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Dimitriads)
Dymitriads (Polish Dymitriady) is the name for the series of wars (1605-1618) between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovyn forces during the Russian civil war (known as the Time of Troubles (1606-13)). Commonwealth forces attempted to exploit Russian weakness and intervened in its civil war, supporting tsar pretenders False Dmitri I and False Dmitri II (hence the Polish name of the war, the Dymitriads). The conflict begun in 1605 when the first False Dmitri was supported by several Commonwealth magnates, and was renewed in 1609 when the Commonwealth king Sigismund III decided to personally seize the Russian throne for his son. The war ended in 1618, with Commonwealth gaining territorial concessions but not being able to retain control over Moscow, which defended its independence.
The war is often referred to with other names: the Polish-Muscovy or the Polish-Russian War of 1605-1618. It is also divided into the First Dymitriad (1605-1606) and Second Dymitriad (1607-1609) and the Polish-Muscovy War (1609-1618).
Lead up to the war
In the late 16th century and early 17th century Muscovy was in political and economic crisis. After the death of tsar Ivan IV Grozny in 1584, and the presumed death of his son Dimitri in 1591, several factions competed for the tsar throne. In 1598 the throne was seized by Boris Godunov, likely the orchestrator of Dimitri's assassination. Godunov, however, did not manage to crush all opposition.
In 1602 king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sigismund III, signed a truce with Muscovy, that was supposed to last for 20 years. But as the situation in Muscovy deteriorated, Sigismund and many Commonwealth magnates begun to look for a way to profit from the chaos and weakness of its eastern neighbour.
The First Dymitriad (1605-1606)
Main article: False Dmitri I
Although Sigismund III was soon occupied with the civil war of his own in the Commonwealth (the rokosz of Zebrzydowski ), False Dmitiri I found enough support among magnates like Michal Wisniowiecki and Jan Sapieha to get funds for a campaign against Godunov. Commonwealth magnates looked forward to material gains from the campaign and control over Dmitri, who in the meantime married Marina Mniszech, Polish noblewoman, daughter of Jerzy Mniszech.
When Boris Godunov heard about the pretender, he claimed that the man was just a runaway monk called Grigory Otrepyev (born Yury Otrepyev; Grigory was the name given at the monastery), although on what information he based this claim is unclear. Regardless, his support began to wane, especially when he tried to spread counter-rumours. Some of the Russian boyars also claimed to accept Dmitry's claim. Such a support gave them legitimate reasons not to pay taxes to Godunov.
Dmitry attracted a number of followers, formed a small army and supported by approximately 3500 soldiers of Commonwealth magnate's private armies rode to Russia on June 1604. Enemies of Godunov, including the southern Cossacks, joined his forces on his way to Moscow. Dmitry's forces fought two engagements with reluctant Russian soldiers; they won the first capturing Chernigov, Putivl , Sevsk , and Kursk but badly lost the second and nearly disintegrated. Dimitri's cause was only saved by the news of the death of Tsar Boris.
The sudden death of Tsar Boris Godunov (April 13, 1605) removed the last barrier to the further progress of the pretender. Russian troops begun to defect to Dmitry's side and on June 1 boyars in Moscow imprisoned the newly-crowned tsar, Feodor II, and his mother and later brutally murdered them. On the 20 June the impostor made his triumphal entry into Moscow, and on the 21st of July he was crowned tsar by a new patriarch of his own choosing, the Greek Isidore.
The boyars, headed by Prince Vasily Shuisky, began to plot against him, accusing him of homosexuality, spreading Roman Catholicism, being influenced by Polish and other foreigners and other vices and other vices. They gained popular support, especially as Dmitrii was supported by Commonwealth forces, who still garrisoned Moscow, often engaging in various criminal acts and angering the local population.
At the morning of May 17 1606, about two weeks after the marriage, conspirators stormed the Kremlin. Dmitry tried to flee through a window but broke his leg in the fall. One of the plotters shot him dead on the spot. At first the body was put on display, then cremated and the ashes were shot from a cannon towards Poland. Dmitry's reign had lasted a mere ten months. Vasili Shuisky took his place as Tsar. Many Commonwealth supporters of Dmitri were either killed (~500), imprisoned or forced to leave Muscovy.
The Second Dymitriad (1607-1609)
Vasili reign would be far from stable. The civil war raged on, as in 1607 the False Dmitrii II appeared, again supported by some Polish magnates and 'recognized' by Marina Mniszech as her first husband.
Polish-Muscovy War (1609-1618)
In 1609 the rokosz of Zebrzydowski in the Commonwealth has ended. When tsar Vasili signed a military alliance with Sweden that year, the Commonwealth king Sigismund III, whose primary goal was to regain the Swedish throne, decided to declare war on Muscovy. He viewed it as an excellent opportunity to expand Commonwealth territories and sphere of influence and with hopes that the eventual outcome of the war would Catholicize the Orthodox Russia (in this he was strongly supported by Vatican) and allow him to defeat Sweden. This plan also allowed him to give a purpose to the numerous restless former supporters of Zebrzydowski, luring them with promises of wealth and fame awaiting members of the campaign beyond the Commonwealth eastern border. A book published that year by Paweł Palczwski, Kolęda moskiewska, compared Muscovy to the Indian empires of the New World, full of golden cities and easy to conquer.
Commonwealth army crossed the border and laid siege to Smolensk in September 1609, and Sigismund tried to place his son Wladyslaw on the Muscovite throne. The arrival of King Sigismund III at Smolensk caused majority of Polish supporters of False Dmitri II to desert him and contributed to his defeat.
Combined Russian and Swedish forces tried to lift the siege but were defeated at the battle of Kluszyn, where 5,000 Polish elite cavalry, the hussars under hetman Stanislaw Żółkiewski, defeated the numerically superior Russian army of about 35,000 soldiers.
Not all Commonwealth attacks were successful. An early attack, led by hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz with 2,000 men, ended in defeat when unpaid Commonwealth army mutinied and compelled their leader to retreat through the heart of Russia to Smolensk. Not till the crown prince, Władysław arrived with tardy reinforcements did the war assume a different character.
In August 1610 many Muscovite boyars accepted that Sigismund III was victorious and Wladyslaw could become the next tsar if he converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. Boyars opened Moscow gates to the Polish troops, Shuyski's family including the tsars were captured and the Moscow Kremlin was garrisoned by Polish troops commanded by Aleksander Gosiewski . However soon Sigismund III changed his mind and decided that he himself could gain the Russian throne. This was opposed by majority of the Russians, especially as Sigismund didn't hide his intent to Catholicize Muscovy and the war soon resumed.
Commonwealth troops were at first successful, occupied Smolensk and for a time even Moscow itself. Sigismund and Wladylaw left the city for a safer ground, as tensions grew. In 1611 an uprising in Moscow against the Polish garrison marked the end of Russian tolerance for Commonwealth intervention. Polish troops defeated the first wave of attacks, which resulted in a large fire consuming part of Moscow. From July the situation of the Commonwealth forces became grave, as the uprising turned into a a siege of the Polish-held Kremlin. Russian reinforcements under prince Dymitr Pożarski eventually starved the Commonwealth garrison (there were reports of cannibalism) and forced its surrender on the 1 November. Although the Commonwealth negotiated a safe passage, the Russian forces massacred most of the former Kremlin garrison forces as they left the fortress.
Thus the Russian army recaptured Moscow, and in 1613 the Zemsky Sobor ("assembly of the land") named Michael Romanov the new tsar.
Sigismund's final attempt to gain the throne was a new campaign launched in 1617. Chodkiewicz was victorious this time and took the fortress of Drohobycz (Dorohobuzh). Those were the last spasms of the war. Peace treaty was signed in 1618.
Aftermath
In the end, Sigismund did not succeed in becoming tsar or securing it for Wladyslaw, but was able to expand the Commonwealth territories. In 1618 the Truce of Deulino (Dywilino), which concluded the Dymitriad's war, gave the Commonwealth control over some conquered territories, including the city of Smolensk and proclaimed a 15-year truce. Wladyslaw refused to relinquish his claim to the Russian throne, even though Sigismund had already done so.
In 1632 the Truce of Deulino expired, and hostilities were immediately resumed in the course of a conflict known as the Smolensk War. This time the war was started by the Russians, trying to exploit the Commonwealth's suspected weakness after Sigismund III's death. However they failed to regain Smolensk and accepted the Treaty of Polanowo in 1634. The Russians had to pay 20,000 roubles to the Poles, but Wladyslaw recognized Michael as the legitimate tsar of Russia and gave up his claim to the Kremlin, returning Russian royal insignia as well.
See also
Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
