Tsar Vasily Shuisky, board: features, politics and outcomes

Tsar Vasily Shuisky, whose board fell on the heaviest pages of Russian history, was a native of the famous boyar family, which originated from the Rurikovichs. This dynasty was cut short by the death of Fyodor Ioannovich. Shuisky became an elective king during the war with the Poles, which was the reason for his rapid fall.

Boyar origin

Father Vasily, born in 1552, was Prince Ivan Andreevich Shuisky. He died during the Livonian War (in the battle against the Swedes) near the castle of Lode. Vasily also participated in numerous military campaigns in Grozny in the Baltic States, than he earned himself mercy. He was a royal witness at the wedding of Ivan IV with one of his last wives.

In the last years of Grozny's life Shuisky became one of the most influential boyars of the country. He entered the Duma and maintained his high position under the son of Ivan Fedor. In those same years he mastered the art of political intrigue, since in Moscow the struggle of several boyar clans for influence on the new sovereign began.

The False Dmitry case

In 1591, Vasily Shuisky, whose reign was still ahead, was investigating the mysterious death of Dmitry Ioannovich. The little prince lived in Uglich and was to become the heir to the childless elder brother of Fedor. However, he died under strange circumstances. Boris Godunov appointed Shuisky the head of the special commission. Vasily came to the conclusion that Dmitry died because of an accident. Until now, researchers are arguing about whether Boris Godunov was to blame for what happened. In that case, he could force Shuisky to falsify the case.

When Boris himself became king, rumors appeared on the western borders of Russia about the rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry. This legend was invented by a fugitive monk Grigory Otrepiev. The pretender was supported by the Polish king, who gave him money for his own army. False Dmitry invaded the country, and Shuisky was sent as the commander of one of the regiments to meet him.

Together with Fedor Mstislavsky, he directed a 20,000-strong army in the Battle of Dobrynichy on January 21, 1605. In this battle, False Dmitry was defeated and fled back to Poland. However, Shuisky did not pursue him. Perhaps he did it on purpose, not wanting Godunov (his rival) to get off so easily. Very soon, in the same year, Boris suddenly died.

The power passed to his young son Fyodor. Shuisky led a secret conspiracy against the young king, but this became known, and Vasily was deported from Moscow along with his brothers. Meanwhile, False Dmitry came to his senses after the defeat at Dobrynichy and with a new army came to Moscow. The people were dissatisfied with the Godunovs, and Fyodor was betrayed and killed. The rule of the impostor began.

At the head of the uprising against False Dmitry

False Dmitry needed a loyal boyars. Since the supporters of the Godunovs were in disgrace, the new king at the end of 1605 returned from exile their rivals, including the Shuiskys. Vasily did not waste time. He stood at the head of the popular revolt against the impostor.

At his appearance in Moscow, False Dmitry enjoyed insane popularity among ordinary residents of the capital. However, he made many fatal mistakes. The main thing was that he surrounded himself with loyal Poles and even wanted to convert to Catholicism. In addition, his enemies continued to spread rumors in Moscow that the real Tsarevich Dmitry had died many years ago in Uglich.

The uprising took place on May 17, 1606. False Dmitry was killed. He tried to escape from the palace, jumped out of the window, broke his leg and was killed in such a helpless condition.

The question arose of a successor. Since the genus of the Rurikites ceased, and the last Godunov was killed, the boyars began to choose a new emperor from other influential families. Shuisky was popular, he had many supporters. In addition, his distant ancestor was the Vladimir Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of the Rurikovich family. Finally, on May 19, Vasily Shuisky was elected the king. The reign of the sovereign began on June 1, when his coronation took place.

The rebellion of Bolotnikov

However, the triumph of the former boyar was short-lived. During the reign of Vasily Shuisky, wars with numerous internal and external enemies occurred. When False Dmitry appeared in the western regions of the Russian kingdom, the local population ceased to obey the central authorities. A few years before, the country had experienced a terrible famine. Against this background, peasant revolts broke out. The most famous of them is the rebellion of Ivan Bolotnikov.

Another important reason for this speech was the formation and consolidation of serfdom in Russia at the end of the XVI century. Even in the time of Boris Godunov, dissatisfied peasants took up arms under the command of Ataman Khlopka. In addition, in 1606 the peasants from the province were affected by news about the events in Moscow. Many did not believe that Tsar Dmitry was killed. Dissatisfied believed that this time the lawful ruler was saved. Thus, the insurgents wanted to overthrow the elected boyar tsar.

The center of the rebels was in the bordered Putivl. Vasily Shuisky, whose reign had just begun, at first did not pay attention to the discontent of the peasants. And when they went straight to Moscow, under their banners there were already about 30 thousand people. The rebels were defeated by the tsar's squads. In the autumn of 1606, peasants led by Bolotnikov besieged Kolomna. It was not possible to take it, and together this army went to Moscow.

Victory over peasants

The siege of the capital lasted two months. This was a critical moment of the uprising. Part of the army of Bolotnikov consisted of detachments assembled by boyars. They moved to the side of the king, than weakened the besiegers. Bolotnikov retreated to Kaluga, where he was blocked for several months.

In the spring of 1607, he retreated to Tula. In June, the tsarist troops besieged the city. Vasily Shuisky himself led the army. The last stronghold of the rebels was the Tula Kremlin, which was captured on October 10. Bolotnikov was exiled to the North, where he was blinded and drowned in an ice-hole.

The appearance of a new impostor

Even during the Tula siege, the tsar was informed that a new impostor had appeared in Starodub. In historiography, he is known as False Dmitry II. The reign of Vasily Shuisky did not know a single peaceful day.

The pretender managed to capture a number of cities in central Russia. Due to the fact that the tsarist forces lost control over most of the country, the Crimean Tatars invaded for the first time in many years the Oka.

Foreign intervention

Do not sit idly by other enemies of Shuisky. The main enemy was the Polish king Sigismund. He besieged Smolensk. For more than a year the Lithuanian troops have stood under the walls of the famous Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The intervention of foreigners caused the emergence of a national liberation movement. In the province, spontaneous units were formed. They acted in isolation from the tsarist troops.

The reign of Tsar Vasily Shuisky was uneasy. He tried to get support abroad. The Emperor sent an embassy to the Swedish King Charles, who agreed to give him an army and mercenaries in exchange for small territorial concessions. The contract with him was signed in Vyborg.

The combined Russian-Swedish army led by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and Jakob Delagardi knocked out Poles from several northern cities. However, this alliance was short-lived. The reign of Vasily Shuisky was unhappy. Swedes under the pretext that the Russians do not comply with the terms of the treaty, occupied Novgorod.

Meanwhile, the popularity of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky grew in the army. He came to Moscow to liberate the central Russian cities from Poles and Lithuanians. There were several battles that the interventionists lost (under Torzhok and Toropets).

Victory of Skopin-Shuisky

The Poles and Lithuanians supported False Dmitry II, with whom they united. Vasily Shuisky's rule, briefly, continued only in the capital. The combined forces of the interventionists and the impostor were defeated at Kalyazin on August 28, 1609. The Russian army in the battle was led by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, the tsar's nephew. He managed to unlock the besieged Moscow.

The hero-liberator was received in the capital with all honors. Michael was invited to a feast, where he felt bad after he had taken a sip from the goblet. Two weeks later, the national hero passed away. The people spread rumors that Vasily Shuisky was behind poisoning. These conversations did not add to the popularity of the king.

In the meantime, the Polish king Sigismund himself invaded Russia. He defeated the king's brother under Klushin, after which an uprising began in Moscow. Boyars overthrew Vasily and forced him to go to the monastery. The new rulers of the capital swore allegiance to the son of the Polish king Vladislav. The reign of Vasily Shuisky ended in an inglorious coup.

Death and the results of government

When the interventionists entered Moscow, Shuisky was extradited to the invaders. The former king was transported to Poland, where he was imprisoned in Gostynin's castle. This happened on September 12, 1612, when the liberation war against the interventionists was in full swing in Russia. Soon the whole country was cleared of foreign invaders, and the king became Mikhail Romanov.

The results of Vasily Shuisky's rule are disappointing. With him, the country finally plunged into chaos and was divided between the interventionists.