Participants of the Livonian War of 1558 1583. Background of the Livonian War

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, threatening, otherwise, 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

Stephan 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, Velikie 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 region, 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 largest of the wars waged by the Russians in the 16th century, but at the same time it had an important political event for a number of European states, and for European history as a whole. Starting from the 13th century, Livonia, as a confederation, was part of the German Empire. By the beginning of the 16th century, this huge medieval state was in the process of disintegration. It provided an outdated, loosely cohesive body politic based on and still dominated by a remnant of inter-tribal alliances.

Germany did not have its own national image at the time of the development of the money economy. The once powerful and bloodthirsty Livonian Order completely lost its militancy and could not resist the new young state, which considered the unity of the nation as the priority of its policy and vigorously, regardless of means, pursued a national policy.

Geopolitics of the Northern European states in the 16th century

Without exception, all the powers surrounding Livonia would not refuse, under favorable circumstances, to annex the southeastern coast of the Baltic to themselves. The Lithuanian principality, the Polish kingdom were interested in having access to the sea in order to carry out direct trade relations with the countries of the West, and not pay a huge fee for the use of foreign sea areas. Sweden and Denmark did not need to acquire maritime trade routes in the Baltic Sea, they were quite satisfied with receiving a transit duty from merchants, which was very significant.

Trade routes passed not only through the sea, but also overland. Both states played the role of gatekeepers, and there was a fierce competition between them in this regard. It is clear that the further fate of Livonia was not indifferent to the decrepit, disintegrating into small principalities of Germany. And the attitude towards the claims of the young Moscow tsar was far from unambiguous. Far-sighted politicians from the overthrown Hanseatic League dreamed of using the growing power of Moscow to restore the former trading power in the east.

Livonia has also become a battlefield for states located very far from the Baltic coast. England and Spain continued their dispute in western waters.

Results of the Livonian War

Therefore, after the Russian troops defeated the Livonians, and the diplomatic negotiations of the northern states did not lead to the desired results, they all rallied as a united front against the troops. The war dragged on for almost 30 years and its results for the Muscovite state were not at all comforting. The main task of access to the Baltic Sea was not solved. Instead of two neighbors eternally hostile to Russia - the Principality of Lithuania and Poland, a new strong state of the Commonwealth took shape.

As a result of a ten-year truce, which was formalized on January 5, 1582 in the village of Yama Zapolsky, this new state secured most of the Baltic states. The trophies of war included 41 cities and fortresses occupied by Russian troops. The economy of the Russian state was drained of blood, and political prestige was undermined.

Interesting facts about the results of the Livonian War

• The Livonians were amazed at the generosity of the Russian troops, who took out church property from Orthodox churches, but left weapons in the fortresses - cannons, a large amount of gunpowder and cannonballs.
• As a result of the defeat, the Russians, who had lived in Livonia for centuries, had to leave the Baltic states and return to Novgorod, Pskov and other cities, although most of the cities they left had Russian names.

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 conjunction 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. [ ]

About the complex relationship between the Moscow state and the Commonwealth in 1575, the Caesar's ambassador John Kobenzel testified: [ ]

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 a letter to the tsar from Bathory 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 region, 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

The article tells briefly about the Livonian War (1558-1583), which was waged by Ivan the Terrible for the right to enter the Baltic Sea. The war for Russia was initially successful, but after the entry of Sweden, Denmark and the Commonwealth into it, it took on a protracted character and ended in territorial losses.

1. Causes of the Livonian War
2. The course of the Livonian War
3. Results of the Livonian War

Causes of the Livonian War

• Livonia was a state founded by a German order of chivalry in the 13th century. and included part of the territory of the modern Baltic. By the 16th century it was a very weak state formation, in which the power was divided between knights and bishops. Livonia was an easy prey for an aggressive state. Ivan the Terrible set himself the task of capturing Livonia in order to ensure access to the Baltic Sea and in order to prevent its conquest by someone else. In addition, Livonia, being between Europe and Russia, in every possible way prevented the establishment of contacts between them, in particular, the entry of European masters into Russia was practically prohibited. This caused discontent in Moscow.
• The territory of Livonia before the capture by the German knights belonged to the Russian princes. This pushed Ivan the Terrible to the war for the return of ancestral lands.
• According to the existing treaty, Livonia was obliged to pay Russia an annual tribute for the possession of the ancient Russian city of Yuryev (renamed Derpt) and neighboring territories. However, this condition was not observed, which was the main reason for the war.

The course of the Livonian War

• In response to the refusal to pay tribute, Ivan the Terrible in 1558 starts a war with Livonia. A weak state, torn by contradictions, cannot resist the huge army of Ivan the Terrible. The Russian army victoriously passes through the entire territory of Livonia, leaving only large fortresses and cities in the hands of the enemy. As a result, by 1560 Livonia, as a state, ceases to exist. However, its lands were divided between Sweden, Denmark and Poland, which declared that Russia should renounce all territorial acquisitions.
• The emergence of new opponents did not immediately affect the nature of the war. Sweden was at war with Denmark. Ivan the Terrible concentrated all efforts against Poland. Successful military operations lead in 1563 to the capture of Polotsk. Poland begins to ask for a truce, and Ivan the Terrible convenes the Zemsky Sobor and addresses him with such a proposal. However, the cathedral responds with a sharp refusal, stating that the capture of Livonia is necessary economically. The war continues, it becomes clear that it will be protracted.
• The situation changes for the worse after the introduction of the oprichnina by Ivan the Terrible. The state, already weakened in the course of a tense war, receives a "royal gift." The punitive and repressive measures of the king lead to a decline in the economy, the execution of many prominent military leaders significantly weakens the army. At the same time, the Crimean Khanate activates its actions, starting to threaten Russia. In 1571, Khan Devlet Giray burned down Moscow.
• In 1569, Poland and Lithuania are united into a new strong state - the Commonwealth. In 1575, Stefan Batory became its king, who later showed the qualities of a talented commander. This was a turning point in the Livonian War. The Russian army held the territory of Livonia for some time, laid siege to Riga and Revel, but soon the Commonwealth and Sweden began active hostilities against the Russian army. Batory inflicts a series of defeats on Ivan the Terrible, recaptures Polotsk. In 1581, he besieges Pskov, the courageous defense of which lasts five months. The removal of the siege by Batory becomes the last victory of the Russian army. Sweden at this time captures the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which belongs to Russia.
• In 1582, Ivan the Terrible concludes a truce with Stefan Batory, according to which he renounces all his territorial acquisitions. In 1583, an agreement was signed with Sweden, as a result of which the captured lands on the coast of the Gulf of Finland were assigned to it.

Results of the Livonian War

• The war started by Ivan the Terrible promised to be successful. At first, Russia made significant progress. However, due to a number of internal and external reasons, a turning point occurs in the war. Russia is losing its occupied territories and, in the end, access to the Baltic Sea, remaining cut off from European markets.

Introduction 3

1. Causes of the Livonian War 4

2. Stages of war 6

3.Results and consequences of the war 14

Conclusion 15

References 16

Introduction.

The relevance of research. The Livonian War is a significant stage in Russian history. Long and exhausting, it brought many losses to Russia. It is very important and relevant to consider this event, because any military action changed the geopolitical map of our country, had a significant impact on its further socio-economic development. This directly applies to the Livonian War. It will also be interesting to reveal the diversity of points of view on the causes of this collision, the opinions of historians on this matter. After all, pluralism of opinions indicates that there are many contradictions in views. Therefore, the topic has not been sufficiently studied and is relevant for further consideration.

aim of this work is to reveal the essence of the Livonian War. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to consistently solve a number of tasks :

Reveal the causes of the Livonian War

Analyze its stages

Consider the results and consequences of the war

1. Causes of the Livonian War

After the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates to the Russian state, the threat of invasion from the east and southeast was eliminated. Ivan the Terrible faces new tasks - to return the Russian lands, once captured by the Livonian Order, Lithuania and Sweden.

In general, it is possible to clearly identify the causes of the Livonian War. However, Russian historians interpret them differently.

So, for example, N.M. Karamzin connects the beginning of the war with the hostility of the Livonian Order. Karamzin fully approves Ivan the Terrible's aspirations to reach the Baltic Sea, calling them "intentions that are beneficial for Russia."

N.I. Kostomarov believes that on the eve of the war, Ivan the Terrible had an alternative - either to deal with the Crimea, or to take possession of Livonia. The historian explains the decision of Ivan IV, which was contrary to common sense, to fight on two fronts by "discord" between his advisers.

S.M. Soloviev explains the Livonian War by the need of Russia to “assimilate the fruits of European civilization”, the carriers of which were not allowed into Rus' by the Livonians, who owned the main Baltic ports.

IN. Klyuchevsky practically does not consider the Livonian War at all, since he analyzes the external position of the state only from the point of view of its influence on the development of socio-economic relations within the country.

S.F. Platonov believes that Russia was simply drawn into the Livonian War. The historian believes that Russia could not evade what was happening on its western borders, could not put up with unfavorable terms of trade.

MN Pokrovsky believes that Ivan the Terrible started the war on the recommendations of some "advisers" from a number of troops.

According to R.Yu. Vipper, "The Livonian War was prepared and planned by the leaders of the Chosen Rada for quite a long time."

R.G. Skrynnikov connects the beginning of the war with the first success of Russia - the victory in the war with the Swedes (1554-1557), under the influence of which plans were put forward to conquer Livonia and establish themselves in the Baltic states. The historian also notes that "the Livonian War turned the Eastern Baltic into an arena of struggle between states seeking dominance in the Baltic Sea."

V.B. Kobrin pays attention to the personality of Adashev and notes his key role in unleashing the Livonian War.

In general, formal pretexts were found for the start of the war. The real reasons were the geopolitical need for Russia to gain access to the Baltic Sea, as the most convenient for direct ties with the centers of European civilizations, as well as the desire to take an active part in the division of the territory of the Livonian Order, the progressive collapse of which was becoming obvious, but which, not wanting to strengthening of Russia, prevented its external contacts. For example, the authorities of Livonia did not allow more than a hundred specialists from Europe, invited by Ivan IV, to pass through their lands. Some of them were imprisoned and executed.

The formal reason for the start of the Livonian War was the question of the “Yuryev tribute” (Yuryev, later called Derpt (Tartu), was founded by Yaroslav the Wise). According to the agreement of 1503, an annual tribute was to be paid for it and the adjacent territory, which, however, was not done. In addition, in 1557 the Order entered into a military alliance with the Lithuanian-Polish king.

2.Stages of the war.

The Livonian war can be conditionally divided into 4 stages. The first one (1558-1561) is directly related to the Russian-Livonian war. The second (1562-1569) included primarily the Russo-Lithuanian war. The third (1570-1576) was distinguished by the resumption of the Russian struggle for Livonia, where they, together with the Danish prince Magnus, fought against the Swedes. The fourth (1577-1583) is associated primarily with the Russian-Polish war. During this period, the Russo-Swedish war continued.

Let's consider each of the stages in more detail.

First stage. In January 1558, Ivan the Terrible moved his troops to Livonia. The beginning of the war brought him victories: Narva and Yuryev were taken. In the summer and autumn of 1558 and at the beginning of 1559, Russian troops passed through all of Livonia (to Revel and Riga) and advanced in Courland to the borders of East Prussia and Lithuania. However, in 1559, under the influence of politicians grouped around A.F. Adashev, who prevented the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, Ivan the Terrible was forced to conclude a truce. In March 1559, it was concluded for a period of six months.

The feudal lords took advantage of the truce to conclude an agreement with the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus in 1559, according to which the order, lands and possessions of the Archbishop of Riga were transferred under the protectorate of the Polish crown. In an atmosphere of sharp political disagreements in the leadership of the Livonian Order, its master V. Furstenberg was dismissed and G. Ketler, who adhered to a pro-Polish orientation, became the new master. In the same year, Denmark took possession of the island of Ezel (Saaremaa).

The hostilities that began in 1560 brought new defeats to the Order: the large fortresses of Marienburg and Fellin were taken, the order army blocking the path to Viljandi was defeated near Ermes, and the Master of the Order Furstenberg himself was taken prisoner. The success of the Russian army was facilitated by the peasant uprisings that broke out in the country against the German feudal lords. The result of the company in 1560 was the actual defeat of the Livonian Order as a state. The German feudal lords of Northern Estonia became subjects of Sweden. According to the Vilna Treaty of 1561, the possessions of the Livonian Order came under the rule of Poland, Denmark and Sweden, and his last master, Ketler, received only Courland, and even then it was dependent on Poland. Thus, instead of a weak Livonia, Russia now had three strong opponents.

Second phase. While Sweden and Denmark were at war with each other, Ivan IV led successful operations against Sigismund II Augustus. In 1563, the Russian army took Plock, a fortress that opened the way to the capital of Lithuania, Vilna, and to Riga. But already at the beginning of 1564, the Russians suffered a series of defeats on the Ulla River and near Orsha; in the same year, a boyar and a major military leader, Prince A.M., fled to Lithuania. Kurbsky.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to military failures and escapes to Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565, the oprichnina was introduced. Ivan IV tried to restore the Livonian Order, but under the protectorate of Russia, and negotiated with Poland. 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 up to the capture of Riga: “Our sovereign of those Livonian cities that the king took for protection, it’s unfit to retreat, and it’s fit for the sovereign to stand for those cities.” The council's decision also emphasized that giving up Livonia would hurt trade interests.

Third stage. From 1569 the war becomes protracted. This year, at the Seimas in Lublin, Lithuania and Poland were united into a single state - the Commonwealth, with which in 1570 Russia managed to conclude a truce for three years.

Since Lithuania and Poland in 1570 could not quickly concentrate their forces against the Muscovite state, because. were exhausted by the war, then Ivan IV began in May 1570 to negotiate a truce with Poland and Lithuania. At the same time, he creates, by neutralizing Poland, an anti-Swedish coalition, realizing his long-standing idea of ​​​​forming a vassal state from Russia in the Baltic states.

The Danish Duke Magnus accepted the offer of Ivan the Terrible to become his vassal (“goldovnik”) and in the same May 1570, upon arrival in Moscow, was proclaimed “King of Livonia”. The Russian government undertook to provide the new state, which settled on the island of Ezel, with its military assistance and material means so that it could expand its territory at the expense of the Swedish and Lithuanian-Polish possessions in Livonia. The parties intended to seal the allied relations between Russia and the "kingdom" of Magnus by marrying Magnus to the tsar's niece, the daughter of Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky - Maria.

The proclamation of the Livonian kingdom was, according to Ivan IV, to provide Russia with the support of the Livonian feudal lords, i.e. of all German chivalry and nobility in Estonia, Livonia and Courland, and consequently, not only an alliance with Denmark (through Magnus), but, most importantly, an alliance and support for the Habsburg empire. With this new combination in Russian foreign policy, the tsar intended to create a vise on two fronts for an overly aggressive and restless Poland, which had grown to include Lithuania. Like Vasily IV, Ivan the Terrible also expressed the idea of ​​the possibility and necessity of dividing Poland between the German and Russian states. More intimately, the Tsar was preoccupied with the possibility of creating a Polish-Swedish coalition on his western borders, which he tried with all his might to prevent. All this speaks of a correct, strategically deep understanding of the alignment of forces in Europe by the tsar and of his precise vision of the problems of Russian foreign policy in the short and long term. That is why his military tactics were correct: he sought to defeat Sweden alone as soon as possible, before it came to a joint Polish-Swedish aggression against Russia.

It was only after all this complicated diplomatic preparation that the tsar began direct military operations against Sweden. In July - August 1570, Russian troops in Livonia approached Reval, the capital of the Swedish Baltic states, and on August 21 began to besiege it. If Revel could be taken, then the entire coast to Riga would pass into the hands of the Russian troops. But after a 30-week siege, the Russian troops were forced to retreat on March 16, 1571. The failure was explained by the fact that the Danish king Fredrik II did not provide any support to Magnus, who was nominally at the head of the Russian troops, and, in addition, in the midst of the siege, he did the Swedes a favor: he concluded the Stettin Peace with them on December 13, 1570, thereby allowing them to free naval forces and send them to the besieged Revel.

Thus, the failure of Ivan IV consisted in the fact that for the second time in two or three years he was let down by allies who could not be relied upon: first Eric XIV, then Fredrik II. Thus, the entire carefully thought-out and timely diplomatic operation collapsed: the Russian-Danish alliance did not take place.

The aggression of the Crimea also played a significant role in disrupting the Russian offensive in the Baltic states: the main Russian forces, especially artillery, were thrown to the Crimean, southern front, since the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey with his 120,000-strong army reached the very walls of the Kremlin. The uprising of the Tatars and Mari in the Volga region further worsened the situation in the country. Under these conditions, Ivan IV was no longer up to active actions in the distant Baltic. The tsar had to agree to establish a truce with the Swedes, even if it was brief.

Since none of the clauses of the contractual Protocol (Record) on the truce of 1572 signed by the Swedish commissioners was completed before July, the Russian troops resumed hostilities in Livonia. During the entire period 1572-1576. military operations in Livonia were not of a serious nature. There were no major battles. The case was limited to the siege of cities in Northern Estonia. In 1572, during the siege of Weissenstein (Paide), Malyuta Skuratov, a favorite of Ivan the Terrible, was killed.

In 1573-1575. more than military operations, Russian diplomacy intensified in the Livonian War. Ivan the Terrible concluded a long-planned alliance with Emperor Maximilian II and an agreement on the possible division of the Commonwealth. Russia was to receive Lithuania and Livonia, and the Austrian Empire - Poland to the Bug and Poznan.

At the same time, in 1573, Ivan IV entered into negotiations with Sweden about peace, which Johan III did not want to go to, refusing personal meetings with Ivan the Terrible. Then Ivan the Terrible agreed to send an embassy to the frontier, to the Sestra River. Negotiations were conducted: from Russia - Prince Sitsky, from Sweden - Admiral Flemming. The Russian conditions were that Sweden would give up its part of Livonia in favor of Moscow, provide a detachment of landsknechts to the tsar to fight the Crimea (2000 people). In this case, the tsar gave Sweden the right to communicate with Moscow directly, and not through the governor in Novgorod. But the Swedes did not accept these conditions. Since at that time Poland was actively preparing to enter the Livonian War against Russia again, Ivan the Terrible made concessions to Sweden, just to get a short respite and prepare to meet new enemy pressure. The treaty did not formally apply to peace in Livonia, although the tsar hoped that the cessation of hostilities by the Swedes would affect all three fronts: Karelian, Ingrian and Livonian.

In 1573, the Russians stormed Paide, the stronghold of the Swedes in the Baltics. In 1575, the fortress of Sage surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov to the Russians. In January 1577, a 50,000-strong army under the command of boyar I.V. Sheremeteva the Lesser approached Jeglekht (21 km from Revel) and laid siege to it, standing without lifting the siege, until mid-February 1577. Only on March 10, Sheremetev turned from northern Estonia to southern Estonia, going to join the 100,000-strong army moving from Russia, where the tsar himself was. In June - July 1577, this army launched a broad offensive in the Dvina direction, capturing Marienburg, Lutsin, Rezhitsa, Dinaburg. At the same time, Magnus began to attack from Courland, going to join the Russian army. The combined forces captured the fortresses of Wenden (Kes, Cesis), Volmar (Valmiera) and were in a day and a half transition from Riga, when Ivan IV stopped the offensive, turned to Derpt, Pskov and returned to his Alexander Sloboda. In fact, all of Livonia to the north of the Western Dvina (Vidzeme) was in the hands of the Russians, except for Riga, which, as a Hanseatic city, Ivan IV decided to spare.

However, military successes did not lead to a victorious end to the Livonian War: a purely diplomatic victory had yet to be achieved, and this time it turned out to be beyond the power of the tsar - neither the Polish nor the Swedish sides wanted to sign a peace treaty. The fact is that by this time Russia had lost the diplomatic support that it had at the beginning of the Swedish stage of the Livonian War. First, in October 1576, Emperor Maximilian II died, and hopes for the capture of Poland and its partition vanished. Secondly, a new king came to power in Poland - Stefan Batory, the former prince of Semigradsky, one of the best commanders of his time, who was a supporter of an active Polish-Swedish alliance against Russia. Thirdly, Denmark completely disappeared as an ally and, finally, in 1578-1579. Stefan Batory managed to persuade Duke Magnus to betray the king.

Fourth stage. In 1575, the period of "royallessness" (1572-1575) ended in the Commonwealth. Stefan Batory was elected king. Stefan Batory, Prince of Semigradsky, was supported by the Turkish Sultan Murad III. After the flight of King Henry of Valois from Poland in 1574, the Sultan sent a letter to the Polish lords demanding that the Poles should not choose the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian II as king, but choose one of the Polish nobles, for example, Jan Kostka, or, if a king from others powers, then Bathory or the Swedish prince Sigismund Vasa. Ivan the Terrible, in a message to Stefan Batory, more than once hinted that he was a vassal of the Turkish Sultan, which caused a sharp answer from Batory: “How dare you remind us so often of surmyanism, you, who prevented your blood from us, whose prodkov mare's milk, that sunk into the manes of the Tatar scales licked ... ". The election of Stefan Batory as king of the Commonwealth meant the resumption of the war with Poland. However, back in 1577, Russian troops occupied almost all of Livonia, except for Riga and Reval, which was besieged in 1576-1577. But this year was the last year of Russia's successes in the Livonian War.

From 1579 Batory began a war against Russia. In 1579, Sweden also resumed hostilities, and Batory returned Polotsk and took Velikiye Luki, and in 1581 laid siege to Pskov, intending, if successful, to go to Novgorod the Great and Moscow. The Pskovites swore "for Pskov city to fight with Lithuania to death without any tricks." They kept their oath, repelling 31 attacks. After five months of unsuccessful attempts, the Poles were forced to lift the siege of Pskov. Heroic defense of Pskov in 1581-1582. the garrison and the population of the city determined a more favorable outcome of the Livonian War for Russia: the failure near Pskov forced Stefan Batory to enter into peace negotiations.

Taking advantage of the fact that Batory actually cut off Livonia from Russia, the Swedish commander Baron Pontus Delagardi undertook an operation to destroy isolated Russian garrisons in Livonia. By the end of 1581, the Swedes, having crossed the frozen Gulf of Finland on the ice, captured the entire coast of Northern Estonia, Narva, Vesenberg (Rakovor, Rakvere), and then moved to Riga, taking Haapsa-lu, Pärnu, and then the entire South (Russian ) Estonia - Fellin (Viljandi), Dorpat (Tartu). In total, Swedish troops captured 9 cities in Livonia and 4 in Novgorod land in a relatively short period, nullifying all the long-term gains of the Russian state in the Baltic states. In Ingermanland, Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye were taken, and in Ladoga - Korela.

3.Results and consequences of the war.

In January 1582, a ten-year truce with the Commonwealth was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky (not far from Pskov). Under this agreement, Russia renounced Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border Russian lands, captured during the hostilities by the Polish king, were returned to it.

The defeat of the Russian troops in the simultaneously ongoing war with Poland, where the tsar was faced with the need to decide even on the concession of Pskov if the city was taken by storm, forced Ivan IV and his diplomats to negotiate with Sweden to conclude a humiliating peace for the Russian state of Plus . Negotiations in Plus took place from May to August 1583. Under this agreement:

1. The Russian state was deprived of all its acquisitions in Livonia. Behind it, only a narrow section of access to the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Finland remained.

2. Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye passed to the Swedes.

3. Also, the Kexholm fortress in Karelia, along with the vast county and the coast of Lake Ladoga, went to the Swedes.

4. The Russian state turned out to be cut off from the sea, ruined and devastated. Russia has lost a significant part of its territory.

Thus, the Livonian War had very serious consequences for the Russian state, and the defeat in it greatly affected its further development. However, one can agree with N.M. Karamzin, who noted that the Livonian War was “unfortunate, but not inglorious for Russia.”

Conclusion.

Thus, after analyzing this topic, we can draw the following conclusions:

1. The purpose of the Livonian War was to give Russia access to the Baltic Sea in order to break the blockade from Livonia, the Polish-Lithuanian state and Sweden and establish direct communication with European countries. The immediate cause for the start of the Livonian War was the question of the "Yuryev tribute."

2. The Livonian war can be conditionally divided into 4 stages. The first one (1558-1561) is directly related to the Russian-Livonian war. The second (1562-1569) included primarily the Russo-Lithuanian war. The third (1570-1576) was distinguished by the resumption of the Russian struggle for Livonia, where they, together with the Danish prince Magnus, fought against the Swedes. The fourth (1577-1583) is associated primarily with the Russian-Polish war. During this period, the Russo-Swedish war continued.

3. In January 1582, a ten-year truce with the Commonwealth was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky (not far from Pskov). Under this agreement, Russia renounced Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border Russian lands, captured during the hostilities by the Polish king, were returned to it. Peace of Plus was concluded with Sweden. The Russian state was deprived of all its acquisitions in Livonia.

List of used literature:

1. Vipper R.Yu. Ivan the Terrible.- M-L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1944.

2. Volkov V.A. Wars and troops of the Moscow state. - M.: "Eksmo", 2004.

3. Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian state, T.9. - M .: "Eksmo", 2000 ..

4. Korolyuk V. D. Livonian War. - Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1954.

5. Skrynnikov R. G. Ivan the Terrible. - M.: AST Publishing House LLC, 2006.

6. Solovyov S. M. History of Russia since ancient times, T.6. - M., 2001.