The storm struck in 1648, when another uprising of the Cossacks spilled out beyond the Zaporozhye Cossack region, engulfed the whole of Ukraine and turned into a national liberation war, the banner of which was the defense of Orthodoxy.

Bohdan Khmelnitsky led the fight. He came from a wealthy Cossack elder, once held the second most important post of military clerk in the Zaporozhye army, but was deprived of it by the Poles. Bogdan had every reason to personally hate the lords: one Polish nobleman burned his estate to the ground and pinned his 10-year-old son to death.

At their circle (gathering) in 1648, the Cossacks elected Khmelnytsky as hetman. Bogdan's army moved beyond the Sich. In May 1648, it twice defeated the crown army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the battles of the Zheltye Vody tract and at Korsun. The news of the victories attracted rebels from all over Ukraine to Khmelnytsky. He created a massive people's Cossack army. The Crimean Khan acted as an ally of Khmelnitsky. After the battles of Pilyavets (September 1648) and Zborov (August 1649), the king was forced to raise the question of autonomy for part of the Ukrainian lands. Bogdan did not really want to go to these negotiations, but the khan, who received gifts from the Poles, insisted, threatening to take the side of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

According to the Treaty of Zborov, the number of registered Cossacks increased almost 4 times (up to 40 thousand people). Khmelnitsky ruled Zaporozhye and Eastern Ukraine.

But Bogdan was already dreaming of a great Ukrainian principality, which included all the southern Russian lands. The fugitive peasants who were not included in the new register did not want to return to serfdom. They longed to fight the lords for faith and will. The foreman and the Orthodox Ukrainian gentry were not averse to completely ousting the Polish and Lithuanian landowners from the Ukrainian lands; they did not want to limit themselves to equal rights with the Catholic gentry.

As a result, a new war between Ukrainians and crown troops began 1. It was not as successful as the first one. In the decisive battle of Berestechko (in June 1651), the Ukrainians’ ally, the Crimean Khan, again failed. When it seemed that the people's army was about to win, he forcibly took Khmelnitsky from the battlefield and withdrew his cavalry. The Peace of Belotserkov, concluded in September 1651, reduced the territory covered by the hetman's rule; The register of Cossacks was reduced to 20 thousand people.

It is clear that this world was only a respite. Voices were heard in Poland demanding an end to the Zaporozhye robbers completely. Bogdan and the foreman understood that to continue the fight they needed a reliable ally. Khmelnitsky more than once sent messengers to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, whom he called only “the great king of the east,” with a request to take the rebel territories under his hand. In Moscow they hesitated because the disaster near Smolensk was still fresh in their memory.

Peasant war led by E.I. Pugacheva and its consequences.

Introduction
1. Causes of the Peasants' War of 1773–1775. under the leadership of E.I. Pugachev
2. The course of the Peasant War of 1773–1775.
3. Results of the Peasant War of 1773–1775.
Conclusion
Literature

Introduction.

XVIII A century in the history of our country is a turning point, significant, filled with turbulent events. The peasants constituted the exploited class since the times of Kievan Rus, and the nobility was the ruling class, while the state acted as the protector of the nobility.

The state's serfdom policy became the main reason for powerful social uprisings in the second half of the 18th century.

The problem of social peace and social conflicts has always been and remains relevant for our country. Even now, in our time, problems related to the correctness of leadership and the meaningfulness of the actions of our government continue to arise, which leads to protests, rallies, and demonstrations in defense of our rights, freedoms and interests. There will probably never be a government that would satisfy the interests of all segments of the population. Especially in Russia, where the tax burden often exceeds the income of the bulk of the population living below the poverty line.

In this work, I will try to consider and understand what the prerequisites were that prompted such a large, geographically scattered number of people, different in their class composition and interests. In my work, I will gradually consider all the facts and events from which we can conclude what was the reason and why the uprising did not lead to the victory of the rebels, taking into account different points of view based on historical documents, articles and scientific monographs.

1. Causes of the Peasants' War of 1773–1775. under the leadership of E.I. Pugachev

Dissatisfaction of the Yaik Cossacks with government measures aimed at eliminating their privileges. In 1771, the Cossacks lost their autonomy and were deprived of the right to traditional trades (fishing, salt mining). In addition, discord was growing between the rich Cossack “sergeant major” and the rest of the “army”.

Strengthening the personal dependence of peasants on landowners, the growth of state taxes and landowner duties, caused by the beginning of the development of market relations and the serfdom legislation of the 60s.

The continuous strengthening of serfdom and the growth of duties during the first half of the 18th century caused fierce resistance from the peasants. Its main form was flight. The fugitives went to the Cossack regions, to the Urals, to Siberia, to Ukraine, to the northern forests.

They often created “robber gangs” that not only robbed on the roads, but also destroyed landowners’ estates, beat and even killed their masters, and destroyed documents on the ownership of land and serfs.

The situation at the fast-growing factories of the Urals was also explosive. Beginning with Peter the Great, the government solved the problem of labor in metallurgy mainly by assigning state peasants to state-owned and private mining factories, allowing new factory owners to buy serf villages, and granting the unofficial right to keep runaway serfs, since the Berg Collegium, which was in charge of the factories, I tried not to notice violations of the decree on the capture and deportation of all fugitives. At the same time, it was very convenient to take advantage of the lack of rights and hopeless situation of the fugitives, and if anyone began to express dissatisfaction with their position as slaves, they were immediately handed over to the authorities for punishment and return to their former owners.

Former peasants hated and resisted forced labor in factories, the severity of which was equal to hard labor. The wages were not enough to feed families; women and children were recruited to work in mines and factories. There was no time left for farming; in addition, in order to remove the cause of distraction from factory work, raids by teams of factory clerks were sometimes practiced to destroy crops.

Peasants assigned to state-owned and private factories dreamed of returning to their usual village labor, while the situation of peasants on serf estates was little better. The economic situation in the country, almost continuously waging one war after another, was difficult; in addition, the gallant age required the nobles to follow the latest fashions and trends. Therefore, landowners increase the area under crops, and corvée increases. The peasants themselves become a hot commodity, they are pawned, exchanged, and entire villages simply lose out. To top it off, Catherine II issued a Decree of August 22, 1767, prohibiting peasants from complaining about landowners. In conditions of complete impunity and personal dependence, the slave position of the peasants is aggravated by the whims, caprices or real crimes occurring on the estates, and most of them were left without investigation or consequences.

The frequent repetition of popular uprisings and the fierceness of the rebels testified to the trouble in the country and the impending danger.

The spread of imposture indicated the same thing. The contenders for the throne declared themselves either the son of Tsar Ivan, or Tsarevich Alexei, or Peter II. There were especially many “Peter IIIs” - six before 1773. This was explained by the fact that Peter III eased the situation of the Old Believers, tried to transfer monastic peasants to state peasants, and also by the fact that he was overthrown by his wife and nobles. (The peasants believed that the emperor suffered for caring for the common people). However, only one of the many impostors managed to seriously shake the empire.

2. The course of the Peasant War of 1773–1775.

2.1 Beginning of the Peasants' War

Despite the fact that the internal readiness of the Yaik Cossacks for the uprising was high, the speech lacked a unifying idea, a core that would unite the sheltered and hidden participants in the unrest of 1772. The rumor that the miraculously saved Emperor Peter Fedorovich appeared in the army instantly spread throughout Yaik. Pyotr Fedorovich was the husband of Catherine II; after the coup in 1762, he abdicated the throne and died mysteriously at the same time.

In 1772, there was an uprising on Yaik with the aim of removing the chieftain and a number of elders. The Cossacks resisted the punitive troops. After the rebellion was suppressed, the instigators were exiled to Siberia, and the military circle was destroyed. The situation on Yaik has become extremely tense.

In 1773, another “Peter III” showed up in the Yaitsky (Ural) Cossack army. He declared himself to be the Don Cossack Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev, a native of the Zimoveyskaya village (which had previously given Russian history Stepan Razin and Kondraty Bulavin), a participant in the Seven Years' War and the war with Turkey of 1768-1774.

Finding himself in the Trans-Volga steppes in the fall of 1772, he stopped in the Mechetnaya Sloboda and here from the abbot of the Old Believer skete Filaret learned about the unrest among the Yaik Cossacks. Where the idea of ​​calling himself a tsar came from in his head and what his initial plans were is not known for certain, but in November 1772 he arrived in the Yaitsky town and at meetings with the Cossacks called himself Peter III.

The Cossacks enthusiastically greeted the “emperor,” who promised to reward them with “rivers, seas and herbs, cash salaries, lead and gunpowder and all freedom.” On September 18, 1773, with a detachment of 200 Cossacks, Pugachev set out for the capital of the army - Yaitsky town. Almost all of the military teams sent against him went over to the side of the rebels. And yet, having about 500 people, Pugachev did not dare to storm the fortified fortress with a garrison of 1000 people. Having bypassed it, he moved up the Yaik, capturing small fortresses along the way, the garrisons of which joined his army. Bloody reprisals were carried out against nobles and officers.

2.2 Siege of Orenburg and first military successes

The capture of Orenburg became the main task of the rebels due to its importance as the capital of a huge region. If successful, the authority of the army and the leader of the uprising himself would have increased significantly, because the capture of each new town contributed to the unhindered capture of the next ones. In addition, it was important to capture the Orenburg weapons depots.

On October 5, 1773, Pugachev approached Orenburg, a well-fortified provincial city with a garrison of 3.5 thousand people with 70 guns. The rebels had 3 thousand people and 20 guns. The assault on the city was unsuccessful, and the Pugachevites began a siege. Governor I.A. Reinsdorp did not dare to attack the rebels, not relying on his soldiers.

On October 14, Catherine II sent a detachment of General V.A. to help Orenburg. Kara numbering 1.5 thousand people and 1200 Bashkirs led by Salavat Yulaev. On November 7, near the village of Yuzeeva, 98 versts from Orenburg, rebel detachments defeated Kara, and S. Yulaev went over to the side of the impostor. Pugachev was also joined by 1,200 soldiers, Cossacks and Kalmyks from Colonel Chernyshev’s detachment (the colonel himself was captured and hanged). Only Brigadier Korfu managed to safely lead 2.5 thousand soldiers to Orenburg.

Pugachev, who had set up his headquarters in Berd, five miles from Orenburg, was constantly receiving reinforcements: Kalmyks, Bashkirs, mining workers of the Urals, and assigned peasants. In total, according to rough estimates by historians, there were from 25 to 40 thousand people in the ranks of Pugachev’s army by the end of 1773. True, most of them were armed only with edged weapons, or even spears. The level of combat training of this heterogeneous crowd was also low. However, Pugachev sought to give his army a semblance of organization. He established the “Military Collegium” and surrounded himself with guards. He assigned ranks and titles to his associates.

The expansion of the uprising seriously worried the government. Chief General A.I. is appointed commander of the troops sent against Pugachev. Bibikov. Under his command there were 16 thousand soldiers and 40 guns. At the beginning of 1774, Bibikov's troops began an offensive. On March 22, Pugachev was defeated at the Tatishchev Fortress, and Lieutenant Colonel Mikhelson defeated the troops of Chiki-Zarubin near Ufa. Pugachev's main army was practically destroyed: about 2 thousand rebels were killed, over 4 thousand were wounded or captured. The government announced the suppression of the rebellion.

Map

The Pugachev uprising had a number of characteristic features and peculiarities that distinguished it from an ordinary revolt. The Cossacks, together with the serfs and factory (possession) peasants, had previously raised unrest, but before that they were more spontaneous in nature and did not have a clear structure and organization. “Pugachevshchina,” as it is sometimes called, was distinguished by the presence of competent commanders on the side of the rebels, capable of carrying out successful maneuvers and thinking through ways to supply and arm troops. The Military Collegium, established by Pugachev and his associates, was both an administrative and judicial body - regiments were created, officers were appointed, and manifestos were published. That is why Pugachev's uprising is called the Cossack-peasant war.

Causes and background of the rebellion 1773-1775

• Disenfranchised position, difficult working conditions of serfs and factory (possession) peasants
• The arbitrariness of the landowners-nobles
• Oppression of the nationalities of the Volga and Urals region - seizure of land, construction of military installations, religious policy
• Attempts to eliminate Cossack self-government on the Don and Yaik (Ural) after the uprising in 1772

The basis for the largest uprising on the territory of the Russian Empire was laid, as always, by the ill-considered actions of the authorities and Catherine II personally. In words, the empress was the personification of Russian enlightenment, but her real class policy differed significantly from the ideas declared by the enlighteners.

To determine the main reasons for the Cossack-peasant war that happened in 1773-1775, it is necessary to pay attention first of all to the composition of the supporters of the revolt - peasants, Cossacks and nomadic peoples.

Serfs and possessions (assigned to manufactories) peasants were, in fact, in a slave position to the landowners and factory owners. To accelerate the pace of industrial development, factory owners were allowed to buy out state (free) peasants in entire villages. Unbearable living conditions left no other choice for the peasants but to join the Pugachevites. Pugachev himself perfectly understood the plight of the people and at a certain point in the uprising he issued a decree abolishing serfdom.

The Ural River began to be called as such only after the suppression of the uprising, before it it bore the name “Yaik”, and the Cossacks located near its banks were called “Yaitsky”, respectively. The Yaik Cossacks were generally dissatisfied with the policies of the authorities seeking to limit their freedom, and, after a number of incidents of disobedience, Catherine II decided to force the Cossacks to obey, which resulted in the Yaik Cossack uprising of 1772. The suppression of the uprising and subsequent repressions, as always, did not solve the problems, only adding gunpowder to one of the main reasons for the future “social explosion.”

The intolerant religious policy towards the indigenous peoples of the Volga and Urals region, the distribution of lands belonging to them to colonists and expanding Cossack villages, provoked aggression of local ethnic groups. Pugachev did not fail to take advantage of this and attracted Kalmyks, Bashkirs, Tatars and Kazakhs to his side.

Goals and requirements

Pugachev's court

The main demands of the rebels were:

• Abolition of serfdom, taxes, compulsory recruitment
• Destruction of the nobility and the right of landownership
• Declaration of all participants in the uprising as free people
• Equality of all faiths and peoples before the law
• Establishment of the power of E. Pugachev (self-styled Peter III)

Here it is worth noting the unification of anti-serfdom and national liberation ideas in the tasks that the rebels united by Emelyan Pugachev set for themselves.

Reasons for the defeat of the rebels

Among the main reasons for the defeat of the rebels together with E. Pugachev are the following:

• The rebels were inferior to government troops in organization and equipment of weapons, and were unable to quickly replenish food supplies
• The peasants (who made up the majority of Pugachev's army) had no military training and were poorly prepared to conduct full-scale military operations against the imperial guard
• Heterogeneous social and national composition for which it was difficult to develop a unified plan for the uprising and subsequent actions in case of success
• The banditry nature and cruelty of the rebels towards the nobles caused indignation and united the noble class in an effort to suppress the rebellion

Results and assessment of the significance of the Pugachev rebellion of 1773-1775

Gallows on the Volga

Let us briefly list the main characteristics of the event in order to determine its significance for the society of that time and the history of Russia as a whole.

• The largest and most numerous uprising in the history of the Russian Empire
• The unification of anti-serfdom and national liberation ideas in the demands of the rebels.
• Such large-scale domestic unrest did not occur until 1917

After the suppression of the “Pugachevism,” Catherine II began to take consistent measures to prevent possible disturbances in the future:

• The unrest on the territory of the Tambov district and the Voronezh province continued until the summer of 1775 and was suppressed by bloody repressions - right up to rafts with hanged men, which were lowered down the rivers to intimidate
• The Yaik River was renamed to the Ural, the Yaik Cossacks to the Ural - old names are prohibited from use and mention
• Liquidation of the Zaporozhye Sich in 1775 and the transformation of the Cossacks into special-purpose military units controlled by the Empress
• Temporary relief in the form of the abolition of taxes and farm-outs on crafts, as well as permission to open handicraft production for everyone in the 1775 manifesto “on freedom of enterprise” (taxes were returned in 1782)
• Relaxations for factory peasants, tax reduction for Cossacks
• The vertical of power and police agencies were strengthened - during the provincial reform in 1775 and the police reform - in 1782
• In the national outskirts, a policy is being pursued of turning the local elite into nobles, with the assignment of corresponding privileges (the “divide and conquer” tactics)

Composition of participants in the uprising and leaders

Social: Cossacks, serfs and possession (factory) peasants

National: Russians, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Tatars, Kalmyks

Emelyan Pugachev

Leaders of the uprising:
Emelyan Pugachev - organized a Cossack-peasant revolt under the name of Peter III
A. Ovchinnikov - marching ataman elected by the Yaik Cossacks
I. Chika-Zarubin - Yaik Cossack chieftain
K. Arslanov - Bashkir foreman
I. Gryaznov - former merchant, led the rebels in the Iset province
I. Beloborodov - leader of the rebels in the middle Yaik (Ural)
Khlopusha (A. Sokolov) - a robber and convict who became one of the chieftains
Salavat Yulaev is one of Pugachev’s closest associates, a talented brigadier (general), national hero of Bashkortostan, poet.

The great questions of the time are decided not by speeches and resolutions of the majority, but by iron and blood!

Otto von Bismarck

By the middle of the 18th century, a catastrophic situation had developed for serfs in Russia. They had virtually no rights. Landowners killed serfs, beat them to death, tortured them, sold them, gave them as gifts, lost them at cards and exchanged them for dogs. This arbitrariness and complete impunity of the landowners led to the outbreak of the peasant war.

Causes of the war

Emelyan Pugachev was born on the Don. He served in the Russian army and even took part in the Seven Years' War. However, in 1771, the future leader of the rebel peasants fled the army and went into hiding. In 1773, Pugachev headed to Yaik, where he declared himself to be the miraculously saved Emperor Peter 3. A war began, which can be divided into three main stages.

The first stage of the peasant war

The Peasant War led by Pugachev began on September 17, 1773. On this day, Pugachev spoke before the Cossacks and declared himself Emperor Peter 3, who miraculously managed to escape. The Cossacks eagerly supported the new “emperor” and within the first month about 160 people joined Pugachev. The war has begun. Pugachev's delights rampaged through the southern lands, capturing cities. Most cities did not offer resistance to the rebels, since revolutionary sentiments were very strong in the south of Russia. Pugachev entered cities without a fight, where residents joined his ranks. On October 5, 1773, Pugachev approached Orenburg and besieged the city. Empress Catherine 2 sent a detachment of one and a half thousand people to suppress the rebellion. The army was led by General Kara. There was no general battle; the government troops were defeated by Pugachev's ally, A. Ovchinnikov. Panic seized the besieged Orenburg. The siege of the city had already lasted six months. The Empress again sent an army against Pugachev, led by General Bibikov. On March 22, 1774, a battle took place near the Tatishchev Fortress, in which Bibikov won. At this point the first stage of the war was over. Its result: Pugachev’s defeat from the tsarist army and failure at the siege of Orenburg.

The second stage of the war under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev

The peasant war led by Pugachev continued with the second stage, which lasted from April to July 1774. At this time, Pugachev, who was forced to lift the siege of Orenburg, retreated to Bashkiria. Here his army was replenished by the workers of the Ural factories. In a short time, the size of Pugachev’s army exceeded 10 thousand people, and after moving deeper into Bashkiria, 20 thousand. In July 1774, Pugachev's army approached Kazan. The rebels managed to capture the outskirts of the city, but the Kremlin, in which the royal garrison took refuge, was impregnable. Mikhelson with a large army went to help the besieged city. Pugachev deliberately spread false rumors about the fall of Kazan and the destruction of Michelson's army. The Empress was horrified by this news and was preparing to leave Russia at any moment.

The third and final stage of the war

The peasant war under the leadership of Pugachev at its final stage acquired real mass appeal. This was facilitated by the Decree of July 31, 1774, which was issued by Pugachev. He, as “Emperor Peter 3”, announced the complete liberation of peasants from dependence and exemption from all taxes. As a result, all southern lands were absorbed by the rebels. Pugachev, having captured a number of cities on the Volga, went to Tsaritsyn, but failed to capture this city. As a result, he was betrayed by his own Cossacks, who, wanting to soften their feelings, captured Pugachev on September 12, 1774 and handed him over to the tsarist army. was completed. Individual uprisings in the south of the country continued, but within a year they were finally suppressed.

On January 10, 1775, on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, Pugachev and all his immediate circle were executed. Many of those who supported the “emperor” were killed.

Results and significance of the uprising

Peasant War Map

Key dates

Chronology of events of the peasant war by Emelyan Pugachev:

• September 17, 1773 - the beginning of the peasant war.
• October 5, 1773 - Pugchev’s troops began the siege of Orenburg.
• March 22, 1774 - battle at the Tatishchev fortress.
• July 1774 - battles for Kazan.
• July 31, 1774 - Pugachev declares himself Peter 3.
• September 12, 1774 - Emelyan Pugachev was captured.
• January 10, 1775 - after much torture, Pugachev was executed.

Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev

“Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev is a hero and an impostor, a sufferer and a rebel, a sinner and a saint... But above all, he is a leader of the people, an undoubtedly exceptional person - otherwise he would not have been able to captivate armies of thousands and lead them into battle for two years. When raising an uprising, Pugachev knew that the people would follow him” (G.M. Nesterov, local historian).

The artist T. Nazarenko expresses a similar thought in his painting. Her painting “Pugachev,” in which she did not strive for a truly historical reconstruction of events, depicts a scene reminiscent of ancient folk oleography. On it are doll figures of soldiers in bright uniforms and a conventional cage with a rebellious leader in the pose of the crucified Christ. And ahead on a wooden horse is Generalissimo Suvorov: it was he who delivered the “main troublemaker” to Moscow. The second part of the picture was painted in a completely different manner, stylized under the era of the reign of Catherine II and the Pugachev rebellion - the famous portrait from the Historical Museum, in which Pugachev is painted over the image of the empress.

“My historical paintings, of course, are connected with today,” says Tatyana Nazarenko. - “Pugachev” is a story of betrayal. It is at every step. Pugachev's associates abandoned him, dooming him to execution. This always happens."

T. Nazarenko "Pugachev". Diptych

There are numerous legends, traditions, epics, tales about Pugachev and his associates. The people pass them on from generation to generation.

The personality of E.I. Pugachev and the nature of the Peasant War have always been assessed ambiguously and in many ways contradictory. But despite all the differences of opinion, the Pugachev uprising is a significant milestone in Russian history. And no matter how tragic the story is, it must be known and respected.

How it all began?

The reason for the start of the Peasant War, which covered vast territories and attracted several hundred thousand people to the ranks of the rebels, was the miraculous announcement of the escaped “Tsar Peter Fedorovich.” You can read about it on our website: . But let's briefly recall: Peter III (Pyotr Fedorovich, born Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, 1728-1762) - Russian emperor in 1761-1762, was overthrown as a result of a palace coup that brought his wife, Catherine II, to the throne, and soon lost his life. The personality and activities of Peter III were assessed by historians unanimously negatively for a long time, but then they began to treat him more carefully, assessing a number of the emperor’s public services. During the reign of Catherine II, many pretended to be Pyotr Fedorovich impostors(about forty cases recorded), the most famous of whom was Emelyan Pugachev.

L. Pfanzelt "Portrait of Emperor Peter III"

Who is he?

Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev- Don Cossack. Born in 1742 in the Cossack village of Zimoveyskaya, Don Region (currently the village of Pugachevskaya, Volgograd Region, Stepan Razin was previously born here).

He took part in the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763, and with his regiment was in the division of Count Chernyshev. With the death of Peter III, the troops were returned to Russia. From 1763 to 1767, Pugachev served in his village, where his son Trofim was born, and then his daughter Agrafena. He was sent to Poland with the team of Captain Elisey Yakovlev to search for and return to Russia the escaped Old Believers.

He took part in the Russian-Turkish War, where he fell ill and was sent into retirement, but became involved in the escape of his son-in-law from service and was forced to flee to the Terek. After numerous ups and downs, adventures and escapes, in November 1772 he settled in the Old Believer monastery of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Saratov region with Abbot Philaret, from whom he heard about the unrest that had occurred in the Yaitsk army. Some time later, in a conversation with one of the participants in the 1772 uprising, Denis Pyanov, for the first time called himself the survivor of Peter III: “I am not a merchant, but the sovereign Peter Fedorovich, I was also in Tsaritsyn, but God and good people saved me, but instead of me they spotted a guard soldier, and in St. Petersburg one officer saved me.”. Upon returning to Mechetnaya Sloboda, following a denunciation from the peasant Filippov Pugachev, who was with him on the trip, he was arrested and sent for investigation, first to Simbirsk, then in January 1773 to Kazan.

Portrait of Pugachev, painted from life with oil paints (inscription on the portrait: “True image of the rebel and deceiver Emelka Pugachev”)

Having escaped again and again calling himself “Emperor Peter Fedorovich,” he began meeting with the instigators of previous uprisings and discussed with them the possibility of a new uprising. Then he found a literate person to draw up “royal decrees.” In Mechetnaya Sloboda he was identified, but again managed to escape and get to Talovy Umet, where the Yaik Cossacks D. Karavaev, M. Shigaev, I. Zarubin-Chika and T. Myasnikov were waiting for him. He again told them the story of his “miraculous salvation” and discussed the possibility of an uprising.

At this time, the commandant of the government garrison in the Yaitsky town, Lieutenant Colonel I. D. Simonov, having learned about the appearance in the army of a man posing as “Peter III,” sent two teams to capture the impostor, but they managed to warn Pugachev. By this time the ground was ready for the uprising. Not many Cossacks believed that Pugachev was Peter III, but everyone followed him. Concealing his illiteracy, he did not sign his manifestos; however, his “autograph” has been preserved on a separate sheet, imitating the text of a written document, about which he told his literate associates that it was written “in Latin.”

What caused the uprising?

As usual in such cases, there are many reasons, and all of them, when combined, create favorable conditions for the event to occur.

Yaik Cossacks were the main driving force of the uprising. Throughout the 18th century, they gradually lost privileges and liberties, but the times of complete independence from Moscow and Cossack democracy still remained in their memory. In the 1730s, there was an almost complete split of the army into senior and military sides. The situation was aggravated by the monopoly on salt introduced by the royal decree of 1754. The army's economy was entirely built on sales of fish and caviar, and salt was a strategic product. The ban on free salt mining and the emergence of salt tax farmers among the top troops led to a sharp stratification among the Cossacks. In 1763, the first major outburst of indignation occurred; the Cossacks wrote petitions to Orenburg and St. Petersburg, sent delegates from the army to complain about the atamans and local authorities. Sometimes they achieved their goal, and especially unacceptable atamans changed, but on the whole the situation remained the same. In 1771, the Yaik Cossacks refused to go in pursuit of the Kalmyks who had migrated outside Russia. General Traubenberg and a detachment of soldiers went to investigate the disobedience of the order. The result was the Yaik Cossack uprising of 1772, during which General Traubenberg and the military ataman Tambov were killed. Troops were sent to suppress the uprising. The rebels were defeated at the Embulatovka River in June 1772; As a result of the defeat, the Cossack circles were finally liquidated, a garrison of government troops was stationed in the Yaitsky town, and all power over the army passed into the hands of the commandant of the garrison, Lieutenant Colonel I. D. Simonov. The reprisal against the caught instigators was extremely cruel and made a depressing impression on the army: never before had Cossacks been branded or had their tongues cut out. A large number of participants in the performance took refuge in distant steppe farms, excitement reigned everywhere, the state of the Cossacks was like a compressed spring.

V. Perov "Pugachev's Court"

Tension was also present in the environment heterodox peoples of the Urals and Volga region. The development of the Urals and the colonization of the lands of the Volga region, which belonged to local nomadic peoples, and intolerant religious policies led to numerous unrest among the Bashkirs, Tatars, Kazakhs, Erzyans, Chuvash, Udmurts, and Kalmyks.

The situation at the fast-growing factories of the Urals was also explosive. Starting with Peter, the government solved the problem of labor in metallurgy mainly by assigning state peasants to state-owned and private mining factories, allowing new factory owners to buy serf villages and granting the unofficial right to keep runaway serfs, since the Berg Collegium, which was in charge of the factories , tried not to notice violations of the decree on the capture and deportation of all fugitives. It was very convenient to take advantage of the lack of rights and hopeless situation of fugitives: if anyone began to express dissatisfaction with their situation, they were immediately handed over to the authorities for punishment. Former peasants resisted forced labor in factories.

Peasants, assigned to state-owned and private factories, dreamed of returning to their usual village work. To top it all off, Catherine II issued a Decree of August 22, 1767, prohibiting peasants from complaining about landowners. That is, there was complete impunity for some and complete dependence for others. And it becomes easier to understand how the circumstances helped Pugachev to attract so many people with him. Fantastic rumors about imminent freedom or about the transfer of all the peasants to the treasury, about a ready decree of the tsar, whose wife and boyars were killed for this, that the tsar was not killed, but he was hiding until better times fell on the fertile soil of general human dissatisfaction with his current situation . There was simply no other opportunity left for all groups of future participants in the performance to defend their interests.

Insurrection

First stage

The internal readiness of the Yaik Cossacks for the uprising was high, but for the performance there was not enough a unifying idea, a core that would unite the sheltered and hidden participants in the unrest of 1772. The rumor that the miraculously saved Emperor Peter Fedorovich appeared in the army instantly spread throughout Yaik.

The uprising began on Yaik. The starting point of Pugachev’s movement was the Tolkachev farm located south of the Yaitsky town. It was from this farm that Pugachev, who by that time was already Peter III, Tsar Peter Fedorovich, issued a manifesto in which he granted everyone who joined him “a river from the peaks to the mouth, and land, and herbs, and cash salaries, and lead , and gunpowder, and grain provisions." At the head of his constantly growing detachment, Pugachev approached Orenburg and besieged it. Here the question arises: why did Pugachev restrain his forces with this siege?

For the Yaik Cossacks, Orenburg was the administrative center of the region and at the same time a symbol of a power hostile to them, because All the royal decrees came from there. It was necessary to take it. And so Pugachev creates a headquarters, a kind of capital of the rebellious Cossacks, in the village of Berda near Orenburg it turns into the capital of the rebellious Cossacks.

Later, another center of the movement was formed in the village of Chesnokovka near Ufa. Several other less significant centers also emerged. But the first stage of the war ended with two defeats for Pugachev - at the Tatishchev Fortress and the Sakmarsky town, as well as the defeat of his closest associate - Zarubin-Chika at Chesnokovka and the end of the siege of Orenburg and Ufa. Pugachev and his surviving associates leave for Bashkiria.

Battle map of the Peasants' War

Second phase

In the second stage, the Bashkirs, who by that time already constituted the majority in the Pugachev army, took part in the uprising en masse. At the same time, government forces became more active. This forced Pugachev to move towards Kazan, and then in mid-July 1774 move to the right bank of the Volga. Even before the start of the battle, Pugachev announced that he would go from Kazan to Moscow. The rumor about this spread throughout the area. Despite the major defeat of Pugachev's army, the uprising swept the entire western bank of the Volga. Having crossed the Volga at Kokshaysk, Pugachev replenished his army with thousands of peasants. And Salavat Yulaev at this time with his troops continued fighting near Ufa, the Bashkir detachments in the Pugachev detachment were led by Kinzya Arslanov. Pugachev entered Kurmysh, then freely entered Alatyr, and then headed towards Saransk. On the central square of Saransk, a decree on freedom for peasants was read out, supplies of salt and bread, and the city treasury were distributed to residents “driving around the city fortress and along the streets... they abandoned the mob that had come from different districts”. The same solemn meeting awaited Pugachev in Penza. The decrees caused numerous peasant revolts in the Volga region, the movement covered most of the Volga districts, approached the borders of the Moscow province, and really threatened Moscow.

The publication of decrees (manifestos on the liberation of peasants) in Saransk and Penza is called the culmination of the Peasant War. The decrees made a strong impression on the peasants, nobles and Catherine II herself. The enthusiasm led to the fact that a population of more than a million people was involved in the uprising. They could not give anything to Pugachev’s army in the long-term military plan, since the peasant detachments operated no further than their estate. But they turned Pugachev’s campaign across the Volga region into a triumphal procession, with bells ringing, the blessing of the village priest and bread and salt in every new village, village, town. When Pugachev’s army or its individual detachments approached, the peasants tied up or killed their landowners and their clerks, hanged local officials, burned estates, and smashed shops. In total, in the summer of 1774, about 3 thousand nobles and government officials were killed.

Thus ends the second stage of the war.

Third stage

In the second half of July 1774, when the Pugachev uprising was approaching the borders of the Moscow province and threatened Moscow itself, Empress Catherine II was alarmed by the events. In August 1774, Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov was recalled from the 1st Army, which was located in the Danube principalities. Panin entrusted Suvorov with command of the troops that were supposed to defeat the main Pugachev army in the Volga region.

Seven regiments were brought to Moscow under the personal command of P.I. Panin. Moscow Governor General Prince M.N. Volkonsky placed artillery near his house. The police strengthened surveillance and sent informants to crowded places to capture all those who sympathized with Pugachev. Mikhelson, who was pursuing the rebels from Kazan, turned to Arzamas to block the road to the old capital. General Mansurov set out from the Yaitsky town to Syzran, General Golitsyn - to Saransk. Everywhere Pugachev leaves behind him rebellious villages: “Not only peasants, but priests, monks, even archimandrites outrage sensitive and insensitive people”. But from Penza Pugachev turned south. Perhaps he wanted to attract the Volga and Don Cossacks into his ranks - the Yaik Cossacks were already tired of the war. But it was precisely during these days that a conspiracy of Cossack colonels began to surrender Pugachev to the government in exchange for receiving a pardon.

Meanwhile, Pugachev took Petrovsk, Saratov, where priests in all churches served prayers for the health of Emperor Peter III, and government troops followed on his heels.

After Saratov, Kamyshin also greeted Pugachev with ringing bells and bread and salt. Near Kamyshin in the German colonies, Pugachev’s troops encountered the Astrakhan astronomical expedition of the Academy of Sciences, many members of which, along with the leader, Academician Georg Lowitz, were hanged along with local officials who did not have time to escape. They were joined by a 3,000-strong detachment of Kalmyks, then followed by the villages of the Volga Cossack army Antipovskaya and Karavainskaya. On August 21, 1774, Pugachev tried to attack Tsaritsyn, but the assault failed.

Mikhelson's corps pursued Pugachev, and he hastily lifted the siege of Tsaritsyn, moving towards Black Yar. Panic began in Astrakhan. On August 24, Pugachev was overtaken by Mikhelson. Realizing that a battle could not be avoided, the Pugachevites formed battle formations. On August 25, the last major battle between the troops under the command of Pugachev and the tsarist troops took place. The battle began with a major setback - all 24 cannons of the rebel army were repulsed by a cavalry attack. More than 2,000 rebels died in a fierce battle, among them Ataman Ovchinnikov. More than 6,000 people were captured. Pugachev and the Cossacks, breaking up into small detachments, fled across the Volga. During August-September, most of the participants in the uprising were caught and sent for investigation to the Yaitsky town, Simbirsk, and Orenburg.

Pugachev under escort. 18th century engraving

Pugachev with a detachment of Cossacks fled to Uzeni, not knowing that since mid-August some colonels had been discussing the possibility of earning forgiveness by surrendering the impostor. Under the pretext of making it easier to escape the pursuit, they divided the detachment so as to separate the Cossacks loyal to Pugachev along with Ataman Perfilyev. On September 8, near the Bolshoi Uzen River, they pounced and tied up Pugachev, after which Chumakov and Tvorogov went to Yaitsky town, where on September 11 they announced the capture of the impostor. Having received promises of pardon, they notified their accomplices, and on September 15 they brought Pugachev to the Yaitsky town. The first interrogations took place, one of which was conducted personally by Suvorov, who also volunteered to escort Pugachev to Simbirsk, where the main investigation was taking place. To transport Pugachev, a tight cage was made, mounted on a two-wheeled cart, in which, chained hand and foot, he could not even turn around. In Simbirsk, he was interrogated for five days by P. S. Potemkin, the head of the secret investigative commissions, and Count P. I. Panin, the commander of the government's punitive forces.

Continuation of the Peasant War

The war did not end with the capture of Pugachev - it unfolded too widely. The centers of the uprising were both scattered and organized, for example, in Bashkiria under the command of Salavat Yulaev and his father. The uprising continued in the Trans-Urals, in the Voronezh province, in the Tambov district. Many landowners left their homes and hid from the rebels. To stem the wave of riots, punitive detachments began mass executions. In every village, in every town that received Pugachev, the leaders of the riots and city leaders and atamans of local detachments appointed by the Pugachevites began to be hanged on the gallows, from which they had barely managed to remove those hanged by Pugachev. To enhance the intimidation, the gallows were installed on rafts and floated along the main rivers of the uprising. In May, Khlopushi was executed in Orenburg: his head was placed on a pole in the city center. During the investigation, the entire medieval set of proven means was used. In terms of cruelty and number of victims, Pugachev and the government were not inferior to each other.

“Gallows on the Volga” (illustration by N. N. Karazin for “The Captain’s Daughter” by A. S. Pushkin)

Investigation into the Pugachev case

All the main participants in the uprising were transported to Moscow for a general investigation. They were placed in the Mint building at the Iversky Gate of China Town. The interrogations were led by Prince M.N. Volkonsky and Chief Secretary S.I. Sheshkovsky.

Pugachev gave detailed testimony about himself and about his plans and intentions, about the course of the uprising. Catherine II showed great interest in the progress of the investigation. She even advised how best to conduct an inquiry and what questions to ask.

Sentence and execution

On December 31, Pugachev, under heavy escort, was transported from the casemates of the Mint to the chambers of the Kremlin Palace. He was then taken into the meeting room and forced to kneel. After a formal questioning, he was taken out of the courtroom, the court made a decision: “Emelka Pugachev will be quartered, his head will be stuck on a stake, body parts will be carried to four parts of the city and placed on wheels, and then burned in those places.” The remaining defendants were divided according to the degree of their guilt into several groups for each appropriate type of execution or punishment.

On January 10, 1775, an execution was carried out on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow in front of a huge crowd of people. Pugachev remained calm. At the place of execution, he crossed himself at the Kremlin cathedrals, bowed to four sides with the words “Forgive me, Orthodox people.” At the request of Catherine II, the executioner first cut off the heads of E. I. Pugachev and A. P. Perfilyev, who were sentenced to quartering. On the same day, M. G. Shigaev, T. I. Podurov and V. I. Tornov were hanged. I. N. Zarubin-Chika was sent to Ufa, where he was executed by beheading in early February 1775.

"The execution of Pugachev on Bolotnaya Square." Drawing of an eyewitness to the execution of A. T. Bolotov

Features of the Peasant War

This war was in many ways similar to previous peasant wars. The Cossacks act as the instigators of the war; both the social demands and the motives of the rebels are largely similar. But there are also significant differences: 1) coverage of a vast territory, which had no precedent in previous history; 2) a different organization of the movement from the rest, the creation of central command and control bodies for the army, the publication of manifestos, a fairly clear structure of the army.

Consequences of the Peasants' War

In order to eradicate the memory of Pugachev, Catherine II issued decrees to rename all places associated with these events. Stanitsa Zimoveyskaya on the Don, where Pugachev was born, there was renamed V Potemkin, the house where Pugachev was born was ordered to be burned. Yaik River was renamed Ural, Yaik army - to the Ural Cossack army, Yaitsky town - to Uralsk, Verkhne-Yaitskaya pier - to Verkhneuralsk. The name of Pugachev was anathematized in churches along with Stenka Razin.

Decree of the Government Senate

“...for the complete oblivion of this unfortunate incident that followed on Yaik, the Yaik River, along which both this army and the city had their name until now, due to the fact that this river flows from
the Ural Mountains, rename the Ural, and therefore the army will be called Ural, and henceforth not be called Yaitsky, and the Yaitsky city will also be called Uralsk from now on; about what for information and performance
This is how it is published.”

The policy towards the Cossack troops has been adjusted, and the process of their transformation into army units is accelerating. The decree of February 22, 1784 established the nobility of the local nobility. Tatar and Bashkir princes and Murzas are equal in rights and liberties to the Russian nobility, including the right to own serfs, but only of the Muslim religion.

Pugachev's uprising caused enormous damage to the metallurgy of the Urals. 64 of the 129 factories that existed in the Urals fully joined the uprising. In May 1779, a manifesto was published on the general rules for the use of assigned peasants in state-owned and private enterprises, which limited factory owners in the use of peasants assigned to factories, reduced the working day and increased wages.

There were no significant changes in the situation of the peasantry.

USSR postage stamp dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Peasant War of 1773-1775, E. I. Pugachev