The Time of Troubles in Russia is the period of 1598-1613, when the state experienced political and socio-economic crises. The Tatar invasion, the Livonian war, the oprichnina I. Grozny led to destabilization and contributed to the growth of dissatisfaction with the authorities.
S. Soloviev believed that the main reason for the Troubles was the clash of old retinues with the new state, expressed in the struggle of the kings with the nobility. N. Kostomarov considered the cause of the Time of Troubles the machinations of the Polish king and papal authority. V. Klyuchevsky saw the roots of the problem in the peculiarities of the development of the Russian state itself: in the fact that the anomaly was characteristic of the supreme power - the tsar was not only a ruler, but also an henchman of the Russian land. Some historians saw the cause of the Troubles the very reign of Ivan the Terrible, his unreasonable domestic policy, which led to the division of society into groups in the struggle for land.
Stages of Troubles
The first stage was characterized by the struggle for the Russian throne of various applicants. The first after the death of Ivan the Terrible, his son Fedor, who turned out to be incapable of governing the country, ascended the throne, and it actually passed to his wife’s brother, Boris Godunov. His partying was accompanied by serious upheavals for the country. The board of the "impostor" caused a storm of discontent among the people.
The turmoil in Russia actually begins with the appearance in Poland of False Dmitry (Grigory Otrepiev), who proclaimed himself the surviving son of Ivan the Terrible. Part of the Russian population immediately supported him, then he won the support of the governor and all of Moscow. In 1605, he became the rightful king, but his excessive independence caused discontent among the boyars, and the open support of serfdom turned the peasantry against him. May 17, 1606 False Dmitry I was killed and Vasily Shuisky ascended the throne, subject to the restriction of his power.
The second period of Troubles began with the popular uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov, which was directed against the existing government. In the battle of Moscow, Bolotnikov was defeated. But the discontent of the people did not stop. Against this background, False Dmitry II appears. At the beginning of 1608, his army advanced towards Moscow. In July, he settled in Tushino near Moscow, declaring it the real capital of Russia.
In response to this, Shuisky concluded an agreement with Sweden and the Commonwealth, which launched aggressive actions and forced False Dmitry II to flee to Kaluga. Shuisky was overthrown and tonsured a monk.
In Russia, the period of the Semiboyarschina — the interregnum — came when a council of seven boyars appeared in power. They entered into an alliance with the Polish invaders, and in 1610 Moscow swore allegiance to the Polish king. At the end of the year, False Dmitry II was killed, but this did not stop the war for the throne.
The Time of Troubles in Russia entered the third period, which was characterized by a struggle with external invaders. Russian lands united for the war against the Poles, which acquired a national character. The people's militia of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky reached Moscow in August 1612 and freed her. This meant that the Time of Troubles in Russia of the 17th century ended.
Zemsky Cathedral February 21, 1613 the rightful king appointed the young Mikhail Romanov. This was preceded by a number of major events, such as the campaign of militias against Moscow, the convening of the Zemsky Cathedral and Pozharsky’s work to choose the rightful sovereign.
Time of Troubles and Its Consequences
The country of Troubles came out with a ravaged treasury, which fell into decay by trade and crafts. The results of the unrest threw Russia back in development compared to European countries. To restore the economy, it took several decades.
Troubles in Russia became a turning point for the country. She revealed two shortcomings that were characteristic of the Russian government. There was a discrepancy between the claims of the boyars (which wanted to limit the powers of the king) to the nature of the supreme power and the view of the people on it (who wanted to see absolute power). An uneven distribution of responsibilities between classes also emerged, which sacrificed all private interests to the state.
All this made the Troubles not just a solution to the dynastic issue, but a real socio-political struggle of the lower classes against the upper classes. But this did not lead to the collapse of society, and a foreign invasion aroused a sense of national unity in all layers.