Tsarist Russia: Did you mean...?

In eastern Europe, in the 17th Century CE a couple of "great powers" were coming into their own. The vast empire of Russia was modernizing under Peter the Great, and the relatively tiny state of Prussia was evolving as well. Russia (and Tsar...

The Schlieffen Plan, prepared by German Chief of Staff General Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913) in 1905, was a secret plan of attack by German armed forces against France, should the two countries go to war. The objective was to quickly...

A photograph taken on 15 December 1917 showing German and Russian delegations signing the armistice to end hostilities between the two nations during the First World War (1914-18). German Federal Archives, Koblenz.

Catherine the Great presided over a golden age of Russian expansion — but was she a dedicated ruler or a ruthless oppressor? – Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia for over three decades, used strategic dalliances, military might, and cutting-edge...

The War of the Sixth Coalition (1813-1814), known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, was the penultimate conflict of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The Sixth Coalition, which included Russia, Austria, Prussia, the United Kingdom, Sweden...

The War of the Fourth Coalition (October 1806 to June 1807) was a major conflict during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The Fourth Coalition consisted of Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, against the First French Empire...

Mahmud II was one of the most influential sultans of the Ottoman Empire. As a radical reformer, he strove to implement military and governmental reforms to prevent the empire from collapsing. His removal of the Janissary corps, the establishment...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/where-did-russia-come-from-alex-gendler Russia is the biggest country in the world, spanning one-eighth of the earth’s landmass. But where did it all begin? Alex Gendler explores the epic history...

The brutal murder of the entire Romanov family was the culmination of deep discontent across the Russian Empire with the persistently autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917). Following the disaster of the First World War (1914-18...

Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917) was the last of the Romanov emperors, murdered along with his family during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution in 1917. Insisting on maintaining as far as possible the autocratic rule begun by his ancestors...