The People's Militia, which Saved the Russian Statehood

Preconditions of the militias

The liberation of Moscow from Polish interventionists in the national memory of our compatriots is traditionally revered as one of the most heroic episodes of Russian history. This event is put on a par with the cunning retreat of Kutuzov from the capital in 1812, which led to the flight of Napoleon from Russia. And with the defense of Moscow in 1941, buried the plan of the lightning war of Adolf Hitler. Today, a national level holiday is associated with this event - the Day of National Unity, personifying the people's militia in the face of the occupier.

Time of Troubles

The beginning of the seventeenth century was a difficult test for Russian statehood. The era, called in the school history books "Time of Troubles," was associated with both internal all-round crises, and with the strengthening of external enemies. The Livonian war of the end of the sixteenth century responded to the generation with a severe economic crisis, a massive famine, a toughened serfdom, an increase in tension in society and, of course, a reduction in the state's military potential. Against this background, the interruption of the line of the ruling dynasty, the socio-political turmoil, the frequent displacement of the autocrats on the throne made the Moscow State an easy and tasty morsel for foreigners. Significant weight and influence in the region was acquired by a neighbor in the face of the Polish state, experiencing, perhaps, the greatest flourishing of its power in its entire history. In such circumstances, the next Russian-Polish war, which began in 1609, quickly led to the fall of a number of important Russian fortresses (like Smolensk and Kaluga) and the flight, and later the death of False Dmitry II and eventually the occupation of Moscow by the troops of King Sigismund III.

People's discontent

The occupation lasted two years - from the autumn of 1610 to the autumn of 1612. It was during this period that the events known as the people's militia took place. When the regular army capitulated to a stronger rival, the initiative had to be taken over by the people's forces. The first people's militia began to form at the beginning of 1611 on the initiative and under the leadership of nobleman Procopius Lyapunov. The creation of opposition to the Poles and the call of the people's forces was carried out primarily under the flag of protection of the Orthodox land from the Catholic king. The bet on the idea of Orthodoxy caused a wide response in the people's environment, and in such a situation the patriarch Germogen, who called for resistance , became an important militia creator.

The speech took place in January 1611, when detachments of military men and Cossacks from Ryazan, Novgorod and other cities moved to Moscow. The decisive battles took place in March, when Moscow was raging for two days, some Polish units plundered the treasury, preparing for a retreat, but because of disagreements in the camp of the insurgents, the cause of the people's militia failed and was crushed. Nevertheless, attempts to liberate the capital were not left. And in the autumn of 1611 a new people's militia began to be formed in Nizhny Novgorod. This time he was led by Zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin and a young nobleman Dmitry Pozharsky, who again called on people to defend Orthodoxy. The second people's militia continued to be actively formed throughout the following 1612, incorporating the remnants of the first routed people's army, and also including new detachments of townspeople and peasants of the central regions. In April 1612, the main forces of the rebels concentrated in Yaroslavl, where a kind of main military headquarters was created - the "Council of All Land."

Expulsion of the Poles

Already in the second half of August the rebels managed to enter the besieged Moscow and besiege the inner walls of the city, behind which the Poles fled. In the main battles, the military garrison of Hetman Ian Khodkevich was defeated and the Kremlin was taken, after the surrender of which Moscow was finally liberated.
Thus, the role of the national militia can hardly be overestimated in the matter of saving Russian statehood.