In the Time of Troubles, after the invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the territory of Russia, the first militia was created. It was led by a nobleman from the city of Ryazan Prokopiy Lyapunov, who went down in history along with Minin, Pozharsky, Patriarch Filaret and many other defenders and guardians of the Russian land.
Russia 1608-1610
The situation in Russia during this period of time was extremely difficult. False Dmitry II appeared, supported by many cities of Russia, excluding Smolensk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kolomna, and the cities of Siberia. Frightened by this, Vasily Shuisky invites the Swedes to fight the impostor. Together, they managed to free a number of settlements, including Pskov, after which they were sent to defend the city of Novgorod. Due to non-payment of salaries, the Swedes captured it and part of the territories.
After the death of False Dmitry II, the situation in Russia was decided to take advantage of the Polish king Sigismund III. He, together with Lithuania, entered the territory of Russia in 1609. If many Russian cities and settlements recognized the impostor, then the Poles were accepted as interventionists, although the hetmans of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth explained their invasion as an aid to the Russian kingdom. The robbery and atrocities perpetrated by the invaders became the incentive in the creation of the first militia. It was headed by the Ryazan nobleman P.P. Lyapunov.
Shuisky deposition
In 1610, Polish-Lithuanian troops, led by two hetmans, Zholkevsky and Sapieha, surrounded Moscow. They invited the boyars to oust Shuisky, and put royal Vladislav in the kingdom , assuring them that he wanted to convert to Orthodoxy. Having ousted Shuisky, he was cut as a monk against his will and sent to a monastery. The boyars opened the gates of the Kremlin and let the Poles into the city.
Some boyars who were sitting in the Duma nominated Vladislav to the kingdom. His candidacy was supported by part of the townspeople. The Orthodox Church opposed the patriarch Hermogenes, who began to send messages to all parts of the country with calls to resist the invaders. It was at his call that a militia began to form.
The formation of the first militia
The outrages of the Poles in the occupied territories provoked an uprising of more and more people. The creation of the militia was initiated by service people - nobles who benefited from centralized power. The loss of service and the destruction of estates forced them to take up arms. The peasants, robbed by the Poles, collected belongings, cattle and went into the woods, where they organized detachments. It was difficult for the Poles to get supplies, fodder for horses, and find guides.
In many cities, detachments formed that poured into the first militia. P.P. Lyapunov led it at the very beginning, but later former associates of False Dmitry II, Cossack detachments of the atamans of Prosovetsky and Zarutsky, as well as a number of princes and boyars, who subsequently played a negative role in the existence of the militia, joined him.
In Moscow, resistance was also created, in which posadsky and service people, children of the boyars, took part. Having learned about the organization of the militias, the Poles turned to the Ukrainian Cossacks, led by the hetman Sagaidachny, who came to their aid.
First baptism
The first people's militia formed was led by a small-local nobleman Lyapunov, since his main backbone consisted of service people. Cossacks of Sagaidachny captured several cities, including Pronsk, which was repelled by the first militia. Cossacks besieged the city, but the Zaraisk governor, Prince Pozharsky, hurried to the aid of Lyapunov.
After the Cossacks in revenge besieged Zaraysk, but Pozharsky managed to get them to flee. A decision is being made to attack Moscow. Lyapunov calls on the Nizhny Novgorod people to come to their aid in the fight against the Commonwealth. Patriarch Germogen sends his appeals there .
Campaign to Moscow
In early March 1611, detachments of the first militia came to Moscow, headed by Lyapunov and Pozharsky. The Nizhny Novgorod militia had already approached there, uniting in Vladimir with the Cossack detachment of Prosovetsky, Masalsky, and Izmailov. They besieged Moscow, where an uprising broke out. Poles set fire to the houses of citizens. Moscow was on fire. Pozharsky and his detachment managed to enter the city. Poles and German mercenaries settled in Kitay Gorod and the Kremlin.
Militia besieging Moscow began to form the Zemsky Cathedral. It turned out a big contradiction between the nobles and Cossacks. The Poles took advantage of this situation and began to act in a proven way - they threw a letter to Zarutsky, supposedly written by Lyapunov, which said that he was plotting to kill the chieftains. Calling the governor at night on the Cossack circle, they hacked him. Most of the nobles left the camp. Cossacks led by Zarutsky and Trubetskoy fled to Kolomna, and then to Astrakhan. The first militia broke up.