Historically, the Qing Dynasty and Russia were both neighbors and two coexisting empires. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was invaded by Tsarist Russia, but during the "Kangqian Dynasty", Russia did not dare to provoke the Qing Dynasty, at this time the Qing Dynasty was very powerful, but Russia began to rise, and russia's rise benefited from the famous Empress Catherine II in Russian history.
Women's ambitions
The rise of ancient Russia is inseparable from Catherine II. Don't underestimate this German woman, who rose to power in the face of adversity and whose "ambitions" are stronger than men's. In our eyes a woman does not understand anything military and strategic. But Catherine was different, and soon after she came to power, she formulated a centennial strategy: "implementing a regional encroachment system on land and seizing the sea on the waters" It is this strategy that has enabled Russia to constantly fight for exports for nearly two hundred years.
After the rise of Catherine II, in order to control the outlet of the Black Sea, Catherine II took measures to encroach on Ottoman Turkey. The strategy of encroachment did not use military first, but first diplomatic means, and formed an anti-Austrian alliance with anti-Austrian countries.
In 1764, Catherine II formed an alliance with Prussia. Two years later, she made a deal with the British to win over the British. In 1768, Russia signed a treaty of friendship with Denmark, isolating Russia from Sweden.
When the Russian army was ready, Catherine II launched a war against Poland. It also operated on the polish-Ottoman border, provoking incidents between the two countries. In October 1768, the Ottoman Turks, feeling that Russia was strong and a threat, suddenly launched a war against Russia.
After the Russo-Turkish War, Russian infantry attacked ottoman Turkey, and the Baltic Fleet joined the war. Russia first occupied the principalities of Wallachia and Moldova. Prussia and Austria were not satisfied. Catherine saw that the anti-Turkish alliance was about to collapse, so she decided to divide Poland between the Three Kingdoms of Russia and Prussia.
In 1772, after the partition of Poland between The Russians and Prussians, Russia then attacked Crimea and took control of the Sea of Azov. It can be seen from this that the Crimean Peninsula was occupied by Russia, why Crimea is now returning to Russia, and Russia has always claimed that Crimea is Russian territory, which has a deep historical complex.
When Russia and Turkey fought in the Caucasus, Ottoman Turkey was clearly not a rival to Russia, which suppressed Austria-Turkey to rocks along the Black Sea and destroyed the Austrian-Turkish fleet at Chesma Bay and took control of the Black Sea.
Due to the pugachev uprising within Russia, Catherine II had to cease hostilities, but Catherine II was strategic. In 1783, Catherine II completely classified Crimea as Russia. In 1785, Russia established the Black Sea Fleet on the Black Sea, which suppressed Austria-Turkey. Ottoman Turkey felt great shame. Austria wanted to save face and declared war on Russia again. At this time, Catherine once again exerted his "continuous" advantage to win Austria into the Russian-Austrian union and jointly deal with Ottoman Turkey.
At this time, Europe was in turmoil, Britain was losing its way in the war to prevent the United States from becoming independent, and France was in the turmoil of the early stages of the Revolution. The international situation is very favorable to Russia, and it is possible to beat up ottoman Turkey without fear of other countries.
In 1788, Austria first declared war on Austria-Turkey, and the Russian-Austrian army and Austria-Turkey fought in the Balkans, but then Sweden suddenly declared war on Russia, and Catherine brought Denmark to war, putting Sweden under threat.
In 1790, the Second Russo-Turkish War ended, and Russia completely formulated the Black Sea. Russia and Turkey signed the Treaty of Iasi, which gained a lot of power from Turkey and laid the foundation for deep penetration into the Balkans.
Men's ambitions
So what did the Qianlong Emperor do when Catherine II opened up the territory for Russia and constantly led russia to rise? I have to admit that the Qianlong Emperor is very greedy, but this is only one side, in fact, the Qianlong Emperor did not do less.
Catherine succeeded to the throne in 1762, 26 years after the Qianlong Emperor. However, after Catherine succeeded to the throne, she began to expand the territory for Russia, and the Qianlong Emperor had already quelled the Jinchuan Rebellion and the Dzungar infighting and other events long ago.
In 1765, Burma began to riot, and in 1767, the Qing Dynasty lost the War of Conquest. After that, in the entire Qing-Burma War, although the Qing Dynasty was very passive, Qianlong had a domineering man, and he must completely conquer Burma before giving up.
In 1769, after the end of the Qing-Burma War, although the Qing Dynasty suffered great losses, at least for the Qianlong Emperor, it was able to get by on the face. In 1771, there was another rebellion in Jinchuan, the Qianlong Emperor sent troops again, and in 1775, the rebellion of Jinchuan was again quelled.
It is said that the Qianlong Emperor used a lot of troops in his later years, but in fact, it was a forced matter. Like in 1781, the Gansu Su Forty-third Uprising, the Qianlong Emperor could not let it develop. In 1787, Qianlong sent troops to Taiwan to suppress Lin Shuangwen's uprising.
In 1788, after the usurpation of the Nguyen clan of Annam, he disobeyed the clan system. So the Qianlong Emperor prepared to attack Vietnam. Qianlong was well prepared for the Vietnam War, after all, he already had experience in the Qing-Burma War.
At this time, Siam and Burma had become vassals of the Qing Dynasty, and the status of the two countries was different from that of Burma, and they were closer to the Qing Dynasty. In October 1788, Sun Shiyi, the governor of Liangguang, led his troops out of Nanguan, and the Qing army led by Sun Shiyi went all the way south, and no one dared to stop him. The following year, Nguyen Hue surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Khanc recognized Nguyen Hue as the new monarch of Vietnam.
In our eyes, the Qianlong Emperor is a monarch with a very narrow vision, who only knows how to play in the mountains and rivers, in fact, the Qianlong Emperor wants both face and domineering men. When the Qing Dynasty came to the reign of Qianlong, it was not easy to defend the territory. There is an old saying: "It is easy to open up the frontier and difficult to defend the land." ”
A comparison of the two
As two emperors of the same period, although the gender is different, many people are inclined to catherine's achievements. But the environment is different, and Catherine and the Qianlong Emperor are not comparable. Although Catherine II was able to expand her territory, Catherine had many loyal men under her, most of whom were Russian generals. They helped Catherine to spare no effort.
When Catherine continued to search for access to the sea in Europe, the territory of the Qing Dynasty had been fixed, and the national strength had developed greatly. If the Qing Dynasty also continued to use troops, then the Qing Dynasty could not achieve economic and cultural prosperity. At this time, the Qing Dynasty was also normal in defending the territory, because the emperor did not have the heart to expand anymore.
Russia is different, Russia is very large, but the Siberian region is not easy to survive in the cold, only to expand to Europe or the south, looking for the sea outlet, Russia can develop.
Later, comparing Catherine with the Qianlong Emperor, he did not understand it, thinking that Catherine, as a woman, was so strong. The Qianlong Emperor, as a man, was not strong.
In fact, knowing the environment of the two people from childhood. Catherine was born in Germany, and when she came to Russia as a concubine, she also grew up in adversity, and if she was not careful, she would die. Catherine therefore has a strong sense of crisis.
The Qianlong Emperor grew up in the imperial palace since he was a child, and was deeply liked by Kangxi and Yongzheng, and was already an ironclad crown prince, so the Qianlong Emperor was only a face, and the sense of crisis was weak.
References: History of Russia, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty