Filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein immortalized Russian ruler Alexander Nevsky in his movie of the same name, made in 1938.
Born 1220
Died 1263
Russian prince and hero
Numbered among the greatest of Russia’s heroes, Alexander Nevsky saved his country many times, both in battle with invaders from the west, and later by negotiating with the Mongols. The defeat of the Teutonic Knights of Germany was a particularly dramatic event, a battle on ice that would form a memorable scene in a 1938 film about Alexander’s defense of Russia. By contrast, the role Alexander took with regard to the Mongols seemed like a case of giving in to a foreign invader. Yet he had little choice, and in retrospect it seems certain that he acted wisely.
The many Russias
Russia first emerged as a political entity in about 900 under the leadership of Kiev (kee-YEV), a city-state that is now the capital of Ukraine. Thus historians refer to the country during this period as “Kievan Russia,” though in fact Russia was far from a single, unified nation. It was instead a collection of city-states-actually duchies, or regions controlled by dukes-that were sometimes at war with one another and sometimes at peace.
Most of these political units were strictly controlled by princes, but the northern city-states of Novgorod (NAWV-guhrud) and Pskov (SKAWV) had more relaxed governments, at least by Russian standards. There, in a region close to other lands in Northern Europe, business interests had an influential role in easing the traditionally harsh control of Russian leaders.
After 1054, Kievan Russia began to disintegrate, and more than a century of turmoil followed. By the late 1100s, however, at least a measure of stability returned as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal (VLAH-duh-meer SÜZ-duhl) assumed leadership.
Surrounded by enemies
To the east of Vladimir were the Volga Bulgars, a group of Turks who had settled in the region, and with whom the Russians maintained an uneasy peace. To the northwest were the Germans, Danes, and Swedes on the Baltic Sea, along with Letts or Latvians and Estonians; and to the west was Lithuania, then a significant power. At a time when religion dictated political allegiance, the Russians, who had embraced the Greek Orthodox Church, found themselves faced with enemies on many sides: the Muslims in the east, and the Catholics in the west and northwest.
Early in the 1200s came a new wave of potential enemies, a group who embraced no religion the Russians even recognized: the Mongols, whose leader was Genghis Khan. When the Mongols attacked the Volga Bulgars, the Russians were divided as to which side they should take, with some states coming to the aid of their neighbors. The princes of Vladimir stayed out of the fight.
Mongol invasion
Then, in 1237, Genghis Khan’s nephew Batu Khan swept over the Bulgars and conquered several Russian cities- including Vladimir. The Russian prince Yuri led the defense of Russia, but was killed in the fight, and the Mongols kept moving toward Novgorod, one of the most valued of the Russian states.
Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the Mongols turned away. The cause was probably the spring thaw, which turned the hard ground into mud that made it hard to cross. The Mongols made a vast camp on the Volga River, which would serve as their base for many years to come. By 1240, they were on the move again, razing Kiev and marching deep into Europe, where they overcame Polish and German forces to conquer Hungary.
They had nearly reached Vienna, Austria, in 1241 when suddenly they turned back again. This time the reason was that the ruling khan, or chieftain (Genghis’s successor) had died, and Batu rushed back to Mongolia to ensure that he got a piece of the inheritance. Thus Europe was saved from Mongol conquest, but the Mongols put down roots in Russia, where their empire became known as the “Golden Horde.” “Horde” is the English version of the Mongols’ word for their huge encampments, orda; and “golden” signified the great wealth the Mongols had gained through conquest.
Mongol rule in Russia was an established fact. Thus in 1238, when Yuri’s brother Yaroslav II (yuh-ruh-SLAHF) assumed leadership of the Russians, he had to gain the Mongols’ approval before he could declare himself leader. The Mongols did not want the trouble of controlling Russia politically: they simply wanted to collect tribute, or taxes, and they needed Russian princes to ensure that the collection of these taxes-which included not only money but a tenth of each year’s harvest-went smoothly.
Alexander becomes Nevsky
Taking advantage of the Mongols’ weakening of Russia, the Swedes had invaded Russian lands in 1236 on the pretext that they were there to convert people from Eastern Orthodoxy to Catholicism. It was then that Alexander, son of Yaroslav, made his first mark on history. Born in Vladimir, he had been raised among the tumultuous events of the Mongol invasion, and was prepared for war. Thus at the age of sixteen, he led a force that met the Swedes in battle on the River Neva (NAY-vah) on July 15, 1236. It was a small victory, but it made Alexander’s name: from then on he would be known as Alexander of the Neva, or Alexander Nevsky.
Having proven himself, the teenaged Alexander was given control over Novgorod, which was soon threatened by German invaders. These were the Teutonic (too-TAHN-ik) or German Knights, a group that had been formed as a semireligious order, but whose real business was war and conquest. In the winter of 1242, Alexander and his brother Andrew raised a force from Novgorod to meet the invaders.
The “Battle on the Ice”
Winters in northern Russia are long, and the surface of Lake Chudskoe was still frozen when the Russian force marched out to meet the Germans, along with their Finnish allies, on April 5, 1242. In a scene made famous for modern filmgoers by the director Sergei Eisenstein, the invaders rushed at the defending Russians, who suddenly surprised them by closing ranks around the enemy and attacking them from the rear. The Russians scored a huge victory in the “Battle on the Ice,” which became a legendary event in Russian history.
Two years later, Alexander drove off a Lithuanian invading force, and though he soon left Novgorod, the people there had become so dependent on his defense that they asked him to come back as their prince. With Novgorod now in the lead among Russian states, Alexander was the effective ruler of Russia.
Coexisting with the Mongols
As leader, Alexander faced a less dramatic, but much more important, challenge than he had when doing battle with the invaders of Novgorod: the question of whether, or how, to coexist with the Mongols. He could have chosen to resist, as other Russian princes did-and could have lost everything trying, as was the case with most of the others. Faced with this reality, as well as the fact that the Mongols were willing to leave the Greek Orthodox religion alone, whereas the Germans and others wanted to convert the Russians, Alexander chose coexistence.
Proclaimed Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1252, Alexander continued to deal with invasions from the west, but most of his energy was spent on the Mongols. He assisted them in carrying out a census, or a count of the people, as part of their aim to raise taxes on the Russians. He even executed other Russian leaders who resisted the Mongols’ efforts at census-taking.
The foundations of modern Russia
Alexander died in 1263 and was succeeded by Andrew, who died a year later. Alexander’s son Yaroslav then took control until 1272, and when he died he left the town of Moscow to his son Daniel. The latter, only two years old at the time, would grow up to build Moscow as a mighty force, and in time it would become the leading city of Russia.
Despite his cooperation with the Mongols, Alexander is remembered as a hero. In the 1700s, when the Mongols were long gone and Russia was emerging as a great power, Peter the Great, czar (ZAR) or emperor of Russia, built the city of St. Petersburg on the Neva. There he dedicated a shrine to Alexander, who had been named a saint in the Orthodox Church. In 1836, on the 600th anniversary of the Battle of the Neva, the principal street of St. Petersburg was named Nevsky Prospect in his honor.
Over one hundred years later, by which time Russia had become the Soviet Union under the dictatorship of Josef Stalin, the country faced the threat of another German invasion- this time by the Nazis under Adolf Hitler. It was then that Eisenstein made his famous film, with a memorable musical score by the great composer Sergei Prokofiev. The scene of the “Battle on the Ice” was a compelling one, and it sent a warning that Hitler chose not to heed.
Books Ayer, Eleanor H. Poland: A Troubled Past, a New Start. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark Books, 1996. Burke, Patrick. Eastern Europe. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1997. Hintz, Martin. Poland. New York: Children’s Press, 1998. Riordan, James. Eastern Europe: The Lands and Their Peoples. Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1987. Sioras, Efstathia. Czech Republic. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1999. Steins, Richard. Hungary: Crossroads of Europe. New York: Benchmark Books, 1997. Motion Pictures Alexander Nevsky. BMG Video, 1938.
