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"History of Economics"
"Hanseatic Trade Union"
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Introduction
2.1 Hanseatic League and Pskov
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
In world history there are not many examples of voluntary and mutually beneficial alliances concluded between states or any corporations. In addition, the overwhelming majority of them were based on self-interest and greed. And, as a result, they turned out to be very short-lived. Any violation of interests in such an alliance invariably led to its collapse. All the more attractive for comprehension, as well as for learning instructive lessons in our days, are such rare examples of long-term and strong coalitions, where all actions were subordinated to the ideas of cooperation and development, like the Hanseatic Trade League.
This community of cities became one of the most important forces in Northern Europe and an equal partner of sovereign states. However, since the interests of the cities that were part of the Hansa were too different, economic cooperation did not always turn into political and military cooperation. However, the undeniable merit of this union was that it laid the foundations for international trade.
The political relevance of the topic being studied is that the history of the existence of the Hanseatic League, its experience, mistakes and achievements are very instructive not only for historians, but also for modern politicians. Much of what elevated him and then brought him down into oblivion is repeated in the modern history of Europe. Sometimes the countries of the continent, in their desire to create a strong union and thus achieve advantages on the world stage, make the same miscalculations as the Hanseatic merchants many centuries ago.
The purpose of the work is to describe the history of the existence of the most powerful medieval trade union in Europe. Objectives - to consider the reasons for the emergence of the Hanseatic Trade Union, its activities during its heyday (XIII-XVI centuries), as well as the reasons for its collapse.
Chapter 1. The emergence and flourishing of the Hanseatic League
The formation of the Hansa, which dates back to 1267, was the response of European merchants to the challenges of the Middle Ages. A fragmented Europe was a very risky place for business. Pirates and robbers ruled the trade routes, and what could be saved from them and brought to the counters was taxed by the princes of the church and appanage rulers. Everyone wanted to profit from the entrepreneurs, and regulated robbery flourished. The rules, taken to the point of absurdity, allowed fines to be taken for the “wrong” depth of a clay pot or the width of a piece of fabric.
Despite all this, German maritime trade had already achieved significant development in those days; Already in the 9th century, this trade was carried out with England, the Northern states and Russia, and it was always carried out on armed merchant ships. Around the year 1000, the Saxon king Æthelred granted significant advantages to German merchants in London; His example was subsequently followed by William the Conqueror.
In 1143, the city of Lübeck was founded by the Count of Schaumburg. Subsequently, the Count of Schaumburg ceded the city to Henry the Lion, and when the latter was declared disgraced, Lubeck became an imperial city. The power of Lübeck was recognized by all cities of Northern Germany, and a century before the official formation of the Hanse, the merchants of this city had already received trading privileges in many countries.
In 1158, the city of Lübeck, which quickly reached a brilliant prosperity due to the increased development of trade in the Baltic Sea, founded a German trading company in Visby, on the island of Gotland; this city was located approximately halfway between the Trave and the Neva, the Sound and the Gulf of Riga, the Vistula and Lake Mälar, and thanks to this position, as well as the fact that in those days, due to the imperfections of navigation, ships avoided long passages, they began to enter it all ships, and thus it acquired great importance.
In 1241, the merchant unions of the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg entered into an agreement to jointly protect the trade route connecting the Baltic Sea with the North Sea. In 1256, the first unification of a group of coastal cities was formed - Lubeck, Hamburg, Luneburg, Wismar, Rostock. The final unified union of the Hanseatic cities - Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne, Gdansk (Danzig), Riga and others (initially the number of cities reached 70) - took shape in 1267. Representation was entrusted to the main city of the union - Lubeck quite voluntarily, since its burgomasters and the senators were considered the most capable of conducting business, and at the same time this city assumed the associated expenses for the maintenance of warships.
The leaders of the Hansa very skillfully used favorable circumstances to take control of trade in the Baltic and North Seas, make it their own monopoly, and thus be able to set prices for goods at their own discretion; in addition, they tried to acquire in states where this was of interest to them, the greatest possible privileges, such as, for example, the right to freely establish colonies and carry out trade, exemption from taxes on goods, from land taxes, the right to acquire houses and courtyards, with representing to them extraterritoriality and their own jurisdiction. These efforts were mostly successful even before the founding of the union. Prudent, experienced and possessing not only commercial, but also political talents, the commercial leaders of the union were excellent at taking advantage of the weaknesses or difficult situations of neighboring states; they did not miss the opportunity indirectly (by supporting the enemies of this state) or even directly (through privateering or open war) put these states in a difficult position in order to force certain concessions from them. Thus, Liege and Amsterdam, Hanover and Cologne, Göttingen and Kiel, Bremen and Hamburg, Wismar and Berlin, Frankfurt and Stettin (now Szczecin), Danzig (Gdansk) and Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Memel (Klaipeda) gradually joined the number of Hanseatic cities ) and Riga, Pernov (Pyarnu) and Yuryev (Dorpt, or Tartu), Stockholm and Narva. In the Slavic cities of Wolin, at the mouth of the Oder (Odra) and in what is now Polish Pomerania, in Kolberg (Kołobrzeg), in Latvian Vengspils (Vindava) there were large Hanseatic trading posts that actively bought up local goods and, to the general benefit, sold imported ones. Hanseatic offices appeared in Bruges, London, Novgorod and Reval (Tallinn).
All Hanseatic cities of the league were divided into three districts:
1) Eastern, Vendian region, to which Lubeck, Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar and the Pomeranian cities belonged - Stralsund, Greifswald, Anklam, Stetin, Kolberg, etc.
2) Western Frisian-Dutch region, which included Cologne and the Westphalian cities - Zest, Dortmund, Groningen, etc.
3) And finally, the third region consisted of Visby and cities located in the Baltic provinces, such as Riga and others.
The offices held by the Hansa in different countries, were fortified points, and their safety was guaranteed by the highest authority: veche, princes, kings. And yet the cities that were part of the union were distant from each other and often separated by non-union, and often even hostile possessions. True, these cities were for the most part free imperial cities, but, nevertheless, in their decisions they were often dependent on the rulers of the surrounding country, and these rulers were not always in favor of the Hansa, and even on the contrary, they often treated she was unkind and even hostile, of course, except in those cases when her help was needed. The independence, wealth and power of the cities, which were the focus of the religious, scientific and artistic life of the country, and to which its population gravitated, stood as a thorn in the side of these princes.
It was very difficult to keep cities, coastal and inland, scattered over the space from the Gulf of Finland to the Scheldt, and from the sea coast to central Germany, within the union, since the interests of these cities were very different, and yet the only connection between them could be precisely only common interests; the union had only one coercive means at its disposal - exclusion from it (Verhasung), which entailed the prohibition of all members of the union from having any dealings with the excluded city and should have led to the cessation of all relations with it; however, there was no police authority to oversee the implementation of this. Complaints and claims could only be brought to congresses of allied cities, which met from time to time, to which representatives from all cities whose interests required this were present. In any case, against port cities, exclusion from the union was a very effective means; this was the case, for example, in 1355 with Bremen, which from the very beginning showed a desire for isolation, and which, due to enormous losses, was forced, three years later, to again ask to be accepted into the union.
The Hansa aimed to organize intermediary trade between the east, west and north of Europe along the Baltic and North Seas. Trading conditions there were unusually difficult. Prices for goods in general remained quite low, and therefore the income of merchants at the beginning of the union was modest. To keep costs to a minimum, merchants themselves performed the functions of sailors. Actually, the merchants and their servants made up the crew of the ship, the captain of which was selected from among more experienced travelers. If the ship was not wrecked and arrived safely at its destination, bargaining could begin.
The first general congress of cities of the Hanseatic League took place in Lübeck in 1367. The elected Ganzetag (a kind of parliament of the union) disseminated laws in the form of letters that absorbed the spirit of the times, reflecting customs and precedents. The highest authority in the Hanseatic League was the All-Hanseatic Congress, which considered issues of trade and relations with foreign countries. In the intervals between congresses, the Rath (city council) of Lübeck was in charge of current affairs.
Flexibly responding to the challenges of the time, the Hanseatic people quickly expanded their influence, and soon almost two hundred cities considered themselves members of the union. The growth of the Hanse was facilitated by the equality of native languages and common German, the use of a single monetary system, and residents of the cities of the Hanseatic League had equal rights within the union.
The Hanseatic League was conceived and created by trading people, but by this word one should not mean merchants in our accepted sense of the word, but only large wholesale traders; Retail merchants who offered their goods on the streets, and who correspond to the owners of modern retail stores, just like artisans, could not enroll in merchant guilds.
When a merchant became a Hanseatic, he received a lot of privileges with exemption from several local taxes. In every big city in a Hanseatic settlement, a medieval entrepreneur could obtain any information he needed: about the actions of competitors, trade turnover, benefits and restrictions in force in this city. The Hanseatic League created an effective system of lobbying for its interests and even built a network of industrial espionage.
The Hanseatic people promoted a healthy lifestyle, introduced ideas about business ethics, created clubs for exchanging experiences in business operations, and disseminated technology for the production of goods. They opened schools for aspiring artisans and merchants. This was a real innovation for medieval Europe which was plunged into chaos. In essence, the Hansa formed the civilizational prototype of the Europe that we know now. The Hanseatic League had neither a constitution, nor its own bureaucratic officials, nor a common treasury, and the laws on which the community was based were just a collection of charters, changing customs and precedents over time.
All work and behavior of the Hanseatic were strictly regulated - from how to train apprentices and hire a qualified craftsman to production technology, trade ethics and prices themselves. But their sense of self-worth and moderation did not betray them: in the clubs that abounded in the cities of the Hanseatic League, they often reprimanded those who threw plates on the floor, grabbed a knife, drank ruff, or played dice. Young people were reproached “... who drinks too much, breaks glass, overeats and jumps from barrel to barrel.” And I bet it was also considered “not our way.” A contemporary speaks condemningly of a merchant who pawned ten guilders on a bet that he would not comb his hair for a year. Whether he won or lost the bet, we will never know.
In addition to strictly regulated rules, a large number of cities in the composition and their free imperial position, the secret of Hanseatic prosperity was the cheapness of mass transportation. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal, dug by the serfs of Count Lauenberg between 1391 and 1398, is still in operation to this day, although it has since been deepened and expanded. It allows you to significantly shorten the distance between the North Sea and the Baltic. At one time, it replaced the old cart route from Lübeck to Hamburg, which for the first time made it economically profitable to transport bulk and other bulk cargo from Eastern Europe to Western Europe. So, during the Hanseatic era, Eastern European food products and raw materials flowed through the canal - Polish grain and flour, herring from Baltic fishermen, Swedish timber and iron, Russian candle wax and furs. And towards them - salt mined near Luneburg, Rhine wine and pottery, piles of wool and linen fabrics from England and the Netherlands, fragrant cod oil from the distant northern islands.
At the zenith of its glory XIV-XV centuries The Hanseatic League, this unique merchant federal republic, was no weaker than any European monarchy. If necessary, he could use force and declare a trade blockade on the rebellious. But he still resorted to war in the rarest cases. However, when the Danish king Valdemar IV attacked the Hanseatic base of Visby in 1367 and began to threaten all Baltic commerce, the alliance decided to use weapons.
Meeting at Greiswald, representatives of the cities decided to turn their trading schooners into warships. Authentic floating wooden fortresses emerged into the sea - at the bow and stern there were tall platforms, from which it was so convenient to repel the attack of an enemy coming to board.
The Hanseatic lost the first battle, but in the end the fleet of Hansa merchants took Copenhagen from the battle, plundered it, and the king was forced in 1370 to sign the Stralsund Treaty of Peace, which was humiliating for him.
Chapter 2. The Hanseatic League and Rus'
In the XIV-XV centuries. The main trade between Rus' and the West was carried out through the mediation of the Hanseatic League. Wax and furs were exported from Rus' - mainly squirrel, less often - leather, flax, hemp, and silk. The Hanseatic League supplied salt and fabrics to Rus' - cloth, linen, velvet, satin. Silver, gold, non-ferrous metals, amber, glass, wheat, beer, herring, and weapons were imported in smaller quantities. Hanseatic offices in Rus' existed in Pskov and Novgorod the Great.
2.1 Hanseatic League and Pskov
What interested the Hanseatic merchants in Pskov? In Russia, the main export product was furs, but Novgorod controlled the fur mining areas, and Pskov accounted for only a small part of the furs sold to the West. And from Pskov, mainly wax was exported to Europe. The place of wax in the life of medieval people was akin to the role that electricity plays in our lives. Candles were made from wax - both for lighting residential premises and for worship.
In addition, it was customary for Catholics to sculpt wax images of diseased body parts. Wax was the most important product until the beginning of the 20th century: even Father Fyodor from “The Twelve Chairs” dreamed of a candle factory in Samara. But in Europe, despite the development of beekeeping, wax was in short supply, and it was imported from the East - from Lithuania and Russian lands. Here in the XIV-XV centuries. there were still quite a lot of forests and beekeeping was widespread - the extraction of honey from wild bees. The extracted foundation was melted down, the wax was purified and went on sale.
The quality of the wax varied; the Hanseatic people were forbidden to buy low-grade wax containing sludge. The rules of trade were regulated by “old times” - customs accepted as the norm. One of these customs was the right of the Hanseatic people to “chop” wax, i.e. to break off pieces from the waxed circle to check its quality, and the broken pieces did not count towards the weight of the purchased wax. The size of the pieces of wax that were allowed to be “chopped” was not determined precisely, but depended on the “antiquity” and the arbitrariness of the merchants. The wax was sold locally and exported to the Baltic states.
Of the imported goods, Pskov residents were primarily interested in salt. The importance of salt in the Middle Ages was determined not only by the fact that it was a food product; salt was one of the raw materials for the leather industry. Salt was mined in relatively large quantities only in a few areas, very remote from each other, was expensive and early became the most important product in trade. In Rus', salt was not mined enough, including in the Pskov land, which is why salt occupied one of the first places in the composition of imported goods.
The need for salt supplies forced Pskov residents to fight to change unfavorable trade rules. Hanseatic merchants in Rus' sold salt not by weight, but by bags. It is clear that this method of trading often led to deception. At the same time, in neighboring cities of the Hanseatic League, salt was sold by weight. At the beginning of the 15th century, Novgorod and Pskov residents reduced their purchases of salt at home and began to travel to Livonia for this product. In response, in 1407 the Germans banned the supply of salt and trade with Novgorod and Pskov. Salt prices jumped and Russian merchants backed down, agreeing to the previous terms of trade. Pskov bought salt primarily for its own needs, but sometimes served as a transshipment point for the transit trade of the Hanseatic people with Novgorod, even in wartime. So, in the 1420s, when Novgorod was at war with the Livonian Order, salt from Narva still came to Novgorod through Pskov.
Trade in weapons and non-ferrous metals has always been a stumbling block in the relations of Russian cities with the Hansa and the Livonian Order. The Hansa was interested in the arms trade, which brought large profits, and the Order, fearing the growth of the power of the Russian lands, on the contrary, hindered it. But commercial gain often took precedence over defense interests, and, for example, in 1396, Revel merchants, including the head of the city council, Gerd Witte, transported weapons to Novgorod and Pskov in herring barrels.
Non-ferrous metals, so necessary in the process of making weapons, were also prohibited from being imported into Russia, apparently at the very beginning of the 15th century. In any case, when in 1420 the Pskovites wanted to make a lead roof for the Trinity Cathedral, they could not find a foundry master not only in Pskov, but also in Novgorod. The residents of Dorpat did not give the craftsmen to the Pskovites, and only the Moscow Metropolitan sent a foundry worker to Pskov. Taking advantage of the monopoly on the import of metals into Russia, the Hansa did not miss the opportunity to profit from trade. So, in 1518, low-quality silver was brought to Pskov, but six years later it was sent back to Dorpat.
A significant part of trade flows in the Middle Ages consisted of alcoholic beverages. But if wines were expensive and were imported to Rus' in small quantities, then alcoholic drinks such as honey and beer were imported very intensively. Moreover, in the Pskov lands, as well as in the Novgorod lands, they produced their own honey, part of which was also exported for sale to Dorpat and other cities. Evidence of active trade in alcohol is the mention of 13 and a half barrels of beer and 4 barrels of mead, taken by Pskov merchants from the property of a murdered German in Pskov in the 1460s. Only once in the history of Pskov-Hanseatic relations was trade in “tavern”, i.e. any alcohol was prohibited: according to the treaty of 1474, Pskov and Dorpat agreed not to import beer and honey for sale within each other’s territories. But 30 years later, in the treaty of 1503, this prohibition was absent. Apparently, the norm of the agreement, which was unfavorable to both parties, died out by itself.
During the war between Pskov and the Livonian Order in 1406-1409. trade relations with the Hansa were interrupted, but were soon resumed. The initiative in restoring Pskov-Hanseatic relations belonged to Dorpat, which was the first to conclude an agreement with Pskov on the safety of travel and trade (1411). Close trade relations also contributed to the conclusion of a union treaty between Pskov and the Order in 1417.
The mutual terms of trade between Pskov and Dorpat merchants were stipulated in the most detail in the agreement of 1474. The merchants of both sides were covered by guarantees of a “clean path”, i.e. free trade both in cities that have concluded an agreement, and travel with goods to other points. By mutual agreement, customs duties were abolished: it was decided to eliminate the “blocks” (barriers) and not take the “gift” (duties). The agreement was unusually beneficial for Pskov, because it granted Pskov merchants the right to retail and guest trade in Dorpat and other cities that belonged to the Bishop of Dorpat. Now Pskov residents could trade in Dorpat not only with its residents, but also with Riga residents, Revel residents, and “with every guest,” which meant not only Hanseatic merchants. Merchants who were in a foreign land were guaranteed equal treatment with the citizens of the country where the merchant was located.
There were no Russian merchant farmsteads in the Baltic cities, and the role of unifying centers for the Russian merchants in Livonia was played by Orthodox churches. In Dorpat there were two Russian churches - St. Nicholas and St. George, which belonged to Novgorod and Pskov merchants. At the churches there were premises where clergy lived and goods were stored. Celebrations and meetings took place here. The houses of German burghers, located around Orthodox churches, had long been rented by Russian merchants, so the urban area of Dorpat in the vicinity of the churches began to be called the Russian End, by analogy with the names of urban areas in Novgorod and Pskov.
In Pskov, German merchants were located on the so-called “German coast” in the rented yards of Russian merchants. The “German Coast” is the coastal strip of Zapskovia, located on the bank of the Pskova River opposite the Kremlin. Unlike Pskov, in Novgorod the Great there has long been a German trading post - the courtyard of St. Peter. The Hanseatic court in Novgorod was governed by elected officials - aldermen - with complete autonomy. The German court had its own charter - the skru, which regulated the internal life of the German court, as well as the terms of trade between the Germans and the Russians. The farmstead on the “German coast” operated until the start of the Livonian War, and in 1562 it was destroyed by fire. The German court in Pskov was restored only after the end of the Livonian War, in the 1580s. across the Velikaya River, opposite the Kremlin. There, in 1588, a courtyard of the main city of the Hanseatic League, Lübeck, arose. But this is already a different era, when the Hansa ceded dominance in the Baltic to Sweden.
2.2 Hanseatic League and Novgorod
The Hanseatic office in Novgorod consisted of the Gothic and German courts. The management of the office was carried out directly by the Hanseatic cities: first Visby and Lubeck, later they were joined by the Livonian cities of Riga, Dorpat, Revel. The organization of the Hanseatic office in Veliky Novgorod, the organization of everyday life and trade in the courtyards, and relations with the Novgorodians were strictly regulated by special regulations recorded in the skru, which was a kind of charter of the office. With changes in the terms of trade, the political situation, and trade relations between Veliky Novgorod and its Western partners, the spark changed.
The main place of trade was the German Court, where Novgorod merchants came to negotiate deals and pick up goods. Hanseatic merchants also purchased Novgorod goods directly from the estates of their Russian partners. Trade was wholesale and barter in nature. Fabrics were sold in packages, sealed with special seals, salt - in bags, honey, wine, herring, non-ferrous metals - in barrels. Even small piece goods were sold in large quantities: gloves, threads, needles - dozens, hundreds, thousands of pieces. Russian goods were also purchased in bulk: wax - in circles, fur - hundreds of skins. The barter nature of trade was also strictly observed, i.e. cash goods for cash goods. Trade on credit was strictly prohibited under the threat of confiscation of goods acquired illegally. Only merchants of the Hanseatic cities, who always strived for monopoly trade, had the right to come to Veliky Novgorod and live in the courtyards. In all editions of the secret and in the correspondence of the cities, the prohibition of entering into company with non-Hanseans (especially with the main competitors of the Hansa - the Dutch and Flemings) and bringing their goods to Veliky Novgorod was persistently repeated. Total number The number of merchants present in both courts at the same time reached 150-200 people in the most favorable times. However, due to the decline of the Novgorod-Hanseatic trade in the 15th century, the number of merchants coming to Veliky Novgorod decreased noticeably. A list of merchants compiled when the office was closed in 1494 has been preserved, which included 49 merchants from 18 cities in Germany and Livonia. At first, with a lack of space in the courtyards, Hanseatic merchants could stop to live in Novgorod estates, which was recorded during archaeological excavations of one of these estates in the area adjacent to the German courtyard. Here in the layers of the XIV-XV centuries. Western European household items were found confirming the presence of Hanseatic merchants on the estate.
The Hanseatic merchants who came to Veliky Novgorod from different cities represented a single German (Hanseatic) merchant class, which in all actions was guided by the articles of the spark and general regulations and was headed by elders chosen from among them. The elders were the chief judges in the courtyards; they strictly monitored the implementation of all the secret orders, imposed fines and other types of punishment, and settled all conflicts that arose between the Hanseatic merchants. The responsibilities of the elders also included negotiating with the Russians, checking goods, receiving taxes from merchants, appointing inspectors, i.e. inspectors of various goods. Along with the elders of the courtyards, the elders of the Church of St. Peter, whose main duty was to preserve the rights of the church, all the privileges and messages of the cities. Wardens of the Church of St. Peter, they took an oath from the merchants to observe all the secret orders. In addition, the headmen of the residential premises, the Vogts, were elected. In addition to the administrative ones, there were other officials in the office. The main figure among them was the priest, who conducted services and also wrote official and private letters. The office also had a translator, silver collectors, inspectors (i.e. inspectors) of cloth, wax and wine; tailor, baker, brewer. Until the 15th century The merchants themselves took turns brewing the beer. The main legislative body of the office was the general meeting of merchants, chaired by the elders of the court and the church of St. Peter or the manager who replaced them. The meeting discussed all the most important matters of the office. Here letters from cities, messages from ambassadors were read, and trials in trade and criminal cases took place. Some important decisions were posted for everyone to see, and the names of Novgorod merchants with whom it was forbidden to trade were also posted here.
The history of the Hanseatic office in Veliky Novgorod indicates that it was an isolated, closed settlement of German merchants, in contrast to the Hanseatic offices in Bruges and London. According to researchers, the Novgorod office is a unique phenomenon in Hanseatic trade. In a sense, it was a model for other Hansa offices in organizing closed settlements in all respects (ecclesiastical, legal, economic and social) inside a foreign city. However, this ideal was unattainable and such measures of isolation were only partially applied in the Hanseatic offices in London and Bruges.
The history of Novgorod-Hanseatic relations is replete with trade conflicts, trade bans, and frequent clashes between foreign merchants and city residents. Most often, conflicts arose due to non-compliance by one party or another with trade rules. One of the basic rules was the following: if one of the merchants violated the rules of trade, only the guilty person should be sued. However, judging by the sources, such violations entailed the arrest of all Novgorod merchants in the Hanseatic cities and the arrest of German merchants in Veliky Novgorod. The robbery of Novgorodians somewhere in the Baltic Sea or in Livonia entailed the detention of all German merchants in Veliky Novgorod. Mutual arrests of merchants and goods became especially frequent in the second half of the 14th century, ending with the trade war of 1385-1391, after which Niebuhr’s Peace was concluded in 1392. However, peaceful relations did not last long; a few years later, mutual complaints about the quality of goods and accusations of non-compliance with trade rules began again. A frequent cause of breaks in trade relations were wars and political conflicts between Veliky Novgorod and its opponents (most often the Livonian Order and Sweden). Although the trade agreements stipulated that during the war merchants were guaranteed a “clean path”, i.e. free movement along trade routes, however, in practice, every time a trade blockade began, a trade blockade was declared. Sometimes conflicts arose directly between the residents of Veliky Novgorod and foreign merchants, which often led to the suspension of trade. During periods of particularly acute conflicts, Hanseatic merchants closed the church and courtyards, took their property, all valuables, the treasury and archives of the office and left Veliky Novgorod. They handed over the keys to the courtyards for safekeeping to the Archbishop of Veliky Novgorod and the Archimandrite of the Yuryev Monastery as the highest church hierarchs of Veliky Novgorod, i.e. especially trusted persons. The Novgorodians, in turn, sought to detain the Hanseatic people in the city until their demands were met. The end to Novgorod-Hanseatic relations was put by Ivan III in 1494, when the Hanseatic office in Veliky Novgorod was closed by his decree, 49 Hanseatic merchants were arrested, and their goods worth 96 thousand marks were confiscated and sent to Moscow.
A protracted twenty-year conflict between the Russian state and the Hansa began. In Reval and Riga, Novgorod merchants with goods who were there were arrested. However, Dorpat, which maintained intensive trade relations with Pskov and had a special free trade agreement with it, refused to sever relations with Russian cities. Narva, which was not a member of the Hanseatic League and therefore was not obliged to comply with the decisions of its congresses, continued to trade with Russia. In a word, the united front of the Hanseatic League and Livonia against Russia never took shape.
Both Hansa and Russia repeatedly tried to resolve the conflict. Thus, in February 1498, Russian-Hansean negotiations took place in Narva. The Russian side linked the restoration of normal relations with a number of demands; in fact, the government of Ivan III set preliminary conditions. Russia demanded, firstly, an improvement in the situation of Russian churches and residents of Russian lands in the Baltic cities; The claims made by the Russian delegation cited facts of prohibition for Russians to consecrate churches and live in houses near the church.
The negotiations ended without results, and after their completion Russia dealt another blow to the Hansa: the import of salt into Russian cities was banned. The Pskov merchants tried in vain to persuade the Grand Duke to allow them to import salt into the Russian lands, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
20 years later, in 1514, the Hanseatic office was again opened in Veliky Novgorod, but this was already another page in the history of Veliky Novgorod and in the history of the Hanseatic League.
Chapter 3. Decline of the Hanseatic League
Despite all its commercial and military successes, the Hansa, conservative to the core, gradually created difficulties for itself. Its rules required that the inheritance be divided among numerous children, and this prevented the accumulation of capital in one hand, without which the “business” could not expand. Constantly preventing the guild craftsmen from coming to power, the clumsy senior merchants kept the lower classes silent about a bloody revolt, especially dangerous within their own city walls. The eternal desire for monopoly aroused indignation in other countries where national feeling was growing. Perhaps most importantly, the Hanseatics lacked the support of the central government in Germany itself.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the Hanseatic League began to lose its strength. The main Dutch harbors, taking advantage of their position closer to the ocean, preferred to conduct trade at their own expense. The new war of the Hansa with Denmark in 1427-1435, during which these cities remained neutral, brought them enormous benefits and thereby caused damage to the Hansa, which, however, retained everything that it had owned until then. The collapse of the union was expressed, however, already in the fact that several years before the conclusion common world, Rostock and Stralsund concluded their separate peace with Denmark.
Great importance There was also the sad circumstance that, starting in 1425, the annual passage of fish into the Baltic Sea ceased. She headed to the southern part of the North Sea, which contributed to the prosperity of the Netherlands, since throughout the world, especially in the south, there was a strong need for a Lenten product.
The policy of the Hansa also gradually lost its original prudence and energy; This was also accompanied by inappropriate frugality in relation to the fleet, which was kept in insufficient numbers. The Hansa, without any opposition, looked at the unification in the same hands of power over the three Northern Kingdoms, to which the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein were also added, and allowed the formation of such a force as had never existed in the north. In 1468, Edward IV, King of England, deprived the Hansa of all its privileges and left them only for the city of Cologne, which was subsequently excluded from the Hanse. In the privateering war that followed, the Hansa suffered heavy losses, despite the fact that England did not have a navy at that time.
The Hansa was powerless against only one state - Russia, since at that time it had absolutely no contact with the sea; therefore for the Hansa it was with a strong blow, when the Russian Tsar in 1494 unexpectedly ordered the closure of the Hanseatic offices in Novgorod. Under such exceptional circumstances, the Hansa turned to the emperor for help, but the latter maintained his friendly relations with the Russians; This is what the attitude of the head of the empire towards the Hanseatic cities was like in those days! A similar attitude manifested itself somewhat later, when King Johann of Denmark obtained from the emperor an order to expel all Swedes, which disrupted all trade ties between the Hansa and Sweden.
But nevertheless, the forces of the nobility and clergy were broken, a fief and bureaucratic state emerged, as a result of which royal power strengthened and even became unlimited. Maritime trade has developed greatly in Lately spread to the East and West Indies. Its influence on the state economy, as well as the importance of import duties, became more and more clear; the kings no longer wanted to allow all the trade of their country to be in the hands of others, and, moreover, in the hands of a foreign power, which excluded any possibility of competition. They no longer wanted to submit to the prohibition to increase import duties on their borders and did not even want to allow any restrictions in this regard. At the same time, the privileges granted to the Hanse are sometimes very extensive, such as extraterritoriality, the right of asylum in farmsteads, own jurisdiction, etc. made you feel more and more powerful.
Hostility towards the actions of the Hansa was constantly growing, both among foreign and German princes. Of course, they had the opportunity to create customs outposts against port cities, but then they found themselves completely cut off from sea communications. Tolerating these heavy restrictions, as well as the independence of the rich free cities lying in their possessions, became more and more intolerable as their views on financial matters were formed and the own power and greatness of these princes increased. The times of monopolies in maritime trade were over, but the leaders of the Hansa did not understand the signs of new times and firmly held on to the goals and means that they inherited from their predecessors.
Meanwhile, shipping conditions also changed; the interests of the port cities, scattered along the coast over more than two thousand kilometers, diverged more and more, with the private interests of each individual city acquiring more and more predominant importance. As a result, the Flemish and Dutch cities had already separated from the Hansa, then Cologne was excluded from it, and the connection between the remaining cities became increasingly weakened. Finally, Lubeck was left almost alone with the Wenden cities and the cities of Vorpommern.
In 1520, Charles V, who was already the Spanish king at that time, was elected German Emperor. During the division with his brother Ferdinand, he retained the Netherlands, to which he also added western Friesland and Utrecht; as a result, Germany lost its rich coastline with the mouths of the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt. This, of course, was very beneficial for the maritime trade of the Netherlands. At the same time, Christian II, the king of Denmark, who became the son-in-law of Charles V and had an acute hatred of the Hanse, began to patronize Dutch trade in the Baltic Sea. This gave the Hanse a reason, despite the fact that its influence had dropped significantly, to once again decisively intervene in the fate of the Northern kingdoms.
In 1519, Gustav Vasa fled from Christian II to Lubeck, who not only refused to extradite him, but even supported him and helped him cross to Sweden; Christian II subjugated Sweden, but aroused strong hatred against himself in the country as a result of the massacre he organized in Stockholm, and when Gustav Vasa rebelled, the Hansa openly began to support him. The Hanseatic fleet devastated Bornholm, burned Helsingor, threatened Copenhagen and assisted in the siege of Stockholm. On June 21, 1523, the Danish commandant of the city presented the keys to the city to the Hanseatic admiral, who in turn handed them over to Gustav Vasa, who had already become Gustav I. Gustav as a reward for his assistance. granted the Hansa significant privileges.
Christian II a few years later, with the help of Holland, made an attempt to conquer Norway again. He landed in Norway and quickly achieved significant success; Denmark hesitated, but the Hansa immediately sent a fleet against him, which through energetic actions managed to force Christian to surrender, however, he surrendered not to the Hansa, but to his uncle Frederick I, who imprisoned him in Sonderburg Castle, where he kept him captive for 28 years until his death in 1559. Thus, the Hanseatic fleet helped Gustav Vasa ascend to the Swedish throne and brought him into the capital, contributed to the overthrow of Christian II and the accession of Frederick I to the throne in his place, then he overthrew Christian II a second time and helped neutralize him. These were undoubtedly major deeds, but this was the last outbreak of Hanseatic sea power.
Even before that last trip against Christian II, in 1500 unrest arose in Lübeck, with the goal of overthrowing the patrician city government; both burgomasters fled, and the leader of the movement, Jurgen Wullenweber, became the head of the city, and at the same time took over the leadership of the Hansa. All his efforts, after he had achieved a leadership role through revolutionary means, were aimed exclusively at restoring Lubeck's maritime dominance and, by eliminating other nations, especially Holland, securing Lubeck's monopoly of trade in the Baltic Sea. The means to achieve this goal were to be Protestantism and democracy.
Meanwhile, the former burgomasters of Lübeck obtained a decision from the imperial chamber court, which threatened Lübeck's democratic rule with expulsion from the empire; this was enough to frighten the Lübeck people so much that they decided to depose Wollenweber and restore the previous city government. This proves how fragile was the foundation on which Wullenweber built his brief reign.
The importance of Lübeck fell so much that after Gustav I unceremoniously destroyed all the privileges of the Hansa, Christian III, King of Denmark, for his part also ceased to pay any attention to these privileges.
Beginning in 1563, Lubeck, in alliance with Denmark, again waged a seven-year war against Sweden, which had recently captured the Hanseatic merchant fleet, in which (which is very significant for the then state of affairs) even Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund remained neutral.
However, Sweden was so weakened by the persistent advance of the Allies and internal turmoil that it left the sea at their mercy. The new king, Johann, concluded on December 13, 1570 in Stetin a rather profitable peace with Lübeck, according to which there was no longer any talk of a trade monopoly and duty-free trade; The military compensation stipulated by the peace treaty was not paid. When Johann felt that his position on the throne was sufficiently strengthened, he declared himself “lord of the Baltic Sea” and the next year forbade the Hanse to trade with Russia. At the same time, he organized a privateer war against the Hansa, and, however, out of respect for Spain, did not touch the Dutch ships. The Hansa did not have a strong enough fleet to successfully oppose it; its trade suffered enormous losses, while the Netherlands grew richer.
Shortly before this, the Hansa once again had the opportunity for a major political performance. In 1657, an uprising broke out in the Netherlands against Philip II, which, after 40 years of struggle, finally freed them from the Spanish yoke. The rebels begged the Hansa for help, and the latter thus had the opportunity to return the German people and German land to Germany again, but the Hansa missed this opportunity by refusing the requested help.
In view of this, the Dutch soon banned the Hanse from sailing to Spain; The British also took a hostile position, and in 1589 they captured a fleet of 60 merchant ships in the Tagus River, which brought the Spaniards, among other goods, military supplies. When the English were expelled from the German Empire in 1597, England responded in kind, and the Hanseatic League was forced to clear out the "Dyeyard", which had been the center of German trade with England for 600 years.
At the beginning of the 17th century, Lubeck again made several attempts to establish relations with Russia and Spain, but without significant results, and the 30-year war finally destroyed the remnants of German supremacy at sea and all German shipping.
The peculiarities of the Hanseatic League, which had neither a strong internal organization nor a definite and permanent supreme control, did not give this alliance the opportunity to create significant fighting forces at sea. Neither the union nor individual cities had a permanent fleet, since even the "Frede Coggs", which were sometimes kept in service for a long time, were intended exclusively for maritime police supervision.
Obviously, as a result of this, it was necessary to reassemble military forces every time in every war. In accordance with this, the conduct of the war itself was limited to actions near the enemy’s coast, and these actions were reduced to unrelated expeditions, attacks and indemnities; there is no need to talk about systematic, scientifically based actions at sea, about a real naval war, and there was no need for this, since the opponents almost never had real military fleets.
In addition, the Hanseatic League, and even individual cities of the league, had at their disposal other means by which they could impose their will on the enemy without resorting to weapons. The Hansa dominated all trade to such an extent, especially in the Baltic Sea, where for many years it was undisputedly the first trading power, that it was often enough for it to prohibit trade relations (a kind of trade blockade) with those who were hostile to it, in order to bring opponents to submission. The monopoly of maritime trade, which the Hansa enjoyed for centuries on the shores of the Baltic and North Seas, was carried out with merciless severity, and for this it did not need a real navy.
However, circumstances began to develop differently when individual states began to grow stronger and the independent power of the princes began to be gradually established. The participants of the Hansa did not understand that, in accordance with the changed conditions and alliance, it was necessary to change their organization and, even in peacetime, prepare for war; they made the same mistake as they later
The subject of the Hanse's constant claims and the basis of its prosperity were trade monopolies, duty-free trade and other privileges; all this came down to one’s own material gain and the exploitation of others, and could not continue under a proper government structure. From its very first steps, the Hansa acted oppressively, if not on the governments of those states in which it operated, then on their merchants, armorers and sailors. She could hold her position only by force and precisely by sea power.
The leaders of the Hansa with great skill used both its naval power and other means at its disposal, including money, and knew how to benefit from the information acquired through their agents about foreign states and the people who had influence in them . They cleverly took advantage of the constant disputes over succession to the throne and other internal disagreements, as well as numerous wars between individual states, and even themselves tried to initiate and encourage such cases. In general, everything came down to commercial calculations, and they did not show great discernment in their means and did not pursue any more lofty state goals. Therefore, the entire union, in addition to the common national feeling, was held together only by the consciousness of common benefits, and as long as these benefits were truly common, the union represented a major force. With the change in conditions, as maritime trade grew, and states, both domestic and foreign, began to grow stronger, the interests of individual members of the union began to diverge, with private interests gaining predominant importance; the members of the union most distant from the center fell away themselves or were expelled from it, unanimity in the union was broken, and the members who remained loyal to it no longer had sufficient strength to fight the strengthened foreign states.
In order to prolong its existence, the new, smaller union had to base its activities on free trade and navigation, but for this, the coastal cities needed free communications with internal country and strong security.
In addition to political events that in one way or another influenced the collapse of the Hanseatic League, there were also events that did not depend on anyone: in 1530, carried by fleas, and there was no shortage of them, the “Black Death” - the plague - devastated one German city after another. A quarter of the entire population died from her breath. In the 15th century, the herring catch in the Baltic sharply declined. The large harbor in Bruges was covered with silt, so that the city was cut off from the sea.
And lastly: with the discovery, exploration and settlement of America, trade routes began to shift westward, to Atlantic Ocean, where the Hanseatic people never managed to take root. The opening of sea routes to India led to approximately the same thing. The last congress of the union took place in 1669, after which the Hanseatic Trade Union collapsed completely.
Conclusion
What do cities such as London, Bruges and Novgorod, Lubeck and Bergen, Braunschweig and Riga have in common? All of them, as well as 200 other cities, were part of the Hanseatic Trade Union, the history of which was discussed in the work. This union enjoyed such enormous economic and political influence that no German state that existed before 1871 had. And in military power, the Hansa surpassed many of the kingdoms of that time.
The union of German cities that made up the Hansa fell apart after 270 years of brilliant existence, during which it raised and unthroned kings and played a leading role throughout the north of Europe. It collapsed because over this long period the conditions of state life on which this union was based radically changed.
German cities, including those that were part of the Hanseatic League, were the only representatives of the idea of further national development of the German people, and partly implemented this idea. These cities almost alone personified German strength and influence in the eyes of foreigners, so the history of urban unions is, generally speaking, a bright page in German history.
Bibliography
1. The World History/ Edited by G.B. Polyak, A.N. Markova, M-, 1997
2. History of wars at sea. Shtenzel A. - M.: Isographus, EKSMO-Press. 2002.
3. History of world civilizations / Edited by V.I. Ukolova. -M, 1996
trade and political union of North German cities in the XIV-XVII centuries. led by Lübeck. Carried out intermediary trade between Western, Northern and Eastern Europe. G. owned trade hegemony in Northern Europe. The decline of Greece began at the end of the 15th century. Formally it existed until 1669.
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HANSA
from middle-lower. Hansa - union, partnership) - bargaining. Union of Northern Germans cities in ch. with Lübeck, which existed in the 14th-16th centuries. (formally until 1669). G. acted as a successor to German. merchants of the 11th-13th centuries, ch. the center of its activity in Eastern Europe was Fr. Gotland (on this basis, modern bourgeois historiography identifies a special stage in the development of Greece - the “merchant city” of the 11th-13th centuries, as opposed to the “city city” of the 14th-17th centuries). Economical Geography's role consisted of monopolistic mediation between the producing regions of the North, West, and East. and partly the Center. Europe: Flanders, England and North. Germany supplied cloth, Center. Europe, England and Scandinavia - metals, North. Germany and Western coast of France - salt, East. Europe - Ch. arr. fur and wax. In addition, salted herring, wines, beer, etc. were exported to Europe. The merchants took bargaining into their own hands. mediation in conditions relates. weaknesses of the merchants of the North. and Vost. Europe, using the successes of it. colonization in the Slavic countries of the East. Europe and relying on the military. strength knightly orders (later one of them - the Teutonic - was even accepted as a member of G.). The founding of Riga and Revel - the most important points on the way to Smolensk, Polotsk and Novgorod, the emergence of German offices. merchants in Norway and their receipt of privileges for trade in Flanders during the 1st half. 13th century, the growth of Lübeck, founded on the Slavic territory - Ch. German center trade in Eastern Europe - prepared the formation of a union: in the 2nd half. 13th century agreements were concluded between Lubeck, Hamburg, Stralsund, Luneburg and others to protect the route along the straits between the North. and Baltic M., on the joint minting of coins, etc. Finished. registration of the union, which first came out under the name. "German Hansa" in 1356, occurred in 1367-70, during his victorious war against Denmark, which had dominance over the trade. way between North and Balt. m. The Treaty of Stralsund of 1370 with Denmark, securing Germany’s right to unhindered passage through the Sound and Skagerrak straits, opened the period of greatest prosperity for Greece in the 2nd half. 14 - 1st floor. 15th centuries At this time, it included up to 100 cities (according to other sources - up to 160; the boundaries of the city were never strictly delineated). The entire trading system. relations between the Hanseatic cities relied on several. offices in the main producing regions of Europe - to offices in Bruges (Flanders), Novgorod, London, Bergen (Norway), etc. Hanseatic merchants penetrated into Spain and Portugal. Trade center with internal regions of Europe (especially with the German cities of Frankfurt and Augsburg) and the main transit point on the land and (since 1398) river route between the Baltic. and Sev. seas was Lubeck. He also acted as a politician. head of the union. Here since the 2nd half. 14th century general congresses of Hanseatic cities met (albeit irregularly). Their decisions (the so-called Recesse), sealed with the seal of Lübeck, were binding on members. D. However, internal G.'s organization was vague. The union had neither its own fleet, nor troops, nor permanent finances (its military forces consisted of the fleet and troops of separate cities). Between departments There was discord and bargaining between the cities and groups of cities that were part of the city. rivalry, their interests often did not coincide (Livonian and Vendian cities). In the Hanseatic cities, the economy of which was based on Ch. arr. in trade, power was in the hands of the merchants. patriciate. In con. 14 - beginning 15th centuries There was a wave of guild uprisings against the patriciate, but they soon restored their power everywhere through united efforts. The Great Hanseatic Statute of 1418 provided for a decision. measures to combat social movements within urban cities. The importance of urbanization for economics. European development was contradictory. Stimulating the development of text., mining. production in the west and in the center of Europe, Germany somewhat slowed down the development of these same industries in east Europe; on the other hand, thanks to trade in the east. The regions of Europe received raw materials for the development of metal processing. and jewelry craft. The import of precious metals was especially important. Concentrating trade in the hands of him. merchants, Georgia stubbornly fought against possible competitors - non-member cities of Georgia (for example, Narva) and the local merchants, who tried to engage directly. bargain. relations with external world, sought to seize the industry of its counterparty countries into its own hands (this was especially successful in Sweden). From the 2nd half. 15th century there has been a decline in G. Development of national economy, expansion of external and internal trade, strengthening the position of local merchants in England, the Scandinavian countries, in Rus' towards the end. 15 - beginning 16th centuries exacerbated Georgia's contradictions with counterparty countries. Changes in world trade also played a significant role in the decline of Greece. ways. In an effort to maintain his position and privileges in the new conditions, G. resorts to any means: interferes with internal affairs. affairs dept. states, especially Scandinavian ones, supporting rulers favorable to it, wage wars of privateering with the Dutch. However, in the end 15-16 centuries she lost her positions one after another. It was closed in 1494. courtyard in Novgorod; the office in Bruges gradually lost its importance, and in 1553 it was moved to Antwerp; in 1598 the Hanseatic people were deprived of all privileges in England. K ser. 16th century G. gave up her place to Goll. , English and French merchants; formally it existed until 1669. The study of geology in the 18th and 19th centuries. was a monopoly. noble and bourgeois historiography. G. F. Sartorius (1765-1828) and his followers (K. Kopman, D. Schaefer) were interested primarily. political history of G. 14-15 centuries. At the same time, in the history of Germany they looked for evidence of the Germans’ ability to “world domination”; arguments to justify Germany’s colonial aspirations; Germany was portrayed as a unity. incentive political, economic. and cultural development of counterparty countries. E. Denel later wrote in the same traditions. In 1870, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Peace of Stralsund, the Hanseatic Historical Society was organized. society (Hansische Geschichtsverein; exists to this day; its annual organ is “Hansische Geschichtsbl?tter”, since 1871). The society began publishing sources on the history of Hanseatic City, but mainly legal ones - decisions of Hanseatic congresses and charters. At the end of 19 - beginning. 20th centuries V. Shtida and others began to publish office work sources - bargaining. and customs books, etc. In the 1st half. 20th century, especially during the years of the Fasc. dictatorship, German historians continued to preach the old nationalism. views, appealing not only to political, but also economic. history of G. After the war, some Hanseatic historians abandoned these views. Among them were F. Roehrig, who studied economics. structure of Hanseatic cities. His theory about creativity. the role of trade, supposedly Ch. incentive for production, the main city-formation. force, especially in Eastern Europe, has a large number of supporters in modern times. bourgeois historiography, it is adhered to by the head of Hanseatic historiography in Germany, P. Johansen and his school. The focus of modern bourgeois historians of Georgia - the time preceding its formation, economic. German role merchants, their struggle for privileges in other countries (especially Scandinavian ones). Marxist historians (in particular, in the GDR), as opposed to the bourgeois. historiography, pay special attention to the study social structure Hanseatic cities, the role of crafts. elements, popular, especially plebeian movements (for research by historians of the GDR, see the review by K. Fritze and others in the book: Historische Forschungen in der DDR. Analysen und Berichte. Zum XI. Internationalen Historikerkongress in Stockholm August 1960, B., 1960) . Historians of the countries of the people. democracies first raised the question of the role of government for socio-economics. development of Poland, etc. Balt. countries (M. Malovist). From owls G. specialists are most interested in M.P. Lesnikov, who paid attention not to politics, but to socio-economics. history of Georgia and proved that Georgia’s trade in Eastern Europe was not of an unequal, “colonial” nature (in particular, for Novgorod). Source: Hanserezesse 1256-1530, hrsg. v. K. Koppmann, G. v. Ropp, D. Schäfer u. F. Techen, Bd 1-24, Lpz., 1870-1913; Hanserezesse 1531-1560, Bd 1, hrsg. v. G. Wentz, Weimar 1937-41; Hansisches Urkundenbuch, Bd 1-11, Halle - Lpz., 1876-1938; Quellen und Darstellungen zur Hansischen Geschichte (Hansische Geschichtsquellen, Bd 1-7; New episode Bd 1-12, Halle - V.. 1875-1956); Inventare hansischer Archive des 16. Jh., Bd 1-3, Lpz.-M?nch., 1896-1913; Abhandlungen zur Handels-und Sozialgeschichte, hrsg. im Auftrag des hansischen Geschichtsvereins, Bd 1-3, Weimar, 1958-60. Lit.: Lesnikov M.P., Hanseatic fur trade at the beginning of the 15th century, "Educational journal. Moscow City Pedagogical Institute named after V.P. Potemkin." 1948, vol. 8; his, Trade relations between Veliky Novgorod and the Teutonic Order at the end of the 14th century. and beginning XV century, "IZ", 1952, vol. 39; Khoroshkevich A.L., Trade of Veliky Novgorod with the Baltic States and the West. Europe in the 14th-15th centuries, M., 1963; Lesnikov M., L?beck als Handelsplatz f?r osteurop?ische Waren im 15. Jh., "Hansische Geschichtsbl?tter", 1960, Jg. 78; Daenell E., Die Bl?tezeit der deutschen Hanse, Bd 1-2, V., 1905-1906; Sch?fer D., Die Hansest?dte und K?nig Waldemar von D?nemark, Jena, 1879; his, Die deutsche Hanse, 3 Aufl., Lpz., 1943; Goetz L. K., Deutsche-Russische Handelsgeschichte des Mittelalters, L?beck, 1922; Jesse W., Der wendische M?nzverein, L?beck, 1928; R?rig F., Wirtschaftskr?fte im Mittelalter, Weimar, 1959; Johansen P., Die Bedeutung der Hanse f?r Livland, "Hansische Geschichtsbl?tter", 1941, Jg. 65-66; Arbusow L., Die Frage nach der Bedeutung der Hanse f?r Livland, "Deutsches Archiv f?r Geschichte des Mittelalters", 1944, H. 1. Jg. 7; Schildhauer J., Soziale, politische und religi?se Auseinandersetzungen in den Hansest?dten Stralsund, Rostock und Wismar..., Bd 1-2, Weimar, 1959; his, Grundz?ge der Geschichte der deutschen Hanse, ZfG, 1963, H. 4; Fritze K., Die Hansestadt Stralsund, Schwerin, 1961; Hansische Studien. Heinrich Sproemberg zum 70. Geburtstag, V., 1961. A. L. Khoroshkevich. Moscow. -***-***-***- Hansa in the XIV - XV centuries.
In modern Germany there is special sign historical distinction, evidence that the seven cities of this state are the custodians of the traditions of a long-term, voluntary and mutually beneficial coalition, rare in history. This sign is H. It means that cities in which car license plates begin with this letter were part of the Hanseatic League. The letters HB on license plates should be read as Hansestadt Bremen - “Hanseatic city of Bremen”, HL - “Hanseatic city of Lübeck”. The letter H is also present on the license plates of Hamburg, Greifswald, Stralsund, Rostock and Wismar, which played a key role in the medieval Hanseatic League.
Hansa is a commonwealth in which in the XIII - XVII centuries free people united German cities to protect merchants and trade from the power of feudal lords, as well as to jointly resist pirates. The association included cities in which burghers lived - free citizens; they, unlike subjects of kings and feudal lords, were subject to the norms of “city law” (Lubeck, Magdeburg). At various periods of its existence, the Hanseatic League included about 200 cities, including Berlin and Dorpat (Tartu), Danzig (Gdansk) and Cologne, Königsberg (Kaliningrad) and Riga. To develop rules and laws mandatory for all merchants, a congress of members of the union regularly met in Lübeck, which became the main center of maritime trade in the Northern Basin.
In a number of non-members of the Hansa, there were “offices” - branches and representative offices of the Hansa, protected by privileges from the encroachments of local princes and municipalities. The largest “offices” were located in London, Bruges, Bergen and Novgorod. As a rule, the "German yards" had their own piers and warehouses, and were also exempt from most fees and taxes.
According to some modern historians, the event that marked the beginning of the creation of a trade union should be considered the founding of Lübeck in 1159. The Hanseatic League was a rare example of an association in which all parties strived for a common goal - the development of trade relations. Thanks to German merchants, goods from Eastern and Northern Europe arrived to the south and west of the continent: timber, furs, honey, wax, rye. Koggi (sailboats), loaded with salt, cloth and wine, went in the opposite direction.
In the 15th century, the Hanseatic League began to experience defeat after defeat from the nation-states reborn in its zone of England, the Netherlands, Denmark and Poland. The rulers of the countries that were gaining strength did not want to lose income from exports, so they liquidated the Hanseatic trading yards. However, the Hansa existed until the 17th century. The most persistent participants in the virtually collapsed coalition turned out to be Lubeck - a symbol of the power of German merchants, Bremen and Hamburg. These cities entered into a tripartite alliance in 1630. The Hanseatic trade union collapsed after 1669. It was then that the last congress took place in Lübeck, which became the final event in the history of the Hansa.
An analysis of the experience of the first trade and economic association, its achievements and miscalculations is interesting both for historians and for modern entrepreneurs and politicians whose minds are busy solving the problems of pan-European integration.
The purpose of this work is to talk about the features of the era in which merchant communities developed, to highlight the history of the emergence of the Hanseatic Trade Union as a special phenomenon in the life of Medieval Europe. Having formed in the 12th century as a merchant union, at the end of the 13th century the Hansa was already a union of cities. This union dominated trade in the Baltic and North Seas for a long time.
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Introduction
Features of European trade in the 11th century XIII centuries
The emergence and development of the Hanseatic Trade League
Cities that were members of the Hanseatic Trade League or had Hanseatic representation
Relations between the Hanseatic Trade Union and Novgorod
New Hansa
Conclusion
List of sources and literature used
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this work is to talk about the features of the era in which merchant communities developed, to highlight the history of the emergence of the Hanseatic Trade Union as a special phenomenon in the life of Medieval Europe. Having formed in the 12th century as a merchant union, at the end of the 13th century the Hansa was already a union of cities.This union dominated trade in the Baltic and North Seas for a long time.
We face the following tasks:
- Characterize the features of European trade in the 11th-13th centuries
- Talk about the emergence and development of the Hanseatic Trade Union
- Indicate the cities that were members of the Hanseatic Trade League or had Hanseatic representation
- Describe the relations between the Hanseatic Trade Union and Novgorod
- Talk about the so-called “New Hansa” and the prospects for its development.
The relevance of studying this issue is beyond doubt. Some European economists and political scientists suggest that the 21st century will be an era of commercial and industrial consolidation in Europe; in light of this information, it seems necessary to talk about such an impressive experience of Hanseatic traders in the field of international trade. It is also interesting that many German cities still retain the title “Hanseatic” in their names.
To write the work, various sources were used, including educational literature and historical publications on the topic, articles, as well as Internet resources.
The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that it contains comprehensive information on the topic, gives us an idea of the features of trade in the Middle Ages and introduces us to the history of the Hanseatic Trade League.
FEATURES OF EUROPEAN TRADE
IN THE XI-XIII CENTURIES
First, it should be noted that since the 11th century, the cities of medieval Europe have been attempting to free themselves from seigneurial power.
Some used weapons and organized an uprising, others tried to pay off the lord.
One way or another, during this movement for independence, unique city-states, city-communes were formed, power in which passed into the hands of the City Council.
The political importance of such cities is increasing. In addition, in the XII-XIII centuries, a new class began to form - the burghers, which had personal freedom, the right to property and participation in solving urban issues.
However, despite a number of privileges, city residents strictly obeyed the City Council, life inside the city was built on a corporate basis and this applied to everyone: artisans, merchants, etc.
It would be fair to note that starting from the 12th century, a successful merchant is already a traveling merchant; he spends less and less time in his hometown. His presence is required by business in other cities, the purchase of new goods, and fairs. And, although the merchant of that era is good with a sword, he never sets out on the road alone, without his people. Many difficulties awaited him: roads were either missing or in terrible condition, bridges were destroyed. River and sea travel also could not be called safe: running aground, breaking on shore stones or rocks - there were many opportunities to lose cargo or even die. In addition, both land and waterways were full of people wishing to profit from merchant goods and money.
And in this case, merchants had to be very inventive in order to avoid danger. As has already been said, the merchants took with them detachments of armed servants, but this measure sometimes played a cruel joke on them: a huge caravan inspired the idea that they were carrying very expensive goods and attracted extra interest to it from both simple highway robbers and the lord whose lands this caravan was supposed to cross. The lord provided the merchant with his convoy for a certain fee, which ensured security along the entire route; if the merchant refused these services, the lord simply robbed him.
The matter was no less complicated by the peculiarities of European law of the era in question. According to the laws of that time, any goods that touched the possessions of the lord automatically became his property, for example, objects brought ashore after a shipwreck belonged to the owner of this shore, as, in fact, a ship that ran aground, goods that fell out of a cart due to endless shaking on the roads also became the property of the local lord.
The endless customs duties also caused no less trouble.
Thus, we see that the merchants were in dire need of help, some privileges, which they could only obtain in the cities that had become independent, which began to pursue their own trade policy.
Strangers were treated with suspicion, assuming that a merchant from another city certainly wanted to deceive the locals, while, taking into account the peculiarities of the era, there was no difference between a merchant from another country or simply from a neighboring city, they were equally considered strangers. The city created a system of protective measures, the main purpose of which was to prevent a foreign merchant from profiting where his own, local merchant could profit. Everything was used: a ban on trade in certain places and on certain days, high duties and much more.
A little later, many cities began to enter into mutually beneficial agreements with each other in order to facilitate trade for certain categories of merchants. At the same time, within hometown the merchant was obliged to take into account certain rules, for example, the city dictated the price of the goods, which was reflected in the “fair price” rule. The city did not allow the emergence of large trading companies.
In the 11th-13th centuries, merchants united in guilds. This, on the one hand, helped them during dangerous journeys, on the other hand, it gave them some privileges in trade within the city itself. The guild controlled trade in the city, not allowing outsiders. At the same time, the guild was not just an economic community, it was a kind of brotherhood, whose members helped each other in everyday troubles, however, they also punished guild members for violating professional ethics very strictly on behalf of the elected authorities.
Such merchant unions arose everywhere in the Middle Ages.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
HANSEA TRADE UNION
Hansa (German: Hanse , ancient-high German Hansa, literally “group”, “union”) is a kind of synonym for the concept of guild or workshop, that is, a merchant community.
The Hanseatic Trade Union was formed in the 12th century as a union of merchants, and later took shape as a union of cities.
The Hansa is an association of merchants from different cities, and this is unusual, because previously merchant unions united only merchants of one city, cutting off outsiders. The path to joining the Hansa was also special. So, in the London Hanse, in addition to the mandatory entrance fee, there were two more requirements for the candidate. Firstly, he had to belong to the merchant community of his hometown, and secondly, he should not have been considered an artisan for a year and one day (Craftsmen were not allowed because they were afraid of their competition. Of the so-called free craftsmen, merchants only wanted to make ministers).
The process of forming the Hanseatic Trade Union was quite long. The Hanseatic League was first mentioned in documents in 1358. The London Hanse was formed, which existed until the 15th century, and merchant associations arose on the continent around Cologne and Lubeck; at the end of the 13th century, the unification of both German Hanses took place. The center of this association initially became the territory on the banks of the Thames, called the Steel Yard, which included warehouses, barns, inns, etc. It is interesting that the affairs in the territory of the Steel Yard were run by an elected council, which decided matters according to the customs of the guild, not taking into account English laws.
The Hansa was extensive. So, at first, the Saxon and northern lands recognized the dominant position of Lübeck, the Westphalian and Prussian lands - Cologne, and the inhabitants of Gotland and Livonia - the city of Visby, the capital of the island of Gotland.
Gotland Island played significant role in the formation and development of the Hanseatic League, being in an exclusively grazing position in the Baltic Sea, it lay in the path of all ships, which helped the development of trade in the region. So, it was the Gotlandic merchants who would create an office in Veliky Novgorod.
However, it was the city of Lübeck that was considered the “Queen of the Hanse”; goods from the North and Baltic seas were exclusively transshipped here. According to some reports, at least 20 ships left Lübeck for Bergen per year. A significant number!
The final flowering of the so-called “German Hanse” occurred in the 14th century, when it subjugated the entire Northern European direction of trade.
The Hanseatic Trade Union created trading colonies, thus, Hanseatic merchants often enjoyed greater rights in foreign lands than local traders and even more so other foreign merchants.
Why was the Hansa so strong? The answer lies in the state of feudal fragmentation in Germany. The authorities were unable to ensure the safety of trade. Cities entered into alliances, seeing benefits in this cooperation. And it was in the union of cities and trade centers that the strength of the Hanseatic League lay. Military and trade alliances were formed between the member cities of the Hansa. The size of duties, legal protection of merchants, which reached its apogee in the formation of the so-called Lübeck law, debt collection, mutual support in private wars, etc. were negotiated. The Hanseatic Trade Union sought to obtain all sorts of privileges for its merchants. Thus, Cologne merchants were exempted by Henry II from all London duties and traded freely at English fairs.
Formally, the Hansa was in many ways stronger than some European monarchs. However, they resorted to war extremely reluctantly, because this jeopardized their main interest - trade!
However, as often happens, the strength of the Hanse also gave rise to weaknesses. For example, it was stated that the merchant's inheritance should be divided among all his heirs, which prevented the accumulation of capital and its further investment in the business. By limiting the intervention of artisans in trade, the merchants caused increasing discontent. National feeling also grew in many countries where the local merchants were dissatisfied with the strengthening of the Hanseatic monopoly. And the fragmentation of Germany, which at first played into its hands, now aggravated the state of affairs: the absence of a strong political center and its support greatly affected the position of the Hanseatic Trade Union.
Failures one after another haunted the Hanseatic merchants. In 1478, the office in Novgorod was destroyed by Ivan III, who captured the city. The herring catch in the Baltic Sea has decreased. In 1530, a quarter of the German population died from a plague epidemic. In 1598, by order of Elizabeth I, the Steel Yard was destroyed. The city of Bruges was cut off from the sea as the harbor was covered in silt. The Thirty Years' War changed the map of Europe. The Netherlands and England actively developed industry, looking for ways to sell it without intermediary services. In connection with the discovery and development of America, trade routes began to shift to the West.
The last all-Hansean congress took place in 1669.
CITIES THAT WERE MEMBERS OF THE HANSA TRADE UNION OR HAD HANSA REPRESENTATIONS
The number of cities that were part of the Hanseatic League was not constant. At different times, this union included about 200 cities. Congresses of the Hanseatic cities periodically took place in Lübeck. The decisions of these congresses were not binding on individual cities, and many did not attend them at all.
Among the members of the Hanse are such famous cities as Amsterdam, Hanover, Cologne, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Danzig (Gdansk), Konigsberg (Kaliningrad), Memel (Klaipeda), Riga, Pernov (Pärnu), Yuriev (Tartu) , Stockholm, Narva and many other cities.
In addition, many cities had large Hanseatic representative offices on their territory; the richest offices were located in London, Bruges, Bergen, and Novgorod.
RELATIONS OF THE HANSEA TRADE UNION
AND NOVGOROD
Novgorod was one of the main trading partners of the Hansa. Both sides - Novgorod and the Hanseatic League were interested in cooperation.
The writer B. Kiselyov most accurately formulated the idea of cooperation between Novgorod and the Hansa, noting that Peter I cut a window to Europe where in the times of Novgorod the doors were wide open.
At the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries, Novgorod and Lubeck concluded a number of mutually beneficial trade agreements. It is interesting that at the beginning of the 14th century, the struggle for the exclusive right to trade with Novgorod, along with Lubeck, was led by Visby, which once claimed to be the central force in the emerging union of German cities.
However, concluding an agreement with Novgorod in 1361, the Hanseatic Trade Union emphasized that decisions made in Novgorod would only be valid if they were supported by other cities, namely Lubeck, Visby, Riga, Revel, Dorpat.
The main issues concerning the Novgorod court were decided jointly - by the merchants of Lübeck and the merchants of Visby. There was a very strict charter of the Hanseatic court of St. Peter in Novgorod.
The behavior of merchants, the peculiarities of conducting trade, fines, the procedure for placing merchants inside the courtyard were clearly stipulated, and the duties of the headman of the courtyard were specified. Thus, the headman had to maintain all the privileges and messages of the cities that the Novgorod court received. For the loss of letters, the headman was punished with a fine and members of the community were deprived of their rights.
Interestingly, the highest fine was imposed on Hanseatic merchants if their actions threatened the established Hansa monopoly in trade with Novgorod, thus harming the entire merchant class.
In the second half of the 14th century, relations between the Hanseatic merchants and Novgorod began to deteriorate. Thus, this is not the first time that the Master of the Livonian Order demands that Lübeck cease all contacts with Novgorod, due to its hostile attitude towards Catholicism. And Lübeck agrees, although the merchants do not stop trading, but simply transfer it to the Neva, Vyborg and other lands.
In addition, the reason for the quarrel with the Hanseatic League was also an attack on Novgorod merchants by robbers who transported stolen goods to Lubeck.
Such disputes between Novgorod and the Hansa more than once led to the confiscation of goods and the mutual arrest of merchants.
In addition, it is known that in 1385 in Novgorod, during a fire, the courtyards of Hanseatic merchants were plundered by the Novgorodians, which inevitably led to increased confrontation.
In 1391, Niebuhr's peace was concluded, which regulated relations between Novgorod and the Hansa.
However, conflicts continued into the 15th century. Novgorodians tightened trade rules and criticized the quality of goods.
In 1417, the Hanseatic people declared a trade blockade on Novgorod, and Novgorod, in turn, forbade Novgorodians from visiting Pskov and Polotsk, where German merchants could be met. Soon, however, another truce was concluded.
In 1425 in Once again The German courtyard in Novgorod burned down. The restoration cost the Hansa a lot of money. Fires, it must be said, plagued German merchants in Novgorod throughout the 15th century.
The campaign of Ivan 3 against Novgorod in 1478 also affected the position of the Hanseatic traders.
In 1494, the Hanseatic office in Novgorod was closed.
NEW HANSA
Despite the fact that over time the Hanseatic Trade Union weakened and then completely ceased to exist, its spirit was still able to be reborn.
Many cities still honor the memory of the fact that they were once part of the Hansa and emphasize this in every possible way. Thus, the East German city of Rostock recently regained its ancient name - Hanseatic Rostock. Some German cities still retain the title “Hanseatic” in their official names, for example, Hamburg is fully called: “The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.”
Who knows, perhaps the Baltic, on the shores of which at least fifty million people live, will turn into a special economic region developing mutually beneficial trade for the Baltic states?
CONCLUSION
As a result of working on the abstract, we made some conclusions.
Based on the peculiarities of European trade in the 11th-13th centuries, merchants were forced to unite into unions, which, on the one hand, protected traders and their interests, and on the other, imposed their own rules and conditions of trade on them.
The Hanseatic Trade League is one of the most famous merchant unions, formed as a union of traders, but later became very powerful as a union of cities. For a long time, this union controlled trade in the Baltic and North Seas.
About 200 states were members of the Hanseatic Trade Union at different times. Among them are mainly cities of modern Germany and the Baltic states. The city of Lübeck occupied a central place and played a very important role in the development of the entire union.
One of the largest offices of the Hanseatic League was located in Novgorod. Relations between the Hansa and Novgorod were not smooth. And, although both parties were interested in cooperation, nevertheless, in 1494 the office was closed.
Despite the fact that the Hanseatic Trade League officially ceased to exist, many cities revived the memory of it in their names.
We believe that the goals we set at the beginning of the abstract have been achieved and the tasks have been realized.
However, it would be interesting to study this issue a little more time, for example, to highlight the role, place and contribution of individual Hanseatic cities to the development of the Union. Or pay more attention to the prospects for the development of the New Hansa.
Speaking about the fact that trade is the engine of progress, it’s time to ask the question - what kind of progress awaits us?
LIST OF SOURCES AND REFERENCES USED
Literature
- Danilov A.A. Kosulina L.G. Brandt M.Yu. “Russia and the world. Antiquity. Middle Ages. New time": a textbook for educational organizations- M.: Education, 2007.
- Dzhivelegov A.K. “Trade in the West in the Middle Ages” / A.K. Dzhivelegov; ed. edited by N.I. Karev and I.V. Luchitsky.- St. Petersburg: Type. Joint Stock Company "Brockhaus-Efron", 1904
- Rybina E. A. “Novgorod and Hansa” - M.: Handwritten monuments Ancient Rus', 2009 .
Internet resources
Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
Hanseatic League, Hanseatic League, Also Hanseatica(German) Deutsche Hanse or Dudesche Hanse , ancient-German Hansa - literally "group", "union", lat. Hansa Teutonica) - a political and economic union that united almost 300 trading cities of northwestern Europe from the mid-12th to the mid-17th centuries. The date of the origin of the Hanseatic Empire cannot be precisely determined because it is not based on a specific document. The Hanseatic League developed gradually as trade expanded along the shores of the Baltic and North Seas.
The reason for the formation of the Hanseatic League was the growth of the population of the territories north of the Elbe as a result of migration, the emergence of new cities and independent communes and, as a result, an increase in the need for goods and an increase in trade.
The Hanseatic League began to take shape in the 12th century as a union of merchants, then as a union of merchant guilds, and by the end of the 13th century as a union of cities.
The Hanseatic League included cities that had autonomous city government (“city council”, town hall) and their own laws.
To produce general rules and the laws of the Hanseatic League, representatives of cities regularly gathered at congresses in Lübeck. Hanseatic merchants and companies enjoyed certain rights and privileges.
In non-Hansean cities there were representative offices of the Hanseatic League. Such foreign Hanseatic offices were located in Bergen, London and Bruges. At the easternmost end of the Hanseatic trading system, an office was founded in Novgorod (Peterhof), where European goods were sold (wine, textiles) and hemp, wax, honey, timber, hides and furs were purchased. In 1494, by order of Grand Duke Ivan III, this office was abolished, all its buildings (including the stone church of St. Apostle Peter) were completely destroyed.
Story
Increased trade, raids and piracy in the Baltic had happened before (see Vikings) - for example, sailors from the island of Gotland entered rivers and ascended as far as Novgorod - but the scale of international economic relations in the Baltic Sea remained insignificant until the rise of the Hansa.
German cities quickly achieved a dominant position in Baltic Sea trade over the next century, and Lübeck became the center of all maritime trade that linked the countries around the Baltic and North Seas.
Base
Before the Hansa, the main center of trade in the Baltic was Visby. For 100 years, German ships sailed to Novgorod under the Gotlandic flag. Merchants from Visby established an office in Novgorod. The cities of Danzig (Gdańsk), Elblag, Torun, Revel, Riga and Dorpat lived under Lübeck law. For local residents and trade guests, this meant that issues of their legal protection fell under the jurisdiction of Lübeck as the final court of appeal. The Hanseatic communities worked to obtain special trading privileges for their members. For example, merchants from the Hanse of Cologne were able to convince King Henry II of England to grant them (in 1157) special trading privileges and market rights, which freed them from all London duties and allowed them to trade at fairs throughout England. Lübeck, the "Queen of the Hanse", where merchants transshipped goods between the North and Baltic seas, received the status of an Imperial Free City in 1227, the only city with such status east of the Elbe.
Lübeck, with access to fishing grounds in the Baltic and North Seas, formed an alliance with Hamburg in 1242, with its access to the salt trade routes from Lüneburg. The allied cities gained control of much of the salted fish trade, especially at the Skåne fair; by decision of the congress of 1261, Cologne joined them. In 1266, the English king Henry III granted the Hanse of Lübeck and Hamburg the right to trade in England, and in 1282 they were joined by the Hanse of Cologne, forming the most powerful Hanseatic colony in London. The reasons for this cooperation were the feudal fragmentation in the then Germany and the inability of the authorities to ensure the security of trade. Over the next 50 years, the Hansa itself established written relations of confederation and cooperation on eastern and western trade routes. In 1356, a general congress took place in Lübeck (German). Hansetag), at which the founding documents were adopted and the management structure of the Hansa was formed.
The strengthening of the Hanse was facilitated by the adoption in 1299 of an agreement, according to which representatives of the port cities of the union - Rostock, Hamburg, Wismar, Luneburg and Stralsund - decided that “from now on they will not serve the sailing ship of a merchant who is not a member of the Hanse.” This stimulated the influx of new Hanse members, whose number increased to 80 by 1367.
Extension
Lübeck's location on the Baltic provided access to trade with Russia and Scandinavia, creating direct competition with the Scandinavians, who had previously controlled most of the Baltic trade routes. An agreement with the Hansa of the city of Visby put an end to competition: according to this agreement, Lübeck merchants also received access to internal Russian port Novgorod (the center of the Novgorod Republic), where they built a trading post or office .
The Hansa was an organization with decentralized governance. Congresses of the Hanseatic Cities ( Hansetag) met from time to time in Lübeck starting in 1356, but many cities refused to send representatives and the decisions of the Congresses did not bind individual cities to anything. Over time, the network of cities grew to mutable list from 70 to 170 cities.
The union managed to establish additional offices in Bruges (in Flanders, now in Belgium), in Bergen (Norway) and in London (England). These trading posts became significant enclaves. The London office, founded in 1320, stood west of London Bridge near Upper Thames Street. It grew considerably, becoming over time a walled community with its own warehouses, scale house, church, offices and residences, reflecting the importance and scale of the activities involved. This trading post was called Steel Yard(English) Steelyard, German der Stahlhof), the first mention under this name was in 1422.
Cities that were members of the Hansa
More than 200 cities were members of the Hansa at different timesCities that traded with the Hansa
The largest offices were located in Bruges, Bergen, London and Novgorod.
Every year in one of the cities of the New Hansa there is a international festival"The Hanseatic Days of the New Age".
Currently, the German cities of Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Greifswald, Rostock, Stralsund, Wismar, Anklam, Demmin, Salzwedel retain the title " Hanseatic..."(for example, Hamburg is fully called: "The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg" - German. Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Bremen - “the Hanseatic city of Bremen - German. Hansestadt Bremen" etc.). Accordingly, state car license plates in these cities begin with an “additional” Latin letter H… - HB(i.e. "Hansestadt Bremen"), HH("Hansestadt Hamburg"), H.L.(Lubeck), H.G.W.(Greifswald), HRO(Rostock), HST(Stralsund), HWI(Wismar).
see also
Bibliography
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Notes
Links
- Hansa / Khoroshkevich A. L. // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- Deutsche Welle dossier
- Subsection in the Annales library.
- Forsten G.V.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
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Excerpt characterizing Hansa
“The Count has not left, he is here, and there will be orders about you,” said the police chief. - Let's go! - he said to the coachman. The crowd stopped, crowding around those who had heard what the authorities said, and looking at the droshky driving away.At that time, the police chief looked around in fear and said something to the coachman, and his horses went faster.
- Cheating, guys! Lead to it yourself! - shouted the voice of a tall guy. - Don't let me go, guys! Let him submit the report! Hold it! - voices shouted, and people ran after the droshky.
The crowd behind the police chief, talking noisily, headed to the Lubyanka.
- Well, the gentlemen and the merchants have left, and that’s why we are lost? Well, we are dogs, or what! – was heard more often in the crowd.
On the evening of September 1, after his meeting with Kutuzov, Count Rastopchin, upset and offended by the fact that he was not invited to the military council, that Kutuzov did not pay any attention to his proposal to take part in the defense of the capital, and surprised by the new look that opened up to him in the camp , in which the question of the calm of the capital and its patriotic mood turned out to be not only secondary, but completely unnecessary and insignificant - upset, offended and surprised by all this, Count Rostopchin returned to Moscow. After dinner, the count, without undressing, lay down on the sofa and at one o'clock was awakened by a courier who brought him a letter from Kutuzov. The letter said that since the troops were retreating to the Ryazan road outside Moscow, would the count like to send police officials to lead the troops through the city. This news was not news to Rostopchin. Not only from yesterday’s meeting with Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill, but also from the very Battle of Borodino, when all the generals who came to Moscow unanimously said that it was impossible to give another battle, and when, with the count’s permission, government property was already being taken out every night and the residents were half gone, Count Rastopchin knew that Moscow would abandoned; but nevertheless, this news, communicated in the form of a simple note with an order from Kutuzov and received at night, during his first sleep, surprised and irritated the count.
Subsequently, explaining his activities during this time, Count Rastopchin wrote several times in his notes that he then had two important goals: De maintenir la tranquillite a Moscow et d "en faire partir les habitants. [Keep calm in Moscow and escort out her inhabitants.] If we assume this double goal, every action of Rostopchin turns out to be impeccable. Why were the Moscow shrine, weapons, cartridges, gunpowder, grain supplies not taken out, why were thousands of residents deceived by the fact that Moscow would not be surrendered, and ruined? - For this ", in order to maintain calm in the capital, Count Rostopchin's explanation answers. Why were piles of unnecessary papers removed from public places and Leppich's ball and other objects? - In order to leave the city empty, Count Rostopchin's explanation answers. One has only to assume that something threatened national tranquility, and every action becomes justified.
All the horrors of terror were based only on concern for public peace.
What was Count Rastopchin’s fear of public peace in Moscow based on in 1812? What reason was there for supposing there was a tendency towards indignation in the city? Residents left, troops, retreating, filled Moscow. Why should the people rebel as a result of this?
Not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia, upon the entry of the enemy, nothing resembling indignation occurred. On September 1st and 2nd, more than ten thousand people remained in Moscow, and, apart from the crowd that had gathered in the courtyard of the commander-in-chief and attracted by him, there was nothing. Obviously, it was even less necessary to expect unrest among the people if after the Battle of Borodino, when the abandonment of Moscow became obvious, or, at least, probably, if then, instead of agitating the people with the distribution of weapons and posters, Rostopchin took measures to the removal of all sacred objects, gunpowder, charges and money, and would directly announce to the people that the city was being abandoned.
Rastopchin, an ardent, sanguine man who always moved in the highest circles of the administration, although with a patriotic feeling, did not have the slightest idea about the people he thought of governing. From the very beginning of the enemy’s entry into Smolensk, Rostopchin envisioned for himself the role of leader of the people’s feelings—the heart of Russia. It not only seemed to him (as it seems to every administrator) that he controlled the external actions of the inhabitants of Moscow, but it seemed to him that he controlled their mood through his proclamations and posters, written in that ironic language that the people in their midst despise and which they do not understands when he hears it from above. Rostopchin liked the beautiful role of the leader of popular feeling so much, he got used to it so much that the need to get out of this role, the need to leave Moscow without any heroic effect, took him by surprise, and he suddenly lost from under his feet the ground on which he stood, he absolutely did not know what should he do? Although he knew, he did not believe with all his soul in leaving Moscow until the last minute and did nothing for this purpose. Residents moved out against his wishes. If public places were removed, it was only at the request of officials, with whom the count reluctantly agreed. He himself was occupied only with the role that he made for himself. As often happens with people gifted with an ardent imagination, he knew for a long time that Moscow would be abandoned, but he knew only by reasoning, but with all his soul he did not believe in it, and was not transported by his imagination to this new situation.
All his activities, diligent and energetic (how useful it was and reflected on the people is another question), all his activities were aimed only at arousing in the residents the feeling that he himself experienced - patriotic hatred of the French and confidence in itself.
But when the event took on its real, historical dimensions, when it turned out to be insufficient to express one’s hatred of the French in words alone, when it was impossible even to express this hatred through battle, when self-confidence turned out to be useless in relation to one issue of Moscow, when the entire population, like one person, , abandoning their property, flowed out of Moscow, showing with this negative action the full strength of their national feeling - then the role chosen by Rostopchin suddenly turned out to be meaningless. He suddenly felt lonely, weak and ridiculous, without any ground under his feet.
Having received, awakened from sleep, a cold and commanding note from Kutuzov, Rastopchin felt the more irritated, the more guilty he felt. In Moscow there remained everything that had been entrusted to him, everything that was government property that he was supposed to take out. It was not possible to take everything out.
“Who is to blame for this, who allowed this to happen? - he thought. - Of course, not me. I had everything ready, I held Moscow like this! And this is what they have brought it to! Scoundrels, traitors! - he thought, not clearly defining who these scoundrels and traitors were, but feeling the need to hate these traitors who were to blame for the false and ridiculous situation in which he found himself.
All that night Count Rastopchin gave orders, for which people came to him from all sides of Moscow. Those close to him had never seen the count so gloomy and irritated.
“Your Excellency, they came from the patrimonial department, from the director for orders... From the consistory, from the Senate, from the university, from the orphanage, the vicar sent... asks... What do you order about the fire brigade? The warden from the prison... the warden from the yellow house..." - they reported to the count all night, without stopping.
To all these questions the count gave short and angry answers, showing that his orders were no longer needed, that all the work he had carefully prepared had now been ruined by someone, and that this someone would bear full responsibility for everything that would happen now.
“Well, tell this idiot,” he answered a request from the patrimonial department, “so that he remains guarding his papers.” Why are you asking nonsense about the fire brigade? If there are horses, let them go to Vladimir. Don't leave it to the French.
- Your Excellency, the warden from the insane asylum has arrived, as you order?
- How will I order? Let everyone go, that’s all... And let the crazy people out in the city. When we have crazy armies commanding them, that’s what God ordered.
When asked about the convicts who were sitting in the pit, the count angrily shouted at the caretaker:
- Well, should I give you two battalions of a convoy that doesn’t exist? Let them in, and that’s it!
– Your Excellency, there are political ones: Meshkov, Vereshchagin.
- Vereshchagin! Is he not hanged yet? - shouted Rastopchin. - Bring him to me.
By nine o'clock in the morning, when the troops had already moved through Moscow, no one else came to ask the count's orders. Everyone who could go did so of their own accord; those who remained decided with themselves what they had to do.
The count ordered the horses to be brought in to go to Sokolniki, and, frowning, yellow and silent, with folded hands, he sat in his office.
In calm, not stormy times, it seems to every administrator that it is only through his efforts that the entire population under his control moves, and in this consciousness of his necessity, every administrator feels the main reward for his labors and efforts. It is clear that as long as the historical sea is calm, the ruler-administrator, with his fragile boat resting his pole against the ship of the people and himself moving, must seem to him that through his efforts the ship he is resting against is moving. But as soon as a storm arises, the sea becomes agitated and the ship itself moves, then delusion is impossible. The ship moves with its enormous, independent speed, the pole does not reach the moving ship, and the ruler suddenly goes from the position of a ruler, a source of strength, into an insignificant, useless and weak person.
Rastopchin felt this, and it irritated him. The police chief, who was stopped by the crowd, together with the adjutant, who came to report that the horses were ready, entered the count. Both were pale, and the police chief, reporting the execution of his assignment, said that in the count’s courtyard there was a huge crowd of people who wanted to see him.
Rastopchin, without answering a word, stood up and quickly walked into his luxurious, bright living room, walked up to the balcony door, grabbed the handle, left it and moved to the window, from which the whole crowd could be seen more clearly. A tall fellow stood in the front rows and with a stern face, waving his hand, said something. The bloody blacksmith stood next to him with a gloomy look. The hum of voices could be heard through the closed windows.
- Is the crew ready? - said Rastopchin, moving away from the window.
“Ready, your Excellency,” said the adjutant.
Rastopchin again approached the balcony door.
- What do they want? – he asked the police chief.
- Your Excellency, they say that they were going to go against the French on your orders, they shouted something about treason. But a violent crowd, your Excellency. I left by force. Your Excellency, I dare to suggest...
“If you please, go, I know what to do without you,” Rostopchin shouted angrily. He stood at the balcony door, looking out at the crowd. “This is what they did to Russia! This is what they did to me!” - thought Rostopchin, feeling an uncontrollable anger rising in his soul against someone who could be attributed to the cause of everything that happened. As often happens with hot-tempered people, anger was already possessing him, but he was looking for another subject for it. “La voila la populace, la lie du peuple,” he thought, looking at the crowd, “la plebe qu"ils ont soulevee par leur sottise. Il leur faut une victime, [“Here he is, people, these scum of the population, the plebeians, whom they raised with their stupidity! They need a victim."] - it occurred to him, looking at the tall fellow waving his hand. And for the same reason it came to his mind that he himself needed this victim, this object for his anger.
- Is the crew ready? – he asked another time.
- Ready, Your Excellency. What do you order about Vereshchagin? “He’s waiting at the porch,” answered the adjutant.
- A! - Rostopchin cried out, as if struck by some unexpected memory.
And, quickly opening the door, he stepped out onto the balcony with decisive steps. The conversation suddenly stopped, hats and caps were taken off, and all eyes rose to the count who had come out.
- Hello guys! - the count said quickly and loudly. - Thank you for coming. I’ll come out to you now, but first of all we need to deal with the villain. We need to punish the villain who killed Moscow. Wait for me! “And the count just as quickly returned to his chambers, slamming the door firmly.
A murmur of pleasure ran through the crowd. “That means he will control all the villains! And you say French... he’ll give you the whole distance!” - people said, as if reproaching each other for their lack of faith.
A few minutes later an officer hurriedly came out of the front doors, ordered something, and the dragoons stood up. The crowd from the balcony eagerly moved towards the porch. Walking out onto the porch with angry, quick steps, Rostopchin hurriedly looked around him, as if looking for someone.
- Where is he? - said the count, and at the same moment as he said this, he saw from around the corner of the house coming out between two dragoons a young man with a long thin neck, with his head half shaved and overgrown. This young man was dressed in what had once been a dandyish, blue cloth-covered, shabby fox sheepskin coat and dirty prisoner's harem trousers, stuffed into uncleaned, worn-out thin boots. Shackles hung heavily on his thin, weak legs, making it difficult for the young man to walk indecisively.
- A! - said Rastopchin, hastily turning his gaze away from the young man in the fox sheepskin coat and pointing to the bottom step of the porch. - Put it here! “The young man, clanking his shackles, stepped heavily onto the indicated step, holding the collar of his sheepskin coat that was pressing with his finger, turned his long neck twice and, sighing, folded his thin, non-working hands in front of his stomach with a submissive gesture.
Silence continued for several seconds while the young man positioned himself on the step. Only in the back rows of people squeezing into one place were groans, groans, tremors and the tramp of moving feet heard.