The beginning of the seventeenth century was not easy for the Russian state. Prolonged crop failure due to the abundance of rainfall caused famine. Rus' was immersed in turmoil more than ever.
In an atmosphere of popular dissatisfaction with the rule of Boris Godunov, rumors spread throughout the country that Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible, miraculously escaped death. Such gossip simply could not help but take advantage of swindlers and rogues who wanted to seize the Russian throne and cash in on the grief of the Russian people even in such a dashing time.
During this period, in 1601, a man is announced in Poland, posing as the surviving Tsarevich Dmitry. It is this person that is known in history as False Dmitry the First, who mainly tried to enlist Western support and accept Catholicism as a single Russian religion, in exchange for the throne.
False Dmitry the First turns to Sigismund the Polish king for support, promising him many Russian lands and excessive gratitude. At the same time, the Polish monarch did not openly support the impostor, however, he allowed his gentry to join the army of False Dmitry of their own free will.
Already in August 1604, detachments of False Dmitry with a total of four thousand people landed near the Dnieper, recruiting even more soldiers from the fleeing runaway serfs, townspeople and peasants. After that, he advances to Moscow.
In May 1605, after the sudden death of Boris Godunov, the tsarist troops also went over to the side of the impostor. At the beginning of summer, False Dmitry solemnly enters Moscow, where he took over the reign under the name of Dmitry Ivanovich and calling himself emperor.
Having taken the Russian throne, the new ruler was in no hurry to fulfill the promises that he made to the West and various segments of the population of Rus'. He never returned St. George's Day to the peasants, however, he flirted with the nobility and only increased the fixed years by a year. In addition, the emperor was also in no hurry to introduce the Catholic faith in Rus'.
At the same time, the impostor distributed wealth to the Poles. But soon the Russian treasury was empty and False Dmitry the First had to introduce new fees and taxes in order to fill it up again. Naturally, such an innovation caused popular discontent, which intensified after the marriage of the tsar to Marina Mnishek.
On May 17, 1606, an uprising broke out, led by the Shuisky boyars. As a result of this conspiracy, False Dmitry was killed.
Video lecture: Brief biography and reign of False Dmitry I
False Dmitry 1 (first, I) - biography, board, politics
Biography of False Dmitry 1
The date of birth of False Dmitry has not yet been precisely established. He was about the same age as the tsar's son Dmitry. Many argue that False Dmitry was someone other than Grigory Otrepiev. But not many people fully agree with this, just as no one can say for sure that Grigory Otrepyev could not be False Dmitry. Certainly biography of False Dmitry I many people are interested. Mystery historical figure raises a lot of questions today.
Yuri Bogdanovich Otrepiev was born at the turn of the 70-80s. His relatives arrived, once to serve in Moscow from Lithuania. His father died early and all of Yuri's upbringing fell on the shoulders of his mother. The boy studied very well and was sent to Moscow to serve Mikhail Nikitich Romanov. But at a time when the Romanovs were in danger, Otrepyev cut his hair as a monk and went to a monastery. Once, after some time, in the Chudov Monastery, he begins to communicate with the patriarch, who appointed him to book affairs. After that, he changed monasteries many times and finally entered the service of Vishnetsky. There he first announced his royal origin. Many believe that he was just a pawn in the wrong hands. In April, he accepts Catholicism. He tries to get closer to the king, promises to hand over Smolensk and other lands to Poland.
In Sambir, False Dmitry proposes to Marina Mnishek. The father of his future wife gathered a small army for False Dmitry. And in the year 1604 he begins his campaign against Moscow. Many cities simply surrendered without a fight. Someone believed that he was a real king and went over to his side.
Immediately after the death of Boris Godunov, False Dmitry arrived in Moscow, Tsar Fedor had already been killed by that time, by Otrepyev's people. Almost immediately, rumors spread that he was not a real king. In Moscow, the marriage of False Dmitry with Maria was performed. On the night of the sixteenth to the seventeenth of May, the conspirators entered the Kremlin with the decision to kill Otrepiev. But he was able to escape to the archers. Those, in turn, handed him over to the boyars, under pain of death. False Dmitry was shot . Biography of False Dmitry still causes controversy among historians.
Board of False Dmitry I
Board of False Dmitry was very short. The peasants immediately felt something was wrong, and faith in a good and kind reign was gone. Many did not like the free position of the Polish and Lithuanian gentry. False Dmitry took money for this from the treasury, as well as from churches. The promise to give some cities and lands to Poland did not move beyond a simple promise. This, of course, complicated the relationship.
Board of False Dmitry I played a cruel joke on him. Of course, the main task, to get to the throne, he realized, but nothing good came of it. Many conspiracies and a dozen assassination attempts were being prepared against him.
Politics of False Dmitry I
Politics of False Dmitry 1 was simple and so cunning that in the end something came out. With his piitika, he changed the state order. He was not afraid and violated the customs of sacred antiquity. For example: he did not go to rest after dinner, did not go to the bathhouse. He reduced his appeal and attitude to a simple, not royal, so to speak, case. He took an active part in all royal affairs. Every day he negotiated and dealt with. Of course, some of the people loved and respected him. But most did not understand his actions. Under the reign of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov, the treasury was replenished every day. All that False Dmitry did was only take money from there. Of course, many noticed this and the rumor that he was not a real king only grew. Under his reign, there were no big changes, there were no innovations that would change the way of life.
Politics of False Dmitry did not flourish, but rather gained enemy strength and opponents. He wanted to win everything he met on the way with other people's forces, cunning and the trust of the peasants. Much to his dismay, this did not happen. His supporters quickly switched sides. Of course, there were people who, even after his death, believed that it was he who was the only and legitimate king who was taken out of the country as a child. And that the hour has come when justice must come. He was a tool that had to play its part and disappear. Clear the way for another, bring confusion. Of course, it worked out to some extent. But the inability to be a real ruler told everyone that the king was not real, that royal blood did not flow in his veins. And he is simply no longer needed both by the one who started all this, and by ordinary people who have lost faith and patience. But there are other legends that say that this is not Otrepiev. That in fact it was the son of one of the kings who wanted to take over the country. But this legend is not supported by any reliable facts. That's why leading role False Dmitry is given to Yuri Bogdanovich.
In world history, there are many examples when impostors who pretended to be real rulers seized power in a particular country. There were such cases in Rus'. The first of them took place in 1605, when False Dmitry 1 was on the throne of Moscow. The biography of this historical figure contains many conflicting facts. Some historians attribute to him a royal origin, but most scientists are inclined to believe that the man who declared himself miraculously saved the youngest son of John IV the Terrible, Dmitry, was an adventurer with cunning and an enviable mind.
The origin and early life of the impostor
Who was actually False Dmitry 1? short biography this person contains not so much information about his life before accession to the throne. In official history, it is generally accepted that False Dmitry 1 was born around 1581 in Galich (Kostroma volost). At birth, the impostor was named Yuri (Yushka), and his father was a nobleman from the impoverished Lithuanian family of the Nelidovs, Bogdan Otrepyev. Arriving in his youth in Moscow, the young man entered the service in one of the orders. After working for some time, Yuri Otrepiev took the vows as a monk under the name Grigory. It happened in Yushka went to the monastery not from great faith, but in order to avoid reprisal, because in worldly life he stole, drank and did not listen to his father.
A year after being tonsured a monk, Gregory managed to settle in the Miracle Monastery in Moscow. Being literate and possessing calligraphic handwriting, the young man got the position of a copyist of books in it. It is here that Otrepiev comes up with the idea of impersonating the prematurely deceased heir to the Moscow throne, Tsarevich Dmitry. Gregory was about the same age as the youngest son of John IV, and even had a resemblance to him.
Description of Otrepiev's appearance
The characteristic of False Dmitry 1, left by his contemporaries, indicates that he was below average height, unusually wide, with a short neck and arms of different lengths. This man cannot be called handsome: he was "decorated" with large warts and a large, shoe-like nose. He was gloomy and thoughtful, but possessed remarkable physical strength and could easily bend a horseshoe with his bare hands.
Life in Poland
How did it turn out further fate a man who went down in history as False Dmitry 1? His brief biography testifies that in 1602 he was accused of theft and ran away from the monastery. For some time the fraudster stayed in Kyiv, and then moved to Poland and secretly adopted the Catholic faith. There he proclaimed himself the rightful heir Russian throne and enlisted the support of the king In gratitude for the fact that he would help him seize the throne of Moscow, False Dmitry 1 promised to give the Commonwealth part of the Western Russian lands. The impostor also enlisted the support of the governor Jerzy Mniszek, vowing to marry his daughter Marina, give the cities of Pskov and Novgorod and pay 1 million zlotys.
Attack on Russian cities and seizure of power
False Dmitry 1, together with a three thousandth Polish army, began his campaign against Russian lands in the autumn of 1604. Due to local dissatisfaction internal politics Boris Godunov, who was the de facto ruler of the state under the frail son of Ivan the Terrible, Otrepiev quickly managed to subjugate a number of Russian cities and settle in Putivl. It was here that False Dmitry 1 settled with his government. A brief biography of the impostor contains facts confirming that the people supported the new ruler, believing that he really had the miraculously saved son of John IV in front of him, and he would put things in order on their lands.
In April 1605, Boris Godunov died suddenly and his son Fyodor was proclaimed heir to the throne. However, he did not manage to stay in power for a long time: a few weeks later he was overthrown by the supporters of False Dmitry. Having officially reigned on the throne on June 20, 1605, the impostor ordered the murder of Fedor and his mother, and he made his sister Xenia his concubine, and then sent her to a monastery.
In order for the people to finally believe that they were the real heir to the throne, a meeting was arranged between the adventurer and Marya Naga, Dmitry's mother. The woman recognized the man standing in front of her as her son. Later, after the death of Otrepiev, she retracted her words, confessing that she was forced to tell a lie by his supporters.
Characteristics of the internal policy of False Dmitry 1
Once in power, the newly-made ruler officially banned bribery, ordered the return of people who suffered under Godunov from exile, reorganized the army and increased the salaries of everyone who was in the service. The impostor eased the lot, freed the south of Russia from taxes and took away land plots from the monasteries.
The internal policy of False Dmitry 1 was aimed at strengthening Polish influence in all spheres of state life. He laid the foundation for the construction of churches, distributed among ordinary people foreign amusements and organized the Secret Chancellery, which included Poles. Under the impostor, the Boyar Duma was renamed the Senate, and the construction of a wooden palace with secret passages began near the Kremlin. In foreign policy, False Dmitry 1 was preparing for a war with the Turks, in which Sigismund III was interested.
Otrepyev's wedding with Marina Mnishek and his murder
Very soon, False Dmitry 1 lost the support of the people. His biography indicates that he had a lot of fun, loved hunting and beautiful women. The dissatisfaction of the Orthodox people was caused by the marriage of the ruler with Marina Mnishek, carried out according to the Catholic rite. During the celebration, a lot of Poles came to Moscow, who, pretty tipsy, robbed passers-by and broke into the houses of the local population.
On May 17, 1606, in the midst of the wedding celebration, Prince Vasily Shuisky, striving to seize the throne, raised an uprising in Moscow, as a result of which False Dmitry 1 and his supporters were killed. People, angry at the arbitrariness of the impostor, mocked his body for a long time, and then burned it and, loading the cannon with ashes, fired from it in the direction of the Commonwealth. So ingloriously ended his days False Dmitry 1. This short biography is an instructive story telling about what happens to impostors.
During these years, the Godunov government faced yet another unexpected danger: a man appeared on the southern borders of the country who declared himself Tsarevich Dmitry to have escaped the murderers and declared his rights to the Russian throne.
Most scientists agree that it was an impoverished Galician nobleman, a servant in the house of one of the Romanov boyars, Grigory Otrepiev. After the fall of this family, he took the vows as a monk, wandered around the monasteries, and served at the court of the Patriarch as a copyist of books. Already at this time, Otrepyev began to inspire others with the idea of \u200b\u200bhis unusual origin and great destiny. In 1602, Otrepiev fled to Lithuania, then appeared in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, then settled on the estate of the richest Polish nobleman, Prince Adam Vishnevetsky, where he declared himself Tsarevich Dmitry. 20-year-old Grigory Otrepyev was a well-educated, gifted man, distinguished by adventurous inclinations and incredible ambition.
One of the Russian historians noted that False Dmitry was baked in Poland, but mixed from Moscow dough. Indeed, in the mansions of the Romanovs, among the Moscow clerks, the idea arose to oppose the impostor to Godunov and topple the hated tsar. The turmoil, which began in 1601 during the famine, intensified with the appearance of an impostor. He was needed by many: he was supported in Russia, he was assisted by Polish magnates and the Polish king. Soon, the impostor ended up at the court of the Sandomierz governor Yuri Mniszek.
He fell in love with the governor's 16-year-old daughter Marina and became engaged to her. Marina had great ambition. False Dmitry accepted Catholicism, but secretly, so that the Russian Orthodox people would not turn away from him.
In the Zaporizhzhya Sich, an impostor army began to form. Ambassadors from the Don also came to the impostor.
Appeals of False Dmitry found a response among the Cossacks, runaway serfs and peasants. The rumor was spreading that Dmitry Ivanovich was the very just and kind tsar that the people dreamed of. The “prince” did not skimp on promises: he undertook to transfer the Chernigov-Seversky lands and treasures of the royal treasury to the Polish king; The Mnisheks were promised Novgorod and Pskov; Polish magnates vowed to reimburse the cost of maintaining his mercenaries.
In October 1604, the army of False Dmitry crossed the Dnieper. About 2 thousand mercenaries and Zaporozhye Cossacks. His army soon reached 15 thousand people. Cities surrendered to the impostor without a fight. Cossacks, townspeople and archers brought bound governors to him. Despite two major defeats from the tsarist troops, False Dmitry quickly restored the army and moved forward. Soon, almost all the cities of the south and south-west of the country recognized the authority of the impostor.
Fermentation began in the royal army, the number of defectors increased. Godunov received disappointing news from all sides, his health deteriorated. April 13, 1605 he died. There were rumors that the king committed suicide. Moscow began to swear allegiance to his son Fyodor Borisovich. And near Kromy, the tsarist governors with an army went over to the side of False Dmitry. The road to Moscow was open for the impostor.
Uprising in Moscow
However, the impostor hesitated. The government troops that went over to his side were unreliable, and a rumor spread among them that the prince was not genuine. False Dmitry feared clashes with troops loyal to the old regime. After all, his successes were not associated with military victories, but with the uprising of the people, the voluntary surrender of cities.
The impostor sent charming letters in which he denounced the Godunovs, promised the boyars - the former honor, the nobles - favors and rest from service, merchants - relief from taxes, the people - prosperity. He sent his messengers to Moscow. June 1, 1605 ancestor A.S. Pushkin Gavrila Pushkin at the Execution Ground next to the Kremlin read out the letter of False Dmitry. The people rushed to the Kremlin. The palace guards fled, Moscow was in the hands of the rebels, who were skillfully led by the impostor's people. The Godunovs fled the Kremlin.
The crowd seized the deserted palace and smashed it, and then began to destroy and rob the temples of rich people, primarily the houses of the Godunov family and the boyars and clerks close to them. All the wine cellars were captured, people broke the barrels and scooped up wine with a hat, a shoe, a palm. As a contemporary wrote, many people drank wine and died.
False Dmitry, approaching Serpukhov, demanded reprisals against the Godunovs and their patron, Patriarch Job. The rebels dragged the Patriarch to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, tore off his patriarchal clothes and insignia, and threw Job into a wagon that took him to one of the distant monasteries. Fyodor Godunov with his mother and sister were taken to their Moscow compound by archers. By order of the messengers of the impostor, princes Golitsyn and Mosalsky, the archers killed the tsarina and Fedor, his sister Xenia was later tonsured a nun and sent to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery. The Godunov dynasty ceased to exist.
On June 20, 1605, to the sound of bells, False Dmitry solemnly entered Moscow. Crowds of people enthusiastically greeted the people's king. On the same day, Vasily Shuisky announced that in 1591 it was not the prince who was killed, but another boy.
Maria Nagaya, meeting near Moscow with False Dmitry, recognized him as her son. Together they went out to the roaring crowd. Before entering the Kremlin, False Dmitry stopped his horse near St. Basil's Cathedral, took off his hat, crossed himself, looked at the Kremlin, at the crowds of people and began to cry. The people, weeping, fell to their knees. On the very first day of his reign, he, like Godunov earlier, vowed not to shed the blood of his subjects.
Personality of False Dmitry
The appearance of False Dmitry did not fit with the usual ideas about the Russian autocrat. He was a man of quite European customs. For the first time in the country's history, he allowed merchants to travel freely abroad and proclaimed freedom of religion. About Catholics and Orthodox he said: They are all Christians.
False Dmitry actively participated in the work of the Boyar Duma, impressed with his ability to quickly resolve complex issues, twice a week he personally received petitions. False Dmitry proved himself a supporter of the enlightenment of the people, the boyars persuaded to send children to study abroad. He behaved freely at dinner, knew how to keep up a conversation, loved music, did not pray before a meal, did not go to bed during the day, as was the case in Russian traditions.
The new tsar taught military men to take fortresses by storm, he himself participated in maneuvers, and accurately fired from cannons.
At the beginning of the XVII century. Russia was not ready for such a break in customs. The clergy and the common people met such innovations with distrust and surprise. These feelings were especially intensified when the tsar's bride Marina Mnishek appeared in Moscow, accompanied by 2,000 Polish gentry. The Russian people were amazed that their tsar would marry a Catholic. Marina refused to take communion from the hands of an Orthodox priest, to put on a Russian dress. The pans and guards accompanying her behaved defiantly.
Board of False Dmitry
False Dmitry tried to do the impossible - to ensure the interests of the boyars, nobles, townspeople, serfs, Cossacks, serfs, Catholics and Orthodox. First of all, he settled relations with the Boyar Duma: he confirmed its powers, promised the boyars to keep their estates; returned to Moscow many disgraced boyars and clerks, primarily the surviving Romanovs. Filaret (Fyodor Romanov) was honored with the rank of metropolitan. Little Mikhail Romanov returned to Moscow with his mother.
False Dmitry tried to free himself from the Polish and Cossack detachments, which discredited him. He paid the Poles for their service and offered to return to their homeland, but they remained in Moscow. Soon the Moscow population opposed the violence on their part. False Dmitry ordered the arrest of the Poles - the instigators of the unrest, but then secretly released them. He also sent the Cossacks home; all serfs, peasants and townspeople were dismissed from the army. This is how it ended people's army impostor.
Like previous rulers, False Dmitry sought to rely on the nobles. He gave them huge sums of money, endowed them with lands inhabited by peasants. It was difficult for the new tsar to choose a policy towards serfs and peasants: to alleviate their fate meant to restore against himself the tops of society, and to leave everything as it was - to push away the masses that brought him to power. False Dmitry made a compromise: he released the serfs who fell into bondage during the famine years; exempted from taxes the inhabitants of the southwestern regions, who gave him the greatest support; left free the peasants who fled from the masters in the famine years. At the same time, he increased the terms of the lesson years, keeping unshakable serfdom. The impostor continued the fight against bribery, popular under Godunov, forbidding, under pain of death, to take bribes. By allowing the representatives of the peasant communities to deliver the collected taxes to the treasury themselves, he dealt a blow to the habit of clerks to pocket part of the tax funds for themselves.
The Orthodox clergy were suspicious of the connections of the new tsar with the Catholic Poles. The clergy watched with indignation how the Poles were constantly next to the tsar, how impudently they behaved in Orthodox churches. But in relations with Poland, from the very first days of his reign, False Dmitry showed himself to be an adherent of Russian interests and Orthodoxy. He refused to provide the promised lands to the Polish king, cut the pay of Polish mercenaries and magnates, and more than once spoke in favor of the return of the western lands captured by the Commonwealth to Russia. Refused Catholics to build churches in Russia. At the same time, fearing boyar conspiracies, False Dmitry kept foreign bodyguards around him, Poles were his close advisers. This irritated the Russian population.
The end of False Dmitry
By order of False Dmitry, noble detachments were drawn to Moscow - a campaign against the Crimean Khanate was coming. Novgorodians and Pskovians were led by the princes Shuisky and Golitsyn, who organized a conspiracy against False Dmitry.
On the morning of May 17, 1606, the alarm sounded alarmingly in Moscow. The townspeople rushed to smash the yards where the Poles were stationed. A detachment of 200 armed nobles, led by boyar conspirators, entered the Kremlin, and the conspirators broke into the tsar's chambers. False Dmitry came out to them with a sword in his hands, but after a short fight he retreated into the bedroom. Jumping out of the window, he sprained his leg and broke his chest. The conspirators searched in vain for him. Unsuspecting archers carried the king into the palace. The conspirators immediately hacked him to death with swords. For three days the body of False Dmitry lay on Red Square for all to see. Then the corpse was burned, the ashes were loaded into a cannon and shot in the direction from which the impostor had come. Marina Mnishek and her father were arrested and sent to Yaroslavl.
Immediately, guards were placed near the houses of the Polish gentry, ambassadors, and merchants. The boyars did not want to aggravate relations with Poland.
1. Rejection of Godunov by the majority of the population, since he was not Rurikovich.
2. Assistance to False Dmitry 1 "from outside" - from interested persons within the country and beyond its borders from Europe.
3. The lack of unanimity in the ruling elite, and the mediocre rule of Godunov.
4. Faith of the Russian people in the "real" "correct tsar"
Reasons for rejection by society:
The people were indignant. Absolutely the entire population of the country was angry with the king. Opinions began to appear more and more often among the people that only the overthrow of False Dmitry 1 could stop the disorder in the country. In addition to the common people, the noble boyars were also dissatisfied with the tsar, who began to prepare a revolt to overthrow the objectionable monarch. As a result, the boyar conspiracy was implemented. As a result, False Dmitry I was overthrown.
The uprising in Moscow in May 1606.
Moscow uprising - an uprising of the townspeople on May 27, 1606 in Moscow against False Dmitry I. During the uprising, False Dmitry was killed, Vasily Shuisky was proclaimed the new tsar.
The uprising began after the sound of the alarm on the bell tower of the monastery church of Elijah the Prophet in Kitai-Gorod, made on the orders of Shuisky. After the blow, the crowd rushed to the Kremlin and to the courtyards where the Polish pans with their retinue were standing. The Shuiskys, Golitsyn, Tatishchev entered Red Square, accompanied by about 200 people armed with sabers, reeds and spears. Shuisky shouted that "Lithuania" was trying to kill the tsar, and demanded that the townspeople rise up in his defense. The cunning did its job, excited Muscovites rushed to beat and rob the Poles. At that time, Stanislav Nemoevsky was in Moscow, who in his notes cited a list of names of those who fell under the hammer of the Moscow rebellion; 524 Poles were buried. In the Kremlin, False Dmitry was killed, his body was burned.
5. Civil war and foreign invasion of Russia in 1606-1618.
Board of V. Shuisky, his domestic and foreign policy.
From 1604 to 1605, Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky was in opposition to False Dmitry I. However, after the death of Boris Godunov in June 1605, he went over to the side of the impostor. At the same time, Shuisky twice led conspiracies against False Dmitry. After the first conspiracy was exposed, Vasily Ivanovich was sentenced to death, but then pardoned - in need of support, False Dmitry returned Shuisky to Moscow. As a result of the second conspiracy in 1606, which ended in a Moscow popular uprising, False Dmitry I was killed.
After his death, the party of Moscow boyars "shouted out" Shuisky as king (May 19, 1606). In exchange for this, Vasily IV undertook an obligation to the Boyar Duma to significantly limit his powers.
Internal and foreign policy Vasily Shuisky
Almost immediately after the accession of Shuisky, rumors spread that Tsarevich Dmitry was alive. One of his supporters, Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov, raised a popular uprising in the autumn of 1606, which engulfed more than seventy cities in the south and south-west of Russia.
In 1607, the Bolotnikov uprising was crushed. In the same year, Vasily Shuisky, in order to enlist further support from the boyars and consolidate the forces of the ruling class, issued the Code of Peasants, which historians have described as "a firm beginning of serfdom."
However, as early as August 1607, a new Polish intervention began. In June 1608, False Dmitry II settled in the village of Tushino near Moscow. This was the beginning of a new siege of Moscow. Gradually, the power of False Dmitry increased, and dual power was actually established in the country.
In order to resist the "Tushino thief", Tsar Vasily concluded an agreement with Sweden in February 1608, according to which the Swedish troops undertook to take the side of the Russian Tsar in exchange for possession of the Karelian parish. Such an act caused natural discontent on the part of various segments of the population. In addition, he violated earlier agreements with the Poles and gave the Polish king Sigismund III a pretext for an open invasion.
From the end of 1608, a people's liberation movement began against the Polish intervention. During this period, Shuisky's position became rather precarious. But thanks to his nephew Skopin-Shuisky, who commanded the Russian-Swedish troops, the tsar was able to repulse the Poles. In March 1610, the Tushino people were defeated, Moscow was liberated, and False Dmitry II fled.
The overthrow of the king
After the defeat of False Dmitry II, the unrest did not stop. The difficult position of Shuisky in Moscow was exacerbated by the intensified struggle for power. Vasily Galitsin and Prokopiy Lyapunov made attempts to raise the people against the incumbent tsar. At the same time, under unclear circumstances, Skopin-Shuisky died suddenly.
On June 24, 1610, Shuisky's troops were defeated by the Polish army under the command of hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski. There was a danger that the Polish prince Vladislav would take the Russian throne. Shuisky could not oppose anything to the Polish onslaught, for which he was deposed by the Moscow boyars in July 1610. Vasily Shuisky was forcibly tonsured a monk together with his wife, and after hetman Stanislav Zholkievsky entered Moscow, they were transferred to Warsaw, where he died while in prison.
Bolotnikov's uprising
The beginning of the uprising
In the summer of 1606, one of the largest peasant uprisings in feudal Rus' began in Seversk Ukraine. The main force of the uprising was the enslaved peasants and serfs. Together with them, the Cossacks, townspeople and archers of the border (Ukrainian) cities rose up against the feudal khnet.
It was not by chance that the uprising began in the southwest of the Russian state. Runaway peasants and serfs gathered here in large numbers, and the surviving participants in the uprising of Khlopok sought refuge. The population of this region, in particular the population of the vast and populous Komaritskaya volost, located not far from the border, had already opposed Godunov and supported False Dmitry I. Boris Godunov responded to this with the complete ruin of the volost. In such a situation, a new uprising could easily arise. An outstanding role in the Bolotnikov uprising was played by the peasants of the Komaritskaya volost, which became one of the main centers of the movement. The townspeople also took an active part in it.
Together with the Russian peasantry, the working masses of the multinational population of the Middle Volga - the Mari, Mordvins, Chuvashs, Tatars - also opposed the feudal system.
Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov was a military servant of Prince Telyatevsky, which helped him acquire professional skills and knowledge of military affairs. In his youth, Bolotnikov fled from Telyatevsky to the steppe to the Cossacks. He was captured in Wild Pole by the Tatars, who sold him as a slave to Turkey, where Bolotnikov became a galley slave. He was released from slavery during the defeat of the Turks in a naval battle and brought to Venice. From here, through Germany and Poland, he returned to his homeland. In the summer of 1606, he appeared on the “Moscow frontier” at a time when a popular movement was rapidly growing in Seversk Ukraine, of which he became the leader. The surviving testimonies of contemporaries depict Bolotnikov as a courageous, energetic leader, a man capable of sacrificing his life for the cause of the people, a talented commander.
Trip to Moscow. The uprising, which began in the summer of 1606, quickly spread to new areas. The population of towns and villages on the southern outskirts of the Russian state joined the rebels.
In July 1606, Bolotnikov began a campaign against Moscow from Putivl through the Komaritskaya volost. In August, near Kromy, the rebels won a major victory over the troops of Shuisky; she opened the way to Oryol. Another center of unfolding military operations was Yelets, which was of great strategic importance, and joined the rebels. The attempt of the tsarist troops besieging Yelets to take the city ended in failure. The victory of the rebels near Yelets and Kromy ends the first stage of the campaign against Moscow.
On September 23, 1606, Bolotnikov won a victory near Kaluga, where the main forces of Shuisky's army were concentrated. This event was of great importance for the further course of the struggle. It opened the way for the rebels to Moscow, caused the uprising to spread to new large areas, and involved new sections of the population in the uprising.
In autumn, service landowners joined Bolotnikov's detachments advancing towards the capital. The Ryazan nobles-landlords came led by Grigory Sumbulov and Prokopy Lyapunov, and the Tula and Venevs came under the leadership of the centurion Istoma Pashkov. The increase in Bolotnikov's army at the expense of noble squads played a negative role. The nobles joined Bolotnikov only out of a desire to use the peasant movement as a means to fight the government of Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The social interests of the nobility were opposed to the interests of the bulk of the rebels.
The goals of the rebels: The main task of the uprising was the destruction of feudal relations, the elimination of feudal exploitation and oppression. This was the meaning of the appeals that Bolotnikov made in his "sheets" (proclamations) to the "boyar serfs" and the poor of Moscow and other cities. Bolotnikov's calls boiled down to the fact that the rebellious townspeople "beat the boyars ... guests and all merchants", and the peasants would deal with the feudal lords in the countryside, seize their lands and eliminate serfdom. The political slogan of the Bolotnikov uprising was the proclamation of "Tsar Dmitry" as the tsar. Faith in him was inherent not only to ordinary participants in the uprising, but also to Bolotnikov himself, who called himself only the “great governor” of “Tsar Dmitry”. This ideal "Tsar Dmitry" had nothing to do with the Polish protege False Dmitry I. The slogan of a "good" tsar was a kind of peasant utopia.
Expanding the territory of the uprising. During the campaign against Moscow, new cities and regions joined the rebels. First, the Seversk, Polish and Ukrainian cities (located on the southwestern border of the Russian state) joined the rebels, and then the Ryazan and coastal cities (covering Moscow from the south); later, the uprising engulfed the cities that lay near the Lithuanian border - Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, Roslavl, the Tver suburbs, the cities beyond the Okka - Kaluga, etc., the grassroots cities - Murom, Arzamas, etc. By the time Bolotnikov's troops arrived in Moscow, over 70 cities.
Simultaneously with the Bolotnikov uprising, a struggle is unfolding in the northeast in the cities of the Vyatka-Perm region, in the northwest - in Pskov and in the southeast - in Astrakhan. A common feature of the events in the cities of all three regions was the struggle between the upper and lower strata of the settlement, which was the result of class contradictions within the urban population. In the cities of the Vyatka-Perm region in 1606, the population of the cities cracked down on representatives of the tsarist administration, who were sent here to collect "subsistence" people and cash taxes. At the same time, there were protests of the townspeople against the top of the settlement, in particular the elders, who were elected from among the "best people".
The most acute and striking was the struggle in Pskov. Here she unfolded between the "big" and "smaller" people. The struggle of the Pskov "lesser" people had a pronounced patriotic character. The "smaller" people very resolutely opposed the plans of the traitors - the "big" people who intended to give Pskov to the Swedes. The open struggle of "big" and "smaller" people began in the second half of 1606, but it ended much later than the suppression of the Bolotnikov uprising.
One of largest centers struggle during the Bolotnikov uprising was Astrakhan. The Astrakhan events went far beyond the chronological framework of the Bolotnikov uprising. The government managed to suppress this movement only in 1614, while the beginning of an open struggle in Astrakhan dates back to last year reign of Godunov. Astrakhan was one of the most persistent centers of the struggle. The uprising in the city was directed not only against the nobles, but also against merchants. The driving force of the Astrakhan uprising was the poorest part of the urban population (serfs, yaryzhki, working people), in addition, archers and Cossacks played an active role in the uprising. The “princes” put forward by the Astrakhan lower classes (one serf and the other a plowed peasant) were fundamentally different from such impostors as False Dmitry I and later False Dmitry II, who were proteges of foreign interventionists.
The lack of communication between the rebel population of individual cities once again emphasizes the spontaneous nature of the Bolotnikov uprising.
Siege of Moscow. Advancing from Kaluga, the rebels defeated the troops of Vasily Shuisky near the village of Troitskoye (near Kolomna) and in October approached Moscow. The siege of Moscow was the climax of the uprising. The situation in the besieged capital was extremely tense due to the aggravation of class contradictions among the population of Moscow. Even before the arrival of Bolotnikov, the government, fearing the masses, locked itself in the Kremlin. The siege further aggravated the situation. Proclamations ("lists") of Ivan Bolotnikov appeared in Moscow, in which he called on the population to surrender the city. Bolotnikov sent his faithful people to Moscow, before whom he set the task of rousing the masses to the struggle. However, already in this period, the weak sides of the uprising had an effect, which then led to its decline and suppression.
Bolotnikov's detachments were neither homogeneous in their class composition, nor united in their organization. Their main core was made up of peasants, serfs and Cossacks, who in the future remained loyal to Bolotnikov and fought to the end. The nobles who joined Bolotnikov as he moved towards Moscow changed at a certain stage of the uprising and went over to the side of the government of Vasily Shuiskaya.
Bolotnikov's army besieging Moscow numbered about 100 thousand people in its ranks. It broke up into semi-independent detachments, which had their governors at the head (Sumbulov, Lyapunov, Pashkov, Bezzubtsev). Ivan Bolotnikov was a "great governor" who exercised supreme command.
Shuisky's government took a number of measures to decompose Bolotnikov's army. As a result, Bolotnikov was betrayed by random fellow travelers and noble-landlord elements - the Ryazan people, led by Lyapunov and Sumbulov. Later Istoma Pashkov cheated on Bolotnikov. This was a major success for Vasily Shuisky in the fight against Bolotnikov.
The defeat of Bolotnikov near Moscow. On November 27, Vasily Shuisky managed to defeat Bolotnikov, and on December 2, he won the decisive battle near the village of Kotly. The defeat of Bolotnikov near Moscow occurred as a result of a change in the balance of forces of the opposing sides. At the end of November, Shuisky received a large reinforcement: the Smolensk, Rzhev and other regiments came to his aid. Bolotnikov’s army also underwent changes that weakened it: by this time, the betrayal of Istoma Pashkov, who went over to Shuisky’s side on November 27 along with his detachment, belongs to this time. The defeat of Bolotnikov on December 2 radically changed the situation in the country: it meant the lifting of the siege of Moscow, the transfer of the initiative to the governor Shuisky. The tsar brutally dealt with the captured participants in the uprising. However, the struggle of the rebellious peasants and serfs did not stop.
Kaluga period of the uprising. After the defeat near Moscow, Kaluga and Tula became the main bases of the uprising. The area covered by the uprising, not only did not decrease, but, on the contrary, expanded, including the cities of the Volga region. In the Volga region, Tatars, Mordovians, Mari and other peoples came out against the feudal lords. Thus, the struggle went on a large territory. The situation was especially acute in the Ryazan-Bryansk region and in the Middle Volga region, the struggle did not die out in the Novgorod-Pskov region, in the North and in Astrakhan. In addition, the movement that arose on the Terek, headed by the impostor "prince" Peter, imaginary son Fyodor Ivanovich (this name was taken by Ilya Gorchakov, who came from the townspeople of the city of Murom), by the beginning of 1607 outgrew the framework of a purely Cossack performance and merged with the Bolotnikov uprising. The Shuisky government sought to suppress all centers and centers of the uprising. Bolotnikov was besieged in Kaluga by Shuisky's troops. The unsuccessful siege of Kaluga lasted from December 1606 to the beginning of May 1607. In the second most important center of the uprising, Tula, was the "prince" Peter.
The failure of Vasily Shuisky's attempt to complete the defeat of the Bolotnikov uprising with one blow showed that, despite the defeat near Moscow, the forces of the rebels were far from broken. Therefore, while continuing the struggle against the main forces of Bolotnikov near Kaluga, the Shuisky government is simultaneously taking measures to suppress the uprising in other areas.
The struggle near Kaluga ended in May 1607 with a battle on the Pchelna River, where Shuisky's troops were utterly defeated and fled. The defeat of Shuisky's troops and the lifting of the siege of Kaluga meant a huge success for the Bolotnikov uprising. This led to a sharp conflict between the tsar and the boyars, who demanded the abdication of Vasily Shuisky.
After the defeat of Shuisky's troops at Pchelna and the lifting of the siege from Kaluga, Bolotnikov withdrew to Tula and united there with the "tsarevich" Peter.
During this time, Shuisky managed to gather new forces and reach a temporary agreement between the main groups of the ruling class - the boyars and nobles.
The support of the nobility was received by Shuisky through a number of activities. One of the most important among them was legislation on the peasant question. The case of detecting fugitive peasants as a result of the contradictory legislation of Boris Godunov and False Dmitry I was in a very confused state. Because of the runaway peasants, there was a sharp struggle between the landowners. The Code of March 9, 1607, which was the main legislative act of the Shuisky government on the issue of peasants, had as its goal the suppression of peasant transitions from one landowner to another. The Code established a 15-year period for the search for runaway peasants. The publication of this law met the requirements of landowners and, above all, landlords. It was supposed to lead to the cessation of the acute struggle between the individual groups of landowners because of the runaway peasants, and, consequently, to unite them to fight Bolotnikov. Shuisky's legislation, while strengthening serfdom, worsened the position of the peasants. Shuisky's policy towards peasants and serfs was subordinated to the goals of suppressing the Bolotnikov uprising.
On May 21, 1607, Vasily Shuisky launched a new campaign against Bolotnikov and "Prince" Peter, who had established themselves in Tula. In Serpukhov, the troops intended for the siege of Tula were concentrated, led by the tsar himself. The first meeting of the tsarist troops with the detachments of Bolotnikov took place on the river Eight and ended in the defeat of the rebels. The battle on the Voronya River (7 km from Tula) was also unsuccessful for Bolotnikov. Shuisky began the siege of Tula, the four-month defense of which was the final stage in the history of the Bolotnikov uprising.
Despite the numerical superiority of Shuisky's troops, the besieged courageously defended Tula, repelling all enemy assaults. In autumn, the besiegers built a dam on the Upa River, which caused a flood. Water flooded the cellar with ammunition in Tula, spoiled the grain and salt reserves. But the position of Vasily Shuisky near Tula was difficult. In the country there was an ongoing struggle between peasants and serfs. A new impostor appeared who declared himself "Tsar Dmitry" in the city of Starodub-Seversky. This adventurer, promoted by Polish feudal lords hostile to the Russian state, made extensive use of social demagoguery, promising the peasants and serfs "liberty". The name of "Tsar Dmitry" initially attracted the broad masses of the people to the impostor. In September 1607, False Dmitry II began a campaign from Starodub to Bryansk.
Under these conditions, Shuisky undertook negotiations with the defenders of Tula on surrender, promising to save the lives of the besieged. The exhausted garrison of Tula surrendered on October 10, 1607, believing the false promises of the king. The fall of Tula was the end of the Bolotnikov uprising. Encased in iron, Bolotnikov and the "tsarevich" Peter were taken to Moscow.
Immediately upon the return of Vasily Shuisky to Moscow, "Tsarevich" Peter was hanged. Shuisky decided to deal with the true leader of the uprising, Ivan Bolotnikov, only six months after the capture of Tula. Ivan Bolotnikov was sent to Kargopol and there in 1608 he was first blinded and then drowned.
The historical significance of the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov. The Bolotnikov uprising, which covered a vast territory, is the first peasant war in Russia. The serfs were the main driving force behind the uprising. The reasons that caused it were rooted in the relations that existed between the peasantry and the feudal landowners. Bolotnikov's uprising dates back to the time of a sharp increase in the feudal exploitation of the peasantry, the legalization of serfdom. The implementation of the goals of the peasants and the lower classes of the settlement, who rebelled under the leadership of Bolotnikov, could lead to significant social changes in the life of the country, to the elimination of the feudal system.
The peasant uprisings of the era of feudalism (including the uprising of Bolotnikov) were spontaneous. This was expressed, in particular, in the fact that the rebels did not have a program for the reorganization of society. They sought to destroy the existing feudal system, but did not know how to build a new one. Instead, they put forward the slogan of replacing one king with another. The absence of a clear program limited the task of the movement to the struggle against specific carriers of oppression in one area or another, without establishing any strong connection between the various centers of the uprising, and caused the organizational weakness of the movement. The absence of a class capable of leading this movement, overcoming its spontaneous character, working out a program for the movement and giving it organizational strength, determined the very outcome of the uprising. Neither the courage of the participants in the uprising, nor the talents of the leaders could eliminate its weaknesses, due to the very nature of the uprising.
The great merit of the rebels in 1606 was that they launched the first peasant war in Russia against feudal oppression.
False Dmitry II. Tushino camp. The Tushino camp is the residence of False Dmitry II and the "betrothed patriarch Filaret" at the confluence of the Skhodnya River with Moscow in the former village of Tushino. When in n. IN 1607 the troops of False Dmitry II approached Moscow, the Muscovites did not believe this man and were not allowed into the city. Therefore, he camped in the village of Tushino (17 km from the Kremlin), robbing the surrounding villages and the royal carts (for which he received his name "Tushino thief"). Almost at the same time, Hetman Sapieha Ya.'s detachments began an unsuccessful 16-month siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (23 SN 1608-12 JAN 1610), trying to take the city into a complete encirclement. Part of the capital's nobility went over from Shuisky V.I. to a new contender for the throne. In Tushino, its own Boyar Duma and orders began to operate. Having captured Rostov in 1608 OK, the Polish detachments captured Metropolitan Philaret Romanov and, having brought him to Tushino, proclaimed him a patriarch. After the conclusion of a truce with Poland in IL 1608 for 3 years and 11 months, Marina Mnishek was released. She moved to the Tushino camp.
The impostor promised her three thousand rubles. and income and 14 Russian cities after accession to Moscow. And she recognized him as her husband. According to the truce, an exchange of prisoners took place. Sigismund III pledged not to support the Pretender, but the Poles remained in the Tushino camp. During this period, a de facto regime of anarchy was established in the country. The Tushino detachments controlled a significant territory of the Russian state, robbing and ruining the population. In the Tushino camp itself, the impostor was completely controlled by the leaders of the Polish detachments. Their robbery actions caused an armed rebuff from the surrounding peasants and townspeople. The camp existed until False Dmitry II died under unclear circumstances. Shuisky V.I. to save the besieged Smolensk ended in failure. The army sent to the rescue near the village of Klushino on 3 ID 1610 was defeated by the Polish hetman Zholkevsky S. False Dmitry II again approached Moscow. In 1618, near Tushino, near the village of Spas, the Polish prince Vladislav camped, trying to seize the Moscow throne. In modern times, weapons were often found on the territory of the camp and in the surrounding area - sabers, spears, reeds, remnants of chain mail, arrows, cannonballs, lead bullets, axes, sickles, hammers, coins, special three-pointed pointed "cats", the so-called. "garlic" that dug into horse hooves. New finds appear here during earthworks.
