The Conquest of Siberia
Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, writes J.H. Shennan, Russian merchants and explorers settled the eastern lands between the Urals and the Pacific.
In the long history of Muscovite expansion, no episode has been more successful or spectacular than that concerned with the initial exploration and settlement of the eastern lands, from the Urals to the Pacific. The story of this epic conquest remains less well known than that of the comparable American push to the west, though it is no less dramatic and significant an achievement. It is intended in this article to indicate the most important aspects of the conquest, beginning with the reign of Ivan the Terrible when the Cossack mercenaries embarked upon their invasion, and concluding with the second Bering expedition that set off a century and a half later.
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