1. The Slavs, The Mongols & The
Birth of Russia
Professor Will Adams
Valencia College
Spring 2012

2. The End of the Byzantine Empire
 The Byzantines were eventually able to recapture Constantinople
and reestablish their kingdom in 1261 AD.
 However, the reconstituted empire was weak and small because
of its constant struggle against invasion.
 By the 1300’s AD, the Byzantine “empire” consisted of only the
city of Constantinople itself.
 Beginning in 1453 AD, the Ottoman Turks lay siege to
Constantinople for 6 weeks.
 By the end of the sixth week, the Byzantine Emperor was dead of
starvation and disease, and the Ottoman Turks took the city,
renaming it Istanbul.
 As a result, 1453 AD marks the end of the Byzantine Empire.

3. The Eastern Slavs
• The Eastern Slavs –
sometimes the ruled &
sometimes the rulers of
the Byzantine Empire –
would eventually develop
into a very powerful
group: the Russians.
• However, the eventual
formation of the Russian
Empire would be very
difficult for the Eastern
Slavs.

4. The Eastern Slavs
SETTING & PEOPLE
• North of the Black Sea exist vast plains, thick
forests, and large rivers.
• The soil in the area is very rich and dark.
• Unfortunately, the climate makes farming
there very difficult, because there is little
rainfall and very cold temperatures that make
the growing season extremely short.

5. The Eastern Slavs
SETTING & PEOPLE
• The landscape north of
the steppe region is
dominated by dense,
primeval forests.
• In addition, 3 major rivers
flow through the region:
 Dniester
 Dnieper
 Volga
• All of these rivers flow
from north to south.

7. The Eastern Slavs
SETTING & PEOPLE 2) Southern Slavs:
 Serbs, Croats, Slovenes
 Three major ethnic groups  Located on the northern
inhabited in the area north of part of the Balkan Peninsula
the Black Sea.  Lots of contact with the
Byzantines
1) Western Slavs: 3) Eastern Slavs:
 Poles, Czechs, Slovaks  Largest group
 Close ties to Roman  Ukranians, Russians,
Catholic Church and Belarussians
Western Europe  Lived between the Dnieper
and Dniester Rivers

8. The Kievan Rus
KIEVAN RUS
 In 860 AD, the Eastern Slavs in
Novgorod (a northern forest
village) asked the Vikings for
help in defending their village.
 The Viking leader, Rurik, agreed
to help.
 As a result, Rurik was made the
first Grand Prince of the Slavs.
 Later, in 880 AD, Rurik’s
successor – Prince Oleg –
conquered the village of Kiev, a
prosperous trading village on
the Dnieper River.

10. The Kievan Rus
KIEVAN RUS
 The village of Kiev grew into a
collection of principalities,
collectively called the Kievan
Rus.
 Each principality was ruled by a
prince.
 The Grand Prince – whose
power was similar to an
emperor – had control over the
local princes.
 The Boyars, local landowners &
wealthy merchants, helped the
local princes rule.

11. The Kievan Rus
KIEVAN RUS
 The local princes would
pay tribute to the Grand
Prince of Kiev, in the form
of:
 Lumber
 Fur
 Honey
 Wax
 The Grand Prince would
trade the goods with the
Byzantine Empire to get
the items the Kievan Rus
needed.

12. The Kievan Rus
KIEVAN RUS
• In 911 AD, Grand Prince
Oleg made a treaty with the
Byzantine Empire.
• Oleg and the Byzantines
agreed to give Kievan
merchants 6 months’ worth
of supplies when the
merchants reached
Constantinople.
• For his part, Oleg was
supposed to convert to
Christianity, but he refused.

13. The Kievan Rus
KIEVAN RUS
 Grand Prince Vladimir
would later adopt
Christianity and introduce
the religion to the Eastern
Slavs
 Vladimir converted to
Christianity in 988 AD.
 He understood his
conversion would better
Kievan Rus’ relationship
with the Byzantine Empire
 His conversion brought a lot
of Byzantine culture to
Kievan Rus.

14. The Kievan Rus
KIEVAN RUS
 The Kievans adopted the
Cyrillic Alphabet.
 Schools were created to
educated the upper
classes.
 Kiev’s adoption of
Christianity helped the
people advance
culturally.

15. The Kievan Rus
KIEV AT ITS HEIGHT
 Kievan Culture reached its
height under Yaroslav the
Wise (1019-1054).
 He created the 1st library of
Kiev
 Reorganized the legal
system, and based it on
Justinian’s Code.
 He had his daughters’ &
sisters’ marriages arranged
to better political relations
with European nations.

16. The Eastern Slavs
THE DECLINE OF KIEV
 Kiev began to decline
after Yaroslav’s death in
1054 AD.
 Yaroslav divided the
empire among his sons.
 The division created no
clear line of succession &
each son battled the
others for the throne.
 As a result, in 1240 AD,
the Mongols invaded and
destroyed Kiev.

17. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 The Mongols (AKA The
Tartars) conquered all of
the Kievan Rus, except for
the village of Novgorod.
 The Mongols allowed the
Slavs to continue to
practice Christianity.
 The Slavs had to serve in
the Mongol military.

18. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 To escape Mongol rule,
many Eastern Slavs
migrated into the
Northern forests.
 This migration made 2
northern principalities
very strong: Novgorod &
Vladimir-Suzdal.

19. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 The Mongols never migrated
north toward Novgorod or
Vladimir-Suzdal.
 The lands in the north
turned swampy during the
spring, and were difficult to
traverse.
 Resultantly, The Mongols
would not cross the swamps.
 The Mongols left the 2
northern principalities
alone.

20. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 While the Mongols left
the north alone, other
European cultures
attacked the area.
 The Swedes and Germans
constantly attacked
Novgorod.
 Their motivation was
religious: The Swedes and
Germans were trying to
make the Eastern Slavs
into Roman Catholics.

21. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 In 1240 AD, a man named
Alexander “Nevsky”
defeated the Swedes at the
Battle of the Neva River.
 As an honor, his followers
then called him “Nevsky” –
“of the Neva River”.
 Alexander’s victory over the
Swedes made Novgorod a
very strong and independent
principality.

22. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 Alexander’s youngest son,
Daniel, later became ruler of
Muscovy (AKA Moscow), a
small town on the frontier.
 In 1328 AD, the leader of
the Eastern Slavs’ Orthodox
Church moved to Muscovy.
 At the Battle of Kulikovo in
1380 AD, the Muscovites
defeated the Mongols
 This victory began a 100-
year period where the
Muscovites attempted to
drive out the Mongols.

23. Mongol Rule of the Slavs
MONGOL RULE
 In 1480, Ivan III (ruler of
Muscovy) refused to pay
taxes to the Mongols.
 His defiant refusal to pay
taxes symbolized the end
of Mongol rule.
 Ivan then brought all the
Slavic people under his
rule.
 Beginning in 1493 AD,
Ivan made himself Czar,
(“sovereign of all Russia’’).

24. The Birth of Russia
THE BIRTH OF RUSSIA
 In 1493 AD, Ivan made
himself “sovereign of all
Russia “ - Czar.
 He controlled an area 100
times larger than the
village of Muscovy itself.
 Consequently, The
Orthodox Church began
referring to Russia as the
“3rd Rome”.

25. Eta Kaniez