La Russia amministra l'Oriente:la presenza russa nel Caucaso

For a century and a half after Moscow's conquest of Kazan, Russia's rapid and forceful expansion pushed its frontiers farther south and east. Consolidation of the recently acquired territories and colonization of the new frontiers required a new ideology of expansion: Russia was now destined to bring Civilization and Christianity to the numerous non-Christian peoples who would become part of the glorious and rising empire. Surely, Russian expansion could not have advanced the same pace without the close cooperation and self-interest of many native nobles. In time the native elites split into pro- and anti-Russian factions.