Editing History of Russia (section)

==Russian Empire (1721–1917)==
{{Main|Russian Empire}}

===Population===
Much of Russia's expansion occurred in the 17th century, culminating in the [[history of Siberia|first Russian colonisation of the Pacific]] in the mid-17th century, the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)]] that incorporated left-bank Ukraine, and the [[Russian conquest of Siberia]]. Poland was divided in the 1790–1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, south of Siberia.<ref>Brian Catchpole, ''A Map History of Russia'' (1974) pp 8–31; Martin Gilbert, ''Atlas of Russian history'' (1993) pp. 33–74.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"

|-
|-
| width="60" | '''Year'''
| width="240pt" | '''Population of Russia (millions)'''<ref>Brian Catchpole, ''A Map History of Russia'' (1974) p. 25.</ref>
| width="300pt" | '''Notes'''

|-
| 1720 || 15.5 || includes new Baltic & Polish territories
|-
| 1795 || 37.6 || includes part of Poland
|-
| 1812 || 42.8 || includes Finland
|-
| 1816 || 73.0 || includes Congress Poland, Bessarabia
|-
| 1914 || 170.0 || includes new Asian territories
|}

===Peter the Great===
[[File:Peter de Grote.jpg|thumb|Peter I, called "Peter the Great"]]

[[Peter the Great]] (Peter I, 1672–1725) brought centralized autocracy into Russia and played a major role in bringing his country into the European state system.<ref>James Cracraft, ''The Revolution of Peter the Great'' (2003)</ref> Russia was now the largest country in the world, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The vast majority of the land was unoccupied, and travel was slow. 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.<ref>Basil Dmytryshyn, "Russian expansion to the Pacific, 1580–1700: a historiographical review." ''Slavic Studies'' 25 (1980): 1–25. [https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/5095/1/KJ00000113075.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925140056/https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/5095/1/KJ00000113075.pdf |date=25 September 2019 }}.</ref> However, a population of only 14 million was stretched across this vast landscape. With a short growing season, grain yields trailed behind those in the West and potato farming was not yet widespread. As a result, the great majority of the population workforce was occupied with agriculture. Russia remained isolated from the sea trade and its internal trade, communication and manufacturing were seasonally dependent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bookz.ru/authors/milov-lv/milovlv01/1-milovlv01.html|title=Milov L.V. "Russian peasant and features of the Russian historical process", the research of Russian economic history of 15th–18th centuries.|access-date=6 August 2007|archive-date=18 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418120252/http://bookz.ru/authors/milov-lv/milovlv01/1-milovlv01.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Peter reformed the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian army]] and created the [[Imperial Russian Navy|Russian navy]]. Peter's first military efforts were directed against the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]]. His aim was to establish a Russian foothold on the Black Sea by [[Azov campaigns (1695–1696)|taking]] the town of [[Azov]].<ref>Lord Kinross, ''The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire'' (1979) p. 353.</ref> His attention then turned to the north. Peter still lacked a secure northern seaport except at [[Arkhangelsk|Archangel]] on the [[White Sea]], whose harbor was frozen nine months a year. Access to the Baltic was blocked by Sweden, whose territory enclosed it on three sides. 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 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, in 1703, he had already founded the city that was to become Russia's new capital, [[Saint Petersburg]]. Russian intervention in the Commonwealth marked, with the [[Silent Sejm]], the beginning of a 200-year domination of that region by the Russian Empire. In celebration of his conquests, Peter assumed the title of emperor, and the Russian Tsardom officially became the [[Russian Empire]] in 1721.

Peter re-organized his government based on the latest Western models, molding Russia into an [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutist]] state. He replaced the old ''boyar'' [[Duma]] (council of nobles) with a [[Governing Senate|Senate]], in effect a supreme council of state. The countryside was also divided into new [[Guberniya|provinces]] and districts. Peter told the senate that its mission was to collect taxes. In turn tax revenues tripled over the course of his reign.<ref>{{cite book|first = Lindsey |last = Hughes|title = Russia in the Age of Peter the Great|date = 2000|publisher = Yale University Press|isbn =9780300082661}}</ref>

Administrative [[Collegium (ministry)|Collegia]] (ministries) were established in St. Petersburg, to replace the old governmental departments. In 1722, Peter promulgated his famous [[Table of ranks]]. 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. Peter continued and intensified his predecessors' requirement of state service for all nobles.
[[File:'The Victory at Poltava' by Alexander Evstafyevich Kotzebue, 1862, Hermitage.JPG|left|thumb|Russian victory at [[Battle of Poltava]]]]
By then, the once powerful Persian [[Safavid Empire]] to the south was heavily declining. Taking advantage, Peter launched the [[Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)]], known as "The Persian Expedition of Peter the Great" by Russian histographers, in order to be the first Russian emperor to establish Russian influence in the [[Caucasus]] and Caspian Sea region. After considerable success and the capture of many provinces and cities in the Caucasus and northern mainland Persia, the Safavids were forced to hand over the territories to Russia. However, by 12 years later, all the territories were ceded back to Persia, which was now led by the charismatic military genius [[Nader Shah]], as part of the [[Treaty of Resht]] and [[Treaty of Ganja]] and the Russo-Persian alliance against the Ottoman Empire,<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen J. Lee|title=Peter the Great|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CXl-02q1YwsC&pg=PA31|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page=31|isbn=9781136453250|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=22 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122071933/https://books.google.com/books?id=CXl-02q1YwsC&pg=PA31|url-status=live}}</ref> the common neighbouring rivalling enemy.

Peter the Great died in 1725, leaving an unsettled succession, but Russia had become a great power by the end of his reign. Peter I was succeeded by his second wife, [[Catherine I of Russia|Catherine I]] (1725–1727), who was merely a figurehead for a powerful group of high officials, then by his minor grandson, [[Peter II of Russia|Peter II]] (1727–1730), then by his niece, [[Anna of Russia|Anna]] (1730–1740), daughter of Tsar [[Ivan V]]. The [[Ivan VI of Russia|heir to Anna]] was soon deposed in a coup and [[Elizabeth of Russia|Elizabeth]], daughter of Peter I, ruled from 1741 to 1762. During her reign, Russia took part in the [[Seven Years' War]].

===Catherine the Great===
[[File:Dmitry Levitsky - Екатерина II в виде Законодательницы в храме богини Правосудия - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|Catherine the Great]]
Nearly 40 years passed before a comparably ambitious ruler appeared. [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]], "the Great" (r. 1762–1796), was a German princess who married the German heir to the Russian crown. Catherine overthrew him in a coup in 1762, becoming queen regnant.<ref>{{cite book|first = John T. |last = Alexander|title = Catherine the Great: Life and Legend|date = 1988|url = https://archive.org/details/catherinegreatli0000alex|url-access = registration |publisher = Oxford University Press|isbn = 9780199878857}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first = Isabel |last = de Madariaga|title = Catherine the Great: A Short History|date = 2002|publisher = Yale University Press|isbn = 9780300097221}}</ref> Catherine enthusiastically supported the ideals of [[The Enlightenment]], thus earning the status of an [[enlightened despot]]. She patronized the arts, science and learning.<ref>Nancy Whitelaw, ''Catherine the Great and the Enlightenment in Russia'' (Morgan Reynolds, 2005) pp 33–34.[https://archive.org/details/catherinegreaten00nanc online]</ref> She contributed to the resurgence of the Russian nobility that began after the death of Peter the Great. Catherine promulgated the [[Charter to the Gentry]] reaffirming rights and freedoms of the Russian nobility and abolishing mandatory state service. She seized control of all the church lands, drastically reduced the size of the monasteries, and put the surviving clergy on a tight budget.<ref>{{cite book|first =Isabel |last = de Madariaga|title = Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great|date = 2002|publisher = Phoenix|isbn = 9781842125113}}</ref>

Catherine spent heavily to promote an expansive foreign policy. She extended Russian political control over the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with actions, including the support of the [[Targowica Confederation]]. The cost of her campaigns, plus the oppressive social system that required serfs to spend almost all their time laboring on the land of their lords, provoked a major [[Pugachev's Rebellion|peasant uprising in 1773]]. Inspired by a Cossack named [[Yemelyan Pugachev]], with the emphatic cry of "Hang all the landlords!", the rebels threatened to take Moscow until Catherine crushed the rebellion. Like the other enlightened despots of Europe, Catherine made certain of her own power and formed an alliance with the nobility.<ref>{{cite book|author=Campbell|title=Western Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2JsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|page=86|isbn=9781317452300|date=28 January 2015|publisher=Routledge|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=22 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122071933/https://books.google.com/books?id=A2JsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|url-status=live}}</ref>

Catherine successfully waged two wars ([[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)|1768–1774]], [[Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)|1787–1792]]) against the decaying Ottoman Empire<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parallelsixty.com/history-russia.shtml|title=History|work=Parallel 60|access-date=23 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121024544/http://www.parallelsixty.com/history-russia.shtml|archive-date=21 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> and advanced Russia's southern boundary to the Black Sea. In 1775 she [[Liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich|liquidated the Zaporozhian Sich]], and on the former lands of the Ukrainian Cossacks in the places of theirs settlements was created [[Novorossiya Governorate]], in which new cities were formed: [[Dnipro|Yekaterinoslav]] (1776), [[Kropyvnytskyi|Yelisavetgrad]], [[Kherson]] (1778), [[Odessa]] (1794).<ref>К. М. Корольков «Столетний юбилей города Екатеринослава (1787 — 9-го мая — 1887)» (Екатеринослав, 1887).</ref><ref>Місто і люди. Єлисаветград — Кіровоград, 1754—2004. Ілюстрована енциклопедія., Кіровоград:, «Імекс-ЛТД», 2004, 303 стор.</ref><ref>Бобух А.І. Херсон: Путівник. — Херсон : Степ, 1994. — 60 с.</ref><ref>Балабанова Д. А., Веприцкая В. Н. Становление адвокатуры в Южноукраинских губерниях Российской империи в первой половине XIX века (на примере Одессы) // Раціональний та почуттєво-емоційний аспекти правосвідомості та поведінки суб’єктів права. — 2012. </ref> Russia [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire|annexed Crimea]] in 1783 and created the Black Sea fleet. Then, by allying with the rulers of [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] and [[Prussia]], she incorporated the territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where after a century of Russian rule non-Catholic, mainly Orthodox population prevailed<ref>According to Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: 1891 Grodno province – Catholics 384,696, total population 1,509,728 [http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/031/31772.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185013/http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/031/31772.htm|date=30 September 2007}}; Curland province – Catholics 68,722, total population 555,003 [http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/057/57501.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201549/http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/057/57501.htm|date=30 September 2007}}; Volyhnia Province – Catholics 193,142, total population 2,059,870 [http://gatchina3000.ru/brockhaus-and-efron-encyclopedic-dictionary/022/22861.htm] </ref> during the [[Partitions of Poland]], pushing the Russian frontier westward into Central Europe.<ref>Thomas McLean, ''The Other East and Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Imagining Poland and the Russian Empire'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) pp. 14-40.</ref>

In accordance to Russia's [[Treaty of Georgievsk|treaty]] with the Georgians to protect them against any new invasion of their Persian suzerains and further political aspirations, Catherine waged a new war [[Persian Expedition of 1796|against Persia]] in 1796 after they had again invaded Georgia and established rule over it about a [[Battle of Krtsanisi|year prior]], and had expelled the newly established Russian garrisons in the [[Caucasus]].

In 1798–1799, Russian troops participated in the [[War of the Second Coalition|anti-French coalition]], the troops under the command of Alexander Suvorov [[Italian and Swiss expedition|defeated the French in Northern Italy]].

===Ruling the Empire (1725–1825)===
[[File:Московский университет и река Неглинная.jpg|thumb|left|Moscow University in the 1790s]]
Russian emperors of the 18th century professed the ideas of [[Enlightened absolutism]]. However, [[Westernization]] and modernization affected only the upper classes of Russian society, while the bulk of the population, consisting of peasants, remained in a state of [[serfdom]]. Powerful Russians resented their privileged positions and alien ideas. The backlash was especially severe after the Napoleonic wars. It produced a powerful anti-western campaign that "led to a wholesale purge of Western specialists and their Russian followers in universities, schools, and government service".<ref>Alfred J. Rieber, "Persistent factors in Russian foreign policy: an interpretive essay". In Hugh Ragsdale, ed., ''Imperial Russian Foreign Policy'' (1993), p. 328.</ref>
The mid-18th century was marked by the emergence of higher education in Russia. The first two major universities [[Saint Petersburg State University]] and [[Moscow State University]] were opened. Russian exploration of Siberia and the Far East continued. [[Great Northern Expedition]] laid the foundation for the development of Alaska by the Russians. By the end of the 18th century, Alaska became a Russian colony ([[Russian America]]). In the early 19th century, Alaska was used as a base for the [[First Russian circumnavigation]]. In 1819–1821, Russian sailors discovered Antarctica during an [[First Russian Antarctic Expedition|Antarctic expedition]].

Russia was in a continuous state of financial crisis. While revenue rose from 9 million rubles in 1724 to 40 million in 1794, expenses grew more rapidly, reaching 49 million in 1794. The budget was allocated 46% to the military, 20% to government economic activities, 12% to administration, and 9% for the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. The deficit required borrowing, primarily from Amsterdam; 5% of the budget was allocated to debt payments. Paper money was issued to pay for expensive wars, thus causing inflation. 18th-century Russia remained "a poor, backward, overwhelmingly agricultural, and illiterate country".<ref>{{cite book|first = Nicholas |last = Riasanovsky|title = A History of Russia|url = https://archive.org/details/historyofrussia00rias |url-access = registration |edition = 4th|date =  1984|page =  [https://archive.org/details/historyofrussia00rias/page/284 284]|isbn = 978-0195033618|publisher = Oxford University Press}}</ref>

===Alexander I and victory over Napoleon===
[[File:Napoleons retreat from moscow.jpg|thumb|[[Napoleon]]'s retreat from Moscow]]
By the time of her death in 1796, Catherine's expansionist policy had made Russia a major European power. [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] continued this policy, wresting Finland from the weakened kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and [[Bessarabia]] from the Ottomans in 1812. His key advisor was a Polish nobleman [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]].<ref>Charles Morley, "Czartoryski's attempts at a new foreign policy under Alexander I." ''American Slavic and East European Review'' 12.4 (1953): 475-485.</ref>

After Russian armies liberated allied [[History of Georgia (country)|Georgia]] from Persian occupation in 1802, they [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|clashed with Persia]] over control and consolidation over Georgia, as well as the Iranian territories that comprise modern-day [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Dagestan]]. They also became involved in the [[Caucasian War]] against the [[Caucasian Imamate]] and [[Circassia]]. In 1813, the war with Persia concluded with a Russian victory, forcing [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar Iran]] to cede swaths of its territories in the Caucasus to Russia,<ref>Timothy C. Dowling [https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021003937/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 |date=21 October 2022 }} pp. 728–729 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 {{ISBN|1598849484}}</ref> which drastically increased its territory in the region. To the south-west, Russia tried to expand at the expense of the [[Ottoman Empire]], using Georgia at its base for the Caucasus and Anatolian front.

In European policy, Alexander I switched Russia back and forth four times in 1804–1812 from neutral peacemaker to anti-Napoleon to an ally of Napoleon, winding up in 1812 as Napoleon's enemy. In 1805, he joined Britain in the [[War of the Third Coalition]] against Napoleon, but after the massive defeat at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] he switched and formed an alliance with Napoleon by the [[Treaty of Tilsit]] (1807) and joined Napoleon's [[Continental System]]. He fought [[Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812)|a small-scale naval war against Britain, 1807–1812]].

The alliance collapsed by 1810. Russia's economy had been hurt by Napoleon's Continental System, which cut off trade with Britain. As Esdaile notes, "Implicit in the idea of a Russian Poland was, of course, a war against Napoleon".<ref>Charles Esdaile, ''Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815'' (2007) p. 438</ref> Schroeder says Poland was the root cause of the conflict but Russia's refusal to support the Continental System was also a factor.<ref>Paul W. Schroeder, ''The Transformation of European Politics: 1763–1848'' (1994) p. 419</ref>

[[File:Russparis.jpg|thumb|The entry of Russian troops into [[Paris]] in 1814, headed by the Emperor [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]]]
The [[Napoleon's invasion of Russia|invasion of Russia]] was a catastrophe for Napoleon and his 450,000 invasion troops. One major battle was fought at [[Battle of Borodino|Borodino]]; casualties were very high, but it was indecisive, and Napoleon was unable to engage and defeat the Russian armies. He tried to force the Tsar to terms by [[French occupation of Moscow|capturing Moscow]] at the onset of winter, even though he had lost most of his men. Instead, the Russians retreated, burning crops and food supplies in a scorched earth policy that multiplied Napoleon's logistic problems: 85%–90% of Napoleon's soldiers died from disease, cold, starvation or ambush by peasant guerrillas. As Napoleon's forces retreated, Russian troops pursued them into Central and Western Europe, defeated Napoleon's army in the [[Battle of the Nations]] and finally captured Paris.<ref>Esdaile, ''Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815'' (2007) pp. 460–480</ref><ref>{{cite book|first = Alan|last = Palmer|title = Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace|publisher = Faber & Faber|date = 2014 |isbn=9780571305872}}</ref> Of a total population of around 43 million people,<ref>{{cite book|first = W.H. |last = Parker|title = An historical geography of Russia|date = 1968|page = 193|publisher = University of London Press|isbn = 978-0340069400}}</ref> Russia lost about 1.5 million in the year 1812; of these about 250,000 to 300,000 were soldiers and the rest peasants and serfs.<ref>Geoffrey Best, ''War and Society in Revolutionary Europe, 1770–1870'' (1998) p. 187</ref>

After the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander presided over the redrawing of the map of Europe at the [[Congress of Vienna]] (1814–1815), which made him the king of [[Congress Poland]]. He formed the [[Holy Alliance]] with Austria and Prussia, to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe that he saw as immoral threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. He helped Austria's [[Klemens von Metternich]] in suppressing all national and liberal movements.<ref>Henry A. Delfiner, "Alexander I, the holy alliance and Clemens Metternich: A reappraisal." ''East European Quarterly'' 37.2 (2003): 127+.</ref>

Although the Russian Empire would play a leading role on behalf of conservatism as late as 1848, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress of any significant degree. As West European economic growth accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, sea trade and colonialism which had begun in the second half of the 18th century, Russia began to lag ever farther behind, undermining its ability to field strong armies.

===Nicholas I and the Decembrist Revolt===
[[File:Kolman decembrists.jpg|thumb|The Decembrists at the [[Decembrists Square|Senate Square]]]]

Russia's great power status obscured the inefficiency of its government, the isolation of its people, and its economic backwardness.<ref>Riasonovsky ''A History of Russia'' (fifth ed.) pp. 302–303; Charques ''A Short History of Russia'' (Phoenix, second ed. 1962) p. 125</ref> Following the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander I was willing to discuss constitutional reforms, and though a few were introduced, no thoroughgoing changes were attempted.<ref>Riasonovsky pp. 302-307</ref>

The tsar was succeeded by his younger brother, [[Nicholas I of Russia|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. 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 liberal reforms and champion the reactionary doctrine "[[Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality]]".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Christopher Browning|author2=Marko Lehti|title=The Struggle for the West: A Divided and Contested Legacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a86NAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36|year=2009|publisher=Routledge|page=36|isbn=9781135259792|access-date=30 October 2016|archive-date=22 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122071933/https://books.google.com/books?id=a86NAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1826–1828, Russia fought another war [[Russo-Persian War (1826-1828)|against Persia]]. Russia lost almost all of its recently consolidated territories during the first year but regained them and won the war on highly favourable terms. At the 1828 [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]], Russia gained [[Armenia]], [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhchivan]], [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], [[Azerbaijan]], and [[Iğdır Province|Iğdır]].<ref>Timothy C. Dowling [https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021003937/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 |date=21 October 2022 }} (2014) p. 729</ref> In the 1828–1829 [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)|Russo-Turkish War]] Russia invaded northeastern [[Anatolia]] and occupied the strategic Ottoman towns of [[Erzurum]] and [[Gümüşhane]] and, posing as protector and saviour of the [[Greek Orthodox]] population, received extensive support from the region's [[Pontic Greeks]]. After a brief occupation, the Russian imperial army withdrew into Georgia. By the 1830s, Russia had conquered all Persian territories and major Ottoman territories in the Caucasus.<ref>Riasonovsky p. 308</ref>

In 1831, Nicholas crushed the [[November Uprising]] in Poland. The Russian autocracy gave Polish artisans and gentry reason to rebel in 1863 by assailing the national core values of language, religion, and culture.<ref>Stephen R. Burant, "The January Uprising of 1863 in Poland: Sources of Disaffection and the Arenas of Revolt." ''European History Quarterly'' 15#2 (1985): 131–156.</ref> The resulting [[January Uprising]] was a massive Polish revolt, which also was crushed. France, Britain and Austria tried to intervene in the crisis but were unable. The Russian patriotic press used the Polish uprising to unify the Russian nation, claiming it was Russia's God-given mission to save Poland and the world.<ref>Olga E. Maiorova, "War as Peace: The Trope of War in Russian Nationalist Discourse during the Polish Uprising of 1863." ''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History'' 6#3 (2005): 501–534.</ref> Poland was punished by losing its distinctive political and judicial rights, with Russianization imposed on its schools and courts.<ref>Norman Davies: ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'' (OUP, 1981) vol. 2, pp. 315–333, 352-363</ref>

===Russian Army===
[[File:RUS-2016-SPB-Monument to Nicholas I of Russia.jpg|thumb|left|[[Monument to Nicholas I]] on [[St. Isaac's Square]], Saint Petersburg]]

Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] (reigned 1825–1855) lavished attention on his army.<ref>John Shelton Curtiss, "The Army of Nicholas I: Its Role and Character," ''American Historical Review,'' 63#4 (1958), pp. 880-889 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1848945 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727192308/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1848945 |date=27 July 2021 }}</ref> In a nation of 60–70 million people, it included a million men. They had outdated equipment and tactics, but the tsar took pride in its smartness on parade. The cavalry horses, for example, were only trained in parade formations, and did poorly in battle. He put generals in charge of most of his civilian agencies regardless of their qualifications. The Army became the vehicle of upward social mobility for noble youths from non-Russian areas, such as Poland, the Baltic, Finland and Georgia.<ref>Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter, ''From Serf to Russian Soldier'' (1990) [https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Soldier-Elise-Kimerling-Wirtschafter/dp/0691055858/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629164645/http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Soldier-Elise-Kimerling-Wirtschafter/dp/0691055858 |date=29 June 2013 }}</ref> On the other hand, many miscreants, petty criminals and undesirables were punished by local officials by enlisting them for life in the Army. Village oligarchies controlled employment, conscription for the army, and local patronage; they blocked reforms and sent the most unpromising peasant youth to the army. The conscription system was unpopular with people, as was the practice of forcing peasants to house the soldiers for six months of the year.<ref>Edgar Melton, "Enlightened seigniorialism and its dilemmas in serf Russia, 1750-1830." ''Journal of Modern History'' 62.4 (1990): 676–708.</ref>

Finally the [[Crimean War]] at the end of his reign showed the world that Russia was militarily weak, technologically backward, and administratively incompetent. Despite his ambitions toward the south and Ottoman Empire, Russia had not built its railroad network in that direction, and communications were poor. The bureaucracy was riddled with corruption and inefficiency and was unprepared for war. The Navy was weak and technologically backward; the Army, although very large, was good only for parades, suffered from colonels who pocketed their men's pay, poor morale, and was even more out of touch with the latest technology. The nation's leaders realized that reforms were urgently needed.<ref>E. Willis Brooks, "Reform in the Russian Army, 1856–1861." ''Slavic Review'' 43.1 (1984): 63-82 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2498735 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728050926/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2498735 |date=28 July 2021 }}.</ref>

===Russian society in the first half of 19th century===
[[File:Painted-portraits-of-writer.png|thumb|right|«[[Golden Age of Russian Poetry]]» writers: [[Pushkin]], [[Ivan Krylov|Krylov]], [[Vasily Zhukovsky|Zhukovsky]], and [[Gnedich]]]]

The early 19th century is the time when [[Russian literature]] becomes an independent and very striking phenomenon.

[[Westernizers]] 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 [[Slavophile]]s, who heaped scorn on the "decadent" West. The Slavophiles were opponents of bureaucracy and preferred the [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivism]] of the medieval Russian ''[[mir (social)|mir]]'', or [[obshchina|village community]], to the individualism of the West.<ref>{{cite book|first = Tim |last = Chapman|title = Imperial Russia: 1801–1905|date = 2001|pages = 60–65|url =  |publisher = Routledge |isbn = 978-0415231091}}</ref> A forerunner of the Westernizer movement was [[Pyotr Chaadayev]]. He exposed the cultural isolation of Russia, from the perspective of Western Europe, in his ''Philosophical Letters'' of 1831. He cast doubt on the greatness of the Russian past, and ridiculed Orthodoxy for failing to provide a sound spiritual basis for the Russian mind. He called on Russia to emulate Western Europe, especially in rational and logical thought, its progressive spirit, its leadership in science, and indeed its leadership on the path to freedom.<ref>Janko Lavrin, "Chaadayev and the West." ''Russian Review'' 22.3 (1963): 274–288 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/126270 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325102200/https://www.jstor.org/stable/126270 |date=25 March 2020 }}.</ref><ref>Raymond T. McNally, "The Significance of Chaadayev's Weltanschauung." ''Russian Review'' 23.4 (1964): 352–361. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/126212 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531155448/https://www.jstor.org/stable/126212 |date=31 May 2022 }}</ref> [[Vissarion Belinsky]]<ref>Neil Cornwell, "Belinsky and V.F. Odoyevsky." ''Slavonic and East European Review'' 62.1 (1984): 6–24. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4208792 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531231253/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4208792 |date=31 May 2022 }}</ref> and [[Alexander Herzen]] were prominent Westernizers.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kantor | first1 = Vladimir K. | year = 2012 | title = The tragedy of Herzen, or seduction by radicalism | journal = Russian Studies in Philosophy | volume = 51 | issue = 3| pages = 40–57 | doi = 10.2753/rsp1061-1967510303 | s2cid = 145712584 }}</ref>

===Crimean War===
Since the war against Napoleon, Russia had become deeply involved in the affairs of Europe, as part of the "Holy Alliance." The Holy Alliance was formed to serve as the "policeman of Europe." However, to maintain the alliance required large armies. Prussia, Austria, Britain and France (the other members of the alliance) lacked large armies and needed Russia to supply the required numbers, which fit the philosophy of Nicholas I. The Tsar [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848|sent his army into Hungary]] in 1849 at the request of the Austrian Empire and broke the revolt there, while preventing its spread to Russian Poland.<ref>W.B. Lincoln, "Russia and the European Revolutions of 1848" ''History Today'' (Jan 1973), Vol. 23 Issue 1, pp. 53-59 online.</ref> The Tsar cracked down on any signs of internal unrest.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Kort|title=A Brief History of Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8_RH3hhsAMC&pg=PA92|year=2008|publisher=Infobase |page=92|isbn=9781438108292}}</ref>
[[File:Crimea Sevastopol Istorychny boulevard Memorial complex-54.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The eleven-month [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55)|siege]] of a Russian naval base at [[Sevastopol Naval Base|Sevastopol]] during the Crimean War]]
Russia expected that in exchange for supplying the troops to be the policeman of Europe, it should have a free hand in dealing with the decaying Ottoman Empire—the "sick man of Europe." In 1853, Russia invaded Ottoman-controlled areas leading to the [[Crimean War]]. Britain and France came to the rescue of the Ottomans. After a grueling war fought largely in Crimea, with very high death rates from disease, the allies won.<ref>Rene Albrecht-Carrie, ''A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna'' (1973) pp. 84–94</ref><ref>{{cite book|first= Orlando |last= Figes|title = The Crimean War: A History|date = 2011|publisher = Henry Holt and Company|isbn = 9781429997249}}</ref>

Historian [[Orlando Figes]] points to the long-term damage Russia suffered:
:The demilitarization of the Black Sea was a major blow to Russia, which was no longer able to protect its vulnerable southern coastal frontier against the British or any other fleet.... The destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol and other naval docks was a humiliation. No compulsory disarmament had ever been imposed on a great power previously.... The Allies did not really think that they were dealing with a European power in Russia. They regarded Russia as a semi-Asiatic state....In Russia itself, the Crimean defeat discredited the armed services and highlighted the need to modernize the countries defenses, not just in the strictly military sense, but also through the building of railways, industrialization, sound finances and so on....The image many Russians had built up of their country – the biggest, richest and most powerful in the world – had suddenly been shattered. Russia's backwardness had been exposed....The Crimean disaster had exposed the shortcomings of every institution in Russia – not just the corruption and incompetence of the military command, the technological backwardness of the army and navy, or the inadequate roads and lack of railways the accounted for the chronic problems of supply, but the poor condition and illiteracy of the serfs who made up the armed forces, the inability of the serf economy to sustain a state of war against industrial powers, and the failures of autocracy itself.<ref>Orlando Figes,  ''The Crimean War'', (2010) pp. 442–443.</ref>

===Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom===
{{Further|Government reforms of Alexander II of Russia}}
When [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] came to the throne in 1855, the demand for reform was widespread. The most pressing problem confronting the Government was [[Russian serfdom|serfdom]]. In 1859, there were 23 million [[serfs]] (out of a total population of 67&nbsp;million).<ref>[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2007/0293/nauka02.php Excerpt from "Enserfed population in Russia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722042430/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2007/0293/nauka02.php |date=22 July 2017 }} published at ''Демоскоп Weekly'', No 293 – 294, 18 June 1 July 2007</ref> In anticipation of civil unrest that could ultimately foment a revolution, Alexander II chose to preemptively abolish serfdom with the [[Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|emancipation reform]] in 1861. Emancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities, stimulated industry, and the middle class grew in number and influence. The freed peasants had to buy land, allotted to them, from the landowners with state assistance. The Government issued special bonds to the landowners for the land that they had lost, and collected a special tax from the peasants, called redemption payments, at a rate of 5% of the total cost of allotted land yearly. 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.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first = Terence |editor-last= Emmons |title = Emancipation of the Russian Serfs|date = 1970|publisher = Holt, Rinehart and Winston|isbn = 9780030773600}}</ref><ref>David Moon, ''The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia: 1762-1907'' (Routledge, 2014).</ref><ref>[[Evgeny Finkel]], Scott Gehlbach, and Tricia D. Olsen. "Does reform prevent rebellion? Evidence from Russia's emancipation of the serfs." ''Comparative Political Studies'' 48.8 (2015): 984-1019. [http://www.econ.yale.edu/~egcenter/GelbachFinkelPaper.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801193855/http://www.econ.yale.edu/~egcenter/GelbachFinkelPaper.pdf |date=1 August 2020 }}</ref>

[[File:Russian Empire (1867).svg|thumb|The Russian Empire in 1867]]

Alexander was responsible for numerous reforms besides abolishing serfdom. [[Judicial reform of Alexander II|He reorganized the judicial system]], setting up elected local judges, abolishing capital punishment, promoting local self-government through the zemstvo system, imposing universal military service, ending some of the privileges of the nobility, and promoting the universities.<ref>W. Bruce Lincoln, '' The Great Reforms: Autocracy, Bureaucracy, and the Politics of Change in Imperial Russia'' (1990).</ref>

In foreign policy, he [[Alaska Purchase|sold Alaska]] to the United States in 1867. He modernized the military command system. He sought peace, and joined with Germany and Austria in the League of the Three Emperors that stabilized the European situation. The Russian Empire expanded in Siberia and in the Caucasus and made gains at the expense of China. Faced with an uprising in Poland in 1863, he stripped that land of its separate Constitution and incorporated it directly into Russia. To counter the rise of a revolutionary and anarchistic movements, he sent thousands of dissidents into exile in Siberia and was proposing additional parliamentary reforms when he was assassinated in 1881.<ref>{{cite book|first = W. E.|last = Mosse|title = Alexander II and the Modernization of Russia|date = 1958}}</ref>
[[File:The defeat of Shipka Peak, Bulgarian War of Independence.JPG|thumb|left|The Russian and Bulgarian [[Battle of Shipka Pass|defence of Shipka Pass]] against Turkish troops was crucial for the independence of Bulgaria]]
In the late 1870s Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|The Russo-Turkish War]] was popular among the Russian people, who supported the independence of their fellow Orthodox Slavs, the Serbs and the Bulgarians. Russia's victory in this war allowed a number of Balkan states to gain independence: [[United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|Romania]], [[Principality of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Principality of Montenegro|Montenegro]]. In addition, [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] de facto became independent. However, the war increased tension with [[Austria-Hungary]], which also had ambitions in the region. The Tsar was disappointed by the results of the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, but abided by the agreement.<ref>Riasonovsky pp. 386–387</ref>

During this period Russia [[Russian conquest of Central Asia|expanded its empire into Central Asia]], conquering the khanates of [[Khanate of Kokand|Kokand]], [[Emirate of Bukhara|Bukhara]], and [[Khanate of Khiva|Khiva]], as well as the [[Transcaspian Oblast|Trans-Caspian region]].<ref>Riasonovsky p. 349</ref> Russia's advance in Asia led to British fears that the Russians planned aggression against British India. Before 1815 London worried Napoleon would combine with Russia to do that in one mighty campaign. After 1815 London feared Russia alone would do it step by step. However historians report that the Russians never had any intention to move against India.<ref>David Fromkin, "The Great Game in Asia" ''Foreign Affairs'' 58#4 (1980), pp. 936-951 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718202141/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 |date=18 July 2021 }}</ref>

===Russian society in the second half of 19th century===
{{See also|Russian nihilist movement}}
[[File:Russian writers by Levitsky 1856.jpg|thumb|Russian writers of the second half of the 19th century: [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[Dmitry Grigorovich (writer)|Dmitry Grigorovich]], [[Ivan Goncharov]], [[Ivan Turgenev]], [[Alexander Druzhinin]], and [[Alexander Ostrovsky]]]]
[[File:Russa literacy 1897.jpg|thumb|By the end of 19th century, the majority of the Russian population were unable to read and write (map of [[Russian Empire census|1897 census]] literacy data)]]
In the 1860s, a movement known as [[Nihilism]] developed in Russia. A term originally coined by [[Ivan Turgenev]] in his 1862 novel ''[[Fathers and Sons (novel)|Fathers and Sons]]'', Nihilists favoured the destruction of human institutions and laws, based on the assumption that they are artificial and corrupt. At its core, Russian nihilism was characterized by the belief that the world lacks comprehensible meaning, objective truth, or value. For some time, many Russian liberals had been dissatisfied by what they regarded as the empty discussions of the [[intelligentsia]]. The Nihilists questioned all old values and shocked the Russian establishment.<ref>Riasonovsky pp. 381–382, 447–448</ref> They became involved in the cause of reform and became major political forces. Their path was facilitated by the previous actions of the Decembrists, who revolted in 1825, and the financial and political hardship caused by the Crimean War, which caused many Russians to lose faith in political institutions.<ref>{{cite book|author=I. K. Shakhnovskiĭ|title=A Short History of Russian Literature|publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trubner|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924026645790|year=1921|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924026645790/page/n156 147]}}</ref> Russian nihilists created the manifesto ''[[Catechism of a Revolutionary]]''.

After the Nihilists failed to convert the aristocracy and landed gentry to the cause of reform, they turned to the peasants.<ref>{{cite book|author=E. Heier|title=Religious Schism in the Russian Aristocracy 1860–1900: Radstockism and Pashkovism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tuvVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6|year=2012|pages=5–7|publisher=Springer|isbn=9789401032285|access-date=19 September 2019|archive-date=22 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122071933/https://books.google.com/books?id=tuvVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6|url-status=live}}</ref> Their campaign became known as the [[Narodnik|''Narodnk'' ("Populist") movement]]. It was based on the belief that the common people had the wisdom and peaceful ability to lead the nation.<ref name=CurtisT>[http://countrystudies.us/russia/6.htm Transformation of Russia in the Nineteenth Century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012030/http://countrystudies.us/russia/6.htm |date=3 November 2016 }}, excerpted from Glenn E. Curtis (ed.), ''Russia: A Country Study'', Department of the Army, 1998. {{ISBN|0-16-061212-8}}.</ref>
As the ''Narodnik'' movement gained momentum, the government moved to extirpate it. In response to the growing reaction of the government, a radical branch of the Narodniks advocated and practiced terrorism.<ref name=CurtisT/> One after another, prominent officials were shot or killed by bombs. This represented the ascendancy of [[anarchism in Russia]] as a powerful revolutionary force. Finally, after several attempts, Alexander II was assassinated by anarchists in 1881, on the very day he had approved a proposal to call a representative assembly to consider new reforms in addition to the abolition of serfdom designed to ameliorate revolutionary demands.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Waldron|first=Peter|year=2006|title=Alexander II|url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3446900026/WHIC?xid=d0bae6e0|journal=Europe 1789–1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire|volume=1|page=40|via=GALE World History in Context|access-date=23 July 2019|archive-date=12 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112083436/https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fi.do%3Fp%3DWHIC%26u%3D%26id%3DGALE%7CCX3446900026%26v%3D2.1%26it%3Dr%26asid%3Dd0bae6e0&prodId=WHIC|url-status=live}}</ref>

The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th is known as the [[Silver Age of Russian Poetry|Silver Age of Russian culture]]. The Silver Age was dominated by the artistic movements of [[Russian Symbolism]], [[Acmeism]], and [[Russian Futurism]], many poetic schools flourished, including the [[Mystical Anarchism]] tendency within the Symbolist movement. The [[Russian avant-garde]] was a large, influential wave of modern art that flourished in [[Russian Empire]] and [[Soviet Union]], approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its end as late as 1960.

===Autocracy and reaction under Alexander III===
Unlike his father, the new tsar [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] (1881–1894) was throughout his reign a staunch reactionary who revived the maxim of "[[Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and National Character]]".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url = https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057487/Orthodoxy-Autocracy-and-Nationality|title = Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality|encyclopedia = [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date = 26 January 2016|access-date = 23 June 2022|archive-date = 26 April 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080426082306/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057487/Orthodoxy-Autocracy-and-Nationality|url-status = live}}</ref> 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. In his reign Russia concluded the [[Franco-Russian Alliance|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 tsar's most influential adviser was [[Konstantin Pobedonostsev]], tutor to Alexander III and his son Nicholas, and procurator of the Holy Synod from 1880 to 1895. He taught his royal pupils to fear freedom of speech and press and to hate democracy, constitutions, and the parliamentary system.<ref>Hugo S. Cunninggam, [http://www.cyberussr.com/rus/pobedonostsev.html Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev (1827–1907): Reactionary Views on Democracy, General Education] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612014154/http://www.cyberussr.com/rus/pobedonostsev.html |date=12 June 2007 }}. Retrieved 21 July 2007.</ref> Under Pobedonostsev, revolutionaries were hunted down<ref>Robert F. Byrnes, "Pobedonostsev: His Life and Thought" in ''Political Science Quarterly'', Vol. 85, No. 3 (September 1970), pp. 528–530.</ref> and a policy of [[Russification]] was carried out.<ref>Arthur E. Adams, "Pobedonostsev's Religious Politics" in ''Church History'', Vol. 22, No. 4 (December 1953), pp. 314–326.</ref>

===Nicholas II and new revolutionary movement===
{{Main|History of Russia (1892–1917)}}

Alexander was succeeded by his son [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] (1894–1918). The Industrial Revolution, which began to exert a significant influence in Russia, was meanwhile creating forces that would finally overthrow the tsar. Politically, these opposition forces organized into three competing parties: The liberal elements among the industrial capitalists and nobility, who wanted peaceful social reform and a constitutional monarchy, founded the [[Constitutional Democratic party]] or ''Kadets'' in 1905. Followers of the Narodnik tradition established the [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party]] or ''Esers'' in 1901, advocating the distribution of land among the peasants who worked it. A third radical group founded the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] or ''RSDLP'' in 1898; this party was the primary exponent of [[Marxism]] in Russia. Gathering their support from the radical intellectuals and the urban working class, they advocated complete social, economic and political revolution.<ref>Hugh Seton-Watson, ''The Russian Empire 1801–1917'' (Oxford History of Modern Europe) (1967), pp. 598–627</ref>

In 1903, the RSDLP split into two wings: the radical [[Bolshevik]]s, led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], and the relatively moderate [[Menshevik]]s, led by Yuli Martov. The Mensheviks believed that Russian socialism would grow gradually and peacefully and that the tsar's regime should be succeeded by a democratic republic. The Bolsheviks advocated the formation of a small elite of professional revolutionaries, subject to strong party discipline, to act as the vanguard of the proletariat in order to seize power by force.<ref>For an analysis of the reaction of the elites to the revolutionaries see Roberta Manning, ''The Crisis of the Old Order in Russia: Gentry and Government''. (1982).</ref>

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia continued its expansion in the Far East; Chinese Manchuria was in the zone of Russian interests. Russia took an active part in the [[Boxer Rebellion|intervention of the great powers in China]] to suppress the Boxer rebellion. During this war, Russia occupied Manchuria, which caused a clash of interests with Japan. In 1904, the [[Russo-Japanese War]] began, which ended extremely unfavourably for Russia.

===Revolution of 1905===
{{Main|Revolution of 1905}}
[[File:Repin 17October.jpg|thumb|The [[October Manifesto]] granting [[civil liberties]] and establishing first [[State Duma|parliament]]]]
The disastrous performance of the Russian armed forces in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] was a major blow to the Russian State<!--"the Tsarist regime" It is the term of the marxist-revolutionaries--> and increased the potential for unrest.<ref name=CurtisAut>[http://countrystudies.us/russia/7.htm The Last Years of the Autocracy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012034/http://countrystudies.us/russia/7.htm |date=3 November 2016 }}, excerpted from Glenn E. Curtis (ed.), ''Russia: A Country Study'', Department of the Army, 1998. {{ISBN|0-16-061212-8}}.</ref>

In January 1905, an incident known as "[[Bloody Sunday (1905)|Bloody Sunday]]" occurred when [[Father Gapon]] led an enormous crowd to the [[Winter Palace]] in [[Saint Petersburg]] to present a petition to the tsar. When the procession reached the palace, Cossacks opened fire, killing hundreds.<ref name=CurtisAut/> 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]]. [[Soviet (workers council)|Soviets]] (councils of workers) appeared in most cities to direct revolutionary activity.<ref>Orlando Figes, ''Revolutionary Russia, 1891–1991: A History'' (2014) pp. 1–33</ref>

In October 1905, Nicholas reluctantly issued the [[October Manifesto]], which conceded the creation of a national Duma (legislature) to be called without delay.<ref name=CurtisAut/> The right to vote was extended, and no law was to go into force without confirmation by the Duma. The moderate groups were satisfied;<ref name=CurtisAut/> but the socialists rejected the concessions as insufficient and tried to organize new strikes. By the end of 1905, there was disunity among the reformers, and the tsar's position was strengthened.<ref>Figes, ''Revolutionary Russia, 1891–1991: A History'' (2014) pp. 33–43</ref>

=== World War I ===
{{Main|Russian entry into World War I|Russia in the First World War}}
[[File:Les troupes russe défilant devant Gouraud, Mailly oct 1916.JPG|thumb|[[Russian Expeditionary Force in France]], October 1916]]

On 28 June 1914, Bosnian Serbs [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary.]] Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, which it considered a Russian client-state. Russia had no treaty obligation to Serbia, and most Russian leaders wanted to avoid war. But in that crisis they had the support of France, and believed that supporting Serbia was important for Russia's credibility and for its goal of a leadership role in the Balkans.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Levy | first1 = Jack S. | last2 = Mulligan | first2 = William | year = 2017 | title = Shifting power, preventive logic, and the response of the target: Germany, Russia, and the First World War | journal = Journal of Strategic Studies | volume = 40 | issue = 5| pages = 731–769 | doi = 10.1080/01402390.2016.1242421 | s2cid = 157837365 }}</ref> Tsar Nicholas II mobilised Russian forces on 30 July 1914 to defend Serbia. [[Christopher Clark]] states: "The Russian general mobilisation [of 30 July] was one of the most momentous decisions of the [[July crisis]]".<ref>Clark, Christopher (2013). The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-06-219922-5}}. p. 509.</ref> Germany responded with its own mobilisation and declaration of War on 1 August 1914. At the opening of hostilities, the Russians took the offensive against both Germany and [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref>W. Bruce Lincoln, ''Passage Through Armageddon: The Russians in War and Revolution, 1914–1918'' (1986)</ref>

The very large but poorly led and under-equipped Russian army fought tenaciously. Casualties were enormous. In the 1914 campaign, Russian forces defeated Austro-Hungarian forces in the [[Battle of Galicia]]. The success of the Russian army forced the German army to withdraw troops from the western front to the Russian front. However, victories in Poland by the Central Powers in the 1915 campaign, led to a major retreat of the Russian army. In 1916, the Russians again dealt a powerful blow to the Austrians during the [[Brusilov offensive]].

By 1915, morale was worsening.<ref>Allan K. Wildman, ''The End of the Russian Imperial Army'' (Princeton University Press, 1980) pp 76–125.</ref> Many recruits were sent to the front unarmed. Nevertheless, the Russian army fought on, and tied down large numbers of Germans and Austrians. When the homefront showed an occasional surge of patriotism, the tsar and his entourage failed to exploit it for military benefit. The Russian army neglected to rally the ethnic and religious minorities that were hostile to Austria, such as Poles. The tsar refused to cooperate with the national legislature, the Duma, and listened less to experts than to his wife, who was in thrall to her chief advisor, the holy man [[Grigori Rasputin]].<ref>Nicholas Riasanovsky, ''A History of Russia'' (4th ed. 1984) pp. 418-20</ref> More than two million refugees fled.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/refugees_russian_empire | title=Refugees (Russian Empire) &#124; International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1) | access-date=18 April 2017 | archive-date=19 April 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419101232/http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/refugees_russian_empire | url-status=live }}</ref>
Repeated military failures and bureaucratic ineptitude soon turned large segments of the population against the government.<ref name=CurtisAut/> The German and Ottoman fleets prevented Russia from importing urgently needed supplies through the Baltic and Black seas.<ref name=CurtisAut/> By mid-1915 the impact of the war was demoralizing. Food and fuel were in short supply, casualties kept occurring, and inflation was mounting. Strikes increased among factory workers, and the peasants, who wanted land reforms, were restless.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Charques|title=The Twilight of Imperial Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbUYPD6AY6wC&pg=PA232|year=1974|publisher=Oxford U.P.|page=232|isbn=9780195345872|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-date=22 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122071934/https://books.google.com/books?id=PbUYPD6AY6wC&pg=PA232|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, elite distrust of the regime was deepened by reports that Rasputin was gaining influence; his assassination in late 1916 ended the scandal but did not restore the autocracy's prestige.<ref name=CurtisAut/>