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Russia's geographical features have always characterized the course of its history and the expansionist ambitions of its rulers. Rivers, mountains, steppes, and sea borders influence the decisions of its rulers. While the rivers enabled early trade networks, the openness of the Eurasian steppes repeatedly led to bloody campaigns of conquest.
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00:02Russia, the largest country in the world, covers over 10% of the Earth's total land surface.
00:14From the Arctic Ocean to the Caucasus, from the Baltic to the Pacific,
00:21a variety of landscapes and natural resources.
00:27Russia is the largest country in the world and has enormous potential in terms of resources.
00:33But it does have a problem.
00:39Russia is the ultimate insecure land power.
00:43There are no geographical barriers to the west and east.
00:47Along the 24,000-kilometer-long north coast, there is no year-round navigable port.
00:54This is why Russia's rulers have been constantly trying to expand their borders over the centuries.
01:01Geography is a very crucial element for political decisions,
01:05also determining how states have expanded or shrunk in history.
01:24Russia is an enormous nation.
01:28It stretches across two continents, Europe and Asia.
01:32It is almost twice the size of Canada, the second largest country in the world.
01:43There is a time difference of 10 hours between the eastern and western borders of Russia.
01:50When the sun rises in the west, it has already set in the east.
01:57Russia shares borders with 14 different countries and four seas.
02:03The Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean in the east,
02:07and the Black and Caspian Seas in the southwest.
02:12Russia is a land power.
02:14It has no natural borders,
02:16and therefore it is constantly insecure,
02:20and therefore constantly aggressive.
02:24With 144 million inhabitants,
02:27Russia is the most populous country in Europe.
02:30However, only eight people on average live per square kilometer,
02:35and only in the west are their conurbations.
02:40Here, the climate and soil favor agriculture.
02:44The sparsely populated east, on the other hand,
02:47is characterized by permafrost and an icy climate.
02:51The Russian tiger, the largest contiguous forest area in the world,
02:57stretches out here.
02:59Its wood is one of the country's many resources.
03:06How has geography shaped the country and its people?
03:11And what impact has it had on politics and history?
03:21Ostriv, present-day Ukraine.
03:24Between the fields of the Rose, a tributary of the Dnieper,
03:29archaeologists made a curious discovery in 2017.
03:32They found graves from the first half of the 11th century,
03:36the heyday of the so-called Kievan Rus.
03:42However, the grave decorations and bones do not come from Ukraine or Russia.
03:48The graves are also not oriented from west to east,
03:51as is customary for the Christian tradition there.
03:55The dead lie with their heads to the north,
03:58in the Baltic tradition,
03:59an area more than 1,000 kilometres away.
04:03In the subsequent investigation,
04:05archaeologists discover that these dead come from Scandinavia,
04:09the Baltic states and Finland.
04:15Over the years,
04:16archaeologists have repeatedly found similar graves
04:19along Russia's fertile riverbanks.
04:22They bear witness to the fact that not only have people lived here
04:26for over 1,000 years,
04:28but that there has also been a lively exchange,
04:31facilitated by the country's many rivers.
04:35All sorts of waterways were crucial.
04:38That was the easy way to transport things and to travel,
04:41much easier than going by land,
04:44because, of course, there weren't roads
04:45in the sense that we think about roads.
04:47So the rivers,
04:50the big rivers like the Volga and the Dnieper,
04:53those were the highways.
04:56The Volga is Europe's longest river
04:59at 3,000 kilometres.
05:01Like the Dnieper,
05:02it has its source in the Valdai Heights
05:05in the northwest of Russia.
05:07From there, they flow southeast
05:09into the Caspian Sea
05:11and south into the Black Sea.
05:19From the 6th century onward,
05:21Slavic tribes settled along the rivers.
05:25The soil there is ideal for growing cereals,
05:29such as wheat and barley.
05:36As early as the 8th century,
05:39the Vikings turned the Volga and Dnieper
05:41into busy waterways.
05:48Across the Finnish channel,
05:50they headed south across Lake Ladoga
05:52in search of new hunting areas.
05:59The Vikings, as well as the local Slavs,
06:02made high-quality clothing
06:04from sable, ermine and mink fur.
06:10They transported them across the rivers and seas
06:13to Byzantium and the Orient for sale.
06:19In addition to furs,
06:21the Vikings also sold people.
06:24The slave trade was a lucrative business
06:26and brings them riches
06:28in silver, salt and silk.
06:31While the Vikings and Slavs
06:33grew closer and closer,
06:35the settlements on the rivers
06:37developed into flourishing towns
06:39through trade.
06:42Historical chronicles,
06:44such as the Nestor Chronicle,
06:46see this as the origin
06:47of the Rus people.
06:54The first mentions of Rus
06:57are from the 9th century,
06:59and the very first one we have
07:00in a textual source
07:01is from West European.
07:04But then there are Arabic sources
07:05from this time period as well,
07:07from the 840s and 50s,
07:09that also mention the Rus,
07:12Alorousia.
07:14The name Rus has its roots
07:16in the Old Norse roj,
07:18which means to row.
07:23According to legend,
07:24the Slavic tribes first tried
07:26to oust the Vikings.
07:28However, they were allegedly
07:30unable to govern themselves
07:32and waged more rather than fewer
07:34wars against each other.
07:37They are said to have asked
07:39the Vikings for a prince,
07:42Rurik.
07:42The Slavs on Lake Ladoga
07:44are said to have willingly submitted
07:47to him with tributes.
07:49Rurik then founded the city
07:51of Novgorod.
07:53His descendants were to rule Russia
07:55as the Rurikid dynasty
07:57until the 16th century.
08:02The historical narrative
08:03of Scandinavian Rus contacts,
08:07we do have the textual sources
08:09and we know that some of them
08:10are very legendary,
08:11but there are elements of truth.
08:14They depict history,
08:15but they make it into
08:17a good story as well.
08:18In the beginnings,
08:19the Rus were little more
08:21than a loose confederation
08:22of principalities.
08:24They settled along the Dnieper
08:26with Novgorod and Kiev
08:28as their centers.
08:29At the end of the 9th century,
08:32they're united to form
08:34the Rus Empire.
08:36Its center became
08:37the strategically located Kiev.
08:49Archaeologist Charlotte
08:51Hedenstierna Johnson
08:52and her team repeatedly
08:54find evidence in Viking graves
08:56showing how Scandinavian
08:58and Slavic ways of life
09:00intermingled.
09:05The Rus is, to me,
09:07it's a culture
09:08rather than anything else.
09:09And if you were Slavonic or not,
09:12that's not the issue.
09:14Rather that you're connected
09:16to a group in society
09:18or to a cultural expression
09:21that you identified with,
09:23and maybe they didn't perceive themselves
09:27as either Scandinavian or Slavonic,
09:30but rather as, for example,
09:32Rus, which then instead
09:34was a mixed culture.
09:38Byzantium and its capital,
09:40Constantinople,
09:42also exerted influence on Rus.
09:44The empire took over large parts
09:47of the Black Sea coast
09:48and became an important strategic partner
09:51of Kievan Rus.
09:55To cement this union,
09:57Vladimir the Great
09:58married the sister
09:59of the Byzantine emperor,
10:01Basileus II,
10:02at the end of the 10th century,
10:04on condition
10:06that Vladimir and the Rus
10:08should officially convert
10:10to Christianity.
10:18The adopted faith
10:20regarded state authority
10:22as God-given.
10:24It proved to be
10:25an important instrument
10:26of power for Vladimir
10:27and laid the foundation
10:29for a tight interweaving
10:31of church and state.
10:36The church serves the state
10:38by controlling,
10:40subjugating,
10:40and dominating the population
10:42and also by providing
10:43ideological underpinning.
10:46The Dnieper and Volga
10:48became natural baptismal pools
10:50into which Vladimir
10:51forced his subjects.
10:54The common religion
10:55helped the ruler
10:56to unite the individual
10:58principalities of Kievan Rus.
11:05But after Vladimir's death,
11:08the newly created unity collapsed.
11:10While the princes of Kievan Rus
11:13fought each other
11:14over the next 200 years,
11:16a great power emerged
11:18on the edge
11:18of the Eurasian steppe,
11:20the Mongol Empire,
11:22called Tatars by the Rus.
11:30Everything changed
11:31with the Mongol invasion
11:32in 1240.
11:33So there is no continuity
11:35in that sense
11:36between what was going on
11:37in the Viking Age
11:38and what we see today.
11:41The Mongols
11:42under Batu Khan
11:43subjugated the Kievan Rus
11:45and established
11:47the fiefdom,
11:48or khanate,
11:49of the Golden Horde.
11:50The following two centuries
11:52are marked
11:53in the Russian
11:54national consciousness
11:55as the time
11:56of the Tatar yoke.
11:58The new rulers
11:59demanded tribute payments
12:01and occupied
12:02important trade routes.
12:04This put an end
12:05to the golden era
12:06of Kievan Rus.
12:08This period
12:09remains politically charged
12:11and controversial
12:12to this day.
12:13Russia sees it
12:14as the origin
12:15of its nation.
12:16Ukraine and Belarus,
12:18on the other hand,
12:18refer to the Kievan Rus
12:20as the birth
12:21of an independent culture.
12:23Trying to take control
12:25over history
12:25is always part
12:27of warfare
12:28at any level.
12:29One of the reasons
12:30behind this being
12:32such an important story
12:33to tell is that
12:34we have this primary chronicle
12:35that actually states
12:37that it's the story
12:39about the Rus
12:40and the Kievan princes
12:43and what's coming
12:44after that.
12:45So it's a myth
12:48of origin in a sense
12:50but with historical roots.
12:52The Golden Horde
12:53created new conditions
12:55between the Carpathians
12:56and the Urals.
12:58In the west,
12:59on the other hand,
12:59the weakened Kievan Rus
13:01lost territories
13:02to Poland
13:03and Lithuania.
13:04But under the protection
13:06of dense forests,
13:07the rise of Muscovy
13:08finally began
13:10in the 14th century.
13:12Under Mongol rule,
13:14its rulers expanded
13:15the city
13:15into a grand duchy
13:17and conquered
13:18more and more lands.
13:20In 1480,
13:22the Grand Duke of Moscow,
13:24Ivan III,
13:25finally succeeded
13:26in defeating the Mongols
13:27and shaking off
13:28the Tatar yoke.
13:32under his rule,
13:33the city developed
13:34into the center
13:35of the Russian Empire.
13:37Ivan's most important task
13:39to ensure the supply
13:41of food
13:41for the growing population.
13:45Originally,
13:46the Grand Duke of Moscow
13:48was a relatively small area
13:49that relied on
13:50simply expanding
13:51the arable land
13:52because it was only possible
13:54to ensure
13:55two or three crop rotations
13:56and the soil
13:58was depleted
13:59relatively quickly.
14:05In 1547,
14:07the grandson
14:08of Ivan III
14:09was crowned
14:10Tsar of Russia.
14:14In the tradition
14:16of the Roman Caesars,
14:18Ivan IV
14:18declared Moscow
14:20the Third Rome
14:21and the center
14:23of Orthodox Christianity.
14:32in the meantime,
14:33the former territory
14:35of the Golden Horde
14:36fell apart
14:37into several
14:38independent carnates.
14:40The young Tsar
14:41wanted to put
14:42the Mongol rulers
14:43in their place
14:44once and for all.
14:45Above all,
14:46however,
14:47he wanted to bring
14:48the Volga
14:49with its important
14:50trade routes
14:50under his control.
14:55So,
14:56control of those rivers
14:57matters enormously
14:59for Muscovite state building
15:00and that's why
15:01the conquest of Kazan
15:03is such an enormously
15:04significant moment
15:05in the development
15:06of Russia
15:07as a state
15:08because from that moment
15:09onwards,
15:10Russia controls
15:11the vital artery
15:13of the Volga River.
15:17In the summer
15:18of 1552,
15:19Russian troops
15:20stood at the gates
15:22of Kazan.
15:26The city
15:27was the key
15:28to the southern Volga
15:29and the trade routes
15:30to the Caspian Sea.
15:38After weeks
15:39of siege,
15:41Ivan IV's troops
15:42stormed the city
15:43with battering rams
15:44and cannons
15:45and killed
15:46a large part
15:47of the population.
15:52The renewed domination
15:54of the Volga delta
15:55is remembered in history
15:57with rich myths.
15:59Ivan is said
15:59to have whipped
16:00the mighty river
16:01and its currents
16:02when his men
16:03almost drowned
16:04while crossing it.
16:06Legend has it
16:07that three bloody wounds
16:09can still be seen
16:10in the Volga
16:11to this day,
16:11especially when
16:12the sun sets
16:13behind the hills
16:14in summer.
16:18The conquest
16:19of Kazan
16:20had far-reaching
16:21consequences.
16:23It opens the way
16:24to the east
16:25into the Siberian plain.
16:27In the north,
16:29this merges
16:30into the tundra.
16:33Here,
16:34permafrost
16:34keeps large parts
16:36of the ground
16:36frozen all year round,
16:38making agriculture
16:39impossible.
16:43In the south,
16:45the vast coniferous
16:46forests of the taiga
16:48beckon with their
16:49wealth of wood,
16:50furs,
16:51and mineral resources.
16:54However,
16:55temperatures
16:56as low as
16:56minus 40 degrees
16:58slow down
16:59Russian expansion.
17:01Another danger
17:02were the attacks
17:03by the Siberian
17:05carnates.
17:08Russia is a
17:10territorial state
17:11that basically
17:12emerged as an empire
17:13through the colonization
17:14of its neighboring
17:15territories.
17:16It has a huge,
17:18expansive land
17:19that is very easy
17:20to conquer,
17:21especially from the east.
17:23The trauma
17:24of the Muscovite
17:24Tsarist empire
17:25is the Mongol invasions
17:26that came from the east
17:28and conquered
17:29huge territories.
17:34to prevent this
17:35from happening again,
17:37Cossacks were to
17:38conquer territories
17:39in the east
17:40at the end
17:40of the 16th century.
17:42The free
17:43cavalry units
17:44and military
17:44farmers
17:45wanted to act
17:46independently
17:47in the border regions,
17:49but also
17:49fought alongside
17:50Russia.
17:55One of them
17:56is Yermak
17:57Timofejovich.
17:58His client,
18:00the Stroganov family,
18:01was considered
18:02one of the richest
18:03merchant families
18:04in Russia.
18:05Timofejovich was
18:06to conquer
18:06Siberia for them.
18:13On the way
18:14to the capital
18:14of the carnate
18:15of Siberia,
18:16the Cossack captain
18:17and his almost
18:181,000 men
18:20had to fight
18:21their way
18:21through the swamps
18:22by boat.
18:24But their experience
18:26and modern firearms
18:28brought victory.
18:33Timofejovich
18:34finally returned
18:36to Moscow
18:36with rich booty.
18:41In the following
18:42decades,
18:43Russian troops,
18:45freedom seekers
18:45and adventurers
18:46conquered the vast
18:48expanses
18:49of Siberia.
18:51They subjugated
18:52the remaining
18:53carnates
18:54as well as
18:55the indigenous
18:55population.
18:57The riches
18:58they captured
18:59financed the further
19:01expansion of the
19:02Russian empire
19:02to the east.
19:06This expansion
19:07from that heartland
19:09is motivated
19:11by a number
19:12of things.
19:13Part of it
19:14is security
19:14against
19:15steppe warriors
19:17in the early
19:17modern period.
19:18But of course,
19:19it's also about
19:20resources and
19:21productivity.
19:23But while Ivan IV
19:25was able to expand
19:26his empire in the east,
19:28the weakness of
19:29Russian geography
19:30became apparent
19:31in the west.
19:33There are two
19:34vulnerable points,
19:35the east,
19:36where the Mongols
19:36invaded and where
19:37the Russians then
19:38conquered this huge
19:39area of land
19:40under Ivan the Terrible.
19:41Then they turned
19:42their attention
19:43to the European part.
19:45There are no major
19:47differences in altitude
19:48between the Carpathians
19:50in the west
19:51and Siberia
19:52in the east,
19:53apart from the Urals,
19:56and therefore
19:57hardly any
19:57geographical borders.
20:07Dominance in the Baltic region
20:09was also contested.
20:11There were repeated
20:13conflicts until the
20:14middle of the
20:1516th century,
20:16especially with
20:17the western
20:18neighbour Livonia.
20:28At the time,
20:29Livonia comprised
20:30parts of present-day
20:31Estonia and Latvia,
20:33as well as the
20:34Baltic coast.
20:36With the invasion
20:38of Livonia
20:38by Russian troops
20:39in 1558,
20:41Ivan IV also
20:43came into conflict
20:44with its protecting
20:45powers,
20:46Sweden,
20:46Poland,
20:47Lithuania,
20:48Denmark,
20:49and the Teutonic
20:50Knights.
20:56Ivan was prepared
20:57to pay a high price
20:59for access
20:59to the Baltic Sea
21:01because it promised
21:03faster and year-round
21:04trade.
21:06After more than
21:0725 years of war,
21:09Ivan the Terrible,
21:10as he was now known,
21:12had to admit defeat.
21:14But he had achieved
21:16one objective.
21:17Russia was on the radar
21:18of the European rulers.
21:21This became a problem
21:23at the beginning
21:24of the 17th century.
21:25When Ivan's
21:27heir to the throne,
21:28Theodore I,
21:29died without descendants,
21:31the young Tsarist empire
21:33was left without a ruler.
21:36While Russian noble families
21:38fought over the throne,
21:40wars with Sweden
21:41and Poland-Lithuania
21:42caused chaos
21:43and destruction
21:44in the West.
21:46This time of troubles,
21:49the so-called smuta,
21:51left deep insecurity
21:52and a feeling
21:53of vulnerability
21:54in the Russian national memory.
21:58One of the paradoxes
22:01of Russian history
22:01is that outsiders
22:03often see Russia
22:04as an aggressor,
22:06as rapacious,
22:08as growing constantly.
22:09And of course,
22:10if you look at the map,
22:11it did constantly
22:13conquer other people's territories
22:14and absorb them
22:16into the empire.
22:17And yet,
22:18the Russians
22:18see themselves
22:20as vulnerable,
22:21as open
22:22to all sides.
22:24Only the coronation
22:25of the first Tsar
22:26from the Romanov dynasty
22:28and peace treaties
22:29with Sweden
22:30and Poland-Lithuania
22:31put an end
22:32to the chaos.
22:33The Romanovs
22:35would hold
22:36the huge country together
22:37for the next 300 years.
22:44In 1697,
22:4625-year-old
22:47Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov
22:49traveled through Europe.
22:52He went down in history
22:53as Peter the Great.
22:56In the shipyards
22:57of Prussia,
22:58Livonia and Holland,
23:00he became acquainted
23:01with Western European shipbuilding.
23:03He decided to realize
23:05the great vision
23:06of Ivan IV.
23:07Russia was to become
23:09one of the great
23:10imperial powers
23:11of Europe
23:12and to become
23:13a seafaring nation.
23:17To achieve this,
23:18however,
23:19Russia had to expand
23:20beyond its borders.
23:23With over 35,000 kilometers,
23:26Russia is one of the countries
23:28with the longest coastline today.
23:30But back then,
23:31most ports
23:32were only navigable
23:33for a few months
23:34of the year
23:34due to the climate.
23:36Russia has limited
23:37direct access
23:38to the great oceans
23:39of the world.
23:40One of those limited ways,
23:42if you're not going to go up
23:43through the iceback
23:43of the Arctic,
23:44is to come out
23:45through the Baltic.
23:47That's problematic
23:48because you have to go past
23:50a whole bunch of countries.
23:52In 1700,
23:54the kingdom of Sweden
23:55ruled the Baltic Sea.
23:57However,
23:58in an alliance
23:58with Denmark-Norway,
24:00Poland, Lithuania,
24:02and Saxony,
24:02Peter the Great
24:03conquered large parts
24:04of the Baltic Sea region
24:06in around 20 years of war.
24:10To consolidate
24:11his position,
24:12he had his
24:13Venice of the North
24:14built at the same time,
24:16St. Petersburg.
24:19From 1712,
24:21with its access
24:22to the Baltic Sea,
24:23it became the new capital
24:24of the Tsarist Empire.
24:30Peter endeavored
24:31to bring Russia
24:32closer to Europe
24:33as quickly as possible
24:36and to establish
24:37a pro-European culture.
24:41Access to the sea
24:43played a very important role
24:44for him
24:45and his empire
24:46at this time.
24:52Strategically located,
24:53the construction
24:54of the new capital
24:55proved to be a disaster.
24:58The swampy ground
24:59and icy winters
25:00were mainly to blame.
25:08Tens of thousands
25:09of serfs
25:10and prisoners of war
25:11died of cold,
25:12disease,
25:13and hunger
25:13during construction.
25:21Peter's main goal
25:22was to modernize Russia
25:24in line with
25:25the Western European model.
25:29This concerned
25:30the administration
25:31and infrastructure,
25:32but also the development
25:34of new industries
25:35such as iron production
25:37and the expansion
25:39of the army.
25:44Silver mines
25:45were established
25:45in Siberia.
25:47By the end
25:48of his rule
25:48in 1725,
25:50there were almost
25:51200 factories,
25:52most of which
25:53mined and processed metals.
25:55They were to increase
25:56tenfold
25:57by the end
25:58of the century.
25:59Peter was interested
26:00in cutting-edge
26:01Western technology,
26:03especially in the naval
26:04and military domains.
26:06So it became
26:07a militarized state
26:11to a much greater extent
26:13than had been
26:14the case before.
26:16Catherine the Great
26:18also benefited
26:19from this
26:19when she ascended
26:21the Russian throne
26:22in 1762.
26:26She continued
26:28Tsar Peter's dream,
26:31Russia
26:31at the head
26:32of Europe.
26:39It was Catherine
26:40who, like
26:42no other ruler
26:43before her,
26:44set her stall out
26:45to make Russia
26:46a respected
26:47European power.
26:49And central
26:51to those goals
26:51were gaining territory
26:53in Poland,
26:56in the west,
26:57in the western borderlands,
26:58but also
26:59in the southeast.
27:01There,
27:02she wanted to achieve
27:03what her predecessors
27:04had failed to do,
27:05a base for the Russian fleet
27:07in the Black Sea,
27:10the opponent
27:11of the Ottoman Empire.
27:16In 1770,
27:18a momentous naval battle
27:19took place
27:20off Cezma
27:21in what is now
27:22western Turkey.
27:23During a surprise attack,
27:25a Russian convoy
27:26sank a large part
27:28of the Ottoman fleet.
27:29It was Russia's
27:31first major victory
27:32at sea.
27:37In the following years,
27:39Catherine conquered
27:40large parts
27:41of the Black Sea coast
27:42and annexed Crimea
27:43in 1783.
27:46The peninsula
27:47had been inhabited
27:48by Tatars
27:49for centuries
27:50and had long belonged
27:51to the Ottoman Empire.
27:54The ruler finally
27:56had the port city
27:57of Sevastopol built
27:58in the strategically located
28:00southern bay
28:01of the peninsula.
28:11Crimea is very important
28:12geopolitically
28:13because it is basically
28:14the bridgehead
28:15into the Black Sea.
28:16If you dominate Crimea,
28:17then in principle
28:18you dominate the Black Sea.
28:20This paved the way
28:21for Catherine
28:21to gain further territories
28:23in the west.
28:24Large parts
28:25of the declining empire
28:27of Poland-Lithuania
28:29became part
28:30of the Russian Empire
28:31by the end
28:32of the 18th century.
28:34These included Belarus
28:36and parts of present-day
28:38Ukraine and Poland.
28:41When Catherine the Great
28:42died in 1796,
28:44she had turned Russia
28:46into a major European power.
28:50Almost 20 years later,
28:52Russia had to fend off
28:53the French conqueror
28:54Napoleon Bonaparte.
28:57His campaign led him
28:58and his troops
28:59as far as Moscow
29:00in 1812,
29:01but ended in disaster.
29:04By the end of the war,
29:05Napoleon had lost
29:06several hundred thousand
29:07soldiers to hunger,
29:09cold, and constant attacks
29:10by the Russian troops.
29:12After Russia's victory,
29:14the conflict went down
29:15in Russian history
29:16as the patriotic war.
29:18The Tsarist Empire
29:19was seen as
29:20the saviour of Europe
29:21and could help shape
29:22the reorganisation
29:24of the continent.
29:25If you want to tell
29:26the story of Russia
29:27in shorthand,
29:28the easiest way to do it
29:29and a way to make it
29:30look like a success story
29:31is to talk about
29:33territorial acquisitions.
29:34Look at a map.
29:37By the end
29:38of the 19th century,
29:39the Russian Empire
29:40had reached
29:41its maximum expansion,
29:43covering almost
29:4423,000 square kilometres.
29:47But despite military successes,
29:50it remained
29:51an agrarian state.
29:55As industrialisation
29:57changed the European continent,
29:59Russia faced
30:00an enormous challenge.
30:05In the north and east,
30:07timber and furs
30:08had always been
30:09the most important trade
30:10and export goods.
30:12Agriculture,
30:13on the other hand,
30:14was concentrated
30:15in the west of the country,
30:17where the soil
30:18was particularly fertile.
30:20Cereals,
30:21such as wheats and oats,
30:23were grown for export,
30:24particularly in the so-called
30:26Black Earth Belt
30:27in what is now Ukraine.
30:32The people farming
30:34these lands
30:34were serf farmers
30:36who made up
30:36around three-quarters
30:37of the population
30:39by the end
30:39of the 19th century.
30:43The problem,
30:44the land they farmed
30:45did not belong to them.
30:47Social and economic advancement
30:48was hardly possible.
30:54Serfdom was not
30:56formally abolished
30:57until the agrarian reform
30:59of 1861
31:00under Alexander II.
31:03However,
31:04hardly any farmers
31:05could afford to pay
31:06the high rents
31:07for their land.
31:11Many moved to the cities
31:13to find work
31:14in industry.
31:18Yet a large proportion
31:20of Russia's raw materials,
31:22including coal,
31:23gold and diamonds,
31:24lie underground
31:25in Siberia,
31:27a region that,
31:28despite numerous expeditions
31:30over the past centuries,
31:31had hardly any infrastructure.
31:34This was to change
31:36in 1891
31:37with a gigantic
31:39construction project,
31:40the Trans-Siberian Railway.
31:43With a length
31:44of over 9,000 kilometers,
31:47it is still considered
31:48the longest railroad line
31:49in the world.
31:50Since the early 20th century,
31:52it has connected
31:54the sparsely populated areas
31:56in the east
31:56with Russia's west.
31:58Today,
31:59it runs from Lake Baikal,
32:01almost parallel
32:02to the Chinese border.
32:03But in 1903,
32:05the route ran
32:06through Manchuria,
32:08the northeastern region
32:10of China.
32:11Russia thus had
32:12a direct connection
32:13to Beijing
32:14and Port Arthur,
32:15another port
32:16on the Pacific.
32:18This section
32:19of the route
32:20also had military uses.
32:22One of China's conditions
32:23was that Russia
32:24stood by them
32:25in the conflict
32:26against Japan.
32:29Japan had been interested
32:31in the Manchuria region
32:32for years
32:33and had already secured
32:34Port Arthur
32:35a few years prior.
32:37The fact that Russia
32:38was now leasing
32:39the port from China
32:40was a provocation
32:42for Japan.
32:44There are two
32:45undeniable consequences
32:47of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
32:49One is that
32:50it enabled
32:51an acceleration
32:53in the already
32:53very, very significant
32:55migration
32:56of peasant
32:57settlers
32:59from European Russia
33:01to that region.
33:03So about a million
33:04peasants move
33:05the other side
33:06of the Ural
33:07since the 19th century.
33:08The other consequence,
33:09far less desirable
33:10from the Russian
33:12state perspective,
33:13is that this railway
33:15plays a part
33:16in provoking
33:17a major war
33:18for which Russia
33:18is unprepared.
33:20The conflict
33:21escalated in 1904
33:22in the Russo-Japanese War.
33:25The land giant
33:26lost to the island state,
33:28Russia had to withdraw
33:29from Manchuria.
33:36It was a defeat
33:37that shook
33:38the Tsarist empire.
33:39The myth
33:40that the Tsar
33:41holding the great country
33:42together
33:42and defending it
33:43was over.
33:47When the First World War
33:48broke out in Europe,
33:50Russia's lack
33:51of industrial clout
33:52became an Achilles heel,
33:54despite all
33:55the progress made.
33:56Poor equipment
33:57and supply problems
33:58led to heavy losses
34:00for Russian troops.
34:05Russia also lost
34:06large areas
34:07in the West.
34:10Poland, Lithuania,
34:11Latvia, Estonia
34:12and Finland
34:13became independent
34:14after the First World War.
34:18At the same time,
34:19internal unrest
34:20escalated.
34:25The October Revolution
34:27in 1917
34:28and the assassination
34:29of Tsar Nicholas II
34:31put an end
34:32to the Russian Empire.
34:34It was replaced
34:35by a communist
34:36Soviet Russia
34:37under Lenin.
34:44The Bolshevik's idea
34:46was the world revolution
34:47and it was to win
34:49across the board.
34:51Soviet republics
34:52were to emerge everywhere.
34:54but that didn't
34:56really work out.
34:58Then power
34:59had to be seized
35:01and the Red Army
35:03crushed national resistance
35:05with fire and sword.
35:11In the ensuing
35:13civil war,
35:14the Bolsheviks
35:14reconquered territories
35:16in Ukraine
35:17and the Caucasus
35:18and incorporated them
35:19into the Soviet Union.
35:24Baku in present-day
35:25Azerbaijan
35:26was of particular
35:27importance.
35:34Oil was discovered
35:36there
35:36in the middle
35:37of the 19th century.
35:40The Bolsheviks
35:41nationalized
35:42the approximately
35:43300 oil companies
35:45in Baku
35:45and thus secured
35:47access to the
35:48valuable fuel.
35:53When Josef Stalin
35:54came to power
35:55in 1924,
35:56he also focused
35:58on industrialization.
36:00However,
36:01he had to import
36:02the expensive technology
36:04needed to exploit
36:05the country's
36:06natural resources.
36:08In return,
36:10Stalin hoped
36:10to make profits
36:11from agriculture,
36:13which he nationalized
36:14and collectivized.
36:15The profits
36:16now went first
36:17to the state,
36:18then to sustaining
36:20the population.
36:23In order
36:25to industrialize,
36:27Stalin needed
36:27to take complete
36:28control of the
36:29Russian countryside
36:30and the Russian
36:31peasantry.
36:32This led
36:33to a very rapid,
36:34violent and terrible
36:36collectivization,
36:37during which
36:38millions of peasants
36:39were deported.
36:43The taxes
36:44were impossibly high.
36:46especially in Ukraine.
36:48Between 1932
36:50and 1933,
36:52up to 3.5 million
36:53people starved
36:55to death there.
36:59Ukrainians remember
37:00this period
37:00as the
37:01Halodomor,
37:02the killing
37:03by hunger.
37:13Anyone who resisted
37:15Stalin's
37:16harsh regime
37:16ended up
37:17in labor camps,
37:18the so-called
37:19gulags.
37:22Millions of people
37:23were deported,
37:24many of them
37:25to Siberia.
37:26There,
37:27they had to toil
37:28under the harshest
37:29conditions
37:29and mine
37:30natural resources.
37:44during the
37:45great terror
37:46at the beginning
37:47of the 1930s,
37:49the camps
37:49and prisons
37:50became increasingly
37:51full.
37:54So,
37:55in the state
37:55security system,
37:56the idea arose
37:57that these people
37:58should be used
37:59for labor.
38:04The slave labor
38:05thus accompanied
38:06the Stalinist system
38:07until its very end,
38:09in the mid-1950s.
38:14While Stalin's
38:15predecessors
38:16demonstrated
38:17their power
38:17primarily through
38:19geographical size,
38:20he recognized
38:21that the foundation
38:22for power
38:23lay beneath
38:24Russia's soil
38:25in the 20th century.
38:27This is because
38:28there are almost
38:29inexhaustible deposits
38:31of raw materials there.
38:33The vast expanse
38:34of land,
38:35especially in the east,
38:37gained a new
38:38significance.
38:40The first imperative
38:42was strategic depth.
38:44The second imperative
38:45was the trading.
38:47And then it became
38:48absolutely crucial
38:50to them
38:50because then
38:51it was the oil fields.
38:55Access to crude oil
38:57did not only mean
38:58energy security
38:59in the 20th century,
39:01it also meant
39:02military strength.
39:04In the Second World War,
39:06oil played a strategic role
39:08alongside ideology
39:10and expansionism.
39:13When Hitler invaded
39:15the Soviet Union
39:16in 1941,
39:17his advance
39:18was not only aimed
39:19at St. Petersburg,
39:20Moscow,
39:21and Volgograd,
39:22but also the oil wells
39:24of Baku.
39:27But like Napoleon,
39:29Hitler also failed
39:30because of Russia's size
39:31and climate.
39:34All these countries
39:36came that way,
39:37Sweden,
39:38Poles,
39:38French,
39:39Germans.
39:41But none of them
39:42ever really got past Moscow
39:44because it's a long way
39:45and it's cold.
39:48For Russia,
39:49the Second World War
39:50went down in history
39:51as the Great Patriotic War.
39:54Once again,
39:55the country presented itself
39:56as the saviour of Europe.
39:59In 1945,
40:01Stalin helped
40:02to determine
40:02the future
40:03of the continent
40:04at the Yalta Conference.
40:09As a result,
40:11the Soviet Union
40:11secured Latvia,
40:13Lithuania,
40:14and Estonia
40:14in the West.
40:15States such as
40:17the GDR,
40:18Poland,
40:18Czechoslovakia,
40:19Hungary,
40:20Bulgaria,
40:21and Romania
40:21became de facto
40:23vassal states.
40:29The Allies
40:30of the Second World War
40:31soon became
40:33ideologically
40:34opposed enemies.
40:39The North Atlantic
40:40Treaty Organization,
40:42or NATO for short,
40:43led by the USA
40:45in the West,
40:46and the Warsaw Pact,
40:48led by the Soviet Union
40:50in the East.
40:52Shortly after the US,
40:54the Soviet Union
40:55detonated its first
40:56atomic bomb
40:57in 1949.
41:00Both sides
41:01continued to arm
41:02themselves
41:03over the following
41:04decades.
41:06And they set up
41:07more and more
41:08military bases
41:09on their borders.
41:11The neighbouring
41:12Soviet states
41:13served as a buffer
41:14zone for the USSR.
41:18The main enemy
41:20is NATO.
41:21The fact that
41:22there are no
41:22natural barriers
41:23in the sense
41:23of high mountains
41:24except for the
41:25Caucasus means
41:26that the only way
41:27to create buffer
41:28zones is through
41:28land areas.
41:31Since the 1960s,
41:33however,
41:33these flat plains
41:34have also served
41:36another purpose.
41:37They have been used
41:38for the construction
41:39of pipelines.
41:43The pipelines
41:44could now also export
41:46the by-product
41:47of oil production,
41:48natural gas.
41:50While oil could
41:51easily be transported
41:52and shipped in barrels,
41:54gas required
41:55sealed pipelines.
41:57This was because
41:58the Soviet Union
41:59was developing
42:00more and more
42:01oil and gas fields,
42:02for example,
42:04in the Volga-Uralz region
42:05and in western Siberia.
42:08The demand
42:09for fossil fuels
42:10established a connection
42:11between the rigid borders
42:13between East and West.
42:15There's an image,
42:16a stereotype
42:16of the Soviet Union
42:17as isolationist
42:19and autarkic,
42:20not wanting to have
42:21anything to do economically
42:23with the rest of the world.
42:24But actually,
42:25this is far from the truth.
42:27One of the main fruit
42:28of this quest
42:30for international partners
42:32was precisely this,
42:34the energy deal,
42:37the pipeline deal.
42:40In February 1970,
42:43the Soviet Union
42:44won the Federal Republic
42:46of Germany
42:46as a gas customer
42:48with the so-called
42:49pipes for gas deal.
42:51Germany supplied the pipes
42:53and granted
42:54a half a billion euro loan
42:56for the construction
42:57of the pipeline.
42:58In return,
43:00the Soviet Union
43:00supplied three billion
43:02cubic meters of gas annually.
43:06In the following years,
43:08business with other
43:09Western European countries
43:10was added.
43:13It was a development
43:15that heralded
43:16Russia's rise
43:17to become
43:17the world's largest
43:19gas producer
43:20and the beginning
43:21of mutual dependence.
43:31Russia would not be
43:32a great power
43:33without oil and gas.
43:35Russia is an antediluvian
43:36fossil fuel superpower.
43:41After the end
43:42of the Soviet Union
43:43in 1991,
43:44Russia not only faced
43:46the challenge
43:46of asserting itself
43:47on the global market,
43:49but also to redefine
43:51its geopolitical role.
43:55Numerous states
43:56in the west
43:57and south of Russia
43:58declared their independence.
44:01The strategically important
44:03Crimea
44:03became part of Ukraine.
44:06The problem,
44:08Russia wanted to keep
44:09Sevastopol
44:10as a naval base.
44:14The two countries
44:15reached a compromise
44:16with the 1997 naval treaty.
44:19Russia leased
44:20the port facilities
44:21while Ukraine
44:22received discounts
44:23on natural gas
44:24in return.
44:26A win-win situation
44:27until more and more
44:29Eastern European countries
44:30joined NATO
44:31from the year 2000 onwards.
44:36The current president,
44:38Vladimir Putin,
44:39sees this as a threat
44:40to Russia.
45:01Russia knows that
45:03were Ukraine
45:04to become a member
45:05of NATO,
45:05for instance,
45:06or a member
45:07of the EU,
45:08Russia would cease
45:09being a European empire
45:12and would become
45:13a Eurasian
45:14or Asiatic empire.
45:18Putin thinks
45:19he could prevent this
45:20with the Russian annexation
45:21of Crimea in 2014
45:23and the attack
45:24on Ukraine in 2022.
45:29After years
45:30of nuclear disarmament
45:32since the end
45:33of the Cold War,
45:34he threatens the West
45:35with the use
45:36of nuclear weapons.
45:41Putin not only
45:42instrumentalizes history,
45:44but turns it
45:45into propaganda
45:46for some perfect
45:48great past.
45:53In this past,
45:54Russia is a country
45:56surrounded by enemies
45:57on all sides.
46:00That is why
46:01he is trying
46:01to bring these countries
46:02back under his influence
46:04by various means.
46:15Putin is also
46:16pursuing this goal
46:17with the search
46:18for oil and gas
46:19deposits in the north.
46:21With a share
46:22of up to 18%
46:24of gross domestic product
46:25in 2024,
46:26the energy sector
46:28is a crucial branch
46:29of the economy.
46:33Russia is the largest
46:35state bordering the Arctic
46:37and has a huge territory
46:38in this region.
46:42In the 1980s,
46:44Russia and four other states
46:46agreed to keep the Arctic
46:48free of conflict.
46:52The agreements provide
46:54for exclusive economic zones,
46:56each extending 200 nautical miles
46:59into the Arctic Ocean.
47:02But the conditions
47:03are changing.
47:07Until now,
47:08Russia's Arctic coasts
47:09have only been navigable
47:11for a few months
47:12of the year.
47:17Due to climate change,
47:19areas with untapped
47:20raw materials
47:21could be ice-free
47:23all year round
47:24in the future.
47:30The rich resources
47:32in the Arctic region
47:33are the reason
47:34why Russia considers
47:35the Arctic zone
47:36of the Russian Federation
47:37to be its national
47:38resource base.
47:44Politically,
47:44the North Pole
47:45does not belong
47:46to any state.
47:49But in 2007,
47:51Russia planted its flag
47:52on the seabed
47:53under the ice
47:54of the North Pole,
47:55claiming that the North Pole
47:57was part of the
47:58Russian continental shelf.
48:01The Arctic expedition
48:04in 2007
48:05took place
48:06at the same time
48:07as Putin's speech
48:08at the Munich
48:08Security Conference,
48:11in which he had already
48:12declared war
48:13on the West.
48:15That's the context.
48:17and why this flag
48:18gained such a special
48:19meaning at the North Pole.
48:23The statement
48:24the Arctic is Russian
48:25in particular
48:26was very expansionist
48:30and immediately rejected
48:31by the Canadians
48:32and others.
48:38Clarifying
48:38these underwater boundaries
48:40as far as the North Pole
48:41is important
48:42because there is still
48:44an untapped wealth
48:45of raw materials here.
48:49Interest in the Arctic
48:50is growing.
48:51China is also showing
48:52an interest
48:53in the natural resources there.
48:54We will simply see
48:55competition
48:56for these reserves.
48:58The Asian giant
48:59has been cooperating
49:00with Russia
49:01since 2013
49:02and that same year
49:04used the North East Passage
49:06along the Russian coast
49:07to reach the Netherlands
49:08for the first time.
49:11This route
49:12has an enormous advantage.
49:14Until now,
49:16shipping traffic
49:16between Europe
49:17and Asia
49:18has travelled
49:19over 12,000 nautical miles
49:21through the Suez Canal.
49:23But with the melting ice,
49:25the North East Passage
49:26along the Arctic coast
49:28now saves
49:29over 40%
49:30of the distance.
49:33China is also financing
49:36various projects
49:37to expand the infrastructure
49:38for Russian natural gas.
49:42With the sanctions
49:44imposed by the West
49:45in 2022
49:46in response
49:46to Russia's war
49:47of aggression
49:48in Ukraine,
49:49China is becoming
49:50one of the country's
49:51most important
49:52business partners.
49:57Officially,
49:58Russia still refers
49:59to the Arctic
49:59as a zone of peace,
50:01stability,
50:02and partnership.
50:04However,
50:05the country
50:06is also arming itself
50:07to secure
50:08its northern border.
50:10The Russian military
50:11repeatedly demonstrates
50:13its combat readiness
50:14with troop maneuvers.
50:17We can see
50:18that Russia
50:19is also increasingly
50:20arming itself
50:21in the Arctic
50:21and in principle
50:22competing for influence,
50:24for geopolitics,
50:25but also for resources
50:26in this region.
50:29The Arctic
50:30is therefore
50:30not only
50:31an early warning system
50:33for climate change,
50:34but also the scene
50:36of a power struggle
50:37for resources.
50:42Russia's war
50:43against Ukraine
50:43shows that it wants
50:45to build
50:45on the great empire
50:46of the Soviet Union.
50:50At the same time,
50:52Putin is concerned
50:53with a global
50:54restructuring
50:55in which the West
50:56would have less power.
51:00The map of the world
51:02will change permanently
51:03if Russia can continue
51:04this war of aggression
51:05with impunity
51:06and remained
51:08without sanctions.
51:09The war violates
51:11international law.
51:13We must return
51:14to a state
51:15in which the inviolability
51:16of borders prevails.
51:20And other states
51:21do not invade
51:22their neighbors
51:23in pursuit
51:23of their imperialist thought.
51:27This belongs
51:28in the past.
51:32Despite its size
51:34and wealth
51:35of resources,
51:36Russia still
51:37sees itself
51:38as threatened
51:39by its geographical
51:40weaknesses.
51:44A fear
51:45it feels
51:46history confirms.
51:51Russia's future role
51:52will also depend
51:54on whether it remains
51:55dependent
51:56on fossil fuels
51:57and thus
51:59on an economy
52:00that may be
52:01too slow
52:01to adapt
52:02to the future.
52:04A challenge
52:05that is exacerbated
52:06by Russia's
52:08geographical conditions.
52:19No one
52:20has been
52:20about it.
52:20You
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