The period of unrest is characterized. Time of Troubles

Chronology

1605 - 1606 Reign of False Dmitry I.
1606 - 1607 Uprising led by I.I. Bolotnikov.
1606 - 1610 The reign of Vasily Shuisky.
1610 “Seven Boyars”.
1612 Liberation of Moscow from invaders.
1613 Election of Mikhail Romanov to the throne by the Zemsky Sobor.

Time of Troubles in Russia

The Troubles in Russia at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries became a shock that shook the very foundations of the state system. Three periods can be distinguished in the development of the Troubles. The first period is dynastic. This was the time of struggle for the Moscow throne between various contenders, which lasted up to and including Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The second period is social. It is characterized by the internecine struggle of social classes and the intervention of foreign governments in this struggle. The third period is national. It covers the time of the struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders until the election of Mikhail Romanov as Tsar.

After death in 1584 g. , his son succeeded him Fedor, incapable of governing affairs. “The dynasty was dying out in his person,” noted the English Ambassador Fletcher. “What kind of king I am, it’s not difficult to confuse me or deceive me in any matter,” is a sacramental phrase put into the mouth of Fyodor Ioannovich A.K. Tolstoy. The actual ruler of the state was the tsar's brother-in-law, boyar Boris Godunov, who endured a fierce struggle with the largest boyars for influence on state affairs. After death in 1598 g. Fyodor, the Zemsky Sobor elected Godunov as tsar.

Boris Godunov was an energetic and intelligent statesman. In conditions of economic devastation and a difficult international situation, he solemnly promised on the day of his crowning of the kingdom, “that there will not be a poor person in his state, and he is ready to share his last shirt with everyone.” But chosen king did not have the authority and advantage of a hereditary monarch, and this could call into question the legitimacy of his presence on the throne.

Godunov's government reduced taxes, exempted merchants from paying duties for two years, and landowners from paying taxes for a year. The tsar started a large construction project and took care of educating the country. The patriarchate was established, which increased the rank and prestige of the Russian church. He led a successful foreign policy— further advances into Siberia took place, the southern regions of the country were developed, and Russian positions in the Caucasus were strengthened.

At the same time, the internal situation of the country under Boris Godunov remained very difficult. In conditions of unprecedented crop failure and famine in 1601-1603. the economy collapsed, hundreds of thousands of people died of hunger, the price of bread rose 100 times. The government took the path of further enslavement of the peasantry. this caused a protest from the broad masses, who directly linked the deterioration of their situation with the name of Boris Godunov.

The aggravation of the internal political situation led, in turn, to a sharp decline in Godunov’s prestige not only among the masses, but also among the boyars.

The biggest threat to B. Godunov’s power was the appearance in Poland of an impostor who declared himself the son of Ivan the Terrible. The fact is that in 1591, under unclear circumstances, the last of the direct heirs to the throne died in Uglich, allegedly running into a knife in a fit of epilepsy. Tsarevich Dmitry. Godunov’s political opponents accused him of organizing the murder of the prince in order to seize power; popular rumor picked up these accusations. However, historians do not have convincing documents that would prove Godunov’s guilt.

It was under such conditions that he appeared in Rus' False Dmitry. This young man named Grigory Otrepiev introduced himself as Dmitry, using rumors that Tsarevich Dmitry was alive, “miraculously saved” in Uglich. The impostor's agents vigorously disseminated in Russia the version of his miraculous salvation from the hands of assassins sent by Godunov, and proved the legality of his right to the throne. Polish magnates provided some assistance in organizing the adventure. As a result, by the autumn of 1604, a powerful army was formed for a campaign against Moscow.

The beginning of the Troubles

Taking advantage of the current situation in Rus', its disunity and instability, False Dmitry with a small detachment crossed the Dnieper near Chernigov.

He managed to attract to his side a huge mass of the Russian population, who believed that he was the son of Ivan the Terrible. False Dmitry's forces grew rapidly, cities opened their gates to him, peasants and townspeople joined his troops. False Dmitry moved on the wave of the outbreak of the peasant war. After the death of Boris Godunov in 1605 g. The governors also began to go over to the side of False Dmitry, and at the beginning of June Moscow also took his side.

According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, the impostor “was baked in a Polish oven, but hatched among the boyars.” Without the support of the boyars, he had no chance of Russian throne. On June 1, on Red Square, the impostor’s letters were announced, in which he called Godunov a traitor, and promised “honor and promotion” to the boyars, “mercy” to the nobles and clerks, benefits to merchants, “silence” to the people. The critical moment came when people asked boyar Vasily Shuisky whether the prince was buried in Uglich (it was Shuisky who headed the state commission to investigate the death of Tsarevich Dmitry in 1591 and then confirmed his death from epilepsy). Now Shuisky claimed that the prince had escaped. After these words, the crowd broke into the Kremlin and destroyed the houses of the Godunovs and their relatives. On June 20, False Dmitry solemnly entered Moscow.

It turned out to be easier to sit on the throne than to stay on it. To strengthen his position, False Dmitry confirmed the serfdom legislation, which caused discontent among the peasants.

But, first of all, the tsar did not live up to the expectations of the boyars because he acted too independently. May 17, 1606. The boyars led the people to the Kremlin shouting “The Poles are beating the boyars and the sovereign,” and in the end False Dmitry was killed. Vasily Ivanovich ascended the throne Shuisky. The condition for his accession to the Russian throne was the limitation of power. He vowed “not to do anything without the Council,” and this was the first experience of building a state order on the basis of a formal restrictions on supreme power. But the situation in the country did not normalize.

The second stage of the turmoil

Begins second stage of the turmoil- social, when the nobility, metropolitan and provincial, clerks, clerks, and Cossacks enter the struggle. However, first of all, this period is characterized by a wide wave of peasant uprisings.

In the summer of 1606, the masses had a leader - Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov. The forces gathered under the banner of Bolotnikov were a complex conglomerate consisting of different layers. There were Cossacks, peasants, serfs, townspeople, many service people, small and medium-sized feudal lords. In July 1606, Bolotnikov's troops set out on a campaign against Moscow. In the Battle of Moscow, Bolotnikov's troops were defeated and were forced to retreat to Tula. On July 30, the siege of the city began, and after three months the Bolotnikovites capitulated, and he himself was soon executed. The suppression of this uprising did not mean the end of the peasant war, but it began to decline.

The government of Vasily Shuisky sought to stabilize the situation in the country. But both service people and peasants were still dissatisfied with the government. The reasons for this were different. The nobles felt Shuisky's inability to stop the peasant war, but the peasants did not accept the serfdom policy. Meanwhile, in Starodub (in the Bryansk region) a new impostor appeared, declaring himself the escaped “Tsar Dmitry”. According to many historians, False Dmitry II was a protege of the Polish king Sigismund III, although many do not support this version. The bulk of the armed forces of False Dmitry II were Polish nobles and Cossacks.

In January 1608 g. he moved towards Moscow.

Having defeated Shuisky's troops in several battles, by the beginning of June False Dmitry II reached the village of Tushino near Moscow, where he settled in camp. Pskov, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Astrakhan swore allegiance to the impostor. The Tushins occupied Rostov, Vladimir, Suzdal, and Murom. In fact, two capitals were formed in Russia. Boyars, merchants, and officials swore allegiance either to False Dmitry or to Shuisky, sometimes receiving salaries from both.

In February 1609, the Shuisky government entered into an agreement with Sweden, counting on assistance in the war with the “Tushino thief” and his Polish troops. Under this agreement, Russia gave Sweden the Karelian volost in the North, which was a serious political mistake. This gave Sigismund III a reason to switch to open intervention. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began military operations against Russia with the aim of conquering its territory. Polish troops left Tushino. False Dmitry II, who was there, fled to Kaluga and ultimately ended his voyage ingloriously.

Sigismund sent letters to Smolensk and Moscow, where he claimed that, as a relative of the Russian tsars and at the request of the Russian people, he was going to save the dying Muscovite state and its Orthodox faith.

The Moscow boyars decided to accept help. An agreement was concluded on the recognition of the prince Vladislav Russian Tsar, and until his arrival obey Sigismund. On February 4, 1610, a treaty was concluded, which included a plan government system under Vladislav: the inviolability of the Orthodox faith, restriction of freedom from the arbitrariness of the authorities. The sovereign had to share his power with the Zemsky Sobor and the Boyar Duma.

On August 17, 1610, Moscow swore allegiance to Vladislav. And a month before this, Vasily Shuisky was forcibly tonsured a monk by the nobles and taken to the Chudov Monastery. To govern the country, the Boyar Duma created a commission of seven boyars, called “ seven-boyars" On September 20, the Poles entered Moscow.

Sweden also launched aggressive actions. Swedish troops occupied a large part of northern Russia and were preparing to capture Novgorod. Russia faced a direct threat of losing its independence. The aggressive plans of the aggressors caused general indignation. In December 1610 g. False Dmitry II was killed, but the struggle for the Russian throne did not end there.

The third stage of the turmoil

The death of the impostor immediately changed the situation in the country. The pretext for the presence of Polish troops on Russian territory disappeared: Sigismund explained his actions by the need to “fight the Tushino thief.” The Polish army turned into an occupation army, the Seven Boyars into a government of traitors. The Russian people united to resist the intervention. The war acquired a national character.

The third period of unrest begins. From the northern cities, at the call of the patriarch, detachments of Cossacks led by I. Zarutsky and Prince Dm begin to converge on Moscow. Trubetskoy. This is how the first militia was formed. In April - May 1611, Russian troops stormed the capital, but did not achieve success, as internal contradictions and rivalry among the leaders took their toll. In the autumn of 1611, the desire for liberation from foreign oppression was clearly expressed by one of the leaders of the Nizhny Novgorod settlement Kuzma Minin, who called for the creation of a militia to liberate Moscow. The prince was elected leader of the militia Dmitry Pozharsky.

In August 1612, the militia of Minin and Pozharsky reached Moscow, and on October 26 the Polish garrison capitulated. Moscow was liberated. The Time of Troubles or “Great Devastation,” which lasted about ten years, is over.

Under these conditions, the country needed a government of a kind of social reconciliation, a government that would be able to ensure not only the cooperation of people from different political camps, but also class compromise. The candidacy of a representative of the Romanov family suited different layers and classes of society.

After the liberation of Moscow, letters were scattered throughout the country convening a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new tsar. The council, held in January 1613, was the most representative in the history of medieval Russia, which at the same time reflected the balance of forces that emerged during the war of liberation. A struggle broke out around the future tsar, and they ultimately agreed on the candidacy of 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, a relative of Ivan the Terrible’s first wife. This circumstance created the appearance of a continuation of the previous dynasty of Russian princes. February 21 1613 Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia.

From this time, the reign of the Romanov dynasty in Russia began, which lasted a little over three hundred years - until February 1917.

So, concluding this section related to the history of the “time of troubles”, it should be noted: acute internal crises and long wars were generated largely by the incompleteness of the process of state centralization, the lack necessary conditions for the normal development of the country. At the same time, this was an important stage in the struggle for the establishment of a Russian centralized state.

The Time of Troubles in Russia is one of the key pages of our history. In essence, this was an introduction to the 17th century, which went down in history under the name “Rebellious”. And the Time of Troubles, no matter how much we were told about its short historical period, was not suppressed and it “emerged” from Russia throughout the 17th century. It was actually completed only after the creation of the regime of Peter 1. It was he who finally strangled the process that was rotting the entire 17th century.

The Time of Troubles is an era of social, political, economic, dynastic and spiritual crisis. It was accompanied by popular uprisings, class and inter-class struggle, impostors, Polish and Swedish intervention and the almost complete ruin of the country.
Historical reference book

Concepts of the Troubles

In Russian historiography there were 2 schemes of the Troubles: Klyuchevsky and Platonov. This is what Klyuchevsky wrote: “In the Troubles, all classes of Russian society consistently appear and they appear in the very order in which they lay in the then composition of Russian society, as they were placed on the social ladder. At the top of this ladder stood the boyars, and they began the unrest. Therefore, the first phase is boyar, then noble and then national.”

By the way, the Troubles of the early 20th century, which led to the fall of the Empire, developed absolutely according to the same pattern. The Time of Troubles also began, the first phase of which was Perestroika. That is, the first phase of all three Russian Troubles is the boyar phase, when the elite begins to share power.

The second scheme of the Time of Troubles in Russia belongs to the historian Platonov, who distinguished three periods in the history of the Troubles: dynastic, noble and socio-religious. But in essence, this is the same as Klyuchevsky’s:

Dynastic. Boyars and nobles fight for power.
Noble. Less rich and influential people are joining in these squabbles.
National-religious. The people are included in the Troubles

The main reasons for the Time of Troubles in Russia can be expressed as follows:

Economic reasons. As a result of weather conditions, a famine occurred in 1601-1603. The population was dying en masse. Trust in the current government has declined.
Dynastic crisis. After the death of Tsarevich Dmitry in Uglich and Fyodor Ivanovich in Moscow, the Rurik dynasty was interrupted.
Social crisis. Almost all segments of the Russian population of the late 16th and early 17th centuries were dissatisfied with their situation.
Political crisis. In Russia there was an active struggle for power between boyar groups.
Poland and Sweden grew stronger and actively showed their claims to Russian lands and the throne.

More detailed reasons for the Troubles are given in the following diagram:

The beginning of the Troubles in Rus'

The Time of Troubles in Russia actually began with the death of Ivan the Terrible. In 1598, Fyodor died and events took place that can be called the “Latent Stage of the Troubles.” The fact is that Fyodor did not leave a will, and formally Irina should have sat on the throne. But at this time she clears the way for her brother Boris Godunov and voluntarily goes to the monastery. As a result, the Boyar Duma splits. The Romanovs attacked Boris, and as a result he stopped going to the Duma.

Ultimately, the Zemsky Sobor elected Godunov to reign, but the Boyar Duma opposed this. There was a split. This is a classic feature of the Time of Troubles in Russia - dual power. Zemsky Sobor against the Boyar Duma. Dual power would arise later after the February coup of 1917. It will be the “Provisional Government” against the “Petrosoviet” or the “Reds” against the “Whites”. The dual power at the end of the 20th century will be as follows - first Gorbachev against Yeltsin. Then Yeltsin against the Supreme Council. That is, Troubles always splits power into 2 opposing camps.

Ultimately, Boris Godunov outmaneuvered the Boyar Duma and became king. Read more about how this happened.

Driving elements of the Time of Troubles

You need to understand that the Troubles is a mass phenomenon in which almost all segments of the population and social groups took part. Nevertheless, there were three major classes that played an exceptional role in those events, and which need to be discussed separately. These are the following groups:

Sagittarius.
Cossacks.
"Combat slaves."

Let's look at each of these groups in detail.

Battle serfs

The problem in Russia after the famine of 1601-1603 was that the growth in the number of service people outpaced the growth of the land fund. The country (it’s even strange to say this about Russia) did not have the resources to provide all the children of the nobility with land. As a result, a layer of “Combat Slaves” began to emerge in Rus'.

These were those nobles who did not have land, but who had weapons (little is said about this, but Ivan Bolotnikov was one of the Battle Slaves), and who went into service as a military service to some boyar or rich nobleman. The percentage of fighting slaves in Rus' at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century was +/-10%. Now think about this... Events of the 90s (collapse of the USSR). Then those who serve in various private and security companies, in the army, and all armed people in the country are exactly that same 10%. That is, it is social dynamite that can explode at any moment.

What were fighting serfs at the beginning of the 16th century? For every 25 thousand nobles in the militia, there were up to 5 thousand fighting slaves.

For example, after the shelling of Ivangorod in 1590, the governors led 350 archers, 400 Cossacks and 2,382 fighting serfs to storm. That is, there were a lot of fighting slaves, and they specific gravity in the army changed its structure for the use of these people. And these people were extremely dissatisfied with their situation.

It was from the fighting serfs that the leader of the largest uprising of the lower classes in 1602-1603, Khlopko Kasolap, came from. In 1603, he approached Moscow, and a regular army had to be sent to defeat him.

Sagittarius

The Streltsy, as a military unit, was created in the mid-16th century. The undoubted advantage of its creation was that it was thanks to the Streltsy army that Kazan was taken. There were 10 thousand archers in Moscow (that is, a fairly large social stratum). In others major cities up to 1 thousand people. The salary of archers ranged from 7 rubles in Moscow to 0.5 rubles in the outskirts. They also received a grain salary.

The problem was that they only received full money during hostilities. In addition, the archers received money with a long delay, since those who distributed money, according to Russian tradition, stole. Therefore, the archers who lived in the settlements kept vegetable gardens, were engaged in trade, and some even engaged in banditry. Therefore, they felt a social kinship with the townspeople, because their lifestyle and priorities were identical.

Cossacks during the Time of Troubles

Another group that played an extremely important role in the Time of Troubles in Russia, and which was also dissatisfied with the authorities, was the Cossacks. The total number of Cossacks at the end of the 16th century from the Dnieper to the Yaik River (the modern Ural River) is estimated at 11-14 thousand people. The Cossack organization was as follows: In Russia it was a village, in Ukraine it was a hundred. The free villages were not part of the government troops, but actually served as border guards.

After impoverishment, military slaves fled to the Don, the government demanded that they be taken out, but there was a rule - “There is no extradition from the Don!” Hence the anti-Cossack measures of Godunov, who tried to return the fighting slaves, since the rich nobility put pressure on him. Naturally, this caused discontent among the Cossacks. As a result, Godunov found himself in a situation where whatever he did did not solve the problem, but only aggravated it.

The Cossacks were associated with the southern counties, in which social contradictions were already acute, because those who were offended by the authorities fled to the southern counties. That is, the Cossacks are such a separate layer that has always considered itself superior to the rest.

The beginning of the open stage of the Troubles

Thus, we can say that at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries an explosive situation developed in Russia:

Almost all possible contradictions between and within classes intensified.
Confrontations within the country intensified - “South” against “Center”.

A lot of “social dynamite” had been produced and all that remained was for interested parties to light the fuse. And it was lit simultaneously in Russia and Poland. At the beginning of the 17th century, a situation arose in Russia that contributed to the transition of the Time of Troubles from a latent (hidden) state to an open state.

First stage of the Troubles

A man appeared in Poland who called himself Tsarevich Dmitry, a survivor of Uglich. Of course, he declared his rights to the throne and began to gather an army in Poland to go and take back “his” throne by force. I will not now dwell in detail on this man and the elements of his attempt (and a successful one) to seize power. We have a whole article on our website where all the events of this stage are discussed in detail. You can read it using this link.

I will only say that at this stage Poland did not support False Dmitry. He recruited an army of mercenaries there, but the Polish king Sigismund III distanced himself from this campaign. Moreover, he even warned Godunov that a man was coming “for his soul.”

At this stage:

There was a dynastic struggle for power.
False Dmitry 1 appeared.
The scale of the Time of Troubles was still small. In fact, only the elite were involved in them so far.
Murder of False Dmitry 1.

Second stage of the Troubles

After the overthrow of False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky became king. By the way, far from last role The future king himself played a role in the murder of the impostor. Most historians agree that it was his plot, which he brilliantly implemented. The accession of Shuisky, as the historian Platonov believed, was the beginning of the entry of the Time of Troubles into the second period (noble), marked not only by a dynastic struggle for power, but also by deep social conflicts. Although Shuisky’s reign began very well, with the suppression of Bolotnikov’s uprising. In general, the Bolotnik uprising is an extremely important thing for understanding the essence of the Troubles in Russia. Again, we will not consider this issue in detail in this topic, since this topic has already been discussed by us. Here is a link for reference.

It is important to understand that Bolotnikov’s uprising is not a peasant war, as they often try to present it to us, but a struggle for power in the conditions of the Troubles. Bolotnikov was a man of False Dmitry 1, always acted on his behalf and persecuted specific goal- power.

The Time of Troubles in Russia was characterized by the following phenomenon. The free Cossacks, especially at the final stage of the Time of Troubles, claimed to replace the nobility in its function of military defense of the country. That is, the Time of Troubles had many dimensions, but a very important dimension was the struggle between the nobility and the Cossacks over who would become the main military class of the country. The Cossacks did not fight for freedom. It is they who will fight for freedom later, under Razin, 50 years after the end of the Time of Troubles. Here they fought to take the place of the nobility. This became possible due to the fact that the Oprichnina, having shaken up the situation in the country, left some voids.

Tushins and their role in the Time of Troubles

Dual power remained in Russia for a long time. On the one hand there was the legitimate Tsar Vasily Shuisky in Moscow, and on the other hand there was False Dmitry 2 with the Tushino camp. In fact, this camp became a hotbed of banditry and all kinds of wickedness that plundered the country. It is no coincidence that people later called this man “Tushino thief.” But such a situation was possible only as long as the forces were equal. As soon as Shuisky received Swedish troops for help, and the Polish king Sigismund 3 began a campaign against Smolensk, the Tushino camp automatically disintegrated. The intervention of the Polish king and the collapse of the Tushino camp became an important stage in the development of all the events of the Time of Troubles.

At this stage what happened:

Victory of the tsarist troops over Bolotnikov.
The appearance of False Dmitry 2.
Troubles are becoming widespread. An increasing number of people are becoming involved in events.
Formation of the Tushino camp as an alternative to the current government.
Lack of intervention elements.

The third stage of the Time of Troubles in Russia

The death of the Tushino thief and the beginning of the Poles' rule in Moscow became the beginning of the 3rd phase of the Time of Troubles in Russia - national-religious or general social. The situation has been simplified as much as possible. If before 1610 the situation was very difficult, because some Russian forces called foreigners to their side, other Russians called other foreigners, i.e. such a mixed situation. Now the situation has become very simple: the Poles are Catholics, but the Russians are Orthodox. That is, the struggle became national-religious. And the striking force of this national struggle was the Zemstvo militia.

The final heroes of these events were Minin and Pozharsky, who drove the Poles out of the country. But again, we should not idealize the images of these people, since we know little reliably about them. It is only known that Pozharsky was a descendant of Vsevolod the Big Nest, and his campaign against Moscow was the family coat of arms, which directly indicates his attempt to seize power. But that's another story. You can read in this article about the events of those years.

At this stage:

Polish and Swedish intervention in Russia began.
Murder of False Dmitry 2.
The beginning of the Zemstvo militias.
Capture of Moscow by Minin and Pozharsky. Liberation of the city from Polish invaders.
The convening of the Zemsky Sobor in 1613 and the accession of a new ruling dynasty - the Romanovs.

The end of the Time of Troubles

Formally, the Time of Troubles in Russia ended in 1613-1614, with the beginning of the reign of Mikhail Romanov. But in fact, at that moment, only the following was done - the Poles were thrown out of Moscow and... And that’s all! The Polish question was finally resolved only in 1618. After all, Sigismund and Vladislav actively laid claim to the Russian throne, realizing that the local government there was extremely weak. But in the end, the Deulin Truce was signed, according to which Russia recognized all the gains of Poland during the Time of Troubles, and peace was established between the countries for 14.5 years.

But there was also Sweden, which Shuisky called upon. Few people talk about it, but Sweden owned almost all northern lands, including Novgorod. In 1617, Russia and Sweden signed the Treaty of Stolbovo, according to which the Swedes returned Novgorod, but retained the entire Baltic coast.

Consequences of the Time of Troubles for Russia

Time of Troubles is always a difficult phase, which hits the country very hard, and from which it then takes a very long time to get out. it was the same in Russia. The Troubles formally ended with the accession of the Romanovs, but in fact this was not the case. For many years, the Russian tsars actively fought against the passive, but still elements of the Troubles, in the country.

If we talk about the consequences of the Time of Troubles in Russia, we can highlight the following main consequences:

Russia retained its independence and the right to be a state.
Creation of a new ruling dynasty of the Romanovs.
Terrible economic ruin and exhaustion of the country. Ordinary people fled en masse to the outskirts.
The decline of the authority of the church. People could not understand how the church could allow such passivity in the fight against the interventionists.
There was a complete enslavement of the peasants, which had not happened before.
Russia lost part of its territory (Smolensk, the Baltic (access to which Peter 1 would later so persistently strive for) and the Northern regions of the country).
The country's military potential was virtually destroyed.

These are the main consequences that were extremely important for the country. but most importantly, Russia retained its statehood and continued to develop. Attempts by Poland and Sweden to seize power in Russia ended in nothing.

The difficulty of interpreting the Troubles

The Time of Troubles was very inconvenient for Soviet historians. Pre-revolutionary historiography did not create a strict concept of the Troubles. There are schemes by Klyuchevsky and Platonov (we will talk about them later) - they empirically reflect reality very well, but they do not provide the concept of the Troubles. Because in order to develop the concept of the Time of Troubles in Russia, you must first develop the concept of Russian history and the concept of autocracy. But this was not the case. Soviet historians were doing very poorly with the concept of the Time of Troubles. Actually, Soviet historians did not study any Troubles. Example of Professor Andrey Fursov:

when I took Russian history, or rather the history of the USSR, the questions “Time of Troubles” were not on the tickets. The tickets contained two completely different questions: “Uprising under the leadership of Ivan Bolotnikov” and “Foreign intervention in the early 17th century.”
Andrey Fursov, historian

That is, the Troubles were dispelled as if it had never happened. And it’s clear why. The fact is that in the Time of Troubles, literally everything came into conflict for Soviet historians. From a class point of view, the Soviet historian had to side with Ivan Bolotnikov because he fought against the exploiters. But the fact is that Ivan Bolotnikov was a man of False Dmitry 1 (we will talk about this below), and False Dmitry was connected with the Poles and Swedes. And it turns out that Bolotnikov’s uprising is an element of False Dmitry’s activities to betray the country. That is, this is what hits state system Russia. From a patriotic point of view, there was no way a Soviet historian could be on Bolotnikov’s side. So we decided to make it very simple. The Time of Troubles was integrally dissected: Bolotnikov’s uprising is one thing, and intervention is another. False Dmitry is generally the third. But it was a complete fake. Everything was much more complicated. And all this was very closely connected, and there would be no Bolotnikov without False Dmitry and the Time of Troubles.

What actually was the Time of Troubles in the history of Russia

The Troubles were certainly a revolutionary event. How is a revolution fundamentally different from an uprising? Who knows, by the way, when the term “revolution” appeared as a political one? Hint - is there any connection between the word "revolution" and "revolver"? Besides the fact that revolvers are used in revolutions... Is there any connection between the names “revolution” and “revolver”? The point is that the drum “spins”. The revolution first appeared in 1688 during the so-called “Glorious Revolution” in England, when everything seemed to return to normal. That is, initially a revolution was called a 360-degree turn. We made a turn and returned to our places with some changes. But since the time french revolution 1789-1799 revolutions began to be called a turn not by 360 degrees, but by 180. That is, they turned, but did not return to the previous point.

Any popular movement can be divided into 3 categories:

palace coups. This is a showdown between the elite.
uprisings and riots. The population takes an active part.
revolution. When revolutions occur, what happens is that part of the elite enters into an alliance with part of the population, and throws it against another part of the elite. So at some point, the very top begins to express the interests of society, and not just their own. Therefore, for a short moment of revolution, unity occurs. Then, in most cases, the elite deceives society.

And in the Time of Troubles of the early 17th century, some revolutionary features, especially since after the Time of Troubles the autocratic serfdom system, which had not existed in Rus' before, finally rose to its feet.

countries are told by documents, chronicles, notes of foreigners and travelers.

Contemporaries called it troubles 12 many years chaos, civil war, covert and open intervention, natural disasters and popular unrest. The beginning of this sad series of events can be considered the disastrous harvest failure of 1601, and the end is the expulsion of the interventionists and the coming to power of a new king Mikhail Romanov in 1613. However, the deep roots of the Troubles went back to the 16th century, and the elimination of its consequences lasted for several decades.

“If we know the reasons leading to the destruction of state structures, then we also know the reasons that determine their preservation,” said Aristotle. Historical parallels are sometimes unusually instructive. Looking at the events and heroes of the first Russian Troubles, we often recognize in them prototypes of events and heroes of other, much closer to us, troubled times. And if we have even an ounce of common sense, the events of the previous Troubles should always remind us of the true cost of peace and order.

Id="Causes of Troubles" class="top_offset" >Causes of Troubles

Main events of the Time of Troubles

The famous historian S. F. Platonov distinguished three periods during the Time of Troubles: dynastic, social and national.

Beginning of the Troubles

1598-1605 - reign of Boris Godunov.

Troubles

1605-1606 - reign of False Dmitry I.
1606-1610 - reign of Vasily Shuisky.
1606-1607 - Bolotnikov's uprising.
1608-1610 - reign of False Dmitry II (dual power).

The end of the Time of Troubles

1610-1612 - Seven Boyars.
1612 - militia of Minin and Pozharsky, liberation of Moscow.

The beginning of the Troubles in Russia

At the end of the 16th century. At first glance, the Russian state looked stable and prosperous. During the decade and a half of Fyodor Ivanovich’s reign, the horrors of the oprichnina’s terror were forgotten, and a new generation grew up. Russia had healed old wounds and seemed confident about the future. Tsar Boris Godunov, elected by the Zemsky Sobor in 1598, had vast experience in governing the country, knew the people and understood their problems. He achieved a lot and had every chance of becoming the founder of a new dynasty of Russian autocrats.

However, all this prosperity was built on sand. In the depths of Russian society, destructive centrifugal forces are always dormant. A fatal coincidence of circumstances, multiplied by the mistakes of the rulers, releases them to freedom. This happened during the time of Boris Godunov. The interweaving of accidents and patterns carried the country into the abyss, whose name is the Time of Troubles.

Troubles in Russia

False Dmitry I

Vasily Shuisky

The uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov

False Dmitry II

Russian-Polish intervention

Seven Boyars

Militia in the Time of Troubles

Zemsky Sobor of 1613

Troubles in art

The heroic and tragic events of the Time of Troubles are reflected in different types art in the XIX-XX centuries. Material from the site

Tragedy "Boris Godunov" (Pushkin)

A. S. Pushkin created the tragedy “Boris Godunov”. He shared the point of view according to which Godunov was found guilty of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry. The work shows the torment of the murdering king. The tragedy ends with the death of Godunov, the murder of his wife and son. The boyars announce to the people that Boris’s family poisoned themselves with poison and demand: “Shout: “Long live Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich!”” The last remark of A. S. Pushkin is: “The people are silent.” “Boris Godunov” is still staged today in different theaters across the country.

Opera "Boris Godunov" (Mu-sorgsky)

Russian composer of the 19th century. M. P. Mu-sorgsky created the opera “Boris Godunov”, where the main actor the people speak. The role of Godunov was successfully performed by the great Russian singer F.I. Chaliapin for many years.

Monument to Minin and Pozharsky (Martos)

In the 19th century sculptor I.P. Martos created a monument to the leaders of the people's militia. The whole country collected money for the monument. On the monument there is an inscription: “To Citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky, grateful Russia.” The monument still stands on Red Square in Moscow.

Poem and opera “Ivan Susanin” (Ryleev and Glinka)

There is a legend associated with the Ipatiev Monastery. The Romanovs had lands in the Kostroma region. Young Mikhail Romanov went there. He was in the Ipatiev Monastery. One of the robber detachments, of which there were many throughout the country during the Time of Troubles, wanted to kill Mikhail in order to prevent the enthronement of the Russian Tsar. The invaders demanded that the peasant Ivan Susanin show them the way. He led them into impassable forest wilds, where the entire detachment and the guide himself died.

Who could have been elevated to the throne in Russia during the Time of Troubles?

Why the Troubles is a civil war of the early 17th century briefly

Time of Troubles - Chronology of events

The chronology of events helps to better understand how events unfolded in historical period. The chronology of the time of troubles presented in the article will help students better write an essay or prepare for a report, and teachers can choose key events that are worth talking about in class.

The Time of Troubles is a designation for the period in Russian history from 1598 to 1613. This period was marked by natural disasters, Polish-Swedish intervention, and a severe political, economic, government and social crisis.

Chronology of events of the Time of Troubles

The threshold of troubled times

1565-1572 - oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible. The beginning of a systemic political and economic crisis in Russia.

1569 - Union of Lublin between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

1581 - murder of Ivan Ivanovich's eldest son in a fit of rage by Ivan the Terrible.

1584, March 18 - death of Ivan the Terrible while playing chess, accession to the throne of Fyodor Ivanovich.

1596. October - Schism in the church. The cathedral in Brest, which split into two cathedrals: Uniate and Orthodox. The Kyiv Metropolis was divided in two - those faithful to Orthodoxy and the Uniates.

December 15, 1596 - Royal universal to the Orthodox with support for the decisions of the Uniate Council, with a ban on obeying the clergy loyal to Orthodoxy, an order to accept the union (in violation of the law on freedom of religion in Poland). The beginning of open persecution of Orthodoxy in Lithuania and Poland.

The beginning of troubled times

1598 - the death of Fyodor Ivanovich, the end of the Rurik dynasty, the election of boyar Boris Fedorovich Godunov, the brother-in-law of the late tsar, as king at the Zemsky Sobor.

January 01, 1598. Death of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, end of the Rurik dynasty. The rumor that Tsarevich Dimitri is alive is spreading in Moscow for the first time

February 22, 1598. Boris Godunov’s agreement to accept the royal crown after much persuasion and the threat of Patriarch Job to excommunicate from the Church for disobedience to the decision of the Zemsky Sobor.

1600 Bishop Ignatius the Greek becomes the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Moscow.

1601 Great famine in Rus'.

Two contradictory rumors are spreading: the first is that Tsarevich Dimitri was killed on the orders of Godunov, the second is about his “miraculous salvation.” Both rumors were taken seriously, despite the contradiction, spread and provided the anti-Godunov forces with support among the “masses.”

Impostor

1602 Escape to Lithuania by Hierodeacon of the Chudov Monastery Grigory Otrepiev. the appearance in Lithuania of the first impostor, posing as the miraculously escaped Tsarevich Dmitry.

1603 - Ignatius the Greek becomes Archbishop of Ryazan.

1604 - False Demetrius I, in a letter to Pope Clement VIII, promises to spread the Catholic faith in Russia.

April 13, 1605 - Death of Tsar Boris Feodorovich Godunov. The oath of Muscovites to Tsarina Maria Grigorievna, Tsar Feodor Borisovich and Princess Ksenia Borisovna.

June 03, 1605 - Public murder on the fiftieth day of the reign of sixteen-year-old Tsar Feodor Borisovich Godunov by princes Vasily Vas. Golitsyn and Vasily Mosalsky, Mikhail Molchanov, Sherefedinov and three archers.

June 20, 1605 - False Dmitry I in Moscow; A few days later he appoints Ignatius the Greek as patriarch.

Tushino camp

May 17, 1606 - Conspiracy led by Prince. Vasily Shuisky, uprising in Moscow against False Dmitry I, deposition and death of False Dmitry I.

1606-1610 - reign of the “boyar tsar” Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky.

June 03, 1606 - Transfer of relics and canonization of St. Righteous Tsarevich Dimitry of Uglich.

1606-1607 - uprising under the leadership of the “voivode of Tsar Dmitry” Ivan Bolotnikov.

February 14, 1607 - Arrival in Moscow by royal command and at the request of Patriarch Hermogenes, the “former” Patriarch Job.

February 16, 1607 - “Letter of Permission” - a conciliar ruling on the innocence of Boris Godunov in the death of Tsarevich Dimitri of Uglich, on the legal rights of the Godunov dynasty and on the guilt of the Moscow people in the murder of Tsar Feodor and Tsarina Maria Godunov.

February 20, 1607 - Reading of the petition of the people and the “letter of permission” in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin in the presence of Sts. Patriarchs Job and Hermogenes.

1608 - False Dmitry II's campaign against Moscow: the impostor besieged the capital for 21 months.

The beginning of the Russian-Polish war, the Seven Boyars

1609 - agreement between Vasily Shuisky and Sweden on military assistance, open intervention of the Polish king Sigismund III in Russian affairs, siege of Smolensk.

1610 - murder of False Dmitry II, mysterious death the talented commander Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, defeat by the Polish-Lithuanian troops near Klushino, the overthrow of Vasily Shuisky from the throne and his tonsure as a monk.

1610, August - the entry of Hetman Zholkiewski's troops into Moscow, the calling of Prince Vladislav to the Russian throne.

Militia

1611 - creation of the First Militia by the Ryazan nobleman Prokopiy Lyapunov, an unsuccessful attempt to liberate Moscow, the capture of Novgorod by the Swedes and Smolensk by the Poles.

1611, autumn - creation of the Second Militia led by Nizhny Novgorod Posad elder Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky.

1612, spring - The second militia moved to Yaroslavl, the creation of the “Council of All Land”.

1612, summer - connection of the Second and the remnants of the First militia near Moscow.

1612, August - reflection of Hetman Khodkiewicz’s attempt to break through to the Polish-Lithuanian garrison besieged in the Kremlin.

1612, end of October - liberation of Moscow from the invaders.

Election of the Tsar

1613 – The Zemsky Sobor elects Mikhail Romanov as Tsar (February 21). Mikhail's arrival from Kostroma to Moscow (May 2) and his royal crowning (May 11).

The defeat of Zarutsky and Marina Mnishek near Voronezh.

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"Troubles" - this is a severe political and socio-economic crisis that erupted in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century. According to some historians, the Troubles were the first civil war in the history of our country.

Chronological framework of the Time of Troubles: - beginning - the end of the Rurik dynasty in 1598, ending - the election of Mikhail Romanov as Tsar in 1613.

Causes of the Time of Troubles:

internal political - a dynastic crisis associated with the end of the “legitimate” Rurik dynasty and the insufficient authority of the new Godunov dynasty. During this period, the hereditary autocratic monarchy was transformed into an elective monarchy.
foreign policy - the aspirations of the Roman catholic church subjugate Orthodoxy; intrigues of the Polish government, which wanted to weaken Russia. These forces supported the impostors politically and financially and provided military units. The Polish intervention gave the troubles a severe character and duration. There was a real threat of Russia losing its state independence and dividing its territory between Western countries.
economic - the severe economic crisis associated with crop failures and famine of 1601–1603 led to a sharp increase in food prices and discontent among the broad masses of the population. The Godunov government, despite a number of measures taken, failed to cope with the situation.
social - anti-serfdom sentiments among the peasants, the desire to return to the old order that existed before 1603; excessive development of the Cossacks with their anti-state aspirations. For the first time, the social lower classes take part in the struggle for supreme power.
moral - the decline of moral principles in Russian society.

All these reasons acted together and led to destabilization of the situation in the country.

Stages of the Troubles:

1st stage (1598 – 1606) - the struggle for the Moscow throne.

In January 1598, after the death of Tsar Fedor, there were no legal heirs to the throne. The Zemsky Sobor elected Boris Godunov to the throne, but the position of the new tsar was fragile, the boyars weaved intrigues against him. Being the first elected monarch in Russian history, Godunov established himself not so much as an autocrat, but as a temporary populist, unsure of himself and afraid of open action. Godunov sought the favor of the nobility by giving away undeserved privileges and making loud promises, while at the same time stubbornly consolidating his position in power through secret surveillance and denunciation, as well as unadvertised repressions, that is, through the same lawlessness that was inherent in the oprichnina.

During the reign of Boris Godunov, peasants were gradually attached to the land and peasant exit was prohibited. One of the reasons for this was the desire to prevent the desolation of the center of the country due to expanding colonization and the outflow of population to the outskirts. On the other hand, the ban was a manifestation of class politics, which protected the interests of the landowners and did not take into account the interests of the peasants. In general, the introduction of serfdom increased social tension in the country.

The attitude of many contemporaries and later historians towards Godunov’s personality is negative. He was considered the “customer” of the murder in 1891 in Uglich of the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, who was the heir to the throne. However, there is also a version in favor of Godunov’s non-involvement in this crime. In this case, the personality of Tsar Boris appears as one of the tragic and undeservedly compromised in Russian history.

Godunov’s government denied the murder of Tsarevich Dmitry and recognized his death as an accidental suicide, but a rumor spread in society that the Tsarevich had been saved and was alive.

Key dates:

1598 – 1605 - reign of Boris Godunov.

June 1605 - The Boyar Duma goes over to the side of False Dmitry I, the death of Boris's son Fyodor Godunov and his mother; ceremonial entry into Moscow of False Dmitry I.

May 17, 1606 - overthrow of False Dmitry I. The boyars needed him to overthrow Godunov in order to prepare the ground for the accession of one of the representatives of the boyar nobility. When the impostor had done his job, he was no longer needed and was killed. Prince Vasily Shuisky ascended the throne.

2nd stage (1606–1610) - destruction of state order.

Characterized by the existence of two alternative centers of power in the country: Vasily Shuisky in Moscow and False Dmitry II in Tushino, the beginning of an open Polish-Swedish intervention; complete anarchy in the country.

1606 – 1610 - the reign of Vasily Shuisky. Fulfilling the will of the boyars, Shuisky took the oath and pledged to rule by law, and not by royal whim. Regardless of the personal qualities of the new ruler, this was the first agreement between the tsar and society in Russia. However, new political ideas did not have time to gain the upper hand in the conditions of the rampant popular element. Shuisky ascended the throne as a result of behind-the-scenes intrigues, “without the will of the whole earth,” popular consciousness refused to recognize him as king. The accession of Shuisky became a turning point in the history of the Troubles, since from that time on, from the Troubles in the upper strata of Moscow society, it took on the character of the People's Troubles.

Key dates:

July 1606 – September 1607 - uprising of I. Bolotnikov. He called for exterminating the boyars and taking possession of “their wives, and estates, and estates.”

June 1608 - False Dmitry II captures Tushino, a second center of power is formed with its Boyar Duma, army and patriarch.

July 17, 1610 - the overthrow of Vasily Shuisky, the beginning of the reign of the Seven Boyars, complete anarchy in the country. The Poles made open claims to the Moscow throne. In August 1610, one of the boyar groups “organized” an oath to the Polish prince Vladislav, who then considered himself a “legitimate Moscow sovereign” for another 24 years, although he did not fulfill the main condition of the boyars - he did not accept Orthodoxy.

3rd stage (1610–1613) – restoration of statehood in Russia. It is characterized by open foreign intervention, the emergence of a threat to the national independence of Russia, the anti-national policy of the Seven Boyars, the activities of the 1st and 2nd people's militia, the election of a new tsar at the Zemsky Sobor. By the end of 1611, the Moscow state looked completely destroyed. Government, country manager on behalf of the “sovereign, Tsar Vladislav Zhigimontovich of All Rus'”, was paralyzed. The center of the country was dominated by the Poles, who captured Smolensk and Moscow. Novgorod ended up with the Swedes. Each Russian city acted independently. However, in the minds of people, the craving for order became more and more persistent. In individual lands, local zemstvo councils regularly met, where people jointly discussed their interests. It gradually became clear that solving problems was impossible only within a local framework, and an understanding of the need for an all-Russian movement matured. This was reflected in the people's militias gathered in Russian provincial cities. Despite the collapse of state ties, the awareness of national unity did not disappear - on the contrary, the Troubles gave it special strength. The church conducted continuous preaching in favor of the unity of all Orthodox Christians. In this regard, Patriarch Hermogenes played an outstanding role.

Key dates:

March - July 1611 - I people's militia, headed by Trubetskoy, Zarutsky, Lyapunov. It consisted mainly of Cossacks and nobles; They could not take Moscow.

Autumn 1611 - organization of the Second People's Militia (Minin and Pozharsky). Kozma Minin’s call - not to seek personal benefits, but to give everything to the common cause - resonated with the majority ordinary people, symbolizing the turn of society towards moral and civic principle. The people, having suffered from the unrest, used their last money to gather a militia to restore calm in the country and took the fate of the state into their own hands. What happened was that historian S.M. Solovyov called it a “feat of purification” when “the people, not seeing any external help, delved into their inner, spiritual world in order to extract the means of salvation from there.” The Russian people, in the face of the catastrophe, gathered their strength and recreated the destroyed state, clearly showing that it was not a “royal fiefdom”, but a subject of common concern and common cause.

21 February 1613 state power restored in the country: the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Romanov as Tsar. This candidacy suited everyone, since the new king and his entourage were able to persistently and calmly carry out restoration work.

Consequences of the Troubles:

political - a temporary weakening of the central government, the growth of the influence of the Zemsky Councils, but in the long term it was inevitable that the country would develop along the path of strengthening the central government, since the majority of the population was tired of anarchy and longed for a “firm order,” albeit to the detriment of their rights;
economic - a severe crisis, devastation, loss of 1/3 of the national wealth and 1/4 of the population, the recovery period lasted until the 50s. XVII century.
social - temporary suspension of enslavement, restoration of St. George's Day.
international – a decline in Russia’s prestige, significant territorial losses. The coast of the Gulf of Finland and Karelia went to Sweden, and Smolensk, Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversk lands went to Poland. The Polish prince Vladislav continued to lay claim to the Russian throne.

An important result of the Time of Troubles is that it ended not with the establishment of a new social system, but with the restoration of monarchical statehood. The path for the further development of Russia was chosen: autocracy as a form of political government, Orthodoxy as an ideology.

Concepts:

Military circle - a combined arms meeting of the Don Cossacks (for the Ukrainian - Sichovaya Rada). Resolved issues of war and peace, organization of military campaigns, division of military spoils, selection of atamans and other officials. It was the highest authority and the highest judicial authority. Originated in the 15th century. and existed until the 17th century. as a democratic institution of Cossack governance.

Wild field - the historical name of the southern Russian and Ukrainian steppes between the Don, the upper Oka and the left tributaries of the Dnieper and Desna. Spontaneously developed in the 16th – 17th centuries. Cossacks, as well as runaway peasants and slaves.

Duvan – among the Cossacks - war booty. Since the birth of the Cossacks, trips “for zipuns” have been one of the main sources of livelihood for Cossack communities. All captured goods and trophies were put into a common pot and transferred for storage to the military treasury. At the end of the campaign, the Cossacks gathered together to “duvan duvanit” - to make a division. The share of each depended on the distinction and degree of personal participation in the battles; holding elective military positions during the campaign was also taken into account. Part of the loot was donated to Orthodox monasteries and churches; Broken captured cannons were also sent there to be melted down for bells. There was an inviolable rule: “They don’t blow a duvan without an ataman.”

Cossacks - a special social and historical community of people that carried military service on the borders of Russia. In the XVI-XVII centuries. the Cossacks were free, they had their own autonomy and their own special political organization. The centers of the free Cossacks were the Dnieper, Don, Yaik (Ural) rivers with the adjacent steppe expanses. War played exceptional importance in the life of the Cossacks.

Impostors - those who appropriated someone else’s name or title. Appeared and had the greatest significance in Russian history of the 17th and 18th centuries. The reason for their appearance was the displeasure that prevailed at that time mainly among the lower, land-bound population. Displeasure, expressed in revolts, began on the outskirts and manifested itself only when an armed force appeared among the dissatisfied in the person of the Cossacks, calling them to action under the banner of the false king. The Cossacks, who were a collection of people dissatisfied with the existing system, who fled or were expelled from the state, did not want to voluntarily lose their freedom when the strengthened central government wanted to subjugate them. In the fight against the state, the Cossacks expose impostors and worry the peaceful, unarmed population of the country. Only those impostors have success who appeared among the Cossacks or relied on them.

"Seven Boyars" - boyar government (7 people) in Russia in 1610-1612. Transferred actual power to the Poles; liquidated by the Second Militia under the leadership of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky in October 1612.

"Tushinsky thief" – False Dmitry II (? - 1610) impostor of unknown origin. Since 1607, he pretended to be the allegedly saved Tsar Dmitry (False Dmitry I). In 1608-09 he created the Tushino camp near Moscow, from where he unsuccessfully tried to capture the capital. With the beginning of open Polish intervention, he fled to Kaluga, where he was killed.