Chapter 1 A Band of Adventurers Defeats a Kingdom
Note:1@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Russia primo caso....la vittoria dei cosacchi sui tartari...diamond...coperazione....mosca pareto....iraq
Note:1@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Russia primo caso....la vittoria dei cosacchi sui tartari...diamond...coperazione....mosca pareto....iraq
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Ermak’s Conquering Cossacks
Note:TtttttttttttttIL COSACCO CHE CONQUISTÒ LA SIBERIA
Note:TtttttttttttttIL COSACCO CHE CONQUISTÒ LA SIBERIA
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Ermak Timofeev,
Note:L EROE
Note:L EROE
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Cossacks were deep in the hostile territory on the far side of the Urals, surrounded by savage hordes on every side.
Note:CORAGGIO DA VENDERE
Note:CORAGGIO DA VENDERE
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1558,
Note:QUANDO
Note:QUANDO
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Tsar Ivan IV granted to Jacob and Gregory Stroganov a huge territory in the wild Upper Kama region
Note:COSA DIEDE INIZIO ALL AVVENTURA...GLI STROGONOV ERANO UNA SPECIE DI COMMERCIANTI AVVENTURIERI
Note:COSA DIEDE INIZIO ALL AVVENTURA...GLI STROGONOV ERANO UNA SPECIE DI COMMERCIANTI AVVENTURIERI
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The land was sparsely inhabited by indigenous tribes of various Finno-Ugric peoples who, although resentful of the invasion, were unable to offer effective resistance. A more serious threat came from the Tatars inhabiting the steppe and forest-steppe regions beyond the Urals.
Note:IL XICOLO
Note:IL XICOLO
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Turko-Mongolic steppe nomads.
Note:TARTARI
Note:TARTARI
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The Tatars massacred the Russians (and the native allies of the Russians), captured many of their women and children, and then retired with this booty across the mountains.
Note:GIÀ IN PASSATO
Note:GIÀ IN PASSATO
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The Cossacks were rough-and-ready Russian frontiersmen inhabiting the lawless steppe regions between the borders of the Russian state and the territories controlled by the Crimean, Kazan, and Astrakhan Tatars.
Note:DI CHI SI AVVALSERO I COMMERCIANTI AVVENTURIERI
Note:DI CHI SI AVVALSERO I COMMERCIANTI AVVENTURIERI
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their ranks consisted mainly of runaway peasants, impoverished noble servitors, and other fugitives from central Russia,
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Being Christian Orthodox in religion, the Cossacks usually warred against the tsar’s enemies, and often entered government service. However, the Cossacks valued freedom above all else,
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many Cossack bands made their living by brigandage.
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The Stroganovs sent a letter to the Cossacks, offering the company a chance to defend the eastern frontier of Christendom against the “heathens” and, at the same time, earn the tsar’s pardon.
Note:MOLTI DEI COSACCHI ERANO CONDANNATI A MORTE
Note:MOLTI DEI COSACCHI ERANO CONDANNATI A MORTE
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the intrepid warriors reached the land of Siberia and attacked many Tatar and native settlements down the Tura River. They valiantly made their way to the Tavda River and captured Tatar prisoners at its mouth.
Note:L IMPRESA DEL 9 SETT 1582
Note:L IMPRESA DEL 9 SETT 1582
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“The evil Tsar Kuchum sent his son [actually, nephew] Mahmet-Kul with a great multitude of warriors and ordered them to stand bravely against the invading Russians.
Note:RISPOSTA TARTARA
Note:RISPOSTA TARTARA
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“When the Cossacks reached the domain of Karacha, a second battle took place against this councillor of Tsar [Kuchum]. They captured his domain and plundered his honey and other property and loaded it into their boats.
Note:ASSALTO FINALE
Note:ASSALTO FINALE
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“When Tsar Kuchum saw his warriors overwhelmed, he retired with some survivors and camped on the top of a hill called Chuvash.
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The Cossacks saw an immense gathering of the heathen at their abatis and were in great consternation.
Note:DISPARITÀ NUMERICA
Note:DISPARITÀ NUMERICA
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‘Should we retreat, or stand together as one?’
Note:DUBBI
Note:DUBBI
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victory does not come from having a great mass of warriors, but from the help of God on high.
Note:LA CONVINZIONE
Note:LA CONVINZIONE
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They all shouted an oath in one voice. ‘We are ready to die for the holy church of God.
Note:RINFRANCATI
Note:RINFRANCATI
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“They set out from their camp to go to battle on October 23,
Note:IL GRAN GIORNO
Note:IL GRAN GIORNO
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“The Cossacks advanced against the heathens as one man and proved their bravery and ferocity before the dishonored and godless heathen.
Note:COME ANDÒ
Note:COME ANDÒ
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“Tsar Kuchum, who was encamped on the hill, saw the defeat of his Tatars and the wounding and flight of his son Mahmet-Kul.
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Brave Ermak and his men came to Sibir, later called Tobolsk, on October 26, the feast day of the Holy Martyr Demetrios of Salonika. They gave thanks to God for having given them victory over the godless and cursed heathens, and rejoiced mightily.
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A band of a few hundred intrepid European adventurers defeats hordes of natives, conquers a kingdom, and captures an enormous booty.
Note:RIASSUNTO DELLA VICENDA
Note:RIASSUNTO DELLA VICENDA
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parallel between Ermak’s Cossacks and Cortés’ or Pizarro’s conquistadors in the New World is striking
Note:ANALOGIA
Note:ANALOGIA
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Spaniards had guns, germs, and steel,
Note:L SPIEGA DI JARED DIAMOND DI FRONTE ALL IMPRESA DI CORTE
Note:L SPIEGA DI JARED DIAMOND DI FRONTE ALL IMPRESA DI CORTE
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This explanation makes sense for the Spanish conquest of America, but it does not help us to understand the Russian conquest of Siberia.
Note:SPIEGAZIONE INCOMPLETA
Note:SPIEGAZIONE INCOMPLETA
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both sides had been exposed to the same germs and steel for centuries.
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why were the Russians able to equip themselves with guns, and the Tatars not?
Note:L ENIGMA
Note:L ENIGMA
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A racist explanation, stressing the difference between the Europeans and non-Europeans, is unsatisfactory
Note:I TURCHI ERANO PIENI DI PISTOLE
Note:I TURCHI ERANO PIENI DI PISTOLE
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In any case, the role of firearms in the decisive battle of Sibir was quite minimal.
Note:E POI.....
Note:E POI.....
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Handheld guns started becoming truly effective only after the seventeenth century,
Note:CccccccccL AVVENTO DEL MOSCHETTO A PIETRA FOCAIA
Note:CccccccccL AVVENTO DEL MOSCHETTO A PIETRA FOCAIA
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The mystery deepens when we consider what happened in eastern Europe three centuries before Ermak. In 1236,
Note:MISTERO S INFITTISCE
Note:MISTERO S INFITTISCE
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The Mongol subjugation of eastern Europe began with the destruction of the realm of the Volga Bulgars. Starting in 1237, and for the next three years, the Mongols systematically conquered practically all of Russia.
Note:UN MANIPOLO
Note:UN MANIPOLO
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the Russians were unable to unite against the Mongol threat. This inability to work together is most graphically illustrated by the tale of two brothers,
Note:IL DIFETTO
Note:IL DIFETTO
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Fragmentation of Russia into dozens of tiny principalities
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The Mongols, by contrast, excelled at teamwork.
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the ability of the Mongols to crush all their opponents was not due to any technical advantage in weaponry, nor to their numbers.
Note:TUTTI D ACCORDO
Note:TUTTI D ACCORDO
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The Mongol army was a well-oiled social mechanism, capable of discipline and internal cohesion to the degree unknown in Europe since the Roman times.
Note:L ARMA SEGRETA
Note:L ARMA SEGRETA
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One of the favorite tricks used by the Mongols was the fake retreat, luring the unwary enemy into ambush and annihilation.
Note:OCCORRE GRANDE SINCRONIA
Note:OCCORRE GRANDE SINCRONIA
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William McNeill noted that “the Mongols were capable of moving in widely dispersed columns over all sorts of terrain, while maintaining communication between the separate columns so as to assure concentration of all forces at the decisive time and place.
Note:ABILITÀ RICONOSCIUTE
Note:ABILITÀ RICONOSCIUTE
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As the ambassador from the French court William of Rubruck reported, “In the whole world, there are no more obedient subjects than the Tatars, neither among lay people nor among the monks;
Note:UBBIDIENZA
Note:UBBIDIENZA
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Wars, quarrels, the infliction of bodily harm, and manslaughter do not occur among them, and there are no large-scale thieves or robbers among them.”
Note:CIVILTÀ GUERRIERA
Note:CIVILTÀ GUERRIERA
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Cooperation is a “nice” word, and the Mongols of Chinggis Khan were most definitely not nice people. They slaughtered literally millions of men, women, and children, and enslaved millions of survivors. They turned dozens of wealthy and beautiful cities into ruins and piled pyramids of hundreds of thousands of skulls
Note:QLQN RESTERÀ SORPRESO
Note:QLQN RESTERÀ SORPRESO
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cooperation, or more generally the capacity for collective action, is a key factor in the rise of empires.
Note:CONCETTO CHIAVE
Note:CONCETTO CHIAVE
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oriental despotism, if it means the absolute power of one individual over the whole society, is a sociological nonsense.
Note:UN NONSENSE IMPREVISTO
Note:UN NONSENSE IMPREVISTO
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tyrants could rule only because they had the support of a certain group of people—the palace guard, the aristocracy, perhaps the top bureaucrats. Only groups can oppress other groups and whole societies,
Note:TEOREMA
Note:TEOREMA
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conditions us to think that the only legitimate source of social power is “we the people.” As a corollary, we tend to assume that nondemocratic societies are held together by force alone.
Note:L ILLUSIONE OTTICA
Note:L ILLUSIONE OTTICA
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In addition to force, the regime relied on cooperation from certain other groups: the core support came from Saddam’s clan, with the wider power base provided by the Sunni Arabs of Iraq.
Note:L AMARA ESPERIENZA IN IRAQ
Note:L AMARA ESPERIENZA IN IRAQ
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We now know empirically that Saddam’s regime was not based solely on force, because many members of the groups that supported him when he was in power are still willing to sacrifice their lives attacking his captors (even after Saddam himself has become powerless).
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oppression and cooperation are not mutually exclusive
Note:CONFERMATA LA LEGGE
Note:CONFERMATA LA LEGGE
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Even more importantly, in the sixteenth century various Tatar principalities were unable to unite in their struggle against resurgent Russia.
Note:NEL 1500 I TARTARI ERANO OLTO DIFFERENTI TRA LORO...ENTROPIA
Note:NEL 1500 I TARTARI ERANO OLTO DIFFERENTI TRA LORO...ENTROPIA
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The Golden Horde, as Batu’s realm became known to historians, maintained its unity for 200 years, except for a period of civil war during the late fourteenth century. In the middle of the fifteenth century, it fragmented into a number of independent principalities: the khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimea, and Sibir, and the Nogay Horde.
Note:LA SORTE DELL ORDA D ORO
Note:LA SORTE DELL ORDA D ORO
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and continued to be wracked by civil wars into the sixteenth century.
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At the same time that the Golden Horde was fragmenting, the Russian lands were slowly but inexorably “gathered,” as the Russian chronicles put it, under the leadership of Moscow.
Note:D ALTRA PARTE
Note:D ALTRA PARTE
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During the second winter, however, the Cossacks ran out of supplies and began suffering from scurvy and starvation. Then disaster struck in the summer of 1584: At night, the Tatars attacked the camp where Ermak and his comrades slept.
Note:COLPO DI SCENA
Note:COLPO DI SCENA
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The Russians were forced to retreat across the Urals to the Stroganov lands, and Kuchum reoccupied Sibir. Unfortunately for the Tatars, their ultimate defeat was only postponed. Two years later, the Russians entered Siberia again.
Note:FINALE
Note:FINALE
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THE OVERARCHING QUESTION OF THIS BOOK is why do large empires rise and fall?
Note:RICORDIAMOLO
Note:RICORDIAMOLO
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In the thirteenth century, Russia, fragmented into a multitude of bickering principalities, had no chance against the Mongol steamroller. In the sixteenth century, it was the turn of the Russian monolith to roll over the squabbling Tatar khanates.
ORA ABBIAMO UNA RISPOSTA...SOCIL COESION
ORA ABBIAMO UNA RISPOSTA...SOCIL COESION
