Historical
Geography of
the Russian
Empire
Growth of Russia
Pre-Soviet Russian History
862-988:
Proto-Slavs
989-1239:
Kievan Rus
1240-1462:
Mongol
occupation
1463-1612:
Growth of
Muscovy
as Russia
1613-1917:
Romanov
imperial dynasty
Slavic Peoples Today
WEST
Polish
Czech
Slovak
*-Majority
Orthodox
Christian
EAST
Russian*
Ukrainian*
Belarusian*
SOUTH
Slovene
Serbian*-Croatian
Bulgarian*
Macedonian*
Kievan Rus (988-1239)
Scandinavian
Proto-Slavs settle on
Dnieper trade route at
Kiev (Kyyiv), c. 862
First “Russian” state, founded around Kiev.
Vladimir I converted to Orthodox Christianity, 988.
Sacked by Mongols, 1239
Eastern
Orthodoxy
Patriarch was at Byzantine capital
Constantinople (Istanbul)
Close links with secular authority
Suffering linked with salvation
Cyrillic alphabet (derived from Greek)
European religions today
Catholic in Southwest/Central
Protestant in Northwest
Orthodox in East/Southeast
Muslim in part of Southeast
Mongol Empire (1200s-1400s)
including Tatars’ Khanate of the Golden Horde (green).
Russian principalities pay tribute as vassals.
. Novgorod
RUSSIAN
PRICIPALITIES
Muscovy
Russians moved north, founded principality at Moscow 1325
Muscovy
Center of Orthodoxy
after Ottomans take
Constantinople, 1453
Absorbed other
principalities, 1400s
Independent 1476;
conquered Tatars 1500s
Romanov Dynasty
(1613-1917)
Czar (Tsar)
= Emperor
Czarina (Tsarina) = Empress
“Rule of Thumb”
about Russian rulers
Pres. Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB)
“__________ the Great”
PETER
(1682-1725)
defeated Swedes,
won Baltic Sea access
(Capital St. Petersburg)
CATHERINE II
(1762-96)
took Ukraine, Belarus, Lith.,
won Black Sea access
Ivan the
Terrible
(Ivan IV, 1533-84)
Conquered Tatars,
crossed Urals
Expansion to east easier
than to west, south
Poland-Lithuania
Power to the west, 1450-1699
Growth of
Russia,
1462-1796
Feudal state,
based on
relationship of
lord to serfs
(peasant “slave”)
“Russification”
of minorities
Partitions
of Poland
by Austria,
Russia,
Prussia
1772
1793
1795
Russian expansion, 1796-1894
Central Asia
(Turkestan)
Muslim states along Silk
Road from China
Caucasus
shatterbelt
Patchwork of
ethnic diversity
Meeting of Orthodox
Christians, Sunni and
Shi’a Muslims
Competition between
Russian, Ottoman,
Persian spheres
Russia at maximum extents
Finland
Poland
Bessarabia
(Moldova)
Tuva
1921-44
Chechnya
Iran
Empires
1. Homeland
-Muscovy origin
2. Ukraine/Belarus•
5
2 1
4
5
3
4
4
5
-Slav, Orthodox
3. Boreal riverine
-Fur trade, extraction
-Outnumber nonRussian natives
4. Russian settlers
-S. Ukraine, S. Siberia belt
5. Nationalistic empire
-Non-Slavic republics
-Russians administer from cities
Russians as % of Empire
80
Ethnic Russian
percentage of
population
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1719
1917
1989
Growth of Russia
1462 : 15,000 mi2
1914 : 8.5 million mi2
Grew avg. 50 mi2 /day
to 1/7 of Earth’s landmass,
11 time zones
Causes for expansion
• Urge to sea (warm-water ports)
• Defensive buffer
• Global “overseas” imperialism
• Plain ole’ greed
U.S. & Russia
Westward (or
eastward) expansion
Settler colonialism
on Native lands
Railroads enable
settlement
End to slavery
(or serfdom), 1860s
Why was Russia poor?
Physical reasons
for underdevelopment
1. Difficult climate for crops
2. Isolation from Europe
3. Need trains to haul resources
4. Others control ocean access
5. Military vulnerability
Social reasons
1. Vast territory to rule from Center
2. Feudal, conservative society
3. Serfdom tied peasants to village
4. Orthodoxy not linked with West
5. Lack of middle merchant class/market
Serfs,
1860
Industrialization,
late 1800s
• Czars open to Western investment.
• Rail-based industry: Heartland, Urals, Ukraine
• Semi-Periphery (exploited and exploiter)
– Rise of industrial working class
Modernizers vs. Slavophiles
– Not up to West’s technical, military standards
– Identify with West too much or too little?
– Peter and Catherine emphasized links to West
Modernizers vs. Slavophiles
Westernizers
Eurasians
Pro-industrial
Pro-peasantry
Capitalists &
Socialists
Royalists &
populists
Russia as state
Russia as nation
Barriers to Russian expansion
WEST
Swedes,
Poles,
Lithuanians
(Invaded
by French,
Germans)
EAST
Japanese,
Americans
(Alaska 1867)
SOUTH
Ottomans (Turks),
Persians (Iranians),
British (in India)
Mackinder’s Heartland Theory
(Whoever controls Pivot Area can control the world)
The “Great Game” between Britain and Russia, 1800s-1900s
French turned back from Moscow, 1812
French turned back from Moscow, 1812
Crimean War, 1853-56
Russians contained in SW by Ottomans, Brits, French
xxxx
Balkans shatterbelt
Ethnic diversity
Meeting of Orthodox,
Catholics, Muslims
Competition between
Russian, Ottoman,
Austrian spheres
“Balkanization”
Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05
Russians contained in east by Japanese (in Manchuria, Korea)
Revolution of 1905
• Workers’ strikes,
student marches
• Not opposing monarchy…
at first
• Repression leads to
1917 Revolution