Battle of Ice on Lake Chudskoye. A battle of great historical importance

In a fierce battle on Lake Peipsi on April 5, 1242, Novgorodian soldiers under the command of Prince Alexander Nevsky won a significant victory over the army of the Livonian Order. In short, “The Battle of the Ice,” even a fourth-grade student will understand what is at stake. The battle under this name has great historical significance. That is why its date is one of the days of military glory.

At the end of 1237, the pope proclaimed the 2nd Crusade to Finland. Using this plausible excuse, in 1240 the Livonian Order captured Izborsk, and then Pskov. When in 1241 a threat loomed over Novgorod, at the request of the inhabitants of the city, Prince Alexander led the defense of Russian lands from invaders. He led the army to the fortress of Koporye and stormed it.

In March of the following year, his younger brother, Prince Andrei Yaroslavich, came to his aid from Suzdal with his squad. Together, the princes recaptured Pskov from the enemy.

After that, the Novgorod army moved to the Derpt bishopric, which was located on the territory of modern Estonia. In Dorpat (now Tartu), Bishop Hermann von Buksgevden, brother of the military leader of the order, ruled. The main forces of the crusaders were concentrated in the vicinity of the city. The German knights met with the advance detachment of Novgorod and defeated them. Those were forced to retreat to the frozen lake.

Troop building

The combined army of the Livonian Order, Danish Knights and Chud (Baltic-Finnish tribes) was built in the shape of a wedge. Sometimes this structure is called a boar's head or a pig. The calculation is to break the battle formations of the enemy and wedge in them.

Alexander Nevsky, suggesting a similar construction of the enemy, chose the layout of his main forces on the flanks. The correctness of this decision showed the outcome of the battle on Lake Peipsi. The date of April 5, 1242 is of decisive historical significance..

Battle progress

With sunrise, the German army, under the command of Master Andreas von Velfen and Bishop Hermann von Buxgevden, moved towards the enemy.

As can be seen from the battle plan, the first archers entered the battle with the crusaders. They fired at enemies who were well protected by armor, so under the pressure of the enemy archery had to retreat. The Germans began to squeeze the middle of the Russian army.

At this time, a regiment of the left and right hands was hit by crusaders from both flanks. The attack was unexpected for the enemy, his battle formations lost harmony, and confusion ensued. At this moment, the squad of Prince Alexander fell on the Germans from the rear. Now the enemy was surrounded and began a retreat, which soon escalated into flight. Russian soldiers chased seven miles away.

Loss of parties

As with any military operations, both sides suffered heavy losses. Information about them is quite contradictory - depending on the source:

• The Livonian rhymed chronicle mentions the deaths of 20 knights and 6 captured;
• The Novgorod First Chronicle reports about 400 Germans and 50 prisoners killed, as well as a large number of those killed among the Chud “and the Chadya’s pade”.
• The chronicle of the grandmasters gives data on the fallen seventy knights of “70 Order Masters”, “seuentich Ordens Herenn”, but this is the total number of those killed in the battle on Lake Peipsi and during the liberation of Pskov.

Most likely, the Novgorod chronicler, in addition to the knights, counted their warriors, therefore, in the chronicle, there are such great differences: we are talking about the different dead.

Data on the losses of the Russian army is also very foggy. “Many brave warriors have fallen,” our sources said. The Livonian Chronicle states that for every German who died, there were 60 killed Russians.

As a result of two historical victories of Prince Alexander (on the Neva over the Swedes in 1240 and on Lake Peipsi), the crusaders seized the Novgorod and Pskov lands. In the summer of 1242, ambassadors from the Livonian department of the Teutonic Order arrived in Novgorod and signed a peace treaty, in which they refused to encroach on Russian lands.

About these events in 1938 the feature film "Alexander Nevsky" was created. The massacre went down in history as an example of military art. The Russian Orthodox Church, the brave prince was ranked among the saints.

For Russia, this event plays a large role in the patriotic education of youth. At school, they begin to study the topic of this fight in the 4th grade. Children will find out in which year the Battle of Ice was, with whom they fought, mark on the map the place where the crusaders were defeated.

In the 7th grade, students are already working on this historical event in more detail: they draw tables, battle patterns with legend, make messages and reports on this topic, write essays and essays, and read the encyclopedia.

The significance of the battle on the lake can be judged by the way it is presented in different types of art:

According to the old calendar, the battle took place on April 5, and in a new way on April 18. On this date, the day of victory of the Russian soldiers of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the Crusaders was legally established. However, a difference of 13 days is valid only in the interval from 1900 to 2100. In the 13th century, the difference would be only 7 days. Therefore, in fact, the anniversary of the event falls on April 12th. But as you know, this date was "staked out" by the astronauts.

According to Igor Danilevsky, Doctor of Historical Sciences, the significance of the battle on Lake Peipsi is greatly exaggerated. Here are his arguments:

The well-known expert on medieval Russia, the Englishman John Fennel, and the German historian specializing in Eastern Europe, Dietmar Dahlman, agree with him. The latter wrote that the significance of this ordinary battle was inflated in order to form a national myth in which Prince Alexander was appointed defender of Orthodoxy and Russian lands.

The famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky did not even mention this battle in his scientific works, probably due to the insignificance of the event.

Data on the number of participants in the fight is also contradictory. Soviet historians believed that about 10-12 thousand people fought on the side of the Livonian Order and their allies, and the Novgorod army was about 15-17 thousand warriors.

Currently, most historians are inclined to believe that on the side of the order were no more than sixty Livonian and Danish knights. Taking into account their squire and servants, this is approximately 600 - 700 people plus Chud, about the number of which there are no data in the annals. According to many historians, there were no more than a thousand miracles, and about 2500 - 3000 people were Russian soldiers. There is still a curious circumstance. Some researchers reported that Tatar troops, sent by Khan Batu, helped Alexander Nevsky in the battle on Lake Peipsi.

In 1164, a military clash occurred at Ladoga. The Swedes at the end of May sailed to the city in 55 ships and besieged the fortress. Less than a week later, Prince of Novgorod Svyatoslav Rostislavich arrived with his army to help the Ladozhans. He made a real battle of Ladoga to uninvited guests. According to the Novgorod first annals of the enemy, they defeated and put to flight. It was a real rout. Winners captured 43 of 55 ships and many prisoners.

For comparison: in the famous battle on the Neva River in 1240, Prince Alexander did not take any prisoners or enemy ships. The Swedes buried the dead, grabbed the loot and departed back home, but now this event is forever connected with the name of Alexander.

Some researchers question the fact that the battle took place on ice. It is also considered speculation that during the flight the crusaders fell through the ice. In the first edition of the Novgorod annals and in the Livonian chronicle nothing is written about this. This circumstance is also supported by the fact that at the bottom of the lake in the supposed place of the battle it was not possible to find anything confirming the “icy” version.

In addition, it is not known exactly where the Battle of the Ice was. Briefly and in detail about this can be found in various sources. According to the official point of view, the battle took place on the western shore of Cape Sigovets in the southeastern part of Lake Peipsi. This place was determined by the results of a scientific expedition of 1958−59 led by G.N. Karaev. At the same time, it should be noted that no archaeological finds have been found that unequivocally confirm the conclusions of scientists.

There are other points of view about the place of battle. In the eighties of the twentieth century, an expedition led by I. E. Koltsov also explored the alleged location of the battle using biolocation methods. The alleged graves of fallen warriors were mapped. According to the results of the expedition, Koltsov put forward the version that the main battle took place between the villages of Kobylye ancient settlement, Samolva, Tabory and the river Zhelcha.

April 18 is the Day of the military glory of Russia, the day of the victory of Russian soldiers of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the German knights on Lake Peipsi (the so-called Battle of the Ice, 1242). The date is marked in accordance with the Federal Law "On the Days of Military Glory (Victory Days) of Russia" dated 03.03.1995 No. 32-ФЗ.

In the early 40s. XIII century, taking advantage of the weakening of Russia, which occurred as a result of the devastating invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, German crusaders, Swedish and Danish feudal lords decided to seize its northeastern lands. Together, they hoped to conquer the Novgorod feudal republic. The Swedes, with the support of Danish knights, tried to take control of the mouth of the Neva, but in the Battle of Neva in 1240 they were defeated by the Novgorod army.

In late August - early September 1240, crusaders of the Livonian Order invaded Pskov land, which was formed by the German knights of the Teutonic Order in 1237 in the Eastern Baltic States on the territory inhabited by the Livonian and Estonian tribes. After a short siege, the German knights captured the city of Izborsk. Then they besieged Pskov and, with the assistance of traitors, boyars, soon occupied it. After that, the crusaders invaded Novgorod land, captured the coast of the Gulf of Finland and built their own on the site of the ancient Russian fortress Koporye. Before reaching 40 km of Novgorod, the knights plundered its surroundings.

(Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing House. Moscow. In 8 volumes - 2004)

An embassy was sent from Novgorod to Grand Prince Vladimir Yaroslav, so that he would release his son Alexander (Prince Alexander Nevsky) to help them. Alexander Yaroslavovich ruled in Novgorod since 1236, but because of the intrigues of the Novgorod nobility, he left Novgorod and went to reign in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Yaroslav, aware of the danger of the threat emanating from the West, agreed: the matter concerned not only Novgorod, but all of Russia.

In 1241, Prince Alexander Nevsky, returning to Novgorod, gathered an army of Novgorodians, Ladoga, Izhora and Karelians. Having secretly made a quick transition to Koporya, it stormed this powerful fortress. By taking Koporye, Alexander Nevsky secured the northwestern borders of the Novgorod lands, secured his rear and northern flank for the further struggle with the German crusaders. At the call of Alexander Nevsky, troops from Vladimir and Suzdal arrived under the command of his brother, Prince Andrei, to help the Novgorodians. The United Novgorod-Vladimir army in the winter of 1241-1242. took a trip to the Pskov land and, cutting off all the roads from Livonia to Pskov, stormed this city, as well as Izborsk.

After this defeat, the Livonian knights, having gathered a large army, marched to the Pskov and Peipsi lakes. The Livonian Order's troops were based on the heavily armed knightly cavalry, as well as infantry (bollards) - detachments of peoples enslaved by the Germans (Estonians, Livs, etc.), which were many times superior in number to the knights.

Having ascertained the direction of movement of the main enemy forces, Alexander Nevsky sent his army there too. Having reached Lake Peipsi, Alexander Nevsky’s army was at the center of the enemy’s possible routes to Novgorod. In this place, it was decided to give battle to the enemy. Opponent armies converged on the shores of Lake Peipsi near Voronny Stone and Uzmen tract. Here on April 5, 1242, a battle took place that went down in history as the Battle of the Ice.

At dawn, the crusaders on the ice of a lake at a slow trot approached the position of the Russians. The army of the Livonian Order, according to the established military tradition, attacked with an "iron wedge", which appears in the Russian chronicles under the name "pigs". At the tip was the main group of knights, some of them covered the flanks and the rear of the "wedge", in the center of which was the infantry. The wedge had as its task the fragmentation and breakthrough of the central part of the enemy troops, and the columns following the wedge should cover the enemy flanks with coverage. In chain mail and helmets, with long swords, they seemed invulnerable.

Alexander Nevsky contrasted this stereotypical tactic of knights with the new construction of Russian troops. He concentrated his main forces not in the center (the “brow”), as the Russian troops always did, but on the flanks. Ahead was an advanced regiment of light cavalry, archers and slingers. The battle order of the Russians was turned rear to the steep, steep eastern shore of the lake, and the princely horse squad took refuge in an ambush behind the left flank. The chosen position was advantageous in that the Germans, advancing on open ice, were deprived of the opportunity to determine the location, strength and composition of the Russian army.

A knightly wedge broke through the center of the Russian army. Having stumbled upon the steep shore of the lake, the sedentary, armored knights could not develop their success. Flanks of the Russian battle formation ("wings") clamped the wedge into pincers. At this time, the squad of Alexander Nevsky struck from the rear and completed the encirclement of the enemy.

Under the onslaught of the Russian regiments, the knights mixed their ranks and, having lost the freedom of maneuver, were forced to defend themselves. A cruel slash ensued. Russian infantrymen pulled off knights with horses with hooks, chopped with axes. Crushed from all sides in a confined space, the crusaders fought fiercely. But their resistance gradually weakened, it assumed an unorganized character, the battle broke up into separate foci. Where large groups of knights accumulated, the ice could not withstand their severity and broke. Many knights drowned. The Russian cavalry pursued the defeated enemy over 7 km to the opposite shore of Lake Peipsi.

The army of the Livonian Order suffered a complete defeat and suffered huge losses at that time: up to 450 knights died and 50 were captured. Knechtov was destroyed several thousand. The Livonian Order was confronted with the need to conclude a peace in which the crusaders abandoned claims on Russian lands, as well as abandoned part of Latgale (region in eastern Latvia).

The victory of the Russian army on the ice of Lake Peipsi was of great political and military importance. The Livonian Order was dealt a crushing blow, the advance of the Crusaders to the East stopped. The Battle of Ice was the first ever example of the defeat of knights by an army, consisting mainly of infantry, which testified to the advanced character of Russian military art.

The material is based on open source information

And the Vladimirites led by Alexander Nevsky, on the one hand, and the army of the Livonian Order, on the other hand.

The opposing armies met on the morning of April 5, 1242. The moment of the beginning of the battle “Rhymed Chronicle” describes as follows:

   Thus, the news of the Chronicle about the battle order of the Russians as a whole is combined with the messages of the Russian annals about the separation of a separate infantry regiment in front of the center of the main forces (since 1185).

In the center, the Germans broke through the Russian system:

   But then the troops of the Teutonic Order were surrounded by Russians from the flanks and destroyed, and other German troops retreated to avoid the same fate: the Russians pursued those running on ice for 7 miles. It is noteworthy that, unlike the battle at Omovzh in 1234, sources close to the time of the battle did not report that the Germans were falling through the ice; according to Donald Ostrovsky, this information came to later sources from the description of the battle of 1016 between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk in The Tale of Bygone Years and The Tale of Boris and Gleb.

In the same year, the Teutonic Order concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod, abandoning all its recent seizures not only in Russia, but also in Letgol. An exchange of prisoners was also held. Only 10 years later, the Teutons tried again to capture Pskov.

The scale and significance of the battle

The Chronicle says that in the battle for every German there were 60 Russians (which is an exaggeration), and about the loss in the battle of 20 knights killed and 6 prisoners. The “Chronicle of Grandmasters” (“Die jungere Hochmeisterchronik”, sometimes translated as “The Chronicle of the Teutonic Order”), the official history of the Teutonic Order, written much later, speaks of the deaths of 70 order knights (literally “70 order gentlemen”, “seuentich Ordens Herenn” ), but unites those who died during the capture of Alexander Pskov and Lake Peipsi.

According to the traditional point of view in Russian historiography, this battle, together with the victories of Prince Alexander over the Swedes (July 15, 1240 on the Neva) and the Lithuanians (in 1245 near Toropets, near Lake Zhiztsa and near Usvyat), was of great importance for Pskov and Novgorod, holding back the pressure of three serious enemies from the west - at the same time that the rest of Russia was greatly weakened by the Mongol invasion. In Novgorod, the Battle of the Ice along with the Neva victory over the Swedes in the XVI century was remembered at litanies in all Novgorod churches. In Soviet historiography, the Battle of the Ice was considered one of the largest battles in the history of German-chivalrous aggression in the Baltic states, and the number of troops on Lake Peipsi was estimated at 10-12 thousand people from the Order and 15-17 thousand people from Novgorod and their allies (the last figure corresponds to the estimate by Henry of Latvia of the numbers of Russian troops when describing their campaigns in the Baltic States in the 1210-1220s), that is, at about the same level as in the Battle of Grunwald () - up to 11 thousand people at the Order and 16-17 thousand people in the Polish-Lithuanian army. The "Chronicle", as a rule, reports on the small number of Germans in those battles that they lost, but even in it the Battle of Ice is clearly described as a defeat of the Germans, in contrast, for example, from the Battle of Rakovors ().

As a rule, the minimum estimates of the number of troops and losses of the Order in the battle correspond to the historical role that specific researchers play in this battle and the figure of Alexander Nevsky as a whole (for more details, see Assessments of the activities of Alexander Nevsky). V.O. Klyuchevsky and M.N. Pokrovsky did not mention the battle at all in their writings.

The English researcher J. Fennel believes that the significance of the Battle of Ice (and the Battle of the Neva) is greatly exaggerated: “Alexander did only what the numerous defenders of Novgorod and Pskov did before him and what many did after him - namely, they aimed to protect the long and vulnerable borders from invader units. ” The Russian professor I. N. Danilevsky agrees with this opinion. He notes, in particular, that the battle was inferior in scope to the battle of Saul (1236), in which the Lithuanians killed the master of the order and 48 knights, and the battle of Rakovor; sources of contemporary events even describe the Battle of Neva in more detail and attach greater importance to it. However, in Russian historiography, it is not customary to recall the defeat under Saul, since the Pskov people took part in it on the side of the defeated knights.

German historians believe that, waging battles on the western borders, Alexander Nevsky did not pursue any coherent political program, but successes in the West provided some compensation for the horrors of the Mongol invasion. Many researchers consider the scale of the threat that the West posed for Russia to be exaggerated. On the other hand, L. N. Gumilev, on the contrary, believed that it was not the Tatar-Mongolian “yoke”, namely, Catholic Western Europe represented by the Teutonic Order and the Riga Archbishopric that constituted a mortal threat to the very existence of Russia, and therefore the role of the victories of Alexander Nevsky in Russian history is especially great.

The battle of ice played a role in the formation of the Russian national myth, in which Alexander Nevsky was assigned the role of “defender of Orthodoxy and the Russian land” in the face of the “Western threat”; victory in the battle was considered an excuse for the political steps of the prince in the 1250s. The cult of Nevsky was especially actualized in the Stalin era, serving as a kind of clear historical example for the cult of Stalin himself. The cornerstone of the Stalinist myth of Alexander Yaroslavich and the Battle of Ice was the film of Sergei Eisenstein (see below).

On the other hand, it is wrong to assume that the Battle of Ice became popular in the scientific community and among the general public only after the appearance of the Eisenstein film. Schlacht auf dem Eise, Schlacht auf dem Peipussee, Prœlium glaciale [Battle on Ice (us.), Battle on Lake Peipsi (German), Ice Battle (lat.).] - such well-established concepts are found in Western sources long before the work of the director. This battle was and will forever remain in the memory of the Russian people as well as, let’s say, the Borodino battle, which in its strict opinion cannot be called victorious - the Russian army left the battlefield. And for us, this great battle, which played an important role in the outcome of the war.

Memory of the battle

Films

Music

• The musical accompaniment for the Eisenstein film, written by Sergei Prokofiev, is a cantata dedicated to the events of the battle.

Literature

Monuments

Monument to the squads of Alexander Nevsky on Mount Sokolikh

Monument to Alexander Nevsky and the Poklonnaya Cross

A bronze worship cross was cast in St. Petersburg at the expense of the sponsors of the Baltic Steel Group (A. V. Ostapenko). The prototype was the Novgorod Alekseevsky Cross. The author of the project is A. A. Seleznev. The bronze sign was cast under the direction of D. Gochiyaev by the foundries of NTTCT, architects B. Kostygov and S. Kryukov. When implementing the project, fragments from the lost wooden cross of the sculptor V. Reshchikov were used.

Commemorative cross for prince "s armed force of Alexander Nevsky (Kobylie Gorodishe) .jpg

Memorial cross to the teams of Alexander Nevsky

Monument in honor of the 750th anniversary of the battle

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Monument in honor of the 750th anniversary of the battle (fragment)

In philately and on coins

Facts

In connection with the incorrect calculation of the date of the battle in the new style, the Day of Russian military glory is the Victory Day of Russian soldiers of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the Crusaders (established by Federal Law No. 32-FZ of March 13, 1995 “On the Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia”) is celebrated on 18 April instead of the correct New Style April 12. The difference between the old (Julian) and the new (first introduced in 1582 Gregorian) styles in the XIII century would be 7 days (counting from April 5, 1242), and the difference between them in 13 days takes place only during the period from March 14, 1900-14.03 .2100 (in a new style). In other words, Victory Day on Lake Peipsi (April 5, according to the old style) is celebrated on April 18, which really falls on April 5, according to the old style, but only now (1900-2099).

At the end of the XX century, in Russia and some republics of the former USSR, many political organizations celebrated the unofficial holiday Day of the Russian nation (April 5), designed to become the date of unity of all patriotic forces.

On April 22, 2012, on the occasion of the 770th anniversary of the Battle on the Ice in the village of Samolva, Gdovsky District, Pskov Region, the Museum of the History of the Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences was opened to clarify the location of the Battle of Ice in 1242.

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Notes

2. Razin E.A.
3. Uzhankov A.
6. Battle of the Ice 1242: Proceedings of a comprehensive expedition to clarify the place of the Battle of Ice. - M.-L., 1966. - 253 p. - S. 60-64.
7. . Her date is considered preferable, because in addition to the number it also contains a link to the day of the week and church holidays (the day of remembrance of the martyr Claudius and praise to the Theotokos). In the Pskov annals, the date is April 1.
8. Donald ostrowski   (English) // Russian History / Histoire Russe. - 2006. - Vol. 33, no. 2-3-4. - P. 304-307.
9. .
10. .
11. Henry of Latvia. .
12. Razin E.A. .
13. Danilevsky, I.  . Polit.ru April 15, 2005.
14. Dittmar Dahlmann. Der russische Sieg über die "teutonische Ritter" auf der Peipussee 1242 // Schlachtenmythen: Ereignis - Erzählung - Erinnerung. Herausgegeben von Gerd Krumeich und Susanne Brandt. (Europäische Geschichtsdarstellungen. Herausgegeben von Johannes Laudage. - Band 2.) - Wien-Köln-Weimar: Böhlau Verlag, 2003 .-- S. 63-76.
15. Werner Philipp. Heiligkeit und Herrschaft in der Vita Aleksandr Nevskijs // Forschungen zur osteuropäischen Geschichte. - Band 18. - Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1973.- S. 55-72.
16. Janet Martin Medieval Russia 980-1584. Second edition. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007 .-- P. 181.
17. . gumilevica.kulichki.net. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
20.   // Gdovskaya dawn: newspaper. - 30.3.2007.
24. (unavailable link from 05/25/2013 (2103 days) - story , copy) // Official website of the Pskov region, July 12, 2006]
27. .
28. .
29. .

Literature

• Lipitsky S.V.  Battle on the Ice. - M.: Military Publishing, 1964 .-- 68 p. - (Heroic past of our Motherland).
• Mansikka V.Y.  Life of Alexander Nevsky: Analysis of editions and text. - SPb., 1913. - "Monuments of ancient writing." - Vol. 180.
• Life of Alexander Nevsky / Prep. text, translation and comm. V.I. Okhotnikova // Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia: XIII century. - M.: Fiction, 1981.
• Begunov Yu. K.  Monument of Russian literature of the XIII century: "The word about the death of the Russian land" - M.-L .: Nauka, 1965.
• Pashuto V.T.  Alexander Nevsky - M.: Young Guard, 1974. - 160 p. - Series “Life of wonderful people.”
• Karpov A. Yu.  Alexander Nevsky - M.: Young Guard, 2010 .-- 352 p. - Series “Life of wonderful people.”
• Khitrov M.  Holy noble Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky. Detailed biography. - Minsk: Panorama, 1991 .-- 288 p. - Reprint ed.
• Klepinin N.A.  Holy noble and Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2004 .-- 288 p. - Series "Slavic Library".
• Prince Alexander Nevsky and his era: Research and Materials / Ed. Yu. K. Begunova and A. N. Kirpichnikova. - St. Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 1995 .-- 214 p.
• Fennel J.  The crisis of medieval Russia. 1200-1304 - M .: Progress, 1989 .-- 296 p.
• The massacre of 1242: Proceedings of a comprehensive expedition to clarify the place of the massacre of ice / Otv. ed. G.N. Karaev. - M.-L .: Nauka, 1966 .-- 241 p.
• Tikhomirov M.N.  About the place of the Battle of the Ice // Tikhomirov M.N.  Ancient Russia: Sat Art. / Ed. A. V. Artsikhovsky and M. T. Belyavsky, with the participation of N. B. Shelamanova. - M.: Nauka, 1975 .-- S. 368-374. - 432 s. - 16,000 copies.  (in trans., superobl.)
• Nesterenko A.N. Alexander Nevsky. Who won the Battle of the Ice., 2006. Olma-Press.

References

Excerpt from the Battle of the Ice

His illness went according to its physical order, but what Natasha called: it happened to him, happened to him two days before the arrival of Princess Mary. It was that last moral struggle between life and death in which death triumphed. It was an unexpected realization that he still treasured the life that seemed to him in love for Natasha, and the last, subdued fit of horror before the unknown.
  It was in the evening. He was, as usual after dinner, in a mild febrile state, and his thoughts were extremely clear. Sonya was sitting at the table. He dozed off. Suddenly a feeling of happiness swept over him.
  “Ah, she came in!” He thought.
  Indeed, in place of Sonya Natasha, who had just inaudible steps, sat in.
Ever since she began to follow him, he always experienced this physical sensation of her intimacy. She sat on an armchair, sideways to him, obscuring the candlelight from him, and knitted a stocking. (She learned to knit stockings since Prince Andrew told her that no one knows how to go after the sick like the old nannies who knit stockings, and that there is something soothing to knit a stocking.) Thin fingers occasionally fingered her knitting needles, and the brooding profile of her lowered face was clearly visible to him. She made a move - a ball rolled off her lap. She started, looked back at him, and, covering the candle with her hand, bent with a careful, flexible and accurate movement, lifted the ball and sat back.
  He looked at her, not moving, and saw that she needed to breathe deeply after her movement, but she did not dare to do this and carefully took her breath.
  In the Trinity Lavra they talked about the past, and he told her that if he were alive, he would forever thank God for his wound, which brought him back to her; but since then they never talked about the future.
  “Could or could it not be? He thought now, looking at her and listening to the light steel sound of knitting needles. “Was it only then that fate brought me so oddly with her to die? .. Has the truth of life revealed itself only to me in a lie?” I love her most in the world. But what should I do if I love her? ”He said, and he suddenly involuntarily groaned, out of the habit that he had acquired during his suffering.
  Hearing this sound, Natasha put down the stocking, leaned closer to him and suddenly, noticing his glowing eyes, she came up to him with a light step and bent down.
  - You are not asleep?
  - No, I have been looking at you for a long time; I felt when you entered. No one like you, but gives me that soft silence ... of that world. I really want to cry for joy.
  Natasha moved closer to him. Her face shone with enthusiastic joy.
  - Natasha, I love you too much. More than anything.
  - And I? - She turned away for a moment. “Why too much?” - she said.
  “Why too much? .. Well, how do you think, how do you feel in your soul, in your soul, will I be alive?” What do you think?
  “I'm sure, I'm sure!” Natasha almost cried out, grabbing both hands with a passionate movement.
  He was silent for a moment.
  - How good! - And taking her hand, he kissed her.
  Natasha was happy and excited; and immediately she remembered that this was impossible, that he needed peace.
“However, you did not sleep,” she said, suppressing her joy. “Try to fall asleep ... please.”
  He released, shaking her, her hand, she went to the candle and sat down again. Twice she looked back at him, his eyes shining towards her. She asked herself a lesson in a stocking and told herself that until then she would not look back until she finished it.
  Indeed, soon after that he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He did not sleep long and suddenly woke up anxiously in a cold sweat.
  Asleep, he thought all about the same thing that he had been thinking about from time to time - about life and death. And more about death. He felt closer to her.
  "Love? What is love? He thought. - Love hinders death. Love is life. Everything, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists only because I love. Everything is connected by it alone. Love is God, and to die means to me, a particle of love, to return to a common and eternal source. ” These thoughts seemed comforting to him. But these were only thoughts. What was missing from them, that it was one-sidedly personal, mental - there was no evidence. And there was the same worry and obscurity. He fell asleep.
  He saw in a dream that he was lying in the same room in which he was lying in reality, but that he was not wounded, but healthy. Many different people, insignificant, indifferent, appear before Prince Andrew. He speaks with them, argues about something unnecessary. They gather to go somewhere. Prince Andrey vaguely recalls that all this is insignificant and that he has other, most important concerns, but he continues to speak, surprising them, with some empty, witty words. Little by little, imperceptibly, all these faces begin to disappear, and everything is replaced by one question about the shutter door. He gets up and goes to the door to push the bolt and lock it. Everything depends on whether he succeeds or does not have time to lock it. He walks in a hurry, his legs do not move, and he knows that he will not have time to lock the door, but still painfully strains all his strength. And excruciating fear engulfs him. And this fear is the fear of death: it stands behind the door. But at the same time as he powerlessly awkwardly crawls to the door, this is something terrible, on the other hand, already pushing, bursting into it. Something not human - death - is breaking through the door, and we must hold it. He grabs the door, strains his last efforts - you can’t lock it anymore - at least hold it; but his strengths are weak, awkward, and, pressed by terrible, the door opens and closes again.
Once again it pressed from there. The last, supernatural efforts were futile, and both halves opened silently. It has entered, and it is death. And Prince Andrei died.
  But the very moment he died, Prince Andrei remembered that he was sleeping, and the very moment he died, he made an effort on himself and woke up.
  “Yes, it was death. I died - I woke up. Yes, death is an awakening! ”- suddenly brightened in his soul, and the veil, hiding the hitherto unknown, was lifted before his spiritual gaze. He felt, as it were, the liberation of his previously bound strength and that strange ease that had not left him since.
  When he woke up in a cold sweat, stirred on the couch, Natasha went up to him and asked what was wrong with him. He did not answer her and, not understanding her, looked at her with a strange look.
  That was what happened to him two days before Princess Mary arrived. From that day, as the doctor said, the debilitating fever took on a bad character, but Natasha was not interested in what the doctor said: she saw these terrible, more obvious for her, moral signs.
  From this day began for Prince Andrew, along with an awakening from sleep - an awakening from life. And regarding life expectancy, it did not seem to him more slowly than waking up from sleep regarding the duration of a dream.

There was nothing terrible and harsh in this relatively slow awakening.
  The last days and hours passed normally and simply. And Princess Mary and Natasha, not departing from him, felt this. They did not cry, did not shudder, and lately, feeling this themselves, they were no longer following him (he was already gone, he had left them), but behind his closest memory of him - behind his body. The feelings of both were so strong that they were not affected by the external, terrible side of death, and they did not find it necessary to poison their grief. They did not cry with him or without him, but they never spoke about him among themselves. They felt that they could not put into words what they understood.
  They both saw him deeper and deeper, slowly and calmly, descending from them somewhere there, and both knew that this should be so and that it was good.
He was confessed, communed; everyone came to say goodbye to him. When they brought his son to him, he put his lips to him and turned away, not because he was hard or sorry (Princess Mary and Natasha understood this), but only because he believed that this was all that was required of him; but when they told him to bless him, he did what was required and looked around, as if asking if there was anything else to do.
  When the last shudders of the body left by the spirit occurred, Princess Mary and Natasha were here.
  - It's over ?! Said Princess Mary, after his body had been motionless for several minutes, cooling, lying in front of them. Natasha came up, looked into dead eyes and hastened to close them. She closed them and did not kiss them, but attached herself to what was the closest memory of him.
  “Where did he go? Where is he now? .. "

When a dressed, washed body lay in a coffin on a table, everyone came to say goodbye to him, and everyone cried.
  Nikolushka cried with pained bewilderment, tearing his heart apart. The Countess and Sonya cried with pity for Natasha and that he was no more. The old count was crying about how soon he felt, and he had to take the same terrible step.
  Natasha and Princess Marya were also crying now, but they were not crying from their personal grief; they cried with reverential emotion that gripped their souls before the consciousness of the simple and solemn sacrament of death that had occurred before them.

For the human mind, the totality of the causes of phenomena is not available. But the need to look for reasons is embedded in the human soul. And the human mind, without delving into the innumerable and complex conditions of phenomena, of which each can be individually presented as a cause, clutches at the first, most understandable rapprochement and says: this is the reason. In historical events (where the subject of people's actions is the subject of observation), the will of the gods seems to be the most primitive rapprochement, then the will of those people who stand in the most prominent historical place - historical heroes. But one has only to delve into the essence of each historical event, that is, the activities of the entire mass of people who participated in the event to make sure that the will of the historical hero not only does not direct the actions of the masses, but is itself constantly led. It would seem, all the same, to understand the significance of a historical event anyway. But between the person who says that the peoples of the West went East because Napoleon wanted it, and the person who says that it was done because it had to be done, there is the same difference that existed between the people who claimed that the earth stands firmly and the planets move around it, and those who said that they do not know what the earth is holding on to, but know that there are laws that govern the movement of both it and other planets. The reasons for the historical event are not and cannot be, except for the only reason for all the reasons. But there are laws governing events, partly unknown, partly groped by us. The discovery of these laws is possible only when we completely renounce finding the reasons in the will of one person, just like the discovery of the laws of planetary motion became possible only when people abandoned the idea of \u200b\u200baffirmation of the earth.

After the battle of Borodino, the enemy’s occupation of Moscow and its burning, the most important episode of the 1812 war, historians recognize the movement of the Russian army from Ryazan to the Kaluga road and to the Tarutino camp - the so-called flank march beyond Krasnaya Pakhra. Historians attribute the glory of this ingenious feat to various individuals and argue about to whom, in fact, it belongs. Even foreign, even French historians recognize the genius of Russian commanders, talking about this flank march. But why military writers, and behind them everything, believe that this flank march is a very thoughtful invention of a single person that saved Russia and destroyed Napoleon, it is very difficult to understand. Firstly, it is difficult to understand what is the thoughtfulness and genius of this movement; for in order to guess that the best position of the army (when it is not attacked) to be where there is more food, one does not need much mental stress. And everyone, even a stupid thirteen-year-old boy, could easily guess that in 1812 the most advantageous position of the army, after retreating from Moscow, was on the Kaluga road. So, it is impossible to understand, first of all, what conclusions do historians get to see something profound in this maneuver. Secondly, it is even more difficult to understand in what exactly historians see the salvation of this maneuver for the Russians and its destructiveness for the French; for this flank march, under other, previous, concomitant and subsequent circumstances, could be detrimental to the Russian and saving for the French army. If from the time this movement took place, the position of the Russian army began to improve, then it does not follow from this that this movement was the reason.
  This flank march could not only bring any benefits, but could destroy the Russian army, if there were no other conditions coinciding. What would happen if Moscow had not burned down? If Murat had not lost sight of the Russians? If Napoleon was not inactive? If the Russian army near Krasnaya Pakhra, on the advice of Benigsen and Barclay, would give a battle? What would happen if the French attacked the Russians when they followed Pakhra? What would happen if subsequently Napoleon, having approached Tarutin, attacked the Russians with at least one tenth of the energy with which he attacked in Smolensk? What would happen if the French went to Petersburg? .. With all these assumptions, the rescue of the flank march could become pernicious.
Third, and the most incomprehensible, is that people who study history do not want to see that the flank march cannot be attributed to any one person, that no one ever foresaw it, that this maneuver was just like a retreat to Filyakh, in the present, never presented himself to anyone as whole, and step by step, event after event, moment by moment flowed from countless diverse conditions, and only then presented himself in its entirety when it was completed and became past.
  At the council at Fili, the Russian authorities had the prevailing thought of a self-evident retreat in the direct direction back, that is, along the Nizhny Novgorod road. Evidence of this is that the majority of the votes on the council were cast in this sense, and, most importantly, the well-known conversation after the council of the commander in chief with Lansky, who was in charge of the provisions. Lanskaya informed the Commander-in-Chief that food for the army was mainly collected from the Oka River, in the Tula and Kaluga provinces, and that in the event of a retreat to the Lower Provinces, the provisions would be separated from the army by the large river Oka, through which transportation to the winters would be impossible. This was the first sign of the need to evade the previously most natural direct direction to the Lower. The army was held south, along the Ryazan road, and closer to the reserves. Subsequently, the inaction of the French, who even lost sight of the Russian army, concerns about protecting the Tula plant and, most importantly, the benefits of approaching their reserves, forced the army to deviate even further south, onto the Tula road. Having crossed a desperate movement beyond Pakhra to the Tula road, the military leaders of the Russian army thought to stay at Podolsk, and there was no thought of the Tarutin position; but countless circumstances and the appearance of the French troops again, who had previously lost sight of the Russians, and the battle designs, and, most importantly, the abundance of provisions in Kaluga, forced our army to deviate even further south and go into the middle of its food supply route, from Tula to Kaluga Road, to Tarutin. Just as it is impossible to answer the question when Moscow was left, it is impossible to answer when exactly who decided to go to Tarutin and by whom. Only when the troops came to Tarutin as a result of countless differential forces, then only people began to assure themselves that they wanted this and had long anticipated it.

The famous flank march consisted only in the fact that the Russian army, retreating all straight back in the opposite direction of the offensive, after the French offensive had ceased, deviated from the direct direction taken at first and, not seeing any persecution, naturally went in the direction where it attracted an abundance of food.
  If you had not imagined the brilliant commanders at the head of the Russian army, but just one army without commanders, then this army could have done nothing else but return to Moscow, describing the arc from the direction from which there was more food and the region was more plentiful.
  This movement from Nizhny Novgorod to the Ryazan, Tula and Kaluga roads was so natural that the marauders of the Russian army ran away in this very direction and that it was required from St. Petersburg that Kutuzov transfer his army. In Tarutin, Kutuzov received almost a reprimand from the sovereign for taking the army to the Ryazan road, and he was indicated the very situation against Kaluga in which he was already at the time he received the letter from the sovereign.
  Rolling back in the direction of the shock given to him during the entire campaign and in the battle of Borodino, the ball of the Russian army, while destroying the power of the shock and not receiving new shocks, assumed the position that was natural to him.
  The merit of Kutuzov did not consist in some ingenious, as they call it, strategic maneuver, but in the fact that he alone understood the significance of the event. He alone already understood the significance of the inaction of the French army, he alone continued to assert that the battle of Borodino was a victory; he alone - the one who, it would seem, in his position as commander in chief, should have been summoned to the offensive - he alone used all his strength to keep the Russian army from useless battles.
  The beaten-up beast under Borodin lay there somewhere where the runaway hunter had left him; but whether he was alive, whether he was strong, or if he was only hiding, the hunter did not know this. Suddenly the groan of this beast was heard.
  The groan of this wounded beast, the French army, exposing its death, was the sending of Loriston to Kutuzov's camp with a request for peace.
  Napoleon, with his confidence that it was not good, good, but good that it occurred to him, wrote Kutuzov the words that first came to his mind and had no meaning. He wrote:

“Monsieur le prince Koutouzov,” he wrote, “j" envoie pres de vous un de mes aides de camps generaux pour vous entretenir de plusieurs objets interessants. Je desire que Votre Altesse ajoute foi a ce qu "il lui dira, surtout lorsqu" il exprimera les sentiments d "estime et de particuliere consideration que j" ai depuis longtemps pour sa personne ... Cette lettre n "etant a autre fin, je prie Dieu, Monsieur le prince Koutouzov, qu" il vous ait en sa sainte et digne garde ,
  Moscou, le 3 Octobre, 1812. Signe:
  Napoleon. "
  [Prince Kutuzov, I am sending you one of my adjutant generals to negotiate with you about many important subjects. I ask Your Grace to believe everything that he will tell you, especially when he will begin to express to you feelings of respect and special respect that I have been feeding you for a long time. Then pray God for the preservation of you under his sacred shelter.
  Moscow, October 3, 1812.
  Napoleon. ]

  "Je serais maudit par la posterite si l" on me regardait comme le premier moteur d "un accommodement quelconque. Tel est l "esprit actuel de ma nation", [I would be damned if they looked at me as the first instigator of any kind of transaction; this is the will of our people.] - answered Kutuzov and continued to use all his strength to do that to keep troops from the offensive.
In the month of the robbery of the French army in Moscow and the quiet station of the Russian army near Tarutin, a change was made in relation to the strength of both troops (spirit and strength), as a result of which the advantage of force was on the side of the Russians. Despite the fact that the position of the French army and its size were unknown to the Russians, how soon the attitude changed, the need for an offensive was immediately expressed in countless signs. These signs were: the sending of Loriston, and the abundance of provisions in Tarutin, and the information that came from all sides about the inaction and disorder of the French, and the supply of our regiments with recruits, and the good weather, and the long rest of the Russian soldiers, and usually arising in the troops as a result of rest the impatience to do the work for which everyone is assembled, and the curiosity about what was being done in the French army, so long lost sight of, and the courage with which the Russian outposts now snooped around the French standing in Tarutin, and from there is a light about easy victories over the French men and partisans, and envy excited by this, and a sense of revenge that lay in the soul of every person as long as the French were in Moscow, and (most importantly) an unclear, but emerging in the soul of every soldier, that the power ratio has changed now and the advantage is on our side. The essential attitude of the forces changed, and the offensive became necessary. And immediately, just as true, as the chimes begin to beat and play in the clock, when the hand has made a full circle, in the higher spheres, corresponding to a significant change in forces, the intensified movement, hissing and play of the chimes are reflected.

The Russian army was controlled by Kutuzov with his headquarters and the sovereign from St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, even before receiving news of the abandonment of Moscow, a detailed plan of the entire war was drawn up and sent to Kutuzov for leadership. Despite the fact that this plan was drawn up on the assumption that Moscow is still in our hands, this plan was approved by the headquarters and accepted for execution. Kutuzov wrote only that distant sabotage is always difficult to accomplish. And to resolve the difficulties encountered, new instructions were sent and persons who were required to monitor his actions and report them.
In addition, the entire headquarters has now been transformed in the Russian army. Replaced the place of the killed Bagration and resentful, retiring Barclay. They seriously considered what would be better: A. put B. in place, and B. in D.'s place, or, on the contrary, D. in A.'s place, etc., as if something other than A.'s pleasure and B., could depend on this.
  At the headquarters of the army, on the occasion of Kutuzov’s hostility with his chief of staff, Benigsen, and the presence of the sovereign’s confidants and these movements, there was more than usual complex game of parties: A. digging under B., D. under S., etc. ., in all possible movements and combinations. With all these excavations, the subject of intrigue was for the most part that military business which all these people thought to lead; but this military affair went on independently of them, exactly as it should have gone, that is, never coinciding with what people thought up, but flowing out of the essence of the relationship of the masses. All these inventions, crossing themselves, mixing up, in the higher spheres represented only a true reflection of what was to be accomplished.

Alexander Nevsky and Battle of the Ice

Alexander Nevsky: A Brief Biography

Knight Novgorod and Kiev and the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Alexander Nevskiy  he is best known for stopping the advance of the Swedes and knights of the Teutonic Order to Russia. At the same time, instead of confronting the Mongols, he paid tribute to them. Many considered this position to be cowardice, but perhaps Alexander simply sensibly assessed his capabilities.

Son Yaroslav II VsevolodovichThe Grand Duke of Vladimir and the All-Russian leader, Alexander, was elected Prince of Novgorod in 1236 (mainly a military post). In 1239 he married Alexander, daughter of Prince Polotsky.

Some time ago, Novgorodians invaded Finnish territory, which was controlled by the Swedes. In response to this, and also wanting to block Russian access to the sea, in 1240 the Swedes invaded Russia.

Alexander won a significant victory over the Swedes at the mouth of the Izhora River, on the banks of the Neva, and therefore received an honorary nickname Nevsky. However, a few months later, Alexander was expelled from Novgorod due to a conflict with the Novgorod nobility.

Somewhat later, the pope Gregory IX he began to call the Teutonic knights to “Christianize” the Baltic region, although the nationalities living there were already Christians. In the face of this threat, Alexander was invited to return to Novgorod, and, after several clashes, in April 1242, he won the famous victory over the knights on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Thus, Alexander stopped the eastward movement of both Swedes and Germans.

But there was another serious problem in the east. Mongolian troops conquered most of Russia, which was not at that time politically united. Alexander's father agreed to serve the new Mongol rulers, but died in September 1246. As a result of this, the throne of the Grand Duke was free and Alexander and his younger brother Andrei went to Batu  (Batu), the Mongol Khan of the Golden Horde. Baty  sent them to the great Kagan, who, perhaps in spite of Batu, who preferred Alexander, breaking the Russian custom, appointed Andrew the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Alexander became the prince of Kiev.

Andrei entered into a conspiracy with other Russian princes and western neighbors against the Mongol rulers, and Alexander took the opportunity to bring Sartak, the son of Batu, to his brother. Sartak sent an army to overthrow Andrew, and Alexander soon took his place as Grand Duke.

As the Grand Duke, Alexander sought to restore the prosperity of Russia through the construction of fortifications, temples and the adoption of laws. He continued to control Novgorod with the help of his son Basil. This violated the established traditions of government in Novgorod (veche and invitation to reign). In 1255, the inhabitants of Novgorod expelled Vasily, but Alexander gathered an army and returned Vasily back to the throne.

In 1257, in connection with the upcoming census and taxation, an uprising broke out in Novgorod. Alexander helped make the city obey, probably fearing that the Mongols would punish all of Russia for the actions of Novgorod. In 1262, rebellions began against Muslim tribute collectors from the Golden Horde, but Alexander managed to escape repression by going to Sarai, the capital of the Horde on the Volga, and discussing the situation with the khan. He also achieved the liberation of Russia from the obligation to supply warriors for the khan's army.

On the way home, Alexander Nevsky died in Gorodets. After his death, Russia broke up into hostile principalities, but his son Daniel received Moscow as a principality, which, in the end, led to the reunification of the northern Russian lands. In 1547, the Russian Orthodox Church ranked Alexander Nevsky as a saint.

Battle on the Ice

The battle of the ice (Lake Peipsi) took place on April 5, 1242, during the Northern Crusades (12-13 centuries).

Armies and Generals

Crusaders

• Herman Dorpat
• 1,000 - 4,000 people

• prince Alexander Nevsky
• prince Andrei II Yaroslavich
• 5,000 - 6,000 people

Battle of the Ice - Background

In the thirteenth century, the papacy tried to force Orthodox Christians living in the Baltic region to take papal supreme power. Despite the fact that previous efforts were unsuccessful, in the 1230s a new attempt was made to create a church state in the Baltic states.

Preaching the Crusade in the late 1230s, William of Modena organized a Western coalition to invade Novgorod land. This papal action against Russia coincided with the desire of the Swedes and Danes to expand their territories to the east, so both states began to supply troops for the campaign, as well as the knights of the Teutonic Order.

The region’s shopping center, Novgorod, like most of Russia, was invaded by the Mongols in the recent past (the Novgorod lands were ruined only partially, and the Mongols didn’t go to Novgorod per.) Remaining formally independent, in 1237 Novgorod assumed Mongol rule. The Western invaders hoped that the invasion of the Mongols would divert the attention of Novgorod and that this was a good time to attack.

In the spring of 1240, Swedish troops began advancing to Finland. Alarmed residents of Novgorod called on the recently exiled Prince Alexander back to the city to lead the army (Alexander was expelled and called back after the Battle of Neva per.) Having planned a campaign against the Swedes, Alexander defeated them in the Battle of the Neva and received an honorary nickname Nevsky.

Campaign in the south

Although the crusaders were defeated in Finland, they were more fortunate in the south. Here, at the end of 1240, the combined forces of the knights of the Livonian and Teutonic orders, Danish, Estonian and Russian troops managed to capture Pskov, Izborsk, and Koporye. But in 1241, Alexander conquered the eastern lands of the Neva, and in March 1242 liberated Pskov.

Desiring to strike back against the crusaders, in the same month he raided the lands of the Order. Having finished this, Alexander began to retreat to the East. Gathering their troops in this region together, Hermann, Bishop of Dorpat, set off in pursuit.

Battle on the Ice

Although German troops were smaller, they were better equipped than their Russian opponents. The chase continued, and on April 5, Alexander’s army set foot on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Crossing the lake, in the narrowest place, he was looking for a good defensive position and it turned out to be the eastern shore of the lake, with ice blocks protruding from uneven ground. Turning around at this place, Alexander built his army, placing infantry in the center, and cavalry on the flanks. Arriving on the west coast, the crusader army formed a wedge, placing heavy cavalry at the head and along the flanks.

Moving on the ice, the crusaders reached the location of the Russian army of Alexander. Their movement slowed down as they had to overcome bumps and suffer losses from archers. When both armies clashed, a hand-to-hand battle began. While the battle was raging, Alexander ordered his cavalry and mounted archers to attack the crusaders from the flanks. Rushing forward, they soon successfully surrounded the army of German and began his beating. As the battle took such a turn, many crusaders began to make their way back across the lake.

According to myths, the crusaders began to fall through the ice, but most likely, there were few who failed. Seeing that the enemy was retreating, Alexander allowed to pursue him only to the western shore of the lake. Having been defeated, the crusaders were forced to flee to the West.

Consequences of the Battle of Ice

While the losses of the Russian losses are not known with sufficient accuracy, it was established that about 400 crusaders were killed and another 50 were captured. After the battle, Alexander proposed the generous conditions of the world, which were quickly accepted by Herman and his allies. The defeats on the Neva and Lake Peipsi actually stopped the Western attempts to subjugate Novgorod. Based on a minor event, the Battle of Ice subsequently formed the basis of Russian anti-Western ideology. The film contributed to this legend. Alexander Nevskiyshot by Sergey Eisenstein in 1938.

For propaganda purposes, the legend and iconography of the Battle of the Ice was addressed during World War II as a description of Russia's defense against the German invaders.

Map 1239-1245

The Rhymed Chronicle particularly says that twenty knights died and six were captured. The discrepancy in estimates can be explained by the fact that the Chronicle means only “brothers” knights, not taking into account their squads, in this case of the 400 Germans who fell on the ice of Lake Peipsi, twenty were real “brothers” knights, and from 50 prisoners "brothers" were 6.

The “Chronicle of Grandmasters” (“Die jungere Hochmeisterchronik”, sometimes translated as “The Chronicle of the Teutonic Order”), the official history of the Teutonic Order, written much later, speaks of the deaths of 70 knights (literally “70 Order Masters”, “seuentich Ordens Herenn” ), but unites those who died during the capture of Alexander Pskov and Lake Peipsi.

According to the findings of the expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR led by Karaev, the immediate place of the battle is the site of the Warm Lake, located 400 meters west of the modern coast of Cape Sigovets, between its northern tip and the breadth of the village of Ostrov.

Effects

In 1243, the Teutonic Order concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod and officially abandoned all claims to Russian lands. Despite this, after ten years, the Teutons tried again to capture Pskov. The war with Novgorod continued.

According to the traditional point of view of Russian historiography, this battle, together with the victories of Prince Alexander over the Swedes (July 15, 1240 on the Neva) and over the Lithuanians (in 1245 near Toropets, near Lake Zhizets and near Usvyat), was of great importance for Pskov and Novgorod , holding back the pressure of three serious enemies from the west - at the same time that the rest of Russia was greatly weakened by the Mongol invasion. In Novgorod, the Battle of the Ice, along with the Neva victory over the Swedes, was recalled in litanies in all Novgorod churches in the 16th century.

However, even in the “Rhymed Chronicle,” the Battle of the Ice is clearly described as a defeat for the Germans, unlike Rakovor.

Memory of the battle

Films

• In 1938, Sergei Eisenstein made the feature film Alexander Nevsky, in which the Battle of the Ice was filmed. The film is considered one of the most prominent representatives of historical films. It was he who in many ways formed the viewer of the battle with the modern viewer.
• In 1992, the documentary "In memory of the past and in the name of the future" was shot. The film tells about the creation of a monument to Alexander Nevsky on the 750th anniversary of the Battle of the Ice.
• In 2009, a joint anime film “The First Squad” was shot by the joint efforts of Russian, Canadian and Japanese studios, where the Battle of the Ice plays a key role in the plot.

Music

• The musical accompaniment for the Eisenstein film, written by Sergei Prokofiev, is a symphonic suite dedicated to the events of the battle.
• The rock group Aria on the album "Hero of the Asphalt" (1987) released the song " Ballad of an old Russian warrior", Telling about the Battle of the Ice. This song has survived many different arrangements and reprints.

Literature

• The poem by Konstantin Simonov “The Battle of the Ice” (1938)

Monuments

Monument to the squads of Alexander Nevsky in the city of Sokolikh

Monument to the squads of Alexander Nevsky in the city of Sokolikh in Pskov

Monument to Alexander Nevsky and the Poklonnaya Cross

A bronze worship cross was cast in St. Petersburg at the expense of the sponsors of the Baltic Steel Group (A. V. Ostapenko). The prototype was the Novgorod Alekseevsky Cross. The author of the project is A. A. Seleznev. The bronze sign was cast under the direction of D. Gochiyaev by the foundries of NTTCT, architects B. Kostygov and S. Kryukov. When implementing the project, fragments from the lost wooden cross of the sculptor V. Reshchikov were used.

In philately and on coins

In connection with the incorrect calculation of the date of the battle in the new style, the Day of the military glory of Russia - the Day of the victory of Russian soldiers of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the crusaders (established by Federal Law No. 32-FZ of March 13, 1995 "On the Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia") is celebrated April 18, instead of correct on the new style April 12. The difference between the old (Julian) and the new (first introduced in 1582 Gregorian) styles in the 13th century would be 7 days (counting from April 5, 1242), and the difference of 13 days is used only for dates 1900-2100. Therefore, this day of military glory of Russia (April 18 according to the new style in the XX-XXI centuries) is actually celebrated according to the corresponding day, on April 5 according to the old style.

Due to the variability of the hydrography of Lake Peipsi, historians have long been unable to pinpoint the place where the Battle of the Ice took place. Only thanks to the lengthy research carried out by the expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences (under the leadership of G. N. Karaev), the place of battle was established. The battle site is submerged in the summer and is located about 400 meters from the island of Sigovec.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Lipitsky S.V.  Battle on the Ice. - M.: Military Publishing, 1964 .-- 68 p. - (Heroic past of our Motherland).
• Mansikka V.Y.  Life of Alexander Nevsky: Analysis of editions and text. - SPb., 1913. - "Monuments of ancient writing." - Vol. 180.
• Life of Alexander Nevsky / Prep. text, translation and comm. V.I. Okhotnikova // Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia: XIII century. - M.: Khudozh Publishing House. literature, 1981.
• Begunov Yu. K.  Monument of Russian literature of the XIII century: "The word about the death of the Russian land" - M.-L .: Nauka, 1965.
• Pashuto V.T.  Alexander Nevsky - M.: Young Guard, 1974. - 160 p. - Series “Life of wonderful people.”
• Karpov A. Yu.  Alexander Nevsky - M.: Young Guard, 2010 .-- 352 p. - Series “Life of wonderful people.”
• Khitrov M.  Holy noble Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky. Detailed biography. - Minsk: Panorama, 1991 .-- 288 p. - Reprint ed.
• Klepinin N.A.  Holy noble and Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2004 .-- 288 p. - Series "Slavic Library".
• Prince Alexander Nevsky and his era. Research and Materials / Ed. Yu. K. Begunova and A. N. Kirpichnikova. - St. Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 1995 .-- 214 p.
• Fennel John.  The crisis of medieval Russia. 1200-1304 - M .: Progress, 1989 .-- 296 p.
• Battle of the Ice 1242. Proceedings of a comprehensive expedition to clarify the place of the Battle of Ice / Otv. ed. G.N. Karaev. - M.-L .: Nauka, 1966 .-- 241 p.