Historical era 1773 to 1775. Abstract: Peasant war led by E.I.

The events of 1772–1773 paved the way for the organization of the rebel core around E. Pugachev-Peter III. On July 2, 1773, a cruel sentence was carried out on the leaders of the January uprising of 1772 in the Yaitsky town. 16 people were punished with a whip and, after cutting out their nostrils and burning out their convict badges, they were sent to eternal hard labor in the Nerchinsk factories. 38 people were punished with whipping and exiled to Siberia for settlement. A number of Cossacks were sent to become soldiers. Moreover, a large sum of money was demanded from the participants in the uprising to compensate for the ruined property of Ataman Tambovtsev, General Traubenberg and others. The verdict caused a new explosion of indignation among ordinary Cossacks.

Meanwhile, rumors about the appearance of Emperor Peter III on Yaik and his intention to stand for the ordinary Cossacks quickly spread in the villages and penetrated into the Yaitsky town. In August and the first half of September 1773, the first detachment of Yaik Cossacks gathered around Pugachev. On September 17, the first manifesto of Pugachev - Emperor Peter III - was solemnly announced to the Yaik Cossacks, granting them the Yaik River “from the peaks to the mouth, and with earth, and herbs, and cash salaries, and lead, and gunpowder, and grain provisions.” Having unfurled pre-prepared banners, a detachment of rebels, numbering about 200 people, armed with guns, spears, and bows, set out for the Yaitsky town.

The main driving force of the uprising was the Russian peasantry in alliance with the oppressed peoples of Bashkiria and the Volga region. The downtrodden, dark, completely illiterate peasantry, without the leadership of the working class, which was just beginning to form, could not create its own organization, could not develop its own program. The rebels' demands were for the accession of a "good king" and the receipt of "eternal will." Such a king in the eyes of the rebels was the “peasant king”, “father tsar”, “Emperor Peter Fedorovich”, former Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev.

MANIFESTO OF E.I. PUGACHEV TO THE YAIC ARMY ABOUT GRANTED THEM WITH A RIVER, LAND, CASH SALARIES AND BREAD PROVISIONS, 1773, SEPTEMBER 17

The autocratic emperor, our great sovereign Peter Fedarovich of All Russia: and so on, and so on, and so on.

In my personal decree it is depicted to the Yaik army: Just as you, my friends, served the former kings to the last drop of your blood, your uncles and fathers, so you will serve for your fatherland to me, the great sovereign Emperor Peter Fedaravich. When you stand up for your fatherland, and your Cossack glory does not expire from now to forever and from your children. Wake me, the great sovereigns, to grant: Cossacks and Kalmyks and Tatars. And which I, Sovereign Imperial Majesty Peter Fedorovich, were guilty of, and I, Sovereign Peter Fedorovich, forgive all guilt and reward you: with ryak from the top to the valley, and food, and herbs, and monetary salaries, and lead, and powder, and grain magistrates.

I, the great Emperor, pity you, Pyotr Fedaravich.*

This is naive monarchism, where the desire to believe in a miracle is stronger than reason. Where strengthened faith in the saved king forces people with all their souls to come to the one who can give them what they want.

Thus, on September 18, 1773, the first rebel detachment, consisting mainly of Yaitsky Cossacks and organized on the steppe farms near the Yaitsky town (now Uralsk), led by E. Pugachev, approached the Yaitsky town. The detachment consisted of about 200 people. The attempt to take possession of the town ended in failure. It contained a large detachment of regular troops with artillery. A repeated attack by the rebels on September 19 was repulsed by cannon fire. The rebel detachment, which replenished its ranks with Cossacks who went over to the side of the rebels, moved up the river. Yaik and on September 20, 1773 he stopped near the Iletsk Cossack town (now the village of Ilek).

Even on the way from near the Yaitsky town to the Iletsk town, a general circle was convened according to the ancient Cossack custom to select the ataman and esauls.

The Yaik Cossack Andrei Ovchinnikov was elected ataman, the also Yaik Cossack Dmitry Lysov was elected colonel, and the captain and cornet were also elected. The first text of the oath was immediately drawn up, and all the Cossacks and elected leaders swore allegiance to “the most illustrious, most powerful, great sovereign, Emperor Peter Fedorovich, to serve and obey in everything, not sparing their belly to the last drop of blood.” The rebel detachment already numbered several hundred people and had three cannons taken from the outposts.

The joining of the Iletsk Cossacks to the uprising or their negative attitude towards it was of great importance for the successful start of the uprising. Therefore, the rebels acted very carefully. Pugachev sends Andrei Ovchinnikov to the town, accompanied by a small number of Cossacks, with two decrees of the same content: one of them he was to hand over to the ataman of the town Lazar Portnov, the other to the Cossacks. Lazar Portnov was supposed to announce the decree at the Cossack circle; if he does not do this, then the Cossacks had to read it themselves.

The decree, written on behalf of Emperor Peter III, said: “And whatever you wish, all benefits and salaries will not be denied to you; and your glory will never expire; and both you and your descendants will be the first to study under me, the great sovereign. And I will always be given enough wages, provisions, gunpowder and lead.”

But before the rebel detachment approached the Iletsk town, Portnov, having received a message from the commandant of the Iletsk town, Colonel Simonov, about the beginning of the uprising, gathered the Cossack circle and read out Simonov’s order to take precautions. By his order, the bridge connecting the Iletsk town with the right bank, along which the rebel detachment was moving, was dismantled.

At the same time, rumors about the appearance of Emperor Peter III and the freedoms granted by him reached the Cossacks of the town. The Cossacks were indecisive. Andrei Ovchinnikov put an end to their hesitation. The Cossacks decided to honor the rebel detachment and their leader E. Pugachev - Tsar Peter III - and join the uprising.

On September 21, the dismantled bridge was repaired and a detachment of rebels solemnly entered the town, greeted by the ringing of bells and bread and salt. All Iletsk Cossacks swore allegiance to Pugachev, and a special regiment was formed from them. The Iletsk Cossack, later one of the main traitors, Ivan Tvorogov, was appointed colonel of the Iletsk army. E. Pugachev appointed the competent Iletsk Cossack Maxim Gorshkov as secretary. All serviceable artillery in the town was put in order and became part of the rebel artillery. Pugachev appointed the Yaik Cossack Fyodor Chumakov as head of the artillery.

Two days later, the rebels, leaving the Iletsk town, crossed to the right bank of the Urals and moved up the Yaik in the direction of Orenburg, military and administrative center the huge Orenburg province, which included within its borders a vast territory from the Caspian Sea in the south to the borders of the modern Yekaterinburg and Molotov regions in the north. The goal of the rebels was to capture Orenburg.

The capture of Orenburg was of great importance for the further course of the uprising: firstly, it was possible to take weapons and various military equipment from the warehouses of the fortress, and secondly, the capture of the capital of the province would raise the authority of the rebels among the population. That is why they tried so persistently and stubbornly to take control of Orenburg.

Around noon on October 5, 1773, the main forces of the rebel army appeared in sight of Orenburg and began to encircle the city from the northeastern side, reaching Forstadt. The alarm was sounded in the city. The siege of Orenburg began, lasting for six months - until March 23, 1774. The garrison of the fortress during its forays could not defeat the peasant troops. The rebels' assaults were repelled by the city's artillery, but in open battle success always remained on the side of the peasant army.

Having learned about the approach of Golitsyn’s corps, Pugachev moved away from Orenburg to meet the advancing troops.

The government realized the danger the Pugachev uprising posed. On November 28, the State Council was convened, and Chief General Bibikov, equipped with extensive powers, was appointed commander of the troops to fight Pugachev, instead of Kara.

Strong military units were sent to the Orenburg region: the corps of Major General Golitsyn, the detachment of General Mansurov, the detachment of General Larionov and the Siberian detachment of General Dekalong.

Until this time, the government tried to hide the events near Orenburg and Bashkiria from the people. Only on December 23, 1773, the manifesto about Pugachev was published. The news of the peasant uprising spread throughout Russia.

On December 29, 1773, after stubborn resistance from the detachment of Ataman Ilya Arapov, Samara was occupied. Arapov retreated to the Buzuluk fortress.

On February 28, Prince Golitsyn’s detachment moved from Buguruslan to the Samara line to connect with Major General Mansurov.

On March 6, Golitsyn’s advance detachment entered the village of Pronkino and settled down for the night. Warned by the peasants, Pugachev with the atamans Rechkin and Arapov at night, during a strong storm and blizzard, made a forced march and attacked the detachment. The rebels broke into the village, captured the guns, but were then forced to retreat. Golitsyn, withstanding Pugachev's attack. Under pressure from government troops, peasant detachments retreated up the Samara, taking with them the population and supplies.

The decisive battle between government troops and the peasant army took place on March 22, 1774 near the Tatishchev Fortress. Pugachev concentrated the main forces of the peasant army here, about 9,000 people. The battle lasted over 6 hours. The peasant troops held out with such steadfastness that Prince Golitsyn wrote in his report to A. Bibikov:

“The matter was so important that I did not expect such insolence and control in such unenlightened people in the military profession as these defeated rebels are.”

The peasant army lost about 2,500 people killed (1,315 people were found killed in one fortress) and about 3,300 people captured. Prominent commanders of the peasant army Ilya Arapov, soldier Zhilkin, Cossack Rechkin and others died near Tatishcheva. All the rebel artillery and convoy fell into enemy hands. This was the first major defeat of the rebels.

The defeat of the rebels at the Tatishchev Fortress opened the road to Orenburg for government troops. On March 23, Pugachev with a detachment of two thousand headed across the steppe to the Perevolotsk fortress to break through the Samara line to the Yaitsky town. Having stumbled upon a strong detachment of government troops, he was forced to turn back.

On March 24, the peasant army was defeated near Ufa. Its leader Chika-Zarubin fled to Tabynsk, but was treacherously captured and extradited.

Pugachev, pursued by the tsarist troops, with the remnants of his troops hastily retreated to Berda, and from there to Seitova Sloboda and the Sakmara town. Here on April 1, 1774, in a fierce battle, the rebels were again defeated. The leader of the uprising, E. Pugachev, left with a small detachment through Tashla to Bashkiria.

In the battle near the town of Sakmar, prominent leaders of the uprising were captured: Ivan Pochitalin, Andrei Vitoshnov, Maxim Gorshkov, Timofey Podurov, M. Shigaev and others.

On April 16, government troops entered the Yaitsky Cossack town. A detachment of Yaik and Iletsk Cossacks in the amount of 300 people under the command of atamans Ovchinnikov and Perfilyev broke through the Samara line and went to Bashkiria to join with Pugachev.

The attempt of the Orenburg and Stavropol Kalmyks to break into Bashkiria ended less happily - only a small part of them could go there. The rest went to the Trans-Samara steppes. On May 23 they were defeated by government forces. The Kalmyk leader Derbetov died from his wounds.

The events of early April 1774 basically ended the Orenburg period of the peasant war under the leadership of E. Pugachev.

Introduction

Prerequisites and reasons for the uprising of 1773 - 1775

1 Prerequisites for the uprising

2 Causes of the Peasant War

3 Personality E.I. Pugacheva

The course of the uprising, its main stages

1 Participants of the uprising

2 Stage I: beginning of the uprising

3 Stage II: peak of the uprising

4 Stage III: suppression of the uprising

Reasons for the defeat of the uprising

Results of the Peasant War of 1773 - 1775

Conclusion

Introduction

In the second half of the 18th century, Russia emerged as a great power. Major achievements in economic, political and cultural development raised the prestige of the country.

The development of large industry entailed inclusion in class struggle the so-called assigned peasants and factory workers. Spontaneous uprisings of the oppressed peoples of the outlying regions of Russia against serfdom and tax burdens also reinforced the class struggle of Russian peasants.

The class struggle in the period of late feudalism is characterized by the highest aggravation of social conflicts, the transformation of popular movements against the exploiters into widespread and formidable armed uprisings aimed at overthrowing the feudal-serf system. Four peasant wars and the further development of the mass peasant movement ultimately determined the fall of peasant law.

Purpose of the abstract: analyze based on existing literature the course of the peasant war under the leadership of E.I. Pugacheva

Objectives of this essay:

Identify the prerequisites and causes of the peasant war.

Describe the stages of military operations in 1773 - 1775.

Investigate the reasons for the defeat of the peasants.

Analyze the results of the peasant war.

Peasants' War under the leadership of E.I. Pugacheva is the most hot topic, within the framework of which the true motives and aspirations of the peasant population are examined, the reconstruction of an integral class struggle against the oppressors, as well as a historical, comparative and sociological analysis of the content of documents of this time represent an urgent problem of historical science. They need further study from the perspective of the political consequences that they caused.

The Pugachev uprising became the subject of attention of writers and poets, revolutionaries and educators. Artists and scientists who sometimes had not only a direct, but no relation to history.

The historiography of the Pugachev uprising began to take shape back in those days when the Volga region was swayed by the glow of fires of burning noble estates. Notes, additions and other materials from the pens of contemporaries of the uprising, often participants in its suppression, sometimes being journalistic works in their time, subsequently became historical sources. They are of interest to us because they indicate how the formidable peasant movement was assessed by representatives of various state class groupings. One of the first works of this kind is “Daily Notes” by Orenburg priest Ivan Osipov. Notes from an eyewitness speak about the political beliefs of their author, about his attitude towards the uprising.

Describing the class struggle of the peasantry in Russia, F. Engels wrote that the Peasant War in Russia in 1773-1775. - this is “the last great peasant uprising.” He emphasized that the Russian people staged “endless scattered peasant uprisings,” which he distinguished from the “great peasant uprising” led by Pugachev.

N.N. Firsov emphasized in his works that Pugachev’s uprising was “deeply suffered” and was aimed at achieving, first of all, “freedom” and establishing a “common peasant kingdom.” He paints the uprising itself with gloomy colors, emphasizing the cruelty and “vices of the rabble hordes of the impostor.”

Noble and bourgeois historians such as N. Dubrovin and D. Anuchin, P. Struve and S. Bulgakov, characterized the peasant uprising as a senseless and merciless rebellion that swept across the Volga region and the Urals, claiming many lives and destroying the material values of the peasants.

Naturally, the Pugachev uprising attracted the attention of prominent Russian writers. A.S. wrote about him. Pushkin in “The Captain’s Daughter”, M.Yu. Lermontov in “Vadim”, T.G. Shevchenko in “Moskaleva Krinitsa” and in the story “Twins”, writer - democrat D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak, who created his own bright work“Okhonin’s Eyebrows” truthfully and vividly depicts the Pugachev uprising in the Urals.

Historiography of the Peasant War of 1773-1775. acquires more and more over time new character. It is not limited to historical works, by the works of professional historians, and covers the works of representatives of advanced, progressive socio-political thought, journalism, fiction, fine arts, theater, music, cinema, since in the works of masters of the pen and brush, stage and screen, the interest of the broad masses in Pugachev’s uprising is reflected, which is very important.

1. Prerequisites and causes of the uprising of 1773 - 1775

1 Prerequisites for the uprising

The peasant war led by Emelyan Pugachev (or simply Pugachevism) in the east captured the Western Siberian regions, in the north it reached Perm, in the west - to Tambov and in the south - to the Lower Volga. In total, Pugachevism covered an area of more than 600 thousand square kilometers, shaking “the state from Siberia to Moscow and from the Kuban to the Murom forests” (A.S. Pushkin). The reason for this was the miraculous announcement of the saved “Tsar Peter Fedorovich.” At its core, Pugachevism had a complex of reasons that were different for each of the groups of participants, but when added together, they led to what was actually the most ambitious civil war in the history of Russia, right up to the war of the Reds and the Whites.

Basic driving force The uprising was initiated by the Yaik Cossacks. Throughout the 18th century, they lost privileges and liberties one after another, but the times of complete independence from Moscow and Cossack democracy still remained in their memory. No less tension was present among the native peoples of the Urals and Volga region (Bashkirs, Tatars, Mordovians, Udmurts, Kalmyks and Kazakhs). The situation at the fast-growing factories of the Urals was also explosive. 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. 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 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 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.

In this situation, the most fantastic rumors easily found their way about imminent freedom or about the transfer of all the peasants to the treasury, about the ready decree of the tsar, whose wife and boyars were killed for this, that the tsar was not killed, but he is hiding until better times - all of them fell on the fertile soil of general human dissatisfaction with their current situation. There was simply no legal opportunity left for all groups of future participants in the performance to defend their interests.

2 Causes of the Peasant War

People's dissatisfaction - main reason uprisings And every part social group, who participated in the peasant war, had her reasons for discontent.

The peasants were outraged by their powerless situation. They could be sold, lost at cards, given without their consent to work in a factory, etc. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in 1767 Catherine II issued a decree prohibiting peasants from complaining to the court or the empress about the landowners.

The annexed nationalities (Chuvash, Bashkirs, Udmurts, Tatars, Kalmyks, Kazakhs) were dissatisfied with the oppression of their faith, the seizure of their lands and the construction of military structures on their territories.

The Cossacks did not like that their freedom was being infringed upon. Their rights were increasingly limited: for example, they could no longer elect and remove the ataman as before. Now the Military Collegium did it for them. The state also established a monopoly on salt, which undermined the Cossack economy. The fact is that the Cossacks mainly lived by selling fish and caviar, and salt played an important role in increasing their shelf life. The Cossacks were not allowed to extract salt themselves; the Cossacks were also not happy with this. Finally, the Cossack army abandoned the pursuit of the Kalmyks, which was ordered to them by the elite. The government sent a detachment to pacify the Cossacks. The Cossacks responded to this only with a new uprising, which was brutally suppressed. People were horrified by the punishments of the main instigators and were tense.

The reasons for the uprising can also include all sorts of rumors that circulated among the people. It was rumored that Emperor Peter III had survived, that it was planned to liberate the serfs and grant them lands in the near future. These unconfirmed words kept the peasants in tension, which was ready to result in an uprising.

Also, speaking about the reasons for Pugachev’s uprising, one cannot fail to say about the leader himself. After all, in those days many impostors appeared, and only he was able to gather thousands of people around him. All this is thanks to his intelligence and personality.

1.3 Personality E.I. Pugacheva

Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev (1742-1775) came from simple Don Cossacks village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don. As a young man, he helped his father cultivate the arable land. Then, as part of a Cossack detachment, he participated in the Seven Years' War with Prussia, and later in Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774, where he acquired rich combat experience. He knew artillery especially well. In the army he was whipped for misconduct and promoted to the rank of cornet for bravery. Having fallen ill, he asked to resign. Not receiving it, he fled and began to wander.

Having escaped from the army, Pugachev experienced many vicissitudes of fate, he was arrested several times, he fled and hid. Sometimes with the help of security - “he knew his word.” In his words, “I walked all over the earth with my feet.” He pretended to be either a merchant or an Old Believer suffering for his faith. Pugachev decided to impersonate the miraculously escaped Emperor Peter III. He said: “I could not endure the oppression of the people; throughout all of Russia the poor mob is suffering great insults and devastation.” In Belarus, among the schismatics, he hears news about “Peter III” (one of the impostors who appeared then), about the uprising on Yaik. Soldier Logachev, who saw Peter III, told Pugachev that they looked alike. Thus came Pugachev’s finest hour.

Brave, intelligent and possessing considerable adventurous inclinations, Pugachev decided to impersonate the “miraculously saved” Emperor Peter III.

2. The course of the uprising, its main stages

1 Participants of the uprising

The movement under the leadership of Pugachev began among the Cossacks. The uprising was given a special scope by the participation in it of serfs, artisans, working people and assigned peasants of the Urals, as well as Bashkirs, Mari, Tatars, Udmurts and other peoples of the Volga region. Like his predecessors, B.I. Pugachev was distinguished by religious tolerance. Orthodox Christians, Old Believers, Muslims, and pagans fought together under his banner. They were united by hatred of serfdom.

A.S. called them “amazing examples of folk eloquence.” Pushkin several manifestos and decrees of E.I. Pugachev, giving an idea of the main slogans of the rebels. These documents differed in form from the “lovely letters” of I.I. Bolotnikov and S.T. Razin. In the conditions of the established administrative-bureaucratic apparatus of power, the leader of the rebels used forms of state acts characteristic of the new stage of the country's development - manifestos and decrees.

"Certificate of merit"to the peasantry" historians named one of the most striking manifestos of E.I. Pugachev. "He granted all those who were previously in the peasantry and under the citizenship of the landowners "liberty and liberty", lands, hayfields, fisheries and salt lakes "without purchase and without quitrent ". The manifesto freed the country's population "from taxes and burdens" "inflicted by the villains of the nobles and city bribe-takers."

2 Stage I: the beginning of the uprising. (September 1773 - early April 1774)

The events of 1772-1773 paved the way for the organization of the rebel core around E. Pugachev-Peter III. On July 2, 1773, a cruel sentence was carried out on the leaders of the January uprising of 1772 in the Yaitsky town. 16 people were punished with a whip and, after cutting out their nostrils and burning out their convict badges, they were sent to eternal hard labor in the Nerchinsk factories. 38 people were punished with whipping and exiled to Siberia for settlement. A number of Cossacks were sent to become soldiers. Moreover, a large sum of money was demanded from the participants in the uprising to compensate for the ruined property of Ataman Tambovtsev, General Traubenberg and others. The verdict caused a new explosion of indignation among ordinary Cossacks.

Manifesto E.I. Pugachev to the Yaik army about granting it a river, land, cash salary and grain provisions, 1773, September 17

“The autocratic emperor, our great sovereign Peter Fedarovich of All Russia: and so on, and so on, and so on.

“I, the great Emperor, pity you, Pyotr Fedaravich.”

Even on the way from near the Yaitsky town to the Iletsk town, a general circle was convened according to the ancient Cossack custom to select the ataman and esauls.

The decree, written on behalf of Emperor Peter III, said: “And whatever you wish, all benefits and salaries will not be denied to you; and your glory will never expire; and both you and your descendants will be the first to obey me, the great sovereign. And I will always be given enough wages, provisions, gunpowder and lead.”

September, the dismantled bridge was repaired and a detachment of rebels solemnly entered the town, greeted by the ringing of bells and bread and salt. All Iletsk Cossacks swore allegiance to Pugachev, and a special regiment was formed from them. The Iletsk Cossack, later one of the main traitors, Ivan Tvorogov, was appointed colonel of the Iletsk army. E. Pugachev appointed the competent Iletsk Cossack Maxim Gorshkov as secretary. All serviceable artillery in the town was put in order and became part of the rebel artillery. Pugachev appointed the Yaik Cossack Fyodor Chumakov as head of the artillery.

Two days later, the rebels, leaving the Iletsk town, crossed to the right bank of the Urals and moved up the Yaik in the direction of Orenburg, the military and administrative center of the huge Orenburg province, which included within its borders a huge territory from the Caspian Sea in the south to the borders of the modern Yekaterinburg and Molotov regions - in the north. The goal of the rebels was to capture Orenburg.

Having learned about the approach of Golitsyn’s corps, Pugachev moved away from Orenburg to meet the advancing troops.

On December 1773, after stubborn resistance from the detachment of Ataman Ilya Arapov, Samara was occupied. Arapov retreated to the Buzuluk fortress.

On February 1774, a large detachment of General Mansurov captured the Buzuluk fortress.

In February, a detachment of Prince Golitsyn moved from Buguruslan to the Samara line to connect with Major General Mansurov.

March, Golitsyn's advanced detachment entered the village of Pronkino and settled down for the night. Warned by the peasants, Pugachev with the atamans Rechkin and Arapov at night, during a strong storm and blizzard, made a forced march and attacked the detachment. The rebels broke into the village, captured the guns, but were then forced to retreat. Golitsyn, withstanding Pugachev's attack. Under pressure from government troops, peasant detachments retreated up the Samara, taking with them the population and supplies.

“The matter was so important that I did not expect such insolence and control in such unenlightened people in the military profession as these defeated rebels are.”

March the peasant army was defeated near Ufa. Its leader Chika-Zarubin fled to Tabynsk, but was treacherously captured and extradited.

In the battle near the town of Sakmar, prominent leaders of the uprising were captured: Ivan Pochitalin, Andrei Vitoshnov, Maxim Gorshkov, Timofey Podurov, M. Shigaev and others.

April government troops entered the Yaitsky Cossack town. A detachment of Yaik and Iletsk Cossacks in the amount of 300 people under the command of atamans Ovchinnikov and Perfilyev broke through the Samara line and went to Bashkiria to join with Pugachev.

The events of early April 1774 basically ended the Orenburg period of the peasant war under the leadership of E. Pugachev.

3 Stage II: peak of the uprising (April - mid-July 1774)

At the 2nd stage, the main events unfolded on the territory of Bashkiria. In the south, Kaskyn Samarov, Kutlugildy Abdrakhmanov, Selyausin Kinzin and others operated. In the area of the Sterlitamak pier, the fight against punitive detachments was led by Karanai Muratov.

With the approach of Pugachev's main troops, the struggle on the Osinskaya and Kazan roads intensified. Through Pokrovsky, Avzyano-Petrovsky, Beloretsk factories and the Magnetic Fortress, Pugachev headed to the Bashkir Trans-Urals.

On May 1774, the Pugachevites occupied the Trinity Fortress, and on May 21, Dekalong’s detachment approached it, hurrying to catch up with Pugachev. Pugachev had an army of more than 11,000 people, but it was untrained, poorly armed, and therefore was defeated in the battle of the Trinity Fortress. Pugachev retreated towards Chelyabinsk. Here, near the Varlamova fortress, he was met by a detachment of Colonel Michelson and suffered a new defeat. From here Pugachev's troops retreated to the Ural Mountains.

In May 1774, the commander of a regiment of “working people” was executed in Orenburg. Ural factories Afanasy Khlopusha. According to a contemporary, “they cut off his head, and right there, close to the scaffold, his head was stuck on a spire on a gallows in the middle, which was removed this year in May and was removed in the last days.”

After several battles with government troops, he turned to the north of Bashkiria and took Osa on June 21.

Having replenished the army, Pugachev moved to Kazan and attacked it on July 11. The city was taken, with the exception of the Kremlin. During the assault peasant troops In Kazan, in prison, the Buguruslan rebel chieftain Gavrila Davydov, who was taken there after his capture, was stabbed to death by a guard officer. But on July 12, troops under the command of Colonel Michelson approached Kazan. In a battle that lasted more than two days, Pugachev was again defeated and lost about 7,000 people.

Having been defeated in bloody battles with the punitive corps of I.I. Mikhelson near Kazan, the rebels crossed the Volga on July 16-17.

Although Pugachev’s army was beaten, the uprising was not suppressed. When Pugachev, after the defeat in Kazan, crossed to the right bank of the Volga and sent out his manifestos to the peasants, calling on them to fight against the nobles and officials, granting them freedom, the peasants began to rebel without waiting for his arrival. This provided him with movement forward. The army replenished and grew.

Manifesto E.I. Pugachev to the landowner peasants about granting them freedom, lands and liberation from poll tax, 1774, July 31

By the grace of God we, Peter the third, are the emperor and autocrat of all Russia: and on and on, and on and on.

It is made public news.

By this named decree, with our royal and paternal mercy, we grant all those who were formerly in the peasantry and under the citizenship of the landowners, to be loyal slaves to our own crown, and we reward with the ancient cross and prayer, heads and beards, freedom and freedom and forever Cossacks, without requiring recruitment , per capita and other monetary taxes, ownership of lands, forests, hayfields and fishing grounds, and salt lakes without purchase and without abroki, and we free all previously imposed taxes and burdens from the villains of the nobles and bribe-taking city judges by the peasants and the entire people. And we wish you the salvation of souls and peace in the light of life, for which we tasted and suffered from the registered villains-nobles a journey and considerable misfortune. And since our name is now flourishing in Russia by the power of the Almighty Right Hand, for this reason we command by this decree of ours: who formerly were nobles in their estates and vodchinas, those who were opponents of our power and troublemakers of the empire and spoilers of the peasants are to be caught, executed and hanged and equally just as they, not having Christianity in them, did with you peasants. After the destruction of the opponents and villainous nobles, everyone can experience the silence and calm life that will continue for centuries.

Workers and peasants were waiting for Pugachev's arrival Central Russia, but he did not go to Moscow, but headed south, along the right bank of the Volga. This procession was victorious, Pugachev moved almost without encountering resistance, and took settlements, cities one after another. Everywhere he was greeted with bread and salt, with banners and icons.

This stage is characterized by the mass annexation of the Bashkirs, who now made up the majority in the Pugachev army and the working people of the mining factories of the Urals, which had negative role due to the weakening of the organizing role of the main rebel headquarters and the increase in government punitive forces in the Urals, under the pressure of which Pugachev begins to suffer tangible failures. This forced him to move first to Kazan and then cross the Volga. Thus ends the second stage of the peasant war.

2.4 Stage III: suppression of the uprising (July 1774-1775)

The th stage is characterized by the transfer of the center of movement to the Middle and Southern Volga region. Salavat Yulaev remained in Bashkiria, who headed insurgency on the Siberian Road, Karanay Muratov, Kaskyn Samarov, Selyausin Kinzin - on Nogai. They held a significant contingent of government troops. The military command and local authorities considered Bashkiria as a place where Pugachev could return for support.

August Pugachev's troops approached Penza and took it almost without resistance. On August 4, Petrovok was captured, followed by Saratov in the coming days. Entering the city, Pugachev released prisoners from prison everywhere, opened bread and salt stores and distributed goods to the people.

On August 21, Dubovka was taken, and on August 21, the Pugachevites approached Tsaritsyn and launched an assault. Tsaritsyn turned out to be the first city after Orenburg that Pugachev could not take. Having learned that Mikhelson’s detachment was approaching Tsaritsyn, he lifted the siege of the city and went south, thinking of getting to the Don and raising its entire population in rebellion.

A detachment of Colonel Mikhelson operated near Ufa. He defeated Chika's detachment and headed to the factories. Pugachev occupied the Magnitnaya fortress and moved to Kizilskaya. But, having learned about the approach of the Siberian detachment under the command of Dekalong, Pugachev went to the mountains along the Verkhne-Uyskaya line, burning all the fortresses on his way.

On the night of August 24-25, Mikhelson’s detachment overtook the rebels near Cherny Yar. The great final battle took place. In this battle, Pugachev's army was completely defeated, losing more than 10,000 people killed and captured. Pugachev himself and several of his associates managed to get to the left bank of the Volga. They intended to raise the peoples roaming the Caspian steppes against the government, and arrived in a village located near the Bolshiye Uzeni river. In Ufa, I. Chika-Zarubin and I. Gubanov were executed. 8 of Pugachev’s comrades-in-arms were exiled to lifelong hard labor in the Rogervik fortress, 10 to settlement in the Kola prison. The capture of Kanzafar Usaev, the concentration of government troops in Bashkiria and the transfer of many senior officers to punitive detachments forced the rebels to abandon the campaign against Ufa. After the capture of the Bashkir leaders of the Nogai Road at the end of September and Salavat Yulaev on November 25, the uprising in Bashkiria began to wane. But individual rebel groups continued resistance until the summer of 1775.

The government sent out manifestos everywhere, promising 10,000 rewards and forgiveness to anyone who would hand over Pugachev. The Cossacks from the kulak elite, seeing that the uprising had turned into a campaign of the poor against the exploiters and oppressors, became more and more disillusioned with it. Those close to Pugachev - Chumakov, Tvorogov, Fedulov, Burnov, Zheleznov - attacked Pugachev en masse, like cowardly dogs, tied him up and handed him over to the authorities. Pugachev was delivered to the commandant of the Yaitsky town Simonov, and from there to Simbirsk.

November 1774 in an iron cage, as wild animal, Pugachev, accompanied by his wife Sophia and son Trofim, was taken to Moscow, where the investigation began. The investigative commission tried to present the case in such a way that the uprising was prepared on the initiative of hostile states, but the course of the case inexorably showed that it was caused by unbearable oppression and exploitation to which the peoples of the region were subjected.

The empress appointed M.N. as the chairman of the investigative commission that interrogated Pugachev. Volkonsky, Moscow Governor-General, its members - P.S. Potemkina, S.I. Sheshkovsky, Chief Secretary of the Secret Expedition of the Senate. At the direction of Catherine II, investigators again and again found out the roots of the “rebellion” and “villainous intentions” of Pugachev, who took the name of Peter III. It still seemed to her that the essence of the matter was the impostor of Pugachev, who seduced the common people with “unrealistic and dreamy benefits.” They were again looking for those who pushed him to revolt - agents of foreign states, oppositionists from the highest representatives of the nobility or schismatics...

December, two weeks later, Catherine II, who closely followed the progress of the investigation and directed it, determined by decree the composition of the court - 14 senators, 11 “persons” of the first three classes, 4 members of the Synod, 6 presidents of the boards. The court was headed by Vyazemsky. In spite of the judicial practice included two main members of the investigative commission - Volkonsky and Potemkin.

According to the verdict of the Senate, approved by Catherine II, Pugachev and four of his comrades were executed on January 10, 1775, in Moscow on Bolotnaya Square.

Pugachev peasant uprising

3. Reasons for the defeat of the uprising

The peasant war under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev ended in the defeat of the rebels. She suffered from all the weaknesses inevitably inherent in peasant uprisings: unclear goals, spontaneity, fragmentation of the movement, lack of truly organized, disciplined and trained military forces.

The spontaneity was reflected primarily in the absence of a well-thought-out program. Not to mention the ordinary rebels, even the leaders, not excluding Pugachev himself, did not clearly and definitely imagine the system that would be established if they won.

But, despite the naive monarchism of the peasants, the anti-serfdom orientation of the Peasant War is clear. The slogans of the rebels are much clearer than in previous peasant wars and uprisings.

The leaders of the uprising did not have a unified plan of action, which was clearly reflected during the second offensive of government troops in January-March 1774. The rebel detachments were scattered over a vast territory and often acted completely independently, isolated from each other. Therefore, despite their heroism, they were separately defeated by government forces.

However, this does not detract from the enormous progressive significance of the uprising. The Peasant War of 1773-1775 dealt a serious blow to the feudal-serf system, it undermined its foundations, shook the centuries-old foundations and contributed to the development of progressive ideas among the Russian intelligentsia. What subsequently led to the liberation of the peasants in 1861.

4. Results of the peasant war of 1773-1775.

After carrying out the executions and punishments of the main participants in the uprising, Catherine II, in order to eradicate any mention of events related to the Pugachev movement and which did not put her rule in the best light in Europe, first of all, issued decrees to rename all places associated with these events. Thus, the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don, where Pugachev was born, was renamed Potemkinskaya, and the house itself where Pugachev was born was ordered to be burned. The Yaik River was renamed into the Ural, the Yaitsky army - into the Ural Cossack army, the Yaitsky town - into Uralsk, and the Verkhne-Yaitskaya pier - into Verkhneuralsk. The name of Pugachev was anathematized in churches along with Stenka Razin; to describe events it is possible to use only words like “well-known popular confusion,” etc.

In 1775, a provincial reform followed, according to which the provinces were disaggregated, and there were 50 of them instead of 20.

The policy towards the Cossack troops has been adjusted, and the process of their transformation into army units is accelerating. Cossack officers were increasingly given the nobility with the right to own their own serfs, thereby establishing the military sergeant major as a stronghold of the government. At the same time, economic concessions are being made in relation to the Ural Army.

Approximately the same policy is being pursued in relation to the peoples of the region of the uprising. 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, although only of the Muslim religion. But at the same time, the attempt to enslave the non-Russian population of the region was abandoned; the Bashkirs, Kalmyks and Mishars were left in the position of the military service population. In 1798, cantonal administration was introduced in Bashkiria; in the newly formed 24 canton regions, administration was carried out on a military basis. Kalmyks were also transferred to the rights of the Cossack class.

In 1775, Kazakhs were allowed to roam within traditional pastures that fell outside the border lines of the Urals and Irtysh. But this relaxation came into conflict with the interests of the expanding border Cossack troops, part of these lands had already been registered as estates of the new Cossack nobility or farmsteads of ordinary Cossacks. Friction led to the fact that the unrest in the Kazakh steppes, which had calmed down, began to unfold with renewed vigor. The leader of the uprising, which ultimately lasted more than 20 years, was a member of Pugachev’s movement, Syrym Datov.

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; the number of peasants assigned to them was 40 thousand people. The total amount of losses from the destruction and downtime of factories is estimated at 5,536,193 rubles. And although the factories were quickly restored, the uprising forced concessions to be made towards factory workers. The chief investigator in the Urals, Captain S.I. Mavrin, reported that the assigned peasants, whom he considered the leading force of the uprising, supplied the impostor with weapons and joined his troops, because the factory owners oppressed their assigned peasants, forcing the peasants to travel long distances to the factories and did not allow them engaged in arable farming and sold them food at inflated prices. Mavrin believed that drastic measures must be taken to prevent similar unrest in the future. Catherine wrote to G.A. Potemkin that Mavrin “what he says about the factory peasants is all very thorough, and I think that there is nothing else to do with them but to buy the factories and, when they are state-owned, then provide relief to the peasants.” On May 19, 1779, a manifesto was published on the general rules for the use of assigned peasants in state-owned and private enterprises, which somewhat limited factory owners in the use of peasants assigned to factories, limited the working day and increased wages.

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

Conclusion

Features of the uprising. All peasant wars are inherent common features, and at the same time, each of them had its own characteristics. Peasant War 1773-1775 was the most powerful.

It was characterized by a higher degree of organization of the rebels. They copied some organs government controlled Russia. Under the emperor, there was a headquarters, a Military Collegium and an office. The main army was divided into regiments, communication was maintained, including the sending of written orders, reports and other documents.

The Peasant War of 1773-1775, despite its unprecedented scale, was a chain of independent uprisings limited to a certain area (local). Peasants rarely left the boundaries of their village or district. The peasant detachments, and even Pugachev’s main army, were much inferior to the government army in terms of armament, training, and discipline.

List of used literature

1. Muratov Kh.I. Peasant War 1773-1775 in Russia. M., Voenizdat, 1954

2. Limonov Yu.A. Emelyan Pugachev and his associates. M.1977

Orlov A.S. History of Russia from ancient times to the present day. Textbook. - M.: PBOYUL, 2001.

Pushkin A.S. The story of Pugachev. M.1950

Tutoring

Need help studying a topic?

Our specialists will advise or provide tutoring services on topics that interest you.
Submit your application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

Peasant War of 1773-1775 led by Emelyan Pugachev (Pugachevshchina,Pugachev uprising, Pugachev revolt) - an uprising (revolt) of the Yaik Cossacks, which grew into a full-scale war under the leadership of E.I. Pugachev against Empress Catherine the Great.

The uprising covered the lands of the Yaitsk army, the Orenburg region, the Urals, the Kama region, Bashkiria, part of Western Siberia, the Middle and Lower Volga region. During the uprising, the Cossacks were joined by Bashkirs, Tatars, Kazakhs, Chuvashs, Mokshans, Erzyans, Ural factory workers and numerous serfs from all the provinces where hostilities took place. The uprising began on September 17, 1773 from the Budarinsky outpost and continued until mid-1775, despite military defeat Bashkir- Cossack army and the capture of Pugachev in September 1774.

Prerequisites for the uprising

The uprising, which covered vast territories of the empire and attracted several hundred thousand people into its ranks, the reason for which was the miraculous announcement of the escaped “Tsar Peter Fedorovich”, was based on a complex of reasons, different for each of the groups of participants, but when added together, they led to in fact, the most ambitious civil war in Russian history from 1612 to 1917.

At first, the main force of the uprising were the Yaik Cossacks. Throughout the entire 18th century, they lost privileges and liberties one after another, as the border of the Russian state moved further and further away from them; empires were not needed here Cossack forces. In addition, Emperor Peter I subordinated all Cossack troops to the Military Collegium, which first approved and subsequently appointed a military chieftain. From that moment on, the so-called foreman, the stronghold of the government on Yaik, began to stand out, since the elimination of elections did not allow the Cossacks to replace the unwanted military chieftain. Starting with Ataman Merkuryev, in the 1730s there was an almost complete split of the Yaitsky Cossack army into the elder and military sides. The situation was aggravated by the monopoly on salt introduced by the royal decree of 1754. The economy of this army was entirely built on the sale of fish and caviar, and salt was a strategic product for it. 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. Since 1763, when the first major explosion

indignation, and until the uprising of 1772, the Cossacks wrote petitions to Orenburg and St. Petersburg, sending so-called “winter villages” - delegates from the army with complaints 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 rebelled and migrated outside Russia. General Traubenberg and a detachment of soldiers went to investigate direct disobedience to the order. The result of the punishments he carried out was the Yaitsky Cossack uprising of 1772, during which General Traubenberg and the military ataman Tambov were killed. Troops under the command of General F. Yu. Freiman were sent to suppress the uprising. The rebels were defeated at the Embulatovka River in June 1772; as a result of defeat 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 garrison commandant, lieutenant colonel. The reprisal against the caught instigators was severe: previously guilty Cossacks were not branded, their tongues were not cut out. A large number of

The participants of the performance took refuge in distant steppe farms. No less tension was present among the indigenous peoples of the Urals and Volga region. The development of the Urals and the active colonization of the lands of the Volga region, which began in the 18th century, the construction and development of military border lines, the expansion of the Orenburg, Yaitsky and Siberian Cossack troops with the allocation of lands to them that previously belonged to local, intolerant religious policies led to numerous unrest among the Bashkirs, Tatars, Kazakhs, Kalmyks ( most of the latter, having broken through the Yaik border line, migrated to Western China in 1771).

The beginning of the uprising

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 (Emperor Peter III, who died during the coup after a six-month reign) appeared in the army, instantly spread throughout Yaitsk.

Few of the Cossack leaders believed in the resurrected tsar, but everyone looked closely to see if this man was able to lead, to gather under his banner an army capable of equaling the government.

The man who called himself Peter III was Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev - a Don Cossack, a native of the Zimoveyskaya village (which had already given Russian history Stepan Razin), 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 only here the father of the Old Believer monastery, 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 already in November 1772 he arrived in the Yaitsky town and at meetings with the Cossacks called himself Peter III. Upon returning to Irgiz, Pugachev was arrested and sent to Kazan, from where he fled at the end of May 1773. In August, he reappeared in the Yaitsky army, at the inn of Stepan Obolyaev, where he was visited by his future closest associates - Shigaev, Zarubin, Karavaev, Myasnikov. In September, hiding from search parties, Pugachev, accompanied by a group of Cossacks, arrived at the Budarinsky outpost, where on September 17 his first decree to the Yaitsky army was announced. The author of the decree was one of the few literate Cossacks, 19-year-old Ivan Pochitalin, sent by his father to serve the “tsar”. From here a detachment of 80 Cossacks headed up the Yaik. Along the way, new supporters joined, so that by the time they arrived at the Yaitsky town on September 18, the detachment already numbered 300 people. On September 18, 1773, an attempt to cross the Chagan and enter the city ended in failure, but at the same time large group

Cossacks, from among those sent by Commandant Simonov to defend the town, went over to the side of the impostor. A repeated rebel attack on September 19 was also repulsed with artillery. The rebel detachment did not have its own cannons, so it was decided to move further up the Yaik, and on September 20 the Cossacks set up camp near the Iletsk town.».

Despite the opposition of the Iletsk ataman Portnov, Ovchinnikov convinced the local Cossacks to join the uprising; the residents of the town greeted Pugachev with the ringing of bells and bread and salt.

All Iletsk Cossacks swore allegiance to Pugachev. The first execution took place: according to the alleged complaints of the residents - “he did great harm to them and ruined them” - the Pugachevites hanged Portnov. From the Iletsk Cossacks it was composed separate regiment Led by Ivan Tvorogov, the army received all the artillery of the town. The Yaik Cossack Fyodor Chumakov was appointed head of the artillery.

After a two-day meeting on further actions, it was decided to send the main forces to Orenburg, the capital of a huge region under the control of Ivan Reinsdorp, hated by the rebels. On the way to Orenburg there were small fortresses of the Nizhne-Yaitsky distance of the Orenburg military line. The garrison of the fortresses was, as a rule, mixed - Cossacks and soldiers, their life and service were perfectly described by Pushkin in The Captain's Daughter.

The Rassypnaya fortress was taken by a lightning assault on September 24; at the height of the battle, local Cossacks went over to the rebel side. On September 26, the Nizhneozernaya fortress was taken.

On September 27, the rebels appeared in front of the Tatishchev Fortress and began to convince the local garrison to surrender and join the army of “Sovereign Peter Fedorovich.” The fortress garrison consisted of at least a thousand soldiers, and the commandant, a colonel, hoped to fight back with the help of artillery. The firefight continued throughout the day. A detachment of Orenburg Cossacks sent on a sortie under the command of centurion Podurov went over to the side of the rebels. Having managed to set fire wooden walls fortresses, which started a fire in the town, and taking advantage of the panic that began in the town, the Cossacks broke into the fortress, after which most of the garrison laid down their arms. But the commandant and other officers resisted to the last, they honestly died in battle; and those captured, including members of their families, were shot. The daughter of the commandant of the Elagin fortress, Tatyana, the widow of the commandant of the Nizhneozernaya fortress who was killed a day earlier, was taken by Pugachev as a concubine. They left her young brother with her, before whose eyes they were killed after the battle. Cossack rebels shot Tatyana and her brother a month later.

With the artillery of the Tatishchev Fortress and the replenishment of people, Pugachev’s small, 2,000-strong detachment began to pose a real threat to Orenburg. On September 29, Pugachev solemnly entered the city, the garrison and whose residents swore allegiance to him.

The road to Orenburg was open, but Pugachev headed to Seitov Sloboda and the Sakmarsky town, since the Cossacks and Tatars who arrived from there assured him of universal devotion. On October 1, the population of Seitova Sloboda solemnly greeted the rebellious Cossack detachment, placing a Tatar regiment in its ranks. In addition, a decree was issued in the Tatar language, addressed to the Tatars and Bashkirs, in which Pugachev granted them “lands, waters, forests, residences, herbs, rivers, fish, bread, laws, arable land, bodies, cash salaries, lead and gunpowder " And already on October 2, the rebel detachment entered the Sakmara Cossack town to the sound of bells. In addition to the Sakmara Cossack regiment, Pugachev was joined by some workers from the neighboring copper mines of the miners and Myasnikov. In the Sakmarsky town, the defector Khlopusha appeared among the rebels, sent by the Orenburg governor Reinsdorp with secret letters to the rebels with a promise of pardon if Pugachev was extradited.

On October 4, this entire army of rebels headed to the Berdskaya settlement near Orenburg, the inhabitants of which also swore allegiance to the “resurrected king.” By this time, the impostor’s army numbered about 2,500 people, of which about 1,500 Yaik, Iletsk and Orenburg Cossacks, 300 soldiers, 500 Kargaly Tatars. The artillery of the rebels numbered several dozen guns.

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.

But Orenburg, in military terms, was a much more powerful fortification than even the Tatishchev fortress. An earthen rampart was erected around the city, fortified with 10 bastions and 2 half-bastions. The height of the shaft reached 4 meters and above, and the width - 13 meters. On the outside of the rampart there was a ditch about 4 meters deep and 10 meters wide. The garrison of Orenburg consisted of about 3,000 people, of which about 1,500 were soldiers, as well as about a hundred cannons. On October 4, reinforcements of 626 Yaitsky Cossacks, who remained loyal to the Russian government, with 4 cannons, led by Yaitsky military foreman M. Borodin, managed to freely approach Orenburg from the Yaitsky town.

And already on October 5, Pugachev’s army approached the city, setting up a temporary camp five miles away. The Cossacks were sent to the ramparts and managed to convey Pugachev’s decree to the garrison troops with a call to lay down their arms and join the “sovereign.” In response, cannons from the city rampart began firing at the rebels. On October 6, Reinsdorp ordered a sortie; a detachment of 1,500 men under the command of a major returned to the fortress after a two-hour battle. At the military council assembled on October 7, it was decided to defend behind the walls of the fortress under the cover of fortress artillery. One of the reasons for this decision was the fear of soldiers and Cossacks going over to Pugachev’s side. The sortie carried out showed that the soldiers fought reluctantly, Major Naumov reported that he had discovered.

“there is timidity and fear in his subordinates”

The siege of Orenburg that began shackled the main forces of the rebels for six months, without bringing military success to either side. On October 12, a second sortie was made by Naumov’s detachment, but successful artillery operations under the command of Chumakov helped repulse the attack. Due to the onset of frost, Pugachev’s army moved the camp to Berdskaya Sloboda. On October 22 the assault was launched; The rebel batteries began shelling the city, but strong return artillery fire did not allow them to get close to the rampart.

On October 14, Catherine II appointed Major General V.A. Kara as commander of a military expedition to suppress the rebellion. At the end of October, Kar arrived in Kazan from St. Petersburg and, at the head of a corps of two thousand soldiers and one and a half thousand militia, headed towards Orenburg. On November 7, near the village of Yuzeeva, 98 versts from Orenburg, detachments of Pugachev atamans A.A. Ovchinnikov and I.N. Zarubina-Chiki attacked the vanguard of the Kara corps and, after a three-day battle, forced it to retreat back to Kazan. On November 13, a detachment of the colonel was captured near Orenburg, numbering up to 1,100 Cossacks, 600-700 soldiers, 500 Kalmyks, 15 guns and a huge convoy. Realizing that instead of an unprestigious victory over the rebels, he could receive complete defeat from untrained peasants and Bashkir-Cossack irregular cavalry, Kar, under the pretext of illness, left the corps and went to Moscow, leaving command to General Freiman.

Such major successes inspired the Pugachevites, made them believe in their strength, the victory had a great impression on the peasantry and Cossacks, increasing their influx into the ranks of the rebels. True, at the same time, on November 14, the brigadier’s corps of 2,500 people managed to break through to Orenburg.

Massive joining of the Bashkirs in the uprising began. Bashkir foreman Kinzya Arslanov, who entered Pugachev’s Secret Duma, sent messages to the elders and ordinary Bashkirs, in which he assured that Pugachev was providing all possible support for their needs. On October 12, foreman Kaskyn Samarov took the Voskresensky copper smelter and, at the head of a detachment of Bashkirs and factory peasants of 600 people with 4 guns, arrived in Berdy. In November, as part of a large detachment of Bashkirs and Mishars, Salavat Yulaev went over to Pugachev’s side. In December, Salavat Yulaev formed a large rebel detachment in the northeastern part of Bashkiria and successfully fought with the tsarist troops in the area of the Krasnoufimsk fortress and Kungur.

Together with Karanai Muratov, Kaskyn Samarov captured Sterlitamak and Tabynsk; from November 28, the Pugachevites under the command of Ataman Ivan Gubanov and Kaskyn Samarov laid siege to Ufa; from December 14, the siege was commanded by Ataman Chika-Zarubin. On December 23, Zarubin, at the head of a 10,000-strong detachment with 15 cannons, began an assault on the city, but was repulsed by cannon fire and energetic counterattacks of the garrison.

Ataman Ivan Gryaznov, who participated in the capture of Sterlitamak and Tabynsk, gathered a detachment of factory peasants and captured factories on the Belaya River (Voskresensky, Arkhangelsky, Bogoyavlensky factories). In early November, he proposed organizing the casting of cannons and cannonballs at nearby factories. Pugachev promoted him to colonel and sent him to organize detachments in the Iset province. There he took the Satkinsky, Zlatoust, Kyshtymsky and Kaslinsky factories, the Kundravinskaya, Uvelskaya and Varlamova settlements, the Chebarkul fortress, defeated the punitive teams sent against him, and by January he approached Chelyabinsk with a detachment of four thousand.

In December, Ataman I.F. Arapov occupied the Elshanskaya, Borskaya and Krasnosamarskaya fortresses of the Samara line, on December 24 he entered Alekseevsk, 24 versts from Samara, on the 25th Arapov’s detachment entered Samara, solemnly greeted by its inhabitants. At the same time, residents of the Buguruslan settlement, the cities of Osa, Sarapul, and Zainsk also joined the uprising.

In December 1773, Pugachev sent ataman Mikhail Tolkachev with his decrees to the rulers of the Kazakh Junior Zhuz, Nurali Khan and Sultan Dusali, with a call to join his army, but the khan decided to wait for developments; only the riders of the Baibakty clan, led by Sarym Datula, joined Pugachev. On the way back, Tolkachev gathered Cossacks into his detachment in the fortresses and outposts on the lower Yaik and headed with them to the Yaitsky town, collecting guns, ammunition and provisions in the associated fortresses and outposts. On December 30, Tolkachev approached the Yaitsky town, seven miles from which he defeated and captured the Cossack team of foreman N.A. Mostovshchikov sent against him; in the evening of the same day he occupied the ancient district of the city - Kureni. Most of the Cossacks greeted their comrades and joined Tolkachev’s detachment, the Cossacks of the senior side, the garrison soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Simonov and Captain Krylov locked themselves in the “retransference” - the fortress of the St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, the cathedral itself was its main citadel. Gunpowder was stored in the basement of the bell tower, and cannons and arrows were installed on the upper tiers. It was not possible to take the fortress on the move.

In total, according to rough estimates by historians, by the end of 1773 there were from 25 to 40 thousand people in the ranks of Pugachev’s army, more than half of this number were Bashkir detachments.

To control the troops, Pugachev created the Military Collegium, which served as an administrative and military center and conducted extensive correspondence with remote areas of the uprising. A. I. Vitoshnov, M. G. Shigaev, D. G. Skobychkin and I. A. Tvorogov were appointed judges of the Military Collegium, I. Ya. Pochitalin was appointed “Duma” clerk, and M. D. Gorshkov was appointed secretary.

In January 1774, Ataman Ovchinnikov led a campaign to the lower reaches of the Yaik, to the Guryev town, stormed its Kremlin, captured rich trophies and replenished the detachment with local Cossacks, bringing them to the Yaitsky town. At the same time, Pugachev himself arrived in Yaitsky town. He took over the leadership of the protracted siege of the city fortress of the Archangel Cathedral, but after a failed assault on January 20, he returned to the main army near Orenburg. At the end of January, Pugachev returned to the Yaitsky town, where a military circle was held, at which N.A. Kargin was chosen as military ataman, A.P. Perfilyev and I.A. Fofanov were chosen as chieftains. At the same time, the Cossacks, wanting to finally unite the tsar with the army, married him to a young Cossack woman, Ustinya Kuznetsova. In the second half of February and early March 1774, Pugachev again personally led attempts to take possession of the besieged fortress. On February 19, a mine explosion blew up and destroyed the bell tower of St. Michael's Cathedral, but the garrison each time managed to repel the attacks of the besiegers.

Detachments of Pugachevites under the command of Ivan Beloborodov, which grew to 3 thousand people during the campaign, approached Yekaterinburg, capturing a number of surrounding fortresses and factories along the way, and on January 20, they captured the Demidov Shaitansky plant as their main base of operations. The situation in besieged Orenburg by this time was already critical; famine had begun in the city. Having learned about the departure of Pugachev and Ovchinnikov with part of the troops to the Yaitsky town, Governor Reinsdorp decided to make a foray to Berdskaya Sloboda on January 13 to lift the siege. But the unexpected attack did not happen; the Cossack patrols managed to raise the alarm. The atamans M. Shigaev, D. Lysov, T. Podurov and Khlopusha who remained in the camp led their detachments to the ravine that surrounded the Berdskaya settlement and served as a natural line of defense. The Orenburg corps were forced to fight in unfavorable conditions and suffered a severe defeat. WITH, abandoning cannons, weapons, ammunition and ammunition, the half-encircled Orenburg troops hastily retreated to Orenburg under the cover of the city walls, losing only 281 people killed, 13 cannons with all the shells for them, a lot of weapons, ammunition and ammunition.

On January 25, 1774, the Pugachevites launched the second and final assault on Ufa, Zarubin attacked the city from the southwest, from the left bank of the Belaya River, and Ataman Gubanov - from the east. At first, the detachments were successful and even broke into the outskirts of the city, but there their offensive impulse was stopped by grapeshot fire from the defenders. Having pulled all available forces to the breakthrough sites, the garrison drove first Zarubin and then Gubanov out of the city.

At the beginning of January, the Chelyabinsk Cossacks rebelled and tried to seize power in the city in the hope of help from the troops of Ataman Gryaznov, but were defeated by the city garrison. On January 10, Gryaznov unsuccessfully attempted to take Chelyabinsk by storm, and on January 13, General I. A. Dekolong’s two-thousand-strong corps, which arrived from Siberia, entered Chelyabinsk. Throughout January, battles unfolded on the outskirts of the city, and on February 8, Delong decided it was best to leave the city to the Pugachevites.

On February 16, Khlopushi’s detachment stormed the Iletsk Defense, killing all the officers, seizing weapons, ammunition and provisions, and taking with them those fit for duty. military service convicts, Cossacks and soldiers.

Military defeats and expansion of the Peasant War area

When news reached St. Petersburg about the defeat of V. A. Kara’s expedition and the unauthorized departure of Kara himself to Moscow, Catherine II, by decree of November 27, appointed A. I. Bibikov as the new commander. The new punitive corps included 10 cavalry and infantry regiments, as well as 4 light field teams, hastily sent from the western and northwestern borders of the empire to Kazan and Samara, and besides them - all garrisons and military units located in the uprising zone, and remnants of Kara's corps. Bibikov arrived in Kazan on December 25, 1773, and the movement of regiments and brigades immediately began under the command of P. M. Golitsyn and P. D. Mansurov to Samara, Orenburg, Ufa, Menzelinsk, and Kungur, besieged by Pugachev’s troops. Already on December 29, the 24th light field command, led by Major K.I. Mufel, reinforced by two squadrons of Bakhmut hussars and other units, recaptured Samara. Arapov, with several dozen Pugachevites who remained with him, retreated to Alekseevsk, but the brigade led by Mansurov defeated his troops in battles near Alekseevsk and at the Buzuluk fortress, after which in Sorochinskaya they united on March 10 with the corps of General Golitsyn, who approached there, advancing from Kazan, defeating the rebels near Menzelinsk and Kungur.

Having received information about the advance of the Mansurov and Golitsyn brigades, Pugachev decided to withdraw the main forces from Orenburg, effectively lifting the siege, and concentrate the main forces in the Tatishchev Fortress. Instead of the burnt walls, an ice rampart was built, and all available artillery was collected. Soon a government detachment consisting of 6,500 people and 25 cannons approached the fortress. The battle took place on March 22 and was extremely fierce. Prince Golitsyn in his report to A. Bibikov wrote: “The matter was so important that I did not expect such insolence and control in such unenlightened people in the military profession as these defeated rebels are.”. When the situation became hopeless, Pugachev decided to return to Berdy. His retreat was covered by the Cossack regiment of Ataman Ovchinnikov. With his regiment, he staunchly defended himself until the cannon charges ran out, and then, with three hundred Cossacks, he managed to break through the troops surrounding the fortress and retreated to the Nizhneozernaya fortress. This was the first major defeat of the rebels. Pugachev lost about 2 thousand people killed, 4 thousand wounded and prisoners, all the artillery and convoys. Among the dead was Ataman Ilya Arapov.

At the same time, the St. Petersburg Carabinery Regiment under the command of I. Mikhelson, previously stationed in Poland and aimed at suppressing the uprising, arrived on March 2, 1774 in Kazan and, reinforced by cavalry units, was immediately sent to suppress the uprising in the Kama region. On March 24, in a battle near Ufa, near the village of Chesnokovka, he defeated the troops under the command of Chika-Zarubin, and two days later captured Zarubin himself and his entourage. Having won victories in the territory of the Ufa and Iset provinces over the detachments of Salavat Yulaev and other Bashkir colonels, he failed to suppress the uprising of the Bashkirs as a whole, since the Bashkirs switched to guerrilla tactics.

Leaving Mansurov's brigade in the Tatishchevoy fortress, Golitsyn continued his march to Orenburg, which he entered on March 29, while Pugachev, having gathered his troops, tried to make his way to the Yaitsky town, but having met government troops near the Perevolotsk fortress, he was forced to turn to the Sakmarsky town, where he decided to give battle to Golitsyn. In the battle on April 1, the rebels were again defeated; over 2,800 people were captured, including Maxim Shigaev, Andrei Vitoshnov, Timofey Podurov, Ivan Pochitalin and others. Pugachev himself, breaking away from the enemy pursuit, fled with several hundred Cossacks to the Prechistenskaya fortress, and from there he went beyond the bend of the Belaya River, to the mining region of the Southern Urals, where the rebels had reliable support.

At the beginning of April, the brigade of P. D. Mansurov, reinforced by the Izyum Hussar Regiment and the Cossack detachment of the Yaitsky foreman M. M. Borodin, headed from the Tatishchevoy fortress to the Yaitsky town. The Nizhneozernaya and Rassypnaya fortresses and the Iletsky town were taken from the Pugachevites; on April 12, the Cossack rebels were defeated at the Irtetsk outpost. In an effort to stop the advance of the punitive forces towards their native Yaitsky town, the Cossacks, led by A. A. Ovchinnikov, A. P. Perfilyev and K. I. Dekhtyarev, decided to move towards Mansurov. The meeting took place on April 15, 50 versts east of the Yaitsky town, near the Bykovka River. Having gotten involved in the battle, the Cossacks were unable to resist the regular troops; a retreat began, which gradually turned into a stampede. Pursued by the hussars, the Cossacks retreated to the Rubezhny outpost, losing hundreds of people killed, among whom was Dekhtyarev. Having gathered people, Ataman Ovchinnikov led a detachment through the remote steppes to the Southern Urals, to connect with Pugachev’s troops, who had gone beyond the Belaya River.

On the evening of April 15, when in the Yaitsky town they learned about the defeat at Bykovka, a group of Cossacks, wanting to curry favor with the punitive forces, tied up and handed over the atamans Kargin and Tolkachev to Simonov. Mansurov entered the Yaitsky town on April 16, finally liberating the city fortress, besieged by the Pugachevites since December 30, 1773. The Cossacks who fled to the steppe were unable to make their way to the main area of the uprising; in May-July 1774, the teams of Mansurov’s brigade and the Cossacks of the senior side began a search and defeat in the Priyaitsk steppe, near the Uzeney and Irgiz rivers, the rebel detachments of F. I. Derbetev, S. L Rechkina, I. A. Fofanova.

At the beginning of April 1774, the corps of Second Major Gagrin, which approached from Yekaterinburg, defeated Tumanov’s detachment located in Chelyab. And on May 1, the team of Lieutenant Colonel D. Kandaurov, who arrived from Astrakhan, recaptured the town of Guryev from the rebels.

On April 9, 1774, the commander of military operations against Pugachev, A.I. Bibikov, died. After him, Catherine II entrusted the command of the troops to Lieutenant General F. F. Shcherbatov, as the senior in rank. Offended that he was not appointed to the post of commander of the troops, having sent small teams to nearby fortresses and villages to carry out investigations and punishments, General Golitsyn with the main forces of his corps stayed in Orenburg for three months. Intrigues between the generals gave Pugachev a much-needed respite; he managed to gather scattered small detachments in the Southern Urals. The pursuit was also suspended by the spring thaw and floods on the rivers, which made the roads impassable.

On the morning of May 5, Pugachev’s detachment of five thousand approached the Magnetic Fortress. By this time, Pugachev’s detachment consisted mainly of weakly armed factory peasants and a small number of personal egg guards under the command of Myasnikov; the detachment did not have a single cannon. The start of the assault on Magnitnaya was unsuccessful, about 500 people died in the battle, Pugachev himself was wounded in his right hand. Having withdrawn the troops from the fortress and discussed the situation, the rebels undercover night darkness made a new attempt and were able to break into the fortress and capture it. 10 cannons, rifles, and ammunition were taken as trophies. May 7 to Magnitnaya different sides detachments of atamans A. Ovchinnikov, A. Perfilyev, I. Beloborodov pulled up and heading up the Yaik, the rebels captured the fortresses of Karagai, Petropavlovsk and Stepnaya and on May 20 approached the largest Trinity. By this time, the detachment numbered 10 thousand people. During the assault that began, the garrison tried to repel the attack with artillery fire, but overcoming desperate resistance, the rebels broke into Troitskaya. Pugachev received artillery with shells and reserves of gunpowder, supplies of provisions and fodder. On the morning of May 21, Delong's corps attacked the rebels resting after the battle. Taken by surprise, the Pugachevites suffered a heavy defeat, losing 4,000 people killed and the same number wounded and captured. Only one and a half thousand mounted Cossacks and Bashkirs were able to retreat along the road to Chelyabinsk.

Salavat Yulaev, who had recovered from his wound, managed to organize at that time in Bashkiria, east of Ufa, resistance to Michelson’s detachment, covering Pugachev’s army from his stubborn pursuit. In the battles that took place on May 6, 8, 17, and 31, Salavat, although he was not successful in them, did not allow his troops to inflict significant losses. On June 3, he united with Pugachev, by which time the Bashkirs made up two-thirds of the total number of the rebel army. On June 3 and 5 on the Ai River they gave new battles to Mikhelson. Neither side received the desired success. Retreating north, Pugachev regrouped his forces while Mikhelson retreated to Ufa to drive away the Bashkir detachments operating near the city and replenish supplies of ammunition and provisions.

Taking advantage of the respite, Pugachev headed towards Kazan. On June 10, the Krasnoufimskaya fortress was taken, on June 11, a victory was won in the battle near Kungur against the garrison that had made a sortie. Without attempting to storm Kungur, Pugachev turned west. On June 14, the vanguard of his army under the command of Ivan Beloborodov and Salavat Yulaev approached the Kama town of Ose and blocked the city fortress. Four days later, Pugachev’s main forces arrived here and began siege battles with the garrison settled in the fortress. On June 21, the defenders of the fortress, having exhausted the possibilities of further resistance, capitulated. During this period, the adventurer merchant Astafy Dolgopolov (“Ivan Ivanov”) came to Pugachev, posing as an envoy of Tsarevich Pavel and thus deciding to improve his financial situation. Pugachev unraveled his adventure, and Dolgopolov, by agreement with him, acted for some time as a “witness to the authenticity of Peter III.”

Having captured Osa, Pugachev transported the army across the Kama, took the Votkinsk and Izhevsk ironworks, Elabuga, Sarapul, Menzelinsk, Agryz, Zainsk, Mamadysh and other cities and fortresses along the way, and in early July approached Kazan.

A detachment under the command of a colonel came out to meet Pugachev, and on July 10, 12 versts from the city, the Pugachevites won a complete victory. The next day, a detachment of rebels camped near the city. “In the evening, in view of all the Kazan residents, he (Pugachev) himself went to look out for the city, and returned to the camp, postponing the attack until the next morning.”. On July 12, as a result of the assault, the suburbs and main areas of the city were taken, the garrison remaining in the city locked itself in the Kazan Kremlin and prepared for a siege. A strong fire began in the city, in addition, Pugachev received news of the approach of Mikhelson’s troops, who were following on his heels from Ufa, so the Pugachev detachments left the burning city. As a result of a short battle, Mikhelson made his way to the garrison of Kazan, Pugachev retreated across the Kazanka River. Both sides were preparing for decisive battle, which took place on July 15. Pugachev’s army numbered 25 thousand people, but most of them were weakly armed peasants who had just joined the uprising, Tatar and Bashkir cavalry armed with bows, and a small amount of the remaining Cossacks. The competent actions of Mikhelson, who struck first of all at the Yaik core of the Pugachevites, led to the complete defeat of the rebels, at least 2 thousand people died, about 5 thousand were taken prisoner, among whom was Colonel Ivan Beloborodov.

Announced publicly

We congratulate you with this named decree with our royal and fatherly
the mercy of all who were formerly in the peasantry and
subject to the landowners, to be loyal slaves
our own crown; and rewarded with an ancient cross
and prayer, heads and beards, liberty and freedom
and forever Cossacks, without requiring recruitment, capitation
and other monetary taxes, ownership of lands, forests,
hayfields and fishing grounds, and salt lakes
without purchase and without rent; and free everyone from what was previously done
from the villains of the nobles and bribery-takers of the city-judges to the peasants and everything
taxes and burdens imposed on the people. And we wish you the salvation of souls
and calm in the light of life for which we have tasted and endured
from the registered villains-nobles, wandering and considerable disaster.

And what is our name now by the power of the Most High Right Hand in Russia?
flourishes, for this reason we command with this personal decree:
which formerly were nobles in their estates and vodchinas, - of which
opponents of our power and troublemakers of the empire and despoilers
peasants, to catch, execute and hang, and to do the same,
what they did to you, peasants, without Christianity in them.
After the destruction of which opponents and villainous nobles, anyone can
to feel the silence and calm life that will continue until the century.

Date: July 31st, 1774.

By the grace of God, we, Peter the Third,

Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia and so on,

and on and on and on.

Even before the start of the battle on July 15, Pugachev announced in the camp that he would head from Kazan to Moscow. Rumors of this instantly spread throughout all the nearby villages, estates and towns. Despite the major defeat of Pugachev's army, the flames of the uprising engulfed the entire west bank Volga. Having crossed the Volga at Kokshaysk, below the village of Sundyr, Pugachev replenished his army with thousands of peasants. By this time, Salavat Yulaev and his troops continued fighting near Ufa; the Bashkir troops in the Pugachev detachment were led by Kinzya Arslanov. On July 20, Pugachev entered Kurmysh, on the 23rd he freely entered Alatyr, after which he headed to Saransk. On July 28, in 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”. On July 31, the same solemn meeting awaited Pugachev in Penza. The decrees caused numerous peasant revolts in the Volga region; in total, scattered detachments operating within their estates numbered tens of thousands of fighters. The movement covered most of the Volga districts, approached the borders of the Moscow province, and really threatened Moscow.

The publication of decrees (in fact, 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, on the Old Believers hiding from persecution, on the opposite side - the nobles and on Catherine II herself. The enthusiasm that gripped the peasants of the Volga region led to the fact that a population of more than a million people was involved in the uprising. They could give nothing 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, 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, at least 3 thousand nobles and government officials were killed.

In the second half of July 1774, when the flames of the Pugachev uprising approached the borders of the Moscow province and threatened Moscow itself, the alarmed empress was forced to agree to the proposal of Chancellor N.I. Panin to appoint his brother, the disgraced general-in-chief Pyotr Ivanovich Panin, as commander of a military expedition against rebels. General F. F. Shcherbatov was expelled from this post on July 22, and by decree of July 29, Catherine II gave Panin emergency powers “in suppressing rebellion and restoring internal order in the provinces of Orenburg, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod”. It is noteworthy that under the command of P.I. Panin, who received the Order of St. for the capture of Bender in 1770. George I class, the Don cornet Emelyan Pugachev also distinguished himself in that battle.

To speed up the conclusion of peace, the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty were softened, and the troops released on the Turkish borders - a total of 20 cavalry and infantry regiments - were recalled from the armies to act against Pugachev. As Ekaterina noted, against Pugachev “So many troops were equipped that such an army was almost terrible for its neighbors”. It is noteworthy that in August 1774, Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, at that time already one of the most successful Russian generals, 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.

Suppression of the uprising

After Pugachev’s triumphant entry into Saransk and Penza, everyone expected his march to Moscow. Seven regiments under the personal command of P.I. Panin were assembled in Moscow, where memories of the Plague Riot of 1771 were still fresh. Moscow Governor-General Prince M.N. Volkonsky ordered artillery to be placed near his house. The police strengthened surveillance and sent informants to crowded places in order to capture all those who sympathized with Pugachev. Mikhelson, who received the rank of colonel in July and pursued 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. Mufel’s punitive teams reported that Pugachev was leaving rebellious villages behind him everywhere and they did not have time to pacify them all. “Not only peasants, but priests, monks, even archimandrites outrage sensitive and insensitive people”. Excerpts from the report of the captain of the Novokhopyorsky battalion Butrimovich are indicative:

“...I went to the village of Andreevskaya, where the peasants were keeping the landowner Dubensky under arrest in order to extradite him to Pugachev. I wanted to free him, but the village rebelled and the team was dispersed.

But from Penza Pugachev turned south. Most historians point to the reason for this as Pugachev’s plans to attract the Volga and, especially, Don Cossacks into his ranks. It is possible that another reason was the desire of the Yaik Cossacks, tired of fighting and having already lost their main atamans, to hide again in the remote steppes of the lower Volga and Yaik, where they had already taken refuge once after the uprising of 1772.

An indirect confirmation of such fatigue is that it was during these days that the conspiracy of Cossack colonels began to surrender Pugachev to the government in exchange for receiving a pardon.

On August 4, the impostor's army took Petrovsk, and on August 6, it surrounded Saratov. The governor with part of the people along the Volga managed to get to Tsaritsyn and after the battle on August 7, Saratov was taken.

Saratov priests in all churches served prayers for the health of Emperor Peter III. Here Pugachev sent a decree to the Kalmyk ruler Tsenden-Darzhe with a call to join his army. But by this time, punitive detachments under the overall command of Mikhelson were already literally on the heels of the Pugachevites, and on August 11 the city came under the control of government troops.

Panic began in Astrakhan. On August 24, at the Solenikovo fishing gang, Pugachev was overtaken by Mikhelson. Realizing that a battle could not be avoided, the Pugachevites lined up 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.

Search detachments of generals Mansurov and Golitsyn, Yaik foreman Borodin and Don Colonel Tavinsky were sent in pursuit of them. Not having time for the battle, Lieutenant General Suvorov also wanted to participate in the capture. During August-September, most of the participants in the uprising were caught and sent for investigation to the Yaitsky town, Simbirsk, and Orenburg.

Pugachev with a detachment of Cossacks fled to Uzeni, not knowing that since mid-August Chumakov, Tvorogov, Fedulev and some other 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 them was conducted personally by Suvorov, who also volunteered to escort the impostor to Simbirsk, where the main investigation was taking place. To transport Pugachev, a tight cage was made, installed 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.

At this time, in addition to scattered centers of uprising, military operations in Bashkiria were of an organized nature. Salavat Yulaev, together with his father Yulay Aznalin, led the insurgent movement on the Siberian Road, Karanay Muratov, Kachkyn Samarov, Selyausin Kinzin - on Nogai, Bazargul Yunaev, Yulaman Kushaev and Mukhamet Safarov - in the Bashkir Trans-Urals. They pinned down a significant contingent of government troops. At the beginning of August, a new assault on Ufa was even launched, but as a result of poor organization of interaction between various detachments, it was unsuccessful. Kazakh detachments harassed with raids along the entire border line. Governor Reinsdorp reported: “The Bashkirs and Kyrgyzs are not pacified, the latter constantly cross the Yaik, and grab people from near Orenburg. The troops here are either pursuing Pugachev or blocking his path, and I can’t go against the Kyrgyz people, I admonish the Khan and the Saltans. They replied that they could not hold back the Kyrgyz people, of whom the entire horde was rebelling.”. With the capture of Pugachev and the dispatch of liberated government troops to Bashkiria, the transition of Bashkir elders to the side of the government began, many of them joined the punitive detachments. After the capture of Kanzafar Usaev and Salavat Yulaev, the uprising in Bashkiria began to decline. Salavat Yulaev gave his last battle on November 20 under the Katav-Ivanovsky plant besieged by him and after the defeat he was captured on November 25. But individual rebel groups in Bashkiria continued to resist until the summer of 1775.

Until the summer of 1775, unrest continued in the Voronezh province, in the Tambov district and along the Khopru and Vorone rivers. Although the operating detachments were small and there was no coordination of joint actions, according to eyewitness Major Sverchkov, “many landowners, leaving their homes and savings, move to remote places, and those who remain in their houses save their lives from threatened death by spending the night in the forests”. The frightened landowners declared that “If the Voronezh provincial chancellery does not speed up the extermination of those villainous gangs, then the same bloodshed will inevitably follow as happened in the last rebellion.”

To stem the wave of riots, punitive detachments began mass executions. In every village, in every town that received Pugachev, on the gallows and “verbs”, from which they barely had time to remove the officers, landowners, and judges hanged by the impostor, they began to hang the leaders of the riots and the city heads and atamans of local detachments appointed by the Pugachevites. To enhance the terrifying effect, 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.

In November, 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. During interrogation, E. I. Pugachev gave detailed testimony about his relatives, about his youth, about his participation in the Don Cossack Army in the Seven Years and Turkish Wars, about his wanderings around Russia and Poland, about his plans and intentions, about the course of the uprising. Investigators tried to find out whether the initiators of the uprising were agents of foreign states, or schismatics, or anyone from the nobility. Catherine II showed great interest in the progress of the investigation. In the materials of the Moscow investigation, several notes from Catherine II to M.N. Volkonsky were preserved with wishes about the plan in which the investigation should be conducted, which issues require the most complete and detailed investigation, which witnesses should be additionally interviewed. On December 5, M.N. Volkonsky and P.S. Potemkin signed a determination to terminate the investigation, since Pugachev and other defendants could not add anything new to their testimony during interrogations and could not in any way alleviate or aggravate their guilt. In their report to Catherine they were forced to admit that they.

On December 30, the judges in the case of E.I. Pugachev gathered in the Throne Hall of the Kremlin Palace. They heard Catherine II's manifesto on the appointment of a trial, and then the indictment in the case of Pugachev and his associates was announced. Prince A. A. Vyazemsky offered to bring Pugachev to the next court hearing. Early in the morning of December 31, he was transported under heavy escort from the casemates of the Mint to the chambers of the Kremlin Palace. At the beginning of the meeting, the judges approved the questions that Pugachev had to answer, after which he was brought 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 Saturday, January 10, 1775, an execution was carried out on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow in front of a huge crowd of people. Pugachev behaved with dignity, ascended to the place of execution, crossed himself at the Kremlin cathedrals, bowed to four sides with the words “Forgive me, Orthodox people.” The executioner first cut off the heads of E. I. Pugachev and A. P. Perfilyev, who were sentenced to quartering; such was the wish of the empress. On the same day, M. G. Shigaev, T. I. Podurov and V. I. Tornov were hanged. I. N. Zarubin-Chika was sent for execution to Ufa, where he was executed by beheading in early February 1775.

The captive Salavat Yulaev and his father Yulay Azgalin were exiled to hard labor in the Baltic port of Rogervik (Estonia). The other leader of the Bashkir performance, Kinzyu Arslanov, who fled across the Volga with Pugachev, was never found, and his further fate is unknown. In 1783-1786. in the Altai Mountain District, an army member was preparing to continue the uprising Pugacheva Peter Khripunov, however, was handed over to the authorities. After brutal interrogations, Khripunov was declared insane and was kept in custody in the fortress of St. Peter (modern Petropavlovsk).

Results of the Peasant War

After carrying out the executions and punishments of the main participants in the uprising, Catherine II, in order to eradicate any mention of events related to the Pugachev movement and which put her rule in a bad light in Europe, first of all issued decrees to rename all places associated with these events. Thus, the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don, where Pugachev was born, was renamed Potemkinskaya, and the house itself where Pugachev was born was ordered to be burned. The Yaik River was renamed to the Ural, the Yaitsky army - to the Ural Cossack army, the Yaitsky town - to Uralsk, the Verkhne-Yaitskaya pier - to Verkhneuralsk. The name of Pugachev was anathematized in churches along with Stenka Razin; to describe events it is possible to use only words like “well-known popular confusion,” etc.

Decree of the Government Senate

“...for complete oblivion of this on Yaik
the ensuing accident,
the Yaik River, along which both this army and
the city still had its name,
due to the fact that this river flows from
Ural mountains, rename the Urals, and therefore
call the army Ural, and henceforth Yaitsky
not to name it, but also to call it Yaitsky city
from now on Uralsk; about what for information and performance
This is how it is published.”

In 1775, a provincial reform followed, according to which the provinces were disaggregated, and there were 50 of them instead of 20.

In 1775, Kazakhs were allowed to roam within traditional pastures that fell outside the border lines of the Urals and Irtysh. But this relaxation came into conflict with the interests of the expanding border Cossack troops; some of these lands had already been registered as estates of the new Cossack nobility or farms of ordinary Cossacks. Friction led to the fact that the unrest in the Kazakh steppes, which had calmed down, began to unfold with renewed vigor. The leader of the uprising, which ultimately lasted more than 20 years, was a member of Pugachev’s movement, Syrym Datov.

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; the number of peasants assigned to them was 40 thousand people. The total amount of losses from the destruction and downtime of factories is estimated at 5,536,193 rubles. And although the factories were quickly restored, the uprising forced concessions to be made towards factory workers. The chief investigator in the Urals, Captain S.I. Mavrin, reported that the assigned peasants, whom he considered the leading force of the uprising, supplied the impostor with weapons and joined his troops, because the factory owners oppressed their assigned peasants, forcing the peasants to travel long distances to the factories and did not allow them engaged in arable farming and sold them food at inflated prices. Mavrin believed that drastic measures must be taken to prevent similar unrest in the future. Catherine wrote to G.A. Potemkin that Mavrin “what he says about the factory peasants is all very thorough, and I think that there is nothing else to do with them but to buy factories and, when they are state-owned, then provide the peasants with benefits.”. On May 19, 1779, a manifesto was published on the general rules for the use of assigned peasants in state-owned and private enterprises, which somewhat limited factory owners in the use of peasants assigned to factories, limited the working day and increased wages.

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

Memory

IN Soviet years the memory of E. Pugachev and his associates was immortalized in toponomics: in Russia and Ukraine there are Pugachev and Salavat Yulaev streets. In the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, a monument was erected to E. Pugachev. In Bashkortostan, the image of Salavat Yulaev is immortalized on the republican coat of arms, and monuments have been erected in his honor in a number of settlements.

Research and collections of archival documents

Pushkin A. S. “The History of Pugachev” (censored title - “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion”)
Grot Y. K. Materials for the history of the Pugachev rebellion (Papers of Kara and Bibikov). St. Petersburg, 1862
Dubrovin N.F. Pugachev and his accomplices. An episode from the reign of Empress Catherine II. 1773-1774 Based on unpublished sources. T. 1-3. St. Petersburg, type.
N. I. Skorokhodova, 1884

Pugachevism. Collection of documents.

Volume 1. From the Pugachev archive. Documents, decrees, correspondence. M.-L., Gosizdat, 1926.

Volume 2. From investigative materials and official correspondence. M.-L., Gosizdat, 1929

Volume 3. From the Pugachev archive. M.-L., Sotsekgiz, 1931 Peasant War 1773-1775 in Russia. Documents from the collection of the State Historical Museum
. M., 1973
Peasant War 1773-1775 on the territory of Bashkiria. Collection of documents. Ufa, 1975
Peasant war led by Emelyan Pugachev in Chuvashia. Collection of documents. Cheboksary, 1972
Peasant war led by Emelyan Pugachev in Udmurtia. Collection of documents and materials. Izhevsk, 1974
Gorban N.V. Peasantry of Western Siberia in the Peasant War of 1773-75. // Questions of history. 1952. No. 11.

Muratov Kh. I. Peasant War 1773-1775. in Russia. M., Voenizdat, 1954

Art

Pugachev's uprising in fiction
A. S. Pushkin “The Captain's Daughter”
S. A. Yesenin “Pugachev” (poem)
S. P. Zlobin “Salavat Yulaev”
E. A. Fedorov “Stone Belt” (novel). Book 2 “Heirs”
V. Ya. Shishkov “Emelyan Pugachev (novel)”
V. I. Buganov “Pugachev” (biography in the series “Life of Remarkable People”)

V. I. Mashkovtsev “Golden Flower - Overcome” (historical novel). - Chelyabinsk, South Ural Book Publishing House, 1990, ISBN 5-7688-0257-6.

(1937) - Cinema Feature Film
. Directed by Pavel Petrov-Bytov.
Salavat Yulaev (1940) - feature film. Directed by Yakov Protazanov.
The Captain's Daughter (1959) - a feature film based on the story of the same name by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
(1978) - historical duology: “Slaves of Freedom” and “Will Washed in Blood” directed by Alexei Saltykov. Russian Riot (1999) - historical film

, based on the works of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin “The Captain's Daughter” and “The Story of Pugachev”.

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. A century in the history of our country is a turning point, significant, filled with turbulent events. Peasants have been an exploited class since Kievan Rus, and the nobility is the ruling class, and 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.

Problem social world 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. Time to study agriculture there was nothing left, in addition to this, in order to remove the cause of distraction from factory work, raids by teams of factory clerks were sometimes practiced to destroy crops.

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 " Petrov III" - six until 1773. This was explained by the fact that Peter III eased the situation of the Old Believers, tried to transfer the monastic peasants into 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

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.

2.3 Second stage of the Peasant War

However, Pugachev, who had no more than 400 people left, did not lay down his arms, but went to Bashkiria. Now the Bashkirs and mining workers became the main support of the movement. At the same time, many Cossacks moved away from Pugachev as he moved away from their native places.

Despite setbacks in clashes with government forces, the ranks of the rebels grew. In July, Pugachev led a 20,000-strong army to Kazan. After the capture of Kazan, Pugachev intended to move to Moscow. On July 12, the rebels managed to occupy the city, but they were unable to capture the Kazan Kremlin. In the evening, Michelson's troops, who were pursuing Pugachev, came to the aid of the besieged. In a fierce battle, Pugachev was again defeated. Of his 20 thousand supporters, 2 thousand were killed, 10 thousand were captured, and about 6 thousand fled. With two thousand survivors, Pugachev crossed to the right bank of the Volga and turned south, hoping to rebel the Don.

On July 28 in Saransk, a decree on freedom for peasants was read out on the central square, 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”. On July 31, the same solemn meeting awaited Pugachev in Penza. The decrees caused numerous peasant revolts in the Volga region; in total, scattered detachments operating within their estates numbered tens of thousands of fighters. The movement covered most of the Volga districts, approached the borders of the Moscow province, and really threatened Moscow.

The publication of decrees (in fact, 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, on the Old Believers hiding from persecution, on the opposite side - the nobles and on Catherine II herself. The enthusiasm that gripped the peasants of the Volga region led to the fact that a population of more than a million people was involved in the uprising. They could give nothing 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, at least 3 thousand nobles and government officials were killed.

General-Chief P.I. was appointed to replace the deceased Bibikov. Panin, giving him the broadest powers. A.V. was called from the army. Suvorov.

Meanwhile, the rebel troops were no longer as powerful as they were a year ago. They now consisted of peasants who did not know military affairs. In addition, their detachments acted more and more separately. Having dealt with the master, the man considered the task completed and hurried to manage the land. Therefore, the composition of Pugachev’s army changed all the time. Government troops followed in her footsteps. On August 21, Pugachev tried to attack Tsaritsyn, but was defeated by Mikhelson, losing 2 thousand people killed and 6 thousand prisoners. Pugachev and the remnants of his followers fled across the Volga, deciding to return to Yaik. Search detachments of generals Mansurov and Golitsyn, Yaik foreman Borodin and Don Colonel Tavinsky were sent in pursuit of them. Not having time for the battle, Lieutenant General Suvorov also wanted to participate in the capture. During August and September, most of the participants in the uprising were caught and sent for investigation to the Yaitsky town, Simbirsk, and Orenburg.

Pugachev with a detachment of Cossacks fled to Uzeni, not knowing that since mid-August Chumakov, Tvorogov, Fedulev and some other 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 informed their accomplices, and on September 15 they brought Pugachev to Yaitsky town. The first interrogations took place, one of them was conducted personally by Suvorov, who also volunteered to escort the impostor to Simbirsk, where the main investigation was taking place. To transport Pugachev, a tight cage was made, installed 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, commander of the government punitive forces.

To stem the wave of riots, punitive detachments began mass executions. In every village, in every town that received Pugachev, on the gallows and “verbs”, from which they barely had time to remove the officers, landowners, and judges who had been hanged by the impostor, they began to hang the leaders of the riots and the city heads and atamans of local detachments appointed by the Pugachevites. To enhance the terrifying effect, 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.

Transported by Suvorov to Moscow, Pugachev was interrogated and tortured for two months, and on January 10, 1775 he was executed along with four comrades on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow. The uprising was suppressed.

3. Results of the Peasant War of 1773–1775.

The reasons for the defeat of the uprising, in addition to its weak organization, insufficient and obsolete weapons, lack of clear goals and a constructive program for the uprising, lay hidden in its predatory nature; the cruelty of the rebels caused indignation in society. Pugachev was destined to be defeated because the state mechanism worked quite smoothly, and Catherine II managed to quickly mobilize necessary resources to suppress the uprising.

The Peasant War did not lead to any changes in the social status of the peasantry and did not make their lives easier. On the contrary, the government made its own conclusions: in 1775 a new provincial reform was carried out in the country, increasing the number of provinces. The autonomy of the Cossack troops was eliminated once and for all. At the same time, economic concessions are being made in relation to the Ural Army. The Yaik River was renamed the Ural.

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; the number of peasants assigned to them was 40 thousand people. And although the factories were quickly restored, the uprising forced concessions to be made towards factory workers.

On May 19, 1779, a manifesto was published on the general rules for the use of assigned peasants in state-owned and private enterprises, which somewhat limited factory owners in the use of peasants assigned to factories, limited the working day and increased wages.

The fear of a new “Pugachevism” forced educated society to discuss ways to resolve the “peasant issue,” which prompted the nobility to subsequently soften and then abolish serfdom in 1861.

Conclusion

The peasant war led by E.I. Pugachev ended in defeat, and what could it bring to the development of the country? It could not create the fair system that its participants dreamed of. After all, the rebels did not imagine him otherwise than in the form of a Cossack freeman, impossible on a national scale.

Pugachev's victory would mean the extermination of the only educated layer - the nobility. This would cause irreparable damage to culture, undermine state system Russia, would create a threat to its territorial integrity.

In later history, we see many examples of the people’s uprising against the authorities and the ruling system, but any violence gives rise to even more brutal and bloody violence. It is immoral to idealize uprisings, riots and civil wars, since they do not solve the problems existing in the state, and often bring unjustified violence and injustice, grief and ruin, suffering and death.

list of used literature:

Peasant War 1773-1775 in Russia. Documents from the collection of the State Historical Museum. M., 1973
. M., 1973
Peasant war led by Emelyan Pugachev in Chuvashia. Collection of documents. Cheboksary, 1972
Peasant war led by Emelyan Pugachev in Udmurtia. Collection of documents and materials. Izhevsk, 1974
Gorban N.V., The peasantry of Western Siberia in the peasant war of 1773-75. // Questions of history. 1952. No. 11.
Gorban N.V. Peasantry of Western Siberia in the Peasant War of 1773-75. // Questions of history. 1952. No. 11.

1773–1775 - Peasant war led by E. Pugachev. In the 60s XVIII century The government introduced a state monopoly on fishing and salt production on Yaik. This caused discontent among the Cossacks. At the end of 1771, a commission led by Major General Traubenberg arrived on Yaik, whose task was to suppress the uprising of the Cossacks. Interrogations and arrests began. In January 1772, in response to the actions of Traubenberg (the shooting of Cossacks from cannons - more than 100 people were killed), an uprising broke out.

At the end of May, the authorities sent an army led by General Freiman to Yaik. 85 of the most active rebels were punished and exiled to Siberia, the rest were fined. The military circle and the military office were liquidated, and soldiers were placed in the Cossack houses. IN next year Cossacks rose under the banner of Peter III Fedorovich. Mysterious death the emperor caused the appearance of many impostors under his name. The most famous of them was the Don Cossack Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev.

In September 1773, Pugachev appeared at the Budarinsky outpost, 5 versts from the Yaitsky town. Pugachev headed up the Yaik to Orenburg, the center of the border line of fortresses, an important strategic point in the southeast of the country. Pugachev took the Tatishchev fortress by storm. At the beginning of October, his army approached Orenburg, and assaults and battles began under the walls of the city. The rebel camp was located near Orenburg in the Berdskaya Sloboda. Here Pugachev and his accomplices created the Military Collegium - the highest body of power and management of military and civil affairs. The uprising swept through the Southern and Middle Urals, Western Siberia, Bashkiria, Volga region, Don.

The authorities gathered the regiments and sent them to Orenburg. A general battle took place in the Tatishchev Fortress between the forces of Pugachev and the army of General Golitsyn. After the defeat, Pugachev withdrew his remaining forces from Orenburg. But near the Samara town Golitsyn again defeated the rebels. Pugachev went to Bashkiria, then to Southern Urals. The rebel detachments of Salavat Yulaev operated here. Pugachev’s detachment captured several factories, then occupied the Trinity Fortress. But here he was defeated by Kolong.

Pugachev went to Zlatoust. In May 1774, he entered into battle several times with Michelson’s army, but was defeated. Yulaev and Pugachev, having united their forces, moved west to the Volga.
Pugachev with 2 thousand people crossed the Volga and moved west. In the Right Bank, Pugachev’s detachment was replenished with several thousand people and began to move south along the right bank of the Volga. Pugachev occupied Penza, Saratov, and began the siege of Tsaritsyn, but Mikhelson’s approaching corps threw the rebels back to the southeast.

At the end of August 1774, the last battle took place near the Salnikov plant, in which Pugachev suffered a final defeat. He, with a small group of people, headed to the left bank of the Volga, where he was betrayed by the Cossacks. In September 1774, Pugachev was brought to the Budarinsky outpost. On January 10, 1775, Pugachev and his associates were executed on Bolotnaya Square.