Who ruled before Basil 3. Domestic and foreign policy

Stages of formation of the Russian centralized state.

In the XIII-XIV centuries, the prerequisites for the formation of a Russian centralized state were formed - economic and political. The starting point in the development of the feudal economy was the rapid development of agriculture, the development of abandoned lands. There was a need for more new, more advanced tools, which led to the separation of craft from agriculture, and hence the growth of cities. There is a process of exchange in the form of trade between the artisan and the farmer, i.e. between city and countryside. The division of labor between individual regions of the country required the political unification of the Russian lands. Nobles, merchants, artisans were especially interested in this. The strengthening of economic ties was one of the reasons for the formation of a single Russian state. During this period, the exploitation of the peasants intensifies, which leads to an aggravation of the class struggle. The feudal lords strive to legally subjugate the peasants to themselves, to secure them for their property. Only a centralized state can perform such a function. The threat of attack from outside accelerated the process of centralization of the Russian state, because. all strata of society were interested in the struggle against an external enemy.

In the process of formation of a unified Russian state, three stages can be distinguished.

Back in the XII century, there was a tendency to unite the lands under the rule of one prince in the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.

· First stage (end of the 13th century) - the rise of Moscow, the beginning of unification. Moscow becomes the main contender to be considered the center of Russian lands.

· Second phase (1389-1462) - the fight against the Mongol-Tatars. Strengthening Moscow.

· Third stage ( 1462-1505) - the completion of the formation of a unified Russian state. The Mongol-Tatar yoke was overthrown, the process of unification of Russia was completed.

Unlike the countries of Western Europe, the formation of the Russian centralized state had its own characteristics:

· The unification took place against the backdrop of late feudalism, and not flourishing, as in Europe;

· The unification of Russian lands was led by Moscow princes, and in Europe by the urban bourgeoisie;

· First of all, Russia united for political reasons, and then for economic ones, while for European countries the main ones were economic reasons.

Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible, the son of Vasily III, became the first king of all Russia and the supreme judge. The appanage princes were now under the control of proteges from Moscow.

The young centralized state in the XVI century. became known as Russia. The country has entered a new stage of its development.

Activities of Ivan 3.

For the first time, Prince Ivan 3 Vasilievich led the army at the age of 12. And the campaign against the Ustyug fortress turned out to be more than successful. After a victorious return, Ivan married his bride. Ivan 3 Vasilyevich made a victorious campaign in 1455, directed against the Tatars invading Russian borders. And in 1460 he was able to close the way to Russia for the Tatar army.

The prince was distinguished not only by lust for power and perseverance, but also by intelligence and prudence. It was the great reign of Ivan 3 that was the first in a long time that did not begin with a trip to the Horde to receive a label. During the entire period of his reign, Ivan 3 sought to unite the northeastern lands. By force or with the help of diplomacy, the prince annexed to his lands the territories of Chernigov, Ryazan (partially), Rostov, Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Dimitrovsk, Bryansk, and so on.

The domestic policy of Ivan 3 was focused on the fight against the princely-boyar aristocracy. During his reign, a restriction was introduced on the transfer of peasants from one landowner to another. This was allowed only during the week before and the week after St. George's Day. Artillery units appeared in the army. From 1467 to 1469 Ivan 3 Vasilievich conducted military operations aimed at subjugating Kazan. And as a result, he put her in vassalage. And in 1471 he annexed the lands of Novgorod to the Russian state. After military conflicts with the Lithuanian principality in 1487-1494. and 1500 - 1503. the territory of the state was expanded by joining Gomel, Starodub, Mtsensk, Dorogobuzh, Toropets, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky. Crimea during this period remained an ally of Ivan 3.

In 1472 (1476) Ivan the Great stopped paying tribute to the Horde, and the Standing on the Ugra in 1480 marked the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. For this, Prince Ivan received the nickname Saint. During the reign of Ivan 3, chronicle writing and architecture flourished. Such architectural monuments as the Faceted Chamber and the Assumption Cathedral were erected.

The unification of many lands required the creation of a single legal system. And in 1497 a judicial code was created. Sudebnik Ivan 3 united the legal norms previously reflected in "Russian Truth" and Statutory letters, as well as individual decrees of the predecessors of Ivan the Great.

Ivan 3 Sovereign of All Russia, was married twice. In 1452 he married the daughter of the prince of Tver, who died at the age of thirty. According to some historians, she was poisoned. From this marriage there was a son, Ivan Ivanovich (Young).

In 1472 he married the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaiologos, niece of Constantine 9, the last Byzantine emperor. This marriage brought the prince the sons of Vasily, Yuri. Dmitry, Semyon and Andrey. It is worth noting that the second marriage of Ivan 3 caused great tension at court. Part of the boyars supported Ivan the Young, the son of Maria Borisovna. The second part supported the new Grand Duchess Sophia. At the same time, the prince took the title of Sovereign of All Russia.

After the death of Ivan the Young, the great Ivan III crowned his grandson Dmitry. But, Sophia's intrigues soon led to a change in the situation. (Dmitry died in prison in 1509). Before his death, Ivan 3 proclaimed his son Vasily. Prince Ivan III died on October 27, 1505.

Activities of Vasily 3.

In 1470, Ivan the Young, his eldest son, was declared co-ruler of the Grand Duke. The prince's hopes for the transfer of full power to him did not materialize. Ivan the Young died in 1490. After that, Vasily 3 was declared the heir. Officially, he became the co-ruler of his father, starting in 1502. By that time he was the Grand Duke of Pskov and Novgorod.

The internal policy of Vasily 3, as well as the external one, was a natural continuation of the actions of Ivan 3, undertaken by him to defend the interests of the Orthodox Church and the centralization of the state. His activities led to the annexation of significant territories to the Principality of Moscow. In 1510 - Pskov, in 1514 - Smolensk, in 1521 - Ryazan. A year later, in 1522, the Starodub and Novgorod-Seversk principalities were annexed. The reforms of Vasily 3 led to the fact that the privileges of the princely-boyar Russian families were noticeably limited. All serious state decisions were made by the prince personally, consulting only with a narrow circle of trusted persons.

The foreign policy of Vasily 3 had a clearly defined goal - to protect the lands of the principality from raids periodically carried out by detachments of the Crimean and Kazan khanates. To this end, a rather peculiar practice was introduced. Tatars from the noblest families were invited to the service, while allocating land to them. The prince was also friendly towards more distant states. He sought to develop trade with European powers. He considered the possibility of concluding a union (directed against Turkey) with the Pope and so on.

During his life, Vasily 3, whose brief biography is reflected in this article, was married twice. His first wife was a girl from the noblest boyar family, Solomonia Saburova. But, this marriage did not bring children to the prince. On this basis, it was dissolved in 1525. The following year, the prince took another wife - Elena Glinskaya. She gave the prince sons Ivan and Yuri. Vasily 3 died from blood poisoning on December 3, 1533. Vasily 3, whose brief biography is described in the article, was buried in the cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The most important result of the reign of this prince was the completion of the unification of the northwestern and northeastern lands of Russia. Vasily 3 was succeeded by the young son Ivan 4, who later became the most famous ruler of Russia.

Relations with the boyars

Under Basil III, simple specific relations of subjects to the sovereign disappear.

Baron Sigismund von Herberstein, the German ambassador who was at that time in Moscow, notes that Vasily III had power that no monarch had, and then adds that when Muscovites are asked about a matter unknown to them, they say, equaling the prince with God :" We do not know this, God knows and the sovereign".

On the front side of the seal of the Grand Duke there was an inscription: “ Great Sovereign Vasily, by the grace of God, Tsar and Master of All Russia". On the reverse side it read: Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov and Tver, and Yugorskaya, and Perm, and many lands Sovereign».

Confidence in his own exclusivity was instilled in Basil both by his far-sighted father and by the cunning Byzantine princess, his mother. Byzantine diplomacy can indeed be felt in all of Basil's politics, especially in international affairs. In suppressing resistance to his power, he used hard power, or cunning, or both. It should be noted that he rarely resorted to the death penalty to deal with his opponents, although many of them were imprisoned or exiled on his orders. This contrasts sharply with the wave of terror that swept Russia during the reign of his son, Tsar Ivan IV.

Vasily III ruled through clerks and people who did not stand out for their nobility and antiquity of the family. According to the boyars, Ivan III still consulted with them and allowed himself to contradict, but Vasily did not allow contradictions and resolved matters without the boyars with his entourage - the butler Shigona Podzhogin, and five clerks.

I.N. was the spokesman for boyar relations at that time. Bersen-Beklemishev is a very smart and well-read person. When Bersen allowed himself to contradict the Grand Duke, the latter drove him away, saying: Go, smerd, away, I don't need you". Later, for speeches against the Grand Duke Bersen-Beklemishev, they cut off his tongue.

Internal church relations

Thus, the so-called "destinies" were abolished and only simple servants and princes remained in the Muscovite state.

War with Lithuania

On March 14, Sigismund wrote to Rome and asked to organize a crusade against the Russians by the forces of the Christian world.

The campaign began on June 14th. The army under Vasily III moved towards Smolensk through Borovsk. The siege lasted four weeks, accompanied by intense artillery bombardment of the city (several Italian specialists in the siege of fortresses were involved). However, Smolensk held out again: the siege was lifted on November 1.

In February, Vasily III gave the order to prepare for the third campaign. The siege began in July. The city was literally shot by hurricane artillery fire. Fires started in the city. Citizens crammed into churches, prayed to the Lord for salvation from the Moscow barbarians. A special service was written to the city's patron Mercury Smolensky. The city was surrendered on 30 or 31 July.

The triumph of the capture of Smolensk was overshadowed by a severe defeat at Orsha. However, all attempts by the Lithuanians to recapture Smolensk ended in failure.

In the year a truce was concluded with the cession of Smolensk to Moscow until "eternal peace" or "finishing". In the year, according to his vow 9 years ago, the Grand Duke founded the Novodevichy Convent near Moscow in gratitude for the capture of Smolensk.

Wars with Crimea and Kazan

During the Lithuanian War, Vasily III was in league with Albrecht, Elector of Brandenburg and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, whom he helped with money for the war with Poland; Prince Sigismund, for his part, spared no money in order to raise the Crimean Tatars against Moscow.

Since now the Crimean Tatars were forced to refrain from raids on Ukrainian lands belonging to the Grand Duke of Lithuania, they directed their greedy eyes towards the Seversk land and the border regions of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This was the beginning of a protracted war between Russia and the Crimean Tatars, in which the Ottoman Turks later took part on the side of the latter.

Vasily III tried to restrain the Crimeans, trying to make an alliance with the Sultan of Turkey, who, as the supreme ruler, could forbid the Crimean Khan to invade Russia. But Russia did not have any common benefits with Turkey, and the sultan rejected the proposal of an alliance and answered with a direct demand that the Grand Duke did not touch Kazan. Of course, the Grand Duke could not fulfill this requirement.

In the summer, the son and heir of Mengli-Girey, Khan Mohammed-Girey, managed to reach the outskirts of Moscow itself. The viceroy of Cherkasy, Evstafiy Dashkevich, at the head of the Ukrainian Cossacks who were in his service, raided the Seversk land. When Vasily III received news of the Tatar invasion, he retreated to Volok in order to gather more troops, leaving Moscow to the Orthodox Tatar prince Peter, the husband of Vasily's sister Evdokia (+ 1513). Mohammed Giray missed a convenient time and did not occupy Moscow, only devastating the surroundings. Rumors about the hostile intentions of the Astrakhans and the movement of the Moscow army forced the khan to retire to the south, taking with him a huge full.

Khan of Kazan Mohammed-Emin opposed Moscow shortly after the death of Ivan III. In the spring, Vasily III sent Russian troops to Kazan, but the campaign failed - the Russians suffered two serious defeats. However, two years later, Muhammad-Emin returned the captives to Moscow and signed a friendly treaty with Vasily. After the death of Muhammad-Emin, Vasily III sent Kasimov's prince Shah-Ali to Kazan. Kazanians at first accepted him as their khan, but soon, under the influence of the Crimean agents, they rebelled and invited Sahib-Girey, the brother of the Crimean Khan (g.), to the Kazan throne. Shah-Ali was allowed to return to Moscow with all his wives and property. As soon as Sahib-Giray settled in Kazan, he ordered part of the Russians living in Kazan to be destroyed, others to be enslaved.

Construction

The reign of Vasily III was marked in Moscow by the scale of stone construction.

• The walls and towers of the Kremlin were built from the side of the river. Neglinnaya.
• The Cathedral of the Archangel and the Church of John the Baptist at the Borovitsky Gates were consecrated in the same year.
• In the spring of the year, the stone churches of the Annunciation in Vorontsovo, the Annunciation on Old Khlynov, Vladimir in Sadekh (Starosadsky Lane), the Beheading of John the Baptist near Bor, Barbara against the Pansky Court, etc. were laid in Moscow.

Churches were also built on the orders of the tsar in other parts of the Russian land. In Tikhvin in the year for the miraculous

Years of government: 1505 - 1533

From the biography

• The son of Ivan 3 and Sophia Paleolog - the nieces of the last Byzantine emperor, the father of the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible (b. 1530)
• He is called "the last collector of the Russian land", since the last semi-independent Russian principalities were annexed to his reign.
• In the treaty of 1514 With Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian 1- was the first to be named king.
• Idea " Moscow-third Rome"- This is a political ideology that denoted the worldwide significance of Moscow as a political and religious center. According to the theory, the Roman and Byzantine empires fell because they deviated from the true faith, and the Muscovite state is the “third Rome”, and there will be no fourth Rome, since Muscovite Russia stood, stands and will stand. The theory was formulated by a Pskov monk Philotheus in his letters to Vasily 3.

• Note: In 395, the Roman Empire split into Western and Eastern. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476, breaking up into a number of independent states: Italy. France, Germany, Spain. The Eastern Empire - Byzantium - fell in 1453, in its place the Ottoman Empire was formed.
• Josephites these are representatives of the church-political movement, which was formed during the reign of Vasily 3. These are the followers Joseph Volotsky. They advocated strong church power, for the influence of the church in the state, for monastic and church land ownership. Philotheus was a Josephite. Vasily 3 supported them in the fight against the opposition.
• Nonpossessors - sought to restore the shaken authority of the church, which was caused by the desire of the clergy to master more and more land. At the head - Neil Sorsky. They are for the secularization of church lands, that is, its return to the Grand Duke.

The struggle of the non-possessors and the Josephites, which began under Ivan 3, testified to the complex relationship of the princes with the church, the constant rivalry for supremacy in power. Basil 3 relied on the church opposition, and at the same time he understood that relations with the church began to become more complicated.

Historical portrait of Basil III

Activities

1. Domestic policy

Activities	results
1. Completion of the folding of the centralized state.	1510 - annexation of Pskov. The veche system has been abolished. At the head - Moscow governors. 1513 - annexation of Volotsk. 1514 - annexation of Smolensk. In honor of this, the Novodevichy Convent was built in the city - a copy of the Moscow Kremlin. 1518 - annexation of Kaluga. 1521 - annexation of Ryazan and Uglich. 1523 - annexation of the Novgorod-Seversky principality. Association based on a new ideology "Moscow is the third Rome". The author is Philotheus.
Support for the church and reliance on it in domestic politics.	Support for the non-possessors, and then the Josephites in the fight against the feudal opposition.
Further strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke.	The prince had the highest court, was the supreme commander in chief, all laws were issued on his behalf. Limiting the privileges of the boyars, relying on the nobility, increasing the land ownership of the nobles.
Improving the system of public administration.	A new body of power appeared - the Boyar Duma, with which the prince consulted. The tsar himself appointed the boyars to the Duma, taking into account the locality. The clerks began to play an important role. They conducted office work. Local governors and volostels ruled. The position of a city clerk appeared.

2. Foreign policy

Activities	results
1. Defense of the borders of Russia in the southeast from the raids of the Crimean and Kazan khans.	1521 - the raid of the Crimean Khan on Moscow. The constant raids of Mengli Giray - in 1507, 1516-1518, 1521. Vasily 3 hardly agreed on peace. In 1521 - began to build fortress cities on the borders with these khanates in the "wild field".
The struggle for the annexation of lands in the west.	1507-1508, 1512-1522 - Russian-Lithuanian wars, as a result: Smolensk was annexed, the western lands conquered by Ivan 3, his father. But the defeat at Orsha in 1514
3. Establishing peaceful trade relations with countries.	Under Basil 3, Russia developed good trade relations with France and India, Italy, and Austria.

RESULTS OF ACTIVITIES

• Under Basil 3, the process of formation of a centralized state was completed.
• A unified state ideology was created, contributing to the unification of the country.
• The church continued to play an important role in the state.
• Greatly increased the power of the princes.
• There was a further improvement of the system of state administration, a new authority appeared - the Boyar Duma.
• The prince led a successful policy in the west, many western lands were annexed.
• Vasily 3 held back the raids of the Crimean and Kazan khans with all his might, managed to negotiate peace with them.
• Under Vasily 3, the international authority of Russia was significantly strengthened. Trade relations were conducted with many countries.

Chronology of the life and work of Vasily III

1505-1533	The reign of Basil 3.
1510	+ Pskov
1513	+ Volotsk.
1514	+ Smolensk. Construction of the Novodevichy Convent.
1518	+ Kaluga
1521	+ Ryazan. Uglich
1507, 1516-1518, 1521	Raids of the Crimean and Tatar khans.
1521	The raid of the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey to Moscow.
1507-1508,1512-1522	Wars with Lithuania.
1514	Defeat near Orsha in the war with Lithuania.
1523	+ Novgorod-Seversky.
1533	The death of Vasily 3, the three-year-old son Ivan, the future Ivan the Terrible, became the heir.

After the death in 1505 of Grand Duke Ivan III, Vasily III occupied the Grand Duke's throne. He was born in 1479 in Moscow and was the second son of Ivan III and Sophia Palaiologos, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor. Vasily became heir to the throne after the death of his older brother Ivan in 1490. Ivan III wanted to transfer the throne to his grandson Dmitry Ivanovich, but shortly before his death he abandoned this intention. Vasily III in 1505 married Solomonia Saburova, who came from an old Moscow boyar family.

Vasily III (1505-1533) continued his father's policy of creating a unified Russian state and expanding its borders. During his reign, the last Russian principalities were annexed, which had previously formally retained independence: in 1510 - the lands of the Pskov Republic, in 1521 - the Ryazan principality, which in fact had long been completely dependent on Moscow.

Vasily III consistently pursued a policy of liquidation of specific principalities. He did not fulfill his promises to grant inheritances to noble immigrants from Lithuania (princes Belsky and Glinsky), and in 1521 he liquidated the Novgorod-Seversky principality - the lot of Prince Vasily Ivanovich, the grandson of Shemyaka. All other specific principalities either disappeared as a result of the death of their rulers (for example, Starodubskoye), or were liquidated in exchange for granting high places to the former specific princes at the court of Vasily III (Vorotynskoye, Belevskoye, Odoevskoye, Masalskoye). As a result, by the end of the reign of Vasily III, only the inheritances that belonged to the brothers of the Grand Duke - Yuri (Dmitrov) and Andrey (Staritsa), as well as the Kasimov Principality, where pretenders to the Kazan throne from the Chingizid dynasty ruled, but with very limited rights of princes (they had it was forbidden to mint their own coins, the judicial power was limited, etc.).

The development of the local system continued, the total number of service people - landowners was already about 30 thousand.

Basil III supported the expansion of the political role of the church. Many churches were built at his personal expense, including the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation. At the same time, Vasily III completely controlled the church. This is evidenced, in particular, by his appointment of Metropolitans Varlaam (1511) and Daniel (1522) without convening a Local Council, that is, in violation of church law. This happened for the first time in the history of Russia. And in former times, the princes played an important role in the appointment of metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, but at the same time church canons were necessarily observed.

The ascension in the summer of 1511 to the metropolitan throne of Varlaam led to the strengthening of the position of non-possessors among the highest church hierarchs. By the beginning of the 1920s, Vasily III lost interest in nonpossessors and lost hope of depriving the church of its land holdings. He believed that much more benefits could be drawn from an alliance with the Josephites, who, although they firmly held on to church possessions, were ready for any compromises with the Grand Duke. In vain, Vasily III asked Metropolitan Varlaam, a non-possessor by his convictions, to help him fraudulently lure the last Novgorod-Seversky prince Vasily Shemyachich to Moscow, who, without the metropolitan's safe-conduct, resolutely refused to appear in the capital. Varlaam did not make a deal with the Grand Duke and, at the insistence of Vasily III, was forced to leave the metropolitan see. On February 27, 1522, the more accommodating hegumen of the Valaam Monastery, the Josephite Daniel, was appointed in his place, who became an obedient executor of the will of the Grand Duke. Daniil issued a "metropolitan's letter of protection" to Vasily Shemyachich, who, upon entering Moscow in April 1523, was captured and imprisoned, where he ended his days. This whole story created a storm of indignation in Russian society.

Vasily III was remembered by his contemporaries as an imperious man, who did not tolerate objections, who single-handedly made the most important decisions. He dealt harshly with the undesirable. Even at the beginning of his reign, many supporters of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich (grandson of Ivan III) were disgraced, in 1525 - opponents of the divorce and second marriage of the Grand Duke, among them were the then leader of non-possessors Vassian (Patrikeev), a prominent figure in the church, writer and translator Maxim A Greek (now canonized), a prominent statesman and diplomat P.N.Bersen-Beklemishev (he was subjected to a cruel execution). In fact, Vasily's brothers and their specific households were in isolation.

At the same time, Vasily III sought to substantiate the supposedly divine origin of the grand duke's power, relying on the authority of Joseph Volotsky, who in his works acted as the ideologist of strong state power and "ancient piety" (canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church), as well as on the ideas of the "Tale of Princes of Vladimir” and others. This was facilitated by the increased authority of the Grand Duke in Western Europe. In an agreement (1514) with the emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire" Maximilian, Vasily III was even named king.

Vasily III pursued an active foreign policy, although not always successful. In 1507-1508. he waged war with the Principality of Lithuania, and the Russian troops suffered a number of serious defeats in field battles, and the result was the preservation of the status quo. Basil III managed to achieve success in Lithuanian affairs thanks to the events that unfolded in the lands subject to Lithuania.

At the court of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Kazimirovich, the princes of Glinsky, who descended from Mamai and owned vast lands in Ukraine (Poltava, Glinsk), enjoyed enormous influence. Sigismund, who replaced Alexander, deprived Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky of all his posts. The latter, together with his brothers Ivan and Vasily, revolted, which was hardly suppressed. The Glinskys fled to Moscow. Mikhail Glinsky had extensive connections at the court of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian (it was the vast empire of that time, including almost half of Europe). Thanks to the mediation of Glinsky, Vasily III established allied relations with Maximilian, who opposed Poland and Lithuania. The most important success of the military operations of Vasily III was the capture of Smolensk after two unsuccessful assaults. The war continued until 1522, when a truce was concluded through the mediation of representatives of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Lithuania did not recognize the loss of Smolensk, the city became part of the Russian state (1514).

The eastern policy of Vasily III was rather complicated, where the central factor was the relationship of the Russian state with the Kazan Khanate. Until 1521, under the khans Mohammed Edin and Shah-Ali, Kazan was in vassal dependence on Moscow. However, in 1521, the Kazan nobility expelled Vasily III's henchman, the Kasimov Khan Shah-Ali, and invited the Crimean prince Sahib-Girey to the throne. Relations between Moscow and Kazan deteriorated sharply. The Kazan Khanate, in essence, got out of obedience to the Russian state. Both sides began to use military force. Kazan raids resumed, that is, military campaigns on Russian lands, organized by the top of the Kazan Khanate to capture booty and prisoners, as well as an open show of force. In 1521, Kazan commanders took part in a large Crimean campaign against Moscow, Kazan troops made 5 raids on the eastern regions of the Russian state (Meshchera, Nizhny Novgorod, Totma, Uneka). Kazan raids were also undertaken in 1522 (two) and in 1523. To defend the eastern border in 1523, the Russian fortress Vasilsursk was built on the Volga at the mouth of the Sura. However, Moscow did not abandon attempts to restore its control over the Kazan Khanate, to return Khan Shah Ali, obedient to her, to the Kazan throne. For this purpose, a number of campaigns against Kazan were made (in 1524, 1530 and 1532), however, they were unsuccessful. True, in 1532 Moscow still managed to put Khan Jan-Ali (Enalei), brother of Shah-Ali, on the Kazan throne, but in 1536 he was killed as a result of another palace conspiracy, and Safa Giray became the new ruler of the Kazan Khanate - representative of the Crimean dynasty, hostile to the Russian state.

Relations with the Crimean Khanate also escalated. Moscow's ally, Khan Mengli-Girey, died in 1515, but even during his lifetime, his sons actually got out of their father's control and independently raided Russian lands. In 1521, Khan Magmet-Girey inflicted a serious defeat on the Russian army, besieged Moscow (Vasily III was even forced to flee the city), Ryazan was later besieged, and only the skillful actions of the Ryazan governor Khabar Simsky (who successfully used artillery) forced the khan to go back to Crimea. Since that time, relations with Crimea have become one of the most acute problems of Russian foreign policy for centuries.

The reign of Basil III was almost marked by a dynastic crisis. Vasily's marriage to Solomonia Saburova was childless for more than 20 years. The dynasty of Moscow princes could be interrupted, especially since Vasily III forbade his brothers Yuri and Andrei to marry. In 1526, he forcibly tonsured Solomonia into a monastery, and the following year he married Princess Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, who was half her husband's age. In 1530, the son of Ivan, the future Tsar Ivan IV, was born to the fifty-year-old Grand Duke.

IV˜AN III Vasilyevich (January 22, 1440 - October 27, 1505, Moscow), Grand Duke of Moscow (since 1462), eldest son of Vasily II Vasilyevich the Dark. Since 1450, he has been referred to as the Grand Duke - co-ruler of his father. In the reign of Ivan III, a centralized apparatus of power began to take shape: a command system of government was born, the Sudebnik of 1497 was drawn up. Landownership was developed and the political importance of the nobility increased. Ivan III fought against the separatism of the specific princes and significantly limited their rights. By the end of the reign of Ivan III, many destinies were liquidated. In the 1460s-1480s, the Moscow prince successfully fought the Kazan Khanate, which since 1487 fell under the strong political influence of Russia. His most important achievement was the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. With the broad support of the entire Russian population, Ivan III organized a strong defense against the invasion of Khan Akhmat (Standing on the Ugra). During the reign of Ivan III, the international prestige of the Russian state grew, diplomatic ties were established with the papal curia, the German Empire, Hungary, Moldova, Turkey, Iran, and the Crimea. Under Ivan III, the registration of the full title of the Grand Duke of "All Russia" began (in some documents he is already called the king). For the second time, Ivan III was married to Zoya (Sophia) Paleolog, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor. During the reign of Ivan III, large-scale construction began in Moscow (the Kremlin, its cathedrals, the Palace of Facets); stone fortresses were built in Kolomna, Tula, Ivangorod. Under Ivan III, the territorial core of the Russian centralized state was formed: the Yaroslavl (1463), Rostov (1474) principalities, the Novgorod Republic (1478), the Grand Duchy of Tver (1485), Vyatka (1489), Perm and most of the Ryazan lands were annexed to the Moscow principality . The influence on Pskov and the Ryazan Grand Duchy was strengthened. After the wars of 1487-1494 and 1500-1503 with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a number of western Russian lands went to Moscow: Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Gomel, Bryansk. After the war of 1501-1503, Ivan III forced the Livonian Order to pay tribute (for Yuryev).

The reign of Basil III.

After the death of Ivan III, his eldest son from his second wife Vasily III (1505 - 1533) became the Grand Duke.

The new Grand Duke continued his father's policy. Under him, the independence of the last remaining unattached Russian lands was finally eliminated. In 1510, the independent history of Pskov ended: the veche bell was removed and taken to Moscow, the governors of the Grand Duke began to rule the city, and in 1521 the Ryazan principality suffered a similar fate. The last prince of Ryazan was able to flee to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

No less important was another task: to return the Russian lands that continued to be part of Lithuania. In 1512 - 1522. there was another Russian-Lithuanian war. The Moscow government apparently hoped to occupy Smolensk, and then the territories of modern Belarus and Ukraine. But these optimistic hopes were not destined to come true. Only the capture of Smolensk (1514) was a major success. After that, new victories could be expected, but in reality it happened differently: in the same year, the Russian troops suffered a heavy defeat near Orsha. The war, which continued for several more years, did not lead either side to decisive successes. Under the terms of the truce of 1522, only Smolensk with its district became part of Russia.

Results of the reign of Basil III

completed the territorial unification of North-Eastern and North-Western Russia. In 1510, the autonomous state existence of Pskov ceased, and the entire Pskov elite was moved to the central and southeastern districts of the country. In 1521, the "independent" life of the Ryazan Grand Duchy ended. under him, the last semi-independent Russian lands were annexed to Moscow: Pskov (1510), Volotsky inheritance (1513), Ryazan (about 1521), Novgorod-Seversky (1522) principalities. During the reign of Vasily III, the landed estates of the nobility grew; measures were taken to limit the immune political privileges of the princely-boyar aristocracy. In foreign policy, Vasily III fought for Russian lands in the west and southwest, as well as with the Crimean and Kazan khanates. As a result of the Russian-Lithuanian wars of 1507-1508, 1512-1522, Smolensk was annexed to Russia (1514).

12. Alternatives to reforming Russia in the 16th century Reforms of Ivan IV. Oprichnina. From the end of the 1540s he ruled with the participation of the Chosen One. Under him, the convocation of Zemsky Sobors began, the Sudebnik of 1550 was drawn up. Court and administration reforms have been carried out, including the introduction of elements of self-government at the local level (Gubnaya, Zemskaya and other reforms). In 1565, after the betrayal of Prince Kurbsky, the oprichnina was introduced. Since 1549, together with the Chosen Council (A.F. Adashev, Metropolitan Macarius, A.M. Kurbsky, priest Sylvester), Ivan IV carried out a number of reforms aimed at centralizing the state: Zemstvo reform, Lip reform, transformations were carried out in the army, in 1550 adopted new Sudebnik of Ivan IV. In 1549 the first Zemsky Sobor was convened, in 1551 the Stoglavy Sobor, which adopted a collection of decisions on church life called Stoglav. In 1555-1556, Ivan IV abolished feeding and adopted the most successful zemstvo reform took place in the northeastern Russian lands, where the black-eared (state) peasantry prevailed and there were few patrimonials, worse in southern Russian, where boyars-patrimonials prevailed. The betrayal of Kurbsky and the unwillingness of the patrimonial boyars to participate in the struggle against Poland and Lithuania leads the tsar to the idea of ​​establishing a personal dictatorship and defeating the boyars. In 1565 he announced the introduction of the oprichnina in the country. The country was divided into two parts: the territories that were not included in the oprichnina became known as the zemshchina. The oprichnina included mainly the northeastern Russian lands, where there were few boyars-patrimonials. Oprichnik took an oath of allegiance to the king and pledged not to communicate with the Zemstvo. Oprichniki dressed in black clothes, similar to monastic ones. Horse guardsmen had special insignia, gloomy symbols of the era were attached to the saddles: a broom - to sweep out treason, and dog heads - to gnaw out treason. With the help of the guardsmen, who were released from legal liability, Ivan IV forcibly confiscated the boyar estates, transferring them to the noble guardsmen. A major event of the oprichnina was the Novgorod pogrom in January-February 1570, the reason for which was the suspicion of Novgorod's desire to go over to Lithuania. In the abolition of the oprichnina in 1572, according to some historians, the invasion of Moscow in 1571 by the Crimean Khan played a role, the guardsmen showed their military failure. However, most of the Russian troops at that time were on the western borders and the southern border of the state was bare.