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==History==
===Kievan Rus and the Grand Duchy of Moscow=== ▼The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. The medieval state of Rus' arose in the 9th century. In 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus' ultimately disintegrated until it was finally reunified by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 15th century. ▼
=== Early Russian History ===
In development of the Third Rome ideas, the Grand Duke Ivan IV "the Terrible" was officially crowned first ''Tsar'' of Russia in 1547. The ''Tsar'' promulgated a new code of laws, established the first Russian feudal representative body, curbed the influence of the clergy, and introduced local self-management in rural regions. During his long reign, Ivan the Terrible nearly doubled the already large Russian territory by annexing the three Tatar khanates (parts of the disintegrated Golden Horde): Kazan and Astrakhan along the Volga, and the Siberian Khanate in southwestern Siberia. Thus, by the end of the 16th century, Russia expanded east of the Ural Mountains, thus east of Europe, and into Asia, being transformed into a transcontinental state. In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonization of the huge territories of Siberia was led mostly by Cossacks hunting for valuable furs and ivory. Russian explorers pushed eastward primarily along the Siberian River Routes, and by the mid-17th century, there were Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. ▼▲====Kievan Rus and the Grand Duchy of Moscow ====
▲The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. The medieval state of Rus' arose in the 9th century. In 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus' ultimately disintegrated until it was finally reunified by the Grand Duchy of Moscow finally reunified it in the 15th century.
▲====Tsardom of Russia ====
▲In development of the Third Rome ideas, the Grand Duke Ivan IV "the Terrible" was officially crowned the first ''Tsar'' of Russia in 1547. The ''Tsar'' promulgated a new code of laws, established the first Russian feudal representative body, curbed the influence of the clergy, and introduced local self-management in rural regions. During his long reign, Ivan the Terrible nearly doubled the already large Russian territory during his long reign by annexing the three Tatar khanates (parts of the disintegrated Golden Horde): Kazan and Astrakhan along the Volga , and the Siberian Khanate in southwestern Siberia. Thus, by the end of the 16th century, Russia expanded east of the Ural Mountains, thus east of Europe, and into Asia, being transformed into a transcontinental state. In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonization of the hugevast territories of Siberia waswere ledprimarily mostlyled by Cossacks hunting for valuable furs and ivory. Russian explorers pushed eastward primarily along the Siberian River Routes ,. and byBy the mid-17th century, there were Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
=== Imperial Russia ===
==== Russian Colonization of Alyeska ====
{{Main|Alyeska}}
Russia was the first European power to explore and settle the far northeast of North America. In 1788, the private Kurile Island Company, originally founded initially to explore the business opportunities in the Kurile Islands, was given by the Russian Czar aTsar permission to explore the region of what is now modern-day Alaska[[Alyeska]]. A few years later, the czartsar proclaimed the Ukase of 1790, which detailed the initial claims of Russia on the American continent. The Kurile Island Company was given a charter to the Aleutian Islands and eventually other parts of Alaska. Russians tried to settle Kolchak island in the south of their claimed land with the Port Alexander colony (1816 - 1832). However, the Russians eventually relinquished much of their claims in North America in the Russo-Dutch Treaty of 1832.
Russians tried, unsuccessfully, the settle Kolchak island in the south of their claimed land with the Port Alexander colony (1816 - 1832). Eventually the Russians relinquished much of their claimed land in North America in the the Russo-Dutch Treaty of 1832. The restpart ofthat theirthey claimedretained, Alyeskan landAlyeska, was a mostly forgotten about colony and a backwatersbackwater for much of the 19th century, with a revolving door of colonization companies trying to find a way to make profit from the region. ThenNevertheless, in the 1870s, after realizing the geopolitical importance of Alyeska to Russian interests, the Tsar founded and granted a monopolistic charter to the Russian Pacific Company to oversee the colonization and management of the territory. Since the company was state-funded, the Russian Pacific Company was able to pour more development into Alyeska than its private company predecessors. In the 1890s, gold was discovered in the Alyeskan territory. This resulted in an influx of immigrants from Russia and East Asia to Alyeska.
==== The Russian Succession Crisis & Modernization period ====
After the death of the Russian tsar Alexander III in 1867, thisthe heir and eldest male dynast, Ivan, was setexpected to inherit the Russian throne. Ivan atAt the time of his father's death, Ivan had been bedridden for over a year,. He was extremely sicklysick and knownwas asexpected to be an incompetent leader, with Russian newspapers mocking his appearance and perceived inability to rule. Previous toBefore the death of the CzarTsar, Alexander III, as a way to gain influence in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, appointed a Dutch prince of House Oranje, Henry-Williams, as his chief naval reformer (additionally the husband of the CzarTsar's niece). Over the 1860's Henry-Williams (the cousin of the current Dutch King) became wildly popular in Russia because of his success in modernizing the navy as well asand his adaptation and promotion of Russian culture. He was a frequent subject of interest in the press, had strong ties to the Russian elites, and became a great patron of Russian literature. He studied the language and could speak in fluent Russian (as well as Ukrainian and Polish) and even converted to orthodox Christianity and was baptized with a Slavic name.
After being urged by his wife and other members of the Russian court, Henry-Williams claimed the throne, which kicked off the Russian-Succession Crisis and a the Russian War of Succession. After only 8eight months of fighting (with the Dutch supporting Henry-Williams' clamancyclaim) the war was over, and Henry-Williams was declared Emperor and CzarTsar of Russia. This was possible due to the Henry-Williams naval and military contacts in Russia, his support amongst the people, and of course support infrom the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As a way toTo gain additionallyadditional legitimacy and in order to appease conservative members of the royal family, Henry-Williams and his wife (the niece of the late czartsar) both ruled as co-emperors, and in 1868 the new czartsar and czarinatsarina startstarted their reign.
Being a past naval reformer, Henry-Williams, the new tsar, being a past naval reformer, shifted his focus to the expansion of Russia's influence in the pacific and the growing wealth and geostrategic position that could be found in a pacific empire. OneHe believed one of the early steps to a Russian pacific empire he believed, was to create a Trans-Siberian railway to connect the Muscovite region to the Russian Pacific ports.
==== Russo-Ottoman War (1884 - 1885) ====
During the late 19th century, Russia slowly strengthened it'sits economic and military power due to the reforms in 1870'sthe 1870s. In addition to this, the Russian realized the weakness of Ottoman control in the Balkans and Crimea. After a series of revolts in the Balkans were put down harshly by Ottoman forces, Russia pledged support for independence movements in Serbia and Romania. This led to Russia retaking Crimea, Wallachia, Moldavia, Serbia gaining independence. Austria, who joined the war late, also annexed the upper leftnorthwestern tip of the ottomanOttoman territory (but were promised more but didn't receive it from Russia, which started strainingstrained Russo-Austrian relations for a while).
==== The Great Game ====
Beginning in the 1840's Russia and Britain started to compete for influence in Central Asia, with the British believing that without countering Russian ambitions in the region, the Raj could eventually be at risk forof invasion. This led to a military build -up as well asand increasingincreased conflict over alliances with Afghanistan, Persia, and the Chinese nations. By 1893 tensions havehad simmered down. and theThe great game was ended with the creation of [[Serindia]] as a Buffer state between Russian and the British Raj, and the demilitarization of the border with the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
====Russian Colonization of Oceania====
===The Russian Revolution & Republican Civil War===
In the 1920's1920s, the European Economic Crisis and it'sits lead -up hit Russia especially hard. In 1922, a series of crop failures along withand poor financial decisions made by the Russian imperial authorities caused a financial crisis known as the Russian depression (part of the extended European economic crisis of 1922 - 1928). During the depression, massive famines in the Ukraine and the Don Kuban region sent thousands of refugees north towards urban centers such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev, which ledleading to food riots, strikes, and crackdowns by imperial authorities. Around every large city in Russia, large shanty townsshantytowns, informally known as "CzartownsTsartowns," started popping up; these shantytowns were overcrowded, and disease outbreaks were common in them. During this time period, anti-elite, anti-czartsar, and pro-republican sentiments started to growgrew throughout the Russian empire. In 1923, the Russian Republican Congress (the largest republican organization in Russia at the time, also known as the R.R.C.) had over a million members in the Muscovite region alone. By the winter of 1925, the situation in Russia rapidly deteriorated, with most citizens believing that the CzarTsar mishandled the economic crisis and exacerbated the famines in the rural south through poor economic policy. Additionally, there was an outrage at the continued opulence of the CzarTzar, CzarinaTsarina, and nobilities lifestyles while so many of the lower classes starved.
==== Storming of the Winter Palace & the Birth of Republican Russia ====
On December 3rd, the winter palace was surrounded by a bread riot that swept through Moscow, and after 6 hours of rioting, the Winter palace wasprotestors stormed by the protestorsWinter Palace. The nobility left the previous day to St. Petersburg (but afterupon hearing of the storming of the palace, left tofor Britain). After 2two days of further agitation and the break downbreakdown of imperial civil control in Russia, the Russian Republican Congress declared the first Russian Republic and the end of imperial rule. The imperial military afterAfter a week of tension with the new government, the imperial military reluctantly agreed to back the new government.
For the first month of it'sits existence, the new Republic was struckstuck in a deadlock between the two major factions in government, the liberal republicans and the nationalist republicans. Additionally, after the CzarTsar fled, many non -Russian regions of the empire declared independence, while the Russian military acted mostly autonomously from the Republics congress. In February of 1926, after the first wave of elections was marred with controversy. theThe Nationalist Republicans walked out of congress and started to conspire to overthrow the liberal-republican -dominated congress. The nextfollowing week after a series of negotiations with the military (led by General Mikhail Orlov) and the leaders of the Cossacks, the newly reformed Nationalist Republican faction now known as the 'Russian National Congress' declared the Russian Republican Congress illegitimate.
==== Russian Civil War ====
The Russian Republican Congress reacted harshly to the National Congresses declaration and started to raiseraised militias from loyalist cities and regions. By March of 1926 the country was spilt between, the Liberal Russian Republic wouldrelied reliedonly on a decentralized system of militias with dubious loyalties and often recruited from rebellious national interest groups who feared that the Russian Nationalists would destroy the local autonomy given to them by the CzarTsar's Viceroy system. This faction was often known collectively on the battlefield as the Tricolor armyArmy due to their use of the Russian white, blue & red tricolor flag. Initially, the Tricolor armyArmy was able to hold on to the southern Russian viceroysviceroyalties as well asand regions in Northern Russia.
In contrast, the Nationalists were able to rapidly take control quite rapidly of the core of Russian ethnic and industrial land in the Muscovite region. andThey fromconsolidated there consolidatetheir rule with a variety of social and work programs, which alleviated the worst of the effects of the famines and economic crisis as well asand the use of harsh authoritarian crackdowns on dissenters. The Russian Nationalists were able to push the Tricolor Republic armyArmy out of North Russia by the summer of 1926. andThey then slowly turnturned their attention to their core region of support in south Russia. Throughout 1927, opponents from the Liberal Republic would try desperately to gain a foreign backer, first from the British and then the Ottomans, but as the European Economic Crisis raged, and the tensions in the continent grew theirthere was little desire offrom the other powers of Europe to get involved in a civil war that seemed to be already lost. and byBy the winter of 1927, the Liberal RepublicLiberals realized their plight was doomed and so used their resources to provide an a exodus route for the leaders, military, and businesspeople of the ill-fated republic. By February of 1928, there waswere only pockets of isolated fighting as the Nationalists swept in tointo Southern Russia and gaingained control. and byBy March, the last battle of the Russian Civil War was over.
=== Russian National Union ===
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