The ‘Grand Embassy’ to Venezuela and Cuba

Article by WorldNews.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Although Russia straddles the continents of both Europe and Asia, for centuries it had remained fairly isolated, at least until Peter the Great. Mongol rule had cut Russia off from the Italian and Iranian Safavid Renaissances. Due to its proximity to oceans, the Chinese and Europeans surpassed Russia in sea exploration. Geographical barriers isolated Russia too. Archangel, its only seaport, was blocked by ice most of the year. There were religious differences as well, since Russia embraced Constantinople’s Eastern Orthodoxy instead of Rome’s Western Orthodoxy. And finally, Russia was surrounded by major empires. There is an old Russian…

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