Igor Ryurikovich and his foreign policy

Igor Ryurikovich is the prince of the great Kiev Rus. Based on what is written in the annals, Igor ruled in 915-945. Igor Ryurikovich was a direct descendant of Rurik, the husband of Princess Olga and the father of Svyatoslav. Igor is considered the first Old Russian prince.

Pechenegi

By the end of the 9th century, before Igor became a prince, alongside the Russian lands appeared some nomads - Pechenegs. They fired well from their guns, and were also excellent riders. Looked Pechenegs fiercely and wildly. Igor Ryurikovich was the first who had to fight and defend his lands from the Pechenegs. Riding on steppe horses Pechenegs rushed to the enemies. They were cunning. If they could not defeat the enemy, then they ran away, forcing him to run after them. This was done in order to lure the enemy into the ring and attack from the rear.

The first campaign against Byzantium

Igor Rurikovich's foreign policy was quite aggressive. However, his main goal was the desire to create the most comfortable conditions for Russian merchants to trade.

In 941, Igor decided to conduct a military campaign against Byzantium, but his plans were destroyed. The Bulgarians from the Danube informed Byzantium of the attack. The Byzantine emperor decided to give battle to Igor and his army.

He assembled a large army consisting of a large number of ships. Igor's army was not ready for such a rebuff. On the ships of the Byzantines used fire shells, which consisted of oil, sulfur, tar and other substances. They could not be extinguished even with water. Therefore, the fire shells proved to be a terrible force of the enemy. Those Russian soldiers, who managed to survive in the battle, remembered with horror these events. They said that the Greeks were shooting at them with lightning. Byzantium was able to defeat the army of Prince Igor.

The Second Campaign to Byzantium

Prince Igor Rurikovich wanted to erase the shame of defeat, so he decided to organize a campaign in Greek lands for the second time. For this, Igor paid the Pechenegs to fight for him. He went with his squad on land, and sent the Pechenegs by sea. However, Igor's plans were again violated. The Emperor was again warned. Deciding to avoid a collision, gathering the squad, the emperor decided that it was better to pay off Igor and the Pechenegs than to fight again. The Greeks sent several merchants to meet the prince to make a deal. The merchants met him on the way to Byzantium. There they made a proposal to renounce the war. Having gathered the squad, Igor Ryurikovich decided that it was better to receive gifts than to participate in the war. Also, the Byzantine emperor sent rich gifts to the Pechenegs. Having agreed to these conditions, the prince unfolded his troops and went home. A year later, Prince Igor Rurikovich signed a peace treaty with Byzantium. Igor tried to subordinate his entire board to the East Slavic associations of his power.

Trekking in the Caspian lands

In 913 Igor Rurikovich was going to make a campaign to the Caspian lands. He descended 500 ships to the water and set off across the Black Sea straight to the Azov Sea, and further along the Don to the Volga. There was one problem: the road to the Caspian lands passed through the lands of the Khazars. You could not just pass through their lands - this required the personal permission of the ruler. Igor managed to agree with the Khazars. They missed him, as well as his army, but demanded in return half of what they will get in the Caspian.

In the Caspian lands, the Russians behaved like wild beasts. Robbed, killed residents, burned houses and churches, captured women. In general, Igor managed to get a huge booty. Together with the booty and his army, he went home. But the verbal agreement between the Khazars and the prince was broken. The Khazars wanted to take all the booty from Igor, but he refused. Because of this three-day terrible battle, the army of Igor was defeated, and the Khazars took possession of all the prey without leaving their lands. The surviving part of the soldiers flew up the Volga, but there they were forced to join the battle with the Bulgarians.

This is the foreign policy of Igor Ryurikovich - resolute, aggressive and merciless. He tried to make his country richer by attacking his "neighbors."

Increase of tribute

In 945 the squad expressed its dissatisfaction. This was due to their financial situation. After listening to the claims, Igor decided to go for a tribute to Drevlyane. Since the Drevlyane did not participate in the Battle of Byzantium, they were obliged to pay tribute to Prince Igor. He increased it almost twice, despite the fact that when it was collected, the army mocked people, burned houses and robbed villages. Drevlyanam had to endure it. However, Igor crossed all boundaries. This was the internal policy of Igor Rurikovich.

The death of Igor

After another collection of tribute on the way home, Igor Ryurikovich decided that he collected too little tribute. He sent most of the troops home, and he and his team turned back. For Derevlian this became a shock, and they could not reconcile with it. Due to the fact that this time Igor's army was too small, the Drevlyane decided to break it, and they succeeded. The Drevlyane was executed by the prince himself.

If you believe in the annals, the prince was tied to the tense trees. After the trees were released, Igor broke into two parts. Princess Olga cruelly avenged the Drevlyans for this act. She executed all the elders, killed many representatives of the civilian population, burned the land, and overlaid the Drevlyane with a huge tribute greater than that of Prince Igor. With the support of the squad and boyars Igor, Olga began to rule Russia until Igor's son, Svyatoslav, grew up.