Vladimir made Russia

[puppyshoes]

I guess you must wonder why half of Russia is named Vladimir. Vladimir did more than baptize Russia. He created a state that was the wonder of the ages. First he redistributed the land. He gave to each according to their need. There's no room here to explain how he did this,but it worked. He also did away with capital punishment. He also abolished all torture and started real fair trials. This is but a small amount of the things he did. I pray some day this system willreturn.

[Jeremi]

Could you go more indepth on the topic ?

[Ace_Dmitry]

What have you meant by saying that "half of Russia is named Vladimir"?

[harmonicpursuit]

I don't know about all that, but Vladimir certainly was an interesting figure. According to A History of Russia by Nicholas V. Riasanovsky, was charged with administration of the Novgorod... what today would be called a province, or principality, although that seems like a troublesome term given the later version of the principalities.

A civil war emerged around the death of his father. This war was between he and his two brothers. Vladimir fled westward. When the dust cleared and one of the two remaining brothers ruled, Vladimir returned with an army of mercenaries to claim the Kievan thrown.

It should be clarified that this is the Kievan Rus' state. The fact that Vladimir's power was based in Kiev, but he had administrative experience in Novgorod is monumental. He was not the first Kievan ruler to become Christian, but he was the first to institute it as a state religion. He cultivated unprecidented relationships with the Byzantine Empire and the influence of Orthodoxy and Byzantine/Greek culture had a profound effect on the emergence of a unified "Eastern Slavic" culture.

The thing is, that because he so solidly ruled Novgorod, as no Kievan ruler had, and because his cultural influence was so tremendous, he, arguably more than anyone else, established the Russian national identity. From my limited understanding, I tend to agree with the topic's title.

As for your summary, Puppyshoes, I think you've been reading communist propaganda disguised as history. It's the concept of a glorified or idealised past. It's a way to unite and inspire the people. It's very dangerous.

Vladimir died in 1015. He is a Saint.

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Hello everyone. This is my first post.