National Unity Day’s origins recalled at the Presidential Library

November 4, our country celebrates the National Unity Day - a state holiday, established in 2005 in memory of the capture of Moscow by the people's militia led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky in November 1612. The Presidential Library’s portal features electronic copies of old books and unique documents dedicated to that period. The material is collected in two large thematic collections: “Overcoming the Time of Troubles in Rus’” and “The House of Romanov. Zemsky Sobor of 1613".  

As part of the new electronic collection “K. Minin and D. Pozharsky" the Presidential Library's portal provides access to such books as: "Native of Nizhny Novgorod Kuzma Minin Sukhoruk elected of the land and natives of Nizhny Novgorod in 1611" of 1911 edition, "Eulogy to Prince Pozharsky" of 1811, as well as biographical details, both about the origin of Minin, and about the pedigree of the Princes Pozharsky. A separate collection is devoted to the memory of saviors of the Fatherland, which contains descriptions of monuments on Red Square in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.

The first collection refers to the background of the Time of Troubles (1598–1613). The challenge in Russia at the turn of the XVI – XVII centuries was associated with a dynastic crisis caused by the death of the last representative of the Rurik family, the son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor, as well as famine and external aggression.

The collection introduces "Acts of Governing of Tsar Vasily Shuisky" and "Acts of Moscow region militia and Zemsky Sobor". A huge array of information is available in the history of Nikolay Kostomarov. According to the famous historian, Time of Troubles began something like this: “In September 1580, Moscow’s Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich had a wedding in Alexandrov Kremlin: the Tsar married the daughter of the boyar Fyodor Fyodorovich Nagoy, Marya Fyodorovna. That was tsar’s eighth marriage. <...> The roles of the wedding ranks were distributed in such a way that it came out somehow significant and strange: the tsar's proxy father was his son Fyodor, and daughter-in-law Irina Fyodorovna —proxy mother; another son, Ivan Ivanovich, was a master of wedding ceremony; groomsmen: on the side of the groom, Prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, on the side of the bride Boris Godunov — both future tsars of Moscow”.

In a year, the tsar’s son, Ivan Ivanovich, will pass away, in four, Ivan the Terrible will die. The latter is inherited by the physically and mentally weak Fyodor Ivanovich. In fact, the brother of the Tsar's wife Boris Godunov will rule for him. In 1591, in Uglich, under strange circumstances, the son of Ivan the Terrible from Maria Nagaya will die, as it is detailed in the publication Uglich Investigation Case on the Death of Tsarevich Dimitry. Subsequently, there will immediately be two people posing as him: False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II. Godunov did not succeed in convincing the people that he did not kill Tsarevich, Godunov would soon die, and his generation would stop. The second groomsman from Ivan the Terrible’s wedding, Vasily Shuisky, will end no better. After ruling for four years (1606–1610), he will die in Polish captivity. 

According to Kostomarov, “in the first two years of his reign, Tsar Boris did everything to bind the people to himself and to affirm his love for himself and his family: he freed the rural people from all taxes for a year, gave merchants the right to free trade for two years". But the news that Tsarevich Dimitry escaped, "changed Godunov, and there happened a great Time of Troubles for Boris".

According to the book of M. M. Shcherbatov available on the Presidential Library’s portal “Chronicle of many revolts and the devastation of the Moscow State ...”, one can get an impression of how the people of the 18th century reacted to the events of the Troubles: according to this chronicler they are accused, the unfortunate circumstances of many have led to such matters, which of course they would never have done”. 

Special mention deserves the writings of foreigners about the Time of Troubles. Among them are the notes of the Frenchman Jacques Margaret, who was directly involved in the events described. This amazing man served False Dmitry II in Tushino, passed on to the Poles, with the latter entered Moscow, after which ... he asked for Russian service. There is a response letter from the leader of the Zemstvo militia against the Poles, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, where he refuses the services of a foreigner.

The “Polish-Lithuanian view” situation is illustrated in the publication “Lithuanian Chancellor Lev Sapega about the events of the Time of Troubles” on the Presidential Library’s portal: “Have we ever thought or guessed that the great Tsar of Moscow glorious and terrible with brothers, governors and people of the Duma will be a prisoner of the Polish king? Did someday our ancestors dream that the Moscow capital would be in the hands of the King of Poland and deal with his people ...?

A separate collection is devoted to provincial “false tsarevichs” of the Time of Troubles, and on the topic of liberating Russia from the invaders, of course, the most interesting are publications about Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky.

The publication Monuments of the History of the Nizhny Novgorod Movement in the Era of the Time of Troubles and Zemstvo Militia of 1611–1612 of 1912, says: "To find out the reasons for the success of the feat of Nizhny Novgorod and understand why they so selflessly and unanimously defended the Motherland, you need to see what kind of life Nizhny city lived during the Time Troubles. <...> Its inhabitants, being engaged in trade, were very wealthy and had no reason to be bitterly dissatisfied with the Moscow state structure. Therefore, from the very beginning Nizhny Novgorod willingly helped Moscow in its struggle with the destroyers of the state system. <...> A major influence in Nizhniy in 1611 was enjoyed by the Zemstvo elder Kozma Minin Sukhoruk, an artisan beef-catcher, i.e. a meat trader. It was a brilliant nugget, gifted with a great mind, tremendous practical wit and tremendous strength of will. Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, the Nizhny Novgorod patrimony, known for his political honesty and military talent, became the head of the Zemstvo

Nizhny Novgorod residents were attracted to work in other cities. In Yaroslavl, where the militia came around April 1, 1612, it was destined to become general. On November 4, 1612, the All-German army forced the Poles, who had dug in Moscow, to surrender. And early next year, the Zemsky Sobor elected young Mikhail Feodorovich, a representative of the new Romanov dynasty, to the tsardom to whom a separate large collection is devoted on Presidential Library’s portal.