Teutonic Order and Rus: confrontation

History, as is known, is repeated. Over the past centuries, the alignment of forces on the geopolitical map has changed many times, states emerged and disappeared, the will of the rulers of the army rushed to storm the fortresses, many thousands of unknown soldiers died in the distant lands. The confrontation between Russia and the Teutonic Order can serve as an example of an attempt to expand the so-called "Western values" to the East of Europe, which ended in failure. The question arises of how great the chances of a knight's army were to win.

Initial situation

At the end of the twelfth century, north-western Russia was in a position that can be characterized by the well-known expression "between the hammer and the anvil". Batu operated in the south-west, ravaging and plundering the disparate Slavic principalities. On the Baltic side, the promotion of German knights began. The strategic goal of the Christian army, declared by the Pope, was to report Catholicism to the consciousness of the indigenous population, who then professed paganism. Ugro-Finnish and Baltic tribes had militarily weak opposition, and the invasion in the first stage developed quite successfully. In the period from 1184 to the end of the century a number of victories allowed to develop success, to establish the Riga fortress and to gain a foothold on the bridgehead for further aggression. Actually, the European crusade Rome declared in 1198, he was supposed to become a kind of revenge for the defeat in the Holy Land. Methods and true goals were very far from the teachings of Christ - they had a pronounced political and economic background. In other words, the crusaders came to the land of Estonians and Livs to plunder and seize. On the eastern borders of the Teutonic Order and Russia in the beginning of the 13th century had a common border.

Military conflicts of the initial stage

Relations between the Teutons and Rusich were complex, their character was formed on the basis of the emerging military-political realities. Trade interests prompted temporary alliances and joint operations against pagan tribes, when situations dictated certain conditions. The common Christian faith, however, did not prevent the knights from gradually pursuing a policy of exaggeration of the Slavic population, which caused some concern. 1212 was marked by a military campaign of the combined fifteen thousand Novgorod-Polotsk troops to a number of castles. Then a brief truce followed. The Teutonic Order and Russia entered a period of conflict that would last for decades.

Western sanctions of the 13th century

The "Chronicle of Livonia" by Henry of Latvia contains information about the siege of the castle of Venden by the Novgorodians in 1217. The Germans also became enemies of the Danes, who wanted to grab their piece of the Baltic pie. They founded an outpost, the fortress "Taani lin" (now Revel). This created additional difficulties, including those related to supply. In connection with these and many other circumstances, he was forced to repeatedly review his military policy and the Teutonic Order. Attitudes with Russia were complex, raids on outposts continued, serious measures were required to counter.

However, the ammunition did not quite correspond to ambitions. Pope Gregory IX for the conduct of full-scale military operations simply lacked economic resources and, in addition to ideological measures, he could oppose the Russian power only to the economic blockade of Novgorod, which was done in 1228. Today, these actions would be called sanctions. They did not succeed, Gothland merchants did not sacrifice profits in the name of papal aggressive aspirations, and in their majority appeals for blockade were ignored.

The myth of hordes of "dog-knights"

More or less successful campaigns for the possession of knights continued during the reign of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the victory near Yuryev made this city a list of Novgorod tributaries (1234). In essence, the usual image of the hordes of armored, crusaders, who stormed the Russian cities, created by cinematographers (first of all by Sergei Eisenstein), obviously did not quite correspond to the historical truth. The Knights conducted a positional struggle more likely, trying to keep the castles and fortresses they built, occasionally daring to do it, however bold, equally adventurous. The Teutonic Order and Russia in the thirties of the thirteenth century had different resource bases, and their ratio was increasingly not in favor of the German conquerors.

Alexander Nevskiy

His title the Novgorod prince deserved victory over the Swedes, dared to land in 1240 on Russian soil, at the mouth of the Neva. The intentions of the "landing force" did not cause doubts, and a young, but already experienced military commander (father's school) led his small unit into a decisive offensive. The victory was a reward for courage, and it was not the last. Another crusade against the Rus of the Teutonic Order, undertaken by the knights in 1242, ended pitifully for the invaders. The battle plan, later called the "Battle of the Ice", was brilliantly thought out and successfully implemented. Prince Alexander Nevsky took into account the peculiarities of the terrain, used non-standard tactics, enlisted the support of the Horde, received from her serious military assistance, in general, applied all available resources and won a victory that glorified his name in the centuries. On the bottom of Lake Peipsi considerable enemy forces left, and the rest of the warriors were killed or captured. 1262 was noted in the textbooks of history as the date of the conclusion of the union of Novgorod with the Lithuanian prince Mindovg, together with which the siege of Wenden was carried out, not quite successful, but also not unsuccessful: the enemy connected forces caused significant damage. After this event, the Teutonic Order and Rus almost cease mutual military activity for six years. Concluded are agreements favorable for Novgorod on the division of spheres of influence.

Ending the conflict

All wars ever end. The long confrontation ended, in which the Livonian Teutonic Order and Rus converged. Briefly we can mention the last significant episode of the long-standing conflict - the Rakovorska Battle, now almost forgotten. It took place in February 1268 and showed the impotence of the united Danish-German army, which tried to reverse the general strategic situation in its favor. At the first stage, the knights managed to press the positions of the warriors led by Prince Alexander Nevsky's son Dmitry. Then a counterattack of five thousand troops followed, and the enemy fled. Formally, the battle ended in a draw: the Russian troops failed to take the besieged fortress (perhaps this task was not raised for fear of large losses), but this and other less ambitious attempts to seize the Teutonic initiative failed. Today they are reminded only of the old castles that have been preserved.