but did not restore the autocracy's lost prestige.
On March 3, 1917, a strike occurred in a factory in the capital Saint Petersburg; within a week nearly all the workers in the city were idle, and street fighting broke out. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River When the tsar dismissed the Duma and ordered strikers to return to work, his orders triggered the February Revolution. The February Revolution (Февральская революция in 1917 in Russia was the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917.
The Duma refused to disband, the strikers held mass meetings in defiance of the regime, and the army openly sided with the workers. A few days later a provisional government headed by Prince Lvov was named by the Duma and the following day the tsar abdicated. The Russian Provisional Government was formed in Petrograd in 1917 after the February Revolution and the Abdication Lvov (Львов is the name of a princely Russian family of Rurikid stock Meanwhile, the socialists in Saint Petersburg had formed a Soviet (council) of workers and soldier's deputies to provide them with the power that they lacked in the Duma. A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia.
Territory
Boundaries
| History of Russia |
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| Early East Slavic states |
| Rus' Khaganate (8th–9th c. Early history Pre-Slavic inhabitants See also Steppe nomads, Scythians, Bosporan Kingdom, Khazaria In prehistoric times The following is a list of East Slavic states that existed in the first half of the second millennium on the territories of contemporary Belarus, Russia, and The Rus' Khaganate Volkhov Rus, Ilmen Rus, or Novgorod Rus --> was a Polity that flourished during a poorly documented ) |
| Khazars (7th–10th c. "Kazar" redirects here for the Marvel Comics character see Ka-Zar; for the village in Azerbaijan see Xəzər. ) |
| Volga Bulgaria (7th–13th c. Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is an historic state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of ) |
| Kievan Rus' (9th–12th c. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan ) |
| Vladimir-Suzdal (12th–14th c. Vladimir-Suzdal Principality (Влади́миро-Су́здальское кня́жество ) |
| Novgorod Republic (12th–15th c. The Novgorod Republic (Новгородская республика / Novgorodskaya respublika Новгородская земьля / Novgorodskaya zemlja) was a ) |
| Mongol invasion (1220s–1240s) |
| Golden Horde (1240s–1480s) |
| Muscovy (1340–1547) |
| Khanate of Kazan (1438–1552) |
| Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) |
| Russian Empire (1721–1917) |
| Soviet Russia and the USSR |
| Russian Federation (1991–present) |
| Timeline |
The administrative boundaries of European Russia, apart from Finland and its portion of Poland, coincided broadly with the natural limits of the East-European plains. The Mongol invasion of Rus' was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223 between Subutai 's reconnaissance unit and the combined force This article refers to the medieval Turkic state For the Irish rock band see The Golden Horde (band. The Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое княжество Московское was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and The Kazan Khanate (Казан ханлыгы|Qazan xanlığı|قازان خانليغى Russian: Казанское ханство tr: Kazanskoe khanstvo The Tsardom of Rus' (Царство Русское was the official name for the Russian state between Ivan IV 's assumption of the title of Tsar (Emperor in 1547 Romanovcesar 2 and its gratitive sunlithg sundhie compared themselves ina servantly structure from its parative War and peace in Russia 1796-1825 Catherine II died in 1796, and her son Emperor Paul I (r Economic development The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were times of crisis for Russian nuts Radical revolutionary parties During the 1890s, Russia's industrial development led to a significant increase in the size of the urban Bourgeoisie and the working The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The History of the Soviet Union has roots in the Russian Revolution of 1917. See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed This period of the Soviet Union was dominated by Joseph Stalin, who sought to reshape Soviet society with aggressive economic planning in particular a sweeping collectivization of agriculture The Cold War ensued as the USSR and the United States struggled indirectly for influence around the world The Soviet Union 's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985 With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 the Russian Federation became an independent country This is a timeline of Russian history. To read about the background to these events see History of Russia. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. In the North it met the Arctic Ocean; the islands of Novaya Zemlya, Kolguyev and Vaigach also belonged to it, but the Kara Sea was reckoned to Siberia. The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major Novaya Zemlya (Но́вая Земля́ also spelled Novaja Zemlja, lit Kolguyev Island (о́стров Колгу́ев is an island in Nenets Autonomous Okrug Russia located in the south-eastern Barents Sea (east Vaygach Island (Вайга́ч is an Island in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Sea between the Pechora Sea and the The Kara Sea ( Russian: Ка́рское мо́ре is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving To the East it had the Asiatic dominions of the empire, Siberia and the Kyrgyz steppes, from both of which it was separated by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Caspian Sea — the administrative boundary, however, partly extending into Asia on the Siberian slope of the Urals. The Kyrgyz (also spelled Kirgiz, Kirghiz) are a Turkic Ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan. Riphean redirects here For the time period see Riphean stage The Ural Mountains (Ура́льские го́ры Uralskiye The Ural (Урал Kazakh: Жайық, Jayıq or Zhayyq) known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged Sea. To the South it had the Black Sea and Caucasus, being separated from the latter by the Manych depression, which in Post-Pliocene times connected the Sea of Azov with the Caspian. The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Manych (Маныч is a River in southern Russia, tributary to the river Don. The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts is the period in the Geologic timescale that extends The Sea of Azov (Азо́вское мо́ре - Azovskoye more; Азо́вське мо́ре - Azovs'ke more, Azaq deñizi is the world's shallowest sea linked The West boundary was purely conventional: it crossed the peninsula of Kola from the Varangerfjord to the Gulf of Bothnia; thence it ran to the Kurisches Haff in the southern Baltic, and thence to the mouth of the Danube, taking a great circular sweep to the West to embrace Poland, and separating Russia from Prussia, Austrian Galicia and Romania. The Kola Peninsula (from Sami language Guoládat) (Кольский полуостров Kol'skij poluostrov) is a Peninsula in the far The Varangerfjord ( Varanginvuono' in Finnish) in the county of Finnmark, is the easternmost Fjord in Norway. The Gulf of Bothnia (Pohjanlahti Bottniska viken ie Bottenviken + Bottenhavet is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; Kuršių MariosKuršu Joma Zalew Kuroński Kurisches Haff Kуршский залив is separated from the Baltic The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Galicia (Галичина ( Halychyna) Galicja is a historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine, Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania
It is a special feature of Russia that it has no free outlet to the open sea except on the ice-bound shores of the Arctic Ocean. Even the White Sea is merely a gulf of that ocean. The White Sea (Бе́лое мо́ре Vienanmeri is an Inlet of the Barents Sea on the northwest coast of Russia. The deep indentations of the gulfs of Bothnia and Finland were surrounded by what is ethnological Finnish territory, and it is only at the very head of the latter gulf that the Russians had taken firm foothold by erecting their capital at the mouth of the Neva. The Gulf of Finland ( Finnish: Suomenlahti, Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv, Swedish: Finska viken The Gulf of Riga and the Baltic belong also to territory which was not inhabited by Slavs, but by Finnish peoples and by Germans. The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as The East coast of the Black Sea belonged properly to Transcaucasia, a great chain of mountains separating it from Russia. The South Caucasus is a mountainous geopolitical area of south-central Eurasia, also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Transcaucasus. But even this sheet of water is an inland sea, the only outlet of which, the Bosphorus, was in foreign hands, while the Caspian, an immense shallow lake, mostly bordered by deserts, possessed more importance as a link between Russia and her Asiatic settlements than as a channel for intercourse with other countries. The Bosporus or Bosphorus, also known as the Istanbul Strait, (İstanbul Boğazı (Βόσπορος is a Strait that forms the boundary between the
Geography
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. The Russian Federation stretches across much of the north of the super-continent of Eurasia. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. 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 ethnic Russians comprising about 45% of the population. The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
Territory development
In addition to almost entire territory of modern Russia[5], prior to 1917 the Russian Empire included most of Ukraine (Dnieper Ukraine and Crimea), Belarus, Moldova (Bessarabia), Finland (Grand Duchy of Finland), Armenia , Azerbaijan, Georgia (including Mengrelia), 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 portion of Poland (Kingdom of Poland) and Ardahan, Artvin, Iğdır, and Kars from Turkey. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Dnieper Ukraine (Наддніпрянщина Naddnipryanshchyna) was the territory of Ukraine in the Russian Empire ( Little Russia) roughly corresponding Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым Belarus ( Belarusian Беларусь / Biełaruś is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova ( Republica Moldova) is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania Bessarabia ( Basarabia in Romanian, Бесарабія in Ukrainian, Бессарабия in Russian, Бесарабия in Bulgarian Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Megrelia, Mingrelia or Samegrelo / Samargalo (სამეგრელო Samegrelo; Mingrelian: სამარგალო Samargalo Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Kyrgyzstan (ˈkɻ̩gɪztɑn (AmE or /'kɝgəztan/ (BrE Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан; Russian: Киргизия or Киргизстан or Кыргызстан Tajikistan (təˈdʒɪkɨstæn or /təˈdʒiːkɨstæn/ Тоҷикистон tɔʤikɪsˈtɔn or, Persian تاجیکستان taajikestaan officially the Republic of Turkmenistan ( Türkmenistan; also known as Turkmenia) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly Russian Turkestan ( Russian: Русский Туркестан also known as Turkestansky Krai (Туркестанский край was Turkestan within Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. The Baltic governorates were the governorates (or Guberniyas of the Russian Empire on the territory of what in 1918 became and is now independent Estonia Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye Ardahan Province is a province in the far north-east of Turkey, at the very end of the country where Turkey borders with Georgia and Armenia. Artvin is a province in Turkey, on the Black Sea coast in the north-eastern corner of the country on the border with Georgia (country. Iğdır (Iğdır Îdir Իգդիր İğdır Игдир ایگدیر is a province in eastern Turkey, located along the border with Armenia, Azerbaijan Kars is a province (il of Turkey, located in the northeastern part of the country Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Between 1742 and 1867 the Russian Empire claimed Alaska as its colony. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent
Following the Swedish defeat in the Finnish War and the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as an autonomous grand duchy. The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and Russia from February 1808 to September 1809 The Treaty of Fredrikshamn or the Treaty of Hamina was a Peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Imperial Russia on September 17 Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Year 1809 ( MDCCCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year An autonomous area is an area of a Country that has a degree of Autonomy, or freedom from an external authority A grand duchy is a territory whose Head of state is a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. The Tsar ruled the Grand Duchy of Finland as a constitutional monarch through his governor and a native Finnish Senate appointed by him. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is Governor-General of Finland (Suomen kenraalikuvernööri Generalguvernör av Finland was the military commander and the highest administrator of Finland sporadically The Senate of Finland combined the functions of Cabinet and Supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in the independent Republic
Imperial external territories
According to the 1st article of the Organic law, the Russian Empire was one indivisible state. An organic law or Fundamental law is a Law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a Government, Corporation or other organization's In addition, the 26th article stated that "With the Imperial Russian throne are indivisible the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Finland". Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor Relations with the Grand Duchy of Finland were also regulated by the 2nd article, "The Grand Duchy of Finland, constituted an indivisible part of the Russian state, in its internal affairs governed by special regulations at the base of special laws" and the law of 10 June 1910. Events 1190 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River while leading an army to Jerusalem Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting [6]
In 1744–1867 the empire also controlled the so-called Russian America. Russian colonization of the Americas proceeded in several places With the exception of this territory (modern day Alaska), the Russian Empire was a contiguous landmass spanning Europe and Asia. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent In this it differed from contemporary, colonial-style empires. The result of this was that whilst the British and French Empire declined in the 20th century, the Russian Empire kept a large proportion of its territory, firstly as the Communist Soviet Union, and latterly as part of the present-day Russian Federation. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
Furthermore, the empire at times controlled concession territories, notably the port of Kwantung and the Chinese Eastern Railway Zone, both conceded by imperial China, as well as a concession in Tientsin. Kwantung ( is a coastal area of northeastern China which is remembered most for its connection to Japan 's Kwantung Army. Capital Harbin Chronology * 27 August 1896: Russia and China sign contract for building ( Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is the second largest city in northern coastal China. See for these periods of extraterritorial control the relations between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire.
Government and administration
Russia was described in the Almanach de Gotha for 1910 as "a constitutional monarchy under an autocratic tsar. The Almanach de Gotha, was a respected directory of Europe's highest Nobility and Royalty. A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is An autocracy is a Form of government in which the Political power is held by a single self-appointed ruler Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. " This obvious contradiction in terms well illustrates the difficulty of defining in a single formula the system, essentially transitional and meanwhile sui generis, established in the Russian Empire since October 1905. Sui generis (English pronunciation ( IPA) /ˌsuːiˈdʒɛnərɪs/ roughly "SOO-ee JEN-a-ris" Latin pronunciation /ˌsuːiˈgeneris/ is a Neo-Latin Before this date the fundamental laws of Russia described the power of the emperor as "autocratic and unlimited. Absolute monarchy is a monarchical Form of government where the king and queen have absolute power over everything " The imperial style is still "Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias"; but in the fundamental laws as remodeled between the October Manifesto and the opening of the first Imperial Duma on 27 April 1906, while the name and principle of autocracy was jealously preserved, the word "unlimited" vanished. The October Manifesto (Октябрьский Манифест Манифест 17 октября was issued on October 17 1905 ( October 30 in the State Duma of the Russian Empire was a Legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire. Events 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Not that the regime in Russia had become in any true sense constitutional, far less parliamentary; but the "unlimited autocracy" had given place to a "self-limited autocracy," whether permanently so limited, or only at the discretion of the autocrat, remaining a subject of heated controversy between conflicting parties in the state. Provisionally, then, the Russian governmental system may perhaps be best defined as "a limited monarchy under an autocratic emperor. A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is "
The emperor
Peter the Great changed his title from Tsar in 1721, when he was declared Emperor of all Russia. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. 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. The February Revolution (Февральская революция in 1917 in Russia was the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917.
The power of emperor before the October Manifesto was limited by two liabilities: the emperor and his consort must belong to the Russian Orthodox Church and to obey the laws of succession, established by Paul I. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure Paul (Па́вел I Петро́вич Pavel Petrovich) ( &ndash) was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801 [7] On 17 October 1905, the situation changed, the emperor voluntarily limited his legislative power by decreeing that no measure was to become law without the consent of the Imperial Duma, a freely elected national assembly. Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting State Duma of the Russian Empire was a Legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire. In addition to mentioned moral liabilities appeared new juridical, amplified with the Organic law of 28 April 1906. An organic law or Fundamental law is a Law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a Government, Corporation or other organization's Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting
Imperial Council
By the law of the 20 February 1906, the Council of the Empire was associated with the Duma as a legislative Upper House; and from this time the legislative power has been exercised normally by the emperor only in concert with the two chambers. The State Council ("Государственный Совет" was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house.
The Council of the Empire, or Imperial Council, as reconstituted for this purpose, consisted of 196 members, of whom 98 were nominated by the emperor, while 98 were elective. The ministers, also nominated, were ex officio members. C D E Of the elected members, 3 were returned by the "black" clergy (the monks), 3 by the "white" clergy (seculars), 18 by the corporations of nobles, 6 by the academy of sciences and the universities, 6 by the chambers of commerce, 6 by the industrial councils, 34 by the governments having zemstvos, 16 by those having no zemstvos, and 6 by Poland. Zemstvo ( Russian: Земство was a form of Local government instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander As a legislative body the powers of the Council were coordinate with those of the Duma; in practice, however, it has seldom if ever initiated legislation.
The Duma and electoral system
The Duma of the Empire or Imperial Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), which formed the Lower House of the Russian parliament, consisted (since the ukaz of 2 June 1907) of 442 members, elected by an exceedingly complicated process. State Duma of the Russian Empire was a Legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire. A lower house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Upper house. Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The membership was manipulated as to secure an overwhelming majority of the wealthy (especially the landed classes) and also for the representatives of the Russian peoples at the expense of the subject nations. Each province of the empire, except Central Asia, returned a certain number of members; added to these were those returned by several large cities. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south The members of the Duma were chosen by electoral colleges and these, in their turn, were elected in assemblies of the three classes: landed proprietors, citizens and peasants. In these assemblies the wealthiest proprietors sat in person whilst the lesser proprietors were represented by delegates. The urban population was divided into two categories according to taxable wealth, and elected delegates directly to the college of the Governorates. Guberniya (губе́рния) (also gubernia, guberniia, gubernya) was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually The peasants were represented by delegates selected by the regional subdivisions called volosts. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Volost or volost' was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe. Workmen were treated in special manner with every industrial concern employing fifty hands or over electing one or more delegates to the electoral college.
In the college itself the voting for the Duma was by secret ballot and a simple majority carried the day. Since the majority consisted of conservative elements (the landowners and urban delegates), the progressives had little chance of representation at all save for the curious provision that one member at least in each government was to be chosen from each of the five classes represented in the college. Landholder or landowner is a holder of the Estate in land with considerable rights of ownership or simply put an owner of land That the Duma had any radical elements was mainly due to the peculiar franchise enjoyed by the seven largest towns — Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Riga and the Polish cities of Warsaw and Łódź. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the ODESSA which stands for the German phrase O rganisation d er e hemaligen SS - A ngehörigen which in turn translates Riga (Rīga riːga) the Capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of the river Daugava. Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. Łódź is Poland 's third largest city with population of 753192 in 2007 (lost its second rank to Krakow in 2007 These elected their delegates to the Duma directly, and though their votes were divided (on the basis of taxable property) in such a way as to give the advantage to wealth, each returned the same number of delegates.
Council of Ministers
By the law of 18 October 1905, to assist the emperor in the supreme administration a Council of Ministers (Sovyet Ministrov) was created, under a minister president, the first appearance of a prime minister in Russia. The Russian Council of Ministers is an executive governmental body that brings together the principal officers of the Executive Branch of the Russian government Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. This council consists of all the ministers and of the heads of the principal administrations. The ministries were as follows:
- of the Imperial Court, to which the administration of the apanages, the chapter of the imperial orders, the imperial palaces and theatres, and the Academy of Fine Arts are subordinated;
- Foreign Affairs;
- War and Marine;
- Finance;
- Commerce and Industry (created in 1905);
- Interior (including police, health, censorship and press, posts and telegraphs, foreign religions, statistics);
- Agriculture;
- Ways and Communications;
- Justice;
- National Enlightenment. The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St Petersburg Academy of Arts, was opened by Count Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy This page lists foreign ministers of Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation: Heads of Posolsky Prikaz, 1549-1699 War Collegium War Collegium was created in the course of Government reform of Peter I 11 December 1717. Count Aleksey Vasilyev 8 September 1802 &ndash 15 August 1807 Fyodor Golubtsov 26 August Viktor Kochubey 8 September 1802 &ndash 24 November 1807 Prince Aleksey Kurakin 23 November Prosecutors General Count Pavel Yaguzhinsky 12 January 1722 &ndash 6 April 1736 Prince Nikita Trubetskoy From 24 October 1817 to 15 May 1824 Ministry was named Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and of National Enlightenment.
Most Holy Synod
The Most Holy Synod (established in 1721) was the supreme organ of government of the Orthodox Church in Russia. The Most Holy Governing Synod (Святейший Правительствующий Синод was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and It was presided over by a lay procurator, representing the emperor, and consisted of the three metropolitans of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kiev, the archbishop of Georgia, and a number of bishops sitting in rotation. Metropolitans Maximus ( 1283 - 1305) St Peter ( 1308 - 1326) vacant Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between
Senate
The Senate (Pravitelstvuyushchi Senat, i. The Governing Senate (Правительствующий сенат was a legislative judicial and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instated by Peter the Great e. directing or governing senate), originally established during the Government reform of Peter I, consisted of members nominated by the emperor. The government reform of Peter I refers to a set of reforms introduced in the Russian political and administrative system during the reign of Peter I of Russia. Its wide variety of functions were carried out by the different departments into which it was divided. It was the supreme court of cassation; an audit office, a high court of justice for all political offences; one of its departments fulfilled the functions of a heralds' college. It also had supreme jurisdiction in all disputes arising out of the administration of the Empire, notably differences between representatives of the central power and the elected organs of local self-government. Lastly, it promulgated new laws, a function which theoretically gave it a power akin to that of the Supreme Court of the United States, of rejecting measures not in accordance with fundamental laws. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary.
Provincial administration
- Further information: History of the administrative division of Russia
For purposes of provincial administration Russia was divided (as of 1914) into 81 provinces (guberniyas) and 20 regions (oblasts) and 1 district (okrug). Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Guberniya (губе́рния) (also gubernia, guberniia, gubernya) was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually Oblast (во́бласць oblast о́бласт oblast о́бласть област/ oblast; oblasť област о́бласть is a type of Administrative division Okrug (окръг Serbian and о́круг округа translit Vassals and protectorates of the Russian Empire included the Emirate of Bukhara, the Khanate of Khiva and, after 1914, Tuva (Uriankhai). A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, In International law, a protectorate is a autonomous territory that is "protected" by a stronger state or entity hense the protector which engages to protect The Emirate of Bukhara ( Buxoro Amirligi; Аморати Бухоро was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920 The Khanate of Khiva (Xiva Xonligi was the name of a Central Asian state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1515 to 1920 except Persian occupation by Tyva Republic (Респу́блика Тыва́ Respublika Tyva, rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva Тыва Республика Tyva Respublika) or Tuva Of these 11 Governorates, 17 provinces and 1 district (Sakhalin) belonged to Asiatic Russia. Sakhalin (Сахали́н səxʌˈlʲin Japanese:nihongo|樺太|karafuto or; Chinese: 庫頁 Kùyè also Saghalien, is a large elongated Of the rest 8 Governorates were in Finland, 10 in Poland. European Russia thus embraced 59 governments and 1 province (that of the Don). The Don province was under the direct jurisdiction of the ministry of war; the rest have each a governor and deputy-governor, the latter presiding over the administrative council. In addition there were governors-general, generally placed over several governments and armed with more extensive powers usually including the command of the troops within the limits of their jurisdiction. In 1906 there were governors-general in Finland, Warsaw, Vilna, Kiev, Moscow and Riga. The larger cities (Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kerch, Nikolayev, Rostov) have an administrative system of their own, independent of the governments; in these the chief of police acts as governor. ODESSA which stands for the German phrase O rganisation d er e hemaligen SS - A ngehörigen which in turn translates Sevastopol ( see pronunciation below) is a port city in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea Peninsula Kerch (Керч Керчь Keriç Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ Ancient Greek: Pantikapaion) is a city (2001 pop 157000 on the Kerch Peninsula Mykolaiv (Миколаїв or Nikolayev (Николаев is a major City in southern Ukraine. Rostov-on-Don (Росто́в-на-Дону́ Rostov-na-Donu rɐ'stof nə dɐ'nu is the city and the administrative center of Rostov Oblast and the Chief of Police is the title typically given to the head of a Police department, particularly in North America.
Judicial system
The judicial system of the Russian Empire, existed from the mid-19th century, was established by the "tsar emancipator" Alexander II, by the statute of 20 November 1864 (Sudebni Ustav). The Judicial system of the Russian Empire was established as part of the system of government reforms of Peter the Great. In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State Alexander (Aleksandr II Nikolaevich (Александр II Николаевич ( Moscow, 29 April 1818 – 13 March 1881 in St The judicial reform of Alexander II is generally considered one of the most successful and the most consistent (along with the military reform of all the reforms of Alexander This system — based partly on English, partly on French models — was built up on certain broad principles: the separation of the judicial and administrative functions, the independence of the judges and courts, the publicity of trials and oral procedure, the equality of all classes before the law. English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of Common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countriesand the In academic terms French law can be divided into two main categories private law (" droit privé " and public law (" droit public " Moreover, a democratic element was introduced by the adoption of the jury system and—so far as one order of tribunal was concerned—the election of judges. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system The establishment of a judicial system on these principles constituted a fundamental change in the conception of the Russian state, which, by placing the administration of justice outside the sphere of the executive power, ceased to be a despotism. This fact made the system especially obnoxious to the bureaucracy, and during the latter years of Alexander II and the reign of Alexander III there was a piecemeal taking back of what had been given. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government It was reserved for the third Duma, after the revolution, to begin the reversal of this process. See also Russian Revolution (1917 The 1905 Russian Revolution also known as the Failed Russian Revolution of 1905 was an empire-wide struggle of [8]
The system established by the law of 1864 was remarkable in that it set up two wholly separate orders of tribunals, each having their own courts of appeal and coming in contact only in the senate, as the supreme court of cassation. Tribunal is a generic term for any body acting judicially whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title Court of Appeal, Court of Appeals, and Appellate Division redirect here for a list of specific courts using those titles see Court of Appeal A supreme court, also called a court of last resort or high court, is in some Jurisdictions the highest judicial body within that jurisdiction's The first of these, based on the English model, are the courts of the elected justices of the peace, with jurisdiction over petty causes, whether civil or criminal; the second, based on the French model, are the ordinary tribunals of nominated judges, sitting with or without a jury to hear important cases. A Justice of the Peace ( JP) is a Puisne Judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace
Local administration
Alongside the local organs of the central government in Russia there are three classes of local elected bodies charged with administrative functions:
- the peasant assemblies in the mir and the volost;
- the zemstvos in the 34 Governorates of Russia;
- the municipal dumas. The Russian word mir (мир besides its direct meanings of peace and world,had some other meanings related to social organization in Imperial Russia Zemstvo ( Russian: Земство was a form of Local government instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander
Municipal dumas
Since 1870 the municipalities in European Russia have had institutions like those of the zemstvos. All owners of houses, and tax-paying merchants, artisans and workmen are enrolled on lists in a descending order according to their assessed wealth. The total valuation is then divided into three equal parts, representing three groups of electors very unequal in number, each of which elects an equal number of delegates to the municipal duma. The executive is in the hands of an elective mayor and an uprava, which consists of several members elected by the duma. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government Under Alexander III, however, by laws promulgated in 1892 and 1894, the municipal dumas were subordinated to the governors in the same way as the zemstvos. Alexander III Alexandrovich ( 10 March 1845 – 1 November 1894) (Александр III Александрович reigned as Emperor In 1894 municipal institutions, with still more restricted powers, were granted to several towns in Siberia, and in 1895 to some in Caucasia.
Baltic provinces
The formerly Swedish controlled Baltic provinces (Courland, Livonia and Estonia) were incorporated into the Russian Empire after the defeat of Sweden in the Great Northern War. The Baltic governorates were the governorates (or Guberniyas of the Russian Empire on the territory of what in 1918 became and is now independent Estonia Courland (Kurzeme Kurland Latin: Curonia / Couronia; Kuršas Kuramaa Kurlandia Курляндия Курляндія Kuurinmaa is one of the historical The Great Northern War (1700-21 was fought between Russia and Sweden for supremacy in the Baltic Sea. Under the Treaty of Nystad of 1721, the Baltic German nobility retained considerable powers of self-government and numerous privileges in matters affecting education, police and the administration of local justice. The Treaty of Nystad (Ништадтский мир Uudenkaupungin rauha was signed in 1721 in the then Swedish town of Nystad (which is called Uusikaupunki The Baltic Germans (Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche) were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today After 167 years of German language administration and education, laws were promulgated in 1888 and 1889 where the rights of the police and manorial justice were transferred from Baltic German control to officials of the central government. This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here The Baltic Germans (Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche) were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today Since about the same time a process of rigorous Russification was being carried out in the same provinces, in all departments of administration, in the higher schools and in the university of Dorpat, the name of which was altered to Yuriev. Russification (in Russian: русификация rusifikátsiya)is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attribute (whether voluntarily The University of Tartu (Tartu Ülikool Тартуский университет Universität Dorpat is a classical University in the city of Tartu, Estonia Tartu is the second largest City of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual In 1893 district committees for the management of the peasants' affairs, similar to those in the purely Russian governments, were introduced into this part of the empire.
Religions
The state religion of the Russian Empire was that of the Russian Orthodox Christianity. A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure Its head was the tsar; but although he made and annulled all appointments, he did not determine questions of dogma or church teaching. The principal ecclesiastical authority was the Holy Synod, the head of which, the Procurator, was one of the council of ministers and exercised very wide powers in ecclesiastical matters. The Most Holy Governing Synod (Святейший Правительствующий Синод was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and In theory all religions were freely professed, except that certain restrictions were laid upon the Jews; but in actual fact non-Orthodox groups were significantly restricted. According to returns published in 1905, based of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, adherents of the different religious communities in the whole of the Russian empire numbered approximately as follows, though the heading Orthodox includes a very great many Raskolniks or Dissenters. The Russian Empire Census of 1897 was the first and the only Census carried out in the Russian Empire. Raskol (раско́л, meaning 'split' or ' schism ' was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers The term dissenter (from the Latin dissentire, “to disagree” labels one who dissents or disagrees in matters of opinion belief etc
| Religion | Count of believers[9] |
|---|---|
| Orthodox[10] | 87,123,604 |
| Islam | 13,906,972 |
| Roman Catholics | 11,467,994 |
| Judaism | 5,215,805 |
| Lutherans[11] | 3,572,653 |
| Old Believers | 2,204,596 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 1,179,241 |
| Buddhists and Lamaists | 433,863 |
| Other non-Christian Religions | 285,321 |
| Reformed | 85,400 |
| Mennonites | 66,564 |
| Armenian Catholics | 38,840 |
| Baptists | 38,139 |
| Karaite Judaism | 12,894 |
| Anglicans | 4,183 |
| Other Christian Religions | 3,952 |
The ecclesiastical heads of the national Russian Orthodox Church consisted of three metropolitans (Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev), fourteen archbishops and fifty bishops, all drawn from the ranks of the monastic (celibate) clergy. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther Introductory summary of origins In 1652 Nikon (1605 – 1681 Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1652 to 1658 introduced a number of ritual and textual The Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցի Hayasdaneaytz Arakelagan Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including The Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant Denominations formally characterized by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine historically The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496&ndash1561 though his teachings were a relatively (Refer to List of Armenian Catholic Patriarchs of Cilicia) The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic church Sui juris within Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. Karaite Judaism or Karaism (ˈkærəˌaɪt ˈkærəˌɪzəm) is a Jewish movement NOTE The word sect should not be used without defining it first and Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated Bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and others this means that they lead Celibacy refers to the lack of participation in Sexual intercourse. The parochial clergy had to be married when appointed, but if left widowers were not allowed to marry again; this rule continues to apply today. Parochialism means being provincial being narrow in scope or considering only small sections of an issue
Society
Subjects of the Russian Empire were segregated into sosloviyes, or social estates (classes) such as nobility (dvoryanstvo), clergy, merchants, cossacks and peasants. Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime The Russian Nobility (Дворянство Dvoryanstvo) arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. Merchants function as professionals who deal with Trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves in order to produce Profit. The Cossacks (Каза́ки́ Kazaki; Козаки́ Kozaki; Kozacy are a group of martial people living in the southern Steppe regions of Eastern A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Native people of the Caucasus, non ethnic Russian areas such as Tartarstan, Bashkirstan, Siberia and Central Asia were officially registered as a category called inorodtsy (non-Slavic, literally: "people of another origin").
A mass of the people, 81. 6%, belonged to the peasant order, the others were: nobility, 1. 3%; clergy, 0. 9%; the burghers and merchants, 9. 3%; and military, 6. 1%. More than 88 millions of the Russians were peasants. A part of them were formerly serfs (10,447,149 males in 1858) – the remainder being " state peasants " (9,194,891 males in 1858, exclusive of the Archangel Governorate) and " domain peasants " (842,740 males the same year).
Serfdom
The serfdom which had sprung up in Russia in the 16th century, and became enshrined by law in 1649, was abolished in 1861. The origins of Serfdom in Russia are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of liberal reforms affected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia. This act liberated the serfs from a yoke that was terrible, even under the best landlords, and from this point of view it was obviously an immense benefit. [12]
The household servants or dependents attached to the personal service were merely set free, whilst the landed peasants received their houses and orchards, and allotments of arable land. A domestic worker, domestic, servingman, servingwoman, or servant is one who works and often also lives within the employer's household These allotments were given over to the rural commune (mir), which was made responsible for the payment of taxes for the allotments. The Russian word mir (мир besides its direct meanings of peace and world,had some other meanings related to social organization in Imperial Russia For these allotments the peasants had to pay a fixed rent which could be fulfilled by personal labour. The allotments could be redeemed by peasants with the help of the Crown, and then they were freed from all obligations to the landlord. The Crown paid the landlord and the peasants had to repay the Crown, for forty-nine years at 6% interest. The financial redemption to the landlord was not calculated on the value of the allotments, but was considered as a compensation for the loss of the compulsory labour of the serfs. Many proprietors contrived to signicantly curtail the allotments which the peasants had occupied under serfdom, and frequently deprived them of precisely the parts of which they were most in need: pasture lands around their houses. The result was to compel the peasants to rent land from their former masters.
Peasants
After the Emancipation reform one quarter of peasants have received allotments of only 2. 9 acres per male, and one-half less than 8. 5 to 11. 4 acres – the normal size of the allotment necessary to the subsistence of a family under the three-fields system being estimated at 28 to 42 acres. Land must thus of necessity be rented from the landlords at fabulous prices. The aggregate value of the redemption and land taxes often reaches 185 to 275% of the normal rental value of the allotments, not to speak of taxes for recruiting purposes, the church, roads, local administration and so on, chiefly levied from the peasants. The arrears increase every year; one-fifth of the inhabitants have left their houses; cattle are disappearing. Every year more than half the adult males (in some districts three-fourths of the men and one-third of the women) quit their homes and wander throughout Russia in search of labor. In the governments of the Black Earth Area the state of matters is hardly better. Central Black Earth Region or Central Chernozem Region (Центрально-черноземная область Центральная черноземная область Many peasants took the "gratuitous allotments," whose amount was about one-eighth of the normal allotments.
The average allotment in Kherson was only 0. Kherson (Херсон is a City in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast ( province) and is 90 acre, and for allotments from 2. 9 to 5. 8 acres the peasants pay 5 to 10 rubles of redemption tax. The state peasants were better off, but still they were emigrating in masses. It was only in the steppe governments that the situation was more hopeful. In Little Russia, where the allotments were personal (the mir existing only among state peasants), the state of affairs does not differ for the better, on account of the high redemption taxes. Little Russia, sometimes Little or Lesser Rus’ ( Malorossiya; Mala Rus’) was the name applied to parts of the territory of modern-day In the West provinces, where the land was valued cheaper and the allotments somewhat increased after the Polish insurrection, the general situation was better. The January Uprising ( Polish: powstanie styczniowe, Lithuanian: 1863 m Finally, in the Baltic provinces nearly all the land belonged to the German landlords, who either farmed the land themselves, with hired laborers, or let it in small farms. The Baltic governorates were the governorates (or Guberniyas of the Russian Empire on the territory of what in 1918 became and is now independent Estonia The Baltic Germans (Deutschbalten or Baltendeutsche) were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today Only one quarter of the peasants were farmers, the remainder were mere laborers.
Landowners
The situation of the former serf-proprietors was also unsatisfactory. Accustomed to the use of compulsory labor, they have failed to accommodate themselves to the new conditions. The millions of rubles of redemption money received from the crown have been spent without any real or lasting agricultural improvements having been affected. The forests have been sold, and only those landlords are prospering who exact rack-rents for the land without which the peasants could not live upon their allotments. During the years 1861 to 1892 the land owned by the nobles decreased 30%, or from 210,000,000 to 150,000,000 acres (610,000 km²); during the following four years an additional 2,119,500 acres (8,577 km²) were sold; and since then the sales have gone on at an accelerated rate, until in 1903 alone close upon 2,000,000 acres (8,000 km²) passed out of their hands. On the other hand, since 1861, and more especially since 1882, when the Peasant Land Bank was founded for making advances to peasants who were desirous of purchasing land, the former serfs, or rather their descendants, have between 1883 and 1904 bought about 19,500,000 acres (78,900 km²) from their former masters. There has been an increase of wealth among the few, but along with this a general impoverishment of the mass of the people, and the peculiar institution of the mir, framed on the principle of community of ownership and occupation of the land, was not conducive to the growth of individual effort. In November 1906, however, the emperor Nicholas II promulgated a provisional ukaz permitting the peasants to become freeholders of allotments made at the time of emancipation, all redemption dues being remitted. This measure, which was endorsed by the third Duma in an act passed on the 21 December 1908, is calculated to have far-reaching and profound effects upon the rural economy of Russia. Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Thirteen years previously the government had endeavored to secure greater fixity and permanence of tenure by providing that at least twelve years must elapse between every two redistributions of the land belonging to a mir amongst those entitled to share in it. The ukaz of November 1906 had provided that the various strips of land held by each peasant should be merged into a single holding; the Duma, however, on the advice of the government, left this to the future, as an ideal that could only gradually be realized. The open field system was the prevalent Agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in places
See also
Notes
- ^ Russia, 1914-1917
- ^ Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to History
- ^ For an analysis of the reaction of the elites to the revolutionaries see Manning, Roberta. The National emblems of the Russian Empire were the state emblem and the state seal in three variants great middle and lesser The Crisis of the Old Order in Russia: Gentry and Government. Princeton University Press, 1982.
- ^ After 1866, Alaska was sold and South Sakhalin lost to Japan, but Batum, Kars, Pamir, and the Transcaspian region (Turkmenistan) were acquired. The map incorrectly shows Tuva in dark green, although in reality protectorate over Tuva was only established in 1914.
- ^ From 1860 to 1905, Russian Empire included all territories of the present-day Russian Federation, with the exception of the present-day Kaliningrad Oblast, Kuril Islands, and Tuva. Kaliningrad Oblast (Калинингра́дская о́бласть Kaliningradskaya oblast; informally called Yantarny kray (ru Янта́рный край meaning The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia Tyva Republic (Респу́блика Тыва́ Respublika Tyva, rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva Тыва Республика Tyva Respublika) or Tuva In 1905, Southern Sakhalin was lost to Japan, but in 1914 Russian protectorate over Tuva was established.
- ^ Грибовский, p.35
- ^ Грибовский, p.24
- ^ An ukaz of 1879 gave the governors the right to report secretly on the qualifications of candidates for the office of justice of the peace. In 1889 Alexander III abolished the election of justices of the peace, except in certain large towns and some outlying parts of the empire, and greatly restricted the right of trial by jury. The confusion of the judicial and administrative functions was introduced again by the appointment of officials as judges. In 1909 the third Duma restored the election of justices of the peace.
- ^ Results of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Table XII (Religions)
- ^ The census did not differentiate between different branches of Orthodoxy.
- ^ The Lutheran Church was the dominant faith of the Baltic Provinces, of Ingria, and of the Grand Duchy of Finland
- ^ However, it was only as late as 1904 that landed proprietors were forbidden by law to inflict corporal punishment upon peasants. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther The Baltic governorates were the governorates (or Guberniyas of the Russian Empire on the territory of what in 1918 became and is now independent Estonia For the Italian municipality see Ingria Italy. For the Brachiopod Genus, see Ingria (brachiopod. The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor
References and further reading
- Library of Congress Country Studies: Russia
- Hingley, Ronald. The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA) freely available for use by researchers The Tsars, 1533–1917. Macmillan, 1968.
- Saunders, David (December 2000). "Regional Diversity in the Later Russian Empire". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 10: 143–163. ISSN 0080-4401. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.
- Warnes, David. Chronicle of the Russian Tsars: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Russia. Thames & Hudson, 1999.
- (Russian) Грибовский В. М. Государственное устройство и управление Российской империи, 1912. Photocopy of pages
- (Russian) Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Под ред. Н. А. Тройницкого. т. I. Общий свод по Империи результатов разработки данных Первой Всеобщей переписи населения, произведенной 28 января 1897 года. С. -Петербург, 1905. Таблица XII. Распределение населения по вероисповеданиям. [1]
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
External links
- Russian Empire: All about Russian Empire and Russia.
- The Empire that was Russia: color photographs from Library of Congress
- The New Student's Reference Work/Russia, Empire of
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