The territory currently occupied by Estonia and Latvia belonged to the Livonian Order in the 16th century. These lands became the main arena of hostilities, which had grave consequences for medieval Russia. The armed conflict between the Muscovy, the Livonian Order, Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lasted a total of 25 years. In the end, the Livonian War initiated by Ivan the Terrible was lost. Why did this happen and what consequences did it have for the Russian state? To answer these questions, you must first consider the causes of the Livonian War.
The main task of foreign policy
By the middle of the 16th century, the Moscow kingdom completely took control of the Volga trade route. Having achieved such a brilliant success, Ivan the Terrible turned his attention to the western borders of the state, in particular, to the B altic Sea. The king's interest was justified. The country was in dire need of direct trade relations with European countries, for which it was necessary to have its own ports in the B altic.
However, Russia was separated from the sea by the possessions of the Livonian Order, which actively prevented Russian trade in the west. Thus, the only thing leftthe solution is to win access to the B altic coast during the war. The goal seemed promising, since the Livonian Order at that moment was experiencing acute internal contradictions.
Casus Belli
When the foreign policy task was defined, a pretext was needed to start hostilities. Such a belli case was soon found. It turned out that the Livonian Order did not comply with the agreements signed with the Moscow kingdom in 1554. Firstly, the Livonians, contrary to their obligations, entered into allied relations with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II, and secondly, they did not pay the so-called Yuryev tribute.
The latter was an annual tax, which, according to the agreement of 1503, concluded between the Yuryev (Derpt) bishopric and Moscow, was to be paid by the Order for the Russian territories captured by it in the XIII century. However, in 1557 the Livonian authorities refused to pay tribute. Taking advantage of this pretext, in January 1558 Ivan IV went on a campaign with the Russian army. Thus began the Livonian War.
Victories and miscalculations
The first stage of hostilities for the Russian army was quite successful. Having launched an offensive with two armies, the troops of the Moscow Tsar captured about 20 cities and fortresses, among them were:
- Derpt;
- Riga;
- Narva;
- Revel.
After these victories, the Livonian Order turned to Ivan IV with a request to conclude a truce for a period of 6 months, which was done in 1559. However, it soon became obvious what a serious mistakecommitted by the king and his government.
The crushing defeats that the Livonian army suffered at the first stage of the war showed that the Order itself could not resist the Moscow State. Therefore, taking advantage of the truce, he hastened to go under the protection of Poland and Lithuania. In addition, Sweden and Denmark also received part of the land that belonged to the Livonians. Thus, the Moscow state, in addition to the Order, was now opposed by 4 European kingdoms. The war began to drag on. In addition, having violated the truce, Devlet Giray, the Crimean Khan, resumed raids on the southern border regions of Russia.
The first stage of the Livonian War ended with the liquidation of the Order (1561). However, the struggle for the B altic coast for Russia did not end there.
With mixed success
In 1563, the Russian city of Polotsk was conquered from the Lithuanians. Nevertheless, already in the next year, the army of Grozny suffered a number of significant defeats. Lithuania offered the tsar a truce (1566) on the condition of the return of Polotsk in exchange for territories previously captured by the Russians in the B altic.
This issue was discussed at the Zemsky Sobor, where most of the boyars spoke in favor of continuing the war.
After a new state, the Commonwe alth, was formed under the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Polish army also entered the war with Russia.
However, at first, the Russian army and diplomats still won victories:
- was captured almost all of Livonia;
- a peace treaty has been signed with Sweden.
At the same time, the king resolutely rejected all proposals for peace negotiations.
Third stage and truce
After the election of the Polish-Lithuanian king Stefan Batory (1576), the course of the Livonian War changed. Thanks to his military leadership, three years later, the Muscovite state lost almost all its previous conquests: Velikiye Luki and Polotsk returned under the authority of the Commonwe alth, and Russian troops were ousted from almost all Livonian lands. Taking advantage of the weakening position of Moscow, Sweden again entered the war. And soon her army managed to capture Narva.
In 1581, the 100,000-strong army of Stefan Batory invaded the Russian lands and laid siege to Pskov. The siege lasted for 5 months. The defense of the city was led by Prince Ivan Shuisky, who together with the inhabitants of Pskov repulsed 31 assaults. An unsuccessful siege stopped the advance of the Polish-Lithuanian troops deep into the Moscow kingdom, but at that time the Swedes went on the offensive, capturing several Russian cities.
Batory, realizing that success could not be achieved, decided to start peace negotiations. As a result, the following year, a truce was concluded in Yam-Zapolsk, under the terms of which Ivan IV lost all the conquests in the B altic states, but kept the borders of his kingdom unchanged.
In 1583, the Russian state signed a truce with Sweden on the Plyussa River. According to him, the Swedes received not only part of the lands that previously belonged to the Livonian Order, but also some Russian border territories.
ResultsLivonian War
The military conflict that successfully began for the Moscow kingdom ended in defeat. Historians call the reasons for the failures:
- mistakes in assessing the political situation in the B altics;
- internal weakening of the state caused by oprichnina and terror;
- the need to wage war not only in the west, but also to repel the raids of the Crimean Tatars in the south;
- lagging behind European countries militarily.
As a result of the Livonian War, Russia lost, and besides:
- lost her conquests in Livonia and Estland;
- were given to the Swedes Ivangorod, Koporye, Korely, Narva;
- the main strategic task - getting access to the B altic ports, for which Ivan IV started the campaign, was not solved;
- the country was ruined;
- Russia's international position has deteriorated.
And yet, despite all the failures, the Livonian War for a long time predetermined the main course of the foreign policy of the Russian state - the struggle for the B altic Sea became a priority from that moment.
