Nation+Building+-+Russia


 * __Nation Building Russia__**

**__Early Medieval Russia__**
People originally started settling into the Russia region through waterways running straight through from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The Slavs, a large group from Asia, migrated into parts of Eastern Europe, including the Russian region, and set up numerous trading ports. The Slavic people lived in clans in small villages. They farmed and traded using the rivers.

Between the 700s and 800s, the Varangians, also referred to as Vikings, came into the East Slavic tribes, collected tribute, and developed trade with Constantinople. The prince of the tribe Rus was given the position to assume the duties of government because of the weakening of the Slavs from invasions. This turning point in history in 862 is considered the origin date of the country. Rurik, the prince, mainly ruled Novgorod in the north and a few other northern Russian towns. Rurik began a “primitive form of democracy”, which was seen throughout agricultural communities and cities. Princes ruled, but were mainly a face to solve major conflicts. When they died, the eldest in the family would take the throne; it did not necessarily have to be a son. The man chief prince lived in Kiev.

**__The First Period__**
Two of Rurik’s followers began the seven periods of the Kievan state. These two successors attacked Constantinople in 860, the first of multiple Russian attacks on the city. By the end of the attack, the Kievan state included two vital centers: Novgorod of the north and Kiev of the south.

Rurik’s successor, Oleg, invaded Kiev and made it the capital in 882. Oleg was part of two developments that continued for almost one hundred years. The first was his conquest of the East Slavic tribes and turning them into “tribute-paying subjects” of the prince. Due to this, the Kievan princes were easily able to put down revolts. The second occurred when he and Igor attacked Constantinople on two separate occasions: 907 and 941-944. The rulers wanted to establish trade with the Byzantium, and by attacking, the Byzantines were forced to grant them an advantage in trade circumstances.

__**The Second Period**__
Svyatoslav, a successor of Oleg and Igor, invaded Bulgaria and destroyed the Khazar empire in an attempt to take over Byzantium. He established himself there and planned to move the capital from Kiev to the Danube delta, but after this warning, the Byzantines were able to defeat Svyatoslav in 971.



**__The Third Period__**
One of the most famous Kiev princes began the third period and introduced Christianity to the people. Vladimir and a later ruler, Yaroslav the Wise, faced the difficult task of uniting and governing a vast territory of heterogeneous people, as many different groups of people had been added during the century. These rulers also faced the threat of Turkic nomads. A band of armed men, called drujinas, were grouped around a prince, but felt no personal loyalty to him. They were able to change masters freely. This lack of union led to weaknesss when faced by outside enemies. The princes were able to hold off the nomads because Vladimir created a warning system and Yaroslav defeated the Pechenegs in 1036. The Turkic nomads served as auxiliaries for the Rus armies and began to intermarry into the Rus prince families.

Vladimir took control around 980 and at first, was not respected as a ruler. His introduction of Christianity to Rus made him famous, however, it was his grandmother who originally taught them about the religion. Olga was Rus’s most famous convert. Vladimir ordered the people of Kiev to be baptized by Byzantine missionaries. This happened around 988 when Vladimir sent Rus mercenaries to help the Byzantine empire, hoping to marry the emperor’s sister in exchange. The Byzantine emperor did not hold up his side of the bargain, so Vladimir captured the Byzantine city of Tauric Chersonese and held it until the emperor’s sister came to him. He then returned the city and converted his people by force, putting up large and small monasteries all over Russia. This spread of Byzantine ideas, caused an increased use of many aspects of Byzantine culture in Rus.

Throughout history, most of Russian architecture was religious. For centuries, the Russians only built churches with stone, which is why when visiting Russia today, those are mainly the types of buildings remaining. The sons of Vladimir fought for power after the death of their father and in The Battle of Listven in 1024, Yaroslav and Mslav were the only two left. They divided the empire, but after the death of Mstislav in 1036 with no heir, Yaroslav reunited Kieven Rus and was named grand prince.

**__Mongol Influences__**
In 1219, the Mongols first came close to Russian territory. The Mongols claimed that they did not want to invade Kiev or Russia, but due to the Mongol’s former barbaric invasions, the Russians did not let their guards down. The Russian Kings attempted to kill the Mongol leaders to avoid invasion, but it backfired and any chance of peace between the two regions was completely destroyed. Batu Khan, a Mongolian leader, invaded Russia around 1236-1237 with an army of 200,000 men and completely wiped Russian cities off the map. The Russians found a leader in Alexander Nevsky, The Prince of Novgorod. Alexander continued to protect his cities and save them from attack by various countries.

The Mongolian Empire became so large that it could not be controlled all at once. The Mongolians split up their land into 4 different regions, one of which contained The Volga region. This part of the Mongolian Empire became known as the Golden Horde. The Mongolians decided not to control the Russians directly and instead, had the Russian Princes give them goods directly. If they were not delivered, the Mongolians would raid the towns in order to show authority. Essentially, the Mongolians were no longer an independent country.

__**Prince Ivan III**__
Prince Ivan III (Ivan the Great) ruled in Moscow from 1462 to 1505. He did not make changes in the culture and how Russia did most things, but he strengthened the monarchy, began to take over territories, and began to unify the country. He controlled great Novgorod and asserted his dominance over Rostov-Suzdal, Tver, Vyatka, Yaroslavl and other territories. Ivan the Great and his successors, including Peter the Great, after unifying the territories, began to invite skilled workmen, builders, founders, engineers, soldiers and mechanics from the west – Germans, Dutch, English and Italians – to settle in Moscow and help build the economy of the country. The country of Russia was officially rebuilding.