Federal Agency for Education

State Educational Institution of Secondary Professional Education "Altai State Vocational Pedagogical College"

Group No. 371

Specialty 27003 “Construction and operation of buildings and structures”

“Assessment of the technical condition of industrial and public buildings”

Code _______

Test

on history on the topic:

« Second

civil uprising »

Option No. 3-8 third year student

Kuznetsov Ilya Leonidovich

Date sent to college Place of work occupied

Position and address:

Date of registration of the work of OJSC Altaigazprom,

Kosikhinsky section

Operations management,

Dispatcher;

S. Kosikha, st. Ozernaya, 21.

Content:

1. Prerequisites for the creation of a second militia . Page 3-5

1.1 Distressful situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Page 3-4

1.2 Collapse of the First Militia. Page 4-5

2. The role of Kuzma Minin in organizing the second militia. Page 5-6

3. Military leader of the second militia, Prince Pozharsky. Page 6-7

4. Beginning of the organization of the second militia. Page 7-8

5. Campaign of the second militia. Page 8-10

6. Performance from Yaroslavl. Page 10

7. Cleansing of Moscow. Page 10-12

8. List of used literature. Page 13

Disastrous situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region

In 1605, the Russian Tsar Boris Godunov died, and a tragic period in its history began for Russia, called the “Time of Troubles.” The Russian people fought against the Polish and Swedish invaders and traitorous boyars to preserve Russian statehood.

The Russian state fell into complete desolation and disorder. In Moscow, in the Kremlin, the Poles were sitting. Bands of armed men roamed throughout the country - Poles, Swedes, Ukrainian Cossacks. There was virtually no central authority. Tsars continually replaced the Russian throne; many lands - Smolensk, Seversk, Novgorod, Pskov - were captured by foreigners.

After the murder in May 1606 False Dmitry I and accession Vasily Shuiskynew rumors about the imminent arrival began to circulate around Russiasecond impostor, supposedly saved by False Dmitry I. At the end of 1606, large gangs appeared in the Nizhny Novgorod district and adjacent districts, which were engaged in robberies and atrocities: they burned villages, villages, robbed residents and forcibly drove them into their camps. This so-called “freedom” in the winter of 1607 occupied Alatyr, drowning the Alatyr voivode Saburov in the Sura River, and Arzamas , establishing their base there.

Having learned about the disastrous situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Tsar Vasily Shuisky sent his governors with troops to liberate Arzamas and other cities occupied by the rebels. One of them, Prince THEM. Vorotynsky , defeated rebel detachments near Arzamas, took the city and cleared the areas adjacent to Arzamas from crowds of freemen.

With the arrival of False Dmitry II on Russian soil, the subsided freemen became more active again, especially since part of the boyars of Moscow and the district nobility went over to the side of the new impostor and boyar children. The Mordovians, Chuvashs and Cheremis rebelled . Many cities also went over to the side of the impostor and tried to persuade Nizhny Novgorod to do so. But Nizhny stood firmly on the side of Tsar Shuisky and did not change his oath to him. Moreover, when at the end of 1608 the city residents Balakhny , having betrayed the oath to Tsar Shuisky, attacked Nizhny Novgorod (December 2), voivode A.S. Alyabyev according to the verdict of the Nizhny Novgorod residents, he hit the Balakhona residents, drove them away from the city and on December 3, after a fierce battle, occupied Balakhna. The leaders of the rebels were Timofey Taskaev, Kukhtin, Surovtsev, Redrikov, Luka Siny, Semyon Dolgiy, Ivan Gridenkov and the traitor, the Balakhna governor Golenishchev , were captured and hanged. Alyabyev, barely having time to return to Nizhny, again entered the fight with a new detachment of rebels who attacked the city on December 5. Having defeated this detachment, he then took possession of the rebel nest Vorsma , burned it and again struck the rebels atPavlovsky prison, capturing many prisoners.

At the beginning of January 1609, Nizhny was attacked by the troops of False Dmitry II under the command of the governor of the prince S.Yu. Vyazemsky and Timofey Lazarev. Vyazemsky sent a letter to the people of Nizhny Novgorod in which he wrote that if the city does not surrender, then all the townspeople will be exterminated and the city will be burned to the ground.

The Nizhny Novgorod residents did not give an answer, but decided to make a sortie, despite the fact that Vyazemsky had more troops. Thanks to the surprise of the attack, the troops of Vyazemsky and Lazarev were defeated, and they themselves were captured and sentenced to hang. Then Alyabyev freed him from the rebels Moore , where he remained as a royal commander, and Vladimir . Alyabyev’s successes had important consequences, as they instilled in people faith in a successful fight against the Pretender and foreign invaders. A number of cities, counties and volosts renounced the Pretender and began to unite in the struggle for the liberation of Russia.

Collapse of the First Militia

The rise of the national liberation movement in 1611 resulted in the creationfirst people's militia, his actions and the March uprising of Muscovites, led by Zaraisky voivode princeDmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky.

For reference: Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky (November 1, 1578 - April 20, 1642) - prince, leader of the Time of Troubles. Pozharsky came from the Starodub princes of the Suzdal land, descendants of Vsevolod Yuryevich, and belonged to the so-called “seedy” princely families, that is, those who did not play an important role in state affairs in previous times. From 1602 he served as steward under Boris Godunov. In 1610 was appointed governor of Zaraysk. Pozharsky was not involved in any connections with impostors and Poles, and this made him a person around whom true patriots of the Fatherland could gather.

The failure of the first militia did not weaken this rise, but, on the contrary, strengthened it. Many of the first militias already had experience fighting the invaders. Residents of cities, counties and volosts who did not submit to impostors and invaders also had this experience. And it is no coincidence, in connection with the above, that the stronghold of the further national liberation struggle of the Russian people for their independence and outpost The creation of the second people's militia is precisely Nizhny Novgorod.

Nizhny Novgorod, due to its strategic location, economic and political significance, was one of the key points in the eastern and southeastern regions of Russia. In conditions of weakening of the central government and the rule of the interventionists, this city became the initiator of a nationwide patriotic movement that embraced Upper and Middle Volga regionand neighboring regions of the country. It should be noted that Nizhny Novgorod residents joined the liberation struggle several years before the formation of the second militia.

The initiative to organize the Second People's Militia came from craftsmen and tradersNizhny Novgorod, an important economic and administrative center in Middle Volga. IN Nizhny Novgorod districtAbout 150 thousand males lived at that time, there were up to 30 thousand households in 600 villages. In Nizhny itself there were about 3.5 thousand male residents, of which about 2-2.5 thousand townspeople.

In the summer of 1611, confusion reigned in the country. IN Moscow all affairs were carried out by the Poles, and the boyars were rulers from"Seven Boyars" , sent letters to cities, counties and volosts calling for an oath to the Polish prince Vladislav. Patriarch Hermogenes , while in prison, he advocated the unification of the country's liberation forces, punishing not to obey the orders of the military leaders of the prince's Cossack regiments near Moscow D.T. Trubetskoy and Ataman I.M. Zarutsky. Archimandrite Trinity-Sergius Monastery Dionysius , on the contrary, called on everyone to unite around Trubetskoy and Zarutsky.

It was at this time that a new upsurge of the patriotic movement arose in Nizhny Novgorod, which already had its own tradition and again found support among the townspeople and service people and the local peasantry. A powerful impetus for this popular movement was the letter of Patriarch Hermogenes received by the residents of Nizhny Novgorod 25-th of August 1611. The undaunted old man from the dungeonChudov Monasterycalled on the people of Nizhny Novgorod to stand up for the holy cause of liberation Rus' from foreign invaders.

The role of Kuzma Minin in organizing the second militia

An outstanding role in organizing this movement was played by the Nizhny Novgorodzemstvo elder Kuzma Minin , elected to this position in early September 1611. According to historians, Minin first began his famous calls for the liberation struggle among the townspeople, who warmly supported him. Then he was supported by the Nizhny Novgorod city council, governors, clergy and service people.

For reference: Kuzma Minin (full name - Kuzma Minich Zakharyev Sukhoruky) - figure in the Time of Troubles; Nizhny Novgorod citizen, one of the organizers and leaders of the Zemsky militia 1611-1612. Kuzma Minin was a simple townsman who sold livestock. The pain and suffering of the Russian people caused by the desecration of the Fatherland echoed in his heart. Details about his activities become known only in 1611, when a letter from Patriarch Hermogenes or from the Trinity Lavra arrived in Nizhny Novgorod (exactly unknown). Minin was elected senior in organizing the Nizhny Novgorod militia. With an “iron hand,” he collected funds for the needs of the militia (each farm contributed 20% of its cost) and organized those who wanted to participate in the campaign against Moscow. After reading it, Archpriest Savva convinced the people to “stand for the faith,” but Minin’s passionate words turned out to be much more convincing: “We want to help the Moscow state, so we don’t spare our property, don’t spare anything, sell yards, pawn wives and children, beat him with our foreheads, who would stand up for the true Orthodox faith and be our boss.”

IN In 1611 the country was left without a government. The Poles captured the Kremlin, and the Boyar Duma was abolished by itself. The state, having lost its center, disintegrated into its component parts. By this time, the Swedes had captured Novgorod, and the Poles, after a months-long siege, had captured Smolensk. The Polish king Sigismund III announced that he himself would become the Russian Tsar, and Russia would become part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In the fall of 1611, the townsman of Nizhny Novgorod, Kozma Minin, addressed the Russian people and called on them to create a Second Militia. The owner of a decent capital for that time, the owner of two households, a meat merchant and a fish merchant, he always enjoyed the reputation of a man of impeccable honesty. His words are well known: “Orthodox people! If we want to help the state, we will not spare our bellies, and not just our bellies... we will sell our yards, we will pawn our wives and children... This is a great thing!.. I know: only we will rise to this, many cities will they will pester us, and we will get rid of the foreigners!”

Minin allocated a third of his property to organize the militia. In addition to voluntary donations, Minin proposed establishing a mandatory tax, and Nizhny Novgorod residents gave Minin the right to “impose fear on the lazy,” that is, to sell the yards of sheltering payers. The organization of the militia immediately stood on solid material foundations. All that remained was to find a worthy military leader.

At that time, Prince D. M. Pozharsky, who had barely recovered from his wounds, lived on his estate 120 versts from Nizhny. People said about him: “An honest man, who cares about the custom, who is skilled in such matters and who has not committed treason.” It was to him that envoys from Nizhny Novgorod arrived with a request to lead the militia.

The military core of the Second Militia was a well-organized and armed petty nobility. The townspeople also played a big role in it. Over time, Cossacks and then peasants began to join the militia. The soldiers of the Second People's Militia went into battle under a banner on which the motto was the words: “Get up, go, fight and win.”

They decided to go to Moscow through Yaroslavl. The people of Yaroslavl met Pozharsky with icons and offered all the property they had for the common cause. Here the militia stood for several months, replenished with newly arrived forces. A provisional government of Russia, the “Council of All the Land,” was created in Yaroslavl, a state body similar to the Zemsky Sobor. The clergy and boyars played a rather insignificant role in it. The vast majority in the “Council” belonged to the petty nobility and townspeople.

Prince Pozharsky was afraid to go to Moscow while the Cossacks remained there. As it turned out, not without reason: the leader of the Cossacks, I. Zarutsky, tried to organize an assassination attempt on Pozharsky by sending hired killers. The assassination attempt failed, and Zarutsky fled from Moscow in July 1612. A little later he joined forces with Marina Mnishek’s detachment. He tried to nominate her son to the throne, then led the peasant-Cossack movement in the Don and Volga region in 1613-1614. However, the Cossacks handed him over to the government, he was captured in Astrakhan and executed. Marina Mnishek was also extradited along with Zarutsky (she died in captivity). And her son and False Dmitry II were executed in Moscow, at the Serpukhov Gate.

Meanwhile, the Polish hetman Chodkiewicz was approaching Moscow with reinforced troops and provisions for the Poles holed up in the Kremlin. Moving towards Moscow slowly and carefully, on August 20, the militia of Minin and Pozharsky approached the city. On the approaches to the capital, he was joined by units of the First Militia led by Prince D. Trubetskoy. The Russian army stood along the wall of the White City to the Alekseevskaya Tower on the Moscow River. The main forces concentrated at the Arbat Gate. Khodkevich tried to cross the Moscow River at the Devichye Pole, but the Moscow archers repelled the attack, and the hetman stopped at the Donskoy Monastery.

The main battle took place a few days later in Zamoskvorechye. Khodkevich managed to reach Pyatnitskaya Street, and here a fierce battle with the Cossacks ensued. Minin at this time struck the two Lithuanian companies left in the rear, which decided the outcome of the battle. Khodkevich realized that the purpose with which he arrived in Moscow had not been achieved: he could not deliver food to the garrison. He ordered the rest of the carts to be saved and went to the Sparrow Hills. On the morning of August 25, 1612, the hetman fled from near Moscow “for the sake of his shame, straight to Lithuania.” The fate of the Polish garrison in the Moscow Kremlin, abandoned to the mercy of fate, was predetermined.

On September 15, Pozharsky sent a letter to the Poles besieged in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod, in which he urged them to surrender and promised to release the entire garrison unharmed. The Poles responded to this generous letter with an arrogant refusal, confident that the hetman would return. Meanwhile, weeks passed - there was no hetman, famine began. In October it reached terrifying proportions. All the horses, cats, dogs were eaten, people gnawed on their belts, and it reached the point of cannibalism. On October 22, Trubetskoy’s Cossacks attacked Kitay-Gorod. The hungry Poles were not able to defend themselves and went to the Kremlin. This day is considered the day of the liberation of Moscow from the invaders.

The icon of the Kazan Mother of God was solemnly brought into Kitai-gorod and they vowed to build a church, which was erected opposite the Nikolsky Gate of the Kremlin. In memory of the events of October 22, the feast of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was established. (This national holiday, established in memory of the end of one of the most tragic pages of Russian history, will henceforth be celebrated on November 4 according to the new style.)

On October 25, all the Kremlin gates stood wide open - Russian troops, preceded by a religious procession, entered the Kremlin.

After the liberation of Moscow, the leaders of the militia remained in power in the capital, and throughout Russia: Prince Trubetskoy - the head of the Cossack army, Prince Pozharsky and Minin. The government of the people's militia considered its most important task to be the restoration of state power and state unity. And in December, letters were sent to all cities of the country, notifying that the best and most intelligent people should be sent from everywhere to Moscow to elect the sovereign of all Rus'.

The collapse of the First Zemstvo Militia did not lead to the end of Russian resistance. By September 1611, a militia was formed in Nizhny Novgorod. It was headed by the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, who invited Prince Dmitry Pozharsky to command military operations. In February 1612, the Second Militia set out on a campaign to the capital.

Nizhny Novgorod

At the beginning of the 17th century, Nizhny Novgorod was one of the largest cities of the Russian kingdom. Having emerged as a border fortress of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' on its eastern border, it gradually lost its military significance, but acquired serious trade and craft significance. As a result, Nizhny Novgorod became an important administrative and economic center in the Middle Volga. In addition, in Nizhny there was a rather large and quite heavily armed “stone city”; its upper and lower settlements were protected by wooden forts with towers and a moat. The garrison of Nizhny Novgorod was relatively small. It consisted of approximately 750 archers, fodder foreigners (mercenaries) and serf servants - gunners, collars, zatinshchiki and state blacksmiths. However, this fortress could become the core of a more serious army.

Its important geographical location (it was located at the confluence of the two largest rivers of inland Russia - the Oka and the Volga) made Nizhny Novgorod a major trading center. In terms of its trade and economic significance, Nizhny Novgorod stood on a par with Smolensk, Pskov and Novgorod. In terms of its economic importance, it occupied sixth place among Russian cities at that time. So, if Moscow gave the royal treasury 12 thousand rubles in customs duties at the end of the 16th century, then Nizhny - 7 thousand rubles. The city of Rod was connected with the entire Volga river system and was part of the ancient Volga trade route. Fish from the Caspian Sea, furs from Siberia, fabrics and spices from distant Persia, and bread from the Oka River were brought to Nizhny Novgorod. Therefore, the main importance in the city was the trading area, in which there were up to two thousand households. There were also many artisans in the city, and in the river port there were workers (loaders and barge haulers). Nizhny Novgorod Posad, united into a zemstvo world headed by two elders, was the largest and most influential force in the city.

Thus, Nizhny Novgorod, in terms of its military-strategic position, economic and political significance, was one of the key points in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Russian state. It was not for nothing that the 16th century publicist Ivan Peresvetov advised Tsar Ivan the Terrible to move the capital to Nizhny Novgorod. It is not surprising that the city became the center of the people's liberation movement, which swept the Upper and Middle Volga regions and neighboring regions of Russia, and Nizhny Novgorod residents actively participated in the struggle for the liberation of the Russian state.

Nizhny Novgorod and Time of Troubles

During the Time of Troubles, Nizhny Novgorod was repeatedly threatened with ruin by the Poles and Tushins. At the end of 1606, large gangs appeared in the Nizhny Novgorod district and adjacent districts, which were engaged in robberies and outrages: they burned villages, robbed residents and drove them away into captivity. This “freedom” captured Alatyr and Arzamas in the winter of 1608, establishing its base there. Tsar Vasily Shuisky sent his commanders with troops to liberate Arzamas and other cities occupied by “thieves”. One of them, Prince Ivan Vorotynsky, defeated rebel detachments near Arzamas, took the city and cleared the areas adjacent to Arzamas.

With the arrival of False Dmitry II, various gangs became active again, especially since part of the boyars, Moscow and district nobility and the boyars' children went over to the side of the new impostor. The Mordovians, Chuvashs and Cheremis also rebelled. Many cities also went over to the side of the impostor and tried to persuade Nizhny Novgorod to do so. But Nizhny Novgorod stood firmly on the side of Tsar Shuisky and did not change his oath to him. Nizhny Novgorod residents never allowed enemies into the city. Moreover, Nizhny not only successfully defended itself, but also sent its army to help other cities and supported Skopin-Shuisky’s campaign.

So, when at the end of 1608 the residents of the city of Balakhna, betraying their oath to Tsar Shuisky, attacked Nizhny Novgorod, governor Andrei Alyabyev, following the verdict of the Nizhny Novgorod residents, struck the enemy, and on December 3, after a fierce battle, he occupied Balakhna. The rebel leaders were captured and hanged. Alyabyev, barely having time to return to Nizhny, again entered the fight with a new enemy detachment that attacked the city on December 5. Having defeated this detachment, the Nizhny Novgorod residents took Vorsma.

At the beginning of January 1609, Nizhny was attacked by the troops of False Dmitry II under the command of the governor Prince Semyon Vyazemsky and Timofey Lazarev. Vyazemsky sent a letter to the people of Nizhny Novgorod, in which he wrote that if the city did not surrender, then all the townspeople would be exterminated and the city would be burned to the ground. The Nizhny Novgorod residents did not give an answer, but decided to make a sortie themselves, despite the fact that the enemy had more troops. Thanks to the surprise of the attack, the troops of Vyazemsky and Lazarev were defeated, and they themselves were captured and sentenced to hang. Then Alyabyev liberated Murom from the rebels, where he remained as a royal governor, and Vladimir.

The people of Nizhny Novgorod waged an even more active struggle against the Polish troops of King Sigismund III. Simultaneously with Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod called on all Russians to liberate Moscow. It is interesting that letters with such appeals were sent out not only on behalf of the governors, but also on behalf of the townspeople. The importance of urban settlements in the fight against enemy intervention and internal unrest has increased significantly. On February 17, 1611, earlier than others, the Nizhny Novgorod squads marched to Moscow and bravely fought under its walls as part of the First Zemstvo Militia.

The failure of the first militia did not break the will of the Nizhny Novgorod residents to resist; on the contrary, they became even more convinced of the need for unity for complete victory. Nizhny Novgorod residents maintained constant contact with Moscow through their spies - the boyar son Roman Pakhomov and the townsman Rodion Moseev. They penetrated the capital and obtained the necessary information. Nizhny Novgorod spies even managed to establish contact with Patriarch Hermogenes, who was languishing in the Kremlin in an underground cell of the Chudov Monastery. Gonsevsky, embittered by the fact that the patriarch denounced the interventionists and their henchmen, called on the Russian people to fight and, not daring to openly deal with Hermogenes, sentenced him to death by starvation. Once a week, only a sheaf of unthreshed oats and a bucket of water were given to the imprisoned for food. However, this did not humble the Russian patriot. From the underground dungeon, Hermogenes continued to send out his letters calling for the fight against the invaders. These letters also reached Nizhny Novgorod.

Minin

From Nizhny, in turn, letters were distributed throughout the country with a call to unite to fight a common enemy. In this strong city, the determination of the people to take the fate of the dying country into their own hands was maturing. It was necessary to inspire the people, to instill in people confidence in victory, and a willingness to make any sacrifices. People were needed who had high personal qualities and such an understanding of what was happening to lead the popular movement. A simple Russian man from Nizhny Novgorod, Kuzma Minin, became such a leader, a national hero.

Little is known about Minin's origins. However, it is known for sure that the version about the non-Russian origin of K. Minin (“baptized Tatar”) is a myth. On September 1, 1611, Minin was elected to the zemstvo eldership. “The husband is not famous by birth,” notes the chronicler, “but he is wise, intelligent and pagan in meaning.” The people of Nizhny Novgorod were able to appreciate Minin’s high human qualities when they nominated Sukhoruk to such an important post. The position of zemstvo elder was very honorable and responsible. He was in charge of collecting taxes and administered court in the settlement, and had great power. The townspeople had to obey the zemstvo elder “in all worldly matters,” and he had the right to force those who did not obey. Minin was a “favorite” person in Nizhny for his honesty and justice. Great organizational talent, love for the Motherland and ardent hatred of the invaders promoted him to the “fathers” of the Second Zemstvo Militia. He became the soul of the new militia.

Minin began his exhortations to “help the Moscow state” both in the “zemstvo hut”, and at the market where his shop stood, and near his house in ordinary meetings of neighbors, and at gatherings where letters that came to Nizhny Novgorod were read to the townspeople, etc. .d. In October 1611, Minin appealed to Nizhny Novgorod residents to create a people's militia to fight foreigners. At the sound of the alarm, people came to the Transfiguration Cathedral for a gathering. Here Kuzma Minin made his famous speech, in which he convinced the people of Nizhny Novgorod not to spare anything for the defense of their native country: “Orthodox people, we want to help the Moscow state, we will not spare our bellies, and not just our bellies - we will sell our yards, we will pawn our wives and children and we will beat brow, so that someone becomes our boss. And what praise will all of us receive from the Russian land that such a great thing will happen from such a small city as ours. I know that as soon as we move towards this, many cities will come to us, and we will get rid of the foreigners.”

Kuzma Minin's ardent appeal received the warmest response from Nizhny Novgorod residents. On his advice, the townspeople gave “third money,” that is, a third of their property, for the militia. Donations were made voluntarily. One rich widow, out of 12 thousand rubles she had, donated 10 thousand - a huge amount at that time, striking the imagination of Nizhny Novgorod residents. Minin himself donated not only “his entire treasury” to the needs of the militia, but also silver and gold frames from icons and his wife’s jewelry. “You all should do the same,” he told the Posad. However, voluntary contributions alone were not enough. Therefore, a forced collection of “fifth money” was announced from all Nizhny Novgorod residents: each of them had to contribute a fifth of their income from fishing and trading activities. The money collected was to be used to distribute salaries to serving people.

Peasants, townspeople and nobles volunteered to join the Nizhny Novgorod militia. Minin introduced a new order in the organization of the militia: the militia were given a salary that was not equal. Depending on their military training and military merits, the militias were divided into four salaries. Those on the first salary received 50 rubles a year, on the second - 45, on the third - 40, on the fourth - 35 rubles. A cash salary for all militia members, regardless of whether they were a townsman noble or a peasant, made everyone formally equal. It was not nobility of origin, but skill, military abilities, and devotion to the Russian land that were the qualities by which Minin assessed a person.

Kuzma Minin not only himself was attentive and sensitive to every soldier who joined the militia, but also demanded the same from all commanders. He invited a detachment of serving Smolensk nobles into the militia, who, after the fall of Smolensk, not wanting to serve the Polish king, abandoned their estates and went to the Arzamas district. The residents of Nizhny Novgorod greeted the arriving Smolensk soldiers very warmly and provided them with everything they needed.

With the full consent of all residents and city authorities of Nizhny Novgorod, on the initiative of Minin, the “Council of the Whole Earth” was created, which became by its nature the provisional government of the Russian state. It included the best people of the Volga region cities and some representatives of local authorities. With the help of the “Council”, Minin recruited warriors into the militia and resolved other issues. The residents of Nizhny Novgorod unanimously bestowed on him the title “elected person by the whole earth.”

Minin's appeal to the people of Nizhny Novgorod in 1611. M. I. Peskov

Commander of the Second Militia

An extremely important question was: how to find a governor who would lead the zemstvo militia? Nizhny Novgorod residents did not want to deal with local governors. Okolnichy Prince Vasily Zvenigorodsky was not distinguished by military talents, and was related to Mikhail Saltykov, hetman Gonsevsky’s henchman. He received the rank of okolnik by charter from Sigismund III, and was appointed to the Nizhny Novgorod voivodeship by Trubetskoy and Zarutsky. There was no trust in such a person.

The second governor, Andrei Alyabyev, fought skillfully and served faithfully, but was known only in his own, Nizhny Novgorod, district. The townspeople wanted a skilled governor, not marked by “flights”, and known among the people. Finding such a governor in these troubled times, when the transitions of governors and nobles from one camp to another became commonplace, was not easy. Then Kuzma Minin proposed to elect Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky as governor.

Nizhny Novgorod residents and militias approved his candidacy. A lot spoke in favor of the prince: he was far from the corrupt ruling elite, did not have a Duma rank, and was a simple steward. He failed to make a court career, but he distinguished himself more than once on the battlefield. In 1608, being a regimental commander, he defeated the Tushin troops near Kolomna; in 1609 he defeated the gangs of Ataman Salkov; in 1610, during the dissatisfaction of the Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov with Tsar Shuisky, he kept the city of Zaraysk in allegiance to the tsar. Then he defeated the Polish detachment sent against Lyapunov and the “thieves’” Cossacks, who tried to take Zaraisk. He was faithful to his oath and did not bow to foreigners. The fame of the prince's heroic deeds during the Moscow uprising in the spring of 1611 reached Nizhny Novgorod. The residents of Nizhny Novgorod also liked such traits of the prince as honesty, selflessness, fairness in making decisions, decisiveness and balance in his actions. In addition, he was nearby, he lived on his estate just 120 versts from Nizhny. Dmitry Mikhailovich was undergoing treatment after severe wounds received in battles with enemies. The wound on his leg was especially difficult to heal - the lameness remained for life. As a result, Pozharsky received the nickname Lame.

To invite Prince Dmitry Pozharsky to the voivodeship, Nizhny Novgorod residents sent an honorary embassy to the village of Mugreevo, Suzdal district. There is information that before and after this Minin visited him several times, together they discussed issues of organizing the Second Zemstvo Militia. Nizhny Novgorod residents went to him “many times so that I could go to Nizhny for the zemstvo council,” the prince himself noted. As was customary then, Pozharsky refused the offer from Nizhny Novgorod for a long time. The prince understood perfectly well that before deciding on such an honorable and responsible task, it was necessary to think carefully about this issue. In addition, Pozharsky wanted from the very beginning to receive the powers of a great governor, to be commander-in-chief.

In the end, Dmitry Pozharsky, who had not yet fully recovered from his wounds, gave his consent. But he also set the condition that the residents of Nizhny Novgorod themselves choose from among the townspeople a person who would join him at the head of the militia and deal with the “rear.” And he proposed Kuzma Minin for this position. That's what they decided on. Thus, in the zemstvo militia, Prince Pozharsky took on the military function, and the “elected person by the whole earth” Kuzma Minin-Sukhoruk began to manage the army’s economy and the militia treasury. At the head of the second zemstvo militia were two people elected by the people and invested with their trust - Minin and Pozharsky.

"Minin and Pozharsky." Painter M. I. Scotti

Militia organization

At the end of October 1611, Prince Pozharsky with a small retinue arrived in Nizhny Novgorod and, together with Minin, began organizing the people's militia. They developed vigorous activity to create an army that was supposed to liberate Moscow from the invaders and begin the expulsion of the interventionists from Russian soil. Minin and Pozharsky understood that they could solve such a great task facing them only by relying on the “nationwide multitude.”

Minin showed great firmness and determination in raising funds. Minin demanded that the militia tax collectors not make concessions to the rich, and not unfairly oppress the poor. Despite the general taxation of Nizhny Novgorod residents, there was still not enough money to provide the militias with everything they needed. We had to resort to forced loans from residents of other cities. The taxation was imposed on the clerks of the richest merchants, the Stroganovs, merchants from Moscow, Yaroslavl and other cities connected by trade with Nizhny Novgorod. By creating the militia, its leaders began to show their strength and power far beyond the borders of the Nizhny Novgorod district. Letters were sent to Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kazan and other cities. A letter sent out on behalf of the Nizhny Novgorod militia to residents of other cities said: “From all the cities of the Moscow state, nobles and boyar children were near Moscow, Polish and Lithuanian people were besieged by a strong siege, but a stream of nobles and boyar children from near Moscow dispersed for a temporary sweets, for robbery and kidnapping. But now we, all kinds of people of Nizhny Novgorod, having exiled ourselves to Kazan and all the cities of the lower and Volga regions, having gathered with many military people, seeing the final ruin of the Moscow state, asking God for mercy, we are all going with our heads to help the Moscow state. Yes, people from Smolensk, Dorogobuzhan and Vetchan came to us in Nizhny from Arzamas... and we, all sorts of people of Nizhny Novgorod, having consulted among ourselves, decided: to share our bellies and houses with them, to give a salary and help, and to send them to help the Moscow to the state."

The Volga region cities responded to the call of Nizhny Novgorod in different ways. Small towns such as Balakhna and Gorokhovets immediately got involved. Kazan reacted to this call rather coolly at first. Its “sovereign people” believed that “royal Kazan, the main city of the Ponizov region,” should take precedence. As a result, the core of the militia, along with Nizhny Novgorod residents, became the service people of the border regions who arrived in the vicinity of Arzamas after the fall of Smolensk - Smolyan, Belyan, Dorogobuzhan, Vyazmichi, Brenchan, Roslavtsy and others. About 2 thousand of them gathered, and all of them were experienced fighters who had participated in battles more than once. Subsequently, nobles from Ryazan and Kolomna, as well as service people, Cossacks and archers from the “Ukrainian cities” who sat in Moscow under Tsar Vasily Shuisky, came to Nizhny.

Having learned about the formation of the Second Militia in Nizhny Novgorod and not being able to counteract it, the concerned Poles turned to Patriarch Hermogenes demanding that he condemn the “traitors.” The Patriarch refused to do this. He cursed the Moscow boyars who turned to him on Gonsevsky’s instructions as “damned traitors.” As a result, he was starved to death. On February 17, 1612, Hermogenes died.

The leaders of the second militia needed to resolve the issue of the remnant of the First militia. The leaders of the Cossack freemen, Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, still had significant strength. As a result, since December 1611, two provisional governments operated in Russia: the “Council of All the Land” of the Moscow Cossacks, led by Ataman Ivan Zarutsky, and the “Council of the Whole Land” in Nizhny Novgorod. Between these two centers of power there was a struggle not only for influence on local governors and for income, but also over the question of what to do next. Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, with the support of the rich and influential Trinity-Sergius Monastery, proposed to lead the militia to Moscow as quickly as possible. They feared the rapid growth of power and influence of the Nizhny Novgorod army. And they planned to take a dominant position near Moscow. However, the “Council of All the Earth” of Nizhny Novgorod considered it necessary to wait in order to properly prepare for the campaign. This was the line of Minin and Pozharsky.

The relationship between the two centers of power became openly hostile after Trubetskoy and Zarutsky began negotiations with the Pskov impostor Sidorka (False Dmitry III), to whom they eventually swore allegiance. True, they soon had to abandon their “kissing of the godfather,” since such an act did not find support among ordinary Cossacks and was sharply condemned by Minin and Pozharsky.

Start of the hike

After hard work, by the beginning of February 1612, the Nizhny Novgorod militia was already an impressive force and reached 5 thousand soldiers. Despite the fact that the work on the military structure of the Second Militia had not yet been completely completed, Pozharsky and Minin realized that they could no longer wait and decided to start the campaign. Initially, the shortest route was chosen - from Nizhny Novgorod through Gorokhovets, Suzdal to Moscow.

The moment for the attack was convenient. The Polish garrison located in Moscow experienced great difficulties, especially an acute shortage of food. Hunger forced most of the Polish garrison to leave the devastated city to the surrounding counties in search of food. Out of 12 thousand There were approximately 4,000 enemy troops left in the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod. garrison weakened by hunger. The most selected detachments of Polish thugs under the command of Hetman Chodkiewicz were located in the village of Rogachevo near the city of Dmitrov; Sapieha's detachment was in the city of Rostov. There was no help from Sigismund III for the besieged garrison. But the “Seven Boyars” did not represent any real military force. Thus, this was the most convenient time for the liberation of Moscow.

Voivode Dmitry Pozharsky drew up a plan for the liberation campaign. The idea was to take advantage of the fragmentation of the interventionist forces and break them up piece by piece. At first it was planned to cut off the detachments of Khodkiewicz and Sapieha from Moscow, and then defeat the besieged Polish garrison of Gonsevsky and liberate the capital. Pozharsky hoped for help from the Cossack “camps” near Moscow (remnants of the First Militia).

However, Ataman Zarutsky began open hostile actions. He decided to capture a number of large cities in North-Eastern Rus' and thereby prevent Nizhny Novgorod residents from entering there and maintain his sphere of influence. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of the Great Detachment of Sapieha from Rostov, Zarutsky in February ordered his Cossacks to capture Yaroslavl, a strategically important Volga city. The Cossack detachment of Ataman Prosovetsky was supposed to head there from Vladimir.

As soon as Zarutsky’s actions became known, Minin and Pozharsky were forced to change the original plan for the liberation campaign. They decided to move up the Volga, occupy Yaroslavl, bypassing the devastated areas where the Cossack detachments of Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, located near Moscow, were operating, and unite the forces that rose up against the interventionists. Zarutsky's Cossacks were the first to break into Yaroslavl. The townspeople asked Pozharsky for help. The prince sent detachments of his relatives, princes Dmitry Lopata Pozharsky and Roman Pozharsky. They quickly occupied Yaroslavl and Suzdal, taking the Cossacks by surprise and did not allow Prosovetsky’s troops there. Prosovetsky’s detachment, which was on the way to Yaroslavl, had no choice but to turn back to the camps near Moscow. He did not accept the fight.

Having received news from Lopata-Pozharsky that Yaroslavl was in the hands of Nizhny Novgorod, Minin and Pozharsky at the beginning of March 1612 gave the order to the militia to set out from Nizhny Novgorod on a campaign to liberate the capital of the Russian state. The militia entered Yaroslavl in early April 1612. Here the militia stood for four months, until the end of July 1612.

– Tsarevo Zaimishche – Klushino – Mozhaisk – Moscow (1611) – Volokolamsk - Moscow (1612)- Moscow Battle

Second People's (Nizhny Novgorod) Militia, second zemstvo militia- a militia that arose in September 1611 in Nizhny Novgorod to fight the Polish invaders. It continued to be actively formed during the journey from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, mainly in Yaroslavl in April - July 1612. Consisted of detachments of townspeople, peasants of the central and northern regions of Russia, and non-Russian peoples of the Volga region. The leaders are Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. In August 1612, with part of the forces remaining near Moscow from the First Militia, it defeated the Polish army near Moscow, and in October 1612, it completely liberated the capital.

Prerequisites for the creation of the second militia

The initiative to organize the Second People's Militia came from the crafts and trade people of Nizhny Novgorod, an important economic and administrative center in the Middle Volga. At that time, about 150 thousand male people lived in the Nizhny Novgorod district, there were up to 30 thousand households in 600 villages. In Nizhny itself there were about 3.5 thousand male residents, of which about 2.0–2.5 thousand were townspeople.

Disastrous situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region

Nizhny Novgorod, due to its strategic location, economic and political significance, was one of the key points in the eastern and southeastern regions of Russia. In conditions of weakening of the central government and the rule of the interventionists, this city became the initiator of a nationwide patriotic movement that swept the Upper and Middle Volga regions and neighboring regions of the country. It should be noted that Nizhny Novgorod residents joined the liberation struggle several years before the formation of the second militia.

They used Greek manuscripts for cooking, having found a large and priceless collection of them in the Kremlin archives. By boiling the parchment, they extracted from it vegetable glue, which deceived their painful hunger.

When these sources dried up, they dug up the corpses, then began to kill their captives, and with the intensification of feverish delirium they came to the point that they began to devour each other; this is a fact that is not subject to the slightest doubt: eyewitness Budzilo reports incredibly terrible details about the last days of the siege that he could not have invented... Budzilo names individuals, notes numbers: the lieutenant and haiduk each ate two of their sons; another officer ate his mother! The strong took advantage of the weak, and the healthy took advantage of the sick. They quarreled over the dead, and the most amazing ideas about justice were mixed with the discord generated by cruel madness. One soldier complained that people from another company ate his relative, when in fairness he and his comrades should have eaten it. The accused referred to the regiment's rights to the corpse of a fellow soldier, and the colonel did not dare to stop this feud, fearing that the losing party might eat the judge out of revenge for the verdict.

Pozharsky offered the besieged a free exit with banners and weapons, but without looted treasures. They preferred to feed on prisoners and each other, but did not want to part with their money. Pozharsky and his regiment stood on the Stone Bridge at the Trinity Gate of the Kremlin to meet the boyar families and protect them from the Cossacks. On October 26, the Poles surrendered and left the Kremlin. Budilo and his regiment fell into Pozharsky’s camp, and everyone remained alive. Later they were sent to Nizhny Novgorod. Coward and his regiment fell to Trubetskoy, and the Cossacks exterminated all the Poles. On October 27, the ceremonial entry into the Kremlin of the troops of princes Pozharsky and Trubetskoy was scheduled. When the troops gathered at Lobnoye Mesto, Archimandrite Dionysius of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery performed a solemn prayer service in honor of the victory of the militia. After which, to the ringing of bells, the winners, accompanied by the people, entered the Kremlin with banners and banners.

: In 25 hours / under supervision

Second People's Militia

Second folk or second zemstvo militia- arose in September 1611 in Nizhny Novgorod to fight the Polish invaders. It continued to be actively formed during the journey from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, mainly in Yaroslavl in April - July 1612. Consisted of detachments of townspeople and peasants from the central and northern regions of Russia. The leaders are Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. In August 1612, with part of the forces remaining near Moscow from the First Militia, it defeated the Polish army near Moscow, and in October 1612, it completely liberated the capital from occupation by the interventionists.

The initiative to organize the Second People's Militia came from the crafts and trade people of Nizhny Novgorod, an important economic and administrative center in the Middle Volga. At that time, about 150 thousand males lived in the Nizhny Novgorod district (in Nizhny itself there were about 3.5 thousand male residents, of which about 2-2.5 thousand were townspeople), there were up to 30 thousand households in 600 villages.

Disastrous situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region

Nizhny Novgorod, due to its strategic location, economic and political significance, was one of the key points in the eastern and southeastern regions of Russia. In conditions of weakening of the central government and the rule of the interventionists, this city became the initiator of a nationwide patriotic movement that swept the Upper and Middle Volga regions and neighboring regions of the country. Nizhny Novgorod residents joined the liberation struggle several years before the formation of the second militia.

Hike up the Volga

The second militia set out for Moscow from Nizhny Novgorod at the end of February - beginning of March 1612 through Balakhna, Timonkino, Sitskoye, Yuryevets, Reshma, Kineshma, Kostroma, Yaroslavl. In Balakhna and Yuryevets, the militias were greeted with great honor. They received replenishment and a large cash treasury. In Reshma, Pozharsky learned about the oath of Pskov and the Cossack leaders Trubetskoy and Zarutsky to the new impostor, the fugitive monk Isidore. Kostroma governor Ivan Sheremetev did not want to let the militia into the city. Having removed Sheremetev and appointed a new governor in Kostroma, the militia entered Yaroslavl in early April 1612.

Capital in Yaroslavl

The militia remained in Yaroslavl for four months, until the end of July 1612. Here the composition of the government - the “Council of the Whole Earth” - was finally determined. It also included representatives of noble princely families - the Dolgorukys, Kurakins, Buturlins, Sheremetevs and others. The Council was headed by Pozharsky and Minin. Since Minin was illiterate, Pozharsky signed the letters instead: “Prince Dmitry Pozharsky put his hand in Minin’s place as an elected person with all the land in Kozmino.” The certificates were signed by all members of the “Council of the Whole Earth”. And since at that time localism was strictly observed, Pozharsky’s signature was in tenth place, and Minin’s in fifteenth.

In Yaroslavl, the militia government continued to pacify cities and counties, liberating them from Polish-Lithuanian detachments and from Zarutsky’s Cossacks, depriving the latter of material and military assistance from the eastern, northeastern and northern regions. At the same time, it took diplomatic steps to neutralize Sweden, which had seized the Novgorod lands, through negotiations on the candidacy for the Russian throne of Charles Philip, brother of the Swedish king Gustav Adolf. At the same time, Prince Pozharsky held diplomatic negotiations with Joseph Gregory, the ambassador of the German emperor, about the emperor’s assistance to the militia in liberating the country. In return, he offered Pozharsky the emperor’s cousin, Maximilian, as Russian tsar. These two claimants to the Russian throne were subsequently rejected.

The “stand” in Yaroslavl and the measures taken by the “Council of the Whole Earth”, Minin and Pozharsky themselves, yielded results. A large number of lower and Moscow region towns with counties, Pomorie and Siberia joined the Second Militia. Government institutions functioned: under the “Council of the Whole Land” there were the Local, Razryadny, and Ambassadorial orders. Order was gradually established over an increasingly large territory of the state. Gradually, with the help of militia detachments, it was cleared of gangs of thieves. The militia army already numbered up to ten thousand warriors, well armed and trained. The militia authorities were also involved in everyday administrative and judicial work (appointing governors, maintaining discharge books, analyzing complaints, petitions, etc.). All this gradually stabilized the situation in the country and led to a revival of economic activity.

At the beginning of the month, the militia received news of the advance of the twelve thousandth detachment of the Great Hetman of Lithuania Chodkevich with a large convoy towards Moscow. Pozharsky and Minin immediately sent detachments of Mikhail Dmitriev and Prince Lopata-Pozharsky to the capital, which approached Moscow on July 24 and August 2, respectively. Having learned about the arrival of the militia, Zarutsky and his Cossack detachment fled to Kolomna, and then to Astrakhan, since before that he had sent assassins to Prince Pozharsky, but the assassination attempt failed, and Zarutsky’s plans were revealed.

Fight of militias with the troops of Hetman Khodkevich

After a respite on August 23, the militia of Prince Pozharsky again entered into battle with the troops of Hetman Khodkevich, and again Prince Trubetskoy did not help Pozharsky, as a result of which the Poles occupied the Klimentovsky fortress and captured the Cossacks who were there. Seeing this state of affairs, the cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Abraham Palitsyn, who came with the militia to Moscow, went to the Cossacks’ camp, promised to pay them a salary from the monastery treasury, and only after that the Cossacks came to the aid of the militia.

On August 24, a decisive bloody battle between the militia and the Poles took place. The battle lasted about fourteen hours. Kuzma Minin also showed valor, who, with a small detachment of mounted militia, suddenly attacked the advanced detachments of the Poles and sowed panic in their ranks. Under the onslaught of the main forces of the militia and Trubetskoy’s Cossacks who came to their aid, Khodkevich’s army wavered and fled. After standing all night near the Donskoy Monastery, the remnants of Khodkevich’s army left Moscow on the morning of August 25.

Liberation of Moscow

However, not all of Moscow was liberated from the invaders. There were still Polish detachments of Colonels Strus and Budila, entrenched in Kitai-Gorod and the Kremlin. The traitorous boyars and their families also took refuge in the Kremlin. The future Russian sovereign Mikhail Romanov, who was still little known at that time, was in the Kremlin with his mother Marfa Ivanovna. Knowing that the besieged Poles were suffering terrible hunger, Pozharsky at the end of September 1612 sent them a letter in which he invited the Polish knighthood to surrender. “Your heads and lives will be spared,” he wrote, “I will take this on my soul and ask all military men to agree to this.” To which an arrogant and boastful response followed from the Polish colonels with a refusal to Pozharsky’s proposal.

Expulsion of Poles from the Kremlin. E. Lissner

Pozharsky offered the besieged a free exit with banners and weapons, but without looted treasures. They preferred to feed on prisoners and each other, but did not want to part with their money. Pozharsky and his regiment stood on the Stone Bridge at the Trinity Gate of the Kremlin to meet the boyar families and protect them from the Cossacks. On October 26 (November 5), the Poles surrendered and left the Kremlin. Budilo and his regiment ended up in Pozharsky’s camp, and everyone remained alive. Later they were sent to Nizhny Novgorod. Coward and his regiment fell to Trubetskoy, and the Cossacks exterminated all the Poles. October 27 (November 6) was scheduled for the ceremonial entry into the Kremlin of the troops of princes Pozharsky and Trubetskoy. When the troops gathered at