The tradition of Russian military valor dates back to ancient times. Byzantine authors repeatedly emphasized the high moral qualities of the Slavs, manifested in a combat situation, their inherent cohesion, camaraderie, honesty, and love of freedom. The words of one of the Slavic princes sound like a testament from our distant ancestors: "Was a man born and warmed by the rays of the sun that would conquer our strength? Not us, but we are used to having others, and so it will be as long as there is war and swords in the world."

"The dead don't know shame"

Honor for a professional soldier, both in the West and in Russia, has always been a high concept and, of course, was valued above life. In ancient times, the code of honor required a warrior to die in battle on the same field in the event of the death of a leader. Such a death was sung by both Scandinavian skalds and Slavic storytellers-bylinniki.

In addition to individual ideas about the worthy behavior of a warrior in the Old Russian army, the concept of collective honor and glory was overly developed. So, for example, in the battle of Dorostol, Svyatoslav and his soldiers, besieged in the fortress by superior Byzantine forces, were most concerned about the glory of Russian weapons, which still remained invincible.

Death in battle for the Rus looked preferable to breaking out of the fortress and leaving the Balkans without a truce and loot, which seemed tantamount to fleeing and recognizing themselves as the defeated side.

Therefore, they came out of the fortress to meet the enemy, full of readiness to die for the Russian honor, because " the dead will not have shame." And they almost overcame the huge imperial army (it was already backing away under the pressure of the Rus), if not for a fatal combination of circumstances. All the Rus were ready to fall on the field of honor and fought until the wounded prince, seeing that the Byzantine cavalry, having bypassed the flanks of his "wall", was about to cut off the Russians from the fortress, ordered a retreat.

The next day, the emperor himself proposed a truce. Negotiations began. The Greeks were happy to buy off the Rus, who were ready to sell their lives dearly. This was the beginning of Russian military traditions.

"Not for the sake of Prince Vladimir..."

With the establishment of Vladimir on the Grand ducal throne, the first truly Russian person, brought up among the Novgorod Slavs by Uncle Dobrynya, important changes are taking place in the minds of Russian soldiers. The military policy of the state is changing. The adventurism of the Varangian spirit of campaigns in distant southern countries is replaced by a careful strengthening of their land, a methodical expansion of its borders-where possible. The goal of all Vladimir's campaigns against neighboring tribes is now not a selfish search for personal glory and wealth, not distant conquests, but the unity of Russia, the defense of its borders. The new Kievan prince now realized that he was not just the owner of the land, but also the son of his homeland, responsible for its protection.

The year 988 was decisive. It is well known that then, after taking Korsun-Chersonesos and returning from the campaign as a Christian, Vladimir began to baptize his subjects. At the same time, according to the chronicle, Vladimir complains that few cities protect the capital from the steppe. The construction of gigantic defensive lines begins, for the defense of which the Kievan prince mobilized "men of the fallen" from all the subject tribes.

Twenty years later, there was already a solid fortress wall along the Dnieper's tributaries, the Stugna and Sule. On the inner side, it was joined by extensive military settlements, and new fortresses became nodes of resistance: Pereyaslavl on Trubezh, Trepol on Stugna, Voyn near the mouth of the Sula, Vasilev and Belgorod near Kiev, and others. The former warriors of the tribal princes who lived in them no longer served the interests of the Krivichi or Radimichi. The concept of military honor was filled with new content for them. To the south, as far as the eye could reach, stretched the hostile Pecheneg steppe-the arena of heroic deeds, and behind them was all of Russia. Called upon to defend their common homeland - a single Russian land-they could not help but feel proud of their service. These first border guards of ours were in fact the first proper Russian people.

"The beginning of wisdom..."

Of course, people in Russia even before their baptism distinguished good from evil, but they did not know the concept of sin. No wonder they say: "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." When people came to believe in one God, the Creator and Judge, their worldview began to change. Now they were taking on new moral obligations, changing their behavior in accordance with the gospel commandments. They seem to have tightened up, become more restrained, cleaner, more elevated and wiser. The concepts of good and evil, truth and falsehood, beauty and ugliness were filled with a new, deeper content for yesterday's pagans, and they became clearer.

Under the influence of Christianity, the character of the Russian people began to change for the better and become ennobled. The great "Book of Books" revealed to him the abysses of divine wisdom, explaining the true meaning of human life on earth.

The desire for a moral ideal, not for material wealth, is an age-old feature of the Russian character. The baptism of the Russian people and the long and painstaking educational work of the church gave meaning to this aspiration, clarity in understanding the great goal: to embody in one's life the purity and righteousness of Divine truths as much as is possible on earth and accessible to sinful human nature.

And the very concept of "Russian people" was fixed precisely by the Orthodox Church in the person of our first Russian Metropolitan Hilarion. It was he, an associate of Yaroslav the Wise, who was perhaps the first to use the phrase "Russian people "in the"Word of Law and Grace". It can be said that with this book the formation of the Russian ideology began, which is based on the awareness of the world role of the Russian people and their army as called by God to preserve and protect the purity of the Faith of Christ, understanding the special role of the state as a means of directing people's life within the framework of laws

"The Host of Christ"

With the adoption of Orthodoxy, the meaning of military service is also ennobled. The words of the Gospel "There is no greater love than if someone lays down his life for his friends", meaning readiness for self-sacrifice not only for the sake of the prince, army comrades or fellow tribesmen, but also for all those who profess the Faith of Christ, become from now on the basis of the behavior of a soldier of new Russia.

Thus, by adopting a new, true faith and creating a new, popular army, the holy founder of our state placed it, as it were, on two legs, on two powerful pillars. Our state stood on them for nine hundred years, until its "best" representatives, seized by the pride of Western "education", corrupted the people and ridiculed the fatherly faith. And without it, the state staggered and its last stronghold-the army-swayed, not finding the right support. After all, the Russian army does not serve for money, and it is not for nothing that its greatest commander, as if guessing a distant catastrophe, liked to repeat: "Teaching a faithless army is like sharpening red-hot iron."

As early as the eleventh century, soldiers of Russia could hear in a sermon or read in the " Word of Law and Grace "that they live in a God - chosen country," glorious in all four corners of the earth", which is destined for a great destiny - to serve the ideals of" grace " - the Christian doctrine of peace, love and justice. It is her destiny and cross to keep and affirm it on earth, leading the fight against the world's Evil in the name of the triumph of God's truth.

From the realization of their just role, their unique mission on earth, the Russians have always experienced a huge moral superiority over any enemy in war. That is why it was unthinkable for a Russian to fight for a wrong cause. He was organically incapable of this. The ancestors understood that the Lord shows great love to those who are given great trials in this life, and they were grateful to Him for this, striving to bear them with honor.

"...Honor to yourself, and glory to the prince"

Unknown in the West until the end of the 13th century, the feeling of patriotism based on love for the country as a whole ("Russian Land") was closely intertwined with the concepts of military honor and the ideals of Orthodoxy that continued to take root and be understood.

It is noteworthy that during this period the concept of patriotism was mainly "territorial" (as in our time). To stand up "for the Russian land", "protect" it from a raid, to go on a campaign against the "Polovtsian land" in order to protect their own from attacks from the south - this is how the chroniclers characterize the actions of a particular commander of those years. The theme of the struggle against the "Hagarites" and the" filthy ones " on the southern (and also Lithuanian) border is constantly present in the annals, but it is not central.

The situation began to change after the destruction of Constantinople by the Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade. It is in the politics of Rome that we should look for an explanation for the sudden treacherous murder of Roman Mstislavich by the Poles - the most talented of the Kievan princes after Vladimir Monomakh, as well as the transformation of the Hungarian crown from a permanent ally to an equally consistent enemy. With the final subjugation and pacification of the Polabian Slavs, Drang nach Osten was transferred directly to the borders of Russia" on a tip-off "and with the blessing of the" vicar of God on Earth", where it was supplemented by the rapid growth of the military power of pagan Lithuania, which was experiencing the formation of a single early feudal state. But the threat to the security of Russia was not yet recognized by its sovereigns as deadly, and the Orthodox faith itself, as it turned out later, was still superficial for many princes and soldiers. Their cloaks bore images of patron saints, and when they rushed into battle, they called on the Mother of God to help them, but pagan pride forced them to constantly transgress the most important Christian commandments and waste their strength in civil strife.

There were, of course, other examples. The mighty knight Demyan Kudenovich was famous all over the southern border and even in the "land of Polovtsia". In order not to take part in the feuds, this serendipitous warrior avoided serving the princes, but with a small detachment of like - minded people he rode day and night along the steppe border from the Dnieper to Kursk and Vorgol, destroying predatory gangs and terrifying the Polovtsian "Dzhigits". Sometimes, his appearance alone was enough to cause a stampede of an entire horde and disrupt the raid (V. N. Tatishchev).

More famous is another, not at all epic, but a real hero-a contemporary of Demyan, the Monk Ilya of Murom. His incorruptible relics still reside in the nearby caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Recently, after careful research, his sculptural portrait was recreated.

The grandson of Monomakh Mstislav Rostislavich the Brave, a warrior without fear or reproach, considered the liberation of Christians from captivity of pagans to be a matter of life. At any moment, he was ready to come to the rescue of those in trouble. Everyone loved Mstislav for his good nature, easy character, daring, desperate courage and selflessness. Novgorodians buried him in St. Sophia Cathedral, although he managed to reign here for a very short time and bring them only one victory. This honor was granted only to archbishops. Soon the prince-knight was canonized as a saint.

Vladimir Monomakh played a special role in shaping the ideology of the Christ-loving host. Many military writers have repeatedly turned to his works, when the military spirit among the masses of the military personnel was weakened due to the decline of faith, and his merits in the religious education of the military people are comparable only to the activities of A.V. Suvorov. It was he who first attracted the clergy to campaigns against an external enemy and thus laid the tradition of spiritual care for soldiers, serving those in need of spiritual nourishment directly on the battlefield. Among the scarlet banners proudly flying in battle with Rurik's "trident" or heraldic emblems of lands and principalities, a white banner with the golden face of the Savior appears.

Vladimir Vsevolodovich is also famous for the fact that he actually created the first work on military pedagogy. His "Teaching" is not only a historical source and the first monument of the military memoir genre in our literature, or a guide to the organization of service, training of a soldier, but also a great moral textbook that educates Christian virtues, which are so important for those in whose hands power and weapons are.

An example of the self-sacrifice of the "best men" of the army of Igor Novgorod-Seversky can serve as an indicator of the height of the morality of Russian soldiers of that time. They considered it a sin before God to abandon their "simple" fellow soldiers and break out of the encirclement themselves. In order not to tempt the faint-hearted, the military leaders were the first to dismount, and the whole army, dismounting and forming a square, "fenced with scarlet shields," went on foot across the steppe surrounded by countless enemies, preferring death or captivity to life saved at the cost of shame and betrayal of their comrades.

"Holy Russia"

Since the middle of the 13th century, religious motives have noticeably increased in the spiritual life of the Russian people. Foreign invasions and yoke were perceived by all segments of society as an undoubted and long-deserved punishment for decades of continuous fratricide and internecine wars.

During these years, North-Eastern Russia, by the will of its Grand Duke, made its historical choice. The temptation of liberation from the Asian yoke by subjugating the Catholic West was strongly opposed by Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky. Submissive (for a time) The Horde, which did not encroach on the spiritual freedom of Russia, he resolutely opposed the crusaders, who intended to conquer the people's soul. Enslaved by barbarians, torn from Europe, our homeland, having lost many of its cultural achievements, saved the main thing - its faith.

After many decades of repentance and redemption, spiritual purification and exaltation, the Russian people adopted the idea of "Holy Russia" - a country-community with the primacy of the spiritual principle in human life, the meaning of which was "acquiring the Kingdom of God" and "eternal life" through good deeds and loyalty to Orthodoxy in earthly life. It seems that only now does the Christian message reach the masses of the people. Life according to the Gospel precepts ("Rus are peace - loving people waiting for justice") becomes a universal moral guide for the suffering people, who live in the single hope that "God will change the Horde".

The invasion of Mamai was perceived primarily as an attempt on the most sacred thing. Naturally, the fundamental issue in the life of Russian society was already in the practical plane of communication.. holy war for the faith (first of all!) and freedom. It was in such a situation that the spiritual ascetic of Russia, the Trinity Abbot Sergius of Radonezh, who was still revered as a saint during his lifetime, blessed Prince Dmitry of Moscow, and with him the entire Russian army for battle. The victory at Kulikovo Field was a confirmation of the long-standing belief in the special patronage of the Heavenly Forces of the Russian land.

Moscow has already begun to unite the Russian lands, although its role at first was not yet obvious to everyone. Even stronger were the ideals of regional independence, reinforced by the authority of local shrines. Many more of the Russians were ready to give their lives for this. There were still proud cries on the battlefields: "For St. Sophia and Veliky Novgorod!"; "For the House of the Holy Savior, for the great freedom of Tver!", but more and more princes, boyars and free servants left for Moscow. The Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow began to be perceived as someone who was destined by the Almighty to gather Russia into a single power, as the guardian and defender of the most sacred thing that a Russian person has - his faith.

Having refused to recognize the Pope as the head of the Orthodox Church in 1441, the inhabitants of the northeastern Russian principalities lost in the forests realized that they were one people before the rest of the world. Since that time, the Tosstae have become a nation of global significance.

Understanding that Moscow has become the head of Orthodoxy - the "third Rome" - was the realization (as on a new level, exceeding the previous, Kievan "scale") of the "great mission to bring the word of true Christianity to the world, to be the center of spiritual unity of all Orthodox people on earth" (The Word of Vladyka John, St. Petersburg, p. 11). from these positions, the military and any other service to the Moscow sovereign was now perceived. As in the distant Kievan times, the service to the Grand Duke, and then to the crowned tsar of All Russia, became a service to the entire Russian land - "the lot of the Most Holy Theotokos". This was now the meaning of the life of a Russian soldier.

Thus, by the XVI century, the service of the Russian people and its troops was determined. This is how they understood and accepted it, and how they carried their cross to the battlefields (and any battle for the Russian people on its territory turns into a war for the faith). From now on, and for centuries to come, the motto of the Russian army was: "God is with us. No one is on us." These words, like a prayer, seem to be repeated a thousand times on each ring of the chain mail-baidana that his master from the Armory forged for the Russian tsar. Even the military banner has changed. Invariably remaining "red" in color, it acquired the features of a religious banner. The face of the Saviour replaced the "fierce beast" of monomashnchey and other heraldic symbols from its field, not even allowing the state double-headed eagle to enter it until the time when the decline of faith was outlined under Western materialistic influence.

In the worldview of the Russian soldier, the concepts of homeland and faith were now fused together. "We are all ready to die for our faith," wrote the defenders of Pskov from the troops of Stefan Batory. And there are dozens of similar statements. Homeland without Faith, was not perceived separately from it, and was it really necessary for such a Russian person? In the famous appeal "For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland", Faith is in the first place - the basis of eternal life, the basis of "human self - standing" on earth; in the second place - its defender and leader of the army, primate before God for the people; and only in the third place - the Fatherland-the basis of temporary earthly life. And no setbacks, no numerical and technical superiority of the enemy could shake the Russians 'belief that" God is not in power, but in truth."

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As we can see, the key to understanding and organizing Russian life in general and to solving army problems in particular lies in the religious and moral sphere. After all, " everything in Russia needs only faith. If we do not learn this, we will not understand ourselves, our people, our past, and, most importantly, our state tasks in the present and future. We will not fulfill our God-defined mission on Earth-our duty to the Creator, and we will not save humanity that is falling into the abyss. If we do not believe again (we can only call ourselves Russians conditionally), we will not be saved ourselves, and most importantly, we will completely destroy the country.

Yuri SUKHAREV, Research Associate at the Center for Military History of the Institute of Russian History, lecturer at the Department of History of Wars and Military Art of the Military University, Reserve Lieutenant Colonel

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