Three stages of centralization of Russian lands. Formation of the Russian centralized state: causes, features, main stages

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Trends: transferring the center of political life to North-Eastern Russia; the transformation of princely appanages into princely estates (by inheritance); establishment of vassal dependence on the golden horde; the weakening of Russia, the fall of its international prestige; strengthening the church, its role in society; growth of boyar separatism. In the 14th century fragmentation continues in Russia. The princes became poorer, their destinies became smaller, they closed themselves in their estates, and the yoke in this form could not be overcome, there was a threat of losing national independence. From Ser. 14th c. separate lands Vl.-Suzd. principalities begin to unite. In the 14-15 centuries. individual principalities are liquidated, and the process of creating a single Russian state begins. Especially under Ivan III and IV.

Both in Tver and in Moscow, the conditions for the unification of lands were the same: geogr. position, crossing of trade routes, nature (forests), no raids. Why Moscow? The first Moscow son became prince

A. Nevsky Daniel. He managed to significantly expand Moscow. principality. His son, Yuri Daniilovich, and the prince of Tver fought for the khan's label for a great reign. First, Mikhail, the prince of Tver, becomes the great khan, but then Yuri, having married the khan's sister, receives a label. Together with the Tatars he goes to Tver and wins. Since 1325 - Ivan Danilovich Kalita becomes Moscow. prince. He was very cunning and cruel. Attached land at any cost. Received from the khan a label for a great reign after the defeat of the Tver uprising in 1327. On behalf of the khan, an execution is carried out over Tver, Novgorod, Ryazan. He imposes tribute on the conquered principalities. Transfers from Vladimir to Moscow the residences of both the Grand Duke and the metropolis. Kalita's policy was continued by his sons. In 1340-1353. Simeon the Proud ruled in Moscow. He managed to temporarily reconcile with Tver. But Moscow has a new rival - Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lithuanian princes led the anti-Horde struggle. But in 1353 there was a terrible plague that killed Simeon and his sons. The second son of Kalita - Ivan the Red - did not rule for long, and Dmitry Donskoy got the throne. The reign of D. Donskoy. The result of the struggle between Moscow and Tver was final diploma (agreement), signed on September 1, 1375. According to it, Mikhail of Tverskoy recognized himself as a “young brother”, i.e. vassal of Moscow prince. He could not lay claim to the great Vladimir principality, to conduct independent military operations. Thus, a historical upheaval was outlined - the transformation of independent princes into appanage, and their principalities - into appanages of Muscovite Russia. The final letter had an anti-Horde character. The turning point came when on September 8, 1380, the Russians defeated Mamai on the Kulikovo field. But in 1382 Tokhtamysh's troops attacked Moscow. He caused great damage to the Moscow principality. Moscow again had to pay tribute, but dependence on the Horde became much weaker. In 1386, the Ryazan princes entered the orbit of Moscow influence. In 1392, the Nizhny Novgorod principality was annexed to Moscow. At the same time, Murom, Gorodets, Tarusa passed into the hands of Moscow. The few princes of the North-East, who retained their independence, were forced to obey the Muscovites. Prince Vasily Dmitrievich After the death of Vasily, the throne passed to his son - Vasily II (Vasily the Dark). During his reign, the so-called feudal war for the princely throne ended. Autocracy is being restored in the country, but at what cost? The power of the Horde has noticeably increased. Moscow becomes the capital of the North-East of Russia.

Rise of Moscow. Moscow, which was before the invasion of the Mongol Tatars a small border checkpoint 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.

Moscow played a historical role in the unification of Russia into a centralized state, which eventually became the capital of the state, having arisen as a city in the 12th century. Moscow was not the center of a special principality, only sometimes it was given to the younger sons of the Rostov-Suzdal princes. From the 13th century Moscow became a capital city with an independent prince. The first prince was Daniil - the son of Alexander Nevsky. Under Daniel, at the turn of the XIII - XIV centuries. the unification of the Russian principalities began. The foundation of Moscow's power was laid under Daniil's son Ivan Kalita (1325-1340). Ivan Kalita received from the Tatar khans a label for a great reign, the right to collect tribute from almost all Russian lands. The flexible policy of Ivan Kalita allowed the Russian lands to recover from wars and ensure peace in Russia.

Moscow became the residence of the metropolitan of the Orthodox Church, the metropolitan see was transferred from Vladimir to Moscow. By the end of the XIV century. The Moscow principality became so strong that it switched to a policy of counteracting the Tatar khans. The first crushing blows were inflicted on the Golden Horde, the most significant of which was the victory of the Russian army under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich (1359-1389) on the Kulikovo field (1380). The final phase of the unification of the Russian lands came under Ivan III (1462-1505), when Novgorod the Great - 1478, the Grand Duchy of Tver - 1485, Cherkizovo-Seversky lands were annexed to the Moscow principality. After the well-known "Standing on the Ugra" (1480), Russia finally freed itself from the Tatar yoke.

The unification of Russian lands was completed at the beginning of the 16th century. under Grand Duke Vasily III. He annexed Pskov to Moscow - 1510, Smolensk-1514, the Ryazan principality - 1521. Under Ivan IV (1533-1584), the Russian state annexed the Kazan Khanate - 1552, the Astrakhan Khanate - 1556. , Siberia -1581 Together with the unification of Russia, the power of the Moscow Grand Duke increased with a simultaneous decline in the role of remote princes.

A significant phenomenon was the division not into independent principalities and not even into appanages, but into simple administrative units - counties, headed by representatives of the central government.

Thus, the formation of a centralized Russian state was a progressive phenomenon in the history of the Russian state. The elimination of feudal fragmentation created an opportunity for the further development of the productive forces, the economic and cultural development of the country, and the international prestige of the Russian state.

Causes and features of the process of centralization of Russian lands

The centralization of Russian lands, or the "gathering of Russian lands" began in the 13th century. Absorption of some principalities by others occurred in various ways.

In XIII he initiated the process of intensive feudal fragmentation. Despite this, the Vladimir-Suzdal land retained the status of the strongest and most influential principality in Russia, which retained political unity under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, until the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols.

Galicia-Volyn land occupied the northeastern slopes of the Carpathians. South of the Carpathians, the principality occupied the territory between the Dniester and the Prut. The western borders were Hungary and Poland, and the eastern ones were the Kievan land and the Polovtsian steppe.

This principality was one of the oldest centers of plowed agricultural culture of the Eastern Slavs. Handicraft production reached a high level, and its separation from agriculture had a beneficial effect on the growth of cities, which were much larger here than in other Russian lands. The largest of them were Galich, Vladimir-Volynsky, Przemysl, Lvov and others. Grand Duke of Kyiv In the first years after separation from Kyiv, the Galician and Volhynian principalities existed as independent ones. Their unification took place under the Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich in 1199. Later, in 1203, he captured Kyiv and assumed the title of Grand Duke. Thus, one of the largest states in Europe was formed. The successors of Prince Roman Mstislavich were forced to wage a long struggle for the paternal throne with the Hungarian, Polish, Russian princes, with the local boyars. Only in 1240 was it possible to reunite South-Western Russia and Kyiv land. However, in the same year, the Galicia-Volyn principality was captured by the Mongol-Tatars, and 100 years later these lands became part of Lithuania and Poland.

Novgorod land had a special political system, which was significantly different from other principalities. This system was formed in the XII century. The ancient center of the Novgorod-Pskov land was the territory between Ilmen and Lake Peipsi, and along the banks of the Volkhov, Lovat, Velikaya, Mologa and Meta rivers, divided geographically into five regions, that is, into five regions: Vodskaya - between the Volkhov rivers and Luga, Obonezhskaya - on the sides of Lake Onega; Drevskaya - between the rivers Meta and Lovat; Shelonskaya - along the Shelon River; Bezhetskaya - in the direction of the Volga. In addition, in administrative terms, the Novgorod land was also divided into graveyards and hundreds. Pskov, Ladoga, Staraya Russa, Velikiye Luki, Bezhichi, Torzhok acted as an important factor on trade routes and served as military strongholds on the borders of the principality.

A large city that occupied a special position in the Novgorod Republic was Pskov. It was distinguished by the most developed handicraft production and its own trade with the Baltic states and some German cities. Pskov actually became an independent feudal republic in the second half of the 13th century.

Veliky Novgorod was one of the largest cities not only in Russia, but also in Europe. Its advantageous location was the reason for its rise. It was located at the crossroads of trade routes connecting the Baltic Sea with the Black and Caspian. These trade routes were of great importance for Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe. The trading business of the Novgorod land was based on the handicraft and various crafts developed here. Novgorod artisans, who were distinguished by their more extensive specialization and professional skills, worked mostly to order, but a small proportion of their products through merchants-buyers still came to the foreign market. Merchants and artisans had their own territorial and professional associations, which played an important role in the political life of Novgorod. The most influential of the associations was the association of wax merchants. They united the top of the Novgorod merchants and were mainly trading in wax abroad. But despite the clear predominance of the trade and craft population in Novgorod, the Novgorodian economy was built on agriculture and related craft.

On the territory of Novgorod, a large boyar, and later ecclesiastical, land ownership was formed early and occupied a dominant position. In the Novgorod land liberated from the power of Kyiv, a peculiar socio-political system was established, in which the republican governing bodies stood side by side and above the power of the prince. Novgorod independently chose its princes on certain conditions. The prince served as a link, on the one hand, Novgorod with Russia and the orders in its other lands, and on the other hand, separate parts of the Novgorod land. Also, the powers of the prince included resolving issues of protecting the principality and its oppression by external enemies, and was the highest judicial authority. But he did not carry out all these judicial and administrative actions alone, and not on his own initiative. An elected Novgorod posadnik agreed to carry out these actions.

In the course of acquiring a more pronounced boyar-oligarchic character of the political system of Novgorod, the rights and sphere of activity of princely power steadily decreased.

The lowest level of organization and management in the Novgorod principality was the union of neighbors headed by elected elders. Five city districts formed territorial-administrative and political units, which were governed independently. They still had special lands in collective feudal ownership. In these areas, their own veche gathered, at which elders were elected. The highest body of power, which represented all the districts, was considered the city veche meeting of free citizens and owners of city yards and estates. All important questions of the life of the Novgorod Principality were previously discussed in a narrow circle of a small group of the most influential boyars before they were brought to the veche. The bulk of the urban population, who lived on lands and estates belonging to the feudal lords, was in the position of tenants or bonded and feudally dependent people and had no right to participate in sentencing at the veche. The veche considered the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy, invited the prince, concluded an agreement with him, elected the posadnik and the thousandth (the main government officials) and the commercial court, which was of particular importance in Novgorod. The posadnik was elected from among the most influential boyars for an indefinite period. He was an intermediary between the prince and the people, and together with the prince had the right to judge and govern. His competence included the leadership of veche meetings, negotiating on behalf of Novgorod with other principalities and foreign states. In addition, the posadnik replaced the prince in his absence. Tysyatsky was the head of the city militia and the commercial court. He oversaw the tax system. During the entire existence of the Novgorod Republic, only representatives of 30-40 boyar families (the elite of the Novgorod nobility) occupied the positions of posadnik and thousandth. In order to further strengthen the independence of Novgorod from Kyiv and turn the Novgorod bishopric from an ally of princely power into an instrument of their political domination, the Novgorod nobility achieved the election in 1156 of the Novgorod bishop, later called the archbishop, who, as the head of a powerful feudal church hierarchy, soon turned into one of the first dignitaries of the republic. He could take part in all civil matters of importance, had his own court, his own staff and, above all, his own military regiment. The veche system in Novgorod and Pskov was a kind of feudal democracy, in other words, one of the forms of the feudal state, where the democratic principles of representation and election of officials at the veche created the actual appearance of democracy and the participation of all Novgorod as a whole in governance, but in reality all the fullness of power was concentrated in the hands of the boyars and the privileged elite of the merchant class. Taking into account the political activity of the urban population, the boyars cunningly used the democratic traditions of self-government as the personification of Novgorod liberty, which covered their political leadership and provided them with the support of the urban population in opposing the power of the prince.

Feudal fragmentation was marked by the cultural and economic upsurge of the Russian lands. Old cities grew and new cities grew. In the 13th century there were about three hundred of them. In political terms, feudal fragmentation to some extent created the necessary conditions for the unification of Russia at a qualitatively new, high level.

Let's consider the causes and preconditions of unifying processes. First, the revival and gradual strengthening of trade relations between Russian regions. Secondly, there was a threat of attack from outside, which served as an incentive for unification, and with the weakening of the Horde, the Russian lands gained more and more independence. The third reason was the gradual migration of the population to territories that were the least accessible to the Mongols. This led to economic growth, which became the basis for the rise of individual political centers of unification. Fourthly, the development of layers that were interested in unification, since they were in the service of the Grand Duke. Another reason is the subjective desire of some princes to bring all Russian lands under their control. Moreover, a few succeeded due to their good location, significant resources and the emergence of successful warrior politicians. And, finally, the last reason was the preservation of the historical memory of the population about a single ancient Russian Orthodox culture and statehood, as opposed to Western European and Mongolian ones.

The end of the 13th - the beginning of the 14th centuries in Eastern Europe, after the fragmentation of Russian lands and the establishment of the dictatorship of the Golden Horde, two potential centers for the unification of Russian principalities gradually began to form: North-Eastern Russia and the Principality of Lithuania, which consisted mostly of Slavic territories and included a large part of southwestern and western Russian lands, which actively influenced the policy of the Lithuanian princes, their culture and legislation. Within North-Eastern Russia, centers of unification of the north-eastern Russian lands gradually emerged. These centers were the Moscow, Tver and Nizhny Novgorod principalities.

Consider the stages of the unification of Russian lands: The end of the 13th - the first half of the 14th century: the formation of large feudal centers in North-Eastern Russia and the selection of the most powerful among them, which will later become the political center of the state. Moscow and Tver were the main rivals. In fact, Moscow had great advantages, since important trade routes were located on its territory, and the lands themselves were much less likely to be subjected to sudden raids by nomads and other enemies, because they were protected from the north-west of Lithuania by the Tver principality, and from the east of the Horde - by others. Russian lands.

In the XIV century. Moscow became a major trade and craft center. Danil (the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky) became the founder of the dynasty of Moscow princes. During his reign, the rapid growth of the Moscow principality fell, the territory doubled. His son Yuri fought with the princes of Tver for the title of Grand Duke of the Vladimir throne. Ivan Kalita in 1327 became a participant in the brutal suppression of the uprising in Tver, during which almost all the Baskaks of Cholkhan were killed. Kalita received a label for a great reign. The Horde for the first time entrusted the prince to collect tribute from Russia. This contributed to the strengthening of Moscow. Kalita sought to establish close ties with the Horde. With the dissatisfied in the Russian lands, he was extremely cruel. Kalita found support in the church as well. This is evidenced by the events of 1299: Metropolitan Maxim of Kyiv moved his cathedra to Vladimir-on-Klyazma; Ivan Daniilovich became close to Metropolitan Peter, who often visited Moscow; Peter's successor, Theognostus, completely moved to Moscow. Objectively, the policy of Kalita allowed the population of Russia in the North to rest for some time from the raids of nomads. The descendants of Kalita, Semyon the Proud and Ivan the Red, continued the work of their father, and the former even claimed the title of Grand Duke.

The second half of the XIV - the middle of the XV century was characterized by the defeat of Moscow in the 60-70s of its rivals and the transition from asserting its political supremacy to the beginning of the state unification of the Russian principalities around it and organizing the all-Russian struggle for the elimination of the Horde dependence. The end of the 60s of the XIV century was filled with a struggle between Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, who entered into an alliance with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd. Olgerd approached Moscow twice, but he could not take it. In 1372, Mikhail of Tverskoy received a label for a great reign, but Dmitry refused to recognize this. The reason was the weakening of the Horde by internal unrest. In the 70s, the disintegration of the Horde was suspended by the temnik Mamai. In the summer of 1380, he gathered the main forces of the Horde, then made an alliance with Oleg of Ryazan and the Lithuanian prince Jagiello and set off to conquer the northeast of Russia. Russia put forward an army under the command of Dmitry. The battle on the Kulikovo field on September 8, 1380 ended in the defeat of Mamai. Dmitry was nicknamed "Donskoy". But in 1382 Khan Tokhtamysh made an unexpected campaign against Russia. He burned Moscow, and Dmitry had to pay tribute again. At the end of the XIV century, Russia began to be threatened by the Central Asian ruler Timur and his successors. The Moscow princes entered into a temporary alliance with the Lithuanian princes on the occasion of the emergence of a new danger from the east. At the end of the 14th century, Moscow asserted the importance of the territorial and national center of the emerging state. Under Dmitry, Dmitrov, Starodub, Uglich and Kostroma, large territories in the Volga region, a number of principalities on the top of the Oka were annexed.

At the end of the 14th century, Murom and Nizhny Novgorod principalities and lands located along the Vychegda River were annexed to Moscow.

In the second quarter of the 15th century, Dmitry handed over to his eldest son the best part of the inheritance, but the younger children also got their own "destinies", of which the Galician principality turned out to be the most competitive in terms of resources. It went along with Zvenigorod to the second son of Dmitry, Yuri. After the death of Vasily I, Yuri began the struggle for the Grand Duke's throne with his nephew Vasily II Vasilyevich. Twice Yuri captured Moscow, but he failed to establish himself in it. After the death of Yuri, the fight against Vasily I was continued by his children (Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka). In February 1446, Vasily II was captured and blinded on a pilgrimage in Trinity-Sergiev, after which he was exiled to Uglich, and Moscow for the third time passed into the hands of the Galician princes. The end of 1446 Shemyaka was expelled from Moscow. The reign of Vasily II was again restored. The eldest sons of the great Moscow princes naturally received much larger allotments than the rest of the children. This ensured their initial advantage in strengthening their power.

The period from the second half of the 15th to the beginning of the 16th century was marked by the completion of the unification of Russian lands around Moscow and the elimination of large independent feudal centers in Russia and foreign domination. This problem was solved during the reign of Ivan III and Vasily III. The first bequeathed to the eldest heir an allotment with 66 cities, while the rest of the sons received a total of 30 cities. The independence of Novgorod was liquidated in 1478 after the campaign of Ivan III, but still retained traces of its former autonomy some time later. There were also other territorial annexations, for example, in 1485 the military annexation of Tver was carried out, in 1489 - the Vyatka land, in 1494 - under an agreement with Lithuania, the lands in the upper reaches of the Oka and the city of Vyazma became part of Russia. In 1500-1503, the upper reaches of the Oka, the lands along the Desna with tributaries, part of the lower reaches of the Sozh and the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Chernigov, Bryansk and Rylsk, after a successful war for Moscow, went to her. In 1510, the Pskov Republic became part of it, in 1514 - Smolensk. In fact, the Ryazan Principality, which had long been subordinate to Moscow, ceased to exist in 1521. This was the end of the merger. In 1480, the Horde yoke was overthrown. Akhmat Khan (the ruler of the Great Horde), in alliance with the Polish king Casimir IV, tried to subjugate Russia. An attempt by Akhmat Khan in October 1480 to force the Ugra River turned out to be a failure. "Standing on the Ugra" was the last act of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia.

The centralization of the state was an internal source of strengthening the power of the great princes.

Let's highlight the economic factor: the beginning of the fragmentation of Russian lands stops in the 4th century, giving way to their unification. This was a consequence, first of all, of the strengthening of economic ties between the Russian principalities, which was a prerequisite for the overall economic development of the country as a whole.

At this time, intensive development of agriculture begins. Agricultural production is characterized in this historical period of time by the widespread arable system, which required regular cultivation of the land. Since the peasant deals with only one plot of land, resting from sowing only after a year or two, there is an urgent need to fertilize the fields. All this requires the improvement of tools.

However, the rise of agriculture was due not so much to the development of production tools as to the increase in sown areas due to the development of new and previously abandoned plots. The expansion of the surplus product in agriculture made it possible to develop animal husbandry and sell bread outside the territory of the principality.

The need for agricultural implements grew, which determined the necessary development of handicrafts.

As a result, the process of separation of craft from agriculture is going on deeper and deeper. It brings with it the need for exchange between the peasant and the artisan, that is, between town and country. This exchange took the form of trade, which intensifies accordingly during this period. Based on the exchange, the first local markets are created. The natural division of labor between individual regions of the country, which was determined by their natural features, laid the foundation for the formation of economic ties throughout Russia. The establishment of these ties also contributed to the development of foreign trade. For all this, the political unification of the Russian lands was necessary. In other words, the creation of a centralized state was required. Nobles, merchants, artisans were interested in this.

In the 16th-15th centuries, the Russian economy was on the rise. However, unlike the West, where the political factor was decisive, in Russia it was not. russian land principality novgorod

Another factor that led to the unification of the Russian lands was the sharp intensification of the class struggle, the intensification of the class resistance of the peasantry. The rise of the economy and the opportunity to receive a larger surplus product prompted the feudal lords to intensify the exploitation of the peasants. At the same time, the feudal lords sought to economically and legally secure the peasants for their estates and estates. This policy aroused natural dissatisfaction among the peasantry, which took on a variety of forms: the murder of feudal lords, the seizure of their property, and the burning of estates. Such a fate often befell the monasteries. Sometimes robbery was also a form of class struggle, which was directed against the masters. The flight of the peasants (for the most part to the south) to the lands freed from the landowners also assumed considerable proportions.

Under these conditions, the feudal lords faced the task of retaining the peasantry and completing its enslavement. This task could be solved only if there was a powerful centralized state that would be able to fulfill the main function of the exploiting state, that is, to suppress the resistance of the exploited masses.

In itself, the economic and social development of the country in the XIV-XVI centuries was not yet capable of leading to the formation of a centralized state at that time. The above two reasons played a major role in the unification of Russia, the process of centralization could not have achieved any significant success without them.

Despite the fact that economic ties in this historical period reached significant development, they were still not wide enough and strong enough to link the whole country together. This was one of the differences between the formation of the Russian centralized state and similar processes in Western Europe, where centralized states were created as capitalist relations developed. In Russia, in the XIV-XVI centuries, there was still no talk of the emergence of capitalism and any bourgeois relations.

The same should be noted when considering the question of the development of class relations and struggle. However, this struggle has not taken the form that has already been achieved in the West.

The Russian Church was the bearer of the national Orthodox ideology, which played a leading role in the formation of Russia. In order to build an independent state and introduce foreigners into the fence of the Christian church, Russian society needed to strengthen its moral forces. A trinity temple was built, in which they saw a call to the unity of the Russian land. Heretical currents expressed a peculiar form of protest. At a church council in 1490, the heretics were cursed and excommunicated. They linked their ideas with the tasks of centralization. The heretics opposed church land ownership and the existence of a class of clergy and monasticism. The close union of the church with the state was the main goal that was set by the Josephites. The positions of the participants in this movement were in everything absolutely opposite to the views of Joseph: they demanded a clear separation of church and state, their mutual independence from each other. In a similar way, much attention is paid to the development of religious ideology, within the framework of which the theory of "Moscow-Third Rome" is formed, which ensured a compromise between the royal power and the church. The development of this theory took place in the conditions of a sharp ideological struggle within the church between the Josephites and opponents of church land ownership, who most actively used this concept to strengthen the economic and political power of the church.

In the very first years of his reign, Ivan Kalita transferred the chair of the metropolitan from Vladimir to Moscow.

The metropolitan had to periodically visit the Russian dioceses in the south. During these trips, he stayed in Moscow.

In 1308 a successor to Metropolitan Maxim, Peter, was appointed, who developed a very close relationship with Ivan Kalita. Together they laid the stone Cathedral of the Assumption in Moscow. Metropolitan Peter lived in the diocesan city in the ancient courtyard of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, from where he later moved to the site of the future laying of the Assumption Cathedral. Peter's successor Theognost did not want to live in Vladimir and moved to the new metropolitan residence in Moscow.

The founder of the dynasty of Moscow princes is the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, Daniel. During his reign, the rapid growth of the Moscow principality began. In 1301, Daniil Alexandrovich captured Kolomna, and in 1302, the Pereyaslavl principality passed to him according to the will of the childless prince. In 1303, Mozhaisk, which was part of the Smolensk principality, was annexed, as a result of which the Moscow River, which at that time was an important trade route, turned out to be from source to mouth within the boundaries of the Moscow principality. For three years, the Moscow principality has almost doubled in size and has become one of the largest and most powerful principalities in North-Eastern Russia. The Moscow prince Yuri Daniilovich considered himself powerful enough to join the struggle for the grand prince's throne.

Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, who received in 1304 a label for a great reign, strove for the sovereign rule of all Russia and the subjugation of Novgorod and other Russian lands by force. The prince was supported by the church and its head, Metropolitan Maxim, who moved his residence from Kyiv to Vladimir in 1299.

Mikhail Yaroslavich tried to take Pereyaslavl from Yuri Daniilovich, which led to a protracted and bloody struggle between Tverbya and Moscow, in which the issue of political supremacy in Russia was decided. In 1318, Mikhail Yaroslavich was killed in the Horde on a tip from Yuri Daniilovich, and the label for the great reign was transferred to the Moscow prince. However, in 1325, Yuri Daniilovich was himself killed in the Horde by one of the sons of Mikhail Yaroslavich, who wanted to avenge his father's death. Then the label for a great reign again passed into the hands of the Tver princes.

In relations with the Horde, Kalita continued the line outlined by Alexander Nevsky of external observance of vassal obedience to the khans, regular payment of tribute in order not to give them reasons for new invasions of Russia, which almost completely stopped during his reign, the chronicler wrote, evaluating the reign of Kalita. The Russian lands received the respite they needed to restore and revive the economy, to accumulate strength for the upcoming struggle to overthrow the yoke. Kalita collected tribute from the lands. This contributed to the concentration of significant funds in the hands of the Moscow prince, which gave him the opportunity to exert political pressure on Novgorod and other Russian lands. Kalita managed, without resorting to weapons, to expand the territory of his possessions by receiving from the khan labels for separate lands for rich gifts. These lands were Galich, Uglich and Beloozero. During the reign of Kalita, the foundation of Moscow's power was laid. The son of Kalita, Prince Semyon Ivanovich, already claimed the title of "Grand Duke of All Russia" and for his arrogance received the nickname "Proud".

During the reign of Kalita, Moscow achieved significant superiority in material and human resources, supported by the construction of a stone Kremlin in 1367, which strengthened the military and defensive potential of the Moscow principality. In the context of the renewed invasions of the Tatars and the offensive of the Lithuanian feudal lords on the Russian lands, the Moscow principality became a barrier from the fight against external enemies. The rulers of the principalities that entered into rivalry with Moscow did not have sufficient forces of their own and were forced to seek support in the Horde or Lithuania, to pursue an anti-national policy of alliance with external forces hostile to Russia, thereby dooming themselves to political isolation in their country. As a result, they doomed themselves to defeat in the fight against Moscow. The struggle of the Moscow princes against them acquired a national liberation character of the struggle and received the support of the bulk of the ruling class of feudal lords, residents of cities and villages, the church, who were interested in the state unification of all the forces of the country.

The factor that accelerated the centralization of the Russian state was the threat of an external attack, which gave motivation to rally the Russian lands in the face of a common enemy.

After the beginning of the formation of the Russian centralized state, the defeat of the Golden Horde on the Kulikovo field became possible. Ivan III managed to collect almost all Russian lands and lead them against the enemy. The yoke was finally overthrown.

The formation of a single state is a natural process in the history of the country. It was prepared by the long socio-economic and political development of Russia. Without taking into account the huge destruction of the economy and culture that were caused by the Tatars from the end of the XIII-beginning of the XIV century, agriculture began to be restored, cities grew, and trade revived. Significant changes have taken place in the main sphere of production. Agriculture became more productive. Rich buyers of bread appeared on the ground. The slower development of production in Russia was primarily due to the Mongol yoke, which destroyed and hindered the development of productive forces. A great hindrance to the normal economic development of the southern regions was the constant raids of the Crimean Tatars, who ruined everything and diverted significant forces of Russia.

The chronicle lists Moscow among the new towns of the Rostov land that arose during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky. This town appears for the first time in the chronicle story with the meaning of the border point between the northern Suzdal and southern Chernigov-Seversky regions, to which in 1147 Yuri Dolgoruky invited his ally Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich of Novgorod-Seversky. This was the first mention of Moscow. Obviously, the settlement was then a rural princely estate or, to be more precise, a station yard, in which the Suzdal prince stopped during his trips to the south of Kyiv and back. In 1156, according to the chronicle, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky founded Moscow down the mouth of the Neglinnaya. Thus, he surrounded his Moskvoretsky courtyard with wooden walls and turned it into a city.

The unification of Russian lands around Moscow led to a radical change in the political significance of this city and the great Moscow princes. They, the recent rulers of one of the Russian principalities, found themselves at the head of the most extensive state in Europe. The emergence of a single state created favorable conditions for the development of the national economy and for repelling external enemies. The inclusion of a number of non-Russian nationalities in the unified state created conditions for the growth of ties between these nationalities and a higher level of the economy and culture of Russia.

Moscow turned in the 14th century into a major trade and craft center. Moscow craftsmen gained fame as skillful masters of foundry, blacksmithing and jewelry. It was in Moscow that Russian artillery was born and received its baptism of fire. Trade relations of Moscow merchants stretched far beyond the borders of Russian lands. Covered from the north-west of Lithuania by the Principality of Tver, and from the east and south-east of the Golden Horde by other Russian lands, the Muscovite principality was less subject to sudden devastating raids by the Golden Horde. This allowed the princes of Moscow to gather and accumulate strength, to gradually create superiority in material and human resources, so that they could act as organizers and leaders of the unification process and the liberation struggle. The geographical position of the Moscow Principality predetermined its role as the ethnic core of the emerging Great Russian people. All this, coupled with the purposeful and flexible policy of the Moscow princes in relations with the Golden Horde and other Russian lands, ultimately led to Moscow's victory for the role of leader and political center in the formation of a unified Russian state.

In the first period (the end of the 13th - the middle of the 14th centuries), two processes took place: the addition of large feudal centers in northeastern Russia, examples of such centers are the Tver and Moscow principalities; the selection of the most powerful future core and political center from them in the formation of a centralized state. The first stage ends with the acquisition by Moscow of the status of the strongest principality. On this basis, it defeated its main opponents: Tver, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality in the 60-70s of the XIV century. By this time, the Moscow Principality had accumulated so many human, material and political resources that it practically did not need support in the struggle for unification, and its opponents were forced to seek outside help. The third forces were the Horde and Lithuania.

The second period (2nd half of the 14th-50th year of the 15th century) was characterized by the defeat of the main opponents. During this period, Moscow began to unite the lands around itself. The accession of the principalities meant the loss of their state sovereignty.

At this time, Moscow stands at the head of the struggle against the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The will of the testator as the only basis for this order, the participation in the division of the inheritance of all members of the family of the prince-testator and the apparent legal indifference of movable and immovable property, territorial possessions. With the general desire of the specific princes for isolation and mutual alienation, the fathers wanted their sons to meet more often in a common family nest.

Beginning with Kalita and ending with Ivan III, almost every Moscow prince left behind an heir; There are two orders of succession: by law or custom, and by will.

III period (the reign of Ivan III and partially the reign of Vasily III) is determined by the continuation of the process of territorial unification. This process is due to the endless wars with Lithuania, as the Russian lands began to pass back under the rule of Moscow.

During this period, the Tatar-Mongol yoke was liquidated.

The beginning of the formation of a new state structure was laid.

Alexander Nevsky had four sons. The youngest son of Nevsky, Daniel, after his death received Moscow as an inheritance. Daniel was the first prince who raised the importance of this city. Daniel died in 1303.

Daniel left five sons: Yuri, Ivan, Alexander, Boris and Athanasius. Yuri and Ivan significantly raised the level of importance of Moscow.

Yuri's brother, Ivan, nicknamed Kalita, remained for a long time in the shadow of his older brother, but when Yuri received a great reign and left for Novgorod, Moscow was left at Ivan's full disposal. During his reign, Moscow especially rose. He was visionary and hardworking. Despite the poverty of his inheritance, he, thanks to his frugality, became much more prosperous than other princes. Hence his nickname - Kalita. He was called the first collector of Russia. From his brother Yuri, he received three cities, and left 97 cities and villages to his children. In 1328, Ivan received a label from Uzbek for a great reign, after which, after a while, Uzbek allowed Kalita to collect tribute and deliver it to the Horde, thanks to which the Russians got rid of the Baskaks. The Tatars did not visit the Moscow principality at that time.

After Simeon the Proud, his brother Ivan the Red ruled. Both princes did not distinguish themselves in anything important during their reign.

Ivan's successor was nine-year-old Dmitry.

The Moscow boyars stood for the young Dmitri.

In 1359, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod prince Dmitry Konstantinovich was able to seize the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir. A struggle flared up between Dmitry Konstantinovich and a group of the Moscow boyars. In 1366, Dmitry Konstantinovich renounced his claims to the throne of Vladimir.

At the end of the XIV century, several specific principalities were formed on the territory of the Moscow principality, which were allocated. The largest and most economically developed was the Principality of Galicia, which went to the second son of Dmitry Donskoy - Yuri. After the death of Vasily I, Yuri began to fight with his nephew Vasily II for the grand throne. Not finding support from Metropolitan Photius and the Moscow boyars, Yuri made an attempt to get a label for a great reign in the Horde. But the rulers of the Horde, where another turmoil took place, did not want to quarrel with Moscow, and Yuri began an armed struggle, relying on the resources of his principality, twice he managed to capture Moscow. However, Yuri did not manage to establish himself in it.

After the death of Yuri in 1434, a struggle broke out between Vasily Kosy and Dmitry Shemyaka, which became a decisive clash between supporters and opponents of state centralization. A coalition of appanage princes led by the Galician princes unleashed a feudal war. It was a feudal-conservative reaction to the successes that Moscow had achieved in the political unification of the country and to the strengthening of the grand ducal power by narrowing and eliminating the political independence and sovereign rights of the princes in their possessions.

The struggle of Vasily II with a coalition of specific princes was soon complicated by the active intervention of the Tatars. Khan Ulu-Mohammed considered the feudal turmoil in Russia as the most successful condition for the capture of Nizhny Novgorod and devastating raids deep into Russian lands. In 1445, in the battle near Suzdal, the sons of Ulu-Mohammed defeated the Moscow army and captured Vasily II, releasing him only for a huge ransom. He was released from captivity for a huge ransom. This was taken advantage of by Dmitry Shemyaka and the appanage princes who supported him, who plotted against Vasily II, which was joined by part of the Moscow boyars, merchants and clergy. In February 1446, Vasily II was extradited by the monks to the conspirators, blinded and exiled to Uglich.

Shemyaka's policy contributed to the restoration and strengthening of the order of feudal fragmentation. The great Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality was restored in its rights. Shemyaka undertook to observe and protect the independence of the Novgorod Boyar Republic, expanded the scope of the inviolable rights of the feudal nobility.

Shemyaka's policy provoked a broad movement against him among the service feudal lords, the masses of the townspeople and those clergy interested in strengthening the power of the Grand Duke.

At the end of 1446, Shemyaka was expelled from Moscow. The honor of being a Grand Duke again fell on Vasily II, who was nicknamed the Dark One. Shemyaka was forced to flee to Novgorod, where he died in 1453.

The feudal war ended with the defeat of the coalition of appanage princes, who tried to stop the elimination of the order of feudal fragmentation and defend the independence of their principalities.

Ivan III John was a creative genius. He completed the period of identity of the Russian people and began the period of identity of the Russian state. He was not afraid of the hatred of others, because it arose only in the weak, he himself hated only the strong. Such a terrible political weapon was a threat. But Ivan the Third knew how to act competently: he destroyed local rights, charters and institutions, replaced them with his own, but only the most general charters, concentrating everything in his single will.

The Moscow princes gradually led their principality out of its original narrow limits by means of their own means and forces.

At that time, the Moscow territory did not include Dmitrov, Klin, Volokolamsk, Mozhaisk, Serpukhov, Kolomna and Vere. Prior to the capture of Mozhaisk and Kolomna, the lot of Prince Daniel occupied the middle space of this province along the middle course of the Moscow River with a continuation to the east along the upper Klyazma. In the possession of Prince Daniel were Moscow, Zvenigorod, Ruza and Bogorodsk with part of the Dmitrovsky district.

The first Moscow prince Daniil surprised the Ryazan prince Konstantin by attacking him and defeating him. He captured and took away Kolomna from him. From the prince of Smolensk - the city of Mozhaisk. Among other things, Daniel received Pereyaslavl-Zalessky under the will of a childless prince of Pereyaslavl.

Yuri Daniilovich tried to get a label from the Horde for the great reign of Vladimir. He entered the struggle for Vladimir with the Tver prince Mikhail Yaroslavich. The struggle was waged in the Horde through intrigue. Both princes were killed.

In the unfolding struggle for political supremacy in Russia between the princes of Moscow and Tver, the khans of the Golden Horde actively intervened, who sought to prevent any of the warring parties from strengthening.

By arbitrary transfer of the label to the great reign from hand to hand, the khans sought to prevent the possibility of a political unification of the Russian princes. They always wanted to have a pretext for another devastating pogrom of Russian lands. The struggle against the Horde yoke took on an increasingly sharp and universal character in Russia.

The largest uprising against the Horde was the uprising in Tver in 1327. It was caused by mass violence and beatings of the Khan's Baskak Cholkhan, who came from the Horde, and his people. Attempts to find protection from the arbitrariness of the Mongol-Tatars from their prince were unsuccessful. The inhabitants of Tver rushed to beat the Horde from the veche gathered at the alarm. Cholkhan tried to find refuge in the princely palace, but the people set fire to the courtyard and killed the hated Baskak.

Ivan Kalita took advantage of the uprising in Tver to defeat his most powerful rival. He took part in the punitive campaign of the Mongol-Tatar army, which was sent by Khan Uzbek to Russia. Kalita was able to direct her blow only against the Tver land. Kalita brutally dealt with the inhabitants of Tver in alliance with the Mongols and subjected the Tver principality to a terrible pogrom, which for a long time eliminated the Tver princes from an active struggle for political primacy in Russia. The prince of Tver fled to Pskov In 1328, Kalita, who thus earned the confidence of the khan, received a label for the great reign of Vladimir in joint possession with the prince of Suzdal. A popular uprising in Tver and protests against the Horde in other Russian cities forced the Khan to transfer to Kalita the right to collect tribute from all Russian lands and deliver it to the Horde. This contributed to the elimination of the Basque system.

Even after Ivan Kalita became the Grand Duke, the Moscow inheritance remained very insignificant.

All his patrimonial possessions consisted of seven cities with counties. These were Moscow, Kolomna, Mozhaisk, Zvenigorod, Serpukhov, Ruza, Radonezh.

There were 51 rural volosts and up to 40 palace villages in the counties.

Moscow princes, who had free money, began to buy land from private individuals, church institutions, the metropolitan, monasteries and other princes.

Ivane Ivan Kalita acquired Belozersk, Galich, Uglich with districts.

Under Simeon the Proud and Ivan the Red, Vereya, Borovsk, Volokolamsk, Kashir were acquired.

Dmitry Donskoy captured Starodub on the Klyazma and Galich with Dmitrov. He drove the local princes out of their estates. His son Vasily appeased the Tatar princes and the khan himself, and for a significant ransom he received a label to reign in Murom, Tarusa and the Nizhny Novgorod principality.

With the capture of Mozhaisk and Kolomna, the Moscow prince acquired the entire course of Moscow. The receipt of the grand princely region and the Starodub principality allowed him to consider the master of the entire Klyazma. After the annexation of Kaluga, Meshchera at the Donskoy, Kozelsk, Likhvin, Aleksin, Tarusa and Murom under his son, the entire course of the Oka (starting from the confluence of the Upa and Zhizda, ending with the Kolomna and from the Highlander Meshchersky to the Lower) was under the control of the Moscow prince, so that the Ryazan principality It turned out on three sides among the volosts of Moscow and Vladimir, which were in Moscow's hands. Similarly, with the acquisition of Rzhev, Uglich and the Nizhny Novgorod principality under the same princes and Romanov under Vasily the Dark. With the continuous possession of Kostroma, almost a larger stretch of the Upper Volga was in the possession of Moscow. The principalities of Tver and Yaroslavl were surrounded by Moscow possessions from different sides. By acquiring the principalities of Belozersky and Galitsky, a broad outlook was opened for Moscow crafts in the upper Trans-Volga region.

The second stage of the unification process begins in the second half of the 14th century. This stage was characterized by the defeat of Moscow in the 60-70s of its main political rivals and the transition from securing Moscow's political supremacy in Russia to the state unification of Russian lands around it and organizing a nationwide struggle to overthrow the Horde dictatorship.

The break that Kalita granted to Russia during his reign contributed to the restoration of the national economy and the beginning of an economic upsurge that covered all Russian lands. By the middle of the fourteenth century, two more great principalities were formed: Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan, whose rulers actively joined the struggle for political supremacy in Russia. In 1359, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod prince Dmitry Konstantinovich tried to take advantage of the fact that the young Dmitry Ivanovich had received the right to reign in Moscow in order to get a label in the Horde for a great reign. But Metropolitan Alexei and the boyars, who ruled in the early years instead of Dmitry, by skillful politics in the Horde and direct military pressure on the Suzdal prince, forced him to renounce his claims to a great reign. In addition, he was in complete isolation. Moscow's main rival was still Tver, which had recovered from the pogrom of 1327.

From the end of the 60s of the fourteenth century, a protracted struggle began between Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, who entered into an alliance with the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Olgerd.

Olgerd, who sought to extend his power over North-Eastern Russia, understood that this could be achieved only if Moscow was conquered. In turn, for Dmitry Ivanovich, the disruption of Olgerd's cruel plans became the main condition for the defeat of the Russian princes who competed with Moscow and relied on an alliance with Lithuania. Olgerd twice managed to approach Moscow, but he could not take possession of the stone Kremlin. In 1327, he once again tried to invade the Moscow territory. But after the defeat of his advanced regiment near Lubutsk, he decided to put an end to the struggle and made peace with Dmitry.

The unsuccessful campaigns of Olgerd prompted the prince of Tver to look for new allies in the Horde, whose rulers anxiously followed the strengthening of Moscow and were ready to support any of its rivals. In 1371, Mikhail received a label in the Horde for a great reign, but Dimitri Ivanovich refused to recognize him as a grand duke, feeling already strong enough to decide to go into conflict with the Horde. Refused to recognize Mikhail and Vladimir, who remained loyal to the Moscow prince.

In 1375, Michael again achieved in the Horde a label for a great reign. In response to this, Dmitry Ivanovich, at the head of the Moscow troops and military forces that had gathered from many Russian lands, laid siege to Tver. The campaign of the Moscow prince against the Tver prince, who was blocking with the worst enemies of Russia, for the first time took on the character of an all-Russian national patriotic enterprise. They refused to support their prince and the population of the Tver principality. They demanded that he surrender the city and conclude peace with Moscow. The prince of Tver was forced to renounce his claims to a great reign and recognize the seniority of the Moscow prince, undertake not to enter into relations with the Horde and Lithuania without his knowledge, and help the Moscow prince in the fight against his enemies. Similar agreements on the recognition of the seniority of the Moscow prince were concluded by Dmitry with the Ryazan and other princes.

In his will, Dmitry Donskoy handed over to his eldest son Vasily I Dmitrievich the great reign of Vladimir as the “fatherland” of the Moscow princes, thereby demonstrating the non-recognition of the Khan’s right to dispose of this land. Thus, the process of unification of the principality of Vladimir and the "oldest" princely title in Russia associated with it with Moscow was completed. Also in his will, Dmitry expressed his hope for an early complete liberation from the Horde yoke, which became an important motivational rationale for the actions of his successors.

With the gathering into a single whole of the "Great Princedom of Vladimir" with the Principality of Moscow, the latter asserted the role and significance of the territorial and national, as well as the political center of the emerging Russian state. The territorial growth of the Moscow principality became a fundamental factor for the state unification of the Russian lands and had a value that cannot be overestimated. Dmitrov, Starodub, Uglich and Kostroma, vast territories in the Trans-Volga region in the area of Beloozero and Galich Mersky and a number of small Upper Oka principalities were annexed to Moscow under Dmitry Donskoy.

At the end of the XIV century, the Nizhny Novgorod principality lost its independence. In the late 70-80s, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes pursued a policy openly hostile to Moscow, it even went so far that they took part in Tokhtamysh's campaign against Moscow. In 1393, Vasily I resourcefully took advantage of Tokhtamysh's difficult situation (he was busy fighting Timur): the prince obtained the consent of the khan to transfer the principalities of Murom and Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, which, in turn, made it possible to start creating a common Russian border defense system with the Horde. The annexation of the Nizhny Novgorod principality took place on a voluntary basis - without the use of force. Own boyars did not support the Nizhny Novgorod prince, telling him that they were already the boyars of the Moscow prince and would stand for him, and the prince could not count on their help in the fight against Moscow. This was the best way to demonstrate the desire for state unity even for the privileged top of the specific boyar nobility.

At the end of the 14th century, the Moscow authorities took the first steps to limit the independence of the Novgorod Boyar Republic and include its lands in the Moscow principality.

However, Vasily I failed in his attempt to annex to Moscow the richest Novgorod colony - the Dvina land. The Novgorod Republic was the largest and most powerful feudal center of Russia, which remained outside the sphere of political domination of Moscow and opposed it; Novgorod became the main stronghold of all the forces of feudal decentralization.

At the end of the 14th century, lands in the basin of the Vychegda River, inhabited by the people of Great Perm, were annexed to Moscow. The most important role was played by Christianization in the unification of the lands, in particular, in the subjugation of the northern and Volga peoples, although it was often carried out with the help of very cruel violent actions. Among the Permians, a prominent church figure of those times, an educated monk Stefan of Perm, who preached in the native language of the Permians, was engaged in missionary activity. He compiled the alphabet of their language and laid the foundation for the translation of books into the language of Permians. This side of the activity of Stephen of Perm was not only of great cultural and educational significance, but also, of course, political.

By the end of the XV century. there were all factors contributing to the transition of the process of centralization of Russian lands to the final stage - the formation of a single Russian state.

The consequence of the victory of the grand princely power in internecine wars was the disappearance of some small principalities, which made it possible to take the first step towards the subordination of the Novgorod boyar republic. To confront Moscow, some Novgorod boyars and part of the clergy tried to turn to the Lithuanian feudal lords for support, offering their subordination to Lithuania, but only while maintaining the political power of the boyars within the borders of the Novgorod lands. In the 40s of the XV century. the first step in this direction was taken: Novgorod concluded an agreement with the Polish king and the Lithuanian Grand Duke Casimir IV, according to which he had the right to collect tribute from some Novgorod volosts. The opposition of the boyars of Novgorod to the rest of Russia, the intensification of feudal exploitation, the intensification of the class struggle, which eventually resulted in major anti-feudal actions of the urban population and peasants in 1418, 1421, 1446 and other years - all this helped the Moscow government in the struggle for the subordination of Novgorod. In 1456, Vasily II made a campaign against Novgorod.

The defeat of the Novgorod militia near the Russa River forced the boyars to accept the terms of peace put forward by the Grand Duke. According to the Yazhelbitsky Treaty, Novgorod was obliged to pay a large indemnity to the Grand Duke, and also to continue not to support the opponents of the unification of Russian lands. Novgorod cities were legally assigned to Moscow, which actually joined it under Vasily I - Bezhetsky Verkh, Volok Lamsky and Vologda with nearby volosts.

The final stage of the unification process took about 50 years - the time of the great reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich and the first years of the reign of his successor - Vasily III Ivanovich.

The most important problem for this process was the existence of an independent Novgorod feudal republic. The boyar oligarchy wanted to keep its power independent and therefore resisted to the end, despite the onslaught from the popular masses of Novgorod. After the reform of the posadnik administration, in fact, all power in the city passed to the boyars and the veche lost its former significance. As a result, for the mass of Novgorodians, the meaning of preserving the independence of the city disappeared, the population began to sympathize more and more with the enemy of the Novgorod boyars - the Grand Duke of Moscow.

In the 70s of the 15th century, part of the Novgorod nobility, led by the Boretskys, headed for the transition of Novgorod under the tutelage of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In response to these actions, the Novgorod boyars Ivan III organized a campaign against Novgorod in 1471. Troops from all lands subject to Moscow took part in it. The campaign took on the character of an all-Russian militia against "traitors to Christianity", apostates to "Latinism" - this is how the Moscow chroniclers characterized it. In the decisive battle on the Shelon River, most of the Novgorod troops fought without much desire, and the regiment of the Novgorod archbishop did stand the whole battle without moving. The head of the Novgorod church was a supporter of preserving the independence of Novgorod and hoped in this way to achieve a compromise with the strong Moscow prince, counting on his understanding. But Ivan dealt with many representatives of the Novgorod nobility, taking away their lands and exiling them to the central regions of the country. By this, the prince enlisted the support of the people, who saw that he was really punishing these same boyars, from whom the Novgorodians suffered so much. Novgorod nobility was predictably defeated.

After the events of 1471, the situation in Novgorod became even more aggravated, which, of course, the Grand Duke of Moscow soon took advantage of. In 1478, the Novgorod Republic was liquidated, the veche bell was removed and taken to Moscow. However, the traditions of Novgorod liberty were so strong and significant that the Moscow grand ducal authorities, in order not to lose confidence among different segments of the Novgorod population, had to make some concessions.

Ivan III gave a promise not to "take out" anyone else to other lands, not to interfere in matters of land estates, to preserve local judicial customs, not to involve Novgorodians in military service in the "Nizovsky land". There were also some nuances in external contacts: for example, diplomatic relations with Sweden were conducted precisely through the Novgorod governors. Thus, the Novgorod land was part of the Russian state "with living traces of the former autonomy."

In 1485, she surrendered to the Moscow principality and Tver, not resisting for a very long time before that. In 1489, the Vyatka land was annexed - the most important step in the trade for the emerging state. With the advent of the northern possessions of Novgorod and the Vyatka land, the non-Russian peoples of the northern and northeastern lands also became part of the Russian unified state. This phenomenon was not new in the state development of the Russian lands, because since ancient times the Russian principalities included non-Russian peoples who lived between the Oka and Volga rivers. In 1494, the Russian state and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania concluded a peace, according to which Lithuania was obliged to return the lands from the upper reaches of the Oka and the city of Vyazma to the disposal of the Russian prince.

The peace was reinforced by the marriage of the Lithuanian prince Alexander Kazimirovich to the daughter of Ivan III Elena. Later, through her, Ivan III later learned important detailed information about the internal affairs of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The continued transition of the petty owners of Russian lands to the service of the Lithuanian prince back to Moscow provoked a new war with Lithuania, which again ended in the defeat of the Lithuanian troops. As a result of this war, the upper reaches of the Oka, the lands along the banks of the Desna with its tributaries, part of the lower reaches of the Sozh and the upper reaches of the Dnieper, the city of Chernigov, Bryansk, Rylsk, Putivl - a total of 25 cities and 70 volosts - went to Moscow. The Grand Duke of Lithuania and Poland, King Sigismund, tried to unite the forces of Poland, Lithuania, Livonia, the Kazan and Crimean Khanates to fight against the intensified Grand Duchy of Moscow, but such actions were not successful, since the movement for the transition under the rule of Moscow had already gained momentum in the Western Russian lands. This movement was headed in connection with Prince Mikhail Glinsky, who was in connection with Moscow. After another unsuccessful war with Russia in 1507-1508, the Lithuanian government concluded an "eternal peace" with Russia, recognizing its rights to the lands that had seceded from Lithuania.

In 1483-1485 there were major unrest of smerds in Pskov. The Moscow grand duke's power used this to win over the majority of the Pskov population and weaken the position of local feudal lords. Ivan III ordered the release of the arrested smerds. As a result: the Pskov nobility, like the Novgorod nobility, had a negative attitude both to the veche system and to the annexation of Pskov to Moscow.

In 1510, the Pskov Republic, which was independent after separation from Novgorod, ceased to exist. After the annexation of Pskov, part of its boyars and merchants moved from there to the central lands.

In 1514, Smolensk joined the Grand Duchy of Moscow, as a result of the third war with Lithuania, because the inhabitants of the ancient Russian city themselves opened the gates to the Moscow troops. Vasily III gave a charter to this city, which retained for him elements of independence in court and in the administration.

And finally, in 1521, the Ryazan Principality, which had long been in fact subordinate to Moscow, ceased to exist.

The centralization of the Russian lands was basically completed. A huge power appeared, the largest in Europe. What is important is that the Russian nationality was united within the borders of this state.

From the end of the 15th century, the name "Russia" began to be used.

The emergence of a single Russian state was of great importance in history. The disappearance of partitions within the country between the principalities and the elimination of internecine wars created quite favorable conditions for the development of agriculture and for successful defense against external enemies.

The unified Russian state was based on feudal socio-economic relations. It was a feudal state, its potential development was based primarily on the strengthening of serfdom in both villages and cities. Secular and spiritual feudal lords were independent. This independence was manifested through land ownership and management, and the nobility and townspeople as estates at that time were still relatively poorly developed. The process of creating an economically unified state was a matter of the future. The grand ducal power built a unified system of government of the country only with the help of feudal methods. However, for a very long time, the political unity of the lands was under strong threat precisely because of the economic fragmentation of the country, which fueled the desire of some feudal groups for fragmentation. These groups used their material resources in the struggle against the centralized state and the grand duke's power, but they were not enough, the unity overpowered.

Rise of Moscow. The organizer of the unification of the Russian lands was the Moscow principality, which stood out from the southern inheritance of the Vladimir-Suzdal lands. The extraordinary rise of Moscow is associated both with its favorable geographical position and with the personal qualities of the Moscow princes who occupied the Moscow throne. Moscow was the center of the then Russian world, at the crossroads of three important roads, which allowed the city to become a junction of trade routes, an important center for the trade in bread.

The strengthening of the Moscow principality takes place under Prince Daniel Alexandrovich (1276 - 1303) - the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky - the founder of the dynasty of Moscow princes. Having captured Kolomna, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Mozhaisk, he almost doubled the possessions of the principality. As a result of the energetic activity of Prince Daniel, the Moscow principality became one of the largest in North-Eastern Russia.

In the rivalry for the throne of Vladimir between Tver, Ryazan, Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow took the upper hand. By 1327, the label for the great reign belonged to the Tver prince Alexander Mikhailovich. Cholkhan was to exercise constant control over the Grand Duke and the collection of tribute. The arbitrariness and violence that the Horde of Cholkhan did caused an uprising of the Tverichans. Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita (1325-1340) took advantage of these events and took part in the suppression of the uprising. As a reward, the label for the great reign was transferred to the Moscow prince (1328). In addition to the label, Ivan Kalita (1325-1341) received the right to collect tribute - the "horde exit". The Basque system was finally abolished. The right to collect tribute from the Horde gave the Moscow prince huge advantages. Kalita managed to make the Principality of Moscow the strongest among others, subsequently Moscow became the beginning of the statehood of Russia, objectively contributed to the process of centralization and acquired the right to collect tribute from the Khan. Hiding part of the "exit", Kalita became significantly richer. Knowing how to get along with the Horde and enrich himself at the expense of others, Ivan I established his power over Uglich, Galich Kostroma and a number of other Russian lands.

The policy of Ivan Danilovich was continued by his heirs Semyon Proud (1340-1353), Ivan Krasny (1353-1359) and Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (1359-1389). The major event of the first stage of the unification of the Russian lands (1301-1389) was the victory over the Mongols on the Kulikovo field (1380). The grandson of Ivan Kalita, Prince Dmitry, decided on an open confrontation with the Horde - and in this he was helped by the power that his predecessors had received at the cost of losses and humiliation. The largest victory over the Mongols inspired confidence in the liberation of Russia from the khan's power. The status of Moscow rose - it became the center of gathering Russian lands. And the Moscow prince, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, acquired "the significance of the national leader of Northern Russia in the fight against external enemies."

At the second stage (1389-1462) there are internal strife between the descendants of the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy, which ended with the strengthening of Vasily II the Dark (1425-1462), created the prerequisites for overcoming specific fragmentation.

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Causes and features of the process of centralization of Russian lands