The key for the history of Russia, the unification of lands around Moscow began in the early years of the XIV century, and ended at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. During this period, the former feudal order was destroyed and a powerful centralized state arose.
Center of a small principality
For a long time Moscow was an inconspicuous fortress on the Vladimir-Suzdal land in the north-east of Russia. This small town was not distinguished by we alth and political significance. Own prince appeared there in 1263. They became Daniil Alexandrovich - the offspring of the famous Alexander Nevsky. As the youngest son of the prince, he received the poorest and smallest inheritance.
Shortly before that, Russia survived the Tatar-Mongol invasion. The country, destroyed by the enemy army, paid tribute to the Golden Horde. Khan recognized the ruler of the city of Vladimir as the senior prince. All his relatives Rurikovich, who owned inheritances, had to obey him. At the same time, the throne of Vladimir was transferred by the label of the khan at his whim. Inheritance might not follow the typical principle of a medieval monarchy, when the son received the titles of his father.
How positiveIn the beginning, the unification of the lands around Moscow put an end to this confusion, but while the Moscow princes were weak and did not have serious resources, they had to balance between other influential rulers. Daniel supported one or the other older brother (Dmitry or Andrei), who fought for the throne of Vladimir.
The first Moscow political successes were due to a fortunate combination of circumstances. In 1302, Daniel's childless nephew Ivan Dmitrievich, who bore the title of Prince Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, died. So the petty feudal lord received a neighboring city for nothing and was retrained as a medium feudal lord. This was the beginning of the unification of Russian lands around Moscow. However, Daniel did not have time to get used to his new status. The first Moscow appanage prince died in 1304.
Fight for Vladimir
Paternal place was taken by Yuri Daniilovich, who ruled in 1303-1325. First of all, he annexed the Mozhaisk principality, putting the owner of this tiny neighboring inheritance in prison. So Moscow took several important steps in order to start a dispute with the largest political power in North-Eastern Russia - Tver. In 1305, her prince Mikhail received a label from the khan to the throne of Vladimir.
It seemed that Moscow had no chance of defeating a richer and larger opponent. However, the dilemma was that in that period of Russian history, far from everything was decided by force of arms. The unification of the lands around Moscow took place thanks to the cunning and skill of its rulersplease the Tatars.
The Horde gave Vladimir to the princes, who had the opportunity to pay more. The financial position of Tver was noticeably better than that of Moscow. However, the khans were guided by another rule. It can be described as "divide and conquer". Strengthening one principality, the Tatars tried not to give it too much, and if the inheritance became too influential, the favor of the Baskaks could change to anger.
Moscow vs Tver
Having lost to Mikhail in 1305 in a diplomatic clinch, Yuri did not calm down. First, he unleashed an internecine war, and then, when it did not lead to anything, he began to wait for an opportunity to strike at the reputation of the enemy. This opportunity has been waiting for several years. In 1313, Khan Tokhta died, and Uzbek took his place. Mikhail had to go to the Horde and receive confirmation of the grand duke's label. However, Yuri was ahead of him.
Having arrived at Uzbek before his opponent, the Moscow prince did everything to gain the trust and favor of the new khan. To do this, Yuri married the sister of the Tatar ruler Konchaka, who converted to Orthodoxy and received the name Agafya in baptism. Also, Mikhail's main opponent managed to conclude an alliance with the Novgorod Republic. Its inhabitants were afraid of the powerful prince of Tver, whose possessions were on their borders.
Married, Yuri went home. He was accompanied by the Tatar nobleman Kavgady. Mikhail, taking advantage of the fact that the Horde stood in a separate camp, attacked his opponent. The Moscow prince was again defeated and began to askpeace. Opponents agreed to go to the khan for trial. At that moment, clouds began to gather over Mikhail. Having won, he captured Konchaka. Yury's wife and sister, who was in the camp of the Prince of Tver, died for unknown reasons.
The tragedy was the turning point of the conflict. Yuri calmly took advantage of what happened. He returned to Uzbek, exposing Mikhail in his eyes as Konchaka's executioner. Kavgady, either bribed or simply not in love with Mikhail, also slandered him. Soon the prince of Tver arrived at the khan's court. He was stripped of his label and brutally executed. The title of the ruler of Vladimir passed to Yuri. The beginning of the unification of the Russian lands around Moscow was completed, now the Moscow rulers had to keep the power in their hands.
Kalita's success
In 1325, Yuri Daniilovich again arrived in the Horde, where he was hacked to death by the son of Mikhail Tverskoy Dmitry Black Eyes, who avenged the death of his father. Power in Moscow was inherited by the younger brother of the deceased, Ivan Kalita. He was known for his ability to earn and keep money. Unlike his predecessor, the new ruler acted more cautiously and defeated enemies more by cunning than by cunning.
After Yuri's death, Uzbek, using a proven strategy, castling. He gave the main Russian principality to the new ruler of Tver, Alexander Mikhailovich. It seemed that Ivan Daniilovich was left with nothing, but such an impression of his contemporaries turned out to be deceptive. The fight with Tver is not over, it wasonly its beginning. The unification of the lands around Moscow continued after another sharp turn in history.
In 1327, a spontaneous anti-Tatar uprising broke out in Tver. The inhabitants of the city, tired of the excessive extortions of strangers, killed the tribute collectors. Alexander did not organize this speech, but joined him and eventually led the protest of his subjects. Furious Uzbek instructed Kalita to punish the disobedient. Tverskaya land was devastated. Ivan Daniilovich regained Vladimir, and since then, the Moscow princes, apart from very short breaks, have not lost control of the formal capital of North-Eastern Russia.
Ivan Kalita, who ruled until 1340, also annexed (or rather bought) such important neighboring cities as Uglich, Galich and Beloozero to his state. Where did he get the money for all these acquisitions? The Horde made the Moscow prince the official collector of tribute from all over Russia. Kalita began to control extensive financial flows. Wisely and prudently managing the treasury, he was able to build a system in which a significant part of the collected money settled in Moscow. His principality began to systematically grow rich against the background of neighboring regions lagging behind in financial well-being. This is the most important causal relationship, according to which there was a gradual unification of the lands around Moscow. The sword gave way to a belt purse. In 1325, another important event that led to the unification of the lands around Moscow was the move to this city of metropolitans, who previously considered Vladimir their residence.
New Challenges
After Ivan Kalita, two of his sons ruled one after another: Simeon (1341 - 1353) and Ivan (1353 - 1359). During this almost twenty-year period, part of the Novosilsky principality (Zabereg) and some Ryazan places (Vereya, Luzha, Borovsk) were annexed to the Grand Duchy. Simeon went to the Horde five times, tried to bow and please the Tatars, but at the same time behaved imperiously in his homeland. For this, contemporaries (and after him historians) called him Proud. Under Simeon Ivanovich, the rest of the petty princes of North-Eastern Russia became his "handmaids". The main adversary, Tver, behaved cautiously and no longer challenged Moscow's supremacy.
Thanks to Simeon's good relations with the Horde, the nomads did not disturb Russia with raids. However, at the same time, all the principalities, without exception, had to endure another misfortune. It was the deadly epidemic "Black Death", which at the same time raged in the Old World. The ulcer came to Russia through Novgorod, where traditionally there were many Western merchants. A terrible disease turned the habitual life upside down, stopped all positive social and political processes, including the unification of the lands around Moscow. A brief acquaintance with the scale of the trouble is enough to understand that it turned out to be worse than any Tatar-Mongol invasion. Cities were dying out by half, many villages were empty to the last house. Simeon also died of the plague along with his sons. That is why his younger brother inherited the throne.
Ivan, whose reign was completely colorless, was remembered inRussian history only for its beauty, for which it was nicknamed Red. The only important event of that period can be considered the granting by the khan to the Moscow ruler of the right to judge other specific princes. Of course, the new order only accelerated the unification of the lands around Moscow. The short reign of Ivan ended with his sudden death at the age of 31.
Two pillars of Moscow
The heir of Ivan the Red was his young son Dmitry, who in the future defeated the Tatar-Mongolian army on the Kulikovo field and immortalized his name. However, the first years of his nominal reign, the prince was at a very young age. Other Rurikovichs tried to take advantage of this, who rejoiced at the opportunity to either gain independence or get a label on Vladimir. Dmitry Konstantinovich Suzdalsky succeeded in the last enterprise. After the death of Ivan the Red, he went to the Khan's capital Saray, where he really received a label to reign in Vladimir.
Moscow briefly lost the formal capital of Russia. However, situational circumstances failed to reverse the trend. The prerequisites for the unification of Russian lands around Moscow were different: social, economic and political. When the principality grew and became a serious power, its rulers received two major pillars that did not allow the state to fall apart. These pillars were the aristocrats and the church.
Get rich and secure under Kalita, Moscow attracted more and more boyars to its service. The process of their exodus to the Grand Duchy was gradual, but uninterrupted. ATAs a result, when the young Dmitry was on the throne, a boyar council immediately formed around him, which made effective and useful decisions that made it possible to maintain the stability acquired with such difficulty.
The Orthodox Church helped the aristocrats. The reasons for the unification of the lands around Moscow were the support of this city by the metropolitans. In 1354-1378. he was Alexy (in the world Eleutherius Byakont). During the early childhood of Dmitry Donskoy, the metropolitan was also the de facto head of executive power in the Moscow principality. This energetic man initiated the construction of the Kremlin. Alexei also resolved conflicts with the Horde.
Acts of Dmitry Donskoy
All stages of the unification of the lands around Moscow had certain features. At first, the princes had to act not so much by political as by intriguing methods. This was Yuri, this was partly Ivan Kalita. But it was they who managed to lay the foundations for the well-being of Moscow. When the actual reign of the young Dmitry Donskoy began in 1367, thanks to his predecessors, he had all the resources to build a unified Russian state with a sword and diplomacy.
How did the Moscow principality grow during that period? In 1360, Dmitrov was annexed, in 1363 - Starodub on the Klyazma and (already finally) Vladimir, in 1368 - Rzhev. However, the key event of the then Russian history was the non-annexation of appanages to Moscow, and the beginning of an open struggle against the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The centralization of power and itsamplification could not but lead to such a turn of events.
The prerequisites for the unification of the lands around Moscow consisted at least in the natural desire of the nation to live within the framework of one state. These aspirations (primarily of ordinary people) clashed with feudal orders. However, they came to an end in the late Middle Ages. Similar processes of the decomposition of the feudal system took place with some advance in Western Europe, where their own national states were built from a multitude of duchies and counties.
Now, when the process of unification of Russian lands around Moscow has become irreversible, a new problem has arisen: what to do with the Horde yoke? The tribute hindered economic development and belittled the dignity of the people. Of course, Dmitry Ivanovich, like many of his predecessors, dreamed of the full independence of his homeland. Having gained full power, he began to implement this plan.
After the Battle of Kulikovo
The long process of uniting the lands around Moscow could not be completed without the liberation of Russia from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Donskoy understood this and decided that it was time to act. The conflict broke out in the mid-1370s. The Moscow prince refused to pay tribute to the Baskaks. The Golden Horde armed itself. The temnik Mamai stood at the head of the Basurman army. Collected shelves and Dmitry Donskoy. He was assisted by many specific princes. The war with the Tatars was an all-Russian affair. Only the Ryazan prince turned out to be a black sheep, but the Donskoy army managed without his help.
September 21, 1380, a battle took place on the Kulikovo field, which became one of the main militaryevents throughout national history. The Tatars were defeated. Two years later, the horde returned and even burned down Moscow. Nevertheless, an open struggle for independence began. It lasted exactly 100 years.
Donskoy died in 1389. At the last stage of his reign, he annexed the Meshchersky region, Medyn and Ustyuzhna to the Grand Duchy. The son of Dmitry Vasily I, who ruled in 1389 - 1425. completed the absorption of the Nizhny Novgorod principality. Also under him, the unification of Moscow lands around Moscow was marked by the annexation of Murom and Tarusa with the purchase of a khan's label. The prince deprived the Novgorod Republic of Vologda by military force. In 1397 Moscow received Ustyug as a lot from Rostov. The expansion to the north continued with the addition of Torzhok and Bezhetsky Verkh.
On the brink of collapse
Under Vasily II (1425 - 1462), the Moscow principality experienced the largest internecine war in its history. His own uncle Yuri Dmitrievich encroached on the rights of the legitimate heir, who believed that power should not be transferred from father to son, but according to the long-standing principle "by the right of seniority." The internecine war greatly slowed down the unification of Russian lands around Moscow. Yuri's short reign ended with his death. Then the sons of the deceased joined the fight: Dmitry Shemyaka and Vasily Kosoy.
The war was particularly brutal. Vasily II was blinded, and later he himself ordered Shemyaka to be poisoned. Because of the bloodshed, the result to which the previous stages of the unification of Russian lands ledaround Moscow, could sink into oblivion. However, in 1453 Vasily II the Dark finally defeated all his opponents. Even his own blindness did not prevent him from ruling. In the last years of his power, Vychegodskaya Perm, Romanov and some Vologda places were annexed to the Moscow principality.
Connection of Novgorod and Tver
Most of all, the son of Vasily II Ivan III (1462-1505) did the most to unite the country from the Moscow princes. Many historians consider him the first all-Russian ruler. When Ivan Vasilyevich came to power, the Novgorod Republic was his largest neighbor. Its inhabitants supported the Moscow princes for a long time. However, in the second half of the 15th century, the aristocratic circles of Novgorod reoriented themselves towards Lithuania, which was considered the main counterweight to the Grand Duke. And such an opinion was not groundless.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania owned the territory of modern Belarus and Ukraine. Kyiv, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk and other important Russian cities belonged to this state. When Ivan III felt danger in the union of Novgorod and Lithuania, he declared war on the republic. In 1478 the conflict was settled. Novgorod land completely joined the Moscow state.
Then followed the turn of the Tver principality. The times when it could compete with Moscow on equal terms are long gone. The last prince of Tver, Mikhail Borisovich, as well as the Novgorodians, tried to conclude an alliance with Lithuania, after which Ivan III deprived him of power and annexed Tver to his state. This ishappened in 1485.
The reasons for the unification of Russian lands around Moscow were also that at the final stage of this process, Russia finally got rid of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. In 1480, Khan Akhmat was the last to try to force the Moscow prince to submit and pay tribute to him. There was no full war. Moscow and Tatar troops stood on different banks of the Ugra River, but did not clash in battle. Akhmat left, and soon the Golden Horde broke up into several uluses.
In addition to Novgorod and Tver, Ivan III annexed Yaroslavl, Vazhskaya, Vyatka and Perm lands, Vyazma and Yugra to the Grand Duchy. After the Russo-Lithuanian war of 1500-1503. Bryansk, Toropets, Pochep, Starodub, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky and Putivl moved to Moscow.
Formation of Russia
Ivan III's successor on the throne was his son Vasily III (1505-1533). Under him, the unification of the lands around Moscow was completed. Vasily continued the work of his father, first of all finally making Pskov part of his state. Since the end of the XIV century, this republic has been in a vassal position from Moscow. In 1510 Basil deprived her of her autonomy.
Then came the turn of the last specific Russian principality. Ryazan has long been an independent southern neighbor of Moscow. In 1402, an alliance was concluded between the principalities, which in the middle of the 15th century was replaced by vassalage. In 1521 Ryazan became the property of the Grand Duke. Like Ivan III, Vasily III did not forget about Lithuania, whichbelonged to many primordially Russian cities. As a result of two wars with this state, the prince annexed Smolensk, Velizh, Roslavl and Kursk to his state.
By the end of the first third of the 16th century, Moscow "collected" all Russian lands, and thus a single national state was formed. This fact allowed the son of Vasily III, Ivan the Terrible, to take the title of king according to the Byzantine model. In 1547, he became not just the Grand Duke of Moscow, but the Russian sovereign.
