History, as you know, repeats itself. Over the past centuries, the alignment of forces on the geopolitical map has changed many times, states arose and disappeared, by the will of the rulers of the army rushed to storm fortresses, many thousands of unknown warriors died in distant lands. The confrontation between Russia and the Teutonic Order can serve as an example of an attempt to expand the so-called "Western values" to the East of Europe, which ended in failure. The question arises as to how great were the chances of the knightly troops to win.
Initial setting
At the end of the twelfth century, northwestern Russia was in a position that can be characterized by the well-known expression "between the hammer and the anvil." Batu operated in the southwest, ruining and plundering the scattered Slavic principalities. From the B altic side, the advance of the German knights began. The strategic goal of the Christian army, declared by the Pope, was to bring Catholicism to the consciousness of the indigenous population, who then professed paganism. Finno-Ugric and B altic tribes were weak militarilyopposition, and the invasion at the first stage developed quite successfully. In the period from 1184 until the end of the century, a series of victories made it possible to develop success, establish the Riga fortress and gain a foothold on the bridgehead for further aggression. Actually, the European crusade Rome announced in 1198, it was supposed to become a kind of revenge for the defeat in the Holy Land. Methods and true goals were very far from the teachings of Christ - they had a pronounced political and economic background. In other words, the crusaders came to the land of the Estonians and Livs to rob and capture. On the eastern borders, the Teutonic Order and Russia at the beginning of the 13th century had a common border.
Military conflicts of the initial stage
Relations between the Teutons and the Russians were complex, their character evolved based on the emerging military and political realities. Trade interests prompted temporary alliances and joint operations against pagan tribes when situations dictated certain conditions. The general Christian faith, however, did not prevent the knights from gradually pursuing a policy of catholicization of the Slavic population, which caused some concern. The year 1212 was marked by a military campaign of the united fifteen thousandth Novgorod-Polochansk army against a number of castles. A brief truce followed. The Teutonic Order and Russia entered a period of conflicts that were to last for decades.
Western sanctions of the 13th century
"Chronicle of Livonia"Henry of Latvia contains information about the siege of Wenden Castle by the Novgorodians in 1217. The Danes, who wanted to snatch their piece of the B altic pie, also became enemies of the Germans. They founded an outpost, the fortress "Taani linn" (now Revel). This created additional difficulties, including those related to supply. In connection with these and many other circumstances, he was forced to repeatedly revise his military policy and the Teutonic Order. Relations with Russia were complicated, raids on outposts continued, serious measures were required to counteract.
However, the ammunition did not quite match the ambitions. Pope Gregory IX simply did not have enough economic resources to conduct full-scale military operations and, in addition to ideological measures, he could only oppose Russian power with the economic blockade of Novgorod, which was done in 1228. Today, these actions would be called sanctions. They were not crowned with success, the Gotland merchants did not sacrifice profits in the name of papal aggressive aspirations, and for the most part, calls for a blockade were ignored.
The myth of the hordes of "dog-knights"
More or less successful campaigns against the possessions of the knights continued during the years of the reign of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the victory near Yuryev brought this city to the list of Novgorod tributaries (1234). In essence, the image of hordes of armored crusaders storming Russian cities, familiar to the mass consciousness, created by filmmakers (primarily Sergei Eisenstein), obviously did not quite correspond tohistorical truth. The knights were more likely to wage a positional struggle, trying to keep the castles and fortresses they built, occasionally venturing into sorties, no matter how bold, just as adventurous. The Teutonic Order and Russia in the thirties of the XIII century had different resource bases, and their ratio was more and more not in favor of the German conquerors.
Alexander Nevsky
The Prince of Novgorod earned his title by defeating the Swedes, who dared to land in 1240 on Russian soil, at the mouth of the Neva. The intentions of the "landing" were not in doubt, and the young, but already experienced military leader (his father's school) led his small detachment in a decisive offensive. The victory was a reward for courage, and it was not the last. The next crusade to Russia of the Teutonic Order, undertaken by the knights in 1242, ended badly for the invaders. The plan for the battle, which later became known as the "Battle on the Ice", was brilliantly thought out and successfully implemented. Prince Alexander Nevsky took into account the peculiarities of the terrain, used non-standard tactics, enlisted the support of the Horde, received serious military assistance from it, in general, applied all available resources and won a victory that glorified his name for centuries. Significant enemy forces went to the bottom of Lake Peipus, and the rest were killed or captured by the warriors. The year 1262 is noted in the history books as the date of the conclusion of an alliance between Novgorod and the Lithuanian prince Mindovg, together with whom the siege of Wenden was carried out, not entirely successful, but not unsuccessful either: the enemy united forcescaused significant damage. After this event, the Teutonic Order and Russia almost cease mutual military activity for six years. Treaties favorable to Novgorod on the division of spheres of influence are concluded.
Ending the conflict
All wars end someday. The long confrontation, in which the Livonian Teutonic Order and Russia came together, also ended. Briefly, we can mention the last significant episode of the long-term conflict - the Battle of Rakovor, now almost forgotten. It took place in February 1268 and showed the impotence of the combined Danish-German army, which sought to reverse the overall strategic situation in its favor. At the first stage, the knights managed to push the positions of the warriors led by the son of Prince Alexander Nevsky Dmitry. This was followed by a counterattack by five thousand troops, and the enemy took to flight. Formally, the battle ended in a draw: the Russian troops failed to take the fortress besieged by them (perhaps such a task was not set for fear of heavy losses), but this and other smaller attempts to seize the initiative by the Teutons failed. Today, only preserved ancient castles remind of them.
