History of Russia Lectures for technical students. Part 1. Учебное пособие

dress of his daughter-in-law and was furious at the way she behaved towards him which he took to be as a sign of disrespect. Shocked son and heir turned on his father. The Tsar responded in fury. Blind with rage Ivan struck out Tsarevich with his heavy iron staff. The son of his great love Anastasia was struck death by Ivan himself.

With the death of his heir Ivan's life seemed to unravel. Chronics said that the Tsar felt haunted by the thousands he had killed. Not least the murder of his own loved son. He executed a great number of people. If than as a religious person he tried to seek absolution for this sin. According to legends, at the age of 53 Ivan was convened by a congress of mystics and stargazers to peer into the future. What they foresaw was his death; they even named the date – March 18th 1584. Ivan was playing chess on the eve of the 18. Not long before midnight the Tsar fell dead.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible had raised Muscovy from a kingdom to an empire. Ivan with brutality had destroyed the son and heir but he had risen to leave Russia after his death. Ivan had shattered a royal life that stretched back over 7 centuries. The Empire he had worked so hard to build hurtled into chaos.

Unlike many tyrants, Ivan enjoyed an extraordinary degree of popularity among his subjects. According to an interpretation especially favoured in Stalin period – when comparisons between the Oprichniks and the Soviet NKVD security police could not fail to occur to the students of Russian history. The Terrible Tsar chief aim was to strengthen and centralized Russian state by destroying the boyars, princes and leading churchmen who constituted the chief rivals to the monarchy. The Oprichnina was therefore officially described as a “progressive phenomenon” in the outstandingly authoritarian Stalin’s era. Stalin himself went even further once remarking that Ivan had wrongly wasted time over his prayers which might have been better spent slaughtering yet more boyars. So there was a tendency to idolize the tyrant but even those who admired him most were well advised to do so from a safe distance.

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Peasants and petty townsmen accordingly fled to the wild lands on the periphery of the south and south-east where they had now become known as Cossaks. Terror, taxation and war were not the only reasons for this massive exodus from the centre and north-west of Muscovy. There was also the progressive escape of the peasantry, virtually bound to the soil by the end of the century through enactment’s curtailing the traditional freedom to leave a master’s service at the time of St. George day – 26 November each year. It was the process of establishing of new state and political system – absolute monarchy in the XVII century.

TASKS

1. Answer the following questions:

1.What was the political situation in Moscovy in the time of Ivan’s childhood?

2.What were Ivan’s greatest contributions to the growth and development of Moscovy?

3.What domestic reforms were introduced by Ivan IV during his reign?

4.When and how did Ivan IV earn the title of the “Terrible”?

5.Was Ivan’s foreign policy successful?

6.What state did Ivan IV leave to his descendants?

2.Watch video “History of Russian Empire” (Matteo Zilli, part 3- 5 of 20) and summarize new information.

3.Topics for writing essay.

1.Achievements and faults of Ivan IV.

2.The phenomenon of Oprichnina: causes and effects.

3.Russian-English relations under Ivan IV.

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Weak central governments were at first unable to resist feudal demands for the intensification of serfdom but the end of the century brought climatic and demographic catastrophes.

The Moscow branch of the dynasty of Rurik came to an end in the person of Ivan the Terrible’s younger son, Theodore. A line of strong tsars reached its finish when a physically and mentally weak person became a tsar. The new Tsar crowned in 1584 at the age of 27. He had devout character; his favorite pursuit was bell ringing. But he also enjoyed the antics of dwarfs and court jesters and combats between men and bears entertaining him.

Theodore was so unable to govern that recourse was to had to a regent the first being Nikita Romanov, a maternal uncle of the Tsar. But he died in 1586. There followed the enigmatic figure of Boris Godunov, familiar to lovers of poetry and opera. Godunov hailed from a family of Mongol origin that had first taken service with the Grand Prince of Moscow in the XIVth century. Under the Oprichnina he rose to fast eminence and succeeded in marrying his sister Irina to Theodore, thus making himself the new tsar’s brother-in-law. This upstart rise provoked envy and hatred among the old aristocratic families, and in early years of

Godunov’s regency there were several plots against his life as well as the attempts to alienate him from his proximity to the throne by trying to bring about a divorce between the Tsar and his childless wife. These attempts failed and their instigators – the princely families of Mstislavskiy and Shuiskiywere executed, tortured or exiled.

Godunov removed Metropolitan Dionisiy, a member of the opposition, installing his own nominee, Job, a cleric of modest talents who had served the Oprichnina without a qualm. He then exploited the indigence and insecurity of the visiting Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia in 1588. This clever move improved the prestige of Job and Godunov within the church, averted the danger that Russian church might come under the influence of the foreign. By 1587 Godunov had disposed of or silenced all his rivals. He ruled supreme, even though he was still nomi-

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nally regent. Despite his modest education, B. Godunov was the high qualified bureaucratic politician: he took care to base his actions on accurate information, he was a masterly tactician who knew when to lie, when to make alliances and when to denounce allies as traitors. He was vastly superior as a diplomat to Ivan IV and he personally participated in drafting of diplomatic correspondence with foreign monarchs.

Under Godunov administrative decrees attempted to tie down the peasantry, to protect the lesser gentry but actually to stabilized the taxpaying population. In 1597 a general law was issued permitting the forcible recovery of all peasants who had left their masters within the previous 5 years. In effect B. Godunov had retroactively abolished the peasants’ right to depart on St. George’s Day. Like other politicians of his time, Boris appealed to the poorer gentry when his fortunes were uncertain but attempted to gain allies among the aristocracy once he had reached the top. Abroad, Godunov led a largely defensive policy. He made a serious attempt to unite Poland-Lithuania and Russia under Tsar Theodore during the Polish election of 1587 and concluded an enduring peace with the Poles when this failed. In the steppe zone, fortress towns as Kursk, Voronezh and Byelgorod were established. Godunov even succeeded in recapturing from the Swedes some of the areas on the Gulf of Finland yielded up by Ivan IV – Ivangorod, Yam, Karelia. But these were the years before the storm.

Apart from Theodore, Ivan had one other son – Dmitry. Early in the reign of his half-brother, Dmitry and his mother had been exiled to Uglich. Maria Nagaya, last wife of Ivan IV and mother of Tsarevich Dmitry, was married to an unloving tyrant and was regarded by her male relatives as a step-ladder to fortune. All her affections and hopes were pinned on her epileptic son. In 1591 she found him bleeding to death from stab wounds. She accused the agents of Boris of murder and incited a riot against them. But Boris insisted that Dmitry stabbed himself in an epileptic fit. Maria Nagaya’s opinion contributed to the birth of a legend that Dmitry can be alive.

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Be that as it may, the death of Tsar Theodore in 1598 further thickened the atmosphere. Power passed briefly to Tsarina Irina, but Muscovy was not ready for a woman ruler and she immediately took the veil. There was no choice but to thread the Polish path and choose a tsar – an unprecedented situation in Muscovite history. Godunov, by virtue of the power that he had in fact exercised, was the favoured candidate. But before he would accept the throne he insisted on election by Zemskiy Sobor.

Part II

Godunov succeeded and his reign looked promising. He was, e.g. the first tsar to take an interest in education, he had an idea of establishing a university and sent a number of young Russians to study abroad. He knew that he was resented both by the former Oprichniks and by more aristocratic competitors for the throne. At first he tried hard to ingratiate himself with them but as he felt his health and popularity wane, he took o repression (Belskiy was exiled, Romanovs were accused in plotting).

1601-1603 was the end of Godunov’s regime. Great starvation started: many villages died of it, people ere make to eat grass and birch bark, they took cannibalism. Speculation in grain and depopulation took place.

Landowners couldn’t feed their peasants, they drove them away. Bands of homeless peasants rob people.

In 1603 the first major out break with peasant Khlopok at the head reached Moscow. Godunov faced this catastrophe without help. Government could give only one third of grain needs. At the moment of governmental collapse Polish intervention began to play its part.

Its instrument was the first False Dmitry. The death of real Tsarevich

Dmitry was very mysterious and enigmatic that’s why belief in his survival was possible. The real name of the first False Dmitry was Grigory Otriepiev. He was a poor gentleman who served the Romanovs first, after it he made his career in the church, joining the staff of Patriarch. During the starvation he went to Poland. In 1603 Otriepiev claimed to be

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Tsarevich Dmitry. He appeared at the castle of one Polish aristocrat who introduced him to other Polish nobility and governor of Sandomir – Georgiy Mnishek. The Roman Pope saw in False Dmitry an instrument for the conversion of Russian land to Catholicism. Pretender left Orthodox Church for Catholicism. The Polish king Sigismund III had met with False Dmitry in 1604, he gave him pension, recognized him as legal Russian tsar but he didn’t promise to start war against Moscow.

False Dmitry got only small army (4,000 people) from Polish king. False

Dmitry promised to rescue peasants from their misery that’s why he became very popular. Godunov tried to discredit to Pretender unsuccessfully. Army of False Dmitry quadrupled in size in a few months in contrast Godunov’s forces were disintegrated by desertion, treachery and defeatism.

In April 1605 Godunov suddenly died from stroke or from self administered poison. This is another mystery of that time. Throne was inherited by his son Theodore, but the nobles didn’t support him and he was killed. Two months later the Pretender entered Moscow and Maria Nagaya (mother of real Dmitry) acknowledged him as her long-lost son and after that he was crowned as a tsar. The new tsar was very strange person. He was about 25, small stature with ugly beardless face, wart on his nose and spiky red hair. Pretender was very lively; it was very unusual feature for tsar. He doubled the pay of officials and officers, confirmed and extended the privileges of Orthodox Church, liberated a quarter of slaves and peasants who ran away from their masters during starvation. He refused to use terror but this period lasted less than 1 year. False Dmitry married polish woman Marina Mnishek. The reason of

Preteder’s downfall was the opposition of Russian aristocrats. They didn’t want to install another tsar after Godunov. The aristocratic revolt led by Vasiliy Shuiskiy broke out in Moscow in May of 1606 at night. Pretender was killed, his body was burnt and ashes shot from a cannon to the four winds.

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Shuiskiy replaced False Dmitry on the throne; he wasn’t elected by

Zemskiy Sobor, only nominated by his supporters from Boyar Dumb.

Shuiskiy’s ukases didn’t run much outside Moscow, so he ruled in Moscow only and half of Moscow territory was outside his control. Tula and Ryazan rose against Shuiskiy, defeated governmental troops and besieged Nizhniy Novgorod. Astrahan produced three pretenders. This movement found a political and military leader in Ivan Bolotnikov. He called on peasants o rise against their masters, siege the estates and overthrow existing social order. Bolotnikov ran away from Moscow to Tula. Then he catched his star to Tsar Peter (baby died son of Tsar Theodore). Rebellions were sieged by Shuiskiy in the autumn of 1607 in Tula.

One peasant revolution overcame than another center of revolt arose under leadership of a second false Dmitry. He marched on Moscow from Poland. Marina Mnishek and Philaret Romanov supported him but he was less successful than the first false Dmitry. He was called Thief. His forces never reached Moscow and he set up and established at Tushino (village some miles to the west of Moscow) anti governmental separate court. He was called the Tushino Thief after it. Moscow and Tula confronted each other, it is lasted two years.

Sigismund III declared open war against Shuiskiy. The whole of the Baltic coast fell into Swedish hands. In 1609 Sigismund laid siege to Smolensk, key to the Western Russia. The Thief camp was disintegrated. Tsar Shuiskiy was dethroned and Polish garrison became master in Moscow. The Boyar Council opened negotiations with polish king. The terms were acceptance of Polish king as Russian Tsar, the council recognized Sigismund as Russian Tsar, but he refused in favor of his son Vladislav. Smolensk fell to Sigismund and Swedes seized Novgorod. Nobody could stop this disintegration of Russian state.

The first national levy was formed from the provincial nobility in Ryazan to attack and besiege the Poles in Moscow in 1611. This levy has no success. The second attempt was made in following year and it was rather better prepared. It took its inspiration from the leaders of the

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most famous and ancient Russian monasteries. A second national levy made up of towns people in Nizhniy Novgorod under Prince Pozharskiy and Kuzma Minin. The first and second national levies were able to combine in final supreme efforts that freed Moscow.

Early in 1613 a newly elected Assembly of the Lands which include representatives of gentry, clergy, merchants, peasants and aristocracy all over Russia met in Moscow and chose new dynasty – Romanovs. The new elected Tsar Michael was related to Ivan IV through his first wife Anastasiya Romanov. So new dynasty in Russia was established.

TASKS

1. Answer the following questions:

1.What policy did B. Godunov conduct at home?

2.How did Russia develop after the death of Godunov?

3.What were the essential political and economic features of this period?

4.What tendencies were characteristic for Russia under the Polish invaders?

5.What role did the Russian church play at that time?

6.What was significant about the Times of Troubles?

2.Watch video “History of Russian Empire” (Matteo Zilli, part 6 of 20) and summarize new information.

3.Topics for writing essay.

1.The causes of the political catastrophe at the beginning of the 17 century.

2.The Polish and Swedish invasion to Russia.

3.The role of Romanovs Dynasty in Russian history.

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LECTURE 5. PETER THE GREAT

Peter the Great – one of the Russian greatest statesmen – the Tsar and first Emperor – was a man of extraordinary energy and supreme vision. Russian tsar embarked on an ambitious program to transform Russia into an advanced European country.

Peter was born in 1672 in Moscow. Future emperor was the only son of the second marriage of Tsar Alexey. His mother was Natalia Naryshkina. Peter was his mother’s first son, but he was his father’s 14 th child. But unlike his half-brothers, from his father’s first marriage, Peter was healthy and energetic child. When Peter was 4 years old his father died and the throne was left to Peter’s elder half-brother Theodore, weak young man. In reality the royal power felt into the hands of the relatives of Theodore’s mother who tried to push Peter aside. In 1682

Theodore died without a heir.

There was a struggle between nobility who supported Peter’s halfbrother Ivan and who supported Peter. Ivan’s relatives managed a revolt in Moscow. As a result Ivan and Peter were proclaimed joint tsars. But

Ivan’s sister Sophia became a regent for them. She was 25 years old, well-educated woman. Peter was excluded from public affairs and forced to live with his mother in a village outside Moscow. The result of this exile was that Peter grew up away from atmosphere of palace life. He enjoined energetic outdoor activities and games and took a special interest in military affairs. During his visits to a German colony near Moscow he started to like all European things. He spent much time with repairing old sailboat. And this provided his passion for sailing. He also liked maths, fortification and navigation. He was interested in military games. In 1689 Peter’s mother arranged his marriage to Evdokia

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