History of Russia and by the 18th century, the Tsardom of Russia had grown to become the Russian Empire, stretching from eastern Poland to the Pacific Ocean. Peasant revolts were common, and all were fiercely suppressed. Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861, but the peasants fared poorly and often turned to revolutionary pressures. In the following decades, reform efforts such as the Stolypin reforms, the constitution of 1906, and the State Duma attempted to open and liberalize the economy and political system, but the tsars refused to relinquish autocratic rule or share their power. The Russian Revolution in 1917 was triggered by a
USS Southerner (1861) she was used as a transport during the reduction of Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark on the 28th and 29th. She presumably foundered sometime before 11 October 1861. USS Southerner (1861) USS "Southerner" (1861) was a schooner purchased by the Union Navy to be used as a sunken obstruction in the waterways of the Confederate States of America. She was part of what was called the "stone fleet". "Southerner" – a Chesapeake Bay schooner – was purchased by the Union Navy at Baltimore, Maryland, on 13 August 1861. The vessel was laden with stone and towed to Hampton Roads. On