The main battles of the Livonian War. Events of the Livonian War

Description of the Livonian War

Livonian War(1558–1583) - the war of the Russian kingdom against the Livonian Order, the Polish-Lithuanian state, Sweden and Denmark for hegemony in the Baltic states.

Main events (Livonian War - briefly)

Causes: Access to the Baltic Sea. Hostile policy of the Livonian Order.

Occasion: Refusal of the order to pay tribute for Yuryev (Dorpat).

First stage (1558-1561): Capture of Narva, Yuryev, Fellin, capture of Master Furstenberg, Livonian Order How military force practically ceased to exist.

Second stage (1562-1577): Entry into the war of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (since 1569) and Sweden. Capture of Polotsk (1563). Defeat on the river Ule and near Orsha (1564). Capture of Weissenstein (1575) and Wenden (1577).

Third stage (1577-1583): Campaign of Stefan Batory, Fall of Polotsk, Velikiye Luki. Defense of Pskov (August 18, 1581 - February 4, 1582) Capture of Narva, Ivangorod, Koporye by the Swedes.

1582– Yam-Zapolsky truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Ivan the Terrible’s refusal from Livonia for the return of lost Russian fortresses).

1583– Plyusskoe truce with Sweden (renunciation of Estland, concession to the Swedes of Narva, Koporye, Ivangorod, Korela).

Causes of defeat: incorrect assessment of the balance of power in the Baltic states, weakening of the state as a result of the internal policies of Ivan IV.

Progress of the Livonian War (1558–1583) (full description)

Causes

In order to start a war, formal reasons were found, but the real reasons were Russia’s geopolitical need to gain access to the Baltic Sea, as it would be more convenient for direct connections with the centers of European civilizations, and the desire to participate in the division of the territory of the Livonian Order, the progressive collapse of which became obvious, but which, not wanting to strengthen Muscovite Rus', prevented its external contacts.

Russia had a small section of the Baltic coast, from the Neva basin to Ivangorod. However, it was strategically vulnerable and had no ports or developed infrastructure. Ivan the Terrible hoped to take advantage of the Livonia transport system. He considered it an ancient Russian fiefdom, which was illegally seized by the crusaders.

The forceful solution to the problem predetermined the defiant behavior of the Livonians themselves, who, even according to their historians, acted unreasonably. Mass pogroms served as a reason for aggravation of relations Orthodox churches in Livonia. Even at that time, the truce between Moscow and Livonia (concluded in 1504 as a result of the Russian-Lithuanian war of 1500-1503) had expired. To extend it, the Russians demanded payment of the Yuriev tribute, which the Livonians were obliged to pay again Ivan III, but in 50 years they have never collected it. Having recognized the need to pay it, they again did not fulfill their obligations.

1558 - the Russian army entered Livonia. Thus began the Livonian War. It lasted 25 years, becoming the longest and one of the most difficult in Russian history.

First stage (1558-1561)

In addition to Livonia, the Russian Tsar wanted to conquer the East Slavic lands, which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1557, November - he concentrated a 40,000-strong army in Novgorod for a campaign in the Livonian lands.

Capture of Narva and Syrensk (1558)

In December, this army under the command of the Tatar prince Shig-Aley, Prince Glinsky and other governors advanced to Pskov. Meanwhile, the auxiliary army of Prince Shestunov began fighting from the Ivangorod area to the mouth of the Narva River (Narova). 1558, January - tsarist army approached Yuriev (Derpt), but could not capture it. Then part of the Russian army turned to Riga, and the main forces headed to Narva (Rugodiv), where they united with Shestunov’s army. There was a lull in the fighting. Only the garrisons of Ivangorod and Narva fired at each other. On May 11, Russians from Ivangorod attacked the Narva fortress and were able to take it the next day.

Soon after the capture of Narva, Russian troops under the command of governors Adashev, Zabolotsky and Zamytsky and Duma clerk Voronin were ordered to capture the Syrensk fortress. On June 2, the shelves were under its walls. Adashev set up barriers on the Riga and Kolyvan roads to prevent the main forces of the Livonians under the command of the Master of the Order from reaching Syrensk. On June 5, large reinforcements from Novgorod approached Adashev, which the besieged saw. On the same day, artillery shelling of the fortress began. The next day the garrison surrendered.

Capture of Neuhausen and Dorpat (1558)

From Syrensk, Adashev returned to Pskov, where the entire Russian army was concentrated. In mid-June it took the fortresses of Neuhausen and Dorpat. The entire north of Livonia came under Russian control. The Order's army was numerically several times inferior to the Russians and, moreover, was scattered among separate garrisons. It could do nothing against the king's army. Until October 1558, the Russians in Livonia were able to capture 20 castles.

Battle of Thiersen

1559, January - Russian troops marched on Riga. Near Tiersen they defeated the Livonian army, and near Riga they burned the Livonian fleet. Although it was not possible to capture the Riga fortress, 11 more Livonian castles were taken.

Truce (1559)

The Master of the Order was forced to conclude a truce before the end of 1559. By November of this year, the Livonians were able to recruit Landsknechts in Germany and resume the war. But failures never ceased to haunt them.

1560, January - the army of governor Borboshin captured the fortresses of Marienburg and Fellin. The Livonian Order practically ceased to exist as a military force.

1561 - the last master of the Livonian Order, Kettler, recognized himself as a vassal of the King of Poland and divided Livonia between Poland and Sweden (the island of Ezel went to Denmark). The Poles got Livonia and Courland (Kettler became Duke of the latter), the Swedes got Estland.

Second stage (1562-1577)

Poland and Sweden began to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Livonia. Ivan the Terrible not only did not comply with this demand, but also invaded the territory of Lithuania, allied with Poland, at the end of 1562. His army numbered 33,407 men. The goal of the campaign was well-fortified Polotsk. 1563, February 15 - Polotsk, unable to withstand the fire of 200 Russian guns, capitulated. Ivan's army moved to Vilna. The Lithuanians were forced to conclude a truce until 1564. After the resumption of the war, Russian troops occupied almost the entire territory of Belarus.

But the repressions that began against the leaders of the “elected Rada” - the de facto government until the end of the 50s - had a negative impact on the combat capability of the Russian army. Many of the governors and nobles, fearing reprisals, preferred to flee to Lithuania. In the same 1564, one of the most prominent governors, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, moved there, close to the Adashev brothers who were part of the elected council and fearing for his life. The subsequent oprichnina terror further weakened the Russian army.

1) Ivan the Terrible; 2) Stefan Batory

Formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

1569 - as a result of the Union of Lublin, Poland and Lithuania formed single state The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Republic) under the leadership of the King of Poland. Now the Polish army came to the aid of the Lithuanian army.

1570 - fighting intensified in both Lithuania and Livonia. To secure the Baltic lands, Ivan IV decided to create his own fleet. At the beginning of 1570, he issued a “charter” to the Dane Karsten Rode to organize a privateer fleet, which acted on behalf of the Russian Tsar. Rohde was able to arm several ships, and he caused significant damage to Polish maritime trade. In order to have a reliable naval base, the Russian army in the same 1570 tried to capture Revel, thereby starting a war with Sweden. But the city unhinderedly received supplies from the sea, and Grozny was forced to lift the siege after 7 months. The Russian privateer fleet was never able to become a formidable force.

Third stage (1577-1583)

After a 7-year lull, in 1577, the 32,000-strong army of Ivan the Terrible launched a new campaign to Revel. But this time the siege of the city brought nothing. Then Russian troops went to Riga, capturing Dinaburg, Volmar and several other castles. But these successes were not decisive.

Meanwhile, the situation on the Polish front began to deteriorate. 1575 - an experienced military leader, the Transylvanian prince, was elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was able to form a strong army, which also included German and Hungarian mercenaries. Batory entered into an alliance with Sweden, and the united Polish-Swedish army in the fall of 1578 was able to defeat the 18,000-strong Russian army, which lost 6,000 people killed and captured and 17 guns.

By the start of the 1579 campaign, Stefan Batory and Ivan IV had approximately equal main armies of 40,000 men each. After the defeat at Wenden, Grozny was not confident in his abilities and proposed to begin peace negotiations. But Batory rejected this proposal and went on the offensive against Polotsk. In the autumn, Polish troops besieged the city and, after a month-long siege, captured it. The army of governors Shein and Sheremetev, sent to the rescue of Polotsk, only reached the Sokol fortress. They did not dare to engage in battle with superior enemy forces. Soon the Poles captured Sokol, defeating the troops of Sheremetev and Shein. The Russian Tsar clearly did not have enough strength to successfully fight on two fronts at once - in Livonia and Lithuania. After the capture of Polotsk, the Poles took several cities in the Smolensk and Seversk lands, and then returned to Lithuania.

1580 - Batory launched a large campaign against Rus', he captured and ravaged the cities of Ostrov, Velizh and Velikiye Luki. At the same time, the Swedish army under the command of Pontus Delagardie took the city of Korela and the eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus.

1581 - the Swedish army captured Narva, and the following year they occupied Ivangorod, Yam and Koporye. Russian troops were expelled from Livonia. The fighting moved to Russian territory.

Siege of Pskov (August 18, 1581 – February 4, 1582)

1581 - a 50,000-strong Polish army led by the king besieged Pskov. It was a very strong fortress. The city, which stood on the right, high bank of the Velikaya River at the confluence of the Pskov River, was surrounded by a stone wall. It stretched for 10 km and had 37 towers and 48 gates. However, from the side of the Velikaya River, from where it was difficult to expect an enemy attack, the wall was wooden. Under the towers there were underground passages that provided secret communication between different sections of the defense. The city had significant supplies of food, weapons and ammunition.

Russian troops were dispersed over many points from where an enemy invasion was expected. The Tsar himself, with a significant detachment in number, stopped in Staritsa, not risking going towards the Polish army marching towards Pskov.

When the sovereign learned about the invasion of Stefan Batory, the army of Prince Ivan Shuisky, appointed “great governor,” was sent to Pskov. 7 other governors were subordinate to him. All residents of Pskov and the garrison were sworn that they would not surrender the city, but would fight to the end. The total number of Russian troops defending Pskov reached 25,000 people and was approximately half the size of Batory’s army. By order of Shuisky, the outskirts of Pskov were devastated so that the enemy could not find fodder and food there.

Livonian War 1558-1583. Stefan Batory near Pskov

On August 18, Polish troops approached the city within 2–3 cannon shots. For a week, Batory conducted reconnaissance of Russian fortifications and only on August 26 gave the order to his troops to approach the city. But the soldiers soon came under fire from Russian cannons and retreated to the Cherekha River. There Batory set up a fortified camp.

The Poles began to dig trenches and set up tours to get closer to the walls of the fortress. On the night of September 4-5, they drove up to the Pokrovskaya and Svinaya towers on the southern face of the walls and, having placed 20 guns, on the morning of September 6 began to fire at both towers and the 150 m wall between them. By the evening of September 7, the towers were severely damaged, and a 50 m wide gap appeared in the wall. However, the besieged managed to build a new wooden wall against the gap.

On September 8, the Polish army launched an assault. The attackers were able to capture both damaged towers. But with shots from the large Bars cannon, capable of sending cannonballs over a distance of more than 1 km, the Pig Tower occupied by the Poles was destroyed. Then the Russians blew up its ruins by rolling up barrels of gunpowder. The explosion served as a signal for a counterattack, which was led by Shuisky himself. The Poles were unable to hold the Pokrovskaya Tower and retreated.

After the unsuccessful assault, Batory ordered digging to blow up the walls. The Russians were able to destroy two tunnels with the help of mine galleries, but the enemy was never able to complete the rest. On October 24, Polish batteries began shelling Pskov from across the Velikaya River with hot cannonballs to start fires, but the city’s defenders quickly dealt with the fire. After 4 days, a Polish detachment with crowbars and picks approached the wall from the Velikaya side between the corner tower and the Pokrovsky Gate and destroyed the base of the wall. It collapsed, but it turned out that behind this wall there was another wall and a ditch, which the Poles could not overcome. The besieged threw stones and pots of gunpowder on their heads, poured boiling water and tar.

On November 2, the Poles launched their final assault on Pskov. This time Batory's army attacked the western wall. Before this, it had been subjected to heavy shelling for 5 days and was destroyed in several places. However, the Russians met the enemy with heavy fire, and the Poles turned back without reaching the breaches.

By that time, the morale of the besiegers had dropped noticeably. However, the besieged also experienced considerable difficulties. The main forces of the Russian army in Staritsa, Novgorod and Rzhev were inactive. Only two detachments of archers of 600 people each tried to break through to Pskov, but more than half of them died or were captured.

On November 6, Batory removed the guns from the batteries, stopped siege work and began preparing for the winter. At the same time, he sent detachments of Germans and Hungarians to capture the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery 60 km from Pskov, but a garrison of 300 archers, with the support of monks, successfully repelled two attacks, and the enemy was forced to retreat.

Stefan Batory, convinced that he could not take Pskov, in November handed over command to Hetman Zamoyski, and he himself went to Vilna, taking with him almost all the mercenaries. As a result, the number of Polish troops decreased by almost half - to 26,000 people. The besiegers suffered from cold and disease, and the death toll and desertion increased.

Results and consequences

Under these conditions, Batory agreed to a ten-year truce. It was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky on January 15, 1582. Rus' renounced all its conquests in Livonia, and the Poles liberated the Russian cities they had occupied.

1583 - the Truce of Plus was signed with Sweden. Yam, Koporye and Ivangorod passed to the Swedes. Only a small section of the Baltic coast at the mouth of the Neva remained behind Russia. But in 1590, after the expiration of the truce, hostilities between the Russians and Swedes resumed and this time were successful for the Russians. As a result, under the Tyavzin Treaty of “Eternal Peace,” Rus' regained Yam, Koporye, Ivangorod and Korelsky district. But this was only small consolation. In general, Ivan IV's attempt to gain a foothold in the Baltic failed.

At the same time, acute contradictions between Poland and Sweden on the issue of control over Livonia eased the position of the Russian Tsar, excluding a joint Polish-Swedish invasion of Rus'. The resources of Poland alone, as the experience of Batory’s campaign against Pskov showed, were clearly insufficient to capture and retain a significant territory of the Muscovite kingdom. At the same time, the Livonian War showed that Sweden and Poland had a formidable enemy in the east that they had to reckon with.

In the 16th century, Russia needed access to the Baltic Sea. He opened trade routes and eliminated intermediaries: German merchants and Teutonic knights. But between Russia and Europe stood Livonia. And Russia lost the war with it.

Start of the war

Livonia, also known as Livonia, was located on the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia. Initially, this was the name given to the lands inhabited by the Livs. In the 16th century, Livonia was under the control of the Livonian Order - military and political organization German Catholic knights.
In January 1558, Ivan IV began to “cut a window to Europe.” The moment was chosen well. The knighthood and clergy of Livonia were disunited, weakened by the Reformation, and the local population was tired of the Teutons.
The reason for the war was the non-payment to Moscow by the bishopric of the city of Dorpat (aka Yuryev, also known as modern Tartu) of the “Yuryev tribute” from the possessions ceded by the Russian princes.

Russian army

By the middle of the 16th century, Russia was already a powerful power. Reforms, centralization of power, and the creation of special infantry units—the Streltsy Army—played a big role. The army was armed with modern artillery: the use of a carriage made it possible to use guns in the field. There were factories for the production of gunpowder, weapons, cannons and cannonballs. New methods of taking fortresses were developed.
Before starting the war, Ivan the Terrible secured the country from raids from the east and south. Kazan and Astrakhan were taken, and a truce was concluded with Lithuania. In 1557, the war with Sweden ended in victory.

First successes

The first campaign of the Russian army of 40 thousand people took place in the winter of 1558. The main goal was to get the Livonians to voluntarily cede Narva. The Russians easily reached the Baltic. The Livonians were forced to send diplomats to Moscow and agreed to transfer Narva to Russia. But soon the Narva Vogt von Schlennenberg ordered the shelling of the Russian fortress of Ivangorod, provoking a new Russian invasion.

20 fortresses were taken, including Narva, Neuschloss, Neuhaus, Kiripe and Dorpat. The Russian army came close to Revel and Riga.
On January 17, 1559, the Germans were defeated in a major battle near Tiersen, after which they again concluded a truce, again for a short time.
By the fall, the Livonian master Gotthard von Ketler had secured the support of Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and opposed the Russians. Near Dorpat, the Livonians defeated the detachment of the governor Zakhary Ochin-Pleshcheev, then began the siege of Yuryev, but the city survived. They tried to take Lais, but suffered heavy losses and retreated. The Russian counter-offensive did not occur until 1560. The troops of Ivan the Terrible occupied the strongest fortress of the knights Fellin and Marienburg.

The war drags on

Russian successes accelerated the collapse of the Teutonic Order. Revel and the cities of Northern Estonia swore allegiance to the Swedish crown. Master Ketler became a vassal of the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus. The Lithuanians occupied more than 10 cities of Livonia.

In response to Lithuanian aggression, Moscow governors invaded the territory of Lithuania and Livonia. Tarvast (Taurus) and Verpel (Polchev) were captured. Then the Lithuanians “walked” through the Smolensk and Pskov regions, after which full-scale hostilities unfolded along the entire border.
Ivan the Terrible himself led an army of 80 thousand. In January 1563, the Russians moved to Polotsk, besieged and captured it.
The decisive battle with the Lithuanians took place on the Ulla River on January 26, 1564, and thanks to the betrayal of Prince Andrei Kurbsky, it turned out to be a defeat for the Russians. The Lithuanian army went on the offensive. At the same time, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey approached Ryazan.

Formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1569, Lithuania and Poland became a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ivan the Terrible had to make peace with the Poles and deal with relations with Sweden, where his enemy Johan III ascended the throne.
On the lands of Livonia captured by the Russians, Ivan the Terrible created a vassal kingdom under the leadership of the Danish prince Magnus of Holstein.
In 1572, King Sigismund died. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was on the threshold civil war. In 1577, the Russian army invaded the Baltic states, and Russia soon gained control of the coast of the Gulf of Finland, but the victory was short-lived.
The turning point of the war occurred after the accession to Polish throne Stefan Batory. He suppressed the unrest in the country and, in alliance with Sweden, opposed Russia. He was supported by the Duke of Mangus, the Saxon Elector Augustus and the Elector of Brandenburg Johann Georg.

From offense to defense

On September 1, 1578, Polotsk fell, then the Smolensk region and the Seversk land were devastated. Two years later, the Poles again invaded Russia and took Velikiye Luki. Pali Narva, Ozerische, Zavolochye. The army of Prince Khilkov was defeated near Toropets. The Swedes occupied the Padis fortress in Western Estonia.

Batory invaded Russia for the third time in 1581. His goal was Pskov. However, the Russians figured out the Poles' plans. It was not possible to take the city.
In 1581 Russia was in difficult situation. In addition to the Poles, she was threatened by the Swedes and the Crimean Khan. Ivan the Terrible was forced to ask for peace on the enemy’s terms. The negotiations were mediated by Pope Gregory XIII, who hoped to strengthen the Vatican's position in the East. Negotiations took place in Yam Zapolsky and ended with the conclusion of a ten-year truce.

Results

Ivan the Terrible's attempt to open a window to Europe ended in failure.
According to the agreement, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth returned to the Russians Velikie Luki, Zavolochye, Nevel, Kholm, Rzhev Pustya, the Pskov suburbs of Ostrov, Krasny, Voronech, Velyu, Vrev, Vladimerets, Dubkov, Vyshgorod, Vyborets, Izborsk, Opochka, Gdov, Kobylye fortification and Sebezh.
The Moscow state transferred 41 Livonian cities to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Swedes decided to finish off the Russians. In the fall of 1581, they captured Narva and Ivangorod and forced them to sign peace on their own terms. The Livonian War is over. Russia lost part of its own territories and three border fortresses. The Russians retained only the small fortress of Oreshek on the Neva and a corridor along the river a little more than 30 kilometers long. The Baltic remained unattainable.

After the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates to the Russian state, the threat of invasion from the east and southeast was eliminated. Ivan the Terrible is faced with new tasks - to return the Russian lands once captured by the Livonian Order, Lithuania and Sweden.

In general, formal reasons were found for the start of the war. The real reasons were Russia’s geopolitical need to gain access to the Baltic Sea, as the most convenient for direct connections with the centers of European civilizations, as well as the desire to accept Active participation in the division of the territory of the Livonian Order, the progressive collapse of which was becoming obvious, but which, not wanting to strengthen Russia, prevented its external contacts. For example, the Livonian authorities did not allow more than a hundred specialists from Europe invited by Ivan IV to pass through their lands. Some of them were imprisoned and executed.

The formal reason for the start of the Livonian War was the question of the “Yuriev tribute.” According to the treaty of 1503, an annual tribute had to be paid for it and the surrounding territory, which, however, was not done. In addition, the Order concluded a military alliance with the Lithuanian-Polish king in 1557.

Stages of war.

First stage. In January 1558, Ivan the Terrible moved his troops to Livonia. The beginning of the war brought him victories: Narva and Yuriev were taken. In the summer and autumn of 1558 and at the beginning of 1559, Russian troops marched throughout Livonia (to Revel and Riga) and advanced in Courland to the borders East Prussia and Lithuania. However, in 1559, under the influence of political figures grouped around A.F. Adashev, who prevented the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, Ivan the Terrible was forced to conclude a truce. In March 1559 it was concluded for a period of six months.

The feudal lords took advantage of the truce to conclude a Polish king Sigismund II Augustus signed an agreement in 1559, according to which the order, lands and possessions of the Archbishop of Riga passed under the protectorate of the Polish crown. In an atmosphere of acute political disagreements in the leadership of the Livonian Order, its master W. Fürstenberg was removed and G. Ketler, who adhered to a pro-Polish orientation, became the new master. In the same year, Denmark took possession of the island of Ösel (Saaremaa).

The military operations that began in 1560 brought new defeats to the Order: the large fortresses of Marienburg and Fellin were taken, the order army blocking the path to Viljandi was defeated near Ermes, and the Master of the Order Fürstenberg himself was captured. The successes of the Russian army were facilitated by the outbreak of peasant uprisings against the German feudal lords. The result of the campaign of 1560 was the virtual defeat of the Livonian Order as a state. The German feudal lords of Northern Estonia became Swedish citizens. According to the Treaty of Vilna of 1561, the possessions of the Livonian Order came under the authority of Poland, Denmark and Sweden, and its last master, Ketler, received only Courland, and even then it was dependent on Poland. Thus, instead of weak Livonia, Russia now had three strong opponents.

Second phase. While Sweden and Denmark were at war with each other, Ivan IV led successful actions against Sigismund II Augustus. In 1563, the Russian army took Plock, a fortress that opened the way to the capital of Lithuania, Vilna, and Riga. But already at the beginning of 1564, the Russians suffered a series of defeats on the Ulla River and near Orsha; in the same year, a boyar and a major military leader, Prince A.M., fled to Lithuania. Kurbsky.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to military failures and escapes to Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565, the oprichnina was introduced. Ivan IV tried to restore the Livonian Order, but under the protectorate of Russia, and negotiated with Poland. In 1566, a Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to divide Livonia on the basis of the situation existing at that time. The Zemstvo Sobor, convened at this time, supported the intention of the government of Ivan the Terrible to fight in the Baltic states until the capture of Riga: “It is unsuitable for our sovereign to give up those cities of Livonia, which the king took for protection, but it is better for the sovereign to stand for those cities.” The council's decision also emphasized that abandoning Livonia would harm trade interests.

Third stage. The Union of Lublin, which in 1569 united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into one state - the Republic of Both Nations, had serious consequences. A difficult situation has developed in the north of Russia, where relations with Sweden have again become strained, and in the south (the campaign of the Turkish army near Astrakhan in 1569 and the war with Crimea, during which the army of Devlet I Giray burned Moscow in 1571 and devastated the southern Russian lands). However, the onset of a long-term “kinglessness” in the Republic of Both Nations, the creation in Livonia of the vassal “kingdom” of Magnus, which at first had an attractive force in the eyes of the population of Livonia, again made it possible to tip the scales in favor of Russia. In 1572, the army of Devlet-Girey was destroyed and the threat of large raids was eliminated Crimean Tatars(Battle of Molodi). In 1573, the Russians stormed the Weissenstein (Paide) fortress. In the spring, Moscow troops under the command of Prince Mstislavsky (16,000) converged near Lode Castle in western Estland with a Swedish army of two thousand. Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage, the Russian troops suffered a crushing defeat. They had to leave all their guns, banners and convoys.

In 1575, the Saga fortress surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov to the Russians. After the campaign of 1576, Russia captured the entire coast except Riga and Kolyvan.

However, the unfavorable international situation, the distribution of land in the Baltic states to Russian nobles, which alienated the local peasant population from Russia, and serious internal difficulties negatively affected the further course of the war for Russia.

Fourth stage. In 1575, the period of “kinglessness” (1572-1575) ended in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Stefan Batory was elected king. Stefan Batory, Prince of Semigrad, was supported by the Turkish Sultan Murad III. After the flight of King Henry of Valois from Poland in 1574, the Sultan sent a letter to the Polish lords demanding that the Poles not choose Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II as king, but choose one of the Polish nobles, for example Jan Kostka, or, if the king is from others powers, then Bathory or the Swedish prince Sigismund Vasa. Ivan the Terrible, in a letter to Stefan Batory, more than once hinted that he was a vassal Turkish Sultan, which caused a sharp response from Batory: “how dare you remind us so often of unsurmity, you, who interfered with your blood with us, whose mare’s milk that fell on the manes of the Tatar scales was licked...”. The election of Stefan Batory as king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth meant the resumption of the war with Poland. However, back in 1577, Russian troops occupied almost all of Livonia, except for Riga and Revel, which were besieged in 1576-1577. But this year was last year Russia's successes in the Livonian War.

In 1579, Batory began a war against Russia. In 1579, Sweden also resumed hostilities, and Batory returned Polotsk and took Velikiye Luki, and in 1581 he besieged Pskov, intending, if successful, to go to Novgorod the Great and Moscow. The Pskovites swore “to fight for the city of Pskov with Lithuania to the death without any cunning.” They kept their oath, fighting off 31 attacks. After five months of unsuccessful attempts, the Poles were forced to lift the siege of Pskov. Heroic defense of Pskov in 1581 -1582. garrison and population of the city determined a more favorable outcome of the Livonian War for Russia: failure near Pskov forced Stefan Batory to enter into peace negotiations.

Taking advantage of the fact that Batory had actually cut off Livonia from Russia, the Swedish commander Baron Pontus Delagardie launched an operation to destroy isolated Russian garrisons in Livonia. By the end of 1581, the Swedes, having crossed the frozen Gulf of Finland on ice, captured the entire coast of Northern Estonia, Narva, Wesenberg (Rakovor, Rakvere), and then moved to Riga, along the way taking Haapsalu, Pärnu, and then the entire Southern (Russian) ) Estonia - Fellin (Viljandi), Dorpat (Tartu). In total, Swedish troops in a relatively short period captured 9 cities in Livonia and 4 in Novgorod land, nullifying all the many years of conquest of the Russian state in the Baltic states. In Ingermanland Ivan-Gorod, Yam, Koporye were taken, and in the Ladoga region - Korela.

Results and consequences of the war.

In January 1582, a ten-year truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky (near Pskov). Under this agreement, Russia renounced Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border Russian lands seized by the Polish king during hostilities were returned to her.

The defeat of the Russian troops in the simultaneous war with Poland, where the tsar was faced with the need to decide even to cede Pskov if the city was taken by storm, forced Ivan IV and his diplomats to negotiate with Sweden on the conclusion of the Treaty of Plus, humiliating for the Russian state. . Negotiations at Plus took place from May to August 1583. Under this agreement:

  • 1. The Russian state lost all its acquisitions in Livonia. It retained only a narrow section of access to the Baltic Sea in Gulf of Finland.
  • 2. Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye passed to the Swedes.
  • 3. Also, the Kexholm fortress in Karelia, along with a vast county and the coast of Lake Ladoga, went to the Swedes.
  • 4. The Russian state found itself cut off from the sea, ruined and devastated. Russia lost a significant part of its territory.

Thus, the Livonian War had very difficult consequences for the Russian state, and defeat in it greatly affected its further development. However, one can agree with N.M. Karamzin, who noted that the Livonian War was “unfortunate, but not inglorious for Russia.”

The Livonian War (1558-1583) for the right to own the territories and possessions of Livonia (a historical region on the territory of the modern Latvian and Estonian republics) began as a war between Russia and the Livonian knightly order, which later turned into a war between Russia, Sweden and.

The prerequisite for the war was Russian-Livonian negotiations, which ended in 1554 with the signing of a peace treaty for a period of 15 years. According to this treaty, Livonia was obliged to pay an annual tribute to the Russian Tsar for the city of Dorpat (modern Tartu, originally known as Yuryev), since it previously belonged to the Russian princes, the heirs of Ivan IV. Under the pretext of paying the Yuriev tribute later than the deadline, the tsar declared war on Livonia in January 1558.

Causes of the Livonian War

As for the true reasons for the declaration of war on Livonia by Ivan IV, two possible versions are expressed. The first version was proposed in the 50s of the 19th century by Russian historian Sergei Solovyov, who presented Ivan the Terrible as the predecessor of Peter the Great in his intentions to seize the Baltic port, thereby establishing unimpeded economic (trade) relations with European countries. Until 1991, this version remained the main one in Russian and Soviet historiography, and some Swedish and Danish scientists also agreed with it.

However, since the 60s of the 20th century, the assumption that Ivan IV was motivated solely by economic (trade) interests in the Livonian War has been severely criticized. Critics pointed out that when justifying military actions in Livonia, the tsar never referred to the need for unimpeded trade relations with Europe. Instead, he spoke of heritage rights, calling Livonia his fiefdom. An alternative explanation, proposed by the German historian Norbert Angermann (1972) and supported by the scholar Erik Tiberg (1984) and some Russian scholars in the 1990s, notably Filyushkin (2001), emphasizes the Tsar's desire to expand his spheres of influence and consolidate his power.

Most likely, Ivan IV started the war without any strategic plans. He simply wanted to punish the Livonians and force them to pay tribute and fulfill all the terms of the peace treaty. The initial success encouraged the king to conquer the entire territory of Livonia, but here his interests collided with the interests of Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, turning local conflict into a long and grueling war between the greatest powers of the Baltic region.

Main periods of the Livonian War

As hostilities developed, Ivan IV changed allies, and the picture of military operations also changed. Thus, four main periods can be distinguished in the Livonian War.

  1. From 1558 to 1561 - the period of initial successful Russian operations in Livonia;
  2. 1560s - a period of confrontation with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and peaceful relations with Sweden;
  3. From 1570 to 1577 - the last attempts of Ivan IV to conquer Livonia;
  4. From 1578 to 1582 - attacks by Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, forcing Ivan IV to liberate the Livonian lands he had seized and move on to peace negotiations.

The first victories of the Russian army

In 1558, the Russian army, without encountering serious resistance from the Livonian army, took an important port located on the Narva River on May 11th, and then conquered the city of Dorpat on July 19th. After a long truce, which lasted from March to November 1559, in 1560 the Russian army made another attempt to attack Livonia. On August 2, the main army of the Order was defeated near Ermes (modern Ergeme), and on August 30, the Russian army led by Prince Andrei Kurbsky took Fellin Castle (modern Viljandi Castle).

When the fall of the weakened Livonian Order became obvious, knightly society and Livonian cities began to seek support from the Baltic countries - the Principality of Lithuania, Denmark and Sweden. In 1561, the country was divided: the last Landmaster of the Order, Gotthard Ketler, became a subject of Sigismund II Augustus, the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania over the destroyed Order. At the same time, the northern part of Livonia, including the city of Reval (modern Tallinn), was occupied by Swedish troops. Sigismund II was the main rival of Ivan IV in the Livonian War, therefore, trying to unite with King Eric XIV of Sweden, the Tsar declared war on the Principality of Lithuania in 1562. A huge Russian army, led by the Tsar himself, began the siege of Polotsk, a city on the eastern border of the Principality of Lithuania, and captured it on February 15, 1563. In the next few years, the Lithuanian army was able to take revenge, winning two battles in 1564 and capturing two minor fortresses in 1568, but it failed to achieve decisive successes in the war.

Turning point: victories give way to defeat

By the early 70s of the 16th century, the international situation had changed again: a coup d'etat in Sweden (Eric XIV was deposed by his brother John III) put an end to the Russian-Swedish alliance; Poland and Lithuania, which united in 1569 to form the state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, on the contrary, adhered to a peaceful policy due to the illness of King Sigismund II Augustus, who died in 1579, and the periods of interregnum (1572-1573, 1574-1575).

Due to these circumstances, Ivan IV tried to oust the Swedish army from the territory of northern Livonia: the Russian army and the tsar’s subject, the Danish prince Magnus (brother of Frederick II, king of Denmark), carried out a siege of the city of Rewal for 30 weeks (from August 21, 1570 to March 16, 1571), but in vain.

The alliance with the Danish king showed its complete failure, and the raids of the Crimean Tatars, such as, for example, the burning of Moscow by Khan Davlet I Giray on May 24, 1571, forced the king to postpone military operations in Livonia for several years.

In 1577, Ivan IV made his last attempt to conquer Livonia. Russian troops occupied the entire territory of the country with the exception of the cities of Reval and Riga. The following year the war reached its final stage, fatal for Rus' in the Livonian War.

Defeat of Russian troops

In 1578, Russian troops were defeated by the joint efforts of the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden near the Wenden fortress ( modern fortress Cesis), after which the royal subject, Prince Magnus, joined the Polish army. In 1579, the Polish king Stefan Batory, a talented general, besieged Polotsk again; the following year he invaded Rus' and ravaged the Pskov region, capturing the fortresses of Velizh and Usvyat and subjecting Velikiye Luki to destructive fire. During the third campaign against Rus' in August 1581, Batory began the siege of Pskov; The garrison under the leadership of the Russian prince Ivan Shuisky repelled 31 attacks.

At the same time, Swedish troops captured Narva. On January 15, 1582, Ivan IV signed the Treaty of Yam-Zapolsky near the town of Zapolsky Yam, which ended the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ivan IV renounced the territories in Livonia, Polotsk and Velizh (Velikiye Luki were returned to the Russian kingdom). In 1583, a peace treaty was signed with Sweden, according to which the Russian cities of Yam, Ivangorod and Koporye were transferred to the Swedes.

Results of the Livonian War

The defeat in the Livonian War was devastating for foreign policy Ivan IV, it weakened the position of Rus' in front of its western and northern neighbors, the war had a detrimental effect on the northwestern regions of the country.

Introduction 3

1.Causes of the Livonian War 4

2.Stages of war 6

3. Results and consequences of the war 14

Conclusion 15

References 16

Introduction.

The relevance of research. The Livonian War is a significant stage in Russian history. Long and grueling, it brought Russia many losses. It is very important and relevant to consider this event, because any military actions changed the geopolitical map of our country and had a significant impact on its further socio-economic development. This directly applies to the Livonian War. It will also be interesting to reveal the variety of points of view on the causes of this collision, the opinions of historians on this matter. After all, pluralism of opinions indicates that there are many contradictions in views. Consequently, the topic has not been sufficiently studied and is relevant for further consideration.

Purpose This work is to reveal the essence of the Livonian War. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to consistently solve a number of tasks :

Identify the causes of the Livonian War

Analyze its stages

Consider the results and consequences of the war

1.Causes of the Livonian War

After the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates to the Russian state, the threat of invasion from the east and southeast was eliminated. Ivan the Terrible is faced with new tasks - to return the Russian lands once captured by the Livonian Order, Lithuania and Sweden.

In general, it is possible to clearly identify the causes of the Livonian War. However, Russian historians interpret them differently.

For example, N.M. Karamzin connects the beginning of the war with the ill will of the Livonian Order. Karamzin fully approves of Ivan the Terrible’s aspirations to reach the Baltic Sea, calling them “beneficent intentions for Russia.”

N.I. Kostomarov believes that on the eve of the war, Ivan the Terrible was faced with an alternative - either to deal with Crimea or to take possession of Livonia. The historian explains Ivan IV’s counterintuitive decision to fight on two fronts by “discord” between his advisers.

S.M. Soloviev explains the Livonian War by Russia’s need to “assimilate the fruits of European civilization,” the bearers of which were not allowed into Rus' by the Livonians, who owned the main Baltic ports.

IN. Klyuchevsky practically does not consider the Livonian War at all, since he analyzes the external position of the state only from the point of view of its influence on the development of socio-economic relations within the country.

S.F. Platonov believes that Russia was simply drawn into the Livonian War. The historian believes that Russia could not evade what was happening on its western borders, could not come to terms with unfavorable terms of trade.

M.N. Pokrovsky believes that Ivan the Terrible started the war on the recommendations of certain “advisers” from among the army.

According to R.Yu. Vipper, “The Livonian War was prepared and planned for quite a long time by the leaders of the Elected Rada.”

R.G. Skrynnikov connects the start of the war with Russia’s first success - the victory in the war with the Swedes (1554-1557), under the influence of which plans were put forward to conquer Livonia and establish itself in the Baltic states. The historian also notes that “the Livonian War turned the Eastern Baltic into an arena of struggle between states seeking dominance in the Baltic Sea.”

V.B. Kobrin pays attention to the personality of Adashev and notes his key role in the outbreak of the Livonian War.

In general, formal reasons were found for the start of the war. The real reasons were Russia’s geopolitical need to gain access to the Baltic Sea, as the most convenient for direct connections with the centers of European civilizations, as well as the desire to take an active part in the division of the territory of the Livonian Order, the progressive collapse of which was becoming obvious, but which, unwilling strengthening Russia, hindered its external contacts. For example, the Livonian authorities did not allow more than a hundred specialists from Europe invited by Ivan IV to pass through their lands. Some of them were imprisoned and executed.

The formal reason for the start of the Livonian War was the question of the “Yuriev tribute” (Yuriev, later called Dorpat (Tartu), was founded by Yaroslav the Wise). According to the treaty of 1503, an annual tribute had to be paid for it and the surrounding territory, which, however, was not done. In addition, the Order concluded a military alliance with the Lithuanian-Polish king in 1557.

2. Stages of the war.

The Livonian War can be roughly divided into 4 stages. The first (1558-1561) is directly related to the Russian-Livonian war. The second (1562-1569) involved primarily the Russian-Lithuanian war. The third (1570-1576) was distinguished by the resumption of the Russian struggle for Livonia, where they, together with the Danish prince Magnus, fought against the Swedes. The fourth (1577-1583) is associated primarily with the Russian-Polish war. During this period, the Russian-Swedish war continued.

Let's look at each of the stages in more detail.

First stage. In January 1558, Ivan the Terrible moved his troops to Livonia. The beginning of the war brought him victories: Narva and Yuriev were taken. In the summer and autumn of 1558 and at the beginning of 1559, Russian troops marched throughout Livonia (as far as Revel and Riga) and advanced in Courland to the borders of East Prussia and Lithuania. However, in 1559, under the influence of political figures grouped around A.F. Adashev, who prevented the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, Ivan the Terrible was forced to conclude a truce. In March 1559 it was concluded for a period of six months.

The feudal lords took advantage of the truce to conclude an agreement with the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus in 1559, according to which the order, lands and possessions of the Archbishop of Riga came under the protectorate of the Polish crown. In an atmosphere of acute political disagreements in the leadership of the Livonian Order, its master W. Fürstenberg was removed and G. Ketler, who adhered to a pro-Polish orientation, became the new master. In the same year, Denmark took possession of the island of Ösel (Saaremaa).

The military operations that began in 1560 brought new defeats to the Order: the large fortresses of Marienburg and Fellin were taken, the order army blocking the path to Viljandi was defeated near Ermes, and the Master of the Order Fürstenberg himself was captured. The successes of the Russian army were facilitated by the peasant uprisings that broke out in the country against the German feudal lords. The result of the campaign of 1560 was the virtual defeat of the Livonian Order as a state. The German feudal lords of Northern Estonia became Swedish citizens. According to the Treaty of Vilna of 1561, the possessions of the Livonian Order came under the authority of Poland, Denmark and Sweden, and its last master, Ketler, received only Courland, and even then it was dependent on Poland. Thus, instead of weak Livonia, Russia now had three strong opponents.

Second phase. While Sweden and Denmark were at war with each other, Ivan IV led successful actions against Sigismund II Augustus. In 1563, the Russian army took Plock, a fortress that opened the way to the capital of Lithuania, Vilna, and Riga. But already at the beginning of 1564, the Russians suffered a series of defeats on the Ulla River and near Orsha; in the same year, a boyar and a major military leader, Prince A.M., fled to Lithuania. Kurbsky.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to military failures and escapes to Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565, the oprichnina was introduced. Ivan IV tried to restore the Livonian Order, but under the protectorate of Russia, and negotiated with Poland. In 1566, a Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to divide Livonia on the basis of the situation existing at that time. The Zemstvo Sobor, convened at that time, supported the intention of the government of Ivan the Terrible to fight in the Baltic states until the capture of Riga: “It is unsuitable for our sovereign to give up those cities of Livonia, which the king took for protection, but it is better for the sovereign to stand for those cities.” The council's decision also emphasized that abandoning Livonia would harm trade interests.

Third stage. Since 1569 the war becomes protracted. This year, at the Sejm in Lublin, the unification of Lithuania and Poland took place into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with which in 1570 Russia managed to conclude a truce for three years.

Since Lithuania and Poland in 1570 could not quickly concentrate forces against the Moscow state, because were exhausted by the war, Ivan IV began in May 1570 to negotiate a truce with Poland and Lithuania. At the same time, he creates, having neutralized Poland, an anti-Swedish coalition, realizing his long-standing idea of ​​​​forming a vassal state from Russia in the Baltics.

The Danish Duke Magnus accepted Ivan the Terrible’s offer to become his vassal (“gold-holder”) and in the same May 1570, upon his arrival in Moscow, was proclaimed “King of Livonia.” The Russian government pledged to provide the new state, settled on the island of Ezel, with its military assistance and material resources so that it could expand its territory at the expense of the Swedish and Lithuanian-Polish possessions in Livonia. The parties intended to seal the allied relations between Russia and the “kingdom” of Magnus with the marriage of Magnus to the niece of the king, the daughter of Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky - Maria.

The proclamation of the Livonian Kingdom was supposed, according to the calculations of Ivan IV, to provide Russia with the support of the Livonian feudal lords, i.e. all German knighthood and nobility in Estland, Livonia and Courland, and therefore not only an alliance with Denmark (through Magnus), but also, most importantly, alliance and support for the Habsburg Empire. With this new combination in Russian foreign policy, the Tsar intended to create a vice on two fronts for an overly aggressive and restless Poland, which had grown due to the inclusion of Lithuania. Like Vasily IV, Ivan the Terrible also expressed the idea of ​​the possibility and necessity of dividing Poland between the German and Russian states. On a more immediate level, the tsar was concerned about the possibility of creating a Polish-Swedish coalition on his western borders, which he tried with all his might to prevent. All this speaks of the tsar’s correct, strategically deep understanding of the balance of power in Europe and his accurate vision of the problems of Russian foreign policy in the near and long term. That is why his military tactics were correct: he sought to defeat Sweden alone as quickly as possible, until it came to a united Polish-Swedish aggression against Russia.

Only after completing all this complex diplomatic preparation did the tsar begin direct military action against Sweden. In July - August 1570, Russian troops in Livonia approached Revel, the capital of the Swedish Baltic region, and on August 21 began its siege. If Revel had been captured, then the entire coastline to Riga would have passed into the hands of Russian troops. But after a 30-week siege, Russian troops were forced to retreat on March 16, 1571. The failure was explained by the fact that the Danish king Fredrick II did not provide any support to Magnus, who was nominally at the head of the Russian troops, and, in addition, in the midst of the siege, he did the Swedes a favor: he concluded the Peace of Stettin with them on December 13, 1570, thereby allowing them to free naval forces and send them to the besieged Revel.

Thus, the failure of Ivan IV was that for the second time in two or three years he was let down by allies who could not be relied upon: first Eric XIV, then Fredrick II. Thus, the entire carefully thought-out and timely diplomatic operation collapsed: the Russian-Danish alliance did not take place.

Crimean aggression also played a significant role in disrupting the Russian offensive in the Baltic states: the main Russian forces, especially artillery, were thrown onto the Crimean, southern front, since the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey with his 120,000-strong army reached the very walls of the Kremlin. The uprising of the Tatars and Mari in the Volga region further worsened the situation in the country. Under these conditions, Ivan IV was no longer in the mood for active actions in the distant Baltic states. The Tsar had to agree to establish, at least briefly, a truce with the Swedes.

Since none of the points of the treaty Protocol (Record) on the truce of 1572 signed by the Swedish commissioners was fulfilled before July, Russian troops resumed military operations in Livonia. During the entire period 1572-1576. military operations in Livonia were not of a serious nature. There were no major battles. The matter was limited to the siege of cities in Northern Estonia. In 1572, during the siege of Weissenstein (Paide), Malyuta Skuratov, the favorite of Ivan the Terrible, was killed.

In 1573-1575 More than military actions, Russian diplomacy intensified in the Livonian War. Ivan the Terrible concluded his long-planned alliance with Emperor Maximilian II and an agreement on the possible division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russia was to receive Lithuania and Livonia, and the Austrian Empire was to receive Poland up to the Bug and Poznan.

At the same time, in 1573, Ivan IV entered into negotiations with Sweden about peace, which Johan III did not want to agree to, refusing personal meetings with Ivan the Terrible. Then Ivan the Terrible agreed to send an embassy to the border, to the Sestra River. The negotiations were conducted by: from Russia - Prince Sitsky, from Sweden - Admiral Flemming. The Russian conditions were that Sweden renounce its part of Livonia in favor of Moscow and provide a detachment of Landsknechts to the Tsar to fight the Crimea (2000 people). In this case, the tsar gave Sweden the right to communicate with Moscow directly, and not through the governor in Novgorod. But the Swedes did not accept these conditions. Since at this time Poland was actively preparing to re-enter the Livonian War against Russia, Ivan the Terrible made concessions to Sweden, just to get a brief respite and prepare to face new enemy pressure. The treaty did not formally relate to peace in Livonia, although the tsar hoped that the cessation of hostilities on the part of the Swedes would affect all three fronts: Karelian, Ingrian and Livonian.

In 1573, the Russians stormed Paide, a Swedish stronghold in the Baltic states. In 1575, the Saga fortress surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov to the Russians. In January 1577, a 50,000-strong army under the command of boyar I.V. Sheremetev the Less approached Ieglekht (21 km from Revel) and besieged it, standing without lifting the siege until mid-February 1577. Only on March 10, Sheremetev turned from Northern Estonia to Southern Estonia, going to join the 100,000-strong army moving from Russia, where the Tsar himself was located. This army launched a broad offensive in the Dvina direction in June - July 1577, capturing Marienburg, Lucin, Rezhitsa, and Dinaburg. At the same time, Magnus also began to advance from Courland, going to join the Russian army. The united forces captured the fortresses of Wenden (Kes, Cesis), Volmar (Valmiera) and were a day and a half march from Riga when Ivan IV stopped the offensive, turned to Dorpat, Pskov and returned to his Alexander Sloboda. In fact, all of Livonia north of the Western Dvina (Vidzeme) was in the hands of the Russians, except for Riga, which, as a Hanseatic city, Ivan IV decided to spare.

However, military successes did not lead to a victorious conclusion to the Livonian War: a purely diplomatic victory still had to be achieved, and this time it turned out to be beyond the power of the tsar - neither the Polish nor the Swedish sides wanted to sign a peace treaty. The fact is that Russia by this time had lost the diplomatic support that it had at the beginning of the Swedish stage of the Livonian War. Firstly, Emperor Maximilian II died in October 1576, and hopes of capturing Poland and dividing it disappeared. Secondly, a new king came to power in Poland - Stefan Batory, the former Prince of Semigrad, one of the best commanders of his time, who was a supporter of an active Polish-Swedish alliance against Russia. Thirdly, Denmark disappeared completely as an ally and, finally, in 1578-1579. Stefan Batory managed to persuade Duke Magnus to betray the king.

Fourth stage. In 1575, the period of “kinglessness” (1572-1575) ended in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Stefan Batory was elected king. Stefan Batory, Prince of Semigrad, was supported by the Turkish Sultan Murad III. After the flight of King Henry of Valois from Poland in 1574, the Sultan sent a letter to the Polish lords demanding that the Poles not choose Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II as king, but choose one of the Polish nobles, for example Jan Kostka, or, if the king is from others powers, then Bathory or the Swedish prince Sigismund Vasa. Ivan the Terrible, in a letter to Stefan Batory, more than once hinted that he was a vassal of the Turkish Sultan, which caused a sharp response from Batory: “How dare you remind us so often of the lack of antimony, you, who prevented your blood from being with us, whose venerable mare’s milk, what had sunk into the manes of the Tatar scales was licked...” The election of Stefan Batory as king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth meant the resumption of the war with Poland. However, back in 1577, Russian troops occupied almost all of Livonia, except for Riga and Revel, which were besieged in 1576-1577. But this year was the last year of Russian success in the Livonian War.

In 1579, Batory began a war against Russia. In 1579, Sweden also resumed hostilities, and Batory returned Polotsk and took Velikiye Luki, and in 1581 he besieged Pskov, intending, if successful, to go to Novgorod the Great and Moscow. The Pskovites swore “to fight Lithuania to the death for the city of Pskov without any cunning.” They kept their oath, fighting off 31 attacks. After five months of unsuccessful attempts, the Poles were forced to lift the siege of Pskov. Heroic defense of Pskov in 1581 -1582. garrison and population of the city determined a more favorable outcome of the Livonian War for Russia: failure near Pskov forced Stefan Batory to enter into peace negotiations.

Taking advantage of the fact that Batory had actually cut off Livonia from Russia, the Swedish commander Baron Pontus Delagardie launched an operation to destroy isolated Russian garrisons in Livonia. By the end of 1581, the Swedes, having crossed the frozen Gulf of Finland on ice, captured the entire coast of Northern Estonia, Narva, Wesenberg (Rakovor, Rakvere), and then moved to Riga, along the way taking Haapsalu, Pärnu, and then the entire Southern (Russian) ) Estonia - Fellin (Viljandi), Dorpat (Tartu). In total, Swedish troops in a relatively short period captured 9 cities in Livonia and 4 in Novgorod land, nullifying all the many years of conquest of the Russian state in the Baltic states. In Ingermanland Ivan-Gorod, Yam, Koporye were taken, and in the Ladoga region - Korela.

3. Results and consequences of the war.

In January 1582, a ten-year truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky (near Pskov). Under this agreement, Russia renounced Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border Russian lands seized by the Polish king during hostilities were returned to her.

The defeat of the Russian troops in the simultaneous war with Poland, where the tsar was faced with the need to decide even to cede Pskov if the city was taken by storm, forced Ivan IV and his diplomats to negotiate with Sweden on the conclusion of the Treaty of Plus, humiliating for the Russian state. . Negotiations at Plus took place from May to August 1583. Under this agreement:

1. The Russian state lost all its acquisitions in Livonia. It retained only a narrow section of access to the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Finland.

2. Ivan-gorod, Yam, Koporye passed to the Swedes.

3. Also, the Kexholm fortress in Karelia, along with a vast county and the coast of Lake Ladoga, went to the Swedes.

4. The Russian state found itself cut off from the sea, ruined and devastated. Russia lost a significant part of its territory.

Thus, the Livonian War had very difficult consequences for the Russian state, and defeat in it greatly affected its further development. However, one can agree with N.M. Karamzin, who noted that the Livonian War was “unfortunate, but not inglorious for Russia.”

Conclusion.

Thus, after analyzing this topic, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. The purpose of the Livonian War was to give Russia access to the Baltic Sea in order to break the blockade from Livonia, the Polish-Lithuanian state and Sweden and establish direct communication with European countries. The immediate reason for the start of the Livonian War was the issue of the “Yuriev tribute.”

2. The Livonian War can be divided into 4 stages. The first (1558-1561) is directly related to the Russian-Livonian war. The second (1562-1569) involved primarily the Russian-Lithuanian war. The third (1570-1576) was distinguished by the resumption of the Russian struggle for Livonia, where they, together with the Danish prince Magnus, fought against the Swedes. The fourth (1577-1583) is associated primarily with the Russian-Polish war. During this period, the Russian-Swedish war continued.

3. In January 1582, a ten-year truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was concluded in Yama-Zapolsky (near Pskov). Under this agreement, Russia renounced Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border Russian lands seized by the Polish king during hostilities were returned to her. The Treaty of Plus was concluded with Sweden. The Russian state lost all its acquisitions in Livonia.

List of used literature:

1. Vipper R.Yu. Ivan the Terrible. - M-L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1944.

2. Volkov V.A. Wars and troops of the Moscow state. - M.: “Eksmo”, 2004.

3. Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State, T.9. - M.: “Eksmo”, 2000..

4. Korolyuk V.D. Livonian War. - USSR Academy of Sciences, 1954.

5. Skrynnikov R. G. Ivan the Terrible. - M.: AST Publishing House LLC, 2006.

6. Solovyov S. M. History of Russia since ancient times, T.6. - M., 2001.