Zhou Yu丨 Walking the rivers and lakes together, why is the gap between Britain and Russia so big?

Original Flowing Water and Falling Flowers in the World Mount Sinai in the Desert 2023-05-11

If someone asks you which empire on Earth is the largest, perhaps you will first think of the Mongol Empire. But not it, but the former "empire on which the sun never sets" Britain. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British Empire covered a staggering 34 million square kilometers, covering one-quarter of the land area and 23% of the world's population.

At its peak, the Mongol Empire had 33 million (24 million) square kilometers of land. The problem is that the Mongol Empire was very short-lived and left no "legacy" to world history, let alone a valuable one.

Speaking of empires and legacies, there is actually another "empire on which the sun never sets", that is, the former Spain. Spain, together with its neighbor Portugal, was the first to go to sea and built a vast empire in the Americas, leaving behind a rich "legacy" - "Latin America".

Unfortunately, this legacy cannot be compared to the British legacy in the Americas, the United States and Canada. If we add Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the former South Africa and Hong Kong that Britain left elsewhere, then the "second tooth" is even more humiliating.

In addition to Britain, Spain, and Portugal, there was actually an empire that not only left a sufficient "legacy", but is still very large to this day. As you will guess, it is Russia.

From the coronation of Ivan IV as Tsar in 1547 to 1866, the Russian Empire expanded professionally for more than 300 years, with a territory of 22.8 million square kilometers. Even after the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, Russia retained 17.07 million square kilometers of territory.

After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, it also left a considerable "legacy" to the world, and we will examine it from five aspects in a moment.

In short, Britain and Russia have both walked the world in the world, but the gap is still quite large. It's fun and valuable to compare. This is because the world pattern to this day is still largely influenced by the "legacy" of Britain and Russia.

I. The "Legacy" of British and Russian Expansion

1. The legacy of the British Empire

(1) Britain's first legacy is to cultivate a better, bigger and stronger version of Britain 2.0 than Britain - the United States, which is also the "Spring and Autumn Hegemon" since 1942. In 1588, England defeated the last "sun never sets" Spain, and began to cross the seas themselves. The United States, as a British 2.0, tried its hand again in 1898, 300 years later, and then began to cross the world. Another 20 years passed, and in 1917, the United States took part in World War I to save his cousin from fire and water, and more than 20 years later, the United States, which had been attacked by Japan, went out again to save his cousin from fire and water, and became the world boss.

(2) Britain's second heritage was the migration of immigrants to several first-class developed countries in the "whole colony". They are: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and once South Africa (which has been on a landslide since 1994).

(3) The third legacy of the United Kingdom is that it has left a framework for the rule of law in the places of "domination" and "administration", which has given some ancient countries and regions a new lease of life. Among them, Singapore and Hong Kong have been completely reborn, India has changed the system but the society has not been completely changed, and Nigeria and Ghana, the best developed countries in black Africa, are also the foundation laid by the United Kingdom. As for Germany and Japan after World War II, they benefited from the transformation of Britain 2.0 (USA). As for the miraculously "restored" Israel, it also originally came from the protection of Britain and the United States, followed the Anglo-American path, and was an advanced country on the first day of its founding.

(4) The fourth legacy of Britain is that it has maintained a rare "right" or conservative thinking and style in the context of the increasing "love of the left" in the ideological and political circles of the European and American worlds, which may save the entire European and American world at some point in the future. (As a result, I don't think the United States was really "more advanced" than Britain when it was founded.) ）

In short, most of the countries that have been "colonized" and governed by Britain so far are willing to be under the name of the "British Commonwealth". Obviously, being "colonized" by the British is an honor, and in essence it is being civilized, which is tantamount to the grace of re-creation. As for some countries that are trying to get rid of British governance and influence, such as Myanmar, we don't need to comment on it anymore.

2. The legacy of the Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union

(1) Russia's first legacy is that the independent countries it invaded, such as Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Japan, Mongolia and Afghanistan, all fear and hate Russia, and hope that one day Russia will regain its lost territory when it declines. Recently, Finland took advantage of the "east wind" of the Russian-Ukrainian war to finally join NATO, which is a matter of concern.

(2) Russia's second legacy is the seven Eastern European countries that were once included in the Warsaw Pact, East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia (later divided into two countries), Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. Their mentality is similar to that of countries such as Finland and Japan. When they got rid of the Warsaw Pact system on July 1, 1991, they still feared and hated Russia, and even said that they could not share the sky, hoping that one day Russia would regain lost ground when Russia was in decline. Among them, Poland has been divided by Russia many times, and its resentment against Russia is particularly deep.

(3) Russia's third legacy is the 14 former Soviet "member states" that were "merged" with Russia, namely Belarus, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Except for Belarus, which has a strong relationship with Russia for various historical reasons, the other 12 countries are both afraid and hateful of Russia. In particular, the three Baltic states and Ukraine, which is currently fighting a bloody war with Russia, can be said to be at odds with Russia. Moreover, they are well aware that they can only achieve real and lasting security if Russia is completely defeated with the help of the West.

(4) The fourth legacy of Russia is the internal "autonomous republics" and the people. Maybe because Putin could still "take advantage" outside from time to time before, and he could bring back some "firewood" at home, so he thought that the years were quiet, but he didn't expect that this time Putin was stumped in Ukraine, not only did he put real money into it, but also the Russian military officers and soldiers have sacrificed 190,000, and it is time for them to think about Putin's long-term rule and its "achievements".

Obviously, the "legacy" that Britain left to the world is positive, and Russia is negative.

2. Why is this happening?

1. There are major differences between Britain and Russia in terms of culture and institutions

(1) Even in the so-called feudal era, English society was enlightened and pluralistic, and in 1215 the Magna Carta of Liberties was enacted, which put the monarchy in a cage. Britain has always maintained a monarchy, but it is a constitutional monarchy, and all policies come from Parliament and not from the king. Crucially, British society is free.

(2) Russia was once conquered by the Mongols. Since the Mongols occupied too much land to be governed, they adopted the method of "bidding", and installed some puppet rulers among the dukes of the Rus' state and levied heavy taxes on them. These Rus' dukes were to perform the five-body salute in front of the Mongol Great Khan, or else they would be summarily executed. Prostration became part of the etiquette of the Rus' court and lasted for more than 400 years.

What is even more shameful is that the dukes of Rus' vied with each other to serve the Mongol Khan, in addition to brutally oppressing the common people of Rus' in different ways, they also willingly colluded with the Mongol rulers, were willing to learn Tatar, and intermarried with the Tatars, becoming out-and-out "Russian traitors" and "two devils". The Rus' aristocracy admired the autocratic rule and militarization policy of the Mongols, and the traditional concept of the Slavs who were relatively liberal in the past was uprooted, and the dictatorship appeared on the stage of Rus' history.

Even more deadly, the Mongol enslavement of Russia lasted for 240 years (1240-1480), or 12 generations. In the end, the Rus' people absorbed a large amount of Mongol blood both culturally and physically, and the paternal lines of aristocratic society were almost replaced by Mongol blood.

The 240-year Mongol rule severed the Rus' ties with the Western world, cut off the commercial and cultural ties that had been developing normally in Kievan Rus', and the Rus' state fell into dark isolation. In this way, the Rus' state missed the Renaissance movement, the process of national development was delayed for at least 200 years, after which the character of the Rus' state and the European countries began to diverge. Until the late 19th century, Tsarist Russia even maintained serfdom.

2. Britain and Russia have different ideas for foreign expansion

(1) The UK is governance and development

Britain began to go to sea before and after the defeat of Spain, and initially learned the Dutch way, practiced mercantilism, and went to do business everywhere, rather than to conquer and occupy other people's countries. Of course, there are also direct immigrants in some "empty" lands, such as in North America and Oceania, but it is not as short-sighted as Spain to plunder gold and silver, but to treat it as Britain, and carry out long-term "construction" and "development", which is almost equivalent to recreating a new Britain, so there is the United States of Britain 2.0.

Later, Britain was the first to realize the industrial revolution, and went out to sell things, even if they smashed open the door of China with strong ships and cannons, in the end it was still to sell things, not to occupy China, so China has always been a "semi-colony" in modern times. Britain actually has the same mentality towards India, at first it was just a "company" to take care of it, and then the country had to take over, but what it did was still "management", not "merging" India with the UK. After World War II, the "national independence movement" in various colonies was surging, Britain had a good face, as long as there was a little bit of noise anywhere, the British were basically gone, and they didn't bother to worry about it, you can do whatever you like.

(2) Russia is conquest and occupation

The Russians were ruled by the Mongols for 240 years, and they became the "fantasies" of the Mongols, and after that they were only superstitious about force and only in fists.

At the same time, because Russia has been enslaved by outsiders for a long time, it has a strong inferiority complex and insecurity deep down, so once it recovers, it will continue to conquer foreign countries. This is because, in order to get rid of their inferiority complex, they have to transfer their insecurity to their neighbors, whose killing and subjugation have become the basis of Russia's daily routine and survival. But even with the size of the territory, the Russians still feel "insecure". In the eyes of the Russians, neighbors are used to bully, "what is mine is mine, yours is also mine, and at most it is temporarily deposited with you." ”

Russia's territory originally consisted of only 240,000 square kilometers, the size of China's Guangxi, and in more than 300 years, the territory has expanded by a staggering 100-fold.

In order to gain access to the Baltic Gulf of Finland, Peter I fought a 20-year Northern War with Sweden, eventually defeating Sweden and gaining the Baltic Sea coast. In order to fight for the Black Sea access, it fought with Turkey for 240 years, fought 12 times, and finally annexed half of Turkey's territory, and Turkey was almost annihilated. In addition, Tsarist Russia also divided Poland three times, and Poland's hatred of Russia has not disappeared to this day.

In modern times, the focus of Tsarist Russian aggression was on China. ......

For nearly 300 years, due to the direct occupation of Russia or...

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea, and last year (2022), Russia attacked Ukraine again, intending to destroy the country, but fortunately, Ukraine was saved by the world's assistance, and the war has not been extinguished.

3. The modes of foreign expansion of Britain and Russia are different

(1) United Kingdom

(1) Britain's foreign expansion was mainly by sea, and everywhere it controlled the coastal zone first, and did not covet inland territories. As a result, by 1941 Britain had the most powerful navy in the world, and although the German Army was invincible, the navy did not dare to go to sea.

(2) Britain's tactics of foreign expansion are dignified, a bit like Wu Song in "Water Margin", "specializing in fighting tough guys". In 1588, he first cut the "invincible" Spain and sat on the first position in the West, and then began to go to sea and immigrate to North America. After that, he defeated the "world coachman" Netherlands, took South Africa, and began to cross the world. In order to curb the momentum of development in France, he twice led the defeat of Napoleon, who appointed himself emperor. In order to contain Germany, a rising star in Europe, and maintain the balance of power in Europe, he led the world war twice and defeated Germany. It's just that he was a little powerless in World War II, but fortunately, the former little brother United States took over in time.

(2) Russia

(1) Tsarist Russia's foreign expansion was mainly by land, preferring ground advances, and then occupying territories, and after occupying them, they did not want to spit it out. Moreover, Tsarist Russia was not as committed to construction and development as the British, and the land occupied by the White was put there first. For this reason, it is impossible for Tsarist Russia to create a second Great Britain in North America, a third Great Britain - Canada, a third Great Britain - Australia, and a fourth Great Britain - New Zealand in Australia, as Britain did.

(2) In the three or four hundred years of foreign conquest, Russia has taken a line of "bullying the weak and fearing the hard". The real strength of Tsarist Russia has never been so strong, so its westward expansion has not been smooth, and it has always been strongly hindered and restricted, but it is much easier to fight eastward, and when they cross the Ural Mountains, the land of the "East", tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions of dollars are taken up by the Cossacks with a random chess piece.

Therefore, there is an obvious characteristic of Russia's foreign expansion, that is, whenever it takes advantage of the east and accumulates some foundation, it immediately goes to the west to try it, and basically it will suffer losses in the west, and then immediately turn around and go to the east to take advantage of it and save face, and this has been the case for hundreds of years.

III. The consequences of the "legacy" of the two great empires of Britain and Russia

……

...... If so, this is a change that has not been seen in 2,000 years.

……

May 11, 2023