14 time of troubles in the Russian state. Time of Troubles

The end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries were marked in Russian history by turmoil. Starting at the top, it quickly went down, captured all layers of Moscow society and put the state on the brink of death. The Troubles lasted more than a quarter of a century - from the death of Ivan the Terrible to the election of Mikhail Fedorovich (1584-1613) to the kingdom. The duration and intensity of the turmoil clearly indicate that it did not come from outside and it was not accidental that its roots were hidden deep in the state organism. But at the same time, the Time of Troubles strikes with its obscurity and uncertainty. This is not a political revolution, since it did not begin in the name of a new political ideal and did not lead to it, although the existence of political motives in turmoil cannot be denied; this is not a social upheaval, since, again, the turmoil did not arise from a social movement, although in its further development the aspirations of some sections of society for social change intertwined with it. "Our turmoil is the fermentation of a diseased state organism, striving to get out of those contradictions to which the previous course of history had led it and which could not be resolved in a peaceful, ordinary way." All previous hypotheses about the origin of the turmoil, despite the fact that each of them contains a grain of truth, must be left as not fully solving the problem. There were two main contradictions that caused the Time of Troubles. The first of these was political, which can be defined in the words of Professor Klyuchevsky: "The sovereign of Moscow, whom the course of history led to democratic sovereignty, had to act through a very aristocratic administration"; both of these forces, which grew up together thanks to the state unification of Rus' and worked together on it, were imbued with mutual distrust and enmity. The second contradiction can be called social: the Moscow government was forced to strain all its forces for the better organization of the highest defense of the state and "under the pressure of these higher needs to sacrifice the interests of the industrial and agricultural classes, whose labor served as the basis of the national economy, to the interests of service landowners," as a result of which there was a mass exodus of the hard-working population from the centers to the outskirts, which intensified with the expansion of the state territory suitable for agriculture. The first contradiction was the result of the collection of appanages by Moscow. The annexation of appanages did not have the character of a violent, extermination war. The Moscow government left a lot in the management of its former prince and was content with the fact that the latter recognized the authority of the Moscow sovereign, became his servant. The power of the Moscow sovereign, in the words of Klyuchevsky, did not take the place of the specific princes, but above them; "The new state order was a new layer of relations and institutions, which lay on top of the previous one, without destroying it, but only imposing on it new duties, pointing out new tasks to it." The new princely boyars, pushing aside the old Moscow boyars, occupied the first places in terms of their genealogical seniority, accepting only a very few of the Moscow boyars into their midst on an equal footing with themselves. Thus, a vicious circle of boyar princes formed around the Moscow sovereign, who became the pinnacle of his administration, his main council in governing the country. The authorities formerly ruled the state one by one and in parts, but now they began to rule the whole earth, occupying a position according to the seniority of their breed. The Moscow government recognized this right for them, even supported it, contributed to its development in the form of parochialism, and thereby fell into the above-mentioned contradiction. The power of the Moscow sovereigns arose on the basis of patrimonial law. The great Moscow prince was the patrimony of his inheritance; all the inhabitants of his territory were his "serfs". The whole preceding course of history has led to the development of this view of territory and population. By recognizing the rights of the boyars, the Grand Duke betrayed his ancient traditions, which in reality he could not replace by others. The first to understand this contradiction was Ivan the Terrible. The Moscow boyars were strong mainly because of their land patrimonial possessions. Ivan the Terrible planned to carry out a complete mobilization of boyar land ownership, taking away from the boyars their habitable ancestral nests, giving them other lands in return in order to break their connection with the land, to deprive them of their former significance. The boyars were defeated; it was replaced by the lower court layer. Simple boyar families, like the Godunovs and Zakharyins, seized the primacy at court. The surviving remnants of the boyars became embittered and prepared for turmoil. On the other hand, the 16th century was an era of external wars, ending in the acquisition of vast expanses in the east, southeast and west. To conquer them and to consolidate new acquisitions, a huge amount of military forces was required, which the government recruited from everywhere, in difficult cases not disdaining the services of serfs. The service class in the Muscovite state received, in the form of a salary, land on the estate - and land without workers had no value. The land, which was far from the borders of military defense, also did not matter, since a serviceman could not serve with it. Therefore, the government was forced to transfer to service hands a vast expanse of land in the central and southern parts of the state. Palace and black peasant volosts lost their independence and passed under the control of service people. The former division into volosts inevitably had to be destroyed in case of small use. The process of "reclaiming" the lands is exacerbated by the above mobilization of lands, which was the result of persecution against the boyars. Mass evictions ruined the economy of the service people, but even more ruined the taxpayers. The mass resettlement of the peasantry to the outskirts begins. At the same time, a huge area of ​​the Zaoksky black soil is opened up for resettlement to the peasantry. The government itself, concerned about strengthening the newly acquired borders, supports resettlement to the outskirts. As a result, by the end of the reign of Grozny, the eviction takes on the character of a general flight, intensified by crop shortages, epidemics, and Tatar raids. Most of the service lands remain "in the void"; there is a severe economic crisis. The peasants lost the right to independent land ownership, with the use of service people on their lands; the townspeople turned out to be ousted from the southern towns and cities occupied by military force: the former trading places take on the character of military-administrative settlements. The townspeople are running. In this economic crisis, there is a struggle for workers. The stronger ones win - the boyars and the church. The service class remains the passive element, and even more so the peasant element, which not only lost the right to free land use, but, with the help of enslaving records, loans, and the newly emerged institution of old-time residence (see), begins to lose personal freedom, to approach the serf. In this struggle, enmity grows between separate classes - between the big landlords, the boyars, and the church, on the one hand, and the service class, on the other. The hard-won population harbors hatred for the classes that oppress it, and, irritated against state institutions, is ready for open revolt; it runs to the Cossacks, who have long since separated their interests from the interests of the state. Only the north, where the land was preserved in the hands of the black volosts, remains calm during the advancing state "devastation".

In the development of unrest in the Moscow state, researchers usually distinguish three periods: dynastic, during which there is a struggle for the Moscow throne between various applicants (until May 19, 1606); social - the time of the class struggle in the Muscovite state, complicated by interference in Russian affairs of foreign states (until July 1610); national - the fight against foreign elements and the choice of a national sovereign (until February 21, 1613).

First period of Troubles

The last minutes of the life of False Dmitry. Painting by K. Wenig, 1879

Now the old boyar party found itself at the head of the board, which elected V. Shuisky as king. "The boyar-princely reaction in Moscow" (the expression of S. F. Platonov), having mastered the political position, elevated his most noble leader to the kingdom. The election of V. Shuisky to the throne took place without the advice of the whole earth. The Shuisky brothers, V.V. Golitsyn with his brothers, Iv. S. Kurakin and I. M. Vorotynsky, having agreed among themselves, brought Prince Vasily Shuisky to the place of execution and from there proclaimed him king. It was natural to expect that the people would be against the "shouted out" tsar and that the minor boyars (Romanovs, Nagye, Belsky, M. G. Saltykov, and others) would also be against him, which gradually began to recover from the disgrace of Boris.

Second Period of Troubles

After his election to the throne, he considered it necessary to explain to the people why he was elected, and not someone else. He motivates the reason for his election by descent from Rurik; in other words, it exposes the principle that the seniority of the "breed" gives the right to the seniority of power. This is the principle of the old boyars (see localism). Restoring the old boyar traditions, Shuisky had to formally confirm the rights of the boyars and, if possible, ensure them. He did this in his cross-kissing note, which undoubtedly has the character of limiting royal power. The tsar admitted that he was not free to execute his serfs, that is, he abandoned the principle that Grozny so sharply put forward and then accepted by Godunov. The recording satisfied the boyar princes, and even then not all of them, but it could not satisfy the minor boyars, the small service people and the masses of the population. The confusion continued. Vasily Shuisky immediately sent out followers of False Dmitry - Belsky, Saltykov and others - to different cities; with the Romanovs, the Nagis, and other representatives of the minor boyars, he wanted to get along, but then several dark events occurred that indicate that he did not succeed. Filaret, who was elevated to the rank of metropolitan by an impostor, V. Shuisky thought to raise to the patriarchal table, but circumstances showed him that it was impossible to rely on Filaret and the Romanovs. He failed to rally the oligarchic circle of princes-boyars: it partly disintegrated, partly became hostile to the tsar. Shuisky hurried to get married to the kingdom, not even waiting for the patriarch: he was crowned by the Metropolitan of Novgorod Isidore, without the usual pomp. In order to dispel rumors that Tsarevich Dmitry was alive, Shuisky came up with the solemn transfer to Moscow of the relics of the Tsarevich, canonized by the church as a saint; he resorted to official journalism. But everything was against him: anonymous letters were scattered around Moscow stating that Dmitry was alive and would return soon, and Moscow was worried. On May 25, Shuisky had to calm down the mob that was raised against him, as they said then, by P. N. Sheremetev.

Tsar Vasily Shuisky

A fire broke out in the southern outskirts of the state. As soon as the events of May 17 became known there, the Seversk land rose, and behind it the Zaoksky, Ukrainian and Ryazan places; the movement moved to Vyatka, Perm, and captured Astrakhan. Unrest also broke out in Novgorod, Pskov and Tver places. This movement, which embraced such a vast space, had a different character in different places, pursued different goals, but there is no doubt that it was dangerous for V. Shuisky. In the Seversk land, the movement was of a social nature and was directed against the boyars. Putivl became the center of the movement here, and at the head of the movement were Prince. Grieg. Peter. Shakhovskaya and his "big governor" Bolotnikov. The movement raised by Shakhovsky and Bolotnikov was completely different from the previous one: before they fought for the trampled rights of Dmitry, in which they believed, now - for a new social ideal; Dmitry's name was only a pretext. Bolotnikov called the people to him, giving hope for social change. The original text of his appeals has not been preserved, but their content is indicated in the charter of Patriarch Hermogenes. Bolotnikov's appeals, says Hermogenes, inspire the mob "all sorts of evil deeds for murder and robbery", "they order the boyar serfs to beat their boyars and their wives, and their estates, and estates; they order the guests and all the merchants to beat the thieves and nameless thieves and plunder their bellies; and they call their thieves to themselves, and they want to give them the boyars and the voivodeship, and the deviousness, and the deacon. In the northern zone of the Ukrainian and Ryazan cities, the service nobility arose, which did not want to put up with the boyar government of Shuisky. Grigory Sunbulov and the Lyapunov brothers, Procopius and Zakhar became the head of the Ryazan militia, and the Tula militia moved under the command of the boyar son Istoma Pashkov.

Meanwhile, Bolotnikov defeated the tsarist commanders and moved towards Moscow. On the way, he joined up with the noble militias, together with them approached Moscow and stopped in the village of Kolomenskoye. Shuisky's position became extremely dangerous. Almost half of the state rose up against him, the rebellious forces besieged Moscow, and he did not have troops not only to pacify the rebellion, but even to defend Moscow. In addition, the rebels cut off the access to bread, and famine was discovered in Moscow. Among the besiegers, however, discord was revealed: the nobility, on the one hand, serfs, fugitive peasants, on the other, could live peacefully only until they knew each other's intentions. As soon as the nobility got acquainted with the goals of Bolotnikov and his army, they immediately recoiled from them. Sunbulov and the Lyapunovs, although they hated the established order in Moscow, preferred Shuisky and came to him with confession. Other nobles began to follow them. At the same time, militia from some cities arrived in time to help, and Shuisky was saved. Bolotnikov fled first to Serpukhov, then to Kaluga, from which he moved to Tula, where he sat down with the Cossack impostor Lzhepetr. This new impostor appeared among the Terek Cossacks and pretended to be the son of Tsar Fyodor, who in reality never existed. Its appearance dates back to the time of the first False Dmitry. Shakhovskoy came to Bolotnikov; they decided to lock themselves up here and sit out from Shuisky. The number of their troops exceeded 30,000 people. In the spring of 1607, Tsar Vasily decided to act energetically against the rebels; but the spring campaign was unsuccessful. Finally, in the summer, with a huge army, he personally went to Tula and laid siege to it, pacifying the rebellious cities along the way and destroying the rebels: by the thousands they put "prisoners in the water", that is, they simply drowned. A third of the state territory was given to the troops for robbery and ruin. The siege of Tula dragged on; it was possible to take it only when they came up with the idea of ​​arranging it on the river. Upe the dam and flood the city. Shakhovsky was exiled to Lake Kubenskoye, Bolotnikov to Kargopol, where they drowned him, and False Peter was hanged. Shuisky triumphed, but not for long. Instead of going to pacify the Seversk cities, where the rebellion did not stop, he disbanded the troops and returned to Moscow to celebrate the victory. The social lining of Bolotnikov's movement did not escape Shuisky's attention. This is proved by the fact that, by a number of decrees, he planned to strengthen in place and subject to supervision that social stratum that showed dissatisfaction with its position and sought to change it. By issuing such decrees, Shuisky recognized the existence of unrest, but, trying to defeat it with one repression, he discovered a misunderstanding of the actual state of affairs.

The battle of Bolotnikov's troops with the tsarist army. Painting by E. Lissner

By August 1607, when V. Shuisky was sitting near Tula, the second False Dmitry appeared in Starodub Seversky, whom the people very aptly dubbed the Thief. The Starodubs believed in him and began to help him. Soon a combined team was formed around him, from Poles, Cossacks and all sorts of crooks. It was not a zemstvo squad that gathered around False Dmitry I: it was just a gang of "thieves" who did not believe in the royal origin of the new impostor and followed him in the hope of prey. The thief defeated the royal army and stopped near Moscow in the village of Tushino, where he founded his fortified camp. From everywhere people flocked to him, thirsting for easy money. The arrival of Lisovsky and Jan Sapieha especially strengthened the Thief.

S. Ivanov. Camp of False Dmitry II in Tushino

Shuisky's position was difficult. The South could not help him; he had no powers of his own. There was still hope for the north, which was comparatively calmer and little affected by the turmoil. On the other hand, Vor could not take Moscow either. Both opponents were weak and could not defeat each other. The people became corrupted and forgot about duty and honor, serving alternately one or the other. In 1608, V. Shuisky sent his nephew Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky (see) for help to the Swedes. The Russians ceded the city of Karel with the province to Sweden, abandoned their views on Livonia and pledged an eternal alliance against Poland, for which they received an auxiliary detachment of 6 thousand people. Skopin moved from Novgorod to Moscow, clearing the northwest of the Tushinos along the way. Sheremetev was coming from Astrakhan, suppressing the rebellion along the Volga. In Alexandrovskaya Sloboda they united and went to Moscow. By this time, Tushino ceased to exist. It happened this way: when Sigismund found out about Russia's alliance with Sweden, he declared war on her and laid siege to Smolensk. Ambassadors were sent to Tushino to the local Polish detachments with a demand to join the king. A split began among the Poles: some obeyed the order of the king, others did not. The position of the Thief was difficult before: no one stood on ceremony with him, he was insulted, almost beaten; now it has become unbearable. The thief decided to leave Tushino and fled to Kaluga. Around the Thief during his stay in Tushino, a court of Moscow people gathered who did not want to serve Shuisky. Among them were representatives of very high strata of the Moscow nobility, but the nobility of the palace - Metropolitan Filaret (Romanov), Prince. Trubetskoy, Saltykov, Godunov and others; there were also humble people who sought to curry favor, gain weight and importance in the state - Molchanov, Iv. Gramotin, Fedka Andronov and others. Sigismund suggested that they surrender to the power of the king. Filaret and the Tushino boyars answered that the election of a tsar was not their business alone, that they could do nothing without the advice of the land. At the same time, they entered into an agreement between themselves and the Poles not to pester V. Shuisky and not want a king from "other Moscow boyars" and started negotiations with Sigismund so that he would send his son Vladislav to the Moscow kingdom. An embassy was sent from the Russian Tushians, headed by the Saltykovs, Prince. Rubets-Masalsky, Pleshcheevs, Khvorostin, Velyaminov - all great nobles - and a few people of low birth. On February 4, 1610, they concluded an agreement with Sigismund, clarifying the aspirations of "rather mediocre nobility and veteran businessmen." Its main points are as follows: 1) Vladislav is crowned as an Orthodox patriarch; 2) Orthodoxy must be revered as before: 3) the property and rights of all ranks remain inviolable; 4) the judgment is made according to the old days; Vladislav shares legislative power with the boyars and the Zemsky Sobor; 5) execution can be carried out only by court order and with the knowledge of the boyars; the property of relatives of the perpetrator should not be subject to confiscation; 6) taxes are collected in the old way; the appointment of new ones is done with the consent of the boyars; 7) peasant crossing is prohibited; 8) Vladislav is obliged not to demote people of high ranks innocently, but to promote the smaller ones according to their merits; travel to other countries for science is allowed; 9) the serfs remain in the same position. Analyzing this treaty, we find: 1) that it is national and strictly conservative, 2) that it protects most of all the interests of the service class, and 3) that it undoubtedly introduces some innovations; points 5, 6 and 8 are especially characteristic in this regard. Meanwhile, Skopin-Shuisky triumphantly entered liberated Moscow on March 12, 1610.

Vereshchagin. Defenders of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

Moscow rejoiced, welcoming the 24-year-old hero with great joy. Shuisky also rejoiced, hoping that the days of testing were over. But during these jubilations Skopin suddenly died. There was a rumor that he had been poisoned. There is news that Lyapunov suggested to Skopin that Vasily Shuisky be "deposed" and take the throne himself, but he gives the right to seniority in power. This is the principle of the old boyars (see / p Skopin rejected this proposal. After the tsar found out about this, he cooled off towards his nephew. In any case, Skopin’s death destroyed Shuisky’s connection with the people. The tsar’s brother Dimitry became governor over the army, completely he moved to liberate Smolensk, but near the village of Klushina he was shamefully defeated by the Polish hetman Zolkiewski.

Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky. Parsuna (portrait) of the 17th century

Zholkevsky deftly took advantage of the victory: he quickly went to Moscow, taking possession of the Russian cities along the way and swearing them to Vladislav. Vor hastened to Moscow from Kaluga. When in Moscow they learned about the outcome of the battle at Klushino, a "rebellion is great in all people - fighting against the tsar." The approach of Zolkiewski and Vor hastened the catastrophe. In the overthrow of Shuisky, the main role fell to the lot of the service class, headed by Zakhar Lyapunov. The palace nobility, including Filaret Nikitich, also took a considerable part in this. After several unsuccessful attempts, Shuisky's opponents gathered at the Serpukhov Gate, declared themselves to be the council of the whole land and "put down" the tsar.

Third Period of Troubles

Moscow found itself without a government, and meanwhile, it needed it now more than ever: it was pressed by enemies from two sides. Everyone was aware of this, but did not know where to stop. Lyapunov and the Ryazan service people wanted to appoint Prince. V. Golitsyn; Filaret, the Saltykovs and other Tushinos had other intentions; the highest nobility, headed by F. I. Mstislavsky and I. S. Kurakin, decided to wait. The board was handed over to the boyar duma, which consisted of 7 members. The "seven-numbered boyars" failed to take power into their own hands. They made an attempt to assemble the Zemsky Sobor, but it failed. The fear of the Thief, on whose side the mob took their side, forced them to let Zholkevsky into Moscow, but he entered only when Moscow agreed to the election of Vladislav. On August 27, Moscow swore allegiance to Vladislav. If the election of Vladislav was not carried out in the usual way, at a real zemstvo sobor, then nevertheless the boyars did not decide to take this step alone, but gathered representatives from different strata of the state and formed something like a zemstvo sobor, which was recognized as the council of the whole earth. After lengthy negotiations, the former agreement was accepted by both parties, with some changes: 1) Vladislav had to convert to Orthodoxy; 2) the clause on the freedom to travel abroad for the sciences was deleted; and 3) the clause on the promotion of lesser people was destroyed. These changes show the influence of the clergy and boyars. The agreement on the election of Vladislav was sent to Sigismund with a great embassy, ​​consisting of almost 1000 people: representatives of almost all classes were included here. It is very likely that most of the members of the "council of the whole earth" that elected Vladislav entered the embassy. Metropolitan Philaret and Prince V.P. Golitsyn were at the head of the embassy. The embassy was not successful: Sigismund himself wanted to sit on the throne of Moscow. When Zolkiewski realized that Sigismund's intention was unshakable, he left Moscow, realizing that the Russians would not accept this. Sigismund hesitated, tried to intimidate the ambassadors, but they did not deviate from the agreement. Then he resorted to bribing some members, which he succeeded in: they left Smolensk to prepare the ground for the election of Sigismund, but the rest were unshakable.

Hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski

At the same time, in Moscow, the "seven boyars" lost all meaning; power passed into the hands of the Poles and the newly formed government circle, which betrayed the Russian cause and surrendered to Sigismund. This circle consisted of Iv. Mich. Saltykov, Prince. Yu. D. Khvorostinina, N. D. Velyaminova, M. A. Molchanova, Gramotina, Fedka Andronov and many others. etc. Thus, the first attempt of the Moscow people to restore power ended in complete failure: instead of an equal union with Poland, Rus' risked falling into complete subordination from it. The failed attempt forever put an end to the political significance of the boyars and the boyar duma. As soon as the Russians realized that they had made a mistake in choosing Vladislav, as soon as they saw that Sigismund did not lift the siege of Smolensk and deceived them, national and religious feeling began to awaken. At the end of October 1610, ambassadors from near Smolensk sent a letter about a threatening turn of affairs; in Moscow itself, patriots, in anonymous letters, revealed the truth to the people. All eyes turned to Patriarch Hermogenes: he understood his task, but could not immediately take up its execution. After the assault on Smolensk on November 21, the first serious clash between Hermogenes and Saltykov took place, who tried to persuade the patriarch to the side of Sigismund; but Hermogenes did not yet dare to call on the people to an open struggle against the Poles. The death of the Thief and the collapse of the embassy forced him to "command the blood to dare" - and in the second half of December he began to send letters to the cities. It was open, and Hermogenes paid with imprisonment.

His call, however, was heard. Prokopy Lyapunov was the first to rise from the Ryazan land. He began to gather an army against the Poles and in January 1611 moved to Moscow. The zemstvo squads were coming towards Lyapunov from all sides; even the Tushino Cossacks went to the rescue of Moscow, under the command of Prince. D. T. Trubetskoy and Zarutskoy. The Poles, after a battle with the inhabitants of Moscow and the approaching zemstvo squads, locked themselves in the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod. The position of the Polish detachment (about 3000 people) was dangerous, especially since it had few supplies. Sigismund could not help him, he himself was unable to put an end to Smolensk. Zemstvo and Cossack militias united and besieged the Kremlin, but dissension immediately broke out between them. Nevertheless, the army declared itself the council of the land and began to rule the state, since there was no other government. As a result of the intensified discord between the Zemstvo and the Cossacks, it was decided in June 1611 to draw up a general decree. The verdict of the representatives of the Cossacks and service people, who constituted the main core of the zemstvo army, is very extensive: he had to arrange not only the army, but also the state. The supreme power must belong to the whole army, which calls itself "the whole earth"; the governors are only the executive organs of this council, which retains the right to remove them if they misbehave. The court belongs to the governors, but they can execute only with the approval of the "council of the whole earth", otherwise they face death. Then local affairs were regulated very accurately and in detail. All awards of Vor and Sigismund are declared to be of no importance. Cossacks "old" can receive estates and thus become in the ranks of service people. Further, there are decrees on the return of runaway serfs, who called themselves Cossacks (new Cossacks), to their former masters; the self-will of the Cossacks was largely embarrassed. Finally, a prikaz administration was established along the lines of the Moscow model. From this verdict it is clear that the army gathered near Moscow considered itself a representative of the whole earth and that the main role in the council belonged to the Zemstvo service people, and not to the Cossacks. This verdict is also characteristic in that it testifies to the importance that the service class gradually acquired. But the predominance of service people was short-lived; the Cossacks could not be in solidarity with them. The case ended with the murder of Lyapunov and the flight of the Zemstvo. The hopes of the Russians for the militia did not come true: Moscow remained in the hands of the Poles, Smolensk by this time was taken by Sigismund, Novgorod - by the Swedes; Cossacks settled around Moscow, who robbed the people, committed atrocities and prepared a new turmoil, proclaiming the son of Marina, who lived in connection with Zarutsky, the Russian Tsar.

The state, apparently, perished; but a popular movement arose throughout the north and northeast of Rus'. This time it separated from the Cossacks and began to act independently. Hermogenes, with his letters, poured inspiration into the hearts of Russians. The center of the movement was the Lower. Kuzma Minin was placed at the head of the economic organization, and power over the army was handed over to Prince Pozharsky.

K. Makovsky. Minin's Appeal on Nizhny Novgorod Square

TROUBLES (TIME OF TROUBLES) - a deep spiritual, economic, social, and foreign policy crisis that befell Russia in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It coincided with the dynastic crisis and the struggle of boyar groups for power, which brought the country to the brink of disaster. The main signs of unrest are kingdomlessness (anarchy), imposture, civil war and intervention. According to a number of historians, the Time of Troubles can be considered the first civil war in the history of Russia.

Contemporaries spoke of the Time of Troubles as a time of “unsteadiness”, “disorder”, “confusion of minds”, which caused bloody clashes and conflicts. The term "troubles" was used in everyday speech of the 17th century, office work of Moscow orders, was placed in the title of the work of Grigory Kotoshikhin ( Time of Troubles). In the 19th - early 20th century. got into research on Boris Godunov, Vasily Shuisky. In Soviet science, the phenomena and events of the early 17th century. classified as a period of socio-political crisis, the first peasant war ( I.I. Bolotnikova) and the foreign intervention that coincided with it, but the term "distemper" was not used. In Polish historical science, this time is called "Dimitriad", since at the center of historical events were False Dmitry I, False Dmitry II, False Dmitry III- Poles or impostors who sympathized with the Commonwealth, posing as the escaped Tsarevich Dmitry.

The prerequisites for the Troubles were the consequences oprichnina And Livonian War 1558–1583: economic ruin, growing social tension.

The causes of the Time of Troubles as an era of anarchy, according to the historiography of the 19th - early 20th century, are rooted in the suppression of the Rurik dynasty and the intervention of neighboring states (especially united Lithuania and Poland, which is why the period was sometimes called "Lithuanian or Moscow ruin") in the affairs of the Moscow kingdom. The combination of these events led to the appearance of adventurers and impostors on the Russian throne, claims to the throne from the Cossacks, runaway peasants and serfs (which manifested itself in Bolotnikov's peasant war). Church historiography of the 19th - early 20th century. considered the Time of Troubles as a period of spiritual crisis of society, seeing the reasons in the distortion of moral and moral values.

The chronological framework of the Time of Troubles is determined, on the one hand, by the death in Uglich in 1591 of Tsarevich Dmitry, the last representative of the Rurik dynasty, on the other hand, by the election of the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty to the kingdom Mikhail Fedorovich in 1613, the subsequent years of the struggle against the Polish and Swedish invaders (1616-1618), the return to Moscow of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Filaret (1619).

First stage

The Time of Troubles began with a dynastic crisis caused by the assassination of the king Ivan IV the Terrible his eldest son Ivan, the coming to power of his brother Fedor Ivanovich and the death of their younger half-brother Dmitry (according to many, the de facto ruler of the country, who was stabbed to death by henchmen Boris Godunov). The throne lost the last heir from the Rurik dynasty.

The death of the childless tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (1598) allowed Boris Godunov (1598–1605) to come to power, ruling energetically and wisely, but unable to stop the intrigues of disgruntled boyars. The crop failure of 1601-1602 and the famine that followed it caused the first social explosion (1603, the Cotton Rebellion). External reasons were added to internal ones: Poland and Lithuania, united in the Commonwealth, were in a hurry to take advantage of Russia's weakness. The appearance in Poland of a young Galich nobleman Grigory Otrepiev, who declared himself a "miraculously saved" Tsarevich Dmitry, was a gift to King Sigismund III, who supported the impostor.

At the end of 1604, having converted to Catholicism, False Dmitry I entered Russia with a small army. Many cities of southern Russia, Cossacks, disgruntled peasants, went over to his side. In April 1605, after the unexpected death of Boris Godunov and the non-recognition of his son Fyodor as tsar, the Moscow boyars also went over to the side of False Dmitry I. In June 1605, the impostor became Tsar Dmitry I for almost a year. However, the boyar conspiracy and the uprising of Muscovites on May 17, 1606, dissatisfied with the direction of his policy, swept him from the throne. Two days later, the boyar Vasily Shuisky was “shouted out” by the tsar, who gave a sign of the cross to rule with the Boyar Duma, not to impose disgrace and not to execute without trial.

By the summer of 1606, rumors spread throughout the country about a new miraculous rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry: an uprising broke out in Putivl under the leadership of a runaway serf Ivan Bolotnikov, peasants, archers, nobles joined him. The rebels reached Moscow, laid siege to it, but were defeated. Bolotnikov was captured in the summer of 1607, exiled to Kargopol and killed there.

The new contender for the Russian throne was False Dmitry II (origin unknown), who united around him the surviving participants in the Bolotnikov uprising, the Cossacks led by Ivan Zarutsky, and Polish detachments. Having settled since June 1608 in the village of Tushino near Moscow (hence his nickname "Tushinsky Thief"), he laid siege to Moscow.

Second phase

The troubles are associated with the split of the country in 1609: two tsars, two Boyar Dumas, two patriarchs (Germogenes in Moscow and Filaret in Tushino), territories that recognize the authority of False Dmitry II, and territories that remain loyal to Shuisky were formed in Muscovy. The successes of the Tushinites forced Shuisky in February 1609 to conclude an agreement with Sweden, which was hostile to Poland. Having given the Russian fortress of Korela to the Swedes, he received military assistance, and the Russian-Swedish army liberated a number of cities in the north of the country. This gave the Polish king Sigismund III a pretext for intervention: in the fall of 1609, Polish troops besieged Smolensk and reached the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. False Dmitry II fled from Tushin, the Tushinites who left him concluded an agreement with Sigismund in early 1610 on the election of his son, Prince Vladislav, to the Russian throne.

In July 1610, Shuisky was overthrown by the boyars and forcibly tonsured a monk. Power temporarily passed to the Seven Boyars, the government, which signed an agreement in August 1610 with Sigismund III on the election of Vladislav as king, on the condition that he accept Orthodoxy. Polish troops entered Moscow.

Third stage

The Troubles is connected with the desire to overcome the conciliatory position of the Seven Boyars, which did not have real power and failed to force Vladislav to fulfill the terms of the contract, to accept Orthodoxy. With the growth of patriotic sentiments since 1611, calls for an end to strife and the restoration of unity intensified. The center of attraction for patriotic forces was the Moscow Patriarch Hermogenes, Prince. D.T. Trubetskoy. The formed First Militia was attended by the noble detachments of P. Lyapunov, the Cossacks of I. Zarutsky, and the former Tushins. In Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl he gathered an army K.Minin, a new government was formed, the "Council of All the Earth". The first militia failed to liberate Moscow; in the summer of 1611 the militia broke up. At this time, the Poles managed to capture Smolensk after a two-year siege, the Swedes - to take Novgorod, a new impostor appeared in Pskov - False Dmitry III, who on December 4, 1611 was "announced" the king there.

In the autumn of 1611, on the initiative of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky, invited by him, the Second Militia was formed in Nizhny Novgorod. In August 1612, it approached Moscow and liberated it on October 26, 1612. In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected the 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, his father, Patriarch Filaret, returned to Russia from captivity, with whose name the people linked their hopes for the eradication of robbery and robbery. In 1617, the Treaty of Stolbovsky was signed with Sweden, which received the fortress of Korela and the coast of the Gulf of Finland. In 1618, the Deulino truce was concluded with Poland: Russia ceded to it Smolensk, Chernigov, and a number of other cities. The territorial losses of Russia were able to compensate and restore only Tsar Peter I almost a hundred years later.

However, the long and severe crisis was resolved, although the economic consequences of the Troubles - the ruin and desolation of a vast territory, especially in the west and southwest, the death of almost a third of the country's population continued to affect another decade and a half.

The Time of Troubles resulted in changes in the system of government. The weakening of the boyars, the rise of the nobility, who received estates and the possibility of legislatively assigning peasants to them, resulted in the gradual evolution of Russia towards absolutism. The reassessment of the ideals of the previous era, the negative consequences of the boyars' participation in the government of the country, and the rigid polarization of society led to the growth of ideocratic tendencies. They were expressed, among other things, in the desire to justify the inviolability of the Orthodox faith and the inadmissibility of deviations from the values ​​of the national religion and ideology (especially in opposition to the “Latinism” and Protestantism of the West). This intensified anti-Western sentiments, which aggravated the cultural and, as a result, the civilizational isolation of Russia for many centuries.

The period of Russian history from autumn 1598 to 1618 is called the Time of Troubles. During these years, the country was torn apart by a civil war, and neighbors - the Commonwealth and Sweden - torn away from Russia the lands on its western and northwestern borders. Russian statehood was on the verge of its existence - during the years of unrest, it practically collapsed. Impostors appeared, several kings and governments existed at the same time, supported by various parts of the country, and the central government, in fact, disappeared.

The reasons for the turmoil were the aggravation of social, estate, dynastic and international relations at the end of the reign of Ivan IV and under his successors.

· Dynastic crisis - in 1591, Tsarevich Dmitry, the last of the Rurikids, dies in Uglich.

· The election of a new tsar at the Zemsky Sobor - Godunov's accession to the throne of Moscow tsars seemed illegal to many, the consequence - the emergence of rumors that Boris Godunov killed Dmitry, or Tsarevich Dmitry is alive and will soon begin the fight.

· Growing dissatisfaction among the peasant population of the country - the abolition of St. George's Day in 1593, the introduction in 1597 of lesson years - the term for the investigation of fugitive peasants.

· Famine of 1601-1603. => an increase in the number of robbers, economic disorganization (people blame the king, punishment for the murder of Dmitry).

· Oprichnina.

· Intervention of foreign states (Poland, Sweden, England, etc. regarding land issues, territory, etc.) - intervention.

Stages of Troubles:

Stage 1.1598-1606

Boris Godunov on the throne. The establishment of the patriarchate, the change in the nature of domestic and foreign policy (the development of the southern lands, Siberia, the return of the western lands, a truce with Poland). An economic struggle is taking place and a political one is escalating.

1603 - announcement in Poland of False Dmitry 1, support by the Poles.

1604-1605 - the death of Boris Godunov, his son, Fyodor Borisovich, becomes king. False Dmitry solemnly enters Moscow and is married to the kingdom.

1605 – reforms of False Dmitry 1:

Tax cuts;

Cancellation for 10 years of taxes in the poorest lands.

1606 – False Dmitry exposed and killed (Vasily Shuisky). Boyars and Vasily Shuisky did not want to expose Grigory Otrepyev, because they wanted to blackmail him. Grigory is a servant of Fyodor Nikitich, who later becomes patriarch (Filaret), and his son Mikhail Romanov becomes king.

Stage 2.1606-1610.

By decision of Red Square, Vasily Shuisky (a very deceitful person) becomes king, took an oath before his subjects to resolve all matters with the boyars (signed a letter of cross-kissing - a promise not to violate the rights of the boyars). Shuisky was not loved by the people: he was bloodless, unpleasant appearance. At this time, about 30 impostors are announced, and one of them - False Dmitry 2 - rules from Tushino, dual power arises in Russia.

Shuisky summons Swedish troops to overthrow False Dmitry 2 - intervention.

1606-1607 – Bolotnikov uprising (peasant war against the government).

1609 - Poland sends troops to take Russian lands, they rob the population, riots intensify.

1610 - Poles in the capital. Boyars (with the support of Poland) overthrow Vasily Shuisky (to the monastery). False Dmitry 2 was killed, boyar rule begins ( Seven Boyars).

Stage 3.1611-1613.

A large territory of Russia is occupied, there is no tsar.

1611 – led by Prokopy Lyapunov, the First Militia was formed. Pozharsky's detachment broke through to Moscow, but a fire started. The detachment was defeated, Pozharsky was wounded. The Poles hid in Kitay-gorod and the Kremlin. The militia became a camp near Moscow. The Council of the whole earth was created - a provisional government. Discord among the leaders, Lyapunov was killed, his supporters left the camp, the militia poses no threat, and the leader has no power.

Autumn 1611- on the initiative of Minin, the Second Militia was formed. The Council of the whole earth was created - the second provisional government. Zarutsky is against, sends a detachment to prevent the inhabitants of Nizhny Novgorod from entering Yaroslavl, the killer to Porazhsky. The plan fails, Zarutsky leaves for the southern lands of the country, capturing Marina Mnishek and her son. The second militia annexes the counties, collects the tax for the maintenance of the Second militia, the representatives of the counties are part of the Council of the whole land. In August 1612, the militia approached the capital, Trubetskoy joined Pozharsky.

1613- Zemsky Sobor in January. Candidates for the throne: Polish prince Vladislav, Swedish king Karl-Philip, son of False Dmitry 2, M.F. Romanov. In February, a new tsar, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov (son of Patriarch Filaret), was elected.

Stage 4. 1613-1618.

Massacre with Zarutsky, restoring order in the north.

1617 - The end of the war with Sweden - the Stolbovsky peace, according to which the Swedes return Novgorod, but a number of fortresses on the s-w retreat of Sweden, Russia lost access to the sea.

1617 - Vladislav's speech to Moscow, in the autumn of 1618 in Moscow. Pozharsky threw them away.

1618 - Deulino truce for 14.5 years. Smolensk, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversk lands were ceded to the Commonwealth, and Vladislav does not renounce his claim to the Russian throne.

Results:

Large territorial losses for Rus'. Smolensk was lost for many decades; western and a significant part of eastern Karelia captured by the Swedes. Not reconciled to national and religious oppression, almost the entire Orthodox population, both Russians and Karelians, will leave these territories. Rus' lost access to the Gulf of Finland. The Swedes left Novgorod only in 1617, only a few hundred inhabitants remained in the completely devastated city.

· Russia still defended its independence.

· Time of Troubles led to a deep economic decline. In a number of areas, by the 20-40s of the 17th century, the population was below the level of the 16th century.

· The total death toll is equal to one third of the population.

The emergence of a new royal dynasty. They had to solve three main problems - the restoration of the unity of the territories, the state mechanism and the economy.

TROUBLES (TIME OF TROUBLES) - a deep spiritual, economic, social, and foreign policy crisis that befell Russia in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The first period, the beginning of the Troubles, was marked by a fierce struggle for the throne of many applicants. The son of Ivan the Terrible, Fedor, turned out to be a weak ruler. In fact, Boris Godunov, the brother of the tsar's wife, received power, his policy led to the discontent of the people.

The Time of Troubles began with the appearance in Poland of Grigory Otrepyev, who declared himself False Dmitry, the surviving son of Grozny. Not without the support of the Poles, False Dmitry was recognized by a rather large part of the country's population, and in 1605 the impostor was supported by Moscow and the governors of Rus' and was recognized as tsar. But, his support for serfdom caused violent discontent among the peasants, and too independent policy led to the displeasure of the boyars. As a result, False Dmitry 1 was killed on May 17, 1606. And V.I. Shuisky ascended the throne. However, his power was limited.

The second period of unrest began with an uprising led by Bolotnikov I.I. The militia was made up of people from all walks of life. Participation in the uprising was taken not only by peasants, but also by serving Cossacks, serfs, landowners, townspeople. But, in the battle near Moscow, the rebels were defeated, and Bolotnikov was captured and executed.

The outrage of the people only intensified. The appearance of False Dmitry 2 was not long in coming. Already in January 1608, the army assembled by him moved towards Moscow. He settled on the outskirts of the city in Tushino. Thus, two operating capitals were formed in the country. At the same time, almost all officials and boyars worked for both tsars, often receiving money from both Shuisky and False Dmitry 2. After Shuisky managed to conclude an agreement on assistance, the Commonwealth began aggression. False Dmitry had to flee to Kaluga.

But Shuisky did not manage to retain power for a long time. He was seized and forced to take the veil as a monk. An interregnum began in the country - a period called the Seven Boyars. As a result of the deal between the boyars who came to power and the Polish interventionists, on August 17, 1610, Moscow swore allegiance to the King of Poland, Vladislav. False Dmitry 2 was killed at the end of this year. The struggle for power continued.

The third period of the Troubles is the time of the struggle against the interventionists. The people of Russia were finally able to unite to fight the invaders - the Poles. During this period, the war acquired the character of a national one. The militia of Minin and Pozharsky reached Moscow only in August 1612. They were able to liberate Moscow and expel the Poles.

The end of the Time of Troubles was marked by the appearance on the Russian throne of a new dynasty - the Romanovs. At the Zemsky Sobor on February 21, 1613, Mikhail Romanov was elected tsar.

Causes of unrest in Russia

Termination of the Rurik dynasty.

Enslavement of the peasants, an increase in tax oppression.

The struggle between the boyars and the royal power - the first sought to preserve and increase traditional privileges and political influence, the second - to limit these privileges and influence.

The difficult economic situation of the country. The aggressive campaigns of Ivan the Terrible and the Livonian War demanded a significant strain on the production forces. The forcible movement of service people and the ruin of Novgorod the Great had a rather negative impact on the country's economy. The situation was catastrophically aggravated by the famine of 1601‒1603, which ruined thousands of large and small farms.

Deep social discord in the country. The existing system caused rejection among the masses of fugitive peasants, serfs, impoverished townspeople, Cossack freemen and city Cossacks, as well as a significant part of service people

The consequences of the oprichnina, which undermined respect for power and law

Consequences of the Troubles of the 17th century in Russia

Its first, most severe consequence was the terrible ruin and desolation of the country; many cities and villages lay in ruins. Agriculture, crafts were ruined, trading life died out.

The territorial unity of Russia was largely restored, although the coast of the Baltic Sea and the lands of Smolensk were lost.

Within the political life of the state, the role of the nobility and the top tenants has grown significantly. Power was restored in the form of an autocratic monarchy.

The positions of the nobility were strengthened.

The independence of Russia was preserved.

The Romanov dynasty began to rule.

Ticket 6. Transformations of Peter I: pros and cons.

All internal state activity of Peter can be conditionally divided into two periods: 1695-1715 and 1715-1725.
The peculiarity of the first stage was the haste and not always thoughtful nature, which was explained by the conduct of the Northern War. The reforms were aimed primarily at raising funds for the conduct of the Northern War, were carried out by force and often did not lead to the desired result. In addition to state reforms, at the first stage, extensive reforms were carried out to change the cultural way of life. In the second period, the reforms were more systematic and aimed at the internal arrangement of the state.
REFORM

military maritime

Administrative

3. Transformations in the field of culture, science and everyday life

Church

5. Transformations in the field of economy

In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the Russian state and familiarizing the ruling stratum with European culture while strengthening the absolute monarchy. By the end of the reign of Peter the Great, a powerful Russian empire was created, headed by the emperor, who had absolute power. In the course of the reforms, the technical and economic backwardness of Russia from a number of other European states was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was won, and transformations were carried out in many areas of the life of Russian society. At the same time, the people's forces were extremely exhausted, the bureaucratic apparatus grew, the prerequisites (Decree of Succession) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the era of "palace coups".

Time of Troubles in Russia(troubles) - this is the era of socio-political, economic and dynastic crisis. It was accompanied by popular uprisings, the rule of impostors, the destruction of state power, the Polish-Swedish-Lithuanian intervention and the ruin of the country.

Interdynastic rule during the period of unrest: Boris Godunov 1598-1605, Fyodor Godunov 1605, False Dmitry 1 (Grigory Otrepiev) 1605-1606, Vasily Shuisky 1606-1610, Seven Boyars (F.I. Mstislavsky, I.M. Vorotynsky, A.V. Trubetskoy, A.V. Golitsyn, B.M. Lykov, I.N. Romanov, F.I. Sheremetev) 1610-1613.

Reasons for troubled times:

The consequences of the ruin of the country during the oprichnina period

Aggravation of the social situation due to the processes of state enslavement of peasants

The crisis of the dynasty: the suppression of the male branch of the ruling princely-royal Moscow house (the end of the Rurik dynasty)

The crisis of power is the intensification of the struggle for supreme power among noble boyar families. Appearance of impostors

Poland's claims to Russian lands and the throne

Famine of 1601 - 1603 Loss of life and surge in migration within the country

The main events of the Time of Troubles in Russia in the 17th century

The table of troubled times of the beginning of the 17th century in the Russian state contains the main dates, events and their significance for the state and people.

Consequences of the Time of Troubles (Troubles)

The Time of Troubles ended with people's militias against the interventionists in 1611-1612, with the accession of the Romanov dynasty - the election of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov on February 21, 1613.

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A source of information: History in tables and diagrams. / Edition 2e, St. Petersburg: 2013.