At its height, the Russian empire covered eleven time zones and stretched from Scandinavia to the Pacific Ocean. Arguing against the traditional historical view that Russia, surrounded and threatened by enemies, was always on the defensive, John P. LeDonne contends that Russia developed a long-term strategy not in response to immediate threats but in line with its own expansionist urges to control the Eurasian Heartland. LeDonne narrates how the government from Moscow and Petersburg expanded the empire by deploying its army as well as by extending its patronage to frontier societies in return for their serving the interests of the empire. He considers three theaters on which the Russians expanded: the Western (Baltic, Germany, Poland); the Southern (Ottoman and Persian Empires); and the Eastern (China, Siberia, Central Asia). In his analysis of military power, he weighs the role of geography and locale, as well as economic issues, in the evolution of a larger imperial strategy. Rather than viewing Russia as peripheral to European Great Power politics, LeDonne makes a powerful case for Russia as an expansionist, militaristic, and authoritarian regime that challenged the great states and empires of its time.
Author(s): John P. LeDonne
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 274
Cover Page......Page 1
Book Flaps......Page 2
Title Page......Page 3
ISBN 0195161009......Page 4
Preface......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Contents......Page 10
Maps......Page 12
The Grand Strategy of the Russian Empire, 1650–1831......Page 13
Introduction......Page 15
PART I: THE FORMATION OF RUSSIA’S GRAND STRATEGY, 1650-1743......Page 25
The Western Theater......Page 27
The Southern Theater......Page 35
The Eastern Theater......Page 41
Strategic Penetration......Page 50
Concentrated Deployment......Page 56
The Economic Foundation......Page 64
Client States: The Western Theater......Page 73
Client Societies: The Western and Southern Theaters......Page 79
Client Societies: The Eastern Theater......Page 86
PART II: HEGEMONIC EXPANSIONISM, 1743-1796......Page 95
Sweden, France, and Prussia......Page 97
The Russo-Turkish Wars......Page 105
Marking Time......Page 112
After the Seven Years’ War: 1763......Page 120
The Emerging Force Structure: 1765–1796......Page 128
The Fragmentation of the Strategic Force: 1796–1801......Page 135
The Economy......Page 144
The Ideology of Russia’s Grand Strategy......Page 151
Client States and Societies......Page 157
PART III: THE TERRITORIALIZATION OF THE EMPIRE, 1797-1831......Page 165
Italy, Holland, Sweden, and Turkey, 1799–1812......Page 167
The War with France, 1812–15......Page 174
Persia, Turkey, and Poland, 1815–31......Page 180
Growth of the Army and Deployment, 1801–12......Page 189
War and Peace, 1812–1831......Page 196
Peripheral Deployment......Page 204
The Economy......Page 210
Client States and Societies, Old and New......Page 217
Army, Police, Ideology......Page 224
Conclusion......Page 231
Notes......Page 247
Bibliography......Page 263
Index......Page 271
Back Page......Page 274
