Russia Commemorates Kulikovo Field Victory

[Austrvegr]

On 21 September, Russia celebrated the 625th anniversary of the Kulikovo Field victory. In 1380 united armies of several Russian kingdoms headed by High King Dmitry of Moscow routed hordes of the Tatar ruler Mamay. The battle became one of the most glorious events in the history of Russia.

Kulikovo Field where the battle took place



Monument to Fallen Russian Warriors



Memorial Church of St Sergius of Radonezh



Monument to King Dmitry



Patriarch Alexis II heading the celebration



Guard of Honor at the tombs of Peresvet and Oslyabya, two warrior monks who accompanied King Dmitry to the battle

[Austrvegr]

Battle reconstruction

[Menydh]

Kulikovo Battle and Kulikovo Polye


The Kulikovo battle of 1380 is the most important event in the history of the medieval Russia, which to a great extent shaped the further destiny of the Russian state. The battle on the Kulikovo Polye became the beginning of the enfranchisement of North-West Russia from the yoke of the Golden Horde. The increasing power of Moscow principality, the growth of its authority among other Russian principalities, the refusal of Moscow to pay tribute became the main reasons of organizing a big military campaign against Russia by Mamai, the ruler of the Golden Horde.

By the fall of 1380 the main forces of Mamai crossed the river Volga and were moving slowly to the north to meet their allies in the basin of the Oka river. Kolomna was appointed as the place of the Russian troops concentration. It was for the first time in the history of Russia of the 12-14 centuries when such a multitude of warriors joined the banner of the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich. Having crossed the Oka river the Russian host moved in a fast march to the Kulikovo Polye. On September 6 the Russian regiments reached the Don river by the Old Dankovskaya road. The military council decided to cross the Don river and meet the enemy. Late at night on September the 7th the troops crossed the river. Early in the morning, September the 8th, they began to draw up into the battle-array facing the south-east, the watershed, from where Mamai’s forces were moving.

The Russian troops lined up into the then traditional three line order. The Outpost regiment was in the van, the Front regiment was located behind it. The main line of the Russian battle parade had three part division. The Big regiment was in the middle, its flanks were protected by the Right Hand and the Left Hand regiments. The reserves were located behind the Big regiment. The Russian generals, predicting the course of the battle, located the Ambush regiment in the Green woods, to the east from the Left Hand regiment. The Ambush regiment had the best horse troops. The flanks of the Russian host stood close to the Nizhni Dubik and Smolka rivers cliffs, covered with forests. Mamai located his troops in the line order, too. In the middle there was hired Genoese infantry. On the flanks and behind the infantry there were troops of the Horde’s cavalry and hired warriors. Behind them there were the reserves. The battle began at about 11 o’clock by the attacks of the Horde’s infantry and cavalry against the Outpost and Front regiments. Having outstayed the first attack, the remains of the regiments went back to the main Russian forces. The severe front attacks of the Horde’s cavalry began along all the defense line of the Russian troops. They stood through, and then Mamai sent his reserves against the Left Hand regiment, trying to create preponderance. Despite the strong resistance of the Russian troops, the Horde’s army managed to break through the Russian lines in this disposition. Having lost the most part of its soldiers, the Left Hand regiment began to retreat. The reserves didn’t save the situation. At about 2 o’clock the Golden Horde moved to the rearward of the Russian troops, outflanking the Big regiment. There was a real threat of ringing and destroying the Russian forces. It was the culmination of the battle. And at this moment the Ambush regiment attacked the back of the Horde’s cavalry. The unexpected involvement of the fresh Russian troops changed the situation dramatically. The attack of the Ambush regiment was the signal for Moscow host to assume the offensive. The Mamai's army flew. Till late at night the Russian troops pursued the. It was the absolute victory. The Golden Horde troops were completely destroyed. The threat of the total servitude of Russia was eliminated; it is hard to imagine the results of such a servitude. The dead warriors had been picked up on the field and buried in the bed of honor during seven days.

The Kulikovo battle became the largest fight of the Middle Ages. More than one hundred thousand warriors participated in it. The Golden Horde was defeated. The Kulikovo battle became the turning point in the struggle of Russia against the Tatar-Mongol Yoke and influenced the formation of the united Russian state, the creation of the Russian national consciousness.

The Kulikovo battle had always been an object of thorough study from the points of view of political, diplomatic and scientific life of the Russian society of the 15-20 centuries. According to one legend, the Russian Emperor Peter The Great, having visited the construction site of the sluice on Ivan Lake, watched the Kulikovo Polye and ordered to mark the remaining oaks of the Green Woods so that they wouldn’t be cut over. The real interest to the Kulikovo Polye, though, arose in the first quarter of the 19 century.

The Russian troops lined up into the then traditional three line order. The Outpost regiment was in the van, the Front regiment was located behind it. The main line of the Russian battle parade had three part division. The Big regiment was in the middle, its flanks were protected by the Right Hand and the Left Hand regiments. The reserves were located behind the Big regiment. The Russian generals, predicting the course of the battle, located the Ambush regiment in the Green woods, to the east from the Left Hand regiment. The Ambush regiment had the best horse troops. The flanks of the Russian host stood close to the Nizhni Dubik and Smolka rivers cliffs, covered with forests. Mamai located his troops in the line order, too. In the middle there was hired Genoese infantry. On the flanks and behind the infantry there were troops of the Horde’s cavalry and hired warriors. Behind them there were the reserves. The battle began at about 11 o’clock by the attacks of the Horde’s infantry and cavalry against the Outpost and Front regiments. Having outstayed the first attack, the remains of the regiments went back to the main Russian forces. The severe front attacks of the Horde’s cavalry began along all the defense line of the Russian troops. They stood through, and then Mamai sent his reserves against the Left Hand regiment, trying to create preponderance. Despite the strong resistance of the Russian troops, the Horde’s army managed to break through the Russian lines in this disposition. Having lost the most part of its soldiers, the Left Hand regiment began to retreat. The reserves didn’t save the situation. At about 2 o’clock the Golden Horde moved to the rearward of the Russian troops, outflanking the Big regiment. There was a real threat of ringing and destroying the Russian forces. It was the culmination of the battle. And at this moment the Ambush regiment attacked the back of the Horde’s cavalry. The unexpected involvement of the fresh Russian troops changed the situation dramatically. The attack of the Ambush regiment was the signal for Moscow host to assume the offensive. The Mamai's army flew. Till late at night the Russian troops pursued the. It was the absolute victory. The Golden Horde troops were completely destroyed. The threat of the total servitude of Russia was eliminated; it is hard to imagine the results of such a servitude. The dead warriors had been picked up on the field and buried in the bed of honor during seven days.
The Kulikovo battle became the largest fight of the Middle Ages. More than one hundred thousand warriors participated in it. The Golden Horde was defeated. The Kulikovo battle became the turning point in the struggle of Russia against the Tatar-Mongol Yoke and influenced the formation of the united Russian state, the creation of the Russian national consciousness.

The Kulikovo battle had always been an object of thorough study from the points of view of political, diplomatic and scientific life of the Russian society of the 15-20 centuries. According to one legend, the Russian Emperor Peter The Great, having visited the construction site of the sluice on Ivan Lake, watched the Kulikovo Polye and ordered to mark the remaining oaks of the Green Woods so that they wouldn’t be cut over. The real interest to the Kulikovo Polye, though, arose in the first quarter of the 19 century.

On the 8th of September 1880 crowds of people witnessed the military parade and artillery salute near the monument to Dmitry Donskoi at the Kulikovo Polye. The celebration of the jubilee made the Tula historians again study the ancient history of the Kulikovo Polye.

The well known Tula historian and public figure Troitsky I.N. visited the Kulikovo Polye three times in 1880s. He studied the antiquities in the intervale of the Nepryadva river. By the beginning of the 20 century the Tula clergy decided to build on the Kulikovo Polye a church of Sergei Radonezhsky. The creation of the design was assigned to the architect Schusev A.V., who finished his work in 1911. The church had been under construction for four years, since 1913 through 1917. The October revolution and the Civil war interrupted the construction.

For almost 50 years the field of the Russian glory was forgotten. The new period in the history of the Kulikovo Polye was opened by the Decree of the Soviet government ‘On the preparation to the 600 anniversary of the Kulikovo battle’. By the jubilee they reconstructed the Sergei Radonezhsky church on the Krasny Hill, the Our Lady’s Nativity church in the village of Monastyrshina, the monument to Dmitry Donskoi. The accomplishment of the memorial on the Krasny Hill was finished, too. At the Sergei Radonezhsky church the museum exhibition devoted to the Kulikovo battle was created under the leadership of the specialists from the State Historical museum. In the middle of the field the specialists tried to reconstruct the Green Woods.

The Kulikovo Polye is the unique memorial object, the most valuable natural and historical complex, which includes numerous archeological memorials, architectural monuments and sculptures, monuments of nature. More than 380 items of archeological memorials of different times and epochs had been found on the Kulikovo Polye. In general, the Kulikovo Polye is one of the most important subjects of study of the rural population in the ancient period of the Russian history (similar to the surroundings of Chernigov and Suzdal area). It represents the unique archeological complex. 12 architectural monuments had been found over there, among them 10 churches (built mainly in 19-20 centuries). The most remarkable of them is the Sergey Radonezhsky church. The complex archeological and geographical researches of the last 17 years proved that on the territory of the Kulikovo Polye, not far from the place of the battle, there are the pieces of land with the steppe flora, such as feather-grass, and the woods, close to the primitive forests.


[source]

[Nestor]

Amazing architecture. They really put an effort into making such sites worthy of visiting. Have to get out there some day.

[Nestor]

Did some research and basically this is another one of those Russian Myths.

In the first edition of the Great Soviet Encylopaedia (BCE) volume 22, 1935 in the article about Dimitri Ivanovych only gets only gets 3 lines

In the BCE for 1937 volume 35 it has a slightly larger article about the Battle of Kulikovo that states that it was "the first serious attempt by the Moscovites to free themselves from Tartar tyrany". Indeed it was an attempt but it was not successful.

In the Encylopaedic dictionary of the Russian Biographic Institute GRANAT (1902) it states that "this battle did not free the Moscovite lands from the Tatar yoke. In 1382 Tokhtamish, who replaced Mamai in the Horde unexpectedly attacked and ransacked Moscow and that the moscovite princes for over 100 years continuesd to pay hommage to the Horde. The Kulikove Battle S. Solovyiv states (1896 Book 1, page 981) was one of those battles which can easily be treated as a great defeat.

However in the post WWII version of the BSE (volume 14 , 1952) the tone suddenly changes. Suddenly Dmitri Ivanovych becomes Dmitri Donskoy and now he is "one of the greatest lovedheroes" The article is also larger containing maps and a battle plan. Now the Battle of Kulikovo becomes not just an attempt but the greatest event of its time - the turning battle at which the "Russian people" fought against tatar Slavery.

In later editions Soviet historians stated that "at this battle for the first time the attempts of Ukrainian and Byelorus lands to reunite with the Great Russians was visible".....

Why the sudden change?
Mainly because in a parade by the Red Army n 7 November 1941 in Moscow Stalin mentioned Donskoy in a list of great anscestors whose portrait demonstrates the courage required by Soviet fighters in their fight against "German Fascists conquerers...."

The new articles published paid no attention to such salient facts that in the face of danger (the armies of Tokhtamish were on the outskirts of Moscow) Donskoy left the capital in haste. In the Children's encyclopedia (Vl 8. M, 1967 p. 246) it states that he left to Kostrom on the Volga to build up another army. In Yuzhakov's encylopaedia (St, P,, 1902 - Vol 8, p 483) he "escaped" - "ran away" to Kostrom.

However, the Kulikove Battle was not even the first battle to rid Rus' of the Mongol-Tartars.

20 years earlier in 1362 there was a battle at Syni Vody in ukraine It is noted in chronicles compiled by the Polish chronicler of the 16th century Stryjkovski - "The Lithunian prince Olgerd, after attaining the Lithuanian crown, went out to free southern Rus' of the Tartars and with the aid of 4 relatives - Alexander, Konstiantyn, Yuri and fedor Koriatovych gathered an army and went off to Novogrudky to fight the tartars in the Wild Fields. When they reached kaniv and Cherkassy they came to Synya voda (today Sunyukha), and saw the camp of the tartars seperated in three sections. Olgerd divided the army into 6 sections and set them up as in a semicircle so that the tartars could not use their arrows.. .. anyway he beat them big time and then went off to the Podol area of Ukraine where he chased out all the Tartars as well.

M. Hrushevsky in his history writes about the battle in detail (1993 Vol 4 p. 73-92) and there are numerous other citations available.

This in fact was the first successful attempt to free Rus' of the Tartars.

The other fct of contention is that the Battle of Kulikovo was a battle to free Rus. Here it only should refer to Moscovy or the Northern Principalities but not of Ru's because these are different and seperate concepts.

[Menydh]

Stamp commemorating the 625th anniversary of the battle of Kulikovo



From the Columbia Encyclopedia

Kulikovo, battle of

(klykô´v) (KEY) , 1380, victory of Grand Duke Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow over Khan Mamai of the Golden Horde. The battle was fought on a plain by the Don near the present village of Kurkino, Russia, SE of Tula. Although the victory was the first Russian defeat of the Tatars, it did not eliminate Mongol rule, which endured for another century.

[source]

From the Encyclopedia Britannica

Battle of Kulikovo


(Sept. 8, 1380), military engagement in which the Russians defeated the forces of the Golden Horde, thereby demonstrating the developing independence of the Russian lands from Mongol rule (which had been imposed in 1240). The battle occurred when Mamai, a Mongol general who effectively ruled the western portion of the Golden Horde, invaded the Russian lands. The Russians, whose…

[source]

Obviously it didn't end with the Tatar yoke of one blow, but as with other great battles in history it was the cornerstone which led to the end of Mongol rule.

I haven't been able to find one single reference to that battle of Siny Vody that you mention.

[Ross]

I haven't been able to find one single reference to that battle of Siny Vody that you mention.

It's known as the Blue Waters river battle. The Blue Waters river is located in Western Ukraine.

The battle was probably 10 times less significant than the Kulikovo battle, taking into account reports of casualities. It was not viewed as a great event by chroniclers. It's also known that the Hordes' forces offered little resistance, being scattered and desorganized.

In this battle a Russian (Belarussian/Lithuanian) army defeated forces of three local Tatar princes and took the formal control over Central-Western and Central-Northern Ukraine. Before it the territory was a part of a Tatar Khanate. After the battle it became a dependent territory, like Moscow Rus, and had to pay tribut to Tatars.

It's what our Ukrainian friends do not like to mention: unlike Ukraine, Russia never was a part of any Tatar state. Tatar princes were ruling Ukraine and living there, surrounded by hordes of Tatars, intermixing with local population.

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by Austrvegr

Battle reconstruction

Nice reconstruction! I love these helmets with the masks. I had never seen such thing before. The Saxon helmet excepted. How do you call them?

[Nestor]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

I haven't been able to find one single reference to that battle of Siny Vody that you mention.

Here are some sources that may help you:

Похилевич,В - Сказаниа о населенних местностях Киевской губернии. К. 1864 с. 348-349
Грушевський, М. - Історія України 1993 Т 4 с. 73-92
Матівос, Ю. Благословен мечів вогонь - Кримська світлиця (1999)
Полонська-Василенко, Н. - Історія України в двох томах (1993 - Т1 С. 312)
Енцилопедія Українознавства - К. 1995 Т2 С.432
Никоновский летопис за 1363


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olgerd
Algirdas (approximate English transcription [ˈaːl(ə).gır.dʌs], simplified Lithuanian transcription [āl'girdas]; known as Olgierd in Slavic languages), b. ca. 1296, d. end of May, 1377, was the Grand Prince of Lithuania 1345 – 1377. He is widely regarded as the greatest ruler of medieval Lithuania. Probably the last pagan sovereign of Europe, he created a vast empire stretching from the Baltics to the Black Sea and reaching within 50 miles from Moscow.

....

Nevertheless, Olgierd not only succeeded in holding his own, but acquired influence and territory at the expense of 1:0 to Muscovy and the Tatars, and extended the borders of Lithuania to the shores of the Black Sea. The principal efforts of this eminent empire-maker were directed to securing those of the Slavonic lands which had formed part of the ancient Kievan Rus. He procured the election of his son Andrew as prince of Pskov, and a powerful minority of the citizens of the republic of Novgorod held the balance in his favor against the Muscovite influence, but his ascendancy in both these commercial centres was at the best precarious.

On the other hand he acquired permanently the important principalities of Smolensk and Bryansk in western Russia. His relations with the grand dukes of Muscovy were friendly on the whole, and twice he married Orthodox Russian princesses; but this did not prevent him from besieging Moscow in 1368 and again in 1372, both times unsuccessfully.
Algirdas' most memorable feat was his great victory over the Tatars at the Blue Waters of the Southern Bug in 1362, which practically broke up the great Kipchak horde and compelled the khan to migrate still farther south and establish his headquarters for the future in the Crimea. Indeed, but for the unceasing simultaneous struggle with the Teutonic knights, the burden of which was heroically borne by Kestutis, Russian historians frankly admit that Lithuania, not Muscovy, must have become the dominant power of Eastern Europe. Olgierd died in 1377, accepting both Christianity and the tonsure shortly before his death. His descendants included Troubetzkoys, Czartoryskis, and Sanguszkos.

Unlike his descendants, Algirdas wisely vacillated between Muscovy and Poland, spoke the Ruthenian language, and was more inclined to follow the majority of his Orthodox subjects rather than to alienate them by promoting Roman Catholicism. His son Jagiello, however, ascended the Polish throne, and was the founder of the dynasty which ruled Poland for nearly 200 years.

[Nestor]

Originally Posted by Ross

It's known as the Blue Waters river battle. The Blue Waters river is located in Western Ukraine.

Blue Waters is located in central Ukraine south of Kyiv. Currently it is known as Syniukha.

Originally Posted by Ross

The battle was probably 10 times less significant than the Kulikovo battle, taking into account reports of casualities. It was not viewed as a great event by chroniclers. It's also known that the Hordes' forces offered little resistance, being scattered and desorganized.

What you probably meant to say is that 10 times more effort was put into promoting the Kulikovo Battle after WWII. The casualties were less on the side of Olgerd because of his superior battle strategies. Russia interpretation of Kulikovo raised the number of causlaties to reflect the number of Soviet Soldiers being lost in WWII when Stalin pulled this Myth out.

Originally Posted by Ross

In this battle a Russian (Belarussian/Lithuanian) army defeated forces of three local Tatar princes and took the formal control over Central-Western and Central-Northern Ukraine. Before it the territory was a part of a Tatar Khanate. After the battle it became a dependent territory, like Moscow Rus, and had to pay tribut to Tatars.

here you are incorrect. After the battle the territory was incorporated into the Lithuanian Commonwealth. I have no information about it paying tribute to the Tartars

Originally Posted by Ross

It's what our Ukrainian friends do not like to mention: unlike Ukraine, Russia never was a part of any Tatar state. Tatar princes were ruling Ukraine and living there, surrounded by hordes of Tatars, intermixing with local population.

The histroic facts demonstrate the opposite.

[Nestor]

Nice photos. Amazing costumes. The land is really beautiful. Amazing how much money they are pouring into supporting such a Russian Myth. Would be better if they raised peoples pensions and sunk some of the money into medical care.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Nestor

Blue Waters is located in central Ukraine south of Kyiv. Currently it is known as Syniukha.

Yes, and it's Western Ukraine

What you probably meant to say is that 10 times more effort was put into promoting the Kulikovo Battle after WWII.

Prince Dmitry became known as Donskoy and "Zadonschina" was written after WWII? LOL

You've got BS in your head, vuiko.

The casualties were less on the side of Olgerd because of his superior battle strategies.

No, the casualities were many times less because it was an insiginificant battle. West-Rus/Belarussian, Lithuanian and Polish chroniclers speak a lot about battles far less significant than the Kulikovo battle, yet hardly mention the Blue Waters melee.

Russia interpretation of Kulikovo raised the number of causlaties to reflect the number of Soviet Soldiers being lost in WWII when Stalin pulled this Myth out.

The Kulikovo battle was viewed as the crucial point of Russian struggle against the Tataro-Mongols even before the battle. All Great Russian forces were summoned. It was viewd as a crusade.

Umlike with the insignificant Blue Waters melee, glory about the great Russian victory over ALL Mongolo-Tatar forces reached Khorezm (Central Asia), Shiraz (Iran), Derbent (Northern Caucasus), Constantinople, Rome and the Arab world and Germany.

A German chronicler has written that the Kulikovo battle was the greatest battle ever.

here you are incorrect. After the battle the territory was incorporated into the Lithuanian Commonwealth. I have no information about it paying tribute to the Tartars

Nope, it was the territory of the Tatar state.

All Ukrainian territories were paying tribute to Tatars, even those under the Polish control far in the West.

The histroic facts demonstrate the opposite.

LOL

You're a day dreamer.

[Nestor]

Originally Posted by Ross

Yes, and it's Western Ukraine

Look in the atlas. You are mstaken

Originally Posted by Ross

Prince Dmitry became known as Donskoy and "Zadonschina" was written after WWII?

That is not what I wrote. Please reread and qote correctly.

Originally Posted by Ross

No, the casualities were many times less because it was an insiginificant battle. West-Rus/Belarussian, Lithuanian and Polish chroniclers speak a lot about battles far less significant than the Kulikovo battle, yet hardly mention the Blue Waters melee.

That probably why in the first edition of the Great Soviet Encylopaedia (BCE) volume 22, 1935 in the article about Dimitri Ivanovych only gets only gets 3 lines.
The Blues water battle gets 9 pages in Hrushevsky's history of Rus's-Ukraine but then you are only relying on distorted Soviet Chauvenist publications which disregard anything Stalin didn't pay attention to.

Originally Posted by Ross

A German chronicler has written that the Kulikovo battle was the greatest battle ever.

I notice that yiou don't mention the chronicler nor the source. Is that intentional because there is no such source or because he is one of you friends.

Originally Posted by Ross

Nope, it was the territory of the Tatar state.

Ross- you are mixing up your Russian and Ukrainian history. There is a difference you know. I understand it is diffiecult to give up something that you took for granted. I understand that your information is distorted. But stop babbling such rubbish. You are loosing whatever is left of your authority

Originally Posted by Ross

You're a day dreamer.

Is that the best you can do???????

[Nestor]

Originally Posted by Ross

Yes, and it's Western Ukraine

Look in the atlas. You are mistaken ..... again.

Originally Posted by Ross

Prince Dmitry became known as Donskoy and "Zadonschina" was written after WWII?

That is not what I wrote. Please reread and quote correctly. I understand you have an active and creative mind but accuracy is more beneficial in a forum such as this.

Originally Posted by Ross