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[dramatic music]
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[groans]
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[narrator] Tsar Ivan.
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History will remember him as
"the Terrible."
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[Andreas speaking in German]
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[voice-over]
It wasn't a system of political violence.
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It was terror.
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[narrator] Ivan liberates Russia
from foreign oppressors.
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[yelling]
[swords clashing]
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[Maureen] Soviet historians
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regarded Ivan as their champion,
as a sort of strong leader
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who stood up against
official corruption and exploitation.
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[narrator] Ivan IV, Grand Duke of Moscow,
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first Tsar of Russia by the grace of God.
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A madman?
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A sadist?
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over] He must have got pleasure
from torturing people in a particular way.
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[narrator] Or was Ivan just a harsh ruler
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who demanded
absolute obedience and loyalty
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in order to radically modernize Russia?
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[percussion]
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over]
This was a man who was an intellectual,
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indeed, for his time,
an intellectual at a high level.
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[dramatic orchestral music]
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[narrator]
The descriptions of his character
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are as contradictory
as the pictures painted of him.
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A criminologist looking
for the best photofit picture.
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His task is to create
a psychological profile of the tsar.
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In the past,
chroniclers have portrayed Ivan IV
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as he is known from legends
that are still being upheld today.
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They've also made an impact
on the case analyst from the Bremen CID.
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over] He was, indeed,
a multi-faceted person, a versatile mind,
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but for me, as a criminologist, the focus
is definitely on the criminal components.
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[narrator]
The profiler is examining documents
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written by Ivan himself.
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The first impression is that Tsar Ivan
was unusually erudite and intelligent.
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Ivan is born in 1530 in Moscow.
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At the age of three, he loses his father,
Grand Duke Vasily.
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Five years later, his mother Helena dies,
probably poisoned.
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After the death of his mother,
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the nobility rule
on behalf of the orphaned Ivan.
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The boyars are supposed to protect him.
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Instead, they make Ivan's life hell.
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[raucous laughing]
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[narrator] Every day, the heir
to the throne has to fight for his food.
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He is constantly humiliated,
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locked up without reason,
hit for the fun of it.
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Ivan is a thorn in the side of the boyars.
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They would prefer to see him
slowly liquidated.
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But Ivan survives.
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In later life, he will use this period
to justify savageness and terror.
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over] He spent his childhood
in constant fear of his life.
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He was never sure that he wasn't
dumped in a hole and forgotten about.
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[narrator]
Heidi Kastner is a forensic psychiatrist.
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She tries to make terrible crimes
understandable
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by looking at the childhood
of the perpetrator.
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over] He was completely powerless,
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he had no chance to escape
this situation by himself.
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He was at the mercy of his tormentors
and he knew it.
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[suspenseful music]
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[narrator]
Ivan's facial features were modelled
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by the Russian archaeologist,
Mihail Gerasimov, in 1953,
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based on Ivan's exhumed skull.
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A 3D scanner digitalizes
and converts a copy of the bust
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in preparation for the first
identicate picture of Ivan IV.
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[lively drumming]
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After 400 years,
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the experts can look
the infamous tsar in the face.
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[solemn music]
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[barking]
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At 13, Ivan's impotence turns to rage.
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He has become aware of his power
and strikes back.
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[barking and whimpering]
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He sets a pack of vicious dogs
on the leader of the boyars.
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They tear him to pieces.
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For the first time,
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the once humiliated Ivan
is able to cause fear in others...
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a feeling to which he will get addicted.
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[Heidi speaking in German]
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[voice-over] The dogs he uses to tear
other people apart follow his order,
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are his extended arm, an external ego.
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And the fear that he instils in others
confirms the fact that he is in charge.
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Even if it's not him
doing the tearing to pieces,
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it's his dogs, dogs following his orders.
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[dramatic music]
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[narrator]
The unscrupulousness of this act
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also shocks the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Ivan is tougher and braver than expected.
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He will survive, and at some point
become Grand Duke of Moscow.
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They will have to come to terms with him.
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[monks chanting]
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A wise, steadfast monk is given the task
of taking care of Ivan's moral education
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and preparing him for life as tsar.
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Studying the Bible teaches the boy
to read and write.
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In the holy scripture,
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the future tsar seeks something
that will give his soul a footing
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after a childhood full of beatings.
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Ivan discovers his legitimation
in his family tree:
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his grandmother was the niece
of the last Byzantine emperor,
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and herself blue-blooded.
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From this point on,
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the religiously-minded young man
feels that he has been appointed by God.
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-[speaking Russian] Oh, this is Jesus.
-[voice-over] Oh, That's Jesus?
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[monk speaking in Russian]
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[voice-over] No, that's John the Baptist.
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And that's your grandmother,
Sophia Palaiologina.
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over] In Orthodox countries,
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cooperation between the ruler
and the head of the church
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was always particularly close.
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Both sides needed one another,
profited from one another,
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but, and this is decisive,
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the sovereign was the senior partner
in the relationship.
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This is the major difference
to the Roman Catholic Church,
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where the Pope represents
an independent power.
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[drumroll]
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[bells]
[chanting]
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[narrator] Over the following years,
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the boy grows up under the strict moral
supervision of the Church.
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At 17, Ivan marries Anastasia Romanovna,
the daughter of a boyar.
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Contemporary witnesses report
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that the search for a bride
was particularly extensive,
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allegedly involving 1,500 candidates.
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[flute]
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Until her death 13 years later,
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Anastasia remains Ivan's
most loyal companion.
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She has a calming influence
on his fiery temperament.
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[priest speaking in Russian]
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[narrator] A close relative of Anastasia
is the progenitor of the Romanovs,
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the dynasty of tsars that will only
come to an end in the 20th century.
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The Church urges Ivan
to carry out reforms,
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and after the wedding
he liberates state and society
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from century-old, anachronistic rules.
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With Ivan and Anastasia,
a new age begins for Russia.
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[bells]
[tense music]
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[bells]
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That same year, Ivan has himself
proclaimed Grand Duke of Moscow.
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He is the first Grand Duke to also take
the title of "Tsar of the Russian Empire".
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According to Byzantine custom,
he is showered with gold coins.
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[adventure music]
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Ivan must now do something significant
so as to cement his power.
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For more than three centuries,
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Russian principalities have been
under the whip of Mongol horsemen.
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Again and again, the Muslims
have destroyed towns and villages
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and plundered churches.
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[whip]
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A victory over the Mongols
would make Ivan a hero.
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But he needs a trick
with which to surprise the enemy.
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[drumroll]
[bells]
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In Moscow,
the best carpenters in the country
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put together fortifications
for an army camp.
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They can be taken down
and put up again quickly somewhere else.
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In secret, the components are transported
across the rivers Moskva and Volga by raft
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and on to the fortified city of Kazan,
in the heart of the Mongol empire.
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Overnight, they are reassembled there.
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No amount of harassment
by the Mongol troops
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can prevent Ivan
from erecting a secure combat position.
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The trick pays off.
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[choir chanting]
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Ivan orders his troops to attack.
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[yelling]
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[shouts in Russian]
[soldiers yell]
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[narrator] In open country,
the Mongol hordes are unbeatable.
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In a confined area, it's another matter.
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Wedged between town and river,
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they can't develop
their usual strike power,
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exactly what Ivan has been counting on.
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[yelling]
[clanking swords]
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[narrator]
On 2nd October 1552, Kazan falls.
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Ivan makes the Muslim Khan a liegeman.
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[Andreas speaking in German]
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[voice-over]
This victory was the first step
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in the founding of the Russian empire.
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For the first time, Russia was populated
not only by Christians,
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but by Muslims as well.
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And today, the Tartars are
the biggest ethnic minority in Russia.
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[narrator] Ivan's victory
over the Tartars strengthens feelings
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of Russian nationalism
for centuries to come.
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Ivan has proved himself
a strong ruler and leader.
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Maureen Perrie has examined
Russian folk songs
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for poetic representations of Ivan IV.
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[monks chanting]
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[Maureen] The peasants believed
that the tsar was a good thing,
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even an autocratic, powerful tsar,
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that he was basically on their side
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against corrupt officials
and decadent nobles.
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[orchestral music]
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[narrator] In the 19th century,
the composer Modest Mussorgsky
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devoted a whole aria to Tsar Ivan
in his opera Boris Godunov.
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300 years on, he is still the "good tsar".
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It was really surprising
that this attitude
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would be applied to someone like
Ivan the Terrible who, you know,
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as his epithet "terrible" suggests
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didn't have a particularly
positive reputation
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amongst intellectual historians
or amongst Russian intellectuals.
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[narrator] Out of gratitude
for God's help in taking Kazan,
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Ivan has a church built in Moscow.
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[solemn music]
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[voice-over] Ivan was a religious person.
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Everything we know about him
points in that direction.
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[mysterious music]
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[narrator]
The victory also gives him confidence.
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Ivan feels as powerful as a Roman emperor.
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It falls to a monk to warn him
against arrogance
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and draw parallels
with the fall of the Roman empire.
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[speaking in German]
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[voice-over] The first Rome fell,
the second Rome also fell,
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because of the sins,
the misdeeds of the Byzantine emperor.
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Moscow remains
as the third and final Rome,
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there will not be another one.
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[drumroll]
[bells]
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[narrator] This ideology has consequences:
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the autocratic Ivan sees himself
as being accountable only to God.
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In this first half of his rule,
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he modernizes laws and administration,
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comes down hard on corruption
and sets up a parliament of nobles,
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00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,400
surrounding himself
with friends as advisers.
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[screams]
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But there are already
early signs of the phenomena
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that will make him notorious.
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[coughs]
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[narrator] He senses treachery everywhere.
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His judgements are radical and bloody.
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A mere suspicion is enough.
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Whoever betrays him
violates God's holy will
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and is thus condemned to die.
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00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,640
Case analysts are often called in
to discover a serial killer's motives.
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00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,960
Ivan the Terrible seems to be
an open and shut case:
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00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:41,760
he was a beast.
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Many people he executed
with particular brutality.
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00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,360
Even for the unsqueamish 16th century,
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Ivan put other rulers in the shade.
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00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,200
But what drove him to it?
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00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,120
[speaking in German]
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[voice-over]
The wives of supposed traitors
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00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,680
were killed and hung
over the entrance to their house.
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00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,520
The alleged traitor couldn't react
or show any feelings.
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Ivan had huge pans made
in which people were fried alive.
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00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,880
Or he had them first dipped
in boiling water, then cold water,
245
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,480
then back again
until their skin came off and they died.
246
00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:31,760
He's also supposed to have had prisoners
cut up in stages, slice by slice.
247
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,760
[speaking in German]
248
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,720
[narrator] The cutting up of victims
has made the profiler prick up his ears:
249
00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,360
such dismemberment is known
by the pathological term "mutilation".
250
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:46,800
[mellow techno music]
251
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:48,640
[speaking in German]
252
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,520
[voice-over]
We distinguish between defensive,
253
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,120
offensive and aggressive mutilation,
254
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,440
and in Ivan's behavior
I can see two motives.
255
00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,480
On the one hand,
there's aggressive mutilation
256
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,680
that would have been driven by rage
and hatred of other people,
257
00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,560
and that manifested itself
in this terrible dismemberment.
258
00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,800
On the other,
it may be that he got sexual gratification
259
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,760
from the fact that it all happened
very, very slowly.
260
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,640
[screams]
261
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,560
[narrator]
Despite having almost unlimited power,
262
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:30,080
it is childhood traumas
that dictate Ivan's thoughts and deeds.
263
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:31,200
[suspenseful music]
264
00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,560
[speaking in German]
265
00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:38,960
[voice-over]
The powerlessness that he saw in others
266
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,080
confirms his own position of power.
267
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,600
It is no longer the pain of his victims
that drives the sadist on,
268
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,040
it is the reaction to the pain
that he is causing them.
269
00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:50,120
That is the drug!
270
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,800
The drug is "I am afraid of you,
271
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:57,880
I am suffering and only you,
only you, only you can change that."
272
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,359
[monks chanting]
273
00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,000
[narrator] The Cathedral of St. Basil
near the Kremlin in Red Square,
274
00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,760
built by Ivan
after his victories over Kazan.
275
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,720
Here, around 1940,
276
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,040
another despot discovered
his empathy for the infamous tsar.
277
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,520
The first public indication
278
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:37,080
that Ivan was the new cult figure
279
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,840
amongst historical figures
280
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:45,640
came in an article
by the novelist Kastaljov
281
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,120
that was published in Istwestja,
282
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:54,120
which was an official
mass-market national newspaper,
283
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:59,520
so very much indicative of official views.
284
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,120
[narrator] Stalin orders a film to be made
285
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,920
that will portray Ivan in a way
that suits his interests.
286
00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,040
The job goes to none other
287
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,400
than the avant-garde director
Sergei Eisenstein.
288
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,960
It seems as if the instructions
289
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,480
to Eisenstein were fairly vague,
290
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:29,600
the main point that was made
was about restoring
291
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:36,920
or rehabilitating Ivan's image
compared with the negative representation
292
00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,880
that he'd been given
in the older historiography.
293
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:42,720
[stirring orchestral music]
294
00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,440
[narrator]
Eisenstein's film is released in 1940.
295
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,560
It is an opera-like portrait,
complete with overwhelming pathos.
296
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,920
Ivan's barbarism is nowhere to be seen.
297
00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,720
The tsar stands above the treachery
lurking round every corner.
298
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,920
Eisenstein's patron is delighted,
299
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,240
and awards the director
the Order of Lenin for his masterpiece.
300
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:07,520
[German film dub]
301
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,200
[guests cheering]
302
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,800
[narrator] At the time, no one wonders
about the empathy
303
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:15,760
of a communist for a monarch.
304
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,000
The parallels between
the two tyrants are all too obvious.
305
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,440
[joyful film choir]
306
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:30,960
[Maureen] Stalin believed
that Ivan was as he...
307
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,480
Stalin saw himself, a strong ruler
308
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:41,240
who wasn't afraid to take harsh measures
against his enemies,
309
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:46,280
if he believed
they were in the interests of the state.
310
00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:47,800
[tense guitar music]
311
00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,480
[narrator]
But is the matter really that simple?
312
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:54,040
Or is there more behind
this disconcerting enthusiasm?
313
00:19:57,720 --> 00:19:59,640
[drumroll]
[bells]
314
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,080
Ivan is successful and loved
by the common people.
315
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,280
Hitherto, he has had to take the Church
316
00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:11,200
and the parliament of nobles
into consideration.
317
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:16,440
Now he wants absolute power to be able
to force through fundamental reforms.
318
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:21,120
A service nobility will form the basis
for a new national administration
319
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,800
that only acts in the ruler's interests.
320
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,760
To maintain the nobles,
he urgently needs land for fiefdoms.
321
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:32,280
In order to achieve his aims,
Ivan has to limit the power of the boyars.
322
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,160
Around 1560, Anastasia,
323
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,880
his wife and confidante,
falls seriously ill.
324
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,120
No doctor is able to help her.
325
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,640
Ivan suspects she has been poisoned
326
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,680
by the powerful princes of his empire.
327
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,520
[haunting choir music]
328
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,200
Then things happen very fast.
329
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:06,440
[drumroll]
330
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:10,240
The Tartars start an uprising.
331
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:13,880
In the South,
Astrakhan has forged an alliance
332
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:18,920
with Tartars from the Crimea
and mobilized forces against Russia.
333
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,520
Ivan sends in his Cossacks.
334
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,520
The resistance is hard to break,
335
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,200
so Ivan burns down the capital
and drives out the Khan.
336
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,160
[yelling]
[swords clashing]
337
00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:37,240
The Mongols can no longer prevent Ivan
from expanding his power.
338
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,800
The way to Siberia is now free.
339
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,160
But the Orthodox Church demands
340
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,160
that the Muslims be expelled
from the Crimea.
341
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,000
[screaming gets louder]
342
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,720
[narrator] And if that wasn't enough,
343
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:58,840
the boyars want the strict hierarchy
of high princes at court changed.
344
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,280
The Church and the nobility:
345
00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,600
neither is counting on Ivan,
in his late thirties,
346
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,160
already being a clever,
if not to say cunning ruler.
347
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,440
But he will surprise them all.
348
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:12,680
[drumroll]
[bells]
349
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:20,000
In 1560, after a long illness,
Anastasia dies.
350
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,920
Even without proof of poisoning,
Ivan has a few nobles executed.
351
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:27,920
It is not until the 20th century
352
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,960
that forensic scientists
confirm Ivan's suspicions:
353
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,680
Anastasia's bones are found to contain
large quantities of mercury,
354
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:38,520
arsenic and lead.
355
00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:40,800
Ivan will never recover
356
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,800
from the death of his beloved wife
and only confidante.
357
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:46,360
[speaking in German]
358
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,480
[voice-over] There were traces
remaining of affinity to other people
359
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,480
that he obviously still felt
towards his first wife.
360
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:54,800
She was clearly the only person
361
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,680
whom he did not have
the urgent need to suspect.
362
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,000
He must have really trusted her,
363
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,120
his behavior towards her is described
as being very loving and affectionate.
364
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,480
Then, after her death,
he became far worse than before.
365
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,040
[eerie music]
366
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:17,200
[narrator] The loss weakens Ivan,
the pain lasts three long years.
367
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:19,440
But then he does something
368
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,240
that to his contemporaries
is incomprehensible.
369
00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:28,600
In December 1563,
Ivan gives orders to pack up his court.
370
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,120
The most important treasures
are put on sleds.
371
00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:39,480
[haunting string music]
372
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,280
Ivan leaves the Kremlin.
373
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,880
His goal is Alexandrovo Sloboda,
374
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,120
a small fortress 37 miles northeast
of Moscow.
375
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:52,880
His people are in shock.
376
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:54,520
Ivan has abdicated.
377
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,320
But what lies behind this move?
378
00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:59,400
[Heidi speaking in German]
379
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,880
[voice-over] Nothing nicer
than seeing them all panic when I go.
380
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:04,600
I'm the one they need.
381
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:05,760
I'm the right man.
382
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,400
This is self-affirmation on a scale
otherwise very hard to achieve.
383
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,720
You can get it by everyone being
frightened of you,
384
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:15,680
he already has that,
385
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,680
but he can also get it by everyone
falling into a state of panic
386
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:21,840
when he suddenly threatens to disappear.
387
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,000
[tense orchestral music]
388
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,440
[narrator] Ivan spends two months
in self-imposed exile.
389
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,880
He avoids all contact with Moscow.
390
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,040
And waits.
391
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,080
[tense orchestral music]
392
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:41,880
Ivan's plan works.
393
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,400
[speaking Russian]
394
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:47,400
[Andreas speaking in German]
395
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,560
[voice-over] Ivan was aware that Russia,
396
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,800
that the Russian elite, couldn't imagine
an empire without its tsar.
397
00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,120
It was unthinkable,
so it was obvious that the Muscovites,
398
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,320
the nobles, the local rulers,
would ask him to come back.
399
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:08,760
[melancholic string music]
400
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,000
[narrator] A delegation of churchmen,
401
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,000
nobles and citizens set out
on the trek to Aleksandrovo.
402
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:17,000
They're in a hurry,
403
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,400
managing the 37 miles
in two days in mid-winter.
404
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:21,720
[snow crunching]
405
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,720
Both contemporary and later historians
406
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,440
have put forward many theories
on Ivan's period of exile.
407
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,560
Pain at the loss of his beloved wife,
408
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:37,280
disappointment about treachery at court...
409
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,720
Today, opinions are almost unanimous
410
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,720
that it was, in fact,
a cleverly calculated piece of theatre.
411
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,400
[drums]
412
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,200
The supplicants are almost desperate.
413
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:54,080
They have a petition with them asking not
to be left without any protection.
414
00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,040
[suspenseful music]
415
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,080
Ivan the tactician reacts
as he has long planned.
416
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:08,560
[percussion]
417
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,960
As a justification for what is about
to strike Russia and its people,
418
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,200
Ivan returns again and again
to the traumas of his childhood...
419
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:23,520
[raucous laughter]
420
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:29,040
...and the thirst for vengeance.
421
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,400
[shrill and discordant string music]
422
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,120
[narrator] The reply is already prepared.
423
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,600
Ivan assures them
they will not be left on their own.
424
00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:42,760
He will remain their tsar.
425
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,120
But there is one condition...
426
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:46,640
[dramatic music]
427
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,800
More power than hitherto
must be transferred to the tsar,
428
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,120
along with huge tracts of land.
429
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,200
And Ivan is certain they will accept.
430
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,480
[Maureen]
We know that the people of Moscow,
431
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:13,960
the merchants were very prominent
in inviting the tsar
432
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,320
to come back to Moscow, not to abdicate.
433
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:19,240
And...
434
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:25,200
these kind of demagogic maneuvers
on Ivan's part,
435
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,680
I think, were designed by him
to try and get popular support
436
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,240
from lower levels of society.
437
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:33,560
[tense music]
438
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,520
[narrator] Ivan returns
to the tsar's throne in Moscow.
439
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,760
As absolute monarch,
he begins to reshape his empire.
440
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:47,640
His new bodyguards, the Opricniki,
will soon dispossess the nobility
441
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,360
and administer their estates
and landed property.
442
00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:53,680
Their symbols are a broom
and a dog's head.
443
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,560
They clean up without mercy
and are watchful sentinels.
444
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,160
In future, Ivan's private property
will be known as Opricnina.
445
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:04,440
[ominous music]
446
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,360
The Opricniki are savage.
447
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,240
And complaining is no use,
as they are only answerable to the Tsar.
448
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:14,800
[Andreas speaking in German]
449
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:16,600
[voice-over]
All sections of the population
450
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,160
fell victim to Ivan's reign of terror,
451
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,800
from trusted followers
and the higher nobility
452
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:23,440
to people of simpler descent.
453
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:25,440
It was brutality,
454
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,600
it was a matter of intimidating
the whole population,
455
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,160
suffocating any breath of resistance
against the tsar.
456
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,560
And the politics of terror
were successful.
457
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,800
There was no noticeable opposition
in the years that followed.
458
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:41,880
[mysterious choir music]
459
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,360
[narrator] The epoch of the Opricnina
is to last seven years,
460
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,600
from 1565 to 1572.
461
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:54,000
Ivan claims two thirds of the empire
as his personal property:
462
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,080
usually, the most fertile
and industrially productive regions
463
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,320
and often formerly owned
by the much-hated boyars.
464
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,240
[women singing]
465
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,320
[narrator] Whole families are driven off
ancestral land.
466
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:09,520
What is to become of them
467
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,720
is of no interest to Ivan
and his terror gangs.
468
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,560
[eerie music]
469
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:18,800
[women screaming]
470
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,120
Ivan's private army counted 1,500 troops.
471
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:25,280
One could only become an Opricnik
472
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,480
if one had previously had nothing to do
with the boyars.
473
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:29,560
[screams]
474
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,200
[narrator] The soldiers
lived strictly regulated lives
475
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,480
in separate communities like monks,
476
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,360
and were not allowed
any friendships outside.
477
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:38,880
[ominous music intensifies]
478
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,320
In 1570, Ivan learns of a rumor
479
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,600
that treacherous plans are afoot
in the city of Novgorod.
480
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:54,720
[yelling]
[bells]
481
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,760
Here, his fury will be
on a hitherto unheard-of scale.
482
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,800
Novgorod will never recover
from this attack.
483
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,600
Why did the tsar feel so provoked
by this town of all towns?
484
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:11,840
[suspenseful music]
485
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,520
The citizens of Novgorod
were able to do something
486
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,760
that in agrarian Russia represented
a special qualification.
487
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,120
For this, they needed the bark
of a particular tree.
488
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:30,520
[voice-over] For the best birch bark,
489
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,160
we usually seek out
mixed deciduous forest,
490
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,400
with no pine trees,
but with aspen, mountain ash, alder.
491
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:41,280
Because, among these trees, the birch
directs its crown upwards, to the light.
492
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,480
And that makes the trunk smooth,
like this, without branches.
493
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,880
[narrator] In early summer,
the yellow-red bark
494
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:51,520
can easily be peeled off.
495
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:52,880
[bark splitting]
496
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,200
[bark falling heavily]
497
00:30:58,200 --> 00:30:59,400
[bark cracking]
498
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,120
Birch bark is an excellent material
to work with.
499
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,160
[Vladimir speaks in Russian]
500
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,120
[voice-over] In the old days,
501
00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,520
large amounts were stripped off
and were used like tar,
502
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,120
or as a lubricant.
503
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,080
Birch bark is also
excellent insulating material.
504
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,200
It's good for roofing,
even house foundations,
505
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,720
because it's impossible to dig foundations
here in this wet ground.
506
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,080
[narrator] Birch bark can also
be used as paper.
507
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,600
Even the children in this city
learned to read and write,
508
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,920
an invaluable, advantageous privilege.
509
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:42,960
[dramatic music]
510
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:50,240
Novgorod was a magnificent city,
a cut above the rest.
511
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:55,880
Its arcades and numerous splendid churches
still bear witness to its former wealth.
512
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,440
Ivan IV must have been envious.
513
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,040
[orchestral music]
514
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,880
Today, Novgorod is a treasure trove
for archaeologists.
515
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,320
Since the end of the Soviet Union,
516
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:22,120
excavations have been carried out here
in a small, undeveloped area of the city.
517
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,960
The teams have found
well-preserved documents on birch bark,
518
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,880
evidence of the city's glittering past.
519
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,480
Archaeologist Sergeij Trojanow
is leading the dig.
520
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:35,160
[Sergeij speaks in Russian]
521
00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,160
[voice-over]
We have a pretty harsh climate here.
522
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:41,040
The big lake nearby means
the town gets a lot of precipitation,
523
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,160
and water preserves against oxygen.
524
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:46,440
So all the wooden buildings
525
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,880
and rubbish dumps
were impregnated with water,
526
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,920
which meant that all the old remains
were preserved for us.
527
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,880
Including birch bark,
leather and all organic materials.
528
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,720
[narrator] The artefacts show
that Novgorod was wealthy and powerful.
529
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,160
[workers chat in Russian]
530
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:08,720
[speaking in Russian]
531
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,680
[voice-over] The grand dukes from Moscow
didn't have much influence here.
532
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,000
What made Novgorod so independent?
533
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,000
Where did the wealth
that enables this freedom come from?
534
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:23,200
[narrator] The written evidence
of the birch bark gives an answer.
535
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:29,160
And a clue as to why Ivan detested
the town with the "privileged position".
536
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,160
The swampy ground
wasn't suitable for agriculture,
537
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,680
which was predominant
in the rest of the empire.
538
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,320
The citizens of Novgorod
had something else,
539
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,440
and were extremely successful.
540
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,400
[workers chat in Russian]
541
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,280
[narrator] They were better dressed
than their contemporaries
542
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,960
in other parts of Russia,
and they were better educated.
543
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:53,560
[melancholy guitar music]
544
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,480
Many merchants' guilds erected
churches near the river,
545
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,520
where they prayed for God's help
with their business.
546
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,080
These point to Novgorod's real strength.
547
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,600
[various birdcalls]
548
00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:20,480
[speaking in Russian]
549
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:22,320
[voice-over]
From the unusually large number
550
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,320
of birch bark documents, we can see
that the inhabitants of Novgorod
551
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,560
carried on long-distance trade.
552
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,880
They were merchants
with good connections to Europe
553
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:35,000
who didn't really take much notice
of what Moscow had to say.
554
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,080
[dramatic music]
555
00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:45,679
[narrator]
Ivan hated people he couldn't control.
556
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,800
A city with wide-ranging
trading connections
557
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:50,920
and privileges didn't suit him.
558
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:52,760
It had to go.
559
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:57,080
The Opricniki put an end
to this flourishing city.
560
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,520
Novgorod remains a symbol
of the economic ruin
561
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,080
that Ivan's reign of terror
brought to Russia.
562
00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:05,920
[speaking in Russian]
563
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,000
[voice-over] We usually split the reign
of Ivan IV into two periods:
564
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,920
the period of reform until about 1560,
565
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,160
and the period of terror
that began thereafter.
566
00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:23,800
[narrator] Did Ivan spread terror
just for the sake of it?
567
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:25,840
Because he was a sadist?
568
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,280
[melancholic piano music]
569
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:32,040
It's an exaggeration.
570
00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:35,160
And there are common features,
571
00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:38,760
particularly if you believe, as I do,
on the whole,
572
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,400
that the Opricnina did,
at least initially,
573
00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:44,840
have some kind of rationale
574
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,800
of reorganizing the landed base
575
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,440
of the elites,
576
00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:00,840
in the hope of strengthening
Russia's military power.
577
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,680
Then you could see that sort of aim
578
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:09,200
as being a consistent type of continuation
579
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:11,720
of some of the reform measures
580
00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:16,600
of the earlier period of the 1550s.
581
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,280
[narrator] Reform through terror?
582
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:22,160
Was that what fascinated Stalin?
583
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,800
Perrie has analyzed
the political visions of Ivan IV.
584
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,320
Ivan has the opportunity to extend
his empire eastwards
585
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:33,720
to the endless expanse of Siberia.
586
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,440
But that puts a strain
on his military capabilities.
587
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:38,600
[haunting choir music]
588
00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,360
The endless steppes remain
in the hands of nomads on horseback.
589
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:47,000
In the years that follow,
the Tartars make repeated incursions,
590
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:48,600
even as far as Moscow.
591
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,560
[dramatic music]
592
00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:54,440
Things are different in the West.
593
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:56,680
Ivan concentrates on a new enemy:
594
00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,680
the Order of Teutonic Knights
in the Baltic.
595
00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:04,120
He demands the payment of tributes.
596
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,160
His grandfather conquered
the town of Dorpat,
597
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,160
and the Knights
have been using it ever since.
598
00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:13,000
This provocative act pays off.
599
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:15,480
At the time, when the Livonian knights
600
00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:19,720
who'd previously been the dominant force
on the Baltic coast,
601
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:24,480
when the Livonian knights
were in a period of decline
602
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:30,160
and the other powers of the region
were also trying to take advantage of this
603
00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:32,440
to assert their own positions,
604
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:36,520
it meant that if Muscovy
had access to the Baltic,
605
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:39,520
it would raise their prestige and status
606
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,680
as a rising European power.
607
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,520
[narrator]
The Baltic with access to the sea.
608
00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,480
Ivan is pursuing
concrete trading interests,
609
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:54,200
an opening to Western Europe,
long before Peter the Great.
610
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,040
[suspenseful music]
611
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:04,840
A port ice-free all year round
would be an incalculable advantage.
612
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:10,520
Are the ice-free harbors of the Baltic
perhaps one reason
613
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:14,840
for a communist to commission a film
about a monarch like Ivan?
614
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:22,240
The coronation scene with the pledge
to the Russian people gives it away:
615
00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:25,000
[German film dub]
616
00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:31,600
[voice-over]
The upper reaches of all our rivers,
617
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:37,240
the Volga, the Dvina, the Volchov,
are in our possession.
618
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,480
But their estuaries are in foreign hands.
619
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,480
The land of our forefathers,
620
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:48,320
our ancestral estates,
were stolen from us.
621
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,960
That is why, heed my words,
622
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:58,720
we are today being crowned sovereign
also of those Russian lands,
623
00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,960
which to our sorrow are still suffering
under foreign rule.
624
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:06,120
[dramatic choir music]
625
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:10,160
[narrator] Sergei Eisenstein's
two-part film is pure propaganda.
626
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,400
The Hitler-Stalin pact had given
the dictator carte blanche
627
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,280
to annex the Baltic states, but...
628
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,720
[Maureen]
Stalin still was enough of a Marxist
629
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:24,120
and enough of his associates
were still Marxists,
630
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,920
not to want to say
"We want to take these Baltic States over
631
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,360
because they were part
of the Tsarist empire,
632
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,880
and we are the successors
to the Tsarist Empire."
633
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:41,240
Particularly since Bolsheviks of the time
had of course always condemned
634
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:47,200
the imperialist, colonialist attitudes
of the tsarist empire.
635
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,200
[narrator] Eisenstein's film
makes it clear to the people:
636
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,600
the Baltic has been Russian
since ancient times.
637
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:58,400
We're only taking
what belongs to us anyway.
638
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:00,800
[German film dub]
639
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:07,680
There is a parallel there between Stalin
and his move into the Baltic,
640
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,480
partly reminding the Russian people
641
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:15,120
that Russian interests in the Baltic
go back allegedly
642
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:20,760
to the Kievan period
as well as that Ivan had asserted them.
643
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,480
[narrator]
In 1940, Stalin gets his ice-free ports
644
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,280
by annexing the Baltic states
of Estonia and Lithuania.
645
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:34,200
Stalin achieves what Ivan
could not sustain in the long term.
646
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:36,560
[tense string music]
647
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:43,720
[drumroll]
[bells]
648
00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:48,240
Ivan does take the ports
of Narva and Dorpat
649
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,400
and appoints his best general
Andrei Kurbski as governor.
650
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,680
But the rapid military successes
do not last.
651
00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:00,040
Allies, primarily Sweden
and Poland-Lithuania,
652
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:02,720
rush to assist the Teutonic knights,
653
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:06,600
who had ruled the region
for the last 400-500 years.
654
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,440
Ivan sets his hopes
on the strength of his friend Kurbski.
655
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,640
[battle commotion]
656
00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:14,240
[tense music]
657
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:17,640
The first pamphlets in German
658
00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:20,640
appear among the Estonians
and Lithuanians,
659
00:41:20,720 --> 00:41:22,920
stirring up public opinion against Ivan.
660
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,160
These precursors of our tabloid press
661
00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:30,120
try to outdo each other
in their portrayal of Moscow's brutality.
662
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,000
The image of the barbarous Russian
quickly spreads.
663
00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:36,000
[ominous music]
664
00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:44,760
The Swiss historian Andreas Kappeler
has studied these pamphlets in detail.
665
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,040
They have helped define the image
of Ivan IV right up to the present day.
666
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:51,920
[Andreas speaking in German]
667
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:55,560
[voice-over]
This picture is heavily influenced
668
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:59,640
by the neighboring countries,
by Livonia, Poland-Lithuania,
669
00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:04,680
in part by Sweden, who used this publicity
as propaganda against Russia,
670
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:10,040
so effectively
that the picture endures for a long time
671
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,680
and the image of Ivan stays negative.
672
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:17,320
[drumroll]
[bells]
673
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:22,520
[narrator] After his initial victories,
Ivan returns to Moscow
674
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:26,240
and leaves it in the hands
of his confidant and friend Kurbski
675
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:27,560
to continue the war.
676
00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:31,600
But this is to prove
a bitter disappointment.
677
00:42:32,240 --> 00:42:33,360
[suspenseful music]
678
00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:40,960
Kurbski defects to his opponents,
the allied troops of Poland and Lithuania.
679
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:44,440
[dramatic choir music]
680
00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:47,720
Ivan is beside himself.
681
00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:50,760
For him,
this is treason of the worst kind,
682
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:55,520
and hits him at a time when he is still
suffering badly from the loss of his wife.
683
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:58,000
[yells]
684
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:01,680
Their correspondence reflects this mood:
685
00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:07,320
Ivan accuses Kurbski of having abandoned
and disappointed not only a friend,
686
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:10,120
but also God's chosen ruler of Russia.
687
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:20,480
In his reply, Kurbski justifies
his actions with the tsar's barbarity,
688
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:22,720
under which he himself has suffered.
689
00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:27,440
Ivan spends 80 pages
rejecting the accusations.
690
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:31,720
Since the end of the 19th century,
691
00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,480
this correspondence has been seen
as a unique source of information
692
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:37,160
about Ivan's Russia.
693
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:39,520
[dramatic orchestral music]
694
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:49,920
But in the 1970s, questions were raised
as to the authenticity of the letters.
695
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:52,800
[speaking in German]
696
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:56,480
[voice-over] I, too, have my doubts,
697
00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,640
if only because it would have been
very unusual for a sovereign
698
00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:03,240
to have conducted a correspondence
with a fallen ex-noble
699
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:05,440
about the legitimacy of his rule.
700
00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:11,360
Ivan himself never otherwise
expressed himself so extensively.
701
00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:13,680
According to this theory,
702
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:18,320
the correspondence between Ivan IV
and Kurbski never took place.
703
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,240
[narrator]
The letters, however, painted a picture
704
00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:29,160
which matched eye-witness reports
and confirmed the prejudices of the time.
705
00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:32,680
Together, the pamphlets
and this correspondence
706
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:36,440
have had the effect of ensuring
that the name of Tsar Ivan IV
707
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,560
is followed by the epithet "the Terrible".
708
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:41,200
[speaking in German]
709
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:42,680
[voice-over] The nickname "the Terrible"
710
00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:45,600
first became common parlance
in the 18th century.
711
00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:49,800
It stems from a mistranslation
of the Russian word grozny,
712
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:54,720
which actually equates to "the strict",
but by no means meant negatively.
713
00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:03,200
[narrator] Each epoch creates
imagery suited to its needs:
714
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:07,000
in contrast
to the revolutionary butcher Lenin,
715
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:10,280
whose statue still graces
many Russian cities today,
716
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:12,360
after the fall of Stalin
717
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,360
Ivan IV became
the prototype of a brutal tyrant.
718
00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:22,680
[Maureen]
In the Glasnost period under Gorbatschov,
719
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:30,840
liberal oppositionist historians
wanted to go even further,
720
00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:34,520
they were identifying Stalin with Ivan,
721
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:38,240
Ivan the Terrible,
and using this to blacken him.
722
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:39,320
And by this time,
723
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:43,800
the negative image of Ivan
had been revived to such an extent
724
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:47,840
that this was an effective way
of condemning Stalin.
725
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:49,600
[drumroll]
[bells]
726
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:56,040
[narrator] Almost three decades after
the first attack on the Baltic knights,
727
00:45:56,440 --> 00:46:01,160
the tsar has to admit to himself:
the war against Livonia is lost.
728
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:04,800
The Teutonic Order of Knights is dissolved
729
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:09,200
and its territories taken over by Denmark,
Sweden and Poland.
730
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:13,280
The new rulers
put up bitter resistance to Ivan
731
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:17,160
until finally the new Polish king,
Stephan Báthory,
732
00:46:17,240 --> 00:46:21,520
imposes a peace treaty
to which the war-wearied tsar agrees.
733
00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:29,120
Thus, Ivan's dream of access to the Baltic
and trade with Western Europe is over.
734
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:30,760
[melancholic string music]
735
00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:33,360
Only the old route remains,
736
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:38,160
from the White Sea around the North Cape
during the few months it is ice-free.
737
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:43,240
Ivan did have some bold political visions.
738
00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:46,280
It was even rumored
that he wanted to marry
739
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:48,800
Queen Elizabeth I of England himself,
740
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:56,240
although that seems unlikely,
but he did pursue an English marriage.
741
00:46:56,320 --> 00:46:59,520
He was quick to see
the possible advantages,
742
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:05,360
but possibly underestimated
the difficulties.
743
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,080
[drumroll]
[bells]
744
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:10,040
[narrator]
Ivan had several other marriages
745
00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:12,200
to daughters of Russian nobility,
746
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:17,680
but he wanted the heir to the throne
to be his eldest son Ivan Ivanovich,
747
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,000
born of his beloved Anastasia.
748
00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:22,840
Father and son have much in common.
749
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:26,000
But things turn out differently.
750
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:27,520
[suspenseful music]
751
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:29,640
After decades on the throne,
752
00:47:29,720 --> 00:47:33,560
suspicion and fear of treason
have made Ivan paranoid.
753
00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:37,280
More and more frequently,
he loses control.
754
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:40,600
[chess pieces clatter]
755
00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:44,560
[chess pieces clatter]
756
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:51,920
Did Ivan go mad in his old age,
as many contemporaries supposed?
757
00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:53,600
[ominous music]
758
00:47:55,160 --> 00:47:57,600
In a way it's a bit of a cop-out, I mean,
759
00:47:57,680 --> 00:48:03,040
it means that as a historian
you don't have to start looking too deeply
760
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:07,040
for other factors and other patterns,
761
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:11,440
you just say, "Well,
there isn't a pattern, it's crazy..."
762
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:16,240
[narrator] One small incident
is enough to trigger Ivan's fury.
763
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:22,440
Lack of impulse control and fits of rage
were always his biggest problems.
764
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:31,880
One day he encounters his daughter-in-law
dressed in a fashion he finds unsuitable
765
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:33,320
and goes berserk.
766
00:48:33,400 --> 00:48:35,280
[tense music]
767
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:40,440
Ivan Ivanovich defends his wife
against his father.
768
00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:43,040
The situation escalates.
769
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:44,640
[yelling]
770
00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:48,280
Ivan beats his beloved son to death,
771
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:52,400
thus depriving Russia
of a capable heir to the throne.
772
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:00,000
At the time, Ivan doesn't know
773
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:03,240
that he has dealt a severe blow
to his subjects
774
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:06,320
and destroyed a great deal
of his own achievements.
775
00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:09,920
Only his brother can now become tsar.
776
00:49:10,600 --> 00:49:12,840
But he is mentally retarded.
777
00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:13,800
[music ends abruptly]
778
00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:16,600
The killing by Ivan of his own son
779
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:20,480
has long been a matter for debate
by psychologists and artists.
780
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:26,680
How much strength, how much rage,
is necessary to kill one's own child?
781
00:49:27,720 --> 00:49:33,120
Loss of control leads to curious forms
of what is known as displacement activity.
782
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:36,480
[speaking in German]
783
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:39,720
This is something I experience
again and again
784
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:43,520
when someone has died
and a close relative is responsible.
785
00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:49,800
Very often, rage, hate and aggression
make the deed possible in the first place,
786
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:53,920
and then later on,
rational reasoning returns,
787
00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:57,440
accompanied by activities
of symbolic retraction.
788
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,080
That can go
as far as covering up the body,
789
00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:04,160
or placing sacred objects next to it.
790
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:10,240
And when we then find the body,
it's almost as if it were lying in state.
791
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:17,840
[narrator]
The death of his son destroyed Ivan
792
00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:20,360
and jeopardized the future of the empire.
793
00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:24,760
Ivan has become his own final victim.
794
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:27,280
[tense music]
795
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:30,120
[Heidi speaking in German]
796
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:32,080
[voice-over]
This is not a form of aggression
797
00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:35,200
with which he can live easily,
because he has lost control,
798
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:38,000
and for him control
is extremely important.
799
00:50:39,640 --> 00:50:42,560
And then he stands there
and rues the consequences
800
00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:45,760
and realizes that control
has slipped away from him.
801
00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:49,280
And that doesn't fit
with his self-image at all.
802
00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:54,160
[narrator] Three years later, Ivan dies.
803
00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:58,200
The tormented child became a despot.
804
00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:00,640
His heir is weak.
805
00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:03,400
The boyars soon seize power
806
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:07,760
and their subsequent, never-ending
feuds about supremacy in Russia
807
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:11,240
plunge the country
into chaos and confusion.
808
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:18,040
This time in the wilderness does not end
until Peter the Great, 200 years later.
809
00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:22,600
Tsar Peter achieves what Ivan dreamed of,
810
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:25,960
but through brutality
and madness destroyed
811
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:29,760
the modernization
and stabilization of Russia.
812
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:33,280
He builds the port on the Baltic
813
00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:37,280
for which Ivan had waged war
for nearly 30 years in vain:
814
00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:39,960
St. Petersburg.
815
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:41,680
[dramatic orchestral music]
64539
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