War and Peace of Ivan III in the Presidential Library’s rare materials

“He was first given the name of Grozny in Russia, but in a commendable sense: terrible for enemies and obstinate disobedients. However, not being a tyrant like his grandson, John Vasilyevich .., he undoubtedly had natural cruelty in character, moderated in him by the power of reason”, - gives a capacious description to Ivan III N. Karamzin in “The History of the Russian State”.

January 22, 2019 marks the 579th anniversary of the birth of Prince Ivan III of Moscow, whose descendants will be called Great. The Presidential Library’s electronic collections contain a number of digitized copies of historical documents and studies relating to the era of this autocrat’s rule and the significance of its transformations for the formation and development of the Russian state.

Ivan III was born at a time when the state order in Rus’ was also called specific, the study of D. Bagaley “Russian history. Vol. 1. Princely Rus’ (before John III)". In the XIII and XIV centuries, the Russian land was divided between many rulers, princes, who independently controlled their principalities or domains. One of the princes was recognized as the elder over the others, he was called the Grand Duke and lived in the main city, which at that time was Vladimir-on-Klyazma. “The consciousness of the unity of the homeland and common interests was strongly obscured by the specific princes due to the fragmentation of the Russian land into many separate principalities, sometimes very small and poor”, - O. Lind describes the historical situation in the work “John III”, which is available in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library.

Lind writes that at the beginning of its existence, the principality of Moscow was one of the most insignificant principalities of the Russian land. His elevation was helped by a number of reasons, primarily the location: the other principalities surrounded the Moscow principality, which protected it from external enemies, for this reason many people flowed into it. The author notes that “the reign of John III is a turning point in Russian history. From now on, the existence of an independent, autocratic Russian state begins”.

“The most important step of John in the unification of Rus’ was, of course, the annexation of Novgorod”, - writes N. Chechulin in the work “John III Vasilyevich, Grand Duke of All Rus’”. - Moscow princes since the time of Kalita constantly fought with Novgorod, often had success, they took a lot of money from a rich city, but they could never definitively subordinate it to their power. When John came to the throne, the Novgorod rulers began to act more decisively and hostile: the lands long ago ceded to the Moscow princes, they began to subordinate again to their orders, delayed the duties that followed Moscow, boldly addressed the grand dukes. John was silent, partly occupied by Kazan relations, partly, probably, to make the matter mature before the need for a final decision”.

The book Russian Grand Dukes and  Tsars from John III to Alexander II, reflects how John III used his unwavering hand to use force and forced the people of Novgorod to submit to the will of Moscow.

The person of the Grand Duke is little known. Especially valuable are such testimonies as S. Solovyov’s publications “The History of Russia from Ancient Times” and R. Zotov’s “Youth of John III, or Tamerlan’s Invasion of Russia”, where the main qualities of the Grand Duke that made his rule successful are revealed: strategic vision, sophistication mind in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy, loyalty to the interests of the Fatherland. Under Ivan III, the Russian lands were not only united, but liberated from the power of the Horde khans. “When Ivan III joined the father’s throne, the whole of Moscow’s territory contained no more than 15 thousand square miles. The acquisitions made by Ivan III and his son increased this territory by at least thousands by 40 square miles”, - writes V. O. Klyuchevsky in his famous work Russian History. It was under Ivan Vasilyevich that the country turned from a multitude of separate principalities into a single state. From this moment on, the importance of Russia in the international arena is increasing.

The activity of the Grand Duke was recognized as successful not only in the area of ​​land joining the Moscow kingdom. An important stage was the implementation of judicial reform and the adoption in 1497 of Code of Laws - a nationwide set of laws. More information about this document is available on the Presidential Library's portal, where a digital copy of the rare edition of 1878 “The Laws of Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich and the Code of Laws of the Tsar and Grand Duke John Vasilyevich with Additional Decrees” is stored.

It was under Ivan III that a cultural uplift began in Russia, in particular, large-scale construction was launched with the participation of foreign architects and other specialists, and the Assumption Cathedral was erected in Moscow

N. Karamzin in the "History of the Russian State" sums up the results made by the ruler, who "by power and cunning restores the freedom and integrity of Russia, destroying Tsarst destroying the stardom of Batu, crowding Lithuania, crushing the freedom of Novgorod, seizing Farms, expanding Moscow’s possessions to Siberian deserts and Norwegian Lapland, invented a prudent, with far-sighted moderation, a system of war and peace based for us, which his successors should only follow constantly in order to affirm the greatness of the State”.