Sovereign of All Russia Ivan 3 was born in an era filled with dramatic events associated with the incessant raids of the Tatars and the fierce struggle of the individual princes, full of treachery and treachery. He entered the history of Russia as the Collector of Russian land. In this, his role in the formation of the state, which subsequently occupied the sixth part of the world, is fully expressed.
Overshadowed childhood
On a frosty winter day, January 22, 1440, a ringing bell rang over Moscow - the wife of Grand Duke Vasily II Maria Yaroslavna safely resolved herself from the burden. The Lord sent the ruler a son-heir, named in holy baptism by Ivan in honor of St. John Chrysostom, whose memory was to be celebrated in the coming days.
The joys of the young prince’s happy and carefree childhood came to an end when in 1445 near Suzdal his father’s squad was completely defeated by the Tatar hordes, and the prince himself was captured by Khan Ulu-Muhammed. Residents of Moscow and its interim ruler Dmitry Yuryevich Shemyaka were waiting for the imminent invasion of adversaries to their city, which inevitably gave rise to panic and a feeling of despair.
The treachery of the enemies of the prince
However, this time the Lord averted the trouble, and after a while Prince Vasily returned, but for this the Muscovites were forced to send a ransom to the Horde, which amounted to an amount beyond their strength. The discontent of the city residents was taken by supporters of the tasteful authorities, Dmitry Shemyaki, and plotted against their rightful lord.
The Novgorod Chronicle tells how Vasily III was treacherously captured and blinded by the order of Shemyaki on the way to the pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. This was the reason behind the nickname “Dark”, which was rooted behind him, with which he is known to this day. To justify their actions, the conspirators started a rumor that Vasily deliberately brought the Tatars to Russia and gave them at the mercy of the cities and volosts subject to him.
Union with the Tver Prince
The future Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilyevich, along with his younger brothers and boyars, who remained faithful to his father, escaped from the usurper in Murom, but he soon managed to lure the young prince to Moscow by cunning, and then sent to Uglich, where his father languished in prison. It is difficult to establish the reason for his further actions - whether the wrath of the Lord was afraid or, more likely, had his own benefits, but only after several months Shemyak released the captive blinded by him and even granted him the specific possession of Vologda.
The assumption that blindness and months spent behind bars broke the prisoner turned out to be a fatal mistake for Shemyaka, which cost him his life later. Once free, Vasily and his son went to the Tver Prince Boris and, having entered into an alliance with him, soon appeared in Moscow at the head of a large squad. The usurper’s power fell, and he himself fled to Uglich. For greater safety, the engagement of the six-year-old Prince Ivan with his daughter Boris Princess Mary, which by that time was only four years old, was made.
First military campaign
In those ancient times, children grew up early, and it is not surprising that at the age of nine the heir begins to be called the Grand Duke, and in 1452 the future sovereign of all Russia Ivan 3 leads the army, directed by his father to capture the Ustyug fortress Kokshengu, where he shows himself to be a fully-formed governor.
Having seized the citadel and plundered the city, Ivan returns to Moscow. Here, in the presence of the higher clergy and at the confluence of a large crowd, he, a twelve-year-old bridegroom, was married to his ten-year-old bride. At the same time, the loyal people of the prince poisoned Shemyak who was hiding there in Uglich, which put an end to his claims to power and stopped the bloody feud.
On the threshold of independent government
In subsequent years, Ivan III Vasilyevich became co-ruler of his father Basil II and, like him, is called the Grand Duke. To this day, coins of that era with the inscription "challenge all Russia" have survived. During this period, his reign is a chain of unceasing military campaigns, in which, led by the experienced governor Fyodor Basenk, he comprehends art of leadership, the skills in which he will be so needed later.
In 1460, Vasily the Dark dies, having made a will before his death, according to which the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich III extended to most of the cities of the country. He did not forget the rest of his sons, endowing each with specific estates. After his death, Ivan exactly fulfilled the will of his father, distributing to each of the brothers the lands due to him, and became the new sole ruler of the Moscow principality.
First independent steps
Having been soon drawn into internal political feuds and internal feuds, the twenty-year-old Ivan III Vasilievich, having received the full power after the death of his father, was a well-established ruler. Having inherited from Vasily II a huge, but administratively poorly organized principality, from the first days of his reign he led a tough line to strengthen and expand it.
Having assumed full power, Ivan first of all took care of strengthening the general positions of the state. To this end, he reaffirmed previously concluded treaties with the principalities of Tver and Belozersky, and also strengthened his influence in Ryazan, putting his man on the reign and giving his own sister for him.
Expansion of state borders
In the early seventies, Ivan III proceeded to the main business of his life - the annexation of the remaining Russian principalities to Moscow, the first of which was the possession of Prince Yaroslavl Alexander Fedorovich, who died in 1471. His heir considered it good, having received the boyar rank, to become a faithful servant of the Moscow ruler.
The Yaroslavl principality was followed by Dmitrovskoye, which also came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duke of Moscow. Soon Rostov lands joined it, the princes of which chose to be among the service nobility of their powerful neighbor.
The conquest of Novgorod and the birth of a new title
A special place in the series of “gathering Russian land,” as this process became known later, is occupied by the capture of Moscow, until then, Novgorod, which, unlike numerous specific principalities, was a free trade and aristocratic state. The capture of Novgorod lasted for a rather long period, from 1471 to 1477, and included two military campaigns, the first of which ended only with the payment of a significant contribution by the Novgorodians, and the second led to a complete loss of independence by this ancient city.
It was the end of the Novgorod campaigns that became the milestone in history when Ivan 3 became the Emperor of all Russia. This happened partly by accident. Two Novgorodians, who arrived on business on business in Moscow, composing a petition in the name of the Grand Duke, contrary to the treatment “lord” accepted up to that time, used the word “sovereign”. Whether it was a random typo or deliberate flattery, but only to everyone, and especially to the prince himself, such an expression of loyal feelings pleased. By this time it is customary to attribute the adoption by Ivan of 3 title of Sovereign of All Russia.
Invasion of the Tatar Khan Akhmat
For the period when the sovereign of all Russia Ivan 3 was at the head of the Moscow principality, the most important historical event falls, putting an end to the power of the Horde. It is known as standing on the Ugra. It was preceded by a series of internal conflicts within the Tatar state itself, the consequence of which was its collapse and significant weakening. Taking advantage of this, Ivan 3, the first sovereign of all Russia, refused to pay the established tribute and even ordered the execution of the ambassadors sent to him.
So unprecedented before impudence gave rise to the Tatar Khan Akhmat, having previously agreed with the Lithuanian ruler Casimir, to begin a campaign in Russia. In the summer of 1480, he crossed the Oka with a large army and camped on the banks of the Ugra River. The Russian army hastened towards him, personally led by Ivan 3, the Sovereign of All Russia. Briefly describing subsequent events, it should be noted that they did not develop into large-scale military operations, but boiled down to only a series of enemy attacks repelled by the Russians.
The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the weakening of Lithuania
Having stood on the Ugra before the onset of winter, not waiting for the help promised by Casimir and fearing the princely squads waiting for them on the opposite bank, the Tatars were forced to retreat. Pursued by the Russians, they went deep into the Lithuanian lands, which they ruthlessly plundered in revenge for the violation of their obligations by the prince.
This was not only the last major invasion of the steppe nomads in Russia, which ended the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also a significant weakening of the Principality of Lithuania, which constantly threatened the western borders of the state. Since this period, the conflict with it has become especially acute, since the accession of considerable territories by Ivan III to the Moscow principality came into conflict with the plans of the Lithuanian rulers.
Policy regarding the Crimean and Kazan Khanates
The clever and far-sighted politician Ivan III Vasilievich, whose years of rule became a period of the ongoing struggle for the independence of the Russian state, entered into an alliance with the Crimean Khanate, which separated as a result of the internecine struggle from the once mighty Golden Horde, to suppress the aggression of the Lithuanians. According to the agreements concluded with Moscow, its rulers repeatedly devastated territories hostile to the Russians with their raids, thereby weakening their potential opponents.
Relations between the Tsar of All Russia and the Kazan Khanate were much worse . Frequent raids of the Tatars forced the Russians to take a series of retaliatory actions that ended in failure. This problem remained unsolvable until the end of the reign of Ivan III and was inherited by his successor.
The construction of Ivangorod
The accession to the Moscow principality of Novgorod created a new problem - Livonia became the north-western neighbor of the Russians. The history of relations with this state knew different stages, among which relatively peaceful periods were replaced by armed conflicts. Among the measures taken by the Sovereign of All Russia Ivan 3 to secure the borders, the most important place is the construction of the Ivangorod fortress on the Narva River in 1492.
Further expansion of the Moscow principality
After the conquest of Novgorod, when Ivan 3 became known as the Sovereign of All Russia, the accession of new lands by him became much more active. Beginning in 1481, the Principality of Moscow was expanded to include territories formerly owned by the Vologda ruler Andrei Menshii, and then Prince Vereisky Mikhail Andreevich.
Subordination to Moscow of the Tver Principality, which eventually turned into an armed conflict that ended in the victory of Ivan, was a certain difficulty. Ryazan and Pskov lands also failed to maintain their independence, and Moscow Prince Ivan III Vasilievich became lord of them after a long but unsuccessful struggle.
The biography of this outstanding ruler of the Russian land is inextricably linked with the transformation of the relatively small specific principality that he inherited into a powerful state. It was this state that became the basis of all future Russia, in the annals of which he entered as Ivan the Great. In terms of the scale of the transformations he made, this ruler ranks among the most honored figures of Russian history.
He completed his life journey in October 27, 1505, only having briefly outlived his wife Sophia Paleolog. Anticipating the imminent death, Ivan the Great retired. The last months he devoted to visiting holy places. The ashes of the “collector of Russian land” have been resting for four centuries in the Archangel Cathedral located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin, the walls of which were erected during his reign and for centuries remained a monument to the era, the creator of which was Ivan 3. The title of emperor of all Russia became permanent after him everyday life and belonged to everyone who happened to ascend to the Russian throne.