If we trace the process of the emergence of empires on the European continent in the last 500-600 years, then we can notice the primary role of military expansion. The territories of neighboring and remote states were captured by militant rulers, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, acted as a method of scorched earth, destroying everyone and everything; The British, for lack of foreign territory nearby, swam away from their homeland and engaged in expansion. The Roman Empire was formed at the expense of the purchased lands, which were immediately joined, and Roman laws were immediately introduced to the people and all civil rights were granted to the people. The Romans tried to make sure that the enslaved peoples did not feel so.
The Russian Empire in the early 20th century and before
Russia did not wage aggressive wars. However, it had huge territories, mostly undeveloped, and these vast expanses had great political significance. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Northern War began in Europe , in which Sweden acted on one side, and on the other, a coalition of northern states, including Russia. The war lasted 20 years and ended in the defeat of Sweden. According to the results of the Northern War, Tsar Peter I was granted the title of the All-Russian Emperor by decision of the Senate. In 1721 Emperor Peter I proclaimed the Russian Empire.
Having existed for almost two centuries, the Russian empire at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries ended its history as a result of a coup d'état. Perhaps the October Bolshevik revolution was the result of the complexities, economic and political, that the Russian empire felt at the beginning of the 20th century. The spirit of autocracy, absolute monarchy did not benefit the country, economically backward and politically dependent on Western countries. The strict tax policy introduced by the autocratic tsar forced the peasantry, which was the main burden of taxes, to "go underground," to hide agricultural products in order to somehow survive and not die of hunger.
Throughout Europe there have been political discussions that the Russian empire at the beginning of the 20th century is not so powerful as it was in the last hundred and fifty years of its history. The then Minister of Finance S.Yu. Witte. He managed to convince Tsar Nicholas II in the need to adopt a strict program of industrial development of the country. It was proposed to close the way to protectionism, which brought industrial assets of Russia closer to foreign ones, in favor of the latter. The monetary reform of 1897 was carried out, considerably strengthened the Russian ruble, which soon became a reliable European currency, as it was provided with gold.
At the same time, the political situation on the European continent was growing. The strike movement was expanding, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were on hearing , and on the threshold of history a new Russian empire loomed. The economy was already closely intertwined with the political aspirations of the masses. Being monolithic earlier, the Russian empire at the beginning of the 20th century was shaken and cracks began to follow it. The autocracy has lost its invincibility. The Council of Ministers, previously obedient to the Tsar's will, ceased to be an unquestioning political entity and its decisions already had the character of state responsibility. Then the Russian Empire in the early 20th century experienced another shock - the first world civil war that brought the end of the empire closer.