Russian History

History The Tsar's regime till 1914 Russia up to 1914 Up until this period, the Russian Empire was a European superpower. It was the largest country in the world stretching from the Black Sea in the west to the Bering Sea in the extreme east of the Asian continent. It also had a huge population that included, alongside Russians, large numbers of Germans, Poles, Slavs and Asians. Among this diverse population, just about every major religious faith was represented. Unlike Western Europe, however, the Russian Empire was politically, economically and socially backwards. There was little industry and the vast majority of the population were peasant farmers working in an agricultural system that had changed little since the middle-ages.