Throughout its over one thousand-year history, Russia has been invaded numerous times, some more famous than others. In fact, the development of the modern Russian state is inexorably linked with these various invasions, both successes and failures. From the widely successful 1237 Mongol invasion and 1609 Polish conquest to the massive failures of the 1708 Swedish invasion, Napoleons 1812 campaign, and Operation Barbarossa of WWII, Russias history, society, and culture were massively influenced by these invasions.1. The Mongol Invasion of the Kyivan RusMongols at the walls of Vladimir 1238, the Mongol army besieges the city of Vladimir by Vassily Maximov, c. 1900. Source: Wikimedia CommonsBefore Russia became a single unified state, it was a decentralized realm of principalities known as the Kyivan Rus. While the Rus states, particularly their capital cities, had grown as commercial centers throughout the medieval period, the Mongol Empires conquests would change the trajectory of the region forever.Beginning in 1237, a Mongol army under the leadership of Batu Khan (one of the grandsons of the more famous conqueror Ghengis Khan) swept through the Rus lands. Major cities including Ryazan, Vladimir, and most importantly Kyiv were obliterated by the Mongols with their populations massacred and any survivors enslaved. By 1241, the Rus principalities were almost entirely subjugated by the Mongols with the exception of a handful of northern cities, namely Novgorod and Pskov. In the following centuries, the westernmost Rus cities were occupied by Poland and Lithuania while those in the east remained as vassals of the Mongol Golden Horde.While the Mongol invasions were brief and their reign over Russia not long in the grand scheme of history (the Tatar Yoke as the Russians call it ended definitively in 1480), their impact on Russian history cannot be understated. With Kyiv, the greatest center of power in the Russian lands, destroyed and now under Polish influence, a small city known as Moscow gradually became the most powerful of the Rus Principalities under Mongol vassalage. Essentially, the western Rus cities that fell under Polish influence evolved into Belarus and Ukraine while the eastern principalities unified under the banner of Moscow, eventually becoming the Tsardom of Russia.2. The Polish Conquests and the Time of TroublesAppeal of Minin by Konstantin Makovsky, 1896. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAfter the definitive end of Mongol rule in 1480, Moscow centralized power in the region. In 1547, the Grand Prince of Moscow, Ivan IV, claimed the title Tsar of All Russia, officially transforming the Moscovite state into the Tsardom of Russia. Tsar Ivan would come to be known as Ivan the Terrible. Among many other accomplishments and acts, the conquests east into Siberia began under Ivans rule. By the end of his reign in 1584, Ivan had only one remaining heir in his third-born son, Feodor. Feodor would reign until he died, heirless, in 1598.With the death of the last male member of the ruling family, Russia descended into a chaotic succession crisis known as the Time of Troubles. Over the next few years, several different tsars, from powerful nobles such as Boris Godunov and Vasily IV Shuisky to a pretender who claimed to be one of Ivan IVs dead sons, False Dmitry I, reigned in Russia at different times. However, the penultimate tsar of the Time of Troubles was not Russian, but Polish.The Relief of Smolensk, during the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618) by Juliusz Kossak, 19th century. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, another major power in Eastern Europe and one of Russias greatest rivals, saw an opportunity in the chaos of the Time of Troubles. In 1609, the Poles launched an invasion of Russia. The Polish invasion was shockingly successful, seizing Moscow in 1610 and placing a Polish prince, Wadysaw Vasa (called Vladislav in Russian) on the Russian throne as tsar. While Wadysaw was overthrown by a major revolt by Russian nobles in 1613, Poland was able to annex significant territories from Russia at the end of this conflict, namely the city of Smolensk. Following the overthrow of Wadysaw, the Russian noble families voted to crown Michael Romanov as the Tsar of All Russia. Michael Is dynasty, the Romanovs, would rule Russia for three centuries.3. The Swedish Invasion and the Great Northern WarBattle of Lesnaya by anonymous artist, 1829-1831. Source: Hermitage MuseumBy 1700, Russia had almost completed its conquest of Siberia and gained powerful rivals in Europe. The most concerning of these rivals at the time was the Swedish Empire, the preeminent power in the Baltic Sea. Tsar Peter, later known as Peter the Great, sought to usurp Swedens power in the Baltic. When 15-year-old Charles XII ascended the throne of Sweden in 1697, Peter saw an opportunity. In 1700, Peter formed an anti-Swedish alliance with Denmark-Norway and Poland-Lithuania, which soon launched invasions of the Swedish Empire from east, west, and south. The conflict that ensued would come to be known as the Great Northern War.To the surprise of the anti-Swedish alliance, the young Swedish king turned out to be an effective military commander, quickly outmaneuvering the Danes and forcing a Danish surrender. Charles then turned his army east, crushing a Russian army at Narva (modern-day Estonia, then a Swedish territory). Charles then turned his attention south to Poland while Russia reeled from the defeat. However, this decision might have been his greatest mistake.In 1708, after subduing Poland, Charles began a full-scale invasion of Russia. When the Russian and Swedish armies met at Poltava (in modern-day Ukraine), the Swedish king was met with a crushing defeat. Although the Great Northern War officially continued for another decade, the Swedish defeat at Poltava sealed their fate. Because of their victory in the war and over the Swedish invasion, Russia annexed much of Swedens territories on the east coast of the Baltic, namely Ingria. Ingria became the home of Russias new imperial capital, named for the tsar who conquered the land and built it: Saint Petersburg. In the end, the Russian victory over Swedens invasion cemented Russia as the preeminent power in the Baltic Sea, supplanting the once-dominant Sweden.4. The Napoleonic Wars and the French InvasionNapoleon Meets Alexander I, Frederick William III and others in Tilsit June 26, 1807 by Daniel Berger, 1807. Source: Hermitage MuseumIn the wake of its victory over Sweden, Russia had annexed large swathes of territory from the Swedish Empire. Later in the 18th century, Russia also participated in the Partitions of Poland, greatly expanding its territory in Eastern Europe. In 1812, Napoleons French Empire dominated almost all of Europe. While Russia and France had had a shaky alliance since 1807, Russia even gained Finland from Sweden thanks to this alliance, it was not to last. This Franco-Russian alliance finally broke in 1812 when Russia refused to cease trade with Britain. Napoleon prepared an army of over 600,000 men from across Europe, the largest ever assembled to that point in history, to invade and subdue Russia.As Napoleons army pushed into Russia, it defeated the Russians in battle at almost every turn. At the Battle of Borodino, Napoleons army clashed with the Russians and tens of thousands of men died on both sides. Despite heavy fighting, the battle ended in a French victory and opened the way for Napoleon to take Moscow. However, when Napoleon rode into the city with his army, instead of a bustling city as expected, the French Emperor found a devastated and burned city. On its way out, the Russian army had burned the city to ensure that the French could not benefit from its resources and logistics. By this point in the invasion, Napoleons army had suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties, mostly through attrition but many too to battle.The Battle of Borodino on 26 August (7 September) 1812 by Peter von Hess, 1843. Source: Hermitage MuseumHoping to receive an offer of surrender from the Russians, Napoleon kept his army in Moscow for over a month. However, no such offer arrived and the French army was stuck deep in Russian territory with winter only months away. Finally, Napoleon decided to admit defeat and retreat west. As Napoleons army retreated, it suffered enormous casualties from the cold, starvation, disease, and constant harassment by Russian guerillas. By the time the French Army finally escaped the vast Russian Empire, its numbers had been reduced to only around 120,000 men. While this invasion was not won by a Russian force of arms, it was a major influence on Russian national pride. Ultimately, the prestige associated with this victory and later victories against Napoleon resulted in Russia becoming the uncontested greatest military power on the continent for a time.5. Operation Barbarossa and the Great Patriotic WarGerman troops crossing the Soviet border by Johannes Hhle, 22 June 1941. Source: Wikimedia CommonsOn June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union. Known as Operation Barbarossa, this invasion utilized nearly 4 million soldiers in its march east. Barbarossa was initially successful and resulted in hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops killed in battle and millions more captured. By September, the German army was at the gates of Moscow and another major Soviet defeat seemed inevitable.Despite repeated offensives by the German army, the Soviet Red Army held its ground. The Germans finally suffered a major defeat on the field in the three-month Battle of Moscow. With the German advance halted the Red Army began a winter counteroffensive which pushed the Germans further away from Moscow, definitively ending Operation Barbarossa. Operation Barbarossa had failed and with it, the Nazis chances for a quick, decisive war with the Soviet Union were dashed, replaced by a long grueling war of attrition.Europe Countries Map (Cold War). Source: PixabayAlthough Operation Barbarossa had failed in its objectives, the eastern front of World War II, known to the former Soviet countries as the Great Patriotic War, would continue until 1945. The Red Army would continue its offensives west, crushing the Germans in such major battles as the Battles of Stalingrad, Kursk, and Operation Bagration. In the end, the Red Army took Berlin and occupied much of Eastern Europe.Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War came at an enormous cost, roughly 11 million Red Army soldiers and 7 million Soviet civilians died. They would not forget this devastating invasion from the West, which would shape their foreign policy for the rest of the Unions existence. Soon after the end of the war, the Soviet Union established a sphere of influence across Eastern Europe; a shield against possible further invasions from the West, yet also influencing the start of the Cold War, which would shape global politics for decades to come.Sources:Figes, O. (2023). The Story of Russia. Metropolitan Books.Hosking, G. Russian History: A Very Short Introduction, 2012.