In the past, many people believed that although Tsarist Russia sat on 22.88 million square kilometers of land, more than two-thirds of it was a barren land like Siberia. So they came to the conclusion that Tsarist Russia occupied territory, looking only at quantity and not quality.
So is that really the case? Not at all. It is true that Siberia is a land of bitter cold, but there are also many treasures. For example, the West Siberian Plain has a lot of arable land, and the Baikal Territory also has a lot of natural high-quality pastures.
Not to mention the vast forests, mountains and rivers of Siberia. Although the climate is harsh, it is by no means completely barren land without quality.
Even if the barren land in Siberia is the majority, it cannot be said that Tsarist Russia occupies a territory, and it only looks at quantity and not quality. Everyone wants good quality territory, but when you get the opportunity, do you think Tsarist Russia doesn't want a warmer south?
The basic plate of Tsarist Russia, the position itself is not good
Tsarist Russia originated in Muscovy, a very inconspicuous small principality among the Rus' states, located in the area around the city of Moscow. This place is actually a remote area among the Rus' kingdoms.
At that time, the core area of the Rus' states was around Kiev, so it was also called Kievan Rus'. Since Kievan Rus was a feudal state, each prince was given a piece of territory. Therefore, that bit of essence territory is not enough to divide at all, so it will continue to be divided outward. In the 13th century, when it was divided into Muscovy, it was already considered remote.
The coldest time in this place can reach minus thirty or forty degrees, so when Tsarist Russia started, the location itself was not very good. It can be said that they were in a barren place from the beginning, so how could they be disgusted with this?
It was precisely because they had a poor start that they later worked harder than other Rus' countries. The children of poor families are in charge of the family at an early age, and this principle applies both at the macro and micro levels.
If you want to occupy a more comfortable living space, you will naturally have to go through an extraordinary struggle, natural selection, the survival of the fittest, and the situation faced by Muscovy is no different.
They first took refuge in the Mongol Golden Horde, helped the Mongols clean up their compatriots, and then gained the trust of the Mongols, so as to obtain the right to collect taxes, and then began to grow bigger and stronger.
In the process of becoming bigger and stronger, Muscovy continued to annex other Rus' states, basically completing the unification of the Rus' states. This resulted in some relatively warm territory, but it was still much worse than the territory occupied by the Mongol-Tatars.
In the 15th century, Muscovy began to openly confront the Golden Horde, and its wings were stiffened, and there was no way. After the fall of the Golden Horde, Muscovy, including later Tsarist Russia, successively destroyed the Kazan Khanate, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Siberian Khanate, the Crimean Khanate and other Mongol-Tatar khanates, and then acquired a large amount of fertile land.
Along the Heilongjiang River and around Xingkai Lake, the location is very good
It is said that Siberia is a bitter cold land, and Tsarist Russia occupies a large piece of territory that no one wants. In fact, the role of Siberia is very large, at least this territory is a springboard for them to run to the East and occupy the fertile land of the East, right?
If Tsarist Russia, like all other European countries, does not look at Siberia squarely, then it is impossible for Tsarist Russia to intersect with Asia and the East. Then it is estimated that Siberia is still our territory, after all, no one looks down on it.
After destroying the Siberian Khanate at the end of the 16th century, Tsarist Russia began to march eastward and occupy large swathes of Siberia. At first, they were only looking for an outlet to the sea, but after arriving on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, they looked south and came to the Heilongjiang River valley.
The Heilongjiang River Basin is so beautiful, it is a treasure that Tsarist Russia has been asking for for a long time, and there are at least three places here that Tsarist Russia wants to get.
First, fertile black soil
The taste of Northeast rice must have been tasted by many people, and it is indeed very good. It is this black soil in the Heilongjiang River basin that grows these delicious Northeast rice.
The power of the black soil was very strong, and after the Tsarist Russia owned it, it was able to rely on the black soil and grow a large number of farms to feed all their people in the Far East. Then they don't need to travel all the way from Europe to bring grain.
Second, abundant freshwater resources
In addition to the Heilongjiang River, there are also rivers such as the Ussuri River, the Jingqili River, and the Erguna River.
In addition, there is also a Xingkai Lake, which is also very rich in fresh water resources. Before 1860, Xingkai Lake was the largest freshwater lake in China. However, two-thirds of it was robbed by Tsarist Russia since then, and it has not been returned.
With abundant freshwater resources, not only the irrigation of crops is guaranteed, but also the drinking water for so many people in the Far East of Tsarist Russia.
Thirdly, there are coastal ports
This is what the Tsarist authorities are most concerned about. Because Tsarist Russia was a country that was extremely lacking in coastal areas, they were constantly looking around for an outlet to the sea.
In the process of occupying more than 1 million square kilometers in the outer northeast in 1860, Tsarist Russia pocketed all the coastline of Jilin. So much so that the province with the longest coastline in the country in the past has become an inland province and has lost all its coastline.
The Russians turned Vladivostok into a port city and built their Pacific naval base here, making it their largest city in the Far East. In addition, Mokowei, which is only 4 kilometers away from Hunchun on the mainland, also has two natural harbors.
It can be seen from this that when Tsarist Russia occupied the Outer Northeast, it fully took into account the very superior geographical environment here. Many people say that the outer northeast is a bitter cold place, don't do it, that's really a big mistake, people wish you think so, every Chinese think like this one day, then people can sit back and relax.
The Ili River Valley, the best place in the Western Regions and Central Asia
In addition to the Outer Northeast, Tsarist Russia was also very interested in the Outer Northwest of the Qing Dynasty. If there is no weight here, Tsarist Russia really can't look down on it. In fact, there are many treasures in the outer northwest.
First, the Ili Valley
The Ili River Valley is known as the Pearl of Saiwai, where there is abundant rainfall and thousands of hectares of fertile land, and it is one of the few regions suitable for cultivation in Central Asia and the Western Regions. Moreover, there are mountains, rivers, forests, pastures, and all kinds of landforms, which is the most beautiful place in Central Asia and the Western Regions.
When Tsarist Russia came here, they fell in love with it at first sight and vowed to take all of the Ili River Valley. As a result, in 1864, Tsarist Russia seized 440,000 square kilometers of the outer northwest through the "Treaty of Survey and Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary".
As if that were not enough, in 1871 they even occupied the entire Ili River Valley for 10 years. In 1881, through the Treaty of Ili, Tsarist Russia seized more than 70,000 square kilometers in the northwest of the outer west, which took away more than half of the Ili River Valley.
Second, the major lakes
In addition to the Ili River Valley, there are too many lakes in the outer northwest. The most famous is Lake Balkhash, which is half freshwater and half saltwater, and is the largest lake in the Outer Northwest.
In addition, there are Alahu Lake, Issyk-Kul Lake, Zaisangbo and so on, all of which are important water resources in the Outer Northwest.
In addition, the Pamir Plateau is also fat in their eyes, so Tsarist Russia is really good at picking places, and the Western Regions and Central Asia combined, the best and most beautiful places have been robbed by Tsarist Russia.
Tsarist Russia does not lack vision, what it lacks is strength
It can be seen from this that Tsarist Russia still has a very good vision, and it specializes in picking a good place to start. So why did Tsarist Russia still occupy so much barren land?
Mainly because although the vision is good, what is the use of not keeping up with the strength?
Tsarist Russia has always wanted to enter Europe, and has fought with the European powers for hundreds of years, but in the end it can only keep the region of Eastern Europe, and there is no way to deal with Central Europe and Western Europe.
Even when seizing the Balkans, Tsarist Russia almost destroyed itself. Therefore, it is a terrible thing that strength cannot keep up with ambition.
When they come to the East, they don't have to worry about this, because in their opinion, when they get to the East, it is a dimensionality reduction attack. Therefore, they can choose good places, and naturally there will be so many good places in the outer northwest and outer northeast that are occupied by Tsarist Russia.
Originally, Tsarist Russia wanted to advance further south, such as the Northeast, Inner and Outer Mongolia, and Xinjiang, all of which were dishes on their plates. As a result, because the plate was too big, I suffered from indigestion and died of myself.