Moscow-Novgorod war

The roots of the conflict went into the feudal war of 1425 - 1453 between two branches of the descendants of Dmitry Donskoy . Its main part was the confrontation between Vasily the Dark and Dmitry Shemyaki . After the defeat of Shemyaki in the struggle for a great reign, he was adopted in Novgorod . In 1449, Vasily the Dark concluded a peace treaty with the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV , according to which both sides pledged not to host the internal political opponents of the other side, and Lithuania refused claims to Novgorod ^[3] . In 1453, Vasily, through his people, organized the poisoning of Shemyaki in Novgorod.

The main and decisive battle of the war took place near the city of Rus . The Moscow forces almost without resistance took the city. The Novgorodians tried to recapture Rousse and, despite the initial success, suffered a brutal defeat and fled. After this, the Moscow army besieges the fortress of Demyan , and takes the towns of Molvotitsa and Sterzh ^[4] . After some time, an embassy headed by the Novgorod archbishop arrived at Vasily the Dark. Novgorod paid Moscow a large contribution - about 15 thousand rubles, but remained independent.

Despite the existence of such a democratic institution as the veche in Veliky Novgorod , not all Novgorodians were for the independence of their land and wanted to fight against Moscow . The rights of ordinary, not the richest citizens were not respected, and such a layer of the population as smerds could not be present at the veche. The gap between rich and poor was widening, and this did not add to the usual Novgorodians the desire to fight, and, in fact, for the boyars , and not for themselves.

In 1460, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilievich went with the embassy to Veliky Novgorod to negotiate with the government of Veliky Novgorod. But at the veche, the Novgorodians openly opposed the prince and even tried to kill him. Thus, a new conflict broke out. Archbishop Jonah managed to resolve it, frightening the Novgorodians with the possibility of attacking the Tatars with Muscovites in Veliky Novgorod. However, in 1463, Veliky Novgorod did not help Pskov fight off the next groups of Livonian knights . Only the Moscow army was able to repel the attack of the Livonians. Moreover, Veliky Novgorod took a hostile position towards Pskov . But again, the skilful policies of Moscow Prince Ivan III made it possible to resolve this conflict. A new conflict occurred in 1470 .

In November 1470, in response to a request from the Novgorod ambassador to Moscow, the Archbishop of Novgorod, Prince Ivan III, allowed himself to be reckless in his address to Novgorod, and this excited the boyars who announced their breakup with Moscow. Negotiations between the two sides led to nothing, and in the spring of 1471 the Grand Duke and his advisers decided to immediately begin the campaign. It was a huge risk: spring was cold, and snow could interfere with the advancement of troops. But it was impossible to procrastinate - both the Principality of Lithuania and the Golden Horde were ready to help Novgorod.

The first days of the war passed practically without fighting: Muscovites conquered the cities one after another. In late June, Volok Lamsky and Torzhok were captured. On July 14, the Battle of Shelon took place , in which the 40,000th army of Novgorod was routed by the 12,000th army of Moscow and Pskov. The outcome of the battle was predetermined by the blow of the Moscow cavalry. The unorganized army of the Novgorodians could not oppose anything to the Muscovites. Two weeks later ( July 27 ), in Zavolochye , a battle took place on the Shilenga River, in which the Moscow army, after a stubborn battle, managed to defeat the inhabitants of the Dvina land . Then peace negotiations began in Korostyn . The Novgorodians paid around 15 thousand rubles in the Korostyn world and de facto recognized their dependence on Moscow. But nevertheless, formal independence from Moscow was retained. Operation 1471 was more than successful. Novgorodians once again proved that in addition to the boyars, no one wants to speak out against Moscow in Novgorod. The fate of the Novgorod Republic was predetermined. But the final point was set seven years later.

In the spring of 1477, the next Novgorod embassy arrived in Moscow. As it turned out, it was not sent to Moscow at all, but by influential Novgorod boyars who wanted to quickly recognize the dependence of Novgorod on Moscow and, thereby, preserve their wealth and estates. In the evening, this news raised a storm. Several pro-Moscow boyars were killed, and the pro-Soviet party again came to power. But for a long time she did not hold out.

October 9, 1477, Ivan III made the last campaign against Novgorod. On November 27, the Grand Duke came close to Novgorod, but was in no hurry to storm it. The Novgorod army also did not leave the city. Since December 5, the Novgorod and Moscow delegations had long negotiations. Muscovites put forward the final demand: "I don’t have to be, I don’t have to land, and the state holds our own." The Novgorodians agreed to abandon the veche and the posadnik, but the discussion on the preservation of the estates by the boyars was delayed. In the city, famine began. Novgorod patriots fought off Muscovites and defended their city; supporters of Moscow did not participate in repelling the attacks of Muscovites. On January 4, 1478, Ivan III demanded that they give him half of the lordly and monastery volosts and all Novotorzhye volosts. Under the threat of rebellion, on January 6, 1478, the Novgorod boyars accepted these conditions, thus preserving their estates. The negotiations ended there.

On January 15, 1478, the prince and Moscow officials, accompanied by rati, entered the city without a fight. But no executions, unlike the campaign in 1471, were followed. Some boyar families were exiled to Moscow.

Four governors were appointed in Novgorod Land, and the right to conduct courts and administer the inheritance now passed to them. Veche ceased to exist, the boyar power and the power of the archbishop were liquidated. In the struggle of the boyar and princely authorities, the prince won and survived. The Novgorod Republic has fallen.

Agriculture, industry, trade in Veliky Novgorod continued to be carried out now under the rule of Moscow. This power of Moscow, however, turned out to be shaky. This is not the first time that the free spirit of Novgorod has again begun to remind of itself. The boyars, who managed to maintain their estates and freedom, did not reconcile with the patronage of Moscow and in 1483 seized power in the city again. But this time there was no war with the anti-Moscow opposition in Novgorod.

In 1484, the Grand Duke evicted the boyars from Novgorod who supported an alliance with Lithuania (the name Lubyanka for Novgorod Lubyanitsa appeared in Moscow) and eliminated the boyars, making the remaining boyars landowners, that is, serving as the prince's people. Novgorod finally stopped trying to fight Moscow for its independence.

In 1494, the Hanseatic trading yard was closed in Novgorod ^[5] .

During the oprichnina Novgorod was defeated by the tsarist troops (1569/70) (see Novgorod pogrom ).

• The struggle of Moscow with Tver

• Yu. G. Alekseev. "Sovereign of All Russia." "Science", 1991.
• N. A. Shefov. "Battles of Russia." "Moscow", 2004.