The great Russian commander Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich looks like an epic figure of Russia. Therefore, many researchers are drawn to bring him into the ranks of epic heroes, and not statesmen. However, the great warrior and prince Svyatoslav was a politician of global significance. In a number of areas (the Volga region, the Caucasus, Crimea, the Black Sea region, the Danube, the Balkans and Constantinople), he laid the traditions and course of the foreign policy of Russia - the Russian kingdom - Russia. He and his direct predecessors - Rurik, Oleg Veshchiy and Igor - have outlined Russian global super tasks.
The mystery of the death of Svyatoslav
Researchers believe that after a meeting with the Byzantine emperor, when an honorable peace was concluded, which returned Russia and Byzantium to the provisions of the treaty of 944, Svyatoslav was still on the Danube for some time. Svyatoslav left the Danube region, but Russia retained its conquests in the Azov region, the Volga region, held the mouth of the Dnieper.
Svyatoslav found himself on the Dnieper only in late autumn. At the Dnieper rapids, the Pechenegs were already waiting for him. According to the official version, the Greeks were not going to release the formidable warrior back to Russia. The Byzantine chronicler John Skylitsa reports that earlier Svyatoslav was on the Dnieper, a master of political intrigue, Bishop Theophilus of Euchaite. The bishop was carrying expensive gifts to Khan Kura and the proposal of John I of Tzimiskes to conclude a treaty of friendship and alliance between the Pechenegs and Byzantium. The Byzantine ruler asked the Pechenegs not to cross the Danube anymore, not to attack the Bulgarian lands that now belonged to Constantinople. According to Greek sources, Tzimiskes also asked for the Russian troops to pass through without hindrance. The Pechenegs allegedly agreed with all the conditions, except for one - they did not want to let the Russians through.
The Rus were not informed about the refusal of the Pechenegs. Therefore, Svyatoslav walked in full confidence that the Greeks had fulfilled their promise and the road was free. The Russian chronicle claims that the Pechenegs were informed by the anti-Russian residents of Pereyaslavets that Svyatoslav was going with a small squad and with great wealth. Thus, there are three versions: the Pechenegs themselves wanted to strike at Svyatoslav, the Greeks only kept silent about it; the Greeks bribed the Pechenegs; the Pechenegs were informed by the Bulgarians hostile to Svyatoslav.
The fact that Svyatoslav went to Russia in complete calmness and confidence confirms the division of his army into two unequal parts. Having reached the "Island of the Rus" on boats at the mouth of the Danube, the prince divided the army. The main forces under the command of the governor Sveneld went on their own through the forests and steppes to Kiev. They made it safely. No one dared to attack the powerful army. According to the chronicle, Sveneld and Svyatoslav offered to go on horseback, but he refused. Only a small squad remained with the prince and, apparently, the wounded.
When it became clear that it was impossible to pass through the rapids, the prince decided to spend the winter on Beloberezhye, the area between the modern cities of Nikolaev and Kherson. According to the chronicle, wintering was difficult, there was not enough food, people were starving, dying of disease. It is believed that Sveneld should have arrived in the spring with fresh forces. In the spring of 972, without waiting for Sveneld, Svyatoslav again moved up the Dnieper. On the Dnieper rapids, a small squad of Svyatoslav was ambushed. Details of Svyatoslav's last battle are unknown. One thing is clear: the Pechenegs outnumbered Svyatoslav's warriors, the Russian soldiers were exhausted by the difficult winter. The entire squad of the Grand Duke perished in this unequal battle.
The Pechenezh prince Kurya ordered to make a brother-cup from the skull of the great warrior and bind it with gold. There was a belief that in this way the glory and wisdom of the Grand Duke would be passed on to his victors. Lifting the cup, the Pechenezh prince said: "Let our children be like him!"
Kiev trace
The official version about a straightforward warrior, who was easily deceived by the Romans, putting the Pechenegs under attack, is illogical. There are solid questions all around. Why did the prince stay with a small squad and chose the waterway in boats, although he always flew swiftly with his cavalry, which left with Sveneld? It turns out that he was not going to return to Kiev ?! He was waiting for the help that Sveneld was supposed to bring and continue the war. Why Sveneld, who reached Kiev without any problems, did not send help, did not bring the troops? Why didn't Yaropolk send help? Why did Svyatoslav not try to go the long, but safer way - through Belaya Vezha, along the Don?
Historians S. M. Soloviev and D. I. Ilovaisky drew attention to the strange behavior of the governor Sveneld, and B. A. Currently, this strange fact was noted by the researcher L. Prozorov. The behavior of the voivode is all the more strange because he did not even have to return to Kiev. According to the Novgorod First Chronicle, Prince Igor gave Sveneld to "feed" the land with the street, a numerous union of tribes that lived in the region from the Middle Dnieper region, above the rapids, to the Southern Bug and Dniester. The princely governor could easily recruit a serious militia in the lands.
SM Solovyov noted that "Sveneld, willingly or unwillingly, hesitated in Kiev." DI Ilovaisky wrote that Svyatoslav “was waiting for help from Kiev. But, obviously, either in the Russian land at that time things were in great disarray, or they did not have accurate information about the position of the prince - help did not come from anywhere. " However, Sveneld arrived in Kiev and had to provide Prince Yaropolk and the Boyar Duma with information about the state of affairs with Svyatoslav.
Therefore, many researchers concluded that Sveneld betrayed Svyatoslav. He did not send any help to his prince and became the most influential nobleman at the throne of Yaropolk, who received Kiev. Perhaps in this betrayal lies the source of the murder by Prince Oleg, the second son of Svyatoslav, the son of Sveneld - Lyut, whom he met while hunting in his domain. Oleg asked who is driving the beast? Hearing "Sveneldich" in response, Oleg immediately killed him. Sveneld, avenging his son, set Yaropolk against Oleg. The first internecine, fratricidal war began.
Sveneld could be the conductor of the will of the Kiev boyar-merchant elite, which was unhappy with the transfer of the capital of the Russian state to the Danube. In his desire to found a new capital in Pereyaslavets, Svyatoslav challenged the Kiev boyars and merchants. Capital Kiev was relegated to the background. They could not openly confront him. But the Kiev elite was able to subordinate the young Yaropolk to its influence and delay the matter with sending troops to help Svyatoslav, which was the reason for the death of the great commander.
In addition, L. N. Gumilyov noted such a factor as the revival of the "Christian party" in the Kiev elite, which Svyatoslav defeated and drove into the underground during the pogrom of the mission of the Roman bishop Adalbert in 961 ("I am coming to you!" first victory). Then Princess Olga agreed to accept Adalbert's mission. The Roman bishop persuaded the Kiev elite to accept Christianity from the hands of “the most Christian ruler” in Western Europe - the German king Otto. Olga listened attentively to the envoy of Rome. There was a threat of acceptance of the "holy faith" by the Kiev elite from the hands of the envoy of Rome, which led to the vassalage of the rulers of Russia in relation to Rome and the German emperor. During that period, Christianity acted as an information weapon that enslaved adjacent regions. Svyatoslav harshly stopped this sabotage. Bishop Adalbert's supporters were killed, possibly including representatives of the Christian party in Kiev. The Russian prince intercepted the threads of control from the mother losing her mind and defended the conceptual and ideological independence of Russia.
Svyatoslav's long campaigns led to the fact that his most loyal associates left Kiev with him. The influence of the Christian community was revived in the city. There were many Christians among the boyars, who had great profits from trade, and merchants. They were not happy about the transfer of the center of the state to the Danube. The Joachim Chronicle reports on Yaropolk's sympathies for Christians and Christians in his circle. This fact is confirmed by the Nikon Chronicle.
Gumilev generally considers Sveneld to be the head of the surviving Christians in the army of Svyatoslav. Svyatoslav arranged the execution of Christians in the army, punishing them for lack of courage in battle. He also promised to destroy all churches in Kiev and destroy the Christian community. Svyatoslav kept his word. The Christians knew this. Therefore, it was in their vital interests to eliminate the prince and his closest associates. What role Sveneld played in this conspiracy is unknown. We do not know if he was the instigator or if he just joined the conspiracy, deciding that it would be beneficial to him. Perhaps he was simply framed. It could have been anything, up to and including Sveneld's attempts to turn the tide in favor of Svyatoslav. There is no information. One thing is clear, the death of Svyatoslav is associated with Kiev intrigues. It is possible that the Greeks and Pechenegs in this case were simply appointed the main culprits in the death of Svyatoslav.
"The capture of the Khazar fortress Itil by Prince Svyatoslav". V. Kireev.
Conclusion
The deeds of Svyatoslav Igorevich would have been enough for another commander or statesman for more than one life. The Russian prince stopped the ideological invasion of Rome into the Russian lands. Svyatoslav gloriously completed the work of the previous princes - he overthrew the Khazar Kaganate, this monstrous serpent of Russian epics. He wiped out the Khazar capital from the face of the earth, opened the Volga route for the Russians and established control over the Don (Belaya Vezha).
They are trying to present Svyatoslav in the form of an ordinary military leader, a "reckless adventurer" who wasted the power of Russia. However, the Volga-Khazar campaign was an act worthy of the greatest commander, and was vital for the military-strategic and economic interests of Russia. The struggle for Bulgaria and an attempt to establish itself in the Danube were supposed to solve the main strategic tasks in Russia. The Black Sea would finally become the "Russian Sea".
The decision to move the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets, from the Dnieper to the Danube, also looks reasonable. During the historical turning points, the capital of Russia was transferred more than once: Oleg the Prophet moved it from north to south - from Novgorod to Kiev. Then it was necessary to focus on the problem of uniting the Slavic tribal unions and to solve the problem of protecting the southern borders, for this Kiev was better suited. Andrei Bogolyubsky decided to make Vladimir a capital city, leaving Kiev, mired in intrigues, where the degenerated boyar-huckster elite drowned all the state's undertakings. Peter moved the capital to the Neva in order to secure Russia's access to the shores of the Baltic (formerly Varangian) Sea. The Bolsheviks moved the capital to Moscow, since Petrograd was militarily vulnerable. The decision on the need to move the capital from Moscow to the east, for example, to Novosibirsk, is ripe (even overripe) at the present time.
Svyatoslav made the way to the south, so the capital on the Danube had to secure the Black Sea region for Russia. It should be noted that the Russian prince could not fail to know that one of the first cities called Kiev had previously existed on the Danube. The relocation of the capital greatly facilitated the development and subsequent integration of new lands. Much later, in the 18th century, Russia will have to solve the same tasks that Svyatoslav outlined (Caucasus, Crimea, Danube). Plans to annex the Balkans and create a new capital of the Slavs, Constantinople, will be revived.
Svyatoslav did not fight for the sake of the war itself, although they are still trying to show him as a successful "Varangian". He solved strategic super tasks. Svyatoslav went south not for the sake of mining, gold, he wanted to gain a foothold in the region, to get along with the local population. Svyatoslav outlined the priority directions for the Russian state - the Volga, Don, North Caucasus, Crimea and Danube (Balkans). The sphere of interests of Russia included Bulgaria (Volga region), the North Caucasus, the way to the Caspian Sea, to Persia, and the Arabs was opened
The heirs of the great strategist, mired in civil strife, quarrels and intrigues, were no longer up to the thrust to the south and east. Although they tried to fulfill certain elements of Svyatoslav's program. In particular, Vladimir captured Korsun. But in general, the plans and fruits of the Grand Duke's victories were buried for many centuries. Only under Ivan the Terrible did Russia return to the Volga region, occupying Kazan and Astrakhan (in its area are the ruins of the Khazar capital - Itil), began to return to the Caucasus, plans arose to subjugate the Crimea. Svyatoslav was “simplified” as much as possible, turned into a successful military leader, a knight without fear and reproach. Though behind the warrior's deeds one can easily read the strategic plans for the construction of Great Russia.
The titanic power and mystery of the figure of Svyatoslav Igorevich was also noted in Russian epics. His image, according to scientists, was preserved in the epic image of the most powerful hero of the Russian land - Svyatogora. His strength was so enormous that over time, the storytellers said, his mother stopped carrying cheese, and Svyatogor the hero was forced to go to the mountains.
Slobodchikov V. Svyatogor.
