Everything about the Livonian War totally explained
The
Livonian War of
1558–
1582 was a lengthy military conflict between the
Tsardom of Russia and variable coalition of
Denmark,
Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
Kingdom of Poland (later the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and
Sweden for control of
Greater Livonia (the territory of the present-day
Estonia and
Latvia).
By the late
1550s, the
Reformation and
Counter-Reformation had caused internal conflicts in
Livonian Confederation, while its Eastern neighbour
Russia had grown stronger after defeating the
khanates of
Kazan and
Astrakhan. The conflict between Russia and the Western powers was exacerbated by Russia's isolation from sea trade. Neither could the tsar hire qualified labour in Europe.
In 1547 Hans Schlitte, the agent of
Tsar Ivan IV, employed handicraftsmen in Germany for work in Russia. However all these handicraftsmen were arrested in
Lübeck at the request of Livonia. The German
Hanseatic League ignored the new port built by tsar Ivan on the eastern shore of the
Narva River in 1550 and still delivered the goods still into ports owned by Livonia.
Tsar Ivan IV demanded that the Livonian Confederation pay 40,000
talers for the
Bishopric of Dorpat, based on a claim that the territory had once been owned by Russian
Novgorod Republic. The dispute ended with a Russian invasion in
1558. Russian troops occupied
Dorpat (Tartu) and
Narwa (Narva), laying siege to
Reval (Tallinn). The goal of Tsar Ivan was to gain vital access to the
Baltic Sea.
Tsar Ivan's actions conflicted with the interests of other countries. In the wake of the disastrous
Battle of Ergeme, the weakened
Order of Livonia was dissolved (
Wilno Pact, 1560), while its lands were assigned to the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania united with
Poland (
Ducatus Ultradunensis), and the rest to
Sweden (Northern
Estonia), and to
Denmark (
Ösel). The last Master of the Order of Livonia,
Gotthard Kettler, became the first ruler of the Polish and Lithuanian (later
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth)
vassal state
Duchy of Courland.
Erik XIV of Sweden and
Frederick II of Denmark sent troops to protect their newly-acquired territories. In 1561, the city council of Reval surrendered to Sweden, and became the outpost for further Swedish conquests in the area. By
1562, Russia found itself in wars with Lithuania and Sweden. In the beginning, the Tsar's armies scored several successes, taking
Polotsk (1563) and
Pernau (Pärnu) (1575), and overrunning much of Lithuania up to
Vilnius, which led him to reject peace proposals from his enemies.
However the Tsar (called The Terrible) found himself in a difficult position by
1579. The
Crimean Tatars devastated Russian territories and burnt down Moscow (see
Russo-Crimean Wars), the drought and epidemics have fatally affected the economy, and
Oprichnina had thoroughly disrupted the government, while Lithuania
had united with Poland (new union in
1569) and acquired an energetic leader, king
Stefan Batory. Not only did Batory reconquer Polotsk (1579), but he also seized Russian fortresses at Sokol, Velizh, Usvzat, Velikie Luki (1580), where his soldiers massacred all Russian inhabitants, and laid
siege to Pskov (1581–82). Polish-Lithuanian cavalry devastated the huge regions of Smolensk, Chernigov, Ryazan, southwest of the Novgorodian territory and even reached the Tsar's residences in Staritsa. Ivan prepared to fight, but Poles retreated. In
1581, a
mercenary army hired by Sweden and commanded by
Pontus de la Gardie captured the strategic city of Narva and massacred its inhabitants, 7,000 people .
These developments led to the signing of the peace
Treaty of Jam Zapolski in
1582 between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in which Russia renounced its claims to Livonia. The
Jesuit papal legate Antonio Possevino was involved in negotiating that treaty. The following year, the Tsar also made peace with Sweden. Under the
Treaty of Plussa, Russia lost Narva and the southern coast of the
Gulf of Finland, being its only access to the
Baltic Sea. The situation was partially reversed 12 years later, according to the
Treaty of Tyavzino which concluded a
new war between Sweden and Russia.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Livonian War'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://livonian_war.totallyexplained.com">Livonian War Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
