Show THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE many race speaking different languages Langua ees acknowledge the of the great white czar fe the russian empire has a alon of 00 embracing forty dis races speaking more than languages and dialects the main divisions of the people may be grouped as follows slavonic the people of russia proper and the poles there are five territorial divisions among the rus people including the cossacks Cos and two grouped with the poles the atter seral a n s and bulgarians lithuanians and Letton ians Wallac hians of the latin race four groups of iranian peoples namely armen lans kurds per and ossen Itin peoples greeks indo lans european gypsies namely swedes germans caucasians namely georgians WAff aistis and finnish people seventeen divisions jews tartar peoples nine divisions mongols ten divisions including the or hairy and all other people of oriental blood in si bena and in abe pacific provinces based on the last u census of the empire the present estimated nu strength of the principal di visions of population Is as follows slavonic people including the poles serviano ians and bulgarians 90 tartars including the and eight other divisions 10 cau casian races 7 turkestan Turk estan and trans caspian people 5 jews 4 Kouman ians including the Kara kalpak and serbs leschi georgians and 3 armenians and other iran ian races 2 germans 1 mongolians including the amus or hairy auriles and all other peo pie of oriental blood 1000 swedes gypsies persians kurds and aarts sarts Samoy edes 30 all other races about 1 00 in 1899 before russia had advanced to occupy mongolia and manchuria vladimir holmstrem Hol strem of the st peters burg wrote the follow ing for the new york independent the great czar of moscow ivan the terrible who nearly years before peter the great bad sketched out for that russian reformer his plan of action fought sweden and poland in the west and subdued the tartar kingdoms of kazan and astrakhan in the east the name of russia rang throughout the whole of asia and her chief princes and the khan of siberia voluntarily acknowledge the of russia sending ambassadors to moscow and paying tribute to the czar after the conquest of the tartar kingdom of kazan in the of russia was acknowledged by the numerous tribes of Bash kirs d el ling eastward of the volga and form mg a link with the tribes toward the aral sea russia s possession of west orn siberia was assured to her in less than halt a century in the same wonderful way russia s progress across siberia to the very shores of the pacific was accomplished in little more years an adventurous trader from ya kutsi conceived the idea of opening for russia the region about the amur and the rivers and gathering together a following of men with two cannons accomplished in some two years the task this took place in 1654 the strengthening of the southern boundary of siberia the tak ing of the building of nert chesk and attempts at establishing direct communication between central siberia and the tar east by way of the amur and the soon fol lowed the work of subduing the russian in central asia the kalmuck and the mongol tribes lasted until the end of the sixteenth century and although the once powerful kingdoms and empires of the asiatic continent were completely brol en up yet con stant strife with various tribes of the steppes continued through the sev ertee nth eighteenth and well on into the nineteenth century the kazaks giving more trouble these kazaks are of turkic not Osma nii origin and are nearly related to de cos sacks on the one hand an the rus sian tribes on the other their power was broken when in the second half of the pres ent century the russians subdued turkestan Turk estan conquered the of khiva took tashi ent and camark and and brought under their sway the kha nates of and kokan thereby rounding out their posses in central asia there was no special plan adopt ed for this wonderful progress through two continents it developed itself under the pressure of circum stances and the influence of that best of guides instinct cossacks traders and settlers spread over the plains of siberia and the steppes of central asia by way of that river system which is siberia s greatest anity and her best chance for the at tain ment of a wonderful degree of prosperity the ultimate object of this expansion was that russia was always seeking for an outlet to the open sea during these hundred years rus sia has devoted herself to developing the inexhaustible natural wealth of siberia but as yet with no great sue cess comparatively speaking we are now in possession of a great empire which extends from the ural moun bains to the tar east and covers an area of nearly 5 square miles 1 e about forty four times as large as great britain and ireland but it must be borne in mind that these fig ures are merely approximate the population of siberia includes many thousands of catholics protestants and levs and a greater number still of mahometano Mahome tans and heathens russia s As abic possessions have a splendid future before them the country is well anotn to abound in mineral wealth in the old of undeveloped communications and a primitive state of industry the trade of siberia with russia amounted to some 60 to 70 annu alev practically all the towns of si bena are trading centers but after vladivostok and this is espe dally the case in western siberia it Is only now that thanks to the rail way siberia Is coming into close ma tenal conduct with european russia the natives numbering nearly 2 the russians poles finns and germans enjoy the advantages of mu schools and theaters built tor their instruction prides itself on its university in short siberia Is in full swing and only needs more energetic men and more of the creative force of capital to at tain to a marvel ous development of her pos ties in the spheres of trade and in austry the we have ar rived at are that in the past has rendered ren deret enormous service to mani ind in keeping in check the barbarians of asia and finally through incessant strife by break ing up their empires that russia s expansion in asia was and is an in movement boding peace it is a natural peaceful development which besides russia is to be found in two more cases only china and the united states that it is useless to oppose russia in asia and greatly preferable to associate oneself with her in her policy obstacles may be raised in russia s path at all points but the force of circumstances will in the long run sweep them all away |