In 1605 the Russian Tsar Boris Godunov died, a tragic period in its history began for Russia, called the Time of Troubles. The Russian people fought against the Polish and Swedish invaders and traitorous boyars for the preservation of Russian statehood.
The Russian state fell into complete desolation and disorder. In Moscow, in the Kremlin, there were Poles. Gangs of armed people roamed all over the country - Poles, Swedes, Ukrainian Cossacks. There was virtually no central government. Tsars were continuously replaced on the Russian throne, many lands - Smolensk, Seversk, Novgorod, Pskov - were captured by foreigners.
Unlike the Moscow boyars, the Russian people stubbornly resisted the invaders. The defenders of the besieged Smolensk held a heroic defense. The Poles managed to capture it at the cost of huge losses and incredible efforts only two years after the start of the siege. The aged Patriarch Hermogenes himself denounced the betrayal of the Moscow authorities. His speeches aroused patriotic feelings in people, called to fight. The First Zemstvo Militia was created. However, his attempts to liberate Moscow from the Poles were unsuccessful.
In Nizhny Novgorod, a popular movement arose aimed at liberating the Russian land from the invaders. It was headed by the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo headman, the merchant Kuzma Minin, who later received nationwide fame as "an elected person from all the earth." Speaking to Nizhny Novgorod residents more than once on the square in front of the hut in the city center, he called on residents to rise to fight against foreign invaders for the liberation of the Russian state, for the Orthodox faith, not to spare their lives, but to give “all gold and silver and, if necessary, sell property, mortgage your wives and children. Minin's appeals were heard and received support. The city began to raise funds for the creation of a new militia. The amount of tax for these purposes amounted to one fifth of the total property of each citizen.
The military side of the movement was led by an experienced governor, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who by that time was healing the wounds received in previous battles in his family estate Mugreev. By the time the campaign began in February 1612, many Russian cities and lands declared their support for the movement: Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, Kolomna, Arzamas, Kazan, and others. Soldiers from many regions of the country with their weapons and convoys joined the militia.
In mid-February 1612, the advance detachment of the militia headed for Yaroslavl. At the end of March, the main forces led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky also approached there. The path of the troops ran through the cities of Yuryevets, Kineshma, Kostroma. The militia stayed in Yaroslavl for four months. During this time, the governing bodies of the movement were formed, the "Council of the whole earth" and temporary orders (governing bodies) under it were created.
When the zemstvo army approached the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, its leaders for the first time learned that a corps under the command of Hetman Khodkevich was moving to help the Polish troops settled in Moscow. It was decided to hastily continue the march of the militia to the capital. The advance detachments of the militia approached Moscow a little earlier than the Poles and settled in a semicircle from the Tver Gates to the Prechistensky Gates. The first clash between the opponents took place on August 22 near the Novodevichy Convent. During this battle, the Poles managed to cross the Moscow River, and only the intervention of the Cossack hundreds of Prince Trubetskoy, who stood near Moscow long before the arrival of Minin and Pozharsky and spoke on their side, saved the situation. The Polish companies, which did not expect a flank attack, were forced to retreat across the river to Poklonnaya Gora. On the night of August 23-24, a detachment of 500 men sent by Khodkevich entered the besieged Kremlin under cover of darkness. Reinforced by this detachment, the Poles who settled there made a daring sortie from the gates of Kitai-gorod, crossed the river and captured the positions of the militia near the church of St. George. At the same time, Khodkevich moved his regiments to the Donskoy Monastery, trying to enter the rear of the militia from the unprotected, southeastern side. However, the Zemstvo infantry stopped the advance of the Poles. A stubborn battle ensued, in which there were colossal losses on both sides, but luck still accompanied the Poles. The militias were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Moscow River. Polish companies began the pursuit and also crossed to the left bank.
At this moment, Kuzma Minin again turned to the Cossacks with a request to help repel the attack. The Cossacks rushed into battle and overturned the battle formations of the advancing Poles. While this battle was going on, Minin himself, together with an elite noble squad, crossed to the other side of the Moskva River and hit the rear of the Polish troops. Panic broke out in Khodkevich's camp. Abandoning the entire convoy, artillery and provisions, the hetman hastily retreated from the Russian capital. To a large extent, this sealed the fate of the Polish garrison in the Kremlin. On October 26, 1612, convinced of his doom, he capitulated.
The zemstvo army marched solemnly from the side of the Arbat, with banners unfolded, to the noise of a jubilant crowd of townspeople, proceeded to Red Square. There she united with the detachments of Prince Trubetskoy participating in the liberation of the capital. The troops converged near the Execution Ground and entered the Kremlin through the Spassky Gates. Muscovites celebrated the victory.
And in 1613, at the meetings of the Zemsky Sobor (one of the most famous in the history of Russia), a representative of the new diastia, Mikhail Romanov, was elected to the kingdom. Thus, the end of the Time of Troubles was legally fixed in Russia.
The Time of Troubles was a test of the Muscovite state for vitality. Undermined by internal conflicts, shattered by the onslaught of the interventionists, it almost collapsed, nearly fell apart ... However, at this critical moment, the Russian people had the strength and wisdom to “collect the earth”, bring it out of the state of general war and chaos, defend its independence and statehood. As a result of the war, the Muscovite state was humiliated, robbed, lost many of its territories, including Smolensk, but it survived and thus showed its unprecedented, colossal internal strength. And this was the main guarantee of his brilliant future.
In the summer of 1611, after the capture of Smolensk by the Poles and the penetration of the Swedes into Novgorod, the situation became especially difficult. The country was threatened by political disintegration and the loss of national independence. The population, especially in the central districts, was devastated and dying from hunger and disease. The peasants, fleeing the violence of the interventionists, abandoned their houses and hid in the forests. Crowded settlements were empty, trade froze.
In the autumn of 1611, a new, more powerful wave of the national liberation movement rises. Nizhny Novgorod again turned out to be its center. The movement originated in the urban environment. The organizer of the popular forces was the zemstvo headman Kuzma Minin. At his call, a second militia began to form in Nizhny Novgorod.
The organization of the militia, which required large expenditures, was immediately placed by Kuzma Minin on a solid material foundation. In addition to voluntary contributions, a mandatory salary was set at one-fifth of the total value of the property. The collection of funds made it possible to begin the creation of large military forces. To manage military affairs, a military leader was required who would combine experience in military affairs with devotion and loyalty to his people.
At the suggestion of Kuzma Minin, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was elected commander. Pozharsky in the "troubled years", when the boyar nobility proved to be politically unstable, did not show any hesitation in his attitude towards the Polish invaders. In 1608, he utterly defeated the Polish detachment that was trying to capture Kolomna, and in the spring of 1611 he was in the ranks of the rebellious Muscovites and fought until, exhausted from his wound, he was taken away from Moscow. Minin and Pozharsky became the organizers and leaders of the second militia.
The core of the militia initially consisted of townspeople and small service people from Nizhny Novgorod and peasants from nearby counties. Letters with a call to rise to the struggle for the liberation of Moscow quickly spread among the population of the Volga region and beyond. One of the first to respond to this call were small Smolensk, Vyazma and other landowners from the western districts, expelled by the Poles from their native places. Then the population of the cities of the Upper Volga rose. Nizhny Novgorod was joined by the regions lying along the Oka and beyond it. Thus, the people's militia became an all-Russian affair. The militias, the main core of which was the townspeople of the northern cities and the black-eared peasantry, were joined by wide circles of the nobility. Along with the Russians, Tatars, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Maris and Udmurts took part in the militia. At the beginning of 1612, the militia numbered from 20 to 30 thousand people in its ranks.
By this time, the Polish garrison in Moscow had been reinforced, and the Cossack detachments stationed near Moscow, instead of uniting with the people's militia, were negotiating with a new impostor who had appeared in Pskov. On the northwestern outskirts of the Russian state, the Swedes ruled. The general situation did not allow the immediate start of a campaign against Moscow.
From Nizhny Novgorod, the second militia moved at the end of February 1612 to Yaroslavl. The transition to the region of the Upper Volga region allowed the militia to absorb numerous partisan detachments that had been operating there since 1608, consisting of townspeople and peasants. The population of villages and cities came out to meet the militias, gave them the collected money and supplies. The ranks of the militia were constantly replenished with volunteers. The militia was provided with its rich economic resources by Pomorie, which was not devastated by the interventionists.
The people's militia stood in Yaroslavl from April to August 1612. During this time, the military organization of the militia was completed and a nationwide power was created - the "zemstvo" government. The new government consisted of "all sorts of ranks of elected people" from all cities. It included representatives of the nobility, townships and partly peasants ("district people"). There was almost no higher feudal nobility in it; representatives of the serf peasantry were completely absent. The organs of central administration - orders - were also restored.
The leaders of the second militia had to deal with foreign policy issues in Yaroslavl. Pozharsky, for tactical purposes, negotiated with the Swedes on the adoption of the Swedish prince, but at the same time strengthened the cities on the path of the Swedes. He managed to keep the Swedes from speaking out against the militia and thereby ensure the possibility of deploying the fight against the main enemy - the Polish invaders. Pozharsky's diplomatic abilities also manifested themselves in the skillful use of the contradictions that arose between Poland and the Austrian Habsburgs. As a result of these diplomatic negotiations, both the Habsburgs and Sweden did not interfere with the actions of the second militia.
By the end of 1612, the power of the government of the people's militia had already spread to half of the territory of the state. The territory occupied by the enemies was liberated with the participation of the local population. The peasants, armed with axes and pitchforks, mercilessly destroyed the invaders who scoured the villages in search of food. Peasant partisan detachments operated everywhere behind enemy lines.
While the militia was strengthening its forces, decomposition began among the Cossacks, who were standing near Moscow. Some chieftains "departed" to Yaroslavl and joined the militia. Zarutsky opposed Pozharsky and organized an attempt on his life, which ended in failure. The adventurer Zarutsky conspired with the interventionists. Part of the Cossacks with Trubetskoy at the head supported the second militia.
The invaders, concerned about the success of the militia, turned to Sigismund III with a request for help. In the summer of 1612, the latter sent a significant force of mercenaries to Moscow under the command of Hetman Khodkevich. By this time, Zarutsky with part of the Cossacks went to Khodkevich.
The catastrophic situation that developed towards the end of 1610 stirred up patriotic sentiments and religious feelings, forced many Russian people to rise above social contradictions, political differences and personal ambitions. The weariness of all sectors of society from the civil war, the thirst for order, which they perceived as the restoration of traditional foundations, also affected.
Gradually it became more and more clear that the solution of problems is impossible only within the local framework, a mature understanding of the need for an all-Russian movement. This was reflected in the people's militias gathered in Russian provincial towns. The Church conducted a continuous sermon in favor of the unity of all Orthodox.
In the spring of 1611, the first militia was formed from different parts of the Russian land. Soon the militia besieged Moscow, and on March 19 a decisive battle took place, in which the rebellious Muscovites took part. It was not possible to liberate the city. Remaining at the city walls, the militia created the highest authority - the Council of All the Earth. He played the role of the Zemsky Sobor, in the hands of which was the legislative, judicial and partially executive power. The executive power was headed by P. Lyapunov, D. Trubetskoy and I. Zarutsky and began to recreate the orders. On June 30, 1611, the "Sentence of the whole earth" was adopted, which provided for the future structure of Russia, but infringed on the rights of the Cossacks and, moreover, had a feudal character. After the murder of Lyapunov by the Cossacks, the first militia disintegrated.
By this time, the Swedes captured Novgorod and laid siege to Pskov, and the Poles, after a months-long siege, captured Smolensk. Sigismund 3 declared that not Vladislav, but he himself would become the king of Russia, which would thus become part of the Commonwealth. There was a serious threat to the sovereignty of Russia.
The critical situation that had developed by the autumn of 1611 accelerated the creation of a second militia. Under the influence of the letters of Patriarch Hermogenes and the appeals of the monks of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod, Zemstvo head K. Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky in the fall of 1611 create a second militia in order to liberate Moscow and convene a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new tsar, restore the national monarchy. The program put forward: the liberation of the capital and the refusal to recognize a sovereign of foreign origin on the Russian throne, managed to rally representatives of all classes who abandoned narrow-group claims for the sake of saving the Fatherland. In the spring of 1612, the militia moved to Yaroslavl. In conditions of anarchy, the second militia takes over the functions of state administration, creates in Yaroslavl the Council of the Whole Land, which included elected from the clergy, nobility, service people according to the instrument, townspeople, palace and black-haired peasants, and forms orders. In August 1612, the militia, supported at a critical moment by Trubetskoy's Cossacks, overcame the army of Hetman K. Khodkevich and entered Moscow. After the elimination of attempts by the Polish detachment of Khodkevich to penetrate the Kremlin to help the Polish garrison stationed there, he surrendered. On October 26, 1612, Moscow was liberated.
The beginning of the reign of the Romanovs. Results and consequences of the Time of Troubles.
In specific historical conditions of the beginning of the XVII century. the priority was the question of restoring central power, which meant the election of a new king. In Moscow, the Zemsky Sobor gathered, at which, in addition to the Boyar Duma, the higher clergy and the nobility of the capital, numerous provincial nobility, townspeople, Cossacks and even black-haired (state) peasants were represented. 50 Russian cities sent their representatives.
The main issue was the election of the king. A sharp struggle flared up around the candidacy of the future tsar at the cathedral. Some boyar groups offered to call on a “prince” from Poland or Sweden, others put forward applicants from the old Russian princely families (Golitsyn, Mstislavsky, Trubetskoy, Romanov). The Cossacks even offered the son of False Dmitry II and Marina Mniszek (“Vorenka”).
After long disputes, the members of the council agreed on the candidacy of 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, the cousin-nephew of the last tsar from the Moscow Rurik dynasty, Fyodor Ivanovich, which gave grounds to associate him with the “legitimate” dynasty. The nobles saw in the Romanovs consistent opponents of the "boyar tsar" Vasily Shuisky, the Cossacks - supporters of "Tsar Dmitry". The boyars, who hoped to retain power and influence under the young tsar, did not object either. This choice was determined by the following factors:
The Romanovs to the greatest extent suited all classes, which made it possible to achieve reconciliation;
Family ties with the previous dynasty, the youthful age and moral character of 16-year-old Michael, corresponded to popular ideas about the tsar-pastor, an intercessor before God, capable of atoning for the sins of the people.
In 1618, after the defeat of the troops of Prince Vladislav, the Deulino truce was concluded. Russia lost the Smolensk and Seversk lands, but Russian prisoners returned to the country, including Filaret, who, after being elevated to the patriarchate, became the de facto co-ruler of his son.
On February 21, 1613, the Zemsky Sobor announced the election of Mikhail Romanov as Tsar. An embassy was sent to the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery, where Mikhail and his mother “nun Martha” were hiding at that time, with a proposal to take the Russian throne. Thus, the Romanov dynasty, which ruled the country for more than 300 years, was established in Russia.
One of the heroic episodes of Russian history belongs to this time. The Polish detachment tried to capture the newly elected tsar, looking for him in the Kostroma estates of the Romanovs. But the headman of the village of Domnina, Ivan Susanin, not only warned the king about the danger, but also led the Poles into impenetrable forests. The hero died from Polish sabers, but also killed the gentry who got lost in the forests.
In the first years of the reign of Mikhail Romanov, the country was actually ruled by the boyars Saltykovs, relatives of the “nun Martha”, and since 1619, after the return of the father of the tsar, Patriarch Filaret Romanov, from captivity, the patriarch and “great sovereign” Filaret.
The turmoil undermined the royal power, which inevitably increased the significance of the Boyar Duma. Mikhail could not do anything without boyar advice. The parochial system, which regulated relations within the ruling boyars, existed in Russia for more than a century and was distinguished by its exceptional strength. The highest posts in the state were occupied by persons whose ancestors were distinguished by nobility, were related to the Kalita dynasty and achieved the greatest success in their service.
The passage of the throne to the Romanovs destroyed the old system. The kinship with the new dynasty began to acquire paramount importance. But the new system of parochialism did not take hold immediately. In the first decades of the Troubles, Tsar Mikhail had to put up with the fact that the first places in the Duma were still occupied by the highest titled nobility and the old boyars, who had once tried the Romanovs and handed them over to Boris Godunov for reprisal. During the Time of Troubles, Filaret called them his worst enemies.
To enlist the support of the nobility, Tsar Michael, having no treasury and land, generously distributed duma ranks. Under him, the Boyar Duma became more numerous and influential than ever. After the return of Filaret from captivity, the composition of the Duma was sharply reduced. The restoration of the economy and state order began.
In 1617, in the village of Stolbovo (near Tikhvin), an "eternal peace" was signed with Sweden. The Swedes returned Novgorod and other northwestern cities to Russia, but the Swedes retained the Izhora land and Korela. Russia lost access to the Baltic Sea, but she managed to get out of the state of war with Sweden. In 1618, the Daulino Truce was concluded with Poland for fourteen and a half years. Russia lost Smolensk and about three dozen more Smolensk, Chernigov and Seversk cities. The contradictions with Poland were not resolved, but only postponed: both sides were not in a position to continue the war any longer. The terms of the armistice were very difficult for the country, but Poland refused to claim the throne.
The Time of Troubles in Russia is over. Russia managed to defend its independence, but at a very heavy price. The country was ruined, the treasury was empty, trade and crafts were upset. It took several decades to restore the economy. The loss of important territories predetermined further wars for their liberation, which placed a heavy burden on the entire country. The Time of Troubles further increased Russia's backwardness.
Russia emerged from the Time of Troubles extremely exhausted, with huge territorial and human losses. According to some reports, up to a third of the population died. Overcoming the economic ruin will be possible only by strengthening serfdom.
The international position of the country has sharply worsened. Russia found itself in political isolation, its military potential weakened, and for a long time its southern borders remained practically defenseless. Anti-Western sentiments intensified in the country, which aggravated its cultural and, as a result, civilizational isolation.
The people managed to defend their independence, but as a result of their victory, autocracy and serfdom were revived in Russia. However, most likely, there was no other way to save and preserve Russian civilization in those extreme conditions.
The main results of the turmoil:
1. Russia emerged from the Troubles extremely exhausted, with huge territorial and human losses. According to some reports, up to a third of the population died.
2. Overcoming the economic ruin will be possible only by strengthening serfdom.
3. The country's international position has deteriorated sharply. Russia found itself in political isolation, its military potential weakened, and for a long time its southern borders remained practically defenseless.
4. Anti-Western sentiments intensified in the country, which aggravated its cultural and, as a result, civilizational isolation.
5. The people managed to defend their independence, but as a result of their victory, autocracy and serfdom were revived in Russia. However, most likely, there was no other way to save and preserve Russian civilization in those extreme conditions.
People's militia in 1612.In 1611, the Muscovite state was falling apart. Someone, following Moscow, swore allegiance to the Polish prince Vladislav, Novgorod opened the gates to the Swedes, Marina Mnishek reigned in Kaluga, Polish-Lithuanian gangs and "thieves" Cossacks roamed the country.
Throughout the Russian land, indignation grew against the Poles and their dashing people. The patriotic enthusiasm of the Russian people was basically religious. The liberation of the Fatherland began with contrition for one's sins, because the trials that had befallen the country seemed to be a well-deserved punishment for the sins of the entire people. The clergy supported this pious attitude with all their might. It demanded repentance from the Russian people, many days of fasting (even for infants), sought to encourage its flock with prayers for the salvation of the Fatherland and stories of miraculous visions and signs terrible for enemies.
The siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery by the Poles continued from September 1609
to January 1611. (Painting by Vasily Vereshchagin)
The light this time shone from the east. Heroes and bogatyrs in Rus', it seemed, had already died out. But there were two honest people who timidly and even as if reluctantly stepped out of the faceless mass of Russian people - and only then, after their unprecedented feat, again fade into the shadows. These two - a Russian peasant and a Russian serviceman - showed the rarest example of selfless service to the fatherland. Therefore, it is no coincidence that their descendants decided to decorate Red Square with their image only.
Arrested by the Poles, Patriarch Hermogenes managed, while sitting in a Moscow prison, to send letters around the country calling on the Russian people to stand up for their faith and patronymic*.
*After his death at the beginning of 1612, the focus of the spiritual forces of the people moved to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, from where Archimandrite Dionysius sent letters to cities and villages calling for the liberation of the capital and the salvation of faith and the state.
Patriarch Hermogenes
In October 1611, one such letter reached Nizhny Novgorod. At a meeting of elected people who had come together to talk about the disasters of the earth, the zemstvo headman and merchant Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk rose from his seat. Nizhny Novgorod people knew him for an active and practical person, although he did not disdain bribes, but within reason and without prejudice to the common cause. In a word, a conscientious elder in the spirit of his time. And then he started talking about strange things: he said that St. Sergius of Radonezh had appeared to him three times, calling him to serve his homeland. Solicitor Ivan Birkin refused to believe Minin: "You're lying, you didn't see anything!" But one glance, cast by the ghost-seer in his direction, made the attorney jump out the door. And Minin continued: “Orthodox, we will help the Moscow state, we will not spare our stomachs, but not only our stomachs - we will sell our yards, we will lay down our wives, children. The thing is great! But God will help us."
The next day, a sacrificial impulse swept the whole city. People gave their last. Minin was unanimously chosen as the senior primary.
K. Makovsky. Minin's appeal to the people of Nizhny Novgorod
Then they began to think about who to strike with their foreheads to be their governor and opted for Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, who at that time was healing wounds in his Suzdal patrimony. The Pozharsky family belonged to the "seedy" princely families and the first half of his life passed quietly and unnoticed. Under Godunov, his name was on the lists of scammers that sprang up around the throne of Boris. But Pozharsky was not seen either in Tushino or near the Poles. A year ago, he fought bravely in the ranks of the first militia under the command of Prokopy Lyapunov. The prince did not shine with outstanding military talents, but he had several successful skirmishes with gangs of thieves.
Prince D. Pozharsky on the monument "Millennium of Russia"
Pozharsky at first refused to accept the position of chief voivode, referring to his inability, but then he surrendered to the relentless requests of the Nizhny Novgorod residents. For his part, he offered Minin to be the manager of the military treasury. He groaned and also agreed. He handled the case with an iron fist. All Nizhny Novgorod land was levied with the fifth money for the needs of the militia. No concessions were given to boyars, churches, or monasteries. The poor were forcibly sold into bondage and taxed from their masters.
The calling of Prince Pozharsky. Lithograph by G. Shchedrovsky
Pozharsky and Minin sent letters to other cities, stating: “We will look after the Polish and Lithuanian people as one, as much as the merciful God of help will give. We will give strong advice about every zemstvo matter, and we will not want the Polish king or Marinka and her son to the state. On the throne of Moscow, it was proposed to choose the whole earth, "whom God will give us."
From that time on, Pozharsky and Minin began to represent the only legitimate authority in the Muscovite state.
Nizhny Novgorod letters were read everywhere at public gatherings and then, following the example of the Nizhny Novgorod people, they collected money and rati and sent under the arm of the chief governor, Prince Pozharsky. Yaroslavl became the center for gathering the militia.
The Poles, besieged in Moscow, suffered severe hunger all winter. In January, they wrote to Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, who was coming to help them from Poland with reinforcements and a large convoy, that they would be happy to fight further, "if their strength did not change and their pulse did not stop." Meanwhile, Khodkevich's army, as it approached Moscow, melted before our eyes, the gentry and soldiers deserted in whole squadrons, returned to Poland and rewarded themselves for their service by seizing royal and private estates.
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
King Sigismund left for the recently captured Smolensk, but instead of the army he brought with him only his militant wife Constance, a huge number of courtiers and several priests.
In the spring of 1612, Pozharsky led a huge army *, gathered in Nizhny from dozens of Russian cities. From the depths of the devastated country, a people's power unexpectedly emerged, which was to liberate Moscow.
*Russian sources write about 100,000 people, which is probably an exaggeration.
In July 1612, the militia of Minin and Pozharsky moved from Nizhny to Moscow. In every major city, the militia stopped and prayed for a long time in the local cathedral or monastery. On August 14, Pozharsky was still at Trinity, and the leader of the Cossacks, Prince Trubetskoy from Moscow, persistently called him to hurry up, since Khodkevich was already approaching the capital.
The militias were the first to reach the capital. Prince Pozharsky deployed an army along the Begorodskaya wall, concentrating the main forces at the Arbat Gate.
M. Scotty. Minin and Pozharsky.
On August 22, clouds of dust appeared in the west: it was the Hetman's army approaching. Only a few thousand people remained under his banners. However, at first the Poles were successful. Khodkevich freely crossed the Moskva River near the Maiden's Field, driving away the Cossack detachments of Trubetskoy. At the same time, the exhausted Polish garrison made a successful sortie out of the Kremlin, driving part of Pozharsky's troops into the river. Khodkevich's cavalry had already reached the Tver Gates, but here the Moscow archers, hiding behind the burnt stoves of the destroyed Earthen City, began to hit the Poles with their rifles so accurately that they turned their horses, and the Polish garrison moved back to the Kremlin.
Khodkevich camped at the Donskoy Monastery. The next day, the opponents did not resume the battle. But at dawn on August 24, the hetman made a new attempt to break into the Kremlin through Zamoskvorechie, which had been scorched since last year. The Polish hussars had to dismount and drag heavy wagons across the ditches while clearing their way. With fights they are to Pyatnitskaya street. However, here, the half-naked and poorly armed Trubetskoy Cossacks, like horseflies, clung to the heavily armed Poles, while Minin, with three hundred Moscow nobles, hit them in the rear and crushed two squadrons. In this battle, his nephew died in front of his eyes.
By noon, the Poles were driven away from the city center and 400 supply carts were captured. In addition, the hussars lost almost all the horses: no more than 400 horsemen remained in the saddles. Khodkevich withdrew to Sparrow Hills, and from there, encouraging the besieged by ambulance, went to Poland without a fight.
For the Poles locked in the Kremlin and Kitay-gorod, judgment days have come. They were still in good spirits and answered the proposal to surrender with scolding and ridicule: how could it be that noble gentry surrendered to a crowd of unemployed people and peasants! Calling the Russian people the meanest in the world, their nobility, meanwhile, dug half-rotten corpses out of the ground and devoured them. Crazed with hunger, they rushed at each other with sabers in a delirium, seeing in their comrades only flesh fit for consumption. Never - neither before nor after - did the ancient Russian stronghold see wilder and more terrible scenes. “I saw many of them,” says Pan Budilo, a participant in the siege, “who gnawed the ground under them, their arms, legs, body. And worst of all, they wanted to die and could not. They bit stones and bricks, asking the Lord God to make them bread, but they could not bite off.
When at the end of October the militias captured Kitay-gorod, a disgusting sight appeared from their eyes - many boilers filled with human meat. The surviving Poles went to the Kremlin, where they sat for another four days and surrendered, having previously spoken out mercy to themselves *. Cannibals were sent to distant cities and imprisoned.
* True, the Cossacks violated the kiss of the cross and killed many Poles. Those who surrendered to Pozharsky's troops survived to the last.
Lissner E. The expulsion of the Polish interventionists from the Kremlin (fragment)
Our ancestors assigned a special role in the liberation of Moscow from the Poles to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. In 1612, a copy of this miraculous image was sent from Kazan to Prince Pozharsky, and a few days later the Poles in the Kremlin surrendered. In honor of this event, the celebration of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan was established on November 4, that is, on the day of the deliverance of Moscow from the Polish occupation. Prince Pozharsky at his own expense built a temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on Red Square, where the miraculous icon was placed.
And in the spring of the following 1613, elected people from all over the Russian land elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom. The turmoil in the Muscovite state is over.
People's militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky (second militia)
unification of the patriotic forces of Russia at the final stage of the struggle against the Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish intervention at the beginning of the 17th century. It arose after the capture by the interventionists of a significant part of the country, including Moscow and Smolensk, and the collapse of the First Militia of 1611 (See First Militia of 1611). In September 1611 in Nizhny Novgorod, Zemsky headman Kuzma Minin appealed to the townspeople to raise funds and create a militia for the liberation of the Motherland; letters calling for the gathering of the people were sent to other cities; in the militia, in addition to the townspeople and peasants, small and medium-sized nobles also participated. Prince D. M. Pozharsky was invited as military leader. The main forces were formed in the cities and counties of the Volga region; together with the Russian people, the Mari, Chuvash, Komi, and other peoples of the Volga region and the North took part in it. The goal of the militia was to liberate Moscow from the invaders and create a new government. Patriarch Hermogenes refused to comply with the demands of the traitorous boyars of Moscow to condemn the patriotic movement for the liberation of the country. In March 1612, the militia set out from Nizhny Novgorod and arrived in Yaroslavl in early April, where detachments from other cities and counties approached. A temporary "Council of the Whole Earth" was created here - a government body in which the townspeople and representatives of the petty service nobility played the main role. At the same time, detachments of Polish-Lithuanian interventionists were being expelled from the regions of the Volga region. The leaders of the Cossacks and the South Russian nobility, I. M. Zarutsky and D. T. Trubetskoy, maintaining secret ties with the interventionists, entered into negotiations with Minin and Pozharsky on joint participation in the actions. In connection with the approach of a large detachment of Polish-Lithuanian troops to Moscow, led by Hetman K. Khodkevich, the militia set out from Yaroslavl and in late July - early August 1612 approached Moscow, taking up a position along the western walls of the White City. In the battle of August 22-24, with the support of Trubetskoy's Cossacks, Khodkevich's detachment was defeated, which failed to break through to Moscow. This victory sealed the fate of the enemy garrisons in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, which capitulated on October 22-26, 1612. The liberation of Moscow by the people's militia created the conditions for the restoration of state power and served as a powerful impetus for the deployment of a mass liberation movement against the interventionists throughout the country. In November 1612, the leaders of the militia sent letters to the cities calling for a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new tsar. The composition of the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 (see Zemsky Sobors) reflected the increased role of the townspeople and the minor service nobility, as well as the Cossacks in the war of liberation against the interventionists. Lit.: Platonov S. F., Essays on the history of unrest in the Muscovite state of the XVI-XVII centuries, M., 1937; Lyubomirov P. G., Essay on the history of the Nizhny Novgorod militia of 1611-1613, M., 1939; History of Moscow, vol. 1, M., 1952. A. M. Sakharov.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
See what the "People's Militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky" is in other dictionaries:
The unification of the patriotic forces of the Russian people at the final stage of the struggle against the Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish occupiers in the present. 17th century It arose in a difficult situation, after the invaders captured a significant part of the country, including Moscow and Smolensk, ... ... Russian history
- (Second militia) patriotic association. Russian forces at the final stage of the fight against the Polish litas. and Swede. intervention in the early 17th century It arose in a difficult situation, after the capture by the invaders means. parts of the country, including Moscow and Smolensk, and ... ...
1) military formations created for the duration of the war from the civilian population not in military service (mainly volunteers). O., as a form of attracting the broad masses of the people to repulse foreign invaders, is known from ... ...
Time military formations created by voluntary involvement of the population in the military. service during the war, as well as auxiliary. untrained reserve of the mobilized army. O. was an integral part of the army in Russia in the 9th and 17th centuries. and other state wah. Folk… Soviet historical encyclopedia
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