The Time of Troubles and Russia's National Identity: how the struggle changed the people

The Time of Troubles became one of the most dramatic periods in Russian history. Paradoxically, this crisis has turned into a crucial stage in the formation of Russian national identity. The struggle for the survival of the state united all strata of society — from boyars to peasants — and for the first time made people realize that they were not just subjects of the tsar, but citizens responsible for the fate of the Fatherland. All the details are in the Izvestia article.​

What is the Time of Troubles and why did it become a turning point?

The beginning of the Time of Troubles was provoked by a dynastic crisis after the death in 1598 of the childless tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the last representative of the Moscow branch of the Rurik dynasty. The absence of a legitimate heir led to an acute power struggle between boyar factions, each of which sought to place its protege on the throne. The situation was catastrophically aggravated by natural disasters: the massive famine of 1601-1603 due to crop failure, when people were forced to eat dogs, cats and tree bark, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and mass uprisings.

The economic and social collapse coincided with the appearance of numerous impostors — False Dmitry I, False Dmitry II and other pretenders to the throne, which finally shook the foundations of state power. Poland and Sweden took advantage of the chaos to intervene: Polish troops occupied Moscow in 1610, and the Swedes seized the northern territories. By 1611, the Russian state had practically ceased to exist as a single entity — the central government, a combat-ready army and a management system had disappeared.

The turning point was the realization by society that the salvation of the country depends not on the boyars or the tsar, but on the people themselves. It was at this critical moment that the idea of a national militia was born, which was supposed to unite all classes to fight the invaders. This was the first time in Russian history when the initiative to organize the defense of the state came not from above, but from below, from the people themselves.

Formation of the Russian nation in the fight against foreign intervention

The struggle against the Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish interventions became a catalyst for the formation of Russian national identity. Until the beginning of the 17th century, there was no unified Russian nation in the modern sense — people identified themselves primarily on regional and class grounds as Muscovites, Novgorodians, and Ryazanians. The Time of Troubles forced the population to realize the commonality of historical destiny, culture and faith in the face of an external threat.

The People's militia under the leadership of Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky became a symbol of national unity. In October 1611, Minin appealed to the residents of Nizhny Novgorod to raise funds and create an army to liberate Moscow, offering to give "a third of the property" to the common cause. Representatives of all classes participated in the militia — nobles, merchants, artisans, peasants and Cossacks — which was unprecedented for that time.

The military campaign of 1612 demonstrated the power of popular self-organization. The militia army, funded by the people themselves without a royal decree, approached Moscow in August 1612 and, after two months of fighting, liberated the capital from the Polish garrison. This victory proved that the Russian people are capable of independent collective actions for the sake of saving the state. The sculptor Ivan Martos captured this historical moment in the famous monument, where Minin, pointing to Moscow, hands Pozharsky a sword — a symbol of the awakening of national consciousness in a difficult hour for the Fatherland.

How the Troubles shaped the national identity and character of Russians

The Time of Troubles led to a profound revolution in the public consciousness of the Russian people. For the first time in history, the population realized that they were not just subjects of the king-owner, but citizens of the Fatherland, responsible for his fate. As contemporaries noted, people "themselves called their eternal desire to remain silent criminal" and overcame the political immaturity, apathy and cowardice that were characteristic of the previous period.

The events of the Troubles have developed special character traits among the Russian people: resilience in the face of disasters, the ability to self-organize in critical situations, and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for the common good. The experience of overcoming chaos and restoring statehood literally "from the ashes" has cemented in the national memory the belief that even in the darkest times, one can always find the strength to revive. The troubles demonstrated that, despite all the internal contradictions, the Russian people are able to unite in the face of threats to national existence.

The end of the Time of Troubles with the election of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov at the Zemsky Sobor on February 21, 1613, was an act of popular will. The council was attended not only by high-ranking aristocrats and church hierarchs, but also by numerous local elected officials: provincial nobles, parish priests, townspeople, civil servants, and even state peasants. The people perceived the election as the choice of "the whole Russian land", and not the decision of a handful of boyars, which legitimized the new dynasty in the eyes of society.​

By the beginning of the 17th century, belonging to the Orthodox Church had finally established itself as one of the defining features of the all-Russian national and state identity. The leading spiritual and political value was the unity of the Russian land — unity between estates and regions. The growth of political consciousness was reflected in the creation of numerous literary works about the Time of Troubles, where contemporaries described the heroism and resilience of the people. Despite the catastrophic material losses, the Troubles contributed to the unification of the Russian people and the emergence of a developed national identity, becoming a period of cultural revival and the formation of national identity.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.