For cartoons of Ivan the Terrible, the West received an asymmetric response
Russia's independent policy is once again causing commotion in the pan-European chicken coop. At the suggestion of its overseas owner, sanctions and boycotts are announced, visa restrictions are introduced, assets are frozen, and attempts are made to devalue the ruble. All this has already happened.
The old, moth-eaten bogeymen of zoological Russophobia are taken out of the political "chests" of the times of Sigismund, Charles XII, Napoleon, Chamberlain, Goebbels or Dulles and are put into action under the guise of white robes of peacemaking. But to panic, all the more to be afraid - you just need to turn your back to history, to your opponents, remember how these attempts ended one hundred, two hundred and even five hundred years ago.
Tabernacle of the Middle Ages
So, the second half of the 16th century, the Livonian War. Russia, headed by the creative, as they would say now, Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) is waging a debilitating war with the European states bordering on it in the northeast for access to the Baltic Sea, defending its geopolitical and economic interests. As happened more than once, the Europeans very quickly came to an agreement among themselves and, having concluded an alliance with the Crimean Khan, opposed us with a united front. Those who were afraid to openly enter the conflict, pressed Russia with sanctions, boycotted our goods. Not only cannons and money were used to bribe traitors, but also ink depicting the Russian tsar in a frightening, repulsive form. This reaction was convincingly outlined by Sergei Platonov, Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences: “The performance of Grozny in the struggle for the Baltic Sea region amazed Central Europe. In Germany, the "Muscovites" were seen as a terrible enemy. The danger of their invasion was described not only in the official relations of the authorities, but also in the vast volatile literature of leaflets and brochures."
K. Bryullov. Siege of Pskov by the king
Stephen Bathory in 1581”. 1843
Yes, with the start of the anti-Russian campaign in Europe, the so-called flying leaflets began to be issued. In total, 62 caricature editions appeared, directed against Russia, the country of the barbarians, and personally Ivan Vasilyevich. One of the sheets depicts the king as a terrible bear. It was from that time that his image began to be associated with Russia. What atrocities were not attributed to the Russian barbarians, up to the eating of children alive. The nickname Grozny, given to the Tsar by the people for his attitude towards the enemies of the Fatherland, was translated as the terrible. Although “the European history of the 16th century itself gave the world a whole gallery of bloodthirsty rulers: King Henry VIII, Queen Mary the Bloody and Elizabeth I in England, Philip II in Spain, Christian II in Denmark, Eric XIV in Sweden, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation Charles V, each of whom killed much more people, sometimes dozens of times than their crowned contemporary from distant Muscovy Ivan the Terrible,”writes Alexander Bokhanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences.
Russia was not ready for such information and propaganda hysteria, but the answer to economic sanctions and boycotts was found soon. Since our goods exported by sea through the Baltic ports, in the vicinity of which Swedish, German and Danish ships ruled, were plundered, the Russian tsar issued the Danish Karsten Rohde a letter of commendation for organizing a pirate fleet, which caused significant damage to sea trade, regularly sending merchants to the bottom of ships - competitors. The European powers blamed Moscow for the inadmissibility of such countermeasures, but the tsar let all the "notes" go deafeningly.
How did this confrontation end? After 150 years, a window was opened to Europe. After 240 years, a parade of Russian troops took place in Paris and the borders of Russia expanded to the Vistula and Muonijoki. Another 100 years later, the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman and the world's longest Trans-Siberian Railway were built. And then the Victory Banner was hoisted over the defeated Reichstag.
Today, Russia is again being pushed to the east. They act by deception, blackmail, threats, provocations - in the old, tried and tested ways, accusing us of pursuing an aggressive policy. As the well-known public figure and publicist of the second half of the 19th century Ivan Aksakov wrote: "If there is a whistle and clamor about the lust for power and the aggressive lust of Russia, know that some Western European power is preparing the most shameless seizure of someone else's land."
Savings bank operation
On January 27, 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began. Against the background of events unfolding in the Far East, the fact that happened in St. Petersburg did not shake the foundations of the empire, although … On that historic day, a depositor turned to the branch of the capital's savings bank, who demanded that the cashier immediately give out the entire amount in storage. The gentleman explained his motive with information gleaned from the leaflet, which he had found in the mailbox the day before. It said that the government urgently needs money for the war with Japan and it intends to take it from depositors. Shrugging his shoulders, the clerk issued the required amount, but after that there was a line of people who also wanted to receive all their savings.
Similar letters from unknown "well-wishers" were distributed throughout the large cities of the empire from Vladivostok to Warsaw. The meaning of the venture was obvious: at least - to provoke panic, undermining the confidence of depositors in the creditworthiness of the state, as a maximum - to undermine the financial foundations of Russia. After all, if tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of depositors simultaneously demand to return them their hard-earned money, the issue of money will hit the financial stability of the country, and refusal can provoke unrest.
On the eve of a war unexpected for Russia, such a turn of events could entail very serious consequences. The queues at the branches of savings banks in large cities grew instantly, the situation was close to critical. He was saved by the professionalism and management of the Minister of Finance of that period E. Pleske, who replaced V. Kokovtsev due to illness, the manager of the State Bank S. Timashev and their subordinates. Deposits were issued everywhere without delay to everyone, which quickly lowered the intensity of passions, and at the same time, on the windows of savings banks, in newspapers and on billboards, an official statement by the head of the credit and financial department about the unswerving fulfillment of all state obligations to its clients appeared. The panic quickly subsided.
There is no doubt that this financial stunt was well thought out and planned in advance. Author of the book "Who is financing the collapse of Russia?" Nikolai Starikov notes that our numerous "freedom fighters", with all their hatred of the "rotten tsarist regime", were not capable of machinations on such a scale as to fill up a huge country with provocative leaflets on the eve of the war. The same was not observed with their "sparks" and "truths", whose editorial offices and printing houses were smashed and closed by gendarmes and the police with enviable regularity. And here - a brilliantly performed, thoroughly planned operation. What power in the world was capable of such a thing? Following the old Roman principle, one should look for those interested in Russia's defeat in that war. It is no secret that Japan was armed and pushed into conflict by our sworn "allies" - the United States and Britain.
Bad advice
Since that operation did not succeed thanks to the operative intervention of the state, a second attack was carried out a year later, aimed at undermining the financial stability of the Russian Empire. This time the organizers decided to play for high stakes. A special body was created to direct and coordinate the actions of the opposition - the St. Petersburg Council, which included such odious personalities as L. Trotsky (Bronstein), L. Krasin, A. Parvus (Gelfand). In addition to purely political goals, financial and economic goals were also set. In the depths of the council, the "Financial Manifesto" was developed, which openly called for accelerating the monetary collapse of tsarism. TSB bluntly explains what was required to be done: "Refuse to pay taxes and taxes, withdraw their deposits from the State Bank and savings banks, demanding for all financial transactions, as well as when receiving wages, the issuance of the entire amount in gold." The manifesto called on all countries to refuse to tsarism a new loan, which he needed to suppress the revolution. He warned that the people would not allow the payment of debts on these loans. This subversive document was published simultaneously in all opposition newspapers, which then were published in dozens and were issued in large circulations. The openly thrown challenge, albeit belatedly, was accepted by the state. Council members were arrested, and the newspapers that printed the manifesto were closed. But the resonance was significant. In December 1905, the issuances in the country's savings banks exceeded receipts - 90 million rubles were returned to depositors.
This, coupled with the unfavorable factors of the war, quickly pushed the economy down. The ruble, actually backed by gold, was now deprived of this, noticeably weakening, because many creditors of the state demanded the return of deposits just in gold equivalent. The provocation worked. Deny the sacred right of the owner? The tsarist government was not ready for this "rotten" government even under the threat of collapse. Foreign creditors joined the attack on the ruble and began to put forward political demands to Russia, followed by an increase in the flight of domestic capital abroad. As a result, it acquired such a scale that the government was forced to take urgent measures. The State Bank has introduced restrictions on the free sale of currency. To buy stamps, francs or pounds sterling, from now on it was required to show special trade documents issued by government agencies. The government held back the blow. Albeit at the cost of very unpopular measures, including the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with the Japanese.
Today we are witnessing new attempts to collapse our financial system, destabilize the ruble, and crush Russia economically. It seems easier for someone to do this right now, but this is only at first glance, which is very often deceptive, because the story has not ended yet, but continues. She also teaches that all attempts to impose on Russia the rules of the game that are alien to it will sooner or later end in failure. As the outstanding Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin correctly noted: “We are not students or teachers of the West! We are disciples of God and teachers to ourselves. We stand on that!
