The Pugachev uprising (Peasant War of 1773−1775) was a Cossack uprising that escalated into a full-scale peasant war led by Emelyan Pugachev. The main driving force behind the uprising were the Yaik Cossacks. Throughout the 18th century, they lost privileges and liberties. In 1772, an uprising broke out among the Yaik Cossacks; it was quickly suppressed, but protest sentiments did not fade away. Emelyan Ivanovich Pugachev pushed the Cossacks to further struggle - Don Cossack, a native of the Zimoveyskaya village. Finding himself in the Trans-Volga steppes in the fall of 1772, he stopped in the Mechetnaya Sloboda and learned about unrest among the Yaik Cossacks. In November of the same year, he arrived in the Yaitsky town and at meetings with the Cossacks began to call himself the miraculously saved Emperor Peter III. Soon after this, Pugachev was arrested and sent to Kazan, from where he fled at the end of May 1773. In August he reappeared in the army.
In September, Pugachev arrived at the Budarinsky outpost, where his first decree to the Yaitsky army was announced. From here a detachment of 80 Cossacks headed up the Yaik. Along the way, new supporters joined, so that by the time they arrived at the Yaitsky town, the detachment already numbered 300 people. On September 18, 1773, an attempt to cross the Chagan and enter the city ended in failure, but at the same time a large group of Cossacks, among those sent by Commandant Simonov to defend the town, went over to the side of the impostor. A repeated rebel attack on September 19 was also repulsed with artillery. The rebel detachment did not have its own cannons, so it was decided to move further up the Yaik, and on September 20 the Cossacks set up camp near the Iletsk town. Here a circle was convened, at which the troops elected Andrei Ovchinnikov as the marching ataman, all the Cossacks swore allegiance to the great sovereign, Emperor Peter Fedorovich.
After a two-day meeting on further actions, it was decided to send the main forces to Orenburg. On the way to Orenburg there were small fortresses of the Nizhne-Yaitsky distance of the Orenburg military line.
2 Capture of Tatishchevoy fortress
On September 27, the Cossacks appeared in front of the Tatishchevo fortress and began to convince the local garrison to surrender and join the army of “sovereign” Peter. The fortress garrison consisted of at least a thousand soldiers, and the commandant, Colonel Elagin, hoped to fight back with the help of artillery. The firefight continued throughout the day. A detachment of Orenburg Cossacks sent on a sortie under the command of centurion Podurov went over in full force to the side of the rebels. Having managed to set fire wooden walls fortresses, which started a fire in the town, and taking advantage of the panic that began in the town, the Cossacks broke into the fortress, after which most of the garrison laid down their arms.
With the artillery of the Tatishchev fortress and the replenishment of people, Pugachev’s detachment of two thousand began to pose a real threat to Orenburg.
3 Siege of Orenburg
The road to Orenburg was open, but Pugachev decided to head to Seitov Sloboda and the Sakmarsky town, since the Cossacks and Tatars who arrived from there assured him of universal devotion. On October 1, the population of Seitova Sloboda solemnly greeted the Cossack army, placing a Tatar regiment in its ranks. And already on October 2, the rebel detachment entered the Sakmara Cossack town to the sound of bells. In addition to the Sakmara Cossack regiment, Pugachev was joined by workers from the neighboring copper mines of the miners Tverdyshev and Myasnikov. On October 4, the rebel army headed to the Berdskaya settlement near Orenburg, whose residents also swore allegiance to the “resurrected” tsar. By this time, the impostor’s army numbered about 2,500 people, of which about 1,500 Yaik, Iletsk and Orenburg Cossacks, 300 soldiers, 500 Kargaly Tatars. The artillery of the rebels numbered several dozen guns.
Orenburg was a fairly powerful fortification. An earthen rampart was erected around the city, fortified with 10 bastions and 2 half-bastions. The height of the shaft reached 4 meters and above, and the width - 13 meters. On the outside of the rampart there was a ditch about 4 meters deep and 10 meters wide. The garrison of Orenburg consisted of about 3,000 people and about a hundred guns. On October 4, a detachment of 626 Yaitsky Cossacks, who remained loyal to the government, with 4 cannons, led by Yaitsky military foreman M. Borodin, managed to freely approach Orenburg from the Yaitsky town.
On October 5, Pugachev’s army approached the city, setting up a temporary camp five miles away. Cossacks were sent to the ramparts and managed to convey Pugachev’s decree to the garrison troops with a call to lay down their arms and join the “sovereign.” In response, cannons from the city rampart began firing at the rebels. On October 6, Governor Reinsdorp ordered a sortie; a detachment under the command of Major Naumov returned to the fortress after a two-hour battle. At the military council assembled on October 7, it was decided to defend behind the walls of the fortress under the cover of fortress artillery. One of the reasons for this decision was the fear of soldiers and Cossacks going over to Pugachev’s side. The sortie carried out showed that the soldiers fought reluctantly; Major Naumov reported that he discovered “timidity and fear in his subordinates.”
The siege of Orenburg that began shackled the main forces of the rebels for six months, without bringing military success to either side. On October 12, a second sortie was made by Naumov’s detachment, but successful artillery operations under the command of Chumakov helped repulse the attack. Due to the onset of frost, Pugachev’s army moved the camp to Berdskaya Sloboda. On October 22 the assault was launched; The rebel batteries began shelling the city, but strong return artillery fire did not allow them to get close to the rampart. At the same time, during October, fortresses along the Samara River passed into the hands of the rebels - Perevolotskaya, Novosergievskaya, Totskaya, Sorochinskaya, and at the beginning of November - the Buzulukskaya fortress.
On October 14, Catherine II appointed Major General V.A. Kara as commander of a military expedition to suppress the rebellion. At the end of October, Kar arrived in Kazan from St. Petersburg and, at the head of a corps of two thousand soldiers and one and a half thousand militia, headed towards Orenburg. On November 7, near the village of Yuzeeva, 98 versts from Orenburg, detachments of Pugachev atamans Ovchinnikov and Zarubin-Chika attacked the vanguard of the Kara corps and, after a three-day battle, forced it to retreat back to Kazan. On November 13, a detachment of Colonel Chernyshev was captured near Orenburg, numbering up to 1,100 Cossacks, 600-700 soldiers, 500 Kalmyks, 15 guns and a huge convoy. Realizing that instead of a prestigious victory over the rebels, he could get complete destruction, Kar, under the pretext of illness, left the corps and went to Moscow, leaving command to General Freiman. The successes inspired the Pugachevites, great impression The victories had an impact on the peasantry and Cossacks, increasing their influx into the ranks of the rebels.
The situation in besieged Orenburg became critical by January 1774, and famine began in the city. Having learned about the departure of Pugachev and Ovchinnikov with part of the troops to the Yaitsky town, the governor decided to make a foray to the Berdskaya settlement on January 13 to lift the siege. But the unexpected attack did not happen; the Cossack patrols managed to raise the alarm. The atamans who remained in the camp led their troops to the ravine that surrounded the Berdskaya settlement and served as a natural line of defense. The Orenburg corps were forced to fight in unfavorable conditions and suffered a severe defeat. With heavy losses, abandoning cannons, weapons, ammunition and ammunition, the half-encircled Orenburg troops hastily retreated to Orenburg.
When news of the defeat of the Kara expedition reached St. Petersburg, Catherine II, by decree of November 27, appointed A.I. Bibikov as the new commander. The new punitive corps included 10 cavalry and infantry regiments, as well as 4 light field teams, hastily sent from the western and northwestern borders of the empire to Kazan and Samara, and in addition to them - all garrisons and military units located in the uprising zone, and remnants of Kara's corps. Bibikov arrived in Kazan on December 25, 1773, and troops immediately began moving toward Samara, Orenburg, Ufa, Menzelinsk, and Kungur, besieged by the Pugachevites. Having received information about this, Pugachev decided to withdraw the main forces from Orenburg, effectively lifting the siege.
4 Siege of the fortress of St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral
In December 1773, Pugachev sent ataman Mikhail Tolkachev with his decrees to the rulers of the Kazakh Junior Zhuz, Nurali Khan and Sultan Dusali, with a call to join his army, but the khan decided to wait for developments; only the riders of the Sarym Datula clan joined Pugachev. On the way back, Tolkachev gathered Cossacks into his detachment in the fortresses and outposts on the lower Yaik and headed with them to the Yaitsky town, collecting guns, ammunition and provisions in the associated fortresses and outposts.
On December 30, Tolkachev approached the Yaitsky town and in the evening of the same day occupied the ancient district of the city - Kureni. Most of the Cossacks greeted their comrades and joined Tolkachev’s detachment, but the Cossacks of the senior side, the soldiers of the garrison led by Lieutenant Colonel Simonov and Captain Krylov, locked themselves in the “retransference” - the fortress of the St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral. Gunpowder was stored in the basement of the bell tower, and cannons and arrows were installed on the upper tiers. It was not possible to take the fortress on the move.
In January 1774, Pugachev himself arrived in Yaitsky town. He took over the leadership of the protracted siege of the city fortress of the Archangel Cathedral, but after a failed assault on January 20, he returned to the main army near Orenburg.
In the second half of February and early March 1774, Pugachev again personally led attempts to take possession of the besieged fortress. On February 19, a mine explosion blew up and destroyed the bell tower of St. Michael's Cathedral, but the garrison each time managed to repel the attacks of the besiegers.
5 Assault on the Magnetic Fortress
On April 9, 1774, the commander of military operations against Pugachev, Bibikov, died. After him, Catherine II entrusted the command of the troops to Lieutenant General F. F. Shcherbatov. Offended that he was not appointed to the post of commander of the troops, having sent small teams to nearby fortresses and villages to carry out investigations and punishments, General Golitsyn with the main forces of his corps stayed in Orenburg for three months. Intrigues between the generals gave Pugachev a much-needed respite; he managed to gather Southern Urals scattered small detachments. The pursuit was also suspended by the spring thaw and floods on the rivers, which made the roads impassable.
On the morning of May 5, Pugachev’s detachment of five thousand approached the Magnetic Fortress. By this time, the rebel detachment consisted mainly of weakly armed factory peasants and a small number of personal egg guards under the command of Myasnikov; the detachment did not have a single cannon. The start of the assault on Magnitnaya was unsuccessful, about 500 people died in the battle, Pugachev himself was wounded in right hand. Having withdrawn the troops from the fortress and discussed the situation, the rebels, under the cover of the darkness of the night, made a new attempt and were able to break into the fortress and capture it. 10 cannons, rifles, and ammunition were taken as trophies.
6 Battle for Kazan
At the beginning of June, Pugachev headed for Kazan. On June 10, the Krasnoufimskaya fortress was taken, on June 11, a victory was won in the battle near Kungur against the garrison that had made a sortie. Without attempting to storm Kungur, Pugachev turned west. On June 14, the vanguard of his army under the command of Ivan Beloborodov and Salavat Yulaev approached the Kama town of Ose and blocked the city fortress. Four days later, Pugachev’s main forces arrived here and began siege battles with the garrison settled in the fortress. On June 21, the defenders of the fortress, having exhausted the possibilities of further resistance, capitulated.
Having captured Osa, Pugachev transported the army across the Kama, took the Votkinsk and Izhevsk factories, Elabuga, Sarapul, Menzelinsk, Agryz, Zainsk, Mamadysh and other cities and fortresses along the way, and in early July approached Kazan. A detachment under the command of Colonel Tolstoy came out to meet Pugachev, and on July 10, 12 versts from the city, the Pugachevites won a complete victory in the battle. The next day, a detachment of rebels camped near the city.
On July 12, as a result of the assault, the suburbs and main areas of the city were taken, the garrison remaining in the city locked itself in the Kazan Kremlin and prepared for a siege. A strong fire began in the city, in addition, Pugachev received news of the approach of Mikhelson’s troops, who were following on his heels from Ufa, so the Pugachev detachments left the burning city.
As a result of a short battle, Mikhelson made his way to the garrison of Kazan, Pugachev retreated across the Kazanka River. Both sides were preparing for the decisive battle, which took place on July 15. Pugachev's army numbered 25 thousand people, but most of them were weakly armed peasants who had just joined the uprising, Tatar and Bashkir cavalry armed with bows, and a small number of remaining Cossacks. The competent actions of Mikhelson, who struck first of all at the Yaik core of the Pugachevites, led to the complete defeat of the rebels, at least 2 thousand people died, about 5 thousand were taken prisoner, among whom was Colonel Ivan Beloborodov.
7 Battle of the Solenikova gang
On July 20, Pugachev entered Kurmysh, on the 23rd he freely entered Alatyr, after which he headed towards Saransk. On July 28, a decree on freedom for peasants was read out in the central square of Saransk, and supplies of salt and bread were distributed to residents. On July 31, the same solemn meeting awaited Pugachev in Penza. The decrees caused numerous peasant revolts in the Volga region.
After Pugachev’s triumphant entry into Saransk and Penza, everyone expected his march to Moscow. But from Penza Pugachev turned south. On August 4, the impostor's army took Petrovsk, and on August 6, it surrounded Saratov. On August 7 he was captured. On August 21, Pugachev tried to attack Tsaritsyn, but the assault failed. Having received news of Mikhelson's arriving corps, Pugachev hastened to lift the siege of Tsaritsyn, and the rebels moved to Black Yar. On August 24, at the Solenikovo fishing gang, Pugachev was overtaken by Mikhelson.
The last one took place on August 25 major battle troops under the command of Pugachev with the tsarist troops. The battle began with a major setback - all 24 cannons of the rebel army were repulsed by a cavalry attack. More than 2,000 rebels died in the fierce battle, among them Ataman Ovchinnikov. More than 6,000 people were captured. Pugachev and the Cossacks, breaking up into small detachments, fled across the Volga. Search detachments of generals Mansurov and Golitsyn, Yaik foreman Borodin and Don Colonel Tavinsky were sent in pursuit of them. During August-September, most of the participants in the uprising were caught and sent for investigation to the Yaitsky town, Simbirsk, and Orenburg.
Pugachev with a detachment of Cossacks fled to Uzeni, not knowing that since mid-August Chumakov, Tvorogov, Fedulev and some other colonels had been discussing the possibility of earning forgiveness by surrendering the impostor. Under the pretext of making it easier to escape the pursuit, they divided the detachment so as to separate the Cossacks loyal to Pugachev along with Ataman Perfilyev. On September 8, near the Bolshoy Uzen River, they pounced and tied up Pugachev, after which Chumakov and Tvorogov went to Yaitsky town, where on September 11 they announced the capture of the impostor. Having received promises of pardon, they notified their accomplices, and on September 15 they brought Pugachev to the Yaitsky town.
In a special cage, under escort, Pugachev was taken to Moscow. On January 9, 1775, the court sentenced him to execution. On January 10, on Bolotnaya Square, Pugachev ascended the scaffold, bowed to four sides and laid his head on the block.
a, - Flight of the ego from Kazan. - Testimony of Kozhevnikov. - The first successes of the Pretender. - Treason of the Iletsk Cossacks. - Capture of the Rassypnaya fortress. - Nurali-Khan. - Reynedorp's order. - Capture of Nizhne-Ozernaya. - Capture of Tatishcheva. - Council in Orenburg. - Capture of Chernorechensekaya, - Pugachev in Sakmarsk.
In these troubled times, an unknown tramp wandered around the Cossack yards, hiring himself out as a workers now to one master, now to another, and taking up all sorts of crafts. He witnessed the pacification of the rebellion and the execution of the instigators, and went to the Irgiz monasteries for a while; from there, at the end of 1772, he was sent to buy fish in the Yaitsky town, where he stayed with the Cossack Denis Pyanov. He was distinguished by the impudence of his speeches, reviled his superiors and persuaded the Cossacks to flee to the region Turkish Sultan; he assured that the Don Cossacks would not be slow to follow them, that he had two hundred thousand prepared on the border rubles and goods worth seventy thousand, and that some pasha, immediately upon the arrival of the Cossacks, should give them up to five million; For now, he promised everyone a salary of twelve rubles a month. Moreover, he said that two regiments were marching from Moscow against the Yaik Cossacks and that there would certainly be a riot around Christmas or Epiphany. Some of the obedient ones wanted to catch him and present him as a troublemaker to the commandant's office; but he disappeared with Denis Pyanov and was caught already in the village of Malykovka (which is now Volgsk) at the direction of peasant who was traveling along the same road with him. This tramp was Emelyan Pugachev, a Don Cossack and schismatic, who came with a false in writing from across the Polish border, with the intention of settling on the Irgiz River among the schismatics there. He was sent into custody to Simbirsk, and from there to Kazan; and since everything related to the affairs of the Yaitsky army, under the circumstances of that time, could seem important, the Orenburg governor considered it necessary to notify the state Military Collegium about this with a report dated January 18, 1773.
Yaik rebels were not rare at that time, and the Kazan authorities did not pay much attention to the sent criminal. Pugachev was kept in prison no more strictly than other slaves. Meanwhile, his accomplices did not sleep.
Writing a portrait
...Emelyan Pugachev, Zimoveyskaya village, a serving Cossack, was the son of Ivan Mikhailov, who died long ago. He was forty years old, of average height, dark and thin; He had dark brown hair and a black beard, small and wedge-shaped. Upper tooth was kicked out as a child in a fist fight. On his left temple he had White spot, and on both breasts there are signs left over from an illness called black sickness. He did not know how to read and write and was baptized in a schismatic manner. About ten years ago he married a Cossack woman, Sofya Nedyuzhina, with whom he had five children. In 1770, he served in the second army, was present during the capture of Bendery, and a year later was released to the Don due to illness. He went to Cherkassk for treatment. Upon his return to his homeland, the Zimovey chieftain asked him at the village meeting where he got the brown horse on which he came home? Pugachev replied that he bought it in Taganrog; but the Cossacks, knowing his dissolute life, did not believe it and sent him to take written evidence of this. Pugachev left. Meanwhile, they learned that he was persuading some Cossacks settled near Taganrog to flee beyond the Kuban. It was supposed to hand Pugachev into the hands of the government. Returning in December, he was hiding on his farm, where he was caught, but managed to escape; I wandered for three months, I don’t know where; Finally, during Lent, one evening he secretly came to his house and knocked on the window. His wife let him in and let the Cossacks know about him. Pugachev was caught again and sent under guard to the detective, foreman Makarov, in the Nizhnyaya Chirskaya village, and from there to Cherkassk. He ran away from the road again and has not been to the Don since then. From the testimony of Pugachev himself, who was brought to the Office of Palace Affairs at the end of 1772, it was already known that after his escape he hid behind the Polish border, in the schismatic settlement of Vetka; then he took a passport from the Dobryansk outpost, saying he was from Poland, and made his way to Yaik, feeding on alms.
All this news was made public; Meanwhile, the government forbade the people to talk about Pugachev, whose name worried the mob. This temporary police measure had the force of law until the late sovereign’s accession to the throne, when it was allowed to write and publish about Pugachev. To this day, elderly witnesses of the then turmoil are reluctant to answer curious questions.
Pugachev near Kurmysh
On July 20, Pugachev swam across the Sura near Kurmysh. Nobles and officials fled. The mob met him on the shore with images and bread. To her read outrageous manifesto. The disabled team was brought to Pugachev. Major Yurlov, its chief, and a non-commissioned officer, whose name, unfortunately, has not been preserved, alone did not want to swear allegiance and denounced the impostor to his face. They were hanged and the dead were beaten with whips. Yurlov's widow was saved by her servants. Pugachev ordered government wine to be distributed to the Chuvash; hanged several nobles brought to him by their peasants, and went to Yadrinsk, leaving the city under the command of four Japanese Cossacks and giving them at their disposal sixty slaves who had attached themselves to it. He left behind him a small gang to detain Count Mellin. Mikhelson, who was going to Arzamas, sent Kharin to Yadrinsk, where Count Mellin was also in a hurry. Pugachev, having learned about this, turned to Alatyr; but, covering his movement, he sent a gang to Yadrinsk, which was repulsed by the governor and residents, and after this was met by Count Mellin and completely scattered. Mellin hurried to Alatyr, casually freed Kurmysh, where he hanged several rebels, and took the Cossack, who called himself a commander, with him like a tongue. The officers of the disabled team, who swore allegiance to the impostor, were justified by the fact that they took the oath not from a sincere heart, but to observe the interest of Her Imperial Majesty.
Pugachev was caught...
Pugachev wandered around the same steppe. Troops surrounded him from everywhere; Mellin and Muffle, who also crossed the Volga, cut off his road to the north; a light field detachment was coming towards him from Astrakhan; Prince Golitsyn and Mansurov blocked him from Yaik; Dundukov and his Kalmyks scoured the steppe: patrols were established from Guryev to Saratov and from Cherny to Krasny Yar. Pugachev did not have the means to get out of the networks that constrained him. His accomplices, on the one hand seeing imminent death, and on the other - hope for forgiveness, began to conspire and decided to hand him over to the government.
Pugachev wanted to go to the Caspian Sea, hoping to somehow get into the Kyrgyz-Kaisak steppes. The Cossacks feignedly agreed to this; but, saying that they wanted to take their wives and children with them, they took him to Uzeni, the usual refuge of the local criminals and fugitives; on September 14 they arrived at the villages of the local Old Believers. The last meeting took place here. The Cossacks, who did not agree to surrender into the hands of the government, scattered. The others went to Pugachev's headquarters.
Pugachev sat alone, thoughtful. His weapon hung to the side. Hearing the Cossacks enter, he raised his head and asked what they wanted? They began to talk about their desperate situation and meanwhile, moving quietly, tried to shield him from the hanging weapons. Pugachev began again to persuade them to go to the Guryev town. The Cossacks replied that they had been following him for a long time and that it was time for him to go after them. "What? - said Pugachev, “do you want to betray your sovereign?” - "What to do!" - the Cossacks answered and suddenly rushed at him. Pugachev managed to fight them off. They retreated a few steps. “I saw your betrayal for a long time,” said Pugachev and, calling his favorite, the Iletsk Cossack Tvorogov, extended his hands to him and said: “knit!” Tvorogov wanted to twist his elbows back. Pugachev did not give in. “Am I a robber?” - he said angrily. The Cossacks put him on horseback and took him to the Yaitsky town. All the way Pugachev threatened them with the revenge of the Grand Duke. One day he found a way to free his hands, grabbed a saber and a pistol, wounded one of the Cossacks with a shot and shouted that the traitors should be tied up. But no one listened to him anymore. The Cossacks, having approached the Yaitsky town, sent to notify the commandant about this. Cossack Kharchev and Sergeant Bardovsky were sent to meet them, received Pugachev, put him in the block and brought him to the city, straight to the guard captain-lieutenant Mavrin, a member of the investigative commission.
Mavrin interrogated the impostor. Pugachev from the first words opened up to him. “God wanted it,” he said. - to punish Russia through my damnation.” - Residents were ordered to gather in the city square; The rioters, who were kept in chains, were also brought there. Mavrin brought Pugachev out and showed him to the people. Everyone recognized him; the rioters lowered their heads. Pugachev loudly began to incriminate them and said: “You ruined me; For several days in a row you begged me to take on the name of the late great sovereign; I denied it for a long time, and when I agreed, everything I did was with your will and consent; you often acted without my knowledge and even against my will.” The rioters did not answer a word.
Suvorov, meanwhile, arrived at Uzen and learned from the hermits that Pugachev was tied up by his accomplices and that they took him to the Yaitsky town. Suvorov hurried there. At night he lost his way and found fires laid out in the steppe by thieving Kirghiz. Suvorov attacked them and drove them away, losing several people and among them his adjutant Maksimovich. A few days later he arrived in Yaitsky town. Simonov handed over Pugachev to him. Suvorov curiously questioned the glorious rebel about his military actions and intentions and took him to Simbirsk, where Count Panin was also supposed to come.
Pugachev was sitting in a wooden cage on a two-wheeled cart. A strong detachment with two cannons surrounded him. Suvorov never left his side.
The people still vividly remember the bloody time, which - so expressively - he called Pugachevism.
Literature, 8th grade. Textbook for general education institutions. At 2 o'clock/automatic state. V. Ya. Korovin, 8th ed. - M.: Education, 2009. - 399 p. + 399 pp.: ill.
Berdnikova Elena, gymnasium No. 13, 9th grade
Historical fact and its artistic embodiment.
“The History of the Pugachev Rebellion” and “ Captain's daughter"A.S. Pushkin
God forbid we see a Russian rebellion,
senseless and merciless!
A.S. Pushkin
Introduction
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was undoubtedly prompted to write “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion” by the unsuccessful outcome of the Decembrist uprising, among whom were his friends, as well as by the unrest of peasants and military settlers in 1830, which again aggravated the issue of serfdom. As a person and citizen, this could not leave Pushkin indifferent. Therefore, in 1833, he obtained permission for a four-month trip to the sites of the Pugachev uprising - the Orenburg and Kazan provinces.
Pushkin traveled to the sites of Pugachev's uprising, collecting data and interviewing old witnesses who were still alive. Then I went to Boldino. Here he began working on “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion.”
On October 20, Pushkin returned to St. Petersburg. “The story...” was over.
But he did not stop there; now his goal was to write a fictional novel with a gripping plot that affirms the connection between two social groups. So in the same 1833, one of Pushkin’s best prose works was written - “The Captain’s Daughter”. The Pugachevshchina was supposed to be a warning to the nobility, which did not see the need for new forms of communication with the peasantry.
“The Captain's Daughter” - one of Pushkin’s most perfect and profound creations - has repeatedly been the subject of research attention. In the extensive literature on the issue, a number of studies by Yu.G. Osman should be especially highlighted, in particular, “From the Captain's Daughter” by A.S. Pushkin to “Notes of a Hunter” by I.S. Turgenev” and a chapter in the book by G.A. Gukovsky “Pushkin and the problem of realistic style.” Archival research and publication of documents, as well as subtle analysis the ideological content of the novel in the works of Yu.G. Osman, carried out on the broad ideological background usual for this researcher, and consideration of the artistic nature of the novel, its place in the history of the formation of Pushkin's realism in the book of G.A. Gukovsky constitute the highest achievements of Soviet literary criticism in this area. And if certain provisions of these works can become the subject of scientific dispute, this does not detract from their importance as the basis for any further in-depth analysis of Pushkin’s work. A number of deep comments can be found in the works of B.V. Tomashevsky, V.B. Shklovsky, D.P. Yakubovich, E.N. Kupreyanova, N.K. Piksanov, D.D. Blagoy, Yu.M. Lotman and others .
This, however, does not mean that the problems of “The Captain’s Daughter” have been fully explored. Moreover, many cardinal issues of Pushkin’s position in “The Captain’s Daughter” still continue to remain controversial. This is, for example, the interpretation of the famous words about the “Russian revolt”. If Yu.G. Osman considers them a kind of tribute to censorship conditions, a reproduction of a protective point of view (equal to the views of Dashkova and Karamzin), exposed by the entire course of the narrative, evoking reader sympathy for Pugachev, then another authoritative expert on Pushkin’s work, B.V. Tomashevsky, wrote: “Left in the text of the novel the maxim was not at all caused by the need to present events. As for the views of Grinev, as the hero of the novel, on Pugachev and the peasant movement, Pushkin perfectly characterized them in other clearer words and in the very course of the action. If he kept this phrase, it was because it corresponded to Pushkin’s own system of views on the peasant revolution. Behind this phrase lies neither contempt for the Russian serf peasantry, nor disbelief in the strength of the people, nor any protective thoughts whatsoever. This phrase expresses that Pushkin did not believe in the final victory of the peasant revolution in the conditions in which he lived.”
In “The Captain's Daughter” Pushkin used facts collected while working on “History...”. , with the only difference that he made a narrative out of a simple statement of facts.
Part 1. Genre features of works.
In 1831, Pushkin enlisted as a “historiographer” and received permission to work in the archives. He persistently experiments with prose genres and tirelessly searches for new forms of literature. In a letter to V.D. He writes to Volkhovsky: “I am sending you my latest essay, “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion.” I tried in it to explore the military actions of that time and thought only about their clear presentation...” Of course, “History...” was written in the genre of historical research, in dry, concise language. P.V. Annenkov testifies: “Next to his historical work, Pushkin began, at the constant demand of his artistic nature, the novel “The Captain's Daughter,” which presented the other side of the subject - the side of the morals and customs of the era. The condensed and outwardly dry presentation he adopted in history seemed to find a complement in his exemplary novel, which has the warmth and charm of historical notes.”
In our comparative study, we will adhere to Pushkin’s own definition of the genre of “The Captain’s Daughter” as a novel, based on the definition given in the “Big Encyclopedic Dictionary”: “A novel is literary genre, an epic work of large form, in which the narrative is focused on the fate of an individual in its relationship to the world around it, on the formation and development of its character and self-awareness. The novel is an epic of modern times; in contrast to the folk epic, where the individual and the folk soul are inseparable; in the novel the life of the individual and public life appear as relatively independent, but “private” inner life the individual is revealed in him “epicly”, i.e. with the identification of its generally significant and social meaning. A typical novel situation is a collision of the moral and human (personal) with natural and social necessity in the hero. Since the novel develops in modern times, where the nature of the relationship between man and society is constantly changing, its form is essentially “open”. The main situation is each time filled with specific historical content and is embodied in various genre modifications. In the 1830s, the classical era of realistic painting begins socio-psychological novel". And although the dictionary does not mention either the name of A.S. Pushkin or his work “The Captain’s Daughter,” we, based on the definition, clearly call A.S. Pushkin is the founder of the genre of realistic socio-psychological novel.
Part 2. Comparative analysis of “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion” and the novel “The Captain’s Daughter”
The emergence of Pugachev as a historical figure was preceded by the revolt of the Yaitsky Cossacks. Let's carry out comparative analysis episodes of the novel with the participation of Pugachev and the corresponding episodes of “History...”. Here is a small material from “History...” On the Yaik River “in the fifteenth century, the Don Cossacks appeared, traveling along the Khvalynsky Sea. They wintered on its banks, which at that time were still covered with forest and safe in their solitude; in the spring they went to sea again, robbed until late autumn, and by winter they returned to Yaik. Moving upward from one place to another, they finally chose the Kolovratnoye tract, sixty miles from present-day Uralsk, as their permanent residence.”
That is, they lived freely and were not oppressed by anyone; at the behest of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, they settled in the desert lands along the Yaik River and the adjacent steppes: “The Yaik Cossacks obediently performed services along with the Moscow order; but the houses retained the original image of their governance. Perfect equality of rights; atamans and elders, elected by the people, temporary executors of popular decrees; circles, or meetings, where every Cossack had a free vote and where all public affairs were decided by a majority vote; no written orders.”
This continued until the accession of Peter the Great.
The following quotes briefly show the main reasons for the start of the Yaitsky Cossack revolt, the behavior of the rebels and the pacification of the rebellion. Since “History...” contains a very large volume of material devoted to these events, we have highlighted only those quotes that, in our opinion, contain a story about the main events.
1) When comparing sources, it is clear that Pushkin softened the true reason for the start of this rebellion. After studying the historical document, it becomes clear that the state had a real intention to change the social status of the Cossacks, and this is what caused indignation among the Cossacks and led to this terrible uprising.
“Peter the Great took the first measures to introduce the Yaik Cossacks into the general system of government. In 1720, the Yaitsk army was transferred to the department of the Military Collegium” “The Emperor himself appointed a military chieftain.”
2) From that moment on, internal strife began among the Cossacks, which the state tried to resolve with its intervention, but to no avail. Let us draw closer to the beginning of the rebellion and the refusal of the Cossacks, at the behest of the sovereign, to persecute the Kalmyks, who decided to leave Russia and come under the authority of the Chinese government in order to avoid oppression by the local authorities. “The Yaik army was ordered to set out in pursuit; but the Cossacks (except for a very small number) did not listen, and clearly turned out to be out of all service.” Further events became irreversible.
3) Here are some excerpts from the “Notes of Colonel Pekarsky about the riots of the Yaitskys, which are now Ural, Cossacks and about the impostor Emelyan Don Cossack Pugachev,” confirming our assumption:
“In 1770, it was ordered from the Yaitskys, which are now the Ural Cossacks, to form a Cossack squadron into the Moscow Legion; but they disobeyed and therefore in 1771, to investigate and force the formation of that squadron, Major General von Traubenberg was sent to the Yaitsky town of the Orenburg Corps and Captain Mavrin of the Guard was sent from St. Petersburg; the aforementioned Cossacks on their own behalf sent two Cossacks to St. Petersburg with a request to ask for the abolition of the formation of a squadron from them, who were taken under arrest there, and having shaved their beards and foreheads, they were sent in 1772 to Orenburg, to be assigned to the Alekseevsky Infantry Regiment.” .
Having paid special attention to such a word as “coercion,” we understand that this is nothing more than the open desire of the authorities to completely subjugate the Cossacks. The government provoked aggression on their part by arresting the Cossack ambassadors.
4) Here is another quote from “History...”:
“We learned that the government intended to form squadrons of Cossacks, and that it had already been ordered to shave their beards. Major General Traubenberg, sent to the Yaitskaya town for this purpose, incurred indignation” (I, 11).
In “The Captain's Daughter,” Pushkin described all these events so concisely that they fit into just two sentences:
“The reason for this was the strict measures taken by Major General Traubenberg to bring the army to proper obedience” (I, 11).
That is, the phrase “the government had the intention...” in “History...” is replaced by “measures already taken by the major general” in the literary work.
The Cossacks took revenge on the offenders, after which the revolt followed. That is, we see that the author in the literary work, due to understandable circumstances, moved the center of the narrative from the actions of the government to the actions of the major general, so that this conflict looked like a conflict between the Cossacks and an official, and not between the Cossacks and the empress. Further, in the description of Traubenberg’s murder, there is also a desire to smooth out the severity of the conflict. This is how “History...” describes it:
“Traubenberg fled and was killed at the gates of his house.”
and in “The Captain's Daughter”:
“The consequence was the barbaric murder of Traubenberg...”
That is, in the literary work, Pushkin does not show Traubenberg’s cowardice and flight, but again uses exaggeration as a kind of artistic nod to those in power to show the cruelty of the Cossacks. So the Cossacks took revenge on the offenders, after which the rebellion was pacified. “History...” reads:
“Meanwhile, Major General Freiman was sent from Moscow to pacify them, with one company of grenadiers and artillery.”
“Freiman opened his way with grapeshot..., a pursuit was sent for those who had left, and almost everyone was recaptured” (I, 11).
The fact that the government was decisively opposed to the Cossacks is evidenced by the number of artillerymen who were sent to suppress the rebellion. Then the field teams consisted of 500 infantry, cavalry and artillery personnel. In 1775 they were replaced by provincial battalions. But again, Pushkin in “The Captain's Daughter” replaced this quote with another: “Finally, the pacification of the rebellion was completed with grapeshot and cruel punishments.” It is in this part, which tells about the uprising, that one can see how often he “softens” the descriptions compared to historical source.»
This is how this riot ends. "Story…":
“The leadership has been entrusted to the Yaik commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Simonov. Military foreman Martemyan Borodin and foreman (simple) Mostovshchikov were ordered to be present in his office. The instigators of the riot were punished with a whip; about one hundred and forty people were exiled to Siberia; others were given up as soldiers (all fled); the rest are forgiven and taken a second oath. These strict and necessary measures restored external order; but calm was precarious. "It's only the beginning!" the forgiven rebels said: “Is this how we will shake Moscow?” – The Cossacks were still divided into two sides: those who agreed and those who disagreed (or, as the Military Collegium very accurately translated these words, into obedient and disobedient). Secret meetings took place in steppe villages and remote farmsteads. Everything foreshadowed a new rebellion. The leader was missing. The leader has been found"
In “The Captain's Daughter” there is material that also talks about the excitement of the people:
“Everything was already quiet, or seemed so; The authorities too easily believed the imaginary repentance of the crafty rebels, who were angry in secret and were waiting for an opportunity to resume the unrest.”
After such events, the Cossacks could not calmly continue their existence. In their souls and hearts there was a desire to free themselves and take revenge on the offenders, but it was impossible to act without a leader. Emelyan Pugachev became this leader. This is what “History...” says about the appearance of Emelyan Pugachev:
“In these troubled times, an unknown tramp wandered around the Cossack yards, hiring himself out as a worker first to one owner, then to another, and taking up all sorts of crafts. He witnessed the pacification of the rebellion and the execution of the instigators, and went to the Irgiz monasteries for a while; from there, at the end of 1772, he was sent to purchase fish in the Yaitskaya town, where he stayed with the Cossack Denis Pyanov. He was distinguished by the impudence of his speeches, reviled his superiors, and persuaded the Cossacks to flee to the region of the Turkish Sultan; he assured that the Don Cossacks would not be slow to follow them, that he had two hundred thousand rubles and seventy thousand worth of goods prepared at the border, and that some pasha, immediately upon the arrival of the Cossacks, should give them up to five million; For now, he promised everyone a salary of twelve rubles a month. Moreover, he said that two regiments were marching from Moscow against the Yaitsky Cossacks, and that there would certainly be a riot around Christmas or Epiphany. Some of the obedient ones wanted to catch and present as a troublemaker to the commandant's office; but he disappeared with Denis Pyanov, and was caught already in the village of Malykovo (which is now Volgsk) at the direction of a peasant who was traveling the same road with him. This tramp was Emelyan Pugachev, a Don Cossack and schismatic, who came with a false letter from across the Polish border, with the intention of settling on the Irgiz River, among the schismatics there. He was sent under guard to Simbirsk, and from there to Kazan; and since everything related to the affairs of the Yaitsky army, under the circumstances of that time, could seem important, the Orenburg governor considered it necessary to notify the state Military Collegium about this with a report dated January 18, 1773.”
Since then Yaik rebels were encountered at every turn, the Kazan authorities did not pay attention special attention on Pugachev. He was held in prison with other prisoners. But his accomplices did not forget about him, and on June 19, 1773, he escaped.
“One day, under the guard of two garrison soldiers, he walked around the city to collect alms. At the Castle Lattice (that was the name of one of the main Kazan streets) there was a ready-made troika. Pugachev, approaching her, suddenly pushed away one of the soldiers accompanying him; the other helped the convict sit down at the wagon and rode off with him out of the city” (II, 14).
After that, for 3 months he hid in the farmsteads from pursuit, when in early September he ended up on the farm of Mikhail Kozhevnikov with his main accomplice Ivan Zarubin, who announced to Kozhevnikov that the great person was in their region.
“He convinced Kozhevnikov to hide it on his farm. Kozhevnikov agreed. Zarubin left, and that same night before daylight he returned with Timofey Myasnikov and an unknown man, all three on horseback. The stranger was of average height, broad-shouldered and thin. His black beard was beginning to turn grey. He was wearing a camel coat, a blue Kalmyk hat and armed with a rifle. Zarubin and Myasnikov went to the city to issue a summons to the people, and the stranger, staying with Kozhevnikov, announced to him that he was Emperor Peter --- that the rumors about his death were false, that with the help of a guard officer, he went to Kyiv, where he was hiding near year” (II, 15).
In “The Captain's Daughter” there are quotes that carry the same meaning, but have a different form.
1. History…":
“This tramp was Emelyan Pugachev, a Don Cossack and schismatic..., announced to him that he was Emperor Peter ---...” (II, 15),
In "The Captain's Daughter":
“The Don Cossack and schismatic Emelyan Pugachev escaped from the guard, committing unforgivable insolence by taking on the name of the late Emperor Peter” (VI, 314).
We see that in “History...” the Don “Cossack and schismatic” is a clarification, but, as we noticed, this clarification appears in “History...” after the name of Emelyan Pugachev, and in “The Captain’s Daughter” before him, and therefore the same part These two sentences sound different. When the clarification comes after the word being clarified, it is separated by a comma; accordingly, a pause is formed during reading, which makes the quotation from “History...” intermittent, and the quotation from “The Captain’s Daughter,” in which there are no pauses, smooth and euphonious. The phrase “by taking on the name of the deceased...” tells us about the use of high style in writing, which is one of the author’s artistic techniques.
The second part of the quotes, which deals with the adoption of the name of Peter, is distinguished by significant embellishment in the second case. When in “History...” it's simple presentation of the facts, “that he is Emperor Peter ---”, the text of “The Captain's Daughter” is a narrative in which there are a lot of long and high definitions, having an exclusively decorative character: “Committing unforgivable insolence by taking on the name of the late Emperor Peter.” Undoubtedly, Pushkin used such a turn of phrase to express his sharply negative attitude towards the act of the impostor.
Here it would be appropriate to recall A.S. Pushkin’s poem “To Friends,” written earlier, in 1828:
No, I'm not a flatterer when I reign
I offer free praise:
I boldly express my feelings,
I speak the language of the heart.
(Collected works in 3 volumes, M., “Khud. lit-ra”, p. 414).
What did Pugachev look like externally? Oddly enough, in “History...” there is a rather brief description of the rebel’s appearance. People who describe him only mention his beard, height and build. From this we can conclude that he did not have any special distinctive features that distinguished him from the Cossack environment. Perhaps he himself understood this and sought to stand out from others like him in various ways. Here is his verbal portrait used by the author in “History...”:
“The stranger was of average height, broad-shouldered and thin” (I, 15),and in “The Captain's Daughter”:
“he was about forty years old, of average height, thin and broad-shouldered” (II, 289)
These quotes are identical in meaning, but differ in the order of the words “thin” and “broad-shouldered.” At first glance, there is no difference between them, but comparing the sound of the last sentences, you can notice that thanks to the rearrangement of words, the second is softer to the ear than the first: the long and difficult to pronounce word “broad-shouldered” comes before the shorter and simpler “thin” ”, then when reading, having reached it, one involuntarily slows down speech, while in the second quote the slowdown occurs on the last word, and a characteristic decrease in intonation occurs.
Also distinctive feature was his beard. This is how the author describes her in “The Captain’s Daughter”:
“His black beard showed a streak of gray” (II, 289),
And in “History...” -
“His black beard began to turn grey” (II, 15).
The literary text presupposes not so much an accurate conveyance of the hero’s appearance, but rather the impression that he makes, in this case, on Pyotr Grinev; the author uses the technique of replacing the phrase “beginning to turn grey,” possible in a continuing historical account, with “grey hair was showing” in order to convey the impression made by Pugachev on Peter, who cast a cursory glance at him. This is how a simple statement of facts turns into an artistic image.
We also come across a description of what Pugachev was wearing in his first meeting with Grinev.
“History...”: “He was wearing a camel’s coat...” (II, 15),
“The Captain's Daughter”: “he is wearing a tattered overcoat and Tatar trousers...” (II, 289).
Now we can say why in the chapter “Counselor” Pugachev gave Grinev the impression of a tramp: the Armenian is “ragged”, the trousers are most likely strangers. Here is the second description of Pugachev’s “Emperor” costume from “The Captain’s Daughter”:
“He is wearing a red Cossack caftan trimmed with braid. A tall sable hat with golden tassels was pulled down over his sparkling eyes” (VI, 324).
The use of this contextual antithesis is one of the most effective techniques used by Pushkin.
After Pugachev was “proclaimed” by Emperor Peter and after he made promises to fight for the Cossacks and those offended by the government, the rebels began to flock to him, increasing his gang “from hour to hour.” As soon as Pugachev felt the strength, he immediately moved towards the Yaitsky town. His goal was the liberation of the previously rebellious Cossacks, who would undoubtedly thank the impostor with their unquestioning submission. Liberation began with the shedding of blood.
This is confirmed in “The Captain’s Daughter”, in a letter to Captain Mironov from the general:
“...Emelyan Pugachev...gathered a villainous gang, caused outrage in the Yaitsky villages...” (VI, 289).
This man's name is associated with a lot of deaths. In “The Captain's Daughter” Grinev dreams horrible dream, in which Pugachev was, and with him a room filled with corpses, and bloody puddles... Here is what Pushkin says about this through the lips of his hero:
“I had a dream that I could never forget, and in which I still see something prophetic when I consider the strange circumstances of my life with it” (II, 288);
And here is what he writes in “History...”, in the note to chapter three:
“Pugachev was mowing hay at Sheludyakov’s farm. There is still an old Cossack woman alive in Uralsk who wore booties made by him. One day, having hired himself to dig ridges in a vegetable garden, he dug four graves. This circumstance was interpreted later as an omen of his fate” (98).
During the Pugachev uprising, many people were killed, the “rebel” often won. In “The Captain's Daughter” Pushkin notes with what courage and bravery Captain Mironov defended his fortress, but it was also taken. This is how the commandant of the Belgorod fortress Mironov died:
“Which commandant-” asked the impostor. Our constable stepped out from the crowd and pointed at Ivan Kuzmich. Pugachev looked menacingly at the old man and said to him: “How dare you resist me, your sovereign?” The commandant, exhausted from the wound, gathered his last strength and answered in a firm voice: “You are not my sovereign, you are a thief and an impostor, hear you!” Pugachev frowned gloomily and waved his white handkerchief. Several grabbed the old captain and dragged him to the gallows... and a minute later I saw poor Ivan Kuzmich lifted into the air” (VII, 324).
Each conquered city greeted Pugachev with the ringing of bells. There is a mention of this in both works.
"Story…":
“the bells began to ring…” (II, 20),
"Captain's daughter":
“The ringing of the bells has ceased; there was dead silence” (VII, 325).
Comparing these quotes, you can see that for “The Captain's Daughter” the author chose phrases that create a tense atmosphere of expectation: “The ringing has died down,” “there has come” not just silence, but “dead silence.” It is known from history that sovereigns were greeted in this way, and from the fact that Pugachev was also greeted in this way, we can conclude that the people showed their respect to the “tsar”, naively believing the impostor.
In the 18th century, the entire Russian people, from the upper classes to the lower ones, were deeply religious. Faith occupied a place of honor in their hearts. Not a single important event was complete without visiting church: the birth of a child, christening, wedding, the start of a new project, death... Even at the birth of a child in the poorest family there were ways to baptize him. Knowing about this attitude of the people towards faith, Pugachev could use this for his own purposes. He understood perfectly well that if he once managed to force a person to swear an oath of faith, then, under pain of God's punishment, he would recognize only him as king.
"Story…":
“The priest was waiting for Pugachev with a cross and holy icons” (II, 20).
"Captain's daughter":
“Father Gerasim, pale and trembling, stood at the porch, with a cross in his hands, and seemed to silently beg him for the upcoming sacrifices” (VII, 325).
After several hours of taking the oath, Pugachev “announced Father Gerasim that he would have dinner with him” (VII, 326).
Indeed, Pugachev loved to have a good meal after a tiring oath. In the “History...” there is a mention of how the impostor and his accomplices, after the massacre of the commander-in-chief of the Iletsk town, organized a feast in their honor:
“Pugachev hanged the ataman, celebrated the victory for three days and, taking with him all the Iletsk Cossacks and the city cannons, went to the Rassypnaya fortress” (II, 16).
Most of the population, who swore allegiance to Pugachev, joined the gang and followed him.
"Captain's daughter":
“Pugachev left; the people rushed after him” (VII, 326),
“History...” (after the capture of the Rassypnaya fortress):
“The Cossacks changed things here too. The fortress was taken. The commandant, Major Velovsky, several officers and one priest were hanged, and the garrison company and one and a half hundred Cossacks were added to the rebels” (II, 17).
The most important, in my opinion, difference between a historical source and a literary work is that in “The Captain’s Daughter” the author presents Pugachev as the only leader of the uprising, while in “History...” we found the following interesting material:
“Pugachev was not autocratic. The Yaik Cossacks, the instigators of the rebellion, controlled the actions of the rogue, who had no other dignity except some military knowledge and extraordinary audacity. He did nothing without their consent; they often acted without his knowledge, and sometimes against his will. They showed him outward respect, in front of the people they followed him without hats and beat him with their foreheads; but in private they treated him as a comrade, and drank together, sitting with him in their hats and shirts, and singing barge hauler songs,” Among the main rebels, Zarubin (aka Chika), an associate and mentor of Pugachev, stood out from the very beginning of the rebellion. He was called a field marshal, and was the first in command of the impostor... The retired artillery corporal enjoyed the full power of attorney of the impostor. He, together with Padurov, was in charge of the written affairs of the illiterate Pugachev, and maintained strict order and obedience in the gangs of rebels... The robber Khlopusha, branded from under the whip by the hand of the executioner, with his nostrils torn out to the cartilage, was one of Pugachev’s favorites. Ashamed of his ugliness, he wore a net over his face, or covered himself with a sleeve, as if protecting himself from the frost. These are the kind of people who shook the state!” (III, 28).
These same Yaik Cossacks were very jealous of the impostor’s favorites. For example, at the beginning of the riot, Pugachev brought Sergeant Karmitsky closer to him, whom he took as a clerk. The Cossacks, when they captured the next fortress, drowned him, and when Pugachev asked about him, they said that he simply ran away. Another example: after the capture of the Nizhne-Ozerskaya fortress, Major Kharlov was hanged, the bandit liked his young widow, and he took her to him. He became attached to her and fulfilled her wishes. She alarmed the jealous villains, and Pugachev was forced to give Kharlova and her brother to them to be torn to pieces. They were shot.
It is not surprising that Pushkin mentions Pugachev’s accomplices in “The Captain’s Daughter.” In the chapter “Rebel Settlement,” he emphasizes that his accomplices do not want to leave Pugachev alone with Grinev, assuming friendly relations between them.
“Speak boldly in front of them,” Pugachev told me, “I’m not hiding anything from them” (XI, 347).
Thus, historical materials allow us to conclude that, in fact, Pugachev was not autocratic to a certain extent, while Pugachev, the literary hero, seems to us to be powerful and independent.
In Pugachev’s circle, it was customary to assign distinguished robbers the names of the elite of Catherine’s time. In “History...” Chika was called a field marshal, but here is a mention of this found on the pages of “The Captain’s Daughter”:
“My field marshal seems to be speaking the point,” “Listen, field marshal,” and this is how for the second time he addresses the quarreling Beloborodov and Khlopusha: “Gentlemen generals,” Pugachev proclaimed importantly. - “It’s enough for you to quarrel” (VI, 350).
But Pugachev assigned “titles” not only to robbers. Here is some material in the note to chapter 3 of “History...”:
“It seems that Pugachev and his accomplices did not consider the importance of this travesty. They also jokingly called the Berdskaya settlement - Moscow, the village of Kargale - Petersburg, and the Sakmarskaya town - Kiev” (102).
We know that Pugachev walked with his gang from the Kyrgyz-Kaisak lands, committing robberies and violence. The Orenburg fortress was the last in the chain of the Sakmara line, and it had more time to prepare for the attack of the robbers. This fortress was stronger and larger than others. She was an outpost of the state in the confrontation with the rebels, which is why it was so important for Pugachev to conquer her. All the events described in “The Captain's Daughter” take place during the siege of Orenburg. At this time, Pugachev settled in Berdskaya Sloboda. This is how “History...” describes it:
“The autumn cold arrived earlier than usual. On October 14, frosts began; On the 16th it snowed. On the 18th, Pugachev, having lit his camp, with all his burdens went back from Yaik to Sakmara and settled down near the Berdskaya settlement, near the summer Sakmara valley, seven miles from Orenburg. From then on, his travels never ceased to disturb the city, attack foragers and keep the garrison in constant fear” (III, 25).
Berdskaya settlement was located on the Sakmara River. It was surrounded by strongholds and slingshots, and there were batteries in the corners. There were up to two hundred yards in it. Having settled here, Pugachev turned it into a place of murder and debauchery. Almost the entire time the siege of Orenburg lasted, the bandits were on its territory. Therefore, it is not surprising that a lot is said about her both in “History...” and in “The Captain’s Daughter”, and in the latter an entire chapter is named in her honor. This rebellious settlement was the meeting place between Pugachev and Grinev.
Seeing that Orenburg was strong, Pugachev decided to starve it out. The fact that Orenburg was in a difficult situation can be read not only in “History...”:
“The situation in Orenburg was becoming terrible. Flour and cereals were taken away from the residents, and daily distributions began to be made to them. Horses have long been fed with brushwood” (IV, 37),
But also in “The Captain's Daughter”:
“All the fugitives agree that there is famine and pestilence in Orenburg, that they eat carrion there...” (XI, 349).
Perhaps luck would have continued to favor the impostor if the pacification of the rebels had not been entrusted to A.I. Bibikov. Chief General Bibikov, thanks to his military experience and knowledge of this matter, was able to liberate the dying Orenburg. General Freiman, Major Kharin, Major General Mansurov, Prince Golitsin, Lieutenant Colonel Grinev served under his command... Lieutenant Colonel Grinev and Pyotr Grinev, the hero of the story “The Captain's Daughter,” are not the same person. In the missing chapter from “The Captain's Daughter”, which tells about the adventures of our main character, the names have been replaced. The name Grinev is in the name of Bulanin, and the name Zurina is in the name of Grinev. This chapter was not included in the final edition of The Captain's Daughter and is preserved in a draft manuscript entitled “The Omitted Chapter.” This chapter is written differently from the others, and is less like a narrative and more like a pure statement of facts. At first A.S. Pushkin wanted to include it in the novel, but then he changed his mind, since there could be confusion in the minds of readers, and the whole novel would simply turn into a second “History...”.
After a series of defeats, Pugachev, pursued by Mikhelson and Kharin, was forced to flee beyond the Volga, where his arrival threw the people into confusion. Here are quotes that talk about this:
"Story…":
“The entire western side of the Volga rebelled and was handed over to the impostor” (VIII, 68),
"Captain's daughter":
“We were approaching the banks of the Volga; Our regiment entered the village** and stopped there to spend the night. The headman announced to me that on the other side all the villages had rebelled, Pugachev’s gangs were roaming everywhere” (“Missed Chapter”, 375).
But, despite the temporary success, Pugachev’s affairs went from bad to worse. Pursued by troops, the impostor was wounded, many were taken prisoner, and the bandits began to think about handing Pugachev over to the government. Pugachev’s main defeat in “The Captain’s Daughter” is discussed very briefly:
“Pugachev fled, pursued by Ivan Ivanovich Mikhelson. We soon learned about its complete defeat” (XIII, 364).
In “History...” a lot is written about this in detail:
“Pugachev stood at a height, between two roads. Mikhelson bypassed him at night and stood against the rebels. In the morning Pugachev again saw his formidable persecutor... The battle did not last long. Several cannon shots upset the rebels. Mikhelson hit them. They fled, abandoning the guns and the entire train... This defeat was the last and decisive” (VIII, 75).
But Pugachev was not captured:
“Pugachev wanted to go to the Caspian Sea, hoping to somehow get into the Kyrgyz-Kaisak steppes” (VIII, 76.
The Cossacks decided to hand over their leader to the government. This is how it is described in “Itoria...”:
“Pugachev sat alone, thoughtful. His weapon hung to the side. Hearing the Cossacks enter, he raised his head and asked what they wanted. They began to talk about their desperate situation, and meanwhile, quietly moving, tried to shield him from the hanging weapons. Pugachev began again to persuade them to go to Guryev’s town. The Cossacks replied that they had been following him for a long time and that it was time for him to go after them” (VIII, 76).
So they betrayed their comrade. Having tied him up, they went to the Yaitsky town, where upon arrival, under the supervision of Suvorov, they transported him to Moscow.
The author describes Pugachev’s execution in the same sparing and restrained manner in “The Captain’s Daughter.” Not a word is said either about the rebel’s repentance or about his quartering. What actually happened is said only in “History...”.
“The sleigh stopped opposite the porch frontal place. Pugachev and his favorite Perfilyev, accompanied by a confessor and two officials, had barely ascended the scaffold when the commanding word was heard: to the guard, and one of the officials began to read the manifesto. When the reader pronounced the name and nickname of the main villain, as well as the village where he was born, the chief police officer asked him loudly: are you a Don Cossack, Emelka Pugachev? He answered just as loudly: so, sir, I am a Don Cossack, Zimovets village, Emelka Pugachev. Then, throughout the duration of the manifesto, he, looking at the cathedral, often crossed himself... After reading the manifesto, the confessor said a few words to them, blessed them and left the scaffold. The man who read the manifesto followed him. Then Pugachev, having made several bows to the ground with the sign of the cross, turned to the cathedrals, then with a hurried look began to say goodbye to the people; bowed in all directions, saying in an intermittent voice: forgive me, Orthodox people; let me go where I was rude to you... forgive me, Orthodox people! At this word the executor gave a sign: the executioners rushed to undress him; they tore off a white sheepskin coat; They began to tear the sleeves of the silk crimson caftan. Then he clasped his hands, fell backward, and in an instant his bloody head was already hanging in the air...
The executioner had a secret command to reduce the torment of the criminals. The arms and legs of the corpse were cut off, the executioners carried them to the four corners of the scaffold, the head was shown later and stuck on a high stake” (VIII, 79).
“Thus ended the rebellion, started by a handful of disobedient Cossacks, intensified by the unforgivable negligence of the authorities, and which shook the state from Siberia to Moscow, and from the Kuban to the Murom forests. It took a long time for perfect calm to prevail. Panin and Suvorov whole year remained in the pacified provinces, establishing weakened rule in them, restoring cities and fortresses, and eradicating the last branches of the suppressed rebellion. At the end of 1775, a general forgiveness was announced, and the whole matter was ordered to be consigned to eternal oblivion. Catherine, wanting to exterminate the memory of a terrible era, destroyed the ancient name of the river, whose banks were the first witnesses of disturbances. The Yaik Cossacks were renamed Ural Cossacks, and their town was called by the same name. But the name of the terrible rebel still resounds in the lands where he raged. The people vividly remember the bloody time, which - so expressively - he called Pugachevism” (VIII, 80).
This is how Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin ends his “History of the Pugachev Rebellion.”
Conclusion.
After studying this material, it becomes clear that Pushkin did not take the position of either side. Having seen the split of society into two opposing forces, he realized that the reason for such a split lies not in anyone’s evil will, not in the low moral qualities of one side or another, but in deep social processes that do not depend on the will or intentions of people. Therefore, a one-sided didactic approach to history is deeply alien to Pushkin. He sees the fighting parties not as representatives of order and anarchy, not as fighters for a “natural” contractual society and as violators of primordial human rights. He sees that each side has its own historically and socially based “truth”, which excludes the possibility for it to understand the reasons of the opposing camp. Moreover, both nobles and peasants have their own concept of legitimate power and their own bearers of this power, whom each side considers legitimate with equal grounds.
Pushkin clearly sees that, although the “peasant king” borrows the external signs of power from the noble statehood, its content is different. Peasant power is more patriarchal, more directly connected with the controlled masses, devoid of officials and painted in the tones of family democracy.
The realization that social reconciliation of the parties is excluded, that in the tragic struggle both sides have their own class truth, revealed to Pushkin in a new way the question that had long worried him about cruelty as an inevitable companion of social struggle.
“The Captain's Daughter” - one of Pushkin’s most perfect and profound creations - has repeatedly been the subject of research attention.
By the time of its creation, Pushkin’s position had changed: the idea of the cruelty of the peasants was replaced by the idea of the fatal and inevitable bitterness of both warring parties. He began to carefully record the bloody massacres committed by government supporters. In “Notes on Rebellion” he gave many examples that were not in favor of the latter.
Pushkin was faced with a phenomenon that amazed him: the extreme cruelty of both warring sides often stemmed not from the bloodthirstiness of certain individuals, but from a clash of irreconcilable social concepts.
For Pushkin in “The Captain's Daughter,” the right path is not to move from one camp of modernity to another, but to rise above the “cruel age,” preserving humanity, human dignity and respect for the living lives of other people. For him, this is the true path to the people.
Literature
1. Pushkin “Complete Works” volume 8-9, 16. M., Resurrection, 1995
2. Yu.M. Lotman “Pushkin”, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, 1997
3. A.S. Pushkin, collection Op. V 3 volumes, M., “Hood. literature", 1985.
4. P.V. Annenkov. Materials for the biography of Pushkin. M. 1984.
5. TSB, M., 2000.
6. Yu.G. Osman. “From “The Captain's Daughter” by A.S. Pushkin to “Notes of a Hunter” by I.S. Turgenev."
7. G.A. Gukovsky. "Pushkin and the problem of realistic style."
Pugachev's story
"The History of Pugachev" was published in 1834 under the title "The History of the Pugachev Revolt. Part One. History. Part Two. Applications." On the back of the title page, instead of the usual censorship permission, it was indicated: “With permission of the Government.”
The second part of “The History of Pugachev”, containing documentary appendices to the main text (manifestos and decrees, secret reports to the Military Collegium about the fight against Pugachev, letters from A.I. Bibikov, P.I. Panin, G.R. Derzhavin, “The Siege of Orenburg "P.I. Rychkova and other primary sources) are not reprinted in this edition.
The time of completion of “History” is determined by the date of the preface to it - November 2, 1833, and on December 6, Pushkin already asked A.H. Benckendorff to submit the book “for the highest consideration.”
Pushkin’s hopes that Nicholas I’s attention to his manuscript could lead to permission for its publication were unexpectedly justified. To publish “History,” Pushkin received an interest-free loan from the treasury in the amount of 20,000 rubles. When approving this allocation, Nicholas I, on March 16, 1834, proposed, however, to rename Pushkin’s work: instead of “The History of Pugachev,” the tsar “with his own hand” wrote “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion.”
The book, printing of which began in the summer, was published (in the amount of 3,000 copies) at the end of December 1835.
Pushkin continued to study materials about Pugachevism even after the publication of his History. On January 26, 1835, he turned to the Tsar with a request for the “highest permission” to print the “investigative file” about Pugachev (which he had previously been denied), in order to draw up a “short extract, if not for publication, then at least for the completeness of my work, which is already imperfect, and for the peace of my historical conscience.” On February 26, Pushkin received permission to work on the “investigative case,” the study of which continued until the end of August 1835.
In the memoirs of folklorist I.P. Sakharov, who visited Pushkin a few days before his duel, there is evidence that the poet showed him the “additions to Pugachev” that he collected after publication. Pushkin thought “to remake and re-publish his Pugachev” (Russian Archive, 1873, book 2, p. 955).
Notes on rebellion.
These materials were presented by Pushkin to Nicholas I through Benckendorff in a letter addressed to the latter on January 26, 1835. The draft manuscript of these “Notes”, with some significant additional considerations by Pushkin about the leaders of the uprising and its suppressors, which were not included in its white edition, was published in the academic publication of the complete works of Pushkin, vol. IX, part I, 1938, pp. 474-480.
About "The History of the Pugachev Rebellion".
Pushkin's article, published in Sovremennik, 1835, No. 1, dep. 3, pp. 177-186, was a response to an anonymous analysis of “The History of Pugachev” in “Son of the Fatherland” in 1835. The attribution of this analysis to Bronevsky was indicated by Bulgarin in “Northern Bee” dated June 9, 1836, No. 129.
Bronevsky Vladimir Bogdanovich (1784-1835) - member of the Russian Academy, author of "Notes of a Naval Officer" (1818-1819), "History of the Don Army" (1834), etc.
In Pushkin’s letter to I.I. Dmitriev dated April 26, 1835, there is a clear hint at Bronevsky’s review of “The History of Pugachev”: “As for those thinkers who are indignant at me because Pugachev is represented by Emelka Pugachev, and not Byronov “A couple, then I willingly send them to Mr. Polevoy, who, probably, for a reasonable price, will undertake to idealize this face according to the latest style.”
Records of oral stories, legends, songs about Pugachev
I. Testimony of Krylov (poet). For these records of Pushkin, see above.
II. From a travel notebook. These recordings were made during Pushkin’s trip in September 1833 to Orenburg and Uralsk.
The soldiers' anti-Pugachev song, partially recorded by Pushkin ("From Guryev Town" and "Ural Cossacks"), is fully known from a later recording by I. I. Zheleznov. On Pushkin’s use of it, see the article by N. O. Lerner “The Song Element in the History of the Pugachev Rebellion” (collection “Pushkin. 1834”, L. 1934, pp. 12-16).
III. Kazan records. V.P. Babin’s stories about Pugachev’s capture of Kazan, recorded by Pushkin on September 6, 1833, were widely used in “The History of Pugachev,” ch. VII.
IV. Orenburg records. These records were used in “The History of Pugachev” (Chapter III and notes to Chapters II and V) and in “The Captain’s Daughter” (Chapters VII and IX). About these sources, see the article by N.V. Izmailov “Pushkin’s Orenburg materials for the “History of Pugachev” (collection “Pushkin. Research and Materials”, M. - L. 1953, pp. 266-297).
V. Dmitriev, legends. About the stories of I. I. Dmitriev, recorded by Pushkin around July 14, 1833 in St. Petersburg, see the book by Yu. G. Oksman “From “The Captain's Daughter” to “Notes of a Hunter”, Saratov, 1959, pp. 52-60.
VI. Recording from the words of N. Svechin. Pushkin's informant was probably Infantry General N. S. Svechin (1759-1850), married to the aunt of his friend S. A. Sobolevsky.
About the second lieutenant of the 2nd Grenadier Regiment M.A. Shvanvich, see above.
Pushkin's work is inextricably linked with history. He was interested in important turning points in history: popular movements, the historical role of kings, the clash of state and personal. Pushkin was attracted by bright historical figures and events.
He is not only the author of works of fiction on historical topics, he can be considered a historian. Pushkin carefully studied historical documents, chronicles, historical stories and even oral historical traditions. He followed contemporary historical science and turned to ancient and world history. This helped him understand Russia's place in the world historical process.
Pushkin was interested in the events of the Pugachev revolt since 1824. He studied newspapers and books, everything that was published about Pugachev. In 1833, Pushkin turned to the Minister of War, Count Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev, asking for permission to use materials from the military archive. He explained his desire by his intention to write “the history of the Generalissimo, Prince of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymniksky.” However, his interest was directed towards the “peasant king” Emelyan Pugachev.
When permission was received, Pushkin became acquainted with the materials of the Secret Expedition of the Military Collegium, archival materials of the General Staff, and why he began the “history of Pugachev.” He visited the places of the Pugachev rebellion - Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Siberian, Orenburg, Uralsk, where he recorded stories, songs, and legends of witnesses of the peasant war.
In St. Petersburg, Pushkin addressed the office of His Imperial Majesty with a letter in which he dared to ask permission to present the history of the Pugachev region, written by him, for the highest consideration. 23 amendments were made to the manuscript and the title was changed from “The History of Pugachev” to “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion.”
In December 1834, “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion” was published. The book was greeted coldly, and the Minister of Public Education Uvarov S.S. excited, because Pushkin punched a hole in the decree about consigning to eternal oblivion the very name of Emelyan Pugachev.
Pushkin created the first in Russia scientific and artistic a chronicle of the events of the Pugachev rebellion, which to this day has not lost its significance. The events and rebels depicted by Pushkin differed significantly from the official point of view on the uprisings that shook Russia. Pushkin saw the reasons for the rebellion in the arbitrariness of officials who oppressed the Cossacks, in the cruel actions of the government administration, in the absence of laws, in the lack of rights of the enslaved people.
“The History of the Pugachev Rebellion” became the basis of a historical novel. In it, social problems and events recede into the background. The author is interested in the characters of people, their mutual understanding, ideas about good and evil, duty, honor, conscience, and the meaning of life.
The novel “The Captain's Daughter” is inextricably linked with “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion”.
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