15. Russia’s Second Most Brutal Ruler
Of Russia’s many brutal rulers, few – with the possible exception of Stalin – were more brutal than Tsar Ivan IV. Better known as Ivan the Terrible (1530 – 1584), he was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547. That year, he declared himself “Tsar of all the Russias”, which became the title of Russian monarch from then on. He created a centralized government and was a grand conqueror who finally overthrew the last remnants of Mongol subjugation beneath which Russia had groaned for centuries.
Ivan then proceeded to subjugate the neighboring nomadic Khanates, and greatly expanded Russia’s borders. All of that was good and laudable from a Russian perspective. On the other hand, however, Ivan was an insanely cruel despot, who subjected his people to a decades-long reign of terror. As seen below, his long list of atrocities included the massacre of entire cities, and the implementation of a state policy that revolved around mass repression. In a fit of rage, he even personally disposed of his own son.
