The turmoil of the beginning of the 17th century, the prerequisites, the stages of which will be discussed below, is a historical period accompanied by natural disasters, deep socio-economic and state-political crises. Difficult situation in the country was aggravated by the Polish-Swedish intervention.
Troubles of the 17th century in Russia: causes
The crisis phenomena were caused by a number of factors. The first problems occurred, according to historians, due to the cessation and struggle between the tsarist government and the boyars. The latter sought to preserve and strengthen their political influence and increase their traditional privileges. The tsarist government, on the contrary, tried to limit these powers. The boyars, in addition, ignored the proposals of the Zemstvo. The role of representatives of this class is assessed by many researchers extremely negatively. Historians point out that the boyar claims turned into a direct struggle with the royal power. Their intrigues had an extremely negative impact on the position of the sovereign. It was this that created fertile ground on which the Time of Troubles arose in Russia. IN early XVII century was characterized only from an economic point of view. The situation in the country was very difficult. Subsequently, political and social problems joined this crisis.
Economic situation
Troubles in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century coincided with the aggressive campaigns of Grozny and the Livonian War. These measures demanded great effort from the productive forces. The ruin in Veliky Novgorod and the forced displacement of service people had an extremely negative impact on the economic situation. This is how the Time of Troubles began to brew in Russia. The beginning of the 17th century was also marked by widespread famine. In 1601-1603, thousands of small and large farms went bankrupt.
social tension
The unrest in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century was fueled by the rejection of the existing system by the masses of fugitive peasants, impoverished townspeople, city Cossacks and Cossack freemen, a large number servicemen. The introduced oprichnina, according to some researchers, significantly undermined the respect and trust of the people in law and power.
First events
How did the Time of Troubles develop in Russia? The beginning of the 17th century, in short, coincided with a shift in power in ruling circles. The heir to Grozny, Fedor the First, did not have the necessary managerial abilities. The youngest son, Dmitry, was still a baby at that time. After the death of the heirs, the Rurik dynasty came to an end. The boyar families - the Godunovs and the Yuryevs - approached power. In 1598 Boris Godunov took the throne. Period from 1601 to 1603 were fruitless. Frosts did not stop even in summer, and in autumn, in September, it snowed. The outbreak of famine claimed about half a million people. Exhausted people went to Moscow, where they were given bread and money. But these measures only exacerbated the economic problems. The landlords were not able to feed the servants and serfs and drove them out. Left without food and shelter, people began to engage in robbery and robbery.
False Dmitry the First
Troubles in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century coincided with the spread of a rumor that Tsarevich Dmitry had survived. From this it followed that Boris Godunov was on the throne illegally. The impostor False Dmitry announced his origin to Adam Vishnevetsky, the Lithuanian prince. After that, he became friends with Jerzy Mniszek, a Polish magnate, and Ragoni, papal nuncio. At the beginning of 1604, False Dmitry 1 received an audience with the Polish king. Some time later, the impostor converted to Catholicism. The rights of False Dmitry were recognized by King Sigismund. The monarch allowed everyone to help the Russian Tsar.
Entry to Moscow
False Dmitry entered the city in 1605, on June 20th. The boyars, led by Belsky, publicly recognized him as the prince of Moscow and the rightful heir. During his reign, False Dmitry was guided by Poland and tried to carry out some reforms. However, not all boyars recognized the legitimacy of his reign. Almost immediately after the arrival of False Dmitry, Shuisky began to spread rumors about his imposture. In 1606, in mid-May, the opposition of the boyars took advantage of the protests of the population against the Polish adventurers who had come to Moscow for the wedding of False Dmitry, raised an uprising. During it, the impostor was killed. The coming to power of Shuisky, who represented the Suzdal branch of the Rurikovich, did not bring peace to the state. In the southern regions, a movement of "thieves" broke out from which went. Events of 1606-1607 describes R. G. Skrynnikov. "Russia at the beginning of the 17th century. Troubles" is a book created by him on the basis of a large amount of documentary material.
False Dmitry II
Nevertheless, rumors still circulated in the country about the miraculous salvation of the legitimate prince. In 1607, in the summer, a new impostor appeared in Starodub. Troubles in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century continued. By the end of 1608, he achieved the spread of his influence on Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Vologda, Galich, Uglich, Kostroma, Vladimir. The impostor settled in the village of Tushino. Kazan, Veliky Novgorod, Smolensk, Kolomna, Novgorod, Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky remained loyal to the capital.
Seven Boyars
One of key events, which marked the Time of Troubles in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century, was a coup. Shuisky, who was in power, was removed. The leadership of the country got a council of seven boyars - the Seven Boyars. As they recognized Vsevolod, the Polish prince. The population of many cities swore allegiance to False Dmitry 2. Among them were those who had recently opposed the impostor. The Real Threat from False Dmitry II forced the council of the boyars to let the Polish-Lithuanian detachments into Moscow. They were supposed to be able to overthrow the impostor. However, False Dmitry was warned about this and left the camp in a timely manner.
militias
Troubles in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century continued. Began It contributed to the formation of militias. The first was commanded by a nobleman from Ryazan, Lyapunov. He was supported by supporters of False Dmitry II. Among them were Trubetskoy, Masalsky, Cherkassky and others. On the side of the militia was also the Cossack freemen, whose head was Ataman Zarutsky. The second movement began under the leadership of He invited Pozharsky as leader. In the spring, the camp of the First Militia near Moscow swore allegiance to False Dmitry the Third. Detachments of Minin and Pozharsky were unable to perform in the capital at a time when supporters of the impostor ruled there. In this regard, they made Yaroslavl their camp. At the end of August, the militia went to Moscow. As a result of a series of battles, the Kremlin was liberated, the Polish garrison that occupied it capitulated. Some time later, a new king was chosen. They became
Consequences
Compare the Time of Troubles in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century in terms of its destructive power and the depth of the crisis in the country can, probably, only be compared with the state of the country during the period Tatar-Mongol invasion. This terrible period in the life of the state ended with huge territorial losses and economic decline. The Great Troubles of the early 17th century claimed a huge number of lives. Many cities, arable lands, villages were devastated. The population could not recover to its previous level for quite a long time. Many cities passed into the hands of the enemies and remained in their power for several subsequent decades. Significantly reduced the area of cultivated land.
The Time of Troubles is usually called the period in the history of Russia from 1598 to 1612. These were dashing years, years of natural disasters: famine, crisis of the state and economic system, interventions of foreigners.
The year of the beginning of the "distemper" is 1598, when the Rurik dynasty was cut short, and there was no legitimate tsar in Russia. In the course of struggle and intrigue, he took power into his own hands, who sat on the throne until 1605.
The most dashing years during the reign of Boris Godunov are 1601-1603. People who needed food began to hunt for robbery and robbery. This course of events led the country into an ever-greater systemic crisis.
Needy people began to stray into flocks. The number of such detachments ranged from a few people to several hundred. The apogee of hunger has become. Fuel to the fire was added by rumors that Tsarevich Dmitry, most likely killed by Boris Godunov, is alive.
He declared his royal origin, won the support of the Poles, promising the gentry golden mountains, Russian lands and other benefits. In the midst of a war with an impostor, Boris Godunov dies of illness. His son Fedor, along with his family, is killed by conspirators who believed False Dmitry I.
The impostor did not sit long on the Russian throne. The people were dissatisfied with his rule, and the opposition-minded boyars took advantage of the situation and killed him. He was anointed to the kingdom.
Vasily Shuisky had to ascend the throne at a difficult time for the country. No sooner had Shuisky settled in than a new impostor flared up and showed up. Shuisky concludes a military treaty with Sweden. The treaty turned into another problem for Russia. The Poles went into open intervention, and the Swedes betrayed Shuisky.
In 1610, Shuisky was removed from the throne, in the course of a conspiracy. The conspirators will still rule in Moscow for a long time, the time of their reign will be called. Moscow swore allegiance to the Polish prince Vladislav. Soon the Polish troops entered the capital. Every day the situation got worse. The Poles traded in robbery and violence, and also planted the Catholic faith.
Under the leadership of Lyapunov, they gathered. Due to internal squabbles, Lyapunov was killed, and the campaign of the first militia failed miserably. Russia at that time had every opportunity to cease to exist on the map of Europe. But as they say Time of Troubles gives rise to heroes. There were people on Russian soil who were able to unite the people around themselves, who were able to move them to self-sacrifice for the good of the Russian land and the Orthodox faith.
Novgorodians Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, once and for all, inscribed their names in golden letters in the history of Russia. It was thanks to the activities of these two people and the heroism of the Russian people that our ancestors managed to save the country. November 1, 1612, they took China - the city with a fight, a little later the Poles signed a capitulation. After the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow, the Zemsky Sobor took place, as a result of which he was anointed to the kingdom.
The consequences of the troubled times are very sad. Russia lost many primordially Russian territories, the economy was in terrible decline, the country's population was reduced. The Time of Troubles was a severe test for Russia and the Russian people. More than one such test will befall the Russian people, but they will survive, thanks to their stamina, and the covenants of their ancestors. Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword, on that the Russian Land has stood, and will continue to stand. Words spoken many centuries ago do not lose their relevance today!
A summary of the events of the Russian Time of Troubles in the 17th century may look like this. After the death of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and the end of the Rurik dynasty, Boris Godunov was elected to the throne on February 21, 1598. The formal act of limiting the power of the new tsar, expected by the boyars, did not follow. The muffled murmur of this class caused Godunov to secretly police surveillance of the boyars, in which the serfs who denounced their masters served as the main tool. This was followed by torture and executions. General shaking public order could not be set up by the king, despite all the energy he showed. The famine years that began in 1601 increased the general dissatisfaction with the Godunovs. The struggle for the throne at the top of the boyars, gradually supplemented by ferment from below, marked the beginning of the Time of Troubles. In this regard, the entire reign of Boris Godunov can be considered his first period.
Soon there were rumors about the rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry, who was previously considered killed in Uglich, and about his stay in Poland. The first news about him began to penetrate Moscow at the very beginning of 1604. The first False Dmitry was created by the Moscow boyars with the help of the Poles. His imposture was no secret to the boyars, and Boris directly said that it was they who framed the impostor. In the autumn of 1604, False Dmitry, with a detachment assembled in Poland and Ukraine, entered the borders of the Muscovite state through the Severshchina, the southwestern border region, which was quickly seized by popular unrest. On April 13, 1605, Boris Godunov died, and the impostor approached Moscow without hindrance, where he entered on June 20. During the 11-month reign of False Dmitry, the boyars' conspiracies against him did not stop. He did not satisfy either the boyars (because of the independence and independence of his character), or the people (due to his “Westernizing” policy, which was unusual for Muscovites). On May 17, 1606, the conspirators, headed by princes V. I. Shuisky, V. V. Golitsyn and others, overthrew the impostor and killed him.
Time of Troubles. False Dmitry. (The body of False Dmitry on Red Square) Sketch for the painting by S. Kirillov, 2013
After that, Vasily Shuisky was elected Tsar, but without the participation of the Zemsky Sobor, but only by the boyar party and the crowd of Muscovites devoted to him, who “shouted out” Shuisky after the death of False Dmitry. His reign was limited by the boyar oligarchy, which took from the tsar an oath limiting his power. This reign covers 4 years and 2 months; all the while the Troubles continued and grew. Seversk Ukraine, led by the Putivl voivode Prince Shakhovsky, was the first to revolt in the name of the allegedly saved False Dmitry I. The head of the rebels was the fugitive serf Bolotnikov, who was, as it were, an agent sent by an impostor from Poland. The initial successes of the rebels forced many to stick to the rebellion. Ryazan land was outraged by Sunbulov and brothers Lyapunovs, Tula and surrounding cities raised Istoma Pashkov. Troubles also penetrated other places: Nizhny Novgorod was besieged by a crowd of serfs and foreigners, led by two Mordvins; in Perm and Vyatka, unsteadiness and confusion were noticed. Astrakhan was outraged by the governor himself, Prince Khvorostinin; a gang raged along the Volga, putting up their impostor, a certain Muromet Ileyka, who was called Peter - the unprecedented son of Tsar Fedor Ioannovich. Bolotnikov approached Moscow and on October 12, 1606 defeated the Moscow army near the village of Troitskoye, Kolomna district, but was soon defeated by M.V. Skopin-Shuisky near Kolomenskoye and went to Kaluga, which the tsar's brother Dmitry tried to besiege. The impostor Peter appeared in the Seversk land, who in Tula joined with Bolotnikov, who had left the Moscow troops from Kaluga. Tsar Vasily himself moved to Tula, which he besieged from June 30 to October 1, 1607. During the siege of the city, a new formidable impostor, False Dmitry II, appeared in Starodub.
The battle of Bolotnikov's troops with the tsarist army. Painting by E. Lissner
The death of Bolotnikov, who surrendered in Tula, did not stop the Time of Troubles. False Dmitry II, supported by the Poles and Cossacks, found himself near Moscow and settled in the so-called Tushino camp. A significant part of the cities (up to 22) in the northeast submitted to the impostor. Only the Trinity-Sergius Lavra withstood a long siege by its detachments from September 1608 to January 1610. In difficult circumstances, Shuisky turned to the Swedes for help. Then Poland in September 1609 declared war on Moscow under the pretext that Moscow had concluded an agreement with Sweden, which was hostile to the Poles. Thus, internal Troubles were supplemented by the intervention of foreigners. The Polish king Sigismund III went to Smolensk. Skopin-Shuisky, sent to Novgorod for negotiations with the Swedes in the spring of 1609, together with Delagardie's Swedish auxiliary detachment, moved to Moscow. Moscow was liberated from the Tushinsky thief, who fled to Kaluga in February 1610. The Tushino camp dispersed. The Poles who were in it went to their king near Smolensk.
S. Ivanov. Camp of False Dmitry II in Tushino
Russian adherents of False Dmitry II from the boyars and nobles, led by Mikhail Saltykov, left alone, also decided to send representatives to the Polish camp near Smolensk and recognize Sigismund's son Vladislav as king. But they recognized it under certain conditions, which were set out in an agreement with the king dated February 4, 1610. This agreement expressed the political aspirations of the middle boyars and the highest metropolitan nobility. First of all, it affirmed the inviolability Orthodox faith; everyone had to be judged according to the law and punished only by the court, rise according to their merits, everyone has the right to travel to other states for education. The sovereign shares government power with two institutions: the Zemsky Sobor and the Boyar Duma. The Zemsky Sobor, consisting of elected representatives from all the ranks of the state, has founding authority; the sovereign only together with him establishes the basic laws and changes the old ones. The Boyar Duma has legislative authority; she, together with the sovereign, resolves issues of current legislation, for example, questions about taxes, about local and patrimonial land ownership, etc. The Boyar Duma is also the highest judicial institution, which, together with the sovereign, decides the most important court cases. The sovereign does nothing without the thought and verdict of the boyars. But while negotiations were underway with Sigismund, two important events took place that greatly influenced the course of the Time of Troubles: in April 1610, the tsar's nephew, the popular liberator of Moscow, M.V. These events decided the fate of Tsar Vasily: the Muscovites, led by Zakhar Lyapunov, overthrew Shuisky on July 17, 1610 and forced him to cut his hair.
The last period of the Time of Troubles has come. Near Moscow, the Polish hetman Zholkievsky, who demanded the election of Vladislav, was stationed with an army, and False Dmitry II, who again came there, to whom the Moscow mob was located. At the head of the board was the Boyar Duma, headed by F. I. Mstislavsky, V. V. Golitsyn and others (the so-called Seven Boyars). She started negotiations with Zholkiewski on the recognition of Vladislav as the Russian Tsar. On September 19, Zholkievsky brought Polish troops to Moscow and drove False Dmitry II from the capital. At the same time, an embassy was sent to Sigismund III from the capital that had sworn allegiance to Prince Vladislav, consisting of the most noble Moscow boyars, but the king detained them and announced that he personally intended to be king in Moscow.
The year 1611 was marked by a rapid rise in the midst of the Troubles of Russian national feeling. Patriarch Hermogenes and Prokopy Lyapunov were at the head of the patriotic movement against the Poles. Sigismund's claims to unite Russia with Poland as a subordinate state and the murder of the leader of the mob, False Dmitry II, whose danger made many involuntarily rely on Vladislav, favored the growth of the movement. The uprising quickly swept Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Suzdal, Kostroma, Vologda, Ustyug, Novgorod and other cities. Militias gathered everywhere and were drawn to Moscow. The Cossacks under the command of the Don Ataman Zarutsky and Prince Trubetskoy joined the service people of Lyapunov. At the beginning of March 1611, the militia approached Moscow, where an uprising against the Poles broke out with the news. The Poles burned the entire Moscow Posad (March 19), but with the approach of the detachments of Lyapunov and other leaders, they were forced to lock themselves in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod together with their supporters from Muscovites. The case of the first patriotic militia of the Time of Troubles ended in failure, thanks to the complete disunity of the interests of the individual groups that were part of it. On July 25 Lyapunov was killed by the Cossacks. Even earlier, on June 3, King Sigismund finally captured Smolensk, and on July 8, 1611, Delagardie took Novgorod by storm and forced the Swedish prince Philip to be recognized there as sovereign. A new leader of the tramps, False Dmitry III, appeared in Pskov.
K. Makovsky. Minin's Appeal on Nizhny Novgorod Square
In early April, the second patriotic militia of the Time of Troubles arrived in Yaroslavl and, moving slowly, gradually strengthening their detachments, approached Moscow on August 20. Zarutsky with his gangs left for the southeastern regions, and Trubetskoy joined Pozharsky. On August 24-28, Pozharsky's soldiers and Trubetskoy's Cossacks repulsed Hetman Khodkevich from Moscow, who arrived with a convoy of supplies to help the Poles besieged in the Kremlin. On October 22, Kitay-gorod was occupied, and on October 26, the Kremlin was also cleared of the Poles. The attempt of Sigismund III to move towards Moscow was unsuccessful: the king turned back from Volokolamsk.
E. Lissner. Knowing Poles from the Kremlin
In December, letters were sent everywhere about sending the best and most reasonable people to Moscow to elect the Sovereign. They got together early next year. On February 21, 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the Russian tsars, who married in Moscow on July 11 of the same year and founded a new, 300-year-old dynasty. The main events of the Time of Troubles ended with this, however
The beginning of the 17th century was marked by a series of difficult trials for Russia.
How did the turmoil start?
After Tsar Ivan the Terrible died in 1584, his son Fyodor Ivanovich, who was very weak and sickly, inherited the throne. Due to his state of health, he ruled for a short time - from 1584 to 1598. Fedor Ivanovich died early, leaving no heirs. The younger son of Ivan the Terrible was allegedly stabbed to death by minions of Boris Godunov. There were many who wanted to take the reins of government into their own hands. As a result, a struggle for power within the country unfolded. A similar situation served as an impetus for the development of such a phenomenon as the Time of Troubles. Causes and the beginning of this period in different time interpreted in their own way. Despite this, it is possible to single out the main events and aspects that influenced the development of these events.
Main reasons
Of course, first of all, this is the interruption of the Rurik dynasty. From this moment on, the central power, which has passed into the hands of third parties, loses its authority in the eyes of the people. Constant growth taxes also served as a catalyst for the discontent of the townspeople and peasants. For such a protracted phenomenon as the Time of Troubles, the reasons have been accumulating for more than one year. This includes the consequences of the oprichnina, the economic devastation after the Livonian War. The last straw was the sharp deterioration in living conditions associated with the drought of 1601-1603. The Time of Troubles became for external forces the most successful moment for the liquidation of the state independence of Russia.
Background from the point of view of historians
Not only the weakening of the monarchy regime contributed to the emergence of such a phenomenon as the Time of Troubles. The reasons for it are connected with the interweaving of aspirations and actions of various political forces and social masses, which were complicated by the intervention of external forces. Due to the fact that at the same time many unfavorable factors were formed, the country plunged into a deep crisis.
For the occurrence of such a phenomenon as Troubles, the reasons can be identified as follows:
1. The crisis of the economy, which falls at the end of the XVI century. It was caused by the decline of peasants in the cities, the increase in tax and feudal oppression. The famine of 1601-1603 aggravated the situation, as a result of which about half a million people died.
2. The crisis of the dynasty. After the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the struggle of various boyar clans for the right to stand in power intensified. During this period, Boris Godunov (from 1598 to 1605), Fyodor Godunov (April 1605 - June 1605), False Dmitry I (from June 1605 to May 1606), Vasily Shuisky (from 1606 to 1610), False Dmitry II (from 1607 to 1610) and the Seven Boyars (from 1610 to 1611).
3. Spiritual crisis. Pursuit catholic religion to impose their will ended in a split in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Internal turmoil laid the foundation for peasant wars and urban uprisings.
Godunov's board
The difficult struggle for power between representatives of the highest nobility ended in the victory of Boris Godunov, the tsar's brother-in-law. This was the first time in Russian history when the throne was not inherited, but as a result of victory in elections in the Zemsky Sobor. In general, over the seven years of his reign, Godunov managed to resolve disputes and disagreements with Poland and Sweden, and also established cultural and economic relations with the countries of Western Europe.
His domestic politics also brought its results in the form of Russia's advance into Siberia. However, soon the situation in the country worsened. This was caused by crop failures in the period from 1601 to 1603.
Godunov took all possible measures to alleviate such a difficult situation. He organized public works, gave permission to the serfs to leave their masters, organized the distribution of bread to the starving. Despite this, as a result of the abolition in 1603 of the law on the temporary restoration of St. George's Day, an uprising of serfs broke out, which marked the beginning of the peasant war.
Exacerbation of the internal situation
The most dangerous stage Peasants' War was an uprising led by Ivan Bolotnikov. The war spread to the southwest and south of Russia. The rebels defeated the troops of the new tsar - Vasily Shuisky - proceeding to the siege of Moscow in October-December 1606. They stopped their internal disagreements, as a result of which the rebels were forced to retreat to Kaluga.
The Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century was the right moment for the attack on Moscow for the Polish princes. The reasons for the intervention attempts lay in the impressive support provided to the princes False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II, who were subordinate to foreign accomplices in everything. The ruling circles of the Commonwealth and catholic church attempts were made to dismember Russia and eliminate its state independence.
The next stage in the split of the country was the formation of territories that recognized the power of False Dmitry II, and those that remained faithful to Vasily Shuisky.
According to some historians, the main reasons for such a phenomenon as the Time of Troubles lay in lack of rights, imposture, internal split of the country and intervention. This time was the first civil war in Russian history. Before the Time of Troubles appeared in Russia, its causes were formed for more than one year. The prerequisites were associated with the oprichnina and the consequences of the Livonian War. The country's economy was already ruined by that time, and tension was growing in the social strata.
Final stage
Beginning in 1611, there was an increase in patriotic sentiment, accompanied by calls for an end to strife and greater unity. The militia was organized. However, only on the second attempt under the leadership of K. Minin and K. Pozharsky in the fall of 1611, Moscow was liberated. 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov was elected the new tsar.
The Troubles brought colossal territorial losses in the 17th century. The reasons for it mainly consisted in the weakening of the authority of the centralized government in the eyes of the people, the formation of the opposition. Despite this, having gone through years of losses and hardships, internal disunity and civil strife under the leadership of False Dmitry impostors and adventurers, nobles, townspeople and peasants came to the conclusion that strength can only be in unity. The consequences of the Troubles had an impact on the country even long time. Only a century later they were finally eliminated.
The first period of the Time of Troubles - chronological table
The struggle for the Moscow throne (from the accession of Boris Godunov to the assassination of False Dmitry I)
1598 - The death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the end of the Rurik dynasty. The Zemsky Sobor elects Boris Godunov (1598-1605) as king.
1600 - The first rumors about the rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry. Imprisonment by Godunov former caregiver Dmitry, Bogdan Belsky. The Polish embassy of Leo Sapieha to Moscow (late 1600 - early 1601) and his intrigues among the boyars dissatisfied with Godunov.
1601 - Hungry years in Russia (1601-1603). Imprisonment of the Romanov brothers competing with Godunov. The law on the prohibition of the export of peasants from small to large owners.
1603 - Fights near Moscow with a gang of Cotton Kosolap. In Poland, the Vishnevetsky family nominates the impostor False Dmitry I.
1604 – Meeting of False Dmitry I with the Polish king Sigismund III in Krakow (March). The transition of the impostor to Catholicism and his second meeting with the king (April). Entry of detachments of False Dmitry I into the Muscovite state (autumn). Their occupation of Chernigov, Putivl, Kursk, Belgorod, Liven. The siege by the Pretender of Basmanov in Novgorod-Seversky and the defeat (December 21) of the army of F. Mstislavsky, moved to help Basmanov.
1605 - The defeat of the Pretender at Dobrynich (January 20) and his flight to Putivl. Unsuccessful siege of Rylsk and Krom by governors of Godunov. Death of Tsar Boris Godunov (April 13). Transfer of Basmanov's army to the side of the Pretender (May 7). Campaign of False Dmitry to Moscow through Oryol and Tula. Reading by Pleshcheev and Pushkin of the letter of the Pretender in Moscow and the arrest of Tsar Fyodor Borisovich by Muscovites (June 1). The murder of Tsar Fedor and his mother (June 10). Entry of False Dmitry I to Moscow (June 20). His coronation to the kingdom (July 21)
1606 – Reception by False Dmitry of the papal embassy Rangoni in Moscow (February). Wedding of False Dmitry and Marina Mnishek (May 8). Boyar rebellion in Moscow and the murder of the Pretender (May 17).
The second period of the Time of Troubles - chronological table
Destruction of the state order (reign of Vasily Shuisky)
1606 - Accession of Vasily Shuisky. Kissing the new tsar that he will do all the most important things only on the advice of the boyars. Speech against Shuisky Bolotnikov and the Lyapunov militia. Taking the village of Kolomenskoye (October), Bolotnikov tries to besiege Moscow. The quarrel between the noble and peasant armies near Moscow, the transition of the Lyapunovs to the side of Shuisky (November 15). The defeat of Bolotnikov in the battle near the village of Kotly (December 2) and his flight from Moscow to Kaluga.
The battle of Bolotnikov's troops with the tsarist army. Painting by E. Lissner
1607 - Bolotnikov's breakthrough from Kaluga to Tula, his plans to again go to Moscow (spring). The siege of Bolotnikov in Tula (June 30 - October 1) and the suppression of his rebellion. The appearance of False Dmitry II in Starodub; occupation of Bryansk, Kozelsk and Orel.
1608 - Campaign of False Dmitry II to Moscow and occupation of Tushin by him (early July). Beginning of the siege of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra by Sapieha (September 23).
1609 - The first attempt to depose Shuisky in Moscow (G. Sumbulov and V. Golitsyn, February 17). The union of Tsar Vasily with the Swedes on the terms of concession to those of Korela (end of February). Tushino attacks on Moscow (June). The campaign of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and Delagardie from Novgorod to Moscow in order to free it from the siege by False Dmitry II. Their capture of Tver (July 13) and Pereyaslavl. The Polish king Sigismund III declares war on Russia and besieges Smolensk (since September 16).
Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky. Parsuna (portrait) of the 17th century
1610 - Sapieha's retreat from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (January 12). The collapse of the Tushino camp. The agreement of the former Tushinians with Sigismund on the recognition of the Russian tsar, Prince Vladislav, on conditions limiting his power (February 4). Flight of False Dmitry II to Kaluga (February). Death of Skopin-Shuisky (April 23). The victory of the Polish hetman Zholkiewski over the Russian troops at Klushin (June 24). Return of False Dmitry II to Moscow (July 11). Deposition of Shuisky (July 17).
Third period of the Time of Troubles - chronological table
An attempt to restore order (from the overthrow of Vasily Shuisky to the election of Mikhail Romanov)
1610 - The approach to Moscow of the Polish army of Zolkiewski (July 24). Seven Boyars in Moscow, her oath to Prince Vladislav (August 17). Departure from the capital of the Russian embassy for negotiations with Sigismund III. The occupation of Moscow by the Poles (the night of September 20-21, ostensibly to defend the capital from False Dmitry II). The intention of Sigismund to personally take the Moscow throne, and not to give it to his son. Assassination of False Dmitry II (December 11).
1611 - The battle of the Poles with the Muscovites and the burning of Moscow by Polish soldiers (March 19). Approach to Moscow of Lyapunov's militia (end of March) and its connection with the Cossacks. The arrest of the Russian embassy by Sigismund III (April). The capture of Smolensk by Sigismund (June 3) and Novgorod by the Swedes (July 8). The Swedes proclaim King Philip the Russian Tsar. The “sentence of June 30, 1611” worked out by the first militia to protect the interests of service people. The murder of Lyapunov (July 25), zemstvo militias break with the Cossacks and leave Moscow. Newsletter in Russia
