In January 1558, Russian regiments, by the decree of Ivan the Terrible, crossed the Russo-Livonian border. For four years, from 1558 to 1561, the Baltic region was engulfed in the flames of war, which soon became known as the Livonian War (in turn, this war became part of a longer conflict that can be called the War for the Livonian Heritage, lasting de facto from 1555 to 1595). As a result of the actions of the Russian troops, the "sick man" of Northeastern Europe, the Livonian "confederation", consisting of the Livonian Order, the Archbishopric of Riga, and several other smaller possessions, was defeated, disbanded, and divided among powerful and greedy neighbors. The history of this war, despite its significance for the subsequent history not only of Russia and the Baltic states, but also of the states that intervened in the conflict - Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark - has been studied very poorly, particularly in national historiography. This small work, written using both domestic and foreign sources and literature, fills this gap. It provides a brief military-historical (and partly diplomatic) sketch of this conflict, which will be useful not only for historians but also for anyone interested in both Russian history and especially the history of the Russian military affairs of the 16th century.
