Russian Revolution - Land of the Tsars - Ivan the Terrible

Russian Tsars Increase their Power

From Ivan to the Romanovs

Ivan IV of Moscow, called Ivan the Terrible, came to the throne in 1533 when he was only three years old. His young life was disrupted by struggles for power among Russia’s landowning nobles, known as boyars. The boyars fought to control young Ivan.

When he was 16, Ivan seized power and had himself crowned czar. The title meant “Caesar,” and Ivan was the first Russian ruler to use it officially. He also married the beautiful Anastasia, related to an old Boyar family, the Romanovs.

The years from 1547 to 1560 are often called Ivan’s “good period.” He won great victories, added lands to Russia, gave Russia a code of laws, and ruled justly.

Rule by Terror

Ivan’s “bad period” began in 1560 after Anastasia died. Accusing the boyars of poisoning his wife, Ivan turned against them. He organized his own police force, whose chief duty was to hunt down and murder people Ivan considered traitors. The members of this police force dressed in black and rode black horses. Using these secret police, Ivan executed many boyars, their families, and peasants who worked their lands.

Thousands of people died. Ivan seized the boyars’ estates and gave them to a new class of nobles, who had to remain loyal to him or lose their land. Eventually, Ivan committed an act that was both a personal tragedy and a national disaster. In 1581, during a violent quarrel, he killed his oldest son and heir. When Ivan died three years later, only his weak second son was left to rule.

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