¥ÒIvan
the TerribleÓ - Ivan IV (1533-1584)
–ÒTsar of All the RussiasÓ (1547)
–First conquest of non-Russian lands:
–blocked by:
– Swedes
to northwest
– united
Poland-Lithuania to the west and southwest
– Black
Sea Tatars to south
– Tatars
to east
–Dismal failures to the west – spectacular
successes in the east
–Invaded Livonia (roughly modern Estonia and Latvia) in
1558
–Protracted war with Sweden, Poland & Lithuania until
1583
–Lost Russian possessions on Gulf of Finland, western
shore of Lake Ladoga
–In east: Tatar khanates (kingdoms) disintegrated were
easy pray:
– KazanÕ –
central Volga 1552
– AstrakhanÕ –
mouth of Volga 1556
– built
fortresses – Samara (Kuybyshev in Soviet times), Saratov, Voronezh
&
– Tsaritsyn
(Stalingrad, Volgograd) 1586-1590
–Significance: valuable steppe farm land & access to
Caspian Sea
–