War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

For the first 20 chapters the action centered around the major cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, circa 1805. This chapter heads to the countryside to one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, Smolensk, founded in 863 A.D. It is west of Moscow and a bit south, not that far east of the Belarusian border. Smolensk was part of the Kyivan Rus’, the first state to rise among Eastern Slavs. While the early history of Ukraine is the history of Russia, the converse is not true. Generally, many think “Russia,” when they hear “Rus'’” but there is so much more to the Rus’, who were Scandinavian Vikings. Rus’ is also thought to be a navigational term meaning “rudder.” Smolensk was also part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tsardom of Russia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire. It has remained on an important trading and invasion route. The story moves to the fictional “Bald Hills,” in Smolensk, the estate of Prince Andrei’s father, Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky. Nikolai is a f