Emancipation reform of 1861The emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia, also known as the Edict of Emancipation of Russia, (Крестьянская реформа 1861 года – "peasants' reform of 1861") was the first and most important of the liberal reforms enacted during the reign (1855–1881) of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. The reform effectively abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire. The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs on private estates and of the domestic (household) serfs.
House of RomanovThe House of Romanov (also transliterated Romanoff; Romanovy) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanovna, was married to the First Tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible. Tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed in 1918, but there are still living descendants. The house became boyars (the highest rank in Russian nobility) of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and later of the Tsardom of Russia under the reigning Rurik dynasty, which became extinct upon the death of Tsar Feodor I in 1598.
NevaThe Neva (ˈniːvə , UKalsoˈneɪvə ; ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge (after the Volga, the Danube and the Rhine). The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake Ladoga. It flows through the city of Saint Petersburg, the three smaller towns of Shlisselburg, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, and dozens of settlements.
Nicholas I of RussiaNicholas I ( – ) was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I. Nicholas's reign began with the failed Decembrist revolt. He is mainly remembered in history as a reactionary whose controversial reign was marked by geographical expansion, centralisation of administrative policies and repression of dissent. Nicholas had a happy marriage that produced a large family; all of their seven children survived childhood.
SiberiaSiberia (saɪˈbɪəriə ; Sibir', sjɪˈbjirj) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its various predecessor states since the centuries-long conquest of Siberia, which began with the fall of the Khanate of Sibir in the late 16th century and concluded with the annexation of Chukotka in 1778. Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, covering an area of over , but home to only one-fifth of Russia's population.
Klemens von Metternich'Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein' (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich (ˈkleːmens fɔn ˈmɛtɐniç) or Prince Metternich, was a conservative Austrian statesman and diplomat who was at the center of the European balance of power known as the Concert of Europe for three decades as the Austrian Empire's foreign minister from 1809 and Chancellor from 1821 until the liberal Revolutions of 1848 forced his resignation.
