How hard is the aggressive expansion of the cold zone? Did Russia "pick up" Siberia in vain? I will answer these two questions one by one for you.
First, how hard is the aggressive expansion of the cold zone?
As we all know, the cold zone refers to the high latitude area above 66 ° 34 " north and south latitude, the climate is cold all year round, and the minimum temperature can even reach -55 °. Since ancient times, influential countries and forces have basically been concentrated in the Eurasian continent in the northern hemisphere, so today we will mainly talk about the difficulties of expansion in the cold zone of Eurasia.
Let's start with China
Since the region established by our Chinese civilization is mainly in the mid-latitude region between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River Basin, since the establishment of the Great Unification Dynasty by the Qin Dynasty, it has launched conquests to the north again and again.
However, the harsh cold weather conditions, as well as the backward logistical supply situation. It greatly restricted the conquest of the northern wasteland by the Central Plains Dynasty.
Even the later Mongol Empire was successful in its conquest of Eurasia. It is also mainly based on the fact that the Mongols themselves lived in the high-latitude Mongolian plateau, accustomed to the natural environment of this region, and with their nomadic characteristics and the form of conquest in the form of war and war, they finally fully incorporated the cold zone into their sphere of influence.
However, this inclusion is more of a formal inclusion, and the domination of the cold zone will be very loose and weak if it cannot completely solve the problems of climate and logistical supply.
As a result, after the vast Mongol Empire eventually split into khanates, rule in the boreal regions was once again a blank space.
Let's talk about Russia
Russia is undoubtedly by far the most successful country in its aggression and expansion of the boreal region, but we all know that Russia's conquest of the boreal region, mainly in present-day Siberia, was not achieved overnight, it was a long process.
In the 16th century, the Muscovite Principality gradually developed into the Russian Empire after absorbing and annexing the Novgorod Republic, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the former master, the Golden Horde. Supported by the motive force of the desire for land, their expansion to the west and south was blocked by the Eastern European powers and the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
Begin to turn your attention to the Siberian region east of the Ural Mountains.
At this time, the Siberian region was almost a wasteland except for a Siberian khanate on the eastern edge of the Ural Mountains, and there were no states or organizations. So the Russians used their third-rate army in Europe to easily conquer the Siberian Khanate with muskets and cannons, and it is said that although this Siberian Khanate has an area of several million square kilometers, the population of the country is only 200,000, and it is impossible to resist the Russian invasion. Since then the gates of Siberia have been opened for the Russians.
But a simple beginning does not mean that the Russians can simply obtain this area.
After that, it took the Russians nearly 200 years, adopting a strategy of gradually encroaching on development, before gradually occupying the so-called borderlands of Siberia and Alaska.
Due to the extremely harsh winter climate in this region, every year the Russian colonists had to endure the lack of supply for more than half a year, but they were fortunate that it was precisely because the environment in these areas was too harsh to be valued by the rest of Asia at all, so that the Russians could easily obtain it.
It was not until 1916, when the 26-year-old Trans-Siberian Railway was completed, that Russia's dominance in the boreal Region of Siberia was truly established.
epilogue
After reading my answer, I believe that everyone has already understood. The conquest of the cold zone is really difficult, and it is only possible to gain a foothold in the cold zone if the climate and supplies are solved. And it was precisely under the conditions of poverty and fear of extremely harsh climates in other countries that they gave this region to Russia, which simply made Russia pick up Siberia.
I am [Imagami Yantang], like my views, you can follow me!