Frontier-type modernization of imperial Russia

The article is dedicated to the core issues of three waves - Urals, Siberian and Far Eastern - of frontier imperial modernization of Asiatic Russia. Their preconditions, essence, character and significance are analyzed. The author comes to the conclusion that they were a response to the geopolitical and technological challenges of the epoch. They marked the transition of the country and the region from the traditional to industrial society, but did not complete it, and set the stage for the subsequent crucial socio-economic and cultural changes.