Novgorod against Muscovy

Understanding the historical and civilizational significance of Ukraine's current struggle against Russia.

To fully grasp the deeper metapolitical significance of Ukraine's current struggle against Russia, we must look back to a pivotal confrontation that occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries between the Republic of Novgorod and Muscovy in northeastern Europe. Russia's obsession with Ukraine and its invasion cannot merely be attributed to territorial ambitions or the clash between democracy and dictatorship. This conflict runs deeper, symbolizing a clash of fundamentally different and mutually exclusive civilizational paths. It represents a struggle for the future of Eastern Europe, pitting Western Civilization, embodied by Ukraine, against the Asiatic brutality and primitivism represented by Russia. A historical parallel of this civilizational clash can be seen in the confrontation that transpired in the Middle Ages between the Republic of Novgorod and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Russia's current aggression against Ukraine echoes the 15th-century conquest and destruction of Novgorod by Muscovy. By understanding this historical context and progression, therefore, we can gain valuable insights into today's events.

The forerunner of the future Russian state was the Grand Duchy of Moscow (Muscovy), which was a tributary and the vassal of the Mongol Golden Horde. Initially it was a small principality on the north-east periphery of the realm that once constituted the ancient Kyivan Rus’. However, starting from the 14th century through sly manipulation and prudent politics of its successive rulers who managed to earn the favour of the khans, it succeeded to mobilize the resources of the Golden Horde to its own advantage and thereby consolidate its power in the north-east by gradually absorbing neighboring Russian principalities.

Having built the autocracy and a strong army, the rulers of Muscovy envisioned themselves as the rightful rulers of all the lands that once constituted the Kyivan Rus’ and aspired to gather all those territories under their banner. Next, they set their eyes to the north-west, to the Republic of Novgorod.

Novgorod was the only north-eastern Slavic state that was not affected by the Mongol invasions in the Middle Ages, and in the 14-15th centuries it was the most prosperous polity in the north-east of Europe, with a highly sophisticated and skilled population that cherished their freedoms. Most importantly, its customs, its culture, and the mentality of the people drastically differed from those of Muscovy. The most glaring difference was in the system of government: whereas autocracy and despotism reigned in Muscovy, Novgorod was governed by a popular assembly – the “veche,” which was similar to the Norse “thing” or Swiss cantonal assembly. It took place on the central market square and was called upon by the ring of a large bell, the "veche bell", which carried a symbolic significance to Novgorodians and was a reminder to them of their rights and freedoms as citizens. Furthermore, separation of powers was also woven into the political structure of the Novgorod Republic. The Grand Prince, the Archbishop and the mayor (posadnik) shared the executive branch of the government. The latter two were elected by the veche.

The Novgorod Veche.

Muscovy, in contrast was a despotic autocracy. Slavish servility towards rulers was the defining feature of Muscovites. Arbitrariness and wanton cruelty of the rulers or government officials was rampant and did not know any limits. Muscovy, although militarily strong, was poor and backwards. Its form of government and society in general were similar to, and were essentially the continuation of the Golden Horde.

Novgorod Republic had close relations with the Teutonic Order, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. It traded extensively with the German cities of the Hanseatic League on the Baltic Sea. It was a sophisticated European polity in every sense and was oriented towards the West, ethnically, culturally and politically. It was the jewel of north-east Europe. Moreover, Novgorodians were acutely aware of their differences with Muscovites, of their spiritual, cultural and ethnic closeness to European Civilization, and that they were more civilized and prosperous than their rapacious neighbors to the east. They had a widespread saying to succinctly illustrate the point and remind themselves of this fact: Muscovites wear woven sandals (lapti), whereas we, Novgorodians, wear boots. In the same way that present-day Ukrainians have long been aware of their irreconcilable distinctness from present-day Russians, and that as opposed to the latter they belong to the Western Civilization, which they naturally lean towards.

In the 15th century Muscovy had continuously tried to bend Novgorod to its will. However Novgorod, for a long time, was successful in fending off Muscovy’s encroachments and managed to retain its sovereignty. The wealth of Novgorod and its freedoms aroused the rage and envy of Muscovites. Its independent foreign policy, close relations with western Europe was a thorn in the eye for Muscovy. Muscovites simply could not accept it that there could be another Slavic people nearby who are wealthier and more sophisticated than them. Centuries later the descendants of those Muscovites – i.e., present-day Russians, would feel the exact same about Ukrainians, which would be the true deeper reason behind their decision to invade Ukraine.

With a paranoic suspicion that also defines Russians today, Muscovites considered Novgorodians “traitors” because they pursued their own diplomatic course and conducted close relations with Poland, Lithuania and the Teutonic Order. They even came to accuse them of having converted to Catholicism, having “sold” themselves to the “Latin king” and spearheading the “Latinist expansion” towards the lands of Rus’. In the exact same way that Russians currently accuse Ukrainians of having “sold” themselves to the West, and spearheading “NATO expansion” and “Western decadence” towards Russia. The parallels are indeed striking.

Obviously, Novgorodians had no intention of leaving Orthodox Christianity or spreading Catholicism further to the east towards Muscovy. This was all the product of the sick imagination of Muscovites. What Novgorodians strived for was to keep their customs and culture, that were essentially part of European Civilization, and hence different from, in fact antithetical, to those of Muscovy, and to pursue their relations with other European states as they saw fit. In a similar vein, Ukraine had no intention to threaten Russia or spearhead a NATO attack on Russian territory. Just like Novgorodians centuries earlier, all Ukrainians want is to build relations with the West, where they naturally belong and hence instinctively gravitate towards, without interference from Muscovite-Russians. And just like their accusations against Novgorodians in the 15th century, the current accusations leveled against Ukraine by the Muscovite-Russians simply reflect their deeper envy and ressentiment at the fact that there is another Slavic, Russian-speaking nation nearby that is more free and prosperous than they are, and chooses a superior civilizational path.  

In essence then, the confrontation between Muscovy and Novgorod, just like the present-day confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, was first and foremost a metaphysical, conceptual one. A backwards, despotic autocracy envious and greedy of the riches and freedoms of its north-western neighbor. Therefore, at a certain point it became clear that Muscovy would not let it go and would resort to violence to solve its irreconcilable differences with Novgorod, whom it regarded as its nemesis.

It all came to a head in 1456. The Grand Prince of Moscow Vasiliy II conducted a sizeable military expedition against the great city-republic. The Muscovite army defeated the Novgorodian force and dictated the punitive Treaty of Yazhelbitsy. Novgorod was made to pay a large indemnity, was prohibited from making independent treaties with foreign governments and was to recognize the suzerainty of the Grand Prince of Moscow.

However, Novgorodians did not want to yield to the restrictive and punitive conditions of the settlement of 1456. In the following years a popular resistance emerged within the city that centered around Marfa Boretskaya, the widow of a former mayor. Among other things, the movement advocated for closer relations with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to restore the republic’s lost freedom of action. Also, Novgorodians were considering placing their archbishop under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan of Kyiv in place of the metropolitan of Moscow. Needless to say, Novgorod did not intend to threaten or attack Muscovy. Its striving for an alliance with Lithuania, who was culturally much closer to it than Muscovy, was purely for defensive purposes. However, vindictive and spiteful Muscovites could not accept this. As a result, Ivan III attacked Novgorod in 1471. Muscovites devastated the Novgorodian lands unleashing genocide with a wild frenzy and massacring people in the cruelest manner. Among other things, Muscovites cut the lips and noses of Novgorodian soldiers they had captured and sent them back to the city to sow terror.

Destruction of Novgorod by Muscovites.

The final blow came in the years 1477–78 when Novgorod was conquered and destroyed by Muscovy. The city was devastated and most of its inhabitants were massacred. The veche bell, that most precious symbol of Novgorod’s identity, was taken down and removed from the city. Its elites were sent into exile to Moscow or dispersed to remote corners of Muscovy to perish and never to return. Finally, in 1480 to suppress yet another rebellion, Ivan III undertook his final punitive expedition. In what would become another recurrrent pattern in future Muscovite/Russian conquests, the city of Novgorod was repopulated with settlers from other parts of Muscovy in order to dilute the share of its native population.

Thousands upon thousands were executed, many others were again sent to exile. Novgorod ceased to exist as an independent state. The prosperous city state that was spared from the Mongol invasion suffered destruction and genocide at the hands of Muscovites.

This however did not mark the end of anguish for the long-suffering, once free and prosperous city republic. The worst was yet to come and it was to experience the full brunt of Muscovite envy and hatred a century later, at the hands of Ivan IV The Terrible and his cruel henchmen.

In spite of the destruction and cleansing of its population by Ivan III, Novgorod still remained wealthy and even retained some of its unique institutional traditions. The natives who escaped genocide and their descendants kept the spirit of Novgorod alive. Moreover, in spite of the share of the native population having been significantly diminished, apparently its culture was so strong that the new settlers were thoroughly imbued by it leaving behind their old ways, a phenomenon that can be observed also in modern times.

Novgorod’s nobility is sent into exile.

Envious and paranoically suspicious Muscovites could not tolerate this. Once Ivan IV conclusively decided to destroy the remnants of Novgorod’s European identity, he showed no mercy. Any territory of the once great republic that the tsar passed through with his brutal and greedy henchmen (oprichniks) felt the blows of their rage. Selected victims were wantonly executed and the population terrorized. Finally, early in 1570 Ivan IV set up his sham court in Novgorod and launched his reign of terror that would become typical of Russian history going forward – a precursor analogous to what Central-Eastern Europe would later experience during the Red Terror of the 1920s and executions under Stalin in the 1930-40s, for example.

The oprichniks arrested many prominent residents of the city, like local nobles, chancery officials and wealthy merchants, and interrogated them under torture. After the interrogations they would execute them in conspiciously cruel ways, that would centuries later define the actions of NKVD – their spiritual descendants. Among other things, their hapless victims would be dragged to the Volkhov river and stuffed through holes in the ice. In most cases entire families, including little children, were killed after going through this ordeal together. During the sack of Novgorod, the oprichniks also directed their ire towards the ecclesiastical society, by arresting monks and plundering churches and monasteries. The oprichniks also had a free hand in dealing with the rest of the population, wherein they scoured Novgorod and the surrounding regions looting, raping and killing. What they couldn’t carry away, they destroyed.

The crushing victory of Muscovy against Novgorod sealed the fate of the future Russian state, and by extension the whole eastern Slavic realm, for many centuries to come. Moreover, the savagery and cruelty with which Muscovy undertook the genocide of Novgorod was an ominous portent of things to come in the following centuries up to the present day and set the behavioral pattern in its future conquests. Russian atrocities in Bucha, Izyum, Mariupol and other places in Ukraine, the brutal rapes, tortures, beheadings and castrations of Ukrainians at the hands of Russians are similar to those what hapless Novgorodians had to endure at the hands of Muscovites.

One could only imagine what future Russia would have looked like if Novgorod had prevailed in its confrontation with Muscovy or at least managed to preserve its independence. There could have emerged a Russian state on the east coast of Baltic stretching up to the north that would be something similar to Prussia or Scandinavian countries, albeit with Orthodox Christianity as its religion. But it wasn’t meant to be. The destruction of Novgorod by Muscovy was a traumatic event and a great civilizational tragedy for Eastern Europe. What Muscovites did to Novgorod was none other than ethnocide – killing a distinct nascent European ethnicity that was forming on the north-eastern expanses of Europe.

Today Ukraine represents for Russia what back then Novgorod represented for Muscovy. Today Ukraine is the jewel of the east Slavic realm. It represents a bright alternative, a European civilizational path for the whole post-Soviet, Russian-speaking realm. A path that drastically differs from the gloom and destruction that civilizational backwater Russia tries to drag everyone into.

Ukraine’s great human capital – talented, energetic, free in spirit and oriented towards Europe, arouses the bitter envy of Russians, like back in the day Novgorodians aroused the envy of Muscovites. Russians see that Ukrainians are richer, more sophisticated and better off than themselves in every respect. This, and only this, explains the wild frenzy with which they rape, torture and murder Ukrainians, and are hellbent on erasing Ukrainian culture and identity, just like in the 15-16th centuries Muscovites were determined to erase Novgorod’s distinct European identity.

Moreover, Muscovites leveraged the vast resources of Eurasia to achieve their goal of subduing Novgorod. During Ivan III's reign, Muscovy was still paying tribute to the Golden Horde, which enabled it access to its extensive material and human resources for the war against Novgorod. A pivotal factor in Muscovy's victory, for instance, was the use of Tatar cavalry. Today, Russia – the successor of Muscovy, similarly exploits Eurasian resources in its war against Ukraine, as it predominantly conscripts people of Asian descent (such as Yakuts, Buryats, and Kalmyks). Additionally, Russia draws significant numbers of soldiers from across the Global South to bolster its forces. Furthermore, Russia's subservience to China, and Putin's recent overtures to Iranian mullahs and North Korea's Kim Jong Un for support in the Ukrainian invasion echo the historical subservience of Muscovy's princes to the khans of the Golden Horde. Just as Muscovy once utilized the Golden Horde's resources to its advantage to consolidate its power and to destroy Novgorod, contemporary Russia mirrors this strategy, seeking external aid all over Eurasia and the Global South to fuel its invasion of Ukraine.

Today’s sick and paranoid Russian propaganda narratives of “NATO expansion to the East” with Ukraine allegedly serving as its “spearhead”, the spread of “LGBT”, “Nazism”, “satanism” etc. are reminiscent of the Muscovite paranoia about Novgorod’s alleged conversion to Catholicism and spreading the “Catholic menace”. In the same way that Muscovy could not stand Novgorod having close relations with Poland, Lithuania and Teutonic Knights - its natural allies and civilizational counterparts, today Russia cannot accept Ukraine drifting towards Europe and the US, who are culturally much closer to it than Russia, and whose people are mentally closer to Ukrainians than Russians are. Like Novgorod’s striving for an alliance with the closely related Grand Duchy of Lithuania was purely for defensive purposes to protect itself from barbaric and rapacious Muscovy, today Ukraine strives for NATO membership, or at least close relations with the block, for the exact same reasons – i.e., to protect itself against Muscovy’s successor state, the barbaric and rapacious Russia, and thereby to realize its own civilizational destiny which belongs with the West.

The spirit of medieval Muscovy embodied in modern Russia must not be allowed to prevail again, against the spirit of Novgorod Republic represented today by modern Ukraine. Back in the day Novgorod’s European allies sadly were not strong enough, nor really willing to help Novgorod in its confrontation with Muscovy. Luckily, the West is much stronger now and more determined to help than it was back in the 15th century. And it must remain steadfast in its support, so that unlike Novgorod, Ukraine prevails in this civilizational confrontation with Muscovy-Russia, which will determine the fate of Eastern Europe, and in fact of all Europe, for many decades and centuries to come.

A potential Russian victory will destroy the glimmer of hope for the eastern Slavic realm embodied in Ukraine and will send it back to the age of darkness and gloom. Victory of Ukraine over Russia, in contrast, will herald a new age of prosperity, progress and cultural creativity for Eastern Europe. Ukraine has a real chance to accomplish a historical feat that was not meant for the great city-republic of Novgorod to achieve, namely bringing the eastern Slavic realm to European Civilization, where it truly belongs.

Moreover, to fully dismantle anti-European Russia, the liberation of its current north-western territories, formerly part of the Novgorod Republic, is essential. This is all the more crucial because the genesis of imperial Russia began with Muscovy's conquest of Novgorod – a pivotal historical moment that marked the rise of Muscovy to the detriment of all Europe. This event was both symbolic and traumatic. To heal this historical trauma and deliver a decisive blow to imperial Russia, the lands of historic Novgorod must be reclaimed from Muscovy and restored to European Civilization. Only then can the deep-seated wounds from Novgorod's destruction be healed, allowing the eastern Slavic realm to rediscover itself in a new, enlightened context under Ukrainian leadership.