Tsar Ivan 3 biography. Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III. Fight with Kazan

Negotiations dragged on for three years. On November 12, the bride finally arrived in Moscow.

The wedding took place on the same day. The marriage of the Moscow sovereign with the Greek princess was an important event in Russian history. He opened the way for connections between Muscovite Rus' and the West. On the other hand, together with Sophia, some orders and customs of the Byzantine court were established at the Moscow court. The ceremony became more majestic and solemn. The Grand Duke himself rose to prominence in the eyes of his contemporaries. They noticed that Ivan, after marrying the niece of the Byzantine emperor, appeared as an autocratic sovereign on the Moscow grand-ducal table; he was the first to receive the nickname Grozny, because he was a monarch for the princes of the squad, demanding unquestioning obedience and strictly punishing disobedience. He rose to a royal, unattainable height, before which the boyar, prince and descendant of Rurik and Gediminas had to reverently bow along with the last of his subjects; at the first wave of Ivan the Terrible, the heads of the seditious princes and boyars lay on the chopping block.

It was at that time that Ivan III began to inspire fear with his very appearance. Women, contemporaries say, fainted from his angry gaze. The courtiers, fearing for their lives, had to amuse him during his leisure hours, and when he, sitting in his armchairs, indulged in a doze, they stood motionless around him, not daring to cough or make a careless movement, so as not to wake him. Contemporaries and immediate descendants attributed this change to the suggestions of Sophia, and we have no right to reject their testimony. The German ambassador Herberstein, who was in Moscow during the reign of Sophia’s son, said about her: “ She was an unusually cunning woman; at her inspiration, the Grand Duke did a lot".

War with the Kazan Khanate 1467 - 1469

A letter from Metropolitan Philip to the Grand Duke, written at the beginning of the war, has been preserved. In it he promises the crown of martyrdom to all who shed their blood." for the holy churches of God and for Orthodox Christianity».

At the first meeting with the leading Kazan army, the Russians not only did not dare to start a battle, but did not even make an attempt to cross the Volga to the other bank, where the Tatar army was stationed, and therefore simply turned back; So, even before it began, the “campaign” ended in shame and failure.

Khan Ibrahim did not pursue the Russians, but made a punitive foray into the Russian city of Galich-Mersky, which lay close to the Kazan borders in Kostroma land, and plundered its surroundings, although he could not take the fortified fort itself.

Ivan III ordered strong garrisons to be sent to all border cities: Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Kostroma, Galich and to carry out a retaliatory punitive attack. The Tatar troops were expelled from the Kostroma borders by the governor Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Striga-Obolensky, and the attack on the lands of the Mari from the north and west was carried out by detachments under the command of Prince Daniil Kholmsky, which even reached Kazan itself.

Then the Kazan Khan sent a response army in the following directions: Galich (the Tatars reached the Yuga River and took the Kichmensky town and occupied two Kostroma volosts) and Nizhny Novgorod-Murmansk (near Nizhny Novgorod the Russians defeated the Tatar army and captured the leader of the Kazan detachment, Murza Khodzhu-Berdy ).

"All Christian blood will fall on you because, having betrayed Christianity, you run away, without putting up a fight with the Tatars and without fighting them, he said. - Why are you afraid of death? You are not an immortal man, a mortal; and without fate there is no death for man, bird, or bird; give me, an old man, an army in my hands, and you will see if I turn my face before the Tatars!"

Ashamed, Ivan did not go to his Kremlin courtyard, but settled in Krasnoye Selets.

From here he sent an order to his son to go to Moscow, but he decided it would be better to incur his father’s wrath than to go from the coast. " I'll die here and won't go to my father", he said to Prince Kholmsky, who persuaded him to leave the army. He guarded the movement of the Tatars, who wanted to secretly cross the Ugra and suddenly rush to Moscow: the Tatars were repulsed from the shore with great damage.

Meanwhile, Ivan III, having lived for two weeks near Moscow, somewhat recovered from his fear, surrendered to the persuasion of the clergy and decided to go to the army. But he didn’t get to Ugra, but stopped in Kremenets on the Luzha River. Here again fear began to overcome him and he completely decided to end the matter peacefully and sent Ivan Tovarkov to the khan with a petition and gifts, asking for a salary so that he would retreat away. Khan replied: " I feel sorry for Ivan; let him come to beat with his brow, as his fathers went to our fathers in the Horde".

However, gold coins were minted in small quantities and for many reasons did not take root in the economic relations of the then Rus'.

In the year, the all-Russian Code of Law was published, with the help of which legal proceedings began to be carried out. The nobility and the noble army began to play a larger role. In the interests of the noble landowners, the transfer of peasants from one master to another was limited. The peasants received the right to make the transition only once a year - a week before the autumn St. George's Day to the Russian Church. In many cases, and especially when choosing a metropolitan, Ivan III behaved as the head of the church administration. The metropolitan was elected by the episcopal council, but with the approval of the Grand Duke. On one occasion (in the case of Metropolitan Simon), Ivan solemnly conducted the newly consecrated prelate to the metropolitan see in the Assumption Cathedral, thus emphasizing the prerogatives of the Grand Duke.

The problem of church lands was widely discussed by both the laity and the clergy. Many laymen, including some boyars, approved of the activities of the Trans-Volga elders, aimed at the spiritual revival and cleansing of the church.

The right of monasteries to own land was also called into question by another religious movement, which actually denied the entire institution of the Orthodox Church: ".

Potin V.M. Hungarian gold of Ivan III // Feudal Russia in the world-historical process. M., 1972, p.289

Vasilevich

Battles and victories

The Grand Duke of Moscow from 1462 to 1505, also began to be called the Sovereign, under him Moscow was freed from the Horde yoke.

Ivan the Great himself did not personally lead any operation or battle, but one can speak of him as the supreme commander-in-chief. And the results of the wars of the reign of Ivan III are the most successful in the entire history of Muscovite Rus'.

Ivan Vasilyevich, who is called Ivan III in historical literature, is the first of the Grand Dukes of Moscow who began to lay claim to the title of Sovereign of All Rus'. The emergence of a unified (though not yet completely centralized) Russian state is associated with his name. And this could not be achieved with the help of political maneuvers alone, of which Ivan III was undoubtedly an outstanding master.

The Middle Ages were characterized by the ideal of a warrior ruler, an example of which Vladimir Monomakh gives in his “Teaching”. Besides himself, Svyatoslav Igorevich, Mstislav Tmutarakansky, Izyaslav Mstislavich, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Mstislav Udatny, Alexander Nevsky and many others covered themselves with military glory, although, of course, there were many who did not shine with military valor. The Moscow princes were no different from them either - only Dmitry Donskoy gained fame on the battlefield.

Ivan III, a pragmatist to the core, did not at all strive to live up to the ideal of a warrior prince. There were many wars during his reign - with Lithuania alone, two, also two with Kazan, and also with the Great Horde (not counting raids), Novgorod, the Livonian Order, Sweden... The prince himself, in fact, did not participate in hostilities, not a single one did not personally direct the operation or battle, i.e. cannot be considered a commander in the strict sense of the word, but one can speak of him as the supreme commander in chief. Considering that the wars during his reign ended in draws at worst, but mostly in victories, and not always over weak opponents, it is clear that the Grand Duke coped with his tasks as “commander in chief” successfully. But this is only a general conclusion . And if we turn to the details?

Ivan Vasilyevich, husband of a brave heart and ritzer valechny (military)

"Kroinika Lithuanian and Zhmoitskaya"

Of course, Ivan Vasilyevich did not inherit a small or weak power. However, just ten years before his reign, the “squabble” ended - the struggle for power between representatives of the two branches of the Moscow grand-ducal house. And Moscow had plenty of enemies, first of all, the Great Horde and Lithuania, which was Moscow’s rival in the matter of collecting Russian lands - it was in its hands that Kyiv, “the mother of Russian cities,” was located.

The first major war during the reign of Ivan III was the conflict with Kazan in 1467-1469. In the campaigns against it, which were initially unsuccessful, the Grand Duke did not take part, leaving the matter to the governors - Konstantin Bezzubtsev, Vasily Ukhtomsky, Daniil Kholmsky, Ivan Runo. The persistence of Ivan III is characteristic: after the failure of the May campaign of 1469, already in August he sent a new army, and it achieved success, the Kazan people concluded an agreement beneficial for the Muscovites.

In the same way, in fact, the governors were granted independence during the Novgorod “blitzkrieg” of 1471, especially since the rapidity of the movements of Moscow troops with the then means of communication did not contribute to interference in their actions. Three Moscow armies advancing on the Novgorod lands, one after another, achieved success, the main of which was the defeat of the Novgorod army on the banks of the Shelon in July 1471. Only after this Ivan III arrived in Rusa, where the army of Daniil Kholmsky and Fyodor the Lame was stationed and where he ordered the execution of four captured Novgorod boyars for “treason.” Ordinary Novgorodians who were captured, on the contrary, were released, thereby making it clear that Moscow was not fighting with them. And they also have no need to fight with her.

The war with Novgorod was still going on when the Khan of the Great Horde, Akhmat, moved to the southern borders of the Moscow Principality. In July, he approached the banks of the Oka and burned the town of Aleksin, driving back the Russian advance detachments. A terrible fire had just ended in Moscow, and the Grand Duke, who personally participated in the fight against the fire, upon receiving alarming news, immediately went to Kolomna to organize defense. The two or three days lost by Akhmat at Aleksin are believed to have given time to the Russian commanders to take up positions on the Oka, after which the khan chose to retreat. It can be assumed that the coherence of the actions of the Russian governors was not least the result of the skillful leadership of Ivan III. One way or another, the enemy left, unable or unwilling to build on the initial success.

The largest campaign in which Ivan III was involved was the war with the Great Horde in 1480. Its culmination, as is known, was the “stand on the Ugra”. The war took place in the context of a conflict with the Livonian Order and the rebellion of Andrei Volotsky (Bolshoy) and Boris Uglitsky - the brothers of the Grand Duke, who unceremoniously violated the agreement with them and did not allocate them with the lands of Novgorod annexed in 1478 (he had to make peace with the “troublemakers” by going concessions to them). Grand Duke Casimir promised help to Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat. True, the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey was an ally of Moscow.

Ivan III did not follow the path of Dmitry Donskoy, who in 1380 moved towards Mamai and defeated him in the extremely bloody Battle of Kulikovo, and in 1382 he preferred to leave to gather troops against Tokhtamysh, entrusting its defense to the Lithuanian prince Ostey. The great-grandson of the hero of the Kulikov Field already had other forces, and he pulled out a more ambitious strategy. Ivan decided to block the path to the enemy on the way to the capital city, which last saw the Tatars under its walls in 1451. Ivan III sent his brother Andrei the Lesser with regiments to Tarusa, his son Ivan to Serpukhov, and he himself settled in Kolomna. The Russian army thus took up positions along the Oka, preventing the enemy from crossing. Dmitry Donskoy could not afford this yet - his strength was not so great.)

Akhmat reasonably believed that he would not be able to break through the Oka River and turned west, moving towards Kaluga in order to bypass Russian defensive positions. Now the epicenter of hostilities has shifted to the banks of the Ugra River. The Grand Duke sent troops there, but did not stay with them, but preferred to come to Moscow “for council and Duma” with the boyars and church hierarchs. Just in case, the Moscow Posad was evacuated, as was the treasury and, contrary to the opinion of some close associates of Ivan III, the grand-ducal family (on the road to Beloozero, the servants of Grand Duchess Sophia did not show themselves in the best way, “becoming famous” for robberies and violence “more than the Tatars”; mother of Ivan III , nun Martha, by the way, refused to leave). The defense of the capital city in case of enemy appearance was led by boyar I.Yu. Patrikeev. The Grand Duke sent reinforcements to the Ugra, and he himself placed his headquarters in reserve positions in the rear, in Kremenets (now Kremensk). From here it was possible to reach any point in the triangle Kaluga - Opakov - Kremenets, which was defended by Russian troops, in less than a day, and also in just two or three transitions to reach the Moscow - Vyazma road, if the Lithuanian prince Kazimir (he, However, I didn’t dare to do this).

Standing on the Ugra. Miniature from the Facial Vault. XVI century

Meanwhile, in October, battles began on the Ugra for fords and climbs - the narrowest and therefore suitable places for crossing. The most fierce skirmishes took place near Opakov, 60 km from the confluence of the Ugra and the Oka, where the river is very narrow and the right bank hangs over the left. Numerous attempts by the enemy to cross the Ugra were repulsed in all areas with great damage to the Tatars. This happened thanks to the valor of the Russian soldiers, the competent organization of the battle and, not least of all, the superiority of weapons - the Russians actively used firearms, including artillery, which the Tatars did not have.

Despite the successes of his troops, Ivan III did not behave decisively. At first, for reasons that are not entirely clear, he ordered his son, Ivan the Young, to come to him, although the departure of a representative of the grand ducal family could have a negative impact on the morale of the soldiers. The prince, obviously understanding this, refused, as if even declaring: “We should fly here to die, rather than go to our father.” Voivode Daniil Kholmsky, obliged to deliver Ivan the Young to his parents, did not dare to do this. Then Ivan III entered into negotiations - perhaps he was waiting for the approach of the brothers Andrei Bolshoi and Boris, who had reconciled with him. The Khan did not refuse negotiations, but invited Ivan III to come to his headquarters and resume paying tribute. Having received a refusal, he asked to send to him at least the brother or son of the prince, and then the former ambassador - N.F. Basenkov (probably this was a hint at sending tribute, which, apparently, was delivered by Basenkov on his last visit to the Horde). The Grand Duke saw that Akhmat was not at all confident in his abilities, and refused all offers.

Meanwhile, winter had come, and the Tatars were about to cross the ice not only across the Ugra, but also across the Oka. Ivan III ordered the troops to withdraw to positions near Borovsk, from where it was possible to block the routes from both rivers. It was probably at this time that I.V. Oshchera Sorokoumov-Glebov and G.A. Mamon allegedly advised Ivan III to “run away, and the peasantry (Christians - A.K.) issue”, i.e. either make concessions to the Tatars up to the recognition of their power, or retreat into the interior of the country so as not to put the army at risk. The chronicler even calls Mamon and Oshera “Christian traitors,” but this is a clear exaggeration.

At the same time, Rostov Archbishop Vassian Rylo, who probably regarded Ivan III’s behavior as cowardice, sent a message to the Grand Duke in which he accused him of unwillingness to raise his hand against the “tsar,” i.e. Horde Khan, and called, without listening to the “debauchers” (supporters of concessions to Akhmat), to follow the example of Dmitry Donskoy. But already in mid-November the Tatars, not ready for military operations in the winter, began to retreat. Their attempt to ruin the volosts along the Ugra was not entirely successful - the steppe inhabitants were pursued by the detachments of Boris, Andrei the Great and the Lesser, the brothers of the Grand Duke, and the Horde had to flee. The raid of Tsarevich Murtoza, who crossed the Oka River, also ended in failure due to the energetic resistance of the Russian troops.

What conclusions can be drawn? Ivan III and his governors, realizing the increased military power of the Moscow principality, which was also helped by Tver, decided, however, not to give a general battle, victory in which promised great glory, but would have been associated with heavy losses... And besides, no one could guarantee. The strategy they chose turned out to be effective and least costly in terms of human losses. At the same time, Ivan III did not dare to abandon the evacuation of the settlement, which was very troublesome for ordinary Muscovites, but this precaution can hardly be called unnecessary. The chosen strategy required good reconnaissance, coordination of actions and a quick reaction to changes in the situation, taking into account the mobility of the Tatar cavalry. But at the same time, the task was made easier by the fact that the enemy did not have the factor of strategic surprise, which so often ensured success for the steppe inhabitants. The bet not on a general battle or sitting out under siege, but on active defense along the river banks, paid off.

The most striking military event in the history of the reign of Ivan III was, perhaps, the second war with Lithuania. The first was a “strange” war, when detachments of the parties carried out raids, and embassies made mutual claims. The second became “real”, with large-scale campaigns and battles. The reason for it was that the Moscow sovereign lured to his side the princes of Starodub and Novgorod-Seversk, whose possessions thus came under his authority. It was impossible to defend such acquisitions without a “proper” war, and in 1500, the last year of the outgoing 15th century, it began.

Smolensk was chosen as the main strategic goal, to which the army of Yuri Zakharyich moved, to which D.V. then came to the aid. Shchenya and I.M. Vorotynsky. Here one of the first local clashes known to us took place: Daniil Shchenya became the commander of a large regiment, and Yuri Zakharyich became a guard. He wrote dissatisfied to the Grand Duke: “Then I need to guard Prince Danil.” In response, there was a menacing shout from the Sovereign of All Rus': “Are you really doing this, you say: it’s not good for you to be in a guard regiment, guarding Prince Danilov’s regiment? It’s not up to you to guard Prince Danil; it’s up to you to guard me and my affairs. And what the governors are like in a large regiment, they are like that in a guard regiment, otherwise it’s not a shame for you to be in a guard regiment.” The new commander, Daniil Shchenya, showed his best side and completely defeated the Lithuanian army of Hetman Konstantin Ostrogsky with his soldiers on July 4, 1500 in the Battle of Vedroshi. In November 1501, the troops of Prince Alexander of Rostov defeated the army of Mikhail Izheslavsky near Mstislavl. Smolensk increasingly found itself surrounded by Russian armies.

However, it was not possible to take it - the Livonian Order entered the war under the influence of Lithuanian diplomacy. The fighting proceeded with varying degrees of success. They had to transfer Daniil Shchenya to Livonia, but he, too, suffered setbacks at times. This also affected operations against the Lithuanians: the campaign against Smolensk launched in 1502 failed due to weak organization (the campaign was led by the young and inexperienced prince Dmitry Zhilka) and, probably, a lack of strength. In 1503, the Moscow and Lithuanian principalities signed an agreement, according to which the former received Chernigov, Bryansk, Novgorod-Seversky, Dorogobuzh, Bely, Toropets and other cities, but Smolensk remained with Lithuania. Its accession will be the only major foreign policy achievement of the successor to the first sovereign of all Rus' - Vasily III.

What conclusions can be drawn based on the above?

Being, as already mentioned, not a commander, but the supreme commander-in-chief, Ivan III did not participate in the operations themselves; he appeared in the camp only during both the Novgorod (1471, 1477–1478) and Tver (1485) campaigns, which did not promise difficulties. And even more so, the Grand Duke was not seen on the battlefield. It is reported that his ally, the ruler of Moldavia, Stefan III, used to say at feasts that Ivan III was multiplying his kingdom by sitting at home and indulging in sleep, while he himself was barely able to protect his own borders, fighting almost every day. There is no need to be surprised - they were in different positions. However, the pragmatic approach of the Moscow sovereign is striking. The glory of the commander did not seem to bother him. But how successfully did he cope with the tasks of the commander-in-chief?

Great Stefan, the famous palatine of Moldavia, often remembered him at feasts, saying that he, sitting at home and indulging in sleep, multiplies his power, and he himself, fighting every day, is barely able to protect the borders

S. Herberstein

Being primarily a politician, Ivan III skillfully chose the time for conflicts, tried not to wage a war on two fronts (it is difficult to imagine that he would have decided on such an adventure as the Livonian War, given the continuing Crimean threat), tried to lure representatives of the enemy to his side. the elite (or even the common people), which was especially successful in the wars with Lithuania, Novgorod, and Tver.

In general, Ivan III had a good understanding of his subordinates and mostly made successful appointments; many capable military leaders came to his rule - Daniil Kholmsky, Daniil Shchenya, Yuri and Yakov Zakharichi, although, of course, there were mistakes, as in the case of the completely inexperienced Dmitry Zhilka in 1502 (the fact that this appointment was determined by political reasons does not change the essence of the matter: Smolensk was not taken). In addition, Ivan III knew how to keep his governors in his hands (remember the case of Yuri Zakharyich) - it is impossible to imagine during his reign the situation that existed in 1530 near Kazan, when M.L. Glinsky and I.F. Belsky argued about who should be the first to enter the city, which in the end was not taken (!). At the same time, the Grand Duke obviously knew how to choose which advice from the governor was most useful - his successes speak for themselves.

Ivan III had an important trait - he knew how to stop in time. After a two-year war with Sweden (1495-1497), the Grand Duke, seeing its futility, agreed to a draw. In the conditions of a war on two fronts, he did not prolong the war with Lithuania for the sake of Smolensk, considering the acquisitions already made sufficient. At the same time, if he believed that victory was close, he showed persistence, as we saw in the case of Kazan in 1469.

The results of the wars of the reign of Ivan III are the most successful in the entire history of Muscovite Rus'. Under him, Moscow not only did not become a victim of the Tatars, as under Dmitry Donskoy and Ivan the Terrible, but was never even besieged. His grandfather Vasily I could not defeat Novgorod, his father, Vasily II, was captured by the Tatars near Suzdal, his son, Vasily III, almost gave Moscow to the Crimeans and was able to conquer only Smolensk. The time of Ivan III is glorified not only by its extensive territorial acquisitions, but also by two major victories - during the “standing on the Ugra” and in the Battle of Vedroshi (nowadays, alas, little known to anyone). As a result of the first, Rus' finally got rid of the power of the Horde, and the second became the most outstanding success of Moscow weapons in the wars with Lithuania. Of course, the successes of Moscow under Ivan III were favored by historical conditions, but not every ruler knows how to use them. Ivan III succeeded.

KOROLENKOV A.V., Ph.D., IVI RAS

Literature

Alekseev Yu.G.. Campaigns of Russian troops in Ivan III. St. Petersburg, 2007.

Borisov N.S.. Russian commanders of the XIII–XVI centuries. M., 1993.

Zimin A.A. Russia at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries: (Essays on socio-political history). M., 1982.

Zimin A.A. Russia on the threshold of the New Age: (Essays on the political history of Russia in the first third of the 16th century). M., 1972.

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In 1612, during the most difficult time for Russia, he led the Russian militia and liberated the capital from the hands of the conquerors.
Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky (November 1, 1578 - April 30, 1642) - Russian national hero, military and political figure, head of the Second People's Militia, which liberated Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian occupiers. His name and the name of Kuzma Minin are closely associated with the country’s exit from the Time of Troubles, which is currently celebrated in Russia on November 4th.
After the election of Mikhail Fedorovich to the Russian throne, D. M. Pozharsky plays a leading role at the royal court as a talented military leader and statesman. Despite the victory of the people's militia and the election of the Tsar, the war in Russia still continued. In 1615-1616. Pozharsky, on the instructions of the tsar, was sent at the head of a large army to fight the detachments of the Polish colonel Lisovsky, who besieged the city of Bryansk and took Karachev. After the fight with Lisovsky, the tsar instructs Pozharsky in the spring of 1616 to collect the fifth money from merchants into the treasury, since the wars did not stop and the treasury was depleted. In 1617, the tsar instructed Pozharsky to conduct diplomatic negotiations with the English ambassador John Merik, appointing Pozharsky as governor of Kolomensky. In the same year, the Polish prince Vladislav came to the Moscow state. Residents of Kaluga and its neighboring cities turned to the tsar with a request to send them D. M. Pozharsky to protect them from the Poles. The Tsar fulfilled the request of the Kaluga residents and gave an order to Pozharsky on October 18, 1617 to protect Kaluga and surrounding cities by all available measures. Prince Pozharsky fulfilled the tsar's order with honor. Having successfully defended Kaluga, Pozharsky received an order from the tsar to go to the aid of Mozhaisk, namely to the city of Borovsk, and began to harass the troops of Prince Vladislav with flying detachments, causing them significant damage. However, at the same time, Pozharsky became very ill and, at the behest of the tsar, returned to Moscow. Pozharsky, having barely recovered from his illness, took an active part in defending the capital from Vladislav’s troops, for which Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich awarded him new fiefs and estates.

Gorbaty-Shuisky Alexander Borisovich

Hero of the Kazan War, first governor of Kazan

Kappel Vladimir Oskarovich

Without exaggeration, he is the best commander of Admiral Kolchak’s army. Under his command, Russia's gold reserves were captured in Kazan in 1918. At 36 years old, he was a lieutenant general, commander of the Eastern Front. The Siberian Ice Campaign is associated with this name. In January 1920, he led 30,000 Kappelites to Irkutsk to capture Irkutsk and free the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Kolchak, from captivity. The general's death from pneumonia largely determined the tragic outcome of this campaign and the death of the Admiral...

John 4 Vasilievich

Yaroslav the Wise

Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich

Participant of the First World War (served in the 186th Aslanduz Infantry Regiment) and the Civil War. During the First World War, he fought on the Southwestern Front and took part in the Brusilov breakthrough. In April 1915, as part of the guard of honor, he was personally awarded the St. George Cross by Nicholas II. In total, he was awarded the St. George Crosses of III and IV degrees and medals “For Bravery” (“St. George” medals) of III and IV degrees.

During the Civil War, he led a local partisan detachment that fought in Ukraine against the German occupiers together with the detachments of A. Ya. Parkhomenko, then he was a fighter in the 25th Chapaev Division on the Eastern Front, where he was engaged in the disarmament of the Cossacks, and participated in battles with the armies of generals A. I. Denikin and Wrangel on the Southern Front.

In 1941-1942, Kovpak's unit carried out raids behind enemy lines in the Sumy, Kursk, Oryol and Bryansk regions, in 1942-1943 - a raid from the Bryansk forests to Right Bank Ukraine in the Gomel, Pinsk, Volyn, Rivne, Zhitomir and Kiev regions; in 1943 - Carpathian raid. The Sumy partisan unit under the command of Kovpak fought through the rear of the Nazi troops for more than 10 thousand kilometers, defeating enemy garrisons in 39 settlements. Kovpak's raids played a big role in the development of the partisan movement against the German occupiers.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union:
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 18, 1942, for the exemplary performance of combat missions behind enemy lines, the courage and heroism shown during their implementation, Kovpak Sidor Artemyevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 708)
The second Gold Star medal (No.) was awarded to Major General Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated January 4, 1944 for the successful conduct of the Carpathian raid
four Orders of Lenin (18.5.1942, 4.1.1944, 23.1.1948, 25.5.1967)
Order of the Red Banner (12/24/1942)
Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, 1st degree. (7.8.1944)
Order of Suvorov, 1st degree (2.5.1945)
medals
foreign orders and medals (Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia)

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

“I studied I.V. Stalin thoroughly as a military leader, since I went through the entire war with him. I.V. Stalin knew the issues of organizing front-line operations and operations of groups of fronts and led them with full knowledge of the matter, having a good understanding of large strategic questions...
In leading the armed struggle as a whole, J.V. Stalin was helped by his natural intelligence and rich intuition. He knew how to find the main link in a strategic situation and, seizing on it, counter the enemy, carry out one or another major offensive operation. Undoubtedly, he was a worthy Supreme Commander."

(Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections.)

Antonov Alexey Innokentievich

He became famous as a talented staff officer. He participated in the development of almost all significant operations of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War since December 1942.
The only one of all Soviet military leaders awarded the Order of Victory with the rank of army general, and the only Soviet holder of the order who was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

General Ermolov

Antonov Alexey Inokentevich

Chief strategist of the USSR in 1943-45, practically unknown to society
"Kutuzov" World War II

Humble and committed. Victorious. Author of all operations since the spring of 1943 and the victory itself. Others gained fame - Stalin and the front commanders.

Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich

Successfully commanded Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War. Among other things, he stopped the Germans near Moscow and took Berlin.

Alekseev Mikhail Vasilievich

One of the most talented Russian generals of the First World War. Hero of the Battle of Galicia in 1914, savior of the Northwestern Front from encirclement in 1915, chief of staff under Emperor Nicholas I.

General of Infantry (1914), Adjutant General (1916). Active participant in the White movement in the Civil War. One of the organizers of the Volunteer Army.

Wrangel Pyotr Nikolaevich

Participant in the Russian-Japanese and First World Wars, one of the main leaders (1918−1920) of the White movement during the Civil War. Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in Crimea and Poland (1920). General Staff Lieutenant General (1918). Knight of St. George.

Gurko Joseph Vladimirovich

Field Marshal General (1828-1901) Hero of Shipka and Plevna, Liberator of Bulgaria (a street in Sofia is named after him, a monument was erected). In 1877 he commanded the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division. To quickly capture some passes through the Balkans, Gurko led an advance detachment consisting of four cavalry regiments, a rifle brigade and the newly formed Bulgarian militia, with two batteries of horse artillery. Gurko completed his task quickly and boldly and won a series of victories over the Turks, ending with the capture of Kazanlak and Shipka. During the struggle for Plevna, Gurko, at the head of the guard and cavalry troops of the western detachment, defeated the Turks near Gorny Dubnyak and Telish, then again went to the Balkans, occupied Entropol and Orhanye, and after the fall of Plevna, reinforced by the IX Corps and the 3rd Guards Infantry Division , despite the terrible cold, crossed the Balkan ridge, took Philippopolis and occupied Adrianople, opening the way to Constantinople. At the end of the war, he commanded military districts, was governor-general, and a member of the state council. Buried in Tver (Sakharovo village)

Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich

The only commander who carried out the order of Headquarters on June 22, 1941, counterattacked the Germans, drove them back in his sector and went on the offensive.

An outstanding military figure of the 17th century, prince and governor. In 1655, he won his first victory over the Polish hetman S. Potocki near Gorodok in Galicia. Later, as commander of the army of the Belgorod category (military administrative district), he played a major role in organizing the defense of the southern border of Russia. In 1662, he won the greatest victory in the Russian-Polish war for Ukraine in the battle of Kanev, defeating the traitor hetman Yu. Khmelnytsky and the Poles who helped him. In 1664, near Voronezh, he forced the famous Polish commander Stefan Czarnecki to flee, forcing the army of King John Casimir to retreat. Repeatedly beat the Crimean Tatars. In 1677 he defeated the 100,000-strong Turkish army of Ibrahim Pasha near Buzhin, and in 1678 he defeated the Turkish corps of Kaplan Pasha near Chigirin. Thanks to his military talents, Ukraine did not become another Ottoman province and the Turks did not take Kyiv.

Rurik Svyatoslav Igorevich

Year of birth 942 date of death 972 Expansion of state borders. 965 conquest of the Khazars, 963 march south to the Kuban region, capture of Tmutarakan, 969 conquest of the Volga Bulgars, 971 conquest of the Bulgarian kingdom, 968 founding of Pereyaslavets on the Danube (the new capital of Rus'), 969 defeat of the Pechenegs in the defense of Kyiv.

Romodanovsky Grigory Grigorievich

There are no outstanding military figures on the project from the period from the Time of Troubles to the Northern War, although there were some. An example of this is G.G. Romodanovsky.
He came from a family of Starodub princes.
Participant of the sovereign's campaign against Smolensk in 1654. In September 1655, together with the Ukrainian Cossacks, he defeated the Poles near Gorodok (near Lvov), and in November of the same year he fought in the battle of Ozernaya. In 1656 he received the rank of okolnichy and headed the Belgorod rank. In 1658 and 1659 participated in hostilities against the traitor Hetman Vyhovsky and the Crimean Tatars, besieged Varva and fought near Konotop (Romodanovsky’s troops withstood a heavy battle at the crossing of the Kukolka River). In 1664, he played a decisive role in repelling the invasion of the Polish king’s 70 thousand army into Left Bank Ukraine, inflicting a number of sensitive blows on it. In 1665 he was made a boyar. In 1670 he acted against the Razins - he defeated the detachment of the chieftain's brother, Frol. The crowning achievement of Romodanovsky's military activity was the war with the Ottoman Empire. In 1677 and 1678 troops under his leadership inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottomans. An interesting point: both main figures in the Battle of Vienna in 1683 were defeated by G.G. Romodanovsky: Sobieski with his king in 1664 and Kara Mustafa in 1678
The prince died on May 15, 1682 during the Streltsy uprising in Moscow.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

If anyone has not heard, there is no point in writing

Ermolov Alexey Petrovich

Hero of the Napoleonic Wars and the Patriotic War of 1812. Conqueror of the Caucasus. A smart strategist and tactician, a strong-willed and brave warrior.

Kappel Vladimir Oskarovich

Perhaps he is the most talented commander of the entire Civil War, even if compared with the commanders of all its sides. A man of powerful military talent, fighting spirit and Christian noble qualities is a true White Knight. Kappel's talent and personal qualities were noticed and respected even by his opponents. Author of many military operations and exploits - including the capture of Kazan, the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, etc. Many of his calculations, not assessed on time and missed through no fault of his own, later turned out to be the most correct, as the course of the Civil War showed.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

Full Knight of the Order of St. George. In the history of military art, according to Western authors (for example: J. Witter), he entered as the architect of the “scorched earth” strategy and tactics - cutting off the main enemy troops from the rear, depriving them of supplies and organizing guerrilla warfare in their rear. M.V. Kutuzov, after taking command of the Russian army, essentially continued the tactics developed by Barclay de Tolly and defeated Napoleon’s army.

Voronov Nikolay Nikolaevich

N.N. Voronov is the commander of artillery of the USSR Armed Forces. For outstanding services to the Motherland, N.N. Voronov. the first in the Soviet Union to be awarded the military ranks of “Marshal of Artillery” (1943) and “Chief Marshal of Artillery” (1944).
...carried out general management of the liquidation of the Nazi group surrounded at Stalingrad.

Belov Pavel Alekseevich

He led the cavalry corps during the Second World War. He showed himself excellently during the Battle of Moscow, especially in defensive battles near Tula. He especially distinguished himself in the Rzhev-Vyazemsk operation, where he emerged from encirclement after 5 months of stubborn fighting.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

The best Russian commander during the First World War. An ardent patriot of his Motherland.

Minich Burchard-Christopher

One of the best Russian commanders and military engineers. The first commander to enter Crimea. Winner at Stavuchany.

Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich

In front of the Kazan Cathedral there are two statues of the saviors of the fatherland. Saving the army, exhausting the enemy, the Battle of Smolensk - this is more than enough.

Saltykov Petr Semenovich

One of those commanders who managed to inflict exemplary defeats on one of the best commanders in Europe in the 18th century - Frederick II of Prussia

Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Russian military leader, political and public figure, writer, memoirist, publicist and military documentarian.
Participant in the Russo-Japanese War. One of the most effective generals of the Russian Imperial Army during the First World War. Commander of the 4th Infantry "Iron" Brigade (1914-1916, from 1915 - deployed under his command to a division), 8th Army Corps (1916-1917). Lieutenant General of the General Staff (1916), commander of the Western and Southwestern Fronts (1917). An active participant in the military congresses of 1917, an opponent of the democratization of the army. He expressed support for the Kornilov speech, for which he was arrested by the Provisional Government, a participant in the Berdichev and Bykhov sittings of generals (1917).
One of the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War, its leader in the South of Russia (1918-1920). He achieved the greatest military and political results among all the leaders of the White movement. Pioneer, one of the main organizers, and then commander of the Volunteer Army (1918-1919). Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (1919-1920), Deputy Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army Admiral Kolchak (1919-1920).
Since April 1920 - an emigrant, one of the main political figures of the Russian emigration. Author of the memoirs “Essays on the Russian Time of Troubles” (1921-1926) - a fundamental historical and biographical work about the Civil War in Russia, the memoirs “The Old Army” (1929-1931), the autobiographical story “The Path of the Russian Officer” (published in 1953) and a number of other works.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

The Soviet people, as the most talented, have a large number of outstanding military leaders, but the main one is Stalin. Without him, many of them might not have existed as military men.

Rurikovich (Grozny) Ivan Vasilievich

In the diversity of perceptions of Ivan the Terrible, one often forgets about his unconditional talent and achievements as a commander. He personally led the capture of Kazan and organized military reform, leading a country that was simultaneously fighting 2-3 wars on different fronts.

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Udatny Mstislav Mstislavovich

A real knight, recognized as a great commander in Europe

Romanov Alexander I Pavlovich

The de facto commander-in-chief of the allied armies that liberated Europe in 1813-1814. "He took Paris, he founded the Lyceum." The Great Leader who crushed Napoleon himself. (The shame of Austerlitz is not comparable to the tragedy of 1941)

Slashchev-Krymsky Yakov Alexandrovich

Defense of Crimea in 1919-20. “The Reds are my enemies, but they did the main thing - my job: they revived great Russia!” (General Slashchev-Krymsky).

Loris-Melikov Mikhail Tarielovich

Known mainly as one of the minor characters in the story “Hadji Murad” by L.N. Tolstoy, Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov went through all the Caucasian and Turkish campaigns of the second half of the mid-19th century.

Having shown himself excellently during the Caucasian War, during the Kars campaign of the Crimean War, Loris-Melikov led reconnaissance, and then successfully served as commander-in-chief during the difficult Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, winning a number of important victories over the united Turkish forces and in the third once he captured Kars, which by that time was considered impregnable.

Golovanov Alexander Evgenievich

He is the creator of Soviet long-range aviation (LAA).
Units under the command of Golovanov bombed Berlin, Koenigsberg, Danzig and other cities in Germany, striking important strategic targets behind enemy lines.

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Author and initiator of the creation of technical means of the Airborne Forces and methods of using units and formations of the Airborne Forces, many of which personify the image of the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces and the Russian Armed Forces that currently exists.

General Pavel Fedoseevich Pavlenko:
In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified an entire era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces; their authority and popularity are associated with his name not only in our country, but also abroad...

Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Ivanov:
Under the leadership of Margelov for more than twenty years, the airborne troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious for service in them, especially revered by the people... A photograph of Vasily Filippovich in demobilization albums was sold to soldiers at the highest price - for a set of badges. The competition for admission to the Ryazan Airborne School exceeded the numbers of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who missed out on exams lived for two or three months, before the snow and frost, in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the load and it would be possible to take his place .

Baklanov Yakov Petrovich

An outstanding strategist and a mighty warrior, he achieved respect and fear of his name among the uncovered mountaineers, who had forgotten the iron grip of the “Thunderstorm of the Caucasus”. At the moment - Yakov Petrovich, an example of the spiritual strength of a Russian soldier in front of the proud Caucasus. His talent crushed the enemy and minimized the time frame of the Caucasian War, for which he received the nickname “Boklu”, akin to the devil for his fearlessness.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Chairman of the State Defense Committee, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War.
What other questions might there be?

Yuri Vsevolodovich

Platov Matvey Ivanovich

Military Ataman of the Don Cossack Army. He began active military service at the age of 13. A participant in several military campaigns, he is best known as the commander of Cossack troops during the Patriotic War of 1812 and during the subsequent Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army. Thanks to the successful actions of the Cossacks under his command, Napoleon’s saying went down in history:
- Happy is the commander who has Cossacks. If I had an army of only Cossacks, I would conquer all of Europe.

Ridiger Fedor Vasilievich

Adjutant General, Cavalry General, Adjutant General... He had three Golden sabers with the inscription: “For bravery”... In 1849, Ridiger took part in a campaign in Hungary to suppress the unrest that arose there, being appointed head of the right column. On May 9, Russian troops entered the Austrian Empire. He pursued the rebel army until August 1, forcing them to lay down their arms in front of Russian troops near Vilyagosh. On August 5, the troops entrusted to him occupied the Arad fortress. During the trip of Field Marshal Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich to Warsaw, Count Ridiger commanded the troops located in Hungary and Transylvania... On February 21, 1854, during the absence of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich in the Kingdom of Poland, Count Ridiger commanded all troops located in the area of ​​​​the active army - as a commander a separate corps and at the same time served as head of the Kingdom of Poland. After the return of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich to Warsaw, from August 3, 1854, he served as Warsaw military governor.

Nevsky, Suvorov

Of course, the holy blessed prince Alexander Nevsky and Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov

Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich

The greatest Commander and Diplomat!!! Who utterly defeated the troops of the “first European Union”!!!

Golenishchev-Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich

(1745-1813).
1. A GREAT Russian commander, he was an example for his soldiers. Appreciated every soldier. “M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov is not only the liberator of the Fatherland, he is the only one who outplayed the hitherto invincible French emperor, turning the “great army” into a crowd of ragamuffins, saving, thanks to his military genius, the lives of many Russian soldiers.”
2. Mikhail Illarionovich, being a highly educated man who knew several foreign languages, dexterous, sophisticated, who knew how to animate society with the gift of words and an entertaining story, also served Russia as an excellent diplomat - ambassador to Turkey.
3. M.I. Kutuzov is the first to become a full holder of the highest military order of St. St. George the Victorious four degrees.
The life of Mikhail Illarionovich is an example of service to the fatherland, attitude towards soldiers, spiritual strength for Russian military leaders of our time and, of course, for the younger generation - future military men.

Petrov Ivan Efimovich

Defense of Odessa, Defense of Sevastopol, Liberation of Slovakia

Uborevich Ieronim Petrovich

Soviet military leader, commander of the 1st rank (1935). Member of the Communist Party since March 1917. Born in the village of Aptandrius (now Utena region of the Lithuanian SSR) in the family of a Lithuanian peasant. Graduated from the Konstantinovsky Artillery School (1916). Participant of the 1st World War 1914-18, second lieutenant. After the October Revolution of 1917, he was one of the organizers of the Red Guard in Bessarabia. In January - February 1918 he commanded a revolutionary detachment in battles against Romanian and Austro-German interventionists, was wounded and captured, from where he escaped in August 1918. He was an artillery instructor, commander of the Dvina brigade on the Northern Front, and from December 1918 head of the 18th Infantry divisions of the 6th Army. From October 1919 to February 1920, he was the commander of the 14th Army during the defeat of the troops of General Denikin, in March - April 1920 he commanded the 9th Army in the North Caucasus. In May - July and November - December 1920, commander of the 14th Army in battles against the troops of bourgeois Poland and the Petliurites, in July - November 1920 - 13th Army in battles against the Wrangelites. In 1921, assistant commander of the troops of Ukraine and Crimea, deputy commander of the troops of the Tambov province, commander of the troops of the Minsk province, led the military operations during the defeat of the gangs of Makhno, Antonov and Bulak-Balakhovich. From August 1921 commander of the 5th Army and the East Siberian Military District. In August - December 1922, Minister of War of the Far Eastern Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the People's Revolutionary Army during the liberation of the Far East. He was commander of the troops of the North Caucasus (since 1925), Moscow (since 1928) and Belarusian (since 1931) military districts. Since 1926, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, in 1930-31, deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and chief of armaments of the Red Army. Since 1934 member of the Military Council of NGOs. He made a great contribution to strengthening the defense capability of the USSR, educating and training command staff and troops. Candidate member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1930-37. Member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee since December 1922. Awarded 3 Orders of the Red Banner and Honorary Revolutionary Weapon.

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

according to the only criterion - invincibility.

Ushakov Fedor Fedorovich

A man whose faith, courage, and patriotism defended our state

Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich

In World War I, commander of the 8th Army in the Battle of Galicia. On August 15-16, 1914, during the Rohatyn battles, he defeated the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army, capturing 20 thousand people. and 70 guns. On August 20, Galich was captured. The 8th Army takes an active part in the battles at Rava-Russkaya and in the Battle of Gorodok. In September he commanded a group of troops from the 8th and 3rd armies. From September 28 to October 11, his army withstood a counterattack by the 2nd and 3rd Austro-Hungarian armies in battles on the San River and near the city of Stryi. During the successfully completed battles, 15 thousand enemy soldiers were captured, and at the end of October his army entered the foothills of the Carpathians.

I beg the military historical society to correct the extreme historical injustice and include in the list of the 100 best commanders, the leader of the northern militia who did not lose a single battle, who played an outstanding role in the liberation of Russia from the Polish yoke and unrest. And apparently poisoned for his talent and skill.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

He was the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War! Under his leadership, the USSR won the Great Victory during the Great Patriotic War!

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army, which repelled the attack of Nazi Germany, liberated Europe, author of many operations, including “Ten Stalinist Strikes” (1944)

Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich

To a person to whom this name means nothing, there is no need to explain and it is useless. To the one to whom it says something, everything is clear.
Twice hero of the Soviet Union. Commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front. The youngest front commander. Counts,. that he was an army general - but just before his death (February 18, 1945) he received the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Liberated three of the six capitals of the Union Republics captured by the Nazis: Kyiv, Minsk. Vilnius. Decided the fate of Kenicksberg.
One of the few who drove back the Germans on June 23, 1941.
He held the front in Valdai. In many ways, he determined the fate of repelling the German offensive on Leningrad. Voronezh held. Liberated Kursk.
He successfully advanced until the summer of 1943, forming with his army the top of the Kursk Bulge. Liberated the Left Bank of Ukraine. I took Kyiv. He repulsed Manstein's counterattack. Liberated Western Ukraine.
Carried out Operation Bagration. Surrounded and captured thanks to his offensive in the summer of 1944, the Germans then humiliatedly walked through the streets of Moscow. Belarus. Lithuania. Neman. East Prussia. Alexey Tribunsky

Paskevich Ivan Fedorovich

Hero of Borodin, Leipzig, Paris (division commander)
As commander-in-chief, he won 4 companies (Russian-Persian 1826-1828, Russian-Turkish 1828-1829, Polish 1830-1831, Hungarian 1849).
Knight of the Order of St. George, 1st degree - for the capture of Warsaw (the order, according to the statute, was awarded either for the salvation of the fatherland, or for the capture of the enemy capital).
Field Marshal.

Stalin (Dzhugashvili) Joseph Vissarionovich

Comrade Stalin, in addition to the atomic and missile projects, together with Army General Alexei Innokentievich Antonov, participated in the development and implementation of almost all significant operations of the Soviet troops in the Second World War, and brilliantly organized the work of the rear, even in the first difficult years of the war.

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Creator of modern airborne forces. When the BMD with its crew parachuted for the first time, its commander was his son. In my opinion, this fact speaks about such a wonderful person as V.F. Margelov, that's it. About his devotion to the Airborne Forces!

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich

A person who combines the body of knowledge of a natural scientist, a scientist and a great strategist.

Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich

Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (September 18 (30), 1895 - December 5, 1977) - Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943), Chief of the General Staff, member of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. During the Great Patriotic War, as Chief of the General Staff (1942-1945), he took an active part in the development and implementation of almost all major operations on the Soviet-German front. From February 1945, he commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front and led the assault on Königsberg. In 1945, commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East in the war with Japan. One of the greatest commanders of the Second World War.
In 1949-1953 - Minister of the Armed Forces and Minister of War of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), holder of two Orders of Victory (1944, 1945).

Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich

A talented commander who distinguished himself during the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1608, Skopin-Shuisky was sent by Tsar Vasily Shuisky to negotiate with the Swedes in Novgorod the Great. He managed to negotiate Swedish assistance to Russia in the fight against False Dmitry II. The Swedes recognized Skopin-Shuisky as their undisputed leader. In 1609, he and the Russian-Swedish army came to the rescue of the capital, which was under siege by False Dmitry II. He defeated detachments of adherents of the impostor in the battles of Torzhok, Tver and Dmitrov, and liberated the Volga region from them. He lifted the blockade from Moscow and entered it in March 1610.

Rokhlin Lev Yakovlevich

He headed the 8th Guards Army Corps in Chechnya. Under his leadership, a number of districts of Grozny were captured, including the presidential palace. For participation in the Chechen campaign, he was nominated for the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, but refused to accept it, stating that “he has no moral right to receive this award for military operations on his own territory.” countries".

Grachev Pavel Sergeevich

Hero of the Soviet Union. May 5, 1988 “for completing combat missions with minimal casualties and for the professional command of a controlled formation and the successful actions of the 103rd Airborne Division, in particular, in occupying the strategically important Satukandav pass (Khost province) during the military operation “Magistral” "Received the Gold Star medal No. 11573. Commander of the USSR Airborne Forces. In total, during his military service he made 647 parachute jumps, some of them while testing new equipment.
He was shell-shocked 8 times and received several wounds. Suppressed the armed coup in Moscow and thereby saved the system of democracy. As Minister of Defense, he made great efforts to preserve the remnants of the army - a similar task to few people in the history of Russia. Only because of the collapse of the army and the reduction in the number of military equipment in the Armed Forces was he unable to victoriously end the Chechen War.

Baklanov Yakov Petrovich

The Cossack general, “the thunderstorm of the Caucasus,” Yakov Petrovich Baklanov, one of the most colorful heroes of the endless Caucasian War of the century before last, fits perfectly into the image of Russia familiar to the West. A gloomy two-meter hero, a tireless persecutor of highlanders and Poles, an enemy of political correctness and democracy in all its manifestations. But it was precisely these people who achieved the most difficult victory for the empire in the long-term confrontation with the inhabitants of the North Caucasus and the unkind local nature

Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich

For the highest art of military leadership and immeasurable love for the Russian soldier

Dolgorukov Yuri Alekseevich

An outstanding statesman and military leader of the era of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Prince. Commanding the Russian army in Lithuania, in 1658 he defeated Hetman V. Gonsevsky in the Battle of Verki, taking him prisoner. This was the first time since 1500 that a Russian governor captured the hetman. In 1660, at the head of an army sent to Mogilev, besieged by Polish-Lithuanian troops, he won a strategic victory over the enemy on the Basya River near the village of Gubarevo, forcing hetmans P. Sapieha and S. Charnetsky to retreat from the city. Thanks to the actions of Dolgorukov, the “front line” in Belarus along the Dnieper remained until the end of the war of 1654-1667. In 1670, he led an army aimed at fighting the Cossacks of Stenka Razin, and quickly suppressed the Cossack rebellion, which subsequently led to the Don Cossacks swearing an oath of allegiance to the Tsar and transforming the Cossacks from robbers into “sovereign servants.”

Active participant in the First World War and civil wars. Trench General. He spent the entire war from Vyazma to Moscow and from Moscow to Prague in the most difficult and responsible position of front commander. Winner in many decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War. Liberator of a number of countries in Eastern Europe, participant in the storming of Berlin. Underestimated, unfairly left in the shadow of Marshal Zhukov.

Voivode M.I. Vorotynsky

Outstanding Russian commander, one of Ivan the Terrible's close associates, drafter of the regulations for the guard and border service

Fedor Fedorovich Ushakov

A great naval commander who did not suffer a single defeat and did not lose a single ship during his combat activities. The talent of this military leader manifested itself during the Russian-Turkish wars, where thanks to his victories (usually over the superior naval forces of the Ottoman Empire), Russia realized itself as a naval power in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Ivan III Vasilyevich the Great. A detailed description of the life and state activities of the Grand Duke of All Rus'. Marriage with the Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologus, the double-headed eagle - the new coat of arms of Russia, the fall of the Horde yoke, the construction of the modern Kremlin, its cathedrals, the construction of the bell tower of Ivan the Great. Moscow - the Third Rome, a new ideology of the strengthening Moscow state.

Ivan III Vasilyevich VELIKY. Grand Duke of All Rus', reigned from 1450 to 1505. Childhood and youth of Ivan the Great.

In 1425, Grand Duke Vasily I Dmitrievich died in Moscow. He left the great reign to his young son Vasily, although he knew that his younger brother, Prince of Galicia and Zvenigorod Yuri Dmitrievich, would not accept this. Yuri justified his rights to the throne with the words of the spiritual letter (i.e., will) of Dmitry Donskoy: “And because of sin, God will take away my son Prince Vasily, and whoever is under that will be my son (i.e., Vasily’s younger brother), then Prince Vasilyev inheritance." Could Grand Duke Dmitry know, when drawing up his will in 1380, when his eldest son was not yet married, and the rest were just teenagers, that this carelessly thrown phrase would become the spark that would ignite the flame of internecine warfare? In the struggle for power that began after the death of Vasily Dmitrievich, there was everything: mutual accusations, mutual slander at the khan’s court, and armed clashes. The energetic and experienced Yuri captured Moscow twice, but in the mid-30s. XV century he died on the princely throne at the moment of his triumph. However, the turmoil did not end there. Yuri's sons - Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka - continued the fight. In such times of wars and unrest, the future “sovereign of all Rus'” was born. Absorbed in the whirlpool of political events, the chronicler dropped only a meager phrase: “A son, Ivan, was born to the Grand Duke on January 22” (1440).

On July 7, 1445, the Moscow regiments were defeated in a battle with the Tatars at the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery near Suzdal, and the courageously fighting Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich II, Ivan’s father, was captured. To top off the troubles, a fire broke out, consuming all the wooden buildings in Moscow. The orphaned grand-ducal family was leaving the terrible burning city... Vasily II returned to Rus' after paying a huge ransom, accompanied by a Tatar detachment. Moscow was seething, dissatisfied with the extortions and the arrival of the Tatars. Part of the Moscow boyars, merchants and monks made plans to enthronement Dmitry Shemyaka, the greatest enemy of the Grand Duke. In February 1446, taking with him his sons Ivan and Yuri, the Grand Duke went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, apparently hoping to sit it out. Having learned about this, Dmitry Shemyaka easily captured the capital. His ally, Prince Ivan Andreevich Mozhaisky, rushed to the monastery. The captured Grand Duke was brought to Moscow in a simple sleigh, and three days later he was blinded. Vasily Vasilyevich II began to be called the Dark One. While these tragic events were happening to his father, Ivan and his brother took refuge in a monastery with secret supporters of the deposed Grand Duke. Their enemies forgot about them, or maybe they simply didn’t find them. After the departure of Ivan Mozhaisky, faithful people transported the princes first to the village of Boyarovo - the Yuryevsk patrimony of the Ryapolovsky princes, and then to Murom. So Ivan, still a six-year-old boy, had to experience and survive a lot.

In Tver, with Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich, the family of exiles found shelter and support. And again Ivan became a participant in a big political game. The Grand Duke of Tver agreed to help not disinterestedly. One of his conditions was the marriage of Ivan Vasilyevich with Princess Maria of Tver. And it doesn’t matter that the future groom is only six years old, and the bride even younger. Soon the betrothal took place, in the majestic Transfiguration Cathedral it was performed by Bishop Elijah of Tver. The stay in Tver ended with the reconquest of the burning Kremlin, the road into the unknown. These are the first vivid impressions of Ivan’s childhood. And in Murom, without knowing it, he played a major political role. He became a visible symbol of resistance, a banner under which all who remained faithful to the overthrown Vasily the Dark flocked. Shemyaka also understood this, which is why he ordered Ivan to be taken to Pereyaslavl. From there he was brought to his father in Uglich, in captivity. Together with other family members, Ivan Vasilyevich witnessed the execution of his father’s cunning plan, who, having barely arrived in Vologda (the inheritance granted to him by Shemyaka), rushed to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in Moscow in February 1447. A year ago, hastily leaving Moscow, he left for the unknown scared boy; now the official heir to the throne, the future son-in-law of the powerful Tver prince, was entering the capital with his father.

Vasily the Dark was relentlessly haunted by anxiety for the future of his dynasty. He himself suffered too much and therefore understood that in the event of his death, the throne could become a bone of contention not only between the heir and Shemyaka, but also between him, Vasily, his own sons. The best way out is to proclaim Ivan the Grand Duke and co-ruler of his father. Let his subjects get used to seeing him as their master, let his younger brothers grow up in the confidence that he is their lord and sovereign by right; Let the enemies see that government is in good hands. And the heir himself had to feel like a crown bearer and comprehend the wisdom of ruling a state. Could this be the reason for his future successes? But Shemyaka again managed to escape the chase. Having thoroughly robbed the local Kokshari tribe, the Moscow army returned home. In the same year, the time came to fulfill the long-standing promise of twinning the Moscow and Tver grand ducal houses. “That same summer, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich got married on the 4th of June, on the eve of Trinity Day.” A year later, Dmitry Shemyaka unexpectedly died in Novgorod. Rumor claimed that he was poisoned in secret. Already in 1448, Ivan Vasilyevich was titled Grand Duke in the chronicles, just like his father.

Long before ascending the throne, many levers of power find themselves in the hands of Ivan Vasilyevich; he carries out important military and political assignments. In 1448, he was in Vladimir with an army covering the important southern direction from the Tatars, and in 1452 he set off on his first military campaign. This was the last campaign of the dynastic struggle. Shemyaka, powerless for a long time, harassed with small raids, dissolving into the vast northern expanses in case of danger. Having led the campaign against Kokshenga, the 12-year-old Grand Duke had to catch his enemy on the instructions of Vasily II. But be that as it may, another page of history has turned, and for Ivan Vasilyevich, childhood has ended, which contained so many dramatic events that no other person has experienced in his entire life. Since the early 50s. XV century and until the death of his father in 1462, Ivan Vasilyevich, step by step, mastered the difficult craft of a sovereign. Little by little, the threads of control of a complex system, in the very heart of which was the capital city of Moscow, the most powerful, but not yet the only center of power in Rus', came into his hands. From this time, letters sealed with Ivan Vasilyevich’s own seal have survived to this day, and the names of two great princes - father and son - appeared on the coins. After the Grand Duke's campaign in 1456 against Novgorod the Great, in the text of the peace treaty concluded in the town of Yazhelbitsy, Ivan's rights were officially equal to the rights of his father. Novgorodians were supposed to come to him to express their “grievances” and seek “resolution.” Ivan Vasilyevich also has another important duty: to protect Moscow lands from uninvited guests - Tatar detachments. Three times - in 1454, 1459 and 1460. - the regiments led by Ivan advanced towards the enemy and forced the Tatars to retreat, causing them damage. On February 15, 1458, a joyful event awaited Ivan Vasilyevich: his first child was born. They named their son Ivan. The early birth of an heir gave confidence that the strife would not be repeated, and the “paternal” (i.e., from father to son) principle of succession to the throne would triumph.

The first years of the reign of Ivan III.

At the end of 1461, a conspiracy in Moscow was discovered. Its participants wanted to free the Serpukhov prince Vasily Yaroslavich, who was languishing in captivity, and maintained contact with the camp of emigrants in Lithuania - political opponents of Vasily II. The conspirators were captured. At the beginning of 1462, during Lent, they were given a painful execution. Bloody events against the background of repentant Lenten prayers marked a change of eras and the gradual onset of autocracy. Soon, on March 27, 1462, at 3 am, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark died. There was now a new sovereign in Moscow - 22-year-old Grand Duke Ivan. As always at the moment of transfer of power, external opponents perked up, as if they wanted to make sure whether the young sovereign was firmly holding the reins of power in his hands. The Novgorodians have not fulfilled the terms of the Yazhelbitsky Treaty with Moscow for a long time. The Pskovites expelled the Moscow governor. In Kazan, Khan Ibrahim, who was unfriendly to Moscow, was in power. Vasily the Dark in his spiritual directly blessed his eldest son with “his fatherland” - a great reign.

Since Batu subjugated Rus', the thrones of the Russian princes were controlled by the Horde ruler. Now no one asked his opinion. Akhmat, the khan of the Great Horde, who dreamed of the glory of the first conquerors of Rus', could hardly come to terms with this. It was also restless in the grand ducal family itself. The sons of Vasily the Dark, the younger brothers of Ivan III, received, according to their father’s will, almost as much as the Grand Duke inherited, and were dissatisfied with this. In such a situation, the young sovereign decided to act assertively. Already in 1463, Yaroslavl was annexed to Moscow. Local princes, in exchange for possessions in the Yaroslavl principality, received lands and villages from the hands of the Grand Duke. Pskov and Novgorod, dissatisfied with the overbearing hand of Moscow, were easily able to find a common language. In the same year, German regiments entered the Pskov borders. Pskovites turned to Moscow and Novgorod for help at the same time. However, the Novgorodians were in no hurry to help their “younger brother.” The Grand Duke did not allow the arriving Pskov ambassadors to see him for three days. Only after this did he agree to change his anger to mercy. As a result, Pskov received a governor from Moscow, and its relations with Novgorod sharply worsened. This episode best demonstrates the methods with which Ivan Vasilyevich usually achieved success: he tried first to separate and quarrel his opponents, and then make peace with them one by one, while achieving favorable conditions for himself. The Grand Duke went to military conflicts only in exceptional cases, when all other means had been exhausted. Already in the first years of his reign, Ivan knew how to play a subtle diplomatic game. In 1464, the arrogant Akhmat, the ruler of the Great Horde, decided to go to Rus'. But at the decisive moment, when the Tatar hordes were ready to pour into Rus', the troops of the Crimean Khan Azy-Girey struck them in the rear. Akhmat was forced to think about his own salvation. This was the result of an agreement reached in advance between Moscow and Crimea.

Fight with Kazan.

A conflict with Kazan was inevitably approaching. The fighting was preceded by long preparations. Since the time of Vasily II, the Tatar prince Kasym lived in Rus', who had undoubted rights to the throne in Kazan. It was he who Ivan Vasilyevich intended to establish in Kazan as his protege. Moreover, the local nobility persistently invited Kasym to take the throne, promising support. In 1467, the first campaign of Moscow regiments against Kazan took place. It was not possible to take the city on the move, and the Kazan allies did not dare to take the side of the besiegers. To top it all off, Kasym died soon after. Ivan Vasilyevich urgently had to change his plans. Almost immediately after the unsuccessful expedition, the Tatars made several raids on Russian lands. The Grand Duke ordered to strengthen the garrisons in Galich, Nizhny Novgorod and Kostroma and began preparing a large campaign against Kazan. All layers of the Moscow population and lands subject to Moscow were mobilized. Individual regiments consisted entirely of Moscow merchants and townspeople. The Grand Duke's brothers led the militias of their domains. The army was divided into three groups. The first two, led by governors Konstantin Bezzubtsev and Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Obolensky, converged near Ustyug and Nizhny Novgorod. The third army of Prince Daniil Vasilyevich Yaroslavsky moved to Vyatka. According to the Grand Duke’s plan, the main forces should have stopped before reaching Kazan, while the “willing people” (volunteers) and the detachment of Daniil of Yaroslavl were supposed to make the khan believe that the main blow should be expected from this side. However, when they began to call out those who wanted to, almost the entire army of Bezzubtsev volunteered to go to Kazan. Having plundered the outskirts of the city, this part of the Russian regiments found themselves in a difficult situation and was forced to fight their way to Nizhny Novgorod. As a result, the main goal was again not achieved. But Ivan Vasilyevich was not the type to accept failure. In September 1469, the new Moscow army under the command of the brother of the Grand Duke, Yuri Vasilyevich Dmitrevsky, again approached the walls of Kazan. The “ship’s” army also took part in the campaign (that is, the army loaded onto river ships). Having besieged the city and cut off the access to water, the Russians forced Khan Ibrahim to capitulate, “took the world with all their will” and achieved the extradition of the “full” - compatriots languishing in captivity.

Conquest of Novgorod.

New alarming news came from Novgorod the Great. By the end of 1470, the Novgorodians, taking advantage of the fact that Ivan Vasilyevich was absorbed first by internal problems and then by the war with Kazan, stopped paying duties to Moscow and again seized the lands that they had renounced under an agreement with the former great princes. In the veche republic, the party oriented toward Lithuania has always been strong. In November 1470, the Novgorodians accepted Mikhail Olelkovich as prince. In Moscow there was no doubt that behind him stood the rival of the Moscow sovereign in Rus' - the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Casimir IV. Ivan Vasilyevich believed that the conflict was inevitable. But he would not be himself if he immediately entered into armed confrontation. For several months, until the summer of 1471, active diplomatic preparations were underway. Thanks to the efforts of Moscow, Pskov took an anti-Novgorod position. The main patron of the free city was Casimir IV. In February 1471, his son Vladislav became the Czech king, but in the struggle for the throne he had a powerful competitor - the Hungarian sovereign Matthew Corvinus, who was supported by the Pope and the Livonian Order. Vladislav would not have been able to stay in power without his father’s help. The far-sighted Ivan Vasilyevich waited for almost six months, without starting hostilities, until Poland was drawn into the war for the Czech throne. Casimir IV did not dare to fight on two fronts. Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat also did not come to the aid of Novgorod, fearing an attack by Moscow’s ally, the Crimean Khan Hadzhi Giray. Novgorod was left alone with the formidable and powerful Moscow. In May 1471, a plan for an offensive against the Novgorod Republic was finally developed. It was decided to strike from three sides in order to force the enemy to split up his forces. “That same summer... the prince and his brethren went with all their might to Novgorod the Great, fighting and captivating on all sides,” the chronicler wrote about this. It was terrible dryness, and this made the usually impassable swamps near Novgorod quite surmountable for the grand ducal regiments. All North-Eastern Rus', obedient to the will of the Grand Duke, converged under his banner. Allied armies from Tver, Pskov, Vyatka were preparing for the campaign, regiments were arriving from the possessions of Ivan Vasilyevich’s brothers. Riding in the convoy was the clerk Stefan the Bearded, who could speak from memory using quotes from Russian chronicles. This “weapon” was very useful later in negotiations with the Novgorodians. The Moscow regiments entered the Novgorod borders in three streams. A 10,000-strong detachment of Prince Daniil Kholmsky and governor Fyodor the Lame acted on the left flank. The regiment of Prince Ivan Striga Obolensky was sent to the right flank to prevent the influx of fresh forces from the eastern possessions of Novgorod. In the center, at the head of the most powerful group, was the sovereign himself.

The times are irrevocably gone when in 1170 “free men” - the Novgorodians - completely defeated the army of the Moscow prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. As if yearning for those times, at the end of the 15th century. an unknown Novgorod master created an icon depicting that glorious victory. Now everything was different. On July 14, 1471, a 40,000-strong army - all that they could muster in Novgorod - clashed in battle with the detachment of Daniil Kholmsky and Fyodor the Lame. As the chronicle narrates, “... the Novgorodians soon fled, driven by the wrath of God... The regiments of the Grand Duke chased after them, stabbed them and flogged them.” The posadniks were captured and the text of the treaty with Casimir IV was found. In it, in particular, there were the following words: “And the great prince of Moscow will go to Veliky Novgorod, for you, our honest lord king, will mount a horse for Veliky Novgorod against the great prince.” The Moscow Sovereign was furious. The captured Novgorodians were executed without pity. The embassies arriving from Novgorod asked in vain to calm the anger and begin negotiations. Only when Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod arrived at the Grand Duke’s headquarters in Korostyn did the Grand Duke heed his pleas, having previously subjected the ambassadors to a humiliating procedure. At first, the Novgorodians beat the Moscow boyars with their foreheads, they, in turn, turned to Ivan Vasilyevich’s brothers so that they beg the sovereign himself. The rightness of the Grand Duke was proven by references to the chronicles that the clerk Stefan the Bearded knew so well. On August 2, the Korostyn Treaty was concluded. From now on, Novgorod's foreign policy was completely subordinate to the will of the Grand Duke. Veche letters were now issued on behalf of the Moscow sovereign and sealed with his seal. For the first time he was recognized as the supreme judge in the affairs of hitherto free Novgorod. This masterfully conducted military campaign and diplomatic success made Ivan Vasilyevich the true “sovereign of all Rus'.”

On September 1, 1471, he entered his capital in victory to the enthusiastic cries of Muscovites. The rejoicing continued for several days. Everyone felt that the victory over Novgorod would raise Moscow and its sovereign to previously unattainable heights. On April 30, 1472, the ceremonial laying of the new Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin took place. It was supposed to become a visible symbol of Moscow's power and unity of Rus'. In July 1472, Khan Akhmat reminded himself of himself, who still considered Ivan III his “ulusnik,” i.e. subjects. Having deceived the Russian outposts that were waiting for him on all roads, he suddenly appeared under the walls of Aleksin, a small fortress on the border with the Wild Field. Akhmat besieged and set fire to the city. The brave defenders chose to die, but did not lay down their arms. Once again a terrible danger loomed over Russia. Only the union of all Russian forces could stop the Horde. Approaching the banks of the Oka, Akhmat saw a majestic picture. In front of him stretched “many regiments of the Grand Duke, like a wavering sea, and the armor on them was pure and great, like shining silver, and the weapons were great.” After some thought, Akhmat ordered to retreat...

Marriage to Sophia Poleolog.

The first wife of Ivan III, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver, died on April 22, 1467. And on February 11, 1469, ambassadors from Rome appeared in Moscow - from Cardinal Vissarion. They came to the Grand Duke to propose that he marry Sophia Paleologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, who lived in exile after the fall of Constantinople. For the Russians, Byzantium was for a long time the only Orthodox kingdom, a stronghold of the true faith. The Byzantine Empire fell under the blows of the Turks, but, having become related to the dynasty of its last “basileus” - emperors, Rus', as it were, declared its rights to the legacy of Byzantium, to the majestic spiritual role that this power once played in the world. Soon, Ivan’s representative, an Italian in the Russian service Gian Battista della Volpe (Ivan Fryazin, as he was called in Moscow), went to Rome. In June 1472, in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, Ivan Fryazin became engaged to Sophia on behalf of the Moscow sovereign, after which the bride, accompanied by a magnificent retinue, went to Rus'. In October of the same year, Moscow met its future empress. The wedding ceremony took place in the still unfinished Assumption Cathedral. The Greek princess became the Grand Duchess of Moscow, Vladimir and Novgorod. A glimpse of the thousand-year-old glory of the once mighty empire illuminated young Moscow.

Crowned rulers almost never have quiet days. Such is the lot of the sovereign. Soon after the wedding, Ivan III went to Rostov to visit his sick mother and there received news of the death of his brother Yuri. Yuri was only a year younger than the Grand Duke. Returning to Moscow, Ivan III decides to take an unprecedented step. In violation of ancient custom, he annexes all the lands of the deceased Yuri to the great reign, without sharing with his brothers. An open break was brewing. It was their mother, Maria Yaroslavna, who managed to reconcile the sons that time. According to the agreement they concluded, Andrei Bolshoy (Uglitsky) received the city of Romanov on the Volga, Boris - Vyshgorod, Andrei Menshoi - Tarusa. Dmitrov, where the late Yuri reigned, remained with the Grand Duke. For a long time, Ivan Vasilyevich cherished the idea of ​​achieving an increase in his power at the expense of his brothers - the appanage princes. Shortly before the campaign against Novgorod, he proclaimed his son Grand Duke. According to the Korostyn Treaty, the rights of Ivan Ivanovich were equal to the rights of his father. This raised the heir to unprecedented heights and excluded the claims of Ivan III's brothers to the throne. And now another step was taken, laying the foundation for new relations between members of the grand ducal family. On the night of April 4-5, 1473, Moscow was engulfed in flames. Severe fires, alas, were not uncommon. That night Metropolitan Philip passed away into eternity. His successor was Bishop Gerontius of Kolomna. The Assumption Cathedral, his favorite brainchild, briefly outlived the late Bishop. On May 20, the walls of the temple, which was almost completed, collapsed. The Grand Duke decided to start building a new shrine himself. On his instructions, Semyon Ivanovich Tolbuzin went to Venice, who negotiated with the skilled stone, foundry and cannon master Aristotle Fioravanti. In March 1475, the Italian arrived in Moscow. He led the construction of the Assumption Church, which still adorns Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin.

Marching “in peace” to Veliky Novgorod. The end of the veche republic

Defeated, but not completely subjugated, Novgorod could not help but bother the Grand Duke of Moscow. On November 21, 1475, Ivan III arrived in the capital of the veche republic “in peace.” Everywhere he accepted gifts from residents, and with them complaints about the arbitrariness of the authorities. The “wild people” - the veche elite led by Bishop Theophilus - organized a magnificent meeting. Feasts and receptions continued for almost two months. But even here, the sovereign must have noticed which of the boyars was his friend and which was a hidden “enemy.” On November 25, representatives of Slavkova and Mikitina streets filed a complaint with him about the arbitrariness of senior Novgorod officials. After the trial, posadniks Vasily Onanin, Bogdan Esipov and several other people, all leaders and supporters of the “Lithuanian” party, were captured and sent to Moscow. The pleas of the archbishop and the boyars did not help. In February 1476, the Grand Duke returned to Moscow. The star of Novgorod the Great was inexorably approaching sunset. The society of the veche republic has long been divided into two parts. Some stood for Moscow, others looked hopefully towards King Casimir IV. In February 1477, Novgorod ambassadors arrived in Moscow. Welcoming Ivan Vasilyevich, they called him not “Mr.,” as usual, but “Sovereign.” At that time, such an address expressed complete submission. Ivan III immediately took advantage of this circumstance. The boyars Fyodor Khromoy, Ivan Tuchko Morozov and clerk Vasily Dolmatov went to Novgorod to inquire what kind of “state” the Novgorodians wanted from the Grand Duke. A meeting was held at which the Moscow ambassadors outlined the essence of the matter. Supporters of the “Lithuanian” party heard what was being said and threw accusations of treason at the boyar Vasily Nikiforov, who had visited Moscow, in the face: “Perevetnik, you visited the Grand Duke and kissed his cross against us.” Vasily and several other active supporters of Moscow were killed. Novgorod was worried for six weeks. The ambassadors were told of their desire to live with Moscow “in the old way” (i.e., preserve Novgorod freedom). It became clear that a new campaign could not be avoided. But Ivan III, as usual, was in no hurry. He understood that every day the Novgorodians would become increasingly mired in mutual squabbles and accusations, and the number of his supporters would begin to grow under the impression of an impending armed threat.

When the Grand Duke set out from Moscow at the head of the united forces, the Novgorodians could not even gather regiments to try to repel the attack. The young Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich was left in the capital. On the way to headquarters, Novgorod embassies kept arriving in hopes of starting negotiations, but they were not even allowed to see the sovereign. When no more than 30 km remained to Novgorod, Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod himself arrived with the boyars. They called Ivan Vasilyevich “sovereign” and asked to “put aside anger” against Novgorod. However, when it came to negotiations, it turned out that the ambassadors did not clearly understand the current situation and demanded too much. The Grand Duke and his troops walked across the ice of Lake Ilmen and stood under the very walls of the city. Moscow armies besieged Novgorod on all sides. Every now and then reinforcements arrived. The Pskov regiments with cannons, the brothers of the Grand Duke with their troops, and the Tatars of the Kasimov prince Daniyar arrived. Theophilus, who once again visited the Moscow camp, was given the answer: “We, the Grand Duke, our sovereign, will delight our fatherland Novgorod to beat us with our foreheads, and they know, our fatherland, how... to beat us with our foreheads.” Meanwhile, the situation in the besieged city noticeably worsened. There was not enough food, pestilence began, and internecine squabbles intensified. Finally, on December 7, 1477, in response to a direct question from the ambassadors about what kind of “state” Ivan III wanted in Novgorod, the Moscow sovereign replied: “We want our state like in Moscow, our state is like this: there will not be a veche bell in our fatherland in Novgorod, there will not be a mayor be, but we should keep our state like we have on the lower land.” These words sounded like a verdict to the Novgorod veche freemen. The territory of the state being assembled by Moscow has increased several times. The annexation of Novgorod is one of the most important results of the activities of Ivan III, Grand Duke of Moscow and All Rus'.

Standing on the Ugra River. The end of the Horde yoke.

On August 12, 1479, a new cathedral in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God was consecrated in Moscow, conceived and built as an architectural image of a unified Russian state. “That church was wonderful in its majesty and height, lightness and sonority and space, the same had never been seen in Rus' before, other than (besides) the Vladimir Church...” exclaimed the chronicler. Celebrations on the occasion of the consecration of the cathedral lasted until the end of August. Tall, slightly stooped, Ivan III stood out in the elegant crowd of his relatives and courtiers. Only his brothers Boris and Andrey were not with him. However, less than a month had passed since the start of the festivities, when a menacing omen of future troubles shook the capital. On September 9, Moscow unexpectedly caught fire. The fire quickly spread, approaching the walls of the Kremlin. Everyone who could came out to fight the fire. Even the Grand Duke and his son Ivan the Young put out the flames. Many who were afraid, seeing their great princes in the scarlet reflections of the fire, also began to put out the fire. By morning the disaster was stopped. Did the tired Grand Duke then think that in the glow of the fire the most difficult period of his reign began, which would last about a year? It is then that everything that has been achieved over decades of painstaking government work will be put at stake.

Rumors reached Moscow about a brewing conspiracy in Novgorod. Ivan III went there again “in peace.” He spent the rest of the autumn and most of the winter on the banks of the Volkhov. One of the results of his stay in Novgorod was the arrest of Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod. In January 1480, the disgraced ruler was sent under escort to Moscow. The Novgorod opposition suffered a significant blow, but the clouds continued to thicken over the Grand Duke. For the first time in many years, the Livonian Order attacked the lands of Pskov with large forces. Vague news came from the Horde about the preparation of a new invasion of Rus'. At the very beginning of February, another bad news came - the brothers of Ivan III, princes Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi, decided to openly revolt and broke from obedience. It was not difficult to guess that they would look for allies in the person of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Casimir and, perhaps, even Khan Akhmat - the enemy from whom the most terrible danger to the Russian lands came. Under the current conditions, Moscow's assistance to Pskov became impossible. Ivan III hastily left Novgorod and went to Moscow. The state, torn apart by internal unrest, was doomed in the face of external aggression. Ivan III could not help but understand this, and therefore his first move was the desire to resolve the conflict with his brothers. Their discontent was caused by the Moscow sovereign's systematic attack on the appanage rights of semi-independent rulers that belonged to them, which had their roots in times of political fragmentation. The Grand Duke was ready to make big concessions, but could not cross the line beyond which the revival of the former appanage system, which had brought so many disasters to Rus' in the past, began. The negotiations that began with the brothers reached a dead end. Princes Boris and Andrei chose Velikiye Luki, a city on the border with Lithuania, as their headquarters and negotiated with Casimir IV. He agreed with Kazimir and Akhmat on joint actions against Moscow.

Ivan III tears up the Khan's letter

In the spring of 1480, it became clear that it would not be possible to reach an agreement with the brothers. During these same days, terrible news came - the Khan of the Great Horde, at the head of a huge army, began a slow advance towards Rus'. Khan was in no hurry, waiting for the promised help from Casimir. “That same summer,” the chronicle narrates, “the ill-famed Tsar Akhmat... went against Orthodox Christianity, against Rus', against the holy churches and against the Grand Duke, boasting of destroying the holy churches and captivating all Orthodoxy and the Grand Duke himself, as under Batu Besha (was). It was not in vain that the chronicler remembered Batu here. An experienced warrior and ambitious politician, Akhmat dreamed of the complete restoration of Horde rule over Russia. The situation was becoming critical. In a series of bad news, there was one encouraging thing that came from Crimea. There, at the direction of the Grand Duke, Ivan Ivanovich Zvenets of Zvenigorod went there, who had to conclude an alliance agreement with the warlike Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey at any cost. The ambassador was given the task of obtaining a promise from the khan that, in the event of Akhmat’s invasion of the Russian borders, he would strike him in the rear or at least attack the lands of Lithuania, distracting the king’s forces. The goal of the embassy was achieved.

The agreement concluded in Crimea became an important achievement of Moscow diplomacy. A gap was made in the ring of external enemies of the Moscow state. The approach of Akhmat forced the Grand Duke to make a choice. You could lock yourself in Moscow and wait for the enemy, hoping for the strength of its walls. In this case, a huge territory would be in the power of Akhmat and nothing could prevent the union of his forces with the Lithuanian ones. There was another option - to move the Russian regiments towards the enemy. This is exactly what Dmitry Donskoy did in 1380. Ivan III followed the example of his great-grandfather. At the beginning of summer, large forces were sent to the south under the command of Ivan the Young and brother Andrei the Lesser, loyal to the Grand Duke. Russian regiments deployed along the banks of the Oka, thereby creating a powerful barrier on the way to Moscow. On June 23, Ivan III himself set out on a campaign. On the same day, the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God was brought from Vladimir to Moscow, with whose intercession the salvation of Rus' from the troops of the formidable Tamerlane was associated in 1395.

During August and September, Akhmat searched for a weak point in the Russian defense. When it became clear to him that the Oka was tightly guarded, he undertook a roundabout maneuver and led his troops to the Lithuanian border, hoping to break through the line of Russian regiments near the mouth of the Ugra River (a tributary of the Oka). Ivan III, concerned about the unexpected change in the khan’s intentions, urgently went to Moscow “for council and the Duma” with the metropolitan and boyars. A council was held in the Kremlin. Metropolitan Gerontius, the mother of the Grand Duke, many of the boyars and high clergy spoke out in favor of decisive action against Akhmat. It was decided to prepare the city for a possible siege. Moscow suburbs were burned, and their inhabitants were resettled inside the fortress walls. No matter how difficult this measure was, experience suggested that it was necessary: ​​in the event of a siege, the wooden buildings located next to the walls could serve the enemy as fortifications or material for the construction of siege engines. On the same days, ambassadors from Andrei Bolshoi and Boris Volotsky came to Ivan III, who announced the end of the rebellion. The Grand Duke granted forgiveness to the brothers and ordered them to move with their regiments to the Oka. Then he left Moscow again.

Meanwhile, Akhmat tried to cross the Ugra, but his attack was repulsed by the forces of Ivan the Young. The battles for the crossings continued for several days, which also did not bring success to the Horde. Soon the opponents took up defensive positions on opposite banks of the river. The famous “standing on the Ugra” began. Skirmishes broke out every now and then, but neither side dared to launch a serious attack. In this situation, negotiations began. Akhmat demanded that the Grand Duke himself, or his son, or at least his brother, come to him with an expression of humility, and also that the Russians pay the tribute they owed for several years. All these demands were rejected and negotiations broke down. It is quite possible that Ivan went towards them, trying to gain time, since the situation was slowly changing in his favor. The forces of Andrei Bolshoi and Boris Volotsky were approaching. Mengli-Girey, fulfilling his promise, attacked the southern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On these same days, Ivan III received a fiery message from Archbishop of Rostov Vassian Rylo. Vassian urged the Grand Duke not to listen to the crafty advisers who “never stop whispering in his ear... deceptive words and advising... not to resist the adversaries,” but to follow the example of the former princes, “who not only defended the Russian land from the filthy (i.e. that is, not Christians), but they also subjugated other countries.” “Just take heart and be strong, my spiritual son,” the archbishop wrote, “like a good warrior of Christ, according to the great word of our Lord in the Gospel: “You are the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep..."

Winter was coming. The Ugra froze and from a water barrier every day more and more turned into a strong ice bridge connecting the warring parties. Both the Russian and Horde commanders began to become noticeably nervous, fearing that the enemy would be the first to decide on a surprise attack. The preservation of the army became the main concern of Ivan III. The cost of taking reckless risks was too great. In the event of the death of the Russian regiments, the road to the very heart of Rus' was opened for Akhmat, and King Casimir IV would not fail to take advantage of the opportunity and enter the war. There was also no confidence that the brothers and the recently subordinated Novgorod would remain loyal. And the Crimean Khan, seeing the defeat of Moscow, could quickly forget about his allied promises. Having weighed all the circumstances, Ivan III in early November ordered the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ugra to Borovsk, which in winter conditions represented a more advantageous defensive position. And then the unexpected happened! Akhmat, deciding that Ivan III was giving up the coast to him for a decisive battle, began a hasty retreat, similar to flight. Small Russian forces were sent in pursuit of the retreating Horde. Ivan III with his son and the entire army returned to Moscow, “and rejoiced, and all the people rejoiced greatly with great joy.” Akhmat a few months later was killed in the Horde by conspirators, sharing the fate of another unsuccessful conqueror of Rus' - Mamai.

To contemporaries, the salvation of Rus' seemed like a miracle. However, Akhmat’s unexpected flight also had earthly reasons, which were not limited to a chain of military accidents that were lucky for Rus'. The strategic plan for the defense of Russian lands in 1480 was well thought out and clearly implemented. The diplomatic efforts of the Grand Duke prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites also made their contribution to the salvation of Rus', stopping the German offensive by the fall. And Rus' itself was no longer the same as in the 13th century, during the invasion of Batu, and even in the 14th century. - in the face of Mamaia's hordes. The semi-independent principalities at war with each other were replaced by a strong, although not yet fully strengthened internally, Moscow state. Then, in 1480, it was difficult to assess the significance of what happened. Many recalled the stories of their grandfathers about how, just two years after the glorious victory of Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field, Moscow was burned by the troops of Tokhtamysh. However, history, which loves repetitions, took a different path this time. The yoke that weighed on Russia for two and a half centuries has ended.

Conquest of Tver and Vyatka.

Five years after “standing on the Ugra,” Ivan III took another step towards the final unification of the Russian lands: the Tver principality was included in the Russian state. Long gone are the days when the proud and brave Tver princes argued with the Moscow ones about who should Rus' collects them. History resolved their dispute in favor of Moscow. However, Tver remained for a long time one of the largest Russian cities, and its princes were among the most powerful. Quite recently, the Tver monk Thomas wrote enthusiastically about his Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich (1425-1461): “I searched a lot in the books of wisdom and among the existing kingdoms, but nowhere did I find either among the kings a king, or among the princes of a prince who would was like this Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich... And truly it behooves us to rejoice, seeing him, Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich, a glorious reign, filled with much autocracy, for those who submit receive honor from him, and those who disobey receive execution!”

Boris Alexandrovich's son Mikhail no longer had either the power or brilliance of his father. However, he understood well what was happening in Rus': everything was moving towards Moscow - voluntarily or involuntarily, voluntarily or yielding to force. Even Novgorod the Great - and he could not resist the Moscow prince and parted with his veche bell. And the Tver boyars - don’t they run one after another to serve Ivan of Moscow?! Everything is moving towards Moscow... Will it not be his turn one day, the Grand Duke of Tver, to recognize the Muscovite’s power over himself?.. Lithuania has become Mikhail’s last hope. In 1484, he concluded an agreement with Casimir, which violated the points of the previously reached agreement with Moscow. The spearhead of the new Lithuanian-Tver union was clearly directed towards Moscow. In response to this, in 1485, Ivan III declared war on Tver. Moscow troops invaded the Tver lands. Casimir was in no hurry to help his new ally. Unable to resist alone, Mikhail swore that he would no longer have any relations with the enemy of Moscow. However, soon after the conclusion of peace, he broke his oath. Having learned about this, the Grand Duke gathered a new army that same year. Moscow regiments approached the walls of Tver. Mikhail secretly fled the city. The people of Tver, led by their boyars, opened the gates to the Grand Duke and swore allegiance to him. The independent Grand Duchy of Tver ceased to exist. In 1489, Vyatka, a remote and largely mysterious land beyond the Volga for modern historians, was annexed to the Russian state. With the annexation of Vyatka, the work of collecting Russian lands that were not part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was completed. Formally, only Pskov and the Grand Duchy of Ryazan remained independent. However, they were dependent on Moscow. Located on the dangerous borders of Rus', these lands often needed military assistance from the Grand Duke of Moscow. The authorities of Pskov have not dared to contradict Ivan III on anything for a long time. Ryazan was ruled by the young Prince Ivan, who was the Grand Duke’s grand-nephew and was obedient to him in everything.

Successes of Ivan III's foreign policy.

By the end of the 80s. Ivan finally accepted the title of “Grand Duke of All Rus'.” This title has been known in Moscow since the 14th century, but it was during these years that it became official and turned from a political dream into reality. Two terrible disasters - political fragmentation and the Mongol-Tatar yoke - are a thing of the past. Achieving the territorial unity of the Russian lands was the most important result of the activities of Ivan III. However, he understood that he could not stop there. The young state needed to be strengthened from within. The security of its borders had to be ensured. The problem of the Russian lands, which in recent centuries came under the rule of Catholic Lithuania, which from time to time increased pressure on its Orthodox subjects, was also awaiting its solution. In 1487, the grand ducal army made a campaign against the Kazan Khanate - one of the fragments of the collapsed Golden Horde. The Kazan Khan recognized himself as a vassal of the Moscow state. Thus, peace was ensured on the eastern borders of Russian lands for almost twenty years. The children of Akhmat, who owned the Great Horde, could no longer gather under their banner an army comparable in number to the army of their father. The Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey remained an ally of Moscow, and friendly relations with him were further strengthened after in 1491, during the campaign of Akhmat’s children to the Crimea, Ivan III sent Russian regiments to help Mengli.

Relative calm in the east and south allowed the Grand Duke to turn to solving foreign policy problems in the west and north-west. The central problem here remained the relationship with Lithuania. As a result of two Russian-Lithuanian wars (1492-1494 and 1500-1503), dozens of ancient Russian cities were included in the Moscow state, including such large ones as Vyazma, Chernigov, Starodub, Putivl, Rylsk, Novgorod- Seversky, Gomel, Bryansk, Dorogobuzh, etc. The title of “Grand Duke of All Rus'” was filled with new content in these years. Ivan III proclaimed himself sovereign not only of the lands subject to him, but also of the entire Russian Orthodox population who lived on lands that were once part of Kievan Rus. It is no coincidence that Lithuania refused to recognize the legitimacy of this new title for many decades. By the beginning of the 90s. XV century Russia has established diplomatic relations with many countries of Europe and Asia. The Grand Duke of Moscow agreed to speak with both the Holy Roman Emperor and the Sultan of Turkey only as an equal. The Moscow state, the existence of which few people in Europe knew about just a few decades ago, quickly gained international recognition.

Internal transformations.

Within the state, the remnants of political fragmentation gradually died away. Princes and boyars, who until recently had enormous power, were losing it. Many families of the old Novgorod and Vyatka boyars were forcibly resettled to new lands. In the last decades of the great reign of Ivan III, the appanage principalities finally disappeared. After the death of Andrei the Lesser (1481) and the cousin of the Grand Duke Mikhail Andreevich (1486), the Vologda and Vereisko-Belozersky appanages ceased to exist. The fate of Andrei Bolshoi, the appanage prince of Uglitsky, was sad. In 1491 he was arrested and accused of treason. The elder brother recalled to him the rebellion in the difficult year for the country in 1480, and his other “non-corrections.” Evidence has been preserved that Ivan III subsequently repented of how cruelly he treated his brother. But it was too late to change anything - after two years in prison, Andrei died. In 1494, the last brother of Ivan III, Boris, died. He left his Volotsk inheritance to his sons Fyodor and Ivan. According to the will drawn up by the latter, most of his father's inheritance due to him in 1503 passed to the Grand Duke. After the death of Ivan III, the appanage system was never revived in its former meaning. And although he endowed his younger sons Yuri, Dmitry, Semyon and Andrey with lands, they no longer had real power in them. The destruction of the old appanage-princely system required the creation of a new order of governing the country.

At the end of the 15th century. In Moscow, central government bodies began to form - “orders”, which were the direct predecessors of Peter the Great’s “colleges” and ministries of the 19th century. In the provinces, the main role began to be played by governors appointed by the Grand Duke himself. The army also underwent changes. The princely squads were replaced by regiments consisting of landowners. Landowners received populated lands from the state for the duration of their service, which brought them income. These lands were called “estates.” Misdemeanor or early termination of service meant loss of estate. Thanks to this, the landowners were interested in honest and long service to the Moscow sovereign. In 1497, the Code of Laws was published - the first national code of laws since the times of Kievan Rus. The Sudebnik introduced uniform legal norms for the entire country, which was an important step towards strengthening the unity of the Russian lands. In 1490, at the age of 32, the son and co-ruler of the Grand Duke, the talented commander Ivan Ivanovich Molodoy, died. His death led to a long dynastic crisis that marred the last years of Ivan III's life. After Ivan Ivanovich, there was a young son, Dmitry, who represented the senior line of descendants of the Grand Duke. Another contender for the throne was the son of Ivan III from his second marriage, the future sovereign of all Rus' Vasily III (1505-1533). Behind both contenders were dexterous and influential women - the widow of Ivan the Young, Wallachian princess Elena Stefanovna, and the second wife of Ivan III, the Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologue. The choice between son and grandson turned out to be extremely difficult for Ivan III, and he changed his decision several times, trying to find an option that would not lead to a new series of civil strife after his death.

At first, the “party” of supporters of Dmitry the grandson gained the upper hand, and in 1498 he was crowned according to a previously unknown rite of grand-ducal wedding, which was somewhat reminiscent of the rite of crowning the kingdom of the Byzantine emperors. Young Dmitry was proclaimed co-ruler of his grandfather. Royal “barmas” (wide mantles with precious stones) were placed on his shoulders, and a golden “hat” was placed on his head. However, the triumph of the “Grand Duke of All Rus' Dmitry Ivanovich” did not last long. The very next year he and his mother Elena fell into disgrace. And three years later the heavy doors of the dungeon closed behind them. Prince Vasily became the new heir to the throne. Ivan III, like many other great politicians of the Middle Ages, had to once again sacrifice both his family feelings and the fates of his loved ones to the needs of the state. Meanwhile, old age was quietly creeping up on the Grand Duke. He managed to complete the work bequeathed by his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and their predecessors, a task in the sanctity of which Ivan Kalita believed - the “gathering” of Rus'.

In the summer of 1503, the Grand Duke suffered a stroke. It's time to think about the soul. Ivan III, who often treated the clergy harshly, was nevertheless deeply pious. The sick sovereign went on pilgrimage to monasteries. Having visited Trinity, Rostov, Yaroslavl, the Grand Duke returned to Moscow. In 1505, Ivan III, “by the grace of God, the sovereign of all Rus' and the Grand Duke of Volodymyr, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Yugorsk, and Vyatka, and Perm, and Bulgaria, and others” died. The personality of Ivan the Great was controversial, as was the time in which he lived. He no longer had the ardor and prowess of the first Moscow princes, but behind his calculating pragmatism one could clearly discern the high goal of life. He could be menacing and often inspired terror in those around him, but he never showed thoughtless cruelty and, as one of his contemporary testified, he was “kind to people” and was not angry at a wise word spoken to him in reproach. Wise and prudent, Ivan III knew how to set clear goals for himself and achieve them.

The first sovereign of all Rus'.

In the history of the Russian state, the center of which was Moscow, the second half of the 15th century was a time of youth - the territory rapidly expanded, military victories followed one after another, relations were established with distant countries. The old, dilapidated Kremlin with small cathedrals already seemed cramped, and in place of the dismantled ancient fortifications, powerful walls and towers built of red brick grew. Spacious cathedrals rose within the walls. The new princely towers shone with the whiteness of stone. The Grand Duke himself, who took the proud title of “Sovereign of All Rus',” dressed himself in gold-woven robes, and solemnly placed on his heir richly embroidered mantles - “barms” - and a precious “hat” similar to a crown. But in order for everyone - whether Russian or foreigner, peasant or sovereign of a neighboring country - to realize the increased importance of the Moscow state, external splendor alone was not enough. It was necessary to find new concepts - ideas that would reflect the antiquity of the Russian land, and its independence, and the strength of its sovereigns, and the truth of its faith. Russian diplomats and chroniclers, princes and monks took up this search. Collected together, their ideas constituted what in the language of science is called ideology. The beginning of the formation of the ideology of a unified Moscow state dates back to the period of the reign of Grand Duke Ivan III (1462-1505) and his son Vasily (1505-1533). It was at this time that two main ideas were formulated that remained unchanged for several centuries - the ideas of God's chosenness and independence of the Moscow state.

Now everyone had to learn that a new and strong state had emerged in eastern Europe - Russia. Ivan III and his entourage put forward a new foreign policy task - to annex the western and southwestern Russian lands that were under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In politics, not everything is decided by military force alone. The rapid rise in power of the Grand Duke of Moscow led him to the idea of ​​the need to look for worthy justification for his actions. It was necessary to explain to the freedom-loving Novgorodians and proud residents of Tver why it was the Moscow prince, and not the Tver or Ryazan Grand Duke, who was the legitimate “sovereign of all Rus'” - the only ruler of all Russian lands. It was necessary to prove to foreign monarchs that their Russian brother was in no way inferior to them - neither in nobility nor in power. It was necessary, finally, to force Lithuania to admit that it owns the ancient Russian lands “not in truth,” illegally. The golden key that the creators of the ideology of a united Russian state picked up to several political “locks” at once was the doctrine of the ancient origin of the power of the Grand Duke. They thought about this before, but it was under Ivan III that Moscow loudly declared from the pages of chronicles and through the mouths of ambassadors that the Grand Duke received his power from God himself and from his Kiev ancestors, who ruled in the 10th-11th centuries. the entire Russian land.

Just as the metropolitans who headed the Russian church lived first in Kiev, then in Vladimir, and later in Moscow, so the Kiev, Vladimir and, finally, Moscow great princes were placed by God himself at the head of all Russian lands as hereditary and sovereign Christian sovereigns . This is precisely what Ivan III referred to when addressing the rebellious Novgorodians in 1472: “This is my patrimony, the people of Novgorod, from the beginning: from our grandfathers, from our great-grandfathers, from the Grand Duke Vladimir, who baptized the Russian land, from the great-grandson of Rurik, the first Grand Duke in your land. And from that Rurik to this day you knew the only family of those great princes, first of Kiev, and up to the great prince Dmitry-Vsevolod Yuryevich of Vladimir (Vsevolod the Big Nest, prince of Vladimir in 1176-1212), and from that great prince and before me... we own you..." Thirty years later, during peace negotiations with the Lithuanians after the successful war of 1500-1503 for Russia, the ambassadorial clerks of Ivan III emphasized: "The Russian land is from our ancestors, from ancient times, ours fatherland... we want to stand for our fatherland, how God will help us: God is our helper and our truth!” It was not by chance that the clerks remembered the “old times”. In those days this concept was very important.

That is why it was very important for the Grand Duke to declare the antiquity of his family, to show that he was not an upstart, but the ruler of the Russian land according to “old times” and “truth.” No less important was the idea that the source of grand-ducal power was the will of the Lord himself. This elevated the Grand Duke even more above his subjects, who, as one foreign diplomat who visited at the beginning of the 16th century wrote. in Moscow, they gradually began to believe that “the will of the sovereign is the will of God.” The proclaimed “closeness” to God imposed a number of responsibilities on the monarch. He had to be pious, merciful, take care of the preservation of the true Orthodox faith by his people, carry out fair justice and, finally, “harrow” (defend) his land from enemies. Of course, in life, great princes and kings did not always correspond to this ideal. But this is exactly how the Russian people wanted to see them. New ideas about the origin of the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow and the antiquity of his dynasty allowed him to confidently declare himself among European and Asian rulers. Russian ambassadors made it clear to foreign rulers that the “sovereign of all Rus'” was an independent and great ruler. Even in relations with the Holy Roman Emperor, who was recognized in Europe as the first monarch, Ivan III did not want to give up his rights, considering himself equal to him in position.

Following the example of the same emperor, he ordered to carve on his seal a symbol of power - a double-headed eagle crowned with crowns. A new grand ducal title was drawn up according to European models: “John, by the grace of God, sovereign of all Rus' and grand prince of Volodymyr, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Ugra, and Vyatka, and Perm, and Bulgaria, and others.” . Lavish ceremonies began to be introduced at court. Ivan III crowned his grandson Dmitry, who later fell out of favor, into a great reign according to a new solemn rite, reminiscent of the wedding rites of the Byzantine emperors. His second wife, the Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologus, could have told Ivan about them... So in the second half of the 15th century. in Moscow, a new image of the Grand Duke was created - a strong and sovereign “sovereign of all Rus'”, equal in dignity to the emperors. Probably, in the last years of the life of Ivan III or shortly after his death, an essay was written in court circles designed to further glorify the family of Moscow princes and to cast on it a reflection of the greatness of the ancient Roman and Byzantine emperors.

This work was called “The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir.” The author of the “Tale” tried to prove that the family of Russian princes is connected with the king of the “weight of the universe” himself, Augustus, the emperor who ruled in Rome from 27 BC. to 14 AD This emperor, it was said in the “Tale,” had a certain “relative” named Prus, whom he sent as ruler “to the banks of the Vistula River in the cities of Malbork, and Torun, and Chwoini, and the glorious Gdansk, and many others.” cities along a river called the Neman and flowing into the sea. And Prus lived for many years, until the fourth generation; and from then until the present time this place is called Prussian land.” And Prus, it was said further, had a descendant whose name was Rurik. It was this Rurik that the Novgorodians invited to reign. All Russian princes descended from Rurik - the Grand Duke Vladimir, who baptized Rus', and his great-grandson Vladimir Monomakh, and all those who followed - right up to the Grand Dukes of Moscow. Almost all European monarchs of that time sought to connect their ancestry with the ancient Roman emperors. The Grand Duke, as we see, was no exception. However, the “Tale” does not end there. Further it tells how in the 12th century. the ancient royal rights of the Russian princes were especially confirmed by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh, who sent the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir (1113-1125) signs of imperial power - a cross, a precious “crown” (crown), the carnelian cup of Emperor Augustus and other objects. “And from then on,” says the “Legend,” “Grand Duke Vladimir Vsevolodych began to be called Monomakh, the Tsar of Great Rus'... From then until now, with the royal crown that was sent by the Greek Tsar Constantine Monomakh, the Grand Dukes of Vladimir are crowned when they are installed for the great Russian reign."

Historians have great doubts about the reliability of this legend. But contemporaries reacted to “The Tale” differently. His ideas penetrated the Moscow chronicles of the 16th century and became an important part of the official ideology. It was the “Tale” that Ivan IV (1533-1584) referred to when seeking recognition of his royal title. The center where the new ideology was created was Moscow. However, it was not only in the Kremlin that people thought about the new significance of the Moscow state. During long sleepless nights, in the trembling light of a torch, the monk of the Pskov Eleazar Monastery, Philotheus, thought about the fate of Russia, about its present and future. He expressed his thoughts in messages to Grand Duke Vasily III and his clerk Misyur Munekhin. Filofei was sure that Russia was called upon to play a special role in history. It is the last country where the true Orthodox faith has been preserved in its original, unspoiled form. At first, Rome preserved the purity of the faith, but gradually apostates muddied the pure source. Rome was replaced by Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, the “second Rome.” But even there they retreated from the true faith, agreeing to a union (unification) with the Catholic Church. This happened in 1439. And in 1453, as punishment for this sin, the ancient city was handed over to the “Hagarians” (Turks). Since then Moscow has become the “third” and last “Rome”, the center of world Orthodoxy. “So know,” Philotheus wrote to Munekhin, “that all Christian kingdoms have come to an end and converged in a single kingdom... and this is the Russian kingdom: for two Romes have fallen, and the third stands, and there will not be a fourth!” From this, Philotheus concluded that the Russian sovereign “is the king of Christians in all the heavens” and is “the preserver... of the holy universal apostolic church, which arose instead of the Roman and Constantinople and exists in the God-saved city of Moscow.” However, Philotheus did not at all propose to the Grand Duke to bring all Christian lands under his rule by force of the sword. In order for Russia to become worthy of this high destiny, he called on the Grand Duke to “organize his kingdom well” - to eradicate injustice, unmercifulness and resentment from it. Philofey's ideas together formed the so-called theory "Moscow is the third Rome." And although this theory was not included in the official ideology, it reinforced one of its most important provisions - that Russia was chosen by God, becoming a milestone in the development of Russian social thought. The ideology of a unified Moscow state, the foundation of which was laid in the second half of the 15th - early 16th centuries, continued to develop in the 16th-17th centuries, acquiring more complete and at the same time fixed, ossified forms. The majestic cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin and the proud double-headed eagle in the early 90s remind us of the first decades of its creation. XX century, which again became the state emblem of Russia.

GRAND DUKE OF MOSCOW IVAN III VASILIEVICH

Ivan III is the Grand Duke of Moscow and the sovereign of all Rus', under whom the Russian state finally got rid of external dependence and significantly expanded its borders.

Ivan III finally stopped paying tribute to the Horde, annexed new territories to Moscow, carried out a number of reforms and created the basis of the state that bears the proud name of Russia.

At the age of 16, his father, Grand Duke Vasily II, nicknamed the Dark One because of his blindness, appointed Ivan as his co-ruler.

Ivan III, Grand Duke of Moscow (1462-1505).

Ivan was born in 1440 in Moscow. He was born on the day of memory of the Apostle Timothy, so in his honor he received the name at baptism - Timothy. But thanks to the nearest church holiday - the transfer of the relics of St. John Chrysostom, the prince received the name by which he is best known.

Ivan III took an active part in the fight against Dmitry Shemyaka, went on campaigns against the Tatars in 1448, 1454 and 1459.

Grand Dukes Vasily the Dark and his son Ivan.

Military campaigns played an important role in the upbringing of the heir to the throne. In 1452, twelve-year-old Ivan was already sent by the nominal head of the army on a campaign against the Ustyug fortress of Kokshenga, which was successfully completed. Returning from the campaign with a victory, Ivan Vasilyevich married his bride, Maria Borisovna, daughter of Prince Boris Alexandrovich Tverskoy. This profitable marriage was supposed to become a symbol of the reconciliation of eternal rivals - Tver and Moscow.

In order to legitimize the new order of succession to the throne, Vasily II named Ivan Grand Duke during his lifetime. All letters were written on behalf of the two great princes.

At the age of 22, he took the throne after the death of his father.

Ivan continued his father’s policy of consolidating the Russian state.

According to his father's will, Ivan received the largest inheritance in terms of territory and significance, which, in addition to part of Moscow, included Kolomna, Vladimir, Pereyaslavl, Kostroma, Ustyug, Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities.

Ivan III Vasilievich

His brothers Andrei Bolshoi, Andrei Menshoi and Boris received Uglich, Vologda and Volokolamsk as appanages. Ivan became a “gatherer” of Russian lands with the help of skillful diplomacy, buying them and seizing them by force. In 1463 the Principality of Yaroslavl was annexed, in 1474 - the Principality of Rostov, in 1471-1478. - vast Novgorod lands.

In 1485, Ivan’s power was recognized by the besieged Tver, and in 1489 by Vyatka, most of the Ryazan lands; influence on Pskov was strengthened.
As a result of two wars with Lithuania (1487-1494 and 1501-1503), significant parts of the Smolensk, Novgorod-Seversky and Chernigov principalities came into the possession of Ivan.

For thirty years there were no enemies under the walls of Moscow. A whole generation of people grew up who had never seen the Horde on their land.
The Livonian Order paid him tribute for the city of Yuryev. He became the first Prince of Moscow to claim the entire territory of Kievan Rus, including the western and southwestern lands, which at that time were part of the Polish-Lithuanian state, which became the cause of centuries-old strife between the Russian state and Poland.

Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin

Having strengthened his position, Ivan III began to behave as a sovereign independent from the Mongols and stopped paying them tribute.

Khan Akhmat decided to restore the dominance of the Horde over Russia. Ambitious, intelligent, but cautious, he spent several years preparing for a campaign against Russian soil. With victories in Central Asia and the Caucasus, he again raised the power of the Khanate and strengthened his power. However, Akhmat was unable to stay in Crimea. Here, on the khan's throne, sat a vassal of the Turkish Sultan Mengli-Girey. The Crimean Khanate, which emerged from the Golden Horde, anxiously followed the strengthening of Akhmat's power. This opened up prospects for Russian-Crimean rapprochement.

Under Ivan III, the process of unification of Russian lands was completed, which required centuries of intense efforts of the entire people.

In 1480, the energetic and successful Akhmat, having concluded an alliance with the Lithuanian king Casimir, raised the Great Horde on a campaign against Rus', gathering all the forces of his huge, still formidable empire. Danger loomed over Russia again. The khan chose the moment for the invasion very well: in the north-west there was a war between the Russians and the Order; Casimir's position was hostile; A feudal rebellion began against Ivan Vasilyevich and his brothers Andrei Bolshoi and Boris on the basis of territorial disputes. Everything seemed to be working out in favor of the Mongols.

Akhmat's troops approached the Ugra River (a tributary of the Oka), which flowed along the border of the Russian state and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The Tatars' attempts to cross the river were unsuccessful. The “standing on the Ugra” of the enemy troops began, which ended in favor of the Russians: on November 11, 1480, Akhmat turned away. Somewhere in the winter quarters at the mouth of the Northern Donets, Ivan Vasilyevich overtook him with the wrong hands: the Siberian Khan Ivak cut off Akhmat’s head and sent it to the Grand Duke as proof that the enemy of Moscow had been defeated. Ivan III warmly greeted Ivak's ambassadors and presented gifts to them and the khan.

Thus, Rus''s dependence on the Horde fell.

Ivan III Vasilievich

Back in 1462, Ivan III inherited from his father, Vasily the Dark, the considerable Moscow principality, the territory of which reached 400 thousand square meters. km. And to his son, Prince Vasily III, he left a vast empire, the area of ​​which grew more than 5 times and exceeded 2 million square meters. km. A powerful power emerged around the once modest principality, which became the largest in Europe: “Astonished Europe,” wrote K. Marx, “at the beginning of Ivan’s reign, not even aware of Muscovy, squeezed between Lithuania and the Tatars, was stunned by the sudden appearance of a huge empire on her eastern borders, and Sultan Bayazet himself, before whom she was in awe, heard for the first time arrogant speeches from the Muscovites.”

Under Ivan, the complex and strict palace ceremonies of the Byzantine emperors were introduced.

The first wife of the Grand Duke, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver, died in 1467, before reaching thirty years of age. Two years after the death of his wife, John III decided to marry again. His chosen one was Princess Sophia (Zoe), the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, who died in 1453 during the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. Sophia's father, Thomas Palaiologos, former despot of the Morea (Peloponnese Peninsula), soon after the fall of Constantinople, fled with his family from the Turks to Italy, where his children were taken under papal protection. Thomas himself, for the sake of this support, converted to Catholicism.

Sophia and her brothers were raised by the learned Greek Cardinal Vissarion of Nicea (former Greek metropolitan - “architect” of the Union of Florence of 1439), who was known as a staunch supporter of the subordination of the Orthodox Churches to the Roman throne. In this regard, Pope Paul II, who, according to the historian S.M. Solovyov, “without a doubt wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to establish relations with Moscow and establish his power here through Sophia, who, by her very upbringing, could not suspect of alienation from Catholicism ", in 1469 he proposed marriage to the Grand Duke of Moscow with a Byzantine princess. At the same time, wanting to quickly achieve accession to the union of the Moscow state, the pope gave instructions to his envoys to promise Rus' Constantinople as the “legitimate heritage of the Russian Tsars.”

Zoya Paleolog

Negotiations about the possibility of concluding this marriage lasted three years. In 1469, an envoy from Cardinal Vissarion arrived in Moscow, who brought an offer to the Moscow prince to marry Princess Sofia. At the same time, Sophia’s transition to the Uniate was hidden from John III - he was informed that the Greek princess refused two suitors - the King of France and the Duke of Mediolan, supposedly out of devotion to her father’s faith. The Grand Duke, as the chronicler says, “took these words into thought,” and, after consulting with the metropolitan, mother and boyars, he agreed to this marriage, sending Ivan Fryazin, a native of Italy, who was in the Russian service, to the Roman court to woo Sophia.

“The Pope wanted to marry Sophia to the Moscow prince, restore the Florentine connection, acquire a powerful ally against the terrible Turks, and therefore it was easy and pleasant for him to believe everything that the Moscow ambassador said; and Fryazin, who abandoned Latin in Moscow, but was indifferent to the difference in confessions, told what did not happen, promised what could not happen, just to quickly settle the matter, which was desired in Moscow no less than in Rome,” writes about these negotiations of the Russian envoy (who, we note, while in Rome, performed all Latin customs, hiding that he accepted the Orthodox faith in Moscow) S.M. Soloviev. As a result, both sides were satisfied with each other and the Pope, who from 1471 was already Sixtus IV, having handed over a portrait of Sophia through Fryazin to John III as a gift, asked the Grand Duke to send the boyars for the bride.

On June 1, 1472, an absentee betrothal took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Grand Duke of Moscow was represented during this ceremony by Ivan Fryazin. On June 24, the large train (convoy) of Sofia Paleologus, together with Fryazin, left Rome. And on October 1, as S.M. Soloviev writes, “Nikolai Lyakh was driven to Pskov by a messenger from the sea, from Revel, and announced at the assembly: “The princess crossed the sea, is going to Moscow, daughter of Thomas, Prince of Morea, niece of Constantine, Tsar of Constantinople , grandson of John Paleologus, son-in-law of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, her name is Sofia, she will be your empress, and the wife of Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich, and you would meet her and accept her honestly.”

Having announced this to the Pskovites, the messenger on the same day galloped to Novgorod the Great, and from there to Moscow.” After a long journey, on November 12, 1472, Sophia entered Moscow and on the same day was married by Metropolitan Philip to Prince John III of Moscow in the Assumption Cathedral.

Grand Duke Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus.

The plans of the Pope to make Princess Sophia a conductor of Catholic influence suffered a complete failure. As the chronicler noted, upon Sophia’s arrival on Russian soil, “his lord (the cardinal) was with her, not according to our custom, dressed all in red, wearing gloves, which he never takes off and blesses in them, and they carry a cast crucifix before him, erected high on the shaft; he does not approach icons and does not cross himself; in the Trinity Cathedral he only venerated the Most Pure One, and then by order of the princess.” This unexpected circumstance for the Grand Duke forced John III to convene a meeting, which had to decide a fundamental question: whether to allow into Moscow the Catholic cardinal, who walked everywhere in front of the princess with a Latin cross raised high. The outcome of the dispute was decided by the word of Metropolitan Philip, conveyed to the Grand Duke: “It is impossible for an ambassador not only to enter the city with a cross, but also to come close; if you allow him to do this, wanting to honor him, then he will go through one gate into the city, and I, your father, through another gate out of the city; It is indecent for us to even hear about this, let alone see it, because whoever loves and praises someone else’s faith has insulted his own.” Then John III ordered the cross to be taken away from the legate and hidden in the sleigh.

And the next day after the wedding, when the papal legate, presenting gifts to the Grand Duke, was supposed to talk to him about the union of churches, he, as the chronicler says, was completely at a loss, because the Metropolitan put up the scribe Nikita Popovich against him for a dispute: “otherwise, having asked at Nikita, the Metropolitan himself spoke to the legate, forcing Nikita to argue about something else; The cardinal did not find what to answer, and ended the argument by saying: “There are no books with me!” “The princess herself, upon arrival in Rus', according to the historian S.F. Platonov, “did not contribute in any way to the triumph of the union,” and therefore “the marriage the Moscow prince did not entail any visible consequences for Europe and Catholicism.” Sophia immediately renounced her forced Uniatism, demonstrating a return to the faith of her ancestors. “This is how the attempt of the Roman court to restore the Florentine union through the marriage of the Prince of Moscow to Sofia Palaeologus ended unsuccessfully,” concluded S.M. Soloviev.

The consequences of this marriage turned out to be completely different from what the Roman pontiff had expected. Having become related to the Byzantine imperial dynasty, the Moscow prince, as it were, symbolically received from his wife the rights of sovereigns who fell under the Turks of the Second Rome and, taking this baton, opened a new page in the history of the Russian state as the Third Rome. True, Sophia had brothers who could also claim to be the heirs of the Second Rome, but they disposed of their inheritance rights differently. As N.I. Kostomarov noted, “one of her brothers, Manuel, submitted to the Turkish Sultan; the other, Andrei, visited Moscow twice, did not get along there both times, went to Italy and sold his inheritance right to either the French king Charles VIII or the Spanish king Ferdinand the Catholic. In the eyes of Orthodox people, the transfer of the rights of the Byzantine Orthodox monarchs to some Latin king could not seem legal, and in this case, much more right was represented by Sophia, who remained faithful to Orthodoxy, was the wife of the Orthodox Sovereign, should have become and became the mother and foremother of his successors , and during her life she deserved the reproach and censure of the pope and his supporters, who were very mistaken in her, hoping through her to introduce the Florentine Union into Moscow Rus'.”

“The marriage of Ivan and Sophia took on the significance of a political demonstration,” noted V.O. spouse."

A symbol of the continuity of Muscovite Rus' from Byzantium was the adoption by John III of the double-headed eagle as the state emblem of Muscovite Rus', which was considered the official coat of arms of Byzantium during the last Palaiologan dynasty (as is known, at the head of the wedding train of Princess Sophia a golden banner with a black double-headed eagle woven on it) was developed. .

And from then on, many other things in Rus' began to change, taking on the likeness of the Byzantine. “This is not done suddenly, it happens throughout the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich, and continues after his death,” noted N.I. Kostomarov.

In court usage there is the loud title of king, kissing the royal hand, court ranks (...); the importance of the boyars, as the highest stratum of society, falls before the autocratic Sovereign; everyone was made equal, everyone was equally his slaves. The honorary title “boyar” becomes a rank, a rank: the Grand Duke bestows the title of boyar on merit. (...) But most important and significant was the internal change in the dignity of the Grand Duke, strongly felt and clearly visible in the actions of the slow Ivan Vasilyevich. The Grand Duke became the Sovereign autocrat. Already in his predecessors sufficient preparation for this is visible, but the Grand Dukes of Moscow were still not completely autocratic monarchs: Ivan Vasilyevich became the first autocrat and became especially after his marriage to Sophia. From then on, all his activities were more consistently and steadily devoted to strengthening autocracy and autocracy.”

Speaking about the consequences of this marriage for the Russian state, the historian S.M. Soloviev rightly noted: “The Grand Duke of Moscow was in fact the strongest of the princes of Northern Rus', whom no one could resist; but he continued to bear the title of Grand Duke, which meant only the eldest in the princely family; Until recently he bowed in the Horde not only to the khan, but also to his nobles; the princely relatives had not yet ceased to demand kinship, equal treatment; members of the squad still retained the old right of departure, and this lack of stability in official relations, although in fact it had come to an end, gave them reason to think about the old days, when a warrior at the first displeasure would leave one prince for another and consider himself to have the right to know all the thoughts of the prince ; At the Moscow court, a crowd of serving princes appeared, who had not forgotten their origins from the same ancestor as the Moscow Grand Duke and stood out from the Moscow squad, becoming higher than it, therefore, having even more claims; the church, assisting the Moscow princes in establishing autocracy, has long tried to give them higher importance relative to other princes; but to successfully achieve the goal, the help of the traditions of the Empire was needed; These legends were brought to Moscow by Sophia Paleologus. Contemporaries noticed that after his marriage to the niece of the Byzantine emperor, John appeared as a formidable sovereign on the Moscow grand-ducal table; he was the first to receive the name Grozny, because he appeared to the princes and squad as a monarch, demanding unquestioning obedience and strictly punishing disobedience, he rose to a royal, unattainable height, before which the boyar, the prince, the descendant of Rurik and Gediminas had to reverently bow along with the last of his subjects; at the first wave of Ivan the Terrible, the heads of the seditious princes and boyars lay on the chopping block. Contemporaries and immediate descendants attributed this change to Sophia’s suggestions, and we have no right to reject their testimony.”

Sofia Paleolog

Sophia, who left a mark in Europe with her extreme corpulence, had an extraordinary mind and soon achieved noticeable influence. Ivan, at her insistence, undertook the reconstruction of Moscow, erected new brick Kremlin walls, a new palace, a reception hall, the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady in the Kremlin and much more. Construction was carried out in other cities - Kolomna, Tula, Ivan-gorod.

Under John, Muscovite Rus', strengthened and united, finally threw off the Tatar yoke.

Khan of the Golden Horde Akhmat, back in 1472, under the suggestions of the Polish king Casimir, undertook a campaign against Moscow, but only took Aleksin and could not cross the Oka, behind which John’s strong army had gathered. In 1476, John refused to pay tribute to Akhmat, and in 1480 the latter again attacked Rus', but was stopped at the Ugra River by the army of the Grand Duke. John himself still hesitated for a long time, and only the insistent demands of the clergy, especially the Rostov Bishop Vassian, prompted him to personally go to the army and break off negotiations with Akhmat.

Several times Akhmat tried to break through to the other side of the Ugra, but all his attempts were stopped by Russian troops. These military actions went down in history as the “stand on the Ugra”.

All autumn, the Russian and Tatar armies stood one against the other on opposite sides of the Ugra River; when it was already winter and severe frosts began to bother the poorly dressed Tatars of Akhmat, he, without waiting for help from Casimir, retreated on November 11; the following year he was killed by the Nogai prince Ivak, and the power of the Golden Horde over Russia collapsed completely.

Ivan III began to call himself the Grand Duke of “All Rus',” and this title was recognized by Lithuania in 1494. The first of the Moscow princes, he was called “tsar”, “autocrat”. In 1497 he introduced a new coat of arms of Muscovite Rus' - a black double-headed Byzantine eagle. Moscow, thus, laid claim to the status of successor to Byzantium (later the Pskov monk Philotheus called it the “third Rome”; the “second” was the fallen Constantinople).

Sovereign Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilievich.

Ivan had a tough and stubborn disposition, he was characterized by insight and the ability to foresight, especially in matters of foreign policy.

Ivan III Vasilievich Collector of Russian Land

In domestic politics, Ivan strengthened the structure of central power, demanding unquestioning obedience from the boyars. In 1497, a code of laws was released - the Code of Laws, compiled with his participation. Centralized control led to the establishment of a local system, and this, in turn, contributed to the formation of a new class - the nobility, which became the support of the autocrat's power.

The famous historian A. A. Zimin assessed the activities of Ivan III as follows: “Ivan III was one of the outstanding statesmen of feudal Russia. Possessing an extraordinary intelligence and breadth of political ideas, he was able to understand the urgent need to unite the Russian lands into a single power... The Grand Duchy of Moscow was replaced by the State of All Rus'.”

“In 1492, Ivan III decided to count the New Year not from March 1, but from September 1, since this was much more convenient for the national economy: the results of the harvest were summed up, preparations were made for winter, and weddings were held.”

“Ivan III expanded Rus' territorially: when he took the throne in 1462, the state was 400 thousand square kilometers, and after his death, in 1505, it was more than 2 million square kilometers.”

In the summer of 1503, Ivan III Vasilyevich became seriously ill, he became blind in one eye; partial paralysis of one arm and one leg occurred. Leaving his affairs, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich went on a trip to the monasteries.

In his will, he divided the volosts between five sons: Vasily, Yuri, Dmitry, Semyon, Andrey. However, he gave the eldest all the seniority and 66 cities, including Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Vladimir, Kolomna, Pereyaslavl, Rostov, Suzdal, Murom. Nizhny and others."

The Grand Duke was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

Historians agree that the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich was extremely successful, it was under him that the Russian state by the beginning of the 16th century. took an honorable international position, distinguished by new ideas and cultural and political growth.

Ivan III tears up the Khan's letter. Fragment. Hood. N. Shustov

Ivan III Vasilievich.

For forty-three years, Moscow was ruled by Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich or Ivan III (1462–1505).

The main merits of Ivan the Third:

Annexation of vast lands.

Strengthening the state apparatus.

Increasing the international prestige of Moscow.

The Yaroslavl Principality (1463), the Tver Principality in 1485, the Rostov Principality in 1474, Novgorod and its possessions in 1478, the Perm Territory in 1472 were annexed to Moscow.

Ivan the Third waged successful wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to the treaty of 1494, Ivan III received Vyazma and other lands, his daughter, Princess Elena Ivanovna, married the new Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagiellon. However, family ties stretching between Moscow and Vilna (the capital of Lithuania) did not prevent a new war. It turned out to be a real military disaster for the son-in-law of Ivan III.

In 1500, the troops of Ivan III defeated the Lithuanians on the Vedrosha River, and in 1501 they were defeated again near Mstislavl. While Alexander Jagiellon rushed around his country, trying to establish defenses, Moscow governors occupied more and more cities. As a result, Moscow brought a huge territory under control. According to the truce of 1503, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gave up Toropets, Putivl, Bryansk, Dorogobuzh, Mosalsk, Mtsensk, Novgorod-Seversky, Gomel, Starodub and many other cities. This was the greatest military success in the entire life of Ivan III.

According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, after the unification of the lands, the Moscow principality became national, now the entire Great Russian people lived within its borders. At the same time, Ivan referred to himself in diplomatic correspondence as the sovereign of all Rus', i.e. expressed his claims to all the lands that were once part of the Kyiv state.

In 1476, Ivan the Third refused to pay tribute to the rulers of the Horde. In 1480, after standing on the Ugra, the rule of the Tatar khans ended formally.

Ivan the Third successfully entered into dynastic marriages. His first wife was the daughter of the Tver prince. This marriage allowed Ivan Vasilyevich to claim the reign of Tver. In 1472, for his second marriage, he married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Paleologus. The Moscow prince became, as it were, the successor of the Byzantine emperor. In the heraldry of the Moscow principality, not only the image of St. George the Victorious began to be used, but also the Byzantine double-headed eagle. At the beginning of the 16th century. An ideological concept began to develop, which was supposed to justify the greatness of the new state (Moscow - 3 Rome).

Under Ivan III, a lot of construction was done in Rus', especially in Moscow. In particular, new Kremlin walls and new churches were erected. Europeans, primarily Italians, were widely involved in engineering and other services.

At the end of his reign, Ivan the Third became involved in an acute conflict with the Orthodox Church. The prince sought to limit the economic power of the church and deprive it of tax benefits. However, he failed to do this.

At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The state apparatus of the Moscow Principality began to form. The princes in the annexed lands became boyars of the Moscow sovereign. These principalities were now called districts and were ruled by governors-feeders from Moscow.

Ivan 3 used the annexed lands to create a system of estates. Noble landowners took possession (not ownership) of plots of land that the peasants were supposed to cultivate. In exchange, the nobles performed military service. The local cavalry became the core of the army of the Moscow Principality.

The aristocratic council under the prince was called the Boyar Duma. It included boyars and okolnichy. 2 national departments emerged: 1. Palace. He ruled the lands of the Grand Duke. 2. Treasury. She was in charge of finances, the state press, and archives.

In 1497, the first national code of law was published.

The personal power of the Grand Duke increased sharply, as can be seen from Ivan’s will. Advantages of Grand Duke Vasily 3 over other members of the princely family.

Now only the Grand Duke collected taxes in Moscow and conducted criminal courts in the most important cases. Before this, the princes' heirs owned plots in Moscow and could collect taxes there.

The exclusive right to mint coins. Before this, both the great and appanage princes had such rights.

If the brothers of the Grand Duke died without leaving sons, then their inheritance passed to the Grand Duke. Before this, appanage princes could dispose of their estates at their own discretion.

Also, according to treaty letters with his brothers, Vasily 3 arrogated to himself the sole right to negotiate with foreign powers.

Vasily III (1505-1533), who inherited the throne from Ivan III, continued his course towards building a unified Russian state. Under him, Pskov (1510) and Ryazan (1521) lost their independence. In 1514, as a result of a new war with Lithuania, Smolensk was captured.

Confrontation between the Moscow State and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

This state strengthened in the mid-13th century. since its rulers were able to successfully resist detachments of German crusaders. Already in the middle of the 13th century. Lithuanian rulers began to annex the Russian principalities to their possessions.

An important feature of the Lithuanian state was its bi-ethnicity. A minority of the population were Lithuanians themselves, while the majority of the population were Slavic Ruthenians. It should be noted that the process of expansion of the Lithuanian state was relatively peaceful. Causes:

Accessions often took the form of dynastic alliances.

The benevolent policy of the Lithuanian princes towards the Orthodox Church.

Russian (Rusyn) language became the official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was used in office work.

Developed legal culture of the Principality of Lithuania. There was a practice of concluding written treaties (rows), where local elites agreed on their right to participate in the selection of governors for their lands.

By the middle of the 14th century. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania united all Western Russian lands except Galicia (at that time it was part of the Kingdom of Poland).

In 1385, the Lithuanian prince Jagiello entered into a dynastic marriage with the Polish princess Jadwiga and signed an agreement in Krevo, which largely determined the fate of the Lithuanian state. According to the Union of Krevo, Jagiello took upon himself the obligation to convert the entire population of the Principality of Lithuania to the true Catholic faith, as well as to recapture the Polish lands captured by the Teutonic Order. The agreement was beneficial for both parties. The Poles received a powerful ally to fight the Teutonic Order, and the Lithuanian prince received help in the dynastic struggle.

The conclusion of the Union of Krevo helped the Polish and Lithuanian states militarily. In 1410, the united troops of the two states inflicted a decisive defeat on the army of the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald.

At the same time, until the end of the 1430s. The Principality of Lithuania was going through a period of intense dynastic struggle. In 1398-1430. Vitovt was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He managed to consolidate the scattered Lithuanian lands and entered into a dynastic union with the Moscow principality. Thus, Vitovt actually disavowed the Krevo Union.

In the 1430s. Prince Svidrigailo managed to unite around himself the nobility of the Kyiv, Chernigov and Volyn lands, who were dissatisfied with the policy of Catholicization and centralization, and began a struggle for power throughout the entire Lithuanian state. After a tense war of 1432-1438. he was defeated.

In socio-economic terms, the Principality of Lithuania developed very successfully throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 15th century many cities switched to the so-called Magdeburg law, which guaranteed self-government and independence from princely power. On the other hand, the nobility played a huge role in the life of the Lithuanian state, which actually divided the state into zones of influence. Each prince had his own system of legislation and taxation, his own military detachments, and controlled government bodies in his lands. 15 of the 40 cities that were located on the territory of modern Belarus were on magnate lands, which often limited their development.

Gradually, the Lithuanian state became more and more integrated with the Polish one. In 1447, the Polish king and Lithuanian prince Casimir issued a general land privilege, which guaranteed the rights of the szlachta (nobility) in both Poland and Lithuania. In 1529 and 1566 The Pan's Rada (council of aristocrats, the highest governing body of the Lithuanian state) initiated the creation of 2 Lithuanian statutes. The first codified the rules of civil and criminal law. The second statute regulated the relationship between the gentry and aristocrats. The gentry received guaranteed rights to participate in local and state government bodies (sejmiks and valny sejms). At the same time, an administrative reform was carried out; following the example of Poland, the country was divided into voivodeships.

In comparison with the Moscow state, the Principality of Lithuania was distinguished by greater religious tolerance. On the territory of the principality, the Orthodox and Catholic churches coexisted and competed; in the mid-16th century. Protestantism became quite widespread.

Relations between Lithuania and Moscow during the second half of the 15th and 16th centuries. were mostly tense. States competed with each other for control over Russian lands. After a series of successful wars, Ivan 3 and his son Vasily the Third managed to annex the border lands in the upper reaches of the Oka and Dnieper, the most important success of Vasily 3 was the annexation of the strategically important Smolensk principality in 1514 after a long struggle.

During the Livonian War of 1558-1583. At the first stage of hostilities, the Lithuanian army suffered serious defeats from the troops of the Moscow Tsar. As a result, in 1569 the Union of Lublin was concluded between Poland and Lithuania. Reasons for imprisonment: 1. Military threat from the Moscow Tsar. 2. Economic situation. In the 16th century Poland was one of the largest grain traders in Europe. The Lithuanian nobility wanted free access to such profitable trade. 3. The attractiveness of the Polish gentry culture, the great legal guarantees that the Polish gentry had. 4. It was important for the Poles to gain access to the very fertile but poorly developed lands of the Principality of Lithuania. According to the union, as part of a single state, Lithuania retained its legal proceedings, administration and the Russian language in office work. Freedom of belief and the preservation of local customs were especially noted. At the same time, the Volyn and Kyiv lands were transferred to the Polish Kingdom.

Consequences of the union: 1. Increase in military potential. The Polish king Stefan Batory managed to inflict heavy defeats on the troops of Ivan the Terrible; the Muscovite kingdom eventually lost all its conquests in the Baltic states. 2. Powerful migration of the Polish population and the population of Galicia to the east of the Lithuanian state.3. The reception of Polish culture primarily by the local Russian nobility. 4. Revitalization of spiritual life, since the Orthodox Church needed to compete in the struggle for minds with Catholics and Protestants. This contributed to the development of the education system.

In 1596, on the initiative of the Catholic Church in Brest, a church union was concluded between the Catholic and Orthodox churches of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The union was actively supported by the Polish kings, who counted on the consolidation of their state.

According to the union, the Orthodox Church recognized the supremacy of the Pope and a number of Catholic dogmas (filioque, the concept of purgatory). At the same time, Orthodox rituals remained unchanged.

The Union not only did not contribute to the consolidation of society, but on the contrary, split it. Only a part of Orthodox bishops recognized the union. The new church received the name Greek Catholic or Uniate (from the 18th century). Other bishops remained faithful to the Orthodox Church. In this they were supported by a significant part of the population of the Lithuanian lands.

Additional tension was caused by the activities of the Zaporozhye and Ukrainian Cossacks. Detachments of free Christian people went for prey to the Wild Field back in the 13th century (brodniki). However, the consolidation of the Cossacks into a serious and recognized force occurred in the 15-16th centuries. due to the constant raids of the Crimean Khanate. In response to the raids, the Zaporozhye Sich emerged as a professional military association. The Polish kings actively used the Zaporozhye Cossacks in their wars, but the Cossacks remained a source of unrest, since they were joined by everyone dissatisfied with the current situation.