There were several reasons for Russia’s expansion. First of all, the landlocked nation needed access to the sea. Secondly, the ruling class of Russia was a land-rich aristocracy, which profits from territorial expansion. Sometimes, the expansion may have had ideological underpinnings, for example, the idea of Third Rome, Pan-Slavism, or later, Communism. And finally, the empire may have continued to expand almost accidentally - by the need to bridge already conquered territories, by the sheer whim of the monarch or even of the colonizing generals.