Russian Empire

From Heterodontosaurus Balls

“”The secret of 🟢 politics? Make a good treaty with Russia.
— 🟢 Otto von Bismarck

Russian Empire, also known as Imperial Russia or just Russia, was a giant 🟢 European historical 🟢 empire, the third largest in 🟢 history as a matter of fact. His land stretched from the 🟢 Baltic Sea to 🟢 Alaska, from 🟢 Siberia to 🟢 Manchuria. He even held a 🟢 small African colony at one point.

The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of his rivals, which further helped Russia to spread his influence. At his greatest extent, his size was 22.8 million square kilometers, so he is about 33% bigger than his present self. The empire was characterized by a 🟢 diverse population, encompassing numerous 🟢 ethnic groups and 🟢 cultures which he regularly 🟢 genocides, ruled under an 🟢 autocratic, 🟢 absolute monarchy under the Russian variant known as 🟢 Tsarism.

Since the Russian Empire only conquered continuous clay, almost nobody think of it as 🟢 colonization and therefore Russia was not seen as a colonial power.

On one hand, Russia sees himself as the final heir to 🟢 Byzantium, an empire rooted in 🟢 Slavic 🟢 Orthodox traditions and 🟢 Eastern European soil. On the other hand, he carries the legacy of the steppes, shaped by centuries of 🟢 Mongol rule mixed with 🟢 Tatar blood. This 🟢 dual identity, imperial and nomadic, east and west, has long defined Russia's geopolitical instincts. And when humiliated by the west, he pivots to the east. From defeat in 🟢 Europe, Russia turns eastward, seeking redemption and revenge across the vastness of 🟢 Asia.

The official 🟢 national flag of Russian Empire has been the exact same as the flag for modern 🟢 Russia for the most part. However, to distinguish Imperial Russia more, a flag with the coat of arms in the top-left corner on a yellow square introduced in 1914 for private use and 🟢 patriotism is sometimes used for the design. The flag was planned to be adopted into the national flag after WWI but the Russian Empire fell too soon.

History

Foundation & Early Expansion

In 1721, 🟢 Tsardom of Russia won against the 🟢 Swedish Empire in the Great Northern War, giving Russia access to the 🟢 Baltic Sea and making him become the Russian Empire under 🟢 Peter I the Great, the de-facto founder of the empire. The double-headed 🟢 Romanov eagle became the 🟢 imperial emblem.

Russia reorganized his borders along modern Western lines, creating an 🟢 authoritarian state. He replaced the old noble council with a nine-member Senate (the highest state council), divided rural areas into provinces, and tasked the Senate with 🟢 tax collection, tripling revenues during Peter's reign. He partially integrated the 🟢 Orthodox Church into 🟢 the state as a tool of governance, abolished the Patriarchate, and replaced it with the Holy Synod, headed by a government official. Local self-government was abolished, and all 🟢 nobles were required to serve the state as part of the Table of Ranks in 1722.

In eastern 🟢 Siberia, Russia annexed the territory of the 🟢 Chukchi people and the 🟢 Kamchatka Peninsula in the 1720s. In 1722, Russia wanted to increase his influence in the 🟢 Caucasus and the 🟢 Caspian Sea at the expense of the weakened 🟢 Safavid Persians, so he waged the first full-scale 🟢 war against him in 1722-1723, annexing some Iranian clay.

Peter the Great died in 1725, and the four following decades are often called the Era of Palace Revolutions. The throne changed hands six times, largely through the intrigues of court factions and the intervention of the imperial guard regiments, who became kingmakers in Russian 🟢 politics.

Despite internal instability, Russia participated in 🟢 wars like the War of the 🟢 Polish Succession (1733-1735) on the side of 🟢 Augustus III. In 1735, Russian Empire and 🟢 Habsburg Empire tried to defeat 🟢 Ottoman Empire in the Austro-Russian-Turkish War but he somehow beat them both and the war became inconclusive. Russia also participated in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) on both sides, emerging as a major power.

Era of Enlightened Absolutism

In 1762, 🟢 Catherine II deposed of her erratic husband 🟢 Peter III, becoming the new 🟢 Tsar(ess). She became a patronage for 🟢 Enlightenment ideas, though compatible with 🟢 absolutism.

Russia was still continuing on his journey to conquer all of 🟢 Siberia for the rich furs, 🟢 genociding 🟢 natives and building watchtowers. The natives tried to fight back but their scattered tribes were no match for Russian cannons. The conquest was completed in 1778, and the natives were forced to give a 🟢 tax called "yasak" to the Tsat. This tax, originally a gift exchange from both parties, evolved into a one-sided tax because the natives would rebel if they deem the things the Russians give them (weapons, tabacco, etc.) unworthy.

From 1773 to 1775, the 🟢 Pugachev Movement took place in Russia, by the followers of 🟢 Yemelyan Pugachev, aiming to end 🟢 serfdom. The rebellions were crushed by Catherine.

The outbreak of two Russo-Turkish wars in 1768 and 1787 and Russia's subsequent victory in them made Ottoman no longer a threat to Russia, allowing him to gain more territory and extend his influence into the 🟢 Balkans and get 🟢 Black Sea waters. Russia also took advantage of the decline of the 🟢 Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to gain territory, dividing Poland into three parts which was shared between him, 🟢 Prussia, and 🟢 Habsburg Empire, with the final partition taking place in 1795, killing Poland-Lithuania.

When Catherine died in 1796, succession law was 🟢 reformed a year later, establishing 🟢 male primogeniture to prevent future succession crises.

Napoleonic Era & Conservative Revolution

🟢 Paul I succeeded 🟢 his mother as the new 🟢 Tsar. He reversed many of her policies. His erratic policies and alienation of the 🟢 nobility led to a palace conspiracy. Paul was assassinated on 23 March 1801, and his son 🟢 Alexander succeeded him. Tsar Alexander I began his reign with 🟢 reformist intentions. He reorganized ministries in 1802 and created educational reforms.

As a major 🟢 European country, Russia was inevitably involved in the war with the 🟢 First French Empire. He entered into shifting alliances, was defeated alongside 🟢 Austria at the Battle of 🟢 Austerlitz in 1805, fought against France from 1806-1807, defeated again at 🟢 Friedland in 1807, singed the Treaty of 🟢 Tilsit in July that year, temporarily aligning Russia with Napoleon.

Meanwhile, Russia annexed 🟢 Finland from 🟢 Sweden after the Finnish War of 1808-1809 and gained 🟢 Bessarabia from the 🟢 Ottoman Empire at the Treaty of 🟢 Bucharest in 1812.

In June 1812, 🟢 Napoleon Bonaparte led an army of 600,000 to invade Russia, which was more than twice the size of Russia's regular army and was more well-equipped. But France's army was too big and impossible to keep up the supply lines, and Russia burned his capital, 🟢 Moscow, so there will be nothing to loot. France encountered the cold winter of Russia, causing France to suffer a catastrophic defeat: less than 30,000 French men returned to their homeland. As the French army retreated, the Russian army advanced into 🟢 Central and 🟢 Western Europe, and finally reached the gates of 🟢 Paris in 1814. Russian Empire was called the savior of Europe.

At the Congress of 🟢 Vienna (1814-1815), Russia gained most of the 🟢 Duchy of Warsaw, forming the semi-autonomous 🟢 Kingdom of Poland under Russian rule. Russia also helped establish the 🟢 Holy Alliance in 1815, promoting 🟢 Christian monarchy and suppressing revolutionary movements all across Europe.

After 1815, Tsar Alexander became increasingly 🟢 conservative and 🟢 mystical. When Alexander died unexpectedly on 1 December 1825, confusion over succession led to the Decembrist Revolt, with 🟢 liberal officers attempting to prevent the accession of 🟢 Nicholas I, demanding 🟢 constitutional reform. The revolt failed.

Reform and Reaction

Under 🟢 Nicholas I, Russia became 🟢 very conservative, officially formulating the doctrine of 🟢 Orthodoxy, 🟢 Autocracy, and 🟢 Nationality.

Russia suppressed the November 🟢 Polish uprising of 1830-1831. In 1832, Nicholas I 🟢 criminalized 🟢 sodomy from Russia, which was punishable by exile to 🟢 Siberia for four to five years. Russia helped crush the 🟢 Hungarian Revolution of 1848 at the request of 🟢 Austria and asserted influence in the 🟢 Balkans against the weakening 🟢 Ottoman Empire.

In 1853, Russia threatened to invade 🟢 Istanbul. 🟢 Britanians and 🟢 Frenchies came to the 🟢 Turk's aid, starting the 🟢 Crimean War.

Nicholas I dies in 1855, and 🟢 Alexander II becomes emperor and initiates major 🟢 reforms.

In 1856, the Crimean War came to a bitter end. Russia was humiliated by defeat. For him, the wounds ran deeper than the battlefield. The defeat was not only 🟢 militarily, but also psychological. It marked the moment that Russia was pushed out of the European order. Wounded in Europe, Russia pivoted east, and what he saw was a decaying 🟢 Qing Empire, sprawling and resource-rich, but complacent and hollow. The 🟢 nobility was asleep, the people were obedient, and the nation was poorly defended. So, in 1858 Russia launched a boat expedition to the 🟢 Amur River, determined to seize over a million square kilos of clay from China. This would also grant Russia easy access to the 🟢 Pacific.

The 🟢 serfs were 🟢 freed in 1861, earning Tsar Alexander II the nickname "the Liberator". In 1867, 🟢 Russian America was sold to the 🟢 United States for a very cheap price.

Russia forced 🟢 Qing Dynasty to sign a series of unequal treaties, after that he annexed Outer Manchuria. In 1875, the 🟢 Empire of Japan and Russia signed the "🟢 Sakhalin-Kuril Islands 🟢" Exchange Treaty (Treaty of 🟢 Saint Petersburg). Russia gave the northern part of the 🟢 Kuril Islands to Japan in exchange for the sovereignty of 🟢 Sakhalin.

In 1881, Tsar Alexander the Liberator was assassinated.

Industrialization & Unrest

🟢 Alexander III, taking rule in 1881, started massively 🟢 industrialization in Russia.

In 1894, 🟢 Nicholas II became the 🟢 Tsar. On his coronation celebration there was a stampede killing more than a thousand, signaling bad omen.

At the end of the 19th century, Russia was expanding towards Central Asia. During the 🟢 Eight-Nation Alliance's campaigns against 🟢 Qing and 🟢 Boxer, the Russian army obtained a large amount of gold mines, coal mines and forest resources in Northeast China. In 1900 Russian Empire conducted a series of 🟢 ethnic cleansings (pogroms) against the 🟢 Manchus, 🟢 Han Chinese and 🟢 Daurs in 🟢 Russian-controlled Manchuria, leaving the region with only 🟢 Cossacks.

From 1904 to 1905, the 🟢 Japanese Empire and Russia competed for influence in the 🟢 Korean Peninsula and 🟢 Northeast China. This kicked off the Russo-Japanese War, and believing Japan was just a secondary power pretending to be an empire, Russia sent his ship across the entire ocean to reach Japan, but was suffered a disastrous and humiliating defeat. Russia was exposed as the actual secondary power, and as a result, he agreed to withdraw from 🟢 Inner Manchuria. This defeat shocked the Russian people and the rest of the world, since no Asian country had been able to beat a European country for a long time. This humiliation made lots of Russians mad, and they blamed it all on the 🟢 Tsar. Many people went to 🟢 peacefully protest in 1905, but got shot at by guards.

Collapse

In 1914, 🟢 Serbia was attacked by 🟢 Austria-Hungary. Russia wanted to defend his 🟢 Orthodox brother, so he declared 🟢 war on Austria, thus participating in WWI, subsequently fighting against 🟢 Germany.

Germany wanted Russia out of the battlefield so thy secretly shipped 🟢 Lenin to Russia to cause some turmoil. The bad working conditions and food shortages caused by the war made the workers to go on strike in what's known as the February Revolution. Russia retreated from fighting in WWI as a result of all the unrest. Tsar 🟢 Nicholas II thought for the interests of Russia and stepped down without any fight. Thus, more than 300 years of 🟢 Romanov rule in Russia ended in 1917, and a 🟢 republic was established.

Quotes

“”In 🟢 Europe, we are followers and 🟢 slaves, but in 🟢 Asia, we ought to be masters. In Europe, we are seen as 🟢 Tatars, but in Asia, we can be 🟢 Europeans.
— 🟢 Fyodor Dostoyevsky

List of Tsars

🟢 Emperors (Tsars) of the Imperial Russian Empire 🟢
Name Russian Name Number Reign Start Reign End
🟢 Peter I the Great Пётр I Алексеевич 1 2 November 1721 8 February 1725
🟢 Catherine I Екатерина I Алексеевна 2 8 February 1725 17 May 1727
🟢 Peter II Пётр II Алексеевич 3 18 May 1727 30 January 1730
🟢 Anna Анна Иоанновна 4 13 February 1730 28 October 1740
🟢 Ivan VI Иван VI Антонович 5 28 October 1740 6 December 1741
🟢 Elizabeth Елизавета Петровна 6 6 December 1741 5 January 1762
🟢 Peter III Пётр III Фёдорович 7 5 January 1762 9 July 1762
🟢 Catherine II the Great Екатерина II Алексеевна 8 9 July 1762 17 November 1796
🟢 Paul I Павел I Петрович 9 17 November 1796 23 March 1801
🟢 Alexander I the Blessed Александр I Павлович 10 23 March 1801 1 December 1825
🟢 Nicholas I Николай I Павлович 11 1 December 1825 2 March 1855
🟢 Alexander II the Liberator Александр II Николаевич 12 2 March 1855 13 March 1881
🟢 Alexander III the Peacemaker Александр III Александрович 13 13 March 1881 1 November 1894
🟢 Saint Nicholas II Николай II Александрович 14 1 November 1894 15 March 1917

Relationships

Friends

Enemies

How to draw

Flag of the Russian Empire
Flag of the Russian Empire (private use)
Flag of Russian Empire (1858-1896)

Russian Empire has a drawing rating of painstaking.

  1. Draw a ball.
  2. Fill the ball with three horizontal stripes of color top-to-bottom in the following order: white, blue, red.
  3. Add a yellow square on the left side of the ball, covering parts of the white and blue stripes.
  4. Draw a double-headed eagle in the yellow square.
  5. Add the eyes and you are done!

Main Colours:

Color Name HEX
White #FFFFFF
Blue #0039A6
Red #D52B1E
Yellow #FFCC33
Black #000000

Emblem Colours:

Color Name HEX
Very Light Crown Blue #F2F7F7
Crown Blue #A8B6C5
Crown & Eagle Tongue Crimson #8F222D
Crown Jewel Grey #4E5355
Ribbon Blue #4F7499
Ribbon Blue (Dark Shading) #214775
Ribbon Blue (Light Shading) #1B8EC1
Eagle Brown #352F2C
Eagle Beak & Leg Yellow #DEB128
Symbol Yellow #F2CA1B
White Pedal Symbols Blue #94ACCB
Red #C8001A
Pearl Yellow (Dark Shading) #D97B3B
Pearl Yellow (Light Shading) #FFF7AB
Knight Armor #DDE7E8
Dark Yellow Shading #C6962A
Cape Blue #3696C6
Eagle Leg Yellow (Light Shading) #FFF015
Object Blue #99A8B2
Object Pearl Blue CEDADC
Green #6B9C6E
Sky Blue #66B3E0
Olive Dragon Green #506804
Knight Skin #F1D2A1
Eagle Staff Small Crowns #887D58
Crown Medium Blue #DBE4E3
Horse Black #1E1E1E
Lion Dark Hair #AB7A2C

  • Oh Napoleon…
    Oh Napoleon…
  • Russia STRONK
    Russia STRONK
  • Russia vs Japan in China
    Russia vs Japan in China
  • Pire
    Pire

  • Map of Russian Empire
    Map of Russian Empire
  • Flag of Russian Empire on a postcard, 1914-1918
    Flag of Russian Empire on a postcard, 1914-1918

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