Introduction
Back in 1238-1240, Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, had swept across Rus’ with his Tartar ‘Golden Horde’, laying waste to Kiev and forcing other cities to pay tribute. For years the extortion went on, while neighbouring Poland and Lithuania either sided with the Horde or threatened a conquest of their own. In 1480 Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, decided enough was enough.
DURING the fifteenth century the Golden Horde had gradually divided into three independent Khanates, viz. the Crimean, the Kazan, and the Golden Horde. The Crimean Khanate and the Golden Horde were continually at war with each other, and Ivan III took advantage of this and refused to pay tribute. Khan Akhmat* of the Golden Horde sent envoys to collect it, and, as these were murdered in Moscow, he marched his army into Russia, and at the same time entered into an alliance with Casimir IV of Lithuania.*
Ivan met the Tartars on the banks of the Ugra,* but was afraid to give battle, and the two armies remained facing each other all through the autumn.* When the winter began, the Tartars, from want of winter clothing, were forced to turn south, and Akhmat was soon after murdered by one of his captains.* A few months later the Golden Horde was completely destroyed by Mengli Ghirei, the Crimean Khan,* and thus Russia was freed from the yoke of the Tartars in 1480.
Emended
* Ahmed Khan bin Küchük (1465-1481).
* Casimir IV Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. In the event, Casimir never came to Akhmat’s aid, abandoning him just as he had abandoned the Westward-looking politicians of Great Novgorod nine years earlier: see ‘We are Free Men of Novgorod’.
* The Great Stand took place about 100 miles southwest of Moscow, just northwest of where the River Ugra flows into the River Oka near Kaluga.
* Altered from ‘all through the summer and autumn’, as Akhmat’s troops did not gather at the River Ugra until the 6th of October 1480, though they had been manoeuvring since June. Fighting began on the 8th. The standoff lasted until November the 28th.
* Ibak Khan, prince of the Khanate of Sibir, murdered Akhmat on the 6th of January 1481. Cazalet gives the onset of winter as the reason for the withdrawal but modern historians still find it baffling. It was neither the first nor the last time that Moscow would be saved by a mysterious lack of enthusiasm among her enemies. See The Theotokos of Vladimir.
* In 1502, Mengli I Giray defeated Sheikh Ahmed (1499-1502) and ended forever the Horde’s threat to the Crimea Khanate, since 1475 a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. Sheikh Ahmed fled to Lithuania but was imprisoned in Kaunas by his imagined allies. He proved to be the last ruler of the Great Horde.
Précis
In 1480, Grand Prince Ivan of Moscow decided he must face down the Golden Horde, which had been extorting tribute from Moscow and other Russian cities for two centuries. That autumn, his army confronted the Horde across the River Ugra, and to his surprise in late November the Horde simply melted away, never to trouble Moscow again. (57 / 60 words)
In 1480, Grand Prince Ivan of Moscow decided he must face down the Golden Horde, which had been extorting tribute from Moscow and other Russian cities for two centuries. That autumn, his army confronted the Horde across the River Ugra, and to his surprise in late November the Horde simply melted away, never to trouble Moscow again.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, besides, despite, may, ought, whereas, whether.
About the Author
Lucy Cazalet née Hopper was born in Moscow in 1870. Together with her husband Frederick, also Moscow-born, she managed the historic [getpostlink:muir-and-mirrielees-1] department store on Theatre Square, now known as TsUM, and was something of an authority on pewter and porcelain. After the Revolution of 1917, the couple and their children escaped to England, where Lucy died in 1956. Her book, published in 1915, is testimony to the desire to improve relations between Imperial Russia and the British Empire in the Edwardian age.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Autumn. Each. Through.
2 Alliance. During. Take.
3 Afraid. March. Meet.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Pay. 2 March. 3 Begin. 4 Face. 5 Force. 6 Remain. 7 Bank. 8 Turn. 9 Send.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Force. 2. Divide. 3. Advantage. 4. South. 5. Winter. 6. Army. 7. Refuse. 8. Clothing. 9. Meet.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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