In the Middle Ages, Western Russia included territories bordering Hungary, Poland and Lithuania. With the beginning of political fragmentation, several principalities appeared in this region, arguing among themselves for leadership.
Part of Kievan Rus
Before the emergence of a single Old Russian state, tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs lived on the territory of Western Russia : Dregovichi, Drevlyans, Volhynians, streets and white Croats. In the IX-X centuries. they were attached to Kiev. This process was completed during the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015).
Western Russia in the north was adjacent to the Baltic tribes: Lithuania, Prussians and Zhmud. These inhabitants of the Baltic coast traded honey and amber with the Slavs. For some time they did not pose a danger to Russia. The western neighbor, the Kingdom of Poland, was much stronger. This Slavic people was baptized according to Roman custom. Differences between Catholics and Orthodox were one of the causes of tension between Russia and Poland. In 981, Vladimir the Red Sun declared war on Prince Meshko I and conquered the so-called Cherven land, the main city of which was Przemysl.
In the south, Western Russia ended with the steppes in which Turkic-speaking nomads lived. At first it was the Pechenegs. In the X century, the Polovtsy came in their place. It was equally between them that both steppes organized regular campaigns in Russia, accompanied by robberies and violence against civilians.
Period of political fragmentation
After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, a single Old Russian state broke up into several principalities. This process was gradual. Under some princes of Kiev, such as Vladimir Monomakh, the country again became integral. However, feuds and ladder law finally divided Russia. In the XI century, the main princedom in Western Russia was Volynsky with its capital in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.
Dynasty of Rostislavich
Here the dynasty entrenched, descended from Rostislav Vladimirovich - the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise on the senior line. Theoretically, representatives of this offspring even had legal rights to Kiev, but other Rurikovich were entrenched in the “mother of Russian cities”. At first, the children of Rostislav lived at the court of Yaropolk Izyaslavich - the Kiev governor. In 1084, Rurik, Volodar and Vasilko drove this prince from Vladimir and temporarily captured the entire region.
Finally, the Rostislavichs seized Volyn after the Lubech Congress in 1097 and the ensuing civil war. At the same time, other small towns of this region (besides Vladimir and Przemysl) received their political recognition - Terebovl and Dorogobuzh. The grandson of Rostislav Vladimir Volodarevich in 1140 united them and created a new principality with the capital in Galich. Its inhabitants got rich on salt trading with their neighbors. Western Russia was very different from the dense northeast, where the Slavs lived in the forests next to Finnish tribes.
Yaroslav Osmomysl
Under the son of Vladimir Yaroslav Osmomysl (reigned in 1153-1187), the Principality of Galicia was going through a golden age. All the time of his reign, he tried to confront the hegemony of Kiev and its alliance with Vladimir-Volynsky. This fight ended in success. In 1168, a coalition of princes led by Andrei Bogolyubsky captured Kiev and betrayed it by robbery, after which the city never recovered. Its political significance fell, and Galich, on the contrary, became the western center of Russia.
Yaroslav led an active foreign policy, joining alliances and fighting against Hungary and Poland. However, with the death of Osmomysl, strife began on Galician land. His son and successor Vladimir Yaroslavich recognized the supremacy of the Rostov prince Vsevolod the Big Nest. He fought against the boyar opposition and was eventually expelled from his own city. In his place, the Volyn prince Roman Mstislavovich was called up, which allowed to combine the two destinies into a strong centralized principality.
Unification of Galicia and Volhynia
Roman Mstislavovich - unlike the former Galich princes - was a direct descendant of Vladimir Monomakh. By mother, he was a relative of the Polish ruling dynasty. Therefore, it is not surprising that in childhood he was brought up in Krakow.
After the death of Vladimir Yaroslavich, Roman appeared in Galich along with the Polish army, which was given to him by the king - his ally. It happened in 1199. This date is considered the day of the creation of a single Galicia-Volyn principality. The history of Western Russia of this period is an interesting interweaving of medieval Slavic politics.
Roman Mstislavovich twice captured Kiev, but did not become his prince, but put loyal people on the local throne, who turned out to be semi-vassal dependent on him. The great merit of the Galician ruler was the organization of a series of campaigns against the Polovtsy, from which both Western and Eastern Russia suffered. Fighting with nomads, Roman resorted to the help of all his relatives from the Rurik dynasty. There is an unconfirmed theory that in 1204, after the fall of Constantinople, the exiled emperor Alexei III Angel fled to him.
Daniel's fight for his father’s inheritance
Roman Mstislavovich died in 1205 after a hunting accident. His son Daniel was just a newborn baby. The Galician boyars took advantage of this, depriving him of the throne. Throughout his life, Daniel fought with the rebellious aristocracy, Russian princes and Western neighbors for the right to return his father's inheritance. It was a vibrant era, filled with all kinds of events. It was during the reign of Daniil Romanovich that Western Russia reached its economic and political heyday.
The prince’s power was supported by the service class, as well as city dwellers who supported the ruler-peacemaker. During the years of peace and prosperity, Daniel contributed to the growth of new fortresses and shopping centers, attracting enterprising merchants and skilled craftsmen. Under him, Lviv and Hill were founded.
The Golden Age of Western Russia
Having reached adolescence, in 1215 the boy became a Volyn prince. This inheritance became his main patrimony. In 1238, he finally returned the Principality of Galicia, and a few months later captured Kiev. The heyday of the new state was prevented by the Mongol invasion. Back in 1223, young Daniel as part of the princely Slavic coalition participated in the battle of Kalka. Then the Mongols staged a test raid on the Polovtsian steppe. Having defeated the allied army, they retired, but returned in the late 30s. First, North-Eastern Russia was ravaged. Then came the turn of the inheritance of Daniel. True, due to the fact that the Mongols had already noticeably worn out their army, he managed to avoid such colossal destruction as in the basin of the Oka and Klyazma.
Daniel tried to fight the Mongol threat through the conclusion of alliances with Catholic countries. Under him, Galician Rus and Western Europe actively collaborated and traded among themselves. Counting on help, Daniel even agreed to accept the royal title from the pope and in 1254 became king of Russia.
His power was on an equal footing with powerful Poland and Hungary. At a time when North-Western Russia suffered from the Crusaders, and the northeast from the Mongols, Daniel managed to maintain peace in his possessions. He died in 1264, leaving a great inheritance for his descendants.
Decline and loss of independence
The children and grandchildren of Daniel were unable to maintain political independence from the West. The lands of Galich and Volyn were divided between Poland and Lithuania, which annexed the former Russian principalities through dynastic marriages and under the pretext of protection from the Mongols. In 1303, the region created its own metropolis, which was directly subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople.
The struggle of Russia with its western neighbors ended when Poland and Lithuania divided among themselves the Galician-Volyn inheritance. This happened in 1392. Soon, these two states signed a union and formed a single Commonwealth. The term "Western Russia" gradually became archaism.