Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terrible, had to confront an unpleasant reality. The country desperately needed reform, but he lacked the power to push it through. His greatest limit to his authority came from the princely class and terrorized the peasantry. Many of the most powerful of them defected to Russia's main enemies, Poland and Lithuania. In whatever direction Ivan struck, he would leave himself vulnerable on the other side.