Boris Godunov and the Time of troubles from Cambridge History of Russia, volume 1

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At the end of Ivan the Terrible's reign Russia experienced an acute political, social and economic crisis. The protracted Livonian war and natural disas­ters had brought the economic life of the country to a complete collapse. The Novgorod tax cadastres depict a catastrophic decline in the population by the beginning of the 1580s (by almost 80 per cent) and the neglect of arable land (the proportion of untilled land was more than 90 per cent).[1] The crisis affected not only the north-west but the entire territory of Russia.[2] The eco­nomic decline had a deleterious effect on the military capability of the army - many noblemen were unable to provide service from their devastated estates. After Groznyi's death the Polish King Stefan Batory nurtured plans to invade Russia. He counted on finding support in some circles of Russian society. When M. I. Golovin defected to Lithuania he assured the king that he would not encounter any serious resistance in Russia. The country faced a real threat of foreign invasion and internal unrest.

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