Ivan The Terrible Research Paper

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There are many words that have their meanings lost in translation from one language to another; one of those words is “terrible.” While English speakers tend to associate the words terrible with terms like atrocious, harrowing and revolting, the meaning of it in Russia, especially in the 16th century, was not that. To the Russians of that time, the definition of the word was closer to “formidable.” Now, introduce Ivan the Terrible, first Russian Tsar of Russia. While it speculated that Ivan the Terrible, otherwise known as Ivan IV, was cruel and manianical, he also achieved great things for Russia, which is why the term formidable seems to fit him better; as it is an all-encompassing word. Ivan the Terrible left his mark on Russia through …show more content…

Ivan’s father died in 1533 when Ivan was only 3. This made Ivan the prince, but since Ivan was too young to rule, there was a fight for power. When he was 8, he was completely orphaned. His guardians neglected him. Due to all of this, it’s speculated this is why he grew up to have cruel tendencies. He also had six wives and eight children; and most of them died in infancy. Many also believe he killed his oldest child in 1581 (Gazeta). As Ivan was growing up, he would often starve for long periods of time because of the feuding nobility, so he grew up with a strong hatred for them. Yet, at 16, he gained the title of the highest nobility of all - Tsar (Wheland). Ivan’s actions as Tsar seemed like the choices those nobilities he hated would have taken, such as starting large wars. Almost all of his actions in foreign policies were done to try to force Russia into Europe, and he used terror to do this. Ivan’s reign of terror and these choices in policies led to the weakening of every level of aristocrats, even parts that he had originally funded. While Ivan brought down the nobility in Russia, he also encouraged their cultural development, and was certainly a lively person, which shows that his childhood impacted him strongly in so many different and almost opposite