Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/419

* RUSSIA. 8T9 RUSSIA. Ivaiinviia was sucpocdod by Ivan (1740-41), tlio iiifnnt son of lier niece, Anna Karlovna (q.v.), unilor the regency of Biron. Biron was speedily ovc'itUrown and Anna Karlovna assumed tlio regency, Iiut only to succumb to a palace con- spiracy, which placed on the throne Elizabeth Petrovna. the daugliter of Peter the Great. Eliz- abeth (1741-t)2) joined Austria against Prussia in the Seven Years' War (q.v.) and showed her- self the relentless foe of Erederick the tJreat. The Russian armies gained victories over the Prussians at Grossjiigerndorf (ITT)?) and Kuners- dorf (175!)), and for a moment Berlin itself be- held the )u-esence of Russian troops ( 17(10). The death of Elizabeth (1762) saved Frederick in his desperate straits, for her successor, Duke Peter of Holstein-Gottorp, a son of Peter the Great's second daughter, Anna Petrovna, was a fervent admirer of the Prussian monarch, with whom he entered into an alliance. In July, 17(12. Peter 111. was dethroned as the result of a conspiracy headed by his wife, a princess of Anlialt-Zerbst ; some days afterwards he was murdered and his wife ascended the throne as Catharine II. (1702- 90). Catharine's talents were on the same scale as her vices. She furthered the spread of Western civili- zation in Russia, introduced important adminis- trative changes in the government, enacted laws favorable to the development of commerce and industry, founded schools and charitable institu- tions, and granted religious liberty to the Ras- kolniks. Abroad (^'atliarine carried out with strik- ing success lier ambitious schemes fur the aggran- dizement of Russia. She was the guiding spirit in the spoliation of Poland (q.v.), in the three partitions of which (1772, 1793, 1795) Russia gained ISO.OOO square miles of territory with 0.000,000 inliabitants. Two successful wars were carried on against the Turks, the first of which (1708-74) was terminated by the Peace of Kut- cliuk-Kainardji, in which Turkey renounced her suzerainty over the Crimea and other Tatar re- gions. The Crimea was incorporated with Russia in 178.3. The second war (1787-02) was concluded by the Peace of Jassy, which advanced the Rus- sian frontier to the Dniester. Paul I. ( 1796-1801 ), son and successor of Catharine, was engaged con- tinually in a struggle with the aristocrary, by whom he was cordially hated. His alternating rigor and indulgence alienated all the influential classes. He placed the press imder a severe cen- sorship and established a system of secret police. He joined the coalition against France and then withdrew from it and was preparing to make war against England when he was assassinated by conspirators. Alexander I. (1801-25) was a lover of peace and largely imbued with the humanitarian ideas of the eighteenth century. He began his reign aiis- picioTisly by abolishing serfdimi in the Baltic Provinces and establishing a number of ministries for the more efficient administration of the empire. He joined the third coalition against France, and his share in the defeat at Austerlitz (180.t) did not deter him from all.ving himself with Prussia in the following year. The indecisive slaughter at E.vlau (q.v.) and the crushing defeat of the Russians at Friedland (.Tune 14. 1807) led to the famous meeting between Napoleon and Alex- ander at Tilsit, where the Russian Emperor, in return for entering into Napoleon's schemes, was Vol. A-vii._25. allowed a free hand in Swrdeii and Turkey. From the former Finland and the .Maud Islands were wrested in ISOO. Turkey, afler n six years' con- test, was compelled in the 'I'rcatv of linclmresl (May '28, IS)2) to cede tlu' land between the Dniester and the Pnith. Alexander's abandon- ment of the Continental system was followed by the invasion of Russia by the French (ISI2). Upon the disastrous termination of the cam- paign the Russian ICmperor became the Icadinf; si)irit in the alliance which carried the war into (Germany and !''rance and brought alxnit the over- throw of Xapoleon. (See Naimh>:x.) Bv the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, the bulk of the Duchy of Warsaw, which Xapoleon had created in 1807 out of the dominions aeipiired by Prus- sia in the spoliations of Poland, was erected into the new Kingdom of Poland, which was placed under the sceptre of Russia. In the meanwhile the establishment of Russian dominion in the region of the Caucasus was proceeding rapidly. In 1801 Georgia was annexed, and in isis Uaghestan, Baku, and .Shirvan were acquired from Persia. The last ten years of Alexander's reign were a ])eriod of disillusionment for those who liad expected the introduction of a liberal rf-gimc in Russia. The reign of Alexanvler's youngest brother, Ni^.|,o|„8 I. (1825-55), opened with a rebellion on (lie l)art of the liberal element in behalf of his elder brother Constantine. who had renounced his title to the throne. Nicholas did not consent to a.ssume the crown until it was evident that Constantine would not, and the im- minent revolt demanded prompt action and a recognized sovereign. The rebellion, known as the rising of the Decembrists or Dekabrists, was crushed and the ringleaders were summarily dealt with. Soon after the accession of Nicholas, war with Persia broke out (1820), marked by a suc- cessful invasion of that coimtry by PasJ<evitch (q.v.). The Treaty of Turkmantchai (February 22, 1828) gave part of Armenia to Russia. Russia took jiart in the destruction of the Turk- ish-Egjptian lleet at Navarino ( 1827"), which event virtuall,y secured the liberation of Greece. In 1828 Russia made a fresh onslaught upon Turkey. The victories of Wittgenstein, Paske- vitcli, and Dicbitsch led to the Treat.v of Adrian- ople (q.v.) in 1820, in which Turkey transferred to Russia the suzerainty over the tribes of the Caucasus, accordeil to the Czar a protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia, and agreed to recognize the inilependcnce of Greece. In 1830 the Poles rev<dtcd, drove out the Grand Duke Con- stantine, and organized a provisional government. They carried on a brilliant and aggressive cam- paign against the Russian forces until May, 1831. when the strength of Russia began gradually to overwhelm them. Warsaw capitulated on Sep- tember 8th. On February 20, 1832, a new statute was promulgated by Nicholas I. treating Poland as a conquered State. (Sae Poi.a.nd.) In 1834 the conquest of the Caucasus, which occu- pied Russia for thirty years, was begun. In 1848-4!) the Austrian Imiierial Govermnent, un- able to suppress the Hungarian revolt, asked Russia for assistance. This was readily granted, because of the intimate connection of the Poles with the Hungarian movement, the success of which would have encouraged a new Polish in- surrection. (See HlNCABY.) In 1853 Nicholas again made war upon the Ottoman Empire.