Russian Conquest: the case of Central Asia

Dr Alexander Morrison, New College, Oxford 

The Russian conquest of Central Asia was one of the 19th century's most dramatic and successful example of European imperial expansion, adding 1.5 million square miles of territory and at least 6 million people - most of them Muslims - to the Tsar's domains. This talk will explore the motivations for the Russian conquest, and the parallels which can be drawn with European colonialism elsewhere. It will cover a range of Russian military campaigns, from the earliest conflicts on the steppe frontier in the 1830s, to the annexation of the Pamirs in the early 1900s, the logistics and operational history of Russian wars against Khoqand, Bukhara and Khiva, the capture of Tashkent and Samarkand, the bloody subjection of the Turkmen, and the decision-making processes that launched these campaigns. It will also explore Russian diplomatic relations with Central Asian states and peoples, China, Persia and the British Empire. 

Date: Tuesday 3 October 2023
Time: 19:00–20:20
Venue: Online
Ticket information: £6, £4 concessions, FREE to UoP students via SPiA and Historical Association members