Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)
Russia had been experiencing the Time of Troubles since the death of Tsar Feodor I in 1598. This event caused political instability and a violent succession crisis upon the extinction of the Rurik dynasty. A major famine ravaged the country from 1601 to 1603 due to exceptionally cold temperatures likely caused by a severe volcanic eruption in South America. In late 1600, a Polish diplomatic mission led by Chancellor Lew Sapieha arrived in Moscow proposing an alliance. They suggested that after one monarch's death without heirs, the other would become ruler of both countries. Tsar Godunov declined this union proposal and extended the Treaty of Jam Zapolski for twenty-two years until 1622. Sigismund III Vasa and Commonwealth magnates knew their army was too small for serious invasion yet looked to profit from Russian chaos. Many Russian boyars tried to entice neighbors into intervening to organize support for their own ascension or to form a union with Poland.
For most of the 17th century, Sigismund III was occupied with internal problems like the Nobles' Rebellion and wars with Sweden. The impostor False Dmitry I appeared in Poland in 1603 and found support among powerful magnates such as Michał Wiśniowiecki and Jan Piotr Sapieha. These men provided him funds for a campaign against Godunov. In June 1604, Dmitry rode to Russia supported by approximately 3500 soldiers from Commonwealth private armies. His forces won the first engagement at Novhorod-Siverskyi but lost the Battle of Dobrynichi badly. The sudden death of Tsar Boris Godunov on the 13th of April 1605 removed the main barrier to further advances. On the 20th of June 1605, the impostor made his triumphal entry into Moscow. He married Marina Mniszech, daughter of Jerzy Mniszech, in Kraków per procura. On the 17th of May 1606, conspirators stormed the Kremlin and shot Dmitry dead after he broke his leg trying to flee through a window. His reign lasted ten months before Vasili Shuyski took his place.
In 1609, the Zebrzydowski Rebellion ended when Tsar Vasili signed a military alliance with Charles IX of Sweden on the 28th of February 1609. Sigismund III received permission from the Polish Sejm to declare war on Russia. He viewed it as an opportunity to expand territory and Catholicize Orthodox Russia. A book published that year by Paweł Palczowski compared Russia to Indian empires full of golden cities. The Commonwealth king wanted Russia for himself rather than just installing a puppet ruler. Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski opposed this conflict but could not disobey orders. Żółkiewski favored peaceful union plans while Sigismund believed he could win everything by force. The King was a vocal supporter of the Counter-Reformation and intended to establish Roman Catholic rule over Moscow. This plan allowed him to defeat Sweden and give purpose to restless former supporters of the rebellion.
Hetman Żółkiewski left Smolensk in 1610 to march on Moscow with Cossack reinforcements. Russian forces under Grigory Voluyev fortified the fort at Tsaryovo-Zaymishche to bar the Poles' advance. Shuyski's troops marched round-about through Klushino hoping to come to Tsaryovo by the back route. The combined Russian and Swedish armies were defeated on the 4th of July 1610 at the battle of Klushino. Seven thousand Polish elite cavalry, the winged hussars, led by the hetman himself, defeated the numerically superior Russian army of about thirty-five thousand to forty thousand soldiers. After news spread, support for Tsar Shuyski evaporated. In August 1610 many Russian boyars accepted that Władysław would become tsar if he converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. On the 8th of October 1610, pro-Polish factions gained dominance and the Poles were allowed into Moscow. The Moscow Kremlin was garrisoned by Polish troops commanded by Aleksander Gosiewski.
A 1611 uprising in Moscow against the Polish garrison marked the end of Russian tolerance for Commonwealth intervention. The Moscow burghers took over the munition store but Polish troops defeated the first wave of attackers. A large fire consumed part of Moscow during the fighting. Patriarch Hermogenes refused to sign a statement calling off the attack and was starved to death. In late 1611, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky was asked to lead public opposition organized by merchants' guild of Nizhny Novgorod. Kuzma Minin oversaw funds donated by merchants to form the Second Volunteer Army. The nine-thousand-strong Polish army under hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz attempted to lift the siege on the 1st of September 1612. Russian reinforcements eventually starved the Commonwealth garrison forcing its surrender on the 1st of November 1612 after a nineteen-month siege. On the 7th of November, Polish soldiers withdrew from Moscow as Russian forces massacred half of the former garrison.
On the 21st of February 1613 the Zemsky Sobor named Michael Romanov the new tsar at age sixteen. His father Fyodor Romanov was installed as Patriarch Filaret, one of several boyars who vied for control during the Time of Troubles. Marina Mniszech tried until her death in 1614 to install her child as Tsar of Russia. Various boyar factions still vied for power trying to unseat the young Tsar Michael. Sweden intervened in force trying to gain the throne for Duke Carl Philip but soon retreated. While both countries were shaken by internal strife, many smaller factions thrived. Polish Lisowczycy mercenaries guarded the border against Russian incursions for three years. In 1615 Aleksander Józef Lisowski gathered outlaws and invaded Russia with six chorągiew of cavalry. He besieged Bryansk and defeated relief forces near Karachev before burning Torzhok and returning to Poland heavy with loot.
Eventually the Commonwealth Sejm voted to raise funds necessary to resume large scale military operations. The final attempt launched on the 6th of April 1617 saw Władysław as nominal commander while hetman Chodkiewicz had actual control. Towns like Dorogobuzh surrendered quickly recognizing Władysław as tsar. However, Commonwealth forces met stubborn resistance near Mozhaisk. On the 2nd of October Chodkiewicz and Petro Sahaidachny together launched a siege of Moscow that failed after a night assault on 10, the 11th of October. Negotiations began and a peace treaty was signed in December 1618. On the 11th of December 1618 the Truce of Deulino gave the Commonwealth control over territories including Chernigov and Smolensk. It proclaimed a fifteen-year truce but Władysław refused to relinquish his claim to the Russian throne. In 1634 Russians accepted the Treaty of Polyanovka paying twenty thousand rubles to the Commonwealth.
The story of the Dymitriads proved useful to future generations of rulers in Poland and Russia. A distorted version gained fame as history written by victors. In Russia it helped the Romanov dynasty portray Dmitriads as heroic defense against barbaric invasion. Nikolai Karamzin described events beautifully while Aleksandr Pushkin wrote Boris Godunov and Modest Mussorgsky created an opera with the same title. The Monument to Minin and Pozharsky was erected in Moscow's Red Square in 1818. The communist regime found this war useful for propaganda during the Polish, Soviet War. In post-Soviet Russia, National Unity Day first celebrated on the 4th of November 2005 commemorates the popular uprising that ejected occupying forces from Moscow in November 1612. President Vladimir Putin reestablished the holiday in 2004 replacing October Revolution commemoration. From 2023, every the 8th of October, The Museum of the Eastern Lands in Lublin organizes remembrance celebrations about allowing Polish troops to take the Kremlin.
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Common questions
What caused the Time of Troubles in Russia before the Polish, Russian War 1609, 1618?
The death of Tsar Feodor I in 1598 triggered political instability and a violent succession crisis following the extinction of the Rurik dynasty. A major famine ravaged the country from 1601 to 1603 due to exceptionally cold temperatures likely caused by a severe volcanic eruption in South America.
When did Sigismund III Vasa declare war on Russia during the Polish, Russian War 1609, 1618?
Sigismund III received permission from the Polish Sejm to declare war on Russia after the Zebrzydowski Rebellion ended when Tsar Vasili signed a military alliance with Charles IX of Sweden on the 28th of February 1609. The King viewed this conflict as an opportunity to expand territory and Catholicize Orthodox Russia.
Who defeated the Russian army at the Battle of Klushino in the Polish, Russian War 1609, 1618?
Seven thousand Polish elite cavalry known as winged hussars led by Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski defeated the numerically superior Russian army of about thirty-five thousand to forty thousand soldiers on the 4th of July 1610. This victory allowed pro-Polish factions to gain dominance and enter Moscow on the 8th of October 1610.
How did the Second Volunteer Army end the siege of Moscow in the Polish, Russian War 1609, 1618?
Prince Dmitry Pozharsky led public opposition organized by merchants' guild of Nizhny Novgorod while Kuzma Minin oversaw funds donated by merchants to form the Second Volunteer Army. Russian reinforcements eventually starved the Commonwealth garrison forcing its surrender on the 1st of November 1612 after a nineteen-month siege.
What territories did the Truce of Deulino grant to the Commonwealth during the Polish, Russian War 1609, 1618?
On the 11th of December 1618 the Truce of Deulino gave the Commonwealth control over territories including Chernigov and Smolensk. It proclaimed a fifteen-year truce but Władysław refused to relinquish his claim to the Russian throne until Russians accepted the Treaty of Polyanovka in 1634.