Ivan the Great Facts & Worksheets

• They had to give up a large part of their land, pay money, and stop dealing with Lithuania. Although Novgorod’s government was allowed to remain for a short time, Ivan kept visiting and punishing those who opposed him.
• In 1477, two Novgorod envoys accidentally called Ivan ‘sovereign’ (gosudar) instead of just ‘sir’ (gospodin). Ivan used this mistake as a reason to fully take over. In 1478, after surrounding the city with his army, he took full control. He removed their government, took most of their land, and moved many noble families to Moscow or other cities. The takeover of Novgorod nearly doubled the size of Ivan’s state.
• Ivan also took over other lands. He gained Yaroslavl in 1463, Rostov in 1474, and Tver in 1485. In 1489, he took Vyatka and gained control over Finno-Ugric tribes to the east. He also pressured other princes, such as the prince of Vereya, to give him their land. Some princes who had been under the rule of Lithuania left and joined Ivan’s court, making Moscow even stronger. A treaty in 1494 confirmed many of these new lands as part of Ivan’s territory.
• He also made sure that his brothers’ lands would not be passed on to their children, but would go back to the ruling Grand Prince after their deaths. He had four brothers, and one by one, he took over their lands. Some died without heirs, and others were arrested or pushed aside. By the end of his life, Ivan had stopped the old custom of dividing the realm among many princes. Now, one strong ruler controlled all the land.
• Ivan made many small Russian states become one large and united country. His efforts to bring the Russian lands together helped form the strong central state that would later become the Russian Empire. He began using the title ‘sovereign of all Russia’, showing that he saw himself as ruler not only of Moscow, but of all Russian lands.

Domestic Policy

• His domestic policy focused on centralising power, reducing the independence of nobles (called boyars), improving law and order, and increasing the glory and status of Moscow.
• One of the most important changes was how Ivan ruled like an absolute leader. In earlier times, grand princes often shared power with other princes or nobles, but Ivan began to rule as an autocrat. He started using the title ‘tsar’ (which means caesar) in letters to other countries, showing that he saw himself as equal to an emperor.
• This idea became stronger after 1453, when the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, fell to the Turks. Many people in the Russian Church believed that Moscow was now the true centre of Orthodox Christianity. Since the Metropolitan (the head of the Russian Church) had moved to Moscow long ago, Ivan was seen as the leader of the Orthodox world.
• In 1500, war broke out. Ivan’s army won a major victory at the Battle of Vedrosha in July 1500. In 1503, a peace treaty gave Moscow control of important towns such as Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky and many others. However, Ivan could not take Smolensk, which would later be conquered by his son, Vasily III, in 1514.
• To the northwest, Ivan fought the Novgorod Republic. Novgorod was an important trading city and had strong ties to Western Europe and Lithuania. Ivan saw this as a danger. After beating Novgorod’s army at the Battle of Shelon in 1471, he took full control of the city in 1478, ending its independence and bringing large new lands into his state.
• Ivan also dealt with the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Holy Roman Empire, Denmark and even the Ottoman Empire. He began setting up embassies and building diplomatic ties: Venice in 1474, Hungary in 1482, Holy Roman Empire in 1489, Denmark in 1493 and Ottoman Empire in 1496.