Russian Empire
The Russian Empire (1721-1917), also called Imperial Russia, was a country in Europe as well as Asia. It started in 1721 when Peter I of Russia founded it. Before that, it was known as the Duchy of Moscow. It lasted until it was declared a republic in March 1917 after the Russian Revolution. It was an absolute monarchy ruled by Russian emperors known as 'Tsars'. They were members of the House of Romanov and believed that they had the divine right of kings over their people.
Russian Empire Россійская Имперiя (Russian) | |||||||||
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| 1721–1917 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: "Съ нами Богъ!" S nami Bog! ("God is with us!") | |||||||||
| Anthem: "Гром победы, раздавайся!" Grom pobedy, razdavaysia! (1791–1816) ("Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!") (unofficial) "Коль славен наш Господь в Сионе" Kol' slaven nash Gospod' v Sione (1794–1816) ("How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion") (unofficial) "Молитва русских" Molitva russkikh (1816–1833) ("The Prayer of Russians") "Боже, Царя храни!" Bozhe Tsarya khrani! (1833–1917) ("God Save the Tsar!") | |||||||||
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| Capital | St. Petersburg (1721–1728, 1730–1917) Moscow (1728–1730) | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Russian | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy (1721-1906) Constitutional Monarchy (1906-1917) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1721 | ||||||||
• Russian Revolution (end of monarchy) | 1917 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Russia Belarus Ukraine Poland Finland Estonia Latvia Lithuania Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Moldova Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan United States Turkey China | ||||||||
In 1914, the area of the Russian Empire was about 21,799,825 km². In 1897, its population was 128,200,000 (1897 year). Its official language was the Russian language. Its official church was the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian Empire was led by a Tsar who had complete control of the nation. In this autocracy, only the Tsar could make or cancel laws. In 1905 the Tsar granted a new constitution in which he shared some power with a partly elected parliament called the Duma. The Russian Empire was a great power, and one of the biggest empires that ever existed.
Russian society
Most people in Imperial Russia were peasants. They lived mainly in rural areas until the late 19th century, when the Emancipation of the Serfs freed them from the farms where they had to stay. They were allowed to marry whomever they wanted, own property, and vote.
A few people were nobility, also called boyars. They were educated and held higher prestige than the peasants. Towards the end of the 19th century, many of the educated wanted to remove the Tsar and give people more power.
History
Russo-Japanese War to the Russian Revolution
In 1904 Russia led Nicholas II got permission from the Qing dynasty to build the Trans-Siberian railway to extend the Railway into Qing Dynasty China and Korea however the Empire of Japan led by Emperor Meiji saw this as a threat and the Japanese declared war on Russia and won the war in 1905. In 1914 Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany since the Franco-Russian Alliance Of 1894 they made with the France. In 1917, World War I caused the bad conditions for workers in factories to become even worse with a food shortage. People blamed it on the Tsar and rebelled against his government. There were riots in cities such as St Petersburg and Moscow. The Tsar was soon forced to abdicate in the February Revolution in 1917. After the October Revolution he was assassinated with his family during the Russian Civil War. In 1922 most of the Russian Empire became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR when a communist government won the Russian Civil War. Some counties in the Empire escaped, but the biggest ones were forced into the USSR.