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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

Explore this Section:

Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682–1762): A Summary of Russian History
Russia Symbol Introduction
Russia Symbol The Early Years
Russia Symbol The Drive Toward Westernization
Russia Symbol The Drive Toward Empire
Russia Symbol The Historical Assessment
Russia Symbol Immediate Successors
Russia Symbol The Reign of "the Daughter"
Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682–1762): A Summary of World History
Europe
Eurasia


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.




















 

 

  Fireworks for the New Empress Anna
 
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“Fireworks Display on the Day of the Coronation of Empress Anna, April 30, 1730,” from: Opisanie koronatsii … Anny Ioannovny [Description of the Coronation of … Anna Ioannovna]
[Moscow]: Senatskaia Tipografiia, 1730
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

The display of fireworks at coronations, first used extensively by Peter the Great, was yet another importation from western Europe. Fireworks became part of the elaborate celebrations – including receptions, a feast, and a ball – that confirmed the monarch in power and attested to a consensus in favor of the ruler’s “election” to the throne. While most coronation ceremonies were inaccessible to the public at large, the fireworks reached out to the population outside the Kremlin and helped bestow legitimacy on the new monarch.