Religious Frontier and the Fabrication of Historical Right (1550–1721)
From the mid-16th century until 1721, the diplomatic apparatus of the Tsardom of Muscovy justified military expansion into the North Caucasus with theological rhetoric and invented historical rights. Historian Michael Khodarkovsky states that the government apparatus positioned the tsar as a "universal Christian ruler, who 'upheld the true Christian faith'"[1]. Invasions were motivated by a "divine obligation to rescue Orthodox Christians from infidel captivity"[1]. As a result, as the researcher summarizes, "Moscow's military and political interests could no longer be separated from the ideological and theological rhetoric of expansion"[1], and the North Caucasus "became a religious frontier"[2]. In parallel, fictitious grounds for territorial claims were being constructed: the author records that officials produced false reports for foreign rulers claiming that the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus had allegedly been Muscovite "subjects in the Riazan region since ancient times, and then fled from Riazan and settled in the mountains"[1], which gave the metropole a formal pretext to legalize the absorption of their lands and the construction of its fortifications.
Actors
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy |
The government of the Tsardom of Muscovy used religious identity and the concept of protecting co-religionists as ideological cover for military expansion: historian Michael Khodarkovsky states that the diplomatic apparatus positioned the tsar as a "universal Christian ruler who 'upheld the true Christian faith'"[1], while invasions were motivated by a "divine obligation to rescue Orthodox Christians from infidel captivity"[1]; as a result, as historian Michael Khodarkovsky summarizes, in the advance into new territories "Moscow's military and political interests could no longer be separated from the ideological and theological rhetoric of expansion"[1], because of which the North Caucasus "became a religious frontier"[2]. |
Techniques Used
| ID | Name | Use | |
|---|---|---|---|
| T0024 | Justification Through Religion |
The government of the Tsardom of Muscovy used religious identity and the concept of protecting co-religionists as ideological cover for military expansion: historian Michael Khodarkovsky states that the diplomatic apparatus positioned the tsar as a "universal Christian ruler who 'upheld the true Christian faith'"[1], while invasions were motivated by a "divine obligation to rescue Orthodox Christians from infidel captivity"[1]; as a result, as historian Michael Khodarkovsky summarizes, in the advance into new territories "Moscow's military and political interests could no longer be separated from the ideological and theological rhetoric of expansion"[1], because of which the North Caucasus "became a religious frontier"[2]. |
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| T0004 | Rewriting of History |
The government of the Tsardom of Muscovy fabricated historical narratives to provide legal justification for the invasion of new territories: historian Michael Khodarkovsky points out that in diplomatic correspondence officials deliberately constructed fictitious claims that the Indigenous peoples of the Caucasus had allegedly, since ancient times, been Muscovite "subjects in the Riazan region, who then fled from Riazan and settled in the mountains"[1]. |
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Instruments
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S0008 | Government |
The government of the Tsardom of Muscovy used religious identity and the concept of protecting co-religionists as ideological cover for military expansion: historian Michael Khodarkovsky states that the diplomatic apparatus positioned the tsar as a "universal Christian ruler who 'upheld the true Christian faith'"[1], while invasions were motivated by a "divine obligation to rescue Orthodox Christians from infidel captivity"[1]; as a result, as historian Michael Khodarkovsky summarizes, in the advance into new territories "Moscow's military and political interests could no longer be separated from the ideological and theological rhetoric of expansion"[1], because of which the North Caucasus "became a religious frontier"[2]. |