In 1700 Russia was evolving into a modern superpower, to rival the nearby Ottoman Empire and the western Kingdoms of Britain, France and Spain. It controlled vast territories, yet to the south lay a number of independant colonies. Lord Secretary and Commander in Chief of the Russian Army Yuri Semyonov devised a plan to annex these territories and expand the Empire's borders. Acting on Semyonov's advice, Tsar Pyotr I organised the Caucasian Field Army to eliminate the nations of Crimea, Dagestan and Georgia.