Polish Lithuanian invasion of Russia. Foreign intervention in times of troubles
The brutal feudal exploitation, terrible famine and "pestilence" of 1600-1603 contributed to mass peasant unrest. Taking advantage of this situation, the troops of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry twice invaded the Russian state: first under the leadership of False Dmitry I (1604), and then led by another Pretender - False Dmitry II (1608).
In September 1608, it was besieged by a 30,000-strong army of Poles and Lithuanians. Residents of villages near Moscow burned their houses, "so that there was no refuge for the enemy," and took refuge behind the walls of the fortress, together with refugees from other villages and cities, they made up the main force of its defenders. There were only 2,400 people besieged, but they resolutely refused the offer to surrender. Only intercession can explain the fact that the 16-month siege did not bring success to the Poles. The defenders of the monastery repeatedly saw Saint Sergius helping them. The "Legend of the Siege" describes amazing cases of God's blessed help to the besieged at this critical time for the monastery and the entire Russian land.
The Trinity Monastery, being the most important in religious and moral terms, also had tremendous strategic importance - it was located on an important trade route connecting Moscow with the Volga region. This trade route was used to deliver food to Moscow. That is why the Polish invaders Sapieha and Lisovsky decided to cross it, taking the stronghold of the north - the Trinity Monastery, and thereby blockade the entire capital.
On September 23, 1608, the Polish governors Sapieha and Lisovsky approached the walls of the monastery, and its long siege began. There were about 300 brethren in the monastery, a garrison of troops under the command of governors Golokhvastov and Dolgorukov, and local peasants who took refuge from the invaders behind its strong walls. The invaders dreamed of quickly dealing with the besieged, but they met courageous resistance. By favors, persuasions and threats, the Polish lords urged the inmates to surrender the monastery, but their promises were in vain. Powerful artillery fire did not allow the enemy to bring ladders and "battering tricks" closer, and stones and bricks, boiling tar and pitch, lime and sulfur were thrown from above on the heads of those who nevertheless made their way to the walls. Despite the fact that the assaults sometimes lasted for several days in a row, the enemies never managed to climb the walls. In difficult conditions of closeness and hunger, the besieged not only defended themselves, but themselves systematically attacked the enemy, inflicting significant damage on him.
Seeing the futility of storming the monastery, the besiegers wrote letters to the besieged, calling on the latter to submit to False Dmitry II. The Lavra inmates answered their letters in the following way: “May your dark empire know that you are in vain seducing the flock of Christ - Orthodox Christians. What is the use of a man to love darkness more than light and to turn falsehood into truth; how can we leave our eternal holy true Orthodox Christian faith of the Greek law and submit to the new heretical laws, which are cursed by the four ecumenical patriarchs? Or what gain to leave us with your Orthodox Tsar, the Tsar, and submit to a false enemy and to you, a non-faithful Latina ”.
For 16 months the interventionists besieged the monastery, but all their attempts to take the monastery were unsuccessful. During this long period, the Trinity inmates also suffered many disasters. With the onset of winter, various diseases began to appear among them, and scurvy began. The hostilities inflicted heavy damage on the monastery: some parts of the walls were badly damaged by shelling, the southeastern () tower was destroyed in a tunnel explosion, wooden buildings were burned or dismantled for fuel, most of the stone buildings were without roofs.
Despite the physical disasters, the "stone coffin" continued to stand firmly and unshakably. Especially the besieged relied on the heavenly help of their patrons - St. Sergius and Nikon. And according to the testimony, many of the besieged saw visions. Thus, the sexton Irinarkh saw St. Nikon, Elder Irinarchus saw St. Sergius, who predicted to receive help from Vasily Shuisky.
On January 12, 1610, fearing an attack by Skopin-Shuisky, the invaders lifted the siege from the monastery. Thus, the stronghold of the Moscow state - the Trinity Monastery - withstood the test with honor. Reflecting enemies with external force, the Trinity-Sergius Monastery acted in favor of the native state and, with its messages and letters, called on the people to defend the Orthodox faith and save the fatherland from the Polish invaders - friends of the Tushino thief. By their courageous standing, the defenders of the monastery showed an unshakable example of devotion to their native fatherland and forced the foreigners to leave the monastery walls in shame. The success of the defense of the monastery entirely depended on the invincible courage and selfless love for the Motherland of the defenders themselves.
But the alarming time had not yet passed, the inmates, realizing this, immediately began to restore the premises for housing, a permanent military garrison was created - archers and gunners, for whom huts were hurriedly built from the west of the monastery.
The fighting continued when the Polish prince Vladislav, trying to take revenge, decided to seize Moscow. But, having failed, he sent his troops to the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. However, the enemies failed to capture the monastery outright. Wanting to end their inglorious campaign as soon as possible, they began to negotiate peace. Tsarist ambassadors were summoned to the Trinity Monastery, and on December 1, 1618, in the village
The union of Russia and Sweden, which came during the Polish-Swedish war, gave the Polish king Sigismund III a reason to openly oppose Russia. The events of the Polish intervention are intertwined with the events of the subsequent Swedish intervention of 1611-1617.
Smolensk defense.
In the fall of 1609, a 12,000-strong Polish army with the support of 10,000 Ukrainian Cossacks (subjects of Poland) laid siege to Smolensk. At that time Smolensk was the most powerful Russian fortress. In 1586-1602. the fortress walls and towers of Smolensk were rebuilt by the famous architect Fyodor Kon. The total length of the fortress walls was 6.5 km, height 13-19 m with a thickness of 5-6 m. 170 cannons were installed on them.
An attempt at a sudden night assault on September 24, 1609 ended in failure. At the beginning of 1610, the Poles tried to dig, but they were promptly discovered and blown up by the Smolensk miners. In the spring of 1610, Russian troops with Swedish mercenaries marched to Smolensk against the army of King Sigismund, but were defeated at the village of Klushin (north of Gzhatsk - 06.24.1610). It seemed that nothing could prevent the capture of the fortress. However, the garrison and residents of Smolensk on 19 and 24 July, 11 August successfully repelled the attempted attack. In September 1610 and in March 1611, King Sigismund negotiated with the aim of persuading the besieged to surrender, but did not achieve the goal. However, the position of the fortress after almost two years of siege was critical. Only a tenth of the 80 thousand townspeople survived. On the night of June 3, 1611, the Poles from four sides went to the fifth, which turned out to be the last, attack. The city was taken.
First militia (1611).
The defeat of the Russian troops at the village of Klushino (June 24, 1610) hastened the overthrow of Vasily IV Shuisky (July 1610) and the establishment of the power of the boyar government ("Seven Boyars"). Meanwhile, two troops approached Moscow: Zholkevsky and False Dmitry II from Kaluga. The Poles proposed to elevate Sigismund's son, Vladislav, to the Moscow throne. Fearing the False Dmitry, the Moscow nobility decided to agree with Vladislav's candidacy, since they were afraid of reprisals from the Tushinites. In addition, at the request of the Moscow boyars, who were afraid of an attack by the detachments of False Dmitry II, a Polish garrison under the command of Alexander Gonsevsky (5-7 thousand people) entered Moscow in the fall of 1610.
It soon became clear that Sigismund was in no hurry to send his son to the Moscow throne, but wanted to dispose of Russia as a conquered country himself. Here is what, for example, the inhabitants of Smolensk wrote to their compatriots, who had already experienced the power of Sigismund, who, by the way, first promised them various liberties. “We did not resist - and all perished, went to eternal work towards Latinism. with all the babble, and your Christian race will be slain by a fierce death, they will enslave and desecrate and divorce your mothers, wives and children into full of them. " The authors of the letter warned about the real intentions of the invaders: "Lead out the best people, devastate all the lands, own all the land of Moscow."
In December 1610, False Dmitry II perished in a quarrel with his servants. Thus, the opponents of Vladislav and the "Tushinsky thief" were left with one enemy - a foreign prince, against whom they opposed. The inspiration for the campaign was the Orthodox Church. At the end of 1610, Patriarch Hermogenes sent letters to the country with an appeal to go against the Gentiles. For this, the Poles arrested the patriarch. But the call was received, and detachments of militias moved to Moscow from everywhere. By Easter 1611, some of them reached the capital, where the uprising of the townspeople began. On March 19, a detachment of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky arrived to help them. But the Poles took refuge behind the fortress walls of the center of Moscow. On the advice of the boyars who remained with them, they set fire to the rest of the city, displacing the attackers from there with fire.
With the approach of the main forces of the militia (up to 100 thousand people) in early April, fighting resumed. The militias occupied the main part of the White City, pushing the Poles back to Kitai-Gorod and the Kremlin. On the night of May 21-22, a decisive assault on Kitai-Gorod followed, but the besieged managed to repulse it. Despite the large numbers, the militia was unable to achieve its goals. It did not have a unified structure, discipline, general leadership. The social composition of the militia was also heterogeneous, among whom were nobles and their former serfs with Cossacks. The interests of both regarding the future social structure of Russia were directly opposite.
The noble militia was headed by Prokopiy Lyapunov, the Cossacks and former Tushintsy - ataman Ivan Zarutsky and Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy. However, a sharp rivalry began among the main leaders of the movement. On July 22, 1611, Lyapunov was killed on a false charge of intent against the Cossacks. The Cossacks began to beat his supporters, forcing them to leave the camp and go home. Basically, only Trubetskoy and Zarutsky's detachments remained near Moscow.
Meanwhile, a detachment of Hetman Sapieha managed to break through to Moscow in August and delivered food to the besieged. At the end of September, the Polish detachment of Hetman Chodkiewicz (2 thousand people) also approached the capital. In the course of several skirmishes, he was repulsed and retreated. The last major attempt of the First Militia to liberate Moscow was made in December 1611. The Cossacks, led by Ataman Prosovetsky, blew up the gates of Kitai-Gorod and burst into the fortress. But the Poles repulsed the assault with fire from 30 guns. After this failure, the First Militia actually disintegrated.
Second militia (1612).
The state of the Russian state in 1611 only worsened. Sigismund's army finally captured Smolensk. There was a Polish garrison in Moscow. The Swedes took Novgorod. Foreign and local gangs roamed the country freely, plundering the population. The top leadership ended up in captivity or on the side of the invaders. The state was left without a real central authority. “A little more - and Russia would become a province of some Western European state, as was the case with India,” wrote the German researcher Schulze-Gevernitz.
True, the Poles, weakened by the long and unsuccessful war with the Swedes and the siege of Smolensk, could not seriously proceed to the conquest of Russian lands. Under the conditions of the intervention, the collapse of the central government and the army, the last line of defense of Russia was popular resistance, illuminated by the idea of social cohesion in the name of defending the Motherland. Classical contradictions characteristic of the first stages of the Time of Troubles give way to the national-religious movement for the territorial and spiritual integrity of the country. The Russian Orthodox Church, which rallied all social groups, stood up to defend national dignity. The patriarch Hermogenes, imprisoned in the Kremlin, continued to spread through his associates letters of letters, urging his compatriots to fight the infidels and troublemakers. The Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where the proclamations were made by Archimandrite Dionysius and the cellarer Avraamy Palitsyn, also became the center of patriotic propaganda.
One of the letters went to the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo headman, meat trader Kuzma Minin. In the fall of 1611, he spoke to his fellow citizens in Nizhny Novgorod, urging them to give up their strength and property to defend the Fatherland. He himself made the first contribution, allocating a third of his money (100 rubles) to create a militia. The majority of Nizhny Novgorod residents decided to do so. Those who refused were forced by force. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky was invited to lead the militia.
In January 1612. the militia moved to Yaroslavl, establishing its authority in the northeastern regions. The second militia was more homogeneous than the first. It consisted mainly of servicemen, zemstvo people of North-Eastern Russia. The militias did not go straight to Moscow, but stopped in Yaroslavl to strengthen the rear and expand the base of their movement. But soon they learned that a large detachment of Hetman Chodkiewicz was going to the capital to help the Polish garrison. Then Pozharsky hurried to Moscow.
Approaching the capital, the Second Militia (about 10 thousand people) took up positions near the Novodevichy Convent, on the left bank of the Moscow River. On the right bank, in Zamoskvorechye, there were the Cossack detachments of Prince Trubetskoy (2.5 thousand people), who had stood near Moscow since the time of the First Militia. Soon Khodkevich's detachment (up to 12 thousand people) approached the capital, with which the militia fought on August 22 at the Novodevichy Convent. Gradually, the Poles pushed the militia back to the Chertolsky Gate (the area of Prechistenka and Ostozhenka streets). At this critical moment of the battle, part of the Cossacks from the Trubetskoy camp crossed the river and attacked Khodkevich's detachment, which could not withstand the onslaught of fresh forces and retreated to the Novodevichy Convent.
However, on the night of August 23, a small part of Khodkevich's detachment (600 people) nevertheless managed to penetrate the Kremlin to the besieged (3 thousand people) and in the morning they made a successful sortie, seizing a bridgehead on the banks of the Moskva River. On August 23, Khodkevich's detachment crossed over to Zamoskvorechye and occupied the Donskoy Monastery. The Poles decided to break through to the besieged through Trubetskoy's positions, hoping for the instability of his troops and the disagreements of the Russian commanders. In addition, Zamoskvorechye, which was burnt down by the fires, was poorly fortified. But Pozharsky, having learned about the hetman's plans, managed to send part of his forces there to help Trubetskoy.
On August 24, a decisive battle broke out. The most fierce battle began for the Klimentovsky prison (Pyatnitskaya street), which more than once passed from hand to hand. In this battle, the cellarer Avraamy Palitsyn distinguished himself, who at a critical moment persuaded the Cossacks not to retreat. Inspired by the priest's speech and the promised reward, they launched a counterattack and recaptured the prison in a fierce battle. By evening, he remained with the Russians, but there was no decisive victory. Then a detachment led by Minin (300 people) crossed from the left bank of the river to Zamoskvorechye. With an unexpected blow to the flank, he attacked the Poles, causing confusion in their ranks. At this time, the Russian infantry, entrenched in the ruins of Zamoskvorechye, also rose to the attack. This double blow decided the outcome of the battle. Khodkevich, having lost half of his detachment in three-day battles, retreated from Moscow to the west.
"The Poles suffered such a significant loss," wrote the 17th century Polish historian Koberzhitsky, that nothing could be rewarded. On October 26, 1612, the remnants of the Polish garrison in the Kremlin, driven to despair by hunger, capitulated. The liberation of the Russian capital from the interventionists created the conditions for the restoration of state power in the country.
Defense of Volokolamsk (1612).
After the liberation of Moscow by the forces of the Second Militia, the Polish king Sigismund began to gather forces in order to re-capture the Russian capital. But the Polish nobility was tired of the war and for the most part did not want to participate in the dangerous winter campaign. As a result, the king managed to recruit only 5 thousand people for such a serious operation. Despite the apparent lack of strength, Sigismund still did not deviate from his plans and in December 1612 set out on a campaign against Moscow. On the way, his army besieged Volokolamsk, where there was a garrison under the command of governors Karamyshev and Chemesov. The defenders of the city rejected the offer of surrender and valiantly repulsed three attacks, inflicting serious damage on the army of Sigismund. The Cossack atamans Markov and Epanchin, who, according to the chronicle, actually led the defense of the city, distinguished themselves in the battles.
While Sigismund was besieging Volokolamsk, one of his detachments under the command of Zholkovsky went to Moscow for reconnaissance, but was defeated in a battle near the city. This defeat, as well as the failure of the main forces at Volokolamsk, did not allow Sigismund to continue his attack on the Russian capital. The king lifted the siege and retreated to Poland. This made it possible to freely hold the Zemsky Sobor in Moscow, which elected a new tsar - Mikhail Romanov.
Lisovsky's Raid (1614).
In the summer of 1614, a Polish-Lithuanian cavalry detachment under the command of Colonel Lisovsky (3 thousand people) made a deep raid across Russian lands. The raid began from the region of Bryansk. Then Lisovsky approached Orel, where he fought with the army of Prince Pozharsky. The Poles overthrew the Russian vanguard of the governor Islenev, but the fortitude of the soldiers who remained with Pozharsky (600 people) did not allow Lisovsky to develop his success. By evening, the fleeing units of Islenev returned to the battlefield, and Lisovsky's detachment retreated to the Kroms. Then he moved to Vyazma and Mozhaisk. Soon Pozharsky fell ill and went to Kaluga for treatment. After that, his detachment broke up due to the departure of the military people to their homes, and Lisovsky was able to continue his campaign without hindrance.
His path ran through the Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Murom and Kaluga regions. Lisovsky bypassed large cities, devastating their surroundings. In pursuit of the elusive detachment, several governors were sent, but they did not manage to block his path anywhere. Near Aleksin, Lisovsky had a skirmish with the army of Prince Kurakin, and then left the Russian borders. The successes of the "foxes" testified not only to the talents of their leader, but also to the difficult state of Russia, which is not yet able to effectively defend itself from raids. Lisovsky's raid did not have much influence on the course of the Russian-Polish war, but left a long memory in the Moscow state.
Astrakhan campaign (1614).
If Lisovsky managed to avoid retaliation, then another major "hero" of the Time of Troubles was captured that year. We are talking about Ivan Zarutsky. Back in 1612, he tried to destroy Pozharsky with the help of hired killers, and then left Moscow to the south with a radical part of the Cossacks. On the way, the chieftain captured the wife of two False Dmitrys - Marina Mnishek, who lived with her son in Kaluga after the murder of False Dmitry II. In 1613, with a detachment of Cossacks (2-3 thousand people), Zarutsky tried again to raise the southern regions of Russia against Moscow. But the population, convinced during the last terrible years of the destructiveness of civil strife, did not support the chieftain. In May 1613, in a battle near Voronezh, Zarutsky was defeated by the army of the governor Odoevsky and retreated even further south. Ataman seized Astrakhan and decided to create an independent state there under the auspices of the Iranian Shah.
But the Cossacks, tired of the turmoil and attracted by the promises of the new Moscow government to take them into service, did not support the ataman. Residents of Astrakhan treated Zarutsky with open hostility. The Iranian Shah, who did not want to quarrel with Moscow, also refused to help. Without any serious support, Zarutsky and Marina Mnishek fled from Astrakhan at the news of the approach of government troops to the city. Terrible, in the past, the chieftain was soon defeated by a small detachment (700 people) of the tsarist governor Vasily Khokhlov. Zarutsky tried to hide on the Yaik River, but local Cossacks gave him up to the authorities. Ataman and Marina's son Mnishek were executed, and Marina herself was imprisoned, where she died. With the liberation of Astrakhan, the most dangerous center of internal turmoil was eliminated.
Vladislav's Moscow campaign (1618).
The last major event of the Russian-Polish war was the campaign of troops to Moscow led by the prince Vladislav (10 thousand Poles, 20 thousand Ukrainian Cossacks) in the fall of 1618. The Polish prince tried to seize Moscow in the hope of restoring his rights to the Russian throne. On September 20, the Polish army approached the Russian capital and camped in the famous Tushino. At this time, detachments of Ukrainian Cossacks (subjects of Poland), led by Hetman Sagaidachny, approached the Donskoy Monastery from the south. Muscovites tried to prevent him from uniting with Vladislav, but, according to the chronicle, they were attacked by such fear that they let the hetman's army into Tushino without a fight. The horror of the townspeople was increased by the comet, which in those days stood over the city.
Nevertheless, when the Poles attacked Moscow on the night of October 1, they met with a worthy rebuff. The hottest battle broke out at the Arbat Gate, where a detachment of archers led by stolnik Nikita Godunov (487 people) distinguished themselves. After a fierce battle, he managed to repel the breakthrough of the Polish units under the command of the cavalier Novodvorsky. Having lost 130 people in this case, the Poles retreated. Their attack on the Tverskoy Gate was also unsuccessful.
Deulinsky truce (1618). After an unsuccessful assault, negotiations began, and soon the opponents, tired of the struggle (the Poles were then waging a war with Turkey and had already begun a new clash with Sweden), concluded the Deulinsky truce for fourteen and a half years. Under its terms, Poland retained a number of Russian territories it had seized: Smolensk, Novgorod-Seversky and Chernigov lands.
Swedish Empire (1609-1610)
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Pyotr Konashevich Sagaidachny
Dmitry Shuisky
Russian-Polish war- an armed conflict between Russia and the Commonwealth, during which the Polish-Lithuanian troops occupied the Moscow Kremlin for two years (from 1610 to 1612). In Russian-language literature, it is often called Polish-Lithuanian intervention... One of the main events of the Time of Troubles.
Polish magnates invaded Russia, initially under the pretext of providing assistance to False Dmitry (in 1605), and then with the express purpose of conquering the Moscow state. Officially, the Commonwealth, represented by King Sigismund III, entered the war after Tsar Vasily Shuisky concluded an alliance with the Kingdom of Sweden, hostile to the Poles (see Vyborg Treaty of 1609). The tsar's army was defeated in the Klushinsky battle, the Polish-Lithuanian army captured Moscow, captured Shuisky and tried to replace the prince Vladislav in his place.
Prehistory (Dmitriada)
Collapse of Russian statehood
Vladislav's hike
In early June, the Polish army of the prince Vladislav (11 thousand people) moved from Vyazma and became in Yurkaev on the road between Mozhaisk and Kaluga. In July, the Poles unsuccessfully tried to capture Mozhaisk, after which they moved to Moscow, where they were joined by a 20 thousand Zaporozhye army, under the command of Hetman Sagaidachny. On September 17, Vladislav was already in Zvenigorod, and on September 20, in Tushino. On October 1, an attack was made on Moscow, which was repulsed; after an equally unsuccessful attack on the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (where the leader of the foxes died), Vladislav entered into negotiations with the Russians, which led to the conclusion of the Deulinsky truce, for 14.5 years; Smolensk, Chernigov and Seversk regions were ceded to the Poles, but Vladislav did not renounce his claims to the Moscow throne.
Notes (edit)
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In the fall of 1604, an impostor, whom historians call False Dmitry I, with a 40,000-strong detachment of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry, Russian noble emigrants, Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks, unexpectedly appeared on the southwestern outskirts of Russia, in the Seversk land. The "Ukrainian people", among whom there were many fugitive peasants and slaves, joined the impostor in droves: they saw "Tsarevich Dmitry" as their "intercessor", especially since the impostor did not skimp on promises. The belief in a "good tsar" inherent in the medieval peasantry helped False Dmitry I to increase his army. However, in the very first big battle with the tsarist army near Dobrynichi, the impostor was defeated and, with the few remaining supporters, took refuge in Putivl. Most of the Polish-Lithuanian gentry left him.
In April 1605, Tsar Boris Godunov died unexpectedly; it was rumored that he was poisoned. In the tsarist army near Kromy, the traitorous boyars revolted, and the way for the impostor to Moscow was open.
The impostor entered Moscow without a fight and was proclaimed tsar under the name of Dmitry Ivanovich.
The victory was ensured by popular support and deep discontent of the peasantry with Godunov's policy, but False Dmitry did not last long on the throne. The very first measures of "Tsar Dmitry" pushed the lower classes away from him. "Tsar Dmitry" was also dissatisfied in the Commonwealth, he did not dare, as he had promised earlier, to transfer Western Russian cities to Poland and Lithuania.
On May 17, 1606, the conspirators took advantage of the uprising, Vasily Shuisky, at the head of a large detachment of military servants, burst into the Kremlin, the Pretender was killed. From the Execution Ground on Red Square, Vasily Shuisky was "called out" as the new tsar.
The accession of Vasily Shuisky did not end the "turmoil". The populace received no relief. Vasily Shuisky even canceled the tax breaks given by the impostor to the population of the southern counties. The persecution of the former supporters of "Tsar Dmitry" began, which further inflamed the situation.
In the movement against the "boyar tsar" Vasily Shuisky, various strata of the population were involved: the lower classes, the nobility, part of the boyars. It was they who took part in the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov (1606 - 1607) - the uprising of slaves, peasants, townspeople, archers, Cossacks. Territory of the uprising: south-west and south of Russia (about 70 cities), the Lower and Middle Volga regions. The rebels defeated the tsarist troops at Kromy, Yelets, on the river. Ugre, Lopasne and others, in October - December they besieged Moscow. In connection with the betrayal of the nobles on December 2, 1606, they were defeated at the village of Kotly and retreated to Kaluga. In the summer and autumn of 1607, the rebels fought near Tula together with the detachments of Ileyka of Muromets. After a 4-month siege and the surrender of Tula, the uprising was suppressed. Bolotnikov was exiled to Kargopol, blinded and drowned.
In January 1608. a second impostor appeared (False Dmitry II), he reached the town of Orel where he camped.
The impostor did not succeed in taking Moscow, even with Lithuanian help. But the Polish-Lithuanian and Cossack detachments of the "Tushino thief" dispersed throughout Central Russia. By the end of 1608, 22 cities "swore allegiance" to the impostor.
A dual power was established in the country. In fact, there were two tsars in Russia, two Boyar Dumas, two systems of orders. Shuisky's government also took the path of collusion with foreign forces. It turned for help to the Swedish king Charles IX, who had long been hatching plans to sever the Novgorod land and Karelia from Russia. The agreement with Sweden was reached at a heavy price - Shuisky renounced the conditions of the Tyavzin peace and, in general, claims to the Baltic coast, gave the city of Korela with the county and allowed free circulation of the Swedish coin on the territory of Russia. Thus, in fact, the Swedish intervention was unleashed. This caused great excitement among the population of the northwestern Russian lands.
In the summer of 1609, Russian regiments and Swedish mercenaries began offensive operations. However, the Swedes only reached Tver and refused to advance further. Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky with some Russian regiments went to Kalyazin, where he became a camp, and began to collect a new army, he conquered city after city. March 12, 1610 the regiments of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky solemnly entered the capital.
A palace coup took place in Moscow. The military defeat led to the fall of Vasily Shuisky. On July 17, 1610, the boyars and nobles overthrew V. Shuisky from the throne. Power passed to the government of seven boyars - the "seven-boyars".
Under these conditions, the “seven-boyars”, which had no support in the country, went for outright national treason; in August 1610 the boyars let the Polish garrison into Moscow. King Sigismund III openly announced his claims to the Russian throne. In the summer of 1609, the Polish king Sigismund III, at the head of a large army, moved directly to Smolensk.
An open Polish-Lithuanian intervention began. Gentry detachments left the "Tushinsky thief", the Pretender fled to Kaluga, where he was soon killed. Russia was threatened with the loss of national independence.
Russian-Polish war 1609-1618 also known as Polish-Lithuanian intervention- an armed conflict between Russia and the Commonwealth, during which the Polish-Lithuanian troops occupied the Moscow Kremlin for two years (from 1610 to 1612). One of the main events of the Time of Troubles.
The Polish magnates invaded Russia initially under the pretext of helping False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II (in 1605 and 1607-1609), and then with the express purpose of conquering the Russian kingdom. Officially, the Commonwealth, represented by King Sigismund III, entered the war after Tsar Vasily Shuisky concluded an alliance with the Kingdom of Sweden, hostile to the Poles (see Vyborg Treaty of 1609). The tsar's army was defeated in the Klushinsky battle, the Polish-Lithuanian army captured Moscow, captured Shuisky and tried to replace the prince Vladislav in his place.
Collapse of Russian statehood
In the city, the First Militia was formed, with a core of Tushino Cossacks and Ryazan nobles, under the leadership of Dmitry Trubetskoy, Ivan Zarutsky and Prokopy Lyapunov. It moved to Moscow, where, in turn, an uprising broke out, in which Prince Dmitry Pozharsky played an important role. The uprising was suppressed; shortly thereafter, the militias took Kitai-Gorod, but the internal strife between the Cossacks and the nobles, which ended in the murder of Lyapunov, led to the flight of the nobles and the actual disintegration of the militia.
In this situation, the Second Militia, headed by Pozharsky, is being formed in Nizhny Novgorod. In August, it appeared at the walls of Moscow, where the Cossacks Trubetskoy and Zarutsky still stood. On August 22 and 24, 1612, Polish reinforcements were defeated, marching towards Moscow under the command of the great hetman of the Lithuanian Khodkevich, who was forced to retreat along the Smolensk road. The consequence of Pozharsky's victory was the surrender of the Poles who were in the Kremlin.
1613-1617 Siege of Smolensk
The campaign to Smolensk, by the decision of the Zemsky Sobor, became the first military operation of the revived Russian army at the final stage of the war. The army assembled for the campaign against Smolensk in the middle of 1613 numbered 12,250 people according to the list. Russian troops occupied both Vyazma (July 7, 1613) and Dorogobuzh without a fight. The capture of Belaya, which represented a truly important outpost on the Lithuanian frontier, was a great success. The prospect of a difficult siege, the sight of a large Russian army and generous promises forced the mercenaries to surrender the city, and they did this despite the active resistance of the Lithuanian garrison. After these successes, the army approached the main goal of their campaign - Smolensk. Russian governors pinned great hopes on the surrender of the city, like Belaya. The fact that the stake was placed on surrender, and not the storming of the fortress, is also indicated by the actions of the Russian army. During the entire time of the siege, not a single attempt was made to assault or undermine; powerful and numerous Russian siege artillery was not sent to Smolensk at all. The actions of the siege army were limited to the construction of fortified fortresses and the erection of marks on all roads leading to Lithuania.
In the middle of 1614, successes gave way to failures. Several defeats in minor skirmishes did not lead to the withdrawal of the Russian troops, but soon the Lithuanians managed to break through the blockade and transfer reinforcements and supplies to Smolensk. The chance to quickly return Smolensk was lost and a long siege of the city began. Poles and Lithuanians, at first, could not take active action against the siege army. In 1615. in the Smolensk region, small skirmishes continued, interspersed with negotiations. Despite the partial successes, in general, the siege did not give results. Lithuanian detachments twice managed to break into the fortress and carry out the transports. The position of the besieging army was rather difficult.
In the second half of 1616, the Lithuanians, in turn, began more active operations. Velizh headman Alexander Gonsevsky, having collected available forces, crossed the Russian line and camped not far from Smolensk. In November, Gonsevsky's detachment (up to 2,000 people) made a maneuver and camped between Dorogobuzh and Smolensk, in the village of Tverdilitsy, thereby interrupting the supply of the siege army along the Great Moscow road. To fight the Lithuanians, in January 1617, a new army began to be equipped, led by the prince.