Russian Empire
The Russian Empire, also known as Imperial Russia or simply Russia, was an empire that existed across Eurasia and North America from 1721, following the end of the Great Northern War, until the Republic was proclaimed by the Provisional Government that took power after the February Revolution of 1917.
Foreign policy of the Russian Empire
For three centuries, from the days of Ivan the Terrible (ruled 1547 to 1584), Russia expanded in all directions at 18,000 square miles per year, becoming by far the largest power. (China had more people but far less military or economic or diplomatic power.) The expansion brought in many minorities who had their own religions and languages. The political system was an autocracy ruled by the tsar; in its later days it was challenged by various revolutionary groups who were rendered ineffective by a tough police state that sent many thousands to exile in remote Siberia. Expansion had largely ended by the 1850s, but there was some movement south toward Afghanistan and India, which greatly annoyed Britain, which controlled India. Russia's main historic enemy was the Ottoman Empire, which controlled Russia's access to the Mediterranean Sea. The tsar's solution was to sponsor Slavic insurgents in the Balkans against the Ottomans. Serbia supported insurgents against Austria, and Russia stood behind Serbia, which was Greek Orthodox in religion and Slavic in culture. Russia's main ally was France, which needed its size and power to counter the increasingly powerful German Empire.