Timeline of Russian History - 18th Century

18th Century

Year Date Event
1707 8 October Bulavin Rebellion: A small band of Don Cossacks killed a Muscovite noble searching their territory for tax fugitives.
1708 7 July Bulavin Rebellion: After a series of devastating military reversals, Bulavin was shot by his former followers.
18 December An imperial decree divided Muscovy into eight guberniyas (governorates).
1709 28 June Battle of Poltava: A decisive Muscovite military victory over the Swedes at Poltava marked the turning point of the war, the end of Cossack independence and the dawn of the Russian Empire.
1710 14 October The Russian guberniyas were divided into lots according to noble population.
20 November Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711): Charles XII of Sweden persuaded the Ottoman sultan to declare war on Russia.
1711 22 February Government reform of Peter I: Peter established the Governing Senate to pass laws in his absence.
21 July Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711): Peace was concluded with the Treaty of the Pruth. Russia returned Azov to the Ottoman Empire and demolished the town of Taganrog.
1713 8 May The Russian capital was moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.
17 July The Riga Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Livonia.
The territory of the Smolensk Governorate was divided between the Moscow and Riga Governorates.
1714 15 January The northwestern territory of the Kazan Governorate was transferred to the newly established Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.
1715 11 October Peter demanded that his son, the tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, endorse his reforms or renounce his right to the throne.
1716 Alexei fled to Vienna to avoid military service.
1717 22 November The Astrakhan Governorate was formed on the southern lands of Kazan Governorate.
The territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reincorporated into the Kazan Governorate.
12 December Government reform of Peter I: Peter established collegia, government ministries that superseded the prikazy.
1718 31 January Alexei returned to Moscow under a promise he would not be harmed.
18 February After torture, Alexei publicly renounced the throne and implicated a number of reactionaries in a conspiracy to overthrow his father.
13 June Alexei was put on trial for treason.
26 June Alexei died after torture in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
1719 29 May Lots were abolished; the guberniyas were divided instead into provinces, each governed and taxed under a preexisting elected office (the Voyevoda). Provinces were further divided into districts, replacing the old uyezds. The district commissars were to be elected by local gentry.
The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reestablished.
The Reval Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Estonia.
1721 25 January Peter established the Holy Synod, a body of ten clergymen chaired by a secular official, that was to head the Russian Orthodox Church in lieu of the Patriarch of Moscow.
30 August Great Northern War: The Treaty of Nystad ended the war. Sweden ceded Estonia, Livonia and Ingria to Russia.
22 October Peter was declared Emperor.
1722 Peter introduced the Table of Ranks, which granted the privileges of nobility based on state service.
July Russo-Persian War (1722–1723): A Russian military expedition sailed in support of the independence of two Christian kingdoms, Kartli and Armenia.
1723 12 September Russo-Persian War (1722–1723): The Persian shah signed a peace treaty ceding the cities of Derbent and Baku and the provinces of Shirvan, Guilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad to the Russian Empire.
1725 28 January Peter died of urinary problems. He failed to name a successor; one of Peter's closest advisers, Aleksandr Menshikov, convinced the Imperial Guard to declare in favor of Peter's wife Catherine I.
1726 The Smolensk Governorate was reestablished.
8 February Catherine established an advisory body, the Supreme Privy Council.
1727 Catherine established the Belgorod and Novgorod Governorates and adjusted the borders of several others. Districts were abolished; uyezds were reestablished.
17 May Catherine died.
18 May According to Catherine's wishes the eleven-year-old Peter II, the son of Alexei Petrovich and grandson of Peter the Great, became tsar. The Supreme Privy Council was to hold power during his minority.
9 September The conservative members of the Supreme Privy Council expelled its most powerful member, the liberal Menshikov.
1730 30 January Peter died of smallpox.
1 February The Supreme Privy Council offered the throne to Anna Ivanovna, the daughter of Ivan V, on the conditions that the Council retain the powers of war and peace and taxation, among others, and that she never marry or appoint an heir.
4 March Anna tore up the terms of her accession and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council.
1736 20 May Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russian army captured the Ottoman fortifications at Perekop.
19 June Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russians captured Azov.
1737 July Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): Austria joined the war on the Russian side.
1739 21 August Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): Austria agreed by the Treaty of Belgrade to end its participation in the war.
18 September Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Treaty of Nissa ended the war. Russia gave up its claims on Crimea and Moldavia and its navy was barred from the Black Sea.
1740 17 October Anna died of kidney disease. She left the throne to her adopted infant son, Ivan VI.
18 October Anna's lover, Ernst Johann von Biron, was declared regent.
8 November Biron was arrested on the orders of his rival, the Count Burkhard Christoph von Munnich. Ivan's biological mother, Anna Leopoldovna, replaced Biron as regent.
1741 8 August Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743): Sweden declared war on Russia.
25 November Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Peter the Great, led the Preobrazhensky to the Winter Palace to overthrow the regency of Anna Leopoldovna and install herself as empress.
2 December Ivan was imprisoned in the Daugavgriva fortress.
1742 4 September Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743): Encircled by the Russians at Helsinki, the Swedish army surrendered.
1743 7 August Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743): The Treaty of Åbo was signed, ending the war. Russia relinquished most of the conquered territory, keeping only the lands east of the Kymi River. In exchange Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, the uncle of the Russian heir to the throne, was to become King of Sweden.
1744 The Vyborg Governorate was established on conquered Swedish territories.
1755 Mikhail Lomonosov and Count Ivan Shuvalov founded the University of Moscow.
1756 29 August Seven Years' War: The Kingdom of Prussia invaded the Austrian protectorate of Saxony.
1757 1 May Diplomatic Revolution: Under the Second Treaty of Versailles, Russia joined the Franco-Austrian military alliance.
17 May Seven Years' War: Russian troops entered the war.
1761 25 December Miracle of the House of Brandenburg: Elizabeth died. Her nephew, Peter III, became tsar.
1762 5 May Seven Years' War: The Treaty of Saint Petersburg ended Russian participation in the war at no territorial gain.
17 July Peter was overthrown by the Imperial Guard and replaced with his wife, Catherine II, The Great, on her orders.
1764 5 July A group of soldiers attempted to release the imprisoned Ivan VI; he was murdered.
1767 13 October Repnin Sejm: Four Polish senators who opposed the policies of the Russian ambassador Nicholas Repnin were arrested by Russian troops and imprisoned in Kaluga.
1768 27 February Repnin Sejm: Delegates of the Sejm adopted a treaty ensuring future Russian influence in Polish internal politics.
29 February Polish nobles established the Bar Confederation in order to end Russian influence in their country.
25 September Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774): The Ottoman sultan declared war on Russia.
1771 15 September Plague Riot: A crowd of rioters entered Red Square, broke into the Kremlin and destroyed the Chudov Monastery.
17 September Plague Riot: The army suppressed the riot.
1772 5 August The first partition of Poland was announced. Poland lost thirty percent of its territory, which was divided between Prussia, Austria, and Russia.
1773 Pugachev's Rebellion: The army of the Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev attacked and occupied Samara.
18 September A confederated sejm was forced to ratify the first partition of Poland.
1774 21 July Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774): The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed. The portion of the Yedisan region east of the Southern Bug river, the Kabarda region in the Caucasus, and several Crimean ports, went to Russia. The Crimean Khanate received independence from the Ottoman Empire, which also declared Russia the protector of Christians on its territory.
14 September Pugachev's Rebellion: Upset with the rebellion's bleak outlook, Pugachev's officers delivered him to the Russians.
1783 8 April The Crimean Khanate was incorporated into the Russian Empire.
24 July Threatened by the Persian and Ottoman Empires, the kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk under which it became a Russian protectorate.
1788 Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792): The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia and imprisoned her ambassador.
27 June Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790): The Swedish army playacted a skirmish between themselves and the Russians.
6 July Battle of Hogland: The Russian navy dispersed a Swedish invasion fleet near Hogland in the Gulf of Finland.
6 October Great Sejm: A confederated sejm was called to restore the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1790 14 August Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790): The Treaty of Värälä ended the war, with no changes in territory.
1791 3 May Great Sejm: Poland's Constitution of 3 May was ratified in secret. The new constitution abolished the liberum veto, reducing the power of the nobles and limiting Russia's ability to influence Polish internal politics.
23 December Catherine established the Pale of Settlement, an area in European Russia into which Russian Jews were transported.
1792 9 January Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792): The Treaty of Jassy was signed, ending the war. The Russian border in Yedisan was extended to the Dniester river.
18 May Polish–Russian War of 1792: The army of the Targowica Confederation, which opposed the liberal Polish Constitution of 3 May, invaded Poland.
1793 23 January Polish–Russian War of 1792: The second partition of Poland left the country with one-third of its 1772 population.
23 November Grodno Sejm: The last sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ratified the second partition.
1794 24 March Kościuszko Uprising: An announcement by Tadeusz Kościuszko sparked a nationalist uprising in Poland.
4 November Battle of Praga: Russian troops captured the Praga borough of Warsaw and massacred its civilian population.
5 November Kościuszko Uprising: The uprising ended with the Russian occupation of Warsaw.
1795 11 September Battle of Krtsanisi: The Persian army demolished the armed forces of Kartl-Kakheti.
24 October The third partition of Poland divided up the remainder of its territory.
1796 April Persian Expedition of 1796: Catherine launched a military expedition to punish Persia for its incursion into the Russian protectorate of Kartl-Kakheti.
5 November Catherine suffered a stroke in the bathtub.
6 November Catherine died. The throne fell to her son, Paul I.

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