Battle of Kulikovo - Perspectives

Perspectives

The historical evaluation of the battle has many theories of what the event represented in the course of history.

• The traditional Russian point of view sees the battle as the first step in the liberation of the Russian lands from the Golden Horde dependency.
• Some analysts of the Eastern Orthodox approach portray the battle as a stand-off between the Christian Rus and steppe non-Christians.
• Russian historian Sergey Solovyov saw the battle as critical for the history of Eastern Europe in stopping another invasion from Asia, similar to the Battle of Châlons in the 5th century and the Battle of Tours in the 8th century in Western Europe.
• Some critical analysts believe that the meaning of the battle is overevaluated and represents nothing more than a simple regional conflict within the Golden Horde.
• Another Russian historian, Lev Gumilev, sees in Mamai a representative of economic and political interests from outside, particularly Western Europe, which in the battle were represented by numerous Genoese mercenaries, while the Moscow army stood in support of the rightful ruler of the Golden Horde Tuqtamış xan.