There have been several periods in the history of Russia when the state was on the brink of a serious political crisis and even fell into a state of civil war. An example of such a situation can be called the period called the Time of Troubles.
The time of Troubles in the historiography of Russia is considered the period from 1598 to 1613, when the Muscovite state was at the center of the struggle for the throne, uprisings and foreign intervention.
The main cause of the Time of Troubles was the dynastic crisis. Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible had three sons who survived infancy. The eldest son Ivan, who was supposed to become the heir, died as a result of a conflict with his father. The middle son Fyodor became the heir. Subsequently, he was a rather weak ruler. In many ways, under him, real power was in the hands of the boyar Boris Godunov, the brother of the ruler's wife, Irina. Fyodor was in poor health and died in 1598. He left no heirs, and the Rurik dynasty on the throne was interrupted. Although there were several boyar and princely families in the Moscow state, leading a male lineage from Rurik, as a result of intrigues, power went to Boris Godunov, whose family was significantly inferior in nobility and had no consanguinity with the ruling house. This predetermined the precarious position of Godunov on the throne, despite all his state talents.
Tsar Ivan's third son, Dmitry, died in 1591 under dubious circumstances. Until now, historians cannot come to a consensus whether he died from an accident or was killed by Godunov. But his personality was later used by the adventurer Grigory Otrepiev, who declared himself a miraculously escaped prince. He managed to find support from the Polish king, a longtime enemy of the Moscow tsars in the war over territory. The impostor with the Polish army seized a number of lands and reached Moscow. Tsar Boris Godunov died before the invader came to Moscow, and his son, who was supposed to inherit the throne, was captured and killed. Otrepiev became the ruler, in historical literature he received the name of False Dmitry I.
However, the reign of the new king did not last long. His closeness with foreigners aroused discontent among the population and part of the boyars. As a result of the conspiracy, he was captured and executed in May 1606.
Vasily Shuisky was elected ruler, but he could no longer retain power over the entire country. A new impostor appeared - False Dmitry II, otherwise called the Tushinsky Thief. Along with him, unrest in the state grew due to peasant uprisings. Polish and Tatar troops ravaged separate regions of the country in the south and west. By 1610, Tsar Vasily Shuisky finally demonstrated his inability to control the entire country in his hands, as a result of which he was ousted. His place was taken by a council of seven boyars, who ruled the state.
However, the key decision was not made - who will be the king. The post of ruler was offered to the Polish prince Vladislav, but part of the ruling Moscow elite opposed this. For the liberation of the country from the Poles, a people's militia was convened, led by Kuzma Minin and Prince Pozharsky.
After the expulsion of the Poles from the main territory of the Moscow state, the Zemsky Sobor was created. The Time of Troubles ended with the accession of Mikhail Romanov, who was elected at this cathedral in 1613.
The result of the Time of Troubles for the Russian state was economic devastation and the loss of part of the western territories. The full recovery of the country after such a large-scale crisis took several decades.
