The Time of Troubles (Russian: Смутное время, Smutnoye Vremya) was a
period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between
the death of the last Russian Tsar Feodor Ivanovich of the Rurik Dynasty
in 1598 and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In
1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third of the
population, about two million. At the time, Russia was occupied by the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Dymytriads, and suffered from
civil uprisings, usurpers and impostors.
Causes
After
Feodor's death, his brother-in-law and closest adviser, boyar Boris
Godunov, who had already acted as regent for the mentally-challenged
Feodor, was elected his successor by a Great National Assembly (Zemsky
Sobor). Godunov's short reign (1598–1605) was not as successful as his
administration under the weak Feodor.
Extremely poor harvests were encountered in 1601–1603, with nighttime temperatures in all summer months often below freezing, wrecking crops; see Russian famine of 1601–1603. Widespread hunger led to mass starvation; the government distributed money and foodstuffs for poor people in Moscow, but that only led to refugees' flocking to the capital and increasing the economic disorganization. The oligarchical faction, headed by the Romanovs, considered it a disgrace to obey a boyar; conspiracies were frequent; the rural districts were desolated by famine and plague; large bands of armed brigands roamed the country committing all manner of atrocities; the Don Cossacks on the frontier were restless; and the government demonstrated it could not keep order.
Under the influence of the great nobles who had unsuccessfully opposed the election of Godunov, the general discontent was expressed as hostility to him as an usurper. Rumours circulated that the late tsar's younger brother Dmitri, supposed to be dead, was still alive and in hiding.
Extremely poor harvests were encountered in 1601–1603, with nighttime temperatures in all summer months often below freezing, wrecking crops; see Russian famine of 1601–1603. Widespread hunger led to mass starvation; the government distributed money and foodstuffs for poor people in Moscow, but that only led to refugees' flocking to the capital and increasing the economic disorganization. The oligarchical faction, headed by the Romanovs, considered it a disgrace to obey a boyar; conspiracies were frequent; the rural districts were desolated by famine and plague; large bands of armed brigands roamed the country committing all manner of atrocities; the Don Cossacks on the frontier were restless; and the government demonstrated it could not keep order.
Under the influence of the great nobles who had unsuccessfully opposed the election of Godunov, the general discontent was expressed as hostility to him as an usurper. Rumours circulated that the late tsar's younger brother Dmitri, supposed to be dead, was still alive and in hiding.
False Dmitri
In
1603 a man calling himself Dmitri — first of the so-called False
Dmitris — and professing to be the rightful heir to the throne, appeared
in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Dmitri had been stabbed to death
before his brother Feodor's death, allegedly by Godunov's order; but
the mysterious individual who was impersonating him was regarded as the
rightful heir by many of the population. He attracted support both in
Russia and outside its borders, particularly in the Polish Commonwealth
and the Papal States. Factions in the Polish Commonwealth saw him as a
tool to extend their influence over Russia, or at least gain wealth in
return for their support; the Papacy saw it as an opportunity to
increase the hold of Roman Catholicism over the Eastern Orthodox
Russians.
A few months later in 1603, Polish
forces crossed the frontier with a small force of 4,000 Poles,
Lithuanians, Russian exiles, German mercenaries and Cossacks from the
Dnieper and the Don, in what marked the beginning of the Polish
Commonwealth's intervention in Russia, or the Dymitriad wars. Although
the Polish Commonwealth had not officially declared war on Russia (as
its king, Sigismund III Vasa, was opposed to the intervention), some
powerful magnates decided to support False Dmitri with their own forces
and money, in the expectation of rich rewards afterward. False Dmitri
was married per procura to Marina Mniszech, and immediately after
Boris's death in 1605, he made his triumphal entry into Moscow.
Shuisky's reign
The
reign of False Dimitri was short. Before a year had passed, Vasily
Shuisky, an ambitious Rurikid prince (knyaz), formed a conspiracy gainst
him. His forces murdered False Dimitri soon after his marriage in the
Moscow Kremlin, together with many of his supporters, who were brutally
massacred. Shuisky and his men were estimated to have killed 2,000
Poles. The reaction to the massacre in Poland was strong, but the
government decided to postpone revenge against those responsible.
Shuisky seized power and was elected tsar by an assembly composed of his faction, but the change did not satisfy the Russian boyars, Commonwealth magnates, Cossacks, or the German mercenaries, and soon a new impostor, likewise calling himself Dmitri, son and heir of Ivan the Terrible, came forward as the rightful heir. Like his predecessor, he enjoyed the protection and support of the Polish–Lithuanian magnates. After Shuisky signed an alliance with Sweden, the king of the Commonwealth, Sigismund III, seeing the Russian–Swedish alliance as a threat, resolved to intervene and began the Polish-Muscovite War (1605–1618).
Shuisky seized power and was elected tsar by an assembly composed of his faction, but the change did not satisfy the Russian boyars, Commonwealth magnates, Cossacks, or the German mercenaries, and soon a new impostor, likewise calling himself Dmitri, son and heir of Ivan the Terrible, came forward as the rightful heir. Like his predecessor, he enjoyed the protection and support of the Polish–Lithuanian magnates. After Shuisky signed an alliance with Sweden, the king of the Commonwealth, Sigismund III, seeing the Russian–Swedish alliance as a threat, resolved to intervene and began the Polish-Muscovite War (1605–1618).
Second occupation
Polish–Lithuanian
troops crossed the Russian borders and laid siege to the fortress of
Smolensk. After the combined Russo–Swedish forces were destroyed at the
Battle of Klushino, Shuisky was forced to abdicate. Before False Dmitrii
II could gain the throne, the Polish commander, voivod, and magnate
Stanisław Żółkiewski, put forward a rival candidate: Sigismund's son,
Władysław. Some people in Moscow swore allegiance to him on condition of
his maintaining Orthodoxy and ing certain privileges to them. On this
understanding, they allowed Polish troops to enter the city and occupy
the Kremlin.
The Polish king opposed the compromise, deciding to take the throne for himself and to convert Russia to Roman Catholicism. The contending factions were opposed and his plan aroused the anti-Catholic and anti-Polish feelings in Russia. The Swedes disapproved as they were rivals of the Poles on the Baltic coast. They declared war on Russia, supporting a false Dmitri of their choice in Ivangorod.
Russia was in a critical condition. The throne was vacant; the great nobles (boyars) quarrelled among themselves; Orthodox Patriarch Hermogenes was imprisoned; Catholic Poles occupied the Moscow Kremlin and Smolensk; the Protestant Swedes occupied Novgorod; continuing Tatar raids left the south borderlands of Russia completely depopulated and devastated; and enormous bands of brigands swarmed everywhere. Tens of thousands died in battles and riots; on March 17–19, 1611, the Poles and German mercenaries suppressed riots in Moscow; they massacred 7,000 Muscovites and set the city on fire. Many other cities were also devastated or weakened. For example, on September 22, 1612, the Poles and Lithuanians exterminated the population and clergy of Vologda.
The Polish king opposed the compromise, deciding to take the throne for himself and to convert Russia to Roman Catholicism. The contending factions were opposed and his plan aroused the anti-Catholic and anti-Polish feelings in Russia. The Swedes disapproved as they were rivals of the Poles on the Baltic coast. They declared war on Russia, supporting a false Dmitri of their choice in Ivangorod.
Russia was in a critical condition. The throne was vacant; the great nobles (boyars) quarrelled among themselves; Orthodox Patriarch Hermogenes was imprisoned; Catholic Poles occupied the Moscow Kremlin and Smolensk; the Protestant Swedes occupied Novgorod; continuing Tatar raids left the south borderlands of Russia completely depopulated and devastated; and enormous bands of brigands swarmed everywhere. Tens of thousands died in battles and riots; on March 17–19, 1611, the Poles and German mercenaries suppressed riots in Moscow; they massacred 7,000 Muscovites and set the city on fire. Many other cities were also devastated or weakened. For example, on September 22, 1612, the Poles and Lithuanians exterminated the population and clergy of Vologda.
Struggle for independence
The
nation rose together under the leadership of Kuzma Minin, a Nizhny
Novgorod merchant, and Prince Pozharsky. After the battle for Moscow on
October 22 Old Style (November 1 New Style), the invaders retreated to
the Kremlin, and on October 24–27 O.S. (November 3–6 N.S.) the nearby
Polish army was forced to retreat. The garrison in the Kremlin
surrendered to the triumphant Pozharsky. Annually on November 4, Russia
officially celebrates the anniversary of this event as a Day of National
Unity.
A Grand National Assembly elected as tsar Michael Romanov, the young son of the metropolitan Philaret. He was connected by marriage with the late dynasty and, according to the legend, had been saved from the enemies by a heroic peasant, Ivan Susanin. After taking power, the new Tsar ordered the 3-year-old son of the False Dymitri II to be hanged, and had Dimitri's wife Maryna strangled.
The Ingrian Wars against Sweden lasted until the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617. Russia's Dymitriad wars against the Commonwealth would last until the Peace of Deulino in 1619. While gaining peace through the treaties, both nations forced Russia to make some territorial concessions, though they regained the majority of them over the coming centuries. Most importantly, the crisis was instrumental in unifying all classes of the Russian society around the Romanov tsars and laid foundations for the powerful Russian Empire.
A Grand National Assembly elected as tsar Michael Romanov, the young son of the metropolitan Philaret. He was connected by marriage with the late dynasty and, according to the legend, had been saved from the enemies by a heroic peasant, Ivan Susanin. After taking power, the new Tsar ordered the 3-year-old son of the False Dymitri II to be hanged, and had Dimitri's wife Maryna strangled.
The Ingrian Wars against Sweden lasted until the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617. Russia's Dymitriad wars against the Commonwealth would last until the Peace of Deulino in 1619. While gaining peace through the treaties, both nations forced Russia to make some territorial concessions, though they regained the majority of them over the coming centuries. Most importantly, the crisis was instrumental in unifying all classes of the Russian society around the Romanov tsars and laid foundations for the powerful Russian Empire.
In popular culture
Ivan Susanin, an opera by Mikhail Glinka
Boris Godunov, a play by Alexander Pushkin
Boris Godunov, an opera based on Pushkin's play, composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Monument to Minin and Pozharsky, on the Moscow Red Square
Minin and Pozharsky, a film by Vsevolod Pudovkin
1612, a 2007 historical fantasy film
Russian and Polish artists have painted numerous works based on these events.
