Terrible king. The black myth of the "bloody tyrant" Ivan IV
430 years ago, on March 18, 1584, Tsar Ivan the Terrible died. For quite a long time, a wall of "black myths" towered around this formidable king. The Russian Tsar was accused of excessive cruelty, despotism and even insanity. However modern historical science increasingly refutes the accusations made against it as unreliable and falsified. It was Ivan Vasilyevich who, as a result of several victorious wars and campaigns, doubled the territory of the state, having annexed the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates, part of the North Caucasus and Western Siberia to the Russian kingdom. Thus, it was Ivan IV who laid the foundations of the Russian empire, its power and wealth.
Another interesting fact is that Tsar Ivan the Terrible is one of the few sovereigns who entered people's memory. The people retained the fond memory of Ivan Vasilyevich as the king-father, protector of Light Russia, and from external enemies, and from internal ones - boyars-traitors, thieves and oppressors. Terrible people even revered as a venerable saint. Several ancient icons with Ivan the Terrible reached the present, where he is depicted with a halo. In 1621, the feast of the “finding of the telescope of Tsar John” (10 of June according to the Julian calendar) was established, and Ivan IV is mentioned as a great martyr in the remaining holy calendar of Koryazhemsky monastery. Thus, even then the Church confirmed the fact of the sovereign's murder. This was done by Patriarch Filaret (Romanov), who was the father of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.
The first began to invent horrible tales about the great king of foreigners, many of whom themselves served Russia, but abroad were connected to the information war, which began during the Livonian War. Many among them were diplomats, ambassadors who visited Moscow. A sample of such a campaign, given the greatly increased opportunities for brainwashing, we are currently seeing. Any attempt by Russia to resolve issues on the world stage in the interests of national security causes a wave of hysteria and panic in the West. “Russians are coming” is not a modern invention. It was the attempt of Ivan the Terrible to return to the Russian kingdom the previously lost north-western regions and access to the Baltic (Varangian) sea led to the first large-scale information war against Russia and its leader. The “fifth column” also took part in this war - like Prince Andrei Kurbsky. The terrible and righteous king was accused of all sins - from mass terror to the murder of a personal son and orgies. So in the West, they created the image of a “bloody king-demon”, practically the vicar of dark forces on earth.
The official veneration of the great king tried to stop Patriarch Nikon, who “became famous” for splitting the Church and “modernizing” it according to European (Greek) standards, deadening the spirit of asceticism and righteousness from it. In fact, Nikon became the liquidator who destroyed the principles that Sergius of Radonezh introduced. The authority of Ivan the Terrible did not suit Nikon, since he wanted to put his status above the royal one, becoming the "Orthodox Pope."
However, then these attempts were unsuccessful. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich deeply revered Ivan the Terrible, besides Nikon’s activities led to confusion and he was unable to complete his subversive work. Just in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, by his direct order, icon painter Simon Ushakov renewed the icon of the “pious and Christ-loving, God-crowned great sovereign tsar and grand duke Ioann Vasilyevich” in the Faceted Chamber. This image was created during the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich.
Tsar Peter I praised Ivan the Terrible, considered himself his follower. Petr Alekseevich said: “This sovereign is my predecessor and example. I always took him for a model in prudence and courage, but I could not even match him. ” Positively evaluated the reign of Ivan IV and Catherine the Great. She defended the memory of the great king from attack.
In addition to external enemies, Ivan the Terrible had internal enemies who were ideological heirs of traitors and thieves, with whom the great sovereign fought mercilessly. "Strong", ambitions and appetites, which shortened Ivan Vasilyevich, had heirs.
When Russia under Peter I again launched an offensive in Europe, trying to regain access to the Baltic and Black Seas, a new wave of information war broke out in the West. In the West, immediately inflated the campaign about the "Russian threat". And to consolidate the image of the "terrible Russian barbarians" who want to enslave the whole of Europe, they dug out of the archives and the old slander about Ivan the Terrible, refreshed her.
The next peak of interest in the "bloody tsar" came in the French Revolution. This interest looks somewhat strange. French revolutionaries literally drowned the country in blood. Could only in a few days of "national terror" in Paris, to slaughter and devour thousands of people. People were beheaded on guillotines, drowned alive on barges, hung up and shot with a canister. At the same time, myths about Ivan the Terrible were inflated and outraged by his cruelty. Apparently, the Russian tsar “p-revolutionaries” did not like something, many of which surfaced from secret lodges and were Satanists.
From France, slander began to reach Russia. The first to criticize Ivan the Terrible was the freemason Radishchev. Gradually, the position of the Westerners in Russia strengthened. And a great admirer of the French revolution, Karamzin, took up the history of Russia. Karamzin’s achievements were picked up by a galaxy of liberal historians, publicists, writers and writers. They so successfully formed public opinion in the Russian Empire that in the 1862 year, when creating the epoch-making monument “Millennium of Rus” in Veliky Novgorod, the figures of Ivan Vasilievich did not appear on it. Did not deserve! The man who annexed the Volga Way to Russia, solved the problem of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, turned our country into a great power (empire), is missing from the monument. Although there are third-level figures on it like Anastasia Romanova (the first wife of Ivan the Terrible) and the traitor Marfa Boretskaya, who represented the party, ready to annex Novgorod to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The Russian aristocracy and the liberal intelligentsia at that time acted on one front, not accepting the merits of the formidable king. And the Communists like Marx and Engels experienced a great antipathy towards Ivan the Terrible. This is not surprising. Engels and Marx were uniform Russophobes.
Some enlightenment regarding the figure of Ivan Vasilyevich appeared in the years of Alexander III. At this time in the Russian Empire, the course was taken to strengthen patriotic values, the Russification policy was purposefully pursued. A number of works appeared that rejected the slander of the liberal intelligentsia.
In 1920, a critical point of view prevailed on the personality of Ivan the Terrible. Only in the 1930-s, when the process of reviving the great power and cleansing the country from the “fifth column” began, Ivan Vasilyevich was rehabilitated. After the end of the Stalin era, a wave of revelations of the “horrors” of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the “oprichnaya terror”, began again. In the years of perestroika and the victory of capitalism, Ivan the Terrible also aroused hatred in his activities. Sovereigns and fighters against thieves and traitors were not in vogue. Only in the last decade has there been a tendency to restore the role of the great tsar in the history of Russia.
The myth of the oprichnich terror
In the West, a “black myth” was created about the “oprichnich terror” during the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. He was actively supported by supporters of liberal values in Russia itself. Allegedly, an insane king created a terrorist organization that flooded the entire Russian kingdom with blood and destroyed thousands, tens of thousands of innocent people. Was created just a demonic figure of the Russian tsar. Although serious people conducted a thorough study and, relying on documentary sources, reported 3-4 thousand executed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. And Ivan Vasilyevich ruled for a very long time - from 1533 (he was crowned kingdom in 1547 year) to 1584. On the "mass terror" is not pulling.
In the same historical era, the "enlightened" rulers of the Western powers and the "merciful" Vatican most cruelly killed hundreds of thousands and even millions of people. Moreover, they exterminated both strangers and their own population. Spanish conquistadors destroyed unique Indian civilizations in Central and South America. Their achievements were looted and burned. Thousands of Indians were destroyed and turned into slaves. Huge territories were “cleared” from the native population.
In the same spirit, the Spaniards "cleaned" the Philippines. Then the Philippines stood at the level of the cultures of Indochina. The rich and beautiful cities flourished. Many nations had their own writing. Even women were literate, that is, Filipino natives were much higher than Europeans in terms of education and culture. There were huge libraries (books here were made from palm leaves and a tree). There was a developed trade with China. The Philippines maintained contact with the Arab world and Turkey. True, the islands were divided into Hindu and Muslim principalities, which were at enmity with each other. This helped the Spaniards to seize the island. In 1567, a squadron of Miguel de Legaspi sailed from Mexico, a total of 380 soldiers. The Spaniards entrenched on the island of Cebu. They pulled up reinforcements and moved the main base to Manila. Within a few years, the Spaniards established complete domination over the Philippine Islands. The most important role in the seizure was played by Christian missionaries, who played the role of intelligence officers, propagandists, broke the will of local leaders to resist, established outposts, which soon turned into fortresses. The Chinese were kicked out. Ancient and developed culture was destroyed. Most local residents gradually even lost their native languages by switching to the language of the invaders. The archipelago and its peoples forgot their native names.
Actually, the same fate was prepared for the ancient Japanese civilization. Christian missionaries and merchants have already prepared the ground for occupation. The country is mired in civil strife. There was a "fifth column" in the face of the Japanese Christians. Japan was saved by Prince Oda Nobunaga, who devoted his whole life to the unification of the country. Relying on the outstanding commanders Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he led the struggle for the unification of the country. These talented leaders were able to rein in major feudal lords, eliminated the "fifth column", banned Christianity and isolated the country from the entry of foreigners. As a result, Japan retained its independence, and we can now admire its unique culture.
Spain "distinguished" another massacre - already in Western Europe itself. She rose her rich province - the Netherlands. The Spaniards unleashed a bloody terror, trying to drown the rebellion in the blood. However, neighboring countries, like England, were interested in secession of the Netherlands from Spain, so the rebels eventually achieved partial success. The war was extremely cruel. The rebels were hanged, burned and cut. All residents of the Netherlands have been called "unfinished heretics." At the same time, civilians were also hit. So, in November 1572, the Spanish army destroyed all the citizens of the city of Zutphen, and in December, the Spanish soldiers massacred almost all the inhabitants of Nardin. In 1573, the same fate befell Harlem. We killed 20 thousand people, some of them drowned in the river. I must say that the "Spanish" army was only in name. There were detachments from Italy, German and Albanian mercenaries, and so on. The rebels also waged terror against officials, supporters of the king. Therefore, extreme cruelty and ruthlessness were characteristic then of all the inhabitants of "civilized" Europe.
Germany in this period only moved away from a split into Catholics and Reformats (Protestants), when they enthusiastically cut each other. From the terrible Peasant War 1524 — 1526, when the mob cut and tore up the nobles and the rich, and hired soldiers “cleaned” entire areas and regions from people. But, apparently, Europeans were boring to live without executions and massacres, so a witch hunt took place in Germany. The “big hunt” began in the middle of the XVI century and lasted for about two centuries. Tens of thousands of people were brutally murdered. At the same time, Eastern Europe almost did not experience this terrible process. Magical hysteria practically did not touch the Orthodox Russian kingdom. The woman in Russia was not considered as a sinful creature from the beginning. In Western Europe, a woman had enough of something to stand out from the crowd - beauty, red hair, a birthmark and. etc. to get to the fire. It is clear that such processes opened the door for sadists, who could show their qualities “officially”. Blamed and those who had wealth. So scammers, judges and executioners received additional income. The “enlightened” Europeans went to cruel executions as if they were on a holiday with their families and children.
In France there was a cruel, uncompromising religious war. Only during the so-called. St. Bartholomew's Night (on the night of August 24 1572) several thousand people were killed in Paris alone. More killed in the country this and the following days. A wave of violence in the capital led to a bloody massacre across the country. Thus, in Paris, more people were brutally killed in one day than in the whole reign of Ivan the Terrible.
While in the Russian kingdom of Ivan Vasilyevich, thousands of people were executed by 3-4, in the main powers of Western Europe (Spain, France, the Netherlands and England), at the same time, about 300-400 thousand people were killed. Moreover, under Ivan the Terrible, thieves, traitors, criminals were executed, and in Western Europe, the overwhelming majority of the dead were innocent victims. Therefore, the “bloody tyrant” Ivan IV, in comparison with the monstrous Philip II, Henry VIII and Charles IX - is just righteous. However, in the West, they do not regard their rulers as criminals; moreover, they are listed there as great statesmen and are an example to follow. An obvious example of “double standards” of Western propaganda!
At the same time, Ivan the Terrible was clearly a man of fine mental organization. The king himself accused "of filth, of murder ... of hatred, of all evil," that he was "an unclean and nasty murderer." He gave a lot of money to “remember the souls” of those executed. Subsequently, this self-criticism was used by critics of the great sovereign as an argument of his "bloody". Like, if he himself acknowledges a murderer, it means that he is. It would never have occurred to any ruler in Western Europe to repent. They slept well. This is an excellent example of the difference in the spiritual development of Russian and Western civilizations.
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