Historic Russia (1) emerged between the 3rd and 7th centuries C.E. through waves of Slavic migrations to the often-invaded steppes north of the Black Sea. In this early period the Slavs paid tribute to the Khazars, a Turkic-Hunnish Kingdom to the East. Viking adventurers trading along Russia's rivers and intermarrying with local Slavs catalyzed the development of the nation-state of Kievan Rus. The Viking-Slavic warriors set themselves up to "protect" the locals, forming an emerging nobility of princes, collecting tribute and warring on neighbors. During the 900s the Rus conducted a series of expeditions against the Byzantine Empire, which resulted in treaties of trade and alliance. The Rus smashed the Khazars and also harried the Volga Bulgars.
By the millennium the Rus had been converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Grand Prince Vladimir married the sister of the Byzantine Emperor. Literacy, painting, and stone architecture all flooded north, the culture of Constantinople overlaying Slavic and Viking folk cultures, to form a rich and unique amalgam. The period from 1000 to 1150 saw the height of Kievan Rus, with a far-flung trade network, expanding literacy, and tools and metallurgy equal to anywhere in Europe. In that time, Russian princes married royalty from Western European kingdoms and Kiev was said to have had four hundred churches.
Elaborate rules of succession within the princely household laid the seeds of division. Unlike much of feudal Europe the eldest son did not inherit all. Sons and eventually nephews of the ruling price were assigned cities to govern, while the prince himself ruled at Kiev (by the 13th Century Vladimir). When the prince died, each sibling advanced to a different city in order of seniority. As often as not, feuds erupted between the city rulers, which devolved into inter-city warfare.
Added to this was pressure from various tribes of invading nomads along the southern steppes. These steppes stretch from China to Hungary and for a millennium were the migration route for waves of mounted tribes emerging from Central Asia. The Pechenegs were the first people of Turkic descent to battle the Rus. When they were defeated, they were supplanted by another Turkic people, the Kuman or Polovetsi. Continual warfare on the steppes drove the Rus west, north, and northeast. Trade patterns also changed-the Crusades opened the Mediterranean routes and decreasing the importance of Kiev to European markets. By the year 1200 Kievan Rus was divided into three centers of power: Galicia-Volhania near Poland, which gravitated to Europe; the great trade city of Novgorod in the north; and Vladimir in the wild forests of the northeast.
The Mongol armies appeared in Russia for the first time in 1222. Kuman and Russian allied to fight them, yet were utterly defeated and the captured Russian princes executed. The Mongols turned away, only to return 15 years later. In the campaigns of 1238-1240, the Mongols swept away Kievan Rus, burned cities, slaughtered the population, and killed much of the ruling houses and church hierarchy. Yet the culture and people survived, in vassalage to the Mongol Golden Horde, which ruled from the steppes along the Volga River. The Mongols imposed taxes, conducted censuses, elevated and eliminated princes at will, and raided to suppress rebellions and impose taxes and laws.
The region of Vladimir, including the town of Moscow, was devastated in the initial Mongol attacks. There followed periods of submission alternating with rebellions in 1252, 1262, 1280, 1283, 1293 etc. Over the next century and a half, the principalities of Vladimir and Moscow recovered, slowly grew in strength, and were ultimately able to defeat the Golden Horde .
Galicia was similarly raided as the Mongols passed through in 1240 on their way to Poland. The steppe raiders overran Poland and Hungary, defeating the armies of both countries as well as the Teutonic Knights and Silesians. Upon hearing of the death of the Great Khan the Horde retreated from Eastern Europe, but not before devastating Bulgaria, Wallachia, and Moldovia en route. Galicia had suffered less than other regions of Russia and began to recover soonest. The prince, Daniel, bided his time, built alliances with Western Europe, armed his people, and planned rebellion. But Galicia was raided repeatedly in the 1250s, 1270s, and 1280s by a separate Mongol army, the Nogay Horde, as they warred on Poland, Hungary, and Serbia. The Galicians never recovered from this devastation and Galicia was gradually absorbed into Poland and Lithuania.
Novgorod was saved from the Golden Horde in 1238 by prolonged resistance at a besieged town, the spring thaw, and bribery. Thereafter, Prince Alexander Nevski followed a policy of submission and appeasement toward the Horde, which led him to visit the Mongol capital at Karakorum at least once, and the capital of the Golden Horde on the Volga several times. Novgorod paid tribute to the Mongols and remained unharmed. With large areas of Rus overrun and much of the Princely household dead, Western neighbors seized on the moment to invade Novgorod. In successive battles, Nevski defeated the Swedes on the River Neva in 1240, the Lithuanians the following year, and the crusading order of the Teutonic Knights on Lake Piepus on April 5, 1242. The city, thrice saved, was left to its commercial life. Crisis came time and again with Mongol demands, but the city avoided direct occupation. It continued independent, a conduit of Kievan Rus culture, until it was absorbed by the Principality of Moscow in 1471.
(1)
Medieval Russian historians battle the degree of influence of Vikings on
the foundation of Russia, and the extent of feudalism in Kievan Rus'. This
debate has been fueled by tensions between Marxist and Capitalist
historians, and between Slavophiles and Germanophiles. I have attempted to
steer a measured course, describing history according to the majority view.
Debate even ranges around the name of the ancient Russian state. I have
recently heard it referred to as Ukraine.