In 1609-1611, the defense of Smolensk became one of the most important events of the Time of Troubles in Russia, when the country was torn apart by internal contradictions and foreign intervention.
Prerequisites for the siege
The attack on Smolensk was the first episode of the Russian-Polish war in the Time of Troubles. The siege of the city was led by the king himself. The monarch attacked Rus' after a series of adventures by Polish magnates.
Back in 1604, an impostor appeared on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, posing as the long-dead Tsarevich Dmitry (son of Ivan the Terrible). This man was Grigory Otrepiev - a fugitive monk who decided to become a king, posing as the deceased legitimate heir to the throne. At this time, Boris Godunov ruled in Moscow. He did not belong to the Rurik dynasty. In addition, during his reign, mass famine began due to crop failure. The superstitious poor and the poor blamed the tsar for their misfortunes and were just waiting for the appearance of False Dmitry.
Otrepiev enlisted the support of Polish nobles, including the Mniszech family. The aristocrats gave him money, and most of the impostor's troops were Cossacks from the Polish-Russian border regions. In 1605, False Dmitry, thanks to a fortunate combination of circumstances, managed to seize power in Moscow.
He made the Poles his confidants and gave them key positions in the state. The former Moscow elite did not like this. A conspiracy arose, during which False Dmitry was killed, and the Poles were captured and imprisoned. The former boyar Vasily Shuisky became the new king.
Beginning of the Russian-Polish War
All this time, King Sigismund remained neutral. However, the arrest of many Polish nobles angered him. At the same time, a new impostor appeared in Russia, who is known in historiography as Polish aristocrats, who had recently experienced an unsuccessful uprising against Sigismund, joined him.
An army of robbers and adventurers stood near Moscow and cut off the capital’s communications with other cities within the country, and therefore the flow of food and other resources into it. Famine began in the city. Shuisky agreed to release all Poles from prison. At the same time, the king entered into an alliance with the Swedish king, promising his northern neighbor several regions for help in the fight against the impostor.
Sigismund was a sworn enemy of the Swedish crown. He took the conclusion of an alliance between neighbors as an official reason for war. The Polish monarch hoped that he would quickly be able to take Moscow, because by this time Russia had already been in a state of chaos for several years. In 1609, Sigismund officially declared war on Shuisky and moved to the border with his own army.
Preparing for the siege
Thus began the siege of Smolensk. This city was located on the way from Poland to Moscow and was the main “shield” for the capital. A 20,000-strong Polish army approached the fortress. At this time, in Smolensk there was only a small garrison of 5 thousand, led by governor Mikhail Shein.
On the eve of the start of the campaign, in January 1609, Sigismund held a Diet in Warsaw, at which he proposed a plan to the gentry, according to which he wanted to place his son Vladislav on the Russian throne. In the spring, systematic raids by Polish troops began on the border towns of the Russian kingdom. Mikhail Shein, realizing that a real army might soon approach Smolensk, organized in advance the construction of outposts on the outskirts of the city. The position of the fortress worsened when in the summer all the roads to the capital were occupied by the troops of False Dmitry. Since his main camp was located in Tushino, near Moscow, he himself began to be called the Tushino thief, and his troops - Tushino people.
The Poles' siege of Smolensk could have ended very quickly if not for Shein's prompt actions. He gathered all the gunners, archers and boyar children who were nearby. In August, the voivode actively sent out decrees on the recruitment of soldiers from various fiefdoms. Peaceful peasants were taught to use weapons so that they too could defend their hometown.
The governor divided his garrison into two parts. Two thousand people ended up in a siege detachment that was supposed to defend the walls of the fortress to the end. The rest of the army was intended for forays into the enemy camp. The siege garrison was divided into 38 identical detachments, each of which had to defend one tower on the fortress walls. If there were no sorties, the second part of the army joined the besieged and helped in areas where the enemy could gain the upper hand.
This is how the defense of Smolensk from the Poles proceeded. The situation inside the camp was characterized by severe discipline. The voivode managed to mobilize all city resources. Civilians also helped the garrison. They took part in regular patrols around the walls. The service was carried out in shifts, which made it possible to monitor security at city borders around the clock.
The issue of planting also became acute. This was the part of the city located outside the fortress walls. The total number of households here reached 6 thousand. All of them were burned so that the Poles could not settle there. The population of the settlement hid inside the fortress walls, which is why conflicts began in the city over housing. In the end, Shein issued a decree according to which property owners had to let in homeless people free of charge. Cash rent was prohibited. This allowed the conflicts to subside. While the Russian kingdom was suffering from raids by various enemies, Smolensk was actively preparing for defense.
The appearance of the Poles at the walls of Smolensk
The first organized Polish troops approached Smolensk on September 16, 1609. They were led by the military leader Lev Sapega. Three days later, the troops of King Sigismund III found themselves at the walls. At first there were 12 thousand people in the enemy army, but over time this figure reached 22 thousand. Despite its impressive size, the enemy army had certain disadvantages. It was designed mainly for field battles, so the infantry and artillery necessary for a siege were practically absent. Most modern historians agree that Sigismund did not intend to besiege the city for a long time, but hoped to receive the keys to it immediately upon arriving at the gates. But his aspirations were not destined to come true.
The beginning of the siege of Smolensk was marked by the fact that the Polish invaders occupied an area of about twenty square kilometers around the city. The few peasants who by that time still lived on the outskirts of Smolensk were deprived of all food supplies - they were simply confiscated to feed the king’s army. In addition, the villagers had to supply food in the future. This led to the fact that most of the local population simply fled to the forests rather than cooperate with the enemy. When the Polish troops finally took their positions, a parliamentarian went to the Smolensk governor demanding the surrender of the city. Information about the content of the Smolensk response varies. According to one version, the besieged residents did not answer anything at all, according to another, they promised to give the Poles water from the Dnieper next time (that is, drown them).
First assault
The defense of Smolensk lasted almost three years (1609-1611). It is noteworthy that the Poles did not even draw up a siege plan and at first did not bring up the necessary artillery. This carelessness was associated with Sigismund’s vain aspirations for the quick surrender of the city. When the commander and hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski took his place, he honestly informed the king that the army did not have enough resources to carry out a successful immediate assault. Therefore, he proposed leaving Smolensk under blockade and moving the main forces to Moscow. Sigismund, however, did not agree with this plan and ordered preparations for the assault.
Polish sappers tried to blow up several gates, but they failed, and all thanks to the fact that the defenders of the city installed log houses filled with stones and earth in time. These attempts were made during the day, while the garrison closely monitored the actions of the enemy. The next venture took place at night. The Poles still managed to blow up the Avramievo Gate, but this did not bring any practical benefit. The troops were unable to get through the gap due to poor organization of the assault and an untimely signal to start the attack, which was noticed by the garrison. Smolensk's resistance came as a surprise to the attackers. Heavy fire was opened on the troops, which mowed down the ranks of Poles and Lithuanians. The reason for the large losses was also the dense formation of the assault troops. Russian riflemen hit the enemy almost every time. The fire superiority of the defenders of the fortress allowed them to fire even at the royal camp, which was located at a considerable distance from the site of the direct battle for the gate.
After failures on the eastern flank, the Poles decided to launch an offensive on the northern and western sections of the fortress wall. The bloodiest battles took place near the Pyatnitsky and Dnieper gates, where hundreds of soldiers on both sides were killed. At this critical moment, Mikhail Shein brilliantly used the tactics of effectively and mobilely using the reserve, which appeared where the battle began to turn in favor of the enemy.
The small-caliber guns that the besiegers wielded in the first days did not cause noticeable damage to the wide walls of the Smolensk fortress. This encouraged the defenders, who saw the futility of the enemy's efforts.
Transition to a long siege
The first unsuccessful assault ended on September 27, 1609. The time of troubles did not prevent the defenders of the fortress from uniting and successfully repelling enemy attacks. At the beginning of October, another 10 thousand people from among the Zaporozhye Cossacks joined the besieging army. A new stage of the siege began. Now Polish engineers and sappers tried to destroy the enemy walls, resorting to cunning. Interestingly, the king even hired Western foreign specialists (including Germans) who successfully fought mine warfare during European conflicts. Practice has shown that most of their efforts near Smolensk were in vain.
At the same time, Sigismund did not involve the army in preparation for the assault. But the defenders of Smolensk did not sit idle. The garrison filled up almost all the gates, reducing to a minimum the number of places where they could enter the city. The scouts promptly uncovered the next mine installations near the walls and prevented the Poles from harming the fortifications. Over time, the garrison identified all the vulnerable points through which the enemy could get inside. Regular guards were organized there.
The siege continued in this mode for several months. Periodically, the Smolensk people organized forays, during which they destroyed enemy infrastructure and also obtained water. With the onset of winter, such flying detachments also went for firewood. Meanwhile, commander Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky finally unblocked Moscow. After this, active partisan actions began in the rear of the Polish army. This dispersed Sigismund's forces and gave respite to the besieged.
However, unfortunately for the Smolensk people, the winter of 1609-1610. turned out to be particularly harsh. The frosts weakened the garrison and left it with virtually no supplies. Famine began in the city. When the Tushino camp near Moscow fell, many Poles located in the Moscow region came under the command of Zolkiewski and increased pressure on the besieged Smolensk. In the spring, the city learned about the sudden death of Skopin-Shuisky, who for everyone personified the hope of victory over the interventionists. The young commander died in Moscow after he was treacherously poisoned by the boyars.
Despite this misfortune, the royal army nevertheless moved out of the capital to drive the interventionists away from the walls of the besieged city. This army was defeated at the Battle of Klushino on June 24, 1610. The winner turned out to be the same Stanislav Zholkiewski, who specially left the camp near Smolensk to give a general battle to the Russian-Swedish army. But even this news did not deprive the besieged of the desire to fight the invaders to the end.
That same summer, the Poles finally brought full-fledged artillery, which posed a serious threat to the city walls. The siege of Smolensk continued. On June 18, near the Faceted Tower, the cannons managed to break through a significant gap. Sigismund gave the order to begin the next assault. Three attacks were launched, but all of them, to the king’s surprise, ended in failure. The Smolensk people literally threw the Poles out of the breach. Pyotr Gorchakov helped lead the defense.
Final isolation of Smolensk
Meanwhile, news came from Moscow that Tsar Vasily Shuisky had been overthrown in a boyar coup. The new rulers of the Kremlin turned out to be supporters of the Polish king. In historiography, this short-lived regime is known as the Seven Boyars. An order came to Smolensk to surrender the city to Sigismund. However, Mikhail Shein refused to obey. The residents of the fortress unanimously supported his decision. The turmoil and political changes in Moscow did not in any way affect the mood of the besieged. After almost two years of hardship, people became accustomed to a variety of hardships and hated the Poles.
Sigismund, having learned about Shein’s disobedience, gave the Smolensk people a period of three days to surrender the city. Otherwise, he promised to execute everyone. Meanwhile, the Smolensk men dug into the Polish positions and blew up their artillery. As a result, Sigismund had to request new guns in his homeland, which were delivered to the front of the fighting within another two months. During this time, the besieged residents managed to catch their breath. Some Smolensk boyars doubted the need for defense due to the fall of Moscow. Shein suppressed these treacherous sentiments. In addition, in the fall it became known about the organization of the First People's Militia, which only strengthened the hope of the city’s defenders for their own salvation.
Fall of the fortress
Not many survived the second siege winter. Over the past years - 1609-1611 - the defense of Smolensk completely weakened the city's inhabitants. Knowing this, the Poles launched a new assault on June 3. They managed to break through. The defenders of Smolensk retreated deeper into the city and fought with the invaders in the streets. The invaders carried out a merciless massacre. Among them were unscrupulous mercenaries who were thirsty for blood. A large group of local residents, including women and children, took refuge in the Monomakh Cathedral. Temples often became the last refuge in besieged cities of those times. There was a gunpowder warehouse under the church. It was blown up by sheltering residents. The blast wave destroyed the temple, at the same time burying many of the interventionists.
The fate of Mikhail Shein and other prisoners
Thus ended the Poles' siege of Smolensk. The brave commander Mikhail Shein, who fought off the royal army for two years, locked himself in one of the towers and fought with the Poles to the last. Those close to him begged him to give up rather than commit suicide. Finally, he listened to his family and laid down his arms. The governor was brought to Sigismund. The king was infuriated by the two-year siege, which not only exhausted the army, but also caused serious reputational damage to the monarch. Many nobles died - the color of the nation and the support of the throne. It was Mikhail Shein who caused all this shame. Therefore, the king treated the prisoner with all cruelty. He ordered the governor to be tortured so that he would surrender all his supporters. To top it all off, the exhausted Shein was taken to Poland, where he was subjected to public humiliation typical of that era: paraded through cities, carried in an open carriage, etc.
The Smolensk governor, like many other significant opponents of Polish power in Russia, found himself in long-term captivity. He had to go through another test. The former Tsar Vasily Shuisky, on whose side the Smolensk people stood, was captured by the Poles after their appearance in Moscow. The deposed monarch was also sent to bow to Sigismund. Shein was also present at the humiliating meeting with the king.
When the Polish intervention in Russia ended in failure, and Mikhail Romanov came to power in Moscow, the first thing he wanted to do was rescue all the prisoners, including the Smolensk governor. This only happened in 1619, when the war between the two countries finally ended. Mikhail Shein returned to his homeland as a national hero. With him was another important Polish prisoner - Fyodor Romanov. This was the father of Tsar Michael, who later became the Patriarch of Moscow.
The meaning of defense
Despite the fact that the years 1609-1611 (the defense of Smolensk ended with the fall of the city) turned out to be sad for the history of Rus', the victory of the Polish army can be called Pyrrhic. More than two years of heroic resistance by the inhabitants of the isolated city served as an inspiring example for the rest of the Russian people, who, it would seem, were on the sidelines of the war. The Smolensk events united the scattered forces in the rear. This is how the First and then the Second People's Militia appeared. It was these troops that ultimately liberated Moscow from the invaders and created the preconditions for the Romanovs’ accession to the throne.
The arrival of Sigismund's army to Smolensk and the two-year delay under its walls had economic consequences for Poland. The king had to devote most of his resources to the camp set up near the besieged city, while he was losing strategic initiative in Moscow and other important regions. When Smolensk finally fell, the Polish army was already drained of blood and subsequently could not stay long in the Russian capital. In total, the king lost about thirty thousand well-trained soldiers in the siege. Sigismund did not even imagine how many of his warriors the Smolensk fortress would bury. The history of this siege is still considered as a key and turning point in the Time of Troubles. After the capture of Smolensk, the king returned to his homeland.
Russian-Polish War 1609-1618 ended with the city finally passing to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, Smolensk was not under foreign rule for long. In 1654, already under the son of Mikhail Romanov Alexei, it was returned to the Russian kingdom. In that war, Left Bank Ukraine (together with Kiev) was also annexed to Moscow’s possessions, which symbolized the historical reunification of the lands of the Eastern Slavs.
The Smolensk defense became one of the longest in Russian history. Never before has the Russian kingdom defended its city with such tenacity. After the return of Smolensk under Alexei Romanov, it never became part of Poland.
In modern Russia, the holiday of National Unity Day has been established, which is celebrated annually on November 4. This is the date of the capture of the Moscow Kremlin by the militia of Minin and Pozharsky.
The armed clash between the Russian state and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was called the Russian-Polish War of 1609 - 1618.
Causes of the war
In 1604, the Russian Tsar B. Godunov died. The Time of Troubles begins in the country. Impostors claim the throne: first False Dmitry I, then False Dmitry II. The Polish king Sigismund III, under the pretext of providing support to impostors, organizes a campaign against Rus'. The ultimate goal of the campaign was the capture of the Moscow state.
Smolensk defense
September 1609 The Poles, led by Stanislav Zholkiewski, approached the walls of Smolensk. Their plans did not include a long siege of the city. They hoped to quickly capture the strategic fortress and move on to Moscow. But the talented preparation of Smolensk for a meeting with the enemy by governor M. Shein violated Polish plans. It was Shein who quickly gathered an army from the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, strengthened the city walls, and foresaw the enemy’s plans.
The first Polish assault failed. 5,400 thousand people fought steadfastly in the Smolensk fortress. And the enemy army consisted of 22,000 fighters. The city held out for twenty months. But by June 1611, the resistance was broken, and the enraged Poles broke into Smolensk.
Mikhail Shein fought to the end, but was captured and taken to Poland.
The significance of the Smolensk defense for the course of the war
- The Polish army weakened (30,000 people died).
- For almost 2 years the royal army was pinned down near Smolensk and did not conduct military operations near Moscow.
- The courage of the defenders of Smolensk inspired the Russian people and served as the beginning of the First People's Militia.
Battle of Klushina
1610 In June, the army under the command of Dmitry Shuisky came to the aid of the defenders of Smolensk. The bulk of the army were Russians (35,000), Swedes (5,000) and mercenaries: French, Germans, British. 48,000 soldiers against 12,400 Poles.
It would seem that the outcome of the battle is predetermined - the forces are too unequal. But discontent arose in the Russian-Swedish army. The command delayed the salaries of the mercenaries. And the commander of the Polish army, S. Zholkiewski, learned about this from defectors. He prepared a daring plan - he led troops through difficult forests and on July 4 unexpectedly led his subordinates to the Russian-Swedish camp near the village of Klushino. And although the lightning defeat failed, the spirit of the Russian army was broken. Senior officers fled into the forest or showed complete passivity. And Scottish and French mercenaries began to negotiate with Zolkiewski, asking for immunity in exchange for a promise not to fight against the King of Poland.
Shuisky, having learned about the betrayal, hastily began to distribute salaries to the soldiers. But it was too late. Then the commander of the Russian army ordered jewelry, furs, treasury, and artillery to be scattered on the ground in order to delay the enemy and give his troops time to retreat.
Result of the Battle of Klushina:
- The Russian army ceased to exist.
- The Polish army increased due to the Swedish mercenaries who came over to its side.
Occupation of Moscow
The indignant Moscow people overthrew Vasily Shuisky from the throne. A government of 7 boyars, known as the Seven Boyars, came to power. The boyars entered into an agreement with the Poles that the son of Sigismund III, the Polish prince Vladislav, would ascend the throne. And in the fall of 1610, Zholkiewski led Polish troops into Moscow.
First militia
Patriarch Hermogenes, trying to inspire the people to fight the Poles, sent letters throughout the country. “The Fatherland is being plundered,” he wrote. “Innocent blood is being shed!” His call was supported by the governor Prokopiy Lyapunov, and later by Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy and Ivan Zarutsky. They gathered an army of patriots to liberate the capital from the invaders.
In March 1611, the First Militia approached Moscow, where a popular uprising was raging. The Poles set Moscow on fire and crushed the uprising. And the militia troops suffered a complete collapse. And the main reason for the defeat was civil strife among the command.
Second militia. Battle for Moscow
The Russian state was dying. Moscow, Smolensk, Novgorod were captured. Foreign gangs roamed Russian soil, ruining the population. The Orthodox Church appealed to the people, urging them to fight against troublemakers and invaders.
The written appeal reached the Nizhny Novgorod meat merchant Kuzma Minin. His financial contribution to the creation of the Second Militia became an infectious example for others. Nobles, peasants, and townspeople stood under Russian banners. Dmitry Pozharsky became the leader of the army. And in September 1612, the Second Militia was able to drive the Poles out of Moscow.
Siege of Smolensk
Inspired by the victory, the Russian regiments set off on a new campaign - to Smolensk. Having recaptured Vyazma and Dorogobuzh from the enemy without a fight, they assumed that the frightened Poles would capitulate and there would be no need to storm the Smolensk fortress. Russian governors did not even try to attack or take active action. In unsuccessful clashes, the chance to regain Smolensk was missed. A 4-year (1613 – 1617) siege of the city began.
New attempts to capture Moscow
Before 1618, the Polish government tried to capture Moscow several times:
- Pan Lisovsky with light cavalry penetrated deep into the territory (1615), describing a loop around the capital. But Prince Pozharsky and the squads of the Second Militia repelled the onslaught of the interventionists near Orel.
- Prince Vladislav and Hetman Sagaidachny approached Moscow. During the campaign (1617 - 1618) they managed to capture Vyazma and Dorogobuzh. The assault on Moscow (October 1618) failed.
Truce of Deulino
The Russian government did not see the possibility of expelling the Poles from its territory. In December 1618, in the village of Deulino, the Russian Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered into an agreement according to which:
- The cities: Smolensk, Chernigov, Novgorod - Seversky and adjacent territories were assigned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- The Polish king Vladislav had the right to be called the Russian Tsar.
- The term of the truce is 14.5 years.
Results
The confrontation between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian state ended in favor of the Poles:
- The territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth grew.
- The border of the Russian state moved greatly to the east.
- The Polish king officially laid claim to the Russian throne.
But, at the same time, in Rus' the long-term Troubles that tormented the people ended, and the raids of infidels on Russian lands ceased.
The outcome of the war, after the Polish-Lithuanian invasions of 1579 - 1580. and the fall of Polotsk and Velikie Luki, was to be decided by the third, decisive blow of Stefan Batory against the Russian kingdom. By this time, Ivan the Terrible had made several peace proposals; the Poles were offered peace on very favorable terms. The decision on the need to end the long war, which ruined the Russian state, was made at the end of 1580 at the Zemsky Sobor. However, the Polish government, intoxicated with success, did not want peace; the Poles dreamed of Smolensk, Pskov, Novgorod and the capture of Moscow. For the new campaign, the Polish ruler borrowed money from the Saxon and Brandenburg electors and the Prussian ruler. Batory also convinced the Diet, assembled in February 1581, to agree to collect taxes for two years. The Sejm, in turn, asked the monarch to end the war with this campaign, since the population was already tired of constant extortions for military operations.
In December 1580 - March 1581, the enemy made a deep raid on Russian soil, reaching Lake Ilmen. During this campaign, the enemy captured Kholm with a surprise attack; in March 1581, the Poles burned Staraya Russa. The city was not protected by fortifications and its commanders took away the entire population in advance. However, during the secondary attack on the city, it turned out to be sudden; the senior governor Vasily Turenin was captured in the city. During the same period, the enemy captured the Pskov fortress of Voronech, and in Livonia the Shmilten castle.
The betrayal of the royal steward Davyd Belsky, who fled to Lithuania in May 1581 and spoke about the difficult situation in the Muscovite kingdom, finally persuaded Batory to the decision to continue the war and capture Pskov, and with the successful development of the offensive, Novgorod.
The third campaign of the Polish-Lithuanian army. Heroic defense of Pskov (1581-1582)
June 20, 1581 47 thousand. The Polish army (it included more than 20 thousand mercenaries from European states) set out on a campaign. However, this time the Polish command failed to keep the direction of the main attack secret. Russian governors even carried out a pre-emptive military operation, ravaging the outskirts of Dubrovna, Orsha, Shklov and Mogilev. This blow not only slowed down the advance of the enemy army for two weeks, but weakened its strength. The Polish king had to send a strong detachment under the Trotsky governor Christopher Radziwill to the eastern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In addition, thanks to the gain in time, the Russian command was able to transfer reinforcements from the Livonian castles from the Baltic States.
Pskov governors Vasily Skopin-Shuisky and Ivan Shuisky began to prepare the city for defense. The Pskov garrison consisted of 4 thousand nobles, children of boyars, archers and Cossacks, it was reinforced by 12 thousand armed residents of Pskov and its suburbs. Already during the siege, the garrison was reinforced by the breakthrough detachment of the Streltsy head Fyodor Myasoedov. Pskov had a powerful system of defensive structures, which, thanks to regular attacks by the Livonians, was constantly being improved. The city had four lines of defense - Krom (Kremlin), Dovmontov city, Middle city and Okolny city (Big city). The outer wall of the Okolny City had 37 towers and 48 gates, stretching for almost 10 miles. The western part of the city was protected by the Velikaya River, so only here the walls of Pskov were wooden, on all other sides - stone. On the eve of the siege, the Pskov fortress was strengthened by the construction of additional fortifications. New wooden towers were built outside and inside the walls and wide tower platforms were built - peals, designed to install powerful guns. The construction of additional towers eliminated the main drawback of the old fortifications - insufficient flank defense (longitudinal shelling, hitting the target from the side; longitudinal fire makes it possible to defend large spaces with small forces and, at the same time, cause significant harm to the advancing troops). The walls of the new outer towers were protected by turf, which protected them from incendiary shells, and they were equipped with a large number of loopholes. The roundabout city was also crossed by the Pskova River. To protect against enemy penetration in Pskov, two arches were built, which had lower and upper gratings for the passage of water and ships. In anticipation of the enemy, the Pskovites hastily repaired the fortifications and supplemented them with new ones. Guns were installed on towers, ramparts and walls. Two large guns, the “Leopard” and the “Treskotukha”, would play a particularly important role in the defense of the city, which fired at a distance of about 1 verst. The Polish army did not have a single cannon equal in power.
On August 18, the advanced detachments of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth troops reached the near approaches to Pskov, and on the Cheryokha River the Poles defeated a detachment of Russian cavalry. On August 21, unable to withstand the fierce artillery shelling, the small fortress of Ostrov surrendered to the enemy. During the day, the advanced Polish detachments approached Pskov itself, stopping at a distance of three cannon shots from the fortress walls. Russian commanders, when the enemy approached, ordered the siege bell to be rung and the suburbs set on fire. However, the siege itself began only a week later, on August 26, when the main forces of the enemy army approached the city and engineering work began. The city's defenders met the enemy with artillery fire and forced him to retreat to a safe distance.
On September 1, having become convinced of the strength of the Russian defense and the strength of the fortress’s artillery, Stefan Batory gave the order to begin digging trenches to bring the artillery and infantry positions closer to the city. The Poles dug trenches, gradually approaching the fortress, and at the same time built large and small dugouts in the trenches. The earth dug out from the trenches was used to build a rampart to protect workers from shelling from the fortress and to hide the work being carried out. Batory decided to storm the city from the southern side of the Okolny town, where the Pokrovskaya and Svinorskaya towers were located. By September 4-5, the siege work in this direction was completed. The installed battery of 20 guns opened fire on the fortifications of Pskov, which continued for two days. The main efforts of the enemy artillerymen were concentrated on two towers and a 150 m section of the wall between us. As a result of powerful shelling, the Pokrovskaya and Svinorskaya towers were severely damaged, and a 50-meter gap appeared between them.
Stefan Batory scheduled the assault on Pskov for September 8. The best forces of the royal army went on the attack - Polish and mercenary, German, Hungarian infantry. Despite the strong barrage, the enemy was able to capture the Svinorskaya and Pokrovskaya towers. Royal banners were raised on them, Stefan Batory was sure that the assault was a success, his soldiers broke into Pskov, victory was near. However, things didn’t go so well for the Poles. Before the assault, behind the dilapidated wall, the defenders managed to build a wooden wall with several rows of loopholes. The enemy infantry, which tried to break through further, was stopped by heavy fire. The Poles began to fire at the city from the Swinorskaya Tower, but this attempt failed. With one shot from the Bars cannon installed on the Pokhvalsky raskat, the upper tiers of the Svinorskaya tower were destroyed. Then, the Pskovites rolled barrels of gunpowder to the base of the dilapidated tower and blew it up. The explosion of the Svinorskaya Tower was the signal for a counterattack by the Russian garrison, led by Prince Shuisky. Russian troops drove the enemy out of the captured section of the wall. The Pokrovskaya Tower was destroyed by digging and gunpowder was planted. The few surviving enemy soldiers retreated to their trenches.
During this battle, the defenders lost about 2.5 thousand people killed and wounded. The attackers lost only up to 5 thousand people killed. It was a serious defeat, the enemy army lost several thousand of its best warriors. The Pskovites quickly restored the damaged wall, strengthened it with an additional wall, dug a ditch, strengthening it with a palisade. Stefan Batory, despite this defeat, did not lift the siege. He ordered mines to be dug to blow up the walls. Siege weapons were installed at the Mirozhsky Monastery on the left bank of the Velikaya River and in Zavelichye; on October 24, the Poles began shelling the city with red-hot cannonballs. But the townspeople quickly extinguished the fires that started in Pskov.
Total autumn and winter 1581 - 1582 the enemy attacked 31 times, but to no avail. Each time the assaults were repelled with heavy losses for the attackers. The Pskovites put up fierce resistance and invariably won. The Polish command, having decided that the weak point of the fortress was the wall that goes to the Velikaya River, decided to strike again here. On October 28, the Hungarians, having walked along the Velikaya to the slope on which the city wall stood between the corner tower and the Pokrovsky Gate, began to destroy its foundation with picks and crowbars. However, when part of the fortifications collapsed, it turned out that there was another one behind the wall, and in front of it was a ditch. The enemy tried to take the second wall by storm, but the defenders met them with volleys of gunfire, threw jugs of gunpowder, and poured boiling water and hot tar. The Hungarians, having suffered heavy losses, stopped the assault and retreated.
Military failures led to a decline in the morale of the Polish army, which was aggravated by the onset of cold weather, the outbreak of mass diseases, and difficulties associated with supplying the army with food and ammunition. The enemy army made the last significant attempt to take the city in early November, after another 5-day bombardment of Pskov. By this time, the city wall had already been destroyed in many places and did not pose a serious obstacle to the attackers. This time the main attack came from the western side. On November 2, the Poles crossed the Velikaya River on ice, but they were met by such heavy fire that they stopped and then returned to their original positions.
The enemy's attempts to make a large hole in the fortifications using mines also failed. The defenders of Pskov discovered them using special wells - “rumors”. These wells helped determine the direction and depth of the Poles' underground work. Most of the enemy mine galleries were discovered, and two were blown up using counter-galleries. The enemy did not manage to complete the rest of the tunnels.
The Polish king sent detachments of Germans and Hungarians to capture the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, 60 km from Pskov. The garrison of the monastery was small - about 300 archers under the command of the archery head Nechaev with the support of monks. The enemy destroyed part of the monastery wall with artillery fire, but on October 28, during the assault, the mercenaries suffered heavy losses and retreated.
On November 6, Stefan Batory ordered the guns to be removed from the batteries, siege work to be stopped and preparations for the winter. Stefan Batory himself handed over leadership of the army to the great crown hetman Jan Zamoyski and left for Vilna. At the same time, he took almost all the mercenaries with him, as a result, the size of the army was reduced by almost half. This decision meant the complete collapse of the aggressive plans of Stefan Batory and his advisers. The remaining Poles suffered from cold and disease, and the number of deaths and deserters grew. In addition, the Pskovites constantly disturbed the enemy army with bold forays and made about 40 attacks on the enemy camp. The heroic defense of Pskov undermined the offensive power of the Polish army, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was forced to seek peace.
The Polish-Lithuanian state was exhausted and could not continue the offensive war; Stefan Batory decided to meet the peace proposals of Ivan the Terrible. On December 13, 1581, when the fighting near Pskov was still ongoing, peace negotiations began in the village of Kiverova Gora, 15 versts from Zapolsky Yam (not far from Pskov).
Monument to the 300th anniversary of the Defense of 1581
End of the Livonian War. Yam-Zapolskoe and Plyusskoe truces
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was represented by the governor of Braslav Y. M. Zbarazhsky, the prince of Nesvizh A. Radziwill, the secretary M. Garaburda and Kh. Varshevitsky. The representative of the Pope, the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, persistently persuaded Poland towards peace. He hoped to convince Ivan the Terrible to accept a union with the Catholic Church. Russia was represented by Voivode Kashinsky D.P. Eletsky, Voivode Kozelsky R.V. Olferyev, clerk N.N. Vereshchagin and clerk Z. Sviyazev.
The negotiations ended on January 5 (15), 1582 with the conclusion of a 10-year truce. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth returned to Moscow the previously captured cities - Velikiye Luki, Nevel, Zavolochye, Kholm, Rzhev, and the Pskov suburbs - Ostrov, Krasny, Voronech and Velyu. The Moscow government agreed to transfer to Poland all the cities and castles in Livonia that were occupied by Russian troops (there were 41 of them). Thus, most of the Baltic states were assigned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition, Stefan Batory achieved the transfer to Poland of the Polotsk land, the cities of Velizh, Sokol, Ozerische and Usvyat.
On February 4, almost a month after the conclusion of the Yam-Zapolsky truce, the last Polish troops left the Pskov land. In June, the terms of the Yam-Zapol truce were confirmed at negotiations in the Russian capital.
The war with Sweden soon ended. The Swedish command successfully used the time during which all the Russians' attention was focused on Pskov and the Polish army. On September 4, 1581, the Swedish army under the command of Pontus Delagardie captured Rugodiv (Narva). The fortifications of the fortress were destroyed by the fire of 24 siege weapons. During the assault, the Swedes killed not only its garrison - 2.3 thousand archers and boyar children, but also 7 thousand “Russian burghers” (citizens), including women and children. It was a real massacre. In 1580, the Swedes carried out a similar massacre in Oreshka, killing 2 thousand people. On September 17, 1581, the Swedish army occupied Ivangorod, its governor A. Belskoy surrendered the fortress to the enemy.
Having gained a foothold in Narva and Ivangorod, the Swedish army continued the offensive and captured Yam-gorod on September 28, and Koporye and its districts on October 14. This was a serious success for the enemy. However, the Swedish offensive soon fizzled out. At the beginning of February 1582, Russian troops under the command of Prince D. Khvorostinin and M. Beznin near the village of Lyamitsy in Votskaya Pyatina completely defeated the Swedish forces that had begun a new offensive. Having suffered a heavy defeat, the Swedes hastily retreated to Narva. In addition, the Swedish siege of Oreshek failed; they were unable to take this well-defended fortress.
Peace negotiations soon began. In May 1583, a preliminary truce was concluded (for two months). The Kingdom of Sweden was represented by: the governor of Livonia and Ingermanland, Pontus Delagardie, Baron Ekholm and the governor of Finland, Claes Tott. On the Russian side, negotiations were conducted by Prince I. S. Lobanov-Rostovsky, Duma nobleman I. P. Tatishchev and clerk of the Ambassadorial Prikaz D. Petelin. On August 10, 1583, a 3rd truce was concluded on the Plyussa River between Sweden and the Muscovite kingdom. In December 1585, the second Truce of Plus was signed between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian state for a period of 4 years. According to the Truce of Plus, the Swedes retained all the cities they captured.
The difficult almost 25-year Livonian War was over. At the initial stage of this war, the Russian state achieved great success, defeating Livonia and capturing almost the entire Baltic region. However, in the end, Russia suffered a serious defeat in the war, losing previously captured lands and parts of its own territory to Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russia in the Baltic states only had the Oreshek fortress and a small narrow corridor along the Neva River with access to the Baltic Sea. It should be noted that this was not a historical defeat for Russia. It was obvious that Moscow would continue to fight with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden for its lands. So, the next war with Sweden will begin in 1590 and end with the victory of the Russian state.
Comment: It is better to do the work step by step, sequentially completing tasks for the contour maps. To enlarge the map, simply click on it.
TASKS
1. Color in the territory of the Old Russian state in the middle of the 10th century. and sign the name of its capital.
2. Svyatoslav Igorevich spent almost his entire life on campaigns. Show on the map the directions of his trips. Mark the places and sign the years of the most important battles that took place during the reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich.
Campaign 996-997: Led by Svyatoslav Igorevich, the Russian army conquered the Vyatichi, then moved to Volga Bulgaria. In 966, a battle took place near the city of Ochelle. Then the army went down the Volga and in 967 a battle took place near the city of Itil in the lower reaches of the Volga. In the same year 967, Svyatoslav Igorevich captured the Semendr fortress in the North Caucasus, and then the army headed towards the Crimea, where the prince annexed Tmutarakan and Korchev (Kerch) to the Russian Lands. During these same years, a campaign of conquest took place in the Khazar Kaganate. The Sarkel (White Vezha) fortress was conquered, and the lands were also annexed to the Old Russian state.
Campaign 968-971: Svyatoslav Igorevich with a ten-thousand-strong army invaded Bulgaria and captured the city of Pereyaslavets in 968. Then he had to return to Kyiv to recapture the capital of the Old Russian state from the Pechenegs. However, in 970, the prince resumed the campaign, but already took 60 thousand soldiers with him. Almost without fighting, the army occupied the cities of Plodiv and Andriapol, and then, in 970, a battle took place for the city of Arkadiopol. Then the prince and his army conquered the cities of Preslav and Dorostol in 971. In these battles, Svyatoslav Igorevich was seriously wounded and was forced to conclude a peace treaty with Byzantium.
3. Sign the name of the city about which Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich said: “Everything good converges there: from Greece gold, grass, wine and various fruits, from the Czech Republic and Hungary silver and horses, from Rus' furs and wax, honey and slaves...”
Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich spoke about the city of Pereyaslavets (written in purple and underlined on the map): “I don’t like to sit in Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - there is the middle of my land! Everything good comes there: gold, drags, wines and various fruits from Greece, silver and horses from the Czech Republic and Hungary, furs and wax, honey and fish from Rus'.”
4. In orange, indicate the territories that became part of the Old Russian state under Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, and in red, indicate the border of the territories dependent on the Old Russian state.
The lands (in orange) of Golyad and Vyatichi were annexed, as well as the territories of the Khazar Kaganate, the Taman Peninsula and part of Crimea.
5. The chronicle describes the events of Svyatoslav’s death as follows: “When spring came, Svyatoslav went to the rapids. And Kurya, the prince of Pecheneg, attacked him, and they killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound it, and drank from it.” Show on the map the location of this event and write its date.
While returning from a campaign against Byzantium, the army met the Pechenegs who were waiting for it in ambush. Svyatoslav Igorevich died during the battle with the Pecheneg prince Kurem. The battle took place at the Dnieper Rapids near the island of Khortitsa. According to legend, the prince's body was captured by the Pechenegs. They encased his skull in gold and turned it into a feast cup.