Cruel feudal exploitation, a terrible famine, and the "pestilence" of 1600-1603 contributed to mass peasant unrest. Taking advantage of the current situation, the troops of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry twice invaded the Russian state: first under the leadership of False Dmitry I (1604), and then led by another Pretender - False Dmitry II (1608).
In September 1608, it was besieged by 30,000 Poles and Lithuanians. Residents of villages near Moscow burned their houses "so that there was no shelter for the enemy", and took refuge behind the walls of the fortress, together with refugees from other villages and cities, they made up the main force of its defenders. There were only 2,400 besieged, but they resolutely refused the offer to surrender. Only intercession can explain the fact that the 16-month siege did not bring success to the Poles. The defenders of the monastery repeatedly saw St. Sergius helping them. The "Tale of the Siege" describes amazing cases of God's grace-filled help to the besieged at this critical time for the monastery and the entire Russian land.
The Trinity Monastery, being the most important in religious and moral terms, was also of great strategic importance - it was located on an important trade route connecting Moscow with the Trans-Volga region. Food was delivered to Moscow along this trade route. That is why the Polish invaders Sapieha and Lisovsky decided to cross it, taking the stronghold of the north - the Trinity Monastery, and thereby block the entire capital.
On September 23, 1608, the Polish governors Sapieha and Lisovsky approached the walls of the monastery, and a long siege began. There were about 300 brethren in the monastery, a garrison of troops under the command of the governor Golokhvastov and Dolgorukov, and local peasants who took refuge from the interventionists behind its strong walls. The interventionists dreamed of quickly cracking down on the besieged, but they met with courageous resistance. With favors, persuasion and threats, the Polish lords urged the inmates to surrender the monastery, but their promises were in vain. Powerful artillery fire did not allow the enemy to bring ladders and “wall tricks” closer, and on the heads of those who nevertheless made their way to the walls, stones and bricks, boiling tar and pitch, lime and sulfur were thrown from above. Despite the fact that the assaults sometimes lasted for several days in a row, the enemies never managed to climb the walls. In difficult conditions of crowding and hunger, the besieged not only defended themselves, but also systematically attacked the enemy, inflicting significant damage on him.
Seeing the futility of storming the monastery, the besiegers wrote letters to the besieged, urging the latter to submit to False Dmitry II. The inmates of the Lavra answered their letters in the following way: “Let your dark state know that you are in vain deceiving the flock of Christ - Orthodox Christians. What does it profit a man to love darkness more than light, and to change falsehood into truth; how can we leave our eternal holy true Orthodox Christian faith of the Greek law and submit to the new heretical laws that are cursed by the four ecumenical patriarchs? Or what an acquisition to leave us our Orthodox sovereign, the tsar, and submit to the false enemy and to you, the infidel Latin.”
For 16 months, the invaders besieged the monastery, but all their attempts to take the monastery were unsuccessful. During this long period, many disasters were also suffered by the Trinity inmates. With the onset of winter, various kinds of diseases began to appear among them, and scurvy began. The hostilities inflicted heavy damage on the monastery: some sections of the walls were badly damaged by shelling, the southeast () tower was destroyed during the explosion of a tunnel, wooden buildings were burned or dismantled for fuel, most of the stone buildings were without roofs.
Despite physical disasters, the “stone coffin” continued to stand firm and unshakable. Especially the besieged relied on the heavenly help of their patrons - St. Sergius and Nikon. And according to the testimony, many of the besieged saw visions. Thus, the sexton Irinarkh saw St. Nikon, Elder Irinarkh saw St. Sergius, who predicted that he would receive help from Vasily Shuisky.
On January 12, 1610, fearing an attack by Skopin-Shuisky, the invaders lifted the siege from the monastery. Thus, the stronghold of the Moscow State - the Trinity Monastery - withstood the test with honor. Repelling enemies with external force, the Trinity-Sergius Monastery acted in favor of its native state and, with its messages and letters, called on the people to defend the Orthodox faith and save the fatherland from the Polish invaders - friends of the Tushinsky thief. With their courageous stand, the defenders of the monastery showed an unshakable example of devotion to their native fatherland and forced foreigners to move away from the monastery walls in disgrace. The success of the defense of the monastery entirely depended on the indestructible courage and selfless love for the Motherland of the defenders themselves.
But the anxious time had not yet passed, the inmates, realizing this, immediately began to restore premises for housing, a permanent military garrison was created - archers and gunners, for whom huts were hastily built from the west of the monastery.
The fighting continued when the Polish prince Vladislav, trying to take revenge, decided to take over Moscow. But, having failed, he sent his troops to the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. However, the enemies failed to capture the monastery immediately. Wishing to end their inglorious campaign as soon as possible, they began to negotiate for peace. In the Trinity Monastery were called royal ambassadors, and December 1, 1618 in the village
In the autumn of 1604, an impostor, whom historians call False Dmitry I, with a 40,000-strong detachment of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry, Russian emigrant nobles, Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks, unexpectedly appeared on the southwestern outskirts of Russia, in Seversk land. "Ukrainian people", among whom there were many fugitive peasants and serfs, joined the impostor in droves: they saw in "Tsarevich Dmitry" their "protector", especially since the impostor did not skimp on promises. The belief in a “good tsar” inherent in the medieval peasantry helped False Dmitry I increase his army. However, in the very first big battle with the tsarist army near Dobrynichy, the impostor was defeated and, with the few remaining supporters, took refuge in Putivl. Most of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry left him.
In April 1605 Tsar Boris Godunov died unexpectedly; there were rumors that he was poisoned. In the tsarist army near Kromy, the traitorous boyars revolted, the way for the impostor to Moscow was open.
The impostor entered Moscow without a fight and was proclaimed tsar under the name of Dmitry Ivanovich.
The victory was ensured by popular support and the deep dissatisfaction of the peasantry with Godunov's policy, but False Dmitry did not last long on the throne. The very first events of "Tsar Dmitry" alienated the lower classes from him. They were also dissatisfied with "Tsar Dmitry" in the Commonwealth. He did not dare, as he had promised earlier, to transfer Western Russian cities to Poland and Lithuania.
On May 17, 1606, the conspirators took advantage of the uprising, Vasily Shuisky, at the head of a large detachment of military servants, broke into the Kremlin, the Pretender was killed. From the Execution Ground on Red Square, Vasily Shuisky was "called out" as the new tsar.
The accession of Vasily Shuisky did not stop the "distemper". The populace received no relief. Vasily Shuisky even canceled the tax benefits given by the impostor to the population of the southern counties. The persecution of former supporters of "Tsar Dmitry" began, which further inflamed the situation.
In the movement against the "boyar tsar" Vasily Shuisky, various sections of the population were involved: the lower classes, the nobility, part of the boyars. It was they who took part in the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov (1606 - 1607) - the uprising of serfs, peasants, townspeople, archers, Cossacks. Territory of the uprising: southwest and south of Russia (about 70 cities), the Lower and Middle Volga regions. The rebels defeated the tsarist troops near Kromy, Yelets, on the river. Ugra, Lopasna and others, in October - December besieged Moscow. In connection with the betrayal of the nobles on December 2, 1606, they were defeated near the village of Kotly and retreated to Kaluga. In the summer - autumn of 1607, together with the detachments of Ileika Muromets, the rebels fought near Tula. After a 4-month siege and the surrender of Tula, the uprising was crushed. Bolotnikov was exiled to Kargopol, blinded and drowned.
In January 1608 a second impostor appeared (False Dmitry II), he reached the city of Orel where he camped.
The impostor failed to take Moscow, even with Lithuanian help. But the Polish-Lithuanian and Cossack detachments of the “Tushino thief” dispersed throughout Central Russia. By the end of 1608, 22 cities “sworn” to the impostor.
A dual power was established in the country. In fact, there were two tsars in Russia, two Boyar Dumas, two systems of orders. The Shuisky government also embarked on the path of collusion with foreign forces. It appealed for help to the Swedish king Charles IX, who had long hatched plans for separating Novgorod and Karelia from Russia. An agreement with Sweden was reached at a heavy price - Shuisky renounced the terms of the Tyavzinsky peace and, in general, claims to the Baltic coast, gave the city of Korela with the county and allowed the free circulation of Swedish coins on the territory of Russia. Thus, the Swedish intervention was actually unleashed. This caused great unrest among the population of the northwestern Russian lands.
In the summer of 1609, Russian regiments and Swedish mercenaries began offensive operations. However, the Swedes only reached Tver and refused to advance further. Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, with some Russian regiments, went to Kalyazin, where he camped, and began to collect a new army, he conquered city after city. March 12, 1610 regiments of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky solemnly entered the capital.
happened in Moscow palace coup. The military defeat led to the fall of Vasily Shuisky. On July 17, 1610, the boyars and nobles overthrew V. Shuisky from the throne. Power passed to the government of the seven boyars - "seven boyars".
Under these conditions, the "Seven Boyars", which had no support in the country, went to direct national treason; in August 1610, the boyars let the Polish garrison into Moscow. King Sigismund III openly announced his claims to the Russian throne. In the summer of 1609, the Polish king Sigismund III, at the head of a large army, moved directly to Smolensk.
An open Polish-Lithuanian intervention began. The gentry detachments left the "Tushinsky thief", the Pretender fled to Kaluga, where he was soon killed. Russia was threatened with the loss of national independence.
CAPITAL HUMANITARIAN INSTITUTE
Faculty: public service and finance.
Specialty: finance and credit.
ESSAY
Subject: Domestic history.
Topic: Stages of the Troubles: from False Dmitry I to the Polish intervention.
3rd year student
Afanasiev Dmitry Vladimirovich
Murmansk 2005
Work plan:
Introduction………………………………………………………………..3
§one. False Dmitry I…………………………………………………………4
§2. The Rebellion of Ivan Bolotnikov………………………………………8
§3. Polish-Lithuanian intervention…………………………………….9
§4. People's militias. Expulsion of the Poles……………...………...10
§five. End of the Time of Troubles……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Conclusion…………………………………………………………….12
Bibliographic list……………………………………………..14
Introduction.
In the second half of the 16th century, special circumstances, external and internal, contributed to the intensification of the crisis in the Muscovite state. The Livonian War, which lasted 25 years and ended in complete failure, demanded huge sacrifices from the population in people and material resources. The Tatar invasion and the defeat of Moscow in 1571 significantly increased casualties and losses. The oprichnina of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, which shook and shook the old way of life and habitual relations, increased the general discord and demoralization. Masses of peasants left for new lands from fortresses and state burdens. The exploitation of the rest intensified. The farmers were entangled in debts and duties. The more people left, the harder the government of Boris Godunov put pressure on those who remained. By 1592, the compilation of scribe books was completed, where the names of peasants and townspeople, owners of yards were entered. The authorities, having conducted a census, could organize the search and return of the fugitives. In 1592-1593, a royal decree was issued on the abolition of the peasant exit even on St. George's Day. This measure extended not only to the owner's peasants, but also to the state, as well as to the townspeople. In 1597, two more decrees appeared, according to the first, any free person (free servant, worker) who worked for six months for the landowner turned into a bonded serf and did not have the right to redeem himself for freedom. According to the second, a five-year period was set for the search and return of the runaway peasant to the owner. The desires of the nobility were fulfilled. But social tension from this did not weaken, but only grew. There were great contradictions between the Moscow privileged and the outlying, especially the southern, nobility. Made up of fugitive peasants and other free people, the Cossacks were a combustible material in society: firstly, many had blood grievances against the state, and secondly, they were people whose main occupation was war and robbery. There were strong intrigues between various groups of boyars. At the same time, the Polish and Lithuanian feudal lords tried to use internal contradictions in Russia in order to weaken Russian state and maintained ties with the opposition to Boris Godunov. They sought to seize the Smolensk lands, which a century earlier were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Catholic Church, by introducing Catholicism in Russia, wanted to replenish the sources of income. The Commonwealth did not have a direct reason for open intervention. All this eventually led the state to a serious crisis.
The purpose of this work is to show what impact the Time of Troubles had on the further development of Russia.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:
Consider the stages of the development of the Troubles;
Assess the behavior of the Russian people in the current situation.
The subject of this work is the time interval of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, later called the Time of Troubles.
The object of the research is the history of the Time of Troubles in Russia.
§one. False Dmitry I.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, his son Fyodor ascended the throne. Unlike his father, he had a mild disposition, was, in the words of his contemporaries, a “meek” king. But Fedor Ivanovich did not like state affairs at all, he quickly got tired of them. He preferred to spend time in church, in quiet conversations, in peace. The main state concerns and power along with this passed to the brother-in-law (brother of the wife) of the Tsar Boris Godunov. The sovereign loved his wife Irina very much, and Godunov, in turn, had a great influence on his sister. Thus, the boyar Godunov acquired exceptional influence in the kingdom. The power of Boris Godunov, in addition to his personal qualities, was mainly based on kinship with the tsar's wife. Meanwhile, Fedor and Irina had no children, and among the nobility there were constant demands for the dissolution of this childless marriage. The tsar himself and, of course, especially Godunov opposed this in every possible way. The childless Fyodor was to be succeeded by the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitry. A great danger to the power of Boris Godunov was represented by the boyars Nagiye, relatives of the young Tsarevich Dmitry. Dmitry was expelled from Moscow to Uglich, which was declared his destiny. Uglich soon turned into an opposition center. The boyars were waiting for the death of Tsar Fedor in order to push Godunov out of power and rule on behalf of the young prince. However, in 1591, Tsarevich Dmitry died under mysterious circumstances. The circumstances of this case are not entirely clear. The official version was that the prince, in a fit of epilepsy (which his father awarded him), fell on a knife and stabbed himself. The commission of inquiry, led by the boyar Vasily Shuisky, concluded that it was an accident. But the opposition began to vigorously spread rumors about a deliberate murder on the orders of the ruler. Later, a version appeared that another boy was killed, and the prince escaped and is waiting for adulthood in order to return and punish the “villain”.
At the beginning of the 17th century, an unprecedented famine broke out in the country, the epidemics that followed the famine claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. All this aggravated the already great contradictions between the people and the king. The people associated the disasters of the country with the murder of Dmitry and the unrighteous accession of Godunov. It was at this time that the first impostor appeared, posing as Tsarevich Dmitry. His name was Grigory Otrepiev. He was a monk of the Chudov Monastery and fled from there to the Cossacks. There he acquired the necessary skill. Then he showed up in Poland, got into the confidence of the nobility, in particular Pan Mniszek, and, pretending to be mortally ill, revealed the secret in confession that he was miraculously saved Tsarevich Dmitry. The adventure fell on the right soil: in Poland there were enough hunters to help Dmitry return the rightful throne, especially since the prince promised three boxes to Mniszek, and King Sigismund III, and the churchmen. In the autumn of 1604, the impostor, whom historians call False Dmitry I, with a 40,000-strong detachment of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry, Russian emigrant nobles, Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks, unexpectedly appeared on the southwestern outskirts of Russia. There were many runaway peasants and serfs in his army, who joined the impostor in droves. They saw in “Tsarevich Dmitry” their “protector”, especially since the impostor did not skimp on promises. The belief in a “good tsar” inherent in the medieval peasantry helped False Dmitry I to increase his army. However, in the very first big battle with the tsarist army led by Prince F.I. Mstislavsky near Dobrynichy, the impostor was defeated and, with the few remaining supporters, took refuge in Putivl. Most of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry left him. However, a broad popular movement against Boris Godunov was already unfolding on the southern outskirts. One by one, the southern cities went over to the side of “Tsarevich Dmitry”. Detachments of Cossacks approached from the Don. And the actions of the tsarist army were extremely slow and indecisive - the boyars-voivodes were preparing a betrayal of Boris Godunov, hoping to use an impostor to topple the tsar. All this allowed False Dmitry I to recover from defeat. In the Russian outlying lands, he met with strong support from the Cossacks, the southern nobles, who were unhappy with the dominance of the Moscow nobles. Many of the people really wanted to believe that this was the real king, because then everything was easily explained: the oppression of the people, and the difficult life, and hunger, and so on. Not averse to seizing the opportunity were many boyars dissatisfied with Godunov. Popular support was so great that he again recovered to Moscow. The cities swore allegiance to him. And then suddenly Godunov died. The sixteen-year-old son of Godunov, Tsar Fyodor Borisovich, did not long remain on the throne. He had neither experience nor authority. On May 7, the tsarist army went over to the side of False Dmitry. On June 1, 1605, the boyars-conspirators organized a coup d'état and provoked popular indignation in the capital. Tsar Fedor was dethroned and strangled along with his mother. The impostor entered Moscow without a fight and was proclaimed tsar under the name of Dmitry Ivanovich. He was “recognized” by Tsarina Maria Nagaya, who had previously been exiled to a monastery, the mother of the murdered Dmitry. But False Dmitry did not last long on the throne. His very first events destroyed the hopes for a “good and just king.” The feudal aristocracy that initiated the appearance of the impostor no longer needed him. Wide layers of Russian feudal lords were dissatisfied with the privileged position of the Polish and Lithuanian gentry, who surrounded the throne, received huge rewards, money for which was withdrawn even from the monastery treasury. The Orthodox Church followed with concern the attempts to spread Catholicism in Russia. False Dmitry wanted to start a war against Turkey, which Russia did not need. They were also dissatisfied with “Tsar Dmitry” in the Commonwealth. He refused, as he had promised earlier, to transfer Western Russian cities to Poland and Lithuania. The new conspiracy was preceded by the wedding of False Dmitry with Marina Minshek, the daughter of a Lithuanian magnate. The Catholic was crowned with the royal crown of the Orthodox state. In addition to this, violence and robberies began among the roaming gentry who had come to the wedding. On May 17, 1606, the boyar Vasily Shuisky, at the head of a large detachment of military servants, broke into the Kremlin and killed the impostor. From the Execution Ground on Red Square, he was proclaimed the new tsar.
The accession of Vasily Shuisky did not stop the turmoil. The new king relied on a narrow circle of people close to him. Even within the Boyar Duma, he had ill-wishers who themselves claimed the throne (the Romanovs, Golitsyns, Mstislavskys). Shuisky was not popular with the nobility either. The populace received no relief. Vasily Shuisky even canceled the tax benefits given by the impostor to the population of the southern counties. The persecution of the former supporters of “Tsar Dmitry” began, which further inflamed the situation. The people continued to stubbornly hold on to the rumor about the miraculous salvation of Dmitry, that, once again reigning in Moscow, he would alleviate his situation.
§2. Rebellion of Ivan Bolotnikov.
In the movement against the “boyar tsar” Vasily Shuisky, various sections of the population were involved: the lower classes, the nobility, part of the boyars. It was they who took part in the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov in 1606-1607. Bolotnikov was a serf of Prince Telyatevsky, fled to the Cossacks, was one of the chieftains of the Volga Cossack freemen, was captured by the Tatars and was sold into slavery in Turkey, was a galley rower, a participant in naval battles, was released by the Italians. The basis of his troops were Cossacks, fugitives, the urban poor, the remnants of the army of the first impostor, the Cossacks called from the Don, and the archers of the border garrisons. He was also supported by the noble detachments of P. Lyapunov and I. Pashkov, who were dissatisfied with the government. Bolotnikov pretended to be the governor of Tsar Dmitry and demanded that Shuisky be replaced by “good Tsar Dmitry”. In August 1606, Bolotnikov inflicted a series of defeats on the tsarist governors, and in the fall his army approached Moscow and settled in the village of Kolomenskoye. But the noble detachments soon went over to the side of the tsar and in December 1606, in a decisive battle, the tsarist troops defeated Bolotnikov. Bolotnikov, with the remnants of his army, took refuge first in Kaluga, and then in Tula, where he held out until October 1607, repulsing the attacks of the tsarist army. Finally, exhausted by a long siege and hunger, the defenders of Tula surrendered. Ivan Bolotnikov was exiled to Kargopol, where he was blinded and drowned.
Objectively, the movement of Ivan Bolotnikov weakened the Russian state and prepared the conditions for the introduction of a second impostor into Russia, who used the direct help of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry.
§3. Polish-Lithuanian intervention.
The intervention of the Polish-Lithuanian state of the Commonwealth in the affairs of Russia began with the advent of Grigory Otrepyev. After his overthrow, detachments of Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainian Cossacks began to support False Dmitry II, who showed up in Starodub in the summer of 1607, when the tsarist troops besieged Tula. His origin is unknown, he posed as the allegedly saved Tsar Dmitry (False Dmitry I). In June 1608, False Dmitry II with his army approached Moscow, could not take it and stopped in a fortified camp in Tushino (hence his nickname - “Tushinsky Thief”). Many nobles and government officials who were dissatisfied with Shuisky's rule moved to Tushino. Soon a large army of the Lithuanian hetman Jan Sapieha also came there. The participation of the Commonwealth in the events of unrest became more and more obvious. A significant part of the country fell under the rule of the impostor and his Polish-Lithuanian allies. A dual power was established in the country. In fact, there were two tsars in Russia, two boyar dumas. Shuisky, not having sufficient support within the country and trying to put an end to False Dmitry II, agreed with the Swedes, in exchange for some territories (the city of Korelu and others), on military assistance. In the summer of 1609, Russian regiments and Swedish mercenaries began offensive operations, but the Swedes only reached Tver and refused to advance further. The tsar's nephew, Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, with some Russian regiments, launched an offensive against the Tushins. Soon he defeated Hetman Sapega and in March 1610 the regiments of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky approached Moscow, after which the “Tushino camp” fled.
The decision of Tsar Vasily Shuisky to call on foreigners for help cost Russia dearly. The Polish king Sigismund III, who at that time was at enmity with Sweden, took this as a convenient pretext for starting an open war. In the summer, the Poles began aggression and laid siege to Smolensk. The heroic defense of Smolensk was able to delay the main forces of the royal army for almost two years. However, in the summer of 1610, a strong Polish-Lithuanian detachment of Hetman Zholkovsky moved towards Moscow and defeated the Russian troops that had come out to meet him. The military defeat led to the fall of Vasily Shuisky, and a palace coup took place in Moscow. On July 17, 1610, the boyars and nobles, led by Zakhar Lyapunov, overthrew V. Shuisky from the throne. Tsar Vasily Shuisky was forcibly tonsured a monk. Power passed to the government of the seven boyars - the “seven boyars”. Having learned about the coup, "Tushinsky Thief" again moved with his supporters to Moscow. Under these conditions, the "Seven Boyars", which had no support in the country, went to direct national treason: in August 1610, the boyars let the Polish garrison into Moscow. The actual power was in the hands of the Polish commandant Pan Gonsevsky. King Sigismund III openly announced his claims to the Russian throne. An open Polish-Lithuanian intervention began. The gentry detachments left the “Tushinsky thief”. The impostor fled to Kaluga, where he was soon killed. Russia was threatened with the loss of national independence. The events that took place caused deep dissatisfaction among all classes of the Russian state.
§4. People's militias. Expulsion of the Poles.
Russia found itself in a desperate situation. Without a king, with Polish invaders in the capital, ruined by numerous foreigners and gangs. This led to the emergence of a national liberation movement against the interventionists. The Duma nobleman Prokopy Lyapunov, who had long fought against the supporters of the “Tushinsky Thief”, became the head of the first militia. He was joined by the Ryazan nobles, as well as detachments of the Cossacks of Ataman Ivan Zarutsky and Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy. In the spring of 1611, the militia approached Moscow. A popular uprising broke out in the city against the interventionists, during which the Poles set fire to the city, and it completely burned out. The Polish garrison took refuge behind the walls of Kitay-gorod, as well as the Kremlin, and the siege began. But soon disagreements and a struggle for primacy began between the leaders of the Russian militia. Ivan Zarutsky and Dmitry Trubetskoy organized the murder of Prokopy Lyapunov. After that, the nobles began to leave the camp. The first militia actually disintegrated.
Meanwhile, the situation became even more complicated. After the fall of Smolensk, the Polish-Lithuanian army was freed up for a big campaign against Russia. King Sigismund III now hoped to seize the Russian throne by force. However, a new rise in the national liberation struggle of the Russian people prevented him from doing this, since the formation of a second militia began in Nizhny Novgorod. The organizer of the militia was the “Zemsky headman” Kuzma Minin, who appealed to the people of Nizhny Novgorod not to spare either themselves or their property to help the Moscow state. Kuzma Minin also played a decisive role in choosing the military leader of the militia, which was Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. In August 1612, after a heavy battle, the militia drove the Poles out of Moscow and locked up their garrison in the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod. After a two-month siege, the invaders, exhausted by hunger, surrendered. Although the ruined and ruined capital was liberated, it still took a long time to liberate the country. Detachments of Polish and Lithuanian gentry roamed all over the country. They robbed on the roads, plundered villages and villages, captured even cities, disrupting the normal life of the country.
§5. End of the Time of Troubles.
The primary issue after the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow was the question of restoring central power, that is, it was necessary to elect a new king. The Zemsky Sobor met in Moscow, very broad in its composition. After long disputes, the members of the cathedral agreed on the candidacy of 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, the cousin-nephew of the last tsar from the Moscow Rurik dynasty, Fyodor Ivanovich. This candidacy suited everyone, since the new king and his entourage were able to persevere and calmly carry out restoration work. In the first years of the reign of Mikhail Romanov, the country was actually ruled by the boyars Saltykovs, and since 1619, after the return of the father of the tsar, Patriarch Filaret Romanov from captivity, the patriarch and “great sovereign” Filaret. In 1617, an "eternal peace" was signed with Sweden, according to which the Swedes retained the Izhora land and Korela. Russia lost access to the Baltic Sea, but she managed to get out of the state of war with Sweden. In 1618, a truce was concluded with Poland for fourteen and a half years. Russia lost Smolensk and about three dozen more Smolensk, Chernigov and Seversk cities. The terms of the armistice were very difficult for the country, but Poland refused to claim the throne. As a result of all this, it could be considered that Time of Troubles finished in Russia.
Conclusion.
The Time of Troubles taught an important lesson to the Russian people. The call of Kozma Minin -
not to seek personal benefits, but to give everything to a common cause - resonated with most ordinary people, symbolizing the turn of society towards a moral civic principle. The people, having suffered from the unrest, gathered a militia with their last money to restore calm in the country, took the fate of the state into their own hands. During the Time of Troubles, the people, saving the state, discovered such a wealth of moral strength and such strength of their historical and civil foundations that it was impossible to imagine in it.
The Russian people, in the face of the catastrophe, having gathered their strength, recreated the ruined state, clearly showing that it is not a royal estate, but an object of common concern and the common cause of all cities and all Russian people.
Bibliographic list.
1. Lichman M.Ya. History of Russia - Textbook.
2. Fedorov V.A. Russian history.
3. Karamzin N.M. "History of Russian Goverment".
Russian-Polish war of 1609-1618, also known as Polish-Lithuanian intervention- an armed conflict between Russia and the Commonwealth, during which the Polish-Lithuanian troops occupied the Moscow Kremlin for two years (from 1610 to 1612). One of the main events of the Time of Troubles.
Polish magnates invaded Russia, initially under the pretext of helping False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II (in 1605 and 1607-1609), and then with the explicit goal of conquering the Russian kingdom. Officially, the Commonwealth, represented by King Sigismund III, entered the war after the conclusion by Tsar Vasily Shuisky of an alliance with the Kingdom of Sweden, which was hostile to the Poles (see the Vyborg Treaty of 1609). The royal army was defeated in the battle of Klushinsky, the Polish-Lithuanian army captured Moscow, captured Shuisky and tried to put Prince Vladislav in his place.
The collapse of Russian statehood[ | ]
In the city, the First Militia was formed, with a core of Tushino Cossacks and Ryazan nobles, led by Dmitry Trubetskoy, Ivan Zarutsky and Prokopy Lyapunov. It moved towards Moscow, where an uprising broke out in turn, in which Prince Dmitry Pozharsky played an important role. The uprising was put down; shortly thereafter, the militias took Kitai-Gorod, but internal strife between the Cossacks and the nobles, culminating in the murder of Lyapunov, led to the flight of the nobles and the actual disintegration of the militia.
In this situation, the Second Militia is formed in Nizhny Novgorod, headed by Pozharsky. In August, it appeared at the walls of Moscow, where the Cossacks of Trubetskoy and Zarutskoy still stood. On August 22 and 24, 1612, Polish reinforcements were defeated, marching towards Moscow under the command of the great Lithuanian hetman Khodkevich, who was forced to retreat along the Smolensk road. The consequence of Pozharsky's victory was the surrender of the Poles who were in the Kremlin.
1613-1617 Siege of Smolensk[ | ]
The march to Smolensk, by decision of the Zemsky Sobor, became the first military operation of the revived Russian army at the final stage of the war. The army assembled for the march on Smolensk in the middle of 1613, according to the list, numbered 12,250 people. Russian troops occupied both Vyazma (July 7, 1613) and Dorogobuzh without a fight. The capture of Belaya, which was a truly important outpost on the Lithuanian frontier, was a great success. The prospect of a difficult siege, the appearance of a large Russian army and generous promises forced the mercenaries to surrender the city, and they did this despite the active resistance of the Lithuanian garrison. After these successes, the army approached main goal his campaign - Smolensk. The Russian governors had high hopes for the surrender of the city, like Belaya. The fact that the rate was placed on capitulation, and not the assault on the fortress, is also evidenced by the actions of the Russian troops. During the entire time of the siege, not a single attempt was made to storm or dig, and powerful and numerous Russian siege artillery was not sent to Smolensk at all. The actions of the siege troops were limited to the construction of fortified prisons and the erection of fences on all roads leading to Lithuania.
In the middle of 1614 successes gave way to failures. Several defeats in minor skirmishes did not lead to the withdrawal of Russian troops, but soon the Lithuanians managed to break through the blockade and transfer reinforcements and supplies to Smolensk. The chance to quickly return Smolensk was missed and a long siege of the city began. The Poles and Lithuanians, at first, could not take active action against the siege army. In 1615 in the Smolensk region, small skirmishes continued, interspersed with negotiations. Despite partial successes, the siege as a whole did not produce results. Lithuanian detachments managed to break into the fortress twice more and carry out carts. The position of the besieging army was rather difficult.
In the second half of 1616, the Lithuanians, in turn, began to take more active steps. Velizh elder Alexander Gonsevsky, having gathered available forces, crossed the Russian line and camped near Smolensk. In November, the Gonsevsky detachment (up to 2000 people) made a maneuver and camped between Dorogobuzh and Smolensk, in the village of Tverdilitsy, thereby interrupting the supply of the siege army along the Great Moscow Road. To fight the Lithuanians in January 1617, a new army began to equip, led by Prince Yuri Suleshev and the steward Semyon Prozorovsky. However, the governors again hesitated, not attacking the army of Gonsevsky, which was clearly inferior to them. In May 1617, in connection with the approach of the "foxes" to help Gonsevsky, led by the new colonel Stanislav Chaplinsky, the Russian siege army was forced to leave the siege fortresses near Smolensk.