Page "Ivan I of Moscow" Paragraph 4

According to the Russian historian Kluchevsky, the rise of Moscow under Ivan I Kalita was determined by three factors.

The first one was that the Moscow principality was situated in the middle of other Russian principalities ; thus, it was protected from any invasions from the East and from the West.

Compared to its neighbors, Ryazan principality and Tver principality, Moscow was less often devastated.

The relative safety of the Moscow region resulted in the second factor of the rise of Moscow – an influx of working and tax-paying people who were tired of constant raids and who actively relocated to Moscow from other Russian regions.

The third factor was a trade route from Novgorod to the Volga river.