Timothy Snyder, The Making of Modern Ukraine, Lecture #7: Rise of Muscovite Power
For those who are not familiar with Timothy Snyder, he is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He speaks five and reads ten European languages, including both Ukrainian and Russian.
His book, “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin,” which I highly recommend, is not only meticulously researched, it is essential reading for a complete understanding of WWII as well as Europe today.
I have undertaken to summarize all of Snyder’s lectures. I am also following along in the reading (see syllabus link below), which has not only been enlightening, but enjoyable. (I’m not ashamed to say I love reading history.) As always, my summaries are meant to be a guide, rather than a substitution for Snyder’s lectures.
Timothy Snyder’s seventh lecture for his course, The Making of Modern Ukraine, was entitled, “The Rise of Muscovite Power.” I found it thoroughly engrossing. (As usual, Snyder digressed. One of his more interesting digressions was Hamlet. Snyder recalled a comment Zelensky made to him during his recent trip to Ukraine: “Everything is in Shakespeare,” Zelensky said. I can’t imagine many national leaders making a comment of that nature. And, of course, Zelensky is right. Everything is in Shakespeare.)
During the 13th century, when the Mongols swept across what is now “Russia,” Moscow did not exist. Moscow was, at best, an insignificant trading post. But once the Mongols established a system to collect tribute, the Muscovite princes enlarged both the city and the Muscovite-controlled lands. Using military techniques they learned from the Mongols, these princes conquered a huge amount of territory within a very short period of time. By the time Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) became Russia’s first tsar in 1547, the territory held by Muscovy extended across Siberia, north to Sweden, and south to the Caspian Sea.
In spite of his successes expanding the empire, Ivan the Terrible was a terrible ruler. He was prone to paranoia, and had thousands of people brutally executed during purges conducted by his personal guard (known as the oprichnik). This eight-year reign of terror eventually ended after Tatars burned Moscow during the Russo-Crimean War. (In many respects, Stalin resembled Ivan the Terrible — the mass purges, the private guard, the extra-legal murders — it’s all jarringly familiar.)
Snyder also addressed the transformation of Muscovy into a feudal state. While the peasants had enjoyed some rights during the 1400s, by 1649 their evolution to serfdom was complete. Serfs could not escape bondage, no matter how far they traveled to escape their masters. Their position was very much akin to slavery. Serfs also comprised 99% of the population in Muscovy, with the top 1% occupied by a warrior ruling class that required an ever-increasing expansion of territory. The Russian Empire eventually became the largest contiguous empire in the world, stretching from Alaska down to China, and over to what is now Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
Listening to this lecture, it again struck me how historical patterns tend to repeat themselves. The Muscovy of Ivan the Terrible was not so different from Stalin’s USSR, or indeed from Putin’s Russian Federation. Putin, like the tsars he is trying to emulate, simply takes what he considers “his,” to the detriment of every state he tries to conquer. Their long history of pride in territorial expansion is also perhaps one reason why Russians themselves may not be entirely disposed to protest the invasion of Ukraine. After hearing that Ukraine is “part” of Russia their whole lives (despite the fact that Kiev long preceded Moscow), they may be in sympathy with Putin’s aspirations … while not necessary willing to die for them.
You can watch the seventh lecture of The Making of Modern Ukraine here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMpkBOTCgCM
The syllabus for the course is here: https://snyder.substack.com/p/syllabus-of-my-ukraine-lecture-class
You can watch all of Timothy Snyder’s lectures for The Making of Modern Ukraine here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_
You can read all of my summaries here: https://ericaverr.medium.com/
Erica Verrillo is the author of the Phoenix Rising Trilogy (Random House). Her short work has appeared in over a dozen publications. She is also the author of the definitive reference guide for treating myalgic encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Treatment Guide, now in its second edition (first edition, St. Martin’s). She holds degrees from Tufts University (BA — History) and Syracuse University (MA — Linguistics) as well as doctoral work in Linguistics, Anthropology, and Speech Communication. Her professional life includes: Spanish language editor for the journal Mesoamerica, linguistics instructor (Dartmouth), Spanish and ESL instructor (Syracuse University), classical musician (Oxford Symphony Orchestra), Mayan linguist (SUNY Albany), and director of a non-profit NGO for Mayan refugees. She is the president of the American Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to to serving the needs of patients and caregivers through support, advocacy, and education. Her blog for writers, Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity, has received nearly 8 million page views. You are welcome to visit.
