Who were the ‘oprichniks’ and how did they appear in Rus'?
The ‘oprichniks’ were completely loyal to Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. They carried out terror against the boyars whom he suspected of treason.
On February 3, 1565, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible divided the Russian state into two parts: The autocrat took such an extraordinary step after many years of confrontation with the powerful boyars and clergy, who had repeatedly limited his power.
The country's territory was divided into ‘oprichnina’ (from the Old Russian ‘oprich’ – ‘outside’ and ‘separately’) and ‘zemshchina’. The first actually became the personal lot of the sovereign, where he ruled undividedly.
The ‘oprichnina’ included the richest territories. Its political center was in the royal residence of Aleksandrov Sloboda between Moscow and Vladimir.
All other lands with large holdings of boyar families went to the ‘zemshchina’. At its head stood the Boyar Duma, but the tsar still retained the right to decide the most important issues for himself.
For protection, Ivan IV also established his own guard – the ‘oprichniks’, who were completely loyal to him. They carried out terror against the boyars and clergymen who were objectionable to the autocrat and whom he suspected of treason.
The ‘oprichnik’ army even plundered entire cities, as happened with Veliky Novgorod in 1570. However, it was powerless against an external enemy and, in 1571, did not prevent Crimean Khan Devlet Giray from burning Moscow.
Soon after this demonstration of the weakness of the state apparatus and its armed forces, Ivan IV abolished the ‘oprichnina’.
