Putin once joked: "The borders of Russia have no end." What kind of southern complex is it that creates the "combat nation" that we call today? Russia Map The 1917 Russian October Revolution has been around for 102 years. The Russian Federation under Putin's rule is becoming more

Putin once joked: "The borders of Russia have no end." What kind of southern complex is it that creates the "combat nation" that we call today?

Russia map

1917 Russia October Revolution has been around for 102 years. The Russian Federation under Putin's rule is becoming more and more like the Romanov dynasty. Both the ideology of the rulers and the people are swinging towards the traditional conservatism. In the past, people were accustomed to using the Soviet Union as a reference coordinate for contemporary Russia. Now that there are fewer ideological forms with clear barriers, the logic behind them is no longer as clear as in the Cold War era. In order to understand contemporary Russia, many people gradually realized that they need to use another perspective to think about the foreign relations of contemporary Russia.

First-level administrative region of the Russian Federation (federal subject) 2014

On November 24, 2016, at a television awards ceremony held by the Russian Geographic Society, Putin asked the 9-year-old winner Miloslav in front of the national audience: "Where is the border between Russia and the United States?" Miloslav replied: "The border between Russia and the United States ends with Bering Strait ." Putin continued:

"The border of Russia has no end."

Dynamic map: On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the capital Moscow became the capital of the Russian Federation, splitting 15 countries.

There were laughter and cheers sounded at the scene. The absurdity of history often reflects strangeness in the familiarity.

jokingly question and answer reveal the core question that the rulers of Russia’s past dynasties are concerned about - to what extent should they expand to ensure Russia’s security? The unique "war preparation" tradition of Russian society has given them the title of "combat nation", and their unique security view has been greatly influenced by history. Among them, military threats from southern pagans play a very important role.

During the Russo-Japanese War, an anti-Russian ideological and political comic made by students from Keio University in Japan

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▌Double-sided surrounding sense of crisis: an alternating cycle of "extended outward" and "survival crisis"

Today's Russian Federation has an area of ​​more than 17 million square kilometers and a population of about 146 million. It has developed from a small principality in Ukraine a thousand years ago to the vast country on the surface of the 21st century, relying on the continuous experiencing the alternating cycle of "outward expansion" and "survival crisis". Every devastating historical lesson encourages the insecurity of the Russian rulers and brings the expansion stage after the revival. Eight hundred years later, this cycle continues - Russia's latest expansion is just in 2014.

Where is the Russian road going?

The heart of Russia is protected by nature, and the grasslands to the west and south have become natural corridors for foreign invaders, easy to attack and difficult to defend; as long as Russia fails once in a critical battle, Moscow will be destroyed once. Historically, whether it is the Crimean Khanate from the south and the Türkiye from the west, Napoleon and Nazi Germany from the west, they are all derived from this. These two areas surrounding Russia are not only the remains of the conflict between civilizations, but also the key to the demise of Russian culture. Once a strong enemy enters these two natural corridors, the chances of the capital falling will be greatly increased, and the Russians will therefore control the surrounding vassal states as the key to life and death, and have a persistence that is quite close to the zero-sum game.

's special geographical conditions made Russia realize that human-based elements must be used to make up for the shortcomings of the geographical environment and develop a defensive strategy of "defending the enemy abroad" and "expanding the buffer zone". For Russian rulers sitting in the palace, the best defense is to take the initiative to attack, and the security of the country depends on whether the enemy can be kept away from the heart. In order to have this capability, Russian regimes have maintained a number of permanent troops that are twice as many as those of neighboring countries. This has also caused other countries to be anxious all day long and easily evolved into arms races. For many years, the grudges between Russia and European countries have been widely known.

Historically, foreign enemies invaded Russia's heartland through these natural corridors (brown-colored areas)

But in fact, there are other people who first made Russia worry about the survival of the country.

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▌ "Pagans" from the South

southern Tsarist Russian Empire

1240, the earliest political body of the Russian nation, Kiev Rus , was invaded and destroyed by the Mongolians and became part of the Golden Horde , and since then it began its colonial history for more than two hundred years. In 1380, the Grand Duchy of Moscow defeated the Mongols in Kurikovo , breaking the legend of invincibility of the iron cavalry and opening the road of unification for a hundred years. The Grand Duchy of Moscow became the Russian nation's Prussian . After defeating other competing principalities, it roughly unified the entire territory of Russian civilization at that time in 1480 and received the power vacuum left by the Mongols. The Russians have since embarked on the road of expansion.

Before the expedition: In 1380, the Grand Duchy of Moscow defeated the Mongols in the Battle of Curiovo, and embarked on the road of conquest for a hundred years. Since the 15th century, the Khanate countries on the Eurasian border have gradually become Turkic and converted to believe in Islam. The Battle of Curiovo, for a long time, was regarded as a reversal of the jihad of "Orthodox Church against Islam". In order to eliminate future troubles, Russia has made every effort to expand into the subordinate areas of the Golden Horde— Kazan Khanate and Astrakhan Khanate were destroyed one after another. However, the Mongolian invasion did not end there. After the collapse of the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate was left behind on the Black Sea in southern Moscow, with its borders covering today's Crimea Island and the surrounding areas of Azov Sea . The Crimean Khanate inherited the economic characteristics of the nomadic peoples and often invaded southern Russia, arrested the Russians and Ukrainian Cossacks as slaves, and sold them to the Ottoman Turkish Empire further south. In the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal state of Ottoman Türkiye, essentially becoming the forefront of the Islamic world's entry into Christian Europe. Russia therefore has another Christian gatekeeper's destiny.

Russian soldiers

1571, with the support of Ottoman Türkiye, the Crimean Khanate launched a strong attack and drove straight into the "Central Plains", and Moscow was burned. Fortunately, the Russian army turned defeat into victory in the Battle of Molodi the following year, which saved the heart of Russian civilization.

In the next two hundred years, Russia has become more convinced that the best defense is attack. The historical lessons brought by the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate made the Russian rulers convinced that in the absence of natural dangers in the political and economic center, only by fully controlling the enemy can we ensure long-term stability. This kind of geopolitical security view has been strengthened many times in the survival crisis of all generations. In the end, Russia did it and the Crimean Khanate was destroyed. From then on, there was no Islamic country that could threaten Russia's survival.

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▌South of the border: Crimean Peninsula and Chechnya

Crimean Peninsula Coast scenery

The threat of Islamic forces in the south, as well as the rise of Prussia in the west, made Yekaterina II anxious to obtain the unfreezing port in the south, attempting to curb Turkey in the south by rebuilding Peter the Great's Black Sea Fleet to avoid attacks on the west and the south at the same time. The Crimean Khanate has therefore become a coveted target by Russia.

Therefore, during the fifth Russian-Turkish war in , Russia forced the Ottoman Türkiye to sign the "Kuchukkanaji Peace Treaty" and recognized the Crimean Khanate as its independent status. The Crimean Khanate, which had been separated from the Ottoman vassal state, was immediately annexed by Russia in 1777. After that, under the deliberate population dilution of the Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union for more than two hundred years, the Tatars became ethnic minorities on their own land. Russia completely eliminated the great troubles that have dominated the south for many years and turned its former enemy into a place name forever.

1559 Russian

Historical complex is precisely why Russia "recycled" Crimea Island in 2014 and Putin's domestic reputation rose sharply.

Crimea map

During the reign of Caterina II, Russia sent troops to North Caucasus and Persia, which was also based on the same cognition: if the grassland channel in the south cannot be used as a buffer zone to protect Russia, it will become the base for southern Islamic civilization to attack northward. Therefore, after becoming stronger, Russia has turned its target to seize the Caucasus Mountains as a natural barrier to southern borders. On today's world map, the Caucasus Mountains are located between Persian successors Iran and the Russian Federation. The security of this region has always maintained the rise and fall of the forces of Russia, Türkiye and Persia.

The picture shows the Ochakif siege of the Sixth Turkish Russian War (1788).

1817, Russia had just won the Napoleonic War. General Yermorov, who had unstoppable morale, led his army south to build a fortress city in the Caucasus region, Grozny, and carried out brutal suppression, massacre residents, and burned large forests, attempting to destroy the will of all ethnic groups with terror. After Russia and Turkey entered the Eighth War, the two sides signed the Treaty of Adrienburg in 1829. The Ottoman Empire was forced to ced the territory along the Black Sea coast, and the Caucasus region entered the era of Russian dominance.

Chechen map

took place in the first half of the 19th century in the Caucasus war. It can be said that it was the "Vietnam War" between Russia and the Caucasus ethnic groups. The tragic guerrilla war lasted for 50 years, and the troops on both sides were greatly exhausted. The national hatred and family hatred for Russia has prompted the birth of the Islamic state Chechnya. Although Chechnya was strangled by Russia in the second half of the 19th century and became part of the "mountain Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic" during the Soviet period, the Chechnya region was still a time bomb for Russia for a full two hundred years; even during the Soviet period, the leader of the republic was not allowed to be the Chechens.

Ukraine topographic map

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chechnya briefly broke away from Russian control. The Soviet Muslim general who was born in Chechnya Dudayev In 1991, taking advantage of the turbulent situation in Russia, he announced his independence from the Russian Federation and established the Islamized "Ichkria Chemistan ", quickly expanded in the Caucasus region and massacred Russians in the territory. At this time, the Russians woke up from the historical memory of the southern nightmare and began to send troops to intervene. So in 1994, the first Chechen War broke out. The Chechens used terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare, causing more than 100,000 Russian military and civilians to be killed or injured.

Imam Shamir (the one wearing a white scarf) who fought against the Russian army in the Caucasus War. He was the leader of Dagestan and Chechnya, the North Caucasus at that time.

Although Chechen's independence ended in failure in name, it enjoyed a substantial independent status; in 1997, the Chechens still elected the independent Mashardov as the leader according to their own will. Mashardov, who holds secularism, has a very different view on the independence route from the Islamic Chechen armed groups. Many Chechens are worried that the extreme terrorist attacks by armed groups will make Chechen independence lose international support and attract another Russian invasion. As expected, in 1999, the Russian army attacked Chechnya again on the grounds of invading the neighboring Dagestan Republic; in 2002, it completely defeated all independent forces, and Chechnya was once again controlled by Russia - the leader at that time was Putin, who had just taken over as prime minister.

The picture shows Russian soldiers resting in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, which has been destroyed by war, becoming an empty city.

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▌Since ancient times, the sacred and inseparable " Donbass "

Crying and being resident of Donets

0 Time came to early 2014, the former Ukrainian President Yanukovych stepped down due to the nationwide pro-European demonstrations and went into exile in Russia.Yanukovych's resignation triggered a strong rebound in Ukraine's densely populated areas. On May 11, eastern Ukraine also launched a referendum, announcing the establishment of the "Donets People's Republic" and the "Luhansk People's Republic".

2014

However, these two republics were not born out of nowhere. The anger of the local Russian people is closely related to the ideology of "Greater Russia" and the historical context of Russia.

Donetsk

Donetsk and Lugansk, which are rich in coal mines, were commonly known as "Donbas" in the early years, and like Crimea, they were regarded as "Xinjiang" in the Russian Empire version; in 1764, Donbas was incorporated into Russia, becoming a province, and renamed, meaning "New Russia". Since then, the region has become an emotional "sacred and inseparable part" of the Russian people.

Donetz and Lugansk, which produce coal mines, are commonly called "Tonbass", and are "a sacred and inseparable part" of the Russian people's emotional state.

Today's Kiev regime is eager to get rid of Russia's influence and even join the EU , which has long been fighting against Russia's rise. This is simply a matter of forgetting one's ancestors for the Russian people living in Ukraine; in addition, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the subtle relationship between the Russian-American Ukrainians and the Kiev regime made them even more rebellious.

Although in September of the same year, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill that gave the Donbas region special autonomy and promised the government to pay no prior grudges and fund various infrastructure restorations, the content of the bill also stipulates that the preliminary limitation period is only three years. This has backfired, making the people of Donbass gradually drift away.

On September 5, 2014, Ukraine and Russia signed the Minsk Agreement in the capital of Belarus , ushering in a short ceasefire consensus - the dangerous balance was broken after only 4 days. It was not until February 2015 that the EU's strong intervention was stopped. After two days of marathon negotiations, Ukraine and Russia once again signed the "Neominsk Agreement" with Belarus, and the two sides extended a 15-kilometer security buffer zone in their respective directions.

However, everyone who has persuaded him to fight knows that people who pretend to be deaf cannot hear it. No one has ever really relaxed his hand holding the gun tightly, whether it is the Ukrainian government, Russia or the Independence Army in the Donbass region. What's even more strange is that the heat of the conflict in the east of Wu and the Syrian crisis happens to have a wonderful trend of one rise and another. The reason is self-evident.

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▌There is still not peaceful after "pacifying southern Xinjiang"

Campus hostage incident

"pacifying southern Xinjiang" has extraordinary historical significance for the Russians. Putin became famous in the battle and his image as a tough guy was established from then on. So history once again appeared before the world with a familiar and unfamiliar appearance. Grozny is still the capital of the Chechen region. The President of the Chechen Republic is also served as Putin's confidant Kadyrov. He also deliberately copied Putin's image as a strong man in front of the media, reminding the public of Putin's image back then.

However, the south of the border did not subside. In the 21st century, terrorist attacks related to Chechnya continued to spread:

In October 2002, 850 hostages of the Moscow Opera House were held hostage, killing 129 people.

In August 2004, an inland passenger plane was detonated by a suicide bomber in the air, killing all 90 passengers on board.

In September 2004, in the Beslan area of ​​the North Osaiti-Alan Republic in southern Russia, 1,200 people were hostages in the school, and more than 330 people were unfortunately killed, of which 186 were children and 700 were injured, shocking the international situation. In mid-April 2017, the European Court of Human Rights finally made a ruling on the hostage incident in Beslan School: the Russian government forced the tough and mishandled it, and ignored the importance of pre-intelligence, and had to pay the victims' families and related losses of about US$3.14 million.

In November 2009, a high-speed rail from Moscow to St. Petersburg exploded, 2 died and 130 injured.

In 2011, an explosion occurred at Domodedovo International Airport, , 36 dead and 172 injured.

In December 2013, a bus in the southern Volgograd city railway station and a bus were attacked by a suicide bomb, and 34 were killed.

Russia has taken more than 800 terrorist attacks since 1970, a large part of which are planned by Chechen armed groups. Even after Putin became president, the situation continues to happen. Between 2004 and 2010, suicide bomb attacks occurred in the Moscow subway. After the emergence of the Islamic State, the historical hatred and Islamic extremism in Chechnya also merged, and Russian social stability was once again seriously challenged. Russia's various considerations in intervening in Syrian civil war are bound to be closely related to the long-term view of the threat of the south.

From the invasion of Mongolia, the rise of Ottoman Turkey, and until the Chechen War, although Russia has developed from a scattered weak kingdom with the largest sovereign state in the world, and most of the population in the territory has also become atheists, the history of the invasion of the Southern Muslims has left a mark on the worldview of the Russian nation. Russia under Putin has embarked on a new road of revival again. It is really hard to say whether Putin's words "The borders of Russia have no end" are his true words. But what is certain is that Putin's joke has already made many people unable to sleep.