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The largest national newspapers in Norway are Verdens Gang (VG), Aftenposten and Dagbladet.
Norwegian culture can be compared to English culture in the way that it is considered a bad thing to show off, as opposed to the US, where this is more acceptable. This is a big aspect of Norwegian culture, and it is related to the philosophy of egalitarianism. Because of this, people will understate things, for example if a Norwegian says something is good or nice, it can mean that it's really great.
Items from the Viking Age (in Norway), are shown in museums: One item is the Gokstad ship.
Museums in Norway includes The Ibsen Museum - named after Henrik Ibsen.
The farmers' culture ("bondekulturen") was brutal.
Unwanted babies were "placed in the forest" ("sette barn på skogen") to die, until the nineteenth century; in the end, the [rural] police authority - consisting of individuals called lensmann - were able to control [and stop] these crimes.
Modern, cambered skis were invented in the Norwegian province of Telemark in the early 19th century.
In Norway power is shared among three branches: The justice sector, the government and the parliament (Stortinget). Norway also has a king, Harald V, but he does not have any real power and acts as a symbol and ambassador. This form of government is called a constitutional monarchy. Elections are held every four years, and the winner of the election is the party or coalition of parties that gets the most votes and seats in the parliament. After the elections are done, the winners work together to find out who the prime minister should be, as well as who the other ministers should be.
Here is a short summary of the biggest political parties in Norway, from left to right on the political axis:
The Conservative Party and the Progress Party are currently working together in a coalition government, after getting elected in the 2013 elections. It's also a minority government, so it has to work together with the other parties in the parliament to make change.
The city with the most people living there (or inhabitants) is Oslo. The city of Bergen has 272,000 people living there; the city of Trondheim has 182,000 people in its population.
Some claim that Bergen and Trondheim, each had their time as Norway's capital during the Middle Ages.
Albania
Albania ( ; ), officially called the Republic of Albania is an independent republic in Southeastern Europe, with an area of . The capital is Tirana, and other important cities are Durrës, Elbasan and Vlora. Over 3 million people live in Albania. The majority of Albanians are Muslims with 55%, 23% Eastern Orthodox and 15% Roman Catholics.
Albania is next to Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and North Macedonia and Kosovo. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea in the west, and a coast on the Ionian Sea in the southwest. The official language is Albanian. The national anthem is "Hymni i Flamurit".
Albania was the southern part of "Illyria" during the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages the Albanians were ruled by many foreign countries, including the Byzantine and Venetian Empires and during the 16th century resistance to the Ottoman Empire's rule was led by the Albanian national hero "Skanderberg" but his real name was Gjergj Kastrioti. After four centuries of Turkish domination, finally in the 20th century an independent Albania was created. In 1939 Albania was conquered by fascist Italy and was part of the Kingdom of Italy until 1943. After World War II Albania became independent again, under communist rule. It was ruled by Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985. Ramiz Alia took over and also later became President when, in 1992, Albania returned to democracy, and it now has friendly relations with the European Union, which it has applied to join.
Albania is divided into 12 counties. These counties include 36 districts and 373 municipalities
This is a list of the largest cities in Albania.
The Albanian Armed Forces were first formed after independence in 1912. Albania reduced the number of active troops from 65,000 in 1988 to 14,500 in 2009. The military now is mostly a small fleet of aircraft and sea vessels.
Albania has a total area of 28,748 square kilometers. Albania's coastline length is . It goes along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. On the coast there are mild, wet winters and warm, sunny, and rather dry summers.
70% of the country is mountains. The highest mountain is Korab.
Albania is bordered by Greece, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo. A short stretch of sea separates Albania from the far southeast of Italy.
Although a small country, Albania has a lot of variety in plants and animals. The total number of plants is over 3250 species. There are over 350 bird species, 330 freshwater and marine fish and 80 mammal species. The Golden Eagle is the national symbol of Albania.
Hungary
Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Its capital city is Budapest. Hungary is slightly bigger than its western neighbour Austria and has about 10 million inhabitants. Other countries that border Hungary are Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. Hungary's official language is the Hungarian language. It has been a member of the European Union (EU) since 2004. In Hungarian, the country is called "Magyarország" (literally, "Hungarian country"), or "Magyar Köztársaság" (Hungarian Republic). This is named after the Magyar tribes who came to Hungary in the late 9th century.
The Magyars established Hungary in 896, after they had arrived there from their previous, Eastern European territories. Prince Árpád was their leader at the time; he also established the first royal house of the country, the Árpád-house. In 1000, after the first king, Saint Stephen had been crowned, the country became a Kingdom.
In 1241, the Mongol Empire invaded the country, causing the Hungarian king Béla IV to flee and approximately 500,000 Hungarians were killed, along with with heavy damage. In 1301, the Árpád-house died out. Later on, kings from various houses ruled over Hungary. The greatest of them is Matthias Corvinus, famous for taking Austrian terrirories like Vienna, etc. and protecting the country against Ottoman aggression. However, some decades after he had died (1490), the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent defeated the Hungarian king in the Battle of Mohács (1526). The Kingdom was cut up into three parts: the western and northern areas remained Hungary, the southern region fell under Ottoman rule, and the eastern part became an Ottoman vassal as the Principality of Transylvania.
The Kingdom of Hungary became a Habsburg dependency, because an agreement made in Vienna in 1515 said that the Habsburg family would take over the territory of the Jagellion family in Bohemia and Hungary if the line of kings should die out. In 1686, the Ottomans were forced to leave, and the country was reunified. Many nationalities were living in the country at this time. Along with Hungarians, there were also the ancestors of modern Slovaks, Serbs, and Romanians.
In 1703, Francis II Rákóczi, a Hungarian nobleman organized a revolution against the Habsburgs, as the Hungarians were not satisfied with them. However, his revolution failed in 1711, and he had to go into exile. The next most important event is the "Hungarian Revolution of 1848", when the inhabitants of the country mutinied again. Fighting ended in 1849, with Habsburg success. The leaders of the revolution were executed.
The country tried to find the way towards consolidation: in 1867, the two most important Habsburg territories, Austria and Hungary signed a treaty, and they established the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The new situation was feasible for both sides: the agreement brought massive economic growth.
In 1918 after the defeat in World War I, the Kingdom was abolished, and a republic was established, as people had enough of war. This republic was short-lived, and soon the Communists seized power (1919). Their rule was irresponsible and many people, including the peasants and the intelligentsia, were tortured. The communists had to abandon the country as Romanian troops invaded.
In late 1919, the Hungarian forces, led by Admiral Miklós Horthy, finally occupied the capital, Budapest. In response to the communist terror, they launched the "White Terror", in which they persecuted the communists and their supporters. The kingdom was re-established but there was no king. Horthy was elected as the regent of the country, as the assembly decided not to recall the Habsburgs.
Hungary lost the war. According to the Treaty of Trianon (1920), Hungary lost two thirds of its territory. In the majority of these territories, non-Hungarians were the majority; however, many Hungarians also found themselves outside their country, in the nation state of Romanians or Slovaks. Thus, the main political goal of the governments under Horthy was to revise this treaty, and at least, to regain the Hungarian-inhabited lands.
After the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied all of the country. So Hungary gradually became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. After 1948, Communist leader Mátyás Rákosi established Stalinist rule in the country. He forced collectivization and a planned economy. This led to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Hungary withdrew from the Warsaw Pact. But the Soviets sent in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks. Nearly a quarter of a million people left the country during the brief time that the borders were open in 1956. János Kádár became leader of the communist party. In 1991 Soviet military presence in Hungary ended, and the transition to a market economy began.
Today, Hungary is a democratic republic. Elections are held every four years.
The current president of the country is János Áder, and the prime minister is Viktor Orbán. Orbán was Prime Minister from 1998 to 2002, and was elected again in 2010.
Hungarians make up the largest part of the population but there are also several other ethnic communities. The largest of these are the Roma and Germans. Hungarian is the most widely used language in Hungary. Ethnic communities often use their own languages as well. The majority of Hungarians are religious, mainly Roman Catholic and Calvinist (in Hungarian 'református' - 'reformed'). There are Jews, often in intellectual and artistic occupations, and some Muslims. Orthodox Christianity is practised by ethnic minorities from eastern Europe.
Hungary's highest point is "Kékestető" (1014 m; in the northeastern part of Hungary). The River Danube, one of Europe's largest rivers, divides Hungary into a western and an eastern part. The region west of the Danube is called Transdanubia ("Dunántúl"). Transdanubia has a hilly landscape and many small villages and towns. The large flat area in the eastern part is the Great Plains ("Alföld"). Along the Slovakian border there are mountains.
Lake Balaton, Central Europe's largest lake can be found in Hungary. This small country has several thermal spas too. Lake Hévíz is one of the world's largest thermal lakes. Hungary, however is a landlocked country (it has no coastline).
Its biggest cities are Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, Pécs, Győr, Nyíregyháza and Szolnok. Szolnok is found at the juncture of the Tisza River and the Zagyva River (stream).
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a country that is part (of a constituent country) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Most of it is in Western Europe, but there are also some parts in the Caribbean. More than 17 million people live there. To the north and west of the European part of the Netherlands is the North Sea, and to the east is Germany and to the south is Belgium. The Netherlands is one of the countries that started the European Union. People who live in the Netherlands are called "Dutch". The language of the Netherlands is also called Dutch. The official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam. However, the government is in The Hague.
"The Netherlands" means "the low lands". The land only rises, on average, 1 meter above sea level. One third of the land is below sea level. The Netherlands is also - incorrectly - referred to as Holland. Holland was a very rich area (two provinces) in the western part of the Netherlands, thus causing people to be mistaken. Some people who do not live in the western part of the Netherlands do not like it when people call the country Holland. The name "Holland" originates from the old Dutch words "Holt land" which means "wood lands".
At the end of the Middle Ages the dukes of Burgundy, a country that is now part of France, united seventeen areas. Those areas were called the Netherlands. When the daughter of a duke married Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1477, the Netherlands became part of Spain. In the 16th century many Dutch people became Protestant. The king of Spain did not like it, he wanted all Dutch to be Roman Catholic. Of course the Dutch people did not like this, and after violent excesses by the Spanish they started a war against Spain in 1568, also for reasons of taxation. The war lasted until 1648, therefore it is called the Eighty Years' War. An important leader of the Dutch in this war was Willem van Oranje (Willem of orange) also called William the Silent.
In 1648 the Netherlands and Spain signed peace. The Dutch people were allowed to keep all the areas they conquered. The part of the Netherlands that was not conquered by the Dutch stayed part of Spain. Later this part became the country Belgium.
When the Netherlands became independent, it was a very special country. That time almost all countries in Europe were ruled by a king, but the Netherlands was a republic. The Netherlands was made up of seven provinces, that were ruled by the big cities. The cities were ruled by the municipality which consisted of rich civilians. Together those provinces were ruled by a stadtholder, a very powerful man, but compared to the kings of other European countries he had much less power.
In the 17th century the Netherlands was the richest and one of the most powerful countries in the world. Therefore, the Dutch call the 17th century the Golden Age. Their Dutch Empire had colonies around the world. One important colony was the East Indies, which is now called Indonesia. They also had colonies in the Caribbean, like the other European empires. They also started New Netherland, which is now called New York. The Netherlands often fought wars against other European countries, especially the Anglo-Dutch Wars against England. Michiel de Ruyter, a Dutch admiral, became a Dutch hero when he defeated the English navy close to London.
In the 18th century the Netherlands became poorer. Many people blamed this on the government leaders, the stadtholders. Many thought they had too much power and wanted them to get away. In 1789 the French people deposed (got rid of) their king. French armies attacked other countries to depose their leaders too. In 1795 they attacked the Netherlands. Stadtholder William V had to flee to England. The Netherlands were renamed to Batavian Republic and became a democracy. But the French were not content (satisfied) with the Dutch ruler, so in 1806 the French emperor Napoleon made his brother Louis Bonaparte king of the Netherlands. Louis became popular in the Netherlands, but the emperor was again not content with him, so in 1810 the Netherlands became a part of France.
In 1815 Napoleon was defeated, and the Netherlands became independent again. The rulers of European countries thought it was a good idea to make the Netherlands stronger, to make them able to resist another French invasion. Therefore, Belgium and Luxembourg were added to the Netherlands. William I, the son of stadtholder William V, became king. Some Belgians disliked their Dutch king. In 1830 they revolted. William sent an army. He was much more powerful than the Belgians but after ten days the French sent an army to support them. In 1831 the Belgians chose their own king and Belgium became an independent country.
Some people again thought the Dutch king had too much power. They wanted to give him less power and vote for the government themselves. In 1848 there were violent revolts against the kings of many European countries. The Dutch king was afraid the same would happen in the Netherlands. Therefore, he allowed Johan Rudolf Thorbecke to write a constitution. From then on people were allowed to vote. At first only rich men were allowed to vote. From 1919 on all adults were allowed to vote.
In World War I, the Netherlands did not fight and were not invaded. The Dutch wanted to stay neutral in World War II as well, but in 1940 the country was invaded and occupied by Germany. Like in other countries they had occupied, the German authorities started to kill Jews. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived in the Netherlands. Her family hid from the Nazis and she wrote a diary. She died in a Nazi concentration camp and her diary became famous.
In 1944 the American, Canadian, Polish and British armies liberated the south of the Netherlands from Nazi Occupation. They wanted to cross the Rhine river in Operation Market Garden to liberate the rest of the country, but they were defeated. It took until May 1945 before the entire country was liberated. During the five years of Nazi occupation, 250,000 people had died in the Netherlands.
Shortly after the war, Indonesia declared its independence. The Dutch sent soldiers to fight in Indonesia. After other countries, including the United States, told the Dutch to leave Indonesia, they finally did so in 1949.
After the war the Netherlands became one of the richest countries in the world. In 2004 the United Nations said that the Netherlands was the 5th best country to live in.
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. That means the country has a king, but the real power is in the hands of a parliament, chosen by the Dutch people. All Dutch people at least 18 years old or older are allowed to vote. The Dutch parliament consists of two chambers: the Second Chamber (Dutch: "Tweede Kamer", this is the House of Representatives, elected every four years), and the First Chamber (Dutch: "Eerste Kamer", this is the Senate, elected by provincial politicians every four years). After the Second Chamber elections, parties that have had a majority of the votes create a cabinet. The cabinet consists of a prime minister and several other ministers and deputy ministers. Current government is the liberal-Christian democratic Third Rutte cabinet, consisting of VVD, CDA, D66 and CU politicians. Prime Minister is Mark Rutte (VVD).
The latest general elections were held on March 17, 2021. Winners were liberal parties like VVD (also the biggest party), D66 (second biggest party) and Volt, and populist parties like FVD and JA21. Losers were left parties like SP and GL, Christian democratic party CDA, populist party PVV, and senior citizen party 50+.
The Netherlands is known for tolerance in politics. The Netherlands is the only country where soft drugs are not entirely considered illegal. Furthermore, the Netherlands is one of the few countries that allow same-sex marriages, euthanasia and prostitution to a certain extent.
More information: "Politics of the Netherlands".
The Netherlands is subdivided in provinces and municipalities.
In the Netherlands there are 12 provinces:
These provinces are all located in the part of the Netherlands that is in Europe. The country also includes three special municipalities in the Caribbean: Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius. They are not part of any province, but together are known as the Caribbean Netherlands. The Netherlands (both the European part and the Caribbean Netherlands), together with Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, also in the Caribbean, form a sovereign state called the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
When the Kingdom was formed in 1954, the territories in the Caribbean became part of the Netherlands Antilles. At that time it also included Suriname in South America, which became an independent country in 1975. Aruba left the Antilles in 1986, and Curaçao and Sint Maarten did the same in 2010. The rest of the islands then became the Caribbean Netherlands which is part of the Netherlands proper.
The Netherlands has 352 municipalities (2021) and also three special municipalities in the so-called Caribbean Netherlands.
Almost every year the amount of municipalities decrease.
Cities aren't actually a subdivision of the Netherlands. Cities are also municipalities or they make part of municipalities.
This is a list of the cities with over 100,000 people.
In fact a large part of the Netherlands was created by the sand that came from the many rivers flowing through it. Notable Dutch rivers are the Rhine, the Maas, the IJssel and the Scelt. A large part of the Netherlands is below sea level. This is because the Dutch have made many lakes and parts of the sea dry, creating polders. Therefore, there is a saying "God created the earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands." This makes the Netherlands very flat. In the very south-east of the Netherlands, in Limburg, there are some hills. Therefore, this region is a tourist-attraction for many Dutch people. The highest point in the European portion of the Netherlands, the Vaalserberg, is 323 metres above sea level. The highest point in both the Netherlands proper and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is Mount Scenery, on the Caribbean island of Saba, at 887 metres.
The Netherlands is a small flat country; about 300 kilometers from north to south, and about 170 kilometers from east to west. It has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Köppen climate classification).
The Netherlands is a small country, but many people live there. It is one of the most densely populated countries of the world.
Most people in the Netherlands speak Dutch. In Friesland, about 200,000 people speak Frisian. Frisian is the language with the most similarities to English. Some Dutch people speak dialects. The Saxon dialects spoken in the northeastern part of the Netherlands are somewhat similar to Low German.
According to a survey done in 2006, 25% of the Dutch people are Christian and 3% believe in another organised religion, like Judaism, Islam or Hinduism. Twenty-six percent are 'unbounded spiritual' (have their own beliefs and are not tied to a religion). The other 44% are not religious.
Nederlandse Spoorwegen () or NS is the main passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split from NS in 2003. Freight services, formerly operated by NS Cargo, merged with the DB Schenker group in 2000.
NS runs 4,800 scheduled trains daily. In addition, NS provides international rail services from the Netherlands to other European destinations and carries out concessions on a number of foreign rail markets through its subsidiary Abellio such as Abellio Greater Anglia, Merseyrail and ScotRail.
Arriva is another passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a subsidiary of the German company Deutsche Bahn. Their local headquarters is based at Heerenveen. They have been active since 1998.
Notes
Ukraine
Ukraine (, [ukrajina]) is a country in Eastern Europe. Russia is to the north-east of Ukraine, Belarus is to the north-west, Poland and Slovakia are to the west, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and self-proclaimed Transnistria are to the south-west and the Black Sea is to the south.
Ukraine is a republic.
The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv (). It was a part of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991.
The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian (, [ukrajin’s’ka mova]). In the 2001 census, about 29% of people in Ukraine said that they consider Russian to be their main language. These two East Slavic languages are similar in some ways but different in other ways.
Ukraine is divided into 24 oblasts and one Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The largest cities in Ukraine are:
The name "Ukraine" (u-krayina) is variously interpreted as "edge" or "borderland", but this was proved false. Language specialists are still searching for the true meaning of the word.
It was first used in reference to a core part of the territory of Kyivan Rus in the 12th century. In English, Ukraine was usually used as "the Ukraine". But after 1991, adding "the" is no longer correct.
Many different tribes lived on the territory of modern Ukraine since pre-historical times. Most historians believe that the Great Steppe at the North of the Black Sea was a homeland of all Indo-European and Indo-Iranian languages. Some believe it was also a birthplace of the whole Caucasian race. Wends, Goths, Huns, Sclaveni, Avars and other tribes and tribal groups fought among themselves, joined unions, terminated and assimilated each other.
By the middle of 4th century AD Antes joined other tribes and established a state under their rule. Their state fell under the pressure of Avars in 602 AD and their name was longer mentioned. Since the 7th century over 10 tribal groups joined under the name "Slavs" and made their own state named Rus. The chronicles mention three centers which formed this state: Kuyavia (Kyiv land with Kyiv itself), Slavia (Novgorod land) and Artania (exact location unknown).
Historians still argue about whether Kyiv was founded by Slavs themselves, or they just captured the Khazar fortress which was located on the bank of the Dnieper river, but since the 10th century, it became the capital of the largest and most powerful state in Europe.
Kyivan Rus, is the medieval state of Eastern Slavs. Established by the Slavic with the help of the Varangian squads whose force was used to integrate separate tribes and their lands into one powerful state. Varangian princes, who ruled Rus from its first years were gradually assimilated by natives, but the dynasty started by semy-legendary Ririk survived and continued to govern their separate principalities even after the collapse of Rus.
At an early stage of its existence Rus destroyed such powerful states as the Khazar Khaganate and Old Great Bulgaria. Rus princes successfully fought against the Byzantine Empire, whose emperors had to pay tribute to them. Rus' finally disintegrated into separate principalities.
In the reign of Volodymyr the Great (980-1015) the Kyivan State almost finished its expansion. It occupied the territory from Peipus, Ladoga and Onega lakes in the north to the river Don, Ros, Sula, Southern Bug in the south, from the Dniester, the Carpathians, the Neman, Western Dvina River in the west to the Volga and the Oka River in the east, its area became about 800,000 km. Although some of his predecessors already accepted Christianity for themselves, Vladimir decided to convert the entire population of the state to the new religion. Partially with the help of Byzantine missionaries preachers, partly by the brutal violence, he finally made all Kyiv population to be baptized. For this action, the Ukrainian, and later the Russian Orthodox Churches canonized him under the name of Vladimir the Baptist.
During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, (1019–1054), Rus reached the zenith of its cultural development and military power. Rus raised the prestige of Eastern Slavs in Europe, improved the international significance of Kyiv. Rus influenced the political relations in all of Europe, Western Asia, and in the Middle East. Kyivan princes supported the political, economic, dynastic relations with France, Sweden, England, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Byzantium.
The Rus state also ruled non-Slavic people (Finno-Ugric population of the North, Turkic of the East and South, Balts of the West etc.). Those people gradually assimilated with the Slavs, and with each other, establishing a framework for the future emergence of three new Eastern-Slavic peoples.
The Kyivan State was an eastern outpost of European Christendom, it kept the movement of nomad hordes to the West, and reduced their onslaught against Byzantium and Central European countries.
After the death of Mstyslav Volodymyrovych (1132), Rus lost its political unity and finally was divided into 15 principalities and lands. Among them Kyiv, Chernygiv, Volodymyr-Suzdal, Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk, and Halycian lands and principalities were most large and powerful.
Major political conditions of fragmentation were:
While Kyiv was the center of all social, economic, political, cultural and ideological life in the country for a long time before, other centers have competed with it from the mid-12th century. There were old powers (Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk), as well as new ones..
Numerous princely feuds, large and small wars between different lords, were tearing Rus. However, the ancient Ukrainian state did not fall apart. It only changed the form of its government: The personal monarchy was replaced by the federal one, Rus came to be co-ruled by the group of the most influential and powerful princes. Historians call this way of governing "the collective suzerainty." The Principality of Kyiv remained a national center, and the residence of bishops.
In 1206 the new powerful military-feudal Mongolian state headed by Genghis Khan started the war of conquest against his neighbors. In 1223 in the battle near the Kalka river 25,000 Tatar-Mongols won a crushing victory over the squads of Southern Rus Princes, who were unable to come together even in the face of grave danger. Under the leadership of Batu, Genghis Khan's grandson, from 1237-1238, they conquered Riazan, Volodymir, Suzdal, and Yaroslavl lands.
In 1240, they attacked Kyiv. The city was plundered and destroyed. According to the legend, the enemy saved governor Dimitri's life for his personal courage in the battle. Then Kamenetz, Iziaslav, Volodymyr, and Halych lost against invaders. Batu was able to attach most of Rus to his empire, the Golden Horde, which covered the whole territory from the Urals to the Black Sea,
After the fall of Kyivan State, the political, economic and cultural center of Ukrainian lands was transferred to the Halycian-Volyn Land. In 1245 Prince Danylo of Halych had to admit his dependence on the Golden Horde. Hoping to get help from Catholic Europe in his the struggle for independence, he also made a secret alliance with Poland, Hungary, Masovia and the Teutonic Knights. In 1253 he received the crown from Pope Innocent IV and became a King of Rus. In 1259, due to the lack of military aid from the West, the king was forced to re-recognize the supremacy of the Horde. His successor, Lev I had to take part in theTartar campaigns against Poland and Lithuania.