First Partition of Poland

Date: August 5, 1772 • Location: London, United Kingdom

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1772–1795.

Russia, Prussia and Habsburg Austria began the First Partition of Poland, with the primary motive to restore the regional balance of power in Eastern Europe.

The Russian Empire was an empire that extended across northern Eurasia from 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in 1917, forming the final era of Tsarist Russia and the wider Russian monarchy. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi), roughly one-sixth of the world's landmass, making it the third-largest empire in history, behind only the British and Mongol empires.