For most of the world's history, the northern parts of Eurasia weren't part of any organized polity. They belonged only to the various groups of small-scale subsistence farmers, hunters, and reindeer herders who etched lives for themselves in the frozen vastness, speaking Uralic and Altaic languages, we well as various Paleo-Siberian languages. The harsh nature of the land meant that it couldn't be a major population center, nor would it be coveted by those who lived in the populous regions to the south.
Eventually, however someone had to claim this land, if only to fill the space on a map. The Russians did the deed, emerging from Moscow to take control of all the other Russian polities and fulfill its expansion all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Is there anyone else who could have done what the Russians did? Nobody particularly wanted the land aside from the native peoples content to carve out lives there - One could argue that the only reason Russia took it was because it was there. Until the rise of map-making as a serious discipline and the desire to build empires just for the sake of building an empire, there was no reason to claim the northernmost regions. Who else is in the running?
1. The Chinese - They once nominally claimed the Amur river region and Sakhalin. They might go even further north if no one else does. Certainly, in modern times China could use the space. Even if China reached the Arctic Circle, however, I can't see them taking the parts beyond Asia.
2. The Tatars - There's a bit more incentive here, given the former rivalry between the Muslim Tatars and the Christian Slavs, and also the fact that a good number of languages found up there are Turkic languages, not unlike the languages of the Tatars. The distant linguistic relationships are the only thing these peoples have in common, however. Perhaps in a more successful Tatary state, intellectuals would identify the Siberian Turkic-speakers as the "original" Turks and emphasize a duty to bring Islam to their long-lost shamanist cousins.
3. The Manchus - If they don't become part of China, they might create their own state, and where else to go but up? There are plenty of Tungusic speakers in the far north for the Manchus to feel affinity and kinship with.
4. The Mongols - There isn't much reason for the Mongols to do so, but they're close enough. There are a few Mongolic peoples to the north of Mongolia, too, like the Tuvans and the Buryats. They don't go anywhere near the furthest north, however.
5. Scythians or Finno-Ugrians - This one is cheating a bit, because it proposes that Slavic-spakers never become the dominant group in the Russian steppes, and instead Finno-Ugric or Iranian-speaking peoples continue to rule the land. Eventually, they take the place of the Russians in building organized states and one day in the far future, one of their own pulls its own Muscovy. It's still something emerging from the area of the Russian "core," however, which isn't quite what I'm looking for.
Other less-likely possibilities:
Iran - If nobody else is going to take the job, a more powerful Iran might as well see how far north they can get, perhaps as part of a pissing contest with another empire.
Korea - Goguryeo extended beyond the modern limits of the Korean peninsula, and Korean scholars claim the Balhae state that went even further north than that were an extension of the Goguryeo. Perhaps another Korean state might push into Manchuria and the Russian Far East.
Britiain - Because... why not?
Scandinavians - They explored the area in ancient times, and in the Viking area founded many towns that later become Russian cities. By modern times, however, the Scandinavian population was too small to fill up the land the way Russia did.
Eventually, however someone had to claim this land, if only to fill the space on a map. The Russians did the deed, emerging from Moscow to take control of all the other Russian polities and fulfill its expansion all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Is there anyone else who could have done what the Russians did? Nobody particularly wanted the land aside from the native peoples content to carve out lives there - One could argue that the only reason Russia took it was because it was there. Until the rise of map-making as a serious discipline and the desire to build empires just for the sake of building an empire, there was no reason to claim the northernmost regions. Who else is in the running?
1. The Chinese - They once nominally claimed the Amur river region and Sakhalin. They might go even further north if no one else does. Certainly, in modern times China could use the space. Even if China reached the Arctic Circle, however, I can't see them taking the parts beyond Asia.
2. The Tatars - There's a bit more incentive here, given the former rivalry between the Muslim Tatars and the Christian Slavs, and also the fact that a good number of languages found up there are Turkic languages, not unlike the languages of the Tatars. The distant linguistic relationships are the only thing these peoples have in common, however. Perhaps in a more successful Tatary state, intellectuals would identify the Siberian Turkic-speakers as the "original" Turks and emphasize a duty to bring Islam to their long-lost shamanist cousins.
3. The Manchus - If they don't become part of China, they might create their own state, and where else to go but up? There are plenty of Tungusic speakers in the far north for the Manchus to feel affinity and kinship with.
4. The Mongols - There isn't much reason for the Mongols to do so, but they're close enough. There are a few Mongolic peoples to the north of Mongolia, too, like the Tuvans and the Buryats. They don't go anywhere near the furthest north, however.
5. Scythians or Finno-Ugrians - This one is cheating a bit, because it proposes that Slavic-spakers never become the dominant group in the Russian steppes, and instead Finno-Ugric or Iranian-speaking peoples continue to rule the land. Eventually, they take the place of the Russians in building organized states and one day in the far future, one of their own pulls its own Muscovy. It's still something emerging from the area of the Russian "core," however, which isn't quite what I'm looking for.
Other less-likely possibilities:
Iran - If nobody else is going to take the job, a more powerful Iran might as well see how far north they can get, perhaps as part of a pissing contest with another empire.
Korea - Goguryeo extended beyond the modern limits of the Korean peninsula, and Korean scholars claim the Balhae state that went even further north than that were an extension of the Goguryeo. Perhaps another Korean state might push into Manchuria and the Russian Far East.
Britiain - Because... why not?
Scandinavians - They explored the area in ancient times, and in the Viking area founded many towns that later become Russian cities. By modern times, however, the Scandinavian population was too small to fill up the land the way Russia did.
