Razin and Pugachev Rebellions

The Cossacks, as an autonomous group, had to defend their liberties and traditio
ns against the ever-expanding Russian government. The Cossacks tended to act ind
ependently of the central government, increasing friction between the two. The g
overnment's power began to grow in 1613 with Mikhail Romanov's ascension to the
throne after the Time of Troubles, when dynastic conflicts constantly presented
themselves and inconsistency reigned with the lack of a single, competent ruler.
The government began attempting to assimilate the Cossacks into the Russian cul
ture and political system by granting elite status and enforcing military servic
e, thus creating divisions within the Cossacks themselves as they fought to keep
their own traditions alive. The government's efforts to alter the traditional n
omadic lifestyle of the Cossacks caused the Cossacks to be involved in nearly al
l the major disturbances in Russia over a 200-year period, including the rebelli
ons led by Stenka Razin and Emilian Pugachev.[62]
Stenka Razin Sailing in theCaspian Sea by Vasily Surikov, 1906
As Muscovy regained stability under Mikhail Romanov after the Time of Troubles b
eginning in 1613, discontent steadily grew within the serf and peasant populatio
ns. The Code of 1649 under Alexis Romanov, Mikhail's son, divided the Russian po
pulation into distinct and fixed hereditary categories.[63] This law tied peasan
ts to the land and forced townsmen to take on their fathers' occupations. The Co
de of 1649 increased tax revenue for the central government and stopped wanderin
g to stabilize the social order by fixing people in the same land with the same
occupation of their families. The increased taxes fell mainly on the peasants as
a burden and continued to widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor. As th
e government developed more military expeditions, human and material resources b
ecame limited, putting an even harsher strain on the peasants. War with Poland a
nd Sweden in 1662 led to a fiscal crisis and riots across the country.[64] Taxes
, harsh conditions, and the gap between social classes drove peasants and serfs
to flee, many of them going to the Cossacks, knowing that the Cossacks would acc
ept refugees and free them.
The Cossacks experienced difficulties under Tsar Alexis as the influx of refugee
s grew daily. The Cossacks received a subsidy of food, money, and military suppl
ies from the tsar in return for acting as border defense.[65] These subsidies fl
uctuated often and provided a source of conflict between the Cossacks and the go
vernment. The war with Poland diverted necessary food and military shipments to
the Cossacks as the population of the Host, the unit of Cossacks identified by t
he region in which they resided, grew with the fugitive peasants. The influx of
these refugees troubled the Cossacks not only because of the increased demand fo
r food but also because the large number of these fugitives meant the Cossacks c
ould not absorb them into their culture through the traditional apprenticeship w
ay.[66] Instead of taking these steps of proper assimilation into Cossack societ
y, the runaway peasants spontaneously declared themselves Cossacks and lived bes
ide true Cossacks, laboring or working as barge-haulers to earn food.
Stenka Razin by Ivan Bilibin
As conditions worsened and Mikhail's son Alexis took the throne, divisions among
the Cossacks began to emerge. Older Cossacks began to settle and become prosper
ous, enjoying the privileges they earned through obeying and assisting the Musco
vite system.[67] The old Cossacks started giving up their traditions and liberti
es that had been worth dying for to obtain the pleasures of an elite life. The l
awless and restless runaway peasants that called themselves Cossacks looked for
adventure and revenge against the nobility that had caused them suffering. These
Cossacks did not receive the government subsidies that the old Cossacks enjoyed
and thus had to work harder and longer for food and money. These divisions betw
een the elite and lawless would lead to the formation of a Cossack army beginnin
g in 1667 under Stenka Razin as well as to the ultimate failure of that rebellio
n.

Stenka Razin was born into an elite Cossack family and had made many diplomatic
visits to Moscow before organizing his rebellion.[68] The Cossacks were Razin's
main supporters and followed him during his first Persian campaign in 1667, plun
dering and pillaging Persian cities on the Caspian Sea. They returned ill and hu
ngry, tired from fighting but rich with plundered goods in 1669.[69] Muscovy tri
ed to gain support from the old Cossacks, asking theataman, or Cossack chieftain
, to prevent Razin from following through with his plans. However the ataman, be
ing Razin's godfather and swayed by Razin's promise of a share of the wealth fro
m Razin's expeditions, replied that the elite Cossacks were powerless against th
e band of rebels. The elite did not see much threat from Razin and his followers
either, although they realized he could cause them problems with the Muscovite
system if his following developed into a rebellion against the central governmen
t.[70]
Razin and his followers began to capture cities at the start of the rebellion in
1669. They seized the towns ofTsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov, and Samara, implem
enting democratic rule and releasing peasants from slavery as they went.[71] Raz
in envisioned a united Cossack republic throughout the southern steppe in which
the towns and villages of the area would operate under the democratic, Cossack s
tyle of government. These sieges often took place in the runaway peasant Cossack
s' old towns, leading them to wreak havoc on their old masters and get the reven
ge for which they were hoping. The rebels' advancement began to be seen as a pro
blem to the elder Cossacks, who, in 1671, decided to comply with the government
in order to receive more subsidies.[72] On April 14, ataman Yakovlev led elders
to destroy the rebel camp and captured Razin, taking him soon afterward to Mosco
w to be executed.
Razin's rebellion marked the beginning of the end to traditional Cossack practic
es. In August 1671, Muscovite envoys administered the oath of allegiance and the
Cossacks swore loyalty to the tsar.[73] While they still had internal autonomy,
the Cossacks became Muscovite subjects, a transition that would prove to be a d
ividing point yet again in Pugachev's Rebellion.
Emelian Pugachev in prison
For the Cossack elite, a noble status within the empire came at the price of the
ir old liberties in the 18th century. An advancement of agricultural settlement
began forcing the Cossacks to give up their traditional nomadicways and to adopt
new forms of government. The government steadily changed the entire culture of
the Cossacks. Peter the Great increased service obligations for the Cossacks and
mobilized their forces to fight in far-off wars. Peter began establishing non-C
ossack troops in fortresses along the Iaik River and in 1734 constructed Orenbur
g, a fortress of government power on the frontier that gave Cossacks a subordina
te role in border defense.[74] When the Iaik Cossacks sent a delegation to Peter
to explain their grievances, Peter stripped the Cossacks of their autonomous st
atus and subordinated them to the War College rather than the College of Foreign
Affairs, solidifying the change in the Cossacks from border patrol to military
servicemen. Over the next fifty years, the central government responded to Cossa
ck grievances with arrests, floggings, and exiles. Among the ordinary Cossacks,
hatred of the elite and central government boiled and by 1772, an open state of
rebellion ensued for six months between the Iaik Cossacks and the central govern
ment.[75]
Under Catherine the Great in 1762, the Russian peasants and Cossacks once again
faced increased taxation, heavy military conscription, and grain shortages that
had characterized the land before Razin's rebellion. In addition, Catherine did
not spread one of Peter III's acts, relevant to economy peasants, or the former
church serfs living on the former church lands, freeing from their obligations a
nd payments to church authorities, to other peasants freeing them from serfdom t
hus.[76] In 1767, the empress refused to accept grievances directly from the pea
santry.[77] Peasants fled once again to the land of the Cossacks; in particular,
the fugitive peasants set their destination for the Iaik Host, whose people wer
e committed to the old Cossack traditions. The changing government burdened the

Cossacks as well, extending its reach to reform the Cossack traditions.

Don Cossack in the early 1800s
Emelian Pugachev, a low-status Don Cossack, arrived in the Iaik Host in late 177
2.[78] Pugachev's claim to be Peter III stemmed from the expectations the Cossac
ks held for the late ruler, believing that Peter III would have been an effectiv
e ruler after freeing not only church serfs, but the serfs of landlords as well
had he not been assassinated by a plot of his wife Catherine II.[79] Many Iaik C
ossacks believed Pugachev's claim, though those closest to him knew the truth. O
thers that may have known the truth but did not support Catherine II, due to her
disposal of Peter III, still spread Pugachev's claim to be the late emperor.
The first of the three phases of Pugachev's Rebellion began in September 1773.[8
0] The elite-supporting Cossacks constituted the majority of the first prisoners
taken by the rebels. After a five-month siege ofOrenburg, a military college be
came Pugachev's headquarters.[81] Pugachev began envisioning a Cossacktsardom, s
imilar to Razin's vision of a united Cossack republic. The peasantry across Russ
ia stirred with rumors and listened to manifestos issued by Pugachev. However, P
ugachev's Rebellion soon came to be seen as an inevitable failure. The Don Cossa
cks refused to help the rebellion in the last phase of the revolt because they k
new military troops followed Pugachev closely after lifting the siege of Orenbur
g and following Pugachev's flight from defeated Kazan.[82] In September 1774, Pu
gachev's own Cossack lieutenants turned him over to the government troops.[83]
The Cossacks' opposition to centralization of political authority led them to pa
rticipate in Pugachev's Rebellion.[84] Their defeat led the Cossack elite to acc
ept government reforms in the hope of obtaining status in the nobility. The ordi
nary Cossacks had to follow and give up their traditions and liberties.