Beginning of the Livonian War
- When
- 1558
- Where
- Old Livonia
- Episodes
- 1
The Livonian War began on 22 January 1558 with the Russian invasion of Livonia. This initial action started a conflict concerning the control of Old Livonia, located in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. The Livonian War concerned the control of Old Livonia, located in present-day Estonia and Latvia. Russia had become Livonia's eastern neighbour through the absorption of Novgorod and Pskov, growing stronger after annexing Kazan and Astrakhan. Sweden had previously sought expansion into the region, but these efforts were stalled by the Russo-Swedish War of 1554–1557.
Commencement. On 22 January 1558, Ivan reacted with the invasion of Livonia, marking the beginning of the war. This initial action initiated the conflict over the region's control, which concerned the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia.
People involved
- Livonian Order · Defending entity in Old Livonia
Sources
- Livonian War Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-26
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.