460 years ago, on January 17, 1558, the Livonian War began. The Russian army invaded the Livonian lands in order to punish Livonia for non-payment of tribute and other flaws.
Some historians consider the Livonian War a major military and political mistake of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. For example, N. I. Kostomarov saw in this war an excessive desire of the Russian tsar to conquer. The West also calls the policy of the great Russian tsar "bloody" and "aggressive".
Ivan the Terrible is one of the most hated Russian rulers for the West and for Russian Western liberals.
It is obvious that Ivan Vasilievich pursued a policy that corresponded to the national, strategic interests of the Russian civilization (Rus-Russia) and the Russian people. Therefore, he is so hated in the West, sling mud, slander various lackeys and lackeys of Western orientation in Russia itself (Information war against Russia: black myth about the "bloody tyrant" Ivan the Terrible; "Black myth" about the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible).
Indeed, the Livonian War was put on the agenda by history itself, by the laws of its development. Since ancient times, the Baltic States have been part of the sphere of influence of Russia, it was its outskirts. Through the Baltic - Varangian, and before that the Venedian Sea (the Wends - the Veneti - the Vandals are a Slavic-Russian tribe that lived in Central Europe), the Russians-Russians from ancient times were associated with many interests with Europe, where their brothers by blood and language lived at that time. and faith.
Thus, the Russian state, which in the course of feudal fragmentation (the first great turmoil) had lost a number of its outskirts - "Ukrainians", had to return to the Baltic states. This was demanded by history itself, economic and military-strategic interests (nothing has changed at the present time). Ivan Vasilievich, following in the footsteps of his famous grandfather, Ivan III (who had already tried to solve this problem), decided to break through the blockade, which was fenced off from Europe by Poland, Lithuania, the Livonian Order and Sweden, which were hostile to Russia.
However, Russia's natural desire to break through to the Baltic met with fierce resistance from Poland, which soon united with Lithuania, and Sweden. The Polish elite feared that the strengthened Rus would decide to return both the western and southern Russian lands, which were once occupied by Lithuania and Poland. Sweden was building its "Baltic empire", it did not need a competitor in the Baltic Sea. On the whole, during the Livonian War, the entire "enlightened Europe" came out against the Russian kingdom and a powerful information war was unleashed against the "Russian barbarians" and the "bloody tyrant tsar". It was then that the main methods of fighting the "enlightened West" with the "Russian Mordor", which was going to conquer the "peaceful" Europeans, were formed.
In addition, a new "front" was recognized in the south - Russia was attacked by the Crimean horde, behind which stood Turkey. Then the Ottoman Empire was still a powerful military power that Europe feared. The war became protracted and exhausting. Russia fought not only with the advanced European powers with first-class armed forces, which were supported by a large part of the West, but also with the Crimean Khanate and the Turkish Empire. Russia was forced to retreat. Ivan the Terrible's government made the mistake of deciding that Poland and Sweden (essentially the West) would allow Moscow to occupy Livonia. As a result, this strategic task can only be solved by the government of Peter I.
Livonian problem
In the middle of the 15th century, Livonia was a scattered state entity that existed in the form of a confederation of the Livonian Order, the Archbishopric of Riga, four principalities-bishoprics (Derpt, Ezel-Vik, Revel, Kurland), and Livonian cities. At the same time, as a result of the Reformation, the influence of the bishops in Livonia was sharply reduced, their dignity became in many ways just a formality. Only the Livonian Order possessed real power, whose lands by the beginning of the 16th century accounted for more than 2/3 of the territory of Livonia. Large cities had wide autonomy and their own interests.
In the middle of the 16th century, the disunity of Livonian society reached its limit. Historian Georg Forsten noted that on the eve of the Livonian War "the internal state of Livonia presented the most terrible and sad picture of internal decay." The once strong Livonian Order lost its former military power. The knights preferred to solve personal economic problems and live in luxury, rather than prepare for war. However, Livonia relied on strong fortresses and large cities with serious fortifications. At the same time, Livonia has become an attractive prey for its neighbors - the Polish-Lithuanian Union, Denmark, Sweden and Russia.
Livonia remained the enemy of Russia. So, in 1444, the Order's war broke out with Novgorod and Pskov, which lasted until 1448. In 1492, Ivangorod was founded opposite the German fortress of Narva to fight Livonia. In 1500, the Livonian Order entered into an alliance with Lithuania directed against the Russian state. During the war of 1501-1503, in 1501, the Order was defeated by Russian troops in the battle of Helmed near Dorpat. In 1503, Ivan III concluded an armistice with the Livonian Confederation for six years, which was further extended on the same terms in 1509, 1514, 1521, 1531 and 1534. According to the provisions of the agreement, the Dorpat bishopric had to pay the so-called "Yuryev's tribute" to Pskov annually.
For half a century, the Order managed to forget the beating it received from Ivan III. Treaties are valid when they are backed up by force (nothing has changed on the planet for hundreds of years). When the Baltic Protestant Lutherans began to encroach on the Orthodox churches, Vasily III warned them sternly: "I am not a Pope or an emperor who do not know how to protect their churches." Under Elena Glinskaya, the Livonians were again reminded of the inviolability of churches and freedom of trade for the Russians. The Order was unequivocally warned: "If anyone breaks the oath, God and the oath, pestilence, glory, fire and sword, be upon him."
However, during the period of the boyar rule, the Livonians finally disbanded. The Russian churches and "ends", commercial farmsteads in the Baltic cities were ruined. The Order generally prohibited transit trade through its territory. All visitors had to conclude deals only with local merchants, who took advantage of the situation and dictated their prices and conditions, profiting from mediation. Moreover, the order authorities began to decide for themselves which goods were allowed to enter Russia and which were not. To weaken the military potential of Russia, the Livonians imposed an embargo on copper, lead, saltpeter, and banned the passage of Western specialists wishing to enter the Russian service. The Livonians wrote to the German emperor that "Russia is dangerous", the supply of military goods to it and the admission of Western masters "will multiply the forces of our natural enemy." Hostile antics continued. Local authorities robbed Russian merchants under phony pretexts, took away their goods, and threw them into prisons. It happened that the Russians were simply killed.
In 1550, the deadline for confirming the armistice came. Moscow demanded that the Livonians abide by previous agreements, but they refused. Then the Russian government officially filed a claim. It pointed to "guests (merchants) of Novgorod and Pskov, dishonor and grievances and … trade inconsistencies", a ban on the passage of Western goods to Russia and "from the overseas people of all kinds of servicemen." It was proposed to convene an ambassadorial congress and discuss the issues before the arbitrators. Only on such conditions did Moscow agree to extend the ceasefire. But the Order ignored these proposals and defiantly confirmed all trade sanctions.
In 1554, the Moscow government decided to increase pressure on Livonia. For this they used the question of "Yuryev's tribute". When it arose, it is not known exactly. Novgorod and Pskov have repeatedly fought their own wars with Livonia in the past. In one of the battles, the Pskovites defeated Bishop Dorpat (previously the Russian Yuryev, founded by the Russian prince Yaroslav the Wise, he called the settlement Yuryev after his Christian name), and he pledged to pay tribute. The tribute was mentioned in the agreements between Pskov and the bishop in the 1460s - 1470s, and in 1503 it was included in the agreement between the Order and the Russian state. They had already forgotten about the tribute, but Viskovaty and Adashev found this point in old documents. Moreover, they also interpreted it in their own way. Previously, the territory of the Baltic was the Russian outskirts, the Russians founded Kolyvan (Revel-Tallinn), Yuryev-Derpt and other cities. Later they were captured by the German crusaders. Adashev and Viskovaty interpreted the story differently and told the Livonians: the tsar's ancestors allowed the Germans to settle on their land, subject to the payment of tribute and demanded "arrears" for 50 years.
To the attempts of the Livonians to object, Adashev sharply answered: if you do not pay the tribute, the emperor himself will come for it. The Livonians got cold feet and made concessions. Livonia restored free trade, pledged to restore destroyed Orthodox churches, and refused military alliances with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden. The Dorpat bishop had to pay the tribute, and the Grand Master and Archbishop of Riga had to see to it. The money was collected for 3 years. When the ambassadors brought such an agreement to the Livonian rulers, they were dumbfounded. The sum for half a century has run over a huge amount, for each year "a German hryvnia from the head" of the Dorpat population. And it wasn't just about money. According to the then legal norms, the payer of tribute was a vassal of the one to whom he pays.
But the Livonians did not want to incur Moscow's anger either. Russia at this time was on the rise. The central government strengthened, the military-economic power grew every year. The time of restoration of the great Russian empire began, after the time of troubles - a period of feudal fragmentation. Moscow became the legal successor of the Horde Empire, Russia - a huge continental (Eurasian) empire.
The Livonian authorities decided to cheat. They swore an oath to the Russian ambassador that they would fulfill all the conditions. But they left themselves a loophole - they said that the treaty was not valid until it was approved by the emperor, since the Order was part of the German Empire. And Livonia did not fulfill the accepted conditions. The local authorities, the knights, had long since become traders, had the closest contacts as traders and did not want to lose huge profits from intermediary trade. As a result, city magistrates upheld all restrictions imposed on Russians. Moreover, no one was going to collect some kind of tribute and restore Orthodox churches at their own expense. Moscow, on the other hand, was connected by wars with Kazan, Astrakhan, the Crimean horde, which means that it could not deal with Livonia yet.
On the whole, the policy of the weak, decayed Order was stupid. Russia became stronger every year, restoring the position of a great power. And Livonia did not reckon with the treaties, angered its powerful neighbor, while the Livonians were not preparing to fight. We thought that everything would be the same. Even if it comes to war, there will be no catastrophic consequences, it will somehow carry it over. They hoped for strong fortresses and castles. Bishops, cities and merchants did not want to fork out for a strong army. The Order as a military force completely disintegrated. The Livonian knights boasted to each other of the "glory of their ancestors", their castles, weapons, but they forgot how to fight. The order master, bishops, fochts, commanders and city authorities lived autonomously, fought for power and their rights.
The Livonian Confederation itself began to fall apart. Polish King Sigismund II held secret negotiations with Archbishop Wilhelm of Riga. As a result, the archbishop appointed Christoph of Mecklenburg (a protege of the Poles) as his deputy and successor. Subsequently, becoming an archbishop, Christoph had to transform the archbishopric into a principality dependent on Poland. These plans soon ceased to be a secret, a big scandal erupted. Grand Master Fürstenberg gathered the knights, attacked the archbishop and captured him, along with his deputy Christoph. However, Poland threatened war. The master could not gather an army, Livonia was helpless before Poland. In September 1556, the master publicly apologized to the Polish king and signed an agreement. The archbishopric was returned to William. Livonia granted Lithuania free trade and entered into an anti-Russian alliance with it. Also, the Livonians pledged not to let military goods and Western specialists into Russia. Thus, Livonia violated all the terms of the truce with Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia has once again strained relations with Sweden. The Swedes decided that Moscow was completely bogged down in the east, its affairs were bad and it was time to seize the favorable moment. Since 1555, the Swedes began to plunder and seize the Russian border lands, meadows and fishing. When the peasants tried to fight back, their villages were burned. The governor of Novgorod, Prince Paletsky, sent ambassador Kuzmin to Stockholm to King Gustav with a protest, but he was arrested. The Swedish king was offended that he had to deal with the Novgorod governor, and not the Russian tsar. In Sweden, the war party prevailed. There were "joyful" rumors that the Russian army was defeated by the Tatars, that Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich either died, or he was overthrown and the turmoil began. Like, it's time to take advantage of the situation.
Swedish troops crossed the border. Novgorod detachments at the border were defeated. The Swedes rampaged in Karelia. The Swedish fleet of Admiral Jacob Bagge in the spring of 1555 marched into the Neva and landed troops. The Swedish corps laid siege to Oreshek. But the rumors about the catastrophic situation in Russia did not come true. Nut resisted, Russian troops came to his aid. They put heavy pressure on the Swedish corps, the enemy suffered heavy losses and fled. A large army was assembled in Novgorod. But the Swedes continued to fight, hoping for the support of Poland and Livonia (they promised support, but deceived). Russian troops invaded Swedish Finland, in January 1556 defeated the Swedes near Vyborg and laid siege to the enemy fortress. Swedish territories were severely devastated.
Gustav prayed for peace. Moscow agreed to negotiate. In March 1557, a peace treaty was signed for a period of 40 years. The treaty as a whole maintained the status quo, but it was clear who won the war. The old border was restored, the Russian prisoners were released, the Swedes ransomed their own. We agreed on mutual free trade between the two states and on free passage through them to other lands. The Swedish rabbit was humiliated for his former pride - he did not want to negotiate with the governor of Novgorod. They wrote that dealing with Novgorod was "not dishonor, but an honor" for him, because the suburbs of Novgorod (Pskov and Ustyug) are "larger than Stekolny" (Stockholm), and the governors are "children and grandchildren of the sovereigns of Lithuania, Kazan and Russia." The Swedish king, "not as a reproach, but solely for reason … how long has he traded in oxen?" (Gustav was elevated to the throne by the rebels.) Gustav had to forget about his pride, until the Russians once again poured into the Swedes. On January 1, 1558, the treaty with Sweden entered into force.
The Livonians, seeing the strength of Moscow on the example of Sweden, became worried. The term for the payment of the "yuryeva tribute" was expiring. The Order tried to challenge it again, but Moscow did not even listen to the Livonian ambassadors. Then the Russian Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich broke off trade with Livonia, forbade the Pskov and Novgorod merchants to travel there. The restoration of the Ivangorod fortress began. Troops began to gather on the western border. New negotiations were again unsuccessful.
The beginning of the war
In January 1558, 40 thousand. The Russian army under the command of the Kasimov king Shig-Alei (Shah-Ali), prince M. V. Glinsky and boyar Daniel Romanovich Zakharyin invaded Livonia. New subjects of Moscow were involved in the campaign - Kazan Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Kabardians, Circassians, allied Nogais. Novgorod and Pskov hunters (as the volunteers were called) joined. In a month, Russian troops passed along the route Marienburg - Neuhausen - Dorpat - Wesenberg - Narva. Russian troops did not reach Riga and Reval a little. At the same time, the Russian army did not take fortified cities and fortresses, so as not to linger. The unfortified settlements of cities and villages were smashed. It was a reconnaissance and punitive campaign aimed at punishing the Order for its antics and forcing it to accept Moscow's conditions. Livonia was devastated.
In February, the troops returned to the Russian borders, seizing huge booty and leading crowds of prisoners. After that, on the instructions of the king, Shig-Alei acted as if in the role of a mediator - he wrote to the rulers of the Order that they should blame themselves, since they violated the agreements, but if they want to improve, then it is not too late, let them send delegates. Having learned about the sending of an ambassador to Moscow from the master, Shig-Alei ordered to stop the hostilities.
Initially, it seemed that the war would stop there. The Extraordinary Landtag of the Livonian Order decided to collect 60 thousand thalers for settlement with Moscow in order to end the outbreak of war and conclude peace. However, by May, only half of the required amount had been collected. Worse, the Livonians felt they were safe in the fortresses. That the Russians were afraid to storm their strong fortresses and fled. That they actually "won". The Narva garrison fired at the Russian Ivangorod fortress, thereby violating the armistice agreement. The Russian army prepared for a new campaign.
