481 



RUSSIA. 



RNERA1 HISTORY. 





IN treating of the history of Russia some authors have 

 "f adopted regular plans. The learned and famous 



''' " 



,. 

 Ili>ii.M 



tn.pirc. 



Schlrt/er divided lfu.ss.ian history into five great pe- 

 liods. lie was of opinion, 1st, That KUVMJI, from the 

 year S(>2 till the time of Sviatopolk, ought to In- named 

 tn//f/i<-i>iy (na*-cfii>) : !jd, rrom the time of Varsalaf 

 till the 3Io^clts, du'/ilid (divisa): 3d, From tin- time 



of 1'atii till I\;in 111. <./>//<.-. v<v/ (oppress): 4th, From 

 I\an 111. till the time of Ptter the (Jreat, rirlmMis 



( \ ictrix) : 5th, From Peter the Great till Catharine the 

 , jluHrishhtiz. 1'ut Karamzin thinks this division is 

 latlitr ingenious tlum well founded, because, 1st, The 

 ge t>l Vladimir was already an age of power and fame, 

 ml not of birth : 2d, The kingdom was also formed 

 bra the year 1015 : 3d, If, according to her internal 

 situation, and her external operations, it be neces- 

 sary to mark periods, can we associate the time of 

 the great Duke Dmitrii Alexandrovitch and of 

 Dmitrii Donskoi ? passive slavery, with victory and 

 fame ? 4th, The time of the usurpers is more charac- 

 terised by misfortune than by victory. The same au- 

 thor is likewise of opinion that it would be much bet- 

 ter, and more just, to divide Russian history into, 

 1st, ancient, from Rurik to Ivan the III.; 2 d, /;/- 

 die, from Ivan III. to Peter the Great; and, 3d, 

 motlcrn, from Peter the Great to Alexander I. The 

 system of appanage was the character of the first epoch ; 

 monarchy of the second; and the change of civil cus- 

 toms of the third. In our sketch of the history of Rus- 

 sia, we do not deem it necessary to adopt any divisions. 



The origin of the Russian empire is involved in great 

 obscurity.* A herd of the Slavi, Slavonians, or as they 

 are oftener called, Sclavonians, who had advanced from 

 the banks of the Danube, and were wandering upon 

 those of the Dneper, are supposed to have fixed them- 

 selves about the 5th century, in the region now occu- 

 pied by the government of Kief, and to have built their 

 capital, which is still known by the same name. It is 

 also conjectured that another tribe of the Slavi fixed 

 themselves on the Volchof, and founded the well-known 

 city of Novgorod. Of neither tribe do we possess any 

 regular accounts till about the middle of the 9lli cen- 

 tury. According to the Russian historians the Slavi 

 were completely subjected about the year 8GO, by the 

 Yarages, or Varagians, a piratical nation who dwelt 

 upon the coasts of the Baltic, under their leader, Ru- 

 rik, who established the seat of his government, near 

 the Volchof, at a place called Old Ladoga, and who, 

 with two other chiefs, governed the conquered pro- 

 vinces. From this period may be dated the com- 

 mencement of the Russian monarchy. 



In the year 80'5, the Slavi flew to arms, and made 

 a brave but vain attempt to regain their independence. 

 Emboldened by success, Rurik extended his territories, 

 and fixed the seat of his government at Novgorod, 

 which was already a large city. Soon afterwards, by 

 the death of his copartners in the goverment, Rurik 



became sole ruler of the conquered territories, reigned RUUIA. 

 over them seventeen years in tranquillity, and be- s "V" 

 came the primogenitor of a long line of descendants, 

 who swayed the sceptre for several centuries. Rurik Rank. 



imed the title of Vcltkii Knur., or Great Duke. 

 II,- territories were of considerable magnitude, and to 

 them he recalled his countrymen the Varagians. 



At his death, his only son Igor, was a minor ; and Igor. 

 Oleg, a kinsman of the deceased sovereign, took upon 88*. 

 himself the administration of affair;. Endowed with a 

 martial spirit, and ambitious of military fame, or of 

 conquest, he collected a numerous army, marched to 

 the south, and after reducing several towns, reached 

 Kief, which he got possession of, after treacherously 

 and barbarous!} murdering Oskhold, and Dir, the two 

 chieftains of the Kievians. Kief then became the 

 capital of Russia. In 886 Oleg defeated the Drevlians, 988. 

 the Severyani, and the lladitmitchei. In 900 the ambi- 

 tious Oleg next projected and successfully executed an 

 expedition to Constantinople. With 80,000 troops, on 

 board of 2000 vessels, he sailed, by the Dneper, to the 

 Black Sea, and from thence to that capital, and triumph- 

 ed over Leo, who then swayed the sceptre of the Gre- 

 cian empire. He returned loaded with immense booty, 

 and so astonished the people that they imagined him en- 

 dowed with supernatural powers. During the thirty- 

 three years which Oleg maintained the sovereign 

 power, it appears that his administration was well re- 

 gulated. He is said to have built many towns. 



On the death of his guardian, in 9' 3, Igor took pos- 913. 

 session of the throne at the age of forty. Endowed 915, 

 with the same warlike spirit as Oleg, after having 

 quieted different rebellions, and vanquished the Drev. 

 Hans, the Uglitchis, and the Petchenegues, Igor plan- 

 ned a second expedition against Constantinople, and, 

 according to the Russian annals, which are no doubt 

 extravagant, equipped an army of 400,000 warriors. 

 In the year <)41, he set sail with this great army for 941. 

 Constantinople without having made any declaration 

 of war, and without any ostensible motive for infring- 

 ing the treaty of peace which had been entered into by 

 Oleg and Leo. For this conduct he was severely 

 punished. He was met by the Grecian forces, under 

 able generals ; attacked both on land and in his ships ; 

 and completely defeated. Scarcely a third of the army 

 returned with him to his own country. Nothwjth- <Hl. 

 standing his bad fortune, with an undaunted spirit, and 

 with new forces, he set out a second time for Greece; 

 but before he had advanced beyond the Tauridan 

 Chersonnesus, he was met by deputies from the Empe- 

 ror Romanus, who offered to pay the same tribute to 

 him as to his predecessor. Igor then retired with his 94^ 

 army, and was afterwards put to death by the Drev- 

 lians, against whom he waged war, because they had 

 refused to pay an augmentation of yearly tribute. 

 Igor left one son by his spouse Olga, a princess of a 

 bold and daring spirit. As Sviatoslaf was very young, Svutotl*f. 

 Olga assumed the reins of Government, and in revenge 

 for the death of Igor, took possession of the capital 



* The learned and venerable Roman Catholic metropolitan Sestrenervitz de Bohujz, author of an elaborate work, Rccfteidiet t*r 

 rarigine det Slaves," &c. considers tl* Russians as ot Moorish origin, and of the same tribe with the Pelasgi. 

 VOL. XVII. PART II. 3 P 



