Peasant uprisings in Russia have always been one of the most massive and significant protests against official power. This was largely due to the fact that the peasants, both before the revolution and under Soviet rule, had an absolute majority. At the same time, it was they who remained the most flawed and least protected social class.
Bolotnikov Uprising
One of the first peasant uprisings in Russia, which went down in history and made the authorities think about how to regulate this social class. This movement arose in 1606 in the southern regions of Russia. It was led by Ivan Bolotnikov.
An uprising began against the backdrop of serfdom finally formed in the country. The peasants were very dissatisfied with the increase in oppression. At the very beginning of the 17th century, mass escapes to the southern regions of the country were periodically made. In addition, the supreme power in Russia was unstable. False Dmitry I was killed in Moscow, but evil tongues claimed that in reality someone else became the victim. All this didShuisky's position is very precarious.
There were many dissatisfied with his rule. The famine made the situation unstable, which for several years did not allow the peasants to harvest a rich harvest.
All this led to Bolotnikov's peasant uprising. It began in the town of Putivl, where the local voivode Shakhovsky helped organize the troops, and some historians call him one of the organizers of the uprising. In addition to the peasants, many noble families were also dissatisfied with Shuisky, who did not like the fact that the boyars came to power. The leader of the peasant uprising, Bolotnikov, called himself the governor of Tsarevich Dmitry, claiming that he survived.
Trip to Moscow
Peasant uprisings in Russia were often massive. Almost always their main goal was the capital. In this case, about 30,000 rebels took part in the campaign against Moscow.
Shuisky sends troops to fight the rebels, led by governors Trubetskoy and Vorotynsky. In August, Trubetskoy was defeated, and already in the Moscow region, Vorotynsky was also defeated. Bolotnikov is successfully moving forward, defeating the main forces of Shuisky's army near Kaluga.
In October 1606, the outskirts of Kolomna were taken under control. A few days later, Bolotnikov's army laid siege to Moscow. Soon the Cossacks join him, but the Ryazan detachments of Lyapunov, who also acted on the side of the rebels, go over to the side of Shuisky. On November 22, Bolotnikov's army suffers its first tangible defeat and is forced to retreat to Kaluga and Tula. Bolotnikov himself now finds himself in a blockade in Kaluga, but thanks to the helpZaporozhye Cossacks, he manages to break through and connect with the remaining units in Tula.
In the summer of 1607, the tsarist troops begin the siege of Tula. By October, the Tula Kremlin had fallen. During the siege, Shuisky caused a flood in the city, damming the river that flowed through the city.
The first mass peasant uprising in Russia ended in defeat. Its leader Bolotnikov was blinded and drowned. Voivode Shakhovsky, who helped him, was forcibly tonsured a monk.
Representatives of different segments of the population participated in this uprising, so it can be called a full-scale Civil War, but this was one of the reasons for the defeat. Everyone had their own goals, there was no single ideology.
Peasant War
It is the Peasant War, or the uprising of Stepan Razin, that is called the confrontation between the peasants and the Cossacks and the royal troops, which began in 1667.
Speaking about its causes, it should be noted that at that time the final enslavement of the peasants took place. The search for fugitives became indefinite, duties and taxes for the poorest strata turned out to be unbearably large, the desire of the authorities to control and limit the Cossack freemen to the maximum grew. The massive famine and plague epidemic, as well as the general crisis in the economy, which happened as a result of the protracted war for Ukraine, played their role.
It is believed that the first stage of Stepan Razin's uprising was the so-called "campaign for zipuns", which lasted from 1667 to 1669. Then Razin's detachments managed to blockan important economic artery of Russia - the Volga, to capture a lot of Persian and Russian ships of merchants. Razin reached the Yaitsky town, where he settled and began to gather troops. It was there that he announced the upcoming campaign against the capital.
The main stage of the famous peasant uprising of the 17th century began in 1670. The rebels took Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan surrendered without a fight. The governor and the nobles who remained in the city were executed. An important role during the peasant uprising of Stepan Razin was played by the battle for Kamyshin. Several dozen Cossacks disguised themselves as merchants and entered the city. They killed the guards near the city gates, letting in the main forces, which captured the city. Residents were told to leave, Kamyshin was looted and burned.
When the leader of the peasant uprising - Razin - took Astrakhan, most of the population of the Middle Volga region, as well as representatives of the nationalities living in those places - Tatars, Chuvashs, Mordvins, went over to his side. It was bribed that Razin declared everyone who came under his banner a free man.
Resistance of the tsarist troops
Government troops moved to Razin under the leadership of Prince Dolgorukov. The rebels by that time besieged Simbirsk, but could not take it. The tsarist army, after a month-long siege, nevertheless defeated the rebels, Razin was seriously wounded, his comrades-in-arms took him to the Don.
But he was betrayed by the Cossack elite, who decided to extradite the leader of the uprising to the official authorities. In the summer of 1671 he was quartered in Moscow.
At the same time, the troopsthe rebels resisted even before the end of 1670. On the territory of modern Mordovia, the largest battle took place, in which about 20,000 rebels participated. They were defeated by the royal troops.
At the same time, the Razintsy continued to resist even after the execution of their leader, holding Astrakhan until the end of 1671.
The result of Razin's peasant uprising cannot be called comforting. To achieve their goal - the overthrow of the nobility and the abolition of serfdom - its participants failed. The uprising demonstrated a split in Russian society. The massacre was full scale. In Arzamas alone, 11,000 people were executed.
Why is Stepan Razin's uprising called the Peasants' War? Answering this question, it should be noted that it was directed against the existing state system, which was perceived as the main oppressor of the peasantry.
Russian rebellion
The Pugachev rebellion was the largest uprising of the 18th century. Starting as an uprising of the Cossacks on Yaik, it grew into a full-scale war of the Cossacks, peasants and peoples living in the Volga region and the Urals against the government of Catherine II.
The uprising of the Cossacks in Yaitsky town broke out in 1772. He was quickly suppressed, but the Cossacks were not going to give up. They got a reason when Emelyan Pugachev, a runaway Cossack from the Don, came to Yaik and declared himself Emperor Peter III.
In 1773, the Cossacks again opposed the government troops. The uprising quickly swept almost the entire Urals, the Orenburg Territory,Middle Volga and Western Siberia. Participation in it was taken in the Kama region and Bashkiria. Very quickly, the rebellion of the Cossacks turned into a peasant uprising by Pugachev. Its leaders carried out competent campaigning, promising the oppressed sections of society the solution to the most pressing problems.
As a result, Tatars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Chuvashs, Kalmyks, Ural peasants went over to the side of Pugachev. Until March 1774, Pugachev's army won victory after victory. The rebel detachments were led by experienced Cossacks, and they were opposed by a few and sometimes demoralized government troops. Ufa and Orenburg were besieged, a large number of small fortresses, cities and factories were captured.
Suppression of the uprising
Only realizing the seriousness of the situation, the government began to pull the main troops from the outskirts of the empire in order to suppress the peasant uprising of Pugachev. General-in-chief Bibikov took over the leadership of the army.
In March 1774, government troops managed to win several important victories, some of Pugachev's associates were killed or captured. But in April Bibikov himself dies, and the Pugachev movement flares up with renewed vigor.
The leader manages to unite the detachments scattered throughout the Urals and by the middle of summer take Kazan - one of the largest cities of the empire at that time. There are many peasants on Pugachev's side, but militarily his army is much inferior to government troops.
In the decisive battle near Kazan, which lasts three days, Pugachev is defeated. Hemoves to the right bank of the Volga, where he is again supported by numerous serfs.
In July, Catherine II sent new troops to suppress the uprising, which had just been released after the war with Turkey ended. Pugachev on the Lower Volga does not receive support from the Don Cossacks, his army is defeated at Cherny Yar. Despite the defeat of the main forces, the resistance of individual units continues until the middle of 1775.
Pugachev himself and his closest associates were executed in Moscow in January 1775.
Chapan War
The peasant uprising in the Volga region covers several provinces in March 1919. This becomes one of the most massive peasant uprisings against the Bolsheviks, also known as the Chapan uprising. This unusual name is associated with a winter coat made of sheepskin, which was called a chapan. It was very popular clothing among the peasants of the region during the cold season.
The reason for this uprising was the policy of the Bolshevik government. The peasants were dissatisfied with the food and political dictatorship, the robbery of villages, and food requisitioning.
By the beginning of 1919, about 3.5 thousand workers were sent to the Simbirsk province to harvest bread. By February, more than 3 million poods of grain were confiscated from local peasants, and at the same time they began to collect an emergency tax, which the government introduced in December last year. Many peasants sincerely believed that they were doomed to starvation.
You will learn the dates of the peasant uprising in the Volga region from this article. It started March 3rdNovodevichy village. The last straw was the rude actions of the tax collectors, who came to the village, demanding to give cattle and grain in favor of the state. The peasants gathered near the church and sounded the alarm, this was the signal for the start of the uprising. Communists and members of the executive committee were arrested, a detachment of Red Army soldiers was disarmed.
The Red Army, however, themselves went over to the side of the peasants, so when a detachment of Chekists from the county arrived in Novodevichy, they were resisted. Villages located in the district began to join the uprising.
The peasant uprising was rapidly spreading across the Samara and Simbirsk provinces. In villages and cities, the Bolsheviks were overthrown, cracking down on communists and Chekists. At the same time, the rebels had practically no weapons, so they had to use pitchforks, pikes and axes.
The peasants moved to Stavropol, taking the city without a fight. The plans of the rebels were to capture Samara and Syzran and unite with Kolchak's army, which was advancing from the east. The total number of rebels ranged from 100 to 150 thousand people.
Soviet troops decided to concentrate on attacking the main enemy forces located in Stavropol.
The entire Middle Volga region has risen
The uprising reached its peak on March 10th. By this time, the Bolsheviks had already pulled up units of the Red Army, which had artillery and machine guns. Scattered and poorly equipped peasant detachments could not offer them adequate resistance, but fought for every village that the Red Army had to takestorm.
By the morning of March 14, Stavropol was captured. The last major battle took place on March 17, when a peasant detachment of 2,000 people was defeated near the city of Karsun. Frunze, who commanded the suppression of the uprising, reported that at least a thousand rebels were killed, and about 600 more people were shot.
Having defeated the main forces, the Bolsheviks began mass repressions against the inhabitants of the rebellious villages and villages. They were sent to concentration camps, drowned, hanged, shot, the villages themselves were burned. At the same time, individual detachments continued to resist until April 1919.
Rebellion in Tambov province
Another major uprising during the Civil War took place in the Tambov province, it is also called the Antonov rebellion, since the actual leader of the rebels was the Social Revolutionary, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Insurgent Army Alexander Antonov.
The peasant uprising in the Tambov province of 1920-1921 began on August 15 in the village of Khitrovo. The food detachment was disarmed there. The reasons for dissatisfaction were similar to those that provoked a riot in the Volga region a year earlier.
Peasants began to massively refuse to hand over bread, to destroy communists and security officers, in which partisan detachments helped them. The uprising spread rapidly, covering part of the Voronezh and Saratov provinces.
August 31, a punitive detachment was formed, which was supposed to suppress the rebels, but was defeated. At the same time, by mid-November, the rebels managed to create the United Partisan Army of the Tambov Territory. Mythey based their program on democratic freedoms, called for the overthrow of the Bolshevik dictatorship and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.
Struggle in Antonovism
In early 1921, the number of rebels amounted to 50 thousand people. Almost the entire Tambov province was under their control, railway traffic was paralyzed, and Soviet troops suffered heavy losses.
Then the Soviets take extreme measures - cancel the surplus appropriation, announce a full amnesty for ordinary participants in the uprising. The turning point comes after the Red Army gets the opportunity to transfer additional forces released after the defeat of Wrangel and the end of the war with Poland. The number of Red Army soldiers by the summer of 1921 reaches 43,000 people.
Meanwhile, the rebels are organizing a Provisional Democratic Republic, headed by partisan leader Shendyapin. Kotovsky arrives in the Tambov province, who, at the head of a cavalry brigade, defeats two rebel regiments under the leadership of Selyansky. Selyansky himself is mortally wounded.
Fighting continues until June, parts of the Red Army crush the rebels under the command of Antonov, Boguslavsky's detachments evade a potential pitched battle. After that comes the final turning point, the initiative passes to the Bolsheviks.
Thus, about 55,000 Red Army soldiers are involved in the suppression of the uprising, a certain role is played by the repressive measures that the Bolsheviks take against the rebels themselves, as well as their families.
Researchers claim that when suppressingIn this uprising, the authorities for the first time in history used chemical weapons against the population. A special grade of chlorine was used to force rebel units out of the Tambov forests.
Reliably known about three facts of the use of chemical weapons. Some historians point out that chemical shells led to the death of not only the rebels, but also the civilian population, which was not involved in any way in the uprising.
In the summer of 1921, the main forces involved in the rebellion were defeated. The leadership issued an order to divide into small groups and switch to partisan operations. The rebels returned to the tactics of guerrilla combat. The fighting in the Tambov province continued until the summer of 1922.
