Who was the greatest threat to lvan the Terrible (lvan IV) of Russia?
1 Answer
The Russia of Ivan IV was threatened from every direction, and the Tsar was always threatened by his nobles; however it was the Tartars that proved the greatest threat to his capital.
Explanation:
As a 3-year old Tsar, Ivan IV (the Terrible) was subject to the will of the Boyar Nobles, the great families of Muscovy. Born in 1530, from 1547 to 1564 he took pains to ruthlessly suppress the Boyars with a harshness that was unmatched until Lenin and Stalin in the 20th Century. They became a threat to his son Theodore after Ivan died in 1584.
For Russia, fighting against Western nations is a pleasure, but fighting against the heirs of Genghis Khan and the steppe nomads is business. For Ivan these were the Muslim Tartars to the East and South. The Crimean Tartars had raided the outskirts of Moscow in 1521, and sacked everything in Moscow outside the Kremlin in 1555 and hit the city again in 1571 and 1591 -- clearly the greatest threat to Russia.
From 1552-1557, Ivan conquered the lower Volga by capturing Kazan and Astrakhan from the Tartars. His generals repelled a Turkish invasion of Astrakhan in 1569 and subdued a rebellion in 1572 and 1582. There were more wars with the Crimean Tartars in 1571 and 1572.
Ivan also had to contend with the Poles and Swedes in the Livonian Wars of 1557-1582; both with be major threats later.
