imperial policy could demonstrate a Roman ruthlessness, crushing rebellious tribes and salting their fields.
The Buriat provide a good example of the ambiguous attitude of the Russian Empire towards its ethnic minorities. On the one hand, it had
conquered and (theoretically) subjugated them, and the majority of ethnic Russians maintained profoundly racist attitudes towards the various Asian peoples. Russian settlement had driven some, particularly the various Siberian tribes, away from their traditional territories, brought disease and stripped them of their traditional independence. On the other hand, the empire had a vested interest in keeping the Buriat and other large groups happy. In many ways they had more rights than the average Russian - they paid less tax, they were exempt from conscription, 15 they were able to keep their traditional leadership. Many of the Asiatic minorities were actually more privileged than the Ukrainians and Poles, who were forbidden even from using their own languages. The Asiatic minorities benefited from their very foreignness. The Western minorities were seen as a plausible target for Russification, but the Mongol-descended peoples, far more ethnically and religiously distant, were left to their own devices.
The empire remained focused around its Great Russian and religiously Orthodox core, but at the same time was able to embrace numerous diverse groups at its edges. Sometimes members of these groups could be the most ardent proponents of imperial expansion. For instance, the Buriatsâ place within the empire was made even more secure by the rise to power and influence of one of their compatriots, Piotr Badmaev. A convert to Orthodoxy and practitioner of Tibetan medicine, he had the ear of both Alexandr III and Nikolas II, and considered himself the protector of the Buriats. He also pushed for plans, never realised, to expand the empire yet further, annexing Tibet and parts of western China.
With the exception of his time in St Petersburg, Ungernâs whole life was spent on the fringes of the empire. They would come to define the Russian Empire for him, even when its core was abandoned, but his idealistic vision of it didnât make the mundane work of guarding its frontiers any less boring. Ungern was stationed in Dauria, a town which existed only because of the nearby border and the railways (it sat on the main line to Manchuria); all it had were barracks, a station and a smattering of camp followers, and the tedium of life was enlivened only by traders occasionally passing through.
It was the kind of place where younger sons gambled away the family fortune for lack of anything better to do. The historian Willard Sunderland sums life there up as
drills, patrols, escort duties (of convicts and settlers), raids (against Chinese bandits), and more drills, punctuated with gambling, drinking, and horse races, in the midst of mostly wilderness and overwhelmingly male company. The officersâ libraries had few books. Towns with shops, playhouses, or bordellos could be days away. 16
The nearest settlement that even resembled a real city was the large town of Chita, two hundred miles down the railway. The surrounding countryside was beautiful but bare, a dry plain broken only by small clusters of hills. It was sparsely populated, with scattered villages of poor illiterate peasants eking out a living.
The broken landscape and lack of roads meant that horses were the only practical way to patrol the border, and this was good horse country, which pleased Ungern. He had chosen to join a cavalry division not only for its glamour but also because he loved horses. The Buriat, like their Mongolian cousins, were excellent riders and good judges of horseflesh. Ungern was already a talented rider, but under the tutelage of more experienced officers his skills improved further. He soon mastered the art of mounted combat and became respected in the regiment for his riding skills. Warfare on
The Buriat provide a good example of the ambiguous attitude of the Russian Empire towards its ethnic minorities. On the one hand, it had
conquered and (theoretically) subjugated them, and the majority of ethnic Russians maintained profoundly racist attitudes towards the various Asian peoples. Russian settlement had driven some, particularly the various Siberian tribes, away from their traditional territories, brought disease and stripped them of their traditional independence. On the other hand, the empire had a vested interest in keeping the Buriat and other large groups happy. In many ways they had more rights than the average Russian - they paid less tax, they were exempt from conscription, 15 they were able to keep their traditional leadership. Many of the Asiatic minorities were actually more privileged than the Ukrainians and Poles, who were forbidden even from using their own languages. The Asiatic minorities benefited from their very foreignness. The Western minorities were seen as a plausible target for Russification, but the Mongol-descended peoples, far more ethnically and religiously distant, were left to their own devices.
The empire remained focused around its Great Russian and religiously Orthodox core, but at the same time was able to embrace numerous diverse groups at its edges. Sometimes members of these groups could be the most ardent proponents of imperial expansion. For instance, the Buriatsâ place within the empire was made even more secure by the rise to power and influence of one of their compatriots, Piotr Badmaev. A convert to Orthodoxy and practitioner of Tibetan medicine, he had the ear of both Alexandr III and Nikolas II, and considered himself the protector of the Buriats. He also pushed for plans, never realised, to expand the empire yet further, annexing Tibet and parts of western China.
With the exception of his time in St Petersburg, Ungernâs whole life was spent on the fringes of the empire. They would come to define the Russian Empire for him, even when its core was abandoned, but his idealistic vision of it didnât make the mundane work of guarding its frontiers any less boring. Ungern was stationed in Dauria, a town which existed only because of the nearby border and the railways (it sat on the main line to Manchuria); all it had were barracks, a station and a smattering of camp followers, and the tedium of life was enlivened only by traders occasionally passing through.
It was the kind of place where younger sons gambled away the family fortune for lack of anything better to do. The historian Willard Sunderland sums life there up as
drills, patrols, escort duties (of convicts and settlers), raids (against Chinese bandits), and more drills, punctuated with gambling, drinking, and horse races, in the midst of mostly wilderness and overwhelmingly male company. The officersâ libraries had few books. Towns with shops, playhouses, or bordellos could be days away. 16
The nearest settlement that even resembled a real city was the large town of Chita, two hundred miles down the railway. The surrounding countryside was beautiful but bare, a dry plain broken only by small clusters of hills. It was sparsely populated, with scattered villages of poor illiterate peasants eking out a living.
The broken landscape and lack of roads meant that horses were the only practical way to patrol the border, and this was good horse country, which pleased Ungern. He had chosen to join a cavalry division not only for its glamour but also because he loved horses. The Buriat, like their Mongolian cousins, were excellent riders and good judges of horseflesh. Ungern was already a talented rider, but under the tutelage of more experienced officers his skills improved further. He soon mastered the art of mounted combat and became respected in the regiment for his riding skills. Warfare on
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