Libyan army. The Livonian War, Its Political Meaning and Consequences

The Livonian War became one of the largest military conflicts of the 16th century, engulfing Russia and northeastern Europe. On the territory of modern Estonia, Latvia and Belarus, the armies of the Livonian Confederation, Moscow, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Swedish and Danish kingdoms fought. Following the interests of the state, Ivan IV the Terrible, who became famous as an ambitious and wayward monarch, decided to take part in the upcoming redistribution of Europe in connection with the extinction of the once strong Livonian Order. As a result, the protracted conflict was not crowned with success for Moscow.

To begin with, you should briefly talk about the participants in this war and find out the strengths of the parties.

Livonian Confederation

The Livonian Order, or the Brotherhood of the Knights of Christ of Livonia, is a military-religious organization of crusader knights that settled in northeastern Europe as early as the 13th century. Relations between the Livonians and the Russian principalities did not work out from the very beginning; in 1242, the knights, still part of the Teutonic Order, took part in the campaign against Pskov and Novgorod, but were defeated in the battle known as the Battle of the Ice. By the 15th century, the order had weakened, and Livonia was a confederation of the Order and four principalities-bishoprics, which were in sharp competition with each other.

Map of the Livonian Confederation

By the 16th century, the internal political situation only worsened, social and political disunity in the order lands increased to a critical limit. Therefore, it is not surprising that the neighbors of Livonia, not distinguished by their peacefulness, namely Sweden, Denmark and Russia, circled like vultures over the Baltic, expecting an early prey. One of the predecessors of Ivan the Terrible, Grand Duke Ivan III, concluded a peace treaty with the Order at the beginning of the 16th century, according to which the Livonians paid an annual tribute to Pskov. Subsequently, Ivan the Terrible tightened the terms of the treaty, additionally demanding the abandonment of military alliances with Lithuania and Sweden. The Livonians refused to comply with such demands, and in 1557 the Order signed an agreement of vassalage with Poland. In 1558, the war began, which put an end to the Livonian Confederation.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The vast state, located on the territory of modern Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania, was formed in the 13th century, and from the 16th century it existed as part of the Commonwealth. In the XV-XVI centuries, the Principality of Lithuania was the main rival of Moscow for dominance over the territories from Smolensk to the Bug and from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Therefore, the active participation of the Litvins in the Livonian War is not at all surprising.

Russian kingdom

As we have already mentioned, the initiator of the Livonian War was Ivan the Terrible, one of the most famous Russian sovereigns. From his father Vasily III, he inherited a strong state, albeit one that had been waging ongoing wars for the expansion of territory since the beginning of the 16th century. The Baltic states became one of the goals of the active tsar, since the Livonian Order, falling into insignificance, could not offer significant resistance to Russia. The entire strength of the Livonians lay in their medieval heritage - many fortified castles that formed a powerful defensive line capable of tying up the enemy forces for a long time.

Ivan the Terrible (parsuna of the late XVI century)

The basis of the army of Ivan the Terrible were archers - the first regular Russian army, recruited from urban and rural residents, armed with cannons and squeakers. Seemingly impregnable medieval castles could not protect their owners from the rapidly developing and improving artillery. Shortly before the start of the war, in 1557, the tsar gathered 40,000 troops in Novgorod for the coming campaign and was confident in the upcoming success.

The initial period of the war

The war began on January 17, 1558 with a reconnaissance raid of Russian troops on Livonian territory, led by the Kazan Khan Shah-Ali and the governors Glinsky and Zakharyev-Yuryev. The diplomatic justification for the campaign was an attempt to get the tribute due to Pskov from the Livonians, but the Order had no chance to collect the required amount of 60 thousand thalers.

Narva was a strong border fortress of the Livonian Order, founded by the Danes in the 13th century. On the other side of the border, to protect against a possible invasion, at the end of the 15th century, the Ivangorod fortress was erected. The distance between the fortifications was about two kilometers, which, after the start of hostilities, allowed the Narva garrison, commanded by the knight Focht Schnellenberg, to open fire on Ivangorod, provoking a long artillery firefight. By April 1558, Russian troops led by governors Daniil Adashev, Alexei Basmanov and Ivan Buturlin approached Narva. The siege began.

On May 11, the fortress was engulfed in a fire that grew due to strong winds. The defenders of Narva had to leave the walls and rush into an unequal battle with a more powerful enemy - a raging flame. Taking advantage of the panic in the city, the troops of Ivan the Terrible launched an assault and broke through the gates without hindrance. Rapidly capturing the lower city along with enemy artillery, they opened fire on the upper city and citadel. The besieged quickly resigned themselves to inevitable defeat and surrendered on the terms of a free exit from the city. Narva was taken.

Together with the fortress, Ivan the Terrible got a harbor with access to the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea - it was she who became the cradle of the Russian fleet.

In addition to the quick capture of Narva with little bloodshed, 1558 was crowned with a number of no less successful operations of the Russian army. At the end of June, despite the heroic defense, the Neuhausen castle fell, whose garrison was led by the knight Uexküll von Padenorm - the fortress successfully fought back for a whole month, but truly knightly courage was powerless against the artillery of the governor Peter Shuisky. In July, Shuisky captured Dorpat (modern Tartu) - for seven days, artillery destroyed the fortifications almost point-blank, after which the besieged could only negotiate surrender.

Gotthard von Ketler (portrait of the last third of the 16th century)

As a result, during the period of spring-autumn 1558, the streltsy army captured two dozen fortresses, including those that voluntarily came under the rule of the Russian tsar. By the end of the year, the situation changed - the Livonians decided to go on the counterattack. By 1559, Gotthard von Ketler became the new head of the Order, who became the last in history to bear the title of Landmaster of the Teutonic Order in Livonia ...

Campaign of 1559

At the end of the year, when the Russian troops retreated to winter quarters, leaving garrisons in the captured fortresses, the new Landmaster, not without difficulty, managed to gather an army of ten thousand and approached the Ringen fortress, guarded by only a few hundred archers. Doomed to defeat, the defenders heroically defended themselves for five weeks, Governor Repnin came to the aid of Ringen, but his detachment of two thousand people was defeated by Ketler's army. When the archers ran out of gunpowder, the Livonians were able to capture the fortress. All her defenders were destroyed. However, the capture of Ringen can hardly be called a success for the Livonians - having spent more than a month and having lost a fifth of his troops during the siege, Ketler could not continue the offensive, and retreated to Riga.

After the capture of Ringen by the Livonians, Tsar Ivan the Terrible decided to give the Order an adequate response. At the beginning of 1559, the archers, led by the voivode Vasily Semyonovich Serebryany-Obolensky, crossed the Livonian border and on January 17 met with the army of the knight Friedrich von Felkerzam near the city of Tirzen (now Tirza in Latvia). The battle ended with a crushing defeat for the Livonians - Frederick himself and 400 knights (not counting ordinary soldiers) died, the rest were captured or fled. Taking advantage of the success, Russian troops marched through the Livonian lands through Riga to the Prussian border, capturing 11 more cities.

This operation caused the complete collapse of the Livonian army, the combat effectiveness of which decreased to a catastrophic level. By the spring of 1559, all the neighbors of the Order had significantly perked up, since not only Moscow had views of the lands of Livonia. Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Denmark demanded that Ivan the Terrible stop the campaign, threatening to side with the Livonian Confederation.

An equally important factor was the anxiety of European monarchs about the strengthening of Moscow. So, the Lithuanian prince Sigismund II, not without panic notes, reported in a dispatch to the English Queen Elizabeth:

“The Moscow sovereign daily increases his power by acquiring goods that are brought to Narva, because here, among other things, weapons are brought here that are still unknown to him ... military experts come, through which he acquires the means to defeat everyone ... "

Another difficulty was the disagreements in Moscow itself. The lack of a common military strategy, when part of the boyars considered access to the Baltic the highest priority, while the other advocated the quickest liquidation of the Crimean Khanate, caused heated debate among the tsar's associates. If the emergence of Moscow-controlled ports in the Baltic reshaped the geopolitical and commercial map of Europe, significantly shifting the scales in favor of Ivan the Terrible, then a successful southern campaign would have protected the borders from constant raids and enriched the governors and boyars with new land acquisitions.

Sigismund II August, Grand Duke of Lithuania (portrait by Lucas Cranach, 1553)

As a result, the king made concessions and agreed to give the Livonians a truce from March to November 1559. The resulting respite was used by the Order to its maximum advantage. Being unable to cope with the king alone, the Livonians decided to invite more participants to the gambling table, drawing Poland and Sweden into a conflict with Ivan the Terrible. However, this intrigue did not help them much. Gotthard von Ketler concluded an agreement with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II, according to which the lands of the Order and the Archbishop of Riga fell under the protectorate of Lithuania. Later, Revel went to the king of Sweden, and the island of Ezel (Saaremaa) to the brother of the Danish king, Duke Magnus.

Having received external assistance, in the early autumn of 1559, the Livonians violated the truce and, with an unexpected attack, defeated the detachment of governor Pleshcheev near Derpt. However, by the time they reached the fortress, the head of the garrison, voivode Katyrev-Rostovsky, had managed to prepare for defense. 10 days of siege and mutual artillery salvos did not give a result, and Ketler was forced to retreat.

On the way back, Ketler undertook a siege of the Lais fortress, which the streltsy head Koshkarov, together with a garrison of 400 people, bravely defended for two days, until the Livonians again retreated. The autumn campaign of the Order not only did not produce any results, but also provoked Moscow to resume hostilities.

Campaign of 1560

In the summer of 1560, Ivan the Terrible sent an army of 60,000 to Dorpat with 40 siege and 50 field cannons under the command of Ivan Mstislavsky and Peter Shuisky. The target of the subsequent attack was to be Fellin (modern Viljandi), the most powerful fortress of the Order in eastern Livonia.

According to intelligence, the Livonians were transporting a rich treasury to Gapsal (Hapsalu in northwestern Estonia), and the Russian vanguard of twelve thousand horsemen was in a hurry to block the road from Fellin to the sea. By August 2, the riders had set up camp a few kilometers from Ermes Castle (now Ergeme in Latvia). Meanwhile, the Livonian troops, led by the "last hope of Livonia" Land Marshal Philipp von Bell, gathered at the Trikata castle to repulse the enemy. Also on August 2, three dozen knights went for fodder, where they encountered a numerous enemy patrol.

Both sides opened fire, one Russian was killed, the rest preferred to retreat to the camp. The knights split up: 18 turned for reinforcements, 12 rushed after the retreating. When the first detachment returned to the camp, Belle ordered 300 horsemen to be sent against the Russians, since he had no idea about the size of the enemy, and the knights who arrived saw only a small detachment. The Livonian horsemen who set out were quickly surrounded, and when the battle began, many of them fled. As a result, more than 250 knights died, many were captured. Among them was Philip von Bell - the "last hope" did not justify itself, and the road to Fellin was now open.

Siege of Fellin (engraving from Leonhard Fronsperger's book, 16th century)

The army of Mstislavsky and Shuisky reached Fellin in August of the same year. The siege began. The fortress was defended by a garrison under the leadership of the former Master Firstenberg. For three weeks, Russian artillery continuously shelled the walls of the old but strong castle. Attempts by the Livonian troops to lift the siege were successfully repelled by archers. When the outer fortifications fell and a fire started in the city, Firstenberg, not wanting to negotiate and surrender, ordered to take up defense in an impregnable castle inside the fortress. However, the garrison, which had not received a salary for several months, was not ready for such heroism and refused to obey the order. On August 21, Fallin capitulated.

The defenders received the right to free exit from the city, important prisoners were sent to Moscow, and the soldiers of the garrison who reached Riga were hanged by the Livonians for treason. The fall of Fellin practically put an end to the existence of the Livonian Order. In 1561, von Ketler finally transferred his lands to the Polish-Lithuanian possession, which the neighbors counted on. According to the Vilna Treaty of November 1561, the Order officially ceased to exist, and Ketler received the Duchy of Courland. The division of rich booty began: Revel (Tallinn) recognized the citizenship of Sweden, Denmark made claims to the islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa. Thus, instead of one weakened Order, several European states stood in the way of Moscow, despite the fact that the tsar's army lost the initiative, not having time to capture the ports of Riga and Revel and get access to the sea.

But Ivan the Terrible refused to retreat. The real war had just begun.

To be continued

The Livonian War (1558-1583) for the right to possess the territories and possessions of Livonia (a historical region on the territory of the modern Latvian and Estonian republics) began as a war between Russia and the Livonian Knightly Order, which later spilled over into a war between Russia, Sweden and.

The prerequisite for the war was the Russian-Livonian negotiations, which ended in 1554 with the signing of a peace treaty for a period of 15 years. According to this agreement, Livonia was obliged to pay an annual tribute to the Russian Tsar for the city of Dorpat (modern Tartu, originally known as Yuryev), since it previously belonged to the Russian princes, the heirs of Ivan IV. Under the pretext of paying Yuryev tribute later than the deadline, the tsar declared war on Livonia in January 1558.

Causes of the Livonian War

As for the true reasons for declaring war on Livonia by Ivan IV, two possible versions are expressed. The first version was proposed in the 50s of the 19th century by the Russian historian Sergei Solovyov, who presented Ivan the Terrible as the predecessor of Peter the Great in his intentions to seize the Baltic port, thereby establishing unhindered economic (trade) relations with European countries. Until 1991, this version remained the main one in Russian and Soviet historiography, and some Swedish and Danish scholars also agreed with it.

However, starting from the 60s of the 20th century, the assumption that Ivan IV was driven solely by economic (trade) interest in the Livonian War was severely criticized. Critics pointed out that, in justifying military operations in Livonia, the tsar never referred to the need for unhindered trade relations with Europe. Instead, he spoke of heritage rights, calling Livonia his fiefdom. An alternative explanation, proposed by the German historian Norbert Angermann (1972) and supported by the scholar Erik Tyberg (1984) and some Russian scholars in the 1990s, in particular Filyushkin (2001), emphasizes the tsar's desire to expand the spheres of influence and consolidate his power.

Most likely, Ivan IV started the war without any strategic plans. He simply wanted to punish the Livonians and force them to pay tribute and comply with all the conditions of the peace treaty. Initial success encouraged the tsar to conquer the entire territory of Livonia, but here his interests clashed with those of Sweden and the Commonwealth, turning the local conflict into a long and exhausting war between the greatest powers of the Baltic region.

The main periods of the Livonian War

As the hostilities developed, Ivan IV changed allies, the picture of hostilities also changed. Thus, four main periods can be distinguished in the Livonian War.

1. From 1558 to 1561 - the period of the initial successful operations of the Russians in Livonia;
2. 1560s - a period of confrontation with the Commonwealth and peaceful relations with Sweden;
3. From 1570 to 1577 - the last attempts of Ivan IV to conquer Livonia;
4. From 1578 to 1582 - the attacks of Sweden and the Commonwealth, forcing Ivan IV to liberate the Livonian lands he had captured and proceed to peace negotiations.

The first victories of the Russian army

In 1558, the Russian army, without encountering serious resistance from the Livonian army, on May 11th took the important port located on the Narva River, and after that on July 19th conquered the city of Dorpat. After a long truce, which lasted from March to November 1559, in 1560 the Russian army made another attempt to attack Livonia. On August 2, the main army of the Order was defeated near Ermes (modern Ergeme), and on August 30, the Russian army, led by Prince Andrei Kurbsky, took Fellin Castle (modern Viljandi Castle).

When the fall of the weakened Livonian Order became obvious, the knightly society and the Livonian cities began to seek support from the Baltic countries - the Principality of Lithuania, Denmark and Sweden. In 1561, the country was divided: the last landmaster of the Order, Gotthard Kettler, became a subject of Sigismund II Augustus, the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania over the destroyed Order. At the same time, the northern part of Livonia, including the city of Reval (modern Tallinn), was occupied by Swedish troops. Sigismund II was the main rival of Ivan IV in the Livonian War, therefore, in an attempt to unite with King Eric XIV of Sweden, the tsar declared war on the Principality of Lithuania in 1562. A huge Russian army, led by the Tsar himself, began the siege of Polotsk, a city on the eastern border of the Principality of Lithuania, and captured it on February 15, 1563. In the next few years, the Lithuanian army was able to take revenge, winning two battles in 1564 and capturing two minor fortresses in 1568, but it failed to achieve decisive successes in the war.

Tipping point: victories turn to defeat

By the beginning of the 70s of the 16th century, the international situation had changed again: the coup d'état in Sweden (Eric XIV was deposed by his brother John III) put an end to the Russian-Swedish alliance; Poland and Lithuania, united in 1569 to form the state of the Commonwealth, on the contrary, adhered to a peaceful policy due to the illness of King Sigismund II Augustus, who died in 1579, and periods of interregnum (1572-1573, 1574-1575).

Due to these circumstances, Ivan IV tried to oust the Swedish army from the territory of northern Livonia: the Russian army and the royal subject, the Danish prince Magnus (brother of Frederick II, king of Denmark), conducted a siege of the city of Reval for 30 weeks (from August 21, 1570 March 16, 1571), but in vain.

The alliance with the Danish king showed its complete failure, and the raids of the Crimean Tatars, such as, for example, the burning of Moscow by Khan Davlet I Gerai on May 24, 1571, forced the king to postpone military operations in Livonia for several years.

In 1577, Ivan IV made his last attempt to conquer Livonia. Russian troops occupied the entire territory of the country with the exception of the cities of Reval and Riga. The following year, the war reached its final stage, fatal for Rus' in the Livonian War.

Defeat of Russian troops

In 1578, the Russian troops were defeated by the joint efforts of the armies of the Commonwealth and Sweden near the Wenden fortress (modern Cesis fortress), after which the royal subject, Prince Magnus, joined the Polish army. In 1579, the Polish king Stefan Batory, a talented general, laid siege to Polotsk again; in the following year, he invaded Rus' and ravaged the Pskov region, capturing the fortresses of Velizh and Usvyat and subjecting Velikie Luki to devastating fire. During the third campaign against Rus' in August 1581, Batory began the siege of Pskov; the garrison under the leadership of the Russian prince Ivan Shuisky repulsed 31 attacks.

At the same time, Swedish troops captured Narva. On January 15, 1582, Ivan IV signed the Yamzapolsky peace treaty near the town of Zapolsky Yam, which ended the war with the Commonwealth. Ivan IV renounced the territories in Livonia, Polotsk and Velizh (Veliky Luki was returned to the Russian kingdom). In 1583, a peace treaty was signed with Sweden, according to which the Russian cities of Yam, Ivangorod and Koporye passed to the Swedes.

Results of the Livonian War

The defeat in the Livonian War was devastating for the foreign policy of Ivan IV, it weakened the position of Rus' in front of its western and northern neighbors, the war had a detrimental effect on the northwestern regions of the country.

Russian troops (1577) troops of the Commonwealth returned Polotsk and unsuccessfully besieged Pskov. The Swedes took Narva and unsuccessfully besieged Oreshek.

The war ended with the signing of Yam-Zapolsky (1582) and Plyussky (1583) truces. Russia was deprived of all the conquests made as a result of the war, as well as lands on the border with the Commonwealth and coastal Baltic cities (Koporye, Yama, Ivangorod). The territory of the former Livonian Confederation was divided between the Commonwealth, Sweden and Denmark.

In Russian historical science since the 19th century, the concept of the war as a struggle of Russia for access to the Baltic Sea has been established. A number of modern scientists name other causes of the conflict.

The Livonian War had a huge impact on events in Eastern Europe and the internal affairs of the states involved. As a result, the Livonian Order ended its existence, the war contributed to the formation of the Commonwealth, and the Russian kingdom led to economic decline.

The disunity and military weakness of Livonia (according to some estimates, the Order could put up no more than 10 thousand soldiers in an open battle), the weakening of the once powerful Hansa, the expansionist aspirations of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, Sweden, Denmark and Russia led to a situation in which the existence of the Livonian Confederation was threatened .

Proponents of a different approach believe that Ivan IV did not plan to start a large-scale war in Livonia, and the military campaign of the beginning of 1558 was nothing more than a show of force in order to push the Livonians to pay the promised tribute, which is supported by the fact that the Russian army was originally planned to be used on Crimean direction. So, according to the historian Alexander Filyushkin, on the part of Russia, the war did not have the character of a “fight for the sea”, and not a single Russian document contemporary with the events contains information about the need to break through to the sea.

Also important is the fact that in 1557 the Livonian Confederation and the Polish-Lithuanian Union concluded the Treaty of Pozvol, which grossly violated the Russian-Livonian treaties of 1554 and included an article on a defensive-offensive alliance directed against Moscow. In historiography, both contemporaries of those events (, I. Renner), and later researchers, had the opinion that it was that treaty that provoked Ivan IV to decisive military action in January 1558, in order not to give time to the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to mobilize their forces to secure their Livonia.

However, a number of other historians believe that the Treaty of Pozvol had little effect on the development of the situation in 1558 around Livonia. According to V. E. Popov and A. I. Filyushkin, the question of whether the Pozvolsky treaty was casus belli for Moscow is controversial, since it has not yet been substantiated by act material, and the military alliance against Moscow at that time was postponed for 12 years. According to E. Tyberg, in Moscow at that time they did not know at all about the existence of this agreement. V. V. Penskoy believes that in this matter it is not so important whether the fact of concluding the Pozvolsky Treaty was casus belli for Moscow, which, as the cause of the Livonian War, went in combination with others, such as the open intervention of Poland and Lithuania in Livonian affairs, the non-payment of the Yuryev tribute by the Livonians, the strengthening of the blockade of the Russian state, and so on, which inevitably led to war.

By the beginning of the war, the Livonian Order was even more weakened by the defeat in the conflict with the Archbishop of Riga and Sigismund II Augustus, who supported him. On the other hand, Russia was gaining strength after the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, Bashkiria, the Great Nogai Horde, the Cossacks and Kabarda.

The Russian kingdom began the war on January 17, 1558. The invasion of Russian troops in January-February 1558 into the Livonian lands was a reconnaissance raid. It was attended by 40 thousand people under the command of Khan Shig-Aley (Shah-Ali), governor M. V. Glinsky and D. R. Zakharyin-Yuriev. They passed through the eastern part of Estonia and returned back by the beginning of March [ ] . The Russian side motivated this campaign solely by the desire to receive the due tribute from Livonia. The Livonian Landtag decided to collect 60 thousand thalers for settlement with Moscow in order to stop the outbreak of war. However, by May, only half of the amount claimed had been collected. In addition, the Narva garrison fired on the Ivangorod fortress, which violated the ceasefire agreement.

This time a more powerful army moved to Livonia. The Livonian Confederation at that time could put in the field, not counting the fortress garrisons, no more than 10 thousand people. Thus, its main military asset was the powerful stone walls of the fortresses, which by this time could no longer effectively withstand the power of heavy siege weapons.

Governors Aleksey Basmanov and Danila Adashev arrived in Ivangorod. In April 1558, Russian troops laid siege to Narva. The fortress was defended by a garrison under the command of the knight Vocht Schnellenberg. On May 11, a fire broke out in the city, accompanied by a storm (according to the Nikon chronicle, the fire occurred due to the fact that drunken Livonians threw an Orthodox icon of the Virgin into the fire). Taking advantage of the fact that the guards left the city walls, the Russians rushed to the assault.

“Very vile, terrible, hitherto unheard of, true new news, what atrocities the Muscovites are committing with captive Christians from Livonia, men and women, virgins and children, and what harm they are doing to them daily in their country. Along the way, it is shown what is the great danger and need of the Livonians. To all Christians, as a warning and improvement of their sinful life, it was written from Livonia and printed, Georg Breslein, Nuremberg, Flying Leaf, 1561

They broke through the gates and took possession of the lower city. Having seized the guns located there, the warriors deployed them and opened fire on the upper castle, preparing the stairs for the attack. However, by the evening the defenders of the castle themselves surrendered on the terms of a free exit from the city.

The defense of the Neuhausen fortress distinguished itself with particular perseverance. She was defended by several hundred soldiers led by the knight von Padenorm, who for almost a month repelled the onslaught of the governor Peter Shuisky. On June 30, 1558, after the destruction of the fortress walls and towers by Russian artillery, the Germans retreated to the upper castle. Von Padenorm expressed a desire to keep the defense here, but the surviving defenders of the fortress refused to continue senseless resistance. As a sign of respect for their courage, Peter Shuisky allowed them to leave the fortress with honor.

In 1560, the Russians resumed hostilities and won a number of victories: Marienburg (now Aluksne in Latvia) was taken; the German forces were defeated at Ermes, after which Fellin (now Viljandi in Estonia) was taken. The Livonian Confederation collapsed. During the capture of Fellin, the former Livonian Landmaster of the Teutonic Order Wilhelm von Furstenberg was captured. In 1575 he sent a letter to his brother from Yaroslavl, where the land was granted to the former landmaster. He told a relative that he "had no reason to complain about his fate." Sweden and Lithuania, which acquired the Livonian lands, demanded that Moscow remove troops from their territory. Ivan the Terrible refused, and Russia found itself in conflict with a coalition of Lithuania and Sweden.

In the autumn of 1561, the Union of Vilna was concluded on the formation of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia on the territory of Livonia and the transfer of other lands to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

On November 26, 1561, the German emperor Ferdinand I banned the supply of Russians through the port of Narva. Eric XIV, King of Sweden, blockaded the port of Narva and sent Swedish privateers to intercept merchant ships sailing to Narva.

In 1562, Lithuanian troops raided the Smolensk region and Velizh. In the summer of the same year, the situation on the southern borders of the Russian kingdom [room 4] escalated, which moved the timing of the Russian offensive in Livonia to autumn. In 1562, in the battle near Nevel, Prince Andrey Kurbsky failed to defeat the Lithuanian detachment that invaded the Pskov region. On August 7, a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Denmark, according to which the Tsar agreed to the annexation of the island of Ösel by the Danes.

At the proposal of the German Emperor Ferdinand to conclude an alliance and join forces in the fight against the Turks, the king said that he was fighting in Livonia practically for his own interests, against the Lutherans [ ] . The tsar knew what place the idea of ​​the Catholic counter-reformation occupied in the politics of the Habsburgs. By opposing the “Lutherian doctrine,” Ivan the Terrible touched a very sensitive chord in Habsburg politics.

After the capture of Polotsk, Russia's successes in the Livonian War began to decline. Already in the Russians suffered a series of defeats (Battle of Chashniki). The boyar and a major military leader, who actually commanded the Russian troops in the West, Prince A. M. Kurbsky, went over to the side of Lithuania, he gave the king tsarist agents in the Baltic states and participated in the Lithuanian raid on Velikiye Luki.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to the military failures and unwillingness of eminent boyars to fight against Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565, the oprichnina was introduced. In 1566, a Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to divide Livonia on the basis of the situation that existed at that time. The Zemsky Sobor, convened at that time, supported the intention of the government of Ivan the Terrible to fight in the Baltic states until the capture of Riga.

A difficult situation developed in the north of Russia, where relations with Sweden again aggravated, and in the south (the campaign of the Turkish army near Astrakhan in 1569 and the war with the Crimea, during which the army of Devlet I Girey burned Moscow in 1571 and devastated the southern Russian lands). However, the offensive in the Republic of Both Peoples of a long “kinglessness”, the creation in Livonia of the vassal kingdom of Magnus, which at first had an attractive force in the eyes of the population of Livonia, again allowed the scales to tip in favor of Russia. [ ]

In order to interrupt the growing trade turnover of Narva, which was under Russian control, Poland, and behind it Sweden, launched an active privateer activity in the Baltic Sea. In 1570, measures were taken to protect Russian trade on the Baltic Sea. Ivan the Terrible issued a "royal charter" (letter of marque) to the Dane Carsten Rode. Despite the short period of activity, Rode's actions were quite effective, they reduced Swedish and Polish trade in the Baltic, forced Sweden and Poland to equip special squadrons to capture Rode. [ ]

In 1575, the fortress of Sage surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov (now Pärnu in Estonia) surrendered to the Russians. After the campaign of 1576, Russia captured the entire coast, except for Riga and Revel.

However, the unfavorable international situation, the distribution of land in the Baltic states to Russian nobles, which alienated the local peasant population from Russia, serious internal difficulties (the economic ruin that was looming over the country) negatively affected the further course of the war for Russia. [ ]

The Tsar's ambassador John Kobenzel testified about the complex relations between the Moscow state and the Commonwealth in 1575: [ ]

Poles at dark night
Before the very cover,
With a mercenary squad
They sit in front of the fire.

Filled with courage
The Poles twist their mustaches
They came in a gang
Destroy Holy Rus'.

On January 23, 1577, the 50,000-strong Russian army again besieged Revel, but failed to take the fortress. In February 1578, Nuncio Vincent Laureo reported to Rome with anxiety: “The Muscovite divided his army into two parts: one is waiting near Riga, the other near Vitebsk.” By this time, all of Livonia along the Dvin, with the exception of only two cities - Revel and Riga, was in the hands of the Russians [ ] . In the late 70s, Ivan IV in Vologda began to build his navy and tried to transfer it to the Baltic, but the plan was not implemented.

In 1578, the Russian army under the command of Prince Dmitry Khvorostinin took the city of Oberpalen, occupied after the flight of King Magnus by a strong Swedish garrison. In 1579, the royal messenger Wenceslas Lopatinsky brought the tsar from Batory a letter declaring war. Already in August, the Polish army surrounded Polotsk. The garrison defended for three weeks, and its courage was noted by Batory himself. In the end, the fortress surrendered (August 30), and the garrison was released. Stefan Batory's secretary Heidenstein writes about the prisoners:

According to the establishments of their religion, they consider loyalty to the Sovereign to be as obligatory as loyalty to God, they exalt with praise the firmness of those who, to the last breath, retained the oath to their prince, and say that their souls, having parted with the body, immediately move to heaven. [ ]

Nevertheless, "many archers and other people of Moscow" went over to the side of Batory and were settled by him in the Grodno region. After Batory moved to Velikiye Luki and took them.

At the same time there were direct peace negotiations with Poland. Ivan the Terrible offered to give Poland all of Livonia, with the exception of four cities. Batory did not agree to this and demanded all the Livonian cities, in addition to Sebezh, and the payment of 400,000 Hungarian gold for military expenses. This infuriated Grozny, and he responded with a sharp letter.

Polish and Lithuanian detachments ravaged the Smolensk region, Seversk land, Ryazan, south-west of the Novgorod region, plundered Russian lands up to the headwaters of the Volga. The Lithuanian voivode Filon Kmita from Orsha burned 2000 villages in the western Russian lands and captured a huge full [ ] . The Lithuanian magnates Ostrozhsky and Vishnevetsky, with the help of light cavalry detachments, plundered

Livonian War(1558-1583) was fought by the Russian Kingdom for the territories in the Baltic and access to the Baltic Sea in order to break the blockade from the Livonian Confederation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden and establish direct communication with European countries.

background

The Livonian Confederation was interested in controlling the transit of Russian trade and significantly limited the possibilities of Russian merchants. In particular, all trade exchange with Europe could be carried out only through the Livonian ports of Riga, Lindanise (Revel), Narva, and it was possible to transport goods only on the ships of the Hanseatic League. At the same time, fearing the military and economic strengthening of Russia, the Livonian Confederation prevented the transport of strategic raw materials and specialists to Russia (see the Schlitte case), receiving the assistance of Hansa, Poland, Sweden and the German imperial authorities in this.

In 1503, Ivan III concluded a truce with the Livonian Confederation for 50 years, according to which it had to annually pay tribute (the so-called "Yuriev tribute") for the city of Yuryev (Derpt), which previously belonged to Novgorod. Treaties between Moscow and Derpt in the 16th century traditionally referred to the "Yuryev tribute", but in fact it had long been forgotten. When the truce expired, during the negotiations in 1554, Ivan IV demanded the return of arrears, the refusal of the Livonian Confederation from military alliances with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden, and the continuation of the truce.

The first payment of the debt for Dorpat was to take place in 1557, but the Livonian Confederation did not fulfill its obligation.

In 1557, in the city of Posvol, an agreement was concluded between the Livonian Confederation and the Kingdom of Poland, establishing the vassal dependence of the Order on Poland.

In the spring of 1557, Tsar Ivan IV set up a port on the banks of the Narva ( “The same year, July, a city was set up from the German Ust-Narova River Rozsen by the sea for the shelter of a sea ship”). However, Livonia and the Hanseatic League do not allow European merchants to enter the new Russian port, and they are forced to go, as before, to the Livonian ports.

The course of the war

By the beginning of the war, the Livonian Confederation was weakened by a defeat in a conflict with the Archbishop of Riga and Sigismund II Augustus. In addition, the already heterogeneous Livonian society was even more split as a result of the reformation. On the other hand, Russia was gaining strength after victories over the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and the annexation of Kabarda.

War with the Livonian Confederation

Russia started the war on January 17, 1558. The invasion of Russian troops in January-February 1558 into the Livonian lands was a reconnaissance raid. It was attended by 40 thousand people under the command of Khan Shig-Aley (Shah-Ali), governor of Glinsky and Zakharyin-Yuriev. They passed through the eastern part of Estonia and returned back by the beginning of March. The Russian side motivated this campaign solely by the desire to receive the due tribute from Livonia. The Livonian Landtag decided to collect 60 thousand thalers for settlement with Moscow in order to stop the outbreak of war. However, by May, only half of the amount claimed had been collected. In addition, the Narva garrison fired on the Ivangorod fortress, which violated the ceasefire agreement.

This time a more powerful army moved to Livonia. The Livonian Confederation at that time could put in the field, not counting the fortress garrisons, no more than 10 thousand. Thus, its main military asset was the powerful stone walls of the fortresses, which by this time could no longer effectively withstand the power of heavy siege weapons.

Governors Aleksey Basmanov and Danila Adashev arrived in Ivangorod. In April 1558, Russian troops laid siege to Narva. The fortress was defended by a garrison under the command of the knight Focht Schnellenberg. On May 11, a fire broke out in the city, accompanied by a storm (according to the Nikon chronicle, the fire occurred due to the fact that drunken Livonians threw an Orthodox icon of the Virgin into the fire). Taking advantage of the fact that the guards left the city walls, the Russians rushed to the assault. They broke through the gates and took possession of the lower city. Having seized the guns located there, the warriors deployed them and opened fire on the upper castle, preparing the stairs for the attack. However, the defenders of the castle themselves surrendered by the evening, on the terms of a free exit from the city.

The defense of the Neuhausen fortress distinguished itself with particular perseverance. She was defended by several hundred soldiers led by the knight von Padenorm, who for almost a month repelled the onslaught of the governor Peter Shuisky. On June 30, 1558, after the destruction of the fortress walls and towers by Russian artillery, the Germans retreated to the upper castle. Von Padenorm expressed a desire to keep the defense here, but the surviving defenders of the fortress refused to continue senseless resistance. As a sign of respect for their courage, Peter Shuisky allowed them to leave the fortress with honor.

In July, P. Shuisky laid siege to Dorpat. The city was defended by a garrison of 2,000 men under the command of Bishop Hermann Weiland. Having built a shaft at the level of the fortress walls and installing guns on it, on July 11, Russian artillery began shelling the city. The cores pierced the tiles of the roofs of houses, filling up the inhabitants who were hiding there. On July 15, P. Shuisky offered Weiland to surrender. While he thought, the bombardment continued. Some towers and loopholes were destroyed. Having lost hope of outside help, the besieged decided to enter into negotiations with the Russians. P. Shuisky promised not to destroy the city to the ground and to preserve its former administration for its inhabitants. July 18, 1558 Dorpat capitulated. The troops were stationed in abandoned houses. In one of them, the warriors found 80 thousand thalers in a cache. The Livonian historian bitterly narrates that, because of their greed, the Derptians lost more than the Russian Tsar demanded from them. The funds found would be enough not only for the Yuryev tribute, but also for hiring troops to protect the Livonian Confederation.

During May-October 1558, Russian troops took 20 fortress cities, including those that voluntarily surrendered and became subjects of the Russian Tsar, after which they left for winter quarters, leaving small garrisons in the cities. The new energetic master Gotthard Ketler took advantage of this. Gathering 10,000 army, he decided to return the lost. At the end of 1558, Ketler approached the Ringen fortress, which was defended by a garrison of several hundred archers under the command of governor Rusin-Ignatiev. A detachment of governor Repnin (2 thousand people) went to help the besieged, but he was defeated by Ketler. However, the Russian garrison continued to defend the fortress for five weeks, and only when the defenders ran out of gunpowder, the Germans managed to take the fortress by storm. The entire garrison was killed. Having lost a fifth of his troops near Ringen (2 thousand people) and spending more than a month on the siege of one fortress, Ketler was unable to build on his success. At the end of October 1558, his army retreated to Riga. This small victory turned into a big disaster for the Livonians.

In response to the actions of the Livonian Confederation, two months after the fall of the Ringen fortress, Russian troops carried out a winter raid, which was a punitive operation. In January 1559, the prince-voivode Serebryany at the head of the army entered Livonia. The Livonian army under the command of the knight Felkenzam came out to meet him. On January 17, at the Battle of Terzen, the Germans were completely defeated. Felkenzam and 400 knights (not counting ordinary soldiers) died in this battle, the rest were captured or fled. This victory opened wide the gates to Livonia for the Russians. They freely passed through the lands of the Livonian Confederation, captured 11 cities and reached Riga, where they burned the Riga fleet on the Dyunamun raid. Then Courland lay on the path of the Russian army and, having passed it, they reached the Prussian border. In February, the army returned home with huge booty and a large number of prisoners.

After the winter raid of 1559, Ivan IV granted the Livonian Confederation a truce (the third in a row) from March to November, without consolidating his success. This miscalculation was due to a number of reasons. Moscow was under serious pressure from Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Denmark, which had their own views on the Livonian lands. From March 1559, Lithuanian ambassadors urged Ivan IV to stop hostilities in Livonia, otherwise threatening to take the side of the Livonian Confederation. Soon, the Swedish and Danish ambassadors addressed with requests to stop the war.

With its invasion of Livonia, Russia also affected the trade interests of a number of European states. Trade on the Baltic Sea then grew from year to year and the question of who would control it was relevant. Reval merchants, having lost the most important item of their profits - income from Russian transit, complained to the Swedish king: “ We stand on the walls and watch with tears as merchant ships go past our city to the Russians in Narva».

In addition, the presence of Russians in Livonia affected the complex and intricate pan-European politics, upsetting the balance of power on the continent. So, for example, the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus wrote to the English Queen Elizabeth I about the importance of the Russians in Livonia: “ The Moscow sovereign daily increases his power by acquiring goods that are brought to Narva, because here, among other things, weapons are brought here that are still unknown to him ... military experts come, through which he acquires the means to defeat everyone ...».

The truce was also driven by disagreements over foreign strategy within the Russian leadership itself. There, in addition to supporters of access to the Baltic Sea, there were those who advocated the continuation of the struggle in the south, against the Crimean Khanate. In fact, the main initiator of the truce of 1559 was the roundabout Alexei Adashev. This grouping reflected the mood of those circles of the nobility who, in addition to eliminating the threat from the steppes, wanted to receive a large additional land fund in the steppe zone. During this truce, the Russians struck at the Crimean Khanate, which, however, did not have significant consequences. More global consequences had a truce with Livonia.

Truce of 1559

Already in the first year of the war, in addition to Narva, Yuryev (July 18), Neishloss, Neuhaus were occupied, the troops of the Livonian Confederation were defeated near Tirzen near Riga, Russian troops reached Kolyvan. The raids of the Crimean Tatar hordes on the southern borders of Rus', which happened already in January 1558, could not tie down the initiative of the Russian troops in the Baltic.

However, in March 1559, under the influence of Denmark and representatives of the major boyars, who prevented the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, a truce was concluded with the Livonian Confederation, which lasted until November. Historian R. G. Skrynnikov emphasizes that the Russian government, represented by Adashev and Viskovaty, “should have concluded a truce on the western borders,” as it was preparing for a “decisive clash on the southern border.”

During the armistice (August 31), the Livonian Landsmeister of the Teutonic Order, Gotthard Ketler, concluded an agreement in Vilna with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund II, according to which the lands of the order and the possessions of the Archbishop of Riga passed under “clientella and patronage”, that is, under the protectorate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the same year, 1559, Reval ceded to Sweden, and the Bishop of Ezel ceded the island of Ezel (Saaremaa) to Duke Magnus, brother of the Danish king, for 30 thousand thalers.

Taking advantage of the delay, the Livonian Confederation gathered reinforcements, and a month before the end of the truce in the vicinity of Yuryev, its detachments attacked the Russian troops. Russian governors lost more than 1000 people killed.

In 1560, the Russians resumed hostilities and won a number of victories: Marienburg (now Aluksne in Latvia) was taken; German forces were defeated at Ermes, after which Fellin (now Viljandi in Estonia) was taken. The Livonian Confederation collapsed.

During the capture of Fellin, the former Livonian Landmaster of the Teutonic Order, Wilhelm von Furstenberg, was captured. In 1575, he sent a letter to his brother from Yaroslavl, where the land was granted to the former Landmaster. He told a relative that he "had no reason to complain about his fate."

Sweden and Lithuania, which acquired the Livonian lands, demanded that Moscow remove troops from their territory. Ivan the Terrible refused and Russia found itself in conflict with the coalition of Lithuania and Sweden.

War with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

On November 26, 1561, the German emperor Ferdinand I banned the supply of Russians through the port of Narva. Eric XIV, King of Sweden, blocked the port of Narva and sent Swedish privateers to intercept merchant ships sailing to Narva.

In 1562, Lithuanian troops raided the Smolensk region and Velizh. In the summer of that year, the situation on the southern borders of the Muscovite state escalated, which moved the timing of the Russian offensive in Livonia to autumn.

The way to the Lithuanian capital Vilna was closed by Polotsk. In January 1563, the Russian army, which included "almost all the armed forces of the country," set out to capture this border fortress from Velikie Luki. In early February, the Russian army began the siege of Polotsk, and on February 15 the city surrendered.

According to the Pskov Chronicle, during the capture of Polotsk, Ivan the Terrible ordered all Jews to be baptized on the spot, and those who refused (300 people) ordered to be drowned in the Dvina. Karamzin mentions that after the capture of Polotsk, John ordered "to baptize all the Jews, and drown the disobedient in the Dvina."

After the capture of Polotsk, Russia's successes in the Livonian War began to decline. Already in 1564, the Russians suffered a series of defeats (Battle of Chashniki). The boyar and a major military leader, who actually commanded the Russian troops in the West, Prince A. M. Kurbsky, went over to the side of Lithuania, he betrayed the king's agents in the Baltic states and participated in the Lithuanian raid on Velikiye Luki.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to the military failures and unwillingness of eminent boyars to fight against Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565, the oprichnina was introduced. In 1566, a Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to divide Livonia on the basis of the situation that existed at that time. The Zemsky Sobor, convened at that time, supported the intention of the government of Ivan the Terrible to fight in the Baltic states until the capture of Riga.

Third period of the war

The Union of Lublin had serious consequences, uniting the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569 into one state - the Republic of Both Nations. A difficult situation developed in the north of Russia, where relations with Sweden again aggravated, and in the south (the campaign of the Turkish army near Astrakhan in 1569 and the war with the Crimea, during which the army of Devlet I Giray burned Moscow in 1571 and devastated the southern Russian lands). However, the offensive in the Republic of Both Nations for a long “kinglessness”, the creation in Livonia of the vassal “kingdom” of Magnus, which at first had an attractive force in the eyes of the population of Livonia, again allowed the scales to tip in favor of Russia. In 1572, the army of Devlet Giray was destroyed and the threat of large raids by the Crimean Tatars was eliminated (Battle of Molodi). In 1573 the Russians stormed the Weissenstein (Paide) fortress. In the spring, Moscow troops under the command of Prince Mstislavsky (16,000) met near Lode Castle in western Estonia with a Swedish army of two thousand. Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage, the Russian troops suffered a crushing defeat. They had to leave all their guns, banners and baggage.

In 1575, the fortress of Sage surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov (now Pärnu in Estonia) surrendered to the Russians. After the campaign of 1576, Russia captured the entire coast, except for Riga and Kolyvan.

However, the unfavorable international situation, the distribution of land in the Baltic states to Russian nobles, which alienated the local peasant population from Russia, serious internal difficulties (the economic ruin that was looming over the country) negatively affected the further course of the war for Russia.

Fourth period of the war

Stefan Batory, who, with the active support of the Turks (1576), took the throne of the Republic of the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, went on the offensive, occupied Wenden (1578), Polotsk (1579), Sokol, Velizh, Usvyat, Velikiye Luki. In the captured fortresses, the Poles and Lithuanians completely destroyed the Russian garrisons. In Velikiye Luki, the Poles exterminated the entire population, about 7 thousand people. Polish and Lithuanian detachments ravaged the Smolensk region, Seversk land, Ryazan, south-west of the Novgorod region, plundered Russian lands up to the headwaters of the Volga. The devastation they caused was reminiscent of the worst Tatar raids. The Lithuanian voivode Filon Kmita from Orsha burned 2000 villages in the western Russian lands and captured a huge full. The Lithuanian magnates Ostrozhsky and Vishnevetsky, with the help of light cavalry detachments, plundered the Chernihiv region. The cavalry of the gentry Jan Solomeretsky ravaged the environs of Yaroslavl. In February 1581, the Lithuanians burned Staraya Russa.

In 1581, the Polish-Lithuanian army, which included mercenaries from almost all of Europe, besieged Pskov, intending, if successful, to go to Novgorod the Great and Moscow. In November 1580, the Swedes took Korela, where 2 thousand Russians were exterminated, and in 1581 they occupied Rugodiv (Narva), which was also accompanied by a massacre - 7 thousand Russians died; the victors did not take prisoners and did not spare the civilian population. The heroic defense of Pskov in 1581-1582 by the garrison and the population of the city determined a more favorable outcome of the war for Russia: the failure near Pskov forced Stefan Batory to enter into peace negotiations.

Results and consequences

In January 1582, in Yama-Zapolny (near Pskov), a 10-year truce was concluded with the Republic of Both Nations (the Commonwealth) (the so-called Yam-Zapolsky peace). Russia abandoned Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border lands were returned to it.

In May 1583, a 3-year Plyussky truce with Sweden was concluded, according to which Koporye, Yam, Ivangorod and the territory adjacent to them on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland were ceded. The Russian state was again cut off from the sea. The country was devastated, and the northwestern regions were depopulated.

It should also be noted that the Crimean raids influenced the course of the war and its results: only for 3 years out of 25 years of the war there were no significant raids.

The Livonian War of 1558-1583 became one of the most important campaigns of the times of Yes and of the entire 16th century, perhaps.

Livonian War: briefly about the prerequisites

After the great Moscow Tsar managed to conquer Kazan and

Astrakhan Khanate, Ivan IV turned his attention to the Baltic lands and access to the Baltic Sea. The capture of these territories for the Muscovite kingdom would mean promising opportunities for trade in the Baltic. At the same time, it was extremely unprofitable for the German merchants and the Livonian Order, who had already settled there, to allow new competitors into the region. The resolution of these contradictions was to be the Livonian War. We should also briefly mention the formal reason for it. They were served by the non-payment of the tribute that the Derpt bishopric was obliged to pay in favor of Moscow in accordance with the 1554 agreement. Formally, such a tribute has existed since the beginning of the 16th century. However, in practice, no one remembered about it for a long time. Only with the aggravation of relations between the parties did he use this fact as a justification for the Russian invasion of the Baltic.

Livonian war: briefly about the ups and downs of the conflict

Russian troops launched an invasion of Livonia in 1558. The first stage of the clash, which lasted until 1561, ended

crushing defeat of the Livonian Order. The armies of the Muscovite tsar marched through eastern and central Livonia with pogroms. Dorpat and Riga were taken. In 1559, the parties concluded a truce for six months, which was to develop into a peace treaty on the terms of the Livonian Order from Russia. But the kings of Poland and Sweden hurried to help the German knights. King Sigismund II, by a diplomatic maneuver, managed to take the order under his own protectorate. And in November 1561, under the terms of the Vilna Treaty, the Livonian Order ceases to exist. Its territories are divided between Lithuania and Poland. Now Ivan the Terrible had to confront three powerful rivals at once: the Principality of Lithuania, the Kingdoms of Poland and Sweden. With the latter, however, the Muscovite tsar managed to quickly make peace for a while. In 1562-63, the second large-scale campaign to the Baltic begins. The events of the Livonian War at this stage continued to develop successfully. However, already in the mid-1560s, relations between Ivan the Terrible and the boyars of the Chosen Rada escalated to the limit. The situation worsens even more due to the flight of one of the closest princely associates of Andrei Kurbsky to Lithuania and his defection to the side of the enemy (the reason that prompted the boyar was the growing despotism in the Moscow principality and the infringement of the ancient liberties of the boyars). After this event, Ivan the Terrible finally hardens, seeing around him solid traitors. In parallel with this, defeats at the front also occur, which were explained by the prince's internal enemies. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland united into a single state, which

strengthens their power. In the late 1560s - early 70s, Russian troops suffered a series of defeats and even lost several fortresses. Since 1579, the war has been taking on a more defensive character. However, in 1579 Polotsk was captured by the enemy, in 1580 - Veliky Luk, in 1582 the long siege of Pskov continued. The necessity of signing peace and respite for the state after decades of military campaigns becomes obvious.

Livonian war: briefly about the consequences

The war ended with the signing of the Plyussky and Yam-Zapolsky truces, which were extremely disadvantageous for Moscow. The exit was never received. Instead, the prince received an exhausted and devastated country, which found itself in an extremely difficult situation. The consequences of the Livonian War accelerated the internal crisis that led to the Great Troubles at the beginning of the 16th century.