The main task facing the Moscow government in the 70s of the 15th century was the final liquidation of the independence of the Novgorod Republic. The Novgorod boyars, led by the mayor's widow Marfa Boretskaya, pursued a political course hostile to Moscow. In November 1471, they invited the Lithuanian prince Mikhail Olelkovich, grandson of Olgerd, to Novgorod to reign. In the spring of the following year, the Novgorod boyar government concluded an agreement on assistance with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Casimir IV.
In such a political situation in Moscow, a plan for a military campaign against Novgorod was developed. Several principalities sent their squads to participate in the campaign. The help that the Novgorod boyars were counting on was not provided to them. Lithuanian Prince Casimir IV feared uprisings in the Russian territories he had captured. The Russian population in Lithuania supported the policies of the Moscow prince and hoped for his help in the fight against the Lithuanian invaders. The Lithuanian governor also left the city. The army that the Novgorod boyars hastily assembled had weak combat capability and did not want to fight the Moscow army for the boyars' interests. In the battle on the Sheloni River, the Novgorod army was defeated.
In the town of Korostyn, an agreement was concluded according to which the Novgorod Republic lost all right to conduct an independent foreign policy. The Novgorod boyars pledged to be “persistent” from the Moscow principality and to end separate relations with Lithuania. However, Novgorod was not yet included in a single centralized state, because the political power of the boyars was still quite strong. In order to undermine the political significance of his potential opponents, Ivan III used the hostility of the Novgorod settlement to the local boyars in the direction he desired.
In 1475, Ivan III made a trip to Novgorod. During his stay there, he dealt with complaints from peasants and artisans against the boyars. After the analysis, he condemned the most prominent representatives of the Novgorod boyars who were associated with Lithuania. He sent them into exile in Moscow and other cities. These repressions, which the Moscow prince brought down on the Novgorod boyars, temporarily won him the support of the “black people.” In addition, the boyar opposition was bled dry.
A new campaign of the Moscow army against Novgorod was organized in 1477. The Novgorod government was forced to ask Ivan III for peace. The Moscow prince agreed to peace on the condition that orders were introduced in the Novgorod land that already existed in all other regions of the Russian centralized state. A year later, this condition was officially ratified by the Novgorod government. The veche bell - a symbol of independent Novgorod - was removed and sent to Moscow. The bulk of the Novgorod lands came into the possession of Moscow.
The lands of Karelia became part of the Russian state at the same time as Novgorod. A significant part of the Karelian lands was under the rule of the Novgorod boyars. Agriculture, fishing and hunting were widely developed here. Among the crafts, blacksmithing, shipbuilding and weaving were especially prominent. Salt was boiled down on the White Sea coast. There were cities in Karelia, of which the largest were Korela and Orekhov.
For a long time, the life of the Karelian people has been closely intertwined with the fate of the Russian people. Both peoples lived on the same territory, and there was constant interaction in the field of cultural exchange. For example, Russian epics and the Karelian-Finnish epic “Kalevala” are permeated with common motifs.
The region in the upper reaches of the Vychegda and Kama, inhabited by the Komi people, was of great strategic importance. In 1472, “Great Perm” was included in the Russian state, thereby opening the way to the Trans-Urals. The Ugra land was inhabited by Voguls (Mansi) and Ostyaks (Khanty). In 1483, an expedition led by Fyodor Kurbsky was sent there. The expedition visited Tobol, Irtysh, Ob and led to the dependence of a number of Ugra princes on Moscow. In 1489, Moscow troops took the main city of the Vyatka land - Khlynov. Moscow acquired new territories and, accordingly, income. At the same time, the colonization of “black people” beyond the Urals was underway.
The Tver principality lost its independence following the loss of independence by Novgorod. Boyars and service people, feeling the futility of further resistance to the Moscow prince, began to go into his service. The Tver merchants, interested in expanding trade relations, also did not support their prince. Prince Mikhail Borisovich of Tver, deprived of social support in his principality, entered into an alliance with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV to continue his struggle with Moscow. This alliance created a threat to Moscow. It served as the reason for two campaigns of Moscow troops against Tver. The last of them, which took place in 1485, ended with the liquidation of the independence of the Tver principality. Prince Mikhail of Tver fled to Lithuania.
By the beginning of the reign of Ivan III, the Grand Duchy of Moscow was the largest, but not the only one. Over a quarter of a century, the Moscow prince significantly changed the political map of Northeastern Rus', annexing vast territories. For the medieval pace of development, this was a genuine explosion in political relations, turning Ivan III in the eyes of his subjects into the sovereign of all Rus'.
The territorial growth of the Moscow Principality began from the first years
reign of Ivan III. In the mid-second half of the 60s, finally
The Yaroslavl principality, whose princes had long been
were “helpers” of the Moscow rulers. In 1474, the remnants of the independence of the Rostov principality were liquidated even more calmly: the remnants of their princely rights were purchased from the local princes.
The difficult task was the annexation of the Novgorod land, where the traditions of independence were very strong. Part of Novgorod
boyars led by the widow of the mayor Martha Boretskaya and her sons
sought an open break with Moscow and sought help from the Great
the Principality of Lithuania in order to maintain their liberties. Other boyars
hoped that good relations with the Grand Duke would help maintain
independence of Novgorod. In 1471 the Boretskys gained the upper hand. Novgorod
concluded an agreement with the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the King of Poland
Casimir IV. Novgorod recognized Casimir as its prince and accepted him
governor, and the “honest king” Casimir made an obligation if “he goes
the Great Prince of Moscow on Veliki Novgorod", "get on horseback... against
Grand Duke and Boronite of Veliki Novgorod."
Such an agreement was a legal pretext for war against Novgorod.
Ivan III gathered the troops of all the princes subordinate to him, including
Tver, and set off on a hike. On the Sheloni River in July 1471, Novgorodians
were defeated. Casimir, realizing that he does not have in Novgorod
full support, did not fulfill the contract. Novgorod Archbishop
allowed his regiment to participate in the battle, and this was a considerable part
militia. This position of Casimir and the archbishop was explained by the fact that
among the boyars, and especially among the urban lower classes, were widespread
anti-Lithuanian sentiments. Victory in the Battle of Shelon strengthened power
Ivan III over Novgorod. The anti-Moscow group suffered damage:
Martha's son, mayor Dmitry Boretsky, who was captured, was executed. But
Novgorod remained independent for now.
Ivan III did not strive to increase the dependence of Novgorod, but to completely annex it. To do this, he first decided on his positions in the Novgorod land. In 1475 he undertook a trip there with a large armed force. On November 21, 1475, Ivan arrived in the capital of the veche republic “in peace.” Everywhere he accepted gifts from residents, and with them complaints about the arbitrariness of the authorities. Thus, he simultaneously solved two problems: before the black people he acted as a defender of the people, and weakened the group of boyars hostile to him. Many boyars were arrested, some of them were sent for further investigation to Moscow, which was a gross violation of Novgorod law. In February 1476, the Grand Duke returned to Moscow, but, nevertheless, continued to accept petitions and summon boyars for trial, acting not as a traditional Novgorod prince, but as a feudal monarch.
The star of Novgorod the Great was inexorably approaching sunset.
The society of the veche republic has long been divided into parts. In February
1477 Novgorod ambassadors arrived in Moscow. Welcoming Ivan
Vasilievich, they called him not “Mr.,” as usual, but
"sovereign". At that time, such an appeal expressed complete
subordination. To the question of Ivan III: “What do the states want their fatherland
their Veliky Novgorod? - Novgorod authorities responded that the ambassadors did not
had the authority to make such an appeal. In Novgorod they were killed at a veche
some of Moscow's supporters. So there was a reason to go to
Novgorod. In the fall, Ivan's troops moved towards the city. Grand Duke s
the army walked across the ice of Lake Ilmen and stood right under the walls
Novgorod. Every now and then reinforcements arrived. The veche authorities did not dare
resist, and Ivan III presented them with a harsh ultimatum: “we want
dominion in its fatherland Veliky Novgorod is the same as ours
state in the Nizovsky land in Moscow,” which meant the liquidation
features of the political system in Novgorod. Ivan further explained that
Specifically, he means: “I ring the bell in our homeland in Novgorod
not to exist, but to hold our dominion.”
In January 1478, the Novgorod authorities capitulated, the veche was
cancelled, the veche bell was taken to Moscow, instead of posadniks and thousand
the city was now ruled by Moscow governors. Earth's most
boyars hostile to Ivan were confiscated, but other boyar estates
Ivan III promised not to touch it. He did not keep this promise: soon the
new confiscations. In total for 1484 - 1499. 87% of lands replaced theirs
owners; except for the smallest owners - “homeowners”, everyone
Novgorod patrimonial owners lost their possessions. Evicted lands
Novgorodians were given to Moscow service people.
Thus, the annexation of Novgorod can be attributed to one of
the most important results of the activities of Ivan III, Grand Duke of Moscow and
all Rus'.
After Novgorod, the time has come to liquidate independence
Tver land. After the annexation of Novgorod it found itself squeezed
between Moscow possessions, only in the west bordering on a small
along with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Tver Prince Mikhail
Borisovich felt that his power was coming to an end. This prince is nothing
The experience of the Novgorod boyars, who waited in vain for the promised
help from Casimir IV. Mikhail Borisovich entered into an alliance with the king. Then
Ivan III threw his troops into the principality, and Mikhail Borisovich quickly
capitulated. Apparently not fully understanding the current situation, he
soon sent a messenger to Casimir with letters, but he was intercepted by
road by the people of Ivan III. This was the desired occasion for Ivan to finally
The boyars loyal to him fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On September 15, Ivan III and his son Ivan solemnly entered the city. Ivan Ivanovich, former
on his mother's side, the grandson of the Tver Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich,
became the Grand Duke of Tver. Independent Grand Duchy of Tver
ceased to exist.
In 1489, Vyatka, a remote and largely mysterious land for modern historians, was annexed to the Russian state.
Volga. With the annexation of Vyatka, the matter of collecting Russian lands, not
which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was completed.
Formally, only Pskov and the Grand Duchy of Ryazan remained independent. However, they were dependent on Moscow, because often needed the help of the Grand Duke.
The peoples of the North were also included in the Russian state.
In 1472, “Great Perm”, inhabited by Komi, was annexed
Karelian lands. The Russian centralized state was becoming
multinational superethnos.
Thus, the unification successfully carried out by Ivan III
Russian lands contributed not only to the development of productive forces
state, but also strengthened the international position of Rus'.
summary of other presentations“Formation of a unified Russian state” - Localism. Feudal wars in Rus'. Russian church. Seal of Ivan III. Ideology “Moscow is the third Rome”. Creation of a new management system. Grand Duke. A consequence of the struggle between two trends. Horde Khan Makhmet. Hereditary monarchy. Feudal war. Reasons and prerequisites for the unification of Russian lands. Ivan III Vasilievich. Code of Law 1497 Formation of a unified state of Russia. The end of the unification of Russian lands.
“Ivan III the Great” - Ivan III advanced his army towards the enemy. Ivan the Great. What is the role of the Ivan era. The double-headed eagle was required by the Grand Duke in the last decade of the 15th century. Restructuring the Kremlin. Fight the Horde. Elevating Moscow, Ivan III emphasized his inheritance of power. Ivan III became the sole ruler. Epigraph for the lesson. Moscow is the third Rome. Ivan III the Great. Russian craftsmen built the Annunciation Cathedral and the Church of the Deposition of the Robe.
“The Reign of Ivan III” - Conquest of Novgorod. Feeders are local government representatives. The Moscow army is a single military organization. The Palace, the Treasury are central government bodies. The merging process is complete. Russian coat of arms. State ideology. Liberation from the Mongol yoke in 1480. Gathering lands. Relations with the Horde. Reign of Ivan III 1462-1505 Management system, legal proceedings. Standing on the Ugra River 1480.
“The Reign of Ivan 3” - The fight against the Tatars. “Moscow - the Third Rome” (early 16th century). Characteristics of Ivan III. Accession to the throne. The Russian state during the reign of Ivan III. Annexation of Novgorod and Tver. War with Lithuania. Collecting lands around Moscow. Amazed Europe. Domestic policy, code of law of Ivan III. Ivan III Vasilievich. Relations with the church. 1480 - standing on the Ugra River. The order of government of the country.
“The Age of Ivan III” - Time of Reign. Russian church. Russian masters. Little Ivan. Illustrations. Italian architect. Assumption Church in Vladimir. Byzantine coat of arms. Veche bell. Free Novgorod. Cathedral of the Archangel. Khan's army. Results of the board. S. Ivanov. Consolidation of lands around Moscow. Events of a troubled childhood. Russian army. Symbols of royal power. The greatness of the Moscow state. Overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.
“Grand Duke Ivan III” - Akhmat. What was Ivan the third like? Ivan the Third is a visionary. Interior of the Assumption Cathedral. Ivan III. Who openly challenged the Horde. Restructuring the Kremlin. Grand Duke Ivan III. Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Mamai. What changes took place under Ivan III. Moscow. Have the Russian lands gained complete independence? Changes under Ivan III. The eagle landed on the state seal for the first time. Celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
History of the annexation of the Tver Principality to Moscow
In the actual alignment of the political forces of North-Eastern Rus', the princes of the Tver lands found themselves in a rather unenviable position, in which they were second in order of birth of the Grand Duke. Thus, they were close to the cherished crown from which only one human life separated them.
Something similar happened with the city of Tver itself. A thriving large city, located at the crossroads of important trade routes, the seat of authoritative bishops and energetic princes, and also the residence of the great Prince of Vladimir. Every day it seemed that this particular city would become the center of unification of all North-Eastern Rus', which would become the future capital of the united Russian state.
However, in 1339, Ivan Kalita took the cathedral bell to Moscow, which seemed to break Tver and plunge it into historical shadow.
After the Novgorod land was annexed to Moscow, Ivan the Third took over the other principalities that remained outside Moscow's influence. In 1483, Mikhail Borisovich, who was the prince of the Tver principality, strengthened his alliance with Lithuania by marrying a relative of King Casimir the Fourth. Having received news of these events, Ivan the Third gathers an army and launches a military campaign against the Tver Principality. At the same time, Mikhail was defeated and had no choice but to recognize Ivan the Third as sovereign.
However, pretending that he accepted the conditions of the Moscow prince, Mikhail makes attempts to contact Lithuania, wanting to get out of Moscow power. Ivan again went to Tver and in 1485 finally subjugated the Tver Principality. At the same time, the boyars and the residents of Tver themselves with great pleasure went over to the side of the Moscow prince, and Mikhail was forced to flee to Lithuania.
Just as during the events in Novgorod, Ivan settled Moscow boyars and nobles in the Tver lands, thereby forming his strong support. At the same time, he exiled Tver feudal lords to different regions of the Moscow state. In the same year, Ivan the Third annexed the last inheritance - Vereisky.
As a result of the direct subordination of Tver to Moscow, the latter was able to significantly expand its own possessions, as well as conduct more developed trade.
Ivan III, taking advantage of this, accused the Novgorodians of treason - after all, they violated the agreement they concluded with his father in 1456. The highest Moscow church hierarchs were also outraged - by concluding an alliance with Lithuania, Novgorod tried to get out from under the authority of the Moscow metropolitanate. The act of the Novgorodians was dangerous for Moscow because Casimir had previously entered into an alliance with the Khan of the Great Horde, Akhmat. Ivan III had every reason to fear a blow from Lithuania and the Horde, so his diplomats began negotiations with the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey. They advanced successfully, and, without waiting for their completion, in July 1471, Ivan Vasilyevich moved a large army to Novgorod.
The war was short, but bloody. The Moscow Grand Duke marched against Novgorod “not as against Christians, but as against a foreign pagan and an apostate to Orthodoxy.” And Moscow warriors went into battle not against their brothers, but for the Orthodox faith. In fact, they reasoned, why did the Novgorodians surrender to the Catholic (“Latin”) sovereign? Why did they want to install their archbishop not in Rus', but in Lithuania? After all, the Lithuanian Metropolitan Gregory was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, and Emperor Ivan Vasilyevich announced that with the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (in 1453), true Orthodoxy among the Greeks was stopped.
They went to Novgorod as if on a crusade and stood firm in the battle, without any doubts. Moscow soldiers were ordered to “burn, and capture, and in full force, and execute without mercy the inhabitants for their disobedience to their sovereign, the Grand Duke,” and they honestly fulfilled their duty. The Novgorodians were stunned - after all, for many years before that they had become accustomed to seeing Muscovites as allies, and the Moscow prince and metropolitan as their spiritual leaders.
In mid-July 1471, the Moscow governor, Prince Daniil Kholmsky, easily defeated the Novgorod regiments in the Battle of the Sheloni River. More than 12 thousand Novgorodians fell. After this, the troops moved towards Novgorod. Casimir IV was unable to help his ally. The Lithuanian lands were devastated by the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, with whom Ivan III was able to conclude an alliance.
Kasimov’s princes blocked Akhmat’s path. Realizing that they could not survive, the Novgorodians asked for peace. Ivan III agreed on the condition that Novgorod would renounce its alliance with Casimir, pay 15,500 rubles, and recognize the Grand Duke of Moscow as the highest judicial authority. For his part, he agreed to leave the veche intact. The Lithuanian-Novgorod alliance was undermined, but as long as Novgorod retained the remnants of independence, Ivan III could not be calm.
An excuse was soon found. Once the Novgorod ambassadors called Ivan Vasilyevich “sovereign”, and not “master”, as was customary before. The reservation had very serious consequences. According to Moscow concepts, calling a person “sovereign” means recognizing his full power and his unconditional submission. The address “master” was used between equals. In Novgorod they understood perfectly well that Moscow would not hesitate to take advantage of this mistake, and they immediately announced that the ambassadors acted without the knowledge of the veche and exceeded their authority.
It turned out even worse - Ivan III became angry and, accusing the Novgorodians of treason, set out on a campaign. Having laid siege to Novgorod, he demanded that the Novgorodians completely renounce their independence and submit to Moscow. In January 1478, the Novgorodians surrendered on the terms of Ivan III. Moscow governors were sent to Novgorod, the veche was abolished, and the veche bell, a symbol of Novgorod freedom, and Marfa Boretskaya were sent to Moscow. Ivan Vasilyevich did without mass executions - he simply resettled thousands of Novgorod families to other regions of Rus', and gave their lands to merchants and service people from the Moscow principality. This undermined the economic basis of Novgorod statehood, and Novgorod became a secondary city.
In 1480, Akhmat finally decided to go to Rus'. In the summer, he approached the Ugra River, which separated the Principality of Moscow from Lithuania, and settled there, awaiting the approach of Casimir's troops. But the Lithuanian troops never approached - the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey interfered. Two armies, Tatar and Russian, stood against each other for six months, only occasionally engaging in minor skirmishes. At this time, a united Russian-Tatar detachment marched through the deep rear of Akhmat, far into the Volga region, under the command of governor Nozdrevaty and Tsarevich Nur-Daulet-Girey. Fearing for his possessions, Akhmat retreated. After this, Ivan III no longer considered it necessary to negotiate the payment of tribute and expelled the khan’s ambassadors. The “Standing on the Ugra,” in which Rus' was opposed by far from the strongest of the khanates, is generally considered to be the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, although in fact Vasily the Dark stopped paying tribute to the Horde.
After that, it was Tver’s turn. As soon as the Tver prince Mikhail Borisovich concluded an agreement with Lithuania, Ivan III immediately declared war on him. The people of Tver remembered the sad fate of Novgorod, and did not provide their prince with any support (as, indeed, did Casimir). The Tver boyars beat Ivan Vasilyevich, and, in the end, Mikhail Borisovich had to flee to Lithuania. In 1485, the Tver Principality was annexed to the Moscow Principality.
The last years of the reign of Ivan III were marked by a war with Lithuania. In 1492, the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Casimir died. A terrible confusion began in the Polish-Lithuanian state, and Ivan Vasilyevich, considering himself the legitimate sovereign of all Russian lands, took the opportunity to take away from Lithuania the so-called Seversky principalities, which lay in the upper reaches of the Oka. For the first time in two hundred years, Moscow’s borders advanced to the southwest, to the “mother of Russian cities” - Kyiv.
The end of Novgorod freedom. Annexation of Novgorod to the Moscow principality.