The wealthy, boyar (noble) family of the Stroganovs proposed expeditions into Siberia, which were authorised by the Tsar. Ivan and his armies were forced to direct their attentions against the organised states that opposed them, so the eastward expansion was largely left to private enterprise. On one border there were less formidable opponents and the greatest opportunity for profit the East. His reign was a series of advances and rebuffs against the Poles and Swedes to the West and the Turks to the South. Tsar Ivan needed money, through the fur trade, with which to acquire Western European skills and technology, and so create his empire.
(More properly called Muscovy, since it was based on Moscow - see maps 1 & 2.)Īt the time of the conquest of Siberia, Muscovy was ruled by Ivan IV 'The Terrible' (1530-1584). The Elizabethans were aware of the wealth to be found there and the fur trade drew them to the towns of Novgorod and Archangel, the northern outposts of the rising Russian state. We tend to think only of the discovery of the New World, but there was a similar expansion to the East. The sixteenth century was an age of exploration and adventure, when European countries began to build up land and trade empires across the globe.
Illustrated by Paul Hitchin Join Prime Video Channels Free TrialĪn extract from Miniature Wargames 23, April 1985 The Old Wild East of The Old Wild East of Renaissance Europe: the Muscovite Conquest of Siberia.