The uprising led by Stepan Razin took place in. The uprising led by Stepan Razin: Important aspects

There are many topics in Russian history that attract neither the attention of scientists nor the interest of readers. No matter how many essays, brochures, books, articles are devoted to them, people will always look forward to publications on these problems. And one of them is the uprising of Stepan Razin. The reasons that predetermined both the beginning of this peasant war and the defeat of Razin are quite obvious. Let's look at them in more detail.

Reasons for the start of the war

The uprising of Stepan Razin was a response to strong oppression from the wealthy population and the Moscow authorities. This revolt was only part of a protracted crisis that tormented Muscovy throughout the 2nd half of the 17th century. The first popular unrest in cities (Moscow, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod and others) began with the ascension to the throne of Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1649, the Zemsky Sobor approved the Code, according to which the owners of estates and estates were given guarantees of rights to peasants. That is, if the serfs fled from their master, they had to hide until the end of their days. The time frame for their search has become unlimited. The adopted code caused discontent among the people and became the first reason that predetermined the uprising of Stepan Razin. Since the beginning of the reign of the new king, the economic situation of the country has greatly deteriorated. Exhausting wars with Sweden, Poland and the Crimean Tatars required a lot of funds. In addition, the monetary reform carried out at that time failed miserably. Due to the huge number of copper coins that were not properly used, inflation broke out.

Unrest intensified both in the power structure and among the people. The Don Cossacks were also dissatisfied. They had to defend the lands of the Don and the neighboring territories of Muscovy from the raids of the Crimean Tatars. In addition, the Turks closed all routes to the Sea of Azov for the Cossacks. The Don government could not conduct serious campaigns against the enemy, because in case of defeat their lands would go to the Turks and Tatars. Muscovy would not be able to help, since it was absorbed in affairs with Ukraine and Poland. There were other reasons for the rebellious mood of the Cossacks. Fugitive serfs flocked to the Don territories. Naturally, they were forbidden to cultivate the land, and in order to somehow survive, they began to rob ships passing along the Volga. Repressive measures were taken against the thieves' squads, which increased the unrest of the poor. This was another reason that gave rise to the uprising of Stepan Razin. Soon, under the leadership of Vasily Us, a detachment consisting of Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks. Their forces were small, but they were inspired by the support of the peasants and slaves who joined them along the procession. This indicated that in the event of a major rebellion it would be possible to count on the help of the people. And after some time the peasant war began.

Causes of defeat

The uprising of Stepan Razin was defeated due to the destructive (“rebellious”) nature of the movement and poor organization. Also, the reasons were the obsolescence and insufficiency of weapons, unclear goals and lack of unity among serfs, Cossacks and townspeople. Razin's uprising did not in any way ease the situation of the peasants, but it did affect the lives of the Don Cossacks. In 1671, they swore allegiance to the Tsar, thereby making the Cossacks the support of the Tsar's throne.

The seventeenth century is one of the most turbulent in the history of Russia. Contemporaries called him “rebellious,” since a period of fierce class battles passed through this entire century. At the beginning of the century, the first peasant war raged in the country, ending with the Streltsy uprisings. Between these events, the Salt Riot of 1648 in Moscow, popular movements in Voronezh, Kursk, Chuguev, Kozlov, Solvychegodsk, Veliky Ustyug, Solikamsk, Cherdyn, and later in Novgorod and Pskov, the third quarter of the 17th century is not only not inferior in scope of the class struggle , but even surpasses its middle. In 1662, the place of acute social conflict again becomes the capital, where manifestations of popular dissatisfaction with the high cost of goods and products in connection with the treasury’s issuance of copper money, which was at the same price as silver, led to the so-called Copper Riot, and in 1667 the fire of the second peasant war broke out in Russia - an even more impressive and stronger in its class intensity than the first.

The uprisings of the mid-17th century and the Copper Riot were formidable harbingers of a powerful popular movement led by S.T. Razin. These harbingers are the reaction of the oppressed masses to increased exploitation by the ruling class and expressing its interests feudal state.

The 17th century stands, as it were, at the turning point of two eras - the Middle Ages, with its obscurantism and religious fanaticism, and the time of the amazing rise and diversity of Russian culture, which marked the next - 18th century. According to contemporaries, the 17th century was a time when “oldness and newness were mixed.” And indeed, new phenomena of material and spiritual life were then intricately intertwined with signs of inert antiquity.

The space of people's life activity was narrowed to the limit. The government official did not reach every county. If a government convoy from Moscow traveled off-road to a remote wilderness, it was a whole event that was discussed and remembered for a long time.

In the village, the peasant lived in his own little world, his own community, confined himself to the interests of his yard, his family. Life had an archaic, habitual character, people lived by ancient morals and customs, and the ruling class of feudal lords sought to preserve these patriarchal features in an unshakable form. Traditions, unwritten and written church codes of conduct normalized and regulated every step of a person.

According to the limitations living space The consciousness of people was also narrowed to the limit. But those who were at the helm of power had already become convinced more than once that this stable, dense calm was very deceptive, that the people, crushed by hopeless need, were capable of showing disobedience to their masters and rebelling against them.

The 17th century is a time of split in the Russian Church as a result of an acute ideological and political struggle between supporters of a turn to state reforms and zealots of antiquity. This is the time of an unprecedented ideological duel between the tsar and the patriarch, who declared: “the priesthood of the kingdom is greater than the earth is from heaven.”

There are as many similarities and differences between the turbulent 17th and brilliant 18th centuries as there are between Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, whose name is associated with the final formation of the national system of serfdom in Russia, and his son Peter 1, who went down in history as the transforming emperor.

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich B.I. Morozov achieved incredible power. He personally owned a territory equal to the average Western European state, hundreds of villages and hamlets, ironworks, distilleries, brick, potash (from the word potash - a product obtained from wood ash) factories, he had tens of thousands of dependent peasants in his power. Morozov was the largest landowner, merchant, moneylender, and industrialist rolled into one. A new nobility grouped around Morozov - people, like Miloslavsky, who advanced under his patronage and owed their careers to him.

The second provincial nobility, which had the rank of “city” nobles or children of boyars, for the most part was far removed from the privileged and small group of Duma people, although in some cases people from the service class penetrated the Duma members, and fell into the ranks of the latter for one reason or another. reasons, representatives of the upper stratum of the feudal class.

In addition to high ranks, there were special positions that eminent fathers sought for their sons. For example, there were always many hunters for the position of a “sleeper” - a person who served in the royal chambers, since from this position it was possible to advance to the “room” or “close” boyars or okolnichy.

Distributing ranks and positions to loyal people is a favorite technique widely used by the B.I. clique. Morozova. Morozov, with the approval of the tsar, took control of a number of orders - state institutions in charge of the most important affairs in the country, and at the head of most of the others were proteges of the power-hungry boyar, mainly from the Miloslavsky family line.

In the middle of the 17th century, there were still vast lands in Russia that were not captured by the feudal lords. But their number quickly and steadily declined under the pressure of the boyars, nobles, the church and the feudal state itself. The peasants, who had originally lived and farmed freely on these lands, lost their independence and fell into serfdom. The ruling classes and the state especially quickly took over the territory with a non-Russian population. The largest feudal lord was the state itself. In Russia there were the so-called tax classes, or drafters. These included black-sown (assigned to the state) peasants and townspeople - the trade and craft population of cities and fishing towns. They had to bear the “tax” - perform special duties in favor of the feudal state. Hence their name.

Taxpayers had to pay numerous taxes to the state and perform up to twenty types of onerous duties. They were charged fees in cash and in kind for the transport of goods, for the use of a bathhouse, for shops and taverns, if they decided to open them, for land and all sorts of land. There was a special salt duty for salt. Drinkers paid tavern money for consuming alcohol, smokers - for tobacco, and both of these taxes were introduced not out of philanthropy, not out of concern for people's health, but solely for the purpose of replenishing the state treasury. The townspeople also had to bear the burden. This was a very heterogeneous class in terms of property. At one pole are the urban lower classes: artisans who “have nothing to feed themselves,” small traders whose entire goods were placed on a bench or small tray, artisans who found no use for their hands, who wandered around other people’s yards, forced to spend the night under boats and eat as Then they joked bitterly about eggshell soup. At the other pole is the townsfolk elite, the most privileged part of which was a corporation of “guests” - merchants and industrialists who bought from the state the right to collect various taxes from the population. For example, it was the guests who were entrusted with collecting the extremely unpopular among the people, but very profitable salt duty. The guests literally extorted taxes from the tax collectors. They concentrated trade in the most profitable goods in their hands. The lower and middle strata of the townspeople suffered arbitrariness not only from government officials, guests, and rich merchants. They were defenseless against strong feudal lords.

The indignation of the townspeople was caused by “white” places and settlements - urban feudal estates, “whitewashed” (hence “white”), that is, exempted from paying duties, taxes and performing in-kind duties in favor of the state. True, the population of the “white” settlements was forced to give a fair share of income in money and kind to their master, but this was incomparably less than what was contributed to the treasury by the townspeople, who were also ruined by the greedy sovereign collectors and the same owners of the “white” settlements - the feudal lords .

The situation in the country was heating up. Alarming rumors circulated throughout the cities and villages: “things are going wrong in Moscow, and Moscow is divided into three, the boyars for themselves, the nobles for themselves, and the worldly and all kinds of people for themselves.” The popular rumor was not wrong: the nobility was gaining strength and demanded equal rights with the aristocracy, and allowing them to pass on their estates by inheritance. This caused protest among the owners of the estates, who considered the claims of the nobles an encroachment on their benefits and privileges.

The peasants were especially concerned about the timing of their search in the event of an escape from the feudal lord. The search and return of fugitives from 5 years in 1613 increased to 15 in 1647. There was also a rumor about the complete abolition of “lesson years,” which could not but agitate the huge mass of the peasant population.

The Nizhny Novgorod son of the boyar Prokhor Kolbetsky, while in the capital, wrote to his father that “there was great confusion in Moscow” and that “the boyars will be beaten...”. Crowds of petitioners besieged the orders. Everyone who came to the Kremlin had their own grievances, their own reason for discontent. People returned from Moscow without finding the truth, dissatisfied. And again a difficult life began, filled with grief in half.

The position of the peasantry, the main working class of Russia at that time, was truly disastrous. Crushed by poverty, tortured by forced labor, feeding many insatiable mouths, it itself often went hungry. The end of the forties of the 17th century turned out to be a lean harvest. The bread did not rise, the herbs withered due to drought. Livestock deaths began. The government officially stated that “district and soshny people became poor due to the scarcity of grain and left the trades.” The urban poor - small artisans, traders, day laborers - languished under the weight of feudal oppression. Slaves grumbled about their lot in slavery - people who had become completely dependent on their masters and deprived of all rights. It was difficult for the military people, regardless of whether they were the archers and Cossacks who made up the old Russian army, or the soldiers of the new regiments formed according to the European model (“new order”). Both were very meagerly rewarded for their difficult service. The already low cash and grain salaries were paid to them incompletely and with frequent interruptions. They endured assault and arbitrariness senior officials. The latter stole money and food intended for the rank and file, forced their subordinates to work for themselves, “attached services to weak people” and, for bribes, released those who were richer from guard duty. The gradually growing muted discontent and ferment of the masses broke through with a formidable indignation on June 1, 1648 in Moscow. The indignation of the people resulted in the destruction of the boyar estates. The serfdom documents discovered there were destroyed, and reprisals were carried out against long-time enemies - N. Chisty, L. Pleshcheev, P. Trakhaniotov.

The events of the mid-century were an eloquent manifestation of the rebellion of the oppressed masses. The unrest in the country did not subside for a long time. Rumors did not subside that “the whole world is rocking”, “there is still a lot of bloodshed in our country.”

The dire warning of the people forced ruling class immediately react to it and hastily regroup your forces. The top of feudal society took two-fold measures: on the one hand, they made some concessions to the nobles and townspeople who were dissatisfied with the existing order of things, on the other hand, they strengthened the serfdom of the bulk of their subjects Russian state.

At the insistence of Duma ranks, Moscow and provincial nobles, church hierarchs, guests, “best people” at the Zemsky Sobor in July 1648, it was decided to urgently begin drawing up a new set of laws - the Code, “in order to henceforth do all sorts of things according to that laid down book.” and do it."

At the beginning of 1649, the Code was adopted by the Zemsky Sobor, which is why it received the name of the cathedral. This set of laws bears a reflection of the flames of the popular uprisings that swept across the country. In the articles of the Code, which speak of the prohibition of submitting petitions to the Tsar in church during services, and the inadmissibility of any outrages and abuse in the Tsar’s court, echoes of the “Salt Riot” are clearly felt.

In the early 60s, Stepan Razin was a prominent figure on the Don. He is famous not only as a military expert and dashing grunt, but also as a great expert in Cossack battle tactics.

In his short life, S.T. Razin experienced and saw a lot: he survived the loss of his father, the massacre of his older brother, in hot battles he was on the verge of death more than once, he knew the hardships and hardships of the semi-nomadic Cossack life, half of which was spent on plows, and the other in the saddle. He crossed Rus' from the Sea of Azov to the White Sea, his path ran through Valuiki and Voronezh, Yelets and Tula, Yaroslavl and Totma, Veliky Ustyug and Arkhangelsk. Razin visited Moscow three times, the first time shortly after the Salt Riot and the adoption of the Council Code, and the third time a year before the uprising of 1662.

The capital struck the young Cossack fabulous beauty The Kremlin, with the strength and intricacy of skillfully erected boyar mansions, many windows and columns decorated with patterns. In the city, especially in the center, stone and brick buildings built in European style rose up. In distant Solovki, where Razin went according to Cossack custom, on pilgrimage, and in golden-domed Moscow, in his native Don and in Slobodskaya Ukraine, where Stepan’s named mother, the widow Matryona Govorukha, lived - everywhere he visited, he encountered the same thing but with the evil, injustice, oppression and violence that the rich and powerful inflicted on those who were dependent on them and, enduring poverty, hunger, deprivation, worked for them until they sweated. Stepan has seen enough of the people's suffering, listened to the groans, complaints and insults of those who were beaten half to death for arrears, cut to the bones on the right, deceived and robbed by governors and clerks, illegally - without a turn and on time - taken as datochny people (in the army), who remained from - for the master's tyranny without a breadwinner, widows and orphans, the sick and crippled, worn out and crippled in the past by backbreaking work. Razin often came across tramps - people who had had a hard time and had once left their homes, but never found their way anywhere. Like tumbleweeds, they wandered from place to place, staying away from roads, making their way through groves, copses and forest edges.

The overpopulation of the Don, the crowding of the masses of the fugitive element there, the plight of the golutven Cossacks pushed the dissatisfied to set out, despite all the obstacles and obstacles, on a big campaign. well-wishers (volunteers) began to group around Stepan Razin, who was reputed to be a successful head (Cossack commander). The foreman, on the one hand, looked askance at this formation of the Cossack gang that was happening besides her, on the other hand, she was quite satisfied with the outflow from the Don of extra mouths and heads that were disturbing the entire region. However, she was by no means indifferent to Razin’s preparations and resolutely prevented his detachment’s attempt to break through to the Sea of Azov. The “housewives” understood that such actions could disrupt peace with Turkey, and, consequently, lead to new complications, or even a break with Moscow, which was not at all part of their plans. But when, at the beginning of May 1667, Razin, who had gathered more than 600 people under his command, settled near the town of Panshin, between the rivers Tishina and Ilovlya, on high hillocks surrounded by water, the foreman did not interfere with him, although the rich Don people suffered considerable losses from the Razins, since those, equipping the campaign, stocking up on food, clothing, weapons, gunpowder and lead, took by force a lot of goods and provisions from the “households”. The foreman did not speak out against it, and when in the first half of May Razin headed towards the Volga, where much more space opened up for him and his detachment than on the Don, locked at the mouth. The Cossack elite had its own direct calculation, which consisted not only in shaking off the restless hunger, but also in waiting for their half share of the booty, for many “households” precisely on these conditions supplied the Razinites with weapons, ammunition, provided their river boats and etc.

In the second half of May 1667, Razin's flotilla reached the Volga along the Kamyshenka River. The peasant war began as a traditional campaign “for zipuns.” Except that on the Cossack plows there were not 150-200 people, as usual during such raids, but about 1,500.

North of Tsaritsyn, the rebels boarded the trading plows and landings of the guest Vasily Shorin, other eminent merchants, Patriarch Nikon, as well as the tsar himself. In the caravan attacked by the Razins there were also ships with shackles - exiles who were being transported to Astrakhan and the Terek. In a short battle, the Donets defeated the sovereign archers accompanying the ships, dealt with the initial ranks and merchant clerks. Razin and other Cossacks knew the rich Shorin well as one of those against whom the Copper Riot in Moscow in July 1662 was directed. By collecting the fifth money (property tax), this financial tycoon aroused the burning hatred of the people. In the destruction of Shorin's plows by the Razinites, it seems reasonable to see without exaggeration a motive for social revenge on the murderous merchant. The rebels not only did not touch the exiles, but also immediately released them. They, like the yaryzhki (ship workers), were given free rein, “whoever wants to go where he wants,” and “about a hundred working people went to the Cossacks” from the patriarchal fortress, and sixty from Shorinsky. The uninhibited shackles did not fail to take the opportunity to teach their former convoy a lesson. As the documents say, they attacked the sovereign’s military men “more than straight Don Cossacks.”

By portraying Razin as invulnerable, people transferred to him the features of their favorite heroes, popular in their midst. So, here is obvious, for example, the analogy with Yegor the Brave - a character in an epic spiritual verse, known to many oppressed and disadvantaged in Russia XVII centuries. Yegor is tortured with various torments, he is chopped with axes and sawed with saws, thrown into boiling tar and buried in cellars, but he remains unharmed. Having overcome all obstacles and adversity, Yegor the Brave walks across the light Russian land, reviving it.

On March 23, 1668, having forestalled the approach of a large punitive army from Astrakhan to the Yaitsky town, Stepan Timofeevich Razin began his legendary campaign against the Caspian Sea, sung in folk songs and tales. Its route runs from the mouth of the Terek to Derbent, from Derbent to Shirvan and Baku, then to Pig Island with entry along the Kura River into the “Georgian County”, then through the cities of Rasht, Farabat, Astrabat to the Miyan-Kale Peninsula, where the flotilla stops for the winter.

The rebels entered the Caspian Sea in a large detachment numbering about two thousand people. Its initial composition included several hundred Don, Yaik and Terek Cossacks under the leadership of their atamans. They hurried to connect with Razin in order to act together with him. For example, Sergei Krivoy, known on the Volga for daring raids on merchant caravans, led 700 daredevils to the western Caspian coast, where Razin was at that time, defeating the archers who blocked his path under the command of the head of G. Avksentyev. The forces of the rebels were significantly replenished by the military men who went over to their side, the peasants who in the spring left their villages, hungry in winter, to hire out as barge haulers, and the urban poor who lived on ship work.

The Razins sailed on dozens of easily maneuverable plows, convenient in the Caspian shallow waters; they had their own guns and guns captured from the archers, a supply of gunpowder and provisions. In general, they were well equipped for a long hike. Documents show that the rebels did not turn their weapons against the lower ranks of the local population. This immediately gained sympathy for the fair Russians among the Persian poor. It is even known that Razin’s detachment was “attached by a meager number of foreigners.” Sympathy and support for the oppressed masses of Persia is one of the main clues to why the Persian army, with a huge army and a strong fleet, could not crush the brave Razins for almost two years.

Participants in the Caspian campaign mined “zipuns”, did not disdain any eastern goods that fell into their hands, but the seizure of any goods, enrichment for them was rather not a goal, but a means that they traditionally chose to ensure the existence of their detachment, in order to preserve it for the future . Both in Russia and in Persia, Razin does not want to put up with the omnipotence of the aristocracy, with the wealthy merchants who do not know how to restrain themselves from fleecing and deceiving the common people, and in his own way strives to protect the people and punish the culprits of their troubles.

With sailing to the Persian shores, Razin pinned the hope of finding a “free land.” He sends three of his comrades to the Shah with a request to “show him a place where they can live and eat.” The ruler of Persia, looking for a way to put an end to the dominance of the Cossacks in his state, ordered to allocate a zone for them to settle, but with the obvious expectation of luring them into a trap and dealing with them. Suspecting this, Razin “didn’t want to come to that place, but asked for himself... a strong island on which it was... impossible to take it.”

Now it is difficult to say how the Razin people would have arranged their lives if the Shah had nevertheless allocated them suitable territory for colonization. This area would probably become something of a second don. However, Razin’s main thoughts remained in his homeland. A number of facts allow us to judge that the rebel ataman at one time hatched a plan to gather forces in Persia and, given the tension of Russian-Persian relations, the long-standing rivalry of the two countries in eastern trade, to quarrel between the Shah and Moscow, and then, in alliance with him, to move up the Volga to the center of Russia. The political naivety of these illusions was obvious: established economic ties with Moscow, the danger of an alliance with the Cossack gang against a powerful northern neighbor, the complete discrepancy of class interests and much more kept the Persian government from joint actions with the Razins. In addition, a letter came from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in which the “Shah’s Majesty” was asked to “order his Persian region around the Khvalynsky Sea to be on guard”, to ensure that “he would not give harbor to thieves and would not make friends with them, but would beat them.” they would be killed everywhere and without mercy.”

Having received such “recommendations,” the Shah not only immediately interrupted all negotiations with Razin, but also ordered one of his ambassadors to be torn to pieces by hungry dogs, and the other two to be shackled. This massacre embittered the participants in the campaign. They no longer try to win the Shah to their side diplomatically, but go “to fight many Qizilbash cities and districts.” The Cossack cunning, which has saved the Razinites more than once, comes into play again. Understanding Persian, Stepan Timofeevich, dressed in an old dress, repeatedly went personally to Isfahan, the richest Persian city, to listen to what they were talking about there. Thanks to such reconnaissance, he knew well what was going on in the enemy camp and forestalled the enemy’s actions. The differences penetrated into the large trading city of Ferabat under the guise of merchants. Since they had full holds of the most desirable goods, they sold them for five days at reasonable prices and during this time they got to know all the local rich people. Having robbed them completely, the imaginary merchants left Ferabat, and in the city they talked for a long time about how Razin had deceived those who had been robbing and deceiving others for so many years.

The Persian campaign went down in history as victorious. Indeed, the amazing successes of the rebel detachment stunned not only the Persians, but also made a strong impression on the royal authorities. Razin felt confident in battles both on land and at sea. The battle at Pig Island in the spring of 1669 brought him great fame. The experienced Persian naval commander Memed Khan, who threw 50 ships against the Razins with almost four thousand people on board, then suffered a catastrophic defeat. He had only three ships left with the pitiful remnants of his army. Memed Khan's son Shabyn-debey was captured, and according to legend, also his daughter, a girl of extraordinary beauty, widely known from folklore as a Persian princess. The question is whether this beautiful maiden, later allegedly brought by Razin as a gift to Mother Volga, was a real historical person or a fictional figure.

The princes of the Cossack freemen returned to their native Don in rays of glory. Covered in legends, the name of Stepan Razin becomes a social magnet, attracting hundreds and hundreds of disadvantaged people to him. The news about the people's intercessor, Father Stepan Timofeevich, spread far across Russia. The common people were not so much giddy by the rumors about the untold riches brought by the Razins from the Persian shores, but rather warmed their hearts by the thought that there was a man who dared to argue with the boyars and nobles, present them with his demands, and if necessary, then be able to roughly punish them so that it would be discouraging for others to offend the defenseless.

On the Don, the participants in the Caspian campaign and its leader greatly pushed back the Cossack elders, shaking her authority and the power of the military ataman. The town of Kagalnik, near which Razin’s 1,500-strong detachment camped, quickly eclipsed the old capital of the Cossack region, Cherkassk. Usually, the gangs gathered by one or another ataman to go after the “zipuns” quickly disintegrated upon their return; the number of Razin’s army, on the contrary, grew steadily. In November 1669 it already numbered 2,700 people; by the spring of 1670 it reached 4,000.

When the rebel detachment, despite attempts to detain him, left Russia, the tsarist government received this news with a certain relief: it was much more satisfied that Razin rushed to foreign shores than if he acted within the country. For the first time, the social danger emanating from the princes of the Cossack freemen passed safely for the feudal class. The unrest also subsided relatively quickly due to the return of the Razins from the Caspian Sea through Astrakhan and Tsaritsyn to the Don.

However, Alexei Mikhailovich’s administration received more and more confirmation that after sailing for the “zipuns,” its participants did not even think of returning to their former life on the Don. The authorities had serious reasons to fear. Razin demonstrated too clearly that he could freely become the master in the Lower Volga and Moscow would not be able to compete with him there.

The Peasant War led to the division of the vast territory of the European part of the country into two zones: in one, the tsarist administration continued to rule, in the other, all power was in the hands of the rebels. Both these regions are very difficult to delimit geographically. since the situation changed almost daily, settlements passed from hand to hand. Almost the entire district could be in the hands of the rebels,

and its center and individual cities remained with the government. It also happened the other way around. In total, at different stages of the peasant war, the Razins controlled over 50 cities, some of them, like Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, were centers of uprising for more than a year, others, like Penza, Saransk, Temnikov and others - from autumn to winter, others - in their including Alatyr, Kozmodemyansk and others - no more than a month. Crushed in one place, the uprising arose in another. And yet, by the end of 1670, during the protracted class battle, a turning point occurred in favor of government forces. In December, tsarist troops occupied Penza. A fierce battle, which ended in the defeat of the Razins, broke out in the Alatyr region, near the village of Turgenev. “They are thieves,” says the voivode’s report, “they lined up the convoy and infantry, and swept them with slingshots, and their cavalry regiments stood near their infantry, and guns were placed near the convoy and around the cavalry regiments, and ... military men began to attack them, infantry against infantry , and horsemen on horseback, and a big battle broke out; they beat the thieves completely, cut down many of their infantry, and there were many living thieves in that battle, and... they were ordered to execute them all by death.” In the last days of January 1671, the uprising in the Tambov-Penza region, drowned in blood, was suppressed.

The rebel forces were running out. Many of them died on the battlefields, many were captured by punitive forces. There were many who, after the defeat of their detachment, lost faith in the movement and, considering further struggle pointless, went home.

The sovereign's troops captured locality after locality, county after county. One after another, the cities where Razin’s freemen held out for a long time fell under the blows of government troops. The last strongholds of the uprising were Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan. In Astrakhan, Vasily Usa was no longer among the representatives of the rebel authorities. The glorious ataman died of a serious illness (presumably glanders), and the main role in the leadership of the city was played by his comrade and associate Fyodor Sheludyak,

Having recovered from his wounds, Razin hatched plans to start a new campaign and really counted on strongholds for the movement towards Tsaritsyn and especially towards Astrakhan. But events on the Don prevented the rebel chieftain from realizing his intentions. On April 14, 1671, the Kagalnitsky town, where Razin was located with several hundred Cossacks, was attacked by a detachment of thousands of “household” Donets led by K. Yakovlev. They set fire to the wooden walls of Kagalnik, entered the town and captured the desperately fighting Razin. Later, Stepan’s brother Frol also fell into their hands. At the price of extraditing the Razin brothers, the Cossack elder hoped to buy forgiveness for her previous indulgence of the formidable ataman, for the fact that she profited greatly from his generosity. The royal mercy towards Yakovlev and other “good” Don residents exceeded their expectations: they were not only forgiven, but also received 100 gold chervonets in gratitude from the “Quiet One”.

On June 2, 1671, Stepan and Frol were taken to Moscow in shackles under heavy escort. On June 6, 1671, Stepan Razin was executed in Red Square in front of a large crowd of people. Having said “I’m sorry” according to Russian custom and bowing to the people on all four sides, Razin courageously accepted a terrible death - he was sentenced to quartering. First they cut off his right arm, then his left leg at the knee, and only then cut off his head.

In the history of Russia there are not many uprisings that lasted for a long time. But the uprising of Stepan Razin is an exception from this list.

It was one of the most powerful and destructive.

This article provides a brief story about this event, indicating the reasons, prerequisites and results. This topic is studied at school, in grades 6-7, and questions are included in exam tests.

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin

Stepan Razin became the Cossack leader in 1667. He was able to gather several thousand Cossacks under his command.

In the 60s, separate detachments of fugitive peasants and townspeople repeatedly committed robberies in different places. There were many reports of such detachments.

But the gangs of thieves needed an intelligent and energetic leader, with whom small detachments could gather and form a single force that would destroy everything in its path. Stepan Razin became such a leader.

Who is Stepan Razin

The leader and leader of the uprising, Stepan Razin, was a Don Cossack. Almost nothing is known about his childhood and youth. There is also no exact information about the place and date of birth of the Cossack. There are several different versions, but all of them are unconfirmed.

History begins to become clearer only in the 50s. By that time, Stepan and his brother Ivan had already become commanders of large Cossack detachments. There is no information about how this happened, but it is known that the detachments were large, and the brothers had great respect among the Cossacks.

In 1661 they made a campaign against the Crimean Tatars. The government didn't like it. A report was sent to the Cossacks reminding them that they were obliged to serve on the Don River.

Discontent and disobedience to the authorities in the Cossack detachments began to grow. As a result, Stepan's brother Ivan was executed. This was precisely the reason that pushed Razin to revolt.

Causes of the uprising

The main reason for the events of 1667 - 1671. in Rus' was that a population dissatisfied with the government had gathered on the Don. These were peasants and serfs who fled from feudal oppression and the strengthening of serfdom.

Too many dissatisfied people gathered in one place. In addition, Cossacks lived on the same territory, whose goal was to gain independence.

The participants had one thing in common - hatred of order and authority. Therefore, their alliance under the leadership of Razin was not surprising.

Driving forces of the uprising of Stepan Razin

Various groups of the population took part in the uprising.

List of participants:

peasants;
Cossacks;
Sagittarius;
townspeople;
serfs;
peoples of the Volga region (mostly non-Russian).

Razin wrote letters in which he urged the dissatisfied to carry out campaigns against nobles, boyars and merchants.

Territory covered by the Cossack-peasant uprising

In the first months, the rebels captured the Lower Volga region. Then most of the state fell into their hands. The map of the uprising covers vast areas.

Cities that the rebels captured include:

Astrakhan;
Tsaritsyn;
Saratov;
Samara;
Penza.

It is worth noting: most cities surrendered and went over to Razin’s side voluntarily. This was facilitated by the fact that the leader declared all people who came over to him free.

Rebel demands

The rebels presented Zemsky Sobor several requirements:

Cancel serfdom and completely free the peasants.
Form an army of Cossacks, which would be part of the tsarist army.
Decentralize power.
Reduce peasant taxes and duties.

The authorities, naturally, could not agree to such demands.

Main events and stages of the uprising

The Peasant War lasted 4 years. The rebels' performances were very active. The entire course of the war can be divided into 3 periods.

First campaign 1667 - 1669

In 1667, the Cossacks captured the Yaitsky town and stayed there for the winter. This was the beginning of their actions. After this, the rebel troops decided to go “for zipuns,” that is, booty.

In the spring of 1668 they were already in the Caspian Sea. Having ravaged the coast, the Cossacks went home through Astrakhan.

There is a version that upon returning home, the chief governor of Astrakhan agreed to let the rebels pass through the city on the condition that they give him part of the loot. The Cossacks agreed, but then did not keep their word and avoided fulfilling their promises.

The revolt of Stepan Razin 1670-1671

In the early 70s, the Cossacks, led by Razin, undertook a new campaign, which had the character of an open uprising. The rebels moved along the Volga, capturing and destroying cities and settlements along the way.

Suppression of the uprising and execution

The uprising of Stepan Razin dragged on too long. Finally, the authorities decided to take more decisive action. At a time when the Razins were besieging Simbirsk, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich sent a punitive expedition to them in the form of a 60,000-strong army to suppress the uprising.

Razin's troops numbered 20 thousand. The siege of the city was lifted and the rebels were defeated. Comrades carried the wounded leader of the uprising from the battlefield.

Stepan Razin was captured only six months later. As a result, he was taken to Moscow and executed on Red Square by quartering.

Reasons for the defeat of Stepan Razin

The uprising of Stepan Razin is one of the most powerful in history. So why did the Razinites fail?

The main reason is the lack of organization. The uprising itself had a spontaneous character of struggle. It mainly consisted of robbery.

There was no management structure within the army; there was fragmentation in the actions of the peasants.

Results of the uprising

However, it cannot be said that the actions of the rebels were absolutely useless for the dissatisfied sections of the population.

introduction of benefits for the peasant population;
free Cossacks;
reduction of taxes on priority goods.

Another consequence was that the beginning of the liberation of the peasants was laid.

Stepan Razin is well known not only as historical figure, but also as a character in works of art: a folk song about Stenka Razin, a historical novel by A.P. Chapygina “Razin Stepan” and others. What reasons prompted the simple Don Cossack Stepan Timofeevich to rebel against the tsarist power of Alexei Mikhailovich? One of the eyewitnesses of those events, Dutchman Jan Streis, writes that the rebel himself explained this reason as revenge for his brother, who was executed by order of commander Yuri Dolgoruky in 1665 during a campaign against the Poles. But still, apparently, this was not what prompted him to speak out against the king, since he also spoke out against the Persian ruler, who personally did not harm him in any way.

Officially explains the reasons for the uprising by the general dissatisfaction of the peasants with life under serfdom. Having led an army of Don Cossacks, which also included runaway peasants dissatisfied with the tsarist policy, Razin began to “walk” along the Volga, robbing Russian and foreign merchants (1667). Then (1668 - 1669), together with his gang of naked people, he headed across the Caspian Sea to Persia - also for predatory purposes. The legend about the Persian princess who was captured and drowned in the Volga for obstinacy is retold by the people in song. This fact is not known for certain, but it is quite probable, given the unbridled nature of the Cossack robber. After the Persian campaign, the rebel troops returned to the Volga, then crossed the Don. Everywhere his army was replenished with “golutvennye” people, that is, naked people from the Cossacks and runaway peasants. About the fugitives: escaping from the serf owners central Russia to the Volga or Don, they could not settle in new places, living by peaceful labor, and then they joined the leader. This is no longer just a gang, but an entire bandit army formed by the ataman.

In the spring of 1670, he led his people to the Volga, in the summer of the same year he took Astrakhan, where his people, like bandits, mercilessly massacred all the boyars and even the priests. Having plundered and destroyed Astrakhan, he headed north along the Volga. From this time on, the chaotic peasant revolt developed into an uprising, and then into a full-fledged peasant war. Razin was joined by the zemshchina, foreigners - everyone who was against the tsarist laws and the arbitrariness of the boyars in the localities. The territory engulfed by the fire of war expanded with catastrophic speed. With his troops, he quickly moved north along the Volga, conquered cities and approached Simbirsk - a turning point in the war took place here. Near Simbirsk, Stepan was met by a well-trained royal army led by Prince Yu.N. Baryatinsky and defeated the rebel peasant detachments. The leader himself with his Cossacks, under the cover of darkness, leaving the army of Volga peasants, fled to the Don. In the morning, the rebels saw that they had been betrayed and quickly rushed to the Volga, where their ships were moored. But Baryatinsky, of course, foresaw this option and got ahead of the fugitives. Everyone was either shot, hanged, or captured. As a warning to others, hundreds of gallows were built on the banks of the Volga, on which the bodies of the rebels dangled for a long time. After the defeat in this war, people gradually came to their senses. And rumors about gallows along the banks of the Volga greatly sobered up desperate people who were ready to revolt.

And the most important thing is the flight of Stepan Razin. It did not add any courage, audacity, or courage to the dissatisfied peasants. He disappointed them with his betrayal and flight, putting an end to his fate. But he still tried to fight on the Don. Ataman Kornila Yakovlev gathered an army of Don Cossacks against him. The chieftain repelled these actions, as always, brutally dealing with his opponents. But cruelty did not save him. Don had already begun to reject him. Razin made another attempt to take Cherkassk. It was unsuccessful and he retreated to the city of Kagalnik. There he was found by the Cossack militia of Kornila Yakovlev. Having attacked Kagalnik, defeating rebel detachments and taking him and his brother Frolka prisoner, the Cossacks handed over Ataman Razin to the tsarist government. Yakovlev himself delivered the brothers to Moscow, where they were executed.

Razin Stepan Timofeevich, also known as Stenka Razin (circa 1630–1671). Don Ataman. Leader of the Peasant War (Stepan Razin's Rebellion) 1667–1671.

He was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in the family of a wealthy - “home-loving” - Cossack Timofey Razi, a participant in the capture of the Turkish fortress of Azov and the “Azov sitting”, the father of three sons - Ivan, Stepan and Frol. Stenka early gained combat experience in border battles that constantly took place in the Trans-Don and Kuban steppes. Future in youth Cossack chieftain distinguished by ardor, pride and personal courage.

1652 - according to the behest of his late father, he went on a pilgrimage to the Solovetsky Monastery, traveling all the way Russian kingdom from south to north and back, visited Moscow. The lack of rights and poverty seen among the peasant and townspeople had a strong influence on the worldview of the young Cossack.

At the military circle in 1658, he was elected to the stanitsa (embassy) from the free Don, led by ataman Naum Vasiliev to Moscow. From that time, the first written evidence of Stepan Timofeevich Razin has been preserved for history.

Stepan early became one of the Cossack leaders thanks to his diplomatic abilities and military talents. 1661 - together with ataman Fyodor Budan, he negotiated with the Kalmyk taishas (princes) about concluding peace and joint actions against the Crimean Tatars in the Trans-Don region. The negotiations were successful, and for two centuries the Kalmyk cavalry was part of the regular military force of the Russian state. And Razin, as part of the Don villages, had the opportunity to again visit the capital Moscow and Astrakhan. There he took part in new negotiations with the Kalmyks, without needing translators.

In 1662 and 1663 At the head of a detachment of Don Cossacks, Razin made successful campaigns within the Crimean Khanate. Together with the Cossacks of Sary Malzhik and the cavalry of the Kalmyk taishas, the Razin Cossacks in the battles of Perekop and in the Molochnye Vody tract defeated the Krymchaks, in whose ranks there were many Turks. They captured rich booty, including horse herds of 2,000 heads.

Causes of the uprising

...The events of 1665 radically changed the fate of the Razin brothers. By royal order, a large detachment of Don Cossacks, led by Ivan Razin on the campaign, became part of the army of the governor, Prince Yu.A. Dolgoruky. There was a war with the Polish-Lithuanian state, but it was fought near Kiev extremely sluggishly.

When the winter cold began, Ataman Ivan Razin tried to take his Cossacks back to the Don without permission. By order of Prince Dolgorukov, he, as the instigator of the “rebellion,” was captured and executed in front of his younger brothers. Therefore, the motive of revenge for his brother Ivan largely determined the anti-boyar sentiments of Stepan Razin, his hostility towards the existing “Moscow government”.

At the end of 1666, by order of the Tsar, they began to look for fugitives in the Northern Don, where a lot of Cossacks had accumulated in particular. The situation there was becoming explosive for boyar Moscow. Stepan Razin, sensing the mood on the Don, decided to act.

Before the uprising

1667, spring - he, with a small detachment of Cossacks and fugitive peasant serfs, moved on river boats from the military village of the city of Cherkassk up the Don. Along the way, the farms of the rich, homely Cossacks were ruined. The Razins settled on the islands between the Don channels - Ilovlya and Tishina. They dug dugouts and erected huts. This is how the town of Panshin appeared near the portage from the Don to the Volga. Stepan Razin was proclaimed ataman.

Soon, Stepan Razin’s detachment stationed there increased to 1,500 free people. Here the plan for a hike along the Volga “for zipuns” finally matured. They found out about this in Moscow: the Cossack freemen were declared “thieves’ Cossacks” in a letter to the Astrakhan governor. According to their leader’s plan, they were to move with plows to the Volga, descend along it into the Caspian Sea and take possession of the remote town of Yaitsky, which they wanted to make their robber base. Razin had already “arranged” his relationship with the Yaik Cossacks.

1668, May - Cossack plows appeared on the Volga north of Tsaritsyn and went down the river, reaching the Caspian Sea. The first merchant caravan they encountered was plundered. Having passed along the seashore, the ship's army entered Yaik, and the Razins fought in battle to take the Yaitsky town, in which there was a Streltsy garrison. A detachment of royal archers who arrived from Astrakhan was defeated under the walls of the town. Then the song sang:

From behind the island to the core,
Into the expanse of the river wave,
Razorbacks swim out
Stenka Razin's boats.

The differences captured the ancient fortress city of Derbent - “the iron gates of the Caucasus.” For some time it became a base for robber raids “for zipuns” for the Cossack ship’s army on the Persian coast.

The Razins spent the winter on the peninsula near Ferakhabad, and then moved to Svinoy Island south of Baku, which they “equipped” as a Cossack town. From here the Cossacks continued their sea raids, almost always returning to the island with rich booty. Among the devastated cities were the rich trading cities of Shamakhi and Rasht.

The Cossacks took rich booty from the settlements of the Gilan Bay and the Trukhmen (Turkmen) coast, in the vicinity of Baku. The Razins stole 7,000 sheep from the possessions of the Baku Khan. Persian military units were invariably defeated in battles. A considerable number of Russian captives who were here in slavery were freed.

The Persian Shah from the Abbasid dynasty, concerned about the current situation in his Caspian possessions, sent an army of 4,000 people against Razin. However, the Persians turned out to be not only bad sailors, but also unstable warriors. 1669, July - a real thing happened near Svinoy Island naval battle between the Cossack flotilla and the Shah's army. Of the 70 Persian ships, only three escaped: the rest were either boarded or sunk. However, the Cossacks also lost about 500 people in that naval battle.

The trip to the Caspian Sea “for zipuns” gave the Cossacks rich booty. The flotilla of Cossack plows burdened with it returned to their homeland. In August - September 1669, Stenka Razin passed through Astrakhan, where there was a stopover, and ended up in Tsaritsyn. He had the opportunity to give the Astrakhan governor, Prince Semyon Lvov, part of the taken loot and large-caliber cannons for the right of free passage to Tsaritsyn. From here the Cossacks crossed to the Don and settled in the town of Kagalnitsky.

Cossack troops began to flock to Kagalnik, and by the end of the year, under the leadership of Ataman Razin, up to 3,000 people gathered here. His younger brother Frol arrived to see him. Relations with the Cossack military sergeant major, who settled in Cherkassk, became strained and hostile.

And Razin’s plans kept expanding. Having decided to go to war with boyar Moscow, he tried to find allies for himself. In winter, he began negotiations with the Ukrainian hetman Petro Doroshenko and the Kosh chieftain of the Cossacks, Ivan Serko. However, they wisely refused to go to war with Moscow.

The uprising of Stepan Razin or the Peasant War

In the spring of 1770, Stenka Razin moved from the town of Kagalnitsky to the Volga. His army was divided into detachments and hundreds. As a matter of fact, this was the beginning of the Peasant War (the uprising of Stepan Razin), which in Russian historiography comes down to 1667–1671. Now the daring robber chieftain turned into the leader of the people's war: he called on the army that had stood under his banner to “go to Rus'.”

Tsaritsyn opened the city gates to the rebels. The local governor Timofey Turgenev was executed. A ship's caravan with a thousand archers, led by Ivan Lopatin, who approached from above along the Volga, smashed the razinits on the water near Money Island, and some of the tsar's servicemen went over to their side.

However, on the Volga the Astrakhan governor, Prince Semyon Lvov, was already waiting for the Cossacks with his archers. The meeting of the parties took place at Black Yar. But the battle did not happen here: the Astrakhan service people rebelled and went over to the opposing side.

From Black Yar, the Cossack ataman sent detachments up and down the Volga. They took Kamyshinka (now the city of Kamyshin). Relying on the complete sympathy of the common people, Stepan Razin was able to capture the Volga cities of Saratov and Samara without much difficulty. Now the bulk of his army, which had grown to 20,000 poorly armed and organized rebels, were landowner peasants.

Other initial people from the Cossacks, commanders of independent detachments, appeared around Razin. Among them, Sergei Krivoy, Vasily Us, Fyodor Sheludyak, Eremeev, Shumlivy, Ivan Lyakh and Razin’s younger brother Frol stood out.

The first blow was struck at Astrakhan with its stone Kremlin. The flotilla of the rebels now consisted of 300 different river ships, on which there were more than 50 cannons. The Cossack cavalry moved along the river bank. In total, the ataman led about 7,000 people.

Voivode Prince Ivan Prozorovsky was unable to defend the fortified city of Astrakhan. The Razins, supported by an uprising of the urban poor, took it by storm on June 24. The governor was executed: he was thrown from the tower to the ground. From Astrakhan, the rebels moved up the Volga: in the city, Stepan Razin left Usa and Sheludyak as governors, ordering them to tightly protect the city. He himself took about 12,000 people with him. It is believed that somewhere around 8,000 of them were armed with "fire combat".

After Samara was taken, the entire Middle Volga found itself in the fire of a popular uprising. Everywhere, Razin gave the serfs “freedom”, and the “bellies” (property) of the governor, nobles and officials (officials) for plunder. The leader of the rebels was greeted in cities and villages with bread and salt. On his behalf, “lovely letters”-appeals were sent in large numbers in all directions.

In Moscow, they realized the seriousness of the current situation: by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the Boyar Duma began to gather military detachments in the region of Stepan Razin’s uprising: rifle regiments and hundreds, local (noble) cavalry, and foreign servicemen. First of all, the tsarist governors were ordered to protect the then large cities of Simbirsk and Kazan.

Meanwhile, the peasant war was growing. Rebel detachments began to appear in places not so distant from Moscow. Due to their spontaneity and disorganization as a military force, the rebels, who destroyed the landowners' estates and boyar estates, were extremely rarely able to provide serious resistance to the military detachments that were sent out by the authorities. On behalf of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Stenka Razin was declared the “thieves’ chieftain.”

Simbirsk governor Ivan Miloslavsky was able to organize the defense of the city. The Razins were unable to take it: part of the garrison (about 4,000 people) took refuge in the local Kremlin. In the battles that took place near Simbirsk from October 1 to 4, 1670, they were defeated by the tsarist troops, under the command of the experienced governor Prince Yu.A. Dolgorukov.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin himself fought in the front ranks in those battles and was seriously wounded. He was taken from near Simbirsk to the town of Kagalnitsky. Ataman hoped to gather his strength again in his native Don. Meanwhile, the territory covered by the uprising narrowed sharply: the tsarist troops took Penza and “pacified” the Tambov region and Sloboda Ukraine by force of arms. It is believed that up to 100,000 rebels died during the uprising of Stepan Razin.

Suppression of the uprising. Execution

...Having recovered a little from his wounds, Razin decided to take possession of the military capital - Cherkassy. But he did not calculate his strengths and capabilities: by that time, the Cossack elders and the house-loving Cossacks, impressed by the victories of the tsarist commanders, were openly hostile towards him and the rebels and took up arms themselves.

The Razins approached Cherkassk in February 1671, but were unable to take it and retreated to Kagalnik. On February 14, a detachment of Cossack elders led by military ataman Yakovlev captured the Kagalnitsky town. According to other sources, almost the entire Don army, about 5,000 people, set out on the campaign.

In the town of Kagalnitsky, a beating of the rebel golytba took place. Razin himself was captured and, together with his younger brother Frol, was sent under strong guard to Moscow. It should be noted that Ataman Kornilo (Korniliy) Yakovlev was “in Azov affairs” a comrade-in-arms of Stepan’s father and his godfather.

“The Thief Ataman” Stenka Razin was executed in Moscow on Red Square on June 6, 1671. The executioner first cut off his right arm at the elbow, then his left leg at the knee, and then cut off his head. This is how the most legendary Cossack robber in the history of Russia, about whom many popular songs and legends were composed among the people, ended his violent life.

...The name of Stepan Timofeevich Razin in national history always remembered. Before the revolution, songs were sung about him and legends were made, after the revolution, during the years Civil War, his name was given to the 1st Orenburg Cossack Socialist Regiment, which distinguished itself in battles against Admiral Kolchak’s White Army in the Urals. A monument was erected to the Ataman of the rebellious Cossacks in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Streets and squares in different cities of modern Russia are named after him.