Origin of Ukrainian Statehood. Kyivan Rus
Kyivan Rus, one of the largest States of medieval Europe, was created in the 9th century. The State that was principally instrumental in bringing it into existence was the Polyan Duchy (it was the Polyan Prince Kiy, who together with his brothers, Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybed, as the annals have it, founded Kiev).
The fusion of isolated Slavonic dukedoms into one political organization was hastened by economic and social factors as well as by an involved external political population situation - the threat to Rus from the Avar and Khazar Khanates, the Hunnish Federation and Scandinavian feudal lords — Normans.
In the year 882 Prince Oleg of Novgorod went down the Dnieper all the way to Kyiv and, having killed the local princes, Ascold and Dir, proclaimed it to be the capital of Kyivan Rus. He became the ruler of one of the greatest countries of Medieval Europe, which played an important part in political life on the continent. It is also served as a certain protective barrier between European civilization and nomadic East. Kyivan Rus spread from the Black Sea to the White Sea, from the Carpathians to the Volga River. The vastness of the territory determined the availability (within limits) of certain language and the cultural peculiarities — a potentiality of centrifugal tendencies being inevitable.
The poly-ethnical Kyivan Rus state was a monarchical form of government. When he proclaimed Kyiv to be the political centre of Rus, Prince Oleg (as well as his successors) was greatly concerned about the problem of consolidation of the nearest tribal principalities around Kyiv - the force of central state institutions being applied it its territory. All the East-Slav tribes and many non-Slav people were under dominion of the Kyiv Prince at the end of the 1 Oth century.
Kyivan princes of the 9-1 Oth centuries cared mainly about strengthening the economic and political power of the state. They fortified cities, put in order legal proceedings and a fiscal system, and regulated the obligations of the dependent population. During Princess Olga's reign (approximately 946), the attempt was made to expel paganism and replace it with Christianity. But Christianity wasn't officially introduced as a state religion in Rus until 988 by Prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavych. Diplomatic relations of the Old Rus State with the neighboring countries, in particular, Byzanthia and the German Empire, intensified during the mid 10th century after the fall of Khozar's state.
The military marches of Kyivan Princes played an important part in the expansion of the territory of Kyivan Rus and assertions of its power in the eyes of surrounding people. The "Povist mynylykh lit" mentions the victorious raid of Prince Oleg of Tsarhorod in 907, owing to having made peace with the Byzantine Emperor. Some years later, the Russians made several raids on the lands of the Arabian caliphate. In the 940s, Prince Ihor (Oleg's successor) made several military raids to the Crimean East and Taman, to Byzanthia and to the Caspian Seaside. Military activity of the Old Rus State was also observed in the 960s and early 970s during the reign of Prince Sviatoslav (964-972).
The creation of Kyivan nation state took place during the reign of Prince Sviatoslav's son, Prince Volodymyr (980-1015). The economical and political strength of the state, the authority of the Prince's rule, and the organization of law considerably increased during his reign. The successful military raids of the Prince expanded the limits of the Rus territory.
The process of forming Kyivan Rus finished in the beginning of the 11th century under Yaroslav Mudriy (or Yaroslav the Wise) (1019-1054). That was the time of the greatest rise of Kyiv Rus. The international authority of the country increased, due to the dynastic relations and diplomacy of the Prince. Yaroslav put forth much effort to subdue civil war (which occurred after the death of Volodymyr) and to protect the state territory from nomad raids. Under Yaroslav, the importance of cities in economic and cultural life of the state increased, and relations between the different regions became revived, which helped to increase the trade, agriculture and handicraft industries. The first code of the Old Rus state was created - a collection of laws, "Ruska pravda". Unfortunately, the Prince's successors were involved in many feuds that inevitably resulted in breaking the unity of the Rus state.
It was not until the early 12th century that Volodymyr Monomakh (1113-1125) managed to stop these feuds for a while. It was under his reign that Kyiv's authority as the capital was once again increased, and the authority of the Kyiv Prince expanded to the major principalities, and other princes. It was by his initiative that the convention of princes was called to decide important affairs and disputable issues. The internal and external position of the state was stabilized. This was the stage when all the characteristics of the medieval socio-political system with great feudal property, certain ideological religious and political directions had been established in Kyivan Rus.
From the 1130s the disintegration process of the Old Rus State attained an irreversible character. For several years, the territory of this newly powerful state was separated into several independent principalities whose owners did not stop military conflicts until the mid 13th century. The authority of the Kyivan Prince as the state head became quite formal but did not lead to the complete disintegration of the Old Rus state. Kyiv still remained its capital. The personal power of the Kyivan Prince was replaced by the government of "collective suzerainty" of the most influential and powerful Princes. A single centralized monarchy was changed into a federal monarchy, which no longer had the might or size of its predecessor.
The period of feudal disintegration on Kyivan Rus lands not only set a mark on their political, socio-economic and cultural development, but also introduced certain innovations to geographical definitions of the state. In particular, the Kyiv Chronicle of 1187 had first coined the term "Ukraine" to define the southern area of Rus lands (Kyiv, Pereyaslav and Chernihiv provinces). After some time, this name was also applied to Halychyna, Volyn, and Podillia. Despite several attempts to unite principalities separated by boundaries, which took place during the 12th and 13th centuries, Kyivan Rus from 1240 weakened economically and politically and suffered the forays of Mongol-Tatar Hordes of Batyi. The Horde reign in the lands of Ukraine continued for more than two centuries.
Political Order, Social Structure and economic development of Kyivan Rus
By its political structure, Kyivan Rus was one of the early feudal States of medieval Europe. In the 9th and the 10th centuries, it was keeping almost all of the Eastern Slavonic tribes and quite a few non-Slavonic tribes under the suzerainty of the Grand Duke. As the territory of the State expanded, then Grand Duke's power was strengthened. The traditional veche (popular assembly) degenerated: it met on no more than extraordinary occasions. Major affairs of the State were settled by a boyar rada made up of feudal lords who were the Grand Duke's close associates.
The Grand Duke had some other princes of smaller calibre and boyars in vassal dependence. His escort was his standing army and his machinery of government. Whenever necessary, the Grand Duke called scores of thousands of fighting men under his colours, mostly from among free peasants. The army consisted of infantry and cavalry. It used river- and sea-going warships in its campaigns. The warriors were armed with swords, sabres, knives, spears, battle-axes.
The Prince's armed forces played the role of the state elite in Kyiv Rus until the early 11th century. Elder men at arms served as the Prince's advisers in the most important state affairs, occupied all administrative, and court posts. Under the reign of Yaroslav Mudriy (or Yaroslav the Wise), they performed only military functions, while administrative and legislative staffs were subject to boyars (old tribal aristocrats by birth).
Land cultivation, using a wide variety of implements was basic to Kyivan Rus agriculture. Recent archaeological excavations have demonstrated that iron ploughshares were in use in Ukraine by the 10th century and that the relatively advanced two or three-field crop rotation system (leaving one-half to one-third of the land fallow) was also used. Wheat, oats, rye and barley were the favored crops. Livestock breeding was also widespread among the peasants of Rus, providing them not only with meat and milk, but also with leather for closing and shoes. So too was the raising of horses, swine, sheep, geese, chickens and pigeons. Oxen made cultivation possible on a large scale. Although peasants often owned the implements necessary for farming the land on their own, they usually banded together in communes, or "obshchyny" (which consisted of blood relatives from several generations led by a patriarch).
Handicrafts made notable headway. The range of iron articles alone comprised about 150 items. Iron was produced, as a rule, from bog ore by smelting in bloomeries. Scores of them have been discovered in some localities, for instance, on the site of the ancient Russian city of Gorodsk on the Teterev River.
The craftsmanship of Rus goldsmiths was amazing, as one can judge from the fine articles they made of gold, silver and murate enamel. Pottery trade and glass blowing attained a high level of achievement. Glazing pottery was widely used to decorate temples and palaces in Kiev, Novgorod, Smolensk and other cities. All kinds of bracelets, finger-rings, beads, cups of glass, made in hearths or crucibles, were widespread in everyday life. Wood was used to build homes and fortifications as well as household utensils, furniture and private vehicles like carts, sledges, boats.
Trade was instrumental in promoting a close relationship between lands. Articles made by Kyiv handicraftsmen, for instance, reached the markets in Novgorod whence a wide variety of furs came to the Dnieper country. The Halych land supplied salt not only for the local population but also for that of distant Russian lands. The external economic links of the ancient Russian State were being strengthened. These were maintained mostly through the Greek (Scandinavia — Rus — Byzantine Empire), Solyanoi (the Dnieper Country - the Halych Land) and Zalozny (the Dniester Country - the Azov Country — and the Caucasus) trade routes.
Various goods (furs, honey, wax, hides, and products of handicraft industry) went from Rus to the markets of Poland, Czechia, Moravia and countries of Western Europe. Rus was, in her turn, importing articles of gold, expensive fabrics, wine and vegetables from Byzantium, plates and dishes from the Arab world, copper, lead, arms, and all kinds of recreational and household objects from Western Europe.
Forward-looking processes in the economy of Rus (division of labour and development of handicrafts and commerce), made for the emergence of cities as centres of handicrafts and trade as well as administrative, defense, cultural and religious centres. Kyiv was one of the oldest cities of Rus. It was founded late in the 5th century - 1500 years ago. First, it was the political centre of the federation of Polyan tribes but from the 9th century on, it became known as the "capital city" of the integrated ancient Russian State. Little by little, other cities sprang up in Kyivan Rus, as Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Novgorod, Smolensk, Minsk, Polotsk, Vladimir, Novgorod-Seversky.
Artisans, like iron forgers, potters, glass blowers, goldsmiths, tailors and dress-makers (altogether about 60 trades) who joined together in communes - corporations (for instance, of potters and tanners in Kiev), were the largest category of the urban population. Big markets were held in cities where most of the population engaged in commerce. Tradesmen used to come down there even from out-of-the-way places.
Most of the urban dwellers remained personally free. Only servants and estate artisans were feudatory to boyars and merchants. The urban low classes paid no end of taxes to princes and feudal lords, performed heavy duties, built and repaired fortifications and maintained the clergymen. All that had the effect of exacerbating class contradictions and precipitating rebellions in cities.
Little by little, a system of vassal and hierarchical relations shaped up in Rus. It was presided over by the "Grand Duke of Russia", the owner of the land whose authority was identified with that of the State, to all intents and purposes. "Noble princes" and boyars, who owned dukedoms, lands, and big cities, were vassals dependent on him. Smaller towns or villages belonged to small-time feudal lords - vassals of princes. The Orthodox Church and monasteries owned vast tracts of land. That feudal pyramid was quite a heavy burden lying on the shoulders of peasants, the actual makers of the material values of ancient Russian society.
Feudal corvee and tribute in money were introduced in Rus more and more often from the 10th century on. The peasants, the main category of the dependent population, were required to pay tribute in kind (in furs, honey, or wax). Those very peasants, even though they had their own plots of land to farm, still were under obligation to work a specified number of days on feudal estates.
Historians divide the political history of Kyivan Rus into 3 phases:
1. The origin and formation of Kyivan Rus (late IX — late X cen.)
2. The height of Kyivan Rus political power and stability, economic prosperity and cultural achievement (late X— mid XI cen.)
3. Feudal fragmentation of Kyivan Rus (second half of XI — mid I XIII).
The total destruction inflicted on the city by the Mongols in 1240 marked the tragic conclusion to the Kyivan period in Ukrainian history.
Projects
1. The Kyiv Grand Princes.
2. Landowning and land-exploiting in Kyivan Rus.
2. Halytsko-Volynsk Principality
After the disintegration of Kyivan Rus in the 13th century into separate regional formations, the Halytsko-Volynsk Principality had undertaken the state-creating tradition of Rus. In spite of the devastating wars, which had not passed through the principality, certain stabilization of economic and political development was observed in this area in the 12th century. The increase in population, economic potential, as well as the regulation of economic relations was visible in the Halych Subcarpathia and Volyn territories. M.Hrushevsky considered these two principalities to be the most direct inheritors of Kyiv's political and cultural traditions. Tomashivsky, another eminent Ukrainian historian, called Halytsko- Volynsk the first undeniably Ukrainian state because at the height of their power in the 13th century the united principalities encompassed about 90% of the population living within what today the borders of Ukraine.
Located along the eastern foothills of the Carpathians at the headwaters of the important Dnister and Prut rivers that flow into the Black Sea, Halicia was originally inhabited by the Dulibian, Tivertsian and White Croatian tribes. In the east it shared a long border with the rolling, wooded plains of Volyn, also inhabited by the Dulibs and White Croatians. While Halicia had the aggressive Hungarians and Poles to contend with on its western and northern borders, Volyn only foreign neighbors were the Lithuanian tribes to the north. Both principalities were fortunate in that they lay beyond the normal range of nomad raiders from the steppe. Volyn and especially Halicia were well populated and their numerous cities were strategically located on important western trade routes. Moreover, Halicia had great deposits of salt, a commodity upon which all of Rus depended.
Halicia and Volyn were quite different principalities in the 12th and 13th centuries. Perhaps the most striking difference between them was the nature of their respective elites. Undoubtedly Halicia had the most willful, wealthy and powerful boyars in all the Rus lands. So pervasive was the influence of this aristocracy that Halicia is often considered the prime example of oligarchic rule in Rus. Unlike the boyars of other principalities who usually descended from the princely retinue, the Halytsk aristocracy apparently emerged primarily from the local tribal elite. And it obtained its estates not from the prince, as was usual, but by usurping open communal lands.
The boyars of Volyn had arrived in the principality in the retinues of their princes, who were frequently appointed and replaced at the will of Kiev, which, because of its proximity, exerted a stronger political influence of the principality than it did on Halicia. The lands these boyars acquired were given in return for services they had rendered their princes. Because the Volyn elite were dependent on the largesse of its princes, it was relatively loyal and supportive of them. This explains why it was the princes of Volyn, and not Halicia, who were in the best position to unite the two principalities.
The Halytsk principality strengthened itself appreciably in second half of the 12th century and its political role became more significant as well. Yaroslav Osmomysl (1153-1187) enjoyed well-deserved prestige among other Russian princes. In 1199 principalities with common economic and cultural conditions and political and economic relations, united and formed the Halytsko-Volynsk state under the reign of Halytsk Prince Roman (1199-1205), a descendent of Volodymyr Monomakh. Prince Roman was the first in the history of the Old Rus state to be referred to as "Grand Duke", "Autocrat of the whole Rus".
Prince Roman suppressed the opposition of big time Halytsk boyars. The local population anxious to put a limit to arbitrary feudal rule supported his action. Prince Roman waged, furthermore a successful struggle against the invading Cumans and Lithuanian feudal lords.
The reinforcement of the Princes power in the Halytsko-Volynsk state took place under constant hostility on the part of powerful boyar opposition supported by foreign protectors: Hungarians and Poles. After the death of Roman Mstyslavych, the boyars succeeded in excommunication his sons: Danylo and Vasylko. In 1214, Kalman, a young Hungarian Prince who married a Polish Princes, was proclaimed King of the Halytsko-Volynsk Principality. From that time began a long war by Danylo Halytskyi and his brother Vasylko to have their father's throne returned to them. This war became known as the liberating war, for restoring state independence and territorial unity of the Halytsko-Volynsk Principality. Danylo Romanovych's main task was to reinforce the state institutions of the principality and social support, which the boyars should have returned to him. Under these conditions, he allowed for the state-creating experience of Byzanthia and a number of other West European countries.
By the end of the 1230, Danylo Halytskyi (1238-1264) managed to secure the neighborly relations by marrying his son to the daughter of Bela IX, the Hungarian King. The Prince had rendered great services to his country in protecting boundaries of the Halytsko-Volynsk Principality during the Mongol-Tatar invasion to Rus. The fortification line he had constructed immediately before the invasion allowed decreasing the number of plundering raids as compared to other principalities. For 1254-1255, he succeeded in gaining a number of victories over the Horde armies and in driving them away - outside the boundaries of Ukraine.
The internal and foreign policy of Danylo Halytskyi favored the increase of his popularity in the eyes of the world community. Courtiers of European countries considered it an honor to be associated with the Halytsko-Volynsk Prince. In 1253, he was crowned by Pope Innokentyi IX in the town of Dorohochyn, in Pidliashia. This act confirmed the recognition of the Halytsko-Volynsk Principality as a subject of international law. Territorial possessions of the principality considerably increased in the 13-th century, under the descendant of Danylo Romanovych.
In 1264, after years of political activity, Danylo died. In Ukrainian historiography he is considered to be the most outstanding ruler that the two western principalities ever produced. In view of the difficult circumstances under which he had to function, his achievements were remarkable. While rebuilding and expanding his father's domains, Danylo checked Polish and Hungarian expansion. Breaking the power of the boyars, he raised the social, cultural and economic level of his land until it was among the highest in Eastern Europe. However, not all his plans succeeded. Danylo failed to hold on to Kyiv and he did not attain his major objective - to rid himself of the Mongol yoke. Still, he managed to keep Mongol influence to a minimum. In his attempt to stave off the East, Danylo turned to the West, thereby providing West Ukrainians with an example that they would follow for centuries.
For almost century after Danylo's death, Halicia and Volyn experienced few apparent changes. The pattern set by Danylo and Vasylko that of a dynamic, forceful prince in Halicia and a more retiring ruler in Volyn - was followed to a certain extent by their respective sons, Lev (1264-1301) and Volodymyr (1270-89). The ambitions and restless Lev was constantly involved in political conflicts. After the Arpad dynasty was extinguished in Hungary, he obtained Transcarpathian Rus, thus laying the foundation for future Ukrainian claims to the western slopes of the Carpathians. Lev was most active in Poland, which was embroiled in internecine warfare; and he even aspired to the Polish throne in Krakow. Despite Lev's aggressiveness, both Halicia and Volyn enjoyed a period of stability during the late 13th and early 14th centuries because their western neighbors were temporarily weakened.
Volodymyr of Volyn was the antithesis of his Halician cousin and his relations with him were often strained. Unwilling to participate in wars and
inactive in diplomacy, he concentrated on such peaceful pursuits as the building of towns, castles and churches.
After the death of Lev, his son Yuri ruled both Halicia and Volyn. He must have been an effective ruler, for neighboring chroniclers noted that during his peaceful reign his lands "blossomed with riches and fame1'. Yuri's position was imposing enough for him to title himself "King of Rus." The two last members of the Romanovych dynasty were Yuri's sons, Andrii and Lev, who ruled Halytsko-Volynsk together. Worried by the growing power of Lithuania, they forged an alliance with the German knights of the Teutonic Order. In regard to the Mongols they followed an independent, even antagonistic policy and there are some indications that they may have died fighting then.
With the extinction of the native ruling dynasty in 1323, the elite of the two principalities chose Boleslav, a Polish cousin of the Romanovychi, as their prince. After changing his name to lurii and adopting Orthodoxy, the new ruler set about to follow the policies of his predecessors. Despite his Polish background, he fought to regain lands that had in the meantime been lost to the Poles, and he renewed the alliance with the Germans against the Lithuanians. At home, Yuri-Boleslav continued to support the towns and attempted to expand his prerogatives. It was probably this policy that led to a conflict with the boyars who, in 1340, poisoned him under the pretext that he sought to introduce Roman Catholicism and favored foreigners. Thus by the hand of its own elite, Halicia and Volyn were deprived of their last prince.
For 100 years after the fall of Kyiv, Halytsko-Volynsk Principality base of the Ukrainians. In this capacity, the two principalities absorbed much of Kyivan heritage and at the same time prevented the absorption of West Ukrainian lands by Poland. Notwithstanding, the partial economic and political dependence on the Golden Horde, the Principality leaders managed to keep to their own foreign policy. But the constant exhausting struggle with foreign and home enemies gradually weakened the Halytsko- Volynsk Principality, of which its enemies took advantage without delay. At the end of the 14th century, the lands of the recently strong state proved to be divided between Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and Moldova.
Projects
1.Social, economic and political development of Halytsko-Volynsk Principality.
2. Prince Danylo Halytskyi.