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SPEAKER_00But where did Russia come from?
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SPEAKER_00Why is it so big?
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SPEAKER_00And what are the differences between it and its neighbors?
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SPEAKER_00The answers lie in an epic story of seafaring warriors,
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SPEAKER_00nomadic invaders, and the rise and
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SPEAKER_00fall of a medieval state known as Kievan Rus.
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SPEAKER_00In the first millennium, a large
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SPEAKER_00group of tribes spread through the
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SPEAKER_00dense woodlands of Eastern Europe.
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SPEAKER_00Because they had no writing system, much of
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SPEAKER_00what we know about them comes from three main sources.
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SPEAKER_00Archaeological evidence, accounts from
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SPEAKER_00literate scholars of the Roman Empire and the Middle East,
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SPEAKER_00And lastly, an epic history called the Primary Chronicle,
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SPEAKER_00compiled in the 12th century by a monk named Nestor.
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SPEAKER_00What they tell us is that these tribes,
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SPEAKER_00who shared a common Slavic language
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SPEAKER_00and polytheistic religion, had by the
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SPEAKER_007th century split into western, southern,
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SPEAKER_00and eastern branches, the latter
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SPEAKER_00stretching from the Dniester River to the
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SPEAKER_00Volga and the Baltic Sea.
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SPEAKER_00As Nestor's story goes, after years
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SPEAKER_00of subjugation by Vikings from the north,
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SPEAKER_00who, by the way, did not wear
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SPEAKER_00horned helmets in battle, the region's
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SPEAKER_00tribes revolted and drove back the northmen.
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SPEAKER_00But left to their own devices, they turned on each other.
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SPEAKER_00Such chaos ensued that, ironically, the
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SPEAKER_00tribes reached out to the foreigners they had just expelled.
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SPEAKER_00inviting them to return and establish order.
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SPEAKER_00The Vikings accepted, sending a prince
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SPEAKER_00named Rurik and his two brothers to rule.
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SPEAKER_00With Rurik's son Oleg expanding his
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SPEAKER_00realm into the south and moving the capital to Kiev,
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SPEAKER_00a former outpost of the Khazar Empire,
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SPEAKER_00the Kievan Rus was born, Rus most
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SPEAKER_00likely deriving from an old Norse word for the men who row.
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SPEAKER_00The new princedom had complex
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SPEAKER_00relations with its neighbors, alternating between alliance
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SPEAKER_00and warfare with the Khazar and
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SPEAKER_00Byzantine empires, as well as neighboring tribes.
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SPEAKER_00religion played an important role in politics.
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SPEAKER_00And as the legend goes, in 987,
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SPEAKER_00the Rus prince Vladimir I decided it
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SPEAKER_00was time to abandon Slavic paganism
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SPEAKER_00and send emissaries to explore neighboring faiths.
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SPEAKER_00Put off by Islam's prohibition on alcohol
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SPEAKER_00and Judaism's expulsion from its holy land,
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SPEAKER_00the ruler settled on Orthodox
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SPEAKER_00Christianity after hearing odd accounts of its ceremonies.
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SPEAKER_00With Vladimir's conversion and marriage
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SPEAKER_00to the Byzantine emperor's sister,
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SPEAKER_00as well as continued trade along the Volga route,
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SPEAKER_00the relationship between the two civilizations deepened.
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SPEAKER_00Byzantine missionaries created an alphabet
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SPEAKER_00for Slavic languages based on a modified Greek script,
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SPEAKER_00while Rus Viking warriors served
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SPEAKER_00as the Byzantine emperor's elite guard.
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SPEAKER_00For several generations, the Kievan
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SPEAKER_00Rus flourished from its rich resources and trade.
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SPEAKER_00Its noblemen and noblewomen married
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SPEAKER_00prominent European rulers, while residents
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SPEAKER_00of some cities enjoyed great culture,
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SPEAKER_00literacy, and even democratic freedoms uncommon for the time.
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SPEAKER_00But nothing lasts forever.
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SPEAKER_00Fratricidal disputes over succession began
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SPEAKER_00to erode central power, as
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SPEAKER_00increasingly independent cities ruled by
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SPEAKER_00rival princes vied for control.
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SPEAKER_00The Fourth Crusade and decline
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SPEAKER_00of Constantinople devastated the trade
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SPEAKER_00integral to Rus' wealth and power,
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SPEAKER_00while Teutonic crusaders threatened northern territories.
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SPEAKER_00The final blow, however, would come from the east.
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SPEAKER_00Consumed by their squabbles, Rus
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SPEAKER_00princes paid little attention to the
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SPEAKER_00rumors of a mysterious unstoppable horde
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SPEAKER_00until 1237, when 35,000 mounted archers
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SPEAKER_00led by Batu Khan swept through the
4:05 → 4:08
SPEAKER_00Rus cities, sacking Kiev before continuing
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SPEAKER_00on to Hungary and Poland.
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SPEAKER_00The age of Kievan Rus had come to
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SPEAKER_00an end, its people now divided.
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SPEAKER_00In the east, which remained under Mongol rule,
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SPEAKER_00a remote trading post known as
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SPEAKER_00Moscow would grow to challenge the
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SPEAKER_00power of the Khans, conquering parts
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SPEAKER_00of their fragmenting empire.
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SPEAKER_00and in many ways, succeeding it.
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SPEAKER_00As it absorbed other Eastern Rus territories,
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SPEAKER_00it reclaimed the old name in its Greek form, Russia.
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SPEAKER_00Meanwhile, the Western regions, whose
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SPEAKER_00leaders had avoided destruction through
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SPEAKER_00political maneuvering until the horde withdrew,
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SPEAKER_00came under the influence of Poland and Lithuania.
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SPEAKER_00For the next few centuries, the
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SPEAKER_00former lands of Kievan Rus, populated by Slavs,
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SPEAKER_00ruled by Vikings, taught by Greeks,
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SPEAKER_00and split by Mongols, would
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SPEAKER_00develop differences in society, culture,
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SPEAKER_00and language that remain to the present day.