How Minin and Pozharsky created the Second Militia
The collapse of the First Zemstvo militia did not lead to the end of the Russian resistance. By September 1611, the militia was formed in Nizhny Novgorod. He was headed by the Nizhny Novgorod district warden Kuzma Minin, who invited Prince Dmitry Pozharsky to command military operations. In February 1612, the Second Militia marched to the capital.
Nizhny Novgorod
At the beginning of the XVII century, Nizhny Novgorod was one of the largest cities of the Russian kingdom. Having emerged as a border fortress of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia on its eastern border, it gradually lost its military significance, but acquired serious trade and craft value. As a result, Nizhny Novgorod became an important administrative and economic center on the Middle Volga. In addition, in Nizhny there was a rather large and fairly tightly armed “stone city”, its upper and lower tenements were protected by wooden jails with towers and a moat. The garrison of Nizhny Novgorod was relatively small. It consisted approximately of 750 man archers, stern foreigners (mercenaries) and serf servants - gunners, collars, servants and government blacksmiths. However, this fortress could become the core of a more serious ratification.
An important geographical position (it was located at the confluence of the two largest rivers of internal Russia - the Oka and Volga) made Nizhny Novgorod a major trading center. In its trade and economic importance, Nizhny Novgorod ranked with Smolensk, Pskov and Novgorod. By its economic value, he was at that time the sixth place among Russian cities. So, if Moscow gave the royal treasury at the end of the XVI century 12 thousand rubles of customs duties, then the Bottom - 7 thousand rubles. The city of the genus was associated with the entire Volga river system and was part of the ancient Volga trade route. Fish from the Caspian Sea, furs from Siberia, cloth and spices from faraway Persia, bread from the Oka were brought to Nizhny Novgorod. Therefore, the main importance in the city was the shopping district, in which there were up to two thousand courtyards. There were also many artisans in the city, and workers in the river port (porters and barge haulers). Nizhny Novgorod Posad, united in the Zemstvo world with two elders at the head, was the largest and most influential force in the city.
Thus, Nizhny Novgorod in its military-strategic position, economic and political importance was one of the key points of the eastern and south-eastern regions of the Russian state. No wonder the publicist of the XVI century, Ivan Peresvetov, advised Tsar Ivan the Terrible to transfer the capital to Nizhny Novgorod. It is not surprising that the city became the center of the national liberation movement, which embraced the Upper and Middle Volga region and the neighboring regions of Russia, and Nizhny Novgorod was actively involved in the struggle for the liberation of the Russian state.
Nizhny Novgorod and Smoot
In the Time of Troubles, Nizhny Novgorod more than once was threatened with ruin by the Poles and Tushins. At the end of 1606, large gangs appeared in Nizhny Novgorod district and adjacent counties, which were engaged in looting and atrocities: they burned villages, robbed residents and hijacked them in full. This “freemen” in the winter of 1608 of the year captured Alatyr and Arzamas, arranging its base there. Tsar Vasily Shuisky sent for the liberation of Arzamas and other cities occupied by "thieves", his governor with the troops. One of them, Prince Ivan Vorotynsky, defeated the rebel detachments near Arzamas, took the city and cleared the areas adjacent to Arzamas.
With the advent of False Dmitry II, various gangs became active again, all the more so since a part of the boyars, the Moscow and district nobility and the boyar children shifted to the side of the new impostor. Mordovians, Chuvash and Cheremis also rebelled. Many cities also went over to the side of the impostor and tried to persuade Nizhny Novgorod to this. But Nizhny Novgorod stood firmly on the side of the tsar Shuisky and did not change his oath. Nizhny Novgorod never let enemies into the city. Moreover, Nizhny not only successfully defended himself, but also sent his army to help other cities and supported the Skopin-Shuisky campaign.
So, when at the end of 1608, residents of Balakhna, changing the oath to Tsar Shuisky, attacked Nizhny Novgorod, voivode Andrey Alyabyev, by a sentence of Nizhny Novgorod, hit the enemy, and on December 3, after a fierce battle, took Balakhna. The leaders of the rebels were captured and hanged. Alyabyev, barely having time to return to Nizhny, again entered the fight with the new detachment of the enemy, who attacked the city of December 5. Having broken this detachment, Nizhny Novgorod took Vorsma.
At the beginning of January 1609, the troops of Falsdmitry II under the command of the governor Prince Semyon Vyazemsky and Timofey Lazarev attacked Nizhny. Vyazemsky sent a letter to Nizhny Novgorod in which he wrote that if the city did not surrender, then all the citizens would be exterminated, and the city would be burned to the ground. Nizhny Novgorod did not give an answer, but they themselves decided to make a sortie, despite the fact that the enemy had more troops. Due to the suddenness of the attack, the troops of Vyazemsky and Lazarev were defeated, and they themselves were captured and sentenced to be hanged. Then Alyabyev freed from the rebels Murom, where he remained as a royal governor, and Vladimir.
The Nizhny Novgorod residents waged an even more active struggle against the Polish troops, the Zygmunt III crawl. Simultaneously with Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod called on all Russians to liberate Moscow. It is interesting that letters with such calls were sent not only on behalf of the governor, but also on behalf of the townspeople. The importance of urban settlements in the fight against enemy intervention and internal turmoil has seriously increased. 17 February 1611 of the year, earlier than others, the Nizhny Novgorod guards marched to Moscow and fought bravely under its walls as part of the First Zemsky militia.
The failure of the first militia did not break the will of Nizhny Novgorod to resist, on the contrary, they were even more convinced of the need for unity for complete victory. With Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow maintained a constant connection through their spies - the boyars' son Roman Pakhomov and the townspeople Rodion Moseev. They penetrated the capital and obtained the necessary information. Nizhny Novgorod spies managed to establish contact even with Patriarch Germogen, who languished in the Kremlin in the underground cell of the Chudov Monastery. Gonsevsky, embittered by the fact that the patriarch denounced the invaders and their henchmen, called on the Russian people to fight, and, not daring to openly deal with Hermogenes, sentenced him to death by starvation. Once a week, only a sheaf of unrefined oats and a bucket of water were released to feed the sharpened ones. However, this did not humble the Russian patriot. From the underground dungeon, Hermogenes continued to dispatch his letters of appeal to fight the invaders. These letters reached Nizhny Novgorod.
Minin
From Nizhny Novgorod, in turn, letters throughout the country diverged with a call to unite to fight the common enemy. In this strong city, the determination of people to take the fate of the dying country into their own hands was ripe. It was necessary to inspire the people, instill in people confidence in victory, readiness to make any sacrifices. We needed people who possessed high personal qualities and such an understanding of what was happening in order to lead the popular movement. Such a leader, a popular hero, was a simple Russian man from Nizhny Novgorod Kuzma Minin.
Little is known about the origin of Minin. However, it is precisely known that the version about the non-Russian origin of K. Minin (“the baptized Tatar”) is a myth. September 1 1611 was elected to the Zemstvo elders of the year. “A husband is not famous by birth,” the chronicler notes, “but with a wise sense, intelligent and pagan.” The high human qualities of Minin were able to appreciate the Nizhny Novgorod, pushing Sukhoruk for such an important post. Position Zemsky warden was very honorable and responsible. He was in charge of collecting taxes and administering the court in the tenements, he had great power. Posad people should have been the Zemsky elder "in all worldly affairs to obey," but he had the right to force those who did not obey. Minin was a “favorite” man in Nizhny and for his honesty and justice. Great organizational talent, love of country and ardent hatred for the invaders pushed him into the "fathers" of the Second Zemstvo Militia. He became the soul of the new militia.
Minin began his admonitions “to help the Moscow State” both in the “Zemsky hut”, and at the bargaining, where his shop stood, and near his house in the usual meetings of neighbors, and at gatherings, where citizens read letters to Nizhny Novgorod, and .d In October, 1611, Minin turned to Nizhny Novgorod with a call to create a national militia to fight foreigners. On the alarm, the people converged to the Transfiguration Cathedral at a gathering. Here, Kuzma Minin delivered his famous speech, in which he persuaded Nizhny Novgorod to spare nothing for the protection of his native country: “Orthodox people, we want to help the Moscow State, we will not regret our stomachs, but not our stomachs, we will sell our yards, our wives, children and we will beat them forehead, that someone became our boss. And what praise will be to all of us from the Russian land, that from such a small city as ours such a great thing will happen. I know, only we will move on this, and many cities will stick to us, and we will get rid of foreigners ”.
Kuzma Minin's hot call received the hottest response from Nizhny Novgorod. According to his advice, the citizens were given the “third money,” that is, the third part of their property, to the militia. Donations were made voluntarily. One rich widow from her 12 thousand rubles donated 10 thousand - an enormous sum for that time, capturing the imagination of Nizhny Novgorod. Minin himself gave to the needs of the militia not only "all his treasury", but also silver and gold salaries from the icons and the jewels of his wife. “You do the same,” he said. However, voluntary contributions alone were few. Therefore, the forced collection of the “fifth money” from all Nizhny Novgorod residents was announced: each of them had to contribute a fifth of their income from the fishing and trading activities. The collected money was supposed to go on the distribution of salaries to service people.
In the Nizhny Novgorod militia volunteers entered peasants, townspeople and nobles. Minin introduced a new order in the organization of the militia: the militia was given a salary, which was not equal. Depending on military training and military merit, the militiamen were forced (divided) into four salaries. Payed for the first salary received in the year 50 rubles, on the second - 45, on the third - 40, on the fourth - 35 rubles. The monetary salary for all militias, regardless of whether he was a nobleman or a peasant or a peasant, formally made everyone equal. Not the nobility of an origin, but the skill, military abilities, devotion to the Russian land were the qualities by which Minin estimated a person.
Kuzma Minin himself not only carefully and sensitively treated every soldier who came to the militia, but also demanded the same from all commanders. He invited to the militia a detachment of servicemen of Smolensk nobles, who, after the fall of Smolensk, not wanting to serve the Polish king, abandoned their estates and went to Arzamas district. Nizhny Novgorod residents met Smolensk warriors very warmly and provided everything they needed.
With the full consent of all residents and city authorities of Nizhny Novgorod, on the initiative of Minin, the “Council of All Land” was created, which by its nature became the provisional government of the Russian state. It consisted of the best people of the Volga cities and some representatives of local authorities. With the help of the "Council" Minin led the recruitment of warriors in the militia, solved other issues. Nizhny Novgorod unanimously clothed him with the title "elected man of all the earth."
Minin's appeal to Nizhny Novgorod in 1611 year. M.I. Peskov
Commander of the Second Militia
Extremely important was the question: how to find the governor, who will lead the Zemstvo militia? Nizhny Novgorod did not want to deal with local governors. Vasiliy Zvenigorodsky, the okolnichy prince, was not distinguished by his military talents, and was related to Mikhail Saltykov, an assistant hetman of Gonesevo. He received the title of okolnichy by literacy Sigismund III, and Nizhny Novgorod voivodship was set up by Trubetskoy and Zarutsky. There was no confidence in such a person.
The second voivode, Andrei Alyabyev, skillfully fought and served faithfully, but was known only in his, Nizhny Novgorod, district. The townspeople wanted a skilled governor, not marked by “flights”, and famous among the people. It was not usual to find such a governor at this troubled time, when the transitions of the governor and nobles from one camp to another became common. Then Kuzma Minin proposed to elect Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky a voivod.
His candidacy Nizhny Novgorod and the militia approved. A lot was said in favor of the prince: far from the corrupt ruling elite, he didn’t have a Duma rank, a simple steward. Unable to make a court career, but not once differed on the battlefield. In the year 1608, being a regimental commander, he defeated the Tushino troops near Kolomna; in 1609, he crushed a gang of ataman Salkov; in the 1610 year, during the dissatisfaction of the Ryazan governor Procopius Lyapunov with tsar Shuisky, he kept allegiance to the tsar the city of Zaraisk. Then he defeated a Polish squad sent against Lyapunov and the “thieves” Cossacks, who tried to take Zaraysk. He was loyal to the oath, did not bow to foreigners. The glory of the heroic deeds of the prince during the Moscow uprising in the spring of 1611 reached Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhny Novgorod citizens liked such features of the prince as honesty, disinterestedness, justice in making decisions, decisiveness and balancedness of his actions. In addition, he was nearby, he lived in his land only 120 versts from the bottom. Dmitry Mikhailovich was treated after severe wounds received in battles with enemies. It was especially difficult to heal a wound on the leg - the limp remained for a lifetime. As a result, Pozharsky received the nickname Lame.
To invite Prince Dmitry Pozharsky to the province, Nizhny Novgorod sent an honorary embassy to the village of Mugreevo in the Suzdal district. There is information that before and after that he had repeatedly visited Minin, together they discussed the organization of the Second Zemstvo Militia. Nizhny Novgorod went to him "many times, so that I go to Nizhny for the Zemstvo Council," the prince himself noted. As it was then accepted, Pozharsky for a long time refused the offer of Nizhny Novgorod. The prince was well aware that, before deciding on such an honorable and responsible business, it was necessary to ponder this question well. In addition, Pozharsky wanted from the very beginning to receive the authority of a large voivode, to be commander-in-chief.
In the end, Dmitry Pozharsky, who was still recovering from his injuries, gave his consent. But he also laid down a condition for Nizhny Novgorod themselves to choose from among the people of the townspeople a person who would stand with him at the head of the militia and deal with the “rear”. And he offered to this position Kuzma Minin. On that and decided. Thus, in the Zemstvo militia, Prince Pozharsky assumed a military function, and “an elected man of all the land” Kuzma Minin-Sukhoruk began to manage the army, the militia treasury. At the head of the second Zemstvo militia stood two people elected by the people and clothed with his trust - Minin and Pozharsky.
"Minin and Pozharsky." Painter M.I. Scotty
Organization of the militia
At the end of October 1611, Prince Pozharsky arrived in Nizhny Novgorod with a small retinue and, together with Minin, set about organizing a national militia. They developed vigorous efforts to create troops, which was supposed to liberate Moscow from invaders and initiate the expulsion of the interventionists from the Russian land. Minin and Pozharsky understood that they could solve such a big task facing them only by relying on the “nationwide multitude”.
Minin showed great hardness and determination in fundraising. From the collectors of the militia tax, Minin demanded that the wealthy indulgences not be done, and it was unfair not to oppress the poor. Despite the universal taxation of Nizhny Novgorod, there was still not enough money to provide the militia with everything necessary. I had to resort to a forced loan and the residents of other cities. The tax was imposed on the clerks of the richest merchants, the Stroganovs, merchants from Moscow, Yaroslavl and other cities connected with Nizhny Novgorod trade. Creating the militia, its leaders began to show their strength and power far beyond the borders of Nizhny Novgorod district. Letters were sent to Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan to other cities. The letter sent out on behalf of the Nizhny Novgorod militia to residents of other cities said: “Of all the cities of the Moscow state, nobles and boyars children near Moscow were Polish and Lithuanian people were besieged with a strong siege, but nobles and children from the boyars from Moscow dispersed for temporary sweets, for robbery and kidnapping. But now we, Nizhny Novgorod, are all sorts of people, referring to Kazan and all the cities of Ponizov and Volga, meeting with many military people, seeing the Moscow State final ruin, asking God for mercy, we all go with our heads to help the Moscow State. Yes, we came to Nizhny from Arzamas, Smolensk, dorogoobuzhane and haters ... and we, all sorts of people of Nizhny Novgorod, after consulting with each other, sentenced us to divide our stomachs and pay salaries and help, and pay them to help Moscow state.
Volga cities responded to the call of Nizhny Novgorod differently. Small towns such as Balakhna and Gorokhovets immediately joined the cause. Kazan responded to this call at first rather cool. Her "sovereign people" believed that the "royal Kazan - the main city of Ponizovya" should excel. As a result, along with Nizhniy Novgorod, the militia core became the service people of the border regions, who arrived in the vicinity of Arzamas after the fall of Smolensk — Smolensk, Beljane, dorogobuzhane, vyazmichi, Brenchan, Roslavl and others. They gathered about 2 thousand people, and they were all experienced fighters, not just participated in the battles. Later on, the nobles came from Ryazan and Kolomna, as well as servicemen, Cossacks and archers from the “Ukrainian cities” who sat in Moscow under Tsar Vasily Shuisky.
Having learned about the formation of the Second Militia in Nizhny Novgorod and not being able to counteract this, the concerned Poles appealed to Patriarch Hermogenes demanding that he condemn the "traitors". The patriarch refused to do this. He cursed the Moscow boyars who had turned to him on behalf of Gonsevskiy as “damned traitors”. In the end, he was starved to death. 17 February 1612, the year Hermogenes died.
The leaders of the second militia needed to resolve the issue of the remnant of the First militia. The leaders of the Cossack freemen Zarutsky and Trubetskoy still had considerable power. As a result, since December 1611, two temporary governments operated in Russia: the “Council of All Land” of the Moscow region Cossacks, headed by ataman Ivan Zarutsky, and the “Council of All Land” in Nizhny Novgorod. Between these two centers of power there was a struggle not only for influence on local governors and for revenues, but also on what to do next. Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, with the support of the rich and influential Trinity-Sergius Monastery, suggested that the militia be led as quickly as possible to Moscow. They feared the rapid growth of power and influence of the Nizhny Novgorod rati. And they planned to occupy a dominant position near Moscow. However, the "Council of All Land" in Nizhny Novgorod considered it necessary to wait in order to properly prepare for the march. This was the line of Minin and Pozharsky.
The relationship between the two centers of power became openly hostile after Trubetskoy and Zarutsky began negotiations with the Pskov impostor Sidorka (Lzhedmitry III), who ultimately swore allegiance. True, they soon had to abandon their “god-kissing”, since such an act did not find support among simple Cossacks and was sharply condemned by Minin and Pozharsky.
Beginning of the campaign
After hard work, by the beginning of February 1612, the Nizhny Novgorod militia was already an impressive force and reached 5 by thousands of warriors. Despite the fact that the work on the military structure of the Second Militia was not yet fully completed, Pozharsky and Minin realized that they could no longer wait and decided to start the march. Initially, the shortest path was chosen - from Nizhny Novgorod through Gorokhovets, Suzdal to Moscow.
The moment for the offensive was convenient. The Polish garrison in Moscow experienced great difficulties, especially the acute shortage of food. Hunger forced most of the Polish garrison to leave the ravaged city in the surrounding counties in search of food. From 12-th. enemy troops in the Kremlin and China-town remained about 4-thousand. garrison weakened by hunger. The most selective detachments of Polish thugs under the command of Hetman Khodkevich were stationed in the village of Rogachevo near the town of Dmitrov; Sapega squad was located in the city of Rostov. From Sigismund III there was no assistance to the besieged garrison. And the “Seven Boyars” was not a real military force. Thus, it was the most convenient time for the liberation of Moscow.
Voevod Dmitry Pozharsky made a plan for the liberation campaign. The idea was to use the fragmentation of the forces of the interventionists, to break them in parts. At first it was planned to cut off the troops of Khodkevich and Sapieha from Moscow, and then to defeat the besieged Polish garrison of Gonsevsky and free the capital. Pozharsky hoped for the help of the Cossack suburban "camps" (remnants of the First Militia).
However, the ataman Zarutsky began open hostile actions. He decided to seize a number of large cities in North-Eastern Russia and thereby prevent Nizhny Novgorod from entering there and preserve his sphere of influence. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of Sapieha from the Rostov Great Detachment, in February Zarutsky ordered his Cossacks to seize Yaroslavl, a strategically important Volga city, in February. There the Cossack detachment of ataman Prosovetsky should also have been sent from Vladimir.
As soon as it became known about the actions of Zarutsky, Minin and Pozharsky were forced to change the original plan of the liberation campaign. They decided to move up the Volga, to occupy Yaroslavl, bypassing the devastated areas where Cossack detachments of Zarutsky and Trubetskoy near Moscow acted, and to unite the forces that had risen against the interventionists. Cossacks Zarutsky first broke into Yaroslavl. The townspeople asked Pozharsky for help. The prince sent detachments of his relatives Prince Dmitry Lopaty Pozharsky and Roman Pozharsky. They took Yaroslavl and Suzdal with a quick raid, capturing the Cossacks by surprise and prevented Prosovetsky’s troops from entering there. The Prosovetsky detachment, which was on its way to Yaroslavl, had no choice but to turn back to the camps near Moscow. He did not accept the fight.
Having received from Lopata-Pozharsky the news that Yaroslavl is in the hands of Nizhny Novgorod, Minin and Pozharsky in early March 1612 of the year give the militia an order to march from Nizhny Novgorod to liberate the capital of the Russian state. The militia in early April 1612 entered Yaroslavl. Here the militia stood for four months, until the end of July, 1612.
Nizhny Novgorod
At the beginning of the XVII century, Nizhny Novgorod was one of the largest cities of the Russian kingdom. Having emerged as a border fortress of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia on its eastern border, it gradually lost its military significance, but acquired serious trade and craft value. As a result, Nizhny Novgorod became an important administrative and economic center on the Middle Volga. In addition, in Nizhny there was a rather large and fairly tightly armed “stone city”, its upper and lower tenements were protected by wooden jails with towers and a moat. The garrison of Nizhny Novgorod was relatively small. It consisted approximately of 750 man archers, stern foreigners (mercenaries) and serf servants - gunners, collars, servants and government blacksmiths. However, this fortress could become the core of a more serious ratification.
An important geographical position (it was located at the confluence of the two largest rivers of internal Russia - the Oka and Volga) made Nizhny Novgorod a major trading center. In its trade and economic importance, Nizhny Novgorod ranked with Smolensk, Pskov and Novgorod. By its economic value, he was at that time the sixth place among Russian cities. So, if Moscow gave the royal treasury at the end of the XVI century 12 thousand rubles of customs duties, then the Bottom - 7 thousand rubles. The city of the genus was associated with the entire Volga river system and was part of the ancient Volga trade route. Fish from the Caspian Sea, furs from Siberia, cloth and spices from faraway Persia, bread from the Oka were brought to Nizhny Novgorod. Therefore, the main importance in the city was the shopping district, in which there were up to two thousand courtyards. There were also many artisans in the city, and workers in the river port (porters and barge haulers). Nizhny Novgorod Posad, united in the Zemstvo world with two elders at the head, was the largest and most influential force in the city.
Thus, Nizhny Novgorod in its military-strategic position, economic and political importance was one of the key points of the eastern and south-eastern regions of the Russian state. No wonder the publicist of the XVI century, Ivan Peresvetov, advised Tsar Ivan the Terrible to transfer the capital to Nizhny Novgorod. It is not surprising that the city became the center of the national liberation movement, which embraced the Upper and Middle Volga region and the neighboring regions of Russia, and Nizhny Novgorod was actively involved in the struggle for the liberation of the Russian state.
Nizhny Novgorod and Smoot
In the Time of Troubles, Nizhny Novgorod more than once was threatened with ruin by the Poles and Tushins. At the end of 1606, large gangs appeared in Nizhny Novgorod district and adjacent counties, which were engaged in looting and atrocities: they burned villages, robbed residents and hijacked them in full. This “freemen” in the winter of 1608 of the year captured Alatyr and Arzamas, arranging its base there. Tsar Vasily Shuisky sent for the liberation of Arzamas and other cities occupied by "thieves", his governor with the troops. One of them, Prince Ivan Vorotynsky, defeated the rebel detachments near Arzamas, took the city and cleared the areas adjacent to Arzamas.
With the advent of False Dmitry II, various gangs became active again, all the more so since a part of the boyars, the Moscow and district nobility and the boyar children shifted to the side of the new impostor. Mordovians, Chuvash and Cheremis also rebelled. Many cities also went over to the side of the impostor and tried to persuade Nizhny Novgorod to this. But Nizhny Novgorod stood firmly on the side of the tsar Shuisky and did not change his oath. Nizhny Novgorod never let enemies into the city. Moreover, Nizhny not only successfully defended himself, but also sent his army to help other cities and supported the Skopin-Shuisky campaign.
So, when at the end of 1608, residents of Balakhna, changing the oath to Tsar Shuisky, attacked Nizhny Novgorod, voivode Andrey Alyabyev, by a sentence of Nizhny Novgorod, hit the enemy, and on December 3, after a fierce battle, took Balakhna. The leaders of the rebels were captured and hanged. Alyabyev, barely having time to return to Nizhny, again entered the fight with the new detachment of the enemy, who attacked the city of December 5. Having broken this detachment, Nizhny Novgorod took Vorsma.
At the beginning of January 1609, the troops of Falsdmitry II under the command of the governor Prince Semyon Vyazemsky and Timofey Lazarev attacked Nizhny. Vyazemsky sent a letter to Nizhny Novgorod in which he wrote that if the city did not surrender, then all the citizens would be exterminated, and the city would be burned to the ground. Nizhny Novgorod did not give an answer, but they themselves decided to make a sortie, despite the fact that the enemy had more troops. Due to the suddenness of the attack, the troops of Vyazemsky and Lazarev were defeated, and they themselves were captured and sentenced to be hanged. Then Alyabyev freed from the rebels Murom, where he remained as a royal governor, and Vladimir.
The Nizhny Novgorod residents waged an even more active struggle against the Polish troops, the Zygmunt III crawl. Simultaneously with Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod called on all Russians to liberate Moscow. It is interesting that letters with such calls were sent not only on behalf of the governor, but also on behalf of the townspeople. The importance of urban settlements in the fight against enemy intervention and internal turmoil has seriously increased. 17 February 1611 of the year, earlier than others, the Nizhny Novgorod guards marched to Moscow and fought bravely under its walls as part of the First Zemsky militia.
The failure of the first militia did not break the will of Nizhny Novgorod to resist, on the contrary, they were even more convinced of the need for unity for complete victory. With Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow maintained a constant connection through their spies - the boyars' son Roman Pakhomov and the townspeople Rodion Moseev. They penetrated the capital and obtained the necessary information. Nizhny Novgorod spies managed to establish contact even with Patriarch Germogen, who languished in the Kremlin in the underground cell of the Chudov Monastery. Gonsevsky, embittered by the fact that the patriarch denounced the invaders and their henchmen, called on the Russian people to fight, and, not daring to openly deal with Hermogenes, sentenced him to death by starvation. Once a week, only a sheaf of unrefined oats and a bucket of water were released to feed the sharpened ones. However, this did not humble the Russian patriot. From the underground dungeon, Hermogenes continued to dispatch his letters of appeal to fight the invaders. These letters reached Nizhny Novgorod.
Minin
From Nizhny Novgorod, in turn, letters throughout the country diverged with a call to unite to fight the common enemy. In this strong city, the determination of people to take the fate of the dying country into their own hands was ripe. It was necessary to inspire the people, instill in people confidence in victory, readiness to make any sacrifices. We needed people who possessed high personal qualities and such an understanding of what was happening in order to lead the popular movement. Such a leader, a popular hero, was a simple Russian man from Nizhny Novgorod Kuzma Minin.
Little is known about the origin of Minin. However, it is precisely known that the version about the non-Russian origin of K. Minin (“the baptized Tatar”) is a myth. September 1 1611 was elected to the Zemstvo elders of the year. “A husband is not famous by birth,” the chronicler notes, “but with a wise sense, intelligent and pagan.” The high human qualities of Minin were able to appreciate the Nizhny Novgorod, pushing Sukhoruk for such an important post. Position Zemsky warden was very honorable and responsible. He was in charge of collecting taxes and administering the court in the tenements, he had great power. Posad people should have been the Zemsky elder "in all worldly affairs to obey," but he had the right to force those who did not obey. Minin was a “favorite” man in Nizhny and for his honesty and justice. Great organizational talent, love of country and ardent hatred for the invaders pushed him into the "fathers" of the Second Zemstvo Militia. He became the soul of the new militia.
Minin began his admonitions “to help the Moscow State” both in the “Zemsky hut”, and at the bargaining, where his shop stood, and near his house in the usual meetings of neighbors, and at gatherings, where citizens read letters to Nizhny Novgorod, and .d In October, 1611, Minin turned to Nizhny Novgorod with a call to create a national militia to fight foreigners. On the alarm, the people converged to the Transfiguration Cathedral at a gathering. Here, Kuzma Minin delivered his famous speech, in which he persuaded Nizhny Novgorod to spare nothing for the protection of his native country: “Orthodox people, we want to help the Moscow State, we will not regret our stomachs, but not our stomachs, we will sell our yards, our wives, children and we will beat them forehead, that someone became our boss. And what praise will be to all of us from the Russian land, that from such a small city as ours such a great thing will happen. I know, only we will move on this, and many cities will stick to us, and we will get rid of foreigners ”.
Kuzma Minin's hot call received the hottest response from Nizhny Novgorod. According to his advice, the citizens were given the “third money,” that is, the third part of their property, to the militia. Donations were made voluntarily. One rich widow from her 12 thousand rubles donated 10 thousand - an enormous sum for that time, capturing the imagination of Nizhny Novgorod. Minin himself gave to the needs of the militia not only "all his treasury", but also silver and gold salaries from the icons and the jewels of his wife. “You do the same,” he said. However, voluntary contributions alone were few. Therefore, the forced collection of the “fifth money” from all Nizhny Novgorod residents was announced: each of them had to contribute a fifth of their income from the fishing and trading activities. The collected money was supposed to go on the distribution of salaries to service people.
In the Nizhny Novgorod militia volunteers entered peasants, townspeople and nobles. Minin introduced a new order in the organization of the militia: the militia was given a salary, which was not equal. Depending on military training and military merit, the militiamen were forced (divided) into four salaries. Payed for the first salary received in the year 50 rubles, on the second - 45, on the third - 40, on the fourth - 35 rubles. The monetary salary for all militias, regardless of whether he was a nobleman or a peasant or a peasant, formally made everyone equal. Not the nobility of an origin, but the skill, military abilities, devotion to the Russian land were the qualities by which Minin estimated a person.
Kuzma Minin himself not only carefully and sensitively treated every soldier who came to the militia, but also demanded the same from all commanders. He invited to the militia a detachment of servicemen of Smolensk nobles, who, after the fall of Smolensk, not wanting to serve the Polish king, abandoned their estates and went to Arzamas district. Nizhny Novgorod residents met Smolensk warriors very warmly and provided everything they needed.
With the full consent of all residents and city authorities of Nizhny Novgorod, on the initiative of Minin, the “Council of All Land” was created, which by its nature became the provisional government of the Russian state. It consisted of the best people of the Volga cities and some representatives of local authorities. With the help of the "Council" Minin led the recruitment of warriors in the militia, solved other issues. Nizhny Novgorod unanimously clothed him with the title "elected man of all the earth."
Minin's appeal to Nizhny Novgorod in 1611 year. M.I. Peskov
Commander of the Second Militia
Extremely important was the question: how to find the governor, who will lead the Zemstvo militia? Nizhny Novgorod did not want to deal with local governors. Vasiliy Zvenigorodsky, the okolnichy prince, was not distinguished by his military talents, and was related to Mikhail Saltykov, an assistant hetman of Gonesevo. He received the title of okolnichy by literacy Sigismund III, and Nizhny Novgorod voivodship was set up by Trubetskoy and Zarutsky. There was no confidence in such a person.
The second voivode, Andrei Alyabyev, skillfully fought and served faithfully, but was known only in his, Nizhny Novgorod, district. The townspeople wanted a skilled governor, not marked by “flights”, and famous among the people. It was not usual to find such a governor at this troubled time, when the transitions of the governor and nobles from one camp to another became common. Then Kuzma Minin proposed to elect Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky a voivod.
His candidacy Nizhny Novgorod and the militia approved. A lot was said in favor of the prince: far from the corrupt ruling elite, he didn’t have a Duma rank, a simple steward. Unable to make a court career, but not once differed on the battlefield. In the year 1608, being a regimental commander, he defeated the Tushino troops near Kolomna; in 1609, he crushed a gang of ataman Salkov; in the 1610 year, during the dissatisfaction of the Ryazan governor Procopius Lyapunov with tsar Shuisky, he kept allegiance to the tsar the city of Zaraisk. Then he defeated a Polish squad sent against Lyapunov and the “thieves” Cossacks, who tried to take Zaraysk. He was loyal to the oath, did not bow to foreigners. The glory of the heroic deeds of the prince during the Moscow uprising in the spring of 1611 reached Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhny Novgorod citizens liked such features of the prince as honesty, disinterestedness, justice in making decisions, decisiveness and balancedness of his actions. In addition, he was nearby, he lived in his land only 120 versts from the bottom. Dmitry Mikhailovich was treated after severe wounds received in battles with enemies. It was especially difficult to heal a wound on the leg - the limp remained for a lifetime. As a result, Pozharsky received the nickname Lame.
To invite Prince Dmitry Pozharsky to the province, Nizhny Novgorod sent an honorary embassy to the village of Mugreevo in the Suzdal district. There is information that before and after that he had repeatedly visited Minin, together they discussed the organization of the Second Zemstvo Militia. Nizhny Novgorod went to him "many times, so that I go to Nizhny for the Zemstvo Council," the prince himself noted. As it was then accepted, Pozharsky for a long time refused the offer of Nizhny Novgorod. The prince was well aware that, before deciding on such an honorable and responsible business, it was necessary to ponder this question well. In addition, Pozharsky wanted from the very beginning to receive the authority of a large voivode, to be commander-in-chief.
In the end, Dmitry Pozharsky, who was still recovering from his injuries, gave his consent. But he also laid down a condition for Nizhny Novgorod themselves to choose from among the people of the townspeople a person who would stand with him at the head of the militia and deal with the “rear”. And he offered to this position Kuzma Minin. On that and decided. Thus, in the Zemstvo militia, Prince Pozharsky assumed a military function, and “an elected man of all the land” Kuzma Minin-Sukhoruk began to manage the army, the militia treasury. At the head of the second Zemstvo militia stood two people elected by the people and clothed with his trust - Minin and Pozharsky.
"Minin and Pozharsky." Painter M.I. Scotty
Organization of the militia
At the end of October 1611, Prince Pozharsky arrived in Nizhny Novgorod with a small retinue and, together with Minin, set about organizing a national militia. They developed vigorous efforts to create troops, which was supposed to liberate Moscow from invaders and initiate the expulsion of the interventionists from the Russian land. Minin and Pozharsky understood that they could solve such a big task facing them only by relying on the “nationwide multitude”.
Minin showed great hardness and determination in fundraising. From the collectors of the militia tax, Minin demanded that the wealthy indulgences not be done, and it was unfair not to oppress the poor. Despite the universal taxation of Nizhny Novgorod, there was still not enough money to provide the militia with everything necessary. I had to resort to a forced loan and the residents of other cities. The tax was imposed on the clerks of the richest merchants, the Stroganovs, merchants from Moscow, Yaroslavl and other cities connected with Nizhny Novgorod trade. Creating the militia, its leaders began to show their strength and power far beyond the borders of Nizhny Novgorod district. Letters were sent to Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan to other cities. The letter sent out on behalf of the Nizhny Novgorod militia to residents of other cities said: “Of all the cities of the Moscow state, nobles and boyars children near Moscow were Polish and Lithuanian people were besieged with a strong siege, but nobles and children from the boyars from Moscow dispersed for temporary sweets, for robbery and kidnapping. But now we, Nizhny Novgorod, are all sorts of people, referring to Kazan and all the cities of Ponizov and Volga, meeting with many military people, seeing the Moscow State final ruin, asking God for mercy, we all go with our heads to help the Moscow State. Yes, we came to Nizhny from Arzamas, Smolensk, dorogoobuzhane and haters ... and we, all sorts of people of Nizhny Novgorod, after consulting with each other, sentenced us to divide our stomachs and pay salaries and help, and pay them to help Moscow state.
Volga cities responded to the call of Nizhny Novgorod differently. Small towns such as Balakhna and Gorokhovets immediately joined the cause. Kazan responded to this call at first rather cool. Her "sovereign people" believed that the "royal Kazan - the main city of Ponizovya" should excel. As a result, along with Nizhniy Novgorod, the militia core became the service people of the border regions, who arrived in the vicinity of Arzamas after the fall of Smolensk — Smolensk, Beljane, dorogobuzhane, vyazmichi, Brenchan, Roslavl and others. They gathered about 2 thousand people, and they were all experienced fighters, not just participated in the battles. Later on, the nobles came from Ryazan and Kolomna, as well as servicemen, Cossacks and archers from the “Ukrainian cities” who sat in Moscow under Tsar Vasily Shuisky.
Having learned about the formation of the Second Militia in Nizhny Novgorod and not being able to counteract this, the concerned Poles appealed to Patriarch Hermogenes demanding that he condemn the "traitors". The patriarch refused to do this. He cursed the Moscow boyars who had turned to him on behalf of Gonsevskiy as “damned traitors”. In the end, he was starved to death. 17 February 1612, the year Hermogenes died.
The leaders of the second militia needed to resolve the issue of the remnant of the First militia. The leaders of the Cossack freemen Zarutsky and Trubetskoy still had considerable power. As a result, since December 1611, two temporary governments operated in Russia: the “Council of All Land” of the Moscow region Cossacks, headed by ataman Ivan Zarutsky, and the “Council of All Land” in Nizhny Novgorod. Between these two centers of power there was a struggle not only for influence on local governors and for revenues, but also on what to do next. Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, with the support of the rich and influential Trinity-Sergius Monastery, suggested that the militia be led as quickly as possible to Moscow. They feared the rapid growth of power and influence of the Nizhny Novgorod rati. And they planned to occupy a dominant position near Moscow. However, the "Council of All Land" in Nizhny Novgorod considered it necessary to wait in order to properly prepare for the march. This was the line of Minin and Pozharsky.
The relationship between the two centers of power became openly hostile after Trubetskoy and Zarutsky began negotiations with the Pskov impostor Sidorka (Lzhedmitry III), who ultimately swore allegiance. True, they soon had to abandon their “god-kissing”, since such an act did not find support among simple Cossacks and was sharply condemned by Minin and Pozharsky.
Beginning of the campaign
After hard work, by the beginning of February 1612, the Nizhny Novgorod militia was already an impressive force and reached 5 by thousands of warriors. Despite the fact that the work on the military structure of the Second Militia was not yet fully completed, Pozharsky and Minin realized that they could no longer wait and decided to start the march. Initially, the shortest path was chosen - from Nizhny Novgorod through Gorokhovets, Suzdal to Moscow.
The moment for the offensive was convenient. The Polish garrison in Moscow experienced great difficulties, especially the acute shortage of food. Hunger forced most of the Polish garrison to leave the ravaged city in the surrounding counties in search of food. From 12-th. enemy troops in the Kremlin and China-town remained about 4-thousand. garrison weakened by hunger. The most selective detachments of Polish thugs under the command of Hetman Khodkevich were stationed in the village of Rogachevo near the town of Dmitrov; Sapega squad was located in the city of Rostov. From Sigismund III there was no assistance to the besieged garrison. And the “Seven Boyars” was not a real military force. Thus, it was the most convenient time for the liberation of Moscow.
Voevod Dmitry Pozharsky made a plan for the liberation campaign. The idea was to use the fragmentation of the forces of the interventionists, to break them in parts. At first it was planned to cut off the troops of Khodkevich and Sapieha from Moscow, and then to defeat the besieged Polish garrison of Gonsevsky and free the capital. Pozharsky hoped for the help of the Cossack suburban "camps" (remnants of the First Militia).
However, the ataman Zarutsky began open hostile actions. He decided to seize a number of large cities in North-Eastern Russia and thereby prevent Nizhny Novgorod from entering there and preserve his sphere of influence. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of Sapieha from the Rostov Great Detachment, in February Zarutsky ordered his Cossacks to seize Yaroslavl, a strategically important Volga city, in February. There the Cossack detachment of ataman Prosovetsky should also have been sent from Vladimir.
As soon as it became known about the actions of Zarutsky, Minin and Pozharsky were forced to change the original plan of the liberation campaign. They decided to move up the Volga, to occupy Yaroslavl, bypassing the devastated areas where Cossack detachments of Zarutsky and Trubetskoy near Moscow acted, and to unite the forces that had risen against the interventionists. Cossacks Zarutsky first broke into Yaroslavl. The townspeople asked Pozharsky for help. The prince sent detachments of his relatives Prince Dmitry Lopaty Pozharsky and Roman Pozharsky. They took Yaroslavl and Suzdal with a quick raid, capturing the Cossacks by surprise and prevented Prosovetsky’s troops from entering there. The Prosovetsky detachment, which was on its way to Yaroslavl, had no choice but to turn back to the camps near Moscow. He did not accept the fight.
Having received from Lopata-Pozharsky the news that Yaroslavl is in the hands of Nizhny Novgorod, Minin and Pozharsky in early March 1612 of the year give the militia an order to march from Nizhny Novgorod to liberate the capital of the Russian state. The militia in early April 1612 entered Yaroslavl. Here the militia stood for four months, until the end of July, 1612.
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