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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, Reforming Tsar
Aleksandr Menshikov
Empress Elizabeth
Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, and Queen of Bohemia
Voltaire


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.




















 

 

  
    

The most influential writer and propagandist of the Enlightenment, Jean François Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire (1694–1778), contributed in a witty and readable manner to all forms of literature and intellectual discourse. He corresponded with most of his prominent contemporaries, including monarchs. Catherine II (r. 1762–96), who eventually purchased his library and brought it back to St. Petersburg, was one of his most frequent royal correspondents. Voltaire was actively engaged in the defense of victims of miscarriages of justice and religious discrimination. His denunciation of the abuses of Old Regime France made him an icon of the moderate revolutionaries of 1789.





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