A very interesting historical figure is the Russian prince Oleg. His date of birth is not known for certain. The chronicle says that Rurik on his deathbed appointed Prince Oleg as a guardian over his son Igor and placed him over the Novgorod principality. That was the right decision. Oleg, in fact, replaced his father with Igor and raised him as a rather educated and strong man.
At that time, the princes' main goal was to expand the territories of their principalities through peaceful submission or conquest of new lands. This became one of the main goals of Prince Oleg. He decided to establish complete control over the trade route to Byzantium by conquering the
Principality of Kiev, which was the center of Russian trade. In Kiev at that time, the governors
Askold and Deer reigned
, arbitrarily seizing power. In 882, a diverse tribe led by Prince Oleg went on a campaign. He took Igor with him.
According to the chronicle, when the army led by Prince Oleg approached the city on the boats, he asked Askold and Dir to meet with him. His squad supposedly stopped at the city, moving on a campaign to the south. When the Kiev rulers went down to the rooks, Oleg showed them Igor and said that they were not princes or princes, but he was the son of Rurik. After that, Novgorod warriors treacherously killed the Kiev rulers. Residents of the city did not dare to speak out against Prince Oleg. In addition, many coastal tribes voluntarily submitted to his authority.
At that time, the Slavs were raided by the Pechenegs and paid tribute to the rulers for protection. Soon, the campaigns and activities of Prince Oleg led to the fact that the southern borders of the state became more secure. At the same time, the prince continued to subjugate other Slavic tribes to his power , which were more removed from the Dnieper. Often it was necessary to act by force, because not everyone wanted to pay tribute. However, as a result of many difficult campaigns, Oleg managed to politically unite the Eastern Slavs and, in fact, create the first Russian state. Already at the beginning of the 10th century in the annals it is rare to find the names of tribes. They gave way to regions and cities.
According to the chronicles, in 907 the prince made a trip to Constantinople. His army set off on boats, of which there were at least two thousand. The cavalry marched along the shore. Nestor the chronicler says that the Byzantines closed in the city, leaving its surroundings to plunder. He also talks about the brutality of the warriors of the prince who tormented the local population and drowned people alive in the sea.
As a result, the Byzantines requested peace and agreed to pay a tribute, which amounted to 12 hryvnia per person in silver. After that, a fairly competent peace treaty was signed even by today's standards. According to him, Russian merchants received privileges and could trade duty free. An interesting fact is that in the service of the Byzantine emperors then there were many Russians. From Byzantium, preachers and priests rode to Russia, which led to an increase in Christians.
Oleg died in 912. According to legend, the prince was predicted that his beloved horse would bring him death. Oleg was a superstitious person and did not sit on him anymore, although he loved him very much. However, after many years, remembering his horse, he went to look at his remains. As a result, the prince died from a snakebite that crawled out of the skull of an animal.