The age of the czars was what many
consider the golden age of Russia.
With great leaders like Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and the Romanov
Dynasty, “Mother Russia” grew and expanded by leaps and bounds under these
great leaders. But how did this period of prosperity get started? This essay
will look at the beginnings of the Romanov Dynasty, with Michael Romanov, and
the beginnings of czardom itself with Ivan IV. What are the similarities
between these two leaders, and what did they do right? Or perhaps more
importantly, what did they do wrong, and did they learn from their mistakes?
Ivan Vasilyevich IV, son of Ivan III or
Ivan the Great, was the first Russian ruler to claim the title “czar” – meaning
“cesar” – after breaking completely out from the Mongol horde and marrying into
the Byzantine Empire. He grew up without really having parents, as his father
and mother died when he was 3 and 7, respectively. Because of this, his
childhood was a brutal place, and he grew up with a proverbial chip on his
shoulder, especially towards the aristocracy of the day, who manipulated the
young Ivan and used his power to their own ends. Because of this hatred, he
single-handedly brought down the various aristocrats that used him, throwing
them to the dogs – literally, in fact. After he solidified his power, he
assumed the moniker of Czar, something his father and grandfather coveted, but
never claimed. That same year, he married a beautiful Anastasia
Zakharina-Koshkina, heiress of the ancient but noble family known as the
Romanovs.
Ivan surrounded himself with men solely
focused on the future of Russia,
and completely loyal to him. These men, true and the best of the Muscovites,
played crucial roles throughout Ivan’s reign, and in what many consider the
greatest achievement of his reign, the capture of Kazan. Even though the siege of the last
Mongol stronghold in Russia was long and costly, but the ironclad will of Ivan
the Terrible held his army together for six weeks, and finally broke the back
of the Tatars, and the fortress was finally taken with one final assault. Ivan
was a great tactician, and when he was urged to pursue the Mongols and crush
the Crimean khanate as he had done with Kazan
and Astrakhan’s khanates, he chose to wait,
realizing the sheer impossibility of this, considering the distance to the
khanate, and the forces of the Grand Turk
guarding it. (Smith, 2011) Instead, he turned to making Russia the envy of Europe,
by promoting the migration of craftsmen, artisans, and other various guildsmen
into the blossoming land of the Muscovites.
However, this was also the beginning of
his downfall, as he became increasingly paranoid and fearful of even his
closest advisors. After the death of his wife and several other close family
members died, a hatred grew in Ivan that gave him fits of terrible rage,
culminating eventually in the slaying of his daughter-in-law and unborn
grandson, and then his own flesh-and-blood son. He exiled his advisors and
friends, and let doubt & fear gnaw at him until the day he died.
The next czar this paper will cover is
Czar Michael, or Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov, first of the Romanov family. This
distant descendent of Ivan the Terrible’s wife, Czar Mikhail was the first to formally
use the surname Romanov, and was the first Czar to be chosen by a vote. He was
elected unanimously, and after locating the young new Czar and his mother at a
monastery – and convincing her that her adolescent son was fit to rule in Moscow – Mikhail set about to restore the Muscovy and rid
the capitol of Russia
from the thieves and invaders that had take up residence there. But it wasn’t
all strong-arming his enemies into submission: using diplomacy, Mikhail managed
to have both Sweden and Poland remove
their troops by the Peace of Stolbova and the Truce of Deulina. (“Tsar
Michael,” 2012) The Truce, signed with Poland,
also allowed Mikhail’s father to be returned to Russia from exile, where he assumed
the role of Czar for the few years before his death. Noted as gentle (for a
Russian), and quite pious ruler, he – like his ancestor Ivan IV – relied
heavily on his advisors, whom he hand-selected and were honest and very capable
men. Russia had a surprising
time of peace under Mikhail, with the only the only true blemish on his reign
was his failure to marry his daughter to the prince of Denmark.
These two czars, both of them pioneers of
their time, were so very similar, yet extremely different. Both started their rule
from a young age, and both had victories that drove foreigners out of the
Motherland. However, it is the latter half of their reigns that these two
patriarchs differ: Ivan allowed his past to consume him, and drive him to
madness, ultimately destroying his family line, whereas Mikhail learned from
his childhood in hiding, and became a better and stronger ruler because of it.
He may not be as remembered or even celebrated as Ivan the Terrible, but in
this writer’s opinion, Czar Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov was the ideal leader of
the Muscovy of Russia.
References
Smith,
Maria. (2011). Ivan the Terrible. NNDB (Notable Names Database).
Retrieved 4 February 2012 from http://www.nndb.com/people/933/000092657/
(2012). Tsar Michael. NNDB (Notable Names Database).
Retrieved 5 February 2012 from http://www.nndb.com/people/594/000107273
(2001). Ivan IV "The Terrible".
Russian Information Network. Retrieved from
http://russia.rin.ru/guides_e/3117.html
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