Essays on the History of the Russian State
Author: Vladimir Zemsha
2010
Video:
0. https://youtu.be/uQ4MKO-3yn0?si=hdy0slR5WCMOqVtG
1. Slavic tribes https://youtu.be/krq5VDwyzLw?si=vAFupjy_qcwh9ep7
2. Creation of Kievan Rus https://youtu.be/ZNOghcE2Dws?si=K9Tqg3hG42TVY1GN
Playlist :
---
Contents
1. Introduction ………. p. 3–5
2. Part One. The Slavic Tribes ………. p. 6–9
3. Part Two. Kievan Rus. The Foundation ………. p. 10–14
4. Part Three. Kievan Rus. The Baptism ………. p. 15–20
5. Part Four. Kievan Rus. The Flourishing ………. p. 21–26
6. Part Five. Culture, Traditions, Law of Ancient Rus ………. p. 27–34
7. Part Six. The Decline of Kievan Rus. The Mongol-Tatar Invasion ………. p. 35–42
8. Part Seven. The National Liberation Struggle in Rus ………. p. 43–53
9. Part Eight. Ivan IV the Terrible and the Time of Troubles ………. p. 54–65
10. Part Nine. Russia and Georgia: The Salvation of a People ………. p. 66–70
11. Part Ten. The Caucasian War and the Islamization of the Caucasus ………. p. 71–76
12. Part Eleven. The Armenian Genocide and Russia's Role ………. p. 77–81
13. Part Twelve. The Crimean War (1853–1856) ………. p. 82–87
14. Part Thirteen. Russia and Austria: Alliance and Betrayal ………. p. 88–91
15. Part Fourteen. The Liberation of the Balkans from the Ottoman Yoke ………. p. 92–95
16. Part Fifteen. The Age of Capital. The Rothschilds ………. p. 96–98
17. Concluding Poem ………. p. 99
---
Introduction
The history of Russia is the history of a multinational state, composed of the many histories of the peoples within it. At different times, "neighbours" quarrelled, wresting from each other "a place in the sun", concluded alliances, traded, influenced each other culturally, intermarried, and intermixed.
In these essays I will briefly touch upon the Slavic part of the history of modern Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus for those who would like to obtain a "historical skeleton" upon which they can build a deeper study. And while studying, to have sufficient "immunity" to filter out historical falsifications, both by overt enemies and by false patriots who play an important role in the international anti-Russian game.
Today, one of the methods of this "game" is the creation of "black myths" – "about the drunkenness and laziness of Russians", "about the bloody despots of Russian tsars", etc. All this distorts the image of the Russian people in the eyes of the world community, erodes historical memory and paralyses the will of the Russian ethnos itself.
Over decades and even centuries within the Russian Empire and later the USSR, national minorities preserved their national identity. Unfortunately, today this has been used not for good, but to the detriment of Russia. Against the background of "national revivals" and "growth of national consciousness" around, some Russians are also being swept by waves of nationalism and chauvinism.
All these fighters for "Russianness" doom the Russian state to death, because the strength of Russia lies in its multinationality and multi-confessionalism. For many peoples have always been part of the "Third Rome" – the Russian Empire.
If Orthodoxy disappears, the Russian state will also disappear. Indeed, the Orthodox faith is the national core upon which the Russian idea rests. That is why a war against Orthodox Christianity is being waged all over the world.
For example, only during the control of the international forces "KFOR" in Kosovo, Albanian radicals destroyed hundreds of Orthodox Christian churches and shrines! Many clergymen were killed and dispersed! And this with the complete connivance and silence of the world "democratic" community and "human rights institutions", preoccupied with finding accusations exclusively against Orthodoxy, Russians and their supporters!
Today, if you want to put yourself at risk – declare yourself Orthodox, Russian or their ally. And if you declare yourself an enemy of Russia – you don't even have to be a "democrat". The eyes of the world "democratic community" will be closed even to flagrant facts of dictatorship and human rights violations, especially if it is a violation of the rights of a Russian person!
But it is also important to remember – without other confessions rooted in Russian history, there will be no Russia either! For Russia is the ancestral homeland not only of Russians, but also of Tatars, Dagestanis, Chechens, Mordvins, Chuvash, Buryats, Yakuts, Udmurts and many many other peoples inhabiting it. Love for one's neighbour and religious tolerance – these are the true principles of a true Orthodox Christian!
We must fight only against sects that corrupt and devastate human souls, ruin human nests, knock people out of normal society, with roots coming from Satan and/or from the same "puppeteers". Their goal is to reduce our numbers, destroy our family nests from within, trample our values, get us drunk, corrupt and demoralise us by all possible means!
All this is a political struggle to achieve economic goals: capture of markets and resources, elimination of competitors. Its negative by;product, along with the positive – the creation of highly efficient internal models of production and consumption, which citizens are so pleased with. But everything comes at a price. Such is the world. And what is food for one is death for another.
But our world was not arranged that way. And it should not be built that way in the future. The entire history of the Russian Orthodox state is aimed at creating a union of goodness and creation, capable of protecting not only its citizens, but also bringing light to all countries of the world.
Our patriotism must flow from love for our loved ones and from a person's capacity for self;sacrifice in their defence and for the future of descendants. In the name of universal justice and goodness!
Our Motherland is our families, our loved ones and the land on which we were born and which nurtured us. Parents are not chosen and not betrayed for wealth and favours. One's own mother is always better than a stranger's. And we must remember that. For a man without a fatherland is doomed to spiritual perdition.
Unfortunately, today the peoples that were even part of the Russian Empire and the USSR are disowning Russian history, attributing all the embellished and glorified sins of the past exclusively to the Russian ethnos. The "Russian ethnos" itself is also being led along false paths of self;flagellation or, allegedly, "revival of national consciousness", often leading to a dead end of self;destruction.
The concepts of freedom of speech and democracy in the modern understanding of Europeans are shaped in such a way that any alternative opinion is perceived by them as "undemocratic", "totalitarian" or "propagandistic", and therefore not worthy of attention, and is met with due distrust or simply resolutely suppressed! Therefore, it is extremely difficult for a "sprout" of truth to break through the "asphalt" of lies, hypocrisy and stupefaction rolled out by Western intelligence agencies using all modern propaganda technologies.
Only because the peoples of the former Russian Empire were part of Russia do they exist to this day. Only by being part of Russia did they manage to preserve their national identity and languages! Woe to those "historians" who equate Feudal Internecine Wars and peasant uprisings with "national liberation movements" of the past.
By this principle, today all European states could fall apart, from Germany to France, according to the principle of small feudal principalities. And Russia must be fragmented into the Moscow, Novgorod, etc. principalities, separating the Urals, Siberia, Transbaikalia and so on. Do they want to plunge us back into the times of the dark Middle Ages?! Is that what we need?
The entire Russian people have gone through immense suffering. Our cities burned to the ground more than once and were reborn again. They say that the look of Russians has a touch of sadness. And that is true. This sadness is the accumulated suffering of generations, passed on to us at the genetic level.
In our heads swarm thoughts about the meaning of existence, virtue and the search for justice, about the arrival, at last, of peace and tranquillity on the Russian land and in the world, sometimes giving us no peace…
This essay is created as a brief account of the true history of the Russian state, which not only harbours no threats to the world, but carries the light of goodness and Christian charity. In the salvation of Russia lies the salvation of true human values.
As the famous Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov said, "Russian is not a nationality, it is a point of reference!" We are one people. In unity is our strength and our invincibility! And that means the entire future of progressive humanity!
Today, looking back, it is extremely important to seek unifying facts, not those that could continue to sow age;old enmity! So as not to repeat the mistakes of the past!!!
After all, history should teach us to be wise. That is its main purpose!!! In creation, not in destruction of the present and the future!!! At the same time, one can evaluate the past only by the "yardsticks", norms and virtues "of that time"!!!
Any historical fact can easily be challenged today without much effort, so the information field is littered with destructive historical falsifications. It is easier to find a reason for "historical" hatred than a reason for love. On the soil of oblivion of the past grows the future death of a nation. In the history of the past, wise people seek reasons for friendship, fools and enemies – for quarrels. Everyone studies history! But not everyone is taught by History!
---
Part One. The Slavic Tribes
In the Bronze Age, Indo;European tribes penetrated into Central Europe. The German scholar H. Krahe concluded that Celtic, Germanic, Slavic and Baltic languages existed only as dialects of a single Indo;European language.
The Slavic tribes historically originated in the Danube region, where they were first recorded by Byzantine written sources. Later, before the Eastern Slavs moved from the Danube to the Dnieper, they remained for a long time on the Carpathian slopes.
A Byzantine author of the mid;15th century left a description of the appearance of the early Slavs: "They are very tall and of enormous strength. Their skin and hair colour is very white or golden."
From the Slavic tribes came: Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Poles, Czechs, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians.
Emperor Maurice (582–602) wrote of the Eastern Slavs: "They settle in forests or near rivers, swamps and lakes – generally in difficult;to;reach places. Their rivers flow into the Danube… And all expeditions against them end in failure."
According to chroniclers, the Slavs possessed natural good;nature. They knew neither deceit nor malice, preserved the ancient simplicity of morals unknown to the Greeks of the time. They treated prisoners kindly and always set a term for their slavery, allowing them, after serving it, to return to their homeland, or to stay and live with them in freedom and brotherhood.
In the world at that time, the fate of an involuntary traveller was sad: he was killed, robbed or sold into slavery. For the Slavs, however, every traveller was, as it were, sacred. They met him with affection, treated him with joy, saw him off with blessings. The host answered to the people for the safety of the stranger. And whoever failed to protect a guest from harm or trouble, his neighbours avenged that insult.
A Slav, leaving his house, left the door open and food ready for the wanderer. Merchants willingly visited the Slavs, among whom there were neither thieves nor robbers. But a poor man who had no means to entertain a foreigner well was allowed to steal from a rich neighbour: the important duty of hospitality justified even the crime.
Ancient writers praise the chastity not only of women but also of Slavic men. Demanding virgin purity from their brides, they considered it a sacred duty to be faithful husbands. A mother, raising her children, prepared them to be warriors and irreconcilable enemies of those who insulted their neighbours. Like other pagan peoples, they were ashamed to forget an insult. The law of inexorable vengeance demanded blood for blood, the fear of which often prevented possible atrocities.
The ancient chronicler Nestor speaks especially of the morals of the Russian Slavs. The Polyanians were more educated than the others. Modesty adorned their wives. Peace and chastity reigned in families. The Drevlyans, however, had wild customs, like beasts with which they lived among dark forests. In quarrels they killed each other, knew no marriages based on mutual consent, but abducted girls. The Severians, Radimichi and Vyatichi did not know chastity, but young people gathered at games between villages, suitors chose brides and without any ceremonies agreed to live with them.
In the 6th century, the Slavs ate millet, buckwheat and milk. Later they learned to cook various dishes, sparing nothing for the merry treat of friends, thus proving their hospitality with abundant feasts. Honey was their favourite drink.
The name of the people "Rus" or "Ros" appears in sources for the first time in the mid;6th century. The Byzantines used the form ROS, and Arab;Persian authors of the 9th;11th centuries used the form RUS. This people was known beyond the Slavic world as the "people of heroes". In Rus there were no thieves or robbers. When leaving home, people usually left the door unlocked.
In the 6th century the Slavs fought without caftans, some even without shirts, in only trousers. The ancient Slavs did not know autocracy, observing only the law of their fathers and ancient customs. However, the concept of "princely power" existed then, but was strongly limited by the ancient customs of liberty.
Among the pagan Slavs, the first place among idols was occupied by Perun – the god of lightning. Others, the most well;known to this day: the god of merriment, love and well;being was the god Lado. To the god of earthly fruits, Kupala, on June 23, people made sacrifices, before the harvest, adorned themselves with wreaths, played at night around a fire, bathed in the river. On December 24, Russian pagans glorified Kolyada – the god of celebrations and peace. To this day, Russians speak of house;spirits, mermaids, wood;goblins.
---
Part Two. Kievan Rus. The Foundation
Kievan Rus of the 9th;12th centuries was a huge feudal state stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from the Western Bug to the Volga.
According to a number of hypotheses, the Russian "Primary Chronicle" of the 12th century by Nestor and numerous Western European and Byzantine sources, statehood was brought to Rus by the Varangians (Vikings) – the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in 862, whom the Rusichi voluntarily called to rule.
It is important to note that Rurik's appearance in Rus was not accidental. His mother, Umila, was the daughter of the Slavic prince Gostomysl, who ruled in Novgorod. After Gostomysl's death, internecine strife began among the Slavic tribes over the princely throne, blood was shed. Then, wishing to end the feuds, the Slavs remembered his Varangian grandson Rurik, who, through his mother, had legitimate rights to the throne. Thus, the calling of the Varangian was not merely an external intervention, but a restoration of dynastic succession, which gave this event a deep inner meaning.
It is likely that the rule of a "prince from overseas" could prevent the claims of other princes to the throne, promoting unification around a single princely centre, which only benefited statehood. The strong Varangian druzhina, being the prototype of a professional army of that time, could provide protection from enemy raids, including from the very Varangians from whom the Slavs suffered greatly.
Russian princes of Varangian origin adopted Slavic culture and language as their own, becoming truly Russian princes. Elements of Norman culture entered Russian life insignificantly. This "Varangian reflection" was partly found in the military craft. The expression "Varangian newcomer" has survived to this day.
After Rurik's death, his Varangian kinsman Prince Oleg liked this city on the Dnieper (Kyiv). He arrived there with Rurik's infant son, the future Kievan prince Igor, and removed Askold and Dir, uniting Novgorodian Rus with Kievan Rus, calling Kyiv the "Mother of Russian Cities". Thus was born "KIEVAN RUS". That is why Oleg is considered the founder of "Kievan Rus".
The name of the city comes from Kiy – the eldest of three brothers (Kiy, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybed), who, according to legend, are considered the founders of Kyiv about two centuries earlier. Kyiv was anciently considered the capital of the Polyanians.
The legendary victorious campaign of Prophetic Oleg against Tsargrad (Constantinople – called Tsargrad by the Russians, today Istanbul) took place in 907. Oleg's warriors pulled their boats ashore, attached wheels to them. When a favourable wind blew from the sea, the warriors mounted the wheeled boats and rushed under sails to the walls of Tsargrad. Horror seized the Byzantine Greeks. They hastily sent envoys to Oleg, offering him food and wine. But Oleg knew the food was poisoned, and touched nothing. The Greeks marvelled at the prince's foresight and decided to give him whatever tribute he asked. As a sign of his victory, the prince nailed his shield to the gates of "Tsargrad".
In 911, a new Rus;Byzantine treaty was concluded. Byzantium's main enemy were the Saracens. The next battle took place in October 911 near Crete, in which the Byzantine fleet was defeated by the Saracens. 700 Rus fought on the Byzantine side. From the beginning of the 10th century, Rus appears in Greek texts as an ally of Byzantium.
According to the ancient "Song of Prophetic Oleg", "he met his death from his horse", according to the prophecies of the Magi, being bitten by a snake that crawled out of the skull of his dead horse.
Meanwhile, trade and cultural relations developed between Kievan Rus and Byzantium. The trade route along the Dnieper "From the Varangians to the Greeks" was opened.
---
Part Three. Kievan Rus. The Baptism
The Baptism of Rus – the introduction of Christianity as a state religion in Kievan Rus – is usually dated to 988. The adoption of Christianity in Rus is inextricably linked with the name of the Grand Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. The name Vladimir is an ancient Russian princely name meaning "Ruler of the World".
Prince Vladimir was the son of Grand Prince Svyatoslav and the housekeeper of Princess Olga, Malusha. Vladimir was probably born near Pskov or Gomel, where Malusha was exiled. Vladimir was the younger brother of Yaropolk and Oleg. His childhood was spent in Kyiv with his father Svyatoslav and grandmother Princess Olga.
In 969, Vladimir was installed as prince in Novgorod. Oleg received Ovruch – the centre of the Drevlyans. After Svyatoslav's death in 972, Yaropolk began to rule Kyiv. In 977, Yaropolk started an internecine war with his brothers. After learning of his brother Oleg's death in battle with Yaropolk, Vladimir fled to the King of Norway. But already in 980 he returned to Novgorod, expelling Yaropolk's governor.
Vladimir captured Polotsk, which had sided with Kyiv, killing the family of the Varangian ruler Rogvolod. He took his daughter Rogneda, who had been betrothed to Yaropolk and had previously refused Vladimir because of his origin, by force as his wife. Then with a large Varangian;Novgorodian army he besieged Kyiv, where Yaropolk was holed up. After defeating Yaropolk, Prince Vladimir became Grand Prince of Kyiv.
"Let us not marvel at cruelty: the faith and laws of the pagans justified inexorable vengeance. But we must judge heroes by the customs and morals of their time" (N.M. Karamzin).
The Russian land at that time was a multitude of tribes united by the princely druzhina. To create a true state, spiritual unification was necessary. The pagan prince faced a choice. Russian lands were surrounded by: Jewish Khazaria, Muslim Volga Bulgaria, Latin Poland and Hungary, and Orthodox Byzantium. At the prince's invitation, preachers came to Kyiv from different countries: from the Muslim Bulgarians beyond the Volga, from the Latin Germans, from the Jews and from the Greeks. And each offered him his faith.
On the advice of his boyars, Vladimir sent ten wise men to test on the spot which faith was better. When these Russian envoys arrived in Constantinople, the splendour of the Hagia Sophia, the harmonious singing of the court choir and the solemnity of the patriarchal service moved them to the depths of their souls: "We knew not," they said to Vladimir afterwards, "whether we stood on earth or in heaven." The boyars remarked to Vladimir: "If the Greek faith were not better than other faiths, your grandmother Olga – the wisest of people – would not have accepted it."
Having adopted Christianity, Prince Vladimir changed greatly. Imbued with the spirit of Christian love, he even refused to execute villains, instead imposing monetary fines. He no longer sought to expand Russian borders, but cared for the security of their frontiers.
Prince Vladimir was a true ancient Russian prince: formidable on the battlefield, affable and merciful at merry feasts, generous to the poor. Through him the Russian land was enlightened. From him it began to be called Orthodox Holy Rus. Orthodoxy and the Russian state are inseparable components of a single whole! Without Orthodoxy, Russia will perish.
History of Orthodox Christianity
Orthodoxy – literally "correct teaching" or "correct glorification" – is a direction in Christianity that took shape in the east of the Roman Empire during the first millennium AD. The main tenets of Orthodox doctrine are contained in the Creed, adopted at the 1st (in 325 in Nicaea) and 2nd (in 381 in Constantinople) Ecumenical Councils, and have not changed since, preserved in their original form so as not to distort the faith.
The final schism of the Christian Church occurred in 1054, after which the Church split into the Roman Catholic Church in the West, centred in Rome, and the Orthodox Church in the East, centred in Constantinople.
According to Orthodox teaching, Jesus Christ has a dual nature: Divine and Human. Orthodox believe in the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They believe in His resurrection and ascension to heaven and await His second coming and the establishment of God's Kingdom on Earth. The Holy Spirit proceeds only from God the Father. Communion with the Church – one, holy, catholic and apostolic – takes place through baptism.
Orthodoxy recognizes seven sacraments (mysteries) – baptism, chrismation, communion (Eucharist), confession (penance), marriage, holy orders, and unction. Orthodoxy recognizes only the first seven Ecumenical Councils, which took place before the separation of the Western branch of Christianity (in 1054). Orthodoxy lacks rigid church centralisation and has no instruments of secular power.
The greatest difference is that the Orthodox Church did not separate itself from the Heavenly Church. Orthodoxy rejects the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope of Rome and does not recognise his supremacy over all Christians. The Orthodox see only God in three persons as the head of the Church, and never separate the Church from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because there is no sinless man – all have sinned.
And the saints in Orthodoxy are those who bring the Light of love into the world. Light from God. Truth from Truth. And they themselves considered themselves sinners. People call them saints because the light of God came to them through these saints. And led them to repentance, strengthened faith, and taught love. This is not political power, but Spiritual power! The Orthodox Church does not collect taxes from its flock, as the Church of the Pope of Rome does today.
Ritual differences: in Orthodoxy – the Byzantine liturgical rite, in the Catholic Church – the Latin rite. Orthodox churches are bright, flooded with rays of sun penetrating from above through the domes, life;affirming, without dragons and intimidation of the flock. A full rite of Crowning (presence of "Crowns") exists only among the Orthodox.
In Orthodoxy there were neither Inquisitions nor "Crusades"! John of Kronstadt: "True are the words of our Saviour Jesus Christ: whoever is not with Me is against Me (Matthew 12:30). Catholics, Lutherans and Reformers have fallen away from the Church of Christ. … They are openly going against Christ and His Church." But let us not idealise any religion. Every religion is an interpretation of love of God and piety of the human being, sinful by nature.
The Miracle of the Holy Fire
The Holy Fire or Holy Light is the fire brought out from the Holy Sepulchre at a special service held annually on Holy Saturday, on the eve of the Orthodox Easter, in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. The bringing out of the Holy Light symbolises the emergence from the Tomb of the True Light, that is, the Risen Jesus Christ.
The earliest surviving description was left by the Latin pilgrim Bernard the Monk. In 867 he recorded: "On Holy Saturday, on the eve of Easter, at the morning church service in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, an angel descends and lights the lamps… The Patriarch passes this Fire to the bishop and finally to all the people, so that everyone may light this Fire in their home…"
Muslims search the Greek patriarch, stripping him to his undergarments. Not long ago, Muslims had the right to put the patriarch to death on the spot if they found anything that might cause ignition. In the thousand;year history of the descent of the Holy Fire, such a case has never occurred. Representatives of different religious confessions are present at the ceremony! In the first minutes, the Holy Fire does not burn!
The Cradle of Russian Orthodoxy – Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is one of the first monasteries founded in Rus. It was founded in 1051 under Yaroslav the Wise by the monk Anthony. In the caves of the Lavra, hermit monks lived in different centuries; their holy relics are still preserved there. The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra can rightly be considered the "Russian Jerusalem".
Unfortunately, to this day this holy territory remains a museum, occupied by the atheistic Ministry of Culture of Ukraine! Not all churches are functioning today. But that does not make this place less holy and precious for all Orthodox Christians!!!
In these caves were monastic cells, and today rest the incorruptible relics of the saints.
---
Part Four. Kievan Rus. The Flourishing
Kievan Rus (9th;12th centuries) was a state with a highly developed spiritual culture. In terms of development, Kievan Rus significantly surpassed the contemporary states of Western Europe. In the 11th century, the population of Kyiv reached 50;60 thousand, while London, Hamburg and Gda;sk had about 20 thousand each.
In Kievan Rus, thanks to strong ties with Byzantium, education developed. The urban population of Rus was literate. Princes knew foreign and ancient languages. Kievan Rus was called a "country of books". At monasteries, schools, libraries, archives were created, a large amount of literature was translated, and chronicles were written.
Orthodox Christianity brought its corresponding worldview to all areas of the Russian state. For Russian culture, this was the channel through which a stream of spiritual values developed in the "Byzantine Empire" poured into its bosom.
The Christianization of Rus did not entail the complete eradication of elements of the traditional pagan worldview in Russian public consciousness, as some "anti;Christians" or "neo;pagans" claim today. On the contrary, Byzantine political and legal ideology itself inevitably reformed on Russian soil. One way or another, Rus (Russia) is a Christian Orthodox state. A return to paganism, to which some false patriots call today, is a step back to tribal primitive structure, a step towards the destruction of the state.
The Russian Land – in the understanding of Russian thinkers – is not just a territory, country or abode, but at the same time something that makes Russians an independent, self;standing people among other peoples.
The time of Yaroslav's reign was a period of flourishing for Kievan Rus, which became one of the most powerful and enlightened states in Europe. The strongest countries in Europe sought an alliance with Rus. Yaroslav the Wise gave his daughters in marriage to the kings of France, Hungary, Norway, and allied himself with the King of Poland and the Emperor of Byzantium. On the Bible that Anna brought to France, all kings took their oath at coronation.
Yaroslav was not called the Wise in vain. He can be considered the first enlightener of Rus. Under him, Kyiv became a significant cultural, political and trade centre of Europe. Under Yaroslav, the Hagia Sophia cathedrals, similar to the eponymous cathedral in Constantinople, were built in Kyiv and Novgorod; the first code of laws, "Rus;skaya Pravda", was created; the Kyiv Pechersk Monastery was founded; the famous chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" was written. Kyiv was surrounded by a white;stone wall with Golden Gates.
In the last hours of his life, he said to his sons: "My children! I am leaving this world. Love one another, respect and defend one another. Remember – you are all brothers. And when you live in love among yourselves, God will be for you and you will defeat your enemies. Only peace and harmony will confirm the might of the Russian state. But when you hate one another, start quarrels and enmity, you will perish yourselves and destroy the land of your fathers and grandfathers, which they won by hard labour. Know that internecine strife will destroy the glory and greatness of the state."
In 1111, Vladimir Monomakh (1053;1125), grandson of Yaroslav the Wise (called Monomakh after the clan of his mother Maria – daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh), made a campaign against the Polovtsians, who were ravaging Rus with their devastating raids. Before it began, a miraculous sign occurred, the rumour of which spread throughout all Russian lands. On the night of 11 February, a pillar of fire suddenly appeared over the Pechersk monastery, swayed, then rose to the sky, took a direction to the east, and disappeared. This was interpreted as the Lord having mercy on our land and granting Monomakh victory over the Polovtsians.
The Russian army approached the Vorskla River. There Vladimir Monomakh dismounted, turned and bowed low to the Russian land: "Russian land, I swear to you that we will either return to you with victory, or lay down our bones!" After praying with abundant tears to God and kissing the holy cross, the Russian forces continued the campaign and in the sixth week reached the Don, on the banks of which were the main winter camps – the settled camps of the Polovtsian hordes.
Unarmed people came out to meet them. Bowing, they offered the Rusichi fish and wine. After a while, Khan Sharukan himself came out to the Rusichi. They asked not to touch their dwellings! They promised eternal peace! "A guilty head is not cut off by the sword!" – said Vladimir Monomakh, uttering the famous phrase known to this day!
On 24 March, a meeting with the main Polovtsian forces took place. Their cavalry hordes, suddenly appearing from around the bend, covered the entire horizon. Having kissed the cross, the princes vowed to stand to the death. According to Russian custom, before the battle, despite the cold, the warriors undressed, donned clean shirts; they fraternised, exchanging crosses. Soon both armies – the Polovtsian and the Russian – clashed in a fierce battle that lasted until evening. Finally, the Polovtsians were defeated and retreated.
The next morning, on Palm Sunday, a messenger shouted: "All the khan's banners are here, as many as locusts!" "Let us march out to meet them without fear. Today is a great holiday – Palm Sunday, it cannot be that the Lord will not help us!" – Monomakh exclaimed. The battle, stubborn, bloody, merciless, lasted all day. The weary Rusichi could barely grip their swords; but fresh Polovtsian detachments kept arriving. Realising that the decisive turning point had come, Monomakh drew his sword and, crying, "Do not let us down, brothers! Let us cut down the pagans!" – charged at the enemy.
The incredible happened. The Polovtsians wavered and fled, spurring their horses. Later, captured steppe dwellers who fell into Russian captivity said that at the moment when the druzhinas charged at them, they saw bright warriors in the air, who, hovering over the Russian regiments, reflected arrows and everywhere gave them aid. It was to these bright warriors that the Polovtsians attributed their defeat. "How can we fight with you, when some others were riding over you in the air with gleaming and terrible weapons and helping you!"
The rumour of Monomakh's deeds, of the heroism of all Russian princes, soon spread throughout the world, reaching Constantinople itself. In all chronicles for all ages, this glorious feat is recorded; and as long as Rus stands – and it will stand until the end of time – the Slavic peoples will not forget their liberator and defender Vladimir Monomakh!
Prince Vladimir left behind the "Instruction" for his children and descendants: "Strengthen the unity of Rus, do not destroy Christian souls, defend the Orthodox faith, have the fear of God in your heart." "What grieves my soul?" – writes the prince – "not that I marched with regiments against the Polovtsian khan, but that I marched to Starodub against Oleg, to Minsk against Gleb, to Vladimir against Yaroslav." Patience and love for one's neighbour, curbing pride – these are the Christian commandments to be observed.
Yuri Dolgoruky (1090;1157) was the son of Vladimir Monomakh. From childhood he was sent to rule in the Rostov;Suzdal lands. He was the last grand prince to unite all Russian lands. After his death, Kievan Rus began to disintegrate inexorably into separate independent and semi;independent principalities.
In Europe, the Crusades began and trade routes shifted to Venice, the Rhine and the Baltic. The ancient trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" along the Dnieper through Kyiv began to decline. But a new route grew and strengthened – from German lands through Novgorod, along the Volga to the Caspian, and further to Central Asia. Prince Yuri recognised the future of his lands, strengthening his control over the trade route.
He built many fortress cities. Thus arose Kostroma, Mozhaysk, Moscow, Tver, Uglich and many others. He seemed to stretch out his hands over a vast expanse of land, which earned him the nickname "Long;Armed" (Dolgoruky). At that time, in the south, an internecine war was raging for the Kievan throne. But the Suzdal land of "Dolgoruky" was peaceful, building cities.
In his first marriage, the prince was married to the daughter of a Polovtsian khan. He had peace with the Polovtsians. In his second marriage, he married the sister of the Byzantine emperor. The prince understood that the strength of his lands rested not only on the sword, but on Christian faith and book learning. He built many churches and developed education. He said: "Books are rivers of wisdom, filling us with the thirst of every age… Taught by the instruction of books, you will acquire a sound mind and goodness for your soul."
In 1154, Yuri Dolgoruky ascended the Kievan throne. As a ruler who saw the need for order in the Russian land, he strove to ensure that not appanage princes but representatives of the grand princely authority sat in the principalities. But the time for these changes had not yet come. The future "Third Rome" remained a small fortress. And Yuri Dolgoruky remained in history as the great builder of the future Moscow Russia.
---
Part Five. Culture, Traditions, Law of Ancient Rus
Kievan Rus was a medieval state in Eastern Europe that emerged in the 9th century as a result of the unification of East Slavic tribes under the rule of princes of the Rurikid dynasty. In its early centuries, Kievan Rus can in many respects be regarded as a "daughter" zone of Byzantine culture.
The feudal fragmentation of Kievan Rus, like that of many other European countries at the time, led to an endless series of internecine strife within Rus, in the struggle of brother;princes – the "Rurikids" – for the Kievan throne. Some modern historians confuse feudal medieval wars with national liberation movements. This is an extremely crude error for historians, conditioned by the political subtext of modernity, aimed at renewed disunity and revival of neo;feudal feuds.
Both Scandinavians and Muslims who visited Rus spoke highly of the qualities of the Russians. In all epic tales, Russians appear as very honest and reliable people, who can be trusted on their word, entrusted with large sums, and who know how to conduct business on a grand scale, taking into account the interests of all parties to the transaction.
In 1187, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation granted equal trading rights to the Dutch and the Russians. Because "Russians can be trusted for their excellent honesty and justice." The traditions of the "merchant's word of honour", as well as the "officer's word", survived until the 17th year of the last century! When in the First World War, captured Russian officers in Germany were allowed "out on parole" to return! Breaking one's word was an impermissible act, and even mortal danger was not a mitigating circumstance!
Today we also value "honest word". In the Soviet period, "honest pioneer" or "honest communist word" were often used, etc. In the protracted period of "perestroika", which turned into yet another revolutionary destruction of everything, unfortunately, we have come to trust the notary's seal more than the word.
Rus;skaya Pravda
A significant cultural upheaval was the introduction of a unified script. The Russian language is one of the Slavic languages belonging to the Indo;European group. It was formed in the 11th;14th centuries. Old Church Slavonic came to Rus with liturgical literature. The Slavic alphabet was compiled by the Greeks Cyril and Methodius, taking into account the specifics of Slavic speech.
One of the written monuments of Kievan Rus, "Rus;skaya Pravda", is written in a truly folk, simple, clear language. "Rus;skaya Pravda" (11th century, 1019;1054) is the first legal code of Rus, the main source of legal, social and economic relations.
Russian Clothing
The history of the development of Russian clothing, starting with the clothing of the ancient Slavs, is divided into four main periods: Scythian;Sarmatian, Norman, Byzantine and Mongol (Tatar). The Russian costume was finally established in the 17th century. And during the reign of Peter I, it was partially replaced by Western European dress.
Changes did not affect such basic parts of Russian clothing as the hat, trousers and shirt. By the time of the calling of the Varangians (Normans), the clothing of the Eastern Slavs became richer; Greek, Roman and more often Scandinavian costumes appeared.
As for hair, in the first period men wore long or semi;long hair and beards. In the Norman period, hair was worn semi;long, beards were shaved and only moustaches were left. After the introduction of the Byzantine faith, beards were again worn, which from the 15th century began to be trimmed.
Women in the first period hid their hair under headbands or headdresses; in the Norman period, girls wore their hair loose, while women braided it and let it hang freely down their backs or wrapped it around their heads and covered it with a kerchief; in the Byzantine period, women hid their hair, while girls wore it sometimes loose, sometimes braided.
Undoubtedly, during these three periods other foreigners with whom the Russians came into contact also had an influence on their clothing. So, from the 9th century, Khazar costumes must have been encountered; from the 9th to the 11th century – Pecheneg costumes; from the 11th to the early 13th – Polovtsian. All these peoples were of Turkic origin and wore predominantly Turkic garments.
Russian Cuisine
In the 6th century, the Slavs ate millet, buckwheat and milk. They also grew rye, barley, wheat and oats. During the harvest, they took millet grains in a ladle, raised them to the sky and said: "Lord, you who have given us food until now, give it to us in abundance now as well." Later they learned to cook various dishes, sparing nothing for a merry treat for friends and thus proving their hospitality with abundant feasts.
Buckwheat porridge came from the Greeks, hence the name. Pancakes, as a symbol of the sun, were always baked on "Maslenitsa" – farewell to winter, before Great Lent.
Olivier salad appeared at the end of the 19th century in Moscow, through the efforts of the French;born chef Lucien Olivier, a member of the family of famous French chefs Olivier, who gave the world "Proven;al" mayonnaise. The original recipe: 2 grouse, veal tongue, quarter pound of pressed caviar, half pound of fresh salad, 25 boiled crayfish, half a jar of pickles, half a jar of soy;kabul, two fresh cucumbers, quarter pound of capers, 5 hard;boiled eggs. For the sauce: Proven;al mayonnaise should be made with French vinegar from 2 eggs and 1 pound of Proven;al (olive) oil.
From memoirs: "It was considered a special chic when dinners were prepared by the French chef Olivier, who had already become famous for his invented "Olivier salad", without which a dinner was not a dinner, and whose secret he did not reveal. No matter how gourmets tried, it didn't work out: it was similar, but not the same!" Lucien Olivier is buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow.
Beef Stroganoff (from French B;uf Stroganoff – "beef ; la Stroganoff") is a popular dish of Russian cuisine, made from finely chopped pieces of beef, poured with a hot sour cream sauce. It is named after Count Alexander Grigorievich Stroganov (1795;1891), who kept in Odessa a so;called "open table", where any educated and decently dressed person could come for free. The dish was actually invented for such open tables. One of the count's chefs successfully combined the techniques of French cuisine with Russian methods. After World War II, the dish entered the international restaurant cuisine as a "Russian dish".
Russian Drinks
It is known that in Ancient Rus there was no drunkenness at all. The population of Ancient Rus did not grow grapes, and wine for the Eucharistic mystery was imported from Byzantium. Intoxicating drinks were fermented honey and beer. From those distant times, the famous expression in many folk tales has survived: "And I was there, drinking honey and beer. It ran down my moustache, but didn't get into my mouth."
Until the mid;16th century, the people, having paid a duty on malt, hops and honey ("braga duty"), brewed the then;known low;alcohol drink (5;8°) – mead, beer, braga – and consumed it at home or in taverns. Beer was, in fact, any drink, and kvass was both non;alcoholic in the modern sense and alcoholic, more reminiscent of modern beer. The everyday word "kvasit" (to pickle, but also to drink) has survived to this day. That is why a drunkard was then called a "kvasnik".
In those times, wine was usually diluted with water, so water or "vodichka" (vodka) was considered a component of drinks, and consequently "vodichka;vodochka;vodka" became the embodiment of alcoholic beverages. Strong alcohol appeared in Rus at the end of the 15th century, later receiving the name "vodka".
Among other drinks of Ancient Rus: sikera, ol, birch sap, birch juice, kissel, fruit drink (mors). Mors is one of the oldest Russian drinks, mentioned in the "Domostroy". The name comes from the word "murza", which meant "water with honey". For its preparation, forest berries have long been used in Rus, known not only for their unique taste and aroma, but also for their healing properties, because they contain organic acids, vitamins, mineral salts, and pectin.
After D.I. Mendeleev (the famous Russian scientist, creator of the "Periodic Table of Chemical Elements") wrote his doctoral dissertation "On the Combination of Alcohol with Water" in 1862, he established that in a solution with an alcohol concentration of about 46% (by weight), the maximum mutual dissolution of water and alcohol occurs. He called this product "Vodka". So "Vodka" is not an "ancient Russian drink".
As a result of research, from the end of the 19th century, Russian vodka was considered only a product that was grain alcohol diluted by weight with water to exactly 40°. This Mendeleev composition was patented in 1894 by the Russian government as the Russian national vodka – "Moskovskaya Osobaya". However, the consciousness of most Russian people was more accustomed to wine, so the first vodka bore the name "Table Wine No. …".
The culture of vodka consumption developed as follows: very devout Orthodox people did not consume it at all. Strong alcoholic drinks are consumed exclusively for events and holidays (not daily or weekly). To avoid rapid intoxication, vodka is always accompanied by an abundant meal (zakuska).
Russian people were not accustomed to strong alcohol and did not see much pleasure in it, so the main quality of vodka is that it should have neither colour, nor taste, nor smell. To enhance this, vodka is poured from a frozen bottle and drunk in one gulp and only from a shot glass (never from the bottle neck, as in Hollywood films). Many Russians are often proud of their ability to "drink a lot but not get drunk." This causes deep bewilderment among foreigners, which Russians mistakenly take for respectful envy, and foreigners consider it boorish. Russians need to stop their "vodka childishness".
Russian Bylinas and Fairy Tales
Fairy tales are divided into the following categories: 1) Bylinas – based on real events; 2) Fairy tales with traces of mythology; 3) Fairy tales about animals; 4) Everyday tales.
Ilya Muromets is one of the main heroes of the ancient Russian epic, a bogatyr embodying the folk ideal of a warrior;hero, a defender of the people. According to the epics, Ilya Muromets did not "command" his arms and legs until the age of 33, and then received a miraculous healing from the elders. They, coming to Ilya's house, ask him to stand up and bring them water. Ilya replied: "I have neither arms nor legs, I have been sitting on a seat for thirty years." They repeat the request. Ilya gets up, goes to the water;carrier and brings water. The elders tell Ilya to drink the water. Ilya drank and was healed… Then the elders tell Ilya that he must go to serve Prince Vladimir.
The relics of Ilya Muromets rest in the Near Caves of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. Research confirmed a serious spinal injury of the monk, which was later miraculously healed, allowing him to regain mobility in his legs.
---
Part Six. The Decline of Kievan Rus. The Mongol;Tatar Invasion
Kievan Rus was a state with a highly developed spiritual culture. In terms of development, Kievan Rus significantly surpassed the contemporary states of Western Europe. The latter did not have such a spread of literacy and writing among the population as in Kievan Rus, where, thanks to strong ties with Byzantium, education flourished. The urban population of Rus was literate. Princes knew foreign and ancient languages. Kievan Rus was called a "country of books". Schools, libraries, archives were established at monasteries; a large amount of literature was translated, and chronicles were written.
Orthodox Christianity brought its corresponding worldview to all areas of the Russian state. For Russian culture, this was the channel through which a stream of spiritual values developed in the Byzantine Empire poured into its bosom. The Christianization of Rus did not entail the complete eradication of elements of the traditional pagan worldview in Russian public consciousness, as some "anti;Christians" claim today. On the contrary, Byzantine political;legal ideology itself inevitably reformed on Russian soil.
The concept of the "Russian Land" acquired political significance in the written monuments of Kievan Rus. The Russian Land – in the understanding of Russian thinkers – is not just a territory, country or abode, but at the same time something that makes Russians an independent, self;standing people among other peoples.
However, peace never came to Rus. Princes were ready to do anything for a more prestigious and profitable reign. Interestingly, the fragmentation of the unified state of Kievan Rus into a number of separate principalities was perceived in ancient Russian literature not as a fragmentation of its territory, but only as a disintegration of the once unified princely family into warring factions. In this enmity, in which brother went against brother, Russian writers saw the main cause of all the misfortunes that befell the Russian Land.
When princely internecine strife began, "then on the Russian land, ploughmen rarely shouted, but often crows cawed, dividing corpses among themselves, and jackals spoke in their own way, gathering to fly for prey," – "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" (c. 1187). The whole work was a call to the princes to stop internecine strife. "All grandchildren of Yaroslav and Vseslav! Do not raise your banners any longer, put your blunted swords into their scabbards, for you have lost your grandfathers' glory. In your quarrels, you began to call the pagans to the Russian Land, to Vseslav's inheritance… Because of strife, violence from the Polovtsian land began!" – the call also sounded in the "Tale of the Princes", created in the second half of the 12th century: "Come to your senses, princes, you who resist your elder brethren, raise armies and call the pagans against your brethren, – until God convicts you at His Terrible Judgment!"
Patrimonial law in Rus kept the land for the boyars, even if they transferred their service to another prince. Taking advantage of their material independence, the boyars, as a rule, lived in cities and easily changed their "attachments". The scheme of succession, according to which each son was given the opportunity to rule Kyiv, encouraged the struggle for power. Some resorted to the help of Polovtsians, Poles, Swedes.
Only the enormous authority and popularity among the people of Vladimir Monomakh, who had previously, in 1113, conducted dozens of successful campaigns against the Polovtsians, allowed him to keep Rus in unity and peace for 12 years. In the vivid expression of the chronicler, Vladimir Monomakh "wiped much sweat for the Russian Land."
From the mid;12th century, the heyday of Kievan Rus ended and the period of fragmentation began. Despite the fact that Kyiv was deprived of its largest markets (the Crusaders' sacking of Constantinople in 1204), Kyiv remained at the turn of the 12th;13th centuries one of the largest cities in Europe. Its population was 40 thousand. London reached such dimensions only a century later.
Veliky Novgorod was a member of the Hanseatic trade union and had a People's Veche, as the first democratic self;government body at that time. The Galician and Volhynian principalities (territories of the western regions of modern Ukraine and Belarus) held back the onslaught of the Magyars, Poles and Lithuania. The Galicians were among the first to separate from Kyiv, but it was precisely the Galician;Volhynian prince Roman Mstislavich (grandson of Vladimir Monomakh) who, having extended his power over the Kyiv and Pereyaslavl principalities at the beginning of the 13th century, came closest to unifying the lands of Kievan Rus. Unfortunately for Rus, Prince Roman of Galicia fell into an ambush set by the Poles in 1205 and was killed.
By the mid;12th century, Rus had broken up into several principalities. In 1198, Polotsk came under Lithuanian control; from that time, the Polotsk land became a springboard for Lithuanian expansion to the north and northeast. From the last quarter of the 12th century, many principalities (Goroden, Izyaslav, Drutsk, Gorodets, Logoysk, Strezhev, Lukoml, Bryachislav) disappear from the view of ancient Russian chroniclers. Then began Lithuanian incursions directly into the Novgorod;Pskov, Volhynian and Smolensk lands. The Lithuanian princes annexed the Turov;Pinsk principality to their possessions in 1210;1219.
And the most terrible enemy was already advancing from the depths of Asia. From 1219 to 1221, the Mongol conquerors subjugated Central Asia with fire and sword. In the autumn of 1220, Northern Iran was devastated, and then Azerbaijan.
In 1223, Genghis Khan ordered the capture of Derbent and the other areas around the Sea of Azov. The Mongols entered narrow gorges and were surrounded by the inhabitants of Dagestan – the Alans and Polovtsians. The Mongols resorted to cunning, flattering the Polovtsians as their supposed "fellow tribesmen". After defeating the Alans, the Mongols made the Polovtsians regret their frivolity. The Mongols subdued the Yas, Abazins, Circassians and generally seven peoples in the Azov region.
In the 1220s, the Mongols passed through Asia Minor and Transcaucasia, suppressing the resistance of Georgian and Armenian forces. Most of Georgia and all of Armenia fell under Mongol rule. Weakened by the Crusaders on the eve, Central Anatolia (former Byzantium) was also captured by the Mongols.
Many Polovtsians fled to the Kyiv region, being the first to bring the news of the terrible invasion. The Mongols first told the Russians: "Be friends with us, avenge your enemies the Polovtsians and take their wealth." But the Russians did not believe the treachery and marched together with the Polovtsians against the Mongol foe.
In 1223, the Russian;Polovtsian forces met the main Mongol army on the Kalka River. The Russians fought bravely, but the faint;hearted Polovtsians could not withstand the blow and fled. In flight, they crushed the Russian ranks. The imaginary Polovtsian "friends" even killed Russians to take their horses! There was still no unity among the Russian princes. The retreat turned into a rout. Only one magnanimous prince, seeing the retreat of his compatriots, remained with his druzhina and accepted a deadly battle that lasted several days!
As a result, the vigorous strong Russian army vanished completely. The Tatars mercilessly killed everyone in their path – both civilians and farmers – following the principle that the vanquished cannot be friends of the victors.
But suddenly Genghis Khan, insulted by the Tangut king (a kingdom in one of the provinces of modern China), recalled his troops, and in 1227 the Tangut state fell under his blows. And Russia breathed a sigh of relief: the terrible cloud appeared as suddenly as it vanished. And the people carelessly calmed down.
Genghis Khan ended his terrible life for humanity in 1227, declaring his eldest son Ogedei as heir. The new khan gave 300,000 warriors to his nephew Batu and ordered him to conquer many countries. The terrible future fate of Rus was predetermined.
Batu approached Ryazan. The Ryazan embassy was destroyed in Batu's camp. The grief;stricken young wife of the slain prince's son threw herself from the wall with her infant. The Tatars destroyed Ryazan, exterminated all the inhabitants in bestial frenzy, sparing no one.
Suddenly, the boyar Evpaty Kolovrat, who arrived at Ryazan with a small detachment, caught up with the villains and with a daring blow crushed their rear regiments! The Tatars thought in horror that the dead had risen against them! But a handful of the magnanimous could not overcome the countless host. Evpaty Kolovrat will forever remain in the people's memory as an avenger and defender of the Russian Land.
The Mongols besieged Ancient Kyiv. Many Russian cities already lay in ruins. Further resistance seemed futile. But the people's honour does not follow the counsels of a timid mind. The people proved braver than their prince, who had fled to Hungary. Soon all the terrible force of Batu surrounded Kyiv…
Ancient Kyiv disappeared forever. Even in the 14th and 15th centuries, the "Mother of Russian Cities" was a ruin. Batu spared not even the graves… The barbarians trampled even the skulls of our princes! The conquerors left nothing for us to remember our ancient capital! And yet, according to legend, the first buildings of Kyiv and the Lavra surpassed in beauty and grandeur the modern ones!
The Tatars knew no rules of honour and always, by deceiving their enemies, laughed at their credulity. Thus, Batu promised the besieged town of Ladyzhin in the Galician region mercy if they surrendered. They believed, but not a single inhabitant remained alive!
"Batu, like a fierce beast, devoured whole regions. The bravest Russian princes fell in battle. Mothers wept for their children trampled by Tatar horses, and maidens for their innocence, old men froze in the snow. The boyars' wives became slaves of the barbarians. The living envied the peace of the dead…"
As a result of the invasion, about half the population perished. The south of Russia became completely deserted. The surviving population of the south moved to the Northeast. But there the climate was harsher. Complex crafts disappeared. "Rus was thrown back several centuries, and in those centuries when the guild industry of the West was moving to the era of primitive accumulation, the Russian craft industry later had to pass again part of the historical path that had been traversed before Batu." All trade routes were controlled by the Mongols. Stone construction ceased.
The shadow of barbarism, darkening the horizon of Russia, concealed Europe from us, where conditions in the 11th century had changed for the better. At a time when education and art were developing in Europe, navigation and trade were spreading, new lands were being discovered, Russia, tormented by the Mongols, strained its forces solely to survive: we had no time for education and art! Until Ivan Kalita, our fatherland was more like a dark forest.
Morals also changed: the kind;hearted Monomakh said: "do not kill the guilty, the life of a Christian is sacred." Dmitry Donskoy introduced solemn capital punishment, for he saw no other way to frighten the criminal.
Faith preserved us. It did not allow us to lose morality, harden our hearts, or silence our conscience; in the destruction of the Russian name, we exalted ourselves by the name of Christians, we loved the fatherland as a country of Orthodoxy! Fortunately, the khans, under pain of death, forbade their subjects to plunder Orthodox monasteries! They did not take tribute from monasteries either!
The internecine strife over the Russian unification around the Kievan throne was replaced by the internecine strife of fragmentation and division. Independent princes emerged, receiving favour and the right to reign from the Horde.
Military pressure on the Russian principalities from neighbouring countries increased, as a result of which Rus lost its influence over its southern, western territories and in the Baltic. Military construction in Rus also fell into decline, because the impoverished country had no funds for a regular army, entirely replaced by a people's militia consisting of peasants and artisans. While Europe in the Crusades was perfecting the art of war and weaponry.
The Tatars not only physically destroyed Rus, they erased our past, mercilessly burning writings and books, depriving us of the opportunity to read the most interesting pages of our ancient history! Overall, in its cultural and socio;economic development, Rus was thrown far back.
---
Part Seven. The National Liberation Struggle in Rus
Fragmentation in Rus was one of the main causes of national disasters. This is important to remember for today's supporters of "independence", because the world has not changed much since those distant times! And the instruments of murder have become far more sophisticated and total! Only by uniting can one defend one's true, not imaginary, feudal independence!
It is also important to take into account that warring sides not only fight, but also exchange cultures, unite through marriage ties (become relatives). Today we have no reason for revanchist sentiments or hatred. If we had military and trade contact in the past, we in any case have a common history, possibly common genes, common cultural values! And all this is important! Important for building a modern peaceful community! The glorious pages of our history, the deeds of our ancestors, must not be covered with the dust of oblivion!
But woe when in the graves of the past they try to dig up new reasons for enmity and strife!
The great conquerors, who brought so many disasters, are now a source of pride for their modern compatriots! Thus, Genghis Khan is proud of Mongolia. All peoples who consider themselves his descendants are proud! The descendants of Genghis Khan's army consider themselves: Mongols, Tatars, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Nogais. Accusations of Russia's occupation from the lips of descendants of Genghis Khan sound most insane…
And no hints of repentance! And all this against the background of eternal accusations of Russia's "historical aggression". When individual facts of battles of distant antiquity are brought to the surface as an argument for enmity today and separatism. These sentiments are fuelled by Russia's enemies. Hitler used this, and the USA use this today. For our peoples must destroy each other, as the Indians of America destroyed each other!
No wonder that modern "independences" in the former Soviet republics are held under Nazi flags! Because the goal of these "independences" is destruction, not creation. All the new "independent states" are oriented against Russia and Russians, building their "independence" precisely on that. Even if these are outright Nazi statuses. The Russians themselves and Russia are being decomposed and demoralised from within, distorting not only history but also modern values.
But let us return to the past, to the 12th century! So, by the mid;12th century, Rus had broken up into several principalities. From the East, it was oppressed by the Muslim Golden Horde. From the West, by Catholic Lithuania and Sweden. In the North, Novgorod developed in its own way.
The principles of Novgorod democracy allowed not only the nobility but also the urban plebs to participate in the life of the republic. The People's Veche summoned the prince, judged his "faults", "showed him the way" out of Novgorod; elected the posadnik, decided questions of war and peace; issued and repealed laws; set tax levels; elected authorities in Novgorod's dominions and judged them. This was at that time the first example of democratic state structure in Europe.
Here are only some of the Novgorod princes most known to us from these "essays": 862;879 Rurik – first Novgorod prince. Founder of Rus. 879;912 Prophetic Oleg – later first Grand Prince of Kyiv. Founder of Kievan Rus. 912;945 Igor Rurikovich – later Grand Prince of Kyiv. (Known from "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"). 969;977 Vladimir Svyatoslavich (Vladimir the Red Sun) – later Grand Prince of Kyiv (under whom the Baptism of Rus took place). 1010;1034 Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise, later Grand Prince of Kyiv. 1241;1252 Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (for the third time), later Grand Prince of Kyiv. 1328;1337 Ivan Danilovich Kalita, formerly Prince of Moscow. 1363;1389 Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy – Prince of Moscow ("Battle of Kulikovo"). From 1389, Novgorod began to accept governors of the Moscow or Lithuanian Grand Prince. In 1478, the Novgorod Republic fell under the blows of the great Moscow prince Ivan III, known in history as the "collector of Russian lands". (Alas – there is no freedom when there is no strength to defend it!)
Saint Alexander Nevsky (1220;1263)
In 1236, Batu approached Novgorod, but, not having reached a hundred kilometres, turned his troops south. The Papal throne, using the situation of Russia's weakening, blessed the invasion of Russian lands. The Swedes began by seizing the Neva and Ladoga.
Alexander gathered his druzhina and with the words: "God is not in power, but in truth. Some are with weapons, some on horses, but we will call on the name of the Lord our God!" – he led it against the enemy. The five;thousand;strong Swedish detachment was defeated. The Russians lost only twenty warriors. For this victory on the Neva on 15 July 1240, Alexander was named Nevsky. This victory preserved Russia's trade routes to the West.
A month later, German and Danish knights began a great offensive on Rus. On 5 April 1242, the famous Battle on the Ice took place on Lake Peipus, ending in the complete defeat of the Livonian Order.
Alexander Nevsky managed to conclude a peace treaty with Batu, being unable to overcome this invader. And Batu's heir, Sartak, under the influence of the prince, even accepted Christianity. The Mongol khans did not interfere in the affairs of the Orthodox Church. A. Nevsky managed to use the Horde troops in the struggle against the crusaders.
Saint Alexander stopped the march against Rus, against Orthodoxy, sacrificing political freedom. The prince pursued the sole aim – to preserve Orthodoxy as the source of the moral strength of the Russian people. If faith perishes, Rus will perish too. Whoever encroached on Faith, encroached on the future. The culture of the Russian lands, history, writing, language, self;awareness – all this was embodied in the Church. And this lamp of the Orthodox faith was not blown out by the western wind; from it, preserved by Alexander's hand, the revival of Rus began. The light of faith brought to the Moscow state both the Volga and northern peoples, and even the Horde dwellers themselves. (Half of the Russian regiments on the Kulikovo field were made up of descendants of Tatars who had moved to Muscovy.)
Before his death, Alexander Nevsky took monastic vows. Hearing of the grievous death, Metropolitan Kirill, going out to the people, exclaimed: "My dear children! Know that the sun of the Suzdal land has set. There will be no more such prince in the Russian land." Alexander Nevsky was buried on 23 November 1263.
The Golden Horde
During the reign of Khan Uzbek (1312;1342) and his son Janibek (1342;1357), the Golden Horde reached its peak. The capital of the Golden Horde under Batu was the city of Sarai;Batu (near modern Astrakhan); in the first half of the 14th century, the capital was moved to Sarai;Berk (founded by Khan Berke (1255;1266), near modern Volgograd).
Khan Uzbek proclaimed Islam the state religion, threatening "infidels" with physical reprisal. The Russian princes, going to the capital of the Golden Horde, wrote spiritual wills and paternal instructions to their children, in case they perished there. Several of them were indeed killed.
During the reign of Khan Uzbek, the strengthening of the Moscow principality took place, headed by Prince Ivan Danilovich Kalita. The prudent Ivan Kalita, seeing that all the disasters of Rus came from the discord of the princes, tried to establish his power over all the Russian principalities. Uzbek executed many Russian princes, strengthening Moscow power for the future ruin of his own kingdom, without knowing it! Kalita's good fame attracted eminent people to him; thus, from the Horde, the Tatar murza Chet, named Zakhary in baptism, came to Moscow, from whom Tsar Boris Godunov descended. The well;known Russian noble families: the Basmanovs, Yusupovs and many others, trace their roots to the Horde!
Kalita and Simeon prepared our freedom more by mind than by force, but the time came to unsheathe the sword! Having rested under the wise rule of the Moscow princes, the people remembered the ancient independence of the Russians! The easing of chains does not reconcile us with slavery, but strengthens the desire to break them!
History testifies to its different pages, on which there are traces of numerous battles, individual Russian uprisings against the Tatars, numerous devastations of Russian cities, embittered ferocious vengeance against Tatar subjects, punitive responses…
The Battle of Kulikovo
The first important victory of the Russians over the Tatars was won by Prince Dmitry in the 70s of the 14th century on the Vozha River! Mamai – then the ruler of the Horde – trembled with rage, gathered a new army, summoning all the Horde princes: "Let us punish the stubborn slaves! May their cities, villages and Christian churches become ashes! Let us enrich ourselves with Russian gold!" Mamai also entered into a close alliance with the Lithuanian prince Jogaila. The faint;hearted prince of Ryazan, Oleg, also entered into a close conspiracy with them.
The clang of weapons did not cease in the city, and the people gazed with emotion at the brisk warriors, ready to die for the fatherland and the faith. It seemed that the Russians had awakened from a deep sleep: the terror of the Tatar name had disappeared from their hearts!
Dmitry learned of Oleg of Ryazan's betrayal: "Oleg wants to become a new Svyatopolk!" (Svyatopolk the Accursed – the fratricide cursed for ages). The boyars said to Dmitry: "It is the prince's duty to watch the battle! … We shall all die, but you, our beloved sovereign, live on and pass on the memory to future times!.." "Where you are, there I am! Hiding behind, can I say to you: brothers! Let us die for our fatherland? … I will stand in front and want to lay down my head as an example to others!" After the battle, he was barely found, stunned and unconscious.
The Battle of Kulikovo (Mamai's Massacre or the Don Battle) – the battle of the troops of the Russian principalities against the Horde – took place on 8 September 1380 on the Kulikovo Field between the rivers Don, Nepryadva and Krasivaya Mecha, in the territory now belonging to the Tula region, on an area of about 10 km;. The Russian troops went into battle under a red banner with the image of the golden image of Jesus Christ.
The battle began with several minor skirmishes of forward detachments, after which the famous duel between the Tatar Chelubey and the monk Alexander Peresvet took place. Both combatants fell dead. In this battle, Mamai's Horde army was completely defeated.
In the battle, the "right;hand" regiment was commanded by the Lithuanian prince Andrei Olgerdovich. But the Lithuanians of Prince Jogaila – allies of the Horde – finished off the defenceless Russian wounded when the wagons carrying them home fell behind the main army. On the side of the Horde also acted the traitorous "accursed" prince Oleg of Ryazan, who also attacked our convoys. But, terrified by the defeat of the Tatars, he eventually concluded a peace treaty and returned all the captives.
Prince Dmitry Ivanovich (12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389), for the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo, was nicknamed Donskoy. During Dmitry's reign, the Moscow principality became one of the main centres for the unification of the Russian lands. Significant military victories over the Golden Horde were won, and the white;stone Moscow Kremlin was built. But Dmitry gained nothing but glory!
Mamai gathered the remnants of his troops for a campaign against Moscow, but was defeated by Tokhtamysh, who came to power with the help of Tamerlane and seized the throne of the Golden Horde. Mamai fled to the Crimea, where he was killed by his allies from Genoa.
Two years after the Battle of Kulikovo, Tokhtamysh, having gathered an army, moved against Rus in 1382. Moscow was completely burned, the inhabitants killed or taken captive. But already near Volok, a Horde detachment was defeated by an army assembled by Vladimir Andreevich the Brave – prince of Serpukhov, grandson of Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan I Kalita.
By 1384, two treaties with Lithuania date: one by which princes Jogaila, Skirgaila and Koribut swore allegiance to Dmitry and his children, and another provided for Jogaila's marriage to Dmitry Donskoy's daughter, subject to the Lithuanian prince's subordination to the supreme authority of the Moscow prince and recognition of Orthodoxy as the state religion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, in 1385 the Krevo Union was concluded, by which Jogaila adopted Catholicism and married the heiress of the Polish throne. A year later, Jogaila, with the help of Polish troops, defeated Andrei Olgerdovich of Polotsk and Svyatoslav Ivanovich of Smolensk.
Soon Tokhtamysh marched against the Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, with whom he had previously maintained allied relations. As a result of 1391;1396, Tamerlane defeated Tokhtamysh's troops, captured and destroyed the Volga cities, including Sarai;Berke, and plundered the cities of the Crimea and others. The Golden Horde suffered a blow from which it could no longer recover.
It seemed that the Golden Horde had reached the peak of its power. But then, inside it, the inevitable process of disintegration began, typical of early feudalism. In the Horde, the "splitting" of the state structure began, and immediately a conflict arose within the ruling elite.
After the death of Khan Kichi;Muhammad, from the early to the mid;15th century, the Golden Horde ceased to exist as a single state, turning into the "Great Horde" and separate state entities that separated from it. From the Great Horde emerged: in the early 1420s – the Siberian Khanate, in the 1440s – the Nogai Horde, in 1438 – the Kazan Khanate, in 1441 – the Crimean Khanate, at the same time – the Astrakhan Khanate and the Kasimov Khanate.
In 1480, Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, tried to obtain submission from Ivan III, but this attempt ended in failure. And Rus finally liberated itself from the Tatar;Mongol yoke.
Khan Akhmat, deciding to punish the Russians for this insolence, sent his troops, having also enlisted the support of the Lithuanians. The armies met on the Ugra River. They stood opposite each other until frosts struck and the river froze over. But the Lithuanians never came. Ivan ordered the Russian troops to withdraw, to meet the enemy in the fields more convenient for battle. But the regiments, fearing a Tatar attack from the rear, literally fled. The Tatars, seeing the left bank suddenly abandoned by the Russians, imagined a cunning design of the latter and fled in terror. An amazing spectacle presented itself: two armies fled from each other! Thus ended the last Tatar invasion of Russia, 100 years after the Battle of Kulikovo.
The Reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich
During the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich, the unification of a significant part of the Russian lands around Moscow and its transformation into the centre of the all;Russian state took place. Novgorod was annexed. The final liberation of the country from the rule of the Horde khans was achieved.
In 1472, an agreement on mutual friendship with the Crimean Khanate was concluded. However, during the war with the Ottoman Empire, Crimea lost its independence. Nevertheless, in 1480, the alliance treaty between Moscow and Crimea was renewed. Russian support played an important role in the victory of the Crimean troops over the Great Horde. During the Russo;Lithuanian war of 1500;1503, Crimea remained an ally of Russia. On 9 July 1487, Ivan III took Kazan.
The Golden Horde was inhabited by: Finno;Ugric (Mordvins, Cheremis, Votyaks, etc.), Turkic (Polovtsians, Volga Bulgars, Bashkirs, Oghuz, Khorezmians, etc.), North Caucasian (Alans, etc.) peoples. The bulk of the nomadic population were Kipchaks, who, having lost their own aristocracy and former tribal division, Turkicised the relatively small Mongol elite. Over time, the common name for most of the Turkic peoples of the western wing of the Golden Horde became "Tatars", and prerequisites arose for the formation of a single ethnic community. This process remained unfinished and was interrupted during the disintegration of the Golden Horde in the 15th century. The Turkic population of the eastern wing of the Golden Horde formed the basis of modern Kazakhs, Karakalpaks and Nogais.
Relations with Lithuania
In 1481, a conspiracy was uncovered in Lithuania among princes Ivan Yuryevich Golshansky, Mikhail Olelkovich and Fyodor Ivanovich Belsky, who wanted to transfer their possessions to the Grand Prince of Moscow. Ivan Golshansky and Mikhail Olelkovich were executed; Prince Belsky managed to escape to Moscow, where he received control of a number of areas on the Lithuanian border.
In 1482, Prince Ivan Glinsky fled to Moscow, and in December 1489, a whole number of border Lithuanian princes went over to Ivan III's side. On 5 February 1494, a peace treaty was finally concluded. Also, the consent of the Moscow sovereign was obtained for the marriage of his daughter Elena to the Lithuanian Grand Duke Alexander.
Grand Prince Ivan III became the first Russian "autocrat". The people's power allowed the boyars, through the people, to influence the princes, easily transferring their service from one prince to another. All this did not contribute to the unity of the state, which was supposed to withstand external challenges! The boyars often fuelled the internecine strife of the Russian princes. Now that Southern Rus had turned into Lithuania and Russia had barely freed itself from the Tatar fetters, Russia had to be united! And either obey the sovereign, or be a traitor. In a word, Autocracy was being born!
If Rome was saved by a dictator in times of great danger, could Russia, that vast corpse, after Batu's invasion, come to life and resurrect in greatness in any other way?! Neither the slow counsels of aristocracy nor the noisy popular assemblies would have produced this effect! Autocracy, eradicating these abuses, removed the important obstacles on Russia's path to independence!
From the mid;15th century, mention is made of the Cossacks. These were Cherkasy/Kasakhs living on the banks of the Dnieper, unwilling to submit either to the Mongols or the Lithuanians. They lived as free people, attracting many Russians fleeing Tatar oppression, mingling with them. Over time, the Cossacks formed a single people, which became completely Russian, Orthodox. Multiplying in numbers, nurturing a spirit of independence and brotherhood, the Cossacks formed a military Christian republic! By the way, the city of Cherkasy is named after them! (For one of their first names was Cherkasy or Kasakhs). Following the example of the Ukrainian Cossacks, similar Cossack settlements arose in the northern regions of Russia. This name then meant freemen, horsemen, daredevils, but not robbers, as some assert!
The Mongols long barred us from Europe. Its crowned heads no longer entered into marriage alliances with ours. In western chronicles of this time there is almost nothing about Russia. There is no doubt that ancient Kyiv surpassed Moscow of the fifteenth century! (People stopped building durably and solidly: where there is no firm civil order, there are rarely solid buildings).
Many Russian folk songs were composed during the period of our state slavery. Languishing under the yoke, they were cheered by memories of former glory. It is not without reason that they say "the Russian sings in merriment and in sorrow." The Russian language up to the 15th century acquired more purity, adhering to the grammar of church books. Harsh sounds and words softened. The Russians did not lose all signs of civic education and proved how tenacious it is even under the strongest blows of barbarism! Russia, oppressed by disasters, survived and rose up in its new greatness! Trusting providence, we can flatter ourselves with the thought that it has destined Russia to be long;lived!
Ivan III takes as his wife the daughter of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Palaiologina. From that time on, Moscow could indeed be called the new Tsargrad (Constantinople)! Ivan adopted the coat of arms of the Greek emperors – the double;headed eagle, combining it with the Moscow one, where a horseman tramples a dragon.
He erected new Kremlin walls and towers to replace the previously destroyed ones. Italian masters and architects worked in Moscow. And in 1488, an Italian master cast the huge Tsar;Cannon.
Some Germans (Revalers) happened to insult Russian merchants, even publicly burning them, boiling them in cauldrons, and being rude to ambassadors. The irritated sovereign Ivan III demanded that the "judges" – the Reval magistrate – be handed over, and, receiving a refusal, ordered 49 Hanseatic merchants in Novgorod to be seized and thrown into dungeons… A year later they were released, but not all returned alive to their homeland, and all lost their goods… Thus the Hanseatic trade in Novgorod ceased. Merchants no longer dared to entrust their property, freedom and life into the hands of an autocrat.
Ivan was born not a warrior, but a monarch. He sat on the throne better than on a horse, wielded the sceptre better than the sword. He was the first to be given the epithet "Terrible", but in a good sense. They say women fainted at his mere glance. Russia expanded, destroying the kingdom of Batu and cutting off the expansion of Lithuania. Ivan called the special original Russian possessions of the Moscow state "White Russia". That is, great or ancient, according to the meaning of this word in eastern languages.
At the time when Vasco da Gama was thinking about the possibility of finding a route from Africa to India, our merchant from Tver, one Afanasy Nikitin, reached the Indian shores by land, compiling the most curious description of his travels. Sovereign Ivan III probably did not even know about this curious journey. But the Indians learned about Russia earlier than about Portugal, Holland and England!
Foreigners marvelled at the autocracy of the sovereign, whom they considered the executor of heavenly will. "He says and it is done," said Baron Sigismund von Herberstein, "the life and property of citizens depend entirely on his will. Their usual word is: as God and the sovereign wills…". This unlimited power seemed tyranny to them, but tyranny is only an abuse of autocracy, for tyranny exists also in republics, where powerful dignitaries oppress society.
Herberstein further writes: "…a Tatar, thrown from his horse, waves his arms, gnashes his teeth, … a Turk throws away his sabre, begs for mercy, … but pursue a Russian: in flight he does not think of defending himself, but never asks for mercy. Strike, cut him: he is silent and falls."
Some marvelled that Muscovites crowd the squares and markets from morning till noon. And Herberstein saw with surprise Russians working on holidays. They also marvelled that on weekdays Russians were forbidden to drink alcohol. This right was only for foreigners. The townspeople owned all the lands, leasing them to farmers who had personal freedom and movable property (except for serfs – the descendants of prisoners of war, people deprived of freedom). The peasants, however, the farmers were contemptuously called by the Mongols, from "Christians".
Russia still seemed a desert: steppes, dense forests, deserted roads. But the closer to the capital, the more settlements. Everything came alive. In Moscow, only the Kremlin was considered the city. Everything around was called suburbs. Young women were recluses: they were afraid to show themselves to strangers. At home they sewed and span. They had only one amusement: swings. Even the poorest woman could not even kill a bird for her meal: she stood at the gate with a chicken and asked a kind passer;by to slaughter the animal for dinner.
Ivan's son Vasily reigned at the beginning of the 16th century. He continued his father's reign, continuing his work of unifying the Russian lands, fortunately for the state, unfortunately for the principalities accustomed to popular liberty.
God did not give Vasily an heir, so, having exiled his barren wife to a monastery, he married a second time. Now – to Elena Glinskaya – daughter of a Lithuanian nobleman who had transferred to the service of Ivan III. But for more than 3 years Elena could not conceive! (Given her relationship with the notorious Mamai, she could have been called "Elena Mamaevna Glinskaya"). People condemned this barren marriage, as if it were God's punishment for dishonouring the first wife. And then, in 1530, on 25 August, at the 7th hour of the night, a son was born, Ivan! At that very moment, the earth and sky shook with unheard;of thunderclaps!
By the 16th century, autocratic Russia had become so powerful and wealthy a state that no external enemy was any longer a threat! It seemed that an era of peaceful life and prosperity, civic order and education was about to begin… But evidently the Lord had prepared new terrible trials for our fatherland…
---
Part Eight. Ivan IV the Terrible and the Time of Troubles
The oppression of the Horde, the aggression of the Crusader Order and Lithuania forced our ancestors to unite into a single state not through a long evolution of social consciousness, through the elimination of feudal feuds, but by the iron hand of the autocrat. For the enemy always acted not only with the sword, but also with bribery, by corrupting boyars and appanage princes, acquiring new subjects, generating betrayal. Thus, popular authority and the independence of the principalities gave our neighbouring enemies the opportunity to easily tear apart its body, already worn out by the Horde!
The birth of Ivan IV was long awaited. He was a descendant of the great Rurik – founder of Rus. His grandmother was the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaiologina. His mother was Elena Glinskaya. The Glinskys descended from the Tatar Khan Mamai, whose children fled to Lithuania and received there the town of Glinsk as an appanage, hence the name Glinsky. Thus, in the veins of Ivan the Terrible, the blood of Dmitry Donskoy mingled with the blood of Mamai!
Prince Mikhail Glinsky, Elena's uncle, was a physician and knight of the Holy Roman Empire. At one time he even participated in the administration of the Lithuanian principality and raised a rebellion there. The rebellion was suppressed, and the Glinskys had to flee. Thus the beautiful Elena came to Russia.
After the sudden (very strange) death of his father, the 3;year;old Ivan remained in the care of his mother, who died (probably poisoned) in 1538, when he was 8. Ivan grew up amid palace coups, the struggle for power between the warring boyar clans of Shuisky and Belsky. The murders, intrigues and violence surrounding him contributed to the development in him of suspicion, vindictiveness and cruelty. Cruelty to living creatures manifested itself in Ivan from childhood. (Cruelty to animals does not go without cruelty to people!)
The young Russian autocrat, having passed through the solemn coronation, stood on a par with the only emperor in Europe – the Holy Roman Emperor.
At the age of 17, Ivan decided to seek a bride. Russian autocrats no longer sought noble persons. Not nobility, but the personal merits of the bride justified their choice! (Apparently, the autocrat's position obliged him to remain so in family affairs more than before…)
Ivan preferred Anastasia Romanova (the future royal dynasty), descended from the boyar Andrei Kobyla (a certain prince Cambila, son of Prince Divon, descendant of the Prussian king Videvut, came in 1287 with his son and many subjects to Prince Alexander Nevsky. There he was baptised with the name Ivan, and his son received the nickname Kobyla). This extraordinary beauty was, it seems, the only love of the terrible tsar. They were married on 3 February 1547. They said the young wife had great influence on the sovereign.
Young Ivan liked to show himself as tsar, but not in matters of wise rule, but in punishments. He did not know that a sovereign, truly independent, is a virtuous sovereign.
Once a terrible fire broke out in Moscow, accompanied by a great riot. A certain Novgorod priest Sylvester entered the Tsar and, shaking his finger at him, declared that God's judgment was thundering over the head of the frivolous tsar. He shook the soul of the young tsar and a miracle happened! Ivan, shedding tears of repentance, became a completely different man! He addressed the people: "People of God!… The past evil cannot be remedied… leave hatred and enmity, let us all unite in Christian love. From now on I am your judge and defender…" The people wept with emotion together with their young tsar…
In 1552, Kazan was conquered, in 1556 – the Astrakhan Khanate, Russia was enlarged by Siberia. In 1553, trade relations with England were established.
In 1555, a treaty on duty;free trade for the English in Russia was concluded, and in 1557 – the same for the Russians in England. This revived in Moscow the idea of breaking through to the Baltic Sea. The Livonian Order decisively obstructed the trade route. K. Marx noted that the goal of the war was "to give Russia an outlet to the Baltic Sea and open communication routes with Europe."
In 1558, Ivan IV began the Livonian War for the mastery of the Baltic coast. By 1560, the army of the Livonian Order was defeated, and the Order itself ceased to exist. However, by 1583, Russia was again cut off from the sea.
Reforms were carried out in the army. Never had the army been so powerful. It numbered on a permanent basis from 300 thousand to 500 thousand men! (Batu's army numbered 300 thousand!)
Internal Order
In those times, Russia was under threat of the emerging Oligarchy. For it is easier to hide from one than from several persecutors. An angry autocrat is like an irritated deity, called upon nevertheless to look after his "flock". Numerous tyrants, however, do not have this "divine" advantage in the eyes of the people.
Suddenly Ivan fell hopelessly ill. At the gates of death, he demanded that the boyars swear allegiance to his infant son Dmitry (who soon died). The boyars opposed. These two days of confusion filled Ivan's heart with bitterness, and his body with extreme exertion, and – oh, miracle! The sovereign unexpectedly recovered! Could the Tsar forget those sad days of his helplessness and boyar rebellion? … Ivan saw in the boyars his chief enemies, creating conspiracies. During his reign, he centralised his power, ruthlessly suppressing all shoots of oligarchy. Ivan IV carried out a series of reforms aimed at the complete centralisation of the state.
Thirteen years of happy marriage of Ivan and Anastasia passed. These were the happiest days for Russia as well. According to the chronicle, the most kind Anastasia instructed and led Ivan to all virtues. The unbridled tsar remained faithful to her until her death. In the summer of 1560, Anastasia fell ill with a grave illness and on 7 August died… Ivan walked behind the coffin. His brothers led him by the arms. He groaned and struggled. Everyone wept – both the nobles and the beggars, who called Anastasia their mother, refusing even to accept alms in that mournful hour. Here ended the happy days of Ivan and Russia: for he lost not only his wife, but also virtue! The people did not yet know WHAT Anastasia had taken with her to the grave!
Foreigners, the English, wrote: "Ivan surpassed his ancestors both in power and virtue; has many enemies and subdues them… In dealing with his subjects he is affable and indulgent, …often gives banquets in the palace…, knows how to be imperious. He tells a boyar: "Go!" – and the boyar runs; he shows displeasure – and the nobleman is in despair! … There is no people in Europe more devoted to their sovereign than the Russians, whom they both fear and love…, but Ivan is not bored with affairs and does not amuse himself… occupied solely with two thoughts: how to serve God and destroy the enemies of Russia!"
Is it likely that a beloved sovereign could from such a height of good and glory plunge into the abyss of the horrors of tyranny? The self;interested boyars whispered to the Tsar that Sylvester and Adashev (who had beneficially influenced Ivan) were sorcerers and enemies who had killed his beloved wife! And that they should be executed! That it was not fitting for an autocratic Tsar to listen to villains! The Tsar, blinded by grief and weary of the spiritual and physical abstinence to which these servants of God had called him, agreed to this dishonourable trial, but he still mitigated the sentence, replacing execution with exile, where they very soon ended their days.
Now there was no one to restrain the breaking forth of the sovereign's anger. To please Ivan's villainy, the boyars informed on each other, inventing conspiracies and treasons. The Tsar more and more turned into a self;willed tyrant. Some Russians fled tyranny from Russia. Thus, princes Vishnevetsky and Kurbsky went over to Sigismund. Kurbsky wrote to Ivan: "You have deprived me of Rus! My blood, shed for you, cries out to God!.." Ivan angrily replied: "Shameless lie, what you say about our imaginary cruelties… the virtuous are alive… we execute only traitors…".
Flight is not always treason! But woe to the citizen who avenges his fatherland for a tyrant! Unfortunately, this formerly virtuous prince joined the enemies of the fatherland. Favoured by Sigismund, he advised the Poles how to destroy Russia. He betrayed his honour and soul to them.
Once the Sovereign left the capital… which was horrified at the news: "The Sovereign has left us! We are perishing! Who will be our defender in wars against foreigners?!" The Sovereign sent them a letter, writing that the boyars commit iniquities, and when the sovereign, moved by justice, punishes them, others, the clergy, defend the guilty… "…as a result of which, we, out of great pity, have left the state…". The frightened boyars and people in fear begged him to return. Finally, he agreed on one condition: that Ivan be allowed to execute traitors without any condemnation from the clergy. In these words Ivan pronounced the doom of many boyars, who at that hour stood humbly before him, wishing only to restore the Tsar to the kingdom. And the clergy was deprived of the ancient right to intercede for the innocent or those still deserving mercy.
Wanting to protect himself from conspiracies that seemed to him everywhere, he created a terrible secret police, called the "Oprichnina", which served him like dogs. Many boyars were ruined, and beggars became new masters;oprichniks, trying to cover their baseness with pomp. The oprichniks wore black clothing, like monks. Mounted oprichniks had special insignia; to their saddles were attached gloomy symbols of the era: a broom – to sweep out, and a dog's head – to gnaw out treason. 6,000 oprichniks were to serve the sovereign and not associate with the rest, called the "Zemshchina", who from nobleman to townsman were voiceless. The former were hunters, the latter – prey.
Ivan IV forcibly confiscated boyar estates, transferring them to oprichnik nobles. The oprichniks bred hatred. This hatred was to make the oprichniks even more devoted to their master. These were the blackest pages of Ivan's reign. After 7 years, in 1572, the tsar abolished the oprichnina.
Ivan, having a most powerful, combat;ready, brave army, ceded lands to the Polish king Stefan Batory. The cause was his terrible visions and prophecies: the appearance of comets, a thunderbolt in winter, a voice from heaven: "Flee, flee, Russians!" Ivan destroyed the most glorious voivodes. But he did not destroy the valour of the warriors. Our enemy Batory told with wonder how they, in defence of cities, did not think of life, blocking the breaches with their breasts. In the field, these faithful sons of the fatherland distinguished themselves by patience, enduring frosts, blizzards and bad weather. Those who attribute Russian victories to Russian frosts are mistaken. The true cause of these victories is patience, steadfastness and courage. And in moments of trial of these qualities, the Russians prove to be at their best!
In his eldest son Ivan, the tsar prepared a second himself for Russia. The young tsarevich, in his father's example, by that time already had a third wife, was pleasure;loving and killed people. But even Tsarevich Ivan, hearing the general murmur about military concessions to the enemy, demanded that his father send him with an army against the enemy to Pskov. "Rebel! Together with the boyars you want to overthrow me from the throne!" – the Tsar, in unbridled fury, struck the tsarevich on the head with his staff. And immediately turned white with horror and exclaimed: "I have killed my son!" Thus does the justice of the Most High punish in this world the giants of inhumanity!
In 1581, at the very time when Ivan, having a 300;thousand;strong army, faint;heartedly lost our western possessions, yielding them to 26,000 half;dead Poles and Germans, a small detachment of 840 daredevils, under the leadership of the Cossack ataman Yermak, conquered Siberia! It was mainly wilderness with sparse peaceful inhabitants. But soon the daredevils were met by clouds of Tatar arrows. The Tatars themselves described the Cossacks as marvellous, invincible warriors, shooting fire and thunder. Like the conquests of Mexico and Peru, in Siberia too a handful of people, shooting fire, defeated thousands and thousands still armed with arrows from the times of Genghis Khan! The Cossacks often acted without the will and assistance of the tsar, continuing to expand Russian lands to the East. Colonisation streams of Russian peasantry moved into Siberia, building towns and enlivening that hitherto deserted land. In two years the Cossacks managed to establish trade with the most distant Asian countries! A great role in the advance into Siberia was played by the merchants and industrialists Stroganovs. (Ancestors of the famous Count Stroganov, thanks to whom the world knows the dish "Beef Stroganoff!"). "Russia's wealth will grow by Siberia!" (M.V. Lomonosov).
Ivan loved feasts that astonished even the most sophisticated foreign travellers. At times Ivan was visited by fits of repentance for his sins. He wrote down the names of those killed in the "Synodikons", where 4,000 people are listed, and sent money for eternal commemoration to monasteries. But this could hardly ease the sufferings of his sinful soul!
The life of a tyrant is a disaster for humanity, but his history is always useful: to inspire abhorrence of evil is to inspire love of virtue! Virtuous in youth, a blood;drinker in mature years, he added to the list of the most vile examples in history. Today there are hunters who attribute all the horrors of tyranny to traits of the Russian character; let us disappoint them: our tyrants were not alone. Under Ivan IV, according to various estimates, from 4,000 to 40,000 people were innocently executed and killed. And his English contemporary, the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I, executed up to 89,000 of her subjects. (Both rulers were crowned only one day apart – 15 January and 16 January!) Let us add to this list a host of other charming European characters: Caligula, Nero, who reigned in Rome, Louis XI nicknamed the Spider, Richard III, Henry VIII, Philip II, James I Stuart, the Duke of Alba, Cesare Borgia, Catherine de Medici, Charles the Bad, Charles V, Charles IX (who arranged the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of up to 30,000 in one night!). Cromwell destroyed 5/6 of the population in Ireland. The Crusaders, during the Albigensian Crusade (1209;1229), killed at least 1 million people in southern France. The pacifier of Prussia, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Konrad von Wallenrode, ordered the right hands of all peasants in the Courland bishopric to be cut off. The Thirty Years' War in the 17th century took half the population of Germany! On 16 February 1568 (during the height of Ivan the Terrible's oprichnina), the Holy Inquisition condemned to death all (!) inhabitants of the Netherlands as heretics, and King Philip II's army alone killed 20,000 in Haarlem, and in total in the Netherlands – 100,000. In 1794, the French Revolutionary Committee staged a massacre that lasted 18 months. "Vend;e must become a national cemetery," proclaimed the brave general Turreau. Executions and guillotines (even children's guillotines were brought from Paris) proved insufficient… They decided: drown… From 400,000 to a million people were exterminated, according to various estimates. The total number of victims of the medieval Inquisition in Europe alone reached 10;12 million. The exact number of victims of Vlad the Impaler is enormous; according to various estimates, it exceeds 100,000. David Stannard, in his book "American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World", showed that the settlement of America was accompanied by the worst ethnic cleansing in human history: over 400 years, newcomers from the Old World physically destroyed about one hundred million (!) indigenous inhabitants. The "Uman massacre" in June 1768 claimed the lives of 20,000 Jews. Many Jews perished, besides Uman, in Lysyanka, Kanev, Cherkassy, Zhlobin, Korsun, Fastov, Belaya Tserkov and especially in Balta. Although all this happened on "sovereign Polish territory", news of the scale of the atrocities prompted the Russian authorities to send General Krechetnikov's corps against the Haidamaks, which defeated them in a few days and possibly saved the Jews of the Right;Bank Dnieper from total extermination. In Russia, however, the mid;18th century was marked by the virtual abolition of the death penalty. Without executions, the executioner's profession simply disappeared. The first to abolish the death penalty was the Great Kievan Prince Vladimir! We will say that all this was in the distant uneducated past! And we will be wrong again! In terms of the scale of bloodletting and atrocities, the 20th century surpassed any past. As for the present century, its first decade does not give us grounds to entertain great hopes for the future!
Nevertheless, the crimes of some tyrants do not serve as justification for others. The figure of Ivan the Terrible will remain in Russian history as one of the dark marks on its pages! However, his good fame outlived the bad in folk memory. History is more vindictive than the people!
Ivan the Terrible was the penultimate Grand Prince – a descendant of Rurik. (The last was his son Fyodor, who occupied the throne only formally; according to reviews: "He is simple and weak;minded, but very courteous and pleasant in manner, quiet, merciful, has no inclination for war, little capable of political affairs and extremely superstitious"). In essence, Ivan was the last autocrat of the Rurik dynasty!
Distant descendants of Rurik in the female line include all modern monarchs of Europe, several American presidents, writers, artists, including such as George Washington, Roosevelt, George Bush, Winston Churchill, Simon Bolivar, Wellington, Cardinal Richelieu, Otto von Bismarck, Rubens, Toulouse;Lautrec, Byron, Alexandre Dumas, Jonathan Swift, Jean;Paul Sartre, Antoine de Saint;Exup;ry, Robert Louis Stevenson, Fridtjof Nansen and many others. This is explained by the fact that Rurik is a common ancestor of European aristocrats through three women: Anna Yaroslavna (daughter of Yaroslav the Wise), Queen of France, Maria Dobronega (presumably daughter of Vladimir the Saint – Yaroslav the Wise gave her in marriage to the Polish prince Casimir the Restorer) and Zbyslava Svyatopolkovna (daughter of Grand Prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich of Kyiv, wife of the Polish king Boles;aw III).
The Magi foretold his day of death. That day came, and the Tsar felt better and was about to execute the Magi for lying, but they replied: "the evening is not yet…" On 18 March 1584, as predicted, Ivan died. Before his death, the Terrible looked like a decrepit old man, though he was only 53. In the last year he could no longer walk – he was carried. This was the payment of his sick soul on the path between sin and repentance!!!
But a cruel reign often prepares a weak reign: the new crowned one, wishing to win universal love, easily falls into the other extreme, into laxity, harmful to the state! Lawlessness began among the people, intrigues in the Duma, disorder in government. The Supreme Duma, having assumed state power, already on the night of 18 March expelled from the capital or arrested many of Ivan's henchmen. Ivan's son Fyodor, distinguished by extreme simplicity and feeble;mindedness, reigned only formally. The country was ruled, in fact, by Boris Godunov, the brother of Fyodor's wife.
Fyodor's only heir was his younger brother – Dmitry. In the struggle for the throne, Godunov organised the murder of the pretender, and the 9;year;old Dmitry was stabbed to death in front of his nanny and mother. The outraged people caught and killed all the murderers. Everyone understood who was behind this!
The Magi predicted that Godunov would be Tsar… but only for 7 years… However, Godunov invented a fiction about suicide in his own justification, which the naive Fyodor believed, bitterly mourning his brother. Oh, how this villainy would return to Russia! From "the other world", retribution would repeatedly return in the form of an endless string of impostors "False Dmitrys", rushing to the royal throne, marking the period of the "Time of Troubles".
After 7 years of rule, on 7 January 1598, Fyodor Ivanovich died, and the male line of the Moscow branch of the Rurik dynasty ended. The Zemsky Sobor (a gathering of representatives of all strata of the population (except serfs) of the Moscow state to discuss political, economic and administrative issues) elected Boris Godunov, Fyodor's brother;in;law, as tsar.
This became the beginning of the Time of Troubles – a period of Russian history from 1598 to 1613, marked by natural disasters, Polish;Swedish intervention, and a most severe political, economic, state and social crisis.
Godunov comprehensively strengthened statehood. He brought Russia closer to the West like no other. He favoured advanced technologies and innovations, for example, he built a water supply system in the Kremlin, raising water from the Moscow River with powerful pumps. During this period, Russia regained all the lands ceded to Sweden as a result of the unsuccessful Livonian War.
Boris's reign began successfully, but a series of disgraces bred despondency, and soon a real catastrophe broke out. A terrible famine occurred due to crop failure. In an effort to help the starving, Tsar Boris spared no money, generously distributing money to the poor. But bread grew more expensive and money lost value. Boris ordered the royal granaries to be opened for the starving… But often bread was bought up and hoarded by "covetous" people wishing to enrich themselves. There were cases of cannibalism. People began to think that this was God's punishment, that Boris's reign was not blessed by God, because it was lawless, achieved by injustice. Consequently, it could not end well.
If Godunov for a time improved the state, raised it in the eyes of Europe, he also plunged it into an abyss of unheard;of misfortune, delivered it as prey to the Poles and vagabond impostors. The name of Godunov – one of the most sensible rulers in the world – will be pronounced for centuries with abhorrence, to the glory of the moral, inexorable justice! After 7 years on the throne, Boris Godunov died.
The impostor False Dmitry, who declared to the Lithuanian prince Adam Vishnevetsky his royal origin, received the support of the Polish king Sigismund, adopted Catholicism, and married the daughter of a Polish governor, Marina Mniszech. The army of False Dmitry, consisting of Poles and Zaporozhian Cossacks, marched on Moscow. The Russo;Polish War of 1605;1618 for the Moscow throne began.
Fyodor Borisovich Godunov – son of Boris Godunov (1589;1605), reigned in April;May 1605 – only 2 months! As soon as Boris Godunov died, his army almost immediately betrayed his successor, the 16;year;old Fyodor Borisovich, who was overthrown on 1 June and killed on 10 June together with his mother.
On 20 June 1605, to universal rejoicing, the impostor (Grigory Otrepiev) solemnly entered Moscow. The Moscow boyars, led by Bogdan Belsky, publicly recognised him as the lawful heir. But not all the Moscow boyars recognised False Dmitry as a legitimate ruler. Prince Vasily Shuisky spread rumours of imposture. Shuisky enlisted the support of princes V.V. Golitsyn and I.S. Kurakin. Having secured the support of the Novgorod;Pskov detachment stationed near Moscow, which was preparing for a campaign against the Crimea, Shuisky organised a coup. On the night of 16;17 May 1606, the boyar opposition, taking advantage of the anger of Muscovites against the Polish adventurers who had come to Moscow for False Dmitry's wedding, raised a revolt, during which the impostor was killed.
However, new rumours of the miraculous deliverance of Tsarevich Dmitry did not cease, and this gave birth to new and new false tsareviches… The country plunged into chaos. Uprisings broke out: Bolotnikov's, the "Tushino Thief". The Crimean Tatars became active, and a 100;thousand;strong Nogai horde.
The defeat of Vasily Shuisky's troops by the Poles near Klushino (24 June / 4 July 1610) finally undermined the shaky authority of the "boyar tsar", and upon hearing of this event, a coup took place in Moscow. Vasily Shuisky was deposed. Moscow swore allegiance to the Polish prince Vladislav, and on 20;21 September Polish troops entered the capital. However, the robberies and violence committed by Polish;Lithuanian detachments in Russian cities, as well as inter;religious contradictions between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, caused rejection of Polish rule – in the north;west and east, a number of Russian cities "sat in siege" and refused to swear allegiance to Vladislav. On 17 March 1611, the Poles staged a massacre in Moscow; 7,000 Muscovites died in Kitai;gorod alone. That same year, the Crimean Tatars, meeting no resistance, ravaged the Ryazan region. Smolensk, after a long siege, was captured by the Poles. And the Swedes, emerging from the role of "allies", devastated northern Russian cities.
The militia of 1612 was led by the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, who invited Prince Pozharsky to command military operations. On 22 October (1 November) 1612, the militia under the command of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky stormed Moscow's Kitai;gorod.
At the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, a tsar was chosen (from 4 candidates). Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov was chosen. His power was supposed to be limited. Thus, Filaret wrote: "Leave the full course of justice to the old laws of the country; judge and condemn no one by the highest authority; without the Sobor, introduce no new laws, do not burden subjects with new taxes, and take no decisions whatsoever in military and state affairs." For another couple of years, outbreaks of dissent with the Sobor's decision continued. The Poles did not abandon their attempts either. The Time of Troubles ended with great territorial losses for Rus and led to a deep economic decline. From the captured territories, almost the entire Orthodox population, including Russians, Karelians and others, left, unable to accept national and religious oppression. Thus began a new era in the history of the Russian state – the era of the Romanov dynasty!
---
Part Nine. Russia and Georgia: The Salvation of a People
Georgia in the 11th century. Georgia under Queen Tamara (1184;1213). Her name is connected with the "Golden Age" in the history of Georgia. Never before or after did Georgia reach such a degree of external power and internal prosperity as during the reign of Queen Tamara. The name of Saint Tamara is the dearest to the Georgian people.
Queen Tamara was married to Yuri – the son of the great Russian prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. The Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches celebrate the memory of Saint Queen Tamara twice a year: on 14 May (1 May O.S.) and on the third Sunday after Easter, dedicated to the Myrrh;bearing Women.
In the 15th century, the Georgian kingdom turned into an isolated Christian country, surrounded on all sides by the Muslim world. Therefore, the appearance of Christian Russia in the north was perceived as an opportunity to get out of this situation.
Georgia's ties with Russia, interrupted during the Mongol;Tatar yoke, resumed and became regular. Georgian rulers turned to Russia with requests for military assistance, offering joint actions against Turkey and Iran. At the end of the 17th century, a Georgian colony was created in Moscow, which played a significant role in Russian;Georgian rapprochement.
At the beginning of the 18th century, King Vakhtang VI introduced a new code of laws and tried to improve the country's economy. Under him, in 1709, printing in the Georgian language began. Vakhtang's reign was interrupted by the Ottoman invasion, as a result of which he was forced to flee to Russia.
Under King of Kartli and Kakheti Heraclius II (1762;1798), the united Kartli;Kakheti state was significantly strengthened. Heraclius turned to Russia for protection from Iran and Turkey. In 1769;1772, Catherine II sent a Russian detachment under the command of General Totleben, who fought against Turkey on the side of Georgia.
In the mid;18th century, Catherine the Great ascended the throne of the Russian Empire. The first of the Caucasian peoples to enter the Russian Empire were the Orthodox Ossetians in the 18th century, then Georgia was annexed. Later, Armenia and Azerbaijan were conquered from Persia. And for two centuries, Russia protected and defended the Georgian people from Persian;Turkish oppression, extortion, captivity and slavery. Then, at the request of the Georgian kings, the Russian army came to Georgia.
The Russo;Turkish War of 1768;1774 (reign of Catherine II) ended with a great victory for Russia. As a result, southern Ukraine and the North Caucasus became part of Russia. Turkey lost the Crimean Khanate, which did not officially pass to Russia, but became dependent on the Russian Empire. Russian merchant ships received privileges in the Black Sea.
The future united Georgia matured in the bosom of the Russian Empire. In 1783, Russia and Georgia signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, establishing a Russian protectorate over the kingdom of Kartli;Kakheti.
Empress Catherine II was seriously seized by the idea of capturing Constantinople and liberating it from Islamic conquerors, liberating the Balkans from Turkey and creating a Slavic empire in Asia Minor with its centre in Constantinople. However, in 1787, under pressure from Turkey, the Russians were nevertheless forced to withdraw their troops, since King Heraclius had concluded a treaty with the Pasha, ratified by the Sultan in the summer of 1787 (just during the Russo;Turkish war). The two battalions left in Georgia could not be of substantial benefit in the event of a new enemy invasion, and it was decidedly impossible to reinforce them.
Four years later, in April 1799, the new Russian Emperor Paul I renewed the treaty of protection with the King of Kartli and Kakheti. Russian troops again arrived in Georgia in the autumn of 1799. Peter I indicated in his will: "Georgia is unhappy, defend it for the sake of faith, send it troops…"
George XII asked the Emperor of the Russian Empire Paul I to accept Georgia (the Kartli;Kakheti kingdom) into Russia: "...so that from now on the kingdom of Kartlians be considered belonging to the Russian power with the same rights that other regions in Russia enjoy." He feared that the Georgian princes would start internecine strife, as a result of which Georgia would be conquered by Persia.
On 22 December 1800, Emperor Paul I signed the Manifesto on the annexation of Georgia to Russia. But the death of the Georgian king George XII aggravated the situation in the country. The pretenders refused to recognise his son on the throne. They also opposed the annexation to Russia. So the struggle for "independence" was and is an ordinary form of struggle for power! To avoid internecine strife, by 1805 all Georgian princes were exiled to Russia, most of them settled in Petersburg, living on the pension assigned by the emperor and engaged only in scientific and literary activities.
The population of Georgia before its inclusion in Russia, by 1800, did not exceed 75,000 people. But within Russia, already after 50 years, by 1850, Georgia had more than 1 million inhabitants!
In 1805, the forty;thousand;strong Iranian army advancing on Tbilisi was stopped on 24 June on the Askerani River by a small Russian detachment of 500 rangers. On 28 July, the Persians suffered a crushing defeat from the Russian army and left Georgia in disarray. Between 1803 and 1878, as a result of the Russo;Turkish wars, the remaining Georgian territories were also annexed to Russia. And it was thanks to Russian weapons that the fortress of Akhalkalaki and other lands of ancient Georgia – Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti and others – returned to the composition of Georgia after centuries of Turkish rule.
Only within Russia did the Georgian people survive physically and preserve their language and culture. Georgia received a chance to unite into a single Georgian state, avoiding internecine bloodshed by ambitious rulers who accuse Russia of having put an end to their selfish ambitions. (For which the Georgian people could thank Russia for centuries!)
"Give my kingdom not under the patronage of the All;Russian Imperial Throne, but under its full authority." (The Testament of the last Georgian King George XII).
Domestic archives testify that the decision to take Georgians under their responsibility was not easy for Russia. After all, it meant getting involved in a war with Persia and Turkey, under whose rule most of Georgia lay.
The words of the famous hero of the Balkan Wars, General Mikhail Skobelev: "Only Russians allow themselves such a luxury – to fight out of compassion…" He was a remarkable commander and an unusual man who became a legend in his lifetime. His mention terrified Asian enemies and Turkish janissaries. Because of the whiteness of his horse, Russian soldiers called Skobelev the "White General".
The decision to annex Georgia brought Russia the bloodiest wars: two Russo;Persian wars of 1804;1813, two Russo;Turkish wars of 1806;1812. In these wars, Russians shed their blood for the Georgian people. They cost Russia not only financial expenditure, but also the lives of thousands of soldiers and officers. The Turks were driven out of Georgia. Their plan to join forces with the Persians for joint action against Russian troops suffered a final collapse.
For 200 years, the Russians kept guard, not allowing the Muslim armies of the Persians and Turks into Georgian territory. The annexation of Georgia gave the Russian Empire itself the longest war in the Empire's history – the Caucasian War (1817;1864). Here was a hotbed of robbery and Anglo;Turkish intrigues against the Russian presence in the Caucasus.
---
Part Ten. The Caucasian War and the Islamization of the Caucasus
In 1556, diplomatic relations between Dagestan and the Moscow state were established. Ivan the Terrible received, among rich gifts, a live elephant never before seen in Moscow. In 1557, the Kabardian prince Temryuk Idarov turned to Tsar Ivan IV with a request to accept Kabarda into Russian citizenship and help against the attacks of Tatars and Ottomans (Turks). (Kabardians – a people of the North Caucasus, other ethnonyms: Adygs, Kasogs, Circassians.) Already in 1552, Kabardians together with Russian troops participated in the capture of Kazan, and also contributed to the defeat of the Astrakhan Khanate.
In the 13th century, the Adygs (Kasogs) offered fierce resistance to the Mongol;Tatar invasion. In 1561, Ivan the Terrible married the daughter of the Kabardian prince Temryuk Idarov, who after baptism took the name Maria. Temryuk, relying now on his powerful son;in;law, strengthened his power over neighbouring mountain peoples: Ingush, Ossetians and others.
In the 1570s, the Crimean Tatars and Ottomans managed to restore their influence in the Caucasus. The Russian state was ousted from it for more than 100 years. Nevertheless, despite this, the Russian tsars continued to consider the West Caucasian highlanders, Adygs and Abazins as their subjects. In 1722 – during Peter I's Persian campaign – the Kabardians, despite the threats of the Crimean Khan, stood on the side of Russia. In 1739, Russia renounced its claims to Kabarda, which was declared free and served as a buffer between Russia and Turkey. Thus, from 1739, Kabardians were legally not under the authority of Russia, Turkey or anyone else. This, of course, did not prevent Kabardian aristocrats from enlisting in the service of the Russian tsar.
The Caucasian War of the 19th Century
After the annexation of Georgia (1801) and Azerbaijan (1803;1813), Russia's connection with them ran through the lands of Dagestan and Chechnya, constantly subject to predatory attacks by robber bands of highlanders. Appointed in 1816 as commander;in;chief in the Caucasus, General A.P. Yermolov began the conquest of the robber territories through the systematic construction of fortresses of the Caucasian Line (Grozny and others).
In the Caucasus, unrest periodically flared up. Local khans, princes and imams could not share power among themselves. The first imam of Dagestan and Chechnya, Gazi;Magomed, proclaimed jihad against the infidels. In the 1830s, the Avar imam Shamil raised an uprising in the Caucasus.
Shamil (born 1797, Western Dagestan – died 1871, Medina, now Saudi Arabia) – leader of the Caucasian highlanders. In 1834 he was recognised as imam. He united the highlanders of Western Dagestan, Chechnya, and then Circassia under the banner of Islam. He implanted Islam in the Caucasus.
However, not all the peoples of the Caucasus supported Shamil. As one Dagestani wrote: "… I am a Dagestani, and in my youth I admired Shamil, listening to the tales of "historians" about him. But when I learned more, my opinion completely changed. He was a greedy, wild beast, interested only in immense power… they write that he led a liberation war. From whom and what did he liberate? We were part of Russia; the Russians did not conquer us, but annexed us under the Gulistan Peace Treaty with Iran (in October 1813); if the outcome had been different, Iran or Turkey would have wiped us off the face of the earth! … for the sake of power and money, Shamil started terror in Dagestan, to suppress which the emperor sent military units – and it was with them that the bandits led by Shamil began a partisan, predatory war… The Dagestanis cursed him and drove him out to Chechnya; there, having settled in Vedeno, he organised predatory raids on Dagestani villages, burning, robbing and killing… in an Avar village, he gathered supposedly for a council in a mosque more than 30 people and burned them all alive. There are many such facts. Because of his adventure, hundreds of thousands of people died; he killed more Dagestanis than died in the war with the Russian army. This is a proven fact… His imamate was never recognised by the Dargins, who even fought against him; also his enemies were the Kumyks, Lezgins, Tabasarans, etc. The peoples of Dagestan did not elect him imam; he was imam for a part of the Avars, but never for the Dargins, Kumyks and Lezgins…."
In June 1840, the Chechens beyond the Terek rebelled.
The Islamization of the Caucasus
On the eve of the Crimean War (1853;1856), the Chechens, pushed by England and Turkey, stepped up their actions and struck the Russians in the rear. Thus, foreign anti;Russian forces used the highlanders as an instrument in their struggle against Russia and Orthodoxy. Shortly before this, for the same purpose, Islam was intensively implanted in the Eastern Caucasus, which was not the original religion of the Caucasians.
Islam arose in the first half of the 7th century in western Arabia. The founder and preacher of Islam is considered Muhammad (c. 570;632 AD). The word Islam means "submission", and its followers are called "Muslims". Muhammad's sermons are collected in the holy book of Muslims – the Koran. Already during his lifetime, Muhammad gave his teaching a distinctly aggressive character. He declared war on the whole world that did not recognise Islam.
In the 7th century, the Arab conquerors made the first attempt to seize and Islamize the Caucasus, but unsuccessfully, because they met serious resistance from the peoples living there. The second stage of Islamization of the peoples of the Caucasus is connected with Tamerlane's military campaigns (1385;1403). At that time, many peoples of the North Caucasus: Kistins, Dzurdzuks, Avars, Lezgins, Kabardians, Circassians, Adygheans and others – were Christians, thanks to the influence of Byzantium, and some of them had Georgian script. Among the Ingush and Chechens (Vainakhs), Christianity also often spread, although the majority retained dual faith. However, even after Islamization, for example, among the Avars, a Christian minority remained.
The final adoption of Islam in the Caucasus took place only in the 1860s, during the Caucasian War, through the efforts of Imam Shamil, who was a protege of Turkey and English colonizers!
The Crimean War and the Caucasus
As already mentioned, on the eve of the Crimean War, the Islamic movement directed against the Russian Empire was intensified. The Russian Empire in this war confronted a coalition consisting of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Military operations unfolded in the Caucasus, in the Danubian principalities, on the Baltic, Black, White and Barents Seas, as well as in Kamchatka. However, they reached their greatest tension in the Crimea.
The British press began to extol its new allies, including the Turkish government, which allegedly embarked on the path of "civilisational reforms". The public was instilled with such anti;Russian opinions that, according to the British themselves – supporters of a peaceful settlement – speaking before it at a rally was like speaking before a "pack of mad dogs".
Following the 3;year Crimean War, in which Russia lost 143,000 men, the long Caucasian War also ended, which cost the lives of over a million Russian soldiers! (Probably, after the end of the Crimean War, the British no longer saw much interest in Shamil and discontinued his further financial support).
On 25 August 1859, Imam Shamil, who had led the struggle of the highlanders against Russia in the rear, surrendered.
The Fate of Imam Shamil after his Captivity
Shamil was not only spared his life, but was given a house in Kaluga to live with his whole family, a mosque was built in the courtyard, and he was allocated 15,000 roubles of annual allowance.
A few years later Shamil wrote to the Tsar: "You, Great Sovereign, defeated me and the Caucasian peoples subject to me by arms; You, Great Sovereign, gave me life; You, Great Sovereign, conquered my heart by benevolences. My sacred duty, as an old man who has been blessed and subdued by Your great soul, is to instill in my children their duties towards Russia and her lawful tsars… I have bequeathed to them to nourish eternal gratitude to You, Sovereign, for all the benevolences with which You constantly shower me. I have bequeathed to them to be loyal subjects of the Tsars of Russia and useful servants of our new Fatherland. Calm my old age and command, Sovereign, where you will, to bring me and my children the oath of loyal allegiance. I am ready to take it publicly… In witness of my loyalty and purity of thoughts, I call upon Almighty God, His great prophet Muhammad, and swear before the recently cooled body of my most beloved daughter Nafisat on the most holy Koran. Grant, Sovereign, my sincere request."
Shamil took the oath of allegiance on 26 August 1866. And a few years after taking the oath, Shamil was invited to the wedding of Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich in 1866 as an honorary guest, where he said aloud: "Old Shamil in his declining years regrets that he cannot be born again, in order to devote his life to serving the White Tsar, whose beneficence he now enjoys."
Following his behest, the Chechens later faithfully served the Russian Tsar, including in military service. The well;known ;migr; historian A. Avtorkhanov, a Chechen by nationality, said that in the conquest of the Caucasus, "Russia showed its specific nature, peculiar only to it: both conquered peoples and voluntarily annexed ones, Russia did not consider colonial, as Western powers did in such cases. These peoples were considered subjects of the Russian Tsar… Therefore, Russian imperialism, unlike Western, did not reduce to robbery and violence. The state tendency was to make foreigners equal subjects of the tsar. No fundamental difference by nationality was made between them." At the same time, "Russia undertook not to interfere in the internal affairs of Chechnya. Not to encroach on Chechen religion and customs. And this was fulfilled."
History Repeats Itself in Our Days
The 21st century, but the same approaches. Again they need: "revolutionary hotbeds" in Russia's rear; "liberal" anti;Russian press in Europe; heating up anti;Russian Islamism in the Caucasus and a new "Caucasian war"; growth of nationalism around Russia's borders; creation of anti;Russian bridgeheads, for example, in Georgia and Ukraine. Ukrainian nationalists are still in Nazi uniforms… On the borderline between national patriotism and Nazism.
The August 2008 adventure of Saakashvili showed that present;day Georgia is a country completely controlled from abroad. The leadership of Georgia acts not in the interests of its own people, but turns out to be an American instrument in solving much more global tasks related to this strategic region of Eurasia… The Georgian kings Teimuraz II, Heraclius II, George, Vakhtang VI would turn over in their graves after such news. As a result of the Georgian attack on South Ossetia on 8 August 2008 (with US support), more than 2,000 civilians died!
---
Part Eleven. The Armenian Genocide and Russia's Role
The Armenian Genocide – organised and carried out in 1915 on territories controlled by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey – which the latter categorically refuse to recognise themselves and forbid others to do so! At each new discussion of recognition, Turkey threatens other states with diplomatic sanctions and reprisals against its own minorities.
Armenians, being Christians, were always objects of oppression by Muslims and were deprived of many civil rights. Mass killings of Armenians in 1894;1896 claimed the lives of many tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Armenians. Plundered cities and villages – 2,493, villages converted to Islam – 456, desecrated churches and monasteries – 649, churches turned into mosques – 328…
Mass extermination of the Armenian population continued. With the support of the Russian Empire, in February 1914, a plan was imposed on the Ottomans to create two Armenian zones, which were to be administered by representatives of European powers. On 2 August 1914, Turkey signed a secret treaty with Germany, one of whose points was to change the eastern borders of the Ottoman Empire to create a corridor to the Muslim peoples of Russia, which implied the eradication of Armenian presence on the altered territories. This policy was publicly announced by the Ottoman government immediately after entering the war. In November 1914, jihad was declared. Turkey appealed to the Muslims of Russia, calling them to join the jihad, and Germany actively supported Ukrainian nationalists.
Practices included crucifixion of Armenians, throat;cutting, burying alive; known facts of mass poisoning of Armenian children and pregnant women. Those who refused to take poison were forced to drink it or drowned in the sea. Survivors of deportation were killed by lethal doses of morphine. French and Turkish witnesses confirmed cases of poisoning children in hospitals and schools. Mobile steam baths were also used, in which children were killed by superheated steam.
The Armenian population of Turkey practically ceased to exist on its historical homeland. The surviving refugees scattered around the world, forming diasporas in several dozen countries.
Russia's Role in Saving the Armenians
Peter I, even before the Persian campaigns of 1722;1723, invited Armenians to Russia. Already in the 18th century, many Armenians moved from Persia to Russian territory – primarily to the North Caucasus. In 1797, after the devastating raid on Transcaucasia by the Persian Shah Agha Mohammed Khan, who tried to restore control over Eastern Transcaucasia, about 3.5 thousand Armenians, crossing the Caucasian Line from the Baku, Derbent and Kuban khanates, settled in Kizlyar, Mozdok, Starye Madzhary and other places of the Caucasian province.
In the 19th century, the organised voluntary resettlement of Armenians from Iran and Turkey to Russian Transcaucasia, to the territory of the future Erivan, Elizavetpol, Baku and Tiflis provinces, was connected with the expansion of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, during which, as a result of a series of Russo;Persian and Russo;Turkish wars, significant territories were annexed to Russia.
As a result of the Russo;Persian wars of 1801;1813 and 1826;1828, the territories of historical Eastern (Transcaucasian) Armenia and modern Azerbaijan passed to Russia, and the new border between Russia and Persia became the Araks River. By the Gulistan Peace Treaty (1813), Persia recognised the annexation to Russia of a number of khanates of Eastern Transcaucasia (including the Karabakh Khanate), and by the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty (1828), Russia acquired the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates. Thus, Armenians, who made up 20% of the population there, automatically became subjects of Russia.
Article 15 of the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty (1828) provided for the possibility of unhindered resettlement to Russia (within one year) of subjects of Persia living in Iranian Azerbaijan. The ambassador of the Russian Empire at the Persian court, Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov, actively contributed to the resettlement of Persian Armenians, pointing out in his notes the "substantial discontent of the local population" with the forms in which the Russian administration carried out this resettlement.
The Armenian population pinned great hopes on the arrival of Russian troops and gave them every assistance. S. N. Glinka, in his "Description of the Resettlement of the Armenians of Adderbidjan to the Borders of Russia", noted: "The Armenians, inspired by the summons of Colonel Lazarev, on the wings of zeal and love flew to the Russian regiments and rendered the most important services… Many of the Armenians… extended brotherly embraces to the Russian warriors, informed them of every movement of the enemy, served as guides and acted on the battlefield."
A million Armenians were killed or exiled during the genocide. And if not for Russia, which received hundreds of thousands of refugees and subsequently created Armenian statehood within the USSR, the Armenian people would probably have completely disappeared from the face of the earth.
---
Part Twelve. The Crimean War (1853–1856)
As already mentioned, on the eve of the Crimean War, the Islamic movement directed against the Russian Empire was intensified. The Russian Empire in this war confronted a coalition consisting of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Military operations unfolded in the Caucasus, in the Danubian principalities, on the Baltic, Black, White and Barents Seas, as well as in Kamchatka. However, they reached their greatest tension in the Crimea.
The British press began to extol its new allies, including the Turkish government, which allegedly embarked on the path of "civilisational reforms". The public was instilled with such anti;Russian opinions that, according to the British themselves – supporters of a peaceful settlement – speaking before it at a rally was like speaking before a "pack of mad dogs".
Nicholas I counted on Austria's support in the Eastern Question: "As for Austria, I am confident in it, since our treaties define our relations." However, Austria was afraid of the prospect of independent states friendly to Russia appearing in the Balkans, and over time changed its neutral position in the Crimean War to an anti;Russian one.
Russia indeed intended to come to the aid of the Balkan peoples oppressed by the Turkish authorities in their religious and civil rights. The civilian population of the Balkan Peninsula was subjected to murders and violence, which aroused indignation not only in Russia but also in many other European countries. However, despite hopes for alliance with Prussia and Austria, Russia was left alone in this war against all. Moreover, in the end these countries essentially joined the anti;Russian coalition, presenting it with political and territorial ultimatums.
The formal beginning of the confrontation was the struggle between Russia (represented by Nicholas I) and France (represented by Napoleon III) over the keys to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: France demanded that the keys to the church (which at that time belonged to the Orthodox community) be given to the Catholic clergy. Russia demanded that the keys remain with the Orthodox community.
An integral part of the war was propaganda, in which the large coalition of allies, controlling the entire European liberal press, had significant advantages. Thus, several years before the Crimean War (in 1848), Karl Marx wrote that a European newspaper, in order to be considered liberal, only needed to "timely show hatred of the Russians", which he himself actively did…
"Liberal publications" took a clearly anti;Russian stance, consciously blackening Russia and its policy towards the Balkan Slavs and distorting the actual facts. In another article (1853), Marx and Engels scolded the Serbs for not wanting to read books printed in their language in the West in Latin letters, but reading only books in Cyrillic printed in Russia; and they rejoiced that in Serbia, finally, an "anti;Russian progressive party" had appeared.
In 1854, the London Times wrote: "It would be good to return Russia to the cultivation of its internal lands, to drive the Muscovites deep into the forests and steppes." In the same year, D. Russell, the leader of the House of Commons and head of the Liberal Party, declared: "We must pull out the bear's teeth…".
"It has long been possible to foresee that this insane hatred, which grew stronger and stronger against Russia in the West every year, would at some point break loose. That moment has come… It is the whole West that has come to show its negation of Russia and bar its way to the future," wrote Fyodor Tyutchev.
Herzen's activities in London in printing publications and sending them to Russia were also financed by Britain and, in particular, by the Rothschilds (who played a major role in shaping British foreign policy and had a clearly anti;Russian orientation). The British government (Lord Palmerston) actively promoted revolutions in Italy and Austria. A special role was assigned to the creation of an "Islamic front" to fight Russia, and also in India. Internal Russian opposition activity was stimulated. 1857 – the first Russian opposition newspaper "Kolokol" was published in London. The publication of "Iskra" – the newspaper of the Russian Social Democratic Party (V.I. Lenin) – was also carried out in London.
British policy during the Crimean War was outlined by Lord Palmerston: "The ;land Islands and Finland are returned to Sweden; the Baltic region goes to Prussia; the Kingdom of Poland is to be restored as a barrier between Russia and Germany; Moldavia and Wallachia and the whole mouth of the Danube go to Austria, and Lombardy and Venice from Austria to the Kingdom of Sardinia; the Crimea and the Caucasus are taken from Russia and go to Turkey…".
Leo Tolstoy's "Sevastopol Sketches" are devoted to the tragedies of this war.
In the Crimean War, on the side of Russia, the Megrelian principality (of Georgia) acted, as well as the Bulgarian and Greek legions. The anti;Russian coalition consisted of: the British Empire, the French Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia, as well as German and Swiss brigades and the "Slavic Legion", consisting of Ukrainians.
The war lasted 3 years and ended in 1856 with Russia signing an unfavourable peace due to the threat of Austria and Prussia entering the war. As a result, Russia lost all the territories previously captured from the Ottoman Empire. Although the anti;Russian coalition failed to achieve all its goals, it managed to prevent Russia's strengthening in the Balkans and deprive it of its Black Sea fleet.
Following the 3;year Crimean War, in which Russia lost 143,000 men, the long Caucasian War also ended, which cost the lives of over a million Russian soldiers!
---
Part Thirteen. Russia and Austria: Alliance and Betrayal
During the Seven Years' War (1756;1763), the main confrontation in Europe was between Austria and Prussia over Silesia. Russia acted as Austria's ally. Russia lost 138,000 soldiers in the war. In total, more than 650,000 soldiers and up to 860,000 civilians were killed in the war (almost all of them subjects of Austria).
Four years earlier, in the summer of 1849, at the request of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, the Russian army under the command of Ivan Paskevich took part in the suppression of the Hungarian National Revolution. The bulk of the revolutionary army preferred to capitulate near the town of Vil;gos precisely to Paskevich's army, to the Russians, and not to the Habsburg army.
After all this, Nicholas I counted on Austria's support in the Eastern Question: "As for Austria, I am confident in it, since our treaties define our relations." However, Austria was afraid of the prospect of independent states friendly to Russia appearing in the Balkans, and over time changed its neutral position in the Crimean War to an anti;Russian one. Russia indeed intended to come to the aid of the Balkan peoples oppressed by the Turkish authorities. However, despite hopes for alliance with Prussia and Austria, Russia was left alone in this war against all. Moreover, in the end these countries essentially joined the anti;Russian coalition, presenting it with political and territorial ultimatums.
The Battle of Austerlitz (20 November (2 December) 1805)
The Battle of Austerlitz was the decisive battle of Napoleon's army against the armies of the Third Anti;Napoleonic Coalition created by the European powers. The battle went down in history as the "Battle of the Three Emperors", because against the army of Emperor Napoleon I, the armies of the Austrian Emperor Francis II and the Russian Emperor Alexander I fought in this battle.
It was one of the largest battles of the Napoleonic era, fought near the Moravian town of Slavkov;u;Brna (now in the Czech Republic). The allied army numbered about 85,000 men (60,000 Russian army, 25,000 Austrian army with 278 guns) under the overall command of General M.I. Kutuzov. The total strength of the French army that followed Kutuzov into the Austerlitz area was up to 200,000 men, which in fact predetermined the outcome of the general battle. However, the forces on the battlefield were 73,500 men.
After the defeat suffered by the allied army on all points, the bulk of the Russian troops (about 50,000 men), under pressure and bombardment, managed to retreat in an orderly manner, taking with them more than half of their artillery, and formed the backbone of the army that fought at Preussisch;Eylau. The French, having won the victory, were in a position not very favourable for pursuing and exploiting success against a retreating but numerous and embittered enemy. Austria remained in political isolation until 23 October 1873, when a new alliance of the three emperors (Russia, Germany and Austria;Hungary) was concluded.
---
Part Fourteen. The Liberation of the Balkans from the Ottoman Yoke
In the mid;18th century, Catherine the Great ascended the throne of the Russian Empire. The Empress was seriously seized by the idea of capturing Constantinople and liberating it from Islamic conquerors, liberating the Balkans from Turkey and creating a Slavic empire in Asia Minor with its centre in Constantinople.
The first of the Caucasian peoples to enter the Russian Empire were the Orthodox Ossetians in the 18th century, then Georgia was annexed. Later, Armenia and Azerbaijan were conquered from Persia.
The Russo;Turkish War of 1768;1774 (reign of Catherine II) ended with a great victory for Russia. As a result, southern Ukraine and the North Caucasus became part of Russia. Turkey lost the Crimean Khanate, which did not officially pass to Russia, but became dependent on the Russian Empire. Russian merchant ships received privileges in the Black Sea.
The Liberation of Orthodox Countries from the Ottoman Yoke
In 1828, Russia again became involved in a war with Turkey. The result of the war was the liberation of Greece in 1829 from more than three centuries of Ottoman rule. Russia made the greatest contribution to the liberation of the Slavic peoples from the Turkish yoke. This happened during the Russo;Turkish War of 1877;1878.
Bulgarian militiamen joined the Russian troops, Romanian troops helped us, as well as other Slavic peoples under the protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. A very characteristic example of the self;sacrifice of Russian soldiers was the defence of Shipka. A small Russian detachment together with Bulgarian militiamen held the Shipka mountain pass; their total number was 4,000 men. In order to seize this strategic position, the Turkish commander Suleiman Pasha put up 28,000 elite troops against the defenders of Shipka. In August 1877, a battle took place between the Russians and the Turks for the Shipka pass. The Russians stubbornly repulsed the enemy onslaught, and on the first day of the battle, the Bryansk Regiment of about 2,000 men joined them.
Our soldiers fought desperately, but soon the Russian detachment began to suffer greatly from a lack of ammunition, and the Turks began to press the Russians. With their last strength, our soldiers began to fight them off with stones and temporarily stopped the enemy. This time was enough for the defenders of Shipka to hold out and wait for reinforcements, together with which they repulsed the Turkish attack. After that, the Ottomans, having suffered huge losses in this sector, no longer acted so decisively. The Russian detachment defending Shipka was commanded by generals Dragomirov and Derozhinsky. In this bloody battle, the first was wounded and the second killed.
The Russian troops liberated Sofia from the Turks, occupied Adrianople and marched victoriously further east. Our troops were already close to the defenceless Constantinople, but the English fleet approached the city. Then more political than military actions began. As a result, Alexander II did not risk capturing Tsargrad, as there was a danger of war with the British, French and Austrians, who were very afraid of such a strengthening of Russia.
A peace treaty was signed between the Russians and the Turks, under which the Turkish cities of Kars, Ardahan, Batum, half of Bessarabia (Moldavia) passed to Russia, and Turkey lost Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Romania, and part of Bulgaria.
The outcome of the Russo;Turkish wars: the liberation of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Georgia, Romania, Bosnia, Montenegro and Moldavia from the Ottoman yoke.
The war of 1828;1829 (reign of Nicholas I). This confrontation arose during the Greek war for independence from the Ottoman Empire. The result was a complete victory for Russia. A large part of the eastern Black Sea coast (including the cities of Anapa, Sudzhuk;Kale, Sukhum) became part of the Russian Empire. The Ottoman Empire recognised Russia's supremacy over Georgia and Armenia. Serbia received autonomy, and Greece became independent from Turkey.
On 3 March, Bulgaria celebrates its liberation from the five;century Ottoman yoke. On this day, which became the National Holiday of the country, in 1878 in San Stefano near Istanbul, a peace treaty was signed that put an end to the Russo;Turkish War of 1877;1878. A monument to Alexander II the Tsar;Liberator stands in the centre of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
---
Part Fifteen. The Age of Capital. The Rothschilds
The Rothschild dynasty is a family of French bankers. "Money is the God of our time, and Rothschild is his prophet" (Heine). In 1816, the Rothschilds received the baronial title from Emperor Francis II of Austria and entered high Austrian nobility.
The main ideological postulates of the Rothschilds:
· Money and intransigence are the path to independence.
· The ideological platform of stability is faith. (All Rothschilds maintained an unwavering commitment to Judaism.)
· Know the truth and it will make you rich. (From the beginning of the 19th century, the Rothschilds created an extensive intelligence network in Europe, connected to secret services.)
The MAIN thing in the art of managing people, the Rothschilds considered mastery of public opinion. The members of the house were taught: "…one must sow discord, doubts and contradicting views for so long until people are completely lost and lose their bearings in the confusion, and decide that it is better in political circles not to have their own opinion at all."
War brings profit. (The rise of the family occurred during the Napoleonic Wars; it was then that their own banks were founded – in London, Vienna, Paris and Naples.)
He who owns information owns the world. (The London branch of the Rothschild bank learned of the victory at Waterloo much earlier than the British government; it spread a rumour of the defeat of the British. Stocks panicked and fell to zero, and Nathan Rothschild bought everything at once… many then committed suicide, and Rothschild earned 40 million pounds sterling.)
Bribery, blackmail and provocations. (In the financial jungle, where the laws of predators rule, one must not only understand their language, but also know how to speak it.)
Thus, the Crimean War was part of the plan of Anglo;French bankers to strengthen their influence on the Eurasian continent. The Rothschilds controlled parliament and the press, eliminated competitors, removed unwanted ministers and appointed new ones, prevented and started military conflicts.
---
Concluding Poem (translated from Russian into English)
RUS
The forests, snows and waterfalls,
The pleasant shade of woodland halls,
The oak;groves, birches' white attire,
The dewdrops – morning tears of fire…
We love our native Russian land,
We need no other to command.
Here blood has soaked the earth so deep,
The fields are fed with bones in sleep.
We know each native trait and sign,
We guarded this land, this shrine,
From evil onslaughts of the foe,
From chains of bondage and of woe.
Mamai's sword and Genghis Khan's –
On ancient mounds their pride began,
But rusted like a thousand blades
Of cruel invaders and their raids.
Napoleon and the Swedish Charles –
Their triumphs lasted but few years.
A damp end came to them at last –
Poltava, Moscow's terror vast.
The stench of fascism and samurai,
And China's provocations' lie…
You saw the bread in flames? But then
Our soldier saved it, brave and plain.
In Afghanistan, year by year,
Our Russian Vanya sheds blood here;
But no matter how much blood is spilled,
The States' designs remain unfulfilled.
The birches, Russian forests wide,
The dear girls' eyes with love and pride,
Our native home and mother's voice –
For them we fight, we have no choice.
And all our lives' significance,
Rus's mighty drive and radiance,
Merge in the powerful root "KIND":
Nature, Motherland, People – combined!
(1985, Novosibirsk, V. Zemsha)
Essays on the History of the Russian State
© Copyright: Âëàäèìèð Ìèíñêèé, 2026
Ñâèäåòåëüñòâî î ïóáëèêàöèè ¹226080202096
Ñâèäåòåëüñòâî î ïóáëèêàöèè ¹226080202096
Ðåöåíçèè
Video:
0. http://youtu.be/uQ4MKO-3yn0?si=hdy0slR5WCMOqVtG
1. Slavic tribes http://youtu.be/krq5VDwyzLw?si=vAFupjy_qcwh9ep7
2. Creation of Kievan Rus http://youtu.be/ZNOghcE2Dws?si=K9Tqg3hG42TVY1GN
Âëàäèìèð Ìèíñêèé 02.08.2026 22:29 • Çàÿâèòü î íàðóøåíèè
0. http://youtu.be/uQ4MKO-3yn0?si=hdy0slR5WCMOqVtG
1. Slavic tribes http://youtu.be/krq5VDwyzLw?si=vAFupjy_qcwh9ep7
2. Creation of Kievan Rus http://youtu.be/ZNOghcE2Dws?si=K9Tqg3hG42TVY1GN
Âëàäèìèð Ìèíñêèé 02.08.2026 22:29 • Çàÿâèòü î íàðóøåíèè