登陆注册
5382300000299

第299章 CHAPTER XXXVIII(2)

The vast territory which lay open to the colonists consisted of two contiguous regions, separated from each other by no mountains or rivers, but widely differing from each other in many respects. The one, comprising all the northern part of Eastern Europe and of Asia, even unto Kamchatka, may be roughly described as a land of forests, intersected by many rivers, and containing numerous lakes and marshes; the other, stretching southwards to the Black Sea, and eastwards far away into Central Asia, is for the most part what Russians call "the Steppe," and Americans would call the prairies.

Each of these two regions presented peculiar inducements and peculiar obstacles to colonisation. So far as the facility of raising grain was concerned, the southern region was decidedly preferable. In the north the soil had little natural fertility, and was covered with dense forests, so that much time and labour had to be expended in making a clearing before the seed could be sown. In the south, on the contrary, the squatter had no trees to fell, and no clearing to make. Nature had cleared the land for him, and supplied him with a rich black soil of marvellous fertility, which has not yet been exhausted by centuries of cultivation. Why, then, did the peasant often prefer the northern forests to the fertile Steppe where the land was already prepared for him?

The modus operandi has been already described; vide supra, pp.

104 et seq.

For this apparent inconsistency there was a good and valid reason.

The muzhik had not, even in those good old times, any passionate love of labour for its own sake, nor was he by any means insensible to the facilities for agriculture afforded by the Steppe. But he could not regard the subject exclusively from the agricultural point of view. He had to take into consideration the fauna as well as the flora of the two regions. At the head of the fauna in the northern forests stood the peace-loving, laborious Finnish tribes, little disposed to molest settlers who did not make themselves obnoxiously aggressive; on the Steppe lived the predatory, nomadic hordes, ever ready to attack, plunder, and carry off as slaves the peaceful agricultural population. These facts, as well as the agricultural conditions, were known to intending colonists, and influenced them in their choice of a new home. Though generally fearless and fatalistic in a higher degree, they could not entirely overlook the dangers of the Steppe, and many of them preferred to encounter the hard work of the forest region.

These differences in the character and population of the two regions determined the character of the colonisation. Though the colonisation of the northern regions was not effected entirely without bloodshed, it was, on the whole, of a peaceful kind, and consequently received little attention from the contemporary chroniclers. The colonisation of the Steppe, on the contrary, required the help of the Cossacks, and forms, as I have already shown, one of the bloodiest pages of European history.

Thus, we see, the process of expansion towards the north, east, and south may be described as a spontaneous movement of the agricultural population. It must, however, be admitted that this is an imperfect and one-sided representation of the phenomenon.

Though the initiative unquestionably came from the people, the Government played an important part in the movement.

In early times when Russia was merely a conglomeration of independent principalities, the Princes were under the moral and political obligation of protecting their subjects, and this obligation coincided admirably with their natural desire to extend their dominions. When the Grand Princes of Muscovy, in the fifteenth century, united the numerous principalities and proclaimed themselves Tsars, they accepted this obligation for the whole country, and conceived much grander schemes of territorial aggrandisement. Towards the north and northeast no strenuous efforts were required. The Republic of Novgorod easily gained possession of Northern Russia as far as the Ural Mountains, and Siberia was conquered by a small band of Cossacks without the authorisation of Muscovy, so that the Tsars had merely to annex the already conquered territory. In the southern region the part played by the Government was very different. The agricultural population had to be constantly protected along a frontier of enormous length, lying open at all points to the incursions of nomadic tribes. To prevent raids it was necessary to keep up a military cordon, and this means did not always ensure protection to those living near the frontier. The nomads often came in formidable hordes, which could be successfully resisted only by large armies, and sometimes the armies were not large enough to cope with them. Again and again during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Tartar hordes swept over the country--burning the villages and towns, and spreading devastation wherever they appeared--and during more than two centuries Russia had to pay a heavy tribute to the Khans.

Gradually the Tsars threw off this galling yoke. Ivan the Terrible annexed the three Khanates of the Lower Volga--Kazan, Kipttchak, and Astrakhan--and in that way removed the danger of a foreign domination. But permanent protection was not thereby secured to the outlying provinces. The nomadic tribes living near the frontier continued their raids, and in the slave markets of the Crimea the living merchandise was supplied by Russia and Poland.

同类推荐
  • 证治准绳·伤寒

    证治准绳·伤寒

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 诗经集传

    诗经集传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 园笔乘

    园笔乘

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说慈氏菩萨誓愿陀罗尼经

    佛说慈氏菩萨誓愿陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • An Historical Mystery

    An Historical Mystery

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 焚天神帝

    焚天神帝

    看着亲近之人在他面前倒下,他要让九天在剑下颤抖。
  • 经商从做人开始:华人首富李嘉诚的生意哲学与处世技巧

    经商从做人开始:华人首富李嘉诚的生意哲学与处世技巧

    连续六年荣膺世界华人首富的李嘉诚,是我们这个时代最杰出的商人 之一。他作为香港巨商和财富化身,在创业之初完全是白手起家、以小搏 大,创造了一个又一个财富神话。那么李嘉诚是凭什么做到的呢? 1943年,李嘉诚的父亲病危,临终时没有任何财产可以留下,只好反 问:爱子可有话跟他说,当时,11岁的李嘉诚对父亲说:“我们一家人一 定生活得好好的。”
  • 明朝败家子

    明朝败家子

    重要通知,明朝败家子,又名《明颂》。弘治十一年。这是一个美好的清晨。此时朱厚照初成年。此时王守仁和唐伯虎磨刀霍霍,预备科举。此时小冰河期已经来临,绵长的严寒肆虐着大地。此时在南和伯府里,地主家的傻儿子,南和伯的嫡传继承人方继藩……开始了他没羞没躁的败家人生。Q群:491966624VIP读者群(需验证粉丝值):623443904
  • 死亡崖之嗜血魔珠

    死亡崖之嗜血魔珠

    40多年前的纠葛造就了万人觊觎的结合幻体邡霂逡,但外星幻体神女刘脉盈却罩了他10年,使其不受白眼,可是当她向他告白后,他却离开了模义前往地球,又因种种原因,橡皮糖刘脉盈又紧紧的黏上了他,到达地球之后却意外的卷入一场吸血鬼和人类的恋爱中,成为了杀害人类女孩灵婧川的凶手。身为吸血鬼魅者之王的硚燚又怎么会放过杀害他最爱女孩灵婧川的凶手!但是,出人意料的是刘脉盈居然与灵婧川相貌身形别无二致,就在40年前谜团和凶杀案谜底涌现时,她的出现将这一切冻结,那这一切,又是以什么化解呢······
  • 领主攻略

    领主攻略

    蒸汽机发动飞艇在天空漫步,精良的武器在阳光的照射下闪耀光芒,深埋地下的研究所还有数不清的机械巨人沉睡着,等待苏醒。潜藏在暗处的黑暗生物露出獠牙,蠢蠢欲动,隐匿在世界各处的旧神在指挥教徒肆虐世间。打破一切桎梏,建造至高无上的终极王国,成就不朽神格!(关键字:克苏鲁,蒸汽时代,领主文,种田流)(PS:主角不圣母,无女主,杀伐果断但不滥杀无辜)(书友群:931011362,欢迎加入!)
  • 玄教大公案

    玄教大公案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 我给神仙当老师

    我给神仙当老师

    天庭被仙二代们闹得鸡飞狗跳,乌烟瘴气,于是便想办法解决这个问题,太上老君出了个方法,让去凡间历练。而家庭一般,性格比较懦弱的实习教师周晓峰,在事业受挫之际,被委派这个任务。于是周晓峰在边解决仙二代的问题,边在学校当老师解决学生问题的情况下,不仅改变了自己的性格,还开启了一个自己以前不敢想象的不一样的人生。PS:书友群:688299138
  • 高度集中的精力

    高度集中的精力

    不要认为自己在本职岗位上的努力是微不足道,物质的质地松散与坚硬取决于每一个分子、原子;国家、民族、企业的兴衰则取决于每一个人!狼群之所以可怕,就是因为它们一旦锁定目标,即不受任何干扰,每一个成员均一往无前地专注于这个目标。
  • Good Value
  • 穿越大唐芬芳客:香医皇后

    穿越大唐芬芳客:香医皇后

    我是穿越客徐染心,我在唐朝,以香医人。有人问,香可医人,能医心否?我摇头。又有人问,你可医人,能医己否?我复摇头。