23. When the Cossacks Got Fed Up
During the reign of Catherine II, Russia’s elites adopted western culture, technologies, fashions, and foods. However, the new western way of living was expensive. To pay for it, Russia’s landed elites squeezed their serfs dry. That led to mounting resentment, serfs fleeing their landlords’ lands, unrest, and rebellions. In the decade from 1762 to 1772, the Russian Empire witnessed over 160 localized uprisings. The accumulating grievances finally erupted into a massive mega uprising, The Cossack Rebellion of 1773 to 1775. It was a major popular revolt that terrorized Russia’s elites and shook the state to its foundations.
It began with a rumor that Tsar Peter III, who had been murdered in 1763, was still alive. He was said to be hiding amongst the Cossacks from his former wife, Catherine, who sought to prevent him from abolishing serfdom. In reality, the person claiming to be Peter III was a Cossack and former Russian army officer named Yemelyan Pugachev. Pugachev had fought in the Seven Years War before deserting the Russian army to wander southern Russia among Orthodox religious fundamentalists. With them, he hatched a plan to pose as the dead Peter III, and in that guise he became popular with Cossacks and peasants.
