Украинская война. Книга 1. Схватка за Русь. Превью

UKRAINIAN WAR

The armed conflict for Eastern Europe in XVI—XVII cеnturies

Volume I. THE MELEE OF RUS’

(Up to the middle of XVI century)

Annotation

The world political system, as it is now, was established in XVI—XVII centuries. In Eastern Europe it was the time of the struggle for the West of Rus’ — the wide transitional region from Lvov to Smolensk. Named as Borderland — Ukraine it emerges as the prey for the ideas, wills and actions of the powers inside and around. The fate of neighboring wings: the south-eastern Baltics and north-eastern Black See shores — gets to depend of the future of this heartland. The mighty states of the time clashed, competing for it: Lithuania and Poland, Sweden, Grand Horde, Turkey and Crimea as well as the principality of Moscow — emerging Russia. The struggle was conducted primarily as the armed rivalry including the states formation, social turns, forces build up, the politicians decision-making and the troops clash with the economy, ideology and human potential dedicated to the war.

Who was able to conceive that the stake wasn’t a simple temporary division of the Eastern European territories but the capture of the long-term regional domination? Who could forecast that small and weak Moscow annihilates much more resourceful Lithuania and Grande Horde, sweeps equally dynamic Turkey, Poland, Sweden to southern, western, northern backyards of Ukraine, crushes for centuries the impulses to found self-made polities here? Who dreams that Moscow becomes the universal master of the region and bases the Russia’s rise as the great world power on the control of Eastern Europe?

Considering from the very seeds to the results the contest for the Eastern European domination in XVI—XVII centuries focused in Ukraine was all-in-one struggle — the Ukrainian War. In the most clear way it shows ideologies, societies, leaderships abilities and ambitions of nations involved.

The stakes of the conflict were high, the consequences are of the global scale. But the Ukrainian war was never researched as the prolong versatile surge of the armed struggle which has been continued during two centuries to change Europe and the World. The transformation of the Early Modern West warfare labeled as the Military Revolution was never revised applying the course of the conflict for the Eastern European domination.

The Volume I THE MELEE OF RUS’ of UKRAINIAN WAR series starts to overcome the gap. It drives the armed conflict through the states formation, armies development, battles, raids and sieges, ideas and deeds of history-making persons - under the luck and the will of Providence to the middle of XVI century. The continuation is following.