400 years ago, on December 11, 1618, in the town of Deulino near the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, an armistice was signed, which suspended the war with Poland for 14 years. The world was bought at a high price - Smolensk, Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky and other Russian cities ceded to the Poles. In fact, this was the end of the Troubles in the Russian state.
War with Poland
Poland intervened in the affairs of the Russian state from the beginning of the Troubles. Poland and the Vatican supported the impostor - False Dmitry, who promised the Poles vast lands and the union of Orthodoxy with Catholicism (in fact, the subordination of the Russian Church to Rome). Detachments of Polish magnates and adventurers took an active part in the Russian Troubles, plundered and destroyed towns and villages.
An open Polish intervention began in 1609. Polish troops, taking advantage of the collapse of the Russian state, were able to occupy the vast Russian lands, after a long and heroic defense they took the strategic fortress of Smolensk (1609 - 1611). After the catastrophic defeat of the Russian-Swedish army in the battle near the village of Klushino (June 1610), Moscow was left without an army, and the boyars overthrew Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The boyar government (Seven Boyars) in August 1610 signed a treacherous agreement, according to which the Polish prince Vladislav was invited to the Russian throne. A Polish garrison was sent to Moscow. Traitor boyars minted coins on behalf of the new tsar. However, Vladislav's wedding to the kingdom did not take place. The Polish prince was not going to convert to the Orthodox faith.
Only in 1612, the Second Zemstvo Militia, led by Minin and Pozharsky, was able to free Moscow from the invaders. The public consciousness is dominated by the myth, formed by the historians of the Romanov dynasty, that the surrender of the Poles in the Kremlin was the turning point of the Troubles or even its end. And the accession of Mikhail Romanov finally completed the period of Troubles in the Russian state. Although in reality, in 1613 the war only flared up with renewed vigor. The new Moscow government had to simultaneously fight the Polish army in the west, the Cossacks of Ivan Zarutsky in the south (the ataman planned to put Marina Mnishek's son on the Russian throne) and the Swedes in the north. In addition, the war with gangs of thieves' Cossacks and Polish detachments was fought throughout the state, there was no clear front in this war. Cossack detachments repeatedly approached Moscow, defeated their camps near the capital. With great difficulty, the tsarist governors managed to defend Moscow and drive off the "thieves".
Only in 1614 was the dangerous uprising of Zarutsky, which threatened a new wave of Cossack-peasant war, was suppressed, and he was seized and taken to the capital: and Marina will die in Moscow. " In fact, the Romanovs hid their ends in the water, eliminating witnesses to the organization of the Troubles. And the murder of 4-year-old (!) "Tsarevich" Ivan will be a terrible sin on the house of the Romanovs. The war with Sweden was unsuccessful and ended with the signing of the Stolbovo Peace Treaty on February 27, 1617. Moscow returned Novgorod, Ladoga and some other cities, lands, but lost the fortresses Ivangorod, Yam, Oreshek, Koporye, Korela and access to the Baltic (returned only under Peter the Great).
From the moment of the liberation of Moscow until the Deulinsky armistice, the war with the Poles did not turn into. Russian troops in 1613 lifted the siege of the enemy from Kaluga, liberated Vyazma and Dorogobuzh, who surrendered to them voluntarily. Then they laid siege to the White fortress, and in August forced the Poles to surrender. After that, the tsarist governors began the blockade of Smolensk, but due to low combat capability, lack of forces, ammunition, provisions and enemy opposition, it dragged on. In November 1614, the Polish lords sent a letter to the Moscow government, in which they accused Vladislav of treason and cruel treatment of noble Polish prisoners. But, despite this, the Poles offered to start peace negotiations. The Moscow boyars agreed and sent Zhelyabuzhsky as ambassador to Poland. These negotiations yielded nothing, resulting in a stream of mutual insults and accusations. The Poles did not want to hear anything about Tsar Mikhail Romanov. In their opinion, Michael was only the steward of Tsar Vladislav.
Lisovsky's hike
Alexander Lisovsky (formerly one of the commanders of the army of False Dmitry II, then transferred to the service of the Polish king) in 1615 made another raid of the Polish cavalry across Russia in order to divert Russian troops from Smolensk. His detachment (fox), described a large loop around Moscow and returned to Poland. Lisovsky was a brave and skillful commander, his detachment consisted of selected cavalry. Its number ranged from 600 to 3 thousand people. Among the foxes were Poles, representatives of the West Russian population, German mercenaries and thieves' Cossacks. In the spring Lisovsky besieged Bryansk, in the summer he captured Karachev and Bryansk. He defeated the Moscow army under the command of Prince Yuri Shakhovsky near Karachev.
After that, the government of Martha (Mikhail Romanov himself was a dummy, so his mother, the nun Martha, then his father Fyodor Romanov, Patriarch Filaret, who was released by the Poles, decided to send Dmitry Pozharsky against the foxes. The prince was an experienced and skillful commander, but he was ill from previous wounds, that is, he could not fully pursue the enemy mobile army. In fact, in the government of Mikhail the Romanovs were interested in disgracing Pozharsky, who until recently was a possible candidate for the Russian throne. On June 29, 1615, Pozharsky, with a detachment of nobles, archers and a few foreign mercenaries (about 1 thousand soldiers in total), set out to catch foxes. Lisovsky at that time was in the city of Karachev. Learning about the rapid movement of Pozharsky through Belev and Bolkhov, Lisovsky burned Karachev and retreated to Orel. The scouts reported this to the governor, and he moved to intercept the enemy. On the way to Pozharsky, a detachment of Cossacks joined, and in Bolkhov - the Tatar cavalry. Pozharsky's detachment doubled its strength.
On August 23, in the Orel region, the lead detachment of Pozharsky under the command of Ivan Pushkin suddenly collided with the enemy. Pushkin's detachment could not stand the oncoming battle and retreated. Another Russian detachment withdrew under the command of the governor Stepan Islenev. Only Pozharsky himself remained on the battlefield with 600 soldiers. His warriors repelled the attacks of the 3-thousand Lisovsky detachment, hiding behind a fortification of chained carts. Pozharsky said to his soldiers: "All of us will die at this place." However, Lisovsky, not knowing about the small number of Pozharsky's soldiers, did not dare to go on a decisive assault on the field fortification. Lisovsky retreated and burned the Eagle.
Meanwhile, the fleeing detachments returned to Pozharsky and he resumed the pursuit of Lisovsky. The Poles fled to Bolkhov, but here they were repelled by the governor Fyodor Volynsky. Then the foxes approached Belev and on September 11 they burned him. Likhvin was attacked on the same day, but the local garrison repulsed the attack. On September 12, Lisovsky took Przemysl, the governor of which left the city and fled to Kaluga. Here the foxes regained their strength, simultaneously ravaging the surrounding villages. Pozharsky stopped in Likhvin and here he received reinforcements from several hundred warriors from Kazan. After a short rest, the prince resumed the pursuit of Lisovsky. He was still retreating. The Poles burned Przemysl and marched north between Vyazma and Mozhaisk.
Pozharsky, after several days of persecution, fell seriously ill and handed over command to other governors. He himself was taken to Kaluga. Without Pozharsky, the army quickly lost its combat effectiveness. A detachment from Kazan went home without permission. The commanders with the remaining forces were afraid to go to the enemy. And Lisovsky freely went to Rzhev, who with difficulty defended the voivode Fyodor Sheremetev, who himself went to the aid of Pskov. Leaving Rzhev, the Poles burned Torzhok, tried to take Kashin and Uglich, but there the governors coped with their duties. After that, the foxes no longer tried to attack the cities, but walked between them, devastating everything in their path. Lisovsky went between Yaroslavl and Kostroma to the Suzdal district, then between Vladimir and Murom, between Kolomna and Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, between Tula and Serpukhov to Aleksin. Several governors were sent in pursuit of the enemy, but they only fruitlessly circled between the cities, not finding Lisovsky. Only in December, the royal army of Prince Kurakin managed to impose a battle on the enemy in the area of the city of Aleksin. But he retreated without significant losses. In early January 1616, the foxes repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to take Likhvin, and then went to the Smolensk region, to their own.
Thus, Lisovsky managed to quite calmly leave for the Rzeczpospolita after an amazing and long-remembered raid around Moscow in the Russian state. This campaign showed all the precariousness of the situation in Russia at that time. Lisowski in Poland has become a symbol of elusiveness and invincibility. True, this lightning-fast raid negatively affected the health of Lisovsky himself. In the fall of 1616, he again gathered a detachment to destroy Russian cities and villages, but suddenly fell from his horse and died. Lisovchikov was headed by Stanislav Chaplinsky - another field commander in the former army of the Tushinsky thief (False Dmitry II). Chaplinsky in 1617 captured the cities of Meshchovsk, Kozelsk and approached Kaluga, where he was defeated by Pozharsky's army.
Lisovchiks - participants of Lisovsky's raid. Painting by Polish artist J. Kossak
Vladislav's Moscow campaign
In the summer of 1616, Russia and Poland exchanged blows. Russian commanders raided Lithuania, defeating the outskirts of Surezh, Velizh and Vitebsk. In turn, a detachment of Lithuanians and Cossacks operated near Karachev and Krom. Our governors were chasing them, but without much success. Most of the Lithuanians went abroad.
Inspired by the Lisovsky raid, the Poles decided to organize a large campaign against Moscow led by the prince Vladislav. However, the army was not entrusted to one prince, the army was led by the great hetman of Lithuania Jan Chodkiewicz, who had already led troops to Moscow in 1611-1612. In addition, the Sejm sent eight special commissars with the king - A. Lipsky, S. Zhuravinsky, K. Plikhta, L. Sapega, P. Opalinsky, B. Stravinsky, J. Sobiesky and A. Mentsinsky. They had to make sure that the prince did not oppose the conclusion of peace with Moscow. After the capture of the Russian capital, the commissars had to make sure that Vladislav did not deviate from the conditions worked out by the Seim. The main conditions were: 1) the union of Russia and Poland into an indissoluble union; 2) the establishment of free trade; 3) the transfer of the Commonwealth - the Smolensk principality, from the Seversk land - Bryansk, Starodub, Chernigov, Pochep, Novgorod-Seversky, Putivl, Rylsk and Kursk, as well as Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh; 4) Moscow's renunciation of its rights to Livonia and Estonia. It is clear that the strife and intrigue in the Polish command did not add to the army's combat effectiveness.
Portrait of Vladislav Vaza by Rubens workshop, 1624
The second half of 1616 and the beginning of 1617 took place in preparation for the campaign. There was no money, so 11-12 thousand soldiers were recruited with great difficulty. It was mainly cavalry. Lithuania even introduced a special tax to pay for mercenaries. The Polish army consisted of two parts: the crown army under the command of Vladislav and the Lithuanian troops of Hetman Chodkiewicz. At the same time, a significant part of the crown army had to be sent to the southern borders due to the threat of war with the Turks. Meanwhile, in the western and southwestern parts of Russia, bandit formations of thieves' Cossacks continued to rage, among whom there were almost no real Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks. Many of them were delighted with the campaign and the new opportunity to "walk" across Russia. They joined the royal army.
In May 1617, the advanced Polish troops under the command of Gonsevsky and Chaplinsky unblocked Smolensk. The Russian siege army, led by Mikhail Buturlin, left the fortifications near Smolensk and retreated to Belaya. Vladislav set out from Warsaw in April 1617, but went in a roundabout way through Volhynia to scare Turkey. In the summer, a significant part of the army had to be sent to the southern border into the army of the great hetman of the crown Zolkiewski because of the threat of war with the Porte. Therefore, the prince returned to Warsaw for a while. Only in September Vladislav arrived in Smolensk, and Khodkevich's troops approached Dorogobuzh. In early October, the governor of Dorogobuzh I. Adadurov went over to the side of the Poles and kissed the cross to Vladislav as the Russian tsar. This caused panic in Vyazma, local governors with part of the garrison fled to Moscow and the fortress was surrendered to the enemy without a fight. Obviously, this caused a lot of enthusiasm in the Polish ranks. The Polish command, hoping to repeat the success of False Dmitry in 1604, when he occupied Moscow without a fight, sent several governors, led by Adadurov, who had gone over to Vladislav's side, in order to "seduce" the Moscow people. But they were arrested and sent into exile.
The advanced Polish detachments reached Mozhaisk and tried to take the city with a sudden blow. Mozhaisk governors F. Buturlin and D. Leontyev closed the gates and decided to fight to the death. From Moscow, reinforcements were immediately sent to their aid under the command of B. Lykov and G. Valuev. On the way of the enemy, the Moscow government put up three ratios headed by D. Pozharsky, D. Cherkassky and B. Lykov. Some of Vladislav's advisers suggested attacking the poorly fortified Mozhaisk and the weak Russian army stationed here on the move. However, the time for the hike was lost. Mercenaries and Polish gentry demanded money. The treasury was empty. Winter was coming, food was scarce. The Cossacks, seeing no booty and money, began to desert. As a result, the Polish army stopped in the Vyazma area for "winter quarters".
Having received news of Vladislav's "sitting" in Vyazma, the Seim sent a letter to the commissioners with a proposal to start peace negotiations with Moscow. At the end of December 1617, the royal secretary Jan Gridich was sent to Moscow with a proposal to conclude an armistice before April 20, 1618, exchange prisoners and begin peace negotiations. The Moscow boyars refused him. The Diet decided to continue the hostilities. Vladislav returned the units that had previously been sent to the southern border and transferred new forces at the head of Kazanovsky. As a result, the size of the Polish army was increased to 18 thousand people. In addition, the Poles persuaded the Cossacks led by Hetman Peter Sagaidachny to act against Moscow.
In early June 1618, the Polish army launched an offensive from Vyazma. Hetman Khodkevich proposed to go to Kaluga in the lands less devastated by the war, so that the troops could find provisions. But the commissars insisted on a campaign against Moscow. But on the way of the enemy was Mozhaisk, where the voivode Lykov stood with the army. Fighting for the city began at the end of June. The Poles stood under the city, but could not carry out a full-fledged siege. The Poles could not take this relatively weak fortress by storm due to the lack of siege artillery and a lack of infantry. And they were afraid to leave the Russian fortress in the rear. Fierce battles near Mozhaisk continued for over a month. Then the main forces of the Russian army under the command of Lykov and Cherkassky, due to a lack of food, withdrew to Borovsk. At the same time, the garrison of Fyodor Volynsky was left in Mozhaisk. He repulsed enemy attacks for a month. On September 16, without taking Mozhaisk, Vladislav set out for Moscow. At the same time, part of the Polish-Lithuanian army, without receiving a salary, returned home or fled to plunder Russian lands.
As a result, Vladislav and Khodkevich brought about 8 thousand soldiers to Moscow. On September 22 (October 2), the Polish-Lithuanian army approached Moscow, settling on the site of the former Tushino camp. Meanwhile, the Sagaidachny Cossacks broke through the weakened southwestern borders of the Russian state. The main forces of Moscow were connected by battles with the Polish army, so they could not stop the Cossacks. The Cossacks took and plundered Livny, Yelets, Lebedyan, Ryazhsk, Skopin, Shatsk. The main part of the Cossacks was scattered for plunder, and Sagaidachny led several thousand people to Moscow. The Cossacks settled at the Donskoy Monastery. The garrison of Moscow numbered about 11-12 thousand people, but mainly it was the city militia and the Cossacks. The main line of defense ran along the fortifications of the White City.
Chodkiewicz did not have artillery, infantry and supplies for a proper siege. He did not even have the strength for a full-fledged blockade, reinforcements could penetrate into the city. The delay in the operation led to the strengthening of the garrison, there was a threat of the appearance of strong Russian detachments in the rear. The troops were unreliable, standing still led them to rapid decay. Therefore, the hetman decided to take the city almost on the move. Only a daring attack could lead to success. On the night of October 1 (11), 1618, the Poles began an assault. The Zaporozhye Cossacks were to launch a diversionary attack in Zamoskvorechye. The main blow was delivered from the west at the Arbat and Tversky gates. The infantry had to break open the fortifications, take the gates and clear the way for the cavalry. The successful breakthrough of the Poles led to the blockade of the Kremlin or even its capture with the Russian government.
The assault failed. The Cossacks were passive. The defectors warned the Russians of the main threat and reported the time of the attack. As a result, the Poles encountered stubborn resistance. The assault on the Tverskaya Gates was choked immediately. Knight of the Order of Malta Novodvorsky made a break in the wall of the Earthen City and reached the Arbat Gate. But the Russians made a sortie. The enemy attack was repulsed. Novodvorsky himself was wounded. By evening, the Poles were driven out of the fortifications of Zemlyanoy Gorod. The Poles did not have the strength for a new assault. But the Moscow government did not have the resources to launch a decisive counteroffensive and drive the enemy away from the capital, drive the Poles out of the country. Negotiations began.
“Into the siege seat. Trinity Bridge and Kutafya Tower . A. Vasnetsov
Truce
Negotiations began on October 21 (31), 1618 on the Presnya River near the walls of Zemlyanoy Gorod. The Poles were forced to forget about Vladislav's accession to Moscow. It was about the cities that were to retreat to Poland, and the timing of the armistice. Both Russians and Poles rested. Therefore, the first negotiations yielded nothing.
Winter was coming. Vladislav left Tushino and moved to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The Sagaidachny Zaporozhians left to the south, ravaged the townships of Serpukhov and Kaluga, but could not take the fortress. From Kaluga Sagaidachny went to Kiev, where he declared himself the hetman of Ukraine. Approaching the Trinity Monastery, the Poles tried to take it, but were repulsed by artillery fire. Vladislav withdrew the troops from the monastery for 12 versts and set up a camp near the village of Rogachev. The Poles scattered across the region, plundering the surrounding villages.
In November 1618, the armistice negotiations were resumed in the village of Deulino, which belongs to the Trinity Monastery. From the Russian side, the embassy was headed by: boyars F. Sheremetev and D. Mezetskaya, okolnich A. Izmailov and clerks Bolotnikov and Somov. Poland was represented by commissars attached to the army. Objectively, time worked for Moscow. The second wintering of the Polish army was even worse than the first: the troops overwintered not in the city of Vyazma, but almost in an open field, the distance to the Polish border increased significantly. The mercenary soldiers murmured and threatened to leave the army. Moscow could at this time strengthen the defense and the army. The prospect of defeating the enemy appeared. At the same time, the foreign policy situation for Warsaw was dangerous. Poland was threatened with war by the Ottoman Empire and Sweden. And in Moscow they knew about it. In addition, the Thirty Years' War began in Western Europe in 1618 and the Polish king Sigismund immediately got into it. In conditions when the prince Vladislav could get bogged down with the army in the Russian forests.
However, subjective factors intervened in the affairs of the Russian embassy. Thus, the leadership of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was little worried about the fate of the western and southwestern Russian cities, but was concerned about the prospect of the wintering of the enemy army in the area of the monastery and, accordingly, the ruin of the monastic estates. And most importantly, the government of Mikhail Romanov and his mother wanted to release Filaret at any cost and return him to Moscow. That is, the Romanov government decided to make peace at a time when the Poles had no chance of taking Moscow and could lose their army from hunger and cold. Under the threat of war with Turkey and Sweden.
As a result, on December 1 (11), 1618, an armistice was signed in Deulino for a period of 14 years and 6 months. The Poles received the cities they had already captured: Smolensk, Roslavl, Bely, Dorogobuzh, Serpeysk, Trubchevsk, Novgorod-Seversky with districts on both sides of the Desna and Chernigov with the region. Moreover, a number of cities were transferred to Poland, which were under the control of the Russian army, among them were Starodub, Przemysl, Pochep, Nevel, Sebezh, Krasny, Toropets, Velizh with their districts and counties. Moreover, fortresses passed along with guns and ammunition, and territories with residents and property. The right to leave for the Russian state was received only by the nobles with their people, the clergy and merchants. The peasants and townspeople remained where they were. Tsar Mikhail Romanov refused the title of "Prince of Livonian, Smolensk and Chernigov" and granted these titles to the Polish king.
The Poles promised to return the previously captured Russian ambassadors headed by Filaret. The Polish king Sigismund refused the title of "Tsar of Russia" ("Grand Duke of Russia"). At the same time, Vladislav retained the right to be called the "Tsar of Russia" in the official documents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky, captured by the Poles in 1611, was returned to Moscow.
Thus, the Troubles in Russia ended in a very "obscene" peace. The border between Poland and Russia moved far to the east, almost returning to the borders of the times of Ivan III. Russia lost the most important strategic fortress in the western direction - Smolensk. The Commonwealth for a short period (before the capture of Livonia by the Swedes) reached its maximum size in its history. Warsaw retained the opportunity to claim the Russian throne. National interests were sacrificed for the sake of the interests of the House of Romanov. On the whole, a new war with Poland was inevitable in the future.
An armistice agreement between Russia and Poland for 14 years concluded in the village of Deulino. Original on parchment. Signed by six Polish ambassadors with their seals attached.
The territories that passed to the Rzeczpospolita according to the Deulinsky truce are shown in orange on the map. Source:
