Russian-Polish war (1609-1618)

In October 1604, the army of False Dmitry I invaded from the territory of Rech into the borders of Russia. False Dmitry posing as the Moscow Tsarevich, and a large part of his troops were Cossacks . Only the Polish magnates Mnisheki supported the impostor. False Dmitry was obliged not to the regular Polish army for success, but to the unpopularity of the Russian Tsar Boris Godunov . In May, after the death of Boris Godunov, Dmitry swore an army standing near Kromy . He sent him to Moscow, headed by Prince Vasily Golitsin , and he went to Tula . After making sure of the support of the nobles and the people, he moved to the capital. On June 1, 1605, as a result of the coup, Fedor Borisovich Godunov was overthrown. He was killed on June 10, and 10 days later Dmitry triumphantly entered the Kremlin . On July 18, False Dmitry recognized Tsarina Maria - the wife of Ivan the Terrible and the mother of Tsarevich Dmitry. July 30 was the wedding to the kingdom . Less than a year later, on May 17, 1606, False Dmitry was killed as a result of the coup , and the Poles who were with him in Moscow were partly killed, partly taken into custody and sent to the cities. Vasily Shuisky became the king, whose legitimacy , however, did not recognize a significant number of people who were expecting the new advent of the “true king”.

In 1607, a new impostor, False Dmitry II , appeared in Starodub , posing as the miracle of the second time Tsar Dmitry escaped. A significant number of Polish Rokoshans immediately confronted him - Confederate rebels who lost the uprising they had launched against Sigismund III ( Rokos Zebrzydowski ). The most prominent of them were Prince Roman Rozhinsky , who actually became the commander of the impostor’s troops, Alexander Lisovsky , Adam Vishnevetsky ; then the usvyatsky headman Jan Pyotr Sapieha joined them, during the Rokos fight on the side of the king. The Don Cossacks were led by the Galician Ivan Zarutsky . The impostor moved north, from April 30 to May 1, 1608 he defeated Shuisky’s troops near Bolkhov and besieged Moscow, setting up his camp near Tushin (see Tushinsky camp ), from which he received the nickname Tushinsky thief.

Shuisky tried to resolve the situation by concluding a peace treaty with Sigismund (July 26), according to which he released all the Poles captured after the events of May; Sigismund, in turn, undertook to withdraw his subjects from Tushin (which he could not do). The Poles were released, and among them was Marina Mnishek , who was taken to the Tushino camp and immediately “recognized” her impostor as her husband. A significant part of Russia fell under the control of the Tushins; famine began in besieged Moscow. In such a situation, Shuisky called for help against the Poles of the Swedes - on February 28, 1609, his nephew Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky concluded a treaty in Vyborg , according to which the Swedes pledged to send an army against the Impostor, and Shuisky - to give the Swedes Korel uyezd , to conclude an alliance with them against Poland and help the Swedes in winning back from the Poles of Livonia . The Russian-Swedish army of Skopin-Shuisky inflicted a number of defeats on the Tushins, liberating the north-west and north of Russia from them.

For his part, Sigismund III advanced the Russian-Swedish union directed against him as a casus belli, and in September 1609 , hoping to take control of Russia mired in trouble, he besieged Smolensk , in which voivode Shein with a 4,000-strong garrison defended himself. The invasion of Sigismund and his demand for the Tushino Poles to leave the impostor and go to the aid of the king caused a crisis in the Tushino camp. The Tushino Poles, who at first accepted Sigismund’s demand, were extremely hostile and even demanded that the king leave Russia, which they already considered their own, in the end, for the most part, decided to unite with the king. The impostor fled to Kaluga , where Cossacks, Tatars, and even part of the Poles joined him. The rest, headed by Rozhinsky, went to Volokolamsk , burning Tushino . The Tushino Russians, led by Mikhail Saltykov, in a hopeless situation, in turn put forward the idea of ​​calling to the kingdom the son of Sigismund, the Polish prince Vladislav Zhigimontovich , who was then 15 years old, subject to his baptism in the Orthodox faith - which was achieved agreement with Sigismund near Smolensk.

Meanwhile, the Russian-Swedish army of Skopin-Shuisky solemnly entered Moscow, preparing to move to the rescue of Smolensk; but the young commander died unexpectedly, and the king’s mediocre brother, Dmitry Shuisky, was put at the head of the army. Speaking to Smolensk, he was attacked and defeated at the village of Klushino by the Polish formations of the full hetman of the crown Zholkevsky, mainly due to the betrayal of hired Swedes Delagardi , whom he refused to pay a salary , and the bad leadership of the poorly trained militia ( July 4, 1610 ).

After that, Stanislav Zholkevsky moved to Moscow, where the indignant people, led by Zakhary Lyapunov, overthrew and imprisoned him in the Shuisky monastery, after which the city began to rule the so-called Semiboyarschina . In fact, her power did not extend beyond Moscow: in the west of Moscow, in Khoroshev , the Poles headed by Zholkevsky stood up, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye , False Dmitry II returned from Kaluga, with whom the Polish detachment Sapega was with. False Dmitry boyars were especially afraid, because he had many supporters in Moscow and was at least more popular than them.

As a result, it was decided to come to an agreement with the Poles and invite the Polish prince Vladislav to the throne on the conditions of his transition to Orthodoxy, as already agreed between Sigismund and the Tushino delegation. On August 17 (27), 1610, an agreement was signed between the boyars and the hetman Zholkevsky, and Moscow kissed the cross of Vladislav, and an embassy headed by Prince Vasily Golitsyn was sent to the king near Smolensk to work out the conditions for the accession of Vladislav and a peace treaty with Poland. However, fearing the Pretender, the boyars went on and let the Poles into the Kremlin on the night of September 21.

However, almost all cities, as soon as they heard that they had sworn allegiance to Korolevich in Moscow, swore with zeal the same way as in the capital, namely: Novgorod the Great , Charanda , Ustyug , Pereyaslavl Ryazansky , Yaroslavl , Vologda , Belo-ozero (Belozersk) , The Silean cities (castles), and all that route to the Arkhangelsk port and to the Arctic Sea, also the entire Ryazan land to Nizhny Novgorod , located at the junction of the Volga and Oka rivers, also the cities that held the side of the deceiver, Kolomna , Tula , Serpukhov and all others except of Pskov , who hesitated and nekot ryh Seversky cities that are more priznavli deceiver of the King, and they were very anxious to Zaporozhye Cossacks. From Kazan and Astrakhan , due to remoteness, there was still no news of whether they were satisfied with this act. But in all other close areas, as mentioned above, from the Great Onions , from Toropets and other cities were very pleased that they, as they said, the Lord God gave the sovereign Korolevich Vladislav.

- The manuscript of Zholkevsky

Smolensk was also taken , after a 1.5-year siege, as a result of the defector's betrayal, which indicated the enemy a weak spot in the wall. The embassy, ​​which failed to agree on anything (since Sigismund did not want to either let his son go to Moscow or refuse Smolensk), was eventually arrested by the king. In fact, the Poles began to rule Russia under the right of the conquerors, and Sigismund sent troops to occupy the cities. In such a situation, a movement began to expel the Poles, uniting both former "Tushins" and former supporters of Shuisky.

In early August, Zholkevsky camped from the west of Moscow. At the request of the king, in order to maintain order in the capital until the arrival of Prince Vladislav in Moscow, in October-November 1610 he sent his troops into Moscow without a fight . A few months later, Zholkevsky left for Smolensk. Alexander Gonsevsky was left at the head of the Moscow garrison.

In 1611 , the First Militia was formed, with a core of Tushino Cossacks and Ryazan nobles, led by Dmitry Trubetskoy , Ivan Zarutsky and Prokop Lyapunov . It moved towards Moscow, where, in turn, an uprising broke out , in which Prince Dmitry Pozharsky played an important role. The rebellion was crushed; Soon after this, the militia took Kitay Gorod , but the internal discord between the Cossacks and the nobles, which ended in the murder of Lyapunov, led to the flight of the nobles and the actual disintegration of the militia.

In this situation, in Nizhny Novgorod, the Second Militia is formed , headed by Pozharsky. In August, it appeared near the walls of Moscow, where the Cossacks of Trubetskoy and Zarutsky still stood. On August 22 and 24, 1612, Polish reinforcements were defeated , marching towards Moscow under the command of the great Lithuanian hetman Khodkevich , who was forced to retreat along the Smolensk road. The consequence of the victory of Pozharsky was the surrender of the Poles who were in the Kremlin.

The campaign to Smolensk, by decision of the Zemsky Cathedral , was the first military operation of the revived Russian army at the final stage of the war. The army assembled for the campaign in Smolensk in mid-1613 on the list totaled 12,250 people. Russian troops occupied Vyazma (July 7, 1613) and Dorogobuzh without a fight. The capture of Belaya , which represented a truly important outpost at the Lithuanian border, was a great success. The prospect of a difficult siege, the appearance of a large Russian army and generous promises, forced the mercenaries to surrender the city, and they did so, despite the active resistance of the Lithuanian garrison. After these successes, the army approached the main goal of its campaign - Smolensk. The Russian governors had high hopes for the surrender of the city, like Belaya. The fact that the bet was placed on surrender, and not an assault on the fortress, is also indicated by the actions of the Russian army. Over the entire period of the siege, no attempt was made to assault or undermine; powerful and numerous Russian siege artillery was not sent at all to Smolensk. The actions of the siege army were limited to the construction of fortified prison camps and the construction of notches on all roads leading to Lithuania.

In mid-1614, successes were replaced by failures. Several defeats in minor skirmishes did not lead to the withdrawal of the Russian troops, but soon the Lithuanians managed to break through the blockade and transfer reinforcements and supplies to Smolensk. The chance to quickly return Smolensk was lost and a long siege of the city began. Poles and Lithuanians at first could not take active action against the siege army. In 1615 in the Smolensk region, small skirmishes continued, interspersed with negotiations. Despite private successes, in general, the siege yielded no results. The Lithuanian detachments managed to break into the fortress twice and carry out convoys twice more. The position of the besieging army was rather difficult.

In the second half of 1616, the Lithuanians, in turn, began more active actions. The elder of elders, Alexander Gonsevsky, having gathered cash, crossed the Russian border and camped not far from Smolensk. In November, Gonsevsky’s detachment (up to 2000 people) maneuvered and camped between Dorogobuzh and Smolensk, in the village of Tverdilitsy, thereby interrupting the supply of the siege army along the Great Moscow Road. Для борьбы с литовцами в январе 1617 года начала снаряжаться новая армия во главе с князем Юрием Сулешевым и стольником Семеном Прозоровским . Однако воеводы вновь мешкали, не нападая на явно уступающее им войско Гонсевского. В мае 1617 года, в связи подходом на помощь Гонсевскому «лисовчиков» во главе с новым полковником Станиславом Чаплинским , русское осадное войско было вынуждено покинуть осадные острожки под Смоленском.

В 1615 году польско-литовская лёгкая кавалерия под командованием пана Лисовского совершила поход в глубь территории России, описав большую петлю вокруг Москвы, после чего вернулась в земли Речи Посполитой. Всего в рейде участвовало до 1 200 — 2 000 ^[3] человек. В ходе рейда произошёл орловский бой , где против отрядов интервентов под Орлом вступили в схватку дружины второго народного ополчения под предводительством князя Пожарского .

В конце 1616 года король Сигизмунд III принял решение ещё раз попытаться захватить Москву. Поход был представлен как выступление законного царя Владислава Вазы против « узурпатора » Романова . В походе должны были принять участие коронные войска во главе с Владиславом (6000 чел.) и литовские под командованием великого гетмана Яна Кароля Ходкевича (6 500 чел). Первыми выступили литовские войска, и уже в мае 1617 года русское осадное войско было вынуждено покинуть острожки под Смоленском и отойти по направлению к Белой . Владислав выступил из Варшавы 5 апреля 1617 года, но только в сентябре 1617 года прибыл в Смоленск. 1 (11) октября воевода Дорогобужа Иванис Ададуров перешёл на сторону Владислава. Весть о сдаче города привела к настоящей панике в русском войске под Вязьмой , и 8 (18) октября крепость была без боя занята интервентами.

Однако на этом быстрые успехи завершились. Зимой 1617—1618 гг. русское правительство стянуло на западное направление почти все наличные силы под командованием воевод Бориса Лыкова , Дмитрия Черкасского и Дмитрия Пожарского (16 500 чел.). Несмотря на то, что благодаря подкреплениям войско Владислава и Ходкевича выросло до 18 000 чел., в районе Можайска ему было оказано серьёзное сопротивление. Можайское сражение продолжалось всё лето 1618 года. Несмотря на то, что русским войскам в итоге пришлось отступить, польско-литовское войско потеряло время и было сильно ослаблено из-за того, что шляхта массово покидала лагерь по причине неуплаты жалованья. В итоге к Москве подошло лишь около 8 000 чел.

Одной из причин отступления русских войск стало вторжение запорожских казаков во главе с гетманом Петром Сагайдачным . Казаки, воспользовавшись отсутствием крупных правительственных сил, легко продвинулись с юго-запада к Москве, по пути захватив Ливны , Елец и ряд небольших крепостей. В конце сентября польско-литовское и запорожское войско встретились у стен Москвы. Не имея времени на длительную осаду, Ходкевич 1 октября 1618 года предпринял штурм Москвы, который был отбит. После неудачи поляки и литовцы разместились в районе Троице-Сергиевой лавры , а казаки в районе Калуги . Не имея возможности изгнать врагов со своей территории, русское правительство пошло на заключение невыгодного Деулинского перемирия на 14,5 лет, по которому Речи Посполитой были уступлены Смоленская , Черниговская и Северская области .

• Н. М. Карамзин. История государства Российского
• S. M. Soloviev. History of Russia since ancient times
• Joseph Wake. Diary of events related to the Time of Troubles. Part 1
• Joseph Wake. Diary of events related to the Time of Troubles. Part 2 .
• Joseph Wake. Diary of events related to the Time of Troubles. Part 3 .
• Letters and diaries of Marina Mnishek
• The Time of Troubles in Russia. The Invasion of False Dmitry I (according to R.I. Skrynnikov)
• The Time of Troubles in Russia. The siege of Moscow by False Dmitry II. Polish invasion . (according to R.I. Skrynnikov)
• The Time of Troubles in Russia. The collapse of the Tushino camp. Skopin's death (according to R.I. Skrynnikov)
• The agreement of August 17, 1610 between the Seven Boyars and the Hetman Zholkevsky on the recognition of Prince Vladislav the Russian Tsar
• Description of the penny of Tsar Vladislav Zhigimontovich
• [1] [2] Manuscript of Zholkevsky
• Map of the Time of Troubles