Although some of them subjugated the Slavs in the region, those tribes left little of lasting importance. More significant in this period was the expansion of the Slavs, who were agriculturists and beekeepers as well as hunters, fishers, herders, and trappers. Little is known of the origin of the Slavs. Philologists and archaeologists theorize that the Slavs settled very early in the Carpathian Mountains or in the area of present-day Belarus.
The East Slavs settled along the Dnepr River in what is now Ukraine; then they spread northward to the northern Volga River valley, east of modern-day Moscow, and westward to the basins of the northern Dnestr and the western Bug rivers, in present-day Moldova and southern Ukraine. In the eighth and ninth centuries, many East Slavic tribes paid tribute to the Khazars, a Turkic-speaking people who adopted Judaism about A.
By the ninth century, Scandinavian warriors and merchants, called Varangians, had penetrated the East Slavic regions. According to the Primary Chronicle , the earliest chronicle of Kievan Rus', a Varangian named Rurik first established himself in Novgorod, just south of modern-day St. Petersburg, in about before moving south and extending his authority to Kiev. The chronicle cites Rurik as the progenitor of a dynasty that ruled in Eastern Europe until During the next thirty-five years, Oleg subdued the various East Slavic tribes.
The new Kievan state prospered because it controlled the trade route from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and because it had an abundant supply of furs, wax, honey, and slaves for export. Historians have debated the role of the Varangians in the establishment of Kievan Rus'. Most Russian historians--especially in the Soviet era--have stressed the Slavic influence in the development of the state.
Although Slavic tribes had formed their own regional jurisdictions by , the Varangians accelerated the crystallization of Kievan Rus'. The region of Kiev dominated the state of Kievan Rus' for the next two centuries see fig.
The grand prince of Kiev controlled the lands around the city, and his theoretically subordinate relatives ruled in other cities and paid him tribute. The zenith of the state's power came during the reigns of Prince Vladimir r. Both rulers continued the steady expansion of Kievan Rus' that had begun under Oleg. To enhance their power, Vladimir married the sister of the Byzantine emperor, and Yaroslav arranged marriages for his sister and three daughters to the kings of Poland, France, Hungary, and Norway.
Vladimir's greatest achievement was the Christianization of Kievan Rus', a process that began in Sophia in Kiev and Novgorod; patronized local clergy and monasticism; and is said to have founded a school system. However, in order to do so contemporary politics are being projected on the past. A practice that is highly ahistorical. It also shows that Ukraine is still in search of its own sustainable national narrative, as it has only been an independent country since The developments in Ukraine will be very important for the development of a national narrative in other Post-Soviet countries that do have very strong historical ties with Moscow.
National identity is strongly affected by history and is used in politics of history by states and societies. However, it is of great importance to take a critical stance towards countries that project contemporary situations on the past.
In doing so, history is manipulated in order to serve political goals and to legitimize policy. This becomes clear in the ongoing Memory War between Russia and Ukraine as Ukraine is in great urge of rewriting its history as an independent country since Kappeler, A. Journal of Eurasian Studies, [online] Volume 5 2 , p. Laarse, van der R. Who Owns the Crimean Past?
In: D. Callebaut ed. Oudenaarde: Archeologisch Museum Ename. Plokhy, S. Europe-Asia Studies, [online] Volume 53 3 , p. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sasse, G. Revisiting the Annexation of Crimea. Starink, L. De Tweede Wereldoorlog als propagandamiddel. Sam Appels. Tags: Russia Ukraine Eastern Europe history.
Featured Posts. Moscow Rules: Decentring Russian domestic and foreign policy. Recent Posts. Only Novgorod and Pskov were spared major destruction during this time. Refugees from the southern principalities, where destruction was widespread and devastating, were forced to flee to the harsh northern forests, where good soil and resources were scarce.
The final victory for Batu Khan came in December when he stormed the great capital of Kiev and prevailed. The Mongols, also known as the Tatars, built their new capital, Sarai, in the south along the Volga River. All the major principalities, such as Novgorod, Smolensk, and Pskov, submitted to Mongol rule. The age of this economic and cultural rule is often called the Tatar yoke, but over the course of years, it was a relatively peaceful rule. The Tatars followed in the footsteps of Genghis Khan and refrained from settling the entire region or forcing local populations to adopt specific religious or cultural traditions.
A map of the Mongol Empire as it expanded: This illustration shows the rapid expansion of the Mongol Empire as it traveled west into what became known as the Golden Horde. Despite the fact that the established Tatar rule was relatively peaceful, demanding taxation and the devastation from years of invasion left many major cities in disrepair for decades.
It took years to rebuild Kiev and Pskov. However, Novgorod continued to flourish and the relatively new city centers of the Moscow and Tver began to prosper. Another downside to the Tatar presence was the continued threat of invasion and destruction, which happened sporadically during their presence.
Each new military invasion meant heavy tolls on the local population and years of reconstruction. Culturally, the Mongol rule brought about major shifts during the first century of their presence. Extensive postal road systems, military organization, and powerful dynasties were established by Tatar alliances. Capital punishment and torture also became more widespread during the years of Tatar rule. Some noblemen also changed their names and adopted the Tatar language, bringing about a shift in the aesthetic, linguistic, and cultural ties of Russia life.
Outline the key points that helped Moscow become so powerful and how Ivan I accomplished these major victories. However, due to the unstable environment of the Golden Horde, and the deft leadership of Ivan I at a critical time during the 13th century, Moscow became a safe haven of prosperity during his reign.
It also became the new seat of power of the Russian Orthodox Church. He ascended to the seat of Prince of Moscow after the death of his father, and then the death of his older brother Yury. Ivan I: He was born around and died in either or , still holding the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir. Ivan I stepped into a role that had already been expanded by his predecessors.
Both his older brother and his father had captured nearby lands, including Kolomna and Mozhaisk. Yury had also made a successful alliance with the Mongol leader Uzbeg Khan and married his sister, securing more power and advantages within the hierarchy of the Golden Horde. Ivan I continued the family tradition and petitioned the leaders of the Golden Horde to gain the seat of Grand Prince of Vladimir.
His other three rivals, all princes of Tver, had previously been granted the title in prior years. However they were all subsequently deprived of the title and all three aspiring princes also eventually ended up murdered. Ivan I, on the other hand, garnered the title from Khan Muhammad Ozbeg in This new title, which he kept until his death around , meant he could collect taxes from the Russian lands as a ruling prince and position his tiny city as a major player in the Vladimir region.
During this time of upheaval, the tiny outpost of Moscow had multiple advantages that repositioned this town and set it up for future prosperity under Ivan I. Three major contributing factors helped Ivan I relocate power to this area:. Ivan I also spurred on the growth of Moscow by actively recruiting people to move to the region.
Inaddition, he bought the freedom of people who had been captured by the extensive Mongol raids. These recruits further bolstered the population of Moscow. Finally, he focused his attention on establishing peace and routing out thieves and raiding parties in the region, making for a safe and calm metaphorical island in a storm of unsettled political and military upsets. Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde, sat to the southeast, while Moscow not visible on this map was tucked up in the northern forests of Vladimir-Suzdal.
Ivan I knew that the peace of his region depended upon keeping up an alliance with the Golden Horde, which he did faithfully. These regions then became indebted to Moscow, bolstering its political and financial position.
It turned out to be a difficult task to consolidate the peoples of Kievian Russia on the basis of polytheism. Perun was mainly worshiped by the Prince and his retainers, while the rest population preferred other gods.
That's why Vladimir decided to try adopting a monotheistic religion, for they offered a greater opportunity to consolidate his subjects spiritually.
Among most influential of them at that time as well as today was Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but it took the prince and his advisors some time to choose between them. According to the Primary Chronicle, in the missionaries, representing all the monotheistic religions, came to Kiev to take part in the theological dispute in Vladimir's palest.
They were a Bulgar of the Moslem faith, a rabbi from the Khazar state, a legate of the Pope, and a Greek philosopher from the Byzantine Empire.
Every one of them tried to persuade Vladimir that their religion was best. The Philosopher's preaching turned out to be especially convincing. Vladimir was nearly persuaded to accept Christianity, but decided to wait for some time. Following the advice of his elders, he sent ambassadors to the neighboring countries to see which religion best suited Russia. When they came back to Kiev he listened attentively to each of them. Ambassadors didn't like Moslem services.
The unquestionable advantage of this religion from Vladimir's point of view was that it allowed men to have more than one wife as already mentioned, Vladimir already had five! But on the other hand it absolutely prohibited alcohol.
Taking into consideration the fact that "the drinking is the joy of the Russian" the prince decided to spurn Islam. Judaic services also produced no particular impression on Russian ambassadors. But they were fascinated by the Orthodox Christian services at which they had been fortunate to attend in the city of Constantinople. Never before have we seen such lordliness. Russia lied at cultural crossroads and had contacts not only with Christian countries, such as the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria, but also with the Moslem state of the Volga Bulgars and other more distant Moslems to the southeast as well as with the Jewish Khazars.
But the influence of Christianity overshadowed that of other monotheistic religions in large part because it had a longer and richer history in Kievian Russia. In fact, there may even have been a Russian diocese of the Byzantine church as early as A Christian church of St. Ilea existed in Kiev in the reign of Igor, and many of whose retainers were Christians. Furthermore, the political crisis in the Byzantine Empire offered excellent opportunities to adopt Christianity and to keep the country's political independence.
A crucial point in Russia's adoption of Christianity came when one of the military leaders, Varda Phocas, started an uprising intending to seize power in Byzantium. He managed to conquer all of Little Asia and even threatened Constantinople. In this situation emperor Basil II had no other choice but ask Vladimir for help.
Vladimir agreed to send about warriors to Constantinople but in return demanded to let him marry Basil's sister Ann. Thanks to Russian troops the uprising was overwhelmed, but the emperor wasn't in a hurry to keep his promise.
On having felt deceived, Vladimir besieged and captured the Byzantine outpost of Chersones in Crimea. Basil was forced to send his sister to Kiev, and Vladimir promised to convert himself to Christianity.
The precise date of the "baptism of Russia" is rather controversial. Some historians claim that this event took place in , while others prefer the year Nevertheless, on having returned from Chersones to Kiev in or around , Vladimir ordered the destruction of all the idols standing near his palace.
Then he invited the inhabitants of Kiev to come to the river and take part in the rite of christening, which was to be conducted by Byzantine priests. Much to his surprise they came rather willingly. The inhabitants of other Russian cities were also baptized, but with more of a struggle - people ran away to the forests, others attacked the priests and killed them, some of them even fought against the prince's troops.
Clearly not all of Russians were ready to forget about Paganism and to adopt Christianity. But we should also keep in mind that Christianity in Russia wasn't accompanied by such cruelties such as those inflicted on Lithuanian tribes or on the Amerindians in the 16th century.
Most of the population showed an interest in the teachings of Jesus Christ and adopted the new religion willingly. It took Russia just a century to adopt the new religion, while in Norway and in Sweden it took years.
The second religious reform led to at least three political consequences. First, it resulted in the strengthening of the Kievian princes' authority over their lands. The Prince was proclaimed a sacred person by the Church, and this enabled him to be easily recognized by all the neophytes of the country.
Secondly, the reform made Kiev not only a political, but also a religious center of Russia, which was of vital importance in the Middle Ages. Thirdly, Kievian Russia was finally acknowledged on the world scene, which put an end to its international isolation. In the Middle Ages it was difficult for a Pagan state to influence world policy. On having adopted Christianity, Prince Vladimir made Russia an essential part of the Christian world, which certainly contributed a lot to its rapprochement with Western countries.
But still, there is one aspect of Vladimir's innovation that we should always take into consideration. The point is that Christianity came to Russia from Byzantium and not from Rome.
Although at the time this distinction didn't have its later significance: the break between the Eastern and the Western Churches occurred only in After that the Russian allegiance to Byzantium determined many aspects of the country's subsequent history. It meant that Russia stayed outside the Roman Catholic Church, and this in turn not only deprived Russia of that which Church itself had to offer, but also contributed in a major way to the relative isolation of Russia from the rest of Europe and its Latin civilization.
Significantly, it helped to inspire Russian suspicions of the West and the tragic hostility between the Russians and the Poles. On the other hand one can well argue that Vladimir's turn to Constantinople represented the richest and the most rewarding spiritual, cultural, and political choice that he could have made at the time.
The absence of Latinism and the emphasis on local languages had its advantage. It brought religion, in the form of readily understandable Slavic rite, close to the people and gave a powerful impetus to the development of a national culture. To sum up, Orthodox Christianity laid a spiritual foundation for the development of a distinct Russian civilization, determining different realms of its life. The religion plays a large role even today, in post-Soviet Russia.
As we can see, the Vladimir's role in the country's history can be compared with that of Peter the Great's by the lasting consequences of his reforms. In addition to being remembered as a mighty and successful ruler, Vladimir was canonized by the Church as the baptizer of the Russians, "equal to the apostles". Christianity not only influenced his policy, but also changed him as a person. The teaching of Jesus Christ made a kind, caring, mild and humane man out of an aggressive, warlike and libidinous barbarian.
Vladimir even dreamt of abolishing capital punishment, because he was afraid of being accused by God of numerous murders. Vladimir's death in was followed by another civil war, which lasted four years.
Several of Vladimir's sons, who had served in different parts of the realm as their father's lieutenants, became involved in the struggle. According to the Primary Chronicle, the eldest of them all, Sviatopolk, intended to become the only ruler of the country. At first he assassinated his brothers Boris and Gleb, Vladimir's sons by Ann. Boris and Gleb offered no resistance, preferring death to struggle for power. They acted in accordance with Christian religious ideal, and therefore were proclaimed the saints by the Church later in the century.
On having killed Boris and Gleb, Sviatopolk undertook a major campaign against Sviatoslav, who was in charge of the lands of the Drevliane. The only brother who was still in power was Iaroslav, who had been sent by Vladimir to manage Novgorod.
But despite strong Polish aid, in Sviatopolk was defeated by Iaroslav, who had managed to hire enormous Varangian troops. Prince Iaroslav, known in history as Iaroslav the Wise, ruled in Kiev from until his death in Hs reign has been generally acclaimed as the high point of Kievian development and success.
Yet, especially in its first part, it wasn't free of danger, and the prince and his subjects had to work as hard as their predecessors had. Civil war didn't actually end with Iaroslav's occupation of Kiev.
He had to fight against his brother, Mstislav of Tmutorokan Tmutorokan was a principality situated near the Sea of Azov. In they finally decided to divide the realm, allowing Mstislav to govern the territory east of the Dniepr, while Iaroslav took charge of the areas west of it.
This was the case until Mstislav's death in , after which Iaroslav became the ruler of the entire Kievian state. Besides fighting for his throne, he also had to conquer numerous rebellions, ranging from a militant pagan revival near Suzdal to the uprisings of various Finnish and Lithuanian tribes.
When speaking about Iaroslav's foreign wars, we should first name his successful campaign against Poland, which resulted in a gain of some Russian lands in the southwest in return for supporting Sviatopolk. In Iaroslav tried to fight against Byzantium, but this attempt failed.
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