600 years ago, on July 15, 1410, the decisive battle of the “Great War” took place - the Battle of Grunwald.
The Battle of Grunwald is the decisive battle of the “Great War” (1409-1411), in which Polish-Lithuanian troops defeated the troops of the Teutonic Order on July 15, 1410.
"Great War" 1409-1411 (the war between the Teutonic Order on the one hand, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the other) arose as a result of the aggressive policy of the Teutonic Order, which laid claim to the border Polish and Lithuanian lands.
The “Great War” was preceded by the conclusion of the Union of Krevo (union) between Lithuania and Poland (1385, renewed in 1401) in order to organize resistance to the order.
On August 6, 1409, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Ulrich von Jungingen, declared war on the Kingdom of Poland. Detachments of Teutonic knights invaded its borders. The Polish king Vladislav II Jagiello (Jagiello) began to create a “general militia” in the country and agreed with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas on joint actions. Military operations were carried out indecisively, and in the fall of 1409 a truce was concluded.
In the winter of 1409-1410. both sides were preparing for a decisive struggle. The Order received great help from the “Holy Roman Empire” and other Catholic states; the Hungarian king Sigismund I of Luxembourg became its ally. By the summer of 1410, the order had created a well-armed and organized army (up to 60 thousand people), consisting mainly of heavily armed cavalry and infantry.
The troops of Lithuania and Poland included Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian regiments, as well as Czech mercenaries and Tatar cavalry. The total number of troops is over 60 thousand people. The basis of the allied forces was light infantry. Both warring sides had artillery that fired stone cannonballs. The allied troops, having united in the Cherven region, crossed the border of the order's possessions on July 9, 1410 and moved towards its capital and main fortress - Marienburg (Malbork). Maneuvering in order to take advantageous positions for battle, the troops of both sides by the evening of July 14 settled in the area of the villages of Grunwald and Tannenberg, where the Battle of Grunwald took place on July 15.
The allied army, having discovered the enemy, formed for battle in three lines on a front of 2 km. On the right wing deployed 40 Lithuanian-Russian banners (a banner is a military unit of medieval Poland and Lithuania) under the command of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas, as well as Tatar cavalry, on the left - 42 Polish, 7 Russian and 2 Czech banners under the command of the Krakow governor Zyndram. The position of the allied troops on the right flank and from the rear was covered by a swamp and the Marcha (Maranze) river, and on the left by a forest. The crusaders formed in 2 lines on a front of 2.5 km, having 20 banners under the command of Liechtenstein on the right wing, 15 banners under the command of Wallenrod on the left wing; 16 banners remained in reserve (2nd line).
The battle began at noon. The Tatar cavalry and the 1st line of Vytautas' troops attacked the left flank of the Teutons, but were overturned by Wallenrod's knights. The 2nd and 3rd lines of Vytautas’ troops entered the battle, but the Teutons again drove them back and then began to pursue them. The situation was saved by three Russian Smolensk regiments, which, courageously defending themselves, pinned down part of Wallenrod’s forces. At this time, Polish banners boldly attacked the enemy’s right flank and broke through the front of Liechtenstein’s troops. The successful attack of the Polish troops, as well as the courage of the Russian soldiers, their skillful actions in the battle against the knights of Wallenrod allowed the Lithuanian banners to stop the enemy and then go on the offensive.
The combined efforts of Wallenrod's troops were defeated. On the left wing, Polish, Russian and Czech troops surrounded the Liechtenstein troops and began to destroy them. Jungingen brought his reserve into battle, but Jagiello moved the 3rd line of his troops towards him, which, together with the Lithuanian and Russian banners that came to their aid, defeated the last banners of the Teutons. The leaders of the order, including Jungingen, died in the battle.
The Battle of Grunwald marked the beginning of the decline of the Teutonic Order. It contributed to the development of the national liberation struggle of the Slavic and Baltic peoples and became a symbol of their military commonwealth.
In 1960, a monument was erected on the site of the Battle of Grunwald.
Since 1998, a reconstruction of the Battle of Grunwald has been carried out in Poland, in which members of military history clubs from Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and other countries participate.
The material was prepared on the basis of open sources using materials from the Military Encyclopedia publication. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Voenizdat. Moscow. in 8 volumes -2004 ISBN 5 - 203 01875 - 8
Battle of Grunwald. J. Matejko. 1878
1410 On July 15, the Battle of Grunwald took place between the knights of the Teutonic Order on one side and the united Polish-Russian-Lithuanian army on the other.
“Battle of Grunwald 1410 [in it. literature - the Battle of Tannenberg (Stembark)], the decisive battle of the “Great War” of 1409–11, in which Polish-Lithuanian-Russian troops defeated the troops of the Teutonic Order on July 15. On July 3, the Polish-Lithuanian Russian army under the command of the Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło (Jagiello) set out from the Czerwińska region to Marienburg (Malbork) and met in the Grunwald region with the main forces of the order under the command of Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. The order's army (27 thousand people) consisted of German, French and other knights and mercenary detachments (Swiss, British, etc.), with a total of 51 banners. The allied army (32 thousand people) included Polish, Lithuanian, Russian (including Ukrainian and Belarusian), Wallachian, Czech-Moravian, Hungarian and Tatar detachments, united in 91 banners. On July 14, the allied army concentrated in the forest near the lake. Luben and, having discovered the enemy, formed for battle. The Allied battle formation consisted of 3 lines on a 2 km front. On the right wing deployed 40 Lithuanian-Russian banners under the command of the Lithuanian prince Vytautas, on the left - 42 Polish, 7 Russian and 2 Czech banners under the command of Crown Marshal Zbigniew. The Tatar cavalry was also located on the right flank. The position of the allied troops was covered from the right flank and rear by a swamp and a river. Marsha (Maranza), and on the left there is a forest. The crusaders formed in 2 lines on a front of 2.5 km, having 20 banners on the right wing under the command of Liechtenstein, on the left wing 15 banners under the command of Wallenrod; 16 banners remained in reserve (2nd line). The Teutons positioned their troops on high ground to force the enemy to attack up the slope. Bombards and crossbowmen took up positions in front of the front of both sides. The battle began with a volley of bombards from the Order, but their fire did not cause much harm to the allies. The Tatar cavalry and the 1st line of Vytautas' troops attacked the left flank of the crusaders, but were overturned by Wallenrod's knights. The 2nd and 3rd lines of Vytautas’ troops entered the battle, but the Teutons again drove them back and then began to pursue them. The situation was saved by 3 Russian-Smolensk banners under the command of Prince Semyon Lingven Olgerdovich. They did not leave the battlefield and, bravely defending themselves, pinned down part of Wallenrod’s forces. At this time, Polish banners boldly attacked the right flank of the crusaders and broke through the front of the Liechtenstein troops. The successful attack of the Polish troops, as well as the courage of the Russian soldiers, their skillful actions in the battle against the knights of Wallenrod allowed the Lithuanian banners to stop the enemy and then go on the offensive. Through the combined efforts of Russian and Lithuanian banners, Wallenrod's troops were defeated. On the left wing, Polish, Russian and Czech troops and the Lithuanian and Russian banners that came to their aid surrounded the Liechtenstein troops and began to destroy them. Grandmaster Jungingen brought his reserve into battle, but Jagiello moved the 3rd line of his troops towards him, which defeated the last banners of the Teutons. All the leaders of the order, led by Grandmaster Jungingen, died in the battle. In the Battle of Grunwald, the allied forces, fighting for the independence of their peoples, won an outstanding victory and stopped the Teutonic aggression to the east. The Battle of Grunwald revealed a number of negative qualities of the knightly army - its slowness, stereotyped actions, low moral qualities. The infantry of the Allied forces showed the ability to conduct successful military operations against heavy knightly cavalry. Russian troops showed especially high fighting qualities in the Battle of Grunwald. The victory in the Battle of Grunwald became a symbol of the military partnership of the Slavic and Baltic peoples. The Battle of Grunwald contributed to the development of the liberation movement in the Czech Republic - Husism. In 1960, a monument was erected on the site of the Battle of Grunwald.”Quoted from: Soviet military encyclopedia in 8 volumes. Volume 3. Ed. Grechko A.A. M.: Voenizdat, 1976-1980
History in faces
Suprasl Chronicle:B summer 6918. Photei came from Constantinople to become metropolitan, to install over the entire Russian land, the birth of buckwheat. He installed Patriarch Matthew under Tsar Manuel, and came to Moscow under Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich on the Great Day. That same year, Prince Volodimer Andrevich was assigned to the month of May on the 14th day. That same year, Prince Danilo Borisovich of Nizhny Novgorod and from the Tatars took the city of Volodymer and the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God, turning it into gold, and much evil was created. That same year, Photei appointed Metropolitan Bishop of Rezan, Sergius Ozakov, and then a month later, installed a bishop in Kolomna, abbot of Yaroslavl. That autumn there was a massacre of King Jagiel, named Vladislav, and the great prince Vitovt Kestutevich from the Germans and from the Russians in the Prussian lands, between the cities of Dubrovna and Ostreda. And I killed the mister and the marshal, and destroyed the kundurs, and destroyed all their German strength, and plundered the German cities, but only three cities were not given to King Vitovt. And that autumn she went to three massacres with the Germans, the Poles and the Lyakhs, but the Germans were beaten, and in all these massacres there were many baptisms of the fallen and the Lithuanians and the Poles. And I stood near the Marina city for 8 weeks and took the Marina city for two hunts, but did not take the one on high, and walked through the German lands on another for ten weeks.
Poland returned the territories of Prussia to the Teutons, returned Samogitia to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the death of Vytautas; payment of a large indemnity by the order
Ulrich von Jungingen † (Grand Master of the Teutonic Order)Progress of the war, 1409
Meanwhile, a detachment led by Heinrich Plauen was prepared in the city; in the west, in Germany, Teutonic mercenaries were gathering again, and the Livonians were moving from the northeast. The skillful actions of Plauen's detachment weakened the Poles, and their condition worsened day by day. Soon an epidemic began in the Allied camp, discord occurred between the Poles and Lithuanians, so Vitovt gave the order to lift the siege and return. Soon Jagiello was forced to lift the siege. Von Plauen's skillful actions predetermined the outcome of the siege and saved the order and its capital from complete defeat.
Results of the war
In February 1411, in the city of Torun, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania concluded a peace treaty with the Teutonic Order, according to which the order returned all territories previously occupied from Poland and Lithuania and paid
On July 15, 1410, a battle took place that seriously influenced the path of historical development of Eastern Europe. The battle between the villages of Grünwald, Tannenberg and Ludwigsdorf has several names. In German sources it is known as the Battle of Tannenberg, in Belarusian chronicles it is called Dubrovensky, but in most sources the battle is called the Battle of Grunwald. Lithuanians, translating the word “Grunwald” from German, meaning “green forest”, received “Zalgiris”. So the name of the basketball club, popular in Lithuania and famous throughout the world, is associated with the battle of 1410.
In Russia, less is known about the battle in which the troops of the Teutonic Order and the Polish-Lithuanian army fought against each other than about the Battle of Kulikovo, the stand on the Ugra, or the Battle of Borodino. This is understandable - after all, the Russian state was not represented in this battle.
Despite this, the Russians not only participated in the battle, but also made a decisive contribution to its outcome.
Jogaila's choice
By the beginning of the 15th century, the future of the Russian lands was in the fog. The process of unification around the Moscow principality did not seem at that time to be a matter that was finally and irrevocably decided. The mighty Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which owned large territories of modern Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, could well lay claim to the role of collector of Russian lands. Then, however, there was no talk of dividing one nation into three - all these lands were called Russian, like their inhabitants.
“Vladislav Jagiello and Vytautas pray before the battle,” painting by Jan Matejko. Source: Public Domain
The rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania hesitated in their decision on the question of the type of Christian faith that was to become dominant in the state and replace paganism.
In 1386 Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello, his cousin and main rival Vitovt, as well as the Lithuanian nobility made a choice in favor of Catholicism.
This choice seriously influenced the further history of Lithuania. Pressure from Catholics and infringement of the rights of Orthodox Christians ultimately led to the fact that the Russian lands that were part of the state began to focus on the growing strength of Moscow.
Great combinators
But then Jagiello’s choice seemed very pragmatic. Indeed, on the basis of the Union of Krevo concluded in the summer of 1385 between Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after accepting Catholicism, he received the opportunity to marry a Polish Queen Jadwiga and become the ruler of Poland and Lithuania.
But the Polish-Lithuanian unification was rather unstable, especially since in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Vytautas, who became Jagiello’s rival, united the opposition around himself. As a result, Jagiello made concessions and made Vytautas his governor in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with broad powers. On the basis of the Vilem-Radom Union, Vytautas received the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania, while confirming the supreme power of Jogaila over himself.
All these political alliances and combinations were caused primarily by the threat hanging over both Poland and Lithuania.
The order that became the state
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Teutonic Order of Crusaders, formed in Palestine in 1190, settled in Europe. The influence of the order grew rapidly. Knights of the order were invited by various European powers to “fight the pagans.”
In 1217 Pope Honorius III a campaign was declared against the Prussian pagans who had seized the lands Polish Prince Konrad I of Masovia. As a reward for this, the Polish king promised the order possession of the cities of Kulm and Dobryn, as well as the preservation of the captured territories.
Over the next few decades, the knights of the Teutonic Order conquered and converted most of the Prussians to Christianity. In the process of these conquests, the state of the Teutonic Order was formed in 1224, rapidly expanding its influence and territory.
The matter was not limited to Prussian lands. The Order tried to subjugate the northwestern Russian territories, but this ended in defeat from Alexander Nevsky on Lake Peipsi in 1242.
Then the Teutonic Order, which included several smaller spiritual knightly orders, turned its attention to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Samogitian question
The crusaders had a compelling reason for the attack - the principality remained pagan, representatives of the order declared their intention to convert it to the true faith. However, in this case it was more about the desire for new territorial acquisitions.
A particularly fierce conflict was over control of Samogitia, the territory that separated the state of the Teutonic Order from its possessions in Livonia.
The confrontation, which lasted many decades, ended by the mid-1380s with the transition of most of Samogitia to the rule of the Teutonic Order.
The territorial claims of the order forced Jagiello to look for a way out. Union with Poland and the adoption of Christianity by the Lithuanian elite seemed to deprive the crusaders of the main argument in favor of continuing the war.
But the Teutonic Order was not a fool either. Grand Master of the Order Konrad Zöllner von Rothenstein announced that he doubted the sincerity of Jagiello's conversion to Christianity.
The fight continued. At the same time, the Teutonic Order had territorial claims to Poland.
In 1409, an uprising broke out against the Teutonic Order in Samogitia. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania supported the rebels. The knights' threat to respond with an invasion of Lithuania was countered by Poland's promise to invade the order's lands. A war began, which, however, was not violent and was interrupted by a truce in the fall of 1409. Both sides of the conflict gathered allies, preparing for the decisive battle.
Teutonic knights enter Marienburg Castle. Source: Public Domain
Gathering in Grodno
Jagiello and Vytautas developed a military plan, which involved moving a united army to the capital of the Teutonic Order, the city of Marienburg. The crusaders adhered to a defensive plan, hoping to predict the enemy's actions.
At the end of May 1410, a general gathering of the Polish-Lithuanian army began in Grodno. The army consisted of 91 “banners” (regiments), of which 51 were Polish and 40 Lithuanian.
At the same time, 7 Polish and 36 Lithuanian regiments represented Russian regions - in the modern sense, the territories of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
There are no exact data on the number of troops. Estimates of the size of the Polish-Lithuanian army vary from 16 to 39 thousand people, the Teutonic Order - from 11 to 27 thousand people. At the same time, the Order's troops were considered more combat-ready.
Knightly provocation
The meeting of the two armies took place at dawn on July 15, 1410. The site of the upcoming battle was surrounded on three sides by forests. The crusaders arrived first and managed to strengthen their position before the enemy approached, and also set up numerous traps.
The crusaders hoped to provoke the enemy into an attack, believing their defensive position to be more advantageous, taking into account the advantage of the Poles and Lithuanians in numbers.
For this purpose, heralds with two drawn swords were sent to Jagiello and Vytautas - from Grand Master of Jungingen King Vladislav (that was the name Jagiello bore after baptism) and from Grand Marshal Wallenrod Grand Duke Vitovt. A challenge to battle was also verbally conveyed. Swords, within the traditions of that time, meant an insult to Jagiello and Vytautas, which should have aroused their rage and prompted them to take active action.
Honor of Smolensk
Vytautas actually decided to attack without waiting for Jagiello’s order. The Lithuanian heavy cavalry, together with the allied Tatar cavalry, attacked the banners of Grand Marshal Friedrich von Wallenrod. After an hour-long battle, the crusaders launched a counterattack.
The Lithuanians began to retreat. There is still no consensus among historians whether this was a tactical maneuver or an unplanned retreat. Be that as it may, the crusaders believed that the enemy was broken. Everything, however, was just beginning.
Part of the Lithuanian army, which consisted of Smolensk regiments under the command Prince Lugveny Olgerdovich, took up defense near the camp of Vytautas, not far from the right flank of the Polish army. The Smolensk regiments were given an order to hold their positions at all costs and prevent an attack on the flank and rear of the Polish allies.
The battle was bloody, the Smolensk regiments suffered heavy losses, but did not retreat. This, according to historians, was the key moment of the battle.
Destruction
At this time, a fierce battle broke out between the crusaders and the Poles, which went on with varying degrees of success. This episode of the battle lasted for five hours and was completely exhausting. Hand-to-hand combat reached the place where Jagiello was located. One of the crusaders rushed at the king, but Jagiello saved him Secretary Zbigniew Olesnicki.
The last stage of the battle was affected by the fact that the Polish-Lithuanian army had an advantage in manpower - Jagiello threw his last reserve into the battle later than the crusaders.
Polish and Lithuanian cavalry bypassed the crusaders from the left flank, as a result of which the main forces of the Order were surrounded. The massacre of the Teutons began.
Only a small part of the knights managed to escape. More than 200 knights, including the entire senior leadership of the Order, were killed. In total, about 8,000 people were killed by the Teutons, and approximately 14,000 were captured.
The Polish-Lithuanian army lost about 5,000 people killed and about 8,000 wounded. Jagiello and Vitovt reached Marienburg, but they failed to take the well-defended city.
Attention, Poland!
Fundamentally, however, this did not change anything. The Teutonic Order lost its military power, which led to its decline. In addition, the order was forced to spend huge amounts of money on the ransom of knights who were captured. Since this money was collected as a result of the introduction of new taxes on lands controlled by the order, discontent very soon began to brew there. A number of cities that previously relied on the protection of the Order abandoned allied relations, and the number of people wishing to join it fell catastrophically.
On February 1, 1411, the Peace of Torun was concluded, under the terms of which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania received Samogitia, and Poland received the Dobrzyn land. In addition, the Teutonic Order was obliged to pay an indemnity.
Despite the fact that the Teutonic Order formally existed for more than a hundred years, this was a period of its decline. Now it was no longer the order that dictated conditions to other states, but they imposed unfavorable agreements on it and took away territories from it.
In Eastern Europe, the Polish-Lithuanian union became the dominant force, which a century and a half later transformed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
But the choice made by Jagiello will play a role - the heroic Russian regiments, who fought to the death at Grunwald, will subsequently fight against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the side of the Orthodox Russian Tsar.
However, this is a completely different story.
In the spring of 1399, small Kyiv, exhausted by Horde raids, in just a few weeks turned into a huge, multi-thousand and multilingual camp. Inspired by the Russian victory on the Kulikovo Field, military squads from all over eastern and central Europe converged here.
Iron armor glittered in the sun, you could hear the neighing of huge herds of horses quenching their thirst off the coast of Slavutich; the warriors sharpened their swords.
Even the crusaders came, and the people of Kiev looked in amazement at the outlandish armor of the knights, who had never before gone so far into the Slavic lands.
And a few months later a terrible tragedy occurred... .... L Only one small detachment of mounted warriors escaped death after a terrible slaughter. They fled, and “the Tatars chased after them, cutting five hundred miles, to the city of Kyiv, shedding blood like water.”
This is how the Nikon Chronicle mentions the fierce battle that took place on the banks of the quiet Ukrainian Vorskla River more than 600 years ago, on August 12, 1399. The details of the battle are covered in the darkness of centuries; almost all ancient Russian warriors fell on the battlefield. This battle is not mentioned in school textbooks, and the exact place where it took place is unknown.
One can only guess about the number of its participants. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, who led the common squads of Slavs, Lithuanians and Crusaders, the same one who commanded the united army in the famous Battle of Grunwald, led a “great force”; there were fifty princes alone with him.
But in the famous Battle of Kulikovo (1380) only 12 appanage princes with military squads took part! The famous Polish historian P. Borawski claims that the Battle of Vorskla was the largest in the 14th century! Why is so little known about this grandiose event?
Firstly, there were practically no eyewitnesses left, because everyone died in this fierce battle (as the Ipatiev Chronicle claims). And secondly, it was a defeat - terrible, bloody! They didn’t like to write about such people... Let’s try to figure out, gleaning from Russian chronicles and the works of Polish historians, what actually happened in the hot summer of 1399?..
Six hundred years ago Kyiv was a small city that was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A few residents were engaged in the usual craft and trade in the once mighty capital of Rus', which was just beginning to recover from the Tatar-Mongol raids. Life was bright mainly in Podol and in the area of the Pechersk Lavra. But in the spring of 1399, as we already know, the city was transformed.
It heard the speech of Slavs and Germans, Lithuanians, Poles, Hungarians... Troops from many European states and principalities gathered here. A huge army, consisting mainly of regiments from Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian lands, set out on May 18 from Kyiv.
It was headed by princes Andrei Olgerdovich Polotsky, Dmitry Olgerdovich Bryansky, Ivan Borisovich Kyiv, Gleb Svyatoslavovich Smolensky, Dmitry Danilovich Ostrozhsky and many other princes and governors. The commander-in-chief was the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas.
Next to him (bizarre twists of history!) was the same Khan Tokhtamysh, who united the Horde for some time, managed to burn Moscow, but was soon thrown off the khan’s throne by the formidable Edigei. With the help of Vitovt, Tokhtamysh intended to regain the khan's throne and also led a squad with him.
About a hundred heavily armed crusading knights who came from Poland and German lands also took part in the campaign on Vitovt’s side. With each crusader there were several squires, armed no worse than knights. But the majority of the soldiers were Slavs, who gathered from almost all parts of Rus'. In general, the Slavic lands occupied 90 percent of the entire territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was often called Lithuanian Rus.
The Slavic squads, remembering the glorious victory on the Kulikovo Field, hoped to put an end to the Tatar-Mongol yoke once and for all. The army was even armed with artillery, which had recently appeared in Europe. The guns were quite impressive, although they fired mainly stone cannonballs. Thus, six hundred years ago, the roar of guns was heard for the first time on the territory of Ukraine...
On August 12, the battle began. Vitovt's army crossed the Vorskla and attacked the Tatar army. At first, success was on the side of the united army, but then Timur-Kutluk’s cavalry managed to close the encirclement ring, and then it began... In a dense hand-to-hand battle, the artillery turned out to be powerless. Most of the princes and boyars died, “but Vitovt himself fled to Mala...”
The heavily armed crusaders also fell, unable to resist the Tatar sabers. Pursuing a small detachment of Vytautas, who miraculously escaped, and destroying everything in their path, the Tatars quickly approached Kyiv. The city withstood the siege, but was forced to pay “a repayment of 3,000 Lithuanian rubles and another 30 rubles taken from the Pechersky Monastery.” At that time this was a huge amount.
So, it was not possible to get rid of the Tatar yoke in that century. The defeat also seriously affected the statehood of Lithuanian Rus; soon the weakened Vytautas had to recognize vassal dependence on Poland. After the Battle of Grunwald (in which, by the way, 13 Russian regiments from Galich, Przemysl, Lvov, Kiev, Novgorod-Seversky, Lutsk, Kremenets took part) his situation improved somewhat; he even wanted to become king, but could not resist the influence of the Polish king Jogaila. Vytautas died in 1430, and the Poles moved to Rus'... What if the outcome of the Battle of Vorskla had been different?..
This battle ended sadly. Not a single monument, not a single obelisk on the glorious land of Poltava reminds of him... Military historians link the Battle of Vorskla to the Lithuanian-Polish campaigns, but the main backbone of the army was Russian. “Fifty Slavic princes from the squad”!
Their death crippled all subsequent generations of the descendants of the legendary Rurik. A few decades later, neither the princes of Ostrog, nor the Galician, nor the Kyiv, nor the Novgorod-Seversky princes disappeared. Numerous descendants of Vladimir the Saint, Yaroslav the Wise seemed to dissolve and disappear on our land...
Cold-blooded Swedes do not forget their soldiers killed near Poltava - and the monument stands, and they bring flowers every year. The British, having come under the murderous fire of Russian artillery and having suffered a bloody defeat in 1855 near Balaklava, often come to visit the graves of their ancestors who died in the distant Crimea. A magnificent white monument to British soldiers rises in the very center of a grape field.
Workers at the wine-making state farm periodically repaint it, and tractors carefully go around it during spring plowing. Nearby, on the highway, is an obelisk, opened in 1995. But Poltava is located at a distance of one and a half thousand kilometers from Sweden, Balaklava is even further from England. And here, very close, in the Poltava region, the remains of our compatriots lie in the ground, and there is not a single memorial sign, not a single cross where, presumably, more than a hundred thousand soldiers died!
There is something to think about and something to be ashamed of for us, our descendants...