Pugachev's Rebellion

Pugachev's Rebellion
Date 1773–1775 Location Russian Empire: Volga region, Ural region Result Russian government victory Catherine expands serfdom[1]
Belligerents
Russian Empire  • Imperial Russian Army	Followers of Yemelyan Pugachev:  • Ural Cossacks  • Russian serfs  • Old Believers  • Bashkirs  • Tatars  • Chuvashs  • Mari people  • Mordvins (Erzyas and Mokshas)  • Udmurts  • Kazakhs  • Kalmyks
Commanders and leaders
Catherine the Great Grigory Potemkin Petr Panin Alexander Suvorov Johann von Michelsohnen Vasily Alexeyevich Kar	Yemelyan Pugachev   Salawat Yulayev
Strength
5,000+ men[2]	1773: 15,000 men[2] 80 artillery pieces[2] 1774: 25,000 men[3]
Casualties and losses
3,500 killed[2]	20,000 killed[2] 16,000 captured[2]

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Other Cossack groups
Albazinan Bashkir Danube Jewish Nekrasov Persian Tatar Turkish Buryat Cossacks [ru]
History
Registered Cossacks Uprisings Kosiński Nalyvaiko Khmelnytsky Hadiach Treaty Hetmanate Colonisation of Siberia Bulavin Rebellion Pugachev's Rebellion Communism De-Cossackization Cossacks in the SS
Notable Cossacks
Petro Doroshenko Bohdan Khmelnytsky Marina Yurlova Petro Sahaidachny Ivan Mazepa Yemelyan Pugachev Stepan Razin Ivan Sirko Andrei Shkuro Pavlo Skoropadskyi Yermak Timofeyevich Ivan Vyhovsky
Cossack terms
Ataman Hetman Kontusz Kurin Sotnia Oseledets Papakhi Plastun Yesaul Stanitsa Shashka Szabla Cossack clothing [uk; ru] Cossack cuisine
Cossack folklore
Kharakternyk [uk; ru] Mamay
v t e

Pugachev's Rebellion (Russian: Восстание Пугачёва, romanized: Vosstaniye Pugachyova; also called the Peasants' War 1773–1775 or Cossack Rebellion) of 1773–1775 was the principal revolt in a series of popular rebellions that took place in the Russian Empire after Catherine II seized power in 1762. It began as an organized insurrection of Yaik Cossacks headed by Yemelyan Pugachev, a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Imperial Russian Army, against a background of profound peasant unrest and war with the Ottoman Empire. After initial success, Pugachev assumed leadership of an alternative government in the name of the late Tsar Peter III and proclaimed an end to serfdom. This organized leadership presented a challenge to the imperial administration of Catherine II.

The rebellion managed to consolidate support from various groups including the peasants, the Cossacks, and Old Believers priesthood. At one point, its administration claimed control over most of the territory between the Volga River and the Urals. One of the most significant events of the insurrection was the Battle of Kazan in July 1774.

Government forces failed to respond effectively to the insurrection at first, partly due to logistical difficulties and a failure to appreciate its scale. However, the revolt was crushed towards the end of 1774 by General Michelsohn at Tsaritsyn. Pugachev was captured soon after and executed in Moscow in January 1775. Further reprisals against rebel areas were carried out by General Peter Panin.

The events have generated many stories in legend and literature, most notably Pushkin's historical novel The Captain's Daughter (1836). It was the largest peasant revolt in the history of the Russian Empire.