32. A Bad Childhood Creates a Monster
Ivan the Terrible ascended the throne at age three, and Russia was governed by his mother as regent in his name. However, his mother died when Ivan was seven, and a power struggle erupted between competing boyars, or Russian nobles, in which the child ruler was left defenseless. Ivan was exploited and tormented by boyars, who mistreated and abused him in his own palace.
That made him bitter, bitterness gave way to insanity, and before long, he was venting his frustrations by torturing small animals. By the time he took personal control of the government, Ivan was a paranoid, resentful, and angry young man who distrusted people in general, and detested the boyar class in particular. So he instituted a system known as the oprichnina in the 1560s – a reign of terror that inaugurated the absolute monarchy that was to be Russia’s hallmark for centuries to come. With a special police force, the Oprichniki, Ivan kicked off a wave of persecutions that targeted the boyars, and spread from there in ever greater ripples that soon covered all of Russia.
