The opinion is popular among Western historians that Russia has almost always been a technically and culturally backward country. Only in certain periods did she manage to join the progress carried by the Europeans.
Ahead of schedule
The theory of backwardness was gladly taken up by Soviet scientists, who accused the autocracy and the Mongol-Tatar yoke of all mortal sins. However, our compatriots did not notice any lagging behind for a long time.
For example, in the 10th century, the Novgorodians built such a stone bridge across the Volkhov, which they learned to build in Europe only in the 16th century. Sofia Kievskaya and the Moscow Kremlin are in no way inferior to the best examples of Western architecture.
In Russia, there were very high living standards: in Novgorod in the 12th century, a water supply was working, windows were glazed even in villages (in Europe only the rich did it), and life expectancy at the beginning of the 13th century was higher than in France, England and Germany.
The Mongol invasion knocked down Russia, but after it there was no critical lag. Firearms appeared no later than in Europe, and the postal service (Yamskaya chase) emerged in the middle of the 13th century - 150 years earlier than in Germany.
In the Muscovy of the XV-XVI centuries, the urban population was 13% (in England - 11%, in Germany - 10%). In terms of literacy, medieval Russia surpassed all major states.
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Our medicine was also better developed, which was noted by all foreigners who visited Moscow. Here you can recall the plague epidemic that wiped out half of Europe in the middle of the 14th century. In Russia, she was stopped in the bud.
On the whole, our country followed all the main development trends of the leading countries, sometimes borrowing something from its neighbors, and sometimes ahead of them.
Which one of us is a barbarian?
Before the accession of Peter I in a number of areas, the lag was still outlined. Sharp conflicts with Western neighbors made it difficult to adopt the European experience in a timely manner. However, for example, in the textile and leather industry, the manufacture of artillery and weapons, Russia was more than competitive.
In Europe, progress was also not uniform, and someone always lagged behind someone else. The Dutch and the British overtook in the construction of the fleet not only Russia, but also the rest of the world.
Swedish metallurgists worked in England and Prussia, Austria and France. In Germany and Italy, typography and medicine were better developed. And the once great Spain by the XVIII century lagged behind everyone and in everything.
But Peter I, who visited Europe, rushed to learn everything at once. In fact, the lag was not so terrible, because they overcame it very quickly. There remained only talk that in Russia it is "forever cold" and that all Russians are barbarians.
Who is really a barbarian, still need to understand. For example, the civilized Dutch in 1672, without trial, seized the head of their government, Jan de Witt, roasted him with his brother and fed him to the dogs.
It’s ridiculous to talk about the backwardness of Russia in the 18th century. In the first third of the 19th century, our country was generally in the lead in many positions, and its authority on the world arena was indisputable. And here in St. Petersburg they really overlooked another technological breakthrough of the West, which led to defeat in the Crimean War. But then again - we managed to quickly catch up.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was firmly among the five most developed countries in the world, both in terms of economic size and many other indicators. We trained more engineers, doctors and teachers than in any European country. Russian scientists were leaders in chemistry and electrical engineering, experimental physics and medicine.
Central heating, the first tanker and icebreaker, vaccines against many deadly diseases appeared in our country. After all, if Russia were indeed an eternally backward country, it is unlikely that it would be able to retain the largest territory in the world.
Boris SHAROV
