Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was an empire that extended across northern Eurasia from 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in 1917, forming the final era of Tsarist Russia and the wider Russian monarchy. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it the third-largest empire in history, behind only the British and Mongol empires. The 1897 Russian census found a population of 126 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity. From the 10th to 17th century, the Russian lands were dominated by a noble class known as the boyars, above whom stood the grand prince and later the tsar, an absolute monarch. The groundwork of the empire was laid by Ivan III (r. 1462–1505), who greatly expanded his domain, established a centralized Russian national state, and secured independence from the Great Horde. His grandson, Ivan IV (r. 1533–1584), was the first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar in 1547. Between 1550 and 1700, the Russian state grew by an average of 35,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi) per year. Peter the Great transformed the tsardom into an empire, and fought wars that turned Russia into a major European power. He moved the capital from Moscow to the new model city of Saint Petersburg, and led a cultural revolution that introduced a modern, scientific, rationalist, and Western-oriented system. Catherine the Great (r. 1762–1796) presided over further Russian expansion by conquest, colonization, and diplomacy, while continuing Peter's policy of modernization. Alexander I (r. 1801–1825) helped defeat the militaristic ambitions of Napoleon and constituted the Holy Alliance, which aimed to restrain the rise of secularism and liberalism across Europe. Russia further expanded to the west, south, and east, strengthening it as a European power. Its...