From 1773 to 1775, Russian peasants rebelled against feudal oppression. The war swept across a vast area (orenburg border area, Ural Mountains, Ural Mountains, Western Siberia and the middle and lower reaches of Volga River), and 65,438+10,000 insurgents actively participated in the war. The peasant war was caused by the intensification of class contradictions. At that time, the feudal serfdom relationship in Russia was about to collapse, and the capitalist relationship gradually formed. Aristocratic and autocratic countries constantly strengthened the oppression of serf owners, causing strong resistance from the people. The main motive force of this peasant war is the peasants. In addition, the Cossack working class and mining workers also took part in the movement. There are other non-Russians in Bashkir, Tatar, kalmyk and the left bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Volga River. Shortly before the outbreak of this peasant war, in 177 1 year, an uprising ("plague") broke out in Moscow. 1772, Yaik Cossack rose up against the upper Cossack leaders (see the Cossack Army of Yaik River). In the same year, riots also took place in the villages and towns of Volga River and Don River. The government of Catherine II managed to control the oppressed people of all ethnic groups in a huge empire by relying on military strength. The war between Russia and Turkey (1768- 1774) made the domestic social contradictions more acute, and the increasingly heavy burden aroused the dissatisfaction of the working people.

1773, 17 In September, Cossack pugachev of the Don claimed to be Emperor Peter III, assembled an 80-member Yaik Cossack team, and issued an obituary announcing the privileges and privileges enjoyed by Cossacks in ancient times, giving them to Cossacks, Tatars and Kalmyks who had served in the Yaik army. On September 18, the insurgents approached the fortified town of Yaik (Uralsk), and abandoned the storm because there was no artillery, leaving only some troops to besiege. Pugachev led the rest of the team to March into orenburg, a military, political and strategic place in southeastern Russia. With farmers, Yakcossacks, fleeing soldiers, Tatars, Kazakhs, Kalmyks and workers from factories and mines in Ural region voluntarily joining the rebel army, pugachev's ranks grew rapidly. The rebels seized a large number of weapons (including artillery and ammunition) and food in various fortresses (Jilek town, Tatisheva town, Sakmara town, etc.). ) surrendered to pugachev. 10/0 On October 5th, pugachev rebels (about 2,500 men and 20 guns) began to besiege orenburg, which lasted for six months. In order to suppress the peasant war and reinforce orenburg, the government sent a crusade team headed by Major General Karl (3,500 men, 65,438 guns +00 guns), but it was defeated by rebels under the command of Ovchinnikov and Chika (Zarubin) in the battle near the village of Youzeyeva on1October 7-9. 165438+ 10, the government troops sent by Siberia and Simbirsk (Ulyanovsk) to the uprising areas were also defeated. Pugachev's resident Baelz Kaya Sloboda (6 kilometers from orenburg) was the center of directing the peasant war. Peasant volunteers from all over Russia gathered here to join the army. 1773 65438+in February, pugachev had about 25,000 men and 86 guns near orenburg. The peasant war swept through most of southern Urals, astrakhan and Kazan provinces, western Siberia and western Kazakhstan. Jinja Aslanov and Salavat Yulayev led the Bashkir people to revolt. In Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) (Beloborodov), Chelyabinsk (Gryaznov), Samara (kuibyshev) (Arapov), Stavropol Krai (Gerbetov), Kungur, Novemsk, Clasey (Kuznetsov, Yulayev, Salavat), Yaik Town (Tolkachev) and other places, many military leaders have appeared. The main force commanded by pugachev is the main force of the insurgents. Pugachev was born in the military (he was a second lieutenant in the Cossack army) and tried his best to make his troops have some kind of regular army. The insurgents are composed of regiments (generally 500 people in each regiment), and each regiment has companies (each company has about 100 people), each company has a hundred people or is under the command of a captain. The commander is elected by the soldiers' association. Many regiments are organized according to social origins (farmers, workers, Yaikcossacks, soldiers, etc.). ), nationality (Bashkir, Tatar, etc. ) or regional characteristics. The main forces and regiments issued military flags, which read the slogans in pugachev's orders. When the rebels were stationed in Kaya Sloboda, Baelz, they studied military affairs: assassination, shooting with guns, digging tunnels, burying mines and building bunkers. Pugachev and his leaders tried to coordinate missions and detachments, organize reconnaissance, and strive to strengthen discipline. In recognition of outstanding military service, medals were awarded. These medals are made of silver rubles and czar's medals. In order to lead the uprising, pugachev established a military commission in June of 1773+0 1 year, which existed until the end of August of 1774. The members of the Military Commission are: Vitos Novo, Shi Gaeff, Tvorogov, Pochitalin, gorshkov and others (the membership changed later). The military commission is responsible for directing the actions of the insurgents and organizing the weapons manufacturing of the factories in the Urals; Replenish soldiers and provide food and weapons; Fight robbery, and so on. In addition to military duties, military commissions also perform administrative and judicial functions. Ovchinnikov was one of the most talented commanders in the peasant war. Pugachev's General Staff Department is the council department presided over by him, and pugachev personally directs the operations of the main force. All combat operations were organized and implemented under the direct leadership of pugachev. The main force has a sound system, and its foundation is the establishment of the Cossack Army. Cossack is the core of the rebel army, but most of the Cossack troops are farmers and workers, and they have no military training. The rebels are poorly equipped, mainly cold weapons (sabre, spear, tomahawk, dagger, feather spear, flail, sickle, stick, etc. ) and bows and arrows; There are fewer guns.

This peasant war has the characteristics of locality, regional dispersion, spontaneity and disorganization, that is, it has all kinds of weaknesses inherent in previous peasant movements in feudal times. The lack of a unified strategic plan and the poor communication between the independent uprising areas made pugachev and CMC unable to lead the uprising movements around the country, and the independent uprising centers lost their unified leadership. Pugachev only besieged orenburg and Yaik town, but gave up marching into the Volga River basin (where people were ready to support him). As a result, the strategic base of the peasant war was confined to the southeast corner of the Russian empire, and Catherine II won the time to mobilize the army.

The czar's government expected to suppress the uprising with local troops. When this plan failed, Bibikov, the viceroy, was sent to lead a crusade (several cavalry and infantry regiments, with about 6,500 men and 30 guns) to suppress the rebels in pugachev in February 1773. Some scattered and poorly equipped insurgents were defeated near Samara and Kungur because they could not get the aid of pugachev's main force, which was besieging orenburg in vain. It was not until the fall of Buzu Looks Kaya that pugachev withdrew some troops from orenburg in an attempt to stop the Tsar's troops from advancing. However,1March 22, 774, the two armies fought a decisive battle near the fortress of Tajisheva. The decisive battle lasted more than six hours. Pugachev's main force was defeated by government forces, about 2,000 people were killed, 4,000 people were injured and captured, and all the artillery was lost. On March 24th, another rebel army was defeated by mikkelsen's crusade army near Ufa. Soon, Chika (Zarubin) and Khlopusha (sokolov) were captured. Pugachev retreated from Betskaya Sloboda and abandoned the siege of orenburg. On April 1774 and 1, they fought the Crusaders again near the town of Sakmara, but failed again (more than 400 people were killed and more than 2,800 people were captured), and many cronies (Shigayev, Padurov, Novo, Vitos, gorshkov and Pochitalin) were captured. Pugachev led a team of 500 people out of the tight encirclement and went into the Urals to hide. By mid-April, 1774, although all the uprising centers had been destroyed, the teams of Salavat Yulayev, Beloborodov and Ovchinnikov were still active in Bashkir, Yekaterinburg and orenburg Border Region respectively.

1April 774, the second stage of the peasant war began. Pugachev recruited troops in the Urals industrial and mining areas and Bashkir, and on May 5, 774,/kloc-0 led his troops (5,000 people) out of the mountain, captured the Tenaya fortress in Magney, and joined the teams of Beloborodov and Ovchinnikov. Rebels went upstream along the Yaik River and occupied the fortress of Tusk in Troy on May 65438, 2009. However, on May 2 1 day, the insurgents were defeated and pugachev retreated to the Urals grassland. The government forces continued to pursue and hit the insurgents many times, but pugachev skillfully used guerrilla tactics and finally got rid of the enemy's pursuit and saved the main force. Insurgents are constantly supplemented by farmers, workers and Bashkir people. 1in the middle of June, 774, pugachev was forced to withdraw from the Urals industrial and mining area and head for the Volga River in order to realize the original plan of marching into Moscow. 1771July 12, the insurgents stormed and occupied Kazan, but failed to conquer the solid inner city defended by the defenders. Mikhail Hislen led his troops to rescue the defenders of the inner city in time, and defeated the insurgents on July 15 after a bloody battle in Alsk Yuanye. About 2000 rebels were killed and 5000 were captured. In this battle, Beloborodov, one of the outstanding leaders of the peasant war, and all his troops were captured alive. In order to get rid of the pursuit, pugachev led a capable army to the right bank of the Volga River. This is the end of the second stage of the peasant war. Many events in the second stage mainly occurred in the Urals and the western foothills of the Urals.

In the third stage, the uprising rose again. It has been widely supported by serfs and people of all ethnic groups (Tatars, Chuvash, Mordova, Mali, Meshyak) in the Volga River basin. Thousands of peasant guerrillas were spontaneously established in various places. The uprising swept through most counties in the Volga River valley and spread to the border of Moscow province, directly threatening Moscow, and the lower class residents, factory workers and aristocratic slaves were in an uproar. However, at this stage, pugachev made a strategic mistake: giving up the direct drive to Moscow, leaving the area with the largest peasant movement and turning to the south, in an attempt to get Cossack's supplement on the Don River and return to central Russia. On the way south, pugachev's team won the support of civilians everywhere. 1774 On July 20th, pugachev occupied Kourme, and then even Alatri (7.23), Saransk (7.27), Penza (8.2), Petrovsky (8.4) and saratov (8.6). However, at this stage, the locality and dispersion of the peasant uprising movement are particularly obvious: the uprising peasants usually fight actively in their own townships and counties, but they stop fighting when they arrive in neighboring counties. 1In August 774, Catherine II sent a large number of troops to suppress the peasant war-20 cavalry regiments and infantry regiments, as well as Cossack troops and noble volunteers. The crusaders forced pugachev to retreat to Hayar. On August 25th, the last battle of the peasant war was held near Soreniko Vawataga (75km south of Sorizin). As soon as the battle started, the insurgents lost their artillery and were defeated by the rebellion and betrayal of a small group of Yaik Cossack gentry. Pugachev led a small group of troops to retreat to the grassland on the left bank of the Volga River, where they were captured by traitors and handed over to the government. Pugachev and his comrades were tried in Yaik town, Simbirsk and Moscow respectively. 177565438+1October 10, pugachev, Perfilyev, Shi Gaeff, Padurov and tornov were executed in Boloto square in Moscow. Chika (Zarubin) was executed in Ufa on February 1775. Thousands of uprising officers and soldiers were whipped or exiled to Siberia.

Comments: The peasant war led by pugachev finally failed. The root of failure lies in the spontaneity and dispersion of the movement and the lack of a clear struggle program by the leaders of the movement. Pugachev and his supporters are representatives of the autocratic thought of the masses. They are against the landlords, but they support the "good tsar". This is a typical expression of the naive concept of monarch, which is based on the patriarchal clan system in rural Russia. The ruling class and the state use the experience of regular army, administrative and police agencies, finance, church and state management to deal with people's spontaneous riots. When talking about the objective reasons for the failure of the peasant war, Lenin emphatically pointed out: "From the' peasant war' in medieval Germany, ... we have seen countless examples: how a well-organized, highly conscious and well-armed minority forced the majority to obey their will and defeated the majority." In this peasant war, the oppressed people showed extraordinary heroism and courage, and many outstanding organizers and talented military leaders emerged. Although the peasant war failed, it objectively played a progressive role in the social development of Russia. The peasant war led by pugachev went down in history as the most glorious manifestation of the heroic struggle of the people in Russia to get rid of serfdom. 1773- 1775 peasant war, no matter in strength, unity, class division, organizational composition and degree of consciousness. Or in the clarity of social slogans and the intensity of class struggle, it surpassed all previous peasant wars. Although the people suffered a crushing defeat, they gained experience in revolutionary struggle. The peasant war shook the people's belief in the feudal system and accelerated the collapse of the landlord dictatorship. Under the influence of this peasant war, 18, 19 century Russian peasants' class struggle further developed.