Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The last years of Ivan's reign proved ruinous for Moscow. In 1571 Crimean Tatars
torched the city, burning most of it to the ground. Ivan's volatile temperament made matters
worse by creating political instability. At one point he vacated the throne and concealed
himself in a monastery.
Upon his death, power passed to his feeble-minded son, Fyodor. For a short time, Fy-
odor's brother-in-law and able prime minister, Boris Godunov, succeeded in restoring order
to the realm. By the beginning of the 17th century, however, Boris was dead, Polish invaders
occupied the Kremlin, and Russia slipped into a 'Time of Troubles'. Finally, Cossack sol-
diers relieved Moscow of its uninvited Polish guests and political stability was achieved
with the coronation of Mikhail as tsar, inaugurating the Romanov dynasty.
In Russian, Ivan IV is called Ivan Grozny, which usually gets translated as 'terrible'. It actu-
ally means something like 'dreadfully serious', in reference to the tsar's severity and
strictness.
CHECK YOUR CALENDAR
For hundreds of years Russia was out of sync with the West. Until 1700 Russia dated
its years from 'creation', which was determined to be approximately 5508 years be-
fore the birth of Christ. So at that time, the year 1700 was considered the year 7208 in
Russia. Peter the Great - westward-looking as he was - instituted a reform to date the
years from the birth of Christ, as they did in the rest of Europe.
Things got complicated again in the 18th century, when most of Europe abandoned
the Julian calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar, and Russia did not follow suit.
By 1917, Russian dates were 13 days out of sync with European dates. Which explains
how the October Revolution could have taken place on 7 November.
Finally, the all-powerful Soviet regime made the necessary leap. The last day of
January 1918 was followed by 14 February 1918. All dates since 1918 have been
identical to dates in the West.
We try to use dates corresponding to the current Gregorian calendar that is used
worldwide. However, even history is not always straightforward, as other accounts
may employ the calendars that were the convention at that time. Tell thatto your his-
tory professor.
