Kievan Rus or Old Russian state- a medieval state in Eastern Europe that arose in the 9th century as a result of the unification of East Slavic tribes under the rule of the princes of the Rurik dynasty.

At its peak, it occupied the territory from the Taman Peninsula in the south, the Dniester and the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the headwaters of the Northern Dvina in the north.

By the middle of the 12th century, it entered into a state of fragmentation and actually broke up into one and a half dozen separate principalities, ruled by different branches of the Rurikovichs. Political ties were maintained between the principalities, Kyiv continued to formally remain the main table of Rus', and the Principality of Kiev was considered as the collective possession of all the Rurikovichs. The end of Kievan Rus is considered to be the Mongol invasion (1237-1240), after which the Russian lands ceased to form a single political whole, and Kyiv fell into decline for a long time and finally lost its nominal capital functions.

In chronicle sources the state is called “Rus” or “Russian Land”, in Byzantine sources - “Russia”.

Term

The definition of “Old Russian” is not connected with the division of antiquity and the Middle Ages in Europe generally accepted in historiography in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. In relation to Rus', it is usually used to refer to the so-called. the “pre-Mongol” period of the 9th - mid-13th centuries, in order to distinguish this era from the following periods of Russian history.

The term “Kievan Rus” arose at the end of the 18th century. In modern historiography, it is used both to designate a single state that existed until the mid-12th century, and for the broader period of the mid-12th - mid-13th centuries, when Kiev remained the center of the country and the governance of Russia was carried out by a single princely family on the principles of “collective suzerainty.”

Pre-revolutionary historians, starting with N.M. Karamzin, adhered to the idea of ​​​​transferring the political center of Rus' in 1169 from Kyiv to Vladimir, going back to the works of Moscow scribes, or to Vladimir and Galich. However, in modern historiography these points of view are not popular, since they are not confirmed in the sources.

The problem of the emergence of statehood

There are two main hypotheses for the formation of the Old Russian state. According to the Norman theory, based on the Tale of Bygone Years of the 12th century and numerous Western European and Byzantine sources, statehood in Rus' was brought from outside by the Varangians - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in 862. The founders of the Norman theory are considered to be the German historians Bayer, Miller, and Schlözer who worked at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The point of view on the external origin of the Russian monarchy was generally held by Nikolai Karamzin, who followed the versions of The Tale of Bygone Years.

The anti-Norman theory is based on the concept of the impossibility of introducing statehood from the outside, on the idea of ​​the emergence of the state as a stage in the internal development of society. The founder of this theory in Russian historiography was considered to be Mikhail Lomonosov. In addition, there are different points of view on the origin of the Varangians themselves. Scientists classified as Normanists considered them to be Scandinavians (usually Swedes); some anti-Normanists, starting with Lomonosov, suggest their origin from West Slavic lands. There are also intermediate versions of localization - in Finland, Prussia, and other parts of the Baltic states. The problem of the ethnicity of the Varangians is independent of the issue of the emergence of statehood.

In modern science, the prevailing point of view is that the strict opposition between “Normanism” and “anti-Normanism” is largely politicized. The prerequisites for the primordial statehood of the Eastern Slavs were not seriously denied by either Miller, Schlözer, or Karamzin, and the external (Scandinavian or other) origin of the ruling dynasty was a fairly common phenomenon in the Middle Ages, which in no way proves the inability of the people to create a state or, more specifically, the institution of monarchy. Questions about whether Rurik was a real historical person, what is the origin of the chronicled Varangians, whether the ethnonym (and then the name of the state) is associated with them Rus, continue to remain controversial in modern Russian historical science. Western historians generally follow the concept of Normanism.

Story

Education of Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus arose on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” on the lands of the East Slavic tribes - the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi, Polyans, then covering the Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk, Radimichi, Severians, Vyatichi.

The chronicle legend considers the founders of Kyiv to be the rulers of the Polyan tribe - the brothers Kiya, Shchek and Khoriv. According to archaeological excavations carried out in Kyiv in the 19th-20th centuries, already in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. there was a settlement on the site of Kyiv. Arab writers of the 10th century (al-Istarhi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn-Haukal) later speak of Cuyaba as a large city. Ibn Haukal wrote: “The king lives in a city called Cuyaba, which is larger than Bolgar... The Rus constantly trade with the Khozar and Rum (Byzantium).”

The first information about the state of the Rus dates back to the first third of the 9th century: in 839, the ambassadors of the Kagan of the people of Rus were mentioned, who arrived first in Constantinople, and from there to the court of the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious. From this time on, the ethnonym “Rus” also became known. The term “Kievan Rus” appears for the first time in historical studies of the 18th–19th centuries.

In 860 (The Tale of Bygone Years erroneously dates it to 866), Rus' makes its first campaign against Constantinople. Greek sources connect it with the so-called first baptism of Rus', after which a diocese may have arisen in Rus', and the ruling elite (possibly led by Askold) adopted Christianity.

In 862, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes called the Varangians to reign.

In 862 (the date is approximate, like the entire early chronology of the Chronicle), the Varangians, Rurik’s warriors Askold and Dir, sailing to Constantinople, seeking to establish complete control over the most important trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” established their power over Kiev.

In 879 Rurik died in Novgorod. The reign was transferred to Oleg, regent for Rurik’s young son Igor.

Reign of Oleg the Prophet

In 882, according to chronicle chronology, Prince Oleg, a relative of Rurik, set off on a campaign from Novgorod to the south. Along the way, he captured Smolensk and Lyubech, establishing his power there and putting his people under reign. Then Oleg, with the Novgorod army and a hired Varangian squad, under the guise of merchants, captured Kiev, killed Askold and Dir, who ruled there, and declared Kiev the capital of his state (“And Oleg, the prince, sat down in Kyiv, and Oleg said: “Let this be the mother of Russian cities.” “.”); the dominant religion was paganism, although there was also a Christian minority in Kyiv.

Oleg conquered the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichi; the last two alliances had previously paid tribute to the Khazars.

As a result of the victorious campaign against Byzantium, the first written agreements were concluded in 907 and 911, which provided for preferential terms of trade for Russian merchants (trade duties were abolished, ship repairs and overnight accommodation were provided), and resolution of legal and military issues. The tribes of the Radimichi, Northerners, Drevlyans, and Krivichi were subject to tribute. According to the chronicle version, Oleg, who bore the title of Grand Duke, reigned for more than 30 years. Rurik's own son Igor took the throne after Oleg's death around 912 and ruled until 945.

Igor Rurikovich

Igor made two military campaigns against Byzantium. The first, in 941, ended unsuccessfully. It was also preceded by an unsuccessful military campaign against Khazaria, during which Rus', acting at the request of Byzantium, attacked the Khazar city of Samkerts on the Taman Peninsula, but was defeated by the Khazar commander Pesach, and then turned its arms against Byzantium. The second campaign against Byzantium took place in 944. It ended with a treaty that confirmed many of the provisions of the previous treaties of 907 and 911, but abolished duty-free trade. In 943 or 944, a campaign was made against Berdaa. In 945, Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlyans. After Igor's death, due to the minority of his son Svyatoslav, real power was in the hands of Igor's widow, Princess Olga. She became the first ruler of the Old Russian state to officially accept Christianity of the Byzantine rite (according to the most reasoned version, in 957, although other dates are also proposed). However, around 959 Olga invited the German bishop Adalbert and priests of the Latin rite to Rus' (after the failure of their mission they were forced to leave Kyiv).

Svyatoslav Igorevich

Around 962, the matured Svyatoslav took power into his own hands. His first action was the subjugation of the Vyatichi (964), who were the last of all the East Slavic tribes to pay tribute to the Khazars. In 965, Svyatoslav made a campaign against the Khazar Kaganate, taking its main cities by storm: Sarkel, Semender and the capital Itil. On the site of the city of Sarkela, he built the Belaya Vezha fortress. Svyatoslav also made two trips to Bulgaria, where he intended to create his own state with its capital in the Danube region. He was killed in a battle with the Pechenegs while returning to Kyiv from an unsuccessful campaign in 972.

After the death of Svyatoslav, civil strife broke out for the right to the throne (972-978 or 980). The eldest son Yaropolk became the great prince of Kyiv, Oleg received the Drevlyan lands, Vladimir received Novgorod. In 977, Yaropolk defeated Oleg’s squad, Oleg died. Vladimir fled “overseas”, but returned 2 years later with a Varangian squad. During the civil strife, Svyatoslav's son Vladimir Svyatoslavich (reigned 980-1015) defended his rights to the throne. Under him, the formation of the state territory of Ancient Rus' was completed, the Cherven cities and Carpathian Rus' were annexed.

Characteristics of the state in the 9th-10th centuries.

Kievan Rus united under its rule vast territories inhabited by East Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. In the chronicles the state was called Rus; the word “Russian” in combination with other words was found in various spellings: both with one “s” and with a double one; both with and without “b”. In a narrow sense, “Rus” meant the territory of Kyiv (with the exception of the Drevlyan and Dregovichi lands), Chernigov-Seversk (with the exception of the Radimich and Vyatichi lands) and Pereyaslavl lands; It is in this meaning that the term “Rus” is used, for example, in Novgorod sources up to the 13th century.

The head of state bore the title of Grand Duke, Russian Prince. Unofficially, other prestigious titles could sometimes be attached to it, including Turkic kagan and Byzantine king. Princely power was hereditary. In addition to the princes, grand-ducal boyars and “men” participated in the administration of the territories. These were warriors appointed by the prince. The boyars commanded special squads, territorial garrisons (for example, Pretich commanded the Chernigov squad), which, if necessary, were united into a single army. Under the prince, one of the boyar-voevodas also stood out, who often performed the functions of real government of the state; such governors under the young princes were Oleg under Igor, Sveneld under Olga, Svyatoslav and Yaropolk, Dobrynya under Vladimir. At the local level, the princely government dealt with tribal self-government in the form of the veche and “city elders.”

Druzhina

Druzhina during the 9th-10th centuries. was hired. A significant part of it were newcomer Varangians. It was also replenished by people from the Baltic lands and local tribes. The size of the annual payment of a mercenary is estimated by historians differently. Salaries were paid in silver, gold and furs. Typically, a warrior received about 8-9 Kyiv hryvnia (more than 200 silver dirhams) per year, but by the beginning of the 11th century, the pay of a private soldier was 1 northern hryvnia, which is much less. Ship helmsmen, elders and townspeople received more (10 hryvnia). In addition, the squad was fed at the expense of the prince. Initially, this was expressed in the form of canteen, and then turned into one of the forms of taxes in kind, “feeding”, the maintenance of the squad by the tax-paying population during polyudye. Among the squads subordinate to the Grand Duke, his personal “small”, or junior, squad, which included 400 warriors, stands out. The Old Russian army also included a tribal militia, which could reach several thousand in each tribe. The total number of the ancient Russian army reached from 30 to 80 thousand people.

Taxes (tribute)

The form of taxes in Ancient Rus' was tribute, which was paid by subject tribes. Most often, the unit of taxation was “smoke,” that is, a house or family hearth. The tax amount was traditionally one skin per smoke. In some cases, from the Vyatichi tribe, a coin was taken from the ral (plough). The form of collecting tribute was polyudye, when the prince and his retinue visited his subjects from November to April. Rus' was divided into several tax districts; Polyudye in the Kiev district passed through the lands of the Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Krivichis, Radimichis and Northerners. A special district was Novgorod, paying about 3,000 hryvnia. The maximum amount of tribute according to late Hungarian legend in the 10th century was 10 thousand marks (30 thousand or more hryvnia). The collection of tribute was carried out by squads of several hundred soldiers. The dominant ethno-class group of the population, which was called “Rus”, paid the prince a tenth of their annual income.

In 946, after the suppression of the Drevlyan uprising, Princess Olga carried out a tax reform, streamlining the collection of tribute. She established “lessons”, that is, the size of the tribute, and created “cemeteries”, fortresses on the route of Polyudya, in which the princely administrators lived and where the tribute was brought. This form of collecting tribute and the tribute itself was called a “cart.” When paying the tax, subjects received clay seals with a princely sign, which insured them against repeated collection. The reform contributed to the centralization of grand ducal power and the weakening of the power of tribal princes.

Right

In the 10th century, customary law was in force in Rus', which in sources is called “Russian Law”. Its norms are reflected in the treaties of Rus' and Byzantium, in the Scandinavian sagas and in “The Truth of Yaroslav”. They concerned the relationship between equal people, Russia, one of the institutions was “vira” - a fine for murder. Laws guaranteed property relations, including ownership of slaves (“servants”).

The principle of inheritance of power in the 9th-10th centuries is unknown. The heirs were often minors (Igor Rurikovich, Svyatoslav Igorevich). In the 11th century, princely power in Rus' was transferred along the “ladder”, that is, not necessarily to the son, but to the eldest in the family (the uncle had precedence over his nephews). At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, two principles collided, and a struggle broke out between the direct heirs and the collateral lines.

Monetary system

In the 10th century, a more or less unified monetary system developed, focused on the Byzantine liter and the Arab dirham. The main monetary units were the hryvnia (the monetary and weight unit of Ancient Rus'), kuna, nogata and rezana. They had a silver and fur expression.

State type

Historians have different assessments of the nature of the state of a given period: “barbarian state”, “military democracy”, “druzhina period”, “Norman period”, “military-commercial state”, “the formation of the early feudal monarchy”.

The Baptism of Rus' and its heyday

Under Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich in 988, Christianity became the official religion of Rus'. Having become the prince of Kyiv, Vladimir faced an increased Pecheneg threat. To protect against nomads, he builds a line of fortresses on the border. It was during the time of Vladimir that many Russian epics took place, telling about the exploits of heroes.

Crafts and trade. Monuments of writing (The Tale of Bygone Years, the Novgorod Codex, the Ostromirovo Gospel, Lives) and architecture (Tithe Church, St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and the cathedrals of the same name in Novgorod and Polotsk) were created. The high level of literacy of the inhabitants of Rus' is evidenced by numerous birch bark letters that have survived to this day). Rus' traded with the southern and western Slavs, Scandinavia, Byzantium, Western Europe, the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

After the death of Vladimir, a new civil strife occurs in Rus'. Svyatopolk the Accursed in 1015 kills his brothers Boris (according to another version, Boris was killed by Scandinavian mercenaries of Yaroslav), Gleb and Svyatoslav. Boris and Gleb were canonized as saints in 1071. Svyatopolk himself is defeated by Yaroslav and dies in exile.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019 - 1054) was the time of the greatest prosperity of the state. Social relations were regulated by the collection of laws “Russian Truth” and princely statutes. Yaroslav the Wise pursued an active foreign policy. He became related to many ruling dynasties of Europe, which testified to the wide international recognition of Rus' in the European Christian world. Intensive stone construction is underway. In 1036, Yaroslav defeated the Pechenegs near Kiev and their raids on Rus' ceased.

Changes in public administration at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 12th centuries.

During the baptism of Rus', the power of the sons of Vladimir I and the power of Orthodox bishops, subordinate to the Kyiv Metropolitan, were established in all its lands. Now all the princes who acted as vassals of the Kyiv Grand Duke were only from the Rurik family. Scandinavian sagas mention the fiefs of the Vikings, but they were located on the outskirts of Rus' and on newly annexed lands, so at the time of writing “The Tale of Bygone Years” they already seemed like a relic. The Rurik princes waged a fierce struggle with the remaining tribal princes (Vladimir Monomakh mentions the Vyatichi prince Khodota and his son). This contributed to the centralization of power.

The power of the Grand Duke reached its highest strength under Vladimir, Yaroslav the Wise and later under Vladimir Monomakh. Attempts to strengthen it, but less successfully, were also made by Izyaslav Yaroslavich. The position of the dynasty was strengthened by numerous international dynastic marriages: Anna Yaroslavna and the French king, Vsevolod Yaroslavich and the Byzantine princess, etc.

Since the time of Vladimir or, according to some information, Yaropolk Svyatoslavich, the prince began to distribute lands to the warriors instead of monetary salaries. If initially these were cities for feeding, then in the 11th century villages received warriors. Along with the villages, which became fiefdoms, the boyar title was also granted. The boyars began to form the senior squad, which was a feudal militia in type. The younger squad (“youths”, “children”, “gridi”), who were with the prince, lived off feeding from the princely villages and the war. To protect the southern borders, a policy was pursued of relocating the “best men” of the northern tribes to the south, and agreements were also concluded with the allied nomads, the “black hoods” (Torks, Berendeys and Pechenegs). The services of the hired Varangian squad were largely abandoned during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise.

After Yaroslav the Wise, the “ladder” principle of land inheritance in the Rurik family was finally established. The eldest in the clan (not by age, but by line of kinship) received Kyiv and became the Grand Duke, all other lands were divided among members of the clan and distributed according to seniority. Power passed from brother to brother, from uncle to nephew. Chernigov occupied second place in the hierarchy of tables. When one of the members of the clan died, all the Rurikovichs younger in relation to him moved to lands corresponding to their seniority. When new members of the clan appeared, their destiny was determined - a city with land (volost). In 1097, the principle of mandatory allocation of inheritance to princes was established.

Over time, the church began to own a significant part of the land (“monastery estates”). Since 996, the population has paid tithes to the church. The number of dioceses, starting from 4, grew. The department of the metropolitan, appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, began to be located in Kiev, and under Yaroslav the Wise, the metropolitan was first elected from among the Russian priests; in 1051, Hilarion, who was close to Vladimir and his son, became the metropolitan. Monasteries and their elected heads, abbots, began to have great influence. The Kiev-Pechersk Monastery becomes the center of Orthodoxy.

The boyars and squad formed special councils under the prince. The prince also consulted with the metropolitan, bishops and abbots who made up the church council. With the complication of the princely hierarchy, by the end of the 11th century, princely congresses (“snems”) began to gather. There were veches in the cities, which the boyars often relied on to support their own political demands (uprisings in Kyiv in 1068 and 1113).

In the 11th - early 12th centuries, the first written set of laws was formed - “Russian Truth”, which was successively replenished with articles from “The Truth of Yaroslav” (c. 1015-1016), “The Truth of the Yaroslavichs” (c. 1072) and the “Charter of Vladimir” Vsevolodovich" (c. 1113). The “Russian Truth” reflected the increasing differentiation of the population (now the size of the vira depended on the social status of the killed), and regulated the position of such categories of the population as servants, serfs, smerdas, purchases and ryadovichi.

“Pravda Yaroslava” equalized the rights of “Rusyns” and “Slovenians”. This, along with Christianization and other factors, contributed to the formation of a new ethnic community that was aware of its unity and historical origin.
Since the end of the 10th century, Rus' has known its own coin production - silver and gold coins of Vladimir I, Svyatopolk, Yaroslav the Wise and other princes.

Decay

The Principality of Polotsk first separated from Kyiv at the beginning of the 11th century. Having concentrated all the other Russian lands under his rule only 21 years after the death of his father, Yaroslav the Wise, dying in 1054, divided them between the five sons who survived him. After the death of the two youngest of them, all lands were concentrated in the hands of the three elders: Izyaslav of Kyiv, Svyatoslav of Chernigov and Vsevolod of Pereyaslav (the “Yaroslavich triumvirate”). After the death of Svyatoslav in 1076, the Kiev princes attempted to deprive his sons of the Chernigov inheritance, and they resorted to the help of the Polovtsians, whose raids began in 1061 (immediately after the defeat of the Torks by the Russian princes in the steppes), although for the first time the Polovtsians were used in strife by Vladimir Monomakh (against Vseslav of Polotsk). In this struggle, Izyaslav of Kiev (1078) and the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav (1096) died. At the Lyubech Congress (1097), designed to stop civil strife and unite the princes for protection from the Polovtsians, the principle was proclaimed: “Let everyone keep his fatherland.” Thus, while preserving the right of ladder, in the event of the death of one of the princes, the movement of the heirs was limited to their patrimony. This made it possible to stop the strife and join forces to fight the Cumans, which was moved deep into the steppes. However, this also opened the way to political fragmentation, since a separate dynasty was established in each land, and the Grand Duke of Kiev became first among equals, losing the role of overlord.

In the second quarter of the 12th century, Kievan Rus actually disintegrated into independent principalities. The modern historiographic tradition considers the chronological beginning of the period of fragmentation to be 1132, when, after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the power of the Kiev prince was no longer recognized by Polotsk (1132) and Novgorod (1136), and the title itself became the object of struggle between various dynastic and territorial associations of the Rurikovichs. In 1134, the chronicler, in connection with a schism among the Monomakhovichs, wrote “the whole Russian land was torn apart.”

In 1169, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, Andrei Bogolyubsky, having captured Kyiv, for the first time in the practice of inter-princely strife, he did not reign in it, but gave it as an appanage. From that moment on, Kyiv began to gradually lose the political and then cultural attributes of an all-Russian center. The political center under Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod the Big Nest moved to Vladimir, whose prince also began to bear the title of great.

Kyiv, unlike other principalities, did not become the property of any one dynasty, but served as a constant bone of contention for all powerful princes. In 1203, it was plundered for the second time by the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich, who fought against the Galician-Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich. The first clash between Rus' and the Mongols took place in the Battle of the Kalka River (1223), in which almost all the southern Russian princes took part. The weakening of the southern Russian principalities increased the pressure from the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords, but at the same time contributed to the strengthening of the influence of the Vladimir princes in Chernigov (1226), Novgorod (1231), Kiev (in 1236 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich occupied Kyiv for two years, while his older brother Yuri remained reign in Vladimir) and Smolensk (1236-1239). During the Mongol invasion of Rus', which began in 1237, Kyiv was reduced to ruins in December 1240. It was received by the Vladimir princes Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, recognized by the Mongols as the oldest in Rus', and later by his son Alexander Nevsky. However, they did not move to Kyiv, remaining in their ancestral Vladimir. In 1299, the Kiev Metropolitan moved his residence there. In some church and literary sources, for example, in the statements of the Patriarch of Constantinople and Vytautas at the end of the 14th century, Kyiv continued to be considered the capital at a later time, but by this time it was already a provincial city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the beginning of the 14th century, the Vladimir princes began to bear the title of “Grand Dukes of All Rus'”.

The nature of statehood of Russian lands

At the beginning of the 13th century, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, there were about 15 relatively territorially stable principalities in Rus' (in turn divided into fiefs), three of which: Kiev, Novgorod and Galicia were objects of all-Russian struggle, and the rest were ruled by the Rurikovich’s own branches. The most powerful princely dynasties were the Chernigov Olgovichs, the Smolensk Rostislavichs, the Volyn Izyaslavichs and the Suzdal Yuryevichs. After the invasion, almost all Russian lands entered a new round of fragmentation and in the 14th century the number of great and appanage principalities reached approximately 250.

The only all-Russian political body remained the Congress of Princes, which mainly decided on issues of the fight against the Polovtsians. The church also maintained its relative unity (excluding the emergence of local cults of saints and veneration of the cult of local relics) headed by the metropolitan and fought against various kinds of regional “heresies” by convening councils. However, the position of the church was weakened by the strengthening of tribal pagan beliefs in the 12th-13th centuries. Religious authority and "zabozhni" (repression) were weakened. The candidacy of the Archbishop of Veliky Novgorod was proposed by the Novgorod Council, and cases of expulsion of the ruler (archbishop) are also known.

During the period of fragmentation of Kievan Rus, political power passed from the hands of the prince and the younger squad to the strengthened boyars. If earlier the boyars had business, political and economic relations with the whole Rurik family, headed by the Grand Duke, now - with individual families of appanage princes.

In the Principality of Kiev, the boyars, in order to ease the intensity of the struggle between the princely dynasties, in a number of cases supported the duumvirate (government) of the princes and even resorted to the physical elimination of the alien princes (Yuri Dolgoruky was poisoned). The Kiev boyars sympathized with the power of the senior branch of the descendants of Mstislav the Great, but external pressure was too strong for the position of the local nobility to become decisive in the choice of princes. In the Novgorod land, which, like Kyiv, did not become the fiefdom of the appanage princely branch of the Rurik family, retaining all-Russian significance, and during the anti-princely uprising a republican system was established - from now on the prince was invited and expelled by the veche. In the Vladimir-Suzdal land, princely power was traditionally strong and sometimes even prone to despotism. There is a known case when the boyars (Kuchkovichi) and the younger squad physically eliminated the “autocratic” prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. In the southern Russian lands, city councils played a huge role in the political struggle; there were councils in the Vladimir-Suzdal land (mentions of them are found until the 14th century). In the Galician land there was a unique case of electing a prince from among the boyars.

The main type of army became the feudal militia, the senior squad received personal inheritable land rights. The city militia was used to defend the city, urban area and settlements. In Veliky Novgorod, the princely squad was actually hired in relation to the republican authorities, the ruler had a special regiment, the townspeople made up the “thousand” (militia led by the thousand), there was also a boyar militia formed from the inhabitants of “Pyatin” (five dependent on the Novgorod boyars families of districts of Novgorod land). The army of a separate principality did not exceed 8,000 people. The total number of squads and city militia by 1237, according to historians, was about 100 thousand people.

During the period of fragmentation, several monetary systems emerged: Novgorod, Kyiv and “Chernigov” hryvnias are distinguished. These were silver bars of various sizes and weights. The northern (Novgorod) hryvnia was oriented towards the northern mark, and the southern one - towards the Byzantine liter. Kuna had a silver and fur expression, the former being to the latter as one to four. Old skins sealed with a princely seal (the so-called “leather money”) were also used as a monetary unit.

The name Rus was retained during this period for the lands in the Middle Dnieper region. Residents of different lands usually called themselves after the capital cities of appanage principalities: Novgorodians, Suzdalians, Kurians, etc. Until the 13th century, according to archeology, tribal differences in material culture persisted; the spoken Old Russian language was also not unified, maintaining regional tribal dialects.

Trade

The most important trade routes of Ancient Rus' were:

• the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, starting from the Varangian Sea, along Lake Nevo, along the Volkhov and Dnieper rivers leading to the Black Sea, Balkan Bulgaria and Byzantium (by the same route, entering the Danube from the Black Sea, one could get to Great Moravia) ;
• the Volga trade route (“the path from the Varangians to the Persians”), which went from the city of Ladoga to the Caspian Sea and further to Khorezm and Central Asia, Persia and Transcaucasia;
• a land route that began in Prague and through Kyiv went to the Volga and further to Asia.

One of the most powerful in its time was Kievan Rus. A huge medieval power arose in the 19th century as a result of the unification of East Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes. During its heyday, Kievan Rus (in the 9th-12th centuries) occupied an impressive territory and had a strong army. By the middle of the 12th century, the once powerful state, due to feudal fragmentation, split into separate ones. Thus, Kievan Rus became easy prey for the Golden Horde, which put an end to the medieval power. The main events that took place in Kievan Rus in the 9th-12th centuries will be described in the article.

Russian Kaganate

According to many historians, in the first half of the 9th century, on the territory of the future Old Russian state, there was a state formation of the Rus. Little information has been preserved about the exact location of the Russian Kaganate. According to historian Smirnov, the state formation was located in the region between the upper Volga and Oka.

The ruler of the Russian Kaganate bore the title of Kagan. In the Middle Ages this title was very important. The Kagan ruled not only over nomadic peoples, but also commanded over other rulers of different nations. Thus, the head of the Russian Kaganate acted as the emperor of the steppes.

By the middle of the 9th century, as a result of specific foreign policy circumstances, the transformation of the Russian Kaganate into the Russian Great Reign took place, which was weakly dependent on Khazaria. During the reign of Askold and Dir, it was possible to completely get rid of oppression.

Rurik's reign

In the second half of the 9th century, the East Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes, due to cruel enmity, called the Varangians overseas to reign in their lands. The first Russian prince was Rurik, who began to rule in Novgorod in 862. The new state of Rurik lasted until 882, when Kievan Rus was formed.

The history of Rurik's reign is full of contradictions and inaccuracies. Some historians are of the opinion that he and his squad are of Scandinavian origin. Their opponents are supporters of the West Slavic version of the development of Rus'. In any case, the name of the term “Rus” in the 10th and 11th centuries was used in relation to the Scandinavians. After the Scandinavian Varangian came to power, the title “Kagan” gave way to “Grand Duke”.

The chronicles preserve scant information about the reign of Rurik. Therefore, praising his desire to expand and strengthen state borders, as well as strengthen cities, is quite problematic. Rurik is also remembered for the fact that he was able to successfully suppress the rebellion in Novgorod, thereby strengthening his authority. In any case, the reign of the founder of the dynasty of future princes of Kievan Rus made it possible to centralize power in the Old Russian state.

Reign of Oleg

After Rurik, power in Kievan Rus was to pass into the hands of his son Igor. However, due to the early age of the legal heir, Oleg became the ruler of the Old Russian state in 879. The new one turned out to be very militant and enterprising. From his first years in power, he sought to take control of the waterway to Greece. To realize this grandiose goal, Oleg in 882, thanks to his cunning plan, dealt with the princes Askold and Dir, capturing Kyiv. Thus, the strategic task of conquering the Slavic tribes who lived along the Dnieper was solved. Immediately after entering the captured city, Oleg declared that Kyiv was destined to become the mother of Russian cities.

The first ruler of Kievan Rus really liked the advantageous location of the settlement. The gentle banks of the Dnieper River were impregnable to invaders. In addition, Oleg carried out large-scale work to strengthen the defense structures of Kyiv. In 883-885, a number of military campaigns took place with positive results, as a result of which the territory of Kievan Rus was significantly expanded.

Domestic and foreign policy of Kievan Rus during the reign of Oleg the Prophet

A distinctive feature of the internal policy of the reign of Oleg the Prophet was the strengthening of the state treasury through the collection of tribute. In many ways, the budget of Kievan Rus was filled thanks to extortions from conquered tribes.

The period of Oleg's reign was marked by a successful foreign policy. In 907, a successful campaign against Byzantium took place. The trick of the Kyiv prince played a key role in the victory over the Greeks. The threat of destruction loomed over impregnable Constantinople after the ships of Kievan Rus were put on wheels and continued to move by land. Thus, the frightened rulers of Byzantium were forced to offer Oleg a huge tribute and provide generous benefits to the Russian merchants. After 5 years, a peace treaty was signed between Kievan Rus and the Greeks. After a successful campaign against Byzantium, legends began to form about Oleg. The Kyiv prince was credited with supernatural powers and a penchant for magic. Also, a grandiose victory in the domestic arena allowed Oleg to receive the nickname Prophetic. The Kyiv prince died in 912.

Prince Igor

After Oleg's death in 912, its legal heir, Igor, the son of Rurik, became the full-fledged ruler of Kievan Rus. The new prince was naturally distinguished by modesty and respect for his elders. That is why Igor was in no hurry to throw Oleg off the throne.

The reign of Prince Igor was remembered for numerous military campaigns. After ascending the throne, he had to suppress the rebellion of the Drevlyans, who wanted to stop obeying Kyiv. The successful victory over the enemy made it possible to take additional tribute from the rebels for the needs of the state.

The confrontation with the Pechenegs was carried out with varying success. In 941, Igor continued the foreign policy of his predecessors, declaring war on Byzantium. The cause of the war was the desire of the Greeks to free themselves from their obligations after the death of Oleg. The first military campaign ended in defeat, since Byzantium had carefully prepared. In 943, a new peace treaty was signed between the two states because the Greeks decided to avoid battle.

Igor died in November 945 while collecting tribute from the Drevlyans. The prince’s mistake was that he sent his squad to Kyiv, and he himself, with a small army, decided to profit additionally from his subjects. The indignant Drevlyans brutally dealt with Igor.

The reign of Vladimir the Great

In 980, Vladimir, the son of Svyatoslav, became the new ruler. Before taking the throne, he had to emerge victorious from the fraternal feud. However, after escaping “overseas”, Vladimir managed to gather a Varangian squad and avenge the death of his brother Yaropolk. The reign of the new prince of Kievan Rus turned out to be outstanding. Vladimir was also revered by his people.

The most important merit of the son of Svyatoslav is the famous Baptism of Rus', which took place in 988. In addition to numerous successes in the domestic arena, the prince became famous for his military campaigns. In 996, several fortress cities were built to protect the lands from enemies, one of which was Belgorod.

Baptism of Rus' (988)

Until 988, paganism flourished on the territory of the Old Russian state. However, Vladimir the Great decided to choose Christianity as the state religion, although representatives from the Pope, Islam and Judaism came to him.

The Baptism of Rus' in 988 still took place. Vladimir the Great, his close boyars and warriors, as well as ordinary people accepted Christianity. Those who resisted leaving paganism were threatened with all kinds of oppression. Thus, the Russian Church began in 988.

Reign of Yaroslav the Wise

One of the most famous princes of Kievan Rus was Yaroslav, who was not accidentally nicknamed the Wise. After the death of Vladimir the Great, turmoil gripped the Old Russian state. Blinded by the thirst for power, Svyatopolk sat on the throne, killing 3 of his brothers. Subsequently, Yaroslav gathered a huge army of Slavs and Varangians, after which in 1016 he went to Kyiv. In 1019 he managed to defeat Svyatopolk and ascend to the throne of Kievan Rus.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise turned out to be one of the most successful in the history of the Old Russian state. In 1036, he managed to finally unite the numerous lands of Kievan Rus, after the death of his brother Mstislav. Yaroslav's wife was the daughter of the Swedish king. Several cities and a stone wall were erected around Kyiv by order of the prince. The main city gates of the capital of the Old Russian state were called Golden.

Yaroslav the Wise died in 1054, when he was 76 years old. The reign of the Kyiv prince, 35 years long, is a golden time in the history of the Old Russian state.

Domestic and foreign policy of Kievan Rus during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise

The priority of Yaroslav's foreign policy was to increase the authority of Kievan Rus in the international arena. The prince managed to achieve a number of important military victories over the Poles and Lithuanians. In 1036 the Pechenegs were completely defeated. At the site of the fateful battle, the Church of St. Sophia appeared. During the reign of Yaroslav, a military conflict with Byzantium took place for the last time. The result of the confrontation was the signing of a peace treaty. Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav, married the Greek princess Anna.

In the domestic arena, the literacy of the population of Kievan Rus increased significantly. In many cities of the state, schools appeared in which boys were trained in church work. Various Greek books were translated into Old Church Slavonic. During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, the first collection of laws was published. “Russian Truth” became the main asset of numerous reforms of the Kyiv prince.

The beginning of the collapse of Kievan Rus

What are the reasons for the collapse of Kievan Rus? Like many early medieval powers, its collapse turned out to be completely natural. An objective and progressive process took place associated with the increase in boyar land ownership. In the principalities of Kievan Rus, nobility appeared, in whose interests it was more profitable to rely on a local prince than to support a single ruler in Kyiv. According to many historians, at first territorial fragmentation was not the reason for the collapse of Kievan Rus.

In 1097, on the initiative of Vladimir Monomakh, in order to stop strife, the process of creating regional dynasties was launched. By the middle of the 12th century, the Old Russian state was divided into 13 principalities, which differed in area, military power and cohesion.

Decline of Kyiv

In the 12th century, there was a significant decline in Kyiv, which turned from a metropolis into an ordinary principality. Largely due to the Crusades, international trade communications were transformed. Therefore, economic factors significantly undermined the power of the city. In 1169, Kyiv was first stormed and plundered as a result of princely strife.

The final blow to Kievan Rus was dealt by the Mongol invasion. The scattered principality did not represent a formidable force for numerous nomads. In 1240 Kyiv suffered a crushing defeat.

Population of Kievan Rus

There is no information left about the exact number of inhabitants of the Old Russian state. According to the historian, the total population of Kievan Rus in the 9th - 12th centuries was approximately 7.5 million people. About 1 million people lived in cities.

The lion's share of the inhabitants of Kievan Rus in the 9th-12th centuries were free peasants. Over time, more and more people became stinkers. Although they had freedom, they were obliged to obey the prince. The free population of Kievan Rus, due to debts, captivity and other reasons, could become servants who were powerless slaves.

On the territory occupied by the Slavic tribes, two Russian state centers were formed: Kyiv and Novgorod, each of which controlled a certain part of the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”
In 862, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Novgorodians, wanting to stop the internecine struggle that had begun, invited the Varangian princes to rule Novgorod. The Varangian prince Rurik, who arrived at the request of the Novgorodians, became the founder of the Russian princely dynasty.
The date of formation of the ancient Russian state is conventionally considered to be 882, when Prince Oleg, who seized power in Novgorod after the death of Rurik, undertook a campaign against Kyiv. Having killed Askold and Dir, the rulers there, he united the northern and southern lands into a single state.
The legend about the calling of the Varangian princes served as the basis for the creation of the so-called Norman theory of the emergence of the ancient Russian state. According to this theory, the Russians turned to the Normans (as they called
or immigrants from Scandinavia) in order for them to restore order on Russian soil. In response, three princes came to Rus': Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. After the death of the brothers, Rurik united the entire Novgorod land under his rule.
The basis for such a theory was the position rooted in the works of German historians that the Eastern Slavs had no prerequisites for the formation of a state.
Subsequent studies refuted this theory, since the determining factor in the process of formation of any state is objective internal conditions, without which it is impossible to create it by any external forces. On the other hand, the story about the foreign origin of power is quite typical for medieval chronicles and is found in the ancient histories of many European states.
After the unification of the Novgorod and Kyiv lands into a single early feudal state, the Kiev prince began to be called the “Grand Duke”. He ruled with the help of a council consisting of other princes and warriors. The collection of tribute was carried out by the Grand Duke himself with the help of the senior squad (the so-called boyars, men). The prince had a younger squad (gridi, youths). The oldest form of collecting tribute was “polyudye”. In late autumn, the prince traveled around the lands under his control, collecting tribute and administering justice. There was no clearly established norm for the delivery of tribute. The prince spent the entire winter traveling around the lands and collecting tribute. In the summer, the prince and his retinue usually went on military campaigns, subjugating the Slavic tribes and fighting with their neighbors.
Gradually, more and more of the princely warriors became land owners. They ran their own farms, exploiting the labor of the peasants they enslaved. Gradually, such warriors became stronger and could in the future resist the Grand Duke both with their own squads and with their economic strength.
The social and class structure of the early feudal state of Rus' was unclear. The class of feudal lords was varied in composition. These were the Grand Duke and his entourage, representatives of the senior squad, the prince’s inner circle - the boyars, local princes.
The dependent population included serfs (people who lost their freedom as a result of sale, debt, etc.), servants (those who lost their freedom as a result of captivity), purchases (peasants who received a “kupa” from the boyar - a loan of money, grain or draft power) etc. The bulk of the rural population were free community members-smerds. As their lands were seized, they turned into feudal dependent people.

Reign of Oleg

After the capture of Kyiv in 882, Oleg subjugated the Drevlyans, Northerners, Radimichi, Croats, and Tiverts. Oleg fought successfully with the Khazars. In 907 he besieged the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, and in 911 he concluded a profitable trade agreement with it.

Reign of Igor

After Oleg's death, Rurik's son Igor became the Grand Duke of Kyiv. He subjugated the Eastern Slavs who lived between the Dniester and the Danube, fought with Constantinople, and was the first of the Russian princes to clash with the Pechenegs. In 945, he was killed in the land of the Drevlyans while trying to collect tribute from them a second time.

Princess Olga, reign of Svyatoslav

Igor's widow Olga brutally suppressed the Drevlyan uprising. But at the same time, she determined a fixed amount of tribute, organized places for collecting tribute - camps and graveyards. Thus, a new form of collecting tribute was established - the so-called “cart”. Olga visited Constantinople, where she converted to Christianity. She ruled during the childhood of her son Svyatoslav.
In 964, Svyatoslav came of age to rule Russia. Under him, until 969, the state was largely ruled by Princess Olga herself, since her son spent almost his entire life on campaigns. In 964-966. Svyatoslav liberated the Vyatichi from the power of the Khazars and subjugated them to Kyiv, defeated the Volga Bulgaria, the Khazar Kaganate and took the capital of the Kaganate, the city of Itil. In 967 he invaded Bulgaria and
settled at the mouth of the Danube, in Pereyaslavets, and in 971, in alliance with the Bulgarians and Hungarians, he began to fight with Byzantium. The war was unsuccessful for him, and he was forced to make peace with the Byzantine emperor. On the way back to Kyiv, Svyatoslav Igorevich died at the Dnieper rapids in a battle with the Pechenegs, who had been warned by the Byzantines about his return.

Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich

After the death of Svyatoslav, a struggle for rule in Kyiv began between his sons. Vladimir Svyatoslavovich emerged as the winner. By campaigning against the Vyatichi, Lithuanians, Radimichi, and Bulgarians, Vladimir strengthened the possessions of Kievan Rus. To organize defense against the Pechenegs, he established several defensive lines with a system of fortresses.
To strengthen the princely power, Vladimir attempted to transform folk pagan beliefs into a state religion and for this purpose established the cult of the main Slavic warrior god Perun in Kyiv and Novgorod. However, this attempt was unsuccessful, and he turned to Christianity. This religion was declared the only all-Russian religion. Vladimir himself converted to Christianity from Byzantium. The adoption of Christianity not only equalized Kievan Rus with neighboring states, but also had a huge impact on the culture, life and customs of ancient Rus'.

Yaroslav the Wise

After the death of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, a fierce struggle for power began between his sons, ending with the victory of Yaroslav Vladimirovich in 1019. Under him, Rus' became one of the strongest states in Europe. In 1036, Russian troops inflicted a major defeat on the Pechenegs, after which their raids on Rus' ceased.
Under Yaroslav Vladimirovich, nicknamed the Wise, a uniform judicial code for all of Rus' began to take shape - “Russian Truth”. This was the first document regulating the relationship of princely warriors among themselves and with city residents, the procedure for resolving various disputes and compensation for damage.
Important reforms under Yaroslav the Wise were carried out in the church organization. Majestic cathedrals of St. Sophia were built in Kyiv, Novgorod, and Polotsk, which was supposed to show the church independence of Rus'. In 1051, the Kiev Metropolitan was elected not in Constantinople, as before, but in Kyiv by a council of Russian bishops. Church tithes were established. The first monasteries appear. The first saints were canonized - the brothers Princes Boris and Gleb.
Kievan Rus under Yaroslav the Wise reached its greatest power. Many of the largest states in Europe sought her support, friendship and kinship.

Feudal fragmentation in Rus'

However, Yaroslav's heirs - Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod - were unable to maintain the unity of Rus'. The civil strife between the brothers led to the weakening of Kievan Rus, which was taken advantage of by a new formidable enemy who appeared on the southern borders of the state - the Polovtsians. These were nomads who displaced the Pechenegs who had previously lived here. In 1068, the united troops of the Yaroslavich brothers were defeated by the Polovtsians, which led to an uprising in Kyiv.
A new uprising in Kyiv, which broke out after the death of the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich in 1113, forced the Kyiv nobility to call Vladimir Monomakh, the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, a powerful and authoritative prince, to reign. Vladimir was the inspirer and direct leader of military campaigns against the Polovtsians in 1103, 1107 and 1111. Having become the prince of Kyiv, he suppressed the uprising, but at the same time was forced to somewhat soften the position of the lower classes through legislation. This is how the charter of Vladimir Monomakh arose, who, without encroaching on the foundations of feudal relations, sought to somewhat alleviate the situation of peasants who fell into debt bondage. The “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh is imbued with the same spirit, where he advocated the establishment of peace between feudal lords and peasants.
The reign of Vladimir Monomakh was a time of strengthening of Kievan Rus. He managed to unite significant territories of the ancient Russian state under his rule and stop princely civil strife. However, after his death, feudal fragmentation in Rus' intensified again.
The reason for this phenomenon lay in the very course of economic and political development of Rus' as a feudal state. The strengthening of large landholdings - fiefs, in which subsistence farming dominated, led to the fact that they became independent production complexes associated with their immediate environment. Cities became economic and political centers of fiefdoms. The feudal lords became complete masters of their land, independent of the central government. The victories of Vladimir Monomakh over the Cumans, which temporarily eliminated the military threat, also contributed to the disunity of individual lands.
Kievan Rus disintegrated into independent principalities, each of which, in terms of the size of its territory, could be compared with the average Western European kingdom. These were Chernigov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Pereyaslavl, Galician, Volyn, Ryazan, Rostov-Suzdal, Kiev principalities, Novgorod land. Each of the principalities not only had its own internal order, but also pursued an independent foreign policy.
The process of feudal fragmentation opened the way for strengthening the system of feudal relations. However, it turned out to have several negative consequences. The division into independent principalities did not stop the princely strife, and the principalities themselves began to split up among the heirs. In addition, a struggle began within the principalities between the princes and local boyars. Each side strove for maximum power, calling on foreign troops to its side to fight the enemy. But most importantly, the defense capability of Rus' was weakened, which the Mongol conquerors soon took advantage of.

V.M. Suverov

RUSSIA IX – XX centuries

Barnaul 2012

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"Altai State Technical University named after. I.I.Polzunov" (AltSTU)

V.M. Suverov

RUSSIAN HISTORY

IX – XX centuries

Tutorial

Third edition, revised and expanded

Barnaul 2012

BBK 63.3 / 2 Ros / I 73

Suverov V.M. History of Russia 9th – 20th centuries: Textbook / Alt. state tech. University named after I.I.Polzunova. - Barnaul: AltGTU Publishing House, 2012 - 307 p.

The textbook provides a generalized picture of the history of Russia from the 9th to the 20th centuries, taking into account modern achievements of historical science. The presentation is characterized by maximum conciseness and accessibility. The textbook is addressed to university students and teachers, as well as those interested in Russian history.

Approved by the Editorial and Publishing Council of the Altai State Technical University. I.I. Polzunov as a teaching aid

Reviewers:

Associate Professor, Department of History of the Fatherland, Altai State Technical University, Ph.D. n. O.E.Konteva; Associate Professor of the Department of History of the Fatherland Altai State Technical University, Ph.D. Yu.P. Shvets

ISBN 5-7568-0178-2

© Altai State Technical University named after. I.I.Polzunova, 2012

Preface

The study of humanities is an important part of the general educational and worldview training of modern specialists and contributes to the intellectual development of the individual and the development of creative thinking. History is one of the most important social sciences.

History is a concrete science that requires precise knowledge of the chronology (dates) of facts and events. In comparison with other humanities that study any one aspect of social life, history is characterized by the fact that the subject of its knowledge is the entire totality of the life of society throughout the entire historical process. Many problems of our time, which are dealt with by economists, sociologists, political scientists, ethnologists and other specialists in the humanitarian cycle, can be solved only on the basis of a historical approach and historical analysis, on the basis of the work done by historians to collect, systematize and generalize a huge set of facts that make it possible to identify trends in social life. development.

History is one of the oldest sciences, about 2500 years old. Its founder is considered to be the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), who was the first to write a book called “History”. The ancients valued history very much and called it the “teacher of life,” and the historian was respectfully called the “transmitter of time.”

Over its more than thousand-year history, the Russian state has gone through a difficult path of development, which was influenced by many external and internal factors. Having emerged at the junction of Europe and Asia, incorporating the features of both the West and the East, Russia represents a unique European civilization. In order to assess Russia's place in global development, it is necessary to trace the historical path that it has passed from its inception to the present.

Many scientific works have been written on the history of Russia by foreign and Russian historians. Among our compatriots, outstanding scientists and historians N.M. Karamzin, S.M. Solovyov, V.0. Klyuchevsky, S.F. Platonov and others occupy an exceptional place. During the Soviet period, such famous scientists as B.D. Grekov, B.A. Rybakov, L.N. Gumilyov and others devoted their works to the history of Russia.

When writing the textbook, new historiographic data published over the past few years were used, as well as materials from those authors who have not been published in our country for many years. The author hopes that this textbook will help the reader in understanding the history of Russia in the 9th - 20th centuries, will be a complement, and in some cases a counter-argument to traditional ideas about the country's recent past.

1 Medieval period of Russian history. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 19th century.

1.1 Kievan Rus (YI-XIII)

The place of the Middle Ages in the world historical process

An important link in the history of world and Russian civilization is the Middle Ages. Chronological framework of the Middle Ages: Y-XYII centuries. In Russian historiography, the lower boundary of the Middle Ages is traditionally considered to be the Y century AD. – the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when ancient civilization became a thing of the past; upper - XYII century, when the bourgeois revolution took place in England (1640-1660).

From Y to XYII centuries. Certain changes were taking place in the agrarian society of Western Europe. During this period, the nature of production relations, the social structure of society, and the political appearance of European countries have changed. Therefore, in domestic historiography, the history of the Middle Ages is usually divided into three main periods, reflecting the basic patterns of the formation, flourishing and decline of the agrarian society of Europe.

During the early Middle Ages (Y – mid-XI centuries) the formation of the feudal system took place. In European countries during this period: the process of the emergence and development of feudal land ownership was underway, classes of landowners and peasants dependent on them were formed, early feudal states were created in the form of large but fragile state associations (similar to the empire of Charlemagne).

The church played a major role in Western European countries. The Church illuminated the existing system with “divine” authority, instilled humility and unquestioning obedience to the authorities in the masses, waged a tough fight against heresies (deviations from the norms of the dominant religion, contrary to church dogmas) and any manifestation of free-thinking. Not a single major event took place without the participation of the pope and the episcopate.

The period of the classical Middle Ages (XI-XY centuries) was characterized by the flourishing of agrarian society in Western Europe: cities appeared and developed, a secular urban culture was formed, and class-representative monarchies were formed. At the end of the period, a new culture emerged in the cities of Italy - the culture of the Renaissance or humanism, reflecting the views of the early bourgeois elements of the city.

Late Middle Ages XYI-XYII centuries. The content of this period: the decomposition of feudalism, the emergence and development of the prerequisites necessary for the transition to the capitalist mode of production. In the political field, the formation of national states took place. Absolute monarchies are replacing co-representative monarchies.

Over the centuries, medieval Europe developed extremely slowly, being under strict church-ideological tutelage. XII-XYII centuries. medieval Europe went through a process of reconstruction of all aspects of the social system, which was called modernization. Modernization in Europe included such stages as the Renaissance, the Reformation, the era of colonial wars and geographical discoveries, during which additional resources for rapid development were acquired.

IN In the course of European modernization, the following tasks were solved:

1. In the social field - the individualization of society, a clear specialization of people, public and state institutions by type of activity. The fate of a person, his place in society should be determined by his qualifications, education, business qualities, and diligence.

2. In the economic field - the spread of private property, market relations, a gradual transition to factory, industrial production, creation of a self-sustaining (market) economy.

3. In the political sphere - the transition to a secular state, the introduction of separation of powers, the inclusion of the population in the political process (through elections, party activities, etc.).

4. In the cultural and spiritual fields - rationalization of consciousness, secularization (the transition from church to secular education), the spread of literacy, freedom of thought and creativity, religious tolerance and freedom of conscience.

The European version of modernization is considered classic, and similar processes in other countries are compared with it. However, in practice, different countries, depending on the civilizational characteristics of society and the historical era, choose different modernization options and, naturally, obtain different results.

And as a result of the modernization of medieval Europe, the gap in the levels of development with the East in the political and socio-economic fields increased. The West, having gained a colossal pace of development, exploiting the entire world as a colonial periphery, has come far ahead. The difference is in pace: the first university in Europe that provided secular education appeared in the 12th century. In the East, a similar educational institution arose six centuries later.

Settlement of the Eastern Slavs

The emergence of statehood among the Slavs dates back to the early Middle Ages. Before the emergence of the state of Rus', there were no stable state formations on the territory of Eastern Europe (excluding the Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea region). The nomads of the Black Sea steppes - the Scythians in the second century - reached the level of statehood.

half 1 thousand BC, but their power fell under the onslaught of other Iranian-speaking Sarmatian nomads.

This was the time when the geopolitical structure of Europe, which included the Roman Empire in the south and west of the continent and the barbarian tribes (Germanic, Slavic, Baltic, Finno-Ugric, Iranian) in the north and east, went into the past. The new ethnic and political map of Europe was formed as a result of the migration movement of these tribes, called the Great Migration of Peoples (IV-VIII centuries). The main characters in it were the Germans and Slavs.

The Germans conquered the territories of the Roman Empire in Western Europe. Here in the V-VII centuries. The so-called “barbarian” kingdoms arose (Frankish, Visigothic, Lombard, etc.), within which a feudal society began to form based on the synthesis of elements of the decaying tribal system of the Germans and the remnants of ancient social relations.

Before the Great Migration, the Slavs apparently occupied the territory from the Upper Oder to the Middle Dnieper. The settlement of the Slavs took place in the VI-VIII centuries. in three main directions: to the south (to the Balkan Peninsula), to the east and north along the East European Plain and to the west, to the middle Danube and the interfluve region of the Oder and Elbe. The result of the settlement was the division of the Slavs into three branches: southern, eastern and western. During the era of settlement among the Slavs, the tribal system was destroyed, and territorial and political communities were formed - tribal principalities and their unions. The chronicle has preserved the legend of the reign in the 6th century. in the Middle Dnieper region the brothers Kiya, Shchek, Khoriv.

The chronicler noted that there were similar reigns in other tribal unions, naming more than a dozen tribal associations of the Eastern Slavs. Such a tribal union included 100-200 separate tribes. Near Kiev, on the right bank of the Dnieper lived the glades, along the upper reaches of the Dnieper and along the Western Dvina - the Krivichi, along the banks of the Pripyat - the Drevlyans, along the Dniester, Prut, the lower reaches of the Dnieper and along the northern coast of the Black Sea - the Ulichs and Tivertsy, along the Oka - the Vyatichi, in the western regions of modern Ukraine - the Volynians, north from Pripyat to the Western Dvina - the Dregovichi, along the left bank of the Dnieper and along the Desna - the northerners, along the Sozh River, a tributary of the Dnieper - the Radimichi, around Lake Ilmen - the Ilmen Slavs.

The chronicler noted the uneven development of individual East Slavic associations. He shows the glades as the most developed and cultural. To the north of them ran a kind of border, beyond which the tribes lived in a “beastly manner.” According to the chronicler, the land of the glades was also called “Rus”. One of the explanations for the origin of the term “Rus” put forward by historians is associated with the name of the Ros River, a tributary of the Dnieper, which gave the name to the tribe on whose territory the Polyans lived.

Formation of the Old Russian State

The formation of a state among the Eastern Slavs was a natural result of a long process of decomposition of the tribal system and the transition to a class society.

The process of property and social stratification among the community members led to the separation of the most prosperous part from among them. The tribal nobility and the wealthy part of the community, subjugating the mass of ordinary community members, need to maintain their dominance in state structures.

The embryonic form of statehood was represented by East Slavic tribal unions, which united into super-unions, albeit fragile ones. One of these associations was, apparently, a union of tribes led by Prince Kiy (VI century). There is information about a certain Russian prince Bravlin, who fought in the Khazar-Byzantine Crimea in the 9th-9th centuries, marching from Surozh to Korchev (from Sudak to Kerch). Eastern historians talk about the existence, on the eve of the formation of the Old Russian state, of three large associations of Slavic tribes: Cuiaba, Slavia and Artania. Kuyaba or Kuyava was then called the region around Kyiv. Slavia occupied territory in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen. Its center was Novgorod. The location of Artania, the third major association of the Slavs, has not been precisely established.

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Russian princely dynasty originates in Novgorod. In 859, the northern Slavic tribes, who were then paying tribute to the Varangians, or Normans (according to most historians, they came from Scandinavia), drove them overseas. However, soon after these events, internecine struggle began in Novgorod. To stop the clashes, the Novgorodians decided to invite the Varangian princes as a force standing above the warring factions. In 862, Prince Rurik and his two brothers were called to Rus' by the Novgorodians, marking the beginning of the Russian princely dynasty. Rurik began to reign in Novgorod, Sineus - in Beloozero, and Truvor - in Izborsk.

After the death of his brothers, Rurik began to reign alone. When Rurik died (879), the governor Oleg, together with Rurik’s young son Igor, raised the tribes along the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” on a large campaign to the south. The Merya, Varangians, Slovenes, Krivichi, all took part in the campaign and in 882 they captured Kyiv. This marked the beginning of the formation of the Old Russian state with its center in Kyiv.

Oleg liked Kyiv so much that he designated it as his residence and called it “The Mother of Russian Cities.” Why did you call it that? Kyiv was the southernmost city on the Dnieper and adjacent to the steppe. Therefore, all those merchants who brought goods from Rus' to the south and east gathered in Kyiv.

In short, Kyiv was a trading center for all of Rus' at that time: other Russian trading cities depended on it for their trade turnover. By-

It is clear why the strongest Russian princes preferred Kyiv to any other city and why Kyiv became the capital of the state formed by these princes.

The sources trace the establishment and strengthening of the power of the Kyiv princes over the tribal unions of the Slavs. By the time of Svyatoslav (957-972) the princes of the tribes were finished. Their power was reduced to the level of the herders of the Prince of Kyiv.

The territories within the framework of a single early feudal state, ruled by princes-vassals of the Kyiv ruler, received the name volost. The state as a whole in the 10th century. was called “Rus” and “Russian Land”. This structure of the state took shape towards the end of the 10th century, during the era of the Kiev reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, who placed his sons in the nine largest centers of Rus': in Novgorod (the land of the Slovenes) - Vysheslav, later Yaroslav, in Polotsk (Krivichi) - Izyaslav, in Turov (Dregovichi) - Svyatopolk, in the land of the Drevlyans - Svyatoslav, in Vladimir-Volynsky (Volynians) - Vsevolod, Smolensk (Krivichi) - Stanislav, Rostov (land of the Finnish-speaking Merya tribe) - Yaroslav, later Boris, in Murom (Finnish-speaking Muroma) - Gleb, Tmutarakan (Russian possession on the Taman Peninsula) - Mstislava. In addition to these lands of the East Slavic and partly Finnish-speaking peoples, who made up the territory of the Old Russian state, in the 9th-10th centuries. a wide non-Slavic periphery formed from Finnish-speaking and Baltic-speaking tribes, which were not directly part of Kievan Rus, but were obliged to pay tribute to the Russian princes. It included ethnic groups that lived along the northwestern, northern and northeastern borders of Rus': Lithuania, Curonians, Semigallians, Livs, Chud (Estonians), Ezh (a tribe in Eastern Finland), Pechers, Perm, Cheremis (Mari), Mordovians, etc. .

Norman theory

In historical science on the issue of state formation among the Eastern Slavs from the XYIII century. Passions are running high. Thus, a year before his death in 1724, Peter I signed a decree on the creation of an Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, recruiting scientists from Germany to join it. In the 30-60s of the XYIII century. German scientists Johann Gottfried Bayer and Gerard Friedrich Miller, who worked at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, in their scientific works for the first time tried to prove that the Old Russian state was created by the Varangians. They laid the foundation for the Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state. An extreme manifestation of the concept is the assertion that the Slavs, due to their inferiority, could not create a state, and then, without foreign leadership, were unable to govern it.

M.V. resolutely opposed this theory. Lomonosov, who was commissioned by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna to write the history of Russia. Since then, the struggle between Normanists and anti-Normanists has not subsided.

The Normanists are unanimous on two fundamental issues. Firstly, they believe that the Normans achieved dominance over the Eastern Slavs through external military conquest or through peaceful conquest (an invitation to reign); Secondly, they believe that the word “Rus” is of Norman origin.

Anti-Normanists believe that the term “Rus” is of pre-Varang origin and dates back to very ancient times. There are passages in The Tale of Bygone Years that contradict the legend about the calling of three brothers to reign. For 852 there is an indication that during the reign of Michael in Byzantium there was already Russian land. In the Laurentian and Ipatiev Chronicles it is said that all northern tribes, including Rus', invited the Varangians to reign.

For more than two centuries now, there have been disputes between representatives of the Norman and anti-Norman (Slavic) schools in history. The scientific inconsistency of the Norman theory is obvious, since the determining factor in the process of state formation is the presence of internal prerequisites, and not the actions of individual, even outstanding, individuals.

If the Varangian legend is not fiction (as most historians believe), the story about the calling of the Varangians testifies only to the Norman origin of the princely dynasty. The version about the foreign origin of power was quite typical for the Middle Ages.

Socio-political system of Kievan Rus in the 9th-10th centuries.

Political system of ancient Rus' IX-X centuries. characterized as an early feudal monarchy. The head of the state was the Prince of Kiev, called the Grand Duke. The prince ruled with the help of a council of other princes and warriors. Somewhat later, this form of government entered the history of Rus' under the name of the boyar duma. The collection of tribute and court fees was carried out by princely warriors.

The prince did not rule and rule completely. Princely power was limited to elements of surviving popular self-government. The people's assembly was active in the 9th-11th centuries. The custom of veche meetings has existed since ancient times in clan unions and communities. When the Kiev dynasty subjugated the volosts, the activities of the veche assemblies naturally narrowed: they began to be in charge only of their local community affairs.

The process of formation of the main classes of feudal society in Kievan Rus is poorly reflected in the sources. This is one of the reasons why the question of the nature and class basis of the Old Russian state is debatable. The presence of different economic structures in the economy gives grounds for a number of experts to evaluate the Old Russian state as an early class one, in which the feudal structure existed along with the slaveholding and patriarchal ones.

Briefly about the article: Continuing the theme of Slavic fantasy - a detailed study by Igor Kray about how our distant ancestors went to war. The development of weapons, tactics and strategy, the internal structure of the army in the historical period from the 9th to the 15th centuries. And most importantly, as always in our “arsenal” articles, all facts are confirmed by history.

Who will come to us with a sword...

Armed forces of Ancient Rus'

In this time of ours, there is nothing left of either the Bulgarians, or the Burtases, or the Khazars. The fact is that the Russians invaded all of them and took away all these regions from them...

Ibn Hawqal, 10th century Arab geographer

Unfortunately, a modern resident of Russia imagines medieval Europe much better than Rus' of the same period. This is because almost all major ideas about the past are shaped by popular culture. And now it is imported from us. As a result, “Russian fantasy” differs from “non-Russian” fantasy often only by inclusions of “national flavor” in the form of Baba Yaga or the Nightingale the Robber.

By the way, epics should be taken more seriously. They contain a lot of interesting and reliable information about how and with what Russian soldiers fought. For example, the fabulous heroes - Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich - are real historical figures. Although, their adventures, of course, are slightly embellished by popular rumor.

Rus' 9-10 centuries

In the characteristically unpredictable Russian history, perhaps only one point does not raise any doubts. One way or another, in the 9th century the Russian state arose, and its history began. What was the Rus' of the era like? Oleg, Igor And Svyatoslav?

In the 9th and 10th centuries, feudal relations in Rus' were just beginning to take shape. The peasants (except for a small number of captive slaves) remained free, and their duties to the state were limited to a modest quitrent. The tribute in furs (which the prince had to collect personally, traveling around the estate) did not provide funds for the maintenance of a large squad. The main force of the Russian armies remained the militias of peasants, obliged to go on campaign at the first princely word.

However, one could hardly talk about duty here. Rather, it was the prince who was obliged to regularly lead his subjects on raids on their neighbors... On violent raids! So what to do? In the early Middle Ages, robbery was the most profitable, albeit somewhat one-sided, form of trade.

Ordinary soldiers went on a campaign with spears and “huge”, “difficult to carry”, as the Byzantines defined it, shields. The small ax was used both for combat and for construction plows (see below). In addition, each fighter certainly had a bow. Hunting in Rus' in those days was still a very necessary trade for survival. The princely warriors, naturally, had chain mail, swords and battle axes. But there were only a few hundred such warriors.

Despite the far from brilliant weapons and training of the troops, the Russian state showed itself to be quite strong already in the first century of its existence. Although, of course, only in its “weight category”. Thus, the campaigns of the Kyiv princes against Khazar Khaganate led to the complete defeat of this state, which once collected tribute from the tribes of southern Rus'. However, raids against the still powerful Byzantium tended to end disastrously. Army Askold, Igor And Svyatoslav were destroyed. Oleg, according to the Russian chronicle, who nailed the shield to the gates of Constantinople, the Greeks will not remember at all. Perhaps he nailed the shield to the gate at night.

On the other hand, if one can still argue about the reality of Oleg’s exploits, then the fantastic size of his army is 80-100 thousand! - there is no doubt. In the same way, the Greek reports about Svyatoslav having 60 thousand soldiers are not true.

Only rich powers with large populations can send huge armies on long campaigns. Rus' in the 9-10 centuries did not satisfy either the first or second conditions. Despite the fact that already in Oleg’s time it occupied a worthy place on the map, half as many people lived in its expanses as, for example, in the British Isles. The Russian chronicle speaks of only 10 thousand soldiers of Svyatoslav.

To defeat an enemy, you must first reach him. And the roads in Rus' in the Middle Ages were, of course, bad. But they are long.

Due to the need to cover long distances, walking on foot was not popular in Rus'. The infantry moved on low horses, and even more often along rivers on plows. Therefore, in Rus', the foot army was often called the “ship’s army.”

Plows - boats with a capacity of about 30 people - were dragged overland from river to river. If this turned out to be difficult, the old plows were abandoned and new ones were built. The construction of the plow by the crew took one week.

If the main force of the army was the cavalry, then the campaign was usually postponed to winter. The army moved along the ice of the rivers, transformed by frost from natural obstacles (there were no bridges) into smooth highways. The heroic horses easily trampled down the deep snow, and the infantry rode behind them on sleighs.

However, especially in the southern part of the country, soldiers sometimes had to travel on foot. And in this regard, it is worth mentioning short boots with a curved toe and high heels. Contrary to the belief of many authors of “Russian fantasy” (starting with the animators of the cartoon “The Golden Cockerel”), no one in Rus' wore such shoes. Riding boots had high heels. Even in the Middle Ages, boots of the most ordinary style were used for walking on foot.

Rus' 11th-13th centuries

Just as it happened in Europe, as feudal relations developed in Rus', an increasing number of peasants were attached to the land. Their labor was used to support the boyar and princely squads. The number of trained and well-armed warriors thus increased.

Peasant militias quickly lost their importance. But in the 12th and 13th centuries, citizen militias began to play a more prominent role.

When the number of squads became comparable to the size of the militia, the squads took up a position on the flanks of the regiment. This is how “ regimental row” from already three regiments: “ right hand”, “big" And " left hand" In a separate one - “ advanced” - the regiment and the archers covering the battle formation soon stood out.

In the 12th century, warriors stopped dismounting altogether. From that time on, cavalry became the main force of the Russian armies. The heavily armed horsemen were supported by mounted riflemen. It could be like Cossacks, and just hired Cumans.

The Russian knight of the 13th century wore chain mail, over which scales or leather armor with iron plates were put on. The warrior's head was protected by a conical helmet with a nosepiece or mask. In general, the “armor class” of warriors was not only very respectable for its time, but also surpassed that of European knights. The heroic horse, however, was somewhat smaller in size than the European destrie, but the difference between them was insignificant.

On the other hand, the Russian knight sat on his huge horse in an Asian style - in a backless saddle with high-mounted stirrups. In this regard, protection on the legs by the Russians, as a rule, was not used. The advantage of the Asian seat was the greater mobility of the rider. Chainmail stockings would have been a hindrance.

The Asian seat allowed the rider to effectively use the sword and bow, but did not provide sufficient stability for fighting with spears. So the main weapons of the warriors were not spears, but swords and clubs. In addition, unlike the European knight, the knight also carried with him a throwing weapon: a bow with a pair of darts.

Russian weapons in the 12-13 centuries, in general, were better than European ones. Nevertheless, even then, “their” knight in close combat was somewhat stronger than “our” knight. The European horseman had the opportunity to be the first to use his longer spear. But the Russian cavalry was superior to the European cavalry in mobility, variety of combat techniques and ability to interact with infantry.

The warriors of the knights were significantly superior in number. True, only in relation to the population of the country. Novgorod land, where only about 250 thousand Slavs lived, had a squad of 1,500 horsemen. Ryazan Principality- far from the richest in Rus' - with a population of less than 400 thousand, it fielded 2,000 horsemen in full armor. That is, in terms of military strength, Novgorod or Ryazan in the 13th century were approximately equal to a country like England.

The large number of heavy cavalry in Rus' is due to the fact that in the 11th-13th centuries Rus' became a predominantly trading country. Despite the fact that no more people lived in the Russian principalities than in England alone, the urban population of Rus' was larger than the urban population of all Western Europe. By the beginning of the 12th century, Kyiv had a population of 100 thousand. Only Constantinople could compare with it.

The great importance of cities in Rus' is well illustrated by the fact that all Russian principalities were named after their main cities: Moscow, Tver, Ryazan, Novgorod. France, for example, has never been called the “kingdom of Paris.”

In the 12th-13th centuries, infantry in Rus' remained of great importance in the northern principalities, where forests and swamps often impeded the actions of cavalry. Thus, the inhabitants of the Novgorod land not only provided funds for the maintenance of the squads of the prince and the mayor, but also armed themselves.

A significant difference between the Russian medieval infantry and the European infantry was that until the 17th century peaks were not known in Rus'. In the European medieval phalanx, pikemen stood behind a row of shields, and only then spearmen. In Rus', warriors with spears, spears And Sulitsa stood immediately behind the defenders.

The absence of pikes significantly weakened the infantry, since the spears could only provide some protection against light cavalry. The wedge of the crusaders during the Battle of the Ice was stopped not by the foot militia of Novgorod, but by the peculiarities of local geography. The knights were prevented from flying from the ice of the lake to the shore by a low (only about 1.5 meters) but slippery cliff. The Germans either underestimated the steepness of the slope, or did not notice it at all, since their view was blocked by the Cossacks who drove out onto the ice.

The main task of the Russian infantry in the 12th and 13th centuries was not the fight against cavalry in the field, but the defense of fortresses. Military operations on the rivers, where, naturally, the cavalry could not threaten the infantry, did not lose their importance. When defending the walls, as in the “river battles,” the battle was fought primarily by throwing. Therefore, the main weapon of the Russian infantryman was a longbow or crossbow.

Muscovy 14-16 centuries

The tactics of the Russian armies constantly became more complicated, and already in the 12th-13th centuries it began to provide for the division of the battle order into 5-6 regiments. From the front, the battle formation was covered by 1-2 “advanced” regiments of horse archers. The “right hand”, “left hand” and “large” regiments could consist of both infantry and cavalry. Moreover, if a large regiment consisted of infantry, then it, in turn, was divided into smaller ones.” city ​​regiments”, each with his own squad of archers. And behind him there was also a strong cavalry detachment, covering the princely banner and serving as a reserve.

Finally, in the third line, behind one of the flanks remained “ sentry" or " ambush"Regiment This has always been the best cavalry.

In the 14th century, Rus' was going through one of the most difficult periods of its history. The devastation of the country by civil strife, the invasion of the Mongols and the monstrous plague epidemic could not but affect its armed forces. The princes' squads became noticeably smaller. Accordingly, the role of the infantry increased. And she no longer had such weapons as before. The protective equipment of a foot warrior was now most often limited to a shirt lined with felt and hemp at the chest.

The cavalry changed even more. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the protective equipment of the Russian cavalry became noticeably lighter. The horses themselves became twice as light. Preparing for offensive action, Dmitry Donskoy transferred his squad to short but hardy Trans-Volga horses.

The lightening of protective equipment was only partly due to the insufficient “carrying capacity” of horses and the general economic decline. The Russians never used full knightly armor, although the princes, of course, could afford it. Hard armor was not of interest to Russian soldiers, since in Rus' the transition from swords to sabers was completed already in the 15th century.

In battle with long knightly spears, mobility was not of great importance. It did not play a decisive role in combat with heavy swords or axes. But on sabers... In saber fighting, mobility was so important that in the 18th and 19th centuries, hussars even wore a jacket (“mentik”) only on one shoulder in order to completely free their right hand. A warrior could only effectively use a saber wearing light and flexible armor.

By the middle of the 15th century, the Moscow army again became predominantly cavalry. The heavy cavalry consisted of nobles and them serfs(as squires were called in Rus'). Light cavalry was fielded by the Cossacks and allied Tatars.

As before, chain mail was most often used as protective equipment for mounted warriors. But ringed armor, although it made it possible to wield a saber, did not itself provide satisfactory protection from saber strikes. In an effort to increase the reliability of armor, Russian armor workers brought the weight of chain mail to 24 kg by the 15th-16th centuries. But this did not solve the problem. Problems were not solved and forged chain mail(made of large flat rings 2 mm thick, connected by ordinary wire rings). Such chain mail, of course, could not be cut, but piercing blows “held” even worse. Therefore, kaftans stuffed with cotton wool, hemp and horsehair began to be worn over chain mail more and more often. In the same way, fur hats were worn over helmets to protect against saber strikes.

In the 16th century, metal shields or even European-style cuirasses began to be attached to caftans with belts. Russian horsemen of the 15th-16th centuries were armed sabers, six-feathered, flails, darts, bows and short spears with a huge scimitar-like tip.

At the end of the 15th century, cities still continued to field infantry. Armed with bows and long reeds, foot soldiers wore hemp armor. From this time on, the foot warrior in Rus' began to be called Sagittarius. That is, a shooter. Close combat was to be carried out by cavalry.

The entire history of Muscovy in the 14th and 15th centuries can be characterized in one word: “war.” Like the inhabitants of early Rome, the Muscovites went on a campaign annually, as if for field work. The neighbors, however, did not remain in debt, so in some years several wars happened at once.

But Moscow won. In 1480, Sarai was destroyed by the troops of Ivan III. Having learned about this, the Tatars fled from the Ugra. The yoke is over.

The end of the 15th century was a turning point in the history of Rus'. During the reign of Ivan III, Moscow defeated the Horde and united the northern Russian principalities. In addition, Muscovy had to enter into a long war with the Polish-Lithuanian union, which outnumbered the population five times.

In 1503, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, having ceded a significant part of the territory to Muscovy, concluded a truce.

The story... continues

Russian history can safely be called long-suffering. Only in the 20th century it was rewritten several times. But no matter what the next guidelines turn out to be, the truth cannot be strangled or killed! But the truth is that history is written by the winners. Or, at least, those who manage to survive it. The Byzantines, for example, will no longer be able to rewrite their history. And the Khazars won’t be able to either.

The fact that the history of Russia has not yet been written is conclusive proof of the strength and effectiveness of Russian weapons.

Correct assessment of events Horde period Russian history is most hampered by a false idea of ​​the Horde itself.

In the 14th-15th centuries Golden Horde was not at all a handful of tents scattered across the endless steppes. The core of the Horde was the densely populated lower reaches of the Volga with trading cities - Sarai and Astrakhan with a population of one hundred thousand. They actually lived there Tatars.

The population of the Black Sea region - the Cumans - was also already sedentary during this period. Greeks have lived on the sea coast and especially in Crimea since Byzantine times. There were also several large cities here.

Finally, in the middle reaches of the Volga they lived Bulgars- enlightened, according to Russian chroniclers, people. It was from Bulgar, for example, that the first cannons reached Moscow. As a trophy. Dmitry Donskoy took tribute from the Bulgars and collected duties for transporting goods along the middle Volga. In the Battle of Kulikovo, the Bulgars fought on the side of the Russians.

Most of the territory of Kievan Rus by the middle of the 14th century had already become part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose population eventually exceeded 5 million. Only a few of the northernmost principalities with a total population of no more than 1 million remained as tributaries of the Horde. In the mid-14th century, the Slavs made up only 20-25% of the Horde's population.