The death of False Dmitry did not stop the Troubles. The civil war continued, covering new lands, new impostors appeared. In the first month of his reign, Vasily Shuisky had to suppress several attempts at performances by the Moscow urban lower classes. In Moscow, they feared that the Polish king Sigismund would start the war for the overthrow of the impostor and the beating of the Poles. Therefore, of the several thousand Polish guests and mercenaries of False Dmitry who survived the May uprising in Moscow, only commoners were released, and noble people were left as hostages, given good maintenance and distributed under supervision in different cities. Shuisky violated diplomatic etiquette and even detained Gonsevsky's Polish embassy in Moscow.
However, these fears were in vain. Poland itself had a hard time. The Poles started a war with Sweden and recaptured the city of Pernov (Pärnu) from her in Livonia. In addition, the Zaporozhye Cossacks, led by Hetman Sagaidachny, carried out a number of successful raids and plundered Kafa and Varna. This angered the Ottomans and they declared war on the Commonwealth. True, the main forces of the Turkish army were associated with the war with Persia and auxiliary troops were sent against Poland, and the Poles repulsed the attack. In Poland itself, some of the magnates dissatisfied with the king's policy raised a furor. The country was engulfed in civil war. Therefore, the Poles had no time for Moscow.
Thus, Moscow overlooked a more serious threat - an internal one. After all, the problems that caused the Troubles were not resolved. And the external threat played an important, but not the main role. The province was outraged: the Boyar Duma elected the tsar without the necessary support of all lands. It turned out that the boyars killed the "good tsar" and seized power, transferring the throne to the "boyar tsar". The province was seething: the period of detecting fugitives was increased to 15 years; the servicemen remembered the generous awards of False Dmitry; residents of the south feared reprisals and terror (as under Godunov) for helping the impostor; worried about the Cossacks, who actively supported the liar; Shuisky got rid of False Dmitry's supporters, sending them away from the capital, many were sent to the southern borderlands.
In the summer of 1606, spontaneous uprisings engulfed the entire south of the country, which was agitated by rumors about "the salvation of the good Tsar Dmitry." The center of the struggle against the new king in the Northern Land was the "capital" of the first impostor - Putivl. Here the insurgent townspeople, the peasants, chose Ivan Bolotnikov, who had come to them with a detachment, as a "great commander". Ivan Bolotnikov, according to the most common version, was a serf of Prince Telyatevsky. In his youth, he fled from his master to the steppe to the Cossacks, here he was captured by the Tatars and was sold into slavery to the Turks. He spent several years in slavery, in the galleys as a rower. After an unsuccessful naval battle with Christian ships for the Turks, he was released and headed to Venice, where he lived in a German trading compound. From here, having heard stories about the beginning of the Troubles in the Russian state, Bolotnikov moved through Germany and Poland to Russia. Rumors of the "miraculous salvation" of the Moscow Tsar Dmitry drew Ivan to Sambor, where the Moscow fugitive Mikhail Molchanov, a former associate of False Dmitry I, was hiding with the wife of Yuri Mnishek Yadviga. presented himself as a king. This adventurer introduced himself to Bolotnikov as a tsar who had escaped after the May coup in Moscow. The new impostor talked with Bolotnikov for a long time, and then supplied him with a letter to Prince Grigory Shakhovsky and sent him to Putivl as his personal emissary and “big voivode”.
In fact, the civil war has entered an active phase. Bolotnikov's army included the main estates and social groups of the Russian state: peasants and slaves, Seversk, Terek, Volga and Zaporozhye Cossacks, representatives of the nobility. In addition, the uprising was supported by representatives of the aristocracy, among them Prince Grigory Shakhovsky and the Chernigov voivode Andrei Telyatevsky, the former owner of Bolotnikov.
In the summer of 1606, 30 thous. Bolotnikov's army moved to Moscow. The fortresses of Kromy and Yelets were captured, the rich arsenals of which replenished the reserves of the rebels. Government troops under the command of the governors of the princes Vorotynsky and Trubetskoy were defeated at Kromy and Yelets. Many soldiers from the tsarist troops went over to the side of the rebels. Taking advantage of the mistakes of the tsarist governors, the rebels rapidly advanced towards Moscow. More and more detachments of rebellious peasants poured into the army of Bolotnikov. Moreover, on the way to Moscow, large detachments of service nobles joined Bolotnikov, who opposed the boyar tsar Shuisky. The senior Ryazan governor Prokopy Lyapunov and the younger one - Grigory Sumbulov, led the Ryazan militia, the streltsy centurion Istoma Pashkov - a large detachment of service people. Tula, Kashira, Kaluga, Mozhaisk, Vyazma, Vladimir and Astrakhan revolted. On the Volga, the Mordovians and Mari (Cheremis) rebelled, they laid siege to Nizhny Novgorod.
The rebels on the way to Moscow approached Kolomna. In October 1606, Posad Kolomna was taken by attack, but the Kremlin continued to resist. Leaving a small part of his forces in Kolomna, Bolotnikov headed along the Kolomna road to Moscow. In the village of Troitskoye, Kolomensky district, he managed to defeat government troops. On October 22, Bolotnikov's army was stationed in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow. Here he built a prison (fortress), and began to send letters to Moscow and various cities, calling to support the legitimate sovereign Dmitry Ivanovich and arousing the disadvantaged and the poor against the rich. “All of you, boyar slaves, beat your boyars, take their wives and all their property, estates and estates! You will be noble people, and you, who were called spies and nameless, kill guests and merchants, divide their bellies among you! You were the last - now you will receive boyars, deviousness, voivodeship! Kiss all the cross to the lawful sovereign Dmitry Ivanovich! Therefore, the path of Bolotnikov's troops was accompanied by terrible pogroms, people responded with terror to terror, fought as if there were strangers around (the tsarist troops in the territories covered by the uprisings acted in a similar way).
Bolotnikov's militia continued to grow, separate detachments, mainly from slaves, who, with their raids and robberies, kept the capital in a state of siege, stood out from it. In November, the Cossacks of Ileika Muromets joined Bolotnikov. He was another impostor, posing as Tsarevich Peter Fyodorovich, who in reality never existed the son of Tsar Fyodor I Ivanovich. Muscovites were already ready to obey Bolotnikov, asking only to show them Tsarevich Dmitry, and even began negotiations with him. The delighted Bolotnikov sent messengers to Putivl. Like, let the "tsar" come sooner, victory is near. But Dmitry never showed up. Many began to express doubts about the existence of Dmitry and went over to the side of Shuisky.
Meanwhile, Shuisky did not sit still and was actively preparing for a counterattack. The suburbs and settlements of Moscow were fortified. The troops of the governors Skopin-Shuisky, Golitsyn and Tatev settled at the Serpukhov gate, from where they watched the enemy camp. Communication was established between Moscow and the surrounding cities, the troops guarded the roads. In November, reinforcements arrived from Tver and Smolensk, which were largely made up of nobles and townspeople. At the same time, Shuisky was actively bargaining with the noble part of the rebellious camp. The Lyapunovs and Pashkov hated Shuisky, but they feared the riot of the "rabble".
Bolotnikov's army grew to 100 thousand people (his troops operated over a vast territory), but his fighting qualities fell. Among the rebels, there were many slaves, vagabonds, peasants who had no combat experience, were poorly armed and organized. Cossacks and nobles - two fighting cores of the army, they were despised. However, they also opposed each other. As a result, a split occurred in the army of Bolotnikov: one camp was made up of nobles and boyar children, the other - slaves, Cossacks and other people. The latter had Ivan Bolotnikov as their leaders, while the former had Istoma Pashkov and the Lyapunov brothers. Disagreements arose between the leaders, as a result, first the Lyapunovs, and then Istoma Pashkov, went over to the side of Shuisky. Shuisky, meanwhile, thoroughly fortified Moscow, formed a new army from the militias of other cities. In addition, Shuisky lured many nobles from the Bolotnikov camp, promising them a reward and ranks.
Seeing that the situation was getting worse and Shuisky's forces were growing, Bolotnikov decided to attack. On November 26, he tried to take the Simonov monastery, but was defeated by the tsarist troops under the command of a young and talented commander, the nephew of Tsar Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. At the decisive moment of the battle, a large noble detachment of Pashkov left the camp of the rebels, this decided the outcome of the battle in favor of the tsarist army. Bolotnikov's troops were entrenched in the Kolomna camp. Skopin-Shuisky laid siege to the Bolotnikovites and began shelling. Tsar Vasily tried to come to an agreement with Bolotnikov himself, promised a high rank, but the leader of the rebels refused to go to peace. After three days of artillery fire, Bolotnikov's motley army could not stand it and fled. Part of the Cossacks took hold at the village of Zaborie, where on December 2 the rebels were defeated again. Ataman Bezzubtsev's Cossacks went over to the side of Skopin-Shuisky. Tsar Vasily forgave them. The rest of the prisoners taken in battle or during the flight were hanged or stunned with clubs, drowned. Bolotnikov fled to Serpukhov, and then Kaluga, Ileika Muromets went to Tula.
Thus, the rebels were never able to take the capital. In the decisive battle, the Bolotnikovites were defeated by the tsarist voivods, which was facilitated by the betrayal of the noble detachments that went over to the side of Tsar Vasily Shuisky.
In Kaluga, Bolotnikov gathered about 10 thousand people. It was besieged by the tsarist troops. However, the main commander was the talentless brother of the tsar Ivan Shuisky. As a result, the siege of Kaluga dragged on from December 1606 to May 1607. The rebels defended themselves skillfully and desperately, repulsed attacks, made daring sorties, causing great damage to the tsarist troops. The tsarist governors decided to burn down the wooden fortress and, having mobilized the surrounding peasants, began to supply firewood with which they lined the walls. However, the rebels guessed this plan and blew up the "sweep", killing and maiming a large number of the tsarist warriors. At this time, other rebels tried to unblock Kaluga, but were defeated. So, a detachment of Mezetsky, sent from Putivl by Shakhovsky to the rescue of Bolotnikov, was defeated by the army of Ivan Romanov on the river. Vyrke.
Later, the troops of Telyatevsky and Pseudo-Peter tried to break through to Bolotnikov. On May 1, 1607, the Don and Ukrainian Cossacks defeated the tsarist troops on the Pchelna River. Taking advantage of the confusion among the siege army, Bolotnikov made a sortie and defeated the tsarist governors, who retreated, abandoning the artillery and the baggage train. Part of the tsarist troops went over to the side of the rebels. Only Skopin-Shuisky's regiment withdrew in perfect order. After that Bolotnikov moved to Tula, where there was a more powerful stone fortress, and united with other rebel detachments.
Then Bolotnikov began the 2nd campaign against Moscow. However, Tsar Vasily did not sit idly by. The mobilization of "tribute" people ("tribute" - warriors called up from the townspeople and peasant communities) throughout the country was announced, and personally led a large army that was being formed in Serpukhov. The centers of the uprising were gradually crushing. The rioters were driven back from Nizhny Novgorod. A. Golitsyn defeated Telyatevsky near Kashira. The appearance of some unknown Peter instead of the expected “good tsar” Dmitry, who unleashed terror against opponents, cooled many, the rebellious cities calmed down, brought confession. In May, the tsarist army moved towards the rebels. The tsar himself took part in the campaign, and the individual regiments were commanded by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, Pyotr Urusov, Ivan Shuisky, Mikhail Turenin, Andrei Golitsyn, Prokopy Lyapunov and Fyodor Bulgakov.
The Bolotnikovites tried to bypass the main forces of the tsarist army and go to Moscow, but bypassing Kashira, the rebels met with the flank of the tsarist army at the river Vosma. On June 5-7, 1607, a battle took place. Bolotnikovites had an advantage in strength - 30-38 thousand soldiers. However, the Tula governor betrayed Bolotnikov and with 4 thousand. detachment went over to the side of the tsarist troops. And Lyapunov's Ryazan detachments went into the rear of Bolotnikov's army. This caused panic among the Bolotnikovites and they retreated. Part of Bolotnikov's troops was cut off and captured, the prisoners were executed. After the Battle of Vosemskaya, Bolotnikov's army was driven back to Tula.
Tsar Vasily Shuisky sent several regiments headed by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky for Bolotnikov. On the outskirts of Tula, Bolotnikov decided to fight on the Voronya River, the rebels closed themselves with serifs and for a long time repulsed the onslaught of the tsar's cavalry. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. However, the archers made a roundabout maneuver, the Bolotnikovites wavered and ran, many were killed during the chase. Bolotnikov lost half of his troops in these battles - about 20 thousand people. With the rest, he locked himself in Tula. Thus, Bolotnikov suffered a decisive defeat and lost strategic initiative.
On June 30, Tsar Vasily himself approached Tula with the main army. Contemporaries reported that the tsarist army numbered 100-150 thousand people. Bolotnikov and "Tsarevich Peter" have no more than 20 thousand people left. Siege weapons began shelling the city from both banks. However, Tula had powerful fortifications, and Bolotnikov was left with the most efficient core of the rebels. Therefore, the besieged held out until October 1607. In the early stages of the siege, the defenders of the city made sorties and defended bravely. All attempts by the tsarist governors to take the city by storm turned out to be unsuccessful.
Then the tsarist troops, on the idea of the Murom son of the boyar Ivan Krovkov, decided to block the Upu River below the city with a dam so that Tula would be flooded. On the right, swampy bank, a dam about half a mile in size was erected, which was supposed to prevent the river from overflowing into the lowlands during the autumn flood, but to cause a sharp rise in the water level. Indeed, the autumn flood completely cut off the city from the outside world, turning it into a swampy island in the middle of a completely flooded plain. Many ammunition was damaged, as well as grain and salt supplies stored in the cellars. Soon, a terrible famine and epidemic began in Tula, which exacerbated internal contradictions among the rebels. The rebels tried to blow up the dam, but the same Kravkov warned Shuisky, and the attempt failed.
Bolotnikov sent messengers to Mikhail Molchanov and Grigory Shakhovsky more than once during the siege, but without success. And Tsar Vasily faced a new threat. A new impostor appeared - False Dmitry II, who had already managed to capture Severshchina, Bryansk and Verkhovskaya land. Bolotnikov was offered negotiations on the terms of the surrender of the city. Shuisky promised to preserve freedom for the leaders and participants of the uprising. The agreement reached was sealed with a solemn oath, and on October 10, 1607, Tula opened its gates to the tsarist army.
Tsar Vasily deceived the leaders of the uprising. Shuisky hastened to announce that forgiveness applies only to ordinary "Tula inmates", and not to the leaders of the uprising. The Tulyaks were really pardoned, the rebellious nobles got off with exiles. Shakhovsky was tonsured a monk. "Tsarevich Peter" was hanged. Bolotnikov was sent to Kargopol and secretly drowned. Many ordinary rebels were sent to the cities, and those who ended up in Moscow, without noise and dust, were strangled.
Thus, the Moscow government extinguished the peasant war, mobilizing practically all reserves and responding with terror to terror. However, Shuisky, having disbanded most of the army and thinking that the turmoil was coming to an end, miscalculated. Everything was just beginning. A second False Dmitry appeared, to which the remnants of the Bolotnikovites joined. Poland became active again.
