Every spring, dark rings appear on the ice of Lake Baikal. Strange rings several kilometers in diameter have appeared before - were recorded in the spring of 2003, 2005, 2008. The most incredible assumptions were made- from shamanic signs to the actions of space aliens.
Study of ring ice phenomena on Lake Baikal
Presidium Russian Academy Sciences allocated money for an integration project to study the Baikal rings. It was found that the formation of rings occurs due to the rise of deep waters.
“The vertical stratification of the lake’s water column changes and a ring current is generated, which helps to reduce the thickness of the ice cover,- explained the press service of the INC SB RAS. - In the center of the circle, a deepening of the surfaces is formed and an increase in the temperature of the subglacial water is noted. And on the periphery of the circle, 2 km from the center, the ice becomes thinner, and this does not happen due to an increase in temperature.” This year, scientists want to find an answer to the question of why a circular current is formed, reducing the thickness of the ice. His point of view was expressed by “Mir”, Doctor of Biological Sciences. E.A. Petrov, who observed a similar phenomenon more than once during expeditions to Lake Baikal. It is believed that the culprit for the formation of the mysterious “rings” may be emissions of natural flammable gas (methane). Methane is formed in any swamp, but many kilometers of sediment accumulated over millions of years at the bottom is not a swamp!
And it (this formation) is quite capable of producing abnormally large volumes of natural gas. Rising from the bottom of Lake Baikal, natural gas creates an upward water flow. During the ascent, this flow is twisted by Coriolis forces (caused by the rotation of the Earth - cyclones and anticyclones are also formed in the atmosphere). As a result, a circular current forms in the layer of water directly below the ice, and since it is also relatively warm, it gradually destroys the ice from below. Next thing you know: the melted ice becomes saturated with water, the water rises between the ice needles, and a dark ring appears on the surface of the ice. Later, within the formed “ring,” the ice melts faster than in nearby areas of the water area. This is the proposed mechanism for the formation of “rings”.
Fishermen saw Baikal burning
Baikal gas has been studied somewhat more than oil, and there is undoubtedly much more of it in the lake. But no one has seen gas torches burning over Lake Baikal over the past 200 years, although there are assumptions that they did take place.
In 1959, when one of the strongest earthquakes, scientists conducted a survey of local residents, and fishermen, pointing to the Baikal horizon, said: “Baikal was burning there.” They did not know that the epicenter of the earthquake was located there.
According to Viktor Isaev, seismologists have previously observed sky glows during earthquakes, considering this an effect northern lights. However, Viktor Petrovich himself believes that the earthquake provokes gas eruptions. It comes to the surface along weakened zones and ignites. Therefore, in time these two catastrophic events match up.
In July 2003, in the area of the village of Barguzin, a fish died as a result of a methane release. A young man went fishing with a girl and saw how the fish washed up on the shore, and gas bubbled out from under the water. The shore was strewn with several tons of dead fish, as well as seagulls and crows that had swooped down on their prey. According to Viktor Isaev, such emissions occur when gas, having accumulated in large quantities, creates abnormally high pressure and breaks through the overlying weakly consolidated sediments.
On Baikal there are permanent places release of gas, they are best observed in the spring, when so-called steam vapors form in the ice. Fish cannot breathe methane, and therefore are not suitable for steam baths. Fishermen know this and do not fish in natural “ice holes.” In places where steam holes have not yet formed, under gas pressure the ice rises and gas accumulates. By punching a small hole in the ice, you can light a fire simply by holding a match. The sound of gas burning will create a loud noise.
The gas, which regularly rises to the surface of the lake, does not harm Baikal organisms in any way. They adapted to it so that methane became the beginning the food chain. Methane-oxidizing bacteria form bacterial mats that feed on plankton, which in turn feeds on fish. Since the most gas outlets on Lake Baikal are in the Posolsk area, the largest and fattest gas there is also there.
Natural gas seeps from the bottom of the lake have been known for a long time, and this is a common occurrence. The work of N. and L. Granin contains a detailed review of the literature on this subject, starting with the first description made back in the 18th century by J. Georgi and P.S. Pallas. There, by the way, the geographical coordinates and characteristics of most steam baths according to V.M. are given. Sokolnikov, a Baikal ice researcher in the mid-20th century.
In summer, it is quite difficult to notice this phenomenon (gas bubbles rise to the surface and burst), but in winter, in places where gas rises, so-called “steam holes” are formed - places where the ice is very thin or completely absent. The sizes of the “proparins” can be very different - up to hundreds of meters in diameter. It may be that the intensity of gas emissions is somehow related to seismic activity and tectonic movements in the Baikal region rift system. Most likely, abnormally large emissions capable of creating such “rings” on the ice have always occurred on Lake Baikal, which means that “rings” have arisen periodically. But due to their large size, these formations are difficult to see. So they began to notice them when the space monitoring ice conditions on the lake.
The study of ring ice phenomena on Lake Baikal is probably interesting and important for academic science. And, of course, these rings at the final stage of their existence can pose a danger to vehicles moving on ice, to fishermen and residents of nearby villages. However, the declaration on the need to organize monitoring and mapping of dangerous ice phenomena on Lake Baikal and inform the local population, fishermen, and tourists about the danger , in my opinion, looks more like an attempt to beg for money for this very monitoring. To be honest, at the end of April people have nothing to do on the ice of Lake Baikal, not in the sense that there is nothing to do, but in a different sense. It’s simpler, more effective and much cheaper for the Ministry of Emergency Situations to ban everyone loitering on the ice, for example, from April 20, and that’s it! It is much more important to find out the reasons for the occurrence of “rings”.
Although the authors speak almost confidently about the mechanism of formation of “rings”, it is known that the release of gases from the bottom of the lake always occurs in the same places, and most often and intensely, mainly in the deltas and deltas of large rivers flowing into the lake: Selenga, Barguzin , Verkhnyaya, Kichera, Buguldeika, Goloustnaya. Meanwhile, the “rings” for some reason ignored these areas. Scientists at Irkutsk State University believe that “catastrophic eruptions of flammable gas occurred... in the recent past and were preserved in the memory of people who lived on its shores. One of the variants of the name of Lake Baikal is translated from the Buryat language as “Bai Gal” - “standing fire”. This is also evidenced by the volcanic structures best preserved at the bottom of the lake.” .
Meanwhile, one of the articles states that since the solubility of methane in water is still quite high, then “ at a depth of several hundred meters, the probability of a methane bubble reaching the surface of the water column is negligible.”. Well, if this happens, then in addition to methane, there will be a lot of nitrogen and oxygen in the bubble. But it is possible that methane reaches the surface of the water (above great depths) in the form of floating crystals of gas hydrate.
Gas hydrate: what is it?
In nature, in the seas and oceans, subject to a number of conditions (in particular, there must be high pressure, low temperature and, of course, a lot of the starting material itself) gas hydrates are formed from methane. Externally, gas hydrates look like ordinary dirty pieces of ice (however, few mere mortals have seen them - gas hydrates disintegrate when rising to the surface). In reality, this is a solid mixture of gas and water, in which gas molecules are “soldered” into a framework of water molecules (and there are almost 200 times more gas molecules than water molecules). But the “mixture” is very unstable: it exists in a state of thermodynamic stability (hydrate stability zone, HSG), and if conditions change, it immediately collapses with the release of methane. Scientists believe that the stability of hydrates is disrupted near faults and that it is there that methane breaks through to the surface of the lake bottom in large volumes. But why are Baikal gas hydrates so unstable, while in the seas and oceans there are colossal amounts of them! - Is the gas hydrate layer generally stable? The bottom of Lake Baikal is covered with volcanoes.
When water, gas and silt are pushed out from the internal layers of bottom sediments to the surface of the bottom (let’s leave the reasons for this alone), bottom structures, so-called mud volcanoes, arise. These are a kind of “valves” that allow you to release excess gas pressure. They actually look like regular volcanoes, and during eruptions and even during quiet periods they release large amounts of liquid and gas. The erupting jets are about 25 m high.
How methane spoils Baikal water
Until now, in the coastal strip of the lake one can observe numerous outlets of flammable gas, which in winter form non-freezing polynyas called proparins. The very name of the lake - Baikal - is translated from the Buryat language as “standing fire”. During an eruption, the gas spontaneously ignites and rises with a bright flame “to the sky.” The eruption is accompanied by the release of huge masses of water, sand, clay, and as a result, “mud” volcanoes are formed, of which there can be about a hundred on Baikal, and more than 900 worldwide. The point of view is that cone-shaped hills located as if at the bottom, and along the shores of Lake Baikal are a consequence of gas volcanism, which is not shared by all scientists. No one has conducted detailed studies, but Viktor Isaev, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Higher School of Russia, Professor of the Department of Oil and Gas Geology of the Faculty of Geology at ISU, suggests that these are precisely “mud” volcanoes.
Scientists have suggested that there may be near-surface gas hydrates inside mud volcanoes. Chemical analysis water showed increased methane content in volcanic jets, but at the bottom near gas sources they found only a slight increase in methane content. The highest concentrations were found in the upper 25-50 m of water, but in general methane does not have a noticeable effect on the chemical composition of water. However, it has been known for many years that there is an anomalous layer of deep water in the South Baikal Basin, in which the temperature does not decrease, but increases with depth, sometimes increased concentrations of methane and, less often, slightly reduced concentrations of oxygen are found. It is believed that methane is to blame here too: under the influence of the unloading of gas from bottom sources, they say, mixing of water occurs with this result. By the way, the gas content of those same bubbles that reach the surface of Baikal and sometimes cause steam baths to “boil” has been known for a long time. These bubbles are filled with different gases, but the methane content in them is high (the contents of the bubbles burn well), often up to 90-99%. So it turns out that a significant part of the methane escapes into the atmosphere.
Why do gas hydrates constantly decompose?
There are presumably several reasons.
Rapid accumulation of sediment.
Tectonic uplift of the earth's crust.
Migration of fluids (these are liquid and gaseous components of magma and/or gas-saturated solutions circulating in the depths of the earth).
Local stretching of the earth's crust.
Landslides in the basin.
Or any combination of all five.
Against the background of such reasons, the recommendation (or wish) of Irkutsk scientists (from ISU) looks somehow funny and strange. “...to investigate the degree... of stability of the gas-hydrate layer at the bottom of Lake Baikal under conditions of exceptional high dynamics manifestations of modern geological processes and take measures to preserve gas hydrates in an undisturbed state" .
Meanwhile, the region of the Selenga delta is the area of the most significant solid runoff on Lake Baikal and, accordingly, the fastest accumulation of precipitation. However, no “rings” have been noticed in that area over the past 10 years, and it is even believed that the activity of gas outlets has decreased in recent decades. It is interesting that to prove the possibility of methane release in the pelagic zone of the lake (above great depths), the same Granins recalled cases mass death Golomyanok. This seems to me like a well-known attempt to “hold onto a straw,” if only because such cases have not been observed for 50-60 years, and for some reason the effect of methane was very selective - it killed only large golomyankas, without affecting the small golomyanka and other inhabitants pelagial, the same omul.
Let me clarify that the reason for the mass death of golomyankas in the past has still not been clarified and has not been properly explained.
In conclusion, we note that Baikal is full of mysteries and will never cease to amaze us, mere mortals, and will not leave scientists without work. The presence of “rings”, and most importantly, the unusual sequence of processes in which methane accumulates in the form of hydrates, and when their stability is disrupted, is released through mud volcanoes, as well as the very fact of the existence of “freshwater” gas hydrate only in the conditions of Baikal, is further evidence of the uniqueness of Baikal.
Notes
Links
- Baikal may burn due to gas hydrates // SM Number One: newspaper. - August 6, 2009.
- Another mystery of Baikal // Number one: newspaper. - Ulan-Ude. - June 10, 2009.
- Before an earthquake, Baikal gives signs // SM Number One: newspaper. - December 4, 2008.
The article briefly talks about the Livonian War (1558-1583), which was waged by Ivan the Terrible for the right to access the Baltic Sea. The war for Russia was initially successful, but after Sweden, Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered it, it became protracted and ended in territorial losses.
- Causes of the Livonian War
- Progress of the Livonian War
- Results of the Livonian War
Causes of the Livonian War
- Livonia was a state founded by German knightly order in the 13th century and included part of the territory of the modern Baltic states. By the 16th century it was a very weak state formation, the power in which was shared between knights and bishops. Livonia was easy prey for an aggressive state. Ivan the Terrible set himself the task of capturing Livonia in order to secure access to the Baltic Sea and in order to prevent its conquest by someone else. In addition, Livonia, being between Europe and Russia, in every possible way prevented the establishment of contacts between them, in particular, the entry of European masters into Russia was practically prohibited. This caused discontent in Moscow.
- The territory of Livonia before the capture by the German knights belonged to the Russian princes. This pushed Ivan the Terrible to war for the return of ancestral lands.
- According to the existing treaty, Livonia was obliged to pay Russia an annual tribute for possession ancient Russian city Yuryev (renamed Dorpat) and neighboring territories. However, this condition was not met, which was the main reason for the war.
Progress of the Livonian War
- In response to the refusal to pay tribute, Ivan the Terrible in 1558 began a war with Livonia. A weak state, torn by contradictions, cannot resist the huge army of Ivan the Terrible. The Russian army victoriously passes through the entire territory of Livonia, leaving only large fortresses and cities in the hands of the enemy. As a result, by 1560 Livonia, as a state, ceased to exist. However, its lands were divided between Sweden, Denmark and Poland, which declared that Russia must abandon all territorial acquisitions.
- The emergence of new opponents did not immediately affect the nature of the war. Sweden was at war with Denmark. Ivan the Terrible concentrated all his efforts against Poland. Successful military operations led to the capture of Polotsk in 1563. Poland begins to ask for a truce, and Ivan the Terrible convenes Zemsky Sobor and turns to him with such a proposal. However, the cathedral responds with a sharp refusal, declaring that the capture of Livonia is necessary in economically. The war continues, it becomes clear that it will be protracted.
- The situation changes for the worse after Ivan the Terrible introduced the oprichnina. The state, already weakened during a tense war, receives a “royal gift.” The tsar's punitive and repressive measures lead to a decline in the economy; the executions of many prominent military leaders significantly weaken the army. At the same time, the Crimean Khanate intensified its actions, beginning to threaten Russia. In 1571, Moscow was burned by Khan Devlet-Girey.
- In 1569, Poland and Lithuania united into a new strong state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1575, Stefan Batory became its king, who later showed the qualities of a talented commander. It has become turning point in the Livonian War. The Russian army holds the territory of Livonia for some time, besieges Riga and Revel, but soon the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden begin active military operations against the Russian army. Batory inflicts a series of defeats on Ivan the Terrible and wins back Polotsk. In 1581 he besieged Pskov, whose courageous defense lasted five months. Batory's lifting of the siege becomes the last victory of the Russian army. Sweden at this time seizes the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which belongs to Russia.
- In 1582, Ivan the Terrible concluded a truce with Stefan Batory, according to which he renounced all his territorial acquisitions. In 1583, a treaty was signed with Sweden, as a result of which the captured lands on the coast of the Gulf of Finland were assigned to it.
Results of the Livonian War
- The war started by Ivan the Terrible promised to be successful. At first, Russia made significant progress. However, due to a number of internal and external reasons, a turning point occurs in the war. Russia loses the captured territories and, ultimately, access to the Baltic Sea, remaining cut off from European markets.
Battle of Poltava June 27, 1709 finally allowed the move Northern War. At the beginning of the 18th century. Russia entered into a long struggle with Sweden for the Baltic Sea coast. The Baltic Sea coast, captured by Sweden, was a natural border for Russia and was vital for its further economic and political development
Polish magnates, who hoped to return the territory of Livonia that they had lost after the war with Sweden in 1660, took the side of Russia in this struggle.
The war with Sweden, called the Northern War, began in 1700 unfavorably for Russia and its allies. Swedish troops with an unexpected blow defeated Russia's ally Denmark, inflicted a serious defeat on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth troops approaching Riga, and then defeated Russian troops near Narva. Considering Russia defeated and unable to continue the war, Charles XII threw his forces into the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where, in the words of Peter I, he was stuck for a long time. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, despite help from Russia, was unable to cope with its enemy. Its military defeat was greatly facilitated by the intensified struggle between various factions of magnates. One of these groups created a confederation and, taking advantage of the military defeat of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, declared King Augustus II dethroned. In 1706, as a result of new military defeats inflicted by the Swedes on the troops of Augustus II, the latter was forced to abdicate the throne. The throne passed to the Swedish protege Stanislav Leshchinsky.
The Russian state, under the leadership of Peter I, used the respite to quickly reorganize the army, build a navy and build fortifications in the most important operational directions. Already in 1701, Russian troops began local offensive actions. In 1703, Russia captured the mouth of the Neva; in 1704, Russian troops occupied the ancient Novgorod possessions in the Baltic states with the cities of Koporye, Yam, Narva, Ivangorod, Yuryev. Significant forces of Russian troops were sent to help the troops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Having carried out aggression in Poland, Charles XII decided to use the territory of Belarus as a springboard for a subsequent attack on Russia. He hoped to capture Smolensk, throw all his forces at Moscow and, having captured the capital of the Russian state, subjugate it to Sweden. The 45,000-strong army of Charles XII occupied the western part of Belarus and began preparations for a further offensive.
In January 1708, Swedish troops launched an offensive in the direction of Grodno-Minsk-Borisov. Along the way, the Swedish army requisitioned food and fodder, stole livestock, robbed the population, and ravaged populated areas. “Wherever a Swede passed, famine followed,” wrote contemporaries. Menshikov reported that in the Minsk region the Swedes “are torturing and hanging and burning men (as has never happened before), so that the grain pits can be shown. The oppression of wretched people cannot be adequately described.”
Russian troops covering the roads to Smolensk-Moscow met the enemy near Borisov. An attempt by Swedish troops to cross the Berezina in this area ended in failure. They were forced to bypass Borisov and cross at Cape Berezino.
On July 8, 1708, Swedish troops occupied Mogilev and settled near the city on the Buynitsky field. The residents of Mogilev were immediately entrusted with the impossible task of supplying the troops with food. The city was divided into 15 sections, each of which was supposed to supply the Swedes with 312 pounds of bread and 3 thousand liters of beer daily free of charge.
The burden of the Swedish occupation fell mainly on the shoulders of the urban poor. Bread and other products have become incredibly expensive. Famine began in the city. Those residents of Mogilev who were unable to supply food were obliged to pay the cost in money. In addition, the Swedes levied huge taxes on the population for the maintenance of officers living in the city. Forcing townspeople who had no means to pay money, the Swedes, according to contemporaries, “put them in crypts and cellars, tortured them with hunger and put them naked in cold water and hung them on beams under the ceilings and tortured them with various other torments, like robbers.” “Satan,” as the residents of Mogilev nicknamed Charles XII, did not limit himself to robbing the population. By his order, all the churches in the city were robbed. In this way, the Swedes collected more than 9 pounds of silver, which they immediately minted into coins. Before leaving Mogilev, Swedish troops looted and destroyed most of the buildings.
On August 4-6, the Swedish army crossed the Dnieper. Carrying out his plan, Charles XII moved troops to Chausy, intending to then go to Smolensk.
The feudal lords of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, having fallen under the power of the Swedish invaders, quickly changed their previous positions. Dreaming that after the military defeat of Russia they would also get a share of the spoils, they provided the Swedish army with all possible assistance. The magnates helped Charles XII with money, tried to organize the supply of food to his troops, helping the Swedish invaders plunder Polish and Belarusian lands. The population of the Vitebsk Voivodeship complained to the Russian command that “the Polish military commanders with their servants and horses rode into the villages... they beat and tortured the peasants, slaughtered them, made night attacks, robbed and oppressed them.” Some representatives of the feudal nobility, insidiously posing as supporters of Russia, were engaged in espionage activities in favor of the Swedes.
The attitude towards foreign invaders on the part of the masses of Belarus was different. The peasants hated the enslavers who robbed and devastated populated areas. When the army of Charles XII approached, they went into the forests, taking grain and livestock. They informed the Russian command about the advance of the Swedish troops, exterminated foragers and individual soldiers who moved away from their units in search of food. Not far from Grodno, Belarusian peasants made an attempt on the life of Charles XII. Numerous partisan detachments fought against the invaders. The Swedish historian Stille was forced to admit that the troops of Charles XII had to deal with peasant partisan detachments at every step.
As they moved east, the position of the Swedish troops worsened. The looting did not make up for the lack of food and fodder. The Swedish army was starving. Russian troops constantly harassed the enemy with surprise attacks on individual units.
A corps under the command of General Levengaupt, consisting of 16 thousand soldiers and 7 thousand carts with ammunition and food, came to the aid of Charles XII from Livonia. The Swedish army could not stop and wait for the auxiliary corps, since it had no food. Therefore, Charles XII moved his troops south to Cherikov, and then suddenly turned north to Mstislavl, where he hoped to unite with Levenhaupt. With this maneuver, Charles XII hoped to go to the rear of the Russian troops, who not only covered the roads to Smolensk and Moscow, but also cut off the road to Levengaupt.
Belarusian peasants informed the Russian command about the sudden maneuver of the Swedes. By order of Peter I, the troops of General Golitsyn attacked the enemy on August 29, 1708 near the village of Dobroye, not far from Mstislavl. The Swedes suffered heavy losses. However, the Russian troops, exhausting the forces of the invaders, but without imposing a general battle on them, retreated. The army of Charles XII, which followed the Russian troops, soon stopped for fear of being surrounded.
Then Charles XII, taking advantage of the betrayal of the Russian state Ukrainian Hetman Mazepa, with whom he had long been conducting secret negotiations, hastily sent his starving troops to Ukraine. The Swedish king hoped to provide his army with food in Ukraine, spend the winter and, with the help of the traitor hetman, attack Moscow in the spring.
Part of the Russian troops, covering the roads to Moscow, followed the Swedish army, and the other part, under the command of Peter I, went to approach Levenhaupt.
One resident of Polotsk, sent by the Russian command on reconnaissance, gave detailed information about the forces and progress of this Swedish corps.
Peter I sought to prevent Levengaupt from joining forces with the troops of Charles XII, and near the village of Dolgiy Mokh, Russian troops approached the enemy. Levenhaupt did not accept the fight. Having crossed the Resta River, the Swedes burned all the bridges behind them and retreated to the village of Lesnoy, located near Propoisk. However, they failed to avoid the battle. An unknown Belarusian peasant, who knew the area well, secretly, through swamps and forests, led Russian troops to the enemy position.
On September 28, 1708, the Swedes were suddenly attacked by Russian troops, whose numbers were less than those of the enemy: 12 thousand Russians against 14 thousand Swedes. In the battle near the village of Levengaupt's Forest Corps, he was defeated. Leaving up to 8 thousand dead and wounded on the battlefield, the Swedes fled to Propoisk. The Russian cavalry rushed in pursuit, having overtaken the enemy, completed it final defeat. In addition to 800 prisoners, including three generals, Russian troops captured all of the enemy’s artillery and his entire convoy - 7 thousand carts with ammunition and food.
Belarusian partisans exterminated the remnants of Levengaupt's corps scattered throughout the forests. On October 6, 1708, Peter I wrote to Apraksin: “I bet that as soon as a thousand of them come out to the king, the men beat them severely in the forests.
The battle near the village of Lesnoy was great importance for the success of the further struggle of the Russian state against the Swedish invaders. Peter I called this battle “the mother of the Poltava battle.”
The Battle of Poltava (1709), and then the battles of Gangut (1714) and Grengam (1720) ended in brilliant victories for the Russian troops. Defeated Sweden in 1721 was forced to conclude the Peace of Nystad, according to which Russia received access to the shores of the Baltic Sea. During the Northern War, the sympathy of the people of Belarus for the fraternal Russian people, who expelled the Swedish invaders from the Belarusian lands, grew stronger.
The Northern War (1700-1721) was fought by Russia against Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea coast. Russia’s ally in this war was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which sought to return the territory of Livonia, which it had lost in the Treaty of Oliva in 1660.
The war started poorly for the Allies. In the battle of Narva, the Russian army was defeated. Believing that Russia would not be able to continue the war, the Swedish king Charles XII threw his army into Poland, where, in the words of Peter I, he “got stuck for a long time.”
The Russian government, using the respite, managed to short term create a well-armed regular army, which already in 1702 went on the offensive and won a number of remarkable victories. The situation was worse for the Russian army sent to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the winter of 1705/06, Russian troops were surrounded by the Swedes near Grodno, and only thanks to the skillful leadership of Peter I they managed to escape defeat. However, the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was defeated. Card XII forced the Polish king Augustus II to abdicate the throne and make peace on terms favorable to Sweden. The Swedish protege Stanislav Loschinsky was elected king of Poland. After this, the entire burden of the war fell on the shoulders of Russia alone.
In December 1707, Charles XII, with an army of 45 thousand people, began his campaign through Belarus to Moscow. In January 1708, Swedish troops occupied Grodno, in February - Smorgon, in July - Mogilev. In the occupied territory, the Swedes burned cities and villages, robbed the population, and committed violence. “They torture, hang, burn men... so that they can show the grain pits,” wrote the commander of the Russian army, A. D. Menshikov, in a letter to the Tsar on April 3, 1708. The feudal lords of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth not only did not resist the Swedish occupiers, but many of them joined the Swedish protege Stanislav Leszczynski and together plundered the city and rural population Belarus.
The Belarusian people offered stubborn resistance to foreign invaders. Peasants hid or destroyed grain and livestock, went into the forests and created partisan detachments. To delay the advance of the Swedes, peasants destroyed bridges, built rubble and spotted them." The partisans smashed Swedish garrisons and destroyed foraging detachments. Not far from Grodno, unknown peasants shot at Charles XII, who only by chance survived.
The struggle of the popular masses in the eastern part of Belarus acquired a particularly wide scope. Here as reported French ambassador in Sweden, the entire population, at the call of the Russian command, came out to fight against the Swedes. Peasants and townspeople provided Russian soldiers with food, weapons, shoes, and carried intelligence service. Risking their lives, they penetrated into the areas where Swedish units and garrisons were located and brought valuable information about the enemy. Reports from local residents enabled the Russian command to quickly take the necessary measures.
Belarusian townspeople actively fought against the Swedish invaders. Residents of Nesvizh back in 1702 turned to the owner of the city, Karl Radzivil, with a request to involve them in the construction of a fortress in Nesvizh. They declared their readiness to defend the fortress and asked to be accepted into the city garrison. When the Swedish army led by Charles 12 approached Nesvizh in 1706, the townspeople put up stubborn resistance; the city was taken only after a long siege.
The population of Mogilev selflessly came out to fight against the invaders. In a short period of time, the townspeople erected new ones, strengthened the old ones and created a military garrison from local residents led by Colonel F. F. Shevnya, and decided, together with Russian soldiers, to defend their city to the end. Peter I highly appreciated the assistance of the residents of Mogilev to the Russian troops, granting them the right to free trade on Russian territory.
The residents of Bykhov fought stubbornly together with Russian soldiers against the Swedish invaders. They made bold forays and inflicted significant losses on the enemy. It is characteristic that not only the townspeople, but also the peasants of the surrounding villages took part in the defense of Vykhov. The resilience of the Bykhovites deprived Charles XII of the opportunity to use closest way to Ukraine; and the Russian command retained a bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper.
At the beginning of August 1708, Charles XII set out from Mogelev and moved first southeast to Cherikov, and then turned sharply to Mstislavl, hoping to break through to Smolensk here. Russian command unraveled the plans of the Swedes and concentrated significant forces in the Mstislavl area. On August 30, a major battle took place near the village. Kind. The troops of General Golitsyn completely destroyed the Swedish vanguard. In another battle near the village. Raevka Charles XII almost was captured.
Due to the increased resistance of the Russian troops and the intensification of the struggle of the popular masses, the Swedish king was forced to abandon the campaign against Moscow through Smolen. He decided to move to Ukraine, where he hoped to provide his army with food, spend the winter and, with the help of the traitor Hetman Mazepa, begin a new campaign against Moscow. To get ahead of the Russian army, which occupied Mglin and the road to Pochep, Charles XII sent the 4,000-strong front line of General Lagerkron. As soon as Lagerkron separated from the main army, several Belarusian peasants arrived to him. They promised to lead his detachment to Mglin by the shortest route. These unknown Belarusian folk heroes repeated immortal feat Ivan Susanin. They wandered through the forests with the Swedish vanguard for several days along difficult forest roads and led it tens of kilometers away from Mglin. This made it possible for Russian troops to occupy Mglin much earlier and gain a foothold in Pochep.
Having set out on a campaign in Ukraine, Charles XII ordered the auxiliary corps of General Levenhaupt, coming from Riga to reinforce the main army, to move there. The Russian command decided to allow the troops of Charles XII further into the interior of the country, and in the meantime defeat Levenhaupt's corps and deprive the Swedish army of reinforcements.
Levenhautzt's corps, fearing a meeting with Russian troops, slowly moved with a convoy of 8 thousand carts along country roads to Propoisk. Soon Russian troops overtook the Swedes near the village. Long Moss. Levenhaupt did not accept the fight. Having crossed the Resta River, the Swedes burned all the bridges and retreated to the village. Forest. The area chosen by Levenhaupt was advantageous for the actions of the Swedish troops, since there were no convenient thresholds for the advance of the advancing Russian troops. A Belarusian peasant, whose name remained unknown, secretly led Russian troops to Lesnaya through “swamps and cruel crossings.”
September 28, 1708 near the village. Levengaupt's forest corps was defeated in a fierce battle. Having lost over 8 thousand killed and wounded, the entire convoy and artillery, Levengaupt fled to Propoisk. The Russian cavalry sent in pursuit completed his final defeat. Belarusian partisans exterminated the remnants of Levengaupt's corps scattered in the forests. Biographer Karl 12 Frinsel noted that those defeated near the village. The forest remnants of the corps fled in small groups of 50-60 people and they had to fight not only with detachments of Russian troops, but also with “embarrassed ordinary people.” Peter 1 wrote to Apraksin on October 6, 1708: “I bet that barely a thousand of them (the Swedes) will come to the king, and the men will beat them severely in the forests.”
The Battle of Lesnaya was of great importance. This was the first major victory of the regular Russian army, created as a result of military reforms at the beginning of the 18th century. The defeat of Levenhaupt's corps worsened the position of the main army of Charles XII. Levenhaupt brought only about 4.5 thousand exhausted and hungry soldiers to the king. Having lost the entire convoy with military supplies near Lesnaya, the Swedes could field only 4 cannons in the Battle of Poltava. The rest of the artillery could not be used due to lack of gunpowder and shells. At Lesnaya the Swedes lost their wonderful confidence, while the Russians, on the contrary, perked up.
But Peter I later called the battle “the mother of the Poltava battle,” since the victory at Lesnaya prepared the defeat of the Swedish army in the Battle of Poltava (1709).
The Northern War ended with a brilliant victory for the Russian state. According to the Peace of Nystad. Russia gained access to the Baltic Sea.
In the struggle against the Swedish invaders, the friendship of the fraternal Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples became even stronger and tempered. At the same time, the Northern War brought new ruin to Belarus. Hundreds of villages and hamlets were plundered. The peasants lost a significant part of their draft animals, and therefore could not cultivate the amount of land that they used before. The size of vacant uncultivated land has increased dramatically. Thus, in the Brest economy in the first quarter of the 18th century. Over 40% of the peasant land was empty, and in Dobrinskaya and Grodno - more than 80%. Brest, Grodno, Minsk, Vitebsk and especially Mogilev, where over 2 thousand houses burned down during the fire of 1708, were devastated. Urban population decreased from 30 to 70%. .Craft and trade were in a state of deep decline.
The events of the Northern War had a pan-European scope. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered the anti-Swedish coalition led by Russia, pursuing its own goals. She sought to return Livonia, lost in the Treaty of Oliva in 1660, and to secure Polish territory from the Swedish threat constantly hanging over it. The Polish government sought to achieve these goals primarily through Russian hands, and therefore from the very beginning pursued an evasive, inconsistent policy. As was their custom, the magnates and gentry were ready at any moment to switch sides to whichever side would prevail.
And so it happened. After the Swedish king Charles XII defeated an inexperienced Russian army at Narva and then rushed into Poland and defeated the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he forced the Saxon Elector Augustus II to renounce the Polish throne. The Swedish protege Stanislav Leshchinsky was placed on it. Many feudal lords of the Grand Duchy hastened to defect to his side and, together with the Swedes, began to devastate their own territory. But as soon as military luck turned away from the Swedes, S. Leshchinsky was expelled, Augustus II returned and the gentry began to run over to his side. This has happened more than once. The Russian government had to make sure more than once what kind of ally it was, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and how much it could be relied on in any way.
In December 1707, Karl XII began advance through Belarus towards the Russian border. In January 1708, the Swedes occupied Grodno, in February - Smorgon, in July - Mogilev. Russian troops retreated, fighting fierce rearguard battles. They were helped in every possible way by partisan detachments from the local Belarusian population. They attacked individual Swedish detachments, convoys and small garrisons, conducted reconnaissance, and served as guides for the Russian command. The peasants hid food and fodder and refused to supply it even for money. The Swedish army lacked uniforms and ammunition.
In August - September 1708, after a series of defeats on the territory of Eastern Belarus (near the village of Dobroye, near Raevka, etc.), Charles XII assembled a military council in Staritsy, at which it was decided to wait for Levengaupt’s corps. He was moving with a large convoy from the Baltic states to join the main army. Then Charles XII planned to turn to Ukraine, where the traitor Mazepa promised help and warm winter apartments.
Peter I, having covered the Russian border with Sheremetev’s army, sent a flying detachment (“corvolant”) against Levengaupt, which he himself led. With the help of Belarusian guides, on September 28, 1708, he intercepted the Swedish corps near the village of Lesnoye near Propoisk (now Slavgorod). Levengaupt's 16,000-strong corps was completely defeated. The Russians received a convoy of 7 thousand carts with food, equipment and ammunition, so necessary for the Swedish army. Peter I called this victory “the mother of the Poltava battle,” which turned the entire course of the Northern War in favor of Russia. The saying “disappeared like a Swede near Poltava” has forever entered the Russian language.
Meanwhile, the fire of partisan warfare engulfed Ukraine. The Ukrainian people did not follow Mazepa and remained faithful to the oath. The center of hostilities moved to the west.
Speaking about the events of the Northern War on Belarusian territory, it should be remembered that Belarus actually played the role of the operational rear of the Russian army. Here food and fodder, ship timber and other supplies for the fleet created by Peter I were procured, officers, soldiers and sailors were recruited into the Russian army and navy. Representatives of the Belarusian intelligentsia, such as the famous cultural figure, translator and book publisher I. Kopievich.
The Belarusian people made a significant contribution to the victory of Russia. But the hard times of war seriously undermined the country’s economy, which had not yet fully recovered from the shocks of the 17th century. Fate continued to test long-suffering Belarus. During the Northern War, the German states began to persistently solicit from Peter I the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, torn apart by internal strife. However, the tsar, solving strategic problems in the north and south of Russia, preferred to have a weak and dependent neighbor in the west, so that over time he could absorb it entirely, without sharing with anyone. This was not meant to be. After the death of the great reformer, his weak heirs, busy squabbling for power, had no time for Poland.
TO mid-16th century V. For the Russian state, access to the shores of the Baltic Sea became vital. Further economic development country and strengthening its ties with other states was impossible without the possession of ports on the Baltic coast. But the Livonian Order, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden did their best to prevent the Russian state from entering the Baltic.
The Russian Tsar Ivan IV, after long but fruitless negotiations with Livonia on the free transit of Russian goods to the West and Western goods to Moscow, was forced to begin military operations in 1558.
In 1561, Lithuania and Poland intervened in this war, which, trying to prevent the Russian state from reaching the shores of the Baltic Sea, took under their protection the German feudal lords who dominated the Baltic states.
In this regard, in 1562, Russian troops entered the borders of the Lithuanian state and began to liberate the Belarusian lands from the rule of Lithuanian feudal lords. In Belarus, Russian troops were joyfully greeted by the masses. Ivan IV took personal part in the campaign. He set his immediate goal to capture Polotsk, which had great economic and military-strategic importance. On February 15, 1563, Polotsk was liberated and for the next 16 years it was part of the Russian state.
The liberation of Polotsk caused great alarm in Lithuania and Poland, especially since Russian troops crossed the Western Dvina and threatened Vilna. The Livonian War once again showed the weakness of the Lithuanian state.
Russian troops occupied a significant part of the Belarusian ones and began to approach Minsk. The success of the Russian troops was facilitated by the help of the people of Belarus. Even the Jesuit Possevin wrote that the population of Belarus gravitates towards Moscow and “publicly prays for the Muscovites to be granted victory.” The dominance of the Lithuanian feudal lords in Belarus was again under threat.
In order to prevent the transition of the Belarusian feudal lords to the side of the Russian state, King Sigismund II Augustus was forced to extend to the Orthodox feudal lords the rights that until that time had only been enjoyed by Catholic feudal lords. This was a temporary concession.
Polish magnates sought to use the military defeats of the Lithuanian feudal lords in the fight against the Russian state to further strengthen their political influence in the Lithuanian state. Throughout the 60s of the 16th century. The gentry of the Lithuanian state, including the Belarusian ones, achieved new privileges for themselves. The 1529 statute was revised and supplemented. A second Statute was drawn up and adopted at the Sejm in 1566. The Second Statute provided for and consolidated the participation of the gentry in the activities of the Sejm. Representatives (ambassadors) from the gentry constituted the lower house of the Sejm. Having achieved these privileges, the gentry of the Lithuanian state wanted to equalize their rights with the rights Polish gentry and supported Polish magnates.
Polish magnates, who sought to subjugate the Lithuanian state, put forward a plan for a new union of Lithuania and Poland. Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian magnates, fearing the dominance of Polish feudal lords in the Lithuanian state and the complete loss of its political independence, strongly opposed the new union of Lithuania and Poland.
Several attempts to resolve the issue of union at congresses of Polish and Lithuanian representatives did not lead to success. Finally, in 1569, a general Polish-Lithuanian Sejm was convened in Lublin to resolve this issue. Lithuanian magnates agreed to convene a general Sejm in view of the critical situation of the Lithuanian state, which faced the threat of losing Belarusian lands.
At the Lublin Sejm, after fierce disputes, the major feudal lords of the Lithuanian state were forced to agree to the unification of Poland and Lithuania into one state. The union was concluded on July 1, 1569. The united Polish-Lithuanian state began to be called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania retained some autonomy in military, administrative and judicial terms. Belarus remained part of the Principality of Lithuania, and Ukraine and the so-called Podlasie (Belarusian lands along the Bug) became directly part of Poland.
Soon after the conclusion of the Union of Lublin, Sigismund II Augustus sent envoys to Moscow with a proposal for peace. But peace talks did not give positive results. Only a three-year truce was reached.
In 1573, after the death of Sigismund II Augustus, the Semigrad governor Stefan Batory was elected to the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. With the help of the Pope, Batory, having reorganized and strengthened the army, moved from defense to offensive actions.
In 1578, Batory's troops invaded Livonia. IN next year he moved his troops to Polotsk. Russian troops and the local population offered heroic resistance to the Polish-Lithuanian troops, but on August 30, 1579, Polotsk fell. When Batory's troops burst into the city, its last defenders took refuge in the St. Sophia Cathedral. They all died in an unequal battle. A fire started in the city, during which the extensive and valuable library of the St. Sophia Cathedral, where ancient manuscripts and books, including chronicles, were kept, was destroyed. At the time when Batory captured Polotsk, other detachments of Polish-Lithuanian troops devastated and plundered settlements in the Smolensk and Seversk lands.
After the fall of Polotsk, the war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian state continued for more than two years. In 1581, Polish-Lithuanian troops besieged Pskov. All attempts by the Poles and Batory's mercenary troops to take this city were unsuccessful. The staunch defense of Pskov by Russian troops represents one of many bright pages military history Russian people. Batory's failure at the walls of Pskov forced him to agree to peace negotiations. In January D582, as a result of negotiations between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian state, a truce was concluded for a period of 10 years. Under the terms of the truce, Ivan IV had to renounce Livonia and Polotsk.
Gradually, the gentry rose in political power. Since 1511, the election of deputies to the Val Sejm was established at povet sejmiks, which consisted mainly of the gentry. Now the district gentry, if they were pleasing to the magnates, ended up in the Sejm. In 1547, Sigismund II granted equal rights to the Orthodox gentry and the Catholic gentry. It was his privilege that in 1563 the gentry were given the opportunity to occupy the highest positions government posts. Now only the feudal estate court could judge the gentry.
Ultimately, in the first half of the 16th century. The gentry had equal rights with the feudal nobility, they were guaranteed personal and property integrity. The process of consolidation of various layers of the feudal class into one gentry, privileged class was completed. In the Statute of 1529, the term “szlachta” was already applied to all feudal lords of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nevertheless, the position of feudal lords within the estate remained uneven. The magnates retained a leading political role in the state. They were still subject to special jurisdiction and could not be tried by provincial courts.
In the middle of the 16th century. The Russian state began to fight for the territory of the Livonian Confederation and access to Baltic Sea. Poland and Lithuania were preparing to support Livonia, who sought to establish themselves that the military actions of the Russians could be joyfully greeted by the Belarusian people; the government of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1557 concluded a military alliance with the Livonian Order. This was the reason for the start of the war with the Russian state.
The successful advance of the Russian army in 1559 forced the Livonian Order to come under the protectorate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. When is it near the Baltic states?
Realizing that the Order had collapsed due to the blows of Russian troops, Sigismund II imposed the Treaty of Vilna (1561) on Livonia, according to which most of the territory of Livonia fell under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In response to this, Ivan IV sent troops towards the northeastern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1562, separate detachments of Russian troops approached Vitebsk, Orsha and Shklov. To carry out a decisive offensive against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the winter of 1562/63, an 8,000-strong army was formed near Mozhaisk, headed by Ivan IV himself.
On February 15, 1563, after a two-week siege, Russian troops captured Polotsk. The path to the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was open. The Belarusian people eagerly awaited the arrival of Russian troops. On this occasion, the papal ambassador wrote that the population was “publicly praying for victory to be granted to the Muscovites.” During hostilities Belarusian population directly supported the Russian army. During the capture of Polotsk, many townspeople took part in the assault on the fortress.
The real threat of loss of Belarusian and Ukrainian lands and internal political contradictions forced the Lithuanian feudal lords, even to the detriment of their interests, to return to strengthening the military-political alliance with Poland. In turn, the Polish feudal lords and the Catholic clergy, with the direct support of the Vatican, had long nurtured plans for the final annexation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to their state.
Negotiations on the union began in January 1569 in Lublin at a joint meeting of the diets of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Hoping for a further expansion of their rights and liberties, the small and medium-sized feudal lords of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania supported the union. The large feudal lords did not agree to incorporation, and on March 1, 1569, negotiations were interrupted. Taking advantage of this, Sigismud II, in separate acts, annexed Podlasie, Volyn, Podolia and Kiev region (without Mozyr povet) to Poland in turn. The magnates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were forced to resume negotiations and, after fierce disputes, on July 1, 1569, sign the terms of the union.
According to the Union of Lublin, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania united into one state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, headed by a king who simultaneously became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Instead of the common Sejms of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, united Sejms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began to be convened. A unified monetary system for the entire state was also introduced. At the same time, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania retained its name and some autonomy. In particular, he was given the right to issue local laws, have his own internal management and judicial bodies (in 1581 the Main Lithuanian Tribunal was established), its own army of nobles headed by a hetman, the right to mint national coins, etc. The official language, as before, remained Belarusian.
Nevertheless, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania found itself in a position dependent on Poland. Ukraine went to Poland. Within the Principality of Lithuania, Polish feudal lords and the Catholic clergy received the right to unlimited acquisition of land. The appointment of feudal lords of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the highest government posts began to be made by the king, and the appointed persons had to swear allegiance to him.
For the Russian state, the Union of Lublin had a negative impact on further move Livonian War. The Semigrad voivode Stefan Batory (1576-1586), who ascended the throne of the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, using the combined military forces of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, went on the offensive in 1578. Batory's troops stormed Polotsk for 20 days. Despite the heroic efforts of the Russian troops and city residents, Polotsk fell on August 30, 1579. Most of The houses of the city were burned. According to the Yam-Zapolsky truce of 1582, Polotsk went to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Union of Lublin slowed down the economic development of Belarus. For the masses, it meant the establishment of social oppression of the Polish feudal lords and a sharp increase in Catholic aggression.
The ruling circles of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth used the Catholic Church to consolidate their economic and political dominance in Belarus. With its help, they intended to unite the feudal lords of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the fight against the growing popular movement, paralyze the desire of the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples to strengthen ties and reunite with the Russian people. To achieve these goals, the Polish feudal lords and Catholic clergy undertook the unification of the Orthodox Church with the Catholic Church on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The inspirer of the church union was the Vatican, which intended to assert its influence not only in Belarus and Ukraine, but also in the Russian state. Practical training The union was entrusted to the Jesuits, who arrived at the direction of the Vatican in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The project of the union was developed by the Jesuit Eleventh Skarga and outlined in the book “On the Unity of the Church of God” (1577). Large Orthodox feudal lords and the highest hierarchy Kyiv Metropolis led by Metropolitan Ragoza, seeking to preserve their land holdings and achieve new class privileges, supported the union. The majority of the gentry, the wealthy elite of the townspeople and the lower clergy, fearing protests by the masses, were against the unification of churches.
For the final approval of the union, by decree of the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Sigismund III Vasa (1587-1632) (October 1, 1596, a church council of the highest Orthodox and Catholic clergy, large secular feudal lords and representatives of the cities was convened in Brest. The council was immediately divided into two councils - opponents and supporters of the union. Orthodox Cathedral spoke out against the union, removed from office and deprived of their spiritual titles the Kyiv Metropolitan Ragoza and the bishops who accepted the union. In a similar way There was also a Uniate protest against opponents of the union. Sigismund III supported the decision of the supporters of the union.
According to the Union of Brest, the Orthodox Church on the territory of Belarus and Ukraine was brought under the subordination of the Pope and accepted the basic dogmas catholic church. The Orthodox Church retained rituals and worship on Church Slavonic language, which was done deliberately. Even before the conclusion of the union, the Jesuit Anthony Possevin, Peter Skarga’s co-author in the development of the union, wrote to the Pope: “It seems that it would be more profitable to gradually convert the Russians to the Catholic faith, allowing them to adhere to their rituals and worship, and in the future to convince them to accept the rituals of the Roman Church.” .
The Brest Church Union supplemented the union of 1569 and was the main ideological weapon of the expansionist aspirations of the Polish feudal lords within the borders of Belarus and Ukraine. Its proclamation sanctified Catholic aggression into the East Slavic lands.
With the adoption of the union orthodox churches began to forcibly turn into Uniate churches, new Uniate churches, churches and monasteries of the Jesuits, Bernardines, Dominicans, Carmelites, Franciscans and others were built Catholic orders. Already by the middle of the 17th century. they covered the territory of Belarus with a dense network. Along with the Orthodox, the Catholic and Uniate churches became the largest land fiefs, owning hundreds and then thousands of villages with serfs. The feudal property of the Catholic Church of Belarus consisted of the possessions of the Vilna bishopric, monasteries and parish priests.
Defending their class interests, following the large Belarusian feudal lords (the Glebovichs, Zaslavskys, Potseys, Rutskys, Sangushkis, Sapiehas, Slutskys, Tyshkeviches, etc.), the majority of the gentry defected to the Catholic camp soon after the union. And only the masses resolutely opposed forced Catholicization, against Polish-Catholic aggression.
Literature
war church union expansionist
1. V.V. Chepko, A.P. Ignatenko “History of the BSSR” part 1 Minsk publishing house BSU named after. V.I.Lenin 1981
2. Ya.I. Treshchenok "History of Belarus" part 1 pre-Soviet period Mogilev Moscow State University. A.A.Kuleshova 2003
3. V.N. Pertsev, K.I. Shabun, L.S. Abetsedarsky “History of the Belarusian SSR” Academy of Sciences of the Belarusian SSR Minsk 1954
4. P.I.Brygadzin, I.I.Koukel, I.P.Kren, L.V.Loika, U.A.Nyadzelka “History of Belarus”, part one from the ancient times and the end of the 18th century. Lecture course RIVSH BDU Minsk 2000
Livonian War |
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The struggle of Russia, Sweden, Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the “Livonian legacy” |
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Victory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden |
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Territorial changes: |
Annexation of Velizh and Livonia by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; annexation of Ingria and Karelia by Sweden |
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Opponents |
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Livonian Confederation (1558-1561) |
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Don Army (1570-1583) |
Kingdom of Poland (1563-1569) |
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Livonian Kingdom (1570-1577) |
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1563-1569) |
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Sweden (1563-1583) |
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Zaporozhian Army (1568-1582) |
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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1582) |
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Commanders |
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Ivan IV the Terrible Khan Shah-Ali King Magnus of Livonia in 1570-1577 |
Former king Magnus after 1577 Stefan Batory |
Frederick II |
Livonian War(1558-1583) was fought by the Russian Kingdom for territories in the Baltic states and access to the Baltic Sea in order to break the blockade by the Livonian Confederation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden and establish direct communication with European countries.
Background
The Livonian Confederation was interested in controlling the transit of Russian trade and significantly limited the opportunities of Russian merchants. In particular, all trade exchanges with Europe could only be carried out through the Livonian ports of Riga, Lindanise (Revel), Narva, and goods could only be transported on ships of the Hanseatic League. At the same time, fearing the military and economic strengthening of Russia, the Livonian Confederation prevented the transport of strategic raw materials and specialists to Russia (see the Schlitte Affair), receiving the assistance of the Hanseatic League, Poland, Sweden and the German imperial authorities.
In 1503, Ivan III concluded with Livonian Confederation a truce for 50 years, under the terms of which she had to annually pay tribute (the so-called “Yuryev’s tribute”) for the city of Yuryev (Dorpat), which previously belonged to Novgorod. Treaties between Moscow and Dorpat in the 16th century traditionally mentioned the “Yuriev tribute,” but in fact it was long forgotten. When the truce expired, during negotiations in 1554, Ivan IV demanded the return of arrears, the renunciation of the Livonian Confederation from military alliances with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden, and the continuation of the truce.
The first payment of the debt for Dorpat was supposed to take place in 1557, but the Livonian Confederation did not fulfill its obligation.
In 1557, in the city of Posvol, an agreement was concluded between the Livonian Confederation and the Kingdom of Poland, establishing the vassal dependence of the order on Poland.
In the spring of 1557, Tsar Ivan IV established a port on the banks of Narva ( “The same year, July, a city was built from the German Ust-Narova River Rozsene by the sea as a shelter for sea ships.”). However, Livonia and the Hanseatic League do not allow European merchants to enter the new Russian port, and they are forced to go, as before, to Livonian ports.
Progress of the war
By the beginning of the war, the Livonian Confederation was weakened by defeat in the conflict with the Archbishop of Riga and Sigismund II Augustus. In addition, the already heterogeneous Livonian society was even more split as a result of the Reformation. On the other hand, Russia was gaining strength after victories over Kazansky and Astrakhan khanates and the annexation of Kabarda.
War with the Livonian Confederation
Russia started the war on January 17, 1558. The invasion of Russian troops in January-February 1558 into the Livonian lands was a reconnaissance raid. 40 thousand people took part in it under the command of Khan Shig-Aley (Shah-Ali), governor Glinsky and Zakharyin-Yuryev. They walked through the eastern part of Estonia and returned back by the beginning of March. The Russian side motivated this campaign solely by the desire to receive due tribute from Livonia. The Livonian Landtag decided to collect 60 thousand thalers for settlements with Moscow in order to end the war that had begun. However, by May only half of the declared amount had been collected. In addition, the Narva garrison fired at the Ivangorod fortress, thereby violating the armistice agreement.
This time a more powerful army moved to Livonia. The Livonian Confederation at that time could put no more than 10 thousand in the field, not counting the fortress garrisons. Thus, its main military asset was the powerful stone walls of the fortresses, which by this time could no longer effectively withstand the power of heavy siege weapons.
Voivodes Alexey Basmanov and Danila Adashev arrived in Ivangorod. In April 1558, Russian troops besieged Narva. The fortress was defended by a garrison under the command of the knight Vocht Schnellenberg. On May 11, a fire broke out in the city, accompanied by a storm (according to Nikon Chronicle The fire occurred because drunken Livonians threw an Orthodox icon of the Mother of God into the fire). Taking advantage of the fact that the guards had left the city walls, the Russians rushed to storm. They broke through the gates and took possession of the lower city. Having captured the guns located there, the warriors turned them around and opened fire on the upper castle, preparing the stairs for the attack. However, by the evening the defenders of the castle themselves surrendered, on the condition of free exit from the city.
The defense of the Neuhausen fortress was particularly tenacious. It was defended by several hundred warriors led by the knight von Padenorm, who repelled the onslaught of the governor Peter Shuisky for almost a month. On June 30, 1558, after the destruction of the fortress walls and towers by Russian artillery, the Germans retreated to the upper castle. Von Padenorm expressed a desire to hold the defense here too, but the surviving defenders of the fortress refused to continue their pointless resistance. As a sign of respect for their courage, Pyotr Shuisky allowed them to leave the fortress with honor.
In July, P. Shuisky besieged Dorpat. The city was defended by a garrison of 2,000 men under the command of Bishop Hermann Weiland. Having built a rampart at the level of the fortress walls and installed guns on it, on July 11, Russian artillery began shelling the city. The cannonballs pierced the tiles of the roofs of houses, drowning the residents taking refuge there. On July 15, P. Shuisky invited Weiland to surrender. While he was thinking, the bombing continued. Some towers and loopholes were destroyed. Having lost hope of outside help, the besieged decided to enter into negotiations with the Russians. P. Shuisky promised not to destroy the city to the ground and to preserve the previous administration for its residents. On July 18, 1558 Dorpat capitulated. The troops settled in houses abandoned by residents. In one of them, warriors found 80 thousand thalers in a cache. The Livonian historian bitterly tells that the people of Dorpat, because of their greed, lost more than the Russian Tsar demanded from them. The funds found would be enough not only for the Yuryev tribute, but also for hiring troops to defend the Livonian Confederation.
During May-October 1558, Russian troops took 20 fortified cities, including those that voluntarily surrendered and entered into the citizenship of the Russian Tsar, after which they went into winter quarters within their borders, leaving small garrisons in the cities. The new energetic master Gotthard Ketler took advantage of this. Having collected 10 thousand. army, he decided to return what was lost. At the end of 1558, Ketler approached the Ringen fortress, which was defended by a garrison of several hundred archers under the command of the governor Rusin-Ignatiev. A detachment of governor Repnin (2 thousand people) went to help the besieged, but he was defeated by Ketler. However, the Russian garrison continued to defend the fortress for five weeks, and only when the defenders ran out of gunpowder were the Germans able to storm the fortress. The entire garrison was killed. Having lost a fifth of his army (2 thousand people) near Ringen and having spent more than a month besieging one fortress, Ketler was unable to build on his success. At the end of October 1558, his army retreated to Riga. This small victory turned into a big disaster for the Livonians.
In response to the actions of the Livonian Confederation, two months after the fall of the Ringen fortress, Russian troops carried out a winter raid, which was a punitive operation. In January 1559, Prince-voivode Serebryany at the head of his army entered Livonia. Came to meet him Livonian army under the command of the knight Felkensam. On January 17, at the Battle of Terzen, the Germans suffered a complete defeat. Felkensam and 400 knights (not counting ordinary warriors) died in this battle, the rest were captured or fled. This victory opened the gates to Livonia wide for the Russians. They passed unhindered through the lands of the Livonian Confederation, captured 11 cities and reached Riga, where they burned the Riga fleet at the Dunamun raid. Then Courland passed along the path of the Russian army and, having passed through it, they reached the Prussian border. In February, the army returned home with huge booty and a large number of prisoners.
After the winter raid of 1559, Ivan IV granted the Livonian Confederation a truce (the third in a row) from March to November, without consolidating his success. This miscalculation was due to a number of reasons. Moscow was under serious pressure from Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Denmark, who had their own plans for the Livonian lands. Since March 1559, Lithuanian ambassadors urgently demanded that Ivan IV stop military operations in Livonia, threatening otherwise, take the side of the Livonian Confederation. Soon the Swedish and Danish ambassadors made requests to end the war.
With its invasion of Livonia, Russia also affected the trade interests of a number of European countries. Trade on the Baltic Sea was then growing from year to year and the question of who would control it was relevant. Revel merchants, having lost the most important source of their profits - income from Russian transit, complained to the Swedish king: “ We stand on the walls and watch with tears as merchant ships sail past our city to the Russians in Narva».
In addition, the Russian presence in Livonia affected complex and confusing pan-European politics, upsetting the balance of power on the continent. So, for example, Polish king Sigismund II Augustus wrote Queen of England Elizabeth I on the importance of Russians in Livonia: “ The Moscow sovereign daily increases his power by acquiring goods that are brought to Narva, because, among other things, weapons are brought here that are still unknown to him... military specialists arrive, through whom he acquires the means to defeat everyone...».
The truce was also due to disagreements over foreign strategy within the Russian leadership itself. There, in addition to supporters of access to the Baltic Sea, there were those who advocated continuing the struggle in the south, against the Crimean Khanate. In fact, the main initiator of the truce of 1559 was the okolnichy Alexey Adashev. This group reflected the sentiments of those circles of the nobility who, in addition to eliminating the threat from the steppes, wanted to receive a large additional land fund in the steppe zone. During this truce, the Russians attacked the Crimean Khanate, which, however, did not have significant consequences. More global consequences had a truce with Livonia.
Truce of 1559
Already in the first year of the war, in addition to Narva, Yuryev (July 18), Neishloss, Neuhaus were occupied, the troops of the Livonian Confederation were defeated at Thiersen near Riga, Russian troops reached Kolyvan. The raids of the Crimean Tatar hordes on the southern borders of Rus', which occurred already in January 1558, could not fetter the initiative of Russian troops in the Baltic states.
However, in March 1559, under the influence of Denmark and representatives of the large boyars, who prevented the expansion of the scope of the military conflict, a truce was concluded with the Livonian Confederation, which lasted until November. Historian R. G. Skrynnikov emphasizes that the Russian government, represented by Adashev and Viskovaty, “had to conclude a truce on the western borders,” as it was preparing for a “decisive clash on the southern border.”
During the truce (August 31), the Livonian Landmaster of the Teutonic Order, Gothard Ketler, concluded an agreement in Vilna with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund II, according to which the lands of the order and the possessions of the Riga Archbishop passed under “clientella and protection,” that is, under the protectorate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the same 1559, Revel went to Sweden, and the Bishop of Ezel ceded the island of Ezel (Saaremaa) to Duke Magnus, the brother of the Danish king, for 30 thousand thalers.
Taking advantage of the delay, the Livonian Confederation gathered reinforcements, and a month before the end of the truce in the vicinity of Yuriev, its troops attacked Russian troops. Russian governors lost more than 1000 people killed.
In 1560, the Russians resumed hostilities and won a number of victories: Marienburg (now Aluksne in Latvia) was taken; German forces were defeated at Ermes, after which Fellin (now Viljandi in Estonia) was taken. The Livonian Confederation collapsed.
During the capture of Fellin, the former Livonian landmaster of the Teutonic Order, Wilhelm von Furstenberg, was captured. In 1575, he sent his brother a letter from Yaroslavl, where the former landmaster had been granted land. He told a relative that he “has no reason to complain about his fate.”
Sweden and Lithuania, who acquired the Livonian lands, demanded that Moscow remove troops from their territory. Ivan the Terrible refused and Russia found itself in conflict with the coalition of Lithuania and Sweden.
War with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
On November 26, 1561, the German Emperor Ferdinand I banned supplies to the Russians through the port of Narva. Eric XIV, King of Sweden, blocked the port of Narva and sent Swedish privateers to intercept merchant ships sailing to Narva.
In 1562, there was a raid by Lithuanian troops on the Smolensk and Velizh regions. In the summer of the same year, the situation on the southern borders of the Moscow state worsened, which moved the timing of the Russian offensive in Livonia to the fall.
The path to the Lithuanian capital Vilna was closed by Polotsk. In January 1563, the Russian army, which included “almost all the armed forces of the country,” set out to capture this border fortress from Velikiye Luki. Early February Russian army began the siege of Polotsk, and on February 15 the city surrendered.
As the Pskov Chronicle reports, during the capture of Polotsk, Ivan the Terrible ordered all Jews to be baptized on the spot, and ordered those who refused (300 people) to be drowned in the Dvina. Karamzin mentions that after the capture of Polotsk, John ordered “all Jews to be baptized, and the disobedient to be drowned in Dvina.”
After the capture of Polotsk, there was a decline in Russia's successes in the Livonian War. Already in 1564, the Russians suffered a series of defeats (Battle of Chashniki). The boyar went over to the side of Lithuania and major military leader, who actually commanded the Russian troops in the West, Prince A.M. Kurbsky, he handed over to the king tsarist agents in the Baltic states and participated in the Lithuanian raid on Velikie Luki.
Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded to military failures and the reluctance of eminent boyars to fight against Lithuania with repressions against the boyars. In 1565 the oprichnina was introduced. In 1566, a Lithuanian embassy arrived in Moscow, proposing to divide Livonia on the basis of the situation existing at that time. The Zemsky 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.
Third period of the war
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 deteriorated, and in the south (the campaign Turkish troops 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 by the Crimean Tatars was eliminated (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) met 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 Sage fortress surrendered to the army of Magnus, and Pernov (now Pärnu in Estonia) surrendered 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 (economic ruin looming over the country) negatively influenced the further course of the war for Russia.
Fourth period of the war
Stefan Batory, who, with the active support of the Turks (1576), ascended the throne of the Republic of the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, went on the offensive and occupied Wenden (1578), Polotsk (1579), Sokol, Velizh, Usvyat, Velikiye Luki. In the captured fortresses, the Poles and Lithuanians completely destroyed the Russian garrisons. In Velikiye Luki, the Poles exterminated the entire population, about 7 thousand people. Polish and Lithuanian troops ravaged the Smolensk region, the Seversk land, the Ryazan region, the southwest of the Novgorod region, and plundered Russian lands right up to the upper reaches of the Volga. The devastation they caused was reminiscent of the worst Tatar raids. The Lithuanian governor Philon Kmita from Orsha burned 2,000 villages in the western Russian lands and captured a huge town. Lithuanian magnates Ostrozhsky and Vishnevetsky, with the help of light cavalry units, plundered the Chernihiv region. The cavalry of the nobleman Jan Solomeretsky ravaged the outskirts of Yaroslavl. In February 1581, the Lithuanians burned Staraya Russa.
In 1581, the Polish-Lithuanian army, which included mercenaries from almost all of Europe, besieged Pskov, intending, if successful, to march on Novgorod the Great and Moscow. In November 1580, the Swedes took Korela, where 2 thousand Russians were exterminated, and in 1581 they occupied Rugodiv (Narva), which was also accompanied by massacres - 7 thousand Russians died; the victors took no prisoners and did not spare civilians. The heroic defense of Pskov in 1581-1582 by the garrison and the population of the city determined a more favorable outcome of the war for Russia: the failure at Pskov forced Stefan Batory to enter into peace negotiations.
Results and consequences
In January 1582, in Yam-Zapolny (near Pskov) a 10-year truce was concluded with the Republic of Both Nations (Rzeczpospolita) (the so-called Peace of Yam-Zapolny). Russia renounced Livonia and Belarusian lands, but some border lands were returned to it.
In May 1583, the 3-year Truce of Plyus with Sweden was concluded, according to which Koporye, Yam, Ivangorod and the adjacent territory of the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland were ceded. The Russian state again found itself cut off from the sea. The country was devastated and northwestern regions depopulated.
It should also be noted that the course of the war and its results were influenced by the Crimean raids: only for 3 years out of 25 years of the war there were no significant raids.