Russian Expansion

The Russian Queen Catherine the Second reined the Russian Empire thoughtfully using any trifle chance to bring the good for the country. This reign was notable for imperial expansion, which brought the empire vast new territories in the south and west, and for the country internal consolidation.

Following a war that broke out with the Ottoman Empire in 1768, the enemy parties agreed to the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji in 1774, and by that treaty, Russia acquired a long-awaited outlet to the Black Sea, and the Crimean Tatars were made independent from the Ottomans. In 1783 Catherine annexed the Crimean peninsular, helping to spark the next war with the Ottoman Empire, which began in 1787. By the end of the war and the Treaty of Jassy of 1792, Russia expanded southward to the Dnestr River. The terms of the treaty fell far short of the goals of Catherine's reputed " Greek project" --the expulsion of the Ottomans from Europe and the renewal of the Byzantine Empire under the Russian control. The Ottoman Empire no longer was a serious threat to Russia, however, and was forced to tolerate an increasing Russian influence over the Balkans.

Russia's westward expansion under Catherine II was the result of the partitioning of Poland. As Poland became increasingly weak in the eighteenth century, each of its neighbors such as Russia, Prussia, and Austria tried to place its own candidate on the Polish throne. In 1772 the three powers agreed on an initial partition of Polish territory, by which Russia received parts of Byelorussia and Livonia. After the partition, Poland initiated an extensive reform program, which included a democratic constitution that alarmed reactionary factions in Poland and Russia. Using the danger of radicalism as an excuse, the same three powers abrogated the constitution and in 1793 again stripped Poland of territory. This time Russia obtained most of Byelorussia and Ukraine west of the Dnepr River. The 1793 partition led to an anti-Russian and anti-Prussian uprising in Poland, which ended with the third partition in 1795. The result was that Poland was wiped off the map.

Although the partitioning of Poland greatly added to Russia's territory and prestige, it also created some new difficulties. Having lost Poland as a buffer, Russia now had to share borders with both Prussia and Austria. In addition, the empire became more ethnically heterogeneous as it absorbed large numbers of Poles, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, and Jews. The fate of the Ukrainians and Byelorussians was changed to a better way under the Russian rule.

Catherine II paid a great deal of time on adjusting governmental practices and procedures. Initially, Catherine attempted to rationalize government procedures through law. In 1767 she created the Legislative Commission, drawn from nobles, townsmen, traders and others, to codify Russia's laws. Although the commission did not formulate a new law code, Catherine's Instruction to the Commission introduced some Russians to Western political and legal thinking.

Exercise № 6. Comprehension check.

1. Find out in the text expressions describing the policy of the Russian kings in expansion. Use them in your own sentences.

2. What was the result of Russia’s expansion in the 18^th century?

3. What kind of changes for Ukrainians and Byelorussians took place as the result of Russia’s expansion?

Text B: Reading for Meaning.

Uprising Led by Emel’yan Pugachev

During the 1768-74 war with the Ottoman Empire, Russia experienced a major social upheaval, the Pugachev Uprising. In 1773 a Don Cossack, Emel'yan Pugachev, bided his time and announced that he was the Russian Emperor Peter III. Other Cossacks, various Turkic tribes that felt the impingement of the Russian centralizing state, and industrial workers in the Ural Mountains, as well as peasants hoping to escape from serfdom, all joined in the rebellion. Russia's preoccupation with the war enabled Pugachev to take control of a part of the Volga area, but the regular army crushed the rebellion in 1774. Emel’yan Pugachev was captured, tortured and eventually executed in public.

The Pugachev Uprising bolstered Catherine's determination to reorganize Russia's provincial administration. In 1775 she divided Russia into provinces and districts according to population statistics. She then gave each province an expanded administrative, police, and judicial bodies for proper management. Nobles no longer were required to serve the central government, as they had since the time of Peter the Great, and many of them received significant roles in administering provincial governments.