Muscovy

Muscovy is a country in eastern Europe.

Initially a great power, Muscovy was the greatest threat to both Sweden and their ally Poland. They took land from Novgorod, the Great Horde, and Kazan in multiple wars. However, the fatal Second Kazan War and the Tambov War weakened Muscovy to the point of collapse.

Ascension
Muscovy was already a very large nation in 1444, whose power was quickly rising. In 1446 they declared war on Novgorod and seized nearly half of the nation's provinces, cementing their status as a trade power in the White Sea and Novgorod. Shortly after, they attacked the Great Horde and took much of their provinces. They also invaded Kazan and took half of their land as well.

The nation reached its peak in 1494, spanning from the White Sea to the Black Sea, and having the largest army aside from Ming.

Decline
In 1494, in order to eliminate Kazan as a threat, Muscovy declared war on them. During this time of distraction, Poland and Sweden declared the Tambov War on them to displace them as Europe's greatest power. Being outnumbered and attacked on two fronts, the large Muscovite army quickly faltered, and they lost all of their gains from Kazan in the peace of 1497.

The Treaty of Glogau between Muscovy and Poland was signed on 11 October 1500. This ceded much of southern Muscovy, comprising of the plains taken from the Great Horde, to Poland. Expecting a massive victory, the people of Muscovy quickly lost their faith in the government. On 2 September 1502, the peasantry of Muscovy revolted against the nobility, sparking the Muscovite Peasants' War which raged on for two decades.

Sweden declared war on Muscovy again in 1516 in the War of the Rivers. Two Muscovite kings died in the war, and the once powerful army "fell like fodder" to the Swedes. The Treaty of Stockholm, signed on 27 August 1519, ceded the country's coastline along the White Sea to Novgorod, the city of Pskov to Estonia, and most importantly Moscow itself to Sweden. The city was renamed to Nya Stockholm just to spite them, making Muscovy an international embarrassment.

Civil War
In 1544, due to Ivan IV's very low popularity, a civil war broke out. On 3 December 1546, he was overthrown and executed and replaced by Vasiliy V Paletskij.