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Stuckenschmidt

Deus Vult
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Jun 25, 2004
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Table of Content

Chapter I - East Europe until 750
Chapter II - Subjugation and emerging centers (750 - 800)
Chapter III - Rising Kingdoms (800 - 850)
Chapter IV - Decline of Lithuania (850 - 900)
Chapter V - Religious and political shift in northern East Europe (900 - 950)
Chapter VI - Scandinavian influence (950 - 1000)
Chapter VII - Schism and Centralization (1000 - 1050)
Chapter VIII - The expiring Transformation Period (1050 - 1100)
Chapter IX - Cultural shift in the Rus (1100 - 1150)
Chapter X - The Frontier (1150 - 1200)
Chapter XI - The Mongols (1200 - 1250)
Chapter XII - Dominant powers in the North and South (1250 - 1300)
Chapter XIII - Black Death (1300 - 1350)
Chapter XIV - Russian Expansion (1350 - 1400)
Chapter XV - Smuta (1400 - 1440)
Chapter XVI - Epilogue
 
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Hello fellow Forumites.

I always wanted to do some sort of Megacampaign and this is the beginning of my attempt. The idea is to do a historybook AAR. The first few centuries during CK2 will not follow a specific realm (although I begin playing as Murom aka Vladimir-Susdal), but rather the developments in whole East Europe in general. Hopefully I will not fail. :)
 
East Europe until 750


A. Introduction

Russia. 17 million square kilometer. 140 million people. Major power in global politics. Russia, no matter how controversial its actions might get discussed, is one of the powers that shaped the history of Europe and Asia.

But in the middle of the 8th century nothing of all that was even a silver lining on the horizon and none of the contemporaries of that time, in which the territory of today`s Russia was a culturally and politically highly fragmented territory, would have even imagined a huge country with a unified nation that speaks the same language and follows the same belief.

This first Volume of "The History of Russia" will cover the period of time from the early medieval to the early modern age, in which the territory of today`s Russia steps out of the dark and slowly turns into the birthplace of several modern nations. Since Russia was not even an idea in the early medieval, this book will cover the developments in today`s western Russia as well as some of its current neighbors, especially the Ukraine and Belarus. When the term "East Europe" is used, it refers to the whole of this area.


B. The geographical and cultural landscape

East Europe of the 8th century can be divided in two major regions. In the north a large territory, in which agriculture is possible, but the yields are considerably low due to cold weather, long winters and less fertile soil. Hence the dense woods in which the population basically lived, had to provide for the people and for the next centuries furs were one major export good of the region.

In the middle of the 8th century this region was inhabited by people of three major cultural blocs. Initially Baltic and Finno-Ugric people shared the territory, until the Slavic migration movement eastward began during the 6th century. Two hundred years later the Slavs had occupied respectively assimilated many former Finno-Ugric locations.

These different cultural blocs consisted of many different tribes, which shared religious beliefs (and there were clear similarities in the mythologies of all three cultures) and languages. The most important conformity between these three was, that they were all settled agricultural societies despite the fact, that villages roamed to different places, when the local soil was exhausted.

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Fig. 1: The cultural blocs in East Europe around 750


The situation was different in the south. The climate became more friendly and agriculture had better prospects. But due to the (from west to east) decreasing amount of annual precipitation the farmland slowly changed into the western edge of the Eurasian Steppe.

For centuries the steppe has been home for several nomadic people and the area to the north of the Black Sea the doorstep for migration movements to Europe, with the Huns being the most popular representatives. In the middle of the 8th century there were numerous nomadic people living in the south, which clearly differed from their northern neighbors in language and religion.


C. The societal and political map

V.O. Klyuchevsky, the "Father" of Russian historiography, once said that while Germanic people "settled down amidst ruins", the Slavic people arrived in an "infinite plain", whose "woods and swamps severely hampered the economy" and lived "among neighbors from whom they had nothing to borrow".

This is basically correct. South of the Black Sea there was a large and, despite the Islamic expansion, still powerful Byzantine Empire, which was the representative of an old and developed civilization, which had brought forth an elaborated urban culture. And although the Western Roman Empire was destroyed as a result of the Migration Period, the people who settled down on former roman territories did benefit from the culture and institutions they found there.

In both parts of the former Empire there were now more or less developed Kingdoms (the new Germanic Kingdoms being less developed than the Byzantine Empire), which shared a feudal social structure and the religious belief in one God and his son Jesus Christ.

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Fig. 2: Tribal societies in East Europe around 750


Nothing of this was true for East Europe. In the north, the people were still organized in small tribal structures and although some of them began to cooperate, anything comparable to a Germanic Kingdom did not exist. The situation in the south was slightly different insofar, as some nomadic people had succeeded to subdue several local tribes and form "Empires" like Old Great Bulgaria in the 7th century, which was conquered in turn by the Khazars, who are one of the most powerful nomadic people in the south besides the Magyars and Alani in the middle of the 8th century.

The struggle between settled and nomadic people and the ambition to establish developed and stable realms are the subjects of this book.
 
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Subscribed! Looks like a nice AAR and I love both historybook and megacampaigns!
 
A nice start so far, looking forward to the first gameplay installment :)
 
Count me in Man! I like your style!
 
Subjugation and emerging centers
(750 - 800)


I. Centralization in the north, Hegemony in the south

In the second half of the 8th century East Europe experienced a process of "thinning", in which probably half of the known Tribes disappear as independent entity. At the same time a small number of settlements emerge as fortified places.

Early Russian historians did interpret the latter as first "urbanization" of the Russian population, but archaeological evidence points to the conclusion, that these places were not population centers but rather primitive castles and political centers of the appropriate tribe. Furthermore these fortifications were not a general trend at that point of time, but have been found in just a few places like Novgorod, Tver, Ryazan and Vladimir.

The locations of these constructions coincide with the political centers of the more successful entities, which did benefit from the selection process of that time. Around 800 only three major tribes remained in the north. Ilmen (Novgorod), Vyatich (Tver) and Murom (Vladimir). Evidence implies, that these few tribes had gained access to the resources to actually realize such constructions by exploiting the resources of neighboring tribes, which were subdued.

It is a still debated issue, how this subjugation actually happened. Of course subjected tribes did not volunteer to be ruled by someone else and they were forced to it on the battlefield. But evidence shows, that they remained a considerably autonomous part of the now larger entity, so some historians argue that there had to be benefits at least for the thin upper class, so they maintained the status quo.

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Fig. 3: Nomadic and Tribal societies around 800


But the more interesting fact is, that this process took place at all. Most historians argue, that this was a reaction to the simultaneous developments in the south and east. The Khazarian Khanate had pushed west and north and overrun the Magyars as well as some smaller entities between the upper reaches of the Desna and Don rivers. At the same time the Bolghar Khanate had advanced westward and controlled the territories south of the Volga and east of the Oka river.

Due to these expansions many agricultural regions were now controlled by Nomadic people and the remaining settled tribes further to the north probably came to the conclusion, that the only way to survive was to copy this policy and expand the own power base in order to control more resources and thus secure the own existence.


II. Leadership in the "heroic" age

The body of source material for this period of time in East Europe is considerably thin and mainly consists of more or less contemporary Christian authors in the Byzantine Empire and Francia. The exegesis of these texts paints a specific picture concerning the nature of leadership in the still tribal societies.

Similar to feudal societies, personal leadership was essential. A leader who was not "present", especially on the battlefield, could not expect loyalty from his own people, even less from other tribes. But unlike its western contemporaries, the societies in East Europe were illiterate and news had to be spread orally.

Hence there seems to have been an amount of "heroic epics" being told about specific rulers, although none of them have been written down in later times. But Theophanes the Confessor mentions an epic called "Ilmica", which describes the deeds of Ilisi "Dragonslayer" during his war in the west versus the Trakai People. Modern historians assume, that this refers to the then leader of the Ilmen, who defeated the Lithuanian tribes, among them the Trakai, around the 780s.

Anyway, Theophanes mentions, although with a sarcastic undertone, how Ilisi did not only personally led his army into battle and defeated the enemy Chieftain in battle, but also how he allegedly fought versus mythical creatures. This reminds of the epic "Beowulf", and it is assumed, that strength, honor and bravery on a personal level were held in higher esteem than other virtues.
 
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Very interesting. Engadingly writtern, and intrigued to what is coming next.
Couldn't be happier really.

Good luck Stuck, and excited to see what you procure next.
 
I appreciate the way you are writing, and it is very clear that it is a historybook-AAR, which is also my favourite genre. Interesting note on the leadership and what sources are available, gives an additional depth and good explanation for ingame events.
 
The plan is to write one post per 50 years. What means another 13 posts upcoming. And since the sources during the medieval get better, the later posts will be more elaborate with specific details. So we are are slowly going from "there were people x doing stuff" to "ruler x declared war on y which lasted z years which had results so and so". You get the idea. :)
 
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Rising Kingdoms
(800 - 850)


I. Settlement history in the early 9th century

The early 9th century saw the progression of a development, that started in the late 8th. Fortified places, so far restricted to the centers of the major political entities, became a widespread construction in northern and central East Europe. These locations usually consisted of wooden walls, that enclosed a small area on top of a hill. An exception is the castle of Vladimir, which consisted of a significantly larger area surrounded by a massive stone wall.

Simultaneously small populations gathered around these places. It is a debated issue, whether these settlements may already be called cities, but the majority opinion so far is, that these were still pre-urban settlements. The fortifications were designed as seat of a political center and, up to a certain point, to control the surroundings. But they also had an increasing military infrastructure and these specialists needed a peasant population to feed them. Additionally there was a need for tools, weapons and even luxury goods, which called for the presence of skilled craftsmen or merchants. But nevertheless these settlements were still rural villages around a small castle, although they would develop into cities at a later point of time.


II. New Realms in the North

Around 800 the most powerful political entity in northern East Europe was Ilmen, which comprised the Northeast and had subdued the Lithuanian tribes in the 780s. At some time shortly after 800 the leader of the Ilmen, Yelisey (?), began to call himself King of Lithuania and resided in the area of today`s Vilnius. This is an interesting development, since he adopted the identity of his recently defeated enemies. Unfortunately there are no sources who indicate, what the reasons behind this decision were or whether this development caused unrest among the northern Tribes, who probably felt culturally assimilated.

A similar, although culturally less complex, development took place in central East Europe. The heartland of the Murom was around Vladimir-Suzdal, but throughout the late 8th / early 9th century they expanded westward. Eventually they subdued Tver and the territories north of the Volga River. Around the same time (some argue later) as the Kingdom of Lithuania was formed, the Kingdom of Rus was first mentioned in a Christian source.

R5_zpscwmfpvfg.jpg

Fig. 4: Political map of East Europe around 850


There is a long debate concerning the origin of the word "Rus" and there are supporters of the "Scandinavian" theory (stating that the word derives from Old Norse for "Rudder", indicating that they immigrated via the rivers) as well as the "East-Slavic" theory (advocating , that the word describes a Slavic tribe named after the word for a specific river the tribe did origin from).

Anyway in the middle of the 9th century there were two powerful entities in northern East Europe. Contrary to this development both the Khazarian and Bolghar Khanate did collaps during that period of time and left a number of agrarian and nomadic successor states behind.


II. Religious shift in the South

In the 3rd century Mani founded a syncretistic gnostic faith based on Zoroastrian, Christian and Buddhist thoughts, that was called Manichaeism.

During the early 9th century a large part (maybe the majority) especially of eastern Khazarian tribes abandoned Tengrism and adopted Manichaeism as their faith. Although this probably did not lead to a religious war, it must have caused enough split within the Khazarian elite, that the Khanate was divided and some Slavic regions in its western periphery even got independent.

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Fig.5: Spread of religious faiths around 850


This already complex religious situation got even more complicated with the arrival of Catholic Christianity in the southernmost parts of East Europe. Khagan Kundac, who had established the Carpathian Empire around 835, converted to Catholicism and took his new faith serious enough to establish the first Bishoprics. Although this made the religious situation more conflict-laden, it brought an educated cleric elite to the region (such as Slavko, Bishop of Cherkassy), which is a source for the developments in East Europe.
 
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Very interesting. :)
 
This is the first time I play a tribal realm. And boy, does the succession line need a lot of *cough* adjustments *cough*. :p