AT early XIX in. there was an official consolidation of the boundaries of Russian possessions in North America and northern Europe. The Petersburg conventions of 1824 defined the borders with the American () and English possessions. The Americans undertook not to settle north of 54 ° 40 "N on the coast, and the Russians - to the south. The border of Russian and British possessions ran along the coast from 54 ° N to 60 ° N at a distance of 10 miles from the edge of the ocean taking into account all the bends of the coast.The St. Petersburg Russian-Swedish Convention of 1826 established the Russian-Norwegian border.

Academic expeditions of V. M. Severgin and A. I. Sherer in 1802-1804. to the north-west of Russia, to Belarus, the Baltic states and were devoted mainly to mineralogical research.

The period of geographical discoveries in the inhabited European part of Russia is over. In the 19th century expeditionary research and their scientific generalization were mainly thematic. Of these, one can name the zoning (mainly agricultural) of European Russia into eight latitudinal bands, proposed by E.F. Kankrin in 1834; botanical and geographical zoning of European Russia by R. E. Trautfetter (1851); studies of the natural conditions of the Caspian Seas, the state of fishing and other industries there (1851-1857), carried out by K. M. Baer; the work of N. A. (1855) on the animal world of the Voronezh province, in which he showed deep connections between the animal world and physical and geographical conditions, and also established patterns of distribution of forests and steppes in connection with the nature of the relief and soils; classical soil studies of VV in the zone, begun in 1877; a special expedition led by V.V. Dokuchaev, organized by the Forest Department for a comprehensive study of the nature of the steppes and finding ways to deal with. In this expedition, the stationary research method was used for the first time.

Caucasus

The annexation of the Caucasus to Russia necessitated the exploration of new Russian lands, which were poorly studied. In 1829, the Caucasian expedition of the Academy of Sciences, led by A. Ya. Kupfer and E. Kh. Lenz, explored the Rocky Range in the Greater Caucasus, determined the exact heights of many mountain peaks of the Caucasus. In 1844-1865. the natural conditions of the Caucasus were studied by G. V. Abikh. He studied in detail the orography and geology of the Bolshoy and Dagestan, the Colchis lowland, and compiled the first general orographic scheme of the Caucasus.

Ural

Among the works that have developed a geographical understanding of the Urals include a description of the Middle and Southern Urals made in 1825-1836. A. Ya. Kupfer, E. K. Hoffman, G. P. Gelmersen; the publication of "The Natural History of the Orenburg Territory" by E. A. Eversman (1840), which gives a comprehensive description of the nature of this territory with a well-founded natural division; Russian expedition geographical society to the Northern and Polar Urals (E.K. Gofman, V.G. Bragin), during which the Konstantinov Kamen peak was discovered, the Pai-Khoi ridge was discovered and explored, an inventory was compiled that served as the basis for mapping the explored part of the Urals. A notable event was the journey in 1829 of the outstanding German naturalist A. Humboldt to the Urals, Rudny Altai and to the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Siberia

In the 19th century continued exploration of Siberia, many areas of which were studied very poorly. In Altai, in the 1st half of the century, the sources of the river were discovered. Katun, explored (1825-1836, A. A. Bunge, F. V. Gebler), the Chulyshman and Abakan rivers (1840-1845, P. A. Chikhachev). During his travels, P. A. Chikhachev carried out physical-geographical and geological studies.

In 1843-1844. A. F. Middendorf collected extensive material on orography, geology, climate, and the organic world of Eastern Siberia and the Far East, for the first time information was obtained about the nature of Taimyr, the Stanovoy Range. Based on travel materials, A.F. Middendorf wrote in 1860-1878. published "Journey to the North and East of Siberia" - one of the best examples of systematic reports on the nature of the studied territories. This work gives a description of all the main natural components, as well as the population, shows the features of the relief of Central Siberia, the peculiarity of its climate, presents the results of the first scientific study of permafrost, and gives the zoogeographic division of Siberia.

In 1853-1855. R. K. Maak and A. K. Zondhagen investigated the geology and life of the population of the Central Yakut Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, the Vilyui Plateau, and surveyed the river.

In 1855-1862. The Siberian expedition of the Russian Geographical Society carried out topographic surveys, astronomical determinations, geological and other studies in the south of Eastern Siberia.

A large amount of research was carried out in the second half of the century in the mountains of the south of Eastern Siberia. In 1858, L. E. Schwartz carried out geographical research in the Sayans. During them, the topographer Kryzhin carried out a topographic survey. In 1863-1866. research in Eastern Siberia and Far East conducted by P. A. Kropotkin, who paid special attention to the relief and. He explored the rivers Oka, Amur, Ussuri, ranges, discovered the Patom Highlands. The Khamar-Daban ridge, the coasts, the Angara region, the Selenga basin, were explored by A. L. Chekanovsky (1869-1875), I. D. Chersky (1872-1882). In addition, A. L. Chekanovsky explored the basins of the Nizhnyaya Tunguska and Olenyok rivers, and I. D. Chersky studied the upper reaches of the Lower Tunguska. Geographical, geological and botanical survey of the Eastern Sayan was carried out during the Sayan expedition N. P. Bobyr, L. A. Yachevsky, Ya. P. Prein. The study of Sayanskaya in 1903 was continued by V. L. Popov. In 1910, he also carried out a geographical study of the border strip between Russia and China from Altai to Kyakhta.

In 1891-1892. during his last expedition, I. D. Chersky explored the Nerskoye Plateau, discovered three high mountain ranges Tas-Kystabyt, Ulakhan-Chistai and Tomuskhai behind the Verkhoyansk Range.

Far East

Research continued on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the seas adjacent to them. In 1805, I. F. Kruzenshtern explored the eastern and northern shores of Sakhalin and the northern Kuril Islands, and in 1811, V. M. Golovnin made an inventory of the middle and southern parts of the Kuril ridge. In 1849, G. I. Nevelskoy confirmed and proved the navigability of the Amur mouth for large ships. In 1850-1853. G. I. Nevelsky and others continued research, Sakhalin, adjacent parts of the mainland. In 1860-1867. Sakhalin was explored by F.B., P.P. Glen, G.W. Shebunin. In 1852-1853. N. K. Boshnyak investigated and described the basins of the Amgun and Tym rivers, the Everon and Chukchagirskoye lakes, the Bureinsky Range, and the Khadzhi Bay (Sovetskaya Gavan).

In 1842-1845. A.F. Middendorf and V.V. Vaganov explored the Shantar Islands.

In the 50-60s. 19th century coastal parts of Primorye were explored: in 1853 -1855. I. S. Unkovsky discovered the bays of Posyet and Olga; in 1860-1867 V. Babkin surveyed the northern coast of the Sea of ​​Japan and Peter the Great Bay. The Lower Amur and the northern part of the Sikhote-Alin were explored in 1850-1853. G. I. Nevelsky, N. K. Boshnyak, D. I. Orlov and others; in 1860-1867 - A. Budischev. In 1858, M. Venyukov explored the Ussuri River. In 1863-1866. and Ussuri were studied by P.A. Kropotkin. In 1867-1869. made a major trip to the Ussuri region. He carried out comprehensive studies of the nature of the basins of the Ussuri and Suchan rivers, crossed the Sikhote-Alin ridge.

middle Asia

As individual parts and Central Asia were annexed to the Russian Empire, and sometimes even anticipating it, Russian geographers, biologists and other scientists investigated and studied their nature. In 1820-1836. organic world Mugodzhar, the Common Syrt and the Ustyurt plateau were studied by E. A. Eversman. In 1825-1836. conducted a description of the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, the Mangystau and Bolshoy Balkhan ridges, the Krasnovodsk plateau G. S. Karelin and I. Blaramberg. In 1837-1842. AI Shrenk studied East Kazakhstan.

In 1840-1845. the Balkhash-Alakol basin was discovered (A.I. Shrenk, T.F. Nifantiev). From 1852 to 1863 T.F. Nifantyev conducted the first surveys of lakes, Zaisan. In 1848-1849. A. I. Butakov carried out the first survey, discovered a number of islands, Chernyshev Bay.

Valuable scientific results, especially in the field of biogeography, were brought by the 1857 expedition of I. G. Borshov and N. A. Severtsov to Mugodzhary, the Emba River basin, and the Bolshie Barsuki sands. In 1865, I. G. Borshchov continued research on the vegetation and natural conditions of the Aral-Caspian region. Steppes and deserts are considered by him as natural geographical complexes and mutual relations between relief, moisture, soils and vegetation are analyzed.

Since the 1840s studies of the highlands of Central Asia began. In 1840-1845. A.A. Leman and Ya.P. Yakovlev discovered the Turkestan and Zeravshan ranges. In 1856-1857. P.P. Semyonov laid the foundation for the scientific study of the Tien Shan. The heyday of research in the mountains of Central Asia falls on the period of the expeditionary leadership of P.P. Semyonov (Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky). In 1860-1867. N. A. Severtsov explored the Kyrgyz and Karatau ridges, discovered the Karzhantau, Pskem and Kakshaal-Too ridges, in 1868-1871. A.P. Fedchenko explored the Tien Shan, Kuhistan, Alay and Zaalay ranges. N. A. Severtsov, A. I. Skassi discovered the Rushansky Range and the Fedchenko Glacier (1877-1879). The conducted research allowed to single out the Pamirs as a separate mountain system.

Research in the desert regions of Central Asia was carried out by N. A. Severtsov (1866-1868) and A. P. Fedchenko in 1868-1871. (Kyzylkum desert), V. A. Obruchev in 1886-1888. (desert of Karakum and ancient valley of Uzboy).

Comprehensive studies of the Aral Sea in 1899-1902. spent .

North and Arctic

At the beginning of the XIX century. the opening of the New Siberian Islands. In 1800-1806. Ya. Sannikov carried out inventories of the islands of Stolbovoy, Faddeevsky, New Siberia. In 1808, Belkov discovered the island, which received the name of its discoverer - Belkovsky. In 1809-1811. visited by the expedition of M. M. Gedenstrom. In 1815, M. Lyakhov discovered the islands of Vasilievsky and Semyonovsky. In 1821-1823. P.F. Anjou and P.I. Ilyin carried out instrumental studies, culminating in the compilation of an accurate map of the New Siberian Islands, explored and described the islands of Semyonovsky, Vasilyevsky, Stolbovoy, the coast between the mouths of the Indigirka and Olenyok rivers, and discovered the East Siberian polynya.

In 1820-1824. F. P. Wrangel in very difficult natural conditions a journey was made through the north of Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, the coast from the mouth of the Indigirka to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay (Chukotka Peninsula) was explored and described, the existence was predicted.

Research was carried out in Russian possessions in North America: in 1816, O. E. Kotzebue discovered a large bay in the Chukchi Sea off the western coast of Alaska, named after him. In 1818-1819. the eastern coast of the Bering Sea was explored by P.G. Korsakovsky and P.A. Ustyugov, the Alaska Delta-Yukon was discovered. In 1835-1838. the lower and middle reaches of the Yukon were investigated by A. Glazunov and V.I. Malakhov, and in 1842-1843. - Russian naval officer L. A. Zagoskin. He also described the interior of Alaska. In 1829-1835. the coast of Alaska was explored by F.P. Wrangel and D.F. Zarembo. In 1838 A.F. Kashevarov described the northwestern coast of Alaska, and P.F. Kolmakov discovered the Innoko River and the Kuskokuim (Kuskokwim) Range. In 1835-1841. D.F. Zarembo and P. Mitkov completed the discovery of the Alexander Archipelago.

The archipelago has been intensively explored. In 1821-1824. F. P. Litke on the brig Novaya Zemlya explored, described and mapped the western coast of Novaya Zemlya. Attempts to make an inventory and map the eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya were unsuccessful. In 1832-1833. the first inventory of the entire eastern coast of the southern island of Novaya Zemlya was made by P.K. Pakhtusov. In 1834-1835. P.K. Pakhtusov and in 1837-1838. A. K. Tsivolka and S. A. Moiseev described the eastern coast of the North Island up to 74.5 ° N. sh., Matochkin Shar Strait is described in detail, Pakhtusov Island was discovered. The description of the northern part of Novaya Zemlya was made only in 1907-1911. V. A. Rusanov. Expeditions led by I. N. Ivanov in 1826-1829. managed to compile an inventory of the southwestern part of the Kara Sea from the Nos to the mouth of the Ob. The studies carried out made it possible to begin studying the vegetation, fauna and geological structure of Novaya Zemlya (K. M. Baer, ​​1837). In 1834-1839, especially during a major expedition in 1837, A.I. Shrenk explored the Chesh Bay, the coast of the Kara Sea, the Timan Ridge, the island, the Pai-Khoi Range, the polar Urals. Exploration of this area in 1840-1845. continued A. A. Keyserling, who conducted the survey, explored the Timan Ridge and the Pechora Lowland. Comprehensive studies of the nature of the Taimyr Peninsula, the North Siberian Lowland were carried out in 1842-1845. A. F. Middendorf. In 1847-1850. The Russian Geographical Society organized an expedition to the Northern and Polar Urals, during which the Pai-Khoi Ridge was thoroughly explored.

In 1867, Wrangel Island was discovered, the inventory of the southern coast of which was made by the captain of the American whaling ship T. Long. In 1881, the American explorer R. Berry described the eastern, western and most of the northern coast of the island, and for the first time explored the interior of the island.

In 1901, the Russian icebreaker "" visited, under the command of S. O. Makarov. In 1913-1914. a Russian expedition led by G. Ya. Sedov wintered in the archipelago. At the same time, a group of members of the distressed expedition of G. L. Brusilov visited the place on the ship “St. Anna”, headed by navigator V.I. Albanov. Despite the difficult conditions, when all the energy was directed to the preservation of life, V.I. Albanov proved that the Petermann Land and King Oscar Land, which appeared on the map of J. Payer, do not exist.

In 1878-1879. For two navigations, a Russian-Swedish expedition led by the Swedish scientist N. A. E. on a small sailing and steam vessel “Vega” for the first time passed the Northern Sea Route from west to east. This proved the possibility of navigation along the entire Eurasian Arctic coast.

In 1913, the Northern Hydrographic Expedition led by B. A. Vilkitsky on the icebreaker ships Taimyr and Vaigach, exploring the possibilities of passing north of Taimyr, encountered solid ice and, following their edge to the north, discovered islands called the Earth Emperor Nicholas II (now - Severnaya Zemlya), approximately mapping its eastern, and next year - southern shores, as well as the island of Tsarevich Alexei (now -). The western and northern shores remained completely unknown.

Russian Geographical Society

The Russian Geographical Society (RGO), founded in 1845 (since 1850 - the Imperial Russian Geographical Society - IRGO), has made great contributions to the development of domestic cartography.

In 1881, the American polar explorer J. De Long discovered Jeannette, Henrietta, and Bennett Islands northeast of New Siberia Island. This group of islands was named after its discoverer. In 1885-1886. the study of the Arctic coast between the Lena and Kolyma rivers and the New Siberian Islands was carried out by A. A. Bunge and E. V. Toll.

Already at the beginning of 1852, it published its first twenty-five-verst (1:1,050,000) map of the Pai-Khoi coastal ridge, compiled on the basis of materials from the Ural expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in 1847-1850. For the first time, the Pai-Khoi coastal ridge was depicted on it with great accuracy and detail.

The Geographical Society also published 40-verst maps of the river regions of the Amur, the southern part of the Lena and the Yenisei, and about. Sakhalin on 7 sheets (1891).

Sixteen large expeditions of the IRGS, led by N. M. Przhevalsky, G. N. Potanin, M. V. Pevtsov, G. E. Grumm-Grzhimailo, V. I. Roborovsky, P. K. Kozlov and V. A. Obruchev, made a great contribution to the survey of Central Asia. During these expeditions, 95,473 km were covered and photographed (of which over 30,000 km are accounted for by N. M. Przhevalsky), 363 astronomical points were determined, and the heights of 3,533 points were measured. The position of the main mountain ranges and river systems, as well as the lake basins of Central Asia, was clarified. All this greatly contributed to the creation of a modern physical map of Central Asia.

The heyday of the expeditionary activity of the IRGO falls on 1873-1914, when the society was headed by Grand Duke Konstantin, and P.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky was the vice-chairman. During this period, expeditions were organized to Central Asia and other regions of the country; two polar stations have been established. Since the mid 1880s. The expeditionary activity of the society is increasingly specialized in individual branches - glaciology, limnology, geophysics, biogeography, etc.

The IRGS made a great contribution to the study of the country's relief. A hypsometric commission of the IRGO was created to process the leveling and make a hypsometric map. In 1874, the IRGS conducted, under the leadership of A. A. Tillo, the Aral-Caspian leveling: from Karatamak (on the northwestern shore of the Aral Sea) through Ustyurt to the Dead Kultuk Bay of the Caspian Sea, and in 1875 and 1877. Siberian leveling: from the village of Zverinogolovskaya in the Orenburg region to Baikal. The materials of the hypsometric commission were used by A. A. Tillo to compile the “map of European Russia” on a scale of 60 versts per inch (1:2,520,000), published by the Ministry of Railways in 1889. More than 50 thousand elevation marks were used to compile it obtained as a result of leveling. The map made a revolution in the ideas about the structure of the relief of this territory. It presented in a new way the orography of the European part of the country, which has not changed in its main features to the present day, for the first time the Central Russian and Volga Uplands were depicted. In 1894, the Forest Department, under the leadership of A. A. Tillo with the participation of S. N., organized an expedition to study the sources of the main rivers of European Russia, which provided extensive material on relief and hydrography (in particular, on lakes).

The Military Topographic Service, with the active participation of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, carried out a large number of pioneer reconnaissance surveys in the Far East, Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, during which maps of many territories were compiled, which were previously "white spots" on the map.

Mapping of the territory in the XIX-beginning of the XX centuries.

Topographic and geodetic works

In 1801-1804. “His Majesty's Own Map Depot” issued the first state multi-sheet (on 107 sheets) map at a scale of 1:840,000, covering almost the entire European Russia and called the “Hundred-sheet Map”. Its content was based mainly on the materials of the General Land Survey.

In 1798-1804. The Russian General Staff, under the leadership of Major General F.F. Steinchel (Steingel), with the extensive use of Swedish-Finnish officers-topographers, carried out a large-scale topographic survey of the so-called Old Finland, i.e., areas annexed to Russia along the Nishtadt (1721) and Abosky (1743) to the world. Survey materials, preserved in the form of a handwritten four-volume atlas, were widely used in the compilation of various maps at the beginning of the 19th century.

After 1809, the topographic services of Russia and Finland were merged. Wherein Russian army received a ready-made educational institution for the training of professional topographers - military school, founded in 1779 in the village of Gappaniemi. On the basis of this school, on March 16, 1812, the Gappanyem Topographic Corps was established, which became the first special military topographic and geodetic educational institution in the Russian Empire.

In 1815, the ranks of the Russian army were replenished with officers-topographers of the General Quartermaster of the Polish Army.

Since 1819, topographic surveys began in Russia at a scale of 1:21,000, based on triangulation and carried out mainly with the help of a beaker. In 1844 they were replaced by surveys on a scale of 1:42,000.

On January 28, 1822, the Corps of military topographers was established at the General Staff of the Russian Army and the Military Topographic Depot. State topographic mapping has become one of the main tasks of military topographers. The remarkable Russian surveyor and cartographer F. F. Schubert was appointed the first director of the Corps of Military Topographers.

In 1816-1852. in Russia, the largest triangulation work for that time was carried out, stretching 25 ° 20 "along the meridian (together with the Scandinavian triangulation).

Under the direction of F. F. Schubert and K. I. Tenner, intensive instrumental and semi-instrumental (route) surveys began, mainly in the western and northwestern provinces of European Russia. Based on the materials of these surveys in the 20-30s. 19th century semi-topographic (semi-topographic) maps were compiled and engraved for the provinces on a scale of 4-5 versts per inch.

In 1821, the military topographic depot began compiling an overview topographic map of European Russia on a scale of 10 versts per inch (1:420,000), which was extremely necessary not only for the military, but also for all civilian departments. The special ten-folder of European Russia is known in the literature as the Schubert Map. Work on the creation of the map continued intermittently until 1839. It was published on 59 sheets and three flaps (or half sheets).

A large amount of work was carried out by the Corps of military topographers in different parts of the country. In 1826-1829. detailed maps were drawn up on a scale of 1:210,000 of the Baku province, the Talysh Khanate, the Karabakh province, the plan of Tiflis, etc.

In 1828-1832. a survey was also made of Wallachia, which became a model of the work of its time, as it was based on a sufficient number of astronomical points. All maps were summarized in an atlas of 1:16,000. The total survey area reached 100,000 sq. m. verst.

From the 30s. geodetic and boundary work began to be carried out on. Geodetic points carried out in 1836-1838. triangulation became the basis for creating accurate topographic maps of the Crimea. Geodetic networks were developed in Smolensk, Moscow, Mogilev, Tver, Novgorod provinces and in other areas.

In 1833, the head of the KVT, General F. F. Schubert, organized an unprecedented chronometric expedition to the Baltic Sea. As a result of the expedition, the longitudes of 18 points were determined, which, together with 22 points related to them trigonometrically, provided a reliable justification for surveying the coast and soundings of the Baltic Sea.

From 1857 to 1862 under the guidance and at the expense of the IRGO in the Military Topographic Depot, work was carried out to compile and publish on 12 sheets a general map of European Russia and the Caucasus region on a scale of 40 versts per inch (1: 1,680,000) with an explanatory note. On the advice of V. Ya. Struve, the map was created for the first time in Russia in the Gaussian projection, and Pulkovsky was taken as the initial meridian on it. In 1868, the map was published, and later it was repeatedly reprinted.

In subsequent years, a five-verst map on 55 sheets, a twenty-verst and forty-verst orographic maps of the Caucasus were published.

Among the best cartographic works of the IRGS is the “Map of the Aral Sea and the Khiva Khanate with their environs” compiled by Ya. V. Khanykov (1850). The map was published on French The Parisian Geographical Society and on the proposal of A. Humboldt was awarded the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle of the 2nd degree.

The Caucasian Military Topographic Department, under the leadership of General I. I. Stebnitsky, conducted reconnaissance in Central Asia along the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.

In 1867, a cartographic institution was opened at the Military Topographic Department of the General Staff. Together with the private cartographic establishment of A. A. Ilyin, opened in 1859, they were the direct predecessors of modern domestic cartographic factories.

Relief maps occupied a special place among the various products of the Caucasian WTO. A large relief map was completed in 1868 and exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1869. This map is made for horizontal distances at a scale of 1:420,000, and for vertical distances at 1:84,000.

The Caucasian Military Topographic Department, under the leadership of I. I. Stebnitsky, compiled a 20-verst map of the Transcaspian Territory based on astronomical, geodetic and topographic works.

Work was also carried out on topographic and geodetic preparation of the territories of the Far East. So, in 1860, the position of eight points was determined near the western coast of the Sea of ​​Japan, and in 1863, 22 points were determined in Peter the Great Bay.

The expansion of the territory of the Russian Empire was reflected in many maps and atlases published at that time. Such, in particular, is the “General Map of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland attached to it” from the “Geographical Atlas of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland” by V. P. Pyadyshev (St. Petersburg, 1834).

Since 1845, one of the main tasks of the Russian military topographic service has been the creation of the Military Topographic Map of Western Russia on a scale of 3 versts per inch. By 1863, 435 sheets of the military topographic map had been published, and by 1917, 517 sheets. On this map, the relief was rendered in strokes.

In 1848-1866. under the leadership of Lieutenant General A. I. Mende, surveys were carried out aimed at creating topographic boundary maps and atlases and descriptions for all provinces of European Russia. During this period, work was carried out on an area of ​​about 345,000 square meters. verst. Tver, Ryazan, Tambov and Vladimir provinces were mapped on a scale of one verst to an inch (1:42,000), Yaroslavl - two versts to an inch (1:84,000), Simbirsk and Nizhny Novgorod - three versts to an inch (1:126,000) and the Penza province - on a scale of eight miles to an inch (1:336,000). Based on the results of the surveys, the IRGO published multi-color topographic boundary atlases of the Tver and Ryazan provinces (1853-1860) on a scale of 2 versts per inch (1:84,000) and a map of the Tver province on a scale of 8 versts per inch (1:336,000).

The surveys of Mende had an undeniable impact on the further improvement of the methods of state mapping. In 1872, the Military Topographic Department of the General Staff began work on updating the three-verst map, which actually led to the creation of a new standard Russian topographic map at a scale of 2 versts in an inch (1:84,000), which was the most detailed source of information about the area used in troops and the national economy until the 30s. 20th century A two-verst military topographic map was published for the Kingdom of Poland, parts of the Crimea and the Caucasus, as well as the Baltic states and areas around Moscow and. It was one of the first Russian topographic maps, on which the relief was depicted by contour lines.

In 1869-1885. a detailed topographic survey of Finland was carried out, which was the beginning of the creation of a state topographic map on a scale of one verst in an inch - the highest achievement of pre-revolutionary military topography in Russia. One-verst maps covered the territory of Poland, the Baltic states, southern Finland, the Crimea, the Caucasus and parts of southern Russia north of Novocherkassk.

By the 60s. 19th century the Special Map of European Russia by F. F. Schubert on a scale of 10 versts in an inch is very outdated. In 1865, the editorial commission appointed captain of the General Staff I.A. works. In 1872, all 152 sheets of the map were completed. The ten-versustka was repeatedly reprinted and partially supplemented; in 1903 it consisted of 167 sheets. This map was widely used not only for military, but also for scientific, practical and cultural purposes.

By the end of the century, the work of the Corps of Military Topographers continued to create new maps for sparsely populated areas, including the Far East and Manchuria. During this time, several reconnaissance detachments traveled more than 12 thousand miles, performing route and eye surveys. Based on their results, topographic maps were later compiled on a scale of 2, 3, 5 and 20 versts per inch.

In 1907, a special commission was created at the General Staff to develop a plan for future topographic and geodetic work in European and Asian Russia, chaired by the head of the KVT, General N. D. Artamonov. It was decided to develop a new class 1 triangulation according to a specific program proposed by General I. I. Pomerantsev. The implementation of the KVT program began in 1910. By 1914, the main part of the work had been completed.

By the beginning of the First World War, a large volume of large-scale topographic surveys was carried out on the territory of Poland completely, in the south of Russia (the triangle of Chisinau, Galati, Odessa), in the Petrograd and Vyborg provinces partially; on a verst scale in Livonia, Petrograd, Minsk provinces, and partially in Transcaucasia, on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea and in the Crimea; on a two-verst scale - in the north-west of Russia, to the east of the half-verst and verst scale survey sites.

The results of topographic surveys of the previous and pre-war years made it possible to compile and publish a large volume of topographic and special military maps: a half-verst map of the Western border area (1:21,000); verst map of the Western border area, Crimea and Transcaucasia (1:42,000); a military topographic two-verst map (1:84,000), a three-verst map (1:126,000) with a relief expressed by strokes; semi-topographic 10-verst map of European Russia (1:420,000); 25-verst military road map of European Russia (1:1,050,000); 40-verst Strategic Map (1:1,680,000); maps of the Caucasus and adjacent foreign states.

In addition to the above maps, the Military Topographic Department of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GUGSH) prepared maps of Turkestan, Central Asia and the states adjacent to them, Western Siberia, the Far East, as well as maps of the entire Asian Russia.

The corps of military topographers over the 96 years of its existence (1822-1918) carried out a huge amount of astronomical, geodetic and cartographic work: geodetic points were identified - 63,736; astronomical points (in latitude and longitude) - 3900; 46 thousand km of leveling passages were laid; instrumental topographic surveys were carried out on a geodetic basis at various scales over an area of ​​7,425,319 km2, and semi-instrumental and visual surveys were carried out over an area of ​​506,247 km2. In 1917, the supply of the Russian army was 6739 nomenclatures of maps of various scales.

In general, by 1917, a huge field survey material had been obtained, a number of remarkable cartographic works had been created, however, the topographic coverage of the territory of Russia was uneven, a significant part of the territory remained topographically unexplored.

Exploration and mapping of the seas and oceans

Russia's achievements in the study of the World Ocean were also significant. One of the important incentives for these studies in the 19th century, as before, was the need to ensure the functioning of Russian overseas possessions in Alaska. To supply these colonies, round-the-world expeditions were regularly equipped, which, starting from the first voyage in 1803-1806. on the ships "Nadezhda" and "Neva" under the leadership of Yu. V. Lisyansky, they made many remarkable geographical discoveries and significantly increased the cartographic knowledge of the World Ocean.

In addition to the hydrographic work carried out almost annually off the coast of Russian America by officers of the Russian Navy, participants in round-the-world expeditions, employees of the Russian-American Company, among which were such brilliant hydrographers and scientists as F. P. Wrangel, A. K. Etolin and M D. Tebenkov, continuously updated their knowledge of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean and improved the navigational charts of these regions. Especially great was the contribution of M. D. Tebenkov, who compiled the most detailed “Atlas of the Northwestern coasts of America from to Cape Corrientes and the Aleutian Islands with the addition of some places on the Northeastern coast of Asia”, published by the St. Petersburg Naval Academy in 1852.

In parallel with the study of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, Russian hydrographers actively explored the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, thus contributing to the finalization of geographical ideas about the polar regions of Eurasia and laying the foundations for the subsequent development of the Northern Sea Route. Thus, most of the coasts and islands of the Barents and Kara Seas were described and mapped in the 20-30s. 19th century expeditions of F. P. Litke, P. K. Pakhtusov, K. M. Baer and A. K. Tsivolka, who laid the foundations for the physical and geographical study of these seas and the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. To solve the problem of developing transport links of the European Pomorye, expeditions were equipped for a hydrographic inventory of the coast from Kanin Nos to the mouth of the Ob River, the most productive of which were the Pechora expedition of I.N. Ivanov (1824) and the inventory of I.N. Ivanov and I.A. Berezhnykh (1826-1828). The maps compiled by them had a solid astronomical and geodetic justification. Studies of sea coasts and islands in the north of Siberia at the beginning of the 19th century. were largely stimulated by the discoveries of islands in the Novosibirsk archipelago by Russian industrialists, as well as the search for mysterious northern lands (“Sannikov Land”), islands north of the mouth of the Kolyma (“Andreev Land”), etc. In 1808-1810. during the expedition led by M. M. Gedenshtrom and P. Pshenitsyn, who explored the islands of New Siberia, Faddeevsky, Kotelny and the strait between the latter, a map of the Novosibirsk archipelago as a whole was created for the first time, as well as the mainland sea coasts between the mouths of the Yana and Kolyma rivers. For the first time, a detailed geographical description of the islands was made. In the 20s. Yanskaya (1820-1824) under the leadership of P.F. Anzhu and Kolymskaya (1821-1824) - under the leadership of F.P. Wrangel - expeditions were equipped in the same areas. These expeditions carried out on an extended scale the work program of the expedition of M. M. Gedenstrom. They were supposed to survey the banks from the Lena River to the Bering Strait. The main merit of the expedition was the compilation of a more accurate map of the entire continental coast of the Arctic Ocean from the Olenyok River to the Kolyuchinskaya Bay, as well as maps of the Novosibirsk, Lyakhovsky and Bear Islands group. In the eastern part of Wrangel's map, according to local residents, an island was marked with the inscription "Mountains are seen from Cape Yakan in the summer." This island was also depicted on maps in the atlases of I.F. Kruzenshtern (1826) and G.A. Sarychev (1826). In 1867, it was discovered by the American navigator T. Long and in commemoration of the merits of the remarkable Russian polar explorer named after Wrangel. The results of the expeditions of P. F. Anzhu and F. P. Wrangel were summarized in 26 handwritten maps and plans, as well as in scientific reports and works.

Not only scientific, but also of enormous geopolitical significance for Russia were held in mid-nineteenth in. G. I. Nevelsky and his followers intensive marine expeditionary research in the Okhotsk and. Although the insular position of Sakhalin was known to Russian cartographers from the very beginning of the 18th century, which was reflected in their works, however, the problem of accessibility of the Amur mouth for ships from the south and north was finally and positively resolved only by G. I. Nevelsky. This discovery decisively changed the attitude of the Russian authorities towards the Amur Region and Primorye, showing the enormous potential of these richest regions, provided, as G. I. Nevelsky's studies proved, with end-to-end water communications leading to the Pacific Ocean. These studies themselves were carried out by travelers sometimes at their own peril and risk in confrontation with official government circles. The remarkable expeditions of G. I. Nevelsky paved the way for the return of Russia to the Amur region under the terms of the Aigun Treaty with China (signed on May 28, 1858) and joining the Empire of Primorye (under the terms of the Beijing Treaty between Russia and China, concluded on November 2 (14), 1860 .). The results of geographical research on the Amur and Primorye, as well as changes in the boundaries in the Far East in accordance with the agreements between Russia and China, were declared cartographically on maps of the Amur and Primorye compiled and published as soon as possible.

Russian hydrographs in the XIX century. continued active work on the European seas. After the annexation of Crimea (1783) and the creation of the Russian navy on the Black Sea, detailed hydrographic surveys of the Azov and Black Seas began. Already in 1799, the navigation atlas of I.N. Billings on the northern coast, in 1807 - the atlas of I. M. Budischev on the western part of the Black Sea, and in 1817 - the “General Map of the Black and Azov Seas”. In 1825-1836. under the leadership of E.P. Manganari, on the basis of triangulation, a topographic survey of the entire northern and western seas was carried out, which made it possible to publish the “Atlas of the Black Sea” in 1841.

In the 19th century intensive study of the Caspian Sea continued. In 1826, based on the detailed hydrographic works of 1809-1817, carried out by the expedition of the Admiralty Colleges under the leadership of A.E. Kolodkin, the “Complete Atlas of the Caspian Sea” was published, which fully met the requirements of the shipping of that time.

In subsequent years, the maps of the atlas were refined by the expeditions of G. G. Basargin (1823-1825) on the western coast, N. N. Muravyov-Karsky (1819-1821), G. S. Karelin (1832, 1834, 1836) and others. on the eastern coast of the Caspian. In 1847, I. I. Zherebtsov described the bay. In 1856, a new hydrographic expedition was sent to the Caspian Sea under the leadership of N.A. Ivashintsov, who over the course of 15 years carried out a systematic survey and description, compiling several plans and 26 maps that covered almost the entire coast of the Caspian Sea.

In the 19th century Intensive work continued to improve the maps of the Baltic and White Seas. An outstanding achievement of Russian hydrography was the “Atlas of the entire Baltic Sea…” compiled by G. A. Sarychev (1812). In 1834-1854. based on the materials of the chronometric expedition of F. F. Schubert, maps were compiled and published for the entire Russian coast of the Baltic Sea.

Significant changes were made to the maps of the White Sea and the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula by the hydrographic works of F. P. Litke (1821-1824) and M. F. Reinecke (1826-1833). Based on the materials of the Reinecke expedition, in 1833 the “Atlas of the White Sea ...” was published, the maps of which were used by seafarers until the beginning of the 20th century, and the “Hydrographic description of the northern coast of Russia”, which supplemented this atlas, can be considered as a model geographical description coasts. The Imperial Academy of Sciences awarded this work to MF Reinecke in 1851 with the full Demidov Prize.

Thematic mapping

Active development of basic (topographic and hydrographic) cartography in the 19th century. created the basis necessary for the formation of special (thematic) mapping. Its intensive development dates back to the 19th-early 20th centuries.

In 1832, the Hydrographic Atlas of the Russian Empire was published by the Main Directorate of Communications. It included general maps on a scale of 20 and 10 versts per inch, detailed maps on a scale of 2 versts per inch, and plans on a scale of 100 fathoms per inch and larger. Hundreds of plans and maps were compiled, which contributed to an increase in the cartographic knowledge of the territories along the routes of the corresponding roads.

Significant cartographic work in the XIX-early XX centuries. carried out by the Ministry of State Property formed in 1837, in which in 1838 the Corps of civilian topographers was established, which carried out mapping of poorly studied and unexplored lands.

An important achievement of domestic cartography was the Marx's Great World Desktop Atlas, published in 1905 (2nd edition, 1909), containing over 200 maps and an index of 130,000 geographical names.

Mapping nature

Geological mapping

In the 19th century intensive cartographic study of the mineral resources of Russia and their exploitation continued, special geognostic (geological) mapping is being developed. At the beginning of the XIX century. many maps of mountain districts were created, plans for factories, salt and oil fields, gold mines, quarries, and mineral springs. The history of exploration and development of minerals in the Altai and Nerchinsk mining districts is reflected in particular detail in the maps.

Numerous maps of mineral deposits, plans of land plots and forest holdings, factories, mines and mines were compiled. An example of a collection of valuable handwritten geological maps is the atlas “Salt Mine Maps” compiled by the Mining Department. The maps of the collection belong mainly to the 20-30s. 19th century Many of the maps in this atlas are much broader in content than ordinary salt mine maps and are, in fact, early examples of geological (petrographic) maps. So, among the maps of G. Vansovich in 1825 there is a Petrographic map of the Bialystok region, Grodno and part of the Vilna province. The “Map of the Pskov and part of the Novgorod province” also has a rich geological content: showing rock and salt springs discovered in 1824…”

An extremely rare example of an early map is the “Topographic Map of the Crimean Peninsula…” with the designation of the depth and quality of water in the villages, compiled by A.N. Kozlovsky in 1842 on the cartographic basis of 1817. having different water availability, as well as a table of the number of villages by counties in need of watering.

In 1840-1843. The English geologist R. I. Murchison, together with A. A. Keyserling and N. I. Koksharov, conducted research that for the first time gave a scientific picture of the geological structure of European Russia.

In the 50s. 19th century The first geological maps began to be published in Russia. One of the earliest is the Geognostic Map of the St. Petersburg Province (S. S. Kutorga, 1852). The results of intensive geological research found expression in the Geological Map of European Russia (A.P. Karpinsky, 1893).

The main task of the Geological Committee was the creation of a 10-verst (1:420,000) geological map of European Russia, in connection with which a systematic study of the relief and geological structure of the territory began, in which such prominent geologists as I. V. Mushketov, A. P. Pavlov and others. By 1917, only 20 sheets of this map were published out of the planned 170. Since the 1870s. geological mapping of some regions of Asiatic Russia began.

In 1895, the Atlas of Terrestrial Magnetism was published, compiled by A. A. Tillo.

Forest mapping

One of the earliest handwritten maps of forests is the Map for Reviewing the State of Forests and the Timber Industry in [European] Russia, compiled in 1840-1841, as established by M. A. Tsvetkov. The Ministry of State Property carried out major work on mapping state-owned forests, the forest industry and forest-consuming industries, as well as on improving forest accounting and forest cartography. Materials for it were collected by inquiries through local departments of state property, as well as other departments. In the final form in 1842, two maps were drawn up; the first of them is a map of forests, the other was one of the earliest samples of soil-climatic maps, on which climatic bands and dominant soils in European Russia were marked. A soil-climatic map has not yet been discovered.

The work on mapping the forests of European Russia revealed the unsatisfactory state of the device and mapping and prompted the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of State Property to create a special commission to improve forest mapping and forest accounting. As a result of the work of this commission, detailed instructions and symbols were created for the preparation of forest plans and maps, approved by Tsar Nicholas I. The Ministry of State Property paid special attention to the organization of work on the study and mapping of state lands in Siberia, which became especially widespread after the abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861, one of the consequences of which was the intensive development of the resettlement movement.

soil mapping

In 1838 a systematic study of soils began in Russia. Mostly on the basis of interrogation information, many handwritten soil maps were compiled. Prominent economic geographer and climatologist Academician K. S. Veselovsky in 1855 compiled and published the first consolidated “Soil Map of European Russia”, which shows eight types of soils: black soil, clay, sand, loam and sandy loam, silt, solonetzes, tundra , swamps. The works of K. S. Veselovsky on climatology and soils of Russia were the starting point for the works on soil cartography of the famous Russian geographer and soil scientist V. V. Dokuchaev, who proposed a truly scientific classification for soils based on the genetic principle, and introduced their comprehensive study taking into account factors soil formation. His book Cartography of Russian Soils, published by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Industry in 1879 as an explanatory text for the Soil Map of European Russia, laid the foundations for modern soil science and soil cartography. Since 1882, V. V. Dokuchaev and his followers (N. M. Sibirtsev, K. D. Glinka, S. S. Neustruev, L. I. Prasolov and others) carried out soil, and in fact complex physical and geographical studies in more than 20 provinces. One of the results of these works was soil maps of provinces (on a scale of 10 versts) and more detailed maps of individual districts. Under the leadership of V. V. Dokuchaev, N. M. Sibirtsev, G. I. Tanfilyev and A. R. Ferkhmin compiled and published in 1901 the “Soil Map of European Russia” at a scale of 1:2,520,000.

Socio-economic mapping

Economy Mapping

The development of capitalism in industry and agriculture necessitated a deeper study of the national economy. To this end, in the middle of the XIX century. survey economic maps and atlases begin to be published. The first economic maps of individual provinces (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yaroslavl, etc.) are being created. The first economic map published in Russia was the “Map of the Industry of European Russia Showing Factories, Factories and Industries, Administrative Places in the Manufactory Section, Major Fairs, Water and Land Communications, Ports, Lighthouses, Customs Houses, Major Quays, Quarantines, etc., 1842” .

A significant cartographic work is the “Economic and Statistical Atlas of European Russia from 16 Maps”, compiled and published in 1851 by the Ministry of State Property, which went through four editions - 1851, 1852, 1857 and 1869. It was the first economic atlas in our country devoted to agriculture. It included the first thematic maps (soil, climatic, agricultural). In the atlas and its text part, an attempt was made to summarize the main features and directions of development of agriculture in Russia in the 50s. 19th century

Of undoubted interest is the handwritten "Statistical Atlas", compiled in the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the direction of N. A. Milyutin in 1850. The Atlas consists of 35 maps and cartograms, reflecting a wide variety of socio-economic parameters. It, apparently, was compiled in parallel with the "Economic and Statistical Atlas" of 1851 and, in comparison with it, provides a lot of new information.

A major achievement of domestic cartography was the publication in 1872 of the Maps of the Most Important Branches of Productivity in European Russia compiled by the Central Statistical Committee (about 1:2,500,000). The publication of this work was facilitated by the improvement in the organization of statistical affairs in Russia, associated with the formation in 1863 of the Central Statistical Committee, headed by the famous Russian geographer, vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society P. P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky. The materials collected during the eight years of the existence of the Central Statistical Committee, as well as various sources from other departments, made it possible to create a map that multifacetedly and reliably characterizes the economy of post-reform Russia. The map was an excellent reference tool and valuable material for scientific research. Distinguished by the completeness of content, expressiveness and originality of mapping methods, it is a remarkable monument to the history of Russian cartography and historical source which has not lost its significance up to the present.

The first capital atlas of industry was the “Statistical Atlas of the Main Branches of the Factory Industry of European Russia” by D. A. Timiryazev (1869-1873). At the same time, maps of the mining industry (the Urals, the Nerchinsk District, etc.), maps of the location of the sugar industry, agriculture, etc., transport and economic charts of cargo flows along railways and waterways were published.

One of the best works Russian socio-economic cartography at the beginning of the 20th century. is the “Commercial and industrial map of European Russia” by V.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shan scale 1:1,680,000 (1911). This map presented a synthesis of the economic characteristics of many centers and regions.

We should dwell on one more outstanding cartographic work created by the Department of Agriculture of the Main Directorate of Agriculture and Land Management before the First World War. This is an atlas-album "Agricultural trade in Russia" (1914), representing a set of statistical maps of agriculture. This album is interesting as an experience of a kind of “cartographic propaganda” of the potential possibilities of the agricultural economy in Russia to attract new investments from abroad.

Population mapping

P. I. Keppen organized a systematic collection of statistical data on the number and ethnographic characteristics of the Russian population. The result of P. I. Keppen’s work was the “Ethnographic Map of European Russia” on a scale of 75 versts per inch (1:3,150,000), which went through three editions (1851, 1853 and 1855). In 1875, a new large ethnographic map of European Russia was published on a scale of 60 versts per inch (1:2,520,000), compiled by the famous Russian ethnographer, Lieutenant General A.F. Rittich. At the Paris International Geographical Exhibition, the map received a 1st class medal. Ethnographic maps of the Caucasus region were published at a scale of 1:1,080,000 (A.F. Rittikh, 1875), Asiatic Russia (M.I. Venyukov), the Kingdom of Poland (1871), Transcaucasia (1895), and others.

Among other thematic cartographic works, one should mention the first map of European Russia, compiled by N. A. Milyutin (1851), “ General card of the entire Russian Empire with a designation of the degree of population” by A. Rakint on a scale of 1:21,000,000 (1866), which also included Alaska.

Integrated research and mapping

In 1850-1853. The police department issued atlases of St. Petersburg (compiled by N.I. Tsylov) and Moscow (compiled by A. Khotev).

In 1897, a student of V. V. Dokuchaev, G. I. Tanfilyev, published the zoning of European Russia, which for the first time was called physiographic. Zonality was clearly reflected in Tanfiliev's scheme, and some significant intrazonal differences in natural conditions were also outlined.

In 1899, the world's first National Atlas of Finland was published, which was part of the Russian Empire, but had the status of an autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1910, the second edition of this atlas appeared.

The highest achievement of pre-revolutionary thematic cartography was the capital "Atlas of Asian Russia", published in 1914 by the Resettlement Administration, with an extensive and richly illustrated text in three volumes. The atlas reflects the economic situation and conditions for the agricultural development of the territory for the needs of the Resettlement Administration. It is interesting to note that this edition for the first time included a detailed review of the history of mapping in Asian Russia, written by a young naval officer, later a well-known historian of cartography, L. S. Bagrov. The content of the maps and the accompanying text of the atlas reflects the results of the great work of various organizations and individual Russian scientists. For the first time, the Atlas contains an extensive set of economic maps for Asian Russia. Its central section is made up of maps on which backgrounds of different colors show overall picture land tenure and land use, which reflects the results of the ten-year activity of the Resettlement Administration for the arrangement of settlers.

A special map has been placed showing the distribution of the population of Asiatic Russia by religion. Three maps are devoted to cities, which show their population, budget growth and debt. The cartograms for agriculture show the proportion of different crops in field cultivation and the relative number of the main types of livestock. Mineral deposits are marked on a separate map. Special maps of the atlas are devoted to communication routes, post offices and telegraph lines, which, of course, were of extreme importance for sparsely populated Asiatic Russia.

So, by the beginning of the First World War, Russia came with cartography that provided for the needs of the country's defense, national economy, science and education, at a level that fully corresponded to its role as a great Eurasian power of its time. By the beginning of the First World War, the Russian Empire had vast territories, displayed, in particular, on the general map of the state, published by A. A. Ilyin's cartographic institution in 1915.

As a result of the Northern War of 1700-1721, the powerful Swedish army was defeated, the Russian lands occupied by Sweden in the late 16th and early 17th centuries were returned. At the mouth of the Neva, the city of St. Petersburg was built, where in 1712 the capital of Russia was transferred. The Muscovite state becomes in 1721 the Russian Empire, headed by the Emperor of All Russia.

Of course, Russia took a long time to create an empire, and not only victory in northern war contributed to this.

Long haul

At the beginning of the XIII century, Russia consisted of about 15 principalities. However, the natural course of centralization was crossed out by the Mongol invasion (1237-1240). Further unification of the Russian lands took place in difficult foreign policy conditions and was dictated primarily by political prerequisites.

In the XIV century, most of the Russian lands were united around Vilna - the capital of the emerging Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. During the XIII-XV centuries, Gorodenskoe, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Turovo-Pinsk, Kiev principality, as well as most of the Chernihiv region, Volyn, Podolia, Smolensk region and a number of other Russian lands. Thus, the sole rule of the Rurikovichs and the tribal unity of Russia have gone into the past. Lands were annexed both by military and peaceful means.

The end of the 15th - the beginning of the 16th centuries became a kind of frontier, after which the lands annexed to Russia formed a single whole with it. The process of joining the rest of the inheritance Ancient Russia stretched out for another two centuries, and by that time their own ethnic processes had gained strength there.

In 1654 Left-Bank Ukraine joined Russia. The lands of the Right-Bank Ukraine (without Galicia) and Belarus became part of the Russian Empire as a result of the second division of the Commonwealth in 1793.

“The Russian kingdom (both conceptually, ideologically, and institutionally) had two sources: the “kingdom” (khanate) of the Golden Horde and the Byzantine Orthodox kingdom (empire).”

One of the first to formulate a new idea of ​​the royal power of the Moscow princes was Metropolitan Zosima. In the essay "The Presentation of the Paschal", submitted to the Moscow Cathedral in 1492, he emphasized that Moscow became the new Constantinople thanks to the fidelity of Russia to God. God Himself appointed Ivan III - "the new Tsar Constantine to the new city of Constantine - Moscow and the whole Russian land and many other lands of the sovereign." Thus, Ivan IV was the first tsar crowned king. This happened on January 16, 1547.

Under Ivan IV, Russia managed to significantly expand its possessions. As a result of the campaign against Kazan and its capture in 1552, she gained the middle Volga region, and in 1556, with the capture of Astrakhan, the lower Volga region and access to the Caspian Sea, which opened up new trade opportunities with Persia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. At the same time, the ring of hostile Tatar khanates that hampered Russia was broken, and the road to Siberia was opened.

V. Surikov "Conquest of Siberia by Yermak"

The era of Ivan the Terrible also marked the beginning of the conquest of Siberia. A small detachment of Cossacks Yermak Timofeevich, hired by the Ural industrialists Stroganovs to protect against the raids of the Siberian Tatars, defeated the army of the Siberian Khan Kuchum and took his capital Kashlyk. Despite the fact that due to the attacks of the Tatars, few of the Cossacks managed to return alive, the collapsed Siberian Khanate was no longer restored. A few years later, the tsarist archers of the voivode Voeikov crushed the last resistance. The gradual development of Siberia by the Russians began. Over the next decades, forts and trading settlements began to appear: Tobolsk, Verkhoturye, Mangazeya, Yeniseisk and Bratsk.

Russian empire

P. Zharkov "Portrait of Peter I"

On August 30, 1721, the Treaty of Nystadt was concluded between Russia and Sweden, according to which Russia received access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia.

Russia has become a great European power. Peter I accepted from the Senate the titles "Great" and "Father of the Fatherland", he was proclaimed emperor, and Russia - an empire.

The formation of the Russian Empire was accompanied by a number of reforms.

Public Administration Reform

Creation of the Near Office (or Council of Ministers) in 1699. It was transformed in 1711 into the Governing Senate. Establishment of 12 collegiums with a specific scope of activity and authority.

The system of state administration has become more perfect. The activities of most state bodies became regulated, the collegiums had a clearly defined area of ​​activity. Supervisory bodies were created.

Regional (provincial) reform

At the first stage of the reform, Peter I divided Russia into 8 provinces: Moscow, Kyiv, Kazan, Ingermanland (later St. Petersburg), Arkhangelsk, Smolensk, Azov, Siberia. They were ruled by governors who were in charge of the troops located on the territory of the province, and also possessed full administrative and judicial power. At the second stage of the reform, the provinces were divided into 50 provinces ruled by governors, and those were divided into districts led by zemstvo commissars. The governors were stripped of their administrative power and were in charge of judicial and military matters.

There was a centralization of power. Local governments have almost completely lost influence.

Judicial reform

Peter 1 formed new judicial bodies: the Senate, the Justic College, the Hofgerichts, and the lower courts. Judicial functions were also performed by all colleagues, except for Foreign. The judges were separated from the administration. The court of kissers (an analogue of the jury trial) was canceled, the principle of the inviolability of an unconvicted person was lost.

A large number of judicial bodies and persons who carried out judicial activities (the emperor himself, governors, governors, etc.) brought confusion and confusion to the proceedings, the introduction of the possibility of "knocking out" testimony under torture created grounds for abuse and bias. At the same time, the adversarial nature of the process was established and the need for the verdict to be based on specific articles of the law corresponding to the case under consideration.

Military reforms

The introduction of recruitment, the creation of the navy, the establishment of the Military Collegium, which was in charge of all military affairs. Introduction with the help of the "Table of Ranks" of military ranks, uniform for all of Russia. Creation of military-industrial enterprises, as well as military educational institutions. Introduction of army discipline and military regulations.

With his reforms, Peter 1 created a formidable regular army, numbering up to 212 thousand people by 1725 and a strong Navy. Subdivisions were created in the army: regiments, brigades and divisions, in the navy - squadrons. Many military victories were won. These reforms (although ambiguously assessed by different historians) created a springboard for the further success of Russian weapons.

Church reform

The institution of the patriarchate was actually liquidated. In 1701, the management of church and monastery lands was reformed. Peter 1 restored the Monastic order, which controlled church revenues and the trial of the monastery peasants. In 1721, the Spiritual Regulations were adopted, which actually deprived the church of independence. Created to replace the patriarchate Holy Synod, whose members were subordinate to Peter 1, by whom they were appointed. Church property was often taken away and spent on the needs of the emperor.

The church reforms of Peter 1 led to the almost complete subordination of the clergy to secular power. In addition to the elimination of the patriarchate, many bishops and ordinary clergy were persecuted. The church could no longer pursue an independent spiritual policy and partly lost its authority in society.

Financial reforms

The introduction of many new (including indirect) taxes, the monopolization of the sale of tar, alcohol, salt and other goods. Damage (reduction in weight) of the coin. The penny becomes the main coin. Transition to the poll tax.

Increase in revenues of the treasury several times. But! It was achieved at the expense of the impoverishment of the bulk of the population, and most of this income was embezzled.

Culture and life

Peter I led the fight against the external manifestations of the "outdated" way of life (the most famous ban on beards), but no less paid attention to the introduction of the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, translations of many books into Russian appeared. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education.

N. Nevrev "Peter I"

A number of measures were taken to develop education: on January 14, 1700, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences was opened in Moscow. In 1701-1721 artillery, engineering and medical schools were opened in Moscow, engineering school and the Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg, mining schools at the Olonets and Ural factories. In 1705, the first gymnasium in Russia was opened. The goals of mass education were to be served by the digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, called " to teach children of all ranks literacy, numbers and geometry". It was supposed to create two such schools in each province, where education was supposed to be free. Garrison schools were opened for soldiers' children, and a network of theological schools was created for the training of priests in 1721. Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled. Peter's attempt to create an all-estate primary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death, most of the digital schools under his successors were redeveloped into class schools for the training of the clergy), but nevertheless, during his reign, the foundations were laid for the spread of education in Russia.

Peter I created new printing houses.

In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences being organized, which was opened after his death.

Of particular importance was the construction of stone Petersburg, in which foreign architects took part and which was carried out according to the plan developed by the tsar. He created a new urban environment with previously unfamiliar forms of life and pastime (theatre, masquerades). The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc. have changed.

By a special decree of the tsar in 1718, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people in Russia. At the assemblies, the nobles danced and mingled freely, unlike earlier feasts and feasts.

S. Khlebovsky "Assemblies under Peter I"

Peter invited foreign artists to Russia and at the same time sent talented young people to study "arts" abroad.

On December 30, 1701, Peter issued a decree ordering to write full names in petitions and other documents instead of derogatory half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees in front of the tsar, in winter, in the cold, wear a hat in front of the house in which you are king, do not shoot. He explained the need for these innovations in this way: "Less baseness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the king ...".

Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. He by special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) forbade forced marriage and marriage. It was prescribed that there should be at least six weeks between the betrothal and the wedding, "so that the bride and groom could recognize each other." If during this time, the decree said, “the bridegroom does not want to take the bride, or the bride does not want to marry the groom,” no matter how the parents insisted, “there is freedom.”

The transformations of the era of Peter I led to the strengthening of the Russian state, the creation of a modern European army, the development of industry and the spread of education among the upper classes of the population. An absolute monarchy was established, headed by the emperor, to whom the church was also subordinate (through the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod).

There were many empires in the world, which were famous for their wealth, luxurious palaces and temples, conquests and culture. Among the greatest of them are such powerful states like Roman, Byzantine, Persian, Holy Roman, Ottoman, British Empire.

Russia on the historical map of the world

Empires of the world collapsed, disintegrated, and separate independent states were formed in their place. A similar fate did not bypass the Russian Empire, which lasted 196 years, starting from 1721 and ending in 1917.

It all started with the Moscow principality, which, thanks to the conquests of princes and tsars, grew at the expense of new lands in the west and east. Victorious wars allowed Russia to take over important territories which opened the way for the country to the Baltic and Black Seas.

Russia became an empire in 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great assumed the imperial title by decision of the Senate.

Territory and composition of the Russian Empire

In terms of the size and extent of its possessions, Russia ranked second in the world, second only to the British Empire, which owned numerous colonies. At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of the Russian Empire included:

• 78 provinces + 8 Finnish;
• 21 regions;
• 2 districts.

The provinces consisted of districts, the latter were divided into camps and sections. The empire had the following administrative-territorial administration:

Many lands joined the Russian Empire voluntarily, and some as a result aggressive campaigns. The territories that became part of it at their own request were:

• Georgia;
• Armenia;
• Abkhazia;
• Tyva Republic;
• Ossetia;
• Ingushetia;
• Ukraine.

In the course of the foreign colonial policy of Catherine II, the Kuril Islands, Chukotka, Crimea, Kabarda (Kabardino-Balkaria), Belarus and the Baltic states became part of the Russian Empire. Part of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States went to Russia after the division of the Commonwealth (modern Poland).

Russian Empire Square

From the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea and from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, the territory of the state extended, occupying two continents - Europe and Asia. In 1914, before the First World War, the area of ​​the Russian Empire was 69,245 sq. kilometers, and the length of its borders was as follows:

Let's stop and talk about individual territories of the Russian Empire.

Grand Duchy of Finland

Finland became part of the Russian Empire in 1809, after a peace treaty was signed with Sweden, according to which it ceded this territory. The capital of the Russian Empire was now covered by new lands that protected St. Petersburg from the north.

When Finland became part of the Russian Empire, it retained great autonomy, despite Russian absolutism and autocracy. It had its own constitution, according to which power in the principality was divided into executive and legislative. The legislature was the Sejm. Executive power belonged to the Imperial Finnish Senate, it consisted of eleven people elected by the Sejm. Finland had its own currency - Finnish marks, and in 1878 received the right to have a small army.

Finland, as part of the Russian Empire, was famous for the coastal city of Helsingfors, where not only the Russian intelligentsia, but also the reigning house of the Romanovs, loved to relax. This city, which is now called Helsinki, was chosen by many Russian people who enjoyed relaxing in resorts and renting dachas from local residents.

After the strikes of 1917 and thanks to the February Revolution, the independence of Finland was proclaimed, and it withdrew from Russia.

Accession of Ukraine to Russia

Right-bank Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine II. The Russian Empress first destroyed the Hetmanate, and then the Zaporozhian Sich. In 1795, the Commonwealth was finally divided, and its lands were ceded to Germany, Austria and Russia. So, Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire.

After the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. Catherine the Great annexed the territory of modern Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Odessa, Nikolaev, Lugansk and Zaporozhye regions. As for the Left-bank Ukraine, it voluntarily became part of Russia in 1654. Ukrainians fled from the social and religious repressions of the Poles and asked for help from the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. He, together with Bohdan Khmelnitsky, concluded the Treaty of Pereyaslav, according to which the Left-Bank Ukraine became part of the Muscovite kingdom on the rights of autonomy. Not only Cossacks participated in the Rada, but also ordinary people who made this decision.

Crimea - the pearl of Russia

The Crimean peninsula was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1783. On July 9, the famous Manifesto was read at the Ak-Kaya rock, and the Crimean Tatars agreed to become subjects of Russia. First, the noble murzas, and then the ordinary inhabitants of the peninsula, took an oath of allegiance to the Russian Empire. After that, festivities, games and festivities began. Crimea became part of the Russian Empire after the successful military campaign of Prince Potemkin.

This was preceded by difficult times. The Crimean coast and the Kuban from the end of the 15th century were the possessions of the Turks and Crimean Tatars. During the wars with the Russian Empire, the latter gained some independence from Turkey. The rulers of the Crimea were replaced quickly, and some occupied the throne two or three times.

Russian soldiers more than once suppressed the rebellions that were organized by the Turks. The last Khan of Crimea, Shahin Giray, dreamed of turning the peninsula into a European military reform, but no one wanted to support his undertakings. Taking advantage of the confusion, Prince Potemkin recommended to Catherine the Great that Crimea be incorporated into the Russian Empire through a military campaign. The empress agreed, but on one condition, that the people themselves express their consent to this. Russian troops peacefully treated the inhabitants of the Crimea, showed them kindness and care. Shahin Giray renounced power, and the Tatars were guaranteed freedom to practice religion and observe local traditions.

The easternmost edge of the empire

The development of Alaska by the Russians began in 1648. Semyon Dezhnev, a Cossack and traveler, led an expedition, reaching Anadyr in Chukotka. Upon learning of this, Peter I sent Bering to verify this information, but the famous navigator did not confirm Dezhnev's facts - fog hid the coast of Alaska from his team.

Only in 1732 the crew of the ship "Saint Gabriel" landed in Alaska for the first time, and in 1741 Bering studied in detail the coast of both her and the Aleutian Islands. Gradually, the exploration of a new area began, merchants sailed and formed settlements, built a capital and called it Sitka. Alaska, as part of the Russian Empire, was not yet famous for gold, but for fur-bearing animals. Furs of various animals were mined here, which were in demand both in Russia and in Europe.

Under Paul I, the Russian-American Company was organized, which had the following powers:

• she ruled Alaska;
• could organize an armed army and ships;
• have your own flag.

The Russian colonialists found a common language with the local people - the Aleuts. The priests learned their language and translated the Bible. The Aleuts were baptized, the girls willingly married Russian men and wore traditional Russian clothes. With another tribe - Koloshi, the Russians did not make friends. It was a warlike and very cruel tribe that practiced cannibalism.

Why was Alaska sold?

These vast territories were sold to the US for $7.2 million. The agreement was signed in the US capital - Washington. Background to Alaska's sale recent times are called different.

Some say that the reason for the sale was the human factor and the reduction in the number of sable and other fur-bearing animals. There were very few Russians living in Alaska, their number was 1000 people. Others hypothesize that Alexander II was afraid of losing the eastern colonies, therefore, before it was too late, he decided to sell Alaska for the price that was offered.

Most researchers agree that the Russian Empire decided to get rid of Alaska because there were no human resources to cope with the development of such distant lands. Thoughts arose in the government as to whether to sell the Ussuri Territory, which was sparsely populated and poorly managed. However, hotheads cooled down, and Primorye remained a part of Russia.

The Russian Empire existed from 1721 to 1917. It occupied a vast territory, almost 36 million square kilometers, from of Eastern Europe and to Asia (inclusive). The empire had an autocratic type of government and the capital in the city of St. Petersburg. The population of the empire was more than 170 million people and included more than a hundred different ethnic groups. The largest of them are Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The Russian Empire was born during the reign of Peter the Great (1694-1725) after Russia won the Great Northern War (1700-1721). In this war, Russia fought against the Swedish and Polish empires.

Most of the population of Russia at that time consisted of serfs. The Russian rulers tried to reform the system by abandoning slavery, following the example of Western states. This led to the abolition of serfdom in 1861. The cancellation occurred during the reign of Alexander II (1855-1881). The liberation of the peasants did not lead to an improvement in their lives. Disagreements and intrigues in the ruling circles grew, and as a result, this led to the fact that Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on March 15, 1917, during.

Absolute dominance over their neighbors in Europe and Asia

Russian offensive in East Prussia and Austria-Hungary was to divert German troops from the western front. During the implementation of this plan, the Russian Empire suffered catastrophic losses and a number of defeats in 1914-1915. The incompetence of the military leadership and serious problems inside the country. The losses suffered during the war caused massive unrest, especially among the proletariat, peasantry and soldiers.

This led to massive protests in 1916. The split in the government grew, and the opposition Progressive Bloc was formed. Regardless of all attempts by the government to maintain order and the monarchy, demonstrators in the capital called for the abolition of autocracy. was forced to abdicate on March 15, thereby ending the existence of the Russian Empire. Seven months later, the Bolshevik Revolution began and the Soviet Union emerged.

In the 1720s the delimitation of Russian and Chinese possessions continued under the Burinsky and Kyakhta treaties of 1727. In the areas adjacent to, as a result of the Persian campaign of Peter I (1722-1723), the border of Russian possessions temporarily covered even all the western and Caspian territories of Persia. In 1732 and 1735 in connection with the aggravation of Russian-Turkish relations, the Russian government, interested in an alliance with Persia, gradually returned the Caspian lands to it.

In 1731, the nomadic Kirghiz-Kaisaks () of the Younger Zhuz voluntarily accepted Russian citizenship, and in the same 1731 and 1740. - Middle Zhuz. As a result, the empire included the territories of the entire eastern Caspian, the Aral Sea, the Ishim and the Irtysh. In 1734, the Zaporizhian Sich was again accepted into Russian citizenship.

In 1783, the Georgievsky Treaty was concluded with the kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (Eastern) on the voluntary recognition of the Russian protectorate over it.

In the west of the country, the main territorial acquisitions were associated with three sections (1772, 1793, 1795). The intervention of Prussia and Austria in the internal affairs of Poland led in 1772 to its division, in which Russia was forced to take part, acting to protect the interests of the Orthodox population of Western Ukraine and. Part of Eastern Belarus (along the Dnieper -) and part of Livonia went to Russia. In 1792, Russian troops again entered the territory of the Commonwealth at the call of the Targowice Confederation. As a result of the second partition of Poland carried out in 1793, Right-bank Ukraine and part of Belarus (with Minsk) were ceded to Russia. The third division of the Commonwealth (1795) led to the liquidation of the independence of the Polish state. Courland, Lithuania, part of Western Belarus and Volhynia went to Russia.

In the south-east of Western Siberia in the XVIII century. there was a gradual advance to the south: to the upper reaches of the Irtysh and Ob with tributaries (Altai and the Kuznetsk basin). The Russian possessions also covered the upper reaches of the Yenisei, excluding the sources themselves. Further to the east, the borders of Russia in the XVIII century. determined by the border with the Chinese Empire.

In the middle and second half of the century, the possessions of Russia, by right of discovery, covered southern Alaska, discovered in 1741 by the expedition of V. I. Bering and A. I. Chirikov, and the Aleutian Islands, annexed in 1786.

Thus, during the XVIII century, the territory of Russia increased to 17 million km2, and the population from 15.5 million people. in 1719 to 37 million people in 1795

All these changes in the territory, as well as the development state structure The Russian Empire was accompanied (and in a number of cases preceded) by intensive research, primarily and most of all topographical and general geographic.

In the nineteenth century, as well as in previous century, the state territory of our fatherland continued to change, mainly in the direction of expansion. The territory of the country increased especially strongly in the first fifteen years of the 19th century. as a result of wars with Turkey (1806-1812), (1804-1813), Sweden (1808-1809), France (1805-1815).

The beginning of the century is significant for the expansion of the possessions of the Russian Empire. In 1801, the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (Eastern Georgia), which had been under the protectorate of Russia since 1783, voluntarily joined Russia.

The unification of Eastern Georgia with Russia contributed to the subsequent voluntary entry into Russia of the Western Georgian principalities: Megrelia (1803), Imeretia and Guria (1804). In 1810, Abkhazia and Ingushetia voluntarily joined Russia. However, the coastal fortresses of Abkhazia and Georgia (Sukhum, Anaklia, Redut-Kale, Poti) were held by Turkey.

Bucharest peace treaty with Turkey in 1812 was completed Russian-Turkish war. Russia kept in its hands all the regions up to the river. Arpachay, Adzharian mountains and. Only Anapa was returned to Turkey. On the other side of the Black River, Bessarabia received the cities of Khotyn, Bendery, Akkerman, Kiliya and Izmail. The border of the Russian Empire was established along the Prut to, and then along the Kiliya channel of the Danube to the Black Sea.

As a result of the war with Iran, the North Azerbaijani khanates joined Russia: Ganja (1804), Karabakh, Shirvan, Sheki (1805), Cuban, Baku, Derbent (1806), Talysh (1813), and in 1813 the Gulistan peace treaty was signed, according to which Iran recognized the accession to Russia of Northern Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Eastern Georgia, Imeretia, Guria, Megrelia and Abkhazia.

Russo-Swedish War 1808-1809 ended with the accession of Finland to Russia, which was announced by the manifesto of Alexander I in 1808 and approved by the Friedrichsgam peace treaty of 1809. The territory of Finland to the r. Kemi, including the Aland Islands, Finnish and part of the province of Västerbotten up to the river. Torneo. Further, the border was established along the Torneo and Munio rivers, then north along the Munioniski-Enonteki-Kilpisjarvi line to the border with. Within these boundaries, the territory of Finland, which received the status of an autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, remained until 1917.

According to the Tilsit peace treaty with France in 1807, Russia received the Bialystok district. The Schönbrunn Peace Treaty of 1809 between Austria and France led to the transfer of the Tarnopol region by Austria to Russia. And, finally, the Vienna Congress of 1814-1815, which ended the wars of the coalition of European powers with Napoleonic France, consolidated the division between Russia, Prussia and Austria of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, most of which, having received the status of the Kingdom of Poland, became part of Russia. At the same time, the Tarnopol region was returned to Austria.