SMOLENSK (Part Two)
Foreign mercenaries hurried to take sides of the Poles. In a Polish diary it is recorded, “Only Shein and another main chief, the head over all the mortars, Leslie, remained… Their hired soldiers – the French, the Italians, the Tatars, the Turks and those of other nations – they by their own free will surrendered to our most excellent king and wrote down their names.” The raid of the Krimean Tatars to Southern Russia and the peasants’ rebellion of I. Belash caused the noble men to flee and take care of their manors.
As Shein feared that his army would be beaten, he cancelled the blockade and concentrated all of his troops in his main camp in the eastern suburb of the city (today’s Sheinovka). All the mortars and the remaining soldiers were gathered here. Being unwilling to put up with a defeat, Shein in the middle of September undertook an attack on the main camp of Vladislav but it was utterly unsuccessful.
The adversary of Shein locked him with the remains of the Moscow army in their main camp turning the Russian soldiers from those who were storming into those who were under siege. In Moscow, envying boyars slandered against voivode and sabotaged assistance to his troops. Exhausting, heavy, starving defense began – in autumn and winter, out in the open, without food and necessary supply.
Being in a position where he had no choice, Shein, nevertheless, did not agree to capitulate. He stated that he would rather step upon a canon and blow himself up than be exposed to such a disgrace. February began – the fourth month of the defense in the open air. In the Russian camp, due to the cold weather and hunger, diseases and lethal cases became more frequent. The foreign commanders unbeknown to Shein negotiated with the Poles.
On February 19 of 1634, the capitulation occurred. The remains of the Moscow army of 8,000 people returned to Moscow.
In Moscow, strict reception awaited Mikhail Shein. He was accused of treason and executed together with his son on 28 of April of 1634.
According to a foreign ambassador Adam Olearius, “A massive uprising was about to break out in the country” because of the defeat near Smolensk, and only the execution of boyar Shein stopped the people’s rebellion and gave them satisfaction.
According to a testimony of the same Olearius, the voivode knew perfectly well that he became a victim of the supreme national interests: it was arranged in a way that he was promised a pardon “so that Shein without harming anybody else” would agree to be publicly “executed”. All that was required of the convicted was to put his head on a log. But the execution turned out to be not false but absolutely a real one. The axe of the executor cut Shein’s head off.
In 1654, war between Russia and Poland resumed. But now, after Ukraine joined the Moscow state, a real opportunity to win Smolensk back together with Belorussia appeared. The city was besieged by the troops of Alexey Mikhailovich, and after desperate resistance the adversary capitulated and opened the gates. The majority of Polish Smolensk’s noble men swore in to the Moscow Tsar. By Andrusovskiy Treaty in 1667 the Smolensk region was definitely and finally regained by Russia. In the beginning of XVIII century, during the Northern War, Smolensk once again became a military strategic point. It was expected that Swedish king Karl XII would undertake an attack upon Moscow via Smolensk. Peter the Great repeatedly visited the city; by his order the fortress was remodeled and additional fortifications were erected. In particular, behind the Dnepr a crownwork was erected that blocked the bridge across the Dnepr. In Smolensk supplies of food and military munitions were concentrated. West of the city a protection line around 200 kilometers long was made from Polotsk to Roslavl and Bryansk. In 1708 near village Rayevka, a two-hour-long battle between the Swedish and Russian armies occurred; the Russian troops safeguarded the road to Smolensk. A horse under Karl XII was killed, and he himself was almost taken captive. Ceasing all the attacks, the Swedish army went back to the south and entered into the Ukraine. In this case, the Smolensk land escaped war.
In 1708, Smolensk region was formed. However, pretty soon (1719), Peter the Great changed the system of administrative rule of the country and the Smolensk region became a province of the Riga region. Under reign of Catherine the Great (1775), Smolensk administrative area was created, which in 1796 once again received status of a region.
In XVIII century, Smolensk stopped being a borderline city and turned into a quiet provincial town; its quietness was only troubled from time to time by visitations of the Tsars. Smolensk priest and historian N. A. Mazurkevich in his diary describes Catherine the Great’s visit to Smolensk in 1780 in this way, “June 1. Queen Emperor Catherine II arrived from Mogilev accompanied by Roman Emperor Joseph II. They stayed near the king’s court. Bishop Parfeniy with the clergy met them at the cathedral. The singers were dressed as psalmists; the seminary students – in cloaks and wore crown on their heads; they sang canticles written for this special case by my father. All the troops participated in the ceremony. In Nickolskaya suburb prince Nicolay Vasilievich Repin at the opera in the evening put on a festive fireworks and refreshments for the simple men.
June 3. Emperor of Rome, being interested to see the city in the evening strolled on the cleaned up bridge “Balunew”, from which poor cabins were removed on the account of the state into the suburbs.
June 4. In the morning the Queen set off on the road to Saint Petersburg, while Roman Emperor – on the road to Moscow. Seeing off was similar to reception.”
Catherine the Great visited Smolensk in 1787 a second time on her way to the Crimea. After departing on January 18 from the Tsar’s village a cavalcade consisting of 14 wagons and 164 sledges after 6 days arrived in Smolensk where a long stop was arranged. Along the way at every station for the Empress’ train 560 horses were prepared. In Smolensk Catherine was greeted by pupils of a national school, which was opened here in 1786. All the 176 pupils were dressed in national clothes. Audiences, performances, balls followed one after another. At one of the balls 300 Smolensk ladies presented themselves before the eyes of the Empress; their taste and splendor of their clothing pleasantly surprised both Saint Petersburg guests and foreign ambassadors who accompanied the Empress on this trip. Catherine stayed in Smolensk for six days.
From December 15, 1768, until May 26, 1769, Great Russian military commander Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov lived in Smolensk. Suzdal’s regiment, which was under his command, was located in the Soldiers’ suburb and in nearby villages.
Smolensk at that time was a big commercial center. In the documents of the end of XVIII century we can read, “merchants and townspeople trade silk and cotton fabrics, clothes, tea, coffee, sugar, various wines, brass, tin, iron, crystal and porcelain tableware, all kinds of foods, and other tiny items of trade, some of which are received from Riga and Saint Petersburg, while others – from Moscow.”
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