MONGOL-TATAR INVASION
Formation of the Mongolian state. IN early XIII V. In Central Asia, the Mongolian state was formed in the territory from Lake Baikal and the upper reaches of the Yenisei and Irtysh in the north to the southern regions of the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall of China. After the name of one of the tribes that roamed near Lake Buirnur in Mongolia, these peoples were also called Tatars. Subsequently, all the nomadic peoples with whom Rus' fought began to be called Mongol-Tatars.
The main occupation of the Mongols was extensive nomadic cattle breeding, and in the north and in the taiga regions - hunting. In the 12th century. The Mongols experienced a collapse of primitive communal relations. From among ordinary community herders, who were called karachu - black people, noyons (princes) - nobility - emerged; Having squads of nukers (warriors), she seized pastures for livestock and part of the young animals. The Noyons also had slaves. The rights of noyons were determined by “Yasa” - a collection of teachings and instructions.
In 1206, a congress of the Mongolian nobility took place on the Onon River - kurultai (Khural), at which one of the noyons was elected leader of the Mongolian tribes: Temujin, who received the name Genghis Khan - “great khan”, “sent by God” (1206-1227). Having defeated his opponents, he began to rule the country through his relatives and local nobility.
Mongol army. The Mongols had a well-organized army that maintained family ties. The army was divided into tens, hundreds, thousands. Ten thousand Mongol warriors were called "darkness" ("tumen").
Tumens were not only military, but also administrative units.
The main striking force of the Mongols was the cavalry. Each warrior had two or three bows, several quivers with arrows, an ax, a rope lasso, and was good with a saber. The warrior's horse was covered with skins, which protected it from arrows and enemy weapons. The head, neck and chest of the Mongol warrior were covered from enemy arrows and spears by an iron or copper helmet and leather armor. The Mongol cavalry had high mobility. On their stunted, shaggy-maned, hardy horses, they could travel up to 80 km per day, and with convoys, battering rams and flamethrowers - up to 10 km. Like other peoples, going through the stage of state formation, the Mongols were distinguished by their strength and solidity. Hence the interest in expanding pastures and organizing predatory campaigns against neighboring agricultural peoples, who were at a much higher level of development, although they were experiencing a period of fragmentation. This greatly facilitated the implementation of the Mongol-Tatars’ plans of conquest.
Destruction Central Asia. The Mongols began their campaigns by conquering the lands of their neighbors - the Buryats, Evenks, Yakuts, Uighurs, and Yenisei Kyrgyz (by 1211). They then invaded China and took Beijing in 1215. Three years later, Korea was conquered. Having defeated China (finally conquered in 1279), the Mongols significantly strengthened their military potential. Flamethrowers, battering rams, stone-throwers, and vehicles were adopted.
In the summer of 1219, an almost 200,000-strong Mongol army led by Genghis Khan began the conquest of Central Asia. The ruler of Khorezm (a country at the mouth of the Amu Darya), Shah Mohammed, did not accept a general battle, dispersing his forces among the cities. Having suppressed the stubborn resistance of the population, the invaders stormed Otrar, Khojent, Merv, Bukhara, Urgench and other cities. The ruler of Samarkand, despite the demand of the people to defend himself, surrendered the city. Muhammad himself fled to Iran, where he soon died.
The rich, flourishing agricultural regions of Semirechye (Central Asia) turned into pastures. Irrigation systems built over centuries were destroyed. The Mongols introduced a regime of cruel exactions, artisans were taken into captivity. As a result of the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, nomadic tribes began to populate its territory. Sedentary agriculture was replaced by extensive nomadic cattle breeding, which slowed down the further development of Central Asia.
Invasion of Iran and Transcaucasia. The main force of the Mongols returned from Central Asia to Mongolia with looted booty. An army of 30,000 under the command of the best Mongol military commanders Jebe and Subedei set off on a long-distance reconnaissance campaign through Iran and Transcaucasia, to the West. Having defeated the united Armenian-Georgian troops and caused enormous damage to the economy of Transcaucasia, the invaders, however, were forced to leave the territory of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as they encountered strong resistance from the population. Past Derbent, where there was a passage along the shores of the Caspian Sea, the Mongol troops entered the steppes of the North Caucasus. Here they defeated the Alans (Ossetians) and Cumans, after which they ravaged the city of Sudak (Surozh) in the Crimea. The Polovtsians, led by Khan Kotyan, the father-in-law of the Galician prince Mstislav the Udal, turned to the Russian princes for help.
Battle of the Kalka River. On May 31, 1223, the Mongols defeated the allied forces of the Polovtsian and Russian princes in the Azov steppes on the Kalka River. This was the last major joint military action of the Russian princes on the eve of Batu's invasion. However, the powerful Russian prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal, son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, did not participate in the campaign.
Princely feuds also affected during the battle on Kalka. The Kiev prince Mstislav Romanovich, having strengthened himself with his army on the hill, did not take part in the battle. Regiments of Russian soldiers and Polovtsy, having crossed Kalka, struck the advanced detachments of the Mongol-Tatars, who retreated. The Russian and Polovtsian regiments became carried away in pursuit. The main Mongol forces that approached took the pursuing Russian and Polovtsian warriors in a pincer movement and destroyed them.
The Mongols besieged the hill where the Kyiv prince fortified himself. On the third day of the siege, Mstislav Romanovich believed the enemy’s promise to release the Russians with honor in case of voluntary surrender and laid down his arms. He and his warriors were brutally killed by the Mongols. The Mongols reached the Dnieper, but did not dare to enter the borders of Rus'. Rus' has never known a defeat equal to the Battle of the Kalka River. Only a tenth of the army returned from the Azov steppes to Rus'. In honor of their victory, the Mongols held a “feast on bones.” The captured princes were crushed under the boards on which the victors sat and feasted.
Preparations for a campaign against Rus'. Returning to the steppes, the Mongols made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Volga Bulgaria. Reconnaissance in force showed that it was possible to wage aggressive wars with Russia and its neighbors only by organizing an all-Mongol campaign. The head of this campaign was the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu (1227-1255), who received from his grandfather all the territories in the west, “where the foot of a Mongol horse has set foot.” Subedei, who knew the theater of future military operations well, became his main military adviser.
In 1235, at a khural in the capital of Mongolia, Karakorum, a decision was made on an all-Mongol campaign to the West. In 1236, the Mongols captured Volga Bulgaria, and in 1237 they subjugated the nomadic peoples of the Steppe. In the fall of 1237, the main forces of the Mongols, having crossed the Volga, concentrated on the Voronezh River, aiming at Russian lands. In Rus' they knew about the impending menacing danger, but princely strife prevented the vultures from uniting to repel a strong and treacherous enemy. There was no unified command. City fortifications were erected for defense against neighboring Russian principalities, and not against steppe nomads. The princely cavalry squads were not inferior to the Mongol noyons and nukers in terms of armament and fighting qualities. But the bulk of the Russian army was the militia - urban and rural warriors, inferior to the Mongols in weapons and combat skills. Hence the defensive tactics, designed to deplete the enemy’s forces.
Defense of Ryazan. In 1237, Ryazan was the first of the Russian lands to be attacked by invaders. The princes of Vladimir and Chernigov refused to help Ryazan. The Mongols besieged Ryazan and sent envoys who demanded submission and one tenth of “everything.” The courageous response of the Ryazan residents followed: “If we are all gone, then everything will be yours.” On the sixth day of the siege, the city was taken, the princely family and surviving residents were killed. In its old place, Ryazan was no longer revived (modern Ryazan is new town, located 60 km from old Ryazan, it was previously called Pereyaslavl Ryazan).
Conquest of North-Eastern Rus'. In January 1238, the Mongols moved along the Oka River to the Vladimir-Suzdal land. The battle with the Vladimir-Suzdal army took place near the city of Kolomna, on the border of the Ryazan and Vladimir-Suzdal lands. In this battle, the Vladimir army died, which actually predetermined the fate of North-Eastern Rus'.
The population of Moscow, led by governor Philip Nyanka, offered strong resistance to the enemy for 5 days. After being captured by the Mongols, Moscow was burned and its inhabitants were killed.
On February 4, 1238, Batu besieged Vladimir. His troops covered the distance from Kolomna to Vladimir (300 km) in a month. On the fourth day of the siege, the invaders broke into the city through gaps in the fortress wall next to the Golden Gate. The princely family and the remnants of the troops locked themselves in the Assumption Cathedral. The Mongols surrounded the cathedral with trees and set it on fire.
After the capture of Vladimir, the Mongols split into separate detachments and destroyed the cities of North-Eastern Rus'. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, even before the invaders approached Vladimir, went to the north of his land to gather military forces. The hastily assembled regiments in 1238 were defeated on the Sit River (the right tributary of the Mologa River), and Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich himself died in the battle.
The Mongol hordes moved to the north-west of Rus'. Everywhere they met stubborn resistance from the Russians. For two weeks, for example, the distant suburb of Novgorod, Torzhok, defended itself. Northwestern Rus' was saved from defeat, although it paid tribute.
Having reached the stone Ignach-cross - an ancient sign-sign on the Valdai watershed (one hundred kilometers from Novgorod), the Mongols retreated south, to the steppes, to recover losses and give rest to tired troops. The withdrawal was in the nature of a "round-up". Divided into separate detachments, the invaders “combed” Russian cities. Smolensk managed to fight back, other centers were defeated. During the “raid”, Kozelsk offered the greatest resistance to the Mongols, holding out for seven weeks. The Mongols called Kozelsk an “evil city.”
Capture of Kyiv. In the spring of 1239, Batu defeated Southern Rus' (Pereyaslavl South), and in the fall - the Principality of Chernigov. In the autumn of the following 1240, Mongol troops, having crossed the Dnieper, besieged Kyiv. After a long defense, led by Voivode Dmitry, the Tatars defeated Kyiv. The next year, 1241, the Galicia-Volyn principality was attacked.
Batu's campaign against Europe. After the defeat of Rus', the Mongol hordes moved towards Europe. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic were devastated, Balkan countries. The Mongols reached the borders of the German Empire and reached the Adriatic Sea. However, at the end of 1242 they suffered a series of setbacks in the Czech Republic and Hungary. From distant Karakorum came news of the death of the great Khan Ogedei, the son of Genghis Khan. This was a convenient excuse to stop the difficult hike. Batu turned his troops back to the east.
The decisive world-historical role in saving European civilization from the Mongol hordes was played by the heroic struggle against them by the Russians and other peoples of our country, who took the first blow of the invaders. She died in fierce battles in Rus' best part Mongol army. The Mongols lost their offensive power. They could not help but take into account the liberation struggle that unfolded in the rear of their troops. A.S. Pushkin rightly wrote: “Russia had a great destiny: its vast plains absorbed the power of the Mongols and stopped their invasion at the very edge of Europe... the emerging enlightenment was saved by torn Russia.”
The fight against the aggression of the crusaders. Coast from the Vistula to eastern shore Baltic Sea was inhabited by Slavic, Baltic (Lithuanian and Latvian) and Finno-Ugric (Estonians, Karelians, etc.) tribes. At the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII centuries. The Baltic peoples are completing the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system and the formation of an early class society and statehood. These processes occurred most intensively among the Lithuanian tribes. Russian lands (Novgorod and Polotsk) provided significant influence on their western neighbors, who did not yet have their own developed statehood and church institutions (the Baltic peoples were pagans).
The attack on Russian lands was part of the predatory doctrine of the German knighthood “Drang nach Osten” (onset to the East). In the 12th century. it began to seize lands belonging to the Slavs beyond the Oder and in the Baltic Pomerania. At the same time, an attack was carried out on the lands of the Baltic peoples. The Crusaders' invasion of the Baltic lands and North-Western Rus' was sanctioned by the Pope and German Emperor Frederick II. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and troops from other northern European countries also took part in the crusade.
Knightly orders. To conquer the lands of the Estonians and Latvians, the knightly Order of the Swordsmen was created in 1202 from the crusading detachments defeated in Asia Minor. Knights wore clothes with the image of a sword and cross. They led aggressive policy under the slogan of Christianization: “Whoever does not want to be baptized must die.” Back in 1201, the knights landed at the mouth of the Western Dvina (Daugava) River and founded the city of Riga on the site of a 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, the 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 territory inhabited by the Livonian tribe, which was captured by the Crusaders.
Battle of the Neva. 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, founded the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in the new capital on the site of the battle.)
Battle on the Ice. 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 pincers, 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 liberation struggle in the Baltics. However, relying on the help of the Roman Catholic Church, the knights at the end of the 13th century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.
Russian lands under the rule of the Golden Horde. In the middle of the 13th century. one of Genghis Khan's grandsons, Khubulai, moved his headquarters to Beijing, founding the Yuan dynasty. The rest of the Mongol Empire was nominally subordinate to the Great Khan in Karakorum. One of Genghis Khan's sons, Chagatai (Jaghatai), received the lands of most of Central Asia, and Genghis Khan's grandson Zulagu owned the territory of Iran, part of Western and Central Asia and Transcaucasia. This ulus, allocated in 1265, is called the Hulaguid state after the name of the dynasty. Another grandson of Genghis Khan from his eldest son Jochi, Batu, founded the state of the Golden Horde.
Golden Horde. The Golden Horde covered a vast territory from the Danube to the Irtysh (Crimea, the North Caucasus, part of the lands of Rus' located in the steppe, the former lands of Volga Bulgaria and nomadic peoples, Western Siberia and part of Central Asia). The capital of the Golden Horde was the city of Sarai, located in the lower reaches of the Volga (sarai translated into Russian means palace). It was a state consisting of semi-independent uluses, united under the rule of the khan. They were ruled by Batu's brothers and the local aristocracy.
The role of a kind of aristocratic council was played by the “Divan”, where military and financial questions. Finding themselves surrounded by a Turkic-speaking population, the Mongols adopted the Turkic language. The local Turkic-speaking ethnic group assimilated the Mongol newcomers. A new people was formed - the Tatars. In the first decades of the Golden Horde's existence, its religion was paganism.
The Golden Horde was one of the largest states of its time. At the beginning of the 14th century, she could field an army of 300,000. The heyday of the Golden Horde occurred during the reign of Khan Uzbek (1312-1342). During this era (1312), Islam became the state religion of the Golden Horde. Then, just like other medieval states, the Horde experienced a period of fragmentation. Already in the 14th century. The Central Asian possessions of the Golden Horde separated, and in the 15th century. The Kazan (1438), Crimean (1443), Astrakhan (mid-15th century) and Siberian (late 15th century) khanates stood out.
Russian lands and the Golden Horde. The Russian lands devastated by the Mongols were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Golden Horde. The ongoing struggle waged by the Russian people against the invaders forced the Mongol-Tatars to abandon the creation of their own administrative authorities in Rus'. Rus' retained its statehood. This was facilitated by the presence in Rus' of its own administration and church organization. In addition, the lands of Rus' were unsuitable for nomadic cattle breeding, unlike, for example, Central Asia, the Caspian region, and the Black Sea region.
In 1243, the brother of the great Vladimir prince Yuri, who was killed on the Sit River, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1238-1246) was called to the khan's headquarters. Yaroslav recognized vassal dependence on the Golden Horde and received a label (letter) for the great reign of Vladimir and a golden tablet ("paizu"), a kind of pass through the Horde territory. Following him, other princes flocked to the Horde.
To control the Russian lands, the institution of Baskakov governors was created - leaders of military detachments of the Mongol-Tatars who monitored the activities of the Russian princes. Denunciation of the Baskaks to the Horde inevitably ended either with the prince being summoned to Sarai (often he was deprived of his label, or even his life), or with a punitive campaign in the rebellious land. Suffice it to say that only in the last quarter of the 13th century. 14 similar campaigns were organized in Russian lands.
Some Russian princes, trying to quickly get rid of vassal dependence on the Horde, took the path of open armed resistance. However, the forces to overthrow the power of the invaders were still not enough. So, for example, in 1252 the regiments of the Vladimir and Galician-Volyn princes were defeated. Alexander Nevsky, from 1252 to 1263 Grand Duke of Vladimir, understood this well. He set a course for the restoration and growth of the economy of the Russian lands. The policy of Alexander Nevsky was also supported by the Russian church, which saw the greatest danger in Catholic expansion, and not in the tolerant rulers of the Golden Horde.
In 1257, the Mongol-Tatars undertook a population census - “recording the number”. Besermen (Muslim merchants) were sent to the cities, and the collection of tribute was given to them. The size of the tribute (“exit”) was very large, only the “tsar’s tribute”, i.e. the tribute in favor of the khan, which was first collected in kind and then in money, amounted to 1,300 kg of silver per year. The constant tribute was supplemented by “requests” - one-time exactions in favor of the khan. In addition, deductions from trade duties, taxes for “feeding” the khan’s officials, etc. went to the khan’s treasury. In total there were 14 types of tribute in favor of the Tatars. Population census in the 50-60s of the 13th century. marked by numerous uprisings of Russian people against the Baskaks, Khan's ambassadors, tribute collectors, and census takers. In 1262, the inhabitants of Rostov, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Suzdal, and Ustyug dealt with the tribute collectors, the Besermen. This led to the fact that the collection of tribute from the end of the 13th century. was handed over to the Russian princes.
Consequences Mongol conquest and the Golden Horde yoke for Rus'. The Mongol invasion and the Golden Horde yoke became one of the reasons why Russian lands lagged behind developed countries Western Europe. Huge damage was caused to the economic, political and cultural development of Rus'. Tens of thousands of people died in battle or were taken into slavery. A significant part of the income in the form of tribute was sent to the Horde.
The old agricultural centers and once-developed territories became desolate and fell into decay. The border of agriculture moved to the north, the southern fertile soils received the name “Wild Field”. Russian cities were subjected to massive devastation and destruction. Many crafts became simplified and sometimes disappeared, which hampered the creation of small-scale production and ultimately delayed economic development.
The Mongol conquest preserved political fragmentation. It weakened the ties between different parts of the state. Traditional political and trade ties with other countries were disrupted. The vector of Russian foreign policy, which ran along the “south-north” line (the fight against the nomadic danger, stable ties with Byzantium and through the Baltic with Europe) radically changed its focus to “west-east”. The pace has slowed down cultural development Russian lands.
What you need to know about these topics:
Archaeological, linguistic and written evidence about the Slavs.
Tribal alliances Eastern Slavs in the VI-IX centuries. Territory. Classes. "The path from the Varangians to the Greeks." Social order. Paganism. Prince and squad. Campaigns against Byzantium.
Internal and external factors, which prepared the emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs.
Socio-economic development. Folding feudal relations.
Early feudal monarchy of the Rurikovichs. "Norman theory", its political meaning. Organization of management. Domestic and foreign policy of the first Kyiv princes(Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav).
The rise of the Kyiv state under Vladimir I and Yaroslav the Wise. Completion of the unification of the Eastern Slavs around Kyiv. Border defense.
Legends about the spread of Christianity in Rus'. Acceptance of Christianity as state religion. The Russian Church and its role in the life of the Kyiv state. Christianity and paganism.
"Russian Truth". Confirmation of feudal relations. Organization of the ruling class. Princely and boyar patrimony. Feudal-dependent population, its categories. Serfdom. Peasant communities. City.
The struggle between the sons and descendants of Yaroslav the Wise for grand-ducal power. Tendencies towards fragmentation. Lyubech Congress of Princes.
Kievan Rus in the system of international relations of the 11th - early 12th centuries. Polovtsian danger. Princely strife. Vladimir Monomakh. The final collapse of the Kyiv state at the beginning of the 12th century.
Culture of Kievan Rus. Cultural heritage of the Eastern Slavs. Oral folk art. Epics. The origin of Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius. The beginning of chronicle writing. "The Tale of Bygone Years". Literature. Education in Kievan Rus. Birch bark letters. Architecture. Painting (frescoes, mosaics, icon painting).
Economic and political reasons feudal fragmentation Rus'.
Feudal land tenure. Urban development. Princely power and boyars. Political system in various Russian lands and principalities.
The largest political entities on the territory of Rus'. Rostov-(Vladimir)-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn principalities, Novgorod boyar republic. Socio-economic and internal political development of principalities and lands on the eve of the Mongol invasion.
International situation Russian lands. Political and cultural connections between Russian lands. Feudal strife. Fighting external danger.
The rise of culture in Russian lands in the XII-XIII centuries. The idea of the unity of the Russian land in works of culture. "The Tale of Igor's Campaign."
Formation of the early feudal Mongolian state. Genghis Khan and the unification of the Mongol tribes. Conquest of lands by the Mongols neighboring peoples, northeastern China, Korea, Central Asia. Invasion of Transcaucasia and the southern Russian steppes. Battle of the Kalka River.
Batu's campaigns.
Invasion of North-Eastern Rus'. The defeat of southern and southwestern Rus'. Batu's campaigns in Central Europe. Rus''s struggle for independence and its historical meaning.
Aggression of German feudal lords in the Baltic states. Livonian Order. The defeat of the Swedish troops on the Neva and the German knights in the Battle of the Ice. Alexander Nevskiy.
Education of the Golden Horde. Socio-economic and political system. Control system for conquered lands. The struggle of the Russian people against the Golden Horde. Consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion and the Golden Horde yoke for further development our country.
The inhibitory effect of the Mongol-Tatar conquest on the development of Russian culture. Destruction and destruction of cultural property. Weakening of traditional ties with Byzantium and other Christian countries. Decline of crafts and arts. Oral folk art as a reflection of the struggle against invaders.
- Sakharov A. N., Buganov V. I. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century.
One of the most tragic events in Russian history was the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' under the leadership of Genghis Khan’s grandson, Batu. Until a certain time, no one imagined that the tribes of nomadic people, once considered savage, would unite and begin to pose a serious threat to everyone. The Mongols themselves had no idea that they would soon gain power over one part of the world, and the other part would pay them tribute.
Historiography about the Mongol-Tatar invasion
Domestic historians began to study in detail the campaigns led by Batu to Russian lands with XVIII century. Not only scientists, but even writers in their writings tried to tell their version of these events. Among the people involved in the study of the Mongol invasions, the most famous works of the following scientists:
- The famous historian V.N. Tatishchev, in the book “Russian History” he wrote, for the first time examined in detail the topic of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In his work, Tatishchev took as a basis Old Russian chronicles. Subsequently, the work itself and the conclusions drawn by the author were used by many historians in their works.
- N.M. Karamzin, the writer, studied the invasion just as closely. Having emotionally described the conquest of Russian lands by tumens (large tactical units of the Mongol army), Karamzin concluded why the Mongol invasion is the main reason, and not the second (minor) backwardness of Russia compared to the advanced ones European countries. Karamzin was the first among researchers to consider this invasion a separate page of historical heritage.
During the 19th century, researchers paid more and more attention to the issues of Batu's invasion of Rus'. The phrase “Mongol-Tatars”, which appeared in 1823, is due to scientific circles P. N. Naumov. In subsequent years, historians focused their attention on the military details of the invasion, namely the strategy and tactics of the Mongol army.
The topic was discussed in M. S. Gastev’s book “Discourse on the reasons that slowed down civic education in the Russian state,” published in 1832. M. Ivanin’s work “On the Art of War and the Conquests of the Mongols,” published in 1846, is devoted to the same issue. I. Berezin, a professor at the University in Kazan, made a significant contribution to the study of the Mongol invasions. The scientist studied many sources that had not been considered until that time. The data he took from the works of the authors of the East Juvaini, Rashid ad-Din, were applied in the works of Berezin: “The First Mongol Invasion of Russia”, “Batu’s Invasion of Russia”.
The Russian historian also made his own interpretation of those events S. M. Soloviev. In contrast to the views expressed by N. M. Karamzin and the Russian orientalist H. D. Fren about strong influence Mongol invasion into the life of Rus', he was of the opinion that this event had an insignificant influence on the life of the Russian principalities. V. Klyuchevsky, M. Pokrovsky, A. Presnyakov, S. Platonov and other researchers had the same point of view. IN XIX century the Mongolian theme becomes important stage Russian history, studying the Middle Ages.
How the Mongol-Tatars unification began
Three decades before the invasion of Russian territory, an army was formed near the Onon River from among the feudal lords and their warriors, arriving from different parts of the Mongolian steppe. The unification was headed by the Supreme Ruler Temujin.
The All-Mongolian congress of local nobility (kurultai) in 1206 proclaimed him the great Kagan - the highest title of nomads - and named him Genghis Khan. He gathered many tribes of nomads under his leadership. This unification put an end to internecine wars and led to the formation of a stable economic base on the path of development of the new emerging state.
But despite favorable circumstances and prospects, the authorities turned the people they governed towards war and conquest. The result of this policy in 1211 was the Chinese campaign, and a little later an invasion of Russian lands was carried out. The Mongol invasion itself, its causes, course, and consequences have been studied and analyzed many times by various researchers: from historians to writers. The main reason that caused the repeated campaigns of the Tatar-Mongols to other countries was the desire for easy money and the ruin of other peoples.
In those days, raising local breeds of livestock brought little profit, so it was decided to enrich themselves by robbing people living in neighboring countries. The organizer of the tribal association, Genghis Khan, was a brilliant commander. Under his leadership, the conquest of Northern China, Central Asia, and the steppes from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean took place. Their own territories, large in area, did not stop the army: new campaigns of conquest were planned on foreign lands.
Reasons for the success of the Mongol army
The main reason for the victories won by the Mongols was the superiority of their military strength, thanks to a well-trained and organized army and its iron discipline. The army was distinguished by its maneuverability, the ability to quickly cover significant distances, since it mainly consisted of cavalry. Bows and arrows were used as weapons. In China, the Mongols borrowed weapons that made it possible to successfully attack a large enemy fortress.
The success of the Mongol-Tatars was accompanied by a well-thought-out strategy of action and the political inability of the conquered cities and countries to offer worthy resistance to the enemy. The tactical actions of the Mongol-Tatars consisted of a surprise attack, creating fragmentation in the ranks of the enemy and his further destruction. Thanks to the chosen strategy, they were able to maintain influence in the territories of the occupied lands for a long time.
First conquests
The years 1222−1223 were written into history as the period of the first wave of conquests, which began with the invasion of the territories of the Eastern European steppes. The main Mongol troops, led by the talented and cruel commanders Jebe and Subedei, beloved by Genghis Khan, set out on a campaign against the Polovtsians in 1223.
Those, in order to expel the enemy, decided to turn to the Russian princes for help. The combined troops of both sides moved towards the enemy, crossed the Dnieper River and headed towards the East.
The Mongols, under the guise of retreat, were able to lure the Russian-Polovtsian army to the bank of the Kalka River. Here the warriors fought a decisive battle on May 31. There was no unity in the coalition squads; there were constant disputes between the princes. Some of them did not participate in the battle at all. The logical result of this battle was the complete defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian army. However, after the victory, the Mongol troops did not set out to conquer Russian lands due to the lack of sufficient forces for this.
4 years later (in 1227) Genghis Khan died. He wanted his fellow tribesmen to rule the whole world. The decision to launch a new aggressive campaign against European lands was made by the Kurultai in 1235. Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, headed the cavalry army.
Stages of the invasion of Rus'
The Mongol-Tatar army invaded Russian land twice:
- Hike to the northeast of Rus'.
- Trek to Southern Rus'.
First, in 1236, the Mongols ravaged Volga Bulgaria - a state that at that time occupied the territory of the middle Volga region and the Kama basin, and went towards the Don to conquer Once again Polovtsian lands. In December 1937, the Polovtsians were defeated. Then came the invasion of Batu Khan into northeastern Rus'. The army's route lay through the Ryazan principality.
Mongol campaigns in 1237-1238
Events in Rus' began to develop precisely during these years. At the head of the cavalry, consisting of 150 thousand people, was Batu, with him was Subedey, who knew Russian soldiers from previous battles. The Mongol cavalry, conquering all the cities along the way, quickly advanced across the country, as evidenced by the map reflecting the direction of movement of the Mongols on Russian soil.
Ryazan held a siege for six days, was destroyed and fell at the end of 1237. Batu's army set off to conquer the northern lands, primarily Vladimir. Along the way, the Mongols ravaged the city of Kolomna, where Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich and his retinue tried in vain to detain the enemies and were defeated. The siege of Moscow lasted 4 days. The city fell in January 1238.
The battle for Vladimir began in February 1238. The Vladimir prince, ruling the city, tried in vain to organize a militia and repel the enemies. The siege of Vladimir lasted 8 days, and then the city was captured as a result of the assault. It was set on fire. With the fall of Vladimir, virtually all the lands of the eastern and northern directions passed to Batu.
He took the cities of Tver and Yuryev, Suzdal and Pereslavl. Then the army split: some Mongols came to the Sit River, others began the siege of Torzhok. The Mongols won a victory in the City on March 4, 1238, defeating the Russian squads. Their further goal was to attack Novgorod, but a hundred miles away they turned back.
The foreigners ravaged all the cities they entered, but suddenly they met persistent resistance from the city of Kozelsk. The townspeople fought off enemy attacks for seven long weeks. Still, the city was defeated. Khan nicknamed it an evil city, eventually destroying it. Thus ended Batu’s first campaign against Rus'.
Invasion of 1239−1242
After a break that lasted more than a year, the Russian lands were again attacked by the Mongol army. In the spring of 1239, Batu went on a campaign to the south of Rus'. It began with the fall of Pereyaslav in March, and Chernigov in October.
The not too fast advance of the Mongols was explained by the simultaneous conduct of an active struggle with the Polovtsians. In September 1940, the enemy army approached Kyiv, which belonged to Prince Galitsky. The siege of the city began.
For three months the people of Kiev fought, trying to repel the enemy's onslaught. Only through colossal losses did the Mongols take control of the city on December 6th. The enemies acted with unprecedented brutality. The capital of Rus' was almost completely destroyed. According to chronology, the completion of the conquests and the establishment of the Mongol-Tatar yoke (1240−1480) in Rus' are associated with the date of the capture of Kyiv. Then the enemy army split in two: one part decided to capture Vladimir-Volynsky, the other was going to strike Galich.
After the fall of these cities, by the early spring of 1241, the Mongol army was on its way to Europe. But huge losses forced the invaders to return to the Lower Volga region. Batu’s warriors did not dare to start a new campaign, and Europe felt relieved. In fact, the Mongol army was inflicted serious blow fierce resistance of Russian lands.
Results of the Mongol invasion of Russian lands
After enemy raids, the Russian land was torn to pieces. Foreigners destroyed and plundered some cities, while only ashes remained from others. The enemies captured the inhabitants of the defeated cities. In the west of the Mongol Empire in 1243, Batu organized the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy. There were no captured Russian territories in its composition.
The Mongols made Rus' a vassal, but they could not enslave. The subordination of the Russian lands to the Golden Horde was manifested in the annual obligation to pay tribute. In addition, Russian princes could rule cities only after they were approved for this position by the Golden Horde Khan. The Horde yoke hung over Russia for two long centuries.
According to the official version of historians, the definition of the consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' is briefly as follows:
- Rus''s deep dependence on the Golden Horde.
- Annual payment of tribute to the invaders.
- A complete lack of development of the country due to the establishment of the yoke.
The essence of such views is that all the problems of Rus' were then to blame for the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The historian L.N. Gumilyov held a different point of view. He presented his arguments and pointed out some inconsistencies in the historical interpretation of the Mongol invasion of Rus'. There is still debate about the impact it had on the country. Mongol yoke, what was the relationship between the Horde and Russia, what did this event turn out for the country. One thing is certain: it played a significant role in the life of Rus'.
A striking episode in national history is the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'.
Union of Nomads
An army was formed along the banks of the Onon River three decades before its appearance on the Russian borders. It was dominated by Mongol feudal lords and their warriors, who came from all corners of the steppe. They chose Temujin as their supreme ruler, who was later given the name Genghis Khan. Under his leadership, he united many nomadic tribes. At the same time, internal strife came to an end, and a solid economic base was formed that ensured the development of the new state. Despite favorable prospects, the government did not choose a peaceful path, but led its people along the path of war and aggression, eventually organizing the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'. The purpose of this campaign was easy economic enrichment. Since their own cattle breeding was unprofitable, it was decided to replenish resources through the robberies of neighboring peoples and tribes. At the end of Genghis Khan's life, the Mongol-Tatars owned a significant part of the territories from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean. This was not a reason to stop planning new trips. The main secret of the success of the Mongol-Tatars was a well-thought-out strategy and the political weakening of the conquered countries. The tactics of the warriors boiled down to a surprise attack and fragmentation of enemy forces in parts with their subsequent destruction.
Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'
With Khan Batu coming to power, it was decided to conquer Russian lands. The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' began from the city of Torzhok. At first, the residents put up a significant resistance to the enemy, but the enemy’s numbers were so high that their forces were diminishing. As a result of a two-week siege by the Mongols, Torzhok was conquered on March 5, 1238. Ruthless nomads entered the city and began to exterminate local residents. They killed everyone mercilessly: starting with women and children, ending with old people. The fugitives were caught up on the road to the north and subjected to the same fate.
The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' continued with the unsuccessful capture of Novgorod. By the time the enemy approached, all approaches to the settlement were blocked. Khan Batu had no choice but to continue on his way past. He moved south, ravaging and burning cities, leaving dead residents on their ashes. A line of captured Russians followed the invaders. The booty became heavier, the convoys more heavy. Rus' was not familiar with such a terrible defeat before.
Heroic resistance
The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' dates back to the years 1237-1240. During this time, the invading troops encountered a worthy rebuff. Rus''s resistance to the Mongol-Tatar invasion significantly weakened the enemy's forces and smashed to smithereens plans to conquer Western civilization. The invaders' troops were greatly weakened and bled dry due to continuous fighting in North-Eastern Rus'. The Russians and other peoples of our homeland saved Europe from the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Even after the pogrom of Batu, the inhabitants of Rus' did not submit to the conqueror. It took the khan more than a decade to establish control over the devastated cities, and then over the state as a whole. The resistance of Rus' prevented Batu from organizing a campaign to the West.
Attempts at confrontation
The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' and its consequences forced peasants and townspeople to live in the forests. Only some time after the pogrom did residents slowly begin to return to populated areas. The surviving princes gradually restored order. However, this did not exclude the threat of new invasions from the Mongol-Tatars. The powerful state founded by Batu in the south of Rus' - the Golden Horde - forced all Russian princes to come to the formidable khan for approval. However, the formal fact of subordination did not yet mean the conquest of the entire Russian land. Pskov, Smolensk, Novgorod, Vitebsk remained unoccupied, and therefore decided not to recognize dependence on the Khanate of the Golden Horde.
The first attempt to openly oppose the yoke was made by Andrei Yaroslavich after the murder of his father by the Mongols. Having united with Prince Daniil of Galitsky, he organized resistance to the conquerors. However, some princes established mutually beneficial relations with the Golden Horde and did not intend to spoil these ties. Having learned about Andrei Yaroslavich's campaign plans, they conveyed the prince's intentions to the khan. A powerful army was sent against the “rebellious” one, and Andrei was defeated. Prince Daniil Galitsky continued to offer desperate resistance. Beginning in 1254, he firmly repulsed the khan's attempts to subjugate his domain. Only in 1258, when Batu sent a large army to the prince, was he forced to admit his dependence.
Establishment of the yoke
The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' and its consequences culminated in 1257. Mongol officials traveled across Rus' with the goal of organizing a population census, imposing a heavy tribute on everyone. In fact, this meant the establishment of the yoke of the Mongol-Tatars in Rus'. The princes personally assisted the Mongols in the census issue. After this event, a difficult period of two hundred years of yoke began. Restoring cities turned out to be overwhelming. Complex crafts are being undermined and disappear completely over the next hundred and fifty to two hundred years. Trade ties with other entities are severed.
This is what the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' led to. Briefly it can be formulated this way - to colossal damage in all spheres: economic, cultural, political. Subsistence farming was mothballed, crafts were destroyed, and the people were burdened with unaffordable payments. The progress of political development was cut short, and discord was deliberately sowed between the princes, preventing the unification of Rus'. Dependence on the Golden Horde set the Russian people back in development several centuries ago.
Fall of the Yoke
Tsar Ivan III, who reigned from 1462 to 1505, played a great role in the unification of Russian lands. First of all, he annexed Veliky Novgorod and the Rostov Principality to Moscow. Then he took up the rest of the unruly lands, year after year collecting the fragmented Rus'. The year 1480 was a decisive stage in the liberation: the Mongol-Tatar yoke fell. Thanks to the diplomatic skills of Ivan III, the united state, called Russia, threw off the heavy Mongol burden.
Main stages
Let us repeat how the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' developed. Let us briefly list the main points.
- XII century - the unification of the Mongolian tribes, the proclamation of Genghis Khan’s desire for world domination. Conquest of neighboring countries.
- 1223 - the battle of the Kalka River, which was lost by the Russian princes.
- 1237 - campaign against the Mongol-Tatars.
- 1240 - successful invasion of the Mongol-Tatars into Southern Rus'.
- 1243 - formation of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga.
- 1257 - the establishment of the yoke in Rus'.
Thus, the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' led to the formation of an enemy yoke, which lasted for several centuries. Despite the weakness and brokenness, the conquered inhabitants did not lose the will to fight and win.
One of the most tragic pages of Russian history is the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. The passionate appeal to the Russian princes about the need for unification, sounded from the lips of the unknown author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” alas, was never heard...
Reasons for the Mongol-Tatar invasion
In the 12th century, nomadic Mongol tribes occupied a significant territory in the center of Asia. In 1206, a congress of the Mongolian nobility - the kurultai - proclaimed Timuchin the great Kagan and gave him the name Genghis Khan. In 1223, the advanced troops of the Mongols, led by the commanders Jabei and Subidei, attacked the Cumans. Seeing no other way out, they decided to resort to the help of Russian princes. Having united, both of them set out towards the Mongols. The squads crossed the Dnieper and moved east. Pretending to retreat, the Mongols lured the combined army to the banks of the Kalka River.
Held decisive battle. The coalition troops acted separately. The princes' disputes with each other did not stop. Some of them did not take part in the battle at all. The result is complete destruction. However, then the Mongols did not go to Rus', because did not have sufficient strength. In 1227, Genghis Khan died. He bequeathed to his fellow tribesmen to conquer the whole world. In 1235, the kurultai decided to begin a new campaign in Europe. It was headed by the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu.
Stages of the Mongol-Tatar invasion
In 1236, after the destruction of Volga Bulgaria, the Mongols moved towards the Don, against the Polovtsians, defeating the latter in December 1237. Then the Ryazan principality stood in their way. After a six-day assault, Ryazan fell. The city was destroyed. Batu’s detachments moved north, into, ravaging Kolomna and Moscow along the way. In February 1238, Batu's troops began the siege of Vladimir. Grand Duke tried in vain to gather a militia to decisively repel the Mongols. After a four-day siege, Vladimir was stormed and set on fire. The city's residents and the princely family, who were hiding in the Assumption Cathedral, were burned alive.
The Mongols split up: some of them approached the Sit River, and the second besieged Torzhok. On March 4, 1238, the Russians suffered a brutal defeat in the City, the prince died. The Mongols moved towards, however, before reaching a hundred miles, they turned around. Ruining the cities on the way back, they met unexpectedly stubborn resistance from the city of Kozelsk, whose residents repelled Mongol attacks for seven weeks. Still, taking it by storm, the khan called Kozelsk an “evil city” and razed it to the ground.
Batu's invasion of Southern Rus' dates back to the spring of 1239. Pereslavl fell in March. In October - Chernigov. In September 1240, Batu's main forces besieged Kyiv, which at that time belonged to Daniil Romanovich Galitsky. The Kievans managed to hold back the hordes of Mongols for three whole months, and only at the cost of huge losses were they able to capture the city. By the spring of 1241, Batu’s troops were on the threshold of Europe. However, drained of blood, they were soon forced to return to the Lower Volga. The Mongols no longer decided on a new campaign. So Europe was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion
The Russian land lay in ruins. The cities were burned and plundered, the inhabitants were captured and taken to the Horde. Many cities were never rebuilt after the invasion. In 1243, Batu organized the Mongol Empire in the west Golden Horde. The captured Russian lands were not included in its composition. The dependence of these lands on the Horde was expressed in the fact that the obligation to pay annual tribute hung over them. In addition, it was the Golden Horde Khan who now approved the Russian princes to rule with his labels and charters. Thus, Horde rule was established over Russia for almost two and a half centuries.
- Some modern historians are inclined to argue that there was no yoke, that the “Tatars” were immigrants from Tartaria, crusaders, that a battle between Orthodox Christians and Catholics took place on the Kulikovo Field, and Mamai was just a pawn in someone else’s game. Is this really so - let everyone decide for themselves.
The Tatar-Mongol invasion radically changed the course of life in Rus'. Here are some of the important consequences it led to:
1. The backwardness of Rus' from the countries of Europe. After the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Rus' had to renew the cities it had built, as well as restore its way of life, while the countries of Europe had time to innovate in science, culture, etc.
2. One of the main negative consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion was the decline of the economy. For the most part, the main factor for this (besides the destruction) was that many Russians were killed during the battles and the Mongol takeover of territories. Because of this, crafts disappeared. The Mongols turned the surviving artisans into slaves and took them outside the territory of Russian soil. In addition, farmers began to move to the northern regions of the state away from the influence of the Mongols. These factors explain the disappearance of the Russian economy.
3. Also important factor, which should be given a separate point, is the slowness of cultural development of the population of Russian lands. After the Tatar-Mongol invasion, for some time in Rus' they did not renew (burned) or build churches.
4. Termination of any contacts (for example, trade) with Western European countries. All foreign policy was strictly oriented after the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the Golden Horde. It was the horde that appointed princes, and also only it collected tribute from the Russian people. If any of the principalities disobeyed her, the Horde carried out punitive military campaigns that ended in massacres.
5. Among the controversial numerous consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Russian and Western researchers are still trying to figure out whether the political conservation of the divided Russian land gave impetus to the unification of the Russian people. Some scientists claim that it was because of the invasion that the people rallied against the Horde, while others say that it was precisely because of it that a split occurred.
6. Since after the attack of the Mongol-Tatar yoke many Russian soldiers were killed, military affairs naturally slowed down for decades. It took time. In addition, for the same reason, the acute problem of arranging life and economy for the Russian population became acute (usually, such matters in Rus' since ancient times were carried out exclusively by men).
Assessments of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus'
