Igor Rurikovich - the prince of the great Kievan Rus. Based on what is written in the annals, Igor ruled in 915-945. Igor Rurikovich was a direct descendant of Rurik, the husband of Princess Olga and the father of Svyatoslav. Igor is considered the first ancient Russian prince.
Pechenegs
By the end of the 9th century, before Igor became a prince, some nomads, the Pechenegs, appeared near the Russian lands. They fired their guns well and were also excellent riders. The Pechenegs looked fierce and wild. Igor Rurikovich became the first who had to fight and defend his lands from the Pechenegs. Riding on steppe horses, the Pechenegs rushed at the enemies. They were cunning. If they could not defeat the enemy, they ran away, forcing him to run after them. This was done in order to lure the enemy into a ring and attack from the rear.
The first trip to Byzantium
Igor Rurikovich's foreign policy was quite aggressive. However, his main goal was the desire to create the most comfortable conditions for Russian merchants to trade.
In 941, Igor decided to conduct a military campaign against Byzantium, but his plans were ruined. Bulgarians from the Danube notified Byzantiumabout the attack. The Byzantine emperor decided to give battle to Igor and his army.
He gathered a large army, consisting of a large number of ships. Igor's army was not ready for such a rebuff. On the ships of the Byzantines, fire shells were used, which consisted of oil, sulfur, tar and other substances. They could not be extinguished even with water. Therefore, fiery projectiles turned out to be a terrible force of the enemy. Those Russian soldiers who managed to survive the battle recalled these events with horror. They said that the Greeks fired lightning at them. Byzantium managed to defeat the army of Prince Igor.
The second campaign against Byzantium
Prince Igor Rurikovich wanted to erase the shame of defeat, so he decided to organize a trip to the Greek lands for the second time. To do this, Igor paid the Pechenegs to fight for him. He went with his retinue by land, and sent the Pechenegs by sea. However, once again Igor's plans were violated. The emperor was again warned. Deciding to avoid a clash by gathering a squad, the emperor decided that it was better to pay off Igor and the Pechenegs than to fight again. The Greeks sent several merchants to meet the prince in order to make a deal. Merchants met him on the way to Byzantium. There they made a proposal to renounce war. Having gathered a squad, Igor Rurikovich decided that it was better to accept gifts than to participate in the war. Also, the Byzantine emperor sent rich gifts to the Pechenegs. Agreeing to these conditions, the prince deployed troops and went home. A year later, Prince IgorRurikovich signed a peace treaty with Byzantium. Throughout his reign, Igor tried to subordinate the East Slavic associations to his power.
Trip to the Caspian lands
In 913, Igor Rurikovich was going to make a trip to the Caspian lands. He launched 500 ships into the water and set off across the Black Sea straight to the Sea of Azov, and further along the Don to the Volga. There was one problem: the road to the Caspian lands passed through the lands of the Khazars. It was impossible to just pass through their lands - this required the personal permission of the ruler. Igor managed to negotiate with the Khazars. They let him through, as well as his army, but demanded in return half of what they would get in the Caspian.
In the Caspian lands, the Russians behaved like wild animals. They robbed, killed the inhabitants, burned houses and churches, took women prisoner. In general, Igor managed to get a huge booty. Together with the booty and his army, he went home. But the verbal agreement between the Khazars and the prince was violated. The Khazars wanted to take all the booty from Igor, but he refused. As a result of this three-day terrible battle, Igor's army was defeated, and the Khazars took possession of all the booty without leaving their lands. The surviving part of the soldiers fled up the Volga, but there they were forced to fight with the Bulgarians.
This is the foreign policy of Igor Rurikovich - resolute, aggressive and merciless. He tried to make his country richer by attacking his "neighbors".
Increase in tribute
In 945, the squad expressed itsdiscontent. This was due to their financial situation. After listening to the claims, Igor decided to go for tribute to the Drevlyans. Since the Drevlyans did not participate in the battle of Byzantium, they were obliged to pay tribute to Prince Igor. He almost doubled it, despite the fact that when it was collected, the army mocked people, burned houses and robbed villages. The Drevlyans had to endure it. However, Igor crossed all boundaries. Such was the internal policy of Igor Rurikovich.
Death of Igor
After another collection of tribute on the way home, Igor Rurikovich decided that he had collected too little tribute. He sent most of the troops home, and he turned back with his squad. For the Drevlyans, this was a shock, and they could not come to terms with it. Due to the fact that this time Igor's army was too small, the Drevlyans decided to defeat it, and they succeeded. The Drevlyan princes themselves were executed.
According to the chronicle, the prince was tied by them to stretched trees. After the trees were released, Igor was torn into two parts. Princess Olga cruelly took revenge on the Drevlyans for this act. She executed all the elders, killed many representatives of the civilian population, burned the lands, and also imposed a huge tribute on the Drevlyans, more than it was under Prince Igor. With the support of Igor's squad and boyars, Olga began to rule Russia until Igor's son, Svyatoslav, grew up.
