What should both Russia and Europe remember?

In September 1362, 650 years ago, in the southern steppes of Ukraine (probably, in what is today Kirovohrad oblast) an event happened, which defined the prospective trend of this country’s development for centuries to come. The Battle of Blue Waters (or Syni Vody, associated by many historians with the River Syniukha, although there is no complete unanimity on this question), whereby the Tatar Khan’s host, led by Kutlu Bey, suffered a shattering defeat by the joint Lithuanian and Belarusian forces of the Grand Duke Algirdas (aka Olgerd Gediminovych), was indeed a turning point in Ukraine’s history.

What kind of change did it bring about? Due to Algirdas’ victory at the Blue Waters, our country returned to the Medieval “European space,” as most Ukrainian lands were now part and parcel of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a state which revered written laws (such as were found in a feudal society) and where Ukrainian nobles also had access to power. So it would be unfair to maintain that the Grand Duchy colonized Ukraine. On the contrary, suffice it to remember that the Battle of Blue Waters was preceded by some 120 years of Tatar-Mongol rule in much of Ukraine. Truth be said, this dominance was not always absolute, but that does not matter. It was a civilization that dramatically differed from Europe. Instead, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lived by European legal standards; the Grand Duke’s power, in contrast to that of the Khans, had certain limits. Therefore Ukraine’s incorporation in a kind of Ukrainian – Lithuanian – Belarusian state union (this is how the Grand Duchy’s nature can be defined) was a huge leap forward and an event of immense historical consequences – even despite the subsequent annexation of the Duchy (and consequently, Ukrainian lands) by Rzeczpospolita Polska and thus the worsening of the national, social, and religious oppression of Ukrainians. Yet nonetheless, the fact remains.

Since conventionally the Battle of Blue Waters is associated with Kirovohrad oblast (although some historians place the site of the battle in Vinnytsia oblast), Volodymyr Vynnychenko Kirovohrad State Pedagogical University was the venue of an international research conference “The Battle of Blue Waters (1362) in the context of East Europe’s medieval history, which closed last week. The head of the oblast Serhii Larin addressed the participants saying, “Over the recent years a lot has been done in our oblast in terms of revealing new aspects of local and Ukrainian history to spread, especially among the youth, historical names of people who won recognition far beyond the borders of their country. Historians, teachers, and researchers of our University responded to our suggestion to create a textbook for high school students The History of Our Country, which is supposed to be printed during the new academic year. I hope that many events of the past will find their place on its pages.”

The Day asked experts to evaluate the role and effects of the Battle of Blue Waters on Ukrainian and European history.

“110 YEARS BEFORE OUR NORTH-EASTERN NEIGHBORS WE RESUMED CLOSE CONTACTS WITH EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION”

Oleksandr MOTSIA, Ph.D., professorof history, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine:

“The battle, which took place 650 years ago, was pivotal for the fates of the Slavic peoples inhabiting the southern territories of Eastern Europe – i.e., for the population of today’s Ukraine. Following this battle, Right-Bank (and later Left-Bank) Ukraine shakes off the yoke of the Golden Horde and comes under the protectorate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where 90 percent of population were Slavic. Thus a new symbiosis was created between the peoples which broke away from the so-called Pax Nomadica, the nomadic world. So 110 years before our north-eastern neighbors (Muscovy, later Russia) we resumed close contacts with European civilization. Here lies the major importance of the Battle of Blue Waters, and we had been developing Westwards literally until the times of Peter I and Catherine II, when they started to break us down and squeeze into a new historical mould. But at any rate, the battle of 650 years ago made an impact on culture, economy, and even the mentality of the Slavic peoples in the south of Eastern Europe (not yet Ukrainians, but our immediate ancestors) and pulled them back to Europe. It was a crucial event for this region.

“I would like to emphasize that the battle took place at the historical river of Syni Vody, or Blue Waters, now called the Syniukha. There are various localizations of the site in Kirovohrad oblast. Now I am in Torhovytsia, where experts from the Kirovohrad Pedagogical University have been for 20 years researching a monument of the 14th century. Perhaps, the vicinity of this Torhovytsia complex (we do not know what it was exactly called back then) was the site of the battle.”

“THE BATTLE OF BLUE WATERS HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON EASTERN EUROPE”

Svitlana PROSKUROVA, Ph.D., associate professor of history, department of history of Ukraine, Volodymyr Vynnychenko Kirovohrad State Pedagogical University:

“The staff of the Law and History School of the Kirovohrad Pedagogical University have been excavating the site at Torhovytsia, Novoarkhangelsk raion, Kirovohrad oblast, since the early 1990s. The excavations were launched by Ninel Bokii, then Iryna Kozyr and Oleksandr Chorny took over. The active exploration of the culture layer allowed them to unearth a town, dating back to the time of the Golden Horde. It is the second site of this kind, explored in Ukraine. It has yielded braziers, furnaces, and traces of blacksmiths’ and potters’ activities. In a word, a typical little town, which must have existed till the late 1350s, when Algirdas and his Rus’ and Lithuanian hosts ruined it.

“Also, there are three written evidences about the Battle of Blue Waters. This is the most probable site, although there are no findings to locate it with certainty – but there may exist none whatsoever, and they are not likely to be found. Likewise, it is extremely hard to locate the Kulikovo Field or any other ancient battlefield, since all metal artifacts have long been picked up by people (metal was in high demand). Our historians from the University of Kirovohrad, the Instiute of Archeology maintain that the battle took place on a site on the territory of our oblast. It had a huge impact on Eastern Europe. This battle undermined the Golden Horde’s influence and its effect on the course of political history in the region (more than 100 years before Muscovy). Instead, the center of influence shifted to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which did not meddle with old laws and did not impose any innovations. Still, it spread feudalism in this part of Europe. This was a step forward, since Ukraine began to develop in the context of Europe’s history.”

“THE BATTLE OF BLUE WATERS PLAYED A GEOPOLITICAL ROLE”

Oleksandr MUZYCHKO, Ph.D., associate professor at the department of history of Ukraine, School of History, Ivan Mechnikov Odesa National University:

“This event is usually considered against the background of a stand-off between Europe and Asia. Personally I believe that the Battle of Blue Waters consolidated the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and involved Ukraine in the orbit of European model of development, thus postponing the engulfing of the greater part of Ukraine by the Muscovy Duchy. And since Ukraine continued to exist as part of European civilization, a Central European part, it was important for entire Europe.

“Also, this event must be analyzed in the context of historical prerequisites for Baltic-Pontic cooperation. These processes were of great importance, even if they were not crowned with the creation of a long-lasting great state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For that, the state suffered constant crises and eventually dissolved in European geopolitics. Unfortunately, the larger part of Ukraine was eventually subdued by the Duchy of Muscovy, and we are still experiencing the effects. Yet the Battle of Blue Waters had a geopolitical role. Its consequences for the Pontic steppes, and the entire southern region of Ukraine, were that it expanded the borders all the way to the Black Sea. Duke Vytautas is known to send grain to Constantinople in 1415 from there. In fact, this is the first evidence of Hadjibey and, as many experts believe, this date should be used as a starting point for the beginnings of Odesa, rather than the reign of Catherine II. So the Battle of Blue Waters is immediately associated with this historical and ideological problem. I believe that celebrating this date supports Yevhen Chykalenko’s thesis. He said that our history is full of glory, and you need not take bromide reading it, as Volodymyr Vynnychenko had suggested. Besides, it implies that we should celebrate this date together with the really friendly Lithuanian nation, rather than only with Russians, according to the age-old custom.”