Alexander Nevksy Mr. Howard. Born in 1221 to Kievan Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. Not much is known...
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Transcript of Alexander Nevksy Mr. Howard. Born in 1221 to Kievan Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. Not much is known...
Alexander Nevksy
Mr. Howard
• Born in 1221 to Kievan Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich.
• Not much is known of his early life – he was educated in the Kievan Caves Monastery.
• Like Peter The Great he was a large man with incredible strength that furthers the legends.
• Batu Khan forced Russian princes to bow before him and kiss his boots – most did not. Remember Yuri?
• Nevsky’s father did.
• Nevsky was given to Batu Khan as a tribute and raised by Mongols.
• He remained with the Horde from 1238-1252.
• Nevsky became a fierce warrior – Batu Khan wrote he was the finest of all warriors he had met, Mongol or otherwise.
• Nevsky became very close with Batu – a blood brother of his eldest son (Sartak) and he married Batu’s daughter.
• He was given the Vladimir province by Batu Khan and later crowned prince of Novgorod.
The Battle of the Neva & Ice
• The Catholic and Orthodox church collides in the Baltic
• Encouraged by the Crusaders capture of Constantinople in 1204 – they set their eyes on Russia
• With the Mongols devastating Russia the Catholic Church declares war on Novgorod.
Battle of the Neva & ice
• The Crusade is comprised of three factions:
• Swedes from the North
• Danes from the Center
• Teutonic Knights from the South
• Instead of waiting Nevsky takes the fight to them and cuts off the Swedes from the North.
Battle of the Neva
• Fought on the Neva river in 1240 … Russia vs Sweden.
• Swedish goals were simple: take control of Novgorod & Ladoga along with the mouth of the Neva.
• Nevsky’s forces were outnumbered
• He had the only field army Russia could muster – stakes were high
• Nevsky faced off against Birger Jarl’s forces on the banks of the Neva – he snuck through the forest and caught them off guard
• Nevsky (born a Yaroslovavich) crushed the Swedish invasion and sent them running back to Sweden.
• In his honor he had his name changed from Alexander Yaroslovavich to Nevsky (Neva).
The Battle on the Ice
• Once the Swedes were taken care of, Nevsky had to direct his attention to the South.
• The stakes were high: a loss of Nevsky would eliminate the only Russian field army and allow the Crusaders to have free reign over Russia.
• A Russian victory would discourage further attacks.
The Forces
• Nevsky had 1,600 light Calvary & 3,400 light infantry
• Crusading Knights had 1,200 heavily armored and mounted knights and 1,000 heavily armored infantry
• Nevsky’s use of the ‘Roman Turtle Shell’ to repel the first attack proved pivotal.
• He instructed his soldiers to slash back at the horses legs and chest – dismount the nights.
• Once dismounted use speed to advantage.• To compound matters some Knights fell through
the ice – heavy armor, plus weapons, plus soldier and plus horse = cracked ice.
• After the first charge led to 35% casualties for the Knights to only 4% for the Russians, they fled back South.
• Nevsky offered lenient peace terms – leave all Russian lands never to return – if you return I’ll hunt you down and cut your head off.
• Each side agreed to peace and released all prisoners.
• The loss for the Crusaders came with a heavy price – they faced revolts in all of their conquered lands after the loss to the Russians.
• Nevsky became a hero in the same vein as Washington – voted #1 Russian Hero of All-time
• Beyond being just a good general and commander, Nevsky is much like Hannibal… he is revered for being a true leader.
• He was an excellent warrior. Very skilled with the sword.
• Nevsky as politician – cautious & saw bigger picture
• “Life of Alexander Nevsky” – seen as the perfect soldier, leader & politician and gave Russian’s a sense of pride.
• “Whoever comes at us with a sword shall perish from a sword” – gave Russians a motto to live by and would resurface many times in Imperial Russia.