Description of the Livonian War
Livonian War(1558–1583) - the war of the Russian kingdom against the Livonian Order, the Polish-Lithuanian state, Sweden and Denmark for hegemony in the Baltic states.
Main events (Livonian War - briefly)
Causes: Access to the Baltic Sea. Hostile policy of the Livonian Order.
Occasion: Refusal of the order to pay tribute for Yuriev (Dorpat).
First stage (1558-1561): The capture of Narva, Yuryev, Fellin, the capture of Master Furstenberg, the Livonian Order as military force practically ceased to exist.
Second stage (1562-1577): Entry into the war of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (since 1569) and Sweden. Capture of Polotsk (1563). Defeat on the river Ule and near Orsha (1564). Capture of Weissenstein (1575) and Wenden (1577).
Third stage (1577-1583): Campaign of Stefan Batory, Fall of Polotsk, Velikiye Luki. Defense of Pskov (August 18, 1581 - February 4, 1582) Capture of Narva, Ivangorod, Koporye by the Swedes.
1582– Yam-Zapolsky truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (refusal Ivan the Terrible from Livonia for the return of lost Russian fortresses).
1583– Plyusskoe truce with Sweden (renunciation of Estland, concession to the Swedes of Narva, Koporye, Ivangorod, Korela).
Causes of defeat: incorrect assessment of the balance of power in the Baltic states, weakening of the state as a result of the internal policies of Ivan IV.
Progress of the Livonian War (1558–1583) (full description)
Causes
In order to start a war, formal reasons were found, but the real reasons were Russia’s geopolitical need to gain access to the Baltic Sea, as it would be more convenient for direct connections with the centers of European civilizations, and the desire to participate in the division of the territory of the Livonian Order, the progressive collapse of which became obvious, but which, not wanting to strengthen Muscovite Russia, prevented its external contacts.
Russia had a small section of the Baltic coast, from the Neva basin to Ivangorod. However, it was strategically vulnerable and had no ports or developed infrastructure. Ivan the Terrible hoped to take advantage of the Livonia transport system. He considered it an ancient Russian fiefdom, which was illegally seized by the crusaders.
The forceful solution to the problem predetermined the defiant behavior of the Livonians themselves, who, even according to their historians, acted unreasonably. Mass pogroms served as a reason for aggravation of relations Orthodox churches in Livonia. Even at that time, the truce between Moscow and Livonia (concluded in 1504 as a result of the Russian-Lithuanian war of 1500-1503) had expired. To extend it, the Russians demanded payment of the Yuriev tribute, which the Livonians were obliged to pay again Ivan III, but in 50 years they have never collected it. Having recognized the need to pay it, they again did not fulfill their obligations.
1558 - the Russian army entered Livonia. Thus began the Livonian War. It lasted 25 years, becoming the longest and one of the most difficult in Russian history.
First stage (1558-1561)
In addition to Livonia, the Russian Tsar wanted to conquer the East Slavic lands, which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1557, November - he concentrated a 40,000-strong army in Novgorod for a campaign in the Livonian lands.
Capture of Narva and Syrensk (1558)
In December, this army under the command of the Tatar prince Shig-Aley, Prince Glinsky and other governors advanced to Pskov. Meanwhile, the auxiliary army of Prince Shestunov began fighting from the Ivangorod area to the mouth of the Narva River (Narova). 1558, January - the tsarist army approached Yuryev (Dorpt), but was unable to capture it. Then part of the Russian army turned to Riga, and the main forces headed to Narva (Rugodiv), where they united with Shestunov’s army. There was a lull in the fighting. Only the garrisons of Ivangorod and Narva fired at each other. On May 11, Russians from Ivangorod attacked the Narva fortress and were able to take it the next day.
Soon after the capture of Narva, Russian troops under the command of governors Adashev, Zabolotsky and Zamytsky and Duma clerk Voronin were ordered to capture the Syrensk fortress. On June 2, the shelves were under its walls. Adashev set up barriers on the Riga and Kolyvan roads to prevent the main forces of the Livonians under the command of the Master of the Order from reaching Syrensk. On June 5, large reinforcements from Novgorod approached Adashev, which the besieged saw. On the same day, artillery shelling of the fortress began. The next day the garrison surrendered.
Capture of Neuhausen and Dorpat (1558)
From Syrensk, Adashev returned to Pskov, where the entire Russian army was concentrated. In mid-June it took the fortresses of Neuhausen and Dorpat. The entire north of Livonia came under Russian control. The Order's army was numerically several times inferior to the Russians and, moreover, was scattered among separate garrisons. It could do nothing against the king's army. Until October 1558, the Russians in Livonia were able to capture 20 castles.
Battle of Thiersen
1559, January - Russian troops marched on Riga. Near Tiersen they defeated the Livonian army, and near Riga they burned the Livonian fleet. Although it was not possible to capture the Riga fortress, 11 more Livonian castles were taken.
Truce (1559)
The Master of the Order was forced to conclude a truce before the end of 1559. By November of this year, the Livonians were able to recruit Landsknechts in Germany and resume the war. But failures never ceased to haunt them.
1560, January - the army of governor Borboshin captured the fortresses of Marienburg and Fellin. The Livonian Order practically ceased to exist as a military force.
1561 - the last master of the Livonian Order, Kettler, recognized himself as a vassal of the King of Poland and divided Livonia between Poland and Sweden (the island of Ezel went to Denmark). The Poles got Livonia and Courland (Kettler became Duke of the latter), the Swedes got Estland.
Second stage (1562-1577)
Poland and Sweden began to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Livonia. Ivan the Terrible not only did not comply with this demand, but also invaded the territory of Lithuania, allied to Poland, at the end of 1562. His army numbered 33,407 men. The goal of the campaign was well-fortified Polotsk. 1563, February 15 - Polotsk, unable to withstand the fire of 200 Russian guns, capitulated. Ivan's army moved to Vilna. The Lithuanians were forced to conclude a truce until 1564. After the resumption of the war, Russian troops occupied almost the entire territory of Belarus.
But the repressions that began against the leaders of the “elected Rada” - the de facto government until the end of the 50s, had negative impact on the combat effectiveness of the Russian army. Many of the governors and nobles, fearing reprisals, preferred to flee to Lithuania. In the same 1564, one of the most prominent governors, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, moved there, close to the Adashev brothers who were part of the elected council and fearing for his life. The subsequent oprichnina terror further weakened the Russian army.
1) Ivan the Terrible; 2) Stefan Batory
Formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1569 - as a result of the Union of Lublin, Poland and Lithuania formed a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Republic), under the leadership of the King of Poland. Now the Polish army came to the aid of the Lithuanian army.
1570 - fighting intensified in both Lithuania and Livonia. To secure the Baltic lands, Ivan IV decided to create his own fleet. At the beginning of 1570 he issued " letter of commendation"to organize a privateer (private) fleet, which acted on behalf of the Russian Tsar, to the Dane Karsten Rode. Rohde was able to arm several ships, and he caused significant damage to Polish maritime trade. In order to have a reliable naval base, the Russian army in the same 1570 tried to capture Revel, thereby starting a war with Sweden. But the city unhinderedly received supplies from the sea, and Grozny was forced to lift the siege after 7 months. The Russian privateer fleet was never able to become a formidable force.
Third stage (1577-1583)
After a 7-year lull, in 1577, the 32,000-strong army of Ivan the Terrible launched a new campaign to Revel. But this time the siege of the city brought nothing. Then Russian troops went to Riga, capturing Dinaburg, Volmar and several other castles. But these successes were not decisive.
Meanwhile, the situation on the Polish front began to become more complicated. 1575 - an experienced military leader, the Transylvanian prince, was elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was able to form a strong army, which also included German and Hungarian mercenaries. Batory entered into an alliance with Sweden, and the united Polish-Swedish army in the fall of 1578 was able to defeat the 18,000-strong Russian army, which lost 6,000 people killed and captured and 17 guns.
By the start of the 1579 campaign, Stefan Batory and Ivan IV had approximately equal main armies of 40,000 men each. After the defeat at Wenden, Grozny was not confident in his abilities and proposed to begin peace negotiations. But Batory rejected this proposal and went on the offensive against Polotsk. In the autumn, Polish troops besieged the city and, after a month-long siege, captured it. The army of governors Shein and Sheremetev, sent to the rescue of Polotsk, only reached the Sokol fortress. They did not dare to engage in battle with superior enemy forces. Soon the Poles captured Sokol, defeating the troops of Sheremetev and Shein. The Russian Tsar clearly did not have enough strength to successfully fight on two fronts at once - in Livonia and Lithuania. After the capture of Polotsk, the Poles took several cities in the Smolensk and Seversk lands, and then returned to Lithuania.
1580 - Batory launched a large campaign against Rus', he captured and ravaged the cities of Ostrov, Velizh and Velikiye Luki. At the same time, the Swedish army under the command of Pontus Delagardie took the city of Korela and the eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus.
1581 - the Swedish army captured Narva, and the following year they occupied Ivangorod, Yam and Koporye. Russian troops were expelled from Livonia. The fighting moved to Russian territory.
Siege of Pskov (August 18, 1581 – February 4, 1582)
1581 - a 50,000-strong Polish army led by the king besieged Pskov. It was a very strong fortress. The city, which stood on the right, high bank of the Velikaya River at the confluence of the Pskov River, was surrounded by a stone wall. It stretched for 10 km and had 37 towers and 48 gates. However, from the side of the Velikaya River, from where it was difficult to expect an enemy attack, the wall was wooden. Under the towers there were underground passages that provided secret communication between different sections of the defense. The city had significant supplies of food, weapons and ammunition.
Russian troops were dispersed over many points from where an enemy invasion was expected. The Tsar himself, with a significant detachment in number, stopped in Staritsa, not risking going towards the Polish army marching towards Pskov.
When the sovereign learned about the invasion of Stefan Batory, the army of Prince Ivan Shuisky, appointed “great governor,” was sent to Pskov. 7 other governors were subordinate to him. All residents of Pskov and the garrison were sworn that they would not surrender the city, but would fight to the end. The total number of Russian troops defending Pskov reached 25,000 people and was approximately half the size of Batory’s army. By order of Shuisky, the outskirts of Pskov were devastated so that the enemy could not find fodder and food there.
Livonian War 1558-1583. Stefan Batory near Pskov
On August 18, Polish troops approached the city within 2–3 cannon shots. For a week, Batory conducted reconnaissance of Russian fortifications and only on August 26 gave the order to his troops to approach the city. But the soldiers soon came under fire from Russian cannons and retreated to the Cherekha River. There Batory set up a fortified camp.
The Poles began to dig trenches and set up tours to get closer to the walls of the fortress. On the night of September 4-5, they drove up to the Pokrovskaya and Svinaya towers on the southern face of the walls and, having placed 20 guns, on the morning of September 6 began to fire at both towers and the 150 m wall between them. By the evening of September 7, the towers were severely damaged, and a 50 m wide gap appeared in the wall. However, the besieged managed to build a new wooden wall against the gap.
On September 8, the Polish army launched an assault. The attackers were able to capture both damaged towers. But with shots from the large Bars cannon, capable of sending cannonballs over a distance of more than 1 km, the Pig Tower occupied by the Poles was destroyed. Then the Russians blew up its ruins by rolling up barrels of gunpowder. The explosion served as a signal for a counterattack, which was led by Shuisky himself. The Poles were unable to hold the Pokrovskaya Tower and retreated.
After the unsuccessful assault, Batory ordered digging to blow up the walls. The Russians were able to destroy two tunnels with the help of mine galleries, but the enemy was never able to complete the rest. On October 24, Polish batteries began shelling Pskov from across the Velikaya River with hot cannonballs to start fires, but the city’s defenders quickly dealt with the fire. After 4 days, a Polish detachment with crowbars and picks approached the wall from the Velikaya side between the corner tower and the Pokrovsky Gate and destroyed the base of the wall. It collapsed, but it turned out that behind this wall there was another wall and a ditch, which the Poles could not overcome. The besieged threw stones and pots of gunpowder on their heads, poured boiling water and tar.
On November 2, the Poles launched their final assault on Pskov. This time Batory's army attacked the western wall. Before this, it had been subjected to heavy shelling for 5 days and was destroyed in several places. However, the Russians met the enemy with heavy fire, and the Poles turned back without reaching the breaches.
By that time, the morale of the besiegers had dropped noticeably. However, the besieged also experienced considerable difficulties. The main forces of the Russian army in Staritsa, Novgorod and Rzhev were inactive. Only two detachments of archers of 600 people each tried to break through to Pskov, but more than half of them died or were captured.
On November 6, Batory removed the guns from the batteries, stopped siege work and began preparing for the winter. At the same time, he sent detachments of Germans and Hungarians to capture the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery 60 km from Pskov, but a garrison of 300 archers, with the support of monks, successfully repelled two attacks, and the enemy was forced to retreat.
Stefan Batory, convinced that he could not take Pskov, in November handed over command to Hetman Zamoyski, and he himself went to Vilna, taking with him almost all the mercenaries. As a result, the number of Polish troops decreased by almost half - to 26,000 people. The besiegers suffered from cold and disease, and the death toll and desertion increased.
Results and consequences
Under these conditions, Batory agreed to a ten-year truce. It was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky on January 15, 1582. Rus' renounced all its conquests in Livonia, and the Poles liberated the Russian cities they had occupied.
1583 - the Truce of Plus was signed with Sweden. Yam, Koporye and Ivangorod passed to the Swedes. Only a small section of the Baltic coast at the mouth of the Neva remained behind Russia. But in 1590, after the expiration of the truce, hostilities between the Russians and Swedes resumed and this time were successful for the Russians. As a result, under the Tyavzin Treaty of “Eternal Peace,” Rus' regained Yam, Koporye, Ivangorod and Korelsky district. But this was only small consolation. In general, Ivan IV's attempt to gain a foothold in the Baltic failed.
At the same time, acute contradictions between Poland and Sweden on the issue of control over Livonia eased the position of the Russian Tsar, excluding a joint Polish-Swedish invasion of Rus'. The resources of Poland alone, as the experience of Batory’s campaign against Pskov showed, were clearly insufficient to capture and retain a significant territory of the Muscovite kingdom. At the same time, the Livonian War showed that Sweden and Poland had a formidable enemy in the east that they had to reckon with.
After the conquest of Kazan, Russia turned its gaze to the Baltic and put forward plans to capture Livonia. There were two main reasons for the Livonian War: the right to trade freely in the Baltic, and for opponents the issue of preventing Russia from becoming a European state was resolved. The Order and the German merchants hindered the growth of Russian trade. Therefore, for Russia, the main goal of the Livonian War was to gain access to the Baltic Sea. The struggle for supremacy at sea was between Lithuania and Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.
The reason for the start of the war was the failure of the Livonian Order to pay tribute, which the Yuryev (or Dorpat) bishopric undertook to pay under the peace treaty of 1554.
In 1558, Russian troops invaded Livonia.
At the first stage of the war (1558-1561), several cities and castles were taken, including such significant ones as Narva, Dorpat, Yuryev.
Instead of continuing the successfully launched offensive, the Moscow government granted the Order a truce and at the same time equipped an expedition against the Crimea. Taking advantage of the respite, the Livonian knights gathered military forces and, a month before the end of the truce, defeated the Russian troops.
Russia did not achieve results in the war against the Crimean Khanate and missed favorable opportunities for victory in Livonia. In 1561, Master Ketler signed an agreement under which the Order came under the protectorate of Lithuania and Poland.
Moscow made peace with Crimea and concentrated all its forces in Livonia. But now, instead of one weak order, he had to deal with several strong contenders for his inheritance. If at first it was possible to avoid a war with Sweden and Denmark, then the fight with the main heir of the Livonian Order, i.e. with the Polish-Lithuanian king turned out to be inevitable.
The second stage of the war (1562-1578) for Russia passed with varying degrees of success.
Russia's highest achievement in the Livonian War was the capture of Polotsk in February 1563, after which military failures and fruitless negotiations followed. The Crimean Khan refused an alliance with Moscow.
In 1566, Lithuanian ambassadors came to Moscow with a proposal for a truce and so that Polotsk and part of Livonia would remain with Moscow. Ivan the Terrible demanded all of Livonia. Such demands were rejected, and the Lithuanian king Sigismund Augustus resumed the war with Russia.
In 1568, Sweden dissolved its previously concluded alliance with Russia. England refused to sign the plan developed by Russian diplomats alliance treaty. In 1569, Poland and Lithuania united into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russia had to continue the Livonian War without allies under the most unfavorable conditions.
However, both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia equally needed peace, so both countries concluded a three-year truce in 1570.
At this time, Russia was conducting military operations with the Swedes, resorting to the help of Denmark. Ivan the Terrible decided to create a vassal Livonian kingdom from the conquered lands, on the throne of which it was promised to place the Danish prince Magnus, married to the royal niece. He tried to expel the Swedes from Reval (Estonia) in early 1577, but the siege was unsuccessful. Sweden then made peace with Denmark.
After the death of Sigismund Augustus in 1572, a period of kinglessness began in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the struggle of contenders for the throne, the Transylvanian prince Stefan Batory won in 1576. He created an anti-Russian alliance and assembled a significant army.
The third stage of the Livonian War (1679-1583) began with the invasion of Russia by the Polish king Stefan Batory. At the same time, Russia had to fight with Sweden. For the first time during the Livonian War, Russia’s opponents actually joined their military efforts.
In August 1579, Batory's army conquered Polotsk, and a year later Velikiye Luki and other cities. In an attempt to take Pskov, Batory suffered the biggest failure in the war with Russia. Meanwhile, hostilities continued in Livonia and Estonia, where the Swedes took the cities of Padis, Wesenberg, and Kexholm in Karelia from the Russians, and on September 9, 1581, Sweden captured Narva, then Ivangorod, Yam, and Koporye fell.
With the loss of Narva, continuing the struggle for Livonia lost its meaning for Grozny.
Realizing the impossibility of waging war against two opponents at once, the tsar began negotiations with Batory on a truce in order to concentrate all forces on the reconquest of Narva. But plans to attack Narva remained unfulfilled.
The result of the Livonian War was the conclusion of two treaties that were unfavorable for Russia.
On January 15, 1582, the Yam Zapolsky Treaty on a 10-year truce was signed. Russia ceded all its possessions in Livonia to Poland, and Batory returned to Russia the fortresses and cities he had conquered, but retained Polotsk.
In August 1583, Russia and Sweden signed the Treaty of Plus on a three-year truce. The Swedes retained all the captured Russian cities. Russia has retained a section of the coast of the Gulf of Finland with the mouth of the Neva.
The end of the Livonian War did not give Russia access to the Baltic Sea. This was very important for Russia, but still the main strategic task of the Livonian War for Ivan IV was different. The annexation of Livonia was necessary to stop the centuries-old “onslaught to the east” from the Vatican to enslave Rus'.
The reasons for the defeat in the difficult 25-year Livonian War were the economic weakness of Russia, its internal difficulties, and the backwardness of the Russians in the art of war compared to Western Europeans. Political shortsightedness, Ivan the Terrible's ignorance of his rivals, and his desire for quick results at any cost could not but lead to a major international conflict.
The consequence of the Livonian War was an extremely difficult situation for Russia; the country was ruined.
The events of the Livonian War are classic example Europe's reluctance to let the Russian state into the world political and economic arena. The confrontation between Russia and European states, which, by the way, continues to this day, did not begin suddenly. This confrontation goes back centuries and there are many reasons for it. Although the main one is competition. At first it was a spiritual competition - the struggle of the shepherds of the Christian church for the flock, and, incidentally, for the territorial possessions of this flock. So, the events of the Livonian War of the 16th century are echoes of the struggle waged between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
The first Russian Tsar declared war on the Livonian Order in 1558. The official reason was the fact that the Livonians had already 50 years stopped paying tribute for the possession of the city of Dorpat, which they captured back in the 13th century. In addition, the Livonians did not want to allow specialists and craftsmen from German states to enter Muscovy. The military campaign began in 1558 and lasted until 1583 and was called the Livonian War in World History.
Three periods of the Livonian War
The events of the Livonian War have three periods, which occurred with varying success for Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The first period is 1558 - 1563. Russian troops carried out successful military operations, which in 1561 led to the defeat of the Livonian Order. Russian troops captured the cities of Narva and Dorpat. They came close to Riga and Tallinn. The last successful operation for the Russian troops was the capture of Polotsk - this happened in 1563. The Livonian War became protracted, which was facilitated by the internal problems of the Moscow state.
The second period in the Livonian War lasts from 1563 to 1578. Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania united against the troops of the Russian Tsar. Each pursuing its own goal in the war with Muscovy, these northern European states pursued a common goal - not to allow the Russian state to join the number of European states that lay claim to a dominant position. The Moscow state should not have returned those European territories that belonged to it during Kievan Rus and were lost during internecine and feudal strife and wars of conquest. The situation in the Livonian War was complicated for the Russian troops by the economic weakness of the Moscow state, which during this period was experiencing a period of ruin. The ruin and bleeding of an already not very rich country occurred as a result of the oprichnina, which turned out to be an enemy no less bloodthirsty and cruel than the Livonian Order. A prominent Russian military leader, a member of the Chosen Council of Ivan the Terrible, his friend and associate, thrust the knife of betrayal into the back of his sovereign, as well as into the back of his country. Kurbsky in 1563 went over to the side of King Sigismund and participated in military operations against Russian troops. He knew many of the military plans of the Russian Tsar, which he did not fail to report former enemies. In addition, Lithuania and Poland united in 1569 into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The third period of the Lithuanian War takes place from 1579 to 1583. This is a period of defensive battles waged by the Russians against the combined forces of the enemy. As a result, the Moscow state lost Polotsk in 1579, and Velikiye Luki in 1581. In August 1581, the Polish king Stefan Batory began a siege of the city of Pskov, in which Kurbsky also participated. The truly heroic siege lasted almost six months, but the invading troops never entered the city. The Polish king and the Russian Tsar signed the Yampol Peace Treaty in January 1582. Russian state lost not only the Baltic lands and many original Russian cities, but also did not gain access to the Baltic Sea. The main task of the Livonian War was not solved.
1) 1558–1561 - Russian troops completed the defeat of the Livonian Order, took Narva, Tartu (Dorpat), approached Tallinn (Revel) and Riga;
2) 1561–1578 - the war with Livonia turned for Russia into a war against Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark. The hostilities became protracted. Russian troops fought with varying success, occupying a number of Baltic fortresses in the summer of 1577. However, the situation was complicated:
The weakening of the country's economy as a result of the devastation by the guardsmen;
A change in the attitude of the local population towards Russian troops as a result of military raids;
By going over to the side of the enemy, Prince Kurbsky, one of the most prominent Russian military leaders, who also knew the military plans of Ivan the Terrible;
Devastating raids on Russian lands by the Crimean Tatars;
3) 1578–1583 - Russia's defensive actions. In 1569, Poland and Lithuania were united into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Stefan Batory, elected to the throne, went on the offensive; Since 1579, Russian troops fought defensive battles. In 1579 Polotsk was taken, in 1581 - Velikiye Luki, the Poles besieged Pskov. The heroic defense of Pskov began (it was headed by governor I.P. Shuisky), which lasted five months. The courage of the city's defenders prompted Stefan Batory to abandon further siege.
The Livonian War ended with the signing of the Yam-Zapolsky (with Poland) and Plyussky (with Sweden) truces, which were unfavorable for Russia. The Russians had to abandon the conquered lands and cities. The Baltic lands were captured by Poland and Sweden. The war exhausted Russia's strength. The main task - conquering access to the Baltic Sea - was not solved.
Assessing Russian foreign policy in the 16th century. - the conquest of the Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556) khanates, the Livonian War (1558–1583), the beginning of the colonization of Siberia, the creation of a defensive line of the Moscow state that protected against ruinous raids, mainly from the Crimean Khanate, it is important to keep in mind that the largest The country achieved foreign policy successes during the first period of the reign of Ivan the Terrible (50–60s).
In addition, it is necessary to emphasize that Russia’s military policy was determined not only by its fundamentally natural desires to defend its young statehood, secure its borders, overcome the syndrome of more than two centuries of yoke, and finally reach the Baltic Sea, but also by expansionist and aggressive aspirations , generated by the very logic of the formation of a centralized state and the interests of the military service class.
Features of the political development of the Moscow state in the 16th century.
Unlike Europe, where national centralized states emerged, the unification of Russian lands into the Moscow state did not yet mean their merging into a single political and economic whole.
Throughout the 16th century. There was a complex and contradictory process of centralization and the elimination of the specific system.
In the study of the features of the political development of the Russian state in the 16th century. Several of the most controversial issues can be identified.
In domestic and foreign literature there is no consensus on the definition of the state form established in Russia. Some authors characterize this form as an estate-representative monarchy, others - as an estate monarchy.
Some define political system Russia XVI century as autocracy, understanding by it a despotic form of absolutism and even eastern despotism.
The course of the discussion is influenced by the following circumstances:
Firstly, demonization in the assessment of the personality and politics of Ivan the Terrible, which was started by N.M. Karamzin;
Secondly, the ambiguity of the concepts of “autocracy”, “absolutism”, “oriental despotism”, and their relationships.
The formal legal, or purely rational, definition of these concepts does not take into account the traditional nature of power characteristic of the medieval worldview, which influenced the essence and form of statehood. Autocracy of the 16th century. - this is the Russian national form of Orthodox class statehood, a churched state, which cannot be identified either with varieties of Eastern despotism or with European absolutism, at least until the reforms of Peter I (V.F. Patrakov).
MM. Shumilov drew attention to the fact that the authors’ opinions differ in their characterization of the Russian autocracy. Thus, according to R. Pipes, the autocratic system in Russia was formed under the influence of the Golden Horde. The American historian believes that since for centuries the khan was an absolute master over the Russian princes, then “his power and greatness almost completely erased the image of the Byzantine basileus from memory.” The latter was something very distant, a legend; none of the appanage princes had been to Constantinople, but many of them knew the road to Sarai very well.
It was in Sarai that the princes had the opportunity to closely contemplate the power “with which one cannot enter into an agreement, which must be obeyed unconditionally.” Here they learned to tax households and trade transactions, conduct diplomatic relations, manage a courier service and deal with disobedient subjects.
S.G. Pushkarev believed that the political system of the Russian state was formed under the influence of Byzantine church-political culture, and the power of the Moscow Grand Dukes (Ivan III, Vasily III) and tsars (with the exception of Ivan IV) was unlimited only formally. “In general, the Moscow sovereign was - not formally, but morally - limited by old customs and traditions, especially church ones. The Moscow sovereign could not and did not want to do what was “not done.”
Depending on the answer to the question about the essence of monarchical power in Russia, historians have different opinions regarding the political role of the Boyar Duma. Thus, according to R. Pipes, the Duma, having neither legislative nor executive power, performed only the functions of a registration institution that approved the decisions of the tsar. “The Duma,” he said, “did not have a number of the most important features that distinguish institutions with real political power. Its composition was extremely unstable... There was no regular schedule of meetings. There were no minutes of discussions, and the only evidence of the participation of the Duma in the development of decisions is the formula written in the text of many decrees: “The Tsar indicated, and the boyars sentenced.” The Duma did not have a clearly defined sphere of activity.”
In the 16th century The Duma turned into a permanent government institution, where Duma people acted not only as advisers to the tsar on issues of legislation and administration, not only participated in the development of decisions, often debating and sometimes objecting to the tsar, but also administered central orders, carried out special assignments on central and local affairs administration (V.O. Klyuchevsky).
Another facet of the question of the essence of Russian statehood in the 16th century. - the activities of zemstvo councils in 1549–1550, 1566 and 1598, the study of their formation, functions and relationships with the tsar.
Attempts to solve this problem in the spirit of Eurocentric concepts dominant in historiography give polar, sometimes mutually exclusive points of view of researchers. Zemsky Sobors in Russia did not have a permanent composition, clearly defined functions, in contrast to the estate-representative authorities European countries. If the parliament in England, the states general in France and other estate-representative bodies arose as a counterweight to royal power and were, as a rule, in opposition to it, then the Zemsky Sobors never came into conflict with the tsar.
In historical studies, an opinion is often expressed about the class-representative nature of Zemsky Sobors (S.G. Goryainov, I.A. Isaev, etc.). However, M.M. Shumilov believes that, apparently, the Zemsky Sobors of the 16th century. They were neither popular, nor class-representative institutions, nor advisory bodies under the tsar. Unlike the corresponding institutions in Western Europe, they did not interfere in public administration, did not ask for any political rights for themselves, and did not even perform advisory functions. Participants in the first Zemsky Sobors were not elected representatives. They were dominated by representatives of the highest metropolitan nobility and merchants appointed or conscripted by the government itself. Although the work of the Zemsky Sobor of 1598, unlike the previous ones, also involved elected representatives who vouched for their worlds, it was still not they who prevailed, but representatives of the government itself: various holders of power, officials, managers, “agents of military and financial institutions "(V.O. Klyuchevsky). All of them were convened at councils not in order to declare to the government the needs and desires of their constituents, and not to discuss socially significant issues, and not for the purpose of vesting the government with any powers. It was their responsibility to answer questions, and they themselves had to return home as responsible executors of conciliar obligations (in fact, government decisions).
Nevertheless, it is difficult to agree with the opinion of some foreign and domestic historians about the underdevelopment of Zemsky Sobors. According to V.F. Patrakova, if in the West the idea of separation of powers is being formed, then in Russia the idea of conciliarity of power is developing on the basis of its spiritual, Orthodox community. Ideally, the Councils achieved the spiritual and mystical unity of kings and people (including through mutual repentance), which corresponded to Orthodox ideas about power.
Thus, in the 16th century. Russia has turned into a state with an autocratic political structure. The sole bearer of state power, its head was the Moscow Grand Duke(tsar). All legislative, executive and judicial power was concentrated in his hands. All government actions were carried out in his name and according to his personal decrees.
In the 16th century in Russia the birth of an empire and imperial politics is taking place (R.G. Skrynnikov). Almost all historians see the oprichnina as one of the factors that prepared the Troubles of the early 17th century.
I strongly welcome you! Klim Sanych, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Hi all. Happy birthday! Thank you. Hello! It is important. You can take the rest yourself. Yes. What is today about? With all these terrible cinematic creations that the domestic film industry has poured on us in a flurry, as well as with the regular reaction to current events, as well as with all sorts of decent films that we also constantly analyze, we have completely forgotten about the basis, namely military history. I’m still a military historian, I’m yearning, I want to talk about the war. And not an expert on shit like “The Shape of Water,” damn it. Yes. Which we are forced to do in order to get hype. Yes, yes, of course, of course, of course. Yes, so, we have the Livonian War, which in some way marks the anniversary of its beginning this year. It started in 1558, and now it is 2018, i.e. we get an even date, and there is no reason not to analyze this significant event, especially since it is so promoted in history textbooks. Judging by the name, we were at war with some Livonia? Yes Yes Yes. But this is actually a big misconception. Everyone thinks that the Livonian War means that we fought with Livonia, so. And today I propose to give some kind of introduction, because the Livonian War is a very long, very large (as they would say now, stupid term) geopolitical conflict. So-so. And I think it’s impossible to immediately begin military action; we need to take a well-funded approach. Those. first, figure out what was happening there in general around this very Livonia and not only, and only then, step by step, analyze the course of military operations, all sorts of wonderful battles that took place there, especially since we have already sorted out one of them - the Capture of Polotsk. Can we do it in 1 video? Nain! Only a few. So-so. And then I immediately say that for now, as a start, as things go, we will only analyze the Livonian War itself, because, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself. And we need to start with periodization, firstly, and secondly, with what the term is, what the Livonian War actually was. Because, as you rightly said, the Livonian War means it is with the Livonians. And we know from school that this was a very important conflict that tore apart the Moscow kingdom of Ivan the Terrible, which is why the Troubles immediately began. Because they spent all the money there, they killed all the military men there, and those who were not killed became poor, everyone became brutal because of this Livonian War, we lost it in the end, and then Ivan the Terrible died suddenly, and it happened... From anger. From anger, from rage, yes, from bedsores. And the Troubles began, and everything was bad as a result. Well, it logically turns out that the Livonian War was the main war waged by Russia during the time of Ivan the Terrible. Well, since they lost it and everything is bad, that means it is so. But it is not so. But I’m sorry, I’ll interrupt you, because as usual they will start asking questions, but due to my illiteracy, I know exactly one author, citizen Skrynnikov. Yes. Are his books under Ivan the Terrible good? Well, you definitely need to know them, because Skrynnikov dug deep. We send everyone - ZhZL, the life of wonderful people, author Skrynnikov, I don’t remember the name. Ruslan Grigorievich. Ruslan Grigorievich. The book is called “Ivan the Terrible”. And there are a number of others. In fact, of course, there are many more books about Ivan the Terrible, not only Skrynnikov, but we will definitely give a list of recommended literature, as we usually do when analyzing historical topics. But about the Livonian War, it would seem, the most important war of Ivan the Terrible, and until recently there were no special books about it at all. Why? Those. Of course, they wrote about her in various books, sometimes quite a lot. And if you collect them in heaps, all these books, then you will get some kind of incredible historiographical background. And now they have just begun to write, by and large, about the Livonian War personally. It’s hard to say why, I don’t know why. That is... They don’t want to highlight Ivan’s merits? I don't know, it's a mystery. I just think that it’s impossible to do everything in a row, and the Livonian War is such a gigantic tangle that you can’t tackle it on the fly, so we think - well, here we are, okay, later. Here. And then someone else says “later.” In the meantime, about repression. In the meantime, of course, let’s talk about repression, yes. But the stable historiographical term “Livonian War” nevertheless emerged, although, of course, if contemporaries had learned that they were participating in the Livonian War, they would have been very surprised. Much like the French and the British, having learned that they were fighting in the Hundred Years' War. Because the Livonian War dates back to 1558, and it is traditionally believed that it dates back to 1583 until the Truce of Plus with Sweden. In reality, of course, this is not entirely true. And now I’ll try to explain why. Because the Livonian War did not exist as such, it was a series of interconnected conflicts, albeit thematically, but which each fought off each other both by the participating countries, and by specific peace treaties, specific declarations of war. It was a protracted conflict between the parties, in which not only Russia and Livonia participated, this is the most important thing, Livonia almost did not participate there at all. Lithuanians, Poles, Swedes, Danes, Russia, of course, a little Livonia took part there, and even the Tatars managed to participate directly and indirectly. And the whole reason is because Livonia, i.e. Livonian Confederation, so-called The Livonian Order was, by the end of the 15th and already in the 16th century, even more of a sick man in Europe, as the Ottoman Empire later became in the 19th century. This was a naturally sick man of Europe. This was due to something – well, in general, of course, with the crisis of the order’s state. This was the last order state of all that there were, probably, except for the knights of the Order of Ivan of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers in Malta. The fact is that the top-level organizations protecting them, namely the states that one way or another formed these same orders, were not up to it in the 16th century. In particular, the Livonian Confederation was a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor of the German nation. But, as it turned out, the emperor was the first to leak it. Moreover, there were such seemingly impossible moments when the former Teutonic Order, which at that time had already become simply Prussia, fought on the side of the Poles and Lithuanians against Livonia. Those. this is generally one whole thing, but it was literally in the 15th century. Those. The Teutonic Order, it was like the commander of the Livonian Landmaster, it was one whole, between them there was Lithuania and they tried to unite. But, nevertheless, here we see how the Prussian Duke Albrecht, together with the Poles and Lithuanians, withdraws his troops to the border with Livonia. Because even the Prussians also looked in that direction. And why did they look - well, it’s easy to guess that this part of the Baltic coast was a very important trading point, because there are such wonderful cities as Tallinn... the Danish fortress. Danish fortress, also known as Revel. Riga is there. And all these cities cover almost all of Russian Baltic trade. And Russian Baltic trade, who hasn’t heard our last year’s videos about the milestones of Russian history, Baltic trade is very important, because Baltic trade is what covers all, almost all, Eurasian trade. That is, everything that goes along the Volga from the Caspian Sea; everything that comes through the Dnieper from the Black Sea; everything that goes along what was previously called the Great Silk Road is one way or another distributed among different, as they now say, hubs. That is, to the Mediterranean Sea in one direction, and in the other direction, the only sea route there is the Baltic, everything comes to the Baltic. And whoever is at the distribution point will inevitably receive a lot of money. Because the Baltic, as you might guess, is the northern Mediterranean Sea, because it is located among the lands - on one side there is Scandinavia, Denmark closes everything and, therefore, the German Baltic coast. And the Swedes just wanted to make it their inland sea. Yes. And even for a moment they succeeded. By the time of the Kalmar Union of the 14th century, when Denmark, Sweden and Norway were practically united, then it all, of course, fell apart, and by the time of the reign of Charles XII at the beginning of the 18th century, and, in fact, under his dad, under Charles XI, this is already the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich - the beginning of the reign of Peter I, for some time this was also practically the Swedish inland sea, practically. Well, not only the Swedes wanted to make it an inland sea. That is, it is clear that neither Germany nor anyone else would have been able to make it internal, but they really wanted to crush the entire coastline. And whoever wanted it was Lithuania, of course, it has direct access to the Baltic Sea, and it needed the entire piece of the Baltic states to be its own. Naturally, Poland, as friends of the Lithuanians, since the Union of Krevo in the 14th century, is also a union state. Naturally, I have already mentioned Germany through Prussia; Denmark, because at one time the Danes sold their Danish fortress of Daalina, along with the knights who settled there, to the Livonians. And now, well, the Livonians are dying, so we need to take it back, this is a Danish fortress, even the name is like that, look. Here, first of all. Secondly, of course, the Danes could not allow the Swedes to strengthen themselves at this expense, because the Swedes are their direct competitors from all sides for many, many centuries. And, of course, Russia because the Livonian Order was constantly in close, I would say even dialectical, relationship with the northwestern lands of Rus', that is, Novgorod and Pskov. And, of course, everything was brewed not under Ivan the Terrible, everything was brewed under Ivan III. Those. it, of course, brewed much earlier, but this is the story that is directly adjacent to ours, to the Livonian War, it all began under the grandfather of Ivan IV, under Ivan the Great, under Ivan III. At this time, the Livonian Order was already feeling unwell, the Livonian Confederation. Well, firstly, because it is a confederation. Not a single confederal state of small size, surrounded by generally quite strong neighbors, will last long, because, as we remember, what Livonia is - Livonia is actually the territory of the order, that is, military-monastic, these are several bishoprics, which, it would seem, are included into one confederation, but they, as a rule, pursued their own very independent policy, sometimes directly conflicted within themselves, leading to armed clashes. Wow, some bishop inside the state said, “I don’t like everything,” and went to fight with his president. They entered into direct agreements with the enemies of the order, where they periodically had to be arrested, these bishops, if they could, of course. Well, of the bishoprics, the main role was played by the two largest ones: Terpskoye (on the site of the old Russian city of Yuryev) and Rizhskoye. Riga is the oldest city in Livonia, founded in 1202 by Bishop Albrecht. And unfortunately for the Livonians, and to great happiness for everyone else, the last master, Walter von Plettenberg, I don’t mean the last master of the Livonian Order, but the last such successful master who acted as an independent figure, such a bright independent figure, he was , firstly, a very energetic person, an extremely successful military leader and a very skillful military leader, frankly speaking, even Ivan III cried with him. Although where is this Livonia of this size and, therefore, the nascent kingdom of Moscow of this size. He beat us regularly. Due to his charisma and powerful organizational abilities, he fixed this confederal state, i.e. Through Lithuania, the Teutonic Order, which was also not doing well, was able to transform itself in the 16th century, becoming a secular state. He brought himself under the roof of the Poles and, in general, survived well. But the Livonians are not, the Livonians are fixed in the old medieval form. Of course, Plettenberg had reason to do so - why, because Livonia was a point where all sorts of fools and parasites, alcoholics and other downshifters were brought together. Like Finland for the Swedes. Yes Yes Yes. But downshifters went there with a specific goal - to undownshift back, because there, again, there are great prospects. And, naturally, fraternities immediately formed there, because just to come to the Livonian Order and say that I’m here too, excuse me, a knight, I’ll fight here for a little while, of course, it was possible, and even you would have been allowed to fight, but They wouldn’t give you anything to earn money there - no land, no money, well, except for the fact that you will directly fight. People were exiled there, as I once told you when we were talking about the short Livonian-Novgorod war in the 40s of the 15th century, people from the Rhine and Westphalia were exiled there. So they trampled this path, naturally formed a community there, and did not let anyone else in, well, at least on an industrial scale. Well, then the Danes allowed in another constellation of independent Danish knights, who were simply surrendered along with Tallinn, who saw both the Westafalians and the Rhineans in the coffin, but loved themselves. This, of course, added strength to this state. Well, based on this, a crisis broke out, because Walter von Plettenberg died, and there was no longer such a boss - energetic, charismatic, etc., who simply with his personality could weld it all together. Because in fact, expecting that everyone will be such a wonderful boss is quite stupid, this does not happen. And the system itself was practically no longer viable. Well, of course, everyone immediately became interested in the fact that if it all dies, and it is dying before our eyes, someone lucky will take it first, so everyone immediately pricked up their hairy ears and began to look closely to see who would just rush there first. Walter von Plettenberg, it must be said, although he defeated Russian troops several times, he never, as a sober person, thought that this could be done on a permanent basis. He understood perfectly well that he could beat the Russians only because Ivan III was fighting with Casemir IV of Lithuania. He’s just very busy, he can’t really deal with all this, he doesn’t have time. Therefore, when the Lithuanians and Poles invited Walter von Plettenberg to form a single anti-Russian coalition, he nobly refused, saying that nothing good would come of this for me. You may not survive this. Let's do it ourselves. I won't survive this. Yes, and, of course, there was a very strong pro-Russian party in the order, and a strong, of course, anti-Russian party, i.e. hawks and doves of peace. Doves of peace, as a rule, were associated directly with trading circles, which just needed to trade, that's all, period. And the hawks needed to impose some kind of their will, well, this is a militarized state, it was necessary to expand somehow, at least in a commercial sense. Naturally, they were in conflict with Sweden, because Sweden is another point with which Russia borders, through which we can sell or buy something, vice versa. And after Walter von Plettenberg, Master von der Recke, he issued a certain decree, where it was once again written what goods could be traded with Russia. This is a potential military enemy, so strategic goods have not been allowed to come to us on an ongoing basis since the 13th century. Here von der Recke once again wrote what exactly should not be missed. But you cannot miss gold, silver, tin, lead, iron, horses, armor and weapons. Sanctions were imposed against us. Well, because silver is money, everyone knew perfectly well that Rus' doesn’t have its own silver, we don’t have our own lead, we don’t have our own tin, well, there’s not enough tin at all. It needs to be specially developed, extracted from ores, they didn’t know how to do this back then, it just needs to be native, and this is a big problem. Only when Varlam Shalamov appeared, he was sent to develop tin. Yes Yes. Those. there will be no silver - there will be no money, there will be no tin - there will be no bronze, there will be no bronze - there will be no guns. Well, if there is no lead, there will be nothing to make bullets from. Well, everything about armor and weapons is clear there, they have a specific military purpose, horses are the same. Everyone knew very well that the horse population in Rus' was weak. Those. It is simply impossible to arm mass cavalry with good horses. Therefore, we cannot supply horses. And the traders wanted to supply because it was a lot of money, that’s all, through this there was a constant conflict. The German traders who tried first were not from the Livonian Confederation; they were regularly caught here. For example, it was already after Ivan III, it was under Vasily III, they caught a certain Dutch merchant, who, as it turned out, was not the first time bringing ships full of tin and herring to the Novgorodians. He was caught and fined, and sent to hell, this in 1530. Back in the 15th century, a German merchant who regularly transported iron and weapons to Rus' was eventually caught, arrested, fined, everything taken away and thrown out. And he took it again, because apparently it was very profitable. And so they caught him a second time and cut off his head. No, well, since there were such decrees all the time, it means that someone was constantly trying to smuggle and successfully smuggled it. On the other hand, the Novgorodians and Pskovites could not pass by the order’s possessions on the sea route. The sea route of the Middle Ages was a coastal route. Along the shore. Along the coast, firstly. Secondly, even if it is not along the coast, a serious port in which a serious fleet is stationed has the ability to intercept other people’s ships at a fairly large distance from its own base. Those. They put up some patrols. Yes sir. Those. you are sailing somewhere to trade, you should rest with us. - Oh no. - Still, rest. With all due respect. With all due respect, yes. Immediately the customs office comes to you and asks what you have. Well, they say - listen, but we, by the way, signed an agreement 150 years ago, you can only trade with us. You seem to be from Novgorod, well, apparently, yes, you will be trading here. Well, that’s it, you have to trade in Riga or Tallinn. Those. You won’t be able to sail past Riga and Tallinn. Maybe you will be able to slip past one of the cities, but somewhere you will definitely fall completely. I don’t walk past Tallinn and Riga without jokes. Yes. So. Once again I’m surprised how my ancestors always seem to be somehow narrow-minded and unreasonable, and then come on – there’s a port, and patrols, and interception, and customs. And sanctions. And you can only trade here, where the money is, damn it. Yes. Therefore, the Novgorodians, starting from the 12th century, simply could not sail anywhere, they received guests at home. Ours, of course, responded with all their love. Complete reciprocity. Complete reciprocity. Those. Here comes a German from Livonia, you will trade only in a German courtyard with specially designated merchants. 3 people will come to you, and you will trade with them. The prices are like this, the volumes are like this. Yes of course. You cannot engage in retail trade yourself, and you cannot engage in purchasing yourself. Again, if you want procurement, here are the guys with licenses. Hans and Friedrich. Yes, no, these are Russians Vanya and Petya. So you, Hans and Friedrich, will buy from them what you wanted to buy there, by the way. Here. It is clear that all this was handled by special trading corporations. For example, our entire northern trade has been covered by fur since the 13th century. Ivanova hundred, Ivanova 100 in Novgorod, one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, trading corporation. Because fur was a strategic commodity, which was actually a real currency. And so you could only buy fur from Ivanov 100. You couldn’t go to this Ugra yourself, to Biarmia, where the fur actually came from. The Germans, of course, tried to sail around the Kola Peninsula, around Arkhangelsk, but this is too far, the ice conditions there are not good. Well, in general, you can’t climb there on a regular basis. Since the early Middle Ages, since Viking times, there is a well-known saga about how people rode there, to Biarmia. Accordingly, if you want to travel to Novgorod, you will hire only Novgorod pilots. There were pilots on special duty there, then these same barge haulers who dragged the ships through the portages, but please don’t bring your own. If you brought it, let them rest here for now. They'll wait. They'll wait. Well, or as a guest they will go to Novgorod, where they will leave their money in a brothel, in a tavern somewhere. You can't work. And in such a situation, Ivan III annexed Novgorod. And then they wonder where the war comes from. How else can this issue be resolved, why do you have all the money and not us? Yes. In such a situation, Ivan III finally accepted this Novgorod back into the fold of the Russian state with open arms - enough for a walk. You have been free since 1136, something is not going well for you, come with us, here. Novgorod was besieged, they gave everyone a slap, and Novgorod became the site of a very broad social experiment, as we would put it now, namely, 2,600 Moscow nobles, the children of the boyars, were resettled to Novgorod, and land was opened up for them there. Actually, regular local layout begins from Novgorod, i.e. These very children of the boyars, nobles, turned in the full sense of the word into landowners, i.e. into knights, obligated to feudal service for the conditional holding of land and peasants. And from Novgorod, accordingly, certain nobles were evicted to other places so that they wouldn’t really organize... Groups there. Groupings, yes, so precisely that they would not be very comfortable. True, of course, it must be said that the Muscovites, when we found ourselves in Novgorod, themselves organized a grouping, they immediately made friends with the Novgorodians, they all formed their own kublo. Novgorod, as you know, had to be brought back to life several more times, and the last time this was done by Ivan the Terrible. Most successful. Well, Ivan III also did it very successfully, it’s just that Ivan IV did it for the last time and completely. By the way, he had to extinguish then, when they say that he extinguished the Novgorodians, he extinguished the descendants of Muscovites, whom his grandfather settled there. It was they who, in general, organized some initiatives there, which then had to be dealt with somehow. It is their rotten devils that are muddying the waters in the pond. Yes Yes Yes. Well, we’ve already talked about the uprising, and we’ll probably need to talk separately about the war for now. Ivan III took over Novgorod, and suddenly it turned out that this Livonian Confederation was a very dialectical neighbor. That is, on the one hand, it directly harms, but it simply directly harms. On the other hand, they have been negotiating with him for 150 years, and it is possible to coexist. But if you keep the Livonians in this loose form, they are a magnificent limitrophe as a counterweight to the Lithuanians. Those. No one even thought about conquering it. Of course, there were also very specific territorial claims, especially locally, where in general, apparently, this war was either a trade war, or a small war of partisan sabotage groups, small detachments, and it very rarely stopped. But in a global sense, no one needs to conquer them. For what? You can give money and they will fight against the Lithuanians. This is much cheaper than raising your own troops. Certainly. And if you conquer them, you will have to protect them, these territories. Well, this is really a huge territory, there are a lot of buildings there, they will need to be maintained, guarded, defended against the Lithuanians, the front will immediately lengthen. Therefore, for some time, for a very long time, no one thought about resolving the issue with the Livonians completely. On the contrary, they tried to keep them in this state, in a state of eternal semi-chaos, for as long as possible. And here, of course, you need to look in two directions at once, namely towards the Lithuanian and Polish and towards the Crimean. Because the Lithuanians, especially when they became close friends with the Poles, generally became at some point the dominant force in the region. Actually, only Ivan III and Vasily III were able to successfully resist them on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, the Poles have just dealt with Teutonic Order , i.e., as it is correct to say, with the German Order. By the way, do you remember that you once asked me why the Teutonic Order, although all the Teutons have been around for a long time? Mari also cut them off, yes. So, it really just turned out that I never even thought about this question. You know that the word Germany is spelled Deutsch, i.e. Deutsch. And earlier, in the Middle Ages, it was written through T. Teutsch. Toych. Teutsch. So it turns out Teut, this is the German Order. Teutonic means Germanic, Teutonic simply means Germanic. Teut, or Teut, like that. Interesting. So, the Poles dealt with the Teutonic Order and had very specific intentions to deal with the Livonian Order too. But they also needed a limitrophe, i.e. someone who will create some kind of counterbalance to Russia in the North-West. State-laying. Yes Yes Yes. And therefore they constantly tried to bring the confederation under some kind of agreement, which would imply either an armed alliance against Russia, or at least armed neutrality against Russia. Those. if we are at war with Russia, you are either obliged to send troops, or you are obliged to look approvingly at our actions, and, accordingly, to comply with certain trade sanctions there. Yes. This was the same thing that Ivan III sought, only from the other side. Well, Ivan III began to successfully fight the Lithuanians, with Casimir IV. Subsequently, his policy was continued very successfully by Vasily III. Those. we remember this war of the early 16th century, which ended with the Battle of Vedrosh, we remember the first Smolensk War of 1512-1522, when in 1514 Vasily III captured Smolensk on the 3rd attempt. After which we lost the battle of Orsha, which, in general, did not lead to anything; we left the town for ourselves until the Time of Troubles. And Ivan III walked so widely for only one reason: he brought Kazan under his hand. Those. He did not actually capture Kazan, i.e. yes, there was a successful military enterprise there, Kazan actually submitted to it, it became a friendly state. And he was friends with the Krymchaks, namely with the founder of Giray Mengli-Girai I. In this case, you can be friends only for one reason, when there is someone to be friends against, because the Krymchaks hated the Great Horde, centered in modern Astrakhan. Because the Astrakhan people, as the heirs of the Jochi ulus, quite seriously believed that the Kazan people, the Crimeans, and the Nagais owed everything to them, i.e. they should be at their fingertips, this is our everything. But neither the Nagais, nor the Kazan, nor the Crimeans categorically disagreed with this, i.e. at all. Well, that is. All this meant that money had to be paid, but no one wanted to pay money, they needed it themselves. Firstly, pay money, and secondly, if those in Astrakhan come up with something, go somewhere to fight. But the Crimeans, for example, were not at all interested in fighting for the Astrakhan people; the Crimeans have an excellent position. On the one hand, they are located on the Black Sea and from this Crimea they can trade with anyone - slaves in the first place. And secondly, instead of running somewhere to Derbent, waving a saber there for some unknown purpose, it is much easier to run either to Moscow or to Vilna, catch men and women there and sell them in Kaffa. Here. And because The Great Horde at that time was a serious force, whatever one may say, although Ivan III seemed to have repulsed them there and on the Ugra, they still had to be reckoned with, and everyone, it was a very dangerous enemy if you quarreled with him. So, Mengli-Girai and Ivan III were friends against the Great Horde. And Ivan III constantly skillfully allowed his sidekick Mengli-Girai to enter Podolia, i.e. the southwestern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, so that he could work there, as the Germans say, this is the very thing, raub und moert, i.e. he robbed and killed, he was an excellent specialist in this regard, he robbed and killed. Lock the floors, there will be robberies now. Yes sir. True, of course, it must be said that Ivan III extremely cleverly allowed his Muslim sidekick into his own Orthodox lands. Well done. Because, of course, Mengli Giray would like to get to the Lithuanian lands, but it’s very far away. Actually, where ethnic Lithuanians live. But here you don’t need to think very badly about Ivan III, he was simply a man of the feudal era, for him his own were those who were his subjects, i.e. who pays him taxes and owes vassalage. And the people of Kiev, for example, owed vassal service to the Lithuanians, so excuse me. Nobody gave a damn what their nationality and specifically religion were. Nobody cares. Yes. No, of course, in this way, again, according to medieval customs, for example, the people of Kiev or Chernigov, the Novgorod-Severtsy people were made to understand that look, while you are with these Lithuanian idiots, you will be robbed. And if you are with us, you will not be robbed. This is what everyone did throughout the Middle Ages. For example, the civilized Edward III Plantagenet went to war with France. The first thing he did, having won the Battle of Sluys there, which allowed him to land an army (naval battle), which allowed him to land an army on French territory, he took up the well-known practice of grandes voyages, i.e. long walks, i.e. just bandit raids across French territory with burned villages and kidnapped people. The title of the idiotic film, in my opinion, with Louis de Funes, “The Great Walk”, is it just about this, or what? Yes, somehow it was different, it wasn’t grandes voyages, the allusion is clear that there are these same 3 Englishmen walking around France, that’s what it is, grandes voyages. Damn deep. Here. This is a hint that is generally understood by people who have read a school history textbook in France and England. And lo and behold, civilized people were doing exactly the same thing at about the same time. I’m already silent about what they did when there were religious wars between Catholics and Huguenots inside France, the same thing. And this is literally at the same time that we will talk about, the mid-second half of the 16th century. Nothing got in the way. Although these are not just Catholics and Huguenots, this is just one country, France, within itself, they did such things there that Ivan IV would seem like a funny guy with a beard, in some kind of ridiculous golden robe, here. And they are all so sophisticated, so they did absolutely terrible things to each other in tights and codpieces. We will talk about this, I hope, later. Necessarily. I want, when we talk, in fact, about the military actions of the Livonian War, to talk about the parallel process that took place in Europe, in fact, and dwell on the wonderful battle of Dreux. Who beat whom there? The French are the French. Here. To the side, to the Crimeans again. The Crimeans were friends with Ivan III and greatly interfered with the Lithuanians, so Ivan III simply had a free hand, he could engage in Western expansion on an ongoing basis, take back the lands of the Rurikovichs, because he himself was Rurikovich, and on full grounds believed that he had the right for the entire inheritance of the Rurikovichs. Vasily III did the same thing, but he quarreled with the Girays, and specifically with Muhammad-Girai. And he quarreled for one simple reason, because the entire alliance with Mengli-Girai was actually built on sand. As soon as we looked towards the Volga and we became the enemy of the Great Horde, the Krymchaks no longer needed to be friends with us, because if we deal with the Great Horde directly, then the Krymchaks have a free hand, on the one hand. On the other hand, Crimea is a vassal territory of the Ottoman Empire, which the Ottoman Empire influenced very, very strongly. They could have given some order, because the most important interests on the Volga were, of course, not the Great Horde, despite all the remnants of its power. It was with a new player, namely the Ottoman Empire, which sought to crush all Muslim lands under itself either directly or indirectly. And under Vasily III in 1522, Muhammad-Girai sent him a letter demanding tribute. And Vasily III, of course, refuses, because for what reason? Well, Muhammad-Giray reaches Moscow, crosses the Oka River, smashes the army of Vasily III to smithereens, Vasily III flees Moscow, leaving the baptized Tatar Peter in Moscow to steer instead of Luzhkov. He himself escapes to Novgorod, Peter is forced to give him on behalf of the Tsar, Muhammad-Girai, a letter stating that the Moscow Tsar is a tributary of the Crimean Tsar. Strongly. Here. The outskirts of Moscow have been burned, the Tatars are walking on Vorobyovy Gory in Tsarskoe Selo. There was one of the villages that belonged to the king personally, they plundered everything there. And after that we could not fight normally with the Lithuanians simply because we had a multi-pound Crimean cannonball hanging on our leg. And here you need to understand very important thing who fought with the Lithuanians. People of the future Novgorod category, i.e., were in constant contact with the Lithuanians. those who were just sitting here in Novgorod, Pskov, this is approximately 1/6 of our entire cavalry, it was the 2nd most powerful territorial such point, after Moscow, of course. Moreover, in contrast to Moscow, Novgorod, the future Novgorod rank, as we would say, the general government, probably could be designated this way. It was never divided territorially; it was one integral territorial border division. Moscow never acted as some kind of unified whole, because they could transfer part of the cities for warfare and organizational and accounting activities to their neighbors, take them for themselves, in short, it all transformed like this all the time. The Novgorodians remained in the monolith all the time. Because of this, they had a very powerful merged corporation, which had a very strong tradition of local feudal corporate self-government. And when fighting, for example, with the Lithuanians or the Livonians, they, firstly, defended their own interests, because they were on the border, they defended their lands, or they could take something for themselves. Those. receive a visible material profit for yourself or your family. Well, if they do slap you, it happens, then at least the children won’t lose out, because you’ll take someone’s land and slaughter it for yourself. Or you will take the men away and settle them with you. But from then on, every year they constantly had to leave for the Oka border on the river to fight with the Crimeans. And there was no profit in fighting the Crimeans. Because what are Crimeans? The Krymchaks appear incomprehensibly when, and without declaring a light war, having gathered... Murzas, lancers and Tatar Cossacks, they simply ran in by decision of some local regional commander, and they had to be caught. There were constant fights, maybe not very big, but extremely fierce. And here we have, from 1522 until the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, we have this Oka, then the Belgorod border, it never died down, service was required there all the time, but you could not conquer anything there. You could only die there. Just fight back, yes. Yes. Because in order to conquer something from the Crimeans, it was necessary to reach the Crimea, and we could not do this, because we, as a sedentary empire of that time, were very strongly tied to means of communication , and these were rivers. Those. We could fight with Kazan, with Astrakhan, with the Lithuanians simply because we could bring in heavy artillery and artillery outfits in general along rivers, and along some more or less acceptable roads, and it would help in field battles, and heavy artillery will help take the city, that’s how Polotsk was taken, for example, or how Kazan was taken. But it couldn’t be brought to the Crimeans, because if you go to the steppe, then you simply may not return from there. Food, water, diarrhea. Because what a march across the steppe looks like without points where you can concentrate food, ammunition, rest, recover, well, it just turned into a terrible horror even for regular armies. How Peter I went to the Prut and how it ended is the only serious defeat in general, and it almost turned into a disaster for the Russian army in the 18th century. We couldn’t cope with the Turks, and with the same Crimeans who were allowed there, even though they were a regular army. This is not a medieval army, it is controlled differently, equipped differently, supplied differently. Somehow I will again lay out the layout according to what the march of the Russian cavalry looked like. We talked about the Mongols a long time ago, now we need to talk about the Russians. So, we couldn’t bring the guns to the Crimea, so we could only fight off the Krymchaks, and it was generally clear to the Novgorodians what they needed, but for them it was without any profit, they wanted to fight with the Livonians, it’s not so dangerous. And the Crimeans, understanding all these nuances, organized a Crimean auction. This is an accepted term in historiography. Well, they sold themselves to the Lithuanians and attacked Moscow, or to the Muscovites and attacked the Lithuanians. Well done. Here. It is clear to us that we had our own people fed in Crimea. Like the Lithuanians, probably. Like, naturally, the Lithuanians, there was a diplomatic mission there on a permanent basis, and our well-wishers, such as Yamat-Murza, he directly wrote to the Grand Duke that I cannot defend your interests, because the Lithuanians literally shower the khan with gold and jewelry , wake, i.e. present. Are funerals gifts? Yes. He demanded regular wakes. And if you didn’t give him regular wakes, he would go to war against you. And Muhammad-Giray’s brother Sahib-Giray, for example, he did not hesitate to write to Vasily III that he demands to be his vassal, as we would say now, and to regularly pay him money, formulating it this way: if you don’t pay, I will come myself and I'll take a lot more. Those. It's better for you to pay. Indicated prices. Yes, yes, yes, because as much as I take, as much as I steal, I’ll take that much. So if you just pay, it will be cheaper. Be kind. Yes. Which, of course, Vasily III did not like in any case, but he couldn’t not pay, he couldn’t not pay all the time, because paying was actually cheaper, on the one hand; on the other hand, taking into account the Lithuanian factor, it was too expensive to pay the Crimeans constantly. But Vasily III died, in fact, what I’m leading all this to is Ivan IV, because where is Crimea, where is Livonia, now we will connect them. Vasily III died, Ivan IV came, he was the third grandson, a kalach in the kingdom and the husband of many wives. Here. Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible was his name, because he was a serious, respectable person. He’s not sweet in his ways and not lame in his mind, he’s the kind of person who has established order – even if he rolls a ball. He was still 15 years old, respectively, he was born in 1530, in 1545 the first campaign against Kazan, which under Vasily III was completely abandoned from us. It all ended with the bloody capture of 1552, after which it suddenly turned out that we were not only not friends of the Crimeans, but fierce enemies, because in 1556 we took Astrakhan, we closed the Volga, and the Crimeans had no enemies at all, except Russia. After this, it was no longer possible to put up with us. In addition, the Turks simply killed Devlet-Girey I’s predecessor when he began to pursue an overly independent policy. And Devlet-Giray was a cautious man, he, when he is presented as such a Hitler in a skullcap, who wanted to continuously fight with Russia, no, he would not have been against it theoretically, but he was a cautious man, a very, very smart and cautious man. But because he was careful, he understood that if he did not fight with Russia, the Turks would also do something to him, because they had all the opportunities and means of influence on Crimea, especially since it was their official vassal, Crimea, they were obliged obey. Well, of course, with reservations, like any vassal, he is a vassal only because he is obliged to the overlord to the same extent that the overlord is obliged to him. And this balance is maintained only in the sense that the overlord can be very strong, and yet you owe him a little more. Those. the partnership is unbalanced. And they began to push him towards war. On the one hand, the Lithuanians constantly paid him, they simply continuously showered him with gifts, just this Yamat-Murza wrote that I could not do anything. And Devlet-Girey wrote to Ivan the Terrible with approximately the same content as Sahib-Girey, that you will be my younger brother, i.e. vassal. Vanya... Yes, and it began... This, by the way, immediately coincides with the capture of Kazan, 1552. And a 25-year war with the Crimeans began, which ended only in 1577, only in 1577 did it end. And it was during this war that an organizational, military, and even psychological portrait of a Russian serviceman in general was formed, who was forced every year to stand up for the defense of his native borders, what is called disinterestedly, i.e. not having the desire to loot something, the desire and ability to loot something, on this very damn Oka. And all the military corporations throughout Russia were involved. Those. Novgorodians visited there, Kazan residents visited there, and, naturally, Muscovites visited there on a regular basis. In general, this shift service at the Oka border consumed monstrous resources, simply monstrous. It all ended with the fact that in 1571 Devlet-Giray actually burned Moscow to the ground, leaving only the Kremlin. The next year, in 1572, the bloody Battle of Molodi, which, in fact, decided the outcome of this war. Well, there it one way or another flared up, then died out on a small scale until the death of Devlet-Girai in 1577. He was a serious man. Yes. And now we need to compare this war and the situation in Livonia. We have never included such efforts in the Livonian direction as were involved in the Crimean direction, even approximately. And even when everything went wrong during the reign of Stefan Batory in 1580-83. Stefan Batory did not even dream of going to Moscow, he did not have such strength. And Devlet-Girey burned it. Therefore, the Livonian War was a secondary focus for Ivan the Terrible. It, in fact, did not end very well for us for one simple reason: we were busy with the Crimeans. We could not afford to throw decisive forces there. Yes, at some point large forces were involved there, but this is not the main direction. That is why it was a private failure, which could not lead to any damn Time of Troubles, it was just an episode. Which, yes, was expensive, but not too expensive. But what about Livonia, actually? Here we have Ivan IV sitting on the throne. Ivan IV needed constant supply of strategic resources for the war on the Volga, because, as we remember, 3 campaigns near Kazan, only the third was a success, and this was the most difficult situation. Plus, it was necessary to constantly bribe your people in the Podrayskaya land and feed the pro-Russian party in every possible way. Maintaining garrisons against Astrakhan and building cities required resources and specialists. And at this time Ivan IV, more precisely, he was still a young man then, i.e. Ivan IV and his company, they moved towards rapprochement with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Charles V very actively moved towards rapprochement with Russia. Simply because Charles V fought with the Turks, and he needed any counterbalance to the Turks on his part. Well, literally just now, 1535, Charles personally leads an expedition to Tunisia, takes it, kicks out the Turks and mainly, of course, their local hangers-on, the famous pirate Hayraddin Barbarossa. It turns out that when the locals took Filyuki there in Tunisia, it turns out that they were selling guns to the French. The French named after The French are selling guns to the Turks because they were all branded with 3 fleurs-de-lis, i.e. hallmark of the French royal arsenal. Those. on the one hand, the French never supported the Turks, but everyone understood who was each other, because the Germans needed some kind of counterbalance to Turkey. It would seem that where is France, where is Russia, but the decision of the French and Francis I to help the Turks directly prompted Charles V to move closer to Russia. And he begins very active steps in this direction, remembering that his grandfather Maximilian I negotiated quite successfully with both Ivan III and Vasily III. The truth, of course, is not primarily against the Turks, but against the Poles. In general, this did not bring any significant results, but there were attempts and quite visible attempts, these moves by Germany towards Russia. And who reared up first? – Yes, the Livonian Order, because we had a requirement from Charles V to help with resources. And he was ready, because, Lord, there in this Germany they mine silver, and copper, and tin, and lead, and they have a lot of military specialists, and military specialists of the highest class, who have just literally gone through fire, water and copper trumpets of the Italian wars. Those. there were a lot of military people there who were ready right now to go somewhere and tell everyone how to do it for money. Veterans of hot spots. So it's not there hot spot there were these Italian wars, it was simply a bloody meat grinder, tens of thousands of people went through it, gaining very serious experience and a complete reluctance to do anything else except war, because it was profitable. And a military specialist at that time was a person who could make not just a future for himself, but become some kind of great figure in history. For example, who would even know such nobles as, for example, the Frundsbergs. Yes, no one would know, except for some very sad heralds who generally pick around these same noble families, coats of arms and so on. But Georg Frundsberg became simply because he deftly commanded the Landsknechts, he became a world-class figure without fools, all of Europe literally knew him. Simply because he successfully commanded regiments of Landsknechts. And we were ready to host such adventurers with all our arms. To intensify this process, in 1548, a handsome young Saxon adventurer, Hans Schlitte, came to Charles V and offered to take over relations with Moscow. Apparently, he sat well on the ears of Charles V, because he gave him complete carte blanche, and he went to Moscow. In Moscow, he also caught the ears of Ivan IV, who, for his part, gave him complete carte blanche, and so Schlitte began to supply us, and he himself was from Saxony, specifically, he was born in a city where there were some of the best silver mines, those. he knew with whom he needed to quickly negotiate in order to supply precious metals directly. He recruited specialists, gathered strategic resources, and began to supply them to Ivan IV. And he was caught by the Livonians along with another portion of specialists. A monstrous scandal broke out, the Livonians had a row with Emperor Charles V, saying that this cannot be done, you understand that you are supplying Ivan IV with weapons and strategic resources, and we are already afraid of him. And this, of course, played a very important role, the Schlitte case played a very important role in the fact that Ivan the Terrible drew attention to Livonia, because the Livonians, this small dilapidated state, had the opportunity to simply turn off the valve for us. Which is unacceptable. Which is categorically unacceptable. And Ivan the Terrible first makes diplomatic efforts, and then military efforts, and it is here that an important caveat needs to be made. Ivan the Terrible did not consider Livonia his equal, he did not send sovereign envoys there, he negotiated with the Livonians only with the help of Novgorod officials. Some clerk is leaving Novgorod, negotiate with him. Because he considered Livonia to be just a principality. People need to be sent to the level. Yes. And he is an emperor, it’s impossible for him to communicate with the prince. Let the Novgorodians communicate there for 200 years and continue to communicate, but, of course, with an eye on the party line. And then he sends ambassadors from the sovereign. Things are reaching another level. The matter is reaching a completely different level, and the Livonians understand this immediately. Why are they just there with the Novgorodians, with their buddies, with whom they either fought or were friends, and then look, Adashev and Voskovaty arrived straight from Moscow. Famous names. Certainly. Who needed a reason to find fault with the Livonians. Because they have the right to pass any laws and issue any decrees on their territory - a sovereign state. Even if it’s unpleasant, what’s your business what’s pleasant or unpleasant to you? We need a reason, and there is a well-known reason - St. George’s tribute. Those. what the Livonians promised to pay for the possession of Dorpat, which they had taken away at one time and pledged to pay money for it. No one knows exactly when and how much they promised to pay. But for unknown reasons they didn’t pay, right? Yes. But for unknown reasons, they haven’t paid anything for 100 years. They came up with a sum, calculated interest on it, and in the end they ended up with a carload of silver, which had to be immediately given to Ivan IV. Well, immediately after Yuriev’s tribute, they rolled out a bunch of claims that merchants were being offended, by the way, who pay taxes to Moscow, peel away wax, and use merciless back-door treatment. What is this? I told you this once, when a barrel of wax just fell, for example, in Riga, you could take a sample from it, whether it was high-quality wax or not. The sample size was not specified. Those. you could just chop off half and not pay - I didn’t try it. Yes. Not rozibrav. Not rozibrav. Well, pay for the rest. The same thing happened with furs. It was possible to see if the fur was good, and then pick up a piece, and since... the size was not discussed... Cut off each skin. Yes. Because the size was not specified, it was terrible. Accordingly, we did not have the right to check with them whether, for example, they supplied us with wine, wine or, say, good Flemish cloth. They supplied it in barrels and pieces. Those. we could pay per piece and per barrel, but we could not verify the dimensions of the barrel and the piece. Great. Do you know where the word “enough” comes from in Russian? This is a very interesting linguistic incident. So-so. This is when you open a barrel, for example, with wine or beer, if you reach your finger, then it’s enough, and if not, then it’s not enough, you didn’t get it. Here. And, accordingly, they constantly tried to... deceive us. Deceive. To deceive, yes. And all these small territorial claims, connected primarily, of course, with claims to Narva, this is St. George’s tribute, the grievances of the merchants, they simply presented it all, and said that it must be paid, stopped, and Ivan IV rolled out an agreement, one of the main items of which were gold, silver, cloth, iron, and armor, i.e. except for armor. And the willing German people had a free path by water and mountain. Those. cloth and specialists were more expensive than armor. About armor, he said that if you want to supply it, supply it, if not, okay. And this completely coincides, by the way, with the list of von der Recke, who forbade the transport of this very thing. Those. Ivan IV knew exactly what he needed. We will make the shells ourselves somewhere, buy somewhere else, resources and specialists. But the Livonians are a confederation, they were in complete shock, on the one hand, on the other hand, of course, in complete happiness, because Yuryev’s tribute, so let this Yuryev, damn it, pay. Those. Dorpat. And everything else does not concern us. They were also smart, by the way. Here’s the wording: St. George’s tribute, so let the people of Dorpat pay it. The residents of Derpt said that we simply physically do not and cannot have that much money. Well, then Grozny decided that he was being deceived... Not without reason. Yes. What kind of antics are these? What kind of antics is this, yes. There, it means, they called the Livonian Landsgers, i.e. landlords were invited to Novgorod, where, as they say, a 200,000-strong Muscovite army was waiting for them at the border, so that they would be properly frightened. This, of course, is bullshit, there were maybe 2 thousand of them waiting there, that’s it. But it was also scary. But it was also unpleasant. And they fired cannons for a day while they agreed, so that it would also be scary. Look how much gunpowder we have, we can do this here! We agreed for 3 years to raise money. And at this time, the Lithuanians, Poles and Prussians tried to enter Livonia from the other side, namely, they decided to appoint a vicar, as we would say, or a coadjutor, as is correct, i.e. closest assistant, deputy of the Riga Archbishop Krzysztof (Christopher) of Macklenburg, who was a relative of the King of Poland Sigismund, in my opinion, a nephew, if I’m not mistaken. They decided to imprison him and through him influence the bishop of Riga and the master, respectively. But the master did not need this, and Master Furstenberg arrested him, realizing that he was a nit, a spy and a provocateur. After which the Prussians, just the former Teutons, Lithuanians and Poles, simply took and unobtrusively gathered about 15,000 troops there and placed them on the border with Livonia, after which Fürstenberg realized that either the water should be drained, or it was necessary to negotiate somehow, because He couldn’t resist them at all, he would have simply been crushed. And it is possible that he himself was hanged for the arrest of a relative of the king. And they conclude very important contract in the town of Pozvol, where it is the Livonians who are led to an obligation of armed neutrality against Russia. What is characteristic is that our intelligence, apparently, completely missed this permission agreement; we simply did not know about it. Because Ivan the Terrible did not react at all for at least a year. And in Lithuanian letters, for example, internal correspondence, there are subtle mocking hints that Vanya doesn’t catch mice at all. We’ve already settled everything with Livonia, but he’s still waiting for some kind of tribute. But, naturally, it is impossible to hide such an awl in a sack of hay, because as soon as the Livonian ambassadors arrived again to negotiate with Ivan IV at the end of the three-year truce, it suddenly became clear that they were not going to pay him tribute, but asked him to think a little more, maybe there let's agree. After which, we don’t know for sure whether Ivan the Terrible found out about the Pozvolsky Treaty, but in fact he realized that they had agreed with someone else behind his back. And this was the last point, because he didn’t care at all about these petty squabbles of the Novgorodians, even about the fact that they don’t allow specialists and strategic goods to come to us there - after all, it was always possible to get around these problems, 200 years ago -they went around, or negotiate with the Swedes to take them through Sweden, it’s not so convenient, but it’s also possible. By the way, it was possible to buy iron from the Swedes, which is what we did. But then it became clear that Livonia was living out its last days on its own, and now all this would fall under the feet of Lithuania, and this could not be allowed under any circumstances. And then Ivan the Terrible takes such a step that the Livonians must understand that the jokes are over altogether; in 1557, a large army is formed on the border with Livonia, which consisted of Novgorod and Pskov horsemen and Kazan Tatars, who were promised that they could rob. And this autumn-winter of 1557 became the last peaceful day in general in Livonia, because since 1559 cannons thundered there and swords rang almost continuously. Because 1583, our very peace with Sweden, it didn’t mean absolutely nothing. Returning to the beginning of the conversation - the Livonian War is not the Livonian War, but the Livonian Wars. Because the Danes fought there with the Swedes and vice versa, Sweden with the Russians, Poland, Lithuania with Russia, Russia with Livonia, Poland and Lithuania. This is a series of very intense conflicts, this is the War of the Livonian Succession, that’s how we would say it correctly. Well, while everyone froze at the start, next time we’ll figure out what happened. Damn, it's picky. Somehow I don’t even know, every time I immerse myself... I repeat that I always imagine that now everyone is cunning, smart, intelligent, such an intricacy... They know everything. And here it’s no less cunning. And the most important thing is that for me, as a commoner, history is a set of some kind of anecdotes - someone sent someone to hell, took a woman away, and then there’s war. It turns out that it’s not about the woman or the message, but about completely different things. It's a mess, damn it. It’s a pity, there are no pictures of where who lives, who went where, who why. This is when we will talk about military operations. By the way, maybe I’ll even prepare some maps for this, for this conversation, at least so that people understand that Crimea is here, Moscow is here. And the state of Ukraine should be designated as ancient. Ancient, yes. There, really, in this state of Ukraine there will be stuck up to the tonsils the pole of the flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. That's it. Thank you, Klim Sanych. We look forward to the continuation. We are trying. That's all for today. Until next time.
