1773 1775 years. Pugachev's uprising

In 1771, unrest swept the lands of the Yaik Cossacks. Unlike the local social uprisings that preceded them, this uprising of the Cossacks in the Urals was already a direct prologue to the biggest social upheaval of the 18th century, and indeed the entire history of imperial Russia - the uprising led by E. I. Pugachev, which resulted in the Peasant War of 1773-1775.
Objectively, the reason for this powerful social explosion was the monstrous increase in serfdom, which was a hallmark of Catherine's "golden age" of the Russian nobility. The legislation of Catherine II on the peasant question expanded the willfulness and arbitrariness of the landlords to the extreme limits. Thus, the decree of 1765 on the right of a landowner to exile his serfs to hard labor was supplemented two years later by a ban on serfs to file complaints against their landowners.
At the same time, the government of Catherine II waged a consistent attack on the traditional privileges of the Cossacks: a state monopoly was introduced on fishing and salt mining on Yaik, the autonomy of Cossack self-government was infringed, the appointment of military chieftains and the involvement of Cossacks in the service in the North Caucasus was put into practice, etc.
It should be noted that it was the Cossacks who were the instigators and main actors of the Pugachev uprising, just as during the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century, as well as the uprisings of S. Razin and K. Bulavin. But along with the Cossacks and peasants, other groups of the population also took part in the uprising, each of which pursued its own goals. So, for representatives of the non-Russian peoples of the Volga region, participation in the uprising had the character of a national liberation struggle; the goals of the factory workers of the Urals who joined the Pugachevites, in fact, did not differ from those of the peasants; Poles exiled to the Urals fought for their liberation in the ranks of the rebels.
A special group of rebels were Russian schismatics, who during the persecution of them at the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th centuries. found refuge in the Volga region. They fought with government troops, but it was in the schismatic sketes that the idea of ​​Pugachev taking the name of Peter III matured, and the schismatics supplied him with money.
All these groups were united by "common indignation", as General A. I. Bibikov, sent to suppress the Pugachev region, put it, but with such different goals and positions, it would be correct to assume that if the rebels won, a conflict and a split in their camp would be inevitable.
The immediate cause for the uprising of the Yaik Cossacks was the activity of the next commission of inquiry, sent at the end of 1771 to investigate complaints. The real task of the commission was to bring the Cossack masses to obedience. She conducted interrogations and arrests. In response, the disobedient Cossacks in January 1772 went to the Yaitsky town with a procession to submit a petition to Major General Traubenberg, who had arrived from the capital, to remove the ataman and foremen. The peaceful procession was shot from cannons, which provoked a Cossack uprising. The Cossacks defeated a detachment of soldiers, killed Traubenberg, the military chieftain and several representatives of the Cossack officers.
Only after a new punitive detachment was sent against the Cossacks in June 1772, the unrest was suppressed: 85 of the most active rebels were exiled to Siberia, many others were fined. The Cossack military circle was liquidated, the military office was closed, and a commandant was appointed to the Yaitsky town. For some time the Cossacks were quiet, but;
it was social material ready for insurrection, which needed only to be ignited.
In the summer of 1773, the Don Cossack Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev, who had already fled from the Kazan prison, reappeared among the Yaik Cossacks, who by this time had already formed a small detachment of his associates.
The uprising began on September 17, 1773, when Pugachev, who had already declared himself the miraculously saved Emperor Peter III, published a manifesto in which he granted the Cossacks "a river, herbs, lead, gunpowder, provisions and salaries." After that, his detachment, whose number grew rapidly and reached 200 people, approached the Yaitsky town. The team sent against the rebels went over to their side. Refusing to storm the Yaitsky town, the garrison of which significantly outnumbered the forces of the Pugachevites, the rebels moved along the Yaitskaya fortified line to Orenburg, encountering almost no resistance.
More and more forces poured into the detachment: the "triumphal" procession of "Emperor Pyotr Fedorovich" began. On October 5, 1773, the rebels began the siege of the fortress of Orenburg, which had a garrison of 3,000.
In November 1773, in the Berlin Sloboda near Orenburg, which for a long time became Pugachev's headquarters, a "State Military Collegium" was established. This body was created by analogy with the imperial institution and was called upon to form and supply the rebel army. His tasks included stopping the robberies of the local population and organizing the division of property seized from the landowners.
Then, in November 1773, the Pugachevites managed to defeat two detachments of government troops - General V.A. Kara and Colonel P.M. Chernyshev. These victories strengthened the faith of the rebels in their forces. They continued to Pugachev's camp. landlord and factory peasants, working people of the Ural factories, Bashkirs, Kalmyks and representatives of other peoples of the Volga and Ural regions flock.
By the end of 1773, the number of Pugachev's troops reached 30 thousand people, and his artillery numbered up to
80 guns.
From his headquarters in Berd, the impostor sent through his assistants and chieftains manifestos, which were sealed with the signature of "Peter III" and special seals, abounded with references to "our grandfather, Peter the Great", which gave these documents in the eyes of peasants and working people the appearance of legal documents. At the same time, in order to raise the “royal” authority, a kind of court etiquette was established in Berd: Pugachev acquired his own guard, began to assign titles and titles to his associates from his inner circle, and even established his own order.
In the winter of 1773/74, rebel detachments captured Buzuluk and Samara, Sarapul and Krasnoufimsk, laid siege to Kungur, fought near Chelyabinsk. In the Urals, the Pugachevites took control of up to 3/4 of the entire metallurgical industry.
The government of Catherine II, finally realizing the danger and scale of the movement, began to take active steps. At the end of 1773; general-in-chief AI Bibikov, an experienced military engineer and artilleryman, was appointed commander-in-chief of the punitive troops. In Kazan, a secret commission was created to combat the uprising.
Having accumulated strength, Bibikov in mid-January 1774 launched a general offensive against the Pugachevites. The decisive battle took place on March 22 near the Tatishchev fortress. Despite the fact that Pugachev had a numerical superiority, government troops under the command of General P. M. Golitsyn inflicted a heavy defeat on him. The rebels lost more than a thousand people killed, many of the Pugachevites were captured.
Soon, a detachment of I.N. Chika-Zarubin, an ally of the impostor, was defeated near Ufa, and on April 1, Golitsyn again defeated Pugachev's troops near the Samara town. With a detachment of 500 people, Pugachev went to the Urals.
Thus ended the first stage of Pugachevism. The highest rise of the Pugachev uprising was yet to come.
The second stage covers the period from May to July 1774.
In the mining districts of the Urals, Pugachev again gathered an army of several thousand people and moved in the direction of Kazan. After a number of victories and defeats, on July 12, at the head of a 20,000-strong rebel army, Pugachev "approached Kazan, captured the city and laid siege to the Kremlin, where the remnants of the garrison were locked up. The lower classes of the city supported the impostor. On the same day, a detachment of Lieutenant Colonel I. I. approached Kazan. Michelson, who followed on the heels of the rebels, and forced them to retreat from Kazan.
In the decisive battle on July 15, 1774, the rebels were defeated, losing many killed and captured. Most of the Bashkirs who joined the movement returned to their lands.
The remnants of the army of the rebels crossed to the right bank of the Volga and set foot on the territory covered at that time by mass peasant unrest.
The third and final stage of the Pugachevshchina began. During this period, the movement reached its greatest extent.
Going down the Volga, Pugachev's detachment acted as a kind of catalyst for the local anti-serfdom movement, which in this period engulfed the Penza, Tambov, Simbirsk and Nizhny Novgorod provinces.
In July 1774, the impostor published a manifesto containing exactly what the peasants expected from the good tsar: it proclaimed the abolition of serfdom, recruitment, all taxes and fees, the transfer of land to the peasants, as well as a call to "catch, execute and hang ... villainous nobles".
The fire of the peasant uprising was about to spread to the central regions of the country, its breath was felt even in Moscow. At the same time, common shortcomings, due to fragmentation, social heterogeneity, and insufficient "organization of the Pugachev uprising, began to be more noticeable. The rebels were increasingly defeated by regular government" troops.
Clearly realizing the danger threatening the state, the government mobilized all forces to fight Pugachev. The troops released after the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace with Turkey were transferred to the Volga region, to the Don and to the center of the country. From the Danube army, the famous commander A.V. Suvorov was sent to help Panin.
On August 21, 1774, Pugachev's troops besieged Tsaritsyn. But they could not take the city and, seeing the threat of the approach of government troops, retreated.
Soon, the last major battle of the Pugachevites took place near the Salnikov Plant, in which they suffered a crushing defeat. Pugachev fled across the Volga with a small detachment. He was still ready to continue the fight, but his own supporters betrayed the impostor to the government. On September 12, 1774, a group of Pugachev's associates, wealthy Yaik Cossacks, led by Tvorogov and Chumakov, seized him on the river. Uzeni. The impostor, chained in stocks, was brought to the Yaitsky town and handed over to the authorities. Then Pugachev was transferred to Simbirsk, and from there in a wooden cage to Moscow.
On January 10, 1775, on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, Pugachev and several of his faithful associates were executed.
Many Pugachevites after the suppression of the uprising were beaten with a whip, driven through the ranks, exiled to hard labor. In total, at least 10 thousand people died in battles with regular troops during the uprising, about four times more people were injured and maimed. On the other hand, the victims of the rebels were thousands of nobles, officials, priests, townspeople, ordinary soldiers and even peasants who did not want to obey the impostor.
The Pugachev uprising had important consequences for determining the further domestic policy of Catherine II. It clearly demonstrated the deep crisis of the whole society and the impossibility of postponing the overdue transformations, which should have been carried out slowly and gradually, relying on the nobility.
The direct result of Pugachevism in the field of domestic policy of the government of Catherine II was the further strengthening of the reaction of the nobility. At the same time, in 1775, one of the most important legislative acts of the Catherine's era, "Institution for the Administration of the Provinces of the All-Russian Empire", was issued, in accordance with which an extensive regional reform was carried out and the system of local government was reorganized, as well as the structure of elected court-estate institutions was created.
However, the significance of the largest social confrontation in Russian pre-revolutionary history, which in terms of its scale and dynamics of the armed struggle quite fits the category of civil wars, cannot be reduced only to the immediate results reflected in the policy of the autocracy.
Historians have not yet given an unambiguous assessment of this event. Pugachev's uprising cannot be called a "senseless and merciless" popular revolt. The main feature of the Pugachev uprising was an attempt to overcome the spontaneity of mass demonstrations by methods borrowed from the dominant political system. The command and control of the rebel troops and the training of these troops were organized, attempts were made to organize a regular supply of armed detachments. The radicalism of the rebels was expressed in the physical destruction of the nobility and officials without trial or investigation.
The movement caused enormous economic damage to the country. The rebels destroyed about 90 iron-working and copper-smelting plants in the Urals and Siberia, many landowners' farms were burned and plundered in the European part of Russia. relations.

Meanwhile, uprisings were rising in the country. After the government, in dire need of funds to continue the difficult war in Ukraine, issued copper money (and taxes were collected in silver), the position of the masses became very difficult. There was a lot of counterfeit money. For one silver ruble they took twelve copper ones. Some prominent guests and close associates of the king were involved in abuses with copper money; among them - the father-in-law of the tsar I. D. Miloslavsky. Service people refused to take copper money. Streltsy and soldiers fled from the regiments. An attempt by the government to obtain a silver loan abroad was unsuccessful. In 1662, in the conditions of several years of crop failure, a new collection of the “fifth money” was announced, and the archery tax was ordered to be paid in bread. All this led to acute discontent among the townspeople and a new major uprising in Moscow, known as the "copper riot".

Moscow uprising of 1662

On the morning of July 25, 1662, on the Lubyanka and in other parts of the city, sheets were found glued by someone with an inscription that the boyar I.D. guest Vasily Shorin - traitors.
A large group of townspeople went to the king in Kolomenskoye. There they handed over the “sheet” to the tsar and demanded that the persons named in the paper be extradited for reprisal. Meanwhile, in Moscow, attacks began on the yards of wealthy merchants, hated by the mass of townspeople. The uprising was headed by the archer K. Nagaev, the townspeople A. Shcherbok, L. Zhidkiy and others. The rebels, as in 1648, broke into Shorin's house and ruined it, and Shorin's son was captured as a hostage. Soon, however, the uprising was crushed by the tsarist troops. At least two and a half thousand people died under torture and were executed. The Moscow uprising of 1662 again revealed differentiation within the urban population. According to G. Kotoshikhin, “trading people were in that confusion, and their children, and bakers, and butchers, and pie-makers, and village, and walking, and boyar people ... But guests and trading people did not stick to those thieves one person, they also helped against those thieves, and they received praise from the king.

Strengthening the flight of peasants and townspeople

The Moscow uprising forced the government to abandon the further issue of copper money, which was stopped in 1663.
Following the suppression of the uprising, the government again increased pressure on the townspeople. In the autumn of 1662, the "streltsy bread" was doubled, which had a particularly hard effect on the position of the townspeople, who were not engaged or little engaged in agriculture. The townspeople were ruined, people fled from the towns. The peasants also fled, and in many cases they sacked the estates.
By a decree of 1661, for the reception of a fugitive peasant, in addition to the fine of 10 rubles established by the Cathedral Code, it was prescribed to take one "surplus peasant" (later their number was increased to four). For four years, in 1663 - 1667, about 8 thousand fugitive peasants and serfs were returned from the Ryazan district alone.
The main stream of fugitives was heading for the Don. Having no means of subsistence, many of the newcomers found themselves forced to go into bondage to the prosperous "household" Cossacks. After Azov remained behind Turkey, the Cossacks lost the opportunity to raid the coast of the Azov and Black Seas. The activity of the Cossacks now began to be directed to the Volga and the Caspian Sea, which contradicted the foreign policy plans of the Moscow government, which was interested in maintaining peaceful relations with Persia. The Cossack foreman, who was guided by Moscow, counteracted the desire of the Cossacks to march on the Volga and the Caspian. All this further aggravated the situation on the Don.

The beginning of the peasant war under the leadership of S.T. Razin

In the summer of 1666, the Cossack ataman Vasily Us undertook a campaign in the central regions of the Russian state, approaching Tula. The movement of the Usa detachment, which numbered about 500 people, caused strong excitement among the local peasantry. The detachment of the rebels grew to 3 thousand people. Before reaching Tula a few versts, Us turned back. Many peasants and serfs who fled from their masters left with him. Usa's campaign was a harbinger of a mass popular uprising that was brewing in those years. In the late 60s, the governors repeatedly reported to Moscow about the appearance in different places of detachments of "thieves' people", as they called in official documents all those who were recalcitrant to the government.
Under these conditions, the appearance of a bold and energetic leader of the movement acquired the significance of a long-awaited signal for a mass action. The Cossack Stepan Timofeevich Razin became such a leader. Having collected several hundred "bads", Razin in the spring of 1667 led them to the Volga for "zipuns" (prey). The Razin Cossacks attacked the merchant and royal caravans of ships, seized and divided wealth, exterminated the "primary people". Archers and working people who accompanied the caravans, as a rule, were released. In early June, on thirty-five plows, more than one and a half thousand people gathered under the command of Razin sailed into the Caspian Sea and went by sea to the mouth of the river. Yaik, to the Yaitsky town, and in March 1668 the Cossacks headed for the shores of Persia.
The Persian government put up large military forces against Razin, but Razin, apparently for tactical purposes, announced that he wanted to become a Shah. Soon, however, clashes began between the Cossacks and the inhabitants of the city of Rasht, where the Cossacks were waiting for negotiations with the Shah. The Persian government refused to accept Razin's Cossacks as Shah's subjects and sent a strong fleet against them. In June 1669, the Cossacks defeated the Persian fleet and turned to the Volga with rich booty. Actions of Razin on the Volga and the Caspian Sea in 1667 - 1669 were a spontaneous act of the Cossacks, who were looking for means to improve their share and saw these means in extracting wealth by force and dividing it among themselves.
In early August 1669, Razin went to the mouth of the Volga, captured the metropolitan fisheries and Persian ships that were going with gifts to the king, and on August 25 appeared at Astrakhan.

The rise of the popular movement

Soon the Cossacks left Astrakhan and on October 1 they were already in Tsaritsyn, where they released all those who were in the voivodship prison and tried to kill the voivode. From here they went to the Don. Crowds of Cossacks and runaway peasants flocked to him in the Kagalnitsky town. The Cossacks said that they were going AGAINST the boyars and the initial people, but not against the tsar - the tsarist illusions among them were very strong. Razin himself spread rumors that “Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich” and “Patriarch Nikon”, who was then in disgrace, were allegedly with him.
In mid-April 1670, Stepan Razin approached Tsaritsyn with 7,000 men and soon took possession of it with the active support of local residents. In the captured Tsaritsyn, Razin introduced a Cossack device. On June 19, he approached the heavily fortified Astrakhan, and on the night of June 22, he began an assault on it. The people of Astrakhan, who remembered Razin well, supported his actions. The initial people, governors, nobles were killed; documents of the Astrakhan voivodeship administration were burned. The management of Astrakhan was organized according to the Cossack model. Vasily Us, Fyodor Sheludyak and other atamans stood at the head of the department.
From Astrakhan through Tsaritsyn, 8 thousand Cossacks moved up the Volga. Saratov and Samara surrendered without a fight. Razin’s “charming letters” (sometimes on behalf of “Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich” or “Patriarch Nikon”) dispersed throughout the Volga region with a call to exterminate boyars, governors, clerks, “worldly bloodsuckers”. Serfs and serfs, townspeople, schismatics - everyone who suffered from the requisitions and oppressions that were becoming unbearable, saw their leader in Razin. Successes in the fight against government troops gave hope for a quick outcome of the struggle. It seemed that it was enough to beat the boyars and nobles, ruin and destroy the master's estates, divide their property among themselves - and everything would go on well, under the rule of the "good" tsar, a new, free life would begin.
The people rose up to fight for freedom with the greatest energy and determination. In this struggle, the traditions of the class struggle were formed and strengthened, the traditions of the heroic joint struggle of the Russian and non-Russian peoples against the oppressors of the tsar and the nobility.
The uprising more and more assumed the character of a peasant war. Now, in 1670, in the Volga region, the bulk of the rebels were peasants. And among the Cossacks of Razin there were many peasants who fled from their masters to the Don.
September 4 Razin approached Simbirsk and began its siege. Government troops took refuge behind the walls of the fortress, but most of the city was in the hands of Razin. At this time, the uprising swept the new regions of the Volga region. Atamans Razin dispersed from under Simbirsk and raised the people to fight. Osipov took Alatyr, went further down the river. Sure, then occupied Kurmysh and Kozmodemyansk. In this area, detachments of Chuvash, Mari and Tatars joined the rebels. The uprisings took place in the commercial and industrial villages near Nizhny Novgorod - Lyskovo, Murashkin, Vorsma, Pavlov, etc. Having united with Osipov's detachment, the rebellious peasants besieged the Makaryev-Zheltovodsky monastery and took it. Ataman Mikhail Kharitonov occupied Saransk, moved to Penza, took it without a fight, captured the Lower and Upper Lomov. In the Kadom district, the rebels were led by the peasant Chirok, in the Shatsk district, by the peasant Shilov, and in Tambov, by the Cossack Meshcheryakov. The former peasant woman - the monastery old woman Alena - at the head of a detachment of rebels took possession of Temnikovo. On the left bank of the Volga, uprisings of the peasants of the Galich district took place, unrest also swept the Udmurt peasants.

Defeat of the uprising

The position of Razin's main forces near Simbirsk was difficult. The three-time assault on the Simbirsk fortress did not lead to success. Near Simbirsk, Razin suffered a serious defeat. For several more months, uprisings continued in the Volga region. In the autumn of the same year, an uprising broke out in Sloboda Ukraine, where Stepan Razin's brother, Frol, went.
The punitive actions of the tsarist troops everywhere ran into exceptionally stubborn resistance. In the second half of November, the uprising began again in the Arzamas district. The rebels stubbornly defended themselves in Temnikovo, big battles took place near Tambov. Only at the end of November was the suppression of the uprising in the Nizhny Novgorod region completed. Penza was taken by government troops only by the end of December 1670. Until the spring of 1671, the rebels defended themselves in the Yadrinsky and Tsivilsky districts. Until November 1671, the rebels held Astrakhan in their hands.
But the forces were unequal. The government dealt with the rebels with monstrous cruelty. Strugs with gallows slowly sailed down the Volga to intimidate the population. At least 11,000 people were executed in Arzamas.
Soon, the fate of Razin himself was tragically decided - in April, he, along with his brother, was captured by homely Cossacks and handed over to the government. On June 2, he was brought to Moscow. Two days after the interrogation, accompanied by torture, Razin was executed (quartered) in Moscow. Even captured and chained, even executed, Razin was terrible to the Moscow government. Triple ranks of archers and soldiers separated Razin from the assembled people. Only a small number of boyars and foreigners were admitted to the place of execution.
However, the resistance of the masses continued in different parts of the country and in various forms. Many people went to distant schismatic sketes. It is in those
years, terrible self-immolations began, when the schismatics preferred martyrdom to surrender to the tsarist detachments. In some places, the schismatic movement took on the character of a mass uprising, as happened in the Solovetsky Monastery.

Uprising in the Solovetsky Monastery

The monastery at the end of the 50s refused to recognize Nikon's reform. Attempts by church authorities to persuade the Solovetsky monks were unsuccessful. Archers sent from Moscow were met with cannon fire from the monastery walls. Thus began in 1668 the uprising in the Solovetsky Monastery. Large food supplies made it possible to withstand a long siege. The monastic peasants began to act more and more actively against the tsarist troops. The social composition of the rebels changed in the direction of strengthening the peasant elements. After the defeat of the Razin uprising, many of its participants came to the monastery. The leading role in the movement passed from the elders to the peasants. This was reflected in the attitude of the monks towards the uprising. As a result of their betrayal in January 1676, the monastery was taken by the tsarist troops. After the suppression of the Solovetsky uprising, the government intensified repressions against the leaders of the split. Archpriest Avvakum was sentenced to death.
With great difficulty, the tsarist government managed to drown the popular movements of the third quarter of the 17th century in blood.

B.A. Rybakov - "History of the USSR from ancient times to the end of the XVIII century." - M., "Higher School", 1975.

In the autumn of 1773, the Pugachev uprising broke out. Until today, the events of those years do not reveal all their secrets. What was it: a Cossack revolt, a peasant uprising or a civil war?

Peter III

History is written by the winners. The history of the Pugachev uprising is still considered a controversial moment in Russian history. According to the official version, Pugachev and Peter III are different people, they had neither physiognomic resemblance nor similarity of characters, their upbringing was also excellent. However, until now, some historians are trying to prove the version that Pugachev and Emperor Peter are the same person. The story of Emelka, a runaway Cossack, was written by decree of Catherine. This version, albeit fantastic, is confirmed by the fact that during the “investigation” of Pushkin, none of those whom he asked about Pugachev knew about him. People were absolutely convinced that the emperor himself was the head of the army, no more, no less. According to sources, the decision to call himself Peter III came to Pugachev not by chance. He, in principle, liked to mystify. Even in the army, for example, showing off his saber, he claimed that Peter I gave it to him. It is not known for certain whose idea it was to assign the name, but the fact that it was strategically beneficial is obvious. The people would not follow the runaway Cossack, but would follow the Tsar. In addition, there were rumors among the people at that time that Peter wanted to give the peasants freedom, but "Katka ruined him." The promise of freedom to the peasants, in the end, became the trump card of Pugachev's propaganda.

Peasant war?

Was the war of 1773-1775 a peasant war? The question, again, is open. The main force of Pugachev's troops were, of course, not the peasants, but the Yaik Cossacks. Once free, they suffered more and more oppression from the state and lost their privileges. In 1754, by decree of Elizabeth, a monopoly on salt was introduced. This move dealt a severe blow to the economy of the Cossack army, which made money by selling salted fish. Even before the Pugachev uprising, the Cossacks organized uprisings, which over and over again became more massive and coordinated.

Pugachev's initiative fell on fertile ground. The peasants really took an active part in the campaigns of the Pugachev army, but they defended their interests and solved their problems: they slaughtered the landlords, burned the estates, but, as a rule, they did not go further than their allotments. Binding the peasantry to their land is a very strong thing. After Pugachev read a manifesto on liberty in Saransk, many peasants joined him, they turned Pugachev's campaign along the Volga into a triumphal procession, with bells, the blessing of the village priest and bread and salt in every new village, village, town. But weakly armed, tied to their land, they could not ensure a long-term triumph for the Pugachev uprising. In addition, it should be noted that Pugachev did not manage his troops alone. He had a whole staff of specialists who were definitely not of peasant origin, and some were not even Russian, but this side of the issue is a separate conversation.

money question

The Pugachev uprising became the most massive uprising in the entire history of Russia (not counting the revolution of 1917). Such a rebellion could not have taken place in a vacuum. Raising thousands and thousands of people to an armed long-term rebellion is not holding a rally, this requires resources, and considerable resources. Question: where did the fugitive Pugachev and the Yaik Cossacks get these resources.

It has now been proven that Pugachev's uprising had foreign funding. First of all - the Ottoman Empire, with which Russia at that time was at war. Secondly, help from France; During that historical period, it was the main opponent of the growing Russian Empire. From the correspondence of the French residencies in Vienna and Constantinople, a figure emerges of an experienced officer of the Navarre regiment, who had to be transported from Turkey to Russia as soon as possible with instructions for the "so-called Pugachev's army." Paris allocated 50 thousand francs for the next operation. Supporting Pugachev was beneficial to all forces for whom Russia and its growth were a danger. There was a war with Turkey - forces from the fronts were transferred to fight against Pugachev. As a result, Russia had to end the war on unfavorable terms. Such is the "peasant war" ...

To Moscow

After the triumph of Pugachev's troops in Penza and Saransk, everyone was waiting for his "Moscow campaign". They were waiting for him in Moscow. They waited and feared. Seven regiments were drawn into the old capital, Governor-General Volkonsky ordered that cannons be placed near his house, “cleansing operations” were carried out among the inhabitants of Moscow, and all those who sympathized with the rebellious Cossack were seized.

Finally, in August 1774, Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov, at that time already one of the most successful Russian generals, was recalled from the 1st Army, which was in the Danubian principalities. Panin instructed Suvorov to command the troops that were supposed to defeat the main Pugachev army in the Volga region. Moscow "exhaled", Pugachev decided not to go there. The reasons are still not clear. It is believed that the main reason for this was Pugachev's plans to attract the Volga and, especially, the Don Cossacks into his ranks. The Yaik Cossacks, who had lost many of their chieftains in the battles, were tired and began to grumble. Pugachev's "surrender" was brewing.

Salavat Yulaev

The memory of the Pugachev uprising is kept not only in the archives, but also in toponyms and in the memory of the people. Salavat Yulaev is considered to be the hero of Bashkiria to this day. One of the strongest hockey teams in Russia bears the name of this outstanding person. Its history is amazing. Salavat became Pugachev's "right hand" when he was not 20 years old, took part in all the major battles of the uprising, Pugachev assigned the rank of brigadier general to his young handy. In the army of Pugachev, Salavat ended up with his father. Together with his father, they seized him, sent him to Moscow, and then into eternal exile in the Baltic city of Rogervik. Here Salavat was until his death in 1800. He was not only an outstanding warrior, but also a good poet who left a solid literary heritage.

Suvorov

The danger that Pugachev's uprising hid is evidenced by the fact that not anyone, but Suvorov himself, was attracted to pacify him. Catherine understood that delaying the suppression of the uprising could result in serious geopolitical problems. Suvorov's participation in the suppression of the rebellion played into the hands of Pushkin: when he was collecting material for his book about Pugachev, he said that he was looking for information about Suvorov. Alexander Vasilievich personally escorted Pugachev. This suggests at least that Emelyan Ivanovich was a person not just important, but extremely important. To regard the Pugachev uprising as another rebellion is highly unreasonable; it was a civil war, on the consequences of which the future of Russia depended.

Mystery shrouded in darkness

After the suppression of the rebellion and the execution of the main participants in the uprising, Catherine ordered to destroy all the facts about the peasant war. The village in which Pugachev was born was moved and renamed, Yaik - renamed Ural. All documents that in one way or another could shed light on the course of those events were classified. There is a version that it was not Pugachev who was executed, but another person. Emelyan was “eliminated” back in Butyrka prison. The authorities were afraid of provocations. Like it or not, now it is impossible to prove. Half a century after those events, Pushkin could not "find the ends", it remains to wait for new research.

Pugachev's Peasant War can be briefly characterized as a mass popular uprising that shook the Russian Empire from 1773 to 1775. Unrest took place in vast territories, including the Urals, the Volga region, Bashkiria and the Orenburg Territory.

The uprising was led by Yemelyan Pugachev, a Don Cossack who declared himself Emperor Peter III. The reasons for the uprising were the dissatisfaction of the Yaik Cossacks, associated with the loss of liberties, unrest among indigenous peoples such as the Bashkirs and Tatars, the tense situation in the Ural factories and the extremely difficult situation of the serfs.

The uprising began on September 17, 1773, when Pugachev, on behalf of the dead Emperor Peter III, announced his first decree to the Yaitsky army and, together with a detachment of 80 people, advanced to the Yaitsky town. Along the way, more and more supporters join him. It is not possible to take the Yaitsky town due to the lack of artillery, and Pugachev decides to move further along the Yaik River.

The Iletsk town is greeted as a legitimate sovereign. His army is replenished with garrison Cossacks and cannons of city artillery. The rebel troops continue to move, occupying with or without a fight all the fortresses that come across on the way. Soon, Pugachev's army, which had reached an impressive size by that time, approaches Orenburg and on October 5 begins the siege of the city.

The punitive corps of Major General Kara, sent to suppress the rebellion, is defeated and hastily retreats. Encouraged by success, the rebels occupy more and more new settlements, their forces are growing rapidly. However, it is not possible to take Orenburg. The next military expedition led by Bibikov forced the rebels to lift the siege from the city. The rebels gather the main forces in the Tatishchevskaya fortress. As a result of the battle, which took place on March 22, 1774, the rebels suffered a crushing defeat.

Pugachev himself fled to the Urals, where, having again gathered a significant army, he again goes on a campaign. On July 12, the rebels approach Kazan and occupy the city, with the exception of the Kazan Kremlin, where the remnants of the garrison settled. However, the government troops arrived in time for the evening, forcing Pugachev to retreat. During the ensuing battle, the rebels were utterly defeated. Pugachev runs across the Volga, where he gathers a new army and announces a decree on the liberation of the serfs. This causes mass unrest among the peasants.

Pugachev talks about marching on Moscow, but turns south. During the battle at the Solenikova gang, the rebels suffer a crushing defeat. Pugachev flees to the Volga, but his own associates betray him and hand him over to the government. On January 10, 1775, the leader of the uprising was executed. At the beginning of the summer, the Pugachev rebellion was finally crushed. The result of the uprising was the death of thousands of people and multimillion-dollar damage to the economy. Its result was the transformation of the Cossacks into regular military units, as well as some improvement in the lives of workers in the factories of the Urals. The situation of the peasants practically did not change.

Russia has experienced four peasant wars in its centuries-old history:

1) under the leadership of Ivan Bolotnikov from 1606 to 1607;

2) under the leadership of Stepan Razin from 1670 to 1671;

3) under the leadership of Kondraty Bulavin from 1707 to 1708;

4) under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev from 1773 to 1775.

It should be borne in mind that the main differences between a peasant war and an uprising are as follows:

1) a large area of ​​territory that is covered by the uprising;

2) a sufficiently long time for the duration of the uprising;

3) the presence of a certain military organization among the rebels

(command and headquarters; military units; intelligence, etc.);

4) a significant number of troops.

All peasant wars in Russia had common features:

1) it was the reaction of the people to the strengthening of serfdom;

2) the participants in the uprising always set a goal - a campaign against the capital in order to plant “a just king;

3) the desire to eliminate or mitigate feudal obligations, to alleviate the position of the working people;

4) the desire to turn the uprising into a popular movement.

Peasant war led by Ivan Bolotnikov took place during the Time of Troubles and was a reaction of part of the Russian population to the intensification of the struggle for the royal throne.

Immediately after the accession of Prince Vasily Shuisky, rumors spread about the miraculous rescue of False Dmitry I. The Seversk land became the center of the movement, from where, in the summer of 1606, I. Bolotnikov began his campaign against Moscow on behalf of the saved tsar. His troops included peasants, townspeople, Cossacks, serfs, servicemen of all ranks, as well as a large number of ordinary adventurers and robbers. The goal of the rebels was declared to be the overthrow of Shuisky and the accession of the legitimate Tsar Dmitry.

Initially, Bolotnikov gathered 1,300 people and with them attacked the five thousandth army of Prince Yu. Trubetskoy, completely defeating him. The reason for such an unprecedented victory was obvious - the troops "did not really want" to defend V. Shuisky. Bolotnikov's success activated all anti-Shui forces. Together, they captured Tula, Venev, Kashira, Ryazan and a number of other cities. Soon, Prince Khvorostin raises an uprising in Astrakhan and goes to connect with Bolotnikov. The peasants of the Volga region willingly help the rebels with food and replenish their ranks. Having thus gathered significant forces, Bolotnikov's army, although it was defeated by M. Skopin-Shuisky, managed to defeat Prince Mstislavsky and reached almost Moscow, stopping in the village of Kolomenskoye.

Shuisky is negotiating with Bolotnikov, dissuading him from supporting the impostor. Remembering his recent successes, Ivan Isaevich replied that he would be in Moscow, but not a traitor, but a winner. However, in the battle near the village of Kotly, due to the betrayal of his governor, the boyar son Istoma Pashkov, he is defeated and retreats first to Serpukhov, and then to Kaluga. Even earlier, the Ryazan and Tula nobles with their detachments left him.

Mstislavsky, who was besieging Kaluga, sent part of his forces to disperse the rebels, but they were defeated, after which the siege of Kaluga was lifted, while 15 thousand soldiers went over to the side of the besieged. As a result, Bolotnikov left Kaluga and joined False Dmitry II in Tula.

The situation again became critical for V. Shuisky. In May 1607, he gathered an army of 100,000 and led it himself. In a fierce battle on the river Eight, the royal troops won. Bolotnikov with the remnants of the troops was again forced to hide behind the walls of Tula. A long siege began and on October 10, 1607 the city surrendered. Bolotnikov himself came to Shuisky, knelt down and, putting a saber on his neck, gave him his head for cutting off, “but if you leave my life,” said Bolotnikov, “I will serve you faithfully.”

Shuisky's cunning showed up here too: he promised Bolotnikov forgiveness, but instead exiled him to Kargopol, where six months later Ivan Isaevich was blinded and later drowned. Shakhovsky, one of the main organizers of the movement, was exiled by the tsar to Lake Kubenskoye.

The peasant war led by I. Bolotnikov showed the enormous potential of the organized working masses, their desire to go to the end in the struggle against serfdom and their oppressors, their desire to achieve elementary social justice in the country.

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin most clearly characterizes the events in Russia in the second half of the 7th century. and the serious political upheavals that the country is going through. The main reasons for these upheavals were the dissatisfaction of the masses with the Council Code adopted in 1649, according to which the search for fugitive peasants became indefinite and former freedoms were liquidated, as well as the “copper riot”, which broke out in 1662. This rebellion was the result of the introduction of copper money due to the lack of silver, and the increased production of copper money led to a rapid fall in their value and an increase in the high cost, from which the lower strata of the population suffered mainly.

In the early 70s, a major uprising took place in the southern regions of Russia, where the lands along the Don were inhabited by Cossacks. The money and grain salaries sent by the government for service (the Cossacks defended the border lands from the Crimean Khan and the Nogai Horde) were not enough, and robberies - “campaigns for zipuns” were an important source of income. The objects of the attacks were the Crimea and the southern coast of the Black Sea. After the Turks fortified Azov, the exit to the Black Sea for the Cossacks was practically closed. Attempts to rob merchant ships on the Volga and the Caspian were resolutely suppressed by government troops. Unrest began. Soon the Cossacks had a leader - Stepan Razin. If the first campaigns of Razin “for zipuns” across the Caspian Sea to the Volga and Yaik, and then to Persia (1667-1669) were no different from other predatory expeditions, then the campaign, which began in 1670, took on a distinctly anti-government coloring. Razin united peasants, artisans and boyars around him, who were dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and who were ready to fight for a "better lot" with arms in their hands. Stepan Timofeevich promised the common people to forever free them from the power of the nobles and introduce a free Cossack system, without any taxes and duties. Razin took Astrakhan, Tsaritsyn, Saratov, Samara and a number of other cities. The peasant war covered a significant territory of the Volga region, cities and rural areas; at the same time, the Mordvins, Chuvashs and Cheremis rose against the Russian authorities. After an unsuccessful siege of Simbirsk in September 1670, the rebels were defeated by government troops, and in early 1671 Razin was handed over to the authorities by wealthy Cossacks and soon executed.

The war of S. Razin, like most other anti-government actions, was of the so-called royal character. It was believed that, unlike the "traitors" - boyars, nobles and other rich people, who should be destroyed, taking possession of their property, the king is good. In this case, he was not Alexei Mikhailovich, but his son, Tsarevich Alexei, who allegedly was among the rebels (Tsarevich Alexei died in 1670). Having won the victory, the rebels, apparently, intended to introduce Cossack orders everywhere (general equality, elective positions) and equally divide the property taken from the boyars and nobles.

In general, the peasant war led by S. Razin was directed against serfdom and had a certain revolutionary content.

Peasant war led by Kondraty Bulavin was a reaction to the reform activities of Peter I, which laid a heavy burden on the masses. A kind of prelude to this war was the rebellion of the archers in Astrakhan (1705-1707), which was actively supported by the Don Cossacks. K. Bulavin led this movement and eventually it grew into a peasant war. It lasted from 1707 to 1708. The rebels opposed the tightening of the feudal policy of the state and the arbitrariness of local authorities.

The war quickly went beyond the Don and covered the regions of Sloboda Ukraine and the Volga region. The Cossacks were dissatisfied with the restriction of their rights and independence by the state, the growth of violence by the boyars, as well as the royal decree on the return of the fugitives.

However, it should be borne in mind that these speeches were directed not personally against Peter I and even not so much against his transformations, but against the methods and means of their implementation.

In the era of the reign of Catherine II in Russia, serfdom continues to be actively strengthened. This led to the fact that her entire reign shone with the glow of peasant wars and uprisings. Only in the first decade of her reign (1762-1772) there were 50 uprisings of peasants in the Moscow, Tula, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, St. Petersburg provinces. The ascribed peasants of the Avzyan-Petrovsky and Kyshtymsky plants of Demidov, the Resurrection plant of Sievers, the Kasli, Botkinsky, Nizhny Tagil and other factories of the Urals were worried.

For Catherine II, these performances were not a surprise. She declared as early as 1767 that "the revolt of the serf villages will follow." However, until the beginning of the 70s, the uprisings were of a regional nature and did not pose a threat to the autocracy, until Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev.

The beginning of this movement can be considered September 17, 1773, when a detachment of 80 Cossacks, led by E. I. Pugachev, moved from the Tolkachev farm to the Yaitsky town. On October 3, the Pugachevites were near Orenburg, and their detachment already numbered 2,400 people and 20 guns. At the beginning of 1774, the army had about 30 thousand people and 100 guns.

Unlike the movements of Bolotnikov and Bulavin, which reflected the interests of certain sections of the people, from the war of S. Razin, which began as a robbery "walking for zipuns", the Pugachev movement from beginning to end was a nationwide movement, where the demands of all of Russia, the national liberation movement, were intertwined, factory workers, Cossacks, and schismatics had their own demands.

The war went on with varying success for both sides, since at the first stage the rebels had no organization, and the government underestimated the strength of the rebels, and could not send large military forces due to hostilities with Turkey.

Near Orenburg, the rebels began to form into regiments, which were divided into hundreds and dozens. Cossack, Bashkir, peasant and mining regiments were created, the Military Collegium was organized - the highest body of the rebels, which served as the main headquarters, and the highest judicial instance, and the supply body for the troops. The command staff of the Pugachevites rallied around the Military Collegium. A. Ovchinnikov was appointed general ataman, artillery was commanded by F. Chumakov, I.N. Chika-Zarubin, A.F. Sokolov (nicknamed "Hlopusha"), I. N. Beloborodov, Salavat Yulaev and others.

As a result, although the Pugachevites failed to take Orenburg, already in November 1773 they defeated government troops under the command of Kara and Chernyshov, who were trying to help the besieged fortress. The rebels captured Chelyabinsk and Kurgan. By January 1774, many Pugachev detachments operated from Guryev to Chelyabinsk, Kungur and Yekaterinburg, from Stavropol and Samara to Ufa. The fire of the uprising spread to Siberia: the Pugachevites appeared near Yalutorovsk and Verkhoturye, the peasants of the Volga region were waiting for them (they refused to pay taxes to the government). Even local military teams were ready to "serve" Pugachev.

However, the government took advantage of this dispersion of the forces of the rebels. His troops hit the small Pugachev detachments, and the Russian clergy and national feudal lords began to form their detachments. As a result, in the spring of 1774, the defeat of the Pugachevites began: artillery was captured, the detachments of Pugachev himself, Chiki-Zarubin, and Arapon were defeated.

E. I. Pugachev went to Yaik, recovered after the defeat, and already in July, having an army of 20,000, moved to Kazan, and on July 12 captured the city. However, the approaching government troops under the command of Michelson defeated his army. With a detachment of only 500 people, Pugachev crossed to the right bank of the Volga and headed south, to the Cossacks, since he saw only in them a force capable of winning. His detachment was again replenished with fresh forces, and Pugachev won a number of victories, taking Tsivilsk, Kurmysh, Saransk, Penza, Saratov in one month. August 24, 1774 Michelson again defeated the rebels. Pugachev was ready to continue the fight even after this defeat, but some of his associates, including Chumakov, Tvorogov, Feduliev, hoping to save their lives, grabbed Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev and handed him over to A.V. Suvorov, who by this time had been specially recalled from the theater of operations of the Russian-Turkish war. The leader of the peasants was put on trial and executed on January 10, 1775 on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, but the uprising continued for some time. The specter of Pugachevism for decades became a psychological factor that restrained the autocracy of the feudal landowners and encouraged the strengthening of the military-repressive mechanism of the autocratic state.

In historical literature, one can find polar assessments of peasant wars and uprisings. Those scientists who considered the state as a driving, positive force in Russian hysteria, evaluated uprisings and wars as criminal acts directed against law and order (S. M. Solovyov, B. N. Chicherin, V. O. Klyuchevsky, P. N. Milyukov - representatives of the so-called state school in Russian historiography). In Soviet historiography, the point of view dominated, according to which the uprisings had a deep popular revolutionary content, were directed against serfdom and therefore were progressive.

Similar information.