At the end of the 15th century, a single Russian state was formed with its capital in Moscow. In 1478 the Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III annexed the vast Novgorod state to his possessions, in 1485 - the Tver Grand Duchy, in 1489 - Vyatka. In all of North-Eastern Russia, only the Ryazan Grand Duchy and the Pskov Vecheva Republic remained formally independent. But they, too, “walked according to all the will” of the Grand Duke of Moscow.
The Moscow state, thanks to the marriage of Ivan III with the Byzantine princess Sophia, acquired at this time not only the coat of arms of the Palaeologus - a two-headed eagle, but also the Greek name "Rosia" (so far, with one "C"). Ivan III begins to implement the program of annexation of the lands of the former Kievan Rus, which he regards as his "fatherland". For the first time these claims in Moscow were voiced by Prince Simeon, the son of Ivan Kalita, who received the nickname Proud (1340-1353). He was the first of the Russian princes to ascribe the epithet "and of all Russia" to his title.
Most of the lands of Kievan Rus were then under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), which, not without reason, is also called Lithuanian-Russian. Indeed, the names Belaya Rus and Ukraine at that time were still used extremely rarely. It was Lithuanian Rus that Western Europe predominantly called Russia until the end of the 17th century, while for Muscovite Rus all this time it used the name Moscovia. The majority of the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was then Orthodox, the state language was Old Russian. But thanks to the union of Lithuania and Poland since 1385, the processes of Catholicization and polonization of the ruling stratum took place there.
By the beginning of the reign of Ivan III in Moscow, the GDL included the lands of not only modern Ukraine and Belarus, but also the territories of the present Smolensk, Bryansk, Orel, a significant part of the Kaluga and Tula regions of the Russian Federation. Local princes (Vyazemsky, Vorotynsky, Odoevsky, Belevsky, Novosilsky, etc.) ruled their lands independently, being considered only vassals of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. According to the custom that then existed, appanage princes had the right to change their overlord. The borderline position of the named principalities (most of which were called the Verkhovsky ones for their location in the upper reaches of the Oka and Desna rivers) facilitated the transition of their princes to the service of the Moscow sovereign, not only personally, but also together with their lands.
Ivan III actively incited the Verkhovsky princes to betray their Lithuanian sovereign, and in the 1470s-80s. several such transitions took place. They caused constant discontent in Vilna, but the matter did not go beyond the exchange of embassies and angry notes. In the years 1487-1489. a whole series of such dashes followed. Undoubtedly, it was facilitated by the significant rise of Moscow, which subdued all Russian lands outside the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1489, Moscow troops began to invade the bordering Verkhovsk principalities, while loyal to Lithuania, trying to win over the princes who had not yet fallen away from it.
Casimir IV, who united the Polish and Lithuanian thrones in his hands, and who was also old and sick, could not react quickly and adequately. In 1492 he died, and Lithuania and Poland were again separated for a time. The Lithuanian lords proclaimed Alexander, the fourth son of Casimir, their grand duke. This served as a signal for Ivan III to openly invade the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the years 1492-1493. in the course of clashes that took place with varying success, Moscow annexes the Odoevskoe, Belevskoe, Vorotynskoe, Vyazemskoe principalities, but the Lithuanian troops manage to win back Novosil and Mtsensk. The final success of Moscow was facilitated by the transition of most of the local princes to the service of Ivan III and the mood of the population.
It is characteristic that both sides did not formally break the treaty, so to speak, "on friendship and border" between Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, concluded in 1449 by Vasily the Dark and Casimir, and did not declare war on each other. There was, according to modern concepts, a "hybrid war". But both in Moscow and in Vilna they wanted to somehow stake out new geopolitical realities, so Alexander's embassy to Moscow in January 1494 met with a favorable reception there with a proposal for peace.
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During the negotiations, Ivan III put forward claims to Kiev, Chernigov, Volhynia and Belaya Rus. For its part, Lithuania wanted Moscow to renounce its rights to Novgorod, Pskov and Tver. However, the parties quickly came to an agreement on the terms of fixing the actual ownership of the territories, which had developed during the undeclared war, and the border princes Mezetsky and Mosalsky remained vassals of both Moscow and Lithuania. On February 7, 1494, a peace treaty was concluded.
Lithuania wanted to protect itself from future encroachments from Russia by a dynastic marriage, and the next year Alexander was married to Ivan III's daughter Elena. However, Ivan III viewed this marriage as a means of further diplomatic pressure on Lithuania. Taking advantage of the alleged oppression in the faith, allegedly inflicted by Alexander on his wife, the Moscow sovereign resumed hostilities a few years later. However, that was already another war. It took place in 1500-1503. and ended with large territorial acquisitions of young Russia.
Yaroslav Butakov