Militia Background
The liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders in the national memory of our compatriots is traditionally revered as one of the most heroic episodes of Russian history. This event is on a par with the ingenious retreat of Kutuzov from the capital in 1812, which led to Napoleon’s flight from Russia. And with the defense of Moscow in 1941, which buried the plan of the lightning war of Adolf Hitler. Today, this event is associated with a state-level holiday - National Unity Day, personifying the militia in the face of the occupier.
Time of Troubles
The beginning of the seventeenth century was a difficult test for Russian statehood. The era, called “Time of Troubles” in school history books, was associated both with internal comprehensive crises and with the strengthening of external enemies. The Livonian war of the late sixteenth century responded to the generation with a severe economic crisis, large-scale famine, stricter serfdom, increasing tension in society and, of course, a decrease in the military potential of the state. Against this background, the interruption of the line of the ruling dynasty, the socio-political turmoil, the frequent deposition of the autocrats on the throne made the Moscow state an easy and tasty morsel for foreigners. Significant weight and influence in the region was gained by the neighbor in the person of the Polish state, experiencing, perhaps, the greatest flowering of its power in its entire history. Under such conditions, the next Russo-Polish war, which began in 1609, quickly led to the fall of a number of important Russian fortresses (such as Smolensk and Kaluga) and the flight, and later the death of False Dmitry II and, as a result, to the occupation of Moscow by the troops of King Sigismund III.
Popular discontent
The occupation lasted two years - from autumn 1610 to autumn 1612. It was during this period that events known as the people's militia took place. When the regular army surrendered to a stronger rival, the popular forces had to take the initiative. The first people's militia began to form in early 1611 on the initiative and under the direction of the nobleman Prokop Lyapunov. The creation of opposition to the Poles and the call of the popular forces was carried out primarily under the banner of protecting the Orthodox land from the Catholic king. The bet on the idea of ​​Orthodoxy provoked a wide response among the people, and in such a situation, Patriarch Germogen, who called for resistance , became an important creator of the militia.
The performance took place in January 1611, when detachments of military men and Cossacks from Ryazan, Novgorod and other cities moved to Moscow. The decisive battles took place in March, when Moscow raged for two days in flame, some Polish units plundered the treasury in preparation for a retreat, but because of disagreements in the rebel camp, the militia’s cause failed and was defeated. Nevertheless, attempts to free the capital were not abandoned. And already in the autumn of 1611 in Nizhny Novgorod, a new militia began to form. This time, Zemsky warden Kuzma Minin and young nobleman Dmitry Pozharsky, who again called on people to defend Orthodoxy, became its leaders. The second popular militia continued to be actively formed throughout the whole subsequent 1612, incorporating the remains of the first defeated people's army, as well as including new detachments of citizens and peasants of the central regions. In April 1612, the main forces of the rebels were concentrated in Yaroslavl, where a kind of main military headquarters, the Council of All Lands, was created.
Expulsion of the Poles
Already in the second half of August, the rebels managed to enter besieged Moscow and besiege the inner walls of the city, behind which the Poles hid. In the main battles, the military garrison of Hetman Jan Khodkevich was defeated and the Kremlin was taken, after the surrender of which Moscow was finally liberated.
Thus, it is difficult to overestimate the role of the people's militia in saving the Russian statehood.