There are cities and lands that are such a “tasty morsel” for the invaders that they constantly move from one country to another, and if the history of Tartu is considered in this context, then along with it we will see the constant change of the name of the city.
Initially, the name of this place was given by the Estonians and it sounded like "Tarbatu". People have settled here since the 5th century AD, but the first seizure of this place happened in the 11th century. Estonian lands were annexed to the Russian state by Yaroslav the Wise, who was baptized by Yuri, and therefore Tarbatu was renamed Yuryev. It should be noted that this name was returned to the city later. The city was fought off by local residents, but soon the campaign of Vsevolod Mstislavich, the prince of Novgorod, was crowned with success, and Yuriev returned to the Russians.
Dorpat, or Dorpat
The next century was a time of stubborn struggle for the city with the German order of the sword-bearers. Here the Russians sided with the local population, trying to recapture the city from the knights. The Germans named the city in their own way - Dorpat. But their domination here also came to an end: the city passed into the possession of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1582, although before that it had been taken by Russian troops. A little time passed, and in 1600 these lands were captured by the Swedes. Three years later, the Poles reclaimed the city.
Half a century later, the Russians conquered Dorpat again, but could not consolidate their victory. The Northern War put an end to this, when in 1704 the city was again conquered by Russia. It was then that the deportation of the Swedes began from here. But they were relocated inside Russia. The Germans and Estonians remained in the city, since they did not represent the peoples opposing Russia in that war.
Yuriev again
And although the city received serious development, being part of the Livonian province, it became the cultural capital of Estonia and its major scientific center, the storms were not destined to subside. Since 1883, the city was called Yuryev again. Surprisingly, Soviet power was even established here peacefully in 1917! But the Estonians decided to part with this power with arms in hand. However, this was preceded by the capture of St. George's by the Germans in 1918. However, the invaders were defeated, but in 1919 the Bolsheviks were also driven out of here. From that moment on, the city got the name Tartu as an abbreviation for Tarbatu.
