The causes and consequences of the Livonian War briefly. Livonian War (briefly)

In the 16th century, Russia needed access to the Baltic Sea. He opened trade routes and eliminated intermediaries: German merchants and Teutonic knights. But between Russia and Europe stood Livonia. And Russia lost the war with it.

Beginning of the war

Livonia, also known as Livonia, was located on the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia. Initially, this was the name given to the lands inhabited by the Livs. In the 16th century, Livonia was ruled Livonian Order- military and political organization of German Catholic knights.
In January 1558, Ivan IV began to “cut a window to Europe.” The moment was chosen well. The knighthood and clergy of Livonia were disunited, weakened by the Reformation, and the local population was tired of the Teutons.
The reason for the war was the non-payment to Moscow by the bishopric of the city of Dorpat (aka Yuryev, also known as modern Tartu) of the “Yuryev tribute” from the possessions ceded by the Russian princes.

Russian army

By the middle of the 16th century, Russia was already a powerful power. Reforms, centralization of power, and the creation of special infantry units—the Streltsy Army—played a big role. The army was armed with modern artillery: the use of a carriage made it possible to use guns in the field. There were factories for the production of gunpowder, weapons, cannons and cannonballs. New methods of taking fortresses were developed.
Before starting the war, Ivan the Terrible secured the country from raids from the east and south. Kazan and Astrakhan were taken, and a truce was concluded with Lithuania. In 1557, the war with Sweden ended in victory.

First successes

The first campaign of the Russian army of 40 thousand people took place in the winter of 1558. The main goal was to get the Livonians to voluntarily cede Narva. The Russians easily reached the Baltic. The Livonians were forced to send diplomats to Moscow and agreed to transfer Narva to Russia. But soon the Narva Vogt von Schlennenberg ordered the shelling of the Russian fortress of Ivangorod, provoking a new Russian invasion.

20 fortresses were taken, including Narva, Neishloss, Neuhaus, Kiripe and Dorpat. The Russian army came close to Revel and Riga.
On January 17, 1559, the Germans were defeated in a major battle near Tiersen, after which they again concluded a truce, again for a short time.
By the fall, the Livonian master Gotthard von Ketler had secured the support of Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and opposed the Russians. Near Dorpat, the Livonians defeated the detachment of the governor Zakhary Ochin-Pleshcheev, then began the siege of Yuryev, but the city survived. They tried to take Lais, but suffered heavy losses and retreated. The Russian counter-offensive did not occur until 1560. The troops of Ivan the Terrible occupied the strongest fortress of the knights Fellin and Marienburg.

The war drags on

Russian successes accelerated the collapse of the Teutonic Order. Revel and the cities of Northern Estonia swore allegiance to the Swedish crown. Master Ketler became a vassal of the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus. The Lithuanians occupied more than 10 cities of Livonia.

In response to Lithuanian aggression, Moscow governors invaded the territory of Lithuania and Livonia. Tarvast (Taurus) and Verpel (Polchev) were captured. Then the Lithuanians “walked” through the Smolensk and Pskov regions, after which a full-scale fighting along the entire border.
Ivan the Terrible himself led an army of 80 thousand. In January 1563, the Russians moved to Polotsk, besieged and captured it.
The decisive battle with the Lithuanians took place on the Ulla River on January 26, 1564, and thanks to the betrayal of Prince Andrei Kurbsky, it turned out to be a defeat for the Russians. The Lithuanian army went on the offensive. At the same time, the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey approached Ryazan.

Formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1569, Lithuania and Poland became a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ivan the Terrible had to make peace with the Poles and deal with relations with Sweden, where his enemy Johan III ascended the throne.
On the lands of Livonia captured by the Russians, Ivan the Terrible created a vassal kingdom under the leadership of Danish prince Magnus of Holstein.
In 1572, King Sigismund died. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was on the threshold civil war. In 1577, the Russian army invaded the Baltic states, and Russia soon gained control of the coast of the Gulf of Finland, but the victory was short-lived.
The turning point of the war occurred after the accession of Stefan Batory to the Polish throne. He suppressed the unrest in the country and, in alliance with Sweden, opposed Russia. He was supported by the Duke of Mangus, the Saxon Elector Augustus and the Elector of Brandenburg Johann Georg.

From offense to defense

On September 1, 1578, Polotsk fell, then the Smolensk region and the Seversk land were devastated. Two years later, the Poles again invaded Russia and took Velikiye Luki. Pali Narva, Ozerische, Zavolochye. The army of Prince Khilkov was defeated near Toropets. The Swedes occupied the Padis fortress in Western Estonia.

Batory invaded Russia for the third time in 1581. His goal was Pskov. However, the Russians figured out the Poles' plans. It was not possible to take the city.
In 1581 Russia was in difficult situation. In addition to the Poles, she was threatened by the Swedes and the Crimean Khan. Ivan the Terrible was forced to ask for peace on the enemy’s terms. The negotiations were mediated by Pope Gregory XIII, who hoped to strengthen the Vatican's position in the East. Negotiations took place in Yam Zapolsky and ended with the conclusion of a ten-year truce.

Results

Ivan the Terrible's attempt to open a window to Europe ended in failure.
According to the agreement, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth returned to the Russians Velikiye Luki, Zavolochye, Nevel, Kholm, Rzhev Pustya, the Pskov suburbs of Ostrov, Krasny, Voronech, Velyu, Vrev, Vladimerets, Dubkov, Vyshgorod, Vyborets, Izborsk, Opochka, Gdov, Kobylye fortification and Sebezh.
The Moscow state transferred 41 Livonian cities to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Swedes decided to finish off the Russians. In the fall of 1581, they captured Narva and Ivangorod and forced them to sign peace on their own terms. The Livonian War is over. Russia lost part of its own territories and three border fortresses. The Russians were left with only the small fortress of Oreshek on the Neva and a corridor along the river a little more than 30 kilometers long. The Baltic remained unattainable.

I decided to intensify my foreign policy in the western direction, namely in the Baltic states. The weakening Livonian Order could not provide adequate resistance, and the prospects for acquiring these territories promised a significant expansion of trade with Europe.

BEGINNING OF THE LIVONIAN WAR

In those same years, there was a truce with the Livonian land, and ambassadors came from them with a request to make peace. Our king began to remember that they had not paid tribute for fifty years, which they owed to his grandfather. The Lifoyandians did not want to pay that tribute. Because of this, the war started. Our king then sent us, three great commanders, and with us other stratilates and an army of forty thousand, not to acquire lands and cities, but to conquer all their land. We fought for a whole month and did not encounter resistance anywhere, only one city held its defense, but we took that too. We crossed their land with battles for four dozen miles and left the great city of Pskov in the land of Livonia almost unharmed, and then quite quickly reached Ivangorod, which stands on the border of their lands. We carried with us a lot of wealth, because the land there was rich and the inhabitants were very proud, they abandoned the Christian faith and the good customs of their forefathers and rushed all along the wide and spacious path leading to drunkenness and other intemperance, they became devoted to laziness and long sleep, to lawlessness and internecine bloodshed, following evil teachings and deeds. And I think that because of this God did not allow them to be at peace and for a long time own their homelands. Then they asked for a truce for six months in order to think about that tribute, but, having asked for a truce, they did not stay in it for even two months. And they violated it like this: everyone knows the German city called Narva, and the Russian one - Ivangorod; they stand on the same river, and both cities are large, Russian is especially densely populated, and on that very day when our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for the human race with his flesh and every Christian must, according to his ability, show passion, being in fasting and abstinence, the noble and proud Germans invented a new name for themselves and called themselves Evangelists; at the beginning of that day they got drunk and overeat, and began to shoot at the Russian city with all the big guns, and beat a lot of Christian people with their wives and children, shedding Christian blood on such great and holy days, and they beat incessantly for three days, and did not even stop V Christ's Resurrection, while they were in a truce approved by oaths. And the governor of Ivangorod, not daring to violate the truce without the Tsar’s knowledge, quickly sent news to Moscow. The king, having received it, gathered a council and at that council decided that since they were the first to start, we need to defend ourselves and fire our guns at their city and its surroundings. By this time, a lot of guns had been brought there from Moscow, in addition, stratilates were sent and the Novgorod army from two spots was ordered to gather to them.

IMPACT OF THE LIVONIAN WAR ON TRADE

However, more distant Western countries were ready to ignore the fears of neighbors - enemies of Russia and showed interest in Russian-European trade. The main “trade gate” to Russia for them was Narva, conquered by the Russians during the Livonian War. ( Northern route, found by the British, was their monopoly for almost two decades.) In the last third of the 16th century. Following the British, the Flemings, Dutch, Germans, French, and Spaniards flocked to Russia. For example, from the 1570s. French merchants from Rouen, Paris, and La Rochelle traded with Russia through Narva. Narva merchants who swore allegiance to Russia received various benefits from the tsar. In Narva, the most original detachment of German servicemen appeared in the service of Russia.” Ivan the Terrible hired the pirate leader Karsten Rohde and other privateers to protect the Narva estuary. All mercenary corsairs in Russian service also received licenses from Russia's ally in the Livonian War - the owner of the island of Ezel, Prince Magnus. Unfortunately for Moscow, the Livonian War went badly from the late 1570s. In 1581 the Swedes occupied Narva. The project of the Russian vassal Livonian kingdom, led by Prince Magnus, successively betrothed to two daughters of the unfortunate appanage prince Vladimir Staritsky (nieces of Ivan the Terrible), also collapsed. In this situation, the Danish king Frederick II decided to stop the passage of foreign ships carrying goods to Russia through the Danish Sound, a strait connecting the North and Baltic seas. English ships that found themselves in the Sound were arrested there, and their goods were confiscated by Danish customs.

Chernikova T.V. Europeanization of Russia in the XV-XVII centuries

WAR THROUGH THE EYES OF A CONTEMPORARY

In 1572, on December 16, the soldiers of the King of Sweden, reiters and bollards, numbering about 5,000 people, set out on a campaign, intending to besiege Overpallen. They made a long detour to Mariam, and from there to Fellin for the sake of robbery, and sent two cartauns (cannons), along with gunpowder and lead, straight along the Wittenstein road; In addition to these two guns, several more heavy guns were to arrive from Wittenstein. But during Christmas time both guns did not reach further than Nienhof, 5 miles from Revel. At the same time, the Grand Duke of Moscow for the first time personally with his two sons and with an 80,000-strong army and many guns entered Livonia, while the Swedes in Revel and Wittenstein did not have the slightest news about this, being quite sure that that there is no danger for them. All of them, both high and low origin, imagined that when the Swedish royal army marched, the Muscovite would not even dare to say a word, so the Muscovite was now powerless and not afraid. So they threw aside all caution and all reconnaissance. But when they were least careful, the Muscovite himself personally approached Wesenberg with a huge army, and the Revelians, as well as Klaus Akezen (Klas Akbzon Tott), the military commander, and all the soldiers in Overpalen still knew nothing about this. However, the Wittensteiners learned something about the movement of the Russians, but did not want to believe that they were in danger, and everyone thought that this was only a raid by some Russian detachment sent to capture the cannons at Nienhof. In this assumption, Hans Boy (Boje), the governor (commandant), sent almost all the bollards from the castle 6 miles to meet the cannons sent from Revel and so weakened the garrison of the Wittenstein castle that there were only 50 warriors left in it capable of wielding weapons, except 500 ordinary men fled to the castle. Hans Boy did not believe that the Muscovite meant not the cannons in Nienhof, but the castle of Wittenschhain. Before he had time to come to his senses, the Muscovite and his army were already at Wittenstein. Hans Boy would be happy to dispose of his bollards differently now.

Russov Balthazar. Chronicles of the province of Livonia

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND THE LIVONIAN WAR

After the Peace of Pozvol, all the real benefits of which were on the side of Poland, the Livonian Order began to disarm. The Livonians failed to take advantage of the long peace, lived in excess, spent their time in celebrations and did not seem to notice what was being prepared against them in the east, as if they wanted to see how threatening symptoms began to appear everywhere. The traditions of firmness and steadfastness of the former knights of the order were forgotten, everything was swallowed up by quarrels and the struggle of individual classes. In the event of new clashes with any of its neighbors, the order frivolously relied on the German Empire. Meanwhile, neither Maximilian I nor Charles V were able to take advantage of their position and tighten the bonds that connected the oldest German colony in the east with its metropolis: they were carried away by their dynastic, Habsburg interests. They were hostile towards Poland and were more likely to allow political rapprochement with Moscow, in which they saw an ally against Turkey.

MILITARY SERVICE DURING THE LIVONIAN WAR

The bulk of service people in the “fatherland” were city nobles and boyar children.

According to the charter of 1556, the service of nobles and boyar children began at the age of 15; before that time they were considered “underage.” To enlist the grown-up nobles and children of the boyars, or, as they were called, “noviks,” into the service, boyars and other Duma officials with clerks were periodically sent from Moscow to the cities; sometimes this matter was entrusted to local governors. Arriving in the city, the boyar had to organize elections from local service nobles and children of boyar special salary workers, with the help of which recruitment was carried out. Based on questions from those enlisted for service and instructions from salary workers, the financial status and service suitability of each new recruit were established. Salaries showed who could be in the same article with whom based on origin and property status. Then the newcomer was enlisted in the service and was assigned a local and monetary salary.

Salaries were set depending on the origin, property status and service of the newcomer. Local salaries of new workers ranged on average from 100 quarters (150 dessiatines in three fields) to 300 quarters (450 dessiatines) and cash salaries - from 4 to 7 rubles. During the service, the local and monetary salaries of new recruits increased.

The Livonian War of 1558-1583 became one of the most important campaigns of the entire 16th century, perhaps.

Livonian War: brief background

After the great Moscow Tsar managed to conquer Kazan and

Astrakhan Khanate, Ivan IV turned his attention to the Baltic lands and access to the Baltic Sea. The capture of these territories for the Muscovite kingdom would mean promising opportunities for trade in the Baltic. At the same time, it was extremely unprofitable for the German merchants and the Livonian Order, who had already settled there, to allow new competitors into the region. The Livonian War was supposed to be the resolution of these contradictions. The formal reason for it should also be briefly mentioned. They were motivated by the non-payment of tribute which the Bishopric of Dorpat was obliged to pay in favor of Moscow according to the treaty of 1554. Formally, such a tribute existed from the beginning XVI century. However, in practice, no one remembered it for a long time. Only with the aggravation of relations between the parties did he use this fact as a justification for the Russian invasion of the Baltic.

Livonian War: briefly about the vicissitudes of the conflict

Russian troops launched an invasion of Livonia in 1558. The first stage of the conflict, which lasted until 1561, ended

crushing defeat of the Livonian Order. The armies of the Moscow Tsar carried out pogroms across eastern and central Livonia. Dorpat and Riga were taken. In 1559, the parties concluded a truce for six months, which was supposed to develop into a peace treaty on the terms of the Livonian Order from Russia. But the kings of Poland and Sweden hastened to the aid of the German knights. King Sigismund II, through a diplomatic maneuver, managed to take the order under his own protectorate. And in November 1561, under the terms of the Vilna Treaty, the Livonian Order ceased to exist. Its territories are divided between Lithuania and Poland. Now Ivan the Terrible had to confront three powerful rivals at once: the Principality of Lithuania, the Kingdoms of Poland and Sweden. With the latter, however, the Moscow Tsar managed to quickly make peace for some time. In 1562-63, the second large-scale campaign to the Baltic began. Events Livonian War at this stage they continued to develop well. However, already in the mid-1560s, relations between Ivan the Terrible and the boyars of the Chosen Rada deteriorated to the limit. The situation worsens further due to the flight of one of the prince's closest associates, Andrei Kurbsky, to Lithuania and his defection to the enemy's side (the reason that prompted the boyar was the growing despotism in the Moscow principality and the infringement of the ancient liberties of the boyars). After this event, Ivan the Terrible becomes completely embittered, seeing all the traitors around him. In parallel with this, defeats occurred at the front, which the prince explained by internal enemies. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland united in single state, What

strengthens their power. In the late 1560s - early 70s, Russian troops suffered a number of defeats and even lost several fortresses. Since 1579, the war has already taken place in to a greater extent defensive character. However, in 1579 the enemy captured Polotsk, in 1580 Velikiy Luk, and in 1582 the long siege of Pskov continued. The need for peace and respite for the state after decades of military campaigns becomes obvious.

Livonian War: briefly about the consequences

The war ended with the signing of the Plyussky and Yam-Zapolsky truces, which were extremely unfavorable for Moscow. The exit was never obtained. Instead, the prince received an exhausted and devastated country that found itself in an extremely difficult situation. The consequences of the Livonian War accelerated the internal crisis that led to the Great Troubles of the early 16th century.

The events of the Livonian War are a classic example of Europe’s reluctance to let Russian state on the world political and economic arena. The confrontation between Russia and European states, which, by the way, continues to this day, did not begin suddenly. This confrontation goes back centuries and there are many reasons for it. Although the main one is competition. At first it was a spiritual competition - a struggle between shepherds christian church for the flock, and, incidentally, for the territorial possessions of this flock. So, the events of the Livonian War of the 16th century are echoes of the struggle waged between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.

The first Russian Tsar declared war on the Livonian Order in 1558. The official reason was the fact that the Livonians had already 50 years stopped paying tribute for the possession of the city of Dorpat, which they captured back in the 13th century. In addition, the Livonians did not want to allow specialists and craftsmen from German states to enter Muscovy. The military campaign began in 1558 and lasted until 1583 and was called the Livonian War in World History.

Three periods of the Livonian War

The events of the Livonian War have three periods, which occurred with varying success for Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The first period is 1558 - 1563. Russian troops carried out successful military operations, which led to the defeat of the Livonian Order in 1561. Russian troops captured the cities of Narva and Dorpat. They came close to Riga and Tallinn. The last successful operation for the Russian troops was the capture of Polotsk - this happened in 1563. The Livonian War became protracted, which was facilitated by internal problems Moscow State.

The second period in the Livonian War lasts from 1563 to 1578. Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania united against the troops of the Russian Tsar. Each pursuing its own goal in the war with Muscovy, these northern European states pursued a common goal - not to allow the Russian state to join the number of European states that lay claim to a dominant position. The Moscow state should not have returned those European territories, which belonged to her at the time Kievan Rus and were lost during internecine and feudal strife and wars of conquest. The situation in the Livonian War was complicated for the Russian troops by the economic weakness of the Moscow state, which during this period was experiencing a period of ruin. The ruin and bleeding of an already not very rich country occurred as a result of the oprichnina, which turned out to be an enemy no less bloodthirsty and cruel than the Livonian Order. A prominent Russian military leader, a member of the Chosen Rada of Ivan the Terrible, his friend and associate, thrust the knife of betrayal into the back of his sovereign, as well as into the back of his country. Kurbsky in 1563 went over to the side of King Sigismund and participated in military operations against Russian troops. He knew many of the military plans of the Russian Tsar, which he did not fail to report to his former enemies. In addition, Lithuania and Poland united in 1569 into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The third period of the Lithuanian War takes place from 1579 to 1583. This is a period of defensive battles waged by the Russians against the combined forces of the enemy. As a result, the Moscow state lost Polotsk in 1579, and Velikiye Luki in 1581. In August 1581, the Polish king Stefan Batory began the siege of the city of Pskov, in which Kurbsky also participated. The truly heroic siege lasted almost six months, but the invading troops never entered the city. The Polish king and the Russian Tsar signed the Yampol Peace Treaty in January 1582. Russian state lost not only the Baltic lands and many original Russian cities, but also did not gain access to the Baltic Sea. The main task of the Livonian War was not solved.

The Livonian War (1558-1583) for the right to own the territories and possessions of Livonia (a historical region on the territory of the modern Latvian and Estonian republics) began as a war between Russia and the Livonian knightly order, which later turned into a war between Russia, Sweden and.

The prerequisite for the war was Russian-Livonian negotiations, which ended in 1554 with the signing of a peace treaty for a period of 15 years. According to this treaty, Livonia was obliged to pay an annual tribute to the Russian Tsar for the city of Dorpat (modern Tartu, originally known as Yuriev), since it previously belonged to the Russian princes, the heirs of Ivan IV. Under the pretext of paying the Yuriev tribute later than the deadline, the tsar declared war on Livonia in January 1558.

Causes of the Livonian War

Regarding true reasons declaration of war on Livonia by Ivan IV, two possible versions are expressed. The first version was proposed in the 50s of the 19th century by the Russian historian Sergei Solovyov, who presented Ivan the Terrible as the predecessor of Peter the Great in his intentions to seize the Baltic port, thereby establishing unhindered economic (trade) relations with European countries. Until 1991, this version remained the main one in Russian and Soviet historiography, and some Swedish and Danish scientists also agreed with it.

However, since the 60s of the 20th century, the assumption that Ivan IV was motivated solely by economic (trade) interests in the Livonian War has been severely criticized. Critics pointed out that when justifying military actions in Livonia, the tsar never referred to the need for unimpeded trade relations with Europe. Instead, he spoke of heritage rights, calling Livonia his fiefdom. An alternative explanation, proposed by the German historian Norbert Angermann (1972) and supported by the scholar Erik Tiberg (1984) and some Russian scholars in the 1990s, notably Filyushkin (2001), emphasizes the Tsar's desire to expand his spheres of influence and consolidate his power.

Most likely, Ivan IV started the war without any strategic plans. He simply wanted to punish the Livonians and force them to pay tribute and fulfill all the terms of the peace treaty. Initial success encouraged the Tsar that he could conquer the entire territory of Livonia, but here his interests collided with those of Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, turning a local conflict into a long and grueling war between the greatest powers of the Baltic region.

Main periods of the Livonian War

As hostilities developed, Ivan IV changed allies, and the picture of military operations also changed. Thus, four main periods can be distinguished in the Livonian War.

1. From 1558 to 1561 - the period of initial successful Russian operations in Livonia;
2. 1560s - a period of confrontation with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and peaceful relations with Sweden;
3. From 1570 to 1577 - the last attempts of Ivan IV to conquer Livonia;
4. From 1578 to 1582 - attacks by Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, forcing Ivan IV to liberate the Livonian lands he had seized and move on to peace negotiations.

The first victories of the Russian army

In 1558, the Russian army, without encountering serious resistance from the Livonian army, took an important port located on the Narva River on May 11th, and then conquered the city of Dorpat on July 19th. After a long truce, which lasted from March to November 1559, in 1560 the Russian army made another attempt to attack Livonia. On August 2, the main army of the Order was defeated near Ermes (modern Ergeme), and on August 30, the Russian army led by Prince Andrei Kurbsky took Fellin Castle (modern Viljandi Castle).

When the fall of the weakened Livonian Order became obvious, knightly society and Livonian cities began to seek support from the Baltic countries - the Principality of Lithuania, Denmark and Sweden. In 1561, the country was divided: the last Landmaster of the Order, Gotthard Ketler, became a subject of Sigismund II Augustus, the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania over the destroyed Order. At the same time, the northern part of Livonia, including the city of Reval (modern Tallinn), was occupied by Swedish troops. Sigismund II was the main rival of Ivan IV in the Livonian War, therefore, trying to unite with King Eric XIV of Sweden, the Tsar declared war on the Principality of Lithuania in 1562. A huge Russian army, led by the Tsar himself, began the siege of Polotsk, a city on eastern border Principality of Lithuania, and captured it on February 15, 1563. In the next few years, the Lithuanian army was able to take revenge, winning two battles in 1564 and capturing two minor fortresses in 1568, but it failed to achieve decisive successes in the war.

Turning point: victories give way to defeat

By the early 70s of the 16th century, the international situation had changed again: a coup d'etat in Sweden (Eric XIV was deposed by his brother John III) put an end to the Russian-Swedish alliance; Poland and Lithuania, which united in 1569 to form the state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, on the contrary, adhered to a peaceful policy due to the illness of King Sigismund II Augustus, who died in 1579, and the periods of interregnum (1572-1573, 1574-1575).

Due to these circumstances, Ivan IV tried to oust the Swedish army from the territory of northern Livonia: the Russian army and the tsar’s subject, the Danish prince Magnus (brother of Frederick II, king of Denmark), carried out a siege of the city of Rewal for 30 weeks (from August 21, 1570 to March 16, 1571), but in vain.

The alliance with the Danish king showed its complete failure, and the raids of the Crimean Tatars, such as, for example, the burning of Moscow by Khan Davlet I Giray on May 24, 1571, forced the king to postpone military operations in Livonia for several years.

In 1577, Ivan IV made his last attempt to conquer Livonia. Russian troops occupied the entire territory of the country with the exception of the cities of Reval and Riga. The following year the war reached its final stage, fatal for Rus' in the Livonian War.

Defeat of Russian troops

In 1578, Russian troops were defeated by the joint efforts of the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden near the Wenden fortress (modern Cesis fortress), after which the royal subject, Prince Magnus, joined the Polish army. In 1579, the Polish king Stefan Batory, a talented general, besieged Polotsk again; the following year he invaded Rus' and ravaged the Pskov region, capturing the fortresses of Velizh and Usvyat and subjecting Velikiye Luki to destructive fire. During the third campaign against Rus' in August 1581, Batory began the siege of Pskov; The garrison under the leadership of the Russian prince Ivan Shuisky repelled 31 attacks.

At the same time, Swedish troops captured Narva. On January 15, 1582, Ivan IV signed the Treaty of Yam-Zapolsky near the town of Zapolsky Yam, which ended the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ivan IV renounced the territories in Livonia, Polotsk and Velizh (Velikiye Luki were returned to the Russian kingdom). In 1583, a peace treaty was signed with Sweden, according to which the Russian cities of Yam, Ivangorod and Koporye were transferred to the Swedes.

Results of the Livonian War

The defeat in the Livonian War was devastating for foreign policy Ivan IV, it weakened the position of Rus' in front of its western and northern neighbors, the war had a detrimental effect on the northwestern regions of the country.