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boyars

(Encyclopedia)boyars bōyärzˈ [key], upper nobility in Russia from the 10th through the 17th cent. The boyars originally obtained influence and government posts through their military support of the Kievan prince...

Poltava

(Encyclopedia)Poltava pəltäˈvə [key], city (1989 pop. 315,000), capital of Poltava region, E Ukraine, on the Kiev-Kharkiv highway and on the Vorskla River, a tributary of the Dnieper. It is an industrial center...

Yekaterinburg

(Encyclopedia)Yekaterinburg or Ekaterinburg svyĭrdlôfskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 1,365,000), capital of the Sverdlovsk region and the administrative center of the Ural federal district, E European Russia, in the ...

Alexander, prince of Bulgaria

(Encyclopedia)Alexander (Alexander of Battenberg), 1857–93, prince of Bulgaria (1879–86); second son of Prince Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt and nephew of Alexander II of Russia. He served in the Russian army ag...

White Russia

(Encyclopedia)White Russia: see Belarus.

Russia Company

(Encyclopedia)Russia Company: see Muscovy Company. ...

Taganrog

(Encyclopedia)Taganrog təgənrôkˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 292,000), S European Russia, on the Gulf of Taganrog, an arm of the Sea of Azov. It is a port, exporting mainly grains and coal. Metallurgy, combine and a...

Gordon, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, Patrick, 1635–99, Scottish soldier of fortune and Russian general, b. Scotland. After serving alternately on both sides in the war between Sweden and Poland (1655–60), he entered the Russi...

Marie

(Encyclopedia)Marie mərēˈ [key], 1875–1938, queen of Romania, consort of Ferdinand. The daughter of Alfred, duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she was the granddaughter of Czar Alexander II of Russia ...

Catherine II

(Encyclopedia)Catherine II or Catherine the Great, 1729–96, czarina of Russia (1762–96). Catherine increased the power and prestige of Russia by skillful diplomacy and by extending Russia's western boundary i...