The Russian Empire dates its formal founding to 2 November 1721 (22 October, Old Style), when the Russian Senate conferred the title of All-Russian Emperor on Tsar Peter I following Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, formalized by the Treaty of Nystad. Ruled by the House of Romanov, which had held the Russian throne since 1613, the Empire was an absolute autocracy under its last Tsar, Nicholas II, who succeeded his father in 1894. A major Allied belligerent in the First World War from its outset, the Empire suffered enormous casualties and mounting internal strain that produced the February Revolution of 1917: rioting in Petrograd in early March forced Nicholas II to abdicate at Pskov on 15 March 1917 (2 March, Old Style), first intending to pass the throne to his son Alexei and then, reconsidering, to his brother Michael, who declined to accept it, ending both the Romanov dynasty's rule and the Russian Empire itself. Nicholas and his immediate family were murdered by Bolshevik forces on 17 July 1918.
Facts
Government TypeAbsolute monarchy (autocracy) 1 CapitalSaint Petersburg (Moscow before 1712) 2 End YearNicholas II abdicated 15 March 1917 (Gregorian, New Style); Russian sources of the day recorded this as 2 March 1917 under the Julian (Old Style) calendar still in civil use in Russia until 1918. Government type (class) Classification
Status (Extant or Former) FAQs
Did the Russian Empire end with the tsar's abdication or with the Bolshevik takeover?
The March 1917 abdication ended the empire; the November Bolshevik revolution made the end permanent.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 was really two revolutions, one in March and a second in November. Bread riots in Petrograd in March 1917 led Nicholas II to abdicate, which ended Romanov rule and is why this atlas dates the end of the empire to 1917. The Bolsheviks, who established Soviet Russia after the second revolution in November 1917, ensured that the monarchy was effectively abolished. Nicholas and his family were shot on 17 July 1918, well after the empire had ended.
Connections
Associated With
A major Allied belligerent whose 1917 revolutions and the abdication of Nicholas II took it out of the war.
Source Tsar Nicholas II (World History Encyclopedia)Mark Cartwright
In Era
Preceded By
Deliberate polity-to-polity succession, distinct from the ruled edge: Peter the Great renamed and refounded the Tsardom as the Russian Empire in 1721, a state succession rather than a change of ruler within one polity.
Source Tsardom of Russia (Wikipedia)
Ruled By
Additional Source Catherine the Great (Wikipedia)Lead section (edge: ruled Russian Empire)
Additional Source Wikipedia: Nicholas II of RussiaLead section, Emperor of Russia 1894-1917
Additional Source Peter the Great (Wikipedia)Lead section (edge: ruled Russian Empire)
In the Other Atlases
Government Type
Also in Society and Culture Atlas: the government type of this subject.
Nationals Include
Also in Divinity Atlas: a national of this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Agvan DorzhievLeadQuote, Lead
Agvan Lobsan Dorzhiev (1853 – 29 January 1938) was a Russian-born monk of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, sometimes referred by his scholarly title as Tsenyi Khempo.
Also in Divinity Atlas: a national of this subject.
Source Fyodor Dostoevsky (Wikipedia)Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (11 November [O.S. 30 October] 1821 – 9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1881) was a Russian philosopher, novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and journalist.
Also in Divinity Atlas: a national of this subject.
Source Maiden of Ludmir (Wikipedia)Infobox: birth_placeQuote, Infobox: birth_place
Ludmir, Volhynia, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Also in Divinity Atlas: a national of this subject.
Source Nachman of Breslov (Wikipedia)Infobox: death_placeQuote, Infobox: death_place
Uman, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire
Sources
1. Tsar Nicholas II (World History Encyclopedia)
Mark Cartwright, World History EncyclopediaRussian Empire: Status
Ruled by the House of Romanov, which had held the Russian throne since 1613, the Empire was an absolute autocracy under its last Tsar, Nicholas II, who succeeded his father in 1894.
- Associated With: World War I
View the Source 2. Peter the Great (World History Encyclopedia)
Wikipedia: Nicholas II of Russia
WikipediaRuled By: Nicholas II of Russia, Lead section, Emperor of Russia 1894-1917Quote, Ruled By: Nicholas II of Russia, Lead section, Emperor of Russia 1894-1917
was Emperor of Russia from 1 November 1894 until his abdication in 1917
Catherine the Great (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationRuled By: Catherine the Great, Lead section (edge: ruled Russian Empire)Quote, Ruled By: Catherine the Great, Lead section (edge: ruled Russian Empire)
Catherine II (born Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 - 17 November 1796), known as Catherine the Great, was Empress of Russia from 9 July 1762 until her death in 1796.
Peter the Great (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationRuled By: Peter the Great, Lead section (edge: ruled Russian Empire)Quote, Ruled By: Peter the Great, Lead section (edge: ruled Russian Empire)
Peter I (9 June 1672 - 8 February 1725), known by the epithet the Great, was the tsar of all Russia from 1682 to 1721, and the first emperor of Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725.
Tsardom of Russia (Wikipedia)
WikipediaPreceded By: Tsardom of Russia, Lead sectionQuote, Preceded By: Tsardom of Russia, Lead section
until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721
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