Reconstructing the Past

There are many ways Russians express their interest in the battles that are part of their country’s history. Some make live-action or animated films, others write books, still others open museums. And, of late, more and more Russians are getting involved in historic reenactments, attempting to recreate battles on the land where they originally occurred.

While such reenactments have been popular the world over for quite some time, they only took off in Russia in the 1990s. Since then, the number of clubs filled with people taking on the personas of historical figures has grown by leaps and bounds, recreating battles from across the historical timeline: from the middle ages through the twentieth century.

Rusborg

Canvas tents, flags with unusual coats of arms, people rushing hither and yon in flaxen attire from the Middle Ages...

If for some reason one found oneself in early May on the outskirts of Yeletsky village, in Lipetsk Oblast, she might be excused for concluding that the past had invaded the present.

Individuals from the ninth to eleventh centuries had set up camp on one side of a moat; on the other lay a wide-open field stretching to the horizon. A boy came running by carrying an axe, heading toward a group of men dressed in armor, yelling something about the army of Rus. Of course, the tike was not allowed onto the field of battle. Only adult knights are allowed to participate in the fencing tournament.

The Rusborg International Youth Festival of Historical Military Reenactment is one of the world’s largest focused on the Middle Ages. Essentially, it recreates life as it was in 964, when troops under Prince Svyatoslav brought the lands of the Vyatichi into Rus and formalized their independence from the Khazar Kaganate. Last spring marked the twelfth annual festival in Lipetsk Oblast. And, according to Pavel Semyonov, one of the festival’s organizers, it had just 58 participants in its first year.

Everything looks very authentic, which is not surprising, since the participants have considerable experience with “medieval life,” and they spend all year preparing for this: sewing clothing, honing weapons, and making all sorts of implements typical of the Middle Ages. The past is everywhere here, signified in the simplest of details: the artfully woven amulets, ornaments, the patterns on clothing.

Rusborg lasts just four days, and participants live in the tent camp the entire time, exchanging expertise, improving their combat skills in various tournaments, organizing battles, and just living. Outsiders, however, can observe medieval life on just one day, Tourists’ Day, and history buffs are loath to pass up this opportunity.

“For me,” says Kirill Kudinov, a participant from Moscow, “Rusborg signals the start of spring. It has become a fine tradition to spend the May holidays at the festival. The atmosphere is indescribable. In the evening, to go to a neighboring camp and sit for a chat. All winter long I miss this.”

Visitors are treated to displays of traditional Russian games like lapta and vyshibaly.^* And all around are tents where people are selling things they have made, or where they are giving master classes.

“Have a go at the archery,” one reenactor says.  Nearby, a potter explains how earthenware pottery is made.

“Rusborg,” says Alexei Bulgakov, from Lipetsk, “is the best festival of its type.”

This year, Rusborg was so infused with the spirit of the Middle Ages that even the pagan gods could not pass it by. Barely had the tournament begun when there was a clap of thunder. It was as if Perun, Odin and Thor had all simultaneously tossed their elements Earthward. But everyone survived, waiting out the bad weather until it had passed. Some left, of course, but the strongest remained behind.

“We are not the children of Svarog,”^† says Lipetskian Vladimir Semendyayev, “but my nephew was really delighted. Soaked to the skin, but happy.”

Kulikovo Field

On Kulikovo Field, on the banks of the Don River near the village of Tatinka, Tula Oblast, the mixing of eras takes place in the third week of December and lasts for three days. Except here the history reproduced is from half a millennium later than Rusborg. And, in contrast to the larger festival, here outsiders are welcomed every day, albeit within specific time slots. Also, whereas Rusborg celebrates medieval battles more generally, Kulikovo is focused on the Battle of Kulikovo Field, which took place on September 8, 1380, between the Russian army of Dmitry Ivanovich (Donskoy) and the Tatar-Mongol troops led by Mamai.

Heavy chain mail and helmets... How could anyone fight in such burdensome gear, which can weigh up to 20 kilograms? But the reenactors not only move about the field in their armor, but do battle in it. A judge-marshal oversees the proceedings, wielding a large stick, in the event he needs to get someone’s attention (in the heat of battle his shouts may not be heard, but anyone would feel his stick hitting their shield).

Suddenly, one of the participants accidently gets hit in the throat by a spear. The battle is interrupted. Since the rules of the tournament do not allow sharpened weapons, of course the spear was not pointed, yet the soldier still falls to the ground. He is immediately surrounded by other fighters, and women rush toward him with jugs of water. But the fellow quickly recovers and shows he is eager to re-enter the fray. Not far away, horseback riders are training.

“Medieval troops were universalists and could fight with various types of weapons,” explains Vladimir Terekhov, a member of Tula’s Svarga reenactment group. “All of the exercises we are now doing were required of any soldier: striking a target with a spear, throwing a javelin, shooting arrows.”

As Terekhov is demonstrating this series of exercises, reenactors from St. Petersburg can be overheard: “I traveled 1500 kilometers for some relaxation, and I landed in a workout session worse than any we had in the army.”

If previously at this festival one met Vikings, today it has become more narrowly focused and specific to a single time period. Everything is based on thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Rus and the Horde. Russian tents and Mongol yurts are separated by just a few meters, but, truth be told, there are far fewer “Mongols” than Russians.

In one tent, a woman prepares a meat and pea soup – exactly what a tired soldier would demand. The soup has no spices, merely some herbs that grow locally. This sort of thing is important to be totally immersed in the era.

“The festival implies a rejection of the benefits of civilization,” says Andrei Kiselyov, head of Zastava, the Zheleznogorsk Club for Historical Reenactment. “Food must be prepared over a fire, and not some gas stove. And cellphones may only be used inside one’s tent.”

Nearby, one can purchase items stylized to reflect the battle’s era, and in craft areas one can spy on the masters and try to steal a few secrets, to learn from their experience.

The Kulikovo Field festival began in 1997, when 97 members from 11 clubs (mainly Tula) gathered here. This year over 300 participants took part, members of military-historical clubs from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Saratov, Vyborg, Tula, Rostov-on-Don, as well as other Russian cities.

The festival traditionally culminates each year with an event on Red Hill. Six centuries after the actual events, the mounted and infantry troops of Dmitry Ivanovich and Mamai again do battle, beginning with the legendary one-on-one combat between Alexander Peresvet and the Tatar Temir-Murza (both were killed), that opened the Battle of Kulikovo Field.

The pages of the Primary Chronicle come to life, and, just like six centuries before, an attack by a hidden regiment leads to the Horde’s defeat. And Prince Dmitry gains the moniker Dmitry Donskoy.^*

“This is my fifth time at the festival,” says Tatyana Kuznetsova, who hails from Ryazan. “And in terms of atmosphere, it is the best!”

Borodino Day

Each year during the first weekend in September, just outside the city of Mozhaisk, Napoleon’s army battles against Russian Guards Regiments on Borodino Field. It is part of the annual Borodino Day International Military History Festival, a massive reenactment of the pivotal 1812 Battle of Borodino.

Encampments of Russian imperial and Napoleonic soldiers are scattered about the field as troops dressed in two-hundred-year-old uniforms make their preparations. Participants are very serious about their roles and seek to recreate a nineteenth-century atmosphere down to the tiniest of details: from the filigrees on their rifles to the piping on their officer’s trousers.

“It is a true excursion into the past,” gushes honored cavalryman Alexander Dementiyev. “The grandkids have been three days without smartphones, are helping the grown-ups prepare meals over the fire, and running about barefoot, studying early nineteenth century history.”

This year, for the first time, participants are reenacting the battle for Shevardino Redoubt – the area’s highest point. Napoleon wanted to take this hill in order to survey the disposition of the Russian troops that stood between him and the capital. The battle took place two days before the main battle, and it gave Kutuzov’s army time to strengthen its position. Both sides claimed victory.

“We have never reenacted the Shevardino battle,” says Alexander Valkovich, president of the International Military Historical Association. “And so, in honor of the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, we specifically decided to reenact it.”

While rank and file grenadiers of the Imperial Guard ready their uniforms for battle, their neighbors in the French camps check their weapons.

“We too used to be in the Russian army,” says Dmitry Andryushin, “but we were not able to keep our club going. So we decided to fight as Frenchmen.”

On the French side there are participants from Russia, Belarus, Germany, the Czech Republic, Britain, and France.

“We mainly converse in Russian,” says French Hussar of the Fourth Regiment Jean Francois (in real life Vladimir Araptsev). “But all commands are given in French.”

...A salvo of 100 guns lets loose, followed by the thunder of cannons. The scramble begins with a cavalry attack. The Russian infantry repels the attack, but Napoleon’s troops answer it with fire.

“A real historian,” says Oleg Sokolov, president of the All-Russia Military History Movement, “if he wants to understand the era, should sit for eight hours a day on a horse. It is not possible to write a military history without first-hand experience of what life was like back then.”

The Shevardino Redoubt falls to the French, and they capture some weapons. But from the rear of Kutuzov’s army reinforcements arrive, the troops fight back, and possession of the heights changes hands again and again. As the sun begins to set, the Russian commanders order their troops to retreat, abandoning the position to the enemy.

Two centuries ago, the losses on both sides in this one battle totaled 6,000, yet some 250,000 Russian and French troops took part in the skirmish. The battle lasted for days, but this reenactment went on for just an hour, and there were but 1,500 or so participants.

The tourists are enchanted by the graceful horses, the fearsome Hussars, and the gallant cavalrymen. Of course, much goes on behind the scenes that visitors cannot see. But for the reenactors themselves, this is more than a hobby. It is a way of life that few outsiders are willing to embrace.

“By education, I am a historian,” says Anvar Magdeyev, from Yekaterinburg. “So I love events like this. This year I went to the medieval battle festivals at Veliky Bolgar and Borodino Day. And in October I hope to participate in the reenactment of the 1812 Battle of Maloyaroslavets, which takes place in Maloyaroslavets, in Kaluga Oblast.”

It is said that people who do not remember the past have no future. So perhaps one could say that, as long as these festivals are being held, there is no danger that Russians will become Forgetful Ivans.