Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible 1530 - 1584

Ivan the Terrible was actually Ivan IV, or Ivan Vasilyevich. If you are Russian, you will probably call him Ivan Grozny, which means Ivan the Terrible.

When Ivan was 16 years old, he became the first czar of Russia (1547-1584.)

Despite his cruelty, Ivan the Terrible improved Russia's governmental administration and contributed to the nation's culture.

Ivan was also a skillful writer with a talent for biting sarcasm. He was eager to maintain political relations with Europe and was a devout adherent of the Orthodox Church.

Because of its Orthodox religion, after Constantinople, Moscow became the Third Rome. Its ruler was referred to as czar (from the word caesar).

Ivan suspected conspiracies everywhere and eventually announced he would abdicate because of the lack of loyalty around him. He was only willing to continue to rule under two conditions:

First, he would be allowed to deal with alleged deserters at his discretion.

Second, he would be permitted to possess pieces of land throughout Russia that were exclusively under his control.

These terms were accepted, and Ivan launched his reign of terror. He hired a large personal army, the oprichniki, and all potential traitors were cruelly executed. Ivan retreated and left the daily duties to his dubious executives.

This infamous corps of bodyguards was finally dissolved after the Tartars sacked Moscow in 1571.

 Ivan's Military Campaigns

The Livonian War (1558 - 1583) was provoked by Ivan who desired to possess Livonia (modern Estonia and Latvia) with its access to the Baltic Sea.

Russia fought Lithuania, Poland and Sweden but was defeated. It had to refrain from all claims on Livonian territories. The financing of this lengthy war seriously strained Russia's economy.

The Tartars

The Tartars were a constant threat to Russia. Ivan captured their city Kazan in 1552 and later Astrakhan in 1556.

St. Basil's Cathedral is an architectural masterpiece with nine towers builton Red Square.

It was completed in 1561 to honor military victories over the Tatars. Tradition says that Ivan had the architects blinded so that they could never again design a building so beautiful.

However, when Ivan was distracted by the Livonian War, the Tartars came back with a vengeance and burned Moscow to the ground, decimating the number of inhabitants from 200,000 to 30,000. The year? 1571.