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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.
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t its height, the Russian Empire cov-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ered eleven time zones and stretched
John P. LeDonne is a Senior Research Associ-
from Scandinavia to the Pacific Ocean. Argu-
ate at the Davis Center for Russian Studies,
ing against the traditional historical view that
Harvard University. He is the author of The
Russia, surrounded and threatened by enemies,
Russian Empire and the World, 1700-1917
was always on the defensive, John P. LeDonne
(OUP, 1997), Absolutism and Ruling Class: The
contends that Russia developed a long-term
Formation of the Russian Political Order,
strategy not in response to immediate threats
1700-1825 (OUP, 1991), and Ruling Russia:
but in line with its own expansionist urges to
Politics and Administration in the Age of Abso-
control the Eurasian Heartland. LeDonne nar-
lutism, 1762-1796.
rates 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
JACKET DESIGN: JOY TAYLOR
an expansionist, militaristic, and authoritarian regime that challenged the great states and empires of its time.
OXPORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
www.oup.com
The Grand Strategy
of the Russian Empire, 1650–1831
John P. LeDonne
1
2004
3
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