The Western opposition to Russia with the aim of causing damage to our country by non-military means is not today's invention of enlightened Europe. Not yesterday and not the day before yesterday, large and small states of the Old World tried to complicate the life of their great neighbor. Trade opposition began long before the accession to the throne of Ivan the Terrible, but it was under him that it acquired the character of an economic war.
At the beginning of dirty business
Since the beginning of the 16th century, the trade of the Livonian Order with Russia has become, to put it mildly, very peculiar. First, Russian merchant farmsteads in their cities were ruined and transit trade through the Order's lands was generally prohibited. Now all visiting merchants had to make deals only with local merchants, who dictated their prices, profiting from intermediaries. Second, the Livonians have declared an embargo on the supply of strategic goods to Russia: copper, lead, tin, saltpeter and sulfur. Thirdly, the order prohibited the passage through its territory of craftsmen who were going to enter the service of the Russian tsar. The Livonians explained their actions in correspondence with the West by the "growing danger of Russia," although in fact they were simply taking revenge on her for losing the war of 1500-1503 with the subsequent obligation to pay tribute. Which, by the way, they never paid.
This could not go on for long. In 1550, Ivan IV made claims to the order, which the order ignored and continued trade restrictions.
Then, in 1554, the Livonians were reminded of the tribute for 50 years and hinted that the king, for her sake, might himself come to the debtors. The ambassadors of the order, being cowardly, signed all Russian demands, which included the obligation to allow our merchants free trade. They promised to return all the money within three years (and the amount turned out to be a lot), and also not to support alliances against Russia. However, they were deceived on all counts. Moreover, in 1556 they entered into an alliance with Lithuania, hostile to Russia, granting it trade privileges, and still did not let military goods and specialists into our country.
In 1555, Sweden joined the ranks of enemies, which was also concerned about the growing power of Russia. King Gustav I Vasa tried to form a whole pro-Western coalition within his kingdom, Poland, Livonia, as well as Prussia and Denmark.
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Counter-sanctions
… And what about Russia? It is quite logical that the Russian tsar had to respond to such antics of undesirable neighbors without bringing the matter to war.
In 1553, a British ship appeared in the Russian North at the pier of St. Nicholas. The visit of the British turned out to be timely and successful - Ivan IV the Terrible gave them a certificate of gratitude, which allowed them to trade freely in all cities of Russia "without any hesitation and without paying any duty." This favored treatment has become mutually beneficial to both parties.
A year later, diplomatic relations were established between our countries, and the English Moscow Company, using the privileges granted by the tsar, founded its trading posts in Kholmogory, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Ustyug, Pskov and Novgorod. In addition to cloth, she began to export weapons more needed by the Russians, and to export hemp, ship wood, honey and wax from Russia. In addition, the British laid a profitable trade route to Persia along the Volga and the Caspian.
By the way, trade with the Persians was also beneficial for the Russians. Thanks to the goods flowing through Astrakhan, customs duties increased, plus Russia was profitably reselling Persian silk to Europe. For the ruler of Persia, this trade also became very important. Moreover, Ivan the Terrible took into account the uneasy relationship between the Persian Shah and the Turkish Sultan, who had only recently concluded peace, and strengthened his trading partner by selling him squeaks and guns.
The Persians paid well, and their army, which was strengthened by the supplied Russian weapons, to a certain extent distracted the attention and forces of the Turks from Russia.
In 1555, following the English, merchants from Holland and Brabant came to the Russian North. They no longer received British privileges, but even without this they traded profitably until 1557.
Thus, the Russian tsar, to the best of his strength, resisted the "Western economic sanctions" of the 16th century. All this was intended to compensate for the losses of our trade from the actions of Lithuania, Sweden and the most important "sanctioner" - the Livonian Order. And when the latter did not pay the promised overdue tribute, and even did not correct his attitude towards the Russian merchants, in 1557 the tsar stopped trading with Livonia. The time of negotiations and conversations has passed, the last argument of the monarchs - cannons - has been used.
The confrontation continues
In 1558, during the Livonian War, Russia gained a foothold in the Baltic, conquering the port city of Narva from the order. This military victory was also an important trade achievement.
And the order ceased to exist as a sovereign state, passing in the form of one of the provinces to Lithuania. The Livonian "baton" of trade opposition to Russia has now passed to its other neighbors. Our country was still feared and disliked, it was opposed, although Ivan the Terrible, busy with wars in the south, did not make any expansion in the west. The king was completely content with Narva, through which 94% of fat, 23% of wax, 42% of flax and hemp, 81% of furs went to the west.
However, this state of affairs did not suit the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus. He began to look for allies for trade confrontation, turning to the German emperor, the Danish king and the Pope. And in 1561, he unleashed another Russian-Lithuanian war. Polish and Swedish privateers took over and intercepted ships heading for Narva. Then the Russian tsar, to counteract them, brought in his privateers and attracted Danish captains to this business.
Meanwhile, trade flourished in the East - with the Shemakha, Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva overlords. They supplied brocade, cotton fabrics, the best paper in the world, and Indian jewelry and spices were transited through them. The Russians delivered their goods, among them furs, which the tsar himself sent from his treasury, enjoyed particular success.
The next decade was marked by new problems - the Swedes strengthened the blockade of the Narva port, making it difficult to purchase strategic goods. But in 1572, trade with the British literally flourished, who "boasted of the tsar's mercy, everywhere they found protection, assistance, to the chagrin of the Dutch and German merchants."
In 1577, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II recognized Stephen Batory as king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, established an alliance with him and imposed an embargo on the supply of copper, tin and lead to Russia. True, he did it secretly, in words continuing to assure Ivan IV of his friendship. He learned about the ban of the emperor only from his merchants. And the metal, previously intended for our country, the Germans began to supply to the Rzeczpospolita, where new cannons were cast from it in the furnaces of the specially expanded cannon yard of the city of Vilna for the upcoming Polish campaign against Russia.
Final and results
1581 not only became a black date in the trade war between Russia and the West - Narva fell. Its capture was accompanied by a bloody massacre of Russian residents. Narva Germans, whom the tsar once spared, took part in the atrocities along with the Swedish invaders. The "Window to Europe" has closed …
In 1583, in addition to the final battles of the bloody Livonian War, Russia suddenly had a new front. A recent ally - the Danish king Frederick II - decided to take advantage of the difficulties of the Russians. The Danes and Norwegians, without declaring war, attacked the Kola and Pechenga, and the king sent five marque ships to the northern seas to block the last western trade route between Russia and Europe. This squadron began to attack and plunder ships bound for Russia.
And then, unexpectedly, England came to the aid of the Russians. When it comes to the loss of their own profits, the British do not really remember about common European values. The British moved their warships to the North, which began to accompany merchant ships, including those with military cargo, to Russian ports. Such is the predecessor of Lend-Lease.
It was not possible to undermine the power of Russia
Due to the fact that in different years Russia had not only to resist the whole coalition of European powers, but also to reflect the threat from the south - from the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, Tsar Ivan the Terrible did not manage to bring his plans to a logical conclusion and securely gain a foothold in the Baltic … To a large extent, this was influenced by the intrigues of internal enemies - both agents of Western influence and oppositionists dissatisfied with the policy of the sovereign.
And yet, the sanctions policy of the "European Union" of that time was not successful: they failed to undermine the growing power of Russia. Despite some territorial losses, the kingdom of Ivan the Terrible only increased, and even almost doubled.
The autocrat, leaving for another world, not only bequeathed to his descendants his daring plans and great plans, but also left for their implementation a large treasury and a strong army, a nascent industry and extensive trade relations. Those who traded with Russia and got along peacefully with her, never lost.
Oleg Taran