8. Prince Alexander Nevsky and Batu Khan, Rus 2 Russia

In the 13th century, Western Europe (the Latin Church), posed an ever-increasing threat to Russia.

During the previous decades, the excessive passionarity of Western Europeans had been "burning off" in the first attempts at colonial expansion - the crusades in Palestine. Now Emperor Frederick II decided to send German crusaders from Palestine to the Baltics. The decision was quite reasonable: the German knights were constantly in conflict with the French and Italians, behaving arrogantly. So, by sending them to Baltic and instructing them to subdue local heathen tribes, the emperor acted in the interests of both the knights and the empire as a whole. In 1237 the knight monks of the Teutonic and Swordbrother Knights united to form the powerful Livonian Order. A spiritual-military state was in fact formed whose aim was to conquer the Baltic region, advance into Rus and forcibly Catholicize the conquered population.

The conquest that began was difficult. At that time the Baltic region was inhabited by ancient Baltic peoples: Estonians, Lithuanians, Samogitians, Jatvians and Prussians. All of them were in a state of homeostasis (equilibrium with the natural environment), and these peoples had only enough strength to survive in their native land. Therefore, the Baltics limited their fight against the Germans to defense. However, since they defended to the last man and only surrendered dead, the Germans did not initially have much success. It helped that the knights were supported by a very warlike tribe, the Livonians. The knights also found a valuable ally - the Swedes, who had subjugated the Finnish tribes of Sumy and Yem.

The Germans gradually reduced the Letts to a serfdom, but the Estonians refused to submit to them, having strong connections with the Russians. The existence of these links is confirmed by this fact: the cities of what are now called Tallin and Tartu (Revel and Dorpat respectively before the revolution) have quite Russian historical names of Kolyvan and Yuryev (after the Christian name of the founder of this city, Yaroslav the Wise).

Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky. Titularnik, 1672.

The Germans and Swedes treated the Russians even more cruelly than they did the Balts. If, for example, the captured Estonians were turned into serfdom, the Russians were simply murdered, without exception even for infants. The threat of the German-Swedish aggression became obvious to Russia, its danger was growing from day to day.

In 1240 the Swedish fleet entered the mouth of the Neva, approached the place where the Izhora River flowed into it, and landed a landing force, ready to begin an assault on Novgorod. In Novgorod, as in all Slavic towns, they were not preparing to defend themselves, but were arguing over whom it would be better to tie their fate - with Yaroslav, Duke of Suzdal, or with the Swedish king.  While Novgorod citizens argued, supporters of the Vladimir-Suzdal Russia called for help to the young prince Alexander Yaroslavich known to grateful descendants under the name Alexander Nevskiy. Then he was only twenty-second year, but he was a clever, energetic and brave man, and what is the most important - a real patriot of his motherland.

Alexander did not manage to gather a lot of strength. Alexander reached the Neva with his small group of Suzdal and a few Novgorod volunteers and with an accelerated march attacked the Swedish camp. In this battle the Novgorodians and Suzdalians covered themselves with eternal glory. So, one Novgorodian by name Gavrila Oleksich on horseback broke into a Swedish boat, fought with Swedes on their ship, was thrown in water, remained alive and again joined the fight. Alexander's servant Ratmir died heroically, fighting many opponents on foot. The Swedes, who had not anticipated the attack, were beaten to a pulp and fled at night by the ships from the place of their defeat.

By the sacrifice and valor of Alexander's companions Novgorod was saved, but the threat to Russia remained. The Teutonic knights in 1240-1241 strengthened their attack on Izborsk, striving to conquer Pskov. A strong pro-German party appeared among the boyars in Pskov. With the help of this party by 1242 the Germans captured this city as well as Yam and Koporje and began to threaten Novgorod again.

In the winter of 1242 Alexander Nevsky with his Suzdal, or as it was then called, "Nizov", troops, supported by the Novgorodians and Pskovites, attacked the German detachment that stood in Pskov. After liberating Pskov, he moved on the main forces of the Livonians, who were retreating, bypassing Lake Peipsi. The Germans had to fight on the western shore of the lake, near the Raven's Rock.

The number of knights was small - only a few dozen - but each knight was a formidable fighter. The knights were also supported by mercenaries on foot, armed with lances, and the Livonians, allies of the Order. They formed a piggyback formation, with the strongest man in front, followed by two more, then four more, and so on. The onslaught of such a wedge was unbreakable for the lightly-armed Russians, and Alexander did not even try to stop the German strike. On the contrary, he weakened his center and allowed the knights to break through. Meanwhile, the reinforced flanks of the Russians attacked both wings of the German army. The Leafs fled, the Germans resisted desperately, but, since the time was spring, the ice cracked - and the heavily-armed knights began to fall into the water of Lake Peipsi. Novgorodians did not allow the enemy to escape from the destructive trap. The defeat of the Germans on Lake Peipsi on April 5, 1242 postponed their attack on the east - Drang nach Osten - which had been the leitmotif of German policy from 1202 to 1941.  

The Battle of the Neva in 1240.

It is necessary to tell that, having won this battle, Alexander did not solve political problems. The victory did not eliminate the possibility of German attack, because the knights had much more forces than Novgorod citizens. The fortified cities of Riga, Königsberg and Revel served as convenient bridgeheads for European knights advancing from the West. The Germans were constantly able to supply their troops, because in the 13th century there were large numbers of volunteers in Europe who dreamed of using their forces. The onslaught of the Western super-ethnos on Russia was still threateningly real.

A new generation of Russian people, the peers of Prince Alexander, quickly recognized the massive dangers threatening the country from the West and the need for a strong ally. Russia found this ally by the logic of events and the genius of Alexander Nevsky.

In 1242 the great khan Ugedei died. His death radically changed the position in the Horde of the winner of the peoples - Batu Khan. Even during the campaign of 1238-1239 Batyi quarrelled with the Horde. Batyi quarreled with his cousin, Ugedei's son Guyuk. Guyuk insulted Batyi by calling him an old woman and threatening to pull his hair. Their cousin Buri - son of Chagatai Khan, who was, as we remember, the supreme judge of the entire Mongol ulus, did no better. Buri was going to "beat Batyi on his chest and belly with a log". Batyi, as the supreme commander of the campaign, exiled both of the impudent princes from the army to their fathers. Ugedei and Chagatai severely punished their sons: for violation of military discipline. They were expelled from the khan's headquarters and deprived of all ranks.

Understandably, after the death of Ugedei, Güyük and Buri gave vent to their hatred and began a joint struggle against Batyi. Now that Güyük could take the place of the great Khan, Batyi's position became difficult, if not ruinous. His own forces were limited to four thousand soldiers, and at the disposal of Guyuk, if he became a great khan, would be not less than 100 thousand people. Batyi was in dire need of an ally, and subsequent events only confirmed this.   

German Knights.

In 1246 the assembled great kurultai elected Guyuk great khan. It seemed that the fate of Batyi was sealed. Understanding the desperate situation, Batyi tried to find support in Russia. Indeed, there were no political reasons for the continuation of the war between the Russians and Mongols. However, even more importantly, the emotional motives for the confrontation had apparently already disappeared. For example, the Russians called Batyi "the good khan". The Mongols also had a very sober view of the war with Russia, despite the fact that at Kolomna Kulkan - the beloved son of Genghis and the beautiful Khulan - died. After all, with respect to any death in war, Mongols were guided by the principle: "No judgment in a battle for valor". Thus, the alliance between the Rus and Batyj became possible.

Only one circumstance prevented this alliance. Vladimir's grand duke Yaroslav, Alexander Nevskiy's father, who was present at the celebrations on the occasion of the election of a new khan died from the poison. According to the version of the papal agent Plano Carpini this poison was given to Yaroslav by his mother Guyuk - khaness Turakina. The reason for such a serious deed was a denunciation by boyar Fyodor Yarunovich, who slandered the prince by saying that Yaroslav was in league with Pope Innocent IV.

Г. I. Ugryumov. Alexander Nevskiy's solemn entry to the city of Pskov after his victory against Germans  

В. Kurdyumov. Alexander Nevskiy in the Horde

Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich. Engraving of 1850.

Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich. Engraving of 1850.

However, even after Yaroslav's death North-Eastern Russia did not become dependent on the Horde. This is seen even from the fact that in 1248 Batyj approved a new grand duke of Vladimir, Svyatoslav Vsevolodich, the brother of the deceased Yaroslav. However, after less than a year as prince, he was dethroned by Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver. Svyatoslav finished his days in the Horde, vainly seeking justice. But it was not Batyi who was to blame for his fate, but the central government in Karakorum, where Ogul-Gaimish, his widow, ruled after the death of Guyuk in the same year 1248. She gave power in Russia to the children of the poisoned Yaroslav: Alexander - the Grand Duchy and the ruined Kiev, and Andrew - the rich Vladimir principality.

Alexander was faced with a difficult choice of ally. He had to choose between the Horde, in which his father perished, and the West, with representatives of which the Novgorod prince had been well acquainted since the time of the "Battle of the Ice". We must pay tribute to Alexander.

Yaroslavich: he perfectly understood the ethno-political situation and managed to be above his personal emotions for the sake of the native land.

In 1251 Alexander came to Batyi's Horde, befriended and then fraternized with his son Sartak, and as a result became an adopted son of the khan. The alliance of the Horde and Russia was implemented thanks to the patriotism and selflessness of the prince Alexander. In the concurring opinion of descendants, the choice of Alexander Yaroslavich received the highest approval. For his unprecedented exploits in the name of his native land, the Russian Orthodox Church recognized the prince as a saint.

For the the others

Unfortunately, among his contemporaries irrevocably losing their passion, Alexander Yaroslavich's political course was not popular. Nobody thought to thank the prince for his heroic efforts to save the Russian land. The majority of Novgorod citizens firmly adhered to the pro-western orientation. As a consequence of this, after the Battle of Neva Alexander was "shown the way" out of Novgorod. But when the Germans captured Pskov, the Novgorodians immediately invited the prince back. He drove the Germans out of Pskov, won a victory on Lake Chudskoe - they removed him again! Attempts by the most sensible Novgorodians to object to the self-murderous behavior of the sub-passionaries were unsuccessful. In Novgorod itself, supporters of the warrior-prince were robbed and dismissed. Between the two parties - the "young" and the "Lutschie" people - it almost came to war. "Lutschie (supporters of the prince) still won, though with a great difficulty, and insisted on Alexander's final reigning in Novgorod.

Prince Vasily Yaroslavich. Engraving of 1850.

Prince Andrei Alexandrovich. Engraving of 1850.

As we can see, the life of the prince is not easy. Each time he came "at the call of Novgorod", rendered great services to the land of Novgorod: he fought on the Neva, on Lake Chudskoe, pacified the Vodsky tribe that fought against Novgorod - and for this... was removed from the leadership of the supporters of the West by means of a "democratic" procedure - Veche voting.

Even among his close relatives Prince Alexander did not find understanding. His brother Andrey was a Westerner himself and declared that he was concluding an alliance with the Swedes, Livonians and Poles in order to get rid of the Mongols. The Mongols found out about this alliance, probably thanks to Alexander Nevskiy himself. Batyi, fulfilling his allied obligations, sent the commander Nevyuya to Russia (1252), who defeated the troops of Prince Andrei and he was forced to emigrate to Sweden. At the same time "Nevrjuj's army" caused more damage to Russia than Batyi's campaign.

Prince Daniel of Galicia also actively opposed the Tatars. Immediately after the departure of Batyi to the Volga, he attacked the allied to the Mongols Bolokh princes, killed all the aristocracy, and the population of the principality dispersed. Daniel's political course was to separate the Galitsko-Volynsk principality into an independent feudal state, focused on the West.

But let us remember that in the Middle Ages, the West was not united. The Ghibellines, supporters of the German emperors, fought with the Guelphs, who supported the Papal throne. In the mid-13th century in particular, these were supporters of Emperor Frederick II and supporters of Pope Innocent IV. It is interesting that Frederick II was brought up by papists and that he became a German emperor (1212-1250) who became the worst enemy of the papacy. In much the same way, Friedrich II himself brought up the future high priest, installed him on the papal throne, and made a mortal enemy of him.

Here is further proof that any man is not so much in a position to command as he is in a position to do the half-expressed wishes of his entourage. If the cardinals and bishops around the pope were satisfied with his orders, the pope sat on the throne as an independent sovereign. When he acted contrary to their wishes, he usually fell ill and then died "suddenly". The emperor, who had loyal troops, was a little more confident. But the emperor's vassals, for the most part, hated the hierarchs of the Catholic Church. Could the emperor not take this into account? Of course not! So, Frederick II corresponded with Batyi and Güyük at a time when the pope was demanding war with the Mongols.

Prince Daniel's father - Roman - was a Gibellines and tried to help his German allies. Daniel, it would seem, should have followed his father's policy, but the pope promised him a royal title and full autonomy. Neither the Mongols nor Frederick II promised the Galician prince anything, and his sympathies clearly leaned towards the Roman high priest. Daniel became a supporter of the pope and received from his hands the promised golden crown.

It must be said that the pro-Western party in Russia, which hated the Mongols for their raids and was connected with Western Europe by trade, career, and cultural ties, was large enough to defend its political line. The program of the Westerners was to unite the forces of all the Russian princes and expel the Mongols with the help of the knights. Unfortunately, although very attractive in theory, this program could not be realized in practice. First, the Knights of the Order, the merchants of the Hanse, the pope and the emperor had no intention of using their power to unify a country that was foreign to them. They had a different goal: to use Russian warriors against the Mongols, to drain Russia of its blood, and to conquer it like in the Baltic lands.

Secondly, by the middle of the 13th century the idea of the unification of Russia was already completely illusory. Alexander Nevsky was well aware of this, but Daniil was completely unaware of it. Russia was finally divided into the South-Western, North-Eastern, and Novgorod lands. The first two were ruled by two lines of Monomachists: the older in the north-east and the younger in the south. Between these two branches were fought fierce wars. The interference of the Chernigov Olgovichi in the common Russian struggles was usually futile and unsuccessful for them and for Russia as a whole. The Polotsk princes transformed their possessions into an independent principality. Denial of the power of the Vladimir principality was also typical for Ryazan - Ryazan inhabitants fought a lot against Vladimir, Suzdal and Kiev. And you can not blame only the princes, because they were not so much ruling over their cities and surrounding lands, as the urban population, which was large and active, gave directions to their princes in one way or another.  

For example, when in another Novgorod-Vladimir war, the Suzdal (as they called the troops of the Vladimir Prince) came to Torzhok, the city was ready to surrender and asked Prince Vsevolod "to take peace", "to condescend to mercy". The townspeople promised to submit, to accept all the conditions, to pay the tribute. The Grand Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest wanted to accept the offer of Torzhok, but his soldiers categorically refused, saying: "We did not come to kiss them." Torzhok was taken and looted against the will of the prince.

The battle with the detachments of Khan Berke. Miniature

Andrei Merkuliev Pospelov. The saint prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevskiy

The inhabitants of Minsk, Grodno and other cities of the northwest of the Russian land also demanded from their princes a policy of separatism. The desire for independence became all-encompassing, the disintegration was inevitable. The decline of the passionarity of the population of Russia led to it. There was no powerful enough force, which would bind the numerous principalities, to subdue them to Kiev. Kiev has lost its passionarity, while on the outskirts of the area it was still preserved. The onset of the phase of obscuration doomed attempts to recreate a unified Rus' in the 13th century to failure. It is clear that under these conditions, the Westerners' efforts to consolidate the Russians were doomed to failure. Daniil Galitsky's own activities ended badly for him. After some successful operations against small Mongol detachments headed by the military leader Kuremsa (1254) Daniel encountered an experienced Burundai. Burundai quite easily defeated the Galician prince and forced him to tear down all the fortresses, so that Galicia and Volhynia had no chance to secede.

What were the real results of the alliance with the Mongols concluded by Alexander Nevsky? The Russian princes retained great freedom of action. When Munkai Khan sent to Russia some Muslims ("besermen") with the purpose to census the population for tax collection, all census takers and collectors were killed by the population. Under the assumption of such an expert on the problem as A.N. Nasonov, the massacre was inspired by Prince Alexander. The motives of the supposed actions of prince are quite clear: sending of the Russian money to Mongolia was not in his interests. Alexander was interested in the prospect of receiving military assistance from the monks to counter the onslaught of the West and internal opposition. Alexander Yaroslavich was ready to pay for this help, and pay dearly.

But before long, Alexander Nevsky had to undergo an enormous upheaval: his entire political line was in jeopardy. In 1256 his ally Batyi died, and in the same year Batyi's son Sartak was poisoned out of sympathy to Christianity. And by whom? By Batyi's brother Berke Khan, who relied on Horde Muslims. Berke converted to Islam, slaughtered Nestorians (Christians), in Samarkand, poisoned his nephew, executed his relative Borakchin, and established a Muslim dictatorship, though without further religious persecution.

Г. Semiradsky. Alexander Nevskiy receives papal legates  

Russian warriors

True to his principle of fighting for the interests of the fatherland, Alexander Yaroslavich on this occasion "laid down his soul for his friend. He went to Berka and agreed to pay a tribute to the monks in exchange for the military help against Lithuanians and Germans. But when in Novgorod together with the prince came Mongolian census-takers in order to determine the sum of the tax, Novgorodians arranged a revolt at the head of which was Vasily Aleksandrovich - the grand duke's oldest son, a fool and a drunkard.

Alexander led the ambassadors out of the city under his personal guard without letting them be killed. Thus, he saved Novgorod from destruction - after all we know how Mongols acted with the population of the cities where murder of the Mongol khan's ambassadors took place. With the ringleaders of distemper Alexander Yaroslavich acted cruelly: they "took out their eyes", considering that a person does not need the eyes anyway if he does not see what is happening around. Only at such a price Alexander managed to subdue the Novgorodians, who had lost their common sense along with their passionarity, and who did not understand that he who does not have the strength to defend himself has to pay for the protection from his enemies. Of course, giving up one's money is always unpleasant, but it is probably better to part with your money than with your independence and life.

The End and the Beginning

So, the treaty of alliance with the Horde became a reality. The Russians were the first to provide military assistance to the Tatars, taking part in a campaign against the Alans. The alliance with the Tatars was a boon for Russia, in terms of establishing order within the country.

In 1261 in Sarai by the efforts of Alexander Nevskiy and the Mongol khans Berke and Mengu-Timur the Orthodox bishop's palace was opened. He was not exposed to any persecution.  The bishop of Sarsk was considered to be a representative of the interests of Russia and all Russians at the court of the great khan. If in Russia a princely quarrel occurred, the khan sent Sarsk bishop with a Tatar bek (who must be a Christian), and they solved disputes at the princely councils. If someone did not take into account the decision and tried to continue the feudal war, he was forced to make peace with the help of the Tatar cavalry.

Spear and darts in scabbard

Relying on the alliance with Berke, Alexander decided not only to stop the Germans' movement into Russia, but also to undermine its very possibility. He made an alliance with the Lithuanian prince Mindovg, his peer, against the crusaders. What distinguished Mindovg as a ruler was his cunning and resourcefulness. In 1250 he became a Catholic, but "his baptism was flattering", the chronicler says. In 10 years, Mindovg renounced the religion forcibly imposed upon him, and became the worst enemy of the crusaders and Catholics.

Alexander Yaroslavich was on the threshold of his second diplomatic victory, not less significant than in the case with the Horde. But in 1263, in the midst of preparations for a joint campaign against the Livonian Order, the prince died on his way back from another visit to the Horde. One may assume that Alexander Yaroslavich died, to put it in modern language, from stress. Indeed, such complex diplomatic actions, brilliant victories, and struggles with compatriots required too much nervous tension that not everyone could handle.  However, it seems strange that soon Mindovg died also. Involuntarily the thought arises that the cause of the death of prince Alexander was not stress; rather, in the death of Alexander and Mindovg should be seen the efforts of the German supporters, acting in Russia and in Lithuania.

With people among the Russian Westerners who could be bought and used in the fight against the Fatherland, a reliable ally on the Volga was doubly necessary for the Russian principalities. In 1268, six years after Alexander's death, the Novgorodians marched on the fortress of Rakovor, which belonged to the Danes (modern Rakvere near Tallin). On their way Novgorod regiments were attacked by Germans and a horrible battle - the Rakovor battle took place. The Novgorodians defeated the allied forces of the Germans and Danes. They, without thinking twice, summoned a large number of warriors and knights from Western Europe in order to conquer Novgorod, crossing the Narova River. But then a Tartar detachment of 500 horsemen arrived in Novgorod, according to the treaty with the Horde. The Germans, not even knowing the exact size of this detachment, immediately "put their peace in the will of Novgorod, greatly fearing the name of the Tatar". Novgorod and Pskov survived.

As we see positive sides of the alliance with the Horde were revealed even after the death of Alexey Yaroslavich. Where the Tatar armies intervened, the crusading onslaught was quickly stopped. Thus, for the tax which Alexander Nevskiy undertook to pay to Sarai - the capital of the new state on Volga Russia received a reliable and strong army which protected not only Novgorod and Pskov. In fact, thanks to the Tatars, Smolensk, which was threatened with capture by Lithuanians, retained its independence in the seventies of the thirteenth century.

Smolensk

The Lithuanians in 1274 offered their prince voluntary submission to the Horde, and since Smolensk began to be under the protection of the Tatars, the Lithuanians did not risk to storm it. Thus, the alliance with the Horde in the second half of the 13th century brought welcome peace and order to northeastern Russia. Moreover, Russian principalities which had accepted the alliance with the Horde fully preserved their ideological independence and political autonomy. For example, after the victory of the Muslim party in the Horde in the person of Berke no one demanded that the Russians convert to Islam. One, it shows that Russia was not a province of the Mongolian ulus, and the country allied to great khan, paid some tax for the maintenance of an army which it itself needed.

What is the ethnic interpretation of these grandiose events of the 13th century? We have already mentioned that in the XI-beginning of the XIII century the Russian land was a single super-ethnos. But with the fall of the passionarity in the XIII century, the unity was lost. Certain subsystems of the weakened super-ethnos became a part of younger ethnic worlds. Thus, Northeastern Russia became part of the Mongolian super-ethnos. That is why Batyi's successors - non-Muslim khans, and later Muslim khans like Berke - took the place of Byzantine emperors in the hierarchy of Russian geopolitical perceptions. Earlier in Russia it was believed that there was only one tsar - the Vasilevs in Constantinople. Russian land was ruled by princes - independent rulers, but second in the hierarchy of statehood. After the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders (1204) and the collapse of the power of Byzantine emperors, the title "Tsar" in Rus' was given to the khans of the Golden Horde. This is how they were called: "good tsar" Dzhanibek or "stern tsar" Uzbek.

М. V. Nesterov. Alexander Nevskiy on his deathbed

Those Russian principalities that refused an alliance with the Tatars were seized partly by Lithuania, partly by Poland, and their fate was very sad. Within the Western European super-ethnos, the Russians suffered a second-class fate.

Thus, the Russian land, which entered the phase of obscuration, was torn in two by the mighty forces of the Western and Eastern passionarity. In this case, from the point of view of ethnic history, it is extremely important to answer the question: what kind of Russia did Alexander Yaroslavich Nevskiy represent? Was he the last large appanage prince of Ancient Russia or the first prince of the future Great Russia? Can he be put in the same line with Vladimir Monomakh or should we compare him with Dmitry Donskiy?

С. V. Ivanov. Collection of tribute by the baskaks

Russian Warrior

I believe that Prince Alexander, as well as his comrades-in-arms, belonged to the generation of new people who raised Russia to unreachable heights. There are weighty reasons for such a conclusion. The sacrificial conduct of Alexander Yaroslavich and his associates differs too strikingly from the base morals of the Old Russian appanage princes. The dominant of conduct formulated by Alexander - altruistic patriotism - determined the principles of Russia's order for some centuries ahead. The traditions of alliance with the peoples of Asia, based on national and religious tolerance, established by the Prince, attracted the peoples living in neighboring territories to Russia up to the XIX century. And at last, namely Alexander Yaroslavich Nevskiy's descendants built in XIV century a new Russia on the ruins of Ancient Kievan Rus. At first it was called Moscow, and from the end of XV century began to be called Russia.

All of the above gives us the opportunity to say confidently enough that in the beginning of the XIII century in the territory of Russia there was a passionate push. We can even accurately determine the date of this push, taking into account our assumption. The "new" people began to be born around the year 1200, and they became a historical force at the end of the 14th century-about 1380. Consequently, the incubation period of the passionarial upsurge phase lasted about 180 years, which does not contradict the data on other examples of ethnogenesis that we know of.

The assertion about a passionary upsurge in Russia in the 13th century is easy to verify. The thing is that the passionary push, if it occurs, never affects one country, one ethnos. As a global, planetary phenomenon the explosion of ethnogenesis affects long, narrow strips on the Earth's surface, passing through different regions inhabited by different peoples. In these strips, extending for thousands of kilometers, ethnogenesis of different peoples begins simultaneously. This was also the case in the 13th century.

Saint Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. Engraving from the 19th century. 

This impulse can be traced in the Baltics: On the banks of the Neman, Lithuanian tribes mixed with the Slavic population to form a new Lithuanian ethnos. The Pripyat River valley and the Dnieper River region were in the shock zone: a mixed Russian-Polish population began to migrate from here, which later formed an ethnos called Ukrainian. At the same time as the processes in Northeastern Russia and Lithuania, ethnogenesis began in the western part of Asia Minor. Already at the end of the 13th century a new, Ottoman, ethnos was created there. The Ottoman Turks were quite different from the Seljuk Turks (Turkmens) that inhabited the eastern part of Asia Minor. Probably the emergence of the Crimean Tatar ethnos, which later joined the Ottomans, was also connected with the impact of the 13th century.

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