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diff --git a/20880.txt b/20880.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3e367b --- /dev/null +++ b/20880.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7686 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Russia, by R. Van Bergen + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of Russia + +Author: R. Van Bergen + +Release Date: March 23, 2007 [EBook #20880] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF RUSSIA *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine P. +Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, +all other inconsistencies are as in the original. +Author's spelling has been maintained. +Missing page numbers correspond to moved illustrations.] + + +[Illustration: Map] + + + + + THE STORY OF RUSSIA + + + BY + + R. VAN BERGEN, M.A. + + AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF JAPAN," + "THE STORY OF CHINA," ETC. + + + + + NEW YORK-:-CINCINNATI-:-CHICAGO + AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY + + + + + Copyright, 1905, + By AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY + + Entered at Stationers' Hall, London + + STORY OF RUSSIA + + W. P. 2. + + + + +To + +HENRY MATHER LOWMAN + +AMICUS CERTUS RE INCERTA CERNITUR. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Recent events have drawn the attention upon Russia, a country of which +but little is known here, because the intercourse between it and the +United States has been limited. In my frequent journeys to the Far +East, I found it often difficult to comprehend events because, while I +could not help perceiving that the impulse leading to them came from +Russia, it was impossible to discover what prompted the government of +the czar. I felt the necessity to study the history of Russia, and +found it so fascinating, that I resolved to place it in a condensed +form before the students in our schools. They must be the judges of +how I have succeeded. + + R. VAN BERGEN. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. The Realm of the Czar 13 + + II. Early Records of Russia 23 + + III. The Norsemen (or Varingians) in Russia 29 + + IV. Saint Vladimir and Iaroslaf the Great 41 + + V. A Russian Republic 49 + + VI. Troublous Times 57 + + VII. The Yellow Peril 63 + + VIII. Russia Under the Mongol Yoke 71 + + IX. Lithuania and Moscow 79 + + X. Decline of the Tartar Power. Dmitri Donskoi 87 + + XI. Ivan III, the Great 97 + + XII. Russia becomes an Autocracy 106 + + XIII. Ivan IV, the Terrible 111 + + XIV. Russia Under Ivan the Terrible 122 + + XV. Feodor, the Last of Rurik's Descendants 129 + + XVI. Michael Feodorovitch (Son of Theodore) the + First Romanof 137 + + XVII. Early Years of Peter the Great (Peter + Alexievitch) 145 + + XVIII. Peter the Great and His Reign 153 + + XIX. Peter the Great and His Time 162 + + XX. The Successors of Peter the Great 173 + + XXI. Russia Under Catherine II (the Great) 183 + + XXII. Russia During the Wars of Napoleon 194 + + XXIII. An Eventful Period 208 + + XXIV. Alexander II, the Liberator 219 + + XXV. Great Events During Alexander's Reign + Nihilism 229 + + XXVI. Alexander III, the Peasants' Friend 241 + + XXVII. Russia Methods: The War with Japan 251 + + XXVIII. The Origin and Growth of The Asiatic Empire 259 + + XXIX. Russian Methods. The War with Japan 267 + + XXX. Russia Loses her Prestige 277 + + + + +THE STORY OF RUSSIA. + + + + +I--THE REALM OF THE CZAR. (p. 013) + + +When we think of our country, we feel proud of it for other and better +reasons than its great size. We know how its extent compares with that +of other nations; we know that the United States covers an area almost +equal to that of Europe, and, more favored than that Grand Division, +is situated on the two great highways of commerce, the Atlantic and +Pacific Oceans. Europe is as far from the latter, as Asia is from the +former; and these highways, powerful means toward creating prosperity, +remain at the same time barriers whereby nations that find greater +delight in the arts of war than in those of peace, are restrained from +disturbing our national progress. + +At the beginning of this twentieth century the nations upon which +depends the world's peace or war, happiness or misfortune, are the +United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, +Russia, Japan, and in the near future China. Here we see that Europe, +although little larger in area than the United States, is represented +by seven nations, Asia by two, and the Western Hemisphere by one which +by its institutions stands for peace and progress, for law and (p. 014) +order. Hence we, its citizens, are known all over the world as +Americans. + +If we compare the area occupied by the several European powers with +that covered by the main body of our republic, that is, not including +Alaska and other outlying territories, we find that Austria-Hungary +has four thousand square miles less than Texas, while Germany lacks +forty thousand square miles in comparison with the Lone Star State. +France is four thousand square miles less than Germany, and Italy is +only a thousand square miles greater than Nevada. The British Kingdom +in Europe is about twice the area of Illinois. Among the great nations +of the world, aside from outlying possessions beyond the Grand +Division, our country stands third, and should occupy the second +place, because China, the next larger, owes its greater area to +territories over which she has little or no control, and which she +seems destined to lose. + +The largest country is Russia, covering as it does one-sixth of all +the land on the earth. This empire, although inhabited by people +differing in race, religion, and customs, is one compact whole. It +embraces in Europe 2,113,000 square miles, or more than all other +European nations combined; its area in Asia is 6,672,000 square miles, +making a total of 8,785,000 square miles, or 2.8 times as many as the +main body of our country. All the people living in this immense +empire, whatever their race, religion, or language, obey the will of +_one man_. We, who dwell in our beloved country, yield obedience only +to the Law; but the laws are made by ourselves, and they allow us (p. 015) +to do as we please, so long as we do not interfere with others who +have the same rights; and those laws are ever ready to protect us. In +Russia laws are made or unmade at the will of one person who is +himself above the laws. Every man, woman, or child, born and living in +that country, is at his mercy. Mere suspicion is sufficient to drag a +man from his family and home, perhaps to disappear without leaving a +trace. Such a government is called an autocracy, and the man who may +thus dispose of people's life and property, is known as an Autocrat. +Hence the title of the Emperor of Russia is: Autocrat of All the +Russias. + +Why "All the Russias"? Look at the map of Eurasia, the continent +embracing the two Grand Divisions Europe and Asia. You will see that +the Russian Empire is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean; on the +east by the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the +Japan Sea; on the south by China, Pamir, Afghanistan, Persia, Asiatic +Turkey, and the Black Sea; and on the west by Roumania, +Austria-Hungary, the German Empire, the Baltic Sea, Sweden, and +Norway. This immense empire is the growth of many centuries, and even +in Europe it has not yet been welded into one whole. When we read +Russian books, we learn about Great and Little Russia, White and Red +Russia, which shows that divisions of bygone years are still observed +by the people. Much has been done towards effacing those boundary +lines; but the fact that the czar, autocrat though he is, recognizes +and admits the division in his title, shows that even he is, to some +extent, subject to public opinion. + +Russia in Europe, however, with the exception of Poland and (p. 016) +Finland, is a country with one religion and one language; that is, the +czar and his government recognize and admit no other. That is the +cause of the persecution of the Jews, four fifths of whom dwell in the +southwest of Russia in an area covering 356,681 square miles, which is +sometimes mentioned as the Jewish territory. Every succeeding czar has +tried to make all his subjects think and act in the manner prescribed +by him. The process is known as "Russianizing," and goes on +incessantly in its different stages. Immediately after the conquest of +a country, its people are assured that their religion, institutions, +and language, shall be respected; the only difference is that the +native officials are displaced by Russians. This continues until +Russian rule is firmly established, and no one dreams of resisting the +czar. Then the Russian language displaces the native tongue, and if +disturbances occur, the military is called in to inflict a terrible +punishment. The loss of the native language carries with it that of +old institutions, and when the people have submitted to their fate, it +is the turn of their religion. The Russian is in no hurry; he has a +conviction that time has no changes in store for his empire, hence he +bides his time, and is likely to succeed in his purpose. This process +is now carried on in Central Asia where Russian power has found its +greatest expansion in modern times. It is but fair to admit that +Russian absorption there has been highly beneficial because robber +tribes were reduced to law and order. + +[Illustration: Russia] + +Before telling the Story of Russia, that is, of how the huge empire +was formed and grew to its present size, it is necessary to become (p. 018) +better acquainted with the aspect and nature of the country. Looking +at the map of the Eurasian continent, that is, the continent embracing +Europe and Asia, we cannot fail to notice that Russia is a country of +the plains. Its southern boundary seems to follow the mountain +barriers which divide Asia into two parts. Does it not seem as if long +billows of earth roll down toward the Arctic Ocean, where they rest +benumbed by the eternal cold? These mountains branch off toward the +south, east or west, but scorn to throw so much as a spur northward. +It is true that a solitary chain, the Urals, runs north and south, but +it stands by itself, and is nothing more than what the word Ural +signifies, a _belt_ or _girdle_ separating the European from his +Asiatic brother. These mountains do not form the backbone of a +country, nor do they serve as a watershed, like our Rocky Mountains or +the Andes of South America. Some of their peaks rise to a height of +6,000 feet above the level of the sea, but the chain, 1531 miles long, +seems destined only to keep the two races apart. + +Beyond the Ural mountains, the plain resumes its sway. This extensive +flat could not fail to exert a noticeable influence upon the country +and its inhabitants. The dense forests in the north, while acting as a +screen, do not afford protection against the icy polar winds which +sweep with scarcely diminished force over the broad expanse, so that +the northern shores of the Black and Caspian Seas in January have +about the same temperature as Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The +mountains of Western Europe shut off the aerial current of the Gulf +Stream which tempers the summer heat as well as the winter cold. (p. 019) +Russia's climate, therefore, is one of extremes. In summer the +heat is very oppressive, owing to the absence of the sea breeze which +elsewhere affords so much relief; and when a wind does blow, it only +adds to the discomfort, because it has lost its moisture. That is the +reason why Russia suffers so often from drought. This is especially +the case in the south where no forests are found to attract rain. + +Nature has provided a substitute in the splendid waterways. In about +the center of European Russia, rises the Valdai plateau to a height of +1,100 feet above the sea level. This is Russia's great watershed. Near +it, in Lake Volgo, rises the largest river of Europe, "Mother Volga," +as the Russian ballad singers love to call it. Its entire length is +2,336 miles, or nearly the length of the Missouri; it has a basin of +590,000 square miles. Owing to the slight slope of the land, the great +river flows placidly in its bed, which is fortunate since its Waters +are swollen by several large rivers, so that there are points where it +is seventeen miles wide. The Kama, one of the tributaries of the +Volga, is 1,266 miles long; the Oka, another confluent, has a length +of 633 miles. At Kazan, the Volga is 4,953 feet wide, at Jaroslaf +2,106 feet, and at Samara, 2,446 feet. It empties into the Caspian +Sea, with a delta of more than seventy branches. The fish caught in +this river often grow to gigantic proportions; its sturgeons, +lampreys, and salmon, are highly prized. Since time immemorial, the +Volga has been a great highway of trade. Kostroma, Nishni Novgorod, +Kazan, Simbirsk, Saratof, and Astrakhan, are the most populous cities +on its banks. + +Other large rivers rise on the Valdai plateau. The Dnieper runs (p. 020) +south, passing by Kief, and empties in the Black Sea, near Odessa. The +Dwina runs northward, seeking the icy Arctic, which it enters by way +of the White Sea near Archangel. The Duena takes a westerly course +towards the Gulf of Riga where it empties near the city of that name. +Of greater importance are the small streams which feed Lakes Ladoga +and Onega, because they connect Central Russia with the Baltic Sea by +means of the Neva. + +European Russia is usually divided into four zones or belts, from the +character of the soil and the nature of its productions; their general +direction is from southwest to northeast. In the north, as a screen +against the Arctic blast, is the _poliessa_ or forest region, densely +covered with lindens, birches, larches, and sycamores, with oaks on +the southern fringe. These forests are invaluable to Russia where, in +the absence of mountains, stone is scarce. The houses are built of +wood, and fires are of common occurrence. Both lumber and fuel are +supplied by these forests which originally extended to Novgorod, +Moscow, and Jaroslaf. The increase in population together with the +growing demand for lumber, have caused extensive clearings; but the +area covered by the forests is so large, that the supply is well-nigh +inexhaustible. + +South of this zone are the black earth lands, extending down to the +Caucasus and across the Urals, and covering in Europe an area of one +hundred and fifty million acres,--equal to that of Texas. This zone +derives its name from an apparently inexhaustible bed of black (p. 021) +mold, so rich that no manure is required to produce abundant crops. +Until late in the last century, and before the United States began to +export its surplus harvests, this region was considered the granary of +Europe. It was known in very old times since we read of it in the +Heroic Age of Ancient Greece, when Jason sailed in the Argo to bring +home the Golden Fleece. + +Almost equal in extent is the zone of arable steppes, or prairies, +once the home of the Cossack, the nomad who led here the life of a +shepherd king, moving about as the condition of pasture and flock +required. Most of this land is now under cultivation, and with careful +farming produces good crops. These arable steppes cover an area equal +to that of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. + +The fourth and last zone is that of the barren steppes. There is ample +evidence that at some remote time these plains were covered with salt +water. The Caspian Sea has a level eighty feet below that of the Black +Sea, and it is therefore probable that here was a large inland sea of +which the Caspian and Aral Seas are the remains. These steppes are +unfit for farming. Here dwell the Kalmucks and Kirghizes, descendants +of the Tartars whose yoke once pressed heavily upon Russia. + +[Illustration: Russian Peasants] (p. 022) + + + + +II--EARLY RECORDS OF RUSSIA. (p. 023) + + +At an early period in the history of Greece, we hear of colonies +established on the northern shore of the Pontus Euxinus or Hospitable +Sea, as they named the Black Sea. We may even now recognize some of +the names of those colonies, such as Odessos, at the mouth of the Bug, +Tyras, at that of the Dniester, and Pityas where Colchis, the object +of the search of Jason and his fellow Argonauts, is supposed to have +been. In the fourth century before our era, some of these colonies +united under a hereditary _archon_ or governor, probably for the +purpose of securing better protection against the barbarians who dwelt +further inland. + +The Greeks mention these barbarians as the Scythians, and divided them +into three classes. The agricultural Scythians dwelt in the black +earth belt, near the Dnieper; the nomad Scythians lived at some +distance to the east of them, and the royal Scythians occupied the +land around the Sea of Azof. + +Learned men of Russia have made many excavations on the spots where +the Greek settlements once stood, during the past century. They have +been rewarded by finding many works of art, illustrating the mode of +living of the Scythians. They have been placed, and may be seen (p. 024) +in the Hermitage museum of St. Petersburg. Among these relics of the +past are two beautifully engraved vases, one of gold, the other of +silver. The Scythians on the silver vase wear long hair and beards, +and are dressed in gowns or tunics, and bear a close resemblance to +the Russians of our time. These vases and other ancient objects +confirm what is said about these people by Herodotus, a Greek +historian who lived in the fourth century before Christ. + +We learn from him that the Scythians worshiped a sword stuck into the +ground, representing the god of war, and that they made human +sacrifices. They drank the blood of the first enemy killed in battle, +scalped their prisoners, and used their skulls as drinking cups. In +the course of time the Greek civilization exerted its influence, and +penetrated to tribes dwelling much further in the north, as is shown +by the antiquities found in the government of Ekaterinoslaf. + +The _orbis terrarum_ or world so far as it was known to the Greeks, +was centered about the Mediterranean; hence the name of that sea, +meaning Middle of the Land or Middle of the Earth. Beyond that there +was an unknown region, supposed to be inhabited by people of whom many +wonderful stories were told. Thus they believed in the existence of +the Arimaspians, a race of one-eyed people; there are legends, too, of +the Agrippei who were described as bald and snub-nosed. The Greeks +also mention the Gryphons, who, they said, were guardians of immense +quantities of gold. The most wonderful people to the Greeks were the +Hyperboreans, or dwellers beyond the regions of the north wind, (p. 025) +who were looked upon with awe and pity because it was said that +they lived in a country where snow fell summer and winter. These were +some of the races and tribes supposed to inhabit Russia, which goes +far to prove that the knowledge of that country, in those times, was +neither extensive nor very accurate. + +The truth is that we know very little about the early inhabitants of +Russia; nor do they concern us greatly, because grave changes occurred +in the fourth century of our era. At that time several large and +warlike tribes of Central Asia moved westward compelling other tribes +on their route to join them or to move ahead. Thus they gathered +strength until it looked as if Asia was bent upon the conquest of +Europe. They poured in through the gap between the Ural mountains and +the Caspian Sea, and the civilized people of southeastern Europe were +unable to cope with the savage hordes. In the vanguard were the Goths, +who made an effort to settle, in Scythia, but they were forced to move +on when Attila, who is known as the Scourge of God, swooped down upon +them with his Huns. He was followed by a host of Finns, Bulgarians, +Magyars, and Slavs who, however, left his wake, scattered and settled +down. Soon after the Slavs became known to Greek authors and were +described by them. They were divided into a number of tribes, among +them the Russian Slavs who settled about the sources of the Volga and +the Oka, and were the founders of Novgorod, Pskof, and Izborsk. + +They must have been a numerous people. We hear of another tribe +settling on the banks of the Vistula, and laying the foundation of (p. 026) +the future kingdom of Poland. They settled on the upper Elbe, and in +the north of Germany. It is believed that the Slavs are ancestors of +the people in Bohemia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Servia, and Dalmatia, and in +Prussia of those living in Pomerania and Brandenburg. + +All these Slavs, although widely dispersed, practiced the same heathen +rites, spoke the same language, and nursed the same traditions, until +they fell under different influences. They were, however, not the sole +occupants of northeastern Europe. Other races had followed in Attila's +wake, and among them the Finns were the most numerous and most +warlike. They settled in the basin of the Dwina and the Kama and named +their new home Biarmaland, while the Russians called it Great Permia. +They also occupied what is now known as Finland, but which was then +known as Land of the Suomi. The Finns, more than any other tribe, bore +evidence of their Asiatic origin. + +Thus the present European Russia was divided among a host of tribes, +belonging either to the Slav or Finn families, and each kept to a +great extent the superstitions and traditions of his race. Even in our +time the traces of these superstitions are plainly discernible in many +parts of Russia. When Christianity was introduced among these people, +the missionaries found many of the barbaric rites so strongly +implanted among the people that, instead of making vain efforts to +uproot them, they preferred to admit them under a Christian name. + +The religion of the Slavs bore a great resemblance to that of the +Norsemen and of the Germanic races; that is, they worshiped nature (p. 027) +and its phenomena. Dagh Bog was the sungod; Perun, the Thor of +northern mythology, was the god of thunder; Stri Bog, the god of the +winds; Voloss, the protector of flocks. They had neither temples nor +regular priests, but worshiped the oak as the symbol of Perun, and +before it the leaders offered sacrifices. These ancient deities are +preserved under the names of St. John, who displaced Perun; Voloss who +became St. Vlaise, etc. When a chief died, the wife often refused to +survive her husband. The men-servants were summoned and asked which of +them would be buried with his master. When one of them came forward, +he was immediately strangled. Then the same question was put to the +women servants, and if one of them consented, she was feasted until +the day when the funeral pyre awaited the corpse. She was then killed +and her body burned with that of her master. There were, however, some +tribes that buried their dead. + +The father was absolute master of his family, but his authority did +not descend to the eldest son, but to the oldest of the family, his +brothers, if any were living, according to their age. The Slavs kept +several wives, and were given to consume large quantities of a strong +drink called kvass. They were a people devoted to agriculture; the +land under cultivation was not owned by one person or a family, but by +all the members of a community, or _mir_. The heads of the families +composing the mir assembled in a council or _vetche_, which had +authority over the mir. Only the house and the _dvor_ or inclosure, +and his share in the harvest, were the property of each householder. +In the course of time, several of these rural communities united (p. 028) +in a canton or county, called a _volost_, which was then governed by a +council composed of the elders of several communes. It happened +sometimes that one of these elders, who was considered unusually wise +or powerful, became chief of the volost, a dignity which might become +hereditary. This was probably the origin of the boyards or nobles. As +a rule, the volosts were proud of their independence; they disliked +entangling alliances, although in time of danger or necessity they +would enter into a confederacy of all the counties belonging to the +same tribe, which was then called _plemia_. But it was always +understood that such an arrangement was temporary. In most of the +volosts, there was at least one spot fortified by earthen walls and +wooden palisades, where the people might take refuge in case of an +attack. + +We know that some of the Slav tribes attained some degree of +civilization as early as the seventh century of our era. Novgorod was +a town, large for that time, which carried on a brisk trade with Asia. +This is amply proved by the discovery of Asiatic coins belonging to +that period. Although the favorite occupation of the Slavs was +agriculture, the construction of the fortified places suggests that +they were not averse to increase their wealth by an occasional raid +upon their unprepared neighbors. There is other evidence that +Novgorod, grown into a wealthy city in the middle of the ninth +century, longed for peace. No wonder that such a community sought for +means of security for its commerce. But the manner in which it +accomplished this desire, decided the fate of Russia. + + + + +III--THE NORSEMEN (OR VARINGIANS) IN RUSSIA. (p. 029) + + +It would have been strange indeed, if the bold Norsemen, the bold +buccaneers who in their frail craft pillaged the west coasts of Europe +and extended their voyages into the Mediterranean, should have omitted +to pay a visit to the shores of the Baltic Sea. We know that they +settled in England and France, and it causes no surprise when we read +that the Slavs in the neighborhood of the Baltic paid tribute to them. +They must have been exacting tax collectors, because we read also +that, in 859, the Slavs rose and expelled their visitors. Three years +later they returned at the invitation of the people of Novgorod. + +Nestor, the historian of the Slav race, who lived in the twelfth +century, and whose account is remarkably clear and trustworthy, wrote +that the inhabitants of Novgorod "said to the princes of Varingia, +'Our land is great and fertile, but it lacks order and justice; come, +take possession, and govern us.'" + +The invitation was accepted. Three brothers, Rurik or the Peaceful, +Sineous or the Victorious, and Truvor or the Faithful, proceeded to +Russia with their families and fighting men. Rurik settled on the +south shore of Lake Ladoga, Sineous on the White Lake, and Truvor at +Izborsk. The two younger brothers died, and Rurik moved to (p. 030) +Novgorod where he built a castle. At about the same time two other +Norsemen, Askold and Dir, landed in Russia, and went to Kief, then +also a flourishing city, where they were equally well received. They +persuaded its people to prepare an expedition against Czargrad, the +City of the Czar or Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, now known as +Constantinople, but at that time named Byzantium. The expedition of +Kief under Askold and Dir sailed down the Dnieper in a fleet of 200 +large boats, entered the Golden Horn--or Bosphorus,--and began the +siege of Constantinople. The capital was saved by the Patriarch or +head of the Greek Church, who plunged a wonder-working robe into the +waves, whereupon a violent storm destroyed the Russian fleet. + +The two chiefs, Askold and Dir, must have escaped, because they were +back at Kief when that city received a disagreeable visit. Upon +Rurik's death, he was succeeded, not by his son Igor, but by his +brother Oleg as the eldest of the family. The new prince or _kniaz_ +did not approve of rival Norsemen in his neighborhood. With his own +men and a large number of Slavs and Finns, he marched upon Kief, and +on his way compelled Smolensk and Loubetch to submit to his authority. + +When he arrived before Kief, he succeeded in capturing Askold and Dir +who were put to death "because," Oleg explained, "they were neither +princes themselves, nor of the blood of princes." Kief was taken, and +Oleg took up his residence in that city. + +[Illustration: Norsemen] + +It is at this time that the name Russia first appears. Its (p. 032) +derivation is doubtful and is, besides, of no great importance. Oleg +ruled over Russia, that is, the plain extending from Kief to Novgorod. +There is a story that he was defeated by the Hungarians, who had +crossed the Dnieper, but it is doubtful, because in the year 907, we +find him preparing another expedition against Constantinople. On this +occasion the people of that capital forgot to bring out the robe, and +tried to poison the invaders, but their scheme was discovered in time; +they were forced to pay a heavy tribute and Oleg secured, besides, a +very advantageous commercial treaty. + +One of the wizards at Oleg's court had warned him that his favorite +horse would be the cause of his death, and the animal was kept away +from him until it died. Oleg did not believe in wizards; he insisted +upon seeing the body and entered the stable. A snake came out of the +horse's skull and stung Oleg in the foot, and he died from the effect +of the poison. + +Igor, Rurik's son, was the eldest, and succeeded his uncle. He led +another expedition against Constantinople, but it ended in disaster, +because the Russian fleet was destroyed by Greek fire. A large number +of Russians were captured but Igor escaped. This failure did not +prevent him from again attacking the Byzantine Empire, and this time +he was successful. The emperor agreed to pay tribute and signed +another commercial treaty. + +Nestor, the Russian historian, tells us the story of Igor's death. "In +the year 945," he says, "the _drujina_" (that is, the body-guard, +composed of Norsemen or their descendants), "of Igor said to him, 'The +men of Sveneld are richly provided with weapons and garments, while +we go in rags; lead us, Prince, to collect the tribute so that (p. 033) +thou and we may become rich.' Igor consented, and conducted them to +the Drevlians to raise the tribute. He increased the first imposts, +and did them violence, he and his men; after having taken all he +wanted, he returned to his city. While on the road he bethought +himself and said to his drujina, 'Go on with the tribute; I will go +back and try to get some more out of them.' Leaving the greater part +of his men to go on their way, he returned with only a few, to the end +that he might increase his riches. The Drevlians, when they learnt +that Igor was coming back, held council with Nal, their prince. 'When +the wolf enters the sheepfold he slays the whole flock, if the +shepherd does not slay him. Thus it is with us and Igor; if we do not +destroy him, we are lost.' Then they sent deputies who said to him, +'why dost thou come anew unto us? Hast thou not collected all the +tribute?' But Igor would not hear them, so the Drevlians came out of +the town of Korosthenes, and slew Igor and his men, for they were but +a few." + +The drujina or body-guard of the duke was at the same time his +council. The men composing it were considered as members of his +family; they ate at his table and shared his amusements as well as his +toil. He did nothing without consulting them, and was really but the +first among his peers. They formed a court of justice, and it was from +among them that he appointed the voievods or governors of fortresses, +and possadniks or commandants of large towns. We have a description of +the courts of that time by an Arab writer named Ibn Dost. He says: (p. 034) +"When a Russian brings a complaint against another, he summons him +before the court of the prince where both state their case. When the +prince has pronounced his verdict, his orders are executed; but if +both parties are dissatisfied, the dispute must be decided by weapons. +He whose sword cuts sharper, gains his cause. At the time of the +fight, the relatives of the two adversaries appear armed, and surround +the space set apart. The combatants then come to blows, and the victor +may impose any terms he pleases." + +The people of the country, the peasants, were not quite so free as +when Rurik landed. They began to be known as _moujik_, a contemptuous +diminutive of the word mouj or man, literally manikin. The merchants +or _gosti_ did not form a distinct class, but in larger cities, such +as Novgorod and Kief, they had a voice in the administration. These +cities had a vetche or municipal council which directed the city's +business without any direct interference from the prince. The +successors of Rurik attended to the defense of the country, the +administration of justice, and the collection of tribute and taxes, +which sources of revenue were appropriated by them and served for +their support and for that of the drujina. + +The Slavs of that time exhibited many characteristics which we +recognize in the Russians of our time. Leo the Deacon, a noted writer +of that time, mentions that they fought in a compact body, and seemed +like a wall of iron, bristling with lances, glittering with shields, +whence rang a ceaseless clamor like the waves of the sea. A huge +shield covered them to their feet, and, when they fought in retreat, +they turned this enormous buckler on their backs and became (p. 035) +invulnerable. The fury of the battle frenzied them. They were never +seen to surrender. When victory was lost they stabbed themselves, for +they believed that those who died by the hand of an enemy were +condemned to serve him in the life after death. The emperors of +Byzantium were glad to secure their services, and the _ross_, as they +called them, often formed the body-guard. In the Byzantine expedition +against Crete, 700 Russians served in the army. + +The Norsemen readily adapted themselves to the habits, customs, and +language of the people among whom they settled. We find the Norse +names of Rurik, Oleg, and Igor, but after the last named their +descendants were Russians and bore Russian names. + +At Igor's death his son Sviatoslaf was still a minor, whose mother, +Olga, became Regent. She was a woman of determination, whose first +thought was to avenge the death of her husband. The Drevlians, hearing +of her preparations, sent two deputations to appease her: not a man +returned. They were all put to death at her command. Nestor tells us +that Olga herself commanded her warriors at the siege of Korosthenes, +and that she offered to make peace on payment of a tribute of three +pigeons and three sparrows for every house. This was accepted and the +birds were delivered, when she ordered lighted tow to be fastened to +their tails, and when they flew back to the wooden town, they set fire +to the houses and barns. Korosthenes was then captured and a great +number of its inhabitants were slaughtered and the rest were made +slaves. + +It seems strange that such a woman should have been the first of (p. 036) +Rurik's house to embrace Christianity. There is no doubt that she +visited Constantinople where she astonished the emperor by the force +of her character. She was baptized and received the name of Helen. It +is quite possible that she came to Constantinople for that purpose, +because we read that she refused to be baptized at Kief "for fear of +the pagans." This confirms the Greek records in which it is stated +that a bishop was established in Russia, probably at Kief, in the time +of Oleg. + +It is not strange that Christianity should have taken root in Russia +after the frequent wars with the Byzantine Empire, and considering the +commerce carried on between Kief and Constantinople. Missionaries +entered Russia at an early period. Two of them, Cyril and Methodius, +prepared a Slavonic alphabet, in which many Greek letters were used, +and the Bible was translated into that language. There is a tradition +that Askold was baptized after his defeat at Constantinople, and that +this is the reason why the people still worship at his tomb at Kief, +as of that of the first Christian prince. The Norsemen had no taste +for persecution on account of religious belief, but for themselves +they clung to the heathen deities. When Igor swore to observe the +treaty concluded with Emperor Leo VI, he went up to the hill of Perun +and used the ancient Slavonic rites; but the emperor's deputies went +to the church of St. Elias, and there laid their hands upon the Bible +as a token of good faith. + +The drujina and warriors did not take kindly to Christianity. They, as +well as the peasants, preferred to worship Perun and Voloss. The same +thing happened elsewhere. Christianity made the greatest progress (p. 037) +in cities, whereas the dwellers on the "heath" remained "heathen." +"When one of the warriors of the prince wished to become a convert," +says Nestor, "he was not prevented; they simply laughed at him." When +Olga returned from Constantinople, she was anxious that her son, who +was of age and had succeeded to his father, should follow her example. +Sviatoslaf refused; "my men will laugh at me," was his usual answer. +Nestor mentions that he sometimes lost his temper. Christianity did +not make much progress during his reign. + +He was a warrior, like his Norse ancestors. In the brief time of eight +years, 964-972, he found time to wage two wars. The first was with the +Khazar empire on the Don. Sviatoslaf captured its capital, the White +City, and received tribute from two tribes of the Caucasus. The second +war did not turn out so well. + +From Nestor's account and that of Leo the Deacon, it appears that the +Byzantine emperor, wishing to make use of Sviatoslaf, decided to find +out what sort of man he was. He therefore sent him presents of gold +and fine clothes, but the grandson of Rurik would scarcely look at +them and told his warriors to take them away. When the emperor heard +this, he sent him a fine sword and other weapons; these were accepted +with every token of satisfaction by Sviatoslaf. When the emperor was +informed of the result, he exclaimed: "This must be a fierce man, +because he despises wealth and accepts a sword as tribute." + +This did not prevent the emperor, who had a private quarrel with +Peter, Czar of Bulgaria, from urging Sviatoslaf to make war upon (p. 038) +his enemy. The Russian gave a hearty consent, and in a very short time +he captured several fortresses and Pereiaslaf, the capital, fell into +his hands. He determined to transfer his capital there, and when he +returned to Kief, he told his mother of the city on the Danube. "The +place," he said, "is the central point of my territory, and abounds in +wealth. Precious goods, gold, wine, and all kinds of fruit, come from +Greece. Silver and horses are brought from the country of the Czechs +and Hungarians, and the Russians bring money, furs, wax, and slaves." + +Meanwhile the emperor of Constantinople was dead; his successor, John +Zimisces was a very different man, who preferred having a weak +Bulgarian ruler as his neighbor, instead of an empire which, even at +that time, extended from Lakes Ladoga and Onega to the Balkans. He, +therefore, made up his mind to oust the Russians. Sviatoslaf had left +Bulgaria, but he returned and reconquered it, when he received a +demand from the new emperor to execute the treaty entered into with +his predecessor, that is, to leave Bulgaria. Sviatoslaf replied +proudly that he expected to visit the emperor at Constantinople before +long, but Zimisces, a brave and able man, took measures to prevent it. +Before Sviatoslaf expected him, Zimisces attacked and defeated the +Russians in the defiles of the Balkan, and soon after stormed and +captured Pereiaslaf. Eight thousand Russians withdrew into the castle, +which they defended heroically. They refused to surrender and, when +the castle was set on fire, they perished in the flames. + +When Sviatoslaf heard of this disaster, he advanced against the (p. 039) +emperor. The Greek historian says that the Russian army was 60,000 men +strong, but Nestor gives the number at 10,000. The two armies met and +both fought with desperate valor, but at last the Russians gave way +before the furious charges of the Greek cavalry--the Ironsides--and +withdrew to Dorostol. Zimisces started in pursuit, and laid siege to +the city where the same courage was displayed. After Sviatoslaf drew +his men up out of the city and prepared to give battle, Zimisces +proposed to him to decide the issue by a personal fight, but the offer +was declined. "I know better than my enemy what I have to do," said +Sviatoslaf. "If he is weary of life, there are a thousand ways by +which he can end his days." The battle ended in defeat for the +Russians who, Leo the Deacon tells us, left 15,500 dead, and 20,000 +shields on the battlefield. Sviatoslaf was compelled to come to terms. +Zimisces permitted him and what remained of his army to return to +Russia, after he had sworn by Perun and Voloss that he would never +again invade the empire, but would help in defending it against its +enemies. If he broke his oath, he wished that he might "become as +yellow as gold, and perish by his own arms." Zimisces showed the +nobility of a brave man. He sent messengers to a warlike tribe +requesting a free passage for the Russians; but this tribe was anxious +to seize the opportunity. Sviatoslaf and his men were attacked near +the Cataracts of the Dnieper; he was killed, but most of his men +escaped. (A.D. 972.) + +[Illustration: Vladimir] (p. 040) + + + + +IV--SAINT VLADIMIR AND IAROSLAF THE GREAT. (p. 041) + + +Sviatoslaf had divided the empire among his three sons; he left +Novgorod to Vladimir, the eldest; Oleg, the second, was made prince of +the Drevlians, and the youngest, Iaropolk, received Kief. As happens +often, none of the three was satisfied with his share, and civil wars +followed. Oleg was killed by Iaropolk, whereupon the youngest son of +Sviatoslaf was slain by his brother Vladimir, who thus became the sole +heir and successor to his father. His first act was to make war upon +Poland. He compelled it to restore Red Russia or Old Gallicia, a +territory in our time divided into seven governments, or provinces. He +also reduced two revolted tribes, and forced the Lithuanians and +Livonians to pay tribute. + +At the beginning of his reign, Vladimir showed an unusual devotion to +the old Slav gods. He erected idols on the sandy cliffs of Kief; that +of Perun had a head of silver and a beard of gold. It seems that after +some time he became displeased with this religion and, Nestor tells +us, he grew anxious to know what religion was the best. He, therefore, +sent deputies to Bulgaria to study the Moslem or Mohammedan creed, and +to the Khazars, who occupied the plain between the Bug and the (p. 042) +Volga, to make inquiries about the Jewish faith. From the Poles and +Germans he wanted to know all about the Roman Catholic Church, and at +Constantinople he expected to learn of the Greek faith. When these +deputies returned and reported to him, Vladimir selected the Greek +Church, which choice was approved by his drujina; "if the Greek +religion had not been the best, your grandmother Olga, the wisest of +mortals, would not have adopted it," said they. Thus Vladimir became a +convert; but his method of showing it was rather peculiar. + +He might have been baptized by the bishop of Kief; or, if he had +applied at Constantinople, the emperor would gladly have sent him a +high prelate to perform the service. Instead of this, Vladimir +collected an army and marched against Kherson,--the last city in +Russia held by the Byzantine. It was taken by means of treachery, and +from this city Vladimir sent to Constantinople to demand in marriage +the sister of the two emperors Basil and Constantine. Although the +emperors did not like the proposed connection, they consented because +they feared an invasion, but made it a condition that Vladimir should +be baptized. The ceremony was performed at Kherson; soon after the +bride arrived and the marriage took place in the same city. When he +returned to Kief, he carried with him the priests and sacred ornaments +taken from the churches of Kherson. + +Upon his return to Kief, he began missionary work by his own peculiar +methods. His first orders were to pull down the idols; during the +execution the people wept, moaned, and wrung their hands. Perun's +image was handsomely flogged and thrown into the Dnieper. Since it (p. 043) +was made of wood, it soon came to the surface, which was looked upon +as a miracle by the people who rushed down to worship it. But +Vladimir's soldiers gave it another bath, and this time it was caught +by the current and drifted away. The cliff where it stood is still +known at Kief as "the devil's leap," and the spot where Perun floated +ashore, is shown to visitors. + +After thus getting rid of the idols, Vladimir commanded the people of +Kief, men, women, and children, to plunge into the Dnieper, which had +been consecrated for the occasion, that they might be baptized. When +they had obeyed his order, the priests read the service, so that after +entering into the river as heathen, they left it as Christians. The +people of Novgorod were converted in the same swift and practical +manner, since no attention was paid to their objections. + +Heathen temples were next converted into churches, which were +decorated by Greek artists. Vladimir erected at Kief the church of St. +Basil, on the place where Perun's image had stood. Numerous other +churches were built; he also founded schools where the Bible was +taught in the Slav language. At first the people objected to send +their children, because they looked upon reading and writing as magic. +But Vladimir had persuasive ways, and was not likely to be deterred by +such opposition. Nestor admired him very much. He says that Vladimir +was a different man after he had been converted; that he was so afraid +of committing a sin, that he hesitated to inflict capital punishment, +until the bishop reminded him that crime must be punished. He also +divided his income among the churches, and thus became the Saint (p. 044) +Vladimir of Russia. Popular ballads keep alive the memory of the first +Christian prince. He is often mentioned in them as "The Beautiful Sun" +of Kief. + +It cannot be supposed that the Russian people were converted at once +into good Christians by Vladimir's forceful method. Several centuries +were to pass away before the peasants could be induced to part with +their heathen customs. The priests preferred to let them remain under +a Christian name. There is something mystic in the Slav character. He +nurses the belief in magicians and sorcerers, which has never been +uprooted. It is seen at present in the worship of the _eikon_ or +saint's image. + +Vladimir died in 1015. He, too, divided Russia among his numerous +sons. One of them, Iaroslaf, received Novgorod, where he began to +interfere with the rights of the people. A deputation of leading +citizens came to him with a protest. He ordered their arrest and +condemned them to death. Meanwhile Vladimir's other heirs had indulged +in the usual quarrels and wars, until it seemed as if Sviatopolk, a +nephew, would become the sole ruler. Iaroslaf then called the +principal people of Novgorod together, and threw himself upon their +generosity. They forgave him and promised their support. They kept +their word, and after a long and bloody war he entered Kief as his +father's successor. + +Iaroslaf was unfortunate in a war with the Byzantine Empire. The +Russian fleet was badly defeated in the Bosphorus; 8,000 men were +killed, and 800 prisoners were taken to Constantinople. + +Of greater importance was Iaroslaf's work at home. He built (p. 045) +churches and monasteries; St. Sophia church was the pride of Kief; the +monastery of The Catacombs still draws pilgrims from all parts of +Russia. Kief became known as "the city of four hundred churches." He +also founded a school for three hundred boys at Novgorod, thereby +showing that Russia at that time was second to no European nation. + +Kief, under his reign, was one of the most prosperous cities. This was +due to her situation on the Dnieper and her trade with the Byzantine +Empire, to the great fertility of the Black Earth land, and to +Iaroslaf's connection by marriage with the reigning families of +Europe. Of his daughters Elizabeth was the wife of the King of Norway, +Anne of the King of France, and Anastasia of the King of Hungary; his +sister Mary was married to the King of Poland, and his sons had +married into royal families. Merchants from Holland, Germany, Hungary, +and Scandinavia were established at Kief. The Dnieper was alive with +merchant vessels, and she counted eight markets. It is evident that +Iaroslaf took pains to protect and advance commerce. He had coins +minted with his Slav name on one side, and his Christian name Ioury +(George), on the other. + +Perhaps his greatest work is the code of laws established by him, +known as the _Russkaia Pravda_ or Russian Right. Though necessarily +primitive, it was a long step in advance of that time. It followed +chiefly the ideas of right and wrong according to the conceptions of +the Scandinavians. + +At this time, although the dignity of _kniaz_, duke or prince, was (p. 046) +hereditary in the family of Rurik, it was understood by all parties +that the reign of the prince depended upon the consent of his +subjects, and perhaps more still upon that of his drujina. A story is +told that in Vladimir's time the drujina complained that they were +made to eat from wooden bowls, whereupon he gave them silver ones, +saying: I could not buy myself a drujina with gold and silver; but +with a drujina, I can acquire gold and silver, as did my father and my +grandfather. + +Ever since Kief had been the residence of Rurik's descendants, they +had been recognized as Grand Dukes, because they represented the +eldest of the descendants. They did not, as a rule, interfere with the +administration, but were the dukes, the commanders of the armies. Many +districts had such a duke, who was, however, invariably of the blood +of Rurik, and recognized the superior authority as the eldest of the +blood. When the Grand Duke of Kief died, he was not succeeded by his +son, unless he had neither uncle nor brother living; but it was within +the power of the grand duke to leave one or more districts to his +sons. + +The descendants of the Norsemen were, therefore, the defenders of the +districts which they ruled as dukes. Novgorod and Pskof were republics +on the northwest frontier, and usually had the same duke. Smolensk was +an important dukedom, because it contained the sources of the Volga, +the Dnieper, and the Dwina, and embraced the ancient forest of Okof. +Not far from it was the dukedom of Toropetz. On the Upper Oka was +Tchernigof--a rival of Kief; further to the south was Novgorod-Swerki, +and east of the Upper Don, extending as far as the Oka, were (p. 047) +Riazan and Mourom. The dukedom of Souzdal, inhabited by a mixture of +Finns and Slavs, was in the north, the soil still covered by forests. +Southeast Russia embraced Red Russia, that is Volhynia and Gallicia +Proper. + +The introduction of the Greek Church caused important changes. The +Greek Priests could not comprehend the relation between the people and +its defenders. To them the duke was not a _dux_ (leader), but a Caesar, +Kaiser, or Czar, ruling, not with the consent of the governed, but by +the grace of God, as did the emperors at Constantinople. This idea +gradually penetrated into the minds of the several dukes, until it was +accepted and enforced by them. + +Another very important change was effected by the Greek religion. We +have seen that according to the old Slav customs, it was not the son +who succeeded as the head of the family, but its eldest member. It +appears that the same custom prevailed among the Norsemen, as we have +seen that it was Rurik's brother, and not his son who succeeded him. +In the Byzantine Empire, the oldest son was the heir, and the priests +tried to introduce this as a law. + +As the descendants of Rurik increased in number, it was not always +easy to determine who was entitled to the succession. Hence there were +often several claimants, and as a result, civil wars followed. These +wars, strange as it may appear, served to bind the dukedoms together, +because most of them were waged for the purpose of establishing the +claim of a duke upon the possession of Kief. + +Iaroslaf died in 1054, and was buried in the church of St. Sophia (p. 048) +at Kief. In his will we see the effect of the Greek Church, for he +specially appointed his eldest son Isiaslaf as his successor. A +younger brother, Sviatoslaf, took up arms, and expelled him in 1073. +Upon his death in 1076, Isiaslaf returned to Kief, where he lived two +years. He died in 1078, and was succeeded by his brother Vsevolod, who +was grand duke until 1093, when he was succeeded by Sviatopolk, the +son of Isiaslaf, as the eldest of the family. He was not opposed by +Vsevolod's famous son Vladimir Monomachus, who admitted that +Sviatopolk's "father was older than mine, and reigned first in Kief." + + + + +V--A RUSSIAN REPUBLIC. (p. 049) + + +Sviatopolk reigned from 1093 to 1113. It was at this time that Russia +was disturbed by two civil wars. At the instance of Vladimir +Monomachus a congress of dukes met in 1097, at Loubetch on the Dnieper +to discuss the folly of civil wars which placed the country at the +mercy of its enemies. An agreement was concluded, wherein the dukes +swore upon the Cross that "henceforth the Russian land shall be +considered the country of us all, and whoso shall dare arm himself +against his brother, shall be our common enemy." + +Soon after this a quarrel broke out about the succession of Volhynia, +and again the country was plunged into civil strife, which lasted two +years. In 1100 another congress was held at Vititchevo, on the left +bank of the Dnieper, where the dispute was settled, and it was +resolved to unite in a war with a powerful nomad people. The Russians +under Vladimir Monomachus gained a brilliant victory; the nomads had +seventeen khans killed on the battlefield. + +When Sviatopolk died, the people of Kief declared that they would have +no grand duke except Vladimir. He declined saying that there were +elder heirs entitled to the succession; but when troubles broke out in +the city, he gave his consent. During his reign of twelve years, (p. 050) +from 1113 to 1125, Kief reached the height of prosperity and power. He +reduced Souzdal, in the north, to submission, and made many +improvements. His memory is cherished in Russia. He compiled a set of +instructions for his sons, from which we may judge of his character. +Among other remarks, he says: "It is neither by fasting, nor solitude, +nor the life in a cloister that will procure for you the life +eternal,--it is doing good. Do not forget the poor but feed them. Do +not bury your wealth in the bosom of the earth, for that is contrary +to the precepts of Christianity. Be a father to orphans, judge the +cause of widows yourself." "Put to death no one be he innocent or +guilty, for nothing is more precious than the soul of a Christian." +"When you have learned anything useful, try to preserve it in your +memory, and strive ceaselessly to acquire knowledge. Without ever +leaving his palace, my father spoke five languages, _a thing that +foreigners admire in us_." + +There are in the museum at Moscow, a throne and crown, supposed to +have belonged to this noble and patriotic duke; unfortunately it has +been shown that they were never in his possession. + +In his will, Vladimir gave the dukedom of Souzdal to his son George +Dolgorouki, and another son, Mstislaf, succeeded as grand duke at +Kief. When the latter died in 1146, leaving the grand dukedom to his +son Isiaslaf, George Dolgorouki claimed the succession as the eldest +of the family. Both sides were supported by their friends, and some +fierce battles were fought, but Isiaslaf maintained himself until +his death in 1157. After his reign, Kief's importance began to (p. 051) +decrease. Twelve years later, in 1169, it was captured by the Russians +of the north. A native historian[1] says of this event: "This mother +of Russian cities had been many times besieged and oppressed. She had +often opened her Golden Gate to her enemies, but none had ever yet +entered by force. To their eternal shame, the victors forgot that +they, too, were Russians! During three days not only the houses, but +the cloisters, churches, and even the temples of St. Sophia and the +Dime, were given over to pillage. The precious images, the sacerdotal +ornaments, the books, and the bells,--all were carried off." + + [Footnote 1: Karamsin.] + +With the fall of Kief, the scene of Russian activity shifts to the +north. There, in the dukedom of Souzdal, George Dolgorouki laid, in +1147, the foundation of a town, Moscow, on a height overlooking the +Moscowa. For many years it remained an obscure village, and gave no +sign of its future greatness. + +The chief interest at this time centers about the Russian republics, +Novgorod, Pskof, and Viatka. Although Novgorod did not possess the +advantages of Kief, since its soil was sandy, marshy, and +unproductive, the enterprise of its people made it the wealthiest and +most populous city of Russia. It is recorded that it counted 100,000 +inhabitants, when Rurik arrived in Russia. He and his immediate +successors were satisfied with the position of Defender, which suited +their warlike and blunt character, and with the revenues assigned to +them, which with the spoils taken from the enemy, were ample for their +wants. These republics were administered by a vetche or municipal (p. 052) +council, with a possadnik or burgomaster, whose duty it was to see +that the city's privileges were preserved, and who distributed the +taxes. He shared with the duke in the administration of justice. There +was a militia for the defense of the people's rights, commanded by a +_tysatski_. Every ward of the city had a _starost_, charged with +preserving the peace. It is said that a written constitution, +partaking of the nature of the Magna Charta, was granted to Novgorod +by Iaroslaf the Great. The duke's rights and privileges, his duties +and his revenues, were carefully set down. He was entitled to the +tribute of some of the volosts,--cantons or counties,--and to certain +fines; he could gather in his harvests at stated times, and was not +permitted to hunt in the forest except in the autumn. He could neither +execute nor annul a judgment without the approval of the possadnik, +and he was expressly forbidden to carry a lawsuit beyond Novgorod. +Every duke, before he entered upon his office, was compelled to take +an oath to this constitution. + +The members of the vetche were elected by a unanimous vote, instead of +by a majority. This gave rise to frequent, and sometimes very serious +disorder, because if a minority did not approve of the candidate, they +were apt to be ill-treated. There were occasions when two rival +vetches were elected, and when this happened in the two parts of the +city divided by the river Volkhof, the bridge between them was often +the scene of a free fight. Owing to the extensive trade connections, +the merchants trading with western Europe by way of the Baltic sought +to promote friendly relations with the dukes of the west, who had (p. 053) +it in their power to promote or obstruct their trade; but the +merchants dealing with Asia, and those who connected with +Constantinople had other interests to consider and to guard. Thus +there were often three parties, each concerned with its own interests, +and forgetting that their prosperity was first and chiefly dependent +upon the power of the republic, they rendered it an easy prey for an +ambitious duke. The people, however, boasted of their patriotism, and +during the early period they were strong enough to defy the duke. On +some occasions, he and his drujina were expelled, or, as they +expressed it, "the people made him a reverence, and showed him a way +to leave." Sometimes, too, it happened that the duke was made a +prisoner, and confined in the Archbishop's palace. When Sviatopolk was +Grand Duke of Kief (1093-1113), he wished to force one of his sons +upon the people of Novgorod. "Send him along," said they, "if he has a +head to spare!" Usually the duke was glad to leave Novgorod, if he +could secure another dukedom. In 1132, Vsevolod Gabriel left Novgorod +to become Duke of Pereiaslaf, hoping to succeed as Grand Duke of Kief. +Seeing no way to attain the coveted dignity, he signified his wish to +return to the people of Novgorod. "You have forgotten your oath to die +with us," they replied; "you have sought another dukedom; now you may +go where you please." In this case, however, the people changed their +mind, and did take him back; but four years afterwards they expelled +him, declaring that "he took no care of the poor people; he desired to +establish himself at Pereiaslaf; at the battle of Mount Idanof against +the men of Souzdal, he and his drujina were the first to leave the (p. 054) +battlefield; he was fickle in the quarrels of the dukes, sometimes +joining one party and sometimes the other." + +So long as the descendants of Rurik remained satisfied with their +position, Novgorod had enough men and resources to maintain its +independence; but more than that was required after the dukes had +tasted of the sweets of unlimited power. + +George Dolgorouki had established colonies in Souzdal. The land was +his, the colonists were his subjects. He was no longer merely the +defender, he was the owner, not the duke, but the prince. There was no +vetche or popular assembly in his possessions. His son, Andrew +Bogolioubski, was brought up and educated amid these conditions, more +in conformity with those prevailing in Greece and other parts of +Europe, where the people were supposed to exist for the sole benefit +of their prince. It was he who ruined Kief, and the fall of that city +foretold the doom of Novgorod. "The fall of Kief," says a Russian +author,[2] "seemed to foreshadow the loss of Novgorod liberty; it was +the same army, and it was the same prince who commanded it. But the +people of Kief, accustomed to change their masters,--to sacrifice the +vanquished to the victors,--only fought for the honor of their dukes, +while those of Novgorod were to shed their blood for the defense of +the laws and institutions established by their ancestors." + + [Footnote 2: Karamsin.] + +During his father's life, Andrew left his castle on the Dnieper, and +moved northward to Vladimir which town he enlarged, and where he founded +a quarter named Bogolioubovo, whence his name of Bogolioubski. (p. 055) +After the death of George Dolgorouki, Andrew first made a successful +campaign against the Bulgarians, and then, after sacking Kief, he +turned his attention toward Novgorod, where he had established one of +his nephews. The cause of the quarrel is not known, but Andrew began +by compelling the neighboring dukes to join him, and overran the +territory of the republic with fire and sword. The people of Novgorod, +remembering the fate of Kief, were prepared to die in the defense of +the city. The siege commenced. One day the Archbishop took the +eikon--image--of the Virgin, which was carried around in solemn +procession. It was struck by an arrow shot by a Souzdalian soldier, +when miraculous tears appeared upon its face. The besiegers were +struck by a panic, and the people of Novgorod sallied out, killed a +number of the enemy, and took so many prisoners that "you could get +six Souzdalians for a grivna." Whatever may have been the value of +that coin, the market was evidently overstocked with Souzdalians. + +Foiled in this attempt, Andrew tried other means. He prohibited the +sale of grain to the people of Novgorod, who were thereby compelled to +make peace. They did not surrender any of their privileges but +accepted as their duke the prince selected by Andrew. + +His next war was with Mstislaf the Brave, Duke of Smolensk, who, aided +by his brothers, had taken Kief. Andrew sent a herald to him demanding +the evacuation of Kief, and imposing a fine upon each brother. +Mstislaf who, the Russians say, "feared none but God," gave orders to +have the herald's head and beard shaved,--a gross insult at that (p. 056) +time,--and then dismissed him, saying: "Go and repeat these words unto +your master,--'Up to this time we have respected you like a father, +but since you do not blush to treat us as your vassals and common +people, since you have forgotten that you speak to princes, we laugh +at your threats. Execute them!--we appeal to the judgment of God.'" +The challenge was accepted, and Andrew was defeated. + +The Duke of Souzdal did not relax in his attempts to established +absolute government. It was with this purpose in view that he expelled +his three brothers, and made friends of the priests. Kief was still +the residence of the _Metropolitan_ or head of the Greek Church in +Russia, and Andrew was anxious that he should transfer his residence +to Vladimir so as to make that city the religious center of Russia. +His wish was not gratified. He failed in everything, except in making +enemies by his disregard of law. He was murdered in 1174 in his +favorite palace at Bogolioubovo, by his own _boyards_ or nobles. + + + + +VI--TROUBLOUS TIMES. (p. 057) + + +The death of Andrew was a welcome relief for the people of Novgorod. +They celebrated it by attacking the houses of the rich, and committed +so many excesses that the priests made a procession with the eikons. +In Souzdal there was trouble about the succession. Two of Andrew's +brothers returned from exile, and claimed the dukedom, and the city of +Vladimir gave them its support. That was enough for Souzdal and Rostof +to recognize another claimant, one of Andrew's nephews. Vladimir was +victorious in the contest, and Andrew's brother, Michael, became Grand +Duke of Souzdal. He died two years afterwards, and the people of +Souzdal once more refused to recognize Vladimir's candidate, Andrew's +other brother Vsevolod, surnamed the Big Nest on account of his +numerous family. Vladimir defeated Souzdal and Vsevolod was its grand +duke from 1176 to 1212. The people of Novgorod thought best to pacify +him. They sent a deputation to Vladimir, to tell Vsevolod, "Lord and +Grand Duke, our country is your patrimony; we entreat you to send us +the grandson of George Dolgorouki, the great-grandson of Monomachus, +to govern us." The request was granted, and Vsevolod's eldest son +Constantine came to Novgorod. The grand duke, however, was soon (p. 058) +displeased with him and displaced him by a younger son, Iaroslaf. Soon +there were quarrels between him and the people, whereupon Iaroslaf +moved to Torjok, a town within Novgorod territory, and from there +stopped all supplies. Famine appeared in the city, and at last envoys +were sent to the duke, who had them arrested. Nothing except absolute +submission would satisfy him. In this dire need help came from an +unexpected quarter. Mstislaf the Bold, son of Mstislaf the Brave, Duke +of Smolensk, heard of Novgorod's plight and sent word to the city, +"Torjok shall not hold itself higher than Novgorod. I will deliver +your lands and citizens, or leave my bones among you." He was as good +as his word. There was a great war between Souzdal and Smolensk; no +quarter was asked or given. In 1216, Vsevolod's sons were attacked at +Lipetsk by the troops of Novgorod and Smolensk, with such fury that +they were routed, and 9,000 were killed whereas only 60 were taken +prisoners. Iaroslaf renounced Novgorod and released the citizens +arrested by him. + +Constantine succeeded his father Vsevolod, but died in 1217, and +another brother, George, became Grand Duke of Souzdal. This prince +made an expedition down the Volga, levying tribute as he proceeded. In +1220, he laid the foundation of Nishni Novgorod, and of several +villages in what was then Moravian territory. + +Meanwhile Mstislaf the Bold resigned as Grand Duke of Novgorod in an +assembly of the people, saying, "I salute St. Sophia, the tomb of my +father,[3] and you. People of Novgorod, I am going to reconquer +Galitch from the strangers, but I shall never forget you. I hope (p. 059) +I may lie by the tomb of my father in St. Sophia." The people implored +him to remain; but he had made up his mind, and in 1218 he left for +the southwest, where he did succeed in conquering Galitch, that is the +name given to southwestern Russia at that time. + + [Footnote 3: Mstislaf the Brave was buried in the + church of St. Sophia.] + +After his departure the people of Novgorod called his nephew +Sviatoslaf as their grand duke, but soon there was a quarrel. The +possadnik Tferdislaf caused the arrest of one of the wealthy citizens, +whose friends rose to set him free. Then the burgomaster's friends +came and there was a fight in which ten men were killed. The grand +duke then demanded the dismissal of the burgomaster, and the vetche +assembled to hear both sides. The grand duke was asked what crime the +possadnik had committed. + +"None," he replied, "but it is my will that he be dismissed." + +The burgomaster then said: "I am satisfied, because I am not accused +of any fault; as for you, my brothers, you can dismiss alike +possadniks and dukes." + +The vetche consulted, and announced its decision: + +"Prince, since you do not accuse the possadnik of any fault, remember +that you have sworn to depose no magistrate without trial. Tferdislaf +will remain our possadnik,--we will not deliver him to you." + +Sviatoslaf was very much displeased and resigned, and one of his +brothers, Vsevolod, was appointed in his place. This was in 1219; two +years later, in 1221, Vsevolod was expelled, and the people called +back that same Iaroslaf from whom they had been rescued by Mstislaf +the Bold. Soon there was another dispute and _he_ was sent about (p. 060) +his business. Vsevolod of Smolensk was again made duke, but the people +soon grew tired of him. At this time the Grand Duke of Souzdal +interfered; he made Novgorod pay him tribute, and appointed a prince +of Tchernigof as its duke; but he did not like the place and resigned. +Then the city suffered from a famine, when 42,000 citizens perished +and a fire destroyed a whole quarter of the city. Iaroslaf was made +duke for the fourth time; the spirit of the people was broken, and he +was permitted to rule over them as he pleased. He succeeded as grand +duke in 1236, when he left his son Alexander Nevski as duke in +Novgorod. + +The east coast of the Baltic was considered tributary to Novgorod. +Several colonies had been established on the Duena and south of that +river, but in the 12th and 13th centuries missionaries and merchants +from Germany appeared and gradually penetrated as far as the Duena +where Bishop Meinhard, in 1187, built a Roman Catholic Church and a +fortress. The Livonians were converted much as St. Vladimir had made +Christians of the people of Kief; but in this case, the people of +Livonia revolted; in 1198 the second bishop was killed in battle, and +the natives returned to the heathen gods. Pope Innocent III ordered a +crusade against them. Another bishop sailed up the Duena with a fleet +of twenty-three ships, and in 1200 founded Riga. The year after a +religious society, the Sword-bearers, resembling the Templars, was +installed in Livonia, and the natives appealed to the Duke of Polotsk +for help. They marched upon Riga and were defeated in 1206. + +German colonization proceeded actively under the Sword-bearers. (p. 061) +Several cities were founded, and the country was divided into fiefs, +according to the feudal system of Western Europe. The towns were +modeled after Hamburg, Bremen, and Luebeck. Riga grew into a large and +powerful city. + +In 1225, another religious-brotherhood, the Teutonic Order, entered +into Lithuania, and twelve years later the two orders united. The +introduction of the Roman Catholic religion carried with it the +elements of Roman civilization, and did much toward estranging the +natives of the Baltic provinces from the Russians of the east. + +Southwestern Russia, or Galitch, had, more than any other section, +preserved the old Slav character. "The duke was a prince of the old +Slavonic type. He was elected by a popular assembly, and kept his seat +by its consent."[4] The assembly was composed of boyards or nobles, +and sometimes disputes occurred between them and the duke, which ended +in more or less serious disorders. In 1188, the position was offered +to Roman, Duke of Volhynia. He accepted, but before he could enter the +capital, a duke who had been expelled was reinstalled. After his +death, Roman entered the territory of Galitch, not as an elected duke, +but as a conqueror at the head of an army, and treated the dukedom as +a conquest. He was especially cruel to the boyards, treating their +rights and privileges with scorn. Russian authors praise him; one of +them says that he "walked in the ways of God, exterminated the +heathen, flung himself like a lion upon the infidels, _was savage as a +wild cat, deadly as a crocodile_, swooped down on his prey like an (p. 062) +eagle," which seem strange qualities for praise. Roman died in battle, +in 1205. Mstislaf the Bold conquered Galitch and at his death, in +1228, his son-in-law Daniel became duke. + + [Footnote 4: Kostomarof.] + +We have seen that, in the 13th century, Russia was divided into a +number of small states, most of them under a duke, but all possessing +some degree of liberty, except in the north where the duke was being +changed into an hereditary monarch. We have also seen that Russia was +part of Europe, and that commercial relations were maintained. At the +same time, just as there had been an invisible but none the less real +dividing line between the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire and the +west of Europe, so with the adoption of the Greek Church, Russia +inherited the oriental type and principles which separated that form +of Christianity from that of Rome. Thus the slight split grew +gradually into a schism, as Western Europe progressed with every +evolution of the Roman Church, whereas Russia remained stationary. + +Byzantium or Constantinople, situated at the easternmost edge of +Europe, owing to its intimate association with the Persians who, at +the time represented the Oriental character, was more of an oriental +than a western city; its sympathies were also with its neighbors of +the east. There was thus an oriental tendency in Russia as well as in +the Byzantine Empire, and this vague sentiment enabled Russia to bend +before a blast, which would have withered any nation of a more +pronounced occidental character. + + + + +VII--THE YELLOW PERIL. (p. 063) + + +On the borders of the Chinese Empire, in the northeast of Asia, roamed +a Mongol tribe, known as the Tartars or Tatars. A Chinese author of +that time, described them as follows: "The Ta-tzis[5] or Das occupy +themselves exclusively with their flocks; they go wandering ceaselessly +from pasture to pasture, from river to river. They are ignorant of the +nature of a town or a wall. They are ignorant of writing and books; +their treaties are concluded orally. From infancy they are accustomed +to ride, to aim their arrows at rats and birds, and thus acquire the +courage essential to their life of wars and destruction. They have +neither religious ceremonies nor judicial institutions. From the +prince to the lowest among the people, all are fed by the flesh of the +animals whose skin they use for clothing. The strongest among them +have the largest and fattest morsels at feasts; the old men are put +off with the fragments that are left. They respect nothing but +strength and courage; age and weakness are condemned." + + [Footnote 5: Ta, great; hence: the Great Tzis.] + +The people were, therefore, nomads, moving their flocks as necessity +required, and occasionally making a raid upon a neighboring town. +"They move on horseback;" says the Chinese author; "when they wish to +capture a town, they fall on the suburban villages. Each leader (p. 064) +seizes ten men, and every prisoner is forced to carry a certain +quantity of wood, stones, and other material. They use these for +filling up moats or to dig trenches. In the capture of a town the loss +of a myriad men was thought nothing. No place could resist them. After +a siege, the entire population was massacred, without distinction of +old or young, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, those who resisted or +those who yielded; no distinguished person escaped death, if a defense +was attempted." + +These nomad Tartars were united by and under Genghis Khan (1154-1227), +one of their chiefs or khans. He summoned all the khans of the several +tribes, and before them took the title of emperor over all, declaring +that, as there was only one sun in heaven, so there should be but one +emperor on earth. At the head of his tribes, Genghis conquered +Manchuria and North China; then he moved west. He himself remained in +Asia, but two of his lieutenants proceeded in that direction, subduing +the tribes on their way, and often joined by them. The long march had +rendered the Tartars inured to hardship and wholly indifferent to +danger. At last they passed by the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, +and, crossing the Caucasus, commenced the invasion of Europe. + +The march of such a host could not be kept secret. When the Polovtsi, +the old enemies of Russia, heard of the approach, they sent for help +to the Christian dukes. "When they have taken our country, they will +take yours," they said. Mstislaf the Bold of Galitch, urged that the +assistance be granted, and the chief of the Polovtsi agreed to (p. 065) +enter the Greek Church. The Russians assembled on the lower Dnieper, +where they were approached by some Tatar envoys who told them that +they had "come by God's command against our slaves and grooms, the +accursed Polovtsi. Be at peace with us; we have no quarrel with you." +The envoys were arrested and put to death. The Russian army then moved +eastward, and met the Tartar host at the Kalka, a small river running +into the Sea of Azof. Instead of waiting for the troops still on the +way, Mstislaf the Bold and his friends began the battle. While it was +at its height, the Polovtsi were seized by a panic and, falling back, +threw the Russians into disorder. The Russian army was routed; six +dukes and seventy high boyards were left dead on the battlefield, and +hardly a tenth of the army escaped. The Grand Duke of Kief still +occupied a fortified camp on the Kalka. The Tartars offered to allow +him and his drujina to retire upon payment of a ransom. He accepted, +and was attacked by the Tartars after he had left his fortifications. +He and his two sons were stifled under boards, and his guard was +massacred. + +The Tartars at this time needed all their men to complete the conquest +of China, and therefore the armies invading Europe were recalled, +after southern Russia was at their mercy. The Russians did not inquire +into the cause of this relief, but resumed their old life, confident +that all danger was past. + +When the Tartars had made themselves masters of China, Bati, a nephew +of Genghis, was dispatched westward to mark further conquests. He did +not follow the same route but passed south of the Ural Mountains. +Thirteen years after the battle of the Kalka, Bati besieged and (p. 066) +took the capital of the Bulgars, east of the grand dukedom of Souzdal +(1237). As soon as the dukes of Central Russia heard this, they united +against the Tartars, but the Grand Duke of Souzdal refused to join +them. The Tartars sent envoys to the allied dukes. "If you want +peace," they said, "give us the tenth of your goods." "When we are +dead," was the proud reply, "you can have the whole." A battle was +fought in which the Russians were crushed. Nearly all the dukes died +on the battlefield; Riazan was stormed, sacked, and burned, and the +other towns of that dukedom met the same fate. + +It was now the turn of Souzdal. The army of the grand duke was +defeated on the Oka; Moscow was burned and Vladimir besieged. After an +heroic defense, the Tartars took the city by assault, and many +Russians were burned in the cathedral which was set on fire. Leaving +ruin in their wake, the Tartars went in search of the grand duke who +had taken a position on the Sit, near the frontiers of Novgorod. Here +another battle was fought ending in disaster for the Russians. The +headless corpse of the grand duke was found by the Bishop of Rostof. +On swept the Asiatic hoards, as if nothing would stop them. At Torjok, +"Russian heads fell beneath the sword of the Tartars as grass beneath +the scythe." Leaving Souzdal behind, they entered the territory of +Novgorod; but the dense forests and swollen rivers delayed them, and +when within fifty miles of the city, they turned southeast. The little +town of Kozelsk[6] did not surrender but inflicted such a loss upon +the invaders that they mentioned it as "the wicked city." When it (p. 067) +was captured, every man, woman, and child, was butchered. + + [Footnote 6: Where Kalouga now stands.] + +The years 1239 and 1240 were spent in ravaging southern Russia. +Pereiaslaf and Tchernigof, after a desperate defense, were burned, and +the Tartars under command of Genghis's grandson Mangou, marched upon +Kief. Mangou offered terms, but Kief, knowing the fate of other +cities, executed Mangou's envoys. The grand duke and his rival, Daniel +of Galitch, fled from the city, but the people fought for their lives. +Mangou was reenforced by Bati's army and the siege began. The walls +were knocked to pieces by battering rams. "The people of Kief, led by +the brave Dmitri, a Gallician boyard, defended the battered ramparts +till the end of the day, and then retreated to the Church of the Dime, +which they surrounded by a palisade. The last defenders of Kief were +grouped round the tomb of Iaroslaf. The next day they perished. Mangou +gave the boyard his life, but the Mother of Russian Cities was sacked. +This third pillage was the most terrible; even the tombs were not +respected. All that remains of the Church of the Dime is only a few +fragments of mosaic in the museum at Kief. Saint Sophia and the +Monastery of the Catacombs were delivered up to be plundered." Kief +fell in 1240. + +There remained only Volhynia and Gallicia, which also bowed under the +Tartar yoke. With the exception of Novgorod and the northwest, Russia +was in possession of the Yellow race. The Russian dukes who had +escaped carried the tale to Western Europe which was soon in a state +of alarm. The Emperor of Germany wrote to the other monarchs: (p. 068) +"This is the moment to open the eyes of body and soul, now +that the brave princes on whom we depended are dead or in slavery." +The Pope called upon the Christian princes to take up arms. Meanwhile +Bati continued his westward march and penetrated as far as Moravia, +when he was recalled by the death of the second Tartar emperor. He +withdrew to Russia and on the Volga built a city which he named +Sarai--the Castle,--which became the capital of a Tartar empire +extending from the Ural river and Caspian Sea to the mouth of the +Danube, and is known as the Golden Horde. + +The first three successors of Genghis Khan are known as the Great +Khans, and ruled over all the Tartars; but after Kublai Khan +established himself in China, in 1260, the Golden Horde declared its +independence. So long as Bati lived, this khanate was united and +powerful, but after his death, in 1257, it gradually lost strength. In +1272, these Tartars became Mahomedans and spread that faith. The +Golden Horde enjoyed another period of prosperity under the Khan +Uzbeck. + +How did the Russians bear this blow? We have seen that Iaroslaf, the +duke who had been expelled so many times from Novgorod, became Grand +Duke of Souzdal. He found the country in Souzdal in ruins. Nothing was +left of the towns and villages but charred remains; the inhabitants +who had survived the Tartar massacres had fled into the forests. +Iaroslaf's first work was to induce them to return and rebuild their +homes. The Tartar general Bati heard of this and sent word to Iaroslaf +to come to him. The grand duke dared not refuse. He went to Sarai (p. 069) +on the Volga where Bati told him that he might continue as grand duke, +but that it would be best for him to pay a visit to the great khan, +who was then on the Amoor in the far eastern part of Asia. Iaroslaf +agreed; he started on his long journey, and after many months of +travel through deserts and wastes, he arrived at the headquarters of +the Tartars. There he was compelled to kneel before Oktai, the +successor of Genghis. It appears that some Russian boyards had +preceded Iaroslaf hoping to secure favors from the khan, and that they +accused the grand duke, but Oktai refused to listen to them. After +some delay Iaroslaf was confirmed as grand duke, and permitted to +return, but he died from exhaustion in the desert, in 1246. His +remains were brought to Vladimir. + +Iaroslaf left two sons, Andrew, who succeeded him in Souzdal, and +Alexander who was duke at Novgorod. This younger son was an able as +well as a brave man. On one occasion, when the Scandinavians had +invaded Novgorod's territory aided by the Catholic Orders, Alexander +had gained a great victory on the Neva, from which he is known in +history as Alexander Nevski (1240). Upon his return to Novgorod he had +a dispute with the vetche, and he left the city. After his departure +the territory of the Republic was invaded by the German Sword-bearers +who erected a fort on the Neva, captured Pskof, Novgorod's ally, and +plundered merchants within a short distance of the walls. The people +sent to Alexander Nevski, begging him to come to their rescue, and +after several refusals he consented. Alexander collected an army, +drove the Germans out of Pskof and their new fort, and at last (p. 070) +defeated them on the ice of Lake Peipus in 1242. This is known as the +Battle on the Ice. Alexander then returned to Novgorod where he was +received with honor and joy. + +Andrew, the Grand Duke of Souzdal, Alexander's brother, refused to +recognize Bati's authority, whereupon a Tartar army ravaged his +territory for the second time. Novgorod, as we have seen, had escaped +the Tartar invasion, but when Alexander Nevski received a letter from +Bati, in which the khan said, "God has subjected many peoples to me, +will you alone refuse to recognize my power? If you wish to keep your +land, come to me; you will see the splendor and the glory of my +government." The duke thought it prudent to comply. He and his brother +Andrew went to Sarai, where honors were showered upon the hero of the +Neva. The two brothers were directed to visit the great khan, as their +father Iaroslaf had done. They did so; and the Mongol emperor +confirmed Andrew as Duke of Souzdal, but to Alexander's dukedom, he +added Kief and South Russia. They returned from the Far East in 1257. + + + + +VIII--RUSSIA UNDER THE MONGOL YOKE. (p. 071) + + +The Tartars did not interfere with the people, their institutions, or +religion, but they demanded tribute in the form of an annual poll-tax. +Officers called baskaks went from house to house to collect it, either +in money or in furs, and those who could not pay were sold as slaves. +Sometimes this collection caused disturbances. It was some time before +the people of Novgorod would submit. When Bati sent his collectors to +the Republic, the question was brought before the vetche where the +possadnik urged the wisdom of paying the tax, but the people would not +hear of it and promptly murdered the unfortunate burgomaster. +Alexander, too, advised to avoid trouble, but the people refused and +several boyards, including Alexander's son Vassili urged resistance. +The duke acted vigorously. He ordered the arrest of his son, and had +the boyards punished; but it was not before the people heard of the +approach of a Tartar army, that they submitted. Still such was their +resentment that Alexander had the baskaks guarded night and day. At +last Alexander threatened to leave Novgorod with his drujina; then the +people offered no further opposition to the collection of the hated +poll-tax (1260). Two years later the people of Souzdal, Vladimir, and +Rostof rose against the baskaks and killed one of them, a Russian (p. 072) +who had become a Mahomedan. Alexander, who had succeeded his brother +Andrew as Grand Duke, decided to attempt to appease the khan by going +himself to Sarai with presents; he also wished to be excused from +furnishing a body of Russians to serve in the Tartar army. He +succeeded, but was kept at the court of the khan for a year. His +health broke down and he died on his return journey in 1263. The news +of his death was brought to Novgorod, as mass was being said in the +cathedral. The Metropolitan who was reading the service, interrupted +it, and said, "Learn, my dear children, that the Sun of Russia has +set,--is dead," and the people cried, "We are lost." The death of +Alexander Nevski was a heavy blow to Russia. + +The Russians, that is the people of Russia whose story we are reading, +did not mingle with any Tartar except the tax collector whom they did +not like. The victors were nomads, who did not care to occupy the land +they had conquered. When they did settle at Sarai on the Lower Volga, +they absorbed the tribes who had lived there before the invasion, and +who were not Russians, but nomads. The Russian _people_ did not +associate with the conquerors. It was at this time that the word +_Krestianine_ or "true Christian" was applied to the peasant, instead +of the contemptuous term moujik. + +Whatever Asiatic characteristics were grafted upon the Russians, came +to them through their kniazes and boyards. The dukes soon showed that +all they cared for, was to hold their positions. After Alexander +Nevski, there is not a single instance of a desire to relieve the +people; and the victors on their part never interfered so long as (p. 073) +the tribute was paid regularly. The descendants of Andrew Bogolioubski +were not disturbed in Souzdal; those of Roman continued to hold +Galitch and Volhynia, and Oleg's house remained in possession of +Tchernigof. The dukes might fight about Kief; Novgorod might appoint +or expel its dukes,--the Tartars did not mind. But the khan did insist +that the dukes should visit him and pay him homage. He also reserved +the right of approving the succession of a duke, who was compelled to +apply for a written consent, called an _iarlikh_. On one occasion when +the people of Novgorod elected Duke Michael, they afterwards refused +to recognize him, asserting that "it is true we have chosen Michael, +but on condition that he should show us the iarlikh." + +The dukes, holding their possessions by favor of the khan, tried to +gain his good-will and favor. Gleb, duke of Bielozersk married in the +khan's family about 1272; Feodor of Riazan was the son-in-law of the +khan of the Nogais. In 1318, the Grand Duke George married Kontchaka, +sister of the Khan Uzbeck. It was the rulers, and not the people of +Russia, that quietly submitted to the _Tartartchina_ or Mongol yoke. + +The khans, while they did not care about the people took care that the +dukes should show them slavish respect. In 1303, the dukes were +convoked, and when they were assembled a letter from the khan was +read, in which they were commanded to stop fighting because the great +khan desired to see peace established. Whenever such a letter was +brought, the dukes were directed to meet the envoys on foot, prostrate +themselves, spread fine carpets under their feet, present them (p. 074) +with a cup filled with gold pieces, and listen, kneeling, while the +letter was read. + +Children of the prairie and the desert, the Tartars had neither a +religion nor a civilization to impose upon the Russian people. The +khans were tolerant because they did not care. Koiyuk had a Christian +chapel near his residence. In 1261, the Khan of Sarai gave permission +for the erection of a Greek church in his capital, and he allowed a +bishop to reside there. Mangou gave equal privileges to Christians, +Jews, and Mahomedans. + +The dukes and boyards, paying court to the Tartars, gradually adopted +their mode of dressing and, as they became Asiatic in appearance, they +came under the influence of Asiatic thought. They dressed in a long +caftan or flowing robe, wore a sort of turban on the head, swords and +daggers in their belts, and when on horseback, sat in very high +saddles with short stirrups. Dukes and boyards thus became +semi-Asiatic, and drifted away from the people among whom the national +principle was kept alive. + +Every succeeding visit to the khan served to increase the intimacy of +the dukes and their Asiatic masters. It was not many years before the +relation with the great khan was severed, but that with the Golden +Horde was kept alive. A writer[7] living at that time, who visited +Sarai during Bati's life, gives the following description: "It (the +court) is crowded and brilliant. His army consists of 600,000 men, +150,000 of whom are Tartars, and 450,000 strangers, Christians as well +as infidels. On Good Friday we were conducted to his tent, between +two fires, because the Tartars believe that a fire purifies (p. 075) +everything, and robs even poison of its danger. _We had to make many +prostrations_, and enter the tent without touching the threshold. Bati +was on his throne with one of his wives; his brothers, his children, +and the Tartar lords were seated on benches; the rest of the assembly +were on the ground, the men on the right, the women on the left.... +The khan and the lords of the court emptied from time to time cups of +gold and silver, while the musicians made the air ring with their +melodies. Bati has a bright complexion; he is affable with his men, +but inspires general terror." The same writer visited the court of the +great khan, and in his description dwells upon the fact that it was +not the Tartars who were most terrible, but the Russian dukes and +nobles who accused one another and who sought to destroy their own +countrymen by bribing the favorites. It was thus that Duke Michael of +Tchernigof was murdered in 1246, and Duke Michael of Tver in 1319, by +a Russian hireling of the Grand Duke of Moscow who was present when +the foul deed was committed. Servile submission to the khans, a +haughty demeanor towards their own people, became the characteristics +of the dukes. "The dukes of Moscow," says a Russian author,[8] "took +the humble title of servants of the khan, and it was by this means +that they became powerful monarchs." An English writer[9] comes to the +following evident conclusion: "The first czars of Muscovy were the +political descendants, not of the Russian dukes, but of the Tartar +khans." + + [Footnote 7: Planus Corpinius.] + + [Footnote 8: Karamsin.] + + [Footnote 9: Wallace.] + +A gradual change came over the Golden Horde after the Tartars (p. 076) +departed from their nomadic life and settled in and about Sarai. They +lost their warlike habits, and with them much of their vigor. They +began to farm out the poll-tax, that is, they sold the right to +collect the tax to merchants of Khiva, whose oppression was so great +that the people of Souzdal revolted in 1262, Koursk in 1284, Kolomna +in 1318, and Tver in 1327. But the oppression was greater when the +dukes of Moscow farmed this tax, not only from their own subjects, but +also from neighboring dukedoms. They were absolutely pitiless in +collecting from the poor people as much as they could extort, and this +was the disgraceful foundation of their wealth and power. The +poll-tax, thereafter, was always a favorite source of revenue in +Russia. + +Besides this tribute, the dukes were compelled to furnish soldiers to +their masters. Soon after the conquest, we read of Russian dukes +marching with the Tartars at the head of their drujinas, and of +supplying them with infantry. In 1276 Boris of Rostof and others, +followed Mangou Khan in the war against the tribes of the Caucasus, +and helped to sack the town of Dediakof in Daghestan. This was +excusable, because the enemy was an alien; but what can be thought of +Prince Andrew, the unworthy son of Alexander Nevski, who, in 1281, +induced the Tartars to aid him in pillaging Vladimir, Souzdal, Mourom, +Moscow, and Pereiaslaf, and led in profaning churches and convents? In +1284, when two descendants of Oleg were dukes of Koursk, one of them +put his brother to death for having insulted the khan, and Russian +historians blame not the murderer, but the victim, because he had +aroused the khan's anger! In 1327, the dukes of Moscow and Souzdal (p. 077) +marched against Tver at the command of their Asiatic master. Such was +the influence of the Tartar yoke. + +The Russian dukes and their nobles lost not only the principle of +patriotism, but also that of personal honor. The unfortunate Russians +henceforth were to them, not fellow-countrymen but "_tcherne_" "black +people." The khans, with true political instinct looking to the +perpetuation of this condition, gained the friendship of the Church, +as they had that of the dukes. In 1313, the Khan Uzbeck, at the +request of the Metropolitan or head of the Church of Moscow, ordered +that the Church should retain its privileges, and that it should not +be deprived of its property, because, he says, "these possessions are +sacred, as they belong to men whose prayers preserve our lives and +strengthen our armies." The churches and convents grew enormously +rich. They received gifts of land, and the priests, so bribed, allied +themselves with the heathen masters, and aided further in oppressing +the people. + +The descendants of the dukes and drujinas lost the large and generous +impulses of the old Norsemen, to make way for the Asiatic deformities +of treachery, cruelty, cunning, and disregard of honor. Whatever came +in the way of their own interests, was trampled under foot by fair +means or foul. The boyards, too, were tainted by the example of the +chiefs. The vast extent of the country, the sparsity of the +population, the difficulties in the way of communication, and above +all the general ignorance, prevented the appearance of a patriot who +might have raised a truly national banner, and shaken off the yoke of +the servile lackeys of the Tartars. + +[Illustration: Moscow] (p. 078) + + + + +IX--LITHUANIA AND MOSCOW. (p. 079) + + +We have seen that the Tartar invasion stopped short of Novgorod, and +turned southeast, thus leaving northwest Russia free. What are now +known as the Baltic Provinces, was at that time covered with dense +forests, inhabited by the Finns or Suomi, the Tchouds, Jmouds, and +Lithuanians, all of the same race and speaking the same language, but +constantly at war with one another. In the 13th century a chief named +Mindvog, after killing his brothers and sons, united the tribes, and +made himself master of Lithuania. He then invaded Russia whose dukes, +suffering under the Tartar yoke, were unable to withstand him. He +captured Grodno and Novogredek, when he was confronted by Alexander +Nevsky and Daniel of Volhynia in front, and by the Knights of Livonia +in his rear. In this extremity Mindvog sent to the Pope promising that +he would be converted in return for his good services. Pope Innocent +IV replied by sending a papal legate to Grodno, where Mindvog and his +wife were baptized, and he was made King of Lithuania (1252). Soon +after he had a dispute with the Livonian Knights to whom he was forced +to cede the country of the Jmouds. He again became a pagan and, marching +against the Knights, defeated them. Upon his return from this (p. 080) +expedition, he was murdered by a chief named Dovmont whom he had +injured. Lithuania again fell into anarchy until another enterprising +chief named Gedimin restored order in 1315. + +Gedimin invaded Russia, defeated a Russo-Tartar army in 1321, and took +Tchernigof and Vladimir. He then went south, where the Russian cities +readily opened their gates to him, hoping for relief from the Mongol +yoke. He took the old capital Kief, and there had his sons baptized in +the Greek church and tried to marry them into the families of Russian +dukes. He established his capital at Wilna where he attracted many +German artists and mechanics by granting them special privileges. He +died a pagan, in 1340, dividing his country among his sons and his +brother. + +One of his sons, Olgerd, succeeded in getting possession of the whole, +and then started upon a career of conquest. He first attacked +Novgorod, where one of his brothers had taken refuge, and made +conquests east and south, until he reached the Black Sea. Although he +was a pagan, Simeon the Proud, Grand Duke of Moscow, gave him his +daughter; but this did not prevent Olgerd from waging war with +Simeon's successors. In 1368, he defeated the Tartars of the Lower +Dnieper, and destroyed Cherson in the Crimea. + +When he died he followed Gedimin's example by dividing his territories +among his sons, but one of them, Jagellon, became sole ruler by +putting his brothers to flight and his uncle to death. At this time +the Russian language was adopted and with it the Greek Church, +although Jagellon was still a pagan. When he married Hedwiga, the (p. 081) +heiress to the Kingdom of Poland, he embraced the Roman Catholic +church; in 1386, he went to Cracow, where he was crowned King of +Poland, and soon after gave orders that his people must join the same +church, converting them as Vladimir had introduced Christianity among +the people of Kief. Jagellon made Cracow his capital. Some time +afterwards one of his cousins, Vitovt, raised a revolt against him in +Lithuania, and Jagellon was compelled to cede that territory to him. +Thus Vitovt became Grand Duke of Lithuania. + +Vitovt married the sister of Vassili, Grand Duke of Moscow, and +extended his domain toward the east. He invaded Smolensk, whose Grand +Duke Sviatoslaf, when fighting in Russia, had taken a delight in +impaling and burning alive Russian women and children. That savage had +been killed in 1387, in a battle with the Lithuanians, and his son had +succeeded him. Vitovt, before Smolensk, invited this prince and his +brothers to visit him in his tent. They accepted and were warmly +received, but when they were ready to depart, they were told that they +were prisoners of war. Smolensk was taken by surprise, and pillaged. + +Vitovt contemplated the conquest of Russia. His territory bordered in +the east on Souzdal and Riazan. He had defeated an army of Tartars in +the south, and was making preparations for a bold stroke. Collecting +an army of Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, and five hundred Knights of +the Teutonic Order, he set out from Kief and came upon the Tartar army +near Pultowa where, in 1399, he suffered a serious defeat. He +recovered from this blow, and after some time began a war with the +Teutonic Order which he defeated in 1410, at the battle of the (p. 082) +Tannenberg. He thereupon re-annexed the Jmoud country. + +Vitovt had given up his designs upon Russia; he planned to raise +Lithuania into a kingdom, and to have a Metropolitan of its own, +instead of being dependent upon the head of the Greek Church at +Moscow. He succeeded in the last-named object, but met with a check in +the former, and, as he was eighty years old, the disappointment caused +an illness from which he died, in 1430. After his death, Lithuania had +no more influence upon Russia. Sometimes it had a grand duke of its +own, at other times it was united with Poland. In 1501, it became the +property of the King of Poland, who added to his title that of Grand +Duke of Lithuania. Its nobles spoke the Polish language. + +It was necessary to sketch in a few words the history of Lithuania, +not only because it is part of Russia to-day, but because it has +always been claimed by Russia. The history of that country, however, +from the beginning of the 14th century, is centered about Muscovia, +the territory of the Grand Duke of Moscow. At the time of the +Lithuanian conquest, Muscovia was bounded on the north by Tver, on the +east by Souzdal, on the south by Riazan, and on the west by Lithuania. +It belonged to Alexander Nevski, who at his death left it to his son +Daniel. Its area was increased by him by the towns of Pereiaslaf, +Zabiesski and Kolomna. Daniel died in 1303, and was buried in the +church of St. Michael the Archangel, which remained the burial place +of the Muscovite princes until the time of Peter the Great. + +The next grand duke was Daniel's son George, whose first act was (p. 083) +to capture the Duke of Smolensk from whom he took the town of Mojaisk. +In 1304 the Grand Duke of Souzdal died. Michael of Tver claimed the +succession as the eldest of the family, but George of Moscow contested +it. Michael was supported by the boyards of Vladimir and the people of +Novgorod; the khan at Sarai also declared in his favor, and Michael +was installed. George, however, was not satisfied and began a war; he +was defeated in battle, and twice besieged in Moscow. Suddenly he +heard that the khan was dead; he hastened to Sarai, and there made +friends with the new Khan Uzbeck, who gave him his sister Kontchaka in +marriage, and ordered that George should have possession of Souzdal. +He returned to Moscow with a Tartar army and Michael, considering the +odds, proposed to cede Vladimir on condition that his own patrimony of +Tver should remain intact. George refused, and the war broke out anew. +Michael defeated him and captured Kontchaka and the Tartar general, +but he released his prisoners, and the dispute was again brought +before the khan. George took good care to be at Sarai, and having +ample means at his disposal from his poll-tax collecting, distributed +bribes right and left. Michael, confident in the justice of his cause, +committed the mistake of sending his twelve-year-old son in charge of +high boyards, to represent him; but when he was informed of George's +methods, he, too, proceeded to Sarai, after making his will. Upon his +arrival, he was accused of having drawn his sword upon the Khan's +envoy, and of having poisoned Kontchaka. Uzbeck would not even listen +to such absurd complaints, but George invented other falsehoods, (p. 084) +and at last Michael was arrested. The khan went on a hunting trip in +the Caucasus, and the wretched Duke of Tver was dragged after him in +chains. One day he was put in the pillory in the market of a populous +town, where the people crowded around him to look at the man who, a +short time before, was a powerful prince in his own country. Michael's +boyards urged him to escape, but he dreaded the khan's vengeance upon +his family and people. George increased his bribes, and thus secured +the order that Michael should be put to death. + +One of Michael's pages came to the tent occupied by him, and told him +that George and a Tartar general were approaching. "I know what their +object is," said the unfortunate duke. He at once sent his young son +to one of the khan's wives, who had promised to protect the child. The +two men came to the tent and ordered the Tver boyards to leave. Hired +assassins were called in, and a Russian ruffian named Romanetz stabbed +the unfortunate duke. When George and the Tartar entered, they saw the +nude corpse; it had been despoiled. The Tartar was shocked. "What!" he +cried, "Will you allow the body of your uncle to be outraged!" George +only smiled; but one of his attendants threw a cloak over the murdered +man. + +When Michael's children grew up, one of his sons, Dmitri of the +Terrible Eyes, secured some friends at the khan's court. He obtained +the title of grand duke, and a baskak received orders to install him. +When George heard this, he hurried to Sarai; there the two men met, and +Dmitri, drawing his sword, killed his father's murderer (1325). (p. 085) +Dmitri was arrested and put to death by order of the khan, but his +brother Alexander was permitted to succeed him at Tver. + +This duke was in sympathy with the people. Suffering under the +oppression of the Tartar tax collectors, the people revolted under the +leadership of Alexander. The palace of the baskak was attacked, and he +and his attendants were killed. Uzbeck, incited by Ivan Kalita, +George's brother and successor at Moscow, prepared to take revenge, +when Ivan volunteered to punish Tver, as well as Riazan and Novgorod +which had given evidence of sympathy. The offer was accepted, and Ivan +at the head of a Muscovite army reenforced by 50,000 Tartars marched +upon the doomed city. Alexander and his brothers fled. Tver and two +other cities were sacked, the Duke of Riazan was put to death, and +Novgorod had to pay a heavy fine. Ivan thought that his services would +procure him Tver and Riazan, but Uzbeck did not intend to extend the +power of the treacherous family, and Constantine, another son of +Michael, was made Duke of Tver. He and Ivan went to Sarai, where the +latter was ordered to bring Alexander before the khan. The prince had +found an asylum in Pskof, where Ivan's messengers appeared to demand +his surrender. The envoys urged him to give himself up under the plea +"not to expose a Christian people to the wrath of the infidels." The +people of Pskof thought otherwise. "Do not go to the Horde, my lord," +said they; "whatever happens, we will die with you." Alexander refused +to obey the summons, and the people of Pskof began to construct a +new fort. Ivan Kalita, the Grand Duke of Moscow, persuaded the (p. 086) +Metropolitan to place Alexander and Pskof under the ban of the Church, +which was done. We see here a Christian prince persecuting a relative, +and a Christian priest excommunicating a Christian people,--all to +please an infidel conqueror! Still the people of Pskof refused to +yield, but Alexander left the city and took refuge in Lithuania. Then +Pskof informed Ivan of his departure, saying, "Alexander is gone; all +Pskof swears it, from the smallest to the greatest, popes,[10] monks, +nuns, orphans, women, and children." (1329.) + + [Footnote 10: Priests.] + +Some years afterwards an attempt was made by Alexander to recover +Tver. He went to Sarai with some of his boyards. There he made +submission. "Lord, all-powerful Czar," he said, "if I have done +anything against you, I have come hither to receive of you life or +death. Do as God inspires you; I am ready for either." Uzbeck pardoned +him and Alexander returned to Tver. This did not please Ivan Kalita, +who knew that he was hated everywhere, and that his enemies only +needed a leader. He went to Sarai where he told Uzbeck that Alexander +was a very dangerous enemy to the Tartars. Alexander was summoned to +appear and when he complied, he was arrested, condemned to death, and +beheaded. + + + + +X--DECLINE OF THE TARTAR POWER. (p. 087) + +DMITRI DONSKOI. + + +Crafty and unscrupulous, the grand dukes of Moscow were feared by +their neighbors. Ivan Kalita, as farmer of the poll-tax, grew +immensely wealthy. He collected a double tax from Novgorod, which the +republic, although allied with Lithuania, dared not refuse. He bought +several towns, besides land in the neighborhood of Vladimir, Rostof, +and Kostroma. His title was still Grand Duke of Vladimir, but Moscow +was the real capital. Ivan took very good care to stand well with the +Church. He built convents and churches, and never went out without an +alms-bag or _kalita_ to give money to the poor; hence his surname. The +seat of the Metropolitan was still at Vladimir, but he often came to +Moscow, and finally moved there; so that it became also the capital of +the Church. It is reported that the Metropolitan said to Ivan, "God +will bless you and raise you above all other dukes, and this city +above all other cities. Your house will reign in this place during +many centuries; their hands will conquer all their enemies; the saints +will make their dwelling here, and here my bones shall rest." + +When Ivan with the Alms-bag died in 1341, he left the bulk of his (p. 088) +possessions to his eldest son Simeon, and gave only small estates to +his other children; he also forbade that Moscow's territory should be +divided. His body was scarcely in the grave before the dukes of Tver +and Souzdal were on the way to Sarai to claim the grand dukedom of +Vladimir; they were supported by other dukes who disliked and dreaded +the Muscovite family. Simeon hurried after them, well provided with +some of his father's treasure. He used it so well, that he received +the iarlikh, and was installed at Vladimir. Servile toward the khan, +he was overbearing toward the other Russian dukes, which procured for +him the surname of the Proud. He was the first to assume the title of +Grand Duke of all the Russias; and, acting in that capacity, he +graciously confirmed the charter of Novgorod, for which he demanded +and obtained payment. Simeon died in 1353 of the "black death," a +pestilence which was imported from Asia. + +Great changes were taking place at Sarai, in the Khan of the Golden +Horde. Its power was broken by internal discord, when Mourout, the +legal heir of Bati, was attacked by a rival Mamai, who succeeded in +establishing himself at Sarai. Simeon was succeeded by his brother, +Ivan II, an easy-going, good-natured man whose reign of six years did +not increase the influence of Moscow. At his death, in 1359, he left +several minor children, the oldest of whom was Dmitri, a boy of +twelve. Dmitri of Souzdal went to Sarai--and secured the iarlikh, +which made him Grand Duke of Vladimir, but Alexis, the Metropolitan, +was loyal to Ivan's children, and appealed to the khan in the name of +his young ward. Mourout, the heir of Bati, declared in his favor, (p. 090) +and young Dmitri was taken to Vladimir escorted by an army, and +installed. (1363.) + +[Illustration: Dmitri Donskoi] + +The appointment was disputed by the dukes of Tver, Souzdal, and +Riazan. Dmitri of Souzdal held an iarlikh from Mourout's opponent, and +tried to enter in Vladimir, but was expelled. The Metropolitan +excommunicated the opponents of Ivan's son, who held the fort as Grand +Duke. Young Dmitri made war upon the Duke of Tver, and after a seven +years' struggle (1368-1375), compelled him to renounce his claims. + +Dmitri was summoned before the Khan, in 1371. He went but what he saw +at Sarai convinced him that the Tartars were no longer able to uphold +their authority. He did not hesitate to engage in a struggle with +Riazan, although it was supported by a Tartar army. Thereafter, when +orders arrived from the khan, Dmitri ignored them. In 1376, he sent a +large army to Kazan on the Volga, and forced two Mongol chiefs to pay +tribute. Two years later, in 1378, a battle was fought between Dmitri +and one of Mamai's generals in Riazan, when the Tartars were defeated, +which made the grand duke exclaim: "Their time is come, and God is +with us!" The khan sent an army to ravage Riazan, and made +preparations to reestablish his authority at Moscow. + +To make sure of success, Mamai took two years to collect an immense +army and to mature his plans. This could not remain secret to the +Russians, who, aroused by Dmitri, laid aside their private feuds to +make common cause against the infidels. A large number of dukes +assembled at Moscow, and even the Lithuanians promised to send (p. 091) +troops to Kostroma where the Russian army was gathering. The +Metropolitan assured Dmitri of the victory, and sent two monks to go +with the troops. Making the sign of the Cross on their cowls, he said, +"Behold a weapon which faileth never!" + +Russia was united against the Mongol; all the dukes, with the +exception of those of Tver and Riazan, lent their aid. These two +dreaded Moscow's power, and the Duke of Riazan tried to conclude an +alliance with Jagellon of Lithuania and Mamai. + +Dmitri, at the head of an army estimated at 150,000 men, marched +through Riazan to the Don where the Tartars were drawn up, awaiting +the reinforcements of their ally Jagellon, who was still fifteen +leagues distant. Dmitri resolved to fight the Tartars before a +junction could be effected. He crossed the Don and met the enemy on +the plain of Koulikovo,--the Field of the Woodcocks,--where a furious +battle was fought. It was decided by a sudden attack upon the Tartars +from an ambush, which threw them into a panic. The Tartars were +routed; Mamai's camp, his chariots and camels, were all captured. +Dmitri was found in a swoon from loss of blood. He was surnamed +Donskoi, in honor of this victory. (1380.) + +It seemed as if the end of the Mongol yoke had come, when another +great leader appeared among them. Tamerlane, after conquering Bokhara, +Hindostan, Iran, and Asia Minor, entered Europe, and ordered Mamai to +be put to death. He summoned Dmitri Donskoi to appear before him, and +received a curt refusal. Tamerlane sent one of his generals with +an immense army to Moscow, and Dmitri, not finding the former (p. 092) +support, went to Kostroma to collect troops. The Tartars appeared +before Moscow, which they tried to carry by assault but failed. They +pretended to enter into negotiations, when they surprised the gates +and Moscow was delivered up to fire and sword. It is said that 24,000 +inhabitants were slaughtered. Vladimir and other towns suffered the +same fate. + +It is told that Dmitri wept when he saw the charred remains of his +capital after the Tartars had withdrawn. There was nothing for it but +to make peace with the khan, and once more the Tartar tax gatherers +went their rounds. But Dmitri's heart was sore against the Dukes of +Tver and Riazan who had abetted Mamai, and Novgorod, which had used +the opportunity of Moscow's distress to plunder some of its towns. +After the country had sufficiently recovered, he compelled the Duke of +Riazan to conclude "a perpetual peace," and Novgorod paid an indemnity +besides agreeing to an annual tribute. + +When Dmitri died in 1389, he left Moscow the most powerful of Russian +dukedoms. He was succeeded by his eldest son Vassili, with the consent +of his cousin Vladimir, who was the eldest of the family. Vassili +mentioned Novgorod as "his patrimony," and acted as if the republic +was his private property. He visited Sarai in 1392, and while there +bought an iarlikh, which placed him in possession of Souzdal, Nishni +Novgorod, and Mourom. In 1393, the people of Novgorod revolted, but +Vassili's army convinced them that the republic was fast losing its +former power. + +At this time Tamerlane, dissatisfied with his generals, arrived in +Europe and after pillaging the Golden Horde, moved westward, (p. 093) +spreading ruin and desolation. He drew near to Moscow, where the +famous eikon of the Virgin was taken in solemn procession, when the +Tartar army stopped and turned to the south, where Azof, Astrakhan, +and Sarai, were plundered and destroyed. (1395.) After Tamerlane's +withdrawal, Vassili pretended not to know to whom to pay the +tribute,--and so paid none at all. The Tartars under Ediger marched +upon Moscow to collect it, but the city was bravely defended and +Ediger, fearing an invasion from Asia, agreed to accept a ransom of +3000 rubles, which was paid by the boyards. + +More dangerous were the attacks of Vitovt of Lithuania, Vassili's +father-in-law, who marched three times against Moscow. Both Vitovt and +Vassili were indisposed to risk a decisive battle, fearing that, if +defeated, their enemies would despoil them. In 1408 a treaty was +signed whereby the Ouger was made the frontier between them. This gave +Smolensk to Lithuania, and Kozelsk to Moscow. + +Vassili extended his territory, and with it his name; one of his +daughters married the Byzantine Emperor, John Palaeologus. At his +death, in 1425, he left his territory to his son Vassili, the Blind, +whose title was contested by his uncle George, on the ground of being +the eldest of the family. The dispute was submitted to the khan, in +1431. Both sides humbled themselves, but the argument of Vassili's +boyards prevailed. "My Lord Czar," they said to the khan, "let us +speak,--us, the slaves of the grand duke. Our master, the grand duke, +prays for the throne of the grand dukedom, which is your property, (p. 094) +having no other title but your protection, your investiture, and your +iarlikh. You are master and can dispose of it according to your good +pleasure. My Lord, the Duke George, his uncle, claims the grand +dukedom by the act and will of his father, but not as a favor from the +all-powerful." Vassili the Blind, was the first grand duke to be +crowned at Moscow instead of at Vladimir. + +His reign was disturbed by constant wars with his uncle, and +afterwards with his cousins. In 1446 he was taken prisoner by one of +the latter, who ordered his eyes to be put out. In 1450, peace was +restored when the second son of George died of poison. Notwithstanding +the loss of his sight Vassili displayed considerable energy in +reestablishing his authority. Novgorod was forced to pay another +indemnity, and to give a written promise that in future all deeds +would be void unless stamped with the seal of the grand duke. + +The most remarkable incident of Vassili's reign was the Council at +Florence, Italy, in 1449, where delegates of the Roman and Greek +Churches tried to effect a union. There were seventeen Metropolitans, +among them Isidore of Moscow, who signed the Act of Union. When +Isodore returned and declared what he had done, a great opposition +appeared. Vassili himself insulted the Metropolitan, who fled to Rome. +In 1453, Mahomet II captured Constantinople when a host of priests, +monks, artists, and learned men fled from the extinct Byzantine +Empire, to find an asylum in Russia. + +While nothing resulted from the Council of Florence, owing to the +opposition of members of the Greek Church, the fall of Constantinople +left a deep impression upon Russia, which chose to consider itself (p. 095) +as the heir to the Byzantine Empire. More than this, the influence of +the men who found a refuge in Russia, served to inoculate the country +of their adoption with the semi-oriental civilization which had +distinguished Constantinople from Western Europe. The time, too, was +propitious. Russia was gradually recovering from the blow of Tartar +rule, which had marred its progress during two centuries. Here was, +therefore, to all intent and purposes, a virgin soil, which promised +to yield a rich harvest to whatever principles were planted in it. It +might even regenerate the decaying elements of the Byzantine +civilization. + +[Illustration: Ivan III] (p. 096) + + + + +XI--IVAN III, THE GREAT. (p. 097) + + +Vassili's eldest son Ivan was born in 1440. It is said that upon the +occasion of his birth, an old monk at Novgorod had a vision which he +reported to the Archbishop. "Truly," he said, "it is to-day that the +grand duke triumphs; God has given him an heir; I behold this child +making himself illustrious by glorious deeds. He will subdue princes +and nations. But woe to Novgorod! Novgorod will fall at his feet, and +never rise again." + +Vassili, wishing to avoid the disputes incident upon the succession, +during his lifetime admitted Ivan as co-regent. Upon his father's +death, in 1462, Ivan was twenty-two years old. He succeeded without +the usual disturbances, and the first six years of his reign were +uneventful. In 1468, he gained forcible possession of his brother +George's estate, and allowed him to die in prison. When he heard of +his death,--he wept. Another brother, Andrew, was in his way, and was +flung into prison, whereupon Ivan called the Metropolitan and bishops +to his palace, wept some more, and confessed that he had been too +severe;--but he forgot to restore Andrew's property. When his third +brother, Boris, died, Ivan seized the estate and kept it; but he wept +some more. + +This soft-hearted but tenacious gentleman found fault with his (p. 098) +neighbor, Michael of Tver, for entering into an alliance with +Lithuania. To settle the difficulty, he invaded the dukedom, and +annexed it to Moscow. Then, having his hands free, he thought of +Novgorod. The Germans of the Hanseatic League had formed a colony in +the old republic, which had grown very wealthy. Ivan looked upon that +wealth as his; if it was not, it ought to be. Acting upon this +satisfactory conclusion, he remembered that the people of Novgorod had +omitted to do him homage when he succeeded his father. They had even +failed to appreciate the gentle letter of remonstrance in which he +reminded them of their oversight. Good-natured as he knew himself to +be, he could not afford to encourage such a rebellious spirit; but, +being a careful man, he concluded that it would be more humane as well +as cheaper to try the gentle means of bribery. His gold, distributed +where it would do most good, procured him a large party. The +opposition was led by a woman named Marfa, the wealthy widow of a +possadnik. She urged that the republic should ask the help of Casimir +IV, King of Poland, but Ivan's friends in the vetche replied that, if +Poland should win, the Roman Catholic Church would enter, whereas +Russia was at least loyal to the Greek Church. + +Marfa's influence prevailed; the republic submitted to Poland, on +condition that its charter should be respected. Gentle Ivan despatched +some Envoys to warn the people of the error of their ways, and when +that did no good, he hired Tartar cavalry, overran the territory of +the republic, and directed his troops to cut off the noses and lips +of the prisoners. It is probable that he wept, although history (p. 099) +omits mentioning the fact. Novgorod was unprepared; a mob was +collected and styled an army, and in the battle of the Chelona, 3,000 +trained troops put to flight 30,000 citizen soldiers. Novgorod was +lost. Ivan kindly permitted the name "republic" to continue, but his +authority was admitted. He also received a share of the wealth as an +indemnity. (1470.) + +Two years later he married the niece and supposed heiress of the last +Byzantine emperor. Her father, Thomas Palaeologus, had fled to Rome +where he died leaving one daughter Sophia. Pope Paul II wished to find +her a husband, and Cardinal Bessarion of the Greek Church advised him +to offer her hand to Ivan. The offer was accepted; Sophia received a +dower from the Pope who still hoped to unite the two churches, and the +bride was received with great honor in Ivan's territory. The grand +duke probably had his eye on Constantinople, but deferred his claim to +some favorable opportunity. With Sophia came many Greek nobles, +artists, and learned men. Ivan, as may be judged from his gentle +nature, was a patron of art, and had no prejudice against foreigners. +Several Italians came to Moscow where their services were appreciated. + +Ivan left Novgorod in peace during five years, when he thought it time +to familiarize the citizens with the fact that their republic was a +thing of the past. He needed a pretext; by a judicious use of money, +his agents raised a mob against the boyards, who, being assaulted, +invoked the strong arm of the law, in the person of Ivan. The grand +duke came to Novgorod in 1475, to hold court. He at once ordered (p. 100) +the arrest of the possadnik, Marfa's son, and a number of boyards who +believed in a republic, had them put in chains and carried to Moscow. +This was in violation of the charter, but Ivan had an elastic +conscience. Next he tempted a scribe to mention him as _Sovereign_ +instead of "lord," in an official document; and when, in a last effort +to save the republic, Marfa's partisans killed a number of Ivan's +friends, it was evidently his duty to restore order. + +Upon his return to Moscow, he announced that Novgorod was the enemy of +the Greek Church, and the ally of the Pope and of Lithuania. This so +alarmed the Metropolitan and the priests that they begged Ivan to make +war upon the wicked city. Many dukes and boyards, moved by loyalty for +the church, and perhaps scenting spoils, flocked to his camp. Marfa's +partisans in vain tried to arouse the citizens by the cry, "Let us die +for liberty and St. Sophia!" It fell on deaf ears; every one for +himself, was the general thought. Novgorod surrendered. Ivan +guaranteed,--for just so long as it should suit him,--the people's +lives and property, their ancient code of laws, and exemption from +Muscovite service; but the vetche and office of possadnik were +abolished, and with them died the republic. (1478.) + +Having settled with Novgorod to his satisfaction, Ivan bethought +himself of establishing peace in his own household. Russian writers +state that his wife, Sophia, annoyed him by often repeating the +interesting inquiry, "How long am I to be the slave of the Tartars?" +The Khan of the Golden Horde had been dissolved since Tamerlane's raid; +several states had been formed from it, of which the principal (p. 101) +were Kazan, Sarai or Astrakhan, and the Crimea. Kazan was ruled by a +czar; its people were the descendants of Mongols and Bulgars who had +made great progress in commerce. The Khan of Sarai and his men clung +to the life of nomads; but the subjects of the Khan of the Crimea, +were Mongols, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and Italians; and all three had +this in common that they were constantly indulging in quarrels and +strife at home. + +Ivan knew all this, because sometimes a chief would come to Moscow for +an asylum, and others took service in his army. He no longer sent +tribute, although occasionally, when he was occupied elsewhere, he did +send a small present. In 1478 Khan Akhmet sent ambassadors to Moscow +to remind him that the tribute was in arrears. Ivan, who had +apparently a wonderful command over his features, pretended to lose +his temper, jumped on the picture of the khan, and ordered all the +envoys except one to be put to death. The survivor was told to go +home, and tell his master of his reception. + +Ivan had reasonable cause for thinking that Akhmet would be +displeased, and collected an army of 150,000 men on the Oka, where he +took up a strong position. He had been right in his conjecture, for +Akhmet gathered an army and in due time arrived on the opposite bank +of the river. Ivan had time to reflect. He did not much fancy risking +a decisive battle, and returned to Moscow to consult his mother, the +boyards, and the priests. All urged him to fight, and finally he came +back to the camp, convinced that scheming and plotting were more in +his line. All this time the two armies lay within earshot, exchanging +complimentary remarks, with no casualties. The khan offered to (p. 102) +pardon Ivan on condition that he should come and hold his stirrup; +or, if he were too tired, if he should send some high officer to do it +in his name. Ivan shook his head. Meanwhile the priests at Moscow were +growing impatient, and the Archbishop Vassian sent him a warm letter. +It happened that Akhmet was quite as prudent as Ivan; but when the +winter came and the Oka, instead of a barrier, became an easy crossing, +Ivan ordered the retreat. Just then the two armies, led by such brave +commanders, were seized with a panic, and away they fled in opposite +directions. (1480.) The honors were with Ivan, because he did not have +so far to run as Akhmet, who did not stop until he reached Sarai. It +is not stated why Ivan received no surname from this great battle. + +The following year, 1481, Ivan had sufficiently recovered to show the +courage he possessed. There was a disturbance in Novgorod, where the +people did not appreciate the nobility of his character. He ordered +some of the boyards to be tortured and put to death, and _eight +thousand_ citizens were forcibly packed off to Souzdal. + +In fear of his doughty enemy Akhmet, Ivan made friends with the Khan +of the Crimea, calculating that if the former should attack him again, +he would have to look out for his rear. Akhmet, however, seemed to +have had enough of it, and Ivan, who was on bad terms with Lithuania +and Poland, suggested to his friend that a raid into those territories +might pay. The Khan of the Crimea took the hint; he penetrated as far +as Kief which he captured and pillaged. (1482.) The famous monastery +of the Catacombs was almost destroyed; but Ivan had the (p. 103) +satisfaction of knowing that his two enemies had other things to think +of, instead of annoying him. + +In 1487 war broke out with Kazan. A Russian army marched against it, +but Ivan did not take command. As a result, the city was taken and the +khan, who had assumed the title of czar, was brought a prisoner to +Moscow. Fearing that he would unite the other Tartars against him if +he annexed the territory at once, he appointed a nephew of his friend, +the Khan of the Crimea, but placed Russian soldiers in the fortress, +while he added the title of Prince of Bulgaria to his own. Other +Tartar princes sent envoys to protest against the arrest. Ivan did not +receive them in person, and refused to release the prisoner, but he +ordered the envoys to be treated with great honor and gave them so +many presents, that they returned in great good humor. + +In 1492, the King of Poland died, leaving that kingdom to his eldest +son Albert, and Lithuania to his second son Alexander. Ivan was justly +indignant that he had not been remembered in the will. He sent envoys +to Bajazet II, Sultan of Turkey, to the Kings of Hungary and Moldavia, +and to his old friend the Khan of the Crimea, to secure their +assistance or at least their kind neutrality. Of the services of the +Khan of the Crimea he felt assured. + +He began by discovering a Polish plot against his life at Moscow, and +appealed to the religious prejudices of the Lithuanian nobles +belonging to the Greek Church, omitting to mention his little +arrangement with the infidel sultan. When Alexander sent envoys to +negotiate terms of peace, Ivan's deputies said to them: "Lithuania (p. 104) +has profited by the misfortunes of Russia to take our territory, but +to-day things are changed." They were right. When peace was concluded +in 1494, Ivan's frontier in the west was extended. + +The marriage of Alexander to Ivan's daughter seemed to end the +hostility between the two countries, but nothing was further from the +schemes of the wily grand duke. He stipulated that she should have a +Greek chapel in the palace, and warned her never to appear in a +Catholic church, and always to wear the Russian national dress. Soon +after the wedding Ivan complained that his daughter was forced to wear +Polish costumes, and that the Greek Church was being persecuted. These +were to him ample cause for war, the more so since he had good reason +to count upon his friends, the priests and boyards of the Greek +Church. When the war broke out, cities where the majority of the +people belonged to that church, opened their gates to his army, and +Alexander was badly defeated in the battle of Vedrocha. This war added +another slice to Ivan's territory. + +Alexander in his distress made an alliance with the Livonian Order and +with the Great Horde at Sarai; but Ivan's old friend, the Khan of the +Crimea, made a raid in Gallicia and Volhynia, and the Lithuanians were +defeated at Mstislaf; but they compelled the Russians to raise the +siege of Smolensk. Meanwhile Ivan had serious trouble. In 1495, he +ordered the merchants of several Hanseatic towns to be arrested at +Novgorod, and incidentally had goods to the value of $200,000,--an +immense sum in those days,--carried to Moscow. This caused the (p. 105) +foreign merchants to leave for safer places; but the Livonian Order +invaded his territory, and in the battle of Siritza, they crushed a +Russian army of 50,000 men, but the following year, 1502, they were +defeated at Pskof. + +Toward the end of his life he was in doubt about his successor, +because his eldest son was dead. At first he thought of making his +grandson Dmitri, his heir; but he changed his mind, sent his +daughter-in-law and grandson to prison and proclaimed his second son +Vassili his heir. He died in 1505, after a reign of forty-three years. +It was under his direction that a new code of laws, the Oulogenia, was +prepared. + + + + +XII--RUSSIA BECOMES AN AUTOCRACY. (p. 106) + + +Vassili, Ivan's son, showed a great resemblance to his father. He did +not evince any greater love for his near relatives, as one of his +first acts was to put his nephew Dmitri in prison, where he died. One +of his brothers who did not like his manners, tried to escape, but was +brought back and severely punished. + +The republic of Pskof, and the dukedoms of Riazan and +Novgorod-Seversky were still enjoying some degree of liberty, which +Vassili did not approve. At Pskof, the grand duke was represented by +_a namiestnik_, or ducal delegate; the people, citizens and peasants, +nobles and lower classes, quarreled constantly among themselves, but +united to quarrel with the delegate. Vassili determined to put an end +to this. He came to Novgorod to hold court, and summoned the +magistrates of Pskof to appear before him, and when they arrived he +ordered their arrest. A merchant of Pskof heard of it and, hurrying +home, told the people. Immediately the bell was rung to convoke the +vetche, and the masses called for war with Moscow. More prudent +counsels prevailed when messengers arrived from the prisoners, +imploring their friends not to try a useless resistance and to avoid +the shedding of blood. A leading citizen was sent to Vassili to (p. 107) +offer him submission; he was dismissed with the answer that one of the +_diaks_ or secretaries would come to Pskof to let the people know the +terms. When that officer arrived, he was admitted in the vetche, where +he informed his hearers that Vassili imposed two conditions, namely, +that Pskof and the towns subject to it must receive his delegates, and +that the vetche must be abolished and the great bell, used to convoke +it, must be taken down. Twenty-four hours were asked to deliberate. +Before the time expired, the vetche met for the last time, when the +first magistrate addressed the delegate. "It is written in our +chronicles," he said, "that our ancestors took oaths to the grand +duke. The people of Pskof swore never to rebel against our lord who is +at Moscow, nor to ally themselves with Lithuania, with Poland, nor +with the Germans, otherwise the wrath of God would be upon them, +bringing with it famine, fires, floods, and the invasion of the +infidels. If the grand duke, on his part, did not observe his vow, he +dared the same consequences. Now our town and our bell are in the +power of God and the duke. As for us, we have kept our oath." The +great bell was taken to Novgorod, and Vassili visited "his patrimony." +Three hundred wealthy families were transported to other cities and +replaced by as many families from Moscow. When he departed from Pskof, +he left a garrison of 5,000 guards and 500 artillerymen. That was the +end of the last republic in Russia. (1510.) + +In 1521, it was the turn of Riazan whose duke was accused of having +entered into an alliance with the Khan of the Crimea. He was summoned +to Moscow, where he was arrested, but he managed to escape. His +dukedom, however, was annexed to Moscow. Two years later, in 1523, (p. 108) +the Duke of Novgorod-Severski was put in prison for underhand dealing +with Poland, and that dukedom was added to Vassili's territories. This +rounded up Vassili's possessions in Central Russia. + +The grand duke continued his father's policy toward Lithuania. When +Alexander died, he tried to become Grand Duke of Wilna, but the King +of Poland was too quick for him. War broke out, but neither gained any +important advantage, and in 1509 a _perpetual peace_ was concluded +wherein Vassili renounced all claims upon Kief and Smolensk. The +"perpetual peace" lasted three years. Vassili then went to the other +extreme, by declaring that "as long as his horse was in marching +condition and his sword cut sharp, there should be neither peace nor +truce with Lithuania." In 1514, the Russian army besieged and took +Smolensk, but in the same year they were badly defeated in the battle +of Orcha. + +The two grand dukes tried to involve as many allies as they could. The +Khan of the Crimea, the useful friend of Vassili's father, had become +the son's enemy; Vassili offset him by an alliance with the Khan of +Astrakhan. When Sigismund tried to secure the help of Sweden, Vassili +sought that of Denmark; and when his enemy set the Dnieper Cossacks at +him, the grand duke induced the Teutonic Order to invade Poland. After +Sigismund was defeated at Smolensk, the Emperor of Germany and the +Pope offered to mediate; the latter advised Vassili to let Lithuania +alone, and to turn his attention toward Constantinople. Negotiations +commenced in 1520, but it was six years later before a truce was (p. 109) +concluded. On this occasion Vassili made a speech in which he praised +Emperor Charles V, and Pope Clement VII,--but Lithuania lost Smolensk. +It was during this war that the partition of Poland was first +mentioned. + +Vassili did not neglect the east, even while engaged in the west. +Kazan had expelled the nephew of the Khan of the Crimea whom Ivan III +had appointed, and elected a Khan hostile to Russia. Two expeditions +were sent against the city but nothing was effected. When this khan +died, Vassili succeeded in installing a friendly prince, but he was +overthrown and a relative of the Khan of the Crimea took his place. He +prepared a great invasion of Russia in 1521, and did gain a decided +victory on the Oka, after which he ravaged the territory of the grand +duke. Vassili was compelled to humble himself before the khan, in +order to save Moscow; he made him presents and in the treaty signed by +him, called himself the khan's tributary. When the khan withdrew, he +was attacked in Riazan and the treaty was taken away from him. The +invasion was, however, a calamity for the grand dukedom, which was +devastated by fire, and a host of women and children were carried off, +to be sold as slaves at Astrakhan and Kaffa. + +The following year Vassili collected a large army on the Oka and +challenged the Khan of the Crimea to come and give battle. The offer +was declined with the remark that he knew the way into Russia, and +that he was not in the habit of consulting his enemies as to when and +where he was to fight. + +Hoping to profit by the quarrels among the Tartars, Vassili sent an +expedition to Kazan in 1523, and again in 1524, but both were (p. 110) +unsuccessful. Kazan owed its wealth to a fair, which attracted a host +of merchants. Vassili thought that he would destroy his enemy's +prosperity by establishing a rival fair. Accordingly one was opened at +Makarief, and this time the grand duke's expectations were realized. +This was the origin of the world-famous fair at Nishni Novgorod, +whither it was transferred afterwards. + +Vassili made a long stride forward in the direction of autocracy. He +consulted neither boyard nor priest. He deposed the Metropolitan and +banished him to a monastery. Prince Kholmski, who was married to one +of Vassili's sisters, was thrown into prison for failing to show +abject respect. When one of the boyards complained that "The grand +duke decided all the questions, shut up with two others in the +bedchamber," the noble was promptly arrested, condemned to death, and +executed. He interrupted the objection of a high noble with, "Be +silent, lout!" His court displayed great splendor, but it was +semi-Asiatic. The throne was guarded by young nobles called _ryndis_, +dressed in long caftans of white satin, high caps of white fur, and +carrying silver hatchets. + +Like his father, he tried to attract artists and learned men, and +exchanged embassies with most of the European Courts. He extended the +frontiers of his empire, but ruthlessly suppressed free thought. It +has been claimed that the Slav is fit only for an absolute government. +The history of Russia contradicts the statement. The idea of autocracy +was Asiatic and was imported with the Tartar yoke. + + + + +XIII--IVAN IV, THE TERRIBLE. (p. 111) + + +When Vassili died in 1533, he left two infant sons, Ivan and George, +the elder three years old. His widow, Helena Glinski, assumed the +regency. She was a woman remarkable for spirit and beauty, and showed +her courage in ruthlessly suppressing every attempt of high nobles to +contest her authority. She sent her husband's brother George to +prison, and let him die there. One of her own uncles, who had been in +her confidence, showed too much ambition and suffered the same fate. +Andrew, another brother of Vassili, tried to make his escape; he was +promptly brought back and placed in confinement. This caused an +unimportant war with Poland, ending in a truce in 1537. The Tartars of +Kazan and the Crimea were frequently defeated. But Helena was +cordially hated by the great nobles at Moscow; she was poisoned, and +died in 1538. + +Ivan, the oldest son and heir, was then eight years old. It must be +placed to the credit of his mother that he had learned to read, for +the children were sadly neglected after her death, and it was the +boy's principal solace and occupation. In later years Ivan wrote of +this time, "We and our brother Iouri (George) were treated like +strangers, like the children of beggars. We were ill-clothed, cold (p. 112) +and hungry." What impressed the child especially, was that when +foreign envoys arrived he was placed upon the throne and the same +nobles who showed him such contemptuous indifference, were respectful +and even servile on such occasions. He noticed, too, that when these +proud nobles needed anything, it was necessary that the papers should +be signed by him. All this set the child thinking, and being a manly, +bright boy, he came to the conclusion that, after all, he was the real +master. + +After many quarrels among themselves, Andrew Chouiski, the head of a +noble family, had become all-powerful; all important offices were +occupied by his favorites and friends. Ivan noticed it all, but said +nothing. He was thirteen years old when, after the Christmas +celebration of 1543, he suddenly summoned the boyards before him, and +in a threatening tone sternly accused them of their misdeeds. "There +are among you many guilty ones," he said, "but this time I am +satisfied with making one example." He ordered the guards to seize +Andrew Chouiski, and had him then and there torn to pieces by dogs. +After this terrible punishment, he ordered the arrest of the most +disobedient nobles, who were transported to distant places. + +[Illustration: Ivan IV] + +The thirteen-year-old boy then assumed the government, relying chiefly +upon his mother's relations, the Glinskis. In 1547, at the age of +seventeen, he directed the Metropolitan to crown him, not as Grand +Duke but as Czar. In a Bible printed in the Slavonic language, he had +read of the _Czar_ Nebuchadnezzar, the _Czar_ Pharaoh, David, _Czar_ +of Israel, etc. He knew, besides, that the former masters of the (p. 114) +grand dukes, the khans, had been addressed by that title. Perhaps it +was because he wished it to be known that he considered himself the +equal of any Tartar ruler; perhaps because he desired to have a title +superior to that of the nobles who descended from former grand dukes, +and who inherited the rank without the power; at any rate Ivan IV was +crowned as the first Czar. + +Young as he was, and since his thirteenth year beyond control, Ivan's +life had been the reverse of good. But when, soon after the +coronation, he married Anastasia Romanof, he made an earnest effort to +reform. The relatives of his mother and of his wife, the Glinskis and +the Romanofs, enjoyed his favor at this time. + +There was much suppressed dissatisfaction among the nobles, and many +plots were hatched against him. In the year of his coronation, a fire +swept wooden Moscow, and about 1,700 people perished in the flames. +Ivan ordered an investigation, and withdrew to Vorobief. Crowds +gathered in the thoroughfares, when mysterious persons appeared among +them declaring that the Glinskis had set the city on fire. Soon after +shouts were heard, "It is the Princess Anne Glinski who, with her two +sons, has bewitched the city; she has taken human hearts, plunged them +in water, and with this water has sprinkled the houses. This is the +cause of the destruction of Moscow!" A mob collected and made for the +palace of the Glinskis and one of them, George, was stabbed. They went +on to Vorobief, where they demanded the life of Ivan's uncle. The +czar's own life was in danger and the mob had to be dispersed by +force. + +Ivan did not forget this, and terrible was his vengeance upon the (p. 115) +boyards. At this time he gave his confidence to two men, one a priest +named Silvester, who had the reputation of being a very honest man; +the other, a member of the smaller nobility, named Adachef who, in +1551, as Minister of the Interior, gave to Russian cities the first +municipal liberties. Ivan showed an unusual interest in the people; it +was under his orders that a new code of laws (Soudebnik) was prepared, +and many reforms were made in the Church. + +This rather increased than diminished the hostility of the nobles. +Ivan's favorites, Silvester and Adachef had grown ambitious and the +former especially was overbearing. He openly opposed the czar, and +tried to sow discord between him and his wife. When Ivan's favorite +son died, Silvester told him that it was a punishment from heaven for +his disobedience. The two men tried to procure the dismissal of the +Glinskis and Romanofs, and for that purpose made friends with the +boyards whom Ivan suspected. In 1553, the czar fell dangerously ill; +he called in the boyards and ordered them to swear loyalty to his +infant son Dmitri. They refused. He was informed that the nobles were +conspiring with his cousin Vladimir, whose mother was distributing +money in the army. He was in terror for the lives of his wife and son. +Once he said to the boyards who had remained faithful, "Do not, I pray +you, forget that you have sworn an oath to my son and to me; do not +let him fall into the hands of the boyards; fly with him to some +foreign country, whithersoever God may guide you." Ivan recovered but +he never could forget the anguish of those days. + +Ivan's character at this time was far from bad. He was only twenty (p. 116) +years old, and on several occasions showed that he was compassionate +instead of cruel. It was only natural that his nature should be +perverted, surrounded as he was by men of whom he was suspicious. +Still, such a change could only be gradual. The immediate consequence +of the conduct of his nobles, was that it drew him closer to the +people. This was shown in 1506, when he convoked the three orders, +nobles, priests, and people, to discuss public affairs. + +His first act, after his recovery, was to banish his former favorites. +Silvester was ordered to the monastery of St. Cyril, and Adachef was +sent to Livonia. Soon afterwards the Czarina Anastasia died; there was +a strong suspicion that she had been poisoned. To add to his +bitterness, Prince Andrew Kourbski, a descendant of Rurik and a great +friend of Silvester and Adachef, permitted 15,000 Russians to be +defeated by the Poles with whom Ivan was at war. Kourbski deserted to +the King of Poland. + +It appears that Ivan at this time feared for his life, for he withdrew +to a neighboring castle with his friends, servants, and treasures. +From there he wrote his abdication in two letters, one addressed to +the Metropolitan, the other to the people of Moscow. This action +struck terror among the nobles and the people. The former dreaded that +the people might rise and avenge the czar, and the people were afraid +that the nobles would once again usurp the government. The nobles and +priests consulted and decided to beg Ivan's pardon and to submit to +any punishment he might impose. Ivan consented to return to Moscow (p. 117) +but on his own terms. This was accepted. After his arrival in the +capital he established a special guard of one thousand men who had a +dog's head and a broom hanging from their saddles, to show that they +were ready to bite and ready to sweep the czar's enemies from off +Russian soil. + +It was then that Ivan began to earn the surname of The Terrible, which +has clung to him ever afterwards. We have his own record in a letter +to the Monastery of St. Cyril, in which he asks the prayers of the +Church for the victims of his vengeance. He appears to have kept a +careful account, as we read, "Kazarine Doubrofsky and his two sons, +with ten men who came to their assistance;" "Twenty men of the village +of Kolmenskoe;" "Eighty of Matveiche." It amazes us to read, +"Remember, Lord, the souls of thy servants, to the number of 1,505 +persons, Novgorodians." The boyards lived in a state of terror; few +among them knew how long they would keep their heads on their +shoulders. Neither rank nor title was a safeguard. The Archbishop of +Moscow was dismissed, and probably murdered. Alexander, George's +widow, and Ivan's sister-in-law, went to the scaffold. Prince Vladimir +and his mother, Ivan's uncle and grand-aunt, were also executed. It +was on this occasion that the "Novgorodians, to the number of 1,505 +persons" were put to death, because Ivan suspected them of a plot to +open the gates to the King of Poland. In 1571, there was another +wholesale execution, in which several of Ivan's latest favorites were +victims. + +The burden of his wrath fell upon the boyards. It may have been for the +purpose of humiliating them and the Churchmen that he assembled (p. 118) +delegates of those two classes to confer with representatives of the +merchants of Moscow and Smolensk, about the war with Poland. Ivan +addressed the assembly in person, and it was decided that the war +should continue. + +It was under his reign that British traders accidentally discovered +the White Sea and the mouth of the Dwina. They came overland to Moscow +where they were well received and secured several privileges. Ivan was +anxious to conclude an offensive-defensive alliance with Elizabeth of +England, and proposed an agreement to furnish each other with an +asylum if either of them should be compelled to fly from the country +through being defeated by an enemy or the rebellion of their subjects. +Elizabeth did not fancy such an alliance, and declined the offer of an +asylum, "finding," as she declared, "by the grace of God no dangers of +the sort in her dominions." Ivan never ceased recurring to, and +pleading for, such an agreement, thus showing his ever present +suspicions. + +After commercial intercourse was established with England, and British +traders settled in Moscow, Ivan continued to show them his favor. He +was himself the greatest merchant of Russia. The furs which he +received from Siberia were sold to the foreign merchants at the fairs. +His agents went into the provinces where they compelled the people to +sell him furs, wax, honey, etc., at such prices as he chose to pay, +and the foreign merchants had to buy them from him at a high price. He +also bought the imported goods and sold them to Russian merchants. +They were not permitted to buy from anybody else, until the goods (p. 119) +of the czar were sold. + +At the beginning of his reign, in 1551, Ivan was preparing an +expedition to Kazan, and in June of the following year he descended +the Volga and laid siege to that city. It was captured after a brave +defense, when a number of the people were massacred and the rest sold +as slaves. This conquest was followed by that of Astrakhan in 1554; +the Volga from its source to its mouth was thereafter a Russian river. +The Cossacks of the Don also submitted to him. + +The European countries bordering on Russia dreaded that country's +growing power. Ivan, after his coronation, sent to western Europe to +engage a number of engineers and mechanics; these men were stopped on +the road, and none of them ever reached Moscow. Sigismund of Poland +even threatened to kill the British merchants on the Baltic, +"because," he said, "if the Muscovite, who is not only our present +adversary, but the eternal enemy of all free countries, should provide +himself with guns, bullets, and munitions; and, above all, with +mechanics who continue to make arms, hitherto unknown in this barbaric +country, he would be a menace to Europe." Ivan, on the other hand, was +equally anxious that the Russians should possess all the advantages of +Europe's superior civilization. This, added to the inherited hostility +between the two countries, caused many wars. + +While Ivan was pursuing his conquests in the south, he was attacked by +Gustavus Wasa, Sweden's famous king, who entertained the same fears as +the King of Poland. The war ended by a commercial treaty whereby (p. 120) +Swedish merchants might trade with India and China by way of Russia, +and those of Russia with Holland, England, and France by way of +Sweden. This war had scarcely ceased before envoys of the Livonian +Order arrived to request a renewal of the truce. Ivan demanded tribute +for Iourief which he claimed as his "patrimony." This was refused, and +war was declared. It was owing to Ivan that this brotherhood was +dissolved and its territory divided. In 1566, a truce was proposed by +Poland. + +It was on this occasion that he called the assembly referred to on +page 116. The war continued. Ivan was attacked also by Sultan Selim II +of Turkey, in 1569, and the Khan of the Crimea marched straight upon +Moscow, set fire to the suburbs, and destroyed the capital except the +Kremlin. He carried off a hundred thousand prisoners. (1571.) As he +withdrew, he wrote to Ivan: "I burn, I ravage everything on account of +Kazan and Astrakhan. I came to you and burned Moscow. I wished to have +your crown and your head, but you did not show yourself; you declined +a battle and you dare call yourself a Czar of Moscow! Will you live at +peace with me? Yield me up Kazan and Astrakhan. If you have only money +to offer me, it will be useless were it the riches of the world. What +I want is Kazan and Astrakhan! As to the roads to your empire, I have +seen them--I know them." The khan made another invasion the next year, +1572, but was defeated. + +In the same year Sigismund Augustus II of Poland died. There was a +party at Warsaw that proposed to elect Ivan's son, but the czar (p. 121) +wanted Poland for himself. He failed in the attempt, and the Duke +of Anjou, brother of the King of France, was chosen. He did not like +the people and fled; his place was filled by Stephen Batory, Governor +of Transsylvania, a young, capable, and energetic noble. Batory took +in his service a number of trained German and Hungarian soldiers, and +took Polotsk after a brave defense. He also captured several other +towns, but was repulsed at Pskof. + +Ivan sought the mediation of Pope Gregory XIII, and a truce was +concluded in 1582; Ivan ceded Polotsk and all Livonia. + +Ivan, in his manhood, was a man of violent temper. He was never seen +without an iron-tipped staff, which he used freely and recklessly upon +the people around him. Nobody, whatever his rank, was safe from +corporal punishment. He killed his eldest son Ivan with a blow, and +suffered from remorse ever afterward. He left a lasting impression +upon Russia by his reforms. He made a law whereby neither church nor +convents could acquire new lands. He was wonderfully well educated, +considering the neglect of his early youth, and tolerant of religious +opinions. A Presbyterian and a Lutheran church were built at Moscow +with his consent, but in deference to the opposition of the people, +they were removed to the suburbs. He was also the founder of the +_streltsi_ or national guard. + +Ivan died in 1584, after a reign of forty-one years. + + + + +XIV--RUSSIA UNDER IVAN THE TERRIBLE. (p. 122) + + +The reign of Ivan the Terrible is remarkable, first, because it is the +beginning of Russia as we know it in our time; and also because it +occurred at a time when Great Britain was exploring the Atlantic, and +preparing the way for the wonderful expansion of the English-speaking +race, which culminated in the great North American Republic. It was +under this reign, in 1558, that Russia's invasion of Asia began, and +with it a movement eastward, which has not yet ceased. + +It is interesting, therefore, to study the condition of the Russian +people at this important period. Although, as we have seen, the Tartar +yoke did not influence the people directly, because there was no +intercourse between victor and vanquished, the indirect influence was +great, owing to the adoption of Tartar habits or customs by the dukes +and nobles, during their visits to the khan. During this time +intercourse with Europe ceased; hence, in the 16th and 17th centuries, +Russia was more Asiatic than European, although the Russians hated the +victors. Who can say how much influence this has exerted upon Russia's +conquests in Asia? + +Among the old Slavs, the family was the unit from which the State was +built up, and this was confirmed under the Tartar yoke. There is (p. 123) +some similarity between the Empire of Russia and that of China, for +there, too, the family is the unit. In both countries the Emperor is +not only the master, he is also considered as the father and high +priest of his people. Their persons and property are the emperor's, to +do with as he pleases. But in Russia there was a nobility descended +from the former dukes; in China there was none, except the descendant +of Confucius. Yet in Russia these lords, many of whom traced their +descent to Rurik, became in time the slaves of the czar. They +prostrated themselves before him, as they had seen the courtiers of +the khan do. When they presented a petition, they expressed it by the +word _tchelobitie_, which means "beating of the forehead," showing +that they performed what is known in China as the _kowtow_. In +addressing the czar, they said, "Order me not to be chastised; order +me to speak a word!" The Grand Dukes of Moscow considered their +territory and the people on it, as their own private property. They +had learned this from the khans. The palace, a mixture of oriental +splendor and barbarism, showed the influence of the Tartars. + +The people of Russia were divided into classes, the lowest of which +were the slaves or _kholop_, prisoners of war, men who had sold +themselves, or who were born in slavery. Above them were the peasants, +born on the estate of a noble, but still known as free men. Then came +the peasants who farmed the land of an owner, but these were few. Much +of the land was owned by the several mirs or villages, but in the +course of time they were assigned to gentlemen, who were able to serve +in the army without pay, being supported by the revenues derived (p. 124) +from these villages. Gradually these gentlemen looked upon the land of +the mir as their own property, but the peasants never did lose the +conviction that the mir was the real proprietor. In Ivan's time and +later, the mir and not the individual, was held responsible for the +tax to the czar, for the free labor furnished to the lord, and for his +dues. The mir, therefore, was absolute master over every inhabitant of +the village, and this power was vested in the _starost_. The peasant +gradually descended into a beast of burden, who was not even a human +being, but merely a productive force for the benefit of the State and +of the lord. + +A Russian town consisted, first of the _kremlin_, a fortress of wood +which, when required, was defended by "men of the service"; then came +the suburbs, built around the kremlin, and inhabited by the people. +They were governed by a _voievod_ or governor, appointed by the czar, +or by a starost or mayor, elected by the nobles, priests, and +privileged citizens. The principal duty of the citizens was to pay the +taxes, and therefore they were forbidden to leave the city. Under the +Czar Alexis, the penalty for such offense was death. + +The merchants did not form a separate class. They are known in Russian +as _gosti_ or guests, thus showing that, notwithstanding the old and +honorable record of Novgorod and Kief, the Tartar yoke and subsequent +arbitrary rule of the grand dukes had ruined trade or left it in the +hands of aliens. Ivan the Terrible called them the moujiks of commerce. +Fletcher, an Englishman who spent many years in Moscow under Ivan IV, +gives the following curious pen picture: "Often you will see them (p. 125) +trembling with fear, lest a boyard should know what they have to sell. +I have seen them at times, when they had spread out their wares so +that you might make a better choice, look all around them,--as if they +feared an enemy would surprise them and lay hands on them. If I asked +them the cause, they would say to me, 'I was afraid that there might +be a noble or one of the sons of boyards here: they would take away my +merchandise by force.'" + +The Russian women were kept secluded in women's quarters as they are +in China, but they remained a member of their own family. A wife's +duty was "to obey her husband as the slave obeys his master," and she +was taught to think of herself as her master's property. He had the +right to punish her as he did his children or his slaves. The priest +Silvester advises the husband not to use sticks that are too thick or +tipped with iron, nor to whip her before his men, but to correct her +moderately and in private. No Russian woman dared object to being +beaten. A Russian proverb says: "I love you like my soul, and I dust +you like my jacket." + +The men wore oriental tunics or robes, and a long beard; the women +painted their faces. Ivan the Terrible said that to shave the beard +was "a sin that the blood of all the martyrs could not cleanse. Was it +not to defile the image of man created by God?" + +There was a general belief in magic and witchcraft; sorcerers were +burned alive in a cage. Ivan, although in advance of his age, was not +free from superstition. The art of medicine was, of course, still in +its infancy, and those who practiced it were in constant danger (p. 126) +of their lives, because if they did not cure a patient, they might +suffer for it. + +Both the nobles and the people were addicted to the vice of +drunkenness. No one paid any attention when a person, rich or poor, +young or old, fell down in the street from the effects of drink. This +is what the priests said of this vice: "My brethren, what is worse +than drunkenness? You lose memory and reason like a madman who does +not know what he is doing. The drunkard is senseless; he lies like a +corpse. If you speak to him he does not answer. Think of his poor soul +which grows foul in its vile body which is its prison.... To drink is +lawful and is to the glory of God, who has given us wine to make us +rejoice." + +The Metropolitan of Moscow, until a Patriarch was appointed, was +supposed to be the head of the Church, but the czar held the real +power. There were two classes of priests: The Black Clergy lived as +monks in monasteries, some of which were exceedingly wealthy; they +were forbidden to marry, and the bishops were appointed from among +them. The White Clergy lived among the people and were compelled to +marry. Most of them were grossly ignorant. The same Englishman quoted +before, Mr. Fletcher, says of these priests: "As for exhorting or +instructing their flock, they have neither the habit of it nor the +talent for it, for all the clergy are as profoundly ignorant of the +Word of God as of all other learning." + +The revenues of the Empire consisted of a tax on every sixty measures +of corn; of a house-tax, or tax on every fire; the customhouse (p. 127) +dues, and what remained of the municipal taxes after paying expenses; +of a tax on public baths; the farming out of lands belonging to the +crown; the fines and confiscations in the "Court of the Brigands;" and +finally of the tribute paid by thirty-six towns and their landed +possessions "belonging to the Crown." + +The Courts of Justice belonged to the Middle Ages; tortures were +applied similar to those employed by the Spanish Inquisition. A wife +who murdered her husband "was buried alive up to her neck." Heretics +were burned at the stake; sorcerers were burned in an iron cage, and +coiners had liquid metal poured down their throats. A noble who killed +a moujik was fined or sometimes whipped; but he might kill as many +slaves as he pleased, because they were his property. + +The Russian infantry, so famous under the early Norsemen, had given +way to cavalry, in imitation of the Tartars. The Imperial Guard was +composed of 8,000 young nobles. The "men-at-arms" were mounted, but +received no pay beyond the revenue of their lands, which they held in +return for their military service. The army numbered about 80,000, +and, with a levy among the peasants, could be brought up to 300,000. +There was, besides, the irregular cavalry of the Don Cossacks, and of +the Tartars. Such infantry as there was, consisted of peasants from +the crown lands, churches, and convents; the national guard, and +foreign soldiers or officers. + +[Illustration: Feodor] (p. 128) + + + + +XV--FEODOR, THE LAST OF RURIK'S DESCENDANTS. (p. 129) + + +Ivan the Terrible left two sons, Feodor, the son of Anastasia Romanof, +and Dmitri, a child, the son of his seventh wife. Feodor was neither a +strong-minded nor a very able man. He was married to Irene Godounof, +and, following the usual custom, his wife's relations held the +principal offices of the government. Gradually the czar's authority +passed into the hands of Prince Boris Godounof, Irene's brother, a +very ambitious and unscrupulous man. Wizards had foretold that Boris +would be czar, but that his reign would last only seven years, and he +did all he could to aid his destiny. + +He first caused Feodor's half-brother, Dmitri, to be sent with his +mother and her relations to Ouglitch, where they would be out of the +way. He also caused the Metropolitan to be dismissed, and had a friend +appointed in his place. He aroused the higher nobles against him, and +then made an effort to make friends with the smaller nobility,--at the +expense of the poor peasants. According to law, these people were +free; that is, when the contract with a landowner expired, they could +move where they pleased, and the large owners could offer better terms +than those who held small estates. But without labor, the land was (p. 130) +worthless and Russia, at the time, was so sparsely populated, that +every hand counted. The object of the government was not to open up +new lands, so as to create prosperity, but to provide for its current +wants by seeing that the taxes were paid, and that the army was kept +up to its standard. How could the men-at-arms, that is the small +nobility, defray their own expenses while serving, if their revenues +failed from lack of labor? Boris Godounof, therefore, made a law +forbidding peasants to go from one estate to another. They were tied +to the ground, and this was the first step to make serfs of them. The +peasants did object; they had been accustomed to change service on St. +George's day, and that day remained for many years one of deep sorrow. +There was no rebellion, but a great many fled, and joined the +Cossacks. After some years the law was changed so that peasants were +permitted to change from one _small_ estate to another. + +Another change under Feodor's reign was the appointment of a Patriarch +as the head of the Greek Church under the czar. He was placed above +the several Metropolitans, and thus the Church secured more unity. + +Feodor had no heirs, and his health was bad. It was, therefore, to +young Dmitri at Ouglitch that the great nobles looked for relief from +Godounof's tyranny. In 1591, this man sent hired assassins to Ouglitch +and the youngest son of Ivan was murdered. Some of the hirelings were +arrested by the people, and put to death. There was not even a doubt +as to the facts. But Godounof ordered an investigation by his own +friends; they declared that the young heir had committed suicide in a +fit of insanity, and that the people of Ouglitch had put innocent (p. 131) +men to death. The assassination of Dmitri's relatives, and the +depopulation of Ouglitch made further inquiry impossible. + +Stephen Batory who had worsted Ivan the Terrible, died in 1586, and +the throne of Poland was once again vacant. Godounof tried hard to +have Feodor elected, but the Poles feared that the czar might attach +their kingdom to Moscow like a sleeve to a coat. Besides, the Roman +Catholic electors did not like the thought of having a king belonging +to the Greek Church; last of all, money counted in these elections, +and Godounof was a very saving man. The result was that the Prince of +Sweden was elected, and that war with Sweden broke out. + +The Poles, fearing lest Sweden should grow too powerful, held aloof; +as a consequence, Russia gained back the towns which had been lost +under Ivan the Terrible. Godounof made an effort to bring about a war +between Poland and Sweden, but he only succeeded in arousing the +suspicion and dislike of both countries. + +Feodor died in 1598; with him the house of Rurik, the old Norse +Viking, ceased to exist. + +By trickery and knavery, Boris Godounof was elected czar by the +_douma_ or council of nobles, a body presided over by his friend the +Patriarch, and containing many of his partisans. The great nobles, +many of whom traced their descent to Rurik, objected to a czar, whom +they considered and called an upstart. But Boris displayed cruelty as +well as severity. Feodor, the eldest of the noble family of the +Romanofs, was forced to become a monk and his wife a nun. He took (p. 132) +the name of Philarete, and she that of Marfa. + +Godounof did reign seven years, according to the wizard's prediction, +but it was a stormy time for Russia. A young adventurer named Gregory +Otrepief, pretended that he was the murdered Dmitri, and secured a +large following. The troops sent against him "had no hands to fight +but only feet to fly." At Godounof's death, in 1605, he confided his +son and heir to a favorite named Basmanof, who turned traitor, joined +the false Dmitri, and caused Godounof's widow and son to be murdered. +Otrepief, who lacked neither courage nor ability, was made czar, but +he reigned little over a month, when he, too, was murdered by a band +of nobles under the leadership of Chouiski. This man seized the throne +in 1606. The people in the country, owing to its vast extent and the +poor roads, heard of Otrepief's coronation, his death, and the +succession of Chouiski almost at the same time, and anarchy followed. +At the same time Russia was involved in a war with Poland, at the time +when a second false Dmitri made his appearance. The Cossacks and a +host of Polish adventurers joined him, and he laid siege to the +immensely wealthy Troitsa monastery, where the monks defended +themselves for sixteen months, and he was forced to withdraw. Affairs +came to such a pass that the people of Moscow "humbly requested the +czar to abdicate, because he was not successful, and also because he +was to blame for the shedding of Christian blood." Chouiski was forced +to yield, and soon after entered a monastery as a monk. + +Two candidates appeared for the vacant throne; the second false (p. 133) +Dmitri and Vladislas, the second son of Sigismund, King of Poland. The +douma, not fancying the idea that an impostor should rule over them, +invited the hetman of a Polish army to Moscow, to discuss the other +candidate. This hetman promised in name of the prince to maintain the +Greek Church and the privileges of the three orders, nobles, priests, +and people, and that the law-making power should be shared by the czar +and the douma; that no one should be executed without a trial, or +deprived of his dignity without good reason; and finally, that +Russians might go abroad to be educated if they so desired. Vladislas +was then elected czar on condition that he should enter the Greek +Church, and two envoys, one of them Philarete Romanof who had risen to +the rank of Metropolitan, left for the Polish camp at Smolensk to +complete the necessary arrangements. The douma invited the hetman to +occupy the kremlin with his shoulders. He did so, taking the late Czar +Chouiski and his two brothers as hostages. + +At Smolensk a difficulty occurred: the King of Poland wanted the +Russian throne for himself. He also asked the envoys to cede Smolensk +to Poland; they refused, and in turn asked that Vladislas should leave +at once for Moscow. The king refused his consent, and began to use +money. He found many Russian traitors willing to accept it, but the +envoys remained firm. + +Soon after this, the second false Dmitri died, and the people began to +show an interest in the dispute with Sigismund. Leading men at Moscow +and Smolensk wrote to the provinces, begging their friends not to +recognize the King of Poland as czar. Men-at-arms gathered, and (p. 134) +when an army of them drew near Moscow, the Poles fortified the +Kremlin. At this time a quarrel arose between the Polish troops and +the people, and some 7,000 persons were killed. The Russians made a +stand in the suburbs, when the Poles set fire to the city, and the +greater part of Moscow was burned. + +Sigismund ordered the arrest of the two envoys who were taken to +Marienburg in Prussia under escort. Smolensk fell soon after into his +hands, and the king returned to Warsaw which he entered in triumph +with the last Czar Chouiski a prisoner in his train. By this time the +Russians were aroused; 100,000 men-at-arms gathered at Moscow and +besieged the Poles in the Kremlin. Meanwhile Sweden had declared war, +giving as reason the election of Vladislas, and had captured the ports +on the Baltic. The monks of Troitsa, whose heroic defense against the +second false Dmitri had made the convent famous, sent letters to all +the Russian cities bidding them fight for their country and religion. +When this letter was read in public at Nishni Novgorod, a butcher, +Kouzma Minine spoke up: "If we wish to save the Muscovite Empire," he +said, "we must spare neither our lands nor our goods; let us sell our +houses and put our wives and children out to service; let us seek a +man who will fight for the national faith, and march under his +banner." He set the example by giving one-third of all he possessed, +and others followed. Those who refused to contribute were compelled to +do so. Minine was elected treasurer; he accepted on condition that his +orders should be obeyed without delay. Believing that the leadership +should be given to a noble, Minine went to Prince Pojarski who (p. 135) +lived in the neighborhood. Pojarski accepted the command, and ordered +three days of fasting and prayer. The streltsi were equipped as well +as the men-at-arms; but the services of Cossacks and foreign +mercenaries were refused. + +An army was collected and marched toward Moscow, with bishops and +monks carrying holy eikons at the head; at Iaroslaf they were +reenforced by other troops. They laid siege to the Kremlin; an attempt +to relieve the fortress by the Poles was defeated. At last the +garrison was forced to surrender. Among the Russian prisoners who +regained their liberty was a fifteen-year-old boy, Michael Romanof, +the son of Philarete and Marfa. + +Sigismund was on the way to reenforce the garrison, but hearing of its +surrender, he fell back. An assembly was convoked to elect a czar. It +was composed of delegates of the clergy, the nobles, the men-at-arms, +the merchants, towns, and districts. There was much bickering, but all +were agreed that no alien should be presented. When the name of +Michael Romanof was called, it was received with enthusiasm, and he +was declared elected. (1613.) The delegates remembered the relation +between his family and Ivan the Terrible, and the services rendered by +his father, the Metropolitan Philarete. There is a story that the King +of Poland, when he heard of Michael's election, tried to kidnap him at +Kostroma, and that a peasant guide led the party astray on a dark +night. When the Poles discovered it, he was struck dead. This is the +subject of a famous opera "A Life for the Czar." + +Russia's efforts to resume intercourse with Europe, which during the +Tartar yoke had been suspended, were continued under Godounof. He (p. 136) +sent an ambassador to Queen Elizabeth with a letter, in which he +says:--"I have learned that the Queen had furnished help to the Turks +against the Emperor of Germany. We are astonished at it, as to act +thus is not proper for Christian sovereigns; and you, our well-beloved +sister, you ought not in the future to enter into relationships of +friendship with Mussulman princes, nor to help them in any way, +whether with men or money; but on the contrary should desire and +insist that all the great Christian potentates should have a good +understanding, union, and strong friendship, and unite against the +Mussulmans, till the hand of the Christian rise and that of the +Mussulman is abased." Judging from Elizabeth's character, it is likely +that she shrugged her shoulders as she read this sermon. During the +period of Russia's internal troubles, and owing to the vacancy of the +throne, the relations with Europe were again suspended. + + + + +XVI--MICHAEL FEODOROVITCH OR MICHAEL, THE SON OF THEODORE, THE FIRST +ROMANOF. (p. 137) + + +Fifteen years of anarchy left Russia in disorder. The boyards had done +as they pleased since there was no one to control them. The peasants +who asked for nothing but a simple existence, had seen their crops +trampled under foot, and their homes laid in ruins. It needed a strong +hand to restore order; more than could be expected from a +fifteen-year-old boy, who had neither the iron will of Ivan the +Terrible, nor the advantage of having grown up with the conviction +that he was the Master. Besides, although his election had been +regular, the Don Cossacks and others refused to recognize him as the +czar. On the other hand, the patriots stood by him. But the conditions +were such that a foreigner in Moscow wrote at the time: "Oh that God +would open the eyes of the czar as He opened those of Ivan, otherwise +Muscovy is lost!" + +There was no money in the treasury, and the men-at-arms demanded pay +because they received no revenues from their ruined estates. The czar +and the clergy wrote to the Russian towns begging them for money and +for troops to help the government, and a generous response was (p. 138) +made. The people of the provinces, anxious to see law and order +restored, rose in favor of the czar, and Astrakhan sent a rebel chief +to prison. He was shortly afterwards tried and executed. + +While the people were thus aiding the government, no time was lost in +dealing with the foreign enemy. In 1614, Michael sent envoys to +Holland to request help in men and money. The Dutch gave a small sum, +regretting that they could do no more as they had just ended a war +that had lasted forty-one years (1568-1609); they promised that they +would persuade Sweden to come to an understanding with Russia. Another +embassy went to James I of England, who was told that the Poles had +murdered British merchants and plundered their warehouses. This was a +falsehood, because the envoys knew that the outrage had been committed +by Cossacks and a Russian mob, but they hoped that the king would not +know it. James did not, and advanced 20,000 rubles. After this British +merchants demanded concessions and privileges in Russia, but as they +asked too much, they received nothing. Sweden, urged by England and +Holland, concluded with Russia the Peace of Stolbovo in 1617. Sweden +received an indemnity of 20,000 rubles, and surrendered Novgorod and +other towns. + +The war with Poland was then continued more vigorously, and in 1618 a +truce of fourteen years and six months was arranged. It was understood +that this was temporary, because the King of Poland still claimed the +throne of Russia, and refused to recognize Michael. But the prisoners +were released and Philarete, the czar's father, returned to Moscow, where +his presence was soon felt by the nobles. The most independent (p. 140) +were arrested and sent into exile. So long as Philarete assisted his +son, there was no disorder. + +[Illustration: Michael Feodorovitch] + +In 1618, the great struggle between Protestant and Roman Catholic +Europe began and Sweden, which was to take such a glorious part in it, +sought Russia's aid. Gustavus wrote to Michael telling him that if the +Catholic league should prevail, the Greek Church would be in danger. +"When your neighbor's house is on fire," he wrote, "you must bring +water and try to extinguish it, to guarantee your own safety. May your +Czarian Majesty help your neighbors to protect yourself." Sound as the +advice was, Russia had enough to do at home. Sultan Osman of Turkey +offered an alliance against Poland, when Michael convoked the Estates. +The deputies beat their foreheads, and implored the czar "to hold +himself firm for the holy churches of God, for his czarian honor, and +for their own country against the enemy. The men-at-arms were ready to +fight, and the merchants to give money." The war was postponed when +news arrived that the Turks had been defeated. + +Sigismund of Poland died in 1632, and his son Vladislas was elected. +The following year Philarete died, and the nobles, released from his +stern supervision, resumed their former behavior. The war between the +two neighbors recommenced, but did not last long. When a new truce was +concluded Michael's title as czar was recognized by Vladislas. + +It was entirely the fault of the Polish nobles that Poland lost +Lithuania or White Russia. The only excuse that can be offered, is the +spirit of religious persecution which was rampant all over Europe (p. 141) +in the seventeenth century. It was the ceaseless effort of the Poles +to force the Lithuanians from the Greek into the Roman Church that +drove them into the arms of Russia; but it was not until after the +death of Michael, in 1645, that the consequences of this short-sighted +policy were to show. + +Michael was succeeded by his son, who ascended the throne as Alexis +Michaelovitch. He was better educated than his father had been and +resembled him in good nature. He had been taught by a tutor named +Morozof, who during thirty years exerted a great influence over his +pupil. When Alexis married into the Miloslavski family, its members +secured the most influential positions, according to well-established +custom. Morozof did not oppose them; instead he courted and married +the czarina's sister, and thus became the czar's brother-in-law. + +The wars in which Russia was engaged and the necessity of maintaining +a large and well-equipped army, together with the increasing expenses +of the Court, and above all, the dishonest practices of the officials +rendered the burden of taxation so unbearable, that several revolts +broke out. In 1648, the people of Moscow rose and demanded the +surrender of a judge and another officer, both of whom were +notoriously corrupt; the two men were promptly murdered. Then the +popular fury turned upon Morozof, who would have suffered the same +fate, had not the czar helped him to escape. The government was +helpless. In some places, such as Pskof, Novgorod, and elsewhere, the +streltsi joined the people, and Russia was for some time at the mercy +of an enemy. + +It was fortunate for Russia that just at that time, Poland had (p. 142) +serious trouble at home. A Cossack, owner of a large estate, educated +and brave, was ill-treated and imprisoned by a Polish landowner; and +his little son was publicly whipped. He went to Warsaw and laid his +complaint before the king. Vladislas told him plainly that the nobles +were beyond his control; then, pointing to his sword, he asked if the +Cossack could not help himself. The Cossack took the hint, went home, +and when the Polish landowners tried to arrest him, he fled to the +Khan of the Crimea, interested him in his cause and returned at the +head of a Mussulman army. Lithuania rose in rebellion against Poland; +the governors and nobles, and especially the priests of the Catholic +Church, were hunted down, and those of the Greek Church took revenge +for recent injuries and insults. + +Vladislas died, and the Diet elected his brother John Casimir. He +tried to reduce the very serious rebellion by promises, but there was +too deep a hatred between the two churches. Meanwhile order had been +restored in Russia, when the people of Lithuania wrote to the czar +begging him to take them under his protection. Alexis convoked the +Estates, told them that he had been insulted by Poland, and that the +Poles were persecuting the members of the Greek Church. They declared +in favor of war, and a boyard was sent to Kief to receive the oath of +allegiance. The people were willing provided their liberties would be +respected. This the czar promised. He declared that the privileges of +the Assembly and of the towns would be maintained, that only natives +would be employed in the administration and in taxation. + +Poland was now sorely pressed. Charles X of Sweden invaded the (p. 143) +kingdom and took two of its capitals. The Cossack and Lithuanians +entered it from the south, and the Czar Alexis at the head of his own +army attacked it on the east. He maintained strict discipline so that +the Polish Governors said, "Moscow makes war in quite a new way, and +conquers the people by the clemency and good-nature of the czar." The +towns of White Russia opened their gates to his army, and Smolensk +surrendered after a five weeks' siege. The Swedes captured Warsaw, the +last capital of the misruled kingdom. + +It was the jealousy of its enemies that saved Poland this time. Alexis +entered into a truce and attacked Sweden. This war was carried on from +1656 until 1661, and ended by the peace of Cardis whereby neither +country gained any advantage. The Poles, seeing the danger they had +incurred, rallied, and once again war broke out with Russia. It was +carried on with various success until both countries were exhausted. +In 1661, a thirteen years' truce was concluded, whereby Russia +restored Lithuania, but kept Little Russia on the left bank of the +Dnieper, together with Kief and Smolensk. + +In 1668, a revolt was organized by the Metropolitan of Kief, who +preferred the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople to that +of Moscow. As a result, Little Russia was subject to all the horrors +of war, but the Russian power prevailed in the end. Then the Cossacks +of the Don broke out, and until 1671 the territory between that river +and the Volga suffered terribly. + +Alexis' reign was remarkable for the introduction of so-called +"reforms" in the Church, which were confined wholly to ceremonies (p. 144) +and externals. The czar supported the "reformer" Nicon, and those who +did not agree with him were called _religious madmen_ and suffered +persecution. The monasteries near Archangel rebelled and troops were +sent against them; but it was eight months before the sturdy monks +capitulated. + +Alexis continued his father's efforts to reestablish intercourse with +Western Europe. But the West was only recovering from the terrible +Thirty Years' War, so that little interest was shown. + +Alexis had married twice. From the first marriage he had two sons +Feodor and Ivan, and six daughters; by his second wife he had one son, +Peter, and two daughters. When he died, in 1676, he was succeeded by +his eldest son Feodor. + +Feodor Alexievitch, the third czar of the Romanof family, reigned only +six years, from 1676 to 1682. It was under his reign that a truce for +twenty years with Turkey, restored peace to White Russia. + +Hitherto Russia had suffered from the rivalry resulting from disputes +caused by precedence of birth; generals had lost battles, because they +refused to serve under men whom they looked upon as inferiors. At an +assembly of the higher clergy, it was resolved to burn the Book of +Rank, and the czar made a law that any one disputing about his rank, +should lose it as well as his property. + +To protect the Greek Church from dividing into sects, an academy was +founded at Moscow where the Slav, Latin, and Greek languages were +taught. + + + + +XVII--EARLY YEARS OF PETER THE GREAT (PETER ALEXIEVITCH). (p. 145) + + +Feodor died childless, and should have been succeeded by his little +brother Ivan, but the child was of unsound mind. The other son of +Alexis, Peter, was the child of his last wife, and nine years old at +the time. The question about the succession was discussed in the +Council, and decided in Peter's favor, and his mother Natalia became +Regent. Among Peter's half sisters was one, Sophia, twenty-five years +old, who did not propose to submit to this decision. She took part in +Feodor's funeral, in defiance of the law which forbade women to appear +in public, and after it schemed and plotted to form a party in her +favor. A rumor was spread that the czarina's brother had seized the +throne and that Ivan had been murdered. The people of Moscow rose, and +the streltsi marched to the kremlin where the appearance of Natalia +with the two children made the mob hesitate. Unfortunately Prince +Dolgorouki addressed the men in violent language; they seized him on +their pikes and killed him. They then stabbed the czarina's foster +father, Matveef, in her presence, and sacked the palace, murdering +many of its inmates. One of Natalia's brothers was thrown out of a +window and caught on the points of the lances of the streltsi who (p. 146) +were waiting below. Natalia's father and brother were taken from her; +Cyril, the father, was sent to a monastery and her brother Ivan was +tortured and cut to pieces, although the czarina went on her knees +begging for his life. The streltsi acted under authority from Sophia +when they committed these outrages. After this rioting had continued +seven days, the streltsi sent their commandant Khovanski to the douma, +to demand that there should be two czars, Ivan, with Peter as his +assistant. The douma did not fancy the idea,--but there were the +streltsi with their pikes, and they carried the day. + +From this time it was Sophia who was the real czar. She reigned in +name of the two half-brothers, and showed herself in public, insisting +upon being present on every occasion. The Russians as a rule are not +fond of new fashions; they did not like this, and objected so strongly +that Sophia was forced to give way. Thereafter the two young czars sat +in public on the throne, but it was constructed in such a manner that +Sophia could hear and see without being visible. + +She shocked every Russian by her manners until the streltsi began to +speak of her as "the scandalous person." They hated her when she +persecuted the _raskolnik_ or Old Believers, that is, the men who +objected to the reforms of Nicon. At last she thought that it was not +safe for her to remain at Moscow; she fled to the strong convent at +Troitsa, taking with her the czarina and the two little tsars, and +there summoned the men-at-arms whom she could trust. Khovanski, the +commandant of the streltsi, was summoned before her; he was arrested +on the way, and put to death with his son. The streltsi were (p. 147) +considering another revolt, when they were seized with a panic; +instead of marching upon Troitsa, they went there to beg her pardon. +Sophia forgave them, but their leaders were executed. + +Sophia trusted the government to two favorites, Prince Galitsyne who +was at the head of Foreign Affairs, and Chaklovity whom she made +commandant of the streltsi. Galitsyne tried hard to form an alliance +among the Christian powers against the Turks and Tartars. His scheme +failed because Louis XIV of France kept the whole of Western Europe in +turmoil by his constant wars with the House of Austria, and the +Christian princes had to look after their own interests. He was more +fortunate in Poland where John Sobieski was king. A treaty of +"perpetual" peace was concluded between Russia and Poland at +Androussovo, in 1686, and an alliance was entered into against the +Turks. + +In 1687, an army of 100,000 Russians and 50,000 Cossacks marched +against the Crimea. The Tartars had burned the steppes, and the +Russians suffered such severe hardships that they were forced to +retreat. The hetman of the Cossacks was accused of treachery, and +deported to Siberia, when Mazeppa, who had been his secretary, was +appointed hetman. In the spring of 1689, the Russians under Galitsyne +and the Cossacks under Mazeppa started again for the Crimea, but they +had no better success than before. + +Peter, who was born in 1673, was then sixteen years old, but being +tall and strongly built, he looked much older. He was bright and +anxious to learn, and at an early age had shown that he possessed (p. 148) +a will of his own. He had read much, but his tutor, a man named Zorof, +had allowed him to have his own way, and when the boy grew up to be a +man, he made that tutor "the arch-priest of fools." When the boy was +tired, Zorof would allow him to put his work aside, and would read to +him about the great deeds of his father Alexis, and of those of Ivan +the Terrible, their campaigns, battles, and sieges; how they endured +privations better than the common soldiers, and how they added other +territory to Russia. He also learned Latin, German, and Dutch. He +afterwards complained that his education was neglected, because he was +allowed to do as he pleased. He chose his own companions, and as he +did not like to be confined within the palace grounds, he roamed in +the streets and often became acquainted with men whom he would not +have met in the palace, Russians, Dutch, Swiss, English, and Germans. +His usual attendants were Boris Galitsyne and other young nobles with +whom he played at soldier. He pressed the palace servants into the +ranks and had them drilled in European tactics. Peter took lessons in +geometry and fortification; he constructed small forts which were +besieged and defended by the young players. Sometimes the game became +earnest; blows were given and received, when Peter took his share +without a murmur, even when he was wounded as sometimes happened. + +At first Peter did not like the water; no Russian does; but he +mastered his dislike. Once, when he saw a stranded English boat, he +sent for a boatbuilder to make him a sailboat and to teach him how to +manage it. He took a great fancy to sailing, and often took his (p. 149) +boat on the Yaousa, and afterwards on Lake Pereiaslaf, to the terror +of his mother. Thus Peter grew up, healthy in body and strong of mind, +until his ambitious half-sister Sophia began to think what would +become of her when the boy should be czar. She had styled herself +Autocrat of all the Russias and did not like the idea of surrendering +the title. For some time she was appeased when her courtiers told her +that the boy cared for nothing except to amuse himself. + +When he was sixteen years old, Peter asserted himself. Sophia had +ordered a triumphal entry for Prince Galitsyne and the army of the +Crimea, when Peter forbade her to leave the palace. She paid no +attention to his orders, but headed the procession of the returned +army. Peter saw that this meant war to the knife, and left for +Preobajenskoe. + +As soon as she heard of this, Sophia determined to seize the throne. +She intended to attack the palace, kill Peter's friends and arrest his +mother, and after that to deal with the young czar as circumstances +demanded. She sent for the commandant of the streltsi who agreed to +sound the men. He told them that Sophia's life was in danger, and that +she had fled to a convent. The latter part of the story was true, as +she had in fact retreated to such a place, from which she sent letters +to the streltsi to come to her rescue. The commandant failed to secure +more than 500 men; the other streltsi told him that there should be an +investigation. + +Two of the streltsi went to Peter and reported to him what was going +on, whereupon he moved to the famous Troitsa monastery. The (p. 150) +Patriarch, foreign officers serving in the army, his playmates, and +even a regiment of streltsi came to him to offer their services. Peter +issued orders for the arrest of Sophia's favorite, the commandant of +the militia. She begged the Patriarch to interfere but met with a +refusal. The commandant under torture confessed the plot, and was +beheaded. Sophia's other friends were arrested; some were executed +while others were sent to prison; she herself was confined in the +convent where she had found a retreat. Peter was now the czar, +although he conducted the government in his own name and in that of +his weak-minded brother Ivan. + +If Sophia had shocked the Russians by leaving the seclusion of the +women's apartments, Peter's acts were likely to astonish them still +more and to give offense. Rowing in a boat, instead of sitting in it +surrounded by his grandees; working like a carpenter, instead of +merely giving his orders through a courtier, and fighting with +foreigners and grooms, were acts so unlike to what a czar should do, +that Peter made a host of enemies. Little did he care! No sooner was +he free to do as he pleased, than he rushed off to Archangel, the only +port Russia could call her own, and there he saw salt water for the +first time. He mingled freely with captains of the foreign merchant +vessels and went out in their boats. On one occasion, he was out in a +storm and came near being drowned; but this did not prevent "Skipper +Peter Alexievitch," from putting out to sea again. Once he piloted +three Dutch vessels. The young czar gave orders to construct a +dockyard and to have boats built. + +Peter longed for ports on an open sea, a sea that would not freeze (p. 151) +in winter. There were three which Russia might reasonably hope to own +some day, the Baltic, the Black, and the Caspian Sea. The Baltic +belonged to Sweden, and Peter feared difficulties in that direction; +but the Black Sea belonged to the Turks, and Peter quite understood +that a war with the infidels would be popular in Russia. He wished to +visit Western Europe; to see for himself the wonders of which he had +heard foreigners speak; but he made up his mind not to go until he +could appear as a victorious general. + +Thus Peter made preparations for war with the Khan of the Crimea. He +did not command his army; what he wanted, was to learn, and therefore +he went as the gunner Peter Alexievitch. That did not prevent him from +keeping a sharp eye on his generals. Chief-engineer Jansen received a +sound whipping from him and deserted to the enemy. For this and other +causes he was compelled to raise the siege of Azof and to fall back to +Russia. His mother died in 1694. He returned to Russia in 1695, and +notwithstanding his defeat, he ordered a triumphal entry into Moscow; +but he felt very sore. The following year, 1696, his half-brother Ivan +died, and Peter was the sole Autocrat of all the Russias. + +[Illustration: Peter the Great] (p. 152) + + + + +XVIII--PETER THE GREAT AND HIS REIGN. (p. 153) + + +Far from being discouraged by his defeat, Peter was more than ever +resolved to have a port on the Black Sea. He introduced reforms in the +army, and while doing this, he ordered a fleet of boats to be built on +the Don, and set 26,000 men to work on them. He also sent to Holland +and other parts of Europe for officers and gunners, and superintended +everything. It was at this time that he wrote to Moscow that, +"following the command God gave Adam, he was earning his bread by the +sweat of his brow." When he was ready, the army and the boats went +down the Don; Azof was blockaded by sea and by land, and forced to +capitulate. When the news arrived at Moscow, there was general +rejoicing, and even at Warsaw in Poland the people cheered for the +czar. The army returned to Moscow under triumphal arches, the generals +seated in magnificent sledges. A young officer, Peter Alexievitch, +recently promoted to captain, was marching in the ranks. + +Peter wished to make of Azof a Russian town in the shortest time +possible. He secured from the douma an order by which three thousand +families were moved to that port, and streltsi were dispatched to +garrison it. The czar wanted a naval force, and moved by his energy, +the Patriarch, the prelates, and the monasteries offered to give (p. 154) +one ship for every 5,000 serfs owned by them. This example was +followed by nobles, officials, and merchants, and once more Peter sent +to the west for competent men to help build them. At the same time +fifty young nobles were dispatched to Venice to learn shipbuilding. + +When he was seventeen years old, Peter had married Eudoxia Lapoukine, +whose relatives abhorred all that was new; Peter's wife shared their +sentiments, so that his home life was far from happy. He had a son by +her, named Alexis; after the fall of Azof, Peter secured a divorce, an +act unheard of in Russia, where she remained czarina in the eyes of +the people. Busy as he was, Peter left his son and heir in charge of +his divorced wife, while he was making preparations for the long +expected visit to the west of Europe. + +He determined that an embassy should be sent, and that it should be +worthy of Russia. Accordingly he appointed the Swiss Lafort and two +Russian generals "the great Ambassadors of the Czar." Among their +retinue composed of two hundred and seventy persons, was a young man +Peter Mikhailof, better known as Peter Alexievitch. When the embassy +came to Riga, that young man was insulted by the governor. Peter said +nothing, but made a note of it for future use. At Koenigsberg, "Mr. +Peter Mikhailof" was appointed master of artillery by the Prussian +Colonel Sternfeld. The progress of the embassy was too slow for Peter +who had an object in view. He went ahead to Holland where he hired a +room from a blacksmith at Zaandam, bought a workman's suit, and (p. 155) +went to work in a dockyard. He often visited Amsterdam where his good +nature and passion to learn gained him the good-will of the people. +Peter then crossed over to London where he spent three months. +Competent men of every profession and trade were engaged by him +everywhere. Returning to Holland, his ship was caught in a violent +gale, which frightened even the sailors. Peter kept cool, and, +smiling, asked them if they "had ever heard of a Czar of Russia who +was drowned in the North Sea?" + +Peter did not forget Russia's political interests. He talked with +William of Orange, the great opponent of Louis XIV, and with other +influential men, but he did not visit the court of France. After +satisfying his curiosity, he went to Vienna where he intended to study +strategy; but his stay was cut short by bad news from home. + +Peter had met with a sullen, obstinate opposition in Russia. It was +led by the priests who said, and perhaps believed, that Peter was the +anti-Christ. It was a cause for complaint that Peter often wore +clothes of a German fashion; was the Russian costume not good enough +for him? Again, why did he not devote his time to war, as the other +czars had done? He had made a bargain with British merchants to import +tobacco into Russia; what did the Russians want with this +"sacrilegious smell?" But the climax was that a _Czar of the Russias_ +should leave Holy Russia to go among heretics and heathens. Geography +was not studied in the czar's empire, and all nations on earth were +thought to belong to either of the two classes. + +The trouble began among the streltsi who had been sent to Azof. (p. 156) +These citizen soldiers looked upon their destination at the other end +of the empire as an exile,--which it may have been. Two hundred +deserted and made their way back to Moscow and their families; they +were promptly hunted down. When they returned to their regiments, they +brought with them a secret proclamation from Sophia. "You suffer," she +declared, "but it will grow worse still. March on Moscow! What are you +waiting for? There is no news of the czar!" There was a rumor that +Peter was dead and that his son Alexis had been murdered by the +boyards. Four regiments revolted and left the ranks. Generals Gordon +and Schein went after them with the regular troops, and after +overtaking the mutineers, tried to bring them to reason. In reply they +stated their grievances and persisted in their determination not to +return to duty. The government troops then fired and scattered the +streltsi. A number of them were arrested, tortured, and executed. + +At this time Peter returned, furious at what had happened. He was +determined to strike at the head of the opposition, the Russians who +openly denounced innovations. He ordered that the face must be shaved. +This was hitting every adult Russian in a tender spot, because the +shaving of the face was considered in the light of a blasphemy. He +began to enforce his orders at his court, sometimes acting as a barber +himself, when he was none too gentle. A number of gibbets erected on +the Red Square, reminded the bearded noble that the choice lay between +losing the beard or the head. The Patriarch appealed to Peter, a (p. 157) +holy eikon of the Virgin in his hand. "Why did you bring out the holy +eikon?" asked the czar. "Withdraw and restore it to its place. Know +that I venerate God and His mother as much as you do, but know also +that it is my duty to protect the people and to punish the rebels." + +The gibbets did not stand as an idle threat. The Austrian Minister +Korb was a witness of the executions, which he describes thus: "Five +rebel heads had been sent into the dust by blows from an ax wielded by +the noblest hand in Russia." Thus Peter did not hesitate to be his own +executioner. It was like him to do his own work, regardless of what +the people might think. A thousand men were sent to a gory grave, by +the highest officers of the court; the executions lasted a week. The +funeral of the executed was forbidden. Bodies were seen dangling from +the walls of the kremlin for five months, and for the same length of +time, the corpses of some of the streltsi hung from the bars of +Sophia's prison, clutching the secret proclamation. Peter's divorced +wife had joined Sophia's party; the two ladies had their head shaved +and were confined in convents. The streltsi were dissolved and +replaced by regular troops. + +Peter then turned upon the Cossacks of the Don, who had shown greater +independence than pleased him. Prince Dolgorouki to whom the task was +confided of bringing them to order, wrote to the czar after he had +destroyed the Cossack camp: "The chief rebels and traitors have been +hung; of the others, one out of every ten; and all these dead +malefactors have been laid on rafts, and turned into the river, to (p. 158) +strike terror into the hearts of the Don people and to cause them to +repent." + +Mazeppa, as we have seen, was at this time hetman of the Cossacks of +Little Russia. In his youth he had been a page of John Casimir, king +of Poland; it was then that he had that terrible adventure which is +connected indelibly with his name. After he was cut loose from the +back of the unbroken horse that had carried him in the steppes, he +entered among the Cossacks, and rose from the ranks by betraying every +chief who helped him. Although it was Sophia who made him hetman, he +was among the first to declare for Peter. His enemies, of whom he had +many, accused him before the czar, but Peter admired him, and +delivered his accusers up to him; they did not live long after Mazeppa +had them in his power. + +It was Mazeppa's scheme to establish an independent kingdom, he had +the support of the Cossacks who did not care to work but preferred to +be supported by the people. The industrious classes longed to get rid +of this burden, and looked toward the czar to set them free. The +tribute which Little Russia paid to Moscow was quite heavy, and when +it was rumored that Peter was going to war with Sweden, Mazeppa +thought this was an opportunity to carry out his scheme. He entered +into negotiations with Stanislas Lecszinski whom Swedish influence had +placed upon the throne of Poland. Peter was informed of this in +detail, but he did not credit it, beheaded one of his informants, and +the others, were tortured and sent to Siberia. + +The war broke out, Charles XII, the romantic king of Sweden (p. 159) +arrived in the neighborhood of Little Russia, and Peter called on +Mazeppa to join the Russian army with his Cossacks. He pretended to be +dying, but when the two hostile armies were drawing close, he crossed +the Desna with his most trusted Cossacks to join the Swedes. Peter's +eyes were opened; he gave orders to his general Menzikoff to take and +sack Mazeppa's capital. This was done and Mazeppa's friends, who had +remained behind, were executed. Mazeppa himself reached the Swedish +camp. He was compelled to seek safety in Turkey, where he died +miserably at Bender. His territory was annexed to Russia, the Cossacks +lost all their privileges, and 1,200 of them were set to work on the +Ladoga canal. + +It was in 1700 that Peter, after concluding an alliance with Poland, +determined to declare war against Sweden where young Charles XII had +recently succeeded to the throne. Attacked at the same time by Russia, +Poland, and Denmark, this young hero invaded the last-named country +and compelled its king to conclude peace. After relieving Riga, +Charles marched into Russia at the head of 8,500 men, and on the 30th +of November defeated a Russian army of 63,000 men. This victory proved +a misfortune, because it inspired the King of Sweden with contempt for +Russian soldiers and made him careless, whereas Peter worked +cheerfully and hard to profit from the lesson. While Charles was +absent in Poland, his army was twice defeated. + +Each of the two antagonists was worthy of the other's steel. Both were +brave, but Charles was impetuous, whereas Peter acted upon cool +judgment. The war continued until 1709 when Charles found himself (p. 160) +in Little Russia, far away from supplies and reinforcements, in a +Russian winter which happened to be exceptionally severe. In the +spring he laid siege to Pultowa. The czar arrived on the 15th of June +with 60,000 men; Charles had 29,000. On July 8, 1709, the battle of +Pultowa was fought and Charles was defeated; he narrowly escaped being +captured. With Mazeppa and the Pole Poniatowski, he made his way +across the Turkish frontier, and remained until 1713, in the territory +of the Sultan, whom he finally induced to declare war against Peter. +This victory gave Peter the longed-for port on the Baltic, since +Sweden was no longer in a condition to stop him. + +What induced Sultan Ahmed III to risk war with Russia, was the hope of +regaining Azof. Peter, on the other hand, hoped for an opportunity to +capture Constantinople, the Czargrad of former times. He knew that he +had the sympathy of the many Christians of the Greek Church, who were +suffering under the yoke of the Turk. Trusting upon their support, +Peter arrived on the bank of the Pruth with 38,000 exhausted soldiers. +There he found himself surrounded by 200,000 Turks and Tartars. Peter +gained a slight success, but not of sufficient importance to extricate +or relieve him. Fearing an overwhelming calamity, Peter was prepared +to make immense sacrifices in return for peace, and even to surrender +Azof and the territory taken from Sweden, when his second wife +Catherine had a happy thought. She collected all the money and jewels +in the Russian camp, and sent them as a present to the Grand Vizier in +command of the enemy, asking at the same time, what terms he would (p. 161) +make. They were found unexpectedly reasonable: the surrender of Azof, +the razing of the Russian forts erected on Turkish territory, and that +Charles XII should be free to return to Sweden. Peter accepted +eagerly, much as he regretted the loss of Azof and the failure of his +schemes. + +In 1713, a Russian fleet under Admiral Apraxine, with Peter serving +under him as vice-admiral, captured several cities on the Baltic, and +a Russian force entered north Germany. An alliance was formed against +him and Peter decided to make an attempt at an alliance with France. +In 1718, just as peace was being concluded with Charles XII, the King +of Sweden, died and war broke out anew, lasting until 1721, when, by +the Peace of Nystad, Sweden surrendered to Russia Livonia, Esthonia, +and part of Finland. Peter had his way: Russia had open ports. + +Peter was greatly pleased, and Russia rejoiced with him. The senate +and Holy Synod conferred upon him the titles of "the Great, the Father +of his country, and Emperor of all the Russias." In 1722, Peter led an +expedition to the Caspian Sea. He captured Baku and five other +important towns. He died three years later, in 1725. + + + + +XIX--PETER THE GREAT AND HIS TIME. (p. 162) + + +Before judging Peter the Great, the time in which he lived, and the +conditions which prevailed should receive careful consideration. +Throughout Western Europe, in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, in +parliamentary England and republican Holland, the people, that is the +masses, toiled early and late for the privilege of paying the taxes; +all immunities were reserved for the favored few composing the +aristocracy. + +There was no education among the people, with the exception perhaps of +Holland, then still a power of the first rank. The principle was that +the interests of the individual were unworthy of consideration by the +side of those of the State. That was the case in France as well as in +Russia. Peter inherited the idea of autocratic power, and his travels +in Europe conveyed to him nothing to upset or contradict that idea. He +cannot, therefore, be considered in the light of a tyrant. He acted, +so far as he could know, within his prerogative, and did his duty as +he saw it. + +Russia, with a thin and scattered population largely engaged in +agriculture, felt no impulse toward progress. The moujik lived as his +father had lived. He never came in contact with people of a superior +civilization who, by introducing new wants, could make him (p. 163) +discontented with his lot. Knowing no desire but to satisfy his +physical craving, he bore the extremes of heat and cold with equal +fortitude; the soil and his labor provided for his subsistence. A life +so sordid must either brutalize man or feed his imagination with the +unknown and dreaded forces of nature; superstition, deep and strong, +became part of the peasant's existence. It is generations before a +traditional and deep-rooted belief can be eradicated. + +But Peter the Great gave as little thought to the moujik as did Louis +XIV to the peasants of France. His influence was exerted upon the +boyards, and among them the opposition was the stronger as they had +been imbued with Asiatic ideas under the Tartar yoke. Here the great +muscular strength of Peter rendered him great service. He did not +hesitate to use a stick upon the highest officials any more than Ivan +the Terrible had used his iron-tipped staff. Even Menzikoff was +chastized in this manner. Frederick the Great of Prussia did the same +afterwards. Nor was this method of punishing without its use. One day +when Peter was looking over the accounts of one of his nobles, he +proved to him that, whereas the boyard had been robbing the +government, he in turn had been robbed by his steward. The czar took +the noble by the collar and applied the stick with a muscular arm and +great vigor. After he had punished him to his heart's content, he let +him go, saying, "Now you had better go find your steward and settle +accounts with him." + +It was Peter's purpose to make the Russians again into Europeans. (p. 164) +He rightly deemed it best to begin with externals, because they are +the object lessons of changes. The Russian boyard was attached to the +long caftan or tunic adopted from the Tartars, but above all he was +devoted to the hair on his face. The beard was doomed by the czar. He +could not play barber to all his subjects, but he imposed a heavy tax +upon unshaven faces. Owners of beards paid from thirty to one hundred +rubles, and moujiks had to pay two pence for theirs every time they +entered a city or town. + +The reform which had the most lasting influence upon Russia, was the +abolition of the landed nobility as a separate class. They would be +known as "_tchin_" or gentlemen, and any one who entered the service +of the government, regardless of birth, was at once entitled to be +classed among the _tchinovnik_. From that time the terms gentleman and +officer, became synonymous. Every service, civil, military, naval, or +ecclesiastic, was divided into fourteen grades. The lowest grade in +the civil service was held by the registrar of a college, the highest +by the Chancellor of the Empire; the cornet was at the bottom, the +field marshal at the top in the army; and the deacon in a church was +fourteen degrees removed from the Patriarch,--but all were _tchin_. + +When, in 1700, the Patriarch Adrian died, the dignity was abolished by +Peter who did not relish the idea of a rival power in the State. +Instead he created the Holy Synod together with the office of +Superintendent of the Patriarchal Throne. He gives his reasons in the +ukase wherein the change is announced. "The simple people," this +document reads, "are not quick to seize the distinction between (p. 165) +the spiritual and imperial power; struck with the virtue and the +splendor of the supreme pastor of the Church, they imagine that he is +a second sovereign, equal and even superior in power to the Autocrat." + +The Holy Synod consisted of bishops and a Procurator-general who +represented the czar and as such could veto any resolution. This +official was often a general. Every bishop had to keep a school in his +palace, and the sons of priests who refused to attend were taken as +soldiers. Autocrat though he was, Peter dared not confiscate the +property of the monasteries, but he forbade any person to enter a +convent before his thirtieth year. The monks were ordered to work at +some trade, or to teach in the schools and colleges. At this time, the +Protestant and Catholic churches of the West tried to make converts, +and the _raskols_ were hostile to the national church. As a rule Peter +did not favor persecution; so long as the church did not interfere +with his authority, there was nothing to fear from him; but upon the +slightest suspicion his heavy hand was felt. Thus, in 1710, he +suddenly ordered the expulsion of the Jesuits. He used to say: "God +has given the czar power over the nations, but Christ alone has power +over the conscience of man." This did not prevent him from exacting a +double tax from the raskols in Moscow, nor from punishing cruelly any +Russian converted to one of the western churches. + +The great mass of the people suffered severely by Peter's reforms. The +peasants as tenants of the large landowners had enjoyed some liberty +and were legally free men; they were by him assigned to the soil, +which they were not permitted to leave. Thus they, too, passed into +serfdom. If the proprietor sold the estate, the rural population (p. 166) +went with it. The owners paid a poll-tax for their serfs. These +unfortunates could also be sold without the land, but the czar made a +law that "If the sale cannot be abolished completely, serfs must be +sold by families without separating husbands from wives, parents from +children, and no longer like cattle, a thing unheard of in the whole +world." + +The citizens of towns were divided into three classes; to the first +class belonged bankers, manufacturers, rich merchants, physicians, +chemists, capitalists, jewelers, workers in metal, and artists; +storekeepers and master mechanics were in the second; all other people +belonged to the third. Foreigners could engage in business, acquire +real estate; but they could not depart from the country without paying +to the government one tenth of all they possessed. + +Cities and towns were administered by burgomasters elected by the +citizens; this board selected its own president or mayor. If an +important question arose, representatives of the first two classes +were summoned for consultation. All the mayors of Russia were subject +to a magistrate selected from the Council of St. Petersburg, and +appointed by the czar. This official watched over the interests of +commerce and agriculture, settled disputes between citizens and +burgomasters, confirmed local elections, authorized executions when a +death sentence was pronounced by provincial authorities, and made +reports to the tsar. + +The _voievodes_ or governors of a province directed all the affairs of +their jurisdiction and disbursed the revenues as they thought (p. 167) +best. "Help yourself first!" was the unwritten law, and it was +universally obeyed. Peter divided his empire into forty-three +provinces, forming twelve governments each under a viceroy and deputy, +who were assisted by a council elected by the nobles. + +The courts were crude and mediaeval, but not more so than in the west +of Europe. Justice, such as it was, was administered by the General +Police Inspector, and in large cities there was a police officer for +every ten houses. Servants who failed to keep the house front clean +were punished with the knout. Peter created the Bureau of Information, +a court of secret police, and thus inaugurated the terrible spy system +which still disgraces Russia. + +The douma was abolished, and in its stead Peter created a "Directory +Senate," which could meet only in presence of the czar. It was +originally composed of nine members, but it was afterwards increased +and at last embraced the duties of the Grand Council, the High Finance +Committee, and the Supreme Court. A fair idea of the moral and mental +condition of Russia's high aristocracy, may be had from a rule made by +Peter, forbidding the Senators under severe penalties, while in +session "to cry out, to beat each other, or to call one another +thieves." + +Peter's visits to the west, taught him the value of factories. He gave +every possible inducement to foreign capital and skill to come to +Russia, and patronized home industry wherever he could, as by +purchasing the uniforms for army and navy from recently established +mills. Some of his methods appear strange, as, for instance, when he +ordered every town in Russia to send a stipulated number of shoemakers +to Moscow, to learn their trade. Those who continued to work in (p. 168) +the old fashion, were severely punished. The czar would have met with +greater success, if he had not been hampered by the cupidity of the +officials, who found means to secure the lion's share of the profits. + +Peter discarded the old Slavonic alphabet and introduced the one used +at present. St. Petersburg had four printing presses, Moscow two, and +there were also some at Novgorod, Tchernigof, and other large places. +The first newspaper in Russia, the _St. Petersburg Gazette_, was +founded by him. He established, in 1724, the Academy of Sciences, in +imitation of the institution of that name of Paris. + +St. Petersburg was founded in 1703. It was far from a promising site +for a new capital, the dreary wastes, dark forests, and marshes where +wild ducks and geese found a favorite feeding place. It was exposed to +frequent floods, and piles were needed before a building could be +erected. But when this autocrat had made up his mind, objections were +brushed aside. Peter collected 40,000 men, soldiers, Cossacks, +Kalmucks, Tartars and such natives as could be found, and put them to +work. At first he provided neither tools nor shelter, and food was +often scarce. Thousands of workmen died;--what did he care? Others +were compelled to take their place. The fortress of St. Peter and Paul +arose first; the czar himself was watching the progress from a little +wooden house on the right bank of the Neva. Men of means were forced +to build stone houses in the new capital. Swedish prisoners and +merchants from Novgorod were invited to move to St. Petersburg, and no +excuse was admitted. Goods could be brought only by boat, and no (p. 169) +boat was allowed to land unless it carried a certain number of white +stones to be used as building material. He erected churches, and +ordered that he should be buried in the Church of St. Peter and Paul. + +Peter's domestic life, as we have seen, was not happy. After his +divorce from his first wife, he married Catherine who, in 1702, had +been made prisoner at Marienburg. It is not known where she was born, +but she was probably a native of Livonia, and was a servant in the +family of Pastor Glueck and engaged to be married to a Swedish dragoon. +She became the property of Menzikoff who gave her to the czar. There +was a secret marriage which was confirmed by a public ceremony in +1712, in reward for her services at Pultowa. Peter also instituted the +Order "For Love and Fidelity," in her honor. A German princess +describes her thus:--"The czarina was small and clumsily made, very +much tanned, and without grace or air of distinction. You had only to +see her to know that she was lowborn. From her usual costume you would +have taken her for a German comedian. Her dress had been bought at a +secondhand shop; it was very old-fashioned, and covered with silver +and dirt. She had a dozen orders, and as many portraits of saints or +relics, fastened all down her dress, in such a way that when she +walked you would have thought by the jingling that a mule was +passing." She could neither read nor write, but she was sharp, had +natural wit, and obtained great influence over Peter. They had two +sons, Peter and Paul, who died in childhood, and two daughters, Anne +and Elizabeth. The former married the Duke of Holstein. + +Alexis, the son by his first wife, was Peter's heir. He had grown (p. 170) +to be a young man before Peter realized that the result of all his +efforts depended upon his successor, and the czar began to pay +attention to his son's education when it was too late, when habits had +been formed. The czarevitch had imbibed the prejudices of his mother; +he was narrow-minded, lazy, weak, and obstinate, and associated with +people to whom Old Russia was Holy Russia, who abhorred reforms of +every kind. Peter sent him to travel in Germany, but the prince would +learn nothing. His father warned him in very plain terms. "Disquiet +for the future," he wrote to Alexis, "destroys the joy caused by my +present successes. I see that you despise everything that can make you +worthy to reign after me. What you call inability, I call rebellion, +for you cannot excuse yourself on the ground of the weakness of your +mind and the state of your health. We have struggled from obscurity +through the toil of war, which has taught other nations to know and +respect us, and yet you will not even hear of military exercises. If +you do not alter your conduct, know that I shall deprive you of my +succession. I have not spared, and I shall not spare, my own life for +my country; do you think that I shall spare yours? I would rather have +a stranger who is worthy for my heir, than a good-for-nothing member +of my own family." + +Alexis should have known that his father was in terrible earnest, yet +he did not heed the warning. When Peter was traveling in Western +Europe, his son fled to Vienna, where he thought that he should be +safe. Finding that this was not so, he went to the Tyrol and +afterwards to Naples, but his father's agents traced him and one (p. 171) +of them, Tolstoi, secured an interview in which he assured the prince +of his father's pardon, and finally persuaded him to return to Moscow. +As soon as he arrived there, he was arrested. The czar convoked the +three Estates before whom he accused the czarevitch. Alexis was forced +to sign his resignation of the Crown. When he was being examined, +probably under torture, a widespread conspiracy was revealed. Peter +learned also that his son had begged the Emperor of Austria for armed +intervention, that he had negotiated with Sweden and that he had +encouraged a mutiny of the army in Germany. It was shown that his +divorced wife and several prelates were in the plot. Peter crushed his +enemies. Most of the persons involved suffered a cruel death, and +Alexis himself, after being punished with the knout, was sentenced to +die. Two days later his death was announced. It appears that on that +day, the heir to the throne was brought before a court composed of +nine men of the highest rank in Russia and that he was beaten with a +knout to secure further confessions, and that he expired under the +torture. Those present were sworn to secrecy, and kept the oath. + +Peter, therefore, had no male heir. Alexis, however, had left a son +Peter by Charlotte of Brunswick whom he married against his will. In +1723 the czar ordered Catherine to be crowned as Empress. He had +established the right to select his successor but failed to do so, +owing to his sudden death. + +The following description of Peter the Great at the age of forty, is +given by a Frenchman; "He was a very tall man, well made though (p. 172) +rather thin, his face somewhat round, with a broad forehead, beautiful +eyebrows, a short nose, thick at the end; his lips were rather thick, +his skin was brown and ruddy. He had splendid eyes, large, black, +piercing, and well-opened; his expression was dignified and gracious +when he liked, but often wild and stern, and his eyes, and indeed his +whole face, were distorted by an occasional twitch that was very +unpleasant. It lasted only a moment, and gave him a wandering and +terrible look, when he was himself again. His air expressed intellect, +thoughtfulness, and greatness, and had a certain grace about it. He +wore a linen collar, a round wig, brown and unpowdered, which did not +reach his shoulders; a brown, tight-fitting coat with gold buttons, a +vest, trousers, and stockings, and neither gloves nor cuffs; the star +of his order on his coat, and the ribbon underneath it; his coat was +often unbuttoned, his hat lay on the table, and was never on his head, +even out of doors. In this simplicity, however shabby might be his +carriage or scanty his suit, his natural greatness could not be +mistaken." + + + + +XX--THE SUCCESSORS OF PETER THE GREAT. (p. 173) + + +Peter's strong hand had stifled the opposition to his reforms, but +with his death it reappeared. There were, therefore, two parties in +Russia: the men who had assisted the dead czar, Menzikoff, Apraxine, +Tolstoi, and others, such as the members of the secret Court who had +witnessed the violent death of Peter's only son. They dreaded the +succession of Peter's grandson, the boy who, although only twelve +years old, might order an investigation of his father's death. These +men held the power and decided that, since Catherine had been crowned +as Empress, it was she who should succeed. Thus the former maid +servant, not even a native Russian, became Empress of all the Russias. +There were some protests in favor of Peter's grandson, but they were +disregarded. + +Menzikoff who was the cause of Catherine's rise, fancied himself +all-powerful, and there was jealousy among Peter's associates. +Menzikoff sent one of them, Tolstoi, to Siberia, but Catherine would +not consent to the punishment of the other friends of the late czar. +She was honest in carrying out Peter's unfinished projects. He had +planned the marriage of his daughter Anne to the Duke of Holstein: the +wedding took place; he intended to send an exploring expedition to +Kamtschatka; she engaged the services of a Danish captain, Bering, (p. 174) +who discovered the sea and strait named after him. The Academy of +Sciences was opened in 1726. She, however, changed the Senate into a +Secret High Council, which met under the presidency of the empress. + +Catherine died in 1727, and on her deathbed appointed Peter's +grandson, then fourteen years old, as her successor. In case of his +death, the throne would go to Anne, and next to Elizabeth. During his +minority these two daughters assisted by the Duke of Holstein, +Menzikoff, and some other high officers, would constitute a Board of +Regents. + +Menzikoff had taken precautions. He had obtained her consent that the +young heir, Peter II, should marry one of his daughters, a young lady +two years older than the boy. He showed, in his letters to Peter, that +he looked upon him as his son. He also intended his own son to marry +the boy's sister Natalia. There was one member of Peter the Great's +family who did not approve of Menzikoff's schemes, Elizabeth, the +young czar's aunt, then seventeen years old. Not long after +Catherine's death, Menzikoff fell ill; he was compelled to keep to his +rooms, and in that time Elizabeth roused her nephew's suspicions. +Peter left Menzikoff's palace and when Catherine's favorite tried to +resume his authority, he was arrested and exiled to his estates. Soon +after he was sent to Siberia, where he died two years later, in 1729. + +The Dolgorouki family succeeded, but its head committed the same +mistakes, besides showing a tendency to undo the work of Peter the +Great. The young czar was growing weary of the Dolgorouki when, in (p. 175) +January 1730, he caught cold and died after a brief illness. + +It was during his short reign that Prussia, Austria, and Russia, first +seriously discussed the partition of Poland. A treaty was signed +between Prussia and Russia whereby the two powers agreed to select and +support a candidate for the throne of that kingdom which was to +illustrate the truth that "a kingdom divided against itself cannot +exist." + +Peter's death left Russia without a male heir. There were, as we have +seen, two daughters from his marriage with Catherine. Anne, who had +married the Duke of Holstein, had died in 1728, leaving a son also +named Peter. Elizabeth, the other daughter, was in St. Petersburg, +quietly engaged in establishing a party of her own. There were, +besides, two other parties having claims upon the throne. Ivan, the +weak-minded half-brother of Peter the Great, had been married and had +left two daughters, Anne, Duchess of Courland, and Catherine, Duchess +of Mecklenburg. + +The decision rested with the Secret High Council. Dolgorouki's claim, +that Peter II had made a secret will leaving the throne to his bride, +was laughed to scorn. The members of the High Council saw an +opportunity to secure most of the autocratic power for themselves, and +resolved to offer the throne to Anne of Courland, provided that she +subscribed to the following conditions: That the Secret High Council +should always consist of eight members, all vacancies to be filled by +themselves; that she could make neither war nor peace, nor appoint an +officer above the rank of colonel, without the consent of the (p. 176) +Council; that she could not condemn a noble to death, nor confiscate +his property, without a trial; and that she could neither appoint a +successor, nor marry again without the approval of the Council. She +was also to sign an agreement whereby she would forfeit the crown "in +case of my ceasing to observe these engagements." The Council also +decided upon moving the capital back to Moscow. + +This might have been the beginning of a more liberal government for +Russia, since it diminished the power of the czar and the people would +have benefited by the increased rights of the nobles, as was the case +in England. It was the nobility who objected, from fear that the power +might be absorbed in the families of the Council members. Anne of +Courland accepted the conditions and came to Moscow. There she +received letters from the enemies of the Council imploring her to +disregard her promises. On the 25th of February, 1731, the Council was +in session when an officer appeared summoning them before the czarina. +Upon arrival in the apartment, they found about eight hundred persons +presenting a petition that Anne might restore autocracy. She read it +and seemed astonished: "What!" she exclaimed, "the conditions sent to +me at Mittau were not the will of the people?" There was a shout of +"No! no!" "Then," she said, addressing the Council, "you have deceived +me!" Anne was a true daughter of the czars. She began by exiling the +principal members of the Council to their estates; when she saw that +there was no opposition, they were sent to Siberia; and when no one +remonstrated, other members were condemned to a cruel death. + +Anne was thirty-five years old when she was crowned as czarina. (p. 177) +She had been in Germany so long that she preferred to surround herself +with Germans who did serve her well, but they naturally aroused the +jealousy and hatred of the Russian nobles. In 1733, Augustus II, King +of Poland, died. Russia, Prussia, and France, each had a candidate. +Austria and Russia favored Augustus III of Saxony, and Louis XV of +France supported his father-in-law Stanislas Lecszinski. + +This candidate secretly proceeded to Warsaw, where he was elected by a +vote of 60,000 against 4,000. A Russian army crossed the frontier, +whereupon Stanislas withdrew to Dantzig and the Russians proclaimed +Augustus III. The war spread and a Russian army of 20,000 men advanced +as far as Heidelberg in Baden. It ended in 1735, by the Peace of +Vienna, but Russia became involved in a war with Turkey, as an ally of +Austria. + +In 1736, the Russians took Azof and ravaged the western Crimea. In the +following year they laid waste its eastern part, and in 1739 they +gained a great victory at Savoutchani. Austria was not anxious to have +Russia as a close neighbor, and arranged the Peace of Belgrade. +(1739.) Russia surrendered all the conquests, except a small tongue of +land between the Dnieper and the Bug. Sweden threatened war, but it +was averted. The following year, 1740, Anne died, leaving the throne +to her infant son, Ivan of Brunswick. + +Anne Ivanovna introduced western luxury into Russia. Prior to her +arrival, fashions were unknown, and people used to wear their clothes +until they were worn out. Soon after restoring autocracy, she (p. 178) +returned to St. Petersburg where she endeavored to establish a court +in imitation of that of France. She could compel her nobles to appear +in the costume of the west, and, unless they were very wealthy, make +them sacrifice estates and serfs to pay his increased expenses, but of +the refinement which creates fashion, there was none. One of her +guests, a procurator-general was so intoxicated at one of her +receptions that he insulted one of Anne's most trusted advisers; she +was a witness, but only laughed heartily. + +The young nobles benefited by the German influence at Court, since +they received a better education. A law was made requiring them to +study from their seventh to their twentieth year, and to serve the +government from that age until they were forty-five. Between the age +of twelve and sixteen they were made to appear before an examining +board, and any one failing to pass the second time in catechism, +arithmetic, and geometry, was put into the navy. In the schools for +young nobles,--the serfs received no instruction of any kind,--the +course of studies was enlarged after the German system. + +Anne's infant son, Ivan, was three months old, when he succeeded to +the throne as Ivan VI. Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great and +Catherine, was twenty-eight years old; tall and masculine, bright and +bold, daring on horseback as well as on the water, she had made a host +of friends among the high officials and the Guards. She found an able +adviser in the French Minister at St. Petersburg who was anxious to +destroy the influence of Germany. The Swedes went so far as to begin +a war, proclaiming the desire to deliver "the glorious Russian (p. 179) +nation" from the German yoke. Elizabeth decided that the time had come +to act, when the regiments devoted to her were ordered to the +frontier. In the night of October 25, 1741, she went with three +friends to the barracks. "Boys," she said to the men, "you know whose +daughter I am?" "Matuska," (little mother), they replied, "we are +ready; we will kill all of them." She said that she did not wish any +blood to be shed, and added: "I swear to die for you; will _you_ swear +to die for me?" They made the oath. When she returned to the palace, +the regent, the infant czar, and the German members of the Government +were arrested. Ivan VI was sent to a fortress near the Swedish +frontier. The Germans were brought before a court and condemned to +death, but Elizabeth commuted the sentence to exile. After this she +went to Moscow, where she was crowned as czarina. Her next act was to +send for her nephew, Peter, the son of her sister Anne of Holstein. He +came and entered the Greek Church, when he was proclaimed as heir to +the throne as Peter Feodorovitch. + +Sweden demanded the cession of the territory conquered by Peter the +Great, and, since Elizabeth refused, the war continued. But Sweden was +no longer the kingdom of Charles XII; the Russians were everywhere +victorious, and by the Peace of Abo, in 1743, Sweden ceded South +Finland and agreed to elect Elizabeth's ally, Adolphus of Holstein, as +heir to the throne. + +In 1740 the Emperor of Germany died, after obtaining from the powers +the consent to set aside the Salic Law of succession, in favor of his +daughter. This law restricted the right of succession to male (p. 180) +heirs exclusively. In violation of the pledged word, several claimants +appeared to contest the claim of his daughter Maria Theresa, and since +almost every nation took sides, it was important to know what Russia +would do. Elizabeth was undecided; at least, she played with both +sides until 1746, when she entered into an alliance with Maria +Theresa, while England promised subsidies in money. It was, however, +1748 before a Russian army of 30,000 men passed through Germany and +took up a position on the Rhine. In the same year the war was ended by +the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, without the Russians having been under +fire. + +Elizabeth hated Frederick the Great of Prussia. She claimed that "The +King of Prussia is certainly a bad prince who has no fear of God +before his eyes; he turns holy things into ridicule, and he never goes +to church." The real reason was that Frederick had expressed his +opinion about Elizabeth's private life, and she was not the woman to +forgive his remarks. Then again, Frederick had an excellent army of +200,000 men; Elizabeth's chancellor, on that account, called Prussia +"the most dangerous of neighbors, whose power it was necessary to +break." + +Russia, Austria, France, and Saxony, entered into a secret alliance +against Prussia. Frederick found it out, and in 1756, began the famous +Seven Years' War. The same year, 83,000 Russians under Apraxine +crossed the frontier and seized East Prussia. A battle was fought; the +Russians were the victors, but Apraxine fell back across the Niemen. +France and Austria suspected treachery; Apraxine was arrested and +the chancellor was dismissed and exiled. Fermor was appointed (p. 181) +commander-in-chief. + +The Russian army recrossed the frontier in 1758, took Koenigsberg and +bombarded Kuestrin on the Oder. Frederick with 32,000 men attacked the +Russian army 89,000 strong at Zorndorf. The Russians fought stubbornly +but were defeated with a loss of 20,000 men. Fermor was recalled, and +succeeded by Soltykof who, in 1759, entered Frankfort on the Oder. +Another battle was fought and Frederick was defeated by greatly +superior numbers. He lost 8,000 men. Prussia was exhausted, but his +enemies, too, began to feel the expense of the war. Elizabeth, +however, was determined to humble the outspoken King when she died +suddenly in 1761. She was succeeded by her nephew Peter Feodorovitch +under the name of Peter III. + +Elizabeth, although careless in her mode of living, was a stout +supporter of the Greek Church. In 1742, she agreed with the Holy Synod +to suppress all other churches, as well as the Mosques or Mahomedan +temples in the south. This caused a revolt of the Mahomedans. The Jews +were also expelled in some parts of the empire. A fever of fanaticism +broke out; fifty-three _raskolnik_ in Russia, and one hundred and +seventy-two in Siberia, burned themselves to death. + +Count Ivan Schouvalof, one of Elizabeth's friends, believed in +education and was given a free hand. He ordered that the priests and +their children should attend school, on penalty of being whipped. He +founded the University of Moscow, which has educated many learned +Russians. To induce students to enter, he induced Elizabeth to (p. 182) +make a law that all students should be tchins of the tenth grade, and +the professors hold the eighth grade. He sent young men abroad to +study and established higher schools in every Government. Schouvalof +was also the founder of the Academy of Fine Arts at St. Petersburg. + +That capital was growing; its population was 74,000 under Elizabeth. +She built the Winter Palace and saw the plans for Tsarskoe Selo, the +magnificent retreat of the Russian emperors. She reestablished the +Senate, as organized by Peter the Great. + + + + +XXI--RUSSIA UNDER CATHERINE II (THE GREAT). (p. 183) + + +Peter III was thirty-four years old when he succeeded to the throne. +Although it was twenty years since his aunt Elizabeth sent for him +from Holstein, he was more of a German than a Russian, and had an +intense admiration for Frederick the Great. He at once reversed +Russia's policy, ordered the commander-in-chief of the Russian armies +to leave his Austrian allies, and made peace with the King of Prussia +to whom he restored all Russia's conquests. Then he entered into an +alliance with Frederick, which was the means of saving Prussia. + +Peter relieved the nobles of the duty of serving the state, for which +they were so grateful that they proposed to erect his statue in gold; +he heard of it, and forbade their doing so. He abolished the Secret +Court of Police, and showed great kindness to the raskols and +permitted many of them to return from Siberia. A host of other exiles +were recalled, and he thought of relieving the hard lot of the +moujiks. + +For all this, he was unpopular and disliked. His disregard for old +Russian customs and his mode of life gave deep offense. He was married +to Sophia of Anhalt, who had assumed the name of Catherine; she (p. 184) +was a woman of decided ability and strong character. Peter wanted a +divorce. She heard of it and contrived a conspiracy among the high +nobles and officers of the army and navy. Peter had no thought of +danger, when he ordered the arrest of Passek, a young officer and +favorite of Catherine. Thinking that the conspiracy had been discovered, +she left her palace in the outskirts and came to St. Petersburg where +the three regiments of Foot Guards declared in her favor, and Peter's +uncle was arrested by his own regiment of Horse Guards. When Catherine +entered the Winter Palace, she was sure of the army and navy; +Cronstadt was seized by her supporters, and she issued a proclamation +assuming the government. At the head of 20,000 men, she marched upon +the Palace, where the czar, her husband, was residing. + +Peter fled to Cronstadt and sought the Admiral. "I am the czar," he +said. "There is no longer a czar," was the reply, and all Peter could +do was to return to his palace, where he abdicated "like a child being +sent to sleep," as Frederick the Great expressed it. He then called on +his wife, "after which," Catherine tells us, "I sent the deposed +emperor, under the command of Alexis Orlof accompanied by four +officers and a detachment of gentle and reasonable men, to a place +called Ropcha, fifteen miles from Peterhof, a secluded spot, but very +pleasant." Four days later Peter III was dead. Catherine declared that +he died of colic "with the blood flying to the brains." + +[Illustration: Catharine II] + +But one was living with just and strong claims to the throne. Ivan VI, +the infant czar sent to prison by Elizabeth in 1741, was now (p. 186) +twenty-one years old. It was reported that he had lost his reason, +which may have been true or false. Catherine disposed of him. She +said: "It is my opinion that he should not be allowed to escape, so as +to place him beyond the power of doing harm. It would be best to +tonsure him (that is, to make a monk of him), and to transfer him to +some monastery, neither too near nor too far off; it will suffice if +it does not become a shrine." She did not desire that the people +should make a martyr of a descendant of Peter the Great, while she, a +foreign woman, was occupying the throne. Poor Ivan was murdered by his +keepers two years later, when a lieutenant of the Guards was trying to +effect his escape. After that, Catherine had no rival for the crown, +except her son Paul, whom she disliked. + +At first it seemed as if Catherine would reverse her husband's policy +with regard to Prussia. She gave orders to the army to leave the +Prussian camp, but she did not command active hostilities; since the +parties felt the exhaustion of a seven years' struggle, peace +negotiations were begun and concluded successfully. + +Catherine made Russia a party to the System of the North; that is, she +entered into an alliance with England, Prussia, and Denmark, as +against France and Austria. Nearly all Europe was deeply interested in +the severe illness of the King of Poland, because of the election +which must follow his death. Unhappy Poland was bringing destruction +upon itself. A lawless nobility kept the country in anarchy, and +religious persecution, which had disappeared elsewhere, was still +rampant. It was the gold distributed by interested powers, that +controlled the vote of the Diet, and since it was merely a (p. 187) +question of the highest bidder, Frederick the Great and Catherine came +to an understanding. They decided to elect Stanislas Poniatowski, a +Polish noble. France and Austria supported the Prince of Saxony, who +was also the choice of the Court party. After the death of Augustus +III, the Diet assembled and elected the French and Austrian candidate. +Members of the Diet asked for Russian intervention and, supported by +Catherine's army, Poniatowski was placed on the throne. + +Russia and Prussia were not satisfied; they wanted part of the +kingdom and the prevailing anarchy on their frontiers justified +them. But Catherine made a pretext out of Poland's religious +intolerance,--although the same existed in Russia. In 1765, Koninski, +the Bishop of the Greek Church presented to the King a petition asking +redress for a number of grievances which he enumerated. The King +promised relief and submitted the matter to the Diet of 1766. The +majority would not hear of any tolerance, although Russia had on the +frontier an army of 80,000 men ready to invade Poland. The Diet of +1767 showed the same foolish spirit, but it was broken when two of its +members, both Catholic bishops, were arrested under Russian orders, +and carried into Russian territory. The Diet did not appear to resent +this violation of a friendly territory but entered in 1768 into a +treaty with Russia, in which it was agreed that Poland would make no +change in its constitution without Russia's consent. The Russian army +was withdrawn from Warsaw, and a deputation from the Diet was sent to +St. Petersburg to thank Catherine. + +Two hostile parties soon appeared in arms. The Catholics raised (p. 188) +the banner "Pro religione et libertate!"--as if they understood what +liberty meant! France helped with money, and urged the Sultan of +Turkey to declare war against Russia, so that Catherine would be +compelled to withdraw her troops. Russia was inciting those of the +Greek and Protestant religions to whom assistance was promised. + +In the winter of 1768, the Tartars of the Crimea, aided by the Turks, +invaded Russia, and Catherine dispatched an army of 30,000 men,--all +she could spare. In the following year, the Russians attacked and +defeated the enemy 100,000 strong at Khotin on the Dnieper, and in +1770 the Khan of the Crimea met the same fate. In the same year at the +battle of Kagul, 17,000 Russians defeated 150,000 Turks commanded by +the Grand Vizier. In the same year the Russians destroyed the Turkish +fleet in the port of Chesme. In 1771, the Tartars of the Crimea were +put to rout, and the Russians took Bessarabia and some forts on the +Danube. They were, however, too late to take possession of the +Dardanelles, which the Turks had put into a state of defense. + +Austria was becoming alarmed at Russia's victories, and lent a willing +ear to the suggestion of Frederick the Great that it would be safer to +permit Russia to gain territory belonging to Poland, provided Austria +and Prussia should receive their share. On February 17, 1771, a treaty +was concluded between Russia and Prussia, and accepted by Austria in +April, whereby Poland was deprived of a good part of its territory. +Catherine, secured White Russia with a population of 1,600,000; +Frederick the Great took West Prussia with 900,000 inhabitants, (p. 189) +and Austria received Western Gallicia and Red Russia with 2,500,000 +people. This was the beginning of the end of Poland. + +The peace negotiations with Turkey were broken off, and war was +resumed. Being busy elsewhere, Catherine could not prevent a _coup +d'etat_ in Sweden, which saved that country from the fate of Poland. +Besides suffering from these constant wars, Russia was visited by the +plague, which in July and August, 1771, daily carried off a thousand +victims in Moscow alone. The Archbishop, an enlightened man, was put +to death by a mob for ordering the streets to be fumigated. Troops +were necessary to restore order. + +The condition of the country was dreadful. Alexander Bibikof was sent +to suppress a dangerous insurrection, he wrote to his wife after +arriving on the spot, that the general discontent was frightful. It +was for this reason that Catherine concluded peace with the sultan in +1774; besides an indemnity, she received Azof on the Don and all the +strong places in the Crimea, and was recognized as the protector of +the sultan's Christian subjects. In 1775, she finally broke the power +of the Cossacks. + +Through the mediation of France and Russia, a war between Prussia and +Austria concerning the succession in Bavaria, was narrowly averted. +During the American War of Independence, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, +Prussia, and Portugal, proclaimed armed neutrality, and Holland +declared war, because British warships caused endless trouble to vessels +under neutral flags. This celebrated act declared "that contraband +goods" included only arms and ammunition. Most countries agreed (p. 190) +to this, with the exception of England. + +In 1775 Catherine annexed the Crimea, on the plea that anarchy +prevailed. Turkey protested and threatened war but France meditated +and the sultan recognized the annexation by the Treaty of +Constantinople in 1783. + +In 1787, a remarkable secret agreement was signed between Russia and +Austria. It is known as the _Greek Project_, and was nothing less than +a scheme to divide Turkey between the two powers. The plot as proposed +by Russia, was to create an independent state under the name of Dacia, +to embrace Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bessarabia, with a prince +belonging to the Greek Church at the head. Russia was to receive +Otchakof, the shore between the Bug and the Dnieper, and some islands +in the Archipelago, and Austria would annex the Turkish province +adjoining its territory. If the Turk should be expelled from Europe, +the old Byzantine Empire was to be reestablished, and the throne +occupied by Catherine's grandson Constantine, "who would renounce all +his claims to Russia, so that the two empires might never be united +under the same scepter." Austria agreed on condition that she should +also receive the Venetian possessions in Moldavia, when Venice would +be indemnified by part of Greece. + +Soon after this the sultan declared war against Russia. This took +Catherine by surprise. Other enemies sprang up: the King of Prussia +wanted Dantzig, the King of Sweden, South Finland. The latter invaded +Russia and might have marched upon St. Petersburg, for all Catherine +could collect was an army of 12,000 men. A mutiny in the camp of (p. 191) +Gustavus III, compelled him to return to Stockholm, and the opportunity +was lost. He defeated the Russians in the naval battle of Svenska +Sund, but a second engagement was to the advantage of Russia. The +French Revolution caused him to make peace, and to enter into an +alliance with Russia against the French. + +In the south Russian arms were more fortunate. The Turks were defeated +in 1789, and 1790, on which occasions a young general named Souvorof +distinguished himself. Upon the death of Joseph II of Austria, his +successor Leopold made peace with Turkey at Sistova. (1791.) It was +the French revolution, which seriously alarmed every crowned head in +Europe, and which induced Catherine to follow Leopold's example at +Jassy, in January, 1792, Russia kept only Otchakof and the shore +between the Bug and the Dniester. + +Poland, meanwhile, had made an earnest effort at reform. Thaddeus +Kosciusko had returned from the United States, where he had fought for +liberty and was trying to save his own country. Born in 1752, he +entered a military school founded by the Czartoryskis at the age of +twelve, and distinguished himself by attention to his studies and +duties. His father was assassinated by exasperated peasants, and he +himself was scornfully ejected by a powerful noble whose daughter he +was courting. Attracted by the struggle of a handful of colonists +against powerful England, he went to America and served with +distinction in the War of the Revolution. After seeing Great Britain +humbled and a new republic established in the New World, he came back +to Poland and was soon among the foremost reformers,--a man in (p. 192) +whom the patriotic Poles justly trusted. But traitors were found to +accept Russian bribes, and for the second time Poland was despoiled. +Russia annexed the eastern provinces with 3,000,000 inhabitants, and +Prussia took Dantzig and Thorn. Austria was told that she might take +from the French Republic as much as she wished,--or could. + +Manfully and indefatigably did Kosciusko labor to stem the tide of his +country's ruin. His patriotism aroused even that of the poor, +down-trodden serfs, who had no interests to defend, yet stood by him +in battle when the nobles on horseback fled, and wrenched a victory +out of defeat. Well might Kosciusko thereafter dress in the garb of a +peasant; a gentleman's dress was a badge of dishonor. + +It was in 1794, that this battle took place and gave the signal, too, +for an effort to restore Poland. But Austria, Prussia, and Russia +combined, and Poland was lost. Heroic children were made to pay for +the sins of their fathers. Poland expired in 1795. Prussia took +Eastern Poland, including Warsaw; Austria annexed Cracow, Sandomir, +Lublin, and Selm, and Russia took what remained. The patriots +dispersed; most of them took service with the French, hoping for an +opportunity to revive their country. + +Catherine took especial pains to prevent the ideas, which alone made +the French revolution possible, from entering into Russia. There was +no occasion for this prudence. The great majority of the Russian +people did not know of any world beyond Russia; most of them knew (p. 193) +nothing beyond the narrow horizon of their own village, and could +neither read nor write. The harrowing tales brought by the fugitive +French nobles did not tend toward inspiring the Russian aristocracy +with sympathy for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. + +Satisfied that Russia was beyond the sphere of what she regarded as +pernicious doctrines, Catherine determined to make the greatest +possible profit out of the disturbed condition of Europe. She never +ceased to incite Prussia and Austria against the French Republic, but +carefully refrained from spending a dollar or risking a man. She +pleaded first her war with Turkey, and afterwards the Polish +insurrection. She said to Osterman, one of her ministers: "Am I wrong? +For reasons that I cannot give to the Courts of Berlin and Vienna, I +wish to involve them in these affairs, so that I may have my hands +free. Many of my enterprises are still unfinished, and they must be so +occupied as to leave me unfettered." + +While Europe was engaged in the hopeless task of establishing and +maintaining the divine rights of kings, Catherine began a war with +Persia. One of her "unfinished enterprises" was interrupted by her +death in November, 1796, at the age of sixty-seven. She left the +throne to her son Paul. + + + + +XXII--RUSSIA DURING THE WARS OF NAPOLEON. (p. 194) + + +Paul was forty-two years old when he succeeded to the throne. His +youth and early manhood had been far from pleasant. His mother had +never shown any love for him, and Paul had not forgotten his father's +sudden death. He was held in absolute submission, and was not +permitted to share in the government; he had not even a voice in the +education of his children. The courtiers, in order to please his +mother, showed him scant courtesy; this is probably the reason of his +sensitiveness after he came to the throne. He ordered men and women to +kneel down in the street when he was passing, and those who drove in +carriages had to halt. It is also shown in this remark, "Know that the +only person of consideration in Russia is the person whom I address, +at the moment that I am addressing him." It was justice, but it +reflected upon his mother's memory when, immediately after her death, +Paul ordered his father's remains to be exhumed, to be buried at the +same time and with the same pomp as those of Catherine. + +Such a man could have no sympathy with the French revolution which was +shaking the foundations of Old Europe. He forbade the use of any word +that might be construed to refer to it. He ordered the army to (p. 195) +adopt the Russian uniform, including the powdered pigtails of that +time. Souvorof fell in disgrace because he was reported to have said: +"There is powder and powder. Shoe buckles are not gun carriages, nor +pigtails bayonets; we are not Prussians but Russians." + +Paul pardoned a number of exiled Poles, and brought the last king, +Stanislas Poniatowski, to St. Petersburg. He discontinued the war with +Persia, and instructed his ambassadors to announce that since Russia, +and Russia alone, had been at war since 1756, "the humanity of the +Emperor did not allow him to refuse his beloved subjects the peace for +which they sighed." + +Nevertheless, Russia was drawn into Napoleon's gigantic wars. Uneasy +at the plans of the French Republic, Paul entered into an alliance +with England, Austria, Naples, and Turkey. He furnished troops for +England's descent upon Holland, and recalled Souvorof to take command +of the Russian forces cooperating with those of Austria. The British +expedition proved a failure, but Souvorof's strategy and indomitable +courage shed glory upon the Russian army. + +When Souvorof arrived at Vienna, he took command of the allied forces +consisting of 90,000 men. On April 28, 1799, he surprised Moreau at +Cassano and took 3,000 prisoners. He entered Milan, and soon after +laid siege to Mantua, Alessandria, and Turin. On June 17, Souvorof was +attacked on the Trebia; the battle lasted three days, leaving the +victory to the Russians. After the victory at Novi, on the 15th of +August, the French were forced to evacuate Italy. + +Souvorof had divided his force of 80,000 Russians into two corps, (p. 196) +one to operate in Switzerland, the other under his own command, to +conduct the campaign in Italy. His great success brought upon him the +envy of the Austrian generals, by whom his movements were constantly +hampered. He therefore resolved to effect a junction with the forces +in Switzerland, who, on the 26th of September, had been defeated at +Zurich with a loss of 6,000 men. Souvorof did not know this. He +reached the St. Gothard on the 21st and crossed it under unheard-of +difficulties. "In this kingdom of terrors," he writes to Paul, +"abysses open beside us at every step, like tombs awaiting our +arrival. Nights spent among the clouds, thunder that never ceases, +rain, fog, the noise of cataracts, the breaking of avalanches, +enormous masses of rocks and ice which fall from the heights, torrents +which sometimes carry men and horses down the precipices, the St. +Gothard, that colossus who sees the mists pass under him,--we have +surmounted all, and in these inaccessible spots the enemy has been +forced to give way before us. Words fail to describe the horrors we +have seen, and in the midst of which Providence has preserved us." +"The Russian, inhabitant of the plain, was awestruck by the grandeur +of this mountain scenery." + +Souvorof brushed the French out of his way until, on the 26th, he +arrived at Altdorf with the loss of only 2,000 men. Here he received +information of the defeat at Zurich, and saw that he was surrounded on +all sides by superior forces. His retreat showed the highest military +skill, as well as the man's indomitable energy. Over untrodden +mountains, and snow at one place five feet deep, he guided the (p. 197) +remains of his army to a lower altitude, and went into winter quarters +between the Iler and the Lech. + +Souvorof complained bitterly to the czar of the Austrian generals, who +had given him ample reason. At about this time Napoleon had returned +from his fruitless campaign in Egypt, and at Marengo defeated the +Austrians, whereby the results of Souvorof's campaign were lost. Paul +was angry at Austria and Great Britain. Napoleon, shrewdly guessed the +czar's feelings, released the Russian prisoners, after equipping them +anew. Paul satisfied that Napoleon was an enemy of republican +institutions, conceived an intense admiration for his military genius, +and came to an understanding with him to overthrow British rule in +India. The czar at once commenced to prepare its execution. Two armies +were formed; one was to march on the Upper Indus by way of Khiva and +Bokhara, while the Cossacks under their hetman Denisof would go by +Orenburg. He was confident that the gigantic task could be +accomplished, and sent daily instructions to the hetman. + +Napoleon had a far better idea of the difficulties, but he did not +consider the expedition as hopeless. But even if it failed, he would +be the winner, because England would be compelled to send most of her +navy to India, while Russia would be too fully occupied, to interfere +with his projects in Europe. The Cossacks started on their long +journey, by crossing the Volga on the floating ice when, on the 24th +of March, 1801, Paul was assassinated in his palace. + +There was no doubt as to the guilty men, but Paul's son, Alexander, +who succeeded him, did not order an investigation. Pahlen, Panine, (p. 198) +Zoubof, and others, known as the "men of the 24th of March," were +removed from office, but that was their only punishment. Paul's mother +had alienated her grandchildren from the father, and Alexander always +showed greater affection for Catherine than for Paul. The greatest +sufferer was Napoleon, who saw his grand schemes go up in smoke. +Alexander reversed his father's policy, both at home and abroad. He +came to an understanding with England. Napoleon tried earnestly to +secure the new czar's friendship. He wanted a free hand in Europe and +in return offered the same privilege in Asia, but Alexander mistrusted +the First Consul. The murder of the Duke of Enghien, who, by +Napoleon's order, was kidnaped in a neutral territory and shot,--still +further alienated the czar. + +After Napoleon's coronation as emperor, Alexander entered into an +alliance with England, whereby he would receive six million dollars +for every 100,000 men Russia placed in the field. The Emperor of +Austria and the King of Prussia joined, but the Austrians, whose +generals seemed unable to learn by experience, were defeated before +the Russian army could reach the Tyrol. Once again the Russians +covered themselves with glory by Koutouzof's masterly retreat to the +north, and Bagration's heroic self-sacrifice. At Olmutz, in the +presence of Alexander, the Russo-Austrian army, 80,000 strong, was +attacked by Napoleon with 70,000 men. The Austrians had induced the +czar to adopt their plan of battle, and it met with the usual result. +Alexander escaped, escorted by his physician, two Cossacks, and a +company of the Guards. (Dec. 2., 1805.) Twenty-four days later +Alexander concluded peace with France by the Treaty of Presburg. (p. 199) + +The growing power of Napoleon induced Alexander to enter into a new +coalition with England, Prussia, and Sweden. Russia bore the brunt of +the war, after Prussia had been rendered harmless after the battles of +Jena and Auerstadt. The Russians withdrew from Prussian Poland; they +suddenly left their winter quarters and attacked the French. On the +8th of February, one of the bloodiest battles was fought at Eylau; the +French claimed the victory, but it was barren of results. + +Napoleon dreaded Russia. He persuaded the Sultan of Turkey and the +Shah of Persia to declare war, so as to occupy Alexander elsewhere. +The czar, however, was loyal to his allies until, on the 14th of June, +his army was almost annihilated at Friedland. This loss compelled him +to enter into negotiations. On June 25, 1807, the two emperors met on +a raft at Tilsit. Napoleon was prepared to do almost anything that +would induce Alexander to cease interfering in Europe. An +offensive-defensive alliance was concluded, whereby Napoleon agreed +not to oppose the expulsion of the Turk or Russia's conquest of +Constantinople. The czar meant to carry out the treaty in letter and +in spirit, but he soon saw that Napoleon's ambition was limitless, and +that he was playing with his ally. This was evident by the proposed +partition of Turkey: nothing came of it. Still he accepted Napoleon's +invitation to a conference at Erfurt, where he was received by the +French Emperor amid a court composed of sovereigns and princes. A +convention was signed on the 12th of October, 1808, whereby Alexander +promised Napoleon a free hand, in return for the annexation by (p. 200) +Russia of Finland and the Turkish provinces on the Danube. + +This led to a war with Great Britain, Sweden, and Austria, not +including Turkey and Persia. Russia acquired Finland, when Alexander, +after convoking the Diet, guaranteed its constitution, privileges, and +university. In 1809, war again broke out between Austria and France. +By the terms of the alliance, Russia had agreed to furnish troops, but +they showed that they did not relish fighting with the French. There +were two engagements; in one of these, the casualties were one Russian +killed and two wounded. By an oversight of Napoleon the Poles serving +under him were to cooperate with the Russians, and, far from doing so, +they often came to blows. The Russian general constantly sent +complaints to the czar. Napoleon made a great effort to appease +Alexander by assigning to Russia Eastern Gallicia with a population of +400,000. Alexander declined to be represented in the peace +negotiations at Vienna. Napoleon's creation of the Grand Dukedom of +Warsaw was a constant menace to Russia. + +Meanwhile the Russians were uniformly victorious in Turkey; the czar +concluded peace only when it was evident that war with France was +unavoidable, and that Russia would need every man. It was on this +account that he gave easy terms to the hard-pressed Sultan. Russia +annexed Bessarabia, part of Roumania, Ismail, and Kilia on the Lower +Danube. + +The time for the momentous struggle had arrived. Napoleon, the master +of Continental Europe, thought that he was more than a match for +serf-ridden Russia. He reckoned upon the echo which the words (p. 201) +liberty, equality, and fraternity, would awaken in the hearts of the +moujik, and forgot that they were abstract ideas which to the serf, +struggling for enough black bread to allay the cravings of hunger, +were so many empty sounds. He tried to arouse Europe's suspicions of +Russia's designs, not thinking that any yoke, even that of the +Tartars, would be a welcome relief to nations mourning for the +slaughter of their sons. + +Napoleon left Paris for Dresden on the 9th of May, 1812; on the first +of June an army of 678,000 men, including 60,000 Poles, stood ready to +invade Russia. Alexander had only 150,000 men under Bagration and +Barclay de Tolly, 90,000 posted on the Niemen, and 60,000 on the +Vistula; but he issued a proclamation announcing a Holy War. "Rise all +of you!" he urged, "With the Cross in your hearts and arms in your +hands, no human force can prevail against you!" + +Napoleon advanced clutching shadows. After his army left Wilna, +leaving dead desolation in its wake, the time soon came when retreat +was no longer possible. Russian patriotism clamored for battle and +Russian prudence had to give way to it. All of Koutouzof's remarkable +influence was required to restrain his men under the retreat which +foretold victory, because every step forward sealed Napoleon's doom. +The Corsican knew it but, with the superstition born in him, trusted +to his star. Finally he drew near Moscow, the Holy City, where Count +Rostopchine, the governor, was preparing the grand climax of the +drama, while pacifying Russian patriotism by a series of hardy falsehoods. +"I have resolved," he explained, "at every disagreeable piece of (p. 202) +news to raise doubts as to its truth; by this means, I shall weaken +the first impression, and before there is time to verify it, others +will come which will require investigation." The people implicitly +believed his most daring inventions. When he evacuated Moscow, he +ordered all prisons to be opened, and the guns in the arsenal to be +distributed among the people; he also had the pumps removed and +finally gave instructions to set fire to the stores of _vodka_ and the +boats loaded with alcohol. + +Napoleon arrived at the Kremlin on the 14th of September. Short as was +his sojourn, it was with difficulty that he escaped through the flames +and found refuge in a park. Why did he waste thirty-five days in the +charred capital? Was it belief in his star, or was it despair at the +ruin of his prospects? On the 13th of October, the remnant of the +Grand Army started on its long journey over the desert it had left +behind, because all other roads were closed to it. The retreat has +been described by many writers; but what pen shall do justice to the +suffering caused by the unusually severe winter, the snow, the ice, +the hunger, and the thirst? And how many hearts were rent, when the +news came of the dead, the wounded, and the missing? Napoleon's +campaign in Russia was the most impressive sermon against war, but it +fell upon heedless ears. + +After the Battle of the Berezina, Napoleon left the army and hurried +home. All his thoughts were on the effect of the disastrous +defeat,--not upon the hundred thousand desolate homes, but upon his +own fortunes. He arrived in Paris where he gathered 450,000 men, +many of them mere youths, to support him with their blood. But (p. 203) +Europe was weary of slaughter. Kings might tremble for their crowns, +it was the people, aroused to frenzy, that impelled them to action. On +Napoleon's heels, besides, there was a bloodhound whom nobler +instincts than mere self-preservation inspired to ceaseless pursuit. +Alexander I, at this time, earned and deserved the glorious surname of +The Well-beloved. Not a thought of self-glory or personal +aggrandizement sullied the relentless chase. Emperors and kings +dreading the awakened conscience of the people would have made peace, +and they could have done so with security for themselves, but +Alexander said, "No!" Under fire at the four days' battle of Leipzig, +he personally directed reenforcements where they were required. And +when, at last, the host of invaders stepped on the soil whose people +during twenty years had committed outrages in almost every known +country of Europe, they were noble words which the Autocrat addressed +to his troops whom he had brought so far away from home. "By invading +our empire," he says, "the enemy has done us much harm, and has +therefore been subjected to a terrible chastisement. The anger of God +has overthrown him. Do not let us imitate him. The merciful God does +not love cruel and inhuman men. Let us forget the evil he has wrought; +let us carry to our foes, not vengeance and hate, but friendship, and +a hand extended in peace." + +These were not mere words; Alexander the Well-beloved was sincere. But +it was he who refused to receive Napoleon's envoy at Freiburg, and it +was he who, when Napoleon, fighting like a tiger at bay, was +defeating the separated armies, so that the British envoy urged to (p. 204) +come to terms with him, answered, "It would not be a peace but a +truce. I cannot come four hundred leagues to your assistance every +day. No peace, so long as Napoleon is on the throne!" By his direction +the united armies rolled like an avalanche upon Paris,--and Napoleon +gave up the struggle by abdicating. + +Again it was Alexander the Well-beloved who intervened when other +powers would have overwhelmed the fallen colossus. It was Alexander +who procured for his enemy the sovereignty of the island of Elba, and +commissioned Count Schouvalof to escort him. "I confide to you a great +mission;" he said; "you will answer to me with your head for a single +hair which falls from the head of Napoleon." + +At the Congress of Vienna assembled the statesmen to dispose of +nations and peoples, as their own ambition prompted. Alexander desired +to unite Poland to his crown, but separate from Russia; but was +opposed by Austria, Great Britain, and France, who entered into a +secret alliance against him. Had Napoleon waited two hundred days +instead of half that time, who knows that he might not yet have been +the arbiter of Europe? His descent united all factions, and Alexander +declared that he would pursue Napoleon "down to his last man and his +last ruble." + +Once again armies were set in motion, and once again Napoleon resorted +to his well-known tactics of destroying his enemies one by one. He +failed at Waterloo. (June 17, 1815.) Again the allies re-entered +Paris, the Prussians first but closely followed by the czar and his +army. + +"Justice, but no revenge!" proclaimed Alexander when Bluecher would (p. 205) +have followed Napoleon's example of robbing a country of its works of +art. The czar stood the friend of France when Prussia demanded a +frontier which would render her safe from French invasion; but he said +frankly that he "wished to allow some danger to exist on that side, so +that Germany, having need of Russia, might remain dependent," He was +in favor of allowing the French to select their own government, but +was overruled. At last the allies came to an understanding, and Poland +was joined to the Russian Crown. + +The Polish soldiers who had fought so bravely under Napoleon, placed +themselves at the czar's service, hoping and trusting that their +country would revive under a Russian king. Alexander's promises at +Vienna had been vague, but recent events had made a deep impression +upon him. In this frame of mind, he directed that Poland be restored. +This was announced on the 21st of June, at Warsaw amid the roar of +cannon. Constantine, Alexander's brother, was made King, and a +legislative body, composed of a senate and house of representatives, +was formed under a constitution which also guaranteed the freedom of +the press. + +Thus Alexander returned to Russia. Soon after that he gave evidence +that strong emotions were required to subdue the inborn prejudice in +favor of autocracy. Russia, of necessity, had acquired an overwhelming +influence in Europe. This showed at the several Congresses, at +Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, at Carlsbad in 1819, at Troppau in 1820, and +at Verona in 1822. The crowned heads of Europe appeared unable to +comprehend that the French revolution, with its orgies of blood (p. 206) +and tears, had produced an impassable abyss between the eighteenth and +nineteenth centuries. They wished to return to the conditions +prevailing before the revolution, which caused the success of that +upheaval; but the people, the masses, had quaffed of the cup of +liberty, and the taste lingered. The Holy Alliance with its unholy +aims might ordain what it pleased, the _people_ obstinately refused to +resume the place of beasts of burden for the benefit of the State. +Thus a spirit of unrest was perceptible, and when Alexander learned +that his "I, the czar, will it!" was not able to restore quiet, he +joined the other crowned heads in their struggle against more liberal +ideas. From that time his conduct changed. + +There was evidence of this in the events occurring in the south. The +majority of the inhabitants of the Balkan provinces of Turkey belonged +to the Greek Church, and looked to Alexander for relief from the +oppressive Mahomedan yoke. The Servians took up arms, the people of +Greece did the same. On Easter day, 1821, the Patriarch of the Greek +Church at Constantinople was seized at the altar, and hung in his +vestment at the door of the church. Three metropolitans and eight +bishops were also murdered. The news caused deep indignation in +Russia, but Alexander moved not. He believed in the theory that no +people should be encouraged in rising against its ordained masters. In +Russia all liberal ideas were rigidly suppressed. + +In 1825, Alexander left St. Petersburg for the south where he intended +to spend some time. He was full of gloomy forebodings and gave further +evidence of an unsound mind by having a mass for the dead sung in (p. 207) +his presence in broad daylight. While in the Crimea he was heard to +repeat: "They may say what they like of me, but I have lived and will +die a republican." He died on the 19th of November, 1825, while on his +journey. + +He left no sons. His brother Constantine had renounced the crown when +he became King of Poland, and in 1823, Alexander had made his next +brother Nicholas his successor. Alexander's reign marked a new era for +Russia inasmuch as it was brought into closer contact with Europe, and +promised to change in thought and impulse, from an Asiatic into a +European nation. The necessity of securing the help of the masses +against Napoleon's invasion created newspapers, and writers of unusual +ability expressed their patriotic thoughts in prose and poetry. In +1814, the Imperial Library was opened to the public at St. Petersburg. +It contained at that time 242,000 volumes, and about 10,000 +manuscripts. + +In 1803, Captains Krusenstern and Lisianski made the first Russian +voyage around the world in the _Nadejda_ (the _Hope_), and the _Neva_. +It was on this occasion that Russia entered into relations with the +United States. + + + + +XXIII--AN EVENTFUL PERIOD. (p. 208) + + +Alexander's will came as a surprise upon Nicholas, but Constantine was +loyal to his promise and after a brief but generous contest, Nicholas +was crowned at Moscow. Twenty-three days had elapsed since Alexander's +death, long enough to show that the spirit of unrest had penetrated +into Russia. On the 26th of December there were some disturbances at +Moscow, but they were suppressed without great trouble. The secret +police hunted down the leaders, many of whom were known in art or +literature, but they suffered death. Nicholas, a man of colossal +stature, commanding appearance, iron will, passion for a military +life, of simple and correct habits, was a true champion of the right +divine of kings. He had neither sympathy nor patience with any +movement tending toward greater liberty for the people. Nevertheless +Nicholas was much more popular than Alexander had been, because he was +the type of the Russian czars, who had increased Russia's power and +territory. + +Not many days after his coronation, Nicholas became involved in a +quarrel with the Shah of Persia. In vain did the shah call upon Great +Britain for help; the Persians were twice defeated in 1826, and the +Russians were on the road to Teheran when the shah preferred to (p. 209) +save his capital by ceding two provinces, and paying a heavy indemnity +in 1828. The following year, the Russian Minister at Teheran was +murdered, but Persia escaped with a humble apology. + +Turkey, too, was made to feel Nicholas' heavy hand; urged by other +powers the sultan submitted to the loss of territory in Asia, which +had been in dispute, and permitted the free passage of Russian vessels +between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. (Convention of Akkerman, +Oct. 8, 1826.) The czar, after this, took up the Greek question, and +entered into an agreement with England and France. In vain did the +sultan offer the plea which had been successful with Alexander, that +the Greeks "violated the passive obedience owed by subjects to their +legitimate sovereigns." Nicholas wanted Turkey for himself, and +proposed to leave no stone unturned to secure possession of +Constantinople. + +After the battle of Navarino, on the 20th of October, 1827, where the +allied forces destroyed the Turkish fleet. England withdrew, +suspicious of Nicholas' schemes; but France and Russia continued the +war until by the Peace of Adrianople, the sultan recognized the +independence of Greece,--and ceded to Russia four fortresses in Asia +and the islands in the delta of the Danube. Russia was thus in +possession of the whole southern slope of the Caucasus, besides +holding part of its northern front. The czar began war upon the tribes +dwelling in the mountains, but found that he had engaged in a very +difficult enterprise. A soldier-priest named Schamyl defied the power +of Russia for a quarter of a century. It cost Nicholas more in men (p. 210) +and money to subdue the liberty-loving mountaineer, than all the wars +he waged in Asia. + +The year 1830, was one of great unrest in Europe. Nicholas was deeply +angered when his friend Charles X of France was expelled. The +revolution in Paris was the signal for a similar movement in the +capital of Poland. Owing to the independent expression of opinion in +the Diet, Alexander had adjourned that body indefinitely in 1822. At +the same time the liberty of the press was revoked and the police +assumed a power in defiance of the law. The Grand Duke Constantine was +really a friend of Poland, but he was eccentric and impetuous and +often unconsciously gave offense. In 1830, Nicholas came to Warsaw to +open the Diet, when its members made demands which he could not grant. +Both sides were angry when Nicholas returned to St. Petersburg. + +As soon as the French tricolor was raised above the consulate at +Warsaw, the trouble commenced. Taken unprepared, Constantine withdrew +with his troops. Again the Poles were divided; the patriots advised +reconciliation with Russia, while hotheads demanded the abdication of +the Romanofs. The first party sent a deputation to St. Petersburg and +another to Paris and London, to secure mediation. The czar's answer +was decisive; he absolutely refused to "make concessions (to the +revolutionists), as the price of their crimes." Again, too, there was +discord among the leaders as they entered upon a life or death +struggle. Poland appealed to Europe. The people were sympathetic, but +the governments, rejoicing at seeing a revolutionary movement +suppressed, refused to interfere. + +In February, 1831, a Russian army of 130,000 men invaded Poland. (p. 211) +The Poles showed a heroism which appealed to the people of Europe, but +more than sympathy was needed to arrest the irresistible Russian +advance upon Warsaw. Constantine and the Russian commander-in-chief +fell the victims of cholera, but an epidemic of discord struck Poland +and sealed its fate. On the 6th of September, Warsaw was invested. The +capital was forced to surrender. "Warsaw is at your feet," wrote the +commander-in-chief to the czar, who lost no time in trampling upon the +conquered. The constitution was abrogated, the Diet, a thing of the +past. Poland was no more. Where it had stood, was a Russian province. +Russian officials introduced Russian taxes, Russian coinage, and +Russian justice such as it was. The Poles saw samples of it when +thousands were arrested without process of law, and were sent to +prison or to Siberia, while other thousands lost their property by +confiscation. In White Russia and Lithuania the use of the Polish +language was prohibited and the Catholic Clergy were forced to "ask" +admittance to the bosom of the Greek Church. It must be admitted that +the Polish peasants benefited by the change. With a view of reducing +the influence of the nobles, the government issued regulations +protecting the laborer against the landowner. + +The Polish revolution caused the reorganization of European policies. +Austria and Prussia, each in possession of territory that formerly +belonged to Poland, entered into friendly relations with Russia, +whereas England and France, where public opinion could not be ignored, +drew more closely together. Nicholas was posing as the arbiter of (p. 212) +Europe and the champion of kings. He assumed the right to command, but +would soon find his will contested. + +This was brought home to him in 1832, when trouble broke out between +Turkey and Egypt. The Egyptian army was victorious and threatened +Constantinople, when the sultan appealed to the powers. Russia +responded at once by sending two armies, but a strong protest from +England and France caused the withdrawal of the troops of Russia as +well as those of Egypt. Baffled, Nicholas on June 3, 1833, entered +into an offensive-defensive alliance with the sultan, which really +placed Turkey and with it Constantinople in Russia's power. Another +sharp protest from England and France prevented the consummation of +the alliance. + +In 1839 the trouble between Turkey and Egypt recommenced when Great +Britain, anxious to preserve Turkey's integrity, entered into an +agreement with Russia, Austria and Prussia, which was signed at London +in July, 1840. There was some danger of a war with France but England, +fearing Russia's designs, returned to her former ally. By the +Convention of July 13, 1841, Russia's designs upon old Czargrad were +postponed until a more favorable opportunity. In 1844, Nicholas +visited England, but his reception in London was cool. He, however, +entered into an agreement whereby the Khanates of Central Asia should +remain neutral ground between Russia and India. + +In 1846, trouble broke out in Gallicia, where the Poles rose against +Austria; but as the nobles had to subdue a revolt of their own (p. 213) +peasants, order was quickly restored. The free city Cracow was the +resort of the Poles. Russia, Austria, and Prussia sent troops against +it, and Cracow was annexed by Austria notwithstanding a protest from +England and France. + +The year 1848 will long be remembered for the blows bestowed upon the +divine right of kings, and the privileges which the sovereigns were +compelled to concede to the people. The Emperor Ferdinand of Austria +was expelled from his capital, and the King of Prussia was subjected +to humiliation by his own people. France proclaimed the republic, and +Nicholas proclaimed himself the champion of the right divine. He +dispatched an army into Hungary, which was soon "at the feet of your +Majesty," and felt the wrath of the frightened Ferdinand. + +Notwithstanding this cooperation, the understanding among the three +powers, Russia, Austria and Prussia, was giving way before individual +interests. When, in 1852, Prussia attempted to seize the German +provinces of Denmark, it was Nicholas who compelled her to withdraw. +On the 8th of May of that year, the independence and integrity of +Denmark were recognized by the Treaty of London. + +In the same year Louis Napoleon made an end to the French Republic by +the notorious _Coup d'Etat_. This gave great satisfaction to the czar +who was heard to remark: "France has set an evil example; she will now +set a good one. I have faith in the conduct of Louis Napoleon." The +new emperor of France did not seem to appreciate this condescension, +or else he showed gross ingratitude when France and Austria, (p. 214) +without even consulting Nicholas, settled some troubles in Turkey. The +czar sent Menzikoff as special envoy to Constantinople to demand a new +treaty whereby Russia's rights as Protector of the Greek Christians +should be recognized. Supported as he was by France, the sultan +refused. Nicholas then had a plain talk with Sir Hamilton Seymour, the +British Minister at St. Petersburg, wherein he revealed his designs +upon Turkey. As to Constantinople, he said, he might establish himself +there as a trustee, but not as a proprietor. Sir Hamilton, as in duty +bound, notified his government, and England hastened to join France in +opposing Russia. + +Pretending that all he wanted was a recognition of his rights, +Nicholas, on the 3d of July, 1853, sent an army under Gortchakof +across the Pruth. At this an allied British-French fleet took up a +position near the threatened point, but did not cross the Straits, +which would have been a violation of the treaty. Nicholas stormed; he +declared that "This was a threat" and would lead to complications. +Austria proposed a conference at which Russia, Great Britain, France, +Austria and Prussia assisted. It seemed as if peace would be secured, +when the sultan demanded that the Russian forces should withdraw, +whereupon Admiral Nakhimof, on the 30th of November, 1853, destroyed +the Turkish fleet at Sinope. The British-French fleet then sailed into +the Black Sea, and the Russian ships sought shelter in the ports. + +In January, 1854, Napoleon III made a last attempt at maintaining +peace, but Nicholas was thoroughly angry at the publication of +Seymour's dispatches, claiming that the conversation with the (p. 215) +British Minister was entitled to secrecy as between "a friend and a +gentleman." Austria and Prussia resented the contempt which the czar +had expressed for them, and on the 10th of April England and France +entered into an offensive-defensive alliance. Ten days later Austria +and Prussia arrived at a written agreement providing for the +possibility that the Russians should attack Austria or cross the +Balkans. Nicholas had aroused all Europe against him. + +The Russian fleet was unable to cope with that of the allies, and thus +condemned to inactivity in the ports. After heroic efforts, the +Russians were compelled to raise the siege of Silistria, and to retire +from the Danube, while Austria occupied the evacuated territory. But +Nicholas was dismayed when, after a conference on July 21, 1854, the +allied commanders resolved to attack the Crimea. _Russia was +unprepared._ It was the assault upon Russia's vaunted "holy soil," +which gave a severe blow to the arbiter of Europe, at home as well as +abroad. Still with clogged energy the Russians worked to construct +defenses. On the 14th of September 500 troopships landed the allied +armies, and on the 20th, the Battle of the Alma opened the road to +Sebastopol. The port of Balaclava was captured by the allies, and +three bloody battles were fought, at Balaclava on the 25th of October, +at Inkermann on the 5th of November, and at Eupatoria on the 17th of +February, 1855. + +It seemed as if the knowledge that an enemy was in Russia, aroused the +Russians from a torpor. Pamphlets and other publications denouncing +the government in withering terms, seemed to spring up from the +pavement. "Arise, Oh Russia!" says one unknown writer, "Devoured (p. 216) +by enemies, ruined by slavery, shamefully oppressed by the stupidity +of tchinovnik and spies, awaken from thy long sleep of ignorance and +apathy! We have been kept in bondage long enough _by the successors of +the Tartar khans_. Arise! and stand erect and calm before the throne +of the despot; demand of him a reckoning for the national misfortunes. +Tell him boldly that his throne is not the altar of God, and that God +has not condemned us to be slaves forever." + +The feeling among his people was not unknown to Nicholas. Whatever may +be said of him, he was not weakling, fool, or hypocrite, and it was no +disgrace that he felt as if the ground were giving way under his feet. +He was upright and sincere, and had lived up to his convictions. There +is no doubt that when these convictions grew dim, his strength +vanished. He was heard to exclaim "My successor may do what he will: I +cannot change." The sincerity of this man of iron showed in his losing +his courage when doubts arose. Life ceased to have any value for him. +One day, in February, 1855, while suffering from a severe cold, he +went out without his overcoat. To the physician who tried to restrain +him, he said: "You have done your duty; now let me do mine!" A serious +illness followed, and he sent for his successor to whom he gave some +instructions. As a message to his people, and a last cry for sympathy, +he dictated the dispatch "The emperor is dying," which was sent to all +the large towns of Russia. On the 19th of March, 1855, Nicholas I was +dead. + +Under his directions wealthy merchants were classified as "chief (p. 217) +citizens," which procured for them exemption from poll-tax, +conscription, and corporal punishment. They might take part in the +assessment of real estate, and were eligible to the offices to which +members of the first class were entitled. The same privilege was +extended to all who were entitled to the degree of Master of Arts, and +free-born and qualified artists. It was he who built the first railway +in Russia, by drawing a straight line between Moscow and St. +Petersburg. He also joined the Volga and the Don by a canal. His reign +is also noted for the progress of Russian literature. The works of +Ivan Tourguenief are known throughout the civilized world. + +[Illustration: Alexander II] (p. 218) + + + + +XXIV--ALEXANDER II, THE LIBERATOR. (p. 219) + + +Alexander II was thirty-seven years old when he succeeded to the +throne. The war oppressed Russia, and he felt that peace must be +concluded. But Russian diplomacy loves the tortuous path. The first +proclamation of the czar announced that he promised "to accomplish the +plans and desires of our illustrious predecessors, Peter, Catherine, +Alexander the Well-beloved, and our father of imperishable memory." It +was hoped that this would cause the other powers to propose peace, on +account of the expense of the war. Indeed, a conference was proposed +and took place at Vienna, but the demands of the allies were not so +modest as Russia expected; hence the war continued, and with it the +siege of Sebastopol. + +The Danube territory was lost to Russia since, on the 2d December +1854, Austria had undertaken to defend it, and Prussia had agreed to +help Austria. But Sebastopol was stubbornly defended. In the latter +part of August 1855, 874 guns vomited death and destruction upon the +doomed city where the Russians lost 18,000 men. The French had dug +fifty miles of trenches during the 366 days of the siege, and 4,100 +feet of mines before a single bastion. In one day 70,000 bombs and +shells were fired into the town. On the 8th of September the (p. 220) +assault was ordered, and Sebastopol fell. + +Again Russia tried what boasting would effect. Gortchakof declared to +whoever chose to believe him that he would not voluntarily abandon the +country where Saint Vladimir had received baptism, and the official +newspaper announced that the war was now becoming serious, and that +Sebastopol being destroyed, a stronger fortress would be built. This +meant that Russia was anxious to secure favorable terms. The war had +cost 250,000 men, and Russia's credit at home was in a bad condition. +Austria offered the basis of an agreement which was accepted by +Russia, and on the 25th of February, 1856, a Congress met at Paris. +Five days later the Treaty of Paris was signed. Russia renounced the +right of protecting the Christians in the Danubian principalities, and +restored the delta of that river. The Black Sea was opened to merchant +vessels of all nations, but closed to all warships, and no arsenals +were to be constructed on its shores. The sultan agreed to renew the +privileges of his Christian subjects, but with the understanding that +the powers should not find cause to interfere. It was a hard blow to +Russia's prestige, and indefinitely postponed the execution of making +of Russia the restored Eastern Roman Empire. + +Alexander, in many respects, was the opposite of his father; he seemed +more like his uncle in his younger days when he earned the surname of +Well-beloved. It may be, however, that Alexander was but the executor +of his father's instructions, after doubt began to torture him. It is +known that Nicholas had seriously considered the emancipation of (p. 221) +the serfs. Alexander took it up in earnest. There were two serious +difficulties, namely, the compensation to be allowed to the serf +owners, and the extent of the soil to be allotted to the serfs. It +must be remembered that, although the peasant had become resigned to +serve the landowner, his proverb: "Our backs are the owner's, but the +soil is our own," showed how stubbornly he held to the conviction that +it was his own land which he cultivated, however little profit he +derived from his toil. For once the tchinovnik dared not interfere; +public opinion had so strongly condemned their incompetence and +dishonesty that the Russian official was glad to efface himself; the +landowners, on the other hand, showed little enthusiasm. They knew +what their revenues were, but not what they would be under altered +circumstances. + +Soon after the Treaty of Paris had restored peace, Alexander addressed +his "faithful nobles" at Moscow, inviting them to consult about the +proper measures to be taken with the view to emancipation. When this +produced no results, he appointed a Committee, "for the amelioration +of the condition of the peasants." The nobles of Poland, seeing what +was coming, declared themselves ready to emancipate their serfs. The +czar gave his consent and the ukase containing it was sent to all the +governors and marshals of the nobility "for your information," and +also "for your instruction if the nobles under your administration +should express the same intention as those of the three Lithuanian +governments." + +The press supported the czar, and for that reason was allowed an +unusual freedom of expression. The plan was formed to reconstruct (p. 222) +and strengthen the national mir. This was favored by a number of large +landowners who saw in this plan the beginning of constitutional +liberty. The czar directed that committees be appointed to examine the +scheme. + +There were at this time 47,000,000 serfs, of whom 21,000,000 belonged +to private landowners, 1,400,000 were domestic servants, and the rest +Crown peasants who possessed greater privileges and enjoyed some +degree of self-government. Their local affairs were administered by +the mir and an elected council with an elder as executive. They were +judged by elected courts, that is juries, either in the mir court or +in that of the volost (district). + +Forty-six committees composed of 1,336 land and serf-owners, assembled +to discuss the future of 22,500,000 serfs and of 120,000 owners. These +committees declared in favor of emancipation, but could not agree upon +the allowance of acreage or the indemnity to the owners. Another +committee of twelve was appointed, presided over by the czar, but +there Alexander met considerable passive opposition. The czar made a +journey through the provinces, where he appealed to the nobles, +warning them that "reforms came better from above than below." After +his return another committee superior in authority to the one existing +and composed of friends of emancipation was called. Its members, +inspired by the czar, drafted laws whereby emancipation was to proceed +at once, and stringent laws were made to prevent the free peasant from +again becoming a serf, and to make of him a proprietor upon payment of +an indemnity. On the 3d of March, 1861, the emancipation ukase was +published. + +The scheme, as is evident, was fraught with difficulty. A stroke (p. 223) +of the pen by the hand of the czar could set free millions of serfs, +but all the czar's power stopped short of endowing the serf with the +dignity and responsibility, which are the freeman's birthright. For +more than a century and a half, the moujik had been a beast of burden, +toiling as he was bid, and finding recreation only in besotting +himself with strong drink whenever he could find the means to indulge. +Mental faculties, save such as are inseparable from animal instinct, +had lain dormant; moral perception was limited between the knout on +one side, and gross superstition on the other. Could such a being be +intrusted with life and property? When the serf, brutalized by +generations of oppression, should come to understand that he was free +to do as he pleased, and that the hovel where he and his brood were +styed was his to do with as he pleased, what could he be expected to +do? Would he not seize the opportunity to indulge in his favorite +craving, and, having sold his property, swell the army of homeless +vagabonds? + +The mir was the only means to prevent this, and mir meant serfdom +under another name. The landowners disposed of their land, or of so +much as was required to support the peasants, not to individuals but +to the mir. To indemnify the owners, the mir could secure a loan +whereby the debt was transferred from the owner to the government, and +the mir was responsible for its payment as well as for the taxes. The +moujik, as part of the mir, was responsible to the community for his +share of the debt, and was not allowed to leave his village without a +written permission from the starost or elder. He was, therefore, (p. 224) +in a worse position than before the emancipation because in time of +distress it was his lord's interest to support him, whereas after it +he had to deal with a soulless government that demanded the taxes +regardless of circumstances. The mir might succeed so long as the +peasant remained in a state of tutelage; education only could lift him +out of this,--but this means was not considered by the government. + +But whatever may have been Alexander's intentions, the men charged +with their execution had no sympathy with the moujik. The question +never occurred to them: How shall we raise the peasant from his +degradation? The problem before them was, how he should be made to +support the State, as he had done before. The Russian statesmen had no +conception of the truth that the wealth of a State is gauged by the +prosperity of the people. + +As to the serf, he did not consider that a boon had been bestowed upon +him. The soil and the hovel were his, descended to him from his +forbears! Why, then, should he pay for them? He clung to this idea +with all the stubbornness implanted by a sense of justice upon a +limited intelligence. It had been hammered into his head that the +Little Father at St. Petersburg was conferring a favor upon him, and +this was within his limited conception; but when he heard what the +favor was, the only solution which his cunning brain could devise was +that the nobles had cheated the czar, or that there had been some +juggling with the ukase. Thus grave disturbances occurred. In one +district, that of Kazan, 10,000 men rose at the call of the moujik +Petrof, who promised them the real article of liberty. Troops were +called out and a hundred peasants besides Petrof were shot. (p. 225) +Similar disturbances occurred in other provinces. The poor moujik did +not know that he was saddled with a debt which neither he nor his +children could hope to pay; but he did know that he was charged with a +debt which he had not incurred. + +Nevertheless, the emancipation was a step forward. Under the liberal +impulse then rushing irresistibly over Russia's broad level the upper +classes clamored for reforms. They asked for the re-establishment of +the douma as the beginning of a constitutional government, but the +czar was not prepared to grant this, and he was right because +under existing circumstances the peasants would have to be +disfranchized,--and there is small choice between an autocracy and an +oligarchy. + +It is to be regretted that the reforms in the judicial system, +introduced by Alexander in the ukases of 1862 to 1865, have since been +rescinded. Secret examinations were displaced by open sessions of the +courts, and criminal cases were decided by juries; the police was +forbidden to examine the accused, which duty was placed into the hands +of a qualified judge. Appeals could be taken to a higher court, and +the Senate acted as a Supreme Court in the last resort. Apart from +this system was the justice of the peace who adjudged ordinary police +cases, acted as an arbitrator, and decided civil suits when the amount +involved did not exceed 500 rubles ($250). No appeal could be taken in +cases involving less than thirty rubles in civil suits, or fifteen +rubles or three days' prison in police offenses. If an appeal was +taken the case was brought, not before a higher court, but before the +collective justices of the peace of the district, whose verdict (p. 226) +could be set aside only by the Senate. + +The Russian _goubernii_, governments, were divided into districts +(_ouiezdi_). The imperial ukase of 1864, created _zemstvos_ or +district assemblies composed of representatives of the landed +proprietors or gentlemen; or rural communes or mirs, and of the towns. +These representatives were elected every three years. The assembly +appointed an executive committee which is in permanent session, but +the zemstvo assembles once a year. Its duties are strictly limited to +local affairs, such as keeping roads and bridges in repair; to watch +over education and sanitation, to report on the condition of the +harvest, and to guard against the occurrence of famine. Above the +district zemstvo is the goubernkoe zemstvo or provincial assembly, +whose members are elected from the district zemstvos. Its duties +embrace the estimate of the provincial budget, and a general +supervision over the districts. + +Alexander was kindly disposed and meant to do well. He showed it by +removing the barriers erected by his father between Russia and western +Europe. Foreigners in Russia were granted civil rights, and Russians +were allowed to travel abroad. The universities were relieved of +restraints and Jews who had learned a trade could settle where they +pleased. All these reforms were so many promises of a new era for +Russia. + +Alexander soon found out that his concessions only served to create +demands for more. The trouble began in Poland, where the news of +Nicholas' death was received with relief, if not with joy. Great hopes +were entertained from the new czar; besides, the Europe of 1855 (p. 227) +was very different from that of 1825: monarchs had learned the lesson +that the people possessed inalienable rights. Italy had shaken off the +encumbrance of a number of princelings,--and was the better for it; +Austria had been compelled to grant self-government to its Hungarian +subjects; why, then, should Poland despair of recovering its +independence? + +It was Poland's greatest misfortune that her best sons were always +divided in opinion; many of them, moreover, thought that Poland's +cause should command the sacrifices of every people. They forgot that +their country owed its downfall to itself and that, whereas people +might express their sympathy, it cannot be expected that they shall +neglect their own business for the sake of other people. Some of the +leaders expected that the czar would grant them self-government, and +Alexander might have done so after some time; but others demanded not +only independence but that Russia should restore the parts which she +had owned for so many years that they had become parts of the empire. +The czar dared not grant such a request, because it would have +produced a revolution in Russia, besides a war with Austria and +Prussia, since those powers owned part of Poland. He was, however, +willing to grant important concessions and did so. In February 1863, +an insurrection broke out, and Russian troops were dispatched to +subdue it. The Russians acted with great cruelty, so that England, +France, and Austria protested on the 17th of June. Russia, knowing +that Prussia would come to her assistance paid no attention, and in +1866, Russian Poland became a part of Russia. The Russian language (p. 228) +displaced the Polish, and Poland is no longer even a name; it is a +memory and a warning,--nothing more. + +Quite different was Alexander's treatment of Finland. In 1863, he +convoked the Diet of that grand dukedom, where nobility and people +appreciated the degree of liberty which they enjoyed. The government +did not interfere with the national language or religion, but took +measures that neither should spread in Russia. + +Alexander's concessions raised the expectation of a constitution among +those who knew what the word implies, including the students at the +universities. These institutions were closed. The provincial zemstvos +exceeded their authority. That of Tver demanded the convocation of the +three Estates; that at Toula discussed a national assembly. Was it +Alexander or his court and ministers who bore the responsibility for +the suppressive means that were employed? It may be that the attempts +upon his life, by Karakozof in 1866, and by the Pole Berezofski at +Paris in 1867, embittered him. But his kindly feeling and love for his +people, taken in conjunction with a later event, warrant the belief +that he was ignorant. + + + + +XXV--GREAT EVENTS DURING ALEXANDER'S REIGN. (p. 229) + +NIHILISM. + + +Prussia's behavior during the Polish insurrection brought her into a +close friendship with Russia. The result was seen when Austria and +Prussia, in 1864, invaded the German provinces of Denmark, when Russia +prevented intervention, and Denmark lost the two provinces by the +Treaty of Vienna, October 30, 1864. Soon after Prussia and Austria +quarreled about the spoils. The countries of South Germany supported +Austria. War began on June 18, 1866, and little over two months later, +on August 23, 1866, it ended by the Peace of Prague, which gave to +Prussia Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse, Nassau, and the city of +Frankfort. Prussia did not annex Wurtemburg in compliment to the czar, +who was related to its king by marriage. + +If Russia looked carelessly upon Prussia's growth, not so Napoleon III +of France. He saw in it a threat, and to offset Prussia's increase of +power, tried to secure other territory. It was evident that nothing +but a pretext was needed to bring on war. It was found, and Napoleon +declared war on July 15, 1870. Once again it was Alexander who protected +Prussia on the east, by threatening Austria which would gladly have +seized the opportunity to avenge 1866. As a consequence France (p. 230) +had to fight the whole of Germany; and Russia seized the opportunity +for repudiating the treaty of Paris of 1856, which forbade the +construction of arsenals on the coast of the Black Sea and did not +permit any war vessels in it. None of the powers felt any inclination +to fight Russia single-handed, but Prussia proposed a conference, +which was held at London. The result was that Russia was left free in +the Black Sea, but the sultan has the right to close the Dardanelles +to warships. + +On January 18, 1871, the King of Prussia became German Emperor, and in +the following year the Emperor of Russia, the Emperor of Austria, and +the German Emperor met at Vienna, with the result that an alliance was +concluded among the three powers. + +In 1867 Russia resolved to dispose of its possessions on the western +hemisphere by selling Alaska, a territory covering 590,884 square +miles, to the United States. In the same year a Slavophil Congress was +held at Moscow with the czar's approval. The object was said to be to +unite all the nations of Slav origin by a bond of friendship; but the +real purpose was to bring them under the rule of the czar. This was +apparent when it was resolved to send emissaries among the Slavs under +Turkish rule. They met with encouragement in Montenegro, Bulgaria, +Bosnia, and Herzegovina. General Ignatieff, the Russian ambassador at +Constantinople, thought that this might be the means to bring about +the longed-for annexation of the old Czargrad. He worked upon the +Turkish subjects belonging to the Greek Church, but showed his hand +when, under his decision, the Bulgarians were released from the (p. 231) +authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1875, the Bulgarian +Christians rose against the Turkish tax-farmers. The revolt was fanned +by the Russian emissaries, and it spread to Servia and Montenegro. +Ignatieff did not think that the time was ripe and interfered; but he +threatened the Sultan with European intervention and Abdul Aziz +granted the insurgents the privileges enjoyed by the Christians in +Turkey. + +Austria looked with apprehension upon the increasing influence of +Russia in Turkey, and suggested drastic reforms in a note addressed to +the powers on December 30, 1875. It was approved and presented to the +sultan by the five great European powers. Abdul Aziz quietly accepted +it. This was not what the Russian Slavophils expected, and they +incited the Servians to revolt. A religious insurrection followed +which was put down by the Turks with such cruelty that it aroused +universal indignation in Europe, especially in Russia. In +Constantinople the Turks were indignant at the sultan's evident fear +of Ignatieff. The situation became so alarming that Great Britain +assembled a fleet in Besika Bay. The triple alliance, Russia, Austria +and Prussia, demanded of the sultan an armistice and the execution of +reforms under foreign supervision. The situation changed by a +revolution in Turkey on May 29, 1876, when Abdul Aziz was assassinated +and succeeded by his nephew Murad V. + +Russia felt that war was inevitable and approached Austria with proposals +to take joint action. The reply was that Austria could not permit the +creation of a Slav state on the frontier and that, if any changes were +made in the Balkans, Austria must receive compensation. This was (p. 232) +admitted by Russia. A number of Russian officers took service in +Servia, among them General Chernaiev, who had gained distinction in +Central Asia. Montenegro declared war against Turkey on July 2, 1876. + +On the 31st of August, of the same year, Sultan Murad V was deposed, +and his half-brother became sultan as Abdul Hamid II. Meanwhile the +Turks were victorious, and on September, 17, the Servians asked for an +armistice. + +The reports of Turkish atrocities aroused great indignation in Great +Britain; its government was forced to join the other great powers in a +note to the sultan demanding reforms. Abdul Hamid made vague promises +but when the Servians, trusting to intervention, again took up arms, +they were badly defeated and a great number of Russian officers were +killed. The czar was forced to interfere. On October 31, he demanded +an armistice of six weeks, to which Abdul Hamid replied that he would +make it six months. This was declined because it would keep the +Servians too long in suspense, and the war continued. In the beginning +of November Chernaiev admitted that the Slav cause was lost unless +foreign help came. + +Alexander was really concerned in seeking a peaceable solution, but +his high officers were equally earnest in preventing it. Ignatieff, at +Constantinople, was especially active with every means at his +disposal. Alexander suggested a European conference but before it +assembled he declared publicly at Moscow (Nov. 10), that, anxious as +he was to avoid the shedding of Russian blood, he would act alone (p. 233) +to support his brethren in race and religion unless the conference +brought relief. + +The representatives of the powers met at Constantinople on the 5th of +December, 1876. The sultan, a man of rare ability and cunning, knew +that Turkey's disintegration was discussed in its own capital. He did +not object, but made one of the reform party his Grand Vizier, and +astonished the world by proclaiming a constitution on December 25. + +The conference concluded its deliberations, and presented its +conclusions to the sultan who agreed to submit them to the National +Assembly, which was to meet in March, 1877. Abdul Hamid was wise. He +made the first legislature Turkey ever had,--and he had firmly +resolved that it should also be the last,--responsible for whatever +might happen. The session was brief, but long enough to refuse the +conditions imposed by the powers. + +Alexander demanded that the sultan make peace with Montenegro which +was declined. On the 24th of April the czar declared war. England +protested against Russia's independent action, but 250,000 men crossed +the Turkish frontier. The principal incident was the siege and fall of +Plevna (July 20--Dec. 10, 1877), under Osman Pasha. The surrender of +this brave Turk alarmed England, which, however, did not grant +Turkey's appeal for intervention. It was at the battle of Senova, Jan. +9, 1878, when he captured 27,000 prisoners and 43 Krupp guns, that +Skobelef won fame. On January 23, Constantinople was at the czar's +mercy. + +But this awoke England. On February 13, the British fleet passed (p. 234) +through the Dardanelles without obtaining the sultan's consent, and +thereby ruined Russia's schemes. In vain did its government complain +of the violation of the Treaty of Paris; before the czar could make +good his threat that he would occupy Constantinople,--the object of +the Russian's most fervid hope,--a fleet of British ironclads +prevented its consummation. + +Peace negotiations were opened at San Stefano, when Russia imposed +exaggerated demands which the cunning sultan hastened to grant, +convinced that the other powers would prevent their execution. He was +right. Great Britain, Austria, and Turkey entered into an alliance. +England sent for Indian troops to occupy Malta, and called out the +reserves. The war had cost Russia $600,000,000 and 90,000 men, and she +was not in a condition to fight the three powers. Thus, for the second +time, Czargrad slipped out of Russia's clutches, and each time she +owed the disappointment to Great Britain. + +The Balkan question was settled at the Congress at Berlin which opened +on June 13, 1878, and finished its sessions a month later. Turkey +ceded to Russia a part of Bessarabia, and in Asia, Kars, Ardahan, and +Batoum. This ending of the war, so different from what was expected by +the Slavophils, caused great dissatisfaction in Russia, and the czar +dissolved all Slavophil committees. This gained him the dislike of the +high officers and of the tchinovnik. + +The absurd and dangerous doctrine of nihilism, that is, the destruction +of everything that constitutes society, penetrated into Russia by way +of Germany. At first it was nothing but a theory, fascinating for (p. 235) +young and inexperienced people such as students of the universities +who, unless properly guided, are apt to adopt any idea that appeals to +the generous sentiments of youth. In 1864, an exile named Bakunin +escaped from Siberia, and made his way to London where he secured +employment on the _Kolokol_ or "Bell," a revolutionary paper published +in Russia which was smuggled over the frontier and scattered broadcast +in the czar's domains. Under Bakunin's influence this paper became +hostile to society, and preached nihilism. In 1869, a Congress of +Nihilists was held at Basel, Switzerland; Bakunin proposed to create +an International Committee of active workers. + +Soon unmistakable signs of trouble appeared in Russia, but the +government was on the alert and took strong means of suppression. +Nicholas I, the man with the iron will, had sent an average number of +9,000 persons annually to Siberia; this number under Alexander the +Liberator increased to from 16,000 to 20,000. Bakunin urged his +followers to "go among the people," and a host of young persons, male +and female, many of them belonging to the wealthy classes, adopted the +life of the moujik in the villages. But the Russian peasant possesses +a degree of cunning which shows his dormant intelligence, and +suspected the motives of those who said they wanted to benefit him, +and this, added to his real affection for the czar, rendered the +attempt of the nihilists a failure. The Russian peasant dreads a +change in his condition, because experience has taught him that it +will end to his disadvantage. In 1876 there were still 2,000,000 +peasants who preferred serfdom. + +The Turkish war, when the government was occupied elsewhere, (p. 236) +afforded an opportunity which was not neglected by the nihilists. On a +July night of the year 1877, fifteen young men met in the forest near +Litepsk, and formed a conspiracy against all existing institutions. +Two papers, _The Popular Will_ and _The Black Partition_ advised +assassination as the means to gain their object. We may judge of +conditions in Russia from knowing that many good and wealthy people +made contributions, well aware that arrest and punishment would follow +if the secret police should hear of it. In October, 1877, 253 +nihilists were arrested, and 160 were convicted at the trial. In +February, 1878, General Trepof, Governor of St. Petersburg was openly +accused in the papers of gross cruelty toward a prisoner, and Vera +Zazulich, a young woman, sought to kill him. She was arrested, +tried,--and acquitted, much to the disgust of the authorities who made +every effort to re-arrest her. Then began a reign of terror. Officials +were condemned to death by an "Executive Committee," composed of +members whose names were unknown. The police did not know whom to +suspect, and therefore suspected everybody, and no one was safe. Often +the condemned officer was warned of his doom by letter or paper, but +the messenger could not be found. In April, the president of the Kief +University was dangerously wounded, and a police officer was stabbed +in public. In August, General Mezensof, Chief of the dreaded Secret +Police, was killed, and when the government abolished trial by jury in +favor of a military court, it seemed as if the public took the part of +the terrorists. These men grew bolder. On the 22d of February, (p. 237) +1878, Prince Krapotkine, the Governor of Kharkof, was shot, and his +death sentence was found posted in many cities. On the following 7th +of March, Colonel Knoop of the Odessa police, was killed, and as a +climax, on the 14th of April a school-teacher named Solovief fired a +pistol at the czar. Not satisfied with assassination, the terrorists +resorted to incendiarism at Moscow, Nishni Novgorod, and other cities, +and there were riots at Rostof. In April, 1878, the government +proclaimed martial law, and the most renowned generals, Melikof, +Gourko, Todleben, and others were appointed governors with unlimited +authority. At St. Petersburg the _dvorniks_ or house janitors were +directed to spy upon the residents and to report their movements to +the secret police. Executions, imprisonment, and exile multiplied +until it seemed as if the government wished to terrify the terrorists. + +Still the situation went from bad to worse. On December 1, 1879, as +the imperial train was entering Moscow, it was wrecked by a mine. +Alexander escaped because he had traveled in an earlier section. Three +days later the "Executive Committee" issued a proclamation excusing +the attempt and announcing that the czar had been condemned to death. +On February 17, 1880, an explosion of dynamite in the guard room of +the Winter Palace, just beneath the imperial dining-room, killed and +maimed a large number of soldiers, but the imperial family escaped by +a hair's breadth, as the czar had not entered the room. On the 24th of +the same month Louis Melikof was placed in charge of the city of St. +Petersburg, and eight days later there was an attempt upon his life. +There was a panic in the capital, when a nihilist proclamation (p. 238) +announced that these attempts would cease, provided the czar would +renounce his autocracy and "leave the task of establishing social +reforms to an assembly representing the entire Russian people." + +Whatever may have been his motive, Melikof urged the czar to try what +conciliation would effect. Upon his advice, a large number of exiles +in Siberia were pardoned, and persons imprisoned for political +offenses were released. About 2,000 students expelled from the +universities were readmitted, and in several cases the death sentence +pronounced against nihilists was commuted. Only two men out of the +sixteen convicted of the attempt to blow up the Winter Palace, were +executed. The effect of this new policy was so satisfactory, that on +the 18th of August, 1880, the czar revoked the ukase of February 24, +and Melikof was appointed as Minister of the Interior. He advised the +czar to grant a constitution, and in February 1881, placed before +Alexander a plan to effect this important change gradually. It was +discussed in the Council of State. The majority approved, but a bitter +opposition was manifested by the other members. The czar himself was +in favor of it, but the persons with whom he came into daily contact +caused him to hesitate. He told Melikof that he would give his final +decision on March 12. + +On that day he had not made up his mind, but on the 13th, he ordered +that Melikof's scheme should become a law, and that it be published in +the Official Gazette. That afternoon, as he was returning from his +usual drive, and his carriage was passing between the Catherine Canal +and Michael's Garden, a bomb was thrown under his carriage and (p. 239) +exploded, killing or wounding a number of the guard, but Alexander was +unhurt. He was hurrying to assist the wounded, when another bomb +exploded near him and he was dreadfully mangled. He regained +consciousness for a moment while his attendants were bearing him to +the palace, but died at 3.30 P.M., without having spoken a word. + +A man named Rissakof, said to be a nihilist, was arrested for throwing +the bomb; but there were ugly rumors that the assassination was +committed under the direction of parties interested in maintaining an +autocratic government at all risks. Owing to the secret proceedings in +Russian courts, the murder of Alexander the Liberator still remains a +mystery. + +[Illustration: Alexander III] (p. 240) + + + + +XXVI--ALEXANDER III, THE PEASANTS' FRIEND. (p. 241) + + +The atrocious death of The Liberator gave the throne to his son, who +succeeded as Alexander III. The new czar was thirty-six years old. +Nicholas, the eldest son of Alexander II, had died of consumption in +1865, and, since he had been the heir, his younger brother had not +received any special training. His principal tutor had been +Pobiedonostzeff, a man who believed in autocracy. He had imbued his +pupil with a deeply religious feeling, and imparted to him a thorough +knowledge of Russia's history. Alexander III was of powerful build and +possessed unusual strength. He was loyal to his word, and tenacious in +his likes and dislikes. Married to Princess Dagmar of Denmark, he was +a model husband and father. His education made him a firm believer in +autocracy. + +The sudden and tragic death of his father moved him so deeply that he +gave orders that the last wishes of the late czar should be respected. +"Change nothing in my father's orders;" he said to Melikof; "they are +his last will and testament." He issued two proclamations; in the +first he announced that he would strengthen the bond with Poland and +Finland, and thus gained the support of the Slavophils; and in the +second, he reminded the peasants of the freedom given to them by (p. 242) +his father, and ordered them to swear allegiance to himself and his +heir. Six men and a woman implicated in the murder of the late czar +were arrested, tried, condemned to death, and, with the exception of +the woman, they were executed on April 15. The czar appointed his +former tutor as Procurator of the Holy Synod. Pobiedonostzeff +persuaded his pupil that this was not the time to make concessions. On +the 11th of May, 1881, Alexander issued a proclamation in which he +declared his intention to maintain the absolute power. Melikof +resigned as Minister of the Interior and was replaced by Ignatieff, +the former Russian Minister at Constantinople. + +Shortly after his succession to the throne, Alexander made a journey +to Moscow, and was everywhere received with unmistakable tokens of +loyalty and affection. This confirmed his opinion that the great bulk +of the population was satisfied with the form of government, and +strengthened his determination to defend it. + +In 1881, an anti-semitic movement was felt in Germany; that is, an +outburst of hatred for the Jews broke out, which spread to Russia. It +is not generally known that of all the Jews in the world, four fifths +live in Russia in the southwest, in an area of 356,681 square miles. +This is sometimes mentioned as the Jewish territory. Few of these +people engage in agriculture; they are sometimes mechanics, but more +often peddlers, storekeepers, bankers and moneylenders. The principal +objection to them was that they succeed where others fail. In May, +1881, there were anti-Jewish riots at Kief and other places. +Pobiedonostzeff's motto was, "One Russia, One Religion, One Czar;" (p. 243) +prompted by him, Alexander did not take any energetic measures to +suppress the disorder, for he, too, disliked to see in Russia a people +differing in religion, language, and outward appearance. Ignatieff +began a system of persecution by removing the Jews who had profited by +the late czar's permission to settle anywhere, and when the act which +recalled the Middle Ages was hotly condemned by the foreign press, +even the Slavophils said that Ignatieff had gone too far. The +persecution died out until 1884, when the Jews were deprived of their +civil rights, and an attempt was made to compel them to enter the +Greek Church. But the Jew is steadfast under persecution, and the only +result was that some of them heartily joined the nihilists. + +The public condemnation which followed these acts, induced Ignatieff +to advise the czar to adopt Melikof's scheme of a constitution. +Alexander did not understand this change of views and when de Giers +was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ignatieff resigned. He was +succeeded by D. Tolstoi. + +Misunderstandings and the clashing of interests were dissolving the +triple alliance of Russia, Austria, and Germany. This was apparent in +the Balkan States which had been formed after the last Russo-Turkish +war. Charles I, King of Roumania, was a German prince who mistrusted +Russia's schemes. In March, 1882, Prince Milan Obrenovitch of Servia +assumed the title of king, and the czar offered no objection. The +ruler of Bulgaria was Alexander of Battenberg who was a relative of +the czar and had served in the Russian army, which may have been the +reason of his appointment. The Russian Minister at his court was (p. 244) +evidently of the opinion that his word, as representative of the czar, +was law, and when he found out that his orders were set at naught, he +withdrew from his post, whereupon the Russian officers serving in the +Bulgarian army, were dismissed. This gave grave offense at St. +Petersburg, but the affair was arranged, and the Russian Minister +returned. In September, 1885, there was a revolution in Sofia, the +capital of Eastern Roumelia, when the crown was offered to Alexander +of Battenberg, who accepted. He hastened to inform the czar, who was +too angry to pay any attention to letters or telegrams. + +Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia, although united under one prince, sent +deputations to St. Petersburg to appease the czar, but were informed +that their future would be decided by the great powers. Soon after +Servia declared war against Bulgaria; after a few unimportant +skirmishes, they were driven back by Prince Alexander, who would have +captured the capital Belgrad, if he had not been stopped by Austria's +intervention. Alexander, after another fruitless attempt to mollify +the czar, applied to the sultan, who appointed him as Governor-general +over Eastern Roumelia for five years. The czar protested and invited +the powers to a conference which was held at Constantinople on April +5, 1886. To the infinite disgust of the czar, the dispute was decided +in favor of Prince Alexander. + +Russia, however, had a pro-Russian party in Bulgaria. On August 21, +1886, Prince Alexander was kidnaped and carried across the Danube, +after being compelled to abdicate. At Lemberg, in Austrian territory +he was set free. The Bulgarians rallied under the President of the (p. 245) +National Assembly and forced the pro-Russians to flee, after which +Prince Alexander returned on the 3d of September. Once more he made an +attempt to pacify the czar, but when his telegram remained unanswered, +he abdicated three days later, rather than involve the country in a +war with Russia. He left on the same day, to the sorrow of the people. + +The czar was angry. He knew that Austria would not have dared oppose +him unless assured of the support of Germany. The feeling in Russia +grew more bitter when the election in Bulgaria showed a total defeat +of the pro-Russian party, and the crown was offered to Prince Waldemar +of Denmark, who declined at the instance of the czar. The Bulgarians +then made an offer to Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, who accepted, +and in August made his formal entry in Tirnova. Alexander once more +protested to the powers, but it passed unheeded and he urged the +sultan to expel Ferdinand. Abdul Hamid declined with thanks, +preferring to have as neighbor a small independent country to Russia. +Alexander then demanded payment of the war indemnity due since the +Treaty of San Stefano, but could obtain nothing except a profusion of +excuses and apologies. Soon after the sultan had trouble in Armenia, +which was Russia's latest resort to arouse public opinion against the +Turk. + +This is the age of colossal enterprises and combinations in every +direction, in politics as well as in other branches of human activity. +In Russia Slavophilism, gave way to Panslavism, that is, the scheme to +unite all Slav nations. Germany was quick to respond with Pan (p. 246) +Germanism, that is, to bring all German-speaking nations under one +scepter. The czar, obeying this impulse, made every effort to convert +the Baltic provinces,--which Germany called the German Provinces,--into +Slavs by making the Russian language the only language that was taught +in the schools; and Germany retaliated in the Polish provinces. Under +these circumstances friendship ceased. Russia established a protective +tariff, which was a rude blow to Germany's commerce; and that country +replied by refusing to loan Russia any more money. The czar's +government applied to France which responded with unexpected +generosity. From that time Russia's internal improvements have been +made with French capital. + +Prudent as he was, Alexander allowed his anger and dislike to master +him, when Prince Alexander of Battenberg was accepted as suitor to a +daughter of Queen Victoria. Troops were hurried from the Caucasus into +Poland, but Germany averted war by having the match broken off. When +the present German emperor, William II, succeeded to the throne, he +attempted to make friends with the czar by dismissing Prince Bismarck, +in 1890, but Alexander could neither forgive nor forget. It was +chiefly owing to this that Russia and France drew closer together +until it ended in an alliance. + +Strong, self-willed, and masterful, Alexander did love his people in +his own way. In January, 1884, he ordered the poll-tax to be +abolished, and thereby relieved the peasants of a heavy burden; he +also compelled the landowners to sell to their former serfs the land +cultivated by them. Since the price was payable in installments (p. 247) +and the owners needed the money, the government assumed the position +of creditor, but Alexander reduced the total indebtedness by +12,000,000 rubles, and granted 5,000,000 rubles for the relief of +overburdened villages. He calculated that the land would be paid for +in 1930, when the title will be vested in the mir,--unless one of his +successors should please to appropriate the past payments for other +purposes. + +In the black earth belt the allotments had been according to the needs +of the population, but the increase among the people rendered them too +small and several severe famines followed. The government tried to +induce the surplus population to emigrate to Siberia, but the Russian +peasant lacks education and has been held in tutelage so long that he +is not fit for the life of a pioneer settler. Transportation +facilities increased by the aid of French capital, and added to the +prosperity of merchants and speculators, but did not help the moujik +who did not know how to profit by them. + +Alexander, as autocrat of all the Russias, did not suffer any +authority but his own. The zemstvos, volosts, and mirs, were all +placed under officials appointed by him. Every shadow of +self-government was destroyed. This demanded a reorganization of the +army, which was increased by 900,000 men. The reserves were called out +once a year, and drilled as in actual war. Strategic railways were +built for the speedy transportation of troops. Coast defenses were +constructed and the navy was increased. In 1884, Batoum was closed as +a port and converted into a naval base, and when England protested, +claiming that this was in violation of the Treaty of Berlin,--as (p. 248) +it was,--Russia, referring to the changes in the Balkan, inquired if +the duty of observing the treaties was reserved exclusively for +Russia. + +Alexander's reign was especially discouraging for the Poles who still +hoped for the revival of their country. Poles were made into Russians; +but Panslavism demanded that the German should be banished. In 1887, +Alexander ordered that, when a foreign landowner in Poland died, his +estate must be sold unless his heirs had been residents of Poland +before this order was published. Germany, suffering from +Pan-Germanism, collected several thousand Russian Poles who had +settled in Germany, and put them across the frontier. Russia replied +by making a law in the Baltic provinces that nothing but Russian could +be taught in any school, and that no more Lutheran churches could be +built without the permission of the Holy Synod. + +Then came Finland's turn. In 1890, Russian money, Russian stamps, and +worse than that, Russian taxes were introduced. There were loud +protests, which received courteous answers, but the process continued. +In 1891, the Finnish Committee at St. Petersburg, which had directed +the affairs of Finland, was abolished, and Russian censorship +abolished the free press. The Russian language was made obligatory, +and the Finns who could afford it emigrated to the United States and +settled in the northwest. + +In 1890, Alexander ordered the construction of the Trans-Siberian +railway, of which more will be said in the chapter on Asiatic Russia. + +All these years Alexander had battled with nihilism and (p. 249) +revolution. His policy neither gave nor asked for quarter. In May, +1888, an army officer named Timovief made an attempt upon the czar's +life. On October 29th of the same year, as he was traveling in +southern Russia an accident occurred in which twenty-one were killed +and many injured; it was ascribed to nihilists, but may have been +caused by defects. Be that as it may, Alexander never recovered from +the shock. In March, 1890, another plot against his life was +discovered. In November, 1891, the secret police came on the scent of +a conspiracy at Moscow, and in April, 1894, they learned of one at St. +Petersburg. In constant fear of assassination, Alexander resided at +Gatschina, twenty-five miles south of St. Petersburg, as in an armed +fortress. The never-ceasing tension wore out the strong man. He caught +cold and suffering from inflammation of the kidneys he went south, but +experienced no relief. He died on the 1st of November, 1894. + +In his private life he was essentially a good man; as czar, he acted +according to his convictions. He gave much thought to the welfare of +the peasants and as such deserved the surname of The Peasants' Friend. + +[Illustration: Nicholas II] (p. 250) + + + + +XXVII--RUSSIA UNDER THE PRESENT CZAR. (p. 251) + +NICHOLAS II. + + +"Neglect nothing that can make my son truly a man!" This was the +instruction given by Alexander to the tutors of his son. Consequently, +Nicholas in his youth was allowed to indulge in manly exercises and +sports, while special tutors taught him mathematics, natural +philosophy, history, political economy, English, French, and German, +besides his native language. Destined for the throne, he began his +military career at the age of thirteen as hetman of the Cossacks, and +passed successively through the different grades. In 1889, at the age +of twenty-one, he was appointed president of a committee to prepare +plans for the Trans-Siberian railway, and the following year he made a +tour in the Far East, visiting China and Japan. In the last-named +country he was attacked and wounded by a police officer who had been +brooding over the wrongs which his country had suffered at the hands +of Russia. Nicholas recovered and proceeded to Vladivostok, where he +initiated the building of the great continental line. He returned to +St. Petersburg by way of Siberia and Moscow, and was the first czar +who had ever visited his Asiatic empire. + +Born on May 18, 1868, he was twenty-six years old when he was (p. 252) +called to the throne. He announced that he would "promote the progress +and peaceful glory of our beloved Russia, and the happiness of all our +faithful subjects." On the 26th of November, 1894, the czar married +Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, the granddaughter of Queen +Victoria, who, on entering the Greek Church, received the name of +Alexandra Feodorofna. The czar retained his father's ministers, except +that Prince Khilkof, who had learned practical railroading in the +United States, was appointed Minister of Public Works. Pobiedonostzeff +continued as Procurator of the Holy Synod. + +Nicholas showed greater leniency toward Poland and Finland than his +father had done. He revoked several of his father's ukases and seemed +to be willing to treat them fairly. Finland's forests are a source of +great prosperity and the Russian officials have long been anxious to +secure a share. When the Secretary of State for Finland resigned, +General Kuropatkin became Minister of War, and he wished to introduce +Russia's military system. General Bobrikof, a brusque and haughty man, +was appointed Governor-general with instructions to proceed with the +conversion of the Finns into Slavs. He convoked an extraordinary +session of the Diet, January 24, 1899, and submitted Kuropatkin's +scheme, with a strong hint that it must pass. The Diet ignored the +hint and rejected the scheme, whereupon Bobrikof ignored the Diet and +published it as a law to go into effect in 1903. An imperial ukase of +February 15, 1899, reorganized the Diet according to a plan drawn up +by Pobiedonostzeff. Bobrikof increased the rigor of the press +censorship, but the Finns remained within the law. A petition was (p. 253) +circulated which in ten days secured 500,000 signatures, and a +delegation was sent to St. Petersburg to present it. The delegation +was not admitted. + +In January, 1895, the czar received a deputation of all classes of his +subjects who hinted that the zemstvos might be used as the germ of a +constitutional government. He replied that he believed in autocracy +and that he intended to maintain it as his predecessors had done. On +the 26th of May, 1896, he was crowned at Moscow with more than usual +splendor, and in the same year he and the czarina made a tour through +Europe. After visiting the German Emperor and Queen Victoria, they +went to Paris where the czar, after reviewing 100,000 soldiers +declared that the Empire and the Republic were united in indissoluble +friendship. The visit was returned by the President of the French +Republic, M. Faure, in August, 1897. On this occasion the world +received notice that an alliance existed between the two powers, and +that, if one of them was attacked by more than one power, the other +would assist with the whole of its military and naval strength, and +peace could be concluded only in concert between the allies. + +Two great reforms are noticeable under the present reign. The sale of +spirits has greatly decreased since the government took the monopoly +of the manufacture and sale of liquor. The French loans made the +establishment of the gold standard possible and speculation in Russian +paper money ceased. + +The completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway aroused great expectation +for the future of Russia's commerce. The war with Japan has (p. 254) +prevented the possibility of estimating the effect it will have upon +oceanic trade. But Russia's manufactures have had a wonderful +increase; its effect is shown in the population of the cities. In +1870, Russia contained only six cities with a population of over +100,000; their number was doubled in 1897. Warsaw, the old capital of +Poland, had 243,000 inhabitants in 1865; in 1897, they had increased +to 615,000. Lotz, also in Poland, rose from 12,000 to 315,000. This +cannot fail to exert a powerful influence upon the future of the +empire; first, on account of the creation of a middle class which, +even at this early day, numbers nine per cent of the population; and +next, because the mechanics and factory hands are recruited from among +the peasants, who thus are brought into daily contact with more +intelligent people, and acquire new ideas and new necessities. The +official class is bitterly opposed to this new departure, because it +foreshadows the day when the drag upon Russia will be cast off. + +Nicholas seems to have reversed his father's policy in the Balkan +States. He also acted in concert with Europe in 1896, when trouble +arose between Turkey and Greece. It began in Crete, where Turk and +Christian could not agree. Stories of massacres infuriated the Greeks +and the king had to choose between a revolution and a declaration of +war. In April, 1897, an army of 80,000 men under Prince George crossed +into Thessaly, but was driven back by a Turkish army of 150,000 men. +Prince George had invaded Crete in February, but the powers compelled +him to evacuate the island. The czar interceded with the sultan, and +the absurd war was ended. + +The Slavophils, after their failure in the Balkan provinces had (p. 255) +excited the Armenians in the provinces near the Russian Caucasus. They +attacked the Kurds, a nomadic tribe of Mussulmans, when the Turks took +the side of their co-religionists and treated the Armenians with no +soft hand. The Panslavists demanded autonomy for Armenia, but this did +not suit Prince Lobanof, who had succeeded de Giers as Minister of +Foreign Affairs, because he feared trouble in the Caucasus. In 1895, +Russia, France, and England, presented a note to the sultan, +suggesting the appointment of a high commissioner, the abolition of +torture, and reforms in taxation. Turkey agreed, but Shakir Pasha, the +high commissioner, failed to restore order and the disorder threatened +to become a revolt. Even in Constantinople a condition of anarchy +prevailed. + +The atrocities committed by the Turks aroused indignation everywhere, +when the Armenians seized the Ottoman Bank, but the conspirators were +forced to flee from the building and to seek refuge on an English +yacht. The Turks were furious and killed more than 5,000 Armenians. +Again the powers remonstrated; but at this time it began to dawn upon +the public that the Armenians were a least quite as much to blame as +the Turks, and the interest subsided. Russia had discovered that the +Armenians are undesirable citizens, and sent back some 40,000 of them +who had settled in the Russian Caucasus. Germany, intent upon securing +concessions from Turkey, left the sultan a free hand; meanwhile the +British public was engrossed by the Boer war, and the Armenians, +seeing that they were left to their own devices, subsided. + +The civilized world was startled when, on August 24, 1898, Russia (p. 256) +issued a note to the powers, declaring that "military and naval +budgets attack public prosperity at its very source, and divert +national energies from useful aims," and suggesting a conference to +discuss the subject of displacing war by an International Court. + +The note received generous applause, especially in the United States +and Great Britain, the two foremost nations devoted to the arts of +peace. The several governments agreed to participate in the proposed +conference. The place selected was The Hague, the capital of the +Netherlands, where the sessions opened on May 18, 1899. + +Of all the great powers, the United States was the only one +unreservedly in favor of an arrangement whereby war would be +prevented. Most of the other powers looked upon an International Court +as visionary, and so far as the ostensible purpose is concerned, the +conference was a failure. Still, it bore fruit in defining and adding +strength to international law. Among its most important results is the +clause that "When a conflict seems imminent, one or several powers +shall have the right to offer mediation, and its exercise shall not be +regarded as an unfriendly act." A permanent Court of Arbitration was +established at The Hague. It is composed of judges selected from a +list on which every country is represented. On the 29th of July, the +delegates of sixteen nations signed the protocol embodying the +conclusions; it was afterwards signed by sixteen more. It remained, +however, with the United States, to give vitality to an institution +which was looked upon with ill favor by many governments. + +Although the reign of terror from the nihilists has passed, (p. 257) +political murder is still rampant in Russia, and recent events in the +Far East have caused a renewal of the agitation for reforms. In 1904, +the Governor-general of Finland was assassinated, and soon afterwards, +the hated and dreaded Minister of the Interior de Plehve shared that +fate. His successor seems to be anxious to grant greater liberties to +the people. The united action of the zemstvos, and the final issue of +the war in the Far East, may have important results. Nicholas II, amid +all his perplexities, was made glad by the birth of a son and heir, +who received the name of Alexis. + +[Illustration: Map] (p. 258) + + + + +XXVIII--THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE ASIATIC EMPIRE. (p. 259) + + +A close study of the history of Asiatic Russia reveals the fact that, +until within a comparatively recent date, the Russian government had +no fixed policy in or toward Asia. There was a national instinct which +impelled Russia eastward. Twice had Europe been invaded by Asiatic +hordes, and, owing to its position, Russia was doomed to bear the +brunt of the onset. Russia's history points out a ceaseless desire to +be a European nation, to share with Europe its progress and its +burdens. It is within a few years that the heir to the throne first +visited the extensive Asiatic dominions. No czar had ever put foot in +them. Until the reign of Nicholas I (1825-1855), the Russian Empire +spread eastward much as the United States expanded westward, by +individual effort. + +The movement began in 1558, when Ivan the Terrible granted to Gregory +Strogonof ninety-two miles of waste land on the banks of the Kama. The +new owner explored the mineral resources of the Urals, crossed the +mountains, and found himself in the kingdom of Sibir. Strogonof had +become acquainted with one Yermak or Irmak, a Cossack and captain of a +robber band known as the Good Companions of the Don. He had been (p. 260) +condemned to death, if the government could lay hands on him, which, +on account of the sparsity of the population, was exceedingly +doubtful. Strogonof discussed with him a raid into Sibir, and the +Cossack consented, provided his pardon could be secured. Strogonof +went to Moscow and submitted his scheme to Ivan who gave his approval. +Upon his return to the Urals, Strogonof found that he had 850 men, +Russians, Cossacks, Tartars, and German and Polish prisoners of war, +all hardy adventurers. They marched east terrifying the natives with +their firelocks, and levying tribute, that is, taking whatever was +worth the trouble. They defeated the khan, and took his capital, +Sibir, on the Irtish. Yermak then visited Moscow, where he was the +hero of the day. Had he not struck at the very heart of the mysterious +continent whence so much trouble and disgrace had come upon Russia? +And had he not exacted tribute from the very people who not very long +ago held Russia under tribute. + +Yermak was therefore praised and entertained and graciously told to go +ahead, Ivan had neither men nor money to spare, but he was quite +willing that these adventurers should despoil the Asiatics, instead of +holding up Russian travelers and traders. Ivan gave him a suit of +armor as a token of good will. After Yermak's return to Siberia, he +was surprised by the natives and drowned by the weight of his armor as +he was trying to escape by swimming the Irtish. (1584.) Other Cossacks +had heard of his success and followed his example. In 1587, Tobolsk +was founded on the Irtish, ten miles below Sibir. + +There was little or no communication between Siberia and Moscow, (p. 261) +owing to the distance separating them, and the successors of Ivan had +ample trouble on their hands. It was, therefore, left to the Cossacks +to make such explorations and conquests as they could. In 1619, Tomsk +was founded. Farther and farther did the Cossacks advance among the +isolated tribes. In 1632, a log fort was built where Yakoutsk now +stands, and six years later they gazed upon the broad waters of the +Pacific and planted the czar's flag on the shore of the Sea of +Okhotsk. + +It was a congenial occupation for the Cossack, to roam where he +pleased and to take what suited his fancy, and he did not lack either +the skill or the courage needed by the explorer. In 1639, a party of +Cossacks under Max Perfirief, discovered the Upper Amoor, and heard +tales of such vast wealth that they hastened to Yakoutsk and placed +their discovery before Peter Petrovitch, the first Russian Governor. + +Men and money were scarce, but the governor, after many efforts +managed to collect 132 men whom he placed in command of Vassili +Poyarkof, with instructions to do the best he could. The party started +on the 15th of July, 1643, and followed the usual course with the +natives with the result that he returned to Yakoutsk in June 1646, +having lost most of his men in attacks by infuriated and outraged +natives, but in possession of a fund of information, and some skins as +tribute. + +During the reign of Alexis Michaelovitch (1645-1676), explorations +of the Amoor regions were pursued vigorously. A young officer +of considerable wealth, named Khabarof, offered to conduct an (p. 262) +expedition at his own expense. This was gladly accepted, and he left +Yakoutsk in 1649. He reached the Amoor and formed a line of forts, and +met a small party among whom was the khan, who asked what his object +was. Khabarof replied that he had come to trade, but that the czar +would probably take the khan under his powerful protection in return +for a small annual tribute. The khan did not answer, and Khabarof +after burning most of the forts and leaving some of his men in +another, returned to Yakoutsk to report. + +In June, 1651, he was on the way back to the Amoor, where he came in +conflict with the Manchus. He, however, forced his way, and gained for +the Russians the reputation that they were "devils, who would make +gridirons of the parents to roast the children on." At this time a +report that the Amoor region contained untold wealth reached Moscow, +where it produced an effect very similar to that felt in Spain after +the return of Columbus. + +Alexis intended to send an expedition of 3,000 men to occupy and hold +this treasure grove, but he was prudent enough to dispatch an officer +to order Khabarof to Moscow, so that he might learn the facts. This +officer, Simovief left Moscow in March, 1652, and met Khabarof in +August of the following year. Leaving the command to his lieutenant +Stepanof, Khabarof obeyed the czar's call. He arrived at Moscow and +after the czar had heard his report, the expedition was given up, but +Alexis wrote to Stepanof, upon whom he conferred some honors, and told +him to continue the good work. + +The interest manifested by the czar inaugurated an exploration (p. 263) +fever among the Russian authorities. Pashkof, the Governor of +Yeniseisk started on the 18th of July, 1656, for the Amoor at the head +of 400 Cossacks; in 1658, he built a fort which was the beginning of +Nerchinsk. It was 1662 before he returned to Yeniseisk. + +Unfortunately the Russians came into a clash with the Manchus, at that +time in full vigor; they had made themselves masters of China, and +their emperor, Kang-hi, was an exceptionably able and strong man. He +did not want war, but on the other hand he did not intend to suffer an +injustice. + +When the government at Moscow became aware that further encroachment +would entail a war with China an ambassador, Feodor Golovin, was +dispatched to come to an understanding. He left Moscow on January 20, +1686, but took his time. Kang-hi had been notified, and ambassadors +were sent from Peking to meet Golovin. The Russian met the Chinese at +Nerchinsk on the 22d August, 1689, and on the 27th the terms of a +treaty were agreed upon. Two days later the treaty was exchanged. +Russia was compelled to withdraw from the Amoor. After this no changes +in the boundary line occurred until after the year 1847. + +In 1707, Kamtschatka was annexed to Russia, and two years later the +first prisoners were sent to Siberia. They were prisoners of war and +natives of conquered European provinces who objected to Muscovite +rule. About 14,000 persons were sent the first year, but many died +from the hardships suffered on the road. + +Besides Siberia, Russia in Asia consists of: + +I. The Caucasus. It was Peter the Great who, in 1722, invaded (p. 264) +Dagestan and seized the greater part of this territory. We have seen +how the mountaineers defended their liberty under Schamyl,[11] and it +was left to his son Alexander to annex it and make it part of the +Russian Empire. Including Trans Caucasia, it covers an area of 180,843 +square miles,--or about that of Colorado and Utah, and contains a +population of 8,350,000. + + [Footnote 11: See p. 209] + +II. The Kirghiz Steppe. This is a country of plains, unfit for +agriculture and still inhabited by nomads who live in tents and wander +with their flocks over the 755,793 square miles of territory. They are +divided into three hordes or families, one of which surrendered to +Anne Ivanovna in 1734. In 1869 the Kirghiz, together with the Cossacks +of the Don, revolted, but in the autumn of 1870, order was restored. +For administrative purposes, it is divided into: + +III. Transcaspia, which, as the name indicates, includes the region +east of the Caspian Sea. It contains an area of 383,618 square miles +with a population estimated at 352,000. Like the Kirghiz Steppe, it is +unfit for agriculture, although it contains several oases. It was +formed into a province by Alexander III. in 1881. + +IV. Turkestan contains 409,414 square miles with a population of +3,341,000. The valleys of the Oxus and Jaxartes are very fertile, but +the rest of the extensive province is almost a desert. The Oxus or Amu +Daria once formed the boundary of the empires of Cyrus and Alexander. +It was conquered step by step, and after many struggles with the (p. 265) +Turkomans and Kirghiz to whom it originally belonged. + +V. The Khanates, so called because they once formed the territory of +the Khans of Khiva and Bokhara. This province embraces 114,320 square +miles with a population of 3,200,000. Both are recent acquisitions. It +was the war with Khiva, in 1872, which first drew the attention of +Europe to Russia's expansion in Central Asia. There had been some +doubts as to the wisdom of permitting Russia to add more territory to +her already enormous domain, but they had been allayed by a circular +note to the powers, issued by Prince Gortchakof, the Minister of +Foreign Affairs, on November 21, 1864. He declared that Russia had +been brought into contact with a number of half-savage tribes who +proved a constant menace to the security of the Empire, and that the +only means of maintaining order on the frontier, was to bring them +under submission. This, he said, had been done by the United States, +and was nothing but a measure necessary for self-defense. + +This reasoning was self-evident, but in 1873 the press of Great +Britain asked when and where this necessity would cease. Count +Schouvalof was sent to London and in several interviews with Lord +Granville, he stated distinctly and plainly that Russia had no +intention to annex any more territory in Central Asia. He declared[12] +solemnly with regard to Khiva that "not only was it far from the +intention of the emperor to take possession of Khiva, but positive +orders had been prepared to prevent it, and directions given that (p. 266) +the conditions imposed should be such as would not in any way lead to +the prolonged occupation of Khiva." + + [Footnote 12: Parliamentary Papers, Central Asia. + 1873.] + +Notwithstanding this positive declaration, Khiva was annexed on the +10th of June, 1873. Four months afterwards, on the 10th of October, a +treaty was signed by the Khan of Bokhara, giving to Russia free +navigation on the Oxus, and other privileges. It has never been +formally annexed, but is to all intents and purposes Russian +territory. + + + + +XXIX--RUSSIAN METHODS. THE WAR WITH JAPAN. (p. 267) + + +At the time when the United States and the commercial powers of Europe +were discussing the opening of Japan, Russia resolved, if possible, to +forestall them. In 1847, the czar appointed a young general, Nicholas +Muravieff, as governor of Eastern Siberia. Shortly after entering upon +his office he sent an officer named Vagarof, who had explored the +Amoor River, back to it with four Cossacks to make an extensive +report. The party left Strelka in the spring of 1848, but was never +heard of again. Suspecting that they had been captured by the Chinese, +a demand was made for their surrender on the plea that they were +deserters, but the Chinese replied that they knew nothing of them. +Meanwhile Muravieff had ordered the exploration of the shore of the +Sea of Okhotsk and the mouth of the Amoor. These orders were promptly +executed, and in 1850 Lieutenant Orloff entered the river from the +sea. The following year Captain Nevilskoi, who had come out in the +_Baikal_, sent a boat up the river and laid the foundations of +Nikolayefsk and Mariinsk, thereby securing a foothold on the Lower +Amoor, knowing all the time that this was Chinese territory, and that +Russia was at peace with China. The survey of the Sea of Okhotsk (p. 269) +was not neglected. Port Imperial on the coast of Manchuria was +discovered and occupied, and Urup, one of the Kurile Islands, was +seized. When Commodore Perry arrived off the coast of Japan, he was +watched by Admiral Poutiatine in command of the _Pallas_, _Vostok_, +_Olivutzu_ and _Menzikoff_. Aniwa Bay was seized the same year, and +Russians landed on the west coast of what is known as Saghalien, but +was known and owned by the Japanese under the name of Karafuto. + +[Illustration: Village Scene] + +The Crimean War gave Muravieff a pretext to violate farther the treaty +with China. He claimed that the settlements on the Pacific, as well as +the Russian ships, were in need of supplies, and that the ocean route +was closed by the allied fleets. Was it Muravieff's duty to furnish +those supplies? In that case, any reference to the ocean route was +preposterous, because it is absurd to suppose that supplies would be +sent from Eastern Siberia to the north Pacific coast by such a route; +and if he had furnished them before by the overland route through +Siberia, why, that road was open to him. What he needed was a pretext +to secure the occupation of Japan, or at least of some of its islands, +before the other powers could know of it; and for that purpose, it was +necessary to be in possession of the lower Amoor. Perry's energetic +action thwarted him; but he could not know that. What he did know was +that China was not in a condition to oppose him, and that the other +powers need not know what he was doing. + +He determined to send an expedition strong enough to insure respect, +and lost no time in preparing it. Fifty barges, a steamer, and (p. 270) +numerous rafts, a thousand Cossacks with cannon, the whole commanded +by Muravieff himself, left Shilkinsk on the 24th of May, 1854. +Following the usual custom, the expedition was accompanied by +scientific men to survey the river, prepare maps, explore the country, +and examine its resources. At ten A.M., June 8, they arrived at Aigun +where Muravieff was received by the Chinese authorities, who displayed +about the same number of armed men, but such men and such arms! +Firelocks dating from the time of Kang-hi--1689,--convinced Muravieff +that fifty Cossacks could put these braves to rout. Not caring to +arouse Chinese hostility for fear that his schemes might attract +attention, Muravieff did not resent it when the Chinese forbade him to +enter the town; he continued on his journey, and on the 27th of June +arrived at Mariinsk. After sending part of his force to Nikolayefsk, +he went on to Port Imperial where he met Admiral Poutiatine. They +discussed the situation, and Poutiatine left for Japan on the _Diana_. + +Muravieff hurried back as he had come, and prepared another expedition +which he took down the river in 1855. In that year he sent three +thousand Cossacks, and five hundred colonists down the Amoor, together +with horses, cattle, provisions, and military stores. This activity +could not escape the Chinese who dispatched four officials to +Nikolayefsk to protest against the invasion of their territory. They +arrived in July, and were entertained by Muravieff with a review of +his forces; after this hint he simply dismissed them. At this time the +settlements which stood in such urgent need of supplies, were (p. 271) +Mariinsk, which consisted of two log cabins, Nikolayefsk numbered ten, +and Castries Bay had "four badly built huts."[13] + + [Footnote 13: Ravenstein, Russians on the Amoor.] + +In a remarkably short time we hear of the indefatigable Muravieff at +St. Petersburg urging the annexation of the Amoor. He was opposed by +the czar's ministers, but succeeded in convincing the emperor that +China could offer no resistance, and that the powers need not hear of +it until it was too late. Thus he secured large supplies of men and +money. In the beginning of 1857, he was back at his post, and on the +1st of June he dispatched Colonel Ushakof with six hundred men from +Shilkinsk, and soon after followed him with a brigade of Cossack +infantry and a regiment of cavalry, to garrison the forts which he +constructed at strategic points. + +Seizing the opportunity of China's distress caused by the war with +England and France, Muravieff demanded the cession of the Amoor +Valley. The Chinese were helpless. On the 28th of May, 1858, a treaty +was signed at Aigun, giving to Russia the left bank of the Amoor down +to the Ussuri, and both banks below that confluent, besides the right +to navigate the Sungari and Ussuri rivers. Russia gave absolutely +nothing in return. Meanwhile Count Poutiatine had been sent from St. +Petersburg to watch the allies and to profit by any blunder which they +or the Chinese might make. Poutiatine stopped in Japan, claiming that +the Koreans had given him the privilege of establishing a coaling +station at Port Hamilton, but knowing that Great Britain would +certainly investigate his claim, he did not press it. He tried to +seize the Japanese Island Tsushima in the southern entrance to the (p. 272) +Japan Sea, and midway between Japan and Korea; but a polite and firm +invitation from the British admiral to leave that island, and the +admiral's insistence to remain until after he had left it, spoiled +that little game. Poutiatine then proceeded to China where he proposed +to help put down the Tai P'ing rebellion in return for the cession of +Manchuria to Russia. This handsome offer was politely declined. Once +again Muravieff hurried to St. Petersburg; upon his advice the newly +acquired territory was officially annexed, and, by ukase of October +31, joined to the littoral of the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamtschatka under +the name of Maritime Province of Eastern Siberia, with Nikolayevsk as +capital. Muravieff remained in supreme command. + +The tireless empire builder was again on the Pacific Coast in 1858. On +May 21, he founded Blagovestchensk and, after descending the river, +laid the foundation of Khabarofka, at the mouth of the Ussuri. In +October he was back at Kiakhta, arranging for the postal service +between St. Petersburg and the extreme east. On the 26th of August, he +was created Count Amoorsky, or Count of the Amoor, a promotion which +he had well earned. On the 31st of December, a remarkable ukase was +published, beginning "Now that Russia has regained possession of this +valuable region, etc." The entire territory of Eastern Siberia +contained 740,922 square miles, a territory equal to that of all the +Atlantic Coast States, together with Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, +Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. This did not include +the Amoor Province, which was placed under the administration of (p. 273) +a governor and eighteen officials, who received a combined annual +salary of $18,873.60, of which the governor received $4680. + +Muravieff was back at his post in 1859. Both he and Poutiatine tried +to induce the Japanese to give up Karafuto (Saghalien), but without +success. At this time there was again trouble between China and the +allied British and French, and when in 1860, a British-French force +marched on Peking, Russia had sent another empire builder, General +Ignatieff, to watch if he could not secure something. He did; when the +allies entered Peking, Ignatieff sought Prince Kung and told him that +the "foreign devils" would surely seize the country unless some strong +power compelled them to leave. Russia was willing to do this, because +she had always been fond of China; and all she asked was a strip of +outlying territory of no value to China. Prince Kung gladly signed +away the whole east coast of Manchuria, six hundred miles long; and +Ignatieff redeemed his promise by visiting Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, +the British and French plenipotentiaries. After paying them some +flattering compliments, he made the remark that the Peiho river would +freeze in a few days, and if they did not get out at once, they would +have to stay all winter in Peking. The two gentlemen finished their +business in a hurry, packed up, and left, but not without thanking +Ignatieff for his kindness and reporting the matter to their +government, which did not hear of the Russian's diplomacy until a year +later. This is how Russia extended her empire on the Pacific Coast. + +For many years the efforts to secure the whole island of Karafuto (p. 274) +continued and Japan saw that war must follow unless a sacrifice was +made. In 1875, Japan surrendered the island, in return for the Kurile +group, but the Japanese treasured in their hearts the loss and +disgrace. It was this which caused the assault upon the present czar, +when he was traveling in Japan. + +In 1894 the war between Japan and China broke out, and when China, +humbled, sued for peace, Japan demanded the cession of the Liaotung +Peninsula,--where Port Arthur is located,--besides making other +conditions. When this became known, Russia, after securing the help of +Germany and France, gave Japan the "friendly advice," which was really +a threat, not to take that peninsula. Japan, single-handed, could not +fight the three powers, and gave way; but every Japanese, high or low, +young or old, was determined to pay off Russia. They bought or built +war vessels everywhere and increased their army. Russia did not like +this, and proposed that Japan should take all the islands in the +Pacific, the Philippines, Hawaii, Borneo, etc., and leave the +continent of Asia to Russia. Japan declined, and went on building +ships. In the end of 1898, Russia announced that she had "leased" the +very Liaotung Peninsula which she had prevented Japan from taking. +Japan understood, as the whole world did, that this "lease" meant +possession. The Japanese statesmen did not protest, because there was +but one protest that Russia would heed,--an appeal to arms. That was +Japan's method when, in 1899, Alexander Pavloff, the Russian minister +in Korea, secured from that government a concession in the port of +Masampo, opening into the entrance to the Japan Sea. Japan's (p. 275) +demand was: Let Masampo go, or it means war. And Russia evacuated +Masampo, while Pavloff was told that he might take a furlough. Then +came 1900, the Boxer troubles and the international march upon Peking. +Japanese officers took note of the Russian troops, leaving the +Russians to do the same with their soldiers. Japan never ceased her +preparations. In the latter part of 1901, Marquis Ito Hirobumi visited +the United States and crossed over to England, where he proposed an +offensive-defensive alliance. British statesmen hesitated, when Ito +told them in plain terms that if no such treaty was concluded, he was +authorized to go on to Russia, and make the best terms he could for +his country. + +Meanwhile Pavloff had returned to Seoul, the capital of Korea, and by +means best known to Russian diplomats, was trying to gain a foothold +on the Peninsula. Under the pretext of a timber concession, the +Russians constructed a fort on the Korean side of the Yalu +river,--where it was afterwards discovered by newspaper +correspondents. Russia had secured control of Manchuria with its +362,310 square miles and 11,250,000 population, and none of the powers +dared protest. Japan was ready. Could she allow the "peaceful" +absorption of Korea, as that of Manchuria had been accomplished? Safe +in the offensive-defensive alliance with Great Britain, Japan +approached Russia in a dignified manner, to be put off with vague +replies. After six months of patience, Japan broke off diplomatic +intercourse, and, as this is considered equal to a declaration of war, +she struck and hit hard. + +[Illustration: St. Petersburg] (p. 276) + + + + +XXX--RUSSIA LOSES HER PRESTIGE. (p. 277) + + +When, in February, 1904, the world was startled by the Japanese guns +in the harbor of Chemulpo (Korea), one of Russia's well-known +diplomats, speaking in defense of his country, said: "Ours has been a +peaceful absorption." Another statesman, pleading for sympathy, +remarked pathetically: "We were unprepared for war." The two advocates +of Russia's cause spoke the truth, but they did not proclaim the whole +truth. + +Ever since Muravieff Amoorsky began the peaceful absorption of +Manchuria by seizing the coastline of that province, Russia has +extended her dominions using no other weapon than her prestige, that +is, the dread inspired by her name, power, and resources. Repeated +protests from Great Britain remained unheeded, because the czar's +government was convinced that they would not be emphasized by a resort +to arms. The semi-civilized tribes of Central Asia were unable, of +course, to oppose the Russian advance; and China was justly afraid of +defying the great northern power. Thus the peaceful absorption +continued with such ease that the Russian tchinovnik ended in +believing in their country's prestige. Herein lies the principal cause +of the astounding history of the war with Japan. + +Although Russia repeatedly agreed to evacuate Manchuria, her (p. 278) +actions in the construction of railways and other roads, the opening +of mines, the enormous capital expended in creating a commercial +emporium in Dalny, and her jealousy in excluding foreigners from that +territory,--all this was ample evidence that nothing short of +compulsion would cause her to withdraw. Besides, Alexander Pavloff, +the Russian Minister in Korea, was anxious to emulate Count Cassini, +his former chief at Peking. He was constantly plotting to secure a +foothold in the Peninsula. In 1903, it was announced that a Russian +company had obtained a timber concession on the Yalu River. A few +months afterwards, some American newspaper correspondents with the +Japanese army discovered the ruins of a Russian fort on that river, +securely screened from indiscreet eyes, but in a fine position to +control the passage. That was the timber concession. + +Russia's policy, therefore, was a serious menace to Japan. But Japan +did not purpose to draw ridicule by unavailing protests. Feverishly +the preparations for more emphatic action were continued; in the +latter part of 1903, Japan was ready. Safe from a possible European +intervention by her treaty with Great Britain, Japan reminded Russia +of her promise to evacuate Manchuria on October 7, and requested an +explanation for not keeping the pledge. Russia, with a blind faith in +her prestige, replied that the affair did not concern Japan but China, +whereupon Japan made a proposition concerning Manchuria and Korea which +would be acceptable. With studied contempt replies from the czar were +held back beyond the time permitted by international courtesy. (p. 279) +Moreover their tenor was not only unsatisfactory, but was also +calculated to exasperate the proud Japanese. When the final +preparations were made, Japan instructed her minister to St. +Petersburg, to demand his passports,--an act equivalent to a +declaration of war. + +The tchinovnik doubted their senses. Russia maintained that a +severance of diplomatic relations did not necessarily imply an appeal +to the sword, when the news flashed over the wires that the Russian +war vessels Varyag and Koreyetz had been blown up at Chemulpo to +escape being captured. The world was still marveling at Japan's +audacity when it was informed that three other Russian war vessels had +been disabled owing to a night torpedo attack under Admiral Togo. + +Why was the Russian fleet, numerically superior to that of Japan, +divided? The answer is found in that fatal word: prestige. Pavloff in +Korea had requested the presence of the two doomed ships, to keep the +Japanese in awe. Admiral Stark lay under the guns of impregnable Port +Arthur, trusting to the prestige, when the illusion vanished. There +was still the Vladivostok squadron; it made an effort to induce Togo +to leave Port Arthur by making a raid upon the north coast of Japan, +but in vain. Beyond sinking a few unarmed merchantmen, nothing of +importance was accomplished. + +The czar's choice to restore Russia's naval prestige, fell upon +Admiral Makaroff. At about the same time, General Kuropatkin, the +former Minister of War, was charged with punishing Japan for her +insolence. His departure for the Far East was theatrical. After many +genuflexions before sacred eikons, he promised to restore Russia's (p. 280) +prestige by dictating terms of peace in Tokyo. + +Makaroff was less enthusiastic, and perhaps more in earnest. It is +asserted that he restored discipline in a sadly demoralized fleet. He +was enticed out of Port Arthur's shelter by a small fleet of the +enemy's cruisers sent out as a decoy. When he discovered Togo's +ironclads he returned to port, but his flagship struck a mine at the +entrance to Port Arthur and sunk. The Admiral, as well as his guest, +the noted battle painter Verestchagin, perished. + +With Togo blockading Port Arthur and Admiral Kaminura guarding +Vladivostok, the Japanese secured the freedom of the sea, and began to +pour troops into Korea. This was greeted with acclamation by the +tchinovnik who, after their naval misfortunes, claimed that the +situation would soon be reversed by the army. Some Japanese soldiers +were landed openly at Chemulpo, but the bulk went ashore in a +well-concealed harbor south of the Yalu River. General Kuroki was in +command. + +Meanwhile Kuropatkin was in Manchuria busy organizing the army when +not obstructed by Viceroy Alexieff. Such troops as he found were +capable of rendering good service in hunting down Chinese brigands, +but, as the sequel proved, the army had also been nurtured upon that +most indigestible material, prestige. To the wonder of Europe,--and to +a less degree of America,--Kuroki crossed the Yalu and sent the czar's +dreaded soldiers flying before him. (May 1, 1904.) + +Once more, and for the last time, did the Russian fleet at Port (p. 281) +Arthur attempt a sortie. It failed, and its fate was sealed. + +While the wreckage of Russia's once proud fleet lay concealed in Port +Arthur's inner basin, the Japanese, after scouring the waters to clear +them from mines, landed troops on the Liaotung Peninsula, claimed by +Japan after the war with China, but despoiled of it by Russia's +peaceful absorption. In 1894, Port Arthur was taken in a day from the +Chinese: the Russians defended the impregnable fortress for six +months. "Our prestige demands that the enemy shall not capture Port +Arthur," cried the tchinovnik, and Kuropatkin was ordered to General +Stoessel's rescue. The attempt failed, and General Nogi could pursue +the siege without being disturbed. (June 14-15, 1904.) + +A stolid, ignorant, and densely superstitious people was at war with a +rejuvenated nation keenly alive to the power of education. That is the +secret. Man for man, Russia would have won. But the resourcefulness of +the little brown man more than offset the Russian's physical +superiority. As the year 1905 dawned, the fall of Port Arthur was made +known to the world. + +Slowly, but heralded by the marvels it would accomplish, the Baltic +fleet under Rojestvensky sailed to Madagascar, welcome to whatever aid +the French ally could bestow. Japan said nothing, but made a note of +it. She cleaned and scraped her sea-worn, battle-scarred vessels, +under the supervision of grim, silent Togo. Oyama, the Japanese +commander-in-chief, reenforced by the veterans of Kuroki and Nogi, was +playing with Kuropatkin until he had the game in his hand. After (p. 282) +ten days of hard fighting, the discomfited Russians made a masterly +retreat to the Sha river, after evacuating Mukden, the cradle of the +present Chinese dynasty, (August 26-September 4, 1904.) + +Kuropatkin deserved credit for the manner in which he extricated the +remains of the czar's army. Oyama did not feel safe in following up +the pursuit. His game was that of a skillful chess player. First make +sure of the result with mathematical precision, then strike. The +Japanese were deaf to the demand for brilliant dashes. + +After the battle of Liao-yang, the armies seemed idle so far as news +from the front went. Oyama attacked his former antagonist on the +Shakhe River and drove the discomfited Russians beyond Tie pass. +General Kuropatkin was superseded by his former subordinate Linievitch +who, however, accomplished nothing to warrant his promotion. + +Meanwhile the Baltic fleet left the hospitable shores of Madagascar, +proclaiming its search for Togo, together with the determination to +punish the impertinent Japanese. In the latter part of May, 1905, +Admiral Rojestvensky made a dash for Vladivostok through the Tsu +channel, the southern entrance to the Sea of Japan. Togo intercepted +him, and a battle followed which, in its results, stands unique in the +history of naval warfare. At a cost of three torpedo boats, 113 killed, +and 444 wounded, the Japanese sank 6 Russian battleships, 1 coast +defense vessel, 3 special service boats, and 3 destroyers, besides +capturing 2 battleships, 2 coast defense vessels, and 1 destroyer, The +losses in killed were 8,550 and over 3,000 prisoners, among them (p. 283) +Admirals Rojestvensky and Nebogatoff, were taken to Japan. As a result +of this one-sided battle, Russia's naval power is broken. (May 27-28, +1905.) + +While President Theodore Roosevelt seized this opportunity to approach +the belligerents in favor of peace, pointing out the hopelessness of +continuing the struggle to Russia and appealing to Japan's +magnanimity, the world was startled by the revolt of the Kniaz +Potemkin, a first-class battleship of the Black Sea squadron. The +mutineers found no support, and what might have proved a serious +danger to the house of Romanoff, ended by the ship being sunk in +Roumanian waters. She was recovered by the Russians. + +President Roosevelt's efforts toward bringing the two powers together, +proved successful. Washington was agreed upon as the place for the +negotiations, but the plenipotentiaries, Sergius Witte and Baron de +Rosen acting for Russia, met Baron Komura and Minister Takahira, who +represented Japan, at Portsmouth, N. H., where the United States acted +as host. + +The incompatibility of Japan's demands and Russia's concessions on +several occasions brought the plenipotentiaries on the verge of +rupture. With the single-mindedness born of an unselfish purpose, +President Roosevelt exerted all the personal influence he could bring +to bear upon czar and emperor with the result that the victor gave the +world an astounding lesson in magnanimity. Japan made peace possible +by withdrawing her demands for indemnity and the cession of territory +beyond that of which Russia had robbed her,--the southern half of the +island of Sakhalin, which will be once more Karafuto for the (p. 284) +Japanese. + +The terms of the Treaty of Peace were agreed upon at Portsmouth on the +29th of August 1905. The war had lasted from the 5th of February, +1904, or 572 days. Russia paid in men 375,000, in money +$1,075,000,000,--all for peaceful absorption and support of prestige. +Cassini's shrewd move, ten years before, in robbing Japan of the +Liaotung Peninsula and Port Arthur, has ended in Japan's obtaining +possession of that key to Peking, with the promise of holding it +beyond the possibility of recapture, until China recovers its manhood. +The Treaty of Peace was signed September 5, at Portsmouth, N. H. + +What will be the effect of the war upon the Russian people? While the +plenipotentiaries were discussing the terms of peace, autocracy +launched a ukase calling for a consultative assembly. Russian +thinkers, however, reflect that, so long as autocracy exists and the +tchinovnik admit no other authority but that of the czar, another +ukase may revoke the doubtful boon. + +No one knows what the morrow will bring, either to us or to the Slav. +Yet it seems absurd to suppose that, after the lessons of corruption +and incompetence of the present government, the educated Russians will +remain quiescent while the great empire continues on its downward +course. Mediaevalism has come into contact with the spirit of the +twentieth century, and has been found wanting. It seems as if the dawn +of a new era for Russia is at hand. + + + + +INDEX. (p. 285) + + + A + + Abdul Aziz, 231. + + Abdul Hamid, 232. + + Alexander I, the Well-beloved, 197. + + Alexander II, the Liberator, 218. + + Alexander III, the Peasants' Friend, 241. + + Alexander of Battenberg, 246. + + Alexander Nevski, 60, 69. + + Alexis Michaelovitch, 141. + + Alexis, son of Peter the Great, 170. + + Andrew Bogolioubski, 54. + + Anne Ivanovna, Czarina, 175. + + Area of Russia, 14. + + Armenians, 255. + + Askold, 30. + + + B + + Baskak, Tartar tax collector, 71. + + Bati, Khan of the Golden Horde, 65. + + Battle of the Oka, 102. + + Boundaries of Russia, 15. + + Boyard, noble, 56. + + Byzantium, former name of Constantinople. + + + C + + Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great, 169, 171, 173. + + Catherine II, the Great, 183. + + Caucasus, The 264. + + Chouiski, Andrew, 112. + + Chouiski, Czar, 134. + + Christianity, 36, 42. + + Climate of Russia, 18. + + Constantine, 58. + + Council of Florence, attempt to unite the Roman and Greek Churches, 60. + + Crimea The, annexed, 190. + + Crimean War, 215. + + Cyril, 36. + + Czar, king, 112. + + Czargrad, city of the king. + + Czarina, wife of the czar. + + + D + + Dagh Bog the sun god, 20. + + Diak, secretary, 107. + + Dir, 30. + + Dmitri Donskoi, 87. + + Dnieper, 20. + + Donskoi, of the Don, surname of Dmitri, 91. + + Douma, council of nobles, 131. + + Drujina, body-guard, 32. + + Duena, 20. + + Dvor, inclosure, 27. + + Dwina, 20. + + + E + + Eikon, image of a saint, 44, 55. + + Elizabeth, Queen of England, 118. + + Elizabeth, Czarina, 178. + + + F + + Feodor (Theodore), Son of Ivan the Terrible, 129. + + Feodor Alexievitch, 144. + + Finland, 26. + + Finns, 26. + + Frederick the Great, 188. + + + G + + Galitch, Southwest Russia, 61. + + Gedimin, 80. + + Genghis Khan, 64. + + George Dolgorouki, 51. + + George, Grand Duke of Moscow, 83. + + Godounof, Boris, Czar, 129. + + Gosti, guest, Russian for merchant, 124. + + Goubernii, Government or province, 226. + + Greece, independence of, 209. + + Greek Church, 42. + + Gustavus Wasa, 119. + + + H + + Hetman, chief of Cossacks. + + + I + + Iarlikh, patent or written authorisation from the khan, 73. + + Iaropolk, 41. + + Iaroslaf II, 44. + + Igor, son of Rurik, 30, 32. + + Iouri, George, 111. + + Isiaslaf, 50. + + Ivan Kalita, 85. + + Ivan II, 88. + + Ivan III, the Great, 97. + + Ivan IV, the Terrible, 111. + + Ivan Alexievitch, 145. + + Ivan Ivanovitch, 177. + + + J + + Jagellon, 80. + + Jews, persecution of the, 242. + + + K + + Kalita, alms-bag, 87. + + Kazan, 119. + + Khanates, the, 265. + + Kholop, slave, 123. + + Kief, 41. + + Kirghiz Steppe, 264. + + Kniaz, duke, defender, prince, 30, 45. + + Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 191. + + Kostroma, 19. + + Kublai Khan, 68. + + Krestianine, true Christian, surname given to the peasants during + the Tartar yoke. + + + L + + Leo the Deacon, historian, 37, 39. + + + M + + Mangou, grandson of Genghis Khan, 67. + + Mazeppa, 147, 158. + + Methodius, 36. + + Metropolitan, Head of the Greek Church, 56. + + Michael, Grand Duke of Tver, 75. + + Michael, first czar of the present dynasty, 135. + + Mindvog, 79. + + Minine, Kouzma, a Russian patriot, 134. + + Mir, communal village, 27. + + Moscow, Burning of, 202. + + Moujik, lit. Manikin, contemptuous word for peasant, 34. + + Mstislaf the Bold, 58. + + Mstislaf the Brave, 55. + + Murad V, 231. + + Muravieff Amoorsky, 267. + + + N + + Namiestnik, ducal delegate, 106. + + Napoleon I, 197. + + Napoleon III, 213, 229. + + Nicholas I, 207. + + Nicholas II, 251. + + Nicon, Reformer, 144. + + Nihilism, 234. + + Nestor, Russian historian, 29, 32. + + Novgorod, Republic of, 29, 97. + + + O + + Oktai, khan, 69. + + Olga, 42. + + Olgerd, 80. + + Oleg, 30, 41. + + Olmutz, Battle of, 198. + + Oulogenia, Code of Laws under Ivan III., 105. + + + P + + Pan-Germanism, 246. + + Pan-Slavism, 245. + + Paul I, 194. + + Peace Congress, 256. + + Peipus, Lake, Battle on the Ice, 70. + + Perun, god of thunder, 27. + + Peter the Great, 145. + + Peter II, 174. + + Peter III, 179. + + Philarete, Metropolitan, father of the first Romanof, 135. + + Plemia, confederacy of tribes, 28. + + Poland, Partition of, 188. + + Poliessa, forest region, 20. + + Poniatowski, Stanislas, 187. + + Portsmouth, Peace treaty at, 284. + + Possadnik, burgomaster or commandant, 52. + + Prestige, Russia loses her, 277. + + Pskof, Republic of, 51. + + Pultowa, Battle of, 81. + + + R + + Raskol, plur. Raskolnik, Religious Madmen, opponents to Nicon's + reforms, 146. + + Roman, Duke of Volhynia, 61. + + Romanof, Anastasia, wife of Ivan the Terrible, 114. + + Romanof, Michael, elected czar, 135. + + Rurik, 29. + + Russkaia Pravda, Russian Right, 45. + + Ryndis, young nobles, 110. + + + S + + St. Petersburg founded, 168. + + Sarai, Capital of the Golden Horde, 68. + + Schamyl, 209. + + Scythians, 23. + + Simeon, first Grand Duke of All the Russias, 88. + + Sineous, 29. + + Slavophil, Friend of Slavs, 230. + + Slavs, 25. + + Smerd, boor, lout. + + Sophia, Autocrat of All the Russias, 145. + + Starost, elder or mayor, 52. + + Streltsi, national guard, 121. + + Stri Bog, god of the winds, 27. + + Sviatopolk, 44, 49. + + Sviatoslaf, 35, 41. + + + T + + Tamerlane, 92. + + Tartars or Tatars, 63. + + Tartartchina, Tartar Yoke, 73. + + Tcherne. Black people, name applied to the people by the nobles, 77. + + Tchelobitie, Beating of the forehead, i. e., petition, 123. + + Tchin, plur. Tchinovnik, lit. Gentlemen, now Officials, 164. + + Tilsit, meeting at, 199. + + Transcaspia, 264. + + Treaty of Berlin, 234. + + Treaty of Paris, 220. + + Truvor, 29. + + Turkestan, 264. + + Turks, 94, 231. + + Turkey, war with, 232. + + Tysatski, commandant of the militia, 52. + + + U + + Ukase, imperial edict equal to law Ural Mountains, 18. + + Uzbeck, Khan, 68. + + + V + + Valdai Plateau, 19. + + Varingians, Norsemen, 29. + + Vassili the Blind, 93. + + Vetche, Municipal Council, 27. + + Vitovt, 81. + + Vladimir Monomachus, 49. + + Vladimir, Saint, 41. + + Voievod, governor of a fortress, 33. + + Volga, 119. + + Voloss, god of the flocks, 27. + + Volost, county or canton, 28. + + Vsevolod, 57. + + + Z + + Zemstvo, Assembly, 226. + + Zimisces, John, 38. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Russia, by R. 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