Control work on the discipline "National History"

Peasant war led by S.T. Razin

Krasnoyarsk 2010

Introduction.

Background of the peasant war.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin.

Peasant War 1670-1671

The execution of Stepan Razin.

Conclusion.

Bibliography

Introduction

In the first half of the XVI century. steppes along the river. The Don was populated by runaway peasants and serfs, as well as small townspeople. These were immigrants from the Muscovite state and partly from Polish Ukraine, who fled from the feudal serf oppression and called themselves "Cossacks".

The Cossacks lived and hunted in groups (kurens, yurts) of 10-20 people, representing military partnerships. They were engaged in hunting, fishing and partly trade, but their main occupation was war - raids for zipun and yasyr (for prey and prisoners). The Cossack lived “freely” and valued his freedom.

The moral character of the Cossacks is characteristic. They respected brave, strong and dexterous warriors, despised cowards, did not tolerate theft, and were executed for murder and treason. Among the Don Cossacks, a sense of camaraderie, mutual assistance in battle, concern for the honor and glory of the Great Don Army, adoration of the “quiet Don Ivanovich” was developed.

The introduction of the Council Code of 1649, the search for and reprisals against fugitive peasants, the ruin of many villagers and townspeople led to their outflow to the outskirts of the country, primarily to the Don. The Don Cossack freemen have always attracted fugitive peasants from the southern and central regions of the Russian state. Here they were protected by the unwritten law "no extradition from the Don." The peasants were satisfied with the Cossack order: the absence of landowners and governors, the equality of the Cossacks (although the well-to-do, well-to-do brothers who used the labor of poor villagers, hoards) stood out from their midst), the solution of all important issues at the circles - general gatherings, the election of officials - chieftains and yesauls, their assistants. The government, needing the services of the Cossacks for the defense of the southern borders, paid them a salary and put up with the self-government that existed there. Initially, the Cossacks raided for the sake of food and conquering prisoners, but in 1670 one of the campaigns led by (an experienced, already proven at that time, ataman) S.T. Razin turned into a war.

In this work, we will actually consider the campaign that led to the uprising, the peasant war led by S.T. Razin. Let's get acquainted in more detail with the personality of Stepan Razin, highlight the main stages of the war and summarize what led to popular uprising 1670-1671

Background of the peasant war

The movement of peasants, serfs, Cossacks and urban lower classes of the 17th century. in pre-revolutionary Russian historiography, these events were called "rebellion", in Soviet - "peasant war". The reasons for the action are connected with the deterioration of the situation of our sections of the population due to various circumstances. The adoption of the Council Code of 1649 led to the final enslavement of the peasants. extended not only to the owners, but also to other categories of peasants, and to a large extent to the majority of the townspeople. In addition, the government in the middle of the XVII century. issued a number of specific decrees that negatively affected the situation. These are, for example, an increase in taxes on salt, the issuance of copper money, an increase in taxes on the upkeep of the army, the so-called archery money. The position of the lower social classes also deteriorated significantly as a result of the active foreign policy pursued by the first Romanovs. Ideological and spiritual and church split.

The desire of the authorities to limit the Cossack freemen and integrate it into the state system added tension. The situation on the Don also aggravated due to the growth of the slanderous Cossacks, who, in contrast to the “thrifty” (rich Cossacks), did not receive salaries from the state. A harbinger of a social explosion was the uprising of 1666 under the leadership of the Cossack Vasily Us, who managed to reach from the Don to Tula, where he was joined by the surrounding counties. They mainly participated in the unrest of the 1660s, and the peasants who stuck to them tried to protect the interests of not only their own, but personal ones. In case of success, the peasants wanted to become free Cossacks or service people. The Cossacks and peasants were also joined by those from the townspeople who were dissatisfied with the liquidation of the “white settlements” in the cities free of taxes and duties under the Council Code of 1649. In the spring of 1667, a detachment of six hundred “bad” people appeared near Tsaritsyn, headed by S.T. Razin. Having brought the Cossacks from the Don to the Volga, he began a "campaign for zipuns", robbing caravans of ships with state-owned goods. After wintering, in the Yaitsky town (modern 1669 with rich booty to the Don, Razin strengthened his fame as a successful chieftain. Thousands of Cossacks reached out to the fearless chieftain. Razin's new campaign on the Volga begins in the spring of 1670.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin

Razin, Stepan Timofeevich (circa 1630-1671) - leader 1670-1671, leader of a large protest movement of peasants, serfs, Cossacks and urban lower classes of the 17th century.

Born around 1630 in the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don (or in Cherkassk) in the family of a wealthy Cossack Timofey Razin, probably the middle son of three (Ivan, Stepan, Frol). The first document about him is his request for leave to travel to the Solovetsky Monastery in 1652.

In 1658 he was among the Cherkassy Cossacks sent to Moscow to the Posolsky Prikaz. In 1661, together with Ataman F. Budan, he negotiated with the Kalmyks on the conclusion of peace and joint actions against the Tatars. In 1662 he became an ataman, in 1662-1663 his Cossacks went against the Turks and Crimeans, participated in the Battle of Milk Waters on the Crimean Isthmus. He returned to the Don with rich trophies and prisoners.

In 1665 governor and prince. Yu.A.Dolgorukov hanged Razin's elder brother Ivan for unauthorized departure with the Cossacks to the Don during the Russian-Polish war. Stepan decided not only to avenge his brother, but also to punish the boyars and the nobility. Gathering a "mob" of 600 people, he set off in the spring of 1667 from the Zimoveysky town near Tsaritsyn up the Don, robbing government boats with goods and the houses of wealthy Cossacks along the way. The enterprise was called "a campaign for zipuns" and was a violation of the promise given by the Don Cossacks to the Moscow authorities "to lag behind theft." "Vataga" quickly grew to 2 thousand people. on 30 plows. Cunningly capturing Yaik, Razin executed 170 people who saw in his army a "horde of thieves" and replenished the "mob" with sympathizers from the local population.

Having laid a camp between the rivers of Silence and Ilovni, he reorganized the "army", giving it the features of a regular one, divided into hundreds and tens, headed by centurions and foremen. Everyone who met his "coven" and did not want to go with her, ordered to "burn with fire and beat to death." Despite the cruelty, he remained in the people's memory as a generous, affable person who provided for the poor and hungry. He was considered a sorcerer, they believed in his strength and happiness, they called him "father".

In 1667-1669, Razin made a Persian campaign, defeating the Iranian Shah's fleet and gaining experience in the "Cossack war" (ambushes, raids, detours). The Cossacks burned the villages and villages of the Dagestan Tatars, killed the inhabitants, ruined the property. Taking Baku, Derbent. Reshet, Farabat, Astrabat, Razin took prisoners, among them was the daughter of Meneda Khan. He made her a concubine, then dealt with her, proving the ataman's prowess. This fact got into the text of the folk song about Stenka Razin, but already at that time legends about the destroyer of someone else's property, about his strength, dexterity and luck, were scattered everywhere.

In August-September 1669, having returned to the Don, he built himself a fortress on the island - the town of Kagalnik. On it, Razin's "band" and he himself handed out the obtained military trophies, calling to the Cossack army, beckoning with wealth and prowess. An attempt by the Moscow government to punish the obstinate, stopping the delivery of bread to the Don, only added supporters to Razin.

We must give credit to S.T. Razin, to this day they remember him, about his services to the people. Stepan Timofeevich Razin "lost ... his head in the struggle for freedom," wrote V. I. Lenin. The people have not forgotten their great son. He responded to the mournful news of the death of his intercessor with many songs and tales. In simple and sincere words, the death of the beloved ataman was mourned by the Cossack “goal”.

Stepan Razin is one of the first heroes of the class and revolutionary struggle immortalized in Soviet monumental art, and this priority is a tribute of respect and gratitude of the people's power to the leader of the Peasant War, whose short and stormy life was devoted to the struggle for a better life for all the oppressed. In the person of Razin, the victorious proletariat erected a monument to all those from whom they took over the baton of struggle for the people's happiness, for social justice.

To this day, the rumor about Stenka Razin has not subsided. His personality is immortalized in paintings, engravings, songs, legends. How many streets are named after him, villages. There is no end to the books and articles written about him and about the uprising under his leadership.

Peasant War 1670-1671

Near Kagalnitsky town, on the island of the river. Don, three km long, Razin's detachment settled down, surrounding itself earth rampart. Outside the town, the Cossacks were released "for strong bail", communication with the outside world was limited. Government agents reported to Moscow that “there are Cossacks from all the Don and Khoper towns, who are goofy people, and from the Volga, people walking around go to him, Stenka, many.” According to these reports, by the end of November, Razin's detachment already had 2,700 slanderous Cossacks, most of whom were fugitive peasants and serfs.

The Moscow government sought to find out the intentions of the Don Cossacks, for which it sent a tenant Gerasim Evdokimov to them with a letter from the tsar. Razin came to the circle and asked the newcomer by whom he had been sent. Evdokimov replied that “he was sent from the great sovereign, from his great sovereign with a gracious letter. And he, Stenka, told him that he didn’t come with a letter, but came to them as a scout, and taught him, Gerasim, to scold and beat and, having beaten him half to death, put him in the water in the Don River ”(drowned. - E. R.) . It was an open challenge to the tsarist government, and at the same time a call for the oppressed masses to fight against the oppressors.

Ataman Kornilo Yakovlev "taught him (Razin. - E. R.) to say that he did so unseemly; and he de, Stenka, taught him, Kornil, to threaten with the same mortal murder and told him: you de control your army, and I de control my army. This was the actual demarcation of the slanderous and homely Cossacks. However, the latter, in this situation, felt the preponderance of forces on the side of the barren and refrained from speaking out against Razin.

At the beginning of 1670, Stepan Timofeevich discussed with his atamans a plan for a campaign against Moscow through Tambov. Despite the measures taken to preserve military secrets, rumors penetrated the people and reached the royal governors. In May, the Tambov voivode wrote to the Discharge Order: “He wants to go to you, the great sovereign, to Moscow with a confession with all his army, and go, sir, to that Stenka Razin to Moscow mime Tanbov.” This option was probably discussed by the atamans of Razin.

But another plan was adopted. As Stepan Timofeevich later reported to the Cossack circle, the atamans decided to expand the main base of the campaign against the boyars and nobles and secure their rear by capturing Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan, introducing a Cossack device there. Only then was it supposed to move up the Volga to conquer the starting area for the offensive on Moscow. The Volga route seemed easier, and besides, it was possible to use a flotilla of plows, in the use of which the Cossacks had rich experience.

First leg of the trip- the struggle for the expansion of the main base and the provision of rear.

In the spring of 1670, Razin's detachment moved to Tsaritsyn. The infantry sailed on 80 plows, many of which were equipped with two guns - at the bow and at the stern. Stepan Timofeevich walked along the shore with cavalry. At Pashin-gorodok, a detachment of Vasily Uss joined, and Razin's forces increased to 7 thousand people.

On the night of April 13, the Cossacks approached Tsaritsyn and surrounded it from the shore and from the river. The garrison prepared to resist. The city was well fortified. There was a deep ditch around the fortress walls, in front of which there were gouges (logs vertically dug into the ground, arranged in several rows so that it was impossible to climb between them or climb over them). On the approaches to the gouges, "garlic" was usually arranged - thick boards stuffed with sharp iron knitting needles. "Garlic" was carefully disguised - sprinkled with earth, grass or leaves. This obstacle was intended mainly against the cavalry.

The defectors told Razin that the archers would not resist, and the inhabitants would help take over the city. At this time, the chieftain learned that a strong detachment of archers was sailing to help Tsaritsyn, who could be supported by the Edisan Tatars, who roamed 30 km from the city. Therefore, the ataman decided first of all to attack the Tatar uluses, excluding the possibility of joint actions of the enemy forces, and then to take possession of Tsaritsyn.

With a part of the Cossacks, Razin went against the Tatars. While he was smashing the uluses, the Cossack detachment blockading the city actually took possession of Tsaritsyn. Only a small handful of archers, led by the governor, resisted, hiding in the fortress tower, which was taken from the battle.

In June, a significant detachment of Moscow archers approached Tsaritsyn, the command of which did not know the actual situation. The Cossacks took advantage of this and 7 km above the city from the shore and from the plows suddenly attacked the archers. The stunned enemy put up unorganized resistance and was destroyed.

The Cossacks destroyed the enemy in parts, not giving him the opportunity to combine their forces (Tatar uluses, the garrison of the city, a detachment of archers moving to strengthen the garrison). As you can see, Razin had comprehensive information about the enemy, which was delivered to him by the population and, probably, by sent cavalry reconnaissance. The tsarist governors acted blindly, having no data on the Cossacks, as they found themselves in a hostile environment of rebellious townspeople and peasantry. Ataman Razin correctly assessed the situation, acted promptly, skillfully and decisively. The first successes were of great moral importance. They contributed to the activation of the oppressed masses.

In Tsaritsyn, Razin introduced the Cossack device. The inhabitants were organized into hundreds and dozens. The highest body was the circle that discussed and decided city affairs. The appointed chieftain Procopius Noisy was in charge of military and civil affairs. The organization of the social and political structure of the insurgents represented a new moment in the armed uprising of the oppressed masses. With such political measures, Stepan Timofeevich consolidated the military successes of the rebels.

Already from Tsaritsyn, Razin began to send letters (“charming letters”, “sheets”), in which he called on the oppressed masses to rise up against the “traitors” governors, boyars, nobles and merchants. He wrote: “Who wants to serve God and the sovereign, and the great Army, and Stepan Timofeevich ... and at the same time you would have to bring out traitors (boyars, nobles, governor and orderly people).” The distribution of "sheets" contributed to the expansion of the uprising.

Having received a report on the movement of a large detachment of archers from Astrakhan to Tsaritsyn, led by the governor Prince Lvov, Razin came out to meet him, having up to 9 thousand infantry and cavalry. He himself sailed on plows with infantry, atamans Vasily Us and Parfen Yeremeev led the cavalry along the coast. In the battle near Cherny Yar, most of the archers went over to the side of the Cossacks and killed the "initial" people. Razin saved Lvov.

The forces of the rebels increased to 12 thousand people, whom Razin led to Astrakhan, where the garrison was unreliable and among the population "fear and suspicion began, they did not know who was friend and who was foe, and who could be relied on." "It was also heard here and there about various rebellious conspiracies, mostly secret."

Astrakhan was an even stronger fortress in comparison with Tsaritsyn. It was surrounded on all sides by water. She was armed with about 400 guns. The voivode Prozorovsky entrusted the defense of the most important points to foreigners. The approaches from the Volga were guarded by a flotilla with the flagship "Eagle" (the first Russian ship of the Khvalis Sea flotilla being created). The governor gave the archers a salary, having borrowed money from the metropolitan and from the monastery. But all these measures did not protect Astrakhan, whose population and garrison sympathized with Razin and waited for him as a deliverer from the arbitrariness of the governor and clerks.

On the night of June 22, 1670, the Cossacks began to storm the fortress, concentrating significant forces against the Ascension Tower, where Prozorovsky sent his reserves. Taking advantage of this, the Cossacks, with the help of the inhabitants, crossed the wall in another place and attacked the defenders from the rear. The archers killed the "initial" people and went over to the side of the Cossacks. The powerful fortress was in the hands of the rebels.

In Astrakhan, the Cossack device was also introduced. Razin appointed Vasily Us, Sheludyak and Tersky as chieftains of the city. He sent the Astrakhan treasury under the protection of his brother Frol to the Don, which continued to be the main base of the uprising.

The lower reaches of the Volga with strong fortresses were in the hands of the rebels, who now had significant forces and means at their disposal. The composition of the Cossack army was changing, replenished with archers, working people and peasants. It turned into a peasant army.

The base of the uprising expanded, the rear for the offensive up the Volga was secured. It was possible to start solving the second strategic task.

Second leg of the trip- the struggle for the creation in the Volga region of the starting area for the attack on Moscow.

On July 20, 1670, 200 plows (up to 8 thousand infantry) set sail from Astrakhan and moved up the Volga, 2 thousand cavalry walked along the coast. The flotilla included two barges: one, upholstered in red velvet, which allegedly contained Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich (who died a year before); the second, upholstered in black velvet, is with the disgraced Patriarch Nikon (in fact, he was exiled by the tsar to the Ferapont Monastery). Alexei and Nikon were declared victims of boyar arbitrariness, and the restoration of their rights was to ensure the establishment of fair order in the country. Agitation against "traitors"-boyars was conducted on behalf of the tsar and the church. Such were the primitive ideological foundations of the anti-serf struggle.

Razin's campaign up the Volga contributed to the expansion of the uprising, which took on the character of a great peasant war. The peasants rebelled against the landlords and created their own armed detachments. The oppressed peoples of the Volga region also rose. The total number of rebels was subsequently determined at 200 thousand people. But these forces were scattered, did not have a single plan of armed struggle, experienced military leaders and modern weapons.

The rebels easily captured Saratov, then took Samara and, on the outskirts of Simbirsk, defeated the significant forces of the governor of Baryatinsky, who had retreated to Tetyushi. On September 4, Razin's army laid siege to Simbirsk.

On September 5, with the help of the townspeople, the rebels managed to capture a new prison (fortified settlement). Voivode Miloslavsky with archers and "good people" of the city "sat under siege" in the Kremlin. Razin decided to take the fortress at all costs, although wooden, but well-armed and with a strong garrison. The struggle took on a protracted character.

At the same time, Stepan Timofeevich took care of expanding the uprising. For this purpose, separate detachments were sent to the Volga region and to the Don.

On September 27, the Don Cossacks, led by Frol Razin, laid siege to Korotoyak, but the significant forces of government troops that arrived to his rescue forced the rebels to retreat. However, residents of Ostrogozhsk, Chuguev, Zmiev, Izyum and some other cities of Sloboda Ukraine joined the uprising.

Even from Saratov, Razin sent a detachment of ataman Fedorov, who moved to Penza and further to Konobeevo and Shatsk. From under Simbirsk two detachments came out: Kharitonov - to Korsun, Saransk, Temnikov and Osipov - to Alatyr, Vasilsursk, Murashkino. The rebellious peasants of Russian, Mordovian and Chuvash villages and villages joined the detachments and eventually made up their bulk.

The uprising swept the entire Volga region. However, Razin did not use the favorable moment when the enemy was confused and the troops were scattered, when the attack on Moscow could contribute to the concentration of the forces of the rebels and their further moral upsurge. Instead, the main army of the rebels turned out to be a chained garrison of the Simbirsk Kremlin. The leader of the peasant war lost here for almost a month, which the reaction took advantage of. This was one of the major political and strategic mistakes of S. T. Razin.

Third leg of the trip- a turning point in the course of the struggle in favor of government troops and the defeat of the rebels.

Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas were the main strongholds of the government in the fight against the uprising of the peasants and peoples of the Volga region. The main reserves were in Moscow. But even in the capital there was a deep fermentation of the social lower classes.

On August 1, 1670, the tsar's decree was announced, calling on stewards, solicitors, Moscow and city nobles, tenants and boyar children to serve "for the great sovereign and for their homes." The tsar appointed Prince Dolgorukov as governor of the army, which consisted of military men of the hundreds and regimental service. The new regiments were considered more reliable than the archers, who had already repeatedly gone over to the side of the rebels.

The king held a review of the 60,000th army, the organization of which took a whole month. Only on September 1, Dolgorukov set out from Moscow and then went to Arzamas, turned into a stronghold of punishers. Despite the presence of large forces, the governor did not show activity and the actions of his troops were of a defensive nature.

Razin at this time continued to besiege the garrison of the Simbirsk Kremlin. Three attacks of the rebels were repulsed. Attempts to set fire to the wooden fortress were unsuccessful.

At this time, near Kazan, the voivode Baryatinsky was gathering forces and on September 15 set out for Simbirsk. Along the way, he defeated two rebel detachments, which helped to strengthen the morale of his troops.

On October 1, 1670, the Baryatinsky detachment was located 2 km from Simbirsk, located on the banks of the river. Sviyagi. Razin took the Don Cossacks and attacked the enemy. The enemy repelled two persistent attacks, and the Cossacks were forced to retreat. Baryatinsky entered the Kremlin, reinforcing its garrison.

On the night of October 4, Razin launched a fourth assault. But Baryatinsky sent one regiment across the river. Sviyag and ordered him to produce "shouts", depicting the approach of fresh forces. The cunning of the enemy was a success, since at the time of the night assault the chieftains of the rebels did not organize reconnaissance and protection of their rear.

There were large rebel forces in the Volga region. Some units had artillery. However, there was no centralized leadership of the rebels, as a result of which they fighting were disjointed. The enemy had the opportunity to destroy the rebels in parts.

The army of Governor Dolgorukov went on the offensive as soon as it became known that the main forces of the rebels were defeated near Simbirsk. The first object of the enemy's actions was the village of Murashkino - one of the large well-fortified centers of the peasant uprising. The fortifications of the village consisted of a rampart with towers and a deep ditch. There were 13 squeakers on the shaft.

Peasant detachments met the enemy on the outskirts of the village (5 km from it), but the ensuing battle proceeded unorganized due to the lack of a unified command, military discipline and the lack of training of the personnel of the peasant army. Under the onslaught of the well-armed regiments of Dolgorukov, the peasants began to retreat, and then fled, leaving 21 guns. The governor ordered the village to be burned and the prisoners to be executed.

The second major center of the uprising in this area was the village of Lyskovo, where a Cossack organization was organized. Dolgorukov perpetrated the same reprisal against the Lyskovites, after which he went to Nizhny Novgorod, where there was also "unsteadiness for theft."

To the south of Arzamas, in the direction of Temnikov, the governor sent a strong detachment of government troops. A 7,000-strong peasant detachment operated in this area, the chieftain of which was the peasant woman Alena. Despite the unification of Alena's detachment with the detachment of Ataman Sidorov, the punishers managed to defeat the rebels here too. Captured Alena was tortured and then burned in a log house.

On November 12, voivode Baryatinsky approached Ust-Uransk from Simbirsk. Large rebel forces took up position along the river. Candidates. There were residents of Alatyr, Korsun, Kurmysh, Arzamas, Saratov and Penza. The peasant army numbered 15 thousand people and 12 guns. It consisted of infantry, cavalry and had an outfit.

There is information about the tactics of the ensuing battle in the report of Baryatinsky, who wrote: “And the regiments stood against the regiments from morning to afternoon less than half a verst. And I was waiting for them to cross the crossing to me, but they didn’t go to me for the crossing ... having examined the places, he ordered the foot regiments and orders with the convoy with everything and with guns to attack them. And we, having swept the Kandaratka river with nets, moved over. And they ... by the river the infantry was brought, and the battle was great and the shooting of cannon and musket and incessant, and I, with all the horse regiments, stepped on their horse regiments. And a great battle broke out, and ... he beat those thieves, and the convoy took and 11 cannons, and they tore apart the two guns of the squeaker, and 24 banners. And he smashed everyone apart, and ran along different roads ... "

The infantry of the peasant army with the outfit was located in the center of the position, the cavalry provided the flanks. The foot regiments of Baryatinsky with a regimental outfit crossed the river. Kandaratka, tying down the rebel infantry. At the same time, the cavalry regiments of the government troops launched flank attacks and shot down the peasant cavalry. In the peasant army, apparently, the reserve was not allocated and therefore there were no forces to restore the situation. In addition, the defensive actions of the rebels had a negative effect on their morale. The rebels were defeated.

Razin with the remnants of the Don Cossacks went to the Don and tried to gather strength for a new campaign. However, the situation has changed radically. From active offensive operations in the Volga region, the peasant detachments were forced to go on the defensive in the conditions of the organizational and technical superiority of the enemy. This meant the defeat of the rebels, which allowed the government to go on the offensive in the southern direction. Reiter and dragoon regiments were sent to the Don.

In the Don Cossacks, the homely Cossacks, led by Ataman Yakovlev, began to gather their forces to fight the homelessness. The advantage turned out to be in favor of the supporters of the tsarist government. In the assembled circle, the Cossacks decided not to join Razin.

In April 1671, the Cherkasy Cossacks took and burned the Kagalnitsky town, capturing Stepan Timofeevich and his brother Frol.

The last stronghold of the second peasant war - Astrakhan was taken by government troops only on November 27, 1671.

The execution of Stepan Razin

After the Simbirsk defeat, Stepan Timofeevich lost in the eyes of the Cossacks his former attractiveness of the ataman-"sorcerer", from bullets and cannonballs "spellbound". Kornila Yakovlev with the "domovity" Cossacks managed to grab him and handed him over to the government.

Stepan was brought to Moscow in shackles on a special wagon with a gallows, to the crossbar of which he was chained. Behind the cart, in an iron collar, also chained, was Stepan's brother Frol. The Razins were mercilessly tortured in the Zemsky Prikaz, where there were excellent masters of their craft: they raised the brothers on the rack, beat them with a whip, threw them on hot coals, burned them with iron, poured them drop by drop onto a shaved crown cold water... Stepan kept steadfastly, even encouraged Frol, who was drooping. The ataman was subjected to a cruel and painful execution: the executioner cut off his right arm first at the elbow, then his left leg at the knee. Frightened by what he saw, Frol, who was waiting for the same fate, said "word and deed", promising to give Stenka's treasures. The last words of the formidable chieftain were a shout addressed to his brother: “Be quiet, dog!”. And after that his violent head rolled onto the platform. The body was cut into pieces and strung on stakes, the entrails were thrown to the dogs. It was impossible to bury Razin, who was anathematized by the church, according to Christian custom, and therefore his mortal remains were buried in the Tatar cemetery, no one knows where and when ...

Conclusion

The rebellious oppressed classes of the Russian state were defeated in the second peasant war. However revolutionary war had a positive historical meaning. It was an expression of popular protest against serfdom, against the arbitrariness of governors and clerks who oppressed and robbed the population in cities and villages. The open armed struggle, although proceeding under tsarist slogans, undermined the foundations of the autocratic system and contributed to the preservation among the people of the spirit of protest against serfdom and the imposed slavish obedience. Despite the mass executions and atrocities, the governors failed to uproot the roots of the revolutionary sentiments of the peasants.

The absence of clear political goals of the struggle, of organizing forces, the spontaneity of the uprising and the unconsciousness of the masses, the strategic mistakes of the leadership - these are the main reasons for the defeat of the insurgents.

With regard to the peasant army, it should be noted that the selflessness and generally high moral qualities of the combatants could not compensate for poor weapons, the lack of a clear organization, military discipline and experienced military leaders.

The tsarist government had large armed forces. City and even Moscow archers revealed political “shakyness” and weak combat capability. The new regiments (dragoon, reytar, soldier) turned out to be more stable in comparison with the hundred units, i.e. old, service.

The external political situation allowed the government to throw large forces against the rebels, and there was enough time for their collection and organization. Razin's strategic mistake as the leader of the uprising was that he did not try to take the enemy by surprise, but acted methodically, consistently capturing strongholds up the Volga. The loss of time near Simbirsk was one of the reasons that determined the turning point in the course of the war.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin politically and militarily was one of the talented "... representatives of the rebellious peasantry." He skillfully called on the masses of the people to revolt against the oppressors, on the Don and Volga he created the basis for the wide deployment of military operations, outlined the main milestones of the war plan and ensured the achievement of a number of major tactical successes, which, however, did not lead to a positive strategic result. In pursuit of continuous tactical achievements, the leader of the uprising lost time and missed a favorable moment to solve the main problem.

Bibliography

(1) See Supplement to the Historical Acts (AHI), Vol. IX, No. 106.

(2) Peasant war led by Stepan Razin, vol. 1. M., 1954, p. 165.

(3) Ibid.

(4) V. I. Lenin. Works, vol. 1, p. 137.

(5) Peasant war led by Stepan Razin, vol. I, p. 109.

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 Peasants' 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 army 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 the main characters of the Pugachev uprising, as well as during the Time of Troubles early XVII 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 of 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 was wounded 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 future domestic policy 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 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 was reorganized local government, and also created the structure of elective court-estate institutions.
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 into the category 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.

On Yaik, where in September 1773 an impostor appeared, posing as Peter III, favorable conditions were created for his calls to resonate first with the Cossacks, and then with the peasants, working people, Bashkirs and the peoples of the Volga region.

The tsarist government on Yaik, as well as everywhere where it ceased to need the services of the Cossacks for the defense of the border territory, began to pursue a policy of limiting its privileges: back in the 40s, the election of military chieftains was canceled, the Cossacks began to be recruited to serve away from their native places. The economic interests of the Cossacks were also infringed - at the mouth of the river. Yaik, the government built uchugs (barriers) that prevented the movement of fish from the Caspian Sea to the upper reaches of the river.

The infringement of privileges caused the division of the Cossacks into two camps. The so-called "obedient" side was ready to agree to the loss of former liberties for the sake of preserving part of the privileges. The main mass was the "disobedient" side, constantly sending walkers to the Empress with complaints about the oppression of the "obedient" Cossacks, in whose hands were all command positions.

In January 1772, "disobedient" Cossacks went with banners and icons to the tsarist general who arrived in Yaitsky town with a request to remove the military ataman and foremen. The general ordered to shoot at the peaceful procession. The Cossacks responded with an uprising, to suppress which the government sent a corps of troops.

After the events of January 13, the Cossack circle was banned and the military office was liquidated, the Cossacks were controlled by an appointed commandant who was subordinate to the Orenburg governor. At this time, Pugachev appeared.

None of his impostor predecessors possessed the qualities of a leader capable of leading the masses of the dispossessed. In addition, Pugachev's success was facilitated by the favorable environment and the people to whom he turned for help to restore his supposedly violated rights: the excitement of the recent uprising and the government's response did not subside on Yaik; Cossacks owned weapons and represented the most militarily organized part of the population of Russia.

The uprising began on September 17, 1773. Before 80 Cossacks, initiated into the "mystery" of the salvation of Peter III, a manifesto was read out, and the detachment set off. The manifesto satisfied the aspirations of the Cossacks: the tsar granted them a river, herbs, lead, gunpowder, provisions, salaries. This manifesto did not yet take into account the peasant interests. But even what was promised was enough for the next day the detachment already numbered 200 people, replenishment poured into its composition every hour. The almost three-week triumphal procession of Pugachev began. On October 5, 1773, he approached the provincial city of Orenburg, a well-defended fortress with a garrison of three thousand. The assault on the city was unsuccessful, and a six-month siege began.

Near Orenburg, the government sent an army under the command of Major General Kara. However, the rebel troops utterly defeated the 1.5 thousandth detachment of Kara. The same fate befell the detachment of Colonel Chernyshov. These victories over the regular troops made a huge impression. The uprising - some voluntarily, others under duress, was joined by the Bashkirs, led by Salavat Yulaev, mining workers, peasants assigned to factories. At the same time, the appearance in Kazan of Kara, who shamefully fled from the battlefield, sowed panic among the local nobility. Anxiety gripped the capital of the empire.

In connection with the siege of Orenburg and the long standing at the walls of the fortress of troops, whose number in other months reached 30 thousand people, the leaders of the movement faced tasks that the practice of previous movements did not know: it was necessary to organize the supply of the insurgent army with food and weapons, to start recruiting regiments , to counter government propaganda with the popularization of the slogans of the movement.

In Berd, the headquarters of "Emperor Peter III", located 5 versts from the besieged Orenburg, his own court etiquette develops, his own guard arises, the emperor acquires a seal with the inscription "The Great State Seal of Peter III, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia", at the young Cossack woman Ustinya Kuznetsova , whom Pugachev married, maids of honor appeared. At the headquarters, an organ of military, judicial and administrative power is created - military board, in charge of the distribution of property seized from the nobles, officials and clergy, the recruitment of regiments, the distribution of weapons.

A different social content was invested in the usual form, borrowed from government practice. The "king" did not favor the nobles, but representatives of the people as colonels. Former craftsman Afanasy Sokolov, better known by the nickname Khlopusha, became one of the prominent leaders of the insurgent army operating in the region of the factories of the Southern Urals. In the camp of the rebels appeared their own counts. The first of these was Chika-Zarubin, acting under the name of "Count Ivan Nikiforovich Chernyshov."

The proclamation of Pugachev as emperor, the formation of the Military Collegium, the introduction of count dignity testifies to the inability of the peasantry and the Cossacks to change the old social order new - it was about changing faces.

In the months when Pugachev was busy with the siege of Orenburg, the government camp was intensively preparing to fight the rebels. Troops rushed to the area of ​​the uprising, instead of the removed Kara, General Bibikov was appointed commander-in-chief. To inspire the nobles and express her solidarity with them, Catherine declared herself a Kazan landowner.

The first major battle of the Pugachevites with the punitive army took place on March 22, 1774 near the Tatishchev fortress, it lasted six hours and ended in a complete victory for government troops. But the element of the peasant war is such that the losses were quickly replenished.

After this defeat, the second stage of the peasant war began: Pugachev was forced to shine the siege of Orenburg and, pursued by government troops, move east. From April to June, the main events of the peasant war unfolded on the territory of the mining Urals and Bashkiria. However, the burning of factories, the seizure of livestock and property from bonded peasants and working people, violence against the population of factory settlements, led to the fact that the factory owners managed to arm working people at their own expense, organize detachments from them and send them against Pugachev. This narrowed the base of the movement and broke the unity of the rebels. Near the Trinity fortress, Pugachev suffered another defeat, after which he rushed first to the northwest, and then to the west. The ranks of the rebels were replenished by the peoples of the Volga region: Udmurts, Mari, Chuvashs. When Pugachev approached Kazan on July 12, 1774, there were 20 thousand people in his army. He captured the city, but he did not have time to take control of the Kremlin, where the government troops settled - Michelson arrived in time to help the besieged and inflicted another defeat on the rebels. On July 17, Pugachev, together with the remnants of the defeated army, crossed to the right bank of the Volga - to areas inhabited by serfs and state peasants. The third period of the peasant war began.

Pugachev's manifestoes were of great importance in restoring the number of rebel troops. Already in the manifestos published in November 1773, the peasants were called upon "villains and opponents of my imperial will", which meant the landowners, to take their lives, "and take their houses and all their estate as a reward." The manifesto of July 31, 1774, which proclaimed the liberation of the peasants from serfdom and taxes, most fully reflected the peasant aspirations. The nobles, as "disturbers of the empire and destroyers of the peasants", were to "catch, execute and hang and act in the same way as they, having no Christianity in themselves, repaired with you, the peasants."

On the right bank of the Volga, the peasant war flared up with renewed vigor - rebel detachments were created everywhere, acting disconnectedly and out of touch with each other, which facilitates the punitive efforts of the government: Pugachev easily occupied the cities - Kurmysh, Temnikov, Insar, etc., but with the same ease and left them under pressure from superior forces of government troops. He moved to the Lower Volga, where barge haulers, Don, Volga and Ukrainian Cossacks joined him. In August, he approached Tsaritsyn, but did not take the city. With a small detachment, Pugachev crossed to the left bank of the Volga, where the Yaik Cossacks who were with him seized him and on September 12, 1774, handed him over to Mikhelson.

The peasant war ended in defeat. It was impossible to expect a different outcome of the spontaneous protest against the arbitrariness of the authorities and the landowners: the crowds of the rebels, armed with whatever they could, could resist the regiments of the well-armed and trained regular army. Let us note some features of the Pugachev movement.

The main ones consisted in attempts to overcome spontaneity by means borrowed from the government administration: under the newly-minted Emperor Peter III, the same rules were established as at the royal court in St. Petersburg. In these actions of Pugachev, the purpose of the movement clearly emerges: its leaders were to take the place of the executed nobles and representatives of the tsarist administration.

The call for the total destruction of the nobles, who were indeed put to death without trial or investigation, caused enormous damage to the development of national culture, because the most educated part of society was exterminated.

Pugachev's cruelty was explained not only, and perhaps not so much by the properties of his nature, but by the desire to inspire the participants in the movement that they were facing a real emperor, who at his own discretion disposed of the lives of his subjects: it was in his will to execute or pardon opponents of power.

The promise of Pugachev's manifestos to free the peasants and townspeople from recruitment seemed unrealistic, because the state cannot function without an army and taxes.

Another feature of the rebels, deliberately and under the influence of the elements of destruction, completely or partially defeated 89 iron-working and copper-smelting plants, with a total cost of 2,716 thousand rubles, according to the plant owners, which are certainly exaggerated. The noble nests of European Russia, engulfed by the peasant war, turned out to be plundered.

The victors acted just as mercilessly and cruelly, putting to death thousands of participants in the movement. In the Nizhny Novgorod province alone, punishers built gallows in more than two hundred settlements. The Yaik Cossacks were renamed into the Ural Cossacks, and the river. Yaik - to the Urals. The village of Zimoveyskaya, in which Pugachev was born, and a century before him - Razin, began to be called Potemkinskaya. On January 10, 1775, the leader of the peasant war and his associates were executed on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow. The nobility, headed by the "Kazan landowner" Catherine II, triumphed.

The peasant war did not bring relief to the peasants. On the contrary, the landowners sought to restore their economy destroyed by the war by increasing the duties of the peasants. Nevertheless, the peasant war left a noticeable mark in the history of Russia, primarily by the fact that it supported the traditions of the fight against lawlessness and oppression.

The great questions of the time are not decided 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 in Russia for the serfs. They had virtually no rights. The landlords killed the serfs, beat them to death, tortured them, sold them, gave them away, lost them at cards, and exchanged them for dogs. This arbitrariness and the complete impunity of the landowners led to the rise of the peasant war.

Causes of the war

Emelyan Pugachev was born on the Don. He served in the Russian army and even fought in the Seven Years' War. However, in 1771 the future head of the rebellious peasants fled the army and went into hiding. In 1773, Pugachev went to Yaik, where he declared himself 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 to 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 joys rampaged in the southern lands, capturing cities. Most of the cities did not resist the rebels, since revolutionary sentiments were very strong in the south of Russia. Pugachev entered the cities without a fight, where the inhabitants replenished his ranks. October 5, 1773 Pugachev approached Orenburg and laid siege to the city. Empress Catherine 2 sent a detachment, numbering one and a half thousand people, to suppress the rebellion. General Kara led the army. The general battle did not happen, the government troops were defeated by Pugachev's ally, Ovchinnikov A. 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 Tatishcheva fortress, in which Bibikov won. This ended the first stage of the war. Its result: the defeat of Pugachev from tsarist army and failure at the siege of Orenburg.

The second stage of the war led by 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, withdrew to Bashkiria. Here his army was replenished by the workers of the Ural factories. AT a short time the number of Pugachev's army exceeded 10 thousand people, and after moving deep 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. Michelson s big 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, final, stage of the war

Peasant war led by Pugachev on his own final stage acquired a real mass. 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 the peasants from dependence and exemption from all taxes. As a result, all the 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 own, seized Pugachev on September 12, 1774 and handed him over to the tsarist army. has been completed. Separate uprisings in the south of the country continued, but within a year they were finally crushed.

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

The results and significance of the uprising

Map of the peasant war

Main dates

Chronology of the events of the peasant war 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 near the Tatishchevskaya fortress.
• July 1774 - battles for Kazan.
• July 31, 1774 - Pugachev declares himself Peter 3.
• September 12, 1774 - Yemelyan Pugachev was captured.
• January 10, 1775 - after much torture, Pugachev was executed.

Peasant war led by S. T. Razin

1670-7 1, peasant war against feudal serf oppression in Russia. It was caused by the strengthening of feudal serf oppression in central Russia and the spread of serfdom to the southern and southeastern regions of the country. Class contradictions became especially aggravated during the years of the war with the Commonwealth (1654-67) and Sweden (1656-58), when, in response to increased requisitions, a mass exodus of peasants and townspeople to the outskirts of the state followed. Under pressure from the nobility, the government, implementing the norms of the Council Code of 1649 (See Cathedral Code of 1649), from the end of the 50s. 17th century began organizing a state investigation of the fugitives, which covered many districts of the European part of Russia, which further increased the discontent of the peasants. The Servicemen "according to the instrument", who guarded the southern borders, were also dissatisfied. Heavy duties and the nature of land use brought them closer to the peasants. The largest number of dissatisfied people accumulated on the Don, which became the focus of the uprising.

The harbinger of the uprising was the movement of the Cossack detachments of Vasily Us in 1666 to Tula. The Cossacks, who wanted to get a livelihood in military service, were joined by peasants and serfs of the southern Moscow region during the campaign; performance acquired an anti-feudal character. In the spring of 1667, the “smutty” (i.e., naked) Cossacks and fugitive people again gathered on the Don, who wanted to go for prey. They were led and led to the Volga, and then to the Caspian by S. T. Razin . Insofar as the tsarist governors had orders to detain the Cossacks, the actions of the Razintsy often took on a rebellious tinge. The Cossacks captured the Yaik town (modern Uralsk). After wintering here, Razin sailed to the Iranian shores along the western coast of the Caspian Sea. The Cossacks returned from the campaign in August 1669 with rich booty. The Astrakhan governors could not hold them back and let the Cossacks go to the Don. Cossacks and fugitive peasants began to flock to Razin's headquarters - the Kagalnitsky town.

The government of Alexei Mikhailovich followed with alarm the struggle of the "goofy" Cossacks against the foreman, which became especially aggravated after the return of Razin. The tsarist ambassador (G. A. Evdokimov) was sent to the Don with instructions to find out about his plans. But Razin, who arrived with his supporters on April 11, 1670 in Cherkassk, achieved the execution of the royal envoy as a scout. Razin became the head of the Cossack army. It was decided to organize a new campaign to the Volga. With the beginning of Razin's new campaign against the Volga, the uprising of the Cossacks and the fugitive peasants who united with them, residents and archers of Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan and other cities of the Volga region, took on an anti-government character. From the time of the mass uprising of Russian and Ukrainian peasants, townspeople and service people "according to the instrument" of the Middle Volga and southern districts, the peoples of the Volga region, the uprising grew into a peasant warrior against the nobility, serfdom and tsarist authorities. Its political orientation became more definite in comparison with the Peasant uprising led by I. I. Bolotnikov (See Peasant uprising led by I. I. Bolotnikov) 1606-07. The rebels destroyed the landowners and their clerks, the governor and their servants. The rebels created their authorities in the form of Cossack self-government. City and peasant foremen, chieftains, captains, and centurions were elected everywhere. The rebels were characterized by naive-monarchist ideas. Razin called for serving the tsar and "give freedom to black people," that is, to free them from state taxes. The rebels announced that Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich (the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who died in 1670) was allegedly in their army, going to Moscow on the orders of his father to "beat" the boyars, nobles, governor and merchants "for treason." Distinctive feature This war was that its initiators and leaders were the Don Cossacks, and active participants were service people "according to the instrument", the peoples of the Volga region and the inhabitants of Sloboda Ukraine (See Sloboda Ukraine).

In May 1670, the Cossacks captured Tsaritsyn. At this time, Moscow archers (1 thousand people) sailed to the city under the command of I.T. Lopatin, who were defeated by the rebels. From Astrakhan, the troops of the voevoda Prince S. I. Lvov moved; On June 6, near the Black Yar, the Astrakhan archers went over to the side of the rebels without a fight. The rebels moved to Astrakhan and on the night of June 22 went on the assault. Ordinary archers and townspeople offered no resistance. Having taken the city, the rebels executed the governor I. S. Prozorovsky and the archery chiefs. Their property was divided among themselves.

Leaving in Astrakhan part of the Cossacks led by V. Us and F. Sheludyak, Razin with the rest (about 6 thousand people) sailed on plows to Tsaritsyn. The cavalry (about 2 thousand people) walked along the shore. On July 29, the army arrived in Tsaritsyn. Here the Cossack circle decided to go with the main forces to Moscow, and from the upper reaches of the Don to strike an auxiliary blow. August 7 Razin with 10 thousand people moved to Saratov. On August 15, Saratov met the rebels with bread and salt. Samara surrendered without a fight. The leaders of the uprising intended to enter the counties inhabited by serfs after the completion of field agricultural work, counting on a mass peasant uprising. On August 28, when Razin was 70 versts from Simbirsk, the center of the Simbirsk fortified line, Prince Yu.I. Baryatinsky, with troops from Saransk, hastened to help the Simbirsk governor. On September 6, the townspeople let the rebels into the Simbirsk prison. Baryatinsky's attempt to drive Razin out of prison ended in failure and he retreated to Kazan. Voivode I. B. Miloslavsky sat in the Kremlin with 5 thousand soldiers, Moscow archers and local nobles. The siege of the Simbirsk Kremlin pinned down the main forces of Razin. In September, the rebels launched 4 unsuccessful attacks.

Atamans Y. Gavrilov and F. Minaev set off from the Volga to the Don with detachments of 1,500-2,000 people. Soon the rebels moved up the Don. On September 9, the advance detachment of the Cossacks captured the city of Ostrogozhsky. Ukrainian Cossacks, led by Colonel I. Dzinkovsky, joined the rebels. But on the night of September 11, wealthy citizens, whose property was confiscated by the rebels along with the voivodship property, unexpectedly attacked the Razintsy and captured many of them. Thus, the advance detachment of the Cossacks failed to gain a foothold on the territory of Sloboda Ukraine. 3 thousand rebels under command. Frola Razina and Gavrilova only approached the city of Korotoyak on September 27th. Fight with the vanguard of Prince. G. G. Romodanovsky lasted 4 hours; The Cossacks were forced to retreat. At the end of September, another detachment of Cossacks under the command of Lesko Cherkashenin began to move up the Seversky Donets. On October 1, the rebels occupied Moyatsk, Tsarev-Borisov, Chuguev; however, a detachment from the troops of Romodanovsky soon approached, and they retreated. On November 6, a battle took place near Moyatsk, in which the rebels were defeated.

In order to prevent the tsarist troops from coming to the aid of Miloslavsky, besieged in Simbirsk, Razin sent small detachments from near Simbirsk to raise the peasants and townspeople of the Right Bank of the Volga to fight. Moving along the Simbirsk line, a detachment of chieftains M. Kharitonov and V. Serebryak rushed to Saransk. Here, peasants, service people "according to the instrument" and the peoples of the Volga region rebelled everywhere. On September 16, Russians, Mordovians, Chuvashs and Mari occupied Alatyr with a fight. On September 19, the surrounding Russian peasants, Tatars and Mordovians, together with the Razin detachment, captured Saransk. The detachments of Kharitonov and V. Fedorov occupied Penza without a fight. The entire Simbirsk feature (see. Zasechnye features) ended up in the hands of the Razintsy. The detachment of M. Osipov, with the support of peasants, archers and Cossacks, occupied Kurmysh. The peasants of the Nizhny Novgorod district revolted. In early October, a detachment of Razintsy captured Kozmodemyansky without a fight. From here up the river. A detachment of ataman I. I. Ponomarev headed to Vetluga, who raised an uprising in the Galician district. The uprising also engulfed the Tambov district. In September-October, insurgent detachments appeared in Tula, Efremov, Novosilsk and other counties. At the same time, unrest of the peasants was also noted in the counties into which the Razintsy were unable to penetrate (Kolomensky, Yuryev-Polsky, Yaroslavsky, Kashirsky, Borovsky).

The tsarist government began to gather a large punitive army. The experienced commander, Prince Yu. A. Dolgorukov, was appointed commander. The army consisted of nobles from Moscow and Ukrainian (southern border) cities, 5 Reiter (noble cavalry) regiments and 6 orders of Moscow archers: later it also included the Smolensk gentry, dragoon and soldier regiments. By January 1671, the number of troops exceeded 32 thousand people. On September 21, Dolgorukov set out from Murom, hoping to reach Alatyr, but the uprising was already raging everywhere, and on September 26 he was forced to stop in Arzamas. The rebels attacked this city from several sides. However, the chieftains failed to organize a simultaneous offensive; this allowed the royal governors to repel the onslaught and break them in parts. Later, about 15 thousand rebels with artillery again launched an attack on Arzamas; On October 22, a battle took place near the village of Murashkino, in which they were defeated. After that, the governors went to Nizhny Novgorod, suppressing the uprising. Voivode Yu. N. Baryatinsky in mid-September again came to the aid of the Simbirsk garrison. Along the way, the punishers withstood 4 battles with the combined forces of Russian peasants, Tatars, Mordovians, Chuvashs and Mari. Only on October 1, the tsarist troops approached Simbirsk. Here, the rebels attacked Baryatinsky's forces twice, but were defeated, and Razin himself was seriously wounded and was taken to the Don. On October 3, Baryatinsky joined forces with Miloslavsky.

From the 2nd half of October, the rebels were mainly defensive battles. On November 6, Yu. N. Baryatinsky launched a new offensive and made his way to Alatyr. At the end of November, the main forces of punishers under the command of Dolgorukov set out from Arzamas and entered Penza on December 20. On December 16, Baryatinsky captured Saransk.

After the defeat of Razin near Simbirsk, the troops of the governor D. A. Baryatinsky, who were in Kazan, headed up the Volga. They lifted the siege of Tsivilsk and on November 3 took Kozmodemyansk. However, D. A. Baryatinsky could not connect with the detachment of the governor F. I. Leontiev, who set out from Arzamas, because the inhabitants of the Tsivilsky district (Russians, Chuvashs, Tatars) again rebelled and besieged Tsivilsk. Fights with the rebels of the Tsivilsky, Cheboksary, Kurmyshsky and Yadrinsky counties, which were led by atamans S. Vasiliev, Chuvash S. Chenekeyev and others, continued until the beginning of January 1671. Ponomarev's detachment moved through the territory of the Galitsky county to the Pomeranian counties (see Pomorie) , but his progress was stopped for some time by the landlord clerks and wealthy Vetluga peasants. When the rebels occupied Unzha (December 3), they were overtaken by the tsarist troops and defeated.

Stubborn battles took place for the important fortified points of Shatsk and Tambov. Detachments of atamans V. Fedorov and Kharitonov approached Shatsk. On October 17, a battle took place near the city with the troops of the governor J. Khitrovo. Despite the defeat, the uprising in this area continued until mid-November, until the troops of Khitrovo and Dolgorukov united. The uprising in the Tambov region was the most prolonged and stubborn. Around October 21, the peasants of the Tambov district rose up. Before the punishers had time to suppress their performance, the service people rebelled "according to the instrument" led by ataman T. Meshcheryakov and laid siege to Tambov. The siege was lifted with the approach of the tsarist troops from Kozlov. When the punishers returned to Kozlov, the Tambovites rebelled again and from November 11 to December 3 repeatedly stormed the city. On December 3, governor I. V. Buturlin from Shatsk approached Tambov and lifted the siege again. The rebels withdrew into the forests, here help came to them from Khopra. On December 4, the rebels defeated Buturlin's vanguard and drove him to Tambov. Only with the arrival of the troops of Prince K. O. Shcherbaty from Krasnaya Sloboda did the uprising subside.

With the success of the tsarist troops, the wealthy Cossacks on the Don became more active. Around April 9, 1671, wealthy Cossacks attacked Kagalnik, captured Razin and his brother Frol; On April 25, they were sent to Moscow, where they were executed on June 6, 1671. Despite the betrayal of the Don foreman, Astrakhan still continued to fight. On May 29, ataman I. Konstantinov sailed to Simbirsk from Astrakhan. On June 9, the rebels launched an assault, but were repulsed. By this time, V. Us had died, and the people of Astrakhan elected F. Sheludyak as chieftain. In September 1671, the troops of I. B. Miloslavsky began the siege of Astrakhan, on November 27 it fell.

Like other peasant wars of the feudal era, the peasant war of 1670-71 was characterized by spontaneity, disorganization of the forces and actions of the insurgents, the local character of speeches, naive monarchism, and the absence of a mature political program. The tsarist government managed to defeat the peasant troops relatively quickly, since the feudal class came together to defend their privileges and the government was able to mobilize forces that were superior in organization and weapons to the rebels. The victory won by the feudal lords allowed them to strengthen feudal property to the land, to extend the feudal economy to the southern outskirts of the country, to expand the ownership rights to the peasants. However, the peasant war of 1670-1671 played an important role in the struggle of the peoples of Russia against serfdom.

Source: Peasant war led by Stepan Razin, vol. 1-3, M., 1954-1962.

Lit.: Stepanov I. V., The Peasant War in Russia in 1670-1671, vol. 1-2 (part 1), L., 1966-1972; Peasant wars in Russia in the 17th-18th centuries, M.-L., 1966; Buganov V. I., Chistyakova E. V., On some questions of the history of the Second Peasant War in Russia, “Questions of History”, 1968, No. 7.

Yu. A. Tikhonov.

Peasant war led by S. T. Razin in 1670-1671.

Big soviet encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

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