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Was the successor of the Tsardom of Russia. The empire spanned from Eastern Europe to the whole northern portion of Asia (and also controlled Alaska for a period). The Russian Empire ended with the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Summary
Peter the Great's reign marked the transformation of Russia into the Russian Empire, a major European power. Subsequent czars like Catherine the Great and Alexander I continued territorial expansion and modernization efforts, but also maintained autocratic rule.
Reform and repression coexisted, as attempts at liberal reforms were often undermined by the determination to preserve autocracy. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw growing unrest, revolutionary movements, and the 1905 Revolution, which forced limited constitutional changes. The incompetent rule of Nicholas II, Russia's last czar, combined with the disastrous involvement in World War I, led to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty in the 1917 Revolution.
Establishment
November 1721: In 1721, after the victorious Northern War, Tsar Peter I was proclaimed emperor of All Russia.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of wars between Persia and Russia in the period 1651-1828.
1.1.Russo-Persian War (1722-23)
Was a war between the Russian Empire and Safavid Iran, triggered by the Tsar's attempt to expand Russian influence in the Caspian and Caucasus regions.
September 1723: The Treaty of Saint Petersburg concluded the Russo-Persian War of 1722-1723 between Imperial Russia and Safavid Iran. It ratified for Iran's forced ceding of its territories in the North Caucasus, South Caucasus, and contemporary mainland Northern Iran, comprising Derbent, Baku, the respective surrounding lands of Shirvan, as well as the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad.
June 1724: The Treaty of Constantinople (1724) concluded between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, dividing large portions of the Safavid Iran between them. Iranian lands located on the east of the conjunction of the rivers Kurosh (Kur) and Aras were given to the Russians. These comprised the provinces in northern mainland Iran (Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad), the territories in Dagestan (amongst which Derbent), as well as Baku and the territory surrounding it in the Shirvan province.
January 1726: Expansion of the Russian Empire by 1725 (based on maps).
January 1732: The Treaty of Resht was signed between the Russian Empire and Safavid Empire at Rasht on 21 January 1732. According to this treaty Russia waived its claim to any territory south of the Kura River. This included return of the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astrabad, conquered by Peter I in the early 1720s.
March 1735: The Treaty of Ganja concluded between the Russian Empire and Iran established a defensive alliance against the Ottoman Empire. The Russian government agreed to return the remaining territories in the North Caucasus and South Caucasus, including Derbend and Baku, that had been conquered by Peter I in the 1720s.
1.2.Russo-Persian War (1804-13)
Was a war between the Russian Empire and Qajar Persia over territorial disputes in the Caucasus.
April 1805: The Shuragel Sultanate, a small area at the junction of Georgia, the Yerevan Khanate and Turkey and included the militarily important town of Gyumri, wa taken.
March 1806: On 8 February 1806 Russian General Pavel Tsitsianov was murdered while accepting the surrender of Baku. He was succeeded by General Karl Heinrich von Knorring, who led the Russian forces to take control of the Baku Khanate and other territories in the region.
October 1813: By the Treaty of Gulistan Persia recognized Russian possession of all the Khanates it held and gave up all pretensions to Dagestan and Georgia.
1.3.Russo-Persian War (1826-28)
Was a military conflict between the Russian Empire and Persia over territories in southern Caucasus.
September 1826: In 1826, a 35,000-strong army led by Abbas Mirza, the Crown Prince of Persia, invaded the territories of Karabakh and Talysh.
February 1828: The Treaty of Turkmenchay was signed by Russia and Persia. The two Azerbaijani khanates of Yerevan and Nakhichevan were awarded to Russia.
Were a series of military and exploration campaigns where Russia gradually extended into the territories of northeastern Asia.
January 1726: The Tsardom of Russia expands through the colonization or voluntary entry of Asian tribes and tribal unions.
January 1748: Russian colonization of the northern areas of Altai Territory, Altai Republic, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk regions of Russia, and East Kazakhstan region.
January 1757: In 1756, the southern part of the Altai Territory, Altai Republic, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk regions of Russia, and East Kazakhstan region was annexed by the Russian Empire. This event marked the expansion of Russian territory into the Altai region.
January 1763: In 1762, Russian explorers Semyon Chelyuskin and Dmitry Ovtsyn led the colonization of the eastern part of Novaya Zemlya island. This territory was then claimed by the Russian Empire as part of their expansion into the Arctic region.
January 1771: The New Siberian Islands were colonized by the Russian Empire.
January 1783: Ainu tribal unions brought to Russian citizenship by 1782.
January 1850: Russian settlers began establishing coal mines, administration facilities, schools, and churches on the island of Sakhalin.
February 1855: In 1855, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimoda, which declared that nationals of both countries could inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clearly defined boundary between.
February 1855: Under the treaty of 1855, the South Kuriles went to Japan.
January 1868: Russian occupation of Wrangel island.
January 1874: Russian colonization of Franz Josef Land.
May 1875: The Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875) stipulated that Japan cedes to Russia the part of Sakhalin island it then owned in exchange for the group of the Kuril Islands owned by Russia. Japan thus acquired the northern Kuriles.
May 1875: The Sakhalin island remained under shared sovereignty until the signing of the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, in which Japan surrendered its claims in Sakhalin to Russia.
January 1914: Russian colonization of Emperor Nicholas II Land (today called the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago).
Were a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Domains. The conflicts started with the partition of Hungary between the Ottomans and the Habsburgs after the Battle of Mohács (1526).
3.1.Austro-Russian-Turkish War (1735-39)
Was a war mainly between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
3.1.1.Treaty of Niš
Was a treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739. Russia left most of the territories it had occupied during the war and kept only possession of the the forts of Azob and Zaporižžja.
October 1739: Russia's accession to the Treaty of Belgrade with the Peace of Nyssa (October 3, 1739) was of little benefit to Tsarina Anna. She renounced all territorial conquests made in military campaigns and only the fortresses of Azov and Zaporizhzhya passed under Russian control.
Was a war between the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden caused by the Swedish aim to regain the territories lost to Russia during the Great Northern War.
August 1743: The peace treaty signed in Turku in 1743 marked the end of the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743. The treaty resulted in Russia evacuating Finland and gaining territory from Sweden, solidifying the Russian Empire's control in the region.
Was a war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The Russian Empire was victorious and ceded territories in Ukraine to Russia. The Crimean Khanate became a Russian protectorate.
5.1.Ottoman Raids
Were a series of raids by Crimean Khan Qırım in Russian held territories in modern-day Ukraine.
January 1770: In 1769, Crimean Khan Qırım Giray invaded the Russian held territories in modern-day Ukraine, leading to the territory being occupied by Turkey. Qırım Giray was a prominent leader of the Crimean Khanate, a Turkic state that was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
February 1770: In 1769, Crimean Khan Qırım Giray invaded the Russian held territories in modern-day Ukraine. This event eventually led to the Russian Empire gaining control of the territory in 1770.
5.2.Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
Was the treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774). The Ottomans ceded territories in modern-day Ukraine to Russia, and the Crimean Khanate became a Russian protectorate.
July 1774: In 1774, as part of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, Russia gained territory between the rivers Dnieper and Southern Bug from the Ottoman Empire. The Porte renounced its claims to Kabarda in the North Caucasus. This treaty was signed by Catherine the Great of Russia and Sultan Mustafa III of the Ottoman Empire.
July 1774: In 1774, the Ottoman Empire ceded the seaports of Azov and Kerch to the Russian Empire as part of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. This treaty was signed by representatives of the Ottoman Empire and Russia, marking a significant shift in power dynamics in the region.
July 1774: In 1774, as part of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, Russia gained territory between the rivers Dnieper and Southern Bug from the Ottoman Empire. The Porte, referring to the Ottoman Empire, renounced its claims to Kabarda in the North Caucasus. This treaty was signed by Catherine the Great of Russia and Sultan Abdul Hamid I of the Ottoman Empire.
Was a war between Sweden and Russia.
July 1788: The storm of Nyslott by surprise ended in a siege led by Russian military commander Alexander Suvorov against the Swedish fortress of Nyslott in 1788. The siege resulted in the territory falling under Swedish military occupation.
July 1788: General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt's 4,000 men were to support the coastal fleet's capture of Frederikshamn and crossed the border on 18 July.
July 1788: The Swedish reached a staging ground just north of Frederikshamn.
August 1788: The landings were successful, some 10 km south-east of the town, and by the evening Swedish forces were advancing towards Frederikshamn.
August 1788: The siege of Nyslott had to be abandoned on 21 August 1788. The Swedish commander, Carl Olof Cronstedt, was forced to surrender the fortress to the Russian Empire after a prolonged siege during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790.
August 1788: In 1788, King Gustav III of Sweden ordered a retreat from all territories occupied in Russia due to the threat of war from Denmark-Norway. The Swedish forces, led by Field Marshal Johan Christopher Toll, withdrew and the territories were ceded to the Russian Empire on August 25th.
June 1789: The Swedes won a resounding victory at Utti.
July 1789: By 18 July the Swedish army cleared the Russian defences of Frederikshamn.
July 1789: Small Swedish detachments (roughly 2,000 men) sent to stop the Russians were defeated at Kaipiainen and the Swedish army decided to withdraw from Russian territory.
April 1790: Swedes led by Colonel Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt defeated Russian defenders on 15 April in southern Savolax.
August 1790: The Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790 was ended by the Treaty of Värälä, resulting in the return to the status quo ante bellum.
Was an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to the Russian Empire in the course of the previous Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774).
7.1.Treaty of Jassy
Was the treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792).
January 1792: The Treaty of Jassy was signed on 9 January 1792 by the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, recognizing Russia's 1783 annexation of the Crimean Khanate. Yedisan (Odessa and Ochakov) was also ceded to Russia.
Was a war fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservative nobility of the Commonwealth opposed to the new Constitution of 3 May 1791) and the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great on the other.
8.1.Second Partition of Poland
The second of three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth happened in the aftermath of the Polish-Russian War of 1792. Polish-Lithuanian territories were acquired by Prussia and Russia.
January 1793: Russian and Prussian troops entered the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth again and the Second Partition was signed on January 23, 1793. Austria did not participate in the Second Partition.
January 1793: Russian and Prussian troops entered the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania again and the Second Partition was signed on January 23, 1793. Austria did not participate in the Second Partition.
8.2.First Partition of Poland
Was the first of the three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the time the country was occupied by Russia. The first partition saw Polish-Lithuanian territories taken by Austria, Russia and Prussia.
8.3.Third Partition of Poland
Was the third an final partition of Poland-Lithuania whose immediate reason was the Kościuszko Uprising against Prussia and Russia. The Polish-Lithuanian remaining territories were partitioned between the Habsburg Monarchy, Prussia and Russia. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist.
Was the slow colonization of Japanese archipelago by the ethnically Yamato Japanese state.
January 1801: Expansion of the Japanese Empire in the Japanese Archipelago by 1800 AD.
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
January 1807: French occupation of Jever.
10.1.War of the Fourth Coalition
Was a war between the French Empire and a coalition of European monarchies, mainly Prussia and Russia.
10.1.1.Peace of Tilsit
Were a series of treaties that ended the War of the Fourth Coalition.
July 1807: The second of the Treaties of Tilsit was signed by France with Prussia on 9 July 1807. It awarded the left bank of the Elbe to the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia. In addition, Białystok was given to Russia (which led to the creation of the Belostok Oblast).
July 1807: Towards the end of 1806, the French entered Poland and Napoleon created a new Duchy of Warsaw.
10.2.Finnish War
Was a war between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire fought during the Napoleonic Wars. Sweden lost Finland, which became the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire.
10.2.1.Treaty of Fredrikshamn
The Treaty of Fredrikshamn or the Treaty of Hamina was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Russia on 17 September 1809 that ended the Finnish War. Sweden ceded the whole of Finland and all of its domains east of the Torne River to Russia.
September 1809: The Treaty of Fredrikshamn or the Treaty of Hamina was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Russia on 17 September 1809. Sweden ceded the whole of Finland and all of its domains east of the Torne River (the north-eastern parts of what was then called Västerbotten, today Norrbottens län) to Russia. Sweden then joined the Continental System and closed its harbours to British ships.
10.3.War of the Fifth Coalition
Was a conflict between a colition of European monarchies and Napoleon's French Empire.
10.3.1.Treaty of Schönbrunn
Was the treaty that ended the War of the Fifth Coalition.
October 1809: The Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna. Austria lost its access to the Adriatic Sea by waiving the Littoral territories of Gorizia and Gradisca and the Imperial Free City of Trieste, together with Carniola, the March of Istria, western ("Upper") Carinthia with East Tyrol, and the Croatian lands southwest of the river Sava to the French Empire (Illyrian provinces).
10.4.French invasion of Russia
Was a French military campaign in Russia. It was launched by Napoleon to force the Russian Empire back into the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. The campaign proved unsuccesful, and the French Army suffered heavy losses.
June 1812: The 25th of June 1812 found Napoleon Bonaparte's group advancing past the bridge head with Marshal Ney's command approaching the existing crossings at Alexioten in Lithuania during the French military occupation.
June 1812: On June the 28th Napoleon entered Vilnius.
June 1812: Jerome Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, moved VII Corps to Białystok.
June 1812: Eugene de Beauharnais, the stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte and Viceroy of Italy, crossed at Prenn on June 30.
August 1812: Following a defeat at Smolensk on August 16-18, Napoleon Bonaparte continued his move east during the French invasion of Russia in 1812. The Battle of Smolensk was a key engagement between the French forces and the Russian army led by General Mikhail Kutuzov.
September 1812: The Battle of Borodino took place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. It was fought between the French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and the Russian army commanded by General Mikhail Kutuzov. The battle resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, with neither emerging as a clear victor.
September 1812: The Battle of Borodino, was the largest and bloodiest battle of the French Campaign in Russia.
September 1812: Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military leader and emperor, moved into Moscow in 1812 during the French invasion of Russia. This marked the beginning of the French military occupation of the city during the Napoleonic Wars.
October 1812: The Second Battle of Polotsk was fought between the French army and the Russian army.
November 1812: Battle of Vyazma.
November 1812: Battle of Krasnoi (Krasny) (November 15 to 18, 1812).
December 1812: The last French troops left Russian soil.
10.5.War of the Sixth Coalition
Was a war between France and a a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States. The coalition emerged after the decimation of the French army in the French invasion of Russia. The coalition ultimately invaded France and forced Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile.
January 1814: Ostfriesland is annexed by Russia.
10.5.1.Treaty of Paris (1814)
Was the treaty that ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
May 1814: Jever is occupied by Russia.
10.6.Congress of Vienna
Was a series of international diplomatic meetings after the end of the Napoleonic wars whose aim was a long-term peace plan for Europe. It redraw the borders of Europe and partially restored the Monarchies of the pre-revolutionary period.
June 1815: Lingen fell to Hanover with the Congress of Vienna.
June 1815: The Austrian Empire receives the Tarnopol district from Russia.
June 1815: After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the territory of Nain went to the Kingdom of Prussia, specifically outside the German Confederation. This decision was made by the European powers to reorganize the political landscape of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars.
Was a war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
11.1.Treaty of Bucharest
The Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, was signed on 28 May 1812 at the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-12. The eastern half of the Principality of Moldavia was ceded by the Ottoman Empire to Russia.
July 1812: The Ottoman Empire regained Poti, Anapa and Akhalkalali. Russia retained Sukhum-Kale on the Abkhazian coast.
July 1812: The Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, was signed on 28 May 1812, in Manuc's Inn in Bucharest, and ratified on 5 July 1812, at the end of the Russo-Turkish War. The eastern half of the Principality of Moldavia, between Prut and Dniester Rivers, with an area of 45,630 km2 (Bessarabia), was ceded by the Ottoman Empire (to which Moldavia was a vassal) to Russia.
Was a series of Russian military expeditions into northern Caucasus that resulted in the inglobation of this region in the Russian Empire.
January 1818: Russian troops under Yermolov conquered the flat northern Chechnya and founded the Grozny fortress.
January 1826: Kabardia was dissolved in 1825 and annexed directly to Russia.
January 1831: From 1818 to 1830, the Russian army under Ermolov and his successor as viceroy and field marshal, Count Paskevich, succeeded in taking eastern Dagestan.
January 1859: In 1858, the principality of Svaneti was abolished and converted into a district administered by a Russian-appointed officer (pristav).
January 1860: After a series of defeats, the resistance of the Murids in the east of the North Caucasus finally ended in 1859 with the capture of Imam Shamil.
January 1860: In 1859 after the death of Aglar-khan, the Gazikumukh Khanate was abolished "due to absence of heir", although there was such heir: Jafar-bek, son of Aglar-khan, who was still young. The territory of Khanate annexed to Russia as the Gazikumukh District.
January 1860: Russian forces conquered the Circassian territories from the Taman Peninsula to the hills and mountains south of the Kuban.
December 1864: The autonomy of Abkhazia, which had functioned as a pro-Russian "buffer zone" in this troublesome region, was no more needed to the Tsarist government and the rule of the Shervashidze came to an end. In November 1864, Prince Michael was forced to renounce his rights and resettle in Voronezh. Abkhazia was incorporated in the Russian Empire.
January 1865: Russian occupation of Circassia.
January 1865: This Caucasian War raged until 1864, when the Avar Khanate was abolished and the Avar District was instituted instead.
June 1865: Tashkent was taken by the Russian troops.
January 1867: The principality of Mingrelia ultimately came to an end when Prince Niko Dadiani was deposed, and the principality abolished, by Russia in 1867.
January 1868: In 1867 the feudal domain of the Shamkhalate of Tarki was abolished, and on its territory Temir-Khan-Shura district of Dagestan oblast was established.
Was a war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. War broke out after the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II closed the Dardanelles to Russian ships because Russia had supported the revolutionaries of the Greek War of Independency.
13.1.Caucasus front of the Russo-Turkish War (1828-29)
Was the Caucasian theatre of the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829).
February 1829: In 1829, Akhmet Beg of Hulo, a prominent Ottoman military leader, along with 15000 Lazes and Adjars, captured the town of Akhaltsikhe. This event marked the territory of Akhaltsikhe falling under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
13.2.Treaty of Adrianople (1829)
Was the treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829).
September 1829: The Ottoman Empire gave Russia access to the mouths of the Danube and the fortresses of Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki in Georgia. The Sultan recognized Russia's possession of Georgia (with Imeretia, Mingrelia, Guria) and of the Khanates of Erivan and Nakhichevan which had been ceded to the tsar by Persia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay a year earlier.
Was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire.
March 1832: The Russian Emperor Nicholas I decreed that henceforth Russian-occupied Poland would lose its autonomy and become an integral part of the Russian Empire. The Organic Statute of the Kingdom of Poland replaced the personal union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Russian Empire with the "eternal incorporation" of Poland into Russia.
Was a war between Russia and an alliance comprising the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sardinia.
15.1.Danube campaign (Crimean War)
Was the Danubian theatre of the Crimean War.
March 1856: Moldavia and Walachia (Romania) were recognized as quasi-independent states under Ottoman suzerainty. They gained the left bank of the mouth of the Danube and part of Bessarabia from Russia.
15.2.Caucasus theatre (Crimean War)
Was the Caucasian theatre of the Crimean War.
November 1853: In 1853, during the Crimean War, the Turks, led by Ottoman military leader Omar Pasha, advanced towards Akhaltsike in Georgia, threatening the Russian forces stationed there. The Turks were waiting for reinforcements to launch an attack on the Russian-held territory.
December 1853: In 1853, during the Crimean War, about 30,000 Ottoman troops, led by Omar Pasha and Mehmed Ali Pasha, retreated east to the main Russian concentration at Gyumri (Alexandropol). The territory was under Turkish military occupation at the time.
November 1855: Ottoman field marshal Omar Pasha crossed the Ingur River on 7 November.
November 1855: Kars surrendered to Russian forces on 8 November.
March 1856: The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between the Russian Empire: it restored the respective territories of the Russian and the Ottoman Empires to their prewar boundaries, with the exception of southern Bessarabia which was lost by Russia to the Ottoman Empire.
15.3.Black Sea theatre
Was the Black Sea theatre of the Crimean War.
September 1854: Anchoring on 13 September in the bay of Eupatoria, the town surrendered and 500 marines landed to occupy it.
September 1854: The ships then sailed east to make the landing of the allied expeditionary force on the sandy beaches of Calamita Bay on the south west coast of the Crimean Peninsula.
September 1854: The allies advanced and on the morning of 20 September came up to the River Alma and engaged the Russian army.
September 1854: The whole army began to march southeast and encircled the city from the south, after establishing port facilities at Balaclava for the British and at Kamiesch.
June 1855: In May 1855, the allies successfully invaded Kerch.
September 1855: Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855).
October 1855: Battle of Kinburn. Russian defeat. The Russians handed over Kinburn Fort to the Anglo-French.
15.4.Treaty of Paris (1856)
The Treaty of Paris of 1856 ended the Crimean War.
A period (1839-1949) of foregin interventions in China resulting in the occupation, conquest or lease of large territories by foregin countries.
16.1.Opium Wars
Were two wars between Qing China and the Western powers. The first war was caused by the Chinese prohibition against opium trafficking by British merchants, and the conflicts took their name from this fact.
16.1.1.Second Opium War
Was a war that saw the Qing Dynasty fighting against the French and British Empires.
16.1.1.1.Treaty of Aigun
On 28 May 1858, the treaty of Aigun was signed between China and Russia to revise the Chinese and Russian border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River.
May 1858: On 28 May 1858, the Treaty of Aigun was signed by China and Russia to revise the border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River.
16.1.1.2.Convention of Peking
Was an agreement comprising three distinct treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire. It was signed at the end of the Second Opium War.
October 1860: In 1860, with the Treaty of Beijing, the Russians annexed the Pacific coast down to Vladivostok.
16.2.Concessions in China
During the XIX and XX century China was forced into treaties with foreign powers that established concessions (factually enclaves) in its territory.
December 1897: Establishment of Russian Dalian.
16.3.Sino-Japanese Wars
Were two major wars between China and Japan in the XIX and XX centuries.
16.3.1.First Sino-Japanese War
Was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea.
16.3.1.1.Triple Intervention
Was a diplomatic intervention by Russia, Germany, and France on 23 April 1895 over the harsh terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki imposed by Japan on the Qing dynasty of China that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.
April 1895: The ceding of Liaodong peninsula was rescinded after the Triple Intervention of 23 April 1895 by Russia, France and Germany. In the aftermath of this intervention, the Russian government pressured the Qing dynasty to lease Liaodong and the strategically important Lüshunkou (Port Arthur) for use by the Russian Navy.
Were a series of intermittent skirmishes between the Qing dynasty of China and the Tsardom of Russia in which the latter tried and failed to gain the land north of the Amur River.
Was a war between Russia and the Khanate of Khiva that resulted in the Russian conquest of the latter.
August 1873: Russian conquest of the Khanate of Khiva.
August 1873: Russian conquest of Khivan Khanate: part was directly inglobated into Russia.
Was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire, and including Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro.
19.1.Treaty of Berlin
The Congress of Berlin (13 June - 13 July 1878) was a meeting of the representatives of the era's six great powers in Europe (Russia, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany), the Ottoman Empire and four Balkan states (Greece, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro). It aimed at determining the territories of the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 and came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, which replaced the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano. The treaty formally recognized the independence of the de facto sovereign principalities of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro.
July 1878: Romania was forced to cede southern Bessarabia to the Russian Empire.
July 1878: The Treaty of Berlin confirmed most of the Russian gains from the Ottoman Empire specified in the Treaty of San Stefan, but the valley of Alashkerd and the town of Bayazid were returned to the Ottomans.
Was a treaty between the Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty that provided for the return to China of the eastern part of the Ili Basin region which had been occupied by Russia since 1871 during the Dungan Revolt.
February 1881: In 1881, the eastern part of the Ili Basin region, Zhetysu, was returned to the Qing Dynasty of China. This decision was made as part of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, signed by Russian diplomat Nikolay Ignatiev and Chinese statesman Li Hongzhang.
Was a war between the Japanese Empire and the Russian Empire over the control of Manchuria and Korea.
21.1.Invasion of Sakhalin
Was the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin during the Russo-Japanese War.
July 1905: Japanese forces landed between Aniva and Korsakov.
July 1905: The Japanese occupied Korsakov.
July 1905: Japanese forces took the village of Vladimirovka (present-day Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk).
July 1905: A Japanese detachment landed at Cape Notoro.
July 1905: Russian Colonel Arciszewski dug in to resist the Japanese, but was outflanked and forced to flee into the mountainous interior of Sakalin island. He surrendered with his remaining men on 16 July.
July 1905: The Japanese landed in northern Sakhalin near Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinski. Because of the numerical and material superiority of the Japanese, the Russians withdrew from the city.
July 1905: All the Russian forces in Sakhalin Island surrendered to the Japanese.
21.2.Treaty of Portsmouth
The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. Manchuria was given back to Qing China. The southern portion of Sakhalin island was gained by Japan.
September 1905: The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. Russia had to cede the south of the island of Sakhalin to Japan. Japanese forces evacuated the remaining occupied territories of Russia.
Were two wars fought in southeastern Europe in 1912-1913 during which the states of the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia) first conquered Macedonia and much of Thrace from the Ottomans and then clashed with each other over the division of the conquered lands.
22.1.Second Balkan War
Was a war fought by Bulgary against a coalition of Balkan states. During the First Balkan War the Balkan League had conquered most of the Ottoman Balkan territories. Bulgaria was dissatisfied by the territorial partition and invaded its former allies.
22.1.1.Treaty of Bucarest
Was the treaty that ended the Second Balkan War.
August 1913: The European borders of Turkey were set with the Treaty of Bucarest that ended the Second Balkan War.
Was a global conflict between two coalitions, the Allies (primarily France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States) and the Central Powers (led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). It was mainly caused by the competition of the western countries over domain in Europe and in the rest of the world with their colonial empires. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war also caused the Russian Revolution and the ensuing Russian Civil War.
23.1.World War I eastern Front
Was the theatre of war in eastern Europe during World War I.
February 1915: Russian advancement on the Eastern front by 7th February.
September 1917: The Germans attacked and captured Riga.
23.1.1.Russian invasion of East Prussia
Was the Russian invasion of East Prussia in the early phases of World War I.
September 1914: Part of Russia on the border with East Prussia invaded by German forces.
23.1.2.Battle of Galicia
Was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I. The Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and forced out of Galicia.
August 1914: The Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under Viktor Dankl moved in the north towards Lublin. Battle of Kraśnik.
August 1914: Battle of Komarow.
September 1914: Avancement into Galica by Russia.
November 1914: Front at the Battle of Lodz.
December 1914: After the battle of Lodz in 1914, the Eastern Front of World War I stabilized between the cities of Lodz and Warsaw.
23.1.3.Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915.
February 1915: German advance in Prussia with the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes.
23.1.4.Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive
The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I was initially conceived as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the Central Powers' chief offensive effort of 1915, causing the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia.
May 1915: The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I was initially conceived as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the Central Powers' chief offensive effort of 1915, causing the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia.
June 1915: Border changes during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive.
July 1915: Border changes during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive.
August 1915: Border changes during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive.
September 1915: Border changes during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive.
23.1.5.Brusilov Offensive
Was a major Russian offensive against the Central Powers during World War I.
June 1916: Russian conquests of the Brusilov Offensive.
July 1916: Russian conquests of the Brusilov Offensive.
September 1916: Russian conquests of the Brusilov Offensive.
23.1.6.Romania during World War I
Romanian theatre of World War I.
February 1917: With the Romanian Army in full control, on 24 January/6 February, the Moldavian Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence.
23.1.7.Kerensky Offensive
Was the last Russian offensive of World War I. Starting on July 1, 1917 the Russian troops attacked the Austro-Germans in Galicia, pushing toward Lviv.
July 1917: The Russian line collapsed altogether by July 16. On the 18th the Austro-Germans counterattacked, meeting little resistance and advancing through Galicia and Ukraine until the Zbruch River.
23.2.World War I Middle East Theatre
Was the theatre of war in the Middle East during World War I.
23.2.1.Caucasus campaign (World War I)
Was an armed conflict mainly between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus area during World War I.
23.2.1.1.Russian Conquest of Armenia
Was the Russin offensive in Armenia during World War I.
December 1914: At the Battle of Ardahan, the city was captured by the Turks.
23.2.2.Persian Campaign
Was a series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire, British Empire and Russian Empire in Iran during World War I.
March 1915: The Russians evacuated the city of Dilman.
February 1916: On February 26, 1916, the Russians defeated the Ottoman gendarmes, who were forced to retreat to Qasr-e-Shirin province.
Was a Civil War in Russia that involved varios factions but mainly the Bolsheviks and the conservative White Army in the core Russian territories, as well as a multitude of local secessionist states. At the end of war the Bolsheviks were victorious and established the Soviet Union.
September 1917: Russia is declared a republic.
24.1.Pro-independence movements in the Russian Civil War
Local independence movement caused several secessions and revolts during the Russian Civil War.
24.1.1.Pro-independence and White movements in the Caucasus during the Russian Civil War
Were a series of revolts and secessions in the Caucasus during the Russian Civil War.
April 1917: The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus broke away from the Russian Empire during the February Revolution, shortly before the start of the Russian Civil War.
24.1.2.Pro-independence and White movements in the Russian Far East during the Russian Civil War
Were a series of revolts and secessions in the Russian Far East during the Russian Civil War.
April 1917: The State of Buryat-Mongolia was established according to the decision of the first All-Buryat congress.
24.1.3.Pro-independence movements in the Kuban region during the Russian Civil War
Were a series of revolts and secessions in the Kuban Region during the Russian Civil War.
May 1917: After the February Revolution, in April 1917 the Kuban Rada, proclaimed itself as the supreme administration of the Kuban Oblast.
January 1726: Expansion of the Russian Empire by 1725 (based on maps).
January 1727: The Quba Khanate was one of the most significant semi-independent khanate that existed from 1726 to 1806, under Iranian suzerainty.
June 1728: The treaty of Kyakhta was signed in 1728 between the Russian Empire and the Qing Dynasty of China. It established the border between the two empires in Mongolia up to the present-day Russia-Mongolia border.
January 1730: Foundation of the Salyan Sultanate.
January 1762: Territorial expansion of Russia by 1761.
November 1764: After a failed attempt to break the union with Russia by Ivan Mazepa in 1708, the whole area was included into the Government of Kiev and Cossack autonomy was severely restricted. Catherine II of Russia officially abolished the institute of the Hetman in 1764.
January 1772: The Kalmyk Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1771.
January 1794: Jever is annexed to Russia.
March 1795: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Poland-Lithuania) was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland.
January 1801: Manchu Expansion by 1800.
September 1801: Paul issued a decree on December 18, 1800 annexing Kartli-Kakheti to Russia and deposing the Bagratids. Paul himself was assassinated shortly thereafter. It is said that his successor, Emperor Alexander I, considered retracting the annexation in favor of a Bagratid heir, but being unable to identify one likely to retain the crown, on September 12, 1801 Alexander proceeded to confirm annexation.
January 1806: In 1805 the Russian imperial government officially abolished the khanate and the military district of Elisabethpol was created.
October 1809: The Tarnopolsky District of Austria within the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was cquired by Russia under an agreement.
February 1810: Russia annexes Imereti.
January 1811: In 1810, Russian General Aleksey Yermolov led the campaign to impose Russian authority on the Ingush people in Ingushia.
January 1814: In 1813 Tabasaran was finally annexed to the Russian Empire.
January 1819: After the withdrawal of the Napoleonic troops, Russia regained its rights over Jever in 1813, but ceded the rule of Jever to the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg in 1818.
January 1820: In 1819, Shaki Khanate was officially abolished and transformed into a Russian province.
January 1820: When Ismail, the khan of Shaki, died in 1819 without any heir, the Russian Empire annexed the entity.
January 1823: The Karabakh Khanate was abolished in 1822, after a few years of Russian tolerance towards its Muslim rulers.
January 1826: Expansion of Russia in central Asia by 1825 (based on maps).
May 1826: Demarcation of the border between Russia and Norway. Most of the Nyavdemsky and Pazretsky graveyards ceded by Russia to Norway.
January 1827: After the death of Khan Mir Hasan in 1826, the Talysh Khanate was dissolved.
January 1828: Russia expands into the current regions of Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia through treaties with locals and voluntary entries of local tribes.
February 1828: The Erivan Khanate is ceded to the Russian Empire in 1828 in accordance with the Treaty of Turkmenchay.
February 1828: With the Treaty of Turkmenchay, in 1828 the khanate became a Russian possession.
November 1828: The territories corresponding to modern-day Krasnodar Territory and Karachay-Cherkess Republic become part of the Russian Empire.
January 1829: The Caucasian Imamate was founded in 1828 by Ghazi Mohammed by merging several areas that where still ummune of Russian control in the region.
September 1829: The Russian authorities deposed David and forced Sophia into exile to Turkey. Guria was annexed to the Russian Empire.
January 1831: Kabardia came under Russian control between about 1769 and 1830.
January 1845: The Russians took Elisu and abolished the Sultanate of Elisu.
January 1847: The Quba Khanate was fully incorporated into newly created Shamakha Governorate by 1846.
January 1849: Between 1822 and 1848, the loose Russian protectorate over the Khazakh Khanate was replaced by direct administration.
January 1856: Expansion of Russia by 1855 (based on maps).
October 1864: The Treaty of Tarbagatai was a border protocol between Qing China and the Russian Empire that defined most of the western extent of their border in central Asia, between Outer Mongolia and the Khanate of Kokand.
January 1872: The Ili Sultanate was annexed by the Russian Empire.
February 1876: Nasruddin Khan's anti-Russian stance provoked the annexation of Kokand.
January 1885: Nomadic tribes of the Turkmens were brought into Russian citizenship.
January 1895: Expansion of the Russian Empire by 1894 (based on maps).
January 1895: Expansion of the Sultanate of Aceh by 1630.
January 1896: The easternmost section of the Afghan border (now forming part of the Afghan-Tajik boundary) was not finally delimited until 1893-95, with the Afghans agreeing to waive any claims to lands north the Amu Darya.
January 1896: Tribal unions of Tajiks in modern-day Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Okrug of Tajikistan are annexed by the Russian Empire.
January 1903: An insurgent community existed between 1902 and 1906 in the western Georgian region of Guria.
January 1907: Russian authorities returned with overwhelming military force to re-assert control over the Gurian Republic in 1906.
Disestablishment
February 1917: With the Romanian Army in full control, on 24 January/6 February, the Moldavian Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence.
April 1917: The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus broke away from the Russian Empire during the February Revolution, shortly before the start of the Russian Civil War.
April 1917: The State of Buryat-Mongolia was established according to the decision of the first All-Buryat congress.
May 1917: After the February Revolution, in April 1917 the Kuban Rada, proclaimed itself as the supreme administration of the Kuban Oblast.
July 1917: The Russian line collapsed altogether by July 16. On the 18th the Austro-Germans counterattacked, meeting little resistance and advancing through Galicia and Ukraine until the Zbruch River.
September 1917: The Germans attacked and captured Riga.
September 1917: Russia is declared a republic.
Selected Sources
La conquête de l'archipel par les Japonais, larousse.fr. Retrieved on February 16th, 2021 on https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/images/La_conqu%C3%AAte_de_larchipel_par_les_Japonais/1011363
Li, M.L. (2012): The Garden of perfect brightness - 1 The Yuanmingyuan as Imperial Paradise (1700-1860). Massachusetts Institue of Technology. Retrieved on 7 April on https://visualizingcultures.mit.edu/garden_perfect_brightness/ymy1_essay01.html
The Brusilov Offensive, 1 May - 20 September 1916. United States Military Academy West Point. Retrieved on March, 26th, 2024 on https://www.westpoint.edu/sites/default/files/inline-images/academics/academic_departments/history/WWI/WWOne35.jpg
Treaty of Paris (1856), https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10557776?page=,1
Tucker, S. C. (2011): A Global Chronology Of Conflict, London (UK), p. 965
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.296
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.330
Russian Empire
