Imperial Russian Territorial Expansion
Edward Said opined in his influential work, ‘Culture and Imperialism’, that it was simply unfair to try to compare the empire-building of Russia with that of the West. As Dr. Said explained, “Russia … acquired its imperial territories almost exclusively by adjacence. Unlike Britain and France, which jumped thousands of miles beyond their own borders to other continents, Russia moved to swallow whatever land or peoples stood next to its borders … but in the English and French cases, the sheer distance of attractive territories summoned the projection of far-flung interest ...”
The Russians, a Slavonic people, came originally from the Danube, the Elbe, and the south shore of the Baltic, and entered Russia from the west. They made several inroads into the Eastern Empire in the 9th and 10th centuries, and attacked Constantinople by sea. During the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries the Russians (who in the meantime had become Christianised and part of the Eastern Church) covered what is now Russia with a large number of principalities, and two or three free democratic republics. Early in the 13th century they came into contact with the Mongols and Tartars who invaded Europe, and by whom they were subdued in 1238. From that date until 1462 Russia was under the Tartar-Mongol yoke.
The period following, from 1462 to 1613, saw the consolidation of the Empire and the first trade relations between England and Russia- Ivan the Terrible (1533 to 1584) overthrew the Mongols of Kasan, and thereupon assumed the since universally used title of Czar. In his reign the Russian dominions were extended to the Caspian Sea, and Siberia was conquered by the Cossacks. In England, the Russian Company was incorporated in 1555, and was further regulated in 1698, the trade to and from Persia through Russia was opened up to the Companies.
Early in the 17th century Russia continued extending her dominions, notably by Siberia, and during the next hundred years (especially under Peter the Great, the founder of the new capital St. Petersburg) all the territory lost to Poland was recovered, Livonia and other possessions east of the Baltic were conquered from Sweden, large territories on the Caspian Sea from Persia, and Azof from Turkey. At the end of the 18th century Russia gained Crim Tartary or the Crimea and large portions of Poland. Finland was ceded by Sweden by Treaty of September 17, 1809, and about the same time the Russian frontier advanced to the Danube at the expense of Turkey, and large territories between the Euxine and Caspian Seas were taken from Persia.
In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia but was utterly discomfited. Russia took a leading part in the wars which led to his overthrow, and at the general peace following this event Poland was united with Russia, but as a separate State; as to its subsequent history, see under Poland below. By the Convention of London, May 15, 1815, the United Kingdon guaranteed a loan of twenty-five million Dutch florins made by Russia to Holland. In 1854 the Crimean War, in which Russia was opposed by England, France, Turkey, and Sardinia, took place; two years later Russia came to terms and agreed to evacute a small portion of territory on the Danube, and her power was somewhat lessened in the Euxine. In 1861 the Russian serfs were emancipated, and six years later the extensive territories of Turkistan were added to the Empire.
Russia continued to extend her possessions in Eastern Asia during the 19th century, but received a set back during the late Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, having to withdraw from Manchuria, to cede the Southern portion of Sakhalin to Japan and abandon Port Arthur and Ta-lien, as well as make other concessions in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Portsmouth, September 5, 1905. By the Anglo-Russian agreement of August 31, 1907, the British dominion in India was to all intents and purposes guaranteed, Thibet is effectively neutralised, Afghanistan is expressly recognised as lying within the British sphere of influence, and from a point in north-eastern Persia, covering Herat southward to the sea at Bander Abbas, a broad belt of the Persian borderland is included within the British sphere of influence, whilst the Russian sphere of influence is largely extended towards the Persian Gulf.
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