The Livonian War (1558-1583) is the most important event for the northern lands of Russia, and the defense of Pskov is the most important for military history. The country fought a war for international trade routes and access to the Baltic against the Livonian Order. At first, Russia was lucky - a successful attack on the eastern part of Livonian lands ended in victory. But after the collapse of the order in 1561, neighbors entered the war, who also wished to occupy pieces of the disintegrated country. Russia had to fight with Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.
Heroic Pskov
In the very first days of the Livonian War, Pskov took an active part in it: the army of Ivan the Terrible passed in the winter of 1558, and then the Pskovs, led by Prince Shuisky, joined this campaign. The defense of Pskov was still ahead, but already in 1559 the Germans ravaged the environs of Krasnoye and Sebezh, constantly receiving resistance. Then the Lithuanians invaded almost to the city itself, ruining and burning everything in its path, they were also recaptured quite quickly, but in 1569 they returned and took the city of Izborsk.
The Poles, led by King Stefan Batory in 1579 captured Polotsk, and a year later invaded the Pskov and Novgorod lands. Russian troops at the moment were not going through their best times, and Bathory knew this well, and therefore, through his ambassadors, demanded Poland Livonia and the original Russian lands along with Pskov, Novgorod and Smolensk. Naturally, Ivan the Terrible did not make such a deal, and in the summer of 1580 the Polish army approached the Great Onions. The inhabitants of this glorious city could not resist a strong army, and therefore they themselves burned the ambush and hid everything in the fortress. They refused to give up. The forces were unequal, the city was taken, everyone was killed.
Batoria Campaign in Pskov
In 1581, the royal army of Poland went to Pskov. If Bathory had succeeded in capturing this city, perhaps Ivan the Terrible would have been forced to agree to such an unjust world and surrender all the northwestern Russian lands. But the defense of Pskov took place. We know about these heroic events from numerous testimonies from both warring parties. The description of such an event as the defense of Pskov, could not ignore the king’s secretary Stanislav Piotrovsky, who kept a diary, describing in detail every day of the siege. For thirty weeks the city’s defenders opposed an entire Polish army, which fiercely stormed this stronghold, then tried to dig holes under the walls, then started betrayals. Everything was in vain. The defense of Pskov under Ivan 4 stood unshakable.
Even when Bathory decided to occupy the Pechora fortress, the attempt failed. The defenders of the fortress stood to death. Then he made concessions, as the war stalled, and the army was tired. January 1582 was the time of signing the armistice for five years, in which Bathory abandoned its original intentions and returned the captured Russian cities. The defense of Pskov under Ivan 4 was able to save his native land from the invaders, moreover, the old Russian borders were preserved. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the second defense of Pskov took place. This time the adversary was different, and the savior and protector of the Russian land was the same city that had nurtured heroes. The first siege taught many citizens. Now they knew how not only to defend themselves, but also to attack. The long and difficult period of foreign intervention ended in the victory of the staunch and courageous Russian people. In 1611, the Swedes captured the cities of Staraya Russa, Ladoga, Novgorod, Gdov, Porkhov, and the king of Sweden, Gustav-Adolf, decided that the heroic defense of Pskov was a thing of the past. However, he miscalculated.
Swedes
The Swedes tried to take Pskov in early 1615, were repulsed, and in the summer they gathered a huge army under the command of General Horn and again surrounded the city. The king himself arrived to see how Pskov would fall. But the defenders of the city would have been proud of the already deceased Ivan the Terrible. The defense of Pskov, whose opponent this time was much stronger than the Poles and Livonian knights, held on just as firmly, actions were thought out, sorties were usually successful. Swedish troops captured the Snetogorsky monastery and settled there. Literally on the same day, the inhabitants of Pskov made a sortie and caused him tangible damage, even General Horn did not survive. The king was frightened of such failure and decided that his army was not huge enough. Withdrew his forces to the banks of the Velikaya River and requested reinforcements.
A few months later, mercenary detachments arrived, and Gustav-Adolf returned to the Snetogorsky monastery. The city was completely surrounded, all roads were blocked - a complete blockade. They decided to beat the enemy from the north - from the Ilyinsky Gate to the Barlaam Tower. They built fortifications, put artillery and gradually destroyed the wall. Pskov resisted. Breaks in the walls were instantly repaired, and sorties were made almost daily, usually with great damage to the enemy.
Gustav-Adolph was tired of such resistance and continued peace talks with Russia. He wanted favorable conditions for peace, but here the Pskovs blew up all the gunpowder in his camp. I had to retreat from Pskov and return the Russian cities of Russia - Ladoga, Novgorod, Porkhov, Staraya Russa, Gdov and many other lands occupied by the interventionists. The first defense of Pskov - from the troops of Stefan Batory - was much harder, but it taught many citizens.
Reasons for the Livonian War
The Livonian Order was founded at the end of the twelfth century and took possession of almost the entire territory of the modern Baltic - Kurland, Livonia and Estonia. However, by the sixteenth century his power had almost exhausted. Firstly, the power of the Order was undermined by internal strife generated by the increasingly strong Reformation movement: the Order Masters could not find a consensus in their relations with the Archbishop of Riga, the cities did not recognize any of them, the hostility grew more and more. The weakening of Livonia enjoyed all its neighbors, even Russia. The fact is that before the appearance of the order on these lands, Russian princes completely controlled the Baltic territories, so now the Moscow sovereign considered his rights to Livonia legal.
It is difficult to overestimate the commercial significance of the coastal lands, and the Livonian Order limited relations between Russia and Western Europe, without passing merchants and entrepreneurs through their regions. Strengthening of Russia, as now, did not want a single country. Also, the European masters and goods from Europe, the Livonian Order did not pass to Russia. For this, the Russians belonged to the Livonians, respectively. Watching the weakening of intractable neighbors, the Moscow sovereign began to fear that a more hostile neighbor might well appear in the place of the Livonians. Ivan the Third built his Ivangorod opposite the city of Narva. And even more developed the claim to access the Baltic Sea Ivan 4. The defense of Pskov, whose opponent decided to prove his wrongness to the Russian Tsar, showed how timely these claims were.
The beginning of the Livonian war
The king was confident of easy success, but the Livonian war dragged on, unlike the previous one, with the Swedes, when the outcome was quite quick and successful. This time, Ivan the Terrible remembered the Livonians old treaties obliging them to pay tribute to the Russian state, which had not been made for a very long time. The Livonians delayed negotiations, as long as they could, but the king quickly lost his patience and, breaking off relations of good neighborliness, in 1558 began the twenty-five-year Livonian war, at first successful. Russian troops marched almost all of Livonia, not counting the strongest castles and powerful cities. Livonia alone was not able to offer decent resistance - Moscow was already quite powerful then.
The state of the Order disintegrated, surrendering in parts to its most powerful neighbors. Estonia - Sweden, Livonia - Lithuania, the island of Ezel - the Danish duke Magnus, but Courland ceased to be a church possession, undergoing secularization. Master Ketler became a duke and recognized himself as a Polish vassal. It is only natural that the new owners demanded that Ivan the Terrible abandon the occupied territories. It is even more clear that the king was not going to refuse anything. Then, new participants appeared on the Livonian war field. Nevertheless, Moscow has won so far. The tsarist forces ravaged Lithuania to the very Vilnius. Lithuanians agreed for the sake of peace and give Polotsk. But the Zemsky Sobor of Moscow did not agree to the world. The war lasted another ten years. Until one of the most talented commanders appeared on the Polish-Lithuanian throne.
Stefan Bathory
Russia was just as brutally weakened by a long war. In addition, the oprichnina was ruined by the country. In the south, the Crimean Tatars annoyed, demanding the entire Volga region, the Astrakhan and Kazan Khanates. In 1571, Khan Devlet-Giray unexpectedly organized a multi-armed invasion, which ended in the burning of all of Moscow except the Kremlin. The next year it was no longer possible to repeat success - the Russian rati, led by Mikhail Vorotynsky, defeated the Tatars under Molodyu. It was at this time that Stephen Batory, the state center of the country, became very impoverished both in resources and in people. Large rati for the Livonian fronts was impossible to collect. The onslaught did not meet the rebuff. In 1578, Russian troops were defeated at Verdun.
In the Livonian War, a turning point came. A year later, Stefan Batoriy recaptured Polotsk, and then Velikiye Luki and Velizh. Ivan the Terrible tried to put pressure on Batoria diplomatically, sending embassies to the Austrian emperor and the pope. But the Polish king was not interested in the proposals of the Russian Tsar, and in 1581 he besieged Pskov. It was difficult, but the defense of Pskov withstood. They tried to circumvent Stefan Batoria even during the election of the King by the Sejm, but neither Germany nor Moscow could seize the prince or the prince on the throne. The Transylvanian voivode, who showed his full power, was chosen. And after the armistice, the war resumed. True, the Russian sovereign began it, and the defense of Pskov during the Livonian War showed the West how persistent and inventive Russians can be in the face of invaders.
The situation at the beginning of the war
At the same time, there were wars with Sweden, where the Russians did not succeed in taking control of the city of Revel and access to the Baltic. Livonia, however, obeyed, although the triumph of the Russian sovereign did not last very long. In vain did he look down on Stefan Batory, he did not call his brother in the negotiations, but his neighbor - because of the origin not of the king. Ivan the Terrible always considered Livonia to be his own estate. And this commoner, chosen by the will of the people, had battle-hardened German and Hungarian infantry, tested by campaigns, for the armament of which he spared no means, he had many guns - big and good.
And of course, there was a reckoning on the victory over the poorly armed disordered ranks of the Russian troops. The leader Stefan Batory was skillful. But Ivan the Terrible is not a bastard either. The defense of Pskov showed how much. Polotsk also defended for more than three weeks, but could not stand it, although all the residents from small to large took part in the defense - put out fires and helped soldiers. The massacre in Polotsk after its capture by Stefan Batory was monstrous, as it was later, when the Polish king took the city outside the city - Usvyat, Velizh, Velikiye Luki.
Bathory Requirements
Ivan the Terrible was forced to negotiate, where he proposed Poland to Livonia - except for four cities. However, Stephen Bathory demanded not only all of Livonia, but also Sebezh. And besides, a lot of money - four hundred thousand gold to cover its military costs.
In his letters, he dared to insult the Russian Tsar, calling him the Moscow Pharaoh and the Wolf. Attempts to make peace from this did not become more successful. In 1581, Polish troops took the island and besieged Pskov. And here all the successes and all the pride of the gentry ended, because the defense of Pskov began. The Livonian war has reached a new level.
Pskov Fortress
The city at that time had a rather stable fortress: the recently renewed walls were strong, numerous cannons were put on them, a powerful army was formed with experienced governors. The defense of Pskov was led by Ivan Shuisky, the prince famous for his valor. These memorable events are described in a detailed legend - "Tales of the Pskov siege." Defenders of the city built internal fortifications and strengthened the outer wall, while the Poles dug trenches and put their guns around the perimeter.
The dawn of September 7 began with a hurricane of twenty guns. The bathhouse really needed breaks in the wall for an attack. Indeed, the wall was quickly shot down in many places, and the path to the city was open. The governors sitting at dinner had already seen dinner in Pskov. But the defense of Pskov Batoria stopped. All the inhabitants of the city, not only the army, fled to the siege bell battle. Everyone who could hold weapons hurried to the breaks, to the most dangerous places. From the walls, the advancing Poles were poured with heavy fire, but confidence in victory drove them forward literally over the corpses. They nevertheless burst into the city.
Russian miracle
Already two Pskov towers were crowned with Polish royal banners, and the Russians were exhausted under the pressure of enemy hordes. Prince Shuisky, drenched in his own and alien blood, left the dead horse and kept the retreating Russian ranks by his example. At this difficult moment, the Pskov clergy appeared in the thick of the battle with the image of the Mother of God and the relics of the saint, on the Russian land, the radiant Vsevolod-Gabriel. The soldiers noticeably perked up and rushed into the battle with renewed vigor. The Svinuz tower, filled with enemies, suddenly flew up into the air - the Russian governors blew it up. In a ditch in many layers lay the corpses of enemies in the tower. The enemy troops were amazed, filled with horror and dumbfounded. Of course, the Russians were not taken aback and hit together. Polish troops were crushed and defeated literally on the run.
Pskov residents participated in the battle on equal terms - they cleaned the wounded, brought water, moved cannons thrown by the enemy onto their walls, and collected prisoners. The heroic defense of Pskov triumphantly turned the first page of its annals. Further, Batorii tried to defeat Pskov by all means: by digging, firing round-the-clock hot cores, set fire to the city, by exhortation letters to Russian governors with promises of benefits in case of surrender and inevitable terrible death with the same perseverance. By the way, letters had to be sent with arrows, because the Pskovs did not go to negotiations. They sent the answer in the same way. There it was written in Russian: we will not give up Pskov, we will not change, we will fight. And against the undermining, the Pskovs had their own mines. Those who dared to break the walls, hiding behind shields, got boiling tar.
World
Ivan the Terrible, however, concluded, and there were many reasons for this. The bathory was hoping for an easy victory, but Pskov still did not take it. Four and a half thousand Pskov warriors against fifty thousand selected Polish troops withstood the siege and won, in thirty weeks literally exhausting the enemy regiments. Defensive work on closing holes in the walls, digging ditches was constant and carried out by residents.
The suburbs near the city were previously burned by the Pskovites, and the entire population of the suburbs took refuge in the city. The enemy army was left without communications, because the inhabitants of the city made frequent sorties, peasants robbed Polish wagons, attacked scouts, foragers, and selected food was delivered to Pskov. Batory did not immediately realize that he had lost. But in 1581, he nevertheless went to negotiations with the Russian Tsar and concluded a truce.