Moscow, in addition to being the capital of Russia, it is the largest and most important city in that country. The capital of Russia has 12.3 million inhabitants, which makes it the second largest European city and one of the largest in the world. It is the political and economic center of the whole of Russia and, according to historians, its foundation dates back to 1147, therefore, to the twelfth century.
Moscow Foundation
Historians consider that the city of Moscow was founded in the year 1147, and the establishment of this date as a founding landmark was carried out because the first written mention that there has been a date dates back to that year. knowledge about this city. This record was found in Russian chronicles which mention an event organized by Iuri Dolgoruki .
According to historians, Yuri Dolgoruki was a prince who belonged to the Rurik dynasty, of the Principality of Kiev. This dynasty began in the 9th century with the accession of Rurik to the throne of Novgorod. At the time of the founding of Moscow, the power of that kingdom had been considerably expanded and was centered in Kiev (present-day Ukraine). This kingdom is also known as Rus Kievan .
This mention of Moscow in 1147 spoke of a party being held by Yuri Dolgoruki. At this party, Dolgoruki had invited an ally of his named Sviatoslav Olgovich. Historians, however, suggest that Moscow was most likely founded earlier than that, as the holding of a large party and the reception of a large number of people suggest that the city already had a certain developed structure.
In any case, Yuri Dolgoruki was lord of that region, which was linked to Rostov-Suzdal province. On his orders, the construction of the Kremlin began , the fortified center of Moscow and currently home to Russia's main government buildings. The construction of the Kremlin began in 1156 and was only completed by Andrei Bogoliubski. Naturally, as a fortified center, he intended to ensure Moscow's protection in case it was attacked by foreign peoples. The importance of this was fundamental, since Andrei himself at this time faced the Volga Bulgarians |1| .
Origin of the name “Moscow”
Regarding the origins of the name “Moscow”, there is a wide discussion among historians. The most accepted theory at the moment suggests that the origin of the term is linked to the languages of the Finno-Ugric peoples. who inhabited that region before the Slavic peoples settled there. Other historians, however, suggest that the term Moscow has its origins in Slavic languages.
Moscow's growth is directly related to the development of Russia itself as a nation and the weakening of Kievan Rus. This process began after the invasion of the Mongols, who conquered the territories of Kievan Rus and established a khanate (empire) there in 1240.
Gradually, the city of Moscow gained influence with the Mongol rulers. This guaranteed political stability to Moscow, which thus made investments in the development of its own trade, as well as guaranteeing the maintenance of peace, a fundamental item for the prosperity of the city.
Moscow's prosperity allowed its rulers to apply efforts to the territorial expansion of their domains. Thus, the political and territorial centralization that existed in Russia under Kievan rule between the 9th and 13th centuries was transmitted to Moscow during this period of Mongol rule. The strengthening of Moscow also paved the way for the Muscovites to face the Mongols, who were definitively expelled in 1480.
The expulsion of the Mongols and the political and economic control of the Muscovites started the formation of Russia in a process that took place in different stages:Russian Tsardom (1547-1721) and Russian Empire (1721-1917). This period, which spans the Mongol rule over Moscow until the beginning of the Russian Tsardom, hence from 1283 to 1547, is known as the Grand Duchy of Moscow .
French Invasion
In the period from the 15th to the 19th century, Moscow and Russia itself underwent profound transformations. The city of Moscow grew and developed, and Russia expanded its territorial domain. The power of its rulers during the 19th century was broad and unrestricted. This was the period of the Romanov dynasty .
In the 19th century, the city of Moscow no longer had the status of capital of Russia, a position that had been transmitted to Saint Petersburg since 1712. Furthermore, in the 19th century, Muscovites, like the Russians, faced a great tribulation:the invasion of the French led by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon Bonaparte had been ruler of France since 1799, and in the early 19th century he had established the Continental Blockade, which prohibited European nations from trading with England. The Russians had flouted this blockade, which caused the French to fury. These mobilized around 700,000 troops to invade Russia. The war against the French is known today in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 .
French troops invaded Russia in 1812 and advanced without much difficulty, as the Russians opted for the scorched earth tactic, which consisted of carrying out deliberate retreats and the destruction of everything that was left behind so that it would not be reused by the invaders. The French entered Moscow in September 1812 and found the city abandoned.
Historian David L. Ransel narrates how the French arrived in Moscow:
It was mid-September when Napoleon entered Moscow, a devastated city without adequate shelter for his troops; guards sent out of the city in search of food were met with Russian troop fire, and the Russian winter was approaching. Alexander stubbornly refused to negotiate. The despair of the French position was visible|2| .
The French were forced to withdraw from Moscow about a month later. Before leaving for good, they tried to destroy the Kremlin, but managed to implode only one tower. Before the French, the city of Moscow had been invaded by the Poles in the 17th century, in a period known as the Time of Troubles .
Moscow in the 20th century
In the 20th century, Moscow also experienced significant events for both Russian and world history. First, the city of Moscow returned to being the capital of Russia by determination of the Bolshevik government, which had taken over the country after the October Revolution of 1917.
The great highlight of Moscow's history in the 20th century was the resistance offered against the Germans during the Second World War. The invasion of the Soviet Union began with Operation Barbarossa, in 1941, and the Nazi troops were divided into three forces, which attacked different locations. In the case of Moscow, the city was attacked by the Army Group Center, and the fight against the Germans became known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War .
The German attack on Moscow was almost successful, as the Germans reached within a few kilometers of the Soviet capital:the Germans were 40 kilometers from the fortified center of Moscow (the Kremlin) and just 15 kilometers from the Moscow suburbs. However, Soviet resistance prevailed, and German ambitions to conquer the city were rebuffed at the end of 1941.
In 1980, Moscow was the host city of the Summer Olympics. These Olympics were marked by the boycott of the United States and other western nations in retaliation for the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets, which began in 1979. The boycott of several nations was symbolized at the closing ceremony, when a panel of the Games' mascot, Misha the bear , cried for those who had not participated.
With the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the city of Moscow became the capital of the Russian Federation, the largest of the fifteen nations that had gained their independence with the territorial fragmentation of the Russian Federation. Soviet Union. Since then, Moscow has modernized, but the city's social problems, such as violence, have increased considerably.
|1| MARTIN, Janet. From Kiev to Muscovy:From the Beginnings to 1450. In.:FREEZE, Gregory L. History of Russia. Lisbon:Editions 70, 2017, p. 45.
|2| RANSEL, David L. Pre-Reformation Russia (1801-1855). In.:FREEZE, Gregory L. History of Russia. Lisbon:Editions 70, 2017, p.204.