The role of building fortified lines and new cities in the formation of southeastern borders of Russia in the 17th – 18th centuries

The study of the process of state territory expansion and the formation of state borders is a relevant problem of historical science. We set a goal: to show how this process went on in the Southeast of Russia in the 17th – 18th centuries. In the context of the regionalization of domestic historical science, frontier theory is an important methodological tool. It allows applying theoretical and concrete historical scientists’ solutions to the study of the southeastern frontier of Russia obtained as a result of studying other border territories, in particular the southern and Volga frontier. The main results of this study define the southeast frontier and sets its geographic parameters, covering mainly the territory of Bashkiria, which has been part of Russia since the middle of the 16th century. We substantiate the role of fortress cities and fortified lines in the formation of the southeast frontier zone. We show the process of state borders formation in this region. We draw conclusion that, regardless of the construction motives, the fortress cities became a political tool for securing new lands within the Russian state, and contributed to the gradual transformation of the frontier territory into an internal region (county, governorate).

southeastern frontier, Bashkiria, fortress cities, Orenburg fortified line, state border