A History of Tsarist Russia’s Invasions and Expansion

This book traces the history of Tsarist Russia chronologically, systematically charting its transformation from the Principality of Moscow, a minor power in Eastern Europe, into an empire spanning Europe and Asia. It lays bare the essence of its expansionism, centered on military conquest, political maneuvering, and territorial plunder through treaties.

The nineteenth century marked the peak of Tsarist expansion. This book focuses on its aggression against China: through unequal treaties such as the Treaty of Aigun, the Treaty of Peking, and the Treaty Concerning the Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary, Russia seized more than 1.5 million square kilometers of Chinese territory in the northeast and northwest, and perpetrated the Blagoveshchensk Massacre and the massacre of the Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River. It also details Russia’s annexation of the three Central Asian khanates, its rivalry in the Balkans and the Far East, and the predicament of its expansionist ambitions exposed by its crushing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904.

Drawing on historical sources, the book restores the bloody reality underlying Tsarist expansion, analyzes strategies such as “using barbarians to control barbarians” and “brutal conquest under the guise of civilization,” and reveals the ethnic tensions and governance crises behind its vast territory. It offers an essential reference for understanding the evolution of the modern Eurasian geopolitical landscape and the historical legacy of Tsarist Russia.