History of Smolensk

In the dated part of The Tale of Bygone Years, it is first mentioned under 862 as the center of the Krivichi tribal union. According to the Ustyuzh (Archangelogorod) code in the record under the year 863, Askold and Dir went around Smolensk on the campaign from Novgorod to Constantinople , as it was strongly fortified and crowded (the reliability of this mention is doubtful, since the chronicle was compiled after more than 600 years after the events of the 9th century ^[1] ). In 882, the city was captured and annexed to the Old Russian State by Prince Oleg , who transferred it to Prince Igor , from whose infancy the power in the city was exercised by governors and squads , and general control was carried out from Kiev .

The formation of Ancient Smolensk (probably standing where Gnezdovo is now ^[1] ) determined the advantageous location at the crossroads of trade routes: the “ route from the Varangians to the Greeks ” connected the Varyazhskoe and the Black Seas, the route from west to east connected the city with the Volga and then he led “ to the Bulgarians ”, to the Khvalynsk Sea , to Veliky Novgorod and the Upper Volga region (through Rzhev and Lake Seliger ). Presumably, the Byzantine Emperor Konstantin VII Bagryanorodnyy mentions it in his work On the Management of the Empire , calling it Milinisk.

Fragments of rough stucco ceramics from the Cathedral Hill of Smolensk are identical, according to A.N. Lyavdansky, to ceramics from the Lakhteevsky hillfort on the Moshna River, where it dates from the 5th-7th centuries. Perhaps representatives of the Tushemlino culture lived here for a short time ^[1] .

On Malaya Shkolnaya Street on Cathedral Hill, there is a cultural layer dating from the 9th – 10th centuries ^[2] . On Vasilievskaya Gora, which is a continuation to the south of Cathedral Hill, behind the Dry Moat in pit 1 on the edge of the Dry Moat on the edge of a ravine on the territory of the Trinity Monastery on Bolshaya Sovetskaya Street, a 10-cm-thick horizon was found on the mainland with ancient finds of exclusively stucco ceramics I thousand n e. ^[3] and cereal grains (most likely barley). These layers date back to the VIII - beginning of the X century ^[4] . On the slope of the Vasilyevsky Mountain near the Trinity Monastery, molded ceramics made without a pottery wheel were found. It is older than the beginning of the X century. This settlement at the end of the first millennium had an area of ​​more than 3 hectares ^[5] .

Findings of stucco and early-circle ceramics found in a number of pits on Sobornaya Gora, in the Dnieper and on the right bank of the Pyatnitsky stream near its mouth indicate that the settlement existed on this site at the beginning of the X - XI centuries. At the same time, a chronological gap was revealed - in Smolensk there are practically no materials of the second half of the 10th century, during which Gnezdov flourished ^[6] .

Archaeologically, the traces of the city on Sobornaya Gora can be traced only from the second half of the 11th century ^[1] , when the territory of Smolensk stretched from Malaya Rachevka in the east to Pyatnitsky stream in the west and the headwaters of the Smoligov ravine in the south. The size of the city of this time, stretched along the Dnieper, was 1 × 2 km (200 ha) ^[7] .

The scale of the political significance of the new Smolensk was so modest compared to the early city center in Gnezdovo that after the establishment of the Smolensk principality in 1054, the youngest sons of Yaroslav the Wise, Vyacheslav and Igor , were not seated as independent political figures, and after the death of Igor in 1060 in Smolensk there was no prince at least 15 years old ^{[8] [9]} .

In 1127, the Prince of Kiev, Mstislav the Great, gave Smolensk an inheritance to his 17-year-old son Rostislav Mstislavich . After the death of his father, Rostislav became virtually an independent prince and reigned in Smolensk until 1160, when he occupied the throne of Kiev. Thus, the foundation was laid for an independent Smolensk principality , under the rule of the Rostislavich dynasty, which on the eve of the Mongol-Tatar invasion was one of the most powerful Russian principalities. The Smolensk princes claimed the Grand Princely Kiev throne and took possession of it more than once (Rostislav Mstislavich himself, his sons Roman Rostislavich , Davyd Rostislavich and Rurik Rostislavich , his grandson Mstislav Romanovich Stary ) ^[10] .

In Smolensk, thirty meters west of the prince’s church of St. John the Evangelist Daniil Avdusin, in 1958, the remains of a rotunda plinth made of narrow brick about 18 m in diameter were discovered, remaining from the church of the German Mother of God (“German Divine”, “Latin Church”), built in the second half of the XII century by order of foreign merchants who lived in Smolensk ^{[11] [12]} . It contained one of two weight standards - “wax pood” ^[13] .

The century before the Horde invasion was the heyday of Smolensk: the city occupied an area of ​​115 hectares, which housed about 8 thousand houses with a population of about 40 thousand people. By the number of stone churches erected at the turn of the XII and XIII centuries, Smolensk surpassed any other city in Russia.

At the beginning of the XIII century, the area of ​​the city was 220 hectares ^[14] . In the 13th century, there were strong ties with Riga , as evidenced by trade agreements with it and the “German coast,” including the 1229 Smolensk Trade Truth Treaty of Smolensk with Riga and Gotland .

After the earthquake that occurred in May 1230 and a two-year pestilence ^{[15] the} Principality of Smolensk weakened. In 1229-1230, up to 32 thousand people died from the plague in Smolensk ^[16] . In 1232, a conflict occurred between the Rostislavichs and Smolensk was taken by the Prince of Polotsk Svyatoslav Mstislavich . At the same time, Svyatoslav staged a massacre, having killed many of the townspeople hostile to him.

Smolensk was not injured during the Mongol invasion , but many areas of the principality were defeated and Smolensk lost its significance, gradually becoming dependent on the towering Grand Duchy of Lithuania .

At the end of the XIII century, the princes of Smolensk establish close relations with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During Olgerd’s campaigns in Moscow (1368, 1370), he received military assistance from Prince Smolensk Svyatoslav Ivanovich . This is reflected in the Smolensk Chronicle , compiled in the XIV-XVI centuries. After Svyatoslav Ivanovich opposed Lithuania and was killed in the battle on the Vikhra River , in 1387 his son Yury Svyatoslavich swore allegiance to the Polish-Lithuanian king Jagiello ^[17] , in baptism to Vladislav II Jagelon.

In 1387, the " black death " claimed the lives of almost all the inhabitants of the city. 5 people survived who left the city and, having closed the city gates, left. For some time Smolensk remained deserted ^{[18] [19]} .

The nephew of Olgerd Vitovt set out to take possession of Smolensk, where a struggle broke out between the princes - the sons of Svyatoslav, as a result of which the Grand Duke Yuri Svyatoslavich was expelled to his father-in-law Oleg Ryazansky and replaced by his brother Gleb . This gave rise to the intervention of Vitovt: having spread the rumor that he was going to the Tatars, in 1395, Vitovt unexpectedly appeared with an army under the walls of Smolensk and stated his claim to act as a judge in resolving the dispute. All the princes of Smolensk appeared to him with gifts; having taken the gifts, Vytautas arrested the princes and sent them to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then he approached the city, burned up the villages , took the fortress and planted his governors. The Ryazan prince, outraged by this, took military action against Vytautas; but Moscow, where Vasilov’s son-in-law Vasily I Dmitrievich ruled, on the contrary, favored him.

Smolensk, dissatisfied with the Lithuanian rule, established ties with Yuri Svyatoslavich. In August 1401, when Vitovt weakened after the defeat in Vorskla , Oleg Ryazansky appeared near Smolensk, took it, killed Roman Mikhailovich , who was then the Smolensk prince, killed the Lithuanian party’s boyars of Smolensk and put Yuri Svyatoslavich in prison. Vytautas immediately made troops to the city, but achieved nothing; in Smolensk, the revolt of Vitovt’s supporters was crushed, and Vitovt, having stood in vain near Smolensk for four weeks and having concluded a truce, left. Vitovt also failed the three-month siege of Smolensk in 1404 . Oleg Ryazansky died at that time; Yuri asked Moscow for help, promising his citizenship; Vasily took an ambiguous position and hesitated. While Yuri was in Moscow, Vitovt again appeared near Smolensk, and the boyars - supporters of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on June 24, 1404 surrendered the city to him ^{[20] [21]} .

On July 15, 1410, Smolensk banners under the command of Prince Lugweni of Mstislavsky took part in the Battle of Grunwald , at the cost of enormous losses, stopping the crusaders from pursuing the retreating part of the Lithuanian army along with the Mstislav banners.

In 1440, the townspeople of Smolensk tried to regain independence from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by raising a Smolensk uprising , also known as the Great Memorial. The Principality of Lithuania took several military campaigns and almost two years to crush the resistance and return the city to its control.

In 1449, an agreement was concluded between the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir and the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Dark , according to which Moscow refused Smolensk and Smolensk land for eternal years ^[22] . During the new Russian-Lithuanian war of 1500-1503, the Russian army unsuccessfully besieged Smolensk in 1502. In 1508, Smolensk became the center of the Smolensk Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

During the Russian-Lithuanian war of 1512-1522, Smolensk was besieged by the Russian army under the leadership of the Grand Duke Vasily III , but the six-week siege was unsuccessful, and was withdrawn in March. In July of that year, a secondary siege began; Smolensk governor Yuri Sologub was defeated in front of the city walls and took refuge in the city; Standing in vain under the city walls until November, Vasily again lifted the siege. A year later, on July 29, 1514, Russian troops appeared under the walls of Smolensk for the third time, and after a fierce bombardment, the Lithuanian military garrison surrendered. On August 1, the Grand Duke solemnly entered Smolensk, where he appointed Prince Vasily Shuisky as Viceroy; The last Lithuanian governor Yuri Sologub was released to his homeland, where he was executed for the surrender of the fortress.

However, the Moscow authorities soon began to burden some noble Smolyan, accustomed to Lithuanian liberties. Therefore, in the same year, after the defeat of the Russian troops near Orsha , they again entered into relations with Lithuania, and Bishop Barsanuphius, who had recently solemnly met the Moscow Grand Duke, along with the noble Smolensk, princes and panes sent to King Sigismund I nephew Khodykin with a letter of this content : "If you go now to Smolensk or you send the governor with many people, you can easily take the city." In the hope of conspirators, the king sent Prince Constantine of Ostrog (Orthodox) with a 6,000-strong detachment. However, by that time, Moscow supporters had informed the governor Vasily Shuisky about the plot, who had ordered the conspirators to be captured and soon hung them (except the bishop) on the city walls in Ostrozhsky’s view. As a result, Smolensk remained behind Moscow ^[23] . For many years Smolensk remained the most important fortress on the western border of the Russian state .

In 1565, after Tsar Ivan the Terrible divided the Russian state into oprichnina and zemstvo , the city became part of the latter ^{[24] [25]} .

In 1595-1602, a stone fortress was erected on the site of the wooden Kremlin. The wall was built by the architect Fedor Kon , who also built the wall of the White City in Moscow ^[26] . Here is what Boris Godunov said about this:

Taking advantage of the weakening of the Russian state during the Time of Troubles , on September 16, 1609, the army of Sigismund III besieged Smolensk . The defense of the city was led by voivode Mikhail Shein , and for a long time it was quite successful. The besieged made sorties, sometimes very bold. On October 12, 1610, the king launched an assault, which was unsuccessful: after breaking the gates with a firecracker, part of the army broke into the city, but received no reinforcements from their own people and was driven out. Undermines also did not succeed, because the besieged had secret spies at the walls in the ground ^[28] .

However, the siege, which lasted 20 months, led to enormous losses among the townspeople. In the city scurvy and dysentery began to rage. The fate of the city was decided by the traitor Andrei Dedeshin, who pointed to the enemy at the part of the wall, built hastily in the wet autumn time, due to which it was fragile. The king ordered the firing to be concentrated on this side, after which he launched a decisive assault on the night of June 3, 1611. The city’s defenders locked themselves in the ancient (1101 built) Assumption Cathedral, in the cellars of which a powder depot was built, and blew themselves up with the church. Shein was captured ^[29] . The long-term defense of Smolensk had a decisive influence on further events, since Sigismund, who spent all his money on it, was forced to disband his army instead of leading it further to Moscow - thanks to which the Moscow garrison of the Poles, who did not receive serious support, was subsequently forced surrender to the Russian militia .

In 1613-1617, during the Russo-Polish war , Moscow tried to return Smolensk, besieging it for almost four years. However, not a single assault was undertaken during the siege, and the siege ended to no avail. As a result of the war, Russia recognized Smolensk after the Commonwealth by the Deulinskiy truce of 1618.

The accession of Smolensk land in 1618 to the Commonwealth ( Smolensk Voivodeship became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ) took place after the Union of Brest in 1596 . The situation of Orthodox believers living in the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and not having converted to Catholicism or Uniate has deteriorated significantly, there has been oppression of other faiths except Catholicism and Uniate ^{[30] [31]} . In 1611, Sigismund III founded the Smolensk episcopate of the Catholic Church .

November 4, 1611 the city receives Magdeburg Law . Now Smolensk has two-week markets, weekly tenders, a warehouse of goods, a bathhouse, a guest yard with income from them for the benefit of the entire city, permission to create craft workshops, etc., as well as a coat of arms - “the figure of the Archangel Michael in the red box”.

1 февраля 1634 года, в ходе Смоленской войны русская армия во главе с М. Б. Шеиным осадила город, однако появление армии под командованием короля Речи Посполитой Владислава IV привело к тому, что русская армия сама оказалась в осаде и капитулировала.

В 1654 году, в ходе русско-польской войны , к Смоленску вновь подступила русская армия во главе с царём Алексеем Михайловичем и осадила город . 16 августа был устроен штурм, оказавшийся неудачным. Поляки оценивали русские потери в 7 000 убитых и 15 000 раненых. Тем не менее, исчерпав все средства сопротивления, смоленский гарнизон 23 сентября 1654 года капитулировал, и Смоленск окончательно был присоединён к Российскому государству ^[32] . Юридически это присоединение закрепило Андрусовское перемирие 1667 года и подтвердил Вечный мир 1686 года между Россией и Речью Посполитой.

Взятие Смоленска в 1654 году, падение Смоленского воеводства и присоединение к Российскому государству оказали большое влияние на культуру тех лет. В честь этого события была написана первая в России панегирическая « Песня о взятии Смоленска » ^[33] .

Хотя вхождение в Речь Посполитую продолжалось чуть менее полувека, за эти годы и годы предыдущего вхождения в Великое княжество Литовское, польская культура оказала влияние на смоленское дворянство, которое на протяжении всего XVIII века именовало себя « шляхетством ». По воспоминаниям Льва Энгельгардта, смоленские шляхтичи на протяжении столетия после возвращения Смоленска России предпочитали читать польские книги и брать себе жён из Польши, а не из «презираемой „России“». При Анне Иоанновне польские книги на Смоленщине были запрещены, за владение ими били кнутом и ссылали в Сибирь; запрещены были также браки с польками; однако смоляне жён из «России» по прежнему не брали, предпочитая браки в своей среде. Отец Энгельгардта в середине XVIII века был первым, кто нарушил этот негласный запрет и женился на женщине из «России» ^[34] .

С конца XVII века разрушенный войнами и осадами Смоленск отстраивается заново. Восстанавливаются древнейшие храмы (такие, как Храм Михаила Архангела ), в формах русско-казацкого барокко возводится новый Успенский собор . С 1708 года Смоленск становится центром Смоленской губернии .

17-18 августа 1812 года под стенами Смоленска произошло Смоленское сражение между русской армией и армией Наполеона , в ходе которого обе стороны потеряли более 20 тыс. человек. Русские отступили, и Наполеон захватил охваченный огнём город. Этот период в истории Смоленска имел тяжёлые последствия. Город был разрушен: сожжено не менее 80 % жилых и других зданий, из 345 лавок уничтожено 317. Население сократилось почти наполовину. Общий убыток города оценивался в 6,6 млн руб. По свидетельству одного современника, «Смоленск нельзя было назвать городом, ежели бы не имел окружающей огромной стены и оставшихся каменных церквей». Ф. Н. Глинка писал: «Город весь сквозной; дома без кровли, без окон, без дверей. Пустота пугает, ветер свищет среди обгорелых стен; по ночам кажется, что развалины воют» ^[35] .

Восстановление города шло медленно. Новый импульс к его развитию дало строительство железных дорог Рига — Орёл (1868 год), Москва — Брест-Литовск (1870 год), а также Рязанско-Уральская железная дорога ( 1899 год ) ^[35] .

With the origin and creativity of Smolensk, many prominent figures of science, literature and art. In 1826 and in the winter of 1847-1848, M.I. Glinka lived in Smolensk, who wrote here the piano plays “Remembering the Mazurka”, “Barcarole”, “Prayer”, the romances “Darling”, “You Will Forget Me Forget”, etc. On January 23, 1848, the noble public celebrated the composer with a sumptuous dinner. In Smolensk, V. A. Levshin , an active contributor to the journals of the enlightener, was born, one of the founders of Russian sentimentalism M. N. Muravyov , Smolensky Dumas, friend of M. Yu. Lermontov at the school of guards cadets V. A. Vonlylyarsky , playwright P. M. Nevezhin . In 1829-1837, the governor in the city of Smolensk was the poet and playwright P. I. Khmelnitsky, who initiated the opening of the national economic exhibition and public library, and a number of events to improve the provincial center ^[35] .

In the late XIX - early XX centuries, Smolensk is a well-known cultural center in the country, thanks primarily to the activities of M.K. Tenisheva . By the end of the 19th century, there were several bookstores in the city, 3 public libraries (the merchant-educator S. A. Klestov; the city library, opened in 1893 in the city council building; Zadneprovskaya public library, opened in 1898). “Reading rooms” were also available in bookstores (for example, in the bookstore of the merchant F. I. Shtranikh on B. Blagoveshchenskaya Street). Since 1780, theatrical performances have been systematically organized in the city of Smolensk - first in the Opera House, then in the building of the Noble Assembly and in private noble houses. In 1866, the city council acquired a special building for the theater. In 1888, the building was damaged by fire, and the city lost the theater ^[36] . At this time, performances were staged in the hall of the City Duma, and since 1896 in the house of the Noble Assembly ^[36] . From 1898 to 1914, the People’s House operated in the Zadniprovsky part of the city, in which performances, folk readings with light pictures, and lectures were systematically arranged. Many prominent artists toured the city of Smolensk: G. N. Fedotova , F. I. Chaliapin , S. V. Rakhmaninov , L. V. Sobinov , A. V. Nezhdanova , etc. ^[35]

By 1900, there were more than 56 thousand inhabitants in Smolensk; 10 squares, 139 streets, 3261 buildings (of which 633 are stone), 32 Orthodox churches, 1 Catholic and 1 Lutheran, 2 synagogues and 3 monasteries . There are 33 educational institutions, including male and female gymnasiums , 5 printing houses, 1 chromolithography. 40 doctors, 27 paramedics, 7 midwives, 12 midwives, 6 pharmacies, 6 pharmacies, 8 hospitals with 484 beds, 2 private hospitals for female diseases, Zemstvo Provincial Hospital, with departments for the insane, for foundlings, for minors, vagrants and male almshouse (for 12 people). Three periodicals were published: “Smolensk Bulletin”, “Smolensk Provincial Gazette” and “Smolensk Diocesan Gazette” ^[26] .

According to the First General Census of the Population of the Russian Empire in 1897 in the city of Smolensk, Russian (Great Russian) was called the native language of 37305 people. (79.9% of the total population of the city), the Jewish language - 4154 people. (8.9%), Polish - 3012 people. (6.4%), Little Russian - 979 people. (2.1%), German - 460 people, Belarusian - 323 people, Tatar - 185 people ^[37] ..

After the October Revolution , both the Byelorussian People’s Republic and the Byelorussian SSR claimed to be part of Smolensk ^[38] . Since April 1918, Smolensk was the center of the Western Region , on the basis of which on January 1, 1919 the Byelorussian SSR was formed ^[39] . On January 7, the BSSR government moved from Smolensk to Minsk, and on January 16, 1919, by decision of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), the Smolensk region was transferred to the RSFSR . In 1920, a provincial census was conducted, according to which the Russian population prevailed over the Belarusian, but the Belarusian party leadership until 1926 did not leave hope for the possibility of Smolensk being included in the BSSR ^[38] .

The Decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On the Formation of Administrative and Territorial Associations of Regional and Regional Significance in the RSFSR” dated January 14, 1929 from October 1, 1929 formed the Western Region with its center in the city of Smolensk ^[40] .

18 km from Smolensk in the autumn of 1940 (according to other sources, in 1941, during the German occupation), the Katyn execution was carried out.

During the Great Patriotic War, from July 10 to September 10, 1941, the Smolensk battle took place , which significantly delayed the German offensive on Moscow . The defense of the city itself lasted from July 15 to July 28.

July 16, 1941 the city was occupied by German troops. The Smolensk Archive of the Regional Committee of the CPSU (B.) Was exported to Germany and after the war ended up in the USA , giving the Western public the first idea of ​​the scale of the repressions deployed in the USSR . During the occupation, the mayor of the city was Boris Menshagin . The German authorities appointed Dmitry Kosmovich as the head of the Smolensk district police. ^[41]

During the Great Patriotic War in the territory of Smolensk region, Nazi punishers burned down more than five thousand villages and villages, of which about 300 along with civilians. The Extraordinary State Commission determined that the total number of civilian casualties was 546 thousand people, but this data is also underestimated.

Smolensk was liberated from the Germans on September 25, 1943 during the Smolensk-Roslavl operation . Units and formations of the Western Front took part in the liberation:

• 68th Army - 199th Rifle Division (Colonel M.P. Kononenko );
• 31st Army - 215th Infantry Division (Major General S.I. Iovlev ), 82nd Infantry Division (Major General I.V. Pisarev ), 133rd Infantry Division (Colonel M.Z. Kazishvili ), 331 1st Infantry Division (Major General P.F. Berestov );
• 5th Army - 312nd Infantry Division (Colonel A. G. Moiseevsky ), 207th Infantry Division (Colonel S.N. Perevertkin ), 152nd Fortified Region (Colonel N.T. Zorin );
• 1st Guards Long-Range Aviation Corps (Major General Aviation D.P. Yukhanov );
• 8th Long Range Aviation Corps (Major General Aviation N. N. Buyansky );
• 42nd Long Range Aviation Regiment (Lt. Col. A.D. Babenko ).

To the troops participating in the battles for Smolensk and Roslavl , thanks to the order of the Supreme High Command, gratitude was announced and in Moscow salute was given to 20 artillery salvoes of 224 guns.

In the postwar years (especially in the 1960s and 1970s), many industrial enterprises, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and energy were put into operation in Smolensk.

By decree of the USSR PVS No. 536-VII of December 3, 1966, the city of Smolensk was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree.

By decree of the USSR PVS of September 23, 1983, Smolensk was awarded the Order of Lenin .

By decree of the USSR PVS No. 2368-XI of May 6, 1985, Smolensk was awarded the honorary title " Hero City " with the award of the " Gold Star " medal.

In 1985, Smolensk was awarded the title Hero City .

On April 10, 2010, when landing at Severny Airport, one of the largest disasters in the history of world aviation occurred , in which the first persons of Poland , well-known public and religious figures were killed.

The chairman of the Smolensk City Council, Yuri Konstantinovich Synkin, the mayor of the city ​​is Nikolai Nikolaevich Alasheev.

In 2013, archaeologists of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered and unearthed in Smolensk an old Russian church in the middle - the second half of the XII century, built on the left bank of the Dnieper at the time when Smolensk was the capital of the Principality of Smolensk . The walls were preserved from a unique object, in some places not high, in others - to the height of human growth ^[42] .

In September 2013, Smolensk celebrated its 1,150th anniversary with active preparations ^{[43] [44] [45] [46] [47]} . As part of the celebration of the 1150th anniversary of the emergence of Smolensk, the Bank of Russia issued commemorative coins made of precious metals ^[48] .

• Nikitin P.E. History of the city of Smolensk. - M., 1848. - 403 p.