Editing Russia (section)

====Great liberal reforms and capitalism====
[[File:The defeat of Shipka Peak, Bulgarian War of Independence.JPG|thumb|The [[Battle of Shipka Pass]] for the control of the vital [[Shipka Pass]] during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War]]]]
Nicholas's successor [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander&nbsp;II]] (1855–1881) enacted significant changes throughout the country, including the [[emancipation reform of 1861]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zenkovsky |first=Serge A. |author-link=Serge Aleksandrovich Zenkovsky |title=The Emancipation of the Serfs in Retrospect |jstor=126692 |doi=10.2307/126692 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |volume=20 |number=4 |journal=[[The Russian Review]] |date=October 1961 |pages=280–293}}</ref> These reforms spurred industrialisation, and modernised the Imperial Russian Army, which liberated much of the [[Balkans]] from Ottoman rule in the aftermath of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gunter |first=Michael M. |author-link=Michael Gunter |title=War and Diplomacy: The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and the Treaty of Berlin |pages=231–233 |doi=10.1353/jwh.2013.0031 |journal=[[Journal of World History]] |publisher=[[University of Hawaiʻi Press]] |issn=1527-8050 |date=March 2013 |volume=24 |number=1 |s2cid=159687214}}</ref> During most of the 19th and early 20th century, Russia and [[British Empire|Britain]] colluded over [[Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and its neighbouring territories in [[Central Asia|Central]] and South Asia; the rivalry between the two major European empires came to be known as the [[Great Game]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fromkin  |first=David |author-link=David Fromkin |title=The Great Game in Asia |year=1980 |volume=58 |number=4 |pages=936–951 |jstor=20040512 |doi=10.2307/20040512 |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]]}}</ref>

The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements in Russia. Alexander&nbsp;II was [[Assassination of Alexander II of Russia|assassinated]] in 1881 by revolutionary terrorists.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Frank |first=Goodwin |journal= [[The Slavic and East European Journal]] |jstor=309128 |title=Review: [Untitled] |doi=10.2307/309128 |pages=641–43 |year=1995 |volume=39 |number=4}}</ref> The reign of his son [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander&nbsp;III]] (1881–1894) was less liberal but more peaceful.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Taranovski |first=Theodore |title=Alexander III and his Bureaucracy: The Limitations on Autocratic Power |journal=[[Canadian Slavonic Papers]] |volume=26 |number=2/3 |year=1984 |pages=207–219 |doi=10.1080/00085006.1984.11091776 |jstor=40868293}}</ref>