Chapter 38

TERRITORIAL EXPANSION AND FOREIGN POLICY

Rapid Growth of Russia--Expansive Tendency of Agricultural Peoples--The Russo-Slavonians--The Northern Forest and the Steppe--Colonisation--The Part of the Government in the Process of Expansion--Expansion towards the West--Growth of the Empire Represented in a Tabular Form--Commercial Motive for Expansion--The Expansive Force in the Future--Possibilities of Expansion in Europe--Persia, Afghanistan, and India--Trans-Siberian Railway and Weltpolitik--A Grandiose Scheme--Determined Opposition of Japan--Negotiations and War--Russia's Imprudence Explained--Conclusion.