A History of Russia, Part II: Enter Ivan the Terrible

After the Cossack-led Russians explorers made incursions into Manchuria, the necessity for expanding diplomatic relations increased. The Chinese expressed little interest in the area along the Amur River that the Russians had set their sites on and events might have proceeded smoothly for them were it not for the Cossacks. The Cossacks, not bound by any loyalty to Russia, saw little need to give up their history of marauding and pillaging. As a result, many Chinese were continuing to flee from the horde, forcing the Chinese government to take action. Launching a series of invasions to push the Cossack armies back, they were sometimes successful and sometimes not. Regardless, the situation became a precarious one for Russia. Eventually, in 1689, diplomatic relations were officially established and Russia embarked upon an effort of colonization.

The Cossacks, however, still remained for the most part independent in the east, though that independence was certainly precarious in the wake of the rise of Tsar Ivan IV, better known to history as Ivan the Terrible. Ivan the Terrible moved to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and assert total authority over all Russian peoples and lands. In fact, it was Ivan the Terrible's plan to make every commoner in Russia essentially a servant to the Tsar. Russia experienced a seemingly endless series of wars and purges which did much to reduce the population. The nobles began to demand more from the peasants and the peasants responded by fleeing toward newly conquered territory to both the west and the east.