This video is an excerpt
from the Russian classic "Aleksandr Nevskiy" produced
during the Soviet era to inspire Russians with ethnic nationalism
and hatred for Germans (Nazis to them) as barbarians.
For a brief historical walkthrough,
what can be called "Russia" existed since the early
10th century, centered at Kiev, and is thus often called "Kievan
Rus" (Kiev of the Rus[sians]). The state was firstly
founded by Viking invaders from Sweden, though the native
Slavs would quickly create for themselves a massive empire
stretching from the White Sea to the Black. In the 11th century,
Wladimir the Great adopted Orthodox Christendom from the Greeks
(though in a uniquely Slavic form), thus forcibly converting
all Russians and Ukrainians to Orthodoxy. This state gradually
fell into disrepair until it was completely abolished and
obliterated by the Mongol hordes in the 13th century. The
many Russian statelets (Pskov, Novgorod, Muskowy, Ryazan,
etc.) either were completely controlled by the Mongols and
their Muslim Turkic soldiers throughout the occupation or
were subservient to them. One Russian tax collector for the
Mongols, Aleksandr Nevskiy, encountered a greater threat coming
from the west. In the 13th century, the German Empire began
to craft crusading armies and polities throughout Europe to
expand Germany's coffers, to protect its borders, and to convert
the pagans. Few Russians were pagan at this time, but most
Lithuanians and Prussians (not the German Prussians we know
today) were not. Germany and Denmark Christianized and annexed
much of Lithuania, Estonia, and the coast of the Baltic. Here,
the Germans attempt a conquest of Russia to convert them from
their heathen faith (Orthodox Christendom instead of Catholicism).
Uniting the Slavs against yet another invader, Nevskiy leads
the resistance, which is ultimately successful, and little
Russian soil remains under German control for the time being.
One reason for the opposition to the Germans other than ethnic
difference was the religious aspect. The Mongol leaders of
the Slavs (though their armies were in this area of the world
mostly Muslim Turks) had a tradition of religious tolerance,
not out of any equal or democratic causes but out of pragmatism.
The German crusaders were the opposite. Thus, the revolt against
the Germans ultimately was a protection of the true faith,
Orthodoxy, in the eyes of the Russians.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is the owner
and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working
for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic
and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures,
ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical
evolution in relation to and against each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The film "Aleksandr
Nevskiy", produced as Soviet propaganda at the demand
of Joseph Stalin, with the copyright now expired due to age.
Copyright 2008, European Heritage
Library®. www.euroheritage.net.
All Rights Reserved. The European Heritage Library is a non-profit academic
organization owned by Chairman James
Mayfield.
No email addresses or personal information is redistributed. No articles
or content on this site may be redistributed without approval or a full
citation and credit to the EHL as the original source.
