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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:

The Age of Catherine the Great: A Summary of Russian History
Russia Symbol Introduction
Russia Symbol The Husband
Russia Symbol The Enlightened Absolutist Monarch
Russia Symbol Catherine's Foreign Policy
Russia Symbol Paul I
The Age of Catherine the Great: A Summary of World History
Introduction
The Americas
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.




















 

 
Engagement Symbol  The Costume of Russia’s Many Peoples, on Paper  
Photographic Services & Permissions                 

Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1738–1802)
Description de toutes les nations de l’empire de Russie [A Description of All the Nationalities of the Russian Empire]
St. Petersburg: J. C. Shnoor (Shnor), 1776–77
NYPL, Spencer Collection

One product of Catherine the Great’s “Academy Expedition” of 1768–74 – so-called because it was sponsored by the Academy of Sciences – was the first ethnographic survey of the Russian Empire, showing the world the diversity of its inhabitants (including this shaman of the Tungus, a Siberian people of reindeer herders), their customs, economic life, and religion. Variations on Georgi’s Description were published in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.