The 48 Laws Of Power

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAWI

From

early

inhis

reign,

Ivan

IV,

laterknownasIvanthe

Terrible,

hadto

confront

an

unpleasantreality:

The

countrydesperately

needed

reform,

buthelackedthe

power

to

push

it

through.

The

greatest

limittohis

author-

ity

Camefromthe

boyars,

theRussian

princely

classthatdominatedthe

country

andterrorizedthe

peasantry.

In

1553,

atthe

age

of

twenty-three,

Ivanfellill.

Lying

in

bed,

nearing

death,

heasked

the

boyars

toswear

allegiance

tohissonasthe

new

czar.

Some

hesitated,

someevenrefused.Thenandthere

Ivansawhe

hadno

power

overthe

boyars.

Herecoveredfromhis

illness,

buthenever

forgot

thelesson:The

boyars

wereoutto

destroy

him.Andindeedinthe

years

to

come,

many

ofthemost

powerful

ofthemdefectedtoRussia’smainene-

mies,

Polandand

Lithuania,

where

theyplotted

theirreturnandtheover-

throwofthe czar. Even one ofIvan’sclosest

friends,

Prince

Andrey

Kurbski,

suddenly

turned

againsthim,defecting

toLithuaniain

1564,

and

becoming

the

strongest

ofIva.n’senemies.

WhenKurbski

beganraising

troops

foran

invasion,

the

royaldynasty

seemed

suddenly

more

precarious

thanever.With

émigré

noblesfoment-

ing

invasionfromthe

west,

Tartars

bearing

down

fromthe

east,

andthebcr

yars

stirringup

troublewithinthe

country,

Russia’svastsizemadeita

nightmare

todefend.InwhateverdirectionIvan

struck,

hewouldleave

himselfvulnerableontheotherside.

Only

ifhehadabsolute

power

could

hedeal

withthis

many-headedHydra.

Andhehadnosuch

power.

Ivanbroodeduntil

the

morning

ofDecember

3, 1564,

whentheciti-

zensofMoscowawoketoa

strangesight.

Hundredsofsledsfilledthe

square

beforethe

Kremlin,

loadedwiththecza.r’streasuresandwith

provi-

sionsfortheentirecourt.

They

watchedindisbeliefastheczarandhis

court

boardedthesledsandlefttown.Without

explainingwhy,

heestab-

lishedhimselfina

village

southofMoscow.Foranentiremonthakindof

terror

gripped

the

capital,

fortheMuscovitesfearedthatIvanhadaban-

donedthemtothe

bloodthirstyboyars.Shops

closed

up

andriotousmobs

gathereddaily.Finally,

on

January

3 of

1565,

a.letterarrivedfromthe

czar,

explaining

thathecouldno

longer

bearthe

boyars’betrayals

andhaddo

cided

toabdicateonceandforall.

Readaloud

in

public,

the

letterhada

startling

effect:Merchants

and

commonersblamedthe

boyars

forIvan’s

decision,

andtooktothe

streets,

terrifying

the

nobility

withtheir

fury.

Soona

group

of

delegates

represent-

ing

the

church,

the

princes,

andthe

people

madethe

journey

toIvan’svil-

lage,

and

begged

the

czar,

in

the

name

of

the

holy

landof

Russia,

toreturn

tothethrone.Ivanlistened

but

would

not

change

hismind.After

days

of

hearing

their

pleas,

however,

heofferedhis

subjects

a

choice:Either

they

grant

himabsolute

powers

to

govern

ashe

pleased,

withnointerference

fromthe

boyars,

or

they

findanewleader.

Facedwithachoicebetweencivilwarandthe

acceptance

of

despotic

power,

almost

every

sectorofRussian

society“opted”

fora

strong

czar,

calling

forIvan’sreturntoMoscowandtherestorationoflawandorder.

In

TheGermanCl’UlN(.'£’l'

lur

Bl.!VilClI‘(7l(,

ermzged

attheromlmtrcriti-

(,‘l.\‘fl1S’/lftllllRudolf

Virclww

(the

Ger/mm

puth(7l0gi.rl

tlllllllbrrul

politirmn),I1ad

his

.swoml.s'call

upon

the

.\’Cl£’IlIiSlI0

L"1(llll’7lg(’

/rimtoaduel.“Asthe

CIlIllll“.Vlg(’(lparty.

Ilmvv

theclmiw

ofweapons,

"

willVimlzow."andI

chooselhvre."Hehcl1l

ulaft

(W0

large’

and

appammly

irlrnrlcal

xauxu,-.;c.r.

“One

of

tlte.w,”

hewent

on,

“ix

!IIfI,'Ct¢’,(l

Will‘!

(ll-‘arlly

gcrrns:

theotheris

per;/early

sound.Le!

Ilix

E.\‘(‘ellenL'y

zlericle

w/rich,om‘hewi.s'l1e.vto

wt.

andIWillrealthe

other.

“

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ately

I/zc

ll|L'J.Yll;,’L’

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LE,

BROWN

BOOKOF.r\,Ni-(‘Dori-.s,

CLIFIONF/\l)lM/\N,E13,.

1985

LAW3! 255