Tsarist Russia: Did you mean...?

Polonia 1863 (Poland Enchained), oil on canvas painting by Jan Matejko, 1864. Depicted in Matejko's allegorical artwork is the ill-fated January Uprising of 1863, with the central figure in black, a personification of Poland, resting her...

During the First World War (1914-18), as governments sought to field the largest armies possible and so conscripted millions of men to the fighting fronts, the role of women in society was greatly expanded. Women worked as nurses and medical...

The pre-First World War arms race between Britain and Germany was fuelled by Britain's desire to protect its empire, Germany's desire to build an empire, and a general atmosphere of suspicion amongst the great powers, which led to the formation...

The Battle of the Frontiers of WWI (1914-18), fought between 14 and 25 August, involved a flurry of encounters between German and French, Belgian, and British armies as both sides attempted to cross borders and establish the fighting front...

The Ulm Campaign (25 September to 20 October 1805) was a military operation during the War of the Third Coalition (1805-1806). Through a series of maneuvers, the 210,000 men of the French Grande Armée, led by Emperor Napoleon I, encircled...

Grigori Rasputin (1869-1916) was a self-styled holy man and faith healer from Siberia who ingratiated himself with the family of Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917). Rasputin was particularly valued by the empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918...

The German-Soviet War, known in the USSR and today's Russia as the Great Patriotic War or, in Western Europe, as the Eastern Front of the Second World War (1939-45), began in June 1941 with Operation Barbarossa and ended in Germany's total...

The French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) were a series of conflicts that arose from the tensions surrounding the French Revolution (1789-1799). The wars were fought between Revolutionary France and several European powers, most notably Austria...

The Meiji period refers to the period in Japanese history from 1868 to 1912 during which the Meiji Emperor reigned. Following the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan's new leaders embarked on a program...

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838) was one of the most significant political figures in modern French history. Beginning his career as the cynical bishop of Autun, he went on to become a revolutionary leader, a diplomat, and...