Russian Empire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Russian Empire
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| 1721–1917 | |
.svg) Flag
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| Capital | St. Petersburg (1721–1728, 1730–1917) Moscow (1728–1730) |
| Government | Absolute monarchy (1721-1906) Constitutional Monarchy (1906-1917) |
| History | |
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• Established
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1721 |
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• Disestablished
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1917 |
The Russian Empire, also known as Imperial Russia, was a huge country. It stretched across parts of Europe and Asia. It began in 1721 when Peter the Great declared it an empire. Before that, it was called the Duchy of Moscow.
The empire lasted until March 1917. This was when it became a republic after the Russian Revolution. The Russian Empire was an absolute monarchy. This means it was ruled by powerful emperors called 'Tsars'. They were part of the House of Romanov family. These Tsars believed they had a divine right of kings to rule their people.
In 1914, the Russian Empire was very large. It covered about 21,799,825 square kilometers. In 1897, about 128.2 million people lived there. The Russian language was the official language. The Russian Orthodox Church was the official church. The Russian Empire was a great power. It was one of the biggest empires ever to exist.
Contents
How the Russian Empire Was Ruled
The Russian Empire was led by a Tsar. The Tsar had complete control over the country. In this absolute monarchy, only the Tsar could create or cancel laws.
In 1905, the Tsar gave the people a new constitution. This constitution meant he shared some power with a partly elected Duma. The Duma was like a parliament.
Life for People in Russia
Most people in Imperial Russia were peasants. Peasants were farmers who worked the land. They mostly lived in the countryside. This was true until the late 1800s.
At that time, the Emancipation of the Serfs happened. Serfs were like peasants, but they were tied to the land. They could not leave the farms where they worked. After emancipation, they were freed. They could marry who they wanted. They could also own property and vote.
A smaller group of people were the nobility. They were also called boyars. These people were educated. They had a higher social standing. Towards the end of the 19th century, many educated people wanted change. They wanted to remove the Tsar. They wished for people to have more power.
The Russian Revolution
In 1917, World War I made life very hard for factory workers. There was a shortage of food. People blamed the Tsar for these problems. They started to rebel.
Cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow saw many riots. The Tsar was soon forced to step down from power. This happened during the February Revolution in 1917. Later, after the October Revolution, the Tsar and his family died.
In 1922, most of the Russian Empire became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This was also known as the USSR. A communist government took control after winning the Russian Civil War. Some countries that were part of the Empire became independent. However, the largest ones were made to join the USSR.
Images for kids
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A painting showing the Battle of Narva (1700) in the Great Northern War.
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Peter the Great officially renamed the Tsardom of Russia as the Russian Empire in 1721 and became its first emperor. He made many changes and helped Russia become a major European power. (Painting made after 1717.)
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Empress Catherine the Great, who ruled from 1762 to 1796, continued to expand and modernize the empire. She was an enlightened ruler and played a key role in the Russian Enlightenment. (Painted in the 1780s.)
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Catherine II Sestroretsk Rouble (1771) is made of solid copper measuring 77 mm (3+1⁄32 in) (diameter), 26 mm (1+1⁄32 in) (thickness), and weighs 1.022 kg (2 lb 4 oz).
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An 1843 painting imagining Russian general Pyotr Bagration, giving orders during the Battle of Borodino (1812) while wounded.
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Franz Roubaud's 1893 painting of the Erivan Fortress siege in 1827 by the Russian forces under leadership of Ivan Paskevich during the Russo-Persian War (1826–28).
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The eleven-month siege of a Russian naval base at Sevastopol during the Crimean War.
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Russian troops taking Samarkand (8 June 1868).
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Russian troops entering Khiva in 1873.
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Capturing of the Ottoman Turkish redoubt during the Siege of Plevna (1877).
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Russian troops fighting against Ottoman troops at the Battle of Shipka Pass (1877).
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A scene from the First Russian Revolution, by Ilya Repin.
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Russian soldiers in combat against Japanese at Mukden (inside China), during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905).
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Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow in 1917.
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Map of the Russian Empire in 1912.
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Ethnic map of European Russia before World War I.
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Map of governorates of the western Russian Empire in 1910.
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1814 artwork depicting the Russian warship Neva and the Russian settlement of St. Paul's Harbor (present-day Kodiak town), Kodiak Island.
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The Moscow City Duma circa 1900 (colorized photograph).
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100 ruble banknote (1910).
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Russian and US equities, 1865 to 1917.
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Watercolor-tinted lithgraph, from the 1840s, showing the arrival of the first Tsarskoye Selo Railway train at Tsarskoye Selo from St. Petersburg on 30 October 1837.
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The Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg was built between 1801 and 1811. Before Saint Isaac's Cathedral was built, it was the main Orthodox Church in Imperial Russia.
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Contemporary painting of the procession of Emperor Alexander II into Dormition Cathedral in Moscow during his coronation in 1856.
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1892 painting showing Imperial Russian Navy Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships in a scene from the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29), by Ivan Aivazovsky.
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1856 painting imagining the announcement of the coronation of Alexander II that year.
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The 1916 painting Maslenitsa by Boris Kustodiev, showing a Russian city in winter.
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Young Russian peasant women in front of a traditional wooden house (c. 1909 to 1915), photograph taken by Prokudin-Gorskii.
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Peasants in Russia (photograph taken by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky in 1909).
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See also
In Spanish: Imperio ruso para niños
