The Oprichnina

1. By: Gillian Ritchie The Oprichnina

2. Who? • The Oprichnina was a group of thugs and mercenaries gathered together by Ivan the Terrible to be his personal army against traitors and enemies of the state.

3. What? • The Oprichniki originated mostly from the lower classes of society and replaced the former soldiers, police, ministers, and bureaucrats, as was their purpose. All maintained an undying loyalty to Ivan the Terrible. Their symbol was a dog’s head and a broom.

4. Where? • The Oprichnina originated in the heart of Moscow. However, Ivan the Terrible let loose his new employees on the entirety of Russia to sort out the traitors and deal with them as they saw fit. This included murder, impalement, mutilation, torture, whipping and rape.

5. When? • The original Oprichnina sect was created in 1565 and lasted until 1572. In that time span, it grew from 1,000 members to 6,000. Some say that the Oprichnina has become the current secret police force in Russia.

6. Why? • The Oprichnina was created by Ivan the Terrible to replace the nobles, advisors, and high ranking citizens he distrusted so much. He constantly feared that they were trying to usurp him as well as the fact that in his paranoia he believed they had poisoned his wife, Anastasia.

7. Works Cited • http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa042701b.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprichnina