In the thirteenth century, Mongol armies swept across the eastern European steppes, destroying one Rus' principality after another. The princes who ruled the Rus' principalities either fled to Poland or Sweden or became the swords of the Mongols. But there was such a man who could bend and stretch, and he relied on the snake to the Mongols, won the trust of the Mongols, and won the final victory.
Alexander Jaroslavich Nevsky was the unfortunate last ruler of Kievan Rus' and the son of Grand Duke Yaroslav II Vorskyorodovich, Grand Duke Vladimir. The elder Vorshevolodovich was succeeded to the title by his brother, Grand Duke Of vladimir, Yuri Vseivolodović, upon his death. The latter was hammered by the Mongols during the Battle of the Siti River against the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army. So Alexander Nevsky's frightened father, crawled into the golden tent of Battu Khan with a rolling belt, and escaped by bowing down to his subjects.
Our protagonist, Alexander Jaroslavich Nevsky, was born in May 1221. At the age of four, the young prince was baptized in the Orthodox Church at Yaroslavl Cathedral, and yes, the priest, holding the baby, was first stuck in the basin with his head down, washing his feet, and repeatedly baptizing three times. It seems that being a prince of the Rus' principalities is not an easy task, and you must survive this hurdle first.
At the age of 7, as a result of famine in the Principality of Novgorod, angry Slavic civilians were in a state of great violence. Alexander and his brother Theodore and his father were forced to flee to Riga for refuge, while the de facto ruler of the Principality of Novgorod was their uncle, the brother of Grand Duke Vorshevolodovich the Elder, Prince Vladimir Yuri Sevolovich of Moscow.
After two years in hiding in Riga, our little Alexander Nevsky was finally at work. Emissaries from the Principality of Novgorod brought new information that the situation in the Principality was nearing stability and that the elder Yuri intended to welcome his brother back to Novgorod and to govern the despondent principality together.
Therefore, the little Alexander's family set off to return to the Principality of Novgorod, and fortunately, three years after returning to the Principality of Novgorod, the young Theodore died of exhaustion because he could not withstand the high standards of his father and uncle, so the little Alexander Nevsky became the first heir to the duchy.
When Little Alexander was 14 years old, something big happened. Pope Gregory IX of Rome suddenly announced a crusade to teach The Finnish and Slavic barbarians of Novgorod who refused to accept the indoctrination.
The war began when The Father of Little Alexander, Grand Duke Severodovich the Elder, instigated Finns and Slavs living in (present-day) Estonia to fight against the Livonian Knights of the Sword.
He also used his hands on the Swedish-controlled part of Finland, and he tried to get his men, the Orthodox Finns and Slavs, to seize Swedish-controlled Finnish territory.
As a result, the war did not go well, although the Teutonic Knights and the Knights of the Sword of Livonia attacked in the winter of 1232. Although the Novgorod army, by weather, achieved some tactical victories. But they could not defeat their opponents completely, and they were instead occupied many towns. It was not until the winter of two years later, when the Knights and novgorod armies fought a decisive battle on the frozen Emmayogi River, when a large number of soldiers from both sides fell into the icy waters and died, and the Knights, who could not bear the heavy sacrifices of precious knights, were forced to retreat, and the war was over.
After defeating the two great orders, the elder Vishevolodovich traveled to Kiev, restored his rule over Kiev, and officially became an ally of the Rus' principalities. After all, you see, the people have just defeated the two great knights of teutonics and the sword, and now that is the time of great fame, which Rus princes dare to look down on others?
Moreover, those Rus princes who wanted to fight the plate did not have the strength. They had just been hammered and blasted by the Mongols before, and it would take a long time to regain their strength.
After living in Kiev for two years, alexander Nevsky, who had reached adulthood, was able to participate alone in the administration of the principality. Unfortunately, in 1238, the barbarian Mongols returned.
They attacked the Rus' principalities, the Principality of Ryazan in the northeast. Prince Yuri Ingvarevich, who ruled the Ryazan principality, refused the Mongols' demands for his surrender. The brave Prince Yuri intended to unite with the Rus' principalities to fight the Mongols again.
As a result, it can be imagined that most of the Princes of Rus have long been frightened and dared to send troops. And the elder Vishevolodovich did not send troops after receiving the letter, who called him a vassal of the Mongols. So the Mongols destroyed Ryazan and marched to Moscow.
According to the Novgorod Chronicle: "The Mongol army suffered a shameful defeat in this battle, and Roman Ingvarevich of Moscow led the Moscow army, the defeated soldiers of Ryazan and the volunteers of Novgorod, rushed into the camp of the Mongol army and beheaded the son of Kur Khan, causing the Mongol army to lose command." ”
But no matter how much the Russians made history, the fact that the Mongols hammered down the armies of the Muscovite Principality and occupied Moscow could not be changed. However, they did not attack Novgorod, which was adjacent to Moscow, and if there were really so-called Novgorod volunteers, it would be that the old Vsevolodović had committed a crime, and the vengeful Mongols would never let him go.
Because Alexander Nevsky, who escaped the disaster, finally had a place to show his fists in 1239. At this time, the newly emerging Lithuanian Principality was marching towards Minsk and Smolensk, so Alexander led his army into a protracted battle with the Lithuanian army, in which some Estonians who believed in Orthodox or primitive religions chose to support Alexander Nevsky.
The war involved Sweden and the Teutonic Knights, and the war was reversed, with Lithuanian troops occupying Pskov. Alexander tried his best to repel the Swedish attack, and in 1242, he fought another decisive battle with the Teutonic Knights on the frozen lake, and the result was that the upright Teutonic Knights successfully repeated the same mistake. This allowed Novgorod to successfully stabilize the front and expand part of the land.
Alexander Nevsky's father was then summoned by the Great Khan of the Golden Horde and became a courtier of the Great Khan. The prince himself became the spokesman for the Mongols, administering the territories of the conquered Rus' principalities for the Mongols.
As his father became a courtier of the Great Khan of the Golden Horde, Alexander Nevsky was supported by the Mongols. In 1245, a decisive battle was fought against the Lithuanian army, in which Novgorod crushed the Lithuanian army in one fell swoop, killing a total of 8 Lithuanian princes and expanding its sphere of influence to the western part of Chude Lake.
Later, Alexander's father, on his way to accompany the Khan to China, inexplicably ate poisonous food and died. Alexander Nevsky also replaced his father as a courtier of the Golden Horde. He successfully reached China in 1249 and returned to Novgorod.
But after two years of going back and forth, his other brother, Prince Mikhail of Moscow, abrogated him, usurped the rule of Novgorod and Kiev, and established himself emperor of the Rus' principalities.
Faced with Alexander's cries, the Khan of the Golden Horde was very angry at Mikhail's behavior. Mikhail was plotting rebellion, and without the khan's permission, he dared to usurp power and establish himself as emperor. So the Khan decided to support Alexander Nevsky, but before the Mongol crusading army could set out, news came that Mikhail had been killed by the Lithuanians.
With the support of the Mongols, Alexander Nevsky became the ruler of Novgorod and Kiev again. As a compliment to accompany the khan to China. As a grieving effort to appease his father's death, the Khan gave Alexander all the lands controlled by the Khanate, from Zaporizhia to Saratov, and crowned him king of the Duchy of All Rus' .
Alexander then formally accepted the proposal of the Holy See, agreed to the entry of the Holy See's forces into the lands of Rus, and established the archbishop's residence in Pskov. In the same year, Alexander also reconciled with Sweden and Norway, and established the northern border of Novgorod, formally established the rule of the Karelia region, and promised not to extend further access to the Finnish settlements in the north.
After dealing with border and religious issues, Alexander once again went to the Khan's Golden Horde, and just as he was reporting to the Khan's court, the nobles of Novgorod once again rebelled. A guy named Nefreuy united many nobles against Alexander's rule. Unfortunately, these brave and unlucky eggs were all hung up and beaten by the Mongols, some escaped to Sweden, and alexander Nevsky's rule became more secure.
Alexander Nevsky, with the support of the Mongols, engaged in a five-year territorial war with Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights. Although Alexander's eldest son Vasily led an army to victory in the direction of Pskov and Tver, the Lithuanian and Teutonic armies captured the Duchy of Smolensk and briefly marched towards Moscow due to the anti-Mongol campaign launched by Michal, the son of Prince Vasily.
An enraged Alexander and mongol emissaries executed the ministers who instigated the rebellion of Prince Michal and exiled the hapless prince. Alexander then personally administered the kingdom, and with his assistance the Mongols expanded their rule to almost the entire Rus' region, and he also assisted the Mongols in continuing their offensive in the direction of Poland and Hungary.
Many Russians today consider Alexander to be a great man, the great emperor of Russia, who protected Russia and all the Slavs. But there are also some extreme Russians who think that Alexander Nevsky is not fit to be called the Emperor, he is a guy who betrayed Russia, betrayed all Slavs.
Perhaps Alexander Nevsky was not as brave as his uncle, nor as daring as his relatives to stand up against the hegemony of the Mongols. But his gentleness and forbearance enabled the Rus' principalities to avoid the fate of complete destruction and later develop and grow, which was also a feat.
Prince Alexander Nevsky Nevsky
Novgorod Yearbook
《Alexander Nevsky: defender of the Russian land》