In the history of Russia there were several periods when the state was on the verge of a serious political crisis and even fell into a state of civil war. An example of such a situation is the period called the Time of Troubles.
The period from 1598 to 1613, when the Muscovite state found itself in the center of the struggle for the throne, uprisings and foreign intervention, is considered to be a time of troubles in Russian historiography.
The main reason for the Time of Troubles was the dynastic crisis. Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible had three sons who survived infancy. The eldest son Ivan, who was supposed to be the heir, died as a result of a conflict with his father. The heir was the middle son Fedor. Subsequently, he was a rather weak ruler. In many ways, the real power was in the hands of the boyar Boris Godunov, the brother of the wife of the ruler, Irina. Fedor was in poor health and died in 1598. He left no heirs, and the Rurik dynasty on the throne was interrupted. Although there were several boyar and princely families in the Muscovite state, leading the male lineage from Rurik, as a result of intrigue, Boris Godunov inherited power, whose family was significantly inferior in childbirth and had no kinship with the ruling house. This predetermined the precarious position of Godunov on the throne, despite all his state talents.
The third son of Tsar Ivan, Dmitry, died in 1591 under dubious circumstances. Until now, historians cannot agree on whether he died from an accident or was killed by Godunov. But his personality was later used by the adventurer Grigory Otrepiev, who declared himself a miracle to save the prince. He managed to find support from the Polish king, a longtime enemy of the Moscow tsars in the war for territory. An impostor with a Polish army captured a number of lands and reached Moscow. Tsar Boris Godunov died before the invader arrived in Moscow, and his son, who was to inherit the throne, was captured and killed. The ruler was Otrepyev, who in historical literature received the name of False Dmitry I.
However, the reign of the new king did not last long. Its proximity to foreigners caused discontent among the population and parts of the boyars. As a result of the conspiracy, he was captured and executed in May 1606.
Vasily Shuisky was elected ruler, but he could no longer hold power over the whole country. A new impostor appeared - False Dmitry II, otherwise called the Tushino Thief. Along with it, unrest in the state grew due to peasant uprisings. Polish and Tatar troops ravaged separate areas of the country in the south and west. By 1610, Tsar Vasily Shuisky finally demonstrated his inability to control the whole country, and as a result he was deposed. His place was taken by a council of seven boyars who ruled the state.
However, a key decision was not made - who will be the king. The post of ruler was offered to the Polish prince Wladyslaw, but part of the ruling Moscow elite opposed this. To free the country from the Poles, a popular militia was convened, led by Kuzma Minin and Prince Pozharsky.
After ousting the Poles from the main territory of the Moscow state, the Zemsky Sobor was created. The Time of Troubles ended with the reign of Mikhail Romanov, who was elected at this cathedral in 1613.
The result of the Time of Troubles for the Russian state was economic ruin and the loss of part of the western territories. The full recovery of the country after such a large-scale crisis took several decades.
