Reforms of Russian orthography in the context of "Ensign of the Russian Navy"

War and Peace (Russian: Война и мир, romanized: Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: Война и миръ; IPA: [vɐjˈna i ˈmʲir]) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An early version was published serially beginning in 1865, after which the entire book was rewritten and published in 1869. It is regarded, with Anna Karenina, as Tolstoy's finest literary achievement, and it remains an internationally praised classic of world literature.

The book chronicles the French invasion of Russia and its aftermath during the Napoleonic era. It uses five interlocking narratives following different Russian aristocratic families to illustrate Napoleon's impact on Tsarist society. Portions of an earlier version, titled The Year 1805, were serialized in The Russian Messenger from 1865 to 1867 before the novel was published in its entirety in 1869.

Nikon (Russian: Ни́кон, Old spelling: Нїконъ), born Nikita Minin (Никита Минин; 7 May [O.S. 27 April] 1605 – 17 August [O.S. 7 August] 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from 1652 to 1666. He was renowned for his eloquence, energy, piety and close ties to Tsar Alexis of Russia. Nikon introduced many reforms, including liturgical reforms that were unpopular among conservatives. These divisions eventually led to a lasting schism known as Raskol (schism) in the Russian Orthodox Church. For many years, he was a dominant political figure, often equaling or even overshadowing the Tsar. In December 1667, Nikon was tried by a synod of church officials, deprived of all his sacerdotal functions, and reduced to the status of a simple monk.

A governorate (Russian: губе́рния, romanized: gubérniya, pre-1918 spelling: губе́рнія, IPA: [ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə] ) was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, governorates remained as subdivisions in the Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics, and in the Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 until 1929. The term is also translated as government or province. A governorate was headed by a governor (губернатор, gubernator), a word borrowed from Latin gubernator, in turn from Greek kyvernítis (Greek: κυβερνήτης).

Selected governorates were united under an assigned governor-general such as the Grand Duchy of Finland, Congress Poland, Russian Turkestan and others. There were also military governors such as Kronstadt, Vladivostok and others. Aside from governorates, other types of divisions were oblasts (region) and okrugs (district).

The Most Holy Governing Synod (Russian: Святейший Правительствующий Синод, romanized: Svyateyshiy Pravitel'stvuyushchiy Sinod, pre-reform orthography: Святѣйшій Правительствующій Сѵнодъ, Svyatěyshìy Pravitel'stvuyushchìy Sÿnod) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1917. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriarchate under Tikhon of Moscow. The jurisdiction of the Most Holy Synod extended over every kind of ecclesiastical question and over some partly secular matters.

Peter I of Russia established the Synod on January 25, 1721 in the course of his church reform. Its establishment was followed by the abolition of the Patriarchate. The synod was composed partly of ecclesiastical persons, partly of laymen appointed by the Tsar. Members included the Metropolitans of Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev, and the Exarch of Georgia. Originally, the Synod had ten ecclesiastical members, but the number later changed to twelve.

Childhood (pre-reform Russian: Дѣтство; post-reform Russian: Детство, romanized: Détstvo) is the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal The Contemporary.

It is the first in a series of three novels, followed by Boyhood and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success. It earned Tolstoy notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature.

The Sevastopol Sketches (pre-reform Russian: Севастопольскіе разсказы, romanized: Sevastópolʹskiye razskázy; post-reform Russian: Севастопольские рассказы, romanized: Sevastópolʹskiye rasskázy), translated into English as Sebastopol Sketches or Sebastopol Stories or Sevastopol Sketches or Stories, are three short stories by Leo Tolstoy published in 1855 to record his experiences during the previous year's siege of Sevastopol in Crimea. These brief "sketches" formed the basis of many episodes in Tolstoy's most famous novel, War and Peace.

Resurrection (pre-reform Russian: Воскресеніе; post-reform Russian: Воскресение, romanized: Voskreséniye, also translated as The Awakening), first published in December 1899, was the last novel written by Leo Tolstoy. The book is the final of his major long fiction works published in his lifetime. Tolstoy intended the novel as a panoramic view of Russia at the end of the 19th century from the highest to the lowest levels of society and as an exposition of the injustice of man-made laws and the hypocrisy of the institutionalized church. The novel also explores the economic philosophy of Georgism, of which Tolstoy had become a very strong advocate towards the end of his life, and explains the theory in detail. The publication of Resurrection led to Tolstoy's excommunication by the Holy Synod from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901.

Family Happiness (pre-reform Russian: Семейное счастіе; post-reform Russian: Семейное счастие, romanized: Seméynoye schástiye) is an 1859 novella written by Leo Tolstoy, first published in The Russian Messenger.