1st and 2nd militias in times of troubles. Time of Troubles

Time of Troubles early XVII century became a serious test of strength for the Moscow state: the Polish-Swedish intervention was aimed at its division, and in order to prevent this, the people organized themselves into the first militia in 1611. However, serious contradictions soon emerged between its leaders, which led to the collapse of the first national formation in Russian history.

Time of Troubles

In 1598, with the death of Fyodor Ivanovich, the Rurik dynasty that had ruled the Russian lands since time immemorial came to an end. As a result of lengthy intrigues, Boris Godunov (1598-1605), the brother-in-law of the late tsar, became the new tsar. He came from a family of noble boyars, but despite this, he managed to rise to the pinnacle of power and had every opportunity to become the founder of a new dynasty. Prevented this dark story from the past: in 1591, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitry, died in Uglich under mysterious circumstances. Rumors immediately spread that Godunov was involved in this. The death of Dmitry allowed the phenomenon of imposture to develop, which largely provoked the Troubles in the Russian state.

False Dmitry

The first impostor was the fugitive monk of the Chudov Monastery, Grigory Otrepiev. In 1605, Godunov died suddenly, and with the support of Polish troops, Otrepiev managed to take the throne. But his defiant behavior turned all layers of society against the new king, and as a result of a conspiracy he was killed. Boyar Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610), a representative of a side branch of the Rurikovichs, became the new king. He was not popular, did not have significant forces, and during his reign Russia was gradually engulfed in civil war. The strongest blow to his power was dealt by the appearance of a new Tsarevich Dmitry, who miraculously escaped, and occupied the village of Tushino near Moscow. Realizing that anarchy in the Muscovite kingdom was becoming widespread, Poland and Sweden considered the moment opportune for an open invasion, supposedly with the aim of supporting the legitimate tsar.

Intervention

Open interference of these two countries in Russian affairs began after the deposition of Shuisky. Former king, despite resistance, was tonsured a monk. The boyars swore allegiance to the Polish, but set the condition for his conversion to Orthodoxy. During the interregnum, a committee of seven representatives of the most noble families was elected, which went down in history as the Seven Boyars. Sigismund delayed negotiations on the Orthodox baptism of his son in every possible way and, perhaps, planned to become the Tsar of Moscow himself. The formal recognition of Vladislav's power allowed the Poles to rule in Moscow. They no longer needed False Dmitry II. In December 1610 he was killed.

The first zemstvo militia would not have been possible if not for the activity of the highest hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Seeing the chaos that had engulfed the Muscovite kingdom, and also understanding the aspirations of the Poles to turn Russia into one of the provinces of their state, he began to disseminate appeals, the essence of which boiled down to the need to repel the invaders. The Patriarch spoke about this in sermons and during services. Gradually, the idea of a militia took root in the minds of both representatives of the upper stratum of society and the lower classes.

The Poles created all sorts of obstacles to the patriarch's activities. He was forcibly removed from the throne and imprisoned in the Chudov Monastery, where he died of hunger in 1612.

Organization of the people's militia

The patriarchal letters made the greatest impression in Ryazan. Local governor Prokopiy Lyapunov announced a fundraiser to organize a militia. Soon he was joined by former supporters of False Dmitry II, led by Prince Trubetskoy and Cossack ataman Zarutsky. The official goal of the first militia of 1611 was a march on Moscow and its liberation from the Poles.

In a fairly short time, Lyapunov managed to gather a significant army. In addition to purely Ryazan formations and Tushino detachments, regiments from Vladimir, Murom, Yaroslavl, Suzdal and other cities joined the militia. The support of Nizhny Novgorod residents was especially significant. The importance of this city and its arsenal were so great that Lyapunov sent his representatives there to ask for support. It was then that the dates for the march on Moscow were agreed upon.

Start of hostilities

As already mentioned, the Poles mainly counted on the growing unrest in the Russian state. The emergence of a national formation imbued with a patriotic spirit was not part of their plans. That is why the interventionists tried to destroy this idea in the bud by invading Ryazan lands. Lyapunov was besieged in Pronsk, but the regiments of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky managed to free the Ryazan governor.

On February 17, 1611, the main part of the Nizhny Novgorod regiments advanced to Moscow, simultaneously connecting with other formations. March 19 The first militia was already at the walls of Moscow. Having learned about this, the residents of the capital rebelled against the power of the Poles. This did not allow the interventionists to immediately engage in battle with the militia, and some of their regiments were able to penetrate into Moscow. Prince Pozharsky was able to break through to Sretenka and drive the Poles to Kitay-Gorod. During this operation he was seriously injured. The actions of other units were no less successful. Realizing that it would not be possible to cope with the militias by force, the Poles set Moscow on fire.

Arrival of new troops and discord

On March 24, Cossack detachments led by Ataman Prosovetsky approached the walls of Moscow. They had at their disposal siege weapons and “walk-towns” - small mobile fortresses, usually made from ordinary carts. Three days later, the main forces of the militia, led by Lyapunov, appeared at the walls of the capital. By the beginning of April, there were a little more than a hundred thousand people near Moscow.

First civil uprising 1611 failed to become a unified organization. The leaders of individual detachments, Cossack atamans, and governors could not agree among themselves. Formally, a collegial governing body was created - the Council of the Whole Land. In fact, this similarity to the familiar Boyar Duma led endless debates about who would lead the first militia. In 1611, full awareness of the need for a joint action against the invaders had not yet occurred.

Organizational design of the militia

Local disputes and the struggle for power led to the fact that such significant forces gathered near Moscow were virtually inactive. At the beginning of April, shelling of the capital's towers was still underway, but they soon stopped.

The militia leaders managed to reach a shaky agreement. The council of the entire land was headed by Lyapunov, Zarutsky and Trubetskoy. After some time, the “Verdict” was adopted, according to which a control system was established both in the militia and in the lands under its control. This document repeated the structure of government institutions that existed even before the dynastic crisis and related events. In particular, the entire land controlled by the Council was introduced. Among the most important are Razryadny, Zemsky and Local.

Collapse of the First Militia

Separation supreme authority between the three leaders of the popular formation was a compromise step. Since the powers of one were limited by the powers of the other two leaders of the Council of the Whole Land, a struggle for sole power was inevitable between them. Thus, the leaders of the first militia of 1611 quickly forgot about the reasons for its formation.

The Polish interventionists understood this very well. Making sure that it is in force internal contradictions The militia is not able to launch an assault on Moscow; the invaders tried with all their might to prevent the end of the internal struggle in it. For this purpose, falsified documents were sent to Zarutsky’s Cossacks, from which it followed that Lyapunov intended to disband their regiments. Believing the insinuations, the Cossacks summoned Lyapunov to their gathering and hacked him to death. The consequence of this was the withdrawal of the noble regiments from near Moscow.

From this moment on, the first militia actually ceases to exist. At the walls of the capital, only Cossack detachments remained, commanded by Zarutsky and Trubetskoy. This situation continued until the arrival of the forces of the second militia, assembled by Prince Pozharsky and the Nizhny Novgorod merchant

The Council of the Whole Land formally continued to be the highest authority in the territories not subject to the Poles. However, the absence of a single leader led to the emergence of a new impostor. On March 2, the Council swore allegiance to False Dmitry III. Subsequently, this made it possible not to listen to his opinion for years.

The meaning of the militia

Despite the lack of practical benefit, the activities of the First Home Guard meant a lot for the further fight against the Poles and Swedes. For the first time, the ability of the people to self-organize in a critical situation was demonstrated. The very idea of a people's militia was picked up and developed by one of its most prominent participants - Prince Pozharsky. When creating a new popular formation, he took into account the mistakes of the past. In particular, the new association did not consider it necessary to cooperate with people from Tushino, whose participation, by and large, led the First Militia to collapse. On the other hand, the existence of such powerful opposition in the country to plans Polish gentry forced the Polish king to think seriously about further prospects for intervention. Thus, psychological effect is the main result of the first militia of 1611.

He was overthrown from the Russian throne in 1610. He was sent to a monastery, and they did it by force. After this, the period of Boyar rule begins - the so-called Seven Boyars. The end includes, in addition to boyar rule, an invitation to the throne of the Polish prince Vladislav, foreign intervention in the territory of Rus', the creation of a people's militia and the accession of a new dynasty.

In some historiography, the end of the Troubles is not associated with 1613, when he was elected to the throne. Many historians extend the Time of Troubles until 1617-1618, when truces were concluded with Poland and Sweden. Namely Deulinskoe with Poland and the Stolbovsky peace with the Swedes.

Period of Troubles

After the overthrow of Shuisky's rule, the boyars took power into their own hands. Several notables took part in the management boyar families, led by Mstislavsky. If we evaluate the activities of the Seven Boyars, then its policy looked treacherous in relation to its country. The boyars openly decided to surrender the state to the Poles. In surrendering the country, the Seven Boyars proceeded from class preferences. At the same time, the army of False Dmitry II was heading towards Moscow, and these were the “lower classes” of society. And the Poles, although they were Catholics and did not belong to the Russian nation, were still closer in class terms.

On August 17, 1610, an agreement was signed between the two states on the territory of the Polish army. The agreement implied - to call the son of the Polish king Vladislav to the Russian throne. But in this agreement there were several points that significantly limited the power of the prince, namely:

The prince converts to Orthodoxy;
No contact with the Pope about Vladislav's faith is prohibited;
Execute Russians who deviate from the Orthodox faith;
The prince marries a Russian Orthodox girl;
Russian prisoners must be released.

The terms of the agreement were accepted. Already on August 27, the capital of the Russian state swears allegiance to the prince. The Poles entered Moscow. Those close to False Dmitry II learned about this. A conspiracy was organized against him, he was killed.

During the oath of Moscow to the prince, Polish king SigismundIII and his army stood at Smolensk. After the oath of office, the Russian embassy was sent there, its head was Filaret Romanov. The purpose of the embassy is to bring Vladislav to the capital. But then it turned out that SigismundIII himself wanted to take the Russian throne. He did not inform the ambassadors about his plans, he simply began to stall for time. And at this time, the boyars opened the doors of Moscow for the Poles who were near the city.

Events at the end of the Time of Troubles

The events of the end began to develop rapidly. A new government arose in Moscow. He was assigned the role of managing the state until Vladislav arrived in the city. It was headed by the following people:

Boyarin M. Saltykov;
Merchant F. Andronov.

Particular attention should be paid to Andronov. For the first time in state apparatus a city man appeared in this case merchant. From this we can conclude that the wealthy part of Moscow’s citizens were in favor of Vladislav’s rule and actively promoted his candidacy. At the same time, realizing that Sigismund was in no hurry to send Vladislav to the throne, the ambassadors began to put pressure on Sigismund. This led to their arrest and they were then sent to Poland.

In 1610, the Time of Troubles entered the phase liberation struggle. Everything has become easier. Now it was not Russian forces that were confronting each other, but an open confrontation between Poles and Russians. This also included the religious segment - the struggle between Catholics and Orthodox. The main force in this struggle among the Russians was the zemstvo militias. They arose in counties, volosts and cities, gradually the militias grew stronger and were subsequently able to provide fierce resistance to the interventionists.

Patriarch Hermogenes took a very tough position towards the Poles. He was categorically against their stay in the capital, and was also against the Polish prince on the Russian throne. He was an ardent fighter against intervention. Hermogenes would play an important role in the liberation struggle, which would begin in 1611. The presence of the Poles in Moscow gave impetus to the beginning of the national liberation movement.

The first militia of the Time of Troubles

It is worth noting that those territories where militias arose were long accustomed to self-management their territories. In addition, in these territories there was not such a large social stratification, there was no clear division between rich and poor. We can say that this movement was patriotic. But not everything is so perfect. The merchants who lived there did not want the Poles to rule the state at all. This state of affairs had a negative impact on trade.

In 1610-1611 The first zemstvo militia arose during the Time of Troubles. This militia had several leaders:

Lyapunov brothers - Prokipiy and Zakhar;
Ivan Zarutsky - formerly in the camp of False Dmitry II, favorite of Marina Mnishek (wife);
Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy.

The leaders had an adventurous character. It is worth noting that the time was adventurous in itself. In March 1611, the militia decided to take Moscow by storm. It was not possible to do this, but the city was placed under blockade.

Within the militia, a conflict arose between representatives of the Cossacks and the nobility. The Poles took advantage of this conflict. They sent a letter stating that Prokopiy Lyapunov was supposed to enter into an agreement with them. Lyapunov could not justify himself, and was killed. The militia eventually disintegrated.

The end and consequences of the Time of Troubles

Some territories swore allegiance to little Ivan Dmitrievich - the son of False Dmitry II and Marina Mnishek. But there is a version that the boy’s father was Ivan Zarutsky. Ivan had the nickname “raven”, as he was the son of the Tushinsky thief. At the same time, a new militia begins to take shape. It was headed by Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky.

Initially, Minin raised funds and equipped the infantry. And Prince Pozharsky led the army. Dmitry Pozharsky was a descendant of Vsevolod the Big Nest. It can be judged that Dmitry had very extensive rights to take the Russian throne. In addition, it is worth saying that this militia marched on Moscow under the coat of arms of the Pozharsky family. The movement of the new militia swept the Volga region, the army arrived in the city of Yaroslavl. Alternative government bodies were created there.

In August 1612, a militia army was near Moscow. Pozharsky managed to persuade the Cossacks to help the militia. The combined army struck the Poles, then the militia entered the city. It took a long time to take the Kremlin. Only on October 26 (November 4) he was surrendered by the Poles, and their lives were guaranteed. The prisoners were divided between the Cossacks and the militia. The militia kept their word, but the Cossacks did not. The captured Poles were killed by the Cossacks.

In February 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected a 16-year-old boy to reign. This is the story of the end of the troubled period.

End of the Time of Troubles video

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on the topic: “The first and second zemstvo militia”

Plan

Introduction

1. Time of Troubles. Polish-Swedish intervention against Russia

2. The first zemstvo militia

3. Second zemstvo militia. The role of Minin and Pozharsky

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

At the turn of the XVI - XVII centuries. The Moscow state was going through a difficult and complex moral, political and social economic crisis, which was especially evident in the position of the central regions of the state. Formally, the cause of the Troubles was the dynastic crisis and the question of succession to the throne in connection with the suppression of the dynasty of the descendants of Ivan Kalita. The real reason was the most acute internal socio-economic crisis, when absolutely all social strata of that time were dissatisfied with their situation. The new Russian Tsar Boris Godunov (1598 - 1605), elected to the kingdom by the Zemsky Sobor, failed to ensure stabilization. As a result, the country entered a period of general civil strife, political and social strife.

During the Time of Troubles, Russia experienced a fierce struggle for the Moscow throne of numerous legal and illegal claimants (over 15 years there were more than 10 of them. through the erection and dethronement of kings, “imposture” peasant-Cossack uprisings, the Polish-Swedish, Polish occupation of Moscow.

The threat of loss of independence, the threat to the Orthodox faith accelerated national consolidation and caused the formation of national militias to fight foreign troops. With the help of the second national militia, a decisive role in the creation of which was played by the merchant Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, Moscow was liberated from the invaders in October 1612.

The purpose of this work is to consider the role of the first and second people's militia in Russian history.

1. Time of Troubles. Polish-Swedish intervention against Russia

The turn of the 16th - 17th centuries, called the Time of Troubles, was difficult and alarming for Russia. The circumstances of social and political reality have revealed a number of serious political problems that require urgent resolution.

The first two years of Boris's reign were calm and prosperous. However, as a result of extremely inconsistent reforms, the territory of central Russia was depopulated. There was a self-seizure of forest lands in areas remote from the center and their reduction for plowing, simultaneously with the abandonment and overgrowth of lands in the troubled central regions. Perhaps major changes in the structure of land were one of the main reasons for the famine of the early 17th century, the first peasant uprising in Russia in 1606 (under the leadership of Ivan Bolotnikov... In 1601 - 1602, two crop failures occurred in a row, which gave rise to a terrible famine and carried away many lives (about 127,000 people died in Moscow alone.. Government measures to combat hunger - distributing bread and money to the hungry - were not successful. Usury and grain speculation flourished, large landowners (boyars, monasteries. did not want to give up their grain reserves.

Many of the rich people at this time set their servants free so as not to feed them, and this increases the crowds of the homeless and hungry. Gangs of robbers were formed from those released or fugitives. The main focus of unrest and unrest was the western outskirts of the state - Severskaya Ukraine, where the government exiled from the center criminal or unreliable elements who were full of discontent and bitterness and were only waiting for an opportunity to rise up against the Moscow government.

To ease social tension, a temporary limited transfer of peasants from one landowner to another was allowed. However, mass escapes of peasants and slaves and refusals to pay duties continued. Especially many people went to the Don and Volga, where the free Cossacks lived. The difficult economic situation within the country led to a decline in the authority of the Godunov government.

In 1603, a wave of numerous uprisings of the starving common people grew, especially in the south of the country. A large detachment of rebels under the command of Cotton Crookedfoot operated near Moscow itself. Government troops had difficulty suppressing such “riots.”

At this time, in Poland, a young man spoke out against Tsar Boris, who called himself Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible, and declared his intention to go to Moscow, to gain the ancestral throne for himself. The Moscow government claimed that he was the Galich boyar son Grigory Otrepyev, who became a monk and was a deacon at the Chudov Monastery in Moscow, but then fled to Lithuania, so he was later called Rasstriga.

Patriarch Job (a big supporter of Godunov.), having heard about the impostor, realized that it was none other than Grigory Otrepiev. Job addressed the Rada of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Hetman of the Polish Army Konstantin Ostorozhsky with revealing letters. However, it was not possible to convince the Poles of the deception.

Some Polish gentlemen agreed to help the impostor, and in October 1604 False Dmitry entered the Moscow redistribution; issued an appeal to the people that God had saved him, the prince, from the villainous intentions of Boris Godunov, and he called on the population to accept him as the legitimate heir to the Russian throne. The struggle between the unknown young adventurer and the powerful king began, and in this struggle Rasstriga turned out to be the winner. The population of Northern Ukraine went over to the side of the pretender to the Moscow throne, and the cities opened their gates to him.

On the one hand, the Dnieper Cossacks came to the aid of the applicant along with the Poles, and on the other, the Don Cossacks came, dissatisfied with Tsar Boris, who tried to restrict their freedom and subordinate them to the power of the Moscow governors. Tsar Boris sent against the rebels large army, but there was “shakyness” and “bewilderment” in his army - were they not going against the legitimate tsar? In April 1605, Tsar Boris died, and then his army went over to the side of the pretender, and then Moscow (in June 1605, triumphantly received its rightful “natural” sovereign, Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich (Fyodor Borisovich Godunov and his mother were killed before the arrival of False Dmitry in Moscow.. Then an angry crowd, bursting into the Assumption Cathedral, attacked Job, tore off his patriarchal vestments and dragged him to Execution Place. Humiliated and beaten, he was sent to the Staritsky Monastery under strict supervision.

The new king turned out to be an active and energetic ruler, confidently sitting on his ancestral throne. He took the title of emperor and tried to create great union European powers to fight against Turkey. But he soon began to arouse the discontent of his Moscow subjects, firstly, because he did not observe the old Russian customs of rituals, and secondly, because the Poles who came with him behaved arrogantly and arrogantly in Moscow, offended and insulted Muscovites.

Discontent especially grew when, at the beginning of May 1606, his bride, Marina Mnishek, came to the tsar, and he married her and crowned her as queen, although she refused to convert to Orthodoxy. Now the boyars, led by Prince Vasily Shuisky, decided that the time had come to act. Shuisky began agitation against False Dmitry immediately after his accession; he was tried by a council of all ranks of people and sentenced to death penalty, but the king pardoned him.

On the night of May 17, 1606, having raised the alarm bells ringing the Moscow people against the Poles, the boyars themselves, with a handful of conspirators, broke into the Kremlin and killed the Tsar. At this time, Muscovites were busy beating Poles and looting their houses. The corpse of False Dmitry was burned after the desecration. The leader of the boyar conspiracy, Prince Vasily Shuisky, “was, not to say, elected, but shouted out by the tsar.” The new tsar sent letters throughout the state, in which he denounced the impostor and heretic Rasstriga, who had deceived the Russian people. Upon his accession, Shuisky accepted a formal obligation not to execute anyone or punish anyone with confiscation of property and not to listen to false denunciations, but this oath turned out to be false. Shuisky three times publicly and solemnly swore a false oath: first, he swore that Tsarevich Dmitry accidentally stabbed himself, then that the Tsarevich was alive and well, going to occupy the royal throne, and finally, that Dmitry accepted martyrdom from his crafty slave Boris Godunov.

It is no wonder that Shuisky’s accession served as a signal for general unrest and the struggle of all against all. Uprisings broke out everywhere against the boyar tsar. “Since the autumn of 1606, a bloody unrest began in the state, in which all classes of Moscow society took part, rebelling against one another.” The cities of Seversk Ukraine rose under the command of the Putivl governor, Prince Shakhovsky (whom contemporaries later called “the breeder of all blood.”), and then a new popular leader of the uprising, a former serf, Ivan Bolotnikov, appeared. In his appeals he addressed the lower classes of the people, calling on them to exterminate the nobles and the rich and take their property; runaway slaves, peasants and Cossacks began to flock to his banner in large numbers, partly to take revenge on their oppressors, partly “for the sake of obtaining quick and easy wealth,” as a contemporary put it. Ryazan regions Service people, nobles and children, boyars under the command of Pashkov, Sumbulov and Lyapunov rose up against Shuisky. In the Volga region, the Mordovians and other recently conquered peoples rose up in order to free themselves from Russian rule.

Contemporaries accurately and correctly write: “thieves from all ranks,” i.e. from all estates and classes of society. The Tushino camp of the second False Dmitry is considered a typical “thieves’” camp, and meanwhile “the Thief had representatives of very high strata of the Moscow nobility.” “Thieves’ people” - this was by no means an economic, but a moral and psychological category - people without any moral and religious foundations and legal principles, and there were many of them in all classes of society, but they still constituted a minority of the population. And who were those “zemstvo people” who rose up against domestic “thieves” and foreign enemies and restored what was destroyed by the “thieves” and external enemies nation state? These were Trinity monks, townspeople and villagers, trade and arable men of the central and northern regions, average service people and a significant part of the Don Cossacks - a very motley union in class terms.

So, there is no doubt that in the middle of the Time of Troubles (starting from 1606), we observe elements of the “class struggle”, or the uprising of the poor against the rich, but to a greater extent it was a general civil strife, which one of the Yaroslavl charters of the second zemstvo militia characterizes it in the following words: “having gathered, thieves from all ranks committed internecine bloodshed in the Moscow state, and son rose up against father, and father against son, and brother against brother, and every neighbor drew his sword, and much Christian bloodshed was committed.” intervention turmoil zemstvo militia pozharsky

The intervention of the Polish-Lithuanian state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the affairs of Russia began with the appearance of Grigory Otrepyev. After his overthrow, detachments of Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainian Cossacks began to support False Dmitry II. The Polish king was interested in having an obedient king in Russia; the Jesuits and Catholics did not abandon the idea of extending Catholicism to it. The most famous leaders of the Polish-Lithuanian Cossacks were Lisovsky and Sapega.

False Dmitry II was, of course, already a conscious and obvious deceiver, but few people were interested in checking his identity and his legal rights; he was only a banner under which everyone who was dissatisfied with the Moscow government and their position and everyone who sought to build their career or acquire “easy wealth” hastened to gather again. Under the banners of the impostor, gathered not only representatives of the oppressed lower classes, but also part of the service people, Cossacks and, finally, large detachments of Polish and Lithuanian adventurers, who sought at the expense of the unreasonable “Russians” rushing about in civil strife. Marina Mnishek, who was the Queen of Moscow for 8 days and escaped during the coup on May 17, agreed to become the wife of the new False Dmitry.

Having gathered a large and rather motley army, False Dmitry approached Moscow and encamped in the village of Tushino near Moscow (hence his nickname: “Tushino thief.”. It had its own boyars and governors, its own orders and even its own patriarch; he became such (as contemporaries say - under duress. Metropolitan of Rostov Philaret - former boyar Fyodor Nikitovich Romanov. Tushino camp Many boyar princes came from Moscow, although they knew, of course, that they were going to serve an obvious deceiver and impostor.

One of the bright pages of this time was the famous successful defense of Trinity-Sergius, besieged by Poles, Lithuanians and Russian thieves from September 1608 to January 1610.

Not being able to defeat the Tushins, Tsar Vasily was forced to turn to the Swedes for help, who agreed to send him an auxiliary detachment of troops. At this time, the young talented nephew of Tsar Vasily, Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, became the head of the Moscow troops. With the help of the Swedes and the militias of the northern cities, which rose up against the power of the Tushino government, Skopin-Shuisky cleared the north of Russia from the Tushino people and moved towards Moscow.

However, the intervention of the Swedes in Russian affairs caused the intervention of the Polish king Sigismund, who blamed Shuisky for the alliance with Sweden and decided to use the Moscow Troubles in the interests of Poland. In September 1609 he moved from large army and besieged the strong Russian fortress of Smolensk. In his addresses to the Russian population, the king proclaimed that he had come not to shed Russian blood, but to stop the unrest, civil strife and bloodshed in the unfortunate Moscow state. But the Smolensk people, led by their governor Shein, did not believe the king’s words and for 21 months offered stubborn heroic resistance to the king.

The approach of Skopin Shuisky and quarrels with the Poles forced the Tushinsky thief in the fall of 1609 to leave Tushin and flee to Kaluga. Then the Russians of Tushino, left without their king, sent ambassadors to Smolensk to the Polish king Sigismund and concluded an agreement with him in February 1610 to accept his son, Prince Vladislav, into the kingdom.

In March 1610, the Tushino camp was abandoned by all its inhabitants, who dispersed in different directions, and Skopin-Shuisky solemnly entered liberated Moscow. Moscow joyfully welcomed the young governor and expected from him new exploits and successes in the fight against enemies, but in April Skopin suddenly fell ill and died (according to rumors - from poison...

Meanwhile, the Polish army was moving from the western border to Moscow under the command of Hetman Zholkiewski; at c. Klushino Zholkiewski met and defeated the Moscow army, which was under the command of the Tsar's brother, Prince Dmitry Shuisky, and approached Moscow itself. On the other hand, the Tushinsky thief was approaching Moscow from Kaluga. The city was in alarm and confusion, Tsar Vasily lost all trust and authority; On July 17, 1610, he was dethroned, and on the 19th he was forcibly tonsured a monk.

After the overthrow of Shuisky, an interregnum began in Moscow. The government was headed by the boyar duma - “Prince F.I. Mstislavsky and comrades" (the so-called "Seven Boyars".. However, this boyar rule could not be long and lasting. The approach of the Tushino thief, followed by the specter of social revolution and anarchy, frightened all the boyars and all " the best people" To get rid of the thief and his claims, the boyars decided to elect the Polish prince Vladislav to the Moscow throne.

After Zholkiewski accepted the conditions proposed to Wladislav, Moscow on August 27 solemnly swore allegiance to Prince Wladyslaw as its future sovereign on the condition that he promises to protect the Orthodox faith. Patriarch Hermogenes categorically insisted on the last condition, who did not allow the possibility of a non-Orthodox occupying the Moscow throne.

False Dmitry was driven out of Moscow and again fled to Kaluga with Marina and the Cossack ataman Zarutsky. An embassy was sent to King Sigismund near Smolensk, headed by Metropolitan Philaret and Prince Vasily Golitsyn; The embassy was instructed to insist that Prince Vladislav convert to Orthodoxy and go to Moscow without delay, and the king and his army were asked to leave the Moscow state.

However, Sigismund had other plans: he did not want to let go young son to Moscow, especially since he did not want to allow him to convert to Orthodoxy; he intended to take the Moscow throne himself, but had not yet revealed his plans. Therefore, the Russian embassy near Smolensk was forced to conduct long and fruitless negotiations, in which the king, for his part, insisted that the ambassadors, for their part, encourage the “Smolensk prisoners” to surrender.

Meanwhile, Moscow in September 1610, with the consent of the boyars, was occupied by the Polish army of Zholkiewski, who soon left, transferring command from there to Gonsevski. The civil government was headed by the boyar Mikhail Saltykov and the “trading man” Fyodor Andronov, who tried to govern the country on behalf of Vladislav. In the summer (July 1611), Novgorod the Great was occupied by the Swedes almost without resistance from the inhabitants, which complements the sad picture of general moral decline and decay.

The Polish occupation of Moscow dragged on, Vladislav did not accept Orthodoxy and did not go to Russia, the rule of Poles and Polish minions in Moscow aroused increasing displeasure, but it was tolerated as a lesser evil, because the presence of the Polish garrison in the capital made it inaccessible to Tushinsky (now Kaluga thief But in December 1610, the Thief was killed in Kaluga, and this event served as a turning point in the history of the Time of Troubles. Now among the service people, and among the “zemstvo” people in general, and among those Cossacks who had a national consciousness and religious feeling, there remained one enemy, the one who occupied the Russian capital with foreign troops and threatened the national Russian state and the Orthodox Russian faith.

The results by the end of the summer of 1611 were completely unenviable: after another assault by Polish troops in June, Smolensk fell; relying on the verdict of the Militia Council and the position of the local elite, Swedish troops entered Novgorod and then occupied Novgorod lands, fixing in the agreement the right of the Swedish prince to the Russian throne or to Novgorod region. Finally, the crisis in the Cossack camps near Moscow reached an alarming level.

At this time, Patriarch Hermogenes became the head of the national-religious opposition. He firmly declares that if the prince does not accept Orthodoxy, and the “Lithuanian people” do not leave the Russian land, then Vladislav is not our sovereign. When his verbal arguments and exhortations had no effect on the behavior of the opposing side, Hermogenes began to turn to the Russian people with direct calls for an uprising in defense of the church and fatherland. Subsequently, when the patriarch was imprisoned, his work was continued by the monasteries of Trinity-Sergius and Kirillo-Belozersky, sending their letters throughout the cities with calls for unification and a “great stand” against enemies for the holy Orthodox faith and for their fatherland.

2. The first zemstvo militia

The voice of Patriarch Hermogenes was soon heard. Already at the very beginning of 1611, a broad patriotic movement began in the country. The cities correspond with each other so that everyone can come together, gather military people and go to the rescue of Moscow. “The main engine of the uprising... was the patriarch, at whose command, in the name of faith, the Earth rose and gathered.”

In the spring of 1611, the zemstvo militia approached Moscow and began its siege. At this time, King Sigismund stopped the endless negotiations near Smolensk with the Russian ambassadors and ordered Metropolitan Philaret and Prince Golitsyn to be taken to Poland as prisoners. In June 1611, the Poles finally took Smolensk, in which out of the 80,000 inhabitants who were there at the beginning of the siege, barely 8,000 people remained alive.

The two-year siege of Smolensk ended with the destruction of the city and its population, as well as the complete extermination of all life in the district. An assessment of the reasons for the fall of Smolensk, quite close to the true state of affairs, was given by Martin Wehr in his “Moscow Chronicle.” He wrote: “The besieged could defend themselves longer, but a serious illness appeared among them, resulting from a lack of salt and vinegar; during the capture of Smolensk there were no more than 300 or 400 healthy people who could no longer defend its extensive fortifications, which had a whole mile in circumference... The Smolensk people, even without cannons, gunpowder, spears, sabers, could easily repel the enemy if at every hole in the wall there was, although one person at a time."

Martin Behr writes about the devastation of the Smolensk district: “This two-year siege killed 80,000 people, completely devastating the Smolensk region, where there was no sheep, no bull, no cow, no calf left - the enemies destroyed everything.”

Thus, after a two-year siege, the Smolensk district turned into a desert, and the city lay in ruins. Smolensk died, but it saved the country from enslavement by Polish invaders.

A significant part of Moscow in March 1611 was destroyed and burned by the Polish garrison, who wanted to prevent an uprising, and several thousand residents were beaten. The zemstvo militia that arrived near Moscow consisted of two various elements: these were, firstly, nobles and boyar children, headed by the then famous Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov, and secondly, Cossacks, headed by the former Tushino boyars, Prince Dm. Trubetskoy and Cossack ataman Ivan Zarutsky. After many disagreements and contentions, the governors and militias agreed among themselves and on June 30, 1611, they drew up a general verdict on the composition and work of the new zemstvo government - from Trubetskoy, Zarutsky and Lyapunnov, who were “chosen by the whole earth” to govern the “zemstvo and military affairs."

However, the verdict on June 30 did not eliminate the antagonism between the nobles and the Cossacks and the personal rivalry between Lyapunov and Zarutsky. The matter ended with the Cossacks, suspecting Lyapunov of hostile intentions, calling him to their circle for an explanation and here they hacked him to death. Left without a leader and frightened by the Cossack lynching, the nobles and children, the majority of the boyars left near Moscow to go home. The Cossacks remained in the camp near Moscow, but they were not strong enough to cope with the Polish garrison.

The failure of the first zemstvo militia upset, but did not discourage the zemstvo people. In provincial cities, a movement soon began again to organize a new militia and a campaign against Moscow.

3. Second zemstvo militia. The role of Minin and PozharskOth

The starting point and center of the movement was Nizhny Novgorod, led by its famous zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, who in September 1611 spoke in Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo hut with ardent calls to help the Moscow state, sparing no means and no sacrifices.

The city council, made up of representatives of all segments of the population, led the initial steps - raising funds and calling up military men. The head of the zemstvo militia was invited to be the “steward and governor” Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, a capable military leader and a man with an untarnished reputation; The economic and financial part was taken over by the “elected person of the whole earth” Kuzma Minin.

In addition, the core of the second militia consisted of the nobles of the Smolensk land, who were left without estates and means of subsistence.

Several months of joint work proved the mutual complementarity of the militia leaders: an experienced and successful governor, a man of strong convictions, Pozharsky entrusted current management to Minin, who provided the main nerve - finances and supplies.

In November, the movement started by Nizhny already covered a significant Volga region, and in January 1612 the militia moved from Nizhny first to Kostroma, and then to Yaroslavl, where it arrived by the beginning of April 1612, meeting along the way the liveliest sympathy and support from side of the population.

Having learned about the movement of the Nizhny Novgorod militia, Mikhail Saltykov and his minions demanded from Patriarch Hermogenes that he write a letter prohibiting Nizhny Novgorod residents from going to Moscow. “...He said to them...”...may God give them mercy and blessings from our humility; May the wrath of God be poured out on you traitors and from our humility be damned hereafter and in the future”... and from then on he began to suffer from famine and died from famine on the 17th day of February 1612, and was buried in Moscow in the Chudov Monastery.”

The zemstvo militia remained in Yaroslavl for about 4 months; This time was spent in intense work to restore order in the country, to create central government institutions, to gather forces and resources for the militia itself. More than half of what was then Russia united around the militia; Local councils from representatives of all segments of the population worked in the cities, and governors were appointed from Yaroslavl to the cities. In Yaroslavl itself, a Zemsky Sobor, or council of the whole earth, was formed, from representatives from the localities and representatives from service people who made up the militia; this council was the temporary supreme power in the country.

Remembering the fate of Lyapunov and his militia, Pozharsky was in no hurry to go to Moscow until he had gathered enough strength. At the end of July, Pozharsky’s militia moved from Yaroslavl to Moscow. Hearing about his movement, Ataman Zarutsky, taking with him several thousand “thieves’” Cossacks, left from near Moscow to Kaluga, and Trubetskoy remained with the majority of the Cossack army, awaiting the arrival of Pozharsky. In August, Pozharsky’s militia approached Moscow, and a few days later the Polish hetman Chodkiewicz approached Moscow, going to the aid of the Polish garrison in Moscow, but was repulsed and forced to retreat.

In September, the governors of the Moscow region agreed, “by petition and the verdict of all ranks of people,” that together they “would do Moscow and wish the Russian state good in everything without any cunning,” and do all sorts of things at the same time, and from now on write letters from a single government on behalf of both governor, Trubetskoy and Pozharsky.

On October 22, the Cossacks launched an attack and took Kitay-gorod, and a few days later, exhausted by hunger, the Poles sitting in the Kremlin surrendered, and both militias solemnly entered liberated Moscow with the ringing of bells and the rejoicing of the people.

The provisional government of Trubetskoy and Pozharsky convened to Moscow elected people from all cities and from every rank “for the zemstvo council and for state election.” The Zemsky Sobor, which met in January and February 1613, was the most complete of the Moscow Zemsky Sobors in composition: all classes of the population were represented at it (with the exception of serfs and landowner peasants.. It was relatively easy to agree that “the Lithuanian and Swedish king and their children and some other foreign-language states of the non-Christian faith of the Greek law should not be elected to the Vladimir and Moscow state, and Marinka and her son should not be wanted for the state.” They decided to elect one of their own, but then disagreements, disputes, intrigues and Troubles began, because among the “noble” Moscow boyars, who had previously been allies of either the Poles, or the Tushino thief, there was no worthy and popular candidate.

Urban societies of the central and northern regions, led by their elected authorities, become carriers and preachers of national consciousness and social solidarity. In their correspondence, the cities call on each other “to be in love and in council and in union with each other,” and “to kiss the cross among themselves, that you and I, and you with us, and live and die together,” and for “ true Christian faith to stand strong against the destroyers of our Christian faith, against the Polish and Lithuanian people and Russian thieves,” and then “we should elect a sovereign for the Moscow state with all the land of the Russian state.” The leaders of the Nizhny Novgorod militia, for their part, call on the cities to unite, “so that we, on the advice of the entire state, can choose a sovereign with a common council, so that without a sovereign the Moscow state will not go completely bankrupt”..., “and we can choose a sovereign for the whole Earth.. .world council."

After long and fruitless debates, on February 7, 1613, the elected people agreed on the candidacy of 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov, the son of Metropolitan Philaret, who was languishing in Polish captivity; but since they did not know how the whole Earth would react to this candidacy, it was decided to arrange something like a plebiscite - “they sent secretly, faithful and God-fearing people in all sorts of people, their thoughts about the state election were inquiring about who they wanted to be the sovereign king of the Moscow state in all cities. And in all cities and districts, all people have the same thought: why should Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov be the Sovereign Tsar in the Moscow State...” And upon the return of the messengers, the Zemsky Sobor, on February 21, 1613, unanimously elected and solemnly proclaimed Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov tsar.

The electoral document said that “all Orthodox peasants of the entire Moscow state” wished him to become king, and on the other hand his family ties with the former royal dynasty: new king- son cousin Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, Fyodor Nikitich Romanov-Yuryev, and Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich’s nephew...

Conclusion

During the period of the so-called interregnum (1610-1613), the position of the Moscow state seemed completely hopeless. The Poles occupied Moscow and Smolensk, the Swedes - Veliky Novgorod; gangs of foreign adventurers and their “thieves” ravaged the unfortunate country, killed and robbed civilians. When the land became “stateless,” political ties between individual regions were broken, but society did not disintegrate: it was saved by national and religious ties. Urban societies of the central and northern regions, led by their elected authorities, become carriers and preachers of national consciousness and social solidarity.

In the fall of 1611, a movement began in Nizhny Novgorod that gradually consolidated the majority of the classes of Russia in the intention of restoring an independent national monarchy in the country. Under the influence of the letters of Hermogenes and the elders of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, a political platform was formed: do not take Ivan Dmitrievich (Marina’s son) as king, do not invite any foreign pretender to the Russian throne, the first goal is the liberation of the capital with the subsequent convening of the Zemsky Sobor to elect a new king.

It is no less significant that the head of the militia was the steward, Prince D.M. Pozharsky and Nizhny Novgorod elder K. Minin. In addition to the corporations of the Middle Volga region, local instrumental servants, the core of the second militia consisted of the nobles of the Smolensk land, who were left without estates and means of subsistence.

The greatest role of Minin and Pozharsky in Russian history is that under their leadership the expulsion of the Poles from Russia was successfully completed by the armies of the cities outside Moscow.

List of used literature

1. Great statesmen Russia / Ed. A.F. Kiseleva. - M., 1996.

2. Vetyugov V.E. Absolutism in Russian political and legal thought of the 16th - 18th centuries. // History of state and law. - 2007. - No. 9.

3. Government agencies Russia XVI- XVIII centuries / Ed. N.B. Golikova. - M., 1991.

4. Deryugin V.Yu. State agricultural policy in Russia (XVII - XVIII centuries.. // History of State and Law. - 2006. - No. 12.

5. History of religions in Russia: Textbook / Ed. ed. ON THE. Trofimchuk. - M., 2002.

6. History of Russia from ancient times to late XVI I century Rep. ed. A.N. Sakharov. - M., 1998.

7. Kartashev A.V. Church. Story. Russia. - M., 1996.

8. Klyuchevsky V.O. Essays. ? M., 1959. ? T. 2.

9. Course church law: Textbook. allowance. - Klin, 2002.

10. Nikulin M.V. Orthodox Church V public life Russia. - M., 1997.

11. Nikolsky N.M. History of the Russian Church. 3rd ed. - M., 1983.

12. Platonov S.F. Russian history. ? M., 1996.

13. Platonov S.F. Time of Troubles. - M., 2001.

14. Pushkarev S.G. Review of Russian history. ? Stavropol, 1993.

15. Sirotkin V.G. Milestones national history. - M., 1991.

16. Soloviev S.M. History of Russia from ancient times. ? M., 1960. ? Book III.

17. Timofeev I. Temporary. - L., 1951.

18. Cherepnin L.V. Zemsky Sobors of the Russian State in the 16th-17th centuries. - M., 1978.

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In the fall of 1611, after the failure of the first militia, the Nizhny Novgorod elder, merchant Kuzma Minin, began to raise funds to create a second people's militia. More than once Kuzma Minin spoke to the residents of Nizhny Novgorod with a call to rise up to fight against foreign invaders, for the liberation of the Russian state, for the Orthodox faith, not to spare their lives, but to give all their gold and silver to support the military people. In Nizhny Novgorod they heard the calls of their elder, people hastily began to collect money to create a second militia. The tax for these purposes amounted to one fifth of the total property of each citizen. Kuzma Minin was studying organizational activities in the second militia, collected money for its maintenance. The military affairs of the second militia were handled by an experienced governor, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. By the time it started liberation campaign the second militia, in February 1612, many Russian cities and lands declared support for the movement of Minin and Pozharsky. The people of Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, Kolomna, Aramzas, Kazan and other cities willingly entered under the leadership of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky.

In the spring of 1612, the second militia under the leadership of Dmitry Pozharsky moved to Yaroslavl. A provisional government of Russia was created in Yaroslavl - the “council of all the earth.” The militia stayed in Yaroslavl for four months.

In the summer of 1612, bloody events broke out in Moscow and on the outskirts of it. The Poles sent reinforcements to Moscow, in the form of an entire military corps under the command of Khodkiewicz. It’s good that Trubetskoy’s Cossacks, after the defeat of the first militia, remained not far from Moscow. Cossack hundreds more than once saved the situation for the army of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky. During fierce battles, the militia managed to withdraw Khodkevich’s detachments from Moscow. The battle formations of the advancing Poles were overturned, and they fled, abandoning their artillery and entire supply of provisions. Chodkiewicz's flight largely determined the fate of the Polish garrison in the Kremlin. On October 26, 1612, the Poles capitulated. The army of Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin united with the detachments of Trubetskoy’s Cossacks in the Execution Area, and together they entered the Kremlin through the Spassky Gate. Muscovites celebrated the victory. The troubles are over.

In 1613, at a meeting Zemsky Sobor Mikhail Romanov was elected to the throne. This is where the glorious three hundred year history of the House of Romanov began. The accession of the Romanovs became one of the main events Russian history 17th century.

Consequences of the Troubles:

1) new period Russian history - The Romanovs came to power (new dynasty). The power was legitimate;

2) the role of the Boyar Duma and Zemsky orders is strengthened;

3) class boundaries were temporarily erased;

4) a blow was dealt to localism (the system of obtaining important government positions based on the principle of nobility. The principle of Nobility included 3 parameters: - the earlier the ancestors enter the service of the Moscow princes, the better; - the more merit, the better; - the more noble and ancient the family , all the better);

5) economic devastation, deepest economic crisis;

6) Russia lost large territories in the North-West and West of the country:

In 1617, the Stolbovo Peace Treaty was signed between Russia and Sweden (the volost of Karelu, Yam-Koporye; Staraya Russa, Novgorod, Gdov, Ladoga were returned and the Swedish indemnity was paid - 20 thousand in silver);

In 1618, Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth signed the “Deulin Truce” for 14.5 years, according to which Russia lost Novgorod-Seversky, Chernigov and Smolensk lands. Vladislav retained his rights to the Russian throne. There was an exchange of prisoners of war;

7) the morality of society was at a low level;

E. Lissner. Expulsion of Polish interventionists from the Moscow Kremlin

The Time of Troubles refers to the hard times of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when Russian kingdom found itself in a deep social crisis. There was a process of formation serf system, which caused widespread protest among the peasant masses and the urban lower classes. The origins of the Troubles must be sought in wars, and in the tyranny and repressions of Tsar Ivan IV, and in the boyar civil strife, which undermined the economy and the moral strength of the people. The heirs of Grozny were unable to withstand the destruction of strong state power and the onslaught of external enemies who were expecting easy prey.

As a result of Polish and Swedish intervention, the young centralized Russian state was brought to the brink of a national catastrophe. The main border strongholds - the fortified cities of Smolensk and Novgorod - fell. For two years, the ancient capital of Moscow was in the hands of foreigners. The country, which was betrayed by the ruling boyar elite, was subjected to terrible devastation.

It seemed that Russia would not survive the “great ruin.” But the capture of Moscow by the Poles caused a powerful patriotic wave, which arose in Nizhny Novgorod and put a prince and a simple citizen at the head of the people's (zemstvo) militia. Having demonstrated remarkable organizational and military talents, they achieved the liberation of the capital of the Fatherland from foreigners.

Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky Kuzma Minich Minin (Ankudinov)

Moscow was captured by the Poles due to the betrayal of the Boyar Duma (“seven-numbered boyars”, “seven boyars”), led by Prince Fyodor Mstislavsky. Fearing their own people and seeking protection from them, the boyars proclaimed the young son of the Polish king Sigismund III, Prince Vladislav, king: “It is better to serve the sovereign than to be beaten by your slaves.”

On the night of September 21 (November 1), 1610, the “Seven Boyars” allowed the 8,000-strong Polish army of Hetman Zholkiewski into Moscow. The Poles occupied the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod with their stone walls. Before this, the boyars sent almost the entire Moscow garrison from the capital to fight the Swedes, and the capital found itself without defenders.

Hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski

The first zemstvo militia of the Ryazan voivode, created to liberate Moscow from foreigners, did not fulfill its task. It approached the capital belatedly, when the anti-Polish uprising of Muscovites (one of its leaders was Prince Dmitry Pozharsky) failed in March 1611, and most of the city was burned. The militia blocked the city, but disagreements between the Cossacks and the serving nobility led to the death of Lyapunov. The militia went home, only the Cossacks remained near Moscow, led by Ataman Ivan Zarutsky and Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy.

In such conditions, Nizhny Novgorod took over the banner of the liberation struggle. In response to the letters of the Patriarch of Nizhny Novgorod, who was imprisoned by the Poles zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, from among the “young trading people” (small traders), in October 1611 appealed to the townspeople to create a new people’s militia to fight foreign invaders.

B. Zvorykin. His Holiness Patriarch Hermogenes in the dungeon of the Chudov Monastery

P.P. Chistyakov. Patriarch Hermogenes refuses the Poles to sign the letter

The patriotic appeal received the warmest response from Nizhny Novgorod residents. On Minin’s advice, the townspeople gave “a third of their money”, that is, a third of their property, for the creation and maintenance of the zemstvo army.

M.I. Peskov. Minin's appeal to the people of Nizhny Novgorod in 1611. 1861

The headman himself donated not only “his entire treasury” to the needs of the militia, but also gold and silver frames from icons and his wife’s jewelry. But since there were not enough voluntary contributions, a forced levy was announced from all Nizhny Novgorod residents: each of them had to contribute a fifth of their income from fishing and trading activities to the treasury of the militia.

HELL. Kivshenko. Appeal from Kuzma Minin to Nizhny Novgorod residents. 1611

Nizhny Novgorod residents invested Kuzma Minin with the title of “elected person by the whole earth.” The “Council of All the Earth” created in the city essentially became a provisional government. On the advice of Minin, the “artful” prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was invited to the post of chief (first) commander of the militia, who, after being wounded, was treated in the nearby village of Mugreevo, Suzdal district. An honorary embassy was sent to him.

Pozharsky accepted the invitation to lead the zemstvo army, that is, organizing the recruitment of military men, training warriors, and commanding them in campaigns and battles. Kuzma Minin began to manage the militia treasury. So these two people, elected by the people and invested with their trust, became the heads of the Nizhny Novgorod militia.

S. Malinovsky. Nizhny Novgorod feat. 1611 1996

Various people were accepted into the militia, ready to fight for the just cause of “cleansing” Moscow of Poles: archers and serving nobles, Cossacks, townspeople and peasants. Kuzma Minin invited a large detachment of serving Smolensk nobles into the zemstvo army, who, after the fall of Smolensk, went with their families to the Arzamas district, showing in practice faithful service to the Fatherland.

At the beginning of March, the Nizhny Novgorod militia set out on a campaign. He was hurried by both time and the coming spring, which threatened the road with mud.

Prince Pozharsky at the head of the militia. Chromolithography based on a painting by T. Krylov. 1910

Before this, Prince Pozharsky occupied the city of Yaroslavl, sending there a cavalry detachment under the command of his cousin Prince Dmitry Lopata-Pozharsky. Along the way separate detachments cities - Kostroma, Suzdal and a number of others were engaged.

In Yaroslavl, the militia stayed for four whole months: it was replenished with people who underwent military training, weapons and treasury were obtained. Connections were established with the Russian North (Pomerania), the Volga cities and Siberia. A new administration was created locally. In Yaroslavl, the “Zemstvo government” finally took shape. A Money Court was created in the city, orders worked, including the Posolsky.

During the “Yaroslavl sitting” the second zemstvo militia doubled its forces. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin brought over 10 thousand serving local people (nobles), up to 3 thousand Cossacks, at least a thousand archers and a large number of “dacha people” (peasants liable for military service) to the walls of Moscow. There is no information about the number of artillery. This is not counting those detachments that were sent from Yaroslavl around the country, primarily to protect the northern lands from the Swedes who captured Novgorod.

The Monk Dionysius blesses Prince Pozharsky and citizen Minin for the liberation of Moscow. High relief. Eastern corner of the northern wall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

The residents of Nizhny Novgorod developed a complex relationship with the leaders of the remnants of the first zemstvo militia (“Moscow camps”) - the prince and the ataman. They claimed a leading role in the upcoming struggle for Moscow. Ataman Zarutsky even went so far as to organize an assassination attempt on Pozharsky in Yaroslavl. After his failure, when the Nizhny Novgorod residents approached, he fled with part of his Cossacks from near Moscow.

The Nizhny Novgorod militia set out from Yaroslavl on July 27 (August 6), 1612, upon receiving the news that the Polish king had sent a 12,000-strong army led by the Lithuanian hetman Jan-Karol Chodkiewicz to the rescue of the Moscow garrison. It was necessary to get ahead of him, so Prince Pozharsky sent forward to Moscow a strong cavalry detachment of Prince Vasily Turenin, ordering him to occupy the Chertolsky (now Kropotkinsky) gate. The main forces of Nizhny Novgorod took up positions at the Arbat Gate.

Approaching Moscow on August 20 (30), Pozharsky and Minin refused to become a single camp with the “Cossack camps” of Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy, who stood near the Crimean Bridge, and where there were many abandoned dugouts and huts. Having passed through the city fires, the Nizhny Novgorod militia took a position between the Arbat and Chertolsky gates. The flanks were covered by cavalry detachments. Several forts with moats were built.

Khodkiewicz's army (most of it consisted of Cossacks who were in the service of the King of Poland) approached Moscow on the morning of August 21 (31). The enemy had over 15 thousand people, including the regiments of Strus and Budila, entrenched behind the strong walls of the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod. The forces of the parties, according to researchers, were not equal. According to the calculations of the historian G. Bibikov, the militia of Pozharsky and Minin that arrived in the capital could have no more than 6-7 thousand warriors. The rest of his forces were scattered along the way. Trubetskoy had approximately 2.5 thousand Cossacks.

At dawn on August 22 (September 1), Hetman Khodkevich began a breakthrough to the Kremlin to deliver a huge convoy of provisions for the besieged garrison. The battle began with a cavalry battle on the Devichye Field (near the Novodevichy Convent). This battle lasted seven hours, and only then did the royal people begin to push back the enemy. After this, the battle began among the ruins of the burnt out city. The battle that day ended with a bold attack by the Cossack detachments of atamans Afanasy Kolomna, Druzhina Romanov, Filat Mozhanov and Makar Kozlov, after which the hetman ordered a retreat.

The battle resumed a day later, on August 24 (September 3). Now Khodkevich struck through Zamoskvorechye. The fights again assumed the most stubborn and fierce character. Having pushed back the militia, the Poles brought a huge convoy into the city. It was already very close to the Kremlin. During the battle, the Cossacks of Prince Trubetskoy went to their “camps”. Only the persuasion of the cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and Kuzma Minin could return them to the battlefield.

Already in the evening, Minin, having taken three reserve cavalry hundreds and a detachment of the defector captain Khmelevsky, crossed the Moscow River and decisively attacked the enemy barrier at the Crimean courtyard. The Poles fled, which became common in the hetman's army. The militia launched a general counterattack, but Prince Pozharsky prudently ordered the pursuit of those who fled to stop.

Banner of Prince Pozharsky. 1612

Hetman Khodkevich went to the Sparrow Hills, stood there all night and early in the morning of August 25 (September 4) with “great shame” fled from Moscow to the West. A huge convoy with provisions for the “Kremlin inmates” (who unsuccessfully went on a sortie) became the main trophy of the winners. Now the days of the Polish garrison besieged in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod were numbered.

The defeat of the Polish interventionists in Moscow

At the end of September 1612, the Nizhny Novgorod army united with the remnants of the first zemstvo militia into a single army. State power also became unified. Meanwhile, the besieged began to starve. But the Poles stubbornly did not want to capitulate for fear of responsibility for the atrocities committed and in anticipation of a new attempt by their king to help them.

Negotiations for surrender began on October 22 (November 1). On that day, the Cossacks, who did not want any concessions to the enemy, stormed Kitay-Gorod, from where the besieged fled to the Kremlin. On October 26 (November 5), the Kremlin garrison agreed to lay down their arms and surrender to the mercy of the victors. The agreement was signed and sealed with a kiss of the cross. It said that the lives of the royal people would be spared on the condition that they hand over the looted state valuables they had to the treasury.

The next day, October 27 (November 6), the surrender of the royal garrison began. The regiment of Strus, which went to the camp of Prince Trubetskoy, was almost completely exterminated by the Cossacks, among whom were many fugitive peasants and slaves from places that the Poles subjected to terrible devastation during the Time of Troubles. Budila's regiment generally survived the capitulation, since Prince Pozharsky did not allow bloodshed. The prisoners of war were sent to cities, where they were kept until they were exchanged for Russian people who were in Polish captivity.

On the same day, October 27 (November 6), 1612, the people's militia solemnly, under the ringing of bells, entered the Kremlin devastated and desecrated by the invaders

On Sunday, November 1 (11), a thanksgiving prayer service was held on Red Square near Lobnoye Mesto. Muscovites, together with Nizhny Novgorod militias and Cossacks, celebrated the cleansing of the capital from foreign invaders. The liberation of the entire Fatherland from Polish and Swedish invaders was still far away. But a solid foundation for this matter had already been laid thanks to the works of the prince-voivode Dmitry Pozharsky and the “elected person by the whole earth” Kuzma Minin.

I.P. Martos. Monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square in Moscow.
Built in 1818

Possessed great historic victory surrounded the heroes of the “Battle for Moscow” with a halo of eternal glory as the liberators of Moscow from the Poles in the cruel times of the Time of Troubles. Since those years, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Nizhny Novgorod townsman Kuzma Minin have become for Russia a symbol of selfless service to the Fatherland, its national heroes.

The tomb of Kuzma Minin in the tomb of the Transfiguration Cathedral in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin with the words of Peter the Great carved on the stone - “Here lies the savior of the Fatherland.” 1911

Material prepared by the Research Institute (military history)
Military Academy of the General Staff
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation