In the “stateless” time after the death of Ivan the Terrible, with the sick and weak Fedor, the boyars began an open struggle for power. The strongest of them was the former oprichnik Godunov. After the death of Theodore, Patriarch Job gathered a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new sovereign. The Council of the Patriarch, the Boyar Duma and service people and representatives of the commercial and industrial population of Moscow gathered at this cathedral. The most likely candidates were two people: the tsar's brother-in-law Boris Fyodorovich Godunov and the cousin of Tsar Fyodor, the eldest son of Nikita Romanovich - Fyodor Nikitich Romanov.
The years of Boris Godunov's reign came at a difficult time in the history of the Russian state. This was the period from 1598 to 1605. In fact, the future tsar was in power already under the sick son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor.
Boris Godunov's reign began ambiguously. In February 1598, the Council offered the throne to Boris, but he refused. In order for him to agree, a religious procession was organized to the Maiden Convent, where Boris was staying with his sister. The future king was forced to agree to ascend the throne. Thus, the election of Godunov was popular. However, at the same timeit was believed that he secretly resorted to threats and bribery to achieve this.
Boris was married to the kingdom only on September 1, convinced of the strength of the people's election. The reign of Boris Godunov throughout its entire length was distinguished by extreme caution. He was afraid of attempts on his power, eliminated all boyars suspicious of him. His real rival was only Fedor Nikitich Romanov, as a result of which all the Romanovs were put on trial on charges of conspiracy against the sovereign. The boyars did not like the tsar, considering him the successor of the Terrible with his persecution of the nobility.
Boris Godunov's reign was a continuation of Fyodor's policy, or rather what Godunov did under him. By all means, he sought to restore the people's well-being, violated in the era of Grozny. In foreign policy, he sought to avoid clashes, to refrain from new wars. He cared about the strengthening of justice, he wanted to be a good sovereign for the people. He really gave many benefits to the common people. Three years in a row, from 1601, there was a crop failure, which led to massive starvation deaths. Boris arranged a free distribution of bread to the hungry from the royal treasury, started large buildings in the capital to give people income.
The reign of Boris Godunov was accompanied by hunger, robbery, but this was not his fault. However, this contributed to the growth of dissatisfaction with the king. The famine was followed by a second misfortune - a popular uprising for the self-proclaimed Tsarevich Dmitry. During this struggle, BorisGodunov died unexpectedly (1605).
Godunov attached great importance to European education. The king communicated with foreign specialists in the field of technology and medicine, willingly took them to the public service. He sent young people to foreign countries, planned to arrange Moscow schools in a foreign way. He formed a military detachment of Germans according to a foreign model. Under Godunov, the Moscow government was clearly drawn to closer contacts with the enlightened West and the assimilation of European knowledge.
So the reign of Boris Godunov is briefly described by most historians. Many doubt how legally he got power, believing that his handiwork was the murder of the youngest son of the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, in Uglich.
