Russia

Peter the Great's Special Book

The reforming Tsar sought to westernise his empire, yet in 1723 he published an uncompromising reassertion of his absolutist doctrine, which has traditionally marked Russia’s national consciousness.

Rule of Contradictions

Daniel Beer reassesses W. Bruce Lincoln’s 1976 study of Tsar Alexander III’s brief reign, which combined reaction with rapid industrialisation and left a troubling legacy for his successors.

Russia: Forever a Time of Troubles

Westerners often consider Russia through the prism of the Soviet Union and the Second World War. But we must look further back if we wish to understand the modern nation’s fears, aims and motivations.

The Romanovs in Ukraine, 1911

Roger Hudson details the political and social events that provided Tsar Nicholas II’s prewar visit to Kiev with a tense background. 

Loris-Melikov: Russia, 1880-1

To deal with revolutionary violence and social unrest, writes Patricia Wright, the Tsar granted one of his generals almost dictatorial powers.