In Russia, the history of East and West intersects primarily for geographical reasons, since the country is located simultaneously in Asia and Europe. In contact with different cultures over the millennium, Russia absorbed and assimilated numerous different ways of managing, public administration and cultural production.
Russia between East and West. History
From the very beginning of its existence, the Russian state, even being in its infancy, took advantage of the border state between different cultures.
At the earliest stages, the young Slavic state served as a kind of buffer between the countries of Northern and Western Europe and the countries of the East, in the broadest sense of the term, since the east at that time was understood as Byzantium, which lay in the south of Europe and in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, and nomadic tribes that lived in the Volga region and beyond the Urals.
Land development. Russia on the map of Europe
By the time the Russian state first appeared on the world map, most European states already had a long history, rooted in antiquity, both Roman and Greek.
However, the neighbors of the Russian state were not only European feudal states, but also the countries of Asia and the Caucasus, and therefore the history of the East is inextricably linked with the history of Russia.
Despite the fact that there is a stable stereotype in society that the development of vast territories of Russia took place exclusively by peaceful means, this statement is incorrect. Throughout the entire period of Russian expansion into Siberia, numerous clashes took place with the local population and the various successor states of the Golden Horde.
The peoples of the Far North were also subjected to ill-treatment, forced displacement, and quite often total destruction. Thus, the history of Russia between East and West began in fact with the emergence of the Russian state, which was first between the northern states and Byzantium, and later began an active expansion in Asia - on the territory of the former empire of Genghis Khan.
Conquest of Siberia
In the last quarter of the XVl century, the long process of incorporation of Siberia and the Far East into the Russian state, stretching for almost three centuries, begins. The history of the development of the Far East is full of tales of wars, conflicts and numerous clashes with both the indigenous population and the largest colonial empires, claiming dominance in some territories of the Chinese empire.
The development of the Asian part of the country was a slow advance of the Cossacks and servicemen under the leadership of the governor to new lands. Of course, at the same time there were constant clashes with state entities that existed in Siberia since the time of the Mongol empire.
The first Russian settlers came to Siberia during the expedition of Yermak Timofeevich to the Siberian Khanate, which he later defeated.
The defeat of the Siberian Khanate
The detachment of Ermak Timofeevich was not formed on the state initiative, but at the request of the Stroganov merchants, who needed to protect their possessions from attacks by the Ostyaks and Voguls, who regularly plundered their possessions. Not informing the tsarist authorities, the Stroganovs invited Ermak and his detachment to make a campaign in the lands of the Siberian Khan and pacify him.
In November 1582, the Ermak Cossacks occupied Kyshlyk, the capital of the Siberian Khan. Locals quite easily accepted the winners, brought them valuable gifts, among which there was furs and provisions. Even the local Tatars, who fled to these lands from the conquerors of Kazan, came to bow to the Cossack.
Soon after the adoption of the ambassadors, Yermak himself went with the embassy to Moscow to inform Ivan lV about the conquest of the Khanate. The king received his subjects extremely favorably, generously presented them from his treasury and released them in peace.
The beginning of the development of the Far East
While Russian pioneers in Siberia were faced with fragments of the Golden Horde, the conquest of new lands was relatively calm. However, already in the middle of the seventeenth century, Erofei Khabarov went on an expedition from the Yakutsk fortress, as a result of which he encountered tribes who were citizens of the Chinese empire. Faced with the Cossacks, Qing tribes turned to the Qing empire for support, which Khabarov also mentions.
Thus, the first military clash between the Russian state and China occurred in 1649-1689. Following a long conflict, the Nerchinsk Treaty was concluded, which referred to the transfer of the newly created Albazin Voivodeship to the Qing authorities. In addition, the treaty established the rules of diplomatic exchange and trade between the two states.
Throughout the next century, Russian researchers focused on the study of the North-East of Eurasia, that is, on Kamchatka and the shores of the present Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea. Several Kamchatka expeditions were made.
In Russia, the history of the East is inextricably linked with the development of the shores of the Sea of Japan. On the shore of the Amur Bay of the Sea of Japan in 1869, Vladivostok was founded. It was he who became the largest center of industry and transport communications of the entire Russian Far East, the history of the development of which stretched for three centuries.
Caucasian war
One of the most dramatic pages in the history of relations between the Russian and other peoples was revealed at the beginning of the XlX century. It was at this time that the countries of Transcaucasia, including the Georgian kingdoms, some khanates of Azerbaijan and the former lands of the Persian Empire, became part of the Russian Empire.
However, between the newly acquired lands and the main, well-developed territory of the empire lay the lands of the Caucasian peoples, who, although swore allegiance to the empire, still continued to carry out attacks on the villages of the Cossacks and Russian settlers.
The Caucasus is the point at which the history of the countries of the East and Russia intersect, since for many millennia this region has been of great interest to such empires as the Roman, Arab caliphate, Byzantium and Persia. In the 16th century, it became the scene of the struggle between the greatest colonial empires in the history of mankind: Great Britain and Russia.
The outcome of the Caucasian war
As a result of constant tension in the Caucasus, several Russian-Turkish wars happened, and the Crimean war became the climax of the conflict, the defeat of which threw the country back for many decades.
However, the Caucasian campaign was much more successful for the imperial authorities. As a result of this long war, the lands of Kabarda, Circassia and Dagestan were annexed to Russia. However, the price for this success was enormous, many hundreds of thousands of people became victims of the conflict or were forced to leave their homes to move to the plains or even leave the territory of the empire. The phenomenon of the mass migration of Circassians from Russia to Turkey went down in history under the name of Turkish Muhajirism.
Ancient Middle East
The history of the Middle East has a very special place in world material and cultural history, because it was here that one of the earliest centers of human culture appeared, agriculture and writing arose.
In ancient times, the Sumerian state arose in the Middle East, and later Akkadian and Assyrian empires existed. It was in the Middle East that texts such as the Tales of Gilgamesh, Thor, and later the New Testament, were written that were important for world culture.
In the north of Mesopotamia, a region that also belongs to the Middle East and is located in the territory of modern Turkey, now there is the oldest of the famous religious buildings - Gebekli Tepe. The hill, under which the Neolithic sanctuary is buried, in the immediate vicinity of which the ancient people began to cultivate wheat and other cereals.
Near East. Modernity
On the modern political map, the Middle East seems to glow red with a huge number of unresolved political and many military conflicts. The oldest and most dangerous is the conflict between the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel. Both countries do not recognize the opponents' right to exist and make every effort to destabilize the situation.
In addition, conflicts of the past become more important in the history of East and West, during which the countries of Europe used their dominant position to draw state borders on the site of the former Ottoman Empire. It is believed that conflicts such as the Lebanese-Israeli and the civil war in Syria are a direct consequence of the colonialist policies of the European powers.