Educational and methodological material on the topic: the formation of the territory of the Russian Empire in the XVI-XIX centuries. Territorial expansion of the Russian Empire in the 18th century

The RSFSR was officially proclaimed with the adoption of its first constitution on July 10, 1918. At that time, it included all territories subject to the Council of People's Commissars in Moscow. Its frontiers took shape under the influence of the situation, during the civil war and the establishment of new Soviet republics by the Bolsheviks. Some clear fixed boundaries began to be established only from the beginning of the 1920s.

Stalin has served as People's Commissar for Nationalities since the formation of the Soviet government. Therefore, the determination of the borders of the RSFSR from 1917 to 1953 invariably took place under his leadership.

Russian-Ukrainian border in 1918-1925

In the spring and summer of 1918, German troops occupied the cities that are now on the territory of the Russian Federation: Unecha, Rylsk, Belgorod, Valuyki, Rossosh. The territories to the west of the line formed by these cities were included in Ukraine. After the Soviet troops launched an offensive against Ukraine in the winter of 1918/19, the northern districts of the former Chernigov province (now part of the Bryansk region) and all the above cities were included in the RSFSR.

In 1920, the former region of the Don Cossacks was divided between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR. But in 1925, the Taganrog region and the eastern part of the Donbass with the city of Kamensk were annexed to the RSFSR. These lands are now part of the Rostov region.

Russian-Kazakh border

Initially, all of Central Asia, with the exception of the former Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara (since 1920 - the Khorezm and Bukhara People's Soviet Republics), was part of the RSFSR, and in 1920 two autonomous Soviet socialist republics (ASSR) were established there - Turkestan and Kyrgyz. But since the Kirghiz ASSR later became the Kazakh SSR, the establishment of its borders in the 1920s It was also the establishment of the future borders of Russia.

Orenburg became the first capital of the Kirghiz Autonomous Republic. When determining its borders in 1921, the entire Orenburg province was included in the republic. It is noteworthy that at the same time Orenburg was also the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, being on the border of two autonomies.

In June 1925, the Kirghiz ASSR was renamed into Kazakh, and its capital moved to Ak-Mechet, which has been called Kzyl-Orda since then. Orenburg province was included directly in the RSFSR.

There is a misconception that the current northern regions of Kazakhstan were transferred from the RSFSR to the Kazakh SSR by Nikita Khrushchev during the development of virgin lands in 1954. This is not true. The border between Kazakhstan and the regions of the RSFSR of central subordination everywhere, with the exception of the Orenburg section, was finally established in 1921-1924. and never changed. Cities such as Guryev, Uralsk, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk have been in the Kirghiz (Kazakh) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic since 1920, that is, from the moment of its creation.

Accessions in Siberia and the Far East

In 1920, the Bolsheviks initiated the creation of the Far Eastern Republic (FER) in the territory east of Lake Baikal, most of which they then did not control. After the FER troops entered Vladivostok, on November 15, 1922, it was included in the RSFSR.

After the end of the intervention in most of the Russian Far East, the two island territories remained under foreign control. In May 1925, Japanese troops were withdrawn from the part of Sakhalin Island north of the 50th parallel. The polar Wrangel Island was previously tried to be annexed to Canada, and this was a gamble of enthusiasts. When in August 1924 the Soviet naval expedition established the sovereignty of the RSFSR over Wrangel Island, it literally saved the unlucky Canadian colonists from death.

The next annexations to the Asian part of the RSFSR were made by Stalin during World War II. In August 1944, the Tannu-Tuva People's Republic applied for admission to the USSR. In October 1944, the Tuva Autonomous Region was formed as part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (only since 1961 - ASSR directly within Russia).

In September 1945, after the end of the war with Japan, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were annexed to the RSFSR.

Accessions in the Baltics and in the North

After the end of the war with Finland in 1940, the southern part of the Karelian Isthmus was included in the Leningrad Region. In 1944, she was transferred from the Karelian-Finnish SSR and the northern part of the isthmus, up to the border with Finland, along with the city of Vyborg.

In 1944, after the occupation of Estonia and Latvia, Stalin revised their borders with the RSFSR, established by agreements in 1920 with the bourgeois governments of these countries. Ivangorod, Pechory and Izborsk went from Estonia to the RSFSR, and from Latvia - the area of ​​the Pytalovo station (in the present Leningrad and Pskov regions).

In 1945, on the basis of the decisions of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the Kaliningrad region was formed as part of the RSFSR on the lands of the former German East Prussia.

In 1947, under a peace treaty with Finland, the region of the city of Pechenga became part of the USSR. It was included in the Murmansk region of the RSFSR.

Withdrawals from the RSFSR

Under Stalin, the territory of the RSFSR not only received increments, but was also subject to withdrawals. First of all, as a result of the formation of new union republics. So, in October 1924, part of the territories of the Kirghiz and Turkestan ASSRs were transferred to the newly formed Uzbek and Turkmen SSRs. In 1936, the former Russian autonomies were transformed into the Kazakh and Kyrgyz union republics.

In 1925-1928. when the borders between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR were established, the latter received cuts in the Sumy, Kharkov and Lugansk regions. In 1940, Stalin separated the Karelian ASSR from the RSFSR into the union Karelian-Finnish Republic (again ASSR since 1956, under Khrushchev). In 1944, after the liquidation of a number of autonomies in the North Caucasus, part of the former Chechen-Ingushetia and Karachay-Cherkessia was transferred to the Georgian SSR (returned to the RSFSR in 1957 when these autonomies were restored).

Belarus received the most significant land gift from the RSFSR under Stalin. In 1924-1926. the territories were transferred to it, on which now the Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel regions are located almost entirely. Thus, the territory of the BSSR was tripled.

Along with the collapse of the Russian Empire, the majority of the population chose to create independent nation-states. Many of them were never destined to remain sovereign, and they became part of the USSR. Others were incorporated into the Soviet state later. And what was the Russian Empire at the beginning XXcentury?

By the end of the 19th century, the territory of the Russian Empire was 22.4 million km2. According to the 1897 census, the population was 128.2 million people, including the population of European Russia - 93.4 million people; The kingdom of Poland - 9.5 million, - 2.6 million, the Caucasus region - 9.3 million, Siberia - 5.8 million, Central Asia - 7.7 million people. More than 100 peoples lived; 57% of the population were non-Russian peoples. The territory of the Russian Empire in 1914 was divided into 81 provinces and 20 regions; there were 931 cities. Part of the provinces and regions was united into governor-generals (Warsaw, Irkutsk, Kiev, Moscow, Amur, Steppe, Turkestan and Finland).

By 1914, the length of the territory of the Russian Empire was 4,383.2 versts (4,675.9 km) from north to south and 10,060 versts (10,732.3 km) from east to west. The total length of land and sea borders is 64,909.5 versts (69,245 km), of which land borders accounted for 18,639.5 versts (19,941.5 km), and sea borders accounted for about 46,270 versts (49,360 km). .4 km).

The entire population was considered subjects of the Russian Empire, the male population (from 20 years old) swore allegiance to the emperor. The subjects of the Russian Empire were divided into four classes ("states"): the nobility, the clergy, urban and rural inhabitants. The local population of Kazakhstan, Siberia and a number of other regions stood out in an independent "state" (foreigners). The emblem of the Russian Empire was a double-headed eagle with royal regalia; the state flag - a cloth with white, blue and red horizontal stripes; national anthem - "God Save the Tsar". National language - Russian.

In administrative terms, the Russian Empire by 1914 was divided into 78 provinces, 21 regions and 2 independent districts. The provinces and regions were subdivided into 777 counties and districts, and in Finland - into 51 parishes. Counties, districts and parishes, in turn, were divided into camps, departments and sections (2523 in total), as well as 274 Lensmanships in Finland.

Important in the military-political terms of the territory (capital and border) were united in the viceroyalty and general government. Some cities were separated into special administrative units - townships.

Even before the transformation of the Grand Duchy of Moscow into the Russian Tsardom in 1547, at the beginning of the 16th century, Russian expansion began to go beyond its ethnic territory and began to absorb the following territories (the table does not indicate lands lost before the beginning of the 19th century):

Catherine II ruled the Russian Empire from 1762 to 1796. During this time, many territories were annexed to Russia. Some of them are still part of the Russian state, while some of them had a different fate.

In March 1770, Ingushetia became part of the empire. On March 17-19, near the village of Angusht on a flat area called Barta Bose, which is translated from Ingush as the Slope of Concord, an agreement was signed on the voluntary entry of Ingushetia into Russia. This event was attended by 24 elders representing 24 large communities.

And on July 12, 1770, the agreement on the entry of Ingushetia into the empire, signed by the Ingush elders, was approved by the Collegium of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

2 Kabarda

By the time of Catherine's accession to the throne, Big and Small Kabarda were in the status of a buffer principality between the Russian and Ottoman empires. Kabarda received this status after the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739, as a result of the signing of the Belgrade peace treaty in September 1739.

In 1763, the Russian Empire began to build the important strategic fortress of Mozdok in Bolshaya Kabarda. This caused dissatisfaction with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate, but even more offended the interests of the Kabardian princes. In 1764, the Kabardian nobility sent a mission to St. Petersburg in order to achieve the demolition of the fortifications of Mozdok. The Russian government rejected their demands. The struggle around Mozdok became one of the causes of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774.

The war, which ended in 1774, finally changed the balance of power in the region in favor of Russia. Big Kabarda became part of the Russian Empire under the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty, signed in June 1774.

3 Chukotka

Even before Catherine's accession to the throne, from the very beginning of the 18th century, the Russian Empire tried to conquer the population of Chukotka. Military campaigns were equipped against the local population, battles took place. The tsarist troops were very cruel towards the Chukchi. The Chukchi, despite the fact that they could only oppose muskets and sabers with bone-tipped arrows and spears, offered fierce resistance to the Russian detachments.

At the beginning of 1763, a new commandant arrived in Anadyr - Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Plenisner. After reviewing the state of affairs, he came to the conclusion that it was necessary to withdraw troops from here. A lot of money is spent, but there is no result. He turned with his proposal to the Siberian governor Fyodor Soymonov. As a result, in 1765, the withdrawal of troops and civilians from Anadyr began, and in 1771 the fortifications were destroyed.

The appearance of English and French expeditions off the coast of Chukotka made the authorities of the Russian Empire think again about the security of this region. In 1776, Catherine II indicated that every effort should be made to take the Chukchi into citizenship. Acting by persuasion and bribery, the Russians have achieved much more. In March 1778, through the efforts of the commandant of the Gizhiginskaya fortress, captain Timofey Shmalev, an agreement was concluded on the acceptance of Russian citizenship by the Chukchi.

The Chukchi were granted broad rights, they were exempted from yasak for 10 years and retained complete independence in internal affairs. In the code of laws of the Russian Empire, the Chukchi belonged to the peoples "not completely subjugated", who "pay yasak, the quantity and quality of which they themselves wish." However, with the help of barter, entrepreneurs learned to lure much more from the Chukchi than with the help of taxes.

4 Kuril Islands

Before the arrival of the Russians and the Japanese, the Kuril Islands were inhabited by the Ainu. For the first time, the Russians entered the Kuril land in 1711. Then Ivan Kozyrevsky visited two northern islands: Shumshu and Paramushir. In 1719, Peter I sent an expedition to Kamchatka, which reached the island of Simushir in the south. In 1738-1739, Martyn Spanberg walked along the entire ridge, putting the islands he met on the map.

In 1766 centurion Ivan Cherny from Kamchatka was sent to the southern islands. He was ordered to attract the Ainu into citizenship without the use of violence and threats. However, he did not follow this decree, his aggressive behavior led to a revolt of the local population.

Great success was achieved by the Siberian nobleman Antipov with the Irkutsk townsman Shabalin. Having won the favor of the Kuril people, in 1778-1779 they brought more than 1,500 people from Iturup, Kunashir and even Matsumaya (now Japanese Hokkaido) into Russian citizenship. In 1779, Catherine II, by her decree, freed those who accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes.

In the "Extensive land description of the Russian state ..." of 1787, a list was given from the 21st Kuril Island, which belongs to Russia. It included islands up to Matsumaya (Hokkaido), the status of which was not clearly defined, since a Japanese city was located in its southern part.

5 Jever

Jever is a German city located in the state of Lower Saxony. It was in the possession of the Dukes of Anhalt-Zerbst until the last duke in the family, Friedrich August, died in 1793. After his death, the Duchy of Zerbst ceased to exist. Jever was legally inherited by his sister, the nee Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, Empress of Russia Catherine II.

Numerous relatives divided the rest of the territory of the duchy into small parts and thought that Catherine would give Jever to one of them. But the Russian empress decided to keep the town for herself, and in the official title of the Russian emperors everything else appeared - Sovereign of Ever. It was inconvenient to govern the city from Petersburg, and Catherine the Second appointed a regent, who was the wife of the late Friedrich August, Sophia of Anhalt-Bernburg.

After the death of Catherine, Jever was ruled first by Paul I, and then by Alexander I, until in October 1806 the city was occupied by Napoleon's troops. In 1813, during the foreign campaign of the Russian army, Russian Cossack units under the command of Baron Winzingerode entered Jever. The city returned under Russian jurisdiction. And only in 1818 something happened that had been expected for 25 years in the German principalities: the Russian Emperor Alexander I presented Jever to his relatives of Oldenburg.

6 Crimea

On November 1, 1772, in the city of Karasubazar (now Belogorsk), the Karasubazar Treaty was signed - an agreement between the Russian Empire and the Crimean Khanate, according to which Crimea was declared a khanate independent of the Ottoman Empire under the auspices of Russia. The Black Sea ports of Kerch, Kinburn and Yenikale passed to Russia. On January 29, 1773, the treaty was ratified by Empress Catherine II. Two years later, in 1774, these provisions were recognized by the Ottoman Empire in the Kyuchuk-Kainarji Treaty.

Having achieved the declaration of independence of the Crimea, Catherine II did not give up the idea of ​​joining it to Russia. Crimea was of great military-political and economic importance for the Russian state. Without Crimea, it was impossible to have free access to the Black Sea. But Turkey, in turn, did not think of abandoning the Crimean peninsula. She resorted to various tricks to restore her influence and dominance in the Crimea.

In November 1776, taking advantage of the fact that the Turkish troops did not leave the Crimea, but remained in Kaffa, the Russian corps of Lieutenant General Alexander Prozorovsky entered the Crimea and, meeting no resistance, fortified in Perekop. At the same time, a new Russian protege from the Girey family, Shahin Girey, who became the Khan of the Kuban, established himself on the Taman Peninsula.

Devlet Giray concentrated his detachments at Karasubazar and on the Indole River. He was opposed by Lieutenant General Alexander Suvorov, who arrived in the Crimea on December 17, 1776 with the regiments of his Moscow division. In early March 1777, detachments of Suvorov troops approached Karasubazar and Indol. At this time, Shahin Giray landed in Yenikal. Most of the local Tatar nobility went over to his side. On March 20, the Ryazhsky Infantry Regiment occupied Kaffa. Devlet Giray with the Turkish landing went to Istanbul. Shahin Giray was elected Crimean Khan. At his request, Russian troops remained in the Crimea.

In November 1777, a riot began after Shahin Giray's attempt to create a European-style army. In December, Khan Selim Giray III, appointed in Istanbul, landed in the Crimea, which led to an uprising that swept the entire peninsula. It was crushed by Russian troops. In March 1778, Suvorov replaced Prince Prozorovsky as commander of the Crimean and Kuban troops. He managed to force all the Turkish warships remaining off the Crimean coast to leave the Crimea.

On March 21, 1779, Russia and Turkey signed the Aynaly-Kavak Convention, according to which Russia was to withdraw its troops from the Crimean peninsula "in three months". Russian troops, leaving a six thousandth garrison in Kerch and Yenikal, left the Crimea and Kuban in mid-June 1779.

In the autumn of 1781, another uprising took place in the Crimea, provoked by Turkey, led by the elder brothers of the khan, Batyr Giray and Arslan Girey. Only at the end of May 1782 did the alarming news about the events taking place in the Crimea reach Potemkin. On August 3, the empress, in a letter to Shahin Giray, promised to send troops to help him to pacify the rebels and ensure his safety. In autumn, Russian troops appeared in the Crimea, the rebels were pacified.

Potemkin, seeing the complexity and instability of the political situation in the Crimea, came to the final conclusion about the need to join it to Russia. In December 1782, returning from Kherson, he turned to Catherine II with a memorandum in which he expressed his point of view in detail, pointing out in particular the favorable foreign policy situation for this. On December 25, 1782, the Empress sent Potemkin a “most secret” rescript, in which she announced her will to him “to appropriate the peninsula and join it to the Russian Empire.” In the spring of 1783, it was decided that Potemkin would go south and personally supervise the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to Russia. While still on the road, Potemkin received unexpected news about the renunciation of Shahin Giray from the khanate.

On April 19, 1783, Catherine signed a manifesto "On the acceptance of the Crimean peninsula, the island of Taman and the entire Kuban side under the Russian state." This document was kept secret until the annexation of the khanate became a fait accompli.

On July 9, 1783, the manifesto of Catherine II was promulgated during the solemn oath of the Crimean nobility, which was personally taken by Prince Potemkin on the flat top of the Ak-Kaya rock near Karasubazar. First, murzas, beys, clerics swore allegiance, and then the ordinary population. The celebrations were accompanied by refreshments, games, horse races and cannon fireworks. The annexation of the Kuban took place just as peacefully and solemnly. The two largest Nogai hordes - Yedisan and Dzhambulutskaya - also swore allegiance to Russia.

The recognition by the Ottoman Empire of the annexation of Crimea to Russia followed only more than eight months later. On December 28, 1783 (January 8, 1784), Russia and Turkey signed the “Act on Peace, Trade and Borders of Both States”, which canceled the article of the Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty on the independence of the Crimean Khanate.

7 Baltics

As a result of the First Partition of the Commonwealth in 1772, the Russian Empire ceded the Inflyant Voivodeship, which included Dinaburg (Daugavpils), Rozitten (Rezekne), Lucin (Ludza), Marienhausen (Vilyaka). Now all these cities are in the territory of Latvia.

And after the Third Partition of the Commonwealth, which took place in 1795, Russia included the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia with the cities of Mitava and Libava (modern Latvian Jelgava and Liepaja), the Zhmudsky Starostvo with the center in the city of Raseiniai (Lithuania), the Trok Voivodeship with the cities of Troki , Ponevezh and Kovno (modern Lithuanian Trakai, Panevezys and Kaunas), as well as the Vilna Voivodeship with the center in Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania).

8 Belarus

After all the divisions of the Commonwealth, the territory of all modern Belarus became part of the Russian Empire. In 1772, the Mstislav province with the center in Mstislavl, the Polotsk province with the center in Polotsk, the Vitebsk province with the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, and Mogilev were annexed.

In 1793, Russia included the Minsk Voivodeship (Minsk, Bobruisk, Rechitsa), part of the Novogrudok Voivodeship (Nesvizh, Slutsk) and the eastern part of the Beresteisky Voivodeship (Pinsk).

In 1795, the Braslav Voivodeship (Braslav), the Grodno Voivodeship (Grodno), the Novogrudok Voivodeship (Novogrudok, Slonim) and the Beresteyskoe Voivodeship (Brest) were ceded to the Russian Empire.

9 Ukraine

After the Second Partition of the Commonwealth in 1793, the Kiev Voivodeship became part of the Russian Empire. Despite the name, Kyiv itself was no longer part of the voivodeship at that time, it became part of Russia back in 1667. The center of the Kyiv province was Zhytomyr. Also in 1793, the Bratslav Voivodeship (Bratslav) and the Podolsk Voivodeship (Kamenets-Podolsky) joined the Russian state.

And as a result of the Third Partition of the Commonwealth, the Volyn Voivodeship from the centers in the city of Lutsk became part of the Russian Empire.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the process of unification of Russian lands was completed, the Russian centralized state was formed, the Great Russian nationality was formed on the basis of the East Slavic peoples living on the territory of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and the Novgorod-Pskov land. Russia also included other nationalities: Finno-Ugric peoples, Karelians, Komi, Permians, Nenets, Khanty, Mansi. The Russian state was formed as a multinational one.

In the 16th century, our state was called differently in official documents: Russia, Russia, the Russian state, the Moscow kingdom.The creation of a single state led to the expansion of its territory. Ivan III in 1462 inherited a territory of 430 thousand km, and a hundred years later the territory of the Russian state increased by more than 10 times.

XVII century

FORMATION OF THE TERRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN XVIII century

FORMATION OF THE TERRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN 19th century

In the XIX century, the territory of the Russian Empire was more than 18 million km .

By the end of the century, the process of formation of the Russian Empire was completed. Its territory has reached its natural limits: in the east - the Pacific Ocean, in the west - the countries of Europe, in the north - the Arctic Ocean, in the south - the countries of Asia, mainly divided between the colonial powers. Further, the Russian Empire could only expand through major wars.