The Pugachev Revolt: Largest Peasant Uprising Threatens Rule of Catherine the Great

 

 

The last great peasant revolt to challenge autocratic rule in Russia occurred during the reign of Catherine the Great. Between 1774 and 1774, Emelian Pugachev, a Don Cossack freebooter, rallied thousands of disaffected peasants by proclaiming himself Tsar Peter III, who had been deposed in 1762 and died shortly thereafter. Although there had been many uprisings in the region and numerous pretenders, the Pugachev Revolt was by far the greatest threat to Catherine’s rule which allowed for a large military response.

 

Causes of the Pugachev Revolt

 

Ultimately, as Catherine’s General Bibikov told the aristocracy of Kazan, “This is a revolt of the poor against the rich, of the slaves against their masters.” [1] Yet the causes were many and have been interpreted differently by Russian, Soviet, and Western Historians. [2] Generally, the causes can be broken down as follows:

 

Loss of autonomy by the indigenous groups in the Urals.

 

Forced conscription of local peasants to fight against the Turks.

 

Use of serf labor in the newly created factories and mines.

 

Seizure of lands by the state.

 

Heavy taxation.

 

Expanded state intrusion into local customs, practices, and beliefs.

 

The role of “Old Believers” that rejected official Orthodoxy.

 

Initial Successes of the Revolt

 

Pugachev was a messianic figure, capitalizing on the popular notion that Peter III was seen by the peasants as still alive. Pretenderism had always been a spark in sporadic peasant revolts. Pugachev was a courageous leader with some military skills, having served in the Seven Years’ War. The capture of several garrisons and the rallying of thousands of supporters attest to his leadership.

 

Catherine herself contributed to the rebellion’s early victories by not taking Pugachev seriously, equating the revolt with the many prior disturbances that had been swiftly quelled by her troops. The resurrection of Peter III in the guise of a brigand was troubling, however, and reminded Catherine that she had seized power in 1762 through a coup.

 

Pugachev Defeated by Catherine’s Armies

 

After a series of successes on his way to Moscow at the head of the peasant army, Pugachev was turned back following the partial destruction of Kazan. Bringing death and destruction to the gentry in the Volga region, Pugachev pursued a course that would take him to home territory. Count Panin, commissioned by Catherine to end the insurrection, rushed fresh troops to the region. The Turkish War had been concluded and now Pugachev was facing veteran forces.

 

Adding to Pugachev’s problems, a famine swept the region, depriving his motley army of necessary supplies. In August 1774, he found his last battle against troops commanded by Ivan Mikhelson, an exceptional officer who repulsed a direct charge and counterattacked, totally destroying Puchave’s army. The battle at Cherny Yar was decisive.

 

Although he escaped, Pugachev was betrayed by fellow Cossacks and carried to Moscow in a cage where he was tortured and executed. Rather than addressing reforms, serfdom was strengthened and state control became more onerous. Historians researching 19^th Century Russian radicalism have linked the efforts of revolutionaries with memories of the Pugachev revolt, believing that the peasantry represented the vanguard of revolution. [3]

 

Paul Avrich cites early Bolshevik thoughts regarding the use of the peasant class in achieving revolution and highlights the distinct peasant notions of a “tsar” that would emancipate them and act on their behalf. But the Pugachev revolt would be the last great upheaval until the twentieth century when the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 weakened and ultimately ended autocracy.

 

Sources:

 

[1] Quoted in Paul Avrich, Russian Rebels 1600-1800: Four great rebellions which shook the Russian state in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1976) p.211-212.

[2] David MacKenzie and Michael W. Curran, A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4^th Ed. (Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1993). See chapter 19 for a brief discussion of historical interpretations of the Pugachev Revolt.

[3] See Paul Avrich, Chapter 5.