The Time of Troubles

1. The Time of Troubles Amanda Marcino

2. What was it? • The Time of Troubles was the gap of rulers in Russian history between the death of the last Russian Tsar, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613and for several years after that.

3. Background Information • Poland and Russia were thinly populated during the Time of Troubles, and both saw reductions early in the century. Poland's population fell by about a million between 1578 and 1662 and Russia suffered a serious famine 1602 - 1603. The late 1590s and early 1600s were a particularly bad phase of the "little ice age" that afflicted all Europe - the winters of exceptional severity that it produced, impacted Russia even worse than areas with milder climates. Furthermore, the poor crops coincided with an increase in the taxes and exactions of government and landlords, so many peasants fled their lands.

4. Causes • After the death of tsar Feodor is brother-in-law Godunov took the throne from 1598 – 1605. From 1601 – 1603 the harvests were extremely poor and widespread hunger lead to massive starvation. The great Russian nobles soon realized that Godunov was unfit to deal with these troubles and rumors circulated that the tsar's younger brother Dmitri, supposed to be dead, was still alive and in hiding.

5. The Fake Heir • In 1603 a man calling himself Dimitri came to Russia to claim his throne. Although Dimitri was believed to be stabbed years before Feodor’s death he was reguarded as the rightful heir by the Russian population.

6. The End of Dimitri • After about a year of ruling, Dimitri was found to be a fraud and was not a legitimate heir to the throne. The Russian government executed Dimitri, burned his body, and put his ashes in a cannon and fired.