FREE ESSAY ON IVAN THE TERRIBLE

IVAN THE TERRIBLE

Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible was a cruel tyrant, who never knew the meaning of moderation; He drank
too much, laughed too loudly and hated and loved too fiercely. And he never forgot
anything. Ivan was definitely smart and despite his cruelty, his reign is known as one of
the greatest rules in Russian history. In Russia Ivan was called Grozny, which has always
been translated to the terrible, but actually means the awesome. 
Born in 1530, Ivan was only three when he inherited the Russian throne following his
father's death. At the age of seven, tragedy struck again when nobles of his court
poisoned his mother. By his early teens, he was already displaying some of his uglier
traits. He would throw live animals from towers and appeared to derive pleasure from
doing so. 
Ivan was crowned Russia's first Tsar at the age of 17. Three weeks later he married,
having chosen his bride in a national virgin competition. Virgins over the age of twelve
were brought to the Kremlin to be paraded before him. He chose Anastasia, the daughter of
a minor noble, and their marriage proved to be a very close one. 
Ivan had huge ambitions for his new Imperial dynasty. He launched a holy war against
Russia's traditional enemy, the Tartars. Showing no mercy to these Muslim people Ivan's
conquest of Kazan, and later Astrakhan and Siberia, gave birth to a sixteenth century
personality cult glorifying him as the Orthodox crusader. 
His wife Anastasia helped to hold his cruelty back but in 1560 she died. He accused his
nobles of poisoning her, and became even more mentally unstable. Recent studies have
shown that there was over ten times the normal amount of mercury in her hair showing that
she was murdered.
He set up a bodyguard that has been described as Russia's first 'secret police' (the
Oprichniki) as a religious brotherhood sworn to protecting God's Tsar. In reality, they
became marauding thugs, ready to commit any crime in the Tsar's name. Ivan sentenced
thousands to internal exile in far off parts of the empire. Others were condemned to
death their families and servants often killed as well. Ivan would give detailed orders
about the executions, using biblically inspired tortures to reconstruct the sufferings of
hell. More than 3,000 people were killed in Ivan's attack on Novgorod during Livonian
War. In a fit of rage, Ivan struck his son and heir dead with his staff. Mad with sorrow
and guilt, he had a dramatic volte face, posthumously forgiving all those he'd executed
and paying for prayers to be said for their souls. Before his death, Ivan was
re-christened as the monk Jonah and buried in his monk's habit. In the hope of finding
ultimate forgiveness. 
After note
Ivan's achievements were many. He forced Russia into Europe. The prolonged and
unsuccessful Livonian War overextended the state's resources and helped bring Russia to
the verge of economic collapse. These factors, together with Tatar incursions, resulted
in the depopulation of a number of Russian provinces by the time of Ivan's death in 1584.
Nevertheless, he left Russia far more centralized both administratively and culturally
than it had been previously. Ivan encouraged Russia's cultural development, especially
through printing. He himself wrote well, most his surviving writings are mainly
political, his choice of words and his biting sarcasm were very unprofessional.