In the "stateless" time after the death of Ivan the Terrible with the sick and weak Fedor, the boyars began an open struggle for power. The most powerful of them was the former Oprichnik Godunov. After the death of Fyodor, Patriarch Job convened a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new sovereign. The council of the patriarch, the boyar’s thought and service people and representatives of the commercial and industrial population of Moscow gathered at this cathedral. The most likely candidates were two people: Tsar’s brother-in-law Boris Fedorovich Godunov and cousin of Tsar Fedor, the eldest son of Nikita Romanovich - Fedor Nikitich Romanov.
The years of the reign of Boris Godunov fell on a difficult time in the history of the Russian state. It was a period from 1598 to 1605. In fact, the future king was in power already with the sick son of Ivan the Terrible - Fedor.
The reign of Boris Godunov began ambiguously. In February 1598, the Council proposed the throne to Boris, but he refused. In order for him to agree, a procession was organized in the Maiden monastery, where Boris was with his sister. The future king was forced to agree to ascend the throne. Thus, the election of Godunov was popular. However, there was an opinion that he secretly resorted to threats and bribery in order to achieve this.
Boris was married to the kingdom only on September 1, making sure of the strength of the popular election. The reign of Boris Godunov throughout its entire length was especially careful. He was afraid of attempts on his power, eliminated all the boyars suspicious for themselves. His real rival was only Fedor Nikitich Romanov, as a result of which all the Romanovs were put on trial on charges of conspiracy against the sovereign. The boyars did not like the tsar, considering him the successor of Grozny with his persecution of the nobility.
The reign of Boris Godunov was a continuation of the policy of Fedor, more precisely what Godunov did under him. By all means, he sought to restore the people's well-being, disrupted in the era of Grozny. In foreign policy, he sought to avoid clashes, to refrain from new wars. He cared about strengthening justice, he wanted to be a good sovereign for the people. He really gave many benefits to the common people. For three years in a row, since 1601, there was a crop failure, the bark led to mass starvation. Boris arranged free distribution of bread to the hungry from the royal treasury, began large constructions in the capital to give people income.
The reign of Boris Godunov was accompanied by hunger, robbery, but this was not his fault. However, this contributed to the growing discontent of the king. Behind the famine came a second misfortune - a popular uprising for the self-proclaimed Tsarevich Dmitry. During this struggle, Boris Godunov unexpectedly died (1605).
Godunov attached great importance to European education. The tsar communicated with foreign experts in the field of technology and medicine, willingly took them to public service. He sent youth to foreign countries, planned to arrange Moscow schools in a foreign manner. He formed a military detachment of Germans on a foreign model. Under Godunov the tendency of the Moscow government to closer contacts with the enlightened West and the assimilation of European knowledge was clearly visible.
So the reign of Boris Godunov is briefly described by most historians. Many people doubt how lawfully he got power, believing that it was his job to kill the youngest son of Grozny, Tsarevich Dmitry, in Uglich.