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Temple of Alexander 2 in Crimea. History of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Church of the Resurrection of Christ)

Topic: The struggle of Rus' against external aggression in the 13th century.

University: VZFEI

Year and city: Tula 2010

1. Mongol-Tatar conquest of Rus'

The Mongol-Tatar yoke is of great importance in the history of Russia. The yoke lasted for almost two and a half centuries and during this long period it left a significant imprint on the Russian people.

The unification and strengthening of the Mongol tribes occurred at the beginning of the 13th century. This was mainly facilitated by the diplomatic and military activities of Temujin (Genghis Khan), who at that time was the leader of the Mongols and it is he who is considered the founder of the powerful Mongol empire.

The first Mongol campaigns were against the peoples of Siberia and China. Having conquered them in 1219-1221, they undertook campaigns in Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, the Caucasus and the Polovtsian steppes. Having defeated part of the Polovtsians, they began to advance towards Russian lands. Then one of the Polovtsian khans, Kotyan, turned to the Russian princes for help.

“In 1223 an unknown people appeared; an unheard of army came, godless Tatars, about whom no one knows well who they are and where they came from, and what kind of language they have, and what tribe they are, and what kind of faith they have... The Polovtsians could not resist them and ran to the Dnieper. Their Khan Kotyan was the father-in-law of Mstislav Galitsky; he came with a bow to the prince, his son-in-law, and to all the Russian princes..., and said: The Tatars took our land today, and tomorrow they will take yours, so protect us; If you don’t help us, then we will be cut off today, and you will be cut off tomorrow.”

However, not all Russian lands sent their troops. There was no unity between the princes participating in the campaign. Luring Russian army in the steppe, the Mongol-Tatars inflicted a crushing defeat on May 31, 1223, in the battle on the Kalka River.

The hike began in April when the rivers were in full flood. The troops were heading down the Dnieper. Command was exercised prince of Kyiv Mstislav Romanovich the Good and Mstislav Mstislavich the Daring, who were cousins. Just before the Russian offensive, Mongol-Tatar ambassadors arrived in Rus', who assured that they would not touch the Russians if they did not go to the aid of their neighbors.

On the 17th day of the campaign, the army stopped near Olshen, somewhere on the banks of the Ros. There he was found by the second Tatar embassy. Unlike the first time, when the ambassadors were killed, these were released. Immediately after crossing the Dnieper, Russian troops encountered the enemy’s vanguard, chased it for 8 days, and on the eighth day they reached the bank of the Kalka River (now the Kalchik River, a tributary of the Kalmius River, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine). Here Mstislav the Udaloy and some princes immediately crossed the Kalka, leaving Mstislav of Kyiv on the other bank.

According to the Laurentian Chronicle, the battle took place on May 31, 1223. The troops that crossed the river were almost completely destroyed. The onslaught of the brave squad of Mstislav the Udal, who almost broke through the ranks of the nomads, was not supported by other princes and all his attacks were repulsed. The Polovtsian detachments, unable to withstand the blows of the Mongol cavalry, fled, disrupting the battle formations of the Russian army. The camp of Mstislav of Kyiv, set up on the other bank and heavily fortified, the troops of Jebe and Subedei stormed for 3 days and were able to take only by cunning and deceit, when the prince, believing the promises of Subedei, stopped resistance.

As a result of this, Mstislav the Good and his entourage were brutally destroyed, Mstislav the Udaloy fled. The Russian losses in this battle were very high, six princes were killed, and only a tenth of the soldiers returned home.

Only a tenth of the Russian army returned from the campaign, however, despite the success, the Mongol-Tatars unexpectedly turned back to the steppe.

The Battle of Kalka was lost not so much due to civil strife between the princes, but more due to historical factors:

Jebe's army was tactically and positionally completely superior to the united regiments of the Russian princes, who had in their ranks mostly princely squads, reinforced in in this case Polovtsy.
The Russian squads, unlike the Mongol army, did not have a single commander.
The Russian princes made a mistake in assessing the enemy's strength and were unable to choose a convenient place for the battle.

The army of Jebe and Subedey, having defeated the militia of the southern Russian princes on Kalka, entered the Chernigov land, reached Novgorod-Seversky and turned back.

In 1235, a pan-Mongol campaign to the west was announced. The Great Khan Udegei sent Batu, the head of the Juchi ulus, as reinforcement to conquer Volga Bulgaria, Diit-Kinchak and Rus' with the main forces of the Mongol army under the command of Subedey. In total, 14 “princes”, descendants of Genghis Khan, took part in the campaign with their hordes. All winter the Mongols gathered in the upper reaches of the Irtysh, preparing for a big campaign.

In the spring of 1236, countless horsemen, countless herds, endless carts with military equipment and siege weapons moved west.

In 1236 . Genghis Khan's grandson Batu invaded Russian lands. Previously, the Mongol-Tatars with a swift attack captured Volga Bulgaria and subjugated all the nomadic peoples of the steppe to their power.

In the fall of 1237, Batu was placed at the head of the united army. The first Russian city to be devastated was Ryazan.

Having been defeated in battle, the Ryazan residents retreated beyond the city walls. Ryazan stood on the high right bank of the Oka River, below the mouth of the Pronya River. The city was well fortified.

The siege of Ryazan began on December 16, 1237. The Mongol-Tatars surrounded the city so that no one could leave it.

On December 21, a decisive assault on Ryazan began. They managed to break through the city’s defenses in several directions at once. As a result, all the warriors and most of the inhabitants were killed.

The princes of Vladimir and Chernigov refused to help Ryazan, and after six days of siege it was taken.

In January 1238, the Mongols moved along the Oka River to the Vladimir-Suzdal land. On February 4, 1238, Batu besieged Vladimir.

The main battle took place near Kolomna, almost the entire Vladimir army died here, which predetermined the fate of the principality. Batu besieged Vladimir and took the city on the fourth day.

After the ruin of Vladimir, a similar fate befell many cities of North-Eastern Rus'. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, even before the enemy arrived to Vladimir, went to the north of his principality to gather troops. On the City River on March 4, 1238, the Russian squad was defeated, and Prince Yuri died.

The Mongols moved to the north-west of Rus' and to Novgorod, then turned back. Two weeks of the siege of Torzhok saved Northwestern Rus' from ruin. Spring forced Batu's troops to retreat to the steppe. Along the way they ravaged the Russian lands. The most stubborn defense was small town Kozelsk, whose residents bravely defended themselves.

In 1239-1240 Batu undertook a new campaign, attacking Southern Rus' with all his might.

In 1240 he besieged Kyiv. The nine-day defense of the city did not save it from capture.

The Russian people waged a selfless struggle, but disunity and lack of coordination made it unsuccessful. These events led to the establishment of the Mongol Empire in Rus'. Tatar yoke.

However, Batu’s campaigns did not entail the complete absorption of Russian lands by the conquerors.

In 1242, the Mongols in the lower reaches of the Volga formed a new state - the Golden Horde ( ulus Jochi), which was part of Mongol Empire. It was a huge state, which included the lands of the Volga Bulgars, Polovtsians, Crimea, Western Siberia, the Urals, and Khorezm. Sarai became the capital of the Horde. The Mongols demanded submission from the Russian princes. The first to go to the Golden Horde in 1243 was the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. Russian princes were frequent guests in the Horde, where they sought to confirm their rights to reign and receive a label. The Mongols, pursuing their own benefit, often incited bloody rivalry between Russian princes, which weakened their positions and made Rus' defenseless.

Prince Alexander Yaroslavich (in 1252 he became the Grand Duke) was able to establish personal contacts with the Golden Horde and even suppressed various anti-Mongol protests, considering them useless.

The main form of dependence on the Horde was the collection of tribute (in Rus' it was called Horde exit). For more precise definition its size, a special population census was carried out. Representatives of the khan were sent to control the collection of tribute in Rus' - Baskaki. The Great Baskak had a residence in Vladimir, where the center actually moved from Kyiv Ancient Rus'. The Russian Church was freed from tribute.

Despite all these regulations, the Mongol-Tatar raids on Rus' did not stop.

The first raid after Batu’s campaign took place in 1252. Nevryu’s army destroyed the Suzdal land.

Dependence on the Golden Horde coincided with the apogee of feudal fragmentation. At this time, a new political system emerged in Rus'. A fait accompli was the transfer of the capital to Vladimir. The fragmentation of the principalities intensified: 14 new principalities emerged from the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, of which the most significant were Suzdal, Gorodets, Rostov, Tver and Moscow. The Grand Duke of Vladimir stood at the head of the entire feudal hierarchy, but his power was largely nominal. The princes waged a bloody struggle for the Vladimir “table”. The main contenders for it in the 14th century. there were Tver and Moscow princes, and then Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod. The most powerful principalities (Moscow, Tver, Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan) from the 14th century. are often called great, and their princes, regardless of receiving the Vladimir reign, are called grand princes. They united other appanage princes around themselves, acted as intermediaries in relations with the Horde and often assembled a “Horde exit.”

2. Rus'’s struggle with Western expansion

In the middle of the 13th century. Rus', fragmented into fiefs, was subjected to double aggression. No less serious than the Mongol-Tatar raids, the danger to Russian statehood existed in the north-west.

Here a threat arose from German, Danish and Scandinavian knights. Was especially dangerous Livonian Order, which is through the Baltic states

threatened Northwestern Rus'.

To conquer the Baltic lands, the knightly order of the Swordsmen was created in 1202. Knights wore clothes with the image of a sword and cross. They pursued an aggressive policy under the slogan of Christianization: “Whoever does not want to be baptized must die.” Back in 1201, knights landed at the mouth of the river Western Dvina(Daugava) and founded the city of Riga on the site of the Latvian settlement as a stronghold for the subjugation of the Baltic lands. In 1219, Danish knights captured part of the Baltic coast, founding the city of Revel (Tallinn) on the site of an Estonian settlement.

In 1224, the crusaders took Yuryev (Tartu). To conquer the lands of Lithuania (Prussians) and southern Russian lands in 1226, the knights of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1198 in Syria during the Crusades, arrived. Knights members of the order wore white cloaks with a black cross on the left shoulder. In 1234, swordsmen were defeated by the Novgorod-Suzdal troops, and two years later by the Lithuanians and Semigallians. This forced the Crusaders to join forces. In 1237, the Swordsmen united with the Teutons, forming a branch of the Teutonic Order - the Livonian Order, named after the name of the territory inhabited by the tribe Liv, which was captured by the crusaders.

The offensive of the knights especially intensified due to the weakening of Rus', which was bleeding in the fight against the Mongol conquerors.

In July 1240, Swedish feudal lords tried to take advantage of the difficult situation in Rus'. The Swedish fleet with troops on board entered the mouth of the Neva. Having climbed the Neva until the Izhora River flows into it, the knightly cavalry landed on the shore. The Swedes wanted to capture the city of Staraya Ladoga, and then Novgorod.

Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who was 20 years old at the time, and his squad quickly rushed to the landing site. “We are few,” he addressed his soldiers, “but God is not in power, but in truth.” Hiddenly approaching the Swedes' camp, Alexander and his warriors struck at them, and a small militia led by Novgorodian Misha cut off the Swedes' path along which they could escape to their ships.

The Russian people nicknamed Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky for his victory on the Neva. The significance of this victory is that it stopped Swedish aggression to the east for a long time and retained access to the Baltic coast for Russia. (Peter I, emphasizing Russia’s right to the Baltic coast, in new capital founded the Alexander Nevsky Monastery on the site of the battle.)

In the summer of the same 1240, the Livonian Order, as well as Danish and German knights, attacked Rus' and captured the city of Izborsk. Soon, due to the betrayal of the mayor Tverdila and part of the boyars, Pskov was taken (1241). Strife and strife led to the fact that Novgorod did not help its neighbors. And the struggle between the boyars and the prince in Novgorod itself ended with the expulsion of Alexander Nevsky from the city. Under these conditions, individual detachments of the crusaders found themselves 30 km from the walls of Novgorod. At the request of the veche, Alexander Nevsky returned to the city.

Together with his squad, Alexander liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities with a sudden blow. Having received news that the main forces of the Order were coming towards him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the path of the knights, placing his troops on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Russian prince showed himself to be an outstanding commander. The chronicler wrote about him:

“We win everywhere, but we won’t win at all.” Alexander placed his troops under the cover of a steep bank on the ice of the lake, eliminating the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Considering the formation of the knights in a “pig” (in the form of a trapezoid with a sharp wedge in front, which was made up of heavily armed cavalry), Alexander Nevsky positioned his regiments in the form of a triangle, with the tip resting on the shore. Before the battle, some of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull knights off their horses.

On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which became known as the Battle of the Ice. The knight's wedge pierced the center of the Russian position and buried itself in the shore. The flank attacks of the Russian regiments decided the outcome of the battle: like flares, they crushed the knightly “pig”. The knights, unable to withstand the blow, fled in panic. The Novgorodians drove them seven miles across the ice, which by spring had become weak in many places and was collapsing under the heavily armed soldiers. The Russians pursued the enemy, “flogged, rushing after him as if through the air,” the chronicler wrote. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, “400 Germans died in the battle, and 50 were taken prisoner” (German chronicles estimate the number of dead at 25 knights). The captured knights were marched in disgrace through the streets of Mister Veliky Novgorod.

The significance of this victory is that the military power of the Livonian Order was weakened. The response to the Battle of the Ice was the growth of the liberation struggle in the Baltic states. However, relying on the help of the Roman- catholic church, knights at the end of the 13th century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.

In 1253 Livonian knights attacked the lands of Pskov. This time the Pskovites repelled the onslaught, and then crossed the Narova River and ravaged the Order’s possessions. In 1256 The Swedes attempted to attack Novgorod. They fortified themselves on the eastern bank of the Narova River and founded a fortress there. But when the Russian squads approached, they fled without accepting the fight. In response, Alexander Nevsky's troops made a winter campaign across the ice of the Gulf of Finland and attacked Swedish possessions in Finland. So, in the second half of the 13th century. Russians move from defending their lands to attacking and begin to beat the aggressor on his territory. The central battle of this period was the Battle of Rakovor.

Battle of Rakovor. In the winter of 1268 Novgorod and Pskov regiments led by Dovmont of Pskov, reinforced by the squad of Alexander Nevsky’s son, Dmitry Alexandrovich (up to 30 thousand people in total, according to German data), made a major campaign in Livonia against the Danish knights who had invaded the Baltics. In the area of Rakovor (now the Estonian city of Rakvere), the Russians encountered a combined Danish-German army under the command of Master Otto von Rodenstein, who gathered the flower of Livonian knighthood under his banner.

The Battle of Rakovor took place on February 18, 1268. She was distinguished by furious pressure from both sides. “Neither our fathers nor our grandfathers,” the chronicler wrote, “saw such a cruel slaughter.” The central blow of the “great pig” was taken by the Novgorodians, led by the mayor Mikhail. The Iron German Regiment, clad in armor, fought against them. According to the chronicle, people fell in whole rows. In a terrible battle, Mikhail himself and many of his soldiers died. However, the Russians managed to turn the tide of the battle in their favor and put the knights to flight. The outcome of the battle was decided by a flank attack by the regiments of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich, who put the crusaders to flight and drove them 7 miles all the way to Rakovor.

But when Dmitry and his soldiers returned to the battlefield in the evening, they found another German regiment attacking the Novgorod convoys. Dmitry wanted to immediately attack the knights, but the governors dissuaded the prince from starting a night battle fraught with confusion. Dmitry agreed and decided to wait until morning. But under the cover of darkness the remnants German troops retreated. The Novgorodians stood at Rakovor for three days. At this time, Dovmont Pskovsky with his regiments made a raid across Livonia, capturing a large number of prisoners.

According to the Livonian chronicles, the Crusaders lost 1,350 people in the Battle of Rakovor, the Russians - 5,000 people. (if there are no special clarifications, then losses in battles, as a rule, mean killed, wounded and prisoners). Russian chronicles do not name losses, but from their reports that the Russian cavalry could not break through the corpses, one can conclude that there were significant losses among the crusaders. This is evidenced by the fact that a year later the Danes and Livonian Germans made peace with the Novgorodians, which lasted 30 years. The defeat of the crusaders also meant the triumph of Orthodoxy over the military expansion of Catholicism. It is not for nothing that Alexander Nevsky and Dovmont of Pskov were canonized by the Russian Church.

Reflecting aggression on the northwestern borders of Rus' continued in the future. Not many places in Russia can compare in the tenacity and duration of military operations with the section from Izborsk to Ladoga. From the XIII to the XVIII centuries. on these lines, then fading, then flaring up again, there was a severe confrontation Eastern Slavs with the Germans and Swedes. The Principality of Pskov, whose lands directly bordered the possessions of the Livonian Order, bore the brunt of the fight against the German crusaders. From 1228 to 1462, according to the calculations of the historian S. M. Solovyov, the Pskov land was invaded 24 times, i.e. on average once every 10 years. The Novgorodians were mainly in conflict with Sweden. During the specified period, they repelled external onslaught 29 times. In 1322 their squads under the leadership of the Moscow prince Yuri Daniilovich made a campaign against the Swedes, after which in 1323. The Orekhovsky peace was concluded. For the first time, he established the official border between Novgorod and Sweden along the Karelian Isthmus. But it took another century to finally settle territorial disputes.

Test

Test answers:

1223 →III. Battle of Kalka → V. Mongol-Tatars
1237 → II. Beginning of Batu's invasion → V. Mongol-Tatars
1240 → I. Battle of the Neva → B. Swedes
1242 → IV. Battle on the Ice→ A. Germans

Bibliography

Orlov A.S., Georgiev V.A., Georgieva N.G., Sivokhina T.A., History of Russia. Textbook.— M.: “PROSPECT”, 1997.
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The struggle of Rus' against external aggression in the 13th century

In the 13th century, the enemies who weakened the internal and external position of Rus' were the Mongol-Tatars. Characteristics of the Tatar army: foot and horse warriors, armed with a shield and bow and arrows. The army was organized according to the decimal principle: 10, 100, 1000, 10 thousand people (tumen). All units were shackled by strict discipline, with severe punishment for the slightest violation. Strength reconnaissance troops, before the start of the campaign, information about the enemy was collected. (survey of merchants). Tactics: ambushes, raids, deceptive maneuvers, undermining the city, military cunning. Having conquered part of India and China, the Mongols took their siege weapons. The Tatars used night and day armies. Under Genghis Khan, large territories were conquered. In the 20s In the 13th century, they knew nothing about the Mongol-Tatars in Rus'.

1223 - Battle of the Kalka River - the first meeting of Russians and Mongol-Tatars. The Polovtsians invited the Russian princes because they were afraid to fight the enemy alone. The Russians were not united in battle.

The Polovtsians immediately abandoned them. Some of the Russian princes entered the battle, others preferred to wait. The consequence was a severe defeat.

After the victory on the Kalka River, the Mongol-Tatars retreated to the east and the Russians forgot about them for some time. Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, began a new campaign at the end of 1237. An army of 140 thousand, passing through the Mordovian forests, besieged Ryazan. The Ryazan prince turned to his neighbors for help, but did not receive it. Ryazan itself bore the brunt of the blow. Irritated by the unprecedented tenacity of the defenders, Batu Khan ordered the complete destruction of the city. After a six-day siege and a brutal assault, Ryazan fell. The invaders mercilessly dealt with the inhabitants and destroyed the city. Batu's hordes moved deep into North-Eastern Rus'.

In the battle of Kolomna, the Russian squads were again defeated, then Batu’s army captured stubbornly defending Moscow.

During February 1238, the invaders turned into ruins 14 Russian cities between the Oka and Volga rivers, including the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Thousands of people died, thousands of others were taken prisoner, and the remnants of the population took refuge in the forests. The fire destroyed many manuscripts and frescoes. March 1238 there was a battle on the Sit River, where Grand Duke Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodich fought courageously along with a small army. The Battle of the Sit River weakened the conquerors and they did not go further north. The Mongol-Tatars reached Torzhok, this small town defended itself for two weeks. From here the conquerors turned to Southeast. When retreating to the steppe, they used their famous raid technique. They moved south in a wide front of small detachments, plundering everything in their path. They did not move to Novgorod due to heavy losses suffered during the winter campaign. But even on the way back, Batu’s army faced stubborn resistance. The town of Kozelsk held out until the last man for seven weeks before the conquerors managed to take it. In 1239, the enemy began a new campaign, now against Southern Rus'.

In 1240, after a siege and street fighting, Kyiv fell. Moving west, the conquerors invaded the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany, however, having met resistance and, already weakened during the fighting in Rus', they went back across the Volga. By the heroic resistance of the Russian people, Central and Western Europe was saved from the horrors of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and received the opportunity for

Further development of its economy. A new state was founded on the conquered territories-- Golden Horde.

Yoke-political (label) economic oppression (tribute, raids).

A new state, the Golden Horde, appears, the capital of Sarai-Batu. Consequences of the yoke: deepening feudal fragmentation, the struggle of princes for the throne, damage to the economy and culture of Rus'.

Rus' lags far behind in its development European countries, but fortunately for the people

the conquerors did not settle in this territory.

The Mongol-Tatars delayed the development of the country, but could not stop it.

But the Mongol-Tatars were not the only enemies who weakened the internal and external position of Rus'. There were also enemies in the west - the Swedes and the Germans. The Vatican proclaimed a campaign of knights to the east with the goal of converting pagans to the true faith (Russians were also pagans for them). But in fact, they were attracted to new territories. The conquest of the Baltic states by the Swedes created a threat to the Russian lands (Novgorod and Pskov). The Russian troops were trained as well as the European knights, but there were not so many professional warriors (mostly during the war they collected militia). The formation of the Russian army-- (Man-center, Wings-flanks). Prince Alexander Yaroslavich gave orders to strengthen the fortresses of Ladoga, Korela, and the Novgorod Kremlin, and to train the princely squad and militias.

1240 - Novgorodians learned about the Swedes' campaign. Goal: the Swedes wanted to block the Russians’ access to the Baltic Sea and seize the route along the Neva. The Swedes wanted to capture the mouth of the Neva River and the city of Ladoga, capturing the route from the Varangians to the Greeks. According to the scheme: Swedes 100 ships - 5 thousand people, commander Jarl Birger. Prince Alexander, hastily gathering the militia and the princely squad, approached the Swedes' camp unnoticed. The Russians, by attacking the cavalry in the center of the Swedes' camp and bypassing the foot soldiers along the Neva, wanted to drive the enemy into a corner between the Neva and Izhora. Consequence: The Russians attacked suddenly, the location of the battle was successfully chosen, the coordination of the Russian cavalry and infantry, the heroism of the soldiers, the talent of Prince Alexander. Meaning: the victory eliminated the threat of enslavement of the Russian lands and the peoples of the Baltic states, Rus' retained access to the Baltic Sea.

Even earlier, the Germans captured Pskov, Kaporye, Izborsk. Formed in 1237 The Livonian Order, the support of the Vatican in Eastern Europe, began to seize Russian lands. Alexander Nevsky was in Pereyaslavl due to a quarrel with the boyars. The Novgorodians asked the prince to return to the city. Alexander Yaroslavich returns and carefully prepares for battle.

The Russians liberate Pskov and, pursuing the Germans, go to Lake Peipsi. The Battle of the Ice in 1242 according to the scheme: the Germans are in the shape of a wedge (a pig, with heavily armed knights at the edges).

Russians: Alexander Nevsky placed unprecedented militias in the center, cavalry on the flanks, that is, he strengthened the flanks. During the battle, the German “pig” tried to dismember the enemy with a wedge blow and then destroy him in parts. The heavily armed knights broke through the Russian formation, but could not withstand the flank attack.

Result of the battle: 1) Russian troops liberated the territory from the invaders,

2) The Novgorod and Pskov lands remained independent.

Mongol Empire

Political fragmentation and constant princely strife facilitated the implementation of large-scale plans of the Mongol-Tatars, begun by the leader of the Mongol tribes, Khan Temujin (Temujin) (c. 1155-1227). In 1206 kurultai(congress of the Mongolian nobility) he was proclaimed Genghis Khan (Great Khan) and founded Mongol Empire.

At the end of the 12th century. among the Mongol tribes roaming the steppes of Central Asia, the process of decomposition of the tribal system and the formation of early feudal relations began.

The reign of Genghis Khan influenced the development of the political and spiritual culture of the population of many Asian regions. Throughout the territory of the Mongol Empire, a single set of laws began to operate - the Great Yasa (Jasak), formulated by Genghis Khan. It was one of the most brutal sets of laws in the entire history of mankind; For almost all types of crimes, only one type of punishment was provided - the death penalty.

The success of the conquests and the large size of the Mongol army are explained not only by the fact that Genghis Khan was able to unite the nomadic tribes of the Asian steppes, but also by the fact that the inhabitants of the territories he captured often joined the Mongol army. They preferred to participate in military raids and receive their share of the spoils than to bear duties in favor of the Mongol treasury.

In 1208-1223. The Mongols carried out campaigns of conquest in Siberia, Central Asia, Transcaucasia, Northern China and began to advance towards Russian lands.

The first clash between Russian and Mongol troops took place in the Azov steppes on the Kalka River (1223). The battle ended in the defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian troops. As a result of this battle, the Cuman state was destroyed, and the Cumans themselves became part of the state created by the Mongols.

In 1236, the huge army of Batu Khan (Batu) (1208-1255), the grandson of Genghis Khan, moved to Volga Bulgaria. In 1237 Batu invaded Rus'. Ryazan, Vladimir, Suzdal, Moscow were plundered and burned, and the southern Russian lands (Chernigov, Kiev, Galicia-Volyn, etc.) were devastated.

In 1239, Batu began a new campaign against Russian soil. Murom and Gorokhovets were captured and burned. In December 1240 Kyiv was taken. Then the Mongol troops moved into Galician-Volyn Rus. In 1241, Batu invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Moldavia, and in 1242 he reached Croatia and Dalmatia. Having lost significant forces on Russian soil, Batu returned to the Volga region, where he founded a state Golden Horde(1242).

The consequences of the invasion were extremely severe. First of all, the country's population has declined sharply. More than anything from Tatar-Mongol invasion cities suffered. The invasion dealt a heavy blow to productive forces. Many production skills were lost, and entire craft professions disappeared. Rus''s international trade relations suffered. Numerous written monuments and outstanding works of art were destroyed.

The Golden Horde occupied a significant part of the territory modern Russia. The Golden Horde included the steppes of Eastern Europe And Western Siberia, lands in Crimea, the North Caucasus, Volga-Kama Bulgaria, Northern Khorezm. The capital of the Golden Horde was the city of Sarai (near modern Astrakhan).

In relation to the Russian lands, the Golden Horde pursued a cruel predatory policy. All Russian princes were confirmed on the throne by the khans, and certainly in the capital of the Golden Horde. The princes were given shortcuts- Khan's letters confirming their appointment. Often, during visits to the Horde, princes disliked by the Mongol-Tatars were killed. The Horde maintained power over Russia through constant terror. Horde detachments led by baskaks (officials) were stationed in Russian principalities and cities to monitor the proper collection and receipt of tribute from Rus' to the Horde. In order to record tribute payers, a population census was conducted in Russian lands. The khans exempted only the clergy from taxes. To keep Russian lands in obedience and for predatory purposes, Tatar detachments carried out frequent punitive raids on Rus'. Only in the second half of the 13th century. there were fourteen such campaigns.

The masses resisted the Horde's policy of oppression. In 1257, the Novgorodians refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. In 1262, popular uprisings took place in many cities of the Russian land - Rostov, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Ustyug the Great, Vladimir. Many tribute collectors - Baskaks - were killed.

Expansion from the West

Simultaneously with the establishment of Mongol rule over the Russian principalities, the northwestern Russian lands were attacked by crusader troops. The invasion of German knights into the Eastern Baltic began in the 10th century. Supported by the merchants of the northern German cities and the Catholic Church, the knighthood began the “Drang nach Osten” - the so-called “onslaught to the east”. By the 12th century. German feudal lords captured the Eastern Baltic. After the name of the Liv tribe, the Germans called the entire captured territory Livonia. In 1200, Canon Albert of Bremen, sent there by the Pope, founded the Riga fortress. On his initiative, the spiritual knightly order of the Swordsmen was created in 1202. The order was faced with the task of capturing the Baltic states by German feudal lords. In 1215-1216 The crusaders captured the territory of Estonia. In 1234, the Order of the Swordsmen was defeated by Russian troops in the Yuryev area (Tartu). In 1237, the Order of the Sword, renamed the Livonian Order, became a branch of a larger spiritual knightly order, the Teutonic Order, created in 1198 for campaigns in Palestine. The threat of invasion by the Crusaders and Swedish troops loomed over Novgorod, Pskov and Polotsk.

In 1240, the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich (1221-1263) defeated the Swedish invaders at the mouth of the Neva, for which he received the nickname Nevsky. In 1240, the crusading knights occupied the Pskov fortress of Izborsk, and then fortified themselves in Pskov itself. In 1241, the order invaded the Novgorod borders. In response to this, in 1241 Alexander Nevsky captured the Koporye fortress, and in the winter of 1242 he liberated Pskov from the crusaders. Then the princely Vladimir-Suzdal squad and the Novgorod militia moved to Lake Peipsi, on the ice of which a decisive battle took place on April 5, 1242. The battle that went down in history as Battle on the Ice, ended in the complete defeat of the crusaders.

Ticket 2. The emergence of the state of Rus'. Rus' as an early feudal monarchy. The first Russian princes. Characteristics of domestic and foreign policy

The 13th century in the history of Rus' is a time of armed resistance to the onslaught from the east (Mongo-Tatars) and northwest (Germans, Swedes, Danes).

The Mongol-Tatars came to Rus' from the depths of Central Asia. The Empire, formed in 1206, led by Khan Temujin, who accepted the title of Khan of all Mongols (Genghis Khan), by the 30s. XIII century She subjugated Northern China, Korea, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia to her power. In 1223, in the Battle of Kalka, the combined army of Russians and Polovtsians was defeated by a 30,000-strong detachment of Mongols. Genghis Khan refused to advance into the southern Russian steppes. Rus' received almost a fifteen-year respite, but could not take advantage of it: all attempts to unite and end civil strife were in vain.

In 1236, Genghis Khan's grandson Batu began a campaign against Rus'. Having conquered Volga Bulgaria, in January 1237 he invaded the Ryazan principality, ruined it and moved on to Vladimir. The city, despite fierce resistance, fell, and on March 4, 1238, the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich was killed in the battle on the Sit River. Having taken Torzhok, the Mongols could go to Novgorod, but the spring thaw and heavy losses forced them to return to the Polovtsian steppes. This movement to the southeast is sometimes called the “Tatar round-up”: along the way, Batu robbed and burned Russian cities, which courageously fought against the invaders. The resistance of the residents of Kozelsk, nicknamed the “evil city” by their enemies, was especially fierce. In 1238-1239 The Mongolo-Tatars conquered the Murom, Pereyaslav, and Chernigov principalities.

North-Eastern Rus' was devastated. Batu turned south. The heroic resistance of the inhabitants of Kyiv was broken in December 1240. In 1241, the Principality of Galicia-Volyn fell. The Mongol hordes invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, reached Northern Italy and Germany, but, weakened by the desperate resistance of Russian troops, deprived of reinforcements, retreated and returned to the steppes of the Lower Volga region. Here in 1243 the state of the Golden Horde was created (the capital of Sarai-Batu), whose rule the devastated Russian lands were forced to recognize. A system was established that went down in history as the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The essence of this system, humiliating in spiritual terms and predatory in economic terms, was that: the Russian principalities were not included in the Horde, but retained their own reigns; the princes, especially the Grand Duke of Vladimir, received a label to reign in the Horde, which confirmed their presence on the throne; they had to pay a large tribute ("exit") to the Mongol rulers. Population censuses were conducted and tribute collection standards were established. The Mongol garrisons left Russian cities, but before the beginning of the 14th century. The collection of tribute was carried out by authorized Mongol officials - the Baskaks. In case of disobedience (and anti-Mongol uprisings often broke out), punitive detachments - armies - were sent to Rus'.

Two get up important issues: Why did the Russian principalities, having shown heroism and courage, fail to repel the conquerors? What consequences did the yoke have for Rus'? The answer to the first question is obvious: of course, the military superiority of the Mongol-Tatars mattered (strict discipline, excellent cavalry, well-established intelligence, etc.), but decisive role played by the disunity of the Russian princes, their feuds, and inability to unite even in the face of a mortal threat.

The second question is controversial. Some historians point to the positive consequences of the yoke in the sense of creating the prerequisites for the creation of a unified Russian state. Others emphasize that the yoke did not have a significant impact on the internal development of Rus'. Most scientists agree on the following: the raids caused severe material damage, were accompanied by the death of the population, the devastation of villages, and the destruction of cities; the tribute that went to the Horde depleted the country and made it difficult to restore and develop the economy; Southern Rus' actually separated from the North-Western and North-Eastern, their historical destinies on for a long time separated; Rus''s ties with European states were interrupted; tendencies towards arbitrariness, despotism, and autocracy of princes prevailed.

Having been defeated by the Mongol-Tatars, Rus' was able to successfully resist aggression from the north-west. By the 30s. XIII century The Baltic states, inhabited by tribes of Livs, Yatvingians, Estonians and others, found themselves in the power of the German crusading knights. The actions of the Crusaders were part of the policy of the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy to subjugate pagan peoples to the Catholic Church. That is why the main instruments of aggression were the spiritual knightly orders: the Order of the Swordsmen (founded in 1202) and the Teutonic Order (founded at the end of the 12th century in Palestine). In 1237, these orders united into the Livonian Order. A powerful and aggressive military-political entity established itself on the borders with Novgorod land, ready to take advantage of the weakening of Rus' to include its northwestern lands in the zone of imperial influence.

In July 1240, the nineteen-year-old Novgorod prince Alexander defeated Birger's Swedish detachment at the mouth of the Neva in a fleeting battle. For his victory in the Battle of Neva, Alexander received the honorary nickname Nevsky. That same summer, the Livonian knights became more active: Izborsk and Pskov were captured, and the border fortress of Koporye was erected. Prince Alexander Nevsky managed to return Pskov in 1241, but the decisive battle took place on April 5, 1242 on the melted ice of Lake Peipus (hence the name - Battle of the Ice). Knowing about the favorite tactics of the knights - formation in the shape of a tapering wedge ("pig"), the commander used flanking and defeated the enemy. Dozens of knights died after falling through the ice, which could not withstand the weight of heavily armed infantry. The relative safety of the northwestern borders of Rus', Novgorod land was provided.

6. The emergence and development of the Moscow principality in the 14th-15th centuries. Formation of the Russian central state. + Battle of Kulikovo. + Ivan Kalita-Ivan

In the XIV-XV centuries. Appanage Rus' persistently collected its “fragmented parts into something whole. Moscow became the center of the state formed in this way” (V. O. Klyuchevsky). The process of gathering Russian lands led to the formation of a single Russian state. Ruined, bloodless by the Mongol-Tatar yoke, divided into dozens of appanage principalities, the country for more than two centuries consistently, difficultly, overcoming obstacles, moved towards state and national unity. Prerequisites for the merger. The peculiarities of the process of unification of Russian lands were that its economic and social preconditions matured gradually, as the process itself gained strength, lagging behind it. Population growth, the restoration of the destroyed economy, the development of abandoned and new lands, the spread of the three-field system, the gradual revival of cities and trade - all this contributed to the unification, but hardly made it really necessary. Decisive preconditions have developed in the political sphere. The main impulse was the increasingly persistent desire for liberation from the Horde yoke, from patronage and prodding, to gain complete independence, to renounce humiliating trips to the Horde for the label of the great reign of Vladimir, from paying tribute, from extortion. The struggle for unification merged with the struggle against the Horde. It required the exertion of all forces, unity, and a rigid guiding principle. This beginning could only be the grand ducal power, ready to act firmly, decisively, recklessly, even despotically. The princes relied on their servants - the military in the first place - and paid them with land transferred into conditional ownership (from these servants and this land tenure the nobility, the manorial system, and serfdom would later grow). The prerequisites for unification include the presence of a single church organization, a common faith - Orthodoxy, language, and the historical memory of the people, who kept memories of the lost unity and the “brightly bright and beautifully decorated” Russian Land. Why did Moscow become the center of unification? Objectively, two “young” cities - Moscow and Tver - had approximately equal chances to lead the process of unification of Russian lands. They were located in the northeast of Rus', relatively far from the borders with the Horde (and from the borders with Lithuania, Poland, Livonia) and therefore were protected from surprise attacks. Moscow and Tver stood on lands where, after Batu’s invasion, the population of Vladimir, Ryazan, Rostov and other principalities fled, where demographic growth was observed. Important trade routes passed through both principalities, and they knew how to take advantage of the benefits of their location. The outcome of the struggle between Moscow and Tver was therefore determined by the personal qualities of their rulers. In this sense, the Moscow princes were superior to their Tver competitors. They weren't outstanding statesmen, but ~v4ine others knew how to adapt to the character and juvia of their time.” They, “people, are not large. , they had to “do big things,” their mode of action “was based not on the legends of antiquity, but on a prudent consideration of the circumstances of the current moment.” “Flexible, smart businessmen”, “peaceful masters”, “thrifty, thrifty organizers of their lot” - this is how V. O. Klyuchevsky saw the first Moscow princes. Stages of unification. The process of creating a unified Russian state took a long period from the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th century. Until the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The end of the 13th - first half of the 14th century: - the formation of the Moscow principality under Prince Daniil Alexandrovich (end of the 13th century) and its territorial growth (Pereslavl, Mozhaisk, Kolomna), the beginning of rivalry with Tver for the label for the great Vladimir reign and the first success of Moscow (1318 ., the murder of the Tver prince Mikhail in the Horde and the transfer of the label to the Moscow prince Yuri, who owned it until 1325); - the reign of Ivan Danilovich Kalita (kalita is a big wallet; the origin of the prince’s nickname is connected not so much with his stinginess, but with the fact that he was famous for his generosity when distributing alms to the poor). Ivan Kalita took part in the punitive campaign of the Mongol-Tatars against Tver, the population of which in 1327 rebelled and killed the Khan's Baskak Cholkhan. The result was the weakening of Tver and the acquisition by Moscow of a label for a great reign (from 1328). Ivan Kalita convinced Metropolitan Peter to move his residence from Vladimir to Moscow. From now on Orthodox Church firmly supported the Moscow princes in their efforts to unify the country. Kalita managed to accumulate considerable funds, which were spent on purchasing new lands and strengthening military power principalities. Relations between Moscow and the Horde were built during this period on the same foundations - with correction, payment of tribute, frequent visits to the khan's capital, with ostentatious humility and readiness to serve. Ivan Kalita managed to save his principality from new invasions. “Forty years of great silence,” according to Klyuchevsky, allowed two generations to be born and grow up, “to whose nerves the impressions of childhood did not instill the unconscious horror of their grandfathers and fathers before the Tatar: they went to the Kulikovo Field.” Second half of the 14th century. In the 60-70s. XIV century Prince Dmitry, the grandson of Ivan Kalita, managed to resolve a number of long-standing and very important issues . Firstly, the claims of neighboring princes to a great reign were repulsed. The label remained in Moscow. Secondly, it was possible to avert the military threat from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose ruler, Prince Olgerd, actively participated in internal Russian politics and organized three campaigns against Moscow. Thirdly - and this is especially important - Moscow achieved a decisive advantage over its traditional rival, the Tver Principality. Twice (in 1371 and 1375) Prince Mikhail of Tver received a label for the great reign in the Horde, and twice Prince Dmitry refused to recognize him as the Grand Duke. In 1375, Moscow organized a campaign against Tver, in which almost all the princes of North-Eastern Rus' participated. Mikhail was forced to recognize the seniority of the Moscow prince and abandon the label of great reign. Fourthly, for the first time in more than a century, the Moscow prince felt strong enough to go into open conflict with the Horde, challenge it, relying on the support of the majority of Russian principalities and lands. During these same years, the Golden Horde experienced processes of fragmentation and disintegration. Khans changed their thrones with fantastic frequency; the rulers of the isolated “hordes” sought their fortune in predatory raids on Rus'. Moscow provided support to neighboring principalities in repelling aggression. The Battle of the Vozha River in 1378 became especially famous. The army of Murza Begicha, which invaded the Ryazan land, was defeated by a Moscow detachment commanded by Prince Dmitry. An event of enormous historical importance was the victory of the Russian army (it included the princely squads of almost all the lands of North-Eastern Rus', only the Ryazan and Novgorod detachments did not come) in 1380. On the Kulikovo field above the army of the Tatar temnik Mamai. The reasons for the victory in the battle, which apparently lasted more than ten hours, are generally clear: Dmitry showed undeniable military leadership (gathering troops in Kolomna, choosing the battle site, disposition of the troops, actions of the ambush regiment, etc.). Russian soldiers fought courageously. There was no agreement in the Horde ranks. But the main factors of victory are recognized as follows: for the first time, a single Russian army, composed of squads from almost all Russian lands, fought on the Kulikovo field, under the single command of the Moscow prince; Russian soldiers were overwhelmed by that spiritual upsurge, which, according to L.N. Tolstoy, makes victory inevitable: “The battle is won by the one who firmly decided to win it.” The Battle of Kulikovo brought the Moscow prince Dmitry the honorary nickname Donskoy. The victory was difficult. The ferocity of the battle lives in the words of a contemporary: “Oh bitter hour! Oh, the time of blood is filled!” The significance of the victory on the Kulikovo Field is enormous: Moscow strengthened its role as the unifier of the Russian lands, their leader; a turning point occurred in the relations of Rus' with the Horde (the yoke would be lifted after 100 years, in 1382 Khan Tokhtamysh would burn Moscow, but the decisive step towards liberation was taken on August 8, 1380); the amount of tribute that Rus' now paid to the Horde decreased significantly; The Horde continued to weaken; it never managed to recover from the blow it received in the Battle of Kulikovo. The Battle of Kulikovo became the most important stage in the spiritual and moral revival of Rus', the formation of its national identity. First half of the 15th century The main event of this stage was the feudal war of 1425-1453. Between the Moscow prince Vasily II the Dark and the coalition of appanage princes, which was headed by his uncle Yuri, and after the death of Yuri - his second cousins Vasily Kosoy and Ivan Shemyaka. The long period of unrest ended with the victory of the Moscow prince. Second half of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century. The final stage of the unification process is associated with the reign of Ivan III (1462-1505) and the first years of the reign of his son Vasily III (1505-1533): - the gathering of Russian lands around Moscow was basically completed. Novgorod (1477), Tver (1485), Pskov (1510), Ryazan (1521), Smolensk (1514) were annexed to Moscow; - “Standing on the Ugra” (1480) ended the struggle of Rus' for liberation from the two hundred and forty-year Mongol yoke. For more than two months, the Russian army of Ivan III and the Tatar army of Khan Akhmat stood on different banks of the Oka tributary of the Ugra River. Akhmat did not dare to enter the battle and withdrew his troops, essentially recognizing the independence of Rus'; - the process of forming a unified Russian state has also completed. Ivan III accepted the title of “Grand Duke of Moscow and All Rus'”, his marriage with the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaeologus and the fall of Constantinople under the blows of the Ottoman Turks (1453) gave him reason to accept the Byzantine double-headed eagle as the coat of arms of the Russian state (adding to it the coat of arms of the Principality of Moscow - George the Victorious - symbolized the role of Moscow as the capital of the state). Gradually, a system of government bodies took shape: the Boyar Duma (the council of the nobility under the Grand Duke), the Treasury (the central administrative body, from which the central government bodies - orders - were later separated; the concept of “order” was first used in 1512), Palaces (government bodies newly annexed territories). The country was divided into counties (governed by governors), volosts and camps (governed by volostels). The governors and volostels lived off of feedings - fees from the local population. In 1497, the Code of Laws was adopted - the first legislative act of a unified Russian state. It, in particular, contained a new rule on a single period for the transfer of peasants from one landowner to another (two weeks before and after November 26 - St. George's Day). From the end of the 15th century. The new term “Russia” was increasingly used.

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