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126-573: He was born Johann Martin Schäberle in Kingdom of Württemberg , but in 1854 immigrated as an infant to the United States . Most sources refer to him as John M. Schaeberle, but his family and friends called him Martin. He attended public schools , and then became an apprentice in a machine shop . During his apprenticeship, he became interested in astronomy, and decided to finish high school. He then became

252-513: A civil list (annual grant) equivalent to 103,227 pounds sterling in the early 20th century. The kingdom possessed a centuries-old bicameral legislature known generally in English as the Estates of Württemberg . The upper chamber ( German : Standesherren ) comprised: The lower house ( German : Abgeordnetenhaus ) had 92 members: The king appointed the president of the upper chamber; after 1874,

378-635: A factory. Ooidal iron ore (Bohnerz aus Eisenroggenstein) was found. After the Franco-Prussian War , the mining was stopped. The main minerals of industrial importance found in the kingdom were salt and iron. The salt industry came to prominence at the beginning of the 19th century. The iron industry had greater antiquity, but the lack of coal slowed its development. Other minerals included granite, limestone, ironstone, and fireclay. Textile manufacturers produced linen, woolen, and cotton fabrics, particularly at Esslingen and Göppingen , and paper making

504-507: A few were introduced , no major changes were attempted. The liberal Alexander I was replaced by his younger brother Nicholas I (1825–1855), who at the beginning of his reign was confronted with an uprising. The background of this revolt lay in the Napoleonic Wars , when a number of well-educated Russian officers travelled in Europe in the course of military campaigns, where their exposure to

630-581: A general superintendent or prelate from each of six principal towns. The synod consisted of a representative council including both lay and clerical members. The Catholic Church in the kingdom was led by the Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart , who answered to the Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau . Politically, it obeyed a Catholic council that was appointed by the government. A state-appointed council ( Oberkirchenbehörde ) regulated Judaism after 1828, forming

756-424: A gift, the freed peasants had to pay a special lifetime tax to the government, which in turn paid the landlords a generous price for the land that they had lost. In numerous cases the peasants ended up with relatively small amounts of the least productive land. All the property turned over to the peasants was owned collectively by the mir , the village community, which divided the land among the peasants and supervised

882-605: A great power, playing a major role in European politics. On 2 November [ O.S. 22 October] 1721, the day of the announcement of the Treaty of Nystad, the Governing Senate and Synod invested the tsar with the titles of Peter the Great, Pater Patriae (father of the fatherland), and Imperator of all Russia . The adoption of the title of imperator by Peter I

1008-786: A keen split between the parties, but the Prime Minister Karl von Weizsäcker stayed in office until the change in the constitution of the German Empire under Prince Maximilian of Baden 's chancellorship in October 1918 compelled the Württemberg Government to give way, and the Weizsäcker Ministry resigned. The kingdom ended with the abdication of William II in November, but the political system experienced no further convulsions of

1134-514: A long history of producing red wines , growing different varieties from those grown in other German wine regions. The Württemberg wine region centred on the valley of the Neckar and several of its tributaries, the Rems , Enz , Kocher , and Jagst . The Mohrenköpfle is the traditional swine. On the orders of King William I, masked pigs were imported from Central China in 1820/21, to improve pig breeding in

1260-547: A major domestic factor with its support for liberating Balkan Christians from Ottoman rule and making Bulgaria and Serbia independent. In early 1877, Russia intervened on behalf of Serbian and Russian volunteer forces, leading to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) . Within one year, Russian troops were nearing Constantinople and the Ottomans surrendered. Russia's nationalist diplomats and generals persuaded Alexander II to force

1386-662: A peace in August 1866. Württemberg paid an indemnity of 8,000,000 gulden, and concluded a secret offensive and defensive treaty with its conqueror. Württemberg was a party to the 1864 Geneva Convention and the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868 . The end of the struggle against Prussia allowed a renewal of democratic agitation in Württemberg, but this had achieved no tangible results when the war broke out in 1870. Although Württemberg had continued to be antagonistic to Prussia,

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1512-461: A privy council, consisting of the ministers and some nominated councillors ( German : wirkliche Staatsräte ), who advised the sovereign. The judges of a special supreme court of justice, called the State Tribunal ( German : Staatsgerichtshof ) functioned as the guardians of the constitution. This court was partly elected by the chambers and partly appointed by the king. Each of the chambers had

1638-407: A result, there was a slow improvement in the living standards of Russian peasants in the empire's last two decades before 1914. Recent research into the physical stature of Army recruits shows they were bigger and stronger. There were regional variations, with more poverty in the heavily populated central black earth region ; and there were temporary downturns in 1891–93 and 1905–1908. By the end of

1764-535: A serious character, with a constitution that resembled those of the other German states . Authority over the churches resided with the king. So long as he belonged to the Evangelical State Church in Württemberg , the king was its guardian. The Protestant Church was controlled (under the Minister of Religion and Education) by a consistory and a synod . The consistory comprised a president, 9 councilors, and

1890-513: A student of James Craig Watson at the University of Michigan . He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1876 as a civil engineer, but devoted himself to astronomy. He taught astronomy at the University of Michigan from 1876 to 1888. He maintained his own private observatory and discovered three comets. In 1888 he became one of the inaugural astronomers at Lick Observatory . He had charge of

2016-496: A very large and complex bureaucracy, and a court that rivaled those of Versailles and London . But the government was living far beyond its means, and 18th-century Russia remained "a poor, backward, overwhelmingly agricultural, and illiterate country". In 1801, over four years after Paul became the emperor of Russia, he was killed in Saint Michael's Castle in a coup. Paul was succeeded by his 23-year-old son, Alexander . Russia

2142-845: A wasteland and useless, and saw the government wasting money, but later, much gold and petroleum were discovered. In the late 1870s, Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. From 1875 to 1877, the Balkan crisis intensified, with rebellions against Ottoman rule by various Slavic nationalities, which the Ottoman Turks had dominated since the 15th century. This was seen as a political risk in Russia, which similarly suppressed its Muslims in Central Asia and Caucasia. Russian nationalist opinion became

2268-562: Is also known for Russia's involvement in the Seven Years' War , where it was successful militarily, but gained little politically. Catherine the Great was a German princess who married Peter III , the German heir to the Russian crown. After the death of Empress Elizabeth, Catherine came to power after she effected a coup d'état against her very unpopular husband. She contributed to the resurgence of

2394-416: Is usually seen as the beginning of the "imperial" period of Russia. Following the reforms, the governance of Russia by an absolute monarch was enshrined. The Military Regulations made a note of the autocratic nature of the regime. During the reign of Peter I, the last vestiges of the independence of the boyars were lost. He transformed them into the new nobility , who were obedient nobles that served

2520-527: The Gulden . From 1857, the Vereinsthaler was introduced alongside it, and from 1873 onwards, both were replaced by the gold Mark . The state revenue for 1909–1910 totalled an estimated amount equivalent at the time to £4,840,520, nearly balanced by expenditure. About one-third of the revenue derived from railways, forests, and mines, about £1,400,000 from direct taxation, and the remainder from indirect taxes,

2646-504: The 1828–1829 Russo-Turkish War , Russia invaded northeastern Anatolia and occupied the strategic Ottoman towns of Karin and Gümüşhane (Argiroupoli) and, posing as protector of the Greek Orthodox population , received extensive support from the region's Pontic Greeks . Following a brief occupation, the Russian imperial army withdrew back into Georgia. Russian emperors quelled two uprisings in their newly acquired Polish territories:

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2772-529: The Boxer Rebellion . Japan strongly opposed Russian expansion, and defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Japan took over Korea, and Manchuria remained a contested area. Meanwhile, France , looking for allies against Germany after 1871, formed a military alliance in 1894, with large-scale loans to Russia, sales of arms, and warships, as well as diplomatic support. Once Afghanistan

2898-526: The British domination. Peter I ( r.  1682–1725 ), also known as Peter the Great, played a major role in introducing the European state system into Russia. While the empire's vast lands had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those in the West. Nearly the entire population was devoted to agriculture, with only a small percentage living in towns. The class of kholops , whose status

3024-727: The Coalition and joined the Continental System . By 1812, Russia had occupied many territories in Eastern Europe, holding some of Eastern Galicia from Austria and Bessarabia from the Ottoman Empire ; from Northern Europe, it had gained Finland from the war against a weakened Sweden ; it also gained some territory in the Caucasus. Following a dispute with Emperor Alexander I, in 1812, Napoleon launched an invasion of Russia . It

3150-607: The Crimean War , which Russia lost. The war was fought primarily in the Crimean peninsula , and to a lesser extent in the Baltic during the related Åland War . Since playing a major role in the defeat of Napoleon, Russia had been regarded as militarily invincible, but against a coalition of the great powers of Europe, the reverses it suffered on land and sea exposed the weakness of Emperor Nicholas I's regime. When Emperor Alexander II ascended

3276-920: The Danube district. The people of the north-west represent Alemannic stock, those of the north-east Franconian , and those of the centre and south Swabian . The Kingdom’s civil service employed families and individuals who remained prominent in German public life after 1918. These included the Weizsäcker family , the von Neuraths and the von Stauffenbergs , and individuals such as Matthias Erzberger and Friedrich von Payer . In 1910, there were 506,061 people working in agriculture; 432,114 had industrial occupations; and 100,109 were in trade and commerce. The largest towns included Stuttgart (with Cannstatt), Ulm , Heilbronn , Esslingen am Neckar , Reutlingen , Ludwigsburg , Göppingen , Schwäbisch Gmünd , Tübingen , Tuttlingen , and Ravensburg . The territory of Württemberg

3402-621: The Duke of Württemberg (1754–1816; succeeded: 1797), assumed the title of King Frederick I on 1 January 1806. He abrogated the constitution, and united Old and New Württemberg. Subsequently, he placed the property of the church under government control, and greatly extended the borders of the kingdom by the process of mediatisation . In 1806, Frederick joined the Confederation of the Rhine and received further territory with 160,000 inhabitants. Later, by

3528-499: The Enlightenment , the specter of revolution and disorder continued to haunt her and her successors. Indeed, her son Paul introduced a number of increasingly erratic decrees in his short reign aimed directly against the spread of French culture in response to their revolution . In order to ensure the continued support of the nobility, which was essential to her reign, Catherine was obliged to strengthen their authority and power at

3654-600: The Franco-Russian Alliance , to contain the growing power of Germany; completed the conquest of Central Asia ; and demanded important territorial and commercial concessions from China. The emperor's most influential adviser was Konstantin Pobedonostsev , tutor to Alexander III and his son Nicholas, and procurator of the Holy Synod from 1880 to 1895. Pobedonostsev taught his imperial pupils to fear freedom of speech and

3780-605: The Great Northern War , which ended in 1721 when an exhausted Sweden asked for peace with Russia. As a result, Peter acquired four provinces situated south and east of the Gulf of Finland , securing access to the sea. There he built Russia's new capital, Saint Petersburg , on the Neva river, to replace Moscow, which had long been Russia's cultural center. This relocation expressed his intent to adopt European elements for his empire. Many of

3906-474: The Imperial German Army . For the next 10 years, Württemberg enthusiastically supported the new order. Many important reforms ensued, especially in the area of finance, but a proposal to unify the railway system with that of the rest of Germany failed. After reductions in taxation in 1889, changes to the constitution were considered. Charles wished to strengthen the conservative element in the chambers, but

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4032-469: The Industrial Revolution , Russia began to lag ever farther behind, creating new weaknesses for the empire seeking to play a role as a great power. Russia's status as a great power concealed the inefficiency of its government, the isolation of its people, and its economic and social backwardness. Following the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander I had been ready to discuss constitutional reforms, but though

4158-657: The Italian and Swiss expedition ,—he inflicted a series of defeats on the French; in particular, the Battle of the Trebbia in 1799. Nicholas II Nicholas II, also known as Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, was the final Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand duke of Finland. His reign started on 1 November 1894 and ended with his abdication on 15 March 1917. Born on 18 May 1868 at Alexander Palace , Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire, he

4284-530: The Mauser factory at Oberndorf am Neckar ), scientific and artistic appliances, pianos (at Stuttgart), organs and other musical instruments, photographic apparatus, clocks (in the Black Forest ), electrical apparatus, and gold and silver goods. Chemical works, potteries, cabinet-making workshops, sugar factories, breweries, and distilleries operated throughout the kingdom. Hydropower and petrol largely compensated for

4410-586: The November Uprising in 1830 and the January Uprising in 1863. In 1863, the Russian autocracy had given the Polish artisans and gentry reason to rebel, by assailing national core values of language, religion, and culture. France , Britain , and Austria tried to intervene in the crisis but were unable to do so. The Russian press and state propaganda used the Polish uprising to justify the need for unity in

4536-662: The Ottoman Empire . His attention then turned to the north. Russia lacked a secure northern seaport, except at Arkhangelsk on the White Sea , where the harbor was frozen for nine months a year. Access to the Baltic Sea was blocked by Sweden, whose territory enclosed it on three sides. Peter's ambitions for a "window to the sea" led him, in 1699, to make a secret alliance with Saxony , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and Denmark-Norway against Sweden ; they conducted

4662-509: The Peace of Vienna of October 1809, about 110,000 more people came under his rule. In return for these favours, Frederick joined French Emperor Napoleon in his campaigns against Prussia , Austria , and Russia . Of the 16,000 of his subjects who marched to Moscow, only a few hundred returned. After the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Frederick deserted the French emperor and, by a treaty with Metternich at Fulda in November 1813, he secured

4788-559: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Qajar Iran , the Ottoman Empire , and Qing China . From the 10th to 17th centuries, the Russians had been ruled by a noble class known as the boyars , above whom was an absolute monarch titled the tsar . The groundwork of the Russian Empire was laid by Ivan III ( r.  1462–1505 ), who greatly expanded his domain, established a centralized Russian national state , and secured independence against

4914-531: The Red Terror . After emerging victorious, they established the Soviet Union across most of the Russian territory; it would be one of four continental empires to collapse as a result of World War I , along with Germany , Austria–Hungary , and the Ottoman Empire . The foundations of a Russian national state were laid in the late 15th century during the reign of Ivan III . By the early 16th century, all of

5040-587: The Russian nobility that began after the death of Peter the Great, abolishing State service and granting them control of most state functions in the provinces. She also removed the Beard tax instituted by Peter the Great. Catherine extended Russian political control over the lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , supporting the Targowica Confederation . However, the cost of these campaigns further burdened

5166-634: The Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) , they clashed with Persia over control and consolidation of Georgia, and also became involved in the Caucasian War against the Caucasian Imamate . At the conclusion of the war, Persia irrevocably ceded what is now Dagestan , eastern Georgia, and most of Azerbaijan to Russia, under the Treaty of Gulistan . Russia attempted to expand to the southwest, at the expense of

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5292-532: The Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) which led to the incorporation of left-bank Ukraine , and the Russian conquest of Siberia . Poland was partitioned by its rivals in 1772–1815;most of its land and population being taken under Russian rule. Most of the empire's growth in the 19th century came from gaining territory in central and eastern Asia south of Siberia. By 1795, after the Partitions of Poland , Russia became

5418-552: The Tatars . His grandson, Ivan IV ( r.  1533–1584 ), became in 1547 the first Russian monarch to be crowned " tsar of all Russia ". Between 1550 and 1700, the Russian state grew by an average of 35,000 km (14,000 sq mi) per year. Major events during this period include the transition from the Rurik to the Romanov dynasties, the conquest of Siberia , and the reign of Peter

5544-424: The collectivism of the medieval Russian obshchina or mir over the individualism of the West. More extreme social doctrines were elaborated by such Russian radicals on the left, such as Alexander Herzen , Mikhail Bakunin , and Peter Kropotkin . After Russian armies liberated the Eastern Georgian Kingdom (allied since the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk ) from the Qajar dynasty 's occupation of 1802, during

5670-430: The liberalism of Western Europe encouraged them to seek change on their return to autocratic Russia . The result was the Decembrist revolt (December 1825), which was the work of a small circle of liberal nobles and army officers who wanted to install Nicholas' brother Constantine as a constitutional monarch. The revolt was easily crushed, but it caused Nicholas to turn away from the modernization program begun by Peter

5796-409: The third-largest empire in history , behind only the British and Mongol empires. It also colonized North America between 1799 and 1867. The empire's 1897 census, the only one it conducted, found a population of 125.6 million with considerable ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity. The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of its rivals: the Swedish Empire ,

5922-420: The Great ( r.  1682–1725 ). Peter transformed the tsardom into an empire, and fought numerous wars that turned a vast realm into a major European power. He moved the Russian capital from Moscow to the new model city of Saint Petersburg , which marked the birth of the imperial era, and led a cultural revolution that introduced a modern, scientific, rationalist, and Western-oriented system. Catherine

6048-456: The Great ( r.  1762–1796 ) presided over further expansion of the Russian state by conquest, colonization , and diplomacy, while continuing Peter's policy of modernization towards a Western model. Alexander I ( r.  1801–1825 ) helped defeat the militaristic ambitions of Napoleon and subsequently constituted the Holy Alliance , which aimed to restrain the rise of secularism and liberalism across Europe. Russia further expanded to

6174-684: The Great Northern War, served as the state's capital. This concept of the triune Russian people, composed of the Great Russians , the Little Russians , and the White Russians , was introduced during the reign of Peter I, and it was associated with the name of Archimandrite Zacharias Kopystensky (1621), the Archimandrite of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and expanded upon in the writings of an associate of Peter I, Archbishop Professor Theophan Prokopovich . Several of Peter I's associates are well-known, including François Le Fort , Boris Sheremetev , Alexander Menshikov , Jacob Bruce , Mikhail Golitsyn , Anikita Repnin , and Alexey Kelin. During Peter's reign,

6300-445: The Great and champion the doctrine of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality . In order to repress further revolts, censorship was intensified, including the constant surveillance of schools and universities. Textbooks were strictly regulated by the government. Police spies were planted everywhere. Under Nicholas I, would-be revolutionaries were sent off to Siberia, with hundreds of thousands sent to katorga camps. The retaliation for

6426-477: The Israelite Religious Community of Württemberg ( German : Israelitische Religionsgemeinschaft Württembergs ). The kingdom claimed universal literacy (reading and writing) among citizens over the age of 10 years. Higher education institutions included the University of Tübingen , the Stuttgart University of Technology , the veterinary college, and the commercial college at Stuttgart, and the agricultural college of Hohenheim . Gymnasia and other schools existed in

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6552-423: The Kingdom of Württemberg. This crossbreeding with the "Chinese pigs" was particularly successful within the stocks of domestic pigs in the Hohenlohe region and the area around the town of Schwäbisch Hall. To help people to help themselves, Württemberg planted an alley of trees.( Dienstbarkeit on private ground). The tree farms of William I and the Brüdergemeinde delivered for free. In former times, iron ore

6678-511: The Ottoman Empire . This resulted in a significant weakening of the Crimean Khanate , an Ottoman vassal and long-term Russian adversary. The discontent over the dominant positions of Baltic Germans in Russian politics resulted in Peter I's daughter Elizabeth being put on the Russian throne. Elizabeth supported the arts, architecture, and the sciences (for example, the founding of Moscow University ). But she did not carry out significant structural reforms. Her reign, which lasted nearly 20 years,

6804-406: The Ottoman Empire, respectively. As a result, Pan-Slavists were left with a legacy of bitterness against Austria-Hungary and Germany for failing to back Russia. Disappointment at the results of the war stimulated revolutionary tensions, and helped Serbia, Romania , and Montenegro gain independence from, and strengthen themselves against, the Ottomans. Another significant result of the war

6930-453: The Ottoman Empire, using recently acquired Georgia at its base for its Caucasus and Anatolian front. The late 1820s were successful years militarily. Despite losing almost all recently consolidated territories in the first year of the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 , Russia managed to favorably bring an end to the war with the Treaty of Turkmenchay , including the formal acquisition of what are now Armenia , Azerbaijan, and Iğdır Province . In

7056-430: The Ottomans to sign the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, creating an enlarged, independent Bulgaria that stretched into the southwestern Balkans. When Britain threatened to declare war over the terms of the treaty, an exhausted Russia backed down. At the Congress of Berlin in July 1878, Russia agreed to the creation of a smaller Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia , as a vassal state and an autonomous principality inside

7182-399: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Partitions of Poland , alongside Austria and Prussia . As part of the Treaty of Georgievsk , signed with the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti , and her own political aspirations, Catherine waged a new war against Persia in 1796 after they had invaded eastern Georgia . Upon achieving victory, she established Russian rule over it and expelled

7308-401: The Russian Empire was ruled by the House of Romanov ; its matrilineal branch of patrilineal German descent, the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov , ruled from 1762 until 1917. By the start of the 19th century, Russian territory extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south, and from the Baltic Sea in the west to Alaska, Hawaii, and California in the east. By

7434-422: The Senate that its mission was to collect taxes, and tax revenues tripled over the course of his reign. Meanwhile, all vestiges of local self-government were removed. Peter continued and intensified his predecessors' requirement of state service from all nobles, in the Table of Ranks . As part of Peter's reorganization, he also enacted a church reform . The Russian Orthodox Church was partially incorporated into

7560-480: The United Kingdom. King William abdicated on 30 November 1918, following Germany's defeat in the First World War, ending a dynasty that had lasted 837 years. The kingdom was replaced with the Free People's State of Württemberg . After World War II, Württemberg was divided between the American and French occupation zones and became part of two new states: Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern . These two states merged with South Baden in 1952 to become

7686-438: The already oppressive social system, under which serfs were required to spend almost all of their time laboring on their owners' land. A major peasant uprising took place in 1773, after Catherine legalized the selling of serfs separate from land. Inspired by a Cossack named Yemelyan Pugachev and proclaiming "Hang all the landlords!", the rebels threatened to take Moscow before they were ruthlessly suppressed. Instead of imposing

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7812-410: The building of the Trans-Siberian Railway , 1890 to 1904. This opened up East Asia ; and Russian interests focused on Mongolia, Manchuria , and Korea . China was too weak to resist, and was pulled increasingly into the Russian sphere. Russia obtained treaty ports such as Dalian / Port Arthur . In 1900, the Russian Empire invaded Manchuria as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance 's intervention against

7938-471: The commotion that ensued, Frederick died on 30 October 1816. Frederick was succeeded by his son, William I (1781–1864; succeeded: 1816), who after much discussion, granted a new constitution in September 1819. This constitution (with subsequent modifications) remained in force until 1918. The desire for greater political freedom did not entirely fade under the constitution of 1819, and after 1830, some transitory unrest occurred. A period of quiet set in and

8064-448: The competition between Austria and Prussia for supremacy in Germany, William had consistently taken the Austrian side and the new king continued this policy. In 1866, Württemberg took up arms on behalf of Austria in the Austro-Prussian War , but three weeks after the Battle of Königgrätz (3 July 1866), the allies suffered a comprehensive defeat at the Battle of Tauberbischofsheim . The Prussians occupied northern Württemberg and negotiated

8190-422: The condition of the kingdom, and its education, agriculture, trade, and economy improved. Both in public and in private matters, William's frugality helped to repair the country's shattered finances. The inclusion of Württemberg in the German Zollverein and the construction of railways fostered trade. The revolutionary movement of 1848 did not leave Württemberg untouched, although no violence took place in

8316-410: The confirmation of his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory. Meanwhile, his troops marched into France with the allies. In 1815, the king joined the German Confederation , but the Congress of Vienna made no change to the extent of his lands. In the same year, he laid before the representatives of his people the outline of a new constitution , but they rejected it, and in the midst of

8442-418: The country's administrative structure, in effect making it a tool of the state. Peter abolished the patriarchate and replaced it with a collective body, the Most Holy Synod , which was led by a government official . Peter died in 1725, leaving an unsettled succession. After a short reign by his widow, Catherine I , the crown passed to Empress Anna . She slowed the reforms and led a successful war against

8568-449: The death of Peter were returned in the 1732 Treaty of Resht and 1735 Treaty of Ganja as a deal to oppose the Ottomans. Peter reorganized his government based on the latest political models of the time, molding Russia into an absolutist state. He replaced the old Boyar Duma (council of nobles) with a nine-member Senate , in effect a supreme council of state. The countryside was divided into new provinces and districts . Peter told

8694-408: The empire saw rapid political radicalization and the growing popularity of revolutionary ideas such as communism . After the 1905 revolution , Nicholas II authorized the creation of a national parliament, the State Duma , although he still retained absolute political power. When Russia entered the First World War on the side of the Allies , it suffered a series of defeats that further galvanized

8820-414: The empire. The semi-autonomous polity of Congress Poland subsequently lost its distinctive political and judicial rights, with Russification being imposed on its schools and courts. However, Russification policies in Poland, Finland and among the Germans in the Baltics largely failed and only strengthened political opposition. In 1854–1855, Russia fought Britain , France and the Ottoman Empire in

8946-429: The end his dynasty was overthrown by the Russian Revolution . The Industrial Revolution began to show significant influence in Russia, but the country remained rural and poor. Economic conditions steadily improved after 1890, thanks to new crops such as sugar beets, and new access to railway transportation. Total grain production increased, as well as exports, even with rising domestic demand from population growth. As

9072-413: The end of the 19th century, Russia had expanded its control over the Caucasus , most of Central Asia and parts of Northeast Asia . Notwithstanding its extensive territorial gains and great power status, the empire entered the 20th century in a perilous state. A devastating famine in 1891–1892 killed hundreds of thousands and led to popular discontent. As the last remaining absolute monarchy in Europe,

9198-493: The expedition to witness the solar eclipse at Cayenne in 1889, and of those for the same purpose to Chile in 1893, and to Japan in 1896. He designed the "Schaeberle camera" to take pictures of the Sun and its corona during total solar eclipses. He also discovered Procyon B, the faint companion star of Procyon , in 1896. He resigned from Lick Observatory when James E. Keeler was made its director instead of him in 1898, despite

9324-499: The expense of the serfs and other lower classes. Nevertheless, Catherine realized that serfdom must eventually be ended, going so far in her Nakaz ("Instruction") to say that serfs were "just as good as we are" – a comment received with disgust by the nobility. Catherine advanced Russia's southern and western frontiers, successfully waging war against the Ottoman Empire for territory near the Black Sea , and incorporating territories of

9450-806: The fact that he had been acting director since the previous year. He devoted some time to travel, and then continued astronomical studies in Ann Arbor . He never held another astronomical post. He was also an athlete and musician. He was a frequent contributor to astronomical journals. Schaeberle died in Ann Arbor. There are craters named after him on both the Moon and on Mars . John Martin Schaeberle in libraries ( WorldCat catalog) Kingdom of W%C3%BCrttemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( German : Königreich Württemberg [ˌkøːnɪkʁaɪç ˈvʏʁtəmbɛʁk] )

9576-432: The first car manufacturer, incorporated his business in 1900 as Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft , and its successor company Mercedes-Benz always had plants near Stuttgart. At Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance , Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin constructed airships from 1897 until his death in 1917. In 1907, the kingdom had 2,000 km (1,200 mi) of railways, of which all except 256 km (159 mi) belonged to

9702-560: The government and other major buildings were designed under Italianate influence. In 1722, he turned his aspirations toward increasing Russian influence in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea at the expense of the weakened Safavid Persians . He made Astrakhan the base of military efforts against Persia, and waged the first full-scale war against them in 1722–23 . Peter the Great temporarily annexed several areas of Iran to Russia, which after

9828-747: The government in July . The republic was overthrown in the October Revolution by the Bolsheviks , who proclaimed the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and whose Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended Russia's involvement in the war, but who nevertheless were opposed by various factions known collectively as the Whites . During the resulting Russian Civil War , the Bolsheviks conducted

9954-495: The greatest east to west was 160 km (99 mi). The border had a total length of 1,800 km (1,100 mi) and the total area of the state was 19,508 km (7,532 sq mi). The kingdom had borders with Bavaria on the east and south, with Baden in the north, west, and south. The southern part surrounded the Prussian province of Hohenzollern on most of its sides and touched on Lake Constance . Frederick III,

10080-537: The implicit threat to India ; and decades of diplomatic maneuvering resulted, called the Great Game . That rivalry between the two empires has been considered to have included far-flung territories such as Outer Mongolia and Tibet . The maneuvering largely ended with the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Expansion into the vast stretches of Siberia was slow and expensive, but finally became possible with

10206-502: The king and his ministers succeeded in assembling a servile diet that surrendered the privileges gained since 1848. In this way, the authorities restored the constitution of 1819 and power passed into bureaucratic hands. A concordat with the papacy proved almost the last act of William's long reign, but the diet repudiated the agreement. In July 1864, Charles I (1823–1891; succeeded: 1864) succeeded his father William as king and almost at once had to face considerable difficulties. In

10332-432: The kingdom shared in the national enthusiasm that swept over Germany. The Army of Württemberg played a creditable part in the Battle of Wörth and in other operations of the war. In 1871, Württemberg became a member of the new German Empire , but retained control of its own post office , telegraphs , and railways. It also had certain special privileges with regard to taxation and maintained its army autonomously within

10458-514: The lack of coal, and liquid carbonic acid was produced from natural gas springs beside the Eyach , a tributary of the Neckar. The kingdom's principal exports included cattle, cereals, wood, pianos, salt, oil, leather, cotton and linen fabrics, beer, wine, and spirits. Commerce centred on the cities of Stuttgart , Ulm , Heilbronn , and Friedrichshafen . Stuttgart boasted an extensive book trade. The kingdom had creative inventors; Gottlieb Daimler ,

10584-474: The larger towns, while every commune had a primary school. Numerous schools and colleges existed for women. Württemberg also had a school of viticulture . The education system was improved in 1909. Under the terms of a military convention of 25 November 1870, the troops of Württemberg formed the XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps of the Imperial German Army . Until 1873, the kingdom and some neighbouring states used

10710-446: The laws of 1874, 1876, and 1879 effected only a slight amount of change. When King Charles died suddenly on 6 October 1891, he was succeeded by his nephew, William II (1848–1921; succeeded: 1891), who continued Charles' policies. Constitutional discussions continued and the election of 1895 returned a powerful party of democrats. William had no sons, nor had his only Protestant kinsman, Duke Nicholas (1833–1903). Consequently, power

10836-585: The lower chamber elected its own chairman. Members of each house had to be over 25 years of age. Württemberg parliamentary terms lasted six years and all male citizens over 25 had the right to vote in the ballots. The highest executive power rested in the hands of the Ministry of State ( German : Staatsministerium ), consisting of six ministers: justice , foreign affairs (with the royal household, railways, posts and telegraphs), interior , public worship and education , war , and finance . The kingdom also had

10962-583: The military, 20 percent to government economic activities, 12 percent to administration, and nine percent for the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. The deficit required borrowing, primarily from bankers in Amsterdam ; five percent of the budget was allocated to debt payments. Paper money was issued to pay for expensive wars, thus causing inflation. As a result of its spending, Russia developed a large and well-equipped army,

11088-632: The modern German state of Baden-Württemberg within the Federal Republic of Germany . The Kingdom of Württemberg functioned as a constitutional monarchy within the German Empire , with four votes in the Federal Council ( German : Bundesrat ) and 17 in the Imperial Diet ( German : Reichstag ). The constitution rested on a law of 1819, amended in 1868, 1874, and 1906. The king received

11214-407: The most populous state in Europe, ahead of France . The foundations of the Russian Empire were laid during Peter I 's reforms , which significantly altered Russia's political and social structure, and as a result of the Great Northern War which strengthened Russia's standing on the world stage. Internal transformations and military victories contributed to the transformation of Russia into

11340-701: The new parliament (the Duma). He signed the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 to counter Germany's influence in the Middle East, ending the Great Game between Russia and the British Empire . However, his reign was marked by criticism for the government's suppression of political dissent and perceived failures or inaction during events like the Khodynka Tragedy , anti-Jewish pogroms, Bloody Sunday (1905) , and

11466-477: The newly established Persian garrisons in the Caucasus. Catherine's expansionist policy caused Russia to develop into a major European power, as did the Enlightenment era and the Golden age in Russia. But after Catherine died in 1796, she was succeeded by her son, Paul . He brought Russia into a major coalition war against the new-revolutionary French Republic in 1798. Russian commander Field Marshal Suvorov led

11592-401: The obligation of the nobility to serve was reinforced, and serf labor played a significant role in the growth of the industry, reinforcing traditional socioeconomic structures. The volume of the country's international trade turnover increased as a result of Peter I's industrial reforms. However, imports of goods overtook exports, strengthening the role of foreigners in Russian trade, particularly

11718-574: The population against the emperor. In 1917, mass unrest among the population and mutinies in the army culminated in the February Revolution , which led to the abdication of Nicholas II, the formation of the Russian Provisional Government , and the proclamation of the first Russian Republic . Political dysfunction, continued involvement in the widely unpopular war, and widespread food shortages resulted in mass demonstrations against

11844-488: The post office and sundry items. In 1909, the public debt amounted to £29,285,335, of which more than £27,000,000 resulted from railway construction. Of the expenditure, over £900,000 went towards public worship and education, and over £1,200,000 went in interest and debt repayment. The kingdom contributed £660,000 to the treasury of the German Empire. Population statistics for Württemberg's four departments ( Kreise ) for 1900 and 1905 appear below: Settlement density

11970-446: The press, as well as dislike democracy, constitutions, and the parliamentary system. Under Pobedonostsev, revolutionaries were persecuted—by the imperial secret police , with thousands being exiled to Siberia —and a policy of Russification was carried out throughout the empire. Russia had little difficulty expanding to the south, including conquering Turkestan , until Britain became alarmed when Russia threatened Afghanistan , with

12096-563: The redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna (1815), which ultimately made Alexander the monarch of Congress Poland . The " Holy Alliance " was proclaimed, linking the monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Although the Russian Empire played a leading political role in the next century, thanks to its role in defeating Napoleonic France, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress to any significant degree. As Western European economic growth accelerated during

12222-512: The rest of Germany. Russian Empire The Russian Empire was a vast empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its proclamation in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it

12348-488: The revolt made "December Fourteenth" a day long remembered by later revolutionary movements. The question of Russia's direction had been gaining attention ever since Peter the Great's program of modernization. Some favored imitating Western Europe while others were against this and called for a return to the traditions of the past. The latter path was advocated by Slavophiles , who held the "decadent" West in contempt. The Slavophiles were opponents of bureaucracy, who preferred

12474-495: The right to impeach ministers. The nation comprised four departments or districts ( German : Kreise ), subdivided into 64 divisions ( German : Oberamtsbezirke ), each under a "head man" ( German : Oberamtmann ) assisted by a local council ( German : Amtsversammlung ). Each department was headed by its own government ( German : Regierung ). Between 1900 and 1910, the political history of Württemberg centred on constitutional and educational questions. The constitution

12600-449: The semi-independent and petty princedoms in Russia had been unified with Moscow. During the reign of Ivan IV , the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan were conquered by Russia in the mid-16th century, leading to the development of an increasingly multinational state. Much of Russia's expansion occurred in the 17th century, culminating in the first Russian colonization of the Pacific ,

12726-461: The serfs, was the single most important event in 19th-century Russian history, and the beginning of the end of the landed aristocracy's monopoly on power. The 1860s saw further socioeconomic reforms to clarify the position of the Russian government with regard to property rights. Emancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities, stimulating industry, while the middle class grew in number and influence. However, instead of receiving their lands as

12852-538: The state for the rest of their lives. He also introduced the Table of Ranks and equated the votchina with an estate . Russia's modern fleet was built by Peter the Great, along with an army that was reformed in the manner of European style and educational institutions (the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences ). Civil lettering was adopted during Peter I's reign, and the first Russian newspaper, Vedomosti ,

12978-526: The state. Navigable waterways included the Neckar, the Schussen, Lake Constance, and the Danube downstream from Ulm. The kingdom had fairly good quality roads, the oldest of them of Roman construction. Württemberg, like Bavaria , retained the control of its own postal and telegraph service following the foundation of the new German Empire in 1871. In 1904, the Württemberg railway system integrated with that of

13104-425: The territory. William had to dismiss Johannes Schlayer (1792–1860) and his other ministers, and appoint men with more liberal ideas, proponents of a united Germany . William proclaimed a democratic constitution, but as soon as the movement had spent its force, he dismissed the liberal ministers, and in October 1849, Schlayer and his associates returned to power. In 1851, by interfering with popular electoral rights,

13230-422: The throne in 1855, the desire for reform was widespread. A growing humanitarian movement attacked serfdom as inefficient. In 1859, there were more than 23 million serfs in usually poor living conditions. Alexander II decided to abolish serfdom from above, with ample provision for the landowners, rather than wait for it to be abolished from below by revolution. The Emancipation Reform of 1861 , which freed

13356-489: The traditional punishment of drawing and quartering, Catherine issued secret instructions that the executioners should execute death sentences quickly and with minimal suffering, as part of her effort to introduce compassion into the law. She furthered these efforts by ordering the public trial of Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova , a high-ranking noblewoman, on charges of torturing and murdering serfs. Whilst these gestures garnered Catherine much positive attention from Europe during

13482-449: The various holdings. Although serfdom was abolished, its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to peasants; thus, revolutionary tensions remained. Revolutionaries believed that the newly freed serfs were merely being sold into wage slavery in the onset of the industrial revolution, and that the urban bourgeoisie had effectively replaced the landowners. Seeking more territories, Russia obtained Priamurye ( Russian Manchuria ) from

13608-670: The violent suppression of the 1905 Russian Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War , which resulted in the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima , further eroded his popularity. By March 1917, public support for Nicholas II had dwindled, leading to his forced abdication and the end of the 304-year rule of the Romanov (dynasty) in Russia (1613–1917). Nicholas II was deeply devoted to his wife, Alexandra, whom he married on 26 November 1894. They had five children: Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Tsesarevich Alexei. The Russian Imperial Romanov family

13734-622: The weakened Manchu-ruled Qing China , which was occupied fighting against the Taiping Rebellion . In 1858, the Treaty of Aigun ceded much of the Manchu Homeland, and in 1860, the Treaty of Peking ceded the modern Primorsky Krai , also founded the outpost of future Vladivostok . Meanwhile, Russia decided to sell the indefensible Russian America to the United States for 11 million rubles (7.2 million dollars) in 1867. Initially, many Americans considered this newly gained territory to be

13860-474: The west, south, and east, strengthening its position as a European power. Its victories in the Russo-Turkish Wars were later checked by defeat in the Crimean War (1853–1856), leading to a period of reform and intensified expansion into Central Asia . Alexander II ( r.  1855–1881 ) initiated numerous reforms , most notably the 1861 emancipation of all 23 million serfs. From 1721 until 1762,

13986-511: Was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg . The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg , which existed from 1803 to 1806. The borders of the Kingdom of Württemberg, as defined in 1813, lay between 47°34' and 49°35' north and 8°15' and 10°30' east. The greatest distance north to south was 225 kilometres (140 mi) and

14112-479: Was assassinated by the Narodnaya Volya , a Nihilist terrorist organization . The throne passed to Alexander III (1881–1894), a reactionary who revived the maxim of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality" of Nicholas I. A committed Slavophile, Alexander III believed that Russia could be saved from turmoil only by shutting itself off from the subversive influences of Western Europe. During his reign, Russia formed

14238-427: Was catastrophic for France, whose army was decimated during the Russian winter . Although Napoleon's Grande Armée reached Moscow, the Russians' scorched earth strategy prevented the invaders from living off the country. In the harsh and bitter winter, thousands of French troops were ambushed and killed by peasant guerrilla fighters. Russian troops then pursued Napoleon's troops to the gates of Paris, presiding over

14364-402: Was close to that of slaves , remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter converted household kholops into house serfs , thus counting them for poll taxation. Russian agricultural kholops had been formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679. They were largely tied to the land, in a feudal sense, until the late 19th century. Peter's first military efforts were directed against

14490-465: Was concentrated in the Neckar valley from Esslingen northward. The overall rate of population increase from 1900 to 1905 amounted to 1.22% per year. About 8.5% of births were out of wedlock . Classified according to religion around 1905, about 69% of the population professed Protestantism, 30% Roman Catholicism, and about 0.5% Judaism. Protestants predominated in the Neckar district and Roman Catholics in

14616-482: Was due to pass to a Roman Catholic branch of the family, raising difficulties concerning the relations between church and state. As of 1910, the heir to the throne was Duke Albert (born 1865) of the Altshausen family. An older Catholic line, that of the Duke of Urach , was bypassed as a result of a morganatic marriage contracted in 1800. A Protestant morganatic line included Mary of Teck , who married George V of

14742-604: Was executed by who were believed to be drunken Bolshevik revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky, as ordered by the Ural Regional Soviet in Yekaterinburg on the night of 16–17 July 1918. This marked the end of the Russian Empire and Imperial Russia. Russia was in a continuous state of financial crisis. While revenue rose from 9 million rubles in 1724 to 40 million in 1794, expenses grew more rapidly, reaching 49 million in 1794. The budget allocated 46 percent to

14868-674: Was in a state of war with the French Republic under the leadership of the Corsica -born First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte . After he became the emperor , Napoleon defeated Russia at Austerlitz in 1805, Eylau and Friedland in 1807. After Alexander was defeated in Friedland, he agreed to negotiate and sued for peace with France; the Treaties of Tilsit led to the Franco-Russian alliance against

14994-569: Was informally partitioned by the Anglo-Russian Convention in 1907, Britain, France, and Russia came increasingly close together in opposition to Germany and Austria-Hungary. The three would later comprise the Triple Entente alliance in the First World War . In 1894, Alexander III was succeeded by his son, Nicholas II , who was committed to retaining the autocracy that his father had left him. Nicholas II proved as an ineffective ruler, and in

15120-553: Was largely agricultural; of its 19,508 square kilometres (7,532 sq mi), 44.9% comprised agricultural land and gardens, 1.1% vineyards, 17.9% meadows and pastures, and 30.8% forests. It possessed rich meadowlands, cornfields, orchards, gardens, and hills covered with vines. The chief agricultural products were oats, spelt , rye, wheat, barley and hops, peas and beans, maize, fruit (chiefly cherries and apples), beets, and tobacco, as well as dairy and garden produce. Livestock included cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses. Württemberg has

15246-886: Was mined on the Heuberg . The buttress wood was bought in Truchtelfingen and used by Lautlingen miners at the Hörnle area. In Oberdigisheim Geppert in 1738 SHW-Ludwigsthal produced iron ore. From an old 3.5 km mine in an ooidal iron ore seam (Doggererzflöz) in Weilheim is wood in the Tuttlinger Fruchtkasten. Steel was produced in Tuttlingen by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal, which produces now iron brakes. had

15372-481: Was prominent in Ravensburg , Heilbronn , and throughout Lower Swabia . Assisted by the government, manufacturing industries developed rapidly during the later years of the 19th century, notably metal working, especially branches that required skilled workmanship. Particular importance attached to iron and steel goods, locomotives (for which Esslingen enjoyed a good reputation), machinery, cars, bicycles, small arms (in

15498-492: Was published. Peter I promoted the advancement of science, particularly geography and geology , trade, and industry, including shipbuilding, as well as the growth of the Russian educational system. Every tenth Russian acquired an education during Peter I's reign, when there were 15 million people in the country. The city of Saint Petersburg , which was built in 1703 on territory along the Baltic coast that had been conquered during

15624-686: Was revised in 1906 when Württemberg introduced, before any other German state, the proportional system of election for the Second Chamber of the Diet. The result of the elections of 1906 was such that the two Liberal parties on the one side and the Catholic Centre and the Conservatives on the other were equally strong, so that the Social Democrats held the balance. Subsequent political changes resulted in

15750-688: Was the acquisition from the Ottomans of the provinces of Batumi , Ardahan , and Kars in Transcaucasia , which were transformed into the militarily administered regions of Batum Oblast and Kars Oblast . To replace Muslim refugees who had fled across the new frontier into Ottoman territory, the Russian authorities settled large numbers of Christians from ethnically diverse communities in Kars Oblast, particularly Georgians , Caucasus Greeks , and Armenians , each of whom hoped to achieve protection and advance their own regional ambitions. In 1881, Alexander II

15876-433: Was the eldest son and successor of Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (later known as Alexander III of Russia ) and his wife Maria Fyodorovna (formerly Dagmar of Denmark ). During his rule, Nicholas II supported the economic and political reforms proposed by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin . He favored modernization through foreign loans and strong ties with France, but was reluctant to give significant roles to

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