About this time Moscow was greatly injured by conflagrations started by its own exasperated people, it is said, although some historians attribute them to the machinations of Ivan's political enemies. At any rate these events and the influence of two priests, together with that of his young wife, seem to have aroused him to a proper appreciation of the enormity of his past deeds, and his character underwent a sudden and very marked change for the better.
He busied himself to extend the confines of his realm, and in 1552 he became master of Kazan and two years later of Astrakhan, forcing back the Mongols steadily toward the Caspian Sea.
Having broken the Mongol power in the south, and strengthened the buttresses of his dominions on the east, he then turned his attention to the north, being anxious to open up communications with the western world. He was thus brought into collision with the Swedes and the Teutonic Knights, which resulted in a war between the Muscovite and the Order. In 1558 Ivan invaded Livonia, taking several towns, whereupon the Knights made an alliance with the King of Poland, and war ensued.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
