The reasons for the Livonian War are summarized point by point. Stages of the Livonian War

The Livonian War of 1558-1583 became one of the most important campaigns of the times, and the whole of the 16th century, perhaps.

The Livonian War: Briefly About the Background

After the great Moscow tsar managed to conquer Kazan and

Astrakhan Khanate, Ivan IV turned his attention to the Baltic lands and access to the Baltic Sea. Taking these territories for the Muscovy would mean promising opportunities for trade in the Baltic. At the same time, it was extremely unprofitable for the German merchants and the Livonian Order who had already settled there to admit new competitors to the region. The solution to these contradictions was to be the Livonian War. We should also briefly mention the formal reason for it. They were served by the non-payment of the tribute that the Dorpat bishopric was obliged to pay in favor of Moscow in accordance with the 1554 treaty. Formally, such a tribute has existed since the beginning of the 16th century. However, in practice, no one remembered it for a long time. Only with the aggravation of relations between the parties, he used this fact as an excuse for the Russian invasion of the Baltic.

The Livonian War: Briefly About the Vicissitudes of the Conflict

Russian troops launched an invasion of Livonia in 1558. The first stage of the collision, which lasted until 1561, ended

crushing defeat of the Livonian Order. The armies of the Moscow tsar with pogroms marched through eastern and central Livonia. Dorpat and Riga were taken. In 1559, the parties signed a truce for six months, which was supposed to develop into a peace treaty on the terms of the Livonian Order from Russia. But the kings of Poland and Sweden rushed to the aid of the German knights. King Sigismund II managed to take the order under his own protectorate by diplomatic maneuver. And in November 1561, under the conditions of the Vilna Treaty, the Livonian Order ceases to exist. Its territories are divided between Lithuania and Poland. Now Ivan the Terrible had to confront three powerful rivals at once: the Principality of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland and Sweden. With the latter, however, the Moscow tsar managed to quickly make peace for some time. In 1562-63, the second large-scale campaign to the Baltic begins. The events of the Livonian War at this stage continued to develop successfully. However, already in the mid-1560s, relations between Ivan the Terrible and the boyars of the Chosen Rada were aggravated to the limit. The situation worsens even more due to the flight of one of the closest princely associates of Andrei Kurbsky to Lithuania and his transition to the side of the enemy (the reason that prompted the boyar was the growing despotism in the Moscow principality and the infringement of the ancient liberties of the boyars). After this event, Ivan the Terrible finally hardens, seeing continuous traitors around him. In parallel with this, defeats at the front also occur, which were explained by the prince by internal enemies. In 1569 Lithuania and Poland unite into a single state, which

strengthens their power. In the late 1560s - early 70s, Russian troops suffered a series of defeats and even lost several fortresses. Since 1579, the war has become more defensive in nature. However, in 1579 the enemy captured Polotsk, in 1580 - Velikiy Luk, in 1582 the long siege of Pskov continues. The need for a peace and a respite for the state after decades of military campaigns is becoming evident.

The Livonian War: Briefly About the Consequences

The war ended with the signing of the Plyussky and Yam-Zapolsky armistices, which were extremely disadvantageous for Moscow. The exit to was never received. Instead, the prince received an exhausted and devastated country, which found itself in an extremely difficult situation. The consequences of the Livonian War precipitated an internal crisis that led to the Great Troubles at the beginning of the 16th century.

After the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates were annexed to the Russian state, the threat of invasion from the east and southeast was eliminated. Ivan the Terrible faces new tasks - to return the Russian lands that were once seized by the Livonian Order, Lithuania and Sweden.

In general, formal reasons were found for the start of the war. The real reasons were the geopolitical need for Russia to gain access to the Baltic Sea, as the most convenient for direct connections with the centers of European civilizations, as well as the desire to take an active part in the division of the territory of the Livonian Order, the progressive disintegration of which was becoming obvious, but which, not wanting strengthening of Russia, hindered her external contacts. For example, the Livonian authorities did not allow more than a hundred specialists from Europe invited by Ivan IV to pass through their lands. Some of them were imprisoned and executed.

The formal reason for the beginning of the Livonian War was the question of the "Yuryev tribute". According to the agreement of 1503, an annual tribute was to be paid for him and the adjacent territory, which, however, was not done. In addition, the Order entered into a military alliance with the Lithuanian-Polish king in 1557.

The stages of the war.

First step. In January 1558, Ivan the Terrible moved his troops to Livonia. The beginning of the war brought him victories: Narva and Yuryev were taken. In the summer and autumn of 1558 and at the beginning of 1559, Russian troops passed all of Livonia (up to Reval and Riga) and advanced in Courland to the borders of East Prussia and Lithuania. However, in 1559, under the influence of political figures grouped around A.F. Adashev, who impeded the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, Ivan the Terrible was forced to conclude an armistice. In March 1559, it was concluded for a period of six months.

The feudal lords took advantage of the truce to conclude an agreement with the Polish king Sigismund II August in 1559, according to which the order, lands and possessions of the Riga archbishop passed under the protectorate of the Polish crown. In an atmosphere of acute political differences in the leadership of the Livonian Order, its master V. Furstenberg was removed and G. Kettler, who held a pro-Polish orientation, became the new master. In the same year, Denmark took possession of the island of Ezel (Saaremaa).

The hostilities that began in 1560 brought new defeats to the Order: the large fortresses of Marienburg and Fellin were taken, the Order's army blocking the way to Viljandi was defeated near Ermes, and the Master of the Order of Furstenberg himself was taken prisoner. The success of the Russian army was facilitated by the peasant uprisings that broke out in the country against the German feudal lords. The result of the company in 1560 was the actual defeat of the Livonian Order as a state. The German feudal lords of Northern Estonia became Swedish citizens. Under the Treaty of Vilna in 1561, the possessions of the Livonian Order came under the rule of Poland, Denmark and Sweden, and his last master - Kettler - received only Courland, and even then it was dependent on Poland. Thus, instead of a weak Livonia, Russia now had three strong opponents.

Second phase. While Sweden and Denmark were at war with each other, Ivan IV led successful operations against Sigismund II Augustus. In 1563, the Russian army took Plock, a fortress that opened the way to the capital of Lithuania Vilno and to Riga. But already at the beginning of 1564 the Russians suffered a series of defeats on the Ulla River and near Orsha; in the same year, a boyar and a major military leader, Prince A.M. Kurbsky.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to military failures and escapes to Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565 the oprichnina was introduced. Ivan IV tried to restore the Livonian Order, but under the protectorate of Russia, and negotiated with Poland. In 1566, the Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to partition Livonia on the basis of the situation that existed at that time. The Zemsky Sobor convened at this time supported the intention of the government of Ivan the Terrible to wage a struggle in the Baltic states up to the capture of Riga: "Our sovereign of those Livonian cities that the king took in guardianship should give up unsuitable, and befit the sovereign to stand for those cities." The council's decision also stressed that abandoning Livonia would hurt trade interests.

Stage three. The Union of Lublin had serious consequences, which in 1569 united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into one state - the Republic of Both Nations. A difficult situation developed in the north of Russia, where relations with Sweden were aggravated again, and in the south (the campaign of the Turkish army near Astrakhan in 1569 and the war with the Crimea, during which the army of Devlet I Giray burned Moscow in 1571 and ruined the southern Russian lands). However, the offensive in the Republic of Both peoples of a long "rootlessness", the creation in Livonia of a vassal "kingdom" of Magnus, which at first had an attractive force in the eyes of the population of Livonia, again allowed to tip the scales in favor of Russia. In 1572, the army of Devlet-Giray was destroyed and the threat of large raids by the Crimean Tatars was eliminated (Battle of Molodi). In 1573 the Russians took the Weissenstein (Paide) fortress by storm. In the spring, Moscow troops under the command of Prince Mstislavsky (16,000) met near the castle of Lode in western Estonia with two thousand Swedish troops. Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage, the Russian troops suffered a crushing defeat. They had to abandon all their guns, banners and train.

In 1575, the Sage fortress surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov to the Russians. After the 1576 campaign, Russia captured the entire coast, except for Riga and Kolyvan.

However, the unfavorable international situation, the distribution of land in the Baltic to the Russian nobles, which alienated the local peasant population from Russia, and serious internal difficulties had a negative impact on the further course of the war for Russia.

Stage four. In 1575 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the period of "rootlessness" (1572-1575) ended. Stephen Bathory was elected king. Stefan Batory, Prince of Semigrad, was supported by the Turkish Sultan Murad III. After the flight of King Heinrich of Valois from Poland in 1574, the sultan sent the Polish masters a letter demanding that the Poles not choose the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian II, but choose one of the Polish nobles, for example, Jan Kostka, or, if the king from others powers, the Batory or the Swedish prince Sigismund Vazu. Ivan the Terrible in his message to Stephen Bathory more than once hinted that he was a vassal of the Turkish sultan, which prompted a sharp response from Batory: “How dare we so often remember the lack of surmise, you, who interfered with your blood with us, which prodkov mare's milk, they licked what was left on the manes of the Tatar scales ... ”. The election of Stefan Batory as king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth meant the renewal of the war with Poland. However, as early as 1577, Russian troops occupied almost all of Livonia, except for Riga and Reval, which was besieged in 1576-1577. But this year was the last year of Russia's success in the Livonian War.

In 1579, Batory began a war against Russia. In 1579, Sweden resumed hostilities, and Batory returned Polotsk and took Velikie Luki, and in 1581 besieged Pskov, intending, if successful, to go to Novgorod the Great and Moscow. The Pskovites swore "for the city of Pskov, they were fighting with Lithuania to death without any cunning." They kept their oath, fighting off 31 attacks. After five months of unsuccessful attempts, the Poles were forced to lift the siege of Pskov. The heroic defense of Pskov in 1581-1582 the garrison and the population of the city determined a more favorable outcome of the Livonian War for Russia: the failure at Pskov forced Stefan Batory to agree to peace negotiations.

Taking advantage of the fact that Batory actually cut off Livonia from Russia, the Swedish commander Baron Pontus De la Gardie undertook an operation to destroy isolated Russian garrisons in Livonia. By the end of 1581, the Swedes, having crossed the frozen Gulf of Finland on the ice, captured the entire coast of Northern Estonia, Narva, Vesenberg (Rakovor, Rakvere), and then moved to Riga, taking Haapsa-lu, Pärnu, and then the entire South (Russian ) Estonia - Fellin (Viljandi), Dorpat (Tartu). In total, Swedish troops in a relatively short period captured 9 cities in Livonia and 4 in Novgorod land, nullifying all the long-term conquests of the Russian state in the Baltic states. In Ingermanland, Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye were taken, and Korela in Ladoga.

Results and consequences of the war.

In January 1582, a ten-year truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky (not far from Pskov). Under this agreement, Russia renounced Livonia and the Belarusian lands, but some of the border Russian lands captured by the Polish king during the hostilities were returned to it.

The defeat of the Russian troops in the simultaneously ongoing war with Poland, where the tsar was faced with the need to decide even on the concession of Pskov if the city was taken by storm, forced Ivan IV and his diplomats to negotiate with Sweden on the conclusion of the Peace of Plus, humiliating for the Russian state. ... Negotiations in Plus took place from May to August 1583. Under this agreement:

• 1. The Russian state was deprived of all its acquisitions in Livonia. Only a narrow section of the outlet to the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Finland remained behind it.
• 2. Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye passed to the Swedes.
• 3. Also, the Kexholm fortress in Karelia, together with a vast county and the coast of Lake Ladoga, went to the Swedes.
• 4. The Russian state was cut off from the sea, devastated and devastated. Russia has lost a significant part of its territory.

Thus, the Livonian War had very grave consequences for the Russian state, and the defeat in it strongly affected its further development. However, one can agree with N.M. Karamzin, who noted that the Livonian War was "unfortunate, but not inglorious for Russia."

Federal Agency for Education

State educational institution

higher professional education

RUSSIAN STATE HUMANITARIAN UNIVERSITY

Institute of Economics, Management and Law

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS

Bubble Christina Radievna

"The Livonian War, Its Political Meaning and Consequences"

Abstract on the history of Russia

1st year student of correspondence course.

2009- Moscow.

INTRODUCTION -2-

1. Background of the Livonian War -3-

2. The course of the war -4-

2.1. War with the Livonian Confederation -5-

2.2. Truce of 1559 -8-

2.3. War with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania -10-

2.4. The third period of the war -11-

2.5. The fourth period of the war -12-

3. Results and consequences of the Livonian War -12-

CONCLUSION -14-
REFERENCES -15-

INTRODUCTION

The history of the Livonian War, despite the study of the goals of the conflict, the nature of the actions of the opposing sides, the results of the military clash that took place, remains among the key problems of Russian history. Evidence of this is the kaleidoscope of opinions of researchers who tried to determine the significance of this war among other major foreign policy actions of the Moscow state in the second half of the 16th century.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the formation of a strong centralized state - Muscovite Russia - was completed on Russian lands, which sought to expand its territory at the expense of lands belonging to other peoples. For the successful implementation of its political aspirations and economic goals, this state needed to establish close ties with Western Europe, which could be achieved only after gaining free access to the Baltic Sea.

By the middle of the 16th century. Russia owned a small stretch of coastline on the Baltic Sea from Ivangorod to the mouth of the Neva, where there were no good harbors. This hindered the development of the Russian economy. To participate in the lucrative maritime trade and intensify political and cultural ties with Western Europe, the country needed to expand its access to the Baltic, gaining such convenient ports as Revel (Tallinn) and Riga. The Livonian Order obstructed the Russian transit trade through the Eastern Baltic in an attempt to create an economic blockade of Muscovy. But the united Russia became much more powerful than the Livonian Order and finally decided to conquer these lands by force of arms.

The main goal of the Livonian War, which was led by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible with the Livonian Confederation of States (Livonian Order, Archbishopric of Riga, Dorpat, Ezel-Vik and Courland bishoprics) was the conquest of access to the Baltic Sea.

The aim of this work is to study the political meaning of the Livonian War and its consequences.

1. Background of the Livonian War

Reforms of the state apparatus, which strengthened the armed forces of Russia, and the successful solution of the Kazan issue allowed the Russian state to begin the struggle for access to the Baltic Sea. The Russian nobility sought to acquire new lands in the Baltic States, and the merchants hoped to gain free access to European markets.

Livonian feudal lords, as well as the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden, pursued a policy of economic blockade of Russia.

The Livonian Confederation was interested in controlling the transit of Russian trade and significantly limited the possibilities of Russian merchants. In particular, the entire trade exchange with Europe could be carried out only through the Livonian ports of Riga, Lindanise (Revel), Narva, and goods could only be transported on the ships of the Hanseatic League. At the same time, fearing a military and economic strengthening of Russia, the Livonian Confederation prevented the transportation of strategic raw materials and specialists to Russia (see the Schlitte case), receiving the assistance of the Hansa, Poland, Sweden and the German imperial authorities in this.

In 1503, Ivan III concluded an armistice with the Livonian Confederation for 50 years, according to the terms of which it was supposed to annually pay tribute (the so-called "Yuryev's tribute") for the city of Yuryev (Dorpat), which previously belonged to Novgorod. Moscow treaties with Dorpat XVI century. traditionally mentioned about the "Yuryev tribute", but in fact it has long been forgotten. When the truce expired, during negotiations in 1554, Ivan IV demanded the return of arrears, the refusal of the Livonian Confederation from military alliances with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden, and the continuation of the truce.

The first payment of the debt for Dorpat was supposed to take place in 1557, but the Livonian Confederation did not fulfill its obligation.

In the spring of 1557, on the banks of the Narva, Tsar Ivan IV built a port ( "The same year, July, a city was set up from the Nemets Ust-Narova-river Rossene by the sea for a shelter for a sea ship"). However, Livonia and the Hanseatic League do not allow European merchants to enter the new Russian port, and they are forced to go, as before, to the Livonian ports.

The Estonian and Latvian peoples have been associated with the Russian people since the days of the ancient Russian state. This connection was interrupted as a result of the conquest of the Baltic by the German crusaders and the creation of the Livonian Order there.

Fighting against the German feudal lords, the working masses of Estonia and Latvia saw the Russian people as their ally, and the annexation of the Baltic states to Russia as an opportunity for their further economic and cultural development.

By the middle of the XVI century. the Baltic issue began to occupy a prominent place in the international relations of the European powers. Along with Russia, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were particularly interested in accessing the Baltic Sea, in whose economy trade with the countries of Western Europe was of significant importance. Sweden and Denmark took an active part in the struggle for the Baltic States, striving to strengthen their economic and political positions in this region. During this struggle, Denmark usually acted as an ally of Ivan IV, and Denmark's adversary was Sweden in 1554-1557. waged a fruitless three-year war with Russia. Finally, England and Spain, competing with each other, were also interested in the Eastern European sales markets. Thanks to friendly diplomatic and trade relations with Russia, England already from the end of the 50s of the XVI century. strongly pressed on the Baltic markets of the Hanseatic people who traded in Flanders cloth.

Thus, the Livonian War began in difficult international conditions, when its course was closely watched or participated in by the largest European powers.

1. The course of the war

By the beginning of the war, the Livonian Confederation was weakened by a series of military defeats and the Reformation. On the other hand, Russia was gaining strength after the victories over the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and the annexation of Kabarda.

1. War with the Livonian Confederation

The invasion of the Russian troops in January-February 1558 into the Livonian lands was a reconnaissance raid. It was attended by 40 thousand people under the command of Khan Shig-Alei (Shah-Ali), governor of Glinsky and Zakharyin-Yuriev. They passed through the eastern part of Estonia and returned back by the beginning of March. The Russian side motivated this campaign exclusively by the desire to receive due tribute from Livonia. The Livonian Landtag decided to collect 60 thousand thalers for settlement with Moscow in order to end the outbreak of the war. However, by May, only half of the claimed amount had been collected. In addition, the Narva garrison fired at the Ivangorod border outpost, thereby violating the armistice agreement.

This time a more powerful army moved to Livonia. The Livonian Confederation at that time could put in the field, not counting the serf garrisons, no more than 10 thousand. Thus, its main military property was the powerful stone walls of fortresses, which by this time could no longer effectively withstand the power of heavy siege weapons.

Voevods Alexei Basmanov and Danila Adashev arrived in Ivangorod. In April 1558, Russian troops laid siege to Narva. The fortress was defended by a garrison under the command of the knight Focht Schnellenberg. On May 11, a fire broke out in the city, accompanied by a storm (according to the Nikon Chronicle, the fire occurred due to the fact that drunken Livonians threw an Orthodox icon of the Mother of God into the fire). Taking advantage of the fact that the guards left the city walls, the Russians rushed to storm. They broke through the gates and took possession of the lower city. Capturing the guns that were there, the warriors turned them around and opened fire on the upper castle, preparing the stairs for the attack. However, the defenders of the castle surrendered in the evening themselves, on the terms of a free exit from the city.

The defense of the Neuhausen fortress distinguished itself with particular perseverance. It was defended by several hundred soldiers, led by the knight von Padenorm, who for almost a month repelled the onslaught of the voivode Peter Shuisky. On June 30, 1558, after the destruction of the fortress walls and towers by the Russian artillery, the Germans retreated to the upper castle. Von Padenorm expressed a desire to keep the defense here, but the surviving defenders of the fortress refused to continue the senseless resistance. As a sign of respect for their courage, Pyotr Shuisky allowed them to leave the fortress with honor.

In July P. Shuisky laid siege to Derpt. The city was defended by a garrison of 2,000 under the command of the Bishop of Weyland. Having built a rampart at the level of the fortress walls and installed guns on it, on July 11, Russian artillery began shelling the city. The cannonballs pierced the roof tiles of houses, overwhelming the inhabitants who were hiding there. On July 15, P. Shuisky offered Weyland to surrender. While he was thinking, the bombardment continued. Several towers and loopholes were destroyed. Having lost hope for outside help, the besieged decided to enter into negotiations with the Russians. P. Shuisky promised not to destroy the city to its foundations and to keep its inhabitants the previous administration. On July 18, 1558, Dorpat surrendered. The troops settled in the houses abandoned by the residents. In one of them, the warriors found 80 thousand thalers in a cache. The Livonian historian bitterly narrates that the people of Dorpat, because of their greed, lost more than the Russian tsar demanded from them. The funds found would be enough not only for the Yuryev tribute, but also for hiring troops to protect the Livonian Confederation.

In May-October 1558, Russian troops took 20 fortress cities, including those who voluntarily surrendered and became citizens of the Russian tsar, after which they went to winter quarters within their borders, leaving small garrisons in the cities. The new energetic master, Gotthard Kettler, took advantage of this. Having collected 10 thousand. army, he decided to return the lost. At the end of 1558 Kettler approached the Ringen fortress, which was defended by a garrison of several hundred archers under the command of the governor Rusin-Ignatiev. A detachment of Voivode Repnin (2 thousand people) went to the aid of the besieged, but he was defeated by Kettler. However, the Russian garrison continued to defend the fortress for five weeks, and only when the defenders ran out of gunpowder did the Germans manage to take the fortress by storm. The entire garrison was killed. Having lost a fifth of his army (2 thousand people) at Ringen and having spent more than a month on the siege of one fortress, Kettler was unable to build on his success. At the end of October 1558, his army withdrew to Riga. This small victory turned into a big disaster for the Livonians.

In response to the actions of the Livonian Confederation, two months after the fall of the Ringen fortress, Russian troops carried out a winter raid, which was a punitive operation. In January 1559, the prince-voivode Silver, at the head of the army, entered Livonia. The Livonian army under the command of the knight Felkenzam came out to meet him. On January 17, at the Battle of Terzen, the Germans were completely defeated. Felkenzam and 400 knights (not counting ordinary soldiers) died in this battle, the rest were captured or fled. This victory opened the gates to Livonia wide for the Russians. They freely passed through the lands of the Livonian Confederation, captured 11 cities and reached Riga, where they burned the Riga fleet in the Dunamun roadstead. Then Courland lay on the way of the Russian army and, passing it, reached the Prussian border. In February, the army returned home with huge booty and a large number of prisoners.

After the winter raid of 1559, Ivan IV granted the Livonian Confederation a truce (the third in a row) from March to November, without consolidating his success. This miscalculation was due to a number of reasons. Serious pressure was exerted on Moscow from Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Denmark, which had their own views on the Livonian lands. Since March 1559, the Lithuanian ambassadors insistently demanded that Ivan IV cease hostilities in Livonia, threatening, otherwise, to side with the Livonian Confederation. Soon, Swedish and Danish ambassadors made requests to end the war.

By its invasion of Livonia, Russia also affected the trade interests of a number of European states. Trade in the Baltic Sea was then growing from year to year and the question of who would control it was relevant. Revel merchants, deprived of the most important item of their profits - income from Russian transit, complained to the Swedish king: “ We stand on the walls and watch with tears as merchant ships pass our city to the Russians in Narva».

In addition, the presence of the Russians in Livonia hurt the complex and confusing general European politics, upsetting the balance of power on the continent. So, for example, the Polish king Sigismund II August wrote to the English queen Elizabeth I about the importance of Russians in Livonia: “ The Moscow sovereign daily increases his power by acquiring goods that are brought to Narva, for here, among other things, weapons are brought here that are still unknown to him ... military specialists come, through which he acquires the means to defeat everyone ...».

The ceasefire was also driven by disagreements over foreign strategy within the Russian leadership itself. There, in addition to supporters of access to the Baltic Sea, there were those who supported the continuation of the struggle in the south, against the Crimean Khanate. In fact, the main initiator of the armistice of 1559 was the okolnichy Aleksey Adashev. This grouping reflected the sentiments of those circles of the nobility who, in addition to eliminating the threat from the steppes, wanted to receive a large additional land fund in the steppe zone. During this truce, the Russians struck a blow at the Crimean Khanate, which, however, had no significant consequences. The truce with Livonia had more global consequences.

The region was annexed to Russia and immediately received special benefits. The cities of Dorpat and Narva were given: complete amnesty for residents, free practice of their faith, city government, judicial autonomy and duty-free trade with Russia. They began to restore Narva, destroyed after the assault, and even provided a loan to local landowners at the expense of the royal treasury. All this seemed so tempting for the rest of the Livonians, who had not yet been conquered by the "infernal Tatars", that by autumn another 20 cities had voluntarily passed under the rule of the "bloody despot".

1. Truce of 1559

Already in the first year of the war, in addition to Narva, Yuryev (July 18), Neishloss, Neigauz were occupied, the troops of the Livonian Confederation were defeated at Tirzen near Riga, Russian troops reached Kolyvan. The raids of the Crimean Tatar hordes on the southern borders of Russia, which happened already in January 1558, could not shackle the initiative of the Russian troops in the Baltic.

However, in March 1559, under the influence of Denmark and representatives of the large boyars, who hindered the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, an armistice was concluded with the Livonian Confederation, which lasted until November. Historian RG Skrynnikov emphasizes that the Russian government, represented by Adashev and Viskovaty, "had to conclude an armistice on the western borders," as it was preparing for a "decisive clash on the southern border."

During the armistice (August 31), the Livonian Land Master of the Teutonic Order, Gotthard Kettler, concluded an agreement with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund II in Vilna, according to which the lands of the Order and the possessions of the Riga Archbishop were transferred under "clientele and patronage", that is, under the protectorate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the same 1559, Revel ceded to Sweden, and the Ezel bishop ceded the island of Ezel (Saaremaa) to Duke Magnus, brother of the Danish king, for 30 thousand thalers.

Taking advantage of the delay, the Livonian Confederation gathered reinforcements, and a month before the end of the truce in the vicinity of Yuryev, its troops attacked the Russian troops. Russian commanders lost more than 1000 people killed.

In 1560 the Russians resumed hostilities and won a number of victories: Marienburg (now Aluksne in Latvia) was taken; German forces were defeated at Ermes, after which Fellin (now Viljandi in Estonia) was taken. The Livonian Confederation collapsed.

During the capture of Fellin, the former Livonian Landmaster of the Teutonic Order, Wilhelm von Fürstenberg, was captured. In 1575, he sent his brother a letter from Yaroslavl, where the former landmaster was granted land. He told a relative that "he has no reason to complain about his fate."

Having acquired the Livonian lands, Sweden and Lithuania demanded that Moscow remove troops from their territory. Ivan the Terrible refused and Russia found itself in conflict with the coalition of Lithuania and Sweden.

1. War with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

On November 26, 1561, the German emperor Ferdinand I banned the supply of Russians through the port of Narva. Eric XIV, King of Sweden, blocked the Narva port and sent Swedish privateers to intercept the merchant ships sailing to Narva.

In 1562, Lithuanian troops raided the Smolensk region and Velizh. In the summer of the same year, the situation on the southern borders of the Moscow state worsened, which moved the timing of the Russian offensive in Livonia to autumn.

The way to the Lithuanian capital Vilna was closed by Polotsk. In January 1563, the Russian army, which included "almost all the armed forces of the country", came out to capture this frontier fortress from Velikiye Luki. In early February, the Russian army began the siege of Polotsk, and on February 15 the city surrendered.

Mercy for the vanquished was typical of the army of Grozny: when Polotsk was recaptured from the Poles in 1563, Ivan released the garrison in peace, presenting each Pole with a sable fur coat, and the city retaining legal proceedings according to local laws.

Nevertheless, Ivan the Terrible was cruel towards the Jews. According to the Pskov Chronicle, during the capture of Polotsk, Ivan the Terrible ordered all Jews to be baptized on the spot, and those who refused (300 people)) were ordered to be drowned in Dvina. Karamzin mentions that after the capture of Polotsk, John ordered "to baptize all the Jews, and drown the disobedient in the Dvina."

After the capture of Polotsk, Russia's success in the Livonian War began to decline. Already in 1564 the Russians suffered a series of defeats (Battle of Chashniki). The boyar and a major military leader who actually commanded the Russian troops in the West, Prince A.M. Kurbsky, went over to the side of Lithuania; he betrayed the king's agents in the Baltic states to the king and took part in the Lithuanian raid on Velikiye Luki.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to military failures and unwillingness of eminent boyars to fight against Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565 the oprichnina was introduced. In 1566, the Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to partition Livonia on the basis of the situation that existed at that time. The Zemsky Sobor convened at that time supported the intention of the government of Ivan the Terrible to fight in the Baltic states until the capture of Riga.

1. Third period of the war

The Union of Lublin had serious consequences, which in 1569 united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into one state - the Republic of Both Nations. A difficult situation developed in the north of Russia, where relations with Sweden were aggravated again, and in the south (the campaign of the Turkish army near Astrakhan in 1569 and the war with the Crimea, during which the army of Devlet I Giray burned Moscow in 1571 and ruined the southern Russian lands). However, the offensive in the Republic of Both peoples of a long "rootlessness", the creation in Livonia of a vassal "kingdom" of Magnus, which at first had an attractive force in the eyes of the population of Livonia, again allowed to tip the scales in favor of Russia. In 1572, the army of Devlet-Giray was destroyed and the threat of large raids by the Crimean Tatars was eliminated (Battle of Molodi). In 1573 the Russians took the Weissenstein (Paide) fortress by storm. In the spring, Moscow troops under the command of Prince Mstislavsky (16,000) met near the castle of Lode in western Estonia with two thousand Swedish troops. Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage, the Russian troops suffered a crushing defeat. They had to abandon all their guns, banners and train.

In 1575, the Sage fortress surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov to the Russians. After the 1576 campaign, Russia captured the entire coast, except for Riga and Kolyvan.

However, the unfavorable international situation, the distribution of land in the Baltic to the Russian nobles, which alienated the local peasant population from Russia, and serious internal difficulties had a negative impact on the further course of the war for Russia.

1. The fourth period of the war

Stefan Batory, who entered the Polish throne with the active support of the Turks (1576), went on the offensive, occupied Wenden (1578), Polotsk (1579), Sokol, Velizh, Usvyat, Velikie Luki. In the captured fortresses, the Poles and Lithuanians completely destroyed the Russian garrisons. In Velikiye Luki, the Poles exterminated the entire population, about 7 thousand people. Polish and Lithuanian troops ravaged the Smolensk region, the Seversk land, the Ryazan region, the south-west of the Novgorod region, plundered the Russian lands up to the upper Volga. The devastation they produced was reminiscent of the worst Tatar raids. Lithuanian voivode Philon Kmita from Orsha burned 2000 villages in the western Russian lands and captured a huge full. In February 1581, the Lithuanians burned Staraya Russa.

In 1581, the Polish-Lithuanian army, which included mercenaries from almost all of Europe, laid siege to Pskov, intending, if successful, to march on Novgorod the Great and Moscow. In November 1580, the Swedes took Korela, where 2 thousand Russians were exterminated, and in 1581 they occupied Narva, which was also accompanied by a massacre - 7 thousand Russians were killed; the victors did not take prisoners and did not spare the civilian population.

The heroic defense of Pskov in 15811582 determined a more favorable outcome of the war for Russia: it forced the Polish king to abandon his further plans and conclude a truce with the Russian government in Zapolsky Yam for 10 years in 1582. Under the terms of this truce, the old state border was preserved. For the Russian state, this meant the loss of Livonia. In the next 1583, on the Plyussa River, an armistice was concluded with the Swedes, who retained the Russian cities of Koporye, Yam, Ivangorod and the entire coast of the Gulf of Finland, except for a small outlet to the Baltic Sea near the mouth of the Neva.

1. Results and consequences of the Livonian War

In January 1582, in Yama-Zapolsky (near Pskov), a 10-year truce was concluded with the Republic of Both Nations (the so-called Yam-Zapolsky Peace). Russia abandoned Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border lands were returned to it.

In May 1583, a 3-year truce was concluded with Sweden in Plusa, according to which Koporye, Yam, Ivangorod and the adjacent territory of the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland were ceded. The Russian state was again cut off from the sea. The country was devastated, the north-western regions were depopulated. The war was lost on all counts. The result of the war and the repressions of Ivan the Terrible was the decline in the population (decreased by 25%) and the economic ruin of the country. It should also be noted that the course of the war and its results were influenced by the Crimean raids: only 3 years out of 25 years of the war there were no significant raids.

The Livonian War, which lasted a quarter of a century (1558-1583) and cost enormous sacrifices to the Russian state, did not solve the historical problem of Russia's access to the Baltic Sea.

As a result of the Livonian War, Livonia was divided between Poland, which received Vidzeme, Latgale, Southern Estonia, the Duchy of Courland, and Sweden, to which Northern Estonia with Tallinn and Russian territory at the Gulf of Finland ceded; Denmark received the ostroz of Saaremaa and separate regions in the former Kurzeme bishopric. Thus, the Latvian and Estonian peoples remained as before politically fragmented under the yoke of the new conquerors.

But the Livonian War was not inconclusive for the Russian state. Its significance was that the Russian troops defeated and finally destroyed the Livonian Order, which was a cruel enemy of the Russian, Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian peoples. During the years of the Livonian War, the friendship of the Estonian and Latvian peoples with the Russian people grew stronger.

CONCLUSION

In 1558, Moscow troops entered Livonia. The Livonian Order was unable to fight and disintegrated. Estland surrendered to Sweden, Livonia to Poland, the order retained only Courland. By 1561, Russian troops finally defeated the Livonian Order. The first period of the war turned out to be very successful for Russia. Russian troops occupied the cities of Narva, Dorpat, Polotsk, and Revel was besieged.

By its invasion of Livonia, Russia also affected the trade interests of a number of European states. Trade in the Baltic Sea was then growing from year to year and the question of who would control it was relevant.

In addition, the presence of the Russians in Livonia hurt the complex and confusing general European politics, upsetting the balance of power on the continent.

Military actions were victorious for Moscow until Stefan Batory, who had an undeniable military talent, was elected to the Polish-Lithuanian throne.

The following periods of the war were unfortunate for Russia. In 1579, she turned to defensive operations. Batory, becoming king, immediately launched a decisive offensive against Ivan the Terrible. Under the onslaught of the combined forces, the Russians left Polotsk and the strategically important fortress Velikiye Luki. In 1581, Batory laid siege to Pskov, intending, after the capture of the city, to go to Novgorod and Moscow. Russia faced a real threat of losing significant territories. The heroic defense of Pskov (1581-1582), in which the entire population of the city took part, predetermined the relatively favorable outcome of the war for Russia.

The results of the Livonian War, which lasted twenty-five years, turned out to be very difficult for Russia. Russia suffered territorial losses, military actions ravaged the country, the treasury was devastated, the central and northwestern districts were depopulated. The main goal of the Livonian War - access to the Baltic Sea coast - was not achieved.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Volkov V.A. Wars and troops of the Moscow state. - M. - 2004.

Danilevsky I.N., Andreev I.L., Kirillov V.V. Russian history. From ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century. - M. - 2007.

Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. Volume 8.Volume 9.

Korolyuk V.D. The Livonian War. - M. - 1954.

Platonov S.F.Full course of lectures on Russian history

Solovyov S. M. History of Russia since ancient times, vol. 6. - M., 2001

Skrynnikov R.G. Ivan the Terrible. - M. - 2006.

Shirokorad A. B. Northern Wars of Russia. - M. - 2001.

I welcome you categorically! Klim Sanych, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Hello everyone. Happy birthday! Thanks. Health! It is important. You can take the rest yourself. Yes. What is it about today? We, with all these horrible filmmaking tricks that the domestic film industry poured on us with a flurry, as well as with a regular reaction to current moments, as well as with all sorts of decent films that we also constantly analyze, we completely forgot about the basis, namely about military history. After all, I'm a military historian, I'm bored, I want to talk about the war. Not an expert on "Form of Water" shit, damn it. Yes. Which we have to do to get drunk. Yes, yes, of course, of course, of course. Yes, and so, we have the Livonian War, which in some way started it this year. It began in 1558, and now it is 2018, i.e. we get an even date, and there is no reason not to disassemble this significant event, especially since it is already so popularized in history textbooks. As the name suggests, we were at war with some kind of Livonia? Yes Yes Yes. But this is actually a big misconception. Everyone thinks that the Livonian War means that we fought with Livonia, here. And today I propose to give some kind of introduction, because the Livonian War is a very long time, a very large (as they would say now, a stupid term) geopolitical conflict. So-so. And I think it is impossible to proceed immediately directly to military operations, it is necessary to make a well-founded approach. Those. first to figure out what was going on there in general around this very Livonia and not only, and only then step by step to disassemble the course of hostilities, all sorts of wonderful battles that took place inside, especially since we have already disassembled one of them - the Polotsk capture. Will we fit in 1 video? Nine! Only a few. So-so. And then I say right away that for now, for the start, as it goes on, we will analyze only the Livonian War itself, because, but I am running a little ahead of myself. And you need to start with periodization, firstly, and secondly, with what the term is, what was, in fact, the Livonian War. Because, as you rightly said, the war is Livonian, which means it is with the Livonians. And we know from school that it was a very important conflict that tore up the Moscow kingdom of Ivan the Terrible, because of which then the Troubles immediately began. Because they spent all the money there, they killed all the military, but those who were not killed, they became poorer, everyone became brutal because of this Livonian War, we lost it in the end, and then Ivan the Terrible died suddenly, and it happened ... From anger. From anger, from rage, yes, from bedsores. And the Troubles began, and everything was bad as a result. And so it logically turns out that it was the Livonian War that was the main war waged by Russia during the times of Ivan the Terrible. Well, since they lost it and everything is bad, then it is. But it is not so. But I’m sorry, I’ll interrupt you, because as usual they will start asking questions, but because of my illiteracy, I know exactly one author, citizen Skrynnikov. Yes. Are his books good for Ivan the Terrible? Well, you need to know them, because Skrynnikov dug deeply. We send everyone - ZhZL, the life of wonderful people, the author Skrynnikov, I don’t remember the name. Ruslan Grigorievich. Ruslan Grigorievich. The book is called “Ivan the Terrible”. And there are a number of others. In fact, of course, there are many more books about Ivan the Terrible, there are far from only Skrynnikov, but we will definitely give a list of recommended literature, as we usually do when examining historical topics. But about the Livonian War, it would seem, is the most important war of Ivan the Terrible, and until recently there were no special books about it at all. Why? Those. inside various books, of course, they wrote about her, and sometimes quite a lot. And if you collect them to a heap, all these books, then in general you get there some kind of incredible historiographic background. And now they have just begun to write, by and large, about the Livonian War personally. Why - it's hard to say, I don't know why. Ie ... Don't want to denote Ivan's merits? I don't know, it's a mystery. I just think that it is impossible to do everything in a row, and the Livonian War is such a gigantic tangle that you can't take it with a raid, so we think - well, here, well, okay, then. Here. And then somebody else says "later." In the meantime, about the repression. In the meantime, of course, let's talk about repression, yes. But the stable historiographic term "Livonian War" nevertheless took shape, although, of course, if contemporaries knew that they were participating in the Livonian War, they would be very surprised. Like the French and the British when they learned that they were fighting in the Hundred Years War. Because the Livonian War is from 1558, and is traditionally considered to be from 1583 to the Plyussky truce with Sweden. In fact, of course, this is not entirely true. And why, now I will try to explain. Because there was no Livonian War as such, it is a series, albeit thematically in the sense of interrelated conflicts, but which each fought off from each other both by the participating countries, and by specific peace treaties, specific declarations of war. It was a protracted conflict of the parties, in which not only Russia and Livonia participated, this is the most important thing, Livonia almost did not participate there at all. It was attended by Lithuanians, Poles, Swedes, Danes, Russia, of course, a little Livonia, and even the Tatars managed to participate directly and indirectly. And all why - because Livonia, i.e. Livonian Confederation, the so-called. The Livonian Order was by the end of the 15th and already in the 16th century the more sick person in Europe, which later became the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. He was a naturally sick man in Europe. This was due to something - well, in general, of course, with the crisis of the order state. This was the last order state of all that were, probably, except for the knights of the Order of Ivan of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers in Malta. The fact is that the top-level organizations that cover them, namely the states that in one way or another formed these same orders, they were not up to in the 16th century. In particular, the Livonian Confederation was the vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor of the German nation. But, as it turned out, the emperor was the first to drain it. Moreover, there were such seemingly impossible moments when the former Teutonic Order, which at that time had already become simply Prussia, fought on the side of the Poles and Lithuanians against Livonia. Those. it is generally one whole that just happened literally in the 15th century. Those. The Teutonic Order, it was, as it were, the commander of the Livonian Landmaster, it was one whole, there was Lithuania between them and they tried to unite. But, nevertheless, here we see how the Prussian Duke Albrecht, together with the Poles and Lithuanians, withdraws his troops to the border with Livonia. Because even the Prussians also looked in that direction. And why did they look - well, it's easy to guess that this part of the Baltic coast was a very important trading point, because there are such wonderful cities as Tallinn ... Danish fortress. Danish fortress, it was then Revel. Riga is there. And all these cities close on themselves, well, almost all Russian Baltic trade. And the Russian Baltic trade, who has not heard our last year videos about the milestones in Russian history, the Baltic trade is very important, because the Baltic trade is what encloses in itself all, practically all of the Eurasian trade. That is, everything that goes along the Volga from the Caspian; everything that goes through the Dnieper from the Black Sea; everything that goes along what used to be called the Great Silk Road is somehow distributed among different, as they say now, hubs. That is, to the Mediterranean Sea in one direction, and in the other direction there the only sea route is the Baltic, everything comes to the Baltic. And whoever will be at the distribution point will inevitably receive a lot of money. Because the Baltic, as you might guess, is the northern Mediterranean Sea, because it is located among the lands - on the one side of Scandinavia, encloses all of Denmark and, therefore, the German Baltic coast. And the Swedes just wanted to make it their inland sea. Yes. And even for a moment they did it. By the time of the Kalmar Union of the 14th century, when Denmark, Sweden and Norway were practically united, then it all, of course, fell apart, well, by the time of the reign of Charles XII in the early 18th century, and, in fact, under his dad, under Charles XI, this is already the time of the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich - the beginning of the reign of Peter I, this was also for some time practically the internal Swedish sea, practically. Well, not only the Swedes wanted to make it an internal sea. That is, it is clear that neither Germany nor anyone else would have succeeded in making it internal, but they really wanted to crush the entire coast. And who wanted - Lithuania, of course, it has direct access to the Baltic Sea, and she needed the whole piece of the Baltic to be hers. Naturally, Poland, as friends of the Lithuanians, since the Krevo Union, also in the 14th century, is a union state. Naturally, I have already mentioned Germany through Prussia; Denmark, because at one time the Danes sold their Danish fortress Daalin together with the knights who settled there around the Livonians. And now, well, the Livonians are dying, so you need to take it back, this is a Danish fortress, even the name is that, you look. Here's the first thing. Secondly, of course, the Danes could not allow the Swedes to strengthen themselves at this expense, because the Swedes are their direct competitors from all sides for many centuries. And, of course, Russia, because the Livonian Order is something that was constantly in close, I would say even dialectical, relationship with the northwestern lands of Russia, that is, Novgorod and Pskov. And, of course, everything was not brewed under Ivan the Terrible, everything was brewed under Ivan III. Those. it, of course, was brewed much earlier, but here is the story that is directly related to ours, to the Livonian War, it all started under the grandfather of Ivan IV, under Ivan the Great, under Ivan III. At this time, the Livonian Order was already feeling bad, the Livonian Confederation. Well, first of all, because it is a confederation. Not a single confederal state of small size, surrounded by generally quite strong neighbors, will not last long, because, as we remember, what Livonia is - Livonia is actually order territories, that is, military-monastic, these are several bishoprics that, it would seem, include into one confederation, but they, as a rule, pursued their very independent policy, sometimes they directly clashed within, reaching armed clashes. Wow - inside the state some bishop said - I don't like something, and went to fight with his president. They entered into direct conspiracy with the enemies of the order, there they periodically had to be arrested, these bishops, if they could, of course. Well, of the bishoprics, the main role was played by 2 of the largest, these are Terpskoe (on the site of the old Russian city of Yuryev) and Riga. Riga is the oldest city in Livonia, 1202, founded by Bishop Albrecht. And unfortunately for the Livonians, and very fortunately for everyone else, the last master, Walter von Plettenberg, I mean not the last master of the Livonian Order, but the last such successful master who acted as an independent figure, such a bright independent figure, he was , firstly, a very energetic person, an extremely successful military leader and a very skillful military leader, frankly, even Ivan III wept with him. Although where is this Livonia of this size and, therefore, the emerging Moscow kingdom of this size. He beat us regularly. By virtue of his charisma and powerful organizational abilities, he fixed this confederal state, i.e. through Lithuania, the Teutonic Order, which also felt bad, was able to transform itself in the 16th century, becoming a secular state. He brought himself under the roof of the Poles and, in general, existed well. But the Livonians are not, the Livonians have fixed themselves in the old medieval form. Of course, Plettenberg had reason to do this - why, because Livonia was the point where all sorts of fools and parasites, alcoholics and other downshifters were floated. Like Finland for the Swedes. Yes Yes Yes. But downshifters went there with a specific purpose - to downshift back, because there are again great prospects. And, of course, community groups immediately formed there, because it’s easy to come to the Livonian Order and say that I’m here too, excuse me, knight, I’ll fight a little here, of course, it was possible, and even you would be allowed to fight, but to earn you there figs what they gave - no land, no money, well, except that you directly fight. People were exiled there, as I once told, when we were discussing the short Livonian-Novgorod war in the 40s of the 15th century, people from the Rhine and Westphalia were exiled there. So they trod this path, naturally formed a community there, and no one else was allowed to visit, well, at least on an industrial scale. Well, then the Danes also allowed a constellation of independent Danish knights there, whom they simply surrendered together with Tallinn, who saw both the Westafalians and the Rhines in their coffins, and loved themselves. This, of course, added strength to this state. Well, based on this, a crisis broke out, because Walter von Plettenberg died, and there was no more such a boss - energetic, charismatic, etc., who could simply solder it all together with his personality. Because, in fact, it is rather stupid to expect that everyone will be such a great boss, this does not happen. And the system itself was practically no longer viable. Well, of course, everyone immediately became interested that if it all dies, and it dies before our eyes, it will be taken by the lucky first, so everyone immediately pricked up their hairy ears and began to look closely to see who would just rush there first. Walter von Plettenberg, I must say, although he defeated the Russian troops several times, he never, as a sober person, thought that this could be done on an ongoing basis. He understood perfectly well that he could beat the Russians only because Ivan III was at war with Kazemir IV of Lithuania. He is just very busy, he cannot come to grips with all this, there is no time. Therefore, when the Lithuanians and Poles proposed to Walter von Plettenberg to form a single anti-Russian coalition, he nobly refused, saying that nothing good would come of it for me. You may not be able to survive this. Let's do it yourself. I will not survive this. Yes, and, of course, there was a very strong pro-Russian party in the order, and a strong, of course, anti-Russian party, i.e. hawks and doves of peace. Doves of peace, as a rule, were associated directly with the trading circles, which just needed to trade, that's it, period. And the hawks needed to impose some kind of their will, well, this is a militarized state, it was necessary to expand somehow, at least in a commercial sense. Naturally, they were in conflict with Sweden, because Sweden is another point, with which Russia borders, through which we can sell or buy something, on the contrary. And after Walter von Plettenberg, Master von der Reck, he issued a certain decree, where once again it was written what goods can be traded with Russia. This is a potential military adversary, therefore, since the 13th century, strategic goods have not been allowed to come to us on an ongoing basis. Here is von der Recke once again wrote what exactly should not be missed. And you can not skip gold, silver, tin, lead, iron, horses, armor and weapons. Sanctions were imposed against us. Well, because silver is money, everyone knew perfectly well that there is no silver of our own in Russia, we do not have our own lead, we do not have our own tin, well, there is little tin at all. It must be specially developed, mined from ores, then they did not know how to do this, it is necessary that it simply be native, and this is a big problem. Only when Varlam Shalamov appeared, he was sent to the development of tin. Yes Yes. Those. there will be no silver - there will be no money, there will be no tin - there will be no bronze, there will be no bronze - there will be no cannons. Well, there will be no lead, bullets will not be made of anything. Well, everything is clear about armor and weapons, they have a specific military purpose, horses are the same. Everyone knew very well that in Russia the horse population was weak. Those. it is simply impossible to equip mass cavalry with good horses. Therefore, we cannot supply horses. And the traders wanted to supply, because this is a lot of money, that's all, through this there was a constant conflict. The traders, moreover, first of all, tried to be German not from the Livonian Confederation, they were regularly caught here. For example, it was already after Ivan III, it was under Vasily III, a certain Dutch merchant was caught, who, as it turned out, is not the first time bringing ships full of tin and herring to Novgorodians. He was caught and fined and sent to hell, this is in 1530. Back in the 15th century, a German merchant who regularly transported iron and weapons to Russia was eventually caught, arrested, fined, taken away and thrown away. And he took it again, because, apparently, it was very profitable. And so they caught him a second time and chopped off his head. No, well, since there were such decrees all the time, it means that someone was constantly trying to smuggle in and drove successfully. On the other hand, the Novgorodians and Pskovians could not pass by the order's possessions along the sea route. The seaway of the Middle Ages is a coastal route. Along the shore. Along the coast, first. Secondly, even if it is not along the coast, then a serious port, in which there is a serious fleet, has the ability to intercept other people's ships at a fairly large distance from its own base. Those. set up some kind of patrols. Yes sir. Those. you are sailing somewhere to trade, for you - rest with us. - Oh no. - Still, rest. With all due respect. With all due respect, yes. Immediately the customs office comes to you and asks what you have. Well, they say - listen, but here, by the way, an agreement was signed 150 years ago, you can only trade with us. You seem to be from Novgorod, well, apparently, yes, you will trade here. Well, that's it, you have to trade in Riga or Tallinn. Those. you will not sail past Riga and Tallinn. Maybe you will be able to slip past one of the cities, but somewhere you will definitely fall completely. I don't go around Tallinn and Riga without jokes. Yes. So. For the umpteenth time I am surprised how the ancestors always seem somehow narrow-minded, unreasonable, and here you go - the port, and patrols, and interception, and customs. And sanctions. And you can trade only here, where the money is, damn it. Yes. Therefore, Novgorodians, starting from the 12th century, simply could not swim anywhere, they received guests at home. Ours, of course, responded with all their love. Complete reciprocity. Complete reciprocity. Those. here comes a German from Livonia, you will trade only in the German courtyard with specially indicated merchants. Three people will come to you, and you will trade with them. The prices are like this, the volumes are like this. Yes of course. You cannot engage in retail trade yourself, nor can you deal with purchases yourself. Again, if you want purchases - here are those guys with licenses. Hans and Friedrich. Yes, no, these are Russian Vanya and Petya. Here you, Hans and Friedrich, will buy from them what you wanted to buy there, by the way. Here. It is clear that all this was done by special trading corporations. For example, our entire northern trade has been covered with fur since the 13th century by the so-called. Ivanov's hundred, Ivanov's 100 in Novgorod, one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful trading corporation. Because fur was a strategic commodity, which was actually a real currency. And it was only possible to buy fur from Ivanov 100. I myself could not go to this Ugra, to Biarmia, from where, in fact, the fur came. The Germans, of course, tried to swim around the Kola Peninsula, around Arkhangelsk, but this is too far, the ice situation there is not good. Well, in general, you can't climb there on a regular basis. Since the early Middle Ages, since the Viking times, there is a well-known saga there, how they rode there, to Biarmia. Accordingly, if you want to go to Novgorod, you will only hire pilots from Novgorod. Pilots were on duty there, then these same barge haulers who dragged ships through the drag, so don't bring your own, please. If you have, let them rest while here. They will wait. They will wait. Well, or as a guest they will go to Novgorod, where they will leave the attendants in a brothel, in a tavern somewhere. You can't work. And in such a situation, Ivan III annexed Novgorod. And then they wonder where the wars come from. And how else can you solve this issue, why all the money is with you, and not with us? Yes. In such a situation, Ivan III finally accepted this Novgorod back into the bosom of the Russian state with open arms - they took a walk, that's enough. Since 1136, at large, something is not going well for you, come with us, here. Novgorod was besieged, everyone was given a hat, and Novgorod became the site of a very broad social experiment, as we would now put it, namely, 2,600 Moscow nobles, the children of the boyars, were resettled to Novgorod, opening the land for them there. Actually, regular local layout begins from Novgorod, i.e. these same boyar children, nobles, turned into landowners in the full sense of the word, i.e. into knights obliged to feudal service for the conditional holding of land and peasants. And from Novgorod, accordingly, they evicted some nobles to other places, so that they would not be very happy there ... Kuchkovaniy. Kuchkovaniy, yes, so sure, so that they do not really suit. True, of course, it must be said that the Muscovites, when we were in Novgorod, arranged a grouping ourselves, they immediately made friends with the Novgorodians right there, they formed their own kublo. Novgorod, as you know, had to be revived several more times, and the last time was Ivan the Terrible. Most successful. Well, Ivan III also did it very successfully, just Ivan IV did it for the last time and finally. By the way, he had to extinguish then when they say that he extinguished exactly the Novgorodians, he extinguished the descendants of Muscovites who were settled there by his grandfather. It was they who, in general, arranged some initiatives there, which later they had to somehow cope with. It is their rotten devils that muddy the water in the pond. Yes Yes Yes. Well, we already talked about the uprising, and it will probably need to be specially discussed separately, while about the war. Ivan III took Novgorod to himself, and suddenly it became clear that this Livonian Confederation is a very dialectical neighbor. That is, on the one hand, it directly harms, but it just harms directly. On the other hand, they have been negotiating with him for 150 years, and it is possible to coexist. But if you keep the Livonians in such a loose form, this is an excellent limitrophe as a counterbalance to the Lithuanians. Those. no one even thought to conquer it. Of course, there were quite specific territorial claims, especially in the localities, there, in general, apparently, this is a war that is either a trade or a small war of partisan sabotage groups, small detachments in general very rarely stopped. But in a global sense, no one needs to conquer them. What for? You can give money and they will fight against the Lithuanians. It is much cheaper than starting your own troops. Of course. And if you conquer them, they will have to be protected, these territories. Well, this is a huge territory, in fact, there are a lot of buildings, they will need to be maintained, guarded, defended against the Lithuanians, the front will lengthen as soon as possible. Therefore, for some time, for a very long time, no one thought about finally settling the issue with the Livonians. On the contrary, they tried to keep them in such a state, in a state of eternal semi-chaos as long as possible. And then, of course, you need to look at once in 2 directions, namely in the direction of the Lithuanian and Polish and in the direction of the Crimean. Because the Lithuanians, especially when they became close friends with the Poles, generally became the dominant force in the region at some point. Actually, only Ivan III and Vasily III were able to successfully resist them on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, the Poles have just dealt with the Teutonic Order, i.e., how to say it correctly, with the German Order. By the way, do you remember that you once asked me why the Teutonic Order, although the Teutons have all been there for a long time? They were cut by Mari, yes. So, it just really turned out, I never even thought about this question. You know that the word Germany is spelled as Deutsch, i.e. Deutsch. And earlier, in the Middle Ages, it was written through T. Teich. Toych. Teutsch. So here it turns out Teut, this is a German order. Teutonic means Germanic, Teutonic means Germanic only. Teut, or Teut, like that. Interesting. So, the Poles dealt with the Teutonic Order and had very specific intentions to deal with the Livonian Order too. But they also needed a limitrophe, i.e. someone who will create a kind of counterbalance to Russia in the Northwest. State-of-the-art. Yes Yes Yes. And so they constantly tried to bring the confederation under some kind of treaty, which would imply either an armed alliance against Russia, or at least armed neutrality against Russia. Those. if we are at war with Russia, you are either obliged to deploy troops, or you are obliged to look approvingly at our actions, and, accordingly, to carry out some trade sanctions there. Yes. This was the same as what Ivan III wanted, only from the other side. Well, Ivan III began to successfully fight the Lithuanians, with Casimir IV. Subsequently, his policy was continued very successfully by Vasily III. Those. we remember this war at the beginning of the 16th century, which ended with the Battle of Vedrosha; we remember the first Smolensk war of 1512-1522, when in 1514, with 3 attempts, Vasily III captured Smolensk. Then he lost the battle of Orsha, which, in general, did not lead to anything, we kept the little town for ourselves until the Time of Troubles. And Ivan III walked so widely for only one reason: he brought Kazan under his arm. Those. He did not actually capture Kazan, i.e. yes, there was a successful military enterprise, Kazan actually submitted to him, it became a friendly state. And he was friends with the Krymchaks, namely with the founder of Giraev Mengli-Girai I. You can be friends in this case only for one reason, when there is someone to be friends against, because the Crimeans hated the Big Horde with the center in modern Astrakhan. Because the Astrakhanians, as the heirs of the Jochi ulus, quite seriously believed that the Kazanians, the Crimeans, and the Nagays owe everything to them, i.e. they should be at their fingertips, this is our everything. And neither the Naga, nor the Kazan, nor the Crimeans categorically agreed with this, i.e. at all. Well that is all this meant that you had to pay money, but no one wanted to pay money, they needed it themselves. Firstly, to pay money, and secondly, if these people in Astrakhan come up with something, go somewhere to fight. But the Krymchaks, for example, were not interested in fighting for the Astrakhan people at all, the Krymchaks have an excellent position. On the one hand, they are located on the Black Sea and from this Crimea they can trade with anyone - slaves in the first place. And secondly, instead of going somewhere in Derbent, swinging a saber there for no reason at all, it is much easier to run into either Moscow or Vilna, catch peasants and women there and sell them in Kaffa. Here. And since The Big Horde at that time was a serious force, whatever one may say, although it seems that Ivan III repelled them there and on the Ugra, but still they had to be reckoned with, and everyone, it was a very dangerous enemy if you quarreled with him. So, Mengli-Girai and Ivan III were friends against the Great Horde. And Ivan III constantly skillfully let his sidekick Mengli-Girai into Podolia, i.e. the southwestern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, so that he was engaged there, as the Germans say, this is the very thing, raub und moert, i.e. robbed and killed, he was an excellent expert in this respect, he robbed and killed. Lock the floors, there will be robberies today. Yes sir. True, of course, it must be said that Ivan III was extremely clever in letting his Muslim sidekick into his own Orthodox lands. Well done. Because, of course, Mengli-girai would like to get to the Lithuanian lands, but very far. Actually, where do ethnic Lithuanians live. But there is no need to think about Ivan III very badly, he was just a man of the feudal era, for him they were those who were his subjects, i.e. who pays him taxes and owes vassal service. And the people of Kiev, for example, were obliged to serve as a vassal to the Lithuanians, so excuse me. What nationality they were and what particular religion they were, everybody was on a drum. Nobody is interested. Yes. No, well, of course, in this way, again, according to medieval customs, for example, the people of Kiev or the Chernigovites there, the Novgorod-Seversky people were given to understand that you were watching, while you were with these Lithuanian idiots, they would rob you. And if you are with us, you will not be robbed. This is what everyone did in all the Middle Ages. Vaughn, for example, the civilized Edward III Plantagenet went to war with France. The first thing he did, having won the Battle of Slays there, which allowed the landing of an army (naval battle), which allowed him to land an army on French territory, he took up the well-known practice of grandes voyages, i.e. long walks, i.e. just bandit raids across France with burnt villages and stolen people. The name of the idiotic film, in my opinion, with Louis de Funes, "Big Walk", is it just about that, or what? Yes, somehow it was different, there were no grandes voyages, the allusion is unambiguous that there are these same 3 Englishmen walking across France, this is what it is, grandes voyages. Deep, damn it. Here. This is a hint that is generally understandable to people who in France and England have read a school history textbook. And here you are, civilized people were doing exactly the same thing at about the same time. I don't say what they were doing when there were wars of Catholics and Huguenots in France, the same thing. And this is literally at the same time that we will talk about, the middle-second half of the 16th century. Nothing got in the way. Although these are not just Catholics and Huguenots, they are just one country, France, inside themselves, they did such things there that Ivan IV would seem like a funny guy with a beard, here, in some kind of ridiculous golden robe, here. And they are all so refined, so, so, in tights with codpiece, they were doing absolutely terrible things with each other. We will, I hope, talk about this again. Necessarily. When we talk, in fact, about the military actions of the Livonian War, I want to talk about the parallel process that took place in Europe, in fact, and dwell on the wonderful battle of Dreux. Who scored who there? French French. Here. Aside, to the Crimeans again. The Crimeans were friends with Ivan III and greatly interfered with the Lithuanians, so Ivan III was simply untied, he could be engaged in Western expansion on an ongoing basis, clean up the lands of the Rurikovichs, because he himself was Rurikovich, and on full grounds believed that he had the right on the entire inheritance of the Rurikovich. Vasily III did the same, but he quarreled with Girai, and specifically with Muhammad-Girai. And he quarreled for one simple reason, because the entire alliance with Mengli-Giray was actually built on sand. As soon as we looked towards the Volga and we became an enemy of the Big Horde, the Krymchaks no longer needed to be friends with us, because if we deal with the Big Horde directly, then the Krymchaks have a free hand, on the one hand. On the other hand, Crimea is a vassal territory of the Ottoman Empire, which the Ottoman Empire influenced very, very strongly. They could give some order, because the most important interests on the Volga were, of course, not with the Big Horde, despite all the remnants of its power. It was in the hands of a new player, namely the Ottoman Empire, which sought to crush all Muslim lands under itself, either directly or indirectly. And under Vasily III in our country in 1522, Muhammad-Girai sent him a letter demanding tribute. And Vasily III, of course, refuses, because for what, in fact, is the reason? Well, Muhammad-Girai reaches Moscow, crosses the Oka, smashes the army of Vasily III to smithereens, Vasily III escapes from Moscow, leaving instead of himself the baptized Tatar Peter to steer in Moscow instead of Luzhkov. He escapes to Novgorod himself, Peter is forced to give him on behalf of the tsar, Muhammad-Girai, a letter stating that the Moscow tsar is a tributary of the Crimean tsar. Strongly. Here. The suburbs of Moscow were burned, Tatars' patrols walk on Vorobyovy Hills in Tsarskoe Selo. There was one of the villages that belonged to the king personally, they plundered everything there. And after that, we could not normally fight the Lithuanians simply because we had a large Crimean core hanging on our feet. And here you need to understand a very important thing, who fought with the Lithuanians. People of the future Novgorod rank were in constant contact with the Lithuanians, i.e. those who were just sitting here Novgorod, Pskov, this is about 1/6 of our entire cavalry, it was the second most powerful territorial such point, after Moscow, of course. Moreover, unlike Moscow, Novgorod, the future Novgorod category, as we would say, the general-governorship, would probably be the way to designate it. It was never territorially fragmented, it was one integral territorial border unit. Moscow has never acted as such a single whole, because they could transfer some of the cities to their neighbors for waging war and organizational and accounting measures, take it for themselves, in short, it all the time was so transformed. The Novgorodians stayed in the monolith all the time. Because of this, they had a very powerful merged corporation, which again had a very strong tradition of local feudal corporate self-government. And when fighting, for example, with the Lithuanians or the Livonians, they, firstly, defended their own interests, because they were on the border, they were defending their lands, or they could get something for themselves. Those. to receive a visible material income for yourself or your family. Well, if you are already slapped, this happens, then at least the children will not be left behind, because you will take the lands from someone and cut them off for yourself. Or you will take the peasants away and settle them at your place. But since then they constantly had to leave for the Oka border on the river to fight with the Krymchaks. And to fight with the Krymchaks was without any profit. Because what are the Krymchaks? Krymchaks appear incomprehensibly when, and without declaring an easy war, having gathered ... Murza, lancers and Tatar Cossacks, they just ran by the decision of some local regional chief, and they had to be caught. Fights were constant, maybe not very big, but extremely fierce. And here we have, counting from 1522 on the reign of actually Alexei Mikhailovich, we have this Oksky, then the Belgorod border, it never froze, service was required there all the time, but you could not win anything there. You could only die there. Just fight back, yes. Yes. Because in order to conquer something from the Krymchaks, it was necessary to reach the Crimea, but we could not do this, because we, as a settled empire of that time, were very much attached to the means of communication, and these were rivers. Those. We could fight Kazan, Astrakhan, and the Lithuanians simply because we could drag heavy artillery along the rivers, and along some more or less acceptable roads, and in general an artillery outfit, and it will help in field combat, and heavy artillery will help to take the city, this is how Polotsk was taken, for example, or Kazan was taken. And it was not possible to get to the Krymchaks, because if you leave for the steppe, then you may simply not return from there. Food, water, diarrhea. Because a march across the steppe looks like it looks without points where you can concentrate food, ammunition, rest, recover, well, it just turned into eerie creepy even for regular armies. How Peter I went to the Prut and how it ended, this is the only generally serious defeat, and it almost turned into a catastrophe for the Russian army in the 18th century. We could not cope with the Turks, and with the same Krymchaks who were allowed there, albeit a regular army. This is not a medieval army, it is controlled in a different way, it is staffed in a different way, and supplied in a different way. Somehow, again, there was a layout according to how the march of the Russian cavalry looked like. We talked about the Mongols a long time ago, so we need to talk about the Russians. So, we could not bring the guns to the Crimea, so we could only fight off the Krymchaks, and the Novgorodians generally understood what was needed, but they didn’t have any profit, they wanted to fight the Livonians, it’s not so dangerous. And the Krymchaks, understanding all these nuances, organized a Crimean auction. This is an accepted term in historiography. Well, they sold themselves to Lithuanians and attacked Moscow, or Muscovites, and attacked Lithuanians. Well done. Here. We understand that there were people lured in the Crimea. Like the Lithuanians, I guess. As, of course, the Lithuanians had a diplomatic mission there on a permanent basis, and our well-wishers, such as Yamat-Murza, he directly wrote to the Grand Duke that I could not defend your interests, because the Lithuanians literally showered the Khan with gold, jewels , commemoration, i.e. present. Are the commemorations gifts? Yes. He demanded a regular commemoration. And if you didn't do him a regular commemoration, he went to fight against you. And the brother of Muhammad-Girai Sahib-Girai, for example, he did not hesitate to write to Vasily III that he demanded to be his vassal, as we would say now, and regularly pay him money, formulating it in such a way that if you do not pay, I will come myself and take much more. Those. you better pay. Indicated the rates. Yes, yes, yes, because as much as I take, as much as I carry, I will take as much. Therefore, you just pay, it will be cheaper. Be kind. Yes. That, of course, Basil III did not like in any case, but he could not pay, he could not pay all the time, because it was actually cheaper to pay, on the one hand; on the other hand, taking into account the Lithuanian factor, it was too expensive to pay constantly to the Crimeans. But now Vasily III died, in fact, to what I am leading all this, to Ivan IV, because where is Crimea, where is Livonia, now we will connect them. Vasily III died, Ivan IV came, he was the third grandson, a loaf in the kingdom, and many wives were spouses. Here. Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible was his name, because he was a serious, respectable person. Not sweet with techniques and not lame with reason, this brought order - at least roll the ball. He was still, when he was 15 years old, respectively, he was born in 1530, in 1545, the first campaign to Kazan, which, under Vasily III, was completely abandoned from us. It all ended with the bloody capture of 1552, after which it suddenly turned out that we were not only friends to the Crimean people, but fierce enemies, because in 1556 we took Astrakhan, we closed the Volga on ourselves, and the Crimeans had no enemies at all, except Russia. After that, it was no longer possible to put up with us. In addition, the Turks simply killed the predecessor of Devlet-Girey I when he began to pursue an overly independent policy. And Devlet-Girai was a cautious man, he, when he is presented as such a Hitler in a skullcap who wanted to continuously fight with Russia, no, he would not mind theoretically, but he was a cautious person, a very, very smart and cautious person. But since he was careful, he understood that if he did not fight with Russia, the Turks would also do something to him, because they had all the possibilities and means of influence on Crimea, especially since it was their official vassal, Crimea, they were obliged obey. Well, of course, with reservations, like any vassal, he is a vassal only because he owes the overlord as much as the overlord owes him. And this balance is observed only in the sense that the overlord can be very strong, and yet you owe him a little more. Those. partnership is out of balance. And they began to push him to war. On the one hand, the Lithuanians continuously paid him, they simply continuously bombarded him with gifts, just this Yamat-Murza wrote that I could not do anything. And Devlet-Girey wrote to Ivan the Terrible about the same content as Sahib-Girey, that you will be my younger brother, i.e. vassal. Vanya ... Yes, and it began ... This, by the way, coincides immediately with the capture of Kazan, 1552. And the 25-year war with the Crimeans began, which ended only in 1577, only in 1577 it ended. And it was in the course of this war that the organizational, military, and even psychological portrait of a Russian serviceman in general was formed, who was forced to stand up every year to defend his native borders, which is called disinterestedly, i.e. not having the desire to plunder something, the desire and the ability to plunder something, on this very damn Eye. And all the military corporations from all over Russia were involved there. Those. both Novgorodians have been there, and Kazan citizens have been there and, naturally, Muscovites have been there on a regular basis. In general, this shift service at the Oka frontier was devouring monstrous resources, simply monstrous. It all ended with the fact that in 1571 Devlet-Girai burned Moscow to the ground, in fact, only the Kremlin remained. The next year, in 1572, the bloody battle of Molodi, which, in fact, decided the outcome of this war. Well, there, one way or another, it flared up, then faded already on a small scale until the death of Devlet-Girai in 1577. He was a serious man. Yes. And now we need to compare this war and the situation in Livonia. We have never included such efforts in the Livonian direction, which were involved in the Crimean direction, even approximately. And even when things went badly under the rule of Stephen Batory in 1580-83. Stefan Batory did not even dream of going to Moscow, he did not have such strength. And Devlet-Girey burned it. Therefore, the Livonian War was a secondary direction for Ivan the Terrible. It, in fact, ended not very well for us only for one simple reason that we were busy with the Crimeans. We could not afford to send decisive forces there. Yes, there were large forces involved at some point, but this is not the main direction. That is why it was a partial failure that could not lead to any hell of a Time of Troubles, it was just an episode. Which, yes, was expensive, but not too expensive. And what about Livonia, actually? Here we have Ivan IV sat on the throne. Ivan IV needs constant replenishment of strategic resources for the war on the Volga, because, as we remember, 3 campaigns near Kazan, only the third was successful, and this was the most difficult situation. Plus, it was necessary to constantly bribe their people in Podraiskaya land, to feed the pro-Russian party in every possible way. To keep garrisons against Astrakhan, build cities, resources and specialists were needed. And at this time, Ivan IV, more precisely, he was then still a young man at all, i.e. Ivan IV and his company, they went to rapprochement with the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charles V, and Charles V went very actively to rapprochement with Russia. Simply because Charles V fought with the Turks, and he needed any counterbalance to the Turks from his side. Well, literally just now, in 1535, Karl personally leads an expedition to Tunisia, takes him, kicks out the Turks and mainly, of course, their local hangers-on, the famous pirate Hayraddin Barbarossa. It turns out that when the locals took Filyuki there in Tunisia, it turns out that the French are selling guns. The French to them. The French sell guns to the Turks, because they were all branded with 3 lilies, i.e. the hallmark of the French royal arsenal. Those. on the one hand, the French never played for the Turks, but everyone understood who was who's friend, because the Germans needed some kind of counterbalance to Turkey. It would seem, where is France, where is Russia, but the decision of the French, Francis I to help the Turks, it directly prompted Charles V to come closer to Russia. And he begins very active steps in this direction, remembering that his grandfather Maximilian I negotiated quite successfully with both Ivan III and Vasily III. True, of course, not against the Turks in the first place, but against the Poles. In general, this did not bring any significant results, but attempts were made and attempts were quite visible, these movements of Germany towards Russia. And who reared up first? - Yes, the Livonian Order, because we had a demand from Charles V to help with resources. And he was ready, because, Lord, there in this Germany they mine silver, copper, tin, and lead, and they have a lot of military specialists, moreover, military specialists of the highest class who have just literally gone through fire, water and copper pipes of the Italian wars. Those. there was a mass of military people who are ready to go somewhere right now and tell everyone how it should be done for money. Hotspot veterans. So there was not a hot spot, in the same place these Italian wars it was just a bloody meat grinder, tens of thousands of people went through it, having received very serious experience and a complete reluctance to do anything else besides the war, because it is profitable. And a military specialist at that time is a person who could make himself not just a future, but become some kind of great figure in history. For example, who would know in general such nobles as, for example, Frundsbergs. Yes, no one would have known, except for some very sad heraldists who, in general, pick out these very noble families, coats of arms and so on. But Georg Frundsberg became simply because he deftly commanded the Landsknechts, he became a figure without fools of world magnitude, all of Europe knew him literally. Simply because he successfully commanded the regiments of the Landsknechts. And we were ready to welcome such adventurers with all our arms. In 1548, a handsome young Saxon adventurer, Hans Schlitte, came to Charles V to activate this process, and offered to take over relations with Moscow. Apparently, he sat down well on Charles V's ears, because he gave him a complete carte blanche, and he went to Moscow. In Moscow, he also sat down on the ears of Ivan IV, who, for his part, gave him a complete carte blanche, and so Schlitte began to supply us, and he himself was from Saxony, specifically he was born in a city where there were some of the best silver mines, those. he knew with whom he needed to quickly negotiate in order to supply precious metals directly. He recruited specialists, recruited strategic resources, and began to supply them to Ivan IV. And he was caught by the Livonians along with another portion of specialists. A monstrous scandal erupted, the Livonians had a row with Emperor Charles V, saying that this should not be done, you understand that you are supplying Ivan IV with weapons and strategic resources, and we are already afraid of him. And this, of course, played a very important role, the Schlitte case played a very important role in the fact that Ivan the Terrible drew attention to Livonia, because the Livonians, this little dilapidated state, it had the opportunity to simply turn off the valve for us. Which is unacceptable. Which is categorically unacceptable. And Ivan the Terrible goes first to diplomatic efforts, and then to military efforts, and it is here that an important reservation must be made. Grozny did not consider Livonia to be his equal, he did not send sovereign ambassadors there, he negotiated with the Livonians only with the help of Novgorod officials. Some clerk is leaving Novgorod, make an agreement with him. Because he considered Livonia a principality only. People should be sent to the level. Yes. And he is the emperor, he is not allowed to communicate with the prince. Let the people of Novgorod communicate there for 200 years, and let them communicate further, but, of course, with an eye to the party line. And then he sends ambassadors of the sovereign. The matter goes to another level. The matter goes to a completely different level and the Livonians understand this immediately. What are they just there with Novgorodians, with their sidekicks, with whom they fought or were friends, but look here, Adashev and Voskovaty came directly from Moscow. Famous surnames. Of course. Who needed a reason to find fault with the Livonians. Because on their territory they have the right to adopt any laws and issue any decrees - a sovereign state. Let it be unpleasant, but what is your business, what is pleasant or unpleasant for you. You need a reason, and a well-known reason - St. George's tribute. Those. what the Livonians promised to pay for the ownership of Dorpat, which at one time was taken away and pledged to pay money for it. Nobody knows exactly when and how much they promised to pay. But for unclear reasons, they didn't pay, right? Yes. But for unclear reasons, they have not paid anything for 100 years. They came up with an amount, counted the interest from it, as a result, there was a wagon of silver, which had to be immediately given to Ivan IV. Well, right there, in pursuit of the tribute of the Yuryeva, they rolled out a bunch of claims that they offend merchants, by the way, who pay taxes to Moscow, pick up wax, use the merciless Bekloppen. What is it? Once I told this once, this is when a barrel of wax just fell, for example, in Riga, it was possible to take a sample from it, whether it is a high-quality wax or not. Sample size was not specified. Those. you could just buy half of it and not pay - I didn’t taste it. Yes. Do not vibrate. Do not vibrate. Well, pay for the rest. The same thing happened with furs. You could see if the fur is good, and then pick up a piece. the size was not negotiated ... Cut off each skin. Yes. Because the size was not specified, it was terrible. Accordingly, we had no right to check with them, for example, they supply us with wine, or, say, good Flemish cloth. Supplied in barrels and pieces. Those. we could pay per piece and per barrel, but we could not check the dimensions of the barrel and the piece. Fine. Do you know where the word "enough" appears in Russian? This is a very amusing linguistic incident. So-so. You open a barrel, for example, with wine or beer, if you got your finger, then enough, and if not, then not enough, did not get it. Here. And, accordingly, they constantly tried to ... deceive us. Cheat. Cheat, yes. And now all these small territorial claims, connected primarily, of course, with claims to Narva, this is a tribute to the Yuryev, the grievances of merchants, they simply presented it, and said that they had to pay, stop, and Ivan IV rolled out the contract, one of the main the points of which were that gold, silver, cloth, iron, to crown the shell, i.e. except for armor. And eager people from the Germans had a free path by water and mountain. Those. cloth and specialists were more expensive than armor. About the armor, he said that if you want to supply - supply, no - okay. And this completely coincides, by the way, with the list of von der Recke, who forbade transporting this very thing. Those. Ivan IV knew exactly what he needed. We will make the shells ourselves, buy somewhere else, resources and specialists. But the Livonians are the same confederation, they were in complete shock, on the one hand, on the other hand, of course, in complete happiness, because the tribute is from Yuryev, so let this Yuryev, damn it, pay. Those. Derpt. And everything else does not concern us. They were smart too, by the way. Here is the wording - St. George's tribute, so let the people of Dorpat pay it. The Dorpat residents said that we simply do not have so much money and cannot have it. Well, and then Grozny decided that he was being deceived ... Not without reason. Yes. What is this antics? What is this antics, yes. It means that the Livonian Landsgers were summoned there, i.e. The landlords were invited to Novgorod, where, as they say, a 200,000-strong army of Muscovites was waiting for them at the border, so that they were properly frightened. This, of course, is nonsense, there maybe 2 thousand waited for them, here. But it was already scary too. But it was also already unpleasant. And they fired from the cannons for a day, while they negotiated, so that it was also scary. That we have so much gunpowder, we can do that! We agreed for 3 years to raise money. And at this time Lithuanians, Poles and Prussians tried to enter Livonia from the other side, namely they decided to put the vicar, as we would say, or the coadjutor, as it should be, in the post of vicar. closest assistant, deputy archbishop of Riga, Krzysztof (Christopher) Macklenburg, who was a relative of King Sigismund of Poland, in my opinion, a nephew, if I am not mistaken. They decided to put him in prison and through him to influence the Riga bishop and the master, respectively. And the master did not need this, and Master Furstenberg arrested him, realizing that he was a nit, a spy and a provocateur. After that, the Prussians, just the former Teutons, the Lithuanians and Poles, simply took and unobtrusively gathered about 15,000 troops there and placed them on the border with Livonia, after which Furstenberg realized that here either the water was drained, or it was necessary to somehow negotiate, because he could not resist them at all, he would simply be crushed. And it is possible that he himself was hanged for the arrest of a relative of the king. And they conclude a very important agreement in the town of Pozvol, where it is the Livonians who are led to the obligation of armed neutrality against Russia. Tellingly, our intelligence, apparently, completely missed this Pzvolsky agreement, we simply did not know about it. Because Ivan the Terrible did not react at all for at least a year. And in Lithuanian, for example, letters, internal correspondence, there are subtle hints mocking that Vanya does not catch mice at all. We have already settled everything with Livonia, and he is still waiting for some kind of tribute. But, of course, it is impossible to hide such an sewn in a sack with hay, because as soon as the Livonian ambassadors came to negotiate with Ivan IV at the end of the three-year truce, it suddenly became clear that they were not going to pay tribute to him, but asked to think a little more, maybe there let's agree. After that, we do not know for sure whether Ivan the Terrible found out about the Pozvolsky Treaty, but in fact he realized that behind his back they had agreed with someone else. And this was the last point, because he did not care absolutely about these petty squabbles of Novgorodians, even the fact that they did not let specialists and strategic goods to us there - in the end, it was always possible to get around these problems, 200 years ago Something bypassed, or to negotiate with the Swedes, to get lucky through Sweden, it is not so convenient, but it is also possible. By the way, it was possible to buy iron from the Swedes, which is what we did. But then it became clear that Livonia was living out its last days on its own, and now all this would fall under the feet of Lithuania, and this could not be allowed under any circumstances. And here Ivan the Terrible takes such a step that the Livonians must understand that the jokes have ended altogether, in 1557 a large army was formed on the border with Livonia, which consisted of Novgorod and Pskov horsemen and Kazan Tatars, who were promised that they could be robbed. And this autumn-winter of 1557 became the last peaceful day in general in Livonia, because since 1559 cannons were thundering and swords rang out there almost continuously. Because 1583, this very peace of ours with Sweden, it meant absolutely nothing. Returning to the beginning of the conversation - the Livonian War is not the Livonian War, but the Livonian Wars. Because there the Danes fought with the Swedes and vice versa, Sweden with the Russians, Poland, Lithuania with Russia, Russia with Livonia, Poland and Lithuania. This is a series of very tense conflicts, this is the war for the Livonian inheritance, that's how we would say it correctly. Well, while everyone froze at the start, next time we will analyze what happened. Fuck, damn it. Somehow I don’t even know, every time I dive ... I repeat that it’s all the time it seems that now everyone is cunning, clever, intelligent, such an intricacies ... They know everything. And here is no less tricky. And most importantly, for me, as a commoner, a story is a collection of some kind of anecdotes - someone sent the fuck out, took a woman away, and then there was a war. It turns out that the point is not in the woman and not in the message, but in completely different things. Confused, damn it. It's a pity, there are no pictures, where who lives, who went where, who why. This is when we talk about military operations. By the way, maybe I will even prepare some maps for this, for this conversation, at least for people to understand - here is the Crimea here, Moscow is here. And the state of Ukraine to be designated as ancient. Ancient, yes. There, however, there will be in this state of Ukraine, right up to the tonsils, the flagstaff of the Great Duchy of Lithuania will be stuck. That's because. Thank you, Klim Sanych. We look forward to continuing. We try. And that's all for today. Until next time.

In the 16th century, Russia needed access to the Baltic Sea. He opened trade routes and eliminated intermediaries: German merchants and Teutonic knights. But Livonia stood between Russia and Europe. And Russia lost the war with her.

The beginning of the war

Livonia, aka Livonia, was located on the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia. Initially, this was the name of the land inhabited by the Livs. In the 16th century, Livonia was ruled by the Livonian Order, a military and political organization of German Catholic knights.
In January 1558, Ivan IV began to "cut a window to Europe." The timing was right. The chivalry and clergy of Livonia were divided, weakened by the Reformation, and the local population was tired of the Teutons.
The reason for the war was the non-payment to Moscow by the bishopric of the city of Dorpat (aka Yuriev, aka modern Tartu) "Yuryev's tribute" from the possessions ceded by the Russian princes.

Russian army

By the middle of the 16th century, Russia was already a powerful power. Reforms, the centralization of power, and the creation of special infantry units - the Streltsy army - played an important role. The army was armed with modern artillery: the use of a gun carriage made it possible to use guns in the field. There were factories for the production of gunpowder, weapons, cannons and cannonballs. New ways of taking fortresses were developed.
Before starting the war, Ivan the Terrible secured the country from raids from the east and south. Kazan and Astrakhan were taken, an armistice was concluded with Lithuania. In 1557, the war with Sweden ended in victory.

First successes

The first campaign of the Russian army of 40 thousand people took place in the winter of 1558. The main goal was to get from the Livonians a voluntary concession to Narva. The Russians easily reached the Baltic. The Livonians were forced to send diplomats to Moscow and agreed to transfer Narva to Russia. But soon the Narva Vogt von Schlennenberg ordered the shelling of the Russian fortress Ivangorod, provoking a new Russian invasion.

20 fortresses were taken, including Narva, Neishloss, Neuhaus, Kiripe and Dorpat. The Russian army came close to Revel and Riga.
On January 17, 1559, in a major battle at Tierzen, the Germans were defeated, after which they again concluded an armistice and again for a short time.
By the fall, the Livonian master Gotthard von Kettler enlisted the support of Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and opposed the Russians. Near Dorpat, the Livonians defeated the detachment of the voivode Zakhariy Ochin-Pleshcheev, then began the siege of Yuriev, but the city survived. They tried to take Lais, but suffered heavy losses and retreated. The Russian counteroffensive took place only in 1560. The troops of Ivan the Terrible occupied the strongest fortress of the knights Fellin and Marienburg.

The war drags on

The success of the Russians hastened the disintegration of the Teutonic Order. Revel and the cities of Northern Estonia swore allegiance to the Swedish crown. Master Kettler became a vassal of the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus. Lithuanians occupied more than 10 cities of Livonia.

In response to the aggression of Lithuania, the Moscow governors invaded the territory of Lithuania and Livonia. Tarvast (Taurus) and Verpel (Polchev) were captured. Then the Lithuanians "walked" through the Smolensk and Pskov regions, after which full-scale hostilities unfolded along the entire border.
Ivan the Terrible himself led an army of 80,000. In January 1563, the Russians moved to Polotsk, besieged and took it.
The decisive battle with the Lithuanians took place on the Ulla River on January 26, 1564, and thanks to the betrayal of Prince Andrei Kurbsky, it turned into a defeat for the Russians. The Lithuanian army went on the offensive. At the same time, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey approached Ryazan.

Formation of the Commonwealth

In 1569 Lithuania and Poland became a single state - the Commonwealth. Ivan the Terrible had to conclude peace with the Poles and deal with relations with Sweden, where his enemy Johan III ascended the throne.
In the occupied Russian lands of Livonia, Grozny created a vassal kingdom under the leadership of the Danish prince Magnus of Holstein.
In 1572, King Sigismund died. The Commonwealth was on the verge of a civil war. In 1577, the Russian army invaded the Baltics, and soon Russia gained control of the coast of the Gulf of Finland, but the victory was short-lived.
The turning point of the war occurred after the accession to the Polish throne of Stefan Batory. He suppressed the turmoil in the country and, in alliance with Sweden, opposed Russia. He was supported by the Duke of Mangus, the Saxon Elector Augustus and the Brandenburg Elector Johann Georg.

From offensive to defense

On September 1, 1578, Polotsk fell, then the Smolensk region and the Seversk land were devastated. Two years later, the Poles again invaded Russia and took Velikie Luki. Pali Narva, Ozerishche, Zavolochye. At Toropets, the army of Prince Khilkov was defeated. The Swedes occupied the Padis fortress in Western Estonia.

Batory invaded Russia for the third time in 1581. His target was Pskov. However, the Russians figured out the plans of the Poles. It was not possible to take the city.
In 1581, Russia was in a difficult situation. In addition to the Poles, she was threatened by the Swedes and the Crimean Khan. Ivan the Terrible was forced to ask for peace on the terms of the enemy. Pope Gregory XIII acted as a mediator in the negotiations, hoping to strengthen the position of the Vatican in the East. Negotiations took place in Yama Zapolsky and ended with the conclusion of a ten-year truce.

Outcomes

Ivan the Terrible's attempt to open a window to Europe ended in failure.
Under the treaty, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth returned to the Russians Velikiye Luki, Zavolochye, Nevel, Kholm, Empty Rzhev, the Pskov suburbs Ostrov, Krasny, Voronech, Velu, Vrev, Vladimirets, Dubkov, Vyshgorod, Vyborets, Izborsk, Opochka, Gdov, Kobylye settlement and Sebezh.
The Moscow state transferred 41 Livonian cities to the Commonwealth.
The Swedes decided to finish off the Russians. In the fall of 1581, they captured Narva and Ivangorod and forced them to sign a peace on their own terms. The Livonian War is over. Russia lost part of its own territories and three border fortresses. The Russians were left with only a small fortress Oreshek on the Neva and a corridor along the river a little more than 30 kilometers long. The Baltic remained unattainable.