NICARAGUA

Nicaragua and its people had and still surviving earth quakes and volcanoes in their history. The country itself with its tropical forests, teeming lakes and lush lowland is absolutely beautiful.

Before Columbus or the Spaniards conquered Nicaragua the indigenous people were part of the Intermediate Area. This is between Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. There also came an influence from the Isthmo-Colombian area. It was an area where Mesoamerican and South-American native culture met. 

6000 YEARS' OLD

FOOD PRINT

The confirmation of the knowledge comes from the ancient footprint (see photo) and as well as other archaeological evidence of ceramic and statues made from volcanic stone. They were also from an island of Zapatenra and petroglyples which were found on the Ometepe island.

In the west of Nicaragua several indigenous people belonging to the Mesoamerican were still living by the end of the 15th century. These people were farmers and lived in small kingdoms.

The Chibcha lived in the coastal area and arrive from an area which is now known as Colombia. They were hunters/gatherers. The native people living on the eastern side of Nicaragua have traded and adopted the Caribbean lifestyle such as round thatched huts and canoes. The Chorojega lived in the centre. The two groups were first overran by the Spaniards and mixed with them. The result was mestizos; a race with mixed blood.

However, the Indian population reduced drastically in the next three decades. It was due to the diseases from the Spaniards and ill treatment.

Since the independence from the Spain in 1821, Nicaragua suffered many corrupt rulers which were often back by the US Government.

The Soviet Union supported the Sandinista revolutionaries and with that they won a vicious war in 1979. The new government was a socialist and was backed by the Soviet Union. They distributed the land to the peasants.

The Contras, which were backed by the US, fought against them in 1980. As a matter of fact this was the last battle of the Cold War. In 1989 a ceasefire was declared and in the next election in 1990 the Sandinista lost. The Contras handed in their arms.

Violence still flaring up and Nicaragua still faces all the problems. The unemployment is very high and in the agriculture the output is very low; The country depends on Foreign Aids.

Nicaragua is between Costa Rica in the south and Honduras in the north. The country has a volcanic mountain range and two huge lakes, Managua and Nicaragua , the low-lying tropical forests on the Caribbean coast and the Savannah land on the Pacific side.

The weather is wet and sultry. Most of the country is covered by tropical forest with hardwood trees like mahogany, rosewood and cedar.

The people are mestizos which means they are of mixed blood, Indians and Spanish. A small English-speaking community lives on the remote east-coast and forest dwelling Miskito Indians.

Nicaragua has plenty of fertile land. Farmers grow coffee, sugar cane, cotton. and cattle. These are very important for export which is the country main economy. Due all these wars the land and the economy has suffered badly.

FINLAND

Finland lies in the north of Europe and borders the Baltic Sea. It was inhabited as far back as 7,200 BC. When the ice melted; hunters travelled further north.

From the 1^st to the 8^th century AD the indigenous population of Lapps were driven further north by the first Finnish speaking people, who migrated to Finland from the south.

During the Middle Ages Sweden and Russia kept fighting over Finland until 1558 when Gustavus Vasa of Sweden proclaimed it as a separate Swedish duchy.

In 1807 The Treaty of Tilsit between Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon annexed Finland as a grand duchy of Russia.

1917 the Russian Revolution gave Finland a chance to get independent. It was achieved in 1819 under Marshal Carl Mannerheim and a democratic republic was announced.

1939 a Finnish- Russian war started when Russia tried to claim Finland back. Finland put up a resistance but the Soviets broke through the Mannerheim Line in 1940 and the country lost its eastern territories and port Viborg.

Finland tried to regain these and fought on the side of Hitler and his Allies during the second World War and failed.

After the war Finland remained neutral and in 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a treaty was signed with Russia.

In 1995 Finland became a member of the European Union.

LORD KITCHENER 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

Horetio Herbert Kitchener was born on 24 June, 1850 at Ballylongford, co Kerry, Ireland. He died 5 June, 1916 age 65 years

The historical poster of Lord Kitchener pointing and saying "Your Country needs you" from the First World War made him one of  the most well known faces of the British History.

On 5 June 1916 Lord Kitchener died suddenly and mysteriously.
He was the most experienced Field Marshal and was appointed as War Secretary at the beginning of the First World War. He played an important role in the preperation of Britain for the biggest conflict.

Lord Kitchener was sent to Russia in 1916 on the ship JMS Hampshire. It sank near Orkney on June 5 and 650 died with him. Since Lord Kitchener was on a secret mission the conspiracy stories blossomed. The ship was sunk by a German mine.

Between 1896 and 1898 Kitchener commanded an Anglo-Egyptian army. The well organised army and recently invented machine gun gave him the success of conquering the Sudan. He received a knighthood.

From 1900 he was chief of staff and followed to be commander in chief during the second Boer War. Britain won it in 1902. He was criticized by Liberal politician for 'scorched earth' policy and starting to built Concentration Camps. He showed his ruthlessness putting thousands of Boer families into Concentration Camps.

Kitchener was in Egypt with his army when the First World War started. He was, by now, 40 years at the centre of British politics and empire. His career was astronomical. At 24 he was sent to map the holy Land.

At 33 he was an Army captain and by the end of the 19th century he became major-general leading the annihilation of the Dervish army rising up at Khartoum in Sudan.

The times as military commander in India and Egypt made his name even greater and he was regarded as emblem of the British Empire. Back home his feature with the characteristic huge handlebar moustache appeared on many biscuit tins and other ornaments.

As secretary of war he unleashed a great campaign to secure volunteers. Lord Kitchener played a great part in the survival of Britain during the war 1914-16. He advised to stop the Dardenelles Campaign which ended in a great defeat. He had to face massive criticism from colleagues but refused to resign.

Lord Kitchener's success started to crumble because of an incredible shortage of shells.

CRIMEA

Crimea, a peninsula on the northern shore of the Black Sea. Although only a small piece of land all along in history it became a very important point because it is the entry to the Black Sea.

It was first colonised by the Greeks in the 6^th century BC. 

In the 1^st century AD the Crimean people became a Roman protectorate.

Tribes from the north and the east invaded Crimea as they swooped down. Ostrogoths, Huns and other tribes went across until Byzantine partially controlled it from the 6^th to the 12th century.

During the 13^th century it was overrun by Mongolians.

In the late 15th century Tatar khanate became part of the Ottoman Empire

Russia Empire annexed the Crimea in 1783 till 1914 as Crimea Autonomous Soviet Republic.  It was dissolved in 1945 and Crimea became an oblast of the RSSR from 1945 to 1954 and then a part of the Ukraine SSR from 1954 till 1991 it became two territories – Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol City within the Ukraine

In 2014 independence was declared and a referendum of whether to join Russia was held while the peninsular was occupied by Russian soldiers.  After the Crimea's majority voted to be annexed to Russia it was again split into two federal subjects – Republic of Crimea and federal city of Sevastopol.

USA and its Allies do not accept the vote and stated it is illegal and ever since the trouble started and thousands have to die or severely injured again.

G8 expelled Russia temporarily and started sanction against the country which is of no benefit to both sites.

Crimean War

From 1854 to 1956 the war was fought between Russia and the combined forces of Turkey, Britain, France and Piedmont.  The war broke out because Russia was not able to get equal rights from France in a dispute over the Palestinian holy places and occupied part of the Ottoman Empire.

A conference was held to stop Russian expansion in the Black Sea area and to protect trade routes; Turkey’s allies demanded to appease Russia. However, Turkey refused and declared was on Russia in October 1853.

In November the Russians destroyed the Turkish fleet at Sinope on the Black Sea. This action forced Britain and France to enter the war in March 1854.

Austria remains neutral but it mobilised its army whereby Russia was forced to evacuate Wallachia and Moldavia.

The Allied force, under Lord Raglan, entered Crimea in August 1854. It was ill-prepared and despite suffering heavily of cholera it defeated the Russia Army at the battle of the Alma River on 20 September 1954.  It laid siege to the armed fort of Sevastopol.

Russia attempted several time to break the siege but was beaten back by the British defence of the Inkerman ridge. The Tsar’s forces had to retreat after a bloody battle.

A winter of siege warfare followed the next Anglo-Russian confronting at the Battle of Balaklava, the place were the historical Light Brigade charged.

The Allied armies lacked of fuel, clothing and supplies and therefore suffered of a heavy death toll. The British public criticism was high after ‘The Times’ reported it by W.H. Russell, the first war correspondence to use the telegraph to transmit his report.

Florence Nightingale asked for permission to travel to Crimea. Her introduction of hygiene and various other new methods finally reduced the mortality in hospital among the Allied wounded form 42 per cent to 2 per cent. She turned the whole nursing completely around and made it to what it is today.

When Sevastopol fell, Alexander II, the new Russian Tsar began a peace process which was formally accepted at the Congress of Paris in 1856.

BEGINNING OF FIRST WORLD WAR 100 YEARS AGO

ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND
AND HIS WIFE SOFIE AND  
THEIR THREE CHILDREN 
IN 1910

When Gravilo Princip fired a shot at the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, killing him, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, he did not realize that he started something that would spin out of control. Although, in general, he was blamed for the First World War but there always playing other factors into it to ignite such devastation.

On one hand, there was Germany united since the Franco-Prussian war of 1879-1. The balance of Europe started to shift which was frowned on by other countries. Tensions started to build up by national ambitions, economic rivalry and setting up colonies.

In the year 1914 there existed a Triple Alliance of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy. This other Triple entente was between Britain, France and Russia. These two Triple Alliances caused the spreading of the conflict. Therefore, when Kaiser William II invaded Belgium, for unknown reason, it seemed that the stage was set for the First World War. Britain had to declare on Germany on 4 August, 1914 because Britain guaranteed Belgium to protect their independence.  

At that time Britain had the largest Navy for obvious reason but they did not have any army.  The secretary of state for war, Lord Kitchener, rushed around to get a volunteer army together.  In 1915 he counted around 2.5million man. Since the war continued the number of volunteer slumped and the casualties rose rapidly; he was forced to introduce a compulsory army.

Germany’s attempt to defeat France before Russia could mobilise failed at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. Trenches were tugged in on both sides. Due to the accuracy of modern weapons, especially the machine gun, it was realized that soldiers can safe themselves by taking shelter in the trenches.

At the battle of Ypres in November 1914 the British Expeditionary Force under Sir John French was almost wiped out.  By December 1914 there were trenches from the English Channel all the way down to Switzerland.

After that the Allies and the Germans tried to end the stalemate.  The only way they could do it by bombarding the enemy’s position, using poisonous gas and built tanks. The loss of men was huge. The Battles of Verdun and the Somme in 1916 cost the Allies 1.1million. The Germans had the same number of men lost.  British forces under the command of Sir Douglas Haig lost around 44,000 men a month which rose to 75,000 by 1918.

In spite of the Russia enormous effort to mobilise in 1917 they suffered great losses. They won a great victory in 1916 over Austria in the offensive of General Alexei Brusilov but at the end they were exhausted. We also got to remember they had a revolution in 1917 while whole Europe was at war.  After the revolution the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky the offensive in summer was a failure. It is assumed that the Bolsheviks got tired of fighting. In March 1918 Lenin signed a peace treaty which was humiliating, the treaty of Brest Litovsk.

CATHERINE THE GREAT

During the 18^th century Russia was controlled by women for nearly three-quarter of the century.  Catherine I – Peter the Great’s widow ruled from 1725 till 1727. Then her niece, Anne, was regent for Ivan IV, from 1730 till 1740. Peter’s second daughter ruled from 1741 till 1762. After that in 1762 Catherine II began her reign. During all this time two male rulers were murders and according to the records were unsuitable and one died of smallpox,

Apparently Catherine was full of contradiction. She was a German Princess and became the supreme ruler of all the Russians. In spite of being an enlightened thinker she pushed the people into great poverty and serfdom.

CATHERINE
AT A YOUNG AGE

In 1742 the Empress Elizabeth demanded her nephew German prince Peter of Holstein to move to Russia and made him her heir. She was also looking around for a suitable bride for Peter. She found a mysterious German princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. Sophie was brought to Russia, learned Russian, converted to the Russian Orthodox religion and changed her name to Catherine. She married Peter when she was 16 yeas old.

The following years, Catherine was humiliated all the time. She was ignored by the court and her husband Peter. Peter loved to play with soldiers and was not very bright. Catherine was intelligent and well educated. During this time she read an enormous amount and gave birth to two children whom were not fathered by her husband.

In 1762 Peter became tsar and made plans of getting rid of Catherine but she was the favourite of the court, army and public opinion. Catherine overthrew her husband and declared herself Empress of Russia. Eight days later Peter was murdered. Catherine continued to rule Russia for 34 years.

After Peter the Great started to modernise Russia Catherine decide to continue. She wrote to all the most advanced thinkers of Europe and Catherine had liberal ideas. She decided to reform law and ownership. She began to confiscate all the land from the clergies and made them servant of the crown. With all the money in her hand she started to reform the law into a popular constitution. However, her plans were too advanced and they came to nothing. She desperately wanted to free all serfs but the landowners went into revolt because they owned them and could make them work for nothing.  Serfs were agricultural workers and the backbone of Russia’s economy and for the landowners the real wealth.  Catherine then dropped her plan to free them and thought of strengthening the system.  She started to give great areas of land to her favourites including the serfs and with that she created more serfdom.

Outside of Russia Catherine was more successful. She pushed the boundaries further in the south, east and west.  When Catherine stepped on the throne she had 20 million subjects and at her death she had 36 million. She conquered great areas from Poland, and the Ottoman Empire, smaller ones from Sweden and Denmark. The whole areas together added a 518,000 sq km to Russia. The first partition of Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria, Catherine put an ex-lover on the throne.  After the third partition Poland stopped to be a country and the major part went to Russia.  After the war between Russia and Turks, Russia became the Crimea and the north coast of the Black Sea. A newly built city Odessa became Russia’s main port for trade to the Mediterranean. Although Russia gained a tremendous amount of land it cost a fortune and Catherine had to add new taxes on the peasant. Great amount were spent on building a formidable army and navy.  Catherine was a great diplomat and did not get involved in a confrontation with France, Austria and Prussia.

Catherine’s reign was in an era of great men reigning at the same time. There was Joseph II of Austria-Hungary, Gustavus III of Sweden and Fredrick the Great of Prussia. Even when she was surrounded by great men she still stood out. This was due to being very clever, harsh and scrupulous.  She melted into a Russian totally in her affection and alliances. Yet she remained a western European with her belief of liberal ideas and in the style of a glittering, intellectual court she surrounds herself with. She made her name with kindness to discarded favourites but was completely ruthless in crushing rebellions in southern Russia and Poland.

During her reign trade was flourishing and 100 cities were built and old ones rebuilt and expanded. Catherine led Russia to become one of the greatest powers and has remained ever since.

CATHERINE'S SON
AND SUCCESSOR
PAUL I

PETER THE GREAT

The third tsar Peter of the dynasty had an outstanding personality; an unusual mixture of characteristics of cruelty, uncontrollable temper and highly intelligent.

In 17^th century Russia was although deeply conservative but not very educated.  All the Russian people no matter which class, were not able to read or write, superstitious and religious. The Central Government was corrupt and therefore weak. The Army of 22,000 men called the steltsy frequently rebelled. The huge nobility was idle and lived of the poor who were overtaxed.

Over this huge country reigned the tsar who had the absolute power of making laws, impose taxes and life and death of every of his subjects, high and low. Any reigning monarch who had the total power is important that he has a strong and good character. When Peter started to reign in 1696 people were scared because of his reputation.

Peter war born in 1692 and a giant. He was over 2m tall with an enormous energy. During the years before his reign he shared tsardom with his brother Ivan. In those days he terrorized Moscow. He was the head of a gang called Drunken Association of Fools. They were nothing but womanising, boozing and ridicule the church.

Peter had a vile temper. He imprisoned his sister and first wife in convents. He also beats this first wife until she confessed to non-existing crimes. He also had his son tortured and executed for treason which he suspected.  He suffered of uncontrollable rages and headaches and only his second wife, Catherine, was able to control.  She strokes his head for hours to calm him down.

Yet, such a terrible character had power of millions of people.

MODERNIZATION

Russia had its own very distinctive culture and people loved their country and were proud of it. Russia is the only country which calls it Mother country; all the other countries call it father country.  However, through travelling and diplomacy they were drawn into more advanced Europe.

Peter’s father and grandfather had adopted already countries ideas of institutions and weaponry. Peter done the same but also used it with his violence. His started major reforms in military, naval, financial, administrative, educational cultural and church matters base on Western style.

He started Russia off as a great power in Western Europe but the cost to his people was terrible. Peter also loved travelling and a great warrior. He made great tours throughout Europe.  He visited Latvia, Germany, Holland, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire.

In Holland, he staid for five months learns how to build ships. He was almost over intelligent. He learned 14 trades. When he came back to Russia he noticed that Russia had not port for a great fleet. He went to war with the Turks and conquering Azov on the Black Sea and he lost again later on. After that he started the Great Northern War.  He made Poland his ally and went against the Finns and Swedes under Charles XII. In winning this campaign Peter gained permanent access to the Baltic Sea at the regions of Ingria, Estonia and Livonia. Then Peter waged war again Persia and captured its western and southern coasts.

Peter brought experts and advisors from all countries. He wanted them to teach and his people all their skills. He employed foreign architects and slaves which he starved to death by the thousands with that he built a great new capital St Petersburg.

PALACE SQUARE

Peter was great in one way in introducing shipbuilding, factories, schools and luxury industries which brought the nobility and church into a higher standard but he did not tax them.  All the expenses of these improvements fell on the peasants. During Peter reigns the peasants became poorer and thousands died of starvation and illnesses.

Peter great effort to educate the Russian people came to a hold because of lack of teachers. His success was in the nobility became interested in arts. His heroic efforts of modernizing the economy failed also because Russia had no capitalist’s middle class. There was nobody to organize trades and industries.

Although Peter’s great energies pushed people into action but it died with him. At the age of 52 he tried to save some drowning sailors and he died in the cold waters of the canal with them.

TEMPLE OF
THE SAVIOUR ON BLOOD

ST PETERSBURG WINTER PALACE

IVAN THE TERRIBLE

IVAN THE TERRIBLE

By the 15^th century the Mongol ruled Russia for 250 years. Russia regained its independence

Free Russia started to re-emerge when Ivan III, also called Ivan the Great, was crowned in Moscovy. It was a small state and its capital was Moscow. He achieved independence for his country and also for the surrounding territory.

IVAN THE GREAT

In 1480 Ivan proclaimed himself Tsar which means Emperor of all the Russians. The Kremlin in Moscow was only a wooden citadel till such time when Ivan transformed it into a master piece of Renaissance architecture,

KREMLIN

IVAN’S  SUCCESSORS

Ivan died in 1505 and his son followed his father on the throne as Vasily III. Under the reign of Ivan the Great and his son the Russian state expanded from 400,000 sq km to 2.5 million sq km. 

When Vasily died his son was only three but was crowned as the next Russia’s ruler. Until he was capable to rule himself others stepped in. When he was 16 and was able to rule for himself he proved to be a tough and energetic ruler. He limited the powers of the boyars who were Russians nobility and reformed the legal system. He led a campaign against Mongols and won.  His conquest was the Mongol cities Kazan and Astrakhan. This conquest brought the whole river Volga under his rule which opened up a trade route to the Caspian Sea.

The English diplomat in Moscow, Sir Jerome Horsey, described the young Ivan as ‘comely of person, imbued with great wit, excellent gifts and graces, fit for government for so great a monarchy.’

Only when Ivan grew older he changed and became unpredictable and violent. Soon became the nickname ‘Ivan the Terrible’. He started to imagine to be surrounded by enemies. He recruited a hand-picked police force called the oprichniki to protect him. They fasten a quiver of arrows and a broom. The broom was symbol of Ivan’s determination to sweep away treason.

The Oprichniki were soon known as savages. One story which went down in history were about seven monks who angered Ivan was to send to fight wild bears which were starved before the fight. On some other occasion Ivan killed the whole population of Novgorod because he thought they were disloyal to him.

Ivan was forever at war with some neighbouring state and therefore a lot of Russian’s lives were lost. Also the economy started to decline.

In 1571 a massive Tartar army from Crimea conquered the southern part of Russia. It was not very defended because Ivan was fighting in the North against Livonia, today’s Latvia. The Tartar burned Moscow to the ground.

In 1581 Ivan turned on his pregnant daughter-in-law in anger.  She was the wife of his eldest son and heir to the throne.  He started beating her and beaten her so badly that she had a miscarriage.  His son got angry with Ivan and Ivan hit him over the head with his wooden staff.  When his son died a few days later Ivan went nearly mad with regret.

He started to suffer form an incurable bone disease and his body became swollen and the skin peeling.  He was playing chess when he died in 1584

His son Feodor succeeded him but he was slow-witted but gentle person. During his 14 years of reign Russia experienced peace and prosperity. After his death in 1598 it marked the beginning of great trouble in Russia’s history.

The successor Boris Guduno and his successor, Dmitri, were murdered. The country became lawless and experience famine. At the same time rivals tried and fought for the crown. Foreign invaders marched into Russia and were looting and conquering. Moscow was under the rule of the Poles in 1605.

Due to the loss of their capital the Russian people were inspired by patriotism and formed a volunteer army. They managed to drive all invaders out in 1612.

In 1613 a national assembly was formed which included all sections of the population. They voted for the tsar that the Lord would indicate to us.

The decision fell on the 16 year old Mikhail Romanov. His family ruled Russia for the next 300 years.

MIKHAIL ROMANOV -- THE FIRST TSAR OF THE HOUSE OF ROMANOV

BIRTH OF RUSSIA

VARANGIAN CHIEFTAIN RURIK'S 
MONUMENT IN NOVGOROD

The start and rise of this huge Russian country was only in the 9^th century AD. However, it became a great power in Europe within 150 years. It created rivalry, ambition and jealousy amongst the various Russian princes. The country to have nothing violence and chaos which left the door open to the Mongol invaders.

The first people moving into the country which is now Russia were the East Slavs. They moved into the forests in the North and started settlements here and there. They also moved east of the Carpathian Mountain in the 6^th century. 

They built small settlements all along the banks of rivers and grew crops. Their first settlements were along the rivers Volkhov and Dinieper and used the rivers to ferry up and down which was easier than through the tense forests.

This life was dangerous and hard.  In the forests were wolves and bears which would attack the settlers. Then there were tribesmen who would lie low in the undergrowth and attack them.

Some settlers went south to live on the Steppe hoping it would be less dangerous being flat and wide open countryside. But there too they would be constantly be attacked from hordes of nomadic horsemen who came from central and eastern Asia and swept into Europe.

Then in the 9^th century bands of Swedish Vikings or Varangians started to use the waterways from the Baltic to the Black Sea. These were seasoned warriors with skill of using broadswords and battle axes. The East Slavs had no chance to stand up and fight them. The Varangians were winning slowly and brought the East Slavs under their control.

The Varangians were attracted by the vast forests and its valuable products.  There were furs, hides, amber, honey, and beeswax to be gathered and shipped to markets in the south. The lucrative markets were Khazania and Byzantium.

According to legend one of the chieftains, Rurik, settled in Novogorod in 892. His people were called Rusi and it is thought the word comes from the Norse language meaning “oarsmen” or “sailor”. The territory they lived in was known as “the land of Rus”

OLEG OF THE RUS

In 882, Rurik’s successor, Oleg, conquered Kiev and defeated a rival group of Varangians. He brought the two most important towns of the north-south waterways under his control. After this event Oleg proclaimed himself as the Grand Prince of Kiev and made Kiev the capital of the larger part of his Rus domain.

Grand Prince Sviatoslav was killed in 972 by Asiatic nomads, who cover his skull with gold and used it as a goblet.

GRAND PRINCE
SVIATOSLAV  
WEARING A VYSHYVNKA

TRADE

For the country to prosper they had to trade with the Byzantine Empire. When spring came and the ice was melting on the rivers the people loaded up their bots with their merchandise.  They went with their boats down the river Dnieper form Kiev and crossed the Black Sea to the Byzantine capital Constantinople.

Sviatoslav’s death forced his three sons to fight for the throne. This lasted from 971 till 980 and when two sons were killed Vladimir become Vladimir I.

GRAND PRINCE
VLADIMIR'S MONUMENT

In 989 the pagan Grand Prince Vladimir married the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. Before he could do this he had to promise to become a Christian. This meant the Greek Orthodox Church of Byzantine.

It is believed that when Vladimir came back with his bride he ordered all pagan idols to be destroyed.  The people were told to go to the river and be baptised.  Also Novogorod’s and other Russian cities were told to do the same.

Vladimir reign from 980 till 1015.   When he died in 1015 his sons had to do the same and fought each other.  Ten of Vladimir’s 12 sons died in the 21-year war that followed their father’s death. Finally in 1036 Yaroslav won and became the Grand Prince. Even so he won it through bloodshed he was an excellent ruler. He became known as Yaroslav the Wise. He issued the first Russian laws and hired scribes and translators to start the first Russian library.

GRAND PRINCE
YUROSLA

MODEL OF THE ORIGINAL
ST SOPHIA CATHEDRAL

ST SOPHIA IN KIEV TODAY

When Yuroslav died in 1054, the fledgling state Russia broke up and was divided into principalities which fought each other constantly. Due to the civil war nomadic invaders swept from the East across the country and conquered it. In 1237 the Mongol Genghis Khan’s grandson, Batu Khan, crossed the frozen waters of the Volga and burned Moscow and other cities down.  Two years later they headed south-west and burned down Kiev in 1240. Only the Novgorod being up in the north remained free. However, their rulers had still to pay tribute to the Mongols.

It took two and half centuries for Russia become free again

KIEVIAN RUS IN THE 11TH CENTURY