Strategy and Power in Russia 1600-1914

William C. Fuller

• Publisher: Free Press
• Year: 1998
• ISBN:
  9781439105771
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Russian History
• Index: History

A compelling examination of Russia's national strategy from the founding of the Romanov dyansty to World War I delving into military strategies, political power dynamics, and the historical evolution of one of the world's most influential nations. Historian William C. Fuller Jr. expertly breaks down and studies an incredibly important section of Russia's complex military history, spanning from the founding of the Romanov dysnasty in the early 17th century to the brink of World War I. Focusing on the ways in which tsarist statesmen and governments tried to employ force or the threat of force to achieve their political objectives over roughly three hundred years, this book is a study of high military strategy, the connection between military means and political ends. Fuller discusses the ways in which Russian strategic tradition adapted—and failed to adapt—to challenges of geography, demographics, poverty, and technological change. Built through warfare and conquest, the military strategies left an indelible imprint on Russian society, economy, and government. Understanding the history of imperial Russian strategy can shed light on more modern and urgent concerns, and even help while considering the future. A knowledge of imperial military history is more pertinent than ever to understand the transformation of Russia and its miltary.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• List of Maps
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: “Backwardness” and Russian Strategy
• 1. Russian Military Weakness in the Seventeenth Century
• 2. Peter the Great and the Advantages of “Backwardness”
• 3. Russian Imperialism and Military Power in the Eighteenth Century: Obstacles
• 4. Russian Imperialism and Military Power in the Eighteenth Century: Why and How
• 5. The Baleful Consequences of Victory: Russian Strategy and the War of 1812
• 6. The Policy and Strategy of Nicholas I
• 7. From the Treaty of Paris to the Congress of Berlin, 1856–78: Russia and the New Vulnerability
• 8. Alliances, Squandered Opportunities, and Self-inflicted Wounds: Russia Between Two Wars, 1878–1903
• 9. The Quest for Exits: Russian Strategy, 1904–14
• 10. Strategies of Confidence and Strategies of Fear: Toward a Strategic Interpretation of the History of the Russian Empire
• Notes
• List of Archival Materials
• Index
• Copyright