Since the 14th century, oprichnina (translated from the Old Russian language as “special”) has been called an appanage - a territory with troops and institutions allocated for members of the grand ducal dynasty. A detailed study of the complex of emergency measures carried out by Ivan IV the Terrible to form a centralized state will help you understand what oprichnina is.

The prerequisites for the emergence of the oprichnina were a chain of tragic events in the life of the tsar: the death of his first wife and then the metropolitan. It is easy to assume that this could not but affect the personality of the ruler and led to his even greater bitterness towards the world around him.

The combination of high intelligence and erudition with suspiciousness and cruelty led Ivan IV to make rash reforms.

Goals

During the period of Livonian War, aimed at strengthening Russia's authority in the international arena, expanding territories and finding access to the Baltic Sea, Ivan IV doubted the loyalty of his subjects. The situation was finally aggravated by the betrayal of Prince Andrei Kurbsky. After the betrayal, the tsar became embittered and began to suspect his entourage of preparing a conspiracy among the boyar families with the aim of becoming in power. cousin ruling head of Russia Vladimir Staritsky.

It is important to pay attention to the fact that historians identify the following fundamental goals of the oprichnina:

1. Strengthening the power of Ivan IV.
2. Weakening the independence of boyar clans and boyar power.
3. Centralization of the state, the fight against the remnants of fragmentation.

Causes

The king's blind faith in the divine origin of his power redirected him from the path of reform state system to an unlimited monarchy. The obstacles on this path were the weak central apparatus of power, significant influence churches in all spheres, remnants of the appanage system.

Ivan IV gave events a religious character. Unable to embody the ideals of Holy Rus', despising the common people, he created an organization of guardsmen who carried out all his orders, punishing the guilty, including publicly.

The oprichnina army became a reliable guard for the autocrat, but for the boyars and the common people his associates became hated. For the autocrat, his own defense was much more important than the people's lamentations, and even more so the discontent of the boyar families. The ruler of Russia took the side of his inner circle in all disputes.

The losing foreign policy associated with the conduct of the Livonian War destroyed the precarious stability in the country by increasing the tax burden. The usual methods of mobilizing resources for the needs of the war could no longer ensure its favorable course. It was precisely on the betrayal of the boyar families that the authorities attributed the failures in the war.

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Entity Definition

The New Year 1565 began with the departure of the tsar, who pursued the goals of the oprichnina . Together with his family, he left his residence in Kolomenskoye for Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. This departure was a reaction to internal processes at the top of the boyar power. The autocrat sent a message to the clergy and boyars, informing them of his renunciation of power in favor of a young heir and demanding the allocation of a special allotment for himself.

saw in the betrayals and rebellions of the feudal nobility. Ivan the Terrible was confident in the need for strong autocratic power, the main obstacle to which was the boyar-princely opposition. Under these conditions, he goes to establish a regime of terror.

The decision of Ivan the Terrible was preceded by a number of events on the internal political scene of the state:

• Death of Ivan IV's wife Anastasia, who was allegedly poisoned;
• Failures in foreign policy, failures in the Livonian War, successful raids of the Crimean Tatars on Russian lands;
• The flight of the prince to Lithuania.

These events served as the reason for the tightening of the internal policies of Ivan IV and the introduction of the oprichnina. In January 1565, Ivan IV left Moscow for Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. From the settlement he sends two messages. One was sent to the metropolitan and the boyar duma, the second to the townspeople. The king announced that he was refusing royal power because of boyar betrayals, but has no claims against the common people.

Muscovites went with an embassy to Ivan the Terrible several times. The Tsar eventually agreed to return to Moscow, but on the condition that he would be provided with:

• full right of extrajudicial reprisal against traitors;
• the king will be given a personal inheritance;
• A special army of thousands of selected nobles and boyars will be recruited for the king.

The oprichnina was established in 1565. The oprichnina of Ivan IV is a system of measures aimed at strengthening the autocracy and further enslaving the peasantry. The territory of the country was divided into oprichnina lands, the income from which went to the sovereign treasury. The oprichnina included the most fertile lands of the state, cities with large suburbs and Pomeranian cities. In these areas, princely and boyar estates were confiscated, their former owners were evicted to the surrounding areas, where they received land on the basis of local law.

The new owners of the oprichnina lands were the nobles who were part of the oprichnina army. These innovations led to the redistribution of land, to the weakening of large feudal-patrimonial land ownership and the elimination of its independence from the central government. Ivan the Terrible carried out all his transformations with particular cruelty. Metropolitan Philip was killed, and the last appanage prince, Vladimir Staritsky, was poisoned. Entire cities were destroyed.

The consequences of the oprichnina were as follows. Its main goal was to destroy the remnants of feudal fragmentation and was successfully accomplished. But having eliminated fragmentation, the oprichnina bled the people dry, demoralized the people, and led to an aggravation of internal political contradictions. The ruin and terror of the oprichnina years (1565 - 1572) became one of the main reasons for the deep crisis experienced by Russia at the end of the 16th century.

• Increased social instability in the context of the dynastic crisis led the Russian state to tragic events: the appearance of impostors,
• invasion of foreign troops,
• economic decline
• impoverishment of the people
• degradation of the state.

The abolition of the oprichnina began to go back centuries, and much has already begun to be erased from the long-suffering Russian memory. This is quite unfortunate, since every story has a habit of repeating unlearned and often cruel lessons to people. This is still true today, especially with supporters of autocracy and iron dictatorship.

History of the term “oprichnina”: a brief introduction

The origin of this term dates back to the primordial Slavic word“beside” or “separately”, “outside”, “beyond”. In those days, it designated an allotment that was given to a widow after the death of her husband. He was outside the main part common property subject to division.

Under Ivan the Terrible, this name was given to territories that were confiscated from their previous owners and transferred to state use. The rest of the country was called "zemshchina". Of the common land, which belonged mostly to the boyar class, the tsar allocated a considerable share for the state, which he himself personified, calling it the “widow's share.” And at the same time he assigned himself the role of a supposedly offended and humble sovereign, who was crushed by the arbitrariness of the boyars and needed defenders.

Thus, an army of many thousands was assembled from the population of the territories transferred to the state and confiscated, that is, the “oprichnaya”. By 1572, the abolition of the oprichnina had already become inevitable and, according to the tsar’s plan, this military formation began to play the role of the national guard. She was endowed with broad powers and was intended to strengthen state power and royal power.

Cruel historical phenomenon - oprichnina

In the second half of the 16th century, a remarkable, eerie and terrible phenomenon arose in the Moscow kingdom, which began to be called oprichnina. Its essence and goal was to commit thoughtless and senseless murders for the sake of the very fact of murder. But the most immoral and terrible thing was the fact that the cruel tsar and ruler Ivan the Terrible and his guardsmen were in full confidence the rightness of their actions, while committing monstrous atrocities.

Such atrocities were also terrible because, according to the concepts of those times, they condemned to death not only the physical substance, but also the soul. During the execution, people were brutally cut into pieces, cutting off their legs, arms, heads and completely dismembering their torsos. Orthodox Church believed and preached that without a body a sinful soul would not be able to appear before Last Judgment. Thus, those killed were doomed by the “royal hand” to eternal oblivion.

After the terrible executions, the Moscow Tsar entered the names of innocent victims into the Synodik. They then served a memorial service for them and believed that such repentance would be quite sufficient for an Orthodox and exemplary Christian. Grozny created his own yu concept of monarchical autocracy. He was sure that his royal greatness was equal to God's. As a result, all subjects were deprived of the right to condemn and discuss the sovereign’s acts in any form.

Historical assessments of the oprichnina

The attitude towards the realities that characterized the reign of Ivan the Terrible, namely the oprichnina, has changed many times over the centuries. Various assessments of this phenomenon were given, ranging from the mental insanity of the cruel king (as many pre-revolutionary historians believed), and ending with positive assessments of what was happening. The essence of the latter was that it was progressive phenomenon, aimed at overcoming feudal fragmentation, centralizing power and strengthening the state.

Reasons and goals of the oprichnina

Ivan the Terrible had an exorbitant lust for power and ambition. And any confrontation caused him a storm of indignant emotions and a feeling of hatred. As a result, the Elected Rada was abolished in 1560, although it was thanks to it that the royal greatness subsequently flourished.

One thousand five hundred and fifty eighth d marked the beginning of the Livonian War. Although many of the representatives of the feudal nobility did not welcome her and openly expressed their dissatisfaction, thereby heating up passions in the highest circles of power. The tsar tried to break the discontent of the boyars, and they, in turn, did not want to show obedient kneeling, and some simply went abroad.

An example of this is the famous prince Andrey Mikhailovich Kurbsky, who left the borders of his state and received a warm welcome from the Polish king. He was granted lands in Lithuania, and the prince himself became a member of the royal council.

The tsar managed to quarrel not only with the princely nobility, but also with representatives of the clergy, thereby pitting himself against the highest bureaucracy. In this regard, one can recall Paul I, who was killed by going against the interests of high-ranking nobles. And Ivan the Terrible could well have ended in exactly the same way if he had not rallied a layer of the petty nobility around himself. That is, he managed to contrast one bureaucracy with another. This is how the oprichnina was born.

Exacerbation of the internal political crisis

One of the reasons for the creation of the oprichnina is considered to be conflict Ivan the Terrible with the Boyar Dumo th because of disagreements on public policy issues. The king did not want to listen to any objections and saw a hidden conspiracy in everything. As a result, power tightened and mass repressions began.

The conflict reached its climax in 1562, when the patrimonial rights of the boyars were limited by royal decree and they were practically equal to the local nobility. The result was the flight of the boyars from the tsarist lawlessness beyond the borders of the state. Flow of fugitives since 1560 constantly increased, thereby causing additional anger of the sovereign.

Large-scale repression

The reason for the start of a massive rampant of repressions was the defeat of Russian troops in 1564 on the Ule River during the battle with the Lithuanians. The first victims were the direct or indirect, in the opinion of the king, those responsible for the defeat.

Another reason was rumors about a forceful seizure of power, which the boyars were preparing, fearing disgrace, while gathering a considerable army in Poland and Lithuania.

This served as an incentive for the creation of the oprichnina army, as a protective measure for the tsar against a real, and often imaginary, threat. But before giving free rein to his unbridled ambitions, the tsar wanted to enlist the support of the masses, and with their tacit “consent” to begin his bloody lawlessness.

Ivan the Terrible staged a real performance for this purpose. With his family, he retired to the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, allegedly abdicating the throne and being offended by the clergy and boyars for the harm done to him. Thus, being God’s anointed one, he tried to incite the masses against his “offenders.” At the same time, he set an ultimatum that he would return provided that he was allowed to carry out reprisals and trials of everyone who angered him, receiving at the same time complete freedom actions.

Grozny achieved desired result from his idea, thereby provoking a rise in anti-boyar sentiments in the masses. As a result, the Duma was forced ask him to continue his reign by agreeing to the conditions put forward. And in 1565, the tsar adopted a corresponding decree and approved the oprichnina.

New military structure during the oprichnina

All recruits of the formed detachments from residents of the “oprichnina” districts swore allegiance to their tsar and completely broke off relations with the zemstvo. Dog heads suspended from horses' necks were distinctive signs that symbolized the readiness to seek out sedition, and brooms attached to saddles indicated the immediate removal of harmful debris.

• Vologda.
• Vyazma.
• Kozelsk.
• Suzdal.

In Moscow itself, the following streets were given to them: Arbat, Sivtsev Vrazhek, Nikitskaya, etc. And the indigenous residents of these streets were forcibly expelled from their homes and resettled to the very outskirts of the city.

Economic disruption and first discontent

Confiscation of zemstvo lands in favor of the guardsmen became a strong blow for the landowners of the large feudal nobility and undermined the country's economy. One of the reasons for the abolition of the oprichnina in 1572 was the destruction by the new landowners of the system of providing the state with food. The owners of the lands of the new elite did practically no work on their lands, as a result of which the plots were abandoned.

The Zemsky Sobor, held in 1566, where deputies submitted a petition to Ivan the Terrible to take measures against the atrocities of the guardsmen, was regarded as an assassination attempt to royal rights. As a result, the petitioners ended up behind bars.

Reasons for the abolition of the oprichnina, decomposition and demoralization of the oprichnina troops

• The decline of the king's authority. He began to be viewed as a robber and rapist, which was another reason for the abolition of the oprichnina in 1572. But this did not immediately stop the royal servants, who, having felt the taste of blood, continued their atrocities. The bloody rampage continued, but the ease of prey and impunity for crimes corrupted and completely demoralized the once strong and combat-ready army.
• The Tatar invasion of 1571 was another reason for the abolition of the oprichnina. It showed the inadequacy of the Russian oprichnina army, which only knew how to cope with the defenseless citizens of its state and had practically lost the skills of real military art.

And in next year, but without the participation of the guardsmen, the Russian princes Khvorostinin and Vorotynsky with their zemstvo army brilliantly won the battle with the Tatars at Molodi. Thus, clearly demonstrating the empty burdensomeness and worthlessness of the military-political structure of the oprichnina state.

Abolition of the oprichnina - 1572

Based on surviving documents, the abolition of the oprichnina is dated back to 1572, although it was prepared much earlier. This was preceded by an endless series of executions of especially close royal guardsmen, which took place in 1570–1571. Yesterday's were physically destroyed favorites of Ivan the Terrible, precisely those who served him as protection and support over the previous years. But the people have not yet received final liberation from the oppression of bloodthirsty power-hungers in 1952.

The final end of the oprichnina period in Rus' does not have a specific date. Because, despite the signing of the official decree of the sovereign associated with the abolition of this structure, the division of lands into oprichnina and zemstvo remained virtually until the death of the tyrant (1584).

Another series of executions followed before Ivan the Terrible appointed Tsarevich Simeon Bekbulatovich as head of the zemstvo in 1575. Among the criminals were high-ranking clergy, as well as dignitaries who took places in the royal entourage after the defeat of the oprichnina elite in 1572.

Consequences and outcome of the oprichnina

What did the oprichnina bring to the Russian people? The essence of this question quite accurately revealed by the historian of the pre-revolutionary period V.O. Klyuchevsky. He rightly noted that the persecution of imaginary sedition became the reason for the rampant oprichnina anarchy, thereby generating a true threat to the throne. And those bloody reprisals that allegedly tried to protect the sovereign from his enemies only aggravated the situation, undermining the foundations political system.

The abolition of the oprichnina and, accordingly, 1572 (the publication of the royal decree) was difficult for Russia due to military actions against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Weakened by internal tyranny, the Russian army was pushed back by the Poles. The Livonian War, which had ended by that time, also did not bring much success. Narva and Koporye found themselves under Swedish occupation and their fate was uncertain and alarming.

Actual desertion and the inaction of the oprichnina troops in 1571 during the destruction and burning of Moscow brought a very difficult atmosphere to the minds of many Russian people. This became the last and final “point” for making the decision to abolish the oprichnina.

In the middle of the sixteenth century, a deep internal political crisis arose in the Russian state. It was caused primarily by the desire that arose among the majority of boyars, princes, as well as representatives of the clergy to gain greater freedom and independence. Ivan the Terrible himself, on the contrary, sought to strengthen his autocracy.

Prerequisites

The situation was aggravated by a series of defeats of the Russian army in the Livonian War, famine in the country due to crop failures, many fires caused by the heat, and a general deterioration in the life of the people against this background. At the end of 1564, the tsar, along with his treasury, family and courtiers, unexpectedly moved to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, from where he sent a manifesto about abdication. This step was purely demonstrative, because at that time no one could imagine a country without a priest-king. In a very short time, a delegation arrived to him, begging him to return, and the nobility agreed to any punishment. In response to this, Ivan the Terrible demanded the introduction of oprichnina in the country.

Concept and goals

Oprichnina consisted in the fact that the tsar took over a part of the state under special rule, where he received the right to execute all those displeasing and disobedient to him. By his will, property and lands were taken away from the nobles and nobility, and their owners were executed or exiled. The oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible, in essence, was a state within a state. All lands that were not included in it were called “zemshchina”. The main and only goal pursued by the king was to significantly strengthen his own power. It was achieved through arbitrariness, repression and rapid change. At the same time, rights, laws and social traditions were roughly leveled. The oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible led to the fact that the state was ruled by fear and terror. At the same time, the king’s enemies, who often turned out to be imaginary, were subjected to terrible, unprecedented executions and torture.

Organization of repression

Mass pogroms and murders lasted from 1569 to 1571. Especially for their implementation, an oprichnina army was created, control over which simply did not exist, because in its actions it hid behind the name of the tsar. The oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible was particularly cruel in the northwestern and central regions countries where previously the boyars had a particularly strong position. It was not possible to completely destroy it, but it did succeed in significantly undermining its political role and power. The culmination of the terror was the actions of the punitive army against the residents of Novgorod, when, due to false information about a conspiracy being prepared here against the sovereign, about 15 thousand innocent people were brutally tortured and drowned in the local river.

Consequences

The oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible destroyed hundreds of thousands of human lives. Peasants fled en masse to the outskirts of the country. Famine began in the state. Cases of cannibalism often occurred even in Moscow. As a result of all this, the lands were devastated and the population decreased significantly. The Tsar’s external enemies could not help but take advantage of this. The campaign against Moscow of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey once again demonstrated the catastrophic consequences of the oprichnina. Only after the unification of the zemstvo and oprichnina troops were the Tatars defeated. In 1572, the word “oprichnina” was banned in the state, and it itself was abolished.

The main goal of the oprichnina was to establish absolutely unlimited power of the tsar, close in nature to eastern despotism. The meaning of these historical events is that in the middle - second half of the 16th century. Russia faces an alternative further development. The beginning of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the huge role played at that time by the Elected Rada, the reforms being carried out, the convening of the first Zemsky Sobors could lead to the formation of a softer version of development, to a limited representative monarchy. But, due to the political ideas and character of Ivan the Terrible, another option was developed: an unlimited monarchy, autocracy close to despotism.

Ivan the Terrible strove for this goal, stopping at nothing, without thinking about the consequences.

Oprichnina and Zemshchina

In December 1564, Ivan the Terrible, taking with him his family, “close” boyars, part of the clerks and nobles, as well as the entire treasury, left Moscow on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, however, after being there for a week, he went on and stayed in the village of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. From there, in January 1565, a messenger arrived in Moscow with two messages, which were announced publicly. The letter addressed to the boyars, clergy, nobles and children of the boyars said that the tsar was putting “disgrace” on all of them for their “treason,” the theft of the sovereign’s treasury and lands, and for their unwillingness to protect him from external enemies. Therefore, he decided to renounce the throne and settle “where God will guide him, the sovereign.” The second letter was addressed to merchants and townspeople, it said that he did not hold any grudge against them.

The king, of course, did not intend to abdicate the throne. He opposed the feudal lords ordinary people, presenting himself as the defender of the latter. As was calculated, the townspeople began to demand that the boyars persuade the tsar not to leave the kingdom and promised that they themselves would destroy the sovereign’s enemies. When the delegation arrived in Alexandrov Sloboda, the tsar agreed to return to the throne with the condition of establishing an “oprichnina” - giving him the right to execute “traitors” and confiscate their property at his discretion.

The term “oprichnina” was known before. This was the name of the land that the prince bequeathed to his widow in addition to the rest of the territory. Now this word has been given a new meaning. The entire territory of the Russian state was divided into two parts. The first is the oprichnina, a kind of inheritance that belongs only to the sovereign of all Rus' and is taken under his control. The second part is the rest of the land - zemshchina. The feudal lords accepted into the oprichnina constituted a special “sovereign court”, became the tsar’s personal servants, and were under his special protection. Both the oprichnina and the zemshchina had their own Boyar Duma and orders. Princes I. Belsky and I. Mstislavsky were placed at the head of the zemshchina, who were supposed to report to the tsar on military and civil affairs.

In addition, Ivan the Terrible created a special personal guard, the oprichnina. The guardsmen dressed in black and tied a dog's head and a broom-shaped hand to the saddle as a sign that they, like devoted dogs, would gnaw at treason and sweep it out of the state. No matter what the guardsmen did, people from the zemshchina could not resist in any way.

When the land was divided into the oprichnina, volosts and counties with developed feudal land tenure were taken: central, part of the western and northern. At the same time, the tsar warned that if the income from these lands was not enough, other lands and cities would be taken into the oprichnina. In Moscow, an oprichnina part was also allocated, the border ran along Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. Feudal lords who lived in the oprichnina lands and were not part of the oprichnina had to be evicted, giving them land elsewhere in the zemshchina; usually those evicted received land on the estate instead of estates. A complete resettlement from the zemshchina to the oprichnina lands did not happen, although it was quite massive.

The tsar’s reprisal against the “enemies” of him and the state began. Frequent pretexts for this were denunciations, signed and anonymous, and the denunciations were not verified. Upon denunciation, the oprichnina army was urgently sent to the estate of the person against whom the denunciation was received. Anyone suspected of treason could face anything: from relocation to another territory to murder. Property was given to the oprichniki, the land went to the oprichnina, and the informer, if he was known, was entitled to a certain percentage of the property of the person subjected to execution.

Cancellation of the oprichnina

formidable reform oprichnina

The division of the state into oprichnina and zemshchina, constant disgraces and executions weakened the state. It was dangerous, since at that time the most difficult Livonian War was going on. “Traitors” were blamed for the failures of military operations. Türkiye took advantage of the weakening of the country. Turkish and Crimean troops besieged Astrakhan in 1571, and then Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey went to Moscow. The guardsmen, who were supposed to hold the barrier on the banks of the Oka, for the most part did not show up for duty. Devlet-Girey set fire to a Moscow suburb, a fire started, and the city burned down. The Tsar fled from Moscow, first to Alexandrov Sloboda, then further to Beloozero. The following year, the khan repeated the raid, hoping to capture the king himself. But this time Ivan the Terrible united the oprichnina and zemstvo troops, placing the disgraced Prince Vorotynsky at their head. In July 1572, in a battle near the village of Molodi, 50 km. from Moscow, the army of Devlet-Girey was defeated.

In the same year, the tsar abolished the oprichnina, some of the victims were given back their lands, the word “oprichnina” was banned, but the terror did not stop, everything continued as before.

Oprichnina results

As a result of the Livonian War and the oprichnina, the land was devastated. Peasants fled to the Don and Volga, many boyars and nobles became beggars. A land census taken at the end of the century showed that approximately half of the previously cultivated land had become wasteland. It played important role V next stage enslavement of peasants.