The Romanov dynasties are a Russian boyar family that bore the Romanov surname since the end of the 16th century. 1613 - a dynasty of Russian tsars that ruled for over three hundred years. 1917, March - abdicated.
Background
Ivan IV the Terrible, by the murder of his eldest son, John, interrupted the male line of the Rurik dynasty. Fedor, his middle son, was handicapped. The mysterious death in Uglich of the youngest son of Demetrius (he was found stabbed to death in the courtyard of the tower), and then the death of the last of the Rurikovichs, Theodore Ioannovich, interrupted their dynasty. Boris Fedorovich Godunov, brother of Theodore's wife, came to the kingdom as a member of the Regency Council of 5 boyars. At the Zemsky Sobor in 1598, Boris Godunov was elected Tsar.
1604 - the Polish army under the command of False Dmitry 1 (Grigory Otrepiev), set out from Lvov to the Russian borders.
1605 - Boris Godunov dies, and the Throne is passed on to his son Theodore and the Queen-widow. An uprising breaks out in Moscow, as a result of which Theodore and his mother were strangled. The new tsar, False Dmitry 1, enters the capital accompanied by the Polish army. However, his reign was short-lived: 1606 - Moscow revolted, and False Dmitry was killed. Vasily Shuisky becomes Tsar.
The impending crisis brought the state closer to a state of anarchy. After the Bolotnikov uprising and the 2-month siege of Moscow on Russia, the troops of False Dmitry 2 moved from Poland. 1610 - Shuisky's troops were defeated, the tsar was overthrown and tonsured into monks.
The government of the state passed into the hands of the Boyar Duma: a period of "seven-boyars" began. After the Duma signed a treaty with Poland, the Polish army was secretly brought into Moscow. The son of King Sigismund III of Poland, Vladislav, became the Russian Tsar. And only in 1612 the militia of Minin and Pozharsky managed to liberate the capital.
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And just at that time Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov entered the arena of History. In addition to him, the Polish prince Vladislav, the Swedish prince Karl-Philip and the son of Marina Mnishek and False Dmitry II, Ivan, and the representatives of the boyar families - Trubetskoy and Romanovs, claimed the throne. However, Mikhail Romanov was elected. Why?
How did Mikhail Fedorovich fit the kingdom?
Mikhail Romanov was 16 years old, he was a grandchild of the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, Anastasia Romanova, and the son of Metropolitan Filaret. Mikhail's candidacy suited representatives of all classes and political forces: the aristocracy was pleased that the new tsar would be a representative of the ancient Romanov family.
Supporters of the legitimate monarchy were pleased that Mikhail Romanov had a relationship with Ivan IV, and those who suffered from the terror and chaos of the "turmoil" were pleased that Romanov was not involved in the oprichnina, the Cossacks were pleased that the father of the new tsar was Metropolitan Filaret.
The age of the young Romanov also played into his hands. People in the 17th century did not live long, dying of disease. The young age of the king could give certain guarantees of stability for a long time. In addition, the boyar groups, looking at the age of the sovereign, were intent on making him a puppet in their hands, thinking - "Mikhail Romanov is young, he hasn’t got his mind and will be fooled by us."
V. Kobrin writes on this score: “The Romanovs suited everyone. This is the property of mediocrity. In fact, for the consolidation of the state, the restoration of public order, not bright personalities were needed, but people who are able to calmly and persistently conduct a conservative policy. “… It was necessary to restore everything, to build the state almost all over again - before that its mechanism was broken” - wrote V. Klyuchevsky.
This was Mikhail Romanov. His reign was a time of lively legislative activity of the government, which concerned the most diverse aspects of Russian state life.
Painting "The election of Mikhail Fedorovich to the kingdom" (Art. G. Ugryumov).
The reign of the first of the Romanov dynasty
Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was married on July 11, 1613. Accepting the wedding, he promised not to make decisions without the consent of the Boyar Duma and the Zemsky Sobor.
This was the case at the initial stage of his reign: on every important issue, Romanov turned to the Zemsky Sobors. But, gradually the individual power of the tsar began to strengthen: local governors began to rule subordinate to the center. For example, in 1642, when the assembly, with the overwhelming majority, spoke out for the final annexation of Azov, which had been recaptured by the Cossacks from the Tatars, the tsar made the opposite decision.
The most important task during this period was the restoration of the state unity of the Russian lands, some of which after "… the time of troubles …" remained under the possession of Poland and Sweden. 1632 - after King Sigismund III died in Poland, Russia began a war with Poland, as a result - the new king Vladislav renounced his claims to the Moscow throne and recognized Mikhail Fedorovich as the Moscow tsar.
Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov.
Foreign and domestic policy
The most important industrial innovation of that era was the emergence of manufactories. The further development of handicrafts, an increase in the production of agriculture and handicrafts, and the deepening of the social division of labor led to the formation of an all-Russian market. In addition, diplomatic and trade relations between Russia and the West were established. The major centers of Russian trade are Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Bryansk. Sea trade with Europe passed through the only port of Arkhangelsk; most of the goods were transported by dry route. Thus, by actively trading with Western European states, Russia was able to achieve an independent foreign policy.
Agriculture also began to rise. Agriculture began to develop on the fertile lands south of the Oka, as well as in Siberia. This was facilitated by the fact that the rural population of Russia was divided into two categories: proprietors and black-sowed peasants. The latter made up 89.6% of the rural population. According to the law, they, sitting on state land, had the right to alienate it: sale, mortgage, inheritance.
As a result of sound domestic policies, the lives of ordinary people have improved dramatically. So, if during the period of "turmoil" the population in the capital itself decreased by more than 3 times - the townspeople fled from their destroyed homes, then after the "restoration" of the economy, according to K. Valishevsky, "… a chicken in Russia cost two kopecks, a dozen eggs - a penny. Arriving in Moscow for Easter, he was an eyewitness to the pious and merciful deeds of the tsar, who visited prisons before matins and distributed dyed eggs and sheepskin coats to prisoners.
“There has been progress in the field of culture. According to S. Solovyov, "… Moscow amazed with splendor, beauty, especially in summer, when the greenery of numerous gardens and vegetable gardens joined the beautiful variety of churches." The first Greek-Latin school in Russia was opened in the Chudov Monastery. The only Moscow printing house destroyed during the Polish occupation was restored.
Unfortunately, the development of the culture of that era was imprinted by the fact that Mikhail Fedorovich himself was an exclusively religious person. Therefore, the greatest scientists of that time were considered the correctors and compilers of sacred books, which, of course, greatly hampered progress.
Outcome
The main reason that Mikhail Fedorovich managed to create a "viable" Romanov dynasty was his carefully weighed, with a large "margin of safety", domestic and foreign policy, as a result of which Russia - albeit not completely - was able to solve the problem of the reunification of Russian lands, were resolved internal contradictions, industry and agriculture developed, the sole power of the sovereign was strengthened, relations with Europe were established, etc.
In the meantime, indeed, the reign of the first Romanov cannot be counted among the brilliant epochs in the history of the Russian nation, and his personality does not appear in it with particular brilliance. And yet, this reign marks a period of rebirth.