Making Sense of Russian Imperialism: Warfare, Domestic Reform, and Absolutism, 1700-1856
Journal: Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi
Year: 2016

Historians often establish a link between wars and ensuing domestic reforms when defining imperialism. Drawing on older and newer historiography, this paper evaluates the importance three major wars in Russian history that precipitated internal reform: The Great Northern War (1700-1721), the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-74, and the Crimean War (1853-1856). Ultimately, this paper seeks to eschew a widespread misperception amongst specialized Western academics that the Russians have always had an unr