ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes Romanov Russia’s employment of maritime naval expeditions during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in the Sea of Okhotsk area. During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Russia became increasingly involved in sea explorations and navigation in the wider North Pacific area. The higher frequency of Russian explorations in the North Pacific was closely connected to a much more extensive Russian project to support global navigations and even around-the-world circumnavigations. As the Russians extended their sea explorations to the wider world, their presence in the North Pacific region, including the Sea of Okhotsk area, was also increased. This chapter argues that there was a dialectical process of sorts at work between the two: as global expeditions increased, so did the exploration of the North Pacific and the Sea of Okhotsk area. Attention is paid to Russian interests in using these expeditions to establish trade relations with Japan, as well as the impacts on Indigenous peoples. These expeditions also served to extend elements of a Russian-centered world system into some of the northern parts of the Sea of Okhotsk area.
