Editing History of Russia (section)

===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>