What is Oprichnina?
'''Oprichnina''' (''опричнина'') is a state policy used by [[Russia|Russian]] [[Tsar]] [[Ivan the Terrible]] between [[1565]] and [[1572]]. The origin of its name is old Russian ''опричь'', what means 'apart', 'except', or 'special'. Oprichnina included [[secret police]], mass repressions, public [[execution]]s, and confiscation (taking somebody's property) of land from the [[boyar]]s. It was created because Ivan didn't trust the [[boyar]]s (Russian feudal [[aristocrat]]s) anymore. {{-}} {{Politics-stub}} [[Category:Russian tsars]] [[Category:History of Russia]] [[Category:16th century in Europe]]