15 (25) May 1591 in the city of Uglich, while playing with peers, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, 8-year-old Dmitry Ioannovich, dies. With his death, the Rurik dynasty ends. A period is coming in Russia, which historians will call the Time of Troubles.
Time of Troubles
Bloody civil strife, lack of central authority, lawlessness… As a result, power will be in the hands of foreign interventionists - Polish magnates who will come to Russia with their troops and their false tsar. How did it happen that a western protege ended up on the Russian throne, and that the once mighty state plunged into a state of continuous civil war for 15 years, torn apart by Polish troops from the west and Swedish from the north? Centuries later, we can say that this was the result of a multi-move complex game played by the West against Russia.
Heirs to the Throne
The youngest son of Ivan the Terrible was born from the last marriage of the tsar. The autocrat had 8 children, but after his death in 1584, only two remained - Fedor and Dmitry. Dmitry was born on October 19 [29], 1582 in Moscow. Fedorwas considered weak-minded, but this did not prevent him from ascending the throne. He had no children, so after his older brother, the throne would have passed to Dmitry Ioannovich. Despite the fact that he was seriously ill from birth. He had epilepsy, or, as they said then, "falling sickness."
Interests of the West
The version that the West could have been involved in the death of the prince sounds unexpected. But this is only at first glance. Let's look at those distant events through the prism of time. As you know, a few years after the death of the prince, the Troubles began. A country without an heir to the throne was under attack. The struggle for the throne, a deep economic crisis, the Seven Boyars. Noble families are tearing the country apart. Swedish intervention, the appearance of False Dmitry and, as a result, the capture of Moscow by the Poles. It seems that someone deliberately shook the country from the inside. Rich and great Russia was to be captured, subjugated and plundered for the sake of the strategic interests of the West and the pocket of its own elite.
How to conquer Russia?
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, Russia still remained a powerful state capable of responding to all the attacks of its neighbors. And she herself hatched serious geopolitical plans. Therefore, they were afraid to openly fight with Moscow. From this point of view, the most logical first step for loosening Russia from within would be the liquidation of Tsarevich Dmitry Ioannovich. After all, at that time in Russia they strictly observed the hereditary transfer of the throne. The absence of an heir could result in popular unrest, riots andthe collapse of the country. But if the West is somehow involved in the death of the prince, you must first prove that the prince Dmitry Ioannovich was really killed, because the official version insists on an accident. But was it really so?
Version 1 - Accident
Immediately after the death of Dmitry Ioannovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible, an urgently created government commission began investigating his death. The commission had to immediately cordon off the scene, make a detailed description of it. But this is not the case. Just as there is no where the body of the prince was after the death, in what position it lay, what the wound looked like, what clothes the boy was wearing. Neither the exact time of the incident nor the characteristic traces were recorded. The commission was supposed to collect all this important information in the very first hours after arriving in Uglich, but it did nothing.
Of all the investigative actions - only the interrogation of witnesses, and even then with gross violations. Right on the street, in front of everyone. Therefore, the witnesses speak like a carbon copy - with the same words. This is the conclusion the commission came to: “The prince himself slaughtered himself, playing with a knife in“Poke”, in a fit of epilepsy.” That is, the commission confirms the version of the accident.
But just 15 years later, Vasily Shuisky, having ascended the Russian throne, will declare something completely different - Tsarevich Dmitry Ioannovich was treacherously killed, and the conclusions of the commission of inquiry were fabricated under pressure from above. And even name the mainthe culprit of the tragedy - Boris Godunov. This version was followed not only by Shuisky. Rumors that it was he who removed the future heir in order to take the throne himself were very popular among the people. Not without reason in Russian history and literature, Dmitry remained the victim of Boris Godunov, the “bloody boy”, as Pushkin would later write. But it turns out that Boris Godunov himself and his reputation suffered the most as a result of this death. He was never able to become a truly legitimate king, create a dynasty and earn the love of the people.
Version 2 - Assassination
So, everything suggests that, most likely, the death of the prince was not accidental - he was killed. This version is confirmed by the great Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin. But who benefited from his death? To the official regent of Ivan the Terrible - Boris Godunov, or was it still the intrigues of the Western neighbors who decided to behead the country, depriving it of the heir to the throne? And here new witnesses enter the scene. This is the mother of the prince and her relatives. A more detailed description of the circumstances of the death of the prince is given by the historian Nikolai Karamzin.
Canonization of Tsarevich Dmitry
The historical fact also speaks in favor of this version - 15 years later, in 1606, after the death of Dmitry Ioannovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible, he was canonized. Can the Orthodox Church recognize a suicide as a saint? In addition, in the description of the life of St. Dmitry, the specific names of his killers will be indicated. In the Russian Church, this day they perform a prayer service for all those in need. In Uglich, it is considered a children's day. In memorySt. Demetrius is a religious procession. It is attended by graduates of Orthodox educational institutions and all comers.
Unresolved issue
It is obvious that the prince still died in 1591, at 6 am Dmitry Ioannovich was brutally murdered. But who was the customer and executor of this murder? Godunov, as it turned out, was not very profitable, and there is no direct evidence of the involvement of the West.
But there is a fact that is beyond doubt. Even then, in the 16th century, the first ever hybrid war was waged against Russia. If the West did not have a direct relationship to the death of the prince, then it is obvious that he did not fail to take advantage of the most difficult situation in order to finally carry out his long-standing plans against our country. And they almost succeeded then.
