Russia, the Kievan Rus, and the Mongols: Crash Course World History #20
Russia, the Kievan Rus, and the Mongols: Crash Course World History #20
If you’re interested in learning more about the Russian government’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, check out this vlogbrothers video published on 3/15/2022: • Ukraine and Russia: What Caused the War?
In which John Green teaches you how Russia evolved from a loose amalgamation of medieval principalities known as the Kievan Rus into the thriving democracy we know today. As you can imagine, there were a few bumps along the road. It turns out that our old friends the Mongols had quite a lot to do with unifying Russia. In yet another example of how surprisingly organized nomadic raiders can be, the Mongols brought the Kievan Rus together under a single leadership and concentrated power in Moscow. This set the stage for the various Ivans (the Great and the Terrible) to throw off the yoke and form a pan-Russian nation ruled by an autocratic leader. More than 500 years later, we still have autocratic leadership in Russia. All this, plus a rundown of some of our favorite atrocities of Ivan the Terrible, and a visit from Putin!
Chapters:
Introduction 00:00
The Kievan Rus 0:44
Trade in 11th-century Kiev (Kyiv) 1:28
Leadership \u0026 Government in Kiev (Kyiv) 2:15
Mongol Rule and the Era of Appanage Russia 2:50
The Mongols’ Influence on Russia 3:19
How did Moscow become so prominent? 4:29
An Open Letter to Basil and Basil 6:11
Ivan the Great (Ivan III) Expands Moscow’s Power 6:58
Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV) 7:45
Credits 10:10
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Content
0.48 -> Hi, I’m John Green, this is Crash Course
World History, and today we're gonna talk
3.69 -> about Russia, which means we get to talk about
this guy again! We haven’t talked about
7.41 -> Russia much so far because one, it’s complicated,
and two, ya actually gavaryu pa ruski a little bit,
12.22 -> because I had some Russian in college, and that makes
it difficult to mispronounce things, which is my thing!
16.75 -> Mr. Green, Mr. Green! Why’d you take Russian?
18.5 -> Well, because I had this big crush on a Russian major.
But, anyway, I’m sure I’ll still mispronounce everything.
22.16 -> [theme music]
31.08 -> So, today we’re going to talk about persistent
stereotypes about Russia, and how Russia came
34.44 -> to take its current shape, a turn of events
we owe largely to the Mongols.
40.48 -> But before we discuss the Mongol conquest
of Russia, let’s discuss exactly what got
44.53 -> conquered. So before there was a Russian empire,
or even a Russian kingdom, there was the Kievan
48.53 -> Rus. We know Kiev was a powerful city-state,
but who exactly founded it is a subject of
53.12 -> debate. Most historians now believe that the
settlers of Kiev were Slavic people who migrated
57.039 -> from around the Black Sea. But there’s an
older theory that the settlers of Kiev were
61.53 -> actually, like, Vikings. That theory goes
that Vikings came down to Kiev from rivers
66.28 -> like the Dnieper and founded a trading outpost
similar to ones they’d founded in Iceland
70.43 -> and Greenland. Which is an awesome idea and
everything, but Russian, the language that
73.98 -> developed from what the Rus spoke, sounds
a lot more Slavic than it sounds, you know,
78.31 -> Swedish. To illustrate, here is a Swede fighting
with a Russian over who founded Kiev.
83.72 -> Right, okay, so trade was hugely important
to Kiev. Almost all of their wars ended with
92.84 -> trade concession treaties, and their law codes
were unusually devoted to the subject of commerce.
97.56 -> The Rus traded raw materials like fur, wax,
and also slaves — We’re not gonna venture
101.83 -> into the astonishingly intense etymological
debate over whether the word ''Slav'' derives
106.62 -> from the Latin word for slave because there's
nothing more terrifying and verbose than an
111.38 -> etymologist flame war. But, yeah, the Rus
traded slaves. They also relied on agriculture
115.73 -> — and your relationships to the land determined
both your social status and your tax burden.
120.45 -> And if you fell into tax debt, which a lot
of peasants did, then you became bonded to
124.15 -> the land you farmed for the rest of your life.
I guess that slave-like dynamic is okay as
128.149 -> a model for social organization, but if you
step on the proletariat for too long, you
132.29 -> might end up with a Communist revolution.
134.079 -> But I’m getting way ahead of myself. Couple
more things about Kiev: First, the ruler of
136.989 -> Kiev was called the Grand Prince, and he became
the model for future Russian Kings. Also,
141.4 -> the early grand princes made a fateful decision:
They became Byzantine Christians. According
146.23 -> to legend, prince Vladimir chose to convert
the Rus to Byzantine Christianity in the 11th
150.09 -> century. He purportedly chose Christianity
over Islam because of Islam’s prohibition
153.739 -> on alcohol saying: “Drink is the joy of
the Russian.”
157.519 -> Anyway, the Kievan Rus eventually fell in
1240 when these guys showed up and replaced
161.659 -> them. By that time the Rus had been at war
with pastoral nomads for centuries; from the
164.92 -> Khazars to the Pechenegs to the Cumans, and
they were tired. Which made them easy targets.
169.79 -> The period of Mongol “rule” over Russia
is also known as Appanage Russia. An Appanage
173.959 -> is princedom, and this period basically featured
a bunch of Russian princes vying for control
177.989 -> over territory, which is not a recipe for
political stability or economic growth, another
183.269 -> theme that will re-emerge in Russian history.
185.4 -> By the way, I’m describing all of this as
Russia even though if you did that in the
188.439 -> 13th century, people would look at you funny.
They’d be like, “What do you mean, Russia?
191.959 -> Also, where’d you get those pants? And all
those teeth?” “MMMM…YOU SMELL PRETTY.”
197.32 -> Right. So, to discuss how important the Mongols
were to Russia, let’s go to the Thought Bubble.
200.58 -> The Mongols did set up the Khanate of the
Golden Horde in Russia, but it didn’t leave
203.579 -> much lasting impact on the institutions of
the region, which had already been set up
207.239 -> by the Kievans. But they did bring about a
population shift — away from the South,
211.639 -> where Kiev was, toward the Northeast. This
was partly to get away from the Mongols and
216.4 -> their massacring, but that noted, the Mongols
were comparatively light rulers: They were
221.189 -> happy to live in their yurts and collect tribute
from the ever-bickering Russian princes. And
225.67 -> all the princes had to do in exchange for
their relative freedom was recognize the Mongol
230.389 -> khans as their rulers and allow the Mongols
to pick the Grand Prince from among the Russians.
235.7 -> Perhaps most importantly, Mongol rule cut
the Russians off from the Byzantines and further
240.12 -> isolated them from Europe, leaving Russia
not Byzantine, not European, and not really
245.799 -> Mongol either, since they hated the Mongols
and generally believed the Mongols were a
249.829 -> scourge sent from God to punish them for their
sinfulness and everything.
253.269 -> But the Mongols did help propel Moscow to
prominence and in doing so, created the idea
258.59 -> that this was Russia. And as an aside, they
also did what Napoleon, Hitler, and many others
265.07 -> couldn’t: The Mongols successfully conquered
Russia in the winter. Thanks, Thought Bubble.
269.21 -> So how did the Mongols help catapult Moscow
and its princes to prominence? Well, first,
273.31 -> they named Muscovite princes The Grand Prince
on more than one occasion. More importantly,
277.15 -> the Muscovite princes won — that is to say
purchased — the right to collect tribute
281.82 -> on behalf of the Khan from other princes.
That’s a good gig because it’s easy to
285.67 -> skim a little bit off the top before you send
it down the line to the Mongols. Which is
289.66 -> precisely what the Muscovites did to enrich
themselves. One prince who was particularly
293.31 -> good at this was known as Ivan Kalita. Using
my Russian, I can tell you that that translates
298.5 -> to “Johnny Moneybags.” As my Russian professor
would tell you, I’m a “creative” translator.
302.67 -> All this loot helped Moscow expand their influence
and buy principalities. The Mongols also helped
306.7 -> them more directly by attacking their enemies.
Plus Moscow was at the headwaters of four
310.75 -> rivers which made it well-positioned for trade.
And because they were kind of the allies of
314.85 -> the Mongols, the Mongols rarely attacked them
– which meant that lots of people went to
318.98 -> Moscow because it was relatively safe. Including
churchy people. In fact, Moscow also became
323.15 -> the seat of the Eastern Orthodox church in
1325, when the Metropolitan Peter moved there.
328.31 -> So you might think that the Muscovites would
be grateful for all this help from the Mongols,
332.05 -> but you would be wrong. As the Mongols’
position weakened in Russia in the latter
335.97 -> half of the 14th century, one of Moscow’s
princes Dmitry Donskoy made war on them and
340.6 -> inflicted the first major defeat of Mongols
in Russia at battle of Kulikovo Field. This
345.99 -> showed that the Mongols weren’t invincible,
which is always really bad for an imperial
349.97 -> force. Plus it made Moscow look like the hero
of the Russians. And that helped strengthen
354.28 -> the idea of a unified Russia, just as you’ll
remember the Persians helped unify the Greeks
358.49 -> a long time ago. Aiding this growth was stability,
which Moscow owed largely to luck: Muscovite
362.83 -> princes usually had sons which allowed them
to have successors. In fact, there was only
366.94 -> one major succession struggle and it was between
two blind guys named Basil. That’s not a
370.99 -> joke by the way. Oh, it’s time for the Open
Letter?
376.85 -> An Open Letter to Basil and Basil.
379.36 -> But first, let’s see in the Secret Compartment.
Oh, it’s Grizzlor! Yeah, I guess that is
385.15 -> kind of how the Russians saw the Mongols.
386.85 -> Dear Basils,
The 15th century Muscovite civil war was insanely
390.4 -> complicated, but it culminated with you guys
essentially blinding each other. First, Basil
395.2 -> II, the eventual winner of the civil war,
had Basil the cross-eyed blinded. Because
399.86 -> being cross-eyed wan’t bad enough. And that
was seen as the end of the political career
403.52 -> of Basil the Cross-Eyed. But then Basil the
Cross-Eyed’s brother tracked down Basil
407.06 -> II and he was like “Imma blind you back!”
And of course, everybody thought that would
410.51 -> end Basil II’s political career, but they
were wrong. It turns out you can rule Russia
414.18 -> like a Boss even if you’re blind.
Best wishes, John Green
418.24 -> After Basil the Blind came the real man who
expanded Moscow’s power, Ivan III, later
422.98 -> known as Ivan the Great. First, he asserted
Russian independence from the Mongols and
426.46 -> stopped paying tribute to the khan-- after
the khan had named him Grand Prince, of course.
430.56 -> Then, Ivan purchased, negotiated for or conquered
multiple appanages, thus expanding Muscovite
435.31 -> power even more. Ivan later declared himself
sovereign of all Russians and then married
439.23 -> the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, thus
giving him even more legitimacy. And he took
443.75 -> titles autocrat and tsar, which means Caesar.
Basically, Ivan created the first centralized
449.5 -> Russian state and for doing that he probably
deserves title “the Great.”
453.45 -> And that would be a good place to stop, except
then we won’t see the type of absolute rule
456.46 -> that characterized Russia for most of the
rest of its history, even unto Putin. OH GOD.
461.39 -> JUST KIDDING PUTIN! YOU’D NEVER RIG AN ELECTION..
N-NO…PLEASE DON’T PUT ME IN JAIL!
464.9 -> While Ivan III consolidated Muscovite power,
the undeniable brutal streak in Russian governance
469.44 -> comes not from the Mongols, but from Ivan
IV, better known as Ivan the Terrible. Ivan
474.83 -> IV ruled from 1533 to 1584, taking the throne
at age 16, yet more evidence that adolescents
481.43 -> should not be trusted with emerging empires.
Ivan the Terrible’s reign represents the
484.89 -> end of princely power and the beginning of
the autocracy that Russia is famous for. But
489.44 -> in the beginning, he was really an innovative
leader. As a young king, he worked with a
493.41 -> group of advisers called the Chosen Council,
which certainly sounds like a good thing.
496.98 -> He also called the very first meeting of the
zemsky sobor, a grand council of representatives
500.72 -> similar to the estates general that would
become so important in France two hundred
504.42 -> years later. And also reformed the army, emphasizing
the new technology of muskets.
508.83 -> But in the second part of his reign, Ivan
earned his nickname, the Terrible — which
512.43 -> can mean either bad or just awe-inspiring,
depending on your perspective. Psychological
517.019 -> historians will point out that things started
go terribly wrong with Ivan after the death
520.669 -> of his beloved wife, Anastasia Romanov. Or
they might point to the fact that he enjoyed
524.72 -> torturing animals when he was a kid.
526.73 -> Regardless, Ivan set out to break the power
of the nobility-- the former princes and landowners
531.04 -> called the boyars. They were the last link
to princely rule. And after an odd episode
534.49 -> that saw him briefly “abdicate,” Ivan
returned to Moscow and declared he had the
538.389 -> right to punish all traitors and evildoers.
To help him in this effort, Ivan created the
542.949 -> oprichniki, a corps of secret police who rode
around on black horses, wearing all black,
548.439 -> whose job it was to hunt down and destroy
any enemies of the tsar. See also: Nazgûl
553.839 -> and Dementors. So this was the first of Russia’s
purges. And over the latter half of Ivan’s
557.639 -> reign, whole towns were destroyed. It was,
in effect, a civil war, except with no resistance.
562.689 -> One historian called it a civil massacre.
In the end, Ivan IV established absolute control
567.22 -> of the tsar over all the Russian people, but
he also set the precedent of accomplishing
571.72 -> this through terror, secret police, and the
suspension of law. And that would echo through
575.68 -> the ages of Russian history… I mean, until
Vladimir Putin heroically put an end to it.
579.86 -> His little eyes. They’re scary…
581.68 -> So, hence the stereotype of Russian brutality
and barbarism, but here’s the truth; the
586.12 -> rest of Europe also knew a lot about brutality
and secret police forces. But for centuries,
591.24 -> Russia was seen by western Europe as both
European and not, an “Other” that was
595.519 -> to be doubly feared because it was not fully
Other. And when we think of all these historical
600.05 -> stereotypes about Russia, it’s worth remembering
that what you see as barbaric about others
604.62 -> is often what they see as barbaric about you.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.
610.11 -> Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan
Muller, our script supervisor is Danica Johnson.
613.809 -> The show is written by my high school history
teacher Raoul Meyer and myself. Our graphics
618.309 -> team is Thought Bubble, Last week's Phrase
of the Week was: "Nobody's business but the
621.589 -> Turks" If you want to suggest future phrases
of the week or guess at this week’s you
625.22 -> can do so in comments where you can also ask
questions related to today's video that will
629.129 -> be answered by our team of historians. Thanks
for watching, and as we say in my hometown,
633.18 -> Don't Forget To Be Awesome.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etmRI2_9Q_A