Terror. Horrifying. Absolute. Fear. These are all words that can describe the reign of Ivan IV Vasilyevich, or Ivan the Terrible. Known as one of the most cruel leaders of all time, Ivan was the first Tsar of all Russia. Ivan was a very influential and effective leader because he greatly expanded Russia, set the standard for other rulers, and controlled the people with an iron fist.
Ivan IV Vasilyevich was born on August 8, 1530. Ivan began his obsession with death and murder by torturing animals as a child and throwing dogs off the walls of the Kremlin where he lived. Ivan had a rough childhood, with both of his parents dying when he was young.
Ivan's father died when he was only three... Once Basil[Ivan’s father] died the boyars took over Russia, denying Ivan's right to the throne. Ivan's mother then with other trusted boyars took over the ruling party. Elena was able to successfully rule Russia for four years, until she died suddenly in 1538, apparently from poisoning, leaving eight-year-old Ivan an orphan. Through all
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this Ivan had remained isolated, Ivan's brutal behavior later on in life is testimony to his never having forgotten nor forgiven the childhood indignities he had suffered. (Absolute Terror: Ivan the Terrible) After his mother’s death, Ivan spent the rest of his childhood hungry and in poverty.
Ivan returned to the boyars in 1543 and threw the leader of the boyars to a pack of dogs. After this, the boyars withdrew from power and gave Ivan complete control. He was officially crowned as Tsar in 1547. During his early reign, Ivan turned Russia into an empire. According to “Ivan the Terrible”, “Ivan the Terrible succeeded in conquering the remaining independent principalities, such as Siberia”(1). After conquering the surrounding areas, he invented the idea of a central government in Russia, which held for hundreds of years, and established Russia as a global power. Ivan executed thousands of people during his rule, and even killed his own son in a fit of rage. Ivan also put his nation into a state of poverty, where most people were starving. After his death, “Russia was left in a state of almost total political and economic ruin” (“Ivan the Terrible”
1). Even though Ivan was ruthless, his rule was not a complete failure. Andy Young states that Ivan “saw Russia emerge from its position as a medieval nation state into the beginnings of the Russian Empire”(1). During Ivan’s reign he took over many surrounding territories. The most important of these was Siberia, whose natural resources modernized Russia.
Nicholas II ruled Russia from 1894-1917 and was to be its final tsar. He ascended the throne under the impression that he would rule his whole life as it's undisputed leader. Accompanied by his wife, Alexandra, they lived a comfortable life of luxury while the country suffered around them. Nicholas was determined to rule as harshly as his father; however, he was a very weak and incompetent character who did not posses the qualities capable of guiding Russia through its time of turmoil.
Both monarchs had a royal background and were put in power with high expectations to continue the stability that the country possessed. Citizens aspire for all government officials to keep the peoples best interest in mind. But sadly, due to Ivan’s brutal childhood, he grew up observing and learning from the mannerisms of the corrupt elite. Ivan predominately gained power through fear and with this tactic was the first to exercise a despotism in Russia. One example of this is the story of the peasants who disturbed Ivan during one of his retreats. They came to him to complain of their governor who they believed was unjust but Ivan was so upset that they had troubled him with such a petty matter that he punished them. The men had their hands tied behind their backs, boiling hot alcohol poured on their heads and then their beards lit on fire with a candle. Apprehension and terror were Ivan’s main tools for keeping his people under control. Despite his totalitarian state of mind, Ivan believed that his decisions were still best for the country and the only way to keep it safe was by leaving it in constant fear. Although not always the most rational, the czar still made the suitable choices to keep the kingdom together. Similar to Ivan, Charles was not always under the influence of his mental disability. During his 42
After years of turmoil during the reign of Ivan the Terrible the Boyar Duma, ,a council of Russian nobles, appointed the young Peter Alekseyevich Romanovas the next Tsar of Russia. He was better known as Peter the Great. Peter took control of his country and established a dynasty that lasted until World War I.
The early life of any child can be and is most of the time the most influential time of a child's life. The life of the parent's is, in that way, important to many. Someone can find passages into the life of the mysterious child. The parents of Grigorii Rasputin are of no exception. They have been apart of their children's lives. The mother of three, Anne Egorovna, took on the task of keeping together the home. The local custom was for the man to tend to the wheat crop and nothing more, and they did, in fact, follow local custom. The house, however, was not that of a wealthy peasant, having only one story. The father of Rasputin, Efimii or Evimii Andreevich, came to Siberia from Saratov, where he had trouble with the law. He was a carter working for the state, and he had passed out dead drunk by his horse on the way back from a fair, only to find that when he awoke someone had stolen the horse. They imprisoned him for losing state property (the horse). He served his term and moved east to Pokrovskoe. He established there and stopped drinking, won neighbors respect and married Anne. The two newlyweds bore three children, two boys and one girl, one of which was Rasputin. Grigorii was born on July 10, 1869 in the village of Pokrovsko...
He spent fourteen years jointly ruling with his infirm half-brother, having taken his role at the age of ten at the death of another half-brother, Feodor III. He defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War and built a great city on the Baltic. Who was this tsar of Russia, responsible for bringing The Enlightenment to Russia?
In 1533 the Muscovite Princedom was passed down to Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terrible. He would be the beginning of a line of “larger-than-life” rulers of the Russian Empire who ignited the imagination and debats for future generations. These rulers, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and later Lenin and Stalin, who used political terror in defense of themselves and their governments. Peter and Catherine’s brutalities can be somewhat justified by their political goals, however Ivan’s passion for killing has no rational explanation.. Many of these ruler’s reforms contributed to the overall critique envisioned by many of the empire and its imperialist character. Some of Russia’s greatest literary works were built upon these
The Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point in World War II, in which the Soviet Red Army surrounded and defeated a very weak and broken German Sixth Army. Hitler sent in his army in an attempt to capture Stalingrad, as it was a major hub, as well as the oil fields right beyond that. Hitler had already depleted much of his army in Operation Barbarossa, in which a large fraction of troops was sent to capture European Russia, mainly Moscow(Willmott, Messenger, and Cross 102). Hitler sent his troops into the Caucasus Region of Russia to attack Stalingrad in the summer of 1942, underestimating the Russian defensive effort. Stalin of Russia sent in millions of troops whom destroyed the German army and had them officially surrender on January 31, 1943. The results of the battle put a massive dent in the German military force and destroyed the German's ability to fight allied forces entering in France and North Africa. Hitler also lost control of himself as a leader and The United States and Russia, with British assistance, officially defeated the Germans within a year of their invasion.
Russia at this time was under tsarist rule by Nicholas II of the Romanov empire. Nicholas II was brought up by his father Alexander III who didn't believe that his son could take an intelligent interest in anything and therefore did not educate him in the business of state . The fact that his father who died at age 49 thought that he had many more years ahead of him may also be another factor behind Nicholas' poor leadership of Russia .
Peter grew to be a large man, and had mastered over 14 professions, including carpentry and masonry. He also had an extraordinary capacity for drink, and a short temper that gave him a harsh reputation. When he became 18, Sophia was reluctant to give up her seat of power, and openly resisted his authority. When Ivan died in 1696, Peter became the sole Czar in Russia. The next year Peter decided to visit Europe and experience it first hand. This caused public outrage, because for over 600 years no ruler of Russia had set a foot out of his domain, this deeply shook the country.
One aspect of this could be that he was deeply religious. Because if you look to the fact that he truly believed he was doing God’s work. This could have effected how people view him because he was deeply in bed in the church and when we see this in other past events usually people look past the things many leaders did. An example of this is the crusades, and how many people still argue that it was justified. Also looking back on how Muscovy was run during the period before Ivan IV took power we can see a lot less order and many deaths and fights between the boyars. While yes there was this during Ivan IV reign there was still more order or perception of order. When looking from the outside it is easy to assume that this was solely ran by one mad man but looking internally we can see that the boyars really did hold a lot of weight with what happened. This could be a reason why we view Ivan IV differently they do because it is easier to judge if you believe he had full power but if you add in the factor of other parties advising or doing atrocity too you start to not be so definite on his cruelty. Also the boyars dealt with most of the common folk or controlled or ruled over them more than he did. He also used the way they developed local administration with people choosing who governed over themselves. This shows to the people
The Russian culture has a vast and elegant past, present, and future, but it also has a dark side like every other place on earth. Stained with the blood, sweat and tears of all those who helped sculpt it. “Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny” (Thomas Jefferson). In the past there has been tyrants that “helped” shape countries into what they are today, one key leader in the Russian culture is none other than Ivan Chetvyorty Vasilyevich IV also known as Ivan the Terrible. During the years 1533-1584 Russia grew exponentially but by no means in a peaceful manner, Ivan the Terrible acquired vast amounts of land for Russia
Ivan IV’s parents both died by the time he was eight years old. Death, abuse, and violence were prevalent in Ivan IV’s life. After the parent's death, noblemen were fighting for the power to reign Russia. The noblemen treated Ivan IV with respect in the public eye but immensely belittled him in private. When he was a child he would torture dogs and push them off at steep heights. After he became Tsar of Russia, he was involved with the construction of St. Basil’s Cathedral. After it was fully constructed he blinded the architects so they could not build anything as magnificent again. His wife Anastasia died and was believed to be poisoned. After that tragic event, Ivan IV distrusted people and believed they were disloyal to the country, so he decided that he would have absolute power to execute anyone he believed was unpatriotic. Ivan IV’s behavior became more erratic as he aged. During an argument with his son, he ended up killing him with a pointed staff. Ivan IV gained the nickname Ivan the Terrible. The word terrible translates to grozny in Russian. This translates to fear, terror, and threatening. Ivan the Terrible's life of murdering people and his parents’ death can be compared to Grendel. Grendel’s mother died and many soldiers deaths originated from either attacks from Grendel or being devoured by him. Though Ivan the Terrible was not cannibalistic he did murder people and did not allow
About a week and a half after Christmas, I went to stay at my grandmother's house while my parents were away. When I arrived, my grandmother handed me a small wrapped package. I think that I must have expressed my confusion very visibly because my grandmother immediately backtracked. "You know how it is," she said. "I buy Christmas presents all year long then I hide them so you won't see them. By the time Christmas comes around, I've already forgotten about their existence, where I've put them is a mystery to me too. I found this one in the pantry next to the Malt-o-meal." I nodded and opened the gift; inside the packaging was a tiny and fragile-looking porcelain doll. This is rather how I imagine Ivan the Terrible dealing with his library. Only instead of forgetting about a relatively meaningless doll, Ivan IV (The Terrible) forgot to tell anyone about the location of his fabulous, fascinating, and very important library.
This point of the story is indirectly brought out in the very beginning when Ivan's colleagues, and supposedly his friends, learn of his death. The narrator states in paragraph 5:
The czar soon retracted these concessions and repeatedly dissolved the Duma, contributing to the growing public support enjoyed by the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups.” In 1914 Nicholas led Russia into World War One, the war was very costly and food rations became less and less, and many soldiers were tired and or injured. This caused the hatred for Nicholas to grow. In 1915, Nicholas (II) personally took command of the army and left his wife (the czarina) Alexandra to rule in his place. While the czar was away, Gregory Rasputin replaced all of Nicholas’ ministers and officials. Nicholas was forced to give up the throne to his brother, who turned it down, ending the czarist autocracy in Russia. For many years after, the Romanov family was in hiding, while a civil war broke out all over Russia. “Just after midnight on July 17, Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children, and four family retainers were ordered to dress quickly and go down to the cellar of the house in which they were being held. There, the family and servants were arranged in two rows for a photograph they were told was being taken to quell rumors that they had escaped. Suddenly, a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned