The Collapse of "Tsar Dmitry"
"The Assassination of False Dmitry." Artist: Konstantin MakovskyPrerequisites for the Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles of the early 17th century was caused by three main factors. Firstly, by the betrayal of a portion of the then princely-boyar elite, which "pulled the blanket over itself", putting its own personal narrow group interests above the interests of the state and the people.
This is characteristic of any Russian Time of Troubles, whether in the 17th century, 1917–1920, or 1985–1993 (this modern Time of Troubles, but in a milder form, continues to this day, including the wars in Chechnya, the wars in the South Caucasus, and the current Ukrainian front). A degraded elite, the nomenklatura, destroys the state, and the people join in at the next stage.
Secondly, the active subversive actions of the West, which in any historical The period is attempting to solve its main task—the "Russian question." Eliminate the main competitor in the Great Game, in the struggle for the planet. Dismember, plunder, and destroy the Russian state and the super-ethnos of the Rus'-Russians.
At the beginning of the 17th century, it was Catholic Rome (then the command center of the Western world) and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sweden was grappling with the task of expanding its zone of control in the Baltic.
Therefore, the Roman Catholic Polish elite supported the information sabotage project of a "legitimate sovereign" from the Rurik dynasty, who was born in Rus' itself. In particular, in the House of Romanov (The myth of the "righteous" Romanovs), who thus wanted to take the Russian throne themselves.
At first, the West supported traitors, conspirators and impostors, and when the Russian state collapsed, open military aggression began with the goal of eliminating the Russian state and gradually absorbing Russian lands along the lines of Lithuanian Rus' (White and Little Rus').
Thirdly, at this moment it turns on defense mechanism of Russian civilizationThe Russian people unite around their leaders and begin a struggle to save the state. In this process, the people often rise up against the old elite. Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky became the sacred leaders of this struggle. But there were others.
Denigration of Ivan the Terrible
Tsar Ivan the Terrible is often blamed in Russian historiography for the Time of Troubles. He is said to have started the Livonian War, which led to the exhaustion of the state, with enormous human and material losses. The weakened state ultimately descended into ruin and unrest.
This is obvious slander, denigration of the great Russian sovereign (Why do Westerners hate Ivan the Terrible; Why was Ivan the Terrible slandered?). Part of the information war that our external and internal enemies are waging against Rus'-Russia. Ivan Vasilyevich's policies were extremely effective. He was able to restore the internal unity of the state and suppress the boyar clans. He carried out a number of important reforms, including the creation of a regular army and fleet (These achievements were later attributed to Peter the Great.) He led large-scale construction projects: fortress cities, churches, defensive lines, etc.
Ivan the Terrible united the legacy of Rus' and the Horde, effectively reestablishing the Russian empire on the fringes of the Scythian period of the Rus' super-ethnos. This was a task of global (geostrategic) significance. The Russians reclaimed the Volga route and advanced beyond the Kamen-Ural Mountains.
Rus' endured a brutal war, holding back the enemy on three fronts: northwest, west, and south. Moscow refused to bow to mighty Rome, which, through the Jesuit Order (effectively the Vatican's secret service), attempted to persuade Ivan the Terrible to follow the path of "cultural cooperation" (that is, conceptual, ideological, and cultural-informational subordination).
Muscovite Rus' held its own against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was supported by mercenaries and adventurers from Hungary, the Habsburg Empire, various German principalities, and so on. In the north, the Russian army held off the Swedish assault. In the south, it withstood the attacks of the Crimean Horde, backed by the powerful Porte.
The Livonian War, which began as a struggle between Moscow and Livonia, turned into a difficult and long-lasting campaign. But it was inevitable and natural (Ivan the Terrible and the Meaning of the Livonian War). Rus' was solving historical and strategic problems: the reunification of the Russian land and the Russian super-ethnos; regaining access to the Baltic and Black (formerly the Russian Sea) seas; the liquidation of the parasitic state formation – the Crimean Khanate, control over the Northern Black Sea region; the movement "towards the sun" – to the east, to Siberia and beyond.
Ivan the Terrible understood all this perfectly well. But Rus' lacked the strength to do so at the time. These tasks were addressed step by step by the first Romanovs, Peter I, and Catherine the Great. However, they were already outlined by Ivan IV. Russian strategy (geostrategy, geopolitics).
Power struggle: the elite begins to rock the boat
The Livonian War, which lasted for over 20 years, and the constant struggle with Crimean predators and other steppe inhabitants, inflicted great damage on the Russian state. However, by the time of Ivan IV's death in 1584, Rus' had already recovered.
During the reign of Feodor Ivanovich (1584–1598), when Boris Godunov, a highly intelligent and energetic statesman, was the de facto leader, the state also strengthened. New cities and fortresses were founded. Advances were made in Siberia. The Moscow Patriarchate was established. The southern defensive lines were strengthened, and the Crimean Horde's last major campaign against Moscow was repelled. During the war with Sweden, Moscow recaptured the fortresses lost during the Livonian War.
The problem was that the boyar families, who had been crushed under Ivan the Terrible and during Godunov's reign, refused to accept the loss of their former privileges and laid claim to the throne themselves. There's a strong possibility that Ivan Vasilyevich himself was poisoned, and his children were exterminated.
In this case, The Godunovs' enemies have launched an active information warRumors were spread that Tsarevich Dmitry was assassinated in 1591 on the orders of Boris Godunov. When Tsar Feodor died without an heir in early 1598, rumors began to circulate that he, too, had been assassinated by Godunov.
Godunov, an experienced politician, had the support of Patriarch Job, the civil servants, the nobility, and the army (the Streltsy). The old princely-boyar families—the Mstislavskys, Belskys, Shuiskys, Romanovs, and others—opposed him. A contemporary wrote of Boris's election as tsar: "The boyars and courtiers were overcome with great fear. They constantly expressed their desire to elect Feodor Nikitich Romanov as tsar."
In the course of a behind-the-scenes struggle for the throne, Boris Godunov won (How Boris Godunov became the Russian Tsar). He "purged" obvious opponents, but soon amnestied many. As a result, Godunov's opponents continued their activities. This classic crisis of the "top".
Simultaneously There is a noticeable deterioration in the lives of ordinary people. A crisis of the "lower classes"The socioeconomic background of the Time of Troubles. During Godunov's reign, peasants' quitrent duties increased (almost threefold). The best lands, meadows, and forests were seized by landowners. The peasants' serfdom and the power of the boyars and landowners increased. Peasants complained that the nobles "beat them, robbed their property, and committed all sorts of violence." St. George's Day, when peasants could leave their landowners, was abolished in 1597.
The flight of peasants, serfs, and the urban poor to the outskirts of the Russian state intensified: to the North and Siberia, to the Yaik (Urals) and Terek, to the Lower Volga and Don, to the Dnieper (Zaporozhye). The most determined and active people (passionaries) fled to the outskirts. They became free men, Cossacks. They formed self-governing communities, elected atamans and leaders. They founded their own settlements – stanitsas, farmsteads, slobodas, fortified towns, and sichs. An independent military force emerged – the Cossack army, which harassed not only Crimea, Turkey, and Poland, but also Moscow.
At the same time, some free, itinerant people lived and served in fortresses and small towns on the state's southern defensive line. In the abatis. Some Cossacks entered the sovereign's service, receiving wages in cash, bread, and ammunition.
In this way, An explosive mass of determined, strong-willed, and active people was accumulating. Fighters with extensive military experience.
Tsar Boris and Tsarina Marfa (mother of Tsarevich Dmitry) Sketch for an unrealized painting by artist Nikolai Ge
Great famine
At the beginning of the 17th century, the situation of the common people worsened further due to a series of natural disasters that caused a series of crop failures. Thus, in 1601, torrential rains ruined the harvest. Then came early frosts. The following year also proved to be a poor harvest. In 1603, a severe drought ruined the crops.
As a result, the country was struck by a terrible famine and plagues (epidemics). People ate cats and dogs, tree bark, grass, and manure. Cases of cannibalism were observed. Tens of thousands of people died.
Crowds of people, fleeing starvation, sought refuge in the cities. They fled to the Volga and Don.
Landowners drove out their peasants and serfs to avoid feeding them. Crowds of serfs became robbers and plunderers. Gangs of bandits robbed traders and merchants on the roads. Bandit groups of "thieving Cossacks" emerged, attacking even the landowners' estates. Essentially, a criminal revolution, characteristic of any Time of Troubles, was taking place.
Hunger riots began. The large-scale Khlopok Rebellion spread to many counties in the western, central, and southern parts of the Russian state. In 1603, the Streltsy routed the rebels, and Khlopok Kosolap was captured and executed. But this was only the beginning. Many peasants and serfs became involved in new uprisings, joining the impostors' forces.
A wave of uprisings is sweeping across the Seversk and Don lands, and the Volga region. A number of cities, particularly in the south, are refusing to submit to the central government. The situation is beginning to spiral out of control.
Many starving people flocked to Moscow, where food from the Tsar's reserves was being distributed. One contemporary wrote: "And in Moscow and its environs, they ate horse meat, and dogs, and cats, and even people, but the poor still survived on the Tsar's alms..."
As contemporaries recounted, merchants, boyars, and leading churchmen had large stockpiles of grain. They could have alleviated the plight of many. However, matters were exacerbated by the fact that the lords and wealthy men, including some churchmen, were enriching themselves at the expense of the people. They speculated in grain.
In a short period of time, the price of bread became exorbitant. Until 1601, 4 centners of rye cost 9-15 kopecks, and during the famine, a quarter (centner) of rye cost over 3 rubles.
Rumors are spreading in Moscow that the famine was sent by God as a punishment to the “false” Tsar Boris.
Moscow. Famine of 1601. Drawing from the 1830s. Artist: Boris Chorikov.
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