False Dmitry I in the context of Polish–Russian War (1605–1618)

⭐ Core Definition: False Dmitry I

False Dmitry I or Pseudo-Demetrius I (Russian: Лжедмитрий I, romanized: Lzhedmitriy I) reigned as the Tsar of all Russia from 10 June 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dmitriy Ivanovich (Russian: Дмитрий Иванович). According to historian Chester S. L. Dunning, Dmitry was "the only Tsar ever raised to the throne by means of a military campaign and popular uprisings".

He was the first, and most successful, of three impostors who claimed during the Time of Troubles to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, who supposedly escaped a 1591 assassination attempt when he was eight years old. It is generally believed that the real Dmitry of Uglich died in Uglich in 1591. False Dmitry claimed that his mother, Maria Nagaya, anticipated the assassination attempt ordered by Boris Godunov and helped him escape to a monastery in the Tsardom of Russia, and the assassins killed somebody else instead. He said he fled to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth after he came to the attention of Boris Godunov, who ordered him seized. Many Polish nobles did not believe his story, but nonetheless supported him.

↓ Menu

False Dmitry I in the context of Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)

The Polish–Russian War was a conflict fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia from 1609 to 1618.

Russia had been experiencing the Time of Troubles since the death of Tsar Feodor I in 1598, which caused political instability and a violent succession crisis upon the extinction of the Rurik dynasty; furthermore, a major famine ravaged the country from 1601 to 1603. Poland exploited Russia's civil wars when powerful members of the Polish szlachta began influencing Russian boyars and supporting successive pretenders to the title of tsar of Russia against the crowned tsars Boris Godunov (r. 1598–1605) and Vasili IV Shuysky (r. 1606–1610). From 1605, Polish nobles conducted a series of skirmishes until the death of False Dmitry I in 1606, and they invaded again in 1607 until Russia formed a military alliance with Sweden two years later. The King of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa, declared war on Russia in response in 1609, aiming to gain territorial concessions and to weaken Sweden's ally. Polish forces won many early victories such as the 1610 Battle of Klushino. In 1610, Polish units entered Moscow and Sweden withdrew from the military alliance with Russia, instead triggering the Ingrian War of 1610-1617 between Sweden and Russia.

View the full Wikipedia page for Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)

↑ Return to Menu