Russia Question

Despite its proximity to Europe, Russia was barely effected by the European Renaissance and almost completely uninvolved in the other region's politics during that period and the following era of absolute monarchies. There are a variety of reasons why this was so, but by far the most significant limit on the ability of the Russians to interact with or affect extensively the people of western Europe was the Russian geography.

Russia lacked a warm-water port to easily connect the two regions bysea, and the Ural Mountains blocked them by land. Its vast size led to sparse population, unlike the closely packed and nearby states of western Europe. People in Russia didn't have lower IQs than Europeans and they didn't magically lack the ability to create art; the reason they were not affected by the Renaissance as the Europeans were was simply that it was going on too far away. It's much simpler for someone in Germany to be affected by stuff in northern Italy since all they have to do is travel for a couple weeks or so on actual roads; not so when someone has got to sail halfway around the continent or go over a bunch of mountains and frozen junk just to say "hi" to those wacky Russians. Consider the case of Pierre the Frenchman and Fyedka the Russian. Pierre has just been listening in on all the European leaders having alliances and breaking through in technology and things, and he's thinking, "Dude, major on the grooves, Fyedka would love to hear about this!" Meanwhile in Russia Fyedka's thinking "I wonder if my good pal Pierre has come by any interesting knowledge lately." Unfortunately for THOSE two hapless fools, they'll probaly NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, because Russia and France are really flipping far apart, and it takes a really long time to go from one to the other! In fact, Pierre and Fyedka probably never met in the first place, because Russia and France are so far apart! A beautiful friendship has been ruined because of Russia's geography, MUCH the same way as Russia's opportunity to be a major player in European politics and get their groove on with enlightenment and stuff were ruined by the same dastardly player! Ooh, drat that geography!

While there are many reasons why Russia was not prominent in European politics during this time period, Russian geography-specifically, its vast size, climate, lack of a warm-water port, and the Ural mountains as a tangible barrier-was definitely the largest limitation on the Russians' power. There really should be another sentence here to make the conclusion longer, but all the important stuff has been said already, so this is the end. Remember to floss daily and always eat your vegetables.