10. A Revolt That Shook Russia to Its Core
Pugachev promised to repeal an unpopular poll tax and to do away with forced labor. That was welcome news to many, and he amassed a large peasant army, supported by Cossacks, Tartars, and other non-Russians. In 1773, his forces crushed a Russian army sent to put down the revolt. As the rebels marched deeper into Russia, they promised the Russian masses liberation from aristocratic oppression. Pugachev, under the guise of Tsar Peter III, formed an alternate government that emphasized the peasants’ freedom from the nobility. He also held court to judge and punish abusive landlords and officials captured by the rebels.
The revolt steadily gained steam, and at its height, the rebels controlled vast territories that stretched from the Volga River to the Urals. In April 1774, Pugachev suffered a defeat and was forced to flee to the southern Urals. There, he raised a new army and returned to the fray. He fought a series of battles on the Steppe, particularly around the city of Kazan, which the rebels put to the torch. After a series of setbacks, the rebels retreated to the Volga River where, outside today’s Volgograd, they were defeated. Pugachev’s lieutenants then betrayed him to the authorities. The revolt collapsed with the capture of its leader, who was taken to Moscow and executed in January of 1775.
