Western Russia: description, interesting facts and history. Western and Eastern Russia - history

In the Middle Ages, Western Rus includedterritories bordering on Hungary, Poland and Lithuania. With the onset of political fragmentation, several principalities emerged in this region, disputing among themselves for leadership.

Part of Kievan Rus

Before the emergence of a single Old Russianthe states in the territory of Western Russia were inhabited by tribal alliances of the Eastern Slavs: Dregovichi, Drevlyane, Volhynians, Ulichi and White Croats. In the IX-X centuries. they were attached to Kiev. This process was completed during the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015).

Western Russia in the northBaltic tribes: Lithuania, Prussia and Zhmud. These inhabitants of the Baltic coast traded with the Slavs honey and amber. For some time they did not pose a danger to Russia. Much stronger was the western neighbor - the Polish Kingdom. This Slavic people was baptized according to Roman custom. The differences between Catholics and Orthodox were one of the causes of tension between Rus and Poland. In 981, Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko declared war on Prince Mieszko I and conquered the so-called Cherven land, the main city of which was Peremyshl.

In the south, Western Russia ended in the steppes, inwhich were inhabited by Turkic-speaking nomads. At first they were Pechenegs. In the 10th century the Polovtsians came to their place. Equally between them was the fact that both these and other steppe people organized regular campaigns against Russia, accompanied by looting and violence against civilians.

Period of political fragmentation

After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, a singleThe Old Russian state broke up into several principalities. This process was gradual. With some Kiev princes, such as Vladimir Monomakh, the country once again became holistic. However, civil strife and the left-handed right finally divided Rus. In the 11th century, the main principality in Western Russia became Volynskoye with its capital in Vladimir-Volynsky.

Dynasty of Rostislavich

Here, a dynasty was established, stemming fromRostislav Vladimirovich, the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, on the senior line. Theoretically, representatives of this offspring even had legal rights to Kiev, but in the "mother of Russian cities" other Rurikovichi were entrenched. First the children of Rostislav lived at the court of Yaropolk Izyaslavich, the Kiev governor. In 1084, Rurik, Volodar and Vasilko drove this prince from Vladimir and temporarily seized the entire region.

Finally Rostislavichi took over Volyn afterLubech Congress in 1097 and the ensuing internecine war. At the same time, other small towns in the region (besides Vladimir and Peremyshl) received their political recognition - Terebovl and Dorogobuzh. Grandson of Rostislav Vladimir Volodarevich in 1140 united them and created a new principality with a capital in Galich. Its inhabitants have grown rich on salt trading with their neighbors. Western Russia was strikingly different from the dense north-east, where the Slavs lived in the forests next to the Finnish tribes.

Jaroslav Osmomysl

With the son of Vladimir Yaroslav Osmomysle (ruled in1153-1187 gg.) Galicia princedom experienced a golden age. During his reign he tried to resist the hegemony of Kiev and his alliance with Vladimir-Volynsky. This struggle ended in success. In 1168, a coalition of princes under the direction of Andrei Bogolyubsky captured Kiev and betrayed his plunder, after which the city never recovered. His political significance fell, and Galich, on the contrary, became the western center of Russia.

Yaroslav conducted an active foreign policy, joining theunions and fighting against Hungary and Poland. However, with the death of Osmomysl on Galicia, wars began. His son and successor Vladimir Yaroslavich recognized the supremacy of the Rostov prince Vsevolod the Big Nest. He fought against the boyar opposition and eventually was expelled from his own city. In his place was called Volyn Prince Roman Mstislavovich, which allowed to unite the two destinies in a strong centralized principality.

Association of Galicia and Volhynia

Roman Mstislavovich - unlike the previous onesGalich princes - was a direct descendant of Vladimir Monomakh. According to his mother, he was a relative of the Polish ruling dynasty. Therefore it is not surprising that in childhood he was brought up in Krakow.

After the death of Vladimir Yaroslavich Roman appeared inGalich along with the Polish army, which was given to him by the king - his ally. It happened in 1199. It is this date that is considered the day of the creation of a unified Galicia-Volyn principality. The history of Western Russia of this period is an interesting interweaving of medieval Slavic politics.

Roman Mstislavovich twice captured Kiev, but notbecame his prince, and put on the local throne of faithful people who turned out to be semi-dependent on him. The great merit of the Galician ruler was the organization of a series of campaigns against the Polovtsians, from which both Western and Eastern Russia suffered. Fighting with nomads, Roman resorted to the help of all his relatives from the Rurik dynasty. There is an unconfirmed theory that in 1204, after the fall of Constantinople, the exiled emperor Alex III Angel flew to him.

The struggle of Daniel for his father's legacy

Roman Mstislavovich died in 1205 afteraccident on the hunt. His son Daniel was just a newborn baby. Galician boyars took advantage of this, depriving him of the throne. All his life, Daniel fought against the rebellious aristocracy, Russian princes and western neighbors for the right to return his father's lot. It was a bright era, full of all sorts of events. It was during the reign of Daniil Romanovich that Western Russia reached its economic and political heyday.

The support of the prince's power was the service class, andalso city residents, who supported the ruler-peacemaker. During the years of peace and prosperity, Daniel promoted the growth of new fortresses and shopping centers, attracting enterprising merchants and skilled artisans. With him, Lviv and Kholm were founded.

The Golden Age of Western Russia

Having reached adolescence, in 1215the boy became the prince of Volhynia. This lot became its main fiefdom. In 1238, he finally returned the Galician principality, and a few months later captured Kiev. The flourishing of the new power was prevented by the Mongol invasion. As early as 1223, the young Daniil, part of the princely Slavic coalition, participated in the Battle of Kalka. Then the Mongols made a trial raid on the Polovtsian steppe. After defeating the allied army, they withdrew, but returned in the late 30's. First, North-Eastern Russia was ravaged. Then came the turn of the inheritance of Daniel. However, due to the fact that the Mongols have already significantly wiped out their army, it managed to avoid such colossal destruction as in the basin of the Oka and Klyazma.

Daniel tried to fight the Mongolian threatthrough the conclusion of alliances with Catholic countries. With him, Galician Russia and Western Europe actively cooperated and traded among themselves. Counting on help, Daniel even agreed to take the royal title from the pope and in 1254 became the king of Rus.

His power was on an equal footing with a powerful Poland andHungary. At a time when North-West Russia suffered from the crusaders, and north-east from the Mongols, Daniel managed to keep peace in his possessions. He died in 1264, leaving his descendants with a great inheritance.

Decline and loss of independence

Children and grandchildren of Daniel could not keeppolitical independence from the west. The lands of Galich and Volhynia were divided between Poland and Lithuania, which annexed the former Russian principalities through dynastic marriages and under the pretext of protection from the Mongols. In 1303, the region created its own metropolia, which was subordinated directly to the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The struggle between Russia and its western neighbors ended,when Poland and Lithuania divided the Galician-Volyn heritage among themselves. This happened in 1392. Soon, these two states signed the union and formed a single Commonwealth. The term "Western Russia" gradually became an archaism.