Ivan IV ascended the throne as the "Grand Duke of All Rus'" in 1533 and was crowned Tsar in 1547, the first Tsar of Russia, also known as Ivan the Terrible. This article tells about the life of Ivan the Terrible.
Ivan IV
Ivan was born in the Kremlin in Moscow on August 25, 1530, to the Grand Duke of Moscow, Vasily III, and his mother was named Yelena. Legend has it that when Ivan was born, there was a thunderbolt that shook the heavens and the earth, and the Kremlin was struck by lightning. The court soothsayers asserted that this foreshadowed the birth of a great emperor. When the distant Kazan Khan learned of Ivan's birth, he said to the visiting Russian nobles: "Your sovereign has been born, he has grown two teeth. He will devour us with one tooth and devour you nobles with another! "
1. A terrible childhood
A happy childhood can heal a lifetime of life, and a painful childhood requires a lifetime of horror to heal. Ivan lost his father at the age of three, leaving the rule to his mother, Elena, and the boyar nobles. He lost his mother at the age of eight, and the ruling power was fought back and forth between the two families of the boyar nobles Shuysky and Belinsky, and the struggles and intrigues that took place around him undoubtedly affected him, and the great nobles worshiped him in performance, and deliberately ignored, insulted, and hurt him in private. Bitterness and cruelty gradually became Ivan's basic temperament.
2. Become a Tsar
Ivan the Terrible movie poster
In 1543, Ivan collaborated with some of the old Moscow nobility to execute Shuisky, but power fell into the hands of the great nobleman Glinsky. Several aristocratic groups such as Shuysky, Belsky, and Glinsky, who were hostile to each other and killed each other, took turns to control the state affairs, causing the country to be at peace, the people were not able to make a living, and the people's revolt became stronger and stronger. This situation undoubtedly had a profound impact on Ivan in his early years, laying the foundation for his later ideas of absolute monarchy.
In 1547, at the age of 16, Ivan decided to be crowned Tsar instead of Grand Duke, and Ivan was crowned Tsar on January 16 by the Archbishop of Moscow, Macari. This is a title that his grandfather and father have coveted for a long time and dare not rashly adopt. Ivan categorically changed the title, indicating his determination to inherit the mantle of his father and ancestors and build the Great Russian Empire. It was also the year that a fire broke out in Moscow, a popular unrest ensued, the violent populace killed one of the tsar's uncles, and Ivan was also threatened by the mob for a time, which was a psychological crisis that he experienced in his life, and these crises were the extremes of his brutal rule.
3. A happy marriage and a period of good governance
Although Ivan's cruel and painful nature was forged by his unhappy childhood, at least Ivan's first thirteen-year happy marriage brought him a period of good governance.
In 1547, Ivan married Anastasia of the Boyar Romanov family, and it was a happy marriage, and the young tsar was greatly influenced by his gentle and charming wife. Ivan's important ministers Rada included Father Sylvester, Alexei Adashev, and Bishop Maclios.
In 1549, he convened the first Council of Gentlemen to support his reform program. In 1551 Ivan convened a synod, the Council of the Hundred Chapters, and with the help of his important ministers, the organization of the Church was strengthened and improved. 1550年向这个会议提交并通过了新的法典《俄罗斯法典》。 Then, in 1556, Ivan promulgated the regulations governing the military service of the nobility, and the first permanent regular regiments were incorporated into the Russian army, known as the Shooting Army.
In terms of external expansion:
In 1556 it annexed the Astrakhan Khanate, in 1557 it annexed the Kazan Khanate, and in 1558 it defeated the Crimean Khanate. In 1558 the Knights of Livonia were used against them, and in 1561 the Order was dissolved and the land was annexed. In 1563 defeated the Polish-Lithuanian army and captured Polotsk.
Russia in the time of Ivan IV
In 1555, commercial relations were established with the British, and Arkhangelsk became the main port of English entry into Russia.
Judging from the above, Ivan can be called the hero of the previous generation.
But... Ivan's reign entered a second period: the reign of Ivan the Terrible
Fourth, the reign of Ivan the Terror
1. Fight against the boyar nobility
Ivan's second phase of his reign embodied a radical effort to overcome the conservative traditions of Russian politics, rooted in family ties, the consensus and established rules of the ruling elite, and Ivan was fighting for a personal and absolute domination, even if it was clear that in the short term it undermined political life, society, and the economy. Looking back at history, the conflict between the tsar and the boyar nobility was a logical consequence of the development of history. In order for Ivan to establish a centralized state free from the influence of family and stereotyped mistakes, he had to remove the obstacles of these nobles.
Ivan's personal life events also brought about a drastic change in his attitude towards the boyar nobility: in 1553, Ivan became seriously ill and felt that his limit was approaching, and asked the nobility to swear allegiance to his young son Dmitry, which even his closest assistant Sylvester refused, not to mention other great nobles, and opponents believed that Ivan's wife was from the boyar family rather than the prince's family, and instead supported Ivan's cousin, Duke Vladimir, as tsar. Although in the end they still swore allegiance to Dmitry, their attitude stung Ivan deeply.
In 1560, Ivan's wife Anastalia died suddenly, and the former retainers Sylvester and Adashev, suspected of poisoning Anna, were put on trial, and the priest was banished to a distant monastery, where the latter was imprisoned until death. Their relatives, colleagues and friends were executed without trial. Quite a few boyars fled to Lithuania, including the famous Duke Andrei Kurbisky.
In 1564, Ivan abruptly left Moscow and took refuge in the small town of Aleksandrov, where a month later he wrote to the nobles and clergy expressing his desire to abdicate and his dissatisfaction with the nobility and clergy. The nobles and commoners, who had fallen into chaos, pleaded with him to return to power. After agreeing to Ivan's two conditions, in 1565 he returned to Moscow.
Condition 1: Divide part of the territory of Muscovy into a special district under the full rule of the Tsar.
Condition 2: Authorize the Tsar with full authority to dispose of evildoers and traitors, execute them if necessary and confiscate their property.
During this period, Ivan experienced another serious psychological crisis, and when he returned, his hair and beard had almost fallen out.
2. Ivan's Great Purge
In the SAR area, many landowners moved, and their land was given to the nouveau riche who served the Tsar, and the word TZ was gradually used to refer specifically to the army of Ivan's reign of terror, the EHR, also known as the Praetorian Guard: they were dressed in black, rode black horses, and had dogs' heads hanging from their horses.
Ivan's cousin, Duke Vladimir, and his family and friends were killed, Archbishop Philip was killed by the special forces, many cities were completely destroyed, and Levgorod was razed to the ground in 1570. After the imposition of the special regime, Ivan often personally participated in investigations, tortures, and executions, together with the head of the special army, Maluta Skuratov.
1581年，在一次暴怒中，恐怖的伊凡用削尖的棍子失手打死了自己的太子伊万。
Repin's famous painting: Ivan kills his son
The establishment of the Tsarist Territory was a major event in the later years of Ivan's reign. The success of the special districts was that they did deprive a part of the hereditary nobility of their powers, elevate the status of the petty nobles who served in the military, and thus strengthen the autocratic imperial power. But there are also insurmountable drawbacks:
First, the creation of the SAR gave rise to two parallel and independent ruling bodies of the Russian state. Officials in ordinary districts are unable to coordinate with the pace of the SAR districts.
Second, although the special military personnel can kill the big nobles and innocent people who dare to resist, they are not as experienced in military and political affairs as the big nobles. In 1571, the Tatars of Crimea bloodbathed Moscow, demonstrating the inability of the Legion army to defend itself against foreign enemies.
Third, a large number of peasants in the SAR area were deprived of their land, which accelerated the process of peasant serfdom. The deceitful seizure of the soldiers under the special jurisdiction has caused a large area of land to be barren and the army to dry up its resources. The intensification of contradictions in various places contributed to the collapse of the special system.
In 1572, the tsar was forced to reorganize the SAR districts, but the state of a state divided into two parts lasted until 1575.
3. Hit hard
Ivan the Terrible in his later years
In 1571, Gevret Glekhan led the Crimean Tatars to capture Moscow, taking 100,000 prisoners. For the first time, Moscow fell as the capital. In 1578, Stepan Bartoly led a Polish army to capture Polotsk and Velikiye Luki. In 1578 the Polish-Swedish army defeated the Russian army at Wenden, and after 25 years of war, Ivan's march to the Baltic ended in a crushing defeat.
Due to the debauchery of life and the grief of the loss of his son, Ivan died suddenly on March 18, 1584, while playing chess. This was the end of the life of the first Tsar of Russia.
4. Conquest of Siberia
Before ending the story of Ivan the Terrible, a major event occurred in the latter part of his reign that affected the development of Russian history, namely the conquest of Siberia by Yermak. In 1582, the Stroganov family launched an expedition against the Siberian Khanate, led by Yermak, consisting of 1,650 Cossacks and other volunteers, and managed to capture the base camp of Kuchu Khan. Although Yermak died in battle in 1584, it was the beginning of effective Russian control over Siberia, where in 1586 a citadel called Tyumen was established, and in 1587 Tobolsk, which then became an important administrative center.
At the end of this article, the next issue will talk about Fyodor.