The first and second militia briefly. First, second militia

Second militia. Liberation of Russia. Russia was threatened with the loss of national independence and the dismemberment of lands. In this difficult, hectic time in Nizhny Novgorod, a large and rich city on the Volga, townspeople led by Kuzma Minin, a simple "beef"(meat merchant) and the town headman, organized a fundraiser for the creation of a new militia. In the Volga region, Pomorie and other places, militia groups are being created, funds and supplies are being collected.

The second, or Nizhny Novgorod, militia was led by Minin and Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky. The first was in charge of the treasury and the economy of the militia, the second, a native of the family of Suzdal princes, became a military leader. Detachments marched towards Nizhny from all sides, and the militia, which initially had 2-3 thousand soldiers, quickly increased its ranks. In March 1612 it moved from Nizhny to Kostroma and Yaroslavl. Along the way, new reinforcements are poured into it. At the beginning of April, already in Yaroslavl, they created “Council of all the earth”- a government made up of representatives of the clergy and the Boyar Duma, nobles and townspeople; in fact it was headed Pozharsky and Minin. The orders began to work. The militia already consisted of 10 thousand people - nobles, archers, peasants, artisans, traders and others; It included Tatar detachments from Kasimov and Temnikov, Kadom and Alatyr.

In July, the militia left Yaroslavl - its leaders received news that Hetman Khodkevich was marching towards Moscow with an army. The militia marched through Rostov, Pereyaslavl, and Trinity. At the end of the month, the first troops approached the capital from the northern side. In August the main forces appeared. Near the capital they were met by the detachments of Zarutsky and Trubetskoy. But Pozharsky and Minin chose not to unite with them and stood separately. Soon Zarutsky left for Kolomna.

On August 22, Chodkiewicz’s army with a huge convoy, which had arrived from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, settled near Moscow. He tried to break through to the besieged in the Kremlin. But every time he was thrown back by Pozharsky-Minin’s militia and Trubetskoy’s detachments, either west of the Borovitsky Gate, or at the Donskoy Monastery. Having not achieved success, having lost many people and carts of food, the hetman left from near Moscow. The siege and fighting continued. Famine began in the Kremlin, and the besieged capitulated at the end of October 1612. The militia solemnly entered the Kremlin - Moscow, the heart of all Russia, was liberated by the efforts of the people, who, in a difficult time for Russia, showed restraint, fortitude, courage, and saved their country from a national catastrophe.

“Council of all the earth” convened representatives of different segments of the population at the Zemsky Sobor (clergy, boyars, nobility, townspeople, Cossacks, black-sown peasantry). In January 1613, he elected as king the young Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the son of the Tushino patriarch Filaret, in the world - the boyar Fyodor Nikitich Romanov, a relative through the female line of the kings and Fyodor Ivanovich. The election of the king meant the revival of the country, the protection of its sovereignty, independence and identity.

Liberation of Moscow in 1612. The new government had to solve difficult problems. The country was devastated and exhausted. Gangs of robbers and interventionists roamed the towns and villages. One of these Polish detachments, even before arriving in Moscow (he was then in the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery), operated in Kostroma and neighboring counties. Here were located ancestral lands mother of the newly elected king. It was winter time. The Poles appeared in one of the Romanov villages, seized the headman Ivan Susanin and demanded that he show them the way to where his young master was. Susanin led them into the wilds and, having died himself under the sabers of the enemies, destroyed the detachment. The feat of the Kostroma peasant played a role not only in the salvation of Mikhail Fedorovich, but also in preventing a new unrest in the country in the event of the death of young Romanov.

The Moscow authorities are sending military detachments everywhere, and they are gradually liberating the country from gangs. The campaign to Russia, undertaken by the grown-up prince Vladislav in the fall of 1618, ended in failure. On December 1 of the same year, in the village of Deulino, near the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, a truce was concluded for 14.5 years - hostilities ceased, Poland retained Smolensk and some cities along the southwestern border.

Almost two years earlier, on February 27, 1617, peace was established with Sweden under the Treaty of Stolbovo. She was given lands along the southern and eastern banks Gulf of Finland with the cities of Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye, Oreshek. Russia has again lost access to the Baltic Sea.

task "pacification" The country's relations with neighboring countries were finally resolved. There remained internal affairs, first of all - the ongoing unrest and offended people. During these years, the rebels captured Cheboksary, Tsivilsk Sanchursk and other cities in the Volga region, Vyatka district and the city of Kotelnich in the northeast. Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan were besieged. In Pskov and Astrakhan, locals waged a fierce struggle among themselves for many years. “the best” And “smaller” People. In Pskov, in some years, the rebels established “Smerdov autocracy”, removing governors, boyars and nobles from affairs. There were impostors operating in both cities.

The Romanov government organizes the fight against the rebels. The civil war is coming to an end. But its echoes, the last rumbles, were heard for several more years, until 1617-1618.

The Troubles, also called by contemporaries “Moscow or Lithuanian ruin”, ended. It left serious consequences. Many cities and villages lay in ruins. Russia has lost many of its sons and daughters. Agriculture and crafts were ruined, and commercial life died out. The Russian people returned to the ashes and began, as had been the custom from time immemorial, to a sacred task - they revived their homes and arable lands, workshops and trade caravans.

The Time of Troubles greatly weakened Russia and its people. But it also showed his strength. Beginning of the 17th century heralded the dawn of national liberation.

The catastrophic situation that developed by 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 strata of society from civil war, a thirst for order, which they perceived as the restoration of traditional foundations.

Gradually it became clearer that solving problems was impossible only within a 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 cities. The church conducted continuous preaching in favor of the unity of all Orthodox Christians.

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 rebel 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 the Whole Land. It served as the Zemsky Sobor, in whose hands there was legislative, judicial and partially executive power. The executive branch was headed by P. Lyapunov, D. Trubetskoy and I. Zarutsky and began to recreate the orders. On June 30, 1611, the “Verdict of the Whole Land” was adopted, which provided for the future structure of Russia, but infringed on the rights of the Cossacks and also had a serfdom character. After the murder of Lyapunov by the Cossacks, the first militia disintegrated.

By this time, the Swedes had captured Novgorod and besieged Pskov, and the Poles, after a months-long siege, had captured Smolensk. Sigismund 3 declared that it was not Vladislav, but he himself, who would become the king of Russia, which would thus become part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A serious threat to Russian sovereignty has arisen.

The critical situation that developed in the fall 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 elder K. Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky in the fall of 1611 created a second militia with the goal of liberating Moscow and convening the Zemsky Sobor to elect a new tsar and restore the national monarchy. The put forward program: 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 members of the clergy, nobility, civil servants, townspeople, palace and black-growing peasants, and forms orders. In August 1612, the militia, supported at a critical moment by Trubetskoy’s Cossacks, prevailed over the army of Hetman K. Khodkevich and entered Moscow. After the liquidation of the attempts of the Polish detachment of Khodkiewicz to penetrate the Kremlin to help the Polish there, the garrison surrendered. On October 26, 1612, Moscow was liberated.

The beginning of the Romanov reign. Results and consequences of the Time of Troubles.

In the specific historical conditions of the beginning of the 17th century. the priority was the restoration of central power, which meant the election of a new king. A Zemsky Sobor met in Moscow, at which, in addition to the Boyar Duma, the highest clergy and the capital's nobility, numerous provincial nobility, townspeople, Cossacks and even black-sown (state) peasants were represented. 50 Russian cities sent their representatives.

The main question was the election of a king. A fierce struggle broke out around the candidacy of the future tsar at the council. Some boyar groups proposed calling a “prince’s son” from Poland or Sweden, others nominated candidates from the old Russian princely families (Golitsyns, Mstislavskys, Trubetskoys, Romanovs). The Cossacks even offered the son of False Dmitry II and Marina Mnishek (“warren”).

After much debate, the members of the cathedral agreed on the candidacy of 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, the cousin of the last tsar from the Moscow Rurik dynasty, Fyodor Ivanovich, which gave reason to associate him with the “legitimate” dynasty. The nobles saw the Romanovs as consistent opponents of the “boyar tsar” Vasily Shuisky, while the Cossacks saw them as 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 satisfied all classes to the greatest extent, which made it possible to achieve reconciliation;

Family ties with the previous dynasty, the youthful age and moral character of 16-year-old Mikhail corresponded to popular ideas about the shepherd king, an intercessor before God, capable of atonement for the sins of the people.

In 1618, after the defeat of the troops of Prince Vladislav, the Deulin 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. This is how the Romanov dynasty established itself in Russia, ruling the country for more than 300 years.

One of the heroic episodes of Russian history dates back to this time. A 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 tsar about the danger, but also led the Poles into impenetrable forests. The hero died from Polish sabers, but also killed the nobles lost in the forests.

In the first years of the reign of Mikhail Romanov, the country was actually ruled by the Saltykov boyars, relatives of the “nun Martha,” and from 1619, after the return of the Tsar’s father, Patriarch Filaret Romanov, from captivity, the patriarch and “great sovereign” Filaret.

The Troubles shook the royal power, which inevitably increased the importance of the Boyar Duma. Mikhail could not do anything without boyar council. The local system, which regulated relationships within the ruling boyars, existed in Russia for more than a century and was exceptionally strong. The highest positions 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 careers.

The transfer of the throne to the Romanovs destroyed the old system. Kinship with the new dynasty began to take on paramount importance. But new system Localism 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 judged the Romanovs and handed them over to Boris Godunov for execution. During the Time of Troubles, Filaret called them his worst enemies.

To enlist the support of the nobility, Tsar Mikhail, having no treasury or lands, generously distributed Duma ranks. Under him, the Boyar Duma became more numerous and influential than ever. After Filaret's return 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 it managed to get out of the war with Sweden. In 1618, the Truce of Dowlin 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 able to continue the war any further. The terms of the truce 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 disrupted. 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 strengthened Russia's backwardness.

Russia emerged from the Troubles extremely exhausted, with huge territorial and human losses. According to some estimates, up to a third of the population died. Overcoming economic ruin will be possible only by strengthening serfdom.

The country's international position has sharply deteriorated. 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, ultimately, civilizational isolation.

The people managed to defend their independence, but as a result of their victory, autocracy was revived in Russia and serfdom. However, most likely, there is no other way to save and preserve Russian civilization in those extreme conditions and did not exist.

The main results of the turmoil:

1. Russia emerged from the “Troubles” extremely exhausted, with huge territorial and human losses. According to some estimates, up to a third of the population died.

2. Overcoming economic ruin will be possible only by strengthening serfdom.

3. The country’s international position has sharply deteriorated. 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 have intensified in the country, which has aggravated its cultural and, ultimately, 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.

The conclusion of a military alliance with Sweden and the arrival of Swedish troops gave rise to Sigismund III, who fought with Sweden, to begin open military action against V. Shuisky. The boyars decided to get out of the catastrophic situation by eliminating V. Shuisky. A boyar conspiracy arose against him. In the summer of 1610, V. Shuisky was overthrown from the throne and forcibly tonsured a monk, which meant political death. The boyars invited the son of Sigismund III Vladislav to the throne. The troops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered Moscow, and a Polish administration appeared. However, this did not bring peace. The head of the church, Patriarch Hermogenes, began to call for a fight against the Poles. The Swedish troops demanded payment of their salaries and engaged in robbery and robbery. They captured Novgorod and Novgorod land, Smolensk. Only by relying on the broad support of the people was it possible under these conditions to win and maintain the independence of the state.

At the beginning of 1611, the first militia was formed in the Ryazan land. It included nobles, townspeople of many cities, Cossacks from the camp of False Dmitry P. The nobleman Prokopiy Lyapunov and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky stood at the head of the militia. In March 1611, detachments of the first militia approached Moscow and began the siege of the capital. However, significant disagreements emerged between the noble and Cossack parts of the militia, during which P. Lyapunov was killed by the Cossacks. The first militia disintegrated. Only Prince D. Trubetskoy and the Cossacks remained near Moscow, who subsequently joined the troops of the second militia.

3.Second militia

The people's struggle did not abate. Nizhny Novgorod became its center. Here, in the fall of 1611, on the initiative of the zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, a second militia was created, the military leader of which was Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. In the spring of 1612, the detachments headed to Yaroslavl, where forces were accumulating for a decisive offensive. The “Council of the Whole Land” was also created there, i.e. the provisional government of the country (it included representatives of the boyars, nobles, townspeople, and clergy), as well as orders - state executive authorities. In August, the militia approached Moscow and besieged the city. Attempts by Polish troops under the command of Hetman Chodkiewicz to break through to the besieged failed. After bloody battles they were driven back from Moscow, and on October 27, 1612, the surrounded garrison laid down their arms.

In 1613, a Zemsky Sobor was held in Moscow to elect a new tsar. With the support of the Cossacks, who were part of the second militia, Mikhail Romanov (1613–1645), the son of Fyodor Romanov (Filaret), was elected king, i.e., the beginning of the reign of a new dynasty was laid.

Topic 7. Russia at the end of the 16th – beginning of the 17th century. Russia in the 17th century

1. Reign of Peter I

Assessing the transformations carried out during the reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725) was and remains one of the most difficult problems of Russian historical science. Formed in the 30s and 40s. 19th century two different approaches to the assessment of Peter's reforms and national history in general, they are usually associated with the traditions of Slavophilism, which defends the idea of ​​a special path of development for Russia, and Westernism, based on the ideas of social progress, the laws of which are the same for all peoples. With a certain degree of simplification, we can say that the Slavophiles perceived the transformations of Peter I as an artificial intervention of state power in the course of social development, as a forcible transfer of foreign ideas, customs and institutions to Russian soil. Westerners proceeded from the fact that Peter started and carried out something useful for the country, accelerating its development and eliminating (or reducing) the “lag” between Russia and Europe. Both of these concepts are, of course, prone to exaggeration. The assessment of Peter's transformations should be approached more carefully, taking into account the ambiguity of the trends in the spiritual, political and social development of society that emerged in his time. It should also be taken into account that the objective prerequisites for transformations developed in Russia back in the second half of the 18th century. These include:

1) activation foreign policy and diplomatic activities of the Russian state;

2) intensive development of trade;

3) reforming the financial and tax system;

4) transition from craft production to manufacturing using elements

hired labor and simple mechanisms;

5) a tendency towards the absolutization of supreme power;

6) registration of national legislation (Conciliar Code of 1649);

7) reorganization and improvement of the armed forces (creation of regiments of “foreign order”);

8) the demarcation of society under the influence of Western European culture and Nikon’s church reforms; the emergence of national-conservative and Westernizing movements.

After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, 14-year-old Fedor (1676–1682) ascended the throne.

who was seriously ill and could not even walk. In fact, power was seized by his maternal relatives, the Miloslavskys, and his sister Sophia, who was distinguished by her strong will and energy. The ruling circle under the princess was headed by the intelligent and talented Prince V.V. Golitsyn. During this period, the course towards the rise of the nobility and the creation of conditions for the merger of the nobility and boyars into a single class was continued. A strong blow to the class privileges of the aristocracy was dealt in 1682 with the abolition of localism.

With the death of the childless Fyodor Alekseevich in 1682, the question arose about the heir to the throne. Of his two brothers, the weak-minded Ivan could not occupy the throne, and Peter was only 10 years old. At court, a power struggle broke out between the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins. At a meeting of the “Consecrated Council” and the Boyar Duma, Peter was proclaimed tsar. However, on May 15, 1682, the Streltsy rebelled in Moscow, incited by the head of the Streltsy Prikaz, I.A. Khovansky (at the end of the 17th century, in connection with the creation of regiments of the new system, the role of the archers fell, they lost many privileges, but were still obliged to pay duties and taxes on trades). A rumor was spread around Moscow that Tsarevich Ivan had been strangled. Armed riflemen entered the Kremlin. Mother of Peter N.K. Naryshkina led Peter and Ivan out onto the palace porch. But this did not calm the archers, who wanted to use the palace events for their own purposes. For three days power in Moscow was in the hands of the Streltsy. All prominent supporters of the Naryshkins were killed. In honor of their performance, the archers erected a pillar on Red Square. On cast iron boards nailed to it, the merits of the archers and the names of the boyars executed by them were listed. Peter and Ivan (1682–1696) were proclaimed kings. Princess Sophia became regent until they came of age. However, the position of the archers hardly improved. They tried to install I.A. as the head of the Russian state. Khovansky. However, Khovansky was deceived and summoned to Sophia, captured and executed. The Sagittarius came into obedience. The pillar of Red Square was torn down, many of the archers were executed. Power passed into the hands of Princess Sophia (1682–1689). The de facto ruler under Sophia was her favorite Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn. The government of Sophia achieved the most noticeable results in the field of foreign policy. In 1686, the “Eternal Peace” was concluded with Poland, Russia accepted the obligation to act in alliance with Poland, Austria and Venice against Crimea and Turkey.

Peter grew up in the villages of Kolomenskoye, Preobrazhenskoye, and Semenovskoye near Moscow. At the age of three he began to learn to read and write from clerk Nikita Zotov. Peter did not receive a systematic education; even in his mature years he wrote with grammatical errors. As a teenager, the prince discovered a penchant for military affairs. For Peter's war games, children from two palace villages - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky - were assembled into "amusing" regiments, which later turned into the first regular guards regiments of the same name, representing an impressive military force. Another favorite brainchild of Peter was the fleet. First on the Yauza, and then on the largest body of water closest to Moscow - Lake Pleshcheyevo near the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky - the foundations of the future were laid Russian fleet. In 1689, Peter, having reached adulthood, married the hawthorn E. Lopukhina. In the person of Peter, the leading part of Russian society saw a tsar-transformer, an irreconcilable fighter against the old, outdated boyar orders and traditions. Relations between Sophia and Peter worsened from year to year and by the summer of 1689 they became such that an open clash became inevitable. On the night of August 8, 1689, Peter’s secret supporters informed him that Sophia was preparing the archers for a campaign against Preobrazhenskoye. Later it turned out that the rumor was false, but, frightened, Peter galloped to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where the amusing troops soon arrived. An armed struggle was brewing, in which, however, the streltsy regiments, which initially supported Sophia, were not inclined to shed blood for her and, one after another, went over to Peter’s side. He was supported by many boyars and nobles, and the Moscow Patriarch. Sophia was left without armed support. She was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow. The throne passed to Peter. With the death of Ivan (1696), Peter's autocracy was established.

Peter surrounded himself with capable, energetic assistants, especially military ones. Among the foreigners, the following stood out: the tsar's closest friend F. Lefort, the experienced general P. Gordon, and the talented engineer J. Bruce. And among the Russians, a close-knit group of associates gradually formed, who later made a brilliant political career: A.M. Golovin, G.I. Golovkin, brothers P.M. and F.M. Apraksin, A.D. Menshikov.

One of the most important tasks facing Peter was to continue the fight against Crimea. It was decided to capture Azov, a Turkish fortress at the mouth of the Don. In 1695, Russian troops besieged Azov, but due to a lack of weapons, poorly prepared siege equipment and the lack of a fleet, Azov was not taken.

Having failed at Azov, Peter began building a fleet. The fleet was built on the Voronezh River at its confluence with the Don. During the year, about 30 large ships were built and lowered down the Don. The ground army was doubled. In 1696, blocking Azov from the sea, Russian troops captured the city. In order to strengthen Russian positions on the Sea of ​​​​Azov, the Taganrog fortress was built. However, Russia clearly did not have enough forces to fight Turkey and Crimea. Peter ordered the construction of new ships (52 ships in 2 years) at the expense of landowners and merchants and began searching for allies in Europe. This is how the idea of ​​the “Great Embassy” was born, which took place from 1697 to 1698. Its goals were the creation of an anti-Turkish coalition, familiarization with the political life of Europe, and the study of foreign crafts, life, culture, and military orders. Admiral General F.Ya. was appointed as great ambassadors. Lefort, General F.A. Golovin, head of the embassy department, and Duma clerk P.B. Voznitsyn. The embassy included 280 people, including 35 volunteers who were traveling to learn crafts and military sciences. Among its members, under the name of the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Peter Mikhailov, was Peter himself. During his one and a half year stay abroad, Peter and his embassy visited Courland, Brandenburg, Holland, which was at that time the largest power in Europe (its fleet accounted for 4/5 of the European fleet), England and Austria. The embassy participants met with princes and monarchs, studied shipbuilding and other crafts. During the “embassy”, Peter became convinced that a favorable foreign policy situation had developed for the struggle for the Baltic, since the largest European states were busy with the upcoming War of the Spanish Succession of 1701–1714. – the struggle for vast possessions in Europe and America due to the lack of a direct heir after the death of the Spanish king Charles II.

In the summer of 1698, Peter had to interrupt his trip. In Vienna, he received a secret report about the Streltsy rebellion in Moscow. Even before Peter's arrival, the rebellion was suppressed by government troops. The Streltsy regiments marching towards Moscow were defeated near New Jerusalem (now in the area of ​​Istra near Moscow). More than a hundred archers were executed, many of them were exiled to various cities.

Upon his return, Peter forced the verdict to be reconsidered. He personally headed the new investigation. A connection was established between the archers and the reactionary Moscow boyars and Princess Sophia. More than 1,000 archers were executed. The tsar himself and his entourage took part in the executions. Sophia, tonsured a nun, lived under the strictest supervision for the rest of her life in the Novodevichy Convent. The Streltsy army was disbanded, the forces of the boyar opposition were undermined.

Liberation of Moscow

Liberation of Moscow from the Polish occupiers by the combined forces of the First and Second militias under the leadership of Prince. Pozharsky and K. Minin.

PROGRESS EVENTS

Beginning of the 17th century marked the plunge of the Russian state into a deep systemic crisis, called by historian S.F. Platonov's "Time of Troubles". The dynastic crisis of the late 16th century, the accession and overthrow of False Dmitry I, the reign of Vasily Shuisky, the beginning of the Swedish and Polish intervention, the Seven Boyars, plunged the country into deep chaos, threatening the loss of state sovereignty. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, by the fall of 1611, Russia was “a spectacle of complete visible destruction. The Poles took Smolensk; the Polish congratulations burned Moscow and fortified itself behind the surviving walls of the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod; the Swedes occupied Novgorod and nominated one of the princes as a candidate for the Moscow throne; But the murdered second False Dmitry was replaced in Pskov by a third, some Sidorka; The first noble militia near Moscow was upset with the death of Lyapunov... (the state, having lost its center, began to disintegrate into its component parts; almost every city acted independently, only interspersing with other cities. The state was transformed into some kind of shapeless, restless federation."

The Swedish intervention in the north, the de facto occupation of Moscow and the capture of Smolensk by the Poles after a heroic 20-month defense of the fortress city influenced the mood of the Russians. The illusions of a Polish-Russian compromise were dispelled. Patriarch Hermogenes, cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery - Abraham Palitsyn, who had previously maintained contacts with Sigismund III, as well as some other Russian figures began to send letters throughout the country, calling on Russians to unite to fight the foreigners who rule in Rus'. The Poles took Hermogenes into custody and threw him into prison, where the patriarch died.

The civil internal war began to fade, turning into liberation movement against foreign enemies.

Ryazan nobleman Prokopiy Lyapunov began to gather troops to fight the Poles and liberate Moscow. Meanwhile, in Kaluga, False Dmitry II died at the hands of the head of his own security. Soon the widow of False Dmitry had a son, Ivan. There were rumors that the real father of the “prince” (“warlord”) was the Cossack ataman Ivan Zarutsky, and he would take root in the camp of supporters of False Dmitry II in Tushino, near Moscow. Unlike the name of “Tsarevich Dmitry,” the name of “Tsarevich Ivan” did not have the mystical ability to rally people around him. The patron of Marina Mnishek and the “warlord”, Tushino ataman Ivan Zarutsky, decided to join the militia of Prokopiy Lyapunov. Many other Tushino residents did the same (boyar Dmitry Trubetskoy, for example). So, in February-March 1611, the First Militia arose . Under the militia, a government was created - the Council of the Whole Land. It included the leader of the Ryazan nobles Prokopiy Lyapunov, the Tushino boyar Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy and the Cossack ataman, Cossack Ivan Zarutsky. In March 1611, the militia approached Moscow. An uprising broke out in the capital, but the militias failed to take control of Moscow.

Knowing that militias were approaching Moscow, the Poles tried to force Muscovites to carry guns to the city walls. The refusal of Muscovites to do this work spontaneously grew into an uprising. A vanguard of militias led by Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky burst into the city to help Muscovites. The Polish garrison began to lose ground. Then A. Gonsevsky, on the advice of his well-wisher M. Saltykov, ordered the wooden settlement to be set on fire. People rushed to save families and property. The Poles took refuge in the stone fortresses of the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod. The militia, fleeing the fire, left, carrying away Prince Pozharsky, seriously wounded in battle.

The fire in Moscow that broke out during the uprising completely destroyed the capital's suburb. Thousands of Muscovites were left homeless. They scattered throughout the surrounding villages and towns near Moscow. The Trinity-Sergius Monastery sheltered many. The siege of Moscow was also unsuccessful for the Russians. It lasted from March to July 1611. The unity of the militia was undermined by contradictions between the Cossacks (many of whom were fugitives in the past) and service people (patrimonial owners and landowners). Their interests did not coincide. To overcome the contradictions, on June 30, 1611, the Council of the Whole Land adopted the “Verdict of the Whole Land.” The main role in drawing up the text of the “Sentence” was played by the leader of the nobles Prokopiy Lyapunov. The verdict preserved all the privileges of serving people in the fatherland. As a compromise, he promised tsarist service and salaries to the Cossacks of the militia, freedom to the former fugitive Cossacks, but refused them to receive estates. The Cossacks were unhappy.

The discontent of the Cossacks was supported for their own purposes by their leaders - ataman Ivan Zarutsky and boyar Dmitry Trubetskoy. The Poles also successfully fomented confrontation between the nobles and the Cossacks. They spread rumors about Lyapunov's hostility to the Cossacks. It was said that Lyapunov was going to surprise the Cossacks. Unlike the nobles of the First Militia, the Cossack militia did not receive either money or grain salaries from the militia funds. They fed as best they could, mostly by robbing villages near Moscow. This turned local residents against the militias, and Prokopiy Lyapunov promised to severely punish the marauders. When Lyapunov was informed about the atrocities of 28 Cossacks in a village near Moscow, he ordered the nobles to drown the offenders. The execution outraged the rest of the Cossacks.

On July 22, 1611, they called Procopius Lyapunov to their circle to sort things out. The circle ended with the murder of the leader of the Ryazan nobles. After this, the nobles and boyar children began to leave the militia, and it actually disintegrated.

Shortly before this, two more sad events for the Russian people took place.

On June 3, 1611, Smolensk fell. The siege of Smolensk lasted almost two years - 624 days. Voivode Mikhail Shein was captured, shackled and sent to Poland. On July 16, 1611, the Swedish general Delagardi occupied Novgorod almost without resistance and concluded an agreement with its authorities on the creation of the Novgorod state. It was a vassal of Sweden. In the future, the Swedes hoped to achieve the election of the son of King Charles IX, Prince Charles Philip, to the Moscow throne.

Near Moscow, the Cossacks of Zarutsky and Trubetskoy stood in complete confusion. The “Tushins” were in the past, they easily recognized the new adventurer who had appeared in Pskov - False Dmitry III - as king. This completely discredited the Cossack detachments in the eyes of the majority of Russian people. former First militias and their leaders. The population of Russia is already tired of imposture. It was looking for a different symbol of the unity of the Russian people. Such a symbol was the idea of ​​​​the liberation of Moscow and the convening of the Zemsky Sobor in it to choose a legitimate monarch.

This idea was expressed in his appeal to fellow citizens by Kuzma Minin, a wealthy townsman resident of Nizhny Novgorod. “If we want to help the Moscow state,” Minin said, “then we will not spare our property, our bellies: not only our bellies, but we will sell our yards, we will pawn our wives and children.” Until the fall of 1611, Kuzma Minin, having a butcher shop, conducted a trade. It was already old man. His nickname, “Sukhoruk,” suggests a serious illness. But, being chosen by the townspeople as a zemstvo elder, Kuzma showed talent statesman. Kuzma concentrated all his thoughts and deeds on the idea of ​​liberating Moscow. There, in Moscow, after the expulsion of the Poles, people chosen from all Russian classes were supposed to gather and choose a tsar. The restored central authority will unite the country.

The Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder received an unusual “rank” - “a person elected by the whole earth.” Kuzma Minin began collecting donations for a new militia. He himself gave away all his savings and part of his property. Then an emergency war tax was introduced in Nizhny Novgorod. Service people, archers and Cossacks flocked to Nizhny Novgorod. Shelves began to form. The militia was divided into 4 categories - equestrian nobles, archers and gunners, Cossacks and “staff” (militia who did not know military affairs, but helped pull guns and lead the convoy). The highest salaries were paid to the nobles. Then came the archers and Cossacks. She did not have a salary, but people from the staff were fed at the expense of the militia.

The Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo hut invited Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky to become the supreme governor and head of external relations of the Second Militia. This man was known for his personal courage and integrity. At that time, he was being treated for wounds in his native Suzdal, but did not refuse the ambassadors of Nizhny Novgorod.

By the spring of 1612, the Second Militia took control of the Upper Volga region, roads from the northern and Trans-Volga cities. The militia spent about 4 months in the large Volga region city of Yaroslavl, seriously preparing for the campaign against Moscow. The Cossack leaders of the First Militia, especially Dmitry Trubetskoy, expressed their readiness to join forces. But Dmitry Pozharsky did not trust them and refused to negotiate. Having learned about this, Ataman Ivan Zarutsky organized an assassination attempt on Pozharsky. It was not possible to kill the prince. Then Zarutsky with 2 thousand Cossacks, taking Marina Mnishek and her son “vorenki”, left Moscow for Kolomna. Dmitry Trubetskoy's Cossacks were left alone at the walls of the capital.

In July 1612, Hetman Chodkiewicz came from Lithuania to help the 4,000-strong Polish garrison in Moscow. He led 15 thousand soldiers, mostly cavalry, and a food train. Khodkevich was a famous commander who gained fame for his victories over the Swedes in Livonia...

Pozharsky and Minin understood that they had to approach Moscow before Khodkevich. The militia rushed to the capital. On July 24, 1612, the advanced patrols of the Second Militia reached Moscow. On August 3, a detachment of 400 horsemen built a fort at the Petrovsky Gate of the capital and settled in it. On August 12, 700 horsemen fortified themselves at the Tverskaya Gate of Zemlyanoy Gorod (that was the name of the outer line of log fortifications on the rampart and the settlement adjacent to it). The militia intercepted messengers sent to Chodkiewicz by the Polish garrison located in the Moscow Kremlin. On the night of August 19-20, the main forces of the Second Militia - approximately 15 thousand people - approached Moscow. They stopped in the east of the Kremlin - at the confluence of the Yauza with the Moscow River, and in the west and north - from the Nikitsky Gate of the Zemlyanoy City to the Alekseevskaya Tower near the Moscow River. The remnants of the First Militia continued to stand in Zamoskvorechye - about 3-4 thousand Cossacks of Dmitry Trubetskoy.

Khodkevich advanced along the Smolensk road. On the morning of August 22, 1612, he appeared near Moscow. The winged hussars tried to break into the capital from the Novodevichy Convent on the move, but were repulsed by Pozharsky’s militia. Then the hetman brought all his regiments into battle. The Poles made their way through the Chertopol Gate to the Arbat. By evening, the noble hundreds of the Second Militia forced them to leave the city. The next day, August 23, Khodkevich decided to strike at Zamoskvorechye, hoping that the strained relations between Pozharsky and Trubetskoy would not allow the Russians to act together. But as soon as the Poles moved towards Trubetskoy’s Cossacks, Pozharsky transported part of the militia to Zamoskvorechye.

The decisive battle took place on August 24. Khodkevich attacked both Pozharsky and Trubetskoy, the Polish garrison from the Kremlin hit the Russians in the rear. The militia rolled back beyond the fords on the Moscow River, and Trubetskoy’s Cossacks, abandoning their prison in Zamoskvorechye, galloped off to the Novodevichy Convent. The Poles began to bring food carts into the prison.

At this tense moment, Abraham Palitsyn appeared to the Cossacks and began to convince them not to abandon the battlefield. The Cossacks, inspired by him, without waiting for Trubetskoy’s command, attacked the fort, captured it and most of the Polish convoy.

Night was approaching. The outcome of the battle remained unclear. Suddenly Kuzma Minin decided to lead the attack himself. Having crossed the river, he and three hundred mounted nobles hit the flank of the Poles, who did not expect this at all. The Polish ranks were mixed. Pozharsky threw the archers into battle. And Trubetskoy’s Cossacks rushed to the rescue from all sides.

During the fight against Khodkevich, a spontaneous unification of the forces of the Second Militia with Trubetskoy’s Cossacks took place. This decided the outcome of the fight. Khodkevich retreated to the Donskoy Monastery, and on August 25, without resuming the battle, he reached the Smolensk road and went to Lithuania.

The Polish garrison in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, under siege, began to starve. The forces of the Second Militia prepared and successfully carried out an assault on the Kitai-Gorod fortifications and liberated Kitay-Gorod from the Polish forces on November 3, 1612. However, Strus's detachment remained in the Kremlin, despite the famine. On November 5, the day after the veneration of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, the Poles holed up in the Kremlin surrendered to the mercy of the Second Militia. Not a single Pole from the Kremlin garrison of three thousand survived, except their commander N. Strus.

The liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders by the forces of the Second Militia became a symbol of the spiritual fortitude and military glory of the Russian people. The dedication with which all of Russia rose to fight the enemies of the Fatherland demonstrated to the whole world the strength of the Russian spirit and Russian unity.

Not knowing about the capitulation of his troops in Moscow, Sigismund III marched towards Moscow, but near Volokolamsk he was defeated by Russian regiments.

In January 1613, the Zemsky Sobor met in the capital. It was attended by elected officials from the nobles, clergy, townspeople, Cossacks and, perhaps even, from black-growing peasants. The participants of the cathedral vowed not to leave until they elected a tsar to the Moscow throne. This was an obvious basis for the restoration of central government and the unification of the country. This was necessary to end the civil war and expel the foreign invaders.

The candidacy of the future monarch caused heated debate. It was difficult to reconcile the sympathies of the former supporters of the impostors with the associates of Vasily Shuisky or the entourage of the Seven Boyars or the people of the Second Militia. All the “parties” looked at each other with suspicion and distrust.

Before the liberation of Moscow, Dmitry Pozharsky negotiated with Sweden about inviting a Swedish prince to the Russian throne. Perhaps this was a tactical move that made it possible to fight on one front. It may also be that the leaders of the Second Militia considered the Swedish prince the best candidate for the throne, hoping with his help to return Novgorod to Russia and receive help in the fight against the Poles. But “Tsar” Vladislav and his father Sigismund III, with their anti-Russian policy, compromised the very idea of ​​​​inviting a foreign “neutral” prince. Participants in the Zemsky Sobor nominated foreign princes, as well as the candidacy of “Tsarevich Ivan,” the son of False Dmitry II and Marina Mnishek.

Vasily Golitsyn, who was then in Polish captivity, the son of Filaret Romanov, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich's cousin Mikhail, Dmitry Trubetskoy and even Dmitry Pozharsky were proposed as tsars. The most acceptable candidate turned out to be Mikhail Romanov. Mikhail himself at that time was nothing of himself. They believed that he was a weak-willed and sickly young man, raised by an oppressive mother in exile in the Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma. But it was not a matter of his personal merits or demerits. He was the son of Filaret Romanov, whose authority could reconcile all “parties”. For the Tushino people, Filaret, the former Tushino patriarch, was one of their own. The noble boyar families also considered him one of their own, because Filaret came from the ancient Moscow boyars and was not an “upstart” like the Godunovs. The patriots of the militias did not forget the heroic behavior of Philaret as the great ambassador to Sigismund. Filaret remained in a Polish prison during the Zemsky Council of 1613. Finally, the clergy saw in Filaret the best candidate for patriarch. All this taken together made Philaret’s son acceptable to everyone.

And the boyars even liked the fact that Mikhail Romanov was inexperienced, young and required guardianship. “Misha de Romanov is young, his mind has not yet reached him, and he will be familiar to us,” they later wrote to Golitsyn in Poland. As a result, in February 1613, the Zemsky Sobor approved Michael as king.

In 1613-1617 The restoration of central and local authorities began, as well as overcoming the internal and external consequences of the Troubles. Bands of “thieves’ Cossacks” still continued to roam the country. Ataman Zarutsky did not accept the accession of Mikhail Romanov. He dreamed of electing a “warren” to the Moscow throne. Zarutsky and his people lived by outright robbery. In 1614, the ataman was captured and impaled. In 1615, another Cossack leader, Ataman Baloven, was defeated. Some of his people, who went over to the side of the Moscow authorities, were registered as servicemen. Internal turmoil was overcome.

The problem of interventionists remained. In 1615, the Swedes besieged Pskov, but failed to take it. In 1617, a Russian-Swedish peace treaty was concluded in Stolbov. Russia regained Novgorod. The Swedish princes renounced their claims to the Moscow crown and recognized Michael as the legitimate Tsar of Russia. However, according to the Stolbovo Treaty, Russia completely lost access to the Baltic Sea. The lands near the Neva and the Gulf of Finland, the Korelskaya volost, the cities of Yam, Oreshek, and Koporye went to Sweden. Despite the severity of the conditions, the Stolbov Peace Treaty was, rather, a success of Russian diplomacy. There was no strength for a war with Sweden, especially in light of the constant threat from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Neither Sigismund III nor his son recognized Michael as Tsar of Moscow. The matured “Tsar of Muscovy” Vladislav was preparing for a campaign. In 1618, the prince moved towards Moscow with Polish-Lithuanian regiments and detachments of Ukrainian Cossacks - Cossacks. Foreigners again stood at the Arbat Gate of the capital. Dmitry Pozharsky and the Cossacks barely managed to drive them away from Moscow. But Vladislav’s strength was also exhausted. Winter was approaching with its severe frosts in Russia. Not far from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in the village of Deuline, a truce was concluded in December 1618. Vladislav left Russia and promised to release Russian prisoners to their homeland. But the prince did not give up his claims to the Russian throne. Chernigov-Severskaya land and Smolensk remained behind the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

After the end of the Time of Troubles, the country was exhausted. It is impossible to count how many people died. The arable lands were overgrown with forest. Many landowner peasants fled or, having gone bankrupt, sat as peasants who did not have their own farm and lived on odd jobs and the mercy of their master. The service man became poor. The empty treasury was unable to seriously help him. The black-growing peasant also became poor; he was robbed during the Time of Troubles by both his own and others. After 1613, he, as well as any tax payer, was under tax pressure. Even the monastic economy, a model of diligence, was in difficulty. Crafts and trade fell into complete decline.

It took more than a dozen years to overcome the consequences of the Troubles.

MININ AND POZHARSKY

(Bushuev S.V. “History of the Russian State”)

“On Red Square, near the Intercession Cathedral, which is on the moat (also called St. Basil’s after one of the chapels), there is a monument. The laconic inscription on it reads: “To Citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky - grateful Russia in the summer of 1818.” Then in early XIX century, our Fatherland experienced a patriotic upsurge after the victory over foreign conquerors, this time French... The sculptor I.P. Martos embodied the idea of ​​N.M. Karamzin in bronze...

We know very little about Kuzma Minin before he began collecting the treasury for civil uprising. He was born on the Volga, in the city of Balakhna, not far from Nizhny Novgorod. Kuzma’s father, Mina, the owner of a salt mine, gave his son his patronymic, which for ordinary people served as a substitute for a surname. Mina handed over his business to his eldest sons, and the younger Kuzma, having not received an inheritance, had to look for food himself. He moved to Nizhny, bought himself a yard and began selling meat. Little by little, things started to improve, and Kuzma married a townswoman, Tatyana Semyonovna. It is unknown how many children he had; only one son, Nefed, survived. Sociability, honesty, and business acumen earned Minin a high reputation among the merchants, who elected him as the village elder. This is almost all that is known about Kuzma Minin before his participation in the second militia.

We know much more about Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky before his nomination to the role of head of the zemshchina. He belonged to a noble but impoverished family of Starodub princes...

The young prince lost his father when he was only 9 years old. Together with his younger brother and older sister, he was raised in the family estate of Mugreevo. Being the eldest son, he inherited all his father's estates when he married the girl Praskovya Varfolomeevna, thereby becoming an adult according to the ideas of that time...

In 1593, 15-year-old Pozharsky was summoned to a noble review and began the sovereign's service, becoming a solicitor. The attorneys lived for the royal services for six months in the capital, and could spend the rest of the time in their villages. Wherever the sovereign goes: to the Duma, to church, to war, he must be accompanied by attorneys. The sons of noble boyars received this rank at the age of 15 and did not wear it for long. Dmitry remained a solicitor well into his 20s. First, he performed his duties at the court of Fyodor Ivanovich, and then, after his death, at Boris Godunov.

Pozharsky's military service, according to R.G. Skrynnikov, began in 1604-1605, during the war with False Dmitry. Pozharsky remained faithful to Godunov until the last. He did not leave the camp of the “Zemstvo” legal sovereign Fyodor Borisovich, even when the triumph of the impostor became obvious to everyone. But after the government army was disbanded and Otrepyev reigned, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich had no choice but to return to court duties. Under False Dmitry 1 he was a steward. His duties included treating foreign ambassadors with food and drinks at ceremonial receptions. He avoided intrigues in the palace and did not participate in the conspiracy against the impostor.

We do not have any facts about Pozharsky’s biography that date back to the time of Shuisky’s accession. Even the name of Dmitry Mikhailovich is missing from the list of stolniks of 1606-1607. R.G. Skrynnikov suggests that, perhaps, Prince Dmitry was at the very end of the list, which has not been preserved.

During the fight against the Tushino thief, in the fall of 1608, Pozharsky with a small detachment of military men was sent to Kolomna. ... The governor captured prisoners and a convoy with treasury and food. Pozharsky's victory had tactical significance. But against the background of continuous defeats of the government troops, it became a pleasant exception to the rule...”

During the Seven Boyars, after the government concluded a treaty on August 17, 1610, Pozharsky at first shared the peaceful illusions of some Russians regarding Polish king and hopes for calming the Time of Troubles under the rule of Vladislav. But it soon became clear that the peace treaty of 1610 was not being implemented by the Poles. Then Pozharsky took an active part in the national liberation movement...

The day has come... Kuzma Minin without hesitation named the name of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. He was recovering from his wounds in the village of Mugreevo, not far from Nizhny. The wound to the head led to the prince falling ill with the “black disease,” as epilepsy was called then. “Many times” the people of Nizhny Novgorod sent ambassadors to him, but he refused to lead the army, citing illness. In fact, apart from fears for one’s own health, etiquette did not allow one to agree on the first date. There were, obviously, fears of disobedience from the posad “world”, which was not accustomed to military discipline. Kuzma Minin personally came to Mugreevo to persuade the prince. They quickly found a common language.

source http://histrf.ru/ru/lenta-vremeni/event/view/osvobozhdieniie-moskvy

The struggle of the Russian people against the Swedish-Polish invaders.

After the assassination of False Dmitry II on December 11, 1610, the turmoil acquired predominantly the character of a national struggle, in which the Russians sought to free themselves from the Polish invaders. External danger brought to the fore national and religious interests, which temporarily united the warring classes. In the winter of 1611, the first people's militia was formed in the Ryazan land, led by Prokopiy Lyapunov. The militia included residents of Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kostroma, Cossacks led by I. Zarutsky. The militia approached Moscow. On March 19, 1611, an uprising of Muscovites broke out in the capital. Street battles broke out, in which the interventionists began to fail. Then they set fire to the city, which burned to the ground. The Polish garrison took refuge behind the walls of the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod.

When the militia approached Moscow, they found only ashes in its place. Tushino nobles led by D.T. joined Lyapunov. Trubetskoy and the Cossacks under the command of Ataman Ivan Zarutsky. The siege of the Polish garrison began. There was a split within the militia. Lyapunov spoke out in favor of the return of the fugitive peasants, which led to discontent among the peasant militias and Cossacks. Lyapunov was killed in the Cossack circle. Soon the first zemstvo militia disintegrated. Only Cossack detachments remained near the capital.

Meanwhile, Sigismund II took bloodless Smolensk. The Swedes began negotiations with the Novgorod boyars about recognizing the son of the King of Sweden, Karl Philip, as the Russian Tsar.

In the autumn of 1611 Russian state stood on the brink of a national catastrophe. The Russian people rose up in armed struggle against the Polish-Swedish intervention.

The banner of the struggle for national liberation was raised in Nizhny Novgorod. Here in October 1611, the zemstvo elder Kozma Minin-Sukhoruk, a small meat and fish merchant, appealed to the townspeople to create a people's militia to liberate Moscow. The patriotic appeal found a warm response among Nizhny Novgorod residents, who decided to give “third money” to the creation of the militia, i.e. a third of personal property.

On Minin’s initiative, the “Council of the Whole Earth” was created, which became a provisional government. Prince D.M. is invited to lead the zemstvo army. Pozharsky, who distinguished himself during the Moscow uprising against the Poles. At the beginning of March 1612, the militia began a campaign against Moscow through Yaroslavl, which became a gathering place for military forces.

At the end of August 1612, the army of Minin and Pozharsky approached the capital and united with the remnants of the first zemstvo militia. On August 22-24, a fierce battle took place under the walls of Moscow with the royal army under the command of Hetman Khotkevich, rushing to the aid of the besieged garrison. The Poles were completely defeated and fled home.

The interventionists entrenched behind the Kremlin wall capitulated on October 26, 1612. The capital of Russia was completely liberated. The complexity of the political situation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the lack of funds to continue military operations forced Sigismund III to temporarily abandon his claims to the Russian throne.

The liberation of Moscow made it possible to restore state power in the country. The Zemsky Sobor of almost 700 representatives from the nobility, boyars, clergy, 50 cities, archers and Cossacks gathered in the capital. The issue of electing a new Russian Tsar was being decided; on February 21, 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov (1613-1645), the son of Metropolitan Philaret, to the throne. Filaret was supported by those who came forward during the oprichnina years: after all, the Romanovs are relatives of the first wife of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

In 1619, Tsar Mikhail's father Filaret (Fyodor Nikitovich Romanov), who at one time had a real claim to the royal throne, returned from Polish captivity. In Moscow, he accepted the patriarchal rank with the title of “great sovereign” and became the de facto ruler of the state until his death in 1633.

In July 1613, the wedding of Mikhail Fedorovich took place in Moscow. During this celebration, according to custom, various favors are announced; Prince Pozharsky, who had previously been a steward, received the rank of boyar, and Kozma Minin was granted a Duma nobleman and awarded an estate.

Mikhail Fedorovich was married twice. In 1624 he married Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva, the daughter of a little-known nobleman. From this marriage six children were born: three daughters - Irina, Anna, Tatyana and three sons - Ivan, Vasily, Alexey. In 1639, Tsarevichs Ivan and Vasily died within three months. On June 12, 1645, the sovereign died.

However, to strengthen centralized power in the state, constant support was required from wide circles of the nobility and the top of the urban settlement. Therefore, the Zemsky Sobor met almost continuously from 1613 to 1619.

“The Great Moscow Devastation” of the early 17th century. devastated Russia. Recovery proceeded with great difficulties economic life both in cities and villages. The internal political situation in the country remained unstable. Smolensk was in the hands of the Poles, Novgorod was in the hands of the Swedes, and detachments of former Tushins were rampaging in many areas.

After an unsuccessful attempt in 1615 to seize Pskov, Sweden entered into peace negotiations with Moscow. On February 27, 1617, a peace treaty was concluded between them in the village of Stolbovo. The Novgorod land was returned to Russia, the Neva with the Izhora land, the city of Korela with the district and the city of Oreshek remained with Sweden. Russia lost its only access to the Baltic Sea.

Polish army Prince Vladislav and the Ukrainian Cossacks under the command of Hetman P. Konashevich-Sagaidachny made a new campaign into the interior of Russia. In October 1618, enemies approached Moscow, the defense of which was led by governor D.M. Pozharsky. Soon the Ukrainian Cossacks, realizing the deception, returned home.

On December 1, 1618, a truce was concluded between Russia and Poland for a period of 14 and a half years in the village of Deulino. The Smolensk and Chernigov-Seversk lands remained behind the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The signing of two unequal treaties ended the Time of Troubles and the Polish-Swedish intervention for Russia. By maintaining national independence, the country ensured its further development and solution of priority domestic and foreign policy problems.