The defeat of the Red Army aviation in 1941. Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army
OpinionsWhat consequences did the yoke have for Russia? Some historians point to the positive consequences of the yoke in terms of the formation of prerequisites for the creation of a unified Russian state. Others emphasize that the yoke did not have a significant impact on the internal development of Russia. Most scientists agree on the following: the raids inflicted heavy material damage, were accompanied by the death of the population, the devastation of villages, the ruin of cities; the tribute that went to the Horde depleted the country, hindered the restoration and development of the economy; Southern Russia actually separated from the North-West and North-East, their historical fates diverged for a long time; the ties of Russia with European states were interrupted; the tendencies towards arbitrariness, despotism, autocracy of princes won.
Russia vs Tatar-Mongols
Chronology:
1223 r - Battle on the Kalka River between the Russian-Polovtsian and Mongolian troops. Not all Russian princes who promised to participate in the battle put up their troops, some were late. The princes - the participants in the battle acted unfriendly. The Kiev prince Mstislav Romanovich generally stood with his army aside, watching how the squads of other princes were exhausted in battle. The battle ended with the defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian troops, many princes and warriors died. As a result of this battle, the state of the Polovtsians was destroyed, and the Polovtsians themselves became part of the state created by the Mongols.
1237-38 - Batu's campaign Hike to North-Eastern Russia. At the end of 1237, Batu moved to the Ryazan principality, Ryazan was taken 5 days later, plundered and burned. Then there were battles near Kolomna, again Batu defeated everyone and went to Vladimir, besieged, burned, ravaged the Vladimir-Suzdal land, everything is bad. IN 1238 a battle took place on the City River (a tributary of the Mologa, north-west of Uglich), the battle ended in defeat, most of the princes and troops died. Another detachment of Batu's troops took Torzhok at that time. Despite all the victoriousness of Batu's first campaign, his army took each city after the battle, suffering certain losses.
1239-41 - Batu's second campaign against Russia: captured, burned by Murom, Gorokhovets, then in 1240 - Kiev after three months of siege (who owned Kiev, Daniel Galitsky was not in the city, they say that he was in Hungary. Then Mongol troops moved to Galicia-Volyn Russia Taking Vladimir Volynsky, Galich, in 1241, Batu went to Europe (he was tired and everything was not so successful for him there).
Why is everything so bad?
Traditionally, it is believed that defeats are to blame fragmentation , in which each of the principalities was alone with the forces of the invaders. In addition, Batu had a cool Chinese military equipment : battering machines, stone throwers (inherited after the conquest of North China and Central Asia). Same outnumbered Mongol-Tatar troops.
Karatsuba, Kurukin and Sokolov also write that, in fact, it was necessary to turn to the help of an external ally - the West. Daniil Galitsky worked hard on this - he negotiated with Rome, but Alexander Yaroslavich (Nevsky) secured the support of the horde, received a label for reign, so he was against it, although before that he had negotiated with the “brothers of the Teutonic Order”.
What consequences?
The classic version is a huge loss. “The consequences of the invasion were extremely difficult. First of all, the population of the country fell sharply. Many people were killed, no less were taken into slavery. Many cities have been destroyed. For example, the capital of the Ryazan principality is now the city of Pereyaslavl Ryazan (from the end of the 18th century - Ryazan). Ruined Ryazan could not be restored. Today in its place is a settlement overgrown with bushes, where extremely interesting excavations were carried out, and the village of Staraya Ryazan. Kiev was abandoned with no more than 200 houses left. Archaeologists have discovered the so-called Raikovets settlement not far from Berdichev: a city completely destroyed during the Batu invasion. All residents died there at the same time. Life on the site of this city was no longer revived. " Some crafts (glass) have been lost. BUTThe Mongol nomads could not set themselves the task of including the Russian land, an agricultural country, into their empire. It was only about submission, about receiving tribute. Therefore, the very nature of internal relations remained largely unaffected by the conquerors.
RUSSIA VS GERMAN-SWEDISH, DANISH FEUDALS
Chronology:
1240 - the victory of the then Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich on the Neva over the Swedes, after which he became the Nevsky.
5th of April 1242 - "Battle on the ice" on Lake Peipsi, Alexander Nevsky defeated the German knights.
How to evaluate it?
The importance of the victory on the Neva is usually greatly exaggerated: the Swedish campaign was of a reconnaissance nature, which determined the size of the detachment (about this in Pavlenko's textbook). Karatsuba and others like him generally write that the myth of the epochal battle on the Neva was started by the anti-Catholic Metropolitan Kirill, then it was inflated by the diplomats of Peter, who needed a predecessor on the banks of the Neva, and completed by the scribblers of the Stalin era. In general, it was one of the clashes that regularly occurred in the "buffer zone".
As for the famous "Battle on the Ice", not everything is clear either. In the Soviet version - "a limit is laid on the predatory movement to the east." But there was also a mutual struggle for spheres of influence in the Baltics. In addition, in 1242, Alexander Yaroslavich ruined the German prison, “liberated” Pskov, who was not even thinking about it, and led the army into the Chud lands to fight “in prosperity,” that is, to ruin the economy, but after an unsuccessful skirmish with the Germans he turned back. The scale of the massacre is also not clear: in the Novgorod chronicle - 400 killed, 50 wounded Germans, in the Livonian "Rhymed Chronicle" - 20 killed and 6 captured.
A little more about Alexander Yaroslavich
Historian Anton Gorsky (in the book of Karatsuba ...): in the actions of Alexander Yaroslavich one should not look for “some deliberate, fateful choice. He was a man of his era, acted in accordance with the worldview of that time and personal experience... Alexander was, in modern terms, a "pragmatist": he chose the path that seemed beneficial to him to strengthen his land and himself. When it was a decisive battle, he gave battle, when it was an agreement with one of the enemies of Russia, he went to an agreement. " In general, an alliance with the horde made it easier for the prince to tame the obstinate veche cities, an alliance with the West would inevitably have drawn Russia into the system of European law.
Historian Mikhail Sokolsky (in the book of Karatsuba ...): “The shame of Russian historical consciousness, Russian historical memory is that Alexander Nevsky became an indisputable concept of national pride, became a fetish, the banner of not a sect or a party, but the very people whose historical fate he severely distorted. "
In the second half of the XII century. Mongolian tribes under his rule were united by the leader Temuchin (Genghis Khan ("the great khan"). The Mongol ruler went down in history as one of the most cruel conquerors of peoples. Genghis Khan managed to create a very combat-ready army, which had a clear organization and iron discipline. In the first decade of the XIII century The Mongol-Tatars conquered the peoples of Siberia, China, the lands of Central Asia, the countries of the Caucasus.
After that, the Mongol-Tatars invaded the possessions of the Polovtsy, a nomadic people who lived in the vicinity of the Russian lands. The Polovtsian Khan Kotyan turned to the Russian princes for help. They decided to act together with the Polovtsian khans. The battle took place on May 31, 1223 on the Kalka River. The Russian princes acted inconsistently. The princely feuds led to tragic consequences: the united Russian-Polovtsian army was surrounded and defeated. The captured princes of the Mongol-Tatars were brutally killed. After the battle on Kalka, the victors did not advance further to Russia.
In 1236, under the leadership of Genghis Khan's grandson, Khan Batu, the Mongols began a march to the west. They conquered the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsians. In December 1237 they invaded the Ryazan principality. After five days of resistance, Ryazan fell, all residents were killed. Then the Mongols captured Kolomna, Moscow, other cities, and in February 1238 approached Vladimir. The city was taken, the inhabitants were killed or taken into slavery. On March 4, 1238, Russian troops were defeated on the Sit River. After a two-week siege, the city of Torzhok fell, and the Mongol-Tatars moved to Novgorod. But before reaching about 100 km to the city, the conquerors turned back. The reason for this, probably, was the spring thaw and fatigue of the Mongol army. On the way back, the Mongol-Tatars faced fierce resistance from the inhabitants of the small town of Kozelsk, which had been defending for 7 weeks.
The second campaign of the Mongol-Tatars against Russia took place in 1239. The lands of Southern and Western Russia became the goal of the conquerors. Here they captured Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, after a long siege in December 1240 the city of Kiev was taken and plundered. Then Galicia-Volyn Rus was ruined. After that, the conquerors moved to Poland and Hungary. They ruined these countries, but could not advance further, the forces of the conquerors were already running out. In 1242 Batu turned his troops back and established his state in the lower reaches of the Volga, which was named the Golden Horde.
The main reason for the defeat of the Russian principalities was the lack of unity between them. In addition, the army of the Mongols was numerous, well organized, the most severe discipline reigned in it, intelligence was well placed, and advanced methods of warfare were used at that time.
The yoke of the Golden Horde had a heavy impact on the socio-economic, political and cultural development of the Russian lands. More than half of the famous Russian cities were devastated by the Mongol-Tatars, many of them became villages after the invasion, some disappeared forever. The conquerors killed and enslaved a significant part of the urban population. This led to an economic decline, the disappearance of some crafts. The death of many princes and warriors slowed down the political development of the Russian lands, led to the weakening of the grand ducal power. The main form of dependence was the payment of tribute. It was collected by the so-called baskaks, at the head of which was the great baskak. His residence was in Vladimir. The Baskaks had special armed detachments, and any resistance to cruel extortions and violence was ruthlessly suppressed. Political dependence was expressed in the issuance of special letters to Russian princes - labels for the right to rule. The prince was considered the formal head of the Russian lands, who received a label from the khan to reign in Vladimir.
At a time when Russia had not yet recovered from the barbarian invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, from the west it was threatened by Swedish and German knights, who set themselves the goal of subjugating the peoples of the Baltic and Russia and converting them to Catholicism.
In 1240 the Swedish fleet entered the mouth of the Neva. The plans of the Swedes included the capture of Staraya Ladoga, and then Novgorod. The Swedes were defeated by the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich. This victory brought resounding glory to the twenty-year-old prince. For her, Prince Alexander was nicknamed Nevsky.
In the same 1240, the German knights of the Livonian Order began their attack on Russia. They captured Izborsk, Pskov, Koporye, the enemy was located 30 km from Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky acted decisively. With a swift blow, he liberated the Russian cities captured by the enemy.
Alexander Nevsky won his most famous victory in 1242. On April 5, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which went down in history as the Battle of the Ice. At the beginning of the battle, the German knights and their allies, the Estonians, advancing in a wedge, pierced the advance regiment of the Russians. Alexander Nevsky's wars inflicted flank attacks and surrounded the enemy. The Crusader Knights fled. In 1243 they were forced to conclude peace with Novgorod. This victory stopped Western aggression, the spread of Catholic influence in Russia.
The 13th century in the history of Rus is a time of armed resistance to the onslaught from the east (Mongo-lo-Tatars) and northwest (Germans, Swedes, Danes).
Mongol-Tatars came to Russia from the depths of Central Asia. Formed in 1206, the empire led by Khan Temuchin, who took the title of Khan of all Mongols (Genghis Khan), by the 30s. XIII century. subdued North China, Korea, Central Asia, Transcaucasia. In 1223, in the Battle of Kalka, the combined army of Russians and Polovtsians was defeated by a 30,000-strong Mongol detachment. Genghis Khan refused to advance to the southern Russian steppes. Russia received almost fifteen years of respite, but could not take advantage of it: all attempts to unite, to end civil strife were in vain.
In 1236, Genghis Khan's grandson Batu began a campaign against Russia. Having conquered the Volga Bulgaria, in January 1237 he invaded the Ryazan principality, ruined it and moved on to Vladimir. The city, despite fierce resistance, fell, and on March 4, 1238, in the battle on the Sit River, was killed grand Duke Vladimirsky Yuri Vsevolodovich. Taking Torzhok, the Mongols could go to Novgorod, but the spring thaw and heavy losses forced them to return to the Polovtsian steppes. This movement to the southeast is sometimes called the "Tatar raid": on the way, Batu robbed and burned Russian cities, which bravely fought against the invaders. Especially fierce was the resistance of the inhabitants of Kozelsk, nicknamed by the enemies "the evil city". In 1238-1239. Mongo-lo-Tatars conquered the Murom, Pereyaslavl, Chernigov principalities.
North-Eastern Russia was ravaged. Batu turned south. The heroic resistance of the inhabitants of Kiev was broken in December 1240. In 1241 the Galicia-Volyn principality fell. The Mongol hordes invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, reached Northern Italy and Germany, but, exhausted by the desperate resistance of the Russian troops, deprived of reinforcements, retreated and returned to the steppes of the Lower Volga region. Here in 1243 the state of the Golden Horde was created (the capital of Saray-Batu), the dominion of which was forced to recognize the ruined Russian lands. A system was established, which went down in history under the name of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The essence of this system, spiritually humiliating and economically predatory, consisted in the fact that: Russian principalities were not included in the Horde, retained their own reigns; princes, especially the Grand Duke of Vladimir, received a label to reign in the Horde, which confirmed their stay on the throne; they had to pay a large tribute ("exit") to the Mongol rulers. Population censuses were carried out, tribute collection norms were established. Mongolian garrisons left the Russian cities, but before the beginning of the XIV century. the collection of tribute was carried out by the Mongolian officials authorized for that - the Baskaks. In the event of disobedience (and anti-Mongol uprisings often broke out), punitive detachments - rati - were sent to Russia.
Two important questions arise: why did the Russian principalities, showing heroism and courage, fail to resist the conquerors? What consequences did the yoke have for Russia? The answer to the first question is obvious: of course, the military superiority of the Mongol-Tatars mattered (tough discipline, excellent cavalry, well-organized intelligence, etc.), but the decisive role was played by the disunity of the Russian princes, their feuds, the inability to unite even in the face of a mortal threat.
The second issue is controversial. Some historians point to the positive consequences of the yoke in terms of the formation of prerequisites for the creation of a unified Russian state. Others emphasize that the yoke did not have a significant impact on internal development Rus. Most scientists agree on the following: the raids inflicted heavy material damage, were accompanied by the death of the population, the devastation of villages, the ruin of cities; the tribute that went to the Horde depleted the country, hindered the restoration and development of the economy; Southern Russia actually separated from the North-West and North-East, their historical fates diverged for a long time; the ties of Russia with European states were interrupted; the tendencies towards arbitrariness, despotism, autocracy of princes won.
Having suffered defeat from the Mongol-Tatars, Russia was able to successfully resist aggression from the northwest. By the 30s. XIII century. The Baltic states, inhabited by the tribes of the Livs, Yatvingians, Estonians, and others, were at the mercy of the German knights-crusaders. The actions of the crusaders were part of the policy of the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy to subordinate the pagan peoples to the Catholic Church. That is why the main instruments of aggression were the spiritual and knightly orders: the Order of the Swordsmen (founded in 1202) and the Teutonic Order (founded at the end of the 12th century in Palestine). In 1237 these orders were united into the Livonian Order. On the borders with Novgorod land, a powerful and aggressive military-political entity was established, ready to take advantage of the weakening of Russia to include its northwestern lands in the zone of imperial influence.
In July 1240, the nineteen-year-old Novgorod prince Alexander, in a fleeting battle, defeated the Swedish detachment of Birger at the mouth of the Neva. For the victory in the Battle of the Neva, Alexander received the honorary nickname Nevsky. In the same summer, the Livonian knights became more active: Izborsk and Pskov were captured, the border fortress of Koporye was erected. Prince Alexander Nevsky succeeded in returning Pskov in 1241, but the decisive battle took place on April 5, 1242 on the melted ice of Lake Peipsi (hence the name - Battle on the Ice). Knowing about the favorite tactics of the knights - the formation in the form of a narrowing wedge ("pig"), the commander used flanking coverage and defeated the enemy. Dozens of knights died as they fell through the ice, which could not bear the weight of the heavily armed infantry. The relative safety of the northwestern borders of Rus and the Novgorod land was ensured.
2. The struggle of Russia against foreign invaders.
The first meeting of the Russians with the Mongols - the battle of river Kalka in 1223 IN 1237 BC Genghis Khan's grandson Khan Batu began an invasion of North-Eastern Russia. The first of the Russian lands was attacked Ryazan principality. Ryazan princes refused to submit to the Mongols. The principality was devastated and devastated. Its capital Ryazan, after several days of continuous assault, was taken, plundered, and then the city was razed to the ground. The legend of the remarkable feat of the Ryazan boyar has survived Evpatiya Kolovrat , who himself attacked Batu's army, managed to inflict heavy losses on the enemy and heroically died in battle with the invaders.
After Ryazansky, the turn came Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Cities were taken and burned Kolomna, Moscow and etc . The capital of the principality of Vladimir, after a fierce assault, was taken and completely destroyed. Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich was at this time outside the city, gathering an army. After the capture of Vladimir March 4, 1248 on the river City the army of the prince was destroyed by the Mongols, the prince himself died during the battle.
Novgorod escaped the invasion. Not reaching the capital of the rich boyar republic of a hundred versts, Batu turned south and went with the whole horde to rest in the Polovtsian steppes. Passing by a small town Kozelsk, the Mongols were forced to stay for seven weeks. This is how long this town withstood the siege of the Batu hordes before falling and being completely destroyed. The Mongols called it "the evil city".
After a year and a half, in 1239-1240 the southern Russian lands were ruined, led by Kiev ... Then, through the Galicia-Volyn land, the troops of the conquerors invaded Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Some of their detachments reached the Adriatic Sea. However, the incessant resistance of the devastated but not completely conquered Russian lands forced the conquerors to stop further war in Europe.
Russia and the Horde. It was established in Russia yoke Golden Horde. The Russian lands were forced to admit their vassal dependence on the descendants of Genghis Khan. Russian princes, headed by the Grand Duke of Vladimir, were to be approved by special letters ( labels). The main part of the taxes levied on the Russian lands was tribute , or " exit ". The population had to feed the khan's ambassadors and messengers and their horses, supply them with means of transportation, etc. tribute khans at first kept governors in Russian cities - baskakov ... In order to register the population to determine the size of the "exit", the khans carried out a census of the taxable population, which caused great discontent among the Russian people. The Baskak violence caused uprisings in a number of Russian cities. This gradually led to the fact that by the end of the XIII century. The Russian princes themselves began to collect the Horde tribute for sending to the khans.
Expansion from the West. The beginning of the XIII century. was the time of expansion to the east of Western European countries and religious and political organizations. The ideological rationale for this kind of policy was provided by the Roman Catholic Church, which sought to assert its influence in the entire Baltic region. In summer 1240 g . the Swedes attacked the Novgorod lands. IN Neva battle prince Alexander Yaroslavich subsequently nicknamed Nevsky, defeated them.
Two years later, the German knights of the Livonian Order captured Pskov, Izborsk, Koporye. April 5, 1242 ... on the ice of Lake Peipsi met the main forces of the German knights and russian army led by Prince Alexander Nevsky. The prince defeated the crusaders in the battle that received the name Battle on the Ice ... The knightly offensive was suspended, but the threat of military and religious-spiritual expansion persisted until the victory of the united forces of the Slavs in Battle of Grunwald in 1410g .
The weakening of Russia as a result of the Mongol invasion was taken advantage of by its western neighbor: the western Russian lands became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A single ancient Russian nation split into Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.
The beginning of the formation of the Russian centralized state. Moscow as a center for the unification of Russian lands. In the fourteenth century. the rise of Moscow takes place. The reasons for this:
1) flexible policy of the Moscow princes in relation to the Horde and neighboring principalities;
2) comfortable geographical position at the intersection of river and land trade routes, as well as the relative protection of other Russian lands from the Horde aggression;
3) support from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Moscow especially strengthened under the prince Ivane I Danilovich nicknamed Kalita (1325-1340) (kalita is a wallet for money) thanks to his austerity policies, land purchases, tax increases. Under him, the metropolitan see was transferred from Vladimir to Moscow.
The policy of the Horde khans was to incite rivalry between the Russian princes (this struggle was especially fierce between the Moscow and Tver princes) and thereby hinder the efforts of the Russian lands aimed at unification. IN 1327 g ... Ivan Kalita defeated the uprising in Tver, directed against the Horde tribute collectors led by a khan's relative Cholkhan , and received label (letter) for the great reign. In addition to the label, Ivan Kalita received the right to collect the Horde exit, the Basque system was finally canceled. The right to collect tribute gave the Moscow prince significant advantages, allowing him to replenish his own treasury.
Under Ivan Kalita, the territorial expansion of the Moscow principality continued, begun under the first Moscow princes Daniile Alexandrovich and Yuri Danilovich. Kalita acquired labels in the Horde for entire specific principalities - Uglich, Galich, Beloozero. Throughout his reign, the Moscow prince pursued a flexible policy towards the Horde princes, which made it possible to provide the Moscow principality with a long (almost 40 years) peaceful respite.
The wise policy of Ivan Kalita gave him considerable authority in the Horde, which allowed his sons Semeon the Proud (1340-1353) and Ivan II the Red (1353-1359) have no competitors in obtaining a label for the great reign.
With the grandson of Ivan Kalita Dmitry Ivanovich (1359-1389) the process of strengthening the power of the Moscow dynasty continued: the white-stone walls of the Kremlin were erected, and Lithuanian attacks were repulsed. After the first failure of the Russians in the Pian river in 1377, on the Vozha river in 1378 ... Russian troops first defeated the Mongols. In the decisive battle on Kulikovsky field on September 8, 1380 Dmitry Ivanovich won a major victory over the Horde, led by Mamai, for which he received the nickname Donskoy ... The victory was a testament to Moscow's growing role. In addition, the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo contributed to the growth of self-awareness of the Russian people and the unification of the country. But in 1382 g . khan Tokhtamysh raided Moscow and restored the Horde's power for another 100 years.
And although Russia resumed paying tribute to the Horde, its political dependence on it became much weaker. Dmitry Donskoy transferred the right to the great reign to his son Basil I (1389-1425), without asking the permission of the khan.
Completion of the unification of Russian lands and the formation of the Russian state. After the death of Basil II, the throne passed to his son without any mention of the Horde. To the board Ivan III (1462-1505) The Moscow principality developed successfully: with little or no resistance, many Russian lands were annexed to Moscow - Yaroslavl, Rostov, as well as Perm, Vyatka, with non-Russian peoples living here. This expanded the multinational composition of the Russian state. Chernigov-Seversk possessions passed from Lithuania.
The Novgorod boyar republic, which had considerable power, remained independent of the Moscow prince. IN 1471 g ... Ivan III took decisive measures to subjugate Novgorod. The decisive battle took place on sheloni River when the Muscovites, being in the minority, won a victory over the Novgorodians. IN 1478 g ... republic in Novgorod was finally eliminated. A veche bell was taken from the city to Moscow. The city was now ruled by Moscow governors.
IN 1480 g ... the Horde yoke was finally overthrown. This happened after the clash between Moscow and Mongol-Tatar troops in river Ugra ... The Khan stood at the head of the Horde troops Akhmat ... Having stood on Ugra for several weeks, Akhmat realized that it was pointless to engage in battle. This event went down in history as “ standing on the Ugra ". Russia, several years before Akhmat's campaign, stopped paying tribute to the Horde. In 1502, the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey inflicted a crushing defeat on the Golden Horde, after which its existence ceased.
IN 1497 g ... a code of laws was introduced - “ Code of Law » Ivan III , who strengthened the power of the sovereign and introduced uniform legal norms throughout the state. One of the articles of the "Sudebnik" regulated the transfer of peasants from one owner to another. According to the Code of Law, peasants could leave the feudal lords only a week before and a week after St. George's Day autumn (November 26), having paid elderly. National governing bodies of the country began to form - orders ... There was localism - the procedure for obtaining positions depending on the nobility of the family. Local management was carried out on the basis of the system feeding : collecting taxes from the population, the governors kept part of the funds. The sovereign's authority was strengthened by the marriage of Ivan III to the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaeologus.
Completed Father's Case Vasily III (1505-1533) adding Ryazan and Pskov having won from Lithuania Smolensk ... All Russian lands united into one Russian state... During the reign of Vasily III, stone construction began in many Russian cities. In Moscow, the Annunciation Cathedral was built in the Kremlin and the Archangel Cathedral was finally completed, into which the remains of the great Moscow princes were transferred. The moat near the Moscow Kremlin was laid out with stone. Wooden walls in Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, Kolomna and Zaraisk were replaced with stone ones. And in Novgorod, which the Grand Duke of Moscow liked to visit, in addition to the walls, streets, squares and rows were rebuilt.
Developing in waves since the second half of the 11th century, weakened its ability to withstand external aggression from the East and West.
Initially, from the east, the Russian principalities were threatened by the Polovtsians, a Turkic-speaking people who appeared in the southern Russian steppes in the second half of the 11th century. They came from the Volga region and settled from the Volga to the Danube, led a nomadic lifestyle, engaged in cattle breeding. The Polovtsi united in a tribal union headed by the khan. The army of the Polovtsians, which consisted of light and heavy cavalry, which had a permanent composition of the militia, was armed with bows, sabers, spears; helmets and light armor served as protection. The military tactics of the Polovtsians were reduced to the arrangement of ambushes, the use of sudden and swift horse attacks on the flanks and rear of the enemy in order to encircle and defeat him.
The devastating raids of the Polovtsians on the southern Russian lands, which began in 1055, continued until the Tatar-Mongol invasion. The Polovtsi ravaged Russian lands, plundered livestock and property, took away a lot of prisoners, whom they either kept as slaves, or sold in the slave markets of the Crimea and Central Asia. The border regions of Pereyaslavl, Seversk, Kiev, Ryazan regions suffered the most from them. The intensity of the Polovtsian raids was determined by the strength of the resistance of the Russian princes. The exhausting struggle of the Russian princes with the Polovtsians went on with varying success. In this struggle, there are several main periods. The first period, from 1055 to the beginning of the 12th century, is characterized by a high intensity of Polovtsian raids and a weak resistance from Russia, which was part of the period of specific fragmentation. In the second half of the XI century. only Russian chronicles mention 46 attacks of the Polovtsy on Russia. The most dangerous and regular attacks were at the end of the 11th century. During this period, the typical outcome of clashes with the Polovtsians was the defeat of the Russian princes. So, in 1061 Vsevolod Yaroslavich was defeated by Khan Iskal, and the Pereyaslavl land was devastated.
In 1068, during the first major invasion of Russia, the Polovtsy in the battle on the river. Alte defeated the Yaroslavich army and ravaged the border lands. After that, the military campaigns of the Polovtsy on the Russian lands acquired a regular character. Izyaslav Yaroslavich of Kiev died in the battle with the Polovtsi on Nezhatinnaya Niva in 1078. In 1092 the Cumans launched a second large-scale offensive against Russia. In 1093 they won a victory in the battle on the Stugna River over the combined forces of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich of Kiev, Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh and Rostislav Vsevolodovich Pereyaslavsky. The repeated battle near Kiev in the same 1093 also ended in the defeat of the Russians. The second period covers the first half of the 12th century. and is characterized by the victories of the combined forces of the Russian princes over the Polovtsians, offensive campaigns in the Polovtsian steppes, which resulted in a temporary cessation of raids and the pushing of the Polovtsians from the borders of Southern Russia.
The enormous damage that the Russian principalities suffered from the Polovtsian raids forced the appanage princes to organize a military alliance in order to eliminate the Polovtsian threat. The results of collective action were not slow to show. In 1096 the Polovtsians suffered their first crushing defeat at the hands of the Russians. This was followed by a number of successful offensive campaigns of the Russian princes (1103, 1106, 1107, 1109, 1111, 1116). In 1117, Vladimir Monomakh made a trip to the Polovtsian winter huts, after which they migrated to the North Caucasus and Georgia. And in 1139 the son of Monomakh, prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, pushed the Polovtsi behind the Don, Volga, Yaik. The main factor behind the success in the fight against the Polovtsians was the temporary rallying of the Russian principalities under the rule of Vladimir Monomakh. The third period of the struggle with the Polovtsians is associated with the resumption of their raids on the Russian principalities after the death of Mstislav the Great (son of Vladimir Monomakh), as a result of another surge in specific princely feuds and the collapse of their military alliance. Simultaneously with the raids, the participation of the Polovtsy in the internecine struggle of the Russian princes resumed.
Attempts by some princes to create a new military alliance and organize a collective rebuff to the Polovtsy were unsuccessful, since they could not gather all the forces. A striking example of unsuccessful separate offensive actions is the campaign of the hero of The Lay of Igor's Campaign, Igor Svyatoslavovich in 1185, which ended in the defeat and capture of Prince Igor. The fourth period began in the 1190s. It was a time of, in general, peaceful coexistence and partial Christianization of the Polovtsian nobility. In 1222, the Tatar-Mongol invasion advanced on the Polovtsians themselves, which forced the Polovtsians to seek an alliance with the Russian princes to repel the onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars. In 1223, the allied Russian and Polovtsian troops were defeated by the Mongol army in the battle on the Kalka River.
Then the Polovtsians were absorbed by the Tatar-Mongol army and ceased to exist as an independent military-political force. To replace the Polovtsy, new aggressors, the Mongol-Tatars, were advancing from the east to Russia. In 1206, at the congress of the leaders of the Mongol tribes, a centralized Mongol state was formed, headed by the great Khan Temuchin (Genghis Khan). Genghis Khan managed to unite the Mongol tribes and create a strong army for conquering campaigns to the West and South from the Mongol steppes. The Mongol army consisted of well-trained, disciplined and armed cavalry. Mongolian horses were very unpretentious and hardy, they could make transitions up to 80 km per day. The main weapon of the riders was the Mongol bow - the most powerful weapon for that time, manufactured using secret technology. The lethal firing range of the Mongolian bow was up to 800 meters.
At the same time, iron armor made its way at such a distance. Hence the military tactics of the Mongols - shelling from long-range bows, encircling the enemy and swift horse attacks from the flanks and rear. In the wars of conquest with China, the Mongolian army also took possession of special equipment for storming fortified fortresses and cities, battering guns and other assault devices. In addition, the number of the Mongolian army was constantly growing. Genghis Khan replenished his army with representatives of the conquered peoples, forming new units from them according to the Mongol model and with the Mongol commanders. The military aggression of the Mongol-Tatars turned out to be successful not only due to the military superiority of their army and the military talent of Genghis Khan, but also due to the fact that the countries that became the object of their attack were in the stage feudal fragmentation and could not offer serious resistance. In 1211 the Mongols conquered their neighbors - Buryats, Evenks, Uighurs, Yakuts, Yenisei Kirghiz. In 1215 the Mongols conquered North China, and in 1218 Korea was conquered. In 1219, an almost 200,000-strong Mongol army began the conquest of Central Asia.
The advance detachments of the Mongols, having seized Iran and the Caucasus, entered the steppes of the North Caucasus, where in 1223, in the battle on Kalka, they defeated the combined forces of the Russian princes and Polovtsians, but then turned back and left. In 1227 Genghis Khan died, and in 1229 Khan Ogedei (Ogedei), the third son of Genghis Khan, became the head of the huge Mongol state. In 1235, at the Khural (national congress of the Mongol nobility) in the capital of Mongolia Karokorum, it was decided to continue the aggressive campaigns to the West. Russia was identified as the next object of aggression, and then Europe. At the head of the 30-thousandth army were placed the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu, as well as one of the best generals Genghis Khan, who participated in the first campaign to the West Subedei (Subedei).
In 1236 the Mongols defeated the Volga Bulgaria, and in the fall of 1237, having previously subdued the Polovtsians and other steppe nomads who bordered the southern Russian lands, the Mongols invaded the Ryazan principality. The Russian principalities, which found themselves on the path of an aggressive campaign, could neither unite their military forces, nor prepare themselves to repel aggression, and were defeated one by one. The military forces of each individual Russian principality could not provide worthy resistance to the Mongols. The Mongols, after a six-day siege, having taken by storm and ruined Ryazan, moved on to the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. All the cities of this principality were captured and destroyed. Moreover, the usual period of the siege of cities was about a week. The courage and heroism of the small number of Russian professional soldiers could not compensate for the military superiority of the Mongols. The Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich, who tried, but did not manage to gather and prepare the united Russian forces for battle, on March 4, 1238, in the battle on the City River, suffered a crushing defeat and was killed. Further, the Mongols moved to Novgorod, but after the capture of Torzhok on March 5, 1238, the main forces of the Mongols, not reaching 100 versts to Novgorod, turned back in the steppe (according to various versions, due to the spring thaw or due to high losses). On their way south, the Mongols laid siege to the small town of Kozelsk.
The siege, where the prince was the 12-year-old grandson of the participant in the battle on the Kalka Mstislav Svyatoslavich Vasily, dragged on for 7 weeks. In May 1238, after a three-day assault, the Mongols took Kozelsk, suffering heavy losses, both in technology and in manpower. The angry Mongols killed the entire population of the city, not even sparing the babies. The young prince Vasily, according to the chronicle tradition, drowned in blood. Batu was enraged by the unheard-of resistance of the inhabitants of Kozelsk, and forbade to call this city Kozelsk, but ordered to call it "the Evil City". At the end of 1238 - beginning of 1239. The Mongols, led by Subedei, suppressing the uprising in Volga Bulgaria and the Mordovian land, again invaded Russia, ravaged the environs of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorokhovets, Gorodets, Murom, and Ryazan again.
On March 3, 1239, a detachment under the command of Berke ravaged Pereyaslavl. In October 1239, after a siege with the use of powerful siege technology, the Mongols took Chernigov (the army under the leadership of Prince Mstislav Glebovich unsuccessfully tried to help the city). On September 5, 1240, the Mongol army led by Batu laid siege to Kiev. For three months Kiev heroically defended itself under the leadership of the tysyatsky Dmitry. Only on December 6, 1240, as a result of a fierce last assault, the city was taken by the Mongols and subjected to a brutal defeat and plunder. Then, moving to the West, the Mongols captured Vladimir Volynsky and Galich, devastating the lands of the Galicia-Volyn principality. Having finished with the Russian principalities, the Mongols invaded Poland and Hungary. However, weakened by losses in the struggle with Russia and fearing an uprising of the conquered Russian lands, the Mongols did not go deep into Europe and returned to the steppe in the lower reaches of the Volga. The consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion for the ancient Russian civilization were dire. As a result of the invasion, about half of the population of Rus died, and a significant part of it was taken into slavery.
This dealt a crushing blow to the economy, and, above all, to the agriculture of Rus. The developed urban culture of Rus was almost completely destroyed. Of the Russian 74 cities of the XIII century. Mongol-Tatars destroyed 49. In particular, such main cities of Russia as Kiev, Vladimir, Suzdal, Ryazan, Tver, Chernigov and many others were destroyed. The exceptions were Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, as well as the cities of Polotsk and Turovo-Pinsk principalities. The Mongol-Tatar invasion undermined urban crafts, slowed down and distorted the development of commodity-money relations. As a result, the Russian city could not become the center of progress: neither in the socio-political, nor in the cultural sense, it could not resist feudalism, as well as the despotic form of power that developed in Russia under the conditions of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The southern Russian lands have lost almost the entire sedentary population. The surviving population went to the forest northeast, concentrating in the interfluve of the Northern Volga and the Oka. There were poorer soils and a colder climate than in the southern completely devastated regions of Russia, and the trade routes were under the control of the Mongols.
In its social economic development Russia was thrown back significantly. After the invasion, Russia fell into the conditions of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. After the death of Khan Ogedei, the huge Mongol empire disintegrated into separate states. Batu formed a state from his possessions, which was called the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde stretched from the borders of Russia to Western Siberia and Khorezm. Its capital was the city of Saray, founded by Batu in the lower reaches of the Volga. The rulers of the Golden Horde appointed Russian princes, including the Grand Duke of Vladimir, giving them labels to reign. They imposed an annual heavy tribute on Russia ("Horde exit"), forced the Russian princes to participate in hostilities on the side of the Mongol-Tatars, and made frequent punitive raids on the rebellious Russian cities.
The devastation of cities, the impoverishment of the population, the collection of tribute and the leakage of silver to the Horde intensified the naturalization of the economy and preserved the patriarchal nature of the Russian countryside. The invasion and the then established Horde yoke also influenced the development of Russian statehood. The process of dividing the Russian lands in the northeast continued, the princely feuds inflamed by the Horde intensified, the alienation of southern and southwestern Russia, which ended up in the XIV century, took place. as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. At the same time, it should be noted that Russia has preserved its statehood and culture. In addition, with its heroic resistance, Russia actually saved Europe and Western civilization from the Mongol invasion. In general, the Mongol-Tatar invasion and the Mongol-Tatar yoke as a rigid form of Rus' dependence on the Horde threw Russia back in its civilizational development, which, in turn, led to a serious lag of Russia from the countries Western Europe... Weakened by specific strife and devastated by the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Russia became an attractive target of aggression from the West, from the Swedish and German knights and feudal lords.
Their onslaught was directed primarily at the Novgorod lands. The Swedes were the first to strike. They gave their aggressive attack the form of a crusade in order to protect and spread Catholic Christianity among the pagans. The Swedish knights were blessed by Catholic bishops. In 1240 a large Swedish fleet landed a strong army at the confluence of the Izhora River with the Neva. The aggressors' plans included the seizure of Staraya Ladoga, and then Novgorod. The leader of the Swedes, Jarl (Prince) Birger, the future ruler of Sweden, sent an arrogant ultimatum to Prince Alexander Yaroslavich of Novgorod: “If you want to oppose me, then I have already come. Come and bow, ask for mercy, and I will give it as much as I want. And if you resist, I will enslave and destroy all and enslave your land and you will be my slave and your sons. " Prince Alexander acted with lightning speed. Timely notified of the landing of the Swedes on the banks of the Neva, he, with his squad and a small Novgorod militia, significantly inferior in number to the Swedes, secretly approached the enemy's camp.
Alexander inspired his warriors with a bold and wise call: "We are few, but God is not in power, but in truth"... took place on July 15, 1240. The battle plan chosen by Prince Alexander assumed a sudden double punch along the Neva and Izhora, as a result of which the most important part of the enemy army is squeezed into a corner formed by rivers. In the course of the battle, the foot and equestrian Russian troops, having united, had to push the enemy back to the river and throw him into the water. This plan practically neutralized the numerical superiority of the Swedes. In the Battle of the Neva, many Russian soldiers distinguished themselves for their remarkable feats. Prince Alexander himself, in a duel with Birger, wounded him with a spear. Having won a brilliant victory, Alexander Yaroslavich returned to Novgorod in triumph.
In honor of the victory on the Neva, the prince received the nickname Nevsky. This victory stopped the Swedes' aggression on the northwestern Russian lands for a long time and, most importantly, kept Russia access to the Gulf of Finland. The next attempt at aggression was made by the German knights. To seize the Baltic lands inhabited by pagan tribes of lats, Estonians and Lithuanians by German knights and feudal lords in 1202, the Order of the Swordsmen was created, officially called the Brothers of Christ's Host. Swordsmen wore an image of a red sword and a cross on a white cloak and obeyed not the pope, but the bishop, who undertook to cede a third of the captured territory as it was conquered. Each member of the order had to take four vows: obedience, chastity, poverty and constant struggle against opponents of Catholicism.
Of all these vows, the sword-bearers diligently followed only the last. At the head of the order was the master, whom the knights themselves chose from their circle. The Swordsmen undertook crusades against the Livs, Estonians, Semigallians and other Baltic peoples, capturing many lands in the Eastern Baltic, a third of which, with the sanction of the Pope, was assigned to the order. Soon the swordsmen invaded the Polotsk principality and began to threaten Novgorod and Pskov. In 1234 the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich inflicted a heavy defeat on the order near Dorpat, and in 1236 the combined forces of the Lithuanians and Semigallians utterly defeated the sword-bearers near Saule. In 1226 a second knightly order appeared in the Baltic States - the Teutonic Order, founded in 1198 in Syria during crusades to the Middle East. In 1237, the remnants of the defeated Order of the Swordsmen united with the Teutonic Order, forming the Baltic branch of the Teutonic Order - the Livonian Order. In 1240 the German crusaders captured Izborsk, and then defeated the Pskov army that came to the aid of Izborsk and laid siege to Pskov.
However, they could not take the city by storm: because of the betrayal of a group of local boyars led by the Pskov mayor Tverdilo Ivankovich. Pskov was surrendered to the Germans without a fight. At the beginning of 1241 the crusaders captured Koporye and Vodskaya pyatina, that is, the lands located 40 km from Novgorod. In the same year, these lands were recaptured from the invaders by Novgorod troops led by Alexander Nevsky. At the beginning of 1242, having united the forces of his squad, the Novgorod city militia and the Vladimir-Suzdal regiments, sent to help by his father, Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Alexander Nevsky moved towards the German knights. Having launched an offensive on the land of the Estonians, Alexander unexpectedly turned to Pskov and in March 1242 with a sudden attack freed it from the German invaders and traitor boyars. On April 5, 1242, on the ice of Lake Peipsi, a general battle took place between the Russian troops and the German knights, which entered into under the name of the Battle on the Ice. The total number of the Russian army was 15-17 thousand people. The number of troops of the Order in the battle on Lake Peipsi is estimated at 10-12 thousand people.
In this battle, the Germans used their traditional tactics, lining up their troops in the form of a wedge (called by the Russians "pig"), the tip of which, usually with a powerful blow from the best knights, broke through the center of the enemy's position, ensuring overall victory. However, Alexander Nevsky tactically outplayed the crusaders. He placed his most powerful regiments not in the center, but on the flanks. A powerful blow from the crusaders broke through the center of the Russian position. Part of the Russian infantry even fled, but, having stumbled upon the steep shore of the lake, the formation of sedentary knights mixed up and could not develop their success. At this time, the flank squads of Novgorodians squeezed, like ticks, the German "pig" from the flanks. Alexander Nevsky with his squad struck from the rear. The knights could not bear the stress of the battle and rushed to run. Prince Alexander organized the pursuit, which was carried out for seven kilometers, to the western shore of Lake Peipsi.
The ice broke under the fugitives, many drowned, many were taken prisoner. The Livonians suffered a complete defeat. Brilliant victory in Ice battle for a long time it stopped the German aggression on the Russian lands, defended the integrity and independence of the Novgorod Republic, significantly weakened the power of the Livonian Order. According to Russian chronicles, 400 knights were killed in the battle and 50 were taken prisoner. By the middle of the XIII century. on the western borders of Russia, a new source of aggression began to form - the principality of Lithuania. Formidable danger from the Livonian and Teutonic orders forced the Lithuanians in the 30s of the XIII century. to unite around one military leader - the Grand Duke of Lithuania Mindaugas. In 1245, the Lithuanian army, led by Prince Mindovg, attacked the Novgorod lands.
Alexander Nevsky immediately rushed to the invaders and inflicted a series of defeats on them near Toropets, near Lake Zhiztsa and near Usvyat, calming the aggressive claims of the Lithuanians for a long time. The successful repulsion of the onslaught of the aggressors from the West was of great importance for the preservation of the independence and territorial integrity of the Russian lands. The main factors of these successes were the political and military leadership talent of Prince Alexander Nevsky, the unification of Russian forces, the skillful use of the liberation struggle of the Baltic peoples, as well as the happy deliverance of the Novgorod land from the devastating Mongol invasion, thanks to which its military and economic power was not undermined. But even a successful fight against aggressors in the West did not ultimately save Novgorod from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Novgorod was imposed with Tatar tribute, like all Russian principalities. Realizing the inability of Russia at that moment to resist the Mongol-Tatars, Prince Alexander Nevsky was forced to submit to their power.
After the death of his father, the great Vladimir prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, in 1247, the prince went to the Horde to Batu and in 1249 received a label there for the great reign. Summing up the history of specific Russia in the XII-XIII centuries, it should be noted that this is due to many internal socio-economic and political reasons period of feudal fragmentation, at the beginning was marked by the economic and cultural rise of the Russian lands, developing within the framework of small state entities (specific principalities). Then, after a large-scale aggression in the XIII century. from the side of the Mongol-Tatars, which Russia, which did not have a single powerful army, could not resist, this time became a rather tragic page of our national history... The defeat of the Russian principalities in the fight against the Mongols tatar invasion, the devastation of most of the Russian lands led not only to a significant weakening of their economic, military and political potential, but to the establishment of the most difficult Mongol-Tatar yoke over Russia, draining the forces of Russia, slowing down its restoration.
