In the 17th century, Russia was still the so-called tsarist Russia, and the events taking place at that time surprise today's historians and those who learn the history of their country and stumble upon this period. This article contains all the significant and interesting events that have taken place over the course of a whole century, starting from the very first day of 1600, the 17th century.
The invasion of False Dmitry I into the territory of Russia and the struggle for the throne
In 1604, in October, right before winter, an impostor began his journey from Poland, calling himself the son of Tsar Ivan IV, and Boris Godunov (the then ruling country) - a traitor and impostor on the throne. He announced that he would take his throne by force and take what was his by birthright. As you understand, the young man was not a king. This was the most ordinary monk who once ran a monastery in Moscow, but, dissatisfied with the rule of Boris Godunov, fled to the Lithuanian side in 1600 and secretly took a new name for himself, adopted the Catholic faith. The deceived people took the side of False Dmitry and helped him enter the territory of Moscow.
The deceiver began to appeal to the people of all of Russia, writing a fiery speech that he miraculously escaped from the murderers who were sent to him by the current ruling Boris Godunov, and now he has come to liberate the Russian people and become the new tsar. The deceived population of northern and eastern Ukraine, as well as the Cossacks, dissatisfied with Tsar Boris, who wanted to subjugate the free people and join their forces to the Moscow army, went to the army of False Dmitry.
Godunov, seeing that power was slipping from his hands, sent his army against False Dmitry in order to pacify the deceiver. However, the tsar's soldiers were not completely sure that Boris was telling the truth and Dmitry was really a deceiver, and therefore they came under his leadership, and in six months Moscow met its new sovereign, the "legitimate" tsar of the Russian lands Dmitry.
Creation of the "Tushino camp", or another impostor
With the advent of the new government in Russia, another impostor appeared who saw that even by fraudulent means one could reach the highest echelons of power - False Dmitry II. However, things didn't work out as well as he would have liked. He came to Moscow to tell everyone that he is the real Dmitry, and the one who died was an impostor. Naturally, the people did not believe in the second such tale, given that False Dmitry I was discovered very soon and killed right in his own bed. Having been defeated on the battlefields, the deceiver fled to Tushino, where all the opponents of the current government began to flock and founded a whole fortress there, or rather, a fortified city,who existed only by raiding and plundering all the settlements and cities in the area.
Tsar Shuisky decided to knock out the impostor and destroy the stronghold of banditry and robbery. He signed a peace treaty with the Swedes for help, and in return promised them the lands of Novgorod, for which they had long fought with the Russians.
When such forces were gathered, nothing could stop the commander from defeating the impostor, which happened. Tushino Camp, as it was called in ancient chronicles, was destroyed in the 1600s, and False Dmitry II fled with his tail between his legs. A few years later it became known that he was killed by the boyars, having met him near Kaluga. It is also interesting that, by concluding an agreement with the Swedes and giving them land, Russia provoked an attack by the Polish tsar, who was later elevated to the throne by the Moscow boyars.
The uprising of the Cossacks by Stepan Razin in the 1600s
Beginning in 1670 and ending just a year later, the uprising of the Cossack peasants was marked by a struggle for the freedoms and rights of the people. During that period of time, the authorities raised taxes very much and began to demand too much from their workers. The main "army" of Razin were ordinary people: townspeople, artisans, peasants and Cossacks, subordinate to the commander. Although the uprising was strangled very quickly, the resistance forces managed to occupy significant territories - all the reaches of the Volga, except for the upper one, and the city of Astrakhan was the center of the resistance.
It all ended when all Razina's units were completely defeated, and he himself was caught andpublicly executed. The reasons for the failure are quite simple - they had no plan from the very beginning, they were on their own inside the resistance, and the leader from Stepan Razin was useless. However, this resistance played into the hands of the boyars and the “elite”. They managed to strengthen their power over the peasants, crushed by the defeat of Razin, and also to reconsider the rights to the peasants' property in their direction, giving less and less freedom to the hard workers.
Picture of situations in Russia in the 1600-1700s
On the example of three events from the history of our country that happened in the 17th century, one can draw a picture of the whole century. Rise to the throne of liars, uprisings, and even the complete surrender of Russia (albeit for a short time) to the Poles - all this perfectly characterizes the country throughout almost its entire history, right up to the time of the Russian Empire.
For Russia, the 1600s was an extremely cruel time, but even in this time there were positive moments. For example, the complete rejection of the council of the boyars and the foundation of the nobility - the path to a civilized country was begun.
