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The first years of Ivan’s reign were marked by reforms and peace. However, this was to change and many have even claimed that this was a result of some undiagnosed mental health issues. More likely the drastic change in Ivan’s policies was due to external and internal threats. In the 1560s, Russia was involved in several wars and a drought caused widespread famine. There were rumors of revolt and conspiracies. Ivan decided that he needed to strengthen his position, especially against the Boyars. He found the Oprichnina a military and a police force that was soon given free reign against Ivan’s many real and imagined enemies. There were several waves of persecution launched by the Oprichnina. This involved mass arrests and executions mainly of Boyars and their supporters. The Oprichnina greatly extend the hold of Ivan over the hereditary nobility but its members increasingly enriched themselves and became a ‘state within a state’.
Later, Ivan disbanded the force in 1572. The Tsar became increasingly paranoid, especially after the death of his beloved wife and he suspected the city of Novgorod was going to betray him.<ref>Bobrick, Benson. <i>Ivan the Terrible</i>. (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 1990), p. 156</ref> He attacked the city and had it sacked in an orgy of bloodshed and brutality that lasted weeks. Soon Ivan IV had earned the name ‘The Terrible’. The Tsar throughout much of his reign was engaged in wars with the various Khanates to the south and the east. In a series of wars, he conquered of forced the submission of three Muslim Khanates. He not only vastly increased the extent of the territory of Muscovy he also turned it into a multi-faith and a multi-ethnic state.
In effect, Ivan IV had founded a new Russian Empire. Despite being a devout Orthodox Christian Ivan pursued a policy of toleration towards his many Muslim subjects. For many years Ivan was involved in a brutal war to the west, this was the Livonian War.<ref> Bobrick, p. 114</ref> It was an attempt by Russia to expand to the Baltic Sea and this involved it in a series of wars with Sweden, Denmark, and Poland among others. The war was inconclusive. During Ivan's reign, Russia started the exploration and colonization of Siberia. In 1555, shortly after the conquest of Kazan, the Tartar Khan in western Siberia pledged allegiance to Ivan. He failed to pay tribute and Ivan engineered his downfall. This left a power vacuum in the region and the Tsar instead of establishing another tributary state in Siberia, decided that he would rule it directly.
