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Ivan the Terrible and His "Go-Fers": Aspects of State Security in the 1560S

Ivan the Terrible and His "Go-Fers": Aspects of State Security in the 1560S A. M. KLEIMOLA (Lincoln, NE, U.S.A.) IVAN THE TERRIBLE AND HIS "GO-FERS": ASPECTS OF STA TE SECURITY IN THE 1560S* To that perennial favorite of book review writers, the "general reader," Muscovy during the time of Ivan the Terrible would probably evoke an image of a land filled with golden onion domes, populated by still-barbaric Russians living under the iron rule of a suspicious tyrant constantly on the watch for tr<.dson and ready to pounce at the slightest hint of disloyalty. More serious of the period generally agree with the accuracy of the last part of tnat picture. Where they disagree is over the explanation for Ivan's excesses. Was he paranoid, "crazy like a fox," or simply a man whose "reforms" prod- uced unexpected consequences that fed upon themselves and spread in ways never intended or even c:ontemplated? Was the Opriclrnirru merely an admin- istrative reorganization, a large-scale mechanism consciously aimed at shifting the balance of social and political power in the country, or just a mad scheme resting upon a brutal private security force? Unfortunately, this focus upon the more spectacular aspects of Ivan's reign has distracted attention from the more significant long-term phenomenon: the emergence of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Russian History Brill

Ivan the Terrible and His "Go-Fers": Aspects of State Security in the 1560S

Kleimola, A.M.
Russian History , Volume 14 (1): 283 – Jan 1, 1987
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1987 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0094-288X
eISSN
1876-3316
DOI
10.1163/187633187X00141
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A. M. KLEIMOLA (Lincoln, NE, U.S.A.) IVAN THE TERRIBLE AND HIS "GO-FERS": ASPECTS OF STA TE SECURITY IN THE 1560S* To that perennial favorite of book review writers, the "general reader," Muscovy during the time of Ivan the Terrible would probably evoke an image of a land filled with golden onion domes, populated by still-barbaric Russians living under the iron rule of a suspicious tyrant constantly on the watch for tr<.dson and ready to pounce at the slightest hint of disloyalty. More serious of the period generally agree with the accuracy of the last part of tnat picture. Where they disagree is over the explanation for Ivan's excesses. Was he paranoid, "crazy like a fox," or simply a man whose "reforms" prod- uced unexpected consequences that fed upon themselves and spread in ways never intended or even c:ontemplated? Was the Opriclrnirru merely an admin- istrative reorganization, a large-scale mechanism consciously aimed at shifting the balance of social and political power in the country, or just a mad scheme resting upon a brutal private security force? Unfortunately, this focus upon the more spectacular aspects of Ivan's reign has distracted attention from the more significant long-term phenomenon: the emergence of

Journal

Russian History – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1987

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