Boris Akunin - Between Europe and Asia. Seventeenth century
Regularly to books from the Akunin cycle "History Russian state"There are comments in the spirit of" Akunin wrote a Russophobic book! or “Akunin did not write Russophobic books!” I confess that because of such reviews, I at one time began to read this cycle, each volume of which I supply with my own comments.
What can I say about the Russophobia/Russophilia of citizen Chkhartishvili? But nothing, because if hatred of the Russian people is found in his books, then it should be sought in other works. But what many readers cannot understand is that Akunin's "History" is not at all among historical or at least popular science books. There is too much subjectivity, absurdities and unprofessionalism of the author as a historian in it. And vice versa, there is too little outright lies or burning "PRAVDA" in it to classify this cycle as a cryptohistory in the style of Bushkov's "Russia that was not".
To determine the genre in which this cycle is written, it is necessary to understand that Akunin in his books tells not about the real history of Russia, but about the history of Russia that he himself WOULD LIKE TO SEE. If we assume that we have fantasies on the topics of national history, then everything will fall into place. Princess Olga - Scarlett O'Hara of the 10th century? Yeah why not! Is liberation from the Mongol-Tatar yoke a national catastrophe? The author sees it! Ivan III the Great and Ivan IV the Terrible built a totalitarian state (despite the impossibility of it, as even Akunin himself writes about)? Well, for plot intrigue, you have to sacrifice historical accuracy!
Thus, we can define Akunin's "History of the Russian State" as a cycle of fantasy novels in the scenery Ancient Russia, Moscow principality, Moscow kingdom and Russian Empire. And this "History ..." has nothing more to do with historical or popular science literature than, for example, George Martin's cycle "A Song of Ice and Fire" to the War of the Scarlet and White Roses.
The trouble is that the author himself presents his work as something that claims to be scientific and plausible. If these were free writings on historical topics, like the writings of Alexander Dumas, then it would be interesting to follow the biography of the alternative (in every sense) Peter I. However, Akunin's desire to write a CORRECT history of Russia is so great that it pushes him to deceive readers. At the very beginning of the first book, he accused historians of bias and subjectivity, and what did he himself do? With his works, he only multiplied the myths and delusions.
Bottom line: The History of the Russian State provides an excellent opportunity to see how Akunin perceives national history. Watching cockroaches in the head of a liberal writer is sometimes very funny (which is why I did not stop reading his books), but it cannot bring any practical benefit. If you are interested in the history of Russia, then look for something else.
Score: 4
I write only for the historical part of the project. Despite the historical and philological education in the history of the author, he still did not become a professional historian, which can be seen in full. In fact, he rewrote the generally accepted version of history, supplying a number of facts and events with his own value judgments. How can one admit that Akunin rightly points out in some places the lack of solidity of some data, but he immediately offers his equally unfounded ones (for example, when assessing the number of troops in the Battle of Kulikovo). He questions the facts that are unsympathetic to him, and he repeats those that fit into his picture of the world after the official history without cuts. It can be seen, for example, how he does not like Ivan IV, and he repeats and relishes all the rubbish that has been written about him over the past 150 years: both fornication, and madness, and the murder of his son that did not really take place (the tomb was opened in 1963, no no injuries on the skull of Ivan Ivanovich that could lead to death were found, attempts to imagine that they allegedly were completely false). Oprichnina describes in a marginal version, and is not shy about writing lies, apparently just repeating other people's words, without really understanding it. For example - about the complete incapacity of the oprichnina army, which is allegedly unable to protect the country, because they returned back to the zemstvo. Apparently, he doesn’t even know (and doesn’t mention) the most significant battle of that time - the battle of Molodi in 1572, when the oprichniki and zemstvo army (and the oprichniki and zemstvo interacted well) defeated a greatly superior enemy. As well as in the battles of the Livonian War (first part of which proceeded quite successfully), the guardsmen fought both separately and together with the Zemstvo very well and won. But Akunin's guardsmen are just vile bastards who can only rob and loot. Well, about the victims of the “grozne repressions”, the author could not resist, and supplemented the false stories based on Kurbsky’s letters with his fantasies. In general, the historical part of the work is completely weak and in places very false. Those who want to know the history of Russia, I urge you to read professional historians. The best such professional work at the moment is Evgeny Spitsyn's five-volume "History of Russia" for universities.
Score: 2
I didn’t understand something, but why on earth Akunin was so slinged with mud for this series as a Russophobe? I personally have not seen anything like this. The man was just trying to figure out how it was. I missed something, yes, but completely unbiased, and in general the work turned out to be quite thorough and without any ideological distortions. What I have calculated so far regarding history is quite consistent with what was written. And the conclusions are about the same. After reading, I updated many details in my memory, I added many details for myself. And if for anyone the history of Russia is a clean book, it is quite possible to recommend Akunin's "History" as a self-educational book.
Score: 10
Immediately it is worth making a reservation - this is not a historical work. This is a kind of compilation of our old Karamzin, Klyuchevsky, Solovyov, Kostomarov and others, written more modern language. I would call it sci-pop. For a scientific priest - quite a good thing. Despite the really strong subjectivity. However, I don’t understand the flurry of criticism that poured on Akunin after the writer spoke negatively and allegedly “one-sidedly” about Tsar Ivan 4. There are many arguments for and against Ivan the Terrible, and just as Karamzin once disliked Ivan the Terrible for his cruelty, so does Ivan and Akunin. I can assume that the legs of such criticism grow from Klim Zhukov and Dmitry Puchkov, and several of their videos where they criticize this work. But, to be honest, in some way respecting these figures, criticism of these books is given there very weakly. For example, Klim Zhukov, in all seriousness, scolds Akunin for the incorrect use of the word "Monarch" in relation to Ivan III. If it were a purely historical work, it would have a certain meaning, but it is science-pop, with ardent and not denied subjectivity, and in my opinion, for a more accentuated reader involvement, a simpler thought, this term can be used in relation to Ivan the Great. And frankly speaking, oddly enough, the historian Zhukov, criticizing Akunin, himself falls into subjectivity, proving that the personality of Ivan the Terrible played a positive role in Russian history which, to put it mildly, has always been a controversial issue. And I will answer the previous review a little - the murder of Ivan Ivanovich is a very debatable issue. Read about Gerasimov, and about what the bones of Ivan Ivanovich tell us. The skull of Ivan Ivanovich has not been preserved, but for example, some historians note a huge increase in the tsar's investments in the Church during the agony and death of his son. Therefore, what is funny - they criticize Akunin for subjectivity, those still subjectivists. Subjectivity is not bad. It is bad to scold a thing that does not coincide with your opinion only for subjectivity. Therefore, I will put the seven to Akunin - as a scientific priest. The illustrations are beautiful, the documents are published, in general, the canvas of Russian history is conveyed correctly. Just as housewives used to read Karamzin's History of the Russian State and they liked it, nothing has changed even now. Therefore, I rather recommend for acquaintance. There is no innovation in these books, but there is nothing bad either. May be of interest.
This article is completely devoted to such a legendary writer as Boris Akunin. List in chronological order You can find all of his works below. This is a complete bibliography of the author and all of his most famous books, in order. There is also the History of the Russian state, and books about Fandorin.
Genres
Spy romance
Events are developing in the USSR, in 1941. Great Patriotic War has just begun, but the intrigues around it have reached their peak. Intelligence service Soviet Union significantly loses to the German enemy. Agent Vasser arrives in Moscow. His task is to prove to Stalin that the war will begin no earlier than 1943. KGB Major Aleksey Oktyabrsky and assistant Dorin want to understand the real intentions of the enemy. But will they succeed? Farther
Fiction
After a serious accident with the bus, all passengers died, except for two teenagers - Robert and Seryozha. The first was an exemplary student from an unsecured family, the second studied at a technical school. Somehow, the accident gave them superpowers: Robert is able to read minds, and Serezha received superspeed. 10 years later, the guys meet Marianne, a mute girl who controls people's emotions. Farther
Quest. Novel and codes for the novel
Boris Akunin will show a new point of view on famous historical figures. You have never seen such a Resolier, Napoleon, Stalin and Hitler. How did they manage to become leaders? What is needed for this? How were decisions made that later influenced thousands of people and the course of history? The novel consists of two parts. In the first part, events develop in the 30s of the 20th century, and in the second part we will find ourselves in 1812. Farther
Master's Adventures
Altyn Tolobas
Nicholas Fandorin is the grandson of the English aristocrat Erast Fandorin. This grandson came across a will left by his distant ancestor Cornelius von Dorn, who lived in the 17th century. The latter discovered a secret that was hidden in Muscovy. To understand how to solve the riddle and get to the bottom of the truth, Fandorin goes to Russia - to his historical homeland. For 300 years, a lot has changed in this state, but not everything. Farther
extracurricular reading
The novel intersects two historical lines - Last year reign of Empress Catherine the Great and the beginning of the 20th century. Mithridates was the favorite of the Empress - a seven-year-old boy who accidentally found out about the plans and conspiracies against Her Majesty. To save Catherine II, this boy is ready for anything. In the second storyline Nicholas Fandorin works as a tutor for the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur. The girl will become just a bargaining chip in the great game of business. Farther
F. M.
Nicholas Fandorin has a new business. A certain owner of an agency called "Country of Soviets" received a manuscript of an early and unknown part of Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment". Fandorin wants to find the manuscript and the ring that once belonged to the writer. But the opponent will do everything to prevent him. Farther
Falcon and Swallow
Once upon a time, a treasure was hidden in the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps the innumerable treasures would have remained untouched, but Nicholas Fandorin's aunt gave him a gift. He got a letter that is over 300 years old and contains a family relic - a message that can lead the heir to a pirate treasure, and at the same time reveal secrets. At this time, a certain person goes on the same path, but for a different reason - she is trying to find her father. Farther
The Adventures of Erast Fandorin
Yin and Yang
Millionaire Sigismund Boretsky has died and his will is being read in his estate. Niece Inga received all his capital and the family estate, and nephew Jan got only one fan. While Inga is daydreaming about marrying her cousin, Jan is thinking only about creating a vaccine. To explain why the fan is so important, Erast Fandorin arrives at the estate. It turned out that this little thing is magical, and can change people for better or worse if a special ritual is performed. Farther
Azazel
A young detective police officer, Erast Petrovich Fandorin, has a new case - he needs to investigate the suicide of a wealthy student. In appearance, the guy himself made such a decision, but if you look at the evidence, it becomes clear that this is a large-scale and unthinkable conspiracy. While Fandorin does not know that the investigation will lead to dozens of deaths, explosions and a completely unpredictable outcome. One question - will the killer get what he deserves, given such sacrifices? Farther
Russian-Turkish war. 1877 Varvara Suvorova is a brave girl who was not afraid to go to Turkey in the midst of military events to tell her fiancé that she agreed to marry him. The journey was not easy and it is not known how it would have ended if Erast Fandorin had not been on her way. Farther
The New Ararat Monastery is experiencing better times. Novices complain that they see the shadow of the holy Basilisk, and the Black Monk scares people so much that even deaths happen. The brethren ask for help from Mitrofiy, who, in turn, sent an unbeliever Alyoshka to the monastery. After a while, Alyoshka began to send very strange letters, and later ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Colonel Lagrange is going to sort out the circumstances, but trouble also happened to him. Then Pelageya goes to the rescue. Farther
The last work of a pious woman. This time she needs to go to the ship "Sevryuga", where a strange company has gathered: there is a thief, and sodomites, and Jews, and German colonists. Several people on the ship were killed during the voyage and the circumstances of their death turned out to be very strange. Is there some mystic involved here? Or just coincidences? Farther
Death on brotherhood
Baby and hell
Events before the First World War. Germany's intelligence is doing its best to steal general plan deployment of Russian troops, if they suddenly gather to attack. They almost succeeded, but counterintelligence managed to intercept the documents. An ordinary student, Alexei Romanov, interfered in the big games and quite by accident thwarted the capture of a German resident. Now he has to help his homeland, as he is the last one who saw the object. Farther
The pain of a broken heart
Alexei Romanov is in grief - his lover is marrying another man. If not for the debt, Romanov would have committed suicide. At this time, the first World War. The battlefields are bloodied, but intelligence is also working with might and main to end this infernal mess of global proportions. Alexey has to go to Switzerland to learn important secrets. Farther
flying elephant
The Russian Empire gained a great advantage during the First World War when it decided to use super-powerful aircrafts"Ilya Muromets". Germany will have to do everything possible to ensure that the imperial observer does not consider new technologies dangerous. Sepp, a spy and saboteur, is sent to the country of the enemy. Farther
Children's book for boys
Reprint of the Children's Book. A descendant of Erast Petrovich Fandorin simply cannot have ordinary life- the schoolboy Eraser experiences adventures more abruptly than his ancestor. He will meet Solomka, Shuisky, and even see False Dmitry himself, and all this against the background of the search for a huge diamond. Farther
Children's book for girls
Continuation of the "Children's Book", which was written by Gloria Mu based on the script by B. Akunin. Angelina Fandorina had no one to be friends with. But she had a great brother. Although she also lost him when the boy was sent to a mathematical lyceum. Bored, Gelya suddenly finds out that she is able to save the world. She is a simple schoolgirl from Moscow! However, in order to do this, she has to go to someone else's past. Farther
Love for history
Do you want to know what is hidden in the past? What happened at the Dyatlov Pass? Or who was the first genius in the English criminal investigation? How many treasures have not yet been revealed to the public? You will plunge into the world of monsters, heroes and warriors, without whom life would not be life. Farther
These are the stories ordinary people that history has forgotten. Ordinary heroes should remain in the memory of people, and Akunin talks about them with pleasure. When is beauty superior to morality? Is the world really the way we imagine it to be? Are there people on the planet whose life is different from the generally accepted one? And most importantly - how to improve life in Russia? Farther
The collection includes interesting stories about Japan, generals, pilots. You will plunge into the world of duels, history. The sea is waiting for you interesting facts, myths and anecdotes. After reading, you will find out what he is - the ideal of a man and a woman; who is our hero and do we need to live forever? Farther
Part of Asia. History of the Russian state. Horde period
There is no sadder time in the formation of the Russian state than the Tatar-Mongol invasion. This is an era of great suffering and sadness, when the Russian people lost their identity. However, what ruined the Russian state created a huge power. Now the country and people could be reborn. This is the history of the 13th - 15th centuries. Farther
Between Asia and Europe. History of the Russian state. From Ivan III to Boris Godunov
History does not change immediately, and only after a while you can see how seemingly insignificant personalities changed the fate of many peoples. 15 - 16 centuries. The time when the Russian land was liberated from foreign influence and the time when the great Time of Troubles began. The state lost its independence under the onslaught of enemies and internal crises. Farther
Library project B. Akunin "History of the Russian state"
AT this list examples of historical literature are presented in the form of collections, which are recommended for reading and familiarization by the writer Boris Akunin. He is also a compiler of collections. Here are collected monuments and documents reflecting all the main milestones of the country, starting from its origins.
- Voices of the time. From the origins to the Mongol invasion (compilation)
- The first Russian tsars: Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov (collection)
- Horde period. The best historians: Sergei Solovyov, Vasily Klyuchevsky, Sergei Platonov (collection)
- (compilation)
- The faces of the era. From the origins to the Mongol invasion (compilation)
History of the Russian state (collection)
He controls the Moscow guards, defends the city order and investigates high-profile crimes. Bye main character is engaged in hunting for murderers and charlatans, the reader will plunge into the history of the 17th century and take part in adventures where riots and robbers are indispensable. Farther
13th century The time when Russia is experiencing fragmentation and decline. Ingvar considers his power a heavy burden, but meanwhile his small principality forces him to make difficult decisions every day. It seems that the people began to live at least a little better, and the neighbors support bad world. But what if the one whom Ingvar counts on as himself does not withstand the temptation of power? Farther
The collection includes two stories that are completely different in style, which are connected, meanwhile, by a common theme: one tells about the beginning of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, and the second about its end. How it was and what happened. Farther
More from the series:
- Fire Finger (compilation)
- Widow Plath (compilation)
Family album
Aristonomy
Boris Akunin
History of the Russian state.
From the origins to the Mongol invasion.
Part of Europe
The design uses illustrations provided by Fotobank, Shutterstock, as well as from the author's archive and free sources.
© B. Akunin, 2013
© AST Publishing House LLC
All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and corporate networks, for private and public use, without the written permission of the copyright owner.
© Electronic version book prepared by Litres (www.litres.ru)
Before you decide whether it makes sense for you to read this essay, I must warn you about its features.
There are three of them.
I write for people who do not know Russian history well and who want to understand it. I myself am the same. All my life I have been interested in history, historical education wrote several dozen historical novels nevertheless, one day I realized that my knowledge consists of separate fragments that do not add up well to the big picture. I didn't have a clear idea of how and why Russia turned out the way it did. And I realized that in order to answer such short question, you will have to read tens of thousands of pages first, and then write several thousand pages.
I'm not building any concept. I have not it. Any historian who creates his own theory cannot resist the temptation to stick out the facts convenient for him and to silence or question everything that does not fit into his logic. I have no such temptation.
In addition, I am a resolute opponent of ideologized history. Both self-praising and self-deprecating lines, which are abundantly presented in the works of Russian historians, are equally uninteresting to me. I want to know (or calculate) how it really was. I don't have a preconceived notion. There are questions and there is a desire to find answers to them.
This is not the history of the country, but of the state, that is, political history: state building, management mechanisms, the relationship between people and power, social evolution. Culture, religion, economy, I touch only to the extent that they are connected with politics.
Russia is first and foremost a state. It is not identical to the country, and at certain moments of history it was even hostile to it, but it was the state of the state that invariably determined the vector of evolution (or degradation) of all spheres Russian life. The state is the cause of both Russian troubles and Russian victories.
Trying to understand what is right and wrong in our thousand-year-old state (and why) - that is what this work is ultimately started for.
Preface to the first volume
The origins of any national history, if it lasts for many centuries, are reminiscent of pre-dawn twilight. First, some indistinct noises come from the darkness, ghostly silhouettes appear, obscure movements are guessed. And only with time, very slowly, events and human figures become clear. The information that has come down to posterity is vague, fragmentary, and often contradictory or simply implausible.
Because of this, many historians are tempted to add harmony and logic to the story of ancient times, to "explain" what happened, and hypotheses and conjectures are given the appearance of an established fact. I also had such a temptation, but I tried to overcome it. That is why in this volume there are very often turnovers “apparently”, “probably”, “presumably” - as a sign that this information is a reconstruction. Works on the history of Ancient Russia, where the authors confidently operate with dates, facts, figures and names, should be treated with caution.
After studying very few sources and very numerous interpretations of these sources, I became convinced that none of the historians knows exactly when, by whom and under what circumstances the first Russian state. Textbooks often give dubious dating of events, and the events themselves, on closer examination, sometimes turn out to be a retelling of myths. Numerous absurdities of "canonical" historiography, which began to take shape as early as the eighteenth century, prompted some researchers to the other extreme - the rejection of traditional chronology and the advancement of various hypotheses that turn the whole story upside down. The more temperamental the author, the more revolutionary his version looks.
The text brought to your attention is completely non-revolutionary and non-temperamental. The main method is the notorious "Occam's razor": everything superfluous (and unreliable) is cut off; only the facts that are considered by most historians to be verified, or at least the most probable, remain. If there are any doubts, this must be discussed.
The country that we call Ancient Russia was so different from Russia of the post-Mongolian era that through the thickness of the past centuries it seems to us some kind of lost, legendary Atlantis. Therefore, I considered it expedient, as a supplement, to add to the presentation political history a purely everyday descriptive chapter "Life in Ancient Russia". The chronicles recorded only memorable events, that is, extraordinary, out of the normal course of life. If we confine ourselves to retelling the chronicles, one might get the feeling that the entire early history consisted of wars, epidemics, crop failures, changes in rulers and the construction of large churches and fortresses. The insertion, although it breaks out of the general line of the narrative and goes beyond the scope of the title task, will give the reader some idea of how and how the ancient Russian people lived.
The peculiarity of the historiography of the Kyiv period is that there are very few sources of information - at least written ones. There is, in fact, only one fundamental one: The Tale of Bygone Years, a chronicle that has been preserved not in its original form, but in two different options later time. Coinciding fragments of these two options are considered to be a protograph, that is original text. But he, apparently, corresponded and changed under the influence of the political situation. The chronicler sets out the events of the ninth and tenth centuries very approximately, and in places clearly erroneously, inserting legends and tales, obviously drawn from folklore. There are also big gaps. Only from the eleventh century does the narrative turn from a set of legends and pious parables into a proper historical chronicle, and dating becomes confident, often with the addition of not only the year, but also the number. However, when describing recent incidents, the author is unbiased, outlining the "Kyiv" interpretation of political collisions and clearly flattering Vladimir Monomakh (perhaps the initiator or even the customer of the editorial board that has come down to us), which forces one to treat many statements and descriptions with a certain skepticism. Alternative chronicles, including regional ones (Novgorod, Galicia-Volyn), appear only at the end of the described period and cannot significantly complement the picture.
The cycle was conceived by the writer Boris Akunin as a multi-volume historical work, supplemented by a series of fiction. According to Akunin, he took 10 years to implement the project.
It all started in March 2013, when the writer announced on his LiveJournal blog that he would stop writing detective stories ("of course, I will finish the series about Fandorin") and devote himself to creating a new multi-volume "History of the Russian State". That he was always haunted by the laurels of Karamzin, and even the novel "Azazel" was to some extent inspired by "Poor Liza". And that from the first steps in literature, Akunin cherished "a megalomaniacal plan to repeat Karamzin's trajectory and, starting with fiction, come to writing the history of the state."
It is noteworthy that the author of the historical work is not a professional historian Grigory Chkhartishvili, but his writer's "I" Akunin. Grigory Shalvovich, referring to Isaac Asimov, Peter Ackroyd and the same Nikolai Karamzin, explains: when an amateur fiction writer tells the history of the country for amateurs like him, he, by virtue of his profession, tries to be boring. Almost all historical works are boring, ideologized and reveal only fragments of history. Akunin, on the other hand, set himself the goal of being not boring, to give a complete picture of history (“how the state was formed, developed and why it became like this”) without ideological overtones (“I want to know how it really was; the truth or the version closest to the truth, - this is what I need").
"New Karamzin" was criticized by both writers and historians. According to some, today the picture of the world is too complex for one person to grasp it with a glance; it is impossible to repeat the experience of Karamzin or Solovyov. According to others, Akunin still tells the story uninterestingly. According to others, there are many inaccuracies in his "History", and the treatment of historical sources is too free. Grigory Shalvovich got ahead of the latest objections with the following statement: “My method is simple. I read the available primary sources, trying not to miss anything, and see how the information contained there is interpreted by various authors. From the whole mass of facts, names, figures, dates and judgments, I try to select everything undoubted, or at least the most plausible. I cut off the insignificant and unreliable.
The reviewers of the publication, confirming the correspondence of the author's presentation to historical facts, were employees of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State University for the Humanities.
Akunin illustrates the history of Russia works of art: in parallel with historical volumes, he publishes volumes of action-packed stories, the action of which takes place in a particular time period. As conceived by the writer, the characters of these stories will belong to the same family - a kind of mega-story a thousand years long about the life of one family. "The history of the state and human history will go side by side, testing each other for strength," Akunin promised his readers.
Illustrations provided by Shutterstock, Rossiya Segodnya MIA, Diomedia and free sources are used in the design
© B. Akunin, 2016
© AST Publishing House LLC, 2016
Reviewers:
K. A. Kochegarov
(Institute of Slavic Studies RAS)
Yu. M. Eskin
(Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts)
S. Yu. Shokarev
(Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State University for the Humanities)
Foreword
The movement of history is uneven. Incidents that are memorable for posterity - usually these are some kind of epoch-making changes or upheavals - alternate with periods about which in ancient chronicles it is briefly reported "nothing happened" (that is, everything was not bad and there was nothing special to talk about). The pace of events accelerates, then slows down; quick "breaths" are replaced by long "exhalations"; sometimes the state begins to develop jerkily - as a rule, this happens when a purposeful leader appears who implements a certain program; there are equally rapid crises - for reasons both internal and external.
That's why talking about different periods more convenient in different ways, adapting the method of presentation to the features and "importance" of the era. The Russian seventeenth century, to which this volume is devoted, is difficult to describe in this sense. In a relatively short period of history, both “fatal minutes” that require detailed study and whole decades of unhurried development are compressed, when it is more interesting to talk not about events, but about phenomena and trends.
This explains the asymmetric structure of the book. Its first part is devoted to a detailed account of just a few years, and the next three parts are much more lapidary. However, the same proportion is observed in the entire array historical research about the Russian seventeenth century: much more has been written about its dramatic beginning than about subsequent events - right up to the very end of the century, when Russia seemed to wake up or switched from slow walking to fast running.
However, the reforms of Peter I will be the subject of the fifth volume, while the fourth will end in 1689. The tightest knot of this era is the Time of Troubles - the experience of the collapse of the state. A crisis of comparable scale in Russia will only be repeated three hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Russian state, destroyed by the Time of Troubles, was second in historical continuity. The first - the Grand Duchy of Kiev - arose in the 9th century, when the Rurik family took control of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks." The early Russian state persisted until river transit in the 11th-12th centuries lost its former significance. After that, the central government weakened and the country began to break up into separate principalities, which became easy prey for the Mongol invasion.
The second centralization was carried out by Prince Ivan III of Moscow (1462-1505), who took as a model the structure of the Genghis Khan Empire, the greatest state known to the then Russian people. The fortress of the Horde was based on a pyramidal hierarchy of power, the only bearer of which was the great khan. The country was governed not by laws common to all, but by khan's decrees, which were issued taking into account the specific situation and could change the old "rules of the game" at any time. Morally and religiously, the principle of such unlimited power was supported by the sacralization of the person of the monarch, intercessor and mediator for the people before God.
The “second” Russian state was architecturally a very simple structure. All any important decisions were made exclusively by the sovereign, who not only was in charge of all areas of politics, but also sought to fully control life in the regions of his rather big country. At the same time, the central government and the regional administration were in their infancy. The country was ruled as a personal fiefdom of one owner.
In the conditions of the Middle Ages, such a structure certainly had its advantages, which included good manageability, accumulation of resources and high mobilization ability. The main rivals of the Moscow autocrats - the Polish-Lithuanian kings - for the war needed to obtain the consent of the aristocracy and get permission to raise finances, so the western neighbor was always late with the start of hostilities, and then often found himself unable to take advantage of the fruits of victories due to lack of money. It was enough for the Russian sovereign to simply order - all the human and material resources of the country were in his full will.
The main weakness of the "second" state, as usual, was reverse side his strength. With an active and capable ruler, the country grew stronger and grew, with a ruler of average abilities, it turned out to be in a state of stagnation, a bad ruler led the country to decline. And the absence of an autocrat became a complete disaster, it led the state to paralysis.
This is exactly what happened in April 1605, which was told in the previous volume and to which we will return again, looking at the same events from the other side - the side of the Pretender. We will see that his adventure was poorly organized and would undoubtedly have ended in defeat if Tsar Boris had not suddenly died in Moscow. Two fatal factors coincided here. First, Boris' heir was a teenager and could not rule on his own. Secondly, the new dynasty, which arose only seven years ago, had not yet acquired an aura of sacredness (a circumstance that preserved the country during the infancy of Ivan the Terrible).
To put it very briefly, the main reason for the collapse of the "second" Russia was too strong autocracy with a too weak state. The combination of the unlimited power of the monarch with the underdevelopment of institutions made political system fragile. It was enough to break the only rod on which it rested, and the state crumbled.
The history of the Time of Troubles (as well as the events of 1917) demonstrates that a seemingly mighty state can fall apart very quickly. This is truly a scary and breathtaking sight.
Compared to the Troubles, the next part of the book looks dull. High drama disappears, bright personalities disappear, everything seems to become smaller and discolored. The story about the reign of Mikhail Romanov is less advantageous - but the story of getting a wound is always more interesting in plot than the description of its treatment. At the same time, from the point of view of the history of the state, the process of healing and restoration of the forces of the country, the process of creating new system instead of the collapsed one is no less important.
The Moscow kingdom of the seventeenth century, with external similarities, is very different from the Moscow kingdom of the sixteenth century. I believe that here we are talking about a slightly different model, and I will explain in detail why I consider this state to be the “third one”.
Europe has become the center of the development of world civilization, and politically, technologically, culturally Russia is increasingly drifting in a western direction. In the seventeenth century, it was already closer to Europe than to Asia, but the "Horde foundation" remained the same, and it was difficult to build something fundamentally new on it. In just seventy years, there will be a need for a new modification.
The book "Between Europe and Asia" consists of four parts, which correspond to the stages of life of almost any state: the preceding chaos; birth and growth; maturity and stagnation; finally, exhaustion and crisis.
The death of the state
In the seventeenth century, Russia entered, apparently, a strong and prosperous power. With a population of fifteen million, it was one of the most populated countries in Europe, and the first in size. Moscow maintained peace with neighbors who respected her power; the treasury was full; trade flourished; cities grew. An experienced ruler, Boris Godunov, sat on the throne, seemingly holding the country in an iron fist: the intimidated aristocracy was afraid to intrigue, the downtrodden peasants did not rebel. It seemed that in Russia, after the severe trials experienced in the second half of the previous century, calm, peaceful times were established for a long time.