The Twin Legacies of Rurik

[NinetyDegreeZ]

The Twin Legacies of Rurik
Chapter 1: Moskva’s History and Situation (1283-November 1444)
DISCLAIMER: I do not support any of the actions of the real-life Russian state in regards to their unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine (as future in-game actions will hopefully make obvious). Please don't bring IRL politics into this. Anyway, let's begin.

The city of Moskva has been inhabited since before recorded history, but the city itself was founded sometime in the 1100s by the Kievan Rus’, and came under the rule of the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. This principality was invaded along with the other Rus’ principalities by Batu Khan of the Mongols (later the Golden Horde), who burned Moskva to the ground and forced all of Kievan Rus’ either to be under the Mongols’ direct rule (the south) or pay tribute (the north).

Daniil of Moskva
In the 1260s Moskva came under the rule of Daniil, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal who famously defeated the Swedes at the battle of the Neva. Daniil would found the Grand Duchy of Moskva (which was later Latinized and then Anglicized into “Muscovy”) in 1283, and it would eventually become one of the richest and most powerful Rus’ principalities, and undertake a path of expansion. Daniil (1283-1303) conquered Kolomna and inherited Pereslavl-Zalessky (Yuriev in game), and his son Yuri (1303-1325) would conquer Mozhaisk. Yuri allied with Khan Uzbek of the Golden Horde, and this helped the Grand Duchy to gain power over its rivals. His son Ivan I (1325-1340) continued to help the Mongols, especially when Moskva’s rival Tver rebelled against the Horde in 1327. But that would not last forever.

Battle of Kulikovo (1380)
Enter Dmitry Ivanovich. Son of Ivan II (1353-1359), he came to power in 1359 and allied with the Orthodox Church against the Mongols. He won a victory at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, earning the nickname “Donskoy”, and despite Moscow being sacked in retaliation two years later, the victory would remain in the Russian national consciousness as proof that they could beat the Mongols and become free. Dmitry would die in 1389 and be succeeded by his son Vasiliy I. Vasiliy would expand Moscow east, taking over Suzdal, Vologda, Nizhny Novgorod, and Viatka, and subjugating Great Perm. He would stop paying tribute to the Great Khan after the Timurid invasion of 1408.

Vasiliy II of Moskva (ruler at start of game)
Upon the death of Vasiliy I in 1425, he was succeeded by his 10-year-old son, Vasiliy II. Vasiliy’s early reign was characterized by a succession crisis, as his uncle Yuri also had a claim on the throne. Vasiliy held onto the throne through his childhood through aid from the Lithuanian monarch, Vytautas, and the ever-present Golden Horde. However, Yuri would defeat Vasiliy in battle in 1433 and briefly take over Moscow. Upon his death in 1434, Yuri would pass the throne to his own son, Vasiliy the Cross-Eyed. However, his time on the throne was short, as his brother, Dmitry Shemiaka, would revolt against him and ally with Vasiliy II, and Vasiliy the Cross-Eyed would be executed. Vasiliy II would return to the throne, but Moskva would next be invaded by Kazan in 1439. Shemiaka would fail to support Vasiliy, and would be chased out of the country before returning and pledging his allegiance to the rightful monarch. Shemiaka now holds the post of Vasiliy’s top general, but his loyalty is not necessarily absolute.

Despite its internal conflicts, the Muscovite state is the premier power in Russia, holding sway over most of the other principalities that still exist. In the long term, it could choose to expand west, unifying the lands of the old Rus’, or set its sights eastward into the Mongol khanates and Siberia.

But in the short term, its main threat is the Republic of Novgorod. Novgorod is the only other Russian state holding as much land as Moskva, though its population and army size are smaller and it lacks allies. Which is good, as otherwise Vasiliy’s cautious nature might preclude him declaring the war.

Vasiliy’s son, Ivan, born in 1440, will likely succeed him upon his death. Moskva holds five states in vassalage: Yaroslavl (home of Vasiliy’s wife, Maria), Beloozero, and Rostov, all ruled by other Rurikovich princes of distantly related lines to the Muscovite one. Tver and Ryazan nearby are both ruled by Rurikovich princes as well but are not ruled over by Moskva just yet. The other two subjects are Great Perm to the east, ruled by Yermolay I of House Velikopermsky, and Pskov, a republic similar to Novgorod’s, separated from Moskva by Novgorod.

Local power in Moskva is held by several distinct groups with their own goals and level of influence over the Grand Duke. The clergy, led by the Patriarch of Moskva, want more focus on the church, as well as to fight the heathens to the south and east. The boyars, or local nobles, want to expand their own power bases and expand their territory into nearby nations. The wealthy merchants want to continue to make money from trade, and are especially competitive with the Russian rivals of Novgorod. Lastly, the Cossacks were a group of free people originally of mixed Turkish origin living in the southern part of the Grand Duchy. They were skilled cavalrymen and served as border guards defending against the Great Horde and Khanate of Kazan, as well as on the borders with the other Russian Principalities.

When Vasiliy summoned these estates to advise him, he would choose to hear them all out, but while the clergy, boyars, and and merchants complained about finances and manpower reserves, the Cossacks advocated expansion, weirdly enough, against Tver. Vasiliy would accept the Cossacks’ agenda, putting a target on Tver along with Novgorod. After hearing their demands, Vasiliy would demand some of the estates’ land in repayment.

 

[NinetyDegreeZ]

Please do continue! \o/

That's the plan!

Chapter 2: Restabilizing and Preparing for War (November 1444-February 1446)
One of the first actions Vasiliy II took after his meeting with the Estates was to send an offer of alliance to the Livonian Order, which already had good relations and wanted a strong ally in the area. His rationale was to deny a possible ally to Novgorod, and as a contingency plan for if Novgorod was able to get a strong ally anyway.

But this action was already a controversial move as protests by the Orthodox establishment against an alliance with a Catholic nation already came up against Vasiliy in March of 1445. Outwardly, Vasiliy caved to the pressure and implemented reforms that would placate these groups, though stopping short of terminating the new alliance.

Only five months in and the game is already telling me I'm doing a bad job. Thanks a lot!/s

However, Vasiliy had identified the likely originator of the opposition, his onetime ally Dmitry Shemiaka, who still held designs on his throne and was in a powerful place to advance them.

"It was old age that eventually got to him" Was it though?

Six months later, Shemiaka was dead under mysterious circumstances. While the historical record still doesn’t have a completely clear answer, and the official cause of death was natural causes, a lot of historians believed he was poisoned by agents working for Vasiliy, a plotter at heart who at this point had hired a spymaster, Lavrentiy Kaibula, as the only official member of his cabinet.

Around the same time, Novgorod claimed the border city of Bezhetsk as rightful Novgorodian territory, further inflaming tensions between the two nations. The Muscovite army being leaderless, Vasiliy hired two generals, the Ostermann Tolstoy twins, Yuri and Matveiy, with Yuri being put in overall command due to having greater skill, especially at besieging castles.

They are both still alive in 1461 so I went back and checked, they are indeed the same age

Vasiliy also expanded his army, including creating the Streltsy units: currently around 4,000 strong, this group of professional soldiers would eventually become a hereditary caste of soldiers under Vasiliy’s son Ivan III, and later would become some of the first Russian infantry units to adopt firearms once that technology became widespread.

This allowed him to claim that the entirety of Novgorod was rightful Muscovite territory, an important step in the unification of Russia. He then made immediate preparations for war with a defenseless and friendless Novgorod Republic.

We obviously did not call in the Livonians

 

[NinetyDegreeZ]

Chapter 3: War with Novgorod (February 1446-May 1447)
The war began with the Muscovite armies quickly advancing into Novgorodian territory. The Western army under the leadership of Yuriy Ostermann Tolstoy was ordered to besiege the fortified city of Luki, near the border with Pskov, while Matveiy’s Eastern army occupied the unfortified cities of Tikhvin and Torzhok before moving on and besieging Novgorod at the same time.

The fort at Luki fell on August 15, 1446, having held out for five months despite a breach in the walls two months prior. Meanwhile the Novgorodian army was nowhere to be found, instead it was further north getting defeated by the armies of Pskov and Beloozero.

In 1447, news began trickling in of some momentous events taking place just outside of Muscovy’s borders. First, the principality of Moldavia decided to submit to the rule of Prince Roman, who then swore fealty to the Poles.

Less than a month later, the Sejm finally chose a ruler to succeed Wladyslaw III, who had perished at the battle of Varna in 1444, specifically the Jagiellon Grand Duke of Lithuania, who now was King of Poland in personal union with Lithuania. The Poles then sent an ambassador to the Muscovites declaring a rivalry, which was answered with Moskva’s own declaration as soon as the war with Novgorod concluded.

Tiny spoiler alert of the peace deal
The fall of Novgorod in April 1447 after a year-long siege marked the end of the war with the republic of the same name. In the meantime the vassals had occupied almost the entirety of the rest of Novgorod’s territory, while Novgorod’s army was reduced to 5,000 men and had gone off to occupy Viatka for no particular reason.

What are they doing over there?

The peace treaty was signed in the fallen city the day after it fell, and Novgorod was forced to give up its capital city, along with Luki, Ingria, Neva, and all of Karelia, and the border town of Velsk. It would leave Novgorod completely surrounded by Moskva’s territory and the White Sea, and was aimed at stopping any opportunistic wars by the Kalmar Union or the Livonians, in the long run securing all of Novgorod for the Grand Duchy. It also required Novgorod to pay a harsh war indemnity, enough to pay off the debt that Moskva had incurred in fighting the war.

In defeating Novgorod, Moskva had grown large enough to be considered a Great Power by the rest of the world.

Author's Note:
It's been kind of a busy week and a half, with a couple of days thrown in there where I had almost no executive function whatsoever (meaning no homework or AAR writing). I have an exam tonight as well but I decided to write this during a quick break from studying.