What year was the Battle of Kulikovo? Not every of our compatriots will be able to immediately recall this. But this event is one of the brightest pages of Russian history. To remember in what year the Battle of Kulikovo was and what its consequences were associated with, is useful because the presence of such heroic episodes is necessary in the mass consciousness of every nation. After all, this forms a national identity, uniting the people through common ideas about the past and future aspirations. At the same time, some modern historians question the real significance of this battle (and they know exactly what year the Battle of Kulikovo was, what served as its prerequisites, and what were the results). Let us remember all this!
Battle background
By the second half of the XIV century. The Golden Horde is experiencing an increasingly distinct decline. Like many fairly large-scale formations of the Middle Ages, the state of the descendants of Genghis Khan is faced with internal strife and, as a result, with fragmentation. Civil strife and strife in the Horde lead one of the Temnik troops - Mamaia to state power. Against this background, there is a revival of a number of Russian principalities. Moscow is gradually becoming their new center. Mamai, not being a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, did not have a formal right to tribute from the Slavs. This was the reason for the ascended Moscow to try their hand against yesterday's patrons. The first attempt to break the principality of Moscow came in 1378. However, it ended in failure, and the armies of Mamaia were defeated in the battle on the River Vosha. What year was the Battle of Kulikovo? Already two years after these events. The next reason to put in place the presumptuous princes (and for the princes to strengthen their own political freedom) was found when Dmitry Donskoy refused to increase the size of the tribute for the Tatar khans. Temnik again begins to assemble an army.
Events of the Kulikovo battle
On the eve of the battle, Dmitry Donskoy could have a team of several principalities at once, the total number of which, according to modern estimates, totaled from 50 to 100 thousand people. In the army of Mamaia, in fact, the Horde forces, as well as mercenaries (jars, Genoese and others), acted. She numbered 60-150 thousand people. The general battle took place in September 1380 - the Battle of Kulikovo at the mouth of the rivers Nepryadva and Don. Medieval sources briefly describe the course of the collision, reporting only that it was preceded by a battle between two strongest heroes on both sides - Peresvet and Chelubey. However, this mention is not everywhere. So, this, perhaps, is only a beautiful fiction of chroniclers. They paid very little attention to the very general battle, saying only that the princely commanders won the victory thanks to
military trick: they managed to lure the Tatar cavalry into themselves,
divide her with the rest of the horde and strike her from the rear. After that, the remaining Horde were pushed to the river and finally killed.
Consequences of the Battle of Kulikovo Field
As a result of the victory, the Russian principalities did not stop paying tribute at all. They continued to do this for about a hundred years. However, the historical significance of this battle lies in the fact that the Principality of Moscow was not defeated at the stage of its formation, which allowed him to continue his victorious gait, in the future to rally all Russian lands around him and put an end to the yoke.