11. A Fake Tsar Who Sparked a Major Rebellion
The increased taxation of the peasantry led to protests, increased incidences of serfs who fled their landlords’ lands, and rebellions. Between 1762 to 1772, over 160 localized peasant uprisings were recorded throughout the Russian Empire. In 1773, the discontent erupted into a massive peasant revolt. It was sparked by word that Tsar Peter III, who had been assassinated in 1763, had not actually been killed. Instead, he was said to have escaped death and fled to hide amidst the Cossacks from Tsarina Catherine the Great. In this narrative, the Tsarina was depicted as an evil figure who sought to thwart Peter III from his intent to emancipate Russia’s peasants from serfdom.
The self-proclaimed Tsar Peter III was actually Emilian Pugachev, a Cossack born in the same village where former peasant revolt leader Stenka Razin had been born a century earlier. Pugachev was a Russian army lieutenant who had fought in the Seven Years War. He eventually deserted, and wandered throughout southern Russia among Orthodox religious fundamentalists known as Old Believers. With them, Pugachev hatched a plan to pose as the deceased Peter III. In that guise, he soon attracted widespread popularity amongst Cossacks, peasants, and non-Russian populations resentful of official discrimination and demands to convert to Orthodox Christianity.
