Knights of the Golden Fleece

-Russia: 1450-1750- Time Period 1450-1750 Geographic Description Acquired land back from Mongols in mid 1400s Territorial expansion policy focused particularly on central Asia to push Mongol overlords further East Early tsars pushed southward to the Caspian Sea and eastward past the Ural mountains- Third Rome Mentality All tsars were expansionists From its base in the Moscow region, Russia expanded outwards Cossacks moved into Siberia= gained new settlements and political control (similar to westward expansion in early US) Under Peter the Great, territory extended all the way from Black Sea to Bering Sea and down into China Catherine the Great sends explorers to Alaska, coast of California and even Hawaii Large, vast are of land with a generous supply of natural resources