Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)
The Polish–Muscovite War of 1605–1618, also known as the Polish–Muscovite War or the Dimitriads, was a conflict fought between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth together with Zaporozhian Cossacks from 1605 to 1618. Russia had been experiencing the Time of Troubles since the death of Tsar Feodor I in 1598, causing political instability and a violent succession crisis upon the extinction of the Rurik dynasty, and was ravaged by the major Famine from 1601 to 1603. Poland exploited Russia's civil wars when powerful members of the Polish szlachta began influencing Russian boyars and supporting False Dmitris for the title of Tsar of Russia against the crowned Boris Godunov and Vasili IV Shuysky. In 1605, Polish nobles conducted a series of skirmishes until the death of False Dmitry I in 1606, and invaded again in 1607 until Russia formed a military alliance with Sweden two years later. Polish King Sigismund declared war on Russia in response in 1609, aiming to gain territorial concessions and weaken Sweden's ally, winning many early victories such as the Battle of Klushino. In 1610, Polish forces entered Moscow and Sweden withdrew from the military alliance with Russia, instead triggering the Ingrian War. Sigismund's son, the Prince Władysław of Poland, was elected tsar by the Seven Boyars in September 1610, but Sigismund refused to allow his son to become the new tsar unless the Muscovites agreed to convert to Catholicism, with the pro-Polish boyars ending their support for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1611, Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky formed a new army to launch a popular revolt against the Polish occupation. The Poles captured Smolensk in June 1611 but began to retreat after they were ousted from Moscow in September 1612. Michael Romanov, the son of Patriarch Filaret of Moscow, was elected Tsar of Russia in 1613, beginning the Romanov dynasty and ending the Time of Troubles. With little military action between 1612 and 1617, the war finally ended in 1618 with the Truce of Deulino, which granted the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth certain territorial concessions but preserved Russia's independence. The war was the first major sign of the rivalry and uneasy relations between Poland and Russia which last to this day. Its aftermath had a long-lasting impact on Russian society, creating the negative stereotype of Poland in Russia and, most notably, giving rise to the Romanov dynasty which ruled Russia for three centuries until the February Revolution in 1917. It also left a noticeable mark on Russian culture, with renowned writers and composers portraying the war in works such as Boris Godunov (play) by Alexander Pushkin (adapted into an opera by Modest Mussorgsky), A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail Glinka, Pan Voyevoda by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as well as films Minin and Pozharsky and 1612. Names of the war The conflict is often referred to by different names, most commonly the Russo–Polish War, with the term Russia replacing the term Muscovy. In Polish historiography, the wars are usually referred to as the Dimitriads: the First