Preamble:
The state was saved by unknown people defending the Russian Orthodox faith

Text from the film "Minin and Pozharsky. Liberators".
1612 Russian cities were devastated and plundered. Moscow, the capital of Rus', was burned. Officially, the country is ruled by the Boyar Duma. In reality, several noble boyar families were protected by the sabers of the Polish king Sigismund. There are three patriarchs in the country at the same time. In Pskov, the third False Dmitry is preparing to take the Russian throne.

The Russian people will later call all this confusion the Troubles. Everything is collapsing: the state, the Orthodox faith, national independence. Russia urgently needs people who can unite the people, inspire them to fight, and force them to fight back against strangers. It was given to them, the people's heroes, to lead the country out of chaos.

To the 400th anniversary of the end of the Time of Troubles

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: The most recognizable monument in the country, on the most important square in Russia. Bronze heroes decorate school textbooks, stamps, postcards, and banknotes. Monuments are still erected to them, paintings and poetry are dedicated to them. A meat merchant who caused irritation among the Russian princes and malicious laughter among the Poles. And a minor official at court who served the dress to the king, received the mocking nickname “Lame” for his injury. Butcher and solicitor. Minin and Pozharsky. Why did these people determine the fate of Russia? To understand this, we will follow in the footsteps of the liberation movement.

1612 The country is ruled by a boyar duma, consisting of seven boyars, in common parlance - the seven-boyars. It was they who overthrew the throne and tonsured the last elected Tsar Vasily Shuisky as a monk.
They also invited the son of the Polish king Sigismund, Vladislav, to the throne.

The most powerful state in Eastern Europe, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, has already occupied the entire west of Rus'. Poles rob cities, rape Russian women. The northern lands are occupied by the Swedes. The cities of Zamoskovsk were devastated by the civil war: supporters of the next False Dmitry, Cossacks and simply hungry people.

The turmoil began with turmoil within the country. Inside Russian minds. In the fight of the elites. In the struggle of the lower classes against the upper classes. In the struggle of various ruling factions. The whole society was in confusion. In turmoil.

Only a few cities manage to withstand the onslaught of troubles. Among them is a large shopping center on the Volga - Nizhny Novgorod.

Friends and brothers! The people of Nizhny Novgorod. I call on the brave to go and liberate Moscow.

Kuzma Minin’s speech on the Nizhny Novgorod square near the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery is perhaps one of the most pathetic scenes in Russian history. Minin calls on his fellow countrymen to gather an army and lead it to liberate Moscow. Meanwhile, the Polish garrison has been stationed in the capital for a year. Why do Nizhny Novgorod residents decide to ring the bells only now? The answer is simple.

In the middle of 1611, it became finally clear: the Poles, putting on the Russian crown, were not at all going to accept Orthodoxy. On the contrary, they want to instill Catholicism in Rus'.

According to Polish laws, in principle, the king could not be Orthodox. Sigismund was such a neophyte Catholic. The family was Protestant, and he was a fanatical Catholic. In my heart I regretted that there was no Inquisition in Poland.

This news outrages the people. But who should stand up for the faith? There are three patriarchs in the country at this moment. False Dmitry I elevated Ignatius to patriarch. Filaret was named Tushino Thief. The third patriarch, Hermogenes, is the most implacable opponent of Polish power.

Andrey Sakharov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences: The name of Hermogenes was, indeed, the name of a patriot, the name of an indestructible man who advocated for Russia to maintain its sovereignty and preserve its dynasty. He was not against Vladislav at first, provided that the Polish prince on the Russian throne accepted Orthodoxy and married an Orthodox woman. But when everything turned out differently, when the Poles began open intervention, Hermogenes called for resistance. Called for a fight.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: Hermogenes begins a real information war. He writes and distributes hundreds of such letters throughout the country. The text in them is so heartfelt and convincing that if the messenger who dared to carry them was captured, he would inevitably lose his head. Each letter ends with the words: “Speak in my name everywhere.”

Many spoke in the name of Hermogenes. Spontaneous protests against the power of the Poles broke out in many cities, but only the Nizhny Novgorod beef, a small meat merchant, and at the same time the city mayor, Kuzma Minin, was able to truly rouse the people to fight.

Yuri Eskin, Deputy Director of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: A zemstvo elder in a Russian city of that time is, to some extent, an analogue of an elected mayor. In a Russian city at the end of the 16th and 17th centuries there was a voivode, which is approximately a governor. The zemstvo elder was in charge of the townsman population, that is, merchants and artisans. Their trade disputes, the registration of their transactions, the collection of taxes from them and the transfer of these taxes to the treasury. Raising money for the improvement and maintenance of the city.

We can only guess why people chose a simple butcher for such a status position. As the chronicler writes: “Minin was not a famous man by birth, but he was wise, intelligent and pagan.”

Moscow. October 1611.

By the autumn of 1611, the boyar Duma was like on hot coals. The Seven Boyars are losing power. The Kremlin, Kitay-Gorod, White City, Novodevichy Convent are occupied by eight thousand foreign troops. Officially, these are peacekeeping forces that ensure the accession of Prince Vladislav. In reality it is a military dictatorship.

There is also unrest outside the Kremlin. Moscow is a complete ashes. This is a reminder of the first unsuccessful popular attempt to liberate the capital in March 1611. Then, in order to extinguish the riot, the Poles had to set fire to the city.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: Sretenka was the last to surrender. The detachment of Dmitry Pozharsky did not allow her to be set on fire. Lubyanka, 14. The Pozharskys once had a house here, but to this day only the basements have survived. Pozharsky defends his native piece of land with all his might until he loses consciousness due to a severe wound.

It’s already autumn, and the prince is still healing the wounds received during the days of the heroic defense of Moscow. The one on the leg is especially difficult to heal. The lameness will remain for life. And Pozharsky will receive the nickname - Lame.

Dmitry Pozharsky was Rurikovich in the 20th generation. Like all children from noble families, Pozharsky began his service as a dress lawyer. There were several dozen such lawyers. They all helped the king get dressed. Typically, this rank was received at the age of 15 and was not worn for long. Prince Dmitry was already over twenty, and he was still a solicitor. Afterwards he fell into disgrace with Tsar Godunov, was removed from the court and sent to guard the southern borders.

The prince had more to do with military affairs than his duties at court. His valor was noticed: Pozharsky was soon sent as governor to the city of Zaraysk.

Prince Dmitry was a man of impeccable reputation. During the entire time of the Troubles, he never once pestered either the Poles, or the Swedes, or the Russian liars. Was not noticed in boyar intrigues. Did not participate in the massacre of the Godunovs. Until the last he was faithful to Vasily Shuisky. And even when Shuisky was forcibly tonsured a monk, Pozharsky did not renounce him.

For these qualities, Minin singles out Pozharsky from all the governors of the country. And he sends ambassadors to Yuryino, the prince’s family estate. But Pozharsky refuses to lead the militia.

Firstly, the prince hears the name Minin for the first time.
Secondly, he finds out that he is a simple townsman.

How so, some townsman. But he was, practically, from the very bottom of the townspeople. Suddenly he led the militia without asking his superiors. Voivodes of the same Nizhny Novgorod. And he took the initiative into his own hands. That is, over the heads.

But despite this, Dmitry Mikhailovich still decides to think. He collects information about Kuzma Minin. He checks whether he is a worthy person, what he does for the common cause and whether he can be trusted.

Nizhny Novgorod. October 1611.

While the prince is thinking, the practical and prudent Minin begins collecting funds. But even with his business sense, he cannot imagine how much money he will have to get. There are only 750 archers in the Nizhny Novgorod garrison. The enemy could not be overcome with such numbers - an army was needed, and funds were required to maintain it.

The authorities had the right to impose an emergency tax - the so-called “Pyatina”, “Pyatinaya money”. That is, everyone gave a fifth, 20% of the valuation of all movable and immovable property. And these were irreversible losses of the population. Well, so to speak - for the needs of the state. And Minin, in fact, in Nizhny Novgorod followed exactly this path.

Everything that has been acquired is here. Give me the money. Whoever takes pity on them will lose everything.

And this is in conditions when the country is in not only a political, but also an economic crisis. Until recently, six pounds of rye cost 10 kopecks, now it costs more than 3 rubles. Minin himself donates his entire treasury, his son’s money, his wife’s jewelry and silver icon frames to the militia.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: The general collection of funds to fight the invaders is what we call today a people’s militia. It is incorrect to believe that everyone who could bear arms was recruited into the Russian army. The army was professional, but the collection of funds for its maintenance was truly nationwide.

Minin was quite harsh with those who refused to part with money: he ordered them to be taken into custody and all property to be confiscated.

What, you scoundrel, are you pinching pennies?

Few people know, but Kuzma even treated his own brothers cruelly. For trying to resolve the issue in their own way, Minin threatened to cut off their hands.

Sergey Zverev, head. Department of Numismatics and Archeology of the Moscow Kremlin Museums: Minin literally gnawed this money out of people. Imagine that now, in a single impulse, everyone must give away 20% of all their property. For the needs of the state. Well, it’s hard to believe that they will happily do this. Naturally, there was no great joy then either, especially since not everyone supported these ideas. There were supporters of the prince Vladislav, who was already considered to be the tsar in Moscow, there were supporters of the Swedish prince Karl Philip, on whose behalf affairs were carried out in Novgorod, there were supporters of Marina Mnishek’s son from False Dmitry II - he was called the “warren”.

Minin's practicality, determination, and willingness to achieve goals at any cost make Pozharsky believe in the success of the liberation movement. Contrary to all class principles, when a person’s social status is more important than his affairs, Prince Pozharsky responds to the call of the butcher Minin with consent. He goes to Nizhny Novgorod to lead the second people's militia.

The fact that a people's militia was maturing in Nizhny Novgorod by February 1612 was no longer a secret for Moscow. But how can this be prevented? The fastest way is to destroy the enemy ideologically.

The boyars demand that the Head of the Church anathematize the militia leaders. But Hermogenes reaction turned out to be the opposite - instead of Minin and Pozharsky, he cursed the boyar elite and the Polish garrison.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: Unable to openly deal with the patriarch, the boyars doom him to starvation. A sheaf of unthreshed oats and a bucket of water - per week. That's all they bring down into the underground cell of the eighty-year-old old man. But Hermogenes, even from prison, continues to write and send out his incriminating letters through people loyal to him.

In February the patriarch dies.
The news of this forces the militia to move from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow.

From Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow is about 400 kilometers. Not so far even by the standards of 17th century Rus'. But instead of liberating the Kremlin in one fell swoop, the people’s army for some reason goes to a completely different city and stays there for 4 months. However, such a decision by the governor seems short-sighted only at first glance.

Yaroslavl. April 1612.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Yaroslavl was the second largest city in Russia, bringing in more than half of the state treasury's revenues. Not surprising, since the only free trade route to the sea passes through it. Therefore, this is where the militia is sent and where they gain strength.

Andrey Sakharov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Dmitry Makhailovich Pozharsky and Kozma Minin were people with strategic thinking and they went through those areas, up the Volga, which were Old Russian areas that were not associated with either the Poles or the Tushino people. Which could be relied upon, which themselves could become targets of attack by Polish troops.

Yaroslavl has been declared the alternative capital of Rus'. The Council of the Whole Earth acts as the people's government. It includes representatives of all cities that challenged the Poles. The militia camp already includes Vyazma, Tver, Rzhev, Kashin, Uglich, Vologda, Galich, Tula, Vladimir, Temnikov.

Volga and Siberian Tatars, Bashkirs and Maris, Mordovians and Udmurts come to Yaroslavl. The militia is becoming truly national.

Alexander Malov, senior researcher at the Center for Military History of the Russian Academy of Sciences: There is a well-known axiom - money is the blood of war. This also applies to mercenary troops, this also applies to our own troops, which need to be fed. If you can persuade the nobles who served in the Fatherland, who serve from generation to generation, to be patient, then you cannot persuade the horses to be patient. They are not so characterized by a sense of patriotism and other emotions - they just want to eat. If you don't feed them, they will fall or refuse to fight.

Minin understands that no amount of patriotic inspiration will gather troops if they have nothing to eat. From time immemorial, servicemen were fed by estates, but in conditions of civil war the land does not bring anything - only hard cash is important. And the main financier of the militia takes unprecedented measures - he promises everyone who joins the ranks money unimaginable in troubled times: from 35 to 50 rubles, depending on military merit.

Nikolay Dutov, Associate Professor, Faculty of History, Yaroslavl Pedagogical University: The militia received very good money. Well, suffice it to say that the average salary of our militias stationed in Yaroslavl was 3 to 5 times greater than that of those militias stationed near Moscow, near Trubetskoy and Zarussky. And they envied the Yaroslavl militias. Some of the militias from near Moscow came here for big money.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: Practical Minin knew how to attract professional military men. After all, even one kopeck from the early 17th century is a respectable denomination. It may weigh only 0.68 grams, but it can buy a chicken, a dozen eggs or a whole cart of cucumbers. And for 3 - 4 rubles you could buy a good war horse.

It was especially important that salaries in the militia were paid in advance. The servants knew that they would not be deceived and went to Pozharsky’s camp. To ensure uninterrupted payments, Minin decides to mint his own money.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: The kopeck from the times of the Yaroslavl era is slightly lighter than those that were in use before the Time of Troubles. And this is also Minin’s practical mind - there is less silver, and the number of kopecks is growing. On one side of the coin it was customary to depict a horseman with a spear, and on the other - the profile of the king. But whose? If all contenders for the throne are impostors. The choice fell on the last of the Rurikovichs. Tsar Fedor may have been in the grave for ten years, but it is he who is perceived by the people as the last legitimate ruler.

Despite all the efforts of Minin, the expenses of the militia treasury are still greater than its income. Kuzma hopes to replenish it in monasteries. Ipatievsky, Antoniev-Siysky and Kalyazinsky monasteries are ready to make their contribution. But now they themselves need help. Both interventionists and supporters of the false king are trying to profit from the treasuries of churches.

1612 Russian cities were devastated and plundered. Moscow, the capital of Rus', was burned.
Officially, the country is ruled by the Boyar Duma. In reality, several noble boyar families were protected by the sabers of the Polish king Sigismund. There are three patriarchs in the country at the same time. In Pskov, the third False Dmitry is preparing to take the Russian throne. The Russian people will later call all this confusion the Troubles.

Everything is collapsing: the state, the Orthodox faith, national independence. Russia urgently needs people who can unite the people, inspire them to fight, and force them to fight back against strangers. It was given to them, the people's heroes, to lead the country out of chaos.

Perhaps the one that suffered the most during the years of unrest was the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, in those years it was still just the Trinity Monastery. she would later be called a laurel for the enormous role she played in the fate of the country.

For 16 months the monastery fought off the foreigners and supporters of False Dmitry II who besieged it.

Vladimir Tkachenko, researcher at the Sergiev Posad State Museum-Reserve: Since it was known that this monastery was very rich, they decided to stop near it and try to capture it. Having won two points here, firstly to get rich, and secondly, this monastery was the only stone fortress, at that time, between Moscow and the Volga. That is, it could serve as a very good base for them.

Those who defended the monastery witnessed a miracle: one day a cannonball flew into the temple, hit the icon, but fell apart without harming it. This event became a sign of liberation. Indeed, the Trinity Monastery withstood the trials of battle and hunger, although not everyone managed to survive. Of the three and a half thousand of his defenders, two and a half laid down their heads.

But had the Holy Trinity Monastery surrendered, events could have developed completely differently. Foreigners would have secured a complete blockade of Moscow from the east and control over the northern regions of Rus'. The people said: “If God saved the Lavra, then the truth is on its side, and therefore on the side of Pozharsky, whose troops are going to defend the citadel of faith.”

Minin does everything to clothe the warriors, put them on shoes and feed them. And yet wars are won not only by the well-established life of soldiers. Military affairs, hardening, discipline, strict execution of orders - all these concepts were supplanted over many years by the anarchy of the Time of Troubles. Pozharsky has to organize the army practically from scratch.

Traditionally, the basis of the Russian army is the local cavalry. Warriors begin their service at the age of fifteen and devote their entire lives to it.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: The main weapon of the local cavalry is the bow and arrow. Attempts to convert the army to firearms were made back in the 16th century. However, the servicemen resist. Squeaks, muskets, pistols - all this is considered a sign of the low status of their owner. Therefore, the boyars disdainfully give them into the hands of their slaves, and, out of habit, they themselves take a quiver and a bow.

Interesting fact. The seventeenth century was essentially the era of mercenary armies. This is how Hungarians, Lithuanians and Germans fought in the camp of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Pozharsky takes a different path - only residents of Russian lands were accepted into his militia.

Yuri Eskin, Deputy Director of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: Minin and Pozharsky said: “No guys, get out of here - we don’t need people like that. They can change on the battlefield if they are lured with extra gold and go to the other side.”

But the commander-in-chief of the people's army invites foreigners who are more skilled in military affairs as military instructors. Swedish officers teach Russians to march in formation and shoot accurately.

Moscow. April 1612.

Meanwhile, the Polish army continues to spread fear and terror. Villages were devastated, fields were trampled by cavalry, all food supplies in Moscow were burned during the townsman rebellion. Despite this, the Polish mercenaries demand that they be paid the promised salary. The boyars have no choice but to pay with the Kremlin’s treasures. Jewels, inlaid weapons, works of art by ancient masters go to foreigners.

Yuri Eskin, Deputy Director of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: They behaved, in general, as occupiers usually behave. First of all, they were interested in money. If there was as much money in the Kremlin as they needed in payment, they would have taken the money, but since there was no money in the form of coins there, they sawed up silver and gold things from the palace. Naturally, they stripped all the palaces that were in the Kremlin - everything that was possible. And so on and so forth. But. Some things, for example, Monomakh's hat, a scepter, an orb and some other things were left behind. Why? What should I present to the king? Vladislav Sigismundovich.

Denunciations are coming from spies in Moscow that Yaroslavl is growing stronger. Not only the Poles are in alarm, but also the leaders of the scattered Russian detachments - the remnants of the first militia. They find it unpleasant and insulting that Pozharsky, inferior in nobility and wealth, managed to gather a strong army and win the trust of the people. That is, to do what they themselves failed to do. The envy becomes so strong that one of the governors comes up with an insidious plan.

Yaroslavl. June 1612.

Everything happened suddenly. Pozharsky inspects guns in the exit yard for shipment to Moscow. As always, he is surrounded by many people. Suddenly, as if having slipped, Pozharsky’s assistant, bleeding, falls to the ground. In the chaos, it is not immediately clear what happened. Pozharsky miraculously escaped certain death.

Dissatisfaction with Pozharsky is also brewing in his own camp. The militia has been stationed in Yaroslavl for four months now. But the time comes when it is simply impossible to hesitate - scouts bring news that help is rushing to the Polish garrison in the Kremlin. Along the Smolensk road, Hetman Khodkevich is approaching Moscow with his army.

After praying, Minin and Pozharsky lead the militia on the road. According to the tradition of the time, the army did not go on any campaign without an intercessor icon. And the leaders of the militia choose an icon, the story of which is like a fairy tale.

Thirty-three years ago an unprecedented fire blazed in Kazan. The Kremlin, the church, and many houses burned down. The nine-year-old girl Matrona, the daughter of one of the fire victims, dreamed of the Mother of God and ordered her to go to the ashes. In the morning, the girl went to the place indicated by the Mother of God and found an icon on the site of the burnt house. They cleared it of dust and soil and carried it to the church. On the way to the temple, as they say, the first miracle happened - two blind men walking along the same road received their sight. It became clear that the icon was miraculous.

At that time, in the Kazan church, where the icon was brought, an ordinary priest Ermolai served. He was the first to tell the world about the wonderful icon. And it is he who, by the will of fate, will become Patriarch Hermogenes. Yes, yes, the same Hermogenes who will become an irreconcilable fighter against the Seven Boyars. Who will be imprisoned in the cell of the Chudov Monastery. Where will he send out those famous letters with messages to the people blessing them for the fight against the interventionists?

In Pozharsky’s choice, the people saw a sign - the Kazan icon helps open their eyes to what is happening in the country.

Zamoskvorechye. August 1612.

The Kremlin resembles a haunted castle. The boyars sign decrees, their safety is guarded by the Polish garrison. But this is all a game without meaning. The provisional government has no longer held power over the country. The boyars care only about their own well-being and the main question: will the Poles be able to bring bread to the Kremlin?

Yuri Eskin, Deputy Director of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: A dilapidated city, logs lying everywhere, broken huts and these carts. there were more than 600 carts with everything: food, clothes, boots, weapons. A huge number of barrels of wine.

From the bell tower of Ivan the Great, the hetman's convoys are already visible. Carts with food stretch in a long line. Prince Dmitry positioned his main forces on Prechistenka, blocking Khodkevich’s path to the Kremlin.

The Moscow Kremlin of the 17th century is the most powerful fortress in Eastern Europe. The heart of the city is a hill surrounded by a wall of baked bricks. Its height is 19 meters, thickness - 6.5 meters. Narrow loopholes, battlefields. Measured step of the towers. Everything is designed to effectively repel the enemy.

The commercial part of Moscow, from the northeast, is surrounded by another, the China Town Wall. Built of brick, with internal stone backing. At a distance of 5 kilometers from the Hill, the city is surrounded by a ten-kilometer semicircle of the White City wall. Its height is 10 meters, thickness - 6 meters. There are 27 watchtowers along the perimeter. Along the wall is a moat filled with water. From the south, the semi-ring of the White City is closed by the Moscow River.

The fourth defense is the wooden wall of the Zemlyanoy City, with an embankment and 34 towers. The approaches to the city fortifications are covered by fortress-monasteries: Svyato-Danilov, Spas in Andronniki, Novo-Devichy, Donskoy, Novo-Spassky and Simonov.

Konstantin Averyanov, leading researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences: They, of course, could not serve as any long-term fortifications, but they served as a kind of defensive outposts. That is, when the enemy approached, signals were given in the monasteries. Both Muscovites and special guards closed the gates and Moscow turned out to be a fortified fortress.

It is almost impossible to take Moscow, protected by walls, by force. The Poles who have taken refuge in the Kremlin understand this. Pozharsky knows this too. The main weapon in the battle for the city is neither cavalry, nor squeaks, nor cannons - the most powerful thing is hunger. Only he can lure the enemy out of the defensive lines. All food supplies burned in Moscow during the days of the spontaneous riot. The flames with which the Poles defended themselves from the first militia destroyed them themselves a year later.

The only chance of survival for the royal army is the food train. For Pozharsky, allowing carts with bread into the city is tantamount to the collapse of all hopes. The commander orders the militia to cut off the Poles' path at any cost.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: The main equipment of the local cavalry is the tegelai. A quilted caftan stuffed with horsehair protected against minor injuries. Helmet - Jericho. Weapons include a pistol and a saber. This equipment is not much different from the equipment of the Polish hussar. But. The Poles are strong in military training. And Pozharsky is worried whether his army will survive.

Yuri Eskin, Deputy Director of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: It wasn’t even about the army, they were going against the best commander in Eastern Europe - Jan Karl Chodkiewicz. He was a brilliant commander who beat everyone he met: Hungarians, Swedes, Germans - anyone. And, of course, they were afraid to go against him.

Meanwhile, there is discord in the militia camp. The commander of the Cossack detachments, Prince Trubetskoy, invites Pozharsky to his camp near the Crimean Bridge. But Pozharsky resolutely rejects such a proposal. After the assassination attempt in Yaroslavl, there is no longer any trust in the Cossacks - the prince can only rely on the strength of his army.

The Poles cross the Moscow River in the area of ​​​​the Devichye Pole and rush to Kitay-Gorod. An avalanche of winged hussars is rushing towards the Russian army. The shock of the first attack forces the people's militia to retreat back. The Poles are literally pushing the Russians onto the city streets. In such conditions, the cavalry simply cannot fight, and then Pozharsky orders his men to dismount and continue the battle. The militia is in desperate need of help. And Prince Trubetskoy stands on the right bank of the Moscow River and calmly watches what is happening.

Yuri Eskin, Deputy Director of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: Trubekoy hesitated, apparently afraid of being left without these hundreds, not relying on his Cossacks. And he held them.

The outcome of the battle is still decided by Trubetskoy’s horse hundreds, but without permission. Without waiting for the prince's order, they rush to the aid of their fellow countrymen. Fresh Russian forces force Khodkiewicz to retreat, but not to lose hope of breaking into the Kremlin. A day later, the armies meet in the second, decisive battle. And again the advantage is on the side of the Polish forces.

The hetman breaks into the city at the Serpukhov Gate and hurries to bring carts with food into Zamoskvorechye. The Zemstvo troops are in a desperate situation - if the Poles receive provisions, everything will be meaningless, the last hope of regaining the country's independence will be destroyed.

Valery Nesterenko, People's Artist of Russia, author of the painting "Deliverance from the Time of Troubles": Of course, the Poles were stronger, because, firstly, in the rear of the Russians there was the Kremlin, where there were Poles with cannons and artillery. Moreover, this was not the last army in Poland - more could have been brought, and more. And for the Russians this was the last thing that could be collected. And, of course, the colossal responsibility that lay with Pozharsky is simply difficult to imagine.

But it is precisely at such a fateful moment that Russian soldiers do the unthinkable - having gathered their last strength, they repel the enemy.

Nikita Panfilov, presenter: The outcome of the battle will be decided here, on the corner of Klementovsky Lane and Pyatnitskaya Street. The Kremlin is literally a stone's throw away - just one kilometer. The situation was further complicated by the fact that a garrison from the Kremlin came out to meet Khodkevich. The Poles only had to take the fort from the Church of St. Clement and they succeeded. They hoisted their flag over the church. This outrage against faith aroused such anger among the militia that they literally threw the hetman’s troops back. Khodkevich lost 700 people in the battle; he will never come closer to the Kremlin.

At the critical moment of the fight, Minin also does not stand aside. He asks Pozharsky for three hundred equestrian nobles. The determination of a man from the people is so amazing that, despite all class prejudices, the nobles unquestioningly stand under his command.

As the chronicle says, he was an unskilled man in military matters, but he was brave and daring. Minin was so passionate about the idea of ​​self-sacrifice, he captivated everyone so much that the prince said: “There are 300 people, a detachment of 300 nobles, please take it, it’s not a pity.

In the evening, Minin's detachment quietly crosses the Moscow River and strikes. Moreover, it was so sudden that the Polish companies did not even have time to take the fight and retreated in panic. Taking advantage of the confusion of the Poles, the attack is picked up by other militia units. The Hetman's army flees, leaving behind the convoy, artillery, banners and tents.

As the chronicler writes: “Khotkevich, biting his brad with his teeth and scratching his face with his nails,” leaves Moscow in complete despair. Through spies, he promises the Kremlin to return, but this is no longer destined to come true.

Valery Nesterenko, People's Artist of Russia, author of the painting "": The huge army was so discouraged, disorganized and in some kind of horror, literally mystical, fled to Smolensk. As the chronicle says, after this attack, having mixed ranks, everyone fled and stood in their saddles at the Donskoy Monastery all night. In the morning, without waiting for dawn, they took off and stopped at Vyazma. Then we came to our senses near Smolensk.

Moscow. October 1612.

There hasn’t been a single horse, cat or dog left in the Kremlin for a long time. Greek parchments are used for food - the paper is boiled to extract vegetable glue from it, and leather bindings are boiled. But it is impossible to deceive the painful hunger. At the end of October, exhausted Poles open the Kremlin gates wide.

Among other captives, the youth Mikhail Romanov, sixteen years old, comes out to meet the Russian army. Fate saved him from starvation in order to make him the founder of a new dynasty of Russian tsars.

Thus, in essence, the first civil war ended victoriously. At the end of the Time of Troubles, the new legally elected Tsar Mikhail Romanov made Pozharsky a boyar and Minin a Duma nobleman. The rest of the days, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich established postal communications between cities and sorted out robbery cases. Kuzma Minin did what he knew best - on behalf of the government, he replenished the state treasury, depleted during the troubled years. And neither one nor the other ever boasted of past merits. Their paths diverged, but in people's memory they forever remained one.

Pozharsky and Minin. Prince and merchant. Together and forever.

The material is a reprint of the film “Minin and Pozharsky. Liberators" duration 43 minutes 50 seconds
You can download the film in mp4 format using this link from Yandex.Disk

Meanwhile, the country remained without a government. The Poles captured the Kremlin, and the boyar Duma was abolished by itself. The state, having lost its center, disintegrated into its component parts. By this time, the Swedes had captured Novgorod, and the Poles, after a months-long siege, had captured Smolensk. The Polish king Sigismund III announced that he himself would become the Russian Tsar, and Russia would become part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In the fall of 1611, the townsman of Nizhny Novgorod, Kozma Minin, addressed the Russian people and called on them to create a second militia. The owner of a decent capital for that time, the owner of two households, a meat merchant and a fish merchant, he always enjoyed the reputation of a man of impeccable honesty.

Wake up, Rus'! Word to the Russian people, 1613. Kuzma Minin “Men, brothers, you see and feel what great trouble the whole state is now in and what fear there is in the future, that we can easily fall into the eternal slavery of the Poles, Swedes or Jews, through which not only our property, but also our lives lost and in the future, especially all the circumstances leading to this. Moreover, the oppression and ruin of the laws of Rus' and the faith of the Orthodox Church are due to be oppressed and ruined. And the reason for this is none other than from great envy and madness, in the beginning between the main state administrators, the malice and hatred that occurred who, having forgotten the fear of God, loyalty to the Fatherland and their honor and the glory of their ancestors, persecuted one another, called upon the enemies of the Fatherland for help, foreign sovereigns. Or maybe someone else would like to choose Turkish or Jewish for their own small and nasty benefit? Who, having entered Moscow and many other cities on both sides, took away such a great treasury, collected through many cities by different sovereigns, stole churches and monasteries ruined and ruined.

However, there is no need to weaken and become despondent, but calling on the all-generous God for help, apply your zealous labor and, agreeing unanimously, leaving behind your whims, seek your own and your heirs’ deliverance, not sparing your property and life. True, can anyone say what we can do? having neither money, nor troops, nor a capable commander? But I will tell you my intention: I am ready to give up my estate, everything that I have, without reserve, for the benefit and, in addition, mortgaging my house, wife and children, I am ready to give everything for the benefit and service of the Fatherland, and I am better prepared with all my family in the extreme to die of poverty, rather than to see the Fatherland in reproach and from enemies in possession.

And if we still have the same intention, then we, at least at the beginning, can have enough money, and then, seeing such our loyalty to the Fatherland, others will help out of jealousy or out of shame and fear. And if you do this in this way, then I assure you that with the help of Almighty God we can easily add greater, more than all wealth, peace of conscience and immortal glory to ourselves and our heirs, destroy our enemies and pacify the invaders who innocently shed our blood.”

Minin allocated a third of his property to organize the militia. In addition to voluntary donations, Minin proposed establishing a mandatory tax, and Nizhny Novgorod residents gave Minin the right to “impose fear on the lazy,” that is, to sell the yards of sheltering payers. The organization of the militia immediately stood on solid material foundations. All that remained was to find a worthy military leader.

At that time, 120 versts from Nizhny on his estate, Prince D.M., who had barely recovered from his wounds, lived. Pozharsky. People said about him: “An honest man, who cares about the custom, who is skilled in such matters and who has not committed treason.” It was to him that envoys from Nizhny Novgorod arrived with a request to lead the militia.

Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhailovich (11/1/1578-04/20/1642, Moscow) - statesman and military leader. He belonged to an impoverished princely family, whose descendants turned into ordinary patrimonial owners who bore the surname after their patrimony “Fire”. After the death of his father, the family moved to Moscow, where in 1593 Pozharsky entered the service. In 1598 he held the title of “solicitor with a dress”; in 1602 he was promoted to steward by Boris Godunov. The accession to the throne of False Dmitry I and Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky did not change the fate of Pozharsky.

In 1608 he was appointed governor; defeated the Polish-Lithuanian detachment near Kolomna. In 1609, he was appointed governor of Zaraysk and repelled supporters of False Dmitry II from the city. In the spring of 1611, in the vanguard of Procopius Lyapunov's militia, he went to Moscow and fought with the Polish troops of Hetman A. Gonsevsky, invited by the boyar government ("Seven Boyars"), which recognized the Polish prince Vladislav as the Russian Tsar. He distinguished himself during the battles at Lubyanka, was seriously wounded and taken to his Suzdal estate. A supporter of a strong national government who showed military talent, Pozharsky was invited by Kuzma Minin to lead the army and went to Nizhny Novgorod in the fall. In 1612 he formed and led an army that was able to defeat the Polish invaders in Moscow. At the Zemsky Sobor of 1612-1613 he played an outstanding role in the election of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov and was awarded the rank of boyar. Until 1618 he led military operations against Polish troops. Taking advantage of Pozharsky’s popularity, the government appointed him to collect “pyatina” for the needs of the devastated state. In 1615-1617 he participated in negotiations on the conclusion of the Stolbovo Peace Treaty with Sweden. He led the orders: Yamsk (1619), robbery (1636-1637), ship (1636-1637; 1640-1642). In 1628-1630 he served as a governor in Novgorod. In 1632 he again participated in the war with the Poles. One of the richest landowners, Pozharsky accepted the schema before his death and was buried in the family tomb in the Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery in Suzdal.

The military core of the second militia was a well-organized and armed petty nobility. The townspeople also played a big role in it. Over time, Cossacks and then peasants began to join the militia. The soldiers of the second people's militia went into battle under a banner on which the motto was the words: “Get up, go, fight and win.”

They decided to go to Moscow through Yaroslavl. The people of Yaroslavl met Pozharsky with icons and offered all the property they had for the common cause. Here the militia stood for several months, replenished with newly arrived forces. A provisional government of Russia, the “Council of All the Land,” was created in Yaroslavl, a state body similar to the Zemsky Sobor. The clergy and boyars played a rather insignificant role in it. The vast majority in the “Council” belonged to the petty nobility and townspeople.

Prince Pozharsky was afraid to go to Moscow while the Cossacks remained there. As it turned out, not without reason: the leader of the Cossacks, I. Zarutsky, tried to organize an assassination attempt on Pozharsky by sending hired killers. The assassination attempt failed, and Zarutsky fled from Moscow in July 1612. A little later he joined forces with Marina Mnishek’s detachment. He tried to nominate her son to the throne, then led the peasant-Cossack movement in the Don and Volga region in 1613-1614. However, the Cossacks handed him over to the government, he was captured in Astrakhan and executed. Marina Mnishek was also extradited along with Zarutsky (she died in captivity). And her son and False Dmitry II were executed in Moscow, at the Serpukhov Gate.

Meanwhile, the Polish hetman Chodkiewicz was approaching Moscow with reinforced troops and provisions for the Poles holed up in the Kremlin. Moving towards Moscow slowly and carefully, on August 20, the militia of Minin and Pozharsky approached the city. On the approaches to the capital, he was joined by units of the first militia led by Prince D. Trubetskoy. The Russian army stood along the wall of the White City to the Alekseevskaya Tower on the Moscow River. The main forces concentrated at the Arbat Gate. Khodkevich tried to cross the Moscow River at the Devichye Pole, but the Moscow archers repelled the attack, and the hetman stopped at the Donskoy Monastery.

The main battle took place a few days later in Zamoskvorechye. Khodkevich managed to reach Pyatnitskaya Street, and here a fierce battle with the Cossacks ensued. Minin at this time struck the two Lithuanian companies left in the rear, which decided the outcome of the battle. Khodkevich realized that the purpose with which he arrived in Moscow had not been achieved: he could not deliver food to the garrison. He ordered the rest of the carts to be saved and went to the Sparrow Hills. On the morning of August 25, 1612, the hetman fled from near Moscow “for the sake of his shame, straight to Lithuania.” The fate of the Polish garrison in the Moscow Kremlin, abandoned to the mercy of fate, was predetermined.

On September 15, Pozharsky sent a letter to the Poles besieged in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, in which he urged them to surrender and promised to release the entire garrison unharmed. The Poles responded to this generous letter with an arrogant refusal, confident that the hetman would return. Meanwhile, weeks passed - there was no hetman, famine began. In October it reached terrifying proportions. All the horses, cats, dogs were eaten, people gnawed on their belts, and it reached the point of cannibalism. On October 22, Trubetskoy’s Cossacks attacked Kitay-Gorod. The hungry Poles were not able to defend themselves and went to the Kremlin. This day is considered the day of the liberation of Moscow from the invaders.

The icon of the Kazan Mother of God was solemnly brought into Kitai-gorod and they vowed to build a church, which was erected opposite the Nikolsky Gate of the Kremlin. In memory of the events of October 22, the feast of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was established. (This national holiday, established in memory of the end of one of the most tragic pages of Russian history, will henceforth be celebrated on November 4 according to the new style.)

On October 25, all the Kremlin gates stood wide open - Russian troops, preceded by a religious procession, entered the Kremlin.

After the liberation of Moscow, the leaders of the militia remained in power in the capital, and throughout Russia: Prince Trubetskoy - the head of the Cossack army, Prince Pozharsky and Minin. The government of the people's militia considered its most important task to be the restoration of state power and state unity. And in December, letters were sent to all cities of the country, notifying that the best and most intelligent people should be sent from everywhere to Moscow to elect the sovereign of all Rus'.

Time of Troubles

Almost four centuries separate us from the Time of Troubles. But interest in those events does not wane. More and more generations of Soviet people draw from Russian history examples of courage and heroism, perseverance and loyalty to military duty, and learn the historical roots of the deep desire of the peoples of Russia for unity and solidarity in the face of foreign aggressors.

In 1584, Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich, nicknamed the Terrible for his tough temper, died in Moscow. With his death in the history of the Russian state, according to the definition of his contemporaries, the Time of Troubles began. Under the Time of Troubles. The Troubles meant events that took place over almost three decades - until 1613, when Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov reigned on the Russian throne.

The name of Ivan the Terrible is associated with the strengthening of autocratic power in the Russian state, accompanied by a decisive struggle against the boyars. A major statesman, Ivan IV understood that only a united country could count on asserting its independence and economic and cultural growth.

It is quite natural that such a historically progressive process aroused fierce resistance from the enemies of the unification and strengthening of the Russian state. And there were many of them: Crimean khans, supported by the Turkish Sultan, Swedish feudal lords, magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (the united Polish-Lithuanian state), German knights. And always, and everywhere among them there were sneaky, cruel, stopping at nothing Jesuits, militant agents of the Pope, who dreamed of spreading Catholicism to the vast Russian lands.

In constant combat with enemies, the national independence of the Russian state was asserted. A particularly stubborn struggle flared up for access to the Baltic Sea. The Livonian War, started by Ivan the Terrible in 1558, was fought by the Russian state against a powerful coalition of countries - Denmark, Sweden and Poland. Their forces were recruited mainly from German and other mercenaries. The war was waged in conditions of a fierce and stubborn struggle within the country - with boyar conspiracies and betrayals, which were aimed at weakening the autocracy and restoring the order of the period of feudal fragmentation.

The Livonian War, which lasted more than twenty years, and the constant raids of the Crimean khans achieved their goal: by the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Russian state was greatly weakened economically. With the establishment of autocracy, there was an intensified process of enslavement, ruin and impoverishment of the peasants.

By the 80s of the 16th century, the desolation of the central regions of the state had assumed catastrophic proportions. In the Moscow district, only 25 percent of residential peasant households remained; in the Novgorod region, up to 92 percent of them were empty. Throughout the state, up to 40 percent of arable land was uncultivated. The remaining peasants and townspeople were forced to pay taxes and taxes, and bear duties for those who fled from serfdom. Both in the countryside and in the city, the struggle between the boyars, nobles, and rich merchants who relied on the royal power, on the one hand, and the impoverished peasantry and urban poor, on the other, was intensifying.

After the death of Ivan IV the Terrible, the royal throne passed to his weak-minded, sickly son Fedor, who was unable to rule such a huge state, which was also in a state of severe economic crisis and an impending peasant war against feudal exploitation. All state affairs under Fedor were in charge of his relatives and boyars close to him. Boyar Boris Godunov, whose sister (Xenia) Tsar Fedor was married to, enjoyed especially great influence. In fact, Godunov was the sovereign ruler of Russia. He, of course, stood out among the leaders of the boyars for his love of power, intelligence and state abilities. Being one of Ivan the Terrible's closest assistants in the last years of his life, Boris Godunov enjoyed the support of supporters of a strong centralized state, and above all the nobility.

During the reign of Tsar Fedor, the struggle within the ruling elite intensified again. The princes and boyars, who had escaped the terror of the oprichnina, naturally decided that now the opportune moment had come, taking advantage of the weakness of the new tsar, to take revenge, restore their former power, and regain the political power lost under Grozny. They pinned their hopes on Tsarevich Dmitry.

Dmitry is the son of Grozny from his last wife Maria Nagoya, and Fedor is from Anastasia Romanova. When Fyodor took the royal throne, Nagiye and the two-year-old prince went to the city of Uglich, where he was raised. On May 15, 1591, nine-year-old Dmitry was found dead in the courtyard, with a knife in his throat. The commission of inquiry appointed by Godunov came to the conclusion that he died as a result of an accident. The drafted act indicated that while playing with his peers, the prince, in a fit of epilepsy, himself stumbled upon a knife. Whether this really happened is difficult to determine from surviving historical documents. According to the chroniclers, Dmitry died at the hands of hired killers sent by Godunov - Mikhail Bityagovsky, his son Danila and Nikita Kachalov, who were killed by residents of Uglich on the same day.

The death of Tsarevich Dmitry, who was the main contender in the struggle for the throne, was used by Godunov's enemies in their confrontation with him. Rumors spread throughout the cities and villages about the deliberate murder of the young prince.

In 1597, Tsar Feodor died without leaving an heir. A fierce struggle for the royal throne began among the boyar-princely nobility, in which Boris Godunov emerged victorious, relying on the support of the noble landowners. A contemporary wrote about his election as king: “Great fear seized the boyars and courtiers. They constantly expressed their desire to elect Fyodor Nikitich Romanov as Tsar.” Meanwhile, people everywhere shouted: “God save Tsar Boris!” The boyars, “fearing that the people would seize them, began to swear allegiance” to the new autocrat.

During the reign of Boris Godunov, the situation of the peasant masses sharply worsened. During the years of his reign, by the end of the 16th century, quitrent duties of rural workers almost tripled, and their best lands and meadows were expropriated by landowners. The serfdom of the peasants intensified: now both boyars and nobles could dispose of them at will. The peasants complained that the landowners “beat them and robbed their property and committed all sorts of violence.” They had no right to leave their master after the cancellation of St. George’s Day.

That is why, at the end of the 16th century, the flight of peasants and small townspeople to the outskirts of the Russian state intensified - to the Volga region and the Don steppes, to the Yaik (Ural) and Terek, to Zaporozhye, to the North and to Siberia. Flight became one of the most common forms of protest of the working masses against increasing oppression. The most indicative is the situation on the Don, where free people have been gathering for a long time, engaged in various trades, trade and war. They received the name “Cossacks” (from the Turkic - daredevil, free person) and lived in self-governing communities, founding villages, settlements, and farmsteads.

The emergence of the free Cossacks significantly weakened the feudal-serf system. An increasing number of serfs left their masters and went to the Cossacks. The Cossack regions began to pose a real threat to the feudal state. The Cossacks were always ready to confront their enemies with weapons in their hands. That is why both the Russian and Polish governments in those years waged a fierce struggle against the Cossacks, trying to exterminate them, return them to captivity, and prevent the further strengthening of the Cossack outskirts and the spread of their influence. But at the same time, Godunov’s government was forced to resort to the help of the Cossacks in repelling the raids of the Crimean Tatars, paying them the sovereign’s salary “for service”, supplying them with “fire potion” and bread.

Although some of the Cossacks entered service in the garrisons of Ukrainian cities (the so-called southern border cities; from the word “outskirts”, “Ukraine”), they were ready at any moment to oppose the Moscow government.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the situation of the country's working population deteriorated sharply due to large crop failures and a significant reduction in sown areas, especially in the central regions. In 1601, the crops were flooded with rain. The next year was just as harsh. In 1603, now due to severe drought, the crops were also destroyed. The country was struck by terrible famine and pestilence. People ate everything that could somehow satisfy their hunger - quinoa, tree bark, grass... According to contemporaries, 127 thousand people died of hunger in Moscow alone.

Fleeing from starvation, peasants and townspeople left their homes. Crowds of people filled the roads, rushing to the Don and Volga. The disaster was further aggravated by the fact that landowners and boyars, in order not to feed the hungry and thus raise the price of bread, often themselves drove their peasants from their inhabited lands, without, however, issuing them letters of release.

Despite the poor harvest, the country had enough grain reserves to prevent famine. But the boyars and landowners did not care about the suffering of the people; they sought personal enrichment and sold bread at fabulous prices. In a short time, bread prices increased tenfold. Thus, before 1601, 4 centners of rye cost 9–15 kopecks, and during the famine, a quarter (centner) of rye cost over three rubles. Realizing full well that a terrible famine could be the final test and that any day now a popular uprising could break out, the tsar ordered the distribution of free grain from state reserves in Moscow. However, the clerks in charge of distribution engaged in bribery and cheated in every possible way. Moreover, the boyars, hostile to Godunov, tried to direct popular anger against the tsar and spread rumors that the famine was sent by God as punishment for Boris, who killed Tsarevich Dmitry in order to seize the royal throne. Thus, the measures taken by Godunov hardly alleviated the situation of the common people. The roads were still clogged with large crowds of people driven by hunger. Often they united in large detachments that attacked boyars and landowners' estates and took away grain by force. Armed detachments of starving peasants and serfs operated near Moscow itself, creating a serious threat to the foundations of the feudal state. The squad of Cotton Crookshanks was especially large.

The performance of the peasants under the leadership of Cotton Crookshanks was not isolated. Thus, government troops with excessive cruelty suppressed popular indignation in the Komaritsa volost, which belonged to the royal family. The peasants were joined by urban people, exploited by the townsfolk elite. The population of a number of cities refused to submit to the government of Boris Godunov. Among the rebel cities were such important centers of the south of the country as Chernigov, Putivl, Kromy. A wave of uprisings swept across the Don region and the Volga region.

The movement of the peasantry and urban poor, joined by the Don Cossacks, spread widely throughout Seversk Ukraine, in the southwestern region of the country bordering gentry Poland. Polish magnates and the Catholic Church, led by the Pope, vigilantly observed the events taking place in the Moscow state, just waiting for the moment when they could invade Russian lands without much risk, seize and annex them to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and spread Catholicism. (They were primarily interested in Smolensk and the Chernigovo-Seversk land.) Similar plans for Rus' were made by the ruling circles of Sweden, who had long coveted the northwestern and northern lands of their eastern neighbor.

In such a “rebellious” age, in the years before the storm for the Russian state, the life path of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky began. He went down in history as a prominent military and statesman in Russia in the first half of the 17th century. Together with the Nizhny Novgorod townsman Kuzma Minin, he became the organizer of the zemstvo militia and made a huge personal contribution to the defeat of the Polish and Swedish intervention.

Moscow was the birthplace of Pozharsky. Here, on November 1, 1578, a son was born into the family of Prince Mikhail Fedorovich, who bore the nickname Deaf, and Maria (Euphrosinia) Fedorovna Berseneva-Beklemisheva, who was named Dmitry. The distant ancestors of Dmitry Mikhailovich were the owners of the Starodub appanage principality, located on Klyazma and Lukha. They received the surname Starodubsky from the name of the family patrimony - the ancient settlement of Starodub-Suzdal. Later, after five generations, the Starodubskys began to be called the Pozharskys - after the name of the town they inherited in the Suzdal principality. Previously, this town was called Rodogosti. In one of their invasions, the Tatars completely burned it down. The newly restored town began to be called Pogar or Pozhar.

The family of Dmitry Pozharsky had a glorious military history. Thus, the founder of the Pozharsky family, Prince Vasily Andreevich, fought under the glorious banners of Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field. My father took part in the campaigns of Ivan the Terrible, but especially distinguished himself during the storming of Kazan in the Livonian War. He was honored to be one of the thousand “best servants” of the king. The Pozharsky family well-being suffered greatly during the oprichnina, when Dmitry's grandfather, by order of the tsar, was exiled and deprived of his patrimonial lands. The Pozharsky family became impoverished and lost its position among the Moscow nobility. Its subsequent representatives turned into small landowners. The words “a decrepit fragment of childbirth” could not have been better suited to the history of the Pozharsky family.

At the age of nine, Dmitry lost his father. Life became very bad for the family. In Moscow, on Sretenka, the Pozharskys had their own house. For the summer we went to the village of Mugreevo, in the Suzdal region. The Pozharsky family valued education, so the children (Daria, Dmitry and Vasily) learned to write and read early.

The Pozharsky family affairs improved somewhat after Princess Daria (the eldest daughter) married Prince Nikita Khovansky, an influential courtier. Through Khovansky the whole family approached the royal court. As the Orthodox Church taught, Maria Pozharskaya married her son Dmitry at the age of fifteen to the girl Praskovya Varfolomeevna.

In 1593, Dmitry Pozharsky, to whom the Local Order, after much trouble from his mother, assigned part of his father’s estate, was summoned to a noble review. Over time, the young prince attracted the attention of Boris Godunov and, on his orders, received the court title of solicitor with a dress. There were several hundred lawyers at court, and their duties included helping the king when he dressed or undressed. At night, attorneys stood guard on the bed porch of the Kremlin palace. The title of solicitor, both in terms of his court position and salary, was insignificant. At that time, the customs of “localism” were still strong: people were valued not by their intelligence and business, moral qualities, but by the nobility of their family. The illustrious governor will feel this attitude towards himself for the rest of his life.

Service at the royal court was not to the liking of young Pozharsky, who had a cool and straightforward disposition. Perhaps his dissatisfaction with localism was the reason for his disgrace. In 1599, shortly after the accession of Boris Godunov, he was removed from the court and until 1604 he served on the southern outskirts of the state.

Here, in the steppe expanses of the south, Dmitry Pozharsky with a detachment of archers carried out patrol duty, repelling the raids of bandit gangs of the Crimean Tatars. In hot border battles, the character of the future commander was tempered, his courage strengthened, and military art was acquired.

The military exploits of young Dmitry Pozharsky did not go unnoticed. In 1604, the Tsar granted him the higher and more honorable title of steward.

Despite the return of the royal favor, Prince Dmitry lost interest in Boris Godunov. He clearly saw the plight of the Russian state and, like many people of that time, associated this with the ruling elite. Nevertheless, Pozharsky was ready to defend the power of Tsar Boris, who took the Russian throne by virtue of his zemstvo election, considering his power legitimate. For Dmitry Mikhailovich, serving the Moscow “legitimate” Tsar was serving the Russian state, the Russian people.

At the time when Pozharsky began his military service, Kuzma Minin was already an elderly man, much older than Prince Dmitry. His full name is Kuzma Minich (Minin’s son) Zakharyev-Sukhoruk. His date of birth is unknown. Minin lived in the lower trading district of Nizhny Novgorod and was known as a poor man. He was engaged in small trade - selling meat and fish. Like his future comrade-in-arms, he was a staunch patriot, an exponent of the Russian national character, and he perceived the misfortunes of the Motherland with all his heart, for which the people of Nizhny Novgorod respected Kuzma and believed him.

Both Pozharsky and Minin entered the history of the Russian state during the Time of Troubles, when the first impostors appeared.

It seems that imposture as a phenomenon of Russian reality grew, firstly, from the people’s needs for a kind, fair tsar, capable of solving accumulated problems, and secondly, from the insidious desire of Russia’s opponents to use their proteges, who put on the mask of legitimate power, in the fight against it. The impostors who posed as the sons and grandsons of Ivan the Terrible, promising in words to satisfy the aspirations of the people, in reality acted as clever demagogues defending alien interests. Let us dwell in more detail on two of them - False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II, who became odious figures in Russian history.

A man of Russian origin, who went down in history under the name of False Dmitry, appeared for the first time in the Kiev Pechersk Monastery in 1602. There he revealed his “royal name” to the monks. They pointed the impostor to the door. The hospitable Orthodox prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, the governor of Kiev, did the same, as soon as the guest mentioned his royal origin. Then he appeared in Bratchin - the estate of Prince Adam Wisniewiecki, one of the largest Polish landowners. Here, a fugitive from the Moscow state announced that he was the miraculously saved youngest son of Ivan the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry.

Adam Vishnevetsky delivered the “prince” to his brother, the Kremenets elder, Prince Konstantin, the largest magnate in Poland. And he - to his father-in-law Yuri Mnishek, the Sandomierz governor. The owner of Bratchin sent a letter to King Sigismund III, in which he convinced that everything indicates that this Muscovite is the legitimate son of Tsar Ivan, and therefore the rightful heir to the royal throne from the Rurik dynasty. The papal nuncio in Krakow, Rangoni, immediately sent an enthusiastic dispatch to Rome. The news about “Tsarevich” Dmitry quickly spread and reached Russian borders.

In response to this, Moscow announced that under the guise of a self-proclaimed prince was hiding a young Galich nobleman, Yuri Bogdanovich Otrepiev, who, after being tonsured into a monastery, took the name of Gregory. Before escaping abroad, the monk Gregory lived in the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin.

And it is unknown how Otrepiev’s claims to the royal throne would have ended if the magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had not quickly realized that with the help of an impostor they could subjugate the rich Moscow lands. Therefore, they did not listen to the statement of the messengers of the Russian Tsar, who exposed Grishka Otrepiev.

In Poland, False Dmitry was in full view of everyone. Having received support in his desire to win the royal throne from the Vishnevetskys and Yuri Mnishek, who decided to improve their financial affairs in the war against the Russian state, the impostor was received by King Sigismund III and the Roman ambassador on March 5, 1604. Soon False Dmitry, at their insistence, converted to Catholicism, performing the necessary rituals secretly from everyone. On April 24, 1604, on Easter night, he writes a letter of loyalty to Clement VIII, asking for help in the fight for the Moscow throne, slavishly assuring the pope of his submission, in full readiness to diligently serve God and Rome.

The court of inquisitors of the Catholic Church, sitting in Rome, approved the message of False Dmitry and advised the pope to respond favorably to him. On May 22, 1604, Clement VIII sent his letter to “my dear son and noble lord.” In it, the pope blessed the impostor for his exploits and wished him complete success in his affairs. So Grishka Otrepiev received the support of a powerful force in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - the Catholic Church.

But the most ardent support for the impostor was provided by the nobleman Yuri Mnishek, an ambitious and self-interested man. In the house of the tycoon, Otrepiev became interested in the daughter of the Sandomierz governor, Marina. Marina and her father agreed to False Dmitry’s official proposal to marry him only after the impostor issued a promissory note to the tycoon’s family, in which he pledged, upon his accession to the Moscow throne, to pay his future father-in-law a huge sum of money - one hundred thousand zlotys and to pay all his debts. In addition, the impostor vowed to give Marina vast lands in the Russian state. Soon he promised Yuri Mnishek to give “in eternal times” the lands of the Smolensk and Seversky principalities.

False Dmitry I also issued bills to the Polish king and the Pope. Only after this did Sigismund III allow the nobles to join the impostor’s troops. An invading army began to form.

Otrepyev clearly understood that the prolonged famine and the outbreak of popular unrest would contribute to the overthrow of Boris Godunov. And despite this, the attempt to seize the Moscow throne and the royal cap of Monomakh by force of arms clearly smacked of an adventure that was obviously doomed to failure: there were too few mercenaries. Therefore, the impostor turned for help to the Cossacks and Don Cossacks, dissatisfied with the policies of Tsar Boris. False Dmitry did not skimp on promises.

The appearance of “Tsarevich Dmitry” in Poland was learned on the Don, where thousands of fugitive peasants and slaves who had experienced great oppression from Godunov’s government had gathered in recent years. The Donets sent messengers to the impostor. They declared that the Don army would take part in the war with Godunov, the offender of the “legitimate prince.” The impostor immediately sent his standard to the Don - a red banner with a black eagle.

While recruiting troops in Poland, the impostor simultaneously sent through his spies “charming letters” (from the word “to seduce”) and letters to the Moscow state in every city, addressing them to the boyars, okolnichy, nobles, guests, merchants and black people. He called on them to kiss his cross, “to stand aside from the traitor Boris Godunov,” while promising that no one would be executed for their previous service, that the boyars would be granted old estates, nobles and officials would be shown favors, and guests, merchants and the entire population will provide relief in duties and taxes. And it is no coincidence that Otrepyev achieved victory not so much with weapons, but with the help of his “royal” promises.

Although the ruling elite of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth tried in every possible way to implement their plans to seize the Russian state, they could not go for open armed intervention at that time. There were several reasons. In the Sejm, King Sigismund, who did not have much power in the country, did not have a sufficient number of supporters: the peace treaty with Moscow, concluded for 22 years, was in the way. Some magnates advocated its observance. Unrest and uprisings constantly broke out among the Ukrainian Belarusian and Lithuanian population, mercilessly exploited by Polish nobles. Sweden, whose throne was claimed by Sigismund III, was ready to oppose Poland. But the main thing is that the interventionists were afraid of the strength of the Russian people.

On October 13, 1604, the impostor began his invasion of the Muscovite state through Seversk Ukraine. The region at that time was gripped by unrest and uprisings caused by the serfdom policy of the boyar government of Godunov. This provided False Dmitry with the opportunity to replenish his army with Cossacks and fugitive peasants, since the local population believed the impostor’s appeals and expected from him, as a “good king,” deliverance from unbearable oppression. In addition, this direction of movement towards Moscow eliminated the need to storm Smolensk, the strongest Russian fortress.

His promises through “anonymous letters” and appeals to the northern cities did their job. The “good tsar” called “his” people to revolt against the usurper Boris and promised peace and grace to everyone. The Seversky region was full of people fleeing hunger and the gallows. With the advent of the “legitimate” tsar, the “evil bastards” (as the boyar chroniclers called the fugitives) took up arms.

The signal for a widespread uprising directed against Godunov's rule was the surrender of Putivl. The men of the vast and rich Komaritsa volost, which belonged to Tsar Boris and his family, rebelled. Then many southern cities refused to obey Godunov.

Godunov's army, under the leadership of Prince Dmitry Shuisky, concentrated near Bryansk, remained inactive, awaiting reinforcements. To strengthen it, Tsar Boris announced the gathering of a general zemstvo militia in Moscow.

Prince Dmitry Pozharsky also received an order to report to the regiments. Upon arrival in the capital, he, as a steward, received an annual salary of twenty rubles and, first of all, took care of acquiring a war horse. (In the family estate of Mugreevo, during three years of hard times of hunger, it was not possible to save even the horses.) In the Konyushenny Prikaz, Pozharsky bought an excellent pacer for twelve rubles. But Prince Dmitry did not have to participate in the war against False Dmitry I. It should be noted that in the conditions of boyar betrayal of Godunov, Pozharsky remained faithful to his oath to the first “elected” tsar.

On January 21, 1605, a decisive battle took place in the vicinity of the village of Dobrynichi, Komaritsa volost. The defeat was complete: the troops of False Dmitry lost over 6 thousand people killed, many prisoners were taken, fifteen banners, all the artillery and convoys were captured. The impostor himself accidentally escaped capture. However, the indecisiveness of some of the tsarist commanders, who suspended the pursuit, did not allow Otrepiev’s army to be completely defeated.

During this critical period for the impostor, on April 13, 1605, Tsar Boris suddenly died from a stroke, and his 16-year-old son Fedor ascended the throne.

The boyars did not recognize the new king. A conspiracy was hatched. On May 7, the entire tsarist army, led by the governors Pyotr Basmanov and the princes Golitsyn, went over to the side of False Dmitry I. The impostor moved towards Moscow. The conspirators provoked a popular uprising in the capital. Tsar Fedor was overthrown and strangled together with his mother.

On June 20, 1605, the “royal train” of Grigory Otrepiev arrived in Moscow. Surrounded by traitorous boyars, under the strong protection of mercenaries and Cossacks, False Dmitry I entered the Kremlin. So, without winning a single battle, he took possession of Monomakh’s hat.

From the very first days of the reign of False Dmitry I, the broad masses of the people began to become convinced of the cruel deception and the impossibility of the impostor’s promises. Instead of a “just tsar” ruling “according to his royal merciful custom,” they saw a foreign protege on the Russian throne. The foreigners who flooded Moscow behaved as if they were in a conquered city.

In the winter of 1605/06, the position of False Dmitry I, who surrounded himself in the Kremlin Palace with reinforced security from foreigners, sharply worsened. The Englishman Jerome Horsey wrote about that time: “The Poles, an arrogant nation, arrogant in happiness, began to exercise their power over the Russian boyars, interfered in the Orthodox religion, violated laws, tortured, oppressed, robbed, and emptied treasuries.” Not only in Moscow, but throughout the country, people openly began to say that there was a fugitive monk on the royal throne.

The Russian boyars, who had suffered a lot from the tsarist authorities during the times of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov, who deprived them of a number of privileges, wanted to see False Dmitry I as a toy in their hands or to create their own boyar government. The nobility formed a conspiracy against the impostor. It was headed by princes Shuisky, Mstislavsky, Golitsyn, boyars Romanov, Sheremetev, Tatishchev. They were warmly supported by the Orthodox Church, offended by large extortions.

Feeling the precariousness of his position, False Dmitry flirted with the Boyar Duma and tried in every possible way to attract service people to his side. One of his forced measures was the distribution of court titles and positions. Among others, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky was promoted by “royal” decree: in 1606, from a steward he became a butler.

On May 8, False Dmitry I celebrated his wedding with Marina. The Catholic woman was crowned with the royal crown of the Orthodox state, and this greatly outraged the people. The violation of age-old Moscow customs during the ceremony also caused dissatisfaction. The capital was seething.

The uprising broke out on the night of May 17. At two o'clock the alarm sounded. Muscovites, armed with bladed weapons, arquebuses and even cannons, in different parts of the city attacked detachments of Polish lords who had taken refuge in the capital's stone palaces. A crowd of conspirators (up to 200 armed nobles led by Vasily Shuisky and the Golitsyn brothers) burst into the Kremlin. After a short resistance by foreign halberdiers from his personal guard, False Dmitry was killed. A few days later his corpse was burned. The Moscow gunners, having loaded a huge cannon with his ashes, fired them at the gates with which he entered Moscow, so that not even his ashes would remain. The foreign protege lasted only eleven months on the Moscow throne. The captured Poles were sent to Russian cities. Pan Mnishek and Marina were sent to Yaroslavl.

Three days after the death of False Dmitry I, the well-born boyar Prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, the organizer of the conspiracy against the impostor, was “elected” as tsar. The boyars, knowing how the people hated them, did not dare to convene a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new king. They took Shuisky to Lobnoye Mesto to “cry out” him as Tsar in front of the assembled Muscovites. In terms of personal qualities, contemporaries characterize him as an insidious and unprincipled politician.

Thus, the Russian state found itself in the hands of a handful of noble boyars. The common people who overthrew the impostor found themselves in even greater bondage than under Godunov. A massive search began for peasants who had fled from their boyars and landowners, prisons were filled with “seditious individuals,” and executioners’ axes flashed.

A broad popular movement began against the boyar tsar. In the very first month of his reign, Shuisky had to suppress several attempts at protests by the Moscow urban lower classes. In the summer of 1606, spontaneous uprisings swept the entire south of the country, which was agitated by rumors about the “salvation of good Dmitry.” The center of the struggle against the new tsar in Seversk Ukraine became the city of Putivl. Here, the rebellious peasants and townspeople elected Ataman Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov, who arrived to them with a detachment of Cossacks, as “great governor”.

In the summer of 1606, Bolotnikov, at the head of a 10,000-strong militia of rebels from the Putivl region, began a campaign against Moscow. The fortresses of Krona and Yelets were taken, the rich arsenals of which allowed the rebels to arm themselves well. Near these cities, the tsarist troops under the command of the governors, princes Vorotynsky and Trubetskoy, suffered defeats. Skillfully using the mistakes of the tsarist commanders, Bolotnikov rapidly advanced towards Moscow, replenishing his army with more and more new detachments of rebel peasants. Along the way, he was joined by large detachments of serving nobles who opposed the boyar Tsar Shuisky. The senior Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov and the younger one, Grigory Sunbulov, led the Ryazan militia, the Streltsy centurion Istoma Pashkov led a large detachment of servicemen.

The rebels were never able to capture the besieged capital. In the decisive battle near the village of Kolomenskoye, the Bolotnikovites were defeated by the tsarist troops, which was greatly facilitated by the betrayal of the noble detachments who went over to the side of Tsar Vasily.

Rebel detachments gathered in Tula under the protection of the stone Kremlin. In May 1607, Vasily Shuisky declared a “national militia” and gathered a huge army, which he personally led to Tula. For four months the rebels successfully defended the city. The besiegers were unable to take the fortress city by force. Then they built a dam on the Upa River and flooded the besieged city. The situation of the Bolotnikovites became desperate.

Bolotnikov, believing Shuisky’s oath not to harm the surrendered Tula prisoners, surrendered the city. However, the king did not keep his word and brutally dealt with the rebels. Ivan Bolotnikov was sent into exile in the city of Kargopol. There, Tsar Vasily ordered him to first be blinded and then drowned...

Dmitry Pozharsky did not take part in the battles against Ivan Bolotnikov. Remaining faithful to Shuisky and being a service man, Pozharsky fought against the remnants of those troops that came to the capital along with the first impostor. In those years, they still roamed in large numbers in different parts of the country, engaged in robberies.

The second False Dmitry appeared in the summer of 1607, when the peasant war had already died down. Who was hiding this time under the name of the prince, again nominated by the Polish magnates, remained unknown. In the royal letters, the new contender for the Moscow throne was called the “Starodub thief.” Contemporaries made many guesses about who he could be. The initial appearance of this impostor is described in most detail in the Barkulabov Chronicle. According to the Belarusian chronicler, this man taught children first from the Shklov priest, then from the Mogilev priest, was an insignificant person, trying to please everyone, dressed very poorly. From Mogilev he moved to Propoisk, where he was imprisoned as a Russian spy. By order of the headman, Pan Zenovich, he was released and escorted beyond the Moscow border. The new impostor came to the attention of the Polish nobles, who decided to nominate a new contender for the royal throne. Finding himself in the Starodub area, he began to write letters throughout Belarus, so that “knightly people, willing people” would gather to him and even “they would take him a pittance.” With a detachment of mercenaries, he moved to Starodub.

The population of the rebellious Seversk Ukraine waited a whole year for the arrival of the “good king” from Poland, which was largely facilitated by rumors of the “miraculous salvation” of False Dmitry. Putivl, Starodub, and other cities more than once sent messengers beyond the cordon in search of the prince. Bolotnikov also wrote letters, who sent Dmitry from besieged Tula to Starodub with a detachment of the efficient Cossack ataman Ivan Zarutsky to meet him.

From the very beginning, the new impostor received support and financial assistance from Polish magnates. He was an obedient puppet in their hands. In the summer of 1607, another gentry rokosh (rebellion) against King Sigismund III ended in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Having suffered a serious defeat in early July and fearing royal revenge, the Rokoshans reached out to the impostor, hoping to seek glory and loot on Russian soil. This suited the king. Polish ruling circles were gradually preparing a new invasion of the Russian state, trying to take advantage of its internal difficulties.

Over the winter, the army of False Dmitry II was significantly replenished with former Bolotnikovites. “The Don and Volga Cossacks and all those people who were sitting in Tula,” the chronicler testifies, “they joined him, the thief, not even though they were submissive to Tsar Vasily Ivanovich...” In the southern border regions, a peasant uprising broke out again, forcing the locals the landowners partly go over to the side of the new impostor, partly flee to Moscow.

The enlarged army of the impostor moved to Bryansk, besieged it, but after two months of unsuccessful military operations retreated to the winter to Orel. Here, Hetman Roman Ruzhinsky arrived with a large detachment of Poles hired with borrowed money, who quickly gained the upper hand in the camp of False Dmitry II, completely subjugating it to himself. The Polish nobleman Alexander Lisovsky, sentenced to death in his homeland for participating in a rebellion against the king, also appeared with the impostor and his detachment.

In preparation for the fight against the new impostor, Tsar Vasily Shuisky gathered his army near Volkhov during the winter and spring of 1608. Here, on April 30 - May 1, a decisive battle took place. The Tsar's brother, the governor Dmitry Shuisky, again showed his complete mediocrity: in the midst of the battle, when the outcome was not yet determined, he suddenly ordered the “detachment” (artillery) to be withdrawn to Bolkhov. The defector reported this to Ruzhinsky, and he boldly threw all his available forces into battle, thereby predetermining its outcome. The road to Moscow was open.

Shuisky sent a new army to meet the impostor, in whose ranks “shakyness” was discovered. False Dmitry II bypassed him from the right flank and reached the capital in early June. The assault on it failed immediately, and the impostor had to retreat. There were few military men in Moscow (mostly Moscow archers), but they were determined to fight to the end.

The impostor set up his camp on a high hill behind the village of Tushino between the Moscow and Skhodnya rivers, 17 versts from the capital and decided to starve it out. He created his orders here, the Boyar Duma. The peasants driven from their places built fortifications. Ranks were handed out, estates and estates were complained about, receptions were held. Subsequently, the impostor began to be called not the “Starodub thief”, but the “Tushino king”, “Tushino thief”, and his supporters - the Tushino people.

On July 25, 1608, Shuisky concluded a truce agreement with Sigismund III for 3 years and 11 months. He undertook to release to their homeland the Poles detained after the May uprising of 1606 in Moscow, including Marina and her father. Poland pledged to recall from Russia the Poles who fought on the side of the impostor. According to Tsar Vasily, the “Tushino thief” was thereby deprived of Polish help. But instead of Poland, the Mnisheks ended up in Tushino.

There, both Marina and her father recognized the impostor as the allegedly escaped Russian Tsar. For this, False Dmitry II granted Yuri Mnishek 14 cities, including Chernigov, Bryansk and Smolensk, and promised 300 thousand rubles in gold upon his accession to the throne. The marital union raised the authority of the impostor. However, he had no real power: the Tushino camp was controlled by the so-called “decimvirs” operating under the “king” - ten gentry - representatives of the Polish army - and the largest Lithuanian magnate Jan Sapieha, who came with a large detachment of 7.5 thousand gentry. The Polish side did not fulfill the terms of the truce.

The Tushins, trying to completely blockade Moscow, decided to cut all roads to it and thereby stop the supply of food. They had enough strength for this. The impostor's army was estimated at 40 thousand people (not counting the Zaporozhye Cossacks). Jan Sapieha noted that there were over 16 thousand cavalry alone. This outnumbered the regular royal army.

In early September, the army of Hetman Sapega, numbering about 30 thousand infantry and cavalry, set off north from the capital to cut the roads to Yaroslavl and Vladimir. Khmelevsky's troops from Kashira went south with the goal of capturing Kolomna. East of Moscow they were supposed to unite.

Having defeated the army of the royal brother Ivan Shuisky, Sapega approached the Trinity-Sergius Monastery on September 23. The interventionists were anticipating a bountiful harvest, hoping to plunder the rich monastery treasury. When asked to surrender, the Russian soldiers proudly replied that they would not open the gates, even if they had to sit under siege and endure hardships for ten years. The famous 16-month defense of the monastery began.

During the Time of Troubles, Nizhny again acquired its former military significance. More than once enemy troops approached the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, but always met a worthy rebuff. Nizhny Novgorod first appeared in the winter of 1608, under the command of its governors Andrei Alyabyev and Prince Alexander Repnin. The Nizhny Novgorod residents bravely fought the Tushino residents. They not only defended their city, but also helped Balakhna, Murom, Vladimir and other cities outside Moscow drive out the invaders. In January 1609, Alyabyev defeated a detachment of Tushins near Nizhny and hanged the impostor governor, Prince Vyazemsky. The winter of 1608/09 was a military one for the people of Nizhny Novgorod.

On December 2, 1608, city militias led by Alyabyev defeated the “thieves” near Balakhna and captured their “outfit” (artillery) and banners. On December 5, they defeated a large detachment of Tushino residents near Nizhny. More than three hundred people were taken prisoner, and the rest were driven along the winter road for more than fifteen miles. Only night interrupted the pursuit of the Tushins.

Historians suggest (although there are no written sources) that in the militia of governor Andrei Alyabyev in Alexander Repnin there was Kuzma Minin. Such a person simply could not stand aside from the armed struggle against enemy invasion. This is indirectly evidenced by his military training, his ability to command warriors, and his nickname - Sukhoruk. This is what people usually called in those days who received a serious wound in the arm in battle, causing the arm to dry out.

Popular resistance did not allow Jan Sapieha and Alexander Lisovsky to close the blockade ring around Moscow, as they scattered their forces to fight the militias of individual cities and to siege the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. The situation south of the capital was even worse for the interventionists. The detachment of Pan Khmelevsky sent to Kolomna was defeated, and he himself was captured. The Tushins were driven away from the fortress.

Soon the Poles again began to threaten Kolomna - this military outpost of Moscow, which stood at an important trade crossroads. From here lay the only route to the capital that still remained free for its supply. From the side of Vladimir, a large detachment of Tushino residents was moving towards the fortress under the command of Voivode Lisovsky, one of the best Polish military leaders.

At the request of the Kolomna governors Ivan Pushkin and Semyon Glebov, Tsar Vasily Shuisky decided to send an experienced and reliable military leader to help the fortress. The choice fell on Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. So at the age of thirty he received his first voivodeship rank. Pozharsky quickly gathered and set out with a small army along the Kolomenskaya road.

On the fourth day, Pozharsky’s army, not knowing rest, came to Kolomna. Having sent cavalry reconnaissance to meet the enemy, Dmitry Mikhailovich became familiar with the defense system of the Kolomna Kremlin (this was the responsibility of every newly appointed governor) - one of the most powerful fortifications of the Russian state. The length of the Kremlin walls was more than two kilometers, their thickness exceeded four meters, and their greatest height was eighteen meters. Sixteen battle towers are soldered into the fortress wall.

Soon the scouts returned. They informed the governor that Lisovsky’s detachment had stopped in a camp 40 versts from Kolomna, near the village of Vysotskoye (now the city of Yegoryevsk, Moscow region), located on the right sandy bank of the Guslitsa River. Lisovsky stopped waiting for the approach of other Polish detachments. There are dense forests around the village. The Kolomens volunteered to lead Pozharsky’s army there by the morning of the next day.

Pozharsky decided to make a secretive night march and, having forestalled the enemy, attack him. Leaving part of the forces for the defense of Kolomna, the governor ordered an immediate march. The cavalry crossed the Moscow River by swimming, the rest of the troops were transported on plank ferries, rafts and boats.

At night, Pozharsky’s army approached the forest surrounding the village of Vysotskoye on three sides. From the edge of the forest the Tushin camp was clearly visible. The governor divided his warriors into several detachments and sent them to different ends in order to simultaneously strike the enemy from all sides. He ordered the attack later, at dawn.

At the appointed hour, a cannon shot rang out - the signal for a general offensive. From the forest from different sides, Russian troops rushed towards the Tushins. Taken by surprise, they were unable to provide organized resistance. Many enemies were cut down by sabers and swords, and died from the fire of squeakers. Most of them surrendered. Lisowski himself, with a handful of Polish soldiers, managed to escape. He fled to Vladimir.

Before Pozharsky’s warriors had time to leave the Kolomenskaya road, bandits from Tushino began to threaten it again. Remaining in Moscow during the siege, Prince Dmitry was loyal to Shuisky. Honestly carrying out all his instructions, he more than once led forays and smashed the enemy. In the spring of 1609, the Poles decided to try once again to capture Kolomna, but all assaults by a large detachment of Pan Mlotsky were repulsed. However, the road to Moscow remained with the Tushins. The supply of food to the capital stopped completely.

The gang of the Tushino ataman Salkov was especially rampant. The king sent troops against her several times, but she either eluded pursuit or won the battles. Then Pozharsky was sent. Having heard about this, Salkov fled from the Kolomenskaya road to Vladimirskaya. Pursuing the Tushins, the governor decided to surround them as he had in the battle near the village of Vysotskoye.

Having organized a thorough reconnaissance, Pozharsky determined that Salkov was wandering in the forests near the Pekhorka River. Dividing his army into four parts, Prince Dmitry overtook and surrounded the Tushins. A fierce battle took place, in which almost the entire gang was killed. Only thirty people, together with the chieftain, managed to escape. However, they soon repented and came to Moscow to confess.

Having failed to achieve a regimental blockade of Moscow, the Tushins tried to seize as much territory of the state as possible. Pskov and the Novgorod regions - Pyatina fell under their rule. Belaya, Toropets, Rzhev and other “border” cities, Tver and Smolensk. Many of them were taken by surprise. Intervention detachments penetrated deeply into the country.

In the occupied territory, the Tushins behaved like conquerors. Detachments of “driven people” - foragers of Sapieha, Lisovsky, Ruzhinsky and other Polish magnates - scattered throughout the cities and villages. All of them, in the name of “Tsar Dmitry,” ruined the country. Continuous military indemnities, heavy rights, attempts to revive the worst times of appanage self-will gave rise to deep discontent among the broad masses. The rise of the national liberation struggle began.

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Time of Troubles § 63. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and Boris Godunov. Ivan the Terrible died at the beginning of 1584. A year and a half before his death, having quarreled with his eldest son Ivan, Grozny so carelessly hit him with his “staff” that he killed him. Therefore, the throne after the terrible

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M. I. Scotti. Minin and Pozharsky. 1850

The Time of Troubles was one of the most difficult historical periods for our country. Constant changes in power, the march of impostors across Russia and the occupation by Polish and Swedish invaders almost destroyed statehood. However, despite the fact that this time is assessed by historians as dark and difficult, it was precisely this time that showed all the wisdom and strength of the Russian people. It was this period that inscribed the names of its heroes and devoted sons in the chronicles of Russia in golden letters of national memory.

The school curriculum includes compulsory study of the biographies of emperors, nobles and politicians, even criminals are given attention, while real heroes are only mentioned in passing. It is not surprising that the younger generation simply does not know most of the famous names that grateful descendants should be proud of.

Minin Kuzma Zakharyevich left practically no historical traces of himself until 1611. All that is known is that he was a butcher or had his own butcher shop. There is evidence that he bore the nickname Sukhoruk and, apparently, differed little from the townspeople. It is unknown from what year Kuzma Zakharyevich lived in Nizhny Novgorod, however, according to historians of that time, he lived in average income and was respected among the residents. If we take into account the pace of life at the end of the sixteenth century, as well as the morals of the independent Novgorodians, then in order to earn their respect and trust, Minin needed to stay in the city for 10 years, or even more. We can also only talk about the age of this glorious Russian. Most historians are inclined to believe that he was mature, but not quite an old man. Judging by the average life expectancy during this period, we can say that at the time of his speech to the townspeople with a call to gather a militia, Kuzma Zakharyevich was 35 or 45 years old. Historical documents indicate that the folk hero had a small family. His wife Tatyana Semyonovna, having outlived her husband, ended her life as a nun in one of the Novgorod cells. Researchers are inclined to believe that this was the Resurrection Monastery. The only son Nefyod Kuzmich was a famous Moscow attorney and until his death owned the village of Belogorodskoye, granted to his father, and nearby villages and lands in the Nizhny Novgorod district. After his death in 1632, the property returned to state ownership. According to the official version, Kuzma Minin came from a large family of salt maker Ankudinov, but this point of view has been subject to harsh and justified criticism in recent years. Recently, books and archival documents were analyzed, and as a result, historians came to the conclusion that Minin had no relationship with this person. The hypothesis is controversial, so it should not be taken as the only true one. However, one should not evaluate the previous point of view as an immutable truth. Both theories have their serious gaps and cannot claim complete reliability.

K.E. Makovsky. Minin's appeal. 1896

The beginning of active work is associated with the reading of Hermogenes’ letter at the city council. According to contemporaries, Minin himself said that the canonized Sergius appeared to him more than once with the demand to begin convening a militia to defend the state. How reliable the legend is is unknown; most likely, this is just another folk tale, invented in order to further exalt the glorious Novgorod citizen. In the fall of 1611, Minin was elected headman and began collecting the militia.

Minin received recognition from the Novgorodians thanks to his speech at the gathering on the need for a militia and its financing. Kuzma Zakharyevich knew how to speak. The elder’s eloquent and fiery call was heard, and the personal example of donation also helped. His words kindled the hearts of the townspeople and forced them to give a third of their personal property to raise and maintain the national army. By the way, it is still impossible to say that the financing was completely voluntary, since attempts to evade the transfer of the contribution were subject to strict sanctions in the form of selling the culprit as a slave with confiscation of all his property.

Novgorod quickly became the center of a concentration of militias, and Minin proposed electing Dmitry Pozharsky as military commander. The prince was undergoing treatment near the city and expressed a desire to become the head of the army and use his military talent for the good of the Fatherland. Kuzma Zakharyevich was appointed as head of the militia treasury, as a person who had earned the enormous trust of the people. The position was very difficult, since in conditions of general ruin, Minin had to not only take care of feeding the soldiers, but also dress them in the harsh Russian autumn and winter. The merit of Kuzma Minin, first of all, is that the provision of the rebel army was established at the highest level, which was facilitated by the business acumen, diligence, responsibility and crystal honesty of the Novgorod headman. Largely thanks to the work of Kuzma Zakharyevich, the second militia avoided the fate of Lyapunov’s people’s army.

An amazing man, whose origins are still unknown for certain, had not only the gift of eloquence and management. Not far from Moscow, in a battle with Khodkevich, a detachment under his leadership dealt a decisive blow to the enemy, thereby deciding the outcome of the battle in favor of the militia. Bravery, honesty, diligence, responsibility, accuracy and many other positive and unique qualities were combined in this mysterious personality. Minin became a national hero who, together with other equally valiant sons of the Russian state, defended its independence and freedom.

The merits of Kuzma Zakharyevich were noted by the young Tsar Mikhail Romanov with a noble title and service in the Boyar Duma. Already in 1614, in view of his proven honesty and diligence, Minin was given the responsibility of collecting duties from foreigners, merchants and other traders to the treasury, which in the conditions of a devastated country was a very honorable and responsible task. In 1615, the sovereign reaffirmed his respect and favor for the national hero, including him in the collegium that managed capital and state affairs during Mikhail Romanov’s pilgrimage to holy places. Minin rightfully enjoyed endless trust from the tsar and his entourage and even greater love among the common people. In the same year, Kuzma Zakharyevich had to participate with Romodanovsky in the investigation into the uprising of foreigners.

The tomb of Kuzma Minin in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of the Kremlin. Erected by L.V. Dahl in 1874

The death of the national hero, about whom legends and tales began to take shape during his lifetime, in May 1616. became a real grief for the common people. After Minin’s death, the government treated his family with special respect and provided the widow and son with all possible support.

There are very few historical assessments of this personality. For the most part, we explore only the second half of the life of this mysterious man who came out of nowhere to save a distressed country. Of course, the expulsion of the interventionists was not only the work of Kuzma Zakharyevich, but his contribution to this national feat is invaluable. It is unacceptable to consign such glorious names as Minin to oblivion, just as it is not worthy to challenge his positive role in our state. This is one of the most brilliant examples of a worthy citizen of his country.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

State educational institution

Higher professional education

"Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushinsky"

Rostov branch

TEST

by discipline

"National history"

Topic: "Time of Troubles in Russia. The historical role of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky"

Completed by: 1st year student

Specialty 050706.65 Pedagogy and psychology

Guseva Marina Vladimirovna

Checked by: Alitova Rashida Faridovna

Rostov 2010

Plan

Introduction

1. The beginning of the Troubles

2.3 Seven Boyars

3. Saviors of the Fatherland

3.1 First militia

Conclusion

References

Introduction

The time at the turn of the 16th - 17th centuries was vague, difficult and uncertain. for our country. At the cost of enormous efforts, bloody wars, brilliant diplomatic victories and secret intrigues, the great Moscow princes and tsars by the end of the 16th century. They turned Russia into a huge and strong centralized state. At this time its population was 7 million people. This was more than in any other European country. The territory of Russia extended to Europe and Asia. But this power and these dimensions also had a downside.

The expansion of the country's territory occurred mainly in the eastern - sparsely populated, sparsely populated, although rich in natural resources - lands. They were significantly removed from the centers of world civilization, which meant that Russia, in its territory and in its interests, was increasingly moving to the east. Meanwhile, the western border with densely populated Russian lands, rich trading and craft cities, as well as access to the Baltic and Black Seas, and from there to the countries of Northern, Central and Southern Europe, was firmly blocked by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and the Crimean Khanate, hostile to Russia.

By the beginning of the 17th century. The natural, climatic and economic conditions of existence of the Russian people and the Russian state remained extremely unfavorable compared to other European countries. It was clear that this course of history could only be reversed by force. The first attempts were unsuccessful. The difficult Livonian War, which lasted 25 years and ended in complete failure, required enormous sacrifices of people and material resources from the population. The Tatar invasion and the defeat of Moscow in 1571 significantly increased casualties and losses. The oprichnina of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, which shook and undermined the old way of life and familiar relationships, intensified the general discord and demoralization; During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, “a terrible habit was established of not respecting the life, honor, and property of one’s neighbor.” Russia emerged from these events weakened and ruined; the country was gripped by a severe economic crisis, which became the main precondition for the Time of Troubles.

To cover ever-increasing military expenses, the government increased taxes. Fleeing from the tax press, from ruin and hunger, many peasants fled to new lands or under the shelter of the all-powerful patrimonial boyars and rich monasteries, which had tax benefits and the opportunity to support the peasants who fled to them. In response, the so-called reserved summers, which prohibited peasant transfers from one owner to another in a number of devastated areas.

As has always happened in Rus' during difficult and hungry years, theft, robbery and violence have become more frequent throughout the country. "Dashing people" terrified cities and villages. At the same time, peasant unrest began in some places against the lords and royal authorities, tax collectors, scribes who compiled scribe books, where peasants and townspeople were registered at their places of residence without the right to move.

By the beginning of the 17th century. Feudal relations in Russia became more cruel and became more widespread, as the government generously distributed free communal lands and estates.

The formation of the autocratic power of the monarch has made significant progress. The oprichnina played a big role in this process. It dealt a decisive blow to the remnants of the appanage system, princely and boyar self-will, and strengthened the central government and the personal dictatorship of the monarch. But it also gave rise to numerous abuses by those at the top of society, not limited by law.

Russia's way out of its difficult situation by the beginning of the 17th century. sought in strengthening the feudal system, further enslavement of the lower classes, primarily peasants, strengthening the central autocratic power, conquests in the east, preparation for the struggle for access to the Baltic Sea, for the return of old Russian lands and in defense against the Crimean invasions.

Every present grows from the past. Understanding it, seeing what seeds were sown, learning from the mistakes of generations is one of the tasks of education, including history. That is why the study of that time is so important for us, it is important to understand the reasons for the emergence of a “similar” situation, it is important to see ways to overcome difficult times, it is important to prevent the further emergence of those social trends that give rise to “turmoil”, unrest both in the state, in society, and in the minds of citizens.

1. The beginning of the Troubles

1.1 Boris Godunov's rise to power

In 1598, with the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the royal Rurik dynasty was interrupted, the hoop that pulled together all the warring groups of the nobility, all the dissatisfied sections of the population, disappeared. Deep contradictions in society immediately emerged - within the nobility itself, between the enslaved people and the authorities, between the former guardsmen and their victims, between the elite of society, princes and boyars. And the middle and petty nobility.

It was during this difficult transitional time that a boyar was elected to the Russian throne Boris Godunov, who tried already at the turn of the XVI - XVII centuries. to found a new dynasty in Russia. The young boyar began his struggle for power immediately after the death of Ivan the Terrible. At first, he was on the sidelines - he only watched as two clans fought among themselves - RomanovsAnd Miloslavsky. At the decisive moment, feeling the strength of the Romanov boyars, Godunov entered into an alliance with them and struck first at the Miloslavsky princes, then at the Shuisky boyars.

Godunov did not resort to mass executions, but mercilessly eliminated his rivals, and then secretly organized their murders. A trail of terrible rumors began to follow him. Exiles, secret reprisals - all this was associated with the name of the hated Godunov. The rise in taxes, which increased in the 1580s, was identified with his name. 1.5 times, and the decree on lesson years, which fettered the freedom of the peasants, and the laws of 1597, which aggravated the fate of the slaves. In addition, popular rumor accused Boris Godunov of murdering Tsarevich Dmitry, the only survivor besides the fading Fedor, the son of Ivan the Terrible.

In 1588, the decade of Boris's actual reign began. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich granted him a title unprecedented in Rus' until then. ruler. Boris received the right to independently communicate with foreign states. In 1589, Godunov helped his protege, Metropolitan Job, take the title Patriarch. The strengthened Russian Orthodox Church became his strong support.

With the death of Fyodor Ivanovich in January 1598, the contradictions between the top of the boyars and Godunov intensified. At first, Boris sought to transfer the throne to his sister, Tsarina Irina. This failed, and then Boris Godunov began an open struggle for the royal throne.

The eldest of the Romanov brothers could claim the royal crown - Fedor Nikitichand a distant relative of Ivan Sh - Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky, but they did not put forward their candidacies.

A situation arose when the suppression of the Rurik dynasty opened up the opportunity to move from autocratic rule of the country to collective governance. The boyars decided that power in the country should be transferred to the Boyar Duma. For the sake of this, the Romanovs, Mstislavskys, Golitsyns and other boyar and princely families sacrificed their claims to the throne. Simultaneously with the meeting of the Boyar Duma, Patriarch Job convened another meeting in his chambers - a Council, which proposed Godunov as king.

Essentially, two authorities were formed in the country - Boyar DumaAnd Cathedral. This led to a split in the country. Then the Patriarch organized a popular procession with icons to the Novodevichy Convent, where Godunov had retired, who tearfully asked Godunov to take the throne. But Boris pretended to refuse. A second procession followed, and Boris agreed. Here, in the cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent, the Patriarch named Godunov the Russian Tsar. In the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, the Patriarch declared Godunov tsar for the second time. But the boyars refused to swear allegiance to him. Only two months later the general oath to Godunov began, which continued throughout the summer. Godunov was solemnly proclaimed tsar for the third time.

The first two years of Boris's reign were calm and prosperous. In an effort to win over the nobles, Boris Godunov arranged for them to receive salaries that had been withheld before. He promoted many people. To alleviate the lot of ordinary people, the new tsar abolished all tax arrears, eased the tax burden, sought to support the economy of the middle service class of nobles, and elevated humble but capable people. This was the first Russian tsar who, attacking bribery, raised his hand against dishonest officials and corrupt judges.

Boris Godunov was a passionate advocate of education, promoted the development of book printing in the country, the construction of printing houses, dreamed of creating schools and even opening a university. He was the first of the Russian tsars to send noble children abroad for education.

The country gradually began to revive, the mood of the people changed in favor of the new king, who was always even-tempered, affable, and friendly. Behind this gentleness hid a huge will, ambition and an unquenchable thirst for power. Good principles and thoughts constantly fought in his soul with dark passions. Feeling the enmity of the boyars and the dykedom. Godunov became extremely suspicious. Soon the Romanov boyars became victims of this suspicion. Fyodor Nikitich was tonsured a monk under the name Philareta, his young children, Mikhail and Tatyana, were thrown into prison. As a result, Godunov alienated the powerful boyar family of the Romanovs. This undermined his position.

1.2 New people's troubles. Time of robberies and robberies

In 1601, a terrible famine broke out in the central districts of Russia. It rained endlessly in the summer, and early frosts hit in August and destroyed the harvest. Grain supplies quickly ran out. Already in the fall, there was a catastrophic shortage of food. Princes, boyars, merchants and clergy, who had large reserves of grain, inflated prices.

Out of hunger, people began to eat cats and dogs, linden bark, quinoa and even hay; there were cases of cannibalism. There was no time to bury the corpses. A cholera epidemic began. In three years, a third of the country's population died out. Godunov's government tried to lessen the impact of the natural disaster. Fixed prices for bread were introduced, Boris ordered the sale of bread from his own granaries at reduced prices and the distribution of money to the people. Refugees poured into Moscow and began to plunder state granaries.

Trying to alleviate the situation of the people, on November 28, 1601, Godunov by his decree restored St. George's day. The decree did not apply to the Moscow district and state lands. The provincial nobility, who were losing peasants, became indignant. By the August decree of 1603, the government recognized slaves expelled from the courtyards and deprived of food free.

Robberies and robberies swept the country. Desperate people tried to get food for themselves by force of arms. The peasants refused to pay taxes to the state, taxes and dues to the feudal lords. They went to the free lands of the southern and southwestern outskirts of the state, joining the ranks of the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks. In the cities, the starving poor attacked the mansions of the rich and robbed barns. It became dangerous even in Moscow. Soon the capital was practically cut off from the rest of the country.

In 1603, a detachment led by the ataman Cotton Crookshanksblocked several roads leading to Moscow. The rebels destroyed the boyars' and nobles' estates. A year later, Khlopok’s troops were defeated, he himself was captured and executed.

1.3 False Dmitry. Uprising in Moscow

At this time, in Poland, a young man spoke out against Tsar Boris, who called himself Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible, and declared his intention to go to Moscow, to gain the ancestral throne for himself. Most scholars agree that he was an impoverished Galician nobleman, a servant in the house of one of the Romanov boyars, Grigory Otrepiev. After the fall of this family, he became a monk, wandered around monasteries, and served at the court of the Patriarch as a copyist of books. In 1602, Otrepiev fled to Lithuania, then appeared in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, then stayed on the estate of the Polish prince Adam Vishnevetsky, where he declared himself Tsarevich Dmitry.

In the Romanov mansions, among the Moscow clerks, the idea arose to oppose the impostor to Godunov and overthrow the hated tsar. The turmoil that began in 1601 during the famine intensified with the appearance of an impostor, who soon found himself at the court of the Sandomierz governor Yuri Mnishek. He fell in love with the governor's daughter Marina and became engaged to her, secretly converting to Catholicism.

An army of the impostor began to form in the Zaporozhye Sich. Ambassadors from the Don came to him there. The appeals of False Dmitry found a response among the Cossacks, runaway slaves and peasants. In October 1604, the army of False Dmitry crossed the Dnieper. About 2 thousand mercenaries and Zaporozhye Cossacks walked with him. His army soon reached 15 thousand people. The cities surrendered to the impostor without a fight. Despite two major defeats from the tsarist troops, False Dmitry quickly restored the army and moved forward. Soon, almost all cities in the south and southwest of the country recognized the power of the impostor.

Fermentation began in the royal army, and the number of defectors increased. Godunov received disappointing news from all sides, his health deteriorated. On April 13, 1605 he died. Rumors arose that the king had committed suicide. Moscow began to swear allegiance to his son Fyodor Borisovich, and near Kromy the royal governors and their troops went over to the side of False Dmitry. The road to Moscow was open for the impostor.

May the impostor went to Moscow. Sending letters and exciting the people of the capital, False Dmitry organized a riot in Moscow, during which all the royal relatives, as well as the boyars close to the legitimate Tsar Fyodor Borisovich, were imprisoned.

June 1605 everyone swore allegiance to False Dmitry. On June 10, princes Golitsyn and Mosalsky, as well as officials Molchanov and Sherefedinov, taking with them three archers, came to the Godunovs’ house and killed Fedor and his mother.

June 1605, after the “recognition” of the former Queen Mary of her son in False Dmitry, magnificent celebrations took place - and the impostor found himself on the throne.

The new king turned out to be an active, energetic ruler who sat confidently on the throne. For the sake of diplomatic relations with other states, he took the title of emperor and tried to create a large alliance of European powers to fight against Turkey. But he soon began to arouse the discontent of his Moscow subjects, firstly, because he did not observe old Russian customs, and secondly, because the Poles who came with him behaved arrogantly and arrogantly in Moscow, offended and insulted Muscovites.

Discontent especially increased when, at the beginning of May 1606, his bride, Marina Mnishek, came to the tsar, and he married her and crowned her as queen, although she refused to convert to Orthodoxy.

"The impostor soon cooled the people's love for himself. He did not want to be baptized in front of icons and sit down to dinner with prayers. He dressed like Poles, could not tolerate baths. All the fun and inclinations of the new king seemed strange: he loved to ride wild stallions, beat He shot bears from cannons and accurately hit the target, he himself taught warriors, he built, he took earthen fortresses by storm, he threw himself into a dump and endured being sometimes pushed, knocked down, crushed. They also condemned him for his exorbitant wastefulness. The impostor dishonored women and girls. He took Ksenia, Godunov's daughter, as his concubine. A few months later, Ksenia was tonsured, named Olga and exiled to Beloozero."

Now the boyars, led by Prince Vasily Shuisky, decided that the time had come to act. Shuisky began agitation against False Dmitry immediately after his accession; He was tried by a council of all ranks of people and sentenced to death, but the king pardoned him. Many eyewitnesses began to appear among the people who knew the real truth about Grigory Otrepiev. From that time on, the impostor began a brutal reprisal against all people he disliked. Many were tortured, executed, strangled in prison, and exiled for just one word, “defrocking.”

The Poles behaved boldly and defiantly. The people demanded a trial. And they responded to lawlessness in kind. Prince Vasily Shuisky was at the head of a wide conspiracy.

On the night of May 17, 1606, having raised the alarm bells ringing the Moscow people against the Poles, the boyars themselves and the people broke into the Kremlin and killed the Tsar. At this time, Muscovites were busy beating Poles and looting their houses. After the desecration, the corpse of False Dmitry was burned and, having mixed the ashes with gunpowder, they fired it from a cannon in the direction from which he came. At the same time, the Moscow people “beat the Poles.” A hundred people attacked one. The number of victims exceeded a thousand, not counting the wounded. But the noblest Poles survived. The wife of False Dmitry Maria Mnishek also survived, saved by the Russian boyars.

Thus ended the fate of False Dmitry, a rootless monk who ascended the Russian throne, but the “Time of Troubles” and disasters in Rus' were not over yet.

2. Crisis of society and state

2.1 Boyar Tsar Vasily Shuisky. Civil War

The Troubles in Russia were gaining strength. Another king was imposed on the country - Vasily Shuisky, who passionately dreamed of the throne ever since the end of the Rurik dynasty. His unattractive appearance is visible especially in the story of Tsarevich Dmitry: in 1591, he certified that the prince stabbed himself to death; during the capture of Moscow by an impostor, he stated that Dmitry escaped; now he claimed that the boy was killed at the instigation of Godunov. Three days after the murder of the impostor, the Moscow people gathered on Red Square to decide the fate of governing the country. Shuisky’s people were actively working in the crowd, and they shouted his name as the future tsar. Shuisky's supporters took up this cry. Thus the fate of the royal crown was decided.

In 1606 Vasily Shuisky became, like Godunov, an elected Russian Tsar. Shuisky appointed Kazan Metropolitan as Patriarch of Rus' Hermogene.On June 1, 1606, the royal wedding of Vasily took place in the Church of the Assumption. But the capital was despondent. The new tsar gave an obligation, formalized in the form of a kissing cross (kissed the cross), to preserve the privileges of the boyars, not to take away their estates and not to judge the boyars without the participation of the Boyar Duma. The new monarch, with a special oath, renounced anything resembling oprichnina terror, as well as unlimited autocracy. Now the boyars tried to resolve the deep internal and external contradictions that had created with the help of the boyar tsar. But there were no favors, no feasts, there were disgraces. Many important boyars and dignitaries who were not pleasing to the tsar were sent to serve in distant cities. Most of them had their estates taken away, which Vasily immediately violated the vow he had given and caused bewilderment.

The accession and actions of Shuisky served as a signal for general unrest and the struggle of all against all. Uprisings broke out everywhere against the boyar tsar.

In the summer of 1606, a powerful uprising swept all of Southern and Southwestern Russia. A civil war began, in which the lower and middle strata of society (posad people and the nobility) opposed the upper classes. Putivl opposed Moscow. “Since the autumn of 1606, a bloody unrest began in the state, in which all classes of Moscow society took part, rebelling against one another.”

By the autumn of 1606, a rebel army had formed near the city of Yelets. It was led by nobles Istoma Pashkov, Prokopiy Lyapunov and Grigory Sunbulov. In Putivl, where the governor was a friend of False Dmitry, Prince Shakhovskoy, another army was formed. An experienced warrior stood at the head of this army Ivan Bolotnikov. Bolotnikov's rebel army grew rapidly and launched active operations against government troops. Major victories were won at Kromy and then at Yelets. Approaching Kaluga, Bolotnikov got ahead of the governor Shuisky who was rushing there and managed to take possession of the city without a fight. At the head of an army of thousands, Bolotnikov approached Moscow in the late autumn of 1606 and set up a fortified camp in the village of Kolomenskoye. Shuisky's government found itself in a critical situation. However, the rebels were not able to surround the huge city. Bolotnikov could not show the Muscovites the “true” tsar who allegedly sent him.

At the beginning of December 1606, the rebel army suffered a serious defeat from government troops. Bolotnikov was defeated and went first to Kaluga, then to Tula, where he was besieged by tsarist troops and forced to surrender; the leaders of the uprising were executed, the mass of its participants scattered, ready to start a new “campaign” if a new leader was found.

This victory came at a high price for Russia. The country was falling apart, and neighbors began to interfere in its affairs. The nobility who supported Shuisky in the fight against Bolotnikov. He dreamed of crushing the power of the princely-boyar aristocracy.

And the new leader turned out to be a new impostor who appeared on the western borders of Russia in the summer of 1607. He was a wandering teacher, outwardly similar to False Dmitry 1. The Polish nobles, together with Molchanov, persuaded him to call himself Dmitry.

On May 1607, the army of False Dmitry II defeated the royal army near the city of Bolkhov, and soon the impostor found himself near Moscow. Attempts to take the capital ended in vain. False Dmitry II stopped 17 kilometers from the Kremlin, in the town of Tushino, receiving the nickname “Tushino Thief”. Soon Marina Mnishek also found herself in Tushino. The impostor promised her three thousand gold rubles and income from fourteen Russian cities after his accession to Moscow. She recognized him as her husband. A secret wedding took place according to Catholic rites. The impostor promised to help spread Catholicism in Russia.

The Tushino camp had its own boyars and governors, its own orders and even its own patriarch; Metropolitan Filaret of Rostov, former boyar Fyodor Nikitovich Romanov, became such (as contemporaries say, under duress). Many princes and boyars came from Moscow to the Tushino camp, although they knew, of course, that they were going to serve an obvious deceiver and impostor.

Over time, the number of Poles in the Tushino camp increased by another 7 thousand people. They were brought by the Lithuanian nobleman Jan Sapieha. In the fall, Sapieha separated from the main forces and Polish troops attacked the Orthodox shrine - the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in order to plunder it. The 16-month (from September 1608 to January 1610) successful defense of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, besieged by Poles, Lithuanians and Russian thieves, is one of the bright pages of that time.

Every day the people understood more and more clearly that the troops of the “good king” had turned into a bunch of invaders. The Russians began to abandon the impostor. The civil war developed into a national liberation war.

2.2 Foreign intervention in the Russian Troubles

To save his power and preserve the state, Vasily Shuisky concluded an assistance agreement between Russia and Sweden, which was at war with Poland. Negotiations with the Swedes in Novgorod were led by the Tsar’s nephew, a young talented commander M.V. Skopin-Shuisky. Shuisky promised the Swedes the city of Korela with its surroundings and renunciation of rights to Livonia. The Swedes pledged to provide a 5,000-strong corps (in reality, much more troops came to Russia), not to devastate Russian lands, and to respect Orthodox churches. At first the agreement was respected. In the spring of 1609, the allied army. Moving from Novgorod, a successful offensive against the Tushins began. They were driven out of many cities, and soon Skopin-Shuisky liberated the Trinity-Sergius Monastery from the siege. The Swedes, having not received money from Shuisky, began to plunder and plunder Russian territory, which aroused patriotic sentiments. The Polish king broke peace with Russia and began open hostilities. In the autumn, Polish troops besieged Smolensk. No longer needing False Dmitry II, the Poles began to openly neglect him; A united Russian-Swedish army was approaching from the north. Under these conditions, the Tushino thief secretly fled to Kaluga, where Marina Mnishek followed him.

Now there are three centers of power in Russia - Moscow, Tushino and Kaluga. False Dmitry II was under the control of Polish profit seekers, former associates of the first impostor and the Cossacks. The leaders of the Tushin people, including Filaret (Romanov), decided to oppose Vasily Shuisky with another figure and invite the son of the Polish king, the young Vladislav. This was a continuation of the boyar line to limit the autocratic power of the monarch. Behind Prince Vladislav stood his father Sigismund Sh, who wanted to conquer Russia, so the Tushins in the draft agreement limited Vladislav’s power to a number of conditions. With this, the embassy set off from Tushino to the king near Smolensk.

Skopin-Shuisky's army entered Moscow. The popularity of the young commander grew, they talked about him as the future Russian Tsar. But he suddenly fell ill and died a few days later. Rumors spread that Skopin-Shuisky was poisoned, and rumor attributed this death to Tsar Vasily. In addition, it became clear that the Moscow government had drawn the Swedes into the Russian Troubles and found itself in a state of war with Poland. Everyone rose up against Shuisky - the remnants of the Tushino camp, the impostor with troops in Kaluga, the nobles of the southern Russian lands.

False Dmitry II stood up with his troops near the village of Kolomenskoye, and Moscow again found itself under siege. At this critical moment, the Moscow boyars, together with the Tushino boyars, organized a conspiracy against Shuisky. On July 17, 1610, he was captured, deprived of the throne and forcibly tonsured as a monk. Later, he and his brothers were handed over to the Poles. This is what Moscow did with the tsar, who wanted to win the love of the Russians through moderation in punishments, tolerance of public freedom, zeal for civil education, who did not get lost in the most extreme disasters, and was willing to die while maintaining the dignity of the sovereign. But the amazing fate of Tsar Vasily, neither in the humiliation of 1612 nor in glory, had yet to end. He will die in Polish captivity on September 12

2.3 Seven Boyars

The coup was led by seven members of the Boyar Duma - F.I. Mstislavsky, V.V. Golitsyn and others, so the new government was nicknamed seven-boyars. They sought the transfer of power in the country to the Boyar Duma. If Russia had followed this path, then, probably, there would not have been a more autocratic monarch in Russian history. Under those conditions, this was an undoubted step forward along the path of civilized development.

By opposing the impostor, the Seven Boyars sought to restore order in the country and end the war against Poland. The Moscow boyars, together with the Tushins, again offered the throne to Prince Vladislav on the condition that he convert to Orthodoxy, marry an Orthodox woman, and clear the Russian land of Polish troops. Thus, the boyars stopped the struggle for the throne, received a dependent king, and established allied relations with Poland. Patriarch Hermogenes initially supported this proposal. Negotiations began with Hetman Zholkiewski, whose army approached Moscow from near Smolensk. Moscow residents began to take the oath in favor of Vladislav. Soon the Moscow embassy, ​​headed by Filaret (Romanov) and Prince Golitsyn, left for Smolensk to visit the king.

By joint action, the army of the Boyar Duma and the Poles drove False Dmitry P. away from Moscow. He again fled to Kaluga. On the night of September 21, 1610, the Poles secretly occupied the Kremlin. Now the Boyar Duma had reliable protection against the impostor.

But the events in Kaluga immediately changed the situation. During the hunt, False Dmitry was killed by his comrades. The second impostor is over. The idea of ​​Tsar Dmitry collapsed. There was still Marina Mnishek, who a few days after the death of her husband gave birth to a son, Ivan. Vorenok, as he was called in Russia, remained the only hope of the impostor's supporters.

Sigismund III refused to lift the siege of Smolensk, objected to his son’s conversion to Orthodoxy, and then demanded the Russian throne for himself. He detained the ambassadors. Again the situation changed dramatically. The Polish king continued to wage war with Russia. The Swedes turned from allies into enemies, because... The Russian population began to swear allegiance to Vladislav. The Swedes captured northern Russian cities. The Boyar Duma also turned into prisoners of the Polish garrison of the capital. Russian statehood was on the brink of destruction.

3. Saviors of the Fatherland

3.1 First militia

At this critical moment, the middle strata of the Russian population showed an active patriotic position - wealthy townspeople, merchants, artisans, nobility, state peasants, Cossacks, part of the boyars and princes.

At the head of the patriotic movement stood Patriarch Hermogenes. He cursed all the accomplices of the Poles, called on the Russians not to obey Vladislav, and tirelessly explained that Russia needed a tsar from among the Orthodox boyar families. “The main engine of the uprising was the patriarch, at whose command, in the name of faith, the Earth rose and gathered.”

Ryazan was the first to rise, led by P.P. Lyapunov. From the beginning of 1611, detachments from the cities, Cossack detachments led by the ataman, marched to Moscow THEM. Zarutskyand the prince D.T. Trubetskoy. The goal of the First People's Militia was the liberation of Moscow from the Poles. He stood at the head of the militia Council of the whole earth. The militia approached Moscow, the Poles, together with the boyars, were preparing for defense. Patriarch Hermogenes was imprisoned, weapons were confiscated from the population. On March 19, 1611, an uprising broke out led by militia governors who secretly made their way to Moscow. Prince D.M. Pozharsky organized resistance on Sretenka, repelled the attack of enemies, built a fort not far from Kitai-Gorod and defended it together with Russian gunners. Then the Poles set Moscow on fire. The flames also engulfed Pozharsky's prison. The wounded prince was carried out of the battle by his comrades. The first militia approached the already conquered and scorched city.

In the summer, news came of the fall of Smolensk. Wounded voivode Sheinacaptured. On July 3, 1611, the remaining defenders of the city and its inhabitants, unwilling to surrender, locked themselves in the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and blew themselves up. Sigismund III sent a new army to Moscow under the command of the hetman Khodkevich. And he himself returned to Krakow and openly declared his claims to the Russian throne. At the same time, the Swedes captured Novgorod and forced the city's rulers to enter into an agreement with them to support the Swedish prince as the future Russian Tsar.

The struggle began between Sweden and Poland for the Russian throne. Novgorod land was separated from Russia. Detachments of the First Militia unsuccessfully tried to take Moscow, and then they fortified themselves in the White City. To lead the movement, a government was elected consisting of the prince D.T. Trubetskoy, leader of the Cossacks THEM. Zarutskyand governors P.P. Lyapunova. Council of the whole earthaccepted" Sentence"- program of activities of the provisional government. This sentence strengthened noble land ownership, management was entrusted only to nobles, and Cossack detachments were proposed to be removed from the cities of Russia so that they would not dare to rob people, and in the event of continuation of robberies and robberies execute them by death. Runaway peasants and slaves were returned to their former owners. Council of the whole earthdemanded the establishment of order and legality in the country. This did not suit many Cossack atamans.

Personal relations between the leaders of the First Militia worsened. Lyapunov showed disrespect for other commanders, the Cossacks invited him several times for an explanation, and when he came after the third invitation, they hacked him to death with sabers. Left without a leader and frightened by Cossack lynching, the nobles and boyar children, for the most part, left near Moscow to go home. The Cossacks remained in the camp near Moscow, but they were not strong enough to cope with the Polish garrison.

The First Militia had the strength to make two more attempts to capture the city, but they were unsuccessful. By the winter of 1611-12, the first militia had completely disintegrated.

3.2 Second militia. Liberation of Moscow

It seemed that there was no return to a unified and independent state. In Moscow, power was held by the Poles together with the Boyar Duma. Near Moscow there was a government of the First Militia led by Ivan Zarutsky, who proclaimed the baby Ivan, the son of Marina Mnishek. Tsar. The Swedes captured the Novgorod land. Pskov was ruled by False Dmitry Sh - the Posad man Sidorka. A number of cities - Putivl, Kazan and others did not recognize any authority. The Polish king declared himself a Russian sovereign and was preparing for a campaign against Moscow. Trade froze, many cities were devastated, Moscow stood half-burned. But the idea of ​​popular resistance did not die. The leading role in mobilizing the forces of the people belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church. From the Kremlin prison, through faithful people, Patriarch Hermogenes sent letters in which he called on the Russian people to stand up against the Polish invaders. He was echoed by letters sent from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

A new movement for the revival of the Russian state originated in Nizhny Novgorod. Here, after receiving calls from the Patriarch and the Trinity monks in the fall of 1611, the townspeople began to gather for meetings. The leader of the movement turned out to be a Nizhny Novgorod townsman, a zemstvo elder, and a meat merchant Kuzma Zakharovich Minin-Sukhoruk, incorruptible, fair, in whom everyone saw a guardian for the common cause.

In the main cathedral of Nizhny Novgorod, Kuzma Minin appealed to his fellow countrymen to start raising funds to organize a new militia and was the first to donate his savings and his wife’s jewelry. The patriotic impulse received organizational reinforcement. The townspeople and clergy decided that each owner should give one fifth of his property and income to equip the army - fifth money.

Merchants from other cities also made contributions. Minin intended these funds to pay for the army being formed. Detachments of Smolensk nobles approached Nizhny Novgorod, and the southern cities, led by Ryazan, again rose to fight. Vyazma, Kolomna, Dorogobuzh and other cities sent their people. The search for the governor began. Nizhny Novgorod residents chose the 33-year-old prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, who gained fame as a brave and experienced military leader. Kuzma Mininbecame the organizer of the economy, army finances, and administration in the liberated territories.

The Poles and their Moscow minions, led by boyar Saltykov, turned to the arrested Patriarch Hermogenes with a demand to condemn the movement that had begun. He refused and cursed the boyars as damned traitorsOn February 17, 80-year-old Hermogenes died of starvation. Later, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized him as a saint.

By winter, a strong army was organized in Nizhny Novgorod. The militiamen received a good salary. Pozharsky regularly reviewed the troops and prepared them for trials.

In March 1612, the second militia set out on a campaign. The Cossacks of Ataman Zarutsky and Boyar Trubetskoy, who were near Moscow, continued robberies and violence in the territory they controlled and sought to expand their sphere of influence. Zarutsky sent a detachment to Yaroslavl. The residents of Yaroslavl turned to Pozharsky for help. The vanguard of the militia cleared Yaroslavl of Cossacks. One after another, the gates of the city of the Volga region, northern Russia, and Pomerania were opened to the Second Militia. At the beginning of April 1612, the army entered Yaroslavl. The gifts of the city residents Minin and Pozharsky were given to the general treasury.

The four-month period has begun Yaroslavl standing. Minin and Pozharsky had no right to take risks. To restore the entire system of the Russian state, careful preparation was necessary - military, economic, political.

A government was organized in Yaroslavl - Council of the whole earthled by the leaders of the militia, the Boyar Duma, orders. Letters asking for help in people and money were signed by princes and boyars who had not stained themselves by serving impostors and foreigners - the Dolgorukies, Odoevskys, Buturlins and others. The Council turned for help not only to the Russian people, but also to the Tatars, Mordvins, Udmurts, Mari , Chuvash, Bashkirs, peoples of the North and Siberia.

At the same time, the Yaroslavl government strengthened the army: it endowed service people with estates; Cossacks who joined the militia were given grain and cash salaries. The old order of ownership of peasants and land was confirmed. Council of the whole earthfirmly stood on the previous enslavement positions, realizing that only through the landowners' lands and the forced labor of the peasants could the combat effectiveness of the newly created army be ensured. A number of diplomatic steps were taken: in an attempt to regulate relations with Sweden, ambassadors were sent to Novgorod with an agreement to support the candidacy of the Swedish prince for the Russian throne, provided that he converted to Orthodoxy. Thus, both Novgorod and Sweden turned into allies. The confident actions of the leaders of the Second Militia forced the leaders of the First Militia to organize an assassination attempt on Pozharsky. As soon as this news reached the Cossack camps near Moscow, a murmur began. Zarutsky, together with Marina Mnishek and the "vorenko" fled to the south. In Astrakhan, he tried to rouse the people on a new campaign against Moscow - under the banner of Tsarevich Ivan.

July 27, 1612 The second militia set out from Yaroslavl to Moscow. Near the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, the regiments received the blessing of the Church. Here Pozharsky learned that the army of the Polish hetman Khodkevich was rushing to Moscow. On August 20, 1612, Pozharsky was the first to arrive in time for the capital. On August 21, Khodkevich approached and camped on Poklonnaya Hill. On the right bank of the Moscow River, the remnants of the First Militia, led by Trubetskoy, covered the movement towards the Kremlin from the southwest and blocked the Polish garrison. Several times Trubetskoy proposed to Pozharsky to join forces, but he rejected these proposals. When Trubetskoy asked for help, he sent 5 horse hundreds.

On the morning of August 22, 1612, the Polish army that crossed the Moscow River was met by Pozharsky near the Novodevichy Convent. With approximately equal forces (10-12 thousand people each), the Poles had superiority in cavalry. Their heavily armed hussars were the first to strike the Russian left flank and drive them back to the river bank. At the same time, the Polish garrison of the capital organized a sortie. Pozharsky built fortifications here in advance and repulsed the enemy. The battle went on for half a day, the advantage of the Poles became more and more noticeable. At the most difficult moment, without Trubetskoy’s order, hundreds of cavalry sent the day before by Pozharsky struck Khodkevich’s flank. Together with them, other Cossack hundreds went on the attack. Pozharsky's regiments perked up. The infantry emerged from behind cover and moved forward. Khodkevich retreated, moved to the Donskoy Monastery and from there on August 24, 1612 he led an attack on Zamoskvorechye. Pozharsky also regrouped his forces, and Trubetskoy’s Cossacks stood in the way of the enemy. Early in the morning, the Polish cavalry made a breakthrough, and another part of the army attacked the Cossacks. The militia withstood the onslaught, and in Zamoskvorechye the fortified Cossack fort was captured by the Poles, but the Cossacks recaptured their positions. Believing that Zamoskvorechye was in his hands, Khodkevich pulled up a huge convoy to transport it to the Kremlin, interfering with the maneuvers of the Poles. Towards evening, Kuzma Minin with several hundred noble cavalry, unexpectedly crossing the river, struck the left flank of Khodkevich's army. Immediately the militia infantry came out from behind cover and moved forward, and the Cossacks rushed towards the enemy. The Polish regiments were crushed, the hetman's camp and the entire convoy were captured. Khodkevich took the remnants of his army to Vorobyovy Gory, and a few days later retreated to Mozhaisk.

Now the militias and Cossacks concentrated all their forces on the siege of the Kremlin. At the end of September 1612, both armies and both Councils united. A severe famine began in the Kremlin, but Pozharsky was in no hurry to storm, conserving the strength of the warriors. Russian cannons regularly fired at the Polish garrison of the Kremlin, inflicting significant losses on it. At the end of the second month of the siege, Pozharsky invited the Poles to surrender, but they refused. To free themselves from extra mouths, the Poles released the boyars' wives and children from the Kremlin, having previously robbed them. A 15-year-old came out with his relatives Mikhail Romanov, future Russian Tsar.

On October 1612, the Poles agreed to negotiations and capitulation, and on October 26, the Polish garrison capitulated. The next day, Pozharsky’s regiments and Trubetskoy’s Cossacks entered the Kremlin. But the war is not over yet. The army of Sigismund III was advancing from the west. Its vanguard was defeated near Moscow, and an attempt to take Volokolamsk by storm was unsuccessful. Having lost his garrison in the Kremlin, the king turned back. It was a complete victory for the patriotic forces.

3.3 Election to the kingdom of Mikhail Romanov

But the Troubles are not over yet. Novgorod stood for the Swedish prince, Zarutsky and the Cossacks threatened from the south, the war with Poland continued, the government of the country was collapsed. It was necessary to revive the economy, management and defense capabilities of the entire country, to restore international relations, which required a strong central government. Only autocratic rule in those conditions was capable of rallying society around itself. The reliable and independent future of Russia was associated with the tsar.

At the end of 1612, elected representatives of all classes of Russia - boyars, nobles, Church leaders, townspeople, Cossacks, black-sown and palace (personally free) peasants - came to the Zemsky Sobor in Moscow. The interests of serfs and serfs were represented at the Council by land owners. Never before in the country has there been a representative body of such a wide composition. The Council had one task - monarch election. The members of the Council decided not to elect a foreign representative to the Russian throne and rejected the candidacy of Marina Mnishek’s son Ivan.

There were about ten Russian applicants. Full names. Mstislavsky and V.V. Golitsyn represented the old princely families. But the first discriminated against himself due to his connection with the Poles, and the second was in Polish captivity. The nobles and Cossacks insisted on the candidacy of Prince D.M. Trubetskoy, but the boyars considered him not well-born enough. The name of Prince Pozharsky was mentioned, but the unborn hero of the Second Militia was also not supported. Negotiations have reached a dead end. And then a compromise was found. The Cossacks named the 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, who at that time was on his estate in Kostroma district. The son of the Tushino Patriarch Fpilaret, he was quite close to the Cossacks. Behind him stood the aura of a martyr father who was in Polish captivity. The boyars also supported him, because Mikhail was the great-nephew of Ivan the Terrible’s first wife, Anastasia Romanova.

February 1613 Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was elected to the throne. Russia has gained a legally elected monarch.

The Polish detachments remaining on Russian soil, having learned about the election of M. Romanov to the kingdom, tried to capture him in his ancestral Kostroma possessions. One of them forced the headman of the nearest village Ivan Susaninalead the detachment to the habitat of the young king. During the winter cold, Susanin led the Poles into impenetrable forest wilds, where they died. Susanin also died: the Poles hacked him to death. Susanin's feat seemed to crown the general patriotic impulse of the people.

The act of electing a tsar, and then crowning him king, first in Kostroma, and then in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, meant the end of the Time of Troubles. The reign of the Romanovs began.

time of troubles minin pozharsky

Conclusion

Three periods are clearly distinguished in the development of the Troubles. The first can be called dynastic, the second - social and the third - national. The first is the time of struggle for the Moscow throne between various contenders up to and including Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The second period is characterized by the internecine struggle of social classes and the intervention of foreign governments in this struggle, to whose share the success falls. Finally, the third period of the Time of Troubles was the time of the struggle of the Moscow people against foreign domination before the creation of a national government with M.F. Romanov at the head.

There is no doubt that in the middle of the Time of Troubles (starting from 1606) elements of the so-called. class struggle, or the uprising of the poor against the rich, but to a greater extent it was a general civil strife, which one of the Yaroslavl charters of the second zemstvo militia characterizes in the following words: “having gathered, thieves from all ranks committed internecine bloodshed in the Moscow state and the son rebelled against the father, and father against son, and brother against brother, and every neighbor drew the sword, and much Christian bloodshed was committed.”

“Thieves from all ranks,” i.e. from all estates and classes of society. The Tushino camp of the second False Dmitry is considered a typical “thieves’” camp, and meanwhile “the Thief had representatives of very high strata of the Moscow nobility.” “Thieves’ people” - this was by no means an economic, but a moral and psychological category - people without any moral and religious foundations and legal principles, and there were many of them in all classes of society, but still they constituted a minority of the population. And who were those “zemstvo people” who rose up against domestic “thieves” and foreign enemies and restored the national state destroyed by “thieves” and external enemies? These were Trinity monks, townspeople and villagers, trade and arable men of the central and northern regions, average service people and a significant part of the Don Cossacks - a very motley union in class terms.

During the period of the so-called interregnum (1610-1613), the position of the Moscow state seemed completely hopeless. The Poles occupied Moscow and Smolensk, the Swedes - Veliky Novgorod; gangs of foreign adventurers and their “thieves” ravaged the unfortunate country, killing and robbing the civilian population.

It is impossible to underestimate the historical role of the leaders of the Second Militia Dmitry Mikhailovich PozharskyAnd Kuzma Zakharovich Minin. These are undoubtedly folk heroes, saviors of the Fatherland. In the most difficult time for Russia, when the question was whether there should be a Russian state at all, there were people who took upon themselves the burden of responsibility for the fate of the country and people, bore this burden with honor and dignity and saved their Fatherland, thereby fulfilling their civic duty .

The Time of Troubles was a severe shock to the life of the Moscow state. Its first, immediate and most severe consequence was the terrible ruin and desolation of the country. In the social composition of society, the Troubles further weakened the power and influence of the old noble boyars, who in the storms of the Time of Troubles partly died or were ruined, and partly morally degraded and discredited themselves with their intrigues and their alliance with the enemies of the state.

In relation to the political, the time of troubles - when the Earth, having gathered its strength, itself restored the destroyed state - showed with its own eyes that the Moscow state was not the creation and “patrimony” of its “master” - the sovereign, but was a common cause and the common creation of “all cities and all ranks of people throughout the great Russian Kingdom."

Troubles - tragedy, cleansing and revival of Russia.

1.History of the USSR. Part 1. From ancient times to 1861 / Ed. Prof. Kabanova P.I. and prof. Mavrodina V.V.M. 1974.

2.Pashkov B.G. "Rus - Russia - Russian Empire. Chronicle of reigns and events 862 - 1917." M. 1977.

.Platonov S.F. "Textbook of Russian History". St. Petersburg 1994.

.Sakharov A.N., Bokhanov A.N. Russian history. XVII - XIX centuries: Textbook for 10th grade of secondary educational institutions. - M.: "TID "Russian Word - RS", 2003.