The section chronicles the profound collapse of Russia following the end of the Rurik dynasty, which occurred with the death of Tsar Mikhail II in January 1598, leaving no clear successor. The ensuing Zemensky Sobor elected Alexi Shuysky, leading to immediate political intrigue as Shuysky expelled a rival Romanov claimant. Russia was then devastated by a famine starting in 1599, exacerbated by serfdom's inefficiencies and the Tsar's preoccupation with military affairs. Taking advantage of this unrest, a man named Stefan Ivanovich, who claimed Rurik lineage, challenged Shuysky, plunging the realm into a brutal civil war by the spring of 1602. Though Shuysky's army ultimately defeated the Ivanovich forces and captured the claimant at the Battle of Tula in August 1604, the civil conflict merely preceded a greater crisis.

The Polish-Swedish Union, observing the chaos, invaded Russia in February 1605, leveraging the pretense that Shuysky was a false claimant. This foreign incursion met little resistance, and following the devastating Battle of Bryansk in July 1605, Shuysky fled, earning the moniker "Shuysky the Ruinous" or "Shuysky the Fleeting," but not before destroying Moscow in a spiteful effort to deny the invaders a glorious capital. With Moscow reduced to a "smoldering husk," the Union installed Erik Vasa, a nephew of their king, as the new Tsar on September 30, 1605, effectively turning Russia into a satellite state of the Polish-Swedish Realm. Russia was subjected to systematic exploitation; despite persistent famine, the Union forced the transfer of vast amounts of Russian grain to Poland and Sweden.

Throughout the 17th century, Russia became a failed state, characterized by widespread starvation and pervasive raids by the Tatars in the south, leading to light garrisoned areas resembling anarchy. Erik Vasa, though a puppet king with negligible influence over his military or the realm, dedicated himself to understanding the deep hatred and defeatism of his subjects. Recognizing that he needed to shed his foreign persona to gain legitimacy, Erik painstakingly learned the Russian language and began to "go native," eventually viewing the Union as a hostile power determined to undermine Russia's progress. He employed subtle administrative resistance in the early 1640s, such as returning seized farmland to the populace and curbing taxes, which unexpectedly improved efficiency.

Acknowledging that true liberation required external support, Erik sought alliance with Eastern Rome. Constantinople, however, demanded a high price: Erik had to formally abandon his Catholic faith for the Orthodox Church, a demand to which Erik reluctantly resigned. On June 23, 1646, Erik Vasa officially professed the Orthodox faith, an act that Warsaw and Stockholm interpreted as outright defiance. With the Polish-Swedish Union subsequently distracted by its involvement in the escalating conflict in Central Europe—the Ten Years' War—Russia seized its chance. In a stunning showcase of defiance and strategic timing, Russia declared war on the Polish-Swedish Union on February 16, 1648, beginning its struggle to shatter the yoke of foreign tutelage.