The Western World Daily Readings on Geography Chapter 84 Russian Domain Historical Geography I

CHAPTER 84 Russian Domain Historical Geography I The Empire Expands and Contracts 1918 Dynasty White Army territories Bolsheviks element has been excluded from this version of the text . You can view it online here ?

408 RUSSIAN DOMAIN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY I 409 Let begin with this visual look at Russia lands , an animated progression of expansion and contraction . The animation above effectively looks at this expansion . Let consider how this historical and geographic expansion took place . At present , Russia is by far the largest country in the world , as measured by area . This has been true for more than a century . The Soviet Union was even larger , by two million square miles however , the breakup left Russia as the main surviving piece and indeed as the largest country in the world . How did this all happen ?

By 800 , there was no country Russia , but there were scattered clusters of Slavic peoples in the region north of the Black Sea and east of the Baltic Sea . However , there were numerous other peoples in the region and passing in and out of the region . Over the several following centuries , different peoples entered the area , even as became somewhat more organized . Asiatic tribes crossed the Ural Mountains from the east . Goths and Huns expanded their territories in the early CE years . Subsequently , and each took turns of prominence in the region , even with a Slavic recovery in the CE . The first significant organized Slavic territory was prompted by Viking ( in Russia , cited as ) trading interest in the region . Viking raiders and traders sought to use the and Volga Rivers in order to greatly expand their trading networks to the corresponding Black and Caspian Seas . As these Norse developed these trading routes , some of them settled in the areas along the routes . In 880 , the capital became Kiev ( now , the capital of Ukraine ) thus starting the rule of Oleg over what then gained the name . As this essay is interested simply in the expansion and contraction of Russian lands , we begin with , but do not cover all the historical details . Indeed , after the beginning of , there was period of prominence for the city of and its surrounding territory , as well as the ascendance of Moscow . However , all of these territorial holdings remained west of the Ural Mountains and were historically constrained by German expansion , Lithuanian conquest , and the famous Mongol invasion . From 1359 to 1425 , Moscow was able to increase its holdings between other competing powers . By 1533 Moscow lands extended to the Arctic Ocean . The significant eastward expansion of Russia arrived with the reign of Ivan IV ( Ivan the Terrible ) in 1547 . In 1552 Ivan troops ousted the Mongols from , then in 1556 from Astrakhan . The elimination of these holds on Russia allowed Ivan IV to push across the Ural Mountains . Cossack forces under their leader brought western Siberian lands under Moscow control . The breadth of Russia western holdings would vary over time , though in net terms gaining however , the eastward expansion was an inexorable push to the Pacific Ocean and a slide into Central Asia . The conquest of Siberia demanded little in terms of battle against native peoples , but a great deal in the movement of settlers across vast distances and through miles and miles of cold and forest . Russians , Cossacks , and Ukrainians established these and other towns as they moved eastward 1652 ( on the western shore of Lake ) 1649 ( on the Pacific Sea of ) 1649 ( near the Bering Strait ) 1632 ( among the coldest places on the planet ) Under a series of female leaders Anne ( Elizabeth ( and Catherine the Great ( Russia sought to expand its lands west of the Urals Mountains , pushing against the Ottoman Empire to the south , moving westward toward Poland , and edging northeastward looking to Sweden . Eventually , Russia secured territory in each direction , for instance , taking Finland from Sweden in 1809 . Russia pushed southward into the Mountains , between the Black and Caspian Seas . Russia current borders there are similar to the Russian Empire reach in 1763 , but the empire continued a back and forth with western borders . Advances through Georgia and brought the empire again to abut Persia in 1813 , while movement into again reached the borders of the Ottoman Empire in 1828 and more so in 1878 .

410 JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL Similarly , the Russian Empire expanded throughout Central Asia from 1763 to 1914 . Conquest of the region known then as , as centered by the now city brought the Russian Empire perilously close to the British Empire in India . The two empires agreed to the establishment of the Corridor , a narrow strip of land designed as part of Afghanistan , to keep the two powers separate . Upon the dawn of World War I , the Russian Empire had reached its farthest extent , slightly larger than its heir , the Soviet Union . Holdings in Finland and Poland were lost in the war , never to be recovered . Russia convincing defeat in the war , followed by its civil war to determine political but not royal successors to the monarchy , led to noteworthy losses of territory . In addition to the losses of Finland and Polish territory , Russia dropped control of , and the Baltic States that gained their independence . Ukraine and the region Georgia , and also secured independence however , they were subdued and incorporated into the new Soviet Union . a portion of , was annexed by ethnically similar . In World War II , the Soviet Union victory in Eastern Europe allowed them to reclaim the Baltic States , part of Poland , and a corner of Finland . This brought the USSR to its fullest state , nearly matching the land holding ofthe fullest version of the Russian Empire . Of course , the collapse ofthe Soviet Union cracked this vast land into fifteen pieces , fifteen new countries . While Russia remains the world largest country by area ( million square miles ) the other fourteen new countries chopped off two million square miles for their own territories . By seeking its own independence , tiny sought to create a precedent for the many ethnic regions of Russia . The Russian military twice slammed in civil wars , forcing the upstart land to remain in Russia . It appeared that Russia would maintain its size without territorial gains or losses however , Russia annexation of in 2014 changed that view . Russia fight in eastern Ukraine and its apparent interest in lands in and Georgia indicate that Russia land size may change again . Did You Know ?

Russia Siberian expansion reached the Bering Strait , but Russians moved across the water to claim Alaska . The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 . Many Americans considered this purchase to be foolhardy , characterizing it as Folly , referencing the American Secretary of State who led the negotiations . For a short time , Russia had a fort in Hawaii , as built in 1817 . The Railway reached in 1899 . By 1917 track stretched from Moscow to ( on the Pacific Ocean ) without needing passage through China .

RUSSIAN DOMAIN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY I 411 CITED AND ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY , John , and Robert Hudson . 1996 . The Penguin . London New York Penguin . 2015 . YouTube . December 31 , watch ?

Gilbert , Martin . 1993 . Atlas History . New York Oxford University Press . 2017 . of the Soviet Union . Wikipedia . Creative Commons Alike .