The failure of Sviatoslav's more ambitious plans as well as a gradual consolidation of the Kievan state in European Russia marks the transition to the next period of Kievan history, when Kievan Russia attained in most respects its greatest development, prosperity, stability, and success. This second period was occupied almost entirely by the reigns of two remarkable princes, Saint Vladimir and Iaroslav the Wise, and it ended with the death of the latter in 1054. While the Kievan rulers from Oleg through Sviatoslav established Kievan Russia as an important state, it was early in the time of Vladimir that a new element of enormous significance entered the life and culture of Kiev: Christianity. The new Christian civilization of Kievan Russia produced impressive results as early as the first half of the eleventh century, adding literary and artistic attainment to the political power and high economic development characteristic of the age.
The third and last period of Kievan history, that of the decline and fall, is the most difficult one to define chronologically. It may be said to begin with the passing of Iaroslav the Wise in 1054, but there is no consensus about the point at which foreign invasions, civil wars, and the general diminution in the significance of Kiev brought the Kievan era of Russian history to a close. Vladimir Monomakh, who reigned from 1113 to 1125, has often been considered the last effective Kievan ruler, and the same has been said of his son, Mstislav, who reigned from 1125 to 1132. Other
historians indicate as the terminal point, for example, the capture and the sacking of Kiev in 1169 by Prince Andrew Bogoliubskii of Suzdal and his decision to remain in the northeast rather than move to the city on the Dnieper. As the ultimate date of Kievan history, 1240 also has a certain claim: in that year Kiev, already a shadow of its former self in importance, was thoroughly destroyed by the Mongols, who established their dominion over conquered Russia.
The Rise of the Kievan State
Oleg, the first historical ruler of Kiev, remains in most respects an obscure figure. According to the Primary Chronicle he was a Varangian, a relative of Igor, who occupied Kiev in 882 and died in 913. Assisted by his retainers, the druzhina, Oleg spread his rule from the territory of the Poliane to the areas of several neighboring East Slavic tribes. Some record of a subsequent bitter opposition of the Drevliane to this expansion has come down to our time; certain other tribes, it would seem, submitted with less struggle. Tribute became the main mark and form of their allegiance to Kiev. Still other tribes might have acted simply as associates of Oleg and his successor Igor in their various enterprises, without recognizing the supreme authority of Kiev. Toward the end of his life Oleg had gathered a sufficient force to undertake in 907 a successful campaign against Byzantium. Russian chronicles exaggerate Oleg's success and tell, among other things, the story of how he nailed his shield to the gates of Constantinople. Byzantine sources are strangely silent on the subject of Oleg's campaign. Yet some Russian victories seem probable, for in 911 Oleg obtained from Byzantium an extremely advantageous trade treaty.
Oleg's successor, Prince Igor, ruled Kievan Russia from 913 until his death in 945. Our knowledge of him comes from Greek and Latin, in addition to Russian, sources, and he stands out, by contrast with the semi-legendary Oleg, as a fully historical person. Igor had to fight the Drevliane as well as to maintain and spread Kievan authority in other East Slavic lands. That authority remained rather precarious, so that each new prince was forced to repeat in large part the work of his predecessor. In 941 Igor engaged in a major campaign against Constantinople and devastated its suburbs, but his fleet suffered defeat by the Byzantine navy which used the celebrated "Greek fire." * The war was finally terminated by the treaty of 944, the provisions of which were rather less favorable to the Russians than those of the preceding agreement of 911. In 943 the Russians campaigned successfully in the distant transcaspian provinces of
* The Greek fire was an incendiary compound projected through copper pipes by Byzantine sailors to set on fire the ships of their opponents. Its exact composition remains unknown.
Persia. Igor was killed by the Drevliane in 945 while collecting tribute in their land.
Oleg's and Igor's treaties with Byzantium deserve special attention. Their carefully worded and remarkably detailed provisions dealt with the sojourn of the Russians in Constantinople, Russian trade with its inhabitants, and the relations between the two states in general. It may be noted that the Russians in Constantinople were subject to their own courts, but that, on the other hand, they were free to enter Byzantine service.
While their relations with Byzantium increased the prestige and the profits of the Russians, the inhabitants of the steppe continued to threaten the young Kievan state. In addition to the relatively stabilized and civilized Khazars, more primitive peoples pressed westward. At the dawn of Kievan history, the Magyars, a nomadic horde speaking a Finno-Ugrian language and associated for a long time with the Khazar state, moved from the southern Russian steppe to enter, at the end of the ninth century, the Pannonian plain and lay the foundations for Hungary. But they were replaced and indeed in part pushed out of southern Russia by the next wave from the east, rather primitive and ferocious Turkic nomads, the Pechenegs or Patzinaks. The approach of the Pechenegs is mentioned in the Chronicle under the year 915; and they began to carry out constant assaults on the Kievan state in the second half of the tenth century, after the decline of the Khazars.
Igor's sudden death left his widow Olga in charge of the Kievan state, for their son Sviatoslav was still a boy. Olga rose to the occasion, ruling the land from 945 to about 962 and becoming the first famous woman in Russian history as well as a saint of the Orthodox church. The information concerning Olga describes her harsh punishment of the Drevliane and her persistent efforts to strengthen Kievan authority among other East Slavic tribes. It tells also of her conversion to Christianity, possibly in 954 or 955, and her journey to Constantinople in 957. There she was received by the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who left us an account of her visit. But the conversion of Olga did not mean a conversion of her people, nor indeed of her son Sviatoslav.
The ten years of Sviatoslav's rule of Kievan Russia, 962 to 972, which marked the culmination of the first period of Kievan history in the course of which the new state obtained a definite form and role on the east European plain, have been trenchantly called "the great adventure." If successful, the adventure might have given Russian history a new center and a different course. Even with their ultimate failure, Sviatoslav's daring campaigns and designs left their imprint all the way from Constantinople to the Volga and the Caspian Sea. Sviatoslav stands out in history as a classic warrior-prince, simple, severe, indefatigable, brave, sharing with his men uncounted hardships as well as continuous battles. He has been