In the early 1550s, the Astrakhan Khanate was an ally of the Crimean Khan, controlling the lower reaches of the Volga. Before the final subjugation of the Astrakhan Khanate under Ivan IV, two campaigns were carried out.

The campaign of 1554 was carried out under the command of the governor Prince Yuri Pronsky-Shemyakin. In the battle of the Black Island, the Russian army defeated the lead Astrakhan detachment, and Astrakhan was taken without a fight. As a result, Khan Dervish-Ali was brought to power, promising support to Moscow.

The campaign of 1556 was associated with the fact that Khan Dervish-Ali switched sides Crimean Khanate And Ottoman Empire. The campaign was led by governor Ivan Cheremisinov. At first Don Cossacks Ataman Lyapun Filimonov's detachment defeated the Khan's army near Astrakhan, after which Astrakhan was retaken without a fight in July. As a result of this campaign, the Astrakhan Khanate was subordinated to the Russian kingdom.

In 1556, the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu, was destroyed.

After the conquest of Astrakhan, Russian influence began to extend to the Caucasus.

War with Sweden (1554-1557)

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, trade relations Russia with England through the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean, which hit hard the economic interests of Sweden, which received considerable income from transit Russian-European trade. In 1553, an expedition English navigator Richard Chancellor was passed Kola Peninsula, entered the White Sea and dropped anchor west of the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery opposite the village of Nenoksa. Having received news of the appearance of the British within his country, Ivan IV wished to meet with Chancellor, who, having covered about 1000 km, arrived in Moscow with honors. Soon after this expedition, the Moscow Company was founded in London, which subsequently received a monopoly trading rights from Tsar Ivan.

Swedish king Gustav I Vasa after unsuccessful attempt to create an anti-Russian union, which would include the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Livonia and Denmark, decided to act independently.

The first motive for declaring war on Sweden was the capture of Russian merchants in Stockholm. On September 10, 1555, the Swedish admiral Jacob Bagge with a 10,000-strong army besieged Oreshek; the Swedes' attempts to develop an attack on Novgorod were thwarted by a guard regiment under the command of Sheremetev. January 20, 1556 20-25 thousand. The Russian army defeated the Swedes at Kivinebb and besieged Vyborg, but could not take it.

In July 1556, Gustav I made a proposal for peace, which was accepted by Ivan IV. On March 25, 1557, the Second Novgorod Truce was concluded for forty years, which restored the border defined by the Orekhov Peace Treaty of 1323 and established the custom of diplomatic relations through the Novgorod governor.

Beginning of the Livonian War

Causes of the war

In 1547, the king ordered the Saxon Schlitte to bring artisans, artists, doctors, pharmacists, typographers, people skilled in ancient and modern languages, even theologians. However, after protests from Livonia, the Senate of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck arrested Schlitte and his men.

In 1554, Ivan IV demanded that the Livonian Confederation return arrears under the “Yuriev tribute” established by the 1503 treaty, renounce military alliances with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden, and continue the truce. The first payment of the debt for Dorpat was supposed to take place in 1557, however Livonian Confederation did not fulfill its obligation.

In the spring of 1557, on the shores of Narva, by order of Ivan, a port was established: “The same year, July, a city was established from the German Ust-Narova River Rozsene by the sea for a shelter for sea ships,” “The same year, April, the Tsar and the Grand Duke sent the okolnichy prince Dmitry Semenovich Shastunov and Pyotr Petrovich Golovin and Ivan Vyrodkov to Ivangorod, and ordered a city to be built on Narova below Ivangorod at the mouth of the sea for a ship shelter...” However, the Hanseatic League and Livonia did not allow European merchants to enter the new Russian port, and they continued to go, as before, to Revel, Narva and Riga.

The Posvolsky Treaty of September 15, 1557 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Order created a threat to the establishment of Lithuanian power in Livonia. The agreed position of the Hansa and Livonia to prevent Moscow from engaging in independent maritime trade led Tsar Ivan to the decision to begin the struggle for wide access to the Baltic.

On September 7, 1566, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent died at four o'clock in the morning in his luxurious camp tent near the walls of the Hungarian fortress of Szigetvár. Neither enemies nor subjects questioned his merits or titles. With his life, an entire era in the history of the Ottoman Empire ended, the era of its unstoppable expansion, many victories and rare defeats. The brilliant Porte was still strong and powerful, but from now on her star would slowly but uncontrollably dim, and her sharp scimitar would lose its sharpness and swiftness. The next day, the Szigetvar fortress was taken, and the territories south of the island of Balaton became Turkish. But this was only the beginning of the descent from the high mountain, at the foot of which, three and a half centuries later, Mustafa Kemal would wait in the wings.

Thanks to the efforts of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokoll, who was with the army, the death of the ruler was hidden for some time in order to avoid any incidents related to the succession to the throne. So the son of the Sultan and his beloved wife, Hürrem Selim, was able to freely reach the capital from his residence and assume the rights to the throne. The reign of the new ruler of Istanbul began with another rebellion of the Janissaries, who demanded payment of arrears of wages. At the insistence of the wise vizier, Selim was forced to make concessions: scrape together the bottom line and pay what was due to the dissatisfied. With such an act began the reign of Selim II, nicknamed Red-Nosed by his subjects for his excessive use of alcohol-containing potions. It was under this sultan that the Ottoman Empire first encountered a new enemy in the military field. Far in the north it grew stronger and acquired new lands. Russian kingdom, which foreigners called (not without malicious intent) Muscovy, where Ivan IV ruled with his imperious hand.

Astrakhan becomes Russian

After the fall of the Kazan Khanate in 1552, it was the turn of its southern neighbor, the Khanate of Astrakhan. In October 1553, a delegation from the Nogais arrived in Moscow with a request to take action against the Astrakhan Khan Yamgurchi, who was constantly trashing his neighbors, who in turn promised to “carry out the sovereign’s will.” Ownership of Astrakhan would give the tsar control over the entire Volga and, accordingly, over all water trade arteries. In the spring of 1554, a Russian army under the command of Prince Yuri Ivanovich Pronsky-Shemyakin, numbering 30 thousand people, moved along the Volga to Astrakhan. A little later, this army was reinforced by a contingent of Vyatka servicemen led by Prince Alexander Vyazemsky. The first clash with the Astrakhan Tatars took place in the Black Island area on the site of modern Volgograd. They defeated the Tatars and took prisoners, who informed the Russians that Khan Yamgurchi himself with his main forces was camped below Astrakhan.

After making adjustments to the campaign plans, Pronsky-Shemyakin moved further by water directly to Astrakhan, and Prince Vyazemsky received an order to attack Yamgurchi’s army. The city fell to the Russian army without resistance - the Tatars defending it considered it best to flee. Khan also did not want to meet with his enemy, especially since desertion began in his army. With a small detachment of warriors devoted to him, he went to Azov. Yamgurchi sent numerous wives and children, along with some valuable property by water down to the Caspian Sea. The Russians, however, managed to intercept the Khan's convoy and capture him.

However, in matters of succession to the throne, Moscow had its own plans, in which, of course, neither the khan nor his family figured in any way. Together with the Russian army, a new khan, Dervish-Ali, arrived in Astrakhan. Previously, Dervish-Ali was in power here, however, having been defeated in another civil strife, he was forced to flee to Rus', where he lived for some time in Zvenigorod under full protection royal authorities. The local population swore allegiance to the new ruler, and a royal decree was published: on pain of death, to free all enslaved Russians. Dervish-Ali was obliged to pay an annual tribute of 40 thousand altyns and a significant amount of valuable fish. Tsarist fishermen received the right to free fishing from Kazan to Astrakhan, however, the Tatars were also allowed to fish. In order to eliminate further nuances in the struggle for power and succession to the throne, in the event of the death of Dervish-Ali, local residents had to send the king a corresponding petition. In such a situation, the king himself appointed a new ruler at his own discretion. All prisoners from among the warriors of the fugitive Yamgurchi were released, taking with them only his wives and children.

While all these events were taking place, the usual civil strife for them was taking place in the neighboring Nogai Hordes. The initiator of sending ambassadors to Ivan IV, Murza Izmail, fought with his brother Yusuf and other relatives. Despite his difficult position, Ishmael found time to write petitions to Moscow with urgent requests to introduce direct royal rule in Astrakhan and remove Dervish-Ali, who was rapidly losing popularity, from there. The gratitude of the khan, who had recently been a political emigrant, disappeared like the smoke of incense, and very soon he began to feel an irresistible desire to be independent of Moscow in everything. Petitions and denunciations against Dervish-Ali incessantly rained down on the capital, sowing doubts and suspicions, until they were finally confirmed. In the spring of 1556, a detachment approached Astrakhan Crimean Tatars, and the khan, who instantly lost all friendliness, drove out a small Russian garrison of 500 people from the city. Ivan IV urgently sent a military detachment along the Volga to help, which was soon joined by the Don Cossacks who arrived in time. The combined forces of the Russians approached Astrakhan, but Dervish-Ali, like his predecessor, quickly lost all his determination and, due to an evil irony, also fled to Turkish Azov. Russian troops entered Astrakhan for the second time without encountering resistance. Meanwhile, tired of the internecine struggle, the Nogais finally came to an agreement and officially announced their acceptance of Russian citizenship. Thus, the mouth of the Volga finally came under the control of the Russian state.

Combinations of the Crimean Khan

Crimean Khan Devlet Giray

Initially, news of the annexation of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates did not cause much reaction in Istanbul. The Ottoman Empire was waiting for a solution much more serious problems. First, the rebellion of an impostor posing as the executed son of Suleiman Mustafa. Then, in 1559, the other Sultan's heirs, Selim and Bayazid, sorted things out between themselves by force. Only in 1563 did the aging Sultan turn his gaze to the north. In October of this year, an envoy was sent to the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray with instructions to prepare for next year for the march to Astrakhan. This decision of Suleiman caused very serious concerns in Crimea. The fact is that Devlet Giray considered himself a full-fledged and very significant political player in the Northern Black Sea region and tried to reduce his dependence on Istanbul to a minimum. The Turks, to the great regret of the khan, had to be taken into account, since their fortresses with garrisons located in them were located in Crimea. In addition, you could turn to them for help if your neighbors bothered you. The capture of Astrakhan promised a strengthening of the Turkish military presence in the Don and Volga region and, therefore, increased the dependence of Crimea.

At the court of Devlet Giray, serious passions were in full swing: several groups sponsored by various sources. There were Murzas who expressed Polish-Lithuanian interests; they tried to form their own party and Russian state. Traditionally, those who promoted the interests of the Ottoman Empire were influential. Devlet Giray had to concentrate and skillfully maneuver in order, on the one hand, not to quarrel with the powerful Suleiman, and on the other, to maintain his independence.

The arrival of the Sultan's representative did not go unnoticed at the Russian embassy in Crimea, headed by Afanasy Fedorovich Nagiy. To clarify the situation and collect incidentally necessary information of an intelligence nature, the Turkish official was invited to a “comradely dinner”, where, in the appropriate circumstances, Nagom managed to take over the envoy, softened from delicacies. It turned out that three factors served as the impetus for the decision to march on Astrakhan. Firstly, the Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha hatched a plan to dig a canal between the Don and the Volga. Access to the Caspian Sea would significantly strengthen the position of the Turks in their long struggle with the Persian Shah. Secondly, Suleiman received several letters from the Circassian nobility with requests for protection, since the Russian Cossacks erected several of their strongholds on the Terek and Sunzha rivers and constantly provided assistance to the Kabardian princes, who were vassals of the Russian state. Thirdly, the capture of Astrakhan disrupted the traditional routes north of the Caspian Sea for pilgrims traveling to Muslim shrines from Central Asia.

The totality of all of the above, together with the energy of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, contributed to the decision to march on Astrakhan. The Khan himself provided unexpected, albeit indirect, assistance to the Russian ambassadors in preventing the campaign against Astrakhan. It’s just that Devlet Giray had a completely different opinion regarding the upcoming enterprise. At first, he tried to redirect the course of the upcoming expedition from the peripheral Astrakhan to the Russian kingdom itself. The calculation was simple: using a powerful Turkish army take rich spoils, and after they return to their places of permanent deployment, remain, as they say, with their own people. Without waiting for results, the energetic khan began to exaggerate, presenting the situation in black. Devlet Giray picturesquely reported to Istanbul all the difficulties of the trek through the steppe - waterless and unsuitable for the Turks. They say that in the summer there is absolutely no water, and in the winter there are terrible frosts. The colorful composition of the inevitable death of the Ottoman army in the Caspian steppes was skillfully supplemented by supposedly reliable rumors that the Russian Tsar had sent a 60,000-strong army to Astrakhan.

At the same time, the enterprising Crimean ruler, demonstrating remarkable multi-vectorism, tried to collect possible dividends from his northern neighbor. Through his ambassadors in Moscow, he conveyed to Ivan the Terrible all the information about the upcoming campaign, proposing to settle interstate problems by transferring Kazan and Astrakhan into the hands of the Tatars, citing the fact that the Turks would take them away anyway, and this way the matter could be settled peacefully. At the same time, Devlet Giray carried out soundings to receive a one-time tribute from the king. It is not known whether Ivan Vasilyevich was angry at such political initiatives, but the khan did not receive any cities or money. “When is it ever the case that, having taken cities, they give them back again?” – they asked rhetorically in Moscow.

And yet, the black PR campaign undertaken by the khan to disrupt the campaign against Astrakhan bore fruit. The empire had enough of its own worries both inside and in Europe. Relations with the Habsburgs were deteriorating, there was unrest on the borders with Persia, and Suleiman was not at all carried away by an expensive military expedition to a distant and unfamiliar land for the Turks.

The last person who, during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, tried to persuade him to this enterprise was the governor of Kafa, a Circassian by birth, Kasim Pasha. The Sultan's treasury was rapidly depleted by ever-increasing military expenses, and Kasim Pasha emphasized the economic significance of the capture of Astrakhan. In his opinion, the city could easily be turned into a large shopping mall all Southeast Europe and Central Asia. However, the Sultan, preparing for his last military campaign in Hungary, turned out to be completely deaf to the arguments of the provincial governor. And then he was gone.

Father's shadow

Sultan Selim II the Red Nose

The first years of Selim II's reign were marked by the establishment of order on the far borders of the vast empire. In 1567, when news of the death of Suleiman I reached the province of Yemen, the powerful Imam Muttahar rebelled against the Turks. It turned out that a common religion alone was not enough to bring the nomadic tribes living in these lands to submission. The suppression of the rebellion was accompanied by technical and logistical difficulties due to Yemen's distance from the central regions of the Ottoman Empire. In this regard, the issue of building a canal between the Mediterranean and Red Seas was put on the agenda. But this project did not progress beyond proposals.

The Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, still in power, did not abandon his plan to create another canal - between the Volga and Don - which, under favorable circumstances, he reminded the young Sultan of. After consultation with relevant experts, it was decided that this was quite possible. Selim II, remembering the unpleasant moments of the beginning of his reign, thirsted military glory, so it was not difficult to obtain his permission and approval for the Astrakhan campaign. Not only the ambitions of the young Sultan and the great interest in the issues of engineering construction and supply of the Grand Vizier’s troops played a role. Essential had a foreign policy factor. The traditionally strong Circassian diaspora at court made it clear that the expulsion of the Russians from Astrakhan was highly desirable, relying on which they strengthened their positions in the North Caucasus. The Crimean Khan, who was very sensitive to Russia’s successes in the Livonian War, was seriously afraid of finding himself in a semi-ring of enemies and was no longer so hostile to the idea of ​​​​a campaign. Finally, the ever-increasing complaints of the influential merchants about the loss of the profitable trade route across the Volga reached the highest ears, and the empire needed money even more than new territories.

Preparation

The highest orders were again sent to Devlet Giray in Crimea to prepare for the campaign against Astrakhan. On April 3, 1568, agents of the Moscow ambassadors in Crimea reported on a large military council held by the khan, at which a letter sent from Istanbul was read out. Thus, the Russians became aware of plans to implement unfulfilled plans five years ago. Soon, Devlet Giray’s enthusiasm began to fall again - the khan was informed that Prince Crimea-Girey was to arrive in the convoy of the army preparing for the campaign, who, after occupying Astrakhan, would lead the restored Astrakhan Khanate. Experienced in intrigue, the ruler of Crimea, not without reason, began to fear for the safety of his state powers, since palace coups in Bakhchisaray were completely common and regular.

Devlet Giray believed that he was being deliberately lured into going on a campaign so that someone else would sit on the vacated throne, and he himself would turn into just another fugitive political emigrant and hanger-on at the Sultan’s court. It is curious that quite recently in his letters he argued to the new Sultan the urgent need not only for “liberating Astrakhan from the infidels,” but also for digging a canal between the Volga and Don. Khan, obviously, hoped that he would be helped with money and weapons (cannons and crews for them), given the go-ahead to go on a campaign, he would victoriously expel the Russians from the city, and the Turks themselves would dig a canal.

Seeing that Selim II was equipping a serious expedition, Devlet Giray began to get nervous. The preparation was truly extensive. At the Kafa shipyards they began building ships capable of sailing up the Don. Required supplies and materials were delivered and stored in Azov. Troops were being prepared in Rumelia and the northern part of Asia Minor. Russian embassy closely monitored the enemy's preparations for the campaign, collecting information through his agents. The build-up of forces took place gradually - it was necessary to concentrate large number various supplies, primarily provisions and gunpowder. The main warehouses of the Turkish army were to be located in Crimea. In addition, entrenching tools and carts were accumulated in abundance for the teams of excavators who were supposed to work on the construction of the canal.

On June 1, 1569, the Russian embassy learned that a large number of troops and support personnel had already arrived in Cafu to service the rowing flotilla. The general command of the troops was carried out by the Kafa governor Kasim Pasha, who, on May 31, the day when the agents returned and informed Ambassador Nagy of the details, set out with the vanguard on a campaign by land. Turkish artillery was transported on specially built flat-bottomed ships along the Azov-Don-Perevoloka route. Some details of the Turkish plan became known: to approach Astrakhan, besiege the city, and in case of failure, build a fortified fort on the old Tatar settlement, camp there and be ready for the winter. This was a set of measures in case of an unfavorable combination of circumstances; in general, the Turks were very confident of success.

In early June it also became clear that another contingent was coming to strengthen Kasim Pasha ground forces, which was supposed to, having crossed the Dnieper, move straight to Azov. The Russian ambassadors tried to continue conducting intelligence activities, for which there were enough resources in Crimea favorable conditions, thanks to the large number of Russian slaves and freedmen who were here, however, circumstances intervened in this process. On June 10, the Khan's commissioner arrived at the Russian ambassadors with the appropriate order: Nagogo and his colleagues were separated from their people, allowing only translators to remain with them. In fact, the ambassadors were interned and sent to the city of Mangup, which could only mean one thing - the beginning of the war.

Janissaries near Astrakhan

Devlet Giray did not abandon his intention to sabotage the campaign in the winter of 1568–1569. conducted diplomatic probes through trusted people with a view to transferring Kazan and Astrakhan to him. And again he was firmly refused. Kasim Pasha was generally full of enthusiasm to begin the operation in 1568 with the forces that already existed. But the cunning and stubborn khan protested, declaring that he would not go anywhere without the Janissaries, and if Kasim Pasha so wished, he could move forward on his own. There were still not enough Turkish troops at that time, and it was decided to postpone the campaign to the next year, 1569. However, when the Janissaries and artillery arrived in Crimea in the spring, and the other part of the army crossed the Dnieper, it was no longer possible for Devlet Giray to resist. In addition to 17–18 thousand Turks and significant amount excavation workers, more than 50 thousand Tatars took part in the expedition against Astrakhan.

To keep a wheel turning, lubrication is required. The Tatar cart required greasy lubricant. In Istanbul this was well understood and therefore throughout the spring of 1569 Devlet Giray received gifts of significant volume and price. The generous Sultan's hand gave the Khan 30 thousand gold "salary", 1000 caftans, 1000 pairs of boots, many pieces of velvet and other expensive fabrics for decoration. However, the khan was skilled not only in political combinations, but also in commissary ones. Referring to poverty and general scarcity, Devlet Giray begged from Kasim Pasha 3 thousand pairs of boots, 3 thousand caftans and a thousand tegils from Turkish warehouses and some provisions. Despite receiving a large amount of equipment virtually for nothing, Devlet Giray sought every opportunity to avoid participating in the siege of Astrakhan. He wrote to Istanbul that the Tatars were not besieging cities well, so he asked permission to “stand guard” at the crossings on the Volga while the Turks stormed the Russian city. However, an answer came from the Sultan's palace, devoid of a double interpretation - the Tatars were supposed to participate in the campaign together with their Turkish allies.

From the very beginning, the campaign turned out to be very difficult - the summer of 1569 was hot, the Don became shallow, and even specially built transport ships climbed it with with great difficulty. Those who moved on land suffered from heat and thirst. At the very beginning of the campaign, deputations of all kinds of petty steppe princes hurried to both the Turks and the Tatars, expressing an ardent desire to participate in the enterprise, but only when Kasim Pasha’s army approached Astrakhan. It was most difficult for the Nogais - some of the influential Murzas were not against accepting the citizenship of Selim II, but no one wanted to have anything to do with the cunning Devlet Giray.

In the first half of August, Kasim Pasha finally reached Perevoloka. Turkish engineers carried out the first calculations, and it turned out that not always what looks attractive on the map is just as amazing when seen directly. In the area intended for the construction of the canal, the Volga and Don were indeed separated by no more than 65 kilometers. However, the area itself was very difficult to access for manual excavation work - it was replete with hills. After digging a little into the ground, the Turks decided to use a simpler and more traditional method: dragging the river flotilla ships and all their equipment. True, for this purpose it would be necessary to level the ground, which also required a lot of effort. After weighing the pros and cons, Kasim Pasha decided to send all the heavy weapons along the Don back to Azov, after which the troops carrying out this maneuver were ordered to go overland to Astrakhan. The Turkish commander himself, with whom the tireless Devlet Giray was constantly arguing, was going to go to the Volga and along its bank approach the city from the north. When the Turkish troops finally passed the area between the two rivers and reached the Volga, the Astrakhan Tatars, or rather, that part of them that experienced some inconvenience because of the Russians, came to their aid, having driven a large number of boats.

The Russians were well aware of the Turkish preparations and did not count the crows on the fortress walls. The garrison of Astrakhan was significantly strengthened; guns and ammunition were delivered to the city. The personnel were provided with provisions in case long siege. Despite the help of the local Tatar "resistance", Kasim Pasha advanced towards Astrakhan slowly, suffering from the heat and emerging diseases. The Turks arrived at the city in early September, finding the Russians in full readiness to fight back. Heavy artillery and ammunition for it got stuck somewhere on the way from Azov, and without it Kasim Pasha did not dare to storm the city and, according to the preliminary plan, set up a camp in the old settlement. It was planned to build a fortress there and spend the winter.

But then Devlet Giray suddenly went on strike. The almost 50,000-strong Tatar horde did not have the appropriate resources for wintering in the cold steppe, especially in their military practice It was customary to return to the warm Crimea in the fall. Khan began to insist that the Turks let him go to winter quarters. There were many Tatars, Istanbul was far away, and Kasim Pasha was forced to yield to the onslaught of Devlet Giray. The horde collected its nomadic belongings and left. The Turks were left alone near Astrakhan. The weather began to deteriorate, and with it the mood of the troops. Sharp discontent flared up, bordering on disobedience. The Janissaries were the loudest indignant, directly declaring that here they were all in danger of death from starvation, since huge army warehouses remained in Crimea, and the supplies they brought with them were rapidly melting.

Having learned about the unrest in the enemy camp, the Russians decided to further heat up the situation by resorting to the elementary method information war. Through the prisoner, information was leaked to the Turks that Prince Peter Serebryany, along with an army of 30,000, was coming down the Volga to help Astrakhan. And Ivan Belsky’s whole army of one hundred thousand is preparing to follow. The arrival of the Nogais was also expected, and even the supposedly Persian Shah, who perceived the campaign against Astrakhan as a threat against Persia, sent his contingent to the city by sea. There was something to fall into gloomy thoughts. Kasim Pasha’s already frayed nerves finally gave way - on September 20, 1569, the Turks set fire to their wooden fortress and set off on their way back. The road back was even more difficult - many Turks died due to lack of water and provisions. A crowd of exhausted, ragged people suffering from hunger and disease returned to Azov. First conquest Selima II ended unsuccessfully, giving rise to doubts that the new Sultan would be happy in the military field.

After the hike

The first Russian Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich

The next year, 1570, Tsar Ivan the Terrible sent ambassador clerk Novosiltsev to Istanbul under the most plausible pretext to congratulate the Sultan on his accession to the throne and at the same time try to discourage the Ottomans from such wasteful and distant military expeditions. In Istanbul, the clerk met with the right people, presented incentive gifts to whoever should, in particular the favorite of Selim II, Mehmet Pasha. Russian diplomacy failed to get the Turks to recognize the annexation of Astrakhan and to conclude a peace treaty, but Selim did not send any more Turkish troops against Astrakhan or against Rus'. Driving through Crimea, Novosiltsev learned that all military supplies and materials intended for the Astrakhan campaign had been removed from there by order of the Sultan.

It is curious that, while in Istanbul, Novosiltsev listened to many bitter complaints from Turkish officials about their ally and vassal Devlet Giray. The Tatar Khan himself, having gotten rid of the Turkish presence, became bolder and, having once again received a refusal to transfer Kazan and Astrakhan to him, invaded Rus' with a 100,000-strong army. In May 1571, the horde reached Moscow, ravaging and setting fire to its surroundings and suburbs. The city itself was badly burned - only the Kremlin remained intact, which Devlet Giray did not dare to storm. Having taken huge booty, the Tatars left for Crimea. The next year, the khan tried to repeat his successful campaign, but was defeated in the bloody battle of Molodi. No one else dared to ask or demand from Russia either Kazan or Astrakhan, which had since become Russian cities.

The Turkish Sultan Selim II really turned out to be a military failure. In 1571, his fleet was crushingly defeated by the combined forces Holy League at Lepanto. The Astrakhan campaign of 1569 was the first of a whole series of Russian-Turkish conflicts, which are one of the long-term military confrontations in world history.

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| In the period from the 9th century to the 16th century. Kazan and Astrakhan campaigns (XVI century)

Kazan and Astrakhan campaigns (XVI century)

Wars of the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily III and his son Ivan IV the Terrible, the first Russian Tsar, with the aim of annexing the Kazan Khanate - the largest Tatar state, formed on the site of the Golden Horde.

The Kazan Tatars, aware of the inequality of forces, did not intend to restore dominance over Russia, but considered the territory of Moscow and other Russian principalities as an object for raids in order to seize booty and, first of all, “living goods” - prisoners, and also periodically demanded payment of tribute. In 1521, when the main forces of the Russians were turned to fight Lithuania, the Kazan people, together with the Crimean Tatars, reached Moscow, ravaging many Russian lands. This was the last major campaign of the Kazan Khanate against the Moscow Principality.

In 1523, after concluding a truce with Lithuania, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III sent a large army on a campaign against Kazan. As a result, the Vasilsursk fortress was founded on the Volga, 200 km from Kazan, which became an intermediate base for Moscow troops in subsequent campaigns.

The conquest of Kazan was continued by the son of Vasily III, Ivan IV the Terrible, who ascended the throne in 1533. He organized three campaigns against the Kazan Khanate. The first campaign took place in 1547, but the troops did not reach Kazan, returning halfway due to supply difficulties. In the same year, Ivan assumed the royal title, which emphasized Rus''s claims to all territories previously occupied by the Golden Horde.

Kazan campaign (1552).

The second campaign, undertaken in 1549, was more successful. In February 1550, Russian troops besieged Kazan and began bombarding it with cannons. However, the assault on the fortress ended in failure. Due to the spring thaw, the tsar decided to lift the siege, since it became difficult for the besiegers to transport food and ammunition to the camp. The only success of this campaign was the foundation of the Sviyazhsk fortress, 25 km from Kazan. Sviyazhsk became a support base in the third campaign, which ended with the capture of Kazan.

Preparations for this campaign began in the spring of 1552. The so-called “ship army” was sent along the Oka and Volga with food supplies and artillery (“outfit”) for the entire army. Three regiments were concentrated in Sviyazhsk, and crossings across the Volga between Vasilsursk and the mouth of the Kama were occupied by strong detachments. Part of the Russian troops in Murom, Kashira and Kolomna should, if necessary, repel the Crimean Tatars if they tried to come to the aid of Kazan. One of the Russian governors, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, subsequently determined the number of troops that set off on the Kazan campaign at 90 thousand people, of which at least 30 thousand were cavalry. The Russians had 150 heavy siege engines and large number light guns.

Almost all the military forces of Rus' were abandoned near Kazan. On June 16, 1552, the main forces, led by the Grand Duke, set out from Moscow. Already on the way to Kolomna, it became known that significant forces of the Crimean Tatars were moving towards Tula. On June 23, the Tula governor Temkin reported that the city was besieged by a large Crimean army, reinforced Turkish artillery and the Janissaries. The next day, the Tatars launched an assault on Tula, which was repulsed. Having learned that significant Russian forces were approaching the city - a regiment of the right hand and an advanced regiment, urgently dispatched by the Grand Duke to help Tula, the Crimean Khan did not dare to launch a second attack and began to retreat. Russian regiments overtook the Crimean army on the Shivoron River and inflicted a heavy defeat on it. The mistake of the Crimean Khan was that he rushed with the campaign, without waiting until Ivan IV and his army moved far enough from Moscow, then he would have lost the opportunity to repel the Crimean threat in time.

After the defeat of the Crimean Tatars, the campaign against Kazan continued. On July 1, all Moscow regiments, except the guard regiment, gathered in Kolomna. From here the military council decided to move in two columns. The right column, consisting of the large and advanced regiments and the regiment of the right hand, went through Ryazan and Meshchera, the left, which included the ertaul (light cavalry reconnaissance), the guard and royal regiments and the regiment of the left hand, through Vladimir and Murom.

On August 4, both columns united at the Boroncheev settlement on the Sura River. On the morning of August 13, the Moscow army arrived in Sviyazhsk, where a garrison of the fortress, a militia of Cheremis, Chuvash and Mordovians, a Tatar detachment of Shig-Aley (Shikh-Ali), a Russian ally, as well as a ship army with artillery and food supplies that had arrived along the river were waiting for it. On August 17, Moscow troops began crossing the Volga, which lasted three days. This fact alone indicates the large size of Ivan the Terrible’s army.

On August 19, the siege of Kazan began. The king invited the Tatar Khan Edigei to surrender, but was refused. The city was surrounded wooden wall about 5 km long with 15 towers. It was covered with a moat 6.5 m wide and 15 m deep. Inside the city there was a citadel - the Kazan Kremlin, surrounded by an oak wall with 8 towers. East of Kazan, in the Arsky Forest, the Tatars built a fortification, from where they threatened the rear of the Moscow troops. The garrison of Kazan numbered about 30 thousand people. In addition, in the Arsk fortification there was a detachment of Prince Epancha of several thousand horsemen. He fought a guerrilla war.

On August 21, the Russians began building siege fortifications - palisades made of logs and tours - baskets made of twigs filled with earth. On August 23, troops began to advance to the walls of Kazan. Ertaul, consisting of 7 thousand horsemen, was suddenly attacked by a strong Tatar detachment and was cut in two. The archers hastened to the aid of the noble cavalry, scattering the Tatars with fire from their arquebuses. By the end of the 23rd, Kazan was completely surrounded. However, on the evening of the next day, a strong storm destroyed some of the ships with supplies, which complicated the position of the besiegers. But Ivan the Terrible was adamant in his desire to take Kazan at any cost.

The Russians built a dam and diverted the Kazanka River from the city in order to deprive the defenders of the fortress of water. However, the Tatars began to take water from a spring on the river bank, to which they walked underground. The besiegers built two circulation lines around Kazan. The garrison made forays, interfering with the siege work, but was unable to disrupt them, destroying only small sections of the fortifications.

On August 27, the Russians began to deploy artillery against Kazan. On August 30, 150 siege guns opened fire on the fortress, suppressing a significant part of the Tatar artillery. On the Arsky field, the Russians built a wooden tower 13 m high. They placed 10 guns and 50 hooks (light cannons with a hook (hook) to counteract recoil) on it and, having rolled the tower to the fortress wall between the Arsky and Tsarev gates, began to fire at the city from the Arsky fields.

On August 31, the besiegers began four tunnels under the Kazan walls. One of these mines was laid under underground passage, along which Kazan residents walked to fetch water. The passage was blown up, and after that the city began to experience an acute shortage of water. The only source left was the city wells. Because of the bad sanitary conditions Epidemics spread in Kazan.

On August 30, half of the entire Russian army was moved against Epanchi’s detachment. A small Russian force entered the Arsky forest, was attacked by the Tatars, and with its retreat brought the enemy under attack from the main part of the army. After this battle, Epanchi's detachment with big losses retreated to his fortification. However, it was not destroyed, and the Moscow governors decided to storm the Arsk fortress. On September 8, it was taken by a detachment under the command of Prince Gorbaty-Shuisky. Epancha fled with the remnants of his army and could no longer disturb the siege army with his raids.

On October 2, the troops of Ivan the Terrible began the assault on Kazan. Two days earlier, a tunnel at the Arsk Gate was blown up, destroying the defensive structures located in front of the gate. After this, the Russians brought the tours closer to the very gates. The Streltsy, boyar people and Cossacks managed to capture the Arsk Tower. In addition, artillery made a number of breaches in the walls of the fortress. The Tatars hastily erected wooden frames against the breaches and covered them with earth. Ivan turned to the Tatars with a proposal to capitulate, but they replied: “We will all die or sit out.” Then the army launched an attack.

The main blow was delivered to the eastern and southwestern faces of the fortress, where there were the most breaches. In other directions, the attacks were supposed to pin down the Tatar forces. Russian troops were divided into six assault columns. Each of the columns, in turn, was deployed in three lines. In the first line were the Cossacks and boyars. The second line consisted of the main forces of the archers, and the third line served as a reserve. The general reserve was the royal regiment.

At 3 o'clock in the morning on October 2, the mines under the Arski and Nogai gates were blown up. After this, fire was opened on the fortress from all guns. Under his cover, the troops launched an assault. The Tatars fired at the enemy from cannons and arquebuses, poured boiling tar on the attackers, and dropped logs on them. However, from the side of the Arsk field, where part of the fortress wall was destroyed as a result of a mine explosion, the Russians managed to break into the city. Hand-to-hand combat broke out in the streets. The Tatars launched a desperate counterattack and pushed the enemy back to the walls. At this moment, Ivan brought half of the tsar’s regiment into battle, which drove the Tatars back to the khan’s palace. Almost all of the city's defenders were killed or captured. Only a detachment of 6 thousand people crossed the Kazanka and went into the forest. At the same time, a significant part of those who broke through were destroyed by Russian troops providing the assault.

As a result of the capture of Kazan and the defeat of the Kazan Khanate, Moscow established control over the vast Volga region. The sad example of Kazan prompted the Astrakhan Khanate in 1556 to surrender to the mercy of Tsar Ivan without a fight. In the 1580s, the Volga region served as a springboard for the campaign of Cossack troops of Ataman Ermak to Siberia.

Astrakhan campaign (1556).

After the capture of Kazan, Ivan the Terrible, with the support of a 30,000-strong army, managed to subordinate the Astrakhan Khanate to his influence, establishing his ally there, Khan Dervish-Ali. But the position of this ruler was fragile. Fearing closer neighbors - Turkey and Crimea, Dervish-Ali soon changed his foreign policy orientation and broke with Moscow. To sort out Astrakhan affairs, the tsar in the summer of 1556 sent a small reconnaissance squad Streltsy led by governor Ivan Cheremisinov. On the way they were joined by a detachment Cossack chieftain Lyapuna Filimonova. They had fantastic luck. As if taking pity on the Russians for their difficult Kazan campaigns, fate almost bloodlessly rewarded them with Astrakhan.

The first to march along the Volga was Filimonov’s Cossack detachment of 500 people. He met with the advanced units of the khan near Astrakhan, defeated them and began to wait for the approach of Cheremisinov’s forces. Having united, both detachments sailed on ships to Astrakhan on July 2, 1556. Khan and his entourage mistook a small Streltsy-Cossack detachment for the vanguard of a strong royal army. Knowing about sad fate Kazan, they fled the city. As a result, the Russians occupied almost empty Astrakhan almost without firing a single shot. Having fortified themselves there, they carried out a series offensive operations against Dervish-Ali, who in the meantime received reinforcements from the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey. However, the help from the ruler of Crimea turned out to be small (only 700 people), since his possessions were then attacked by a detachment of clerk Rzhevsky.

Located in distant Astrakhan, hundreds of miles from their native places, a small Russian army acted skillfully and decisively. Its commanders showed not only military, but also diplomatic abilities in an unfamiliar land. They managed to achieve an alliance with the local Nogai Murzas, who inflicted a final defeat on Dervish-Ali, took away his guns and sent them to Cheremisinov. The Last Khan Astrakhan fled to Turkish possessions. As a result, the Astrakhan Khanate was finally and almost bloodlessly assigned to Russia. As in the case of Kazan, the matter was made easier by the fact that many local residents adhered to the Russian orientation and did not want to submit to the policies of Crimea and Turkey.

As a result of the Kazan and Astrakhan campaigns, the entire Volga basin passed into Russian possessions. This most important region, which forces hostile to Russia tried to turn into a gigantic field of aggression, becomes a zone of trade and economic development. Collapsed" eastern rampart", and since then this direction ceased to represent a source of constant military threat for Russia. Generally military activities Ivan the Terrible allowed to sharply reduce the sphere of influence of Crimea and Turkey. As a result, the southern Russian borders, passing in early XVI centuries along the Oka, in the second half of the century they reached the Don steppes and the foothills of the Caucasus.

Based on materials from the portal "Great Wars in Russian History"

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