Ice Battle (briefly)

Brief description of the battle on the ice

The battle on the ice takes place on April 5, 1242 on Lake Peipus. This event became one of the most important battles in the history of Russia and its victories. The date of this battle completely stopped any hostilities on the part of the Livonian Order. However, as often happens, many of the facts that are associated with this event are considered controversial among researchers and historians.

As a result, today we do not know the exact number of soldiers in the Russian army, because this information is completely absent both in the Life of Nevsky himself and in the chronicles of that time. The estimated number of soldiers who took part in the battle is fifteen thousand, and the Livonian army has at least twelve thousand soldiers.

The position chosen by Nevsky for the battle was not chosen by chance. First of all, it allowed blocking all approaches to Novgorod. Most likely, Nevsky understood that knights in heavy armor were the most vulnerable in winter conditions.

Livonian warriors lined up in a battle wedge popular at that time, placing heavy knights on the flanks, and light ones inside the wedge. This building was called by the Russian chroniclers the "great pig". How Alexander arranged the army is unknown to historians. At the same time, the knights decided to advance into battle, not having accurate data on the enemy army.

The sentry regiment was attacked by a knight's wedge, which then moved on. However, the advancing knights soon encountered many unexpected obstacles on their way.

The knight's wedge was clamped in pincers, having lost its maneuverability. With the attack of the ambush regiment, Alexander finally tipped the scales in his favor. The Livonian knights, who were dressed in heavy armor, became completely helpless without their horses. Those who were able to escape were persecuted according to chronicle sources "to the Falcon Coast."

Having won the Battle of the Ice, Alexander Nevsky forced the Livonian Order to renounce all territorial claims and conclude peace. The warriors who had been captured in the battle were returned by both sides.

It should be noted that the event called the Battle on the Ice is considered unique. For the first time in history, a foot army managed to defeat a heavily armed cavalry. Of course, quite important factors that determined the outcome of the battle were surprise, terrain and weather conditions, which the Russian commander took into account.

Fragment of video illustration: Battle on the Ice

29.12.2014 0 14835

Many books and articles have been written about the famous battle on the ice of Lake Peipsi in April 1242, but it itself has not been fully studied - and our information about it is replete with blank spots...

“And there was an evil slash, and a crack from breaking spears, and a sound from a sword cut, and the frozen lake moved. And there was no ice to be seen: all covered with blood ... "

At the beginning of 1242, the German Teutonic Knights captured Pskov and advanced towards Novgorod. On Saturday, April 5, at dawn, the Russian squad, led by the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky, met the crusaders on the ice of Lake Peipus, at the Raven Stone.

Alexander skillfully flanked the knights, built in a wedge, and with the blow of an ambush regiment took him into the ring. The Battle on the Ice, famous in Russian history, began. “And there was an evil slash, and a crack from breaking spears, and a sound from a sword cut, and the frozen lake moved. And no ice was visible: it was all covered in blood...” The chronicle reports that the ice cover could not withstand the retreating heavily armed knights and collapsed. Under the weight of their armor, the enemy warriors quickly went to the bottom, choking in the icy water.

Some circumstances of the battle remained a real "blank spot" for researchers. Where does truth end and fiction begin? Why did the ice collapse under the feet of the knights and withstand the weight of the Russian army? How could the knights fall through the ice, if its thickness near the shores of Lake Peipsi in early April reaches a meter? Where did the legendary battle take place?

In domestic chronicles (Novgorod, Pskov, Suzdal, Rostov, Lavrentiev, etc.) and the "Senior Livonian Rhymed Chronicle" both the events that preceded the battle and the battle itself are described in detail. Its landmarks are indicated: “On Lake Peipsi, near the Uzmen tract, near the Raven Stone.” Local legends specify that the warriors fought right outside the village of Samolva.

The annalistic miniature drawing shows the confrontation of the parties before the battle, and defensive ramparts, stone and other buildings are shown in the background. In ancient chronicles, there is no mention of Voronii Island (or any other island) near the place of the battle. They talk about the battle on the ground, and the ice is mentioned only in the final part of the battle.

In search of answers to the numerous questions of researchers, in the late 50s of the 20th century, Leningrad archaeologists, led by military historian Georgy Karaev, were the first to go to the shores of Lake Peipus. Scientists were going to recreate the events of more than seven hundred years ago.

In the beginning, chance helped. Once, while talking with fishermen, Karaev asked why they called the section of the lake near Cape Sigovets "a cursed place." The fishermen explained: in this place, until the most severe frosts, there remains a polynya, “cigovica”, because whitefish have been caught in it for a long time. In frost, of course, the ice will seize the "sigovitsa", only it is fragile: a person will go there - and he is gone ...

So, it is no coincidence that the locals call the southern part of the lake the Warm Lake. Perhaps this is where the crusaders drowned? Here is the answer: the bottom of the lake in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bSigovits is replete with groundwater outlets that prevent the formation of a solid ice cover.

Archaeologists have found that the waters of Lake Peipsi are gradually advancing on the shores, this is the result of a slow tectonic process. Many ancient villages were flooded, and their inhabitants moved to other, higher shores. The lake level is rising at a rate of 4 millimeters per year. Consequently, since the time of the right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, the water in the lake has risen by a good three meters!

G.N. Karaev removed depths of less than three meters from the map of the lake, and the map "rejuvenated" by seven hundred years. This map prompted: the narrowest place of the lake in ancient times was just next door to the “sigovitsy”. This is how the annalistic “Uzmen”, a name that does not exist on the modern map of the lake, received an exact reference.

The most difficult thing was to determine the location of the "Raven Stone", because on the map of the lake of the Raven Stones, rocks and islands, there are more than a dozen. Karaev's divers explored Voroniy Island near Uzmen and found that it was nothing more than the top of a huge sheer underwater cliff. A stone rampart was unexpectedly discovered next to it. Scientists decided that the name "Raven Stone" in ancient times referred not only to the rock, but also to a rather strong border fortification. It became clear: the battle began here on that distant April morning.

The expedition members came to the conclusion that several centuries ago the Raven Stone was a high fifteen-meter hill with steep slopes, it was visible from afar and served as a good guide. But time and waves did their job: the once high hill with steep slopes disappeared under the water.

The researchers also tried to explain why the fleeing knights fell through the ice and drowned. In fact, at the beginning of April, when the battle took place, the ice on the lake is still quite thick and strong. But the secret was that not far from the Raven Stone, warm springs form “sigovits” from the bottom of the lake, so the ice here is less strong than in other places. Previously, when the water level was lower, underwater springs undoubtedly hit right on the ice sheet. The Russians, of course, knew about this and bypassed dangerous places, and the enemy ran straight ahead.

So this is the solution to the riddle! But if it is true that in this place the icy abyss swallowed up an entire knightly army, then somewhere here his trace must be hidden. Archaeologists set themselves the task of finding this last proof, but the circumstances prevented the achievement of the ultimate goal. It was not possible to find the burial places of the soldiers who died in the Battle of the Ice. This is clearly stated in the report of the complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences. And soon there were allegations that in ancient times the dead were taken with them for burial in their homeland, therefore, they say, their remains cannot be found.

A few years ago, a new generation of searchers - a group of Moscow enthusiasts, lovers of the ancient history of Russia, again tried to solve a centuries-old mystery. She had to find burial places hidden in the ground related to the Battle of the Ice on a large territory of the Gdovsky district of the Pskov region.

Studies have shown that in those distant times, in the area south of the village of Kozlovo, which exists today, there was some kind of fortified outpost of the Novgorodians. It was here that Prince Alexander Nevsky went to join the detachment of Andrei Yaroslavich, hidden in an ambush. At a critical moment in the battle, an ambush regiment could go behind the knights, surround them and ensure victory. The place is relatively flat. The troops of Nevsky from the north-western side were protected by the “sigovits” of Lake Peipus, and from the eastern side - by the wooded part, where the Novgorodians settled in the fortified town.

The knights advanced from the south side (from the village of Tabory). Not knowing about the Novgorod reinforcements and feeling their military superiority in strength, they, without hesitation, rushed into battle, falling into the "nets" placed. From here it can be seen that the battle itself was on land, not far from the shore of the lake. By the end of the battle, the knightly army was driven back to the spring ice of Zhelchinskaya Bay, where many of them died. Their remains and weapons are still at the bottom of this bay.

And the people of Vladimir, led by Alexander Nevsky, on the one hand, and the army of the Livonian Order, on the other hand.

The opposing armies met on the morning of April 5, 1242. The Rhymed Chronicle describes the moment of the beginning of the battle as follows:

Thus, the news of the "Chronicle" about the order of battle of the Russians as a whole is combined with the reports of the Russian chronicles about the allocation of a separate rifle regiment in front of the center of the main forces (since 1185).

In the center, the Germans broke through the Russian line:

But then the troops of the Teutonic Order were surrounded by the Russians from the flanks and destroyed, and other German detachments retreated to avoid the same fate: the Russians pursued those fleeing on the ice for 7 miles. It is noteworthy that, unlike the battle of Omovzha in 1234, sources close to the time of the battle do not report that the Germans fell through the ice; according to Donald Ostrovsky, this information penetrated into later sources from the description of the 1016 battle between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk in The Tale of Bygone Years and The Tale of Boris and Gleb.

In the same year, the Teutonic Order concluded a peace treaty with Novgorod, relinquishing all their recent seizures, not only in Russia, but also in Letgol. There was also an exchange of prisoners. Only 10 years later, the Teutons tried to recapture Pskov.

Scale and significance of the battle

The Chronicle says that in the battle there were 60 Russians for every German (which is recognized as an exaggeration), and the loss of 20 knights killed and 6 captured in the battle. “Chronicle of the Grand Masters” (“Die jungere Hochmeisterchronik”, sometimes translated as “Chronicle of the Teutonic Order”), an official history of the Teutonic Order, written much later, speaks of the death of 70 order knights (literally “70 order gentlemen”, “seuentich Ordens Herenn” ), but unites the dead during the capture of Pskov by Alexander and on Lake Peipus.

According to the point of view traditional in Russian historiography, this battle, together with the victories of Prince Alexander over the Swedes (July 15, 1240 on the Neva) and over the Lithuanians (in 1245 near Toropets, near Lake Zhiztsa and near Usvyat), was of great importance for Pskov and Novgorod, holding back the pressure of three serious enemies from the west - at the very time when the rest of Russia was greatly weakened by the Mongol invasion. In Novgorod, the Battle on the Ice, together with the Neva victory over the Swedes, was remembered at litanies in all Novgorod churches back in the 16th century. In Soviet historiography, the Battle of the Ice was considered one of the largest battles in the entire history of German-knightly aggression in the Baltic States, and the number of troops on Lake Peipus was estimated at 10-12 thousand people at the Order and 15-17 thousand people from Novgorod and their allies (the last figure corresponds to the assessment by Henry of Latvia of the number of Russian troops when describing their campaigns in the Baltic states in the 1210-1220s), that is, approximately at the same level as in the Battle of Grunwald () - up to 11 thousand people at the Order and 16-17 thousand people in the Polish-Lithuanian army. The Chronicle, as a rule, reports on the small number of Germans in those battles that they lost, but even in it the Battle on the Ice is unambiguously described as a defeat of the Germans, in contrast, for example, to the Battle of Rakovor ().

As a rule, the minimum estimates of the number of troops and losses of the Order in the battle correspond to the historical role assigned by specific researchers to this battle and the figure of Alexander Nevsky as a whole (for more details, see Estimates of the activities of Alexander Nevsky). In general, V. O. Klyuchevsky and M. N. Pokrovsky did not mention the battle in their writings.

The English researcher J. Fennel believes that the significance of the Battle of the Ice (and the Battle of the Neva) is greatly exaggerated: “Alexander did only what the numerous defenders of Novgorod and Pskov did before him and what many did after him - namely, they rushed to protect the extended and vulnerable borders from invaders. Russian professor I. N. Danilevsky agrees with this opinion. He notes, in particular, that the battle was inferior in scale to the battle of Saul (1236), in which the master of the order and 48 knights were killed by the Lithuanians, and the battle of Rakovor; contemporary sources even describe the Battle of the Neva in more detail and attach more importance to it. However, in Russian historiography, it is not customary to remember the defeat at Saul, since the Pskovites took part in it on the side of the defeated knights.

German historians believe that while fighting on the western borders, Alexander Nevsky did not pursue any coherent political program, but successes in the West provided some compensation for the horrors of the Mongol invasion. Many researchers believe that the very scale of the threat that the West posed to Russia is exaggerated. On the other hand, L. N. Gumilyov, on the contrary, believed that not the Tatar-Mongol "yoke", but namely Catholic Western Europe, represented by the Teutonic Order and the Archbishopric of Riga, was a mortal threat to the very existence of Russia, and therefore the role of the victories of Alexander Nevsky in Russian history is especially great.

The battle on the ice played a role in the formation of the Russian national myth, in which Alexander Nevsky was assigned the role of "defender of Orthodoxy and the Russian land" in the face of the "Western threat"; victory in battle was seen as justification for the prince's political moves in the 1250s. The cult of Nevsky was especially actualized in the Stalin era, serving as a kind of visual historical example for the cult of Stalin himself. The cornerstone of the Stalinist myth about Alexander Yaroslavich and the Battle of the Ice was a film by Sergei Eisenstein (see below) .

On the other hand, it is wrong to assume that the Battle on the Ice became popular in the scientific community and among the general public only after the appearance of Eisenstein's film. “Schlacht auf dem Eise”, “Schlacht auf dem Peipussee”, “Prœlium glaciale” [Battle on ice (us.), Battle on Lake Peipus (German), Ice battle (lat.)] - such well-established concepts are found in Western sources long before the director's work. This battle was and will forever remain in the memory of the Russian people, just like, say, the battle of Borodino, which, according to a strict view, cannot be called victorious - the Russian army left the battlefield. And for us this great battle, which played an important role in the outcome of the war.

The memory of the battle

Movies

Music

• The musical score for the Eisenstein film, composed by Sergei Prokofiev, is a cantata celebrating the events of the battle.

Literature

Monuments

Monument to the squads of Alexander Nevsky on Mount Sokolikh

Monument to Alexander Nevsky and Poklonny Cross

The bronze worship cross was cast in St. Petersburg at the expense of patrons of the Baltic Steel Group (A. V. Ostapenko). The prototype was the Novgorod Alekseevsky cross. The author of the project is A. A. Seleznev. A bronze sign was cast under the direction of D. Gochiyaev by the foundry workers of ZAO NTTsKT, architects B. Kostygov and S. Kryukov. During the implementation of the project, fragments from the lost wooden cross by sculptor V. Reshchikov were used.

Commemorative cross for prince "s armed force of Alexander Nevsky (Kobylie Gorodishe).jpg

Memorial cross to the squads of Alexander Nevsky

Monument in honor of the 750th anniversary of the battle

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Monument in honor of the 750th anniversary of the battle (fragment)

In philately and on coins

Data

In connection with the incorrect calculation of the date of the battle according to the new style, the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the victory of Russian soldiers of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the crusaders (established by Federal Law No. 32-FZ of March 13, 1995 "On the days of military glory and memorable dates of Russia") is celebrated on 18 April instead of the correct one according to the new style on April 12. The difference between the old (Julian) and the new (Gregorian, first introduced in 1582) style in the 13th century would be 7 days (counting from April 5, 1242), and the difference between them of 13 days takes place only in the period 03/14/1900-14.03 .2100 (new style). In other words, Victory Day on Lake Peipsi (April 5, old style) is celebrated on April 18, which really falls on April 5, old style, but only now (1900-2099).

At the end of the 20th century in Russia and some republics of the former USSR, many political organizations celebrated the unofficial holiday Day of the Russian Nation (April 5), designed to become the date of unity of all patriotic forces.

On April 22, 2012, on the occasion of the 770th anniversary of the Battle on the Ice in the village of Samolva, Gdov District, Pskov Region, the Museum of the History of the Expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences to clarify the location of the Battle on the Ice of 1242 was opened.

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Notes

2. Razin E. A.
3. Uzhankov A.
6. Battle on the Ice of 1242: Proceedings of a comprehensive expedition to clarify the location of the Battle on the Ice. - M.-L., 1966. - 253 p. - S. 60-64.
7. . Its date is considered more preferable, since, in addition to the number, it also contains a link to the day of the week and church holidays (the day of memory of the martyr Claudius and praise of the Virgin). In the Pskov Chronicles, the date is April 1.
8. Donald Ostrowski(English) // Russian History/Histoire Russe. - 2006. - Vol. 33, no. 2-3-4. - P. 304-307.
9. .
10. .
11. Heinrich of Latvia. .
12. Razin E. A. .
13. Danilevsky, I.. Polit.ru. April 15, 2005.
14. Dittmar Dahlmann. Der russische Sieg über die "teutonische Ritter" auf der Peipussee 1242// Schlachtenmythen: Ereignis - Erzählung - Erinnerung. Herausgegeben von Gerd Krumeich and Susanne Brandt. (Europäische Geschichtsdarstellungen. Herausgegeben von Johannes Laudage. - Band 2.) - Wien-Köln-Weimar: Böhlau Verlag, 2003. - S. 63-76.
15. Werner Philipp. Heiligkeit und Herrschaft in der Vita Aleksandr Nevskijs // Forschungen zur osteuropäischen Geschichte. - Band 18. - Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1973. - S. 55-72.
16. Janet Martin. Medieval Russia 980-1584. second edition. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. - P. 181.
17. . gumilevica.kulichki.net. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
20. // Gdovskaya dawn: newspaper. - 30.3.2007.
24. (unavailable link from 25-05-2013 (2106 days) - story , copy) //Official site of the Pskov region, July 12, 2006]
27. .
28. .
29. .

Literature

• Lipitsky S.V. Battle on the Ice. - M .: Military Publishing House, 1964. - 68 p. - (The heroic past of our Motherland).
• Mansikka V.J. Life of Alexander Nevsky: Analysis of editions and text. - St. Petersburg, 1913. - "Monuments of ancient writing." - Issue. 180.
• Life of Alexander Nevsky / Preparatory work. text, translation and comm. V. I. Okhotnikova // Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia: XIII century. - M.: Fiction, 1981.
• Begunov Yu.K. Monument of Russian literature of the XIII century: "The word about the destruction of the Russian land" - M.-L.: Nauka, 1965.
• Pashuto V. T. Alexander Nevsky - M .: Young Guard, 1974. - 160 p. - Series "Life of remarkable people".
• Karpov A. Yu. Alexander Nevsky - M.: Young Guard, 2010. - 352 p. - Series "Life of remarkable people".
• Khitrov M. Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky. Detailed biography. - Minsk: Panorama, 1991. - 288 p. - Reprint ed.
• Klepinin N. A. Holy Blessed and Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2004. - 288 p. - Series "Slavonic Library".
• Prince Alexander Nevsky and his era: Research and materials / Ed. Yu. K. Begunov and A. N. Kirpichnikov. - St. Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 1995. - 214 p.
• Fennell J. The Crisis of Medieval Russia. 1200-1304 - M.: Progress, 1989. - 296 p.
• Battle on the Ice of 1242: Proceedings of a comprehensive expedition to clarify the location of the Battle on the Ice / Ed. ed. G. N. Karaev. - M.-L.: Nauka, 1966. - 241 p.
• Tikhomirov M. N. About the place of the Battle of the Ice // Tikhomirov M. N. Ancient Russia: Sat. Art. / Ed. A. V. Artsikhovsky and M. T. Belyavsky, with the participation of N. B. Shelamanov. - M .: Nauka, 1975. - S. 368-374. - 432 p. - 16,000 copies.(in lane, superregional)
• Nesterenko A. N. Alexander Nevsky. Who won the Ice Battle., 2006. Olma-Press.

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Battle of the Ice

His illness followed its own physical order, but what Natasha called it happened to him, happened to him two days before Princess Mary's arrival. It was that last moral struggle between life and death in which death triumphed. It was an unexpected realization that he still cherished life, which seemed to him in love for Natasha, and the last, subdued fit of horror before the unknown.
It was in the evening. He was, as usual after dinner, in a slight feverish state, and his thoughts were extremely clear. Sonya was sitting at the table. He dozed off. Suddenly a feeling of happiness swept over him.
“Ah, she came in!” he thought.
Indeed, Natasha, who had just entered with inaudible steps, was sitting in Sonya's place.
Ever since she'd followed him, he'd always had that physical sensation of her closeness. She was sitting on an armchair, sideways to him, blocking the light of the candle from him, and knitting a stocking. (She had learned to knit stockings ever since Prince Andrei had told her that no one knows how to look after the sick as well as old nannies who knit stockings, and that there is something soothing in knitting a stocking.) Her thin fingers quickly fingered from time to time spokes colliding, and the thoughtful profile of her lowered face was clearly visible to him. She made a move - the ball rolled from her knees. She shuddered, looked back at him, and shielding the candle with her hand, with a careful, flexible and precise movement, bent over, picked up the ball and sat down in her former position.
He looked at her without moving, and saw that after her movement she needed to take a deep breath, but she did not dare to do this and carefully caught her breath.
In the Trinity Lavra they talked about the past, and he told her that if he were alive, he would thank God forever for his wound, which brought him back to her; but since then they have never talked about the future.
“Could it or couldn’t it be? he thought now, looking at her and listening to the light steely sound of the spokes. “Is it really only then that fate brought me so strangely together with her in order for me to die? .. Was it possible that the truth of life was revealed to me only so that I would live in a lie?” I love her more than anything in the world. But what should I do if I love her? he said, and he suddenly groaned involuntarily, out of a habit he had acquired during his suffering.
Hearing this sound, Natasha put down her stocking, leaned closer to him, and suddenly, noticing his luminous eyes, went up to him with a light step and bent down.
- You are not asleep?
- No, I have been looking at you for a long time; I felt when you entered. Nobody like you, but gives me that soft silence... that light. I just want to cry with joy.
Natasha moved closer to him. Her face shone with ecstatic joy.
“Natasha, I love you too much. More than anything.
- And I? She turned away for a moment. - Why too much? - she said.
- Why too much? .. Well, what do you think, how do you feel to your heart, to your heart's content, will I be alive? What do you think?
- I'm sure, I'm sure! - Natasha almost screamed, passionately taking him by both hands.
He paused.
- How nice! And taking her hand, he kissed it.
Natasha was happy and excited; and at once she remembered that this was impossible, that he needed calmness.
"But you didn't sleep," she said, suppressing her joy. “Try to sleep…please.”
He released her, shaking her hand, she went to the candle and again sat down in her previous position. Twice she looked back at him, his eyes shining towards her. She gave herself a lesson on the stocking and told herself that until then she would not look back until she finished it.
Indeed, soon after that he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He didn't sleep long and suddenly woke up in a cold sweat.
Falling asleep, he thought about the same thing that he thought about from time to time - about life and death. And more about death. He felt closer to her.
"Love? What is love? he thought. “Love interferes with death. Love is life. Everything, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists only because I love. Everything is connected by her. Love is God, and to die means for me, a particle of love, to return to the common and eternal source. These thoughts seemed to him comforting. But these were only thoughts. Something was lacking in them, something that was one-sidedly personal, mental - there was no evidence. And there was the same anxiety and uncertainty. He fell asleep.
He saw in a dream that he was lying in the same room in which he actually lay, but that he was not injured, but healthy. Many different persons, insignificant, indifferent, appear before Prince Andrei. He talks to them, argues about something unnecessary. They are going to go somewhere. Prince Andrei vaguely recalls that all this is insignificant and that he has other, most important concerns, but continues to speak, surprising them, with some empty, witty words. Little by little, imperceptibly, all these faces begin to disappear, and everything is replaced by one question about the closed door. He gets up and goes to the door to slide the bolt and lock it. Everything depends on whether or not he has time to lock it up. He walks, in a hurry, his legs do not move, and he knows that he will not have time to lock the door, but still painfully strains all his strength. And a tormenting fear seizes him. And this fear is the fear of death: it stands behind the door. But at the same time as he helplessly awkwardly crawls to the door, this is something terrible, on the other hand, already, pressing, breaking into it. Something not human - death - is breaking at the door, and we must keep it. He grabs the door, exerting his last efforts - it is no longer possible to lock it - at least to keep it; but his strength is weak, clumsy, and, pressed by the terrible, the door opens and closes again.
Once again, it pressed from there. The last, supernatural efforts are in vain, and both halves opened silently. It has entered, and it is death. And Prince Andrew died.
But at the same moment he died, Prince Andrei remembered that he was sleeping, and at the same moment he died, he, having made an effort on himself, woke up.
“Yes, it was death. I died - I woke up. Yes, death is an awakening! - suddenly brightened in his soul, and the veil that had hidden the unknown until now was lifted before his spiritual gaze. He felt, as it were, the release of the previously bound strength in him and that strange lightness that had not left him since then.
When he woke up in a cold sweat, stirred on the sofa, Natasha went up to him and asked what was wrong with him. He did not answer her and, not understanding her, looked at her with a strange look.
This was what happened to him two days before Princess Mary's arrival. From the same day, as the doctor said, the debilitating fever took on a bad character, but Natasha was not interested in what the doctor said: she saw these terrible, more undoubted, moral signs for her.
From that day on, for Prince Andrei, along with the awakening from sleep, the awakening from life began. And in relation to the duration of life, it did not seem to him more slowly than awakening from sleep in relation to the duration of a dream.

There was nothing terrible and sharp in this relatively slow awakening.
His last days and hours passed in an ordinary and simple way. And Princess Marya and Natasha, who did not leave him, felt it. They did not cry, did not shudder, and lately, feeling it themselves, they no longer followed him (he was no longer there, he left them), but for the closest memory of him - for his body. The feelings of both were so strong that they were not affected by the outer, terrible side of death, and they did not find it necessary to exasperate their grief. They did not cry either with him or without him, but they never talked about him among themselves. They felt that they could not put into words what they understood.
They both saw him sinking deeper and deeper, slowly and calmly, away from them somewhere, and both knew that this was how it should be and that it was good.
He was confessed, communed; everyone came to say goodbye to him. When they brought him his son, he put his lips to him and turned away, not because he was hard or sorry (Princess Marya and Natasha understood this), but only because he believed that this was all that was required of him; but when they told him to bless him, he did what was required and looked around, as if asking if there was anything else to be done.
When the last shudders of the body left by the spirit took place, Princess Marya and Natasha were there.
- Is it over?! - said Princess Marya, after his body had been motionless for several minutes, growing cold, lying in front of them. Natasha came up, looked into the dead eyes and hurried to close them. She closed them and did not kiss them, but kissed what was the closest memory of him.
“Where did he go? Where is he now?..”

When the dressed, washed body lay in a coffin on the table, everyone came up to him to say goodbye, and everyone wept.
Nikolushka wept from the pained bewilderment that tore at his heart. The Countess and Sonya wept with pity for Natasha and that he was no more. The old count wept that soon, he felt, he was about to take the same terrible step.
Natasha and Princess Mary were weeping now too, but they were not weeping from their own personal grief; they wept from the reverent tenderness that seized their souls before the consciousness of the simple and solemn mystery of death that took place before them.

The totality of the causes of phenomena is inaccessible to the human mind. But the need to find causes is embedded in the human soul. And the human mind, not delving into the innumerability and complexity of the conditions of phenomena, each of which separately can be represented as a cause, grabs at the first, most understandable approximation and says: here is the cause. In historical events (where the subject of observation is the actions of people), the most primitive rapprochement is the will of the gods, then the will of those people who stand in the most prominent historical place - historical heroes. But one has only to delve into the essence of each historical event, that is, into the activity of the entire mass of people who participated in the event, in order to be convinced that the will of the historical hero not only does not direct the actions of the masses, but is itself constantly guided. It would seem that it is all the same to understand the meaning of a historical event one way or another. But between the man who says that the peoples of the West went to the East because Napoleon wanted it, and the man who says that it happened because it had to happen, there is the same difference that existed between people who said that the land stands firmly and the planets move around it, and those who said that they do not know what the earth is based on, but they know that there are laws that govern the movement of both it and other planets. There are no and cannot be causes of a historical event, except for the single cause of all causes. But there are laws that govern events, partly unknown, partly groping for us. The discovery of these laws is possible only when we completely renounce the search for causes in the will of one person, just as the discovery of the laws of the motion of the planets became possible only when people renounced the notion of the affirmation of the earth.

After the battle of Borodino, the occupation of Moscow by the enemy and its burning, the most important episode of the war of 1812, historians recognize the movement of the Russian army from the Ryazan to the Kaluga road and to the Tarutinsky camp - the so-called flank march behind Krasnaya Pakhra. Historians attribute the glory of this brilliant feat to various persons and argue about who, in fact, it belongs to. Even foreign, even French, historians recognize the genius of the Russian generals when they speak of this flank march. But why military writers, and after them all, believe that this flank march is a very thoughtful invention of some one person that saved Russia and ruined Napoleon is very difficult to understand. In the first place, it is difficult to understand what is the profoundness and genius of this movement; for in order to guess that the best position of the army (when it is not attacked) is where there is more food, no great mental effort is needed. And everyone, even a stupid thirteen-year-old boy, could easily guess that in 1812 the most advantageous position of the army, after retreating from Moscow, was on the Kaluga road. So, it is impossible to understand, firstly, by what conclusions historians reach the point of seeing something profound in this maneuver. Secondly, it is even more difficult to understand in what exactly historians see this maneuver as saving for the Russians and harmful for the French; for this flank march, under other, preceding, accompanying and subsequent circumstances, could be detrimental to the Russian and saving for the French army. If from the time this movement was made, the position of the Russian army began to improve, then it does not follow from this that this movement was the cause.
This flank march not only could not bring any benefits, but could ruin the Russian army, if other conditions did not coincide. What would have happened if Moscow had not burned down? If Murat had not lost sight of the Russians? If Napoleon had not been inactive? What if, on the advice of Bennigsen and Barclay, the Russian army had fought near Krasnaya Pakhra? What would happen if the French attacked the Russians when they were following Pakhra? What would have happened if later Napoleon, approaching Tarutin, attacked the Russians with at least one tenth of the energy with which he attacked in Smolensk? What would happen if the French went to St. Petersburg?.. With all these assumptions, the salvation of the flank march could turn into pernicious.
Thirdly, and most incomprehensibly, is that people who study history deliberately do not want to see that the flank march cannot be attributed to any one person, that no one ever foresaw it, that this maneuver, just like the retreat in Filiakh, in the present, has never been presented to anyone in its integrity, but step by step, event after event, moment by moment it followed from an innumerable number of the most diverse conditions, and only then presented itself in all its integrity when it took place and became past.
At the council at Fili, the dominant thought of the Russian authorities was the self-evident retreat in a direct direction back, that is, along the Nizhny Novgorod road. Evidence of this is the fact that the majority of votes at the council were cast in this sense, and, most importantly, the well-known conversation after the council of the commander-in-chief with Lansky, who was in charge of the provisions department. Lanskoy reported to the commander-in-chief that food for the army was collected mainly along the Oka, in the Tula and Kaluga provinces, and that in the event of a retreat to Nizhny, the provisions would be separated from the army by the large river Oka, through which transportation in the first winter is impossible. This was the first sign of the need to deviate from the direct direction to the Lower, which had previously seemed the most natural. The army kept to the south, along the Ryazan road, and closer to the reserves. Subsequently, the inaction of the French, who even lost sight of the Russian army, concerns about the protection of the Tula plant and, most importantly, the benefits of approaching their reserves, forced the army to deviate even further south, to the Tula road. Having crossed in a desperate movement beyond Pakhra to the Tula road, the commanders of the Russian army thought to remain at Podolsk, and there was no thought of the Tarutino position; but countless circumstances and the reappearance of French troops, who had previously lost sight of the Russians, and the plans for the battle, and, most importantly, the abundance of provisions in Kaluga, forced our army to deviate even more to the south and move into the middle of their food routes, from the Tulskaya to the Kaluga road, to Tarutino. Just as it is impossible to answer the question when Moscow was abandoned, it is also impossible to answer when exactly and by whom it was decided to go over to Tarutin. Only when the troops had already arrived at Tarutino as a result of innumerable differential forces, only then did people begin to assure themselves that they wanted this and had long foreseen it.

The famous flank march consisted only in the fact that the Russian army, retreating straight back in the opposite direction of the offensive, after the French offensive had stopped, deviated from the direct direction taken at first and, not seeing persecution behind them, naturally leaned in the direction where it attracted an abundance of food.
If we imagined not brilliant commanders at the head of the Russian army, but simply one army without commanders, then this army could not do anything other than move back to Moscow, describing an arc from the side from which there was more food and the land was more abundant.
This movement from the Nizhny Novgorod to the Ryazan, Tula and Kaluga roads was so natural that the marauders of the Russian army ran off in this very direction and that in this very direction it was required from Petersburg that Kutuzov transfer his army. In Tarutino, Kutuzov almost received a reprimand from the sovereign for having withdrawn the army to the Ryazan road, and he was pointed out the very position against Kaluga in which he was already at the time he received the sovereign's letter.
Rolling back in the direction of the push given to it during the entire campaign and in the battle of Borodino, the ball of the Russian army, when the force of the push was destroyed and not receiving new shocks, took the position that was natural to it.
Kutuzov's merit did not lie in some kind of ingenious, as they call it, strategic maneuver, but in the fact that he alone understood the significance of the event taking place. He alone understood even then the significance of the inaction of the French army, he alone continued to assert that the battle of Borodino was a victory; he alone - the one who, it would seem, by his position as commander-in-chief, should have been called to the offensive - he alone used all his strength to keep the Russian army from useless battles.
The slain beast near Borodino lay somewhere where the runaway hunter had left it; but whether he was alive, whether he was strong, or whether he was only hiding, the hunter did not know this. Suddenly, the groan of this beast was heard.
The groan of this wounded beast, the French army, denouncing her death, was the sending of Loriston to Kutuzov's camp with a request for peace.
Napoleon, with his confidence that it is not good that is good, but that it is good that came to his mind, wrote to Kutuzov the words that first came to his mind and did not make any sense. He wrote:

“Monsieur le prince Koutouzov,” he wrote, “j" envoie pres de vous un de mes aides de camps generaux pour vous entretenir de plusieurs objets interessants. Je desire que Votre Altesse ajoute foi a ce qu "il lui dira, surtout lorsqu" il exprimera les sentiments d "estime et de particuliere consideration que j" ai depuis longtemps pour sa personne… Cette lettre n "etant a autre fin, je prie Dieu, Monsieur le prince Koutouzov, qu" il vous ait en sa sainte et digne garde ,
Moscou, le 3 Octobre, 1812. Signe:
Napoleon.
[Prince Kutuzov, I am sending you one of my adjutant generals to negotiate with you on many important subjects. I ask Your Grace to believe everything he tells you, especially when he begins to express to you the feelings of respect and special respect that I have had for you for a long time. I pray to God to keep you under my sacred roof.
Moscow, October 3, 1812.
Napoleon. ]

"Je serais maudit par la posterite si l" on me regardait comme le premier moteur d "un accommodement quelconque. Tel est l "esprit actuel de ma nation", [I would be damned if they looked at me as the first instigator of any deal; this is the will of our people.] - answered Kutuzov and continued to use all his strength for that to keep troops from advancing.
In the month of the robbery of the French army in Moscow and the calm stationing of the Russian army near Tarutino, a change took place in relation to the strength of both troops (spirit and number), as a result of which the advantage of strength turned out to be on the side of the Russians. Despite the fact that the position of the French army and its numbers were unknown to the Russians, as soon as attitudes changed, the need for an offensive was immediately expressed in countless signs. These signs were: the sending of Loriston, and the abundance of provisions in Tarutino, and the information that came from all sides about the inactivity and disorder of the French, and the recruitment of our regiments, and good weather, and the long rest of Russian soldiers, and usually arising in the troops as a result of rest impatience to do the work for which everyone is gathered, and curiosity about what was being done in the French army, so long lost sight of, and the courage with which Russian outposts were now snooping around the French stationed in Tarutino, and news of easy victories over the French peasants and the partisans, and the envy aroused by this, and the feeling of revenge that lay in the soul of every person as long as the French were in Moscow, and the (most important) vague, but arising in the soul of every soldier, the consciousness that the ratio of strength has now changed and the advantage is on our side. The essential balance of forces changed and an offensive became necessary. And immediately, just as surely as the chimes begin to beat and play in the clock, when the hand has made a full circle, in the higher spheres, in accordance with a significant change in forces, an increased movement, hissing and playing of the chimes was reflected.

The Russian army was controlled by Kutuzov with his headquarters and the sovereign from St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, even before the news of the abandonment of Moscow was received, a detailed plan for the entire war was drawn up and sent to Kutuzov for guidance. Despite the fact that this plan was drawn up on the assumption that Moscow was still in our hands, this plan was approved by the headquarters and accepted for execution. Kutuzov wrote only that long-range sabotage is always difficult to carry out. And to resolve the difficulties encountered, new instructions and persons were sent who were supposed to monitor his actions and report on them.
In addition, now the entire headquarters has been transformed in the Russian army. The places of the murdered Bagration and the offended, retired Barclay were replaced. They considered very seriously what would be better: to put A. in the place of B., and B. in the place of D., or, on the contrary, D. in the place of A., etc., as if something other than the pleasure of A. and B., could depend on it.
At the army headquarters, on the occasion of Kutuzov's hostility with his chief of staff, Benigsen, and the presence of the sovereign's confidants and these movements, there was a more than usual complex game of parties: A. undermined B., D. under S., etc. ., in all possible displacements and combinations. With all these underminings, the subject of intrigues was for the most part the military business that all these people thought to direct; but this warfare proceeded independently of them, exactly as it was supposed to proceed, that is, never coinciding with what people thought up, but proceeding from the essence of mass relations. All these inventions, intercrossing, entangled, represented in the higher spheres only a true reflection of what was to be accomplished.

One of the most significant events in medieval Russian history was the Battle of the Ice in 1242, which took place on April 5 on the ice of Lake Peipus. The battle summed up the war that lasted almost two years between the Livonian Order and the northern Russian lands - the Novgorod and Pskov republics. This battle went down in history as a vivid example of the heroism of Russian soldiers who defended the freedom and independence of the country from foreign invaders.

Historical context and the beginning of the war

The end of the first half of the 13th century was very difficult and tragic for Russia. In 1237-1238, it swept through the northeastern principalities. Dozens of cities were destroyed and burned, people were killed or taken into captivity. The territory of the country was in severe desolation. In 1240, the western campaign of the Mongols began, during which the blow fell on the southern principalities. This situation was decided to take advantage of the western and northern neighbors of Russia - the Livonian Order, Sweden and Denmark.

Back in 1237, Pope Gregory IX announced another crusade against the "pagans" who inhabited Finland. The fighting of the Order of the Sword against the local population in the Baltic States continued throughout the first half of the 13th century. Repeatedly German knights undertook campaigns against Pskov and Novgorod. In 1236, the swordsmen became part of the more powerful Teutonic Order. The new formation was called the Livonian Order.

In July 1240, the Swedes attacked Russia. Prince Alexander Yaroslavich of Novgorod quickly set out with a retinue and defeated the invaders at the mouth of the Neva. It was for this feat of arms that the commander received the honorary nickname Nevsky. In August of the same year, the Livonian knights began hostilities. First, they captured the fortress of Izborsk, and after the siege - and Pskov. In Pskov they left their deputies. The following year, the Germans began to devastate Novgorod lands, rob merchants, and drive the population into captivity. Under these conditions, the Novgorodians asked Prince Yaroslav of Vladimir to send his son Alexander, who reigned in Pereyaslavl.

Actions of Alexander Yaroslavich

Arriving in Novgorod, Alexander first decided to avert the immediate threat. To this end, a campaign was undertaken against the Livonian fortress Koporye, built not far from the Gulf of Finland, on the territory of the Vod tribe. The fortress was taken and destroyed, and the remnants of the German garrison were taken prisoner.

Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky. Years of life 1221 - 1263

In the spring of 1242, Alexander set out on a campaign against Pskov. In addition to his squad, he was accompanied by the Vladimir-Suzdal squad of Andrei's younger brother and the regiment of the Novgorod militia. Having liberated Pskov from the Livonians, Alexander reinforced his army with the Pskovs who joined and continued the campaign. Having crossed into the territory of the Order, intelligence was sent forward. The main forces were deployed "in prosperity", that is, in local villages and villages.

The course of the battle

The advance detachment met the German knights and entered into battle with them. In front of superior forces, the Russian soldiers had to retreat. After the reconnaissance returned, Alexander deployed his troops, "backward" back to the shore of Lake Peipsi. A convenient place for the battle was chosen here. Russian troops stood on the eastern shore of Uzmen (a small lake or strait between Lake Peipsi and Pskov), not far from the Raven Stone.

Battle map

The place was chosen in such a way that right behind the backs of the soldiers there was a wooded snow-covered shore, on which the movement of the cavalry was difficult. At the same time, the Russian troops were in shallow water, which froze to the very bottom and could easily withstand many armed people. But on the territory of the lake itself there were areas with loose ice - sigovitsy.

The battle began with a heavy Livonian cavalry ramming directly into the center of the Russian formation. It is believed that here Alexander placed the weaker Novgorod militia, and put professional squads on the flanks. Such a construction gave a serious advantage. After the blow, the knights got stuck in the center, breaking through the ranks of the defenders could not turn around on the shore, having no room for maneuver. At this time, the Russian cavalry struck at the flanks, surrounding the enemy.

The Chud warriors, allied with the Livonians, walked behind the knights and were the first to scatter. The chronicle notes that a total of 400 Germans were killed, 50 were taken prisoner, and Chudi died "without number." The Sofia Chronicle says that part of the Livonians died in the lake. Having defeated the enemy, the Russian army returned to Novgorod, taking prisoners.

The meaning of the battle

The first brief information about the battle is contained in the Novgorod Chronicle. Subsequent chronicles and lives of Nevsky provide additional information. Today there is a lot of popular literature devoted to the description of the battle. Here, the emphasis is often placed on colorful pictures rather than on correspondence with real events. The brief content of books for children rarely allows you to fully describe the entire historical outline of the battle.

Historians assess the strength of the parties in different ways. Traditionally, the number of troops is called approximately 12-15 thousand people on each side. At that time, these were very serious armies. True, German sources claim that only a few dozen "brothers" died in the battle. However, here we are talking only about the members of the Order, of which there have never been many. In fact, these were officers, under whose command were ordinary knights and auxiliary warriors - knechts. In addition, along with the Germans, allies from the Chud took part in the war, which the Livonian sources did not even take into account.

The defeat of the German knights in 1242 was of great importance for the situation in the north-west of Russia. Under the conditions, it was very important to stop the advance of the Order on the Russian lands for a long time. The next serious war with the Livonians will take place only in more than 20 years.

Prince Alexander Nevsky, who commanded the combined forces, was later canonized. In the history of Russia, the order named after the famous commander was established twice - for the first time, the second time - during the Great Patriotic War.

Of course, it is worth saying that the roots of this event go back to the era of the Crusades. And it is not possible to analyze them in more detail within the framework of the text. However, in our training courses there is a 1.5 hour video lesson that, in the form of a presentation, analyzes all the nuances of this difficult topic. Become a member of our training courses

The battle on the ice took place on April 5, 1242. The army of the Livonian Order and the army of North-Eastern Russia - Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities came together in battle.
The army of the Livonian Order was headed by the commander - the head of the administrative unit of the Order - Riga Andreas von Velven, former and future Landmeister of the Teutonic Order in Livonia (from 1240 to 1241 and from 1248 to 1253).
At the head of the Russian army was Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky. Despite his youth, then he was 21 years old, he had already managed to become famous as a successful commander and a brave warrior. Two years earlier, in 1240, he defeated the Swedish army on the Neva River, for which he received his nickname.
This battle got its name, "Battle on the Ice", from the place of this event - the frozen Lake Peipsi. The ice at the beginning of April was strong enough to withstand a mounted rider, so the two armies converged on it.

Causes of the Battle of the Ice.

The battle on Lake Peipsi is one of the events in the history of the territorial rivalry between Novgorod and its western neighbors. The subject of dispute long before the events of 1242 was Karelia, the lands near Lake Ladoga and the Izhora and Neva rivers. Novgorod sought to extend its control over these lands not only to increase the territory of influence, but also to secure access to the Baltic Sea. Access to the sea would greatly simplify trade with its western neighbors for Novgorod. Namely trade was the main source of prosperity of the city.
Novgorod's rivals had their own reasons for contesting these lands. And the rivals were all the same western neighbors, the Novgorodians "both fought and traded" with them - Sweden, Denmark, the Livonian and Teutonic Orders. All of them were united by the desire to expand the territory of their influence and take control of the trade route on which Novgorod was located. Another reason to gain a foothold in the lands disputed with Novgorod was the need to secure their borders from the raids of the tribes of Karelians, Finns, Chuds, etc.
New castles and strongholds in new lands were to become outposts in the fight against restless neighbors.
And there was another, very important, reason for the zeal to the east - ideological. The XIII century for Europe is the time of the Crusades. The interests of the Roman Catholic Church in this region coincided with the interests of the Swedish and German feudal lords - expanding the sphere of influence, obtaining new subjects. The conductors of the policy of the Catholic Church were the Livonian and Teutonic Knightly Orders. In fact, all campaigns against Novgorod are the Crusades.

On the eve of the battle.

What were the rivals of Novgorod on the eve of the Battle of the Ice?
Sweden. Due to the defeat of Alexander Yaroslavovich in 1240 on the Neva River, Sweden temporarily dropped out of the dispute over new territories. In addition, at that time a real civil war for the royal throne broke out in Sweden itself, so the Swedes had no time for new campaigns to the east.
Denmark. At this time, the active king Valdemar II ruled in Denmark. The time of his reign was marked for Denmark by an active foreign policy and the annexation of new lands. So, in 1217 he began expansion to Estonia and in the same year founded the fortress of Revel, now Tallinn. In 1238, he entered into an alliance with the master of the Teutonic Order Herman Balk on the division of Estonia and joint military campaigns against Russia.
Warband. The Order of the German Crusader Knights strengthened its influence in the Baltic states by merging with the Livonian Order in 1237. In fact, the Livonian Order was subordinated to the more powerful Teutonic Order. This allowed the Teutons not only to gain a foothold in the Baltic, but also created the conditions for the spread of their influence to the east. It was the knighthood of the Livonian Order, already as part of the Teutonic Order, that became the driving force behind the events that culminated in the Battle of Lake Peipsi.
These events unfolded in this way. In 1237, Pope Gregory IX announced a Crusade to Finland, that is, including the lands disputed with Novgorod. In July 1240, the Swedes were defeated by the Novgorodians on the Neva River, and already in August of the same year, the Livonian Order, having picked up the banner of the Crusade from the weakened Swedish hands, began its campaign against Novgorod. This campaign was led by Andreas von Velven, Landmeister of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. On the side of the Order, the militia from the city of Derpt (now the city of Tartu), the squad of the Pskov prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, detachments of Estonians and Danish vassals participated in this campaign. Initially, the campaign was accompanied by luck - Izborsk and Pskov were taken.
At the same time (the winter of 1240-1241) paradoxical events are taking place in Novgorod - Alexander Nevsky, the winner of the Swedes, leaves Novgorod. This was the result of the intrigues of the Novgorod nobility, who rightly feared competition in the management of the Novgorod land from the side of the prince, who was rapidly gaining popularity. Alexander went to his father in Vladimir. He appointed him to reign in Pereslavl-Zalessky.
And the Livonian Order at that time continued to carry the "word of the Lord" - they founded the fortress of Koropye, an important stronghold that allows you to control the trade routes of the Novgorodians. They advanced all the way to Novgorod, raiding its suburbs (Luga and Tesovo). This made the Novgorodians seriously think about defense. And they did not come up with anything better than to invite Alexander Nevsky to reign again. He did not force himself to be persuaded for a long time and, having arrived in Novgorod in 1241, energetically set to work. To begin with, he took Koropye by storm, killing the entire garrison. In March 1242, having united with his younger brother Andrei and his Vladimir-Suzdal army, Alexander Nevsky takes Pskov. The garrison was killed, and two vicegerents of the Livonian Order, shackled, were sent to Novgorod.
Having lost Pskov, the Livonian Order concentrated its forces in the Dorpat region (now Tartu). The command of the campaign planned, having passed between the Pskov and Peipsi lakes, to move to Novgorod. As in the case of the Swedes in 1240, Alexander made an attempt to intercept the enemy on his way. To do this, he moved his army to the junction of the lakes, forcing the enemy to enter the ice of Lake Peipsi for a decisive battle.

The course of the Battle of the Ice.

The two armies met in the early morning on the ice of the lake on April 5, 1242. Unlike the battle on the Neva, Alexander gathered a significant army - its number was 15 - 17 thousand. It consisted of:
- "grassroots regiments" - the troops of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality (teams of the prince and boyars, city militias).
- the Novgorod army consisted of Alexander's squad, the bishop's squad, the townsman's militia and private squads of boyars and wealthy merchants.
The entire army was subordinated to a single commander - Prince Alexander.
The enemy army numbered 10 - 12 thousand people. Most likely, he did not have a single command, although Andreas von Velven led the campaign as a whole, he did not personally participate in the Battle of the Ice, instructing a council of several commanders to command the battle.
Having adopted their classic wedge-shaped formation, the Livonians attacked the Russian army. At first, they were lucky - they managed to break through the ranks of the Russian regiments. But having been drawn deep into the Russian defenses, they got bogged down in it. And at that moment, Alexander brought reserve regiments and a cavalry ambush regiment into battle. The reserves of the Novgorod prince hit the flanks of the crusaders. The Livonians fought courageously, but their resistance was broken, and they were forced to retreat in order to avoid encirclement. Russian troops pursued the enemy for seven miles. The victory over the Livonians by their allies was complete.

Results of the Battle of the Ice.

As a result of their unsuccessful campaign against Russia, the Teutonic Order made peace with Novgorod and renounced territorial claims.
The battle on the ice is the largest in a series of battles in the course of territorial disputes between northern Russia and its western neighbors. Having won a victory in it, Alexander Nevsky secured most of the disputed lands for Novgorod. Yes, the territorial issue was not finally resolved, but over the next few hundred years it was reduced to local border conflicts.
The victory on the ice of Lake Peipus stopped the Crusade, which had not only territorial, but also ideological goals. The question of the adoption of the Catholic faith and the acceptance of the patronage of the Pope by northern Russia was finally removed.
These two important victories, military and, as a result, ideological, were won by the Russians in the most difficult period of history - the invasion of the Mongols. The Old Russian state actually ceased to exist, the morale of the Eastern Slavs was weakened, and against this background, a series of victories by Alexander Nevsky (in 1245 - a victory over the Lithuanians in the battle of Toropets) had important not only political, but also moral and ideological significance.