The abolition of the oprichnina from year to year goes back centuries, and much of what brought its creation to the long-suffering Russian land is erased from the people's memory. This is very unfortunate, since history has the habit of repeating to people lessons they have not learned. This is especially true today, when there are supporters of the iron dictatorship and autocracy.
Range of historical estimates of the oprichnina
Over the centuries that have passed since the death of Ivan the Terrible, the attitude to those realities that characterized the era of his reign, and, in particular, to the oprichnina, has changed many times. The range of characteristics ranged from evaluating them as manifestations of the tsar’s psychic insanity (the point of view of most pre-revolutionary historians), to recognizing the actions of the oprichnina’s troops as progressive, aimed solely at strengthening the state, centralizing power and overcoming feudal fragmentation (Stalinist position). In this regard, the abolition of the oprichnina was almost an obstacle to progress.
History of the term “oprichnina”
What is the meaning of this term in itself? It is known that he came from the Slavic word “oprich”, that is, “outside”, “separately”, “outside”. Initially, he designated the allotment provided to the widow after the death of her husband, and was outside the main part of the property to be divided.
During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, this name was given to the territories confiscated from their previous owners, transferred to public use and become the property of his servants. The rest of the country was called "zemstvo". There is a clear cunning of the king. From the total mass of lands that belonged mainly to the boyar estate, he allocated a share for the state, which he himself was personified, and, calling it a “widow's share”, assigned himself the role of a humble and offended sovereign, crushed by the arbitrariness of the boyars, who needed defenders.
They became the army of thousands gathered exclusively from the population confiscated and transferred to the state, that is, “oprichnina” territories. In 1565, when this innovation was established, the army was a thousand people, but by 1572, when the abolition of the oprichnina became inevitable, it increased by almost six times. According to the king's plan, she was assigned the role of the national guard, endowed with broad powers and intended to strengthen state power.
Aggravation of the domestic political crisis
Speaking about the reasons that prompted Ivan the Terrible to create a guerrilla, as a rule, they primarily note his conflict with the boyar Duma, which was triggered by disagreements on most public policy issues. Not wishing to listen to any objections, inclined to see signs of a hidden conspiracy in everything, the tsar soon turned from debate to tightening power and mass repressions.
The conflict became especially acute when, in 1562, the patrimonial rights of the boyars were limited by royal decree, as a result of which they were equated with the local nobility. As a result of the current situation, a tendency to flee from tsarist arbitrariness outside the borders of the state that emerged among the boyars became.
Beginning in 1560, the flow of fugitives was constantly increasing, which could not but arouse the anger of the sovereign. The secret departure to Poland of one of the most prominent tsarist dignitaries Andrei Kurbsky, who dared not only to leave the country without permission, but also to send Ivan a letter containing direct accusations against him, received particular resonance.
The beginning of widespread repression
The reason for the beginning of mass repressions was the defeat of the Russian troops in 1564 in the battle with the Lithuanians on the Ule River. It was those who, according to the king, were the direct or indirect culprit of the defeat, became the first victims. In addition, in December of the same year, rumors appeared in Moscow that many eminent boyars, fearing disgrace, had gathered a considerable army in Lithuania and Poland and were preparing a forceful seizure of power.
Thus, the creation of the oprichnina army became the defensive measure of the tsar against real, and often imaginary danger, and the abolition of the oprichnina, which will be discussed below, is a consequence of its complete failure, as a pillar of state power. But this is in the future, and at that moment, before giving free rein to his unbridledness, the tsar had to enlist the support of the broad masses of the people, and with their tacit consent, begin his bloody feast.
Events surrounding the creation of the oprichnina
To this end, Ivan was cast a real performance. Having retired with the whole family to Alexander's settlement, and announcing his abdication due to insults allegedly inflicted on him by the boyars and the clergy, he thereby set on them the lower classes, in the representation of which he was the anointed of God and, in fact, His vicar the earth. The tsar agreed to change his decision only on condition that he was given complete freedom to do trial and reprisal against all who would cause his anger.
His actions provoked the intensity of anti-boyar sentiment among the people, forced the Duma to ask Ivan the Terrible to continue his reign on all the conditions put forward by him. In early January 1565, the people's deputation arrived in the Alexander settlement, then the tsar decided to establish the oprichnina.
Organization of a new military structure
As mentioned above, the first detachment consisted of a thousand people and was completely formed from the inhabitants of the "oprichnina" counties. All recruits swore allegiance to the tsar and a complete break in communication with Zemsky. Their distinctive signs were canine heads suspended from the necks of horses, symbolizing their willingness to seek out sedition, and brooms trimmed to saddles - a sign that the sedition found would be immediately swept out as harmful litter.
The maintenance of a large and constantly growing oprichnina army was assigned to a number of Russian cities, among which the largest were Suzdal, Kozelsk, Vyazma and Vologda. In Moscow itself, several streets were given to them, such as: Nikitskaya, Arbat, Sivtsev Vrazhek and others. Their former inhabitants were forcibly expelled from their homes and relocated to remote parts of the city.
Undermining the economy, the first manifestations of discontent
The confiscation of lands belonging to the zemstvo and their transfer to the possession of the guardsmen dealt a blow to the land ownership of the large feudal nobility, but at the same time undermined the country's economy. The reasons for the cancellation of the oprichnina that followed in 1572 included the destruction by the new landowners of the centuries-old system of providing the country with food. The fact is that the lands that became the property of the new elite, for the most part, indulged in desolation, and no work was done on them.
In 1566 another Zemsky Cathedral was convened, consisting of representatives of all classes . The deputies had not yet dared to request the abolition of the oprichnina to express their dissatisfaction with the arbitrariness of “servants”, but nevertheless appealed to the tsar with a petition to take measures against their atrocities. Ivan the Terrible regarded any such speech as an attempt on his royal rights, and as a result of three hundred petitioners were imprisoned.
Novgorod tragedy
It is known that the reign of Ivan the Terrible (especially during the oprichnina) was characterized by large-scale terror against the population of his own country, the reason for which was the unbridled cruelty of the autocrat, and the motivating reasons were suspicion and suspiciousness. This was especially pronounced during his punitive campaign against the inhabitants of Novgorod, undertaken by him in 1569-1570.
Suspecting the Novgorodians of the intention to transfer under the jurisdiction of the Polish king, Ivan the Terrible, accompanied by a large number of oprichnik troops, marched to the banks of Volkhov to punish the guilty and intimidate future traitors. Having no reason to blame anyone specifically, the king poured out his anger on everyone who fell in his way. For several days, drunk with impunity, the guardsmen robbed and killed innocent people.
Demoralization and decomposition of the oprichnina army
According to estimates of modern researchers, at least 10-15 thousand people became their victims, while the total population of the city at that time did not exceed 30 thousand inhabitants, that is, at least 30% of the citizens were destroyed. It is fair to say that the abolition of the oprichnina in 1572 was largely a consequence of the decline in the moral authority of the tsarist authorities, whose carrier was henceforth considered not as a father and intercessor, but as a rapist and a robber.
However, having tasted the blood, the king and his servants were no longer able to stop. The years following the Novgorod campaign were marked by numerous bloody executions both in Moscow and in many other cities. Only at the end of July 1670 more than two hundred convicts were found dead in the capital’s squares. But this bloody revelry had an irreversible effect on the executioners themselves. The impunity of crimes and the ease of extraction completely demoralized and corrupted the once fully operational army.
Deserters
That was just the beginning. The abolition of the oprichnina was largely a consequence of the events associated with the invasion of the Tatars in 1671. Then, having forgotten how to fight and learned only the habit of robbing civilians, the oprichniks for the most part simply did not appear at the assembly points. It is enough to say that of the six regiments that came out to meet the enemy, five were formed from representatives of the Zemstvo.
In August of the following year, an event occurred, after which the long-awaited cancellation of the oprichnina followed. The Battle of Molody, in which Russians and Tatars fought fifty kilometers from Moscow, without the participation of the guardsmen, was brilliantly won by the Zemsky army led by the princes Vorotynsky and Khvorostinin. She clearly showed the worthlessness and empty burdensomeness for the state of this privileged military-political structure.
Documents preserved from that ancient time indicate that the abolition of the oprichnina, whose date (as is commonly believed) is 1572, was prepared much earlier. This is evidenced by an endless series of executions of the most prominent czar’s close associates from among high-ranking guardsmen, which followed already in 1570-1571. Yesterday’s favorites of the tsar were physically destroyed, those who, in his own words, served him as a support and protection against all who were ready to encroach on the throne. But even the year 1572 did not yet bring final liberation to the people from its oppressors.
The death of the king and the final abolition of the guardianship
In what year did the oprichnina period finally end in Russia? This is a question that does not have a clear answer. Despite the Tsar’s official decree abolishing this structure, the actual division of Russian lands into zemstvo and oprichnins remained until his death (1584).
In 1575, the baptized Tatar prince Simeon Bekbulatovich was placed at the head of the zemstvo Ivan the Terrible . This appointment was preceded by another strip of executions. This time, dignitaries who took places surrounded by the tsar after the defeat of the oprichnik top by him in 1572, as well as a number of high-ranking clergymen, were among the criminals.
Cancellation of the oprichnina and its consequences
About what the oprichnina brought to the people of Russia, our pre-revolutionary historian V.O. Klyuchevsky. He quite rightly noted that in pursuit of imaginary sedition, the oprichnina became the cause of anarchy, and thereby gave rise to a true threat to the throne. He noted that those bloody reprisals with which the tsarist servants tried to protect the sovereign, undermined the very foundations of the political system.
The abolition of the oprichnina (the year the tsar’s decree was issued) was marked for Russia by a difficult situation in the west of the country, where military operations were conducted against the Commonwealth. The Russian army, weakened by the economic crisis reigning in the country, was pushed back by the Poles. The Livonian War, which had ended by that time, also did not bring the expected success. In addition, Narva and Koporje were under Swedish occupation, and their further fate was alarming. Due to the inaction mentioned above and the actual desertion of the oprichnina troops, in 1671 Moscow was ravaged and burned. Against this difficult situation, the cancellation of the oprichnina was announced.
In what year and by whom was the bloody despot not only rehabilitated, but also recognized as the arbiter of progress? The answer can be found in the criticism with which Stalin fell upon the first episode of Eisenstein’s film "Ivan the Terrible", released in 1945. According to him, picked up by Soviet propaganda, the role of Ivan the Terrible in history was deeply positive, and all actions were reduced only to ensuring centralized power and creating a powerful state. As for the methods by which the goals were achieved, this, according to Stalin, was a secondary issue. Through his own activity, the “father of the peoples” fully proved the sincerity of his judgment.