The life achievements of Ivan the Great
When Ivan the Great's father Vasily III was seriously ill, in order to ensure the stability of his son's future throne, he specially issued an edict to establish a regency council composed of seven nobles. These seven nobles He will assist the young Ivan until he reaches the age of fifteen and takes charge. These seven people were all powerful ministers at the time, headed by Ivan's uncle Grand Duke Glinsky, followed by Vasily III's younger brother, Ivan's uncle Andrei; the prominent Vasily and Ivan The Van Shuisky brothers (there are other claims of father and son), and the other three are the three grand dukes Zakharin, Tuchkov and Vorontsov. According to Basil III's idea, this arrangement is enough to ensure the long-term stability of the country and ensure that the young Ivan has enough ability to fight against the Duma, a great nobleman who is gathering opposition.
On December 4, 1533, Basil III died of illness. Ivan ascended the throne at the age of three and was known as Ivan IV in history. Although Vasily III stipulated that the regency would assist Ivan during his lifetime, it was Ivan's mother, Yelena Glinskaya, who actually had the most influence on the government. The young widowed Yelena soon found a favorite, a nobleman named Ivan Obolensky. With the support of Oberensky, Yelena gradually came up with the so-called idea of listening to politics behind the curtain, and then began to clear the regency council.
In this way, less than a year after the death of Basil III, the Grand Duchy began to split, with the royal party of the Regency Council on one side, and the rear party headed by Yelena on the other. The struggle for power began. . The first round of the battle between the Queen's Party and the King's Party ended with the victory of Queen Mother Yelena.
Yelena’s breakthrough against the royal party was the defection of senior generals in the summer of 1534. On August 3 of this year, Grand Duke Belsky and the famous general Liatsky, who were in charge of the military and political affairs in the important town of Serpukhov in the southern suburbs of Moscow, defected and went to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Two days later, due to the defection incident, Grand Duke Glinsky, the leader of the regency council, was arrested and imprisoned (there are other reports that he was killed), and then Grand Duke Vorontsov was also arrested. Next, the Belsky and Vorotensky families, who held military power, were also implicated, and many people were arrested. After a series of arrests, Yelena became regent with the support of Obolensky, effectively assuming sole power.
During the regency of Yelena Glinskaya, the Grand Duchy of Moscow was in a state of continuous war with Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate and the Kazan Khanate. In order to ensure the stable development of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, when the Grand Duchy of Moscow gained the upper hand in these military conflicts, Queen Mother Glinskaya successfully made peace with these hostile countries. In addition, Glinskaya also implemented an important financial reform - adding a new monetary unit to the Russian monetary system: the kopek. According to European custom, the kopeck is the subsidiary currency of the ruble, and 100 kopecks is equal to one ruble.
On April 3, 1538, four years after her regency, Glinskaya suddenly fell ill and died. Historians agree that Queen Mother Glinskaya was poisoned and murdered. Regardless, young Ivan became an orphan. The royal party made a comeback, and six days after Glinskaya's death, they arrested Obolensky, the Queen Mother's favorite, and put him in prison for execution. The royal party headed by the Shuisky brothers regained control of the regency council and manipulated Ivan to handle state affairs. Although the Shuisky brothers were well-known, they had no respect for Ivan IV. They bullied Ivan when he was young, did whatever he wanted in the court, and even publicly insulted Ivan and his mentally retarded brother Yuri. After the death of Vasily Shuysky, Ivan Shuysky became regent.
Shuysky's regent did not serve for a few days before he was expelled by the great noble Duma in 1540 and replaced by the upright Grand Duke Belsky. Two years later, Shuisky once again acted secretly, overthrew Belski and became regent again. As soon as Shuisky came to power, he persecuted the courtiers who opposed him and arrested and killed many ministers who supported Ivan and Belsky.
When Shuisky was in great power, he only paid attention to monitoring the ministers above the court, but forgot to keep an eye on the precocious young Grand Duke Ivan IV. On December 29, 1543, during a meeting of the Duma of the great nobles, the thirteen-year-old Ivan IV suddenly ordered his guards to arrest Shuisky. Although Shuisky planted many party members around Ivan and in the court at that time, the incident happened so suddenly that no one expected that Ivan would do this, let alone openly oppose the Grand Duke in the court. The ministers who supported Ivan took the opportunity to eliminate Shuisky's power in the court in one fell swoop, and at the same time elected Ivan's two uncles Mikhail and Yuri Glinsky as regents.
In December 1546, Ivan IV decided to take charge personally. On January 16 of the following year, Ivan ascended the throne and officially called himself Tsar. Byzantine Patriarch Joseph and thirty-six other Byzantine metropolitans recognized Ivan's title of tsar, which was recognized by the Orthodox Church. This formally completed the divine right of kings and the recognition of Moscow as the third Rome. That is, the power of the Russian monarch comes from God, and Moscow is the heir of Constantinople. This is a dual legal recognition of the intertwining of divine power and monarchy. Thus, Tsarist Russia was born. Less than a month after Ivan ascended the throne, he held a wedding - the queen was Anastasia Koshkina, the daughter of the imperial courtier Roman Zakhalin-Yuryev. Anastasia was the first empress in Russian history. She was known for her gentle personality and kind-heartedness.
The Roman family became famous because of their daughter, and they called themselves the Romanov family. A hundred years later, the Romanov family established the second dynasty in Russia after the Rurik dynasty, and the first emperor of the Russian Empire, Peter I, was Anastasia's grandnephew according to the genealogy.
The ambitious young tsar began to implement a series of political and military reforms aimed at strengthening centralization and achieving the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army. After the Great Fire of Moscow in 1547, Ivan IV put down the riots caused by rumors incited by the residents of the city, and then began to establish his own think tank.
Ivan IV and his think tanks implemented a series of important reforms, including the establishment of a new representative body of the nobility, the Council of the Gentry, and later established the first administrative body in Russian history. Yamen, specialized in handling government affairs. Later, this administrative yamen became the predecessor of the central government. After that, the diplomatic yamen, criminal yamen and other departments were separated from this department. Ivan IV also reformed the judicial system, changing the previous situation in which the governors and lords monopolized judicial power in various Russian towns. He stipulated that any criminal case trial must be accompanied by local nobles, gentry, etc., that is, some kind of sense of the jury system. The most realistic reform to Tsarist Russia was the military reform: Ivan IV ordered the establishment of a professional national army, unified the original militia-type armed forces in various cities into a standing regular army, and appointed nobles to serve as generals of these armies; officially The concept of service was introduced, stipulating that all those who receive salary must serve in the military. In this way, children of nobles from all over the country were assigned to the army and served as generals at all levels. An important way for children of nobles to obtain official titles was to gain military merit on the battlefield. In addition, Ivan IV also established a brand new branch of arms, the Shooting Army. The Shooting Army was stationed in Moscow. It was well-equipped and equipped with the most advanced firearms at the time. Compared with the army in the cold weapon era, the Shooting Army was undoubtedly the leader of Tsarist Russia. of elite strength. Later history proved that the Shooting Army played an important role in the Russian history of more than 200 years.
Ivan IV also formally determined the national emblem of Russia. Starting from Ivan IV, Russia's national emblem was not only the double-headed eagle inherited from Byzantium, but also the emblem of the Rurik family was added to the chest of the double-headed eagle - a painting of St. George standing up and brandishing a spear. , a shield with the image of the assassinating dragon. This national emblem pattern was used by the Romanov dynasty until the current federal system of Russia. In 1552, Ivan IV had been in power for six years. The 22-year-old Ivan was very ambitious. After successfully implementing a series of reforms, strengthening centralization, and stabilizing internal affairs, he decided to continue the unfinished expansion business of his ancestors and fathers. The first target he chose was the Kazan Khanate.
At the beginning of Ivan IV's accession to the throne, due to the vigorous expansion of his ancestors and fathers, the area of territory actually effectively controlled by Russia was equivalent to the combined area of modern Germany and France. Russia's territory stretches from the Karelia Peninsula in the north to the Pskov-Smolensk-Gomeli-Chernikov line in the west, bordering the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania; and the Crimean Khanate in the southwest. , the border line runs from Kursk and Yelets to the confluence of the Volga and Sula rivers; due south is the Don River Steppe, where a large number of Cossacks composed of Slavic, Caucasian and Tatar people live, and then The Nogai Great Khanate and the Nogai Minor Khanate established by the Tatars; at the mouth of the Volga River into the Caspian Sea is the Astrakhan Khanate established by the Tatars; and to the east is Russia's old rival Kazakhstan. Mountain Khanate.
There is an interesting historical phenomenon here: in the early days of Ivan IV’s reign in Tsarist Russia, in the south, east and north, the so-called border lines were actually geographical concepts, vague and uncertain, and there were no clear border markers. It can be understood as a rough sphere of influence. But the western border, that is, the border with the Livonian Knights and the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, is strikingly similar to the western border of Russia today. The only difference is that Chernigov and other places were already within Russian territory at that time (now part of Ukrainian territory), and the Ukrainian capital Kiev was located on the border at that time; in addition, along the Baltic Sea coastline, a narrow territory 70-100 kilometers wide , which is the area around St. Petersburg today, was still the territory of Livonia at that time. Later, in order to compete for the outlet of the Baltic Sea, Tsarist Russia and its European neighbors launched a war that lasted for twenty-five years.
The most densely populated area in Russia is naturally Moscow. According to statistics at the time, there were 41,500 households in Moscow, with more than 100,000 residents. At that time, Russia established a few settlements in the northern region, and the northernmost settlement had been built into the Arctic Circle.
After a series of political and military reforms, Ivan IV greatly consolidated centralization of power and firmly held the political power and the army in his hands. This was first reflected in the combat capabilities of the army: at that time, the Russian army was equipped with artillery, a weapon of mass destruction in the 16th century. Correspondingly, it also established a new branch of service - artillery, becoming the strongest army in Europe. one. After several years of operation, the Russian army has a large number of artillery.
According to a secret letter written by John Kobenzeri, the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire to Tsarist Russia at the time, to Emperor Maximilian II, every time the Russian army launched a large-scale campaign, it had to dispatch at least Hundreds of cannons. The original insurmountable tall and strong city walls built in the Middle Ages can no longer withstand the bombardment of Russian artillery.
In addition, Ivan IV also ordered the casting of heavy cannons. This cannon actually weighed several tons, and each shell weighed hundreds of kilograms. Whenever the Russian artillery roars on the battlefield, it can often cause a huge psychological shock to the enemy troops.
The cannons ordered by Ivan IV were not only powerful, but also had an extraordinary service life. Each cannon has been in service for decades, and some cannons were still in use in the 17th century. This was certainly because the artillery at that time had a simple structure, was thick and bulky, and was not easily damaged; but on the other hand, Russia's artillery casting technology at that time was superb, and metal forging had reached a certain level. This is also an important reason why artillery has a service life of hundreds of years.
After the Russian army completed the transformation from shotguns to cannons, the ambitious Ivan IV decided to expand territory like his ancestors and fathers. The Kazan Khanate was chosen as the first target.
At that time, the rulers of the Kazan Khanate and the Crimean Khanate were both from the Jiray family. The monarch of the Kazan Khanate was welcomed into the dynasty from the Crimean Khanate. When Moscow was busy with civil strife, the Kazan Khanate repeatedly invaded the eastern border towns of Moscow. The main targets of the attacks were Nizhny Novgorod, Vyatka, Vladimir, Kostroma and other towns.
Ivan IV decided to personally conquer Kazan. The purpose was not only to make Kazan surrender and become a vassal state, but also to completely conquer and incorporate Kazan into Russian territory. In order to achieve this goal, Ivan III made three expeditions to the Kazan Khanate. The first two eastern expeditions failed due to weather conditions and lack of troops.
In October 1552, Ivan IV led his army to conquer the Kazan Khanate for the third time. This time Ivan IV brought a huge army of 150,000 people, equipped with 150 artillery pieces. Kazan could not withstand the Russian attack, and soon Kazan fell. The Kazan Khanate, which had been dominant for hundreds of years, fell.
Ivan IV deposed Kazan Khan, his general Alexander Shuisky was appointed as the governor of Kazan, and Kazan was officially incorporated into the Russian territory.
Historians acknowledge that the conquest of Kazan was of great historical significance to Russia. Strategically, it changed the harsh geopolitical situation surrounded by Russia's powerful enemies, opened a gap in the east, eliminated Russia's major troubles in the east, and spared border towns from frequent attacks by Tatar cavalry. In the long run, this freed up Russia's hands to destroy the surrounding powerful countries one by one with various defeat tactics, pushing its territorial expansion to an unprecedented level. Secondly, the demise of the Kazan Khanate removed the biggest obstacle to Tsarist Russia's eastward advance. After conquering Kazan, you can cross the Ural Mountains to the east and follow the Volga River to the south to the Caspian Sea. In this way, the two khanates of Siberia and Astrakhan have become the possessions of Tsarist Russia.
In order to commemorate the conquest of the Kazan Khanate, Ivan IV ordered the construction of a church on the square in front of the Kremlin, named the Cathedral of Our Lady, which is today the Cathedral of Basil’s Assumption on Red Square.
After the demise of the Kazan Khanate, Russia stepped up its colonization in the Volga River Basin. Immigrants from all over Russia migrated eastward in large numbers, spreading like a tide across the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. Fur and wood turned into billowing Wealth flowed into Moscow through Kazan, allowing Russia to gain huge profits from trade with Europe. In less than 20 years, Kazan has become a prosperous and multi-ethnic town.
In the following years, Ivan IV sent generals Shemyakin and Cheremisinov to attack the Astrakhan Khanate. With the assistance of Don Cossack cavalry, It twice severely damaged the main force of the Astrakhan Khanate, and finally captured Astrakhan, the capital at the confluence of the Volga River and the Caspian Sea, without any blood. In 1556, the Astrakhan Khanate fell. In this way, Tsarist Russia under Ivan IV conquered the entire Volga River Basin, expanded its territory to the coast of the Caspian Sea, and extended its tentacles of expansion to the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Siberia. At this time, the Siberian Khanate, the Nogai Khanate and the Cossacks in the southern steppes had nominally surrendered to Moscow. The Cossacks guarded the southern frontier for the tsar and became the pioneers in opening up the eastern territories on the condition of their actual independent status and the possession of newly occupied lands.
After achieving a series of brilliant military and political victories, Ivan IV began to concentrate on dealing with the Crimean Khanate.
After the Kazan Khanate and the Astrakhan Khanate fell one after another, Kerim Khan Devlet I of the Gire Dynasty vowed to restore Astrakhan and Kazan to their kingdoms. . Before Devret had time to take action, first in 1558, Moscow's ally, the Polish general Wishnevecki, led an army to defeat the Crimean army in Azov, a fortress at the mouth of the Sea of Azov, and then in 1559, they were defeated. The famous general Adashev sent by Ivan IV defeated the army, and the Crimean Khanate army retreated to the Crimean Peninsula.
Adashev captured the port city of Kezrev, a port city of the Crimean Khanate that thrived on human trafficking, and rescued a large number of captive people and slaves. Although Adashev's army achieved a series of victories, they ultimately failed to invade the Crimean Peninsula, the heart of the Khanate, and failed to deal a devastating blow to the Crimean Khanate. As a counterattack, Devret I's Crimean army and the Ottoman-Turkish coalition made two expeditions to Astrakhan, but were defeated by the Russian army led by Adashev.