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[[File: Hw-ivan4.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Ivan IV from a contemporary print]]
==Background==
Russia had been conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century and for many years they imposed a tribute system on the Russian princes. The Golden Horde as the Mongols were known dominated, Russia from their bases in Crimea and in the South of Russia. These years changed Russia and its culture. By the 15th century, the Khanate of the Golden Horde had broken up after a massive defeat by Tamerlane. However, the successor states of the Golden Horde dominated much of modern Russia. The weakening of the Mongols allowed the state of Moscow to emerge. Under a succession of Grand Princes the State of Muscovy, members of the Rurik Dynasty had been able to expand mostly at the expense of the descendants of the Mongols, the Tartars<ref> Madariaga, Isabel de. Ivan the Terrible. First Tsar of Russia. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2005), p. 56. The state of Muscovy, centered on Moscow was in a precarious strategic position it was bordered by Tartars Khanates to the south and east. To the west was the huge kingdom of Poland-Lithuania. However, the State of Muscovy was able to command a large territory that was rich in resources and a large army. Under successive able Grand Princes’ it had dominates the other Russian princedoms and city-states such as Novgorod. However, many of these princes only were technically part of the state of Muscovy and the hereditary nobility often opposed the will of the Grand Princes and even intrigued with his many enemies. It was widely believed that the nobles or Boyars poisoned Ivan’s father and his mother the queen regent. The only national institution in the Russian lands was the Orthodox Church. At the time of Ivan’s birth, Muscovy was a sprawling but fragmented entity that covered large areas of central Russia<ref> Madariaga, p. 14</ref>.
==The reign of Ivan the Terrible==
The early life of Ivan was harsh. The regency was passed among the feuding nobility and the young boy and his brother often went hungry they were so neglected. It was at this time that Ivan developed a hatred for the nobility. At the age of sixteen, he was crowned and he took the title Tsar of all the Russia’s. This claim at the time was ludicrous as Ivan and Moscow were very weak. Ivan despite his youth proved to be a capable administrator. He rebuilt Moscow after a fire. He introduced the first parliament, found a standing army, known as the Streltzi, reformed the Church and stamped out many clerical abuses<ref> Madariaga, p. 23</ref>. Ivan was also a modernizer and he introduced the printing press into Russia. However, he was concerned about the mobility of the peasantry and was the first to introduce a series of regulations that limited their freedoms and tied them to the lands. Ivan also introduced a measure of self-government into lands that had been recently colonized by peasants to encourage colonization of virgin territories. Ivan also sought to develop trade links with western Europe and in order to win allies in the west he once proposed to Elizabeth I. The first years of Ivan’s reign were marked by reforms and peace. However, this was to change and many have even claimed that this was a result of some undiagnosed mental health issues. More likely the drastic change in Ivan’s policies was due to external and internal threats. In the 1560s, Russia was involved in several wars and a drought caused widespread famine. There were rumors of revolt and conspiracies. Ivan decided that he needed to strengthen his position, especially against the Boyars. He found the Oprichnina a military and a police force that was soon given free reign against Ivan’s many real and imagined enemies. There were several waves of persecution launched by the Oprichnina. This involved mass arrests and executions mainly of Boyars and their supporters. The Oprichnina greatly extend the hold of Ivan over the hereditary nobility but its members increasingly enriched themselves and became a ‘state within a state’. Later Ivan disbanded the force in 1572. The Tsar became increasingly paranoid, especially after the death of his beloved wife and he suspected the city of Novgorod was going to betray him<ref>Bobrick, Benson. Ivan the Terrible. (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 1990), p. 156</ref>. He attacked the city and had it sacked in an orgy of bloodshed and brutality that lasted weeks. Soon Ivan IV had earned the name ‘The Terrible’. The Tsar throughout much of his reign was engaged in wars with the various Khanates to the south and the east. In a series of wars he conquered of forced the submission of three Muslim Khanates. He not only vastly increased the extent of the territory of Muscovy he also turned it into a multi-faith and a multi-ethnic state. In effect Ivan IV had founded a new Russian Empire. Despite being a devout Orthodox Christian Ivan pursued a policy of toleration towards his many Muslim subjects. For many years Ivan was involved in a brutal war to the west, this was the Livonian War<ref> Bobrick, p. 114</ref>. It was an attempt by Russia to expand to the Baltic Sea and this involved it in a series of wars with Sweden, Denmark and Poland among others. The war was inconclusive. During Ivan's reign, Russia started the exploration and colonization of Siberia. In 1555, shortly after the conquest of Kazan, the Tartar Khan in western Siberia pledged allegiance to Ivan. He failed to pay tribute and Ivan engineered his downfall. This left a power vacuum in the region and the Tsar instead of establishing another tributary state in Siberia, decided that he would rule it directly. In 1558 Ivan gave the Stroganov merchant family the patent for colonising an area east of the Urals. They built many forts and later hired Cossacks to protect their lands. The Tartars had by then established another Khanate in Siberia <ref>Bobrick, p. 116</ref>. The Cossack leader in 1580 began to conquest of Siberia and he forced many local tribes to pay tribute to Moscow. Later Ivan send a large force of Streltsi or members of his army to assist in the conquest. By 1590 Ivan was also calling himself Tsar of Siberia. Ivan died of a stroke while playing chess and he was succeeded by his middle son Feodor. Russia at the time of his death was at the strongest it had in several centuries.
