Prince of Novgorod, Grand Duke of Kiev from 945 to 972. The famous ancient Russian commander went down in history as a prince-warrior. Karamzin called him the Russian Alexander Makednosky.

Having lived only about 30 years, the last 8 of them Svyatoslav personally led squads on campaigns. And invariably smashed stronger opponents or reached a profitable peace with them. Killed in battle.

I. Prince Svyatoslav and his time

Reign of Svyatoslav

942 as the year of birth of Svyatoslav is mentioned only by the Ipatiev list of the Tale of Bygone Years. The First Novgorod Chronicle tells about the birth of Svyatoslav, following the story of the marriage of Igor and Olga. Both of these messages are placed in that part of the annals where there are no dates at all. A little later, the date 920 appears. The chronicle connects it with Igor's first campaign against the Greeks. (PVL refers this campaign to 941.) Perhaps starting from the Novgorod Chronicle, a Russian historian of the 18th century. V. Tatishchev attributed the date of birth of Svyatoslav to 920. There are also reports in the literature that Svyatoslav was born around 940-941.

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich of Kiev was the head of the Old Russian state in 945-972. However, since by the time of the death of his father in the Drevlyane polyudye, Svyatoslav was in his 4th year, the real ruler of Rus' in 945-962 (964) years. was his mother, Princess Olga. And after Svyatoslav matured, when he began to go on his famous military campaigns, the inner life of Rus', obviously, was controlled by Olga, until her death in 969.

Svyatoslav Igorevich

on the monument "Millennium of Russia"

Svyatoslav went down in history as a warrior prince. In 964, he went with his retinue to the Volga, to the land of the Vyatichi, whom, most likely, he made his allies, freeing them from the need to pay tribute to the Khazars. In 965-966. Russian troops were already fighting in the region of the Middle and Lower Volga. As a result, such a powerful state that controlled transit trade routes as the Khazar Khaganate disappeared from the historical map, and the Volga Bulgaria was forced to pay tribute to the Kiev prince and agree to let Russian merchants through its territory. The Russian outposts in the Great Steppe were the former Khazar Sarkel, now called Belaya Vezha, as well as the Greek trading city with a multinational population - Tamarakhta, which Russian chronicles will call Tmutarakan. Svyatoslav's invasion of the North Caucasus into the lands of the allies of Khazaria - the Alans, Yases and Kasogs - also turned out to be successful. Returning to Kyiv, Svyatoslav defeated the Vyatichi, forced them to recognize their supreme power and pay tribute to Kyiv.

Behind the Volga campaigns of 964-966. followed by two Danube campaigns of Svyatoslav in 967-971. In the course of them, Svyatoslav tried to create a huge Russian-Bulgarian kingdom with a center in Pereslavets on the Danube, which in geopolitical terms could become a serious counterbalance to the Byzantine Empire in the South-East of Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Second Danube campaign of Svyatoslav (969-971) resulted in an open clash between Rus' and the Roman Empire. During the Danube expeditions of Svyatoslav, Rus' had problems with the Pechenegs. The defeat of Khazaria contributed to the fact that the tribes of this Turkic people, who did not know statehood, finally established themselves in the steppes bordering Russia.

In 968, the Pechenegs were already besieging Kyiv. With the help of the northerners, led by the governor Pretich, the Kievans fought back, and later the Pechenegs were defeated by Prince Svyatoslav, who hastily returned from the Balkans. The siege of Kyiv by the Pechenegs aroused the displeasure of Princess Olga, the Kyiv boyars and the townspeople. For better protection of the territories subject to Kiev, Svyatoslav, after the death of his mother in 969, planted his sons in the main, in his opinion, centers at that time: Yaropolk - in Kiev, Oleg - with the Drevlyans in Ovruch, Vladimir - in Novgorod. In the future, this led to an internecine war between the brothers, and then, having arranged Rus' in this way, after mourning and burying his mother, Svyatoslav rushed off again to the Danube. For Rus', the Second Danube campaign of 969-971. ended in defeat. Svyatoslav had to give up his claims to the Danube Bulgaria. This country actually lost its independence for a while and fell under the control of Constantinople. The latter concluded peace with Kievan Rus and paid Svyatoslav a kind of "payoff" - a tribute. Upon returning to Rus', Svyatoslav died in battle with the Pechenegs on the Dnieper rapids in 972.

All historians recognize Svyatoslav Igorevich as a great commander of the early Russian Middle Ages, however, when evaluating him as a statesman, the opinions of experts differ. Some see the prince as a great politician who tried to create already in the tenth century. the vast Russian Empire, which controls the lands from the Balkans, the Volga and Black Sea steppes to the North Caucasus. For others, Svyatoslav is a talented military leader, whom the era of the Great Migration of Nations and the era of "barbarian kingdoms" knew a lot. For these leaders, war, military booty and military glory were a way of life and the limit of their thoughts. Both of these approaches to the analysis of the achievements of Prince Svyatoslav do not deny that his military achievements significantly expanded the fame of the Old Russian state and strengthened its authority, both in the East and in the West.

In our further story, we will focus on military history. Concluding a brief note on the reign of Svyatoslav as a whole, we will report on the range of sources on the basis of which scientists reconstruct the activities of this Kyiv prince. From domestic sources - this is, first of all, the Tale of Bygone Years (Ipatiev and Laurentian editions). From foreign - The history of the Byzantine author of the second half of the tenth century. Leo the Deacon, which has come down to us as part of the work of a Byzantine scholar of the late 11th - early 12th centuries. Scylitia. Two more Byzantine testimonies should also be mentioned: the History of Kedrin and the Annals of Zonara. Additional sources are messages from Arab, Khazar and Western European authors. Folklore epic material, such as ancient Russian epics and Scandinavian sagas, plays a certain role in recreating the impression of Svyatoslav's campaigns against his contemporaries.

Prince and squad

Svyatoslav's childhood and early youth passed in a retinue environment. He was, in fact, a pupil of his squad. The name of his "breadwinner" is also known - Asmud. Judging by the name, it was a Varangian, like another prominent governor - Sveneld. The latter was the head of the Kyiv squad under four rulers: Prince Igor (912-945), Regent Princess Olga (945-969), Prince Svyatoslav (945-972), Prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich (972-980).

The presence of Varangian governors at the court of the Kyiv princes in the IX-XI centuries. was commonplace. From the time of Rurik's calling, natives of Scandinavia were hired soldiers in Rus', served as princely envoys in diplomatic, judicial and commercial affairs, could sit as governors in certain areas of Kievan Rus along with representatives of the East Slavic tribal nobility (deliberate child). In addition to the Varangians, the personal retinue of the Kyiv princes included many representatives of the Polyan tribe, whose tribal center at one time was Kyiv. However, there were also warriors from other East Slavic tribes (Northerners, Drevlyans, Ilmen Slovenes, etc.), as well as Finno-Ugric peoples (“wonders”) and representatives of other ethnic groups of the East European Plain and surrounding countries. In the tenth century courage and martial arts were valued, and social differences still did not divide the country's population so much. It is no coincidence that in the first written legislation of Rus' - "Russian Pravda" for the murder of a free city dweller or a communal peasant, the same fine (vira of 40 hryvnias of silver) was due, as for the life of a "lad", i.e. an ordinary member of the princely squad. The most common diamond-shaped Kiev hryvnia, the weight of which fluctuated around 90 grams. silver, and a more stick-shaped Novgorod hryvnia weighing about 200 gr. silver.

The mentioned military teachers of the young prince Svyatoslav Asmud and Sveneld, of course, were not ordinary warriors (“youths, swordsmen, grids, children”, etc.). They belonged to the senior squad (“princely men”, “boyars” - according to one version, the origin of the term “boyar” is associated with the Slavic word “fights”). The senior squad was made up of governors and advisers to the prince. The prince sent them as ambassadors. He appointed his governors in the lands subject to him. Unlike the tribal nobility (“deliberate child”), which was associated with the land and communities, the senior squad was associated precisely with the prince. In the prince, as a source of supreme central power, men and boyars saw the source of their benefits and social power. Since the time of the grandson of Svyatoslav - Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise, the life of a representative of the senior squad was guarded by a vir in 80 hryvnias of silver.

With his husbands and boyars, the ruler kept the "thought", i.e. consulted on the most important domestic and foreign policy matters. In the IX-XI centuries. council with a squad (both older and younger), as spontaneously, in a moment of danger, a veche (city or on the scale of the army, where, in addition to the princely squad, included "howl" militias) was the limiter of princely power in the days of Kievan Rus. At the same time, councils with a squad and veche were a way to establish a social compromise in ancient Russian society, which, in turn, served as a solid support for the newborn state power.

In the early centuries of the existence of Rus', the connection between the prince and the squad was very strong. The younger squad generally lived near the prince, in his house, fed from his hands, received payment for shares in military booty, tribute, trade profits, and gifts from the prince. The men of the princes had their own warriors. In addition to the incomes mentioned above, they could receive the right to collect tribute in their favor from entire territories. So from the PVL we know that Prince Igor granted Sveneld the collection of tribute from part of the Drevlyane lands. This right was respected during the reign of Olga and Svyatoslav, and even in the first years after the death of Svyatoslav, until his son Oleg Drevlyansky killed his son Sveneld Luta, believing that Luta Sveneldich's hunting in the Drevlyansk forests violated his rights as ruler of the entire Drevlyansky land.

As we have already reported, Russian chronicles say that Svyatoslav grew up among the squad. According to ancient custom, a noble boy (prince, son of a “deliberate child” or princely husbands) “turned into a man” at 3 years old. It was at this age that the “monasteries” took place, a symbolic holiday, when the boy’s hair was cut for the first time (a lock was cut off), he was transferred from the female half of the house to the male half, the father gave his son a horse and children’s weapons. This weapon differed from the present only in size and weight. The prince's son also relied on a "breadwinner", i.e. an educator, who most often was one of the boyars of his father. But it could also be an experienced devoted "lad", a member of the younger squad, who could well turn out to be a princely slave. But this, of course, was not an ordinary slave. His social status and position could be very high, and upon the death of the owner or the age of majority of the pupil, he gained complete freedom, remaining in the closest and noblest environment of the prince. Asmud was directly involved in the upbringing of Svyatoslav, and the life of the boy was surrounded by retinue life.

When reconstructing the appearance of the princely squad of the 9th-11th centuries, historians rely partially on chronicle reports, but the main source is archaeological material: finds of weapons and weapons in battlefields or in settlements, military things from mounds and other burials of pagan times.

Under the first Russian princes, their personal squad (without the Varangians called “from across the sea”, who, under Oleg, Igor, Svyatoslav, Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise, were regularly called for this or that campaign; and without militia soldiers, the so-called “wars” from free townspeople and rural residents) ranged from 200 to 500 people. Most of the warriors were of East Slavic origin. Domestic historians L. Klein, G. Lebedev, V. Nazarenko, on the basis of a study of the archaeological material from the burial mound, concluded that non-Slavic warriors were in the princely squad of the 10th century. approximately 27% of its composition. The non-Slavic contingent was made up of people from the Scandinavian, Finno-Ugric, Leto-Lithuanian, Turkic, Iranian ethnic groups. Moreover, the Scandinavians-Varangians accounted for 4-5% of the total number of princely combatants. (Klein L., Lebedev G., Nazarenko V. Norman antiquities of Kievan Rus at the present stage of archaeological research. History of relations between Scandinavia and Russia (IX - XX centuries). - L., 1970. S. 239 -246, 248-251).

The squad was not only the core of the prince's army. The combatants also carried out various assignments, including economic ones at the court of the prince and in his state. They could be judges, messengers, tribute collectors, etc.

Loyalty to the prince, courage, martial arts and physical strength, as well as the ability to give practical advice to the prince - these are the virtues that were cultivated in the squad environment. However, if the combatant was a free man, he could leave the service, go to another prince. Of course, this did not concern the slave warriors. While the trade route "From the Varangians to the Greeks", which connected Western European countries with Byzantium and other countries of the developed East, was of great international importance, the main wealth of the ancient Russian elite stemmed from income from this trade artery. The Old Russian merchant is, first of all, a warrior who, being a commercial agent of the Kyiv prince, comes in accordance with the Russian-Byzantine treaties of 911 and 944. with a princely letter to Tsargrad, sells there part of the tribute collected by the prince in the polyudye (furs, honey, wax, servants) and buys expensive weapons, expensive fabrics (linings, brocade), jewelry, wines, fruits and other things that are sold in the princely retinue and urban environment in Russia or are transported for further sale to Western European states.

In the tenth century it did not make sense for the warriors to leave Kyiv and its ruler. The Kiev prince controlled all trade along the path "From the Varangians to the Greeks." He also acted as a leader in campaigns against neighboring countries. In case of victory, he rewarded the combatants with their shares in military booty. The Kiev prince led the consolidation of the East Slavic lands and part of the tribute, the tax collected by the prince during the polyud, also turned out to be the property of the squad. Other income except military booty, tribute, princely gifts and part of trade profits in the tenth century. representatives of the senior and junior teams did not have. The land holdings of the Russian nobility (patrimonies) will begin to form in Rus' only from the end of the 11th, in the 12th-beginning of the 13th centuries. The “settlement to the ground” of the princes and the senior squad will be facilitated by the decrease in the significance of the path “From the Varangians to the Greeks”. This will happen due to the opening by the western crusaders of a short sea road from Europe to the Levant (the eastern coast of the Mediterranean), and also because of the “contamination” of the lower reaches of the Dnieper by the Polovtsians, hostile to Rus'.

Judging by the burial mounds of the 10th century, initially the main armor of the ancient Russian princely combatant was simple ringed armor, better known as chain mail. Somewhat later, simple chain mail began to be strengthened with scaly armor located on top of chain mail. Only at the end of the XII century. other types of armor appeared that were worn over chain mail (shells, mirrors, etc.). The arms and legs of the combatants were covered with bracers and greaves. They were made of durable leather with metal scales. In contrast to the pot-shaped Scandinavian helmet, a conical helmet was widespread in Rus', which was also widely known in eastern countries. It ended with a sharp pommel. Gradually, such helmets began to be supplemented with nose guards and aventail, chain mail protection that covered the neck, descending to the shoulders. Among the Varangians, the so-called "masks" and "half-masks" were widespread, covering the face or part of it. The shields of the ancient Russian warriors were of two shapes - round and tear-shaped. The shields were made of wood, but had an iron or leather edging. In the center of the shield was "umbon", a metal bowl. It could be round or conical.

The weapon of a warrior depended on whether he was a lightly armed or heavily armed infantryman or horseman. A lightly armed warrior on foot had a bow, a quiver with arrows, 2-3 darts (“sulits”), a sword or an ax and a shield. His heavily armed brother wielded a shield, spear, sword or axe. The riders were also lightly armed or heavily armed. Light cavalry were armed with bows and arrows, shields, battle axes, swords, and sometimes sabers. Heavy - had spears, shields, swords. In general, the armament of the ancient Russian warriors was influenced by neighbors who served the Russian princes or, on the contrary, were their opponents. From the Scandinavians, Russian (Slavic) warriors borrowed the favorite weapon of the northern Germans - a battle ax and a long, double-edged sword. From the eastern steppes - a saber.

The total weight of the combatant's weapons in the 10th century. did not exceed 13-20 kg.

The princely retinue and the Vikings invited "from across the sea" often moved on boats - "dragons". The bow of the ship was decorated with a dragon's head. The Greeks called these ships "monoxyls" (one-trees). Scientists believe that their keel was made from a single tree trunk. Such a boat could take on board up to 40 people, plus a supply of food and goods. The small draft of the vessel made it possible to walk in shallow water, both in the seas and in the rivers. Having unloaded the ship, it could be dragged from one water body to another. Usually the boat was rolled on logs or placed on wooden wheels. Without current repairs in one season, the "monoxyl" could cover from 1500 to 2000 km. He sailed and rowed and was undoubtedly the best European ship in the 9th-11th centuries.

The warriors fought on foot, but there were also cavalry formations of the squad and the Varangians. The Slavic “howls” from the militia, who, in addition to the squads, gathered to participate in large campaigns, preferred to fight on foot. Voi, in accordance with the military traditions developed back in the pre-state era, united in regiments by tribes and advanced "in droves". Voi also liked to arrange ambushes. The military system of the wars appeared later than the tenth century. Yes, and the tactics of combatants in the tenth century. often resembled the sum of numerous personal duels on the battlefield. Close combat often turned into hand-to-hand combat, where both knives and fists were already used.

The enemy army in Rus' until the XIV century. was called "army". The phrase "army warrior" meant an enemy warrior.

Very often the battle opened with a duel of the best fighters. In pre-Mongolian Rus', they were called “braves”, the word “hero” is of Mongolian origin and appeared in the Russian lexicon in the 13th century. The duel of the brave had a sacred connotation: they wondered which side the gods and fate were on. Sometimes the defeat of one's "brave" led to the abandonment of the battle, the retreat, and even the flight of the whole army. But more often this did not happen, and archers entered the battle. They bombarded the enemy with arrows. There was no serious damage to the enemy from this, but the archers irritated the enemy and cheered up their own. When the parties approached, lightly armed foot soldiers threw javelins. Then everyone rushed forward, wanting to overturn the enemy and put him to flight. It was during the flight of the enemy that his greatest extermination was observed. Heavily armed foot warriors advanced in more or less formation. They lined up in three or more rows, closed their shields, put their spears forward, forming a kind of “wall”. The cavalry supported the foot squad. They could deliver effective blows from the flanks, the cavalry strike at the end of the battle turned out to be even more destructive, when the enemy was weakening and was ready to retreat. During the battle, individual warriors tried to break through to the leader of the "military", kill or injure him, at worst knock over the banner or other symbols of the enemy.

All these wisdoms of military tactics and strategy of his century by the age of 20-22 were perfectly known to Prince Svyatoslav. Judging by his actions and speeches recorded in historical sources, the only measure of his decisions was the opinion of the squad. It is no coincidence that the proposal of the mother of Princess Olga, who converted to Christianity during her visit to Constantinople in 955 (or 957), was refused to be baptized with the explanation: “The squad will laugh!” Svyatoslav himself did not prevent his subjects from being baptized, only, as the chronicle reports, he laughed at them. One of the main ideals of the prince was the glory of a selflessly brave warrior who never betrayed the squad traditions: “... and walked easily, like a pardus,” the chronicler writes about Svyatoslav, “he gathered many soldiers. He did not take carts or cauldrons on campaigns, did not boil meat, but thinly cut up horsemeat, animal or beef, baked it on coals and eat it. He did not have a tent, he slept on the ground, spreading a sweatshirt and with a saddle in his head. All his warriors were like that. Going on a campaign, he sent to say: I'm going to you!

Svyatoslav fought his first battle as a prince in 946. Then his mother Olga moved the Kiev army against the Drevlyans, who were responsible for the death of her husband, Prince Igor. The regiments stood in the field opposite each other. Four-year-old Svyatoslav Igorevich threw a dart towards the enemy. The spear flew between the horse's ears and fell at her feet. “Svyatoslav was painfully small,” the chronicler noted and continued: “And Sveneld [voivode] and Asmud [breadwinner] said: “The prince has already begun; let's follow, squad, for the prince! Kievans won a complete victory.

In 964, the already matured Svyatoslav set off at the head of a large army on his first real campaign against the Volga, so that he could fight incessantly for the rest of his life (8 years).

II. Campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav on the Volga

Hike to the Vyatichi

Svyatoslav's campaigns on the Volga were explained by several reasons. The main geopolitical opponent of Rus' at that moment was Khazaria. Firstly, for a long time (from the 7th to the 9th centuries) she took regular tribute from the southern and eastern edges of the East Slavic world: from the Drevlyans, Northerners, Polyans, Vyatichi. Vyatichi, as we learn from the PVL, and by 964 remained tributaries of the Khazars, while others were freed from tribute by Askold and Dir and the founder of the Kyiv state, Prince Oleg of Novgorod. However, the Khazars were not ready to give up the old custom so easily. In addition, they, being the biggest rival of Byzantium in trade affairs, interfered with Russian-Byzantine trade - the basis of all trade enterprises of Rus' on the way "From the Varangians to the Greeks." All this was supposed to push the rulers of Kievan Rus to war with the Khazars. Such wars went on with varying success under Oleg and Igor.

By the way, the last clash between the Rus and the Khazars before the campaigns of Svyatoslav turned out to be unsuccessful. In 941, on the Volga, within the Turkic borders, the country of the Volga Bulgars, Khazars and Burtases, the army of Prince Igor perished. As a true son of his time, Svyatoslav had to remember the sacred duty of an avenger for the insults of his father. Historians can only guess what reason - a thirst for revenge or the thought of control over the Great Volga trade route, was more important for Svyatoslav when he was working out the plan to strike at Khazaria. From a military strategic point of view, his plan turned out to be an example of perfection. Svyatoslav will always be inherent in offensive actions. However, in 964, he refused a direct attack on Khazaria through the Volga-Don interfluve, choosing a detour. He moved to the northeast. Climbing up the Desna River, Svyatoslav dragged his boats to the upper reaches of the Oka and ended up in the land of the Vyatichi.

Vyatichi were a warlike union of tribes, while they were the most "primitive" among the Eastern Slavs. Having once come under the leadership of the legendary Vyatka from the west (from the lands that became Poland in the future), the Vyatichi in the impenetrable forest wilds with the harsh natural and climatic conditions of the Volga-Oka interfluve lost the skills of developed agriculture. Vyatichi began to live, like the surrounding Finno-Ugric peoples, mainly by crafts: hunting, fishing, gathering. They were not averse to attacking and robbing merchants and other visiting travelers who found themselves in their possessions. At one time, the Kiev prince Oleg (880-912) forced the Vyatichi people to recognize their supremacy and obliged them to pay tribute to Kyiv. However, in accordance with the tribal mentality, the Vyatichi did not believe that they were part of the Kyiv state. They considered themselves in personal dependence on Oleg, the winner of their princes. With the death of Oleg, they considered their relationship with Kiev ended, and the Kyiv prince Igor (912-945) had to convince them of the opposite with a sword. With the death of Igor, history repeated itself.

Until 964, the Vyatichi were independent, and Svyatoslav went to prove his seniority. This was part of that great internal policy of consolidating all the East Slavic tribes around Kiev, which was started by Oleg, the founder of the Old Russian state, and completed by one of the brightest princes of the heyday of united Rus' - Vladimir the Red Sun (980-1015).

From the point of view of Svyatoslav's foreign policy intentions, it was risky to fight the Khazar Khaganate, leaving in his rear the recalcitrant and warlike Vyatichi, tributaries, and, consequently, the formal allies of Khazaria.

Numerous regiments of Svyatoslav appeared in the lands of the Vyatichi in 964. Both sides showed diplomatic abilities. Vyatichi did not dare to fight. And Svyatoslav, who was inclined to decide everything with a sword, this time went to negotiations. He did not demand tribute from the Vyatichi, as his predecessors did. The Kiev prince simply made it clear to the Vyatichi that his war with the Khazars freed them for a time or forever from the need to pay tribute to the Khazars, and the Vyatichi let Svyatoslav's squads pass through their possessions.

Along the Volga, Svyatoslav in 965 moved to Khazaria, which did not expect a blow from Rus' from the north.

Khazaria. Brief historical background

The state of the Khazars arose due to the process of the Great Migration of Peoples, which swept Europe and Asia in the II-XIII centuries. In the course of it, the Turkic peoples, which include the Khazars, created an extensive Türg Khaganate. However, it turned out to be an unstable association, and in the 7th century, during the collapse of its western part, the Khazar state was formed. At that time, the Khazars controlled the steppe expanses of the Lower Volga region and the eastern part of the North Caucasus. The capital of Khazaria was originally the city of Semender in Dagestan, and from the beginning of the 8th century. - Itil on the Lower Volga. They depended on the Khazars from the second half of the 7th century. tribes of Savirs, Yasses and Kasogs living in the North Caucasus, from the 10th century. - residents of Caucasian Albania, in the 7th-10th centuries. Azov Bulgars.

Relatives of the latter - the Bulgars, who settled on the Middle Volga, led in the VIII-IX centuries. fight against Khazar domination. By the beginning of the tenth century Volga Bulgaria was quite autonomous from Itil. The Bulgars converted to Islam and sought an alliance with the eternal enemies of Khazaria, the Arabs. In 922, the ambassador of the Baghdad caliph Susanna al-Rasi arrived in Bulgaria. The Arab scientist Ibn Fadlan, who was his secretary, left his notes on the Volga Bulgaria. They contain the famous story about the funeral of a noble Russian on the Volga. Some scholars see Ibn Fadlan's "Ruses" as a description of East Slavic merchant warriors. The majority of researchers tend to consider the "Rus" of Ibn Fadlan to be Scandinavian warrior-merchants who arrived in Bulgaria for bargaining. By the middle of the tenth century. Volga Bulgaria was already actually a state independent of the Khazars.

Another part of the Turkic nomadic people of the Bulgars, a union of tribes led by Khan Asparuh, at the end of the 7th century. moved to the Danube. Here Asparuh, having united with the South Slavic tribes, entered the struggle for the Balkan territories with the Byzantine Empire.

However, all these difficulties in communicating with the Bulgars did not prevent Khazaria by the beginning of the 8th century. to become a huge and powerful state. In addition to the Caspian and Black Sea steppes to the Dnieper, it included the entire North Caucasus, most of the Crimea. The population was predominantly nomadic and Turkic, but there were also Indo-European tribes, in particular, the Iranian-speaking Alans, who led a sedentary lifestyle in the Don-Donetsk interfluve. Initially nomadic pastoralists, the Khazars, however, quickly realized that the organization of transit international trade brings much more income. During the establishment of transit trade, cities arose in Khazaria, where, in addition to trade, handicraft began to develop, and gardening flourished in the urban environs.

Khazaria and neighboring countries in the X century.

The religion of the majority of the Khazars was and remained paganism. The Khazars worshiped many gods, and their main deity was the sky god Tengri. The head of state, the kagan, was associated by the Khazars with the manifestation of patronage of Tengri on earth. The Khazars believed that the true kagan possessed the so-called "kut'om", a special vitality that ensures the prosperity of all the Khazars. In case of failures, the Khazars could decide that their kagan was “untrue”, kill and replace him. Such an interpretation of the kagan gradually turned him from a real ruler into a sacral demigod powerless in real politics, whose personal fate depended on the state of domestic and foreign political affairs of the state.

However, the elite headed by the tsar and the sacred head of state, the kagan, changed their confessional preferences twice. As controllers of the steppe international trade routes, the Khazars turned out to be competitors of the Arabs. In 735, the Arabs invaded Khazaria and defeated the Khazar Khaganate. For the sake of peace, the Kagan and his entourage accepted Islam for a short time, which did not spread among the mass of the population of Khazaria. Within Khazaria, when organizing transit trade, Jewish merchants, connected with the Jewish diaspora around the world, played an increasingly important role, which to a large extent contributed to the establishment of their international trade relations by the Kaganate. Under the influence of Jewish merchants, the kagan and the entire Khazar elite converted to Judaism. Obadiy, the kagan of the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries, declared Judaism the state religion of Khazaria, but most of the Khazar nomads, simple subjects of the kagan and the king, remained pagans.

Under the influence of trade relations with Byzantium, part of the urban population adopted Christianity. In the 8th century The Patriarchate of Constantinople even opened 7 dioceses in Khazaria. However, initially the allied relations of the Khazars with the Romans on the basis of joint opposition to the Arabs, in the 9th-10th centuries. developed into competition on trade routes and foreign policy enmity, which, of course, did not contribute to the spread of Christianity among the Khazars in these centuries.

The Roman Empire, interested in undermining the trading power of Khazaria, gradually set the wild nomads surrounding it against the Kaganate, in particular, the Pechenegs, who from the east put pressure on the Khazar borders, trying to break into the Black Sea steppes. By the end of the ninth century they succeeded. Not knowing statehood, warlike and independent of each other, the Pecheneg unions of tribes made their way through the Khazar possessions and began to populate the steppes of the Lower Dnieper, displacing from there to the Danube, the Magyars who had settled for a while near the Dnieper.

Relations with the Khazaria of the East Slavic world before the formation of the state of Rus were contradictory. As we have already mentioned, part of the Eastern Slavs paid tribute to the Khazars for 200 years. However, since the Khazars allowed all their tributaries to trade, which was conducted and controlled by the kaganate, the meadows, northerners, and drevlyans were partially drawn into it, which, judging by the archaeological excavations, contributed to their socio-economic development. Separate military and trade expeditions of the Scandinavian Varangians, looking for trade routes leading from Northern Europe to Byzantium and to the East through the East Slavic and Finno-Ugric lands, judging by the archaeological material, began in the 9th and continued into the 10th centuries. However, the Great Volga route turned out to be difficult and inaccessible for the Varangians, because the Volga Bulgaria and the Khazar Khaganate strictly guarded their monopoly on it. After the formation of the state of Rus, the liberation of the Eastern Slavs from the Khazar tribute became one of the main tasks of the Kievan princes. "Trading, urban, Dnieper, Kievan Rus", as it was defined in the IX-XI centuries. IN. Klyuchevsky, turned out to be a competitor of Khazaria in international transit trade, which also led to an aggravation of Russian-Khazar relations. The internal weakening of Khazaria, clearly noticeable by the middle of the 10th century, attracted the attention of the Kyiv rulers to it, and from the point of view of military booty, the usual companion of victorious medieval wars.

A more detailed history of Khazaria can be found in the works of historians M.I. Artamonova, S.A. Pletneva, P.B. Golden and others.

The campaign against the Volga Bulgaria and the defeat of Khazaria

The invasion of Khazaria by troops led by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav from the north was unexpected for the Kaganate. However, for a long time the Khazar rulers realized the threat from the Rus. In the middle of the X century. The Khazar king Joseph wrote to Hasadai ibn Shafrut, the minister of Abdarrahman III of the Umayyad Caliph of Spain: "I live at the entrance to the river [Volga] and do not let the Rus." Joseph was looking for allies among the Muslim rulers and wanted to present the matter in such a way that his control over the Lower Volga steppes was also the protection of Muslim interests. A little later, the Khazars tried to get help from Central Asian Khorezm.

But by the mid-960s. little that could save Khazaria. She was exhausted in conflicts with the Arabs and the Byzantines. Attempts to find a compromise with part of the Arab world were ephemeral. Its borders cracked from the onslaught of the Pecheneg Turks. Clashes with Russia and even individual victories over the Russians only prepared a decisive onslaught of the young growing Russian state against the decrepit Khazar Khaganate.

The Tale of Bygone Years very briefly outlines the events associated with the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate by Svyatoslav.

“In the year 6473 (965). Svyatoslav went to the Khazars. Having heard, the Khazars went out to meet them, led by their prince kagan, and agreed to fight, and in the war with them Svyatoslav the Khazars defeated them and took their city of Belaya Vezha. And he defeated the yas and kasogs, and came to Kyiv.

From another source, reports of a contemporary of the events of the Arab geographer Ibn Haukal, we know that before attacking Khazaria, Svyatoslav fought with the Volga Bulgaria, defeated its troops, took a lot of booty. Many cities, in particular Bulgar, were devastated. Having overcome the Bulgars, according to Ibn Haukal, the prince of Kiev moved deep into Khazaria. The dating of Svyatoslav's campaign against Bulgaria and Khazaria by Ibn Haukal does not correspond to the PVL. The Arab scholar attributes the campaigns to 358 AH according to the Muslim calendar, which falls on November 25, 968 - November 13, 969. according to the account from the birth of Christ.

“... and the Rus came to Kharasan, Samandar and Itil in the year 358…,” writes Ibn Haukal, “And al-Khazar is a side, and there is a city in it called Samandar (the old capital of Khazaria in the North Caucasus), and ... there were numerous gardens in it ... but now the Rus came there and there were no grapes or raisins left in that city.” (Kalinina T.M. Ancient Rus' and the countries of the East in the 10th century. Abstract of Candidate of Dissertation. M., 1976. P. 6).

The same evil fate befell the new capital of the Khazars, Itil on the Lower Volga. According to the hypothesis of the famous specialist in the history of Khazaria M.I. Artamonov, Svyatoslav's troops floated down the Volga in boats, and Itil fell before the Russians dragged their ships to the Don. Itil was literally wiped off the face of the earth. Another large Khazar city, Sarkel on the Don, had a different fate. The Russians of Svyatoslav captured it and turned it into their fortress. Even the name of the city was preserved. It was simply translated into Russian. “Sarkel” means “White Tower”, i.e. tower in Russian For a long time, a Russian garrison settled in Belaya Vezha, and the city itself turned out to be the most important center of Russian influence on the expanses of the Great Steppe. At the same time, Svyatoslav took control of Tmutarakan. So Russian sources called one of the most ancient cities of the Taman Peninsula. In ancient times it was called Hermonassa, the Byzantine Greeks knew it as Tamatarhu, and the Khazars as Samkerts. Now on the site of the city, the village of Taman. Apparently, in Tmutarakan, even before the invasion of Svyatoslav into Khazaria, there was a detachment of Russ. After 965 and until the XII century. Tmutarakan becomes a strong autonomous Russian possession in Taman. It competes with the Byzantine cities in the Crimea, both geopolitically and commercially.

Having taken the largest Khazar centers on the Lower Volga, Don and Taman, Svyatoslav attacked the Yases and Kasogs in the North Caucasus, previously subject to the Khazars. These tribes were also defeated.

Given the inconsistency in dates between the PVL and Arab sources, a number of historians admit the possibility of the existence of not one campaign of Svyatoslav against Khazaria, but two. The first, as stated in the PVL, took place in 965. During it, Svyatoslav destroyed some of the main centers of Khazaria and established himself in others. In the second, which, as Ibn Haukal reports, could fall on 968 - the beginning of 969 (after the hasty return of the prince from his First Danube campaign of 967-968 due to the news of the siege of Kiev by the Pechenegs), Svyatoslav finally took control of the Caspian possessions of the Khazars. The Russians got huge military booty (material values, cattle, captive slaves). The trading elite of the Kaganate was brought to Kiev - Jewish merchants, Khazars and Jews by origin, who were compactly settled in the Russian capital, which is why later one of the gates in Kiev was called Zhidovsky. (The word "Jew" in Russian until the 19th century meant a person professing Judaism.)

In domestic historiography, the opinion prevails that after the defeat of Khazaria by Svyatoslav, the Khazar Kaganate, as a state, ceased to exist. However, a specialist in Khazaria A.P. Novoseltsev suggests that in a small area in the Lower Volga, the Khazar state existed as early as the 90s of the 10th century, although we cannot say anything specific about its territory (Novoseltsev A.P. The Khazar state and its role in the history of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. M., 1990). The inhabitants of this Khazaria converted to Islam, and the Khazar state was finally liquidated during the next wave of migrations associated with the Great Migration of the Asian steppe peoples in 1050-1160. The breakthrough of the Turks-Kypchaks (Polovtsy) forced the last Khazars to flee to the Central Asian Islamic states. In the Lower Volga region, the influence of the Volga Bulgaria and the Polovtsian Steppe was strengthened.

One way or another, but in the 960s. the defeat of Khazaria brought Svyatoslav and his state great fame and wealth. Returning home, Svyatoslav went through the lands of the Vyatichi again. Now he already demanded from them the recognition of their seniority and tribute, to which the Vyatichi were forced to agree. The international prestige of Rus' and its territory grew. Byzantine sources do not tell us anything about the wars of Svyatoslav with the Khazars, but from the Greek chronicles it is known that at that moment the Roman Empire, one of the most powerful and civilized empires of the medieval world, sought to maintain good allied relations with Russia, and at the same time expand its territorial dominance through the hands of the brave Russian "archon" and his warriors.

III. Danube campaigns of Svyatoslav

"Diplomatic games" around the Danube Bulgaria

In 967, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Foka sent his ambassador, the noble patrician Kalokir, to Kyiv. Having richly endowed the prince and his entourage, the emperor, apparently, offered Svyatoslav, for a large tribute, to conquer the Danube Bulgaria for Byzantium.

This country was formed on the European political map during the Great Migration of Nations. Unlike the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire (Romaic Empire, aka Byzantium) survived. In the VI century. a stream of South Slavic settlers poured into its northern Danubian and Balkan territories. “The whole country was glorified,” the Greek chroniclers stated. In the 7th century On the Danube, an Union of seven South Slavic tribes arose, which began a struggle with Byzantium for independence. It was with this union that the aforementioned Bulgar khan Asparukh, who migrated to the Balkans from the Volga, united. According to L.N. Gumilyov, the real Turks among the subjects of Asparukh were only his inner circle and the nobility. The rest of Asparuh's nomads were Turkic-speaking Magyars. In 681, Asparuh, at the head of the Slavic-Bulgarian army, defeated Emperor Constantine IV and forced him not only to recognize the independence of part of the Balkan lands, but also to pay an annual tribute. Thus was born the First Bulgarian Kingdom, which existed until 1018. The nomads were soon assimilated by the Slavs, who greatly outnumbered them. From the Horde of Asparuh, only the name of the country remained - Bulgaria, and the first ruling dynasty, leading from the Bulgar Khan. At the time of its greatest prosperity, Danubian Bulgaria occupied most of the Balkan Peninsula, its possessions were washed by three seas. Neighborhood with Byzantium gave rise not only to struggle, but also to beneficial cultural influence. In the reign of Boris I (852-889), Greek monks, natives of Thessaloniki Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet and writing. This happened in 863, and in 865 Bulgaria adopted Christianity. The Old Bulgarian language formed the basis of the written Old Slavonic language, it was in it that the Old Russian “Tale of Bygone Years” was written. Under Simeon the Great (893-927), the "golden age of Bulgarian literature" began. The first Bulgarian kingdom reached its maximum territorial size.

However, the endless confrontation with the Roman Empire and internal unrest (in particular, strife between orthodox Christians and Bogomils) undermined the power of Bulgaria. In the reign of Peter I (927-969), Bulgaria began to decline, and Byzantium decided that it was time to take revenge. Meanwhile, the wars of the Empire with the Arabs diverted its forces from resolving the Bulgarian issue, so Nikifor Fok and thought that the involvement of the winner of Khazaria Svyatoslav in the defeat of the Danube Bulgaria was a profitable move.

The defeat of Danube Bulgaria by Svyatoslav

Svyatoslav Igorevich agreed. And his 10,000-strong army marched southwest from Kyiv. The warriors and howls rafted down the Dnieper, went to the Black Sea and soon found themselves within the Bulgarian borders. This turned out to be a complete surprise for the Bulgarian Tsar Peter. He put up an army superior to the forces of the Rus, but was defeated. Peter decided to turn to his former enemies, the Byzantines, for help. But this did not help, because soon the tsar himself, his son-heir Boris and all the royal household became prisoners of the prince of Rus' Svyatoslav. PVL reports Svyatoslav's new victories very briefly:

“In the year 6475 (967). Svyatoslav went to the Danube against the Bulgarians. And they fought, and Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians, and took eighty cities along the Danube, and sat down to reign there in Pereyaslavets, taking tribute from the Greeks.

But from this remark of the chronicler it follows that Svyatoslav received the Byzantine payment for the defeat of the Bulgarians, and was in no hurry to leave the Danube. As the subsequent development of events showed, Svyatoslav conceived the creation of his empire, which was to stretch from Belaya Vezha and Tmutorakan to the Balkans. Svyatoslav, apparently, was going to make the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube its capital.

Such a turn of events meant a real catastrophe for the foreign policy of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Phocas. For her, he paid with his life and throne. The cousin of Nicephorus Foki, the famous Roman commander John Tzimisces, staged a coup, killed his brother, and was himself proclaimed emperor. John was to oust Svyatoslav from the Danube, fighting with the newborn Russian-Bulgarian alliance.

The siege of Kyiv by the Pechenegs in 968

Meanwhile, the Pechenegs said their first “word” hostile to Rus'. Having defeated Khazaria, Svyatoslav himself helped to make the Pechenegs the masters in the Black Sea steppes. Perhaps the first Pecheneg attack on Rust in 968 was connected with secret Byzantine diplomacy. It could also be an independent action of the Pechenegs, to whom Kyiv, left after the departure of Svyatoslav's troops to Bulgaria without serious protection, seemed an easy prey.

The Russian chronicles tell much more about the siege of Kyiv by the nomads and about subsequent events than about the wars of Svyatoslav with the Vyatichi, Volga Bulgaria and Danube Bulgaria. Let us give the floor to Nestor, the alleged author of The Tale of Bygone Years:

“In the year 6476 (968). The Pechenegs came to the Russian land for the first time, and Svyatoslav was then in Pereyaslavets. And Olga locked herself with her grandchildren - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir in the city of Kyiv. And the Pechenegs besieged the city with a great force: there were countless of them around the city, and it was impossible to leave the city, nor to send, and people were exhausted from hunger and thirst. And people from the opposite side of the Dnieper gathered in boats and stood on the other side, and it was impossible for any of them to get into Kyiv, nor from the city to them. And people in the city began to grieve and said: “Is there anyone who could get over to the other side and tell them: if you don’t approach the city in the morning, we will surrender to the Pechenegs.” And one youth said: "I can pass." The townspeople rejoiced and said to the youth: "If you know how to get through, go." He left the city, holding a bridle, and went through the Pechenegs' camp, asking them: "Did anyone see a horse?" For he knew the Pecheneg language, and they took him for their own. And when he approached the river, then, throwing off his clothes, he rushed into the Dnieper and swam. Seeing this, the Pechenegs rushed after him, shot at him, but could not do anything to him. The same people noticed him from the other side, rode up to him in a boat, took him in a boat and brought him to the squad. And the youth said to them: “If you don’t approach the city early tomorrow morning, then people will surrender to the Pechenegs.” Their governor, named Pretich, said: “Let's go tomorrow in the boats and, having taken the princess and princes with us, we will dash to this shore. If we do not do this, then Svyatoslav will destroy us. And the next morning, close to dawn, they got into the boats and blew loudly, and the people in the city shouted. The Pechenegs, on the other hand, decided that the prince had come, and fled from the city in all directions. And Olga went out with her grandchildren and people to the boats. The Pecheneg prince, seeing this, returned alone to the governor Pretich and asked: “Who did this come?” And he answered him: “The people of the other side<Днепра>". The Pecheneg prince asked: "Aren't you a prince?" Pretich answered: “I am his husband, I came with the vanguard, and behind me there are countless warriors.” He said so to scare them. The prince of the Pechenegs said to Pretich: "Be my friend." He replied: "It will be so." And they gave each other hands, and gave the Pecheneg prince Pretich a horse, a saber and arrows. The same gave him chain mail, a shield and a sword. And the Pechenegs retreated from the city, and it was impossible to water the horse: the Pechenegs stood on Lybid. And the people of Kiev sent to Svyatoslav with the words: “You, prince, are looking for someone else’s land and take care of it, but you will lose yours, because we were almost taken by the Pechenegs, and your mother and your children. If you do not come and protect us, then they will take us. Don't you feel sorry for your fatherland, your old mother, your children? Hearing this, Svyatoslav with his retinue quickly mounted his horses and returned to Kyiv; he greeted his mother and children and lamented about what he had suffered from the Pechenegs. And he gathered the soldiers, and drove the Pechenegs into the steppe, and peace came.

In the year 6477 (969). Svyatoslav said to his mother and his boyars: “I don’t like to sit in Kiev, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube, because there is the middle of my land, all the blessings flow there: from the Greek land - curtains, gold, wine, various fruits, from the Czech Republic and from Hungary silver and horses, from Russia furs, and wax, and honey, and slaves. Olga answered him: “Don't you see - I'm sick; where do you want to go from me? Because she's already sick. And she said: "When you bury me, go wherever you want." Three days later Olga died, and her son, and her grandchildren, and all the people wept for her with great weeping, and they carried her and buried her in the chosen place. Olga, however, bequeathed not to perform feasts for her, since she had a priest with her - he buried blessed Olga. She was the harbinger of the Christian land, like the morning star before the sun, like the dawn before dawn...

In the year 6478 (970). Svyatoslav planted Yaropolk in Kyiv, and Oleg with the Drevlyans. At that time, the Novgorodians came, asking for a prince: "If you do not go to us, then we will get ourselves a prince." And Svyatoslav said to them: “And who would go to you?” And Yaropolk and Oleg refused. And Dobrynya said: "Ask Vladimir." Vladimir was from Malusha, the benevolent Olga. Malusha was Dobrynya's sister; their father was Malk Lubechanin, and Dobrynya was Vladimir's uncle. And the Novgorodians said to Svyatoslav: "Give us Vladimir." And the Novgorodians took Vladimir to themselves, and Vladimir went with Dobrynya, his uncle, to Novgorod, and Svyatoslav to Pereyaslavets.

The second Danube campaign of Svyatoslav, 969-971

Having divided the Russian land into 3 regions in 969 and handing them over to the care of his sons, Svyatoslav departed for Bulgaria. The idea of ​​a Russo-Bulgarian state did little to inspire the Bulgarians. In the absence of the Russian prince, they took possession of Pereyaslavets on the Danube, and when Svyatoslav returned to this "capital" of his, the Bulgarians went out to fight him. At the beginning of the battle, the Bulgarians even managed to push the Rus, but the victory still remained with Svyatoslav. After the death of Tsar Peter, his son Boris II became the ruler of Bulgaria. The new king was forced to recognize himself as a vassal of Svyatoslav.

All this provoked a big war with Byzantium. True to himself, Svyatoslav himself attacked the Greeks. At the head of the Russian infantry and Bulgarian cavalry, led by Tsar Boris II and Sveneld, Svyatoslav attacked the Byzantine "valley of roses", occupied Philippopolis (Plovdiev), inhabited mainly by Bulgarians. According to the Byzantine historian Leo Deacon, Svyatoslav executed 20,000 prisoners here, wanting to break the desire of the locals to support the Byzantine emperor.

Through Adrianople, the Russian prince intended to get to Constantinople. He sent a message to the Greeks: "I want to go against you and take your capital, as well as this city (Philippopolis)." The Greeks entered into negotiations, during which they tried to find out the size of Svyatoslav's army. The Russian prince demanded tribute for 20 thousand soldiers, although in reality he had fewer fighters. Negotiations allowed John Tzimisces to gather an army that outnumbered the forces of Svyatoslav. Near Adrianople, the Byzantine commander Varda Sklir defeated Svyatoslav. Detachments of hired Hungarians and Pechenegs, who joined the Second Danube campaign of Svyatoslav, chose to leave it. However, the affairs of John Tzimiskes did not go entirely smoothly. In Asia, Varda Fok rebelled against him; to suppress him, John went to a truce with Svyatoslav.

Having defeated the rebels, in the spring of 971 the emperor crossed the Balkans and invaded Bulgaria controlled by Svyatoslav. John Tzimisces led 30,000 infantry and 15,000 horsemen. After a two-day siege, the Greeks took Pereslavets (Preslav). The Russian governor Sveneld, who was sitting there with a retinue, a valiant man and of enormous growth, according to the description of Leo the Deacon, was forced to retreat to Svyatoslav, who was then in Dorostol on the Danube. The fall of Preslav caused a departure from the alliance with Svyatoslav of the city of Pliska and other Bulgarian fortresses.

Soon Svyatoslav with a thinned army was locked up in Dorostol. Emperor John Tzimiskes, according to the testimony of the historian Leo the Deacon, a direct participant in the siege of Dorostol, ordered his soldiers to build a fortified camp near Dorostol, surrounded by a rampart and a moat. Relying on him, the Byzantines fought with the "Scythians". So, according to the Byzantine tradition, Leo the Deacon called "Roses".

The battles went on with varying success, Leo the Deacon noted the courage of the fighters on both sides. Soon the Greeks were approached by battle triremes equipped with devices for throwing Greek fire. The squad of Svyatoslav was saddened. “After all, they ... heard from the old people from their people,” notes Leo the Deacon, “that with this very“ Median fire ”the Romans turned the huge fleet of Ingor (Igor), the father of Sfendoslav (Svyatoslav) into ashes on the Euxine [Sea].” Food and medicine were delivered to the Byzantine camp. And in Dorostol, the soldiers of Svyatoslav suffered hunger, died from wounds and diseases. According to Leo the Deacon, Sfenkel (Sveneld) was killed near Dorostol, in fact, he was obviously seriously wounded, because later we see him alive in Kiev according to the PVL. He fell in battle second in importance after Svyatoslav, according to Leo Deacon, the leader of the Rus Ikmor. The Byzantine describes the death of Ikmor as follows: “a brave man of gigantic stature ... surrounded by a detachment of warriors close to him, he fiercely rushed against the Romans and struck down many of them. Seeing this, one of the bodyguards of the emperor, the son of the archig of the Cretans Anemas, rushed to Ikmor, overtook him and hit him [with a sword] in the neck - the head of the Scythian, cut off along with his right hand, rolled to the ground. As soon as [Ikmor] died, the Scythians raised a cry mixed with a groan, and the Romans rushed at them. The Scythians could not withstand the onslaught of the enemy; greatly dejected by the death of their leader, they threw their shields behind their backs and began to retreat towards the city.

But the Russians did not remain in debt. During a desperate sortie of Russian warriors with the aim of setting fire to the stone-throwing machines of the Greeks, which caused colossal harm to the besieged in Dorostol, Master John Kurkuas fell. It was a relative of John Tzimisces, who commanded the soldiers serving the catapults. Seeing his expensive armor, Svyatoslav's warriors decided that it was the emperor himself, and cut down Kurkuas.

During the battle of Dorostol, the Russians began to master military skills that were not familiar to them before. Leo the Deacon reports that before the “dews” preferred to fight on foot, and one day they left under Dorostol on horseback.

The uncertainty of the outcome of the war weighed heavily on both sides. In Byzantium, there was an attempt at a new coup d'état, fortunately for John Tzimiskes, unsuccessful. Svyatoslav consulted with the squad: what to do? Some said that it was necessary to continue trying to break through with a fight from Dorostol. Others suggested sneaking out at night. Still others advised to enter into negotiations. Svyatoslav ended the veche by saying that if we do not fight, glory, the companion of Russian weapons, will perish; it is better to die in battle, "for the dead have no shame." However, the prince noticed that if he falls, then his soldiers are free to "think about themselves." “Where your head lies, there we will lay down ours,” was the answer of the squad. July 20, 971 Svyatoslav led her to a new attack.

“The Scythians attacked the Romans,” says Leo the Deacon, “stab them with spears, hit the horses with arrows and knock the horsemen to the ground. Seeing with what furious fury Sfendoslav (Svyatoslav) rushed to the Romans and inspired his ranks to fight, Anemas ... rushed at [the leader of the dews] and, striking him with a sword on the collarbone, threw him head down to the ground, but did not kill. [Sfendoslav] was saved by a chain mail shirt and a shield ... Anemas was surrounded by ranks of the Scythians, his horse fell, struck down by a cloud of spears; he killed many of them, but he himself died ... The death of Anemas inspired the Ross, and with wild, piercing cries, they began to push the Romans ...

But suddenly a hurricane broke out interspersed with rain ... besides, dust arose that clogged ... eyes. And they say that a rider on a white horse appeared before the Romans; ... he miraculously cut and disrupted the ranks of the dews ... Subsequently, a firm belief spread that it was the Great Martyr Theodore ... "

The wound of Svyatoslav and the storm forced the Rus to take refuge in Dorostol. A little later, Svyatoslav went to negotiations. He agreed to give up claims to the Danube Bulgaria, taking for this a tribute of 10 thousand soldiers and Russian cities. He made peace with Byzantium, which allowed him to safely return to his homeland. During the negotiations, Svyatoslav personally met with John Tzimiskes, thanks to which Leo the Deacon was able to see and capture the appearance of the Russian prince-warrior:

The emperor, “covered in gilded armor, rode on horseback to the banks of the Istra, leading a large detachment of armed horsemen sparkling with gold. Sfendoslav also appeared, sailing along the river on a Scythian boat; he sat at the oars and rowed along with his entourage, no different from them. This is what his appearance was like: moderate height, not too tall and not very short, with shaggy eyebrows and light blue eyes, snub-nosed, beardless, with thick, excessively long hair above his upper lip. His head was completely naked, but on one side a tuft of hair hung down - a sign of the nobility of the family; a strong nape, a broad chest and all other parts of the body are quite proportionate, but he looked sullen and wild. He had a gold earring in one ear; it was adorned with a carbuncle (ruby) framed by two pearls. His attire was white and differed from the clothes of those close to him only in cleanliness. Sitting in a boat on a bench for rowers, he talked a little with the sovereign about the conditions of peace and left. Thus ended the war between the Romans and the Scythians.

The death of Svyatoslav

About the end of the life of Svyatoslav, whom N.M. Karamzin called "the Russian Alexander of Macedon", says "The Tale of Bygone Years":

“Having made peace with the Greeks, Svyatoslav went to the rapids in boats. And the governor of his father, Sveneld, said to him: “Go around, prince, the thresholds on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the thresholds.” And he did not listen to him and went on the boats. And the Pereyaslavites sent to the Pechenegs to say: “Here Svyatoslav is going past you to Rus' with a small squad, taking from the Greeks a lot of wealth and captives without number.” Hearing about this, the Pechenegs set foot on the thresholds. And Svyatoslav came to the rapids, and it was impossible to pass them. And he stopped to spend the winter in Beloberezhye, and they had no food, and they had a great famine, so they paid half a hryvnia for a horse's head, and Svyatoslav spent the winter. When spring came, Svyatoslav went to the rapids.

In the year 6480 (972). Svyatoslav came to the thresholds, and Kurya, the Pecheneg prince, attacked him, and they killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound him, and drank from him. Sveneld came to Kyiv to Yaropolk.

Already in our time, swords of the 10th century were discovered near the Dnieper threshold Nenasytensky at the bottom of the river. This find allowed historians to point to the possible place of death of Svyatoslav and most of his surviving soldiers by the spring of 972. Only Sveneld with his warriors on horseback managed to break into Kyiv.

If you believe the PVL, then Svyatoslav was only 30 years old at the time of his death. Of these, for 28 years he was the head of the Russian state. As we have seen, for the last 8 years of his life, Svyatoslav personally led squads on campaigns. He won all the wars except the last one. The death of Svyatoslav did not diminish his military glory. Russian epics, as scientists suggest, have preserved the memory of the exploits of the prince, creating an epic image of the most powerful hero of the Russian Land - Svyatogor. His strength was so great that over time, the storytellers broadcast, Mother-Cheese-Earth stopped wearing it, and Svyatogor was forced to go to the mountains.

Chernikova T.V.

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Golden P.B. State and statehood among the Khazars. The power of the Khazar Khagans. The phenomenon of oriental despotism. The structure of management and power. M., 1993

Zakhoder B.N. Caspian collection of information about Eastern Europe. T. 1-2. M., 1962-1967

Konovalova I.G. Campaigns of the Rus to the Caspian Sea and Russian-Khazar relations. Eastern Europe in historical retrospective. M., 1999

Pletneva S.A. From nomads to cities. M., 1967

Pletneva S.A. Khazars. M., 1976

Erdal M. Khazar language. Khazars, Sat. articles. M., 2005

Internet

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Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

according to the only criterion - invincibility.

Izylmetiev Ivan Nikolaevich

Commanded the frigate "Aurora". He made the transition from St. Petersburg to Kamchatka in a record time for those times in 66 days. In the bay, Callao eluded the Anglo-French squadron. Arriving in Petropavlovsk, together with the governor of the Kamchatka Territory, Zavoyko V. organized the defense of the city, during which the sailors from the Aurora, together with the local residents, threw into the sea a superior number of Anglo-French troops. Then he took the Aurora to the Amur Estuary, hiding it there. After these events, the English public demanded a trial of the admirals who had lost the Russian frigate.

Oktyabrsky Philip Sergeevich

Admiral, Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. One of the leaders of the Defense of Sevastopol in 1941 - 1942, as well as the Crimean operation of 1944. During the Great Patriotic War, Vice Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky was one of the leaders of the heroic defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. Being the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, at the same time in 1941-1942 he was the commander of the Sevastopol Defense Region.

Three orders of Lenin
three orders of the Red Banner
two orders of Ushakov 1st degree
Order of Nakhimov 1st class
Order of Suvorov 2nd class
Order of the Red Star
medals

It's simple - It was he, as a commander, who made the greatest contribution to the defeat of Napoleon. He saved the army in the most difficult conditions, despite misunderstanding and heavy accusations of betrayal. It was to him that our great poet Pushkin, practically a contemporary of those events, dedicated the verse "Commander".
Pushkin, recognizing the merits of Kutuzov, did not oppose him to Barclay. To replace the common alternative “Barclay or Kutuzov”, with the traditional resolution in favor of Kutuzov, Pushkin came to a new position: both Barclay and Kutuzov are both worthy of the grateful memory of their descendants, but Kutuzov is honored by everyone, but Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly is undeservedly forgotten.
Pushkin mentioned Barclay de Tolly even earlier, in one of the chapters of "Eugene Onegin" -

Thunderstorm of the twelfth year
It has come - who helped us here?
The frenzy of the people
Barclay, winter or Russian god?...

Dzhugashvili Iosif Vissarionovich

Gathered and coordinated a team of talented military leaders

Udatny Mstislav Mstislavovich

A real knight, recognized as a fair commander in Europe

Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich

To a person to whom this name does not say anything - there is no need to explain and it is useless. To the one to whom it says something - and so everything is clear.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front. The youngest front commander. Counts,. that of the army general - but before his death (February 18, 1945) he received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
He liberated three of the six capitals of the Union Republics captured by the Nazis: Kyiv, Minsk. Vilnius. Decided the fate of Keniksberg.
One of the few who pushed back the Germans on June 23, 1941.
He held the front in Valdai. In many ways, he determined the fate of repelling the German offensive on Leningrad. He kept Voronezh. Freed Kursk.
He successfully advanced until the summer of 1943. Having formed the top of the Kursk Bulge with his army. Liberated the Left Bank of Ukraine. Take Kyiv. Repelled Manstein's counterattack. Liberated Western Ukraine.
Carried out the operation Bagration. Surrounded and captured by his offensive in the summer of 1944, the Germans then humiliatedly marched through the streets of Moscow. Belarus. Lithuania. Neman. East Prussia.

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich

He made the greatest contribution as a strategist to the victory in the Great Patriotic War (it is also the Second World War).

Maximov Evgeny Yakovlevich

Russian hero of the Transvaal War. He was a volunteer in fraternal Serbia, participating in the Russian-Turkish war. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British began to wage war against the small Boer people. Eugene successfully fought against the invaders and in 1900 was appointed military general. He died in the Russian-Japanese war.

Most Serene Prince Wittgenstein Peter Khristianovich

For the defeat of the French units of Oudinot and MacDonald at Klyastits, thereby closing the road for the French army to St. Petersburg in 1812. Then in October 1812 he defeated the Saint-Cyr corps near Polotsk. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian-Prussian armies in April-May 1813.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

The largest figure in world history, whose life and state activity left the deepest mark not only in the fate of the Soviet people, but also of all mankind, will be the subject of careful study of historians for more than one century. The historical and biographical feature of this personality is that it will never be forgotten.
During Stalin's tenure as Supreme Commander-in-Chief and Chairman of the State Defense Committee, our country was marked by victory in the Great Patriotic War, massive labor and front-line heroism, the transformation of the USSR into a superpower with significant scientific, military and industrial potential, and the strengthening of our country's geopolitical influence in the world.
Ten Stalinist strikes - the common name for a number of major offensive strategic operations in the Great Patriotic War, carried out in 1944 by the armed forces of the USSR. Along with other offensive operations, they made a decisive contribution to the victory of the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition over Nazi Germany and its allies in World War II.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-91 and the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-90. He distinguished himself during the war with France in 1806-07 at Preussisch-Eylau, from 1807 he commanded a division. During the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-09 he commanded a corps; led a successful crossing through the Kvarken Strait in the winter of 1809. In 1809-10, the Governor-General of Finland. From January 1810 to September 1812, the Minister of War, did a lot of work to strengthen the Russian army, singled out the intelligence and counterintelligence service into a separate production. In the Patriotic War of 1812 he commanded the 1st Western Army, and he, as Minister of War, was subordinate to the 2nd Western Army. In the conditions of a significant superiority of the enemy, he showed the talent of a commander and successfully carried out the withdrawal and connection of the two armies, which earned such words from M.I. Kutuzov as THANK YOU FATHER !!! SAVE THE ARMY!!! SAVE RUSSIA!!!. However, the retreat caused discontent in the noble circles and the army, and on August 17, Barclay handed over the command of the armies to M.I. Kutuzov. In the Battle of Borodino, he commanded the right wing of the Russian army, showing stamina and skill in defense. He recognized the position near Moscow chosen by L. L. Bennigsen as unsuccessful and supported the proposal of M. I. Kutuzov to leave Moscow at the military council in Fili. In September 1812 he left the army due to illness. In February 1813 he was appointed commander of the 3rd, and then the Russian-Prussian army, which he successfully commanded during the foreign campaigns of the Russian army of 1813-14 (Kulm, Leipzig, Paris). He was buried in the Beklor estate in Livonia (now Jõgeveste Estonia)

Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich

Paskevich Ivan Fyodorovich

The armies under his command defeated Persia in the war of 1826-1828 and completely defeated the Turkish troops in Transcaucasia in the war of 1828-1829.

Awarded all 4 degrees of the Order of St. George and the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called with diamonds.

Prince Monomakh Vladimir Vsevolodovich

The most remarkable of the Russian princes of the pre-Tatar period of our history, who left behind great fame and a good memory.

Rurikovich Svyatoslav Igorevich

The great commander of the ancient Russian period. The first Kiev prince known to us, having a Slavic name. The last pagan ruler of the Old Russian state. He glorified Rus' as a great military power in the campaigns of 965-971. Karamzin called him "Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history." The prince freed the Slavic tribes from vassalage from the Khazars, defeating the Khazar Khaganate in 965. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, in 970, during the Russian-Byzantine war, Svyatoslav managed to win the battle of Arcadiopol, having 10,000 soldiers under his command, against 100,000 Greeks. But at the same time, Svyatoslav led the life of a simple warrior: “On campaigns, he didn’t carry carts or cauldrons with him, he didn’t cook meat, but, thinly slicing horse meat, or animal meat, or beef and roasting it on coals, he ate like that; m war] with the words: "I'm going to you!" (According to PVL)

Bobrok-Volynsky Dmitry Mikhailovich

Boyar and governor of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. "Developer" of the tactics of the Battle of Kulikovo.

Shein Mikhail Borisovich

Governor Shein - the hero and leader of the unprecedented defense of Smolensk in 1609-16011. This fortress decided a lot in the fate of Russia!

Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich

The only one of the commanders, who on 06/22/1941 carried out the order of the Stavka, counterattacked the Germans, threw them back in his sector and went on the offensive.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

October 3, 2013 marks the 80th anniversary of the death in the French city of Cannes of the Russian military leader, commander of the Caucasian Front, hero of Mukden, Sarykamysh, Van, Erzerum (due to the complete defeat of the 90,000th Turkish army, Russia withdrew Constantinople and the Bosphorus with the Dardanelles), the savior of the Armenian people from the complete Turkish genocide, holder of the three orders of George and the highest order of France Pain Shogo Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, General Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich.

Uborevich Ieronim Petrovich

Soviet military leader, commander of the 1st rank (1935). Member of the Communist Party since March 1917. Born in the village of Aptandriyus (now the Utena region of the Lithuanian SSR) in the family of a Lithuanian peasant. He graduated from the Konstantinovsky Artillery School (1916). Member of the 1st World War 1914-18, second lieutenant. After the October Revolution of 1917 he was one of the organizers of the Red Guard in Bessarabia. In January - February 1918 he commanded a revolutionary detachment in battles against the Romanian and Austro-German interventionists, was wounded and captured, from where he fled in August 1918. He was an artillery instructor, commander of the Dvina brigade on the Northern Front, from December 1918 head of the 18th Infantry Division of the 6th Army. From October 1919 to February 1920 he was commander of the 14th Army during the defeat of the troops of General Denikin, in March - April 1920 he commanded the 9th Army in the North Caucasus. In May - July and November - December 1920 the commander of the 14th Army in battles against the troops of bourgeois Poland and the Petliurists, in July - November 1920 - the 13th Army in battles against the Wrangelites. In 1921, assistant commander of the troops of the Ukraine and Crimea, deputy commander of the troops of the Tambov province, commander of the troops of the Minsk province, led the fighting in the defeat of the gangs of Makhno, Antonov and Bulak-Balakhovich. From August 1921 commander of the 5th Army and the East Siberian Military District. In August - December 1922 Minister of War of the Far Eastern Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the People's Revolutionary Army during the liberation of the Far East. He was commander of the North Caucasian (since 1925), Moscow (since 1928) and Belorussian (since 1931) military districts. Since 1926 he was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, in 1930-31 he was deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and head of armaments of the Red Army. Since 1934 he has been a member of the Military Council of the NPO. He made a great contribution to the strengthening of the defense capability of the USSR, the education and training of command personnel and troops. Candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) in 1930-37. Member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee since December 1922. He was awarded 3 Orders of the Red Banner and Honorary Revolutionary Weapons.

An outstanding military leader of the 17th century, prince and governor. In 1655, he won his first victory over the Polish hetman S. Pototsky near Gorodok in Galicia. Later, being the commander of the army of the Belgorod category (military administrative district), he played a major role in organizing the defense of the southern border of Russia. In 1662, he won the biggest victory in the Russian-Polish war for Ukraine in the battle of Kanev, defeating the traitorous hetman Y. Khmelnitsky and the Poles who helped him. In 1664, near Voronezh, he forced the famous Polish commander Stefan Czarnecki to flee, forcing the army of King Jan Casimir to retreat. Repeatedly beat the Crimean Tatars. In 1677 he defeated the 100,000th Turkish army of Ibrahim Pasha near Buzhin, in 1678 he defeated the Turkish corps of Kaplan Pasha near Chigirin. Thanks to his military talents, Ukraine did not become another Ottoman province and the Turks did not take Kyiv.

Dubynin Viktor Petrovich

From April 30, 1986 to June 1, 1987 - Commander of the 40th Combined Arms Army of the Turkestan Military District. The troops of this army made up the bulk of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan. During the year of his command of the army, the number of irretrievable losses decreased by 2 times in comparison with 1984-1985.
On June 10, 1992, Colonel General V.P. Dubynin was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation
His merits include keeping the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin from a number of ill-conceived decisions in the military sphere, primarily in the field of nuclear forces.

Soldier, several wars (including World War I and World War II). passed the way to Marshal of the USSR and Poland. Military intellectual. not resorting to "obscene leadership." he knew tactics in military affairs to the subtleties. practice, strategy and operational art.

Kornilov Vladimir Alekseevich

During the outbreak of the war with England and France, he actually commanded the Black Sea Fleet, until his heroic death he was the immediate superior of P.S. Nakhimov and V.I. Istomin. After the landing of the Anglo-French troops in Evpatoria and the defeat of the Russian troops on the Alma, Kornilov received an order from the commander-in-chief in the Crimea, Prince Menshikov, to flood the ships of the fleet in the roadstead in order to use sailors to defend Sevastopol from land.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

He personally took part in the planning and implementation of ALL offensive and defensive operations of the Red Army in the period 1941-1945.

Drozdovsky Mikhail Gordeevich

Makhno Nestor Ivanovich

Over the mountains, over the valleys
waiting for your blues for a long time
wise father, glorious father,
our kind father - Makhno ...

(peasant song from the Civil War)

He was able to create an army, led successful military operations against the Austro-Germans, against Denikin.

And for * carts * even if he was not awarded the Order of the Red Banner, then this should be done now

Drozdovsky Mikhail Gordeevich

He managed to bring his subordinate troops to the Don in full force, fought extremely effectively in the conditions of the civil war.

Peter I the Great

Emperor of All Russia (1721-1725), before that, Tsar of All Rus'. He won the Great Northern War (1700-1721). This victory finally opened free access to the Baltic Sea. Under his rule, Russia (the Russian Empire) became a Great Power.

Sheremetev Boris Petrovich

Romodanovsky Grigory Grigorievich

There are no outstanding military figures of the period from the Troubles to the Northern War on the project, although there were such. An example of this is G.G. Romodanovsky.
Descended from the family of Starodub princes.
Member of the sovereign's campaign against Smolensk in 1654. In September 1655, together with the Ukrainian Cossacks, he defeated the Poles near Gorodok (not far from Lvov), in November of the same year he fought in the battle of Ozernaya. In 1656 he received the rank of roundabout and headed the Belgorod category. In 1658 and 1659 participated in hostilities against the betrayed hetman Vygovsky and the Crimean Tatars, besieged Varva and fought near Konotop (Romodanovsky's troops withstood a heavy battle at the crossing over the Kukolka River). In 1664, he played a decisive role in repelling the invasion of 70 thousand army of the Polish king on the Left-Bank Ukraine, inflicted a number of sensitive blows on it. In 1665 he was granted a boyar. In 1670, he acted against the Razintsy - he defeated the detachment of the ataman's brother, Frol. The crown of Romodanovsky's military activity is the war with the Ottoman Empire. In 1677 and 1678 troops under his leadership inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottomans. An interesting moment: both main defendants in the battle of Vienna in 1683 were defeated by G.G. Romodanovsky: Sobessky with his king in 1664 and Kara Mustafa in 1678
The prince died on May 15, 1682 during the Streltsy uprising in Moscow.

Yulaev Salavat

The commander of the Pugachev era (1773-1775). Together with Pugachev, having organized an uprising, he tried to change the position of the peasants in society. He won several dinners over the troops of Catherine II.

Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich

During the First World War, the commander of the 8th Army in the Battle of Galicia. On August 15-16, 1914, during the Rogatin battles, he defeated the 2nd Austro-Hungarian army, capturing 20 thousand people. and 70 guns. Galich was taken on August 20. The 8th Army takes an active part in the battles near Rava-Russkaya and in the Battle of Gorodok. In September he commanded a group of troops from the 8th and 3rd armies. September 28 - October 11, his army withstood the counterattack of the 2nd and 3rd Austro-Hungarian armies in the battles on the San River and near the city of Stryi. During the successfully completed battles, 15 thousand enemy soldiers were captured, and at the end of October his army entered the foothills of the Carpathians.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

For the highest art of military leadership and boundless love for the Russian soldier

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

The author and initiator of the creation of technical means of the Airborne Forces and methods of using units and formations of the Airborne Forces, many of which embody the image of the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces and the Russian Armed Forces that currently exists.

General Pavel Fedoseevich Pavlenko:
In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified a whole era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name, not only in our country, but also abroad ...

Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Ivanov:
Under the leadership of Margelov for more than twenty years, the landing troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious service in them, especially revered by the people ... The photograph of Vasily Filippovich in demobilization albums went from the soldiers at the highest price - for a set of badges. The competition for the Ryazan Airborne School exceeded the numbers of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who failed their exams for two or three months, before snow and frost, lived in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the stress and it would be possible to take his place.

Batitsky

I served in the air defense and therefore I know this surname - Batitsky. Do you know? By the way, the father of air defense!

Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich

After Zhukov, who took Berlin, the brilliant strategist Kutuzov, who drove the French out of Russia, should be second.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

Full Knight of the Order of St. George. In the history of military art, according to Western authors (for example: J. Witter), he entered as an architect of the strategy and tactics of "scorched earth" - cutting off the main enemy troops from the rear, depriving them of supplies and organizing a guerrilla war in their rear. M.V. Kutuzov, after taking command of the Russian army, in fact, continued the tactics developed by Barclay de Tolly and defeated Napoleon's army.

Peter the First

Because he not only won the lands of his fathers, but also approved the status of Russia as a power!

Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Russian military leader, political and public figure, writer, memoirist, publicist and military documentary.
Member of the Russo-Japanese War. One of the most productive generals of the Russian Imperial Army during the First World War. Commander of the 4th Rifle "Iron" Brigade (1914-1916, since 1915 - deployed under his command into a division), 8th Army Corps (1916-1917). Lieutenant General of the General Staff (1916), commander of the Western and Southwestern Fronts (1917). An active participant in the military congresses of 1917, an opponent of the democratization of the army. He expressed support for the Kornilov speech, for which he was arrested by the Provisional Government, a member of the Berdichevsky and Bykhov sittings of generals (1917).
One of the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War, its leader in the South of Russia (1918-1920). He achieved the greatest military and political results among all the leaders of the White movement. Pioneer, one of the main organizers, and then commander of the Volunteer Army (1918-1919). Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (1919-1920), Deputy Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Admiral Kolchak (1919-1920).
Since April 1920 - an emigrant, one of the main political figures of the Russian emigration. The author of the memoirs "Essays on Russian Troubles" (1921-1926) - a fundamental historical and biographical work about the Civil War in Russia, memoirs "The Old Army" (1929-1931), the autobiographical story "The Way of the Russian Officer" (published in 1953) and a number of other works.

Eremenko Andrey Ivanovich

Commander of the Stalingrad and South-Eastern fronts. The fronts under his command in the summer-autumn of 1942 stopped the advance of the German 6th field and 4th tank armies on Stalingrad.
In December 1942, the Stalingrad Front of General Eremenko stopped the tank offensive of the group of General G. Goth on Stalingrad, in order to unblock the 6th army of Paulus.

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

A person who combines the totality of knowledge of a naturalist, scientist and great strategist.

Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich

Because it inspires many by personal example.

Karyagin Pavel Mikhailovich

Colonel Karyagin's campaign against the Persians in 1805 does not look like real military history. It looks like a prequel to "300 Spartans" (20,000 Persians, 500 Russians, gorges, bayonet charges, "This is crazy! - No, this is the 17th Jaeger Regiment!"). A golden, platinum page of Russian history, combining the slaughter of madness with the highest tactical skill, delightful cunning and stunning Russian impudence

Saltykov Pyotr Semyonovich

The most important successes of the Russian army in the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763 are associated with his name. Winner in the battles of Palzig,
In the battle of Kunersdorf, having defeated the Prussian king Frederick II the Great, Berlin was taken by the troops of Totleben and Chernyshev.

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich

Successfully commanded the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War. Among other things, he stopped the Germans near Moscow, took Berlin.

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (November 4 (November 16), 1874, St. Petersburg - February 7, 1920, Irkutsk) - Russian oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late XIX - early XX centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (1906), admiral (1918), leader of the White movement, Supreme ruler of Russia.

Member of the Russo-Japanese War, Defense of Port Arthur. During the First World War, he commanded the mine division of the Baltic Fleet (1915-1916), the Black Sea Fleet (1916-1917). Georgievsky Cavalier.
The leader of the White movement both on a national scale and directly in the East of Russia. As the Supreme Ruler of Russia (1918-1920), he was recognized by all the leaders of the White movement, "de jure" - by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "de facto" - by the Entente states.
Supreme Commander of the Russian Army.

Prophetic Oleg

Your shield is on the gates of Tsaregrad.
A.S. Pushkin.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich

981 - the conquest of Cherven and Przemysl. 983 - the conquest of the Yatvags. 984 - the conquest of the natives. 985 - successful campaigns against the Bulgars, the taxation of the Khazar Khaganate. 988 - the conquest of the Taman Peninsula. 991 - the subjugation of the White Croats. ny.

Kolovrat Evpaty Lvovich

Ryazan boyar and governor. During the Batu invasion of Ryazan, he was in Chernigov. Having learned about the invasion of the Mongols, he hastily moved to the city. Having caught Ryazan all incinerated, Evpaty Kolovrat with a detachment of 1700 people began to catch up with Batu's army. Having overtaken them, he destroyed their rearguard. He also killed the strong heroes of the Batyevs. He died on January 11, 1238.

Monomakh Vladimir Vsevolodovich

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

He was the Supreme Commander during the Great Patriotic War, in which our country won, and made all strategic decisions.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

“As a military figure I.V. Stalin, I studied thoroughly, since I went through the whole war with him. I.V. Stalin mastered the organization of front-line operations and operations of groups of fronts and led them with full knowledge of the matter, well versed in big strategic issues ...
In leading the armed struggle as a whole, JV Stalin was assisted by his natural mind and rich intuition. He knew how to find the main link in a strategic situation and, seizing on it, to counteract the enemy, to conduct one or another major offensive operation. Undoubtedly, he was a worthy Supreme Commander"

(Zhukov G.K. Memoirs and reflections.)

Slashchev-Krymsky Yakov Alexandrovich

Defense of the Crimea in 1919-20 “The Reds are my enemies, but they did the main thing - my business: they revived great Russia!” (General Slashchev-Krymsky).

Kovpak Sidor Artemevich

Member of the First World War (he served in the 186th Aslanduz Infantry Regiment) and the Civil War. During the First World War, he fought on the Southwestern Front, a member of the Brusilov breakthrough. In April 1915, as part of the guard of honor, he was personally awarded the St. George Cross by Nicholas II. In total, he was awarded St. George's crosses III and IV degrees and medals "For Courage" ("George" medals) III and IV degrees.

During the Civil War, he led a local partisan detachment that fought in Ukraine against the German invaders together with the detachments of A. Ya. Parkhomenko, then he was a fighter of the 25th Chapaev division on the Eastern Front, where he was engaged in the disarmament of the Cossacks, participated in battles with the armies of Generals A. I. Denikin and Wrangel on the Southern Front.

In 1941-1942, Kovpak's formation carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests on the Right-Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr and Kiev regions; in 1943 - the Carpathian raid. The Sumy partisan formation under the command of Kovpak fought over 10 thousand kilometers in the rear of the Nazi troops, defeated the enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Kovpak's raids played a big role in the deployment of the partisan movement against the German occupiers.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union:
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 18, 1942, for the exemplary performance of combat missions behind enemy lines, the courage and heroism shown in their performance, Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 708)
The second medal "Gold Star" (No.) Major General Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 4, 1944 for the successful conduct of the Carpathian raid
four Orders of Lenin (18.5.1942, 4.1.1944, 23.1.1948, 25.5.1967)
Order of the Red Banner (24.12.1942)
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st class. (7.8.1944)
Order of Suvorov, 1st class (2 May 1945)
medals
foreign orders and medals (Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia)

Yuri Vsevolodovich

Senyavin Dmitry Nikolaevich

Dmitry Nikolaevich Senyavin (August 6 (17), 1763 - April 5 (17), 1831) - Russian naval commander, admiral.
for courage and outstanding diplomatic work shown during the blockade of the Russian fleet in Lisbon

Rokhlin Lev Yakovlevich

He headed the 8th Guards Army Corps in Chechnya. Under his leadership, a number of districts of Grozny were taken, including the presidential palace. For participation in the Chechen campaign, he was presented with the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, but refused to accept it, saying that he "has no moral right to receive this award for military operations on the territory of his own country."

One of the most talented and successful commanders of the First World War. A native of a poor family, he made a brilliant military career, relying solely on his own virtues. Member of the REV, WWI, graduate of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. He fully realized his talent commanding the legendary "Iron" brigade, then deployed into a division. Participant and one of the main characters of the Brusilov breakthrough. He remained a man of honor even after the collapse of the army, a prisoner of Bykhov. Member of the ice campaign and commander of the All-Russian Union of Youth. For more than a year and a half, having very modest resources and far inferior in number to the Bolsheviks, he won victory after victory, freeing a huge territory.
Also, do not forget that Anton Ivanovich is a wonderful and very successful publicist, and his books are still very popular. An extraordinary, talented commander, an honest Russian man in a difficult time for the Motherland, who was not afraid to light a torch of hope.

Rurikovich Svyatoslav Igorevich

He defeated the Khazar Khaganate, expanded the boundaries of Russian lands, successfully fought with the Byzantine Empire.

Dovator Lev Mikhailovich

Soviet military leader, major general, Hero of the Soviet Union. Known for successful operations to destroy German troops during the Great Patriotic War. The German command appointed a large reward for the head of Dovator.
Together with the 8th Guards Division named after Major General I.V. Panfilov, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of General M.E. Katukov and other troops of the 16th Army, his corps defended the approaches to Moscow in the Volokolamsk direction.

Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich

Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (September 18 (30), 1895 - December 5, 1977) - Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943), chief of the General Staff, member of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. During the Great Patriotic War, as Chief of the General Staff (1942-1945), he took an active part in the development and implementation of almost all major operations on the Soviet-German front. From February 1945 he commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front, led the assault on Königsberg. In 1945, he was commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East in the war with Japan. One of the greatest commanders of World War II.
In 1949-1953 - Minister of the Armed Forces and Minister of War of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), holder of two Orders of Victory (1944, 1945).

Saltykov Pyotr Semyonovich

The commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Seven Years' War, was the main architect of the key victories of the Russian troops.

Antonov Alexey Inokent'evich

Chief strategist of the USSR in 1943-45, practically unknown to society
"Kutuzov" World War II

Humble and dedicated. Victorious. The author of all operations since the spring of 1943 and the victory itself. Others gained fame - Stalin and the commanders of the fronts.

Minikh Khristofor Antonovich

Due to the ambiguous attitude to the period of the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the largely underestimated commander, who was the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops throughout her reign.

Commander of the Russian troops during the War of the Polish Succession and architect of the victory of Russian arms in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739.

Antonov Alexey Innokentievich

He became famous as a talented staff officer. Participated in the development of almost all significant operations of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War since December 1942.
The only one of all the awarded Soviet military leaders with the Order of Victory in the rank of army general, and the only Soviet holder of the order who was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Momyshuly Bauyrzhan

Fidel Castro called him a hero of World War II.
He brilliantly put into practice the tactics developed by Major General I.V. Panfilov of fighting with small forces against an enemy many times superior in strength, which later received the name "Momyshuly's spiral".

Muravyov-Karssky Nikolai Nikolaevich

One of the most successful commanders of the middle of the 19th century in the Turkish direction.

Hero of the first capture of Kars (1828), leader of the second capture of Kars (the biggest success of the Crimean War, 1855, which made it possible to end the war without territorial losses for Russia).

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

Russian admiral who gave his life for the liberation of the Fatherland.
Scientist-oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, leader of the White Movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

The Soviet people, as the most talented, have a large number of outstanding military leaders, but the main one is Stalin. Without him, many of them might not have been in the military.

Platov Matvei Ivanovich

Ataman of the Great Don Army (since 1801), cavalry general (1809), who took part in all the wars of the Russian Empire in the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
In 1771 he distinguished himself in the attack and capture of the Perekop line and Kinburn. From 1772 he began to command a Cossack regiment. During the 2nd Turkish war, he distinguished himself during the assault on Ochakov and Ishmael. Participated in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, he first commanded all the Cossack regiments on the border, and then, covering the retreat of the army, he defeated the enemy near the town of Mir and Romanovo. In the battle near the village of Semlevo, Platov's army defeated the French and captured a colonel from the army of Marshal Murat. During the retreat of the French army, Platov, pursuing her, defeated her at Gorodnya, the Kolotsk Monastery, Gzhatsk, Tsarevo-Zaimishcha, near Dukhovshchina and while crossing the Vop River. For merit he was elevated to the dignity of a count. In November, Platov occupied Smolensk from battle and defeated the troops of Marshal Ney near Dubrovna. At the beginning of January 1813 he entered the borders of Prussia and overlaid Danzig; in September, he received command of a special corps, with which he participated in the battle of Leipzig and, pursuing the enemy, captured about 15 thousand people. In 1814 he fought at the head of his regiments in the capture of Nemur, at Arcy-sur-Aube, Cezanne, Villeneuve. He was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich

Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, the second son of Emperor Paul I, received the title of Tsarevich in 1799 for participation in the Swiss campaign of A.V. Suvorov, retaining it until 1831. In the Battle of Austrlitz, he commanded the Guards Reserve of the Russian Army, took part in the Patriotic War of 1812, and distinguished himself in the foreign campaigns of the Russian Army. For the "battle of the peoples" at Leipzig in 1813 he received the "golden weapon" "For courage!". Inspector General of the Russian Cavalry, since 1826 Viceroy of the Kingdom of Poland.

Vatutin Nikolai Fyodorovich

Operations "Uranus", "Little Saturn", "Jump", etc. and so on.
A true war worker

Ivan groznyj

He conquered the Astrakhan kingdom, to which Russia paid tribute. Destroyed the Livonian Order. Expanded the borders of Russia far beyond the Urals.

Baklanov Yakov Petrovich

The Cossack general, the "thunderstorm of the Caucasus", Yakov Petrovich Baklanov, one of the most colorful heroes of the endless Caucasian war of the century before last, fits perfectly into the image of Russia familiar to the West. A gloomy two-meter hero, a tireless persecutor of mountaineers and Poles, an enemy of political correctness and democracy in all their manifestations. But it was precisely such people who obtained the most difficult victory for the empire in a long-term confrontation with the inhabitants of the North Caucasus and the unkind local nature.

General Ermolov

Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich

Hero of the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 At one time they called the Caucasian Suvorov. On October 19, 1812, at the Aslanduz ford across the Araks, at the head of a detachment of 2221 people with 6 guns, Pyotr Stepanovich defeated the Persian army of 30,000 people with 12 guns. In other battles, he also acted not by number, but by skill.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Victory in the Great Patriotic War, saving the entire planet from absolute evil, and our country from extinction.
Stalin from the first hours of the war exercised control over the country, front and rear. On land, at sea and in the air.
His merit is not one or even ten battles or campaigns, his merit is the Victory, composed of hundreds of battles of the Great Patriotic War: the battle of Moscow, the battles in the North Caucasus, the Battle of Stalingrad, the battle of Kursk, the battle of Leningrad and many others before the capture of Berlin, success in which was achieved thanks to the monotonous inhuman work of the genius of the Supreme Commander.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

Well, who else if not him - the only Russian commander who did not lose, who did not lose more than one battle !!!

Ushakov Fedor Fedorovich

The great Russian naval commander, who won victories at Fedonisi, Kaliakria, at Cape Tendra and during the liberation of the islands of Malta (Ioanian Islands) and Corfu. He discovered and introduced a new tactic of naval combat, with the rejection of the linear formation of ships and showed the tactics of "alluvial formation" with an attack on the flagship of the enemy fleet. One of the founders of the Black Sea Fleet and its commander in 1790-1792

Skobelev Mikhail Dmitrievich

A man of great courage, a great tactician, organizer. M.D. Skobelev possessed strategic thinking, saw the situation, both in real time and in perspective

Gagen Nikolai Alexandrovich

On June 22, trains with units of the 153rd Infantry Division arrived in Vitebsk. Covering the city from the west, the Hagen division (together with the heavy artillery regiment attached to the division) occupied a 40 km long defense zone, it was opposed by the 39th German motorized corps.

After 7 days of fierce fighting, the battle formations of the division were not broken through. The Germans no longer contacted the division, bypassed it and continued the offensive. The division flashed in the message of the German radio as destroyed. Meanwhile, the 153rd Rifle Division, without ammunition and fuel, began to break through the ring. Hagen led the division out of the encirclement with heavy weapons.

For the steadfastness and heroism shown during the Yelninskaya operation on September 18, 1941, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 308, the division received the honorary name "Guards".
From 01/31/1942 to 09/12/1942 and from 10/21/1942 to 04/25/1943 - commander of the 4th Guards Rifle Corps,
from May 1943 to October 1944 - commander of the 57th Army,
from January 1945 - the 26th Army.

The troops under the leadership of N. A. Hagen participated in the Sinyavino operation (moreover, the general managed to break out of the encirclement for the second time with weapons in his hands), the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, battles in the Left-Bank and Right-Bank Ukraine, in the liberation of Bulgaria, in the Iasi-Kishinev, Belgrade, Budapest, Balaton and Vienna operations. Member of the Victory Parade.

Svyatoslav Igorevich

I want to propose "candidates" for Svyatoslav and his father, Igor, as the greatest generals and political leaders of their time, I think that it makes no sense to list their services to the fatherland to historians, I was unpleasantly surprised not to meet their names in this list. Sincerely.

Bagration, Denis Davydov...

The war of 1812, the glorious names of Bagration, Barclay, Davydov, Platov. An example of honor and courage.

Ermolov Alexey Petrovich

Hero of the Napoleonic Wars and the Patriotic War of 1812. Conqueror of the Caucasus. Smart strategist and tactician, strong-willed and brave warrior.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

He is a great commander who did not lose a single (!) Battle, the founder of Russian military affairs, brilliantly fought battles, regardless of its conditions.

Kosich Andrey Ivanovich

1. During his long life (1833 - 1917) A. I. Kosich went from non-commissioned officer to general, commander of one of the largest military districts of the Russian Empire. He took an active part in almost all military campaigns from the Crimean to the Russian-Japanese. He was distinguished by personal courage and bravery.
2. According to many, "one of the most educated generals of the Russian army." He left many literary and scientific works and memoirs. He patronized the sciences and education. He has established himself as a talented administrator.
3. His example served the development of many Russian military leaders, in particular, Gen. A. I. Denikin.
4. He was a resolute opponent of the use of the army against his people, in which he disagreed with P. A. Stolypin. "The army should shoot at the enemy, not at its own people."

Svyatoslav Igorevich

Grand Duke of Novgorod, from 945 Kiev. Son of Grand Duke Igor Rurikovich and Princess Olga. Svyatoslav became famous as a great commander, whom N.M. Karamzin called "Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history."

After the military campaigns of Svyatoslav Igorevich (965-972), the territory of the Russian land increased from the Volga region to the Caspian Sea, from the North Caucasus to the Black Sea, from the Balkan Mountains to Byzantium. Defeated Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria, weakened and frightened the Byzantine Empire, opened the way for trade between Rus' and Eastern countries

Rumyantsev Petr Alexandrovich

Russian military and statesman, during the entire reign of Catherine II (1761-96) who ruled Little Russia. During the Seven Years' War he commanded the capture of Kolberg. For the victories over the Turks at Larga, Kagul and others, which led to the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, he was awarded the title of "Transdanubian". In 1770 he received the rank of Field Marshal. Cavalier of the orders of the Russian St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. George 1st class and St. Vladimir I degree, the Prussian Black Eagle and St. Anna I degree

Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich

General Kotlyarevsky, son of a priest in the village of Olkhovatka, Kharkov province. He went from private to general in the tsarist army. He can be called the great-grandfather of the Russian special forces. He carried out truly unique operations ... His name is worthy of being included in the list of the greatest commanders of Russia

Active participant in World War I and civil wars. Trench general. He spent the entire war from Vyazma to Moscow and from Moscow to Prague in the most difficult and responsible position of front commander. Winner in many decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War. Liberator of a number of Eastern European countries, participant in the storming of Berlin. Underestimated, unfairly remained in the shadow of Marshal Zhukov.

K.K. Rokossovsky

The intelligence of this marshal connected the Russian army with the Red Army.

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (brave) 942 - March 972.
Son of Prince Igor and Princess Olga.
Prince of Novgorod 945-969
Grand Duke of Kiev from 964 to 972

The Grand Duke, who forever went down in the history of Rus' as a warrior prince. There was no limit to the courage and dedication of the prince. Not much is known about Svyatoslav Igorevich, for example, historians argue about the date of his birth. However, despite some vagueness and uncertainty, the chronicles brought to us some facts by which we can characterize Svyatoslav.

The first time the name of Svyatoslav is mentioned in the chronicle describing the events of 945, when Svyatoslav's mother, Princess Olga, went with an army to the Drevlyans to avenge the death of her husband, Prince Igor. As a child, he took part in his first battle. In front of the Kyiv squad, Svyatoslav was sitting on a horse. And when both troops converged, Svyatoslav threw a spear towards the Drevlyans. Svyatoslav was just a baby, so the spear did not fly far and fell in front of the horse on which Svyatoslav was sitting. But the Kyiv governors said: "The prince has already begun, let's follow, squad, for the prince." Such was the ancient custom of the Rus - only the prince could start the battle. And no matter what age the prince was.

Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was brought up as a warrior from childhood. Svyatoslav's teacher and mentor was Asmud, who taught the young pupil to be the first in battle and hunting, to hold fast in the saddle, to control the boat, to swim, to hide from enemy eyes both in the forest and in the steppe. Svyatoslav was taught the military art of warfare by the chief Kiev voivode Sveneld.

Since the mid 60s. X century, you can count the time of the beginning of the independent reign of Prince Svyatoslav. The Byzantine historian Leo Deacon left a description of him: medium height, with a broad chest, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, beardless, but with a long mustache, only one strand of hair on his shaved head, which testified to his noble origin. In one ear he wore an earring with two pearls.

Svyatoslav was not particularly interested in the internal affairs of the state. The prince did not like to sit in Kyiv, he was tempted by new conquests, victories, and rich booty. He always participated in the battle with his squad. He wore simple military armor. On campaigns he did not have a tent, nor did he carry wagons, boilers and meat with him. He ate with everyone, frying some game on a fire. His warriors were just as hardy and unpretentious. The squad of Svyatoslav, unencumbered by convoys, moved very quickly and appeared in front of the enemy unexpectedly, instilling fear in them. And Svyatoslav himself was not afraid of his opponents. When he went on a campaign, he always sent a message to foreign lands - a warning: "I want to go to you."

Svyatoslav made his first big campaign in 964 - against the Khazar Khaganate. It was a strong Jewish state in the lower reaches of the Volga, which imposed tribute on the Slavic tribes. The squad of Svyatoslav left Kyiv and, having risen along the Desna River, entered the lands of the Vyatichi, one of the large Slavic tribes who at that time were tributaries of the Khazars. The Kiev prince ordered the Vyatichi to pay tribute not to the Khazars, but to Kyiv, and moved his army further - against the Volga Bulgarians, Burtases, Khazars, and then the North Caucasian tribes of Yases and Kasogs. This unprecedented campaign continued for about four years. Winning in all battles, the prince crushed, captured and destroyed the capital of the Jewish Khazaria, the city of Itil, took the well-fortified fortresses Sarkel on the Don, Semender in the North Caucasus. On the shores of the Kerch Strait, he founded an outpost of Russian influence in this region - the city of Tmutarakan, the center of the future Tmutarakan principality.

The second big campaign Svyatoslav made to Bulgaria in 968. Kalokir, the ambassador of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Phocas, persistently called him there, hoping to push two peoples dangerous to his empire in a war of extermination. The Russian prince was obliged to come to the rescue of the allied power under an agreement concluded with Byzantium in 944 by Prince Igor. In addition, the Byzantine king sent gifts of gold accompanying the request for military assistance. In addition, Bulgaria has already adopted Christianity, and as you know, Prince Svyatoslav was a follower of the ancient faith of his ancestors and a great opponent of Christianity. To his mother's persuasion to accept Christianity, he replied: "Christian faith - there is ugliness!"

Svyatoslav with a 10,000th army defeated the 30,000th army of the Bulgarians and captured the city of Malaya Preslava. Svyatoslav called this city Pereyaslavets. Svyatoslav even wanted to move the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets, arguing that this city is located in the middle of his possessions, and “all the blessings from the Greek Land flow here” (Pereyaslavets was at the crossroads of trade routes to the Balkans and Western Europe). At this time, Svyatoslav received alarming news from Kyiv that the city was besieged by the Pechenegs. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter entered into a secret alliance with Nikifor Foka. He, in turn, bribed the Pecheneg leaders, who agreed to attack Kyiv in the absence of the Grand Duke. Leaving part of the squad in Pereyaslavets, the prince hurried to Kyiv and defeated the Pechenegs. Three days later, Princess Olga died. Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons: he put Yaropolk to reign in Kyiv, sent Oleg to the Drevlyansk land, and Vladimir to Novgorod. He himself hastened to his possessions on the Danube.

While he was beating the Pechenegs, an uprising broke out in Pereyaslavets, and the Bulgarians drove the Russian warriors out of the city. The prince could not come to terms with this state of affairs, and again led the troops to the west. He defeated the army of Tsar Boris, captured him and took possession of the whole country from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains. In the spring of 970, Svyatoslav crossed the Balkans, took Philippol (Plovdiv) by storm and reached Arcadiopol. His squads had only four days to travel across the plain to Tsargrad. Here the battle with the Byzantines took place. Svyatoslav won, but lost many soldiers and did not go further, but, having taken "many gifts" from the Greeks, he returned back to Pereyaslavets.

In 971 the war continued. This time the Byzantines prepared well. The newly trained Byzantine armies moved to Bulgaria from all sides, many times outnumbering the Svyatoslav squads standing there. With heavy fighting, fighting off the pressing enemy, the Russians retreated to the Danube. There, in the city of Dorostol, the last Russian fortress in Bulgaria, cut off from their native land, Svyatoslav's army was under siege. For more than two months, the Byzantines besieged Dorostol.

Finally, on July 22, 971, the Russians began their last battle. Gathering the soldiers before the battle, Svyatoslav uttered his famous words: “We have nowhere to go, we must fight - willy or not. Let us not disgrace the Russian land, but let us lay our bones here, for the dead have no shame. If my head lies down, then decide for yourself how you should be. And the soldiers answered him: "Where your head lies, there we will lay down our heads."

The battle was very stubborn, and many Russian soldiers died. Prince Svyatoslav was forced to retreat back to Dorostol. And the Russian prince decided to make peace with the Byzantines, so he consulted with the squad: “If we don’t make peace and find out that we are few, then they will come and besiege us in the city. And the Russian land is far away, the Pechenegs are fighting with us, and who will help us then? Let's make peace, because they have already pledged to pay tribute to us - that's enough for us. If they stop paying tribute to us, then again, having gathered a lot of soldiers, we will go from Rus' to Tsargrad. And the soldiers agreed that their prince was speaking correctly.

Svyatoslav began peace negotiations with John Tzimisces. Their historical meeting took place on the banks of the Danube and was described in detail by a Byzantine chronicler who was in the emperor's retinue. Tzimiskes, surrounded by close associates, was waiting for Svyatoslav. The prince arrived on a boat, sitting in which he rowed along with ordinary soldiers. The Greeks could distinguish him only because the shirt he wore was cleaner than that of other warriors and by an earring with two pearls and a ruby ​​worn in his ear. Here is how an eyewitness of the formidable Russian warrior described: “Svyatoslav was of medium height, neither too tall nor too small, with thick eyebrows, blue eyes, a flat nose and a thick long mustache hanging on his upper lip.

Having made peace with the Greeks, Svyatoslav, together with his retinue, went to Rus' along the rivers in boats. One of the governor warned the prince: "Go around, prince, the Dnieper rapids on horseback, for the Pechenegs are standing at the thresholds." But the prince did not listen to him. And the Byzantines informed the nomadic Pechenegs about this: “The Russians will go past you, Svyatoslav with a small squad, taking from the Greeks a lot of wealth and captives without number.” And when Svyatoslav approached the rapids, it turned out that it was absolutely impossible for him to pass. Then the Russian prince decided to wait it out and stayed for the winter. With the beginning of spring, Svyatoslav again moved to the rapids, but was ambushed and died. The chronicle conveys the story of Svyatoslav's death in this way: "Svyatoslav came to the thresholds, and Kurya, the Pecheneg prince, attacked him, and killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, fettered him, and drank from it." So Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich perished. It happened in 972.

As already mentioned, Svyatoslav in 970, before going to Danube Bulgaria, divided Kievan Rus between his sons: Yaropolk got Kyiv, Oleg - Drevlyane land, and Vladimir - Novgorod.

OK. 942 - 972

Prince of Novgorod (945-964) and Grand Duke of Kievan Rus (964-972). The son of a princely couple - Igor Stary and Olga. He became famous for his campaigns against the Khazars, Danube Bulgaria and the war with Byzantium.

Svyatoslav Igorevich - biography (biography)

Svyatoslav Igorevich (c. 942-972) - the ruler of the Old Russian state. Formally, he began to reign in Kievan Rus, as a child, from 946 after the death of his father, Prince Igor the Old, but until 964, the leadership of the country was completely in the hands of his mother, Princess Olga. After reaching the age of majority, Prince Svyatoslav spent almost all his time on campaigns, spending little time in the capital. Princess Olga was still mainly involved in state affairs, and after her death in 969, Svyatoslav's son, Yaropolk.

Svyatoslav Igorevich lived a short (about 28 - 30 years old), but bright life and occupies a special and to some extent controversial place in Russian history. Some see him only as a hired leader of the squad - a romantic "last Viking" who seeks glory and prey in foreign lands. Others - a brilliant commander and politician, whose activities were completely determined by the strategic interests of the state. The political results of Svyatoslav's numerous campaigns are also assessed radically differently in historiography.

First battle

The birth of a son named Svyatoslav to the princely couple - Igor and Olga, is reported in the annals in connection with the conclusion of their marriage. True, due to the unclear date of the last event, the question of the year of Svyatoslav's birth remains controversial. Some chronicles call 942. Apparently, this date is close to reality. Indeed, in the Russian-Byzantine treaty of 944, Svyatoslav was already mentioned, and in the annalistic description of the battle between Olga’s troops and the Drevlyans in 946, it was he, still a child (apparently, at the age of 3-4 years), who symbolically began this battle, throwing a spear towards the enemy. The spear, flying between the horse's ears, hit the horse's legs.

We learn about the later life of the young Svyatoslav Igorevich from the works of Konstantin Porphyrogenitus. The emperor of the Romans wrote about him that he "sat" in Novgorod under Igor. Some scholars, for example, A. V. Nazarenko, given the "infant" age of Svyatoslav during the life of Igor, believe that this happened later - during the reign of Olga. However, the Russian chronicles also report about Svyatoslav himself, how in 970 he “planted” his young son Vladimir to reign in Novgorod.

According to the news of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Svyatoslav was part of Olga's embassy to Constantinople in 957. According to historians, Princess Olga wanted to conclude a dynastic marriage between her son and the daughter of the Byzantine emperor. However, this was not destined to happen, and the Roman Empire ten years later met with Svyatoslav in a completely different role.

Russian cheetah

Under 964, the Tale of Bygone Years speaks of Svyatoslav as a young, but already very serious warrior. The description of the prince of Kyiv became a textbook: he fought a lot, was fast, like a pardus, did not carry carts on campaigns, slept in the open air, ate meat baked on coals. Before attacking foreign lands, he warned the enemy with his famous message: “I want to go against you!”.

Researchers have long concluded that this description goes back to the oldest retinue tradition about the first Russian princes, but the comparison of Svyatoslav with a pardus (cheetah) finds parallels in the description of the exploits of Alexander the Great in Greek sources.

It is curious that the “bookish” cheetah was distinguished not so much by the speed of running (according to tradition, other animals claimed this role), but by the suddenness of the jump, the attack on its prey. The textual analysis of the passage in all chronicle lists allowed the famous philologist A. A. Gippius to conclude that the chronicler's combination of fragments of tradition with "bookish" elements led to a certain distortion of the meaning of this famous passage about Svyatoslav. The colorful comparison of the prince with the fastest of mammals meant not the speed of movement, but the surprise of the attack and the movement of light. However, the meaning of the entire chronicle passage also speaks of the latter.

The struggle for the "Khazar legacy"

Under 965, the Tale of Bygone Years sparingly remarks on the campaign of Svyatoslav Igorevich against the Khazars. In a battle with an army led by the Khazar Khagan, the Russian prince won, after which he also took one of the most important fortresses of the Khaganate - Sarkel (Belaya Vezha). The next step was the victory over the Alans and Kasogs.

In historiography, as a rule, Svyatoslav's successes in the eastern campaign were highly appreciated. For example, academician B. A. Rybakov compared this campaign of the Russian prince with a saber strike. Undoubtedly, he contributed to the conversion of the western lands of the Khazar Khaganate into the zone of influence of Rus'. In particular, in the following year, 966, Svyatoslav subjugated the Vyatichi, who had previously paid tribute to the Khazars.

However, consideration of this situation in a broader political context allowed researchers, in particular, I. G. Konovalova, to come to the conclusion that Svyatoslav's further movement to the east had only relative success. The fact is that in the second half of the X century. The Khazar Khaganate was rapidly weakening, and all the strong neighboring powers - Khorezm, Volga Bulgaria, Shirvan and the Oghuz nomads - joined the struggle for its "inheritance". The fighting of Svyatoslav did not lead to the consolidation of Rus' in the Lower Volga and did not at all open, as some historians wrote earlier, the way to the East for Russian merchants.

The miscalculation of the Byzantine emperor

In 967, Svyatoslav Igorevich intervened in a major international political game. At this time, relations between the Byzantine Empire and Germany and Bulgaria, which were friendly to each other, escalated. Constantinople was at war with Bulgaria, and was in complex, protracted negotiations with Germany. Fearing a Russo-German rapprochement and fearing for the safety of his Crimean possessions after Svyatoslav's successful war against the Khazars, the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phocas played the "Russian card". He decided to weaken both Bulgaria and Rus' at the same time and sent his confidant, the patrician Kalokira, to Kiev with 15 centiaries (about 1500 pounds) of gold with the task of inducing Svyatoslav to march on Danube Bulgaria.

Svyatoslav took the gold, but was not at all going to be a pawn in the hands of the Byzantines. He agreed, as he understood the advantageous strategic and commercial importance of this region. The commander made a trip to Bulgaria and won a number of victories. But after that, contrary to the will of Constantinople and despite the offers of new generous gifts, the Russian prince remained on the Danube, making Pereyaslavets his residence.

"Russian" war Tzimisces

Having received, as a result of its mistake, an even stronger rival instead of Bulgaria in its neighborhood, Byzantine diplomacy made a lot of efforts to remove Svyatoslav from the Danube. Historians believe that it was Constantinople that “organized” the Pechenegs’ raid on Kiev in 968. The chronicler conveys the bitter words of the people of Kiev to Svyatoslav that he, they say, is looking for foreign land and takes care of it, and left his land to the mercy of enemies. The Russian prince barely made it to Kyiv with his retinue and drove the steppe people away.

Already in the next 969, Svyatoslav told his mother and the boyars that he “didn’t like” Kiev, he wanted to live in Pereyaslavets, where “the middle of his land” and where “all good things flow down.” And only the illness and death of Olga suspended his immediate departure. In 970, having left his son Yaropolk to reign in Kyiv, Svyatoslav Igorevich returned to the Danube.

The new emperor John Tzimisces, who came to power in Byzantium, at first tried to force Svyatoslav out of the Danube region through negotiations and an offer of rich compensation. The Russian prince refused, and a mutual exchange of threats began. The Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon, a contemporary of these events, wrote that Svyatoslav even threatened the emperor to pitch his tents at the gates of Constantinople. Military operations began, which, apparently, did not give an advantage to either side. In the summer of 970 peace was concluded. As it turned out, not for long.

In the spring of 971, John Tzimisces treacherously violated the truce and, with huge forces, quite unexpectedly for the Russian prince, attacked his troops scattered over the Bulgarian cities. Leaving city after city, Svyatoslav found himself besieged in Dorostol. Both Russian and Byzantine sources report the heroism of Russian soldiers and Svyatoslav personally, shown under Dorostol. After one of the sorties of the Russians, the Greeks on the battlefield found among the bodies of the fallen Russian soldiers and the bodies of women. Who they were - Russians or Bulgarians - remains a mystery to this day. The long siege, despite the famine and deprivation of the Russians, did not bring success to the Greeks. But she did not leave hope for victory and Svyatoslav.

The conclusion of peace became inevitable. After the signing of a peace treaty in the summer of 971, Svyatoslav undertook to surrender Dorostol, honorably leave it with an army and weapons, but had to leave Bulgaria.

The Danube war of the Russian prince Svyatoslav made such an impression on the Greeks that it entered the folklore of the Byzantines as the “Russian” war of Tzimiskes. So the Byzantinist S. A. Kozlov, based on the analysis of the texts of a number of sources, suggested that the heroic songs or short stories about the feats of arms of the Byzantine emperors of the cycle of legends and about Svyatoslav are reflected in heroic songs or short stories.

Son of great Eurasia

After the signing of the peace, a meeting took place between two prominent historical figures - John Tzimiskes and Svyatoslav. Thanks to the story of Leo Deacon, we know how the Russian prince looked at this meeting. Unlike the luxuriously dressed emperor and his retinue, Svyatoslav and his people were dressed quite simply. The Russians rushed on the boat, and Svyatoslav sat on the oars and also rowed like the rest, "no different from his entourage."

Svyatoslav Igorevich was of medium height, with bushy eyebrows and blue eyes, snub-nosed, beardless, but with a thick long mustache. The head was completely shaved, but on one side a tuft of hair hung down, as Leo the Deacon believed, - a sign of the nobility of the family. In one ear was a gold earring with pearls. His clothes were white and differed only in cleanliness from the clothes of his entourage. The figurative description of Svyatoslav by Leo the Deacon left a deep mark both in the perception of his contemporaries and in the memory of his descendants. “The spitting image of a Cossack on the Kiev table,” wrote the famous Ukrainian historian M. Grushevsky about him. In the guise of a typical Cossack ataman, Svyatoslav entered the art of modern and contemporary times.

However, modern research quite convincingly proves that both such a hairstyle and the wearing of one earring by men were examples of prestigious fashion and the military subculture of the Eurasian nomads in the early Middle Ages, which were very willingly adopted by the elite of settled peoples. And Svyatoslav, as well as possible, fits the words of O. Subtelny about him: a Slav by name, a Varangian by a code of honor, a nomad by way of life, he was the son of great Eurasia.

Who is to blame for the death of Svyatoslav?

After the conclusion of peace with Byzantium, Svyatoslav, according to the Russian chronicle, went to the Dnieper rapids. Sveneld, the governor of the prince, advised him to bypass the rapids on horseback, and not go on boats. But Svyatoslav did not listen to him. The path was blocked by the Pechenegs, and the prince was forced to spend the winter in Beloberezhye. Having survived an extremely hungry winter, Svyatoslav with his people in the spring of 972 again moved to the rapids. The Pechenegs, led by Khan Kurei, attacked his squad. They killed Svyatoslav, and made a bowl out of his skull, shackling him.

The death of Svyatoslav, or rather, the question of who warned or persuaded the Pechenegs, has long been controversial in historiography. Despite the fact that the Russian chronicle says that the Pechenegs were persuaded by the Pereyaslav Bulgarians, the opinion prevails in science that the attack of the steppes was organized by Byzantine diplomacy. Constantinople, they say, could not allow Svyatoslav to return home alive.

However, in recent years, other points of view on the causes of the death of the Russian prince have appeared. The well-known Polish historian A. Paron proves that the Pechenegs actually showed independence, perhaps they avenged the defeat near Kiev in 968. The peace treaty of 971 gave the Greeks the opportunity to normalize relations with Kiev and return them to the level at which they were in Olga's time. Therefore, Constantinople was not interested in the death of the Russian prince.

According to the opinion of the historian N. D. Russev, Svyatoslav himself hesitated at the thresholds, because he was waiting for Sveneld to return from Kyiv with new squads. The Russian prince was going to return back to Bulgaria, he longed for revenge, but he did not want to return to Kyiv. Svyatoslav was no longer expected there. In Kyiv, his son Yaropolk had already entered into force, where a strong boyar opposition had formed against him, which did not need the Danube lands. And Svyatoslav preferred the Danube to Rus'.

Will serve as a chalice for edification ...

Indirectly, the fact that Svyatoslav really did not intend to return to Kyiv can be evidenced by ... a cup from his skull. In a number of late Russian chronicles - Uvarovskaya, Ermolinskaya, Lvovskaya, etc., there are additions to the episode of the Tale of Bygone Years about the death of Svyatoslav, concerning the inscription on the fateful bowl. They differ slightly from each other, but their general meaning boils down to the fact that Svyatoslav, wanting someone else's, ruined his own. In the Lviv Chronicle, it is even specified that he killed because of his great insatiability.

The fact that such a bowl really existed is evidenced by an entry in the Tver Chronicle dated to the 11th-12th centuries, that "... this bowl is still kept in the treasury of the Pecheneg princes." Did the unfortunate Svyatoslav have predecessors? In the chronicles there is information that in 811 the Bulgarian khan pagan Krum treated the Slavic princes from a similar vessel. In this case, the material was the skull of the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I, defeated by the Bulgarians.

Curious parallel information about the death of Svyatoslav is provided by the Bulgarian chronicle of Gazi-Baradj. It confirms the message of Russian chronicles that the Pechenegs were in collusion not with the Byzantines, but with the Danube Bulgarians, and contains details about the last minutes of the life of the Kievan prince. When Svyatoslav was captured by him, Kura Khan told him: “Your head, even with a Khin scythe, will not add wealth to me, and I would willingly give you life if you really valued it .... Let your head serve as a cup of drink for the edification of all the overly proud and frivolous.

Svyatoslav is a pagan!

Reading the ancient Russian chronicles, one gets the impression that the chroniclers had an ambivalent attitude towards Svyatoslav. On the one hand, sympathy and pride for the brilliant commander, "Alexander of Macedon of the Russian land", on the other hand, a clear disapproval of his deeds and deeds. The Christian chroniclers especially disapproved of Svyatoslav's paganism.

The Russian chronicles tell that Princess Olga, having been baptized, sought to introduce Christianity to her son. Svyatoslav refused under the pretext that if he alone was baptized, then his squad would mock him. Wise Olga rightly answered this that if the prince is baptized, then everyone will do the same. Researchers have long come to the conclusion that the reason for Svyatoslav's refusal to be baptized, indicated by the annals, is not serious. Olga was right, no one would have dared to argue with the prince. As the researcher A.V. Nazarenko rightly noted, in order to baptize Rus', Olga had to baptize her son, and the whole society would follow him.

However, what is the reason for Svyatoslav's stubborn unwillingness to become a Christian? In the Bulgarian chronicle of Gazi-Baradj there is a curious piece of information about this. When, as a child, Svyatoslav fell mortally ill, and neither Russian nor Byzantine doctors could help him, Olga called the Bulgarian healer Otchi-Subash. He undertook to heal the boy, but as a condition he asked that Svyatoslav not accept Christianity.

And the explanation of the Bulgar chronicler, as we see, looks somewhat folklore. Against this background, the hypothesis of A. V. Nazarenko is extremely interesting. He believes that the reason for Svyatoslav's refusal to be baptized lies in Constantinople, which he visited with his mother in 957. The Byzantine emperor gave two receptions in honor of the Russian princess Olga. At the first reception, "the people of Svyatoslav" were present, where they received much less money as gifts than even the slave Olga. This was a direct challenge to the Russian side, because, for example, in the Russian-Greek treaty of 945, the ambassadors of Svyatoslav were mentioned second after Igor, even before Olga. Apparently, the humiliation of the "people of Svyatoslav", and therefore himself, was caused by the unwillingness of the emperor to marry his daughter to the ruler of the barbarians. "People of Svyatoslav" were offended and were no longer present at the second reception. It is very likely, A. V. Nazarenko believes, that Svyatoslav's refusal of a Greek bride influenced his (and his advisers) decision to remain in paganism.

The Tale of Bygone Years, as if trying to justify Svyatoslav's paganism, "softens" his militancy on the religious issue and says: if someone wanted to be baptized, he did not forbid, but only mocked him. However, in the Joachim Chronicle there is a shocking story about how Svyatoslav, having failed in one of the important battles with the Bulgarians and Greeks, decided that the Christians who were part of his army were to blame for this. Many Christians were executed on his orders. He did not even spare his closest relative Gleb, who was his half-brother or, according to other sources, his cousin.

Adventurer, statesman, spiritual leader

Perhaps the militant paganism of Svyatoslav was due to the special role that he played in the society of his time. It is curious how the perception of the image of this warrior changed in historiography. In the scientific literature, the opinion of Svyatoslav initially prevailed as the "last Viking", an adventurer, a hired commander seeking glory in a foreign land. As N. M. Karamzin wrote, he respected the glory of victories more than the public good. The war was the only passion of Svyatoslav, - O. Subtelny echoes him. The Bulgarian researcher G. Tsankova-Petkova called him a "prince-dreamer."

Over time, the reputation of Svyatoslav as a wise statesman was established in the scientific world. Behind his militancy and seemingly unpredictable and spontaneous throws to the East, South and South-West, scientists were finally able, as N. F. Kotlyar writes, to discern a certain system of foreign policy. The Kiev prince resolved issues of relations with other countries by purely military means, he continues, also because peaceful diplomacy, apparently, was no longer able to solve them.

Recently, hypotheses have appeared about the third incarnation of Svyatoslav Igorevich - the sacred side of the image of a warrior so familiar to us. The very name of Svyatoslav has long been pushing researchers to this interpretation. It belongs to the category of theophoric names and connects two semantic contexts that can indicate two functions of its bearer: sacred (Holiness) and military (Glory). As an indirect confirmation of such an interpretation, one can consider the news of the mentioned Bulgar chronicle: after the miraculous healing, Svyatoslav began to be called Audan - the bearer of sacred priestly functions among the steppe pagans.

A number of arguments about the fulfillment of sacred functions by Svyatoslav were collected by the researcher S.V. Cheroy:

• Appearance of the prince. Similarity with the appearance of the pagan god Perun (long mustache, but no beard);
• In the last battle near Dorostol, according to the story of the Greek author John Skylitsa, Svyatoslav refused to accept a challenge to a personal duel from John Tzimiskes;
• During the battles, Svyatoslav was, apparently, not in the forefront, and even, perhaps, behind his troops. According to the Greek chronicle, a certain Anemas, in order to personally fight Svyatoslav during one battle, had to get ahead and break the enemy line;
• In the Scandinavian sagas there are reports that the kings took their very tiny children into battle, for example, boys of two years old. They were kept in the bosom, like a talisman, they were supposed to bring good luck in battle. And Svyatoslav symbolically began the battle with the Drevlyans, being 3-4 years old.

Bylinny Dunay Ivanovich

Kiev Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich belongs to the category of those historical figures, interest in which will never fade away, and over time, their image will only develop and even acquire new and important "historical" details. Svyatoslav will forever remain in the memory of the Russian people as a legendary hero. Researchers believe that the epic Danube Ivanovich and he, Danube Pereslaviev, are none other than Svyatoslav. And the historical desire of Rus' for the Danube has been growing since the time of the legendary Kyiv prince. It was he who was a kind of forerunner of the great Russian commanders - P. A. Rumyantsev, A. V. Suvorov, M. I. Kutuzov, I. V. Gurko, M. D. Skobelev and others, who glorified the power of Russian weapons in the Balkans with military successes.

Roman Rabinovich, Ph.D. ist. Sciences,
specially for the portal

Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich.

The era of pre-Christian Rus' has long sunk into oblivion, but the names of the heroes of those distant years and their feats of arms still live in the memory of the people. One of the outstanding people of that time and the greatest Russian commander was Svyatoslav Igorevich, the Grand Duke of Kiev.

The end of the 1st millennium AD, to some extent, can be called a turning point for the Russian land. From the west, the spread of Christianity had already begun, while Rus' until that time still remained pagan, in the east and south, the Russian state was constantly under the threat of Khazar and Pecheneg raids. It was in such a turbulent time that Prince Svyatoslav was born. His father was Igor, the Grand Duke of Kiev and Novgorod, the son of the founder of the Rurik dynasty, his mother was Princess Olga. According to the Ipatiev list, the birth of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich dates back to 942, but other chronicle sources give the year 930.

To date, the memory of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav is immortalized not only in artistic images and sculptures, but also in drawings on various items of clothing and souvenirs, in particular, in our Internet military agency Voenpro you can with the image of Grand Duke Svyatoslav.

In 945, the Drevlyans killed the father of Prince Svyatoslav, Igor, and formally Svyatoslav becomes the Grand Duke, but due to the infancy of Prince Svyatoslav, his mother, Princess Olga, becomes the actual ruler of Rus'. However, she continued to govern the state even after his coming of age due to the complete lack of interest in Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich in economic and administrative activities.

From an early age, the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich began to comprehend the basics of military art. His teachers are the Varangian Asmud, who, according to some chroniclers, was the uncle of the young prince Svyatoslav, and the governor of Kyiv, Sveneld. Together with Asmud, as a child, Prince Svyatoslav participated in expeditions to the Estonians, Samoyeds, Finns, and probably took part in the sea campaigns of the Russians. Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich studied the strategy and tactics of warfare under the guidance of governor Sveneld.

Campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav

Having barely matured, Prince Svyatoslav begins to gather a squad. At the same time, the mother of Prince Svyatoslav, Princess Olga, accepts Christianity, and tries to persuade her son, who categorically refuses to be baptized, to accept the Orthodox faith. Until the end of his life, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich worshiped pagan gods, in particular, Perun, the patron of the prince and the princely squad, and Khors, the personification of the Sun. In view of this, we bring to your attention the Great against the background of the symbolic image of the Sun.

By the age of twenty, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich becomes an experienced and skillful warrior, the squad also matched him, and from that moment, independent campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav begin, and their goal was by no means profit, which was a rare case for that time.

The Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich became a successful "collector of lands", significantly expanding the boundaries of the Old Russian state, which during the years of Prince Svyatoslav's reign became the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The Russian historian N. Karamzin described Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich as "Alexander of Macedon of ancient Russian history."

Khazar campaign of Svyatoslav

In 964, the squad of Prince Svyatoslav set out to the east in order to weaken the influence of the Khazar Khaganate. The beginning of the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate was laid in 964, on July 3. Subsequently, this date began to be considered the Memorial Day of Prince Svyatoslav the Brave.

However, it should be noted here that the above data, described in the Tale of Bygone Years, are somewhat different from other chronicle sources, the authors of which attribute the Khazar campaign of Svyatoslav to a later time (965 or 966).

When preparing an offensive against the Khazars, Svyatoslav abandoned the frontal onslaught across the interfluve of the Volga and Don, instead he undertook a grandiose detour maneuver for that time. To begin with, Prince Svyatoslav conquered the Slavic tribes of the Vyatichi, dependent on the Khazars. In the next move, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich defeated the Burtases and the Volga Bulgars, who were also subordinate to the Khazar Khaganate, thereby ensuring the safety of the northern flank of his army. Not expecting an attack by Prince Svyatoslav from the north, the Khazars were completely disorganized, which made it possible for Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich to take their capital, Itil.

Further advancing on the Khazars, Svyatoslav defeated their most important stronghold - the fortress of Semender and put in its place the Russian outpost Belaya Vezha. Also during the campaign, Prince Svyatoslav conquered the Kasog tribes, after which he founded the Tmutarakan principality on the Taman Peninsula.

The defeat of the Khazar Khaganate by Svyatoslav marked the beginning of the dominance of Kievan Rus in the east of Europe. The significance of Svyatoslav's victory over the Khazars is also due to the fact that the most important trade route, the Great Silk, passed through the lands of the Khazars and the Volga Bulgars at that time, and after the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate by Svyatoslav, Russian merchants got the opportunity to trade duty-free with the eastern states, which favorably affected the economy of Kievan Rus.

However, the military activities of Prince Svyatoslav did not end there. After gaining a foothold in the eastern direction, the aspirations of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich turned to the West, towards the Danube. Chronicles say that since that time, before the start of the attack, the prince's rivals received a message from Svyatoslav: "I'm coming at you!"

On the website of our Internet military store you can buy various items with the image of Prince Stanislav the Great against the background of his amulet - the symbol of the Sun, in particular, and with the saying "The Sun is for us!".

Bulgarian campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav

In 967, the Byzantine Empire concluded an anti-Bulgarian treaty with Kiev, and the squad of Prince Svyatoslav set out on a campaign to the Danube banks. However, not only the union treaty spurred the aspirations of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich to the west. During the Khazar campaign of Svyatoslav, many Khazars took refuge with the Bulgarians, who were their allies, thus, the Khazar factor played a significant role in the Bulgarian campaign of Prince Svyatoslav the Great.

In one battle, Prince Svyatoslav achieved dominance over Eastern Bulgaria and settled in Pereyaslavets. It should be noted here that, according to the chroniclers, after the defeat of the Bulgarian army, the further relations of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich with the Bulgarians were the most friendly, apparently due to the fact that Christianity was not yet widespread in Bulgaria at that time and the squad of Prince Svyatoslav saw in the Bulgarians their co-religionists and blood brothers.

However, the peaceful life of Prince Svyatoslav the Great did not last long. Soon, from Kievan Rus, Svyatoslav received news of the attack on Kyiv by the Pechenegs. At that time, Princess Olga and the sons of Prince Svyatoslav remained in the capital of Rus', whom she was engaged in raising.

Having received the news of the Pecheneg invasion, Svyatoslav with his personal retinue hurried to the aid of Kyiv, leaving the governor Volk in Pereyaslavets. On the way to the squad of Prince Svyatoslav, a large number of "wars" joined (as in the days of Kievan Rus they called all persons owning weapons). When Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich approached Kyiv, the Pechenegs fled, but they managed to get away not far.

After a thorough beating given to them by Svyatoslav, the Pechenegs apologized and asked for peace.

At the same time, Prince Svyatoslav the Brave learns from the Pechenegs that the instigator in this raid was the already badly battered Khazar Khaganate, and then he went on a campaign against the Khazars for the second time. The second Khazar campaign of Prince Svyatoslav ended with the complete defeat of the Khaganate, its capital was destroyed.

And, as after any of his victories, Prince Svyatoslav with his retinue thanked his gods for bringing them good luck, and on our website you can purchase among various goods with the image of Prince Svyatoslav the Great.

Upon the return of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich to Kyiv, his mother, Olga, who was the de facto ruler of Kievan Rus during the absence of her son, dies. Prince Svyatoslav decided to rule the state in a new way: he planted the son of Yarpolk to reign in Kyiv, the son of Svyatoslav Oleg was planted to the Drevlyansk reign, and Vladimir to Novgorod. Prince Svyatoslav the Brave himself in 969 again went with an army to Bulgaria, from where alarming news came. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter, who concluded a truce with Svyatoslav the Great, abdicated the throne, the new Tsar Boris II broke the peace agreement with the Rus and began military operations against the Russian garrisons remaining in Bulgaria. Voivode Volk, who remained in Pereyaslavets, could not resist the superior enemy and descended on the boats along the Danube, where he united with the army of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, who was coming to his aid. Pereyaslavets was taken a second time, but this time the battle was bloody.

After the capture of Pereyaslavets, Prince Svyatoslav the Great moved deep into Bulgaria and, practically without resistance, entered its capital, Preslav, where the Bulgarian Tsar Boris recognized himself as a vassal of Prince Svyatoslav the Great.

At the same time, in Byzantium, which was previously an ally of Prince Svyatoslav the Great, a change of power takes place, and a new big war becomes inevitable.

For those who are interested in the history of the Russian land, our Voenpro military department has prepared a large number of souvenirs, including those with the image of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. In particular, you can buy from us with a portrait of Svyatoslav the Great against the backdrop of sunny Kolovrat.

War of Prince Svyatoslav with Byzantium

In the spring of 970, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, having concluded an alliance with the Bulgarians, Hungarians and Pechenegs, launched an offensive against the Byzantine possessions in Thrace. The general battle took place 120 km from the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople. In this battle, Prince Svyatoslav suffered heavy losses, but he managed to get close to the city, after which Svyatoslav the Great retreated, while taking a large tribute. After that, during the year, military operations were not undertaken by either side, until in 971, in April, John I Tzimiskes, who had become Byzantine emperor shortly before, began hostilities against Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. Almost immediately, the Byzantines managed to capture the Bulgarian capital Preslav, after which John I began the siege of Dorostol, where the main forces of the Russian army, led by Prince Svyatoslav, were located.

During the three months of the siege, continuous skirmishes continued, until another general battle took place on July 21, in which Svyatoslav the Brave was seriously wounded. During the battle, neither side achieved the desired results, but after him, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich entered into peace negotiations with the Byzantines.

As a result, an honorable peace was concluded between Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich and the Byzantine emperor, according to which the Russians received huge repatriations on the condition that they give up Bulgarian possessions.

After the conclusion of peace, Svyatoslav the Great left Bulgaria with his army. Having safely reached the mouth of the Dnieper, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich made an attempt to rise to the rapids on the boats, but he did not succeed, and the army of Prince Svyatoslav remained to winter at the mouth of the river. In the spring of 972, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich set off again, but his former allies, the Pechenegs, were waiting for him near the Dnieper rapids. A battle ensued, during which Svyatoslav the Great died.

Old Russian Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich

For many centuries, historians have been studying the personality of Svyatoslav the Great, and it must be said that opinions about him are ambiguous, but the contribution of this talented commander to the history of the development of the Russian state is undeniable, and it is not for nothing that Svyatoslav the Brave is included in the top ten great commanders of the world.

Research continues to this day - in 2011, an ancient sword was found at the bottom of the Dnieper, it is even suggested that Prince Svyatoslav himself was the owner of the sword. This assumption is supported by the richly finished sword hilt. After restoration, the "sword of Svyatoslav" is stored in the museum of Khortytsya.

However, the personality of Svyatoslav the Great is of interest not only to pundits, the memory of Prince Svyatoslav lives in the hearts of ordinary people, as evidenced by the monuments to Svyatoslav the Brave. There are several of them - a monument to Prince Svyatoslav was erected in Kiev, and in Russia a sculptural image of Svyatoslav the Brave can be seen on a bas-relief in Veliky Novgorod, and near Belgorod, in memory of Svyatoslav the Great, on the 1040th anniversary of the victory over the Khazars, an equestrian statue of Prince Svyatoslav was erected by the sculptor Klykov.

The life and deeds of Prince Svyatoslav the Great - the last pagan prince of Rus', are devoted to many artistic canvases, films are made about him and songs are written.

Our Internet voentorg Voenpro offers you original souvenirs with the image of the legendary prince, among which there is also “Prince Svyatoslav”.

You can familiarize yourself with the full range of products on the theme of Ancient Rus, Slavs, Rodnover and solar Kolovrat by clicking on.

Svyatoslav Igorevich(957-972) already bore a Slavic name, but his temper was still a typical Varangian warrior, warrior. As soon as he had time to mature, he made himself a large and brave squad, and with it began to seek glory and prey for himself. He got out of his mother's influence early and "was angry with his mother" when she urged him to be baptized: "How can I change my faith alone? The squad will start laughing at me," he said. He got along well with the squad, led a harsh camp life with her, and therefore moved unusually easily: “walking easily, like a pardus (leopard),” according to the chronicle.

Monument to Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich in Zaporozhye

Even during the life of his mother, leaving the Principality of Kiev in the care of Olga, Svyatoslav made his first brilliant campaigns. He went to the Oka and subjugated the Vyatichi, who then paid tribute to the Khazars; then he turned to the Khazars and defeated the Khazar kingdom, taking the main cities of the Khazars (Sarkel and Itil). At the same time, Svyatoslav defeated the tribes of Yases and Kasogs (Circassians) on the river. Kuban and took possession of the area in the mouths of the Kuban and on the Azov coast called Tamatarkha (later Tmutarakan). Finally, Svyatoslav penetrated the Volga, devastated the land of the Kama Bulgarians and took their city of Bolgar. In a word, Svyatoslav defeated and ruined all the eastern neighbors of Rus', which were part of the system of the Khazar state. Now Rus' became the main force in the Black Sea region. But the fall of the Khazar state strengthened the nomadic Pechenegs. All the southern Russian steppes, formerly occupied by the Khazars, now fell at their disposal; and Rus' itself soon had to experience great troubles from these nomads.

Returning to Kyiv after his conquests in the East, Svyatoslav Igorevich received an invitation from the Greeks to help Byzantium in its struggle against the Danube Bulgarians. Having gathered a large army, he conquered Bulgaria and stayed there to live in the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube, since he considered Bulgaria his property. “I want to live in Pereyaslavets Danube,” he said: “there is the middle (center) of my land, all kinds of goods are collected there: from the Greeks gold, fabrics, wine and fruits, from the Czechs and Ugrians - silver and horses, from Rus' furs, wax and honey and slaves. But he had to return from Bulgaria to Kyiv for a while, because in his absence the Pechenegs attacked Rus' and laid siege to Kyiv. The people of Kiev with Princess Olga and the children of Svyatoslav barely sat out from the formidable enemy and sent to Svyatoslav with reproaches and a request for help. Svyatoslav came and drove the Pechenegs into the steppe, but did not stay in Kyiv. The dying Olga asked him to wait in Rus' until her death. He fulfilled her wish, but, having buried his mother, he immediately left for Bulgaria, leaving his sons as princes in Rus'. However, the Greeks did not want to allow Russian domination over the Bulgarians and demanded the removal of Svyatoslav back to Rus'. Svyatoslav refused to leave the banks of the Danube. The war began, and the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes defeated Svyatoslav. After a series of hard efforts, he locked the Russians in the fortress of Dorostol (now Silistria) and forced Svyatoslav to make peace and clear Bulgaria.

Meeting of Prince Svyatoslav with Emperor John Tzimisces on the banks of the Danube. Painting by K. Lebedev, ca. 1880

The army of Svyatoslav, exhausted by the war, on the way home was captured in the Dnieper rapids by the Pechenegs and Scattered, and Svyatoslav himself was killed (972). So the Pechenegs completed the defeat of the Russian prince, begun by the Greeks.

After the death of Svyatoslav Igorevich in Rus' between his sons (Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir) civil strife took place in which Yaropolk and Oleg died, and Vladimir remained autocratic. The state, shaken by strife, showed signs of internal decay, and Vladimir had to spend a lot of effort to discipline the Varangians, who served him, and pacify the deposited tribes (Vyatichi, Radimichi). Shaken after the failure of Svyatoslav and the external power of Rus'. Vladimir waged many wars with various neighbors for border volosts, he also fought with the Kama Bulgarians. He was also drawn into the war with the Greeks, as a result of which he adopted Christianity according to the Greek rite. This important event ended the first period of power of the Varangian dynasty in Rus'.

This is how the Kiev principality was formed and grew stronger, uniting politically most of the tribes of Russian Slavs.