The Story of a Certain Ivan

Once upon a time, there was a Tsar named Ivan. As he was the fourth Muscovite ruler to bear that name, he is known today as Ivan IV. He was, however, both a tyrant and a cruel ruler. Thousands of people were executed on his orders, and he himself was capable of killing. One of the victims of his violent outbursts – albeit unintentionally – was his own son. This is how he earned the epithet “the Terrible.” When he died in 1584, the Muscovite throne passed to another of his sons, Fyodor.

Fyodor, however, showed little interest in the affairs of the state, and the real power was exercised by Boris Godunov, Ivan IV’s adviser and Fyodor’s brother-in-law. As Fyodor left no male heir and died in 1598, the question arose as to who should succeed to the Muscovite throne.

At this point, another highly significant thread enters the story. Fyodor had a younger half-brother, Dmitry. In 1584, however, Boris Godunov had exiled Dmitry and his mother to Uglich. There, in 1591, Dmitry died after being fatally stabbed with a knife during an epileptic seizure. Rumours soon began to circulate, however, claiming that he had in fact been murdered on Godunov’s orders.

Tsarevich Dmitry: The Miraculously Surviving Heir

In these circumstances, the boyars elected Boris himself as the new Tsar. He ruled Russia until his death in 1605. Meanwhile, a mysterious young man, about twenty years of age, appeared in the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He claimed to be none other than the miraculously surviving Tsarevich Dmitry and declared his intention of reclaiming the throne in Moscow. In 1603, he appeared at the court of Prince Adam Wiśniowiecki, and the following year he was received by King Sigismund III himself. Although the King’s advisers discouraged Sigismund III from supporting Dmitry’s cause, many members of the Polish–Lithuanian magnate elite viewed it favourably and launched a military expedition against Muscovy. Led by Dmitry, the army eventually reached the Russian capital. He was crowned Tsar and married Marina Mniszech, the daughter of the Polish magnate Jerzy Mniszech.

However, following an uprising led by the boyars under the leadership of Vasily Shuisky, Dmitry and many members of his court were murdered. Dmitry’s body was first buried, then exhumed and dismembered, before being burned. His ashes were finally loaded into a cannon and fired in the direction of Poland.

History Repeats Itself

It might have seemed that this brought the story to a definitive end. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In 1607, just one year after the spectacular death of the first False Dmitry, another mysterious man appeared, claiming that he was the miraculously surviving Dmitry. Although this supposed “miraculous survival” was far from convincing, Jerzy Mniszech arranged a meeting between the new Dmitry and his daughter, who… recognised him as her husband.

This was enough to persuade many magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to support yet another campaign in the east. The forces gathered by the new Dmitry advanced as far as Moscow. Tsar Vasily Shuisky, however, entered into an alliance with the Swedes. In response to this alliance, directed against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sigismund III Vasa intervened by leading an army against Smolensk and laying siege to the fortress. Thus began the full-scale Polish–Russian War.

What happened next? The Siege of Smolensk, which lasted until 1611; the Battle of Klushino in July 1610; the entry of the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into Moscow; and the proclamation of Władysław Vasa, then still a prince, as Tsar of Russia. Meanwhile, False Dmitry II was killed (although another pretender would later emerge, he played no significant role).

Soon afterwards, an uprising broke out in the Russian capital, forcing the Polish forces to evacuate the Kremlin in September 1612.

A Period of Relative Calm

In the years that followed, the war continued, with neither side able to secure a decisive victory. Eventually, on 3 January 1619 (although some sources give the date as 11 December 1618), a truce was signed in the village of Deulino, approximately 80 kilometres north-east of Moscow. Under its terms, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired extensive territories in the east. The Smolensk Land, returning after more than a century, was reincorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while the Chernihiv and Seversk lands were annexed to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. As a result, the Commonwealth’s eastern frontier extended beyond Smolensk, and its territory now covered approximately one million square kilometres. Never before – or afterwards – did the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth attain such territorial extent and political power.

Short-Lived Success

However, this situation did not last long. In 1621, Swedish forces invaded Livonia, depriving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of almost the entire region. Even so, the Polish–Lithuanian state remained an empire for many years to come. It was, however, an empire beset by conflicts and visibly in decline. Until 1795…

Piotr Bosko

Translated from Polish by Małgorzata Giełzakowska