The Russian Empire Timeline (1721-1917)

1682                Brothers Ivan V and Peter I crowned czars

1695-1700      War with Ottoman Empire

1696                Ivan V dies, leaving Peter I as the sole czar

1696-97           Peter’s grand tour of Europe

1700-21           The Great Northern War

1703                St. Petersburg founded

1710-13           War with Ottoman Empire

1713                St. Petersburg declared capital of Russia

1721                Russia declared an Empire

1722-23          War with Persia

1725                Catherine I crowned Empress of Russian Empire

1727                Peter II crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1730                Anna crowned Empress of Russian Empire

1733-35           War of Polish Succession

1734-39           War with Ottoman Empire

1740                Ivan VI crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1741                Elizabeth crowned Empress of Russian Empire

1756-63           Seven Years’ War

1762                Peter III crowned Emperor and assassinated

1762               Catherine the Great crowned Empress of Russian Empire

1768-74           War with Ottoman Empire

1772                First Partition of Poland

1773                Pugachov uprising

1787-91           War with Ottoman Empire

1790                Radishchev’s Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow published

1793                Second Partition of Poland

1795                Third Partition of Poland

1796                Paul crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1801                Alexander crowned Emperor of Russian Empire and conquest of Caucasus region begins

1812                War of 1812

1815                Congress of Vienna

1825                Decembrist Revolt and Nicholas I crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1828                War with Ottoman Empire

1829                War with Ottoman Empire

1833                Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality declared official ideology

1848                Revolutions sweep across Europe

1853-56           Crimean War

1855                Alexander II crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1861                Emancipation of serfs

1864                Caucasus region conquered

1867                Alaska sold to the United States

1875-77           First Balkan War

1881                Alexander II assassinated and Alexander III crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1891-1904      Trans Siberian railroad built

1892-1903      Witte’s state-led industrialization program

1894                Nicholas II crowned Emperor of Russian Empire

1898                Russian Social Democratic Labor Party established

1903                Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions

1904-05           Russo-Japanese War

1905                1905 Revolution began with “Bloody Sunday” and Nicholas II accepted October Manifesto

1906                 First Duma elected

1911-13            Balkan Wars

1914                 World War I begins

1917                 February Revolution with Nicholas II abdicated; October Revolution with Bolsheviks seized power

Also available are “The Russian Empire (1721-1917),” “The Russian Empire: Major Accomplishments,” and “The Russian Empire: The Amber Room.”