Southwestern Russia for a long time remained outside the borders of the Rurik state. So, when Oleg was about to launch his raid on Constantinople, a number of local tribes joined him, including the Croats, Dulebs and Tivertsy, but as allies, not dependent tributaries. Moreover, while Igor and Olga ruled in Kiev, their relations continued to develop in the west and the first prototypes of local principalities appeared, headed by boyars from large cities. First of all, this concerned the Cherven cities, which by the beginning of the 10th century had formed into the first state formation, which stood above the usual tribal union. In parallel with this, there was a process of formation of separate towns with suburbs within the framework of other tribal unions. Kiev could only be content with the news about these processes, since it had many other interests, and the way to the west was closed by the Derevlyans, who fiercely resisted the subordination of the princely power.
The first mention of a large western campaign concerns the reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich. Information about the hostilities is very vague, it is not even known who Svyatoslav actually fought with: the Volhynians, Poles, or someone else. The result of these campaigns is also unknown. Even if they managed to subdue the Volynians, the power over them did not last long, and soon after the death of Svyatoslav, the Poles had already easily subdued the Cherven cities, without encountering much resistance. Most likely, after the death of the prince, all the newly annexed territories in the west again separated from the state of Rurikovich, which made it easier for the western neighbors. It is possible that at this time the Volhynians acted in concert with the Poles, resisting the subordination of the Rurikovichs.
Only Prince Volodymyr the Great, who made a big trip to Volhynia in 981, took up the thoroughly southwestern issue. It was from this moment that the establishment of the power of Russia over the tribes of the Volynians, Dulebs and others was documented. In addition, the Poles managed to recapture the western outskirts, including the two largest cities - Przemysl and Cherven. On this, however, he did not stop, and, according to the mention of the chroniclers, he went so deeply as no other Russian princes went to the Polish lands (which, however, is debatable). Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko acted thoroughly, toughly, because of which the Poles under his rule no longer encroached on the western borders of Russia.
The work on the integration of the acquired territories into Russia was no less thorough. The lands of the Volhynians, worms and others were united into one principality, and Vladimir's son Boris, then Vsevolod, sat to rule them. A new capital was built - the city of Vladimir, which quickly surpassed all the old cities and actually began to dominate them. In 992, a bishopric was founded in the same city. A new administration and a new boyars loyal to the Rurikovichs were formed. New settlements and fortifications appeared on the western border, which were supposed to stop the invasion if the Poles decided to start the war again. In a fairly short time, such a system was created that quickly and decisively tied the region to a single Russia - in the future, the local elites inextricably linked their future with Rurikovich and Russia, and only sometimes the representatives of the old boyars tried to rely on foreign rulers.
The beginning of strife
The border status of the Cherven cities together with Przemysl, as well as their later entry into the state of Rurikovich, led to the fact that for a long time this part of Southwestern Russia turned out to be a disputed territory. The Poles constantly applied for it, who did not miss the opportunity to take Cherven and Przemysl for themselves. After the death of Vladimir the Great, in connection with the strife that began in Russia, another such opportunity arose. Taking advantage of the request for help from Prince Svyatopolk Vladimirovich, who claimed supreme power in Russia, the prince of Poland Boleslav I the Brave began the war. In a battle near the city of Volyn in 1018, he defeated the army of the Russians and annexed the Cherven cities to his state. It was possible to return them only after two large campaigns in 1030 and 1031, when Yaroslav the Wise had already firmly settled in Kiev as the Grand Duke of Russia, and solved the most pressing problems. After that, the Grand Duke established good relations with the Poles, and for some time they forgot about their claims to the western border of the state of Rurikovich.
After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, one of his younger sons, Igor Yaroslavich, became the prince of Volyn. He was part of the "Yaroslavich triumvirate", which for some time ruled steadily in Russia, enjoyed the confidence of the brothers, and in general was the most ordinary prince. No particularly significant events took place in Volhynia during his reign, and Igor's Polish sympathies, attributed to the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz, remained unprovable.
In 1057, Igor Yaroslavich was replaced by a new Rurikovich, Rostislav Vladimirovich. By that time, he was already a special person, with a special history. His father, Vladimir Yaroslavich, the eldest son of Yaroslav the Wise, died before he became the Grand Duke of Kiev, and therefore Rostislav became the first outcast prince in the history of Russia, i.e. an orphaned prince, to whom his father did not have time to inherit his inheritance. Nevertheless, the ladder did not completely exclude him from the line of inheritance of certain principalities, as a result of which he managed to get into his reign first Rostov and then Volhynia.
Despite the fact that the Volyn principality at that time was quite large and rich, the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise considered his position too precarious and hopeless, therefore in 1064 he left the princely table in Vladimir-Volynsky and went to Tmutarakan. There he managed to drive out his cousin, Gleb Svyatoslavich. He, however, did not accept the loss and recaptured the city - but only then to immediately lose it again. Having thoroughly strengthened his position in Tmutarakan, Rostislav began to impose tribute on the nearest cities and tribes, strengthening the central power. The Chersonesus Greeks did not like this very much, as a result of which in 1067 Rostislav was poisoned by the commander sent by the Romans, having managed to stay as a local prince for only 3 years.
After Rostislav Vladimirovich left Volhynia, there is no information about the local princes for 14 long years. It seems that local power was seized by the community and boyars of Vladimir-Volynsky, and the principality itself actually obeyed the will of the Kiev prince through some governor. The problem was that just at that time a struggle for Kiev broke out between the Rurikovichs. It all began in 1068, when the rebellious community of Kiev forced the Grand Duke Izyaslav Yaroslavich to leave the city. He returned the following year, having received the support of the Polish prince Boleslav II the Bold, and was able to regain Kiev - only then to lose it again in 1073. In 1077, Izyaslav again regained the capital, but died a year later. In Volhynia, this struggle affected indirectly, but rather unpleasantly: after the campaign of 1069, Polish troops camped in various cities and villages of South and South-West Russia. This caused indignation and the killing of Polish soldiers, after which Boleslav was forced to withdraw his troops. However, in large border cities, including Przemysl, he left his garrisons, actually retaining control over those territories that the Poles considered theirs. In 1078, in Vladimir-Volynsky, his prince reappeared - Yaropolk Izyaslavich, the son of Izyaslav Yaroslavich.
Community strength and will
The entire XI century turned out to be very important for the development of Volyn. At that time, as part of Russia, it was a single conventional administrative unit, due to which the ties of all its territories were significantly strengthened, and the local boyars began to realize themselves as part of something unified. Relations with Kiev were also actively developing, which had two foundations. The first of them was economic - trade with the capital of Russia led to the rapid development of the region's prosperity. The second reason was military - the Volyn boyars on their own could not yet measure their strength with the centralized Polish state, as a result of which they had to choose under whose authority they were. The order of the state of Rurik at that time turned out to be much more profitable, and therefore the choice was made in favor of Kiev, while relations with the Poles were gradually deteriorating. In the mentality of local residents, over time, an awareness of themselves not as a separate tribe, but as a Russian people, has become entrenched. At the same time, the first signs of a future riot of political life appeared: as the economy of Volyn was developing, the boyars accumulated more and more wealth in their hands and the faster they began to separate from the communities, forming an independent estate, the local aristocracy, with its own ambitions and views on the future of cities.
With the beginning of strife and the development of the fragmentation of estates in Russia, the community began to occupy a significant place. When the supreme rulers, i.e. princes, could change almost every year, and even were constantly busy with wars with each other, some kind of mechanism of self-government of cities, suburbs and rural settlements was required. The community became such a mechanism, which sparkled with new colors. On the one hand, it was already a relic of the tribal system, but on the other, under the prevailing conditions, it acquired a new form and, even taking into account the progressive stratification of society, began to act as a major political force. Due to the peculiarities of the constantly changing supreme power in Russia, caused by strife and the laws of inheritance, a unique system of managing cities and estates began to be created, in fact not connected with the figures of the princes, living separately from them.
The Rurikovichs at the head of the principality could change one after another, but the capital city itself, together with the subordinate suburbs and villages, remained a constant size, which pushed their role forward and almost equated them with the Rurikovich themselves. At the veche, the gathering of all free members of the community, important issues related to the life of the community were resolved; by decision of the veche, the city could provide support to the prince, or, conversely, deprive him of any help from the city. The prince himself was forced to play actively in politics, trying to win the sympathy of this very community. Separately stood the boyars, who, just in this period, began to gradually separate from the de facto community, increasing their solvency and influence. In fact, however, going directly against the will of the community for the boyars is still too dangerous an occupation, fraught with serious losses, and therefore they also have to maneuver and tilt the sympathies of the community members in their favor.
The community itself could not represent a serious political force, were it not for some military force at its disposal. This force was the militia, which by its nature was different. The most massive, but also the worst, was the rural militia. They preferred not to collect it at all, or to collect it only in case of emergency - as a rule, to protect the nearest settlements or suburbs. The level of training and armament of these militias, of course, remained extremely low, and they were mainly represented by infantry or light cavalry. The only ones who were of significant value among the troops from among the villagers were archers, for it was long and difficult to train a good archer, but there were already well-trained shooters who were engaged in hunting in "peacetime".
However, all this was just flowers, and the city shelves were the real berries. The cities concentrated in themselves resources from the entire district and therefore could provide reasonably good equipment for their militias; cities also needed to fight for their rights and interests, so they tried to keep the city regiment in the best possible way; the commune townspeople were directly interested in protecting the interests of their community, and the community itself was a rather cohesive formation, therefore the soldiers of the city regiment, as a rule, were distinguished by rather high (by the standards of their time) indicators of morale and discipline. Most often, the city regiment was represented by the pawns, well armed and protected, but it also had its own cavalry, represented by the petty boyars. The prince, wishing to use the city regiment, had to obtain permission from the community.
The most famous city regiment was the Novgorod militia, which, being mainly on foot, more than once showed its high combat effectiveness and became one of the factors that allowed this city to lead an independent one in the future. independent policy. It was the city regiments that formed, perhaps, the only combat-ready infantry on the territory of Russia, since the rest of the infantry, represented by the tribal or rural militia, was not distinguished by special endurance and cohesion, and could not afford such good equipment. The only exception could be the princely squad, but they also preferred to fight in horse ranks. In terms of their organization and potential, the Russian city regiments had analogs in Western Europe, which can be called the Flemish city militia or the Scottish infantry, which had a basis similar to the community and in the same way could abundantly distribute "lyuli" to French and English knights. These are examples already from the XIII-XIV centuries, but there are similar examples from antiquity - the phalanx of hoplites, which were also formed from the townspeople of ancient cities and were distinguished by their cohesion and the ability to stand firmly against an unorganized enemy. However, even with a high combat capability by the standards of the time, the infantry remained infantry and still could not compete with the heavy cavalry, showing good results only in capable hands and against not the most intelligent or numerous enemy.
If we add to all this the rapid economic growth of Russia, which coexisted with the strife that was gaining momentum, then the rather high position of the cities becomes understandable. The number of strong cities with their own ambitions was constantly growing, and therefore the political mess of that time becomes even more fat and rich, or, in simple terms, the situation becomes difficult, but at the same time interesting. The cities were interested in their own development, both through the internal growth of the economy and trade of the principality, and through expansion. There was constant competition between cities and communities: both between the cities as the highest echelon of the specific hierarchy, and between them and the suburbs, since the latter themselves sought to secede and become independent cities. In Rurikovichi, urban communities saw not only legitimate (the result of the thorough work of Vladimir the Great and Yaroslav the Wise) supreme rulers, but also guarantors of defending its interests. The wise prince strove with all his might to strengthen and develop the community of his capital city, receiving in return loyalty, support of the city regiment and growing prosperity. At the same time, the rapidly growing number of Rurikovichs in Russia, coupled with strife, made it possible, if necessary, to deprive a careless prince of support, as a result of which he was immediately replaced by the closest relative along the ladder, who could be much better. Therefore, when describing the history of that period, one should always remember about the complex political structure of Russia and the fact that the capital cities did not always act as only a bargaining chip in the hands of princes, blindly obeying each new Rurikovich, who could change with staggering frequency.
