<P> Following the Swedish defeat in the Finnish War of 1808--1809 and the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on 17 September 1809, the eastern half of Sweden, the area that then became Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as an autonomous grand duchy . The tsar eventually ended up ruling Finland as a semi-constitutional monarch through the Governor - General of Finland and a native - populated Senate appointed by him . The Emperor never explicitly recognized Finland as a constitutional state in its own right, however, although his Finnish subjects came to consider the Grand Duchy as one . </P> <P> In the aftermath of the Russo - Turkish War, 1806--12, and the ensuing Treaty of Bucharest (1812), the eastern parts of the Principality of Moldavia, an Ottoman vassal state, along with some areas formerly under direct Ottoman rule, came under the rule of the Empire . This area (Bessarabia) was among the Russian Empire's last territorial increments in Europe . At the Congress of Vienna (1815), Russia gained sovereignty over Congress Poland, which on paper was an autonomous Kingdom in personal union with Russia . However, this autonomy was eroded after an uprising in 1831, and was finally abolished in 1867 . </P> <P> Saint Petersburg gradually extended and consolidated its control over the Caucasus in the course of the 19th century at the expense of Persia through the Russo - Persian Wars of 1804--13 and 1826--28 and the respectively ensuing treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay, as well as through the Caucasian War (1817--1864). </P> <P> The Russian Empire expanded its influence and possessions in Central Asia, especially in the later 19th century, conquering much of Russian Turkestan in 1865 and continuing to add territory as late as 1885 . </P>

When did the russian empire expand beyond the ural mountains