This research paper discusses the regime of Ivan the Terrible (b. 1530-d. 1584) and its effects on Russia. Ivan's strong inclination toward tyrannical rule was at least in part shaped by the intrigue-laden atmosphere in the Kremlin in which he grew up. Nevertheless, during roughly the first decade of his rule, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and his father, Grand Dukes Ivan III (1462-1505) and Vasilii III (1505-1533), respectively. He largely pursued policies which expanded the frontiers of the Duchy of Muscovy and strengthened the power of the institutions of the Muscovite state. Thereafter, as a result of his boundless suspicions and growing depravity, his rule degenerated into autocratic and megalomaniacal excesses. He unleashed a reign of terror which peaked in 1564-1572, senselessly prolonged his protracted war against the powers arrayed against Russia on its western frontier, accidentally killed his son and chosen successor, Ivan, and contributed to the occurrence of various other calamities. Ivan left a mixed legacy, a tradition of harsh, centralized but strong rule, and expanding frontiers, on the one hand, and a greatly divided and weakened Russian state, economy and society, on the other, which contributed directly to the succession crises and Time of Troubles which followed his death.
The realm which Ivan IV inherited, the Duchy of Muscovy (Moscow), had only recently (in about 1480) thrown off the two-centuries' old Mongol yoke. Under Ivan III, whom Hosking (2001) said, "was an able, cunning, flexible, and ruthless politician who subordinated everything to his ultimate goal of expanding the territories of the Rus," the Duchy had gained control of the principalities of Yaroslavl, Rostov, Tver, and Riazan (p. 83). To these Vasilii III added Pyskov in 1510 and Smolensk captured in 1514. The Duchy, however, lacked naturally defensible frontiers. It was threatened in the west by technologically more advanced...