In short, the Battle of Kulikovo is one of the brightest pages in Russian historiography. In the mass consciousness of any people there must be heroic historical episodes. The real significance of the battle of the squad of Dmitry Donskoy with the horde of Mamaia today is seriously questioned
by researchers. The Battle of Kulikovo was just another episode of civil strife in the Horde. Not the first and not the last.
Briefly: the Battle of Kulikovo and its premises
In the second half of the fourteenth century, the Golden Horde was increasingly in decline. This state, like many large-scale formations, was faced with fragmentation and internal strife, which seriously weakened its military power. At the same time, against this background, a revival of the Russian principalities took place. The new center of the Eastern Slavs is Moscow. In the Golden Horde, torn by civil strife, the Mamai Temnik comes to power. The first attempt to break the towering Moscow was made back in 1378. However, then the horde of Mamaia was defeated on the river Vozha. Two years later, a formal reason for the Battle of Kulikovo was the demonstrative refusal of Dmitry Donskoy to increase the size of the tribute, which had been paid to the Tatar khans for a century and a half. In response to this, the Horde Temnik again began to assemble an army.
Briefly: the Battle of Kulikovo
By September 1380, Dmitry Donskoy had a national team of several principalities with a total number of 50-100 thousand people. On the side of Mamaia came directly the Horde army, numbering from 60 to 150 thousand men, as well as mercenaries (Genoese archers, jars and others) and allies from the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The latter had interest in the western Russian territories and also did not want a new elevation of Russia. The great strategic success of the princely commanders was that they did not allow the unification of the two troops. This fact is not least allowed to win the battle. Authentic sources describe its course quite briefly. The Battle of Kulikovo took place at the mouth of
the Don and Nepryadva
rivers . For a long time, modern historians have doubted the veracity of this annalistic message. However, in recent years, most of the scientific community has agreed with this fact. According to the same annalistic sources, the general battle was preceded by a battle between the strongest heroes of two sides: Chelubey and Peresvet. However, far from everywhere there is this mention. Apparently, this is just a beautiful story of medieval chroniclers. Little is known about the battle itself. The annals only say that the Russian generals used a
military trick in the form of luring the Tatar cavalry and then hitting it in the rear from the ambush regiment. The Horde were pushed to the river and killed.
The historical significance of the Battle of Kulikovo. Briefly
As you can see, this historical episode is full of understatements, and its complete historical reconstruction today is no longer possible due to the lack of consistent sources. The significance of the Battle of Kulikovo is difficult to summarize, but we will try. As a result of this victory, Russia did not at all get rid of the Horde yoke. The princes continued to pay tribute for hundreds of years. However, the important point was that the Principality of Moscow continued its victorious tread. This made it possible to rally the majority of Russian lands around itself and in the future put an end to the yoke.