The first Danube campaign
In 967, the Russian prince Svyatoslav set out on a campaign to the banks of the Danube. There are no reports in the annals about the preparation of this campaign, but there is no doubt that the preliminary preparation was carried out seriously. New warriors were trained, which became even more numerous, gathered from the Slavic tribes "voi" (volunteer hunters who go to war at will, hunt), built a significant number of boats on which it was possible to walk along rivers and cross the sea, weapons were forged … The Russian army, as in the campaign against Khazaria, was mainly on foot. The speed of movement was achieved due to the use of boats and the presence of a developed network of waterways in Eastern Europe. In addition, Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich had light allied cavalry, if the Pechenegs took part in the campaign against the Khazars, now the Hungarians (Ugrians) have also become allies.
Diplomatic training was also completed. In 967, a secret treaty was concluded between the Byzantine Empire and Russia (the Russian chronicler did not say a word about its content). From the side of Byzantium, it was signed by Kalokir. Constantinople, in exchange for the security of its possessions in the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region, ceded the mouth of the Danube to the Russian state. Prince Svyatoslav was to receive the coastal region of the Dniester and Danube, the territory of the present Dobrudja. It was the city of Pereyaslavets on the Danube that was originally the main target of Svyatoslav Igorevich.
The Rus did not immediately appear in Bulgaria. At first, the Russians, according to the information of the Russian historian V. N. There the Hungarian allies were waiting for them. The Hungarians have been allies of the Rus for several decades. “From the Ugric,” wrote Tatishchev, “I had strong love and consent.” Apparently, during negotiations with Kalokir, Svyatoslav sent ambassadors to Pannonia to the Hungarians, revealing to them the plan for a campaign on the Danube. According to Tatishchev, the Bulgarians also had allies - the Khazars, Yases and Kasogs, whom Prince Svyatoslav defeated during his eastern campaign. Tatishchev reports that the Bulgarians had an alliance with the Khazars even during the Khazar campaign of Svyatoslav. Part of the Khazars escaped in Bulgaria. The Khazar factor was one of the reasons that prompted Svyatoslav to bring troops to the Danube.
In August 968, Russian troops reached the borders of Bulgaria. According to the Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon, Svyatoslav led an army of 60,000. Apparently, this is a great exaggeration. Svyatoslav did not raise tribal militias, bringing only a squad, "hunters" (volunteers) and detachments of Pechenegs and Hungarians. Most historians estimate the army of Svyatoslav at 10 thousand soldiers. The Russian rook flotilla freely entered the mouth of the Danube and began to quickly climb upstream. The appearance of the Russian army came as a surprise to the Bulgarians. According to Lev Deacon, the Bulgarians put up a phalanx of 30 thousand soldiers against Svyatoslav. However, this did not embarrass the Rus, having landed on the shore, the "Tavro-Scythians" (as the Greek sources called the Rus), jumped out of the boats, covered themselves with shields and rushed to the attack. The Bulgarians could not withstand the first attack and, fleeing from the battlefield, closed in the fortress of Dorostol (Silistra).
The Russian army in one battle secured dominance over Eastern Bulgaria. Bulgarians no longer dared to fight directly. Even the emperor Justinian, in order to protect the province of Mizia from the invasion of the "barbarians" (as they called Bulgaria at that time) and prevent the enemy from breaking through further, built about 80 fortresses on the banks of the Danube and at some distance from it at the intersection of communications. All these fortifications were taken by the Rus in the summer-autumn of 968. The hopes of the Romans that the Russians would get bogged down in the war with the Bulgarians did not justify themselves. In the very first battles, the Bulgarian army was defeated, and Russian troops destroyed the entire defensive system in the east, opening the way to Preslav and to the Byzantine border. Moreover, in Constantinople they saw a real threat to the empire in the fact that the victorious march of the Russian army through the Bulgarian lands was not accompanied by robberies, the devastation of cities and villages, violence against the local residents (and this is how the Romans waged wars with the Bulgarians). The Russians saw the Bulgarians as brothers by blood, and Christianity was just asserting itself in Bulgaria, ordinary people have not forgotten their traditions. The sympathies of ordinary Bulgarians and part of the feudal lords immediately turned to the Russian leader. Bulgarian volunteers began to replenish the Russian troops. Some of the feudal lords were ready to swear allegiance to Svyatoslav, as previously noted (the Bulgarian campaign of Svyatoslav), part of the Bulgarian elite hated Tsar Peter and his pro-Byzantine policy. And the alliance between the Russians and the Bulgarians could lead the Byzantine Empire to a military and political catastrophe. The Bulgarians, under the decisive leader Simeon, almost took Constantinople on their own.
Svyatoslav Igorevich himself initially followed the clauses of the treaty concluded with Byzantium. He did not invade deep into the Bulgarian state. As soon as the lands along the Danube and Pereyaslavets were occupied, the Russian prince stopped the hostilities. Prince Svyatoslav made Pereyaslavets his capital. According to him, there should have been a "middle" (middle) of his state: "… I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - because there is the middle of my land, all the benefits flow there …". The exact location of Pereyaslavets is unknown. Some believe that it was then called the fortress Dorostol, where the troops of Svyatoslav will hold the defense during the war with the Byzantine Empire. Other researchers believe that this is Preslav Maliy on the lower Danube in present-day Romania. The famous historian F. I. Uspensky, who published fundamental works on the history of the Byzantine Empire, believed that Pereyaslavets was the ancient headquarters of the Bulgarian khans, which was located near the modern Romanian city of Isakcha near the mouth of the Danube.
Svyatoslav, according to the chronicle, "the prince is in Pereyaslavtsi, there is a tribute on the Greeks." The terms of the agreement concluded by Kalokir in Kiev, apparently, included an agreement on the resumption of the payment of the annual tribute to Russia. Now the Greeks (Byzantines) have resumed paying the tribute. In essence, the military-allied articles of the Russian-Byzantine treaty of 944 were implemented in the agreement between Svyatoslav and Kalokir. Constantinople and Kiev in different periods of their history were not only enemies, but also allies against the Arabs, Khazars and other opponents. Kalokir arrived in Bulgaria with a Russian army and remained with Svyatoslav until the Russian-Byzantine war. The Bulgarian leadership remained in Preslav. During the first Danube campaign, Svyatoslav made no attempts on the sovereignty of Bulgaria. It can be assumed that after the approval in Pereyaslavets, Prince Svyatoslav concluded a peace agreement with Bulgaria.
Vladimir Kireev. "Prince Svyatoslav".
Deteriorating relations with Byzantium. Siege of Kiev by the Pechenegs
The peace was short-lived. Byzantium, faithful to its policy, began to take the first steps aimed at removing Svyatoslav from Bulgaria. Emperor Nicephorus Phocas ordered to close the Bosphorus with a chain, as the Greeks usually did in anticipation of the appearance of the Russian fleet, began to prepare the army and navy for a march. The Byzantine leadership, apparently, took into account the mistakes of past years, when the Russians caught the Greeks by surprise and approached the very walls of Constantinople-Constantinople from the sea. At the same time, Byzantine diplomats began to take steps to normalize relations with Bulgaria, in order to be in confrontation with both the Russians and the Bulgarians, and to prevent the possibility of creating a Russian-Bulgarian union. Moreover, Bulgaria was still headed by a pro-Byzantine group led by Tsar Peter, who dreamed of revenge and was dissatisfied with the appearance of Svyatoslav on the Danube.
A Byzantine embassy was sent to Preslav, headed by the experienced diplomat Nikifor Erotic and the Bishop of Euchaite.
Constantinople changed its policy towards Bulgaria radically: there were no more dictates and ultimatums, the demands to send tsar's sons to Byzantium as hostages were forgotten. Moreover, Constantinople proposed a dynastic union - the marriage of the daughters of Peter and the Byzantine princes. In the Bulgarian capital, they immediately fell for the bait and the Bulgarian embassy arrived in the Byzantine capital. The Bulgarians were received with great honor.
Gifts of the Greeks to Svyatoslav. Miniature of the Radziwill Chronicle.
At the same time, the Byzantines carried out another action against Svyatoslav. The Greeks have always found gold to bribe. While in Pereyaslavets, Svyatoslav in the summer of 968 received alarming news from Kiev: the Pechenegs besieged Kiev. This was the first appearance of the Pechenegs at Kiev. A secret Byzantine embassy persuaded several leaders of the steppe to strike at Kiev, while the formidable Svyatoslav was not there. The Pechenezh tribal union was not united, and if some tribes helped Prince Svyatoslav, others did not owe him anything. In the spring of 968 (according to chronicle data), the Pechenegs flooded the outskirts of Kiev. Svyatoslav Igorevich, quickly gathered the army into a fist, left some of the foot soldiers in Pereyaslavets, and with a rook's army and a horse squad set out for Kiev.
According to the Russian chronicle, the Pechenegs began to withdraw their troops when they saw that the troops of the voivode Pretich were crossing the Dnieper. The Pechenegs mistook the forces of Pretich for the squads of Svyatoslav. Pretich began negotiations with the Pechenezh leaders and concluded an armistice by exchanging weapons. However, the threat from Kiev was not removed yet, then Svyatoslav arrived, who "drove the Pechenegs into the poly, and byst the world." The Byzantine envoys assured the Pechenegs that they were safe, Svyatoslav would not have time to come to the aid of Kiev. The Pechenegs were known as the masters of the steppe. However, this time they were wrong. Svyatoslav's cavalry marched across the steppe in a round-up, driving the steppe inhabitants to the river. The ship's men were walking along the river. The Pechenegs, breaking through to the south, suffered heavy losses, and the herds of beautiful horses became Russian prey.
Second Danube campaign
Svyatoslav Igorevich entered Kiev in triumph. Kievans greeted him with enthusiasm. Svyatoslav spent the whole summer and the first half of 969 in Kiev with his sick mother. Apparently, Olga took her son's word not to leave her until soon death. Therefore, although Svyatoslav was eager to go to Bulgaria, where the alarming information came from, he remained. On July 11, 969, Olga died. The deceased princess was buried according to the Christian rite, without filling a mound and without performing a funeral feast. The son fulfilled her wish.
Before leaving, Grand Duke Svyatoslav carried out a management reform, the importance of which will soon grow even more after his death. He will hand over the supreme power in Russia to his sons. Two legitimate sons, from a noble wife, Yaropolk and Oleg, will receive Kiev and the restless Drevlyansky land. The third son, Vladimir, will receive control over Novgorod, Northern Russia. Vladimir was the fruit of Svyatoslav's love for his mother's housekeeper Malusha. Dobrynya was Malusha's brother and Vladimir's uncle (one of their prototypes of the hero Dobrynya Nikitich). According to one version, she was the daughter of Malk Lubechanin, a merchant from the Baltic Lubeck. Others believe that Malusha is the daughter of the Drevlyane prince Mal, who led the uprising in which Prince Igor was killed. The traces of the Drevlyane prince Mal are lost after 945, probably he did not escape the revenge of Princess Olga, but he could have been captured and he was sent into exile. Another popular version is that Malusha is the daughter of a Jewish merchant.
Having arranged affairs in Russia, Svyatoslav, at the head of a tried and tested squad, moved to Bulgaria. In August 969 he was again on the banks of the Danube. Here the squads of the Bulgarian allies began to join him, the light cavalry of the allied Pechenegs and Hungarians approached. During the time when Svyatoslav was absent from Bulgaria, significant changes took place here. Tsar Peter went to a monastery, handing over the throne to his eldest son Boris II. The Bulgarians hostile to Svyatoslav, using the moral support of Byzantium and the departure of the Russian prince with the main forces to Russia, broke the truce and began hostilities against the Russian garrisons remaining in the Danube. The commander of the Russian forces, the Volk, was besieged in Pereyaslavets, but he still held out. According to Leo the Deacon, Preslav asked Constantinople for military assistance, but in vain. Having once again confronted Russia and Bulgaria, the Greeks did not want to interfere. Nikifor Foka turned his attention to fighting the Arabs in Syria. A powerful Byzantine army went to the East and laid siege to Antioch. The Bulgarians had to fight the Rus one by one.
Voivode Wolf could not hold Pereyaslavets. Inside the city, a conspiracy of local residents developed, who established contacts with the besiegers. The wolf spreading rumors that he would fight to the last and hold the city until the arrival of Svyatoslav, at night secretly went down the Danube on boats. There he joined forces with Svyatoslav's troops. The combined army moved to Pereyaslavets. By this time, the city had been significantly fortified. The Bulgarian army entered Pereyaslavets, and was reinforced by the city militia. This time the Bulgarians were ready for battle. The battle was hard. According to Tatishchev, the Bulgarian army launched a counteroffensive, and almost crushed the Russians. Prince Svyatoslav addressed his soldiers with a speech: “We already have to graze; let's pull manly, brothers and druzhino! " "And the slaughter is great," and the Bulgarians overpowered the Rus. Pereyaslavets was captured again in two years. The Ustyug Chronicle, dating back to the most ancient annals, reports that having taken the city, Svyatoslav executed all the traitors. This news suggests that during the stay of the Rus and after the departure of Svyatoslav to Russia, the townspeople were split: some supported the Rus, others were against them and made a conspiracy that contributed to the departure of the garrison under the command of the Wolf.
The calculation of the pro-Byzantine elite of Bulgaria for revenge and help from Byzantium did not come true. The Byzantine army at this time besieged Antioch, which was taken in October 969. This led to a serious change in the situation in Bulgaria. This time Svyatoslav did not stay on the Danube and almost without meeting any resistance went to Preslav - the capital of Bulgaria. There was no one to protect her. Tsar Boris, who was abandoned by the pro-Byzantine boyars who fled from the capital, recognized himself as a vassal of the Russian Grand Duke. Thus, Boris retained his throne, capital and treasury. Svyatoslav did not remove him from the throne. Russia and Bulgaria entered into a military alliance. Now the situation in the Balkans has changed not in favor of the Byzantine Empire: Russia was in alliance with the Bulgarians and Hungarians. A big war became inevitable, and Prince Svyatoslav prepared well for it, having strong trump cards in his hands.
