A SHORT HISTORY OF USSIA’S FIRST CIVIL WAR Frontispiece “Three Russian Cavalrymen.” Published in Sigismund von Herberstein, Rerum Moscovitcarum commentarij Sigismundi liberi baronis in Herberstein, Neyperg, & Guettenhag (Basileae: per Ionnem Oporinum, 1556). Courtesy of the James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota. A SHORT HISTORY OF USSIA’S FIRST CIVIL WAR The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty Image not available Chester S. L. Dunning The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pennsylvania Disclaimer: Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dunning, Chester S. L., 1949– A short history of Russia’s first civil war: the Time of Troubles and the founding of the Romanov dynasty / Chester S. L. Dunning. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-271-02465-8 (alk. paper) 1. Russia—History—Time of Troubles, 1598–1613. I. Title. DK111 .D862 2004 947'.045—dc22 00-028817 Copyright © 2004 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 This is an abridged version of Russia’s First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty, Copyright © 2001 The Pennsylvania State University Press. It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper for the first printing of all clothbound books. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. CONTENTS List of Illustrations and Maps vii Introduction 1 1 A Comparative Approach to the Problem of Origins of the Civil War 5 2 Long-Term Origins: The Growth of Autocracy and Imperialism 14 3 Ivan the Terrible and Russia’s Slide into Crisis 28 4 The Rise of Boris Godunov, the Uglich Tragedy, and Enserfment 40 5 The Southern Frontier and the Cossacks 49 6 The Beginning of the Time of Troubles and the Great Famine 63 7 What Triggered the Civil War? 75 8 The Pretender Dmitrii Ivanovich 83 9 Dmitrii’s Invasion and the Beginning of the Civil War 91 10 Tsar Boris Strikes Back and the Civil War Widens 111 11 The Death of Tsar Boris and Dmitrii’s Triumph 126 12 The Short Reign of Tsar Dmitrii 138 13 Assassination of the Tsar 150 14 Vasilii Shuiskii Seizes Power and Rekindles the Civil War 159 15 The Beginning of the “Bolotnikov Rebellion” 175 16 The Civil War Widens and the Rebels Advance to Moscow 188 17 The Siege of Moscow 199 18 Retreat from Moscow, the Siege of Kaluga, and the Rise of Tsarevich Petr 216 19 Collapse of the Siege of Kaluga and the Beginning of Tsar Vasilii’s Offensive 228 20 The Siege of Tula and the Resurrection of “Tsar Dmitrii” 240 21 Tsar Vasilii’s Struggle Against the Tushino Impostor 255 22 Foreign Intervention and the Formation of the National Liberation Movement 270 23 The End of the Civil War and the Election of Mikhail Romanov 285 24 Tsar Mikhail and the End of the Time of Troubles 300 25 Disturbing Legacy 314 Index 329 vi Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS Frontispiece: “Three Russian Cavalrymen.” Published in Sigismund von Herberstein, Rerum Moscovitcarum commentarij Sigismundi liberi baronis in Herberstein, Neyperg, & Guettenhag (Basileae: per Ionnem Oporinum, 1556). Figures 1 “Russian Artillery and Artillerymen.” Drawn circa 1674 by a Swedish ambassador. Published in Erich Palmquist, Någre widh sidste Kongl: Ambassaden till Tzaren Muskou giorde observationer öfwer Russlandh, des wager, pass meds fastningar och brantzer (Stockholm: Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt, 1898). 26 2 “Russian Peasants.” Published in Adam Olearius, Voyages très-curieux & tres-renommez faits en Moscovie, Tartarie et Perse (Leide, 1719). 34 3 “A Cossack with a Harquebus.” Woodcut circa 1622. Published in D. A. Rovinskii, Materialy dlia Russkoi Ikonografii, part 3 (St. Petersburg, 1884). 56 4 “The Pretender Dmitrii Ivanovich.” Woodcut by Franciszek Sniadecki. Printed in Stanislaw Grochowski’s Wedding Brochure, 1605. From D. A. Rovinskii, Materialy dlia Russkoi Ikonografii, part 2 (St. Petersburg, 1884). 87 5 “A Russian Cavalryman.” Drawn circa 1674 by a Swedish ambas- sador. Published in Erich Palmquist, Någre widh sidste Kongl: Ambassaden till Tzaren Muskou giorde observationer öfwer Russlandh, des wager, pass meds fastningar och brantzer (Stockholm: Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt, 1898). 102 6 “A Russian Infantryman.” Drawn circa 1674 by a Swedish ambas- sador. Published in Erich Palmquist, Någre widh sidste Kongl: Ambassaden till Tzaren Muskou giorde observationer öfwer Russlandh, des wager, pass meds fastningar och brantzer (Stockholm: Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt, 1898). 105 7 “Tsaritsa Marina Mniszech.” Printed in Stanislaw Grochowski’s Wedding Brochure, 1605. From D. A. Rovinskii, Materialy dlia Russkoi Ikonografii, part 2 (St. Petersburg, 1884). 152 8 “Tsar Vasilii Defends Moscow Against the Rebel Attack.” Detail from “The Rebel Siege of Moscow in 1606,” drawn circa 1607. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 78 H 56 (Isaac Massa’s Album Amicorum). 211 9 “Tsar Mikhail Romanov.” Engraved circa 1633. Published in Adam Olearius, Des Welt-berühmten Adami Olearii colligirte und vermehrte Reise-Beschreibungen: bestehend in der nach Musskau und Persien . (Hamburg, 1696). (Frequently misidentified as a por- trait of Tsar Mikhail’s son, Tsar Aleksei.) From D. A. Rovinskii, Materialy dlia Russkoi Ikonografii, part 1 (St. Petersburg, 1884). 301 Maps 1 The Russian Empire in 1604. 10 2 The Growth of Russia in the 16th Century. 23 3 Russia’s Steppe Frontier. 51 4 Arena of the Civil War. 92–93 5 Moscow. 200 6 Tula. 244 7 Russian Territory Lost by Treaty. 312 viii List of Illustrations and Maps INTRODUCTION Since the formation of the unified Russian state nearly five hundred years ago, its unhappy subjects have rebelled in large numbers surprisingly few times. Besides the well-known 1905 and 1917 Revolutions, the short list of major uprisings in Russia includes famous early modern revolts led by Stepan Razin in 1670–71 and Emilian Pugachev in 1773–74. A much less well known but extremely powerful uprising was the so-called Bolotnikov rebellion of 1606–7, which occurred during Russia’s catastrophic and confusing “Time of Troubles” or “Troubles.” That rebellion was the highpoint of Russia’s first civil war, the largest and most powerful uprising in Russian history before the twentieth cen- tury and the first time the Russian people rose against their tsar. By the end of the sixteenth century the newly formed Russian state faced its first severe crisis, known ever since as the Time of Troubles (1598–1613). The Troubles began when the ancient ruling dynasty died out and Boris Godunov defeated rival aristocrats to become tsar. Many questioned the legitimacy of the new ruler, whose sins supposedly included having Ivan the Terrible’s youngest son Dmitrii killed in 1591 in order to clear a path to the throne for himself. During Tsar Boris’s reign Russia suffered a horrible famine (1601–3) that wiped out up to a third of the population. The effects of the famine, coupled with serious long-term economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and political problems, contributed to the delegitimization of the new ruler in the eyes of many Russians. Then in 1604 the country was invaded by a small army headed by a man who claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitrii, miraculously saved from Godunov’s plot. Many towns, fortresses, soldiers, and cossacks of the southern frontier quickly joined Dmitrii’s forces in the first popular uprising against a tsar. When Tsar Boris died suddenly in April 1605, resistance to the “pretender Dmitrii” (also known as “False Dmitrii”) broke down and he became tsar—the only tsar ever raised to the throne by means of a military campaign and popular uprisings. Tsar Dmitrii ruled for about a year before he was assassinated by a small group of aristocrats, triggering a powerful civil war. The usurper Tsar Vasilii Shuiskii denounced the dead Dmitrii as an impostor, but the former tsar’s supporters successfully put forward the story that Dmitrii had once again miraculously escaped death and would soon return to punish the traitors. So energetic was the response to the call to arms against Shuiskii that civil war raged for many years and produced about a dozen more pretenders claiming to be Dmitrii or other members of the old ruling dynasty. Russia’s internal disorder prompted Polish and Swedish military intervention, resulting in even greater misery and Introduction 1 chaos. Eventually, an uneasy alliance was forged among Russian factions and the Time of Troubles ended with the establishment of the Romanov dynasty in 1613. Tsarist Russia’s first great state crisis, its worst before the twentieth century, had been so severe that it nearly destroyed the country and left very deep scars. The Time of Troubles, coming as it did about midway between the unifica- tion of Russia and the reign of Peter the Great, has long fascinated and puzzled the Russian people as well as many scholars, poets, and even musicians. To many Russians who lived through the Troubles, it was nothing more or less than divine retribution for the sins of Russia’s rulers or its people. Others studying the period sought more secular explanations, noting that at the center of the Time of Troubles was the so-called Bolotnikov rebellion, named after the principal rebel commander, Ivan Bolotnikov. Claiming that Tsar Dmitrii had escaped assassi- nation, Bolotnikov’s forces occupied nearly half of the country and were able to lay siege to Moscow in the fall of 1606 before being driven back and tem- porarily defeated in 1607.