A history of Russia

XVII

THE REIGNS OF MICHAEL, 1613-45, ALEXIS, 1645-76, AND THEODORE, 1676-82

The seventeenth century cannot be separated either from the preceding or the succeeding epoch. It is the continuation and the result of the past just as it is the preparation for the future. It is essentially an age of transition, which lays the groundwork, and rapidly, for the reforms of Peter.

MILIUKOV

In Kostomarov's words, 'Few examples can be found in history when a new sovereign ascended the throne in conditions so extremely sad as those in which Mikhail Fedorovich, a minor, was elected.' And indeed Michael Romanov assumed power over a devastated country with the capital itself, as well as a number of other towns, burned down. The treasury was empty, and financial collapse of the state appeared complete. In Astrakhan, Za- rutsky, who had Marina Mniszech and the Little Felon in his camp, rallied the cossacks and other malcontents, continuing the story of pretenders and social rebellion so characteristic of the Time of Troubles. Many roaming bands, some of them several thousand strong, continued looting the land. Moreover, Muscovy remained at war with Poland and Sweden, which had seized respectively Smolensk and Novgorod as well as other Russian territory and promoted their own candidates to the Muscovite throne, Prince Wladyslaw and Prince Philip.

Under the circumstances, the sixteen-year-old tsar asked the zemskii sobor not to disband, but to stay in Moscow and help him rule. The zemskii sobor, while its personnel changed several times, in fact participated in the government of Russia throughout the first decade of the new reign. Platonov and others have pointed to the naturalness of this alliance of the 'stable' classes of the Muscovite society with the monarchy which they had established. Michael worked very closely also with the boyar duma. Some historians even believe that at his accession he had given the duma certain promises limiting autocracy - an interesting supposition that has not been corroborated by the evidence. The tsar's advisers, few of whom showed ability, at first included especially members of the Saltykov family, relatives on his mother's side. In 1619, however, Michael's father, Metropolitan Philaret, returned from imprisonment in Poland, was made patriarch, and

became the most important man in the state. In addition to his ecclesiastical dignities, Philaret received the title of Great Sovereign, with the result that the country had two great sovereigns and documents were issued in the names of both. But Philaret's real power lay in his ability and experience and especially in his forceful character that enabled him to dominate his rather weak son. Philaret died in 1633, almost eighty years old.

In 1613 and the years following, the most pressing problems were those of internal disorder, foreign invasion, and financial collapse. Within some three years the government had dealt effectively with the disorder, in spite of new rebellions. Authorities made certain concessions to the cossacks and amnestied all bandits, provided they would enroll in the army to fight the Swedes. Then they proceeded to destroy the remaining opponents, group by group. The especially dangerous enemies, Zarutsky, the Little Felon, and Marina Mniszech, were defeated in Astrakhan and captured in 1614. The first two were executed, while Marina Mniszech died in prison.

Everything considered, Tsar Michael's government could also claim success in checking foreign aggression and stabilizing international relations, although at a price. Sweden, with its new king Gustavus II, or Gustavus Adolphus, occupied elsewhere in Europe, concluded peace in Stolbovo in 1617. According to the agreement, the Swedes returned Novgorod and adjacent areas of northern Russia, but kept the strip of territory on the Gulf of Finland, thus pushing the Russians further from the sea. In addition, Sweden received twenty thousand rubles. The Poles had greater ambitions; however, an understanding was attained after Wladyslaw's campaign of 1617-18 reached but failed to capture Moscow. By the truce of Deulino of 1618, which was to last for fourteen years, Poland kept Smolensk and certain other gains in western Russia. It was by the terms of this agreement that Russian prisoners, including Philaret, were allowed to return home. At the termination of the treaty in 1632, hostilities were resumed. But in 1634 peace was made: Poland again kept its gains in western Russia and, besides, received twenty thousand rubles, while Wladyslaw finally withdrew his claims to the Muscovite throne.

During Michael's reign important events also occurred south of the Muscovite borders. In 1637 Don cossacks, on their own, seized the distant Turkish fortress of Azov by the sea of the same name. In 1641 a huge Turkish army and navy returned, but in the course of an epic siege of four months could not dislodge the intruders. Having beaten back the Turks, the cossacks offered Azov to Tsar Michael. Acceptance meant war with Turkey. At the especially convened zemskii sobor of 1642 the delegates of the service class opted for war, but those of the merchants and the townspeople argued that financial stringency precluded large-scale military action. The tsar endorsed the latter opinion, and the cossacks had to abandon

Azov. In the Azov area, as in the area of the Gulf of Finland, the next Russian effort was to be led by Peter the Great.

Financial stability proved to be more difficult to attain than security at home or peace abroad. Miliukov and others have pointed out that the catastrophic financial situation of the Muscovite state resulted from its overextension, from the fact that its needs and requirements tended to exceed the economic capacity of the people. The Time of Troubles caused a further depletion and disorganization. In a desperate effort to obtain money, Tsar Michael's government tried a variety of measures: collection of arrears, new taxes, and loans, including successive loans of three, sixteen, and forty thousand rubles from the Stroganovs. In 1614 an extraordinary levy of 'the fifth money' in towns, and of corresponding sums in the countryside, was enacted. While specialists dispute whether this impost represented one fifth of one's possessions or one fifth of one's income, its Draconian nature is obvious. On two later occasions the government made a similar collection of 'the tenth money.' On the whole, enough funds were obtained for the state to carry on its activities; but at the end of Michael's reign, as in the beginning, the financial situation remained desperate. Finances were to plague the tsar's successors with further crises.

The Reigns of Alexis and Theodore

Michael died in 1645 at the age of forty-eight, and his only son Alexis or Aleksei, a youth of sixteen, succeeded him as tsar. Known as Tishaishii, the Quietest One, in spite of his outbursts of anger and general impulsiveness, Alexis left a favorable impression with many contemporaries, as well as with subsequent historians. In his brilliant reconstruction of the tsar's character Kliuchevsky called Alexis 'the kindest man, a glorious Russian soul' and presented him both as the epitome of Muscovite culture and as one of the pioneers of the new Russian interest in the West. Even if we allow for a certain exaggeration and stylization in Kliuchevsky's celebrated analysis, there remains the image of an attractive person, remarkably sensitive and considerate in his relations with other people, an absolute ruler who was not at all a despot. Alexis had been brought up in the Muscovite religious tradition, and he continued to be a dedicated and well-informed churchgoer and to observe fasts and rituals throughout his life. At the same time he developed an interest in the West and Western culture, including architecture and also the theatre, which was an innovation for Russia. The tsar liked to write and left behind him many fascinating letters.

Alexis's long reign, 1645-76, was by no means quiet. Old crises and problems persisted and some new ones appeared. In addition, the tsar was a weak ruler, although an attractive person, and especially at first depended

very heavily on relatives and other advisers, who often failed him. The boyar Boris Morozov, Alexis's Western-oriented tutor who married a sister of Alexis's wife, and Prince Elijah Miloslavsky, Alexis's father-in-law, became especially prominent after the accession of the new sovereign. Morozov acted with intelligence and ability, but his efforts to replenish the treasury by such means as an increase in the salt tax and the sale of the hitherto forbidden tobacco, to which the Church objected, antagonized the masses. Also, some of his proteges and appointees robbed the people. Narrow selfishness, greed, and corruption characterized the behavior of Miloslavsky and his clique. In May 1648 the exasperated inhabitants of Moscow staged a large rebellion, killing a number of officials and forcing the tsar to execute some of the worst offenders, although both Morozov and Miloslavsky escaped with their lives. Shortly afterwards rebellions swept through several other towns, including Novgorod and especially Pskov.

Later in the reign, when the government was still in desperate straits financially, it attempted to improve