It is believed that the disintegration into principalities began during (1019-1054) and intensified after his death. The process under (1113-1125) - the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise - was suspended due to the strength of his authority.
In 1097, on the initiative of Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich, princes were organized, at which two decisions were made:
- stop;
- focus on the principle "Princes should rule only on those lands that belonged to their fathers."
This fragmentation of the lands of Rus' was practically legalized.
The final collapse of the Old Russian state
The period of fragmentation of the state of Kievan Rus is associated with the death of the last Kyiv prince - Mstislav the Great, son of Vladimir Monomakh, in 1132.
The division of the Old Russian state into independent principalities did not solve the problem of civil strife. The situation was complicated by the order of succession by seniority - the brother, nephew, son and other relatives of the deceased claimed the inheritance, but it was not always easy to establish seniority. Principalities began to be fragmented and divided into destinies. The princes are impoverished, their power is weakening.
Conflicts between the boyars and the princes are escalating, as the boyars want to influence politics and reduce the power of the princes.
The main reasons for the collapse of Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus was not a centralized state.
Economic reasons:
- exploitation of the dependent population;
- the desire of the prince to strengthen his principality;
- inability to gain wealth through overseas trade;
- the influence of the natural way of economy (remote territories, developing on the basis of economic and economic isolation, were self-sufficient social organisms), which created.
Political reasons:
- independent governing bodies in volosts;
- the desire of the governors (representatives of the prince of Kyiv) to secede from Kyiv;
- support by the townspeople for governors;
- lack of a firm order of government;
- the desire and efforts of the prince to transfer power by inheritance.
Consequences of the collapse of Kievan Rus
As a result, new political formations took the place of the Old Russian state.
Negative Consequences of Decay Kievan Rus:
- fragmentation had Negative influence on the defense of the state in the face of foreign enemies (from the northwest - Catholic German orders and Lithuanian tribes, in the southeast - and to a lesser extent - since 1185 there have been no invasions outside the framework of Russian civil strife);
- inter-princely strife intensified.
Positive consequences of the collapse of Kievan Rus:
- fragmentation contributed to the active development of the economy and culture of the Russian lands;
- a general increase in the territories of Rus' due to intensive colonization.
From the 30s of the XII century. in Rus', the process of feudal fragmentation begins, which was a natural stage in the development of feudalism. The Grand Dukes - Monomakh, his son Mstislav - managed to slow down for a while inevitable process crushing Kievan Rus, but then it resumed with renewed vigor. And in 1097, princes from different lands of Kievan Rus came to the city of Lyubech and proclaimed a new principle of relations among themselves: "Let everyone keep his patrimony." Its adoption meant that the throne no longer went to the eldest in the entire grand-ducal family, and the succession to the throne was now from father to eldest son within individual lands. It is believed that the introduction of the principle adopted in Lyubech was a factor in the collapse of Kievan Rus. However, not the only and not the most important. Political fragmentation was inevitable.
Causes: During the XI century. near the Russian lands, the population grew, the economy grew stronger, large princely and boyar land ownership increased, the cities grew rich. They were less and less dependent on Kyiv and were burdened by his guardianship. To maintain order within his "patrimony", the prince had enough strength and power. Local boyars and towns supported their princes in their quest for independence and were better able to protect their interests.
Added to internal causes external: The population left the restless lands to the northeastern (Vladimir, Suzdal) and southwestern (Galych, Volyn) outskirts. The princes of Kyiv were weakening in the military and economic sense, their authority and influence in solving all-Russian affairs were falling. Negative consequences The political fragmentation of Rus' is concentrated in the military-strategic area: the defense capability in the face of external threats has weakened, and inter-princely strife has intensified.
But fragmentation also had positive aspects. The isolation of the lands contributed to their economic and cultural development. The seniority of the Grand Prince of Kyiv was formally recognized; ecclesiastical and linguistic unity was preserved; the basis of the legislation of the destinies was the norms of Russian Truth. In the popular mind up to the XIII-XIV centuries. lived ideas about the unity of the lands that were part of Kievan Rus. So, in the middle of the XII century. Kievan Rus broke up into 15 large and small principalities, and at the beginning of the XIII century. their number increased to 50. The largest were: in the southwest - the Galicia-Volyn principality; in the northeast - the Vladimir-Suzdal principality; in the northwest - the Novgorod Republic.
The Galicia-Volyn principality (formed in 1199 as a result of the subordination of Galich to the Volyn princes) was located in the South-West of Rus' and bordered on Kiev, Poland and Hungary. It was located at the crossroads of trade routes. It had the most fertile lands and salt extraction, which made it economically developed. political feature was the limitation of princely power by the boyar Duma, when deciding important issues should have taken into account the opinion of the boyar-druzhina nobility and city assemblies (veche). This feature reflected the peculiarity of the socio-economic development of the Galicia-Volyn land: boyar estates and cities were traditionally strong here. In the principality, there was a constant struggle for power between princes and boyars. These feuds between princes and boyars were the reason for the collapse of the principality, because. each side in the struggle attracted foreigners. The heyday of G-V. The principality falls on the reign of Daniil Romanovich (mid-13th century), after which it fell under the onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars.
The Vladimir-Suzdal principality was located between the Oka and Volga rivers. It was removed from the outer borders and had the most fertile plain suitable for agriculture. All this served as the basis for the influx into this principality of people of different classes from other mainly border lands. This principality separated from Kyiv under Prince Yuri Dolgoruky (1125-1157). Its mass settlement took place in the XI-XII centuries. Settlers from the southern regions of Rus' were attracted by the relative safety from raids (the region was covered with impenetrable forests), the fertile lands of the Russian opolye, navigable rivers, along which dozens of cities grew (Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Polsky, Dmitrov, Zvenigorod, Kostroma, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod ).
Decisive in the process of the rise of princely power was the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky's son Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157-1174). He finally approved the princely power, undermining the boyars, dispersing possible contenders for the table from the principality. Moved the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir. For the reason that in Vladimir the role of the veche was not so high. And he preferred to rely not on the boyars, but on the service class of the nobility. Those. in V-S. The strong monarchical power of the prince was established on the earth. Andrey Bogolyubsky led an active foreign policy, fought for influence in Kyiv and Novgorod, organizing all-Russian campaigns against them. In 1174, he was killed by boyar conspirators. Under his brother Vsevolod the Big Nest (1176-1212), the principality flourished. After which the principality broke up into 7 independent ones.
Other type state structure formed in Novgorod. Due to the lack of fertile land in Novgorod, different kinds crafts, as well as fur trades and beekeeping. Being on a trade route Novgorod land was early involved in trade. In which not only merchants, but also the boyars took part. The wealthy boyars began to play a significant role in political life. And during periods of change of princes, they took power into their own hands. After 1136, when the Novgorodians expelled Prince Vsevolod from the city. The Novgorod Republic is being formed. Finally formed by the XIII century. The supreme legislative body was the Novgorod veche, which decided on issues of war and peace, appointment to the highest positions. Officials were elected at the veche - the posadnik (ruler of Novgorod), the thousand (leaders of the militia), the governor (maintaining law and order), the bishop (later the archbishop, the head of the Novgorod church), the archimandrite (the elder among the abbots of the Novgorod monasteries). The veche resolved the issue of inviting the prince, who, under the supervision of the council of gentlemen and the posadnik, performed the functions of a military leader. Novgorod, thus, was an aristocratic (boyar) republic, the keeper of the veche traditions of Ancient Rus'.
Any state in its history is going through three stages - the birth and development, golden age, decline and cessation of existence. Kievan Rus - a powerful formation Eastern Slavs- was no exception, therefore, after her triumph on the world stage during the time of Yaroslav the Wise, she gradually lost her influence and disappeared c political map. The reason for the collapse of the Old Russian state is now known to schoolchildren and adults, but it is not the only one: Kievan Rus perished due to external and internal factors that together led it to such an outcome. But we will tell about everything in order.
A bit of history
What is the reason for which, during its heyday, occupied a vast territory from the Taman Peninsula to the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina, from the tributaries of the Volga to the Dniester and Vistula? Before considering it, let us briefly recall the history of Kievan Rus.
Traditionally, the year 862 is considered to be the formation of the state - the date of calling on. Having strengthened his power in Kyiv, his successor Oleg the Prophet united the nearest lands under his hand. Many historians do not agree with this theory, since before the arrival of Oleg in Rus' there were well-fortified cities, an organized army, ships, temples were built, a calendar was kept, there was its own culture, religion and language. The stronghold and capital was the city of Kyiv, favorably located on the trade routes.
The golden age of the East Slavic state came after the adoption of Christianity in 988 and fell on the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, whose daughters became queens of three countries and under whom the first constitution "Russian Truth" was approved. Gradually, enmity between numerous specific princes also developed in Kievan Rus. This is the first and main reason for the collapse of the Old Russian state. The Mongolian bulk erased it from the political map of Europe, turning it into a remote ulus of the Golden Horde.
Internal factors of the collapse of Rus'
The main reason for the collapse of the Old Russian state was the feudal fragmentation of Kievan Rus and the enmity between the princes. This is the traditional version of most historians, who also draw attention to the fact that this is a normal phenomenon for the European countries of those times. Contributed to the deepening of fragmentation and the following:
- were surrounded by enemies - numerous tribes that were at different stages of development. Each destiny had its own enemy, so it fought off him with its own forces.
- Each specific prince relied on new, but influential strata of the population, which included representatives of the church, boyars, and merchants.
- Uneven economic development of the regions: rich principalities did not want to share their resources with the Great prince of Kyiv and poorer destinies.
- Frequent civil strife over the throne of Kyiv between the heirs, in which perished a large number of ordinary people.
External causes of the death of Kievan Rus
We briefly outlined the internal reasons for the collapse of the Old Russian state, now we will consider external factors. During the period of prosperity, the princes did a lot to ensure the security of their borders. Vladimir baptized Rus', while receiving the favor of Byzantium and the support of European countries, Yaroslav arranged dynastic marriages, developed architecture, culture, crafts, education and other aspects. At the beginning of the 13th century, the foreign policy situation changed dramatically: the Mongols began to actively claim dominance in the world. Iron discipline and absolute obedience to elders, the large number and good weapons obtained by previous campaigns, made the nomads invincible. After the conquest of Rus', the Mongols completely changed their way of life, introduced new rules, elevated some cities and wiped others off the face of the earth. In addition to all this, a large part of the population, both the ruling elite and ordinary people, died or was driven into slavery.
The collapse of the Old Russian state: causes and consequences
We examined the factors of the political collapse of Kievan Rus, now we will find out what consequences this phenomenon had for the state. At the very beginning, the feudal fragmentation of the Old Russian state had a positive character: agriculture and crafts were actively developing, trade was briskly conducted, and cities were growing.
But then the destinies turned into separate states, whose rulers were constantly fighting for power and the main bone of contention was Kyiv. The capital city and its lands lost their influence, which passed into the hands of richer and more powerful regions. These include the Galicia-Volyn, Vladimir-Suzdal principalities and Novgorod, which are considered to be the political heirs of the first Old Russian state. The enmity greatly weakened the lands and did not allow the Russian princes to unite before the blows of the Horde, because of which Kievan Rus ceased to exist.
Instead of an afterword
We examined the causes and consequences of the political collapse of the Old Russian state. Such an excursion into history gives us main lesson: only together people and rulers can build a strong and rich state, able to survive all the hardships of life.
Time since the beginning of the XII century. until the end of the fifteenth century. called the period of feudal fragmentation or specific period. Feudal fragmentation is a process of economic strengthening and political isolation of individual lands. This process has gone through all the major Western European countries. The beginning of this process is attributed to the time of the death of Yaroslav the Wise (1019 - 1054), when Kievan Rus was divided between his sons: Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. Vladimir Monomakh (1113 - 1125) managed to maintain the unity of the Russian land only by the power of his authority, but after his death, the collapse of the state became unstoppable. At the beginning of the XII century. formed about 10 independent principalities, in the middle of the XII century. was 15, and in the XIV century. - 250. In each of the principalities, their own dynasty of Rurikovich ruled.
The disintegration of the Kievan state into a number of principalities was a natural phenomenon, due to deep economic and political reasons, which included: a) development feudal relations, strengthening the power of local feudal lords, b) the growth in the importance of economic and political centers (such as Novgorod, Smolensk, Galich, Chernigov, Vladimir, Kholm, Przemysl, Ryazan, etc.).
Feudal fragmentation existed in Rus' until the end of the 15th century, when most of the territory of Kievan Rus united as part of the Russian centralized state with its capital in Moscow.
Feudal fragmentation was a natural result of the previous economic and political development society.
There are several reasons for feudal fragmentation:
economic - within the framework of a single state, independent economic regions have developed over three centuries, new cities have grown, large patrimonial possessions of monasteries and churches have arisen. The subsistence nature of the economy provided each region with the opportunity to separate from the center and exist as an independent land or principality;
social - complicated social structure Russian society: large boyars, clergy, merchants, artisans, lower ranks of the city, including serfs, appeared. This new Rus' no longer needed the old structure; the nobility was born, which was supposed to serve the master in exchange for a land grant. In each center, behind the local princes stood the boyars with their vassals, the rich elite of the cities, church hierarchs.
political - the main role in the collapse of the state was played by the local boyars; local princes did not want to share their income with the great prince of Kyiv; in addition, the local boyars needed strong local princely power;
foreign policy - the collapse of the state was facilitated by the absence in the middle of the twelfth century. a serious external threat; later it appeared in the person of the Mongol-Tatars, but the process of the collapse of the state had already gone too far.
The period of feudal fragmentation was experienced by all the major Western European states. It was a natural result of the previous economic and socio-political development and had both positive features, and negative consequences for all Russian lands.
Positive features - at first in the Russian lands there was an increase in agriculture, the flourishing of crafts, the growth of cities, the development of trade in individual lands.
Negative consequences - over time, constant strife between the princes began to deplete the strength of the Russian lands, weaken their defenses in the face of external danger.
Of all the disintegrated Russian lands, the largest and most significant were the Galicia-Volyn, Vladimir-Suzdal principalities and the Novgorod boyar republic. It was these principalities that became the political heirs of Kievan Rus, i.e. were the centers of gravity of all Russian life. Each of these lands has developed its own original tradition, had its own political destiny. Each of these lands in the future had the opportunity to become the center of the unification of all Russian lands.
The great Kiev prince Mstislav the Great died in 1132. After his death, a period began that can be described as the collapse of Kievan Rus. The first sign was Polotsk, which separated from the unified state. In the year of Mstislav's death, the princes of Polotsk returned there from Byzantium. The inhabitants of the city accepted them, and Polotsk healed independent life. In 1135, Veliky Novgorod seceded and refused to send an annual monetary tribute to Kyiv.
In Kyiv, the brother of Mstislav Yaropolk sat on the reign until 1139. After his death, the next brother Vyacheslav began to reign. But here the prince of Chernigov Vsevolod intervened in the fate of the Kyiv grand-ducal table. He was the son of Prince Oleg, who in 1093 expelled Vladimir Monomakh from Chernigov and became a prince there.
Vsevolod attacked Kyiv, expelled Vyacheslav and declared himself the Grand Duke. The entire branch of the Monomakhs came out against the invader. The most energetic of them, Izyaslav, who was the nephew of Vyacheslav, tried to return the capital city to the offspring of the Monomakhs. However, Vsevolod, thanks to his intelligence and cruelty, remained the Grand Duke until his death in 1146.
After the death of Vsevolod, his brother Igor became the great prince of Kyiv. But he turned out to be a narrow-minded and untalented person. During the month of his reign, he restored all the people of Kiev against him. In the meantime, Izyaslav Mstislavovich, who was the grandson of Monomakh, came from Volyn at the head of detachments of Torks. The Kiev militia left Prince Igor. He tried to escape, but his horse got stuck in a swamp near the Lybid river. Igor was seized and imprisoned.
The third brother Svyatoslav Olegovich undertook to save him. He gathered a strong squad in Chernigov in order to rescue his brother from imprisonment. And he, being in prison, took the veil as a monk. But the hatred of the people of Kiev for the tonsured Igor was extremely great. So that the prisoner would not be killed, Izyaslav ordered that he be transported from the cut to the church of Hagia Sophia. It was a holy place enjoying the right of asylum. But when Igor was taken to the temple, the people of Kiev recaptured him from the guards and trampled underfoot. It happened in 1147.
After that, the war began between Kiev and Chernigov. At the same time, the Rostov-Suzdal land separated and became independent. Monomakh's son Yuri Dolgoruky ruled there. He was considered the legitimate head of the older Monomakh line. But Prince Izyaslav, whom the people of Kiev loved, belonged to the younger line of the Monomakhs.
It makes no sense to enumerate the endless clashes of princes who are closely related. It should only be noted that Yuri Dolgoruky reigned in Kyiv in 1149-1151 and 1155-1157. He died of poison in 1157. The Rostov-Suzdal Principality was inherited by his son Andrei Yurievich Bogolyubsky. He got his nickname due to the fact that he lived in the village of Bogolyubovo. And Yuri Dolgoruky is officially considered the founder of Moscow. For the first time this city was mentioned in chronicles in 1147. It is also said that Andrey Bogolyubsky was engaged in its strengthening (moat, walls).
It should be noted that the collapse of Kievan Rus is characterized by internecine wars between the children and grandchildren of Vladimir Monomakh. The Rostov-Suzdal princes Yuri Dolgoruky and Andrey Bogolyubsky fought with the Volyn princes Izyaslav Mstislavovich, Mstislav and Roman for the throne of Kiev. It was a fight between uncles and nephews. But it cannot be seen as a family quarrel.
In accordance with the generally accepted rules of that time, the chroniclers wrote: “the prince decided”, “the prince accomplished”, “the prince went” - regardless of the age of this prince. And that could be 7 years old, and 30, and 70. So, of course, it could not be. In reality, military-political groups fought among themselves. They expressed the interests of certain lands of the disintegrating Kievan Rus.
The process of disintegration began after the decision of the Lubech Congress of Princes, held in 1097. He started the confederation independent states. After that, dozens of years passed, and by the beginning of the 13th century Kievan Rus was divided into several independent principalities.
Principalities of Kievan Rus on the map
The northeast of Rus', as well as the southwestern lands, including the Kiev region, Galicia and Volhynia, isolated themselves. became independent Chernihiv Principality, where Olegovichi and Davydovichi sat on the reign. Separated Smolensk and Turov-Pinsk land. Veliky Novgorod became completely independent. As for the conquered and subordinate Polovtsy, they retained autonomy, and the Russian princes did not even think of encroaching on it.
The state collapse of Kievan Rus can be explained by weak trade and economic ties and the loss of ethnic unity. So, for example, Andrei Bogolyubsky, who captured Kyiv in 1169, gave it to his warriors for 3-day plunder. Prior to this, in Rus' they acted in this way only with foreign cities. But such a cruel practice never spread to Russian cities.
Bogolyubsky's decision to plunder shows that for him and his squad Kyiv in 1169 was as foreign a city as any Polish or German locality. This indicates that people living in different principalities have ceased to consider themselves a single Russian people. That is why Kievan Rus turned out to be fragmented into separate destinies and principalities.
In turn, some principalities were also not united lands. So in the Smolensk land, there were about a dozen destinies. The same was observed in the territories of the Chernigov and Rostov-Suzdal principalities. In Galicia there was a region in which it was not the Rurikovichs and the Bolokhov princes, the descendants of the ancient Slavic leaders, who ruled. The pagan Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes, which were subdivided into Mordovians, Yotvingians, Lithuanians, Zhmuds, Estonians, Zyryans, Cheremis, Zavolotsk Chud, remained alien to Rus'.
In this state, Kievan Rus entered the 13th century. Fragmented and weakened by civil strife, it became a tasty morsel for the invaders. As a result, the invasion of Batu put a logical point in this matter.
Alexey Starikov
