Monument to Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich in Zaporozhye
Even during the life of his mother, leaving the Principality of Kiev in the care of Olga, Svyatoslav made his first brilliant campaigns. He went to the Oka and subjugated the Vyatichi, who then paid tribute to the Khazars; then he turned to the Khazars and defeated the Khazar kingdom, taking the main cities of the Khazars (Sarkel and Itil). At the same time, Svyatoslav defeated the tribes of Yases and Kasogs (Circassians) on the river. Kuban and took possession of the area in the mouths of the Kuban and on the Azov coast called Tamatarkha (later Tmutarakan). Finally, Svyatoslav penetrated the Volga, devastated the land of the Kama Bulgarians and took their city of Bolgar. In a word, Svyatoslav defeated and ruined all the eastern neighbors of Rus', which were part of the system of the Khazar state. Now Rus' became the main force in the Black Sea region. But the fall of the Khazar state strengthened the nomadic Pechenegs. All the southern Russian steppes, formerly occupied by the Khazars, now fell at their disposal; and Rus' itself soon had to experience great troubles from these nomads.
Returning to Kyiv after his conquests in the East, Svyatoslav Igorevich received an invitation from the Greeks to help Byzantium in its struggle against the Danube Bulgarians. Having gathered a large army, he conquered Bulgaria and stayed there to live in the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube, since he considered Bulgaria his property. “I want to live in Pereyaslavets Danube,” he said: “there is the middle (center) of my land, all kinds of benefits are collected there: from the Greeks, gold, fabrics, wine and fruits, from Czechs and Ugrians - silver and horses, from Rus' furs, wax and honey and slaves." But he had to return from Bulgaria to Kyiv for a while, because in his absence the Pechenegs attacked Rus' and laid siege to Kyiv. The people of Kiev with Princess Olga and the children of Svyatoslav barely sat out from the formidable enemy and sent to Svyatoslav with reproaches and a request for help. Svyatoslav came and drove the Pechenegs into the steppe, but did not stay in Kyiv. The dying Olga asked him to wait in Rus' until her death. He fulfilled her wish, but, having buried his mother, he immediately left for Bulgaria, leaving his sons as princes in Rus'. However, the Greeks did not want to allow Russian domination over the Bulgarians and demanded the removal of Svyatoslav back to Rus'. Svyatoslav refused to leave the banks of the Danube. The war began, and the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes defeated Svyatoslav. After a series of hard efforts, he locked the Russians in the fortress of Dorostol (now Silistria) and forced Svyatoslav to make peace and clear Bulgaria.
Meeting of Prince Svyatoslav with Emperor John Tzimisces on the banks of the Danube. Painting by K. Lebedev, ca. 1880
The army of Svyatoslav, exhausted by the war, on the way home was captured in the Dnieper rapids by the Pechenegs and Scattered, and Svyatoslav himself was killed (972). So the Pechenegs completed the defeat of the Russian prince, begun by the Greeks.
After the death of Svyatoslav Igorevich in Rus' between his sons (Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir) civil strife took place in which Yaropolk and Oleg died, and Vladimir remained autocratic. The state, shaken by strife, showed signs of internal decay, and Vladimir had to spend a lot of effort to discipline the Varangians, who served him, and pacify the deposited tribes (Vyatichi, Radimichi). Shaken after the failure of Svyatoslav and the external power of Rus'. Vladimir waged many wars with various neighbors for border volosts, he also fought with the Kama Bulgarians. He was also drawn into the war with the Greeks, as a result of which he adopted Christianity according to the Greek rite. This important event ended the first period of power of the Varangian dynasty in Rus'.
This is how the Kiev principality was formed and grew stronger, uniting politically most of the tribes of Russian Slavs.
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Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (Brave) - the conqueror of the Vyatichi and the winner of the Khazars
The Great Kiev Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (born in 940 - died in 972) - without exaggeration, the most desperate warrior in the history of medieval Rus'. He was the son of his cruel time, and it is certainly not worth judging the actions of this militant monarch from a modern point of view. The prince does not fit into the ethical canons of today, just like all his contemporaries, by the way. At the same time, Svyatoslav would ideally look in the Ukrainian version of "Game of Thrones" as one of the most striking characters and colorful characters.
The Great Kiev Prince Svyatoslav (Brave) is the first Great Kiev Prince with a Slavic name, which even historians themselves cannot give an unambiguous assessment of. So,
How did the great Kiev prince Svyatoslav Igorevich become famous, whose monuments are erected in many cities of Ukraine?
1. The expansion of the territory of Kievan Rus due to the annexation of the lands of the Vyatichi to Kyiv (modern Smolensk, Moscow, Tula, Voronezh regions of the Russian Federation).
2. The defeat and robbery of numerous neighbors - Volga Bulgaria, the Khazar Khaganate and the invasion of the Balkans, where he was eventually defeated by Byzantium. He was killed by the Pechenegs on the island of Khortitsa on the Dnieper, when he returned with a small squad from his disastrous campaign in Bulgaria.
From these 2 points, Professor Solovyov's sarcasm about the "great warrior" and "the uselessness of his deeds for his native land" becomes understandable. Yes, in that era, all the great national heroes of other countries, at first glance, acted in exactly the same way, but they not only smashed, ruined and weakened their neighbors, but also held this territory, annexing it to their state. So,
The son of the wise Christian princess Olga and Prince Igor Svyatoslav was raised by the Vikings Sveneld and Asmud, which, together with the veneration of pagan idols, inspired him with militancy unusual for a Slav. From the age of 10, the prince was taken to numerous battles, where the boy had to fully master all the military wisdom of that harsh time. When Svyatoslav was relentlessly there was a friend of his father, the governor Sveneld, who, to the best of his ability, introduced the young man to military affairs.
Each year of the reign of the young prince was marked by a new war. Under him, the Russians turned into very dangerous neighbors for literally everyone. Svyatoslav never looked for serious reasons to start hostilities, he simply sent a messenger in front of him with a laconic message "I'm coming at you." It was in this way that he subjugated the Slavic tribe of the Vyatichi, defeated the Volga Bulgaria and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Khazar Khaganate. The ancient Russian troops not only finished off their long-standing and powerful enemy (the Khazars took tribute from the Slavs even before the arrival of Prince Oleg in Kiev), but also demonstrated their extraordinary strength to the whole world by capturing the impregnable fortresses of Itil and Sarkel. At the same time, Svyatoslav and his close combatants received control over the busy trade route along the Volga with access to the Caspian.
For all his adventurism, the prince, like his Varangian entourage, remained a calm pragmatist. Having imposed tribute on the peoples in the east, he fixed his gaze in a southwestern direction - on the Balkans. Svyatoslav's dream was to take over the entire "Road from the Varangians to the Greeks", which would promise him fabulous profits.
In the light of such plans, the offer of the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Foki to help suppress the uprising of the Danube Bulgarians subject to Constantinople came in very handy. The Emperor of Byzantium Nicephorus Foka, wanting to take revenge on the Bulgarians for condoning the Hungarians who attacked his country, promised great gifts if the prince opposes Bulgaria. In 967, Svyatoslav, having received several pounds of gold, captured the cities along the Danube with 60,000 soldiers. Together with his faithful companions Sveneld, Sfenkel, Ikmor and his retinue, the prince crossed snow-covered passes, captured the Bulgarian capital Preslav and captured the local king Boris.
The legend included extreme cruelty with which the victors treated the enslaved Slavic people, sparing neither mothers nor babies. The king of Bulgaria soon died of grief, and Svyatoslav sat down to reign in the Bulgarian city of Pereyaslavets. "I don't like Kiev, I want to live on the Danube, in Pereyaslavets. That town is the middle of my land!" - he said to his mother and the boyars.
Of course, Tsargrad could not put up with the fact that Kiev power was strengthened in the Balkans. Ahead of Prince Svyatoslav was the most difficult war in his life - the war with the only superpower of that time, the great Byzantine Empire. It was then, in a fight with the most powerful enemy, that all the heroic qualities of Prince Svyatoslav and his brave warriors manifested themselves.
The main feat of Prince Svyatoslav is the war with Byzantium.
As one would expect, the Byzantines had a slightly different opinion regarding the limits of the possessions of an unruly prince. In Tsaregrad, they have long wondered why he does not leave the borders of their empire. When the skillful commander John Tzimisces sat on the throne of Constantinople, the Byzantines decided to move from words to deeds.
The first clash with the army of John Tzimisces near Adrianople ended with the victory of the Russian prince. The chronicler Nestor cites a legend about the gifts presented to him after the battle: “Tzimiskes, in fear, in bewilderment, called the nobles for advice and decided to tempt the enemy with gifts, gold and precious curtains; he sent them with a cunning man and ordered him to observe all the movements of Svyatoslav. But this prince did not want to look at the gold laid at his feet, and indifferently said to his youths: take it.Then the emperor sent him a weapon as a gift: the hero grabbed it with lively pleasure, expressing gratitude, and Tzimisces, not daring to fight with such an enemy, paid him tribute".
After the conclusion of a peace treaty with the Greeks, the Kiev prince made a number of strategic mistakes: he did not occupy the mountain passes through the Balkans, did not block the mouth of the Danube and divided his army into two parts, placing them in Preslav and Dorostol. The self-confident commander, apparently, relied heavily on his military happiness, but this time he was opposed by a very competent and experienced opponent. John Tzimisces in 971 sent a large fleet (300 ships) to the mouth of the Danube in order to cut off the retreat for Svyatoslav's troops. The emperor himself, under whose command 13,000 horsemen, 15,000 infantrymen, 2,000 of his personal guards ("immortals"), as well as a huge convoy with wall-beating and flame-throwing machines, moved through mountain passes without any difficulties and entered the operational space. The Bulgarians, who lived for several years under the rule of Svyatoslav, gladly supported the civilized Byzantines. With the very first blow, Tzimiskes captured Preslav, while the remnants of the defeated Rus, led by the governor Sfenkel, barely managed to retreat to Dorostol. It's time for the final battle.
The first battle near Dorostol took place on April 23, 971. The Greeks approached the residence of Svyatoslav. Their troops several times outnumbered the Russians besieged in Dorostol, while the Byzantines had an obvious advantage in weapons, combat equipment and equipment. They were led by experienced commanders who had studied all the wisdom of military art from ancient Roman treatises. Despite this, the soldiers of Svyatoslav boldly met the attackers in the open field, "closing their shields and spears like a wall." So they withstood 12 attacks of the Byzantines (in the last heavy cavalry was led into battle by the emperor himself) and retreated under the protection of the city walls. It is believed that the first battle ended in a draw: the Greeks could not immediately defeat the Russian squad, but Svyatoslav also realized that this time he was faced with a serious opponent. This belief was only strengthened the next day, when the prince saw huge Byzantine wall-beating machines installed in front of the fortress walls. And on April 25, the Byzantine fleet also approached the Danube, finally slamming the death trap. On this day, for the first time in his life, Svyatoslav did not answer the call, the troops of Tzimiskes waited in vain for the Russians in the field, returning to their camp with nothing.
The second battle near Dorostol took place on 26 April. Voivode Sfenkel died in it. Fearing to be cut off from the city by the Byzantine cavalry, the Russians again retreated under the protection of the fortress walls. An exhausting siege began, during which Svyatoslav's warriors were able to undertake a series of daring sorties, and the Byzantine guns nevertheless made a breach in the wall. So three months passed.
Third fight passed on July 20 and again without a definite result. Having lost one of the commanders, the Russians "threw their shields on their backs" and hid in the city gates. Among the dead enemies, the Greeks were surprised to find women dressed in chain mail who fought on an equal footing with men. Everything spoke of a crisis in the camp of the besieged. The next day, a military council met in Dorostol, at which it was decided what to do next: try to break through or stand to the death. Prince Svyatoslav told his commanders: “Grandfathers and fathers bequeathed to us brave deeds! Let’s stand strong. We don’t have the habit of saving ourselves with a shameful flight. people's eyes?" On that they all agreed.
Fourth fight. On July 24, the Russians entered the fourth battle, which was supposed to be their last. Svyatoslav ordered the city gates to be locked so that no one in the army would think about retreating. Tzimiskes came out with an army to meet them. During the battle, the Russians held firm, they had no reserves and were very tired. The Byzantines, on the contrary, could change the attacking units, the soldiers who left the battle were refreshed with wine by order of the emperor. Finally, as a result of an imitation of flight, the Greeks were able to take the enemy away from the walls of Dorostol, after which the detachment of Varda Sklir was able to enter the rear of Svyatoslav's army. At the cost of huge losses, the Russians still managed to retreat to the city. The next morning, the prince invited John Tzimisces to start peace negotiations. The Greeks, not wanting to lose their people anymore, went towards Svyatoslav's proposals and agreed to let his army go home with weapons, and even supplying them with bread for the road. The prince vowed not to fight with Constantinople again. After the signing of the peace, a personal meeting of the generals took place. The emperor was not immediately able to recognize the ruler of Rus', who sailed up to him in a boat, sitting at the oars on a par with simple warriors. Of the 60,000-strong army that Svyatoslav brought with him to Bulgaria, approximately 22,000 people remained alive at that time.
On the way to Kyiv, the weakened army of Svyatoslav fell into an ambush set up on the island of Khortitsa by nomadic Pechenegs. The Russians fought bravely, but, unfortunately, the forces were unequal. Svyatoslav, who died in battle, was beheaded, and a bowl was made from the skull for their khans. So the glorious warrior ended his journey, about whom the chronicler said: "Seeking someone else, he lost his own."
Biography of Prince Svyatoslav.
940 (approximately) - Prince of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich was born.
945 - after the death of his father, he became the nominal ruler of Kievan Rus.
961 - Princess Olga ceases to be regent, and Svyatoslav becomes the sovereign ruler of all ancient Russian lands.
964 - Svyatoslav undertook a campaign on the Oka River, where he subjugated the Slavic tribe of the Vyatichi.
964-967 - the prince with the army won a number of victories over the Volga Bulgars, Burtases and Khazars, destroyed the powerful citadel of Sarkel, went to the Cimmerian Bosporus. He also went on devastating campaigns to the North Caucasus, where he defeated the Yas and Kasog tribes. Returning, he destroyed the last Khazar fortress Semender.
967 - Svyatoslav went on his first campaign against the Danube Bulgaria. Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians in battle and, having taken 80 of their cities along the Danube, he sat down to reign in Pereyaslavets, taking tribute, including from the Greeks.
968 - taking advantage of the absence of Svyatoslav, the Pechenegs approached Kyiv. The prince and his retinue had to hurriedly return from the campaign in order to drive the nomads away from the capital.
969 - Svyatoslav planted Yaropolk in Kyiv, Oleg - at the Drevlyans, Vladimir sent to reign in Novgorod, and he sailed to Bulgaria in Pereyaslavets. Then he returned to Bulgaria, where he hardly suppressed the uprising of the local population.
970 - the war moved to Thrace, as Svyatoslav began to advance on Constantinople. Rusichi captured Philippopolis and Tzimiskes, preoccupied with the rebellion of the commander Barda Foki that had begun in his rear, agreed to pay a large tribute to the northern "guests".
971 - John Tzimisces returned to Bulgaria with an army, resuming the war. The Byzantines captured Preslav, and many Bulgarian cities recognized their power over them. Svyatoslav with the remnants of the army locked himself behind the walls of Dorostol. The months-long defense of the city began.
972 - Returning from Bulgaria to Ukraine, Prince Svyatoslav was attacked by the Pechenegs and was killed. According to one version, the Byzantines sent a message to the Pechenegs: "Here, Svyatoslav is going past you to Rus' with a small squad, taking from the Greeks a lot of wealth and captives without number."
Historical memory of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich.
Monuments to Prince Svyatoslav were erected in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Zaporozhye and Mariupol, in the village. Old Petrivtsy, as well as in the village. Withers of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.
A memorial sign is at the probable place of the death of the prince on about. Khortytsya.
There are streets named after Svyatoslav the Brave in Dnepropetrovsk, Lvov, Strya, Chernihiv, Radekhov, Shepetovka.
In 2002 The National Bank of Ukraine issued a 10-hryvnia commemorative silver coin dedicated to Prince Svyatoslav.
Prince Svyatoslav in social networks.
129 videos were found in Odnoklassniki.
In Youtube, for the query "Prince Svyatoslav" - 8,850 responses.
How often do Yandex users from Ukraine search for information about Svyatoslav the Brave?
To analyze the popularity of the request "Svyatoslav the Brave", the Yandex wordstat.yandex search engine service is used, based on which we can conclude: as of March 17, 2016, the number of requests per month was 16,116, which can be seen on the screen.
Since the end of 2014, the largest number of requests for "Svyatoslav the Brave" was registered in September 2014 - 33,572 requests per month.
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich
(brave) 942 - March 972.
Son of Prince Igor and Princess Olga.
Prince of Novgorod 945-969
Grand Duke of Kiev from 964 to 972
The Grand Duke, who forever went down in the history of Rus' as a warrior prince. There was no limit to the courage and dedication of the prince. Not much is known about Svyatoslav Igorevich, for example, historians argue about the date of his birth. However, despite some vagueness and uncertainty, the chronicles brought to us some facts by which we can characterize Svyatoslav.
The first time the name of Svyatoslav is mentioned in the chronicle describing the events of 945, when Svyatoslav's mother, Princess Olga, went with an army to the Drevlyans to avenge the death of her husband, Prince Igor. As a child, he took part in his first battle. In front of the Kyiv squad, Svyatoslav was sitting on a horse. And when both troops converged, Svyatoslav threw a spear towards the Drevlyans. Svyatoslav was just a baby, so the spear did not fly far and fell in front of the horse on which Svyatoslav was sitting. But the Kyiv governors said: "The prince has already begun, let's follow, squad, for the prince." Such was the ancient custom of the Rus - only the prince could start the battle. And no matter what age the prince was.
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was brought up as a warrior from childhood. Svyatoslav's teacher and mentor was Asmud, who taught the young pupil to be the first in battle and hunting, to hold fast in the saddle, to control the boat, to swim, to hide from enemy eyes both in the forest and in the steppe. Svyatoslav was taught the military art of warfare by the chief Kiev voivode Sveneld.
Since the mid 60s. X century, you can count the time of the beginning of the independent reign of Prince Svyatoslav. The Byzantine historian Leo Deacon left a description of him: medium height, with a broad chest, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, beardless, but with a long mustache, only one strand of hair on his shaved head, which testified to his noble origin. In one ear he wore an earring with two pearls.
Svyatoslav was not particularly interested in the internal affairs of the state. The prince did not like to sit in Kyiv, he was tempted by new conquests, victories, and rich booty. He always participated in the battle with his squad. He wore simple military armor. On campaigns he did not have a tent, nor did he carry wagons, boilers and meat with him. He ate with everyone, frying some game on a fire. His warriors were just as hardy and unpretentious. The squad of Svyatoslav, unencumbered by convoys, moved very quickly and appeared in front of the enemy unexpectedly, instilling fear in them. And Svyatoslav himself was not afraid of his opponents. When he went on a campaign, he always sent a message to foreign lands - a warning: "I want to go to you."
Svyatoslav made his first big campaign in 964 - against the Khazar Khaganate. It was a strong Jewish state in the lower reaches of the Volga, which imposed tribute on the Slavic tribes. The squad of Svyatoslav left Kyiv and, having risen along the Desna River, entered the lands of the Vyatichi, one of the large Slavic tribes who at that time were tributaries of the Khazars. The Kiev prince ordered the Vyatichi to pay tribute not to the Khazars, but to Kyiv, and moved his army further - against the Volga Bulgarians, Burtases, Khazars, and then the North Caucasian tribes of Yases and Kasogs. This unprecedented campaign continued for about four years. Winning in all battles, the prince crushed, captured and destroyed the capital of the Jewish Khazaria, the city of Itil, took the well-fortified fortresses Sarkel on the Don, Semender in the North Caucasus. On the shores of the Kerch Strait, he founded an outpost of Russian influence in this region - the city of Tmutarakan, the center of the future Tmutarakan principality.
The second big campaign Svyatoslav made to Bulgaria in 968. Kalokir, the ambassador of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Phocas, persistently called him there, hoping to push two peoples dangerous to his empire in a war of extermination. The Russian prince was obliged to come to the rescue of the allied power under an agreement concluded with Byzantium in 944 by Prince Igor. In addition, the Byzantine king sent gifts of gold accompanying the request for military assistance. In addition, Bulgaria has already adopted Christianity, and as you know, Prince Svyatoslav was a follower of the ancient faith of his ancestors and a great opponent of Christianity. To his mother's persuasion to accept Christianity, he replied: "Christian faith - there is ugliness!"
Svyatoslav with a 10,000th army defeated the 30,000th army of the Bulgarians and captured the city of Malaya Preslava. Svyatoslav called this city Pereyaslavets. Svyatoslav even wanted to move the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets, arguing that this city is located in the middle of his possessions, and “all the blessings from the Greek Land flow here” (Pereyaslavets was at the crossroads of trade routes to the Balkans and Western Europe). At this time, Svyatoslav received alarming news from Kyiv that the city was besieged by the Pechenegs. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter entered into a secret alliance with Nikifor Foka. He, in turn, bribed the Pecheneg leaders, who agreed to attack Kyiv in the absence of the Grand Duke. Leaving part of the squad in Pereyaslavets, the prince hurried to Kyiv and defeated the Pechenegs. Three days later, Princess Olga died. Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons: he put Yaropolk to reign in Kyiv, sent Oleg to the Drevlyansk land, and Vladimir to Novgorod. He himself hastened to his possessions on the Danube.
While he was beating the Pechenegs, an uprising broke out in Pereyaslavets, and the Bulgarians drove the Russian warriors out of the city. The prince could not come to terms with this state of affairs, and again led the troops to the west. He defeated the army of Tsar Boris, captured him and took possession of the whole country from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains. In the spring of 970, Svyatoslav crossed the Balkans, took Philippol (Plovdiv) by storm and reached Arcadiopol. His squads had only four days to travel across the plain to Tsargrad. Here the battle with the Byzantines took place. Svyatoslav won, but lost many soldiers and did not go further, but, having taken "many gifts" from the Greeks, he returned back to Pereyaslavets.
In 971 the war continued. This time the Byzantines prepared well. The newly trained Byzantine armies moved to Bulgaria from all sides, many times outnumbering the Svyatoslav squads standing there. With heavy fighting, fighting off the pressing enemy, the Russians retreated to the Danube. There, in the city of Dorostol, the last Russian fortress in Bulgaria, cut off from their native land, Svyatoslav's army was under siege. For more than two months, the Byzantines besieged Dorostol.
Finally, on July 22, 971, the Russians began their last battle. Gathering the soldiers before the battle, Svyatoslav uttered his famous words: “We have nowhere to go, we must fight - willy or not. Let us not disgrace the Russian land, but let us lay our bones here, for the dead have no shame. If my head lies down, then decide for yourself how you should be. And the soldiers answered him: "Where your head lies, there we will lay down our heads."
The battle was very stubborn, and many Russian soldiers died. Prince Svyatoslav was forced to retreat back to Dorostol. And the Russian prince decided to make peace with the Byzantines, so he consulted with the squad: “If we don’t make peace and find out that we are few, then they will come and besiege us in the city. And the Russian land is far away, the Pechenegs are fighting with us, and who will help us then? Let's make peace, because they have already pledged to pay tribute to us - that's enough for us. If they stop paying tribute to us, then again, having gathered a lot of soldiers, we will go from Rus' to Tsargrad. And the soldiers agreed that their prince was speaking correctly.
Svyatoslav began peace negotiations with John Tzimisces. Their historical meeting took place on the banks of the Danube and was described in detail by a Byzantine chronicler who was in the emperor's retinue. Tzimiskes, surrounded by close associates, was waiting for Svyatoslav. The prince arrived on a boat, sitting in which he rowed along with ordinary soldiers. The Greeks could distinguish him only because the shirt he wore was cleaner than that of other warriors and by an earring with two pearls and a ruby worn in his ear. Here is how an eyewitness described the formidable Russian warrior: “Svyatoslav was of medium height, neither too tall nor too small, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a flat nose and a thick long mustache hanging on his upper lip. His head was completely naked , only on one side of it hung a strand of hair, meaning the antiquity of the family. The neck is thick, the shoulders are broad and the whole camp is rather slender."
Having made peace with the Greeks, Svyatoslav, together with his retinue, went to Rus' along the rivers in boats. One of the governor warned the prince: "Go around, prince, the Dnieper rapids on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the thresholds." But the prince did not listen to him. And the Byzantines informed the nomadic Pechenegs about this: “The Russians will go past you, Svyatoslav with a small squad, taking from the Greeks a lot of wealth and captives without number.” And when Svyatoslav approached the rapids, it turned out that it was absolutely impossible for him to pass. Then the Russian prince decided to wait it out and stayed for the winter. With the beginning of spring, Svyatoslav again moved to the rapids, but was ambushed and died. The chronicle conveys the story of Svyatoslav's death in this way: "Svyatoslav came to the thresholds, and Kurya, the Pecheneg prince, attacked him, and killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, fettered him, and drank from it." So Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich perished. It happened in 972.
As already mentioned, Svyatoslav in 970, before going to Danube Bulgaria, divided Kievan Rus between his sons: Yaropolk got Kyiv, Oleg - Drevlyane land, and Vladimir - Novgorod.
941 year. IGOR'S TRIP TO CONSTANTINOPOLE.
Prince Svyatoslav
Constantinople did not comply with agreements with Russia, and most of the Byzantine troops were engaged in the war with the Arabs. Prince Igor led a huge squadron of 10 thousand ships south along the Dnieper and the Black Sea. The Russians devastated the entire southwestern coast of the Black Sea and the shores of the Bosporus. On June 11, Theophanes, who led the Byzantine troops, was able to burn a large number of Russian boats with "Greek fire" and drive them away from Constantinople. Part of Igor's squad landed on the Asia Minor coast of the Black Sea and began to plunder the provinces of Byzantium in small detachments, but by autumn they were driven out to the boats. In September, near the coast of Thrace, the patrician Theophanes again managed to burn and sink the boats of the Ross. Those who escaped on the way home were pursued by a "gastric epidemic." Igor himself returned to Kyiv with a dozen rooks.
A year later, Igor's second campaign against Tsargrad was possible. But the emperor paid off, and the princely squad was glad to receive tribute without a fight. In the following year, 944, peace between the parties was formalized by an agreement, though less profitable than in 911 under Prince Oleg. Among those who concluded the agreement was the ambassador of Svyatoslav, the son of Prince Igor, who reigned in "Nemogard" - Novgorod.
942 year. THE BIRTH OF SVYATOSLAV.
This date appears in the Ipatiev and other chronicles. Prince Svyatoslav was the son of Prince Igor the Old and Princess Olga. The date of birth of Prince Svyatoslav is controversial. Due to the advanced age of his parents - Prince Igor was over 60 years old, and Princess Olga was about 50. It is believed that Svyatoslav was a young man over 20 years old by the mid-40s. But rather, Svyatoslav's parents were much younger than he was a mature husband in the 40s of the 9th century.
943-945. RUSSIAN GROUPS DESTROY THE CITY OF BERDAA IN THE CASPIAN SEA.
Detachments of the Rus appeared in the vicinity of Derbent on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They failed to capture a strong fortress and on ships from the harbor of Derbent, they moved by sea along the coast of the Caspian Sea to the south. Having reached the place where the Kura river flows into the Caspian Sea, the Rus went up the river to the largest trade center of Azerbaijan, the city of Berdaa, and captured it. Azerbaijan has recently been occupied by tribes of daylemites (militant highlanders of the southern Caspian) headed by Marzban Ibn Mohammed. The troops gathered by Marzban incessantly besieged the city, but the Rus tirelessly repelled their attacks. After spending a year in the city, having completely devastated it, the Rus left Berdaa, having exterminated most of its population by that time. After the blow inflicted by the Russians, the city fell into decay. It is assumed that one of the leaders of this campaign was Sveneld.
945 year. DEATH OF PRINCE IGOR.
Igor, entrusted the collection of tribute from the Drevlyans to the governor Sveneld. The princely squad, dissatisfied with the rapidly growing wealthy Sveneld and his people, began to demand that Igor independently collect tribute from the Drevlyans. The Kiev prince took an increased tribute from the Drevlyans, returning back, he released most of the squad, and he himself decided to return and "finish" more. The indignant Drevlyans "having left the city of Iskorosten, they killed him and his squad." Igor was tied to tree trunks and torn in two.
946 year. OLGA'S REVENGE TO THE DREVLYANS.
Duchess Olga
A vivid chronicle story tells about the unsuccessful matchmaking of the Drevlyan prince Mala to Olga, about the revenge of the princess on the Drevlyans for the murder of Igor. Having dealt with the embassy of the Drevlyans and exterminated their “deliberate (i.e., senior, noble) husbands,” Olga and her retinue went to the Drevlyane land. The Drevlyans went to battle against her. “And when both troops converged, Svyatoslav threw a spear towards the Drevlyans, and the spear flew between the ears of the horse and struck in the leg, for Svyatoslav was just a child. And Sveneld and Asmund said: "The prince has already begun, let's follow, squad, for the prince." And they defeated the Drevlyans. Olga's squad besieged the city of Iskorosten, the capital of the Drevlyansk land, but could not take it. Then, having promised the Drevlyans peace, she asked them for tribute "from each yard for three doves and three sparrows." Delighted, the Drevlyans caught birds for Olga. In the evening, Olga's warriors released birds with smoldering tinder tied to them (smoldering tinder fungus). Birds flew into the city and Iskorosten blazed. Residents fled from the burning city, where the besieging warriors were waiting for them. Many people were killed, some were taken into slavery. Princess Olga forced the Drevlyans to pay a heavy tribute.
Around 945-969. OLGA'S PRINCIPLE.
Svyatoslav's mother reigned peacefully until he matured. Having traveled all over her possessions, Olga streamlined the collection of tribute. Creating on the ground "graveyards", which became small centers of princely power, where the tribute collected from the population flowed. She made a trip to Constantinople in 957, where she converted to Christianity, and Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself became her godfather. During the campaigns of Svyatoslav, Olga continued to manage the Russian lands.
964-972 BOARD OF SVYATOSLAV.
964 year. Svyatoslav's campaign against the Vyatichi.
Vyatichi is the only Slavic tribal union that lived in the interfluve of the Oka and the upper Volga, and was not included in the sphere of power of the Kyiv princes. Prince Svyatoslav organized a campaign in the lands of the Vyatichi, in order to force them to pay tribute. Vyatichi did not dare to engage in open battle with Svyatoslav. But they refused to pay tribute, informing the prince of Kyiv that they were tributaries of the Khazars.
965 year. Svyatoslav's campaign against the Khazars.
Svyatoslav took Sarkel by storm
The Khazaria included the Lower Volga region with the capital Itil, the North Caucasus, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and Eastern Crimea. Khazaria fed and grew rich at the expense of other peoples, exhausting them with tributes and robber raids. Numerous trade routes passed through Khazaria.
Enlisting the support of the steppe Pechenegs, the Kiev prince led a strong, well-armed, large army trained in military affairs against the Khazars. The Russian army was moving - along the Seversky Donets or Don, they defeated the army of the Khazar Kagan under Belaya Vezha (Sarkel). He laid siege to the Sarkel fortress, which was located on a cape washed by the waters of the Don, and on the eastern side a moat filled with water was dug. The Russian squad, in a well-prepared, sudden assault, took possession of the city.
966 year. CONQUERING VYATICHI.
The Kyiv squad again invaded the lands of the Vyatichi. This time their fate was sealed. Svyatoslav defeated the Vyatichi on the battlefield and laid tribute on them.
966 year. THE VOLGA-CASPIAN CAMPAIGN OF SVYATOSLAV.
Svyatoslav moved to the Volga and defeated the Kama Bolgars. Along the Volga, he reached the Caspian Sea, where the Khazars decided to give Svyatoslav a fight under the walls of Itil, located at the mouth of the river. The Khazar army of Tsar Joseph was defeated, and the capital of the Khazar Kaganate Itil was devastated. The winners got rich booty, which was loaded onto camel caravans. The city was plundered by the Pechenegs, and then set on fire. A similar fate befell the ancient Khazar city of Semender on the Kum in the Caspian Sea (near modern Makhachkala).
966-967 year. SVYATOSLAV HAS GONE ON TAMAN.
The squad of Svyatoslav fought with battles across the North Caucasus and the Kuban, through the lands of the Yases and Kasogs (ancestors of the Ossetians and Adygs). An alliance was concluded with these tribes, which strengthened the military power of Svyatoslav.
The campaign ended with the conquest of Tmutarakan, then it was the possession of the Khazars Tamatarkh on the Taman Peninsula and Kerch. Subsequently, the Russian Tmutarakan principality arose there. The main power on the shores of the Caspian Sea and on the coast of Pontus (Black Sea) was the Old Russian state. Kievan Rus strengthened in the south and east. The Pechenegs kept the peace and did not disturb Rus'. Svyatoslav tried to gain a foothold in the Volga region, but he failed.
967 year. SVYATOSLAV'S MEETING WITH THE BYZANTINE AMBASSADOR KALOKIR.
Vladimir Kireev. "Prince Svyatoslav"
The Emperor of Constantinople, Nicephorus Foka, was busy with the war with the Arabs. Having decided to eliminate the threat to the Byzantine colonies in the Crimea, as well as to get rid of the Bulgarians, to whom the Empire had been paying tribute for 40 years, he decided to push them against the Russians. For this purpose, the ambassador of Emperor Nicephorus, the patrician (Byzantine title) Kalokir, went to the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav. He promised Svyatoslav neutrality and even the support of Byzantium if the prince starts a war with Bulgaria. This proposal came from the emperor; Kalokir himself secretly hoped in the future, with the support of Svyatoslav, to overthrow the emperor and take his place.
August 967. Svyatoslav's ATTACK ON THE DANUBE BULGARIA.
Having gathered an army of 60,000 soldiers on his lands, from young "healthy men", Svyatoslav moved to the Danube along the route of Prince Igor. And this time he attacked the Bulgarians suddenly, without the famous "I'm coming to you." Having passed the Dnieper rapids, part of the Russian troops moved to the Danube Bulgaria, along the coast. And the boats of the Russians entered the Black Sea and along the coast reached the mouth of the Danube. Where did the decisive battle take place? During the landing, the Russians were met by a thirty-thousandth Bulgarian army. But unable to withstand the first onslaught, the Bulgarians fled. Having tried to hide in Dorostol, the Bulgarians were defeated there. Capturing, according to The Tale of Bygone Years, Svyatoslav captured 80 cities in Dnieper Bulgaria and settled in Pereyaslavets. The Russian prince did not at first seek to go beyond Dobruja, apparently this was agreed with the ambassador of the Byzantine emperor.
968 year. NIKIFOR FOCA IS PREPARING FOR WAR WITH SVYATOSLAV.
The Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Foka, having learned about the captures of Svyatoslav and the plans of Klaokir, realized what a dangerous ally he called on and began preparations for war. He took measures to defend Constantinople, blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn with a chain, installed throwing weapons on the walls, reformed the cavalry - dressed the riders in iron armor, armed and trained the infantry. Diplomatically, he tried to attract the Bulgarians to his side by negotiating a marriage union of royal houses, and the Pechenegs, probably bribed by Nicephorus, attacked Kyiv.
Spring 968. SIEGE OF Kyiv BY THE PECHENEGS.
Pecheneg raid
The Pechenegs surrounded Kyiv and kept it under siege. Among the besieged were three sons of Svyatoslav, princes - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir and their grandmother Princess Olga. For a long time they failed to send a messenger from Kyiv. But thanks to the valor of one youth who was able to pass through the Pecheneg camp, posing as a Pecheneg looking for his horse, the people of Kiev managed to send a message to the governor Petrich, who was standing far beyond the Dnieper. The voivode depicted the arrival of the watchman, who was allegedly followed by a regiment with a prince "without number". The cunning of the governor Pretich saved the people of Kiev. The Pechenegs believed all this and retreated from the city. A messenger was sent to Svyatoslav, who told him: “You, prince, look for and watch a foreign land, and having swindled your own, we are not small for taking cookies, your mother and your children.” With a small retinue, the warrior prince mounted his horses and rushed to the capital. Here he gathered "wars", teamed up with Petrich's squad in hot battles, defeated the Pechenegs and drove them to the steppe and restored peace. Kyiv was saved.
When they began to beg Svyatoslav to stay in Kyiv, he answered: “I don’t like to live in Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube (probably the current Rushchuk). Princess Olga persuaded her son: “You see, I am sick; where do you want to go from me? (“For she has already fallen ill,” adds the chronicler.) When you bury me, go wherever you want.” Svyatoslav stayed in Kyiv until the death of his mother. During this time, he divided the Russian land between his sons. Yaropolk was planted in Kyiv, Oleg in the Drevlyane land. And the “robichich” Vladimir, the son of the housekeeper Malusha, was asked to be the Princes of Novgorod ambassadors. Having completed the partition and buried his mother, Svyatoslav, having replenished the squad, immediately set off on a campaign for the Danube.
969 year. BULGARIAN RESISTANCE IN THE ABSENCE OF SVYATOSLAV.
The Bulgarians did not feel much change with his departure to Rus'. In the autumn of 969, they prayed to Nicephorus Fok for help against the Rus. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter tried to find support in Constantinople by entering into dynastic marriages between Bulgarian princesses and young Byzantine Caesars. But Nikifor Foka apparently continued to adhere to agreements with Svyatoslav and did not provide military assistance. Taking advantage of the absence of Svyatoslav, the Bulgarians rebelled and drove the Rus out of several fortresses.
The invasion of Svyatoslav into the lands of the Bulgarians. Miniature of the Manasian Chronicle
In the "History of the Russian" V. N. Tatishchev tells about the exploits in Bulgaria during the absence of Svyatoslav there, a certain governor Volk (from other unknown sources). The Bulgarians, having learned about the departure of Svyatoslav, laid siege to Pereyaslavets. The wolf, experiencing a lack of food and knowing that many townspeople "had agreement" with the Bulgarians, ordered the boats to be secretly made. He himself announced publicly that he would defend the city to the last man, and pointedly ordered to cut all the horses and salt and dry the meat. At night, the Russians set fire to the city. The Bulgarians rushed to the assault, and the Russians, speaking on the boats, attacked the Bulgarian boats and captured them. The detachment of the Wolf left Pereyaslavets and freely descended down the Danube, and then by sea to the mouth of the Dniester. On the Dniester, Volk met Svyatoslav. Where this story came from and how reliable it is is unknown.
Autumn 969-970. SVYATOSLAV'S SECOND CAMPAIGN TO BULGARIA.
Upon returning to Danube Bulgaria, Svyatoslav again had to overcome the resistance of the Bulgarians, who took refuge, as the chronicle says, in Pereyaslavets. But we must assume that we are talking about Preslav, the capital of Danube Bulgaria, which is still not controlled by the Russians, which is south of Pereyaslavets on the Danube. In December 969, the Bulgarians went to battle against Svyatoslav and "the battle was great." The Bulgarians began to prevail. And Svyatoslav said to his soldiers: “Here we fall! Let's stand up courageously, brothers and squad! And by evening, Svyatoslav's squad won, and the city was taken by storm. The sons of the Bulgarian Tsar Peter, Boris and Roman, were taken prisoner.
Having captured the capital of the Bulgarian kingdom, the Russian prince went beyond the borders of Dobrudja, and reached the Bulgarian-Byzantine border, ruining many cities and drowning the uprising of the Bulgarians in blood. The Russians had to take the city of Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv) with a fight. As a result, the ancient city, founded by King Philip of Macedon in the 4th century BC. e., was devastated, and 20 thousand surviving residents were impaled. The city was depopulated for a long time.
Emperor John Tzimisces
December 969. REVOLUTION OF JOHN TSIMISCES.
The conspiracy was led by his wife, Empress Theophano, and John Tzimiskes, a commander who came from a noble Armenian family and the nephew of Nicephorus (his mother was Phocas' sister). On the night of December 10-11, 969, the conspirators killed Emperor Nicephorus Phocas in their own bedchamber. Moreover, John personally split his skull in two with a sword. John, unlike his predecessor, did not marry Theophano, but exiled her away from Constantinople.
On December 25, the coronation of the new emperor took place. Formally, John Tzimiskes, like his predecessor, was proclaimed co-ruler of the young sons of Roman II: Basil and Constantine. The death of Nicephorus Foki finally changed the situation on the Danube, because. the new emperor considered it important to get rid of the Russian threat.
A new usurper ascended the Byzantine throne - John, nicknamed Tzimiskes (this is a nickname, meaning "shoe" in Armenian, he received for his small stature).
Despite his small stature, John was distinguished by extraordinary physical strength and dexterity. He was brave, resolute, cruel, treacherous and, like his predecessor, possessed the talents of a military leader. At the same time, he was more sophisticated and cunning than Nicephorus. Byzantine chroniclers noted his inherent vices - excessive craving for wine during feasts and greed for bodily pleasures (again, in contrast to the almost ascetic Nicephorus).
The old king of the Bulgarians could not stand the defeats inflicted by Svyatoslav - he fell ill and died. Soon the whole country, as well as Macedonia and Thrace up to Philippopolis, fell under the rule of Svyatoslav. Svyatoslav made an alliance with the new Bulgarian Tsar Boris II.
In essence, Bulgaria broke up into zones controlled by the Rus (northeast - Dobruja), Boris II (the rest of Eastern Bulgaria, subordinate to him only formally, in fact - to the Rus) and not controlled by anyone except the local elite (Western Bulgaria). It is possible that Western Bulgaria outwardly recognized the power of Boris, but the Bulgarian tsar, surrounded in his capital by a Russian garrison, lost all contact with the territories not affected by the war.
Over the course of six months, all three countries involved in the conflict changed their rulers. In Kyiv, Olga, a supporter of an alliance with Byzantium, died; in Constantinople, Nicephorus Foka, who invited the Russians to the Balkans, was killed; in Bulgaria, Peter died, hoping for help from the Empire.
Byzantine emperors during the life of Svyatoslav
In Byzantium, the Macedonian dynasty ruled, which was never forcibly overthrown. And in Constantinople of the 10th century, a descendant of Basil the Macedonian was always emperor. But with the infancy and political weakness of the emperors of a great dynasty, an accompanist who possessed actual power sometimes became at the helm of the empire.
Roman I Lakopin (c. 870 - 948, imp. 920 - 945). The usurper-co-ruler of Constantine VII, who married him to his daughter, but tried to create his own dynasty. Under him, the Russian fleet of Prince Igor was burned under the walls of Constantinople (941).
Constantine VII Porphyrogenetus (Purple-born) (905 - 959, imp. 908 - 959, actual from 945). Emperor scientist, author of edifying works, such as the work "On the management of the empire." He baptized Princess Olga during her visit to Constantinople (967).
Roman II (939 - 963, imp. from 945, actual from 959). The son of Constantine VII, Theophano's husband died young, leaving two minor sons, Basil and Constantine.
Theophano (after 940 -?, empress regent in March - August 963). Rumor attributed to her the poisoning of her father-in-law Konstantin Porphyrogenitus and her husband Roman. She was a participant in the conspiracy and murder of her second husband, Emperor Nicephorus Focas.
Nikephoros II Phocas (912 - 969, imp. from 963). The famous commander who returned Crete under the rule of the empire, then the Byzantine emperor who married Theophano. He continued successful military operations by conquering Cilicia and Cyprus. Killed by John Tzimisces. He was numbered among the saints.
John I Tzimiskes (c. 925 - 976, imp. from 969) The main opponent of Svyatoslav. After the Russians left Bulgaria. He conducted two eastern campaigns, as a result of which Syria and Phoenicia again became provinces of the empire. Supposed to have been poisoned
Vasily Lekapin- the illegitimate son of Roman I, castrated as a child, but who was the first minister of the empire from 945-985.
Basil II Bulgarokton (Bulgarian Slayer) (958 - 1025, cont. from 960, imp. from 963, actual from 976). The greatest emperor of the Macedonian dynasty. He ruled jointly with his brother Constantine. He fought numerous wars, especially with the Bulgarians. Under him, Byzantium reached its highest power. But he could not leave a male heir and the Macedonian dynasty soon fell.
Winter 970. THE BEGINNING OF THE RUSSIAN-BYZANTIAN WAR.
Having learned about the murder of his ally, Svyatoslav, possibly incited by Klaokir, decided to start a fight against the Byzantine usurper. The Rus began to cross the border of Byzantium and devastate the Byzantine provinces of Thrace and Macedonia.
John Tzimiskes tried to persuade Svyatoslav to return the conquered regions through negotiations, otherwise he threatened war. To this Svyatoslav answered: “Let the emperor not work to travel to our land: we will soon set up our tents in front of the Byzantine gates, we will surround the city with a strong rampart, and if he decides to set out on a feat, we will bravely meet him.” At the same time, Svyatoslav advised Tzimiskes to retire to Asia Minor.
Svyatoslav reinforced his army with the Bulgarians, who were dissatisfied with Byzantium, hired units of the Pechenegs and Hungarians. The number of this army was 30,000 soldiers. The commander of the Byzantine army was Master Varda Sklir, it consisted of 12,000 soldiers. Therefore, Skleros had to give most of Thrace to be torn to pieces by the enemy and preferred to sit out in Arcadiopolis. Soon the army of the Kyiv prince approached this city.
970 year. BATTLE UNDER ARKADIOPOLE (ADRIANOPOLE).
In the battle of Arcadiopol (modern-day Luleburgaz in Turkey, about 140 kilometers west of Istanbul), the onslaught of the Rus was stopped. The seeming indecisiveness of Bardas Skleros caused self-confidence and disdain for the Byzantines shut up in the city in the barbarians. They wandered around, drinking, thinking they were safe. Seeing this, Varda set about implementing a plan of action that had long matured in him. The main role in the upcoming battle was assigned to the patrician John Alakas (by origin, by the way, a Pecheneg). Alakas attacked a detachment consisting of Pechenegs. They were carried away by the pursuit of the retreating Romans and soon stumbled upon the main forces commanded personally by Varda Sklir. The Pechenegs stopped, ready for battle, and this destroyed them completely. The fact is that the phalanx of the Romans, passing Alakas and the Pechenegs chasing him, parted to a considerable depth. The Pechenegs were in the "bag". Due to the fact that they did not retreat immediately, time was lost; the phalanxes closed and surrounded the nomads. All of them were killed by the Romans.
The death of the Pechenegs stunned the Hungarians, Russ and Bulgarians. However, they managed to prepare for battle and met the Romans fully armed. Skylitsa reports that the first blow to the advancing army of Varda Sklir was delivered by the cavalry of the "barbarians", probably consisting mainly of Hungarians. The onslaught was repelled, and the riders took refuge among the foot soldiers. When both armies converged, the outcome of the battle was uncertain for a long time.
There is a story about how "a certain Scythian, proud of the size of the body and the fearlessness of the soul" attacked Varda Sklir himself, "who traveled around and inspired the line of warriors", and hit him with a sword on the helmet. “But the sword slipped, the blow was unsuccessful, and the master also hit the enemy on the helmet. The heaviness of the hand and the hardening of the iron gave such force to his blow that the entire Scythian was cut into two parts. Patricius Constantine, brother of the master, hurrying to his rescue, tried to strike another Scythian on the head, who wanted to come to the aid of the first and boldly rushed to Varda; the Scythian, however, dodged to the side, and Constantine, having missed, brought down the sword on the neck of the horse and separated his head from the body; the Scythian fell, and Constantine jumped off his horse and, grabbing the beard of the enemy with his hand, stabbed him to death. This feat aroused the courage of the Romans and increased their courage, while the Scythians were seized with fear and horror.
The battle approached its turning point, then Varda ordered to blow and knock on tambourines. The ambush army immediately, at this sign, ran out of the forest, surrounded the enemy from the rear, and thus instilled such horror in them that they began to retreat. It is possible that the ambush caused temporary confusion in the ranks of the Rus, but the battle order was quickly restored. “And Rus rallied, and the battle was great, and Svyatoslav prevailed, and the Greeks fled; and Svyatoslav went to the city, fighting and smashing the city, even they stand and are empty to this day. So the Russian chronicler speaks of the outcome of the battle. And the Byzantine historian Leo Deacon, writes about the victory of the Romans and reports implausible loss figures: the Rus allegedly lost over 20 thousand people, and the Byzantine army lost only 55 people killed and many wounded.
Apparently the defeat was heavy, and the losses of Svyatoslav's troops were significant. But still he had great strength to continue the war. And John Tzimiskes had to offer tribute and ask for peace. Since the Byzantine usurper was still puzzled by the suppression of the rebellion of Varda Foki. Therefore, trying to gain time and delay the war, he entered into negotiations with Svyatoslav.
970 year. THE REBELLION OF VARDA FOCA.
In the spring of 970, the nephew of the murdered emperor Nicephorus Vardas Fok fled from his place of exile in Amasia to Caesarea in Cappadocia. Having gathered around him a militia capable of resisting government troops, he solemnly and with a crowd of people put on red shoes - which was a sign of imperial dignity. The news of the rebellion greatly agitated Tzimiskes. Varda Sklir was immediately called from Thrace, whom John appointed as a stratilate (leader) of the campaign against the rebels. Skleros managed to win over to his side some of the military leaders who were subordinate to his namesake. Foka, abandoned by them, did not dare to fight and preferred to take refuge in a fortress with the symbolic name of the fortress of Tyrants. However, besieged by a stratilate, he was forced to surrender. Emperor John ordered Varda Fok to be tonsured as a monk and sent him, along with his wife and children, to the island of Chios.
970 year. RUS ATTACKS ON MACEDONIA.
The squad of the Russian prince
Having received tribute, Svyatoslav returned to Pereyaslavets, from where he sent his "best husbands" to the Byzantine emperor to conclude an agreement. The reason for this was the small size of the squad, which suffered heavy losses. Therefore, Svyatoslav said: “I’ll go to Rus' and bring more squads (since the Byzantines could use the small number of Russians and surround Svyatoslav’s squad) in the city; and Ruska the land is far away, and the Pechenesi are with us in arms, ie, they turned from allies into enemies. A small replenishment arrived from Kyiv to Svyatoslav.
During the whole year 970, detachments of the Russians periodically devastated the border Byzantine region of Macedonia. The Roman troops here were commanded by Master John Kurkuas (the Younger), a well-known lazy and drunkard who was inactive, making no attempt to protect the local population from the enemy. However, he had an excuse - the lack of troops. But Svyatoslav no longer undertook a large-scale offensive against Byzantium. Probably, the current situation suited him.
Winter 970. THE CLICKNESS OF TSIMISCES.
In order to take decisive action to curb the aggressive attacks of the Rus, significant preparations were required, which could not be completed before the spring of the next year; and besides, in the coming winter time, the passage through the Gemsky ridge (Balkans) was considered impossible. In view of this, Tzimiskes again started negotiations with Svyatoslav, sent him expensive gifts, promising to send gifts in the spring, and, in all likelihood, the matter ended with the conclusion of a preliminary peace treaty. This explains that Svyatoslav did not occupy the mountain passes (klissura) through the Balkans.
Spring 971. INVASION OF JOHN TSIMISCES INTO THE DANUBE VALLEY.
Tzimiskes, taking advantage of the dispersal of Svyatoslav's troops throughout Bulgaria and his confidence in the world, unexpectedly sent a fleet of 300 ships from the Suda with orders to enter the Danube, and he himself moved with the troops to Adrianople. Here the emperor was delighted with the news that the mountain passes were not occupied by the Russians, as a result of which Tzimisces, with 2 thousand cavalry at the head, having behind 15 thousand infantry and 13 thousand cavalry, and only 30 thousand, freely passed the terrible klissura. The Byzantine army fortified itself on a hill near the Tichi River.
Quite unexpectedly for the Russians, Tzimiskes approached Preslav, occupied by the voivode Svyatoslav Sfenkel. The next day, Tzimiskes, having built dense phalanxes, moved towards the city, in front of which the Rus were waiting for him in an open area. A stubborn battle ensued. Tzimisces led the "immortals" into battle. The heavy cavalry, putting forward spears, rushed to the enemy and quickly overturned the Rus, who fought on foot. The Russian soldiers who came to the rescue could not change anything, and the Byzantine cavalry managed to approach the city and cut off those fleeing from the gate. Sfenkel had to close the gates of the city and the winners destroyed 8500 "Scythians" that day. At night, Kalokir fled from the city, whom the Greeks considered the main culprit of their troubles. He informed Svyatoslav about the emperor's attack.
Greeks storm Preslav. Of the siege weapons, a stone thrower is shown. Miniature from the chronicle of John Skylitzes.
The rest of the troops arrived at Tzimiskes with stone-throwing and wall-beating machines. It was necessary to hurry to take Preslav before arriving to the rescue of Svyatoslav. First, the besieged were offered to surrender voluntarily. Having received a refusal, the Romans began to shower Preslav with clouds of arrows and stones. Easily breaking the wooden walls of Preslav. After that, with the support of the shooting of the archers, they went to storm the wall. With the help of ladders, it was possible to climb the fortifications, overcoming the resistance of the city's defenders. The defenders began to leave the walls, hoping to take refuge in the citadel. The Byzantines managed to open the gate in the southeast corner of the fortress, letting the entire army into the city. Bulgarians and Russians who did not have time to hide were destroyed.
It was then that Boris II was brought to Tzimiskes, captured in the city with his family and identified by the signs of royal power on him. John did not punish him for collaborating with the Russians, but, declaring him "the legitimate ruler of the Bulgars", paid him due honors.
Sfenkel retreated behind the walls of the royal palace, from where he continued to defend himself until Tzimisces ordered the palace to be set on fire.
Driven out of the palace by flames, the Rus fought back desperately and almost all were exterminated, only Sfenkel himself with several soldiers managed to break through to Svyatoslav in Dorostol.
On April 16, John Tzimiskes celebrated Easter in Preslav and renamed the city in honor of the victory in his own name - Ioannopol. They also released the captive Bulgarians who fought on the side of Svyatoslav. The Russian prince did the opposite. Blaming the "Bulgarian" traitors for the fall of Preslav, Svyatoslav ordered to gather the most noble and influential representatives of the Bulgarian nobility (about three hundred people) and behead them all. Many Bulgarians were thrown into dungeons. The population of Bulgaria went over to the side of Tzimiskes.
The emperor moved to Dorostol. This well-fortified city, which the Slavs called Dristray (now Silistria), served as Svyatoslav's main military base in the Balkans. Along the way, a number of Bulgarian cities (including Diniya and Pliska - the first capital of Bulgaria) went over to the side of the Greeks. The conquered Bulgarian lands were included in Thrace - the Byzantine theme. In the twentieth of April, the army of Tzimisces approached Dorostol.
Armament of the soldiers of Kievan Rus: helmets, spurs, sword, axe, stirrup, horse fetters
The defense of the city began in full encirclement. The numerical superiority in forces was on the side of the Byzantines - their army consisted of 25-30 thousand infantry and 15 thousand cavalry, while Svyatoslav had only 30 thousand soldiers. With available forces and no cavalry, he could easily be surrounded and cut off from Dorostol by the excellent numerous Greek cavalry. heavy, exhausting battles for the city, which lasted about three months.
The Russians stood in dense rows, closing their long shields and putting their spears forward. Pechenegs and Hungarians were no longer among them.
John Tzimiskes put up infantry against them, placing heavy cavalry (cataphracts) along its edges. Behind the foot soldiers were archers and slingers, whose task it was to shoot without stopping.
The first attack of the Byzantines slightly upset the Russians, but they held their ground and then launched a counterattack. The battle went on with varying success all day, the whole plain was strewn with the bodies of the fallen on both sides. Already closer to sunset, the soldiers of Tzimiskes managed to push the left wing of the enemy. Now the main thing for the Romans was not to let the Russians reorganize and come to the aid of their own. A new trumpet signal sounded, and the cavalry, the emperor's reserve, was brought into battle. Even the “immortals” were moved against the Rus, John Tzimisces himself rode after them with unfolded imperial banners, shaking his spear and encouraging the soldiers with a battle cry. An answering cry of joy resounded among the hitherto restrained Romans. The Russians could not withstand the onslaught of the cavalry and fled. They were pursued, killed and taken prisoner. However, the Byzantine army was tired of the battle and stopped the pursuit. Most of the soldiers of Svyatoslav, led by their leader, returned safely to Dorostol. The outcome of the war was a foregone conclusion.
Having outlined a suitable hill, the emperor ordered to dig a moat around it with a depth of more than two meters. The excavated earth was carried to the side adjacent to the camp, so that a high shaft was obtained as a result. At the top of the embankment, spears were strengthened and interconnected shields were hung on them. An imperial tent was set up in the center, military leaders were placed nearby, “immortals” were around, then ordinary warriors. On the edges of the camp stood the foot soldiers, behind them - the horsemen. In the event of an enemy attack, the infantry took the first blow, which gave the cavalry time to prepare for battle. The approaches to the camp were also protected by skillfully hidden pit traps with wooden stakes at the bottom, laid out in the right places with metal balls with four points, one of which stuck up. Signal ropes with bells were pulled around the camp and pickets were set up (the first began at an arrow's flight distance from the hill where the Romans were located).
Tzimisces attempted, unsuccessfully, to take the city by storm. In the evening, the Russians again undertook a large-scale sortie, and, according to the chronicles of the Byzantines, for the first time they tried to act on horseback, but, having bad horses recruited in the fortress and not accustomed to battle, they were overturned by the Greek cavalry. In repelling this sortie, Varda Sklir commanded.
On the same day, a Greek fleet of 300 ships approached and settled on the Danube opposite the city, as a result of which the Rus were completely overlaid and did not dare to go out on their boats anymore, fearing Greek fire. Svyatoslav, who attached great importance to the preservation of his fleet, for safety ordered to pull the boats ashore and place them near the city wall of Dorostol. Meanwhile, all his boats were in Dorostol, and the Danube was his only way of retreat.
Russian squad attacks
Realizing the doom of their position, the Russians again made a sortie, but with all their might. The valiant defender of Preslava Sfenkel led it, while Svyatoslav remained in the city. With long, human-sized shields, covered with chain mail and armor, the Rus, leaving the fortress at dusk and observing complete silence, approached the enemy camp and unexpectedly attacked the Greeks. The battle lasted with varying success until noon the next day, but after Sfenkel was killed, struck with a spear, and the Byzantine cavalry again threatened with destruction, the Rus retreated.
Svyatoslav, expecting an attack in his turn, ordered to dig a deep ditch around the city walls, and Dorostol now became almost impregnable. By this he showed that he decided to defend himself to the last. Almost daily there were sorties of the Rus, often ending successfully for the besieged.
Tzimiskes at first limited himself to a siege, hoping to force Svyatoslav to surrender by starvation, but soon the Russians, who made constant sorties, all roads and paths were dug up with ditches and occupied, and on the Danube the fleet increased its vigilance. The entire Greek cavalry was sent to watch the roads leading from the west and from the east to the fortress.
There were many wounded in the city and a severe famine ensued. Meanwhile, the Greek wall-beating machines continued to destroy the walls of the city, and stone-throwing tools caused heavy casualties.
Equestrian Warrior X century
Choosing a dark night, when a terrible thunderstorm broke out with thunder, lightning and heavy hail, Svyatoslav personally led about two thousand people out of the city and put them on boats. They safely bypassed the fleet of the Romans (it was impossible to see or even hear them because of the thunderstorm, and the command of the Roman fleet, seeing that the "barbarians" fight only on land, as they say, "relaxed") and moved along the river for food . One can imagine the amazement of the Bulgarians, who lived along the Danube, when the Rus suddenly reappeared in their villages. It was necessary to act quickly, until the news of what had happened reached the Romans. A few days later, having collected grain bread, millet and some other supplies, the Rus embarked on ships and just as imperceptibly moved towards Dorostol. The Romans would not have noticed anything if Svyatoslav had not found out that horses from the Byzantine army were grazing not far from the coast, and nearby were convoy servants who guarded the horses, and at the same time stored firewood for their camp. Having landed on the shore, the Rus silently passed through the forest and attacked the convoys. Almost all the servants were killed, only a few managed to hide in the bushes. Militarily, this action did not give the Russians anything, but its audacity made it possible to remind Tzimiskes that much can still be expected from the "damned Scythians".
But this sortie infuriated John Tzimiskes and soon the Romans dug up all the roads leading to Dorostol, posted guards everywhere, control over the river was established such that even a bird could not fly from the city to the other side without the permission of the besiegers. And soon, for the Russ, exhausted by the siege, and the Bulgarians still remaining in the city, truly “black days” came.
End of June 971. RUSSIANS KILL "EMPEROR".
During one of the sorties, the Russians managed to kill a relative of the emperor Tzimiskes, John Kurkuas, who was in charge of the battering rams. Because of the rich clothes, the Rus mistook him for the emperor himself. Boasting, they planted the severed head of the commander on a spear and put it over the city walls. For some time, the besieged believed that the death of the basileus would force the Greeks to leave.
At noon on July 19, when the Byzantine guards, exhausted by the heat, lost their vigilance, the Russians swiftly attacked and killed them. Then it was the turn of catapults and ballistas. They were cut with axes and burned.
The besieged decided to deliver a new blow to the Greeks, who, like Sfenkel, had his own squad. The Russians revered him as the second leader after Svyatoslav. He was respected for valor, and not for "noble relatives." And initially in battle, he greatly inspired the squad. But he died in a skirmish with Anemas. The death of the leaders led to a panic flight of the besieged. The Romans again cut down the fleeing, and their horses trampled the "barbarians". The coming night stopped the slaughter and allowed the survivors to make their way to Dorostol. Howls were heard from the side of the city, there were funerals of the dead, whose comrades were able to carry the bodies from the battlefield. The Byzantine chronicler writes that many male and female captives were slaughtered. "Performing sacrifices for the dead, they drowned babies and roosters in the river Istra." The bodies left lying on the ground went to the winners. To the surprise of those who rushed to rip off armor from the dead "Scythians" and collect weapons, among the defenders of Dorostol killed that day were women dressed in men's clothes. It is difficult to say who they were - Bulgarians who joined the Rus, or desperate Russian maidens - epic "logs" who went on a campaign along with men - it's hard to say.
Military feat. The hero of Byzantium is the Arab Anemas.
One of the last sorties of the Rus against the Greeks was led by Ikmor, a man of great stature and strength. Dragging the Rus with him, Ikmor crushed everyone who got in his way. It seemed that there was no equal to him in the Byzantine army. The emboldened Russ did not lag behind their leader. This continued until one of the bodyguards of Tzimiskes, Anemas, rushed to Ikmor. He was an Arab, the son and co-ruler of the Emir of Crete, ten years earlier, together with his father, was captured by the Romans and transferred to the service of the victors. Jumping up to the mighty Rus, the Arab deftly dodged his blow and struck back - unfortunately for Ikmor, a successful one. An experienced grunt cut off the Russian leader's head, right shoulder and arm. Seeing the death of their leader, the Russians screamed loudly, their ranks trembled, while the Romans, on the contrary, were inspired and intensified the onslaught. Soon the Rus began to retreat, and then, throwing their shields behind their backs, they fled to Dorostol.
During the last battle near Dorostol, among the Romans who rushed to the Rus from the rear, there was also Anemas, who had killed Ikmor the day before. He passionately wanted to add to this feat a new, even more striking one - to deal with Svyatoslav himself. When the Romans, who suddenly attacked the Rus, briefly disrupted their formation, a desperate Arab flew up on a horse to the prince and hit him on the head with a sword. Svyatoslav fell to the ground, he was stunned, but survived. The blow of the Arab, sliding on the helmet, only broke the prince's collarbone. The mail shirt protected him. The attacker, along with his horse, was pierced by many arrows, and then Anemas, who fell, was surrounded by a phalanx of enemies, but he still continued to fight, killed many Russians, but finally fell hacked to pieces. This was a man whom none of his contemporaries excelled in heroic deeds.
971, Silistria. Anemas, the bodyguard of Emperor John Tzimiskes, wounded the Russian prince Svyatoslav
Svyatoslav gathered all his military leaders for advice. When some spoke of the need for a retreat, they advised to wait until the dark night, lower the boats that were on the shore into the Danube and, keeping as quiet as possible, sail unnoticed down the Danube. Others suggested asking the Greeks for peace. Svyatoslav said: “We have nothing to choose from. Willingly or not, we must fight. Let us not disgrace the Russian land, but lie down with bones - the dead have no shame. If we run away, we will be shamed. So we will not run, but we will become strong. I will go before you - if my head falls, then take care of yourself. And the soldiers answered Svyatoslav: “Where you are your head, there we will lay down our heads!” Electrified by this heroic speech, the leaders decided to win - or die with glory ...
The last bloody battle near Dorostol ended with the defeat of the Rus. The forces were too unequal.
July 22, 971 The last battle under the walls of Dorostol. The first and second stages of the battle
Svyatoslav personally led the thinned squad to the last battle. He ordered the city gates to be firmly locked so that none of the soldiers would think of seeking salvation outside the walls, but would think only of victory.
The battle began with an unprecedented onslaught of the Rus. It was a hot day, and the Byzantines in heavy armor began to succumb to the indomitable onslaught of the Rus. In order to save the situation, the emperor personally rushed to the rescue, accompanied by a detachment of "immortals". While he was distracting the blow of the enemy, they managed to deliver wineskins filled with wine and water to the battlefield. The emboldened Romans with renewed vigor began to attack the Rus, but to no avail. And it was strange, because the advantage was on their side. Finally Tzimisces understood the reason. Having pressed the Rus, his soldiers got into a cramped place (everything around was in the hills), which is why the "Scythians", inferior to them in numbers, withstood the attacks. The stratigi were ordered to start a feigned retreat in order to lure the "barbarians" onto the plain. Seeing the flight of the Romans, the Russians shouted with joy and rushed after them. Having reached the agreed place, the soldiers of Tzimisces stopped and met the Rus catching up with them. Faced with the unexpected stamina of the Greeks, the Rus not only were not embarrassed, but began to attack them with even greater frenzy. The illusion of success, which the Romans created by their retreat, only inflamed the exhausted Dorostol inmates.
Tzimisces was extremely annoyed by the heavy losses that his army was suffering, and by the fact that the outcome of the battle, despite all efforts, remained unclear. Skylitsa even says that the emperor “planned to solve the matter by combat. And so he sent an embassy to Svendoslav (Svyatoslav), offering him single combat and saying that it was necessary to solve the matter by the death of one husband, without killing or exhausting the strength of the peoples; whoever wins, he will be the ruler of everything. But he did not accept the challenge and added mocking words that he supposedly understands his own benefit better than the enemy, and if the emperor does not want to live anymore, then there are tens of thousands of other ways to death; let him choose what he wants. Having answered so arrogantly, he prepared for battle with increased zeal.
The battle of the soldiers of Svyatoslav with the Byzantines. Miniature from the manuscript of John Skylitzes
The mutual bitterness of the parties characterizes the next episode of the battle. Among the generals who commanded the retreat of the Byzantine cavalry was a certain Theodore of Misphia. The horse under him was killed, Theodore was surrounded by the Rus, who longed for his death. Trying to get up, the strategist, a man of a heroic physique, grabbed one of the Rus by the belt and, turning him in all directions, like a shield, managed to defend himself from the blows of swords and spears flying at him. Then the Roman warriors arrived, and for a few seconds, until Theodore was safe, the whole space around him turned into an arena of battle between those who wanted to kill him at all costs, and those who wanted to save him.
The emperor decided to send master Varda Sklir, the patricians Peter and Roman (the latter was the grandson of the emperor Roman Lekapin) to bypass the enemy. They were supposed to cut off the "Scythians" from Dorostol and hit them in the back. This maneuver was carried out successfully, but it did not lead to a turning point in the battle. During this attack, Svyatoslav was wounded by Anemas. Meanwhile, the Russians, who had beaten off the rear attack, again began to push the Romans. And again the emperor with a spear at the ready had to lead the guards into battle. Seeing Tzimiskes, his soldiers cheered up. The battle was at a decisive moment. And then a miracle happened. First, a strong wind blew from behind the advancing Byzantine army, a real hurricane began, bringing with it clouds of dust that clogged the eyes of the Russians. And then came a terrible downpour. The offensive of the Russians stopped, the soldiers hiding from the sand became easy prey for the enemy. Shocked by the intervention from above, the Romans later assured that they saw a rider galloping in front of them on a white horse. When he approached, the Rus allegedly fell like cut grass. Later, many "recognized" St. Theodore Stratilates in the miraculous helper of Tzimiskes.
From the rear, Varda Sklir pressed on the Rus. The bewildered Russians were surrounded and ran towards the city. They did not have to break through the ranks of the enemy. Apparently, the Byzantines used the idea of the "golden bridge" widely known in their military theory. Its essence boiled down to the fact that for the defeated enemy there was an opportunity for salvation by flight. Understanding this weakened the resistance of the enemy and created the most favorable conditions for its complete defeat. As usual, the Romans drove the Rus to the very city walls, ruthlessly cutting. Among those who managed to escape was Svyatoslav. He was badly wounded - in addition to the blow that Anemas inflicted on him, several arrows hit the prince, he lost a lot of blood and almost got captured. Only the onset of night saved him from this.
Svyatoslav in battle
The losses of the Russian troops in the last battle amounted to more than 15,000 people. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, after the conclusion of peace, when asked by the Greeks about the number of his troops, Svyatoslav answered: “We are twenty thousand,” but “he added ten thousand, for there were only ten thousand Russians.” And Svyatoslav brought to the banks of the Danube more than 60 thousand young and strong men. You can call this campaign a demographic catastrophe for Kievan Rus. Calling on the army to fight to the death and die with honor. Svyatoslav himself, although wounded, returned to Dorostol, although he promised to remain among the dead in case of defeat. By this act, he greatly lost authority in his army.
But the Greeks also won at a high price.
A significant numerical superiority of the enemy, lack of food and, probably not wanting to irritate his people, Svyatoslav decided to make peace with the Greeks.
At the dawn of the day following the battle, Svyatoslav sent envoys to Emperor John with a request for peace. The emperor received them very favorably. According to the story of the chronicle, Svyatoslav reasoned as follows: “If we do not make peace with the king, the king will know that we are few - and, having come, they will surround us in the city. But the Russian land is far away, and the Pechenegs are fighting us, and who will help us? And his speech was loved by the squad.
According to the truce, the Russians pledged to cede Dorostol to the Greeks, release the prisoners and leave Bulgaria. In turn, the Byzantines promised to let their recent enemies into their homeland and not attack their ships along the way. (The Russians were very much afraid of the "Greek fire" that destroyed the ships of Prince Igor at one time.) At the request of Svyatoslav, the Byzantines also promised to obtain from the Pechenegs guarantees of the inviolability of the Russian squad when they returned home. The booty captured in Bulgaria, apparently, remained with the defeated. In addition, the Greeks had to supply the Rus with food and indeed they gave out 2 medimnas of bread (about 20 kilograms) for each warrior.
After the conclusion of the agreement, an embassy of John Tzimisces was sent to the Pechenegs, with a request that they let the Rus, returning home, through their possessions. But it is assumed that Theophilus, Bishop of Evkhait, sent to the nomads, set the Pechenegs against the prince, fulfilling the secret task of his sovereign.
PEACE TREATY.
A peace treaty was concluded between the two states, the text of which is preserved in the Tale of Bygone Years. Due to the fact that this agreement determined the relationship between Rus' and Byzantium for almost twenty years and subsequently formed the basis of the Byzantine policy of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, we will give its text in its entirety translated into modern Russian: “A list from the agreement concluded under Svyatoslav, the Grand Duke of Russia , and under Sveneld. Written under Theophilus Sinkel, and to Ivan, named Tzimiskes, King of Greece, in Derestra, the month of July, the indiction of the 14th, in the summer of 6479. I, Svyatoslav, Prince of Russia, as I swore, I confirm my oath with this agreement: I want to have peace and perfect love with every great king of Greece, with Basil, and Constantine, and with divinely inspired kings, and with all your people until the end of the age; and so are those who are under me, Rus', the boyars and others. I will never begin to plot against your country and gather warriors and I will not bring other people to your country, nor to those that are under Greek rule - nor to the Korsun volost and how many cities there are, nor to the Bulgarian country. And if someone else thinks against your country, then I will be his opponent and I will fight with him. As I swore to the kings of Greece, and the boyars and all Rus' are with me, so we will keep the agreement inviolable; if we do not keep what was said before, let me, and those who are with me, and those who are under me, be cursed from the god in whom we believe - in Perun and in Volos, the cattle god - and let us be pierced like gold, and let us be cut with our weapons. It will be true what we promised you today, and wrote on this charter, and sealed it with our seals.
End of July 971. MEETING OF JOHN TSIMISCHIES WITH SVYATOSLAV.
Meeting of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav with the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes
Finally, the prince wanted to personally meet with the basil of the Romans. Leo the Deacon places a description of this meeting in his “History”: “The sovereign did not evade and, covered with gilded armor, rode on horseback to the banks of the Istra, leading a large detachment of armed horsemen sparkling with gold. Sfendoslav also appeared, sailing along the river on a Scythian boat; he sat at the oars and rowed along with his entourage, no different from them. This was his appearance: of moderate height, neither too tall nor too short, with shaggy eyebrows and light blue eyes, snub-nosed, beardless, with thick, excessively long hair above his upper lip. His head was completely naked, but on one side a tuft of hair hung down - a sign of the nobility of the family; a strong nape, a broad chest and all other parts of the body are quite proportionate, but he looked sullen and wild. He had a gold earring in one ear; it was adorned with a carbuncle framed by two pearls. His attire was white and differed from the clothes of his associates only in cleanliness. Sitting in a boat on a bench for rowers, he talked a little with the sovereign about the conditions of peace and left.
971-976. THE CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF TSIMISCES IN BYZANTIA.
After the departure of the Rus, Eastern Bulgaria became part of the Byzantine Empire. The city of Dorostol received a new name Theodoropolis (either in memory of St. Theodore Stratilates, who helped the Romans, or in honor of the wife of John Tzimiskes Theodora) and became the center of a new Byzantine theme. Vasilev of the Romans returned to Constantinople with huge trophies, and at the entrance to the city, the inhabitants arranged an enthusiastic welcome for their emperor. After the triumph, Tsar Boris II was brought to Tzimisces, and he, obeying the will of the new ruler of the Bulgarians, publicly laid down the signs of royal power - a tiara trimmed with purple, embroidered with gold and pearls, purple and red half boots. In return, he received the rank of master and had to begin to get used to the position of the Byzantine nobleman. With regard to his younger brother Roman, the Byzantine emperor was not so merciful - the prince was castrated. Tzimisces never got to Western Bulgaria - it was necessary to resolve the protracted conflict with the Germans, to continue victorious wars against the Arabs, this time in Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine. From the last campaign, Vasilevs returned quite sick. According to the symptoms, it was typhus, but, as always, the version that Tzimisces was poisoned became very popular among the people. After his death in 976, the son of Roman II, Vasily, finally came to power. Theophano returned from exile, but her eighteen-year-old son no longer needed guardians. There was only one thing left for her - to quietly live out her life.
Summer 971. SVYATOSLAV EXECUTES HIS CHRISTIAN Warriors.
In the later so-called Joachim Chronicle, some additional details are given about the last period of the Balkan war. Svyatoslav, according to this source, blamed all his failures on the Christians who were part of his army. Enraged, he executed, among others, his brother Prince Gleb (whose existence other sources do not know anything about). By order of Svyatoslav, Christian churches in Kyiv were to be destroyed and burned; the prince himself, upon his return to Rus', intended to exterminate all Christians. However, this, in all likelihood, is nothing more than the speculation of the compiler of the chronicle - a later writer or historian.
Autumn 971. SVYATOSLAV IS LEAVING HOMELAND.
In the fall, Svyatoslav set off on his return journey. He moved on boats along the seashore and then up the Dnieper towards the Dnieper rapids. Otherwise, he would not have been able to bring the booty captured in the war to Kiev.
The closest and most experienced of the governor Svyatoslav Sveneld advised the prince: "Go around the rapids on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the thresholds." But Svyatoslav did not listen to him. And Sveneld, of course, was right. The Pechenegs were really waiting for the Russians. According to the story “The Tale of Bygone Years”, “Pereyaslavtsy” (it must be understood, the Bulgarians) informed the Pechenegs about the approach of the Russians: “Here comes Svyatoslav to Rus', taking from the Greeks a lot of booty and captives without number. And he doesn't have a lot of friends."
Winter 971/72. WINTER IN BELOBEREZHIE.
Having reached the island of Khortitsa, which the Greeks called "the island of St. George", Svyatoslav was convinced of the impossibility of further advancement - the Pechenegs stood at the ford of Kraria, which was in front of the first threshold on his way. Winter was coming. The prince decided to retreat and spend the winter in Beloberezhye, where there was a Russian settlement. Perhaps he was hoping for help from Kyiv. But if so, then his hopes were not destined to come true. The people of Kiev could not (or perhaps did not want to?) come to the rescue of their prince. The bread received from the Byzantines was soon eaten.
The local population did not have enough food supplies to feed the rest of Svyatoslav's army. Hunger has begun. “And they paid half a hryvnia for a horse’s head,” the chronicler testifies about the famine in Beloberezhye. This is very big money. But, obviously, the soldiers of Svyatoslav still had enough gold and silver. The Pechenegs did not leave.
End of winter - beginning of spring 972. DEATH OF THE RUSSIAN PRINCE SVYATOSLAV.
The last battle of Prince Svyatoslav
No longer able to remain at the mouth of the Dnieper, the Rus made a desperate attempt to break through the ambush of the Pechenegs. It seems that the exhausted people were put in a hopeless situation - in the spring, even if they wanted to bypass the dangerous place, leaving the boats, they could no longer do this due to the lack of horses (which were eaten). Perhaps the prince was waiting for spring, hoping that during the spring flood the rapids would become passable and he would be able to slip through the ambush, while retaining the prey. The result turned out to be sad - most of the Russian army was killed by nomads, and Svyatoslav himself fell in battle.
“And Kurya, the prince of the Pechenegs, attacked him; and they killed Svyatoslav, and cut off his head, and made a cup out of the skull, encasing the skull, and then they drank from it.
The death of Prince Svyatoslav on the Dnieper rapids
According to the legend of later chroniclers, an inscription was made on the cup: “Seeking strangers, destroy your own” (or: “Wishing for strangers, destroy your own”) - quite in the spirit of the ideas of the people of Kiev about their enterprising prince. “And there is this cup, and it is still kept in the treasuries of the Pecheneg princes; the princes drink from it with the princess in the chamber, when they are caught, saying this: “What was this man, his forehead is, such will be the one born of us.” Also, other warriors searched for his skulls with silver and kept them, drinking from them, ”says another legend.
Thus ended the life of Prince Svyatoslav; so ended the life of many Russian soldiers, that "young generation of Russ" that the prince took to war. Sveneld came to Kyiv to Yaropolk. The sad news was brought by the governor with the "residual people" to Kyiv. We do not know how he managed to avoid death - whether he escaped from the Pecheneg encirclement (“escaping from battle”, in the words of a later chronicler), or moved by another, overland route, leaving the prince even earlier.
According to the beliefs of the ancients, even the remains of a great warrior, and even more so of a ruler, a prince, concealed his supernatural power and strength. And now, after death, the strength and power of Svyatoslav were to serve not Rus', but its enemies, the Pechenegs.
Prince of Novgorod, Grand Duke of Kiev from 945 to 972. The famous ancient Russian commander went down in history as a prince-warrior. Karamzin called him the Russian Alexander Makednosky.
Having lived only about 30 years, the last 8 of them Svyatoslav personally led squads on campaigns. And invariably smashed stronger opponents or reached a profitable peace with them. Killed in battle.
I. Prince Svyatoslav and his time
Reign of Svyatoslav
942 as the year of birth of Svyatoslav is mentioned only by the Ipatiev list of the Tale of Bygone Years. The First Novgorod Chronicle tells about the birth of Svyatoslav, following the story of the marriage of Igor and Olga. Both of these messages are placed in that part of the annals where there are no dates at all. A little later, the date 920 appears. The chronicle connects it with Igor's first campaign against the Greeks. (PVL refers this campaign to 941.) Perhaps starting from the Novgorod Chronicle, a Russian historian of the 18th century. V. Tatishchev attributed the date of birth of Svyatoslav to 920. There are also reports in the literature that Svyatoslav was born around 940-941.
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich of Kiev was the head of the Old Russian state in 945-972. However, since by the time of the death of his father in the Drevlyane polyudye, Svyatoslav was in his 4th year, the real ruler of Rus' in 945-962 (964) years. was his mother, Princess Olga. And after Svyatoslav matured, when he began to go on his famous military campaigns, the inner life of Rus', obviously, was controlled by Olga, until her death in 969.
Svyatoslav Igorevich
on the monument "Millennium of Russia"
Svyatoslav went down in history as a warrior prince. In 964, he went with his retinue to the Volga, to the land of the Vyatichi, whom, most likely, he made his allies, freeing them from the need to pay tribute to the Khazars. In 965-966. Russian troops were already fighting in the region of the Middle and Lower Volga. As a result, such a powerful state that controlled transit trade routes as the Khazar Khaganate disappeared from the historical map, and the Volga Bulgaria was forced to pay tribute to the Kyiv prince and agree to let Russian merchants through its territory. The Russian outposts in the Great Steppe were the former Khazar Sarkel, now called Belaya Vezha, as well as the Greek trading city with a multinational population - Tamarakhta, which Russian chronicles will call Tmutarakan. Svyatoslav's invasion of the North Caucasus into the lands of the allies of Khazaria - the Alans, Yases and Kasogs - also turned out to be successful. Returning to Kyiv, Svyatoslav defeated the Vyatichi, forced them to recognize their supreme power and pay tribute to Kyiv.
Behind the Volga campaigns of 964-966. followed by two Danube campaigns of Svyatoslav in 967-971. In the course of them, Svyatoslav tried to create a huge Russian-Bulgarian kingdom with a center in Pereslavets on the Danube, which in geopolitical terms could become a serious counterbalance to the Byzantine Empire in the South-East of Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Second Danube campaign of Svyatoslav (969-971) resulted in an open clash between Rus' and the Roman Empire. During the Danube expeditions of Svyatoslav, Rus' had problems with the Pechenegs. The defeat of Khazaria contributed to the fact that the tribes of this Turkic people, who did not know statehood, finally established themselves in the steppes bordering Russia.
In 968, the Pechenegs were already besieging Kyiv. With the help of the northerners, led by the governor Pretich, the Kievans fought back, and later the Pechenegs were defeated by Prince Svyatoslav, who hastily returned from the Balkans. The siege of Kyiv by the Pechenegs aroused the displeasure of Princess Olga, the Kyiv boyars and the townspeople. For better protection of the territories subject to Kiev, Svyatoslav, after the death of his mother in 969, planted his sons in the main, in his opinion, centers at that time: Yaropolk - in Kiev, Oleg - with the Drevlyans in Ovruch, Vladimir - in Novgorod. In the future, this led to an internecine war between the brothers, and then, having arranged Rus' in this way, after mourning and burying his mother, Svyatoslav rushed off again to the Danube. For Rus', the Second Danube campaign of 969-971. ended in defeat. Svyatoslav had to give up his claims to the Danube Bulgaria. This country actually lost its independence for a while and fell under the control of Constantinople. The latter concluded peace with Kievan Rus and paid Svyatoslav a kind of "payoff" - a tribute. Upon returning to Rus', Svyatoslav died in battle with the Pechenegs on the Dnieper rapids in 972.
All historians recognize Svyatoslav Igorevich as a great commander of the early Russian Middle Ages, however, when evaluating him as a statesman, the opinions of experts differ. Some see the prince as a great politician who tried to create already in the tenth century. the vast Russian Empire, which controls the lands from the Balkans, the Volga and Black Sea steppes to the North Caucasus. For others, Svyatoslav is a talented military leader, whom the era of the Great Migration of Nations and the era of "barbarian kingdoms" knew a lot. For these leaders, war, military booty and military glory were a way of life and the limit of their thoughts. Both of these approaches to the analysis of the achievements of Prince Svyatoslav do not deny that his military achievements significantly expanded the fame of the Old Russian state and strengthened its authority, both in the East and in the West.
In our further story, we will focus on military history. Concluding a brief note on the reign of Svyatoslav as a whole, we will report on the range of sources on the basis of which scientists reconstruct the activities of this Kyiv prince. From domestic sources - this is, first of all, the Tale of Bygone Years (Ipatiev and Laurentian editions). From foreign - The history of the Byzantine author of the second half of the tenth century. Leo the Deacon, which has come down to us as part of the work of a Byzantine scholar of the late 11th - early 12th centuries. Scylitia. Two more Byzantine testimonies should also be mentioned: the History of Kedrin and the Annals of Zonara. Additional sources are messages from Arab, Khazar and Western European authors. Folklore epic material, such as ancient Russian epics and Scandinavian sagas, plays a certain role in recreating the impression of Svyatoslav's campaigns against his contemporaries.
Prince and squad
Svyatoslav's childhood and early youth passed in a retinue environment. He was, in fact, a pupil of his squad. The name of his "breadwinner" is also known - Asmud. Judging by the name, it was a Varangian, like another prominent governor - Sveneld. The latter was the head of the Kyiv squad under four rulers: Prince Igor (912-945), Regent Princess Olga (945-969), Prince Svyatoslav (945-972), Prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich (972-980).
The presence of Varangian governors at the court of the Kyiv princes in the IX-XI centuries. was commonplace. From the time of Rurik's calling, natives of Scandinavia were hired soldiers in Rus', served as princely envoys in diplomatic, judicial and commercial affairs, could sit as governors in certain areas of Kievan Rus along with representatives of the East Slavic tribal nobility (deliberate child). In addition to the Varangians, the personal retinue of the Kyiv princes included many representatives of the Polyan tribe, whose tribal center at one time was Kyiv. However, there were also warriors from other East Slavic tribes (Northerners, Drevlyans, Ilmen Slovenes, etc.), as well as Finno-Ugric peoples (“wonders”) and representatives of other ethnic groups of the East European Plain and surrounding countries. In the tenth century courage and martial arts were valued, and social differences still did not divide the country's population so much. It is no coincidence that in the first written legislation of Rus' - "Russian Pravda" for the murder of a free city dweller or a communal peasant, the same fine (vira of 40 hryvnias of silver) was due, as for the life of a "lad", i.e. an ordinary member of the princely squad. The most common diamond-shaped Kiev hryvnia, the weight of which fluctuated around 90 grams. silver, and a more stick-shaped Novgorod hryvnia weighing about 200 gr. silver.
The mentioned military teachers of the young prince Svyatoslav Asmud and Sveneld, of course, were not ordinary warriors (“youths, swordsmen, grids, children”, etc.). They belonged to the senior squad (“princely men”, “boyars” - according to one version, the origin of the term “boyar” is associated with the Slavic word “fights”). The senior squad was made up of governors and advisers to the prince. The prince sent them as ambassadors. He appointed his governors in the lands subject to him. Unlike the tribal nobility (“deliberate child”), which was associated with the land and communities, the senior squad was associated precisely with the prince. In the prince, as a source of supreme central power, men and boyars saw the source of their benefits and social power. Since the time of the grandson of Svyatoslav - Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise, the life of a representative of the senior squad was guarded by a vir in 80 hryvnias of silver.
With his husbands and boyars, the ruler kept the "thought", i.e. consulted on the most important domestic and foreign policy matters. In the IX-XI centuries. council with a squad (both older and younger), as spontaneously, in a moment of danger, a veche (city or on the scale of the army, where, in addition to the princely squad, included "howl" militias) was the limiter of princely power in the days of Kievan Rus. At the same time, councils with a squad and veche were a way to establish a social compromise in ancient Russian society, which, in turn, served as a solid support for the newborn state power.
In the early centuries of the existence of Rus', the connection between the prince and the squad was very strong. The younger squad generally lived near the prince, in his house, fed from his hands, received payment for shares in military booty, tribute, trade profits, and gifts from the prince. The princely men had their own warriors. In addition to the incomes mentioned above, they could receive the right to collect tribute in their favor from entire territories. So from the PVL we know that Prince Igor granted Sveneld the collection of tribute from part of the Drevlyane lands. This right was respected during the reign of Olga and Svyatoslav, and even in the first years after the death of Svyatoslav, until his son Oleg Drevlyansky killed his son Sveneld Luta, believing that Luta Sveneldich's hunting in the Drevlyansk forests violated his rights as ruler of the entire Drevlyansky land.
As we have already reported, Russian chronicles say that Svyatoslav grew up among the squad. According to ancient custom, a noble boy (prince, son of a “deliberate child” or princely husbands) “turned into a man” at 3 years old. It was at this age that the “monasteries” took place, a symbolic holiday, when the boy’s hair was cut for the first time (a lock was cut off), he was transferred from the female half of the house to the male half, the father gave his son a horse and children’s weapons. This weapon differed from the present only in size and weight. The prince's son also relied on a "breadwinner", i.e. an educator, who most often was one of the boyars of his father. But it could also be an experienced devoted "lad", a member of the younger squad, who could well turn out to be a princely slave. But this, of course, was not an ordinary slave. His social status and position could be very high, and upon the death of the owner or the age of majority of the pupil, he gained complete freedom, remaining in the closest and noblest environment of the prince. Asmud was directly involved in the upbringing of Svyatoslav, and the life of the boy was surrounded by retinue life.
When reconstructing the appearance of the princely squad of the 9th-11th centuries, historians rely partially on chronicle reports, but the main source is archaeological material: finds of weapons and weapons in battlefields or in settlements, military things from mounds and other burials of pagan times.
Under the first Russian princes, their personal squad (without the Varangians called up “from across the sea”, who, under Oleg, Igor, Svyatoslav, Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise, were regularly called for this or that campaign; and without militia soldiers, the so-called “wars” from free citizens and rural residents) ranged from 200 to 500 people. Most of the warriors were of East Slavic origin. Domestic historians L. Klein, G. Lebedev, V. Nazarenko, on the basis of a study of the archaeological material from the burial mound, concluded that non-Slavic warriors were in the princely squad of the 10th century. approximately 27% of its composition. The non-Slavic contingent was made up of people from the Scandinavian, Finno-Ugric, Leto-Lithuanian, Turkic, Iranian ethnic groups. Moreover, the Scandinavians-Varangians accounted for 4-5% of the total number of princely combatants. (Klein L., Lebedev G., Nazarenko V. Norman antiquities of Kievan Rus at the present stage of archaeological research. History of relations between Scandinavia and Russia (IX - XX centuries). - L., 1970. S. 239 -246, 248-251 ).
The squad was not only the core of the prince's army. The combatants also carried out various assignments, including economic ones at the court of the prince and in his state. They could be judges, messengers, tribute collectors, etc.
Loyalty to the prince, courage, martial arts and physical strength, as well as the ability to give practical advice to the prince - these are the virtues that were cultivated in the squad environment. However, if the combatant was a free man, he could leave the service, go to another prince. Of course, this did not concern the slave warriors. While the trade route "From the Varangians to the Greeks", which connected Western European countries with Byzantium and other countries of the developed East, was of great international importance, the main wealth of the ancient Russian elite stemmed from income from this trade artery. The Old Russian merchant is, first of all, a warrior who, being a commercial agent of the Kyiv prince, comes in accordance with the Russian-Byzantine treaties of 911 and 944. with a princely letter to Tsargrad, sells there a part of the tribute collected by the prince in polyudye (furs, honey, wax, servants) and buys expensive weapons, expensive fabrics (linings, brocade), jewelry, wine, fruits and other things that are marketed in the princely -druzhina and urban environment in Russia or are transported for further sale to Western European states.
In the tenth century it did not make sense for the warriors to leave Kyiv and its ruler. The Kiev prince controlled all trade along the path "From the Varangians to the Greeks." He also acted as a leader in campaigns against neighboring countries. In case of victory, he rewarded the combatants with their shares in military booty. The Kiev prince led the consolidation of the East Slavic lands and part of the tribute, the tax collected by the prince during the polyud, also turned out to be the property of the squad. Other income except military booty, tribute, princely gifts and part of trade profits in the tenth century. representatives of the senior and junior teams did not have. The land holdings of the Russian nobility (patrimonies) will begin to form in Rus' only from the end of the 11th, in the 12th-beginning of the 13th centuries. The “settlement to the ground” of the princes and the senior squad will be facilitated by the decrease in the significance of the path “From the Varangians to the Greeks”. This will happen due to the opening by the western crusaders of a short sea road from Europe to the Levant (the eastern coast of the Mediterranean), and also because of the “contamination” of the lower reaches of the Dnieper by the Polovtsians, hostile to Rus'.
Judging by the burial mounds of the 10th century, initially the main armor of the ancient Russian princely combatant was simple ringed armor, better known as chain mail. Somewhat later, simple chain mail began to be strengthened with scaly armor located on top of chain mail. Only at the end of the XII century. other types of armor appeared that were worn over chain mail (shells, mirrors, etc.). The arms and legs of the combatants were covered with bracers and greaves. They were made of durable leather with metal scales. In contrast to the pot-shaped Scandinavian helmet, a conical helmet was widespread in Rus', which was also widely known in eastern countries. It ended with a sharp pommel. Gradually, such helmets began to be supplemented with nose guards and aventail, chain mail protection that covered the neck, descending to the shoulders. Among the Varangians, the so-called "masks" and "half-masks" were widespread, covering the face or part of it. The shields of the ancient Russian warriors were of two shapes - round and tear-shaped. The shields were made of wood, but had an iron or leather edging. In the center of the shield was "umbon", a metal bowl. It could be round or conical.
The weapon of a warrior depended on whether he was a lightly armed or heavily armed infantryman or horseman. A lightly armed warrior on foot had a bow, a quiver with arrows, 2-3 darts (“sulits”), a sword or an ax and a shield. His heavily armed brother wielded a shield, spear, sword or axe. The riders were also lightly armed or heavily armed. Light cavalry were armed with bows and arrows, shields, battle axes, swords, and sometimes sabers. Heavy - had spears, shields, swords. In general, the armament of the ancient Russian warriors was influenced by neighbors who served the Russian princes or, on the contrary, were their opponents. From the Scandinavians, Russian (Slavic) warriors borrowed the favorite weapon of the northern Germans - a battle ax and a long, double-edged sword. From the eastern steppes - a saber.
The total weight of the combatant's weapons in the 10th century. did not exceed 13-20 kg.
The princely retinue and the Vikings invited "from across the sea" often moved on boats - "dragons". The bow of the ship was decorated with a dragon's head. The Greeks called these ships "monoxyls" (one-trees). Scientists believe that their keel was made from a single tree trunk. Such a boat could take on board up to 40 people, plus a supply of food and goods. The small draft of the vessel made it possible to walk in shallow water, both in the seas and in the rivers. Having unloaded the ship, it could be dragged from one water body to another. Usually the boat was rolled on logs or placed on wooden wheels. Without current repairs in one season, the "monoxyl" could cover from 1500 to 2000 km. He sailed and rowed and was undoubtedly the best European ship in the 9th-11th centuries.
The warriors fought on foot, but there were also cavalry formations of the squad and the Varangians. The Slavic “howls” from the militia, who, in addition to the squads, gathered to participate in large campaigns, preferred to fight on foot. Voi, in accordance with the military traditions developed back in the pre-state era, united in regiments by tribes and advanced "in droves". Voi also liked to arrange ambushes. The military system of the wars appeared later than the tenth century. Yes, and the tactics of combatants in the tenth century. often resembled the sum of numerous personal duels on the battlefield. Close combat often turned into hand-to-hand combat, where both knives and fists were already used.
The enemy army in Rus' until the XIV century. was called "army". The phrase "army warrior" meant an enemy warrior.
Very often the battle opened with a duel of the best fighters. In pre-Mongolian Rus', they were called “braves”, the word “hero” is of Mongolian origin and appeared in the Russian lexicon in the 13th century. The duel of the brave had a sacred connotation: they wondered which side the gods and fate were on. Sometimes the defeat of one's "brave" led to the abandonment of the battle, the retreat, and even the flight of the whole army. But more often this did not happen, and archers entered the battle. They bombarded the enemy with arrows. There was no serious damage to the enemy from this, but the archers irritated the enemy and cheered up their own. When the parties approached, lightly armed foot soldiers threw javelins. Then everyone rushed forward, wanting to overturn the enemy and put him to flight. It was during the flight of the enemy that his greatest extermination was observed. Heavily armed foot warriors advanced in more or less formation. They lined up in three or more rows, closed their shields, put their spears forward, forming a kind of “wall”. The cavalry supported the foot squad. They could deliver effective blows from the flanks, the cavalry strike at the end of the battle turned out to be even more destructive, when the enemy was weakening and was ready to retreat. During the battle, individual warriors tried to break through to the leader of the "military", kill or injure him, at worst knock over the banner or other symbols of the enemy.
All these wisdoms of military tactics and strategy of his century by the age of 20-22 were perfectly known to Prince Svyatoslav. Judging by his actions and speeches recorded in historical sources, the only measure of his decisions was the opinion of the squad. It is no coincidence that the proposal of the mother of Princess Olga, who converted to Christianity during her visit to Constantinople in 955 (or 957), was refused to be baptized with the explanation: “The squad will laugh!” Svyatoslav himself did not prevent his subjects from being baptized, only, as the chronicle reports, he laughed at them. One of the main ideals of the prince was the glory of a selflessly brave warrior who never betrayed the squad traditions: “... and walked easily, like a pardus,” the chronicler writes about Svyatoslav, “he gathered many soldiers. He did not take carts or cauldrons on campaigns, did not boil meat, but thinly cut up horsemeat, animal or beef, baked it on coals and eat it. He did not have a tent, he slept on the ground, spreading a sweatshirt and with a saddle in his head. All his warriors were like that. Going on a campaign, he sent to say: I'm going to you!
Svyatoslav fought his first battle as a prince in 946. Then his mother Olga moved the Kiev army against the Drevlyans, who were responsible for the death of her husband, Prince Igor. The regiments stood in the field opposite each other. Four-year-old Svyatoslav Igorevich threw a dart towards the enemy. The spear flew between the horse's ears and fell at her feet. “Svyatoslav was painfully small,” the chronicler noted and continued: “And Sveneld [voivode] and Asmud [breadwinner] said: “The prince has already begun; let's follow, squad, for the prince! Kievans won a complete victory.
In 964, the already matured Svyatoslav set off at the head of a large army on his first real campaign against the Volga, so that he could fight incessantly for the rest of his life (8 years).
II. Campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav on the Volga
Hike to the Vyatichi
Svyatoslav's campaigns on the Volga were explained by several reasons. The main geopolitical opponent of Rus' at that moment was Khazaria. Firstly, for a long time (from the 7th to the 9th centuries) she took regular tribute from the southern and eastern edges of the East Slavic world: from the Drevlyans, Northerners, Polyans, Vyatichi. Vyatichi, as we learn from the PVL, and by 964 remained tributaries of the Khazars, while others were freed from tribute by Askold and Dir and the founder of the Kyiv state, Prince Oleg of Novgorod. However, the Khazars were not ready to give up the old custom so easily. In addition, they, being the biggest rival of Byzantium in trade affairs, interfered with Russian-Byzantine trade - the basis of all trade enterprises of Rus' on the way "From the Varangians to the Greeks." All this was supposed to push the rulers of Kievan Rus to war with the Khazars. Such wars went on with varying success under Oleg and Igor.
By the way, the last clash between the Rus and the Khazars before the campaigns of Svyatoslav turned out to be unsuccessful. In 941, on the Volga, within the Turkic borders, the country of the Volga Bulgars, Khazars and Burtases, the army of Prince Igor perished. As a true son of his time, Svyatoslav had to remember the sacred duty of an avenger for the insults of his father. Historians can only guess what reason - a thirst for revenge or the thought of control over the Great Volga trade route, was more important for Svyatoslav when he was working out the plan to strike at Khazaria. From a military strategic point of view, his plan turned out to be an example of perfection. Svyatoslav will always be inherent in offensive actions. However, in 964, he refused a direct attack on Khazaria through the Volga-Don interfluve, choosing a detour. He moved to the northeast. Climbing up the Desna River, Svyatoslav dragged his boats to the upper reaches of the Oka and ended up in the land of the Vyatichi.
Vyatichi were a warlike union of tribes, while they were the most "primitive" among the Eastern Slavs. Having once come under the leadership of the legendary Vyatka from the west (from the lands that became Poland in the future), the Vyatichi in the impenetrable forest wilds with the harsh natural and climatic conditions of the Volga-Oka interfluve lost the skills of developed agriculture. Vyatichi began to live, like the surrounding Finno-Ugric peoples, mainly by crafts: hunting, fishing, gathering. They were not averse to attacking and robbing merchants and other visiting travelers who found themselves in their possessions. At one time, the Kiev prince Oleg (880-912) forced the Vyatichi people to recognize their supremacy and obliged them to pay tribute to Kyiv. However, in accordance with the tribal mentality, the Vyatichi did not believe that they were part of the Kyiv state. They considered themselves in personal dependence on Oleg, the winner of their princes. With the death of Oleg, they considered their relationship with Kiev ended, and the Kyiv prince Igor (912-945) had to convince them of the opposite with a sword. With the death of Igor, history repeated itself.
Until 964, the Vyatichi were independent, and Svyatoslav went to prove his seniority. This was part of that great internal policy of consolidating all the East Slavic tribes around Kiev, which was started by Oleg, the founder of the Old Russian state, and completed by one of the brightest princes of the heyday of united Rus' - Vladimir the Red Sun (980-1015).
From the point of view of Svyatoslav's foreign policy intentions, it was risky to fight the Khazar Khaganate, leaving in his rear the recalcitrant and warlike Vyatichi, tributaries, and, consequently, the formal allies of Khazaria.
Numerous regiments of Svyatoslav appeared in the lands of the Vyatichi in 964. Both sides showed diplomatic abilities. Vyatichi did not dare to fight. And Svyatoslav, who was inclined to decide everything with a sword, this time went to negotiations. He did not demand tribute from the Vyatichi, as his predecessors did. The Kiev prince simply made it clear to the Vyatichi that his war with the Khazars freed them for a time or forever from the need to pay tribute to the Khazars, and the Vyatichi let Svyatoslav's squads pass through their possessions.
Along the Volga, Svyatoslav in 965 moved to Khazaria, which did not expect a blow from Rus' from the north.
Khazaria. Brief historical background
The state of the Khazars arose due to the process of the Great Migration of Peoples, which swept Europe and Asia in the II-XIII centuries. In the course of it, the Turkic peoples, which include the Khazars, created an extensive Türg Khaganate. However, it turned out to be an unstable association, and in the 7th century, during the collapse of its western part, the Khazar state was formed. At that time, the Khazars controlled the steppe expanses of the Lower Volga region and the eastern part of the North Caucasus. The capital of Khazaria was originally the city of Semender in Dagestan, and from the beginning of the 8th century. - Itil on the Lower Volga. They depended on the Khazars from the second half of the 7th century. tribes of Savirs, Yasses and Kasogs living in the North Caucasus, from the 10th century. - residents of Caucasian Albania, in the 7th-10th centuries. Azov Bulgars.
Relatives of the latter - the Bulgars, who settled on the Middle Volga, led in the VIII-IX centuries. fight against Khazar domination. By the beginning of the tenth century Volga Bulgaria was quite autonomous from Itil. The Bulgars converted to Islam and sought an alliance with the eternal enemies of Khazaria, the Arabs. In 922, the ambassador of the Baghdad caliph Susanna al-Rasi arrived in Bulgaria. The Arab scientist Ibn Fadlan, who was his secretary, left his notes on the Volga Bulgaria. They contain the famous story about the funeral of a noble Russian on the Volga. Some scholars see Ibn Fadlan's "Ruses" as a description of East Slavic merchant warriors. The majority of researchers tend to consider the "Rus" of Ibn Fadlan to be Scandinavian warrior-merchants who arrived in Bulgaria for bargaining. By the middle of the tenth century. Volga Bulgaria was already actually a state independent of the Khazars.
Another part of the Turkic nomadic people of the Bulgars, a union of tribes led by Khan Asparuh, at the end of the 7th century. moved to the Danube. Here Asparuh, having united with the South Slavic tribes, entered the struggle for the Balkan territories with the Byzantine Empire.
However, all these difficulties in communicating with the Bulgars did not prevent Khazaria by the beginning of the 8th century. to become a huge and powerful state. In addition to the Caspian and Black Sea steppes to the Dnieper, it included the entire North Caucasus, most of the Crimea. The population was predominantly nomadic and Turkic, but there were also Indo-European tribes, in particular, the Iranian-speaking Alans, who led a sedentary lifestyle in the Don-Donetsk interfluve. Initially nomadic pastoralists, the Khazars, however, quickly realized that the organization of transit international trade brings much more income. During the establishment of transit trade, cities arose in Khazaria, where, in addition to trade, handicraft began to develop, and gardening flourished in the urban environs.
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| Khazaria and neighboring countries in the X century. |
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The religion of the majority of the Khazars was and remained paganism. The Khazars worshiped many gods, and their main deity was the sky god Tengri. The head of state, the kagan, was associated by the Khazars with the manifestation of patronage of Tengri on earth. The Khazars believed that the true kagan possessed the so-called "kut'om", a special vitality that ensures the prosperity of all the Khazars. In case of failures, the Khazars could decide that their kagan was “untrue”, kill and replace him. Such an interpretation of the kagan gradually turned him from a real ruler into a sacral demigod powerless in real politics, whose personal fate depended on the state of domestic and foreign political affairs of the state.
However, the elite headed by the tsar and the sacred head of state, the kagan, changed their confessional preferences twice. As controllers of the steppe international trade routes, the Khazars turned out to be competitors of the Arabs. In 735, the Arabs invaded Khazaria and defeated the Khazar Khaganate. For the sake of peace, the Kagan and his entourage accepted Islam for a short time, which did not spread among the mass of the population of Khazaria. Within Khazaria, when organizing transit trade, Jewish merchants, connected with the Jewish diaspora around the world, played an increasingly important role, which to a large extent contributed to the establishment of their international trade relations by the Kaganate. Under the influence of Jewish merchants, the kagan and the entire Khazar elite converted to Judaism. Obadiy, the kagan of the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries, declared Judaism the state religion of Khazaria, but most of the Khazar nomads, simple subjects of the kagan and the king, remained pagans.
Under the influence of trade relations with Byzantium, part of the urban population adopted Christianity. In the 8th century The Patriarchate of Constantinople even opened 7 dioceses in Khazaria. However, initially the allied relations of the Khazars with the Romans on the basis of joint opposition to the Arabs, in the 9th-10th centuries. developed into competition on trade routes and foreign policy enmity, which, of course, did not contribute to the spread of Christianity among the Khazars in these centuries.
The Roman Empire, interested in undermining the trading power of Khazaria, gradually set the wild nomads surrounding it against the Kaganate, in particular, the Pechenegs, who from the east put pressure on the Khazar borders, trying to break into the Black Sea steppes. By the end of the ninth century they succeeded. Not knowing statehood, warlike and independent of each other, the Pecheneg unions of tribes made their way through the Khazar possessions and began to populate the steppes of the Lower Dnieper, displacing from there to the Danube, the Magyars who had settled for a while near the Dnieper.
Relations with the Khazaria of the East Slavic world before the formation of the state of Rus were contradictory. As we have already mentioned, part of the Eastern Slavs paid tribute to the Khazars for 200 years. However, since the Khazars allowed all their tributaries to trade, which was conducted and controlled by the kaganate, the meadows, northerners, and drevlyans were partially drawn into it, which, judging by the archaeological excavations, contributed to their socio-economic development. Separate military and trade expeditions of the Scandinavian Varangians, looking for trade routes leading from Northern Europe to Byzantium and to the East through the East Slavic and Finno-Ugric lands, judging by the archaeological material, began in the 9th and continued into the 10th centuries. However, the Great Volga route turned out to be difficult and inaccessible for the Varangians, because the Volga Bulgaria and the Khazar Khaganate strictly guarded their monopoly on it. After the formation of the state of Rus, the liberation of the Eastern Slavs from the Khazar tribute became one of the main tasks of the Kievan princes. "Trading, city, Dnieper, Kievan Rus", as it was defined in the IX-XI centuries. IN. Klyuchevsky, turned out to be a competitor of Khazaria in international transit trade, which also led to an aggravation of Russian-Khazar relations. The internal weakening of Khazaria, clearly noticeable by the middle of the 10th century, attracted the attention of the Kyiv rulers to it, and from the point of view of military booty, the usual companion of victorious medieval wars.
A more detailed history of Khazaria can be found in the works of historians M.I. Artamonova, S.A. Pletneva, P.B. Golden and others.
The campaign against the Volga Bulgaria and the defeat of Khazaria
The invasion of Khazaria by troops led by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav from the north was unexpected for the Kaganate. However, for a long time the Khazar rulers realized the threat from the Rus. In the middle of the X century. The Khazar king Joseph wrote to Hasadai ibn Shafrut, the minister of Abdarrahman III of the Umayyad Caliph of Spain: "I live at the entrance to the river [Volga] and do not let the Rus." Joseph was looking for allies among the Muslim rulers and wanted to present the matter in such a way that his control over the Lower Volga steppes was also the protection of Muslim interests. A little later, the Khazars tried to get help from Central Asian Khorezm.
But by the mid-960s. little that could save Khazaria. She was exhausted in conflicts with the Arabs and the Byzantines. Attempts to find a compromise with part of the Arab world were ephemeral. Its borders cracked from the onslaught of the Pecheneg Turks. Clashes with Russia and even individual victories over the Russians only prepared a decisive onslaught of the young growing Russian state against the decrepit Khazar Khaganate.
The Tale of Bygone Years very briefly outlines the events associated with the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate by Svyatoslav.
“In the year 6473 (965). Svyatoslav went to the Khazars. Having heard, the Khazars went out to meet them, led by their prince kagan, and agreed to fight, and in the war with them Svyatoslav the Khazars defeated them and took their city of Belaya Vezha. And he defeated the yas and kasogs, and came to Kyiv.
From another source, reports of a contemporary of the events of the Arab geographer Ibn Haukal, we know that before attacking Khazaria, Svyatoslav fought with the Volga Bulgaria, defeated its troops, took a lot of booty. Many cities, in particular Bulgar, were devastated. Having overcome the Bulgars, according to Ibn Haukal, the prince of Kiev moved deep into Khazaria. The dating of Svyatoslav's campaign against Bulgaria and Khazaria by Ibn Haukal does not correspond to the PVL. The Arab scholar attributes the campaigns to 358 AH according to the Muslim calendar, which falls on November 25, 968 - November 13, 969. according to the account from the birth of Christ.
“... and the Rus came to Kharasan, Samandar and Itil in the year 358...,” writes Ibn Haukal, “And al-Khazar is a side, and there is a city in it called Samandar (the old capital of Khazaria in the North Caucasus), and ... were in there are numerous gardens ... but the Russians came there and there were no grapes or raisins left in that city. (Kalinina T.M. Ancient Rus' and the countries of the East in the 10th century. Abstract of Candidate of Dissertation. M., 1976. P. 6).
The same evil fate befell the new capital of the Khazars, Itil on the Lower Volga. According to the hypothesis of the famous specialist in the history of Khazaria M.I. Artamonov, Svyatoslav's troops floated down the Volga in boats, and Itil fell before the Russians dragged their ships to the Don. Itil was literally wiped off the face of the earth. Another large Khazar city, Sarkel on the Don, had a different fate. The Russians of Svyatoslav captured it and turned it into their fortress. Even the name of the city was preserved. It was simply translated into Russian. “Sarkel” means “White Tower”, i.e. tower in Russian For a long time, a Russian garrison settled in Belaya Vezha, and the city itself turned out to be the most important center of Russian influence on the expanses of the Great Steppe. At the same time, Svyatoslav took control of Tmutarakan. So Russian sources called one of the most ancient cities of the Taman Peninsula. In ancient times it was called Hermonassa, the Byzantine Greeks knew it as Tamatarhu, and the Khazars as Samkerts. Now on the site of the city, the village of Taman. Apparently, in Tmutarakan, even before the invasion of Svyatoslav into Khazaria, there was a detachment of Russ. After 965 and until the XII century. Tmutarakan becomes a strong autonomous Russian possession in Taman. It competes with the Byzantine cities in the Crimea, both geopolitically and commercially.
Having taken the largest Khazar centers on the Lower Volga, Don and Taman, Svyatoslav attacked the Yases and Kasogs in the North Caucasus, previously subject to the Khazars. These tribes were also defeated.
Given the inconsistency in dates between the PVL and Arab sources, a number of historians admit the possibility of the existence of not one campaign of Svyatoslav against Khazaria, but two. The first, as stated in the PVL, took place in 965. During it, Svyatoslav destroyed some of the main centers of Khazaria and established himself in others. In the second, which, as Ibn Haukal reports, could fall on 968 - the beginning of 969 (after the hasty return of the prince from his First Danube campaign of 967-968 due to news of the siege of Kiev by the Pechenegs), Svyatoslav finally took control Caspian possessions of the Khazars. The Russians got huge military booty (material values, cattle, captive slaves). The trading elite of the Kaganate was brought to Kiev - Jewish merchants, Khazars and Jews by origin, who were compactly settled in the Russian capital, which is why later one of the gates in Kiev was called Zhidovsky. (The word "Jew" in Russian until the 19th century meant a person professing Judaism.)
In domestic historiography, the opinion prevails that after the defeat of Khazaria by Svyatoslav, the Khazar Kaganate, as a state, ceased to exist. However, a specialist in Khazaria A.P. Novoseltsev suggests that in a small area in the Lower Volga, the Khazar state existed as early as the 90s of the 10th century, although we cannot say anything specific about its territory (Novoseltsev A.P. The Khazar state and its role in the history of Eastern Europe and Caucasus, Moscow, 1990). The inhabitants of this Khazaria converted to Islam, and the Khazar state was finally liquidated during the next wave of migrations associated with the Great Migration of the Asian steppe peoples in 1050-1160. The breakthrough of the Turks-Kypchaks (Polovtsy) forced the last Khazars to flee to the Central Asian Islamic states. In the Lower Volga region, the influence of the Volga Bulgaria and the Polovtsian Steppe was strengthened.
One way or another, but in the 960s. the defeat of Khazaria brought Svyatoslav and his state great fame and wealth. Returning home, Svyatoslav went through the lands of the Vyatichi again. Now he already demanded from them the recognition of their seniority and tribute, to which the Vyatichi were forced to agree. The international prestige of Rus' and its territory grew. Byzantine sources do not tell us anything about the wars of Svyatoslav with the Khazars, but from the Greek chronicles it is known that at that moment the Roman Empire, one of the most powerful and civilized empires of the medieval world, sought to maintain good allied relations with Russia, and at the same time expand its territorial dominance hands of the brave Russian "archon" and his warriors.
III. Danube campaigns of Svyatoslav
"Diplomatic games" around the Danube Bulgaria
In 967, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Foka sent his ambassador, the noble patrician Kalokir, to Kyiv. Having richly endowed the prince and his entourage, the emperor, apparently, offered Svyatoslav, for a large tribute, to conquer the Danube Bulgaria for Byzantium.
This country was formed on the European political map during the Great Migration of Nations. Unlike the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire (Romaic Empire, aka Byzantium) survived. In the VI century. a stream of South Slavic settlers poured into its northern Danubian and Balkan territories. “The whole country was glorified,” the Greek chroniclers stated. In the 7th century On the Danube, an Union of seven South Slavic tribes arose, which began a struggle with Byzantium for independence. It was with this union that the aforementioned Bulgar khan Asparukh, who migrated to the Balkans from the Volga, united. According to L.N. Gumilyov, the real Turks among the subjects of Asparukh were only his inner circle and the nobility. The rest of Asparuh's nomads were Turkic-speaking Magyars. In 681, Asparuh, at the head of the Slavic-Bulgarian army, defeated Emperor Constantine IV and forced him not only to recognize the independence of part of the Balkan lands, but also to pay an annual tribute. Thus was born the First Bulgarian Kingdom, which existed until 1018. The nomads were soon assimilated by the Slavs, who greatly outnumbered them. From the Horde of Asparuh, only the name of the country remained - Bulgaria, and the first ruling dynasty, leading from the Bulgar Khan. At the time of its greatest prosperity, Danubian Bulgaria occupied most of the Balkan Peninsula, its possessions were washed by three seas. Neighborhood with Byzantium gave rise not only to struggle, but also to beneficial cultural influence. In the reign of Boris I (852-889), Greek monks, natives of Thessaloniki Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet and writing. This happened in 863, and in 865 Bulgaria adopted Christianity. The Old Bulgarian language formed the basis of the written Old Slavonic language, it was in it that the Old Russian “Tale of Bygone Years” was written. Under Simeon the Great (893-927), the "golden age of Bulgarian literature" began. The first Bulgarian kingdom reached its maximum territorial size.
However, the endless confrontation with the Roman Empire and internal unrest (in particular, strife between orthodox Christians and Bogomils) undermined the power of Bulgaria. In the reign of Peter I (927-969), Bulgaria began to decline, and Byzantium decided that it was time to take revenge. Meanwhile, the wars of the Empire with the Arabs diverted its forces from resolving the Bulgarian issue, so Nikifor Fok and thought that the involvement of the winner of Khazaria Svyatoslav in the defeat of the Danube Bulgaria was a profitable move.
The defeat of Danube Bulgaria by Svyatoslav
Svyatoslav Igorevich agreed. And his 10,000-strong army marched southwest from Kyiv. The warriors and howls rafted down the Dnieper, went to the Black Sea and soon found themselves within the Bulgarian borders. This turned out to be a complete surprise for the Bulgarian Tsar Peter. He put up an army superior to the forces of the Rus, but was defeated. Peter decided to turn to his former enemies, the Byzantines, for help. But this did not help, because soon the tsar himself, his son-heir Boris and all the royal household became prisoners of the prince of Rus' Svyatoslav. PVL reports Svyatoslav's new victories very briefly:
“In the year 6475 (967). Svyatoslav went to the Danube against the Bulgarians. And they fought, and Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians, and took eighty cities along the Danube, and sat down to reign there in Pereyaslavets, taking tribute from the Greeks.
But from this remark of the chronicler it follows that Svyatoslav received the Byzantine payment for the defeat of the Bulgarians, and was in no hurry to leave the Danube. As the subsequent development of events showed, Svyatoslav conceived the creation of his empire, which was to stretch from Belaya Vezha and Tmutorakan to the Balkans. Svyatoslav, apparently, was going to make the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube its capital.
Such a turn of events meant a real catastrophe for the foreign policy of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Phocas. For her, he paid with his life and throne. The cousin of Nicephorus Foki, the famous Roman commander John Tzimisces, staged a coup, killed his brother, and was himself proclaimed emperor. John was to oust Svyatoslav from the Danube, fighting with the newborn Russian-Bulgarian alliance.
The siege of Kyiv by the Pechenegs in 968
Meanwhile, the Pechenegs said their first “word” hostile to Rus'. Having defeated Khazaria, Svyatoslav himself helped to make the Pechenegs the masters in the Black Sea steppes. Perhaps the first Pecheneg attack on Rust in 968 was connected with secret Byzantine diplomacy. It could also be an independent action of the Pechenegs, to whom Kyiv, left after the departure of Svyatoslav's troops to Bulgaria without serious protection, seemed an easy prey.
The Russian chronicles tell much more about the siege of Kyiv by the nomads and about subsequent events than about the wars of Svyatoslav with the Vyatichi, Volga Bulgaria and Danube Bulgaria. Let us give the floor to Nestor, the alleged author of The Tale of Bygone Years:
“In the year 6476 (968). The Pechenegs came to the Russian land for the first time, and Svyatoslav was then in Pereyaslavets. And Olga locked herself with her grandchildren - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir in the city of Kyiv. And the Pechenegs besieged the city with a great force: there were countless of them around the city, and it was impossible to leave the city, nor to send, and people were exhausted from hunger and thirst. And people from the opposite side of the Dnieper gathered in boats and stood on the other side, and it was impossible for any of them to get into Kyiv, nor from the city to them. And people in the city began to grieve and said: “Is there anyone who could get over to the other side and tell them: if you don’t approach the city in the morning, we will surrender to the Pechenegs.” And one youth said: "I can pass." The townspeople rejoiced and said to the youth: "If you know how to get through, go." He left the city, holding a bridle, and went through the Pechenegs' camp, asking them: "Did anyone see a horse?" For he knew the Pecheneg language, and they took him for their own. And when he approached the river, then, throwing off his clothes, he rushed into the Dnieper and swam. Seeing this, the Pechenegs rushed after him, shot at him, but could not do anything to him. The same people noticed him from the other side, rode up to him in a boat, took him in a boat and brought him to the squad. And the youth said to them: “If you don’t approach the city early tomorrow morning, then people will surrender to the Pechenegs.” Their governor, named Pretich, said: “Let's go tomorrow in the boats and, having taken the princess and princes with us, we will dash to this shore. If we do not do this, then Svyatoslav will destroy us. And the next morning, close to dawn, they got into the boats and blew loudly, and the people in the city shouted. The Pechenegs, on the other hand, decided that the prince had come, and fled from the city in all directions. And Olga went out with her grandchildren and people to the boats. The Pecheneg prince, seeing this, returned alone to the governor Pretich and asked: “Who did this come?” And he answered him: “The people of the other side<Днепра>". The Pecheneg prince asked: "Aren't you a prince?" Pretich answered: “I am his husband, I came with the vanguard, and behind me there are countless warriors.” He said so to scare them. The prince of the Pechenegs said to Pretich: "Be my friend." He replied: "It will be so." And they gave each other hands, and gave the Pecheneg prince Pretich a horse, a saber and arrows. The same gave him chain mail, a shield and a sword. And the Pechenegs retreated from the city, and it was impossible to water the horse: the Pechenegs stood on Lybid. And the people of Kiev sent to Svyatoslav with the words: “You, prince, are looking for someone else’s land and take care of it, but you will lose yours, because we were almost taken by the Pechenegs, and your mother and your children. If you do not come and protect us, then they will take us. Don't you feel sorry for your fatherland, your old mother, your children? Hearing this, Svyatoslav with his retinue quickly mounted his horses and returned to Kyiv; he greeted his mother and children and lamented about what he had suffered from the Pechenegs. And he gathered the soldiers, and drove the Pechenegs into the steppe, and peace came.
In the year 6477 (969). Svyatoslav said to his mother and his boyars: “I don’t like to sit in Kiev, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube, because there is the middle of my land, all the blessings flow there: from the Greek land - curtains, gold, wine, various fruits, from the Czech Republic and from Hungary silver and horses, from Russia furs, and wax, and honey, and slaves. Olga answered him: “Don't you see - I'm sick; where do you want to go from me? Because she's already sick. And she said: "When you bury me, go wherever you want." Three days later Olga died, and her son, and her grandchildren, and all the people wept for her with great weeping, and they carried her and buried her in the chosen place. Olga, however, bequeathed not to perform feasts for her, since she had a priest with her - he buried blessed Olga. She was the harbinger of the Christian land, like the morning star before the sun, like the dawn before dawn...
In the year 6478 (970). Svyatoslav planted Yaropolk in Kyiv, and Oleg with the Drevlyans. At that time, the Novgorodians came, asking for a prince: "If you do not go to us, then we will get ourselves a prince." And Svyatoslav said to them: “And who would go to you?” And Yaropolk and Oleg refused. And Dobrynya said: "Ask Vladimir." Vladimir was from Malusha, the benevolent Olga. Malusha was Dobrynya's sister; their father was Malk Lubechanin, and Dobrynya was Vladimir's uncle. And the Novgorodians said to Svyatoslav: "Give us Vladimir." And the Novgorodians took Vladimir to themselves, and Vladimir went with Dobrynya, his uncle, to Novgorod, and Svyatoslav to Pereyaslavets.
The second Danube campaign of Svyatoslav, 969-971
Having divided the Russian land into 3 regions in 969 and handing them over to the care of his sons, Svyatoslav departed for Bulgaria. The idea of a Russo-Bulgarian state did little to inspire the Bulgarians. In the absence of the Russian prince, they took possession of Pereyaslavets on the Danube, and when Svyatoslav returned to this "capital" of his, the Bulgarians went out to fight him. At the beginning of the battle, the Bulgarians even managed to push the Rus, but the victory still remained with Svyatoslav. After the death of Tsar Peter, his son Boris II became the ruler of Bulgaria. The new king was forced to recognize himself as a vassal of Svyatoslav.
All this provoked a big war with Byzantium. True to himself, Svyatoslav himself attacked the Greeks. At the head of the Russian infantry and Bulgarian cavalry, led by Tsar Boris II and Sveneld, Svyatoslav attacked the Byzantine "valley of roses", occupied Philippopolis (Plovdiev), inhabited mainly by Bulgarians. According to the Byzantine historian Leo Deacon, Svyatoslav executed 20,000 prisoners here, wanting to break the desire of the locals to support the Byzantine emperor.
Through Adrianople, the Russian prince intended to get to Constantinople. He sent a message to the Greeks: "I want to go against you and take your capital, as well as this city (Philippopolis)." The Greeks entered into negotiations, during which they tried to find out the size of Svyatoslav's army. The Russian prince demanded tribute for 20 thousand soldiers, although in reality he had fewer fighters. Negotiations allowed John Tzimisces to gather an army that outnumbered the forces of Svyatoslav. Near Adrianople, the Byzantine commander Varda Sklir defeated Svyatoslav. Detachments of hired Hungarians and Pechenegs, who joined the Second Danube campaign of Svyatoslav, chose to leave it. However, the affairs of John Tzimiskes did not go entirely smoothly. In Asia, Varda Fok rebelled against him; to suppress him, John went to a truce with Svyatoslav.
Having defeated the rebels, in the spring of 971 the emperor crossed the Balkans and invaded Bulgaria controlled by Svyatoslav. John Tzimisces led 30,000 infantry and 15,000 horsemen. After a two-day siege, the Greeks took Pereslavets (Preslav). The Russian governor Sveneld, who was sitting there with a retinue, a valiant man and of enormous growth, according to the description of Leo the Deacon, was forced to retreat to Svyatoslav, who was then in Dorostol on the Danube. The fall of Preslav caused a departure from the alliance with Svyatoslav of the city of Pliska and other Bulgarian fortresses.
Soon Svyatoslav with a thinned army was locked up in Dorostol. Emperor John Tzimiskes, according to the testimony of the historian Leo the Deacon, a direct participant in the siege of Dorostol, ordered his soldiers to build a fortified camp near Dorostol, surrounded by a rampart and a moat. Relying on him, the Byzantines fought with the "Scythians". So, according to the Byzantine tradition, Leo the Deacon called "Roses".
The battles went on with varying success, Leo the Deacon noted the courage of the fighters on both sides. Soon the Greeks were approached by battle triremes equipped with devices for throwing Greek fire. The squad of Svyatoslav was saddened. “After all, they ... heard from the old people from their people,” notes Leo the Deacon, “that with this very“ Median fire ”the Romans turned the huge fleet of Ingor (Igor), the father of Sfendoslav (Svyatoslav) into ashes on the Euxine [Sea].” Food and medicine were delivered to the Byzantine camp. And in Dorostol, the soldiers of Svyatoslav suffered hunger, died from wounds and diseases. According to Leo the Deacon, Sfenkel (Sveneld) was killed near Dorostol, in fact, he was obviously seriously wounded, because later we see him alive in Kiev according to the PVL. He fell in battle second in importance after Svyatoslav, according to Leo Deacon, the leader of the Rus Ikmor. The Byzantine describes the death of Ikmor as follows: “a brave man of gigantic stature ... surrounded by a detachment of warriors close to him, he fiercely rushed against the Romans and struck down many of them. Seeing this, one of the bodyguards of the emperor, the son of the archig of the Cretans Anemas, rushed to Ikmor, overtook him and hit him [with a sword] in the neck - the head of the Scythian, cut off along with his right hand, rolled to the ground. As soon as [Ikmor] died, the Scythians raised a cry mixed with a groan, and the Romans rushed at them. The Scythians could not withstand the onslaught of the enemy; greatly dejected by the death of their leader, they threw their shields behind their backs and began to retreat towards the city.
But the Russians did not remain in debt. During a desperate sortie of Russian warriors with the aim of setting fire to the stone-throwing machines of the Greeks, which caused colossal harm to the besieged in Dorostol, Master John Kurkuas fell. It was a relative of John Tzimisces, who commanded the soldiers serving the catapults. Seeing his expensive armor, Svyatoslav's warriors decided that it was the emperor himself, and cut down Kurkuas.
During the battle of Dorostol, the Russians began to master military skills that were not familiar to them before. Leo the Deacon reports that before the “dews” preferred to fight on foot, and one day they left under Dorostol on horseback.
The uncertainty of the outcome of the war weighed heavily on both sides. In Byzantium, there was an attempt at a new coup d'état, fortunately for John Tzimiskes, unsuccessful. Svyatoslav consulted with the squad: what to do? Some said that it was necessary to continue trying to break through with a fight from Dorostol. Others suggested sneaking out at night. Still others advised to enter into negotiations. Svyatoslav ended the veche by saying that if we do not fight, glory, the companion of Russian weapons, will perish; it is better to die in battle, "for the dead have no shame." However, the prince noticed that if he falls, then his soldiers are free to "think about themselves." “Where your head lies, there we will lay down ours,” was the answer of the squad. July 20, 971 Svyatoslav led her to a new attack.
“The Scythians attacked the Romans,” says Leo the Deacon, “stab them with spears, hit the horses with arrows and knock the horsemen to the ground. Seeing with what furious fury Sfendoslav (Svyatoslav) rushed to the Romans and inspired his ranks to fight, Anemas ... rushed at [the leader of the dews] and, striking him with a sword on the collarbone, threw him head down to the ground, but did not kill. [Sfendoslav] was saved by a chain mail shirt and a shield ... Anemas was surrounded by ranks of the Scythians, his horse fell, struck down by a cloud of spears; he killed many of them, but he himself died ... The death of Anemas inspired the Ross, and with wild, piercing cries, they began to push the Romans ...
But suddenly a hurricane broke out interspersed with rain ... besides, dust arose that clogged ... eyes. And they say that a rider on a white horse appeared before the Romans; ... he miraculously cut and disrupted the ranks of the dews ... Subsequently, a firm belief spread that it was the Great Martyr Theodore ... "
The wound of Svyatoslav and the storm forced the Rus to take refuge in Dorostol. A little later, Svyatoslav went to negotiations. He agreed to give up claims to the Danube Bulgaria, taking for this a tribute of 10 thousand soldiers and Russian cities. He made peace with Byzantium, which allowed him to safely return to his homeland. During the negotiations, Svyatoslav personally met with John Tzimiskes, thanks to which Leo the Deacon was able to see and capture the appearance of the Russian prince-warrior:
The emperor, “covered in gilded armor, rode on horseback to the banks of the Istra, leading a large detachment of armed horsemen sparkling with gold. Sfendoslav also appeared, sailing along the river on a Scythian boat; he sat at the oars and rowed along with his entourage, no different from them. This is what his appearance was like: moderate height, not too tall and not very short, with shaggy eyebrows and light blue eyes, snub-nosed, beardless, with thick, excessively long hair above his upper lip. His head was completely naked, but on one side a tuft of hair hung down - a sign of the nobility of the family; a strong nape, a broad chest and all other parts of the body are quite proportionate, but he looked sullen and wild. He had a gold earring in one ear; it was adorned with a carbuncle (ruby) framed by two pearls. His attire was white and differed from the clothes of those close to him only in cleanliness. Sitting in a boat on a bench for rowers, he talked a little with the sovereign about the conditions of peace and left. Thus ended the war between the Romans and the Scythians.
The death of Svyatoslav
About the end of the life of Svyatoslav, whom N.M. Karamzin called "the Russian Alexander of Macedon", says "The Tale of Bygone Years":
“Having made peace with the Greeks, Svyatoslav went to the rapids in boats. And the governor of his father, Sveneld, said to him: “Go around, prince, the thresholds on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the thresholds.” And he did not listen to him and went on the boats. And the Pereyaslavites sent to the Pechenegs to say: “Here Svyatoslav is going past you to Rus' with a small squad, taking from the Greeks a lot of wealth and captives without number.” Hearing about this, the Pechenegs set foot on the thresholds. And Svyatoslav came to the rapids, and it was impossible to pass them. And he stopped to spend the winter in Beloberezhye, and they had no food, and they had a great famine, so they paid half a hryvnia for a horse's head, and Svyatoslav spent the winter. When spring came, Svyatoslav went to the rapids.
In the year 6480 (972). Svyatoslav came to the thresholds, and Kurya, the Pecheneg prince, attacked him, and they killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound him, and drank from him. Sveneld came to Kyiv to Yaropolk.
Already in our time, swords of the 10th century were discovered near the Dnieper threshold Nenasytensky at the bottom of the river. This find allowed historians to point to the possible place of death of Svyatoslav and most of his surviving soldiers by the spring of 972. Only Sveneld with his warriors on horseback managed to break into Kyiv.
If you believe the PVL, then Svyatoslav was only 30 years old at the time of his death. Of these, for 28 years he was the head of the Russian state. As we have seen, for the last 8 years of his life, Svyatoslav personally led squads on campaigns. He won all the wars except the last one. The death of Svyatoslav did not diminish his military glory. Russian epics, as scientists suggest, have preserved the memory of the exploits of the prince, creating an epic image of the most powerful hero of the Russian Land - Svyatogor. His strength was so great that over time, the storytellers broadcast, Mother-Cheese-Earth stopped wearing it, and Svyatogor was forced to go to the mountains.
Chernikova T.V.
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Internet
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The commander-in-chief of the Red Army, which repelled the attack of Nazi Germany, liberated Evroppa, the author of many operations, including "Ten Stalinist strikes" (1944)
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (November 4 (November 16), 1874, St. Petersburg, - February 7, 1920, Irkutsk) - Russian oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late XIX - early XX centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, active member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (1906), admiral (1918), leader of the White movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.
Member of the Russo-Japanese War, Defense of Port Arthur. During the First World War, he commanded the mine division of the Baltic Fleet (1915-1916), the Black Sea Fleet (1916-1917). Georgievsky Cavalier.
The leader of the White movement both on a national scale and directly in the East of Russia. As the Supreme Ruler of Russia (1918-1920), he was recognized by all the leaders of the White movement, "de jure" - by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "de facto" - by the Entente states.
Supreme Commander of the Russian Army.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
“As a military figure I.V. Stalin, I studied thoroughly, since I went through the whole war with him. I.V. Stalin mastered the organization of front-line operations and operations of groups of fronts and led them with full knowledge of the matter, well versed in large strategic questions...
In leading the armed struggle as a whole, JV Stalin was assisted by his natural mind and rich intuition. He knew how to find the main link in a strategic situation and, seizing on it, to counteract the enemy, to conduct one or another major offensive operation. Undoubtedly, he was a worthy Supreme Commander"
(Zhukov G.K. Memoirs and reflections.)
Sheremetev Boris Petrovich
Uborevich Ieronim Petrovich
Soviet military leader, commander of the 1st rank (1935). Member of the Communist Party since March 1917. Born in the village of Aptandriyus (now the Utena region of the Lithuanian SSR) in the family of a Lithuanian peasant. He graduated from the Konstantinovsky Artillery School (1916). Member of the 1st World War 1914-18, second lieutenant. After the October Revolution of 1917 he was one of the organizers of the Red Guard in Bessarabia. In January - February 1918 he commanded a revolutionary detachment in battles against the Romanian and Austro-German invaders, was wounded and captured, from where he fled in August 1918. He was an artillery instructor, commander of the Dvina brigade on the Northern Front, from December 1918 the head of the 18 divisions of the 6th Army. From October 1919 to February 1920 he was commander of the 14th Army during the defeat of the troops of General Denikin, in March - April 1920 he commanded the 9th Army in the North Caucasus. In May - July and November - December 1920 the commander of the 14th Army in battles against the troops of bourgeois Poland and the Petliurists, in July - November 1920 - the 13th Army in battles against the Wrangelites. In 1921, assistant commander of the troops of the Ukraine and Crimea, deputy commander of the troops of the Tambov province, commander of the troops of the Minsk province, led the fighting in the defeat of the gangs of Makhno, Antonov and Bulak-Balakhovich. From August 1921 commander of the 5th Army and the East Siberian Military District. In August - December 1922 Minister of War of the Far Eastern Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the People's Revolutionary Army during the liberation of the Far East. He was commander of the North Caucasian (since 1925), Moscow (since 1928) and Belorussian (since 1931) military districts. Since 1926 he was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, in 1930-31 he was deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and head of armaments of the Red Army. Since 1934 he has been a member of the Military Council of the NPO. He made a great contribution to the strengthening of the defense capability of the USSR, the education and training of command personnel and troops. Candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) in 1930-37. Member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee since December 1922. He was awarded 3 Orders of the Red Banner and Honorary Revolutionary Weapons.
Istomin Vladimir Ivanovich
Istomin, Lazarev, Nakhimov, Kornilov - Great people who served and fought in the city of Russian glory - Sevastopol!
Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich
The only one of the commanders, who on 06/22/1941 carried out the order of the Stavka, counterattacked the Germans, threw them back in his sector and went on the offensive.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
The Soviet people, as the most talented, have a large number of outstanding military leaders, but the main one is Stalin. Without him, many of them might not have been in the military.
Ermak Timofeevich
Russian. Cossack. Ataman. Defeated Kuchum and his satellites. Approved Siberia as part of the Russian state. He devoted his whole life to military work.
Golovanov Alexander Evgenievich
He is the creator of the Soviet long-range aviation (ADD).
Units under the command of Golovanov bombed Berlin, Koenigsberg, Danzig and other cities in Germany, attacked important strategic targets behind enemy lines.
Dragomirov Mikhail Ivanovich
Brilliant crossing of the Danube in 1877
- Creation of a tactics textbook
- Creation of the original concept of military education
- Leadership of the NAGSH in 1878-1889
- Huge influence in military matters for the whole 25th anniversary
Makarov Stepan Osipovich
Russian oceanographer, polar explorer, shipbuilder, vice admiral. Developed the Russian semaphore alphabet. A worthy person, on the list of worthy ones!
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
Chairman of the GKO, Supreme Commander of the USSR Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War.
What other questions might there be?
Vatutin Nikolai Fyodorovich
Operations "Uranus", "Little Saturn", "Jump", etc. and so on.
A true war worker
Katukov Mikhail Efimovich
Perhaps the only bright spot against the background of the Soviet commanders of the armored forces. A tanker who went through the entire war, starting from the border. The commander, whose tanks always showed their superiority to the enemy. His tank brigades were the only (!) in the first period of the war that were not defeated by the Germans and even inflicted significant damage on them.
His first guards tank army remained combat-ready, although it defended from the very first days of the fighting on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge, while exactly the same Rotmistrov's 5th guards tank army was practically destroyed on the very first day when it entered the battle (June 12)
This is one of the few of our commanders who took care of his troops and fought not by numbers, but by skill.
Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich
Hero of the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813
"General Meteor" and "Caucasian Suvorov".
He fought not in numbers, but in skill - first, 450 Russian soldiers attacked 1,200 Persian sardars in the Migri fortress and took it, then 500 of our soldiers and Cossacks attacked 5,000 askers at the crossing over the Araks. More than 700 enemies were exterminated, only 2,500 Persian fighters managed to escape from ours.
In both cases, our losses are less than 50 killed and up to 100 wounded.
Further, in the war against the Turks, with a swift attack, 1000 Russian soldiers defeated the 2000th garrison of the Akhalkalaki fortress.
Then, again in the Persian direction, he cleared Karabakh of the enemy, and then, with 2,200 soldiers, defeated Abbas-Mirza with a 30,000-strong army near Aslanduz, a village near the Araks River. In two battles, he destroyed more than 10,000 enemies, including English advisers and artillerymen.
As usual, Russian losses were 30 killed and 100 wounded.
Kotlyarevsky won most of his victories in night assaults on fortresses and enemy camps, preventing the enemies from coming to their senses.
The last campaign - 2000 Russians against 7000 Persians to the fortress of Lankaran, where Kotlyarevsky almost died during the assault, lost consciousness at times from blood loss and pain from wounds, but still, until the final victory, he commanded the troops as soon as he regained consciousness, and after that he was forced to be treated for a long time and move away from military affairs.
His feats for the glory of Russia are much cooler than the "300 Spartans" - for our generals and warriors have repeatedly beaten a 10-fold superior enemy, and suffered minimal losses, saving Russian lives.
Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-91 and the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-90. He distinguished himself during the war with France in 1806-07 at Preussisch-Eylau, from 1807 he commanded a division. During the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-09 he commanded a corps; led a successful crossing through the Kvarken Strait in the winter of 1809. In 1809-10, the Governor-General of Finland. From January 1810 to September 1812, the Minister of War, did a lot of work to strengthen the Russian army, singled out the intelligence and counterintelligence service into a separate production. In the Patriotic War of 1812 he commanded the 1st Western Army, and he, as Minister of War, was subordinate to the 2nd Western Army. In the conditions of a significant superiority of the enemy, he showed the talent of a commander and successfully carried out the withdrawal and connection of the two armies, which earned such words from M.I. Kutuzov as THANK YOU FATHER !!! SAVE THE ARMY!!! SAVE RUSSIA!!!. However, the retreat caused discontent in the noble circles and the army, and on August 17, Barclay handed over the command of the armies to M.I. Kutuzov. In the Battle of Borodino, he commanded the right wing of the Russian army, showing stamina and skill in defense. He recognized the position near Moscow chosen by L. L. Bennigsen as unsuccessful and supported the proposal of M. I. Kutuzov to leave Moscow at the military council in Fili. In September 1812 he left the army due to illness. In February 1813 he was appointed commander of the 3rd, and then the Russian-Prussian army, which he successfully commanded during the foreign campaigns of the Russian army of 1813-14 (Kulm, Leipzig, Paris). He was buried in the Beklor estate in Livonia (now Jõgeveste Estonia)
Muravyov-Karssky Nikolai Nikolaevich
One of the most successful commanders of the middle of the 19th century in the Turkish direction.
Hero of the first capture of Kars (1828), leader of the second capture of Kars (the biggest success of the Crimean War, 1855, which made it possible to end the war without territorial losses for Russia).
Prophetic Oleg
Your shield is on the gates of Tsaregrad.
A.S. Pushkin.
Petrov Ivan Efimovich
Defense of Odessa, Defense of Sevastopol, Liberation of Slovakia
Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich
The greatest Russian commander! He has over 60 wins and no losses. Thanks to his talent to win, the whole world learned the power of Russian weapons.
Budyonny Semyon Mikhailovich
Commander of the First Cavalry Army of the Red Army during the Civil War. The First Cavalry Army, which he led until October 1923, played an important role in a number of major operations of the Civil War to defeat the troops of Denikin and Wrangel in Northern Tavria and the Crimea.
Miloradovich
Bagration, Miloradovich, Davydov - some very special breed of people. Now they don't do that. The heroes of 1812 were distinguished by complete recklessness, complete contempt for death. And after all, it was General Miloradovich, who went through all the wars for Russia without a single scratch, who became the first victim of individual terror. After Kakhovsky's shot on Senate Square, the Russian revolution followed this path - right up to the basement of the Ipatiev House. Removing the best.
Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich
General Kotlyarevsky, son of a priest in the village of Olkhovatka, Kharkov province. He went from private to general in the tsarist army. He can be called the great-grandfather of the Russian special forces. He carried out truly unique operations ... His name is worthy of being included in the list of the greatest commanders of Russia
Stalin (Dzhugashvili) Joseph Vissarionovich
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Under his leadership, the Red Army crushed fascism.
Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich
Soldier, several wars (including World War I and World War II). passed the way to Marshal of the USSR and Poland. Military intellectual. not resorting to "obscene leadership." he knew tactics in military affairs to the subtleties. practice, strategy and operational art.
Karyagin Pavel Mikhailovich
Colonel Karyagin's campaign against the Persians in 1805 does not resemble real military history. It looks like a prequel to "300 Spartans" (20,000 Persians, 500 Russians, gorges, bayonet charges, "This is crazy! - No, this is the 17th Jaeger Regiment!"). A golden, platinum page of Russian history, combining the slaughter of madness with the highest tactical skill, delightful cunning and stunning Russian impudence
Slashchev Yakov Alexandrovich
Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich
He defeated the Swedish detachment on July 15, 1240 on the Neva and the Teutonic Order, the Danes in the Battle of the Ice on April 5, 1242. All his life he "won, but was invincible." He played an exceptional role in Russian history in that dramatic period when Russia was hit from three sides - the Catholic West, Lithuania and the Golden Horde. He defended Orthodoxy from Catholic expansion. He is revered as a holy saint. http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/39091.htm
Maximov Evgeny Yakovlevich
Russian hero of the Transvaal War. He was a volunteer in fraternal Serbia, participating in the Russian-Turkish war. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British began to wage war against a small people, the Boers. Japanese war. In addition to his military career, he distinguished himself in the literary field.
Dubynin Viktor Petrovich
From April 30, 1986 to June 1, 1987 - Commander of the 40th Combined Arms Army of the Turkestan Military District. The troops of this army made up the bulk of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan. During the year of his command of the army, the number of irretrievable losses decreased by 2 times in comparison with 1984-1985.
On June 10, 1992, Colonel General V.P. Dubynin was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation
His merits include keeping the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin from a number of ill-conceived decisions in the military sphere, primarily in the field of nuclear forces.
Ushakov Fedor Fedorovich
During the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791, F.F. Ushakov made a serious contribution to the development of the tactics of the sailing fleet. Based on the totality of the principles of training the forces of the fleet and military art, having absorbed all the accumulated tactical experience, F. F. Ushakov acted creatively, based on the specific situation and common sense. His actions were distinguished by decisiveness and extraordinary courage. He did not hesitate to reorganize the fleet into battle formation already at a close approach to the enemy, minimizing the time of tactical deployment. Despite the established tactical rule of finding the commander in the middle of the battle formation, Ushakov, implementing the principle of concentration of forces, boldly put his ship in the forefront and at the same time occupied the most dangerous positions, encouraging his commanders with his own courage. He was distinguished by a quick assessment of the situation, an accurate calculation of all success factors and a decisive attack aimed at achieving complete victory over the enemy. In this regard, Admiral F.F. Ushakov can rightfully be considered the founder of the Russian tactical school in naval art.
Minikh Khristofor Antonovich
Due to the ambiguous attitude to the period of the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the largely underestimated commander, who was the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops throughout her reign.
Commander of the Russian troops during the War of the Polish Succession and architect of the victory of Russian arms in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739.
General Ermolov
Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich
Commander of the 62nd Army in Stalingrad.
Drozdovsky Mikhail Gordeevich
Izylmetiev Ivan Nikolaevich
Commanded the frigate "Aurora". He made the transition from St. Petersburg to Kamchatka in a record time for those times in 66 days. In the bay, Callao eluded the Anglo-French squadron. Arriving in Petropavlovsk, together with the governor of the Kamchatka Territory, Zavoyko V. organized the defense of the city, during which the sailors from the Aurora, together with the locals, threw into the sea an outnumbering Anglo-French landing force. Then he took the Aurora to the Amur Estuary, hiding it there .After these events, the British public demanded trial of the admirals who lost the Russian frigate.
Shein Mikhail
Hero of the Smolensk Defense 1609-11
He led the Smolensk fortress in the siege for almost 2 years, it was one of the longest siege campaigns in Russian history, which predetermined the defeat of the Poles during the Time of Troubles
Bobrok-Volynsky Dmitry Mikhailovich
Boyar and governor of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. "Developer" of the tactics of the Battle of Kulikovo.
Khvorostinin Dmitry Ivanovich
Outstanding commander of the second half of the XVI century. Oprichnik.
Genus. OK. 1520, died on August 7 (17), 1591. At the voivodship posts since 1560. Participated in almost all military enterprises during the independent reign of Ivan IV and the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich. He has won several field battles (including: the defeat of the Tatars near Zaraisk (1570), the Battle of Molodin (during the decisive battle he led the Russian detachments in Gulyai-gorod), the defeat of the Swedes at Lyamits (1582) and not far from Narva ( 1590)). He led the suppression of the Cheremis uprising in 1583-1584, for which he received the boyar rank.
According to the totality of the merits of D.I. Khvorostinin is much higher than M.I. Vorotynsky. Vorotynsky was more noble and therefore he was more often entrusted with the general leadership of the regiments. But, according to the commander's talents, he was far from Khvorostinin.
Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich
Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (September 18 (30), 1895 - December 5, 1977) - Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943), chief of the General Staff, member of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. During the Great Patriotic War, as Chief of the General Staff (1942-1945), he took an active part in the development and implementation of almost all major operations on the Soviet-German front. From February 1945 he commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front, led the assault on Königsberg. In 1945, he was commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East in the war with Japan. One of the greatest commanders of World War II.
In 1949-1953 - Minister of the Armed Forces and Minister of War of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), holder of two Orders of Victory (1944, 1945).
Dolgorukov Yury Alekseevich
An outstanding statesman and military leader of the era of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, prince. Commanding the Russian army in Lithuania, in 1658 he defeated hetman V. Gonsevsky in the battle of Verki, taking him prisoner. This was the first time after 1500 when a Russian governor captured the hetman. In 1660, at the head of an army sent under Mogilev, besieged by the Polish-Lithuanian troops, he won a strategic victory over the enemy on the Basya River near the village of Gubarevo, forcing hetmans P. Sapega and S. Czarnetsky to retreat from the city. Thanks to the actions of Dolgorukov, the "front line" in Belarus along the Dnieper was preserved until the end of the war of 1654-1667. In 1670, he led an army sent to fight against the Cossacks of Stenka Razin, in the shortest possible time suppressed the Cossack rebellion, which later led to the Don Cossacks swearing allegiance to the tsar and turning the Cossacks from robbers into "sovereign servants".
Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich
He is a great commander who did not lose a single (!) Battle, the founder of Russian military affairs, brilliantly fought battles, regardless of its conditions.
Romodanovsky Grigory Grigorievich
An outstanding military leader of the 17th century, prince and governor. In 1655, he won his first victory over the Polish hetman S. Pototsky near Gorodok in Galicia. Later, being the commander of the army of the Belgorod category (military administrative district), he played a major role in organizing the defense of the southern border of Russia. In 1662, he won the biggest victory in the Russian-Polish war for Ukraine in the battle of Kanev, defeating the traitorous hetman Y. Khmelnitsky and the Poles who helped him. In 1664, near Voronezh, he forced the famous Polish commander Stefan Czarnecki to flee, forcing the army of King Jan Casimir to retreat. Repeatedly beat the Crimean Tatars. In 1677 he defeated the 100,000th Turkish army of Ibrahim Pasha near Buzhin, in 1678 he defeated the Turkish corps of Kaplan Pasha near Chigirin. Thanks to his military talents, Ukraine did not become another Ottoman province and the Turks did not take Kyiv.
Slashchev-Krymsky Yakov Alexandrovich
Defense of the Crimea in 1919-20 “The Reds are my enemies, but they did the main thing - my business: they revived great Russia!” (General Slashchev-Krymsky).
Saltykov Pyotr Semyonovich
The commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Seven Years' War, was the main architect of the key victories of the Russian troops.
Makhno Nestor Ivanovich
Over the mountains, over the valleys
waiting for your blues for a long time
wise father, glorious father,
our kind father - Makhno ...
(peasant song from the Civil War)
He was able to create an army, led successful military operations against the Austro-Germans, against Denikin.
And for * carts * even if he was not awarded the Order of the Red Banner, then this should be done now
Margelov Vasily Filippovich
Creator of the modern Airborne Forces. When for the first time the BMD parachuted with the crew, the commander in it was his son. In my opinion, this fact speaks of such a remarkable person as V.F. Margelov, everyone. About his devotion to the Airborne Forces!
Udatny Mstislav Mstislavovich
A real knight, recognized as a fair commander in Europe
Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich
01/28/1887 - 09/05/1919 life. Head of a division of the Red Army, participant in the First World War and the Civil War.
Cavalier of three St. George's crosses and the St. George medal. Cavalier of the Order of the Red Banner.
On his account:
- Organization of the county Red Guard of 14 detachments.
- Participation in the campaign against General Kaledin (near Tsaritsyn).
- Participation in the campaign of the Special Army against Uralsk.
- An initiative to reorganize the Red Guard detachments into two regiments of the Red Army: them. Stepan Razin and them. Pugachev, united in the Pugachev brigade under the command of Chapaev.
- Participation in battles with the Czechoslovaks and the People's Army, from whom Nikolaevsk was recaptured, renamed in honor of the brigade in Pugachevsk.
- Since September 19, 1918, the commander of the 2nd Nikolaev division.
- From February 1919 - Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Nikolaevsky district.
- From May 1919 - brigade commander of the Special Alexander-Gai Brigade.
- Since June - the head of the 25th Infantry Division, which participated in the Bugulma and Belebeev operations against Kolchak's army.
- The capture by the forces of his division on June 9, 1919 of Ufa.
- The capture of Uralsk.
- A deep raid by a Cossack detachment with an attack on the well-guarded (about 1000 bayonets) and located in the deep rear of the city of Lbischensk (now the village of Chapaev, West Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan), where the headquarters of the 25th division was located.
Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich
It's simple - It was he, as a commander, who made the greatest contribution to the defeat of Napoleon. He saved the army in the most difficult conditions, despite misunderstanding and heavy accusations of betrayal. It was to him that our great poet Pushkin, practically a contemporary of those events, dedicated the verse "Commander".
Pushkin, recognizing the merits of Kutuzov, did not oppose him to Barclay. To replace the common alternative “Barclay or Kutuzov”, with the traditional resolution in favor of Kutuzov, Pushkin came to a new position: both Barclay and Kutuzov are both worthy of the grateful memory of their descendants, but everyone honors Kutuzov, but Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly is undeserved forgotten.
Pushkin mentioned Barclay de Tolly even earlier, in one of the chapters of "Eugene Onegin" -
Thunderstorm of the twelfth year
It has come - who helped us here?
The frenzy of the people
Barclay, winter or Russian god?...
Rurikovich Svyatoslav Igorevich
The great commander of the ancient Russian period. The first Kiev prince known to us, having a Slavic name. The last pagan ruler of the Old Russian state. He glorified Rus' as a great military power in the campaigns of 965-971. Karamzin called him "Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history." The prince freed the Slavic tribes from vassalage from the Khazars, defeating the Khazar Khaganate in 965. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, in 970, during the Russian-Byzantine war, Svyatoslav managed to win the battle of Arcadiopol, having 10,000 soldiers under his command, against 100,000 Greeks. But at the same time, Svyatoslav led the life of a simple warrior: “On campaigns, he didn’t carry carts or cauldrons behind him, he didn’t cook meat, but, thinly slicing horse meat, or beast, or beef and roasting it on coals, he ate like that; he didn’t have a tent , but slept, spreading a sweatshirt with a saddle in their heads - the same were all the rest of his warriors... And sent to other lands [envoys, as a rule, before declaring war] with the words: "I'm going to you!" (According to PVL)
Loris-Melikov Mikhail Tarielovich
Known mainly as one of the secondary characters in the story "Hadji Murad" by L.N. Tolstoy, Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov went through all the Caucasian and Turkish campaigns of the second half of the middle of the 19th century.
Having shown himself excellently during the Caucasian War, during the Kars campaign of the Crimean War, Loris-Melikov led intelligence, and then successfully served as commander-in-chief during the difficult Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, having won a number of important victories over the united Turkish troops and in the third once captured Kars, by that time considered impregnable.
Platov Matvei Ivanovich
Military ataman of the Don Cossack army. He began active military service at the age of 13. A member of several military companies, he is best known as the commander of the Cossack troops during the Patriotic War of 1812 and during the subsequent Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army. Thanks to the successful actions of the Cossacks under his command, Napoleon's saying went down in history:
- Happy is the commander who has Cossacks. If I had an army of Cossacks alone, then I would conquer all of Europe.
Ivan III Vasilievich
He united the Russian lands around Moscow, threw off the hated Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Vladimir Svyatoslavich
981 - the conquest of Cherven and Przemysl. 983 - the conquest of the Yatvags. 984 - the conquest of the natives. 985 - successful campaigns against the Bulgars, the taxation of the Khazar Khaganate. 988 - the conquest of the Taman Peninsula. 991 - the subjugation of the White Croats. 992 - successfully defended Cherven Rus in the war against Poland. in addition, the saint is equal to the apostles.
Alekseev Mikhail Vasilievich
An outstanding member of the Russian Academy of the General Staff. The developer and executor of the Galician operation - the first brilliant victory of the Russian army in the Great War.
Saved from the encirclement of the troops of the North-Western Front during the "Great Retreat" of 1915.
Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in 1916-1917
Supreme Commander of the Russian Army in 1917
Developed and implemented strategic plans for offensive operations in 1916-1917.
He continued to defend the need to preserve the Eastern Front after 1917 (the Volunteer Army is the basis of the new Eastern Front in the ongoing Great War).
Slandered and slandered in relation to various so-called. "Masonic military lodges", "conspiracy of generals against the Sovereign", etc., etc. - in terms of emigrant and modern historical journalism.
Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich
Certainly worthy, explanations and proofs, in my opinion, are not required. It's amazing that his name isn't on the list. was the list prepared by representatives of the USE generation?
Recommended: Elena Batushina Member of the First World War (he served in the 186th Aslanduz Infantry Regiment) and the Civil War. During the First World War, he fought on the Southwestern Front, a member of the Brusilov breakthrough. In April 1915, as part of the guard of honor, he was personally awarded the St. George Cross by Nicholas II. In total, he was awarded St. George's crosses III and IV degrees and medals "For Courage" ("George" medals) III and IV degrees. During the Civil War, he led a local partisan detachment that fought in Ukraine against the German invaders together with the detachments of A. Ya. .Denikin and Wrangel on the Southern Front. In 1941-1942, Kovpak's formation carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests on the Right-Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr and Kiev regions; in 1943 - the Carpathian raid. The Sumy partisan formation under the command of Kovpak fought over 10 thousand kilometers in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Kovpak's raids played a big role in the deployment of the partisan movement against the German occupiers. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union:
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 18, 1942, for the exemplary performance of combat missions behind enemy lines, the courage and heroism shown in their performance, Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 708)
The second medal "Gold Star" (No.) Major General Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 4, 1944 for the successful conduct of the Carpathian raid
four Orders of Lenin (18.5.1942, 4.1.1944, 23.1.1948, 25.5.1967)
Order of the Red Banner (24.12.1942)
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st class. (7.8.1944)
Order of Suvorov, 1st class (2 May 1945)
medals
foreign orders and medals (Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia)
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
He was the Supreme Commander during the Great Patriotic War, in which our country won, and made all strategic decisions.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
Victory in the Great Patriotic War, saving the entire planet from absolute evil, and our country from extinction.
Stalin from the first hours of the war exercised control over the country, front and rear. On land, at sea and in the air.
His merit is not one or even ten battles or campaigns, his merit is the Victory, made up of hundreds of battles of the Great Patriotic War: the battle of Moscow, the battles in the North Caucasus, the Battle of Stalingrad, the battle of Kursk, the battle of Leningrad and many others before the capture Berlin, success in which was achieved thanks to the monotonous inhuman work of the genius of the Supreme Commander.
Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich
Air Marshal of the USSR, the first three times Hero of the Soviet Union, a symbol of victory over the Nazi Wehrmacht in the air, one of the most successful fighter pilots of the Great Patriotic War (WWII).
Participating in air battles of the Great Patriotic War, he developed and "tested" in battles a new tactic of air combat, which made it possible to seize the initiative in the air and eventually defeat the fascist Luftwaffe. In fact, he created a whole school of aces of the Second World War. Commanding the 9th Guards Air Division, he continued to personally participate in air battles, scoring 65 air victories over the entire period of the war.
Ridiger Fedor Vasilievich
Adjutant general, cavalry general, adjutant general... He had three Golden sabers with the inscription: "For courage"... In 1849, Ridiger participated in a campaign in Hungary to suppress the unrest that arose there, being appointed head of the right column. On May 9, Russian troops entered the borders of the Austrian Empire. He pursued the rebel army until August 1, forcing them to lay down their arms in front of the Russian troops near Vilyaghosh. On August 5, the troops entrusted to him occupied the fortress of Arad. During the trip of Field Marshal Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich to Warsaw, Count Ridiger commanded the troops stationed in Hungary and Transylvania ... On February 21, 1854, during the absence of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich in the Kingdom of Poland, Count Ridiger commanded all the troops located in the area of the active army - as a commander separate corps and at the same time served as head of the Kingdom of Poland. After the return of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich to Warsaw, from August 3, 1854, he served as the Warsaw military governor.
Golenishchev-Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich
(1745-1813).
1. GREAT Russian commander, he was an example for his soldiers. Appreciated every soldier. "M. I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov is not only the liberator of the Fatherland, he is the only one who outplayed the hitherto invincible French emperor, turning the "great army" into a crowd of ragamuffins, saving, thanks to his military genius, the lives of many Russian soldiers."
2. Mikhail Illarionovich, being a highly educated person who knew several foreign languages, dexterous, refined, able to inspire society with the gift of words, an entertaining story, served Russia as an excellent diplomat - ambassador to Turkey.
3. M. I. Kutuzov - the first to become a full cavalier of the highest military order of St. George the Victorious of four degrees.
The life of Mikhail Illarionovich is an example of service to the fatherland, attitude towards soldiers, spiritual strength for the Russian military leaders of our time and, of course, for the younger generation - the future military.
Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich
One of the best Russian generals of the First World War. In June 1916, the troops of the Southwestern Front under the command of Adjutant General Brusilov A.A., simultaneously striking in several directions, broke through the enemy’s defense in depth and advanced 65 km. In military history, this operation was called the Brusilovsky breakthrough.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich
Russian admiral who gave his life for the liberation of the Fatherland.
Scientist-oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, leader of the White Movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.
He led the Red Army to Berlin and Port Arthur.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
He personally took part in the planning and implementation of ALL offensive and defensive operations of the Red Army in the period 1941-1945.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, Supreme Commander. Brilliant military leadership of the USSR in World War II.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich
Prominent military leader, scientist, traveler and discoverer. Admiral of the Russian Fleet, whose talent was highly appreciated by Sovereign Nicholas II. The Supreme Ruler of Russia during the Civil War, a real Patriot of his Fatherland, a man of tragic, interesting fate. One of those military men who tried to save Russia during the years of unrest, in the most difficult conditions, being in very difficult international diplomatic conditions.
Uvarov Fedor Petrovich
At the age of 27 he was promoted to general. Participated in the campaigns of 1805-1807 and in the battles on the Danube in 1810. In 1812 he commanded the 1st artillery corps in the army of Barclay de Tolly, and later - the entire cavalry of the combined armies.
Kazarsky Alexander Ivanovich
Captain Lieutenant. Member of the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-29. He distinguished himself in the capture of Anapa, then Varna, commanding the Rival transport. After that, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and appointed captain of the Mercury brig. On May 14, 1829, the 18-gun brig "Mercury" was overtaken by two Turkish battleships "Selimiye" and "Real Bey". Having accepted an unequal battle, the brig was able to immobilize both Turkish flagships, one of which was the commander of the Ottoman fleet himself. Subsequently, an officer from Real Bey wrote: “In the continuation of the battle, the commander of the Russian frigate (the infamous Raphael, which surrendered without a fight a few days earlier) told me that the captain of this brig would not give up, and if he lost hope, then he would blow up the brig If in the great deeds of ancient and our times there are feats of courage, then this act should overshadow all of them, and the name of this hero is worthy to be inscribed in gold letters on the temple of Glory: he is called Lieutenant Commander Kazarsky, and the brig is "Mercury"
Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich
During his short military career, he practically did not know failures, both in battles with the troops of I. Boltnikov, and with the Polish-Liovo and "Tushino" troops. The ability to build a combat-ready army practically from scratch, train, use Swedish mercenaries on the spot and during the time, select successful Russian command personnel to liberate and protect the vast territory of the Russian northwestern region and liberate central Russia, persistent and systematic offensive, skillful tactics in fight against the magnificent Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, undoubted personal courage - these are the qualities that, despite the little known of his deeds, give him the right to be called the Great Commander of Russia.
Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich
One of the most successful Russian generals during the First World War. The Erzerum and Sarakamysh operations carried out by him on the Caucasian front, carried out in extremely unfavorable conditions for the Russian troops, and ending in victories, I believe, deserve to be included in a row with the brightest victories of Russian weapons. In addition, Nikolai Nikolayevich, distinguished by modesty and decency, lived and died an honest Russian officer, remained faithful to the oath to the end.
He commanded a tank corps, the 60th Army, from April 1944 - the 3rd Belorussian Front. He showed a bright talent and especially distinguished himself during the Belarusian and East Prussian operations. Distinguished by the ability to conduct highly maneuverable combat operations. Mortally wounded in February 1945.
Dovmont, Prince of Pskov
On the famous Novgorod monument to the Millennium of Russia, he stands in the section "military people and heroes."
Dovmont, Prince of Pskov, lived in the 13th century (died in 1299).
Descended from the family of Lithuanian princes. After the assassination of the Lithuanian prince Mindovg, he fled to Pskov, where he was baptized under the name of Timothy, after which the Pskovites elected him their prince.
Soon Dovmont showed the qualities of a brilliant commander. In 1266 he utterly defeated the Lithuanians on the banks of the Dvina.
Dovmont participated in the famous Rakovor battle with the crusaders (1268), where he commanded the Pskov regiments as part of the united Russian army. When the Livonian knights besieged Pskov, Dovmont, with the help of the Novgorodians who came to the rescue, managed to defend the city, and the Grand Master, wounded in a duel by Dovmont himself, was forced to make peace.
To protect against attacks, Dovmont fortified Pskov with a new stone wall, which until the 16th century was called Dovmontova.
In 1299, the Livonian knights unexpectedly invaded the Pskov land and devastated it, but were again defeated by Dovmont, who soon fell ill and died.
None of the Pskov princes enjoyed such love among the Pskovites as Dovmont.
The Russian Orthodox Church canonized him as a saint in the 16th century after the Batory invasion on the occasion of some miraculous phenomenon. The local memory of Dovmont is celebrated on May 25. His body was buried in the Trinity Cathedral in Pskov, where his sword and clothes were kept at the beginning of the 20th century.
Bagramyan Ivan Khristoforovich
Marshal of the Soviet Union. Chief of Staff of the Southwestern Front, then at the same time the headquarters of the troops of the Southwestern direction, commander of the 16th (11th Guards Army). From 1943 he commanded the troops of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts. He showed military leadership talent and especially distinguished himself during the Belarusian and East Prussian operations. He stood out for his ability to prudently and flexibly respond to imminent changes in the situation.
