The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume 1: From Early Rus' to 1689 by Maureen Perrie (review)

Abstract

reviews 755 Perrie,Maureen (ed.). TheCambridge History ofRussia. Volume i: FromEarlyRus' toi68g. CambridgeUniversity Press,Cambridgeand New York,2006. xxii+ 777pp. Chronology. Illustrations. Maps. Figures.Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index.£100.00:$185.00. Students and non-specialist readerswill welcomethisexcellentreference volume.It is organizedaccordingto the dynastic-political criteriawhich operatedintheperioditself, dividedchronologically intothreemainsections: 1) earlyRus' and the rise of Muscovy (c. 900-1462); 2) the expansion, consolidation and crisisofMuscovy(1462-1613); and 3) theearlyRomanov tsardom (1613-89). Centrestageispolitical history. A majorissuewas dynastic succession that, however governed (collateral, linear,sacralization oftheruler), raisedserious problemsof politicallegitimacy. There were recurring battles,including civilwars,from thefourteenth to theseventeenth centuries in whichvarious claimantsfoughtfor supremacy.The supportof the OrthodoxChurch, forexample,in thefourteenth century, betweenthe descendants of Daniil Aleksandrovich ofMoscow and MikhailofTver', couldbe a decisivefactor invictory. The relationship ofChurchand stateisanother important political themeinwhichtheOrthodoxChurchactedas a unifying factor, as a source ofnationalidentity. Conflict and tension within theChurch, between'officiar and 'popular'religious practices and theschism ofthe1660s,also receivedue attention. The dynastic principle ofdefining 'Russia' meansthatitsterritorial shape is constantly changingthroughout the periodcoveredby thisvolume.An important themeis the impact of Russia's geographicalenvironment in shapingand thenin turnbeingshapedby pre-Pe trinepoliticalinstitutions. One aspectofthisistheshifting balanceofresponsibility between central and local government in whichlocal electionscould replaceappointments only thentobe reversed backtocentral control. Territorial expansion couldincorporatenew nationalities or open steppefrontiers thatwerethenpopulated from above (statesponsored settlement) or from below(spontaneous peasant migration). In bothcases therewere new administrative challengesforthe state, notleasttherequirements ofmilitary defence. Leon Trotskii arguedthat itwas themilitary imperative, statesecurity interests internal and external, thatwas the formative influence on the Russianstate,thatled it to stand aboveand inopposition tosociety. Security needsforced thestatetomaintain a largearmyand droveeconomicand socialchange.The contributors tothis volumewouldnotgo as faras Trotskii, buttheimpactofmilitary service, as forinstancein layingthebasis oftheMuscovitepoliticalsystem or leading to the legal impositionof serfdomin the mid-seventeenth century,is highlighted. Trotskii was fascinated by how theRussianstategrewand consolidated itself on a backwardsocialand economicbase. Russiawas a predominantly agrariancountry and severalchaptersexaminepeasantlifeand economy. Richard Hellie comparesthe situationof the Russian peasant with the American farmer, and illustrates howtheperiodofthe'Agapetus state'(1462161 3) laid claimto controloverland and labour.This,he notes,'had little impacton peasantmethodsoffarming or material culture, butitlaid down 756 SEER, 87, 4, OCTOBER 2OO9 the courseforRussianhistory until1991' (p.297). The way in whichthe extraction of agricultural surpluses became increasingly coerciveacted,for Trotskii, as a brakeon the development of marketrelations. This volume tracestheexpansion oftraderoutes as a consequenceofterritorial aggrandisement .Novgorod, forexample,was enriched byitslocationfornorth-south and eastwesttrade .Denis Shaw chartsthe growth of towns,seeingthem as backwardin comparison withWestern Europeanequivalents in termsof commercial development, butalso emphasizing their administrative, religious and,in somecases,military-defensive functions. Thisvolumehas a wealthofinformation and variety ofperspectives. It is easyto use withan excellent indexand useful figures, tablesand maps.It is pleasingthatthe contribution of Sovietscholarship is noted,especially the Soviet-era practiceofcthedetailedstudyofsourcesand theirpublication in highqualityscholarly editions' (p. 12).One hopesthatthiswillalso act as an exemplar forfurther scholarship intothepre-Petrine period. Politics andHistory Ian D. Thatcher BruneiUniversity Vásáry, István. Cumansand Tatars:Oriental Militaryin thePreOttoman Balkans, 1185-1365. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge andNewYork,2005. xvi + 230 pp. Maps. Notes.Appendices.Abbreviations. Bibliography. Index.£56.00: $104.00. The extent to whichthenomadsofthesteppeguidedthepoliticaldevelopmentofEasternEuropeis partofan old and controversial debate.On the one hand thereis Muscovy'sdebtto Tatar institutions offiscalgovernance; ontheother, thecontribution to'state-formation' madeinthefirst millennium by theAvars,Onogur-Hungarians and Onogur-Bulgars. The presentwork examinestheroleoftheCumans and, to a lesserextent, theTatarsin the makingof thelate medievalBalkans.The authorpointsto therole of the Cumansin theforging oftheSecondBulgarian Empire,although conceding thatVlachs (to theextent thattheycan be unravelled at all in theexisting sources from theCumans)musthaveplayedan equallyimportant part.Allof thisisfamiliar enoughterritory andthepresent accountdoesnottakeusmuch further thanRobertLee Wolffsseminal'Second BulgarianEmpire;origin andhistory to1204'(Speculum, 1949, pp. 167-206). Hereafter, however, Vásáry's accountbreaksdownintoa discussion of thepartplayedby Cumans and Tatarsas auxiliaries and alliesin thestruggle betweenHungary, Byzantium, SerbiaandBulgaria. Vásárydemonstrates convincingly thatthenomadsmight intervene decisively infavour ofone ormoreofthecompeting sides.Likewise, he showsthata number oftheruling housesoftheregioneither rested on or wereinfiltrated by Cuman and Tatar elements: thus,theAsenids,Terterids and Sismanidsof Bulgaria,and Basarab and his heirsin Wallachia. In Hun^arvand Bvzantium. Cumansand Tatarsweresimilarlv absorbedinto the politicaland military elite.Nevertheless, in respect Wallachia,itwas surely theretreat ofCumania after the of Moldavia and thirteenth century ...