![]() ![]() Soldiers deprived of their leader quickly became demoralized. Today it seems absurd, but the prince would head the charge against the enemy, increasing the likelihood of him being cut down early on. Moreover, it was the Russian tradition for a prince to lead his troops into battle. In the first major battle against the Mongols on the Kalka River, the Russian princes could not agree on a coordinated strategy and were utterly routed. For decisive action, this method was very slow and ineffective. Social and military issues in Ancient Russia were resolved at the veche, or popular assembly. The princes and their druzhiny (royal troops) were not only scattered geographically – they had no idea how to negotiate with each other. The Russians lost to the Mongols because they were divided. But even that was not the main reason for their defeat. Although able to repel short raids and protect cities against sporadic attacks, when it came to facing the disciplined Mongolian army in the open field, the Russian forces – armed with pikes and axes – were overwhelmed. ![]() But heavily armed combatants were few in number. The offensive and defensive skills of the Russians were known throughout Europe. A still from the "Mongol" movie, 2007ĭespite their inferior numbers, the Russian infantry squads were strong and fearless in defending their native land. Military organization, the word bogatyr, battle criesĪ Mongol war commander. We list the most important things and concepts that the Russians borrowed from the Mongol-Tatars. All subsequent military and political successes of the Moscow state on the international stage were largely a consequence of the involuntary ‘training’ that the Russians underwent while under the dominion of the Horde. “Moscow owes its greatness to the khans,” wrote the famous Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin. After this, the dependence of the Russian lands on the remnants of the Horde became largely formal. Then a century later, Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow defended the integrity of the state that he had created by facing down the Mongols in what became known as the Great Stand on the Ugra River. In 1380, at the Battle of Kulikovo, the Russian princes defeated a Golden Horde army for the very first time. The Russians realized that the Mongol yoke could only be thrown off by adopting their oppressors’ tactics, both administrative and military. This intolerable humiliation for such proud Russian warriors was the first step towards the formation of a single Russian state. These were official documents confirming the princes’ right to govern their own lands. The Mongols did not want to conquer them entirely, merely collect tributes, so the Russian princes were forced to travel to the capital of the Golden Horde at Sarai (close to modern-day Volgograd) to receive yarlyks (edicts another Tatar word which in modern Russian means “label”). Not long after the conquest of Russia, the Mongol Empire broke up into separate khanates one of these, the Golden Horde, took control over the Russian lands. The Mongol army in a traveling formation.
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