Russia and Prussia agree on a second partition of Poland

The tsar, Paul I, establishes the Russian-American Company with the express purpose of developing Alaska

Napoleon and the Russian tsar Alexander I meet on a raft at Tilsit and set about carving up Europe

Russia, after winning much of Finland from Sweden during the previous century, invades again in 1808

In the Treaty of Hamina (or Fredrikshamn), Sweden cedes Finland to Russia as an autonomous grand duchy

Napoleon launches an attack on his ally, the Russian tsar Alexander I, with an army of more than 600,000 men

The Russian army under Marshal Kutuzov confronts the advancing French at Borodino, and though defeated makes a successful withdrawal

After victory at Borodino, Napoleon enters Moscow to find the city abandoned and burning

Napoleon begins the retreat from Moscow, in arctic conditions and harried by guerrilla attacks

The rulers of Russia, Prussia and Austria form a Holy Alliance to preserve their concept of a Christian Europe

Poland becomes a kingdom of very limited independence, since the Russian tsar Alexander I is to be its king

Russian poet Alexander Pushkin publishes his first long poem, Ruslan and Ludmilla

A December uprising in St Petersburg ends when troops fire on the crowd, but the 'Decembrists' become revolutionary martyrs

Russian poet Alexander Pushkin publishes a grand historical drama, Boris Godunov

Alexander Pushkin publishes a novel in verse, Eugene Onegin

Alexander Pushkin publishes his best-known short story, The Queen of Spades

The Inspector General, a farce by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol satirising Russian offialdom, has tsar Nicholas I in the audience for the premiere

Alexander Pushkin dies from a stomach wound received in a duel with his brother-in-law, Georges d'Anthès

The publication of the first part of the satirical novel Dead Souls, by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, proves a sensation in Russia

The Russian tsar, Nicholas I, calls Turkey 'the sick man of Europe'

Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky undergoes a mock execution, after being sentenced to death for revolutionary activities against tsar Nicholas I

Fyodor Dostoevsky begins four years of hard labour in Siberia for revolutionary activities

Russia insists that her exclusive rights over the Holy Places are enshrined in the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji

In a worsening diplomatic crisis, Russia puts her Black Sea fleet in a state of alert at Sebastopol

In the expectation of British and French support, the Ottoman sultan declares war on Russia - launching the Crimean War