Vistula LandVistula Land, or Vistula Country, (Привислинский край, ; Kraj Nadwiślański) was the name applied to the lands of Congress Poland from 1867, following the defeats of the November Uprising (1830–1831) and January Uprising (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of autonomy and incorporated into Imperial Russia. It also continued to be formally known as the Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie) until the fall of the Russian Empire. Russia lost control of the region in 1915, during the course of the First World War.
UkrainiansUkrainians (ukraintsi, ʊkrɐˈjinjts(j)i) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Orthodox Christians, some Ukrainians are also Catholic Christians. While under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian Empire, and then Austria-Hungary, the East Slavic population who lived in the territories of modern-day Ukraine were historically known as Ruthenians, referring to the territory of Ruthenia; the Ukrainians living under the Russian Empire were known as Little Russians, named after the territory of Little Russia.
Tiflis GovernorateThe Tiflis Governorate was a province (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants. The Tiflis Governorate bordered the Elizavetpol Governorate to the southeast, the Erivan Governorate to the south, the Kars Oblast to the southwest, the Batum Oblast to the west, the Kutaisi Governorate to the northwest, the Terek Oblast to the north, the Dagestan Oblast to the northeast, and after 1905, the Zakatal Okrug to the east.
Russian WinterRussian Winter, sometimes personified as "General Frost" or "General Winter", is an aspect of the climate of Russia that has contributed to military failures of several invasions of Russia. Mud is a related contributing factor that impairs military maneuvering in Russia and elsewhere, and is sometimes personified as "General Mud". Russians call those muddy conditions rasputitsa, which occur with autumnal rains and spring thaws in Russia and make transport over unimproved roads difficult.
Volga regionThe Volga region (Поволжье, Povolzhye, literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russia. The Volga region is culturally separated into three sections: Upper Volga Region - from the Volga River's source in Tver Oblast to the mouth of the Oka River in Nizhny Novgorod; Middle Volga Region - from the mouth of the Oka River to the mouth of the Kama River south of Kazan; Lower Volga Region - from the mouth of the Kama River to the Volga Delta in the Caspian Sea, in Astrakhan Oblast.
Kars oblastThe Kars oblast was a province (oblast) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was the city of Kars, presently in Turkey. The oblast bordered the Ottoman Empire to the west, the Batum Oblast (in 1883–1903 part of the Kutaisi Governorate) to the north, the Tiflis Governorate to the northeast, and the Erivan Governorate to the east. The Kars oblast included parts of the contemporary provinces of Kars, Ardahan, and Erzurum Province of Turkey, and the Amasia Community of the Shirak Province of Armenia.
Great GameThe Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian Empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and later Tibet. The two colonial empires used military interventions and diplomatic negotiations to acquire and redefine territories in Central and South Asia. Russia conquered Turkestan, and Britain expanded and set the borders of British colonial India. By the early 20th century, a line of independent states, tribes, and monarchies from the shore of the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Himalayas were made into protectorates and territories of the two empires.
Alexander III of RussiaAlexander III (Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович; 10 March 1845 - 1 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. He was highly reactionary in domestic affairs and reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, Alexander II. This policy is known in Russia as "counter-reforms" (контрреформы). Under the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev (1827–1907), he opposed any socio-economic moves that limited his autocratic rule.
CrimeaCrimea (kraɪˈmiːə ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov.
Autonomous administrative divisionAn autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy—self-governance—under the national government. Autonomous areas are distinct from the constituent units of a federation (e.g. a state, or province) in that they possess unique powers for their given circumstances. Typically, it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the state or populated by a national minority.
