Before the end of the Tokugawa shogunate (before Perry's arrival), two countries, Russia and the United States, came to Japan for trade purposes.
* I have visited the UK many times, but as far as I checked, I have a strong impression that it is calling as a relay point, so I excluded it.
There is a reason why these two countries came to Japan. Last time, I focused on the Age of Discovery to find out why. This time, let's see what kind of situation Russia was actually in.
The situation in Russia
It is said that Russia, when Europe was steadily building wealth, was still in a state of turmoil due to the weak power of the tsar (=monarch) (especially from 1598 to 1613, which was called the time of turmoil. It seems to have influenced posterity playwrights and artists regardless of the outside world).
When the time of turmoil was over, the battle with the Kingdom of Poland began in 1654, and the Northern War began in 1655. It was a situation where I was gradually strengthening after these battles.
Under such circumstances, it was Peter the Great, a tsar who firmly held power. He actively modernizes and at the same time southward policy I will start.
Why did you start the southward policy? ??
In the background, the power relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Europe can be seen and hidden.
The year after Pyotr I's coronation, the Ottoman Empire failed to siege the Austrian capital in the second siege of Vienna (1683). Defeated by Europe Ottoman Empire ceded large territory for the first time I fell into.
Since then, the Ottoman Empire has also been a cooperative line with European countries . I came to take. Witnessing a historic event in which the power relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Europe was reversed I did.
What did Pyotr think when he saw such a historical event up close and immediately after his coronation?
If you have the sea, you can save wealth and finally have national power By seeing this successful example, you may have found the possibility of strengthening the country on the other side of the sea. ??
Russia has experienced an invasion from another country (former) called "Tatar yoke". It seems that it was the driving force to strengthen the country that it was painfully experiencing the need to strengthen the country.
Southward policy and advance into Japan
Russia at that time did not have a port that would not freeze even in the winter sea. I went there Sweden And Ottoman Empire It is a war with.
War with Sweden ... the Great Northern War. There was a war between multiple countries. Victory on the Russian side.
War with the Ottoman Empire ... Russo-Turkish War. Including World War I, he fought 12 times in 350 years (=once every 30 years). In the wars since 1768, Russia has won without the support of other countries. Has the Russian side realized that after around 1770, Russia's national power was higher than that of the Ottoman Empire? ??
As a result, Russia wins Baltic coast acquisition and Black Sea free voyage right Did. A city called St. Petersburg will be created on the territory gained in this battle, but when it was first created, it was called in the Dutch style. I feel that the strength of the Netherlands at that time and the purpose of acquiring an ice-free port can be seen somehow.
Of course, Russia will develop not only the ice-free port on the west side but also Siberia on the east side, which has not been developed yet.
Illustrated in one book Illustrated from World History p.95
Obtained almost the entire area of Siberia (acquired by 1725) and reduced the threat from the west. Furthermore, it is thought that the reason why the administration did not come to Japan until the 1770s was that the inside of the administration was dominated by conservatives after the death of Pyotr (there is an opposition to sudden reforms). The conservatives wouldn't have felt the need ...
So, Russia's advance into Japan is a change in power relations with Europe and Ottoman Turkey , Russia could get in there My conclusion is that it was done by doing so.