Ivan the Terrible Leader
Although Ivan IV tried to expand Russia in all of its glory, he led Russia into a weakened state regarding its economy, military, and a general political disruption.
Throughout Ivan’s tsarship the economy of Russia began to weaken almost to the point of collapse. Ivan IV never trusted boyars, which are the Russian people of wealth and power, for almost his entire life. Becoming tsar at the age of three meant he was too young to lead and needed people to rule for him at the time. At first, this was his mother, however, she was assumed to be poisoned for the benefit of others power. After that, Russia was lead by four powerful and rich families, the Shuisky, Belsky, Vorontsov and Glinsky families. His first order was the arrest and execution of Prince Andrei Shuisky because his family had previously killed his close friend Fyodor Mishurin. This is only one example of him beginning to overturn the Russian wealth. Ivan IV continues increasingly punishing the boyars until he eventually begins to take away their land to redistribute among people he trusted. This was done through the Oprichnina a governmental system that rewarded people for convicting others of crimes that they did or did not commit. Ivan’s goal was to create a new class of wealth that owed their wealth to him and would stay loyal. However, all this accomplished was the thinning of the wealth which resulted in everyone becoming a middle class generally holding the same amount of power. Ivan was known to be a war enthusiast who initiated many battles with surrounding nations. One of the more notable wars was the Livonian war. This war was not only initiated by Russia, but it was initiated while they were fighting the Khans in the east. This war was fought for 24 years, from 1558 to 1583, and exhausted many resources of Russia …show more content…
Ivan IV began the Livonian war while fighting another army, the Tartars which were the Turkic people who had Khan ancestry, that he was struggling to fight. The Livonian war had begun because Ivan wanted control of Livonia, modern day Latvia and Estonia, which belonged to Poland. At first, Russia was victorious in many battles, however, while fighting the Polish, the Tartars were able to advance all the way into Moscow, where they burned down the entire city leaving on the Kremlin, a citadel, standing. This immensely decreased Ivan’s popularity among the boyars, because they were against the Livonian war from the beginning. They believed that they should continue fighting the Tartars in the east. Ivan IV continued fighting Poland, however now their allies, the Swedish, joined them in fighting. Shortly after this, one of Ivan’s most trusted and powerful generals betrayed him and fought for Poland. Russia began taking huge loses, and it seemed almost impossible for them to win. Ivan feeling defeated went to Pope Gregory XIII in hopes that he will end the battle. Pope Gregory XIII created a cease fire protecting Russia from taking any more losses. The war ended with Russia suffering. Although Russia previously held access to the Baltic Sea, after losing the Livonian war they lost all access which was now held by Sweden. This made it much harder to trade with the
Although Ivan IV tried to expand Russia in all of its glory, he led Russia into a weakened state regarding its economy, military, and a general political disruption.
Throughout Ivan’s tsarship the economy of Russia began to weaken almost to the point of collapse. Ivan IV never trusted boyars, which are the Russian people of wealth and power, for almost his entire life. Becoming tsar at the age of three meant he was too young to lead and needed people to rule for him at the time. At first, this was his mother, however, she was assumed to be poisoned for the benefit of others power. After that, Russia was lead by four powerful and rich families, the Shuisky, Belsky, Vorontsov and Glinsky families. His first order was the arrest and execution of Prince Andrei Shuisky because his family had previously killed his close friend Fyodor Mishurin. This is only one example of him beginning to overturn the Russian wealth. Ivan IV continues increasingly punishing the boyars until he eventually begins to take away their land to redistribute among people he trusted. This was done through the Oprichnina a governmental system that rewarded people for convicting others of crimes that they did or did not commit. Ivan’s goal was to create a new class of wealth that owed their wealth to him and would stay loyal. However, all this accomplished was the thinning of the wealth which resulted in everyone becoming a middle class generally holding the same amount of power. Ivan was known to be a war enthusiast who initiated many battles with surrounding nations. One of the more notable wars was the Livonian war. This war was not only initiated by Russia, but it was initiated while they were fighting the Khans in the east. This war was fought for 24 years, from 1558 to 1583, and exhausted many resources of Russia …show more content…
Ivan IV began the Livonian war while fighting another army, the Tartars which were the Turkic people who had Khan ancestry, that he was struggling to fight. The Livonian war had begun because Ivan wanted control of Livonia, modern day Latvia and Estonia, which belonged to Poland. At first, Russia was victorious in many battles, however, while fighting the Polish, the Tartars were able to advance all the way into Moscow, where they burned down the entire city leaving on the Kremlin, a citadel, standing. This immensely decreased Ivan’s popularity among the boyars, because they were against the Livonian war from the beginning. They believed that they should continue fighting the Tartars in the east. Ivan IV continued fighting Poland, however now their allies, the Swedish, joined them in fighting. Shortly after this, one of Ivan’s most trusted and powerful generals betrayed him and fought for Poland. Russia began taking huge loses, and it seemed almost impossible for them to win. Ivan feeling defeated went to Pope Gregory XIII in hopes that he will end the battle. Pope Gregory XIII created a cease fire protecting Russia from taking any more losses. The war ended with Russia suffering. Although Russia previously held access to the Baltic Sea, after losing the Livonian war they lost all access which was now held by Sweden. This made it much harder to trade with the