Expulsion of Polish invaders in 1612. Battle on the Maiden's Field

Should we now sleep in peace?
Loyal sons of Russia?!
Let's go, let's form a military formation,
Let's go - and in the horrors of war to friends,
To the Fatherland, the people
Let's find glory and freedom -
Fedor Glinka

In Russian history, events that have already occurred in the Russian state are often repeated, and in a painfully similar way, and, apparently, we were not taught intelligence. The actions of anti-national political adventurers have more than once brought our Motherland to the brink of impoverishment, humiliation and despair, and it seemed that only a miracle could save our people. But there are no miracles in the world, but there have always been and acted absolutely amazing wonderful people, patriots of the Fatherland, who went to the people and together with them raised the state desecrated by adventurers and interventionists from its knees, returned it to its former honor and greatness.

After the reign of Ivan the Terrible, who annexed the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and lands in the Baltic states to Muscovy, who was distinguished by his strategic courage and determination in strengthening the Russian state, troubled times began. The suppression of a dynasty in the history of monarchical Russia has always resulted in great national troubles, although similar phenomena in other countries of the world are avoided without much shock and destruction. If a dynasty fades away, another will be chosen, and order quickly falls into place. We have...

The origin of Russian unrest, as a rule, arises at the top. The people standing at the helm of power, some by cunning, some by force, some by arrogance and treachery, try to gain power for themselves or, by supporting others in this matter, to snatch and secure personal gain. Those who come to power always promise that their rule will be the fairest, based on the aspirations and thoughts of the people. It's easy to say. Implementation is difficult and sometimes impossible. If people come to management with no talent, they are gray.

On the threshold of the seventeenth century there was a desperate struggle for the Moscow throne. After Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky tried to rule Russia... The latter set out on paper his oath “Record”, placing the holy cross on which he kissed him for loyalty, that he would judge and judge by the “true righteous court”, according to law, and not at discretion, “he must certainly judge not individually, but with his boyars...” “And I should not listen to false denunciations, but firmly find them with all sorts of investigations, and confront them eye to eye...”, but for punish a false denunciation according to the investigation, depending on the guilt attributed to the slandered person. Don’t lay your disgrace on anyone without guilt..."

This did not satisfy the Boyar Duma. After all, before this, the motto of Tsar Ivan the Terrible was: “We are free to favor our slaves and we are free to execute them...” Swornly shaking off these royal prerogatives, Vasily Shuisky turned from a ruler of slaves into a legitimate king of his subjects, ruling according to the law.

But the chronicler says that Tsar Vasily, after kissing the cross, immediately went to the Assumption Cathedral and said to the people there: “I kiss the cross to the whole earth for the fact that no one was done to me without the cathedral, no harm...” With this oath, Shuisky hoped to get rid of from boyar tutelage, to become a zemstvo tsar, for the sake of form limiting his power to the Council - an institution, the essence of which at that time no one really understood or perceived.

The weakening of centralized power in Rus' has always led to confusion and vacillation in society, to extortion and theft, and arbitrariness. All this began after the death of Ivan the Terrible. Following the upper classes, the lower classes began to seek their truth and benefit. No one wanted to obey anyone.

The world is so structured that only a lazy person would not try to profit at the expense of a weakened neighbor. Western countries, seeing Muscovy mired in civil strife, lit up their eyes with a greedy passion for profit. Following the failed henchmen of False Dmitry, the Polish king Sigismund III, with the help of military force and traitorous boyars, installed his son Vladislav on the Moscow throne. On the night of September 21, 1610, Polish troops entered Moscow and settled in its heart - the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod. They behaved here like full-fledged owners, they did not take into account not only the slaves, but also the boyar nobility. The Swedish king Charles IX, under the pretext of helping Russia, brought his troops into Novgorod and began to seize Russian lands in the Baltic states.

The newly-minted “helpers and patrons” were not concerned about the integrity and prosperity of the Russian state. Poland sought to annex the ancestral Russian lands, right along with Smolensk. True, its governor Mikhail Shein gathered an army and did not give Smolensk to the Poles. The invaders behaved brazenly on Russian soil, robbed, raped, and imposed unbearable taxes on the Russians.

The liberation movement, directed against Russia's subordination to Polish royal power, began at the end of 1610, when relations between Muscovites and Poles became strained. A state of siege was introduced in Moscow. Fear among the Polish gentry caused an influx of Russian people to Moscow, the secret delivery of weapons to the capital, which indicated the preparation of a popular uprising. Under the leadership of the nobleman Prokofy Lyapunov, the first militia began to form, which found support in the country. Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Suzdal, Vladimir and other cities joined the general movement. The main force of the militia were the Ryazan people and the Cossack detachments of Prince Trubetskoy and Zarutsky. But they were unable to develop a unified plan to combat the invaders.

The Poles in Moscow felt like they were on a volcano. To protect themselves, they carried out a massacre in Kitai-Gorod, where more than 7 thousand unarmed Muscovites died, and then set Moscow on fire in different places. Muscovites tried in vain to stop the arson. Moscow burned to the ground. In place of a rich and populous city, only ashes remained. The news of the destruction of Moscow spread throughout the country.

Internal disagreements began within the 1st Militia, which ultimately led to its collapse. Almost simultaneously with this, the fall of Smolensk occurred. The situation in the country has deteriorated even further.

At the end of 1611, the Moscow state presented a spectacle of complete visible destruction. The Poles took Smolensk. The Polish detachment burned Moscow and fortified itself behind the surviving walls of the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod. To replace the murdered second False Dmitry, a third settled in Pskov - some Sidorka. The first noble militia was upset with the death of Lyapunov. The country was left without a government. The Boyar Duma, which became its head after the tonsure of Vasily Shuisky as a monk, was abolished by itself after the capture of the Kremlin by the Poles. True, some of the boyars, with their chairman, Prince Mstislavsky, sided with the Poles.

The state, having lost its center, began to disintegrate into its component parts; almost every city acted independently, only being sent along with other cities. The state was transformed into some kind of shapeless, restless federation.

Towards the end of 1611, when political forces were exhausted in confrontations, religious and national forces began to awaken, seeing Rus' dying.

From the Trinity Monastery, Archimandrite Dionysius and cellarer Abraham began to send letters of conscription to the people through Orthodox churches asking them to rise up to save the faith and the Fatherland. The experience of the first militia showed that in order to liberate the country from invaders, it is necessary to unite all patriotic forces, their consolidation under a single banner.

The initiative in this noble cause of liberating the homeland from the Polish gentry belongs to the townspeople of Nizhny Novgorod. Under the leadership of their headman Kuzma Minin, a second Russian militia began to gather in the fall of 1611, when Kuzma Minin was elected zemstvo headman in Nizhny Novgorod. The creation of the new militia was officially proclaimed in a solemn ceremony in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration. Archpriest Savva gave a speech, and then Kuzma Minin addressed the assembled people. Calling on his fellow citizens to rise up against the interventionists, Minin said: “After all, I know well that if we start this business, many cities will help us. Do not spare yourself and your wives and children, and not just your property.”

The courageous and noble call of Kuzma Minin was widely supported. According to a contemporary chronicler, “everyone loved his advice.”

During the formation of the militia, an important question about military leadership arose. What was needed was a special commander and, at the same time, a person who would put the interests of the homeland above his own. Minin also found the leader of the patriotic movement, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky. The main goal of the second nascent militia was the liberation of Moscow from the invaders and the expulsion of the interventionists from Russian soil. Fundraising began for the maintenance of the troops and their weapons. Many people gave their last. The militia was formed for about four months, and then moved towards Moscow, replenished along the way with crowds of volunteers, service people who asked to be accepted on the zemstvo salary.

Near Moscow, the militia, on the advice and negotiations of Minin, merged with the Cossack detachment of Prince Trubetskoy. This strengthened his fighting ability.

In July 1612, news reached the militia that Sigismund was preparing a 12,000-strong army under the command of Jan Karol Chodkiewicz for Moscow. The king gave him several infantry detachments that had previously participated in the battles for Smolensk. Khodkevich went on a campaign to help the Poles, who were entrenched in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod.

Dmitry Pozharsky understood that the connection of Polish forces could not be allowed. Therefore, he sent a detachment of Prince V. Turgenev to Moscow, which was supposed to stand at the Chertolsky Gate of the capital. The main forces of the militia stood at the Arbat Gate. The path to Khodkevich’s troops to Kitay-Gorod and the Kremlin was covered.

Khodkevich's forces and his huge convoy approached the Russian capital and began crossing the Moscow River, but were repulsed. The next morning, the Poles decided to break through again to the Moscow River from the Donskoy Monastery through Zamoskvorechye, but Cossack detachments were waiting for them on Pyatnitskaya Street near the Church of St. Clement. In the ensuing battle, the Cossacks not only defeated the Polish invaders, but also recaptured more than four hundred carts with provisions and weapons from them. The Cossacks, inflamed by success, wanted to pursue the surviving Polish forces retreating to the Vorobyovy Gory, but the governors restrained them, saying: “Enough, Cossacks! There are no two joys in one day! As if after the joy and bitterness you won’t taste it.” Kuzma Minin himself distinguished himself in the fight against Khodkevich. He took four companies and successfully attacked Chodkiewicz's forces. After these failures, the hetman had to move away from Moscow.

After this, the militia surrounded Kitay-Gorod, dug a deep ditch, woven a fence into two walls, poured earth between them, installed cannons and began shelling the Poles who had settled there.

On September 15, Dmitry Pozharsky sent a written proposal to the Poles to surrender: “... You will soon perish from hunger. Your king has no time for you now... Do not destroy your souls in vain for the king’s lies. Surrender!”

But the dashing warrior Nikolai Struyev, who commanded the besieged Poles, responded to the offer of surrender with obscene language.

And Pozharsky’s prophecies came true. The besieged hungry Poles not only ate their horses, but also caught and ate all the dogs and cats.

On October 22, Russian militias attacked the besieged. The hungry Poles could not resist, retreated and locked themselves in the Kremlin, but not for long. Two days later they sent envoys asking for surrender.

On October 25, Russian militias entered the Kremlin. A solemn prayer service was served in the Assumption Cathedral for the deliverance of the reigning city from the enemy.

The Poles still tried to stay on Russian soil, but, inspired by their successes, the militia drove the invaders home everywhere.

The Russian people highly appreciated the patriotic and organizational initiative of Minin and Pozharsky to expel Polish invaders from Russian soil and during their lifetime gave praise and honor to the patriots of the Fatherland.

In 1804, work began to perpetuate the memory of the victory of 1612. In February 1818, grateful descendants opened the first monumental monument in Moscow on Red Square - a monument to the liberators of the Fatherland Minin and Pozharsky. It is interesting that work on its creation did not stop even during the Patriotic War with Napoleon.

For the successful construction of the monument, its author, Ivan Petrovich Martos, was awarded the rank of full state councilor with a high personal pension, and the foundry master Ekimov was awarded the Order of Anna, 2nd degree and a bonus of 20,000 rubles.

And it was worth it! Even today, for each of us, this monument evokes high patriotic feelings for the Russian people and our dear Fatherland.

Vladimir Ushakov

One of the turning points in Russian history can confidently be called the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612. It was then that the decision was made whether to exist or not to exist as a Russian state. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of this date for future generations. Let's take another look at this important event after many centuries, and also find out what the military leader did during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles to achieve success.

Background

But first, let's find out what events preceded the liberation of Moscow from the Poles.

The confrontation between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which is actually a federation of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the Russian state began during the time of Ivan the Terrible. Then, in 1558, the famous Livonian War broke out, with the goal of gaining control over the Baltic lands. In 1583, the war ended with the signing of peace, which turned out to be quite unfavorable for Rus'. But in general, this world of contradictions between the Russian kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not resolve.

After the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584, the Russian throne was taken by his son, Fedor. He was a rather weak and sickly man, under whom the royal power weakened significantly. He died in 1598, leaving no heirs. The brother of Fedor's wife, boyar Boris Godunov, came to power. This event had rather disastrous consequences for Rus', since the Rurik dynasty, which ruled the state for more than seven hundred years, was cut short.

Within the Russian kingdom, there was growing dissatisfaction with the policies of Boris Godunov, whom many considered an impostor who had illegally seized power and at one time, according to rumors, ordered the murder of the legitimate heir of Ivan the Terrible.

This tense situation within the country contributed very opportunely to the possibility of foreign intervention.

Impostors

The ruling elite of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth understood very well that its main external rival was the Russian kingdom. Therefore, the fall served as a kind of signal for the beginning of preparations for the invasion.

However, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth itself was not ready for open war, so for its intrigues it used the impostor Grigory Otrepyev, who pretended to be Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible who died in childhood (according to another version, he was killed on the orders of Boris Godunov), for which he received the nickname - False Dmitry.

The army of False Dmitry was recruited with the support of Polish and Lithuanian magnates, but was not officially supported by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She invaded the territory of Rus' in 1604. Soon, Tsar Boris Godunov died, and his sixteen-year-old son Fedor was unable to organize a defense. Grigory Otrepyev captured Moscow in 1605, and he proclaimed himself Tsar Dmitry I. However, the very next year he was killed as a result of a coup. At the same time, a significant part of the Poles who arrived with him were killed.

Vasily Shuisky, who was a representative of a side branch of the Rurikovichs, became the new Russian Tsar. But a significant part of the population of Rus' did not recognize him as a real ruler.

In 1607, a new impostor appeared on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, whose real name is unknown. He went down in history as False Dmitry II. He was supported by magnates who had previously started a rebellion against the Polish king Sigismund III, but lost. The impostor's headquarters became the town of Tushin, which is why False Dmitry II received the nickname Tushinsky thief. His army defeated Shuisky's army and besieged Moscow.

Vasily Shuisky tried to negotiate with him to recall his subjects. But he had no real leverage, and he didn’t want to. Then the Russian Tsar entered into an alliance with the Swedes. This alliance assumed Swedish assistance against False Dmitry II on the terms of the transfer of a number of Russian cities to Sweden, as well as the conclusion of an alliance against Poland.

Prerequisites for open Polish intervention

The main pretext for the start of the Polish intervention was the Russian-Swedish alliance. This gave the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth a formal pretext to declare war on Rus', because one of the goals of the alliance was precisely confrontation with Poland.

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth itself at that time there was a strengthening of royal power. This was due to the fact that by 1609 King Sigismund III had suppressed the uprising of the dissatisfied gentry, which lasted three years. Now there is an opportunity for external expansion.

In addition, Russian-Polish contradictions have not gone away since the Livonian War, and hidden Polish intervention in the form of unofficial support for impostors did not give the expected result.

These factors served as the impetus for the decision to openly invade the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth troops into the territory of the Russian state in order to bring it under its full control. It was they who launched a chain of events, the links of which were the capture of the capital of Rus' by the Polish-Lithuanian army, and then the liberation of Moscow from the Poles.

Capture of Moscow by the Poles

In the fall of 1609, the Polish army, led by Hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski, invaded the territory of Rus' and besieged Smolensk. In the summer of 1610, they defeated Russian-Swedish troops in the decisive battle near Klushino and approached Moscow. On the other hand, Moscow was besieged by the army of False Dmitry II.

Meanwhile, the boyars overthrew Vasily Shuisky and imprisoned him in a monastery. They established a regime that is known as the Seven Boyars. But the boyars who usurped power were unpopular among the people. They could really only control Moscow. Fearing that the more popular False Dmitry II might seize power, the boyars colluded with the Poles.

By agreement, the son of Sigismund III Vladislav became the Russian Tsar, but at the same time converted to Orthodoxy. In the fall of 1610, the Polish army entered Moscow.

First militia

Thus, the capital of Rus' was captured by the Poles. From the first days of their stay, they began to commit outrages, which naturally caused displeasure among the local population. Hetman Zholkiewski left Moscow, and left Alexander Gonsevski in charge of the Polish garrison in the city.

At the beginning of 1611, under the leadership of Prince D. Trubetskoy, I. Zarutsky and P. Lyapunov, the so-called First Militia was formed. His goal was to begin the liberation of Moscow from the Poles. The main force of this army were the Ryazan nobles and Tushino Cossacks.

The army approached Moscow. At the same time, an uprising against the occupiers took place in the city, in which Dmitry Pozharsky, the future military commander during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, played a prominent role.

At this time, the militia managed to occupy Kitai-Gorod, but disagreements within it led to the murder of one of the leaders, Prokopiy Lyapunov. As a result, the militia actually disintegrated. The goal of the campaign was not achieved, and the liberation of Moscow from the Poles never took place.

Formation of the Second Militia

The year 1612 arrived. The liberation of Moscow from the Poles became the goal of the emerging Second Militia. The initiative for its creation came from the trade and craft class of Nizhny Novgorod, which suffered great oppression and losses during the Polish occupation. The people of Nizhny Novgorod did not recognize the authority of either False Dmitry II or Vladislav Zhigmontovich, the Prince of Poland.

One of the leading roles in the creation of the Second People's Militia was played by Kuzma Minin, who held the post of zemstvo elder. He called on the people to unite in the fight against the occupiers. In the future, he became famous as a military leader during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles and as a national hero. And then he was a simple artisan who managed to unite the masses of people who flocked to his call in Nizhny Novgorod from other parts of Rus'.

Among those who arrived was Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, another man who gained fame as a military leader during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612. He was called upon by the people's militia at a general meeting, asking Prince Pozharsky to lead the people in the fight against the interventionists. The prince could not refuse this request and added his own people to the army that began to form under the leadership of Minin.

The core of the militia consisted of the Nizhny Novgorod garrison of 750 people, but servicemen from Arzamas, Vyazma, Dorogobuzh and other cities responded to the call. It is impossible not to note the high abilities of Minin and Pozharsky in leading the formation of the army and in coordination with other cities of Russia. In essence, they formed a body that performs the role of government.

Later, during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, the Second People's Militia, when it had already approached the capital, was replenished with some groups from the disintegrated First Militia.

Thus, under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky, a significant force was formed that was capable of successfully resisting the interventionists. Thus began the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612.

Personality of Dmitry Pozharsky

Now let's take a closer look at the personality of the man who became famous as a military commander during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles. It was Dmitry Pozharsky who, at the behest of the people, became the main leader of the militia, and he deservedly owns a significant part of the contribution to this glorious victory. Who was he?

Dmitry Pozharsky belonged to an ancient princely family, which was a side branch of the Rurikovichs along the Starodub line. He was born in 1578, that is, at the time of the formation of the militia in the fall of 1611, he was about 33 years old. The father was Prince Pozharsky, and the mother was Maria Fedorovna Berseneva-Beklemisheva, on whose estate, given as a dowry, Dmitry was born.

Dmitry Pozharsky entered the public service during the reign of Boris Godunov. The future military leader, who commanded during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, under Tsar Vasily Shuisky led one of the detachments that opposed the army of False Dmitry II. Then he received the post of Zaraisk voivode.

Later, as mentioned above, Pozharsky was involved in organizing an uprising against the Poles in Moscow during the existence of the First People's Militia.

Naturally, a person who fought so stubbornly against foreign intervention could not help but respond to Kuzma Minin’s call. Not the least role in the fact that it was Dmitry Pozharsky who led the militia was played by the fact that he had an estate near Nizhny Novgorod, that is, the Nizhny Novgorod residents, who made up the backbone of the army, considered it theirs.

This was the man who led the militia during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles.

March on Moscow

We figured out who was in command during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, now let's dwell on the vicissitudes of the campaign itself.

The militia moved at the end of February 1612 from Nizhny Novgorod up the Volga towards Moscow. As he progressed, new people joined him. Most settlements greeted the militias with joy, and where local authorities tried to resist, as was the case in Kostroma, they were displaced and replaced by people loyal to the Russian army.

In April 1612, the militia entered Yaroslavl, where they stayed almost until August 1612. Thus, Yaroslavl became the temporary capital. This period of development of the liberation movement took the name “Standing in Yaroslavl.”

Having learned that the army of Hetman Khodkevich was approaching Moscow to ensure its defense, Pozharsky at the end of July promptly sent several detachments from Yaroslavl, which approached directly to the capital, and in mid-August all militia forces were concentrated near Moscow.

Strengths of the parties

It became clear to everyone that a decisive battle was ahead. What was the number of troops on the warring sides and their deployment?

The total number of troops that were subordinate to Dmitry Pozharsky, according to sources, did not exceed eight thousand people. The backbone of this army were Cossack detachments numbering 4,000 people and one thousand archers. In addition to Pozharsky and Minin, the commanders of the militia were Dmitry Pozharsky-Lopata (a relative of the chief governor) and Ivan Khovansky-Bolshoy. Only the last of them at one time commanded significant military formations. The rest either, like Dmitry Pozharsky, had to command relatively small detachments, or had no leadership experience at all, like Pozharsky-Lopata.

Dmitry Trubetskoy, one of the leaders of the First Militia, brought with him another 2,500 Cossacks. Although he agreed to help the common cause, he at the same time retained the right not to carry out Pozharsky’s orders. Thus, the total number of the Russian army was 9,500-10,000 people.

The number of Polish troops of Hetman Chodkiewicz, approaching Moscow from the western side, numbered 12,000 people. The main force in it were the Zaporozhye Cossacks, numbering 8,000 soldiers under the command of Alexander Zborovsky. The most combat-ready part of the army was the hetman's personal detachment of 2,000 people.

The commanders of the Polish army - Chodkiewicz and Zborowski - had significant military experience. In particular, Chodkiewicz distinguished himself in suppressing the recent uprising of the gentry, as well as in the war with Sweden. Among other commanders, Nevyarovsky, Graevsky and Koretsky should be noted.

In addition to the 12,000 soldiers whom Chodkiewicz brought with him, there was also a three-thousand-strong Polish garrison in the Moscow Kremlin. It was led by Nikolai Strus and Joseph Budilo. These were also experienced warriors, but without any special military talents.

Thus, the total number of the Polish army reached 15,000 people.

The Russian militia was located near the walls of the White City, located between the Polish garrison entrenched in the Kremlin and Khodkiewicz’s troops, as if between a hammer and an anvil. Their numbers were smaller than those of the Poles, and the commanders did not have as much military experience. It seemed that the fate of the militia was predetermined.

Battle for Moscow

So, in August the battle began, the result of which was the liberation of Moscow from the Poles. The year of this battle will forever go down in Russian history.

The troops of Hetman Khodkevich were the first to attack, having crossed the Moscow River, they went to the gates of the Novodevichy Convent, where militia detachments were concentrated. A horse fight ensued. The Polish garrison attempted forays from its fortification, while Prince Trubetskoy waited and did not rush to help Pozharsky. It must be said that the military commander commanded quite wisely during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, which did not allow the enemy to crush the positions of the militia at the initial stage. Khodkevich had to retreat.

After this, Pozharsky changed the deployment of troops, moving to Zamoskvorechye. The decisive battle took place on August 24. Hetman Khodkevich again threw his troops into the attack, hoping to crush the smaller militia. But it didn't work out the way he expected. The Russian troops stood firm, and Trubetskoy’s troops finally entered the battle.

Exhausted opponents decided to take a break. By evening the militia launched a counter-offensive. They crushed the enemy's positions and forced him to retreat to the city of Mozhaisk. Seeing this, the Polish garrison was forced to surrender to the militia. Thus ended the liberation of Moscow from foreign invaders.

Consequences

The liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612 was the turning point of the entire Russian-Polish War. True, hostilities continued for quite a long time.

In the spring of 1613, a representative of the new Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, was installed as king. This served to significantly strengthen Russian statehood.

At the end of 1618, a treaty was finally concluded between the Russians and the Poles. As a result of this truce, Russia was forced to give up significant territories to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but retained the main thing - its statehood. In the future, this helped her recapture lost lands and even participate in the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth itself.

The meaning of the liberation of Moscow

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the liberation of the Russian capital for Russian history. This event made it possible to preserve Russian statehood in the difficult struggle against the invaders. Therefore, the battle of Moscow is included in all textbooks on Russian history and is one of the significant dates.

We also remember the leaders of the Second Militia - Prince Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, who have long had the status of national heroes. Holidays are dedicated to them, monuments are erected, and memory is honored.

On November 4, 1612, Kitay-Gorod was liberated from the Poles, and the Polish-Lithuanian invaders, who had come to Moscow on legal grounds two years earlier, were forced to take refuge in the Kremlin, dooming themselves to hunger and defeat.

Diplomatic mistakes

One of the fundamental problems of the Poles in the history of the intervention was their absolute inability to negotiate and make coherent decisions beneficial to all parties. It all started with the fact that Hetman Zholkiewski, whose troops had been stationed near Moscow since August 1610, was against going to Moscow. He understood perfectly well that maintaining a huge mass of people could lead to a banal lack of resources, but pressure from the captains of the Zborovsky regiment, who threatened to refuse service, as well as pressure from Sigismund III, overpowered his fears. Later, when Zolkiewski left Moscow for negotiations with Sigismund, he left a garrison in the city under the command of the Lithuanian referendar Alexander Gonsevski. This did not lead to anything good for the Poles: Zolkiewski never reached an agreement with Sigismund, and an uprising broke out in Moscow.

Treason of the Cossacks

Another fatal failure of the Poles was the betrayal of the “Tushino Cossacks”. The death of False Dmitry in December 1610 put the Cossacks, led by Ivan Zarutsky and Andrei Prosovetsky, in a difficult situation, from which they found the only true way out, namely, they joined the first people's militia. The significant forces they brought under the walls of the Kremlin seriously strengthened the militia.

Rebellion of 1611

Alexander Gonsevsky ruled in Moscow with what is called a “firm hand,” but there was obviously more firmness in his governance than wisdom. Wanting to prevent unrest that could arise due to the spread of news of the First Militia, Gonsevsky provoked clashes in Moscow, which led to fierce battles and the total pacification of the population. According to some reports, up to 7 thousand Muscovites died. Most of Moscow burned down, the White and Zemlyanoy cities burned down. Advance militia detachments led by Pozharsky, Baturlin and Koltovsky forced the Poles to retreat. Without coming up with anything more convincing, the Poles began to burn Moscow. Special detachments set fire to the city from different sides, many churches were looted and destroyed. The Poles found themselves locked in the Kremlin.

Bad logistics

Huge problems arose for the Poles due to the lack of an established supply system. The armed forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not yet have a centralized quartermaster service. Neither at the banner level, nor even more so at the regiment level, was there a person responsible for supplying this unit with food. This not only caused trouble, but became a real tragedy for the Polish troops, especially after they found themselves in the besieged Kremlin. Ultimately, it was the problem with logistics, with the inability to deliver provisions to the Polish troops, that became the decisive factor.

Famine of 1612

The famine of 1612 became a terrible page in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian intervention. There is no point in retelling its terrible details. Suffice it to say that cannibalism flourished with might and main. There was even a kind of price list for certain body parts. In the second half of October, hunger, desertion and the breakdown of discipline reached their climax. Because of the prowling gangs of cannibals, movement through the streets of the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod after dark was extremely risky. An interesting detail characterizing the level of hunger of the besieged Poles is the version that the library of Ivan the Terrible, “Liberia,” which still cannot be found, was eaten just during the siege of the Kremlin.

They didn't recognize...

If the Poles imprisoned in the Kremlin knew that the future Russian Tsar, the first of the Romanov dynasty, was going through the siege with them... The history of Russia could have taken a completely different path if everything had turned out a little differently in those days. Wait another week, the Poles, until the convoys with provisions arrive, or suddenly, for some reason, Mikhail Fedorovich does not survive the siege...

Broken Promise

Despite the promise of pardon, most of the Polish garrison was killed by the Cossacks right during the surrender. On November 9, Pozharsky and the nobles began sending groups of prisoners to cities in the provinces. There, however, a tragic fate awaited them. The Poles who arrived were simply exterminated. Only the most “useful” prisoners who could be useful managed to escape. Only in 1619, according to the Truce of Deulin, did an exchange of prisoners take place.

Moscow

The time of troubles, which began with the appearance in the spring of 1605 in Russia of the impostor False Dmitry I (he was in fact the fugitive monk of the Kremlin Chudov Monastery Grigory Otrepiev, who pretended to be the miraculously saved son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry) and the death of Tsar Boris Godunov, lasted about eight years (according to other estimates, much longer).

These years were filled with many tragic, heroic and extremely confusing events.

The state as a single whole ceased to exist. He was robbed and torn to pieces by all kinds of impostors, traitors, invaders and marauders. Power passed from hand to hand.

It got to the point that in 1608-1609... dual power was established in the country.

One tsar (Vasily Shuisky) sat in the Kremlin, and the other (False Dmitry II) sat nearby, in Tushino, near Moscow.

Moreover, each had its own courtyard and its own patriarch. Shuisky’s patriarch was Hermogenes, and False Dmitry II’s was Filaret Romanov.

Then, for more than three hundred years, the Romanovs tried to hide the fact that the father of the founder of the dynasty was the patriarch at the court of False Dmitry II (who in reality was a certain Bogdanka Shklovsky).

However, the worst thing about this was for ordinary people.

Because the situation when “the whites come and rob, the reds come and rob” was typical for the Time of Troubles.

Shuisky decided to defeat the Tushinsky thief with the help of the Swedes.

In February 1609, he concluded an agreement with them, according to which Russia gave the Korelia volost to Sweden.

It soon became clear that by doing this, Shuisky made an unforgivable political mistake.

Swedish assistance brought little benefit, but the entry of Swedish troops into Russian territory gave them the opportunity to capture Novgorod.

In addition, the treaty gave Sweden's enemy, the Polish king Sigismund III, the desired pretext for switching to open intervention.

In September 1609, the troops of Sigismund III besieged Smolensk. The king no longer needed False Dmitry II.

In December 1609, Sigismund III ordered Polish troops to leave the Tushino camp to Smolensk.

The hetman promised the boyars to defeat False Dmitry II on the condition that the Polish prince Vladislav would be elevated to the Moscow throne.

By agreeing to this and holding an oath ceremony to Vladislav at the walls of the Novodevichy Convent, the Seven Boyars committed an act of national betrayal.

In fact, part of the then political elite turned into traitors and accomplices of the Polish-Lithuanian occupiers.

After all, the prince refused to convert to Orthodoxy, and the talk was about Russia’s loss of independence. Patriarch Hermogenes did not oppose what was happening then.

On the night of September 20-21, 1610, the Seven Boyars allowed the Poles into Moscow.

From that moment on, real power in the capital was in the hands of the Polish garrison, commanded first by Zolkiewski, and then by Alexander Gonsevski.

In the fall of 1611, a patriotic movement began in Nizhny Novgorod, which gradually consolidated the majority of classes in an effort to liberate the country from the occupiers.

Under the influence of Hermogenes' letters, the patriots agreed that the first priority was the liberation of the capital and the convening of the Zemsky Sobor to elect a new king.

At the same time, it was decided not to invite any of the foreign contenders to the Russian throne and not to choose Ivan Dmitrievich (the son of Marina Mnishek and False Dmitry II) as Tsar.

At the call of the Nizhny Novgorod elder, meat merchant Kuzma Minin, a second militia began to form.

It was headed by Minin himself and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky.

The fees collected on Minin's initiative from townspeople and villagers provided the first cash receipts for the needs of the militia.

Some grumbled, but many understood that money was needed for a sacred cause: it was a question of whether Russia should exist or not.

The leaders of the second militia began to send letters to other cities, calling on people to join the militia.

But in the end they suffered heavy losses and were forced to go home. During the battle, patriots from the first and second militias showed massive heroism, and their leaders showed high military skill and personal courage.

This victory sealed the fate of the Polish-Lithuanian enemy garrison in the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod.

After suffering for another two months, the Poles and traitor boyars capitulated. Moscow was liberated.

Celebrating National Unity Day is a pre-revolutionary tradition and incomprehensible to the majority of the population. Only the Orthodox holiday of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, also celebrated on November 4, survived 70 years of interrupted tradition - it was this icon that Prince Pozharsky brought to Kitay-Gorod on October 22 according to the Julian calendar. A number of memories of the Moscow Battle have been preserved 1612 and the expulsion of the Poles.

On the morale of the second militia and weapons

The most well-armed were representatives of the border territories: Smolensk, Dorogobuzh and Vyazma. The chronicles specifically note: “And the Poles and Lithuanians were rude to the tar of the eternal enemies who lived close to them and there were frequent battles with them and beat Lithuania in battle.”

Of the peasants, townspeople and simple Cossacks, only the Nizhny Novgorod militias were well dressed and armed. The rest “are many from the Cossack rank and all sorts of black people who do not have anything... they only have one arquebus and a powder flask,” “you are barefoot, and some are Nazi.”

Shortly before the battle, the troops of princes Pozharsky and Trubetskoy took mutual oaths. The Cossacks and nobles of Prince Trubetskoy swore “to stand against the enemies of our Polish and Lithuanian people.” The militia of Minin and Pozharsky responded by “promising everything that they would die for the house of the Orthodox Christian faith.”

Victory of the people's militia over the Poles. High relief from the monument to Minin and Pozharsky

The beginning of the battle for Moscow

The first battle was fought by hundreds of horsemen. The battle lasted from the first to the seventh hour of the day. Hetman Khodkevich brought his infantry into the battle in support of the cavalry. The left flank of the Russian army trembled. “I am advancing against Etman with all the people, but Prince Dmitry and all the commanders who came with him with military men, I cannot stand against Etman with horsemen and commanded all the army to dismount.”

The garrison commanders tried to cut off part of Pozharsky’s forces and destroy them, pressing them to the river. All attempts by the garrison failed, despite the fact that artillery fire was fired at the Russians from the walls. As Budilo recalled, “at that time the unfortunate besieged suffered such damage as never before.”

The battle of Prince Pozharsky with Hetman Khodkevich near Moscow

During these battles, Prince Trubetskoy continued to occupy an observation position. The prince's troops were in no hurry to help Pozharsky, saying: “The rich came from Yaroslavl and alone they can fight off the hetman.”

Decisive battle

On September 3, new style, the second stage of the battle began. Zamoskvorechye became the center of the fighting. It was extremely inconvenient for cavalry actions, however, hundreds of cavalry actively took part in the battle. As Prince Pozharsky later recalled, the hetman’s troops marched “with a cruel custom, hoping for a lot of people.” Hetman Khodkevich himself led soldiers into battle against the Russian militia. Witnesses recalled the battle for the remains of the Zemlyanoy City that the hetman “jumps around the regiment everywhere, like a lion, roaring at his own, commanding him to tighten his weapons.”

The soldiers of Hetman Khodkevich fortified themselves in the Klementyevsky fort, transported there 400 carts with food for the Kremlin garrison and hoisted a banner on the church of St. Clement. Seeing this state of affairs, the cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Abraham Palitsyn, who came with the militia to Moscow, went to Trubetskoy’s Cossacks, who were retreating from the prison, and promised to pay them a salary from the monastery treasury. As Avraamy Palitsyn recalled, the Cossacks “who ran out of the prison from the prison of Saint Clement, and looking at the prison of Saint Clement, seeing the Lithuanian banners on the church ... became green-hearted and sighed and shed tears to God - there were few of them in number - and so they returned and rushed unanimously They approached the fort, and after taking it, they betrayed all the Lithuanian people to the edge of the sword and took away their supplies. The rest of the Lithuanian people were greatly frightened and returned back: Ovi to the city of Moscow, and others to their hetman; The Cossacks are persecuting and beating them...”

B. A. Chorikov “Grand Duke Dmitry Pozharsky liberates Moscow”

The Cossacks recaptured the fort, which ended the first stage of the battle on September 3. During the break, the Russian “infantry will go through the pits and along the crops on the way, so as not to let the etman into the city.” This happened, apparently, on the initiative of the militia themselves, since confusion reigned in the leadership, “the steward and governor, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky and Kozma Minin, were in bewilderment.”

By evening, the militia's counter-offensive began. Minin with the squadron of Captain Pavel Khmelevsky and three noble hundreds crossed the Moscow River and set out towards the Crimean Court. The Lithuanian company standing near the courtyard, seeing the enemy, ran to the hetman’s camp. At the same time, the Russian infantry and dismounted cavalry went on the offensive against Hetman Khodkevich’s camp, “from the pits and from the sprinkles they walked in a vice towards the camps.” Polish witnesses recalled that the Russians “began to attack the hetman’s camp with all their might.”

The offensive was carried out along a wide front against the hetman’s camp and the ramparts of Zemlyanoy City, where the hetman’s troops were now defending themselves. “The whole Cossack arrived at the convoy of the Great Martyr Catherine of Christ, and the battle was great and terrible; The Cossacks sternly and cruelly attacked the Lithuanian army: they were barefoot, and the Nazis only had weapons in their hands and beat them mercilessly. And the Lithuanian people’s convoy was torn apart.”

Liberation of the Kremlin

At the beginning of September, the militia won a victory, however, the heart of Moscow, Kitai Gorod and the Kremlin, were occupied by the Polish garrison.

Knowing that the besieged Poles were suffering terrible hunger, Pozharsky at the end of September 1612 sent them a letter in which he invited the Polish garrison to surrender. “Your heads and lives will be spared,” he wrote, “I will take this upon my soul and ask all military men to agree to this.” This was met with an arrogant refusal.

Expulsion of Poles from the Kremlin. E. Lissner

On October 22 (November 1), 1612, Kitay-Gorod was taken by assault by Russian troops, but there were still Poles who had settled in the Kremlin. The hunger there intensified to such an extent that the boyar families and all civilian inhabitants began to be escorted out of the Kremlin, and the Poles themselves went so far as to start eating human flesh.

Pozharsky offered the besieged a free exit with banners and weapons, but without looted valuables. The Poles refused. Pozharsky and his regiment stood on the Stone Bridge at the Trinity Gate of the Kremlin to meet the boyar families and protect them from the Cossacks. On October 26 (November 5), 1612, the Poles surrendered and left the Kremlin. Budilo and his regiment ended up in Pozharsky’s camp, and everyone remained alive. Later they were sent to Nizhny Novgorod. Coward and his regiment fell to Trubetskoy, and the Cossacks exterminated all the Poles. On October 27 (November 6), 1612, the ceremonial entry into the Kremlin of the troops of princes Pozharsky and Trubetskoy was scheduled. When the troops gathered at Lobnoye Mesto, Archimandrite Dionysius of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery performed a solemn prayer service in honor of the victory of the militia. After which, to the ringing of bells, the winners, accompanied by the people, entered the Kremlin with banners and banners.