Ivan the Terrible was a cruel tyrant, who never knew the meaning of moderation; He drank too much, laughed too loudly and hated and loved too fiercely. And he never forgot anything. Ivan was definitely smart and despite his cruelty, his reign is known as one of the greatest rules in Russian history. His early rise to the throne showed his ugly traits, beautiful wife, his accomplishments as a Russian Tsar, and his death.
Ivan was born in 1530; Ivan was only three when he inherited the Russian throne following his father's death. At the age of seven nobles of his court killed his mother by poisoning her. In his early teens, he started displaying some of his uglier qualities. He would throw live animals from towers and got pleasure from doing it. Ivan was Russia's first Tsar at the age of seventeen.
Three weeks after receiving this honor he got married. He had to choose his bride in a national virgin competition. A national virgin competition is when all virgins over twelve were brought to the city of Kremlin and were shown in front of him. He chose Anastasia who was the daughter of a minor noble. Ivan had huge hopes and dreams for his new Imperial dynasty. .
He started a holy war against the Tartars. Ivan's conquered the Muslim cities of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. After doing this they started calling Ivan the Orthodox crusader. His wife Anastasia helped to hold his reign but in 1560 she died. He accused his nobles of poisoning her like they did his mother, the death of his wife made him become more mentally unstable. .
He started Russia's first secret police. He called them a religious brotherhood and made them swear to protect God's Tsar or in other words himself. They were ready to commit any crime in the Ivan's name. These police killed over sixty thousand citizens. Ivan sentenced thousands of his people to internal exile in far away of his empire. He made his servants kill their families and then he would kill them.
