Unification of Russia around Moscow (stages)

Unification of Russia around Moscow (main stages)

Stages of the unification of Russia around Moscow historians call parts of the process of political unification of previously disparate Russian territories into one state.

The beginning of this association is considered to be the thirteenth century. Prior to this, Kievan Rus for a considerable time was no longer a single power, representing itself as separate principalities, which, although subordinate to Kyiv, were independent territories. In addition, smaller territories and destinies that lived their own lives were formed in such principalities. At the same time, disparate principalities waged a constant war for the right of absolute power in Russia, which weakened the state both economically and politically. Thus, Russia could restore power only by uniting.

In the second half of the thirteenth century, the fragmented power was in a state of chaos. The Tatar-Mongol yoke was able to interrupt the natural process of unification of the territories, as well as to finally weaken the Kyiv authorities.

In the fourteenth century, most of Russia united around the Lithuanian principality, and by the fifteenth century its princes owned Kyiv, Vitebsk, Polotsk, Gorodensky and other principalities. Smolensk region, Volhynia and Chernihiv region were in their power. As a result, by the fifteenth century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had grown to the very borders of the Moscow Principality. At the same time, the north-east of Russia throughout the entire time, although it remained under the rule of Monomakh's relatives, and the princes of Vladimir had the prefix "all Russia", but their actual power did not extend further than Novgorod and Vladimir. In the fourteenth century, Vladimir passes to Moscow.

At the end of the fourteenth century, Lithuania joins the Kingdom of Poland, which causes a number of Russian-Lithuanian military conflicts, in which Lithuania lost a significant part of its territories. As a result, the new state gradually begins to unite around Moscow. And in 1389 Moscow was declared the new capital of the state.

The final stage in the formation of Russia around Moscow as a new unified centralized state is considered the period of the reign of Ivan the Third, as well as his son Vasily the Third (from the fifteenth to the sixteenth century).

It was in this era that Russia regularly annexes certain territories to the previously founded "foundation".

The unification of Russia is a process of political unification of disparate Russian lands into a single state.

Prerequisites for the unification of Kievan Rus

The beginning of the unification of Russia dates back to the 13th century. Until that moment, Kievan Rus was not a single state, but consisted of disparate principalities that were subordinate to Kyiv, but still largely remained independent territories. Moreover, smaller destinies and territories arose in the principalities, which also lived an autonomous life. The principalities were constantly at war with each other and with Kyiv for the right to independence and independence, and the princes killed each other, wanting to claim the throne of Kyiv. All this weakened Russia, both politically and economically. As a result of constant civil strife and enmity, Russia could not gather a single strong army in order to resist the nomadic raids and overthrow the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Against this background, the power of Kyiv was weakening and a need arose for the emergence of a new center.

Reasons for the unification of Russian lands around Moscow

After the weakening of the power of Kyiv and constant internecine wars, Russia desperately needed to be united. Only an integral state could resist the invaders and finally throw off the Tatar-Mongol yoke. A feature of the unification of Russia was that there was no one clear center of power, political forces were scattered throughout the territory of Russia.

At the beginning of the 13th century, there were several cities that could become the new capital. The centers of the unification of Russia could be Moscow, Tver and Pereyaslavl. It was these cities that had all the necessary qualities for the new capital:

• They had a favorable geographical position and were removed from the borders on which the invaders ruled;
• They had the opportunity to actively engage in trade due to the intersection of several trade routes;
• The princes ruling in the cities belonged to the Vladimir princely dynasty, which had great power.

In general, all three cities had approximately equal chances, however, the skillful rule of the Moscow princes led to the fact that it was Moscow that seized power and gradually began to strengthen its political influence. As a result, it was around the Moscow principality that a new centralized state began to form.

The main stages of the unification of Russia

In the second half of the 13th century, the state was in a state of strong fragmentation, new autonomous territories were constantly separated. The Tatar-Mongol yoke interrupted the process of natural unification of lands, and the power of Kyiv by this period was greatly weakened. Russia was in decline and needed a completely new policy.

In the 14th century, many territories of Russia united around the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 14-15 centuries, the great Lithuanian princes owned Gorodensky, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Kyiv and other principalities, Chernihiv, Volyn, Smolensk and a number of other lands were under their rule. The reign of the Ruriks was coming to an end. By the end of the 15th century, the Lithuanian principality had grown so much that it came close to the borders of the Moscow principality. The North-East of Russia all this time remained under the rule of a descendant of Vladimir Monomakh, and the Vladimir princes bore the prefix "all Russia", but their real power did not extend beyond Vladimir and Novgorod. In the 14th century, power over Vladimir passed to Moscow.

At the end of the 14th century, Lithuania joined the Kingdom of Poland, after which a series of Russo-Lithuanian wars followed, in which Lithuania lost many territories. New Russia began to gradually unite around the strengthened Moscow principality.

In 1389 Moscow becomes the new capital.

The final unification of Russia as a new centralized and unified state was completed at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries during the reign of Ivan 3 and his son Vasily 3.

Since then, Russia periodically annexed some new territories, but the basis of a single state had already been created.

Completion of the political unification of Russia

In order to keep the new state together and avoid its possible collapse, it was necessary to change the principle of government. Under Vasily 3, estates appeared - feudal estates. The fiefdoms were often crushed and smaller, as a result, the princes, who received their new possessions, no longer had power over vast territories.

As a result of the unification of the Russian lands, all power was gradually concentrated in the hands of the Grand Duke.

THE BEGINNING OF THE UNION OF THE RUSSIAN LANDS

The struggle to overthrow the Golden Horde yoke became in the XIII-XV centuries. main national goal. The restoration of the country's economy and its further development created the prerequisites for the unification of the Russian lands. The question was being decided - around which center the Russian lands would unite.

First of all, Tver and Moscow claimed leadership. The principality of Tver as an independent inheritance arose in 1247, when it was received by the younger brother of Alexander Nevsky, Yaroslav Yaroslavich. After the death of Alexander Nevsky, Yaroslav became the Grand Duke (1263-1272). The Tver principality was then the strongest in Russia. But he was not destined to lead the unification process. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. the Moscow principality is rapidly rising.

Rise of Moscow. Moscow, which was before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars a small border point of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, at the beginning of the XIV century. turned into an important political center of that time. What were the reasons for the rise of Moscow?

Moscow occupied a geographically advantageous central position among the Russian lands. From the south and east, it was covered from the Horde invasions by the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan principalities, from the north-west - by the principality of Tver and Veliky Novgorod. The forests surrounding Moscow were impassable for the Mongol-Tatar cavalry. All this caused an influx of people to the lands of the Moscow principality. Moscow was a center of developed handicrafts, agricultural production and trade. It turned out to be an important junction of land and water routes, which served both for trade and for military operations. Through the Moscow River and the Oka River, the Moscow Principality had access to the Volga, and through the tributaries of the Volga and the portage system, it was connected with the Novgorod lands. The rise of Moscow is also explained by the purposeful, flexible policy of the Moscow princes, who managed to win over not only other Russian principalities, but also the church.

Alexander Nevsky bequeathed Moscow to his youngest son Daniel. Under him, she became the capital of the principality, perhaps the most seedy and unenviable in Russia. At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, its territory noticeably expanded: it included Kolomna (1300) and Mozhaisk (1303) with their lands captured by the regiments of Daniel and his son Yuri. At the behest of Prince Ivan Dmitrievich, the childless grandson of Nevsky, the Pereyaslav principality passes to Moscow.

And Yuri Danilovich of Moscow in the first quarter of the 14th century. already fighting for the throne of Vladimir with his cousin uncle Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver. He received the khan's label in 1304. Yuri opposes Mikhail and, having married the sister of the Horde Khan, becomes the Grand Duke of Vladimir (1318). The struggle for power is not over - after the execution in the Horde of Prince Mikhail of Tver, who defeated a large Tatar detachment, his son Dmitry achieves his goal: he kills Yuri of Moscow in the Horde (1325). But Dmitry also perishes in the Horde.

All these years, according to the chronicles, "confusion" reigned in Russia - cities and villages were robbed and burned by the Horde and their own Russian detachments. Finally, Alexander Mikhailovich, brother of Dmitry executed in the Horde, became the Grand Duke of Vladimir; Moscow Grand Duke - Ivan Danilovich, brother of the executed Moscow ruler.

In 1327, an uprising broke out in Tver against the Horde Baskak Chol Khan It began at the auction - the Tatar took the horse from the local deacon, and he called for help from fellow countrymen rushed to the rapists and oppressors, killed many. Chol Khan and his entourage took refuge in the princely palace, but it was set on fire along with the Horde. The few survivors fled to the Horde.

Ivan Danilovich immediately hurried to Khan Uzbek. Returning with the Tatar army, fire and sword passed through the Tver places. Alexander Mikhailovich fled to Pskov, then to Lithuania, the Moscow prince received Novgorod and Kostroma as a reward. Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets Khan handed over to Alexander Vasilyevich, Prince of Suzdal; only after his death in 1332 did Ivan finally receive a label for the reign of Vladimir.

Having become the ruler "over all the Russian land", Ivan Danilovich diligently expanded his land holdings - he bought, seized. In the Horde, he behaved humbly and flatteringly, did not skimp on gifts to khans and khans, princes and murzas. He collected and transported tributes and requisitions from all over Russia to the Horde, mercilessly extorted them from his subjects, and suppressed any attempt at protest. Part of the collected, settled in his Kremlin cellars. Starting with him, with a few exceptions, the rulers of Moscow received a label for the reign of Vladimir. They headed the Moscow-Vladimir principality, one of the most extensive states in Eastern Europe.

It was under Ivan Danilovich that the metropolitan see moved from Vladimir to Moscow - this is how its power and political influence increased. Moscow has become essentially the church capital of Russia. Thanks to the "humble wisdom" of Ivan Danilovich, the Horde Khan became, as it were, an instrument for strengthening Moscow. The princes of Rostov, Galicia, Belozersky, Uglich submitted to Ivan. Horde raids and pogroms stopped in Russia, the time has come for "great silence" The prince himself, as the legend says, was nicknamed Kalita - he went everywhere with a purse (kalita) on his belt, dressing the poor and wretched "Christians" rested "from great languor, many hardships and violence of the Tatars.

Under the sons of Ivan Kalita - Semyon (1340-1353), who received the nickname "Proud" for his arrogant attitude towards other princes, and Ivan the Red (1353-1359) - the Dmitrov, Kostroma, Starodub lands and the Kaluga region became part of the Moscow principality.

Dmitry Donskoy. Dmitry Ivanovich (1359-1389) received the throne as a nine-year-old child. The struggle for the grand princely Vladimir table broke out again. The Horde began to openly support the opponents of Moscow.

A peculiar symbol of the success and strength of the Moscow principality was the construction in just two years of the impregnable white stone Kremlin of Moscow (1367) - the only stone fortress in the territory of northeastern Russia. All this allowed Moscow to repel the claim to the all-Russian leadership of Nizhny Novgorod, Tver, and repel the campaigns of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd.

The balance of power in Russia has changed in favor of Moscow. In the Horde itself, a period of "great confusion" (50-60s of the XIV century) began - the weakening of the central government and the struggle for the khan's throne. Russia and the Horde seemed to "probe" each other. In 1377 on the river. Drunk (near Nizhny Novgorod), the Moscow army was crushed by the Horde. However, the Tatars could not consolidate the success. In 1378, the army of Murza Begich was defeated by Dmitry on the river. Vozha (Ryazan land). This battle was a prelude to the Battle of Kulikovo.

Kulikovo battle. In 1380, the temnik (head of the tumen) Mamai, who came to power in the Horde after several years of internecine strife, tried to restore the shattered dominance of the Golden Horde over Russian lands. Having concluded an alliance with the Lithuanian prince Jagail, Mamai led his troops to Russia. Princely squads and militias from most of the Russian lands gathered in Kolomna, from where they moved towards the Tatars, trying to forestall the enemy. Dmitry proved himself to be a talented commander, having made an unconventional decision for that time to cross the Don and meet the enemy on the territory that Mamai considered his own. At the same time, Dmitry set a goal to prevent Mamai from connecting with Jagail before the start of the battle.

The troops met on the Kulikovo field at the confluence of the Nepryadva River with the Don. The morning of the battle - September 8, 1380 - turned out to be foggy. The fog dissipated only by 11 o'clock in the morning. The battle began with a duel between the Russian hero Peresvet and the Tatar warrior Chelubey. At the beginning of the battle, the Tatars almost completely destroyed the advanced regiment of Russians and wedged themselves into the ranks of the large regiment standing in the center. Mamai was already triumphant, believing that he had won. However, an unexpected blow for the Horde followed from the flank of the Russian ambush regiment led by the voivode Dmitry Bobrok-Volynets and Prince Vladimir Serpukhovsky. This blow decided by three o'clock in the afternoon the outcome of the battle. The Tatars fled in panic from the Kulikovo field. For personal bravery in battle and military merits, Dmitry received the nickname Donskoy.

Defeat of Moscow by Tokhtamysh. After the defeat, Mamai fled to Kafa (Feodosia), where he was killed. Khan Tokhtamysh seized power over the Horde. The struggle between Moscow and the Horde is not over yet. In 1382, with the help of the Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich, who indicated the fords across the Oka River, Tokhtamysh with his horde suddenly attacked Moscow. Even before the Tatars' campaign, Dmitry left the capital to the north to gather a new militia. The population of the city organized the defense of Moscow, rebelling against the boyars, who rushed out of the capital in a panic. Muscovites managed to repulse two assaults of the enemy, for the first time using the so-called mattresses (Russian-made forged iron cannons) in battle.

Realizing that the city could not be taken by storm and fearing the approach of Dmitry Donskoy with the army, Tokhtamysh told the Muscovites that he had come to fight not against them, but against Prince Dmitry, and promised not to rob the city. By deceit breaking into Moscow, Tokhtamysh subjected her to a brutal defeat. Moscow was again obliged to pay tribute to the khan.

The meaning of the Kulikovo victory. Despite the defeat in 1382, the Russian people after the Battle of Kulikovo believed in an early liberation from the Tatars. On the Kulikovo field, the Golden Horde suffered its first major defeat. The Battle of Kulikovo showed the power and strength of Moscow as a political and economic center - the organizer of the struggle to overthrow the Golden Horde yoke and unite the Russian lands. Thanks to the Kulikovo victory, the amount of tribute was reduced. In the Horde, the political supremacy of Moscow among the rest of the Russian lands was finally recognized. The defeat of the Horde in the Battle of Kulikovo significantly weakened their power. Residents from various Russian lands and cities went to Kulikovo Field - they returned from the battle as the Russian people.

Having lived only incomplete four decades, Dmitry Ivanovich did a lot for Russia. From boyhood to the end of his days, he is constantly in campaigns, worries, troubles. I had to fight with the Horde, and with Lithuania, and with Russian rivals for power, political primacy. The prince also settled church affairs - he tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to make his henchman Mityai from Kolomna metropolitan (the metropolitans in Russia were approved by the Patriarch of Constantinople).

A life full of worries and worries did not become durable for the prince, who was distinguished, moreover, by his corpulence and fullness. But, finishing his short earthly journey, Dmitry of Moscow left a strongly strengthened Russia - the Moscow-Vladimir Grand Duchy, precepts for the future. Dying, he transfers, without asking the consent of the khan, to his son Vasily (1389-1425) the great reign of Vladimir as his fatherland; expresses the hope that "God will change the Horde", that is, free Russia from the Horde yoke.

Timur's campaign. In 1395, the Central Asian ruler Timur, the "great lame", who made 25 campaigns, the conqueror of Central Asia, Siberia, Persia, Baghdad, Damascus, India, Turkey, defeated the Golden Horde and marched on Moscow. Vasily I gathered a militia in Kolomna to repulse the enemy. From Vladimir to Moscow they brought the intercessor of Russia - the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir. When the icon was already near Moscow, Timur abandoned the march to Russia and, after a two-week stop in the Yelets region, turned south. The legend connected the miracle of deliverance of the capital with the intercession of the Mother of God.

Feudal war in the second quarter of the 15th century. (1431-1453). The strife, called the feudal war of the second quarter of the 15th century, began after the death of Basil I. By the end of the 14th century. The Moscow principality formed several specific possessions that belonged to the sons of Dmitry Donskoy. The largest of them were Galician and Zvenigorod, which were received by the youngest son of Dmitry Donskoy, Yuri. He, according to Dmitry's will, was to inherit the throne after his brother Vasily I. However, the will was written when Vasily I had no children yet. Vasily I handed over the throne to his son, ten-year-old Vasily II.

After the death of the Grand Duke, Yuri, as the eldest in the princely family, began the struggle for the throne of the Grand Duke with his nephew, Vasily II (1425-1462). The struggle after the death of Yuri was continued by his sons - Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka. If at first this clash of princes could still be explained by the "old right" of inheritance from brother to brother, i.e. to the eldest in the family, then after the death of Yuri in 1434 it was a clash of supporters and opponents of state centralization. The Moscow prince advocated political centralization, the Galich prince represented the forces of feudal separatism.

The struggle went according to all the "rules of the Middle Ages", i.e. blindness, and poisoning, and deceit, and conspiracies were used. Twice Yuri captured Moscow, but could not stay in it. Opponents of centralization achieved their highest success under Dmitry Shemyak, who was briefly the Grand Duke of Moscow.

Only after the Moscow boyars and the church finally sided with Vasily Vasilyevich II the Dark (blinded by his political opponents, like Vasily Kosoy, hence the nicknames "Slanting", "Dark"), Shemyaka fled to Novgorod, where he died. The feudal war ended with the victory of the forces of centralization. By the end of the reign of Vasily II, the possessions of the Moscow principality had increased 30 times compared to the beginning of the 14th century. The Moscow Principality included Murom (1343), Nizhny Novgorod (1393) and a number of lands on the outskirts of Russia.

Russia and the Union of Florence. Basil II's refusal to recognize the union (union) between the Catholic and Orthodox churches under the leadership of the pope, concluded in Florence in 1439, speaks of the strength of the grand ducal power. The pope imposed this union on Russia under the pretext of saving the Byzantine Empire from conquest by the Ottomans. The Greek Metropolitan of Russia, Isidore, who supported the union, was deposed. In his place, the Ryazan Bishop Jonah was elected, whose candidacy was proposed by Vasily P. This marked the beginning of the independence of the Russian Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople. And after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, the choice of the head of the Russian church was already determined in Moscow.

Summing up the development of Russia in the first two centuries after the Mongol devastation, it can be argued that as a result of the heroic creative and military labor of the Russian people during the XIV and the first half of the XV century. conditions were created for the creation of a single state and the overthrow of the Golden Horde yoke. The struggle for a great reign was already going on, as the feudal war of the second quarter of the 15th century showed, not between separate principalities, but within the Moscow princely house. The Orthodox Church actively supported the struggle for the unity of the Russian lands. The process of formation of the Russian state with its capital in Moscow became irreversible.

The formation of large political centers in Russia and the struggle between them for the great reign of Vladimir. Formation of the Tver and Moscow principalities. Ivan Kalita. Construction of the white-stone Kremlin.

Dmitry Donskoy. Battle of Kulikovo, its historical significance. Relations with Lithuania. Church and State. Sergius of Radonezh.

Confluence of the Great Vladimir and Moscow principalities. Russia and the Union of Florence. Internecine war in the second quarter of the 15th century, its significance for the process of unification of Russian lands.

Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich (1440-1505). From the "Royal Titular Book"

The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II, nicknamed the Dark One, attracted his son Ivan to manage the affairs of the state during his lifetime. Thus, he confirmed his legal rights to the throne. All business papers were signed by both of them. Ivan entered into full rights after the death of his father, when he was 22 years old. Ivan III began to unite the Russian lands around Moscow, turning it into the capital of the all-Russian state. Under him, the Moscow principality got rid of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.

According to the description of foreign ambassadors, the Grand Duke of Moscow was tall, thin, had a pleasant appearance, but stooped. He carefully listened to the advice of his boyars, in adulthood he did not like to take part in military campaigns, believing that commanders should fight, and the sovereign should decide important matters at home. For 43 years of his reign, the Moscow principality freed itself from the power of the Horde khans, significantly expanded and strengthened. Under him, the code of laws “Sudebnik” was adopted, a local system of land tenure appeared ...

Ivan's childhood was not joyful and cloudless. When he was 5 years old, his father's troops were defeated near Suzdal, and the Tatar princes Mamutyak and Yakub captured the wounded Prince Vasily. Barely escaping from captivity, Vasily began to rule, but Shemyaka, who did not want to cede the throne, organized a conspiracy against him, stole Vasily from the church and demanded that he abdicate. Order cheap monuments: production of monuments uralkamen-dvor.ru. He did not agree, and he was blinded. The boyars loyal to Prince Vasily secretly sent his children, including Ivan, to Murom. Having recovered from a serious wound, the blind Vasily recruited an army and liberated Moscow from Shemyaka.

Ivan made his first military campaign when he was only 12 years old. He was the nominal commander of the troops, but nevertheless the teenager managed, as they demanded of him, to cut off Ustyug from the Novgorod land. He returned with a victory and at the same time was engaged to his bride Maria Borisovna. Having received the title of Grand Duke, Ivan began to rule with his father. Living in Pereslavl-Zalessky, he often went on campaigns against the Tatars from there.

After the death of his father in 1462, Ivan became the sole ruler of the Moscow principality. First of all, he concluded agreements with the Tver and Belozersky principalities, installed his relative on the Ryazan throne, annexed Yaroslavl, followed by the Dmitrov and Rostov principalities.

Great difficulties arose during the annexation of the Novgorod land. The threat of loss of independence, freedom of trade led to the emergence of many dissatisfied people who opposed the Moscow prince. This movement, together with her sons, was led by the widow of the Novgorod posadnik Marfa Boretskaya, an energetic woman who did not want to bow her head to the advancing Moscow. But she could not muster enough troops. Then she turned for help to the Lithuanian prince, the Catholic Casimir. This appeal caused discontent among the Orthodox in Novgorod itself. Nevertheless, Martha managed to win the veche, and Lithuania agreed to take part in the struggle against the Muscovite state.

Ivan III, having learned about this, decided to lead the campaign against the obstinate Novgorodians himself. In June 1471, three detachments of many thousands set off in the direction of Veliky Novgorod. The latter was headed by the Grand Duke of Moscow. On the way, robberies and violence were committed, which were designed to frighten the proud Novgorodians. But the Novgorodians were not afraid - they were ready to fight back.

The first battle took place on July 14 on the Shelon River. Prince Daniil Kholmsky, who led the detachment of Muscovites, defeated the poorly trained and poorly armed Novgorodians. The victory of the Moscow army was complete. On August 11, 1471, Novgorod signed a peace treaty, according to which he undertook to pay an indemnity in the amount of 16 thousand rubles. In return, he received independence, provided that he did not surrender to the power of the Lithuanian prince.

In 1472, Ivan remarried the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Princess Sophia Paleolog, who introduced many orders and customs from Byzantium into the reign of the Russian prince. He himself became more regal, instilled a sense of fear in those around him. Not without the influence of his wife, Ivan again began to collect the lands of remote principalities around Moscow. And first of all he decided to completely subjugate Novgorod.

Ivan demanded that the Novgorodians call him not a lord, but a sovereign. This again caused discontent in the Novgorod veche and served as a pretext for a new campaign against the obstinate. This time, Novgorod did not get involved in the war, and on January 15, 1478, surrendered to the mercy of the winner. Veche liberties were abolished, the veche bell and the entire city archive, as symbols of complete defeat, were sent to Moscow, the Novgorod boyars were settled in other cities.

As soon as Ivan III pacified rebellious Novgorod, information began to come from the south about a new campaign of the Tatars. Khan Akhmat decided to support the Novgorodians and, together with the Lithuanian regiments, moved to Moscow. Ivan first went to Novgorod and arranged many executions there, drove many out of the city and returned to Moscow, where he learned that the Tatars were already approaching the Oka.

Ivan Vasilyevich advanced the main armies to the Oka and at the same time sent an order to the voivode of Zvenigorodsky, Prince Vasily Nozdrevaty, to board ships with a small detachment and with the troops of the Crimean prince Nordoulat and go down the Volga to defeat the defenseless Golden Horde, knowing that Akhmat left only wives, children and elders. The Grand Duke was sure that as soon as the khan found out about this attack, he would immediately rush back to defend his uluses.

Akhmat, seeing a strong army, turned to the river Ugra. Russian detachments also went there. Akhmat stood on the Ugra, not daring to join the battle. And the Russian detachments standing opposite did not start the battle either. This standing continued until late autumn, until the frost hit. At this time, news came from the Horde about the attack of Russian troops. The Tatar army hastened to return home without getting involved in the battle.

"Standing on the Ugra" took place in 1480, exactly 100 years after the battle on the Kulikovo field and the defeat of the Mongol-Tatar troops. The retreat of Akhmat's troops is considered the end of the Horde yoke.

Ivan III gave one of his daughters as a wife to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander. Under him, a new code of laws appeared - "Sudebnik". It was the first collection of laws that were being implemented at that time, after Yaroslav the Wise's Russkaya Pravda, to be put together.

Ivan III was the first of the Russian rulers in 1478 to receive the official title "Sovereign of All Russia", the Russian state began to be called Russia and the Third Rome, and a double-headed eagle appeared on its coat of arms.

Now Ivan III had no one to be afraid of from the south, he began to annex the lands of the Tverichi, Vyatichi, Khlynovites. He waged successful wars with Lithuania, Sweden, made an alliance with the Crimean Khanate. Ivan's ambassadors began to travel to Europe and present themselves to European monarchs as official envoys of the Russian sovereign.

The unification of Russia is the process of creating a single centralized state under the control of Moscow and the Grand Duke. The unification of Russia began in the 13th century. and ended only in the 16th.

The beginning of the unification of Russia

The unification of Kievan Rus had several prerequisites. Until the beginning of the 13th century. Kievan Rus was not a single state, but a community of several disparate principalities, which were nominally subordinate to the authorities of Kyiv and the Kyiv prince, but in fact were absolutely independent territories with their own laws and policies. Moreover, principalities and princes regularly fought each other for territory and the right to political influence. As a result internecine wars Russia was greatly weakened (both politically and militarily) and could not resist the constant nomad raids and attempts by other states to conquer the country's territories. Due to the lack of a unified army Russia in the 13th century was under the influence of Lithuania and Golden Horde (Mongol-Tatar yoke), lost its independence and was forced to pay tribute to the invaders. The economy was in decline, the country was in chaos, the state desperately needed a new political system.

Features of the unification of Russia

Constant internecine wars and the failure of power gradually led to the weakening of the power of Kyiv and the Kyiv prince. There was a need for a new strong center. Several cities claimed the title of a possible capital and center of the unification of Russia - Moscow, Tver and Pereyaslavl.

The new capital city had to be far from the borders to be difficult to conquer. Secondly, he had to have access to all major trade routes so that the economy could be adjusted. Thirdly, the prince of the new capital had to be related to the ruling Vladimir dynasty. Moscow met all these requirements, which by that time was gaining strength and influence thanks to the skillful policy of its princes.

It was around Moscow and the Moscow principality that the process of unification of Russian lands gradually began.

Stages of the unification of Russia

The creation of a unified state took place in several stages. Many princes ( Oleg, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan Kalita etc.) were related to this.

In the 13th c. the just begun process of land unification was interrupted by atrocities and ruin on the part of the Golden Horde, which did not want Russia to be a strong unified state, therefore, in every possible way contributed to civil strife and fragmentation. The already autonomous principalities began to be divided into even smaller territories, there were constant separations of cities and lands, accompanied by wars and ruin.

In the 14th c. Russia fell under the influence of the Lithuanian principality, which gave impetus to the unification of some lands under the rule of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. As a result, in the 14-15th centuries. Lithuania managed to subjugate Kiev, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Gorodensk principalities, as well as Chernigov, Smolensk and Volyn. Although these territories lost their independence, they still represented some semblance of a single state. At the end of the century, Lithuania captured most of the Russian territories and came close to Moscow, which by that time had become the center of political power for the remaining principalities and lands. There was also a third center - the northeast, where the descendants of Vladimir Monomakh, and the princes from Vladimir bore the title of grand dukes.

By the end of the 14th - the beginning of the 15th century. there have been new changes. Vladimir lost his power and completely submitted to Moscow (Moscow became the capital in 1389). Lithuania, on the other hand, joined the Kingdom of Poland and, after a series of Russo-Lithuanian wars, lost a fairly large part of the Russian territories, which began to gravitate towards Moscow.

The last stage of the unification of Russia dates back to the end of the 15th - the beginning of the 16th century, when Russia finally became a single centralized state with its capital in Moscow and the Grand Duke of Moscow. Since then, new territories have periodically joined the state.