A new article by Yury Akimov in Journal of Early Modern History

A new article "Political Claims, an Extensible Name, and a Divine Mission: Ideology of Russian Expansion in Siberia" by the Leading Research Fellow Yury Akimov was published in the Journal of Early Modern History' fourth issue for 2021.

Abstract:

This article examines the ideology of Russian expansion in Siberia from the second half of the sixteenth to the early eighteenth century, focusing on several interrelated pillars that shaped this ideology. The first is the category of political-legal-force. Based on the legal incorporation of the Siberian Khanate into Muscovy in 1555 the Russians began to move further east, until they reached the Pacific and the borders of China and Mongolia. These territories were also declared parts of Siberia, and the Russians consequently believed they had a legal claim to its possession. Thus, one could say that Siberia as a territory was amorphous—the boundaries of the region “ended” wherever the Russians came up against powerful entities capable of opposing their expansion. The second pillar of Russian expansion drew on religious arguments. However, the Church followed in the wake of the explorers and tended not to pursue goals of its own.