Tsarist Russia’s military power in Europe was average, so why did it expand so quickly in the Far East?

What is the largest country in the world today? Russia. How big is Russia? 17.0982 million square meters, of which the Asian part accounts for more than three-quarters of its total area. But turn the time back to the 16th century when the modern Russian state was just established. At that time, Russia's territory was only Moscow and its surrounding areas, and it was a typical European country.

But in just over two hundred years, in the 17th century, Russia jumped from a small principality on the Eastern European plains to a large empire spanning Europe and Asia, directly bordering China. . So why is Russia’s expansion in the Far East so smooth?

(Russia - the country with the largest territory in the world today, three-quarters of its territory is in Asia)

Convenient location

Look at the topographic map of Russia, We will find that the map of Russia shows a trend of low in the west and high in the east. In terms of geographical regions, from west to east they are the Eastern European Plains, the West Siberian Plains, the Central Siberian Plateau, and the East Siberian Mountains. This kind of terrain distribution is very convenient for the country's horizontal expansion.

At the same time, Russia's terrain has no natural dangers in the horizontal direction. When the Russians were expanding eastward, the only natural terrain obstacle was the Ural Mountains. However, this is the Ural Mountains. The lowest altitude in the middle of the Ural Mountains is only 350 meters, so it is not difficult to climb. After crossing the Ural Mountains, you will reach Siberia.

In the process of conquering Siberia, the Russians also adopted a method of advancing by land and water, using the three major rivers running through Siberia and their tributaries to transport people and materials. This also accelerated the Russians’ expansion into the Far East. of conquest.

(Russian topographic map) Time

Russia’s expansion in the Far East began with Ivan the Terrible’s attack on the Kazan Khanate in the mid-16th century, and ended with Catherine the Great in the late 18th century. During the reign of the Great, Russian territory had crossed the Bering Strait and reached Alaska. Looking at the development of world history from the mid-16th century to the late 18th century, it can be said that it was very beneficial to Russia's expansion into the Far East.

First of all, the Golden Horde, the biggest obstacle to Russia's eastward expansion, has collapsed. Starting from the 16th century, Western Europe began to embark on the path of external colonial expansion. Through colonial activities, countries such as Britain and France gradually became stronger. However, at this time, Western European colonial expansion mainly focused on the Americas, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. For North Asia, Western European countries were beyond their reach and had no interest.

The only country that can compete with Russia in its eastward expansion is China. From the mid-16th century to the 17th century, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, large-scale wars broke out within China, and various internal factions were busy annexing each other to unify the country. By the time the Manchus were finally unified, the Russians had already expanded to China's doorstep.