The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 to 1917. The Empire was proclaimed on 22 October (2 November) 1721, at the end of the Northern War with Sweden, when Peter I assumed the titles of Emperor of All Russia and Father of the Fatherland. Saint Petersburg served as the capital of the Russian Empire from 1721 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1917 (known as Petrograd in 1914–1917), while Moscow served as capital from 1728 to 1732, retaining its honorary title of "first-enthroned city" and remaining the place of coronation for the emperors.[1] In 1913 it held the second-largest territory in the world, after the British Empire.[1] Its territory included the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate and other regions of the Volga Region. For the Nizhny Novgorod region, the imperial period was a time of intensive economic and administrative development.

From 1817, a large-scale yarmarka began to be held in Nizhny Novgorod, after which the city rapidly became one of the largest trading centers in the empire, definitively shedding the provincial character it had held at the start of the nineteenth century.[2] In the nineteenth century, Nizhny Novgorod acquired the unofficial nicknames "Pocket of Russia" and "commercial capital of the Russian Empire": the city's life was governed by the merchant class, and the city itself became one of the largest trading centers in the country; the merchant character of the city was shaped by the mansions, offices, and apartment buildings on Rozhdestvenskaya Street, the Blinov Passage, and the ensemble of the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka.[3]

The Nizhny Novgorod Region within the Empire

The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit within the Russian Empire, centered on Nizhny Novgorod. The Governorate existed from 1714 to 1929 and bordered Vladimir Governorate to the west, Kostroma and Vyatka Governorates to the north, Kazan and Simbirsk Governorates to the east, and Penza and Tambov Governorates to the south; its area was 48,241 km² in 1847 and 51,252 km² in 1905. Until 1918, the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate comprised 11 uyezds: Ardatovsky, Arzamassky, Balakhninsky, Vasilsursky, Gorbatovsky, Knyagininsky, Lukoyanovskiy, Makaryevsky, Nizhegorodsky, Semyonovsky, and Sergachsky. The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was formed in January 1714 by separation from the northwestern parts of Kazan Governorate; its original composition included Nizhny Novgorod and the towns of Alatyr, Arzamas, Balakhna, Vasilsursk, Gorokhovets, Kurmysh, Yuryevets, and Yadrin, along with their adjacent territories.[4] The Governor's residence was the Governor's Palace (the Military-Governor's House-Palace) — a historic building in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.

From the eighteenth century, the selo of Lyskovo became one of the largest grain-trading centers in the Russian Empire; handicraft industries also developed there — tools, anchors, bells, buttons, needlework goods, boxes with secret locks, and padlocks were produced.[4]

The German firm Siemens Halske maintained close ties with the Russian Empire throughout the nineteenth century: between 1853 and 1855, it constructed Russia's telegraph network, stretching over 10,000 km. Orders from the Russian Empire effectively saved the company from the crisis caused by the loss of Prussian contracts. The firm later illuminated Nevsky Prospekt and the Winter Palace, and by the early twentieth century several large plants of the Joint-Stock Company of Russian Electrotechnical Plants "Siemens and Halske" were operating in Russia.

The end of the imperial period

The Russian Empire ceased to exist as a result of the February Revolution. In Nizhny Novgorod, its fall was greeted on 1 March 1917: the City Duma, led by D. V. Sirotkin, welcomed the overthrow of the autocracy and the formation of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma with applause. That same day, a rally took place on Blagoveschenskaya Square, drawing up to 30,000 residents. Until 17 (30) October 1905, the Russian emperor held absolute power; after that date it was curtailed following the issuance of the Manifesto that established representative institutions.[1]

Even during the imperial period, Nizhny Novgorod was home to several major industrial enterprises that played an important role in the life of the state; this industrial heritage was subsequently greatly expanded during the Soviet era.[2]

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (ru) — The Russian Empire was proclaimed on 22 October (2 November) 1721, at the conclusion of the Northern War with Sweden, when Peter I assumed the titles of Emperor of All Russia (archive)
  2. history.ru — From 1817 onward, a large-scale fair began to be held in Nizhny Novgorod, after which the city quickly became one of the largest trading centers of the empire, ultimately (archive)
  3. nn-grad.ru — In the 19th century, Nizhny Novgorod acquired the unofficial nicknames "Pocket of Russia" and "trade capital of the Russian Empire": the city's life was governed by the merchant class, (archive)
  4. nashipredki.com — Nizhny Novgorod Governorate existed from 1714 to 1929 and bordered Vladimir Governorate to the west, Kostroma and Vyatka Governorates to the north, and Kazan and Simbirsk (archive)
Materials from articles used (5)

Lyskovo, The February Revolution, NITEL, The Governor's Palace, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate