Italy 1800's Eritrea - MNH - Postcards Pair - Rare Stamp 15 cents Stamps

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Italy 1800's Eritrea - MNH - Postcards Pair - Rare Stamp 15 cents Stamps

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    POSTAGE PRODUCT INFORMATION NOT HINGED POST MONEY STAMP 100+ YEARS OLD ПОЧТОВАЯ ДЕНЕЖНАЯ МАРКА 100+ ЛЕТ The Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España) entered a new era with the death of Charles II, the last Spanish Hapsburg monarch, who died childless in 1700. The War of the Spanish Succession was fought between proponents of a Bourbon prince, Philip of Anjou, and an Austrian Hapsburg claimant. After the wars were ended with the Treaty of Utrecht, Philip V's rule began in 1715, although he had to renounce his place in the succession of the French throne. Spain entered a period of reform and renewal, as well as continued decline. Ideas of the Age of Enlightenment entered Spain and Spanish America during the eighteenth century. The invasion of the Iberian Peninsula by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807–1808 upended political arrangements of the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The eighteenth century in Spanish historiography is often referred to as Bourbon Spain, but the Spanish Bourbons continued to reign from 1814 to 1868 (following the restoration of Ferdinand VII), from 1874–1931 and from 1975–present. Philip V, first Spanish Bourbon monarch (1700–1724, 1724–1746) and Louis I (1724–1724) Main article: Philip V of Spain Philip V of Spain War of the Spanish Succession Main article: War of the Spanish Succession The last few years of the rule of the mentally challenged and childless Spanish Hapsburg Charles II, were dominated by the politics of who would succeed the unfortunate monarch, the last Spanish king of the Hapsburg dynasty. Spain was at the center of this political crisis, but it was the "object not the arbiter."[1] Economic troubles, the decay of the Spanish bureaucracy, a series of defeats in wars against France, and the erosion of imperial institutions in the seventeenth century had left Charles the king of a declining empire, and his physical and mental weakness provided him with little ability to reverse the course of his country. The vastness and wealth of the ultramarine Spanish Empire in the New World and the Philippines, along with her naval resources, had made Spain a vital part of European power politics. If the throne of Spain was to go to a relative of the king of France, or if the two countries were to be united, the balance of power in Europe would shift in France's favor. The wealth of the Spanish overseas empire would flow to France. If it remained in the hands of another member of the anti-French, Austrian Hapsburg dynasty, the status quo would remain. European politics during the seventeenth century became dominated by establishing an orderly succession in Spain that would not alter the balance between Europe's great powers. Bourbon France and Hapsburg Austria and its allies went to war to determine the successor to Charles. The prize was the wealth of the Spanish Empire. The War of the Spanish Succession (1702–14) was won by France, but by the Treaty of Utrecht ending the conflict, the French and Spanish Bourbon dynasties pledged not to unite formally. Louis XIV of France's exclamation that the "Now there are no more Pyrenees!" now that his grandson was Spain's monarch did not come to pass.[2] Although Charles II's chosen heir inaugurated a new dynastic house in Spain, the Hapsburg Spanish empire in Europe was reduced to the Iberian peninsula itself, with the loss of Spanish Italy and the Spanish Netherlands, and Britain captured Gibraltar and the island of Menorca as well. The Treaty of Utrecht ended the conflict and Philip V of Spain renounced any claims to the French throne. Before the conflict ended, Philip's young wife, Maria Louisa of Savoy (1688–1714) died, and the Bourbon royal succession was assured with the birth of two sons. Changes in government under Philip Elisabeth Farnese, queen of Spain and second wife of Philip V of Spain Philip V proved an effective administrator, centralizing the Spanish authority by eliminating regional cortes (parliaments) and beginning a process of making uniform the laws among the various regions of Spain's empire by eliminating special privileges (fueros). The Nueva Planta decrees (1716) dismantled the composite system of rule in Spain, and replaced it with rule from Madrid and unitary Castilian values. If the Austrian Hapsburgs had won the War of the Spanish Succession, Hapsburg pluralism promised to be continued, leading Aragon to support the losing Hapsburg cause. The Nueva Planta decrees eliminated that regional autonomy. "The most enduring achievement of the reign of Philip V was to establish, for the first time since the Romans, a single, united polity."[3] Also eliminated with the Bourbon dynasty was the Hapsburg system of conciliar government, replacing councils with four secretariats, later evolving into ministries: State & Foreign Affairs, Charity & Justice; Army & Navy, and The Indies, i.e., the overseas portions of the Spanish Empire. The four ministers formed a "cabinet council" and ministers were directly responsible to the crown. In general, aristocratic men no longer dominated government positions, but rather men of talent who were then elevated to high position and rewarded with noble titles. Some 200 new titles were created by Philip alone.[4] Administrative reforms included the division of Spain into eight reinos headed by a military official and an audiencia was established for the administration of justice. Local level administrators (corregidores), which had already existed in Castile, were appointed to the other reinos. An important reform was in taxation and royal debt. Some bonds issued by the crown were repudiated while others had their interest rate downgraded. New tax officials were efficient in collecting and administering taxes, to the benefit of the new monarchy. Regions that had not paid taxes at the same levels as Castile were not subject to taxation by the unitary state.[5] Since Spain under the Bourbon monarchs pursued many wars, having a tax base to pay for them was crucial. Philip's selection of capable French and Italian ministers to key positions in the government reined in independent, isolated, and corrupt ministries that had flourished in the later period of Hapsburg rule. Philip aimed at expanding economic activity and moved toward economic freedom, especially regarding Spain's trade in its overseas empire, in theory a Spanish monopoly. Expanding Spanish manufactures and agricultural exports was envisioned, so that trade did not benefit foreign powers who had horned in on the Spanish American trade. The House of Trade long operating in Seville, was moved to Cádiz in 1717. Philip permitted the foundation of the Basque Caracas Company in 1728, on the model of Northern European trading companies, to trade with Venezuela, a major producer of chocolate.[6] The free trade zone (comercio libre) within the Spanish sphere expanded further with later Spanish Bourbons. Military conflicts Philip was often dominated in his policies by his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese. He adopted an aggressive foreign policy that invested Spain in a series of costly wars throughout his reign. The loss of so much of the European territory promised to him by Charles II's decree and Philip V's personal ambition put him at unease with the Treaty of Utrecht. Philip's wife Elizabeth, a member of the ducal house of Parma, and her favorite minister, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, desired to have their claims in Italy and those of Philip restored. But an alliance of France, Britain, and the Dutch Republic challenged Spain's ambitions which threatened the peace of Europe. In 1717, Philip invaded Sardinia, one of the territories lost to Austria after the War of the Spanish Succession. The invasion of Sicily thereafter prompted the formation of the Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Austria, and the Netherlands to oppose Philip's ambitions. In 1720, embarrassed by the failure of Spanish arms at sea and on land in the War of the Quadruple Alliance, Philip dismissed Alberoni and signed a peace treaty with Austria, with both sides recognizing the Treaty of Utrecht. The Spanish again attempted to regain some of their lost territory in the Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729. An alliance was concluded in 1725 with the Austrians, who agreed to help the Spanish in retaking key naval bases in the Mediterranean - Menorca and Gibraltar – from the British. Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad. Philip V and Charles III made the navy a high priority of their governments In response, an alliance was forged by the British Secretary of State, Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, with France and the Dutch Republic; when Philip did finally lay siege to Gibraltar, Austria declined to intervene against the powerful alliance, and Spain was left alone once again. French armies invaded the Basque country and Britain and Netherlands elected to capture Spain's New World empire and disrupt precious metal shipments hoping to prevent Philip from buying the Austrians into intervention; the allies suffered greater losses in men than the Spanish but the plan succeeded and Philip was forced to sue for peace in 1729. Elizabeth Farnese did get one of her wishes, though; the Italian duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany were restored to her family.[7] After 1729, Philip was more reserved in his use of Spanish power and sought the close support of allies, in particular France: a more cautious strategy that yielded positive results. Philip sought a friendly axis with his relatives in France in the War of the Polish Succession, where he succeeded in regaining Naples and Sicily for his son, the future Charles III of Spain. The Family Compact with Louis XV of France was signed in 1733, bringing the two states closer together after the embarrassments of the Quadruple Alliance. Friction with Britain prompted by the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1741) pushed Philip into a closer alliance with France in the years leading to the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Philip obtained further concessions from Austria for his family in Italy. This restored Spanish power in Italy to much of its pre-war extent, and added new territories that had not previously been part of the Spanish Empire in Italy. First Minister Ensenada Main article: Zenón de Somodevilla, 1st Marquess of Ensenada Late in his reign, Philip elected to place the reformation of his government in the hands of his ministers. The youthful and ambitious Zenón de Somodevilla had been created Marquis of Ensenada in 1736 for his successful diplomacy after the War of the Polish Succession, and seven years afterwards, in 1743, he was made Philip (and Elizabeth's) favorite at court, and for the remainder of Philip's reign, Ensenada effectively ruled Spain. Ensenada sought a cautious but independent foreign policy that distanced his country from both France or Britain, and desired a stable, peaceful environment in which Spain could reform her institutions. Ensenada commissioned a secret report on the state of Spanish America carried out by Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa. Their report asserted that the overseas empire was inefficiently and incompetently administered by American-born Spaniards (criollos) and detailed the enmity between peninsular-born Spaniards and American-born. Administrative reforms of the overseas empire was informed by the report Ensenada commissioned.[8] Ferdinand VI (1746–1759) Main article: Ferdinand VI of Spain King Ferdinand VI of Spain (r. 1746–1759) The end of the War of the Austrian Succession had awarded Ensenada a victory that cemented his support in Spain. However, two years before the war ended, King Philip, his strongest supporter, died, and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand VI. Ferdinand was Philip's son by his first marriage to Princess Maria Luisa of Savoy; he had suffered under the domineering influence of his stepmother as a child, and as king, he was constantly unsure of his own abilities. Elizabeth Farnese, the queen who had effectively controlled Philip V, left the court on her husband's death. Like his father, Ferdinand was extremely devoted to his wife, and she dictated much of his policy and political decisions; at the time of Ferdinand's coronation in 1746, it was said that "Queen Barbara has succeeded Queen Elizabeth." For her part, Queen Maria Barbara de Braganza, a member of the Portuguese royal family, advocated a policy of neutrality that coincided with the opinions of her leading courtiers, far different from the irredentist policy of Elizabeth. Ferdinand's rule reaped good fortune and the rewards of Philip V's reforms. He was a charitable ruler, relieving drought-stricken Andalusia from all taxes in 1755 and devoting large sums of money to the reconstruction of that part of the country. As king, he deferred many of his judgments to his leading ministers. Barbara de Braganza, Queen of Spain, wife of Ferdinand VI of Spain Ensenada continued to be the leading member of court in the early part of Ferdinand's reign. After the successful alliance with France in the War of the Austrian Succession, he advised strengthening that bond as a means of protecting Spain's vulnerable security and checking British interests in her empire. He was opposed by an anglophile faction at court led by Jose de Carvajal y Láncaster, a mixed British-Spanish gentleman descended from the House of Lancaster. Carvajal believed that the key to Spain's defense and modernization was a closer alliance with Britain, whose naval power could complement Spain's empire and whose commercial strength could encourage economic development in Spain. Carvajal's most enduring accomplishment was the 1750 agreement with Portugal, which ended a long, low-level conflict in Banda Oriental (southern Uruguay) between the two countries. Jose de Carvajal y Láncaster, leader of the pro-British faction in King Ferdinand VI's court. The agreement with Portugal, however, was to have important political consequences for Spain. The agreement traded seven Jesuit-established and -operated missions in southern Uruguay for Portuguese-founded and -controlled Uruguay. The plan (opposed by both the Jesuits and the British) led to resistance led by the Jesuits and their native Guaraní allies in the area. Both Spain and Portugal responded in force to the crisis, suppressing the Jesuits and Guaraní in the War of the Seven Reductions. The war broke a traditionally friendly relationship between the Spanish government and the Jesuits and launched a period of anti-Jesuit policies both in Spain and Portugal that would be continued by Charles III of Spain. A scandal at court, resulting from a conspiracy between Carvajal and the British ambassador, led to the embarrassment of Ensenada and his disrepute at court. When Carvajal died in 1754, Ferdinand and his wife dismissed Ensenada, fearing that the Marquis's French sympathies would lead to an alliance with Louis XV of France and war, without Carvajal's British sympathies to counterbalance him. An Irishman, Ricardo Wall, was appointed to replace Ensenada as chief minister. Wall, a staunch defender of Spain's neutral policy, successfully kept the country out of war for the remainder of Ferdinand's reign, in spite of the outbreak of the largest European war since the Thirty Years' War, the Seven Years' War. Although his wife had always feared that Ferdinand would die before her and leave her destitute – she had amassed huge personal wealth as a safeguard against this – it was his wife Maria Barbara who would precede him, dying in 1758. Deeply distraught by her death, Ferdinand became apathetic to his duties as king, and indeed, suicidal. He died a year later, in 1759. Charles III, Enlightened despotism and reform (1759–1788) Main article: Charles III of Spain Portrait of Charles III as a huntsman by Francisco Goya, 1786–1788. He was beloved of his subjects who "admired his simple life and his religious spirit.[9] Italian experience, ascension to the Spanish throne Ferdinand's successor was Charles III, son of Philip V by his second wife, Elizabeth Farnese. Charles was the half-brother of Ferdinand VI, and not initially expected to ascend the throne of Spain. Since Ferdinand had no children, it was clear that Charles would ascend to the throne. In his half-brother's last years of ill physical and mental health and erratic behavior, Charles kept up to the minute on happenings in Spain. He learned of the "spreading administrative paralysis, breakdown of responsibility, and delays in making key decisions" and was worried that France and Spain in the event might attempt to carve up the Spanish Empire.[10] At age 16, Charles had been named Duke of Parma at his mother's demand. His experience there gave him a place to experiment with the practice of enlightened despotism. He exhibited a martial spirit early on, acquiring Naples and Sicily by force of arms and becoming "King of the Two Sicilies," though his tastes were generally more peaceful. Upon arriving in Spain, he did not share Carvajal's taste for an alliance with Britain.[11] He had been introduced to reform by his mentor in Sicily, Bernardo Tanucci. Although Tanucci remained behind in the Two Sicilies to advise Charles's son, King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, as the two thrones could not be united by consequence of treaty, Charles carried with him a cadre of Italian reformers who saw potential in the Spanish bureaucracy for modernization. The architect of the first phase of Charles III's reforms was one such Italian, Leopoldo de Gregorio - a man of humble origins whose ability as a military supplier for the Neapolitan army impressed the king and raised him to royal prominence. Created "Marquis of Esquilache" in 1755, Gregorio was one of Spain's leading statesman from the arrival of Charles III to the Marquis's death in 1785.[12] The Marquess of Esquilache, Sicilian statesman and reformer in service to King Charles III Seven Years' War Main articles: Seven Years' War, Anglo-Spanish War (1762–63), and Spanish invasion of Portugal (1762) Although the Seven Years' War had broken out in 1756, Spain had managed to remain strictly neutral under the ministry of Ricardo Wall, who continued to lead Spain's government in the early years of Charles III. Charles, however, bore a grudge against the English and as the war became increasingly desperate for France, he went against his chief minister's wishes and intervened on France's behalf in 1762. Spain fared poorly in the war, and the British captured Havana and Manila within a year. Florida was ceded to the British and Spain recognized British control over Menorca and Gibraltar in 1763, although the vast territory of Louisiana was given to Spain to compensate her for her losses. After the Treaty of Paris (1763), however, Spain could focus on internal development. Reforms Main article: Bourbon Reforms By far the largest landholder in Spain, the Church had been treated with great charity by the Spanish kings of the seventeenth century - Philip IV in particular donated large tracts of territory in religious piety. Much of this land went unused, and a great deal of the remainder of the country was owned by gentlemanly hidalgos who lived primarily off of the state. The system had grown long obsolete, and a growing population (Spain's population would increase from eight to twelve million between 1700 and the French Revolution) had put great pressure on the government to reform. Like neighboring Portugal, Spain's antiquated bureaucracy had grown dependent on the income and production from its colonies to support an unmanageable, large class of landowning, nonproductive gentlemen and clergy. The Enlightenment had been a force of anticlericalism in Europe, and Charles, in applying its lessons to Spain, saw it less stridently, seeking to strengthen the power of the crown (regalism) against that of the Catholic Church and the papacy. Ferdinand VI had undertaken to reduce the power of the Jesuits in Spain and had arranged for Spain's kings to appoint her own bishops, a power that France's kings had held since the fifteenth century. Charles, who advocated a radical policy and rapid modernization of the country, expelled the Jesuit Order from Spain completely in 1767 (see Suppression of the Jesuits). The Inquisition was scaled down, but not completely eradicated; as late as 1787, a woman was burned as a witch. Land reform and agricultural reform alienated both clergymen and landed elites in Spain. Charles chose to ally with the merchantmen of his country and a growing middle class that came with a new prosperity during his rule. An advocate of free trade, Charles reduced the tariff barriers that had been the core of Spanish trade policy for centuries. The Marquis of Esquilache successfully liberalized the grain trade in 1765, but riots broke out in 1766 in due to the rise in grain prices. "Esquilache Riots (1766)", by Francisco Goya. The liberalization of the grain trade by Esquilache caused a sharp rise in grain prices, and in turn, riots. Although he believed in centralized government and continued the reforms of his predecessors to reduce the autonomy of the regional parliaments that could potentially challenge his power, Charles approved of establishing prototype chambers of commerce, the Economic Societies of the Friends of the Country) to encourage local economic development and initiative. The national infrastructure was improved to foster the development of Spanish manufacturing, and a unified monetary system was implemented. The Count of Floridablanca, Spanish statesman and reformer, by Pompeo Batoni The reforms were not without costs, however, and in 1766, in the context of a worldwide grain shortage and the difficulties of the recently liberalized grain trade, riots broke out in Madrid and other cities in Spain against rising grain prices. The "Motin de Esquilache" drove the king from his capital and embarrassed the king's chief minister, Aragonese grandee, the Count of Aranda. Aranda gained prominence during the crisis and led the government in the king's absence. He was the only titled aristocrat in Charles's administration; the king generally preferred men of lower social origin who were university graduates from outside Castile. Charles granted noble titles to able men in his administration, who became part of a loyal and progressive bureaucracy.[13] Charles removed Esquilache from power in Madrid, naming him Ambassador to Venice. Aranda, as the leader of the Aragonese faction at court, favored a more decentralized system of government. Aragon's special rights in Spain had been suppressed when the Bourbon monarch Philip V ascended the throne. Following the ouster of Esquilache, for a time Aranda was the leading figure in Spanish politics. A criminal prosecutor named José Moñino gained prominence as the investigator of the riots and as an outspoken supporter of the king's reformist policies. The riots were attributed to the Jesuits, who were advocates of papal power, when Bourbons were centralizing regal power. The role of the Jesuits in the riots was named as the reason to oust the Jesuits from Spain and its empire in 1767. Esquilache had arranged to have him made ambassador to Venice in 1767; in 1773 Moñino succeeded in having the Pope revoke the papal charter of the Jesuit Order. For this success, Charles named Moñino the Count of Floridablanca. The new count was named chief minister in 1777 and undertook the material reform of the Spanish bureaucracy. His chief bureaucratic successes were the creation of a true cabinet system of government in 1778 and the creation of Spain's first national bank, the National Bank of San Carlos, in 1782.[14][15] Recognizing the damage done to Spain's education system after the expulsion of the Jesuits, Floridablanca undertook drastic reform to hire new teachers and modernize Spain's education system. Floridablanca's most enduring accomplishment was the freedom of trade in Spain's empire in the New World to foreigners. Although Floridablanca – like Carvajal before him – admired British governance and believed that a cordial relationship with George III of the United Kingdom was the best policy for Spain, the American Revolutionary War was too great an opportunity for Charles III to pass up, and Spain went to war against Britain alongside France and the Dutch Republic in 1779, after providing monetary assistance to the rebels. Bernardo de Gálvez, the governor of Spanish Louisiana, led the campaign to retake the forts lost to the British since 1762; Pensacola, Florida was retaken in 1782, and the Bahamas were seized later that year. The Treaty of Paris (1783) restored much of what Spain had lost in the Seven Years' War, including Florida. Assessments of Charles's rule Spanish and Portuguese empires, 1790. Charles is considered "the most successful monarch of Spain after Ferdinand and Isabel" in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. "He deserves high a rank among the enlightened despots of the eighteenth century, for in many ways he accomplished more than such famous rulers as Frederick the Great of Prussia, and Joseph II of Austria."[16] Historian Stanley Payne writes that Charles III "was probably the most successful European ruler of his generation. He had provided firm, consistent, intelligent leadership. He had chosen capable ministers....[his] personal life had won the respect of the people."[17] John Lynch's assessment is that in Bourbon Spain "Spaniards had to wait half a century before their government was rescued by Charles III, a giant among midgets."[18] Charles IV, decline and fall (1788–1808) Main article: Charles IV of Spain New naval flag since 1785 The Family of Charles IV by Francisco Goya King Charles III died on 14 December 1788 and was succeeded by his son, Charles IV. Seven months later, French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, launching the French Revolution. In its aftermath with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, Spain felt the impact of the changed circumstances of France. Charles III's eldest son was both epileptic and mentally disabled and was passed over for the throne in favor of his second eldest, Charles IV. Charles IV was seen by many of his time as being as uninterested in politics just as Ferdinand VI had been. After growing up in Naples, Charles arrived in Spain, with his chief interest being hunting. For all of his rule, his policies were dominated by the will of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma.[19] Charles retained many of the ministers who served his father, but Charles and Maria Luisa fueled the rise of Manuel Godoy, a humble military officer who became the monarchy's favorite, becoming chief minister in 1792. The Count of Aranda, the leader of the Aragonese faction in the courts of Charles III and Charles IV The chief minister at the time of Charles IV's accession, José Moñino, count of Floridablanca, was not easily ousted and had many supporters in the court, particularly in Castile. Floridablanca's chief opponent in Spanish politics was Pedro Pablo Aranda, the leader of the Aragonese faction. Godoy made an alliance with Aranda, with whom Godoy sympathized, against Floridablanca. With the outbreak of the French Revolution and the execution of Louis XVI in 1792, Floridablanca's liberalism faced greater skepticism. Aranda and Godoy had Floridablanca imprisoned in 1792 on charges of embezzlement, of which he was later acquitted. Manuel de Godoy, by Francisco Goya The spirit of reform that had made the reign of Charles III an era of renewed prosperity for Spain was extinguished in the reign of Charles IV. His queen and her lover were uninterested in the improvement of the Spanish bureaucracy and regarded Floridablanca as an exponent of the very sort of liberalism that was tearing France apart. The Aragonese faction led by Aranda, allied to many of the causes that had opposed Charles III's reforms, managed to undo much of the changes brought about in Charles III's tenure. After the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, 20,000 men were mobilized and marched to the French border. The army, however, had been allowed to languish in Charles III's reign, and it was ill-equipped and ill-trained to cope with a French invasion. Navarre was quickly seized by the French, although the Spanish managed to hold their ground in Catalonia and even invaded French Languedoc. Godoy, unimpressed with Spain's military effectiveness, decided to come to terms with the new French Republic, and in 1795 signed the Treaty of Basel, guaranteeing peace with France with the cession of Santo Domingo to the Republic. Godoy, having abandoned his allies in the United Kingdom and Austria, faced a decision: whether to continue to fight the Revolutionary France that had already defeated Spain once before, or to join the French side and hope for better times. The Spanish, after initially opposing the French, signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796, allying Spain to France, in exchange for French support for Charles IV's relations ruling the Italian duchy of Parma. In response, the British blockaded Spain in 1797 and cut off her colonial empire from the mother country. By the end of 1798, the Spanish fleet had been defeated by the British, and Menorca and Trinidad were occupied. In 1800, the Spanish returned Louisiana to France, which had been given to them in compensation for their losses at the end of the Seven Years' War. The Portuguese, who opposed the French, continued to trade with the British in spite of a series of French demands that they close their ports to British ships. In 1801, the Spanish delivered an ultimatum on behalf of France, and in the following border war, occupied the town of Olivenza (Olivença) before the Portuguese agreed to the Spanish and French demands. The town – which is disputed to the present day – continues to be administered by Spain though Portugal contends that the Congress of Vienna restored it to Portugal. His Majesty's Ship "Victory", Capt. E. Harvey, in the Memorable Battle of Trafalgar between two French Ships of the Line by John Constable The Treaty of Amiens in 1802 provided for a temporary truce in hostilities, only to be broken in 1804 when the British captured a Spanish treasure fleet off Cádiz. The French planned an invasion of England in the coming year; the Spanish fleet was to be an integral part in assisting this invasion. At the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Spanish navy and the French Mediterranean fleet, attempting to join forces with the French fleets in the north for the invasion, were attacked by Admiral Lord Nelson at the head of a British fleet in one of history's greatest naval engagements. The disastrous defeat that the Spanish and French suffered assured British dominance at sea and seriously shook the resolve of the Spanish who began to doubt the usefulness of their always mutually suspicious alliance with Napoleon's regime. After Trafalgar, Godoy withdrew from the Continental System that Napoleon had devised to combat Britain, only to join it again in 1807 after Napoleon had defeated the Prussians. Napoleon, however, had lost his faith in Godoy and King Charles; there was also growing support in Spain for the king's son, Ferdinand, who opposed the popularly despised Godoy. Ferdinand, however, favored an alliance with Britain, and Napoleon, always suspicious of the Bourbons, doubted the trustworthiness of any Spanish royalty. Ferdinand VII and the Napoleonic upheaval (1808–1814) Ferdinand VII when Prince of Asturias by Francisco Goya In 1808, Spain and France agreed to the partition of Portugal, which had renewed its support of the British after Trafalgar. The French and Spanish quickly occupied the country. Prince Ferdinand traveled to France, and rumors spread that he was asking for Napoleon to oust Godoy from power; the Spanish King sided with his favorite. Riots broke out in various parts of Spain, and in the Tumult of Aranjuez, Godoy was arrested and Charles IV forced by his son and heir Ferdinand to abdicate in Ferdinand's favor. Napoleon, however, had lost confidence in the Spanish monarchy and when Ferdinand traveled to France to obtain the French emperor's support, Napoleon pressured Ferdinand to abdicate in favor of his father Charles IV, who had abdicated under pressure. Charles IV himself abdicated in favor of Napoleon, since he did not wish his detested son to return to the throne. Napoleon then placed his older brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. As a way to legitimize the transfer of power, Napoleon summoned a group of Spanish aristocrats to Bayonne, where they signed and ratified the Bayonne Constitution on 6 July 1808, Spain's first written constitution. The Spanish chose to resist. Peninsular War against the French (1808–1814) See also: Peninsular war and History of Spain (1810–1873) The Executions of the Third of May by Francisco Goya The Spanish people rallied around the cause of Prince Ferdinand, who, even as a prisoner in France, was made into a national hero in what became a "war of independence" for Spain. Godoy, Charles IV, and his wife retired first to France, then to Italy, and left Spanish politics permanently.[20] The installation of Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain sparked a revolution in Spain. On 3 May 1808, a revolt in Madrid was bloodily suppressed by the French army, which now found itself attempting the occupation of both Portugal and Spain. The incident and the perceived brutality of the French response created a rallying point for Spanish revolutionaries; the executions were captured famously by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya. The Spanish army, on the whole, pronounced itself in favor of Ferdinand and joined the British and Portuguese in a united front against the French. Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain (r. 1808–14) Regional juntas were set up that declared Joseph's monarchy invalid; the clergy rallied against the "godless" French. The juntas collectively asked Britain for aid, and London was only too happy to oblige. The Junta in Seville declared itself the Supreme Junta for Spain in 1808, and most regional juntas (and the colonies in the New World) assented to the supremacy of the Seville Junta, which became a provisional government for Spain in the absence of Ferdinand. A new French offensive the following year forced it to withdraw to Cádiz, where it would remain until close to the end of the war. King Joseph had attempted to reconcile with the Spanish early on; at Bayonne, after the forced abdication of Ferdinand, Joseph gathered an assembly of Spanish notables to draft a constitution for his new Bonapartist regime in Spain. The most prominent members in Spanish politics – including the Count of Floridablanca – declined to attend. The cabinet and constitution that Joseph did present was viewed as illegitimate. Joseph entered Madrid on 25 July 1808, after the rebellion against his government was already well under way. The Colossus by Francisco Goya, a representation of the war in Spain A series of victories against the French in 1808 prompted Napoleon himself to invade Spain in 1809, forcing the British and their allies to evacuate the peninsula in only two months' time. Satisfied, Napoleon placed command of the war in the hands of one of his marshals, Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult. With the destruction of the Spanish army in 1808, Spanish resistance transformed into fierce guerrilla warfare. Although numerically inferior to the regular British, Portuguese, and Spanish armies, so effective were the Spanish guerillas that of 350,000 men of the French Armée de l'Espagne, 200,000 were employed in the protection of France's vulnerable lines of supply stretching across the breadth of Spain. Many Spanish liberals – carrying the tradition of Charles III and his ministers – saw in a close relationship with France the hope for modernity and progress in their country. Called "afrancesados," they viewed the end of the Inquisition and the establishment of a more secular, liberal monarchy with affection, but as the French occupation dragged on, popularity for French rule even among liberals waned. By 1812, many of these afrancesados had become members of the Spanish guerilla war. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, commander of the Anglo-Portuguese Army in the Peninsular War. The British, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, invaded Spain from Portugal in 1810. A Spanish force, pulled together from the remnants of the Spanish army and volunteer fighters, joined him and successfully defeated the French under the personal command of Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Talavera. For his victory, Wellesley was made Duke of Wellington, although not long after Talavera he was forced to retreat into Portugal once more. Although Wellington took Madrid on 6 August 1812, he retreated not long after back to Portugal. With the stretched and harassed French forces depleted when Napoleon redeployed troops for what would be a disastrous offensive against Russia, saw an opportunity and attacked again in 1813. At the Battle of Vitoria, on 21 June 1813, the French under the personal command of King Joseph were again defeated, and were subsequently forced as far back as the Pyrenees in early July. Fighting continued in the mountains throughout the winter, though in the spring of 1814 the Allies advanced into southern France.   Russian Federation Lenin USSR stamp marki sssr Росси́йская Федерaция (Russian) Rossiyskaya Federatsiya Flag of Russia Flag Coat of arms of Russia Coat of arms Anthem: "Gosudarstvenny gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii (Slav'sya otechestvo, nashe svobodnoye Bratsih narodov, soyuz vekovoy) "  (transliteration) "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" MENU0:00 Location of Russia (green) Russian-administered Crimea (disputed; light green)a Location of Russia (green) Russian-administered Crimea (disputed; light green)a Capital and largest city    Moscow 55°45′N 37°37′E Official languages    Russian Recognised national languages    See Languages of Russia Ethnic groups (2010[1])    81.0% Russian 3.7% Tatar 1.4% Ukrainian 1.1% Bashkir 1.0% Chuvash 0.8% Chechen 11.0% others / unspecified Religion    See Religion in Russia Demonym    Russian Government    Federal semi-presidential constitutional republic[2] • President Vladimir Putin • Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev • Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko • Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin Legislature    Federal Assembly • Upper house Federation Council • Lower house State Duma Formation • Arrival of Rurik[3] 862 • Kievan Rus' 882 • Grand Duchy of Moscow 1283 • Tsardom 16 January 1547 • Empire 22 October 1721 • Republic 14 September 1917 • Russian State 23 September 1918 • Russian SFSR 7 November (25 October, OS), 1917 • Soviet Union 30 December 1922 • Sovereignty Declaration 12 June 1990 • CIS Declaration 8 December 1991b • Russian SFSR renamed into the Russian Federation 25 December 1991b • Current constitution 12 December 1993 Area • Total 17,075,200[4] km2 (6,592,800 sq mi) (1st) • Water (%) 13[5] (including swamps) Population • 2018 estimate 144,526,636 Increase[6] (without Crimea)[7] (9th) • Density 8.4/km2 (21.8/sq mi) (225th) GDP (PPP)    2018 estimate • Total $4.152 trillion[8] (6th) • Per capita $28,918[8] (49th) GDP (nominal)    2018 estimate • Total $1.522 trillion[8] (12th) • Per capita $10,630[8] (67th) Gini (2015)    Positive decrease 37.7[9] medium · 98 HDI (2015)    Increase 0.804[10] very high · 49th Currency    Russian ruble (₽) (RUB) Time zone    (UTC+2 to +12) Date format    dd.mm.yyyy Drives on the    right Calling code    +7 ISO 3166 code    RU Internet TLD    .ru .su .рф The Crimean Peninsula is recognized as territory of Ukraine by a majority of UN member nations, but is de facto administered by Russia.[11] The Belavezha Accords was signed in Brest, Belarus on December 8, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States in which the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR ratified the accords on December 12, denouncing the 1922 treaty. On December 25, Russian SFSR was renamed the Russian Federation and the following the day on December 26, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union ratified the accords, effectively dissolving the Soviet Union. Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), also officially known as the Russian Federation[12] (Russian: Росси́йская Федерaция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a sovereign country in Eurasia.[13] At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi),[14] Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area,[15][16][17] and the ninth most populous, with over 144 million people at the end of December 2017.[6] About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world; other major urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.[18] Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire,[19] beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.[19] Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of the Rus' lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion and became tributaries of the nomadic Golden Horde in the 13th century.[20] The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde, and came to dominate the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland on the west to Alaska on the east.[21][22] Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first constitutionally socialist state.[23] The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II,[24][25] and emerged as a recognized superpower and rival to the United States during the Cold War. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[26][27][28] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, twelve independent republics emerged from the USSR: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Baltic states regained independence: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania; the Russian SFSR reconstituted itself as the Russian Federation and is recognized as the continuing legal personality and sole successor state of the Soviet Union.[29] It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. The Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015.[30] Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world,[31] making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally.[32][33] The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[34] Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as being the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and one of the five members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. History    Timeline    Proto-Indo-Europeans Scythians East Slavs Rus' Khaganate Kievan Rus' Novgorod Republic Vladimir-Suzdal Grand Duchy of Moscow Tsardom of Russia Russian Empire Russian Republic Russian SFSR Soviet Union Russian Federation By topic    Economy Military Journalism ‎ Postal Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation.svg Geography    Subdivisions Borders Earthquakes Geology European Russia Caucasus Mountains North Caucasus Caspian Sea Ural Mountains West Siberian Plain Siberia Russian Far East North Asia Extreme points Cities and towns Islands Lakes Rivers Volcanoes Climate Mountains Politics    Conscription Constitution Elections Presidential elections Federal budget Foreign relations Freedom of assembly Freedom of press Media Government Human rights Judiciary Law Citizenship Civil Service Law enforcement (Prisons) Liberalism Military Opposition Political parties President of Russia Economy    Agriculture Aircraft industry Car industry Banking Central Bank Corruption 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United Kingdom    Northern Ireland country of the United Kingdom subject to the British-Irish Agreement 1 Oceanic islands within the vicinity of Europe are usually grouped with the continent even though they are not situated on its continental shelf. 2 Some countries completely outside the conventional geographical boundaries of Europe are commonly associated with the continent due to ethnological links. [hide] v t e Countries and dependencies of Asia Abkhazia Afghanistan Akrotiri and Dhekelia Armenia Artsakh Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cyprus Egypt Georgia Hong Kong India British Indian Ocean Territory Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Northern Cyprus Oman Palestine Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore South Ossetia Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand East Timor (Timor-Leste) Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen Asia (orthographic projection).svg [hide] v t e Countries bordering the Baltic Sea  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  Germany  Latvia  Lithuania  Poland  Russia  Sweden [hide] v t e Black Sea Countries bordering the Black Sea     Bulgaria  Georgia  Romania  Russia  Turkey  Ukraine Cities    Batumi Burgas Constanța Giresun Hopa Istanbul Kerch Mangalia Năvodari Novorossiysk Odessa Ordu Poti Rize Samsun Sevastopol Sochi Sukhumi1 Trabzon Varna Yalta Zonguldak 1 Disputed statehood — partial international recognition, but considered by most countries to be Georgian territory. 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Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, participates as "Hong Kong, China" and "Macao China". Officially the Republic of China, participates as "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", and "Chinese Taipei" in short. he Soviet Union (Russian: Сове́тский Сою́з, tr. Sovétsky Soyúz, IPA: [sɐˈvʲɛt͡skʲɪj sɐˈjus] (About this sound listen)), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyúz Sovétskikh Sotsialistícheskikh Respúblik, IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪsˈtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk] (About this sound listen)), abbreviated as the USSR (Russian: СССР, tr. SSSR), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics,[a] its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent and Novosibirsk. The Soviet Union was one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possessed the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[7] It was a founding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the leading member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917, when the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which had replaced Tsar Nicholas II during World War I. In 1922, after a civil war, the Soviet Union was formed with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian and Byelorussian republics. Following Lenin's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Under Stalin's leadership, the Soviet Union transitioned from a market economy into a centrally planned economy which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization. As industrial production skyrocketed, the Soviet Union achieved full employment, implemented a universal healthcare system, sharply reduced illiteracy, and provided guarantees of paid vacations, rest homes, and recreational clubs. This period of industrialization was a time of enormous improvements in the standard of living for millions of people in the country, starkly contrasting with the situations of other countries during the Great Depression, but was also a time characterized by major institutional shortcomings and failures. In the 1930s, with the rise of fascism in Europe, the Communist Party pursued aggressive campaigns to suppress potential counter-revolution, fermenting political paranoia which culminated in the Great Purge in which extrajudicial arrests and executions of suspected counter-revolutionaries led to an estimated 600,000 deaths. As a result of these mass arrests, penal labor through the Gulag system was used to construct infrastructure projects, though this consistently proved to be an inefficient system throughout its existence.[8] Increased demand for agricultural products to pay for industrialization combined with a relatively low harvest yield led to the famine of 1932–33 in which an estimated 2.4 to 4 million people died in the country's agricultural centers of Ukraine, southern Russia, and Kazakhstan.[9][10] After the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, Stalin tried repeatedly to form an anti-fascist alliance with other European countries. However, finding no support, shortly before World War II, the Soviet Union became the last major country to sign a treaty with Germany with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, after which the two countries invaded Poland in September 1939. In June 1941, the pact collapsed as Germany invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theatre of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at intense battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk. The territories overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Soviet Union; the postwar division of Europe into capitalist and communist halves would lead to increased tensions with the West, led by the United States. The Cold War emerged by 1947, as the Eastern Bloc, united under the Warsaw Pact in 1955, confronted the Western Bloc, united under NATO in 1949. On 5 March 1953, Stalin died and was quickly succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who in 1956 denounced Stalin and began the De-Stalinization of Soviet society through the Khrushchev Thaw. The Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race, with the first artificial satellite and the first human spaceflight. Khrushchev was removed from power by his colleagues in 1964 and was succeeded as head of state by Leonid Brezhnev. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, but tensions resumed with the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost (government transparency) and perestroika (openness, restructuring). Under Gorbachev, the role of the Communist Party in governing the state was removed from the constitution, causing a surge of severe political instability to set in. The Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989, Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist governments. With the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the union republics, Gorbachev tried to avert a dissolution of the Soviet Union in the post-Cold War era. A March 1991 referendum, boycotted by some republics, resulted in a majority of participating citizens voting in favor of preserving the union as a renewed federation. Gorbachev's power was greatly diminished after Russian President Boris Yeltsin played a high-profile role in facing down an abortive August 1991 coup d'état attempted by Communist Party hardliners. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the remaining twelve constituent republics emerged as independent post-Soviet states. The Russian Federation—formerly the Russian SFSR—assumed the Soviet Union's rights and obligations and is recognized as the successor state of the Soviet Union.[11][12][13] In summing up the international ramifications of these events, Vladislav Zubok stated: "The collapse of the Soviet empire was an event of epochal geopolitical, military, ideological and economic significance. Soviet Union topics History    Index of Soviet Union-related articles Russian Revolution February October Russian Civil War Russian SFSR USSR creation treaty New Economic Policy Stalinism Great Purge Great Patriotic War (World War II) Cold War Khrushchev Thaw 1965 reform Stagnation Perestroika Glasnost Revolutions of 1989 Dissolution Nostalgia Post-Soviet states State Emblem of the Soviet Union.svg Geography    Subdivisions    Republics autonomous Oblasts autonomous Autonomous okrugs Closed cities list Regions    Caspian Sea Caucasus Mountains European Russia North Caucasus Siberia Ural Mountains West Siberian Plain Politics    General    Constitution Elections Foreign relations Brezhnev Doctrine Government list Human rights LGBT Law Leaders Collective leadership Passport system State ideology Marxism–Leninism Leninism Stalinism Bodies    Communist Party organisation Central Committee Politburo Secretariat Congress General Secretary Congress of Soviets (1922–1936) Supreme Soviet (1938–1991) Congress of People's Deputies (1989–1991) Supreme Court Offices    Premier President Deputy Premier First Deputy Premier Security services    Cheka GPU NKVD MVD MGB KGB Political repression    Red Terror Collectivization Great Purge Population transfer Gulag list Holodomor Political abuse of psychiatry Ideological repression    Religion Suppressed research Censorship Censorship of images Economy    Agriculture Central Bank Energy policy Five-Year Plans Net material product Inventions Ruble (currency) Internet domain Transport Science    Communist Academy Academy of Sciences Academy of Medical Sciences Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences Sharashkas Naukograds list Society    Crime Demographics Soviet people working class 1989 census Languages Linguistics LGBT Culture    Ballet Cinema Fashion Literature Music opera Propaganda Sports Stalinist architecture Opposition    Soviet dissidents and their groups list Anthem republics Emblem republics Flag republics Template Templates    Departments Russian Revolution 1917 Joseph Stalin Stagnation Era Fall of Communism Wikipedia book Book Category Category Commons page Commons Portal Portal WikiProject WikiProject [hide] Administrative division of the Soviet Union [hide] v t e Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991) Principal    Armenia Azerbaijan Byelorussia Estonia1 Georgia Kazakhstan Kirghizia Latvia1 Lithuania1 Moldavia Russian SFSR Tajikistan Turkmenia Ukraine Uzbekistan State Emblem of the Soviet Union Short-lived    Karelo-Finnish SSR (1940–1956) Transcaucasian SFSR (1922–1936) Non-union republics    SSR Abkhazia (1921–1931) Bukharan SSR (1920–1925) Khorezm SSR (1920–1925) Nakhichevan ASSR (1920–1923) Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR (1990–1991) South Ossetian SR (1990–1991) 1The annexation of the Baltic republics in 1940 was considered as an illegal occupation and was not recognized by the majority of the international community such as the United States, United Kingdom and the European Community. 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[hide] v t e Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union Soviet Union By name    Abkhaz Adjar Bashkir Buryat1 Chechen-Ingush Chuvash Crimean Dagestan Gorno-Altai Kabardin Kabardino-Balkar Kalmyk Karakalpak Karelian Kazak2 Kirghiz2 Kirghiz Komi Mari Moldavian Mordovian Mountain Nakhchivan North Ossetian Tajik Tatar Turkestan Tuva Udmurt Volga German Yakut Coat of arms of the Soviet Union By year established           1918–1924  Turkestan 1918–1941  Volga German 1919–1990  Bashkir 1920–1925  Kirghiz2 1920–1990  Tatar 1921–1990  Adjar 1921–1945  Crimean 1921–1991  Dagestan 1921–1924  Mountain 1921–1990  Nakhchivan 1922–1991  Yakut 1923–1990  Buryat1 1923–1940  Karelian 1924–1940  Moldavian 1924–1929  Tajik 1925–1992  Chuvash 1925–1936  Kazak2 1926–1936  Kirghiz 1931–1991  Abkhaz 1932–1992  Karakalpak 1934–1990  Mordovian 1934–1990  Udmurt 1935–1943  Kalmyk 1936–1944  Chechen-Ingush 1936–1944  Kabardino-Balkar 1936–1990  Komi 1936–1990  Mari 1936–1990  North Ossetian 1944–1957  Kabardin 1956–1991  Karelian 1957–1990  Chechen-Ingush 1957–1991  Kabardino-Balkar 1958–1990  Kalmyk 1961–1992  Tuva 1990–1991  Gorno-Altai 1991–1992  Crimean 1 Buryat–Mongol until 1958. 2 Kazak ASSR was called Kirghiz ASSR until 1925. 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Vintage stamps and rare coins sale online! Продажа старинных марок и редких монет онлайн - stamplake.com STAMPLAKE.COM PROFESSIONAL SELLER

    Type of capital investments, as investments in antiques is growing in popularity more and more each day. It's quite a profitable and safe investment, as prices for antiques are steadily growing (on average 20% per year), which often exceeds the growth of stocks in the stock market. In addition, investment in antiques enriches not only materially bringing income but also spiritually, bringing esthetic pleasure.

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    Dear collectors! StampLake.com are working for you and it's very important for us, that you can always find and buy in our store exactly what you are looking for and dreaming about. Therefore, if you do not succeed in finding the item, let us know and we will find and order the product you are interested in.

    Our company is made by collectors for collectors. We are selling various items which are related to the collection (coins, banknotes, faleras, antiques, various accessories, specialized literature and much else). Definitely here you will find a lot of necessary and useful items which you are interested in. We are always glad to meet you personally and definitely you will find the item you are interested in.

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    • Condition: Items are on picture! 100% ORIGINAL. Shipping with tracking number Worldwide!
    • Type: Postal Card, Stationery
    • Year of Issue: 1881-1890
    • Place of Origin: Italy
    • Country/Region of Origin: Unknown
    • Quality: Mint Never Hinged/MNH
    • Color: Magenta
    • Grade: Ungraded
    • Topic: Patriotic
    • Country/Region of Manufacture: Eritrea
    • Cancellation Type: Railway/RPO
    • Certification: Uncertified
    • Modified Item: No

  • PicClick Insights - Italy 1800's Eritrea - MNH - Postcards Pair - Rare Stamp 15 cents Stamps PicClick Exclusive

    •  Popularity - 2 watchers, 0.0 new watchers per day, 408 days for sale on eBay. Good amount watching. 0 sold, 1 available.
    •  Best Price -
    •  Seller - 499+ items sold. 0% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.

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