Editing Vasili III of Russia (section)

==Foreign affairs==
[[File:Herberstein-Moscovia.jpg|thumb|Map of Moscovia published by Sigismund von Herberstein in 1549]]

Vasili III maintained the policies initiated by his father Ivan III, focusing much of his reign on consolidating the territorial gains achieved by Ivan. Vasili [[annexation|annexed]] the last surviving [[Autonomous entity|autonomous]] provinces: [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]] in 1510, [[appanage]] of [[Volokolamsk]] in 1513, principalities of [[Ryazan Principality|Ryazan]] in 1521 and [[Novgorod-Seversky]] in 1522.{{Cn|date=February 2024}}

Vasili also took advantage of the difficult position of [[Sigismund I the Old|Sigismund of Poland]] to [[Siege of Smolensk (1514)|capture Smolensk]], the great eastern fortress of [[Lithuania]] (siege started 1512, ended in 1514), chiefly through the aid of the rebel Lithuanian, Prince [[Mikhail Glinski]], who provided him with artillery and engineers. The loss of Smolensk was an important injury inflicted by Russia on Lithuania in the course of the [[Russo-Lithuanian Wars]] and only the exigencies of Sigismund compelled him to acquiesce in its surrender (1522).<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|last=Bain |first=Robert Nisbet |author-link=Robert Nisbet Bain |wstitle=Basil (Muscovy) |display=Basil s.v. Basil III.|volume=3|pages=468–469}}</ref>

In 1521 Vasili received an emissary of the neighboring Iranian [[Safavid Empire]], sent by Shah [[Ismail I]] whose ambitions were to construct an Irano-Russian alliance against the common enemy, the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/9137125|title=Relations between Tehran and Moscow, 1979–2014|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref>

Vasili saw some success against the [[Crimean Khanate]]. Although in 1519 his armies were defeated along the Oka River and he was obliged to buy off the Crimean khan, [[Mehmed I Giray]], under the very walls of Moscow, towards the end of his reign he established Russian influence on the [[Volga]]. In 1531–32 he placed the pretender [[Cangali khan]] on the throne of [[Khanate of Kazan]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

Vasili was the first grand-duke of Moscow who adopted the title of [[tsar]] and the [[double-headed eagle]] of the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="EB1911"/>