History labels infamous men with such titles as "great" or "conqueror". It is of no concern to history what title a leader has received, they shall be remembered however magnificent they were or however malicious they be. Alexander the Great was considered a great man for his military conquests and untimely goodwill to his conquered subjects, therefore he has earned the title through history of Alexander The Great. Likewise, William The Conqueror gained his title for the conquest of England. Roughly some thousand years later, a man named Ivan was to take on a much more sinister title, Ivan The Terrible.

Ivan The Child

Ivan IV, know to history as Ivan The Terrible, was born in 1530 as grandson of Grand Duke Ivan III. When Ivan was a young boy at the age of 3, he took on the title of Grand Duke of Moscovy (later called Russia). Little is known of his childhood but it can be inferred that it was turbulent because his later actions proved such unrest. It can be assumed that because Ivan occupied the upper-class of Russian society, he was influenced by such Renaissance figures as Martin Luther and Leonardo. Also times had changed; no longer were people confined to their villages. Many peasant revolts occurred and after the dust settled, the old feudal lords became less influential and the seed of national unity had budded.

Ivan The Forkbeard

In 1547, Ivan managed the gain the crown of Moscovy and he was crowned the first czar or Caesar of Russia. Ivan's first thirteen years of reign were known as the "good years" because he reformed Russia internally both economically and structurally. Ivan also took on 5 to 7 wives which bore him only a few children. If the independent, self reliant personality of Ivan would have not swayed like it did, he may have earned the title of "Ivan The Great". Unfortunately, this was never to be conceived.

Ivan, being an aggressive man sent forth his armies into the desolate Siberian region and conquered it for his newly forming empire. Likely it is, Ivan thrived off of this conquest and was thirsty for more. Moving his forces southeastward, he conquered the lush area that surrounded the Volga river which would provide the expanding empire with wheat to feed its subjects. Later he made Moscow the central capital. These advancements in territory laid the basis for the later Imperial Russian empire.

Ivan The Terrible

After the "golden era" of Ivan's reign, he starts to show his true character of craftiness and outstanding cruelty. First, in a brilliant move to gain omnipotence in Russia, he announced his intention to resign. He told the people that the boyars (nobles) had betrayed him and the country and that the people were not of any fault but rather the source of all good. This was a bold move made by Ivan for the boyars controlled most of the land. Real power resided with these boyars and Ivan was intent on undoing this. Ivan, being the figure head as he was, gave this statement and the common folk or peasants rallied behind him. The peasants, who are better known to history as serfs, worked on the boyar farms as virtual slaves and there hatred for them had already been seeded so they were likely to throw in with Ivan. Little did they know of his evil minded fate.

After gaining his omnipotence, he went about taking away the boyars' lands and gave them to his top military officials to govern. With this, he was sure to keep a firm grip on his empire and the boyars were reduced to mere puppets. In addition to this security measure, he set up the first secret police that terrorized anyone who would dare go against the czar. This secret police would later serve as a model to the Soviet Union secret police.

Ivan was always one to be paranoid and in 1570 it was at an extreme. Rumors had surculated that the inhabitants of the city of Novgorod had been preparing a serf uprising against all the Russian aristocracy, including Ivan. When Ivan got word of this, he immediately sent troops into Novgorod and mercilessly killed and destroyed the inhabitants and their dwellings. This action was probably provoked by some of the boyars to bring about Ivan's downfall, but to no avail.

The most outrageous crime he committed was murder by his own hand. One night after an argument with his eldest son, he was consumed with a drunken rage and beat his son to death. He later realized it and was full of anguish for his eldest son was his favorite and most wise.

The final instance of his cruelty is summed up by the word insane. It is said that after the completion of the St. Basil's church, Ivan gouged out the eyes of the Italian architects so they could never again make anything so beautiful as the church.

Ivan died 3 years later after he killed his son in 1584. After his death, Moscovy (Russia) fell apart because of weak leadership and would not gain any significant place in the infamous Renaissance period. Russia was then and is now a backwards country of diverse workers and politicians.

Thus I would consider the title Ivan The Terrible well fitting for this man. Not only was he cruel but he went as far as to kill his own flesh and blood; his son. Though this man was terrible, he laid the basis for pre and modern day Russia today and without him, Russia would have been nothing.

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