Russian Expansion
- Began under Ivan the Great, because of his desire to push to the west of Europe, especially in areas of Poland, Lithuania, and Ottoman Balkan peninsula
- During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, Russia moved eastward into Siberia and Mongolian territory
Poland- Lithuania
- During early Russian empire, the tars wanted to recapture territories of Kievan state, in order to return Russia's dominion in eastern Europe. Wanted to recapture Poland the most
- Mongol power of Lithuania joined forces with Poland, which created a kingdom from Baltic Sea- Black Sea
- Poland and Lithuania organized themselves in a dual republican state with separate administrative systems, but ruled by elected king. Because of this, they were not able to solve problems effectively
- Because Poland and Lithuanian were Roman Catholic, and their territory included that of Belarus and Ukraine that supported Russian orthodox, Ukraine revolted against the kingdom
- With the help of Russians, Ukraine was able to free themselves from the kingdom and joined with Russia
Polish- Lithuanian Empire
Partition of Poland
- Poland's parliament operated under a unanimous vote to make a law, this allowed Russia, Austria, and Prussia to absorbs its region
- During Poland's political problem, Russia annexed territories of Poland that contained a lot of Jews.
- In 1265, Poland tolerated Jews and provided Sanctuary there,but in Russia, Catherine 2 prohibited Jews from leaving Russia, this brought revolts, and forced the Jews to migrate to the US
Russia Expansion in the South
- During 18th century, Russia expanded south in ottoman territory
- The Tsars pushed to the Balkans, with the help of the Greek Orthodox Christians, they were able to defeat Ottomans
- They later annexed Crimea, and wanted to go to Istanbul, but they soon realized that they can gain whole control of Mediterranean basin
- They were not able to control the Mediterranean because of how British and French stopped fighting