Everyone knows the history of the country, because we get acquainted with it at school, and then anyone who is interested can always go deeper into the events and study self-study historical events previous years. IN this moment at school we stopped at the consideration of the Decembrist uprising, where we have to describe the causes, course and results of the Decembrist uprising briefly in order to understand historical meaning of this event.
The Decembrist uprising in brief, the most important thing
If we talk briefly about the Decembrist uprising, it happened in December, hence its name. The coup happened in 1825.
Causes of the Decembrist uprising
What were the reasons for the uprising of progressive youth? The impetus for the uprising that happened on December 14 was briefly liberal views people who opposed established procedures and the existing policy of the king. While there was no serfdom in Europe for a long time, in Russia people continued to be oppressed and rights and freedoms were violated. Young people wanted change and began organizing clubs. During the gathering, the tsar's policies and the state of affairs in the country were furiously discussed.
Progress of the Decembrist uprising
During the course of reasoning and discussion, it was decided to rebel against the usurper power, change the government, and get rid of the monarch. And then Alexander the First dies, and Nicholas has not yet begun the duties assigned to a royal person. The Decembrists took advantage of this unstable situation and planned to prevent the oath of troops and the Senate to the Tsar, scheduled for December 14.
The Decembrists opposed the government, putting forward their demands, which included the abolition of serfdom. The Decembrists demanded that all people be given rights and freedoms. However, the uprising failed.
Results and significance of the uprising
A lot of people gathered on Senate Square, people were aggressive, but the leaders of the uprising could not organize everything correctly, they did not find mutual language between themselves. Already at the beginning of the uprising, the leader had to be changed, where instead of Trubetskoy, Prince Obolensky became the head of the event. The king himself was warned about the uprising, so he took the oath early in the morning and began to prepare to repel and suppress the rebels. Having gathered an army of twelve thousand, the king gives the order to attack. Number tsarist army had an advantage, and she was well armed, so it was not difficult to suppress the uprising. And their poor preparation and lack of knowledge of the intricacies of organizing such events did not play into the hands of the Decembrists.
As a result, the uprising was suppressed, and many people died; among those killed in the square were women and children. Many Decembrists were caught and convicted. Some of them were hanged, the rest were sent into exile.
If we talk about the significance of the uprising, then, despite the fiasco, it played a big role for the future revolutionary movement in Russia. Those who rebelled against the authorities, although they failed, managed to sow revolutionary ideas in the minds of many people. They gave impetus to further struggle. The Decembrist movement inspired many figures, including writers, who began to promote revolutionary ideas in their works. And even if not immediately, even after decades, serfdom was abolished, which means that the sacrifices were not in vain.
One of his contemporaries (they believed: Pushkin himself) wrote this about Alexander I, having learned that the tsar, who after St. Petersburg and Moscow, Paris and London, Berlin and Vienna, had visited the provincial Russian town of Taganrog, died there suddenly on November 19, 1825 :
Spent my whole life on the road,
And he died in Taganrog...
His death led to a dynastic crisis, an interregnum that lasted 25 days, until December 14.
Since Alexander I died childless, his next brother Constantine should have become king (according to the law of succession to the throne of 1797). But he had long ago made a vow to himself “not to climb onto the throne” (“they will strangle you, like they strangled your father”). In 1820, he entered into a morganatic marriage with the Polish Countess Zh. Grudzinskaya, thereby cutting off his path to the throne. Alexander, convinced that his brother preferred a non-royal wife to the royal scepter, on August 16, 1823, with a special manifesto, deprived Constantine of his rights to the throne and declared the next of the brothers, Nicholas, heir. Alexander I hid this manifesto in the Assumption Cathedral, where it was kept in deep secrecy until the king’s death. This is where the whole fuss of the interregnum caught fire.
As soon as St. Petersburg learned of the death of Alexander I, the authorities and troops began to swear allegiance to Constantine. On November 27, Nikolai swore allegiance to him. Constantine, for his part, swore allegiance to Nicholas. A race of couriers began from St. Petersburg to Warsaw, where Konstantin lived as governor of Poland, and back. Nicholas asked Constantine to come to St. Petersburg and sit on the throne. Konstantin refused. “They offer the crown like tea, but no one /91/ wants it,” they joked in St. Petersburg. In the end, Nicholas decided to become king and scheduled the oath of office for December 14th.
This was the “current moment” then. He favored the uprising, but the Decembrists were not yet ready to act. It was impossible to postpone the speech: the Decembrists learned that the government knew about the existence and even the composition of secret societies and was preparing to deal with them. Denunciations against the Decembrists had been received by Alexander I since May 1821. The most detailed of them was received in Taganrog on December 1, 1825, after the death of the tsar. The informer is a member of the Southern Society, Captain A.I. Mayboroda - named 46 names of the most active conspirators, including the entire composition of the southern Directory and northern Duma.
The Decembrists were well informed about what was happening at court and in the government: one of them (S. G. Krasnokutsky) was the chief prosecutor of the Senate, the other (A. I. Yakubovich) was friends with the St. Petersburg Governor General M.A. Miloradovich, and G.S. Batenkov enjoyed the trust of the most authoritative and knowledgeable member of the government, M.M. Speransky. Having learned that the re-oath was scheduled for December 14, the members of the Northern Society decided: they could no longer delay. On December 10 they elected "by vote" dictator uprising of the Colonel of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, Prince. S.P. Trubetskoy, and on the evening of the 13th they gathered in K.F.’s apartment. Ryleev for the last meeting. Ryleev said: “The scabbard is broken, and the sabers cannot be hidden.” Everyone agreed with him. It was decided to perform the next morning without fail.
What was the plan for the uprising on December 14, 1825? What slogans did the Decembrists march to Senate Square with?
On the eve of the uprising, members of the Northern Society drew up a new program document - “Manifesto to the Russian People.” Its author was Trubetskoy. The “Manifesto” proclaimed the Decembrists’ goal to overthrow the autocracy and eliminate serfdom. Following the victory of the uprising, it was planned to create a Provisional Government of 2-3 persons, which included M.M. Speransky and Senator N.S. Mordvinov, and among the members of the secret society - secretary of Speransky G.S. Batenkov. The Provisional Government was supposed to prepare by the spring of 1826 the convening of the Constituent Assembly (the “Great Council”), and the council would decide the two main issues of the revolution: how to replace the autocracy (with a republic or a constitutional monarchy) and how to free the peasants - with or without land. Thus, the Manifesto left the main questions open, which /92/ speaks of his compromising nature. Moderates and radicals did not have time to coordinate their positions at the time of the uprising and postponed disputes until the Great Council, relying on its will.
The tactical plan of the uprising was as follows. The main forces of the rebels (Moscow, Finnish and Grenadier Life Guards regiments) led by dictator Trubetskoy were supposed to gather on Senate Square near the Senate building, prevent senators from taking the oath of office and force them (if necessary, by force of arms) to issue a "Manifesto to the Russian people" ". Meanwhile, other regiments (Izmailovsky and Guards Marine Crew) under the command of Captain A.I. Yakubovich would have seized the Winter Palace and arrested royal family. Would have decided her fate Great Cathedral depending on the new form government: republic (in this case royal family would be expelled from Russia) or a constitutional monarchy (in this case the Tsar would be given executive branch). The plan for the uprising was based on the support of the southerners. On December 13, Trubetskoy sent a messenger to the Directory of the Southern Society with news of the impending uprising.
In total, in St. Petersburg, the Decembrists expected to raise six guards regiments numbering 6 thousand people. They thought this was enough to win. Some of them even hoped to avoid bloodshed, believing, as Ryleev said, that “the soldiers (of the government - N.T.) would not shoot at the soldiers, but, on the contrary, would join us, and everything would end quietly.” The people only had to taste the fruits of the uprising committed in their favor, and the Decembrists considered their sympathetic presence on Senate Square desirable. G.S. Batenkov said that “it is necessary to beat the drum, because this will gather the people.” In a word, an inactive people as the background of a revolution - such was the idea of the military revolution of the Decembrists.
The uprising began on December 14 at about 11 am. The Decembrists brought three guards regiments (Moscow, Grenadier and Marine Crew) to Senate Square and here they learned that Nikolai Pavlovich swore in the Senate at dawn, at 7 o’clock. Moreover, A.I. Yakubovich, who was tasked with seizing the Winter Palace and arresting the royal family, unexpectedly refused to carry out the assignment, fearing a possible regicide. So the two main links in the plan of action for the rebels disappeared, new decisions had to be made on the spot, and the dictator Trubetskoy did not appear on the square. By that time, he realized that the uprising was doomed to death, and decided not to aggravate his own guilt, as well as the guilt of his comrades, by decisive actions. However, there is a version, coming from Nicholas I and penetrating into literature (even Soviet literature), that he was hiding nearby /93/ and looking out into the square from around the corner, waiting to see if more regiments would gather.
The Decembrists gathered 3 thousand soldiers on Senate Square. They lined up in a square around the monument to Peter the Great. Hardly many of them were aware of the political meaning of the uprising. Contemporaries with very different views told how the rebel soldiers shouted: “Hurray for the constitution!” - believing that this is the name of Konstantin Pavlovich’s wife. The Decembrists themselves, not having the opportunity or time for overt political agitation, led soldiers to the square in the name of the “legitimate” sovereign Constantine: “Having sworn allegiance to one sovereign, immediately swearing allegiance to another is a sin!” However, Constantine was desirable to the soldiers not in himself, but as a “good” (supposedly) king - the antipode to the “evil” (the whole guard knew this) Nicholas.
The mood in the square of rebels on Senate Square was cheerful and upbeat. Alexander Bestuzhev, in front of the soldiers, sharpened his saber on the granite of the monument to Peter. The rebels remained passive but steadfast. Even when there was only one Moscow regiment on the square, General Miloradovich, the hero of 1812, an associate of Suvorov and Kutuzov, tried to persuade the Muscovites to disperse and began an incendiary speech (and he knew how to talk to soldiers), but the Decembrist P.G. Kakhovsky shot him. Miloradovich’s attempt was repeated by Guard Commander A.L. Voinov, but also unsuccessfully, although this envoy got off cheaply: he was shell-shocked by a log thrown from a crowd of onlookers. Meanwhile, reinforcements approached the rebels. New attempts to persuade them to submit were made by the third of the brothers of Alexander I, Mikhail Pavlovich, and two metropolitans - St. Petersburg, Father Seraphim, and Kiev, Father Eugene. Each of them also had to flee. “What kind of metropolitan are you when you swore allegiance to two emperors in two weeks!” - the Decembrist soldiers shouted after the fleeing father. Seraphim.
In the afternoon, Nikolai Pavlovich sent the horse guard against the rebels, but the rebel square repelled several of its attacks with rifle fire. After this, Nicholas had only one means left, “ultima ratio regis,” as they say about this means in the West (“the last argument of kings”) - artillery.
By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Nikolai had brought 12 thousand bayonets and sabers (four times more than the rebels) and 36 guns to the square. But his situation remained critical. The fact is that a large (20-30 thousand) crowd of people gathered around the square, at first they only observed both sides, not understanding what was happening (many thought: a training exercise), then they began /94/ to show sympathy for the rebels. Stones and logs, of which there were a great many near the building of St. Isaac's Cathedral that was then under construction, were thrown from the crowd into the government camp and its envoys.
Voices from the crowd asked the Decembrists to hold out until dark and promised to help. Decembrist A.E. Rosen recalled this: “Three thousand soldiers and ten times more people were ready for anything at the behest of the boss." But the boss was not there. Only at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon did the Decembrists choose - right there on the square - a new dictator, also a prince, E.P. Obolensky. However, time had already been lost: Nicholas allowed move "last argument of kings".
At the beginning of the 5th hour, he personally commanded: “Fire the guns in order! Start the right flank! First!..” To his surprise and fear, no shot was fired. "Why don't you shoot?" - Lieutenant I.M. attacked the right-flank gunner. Bakunin. “Yes, it’s our own, your honor!” - answered the soldier. The lieutenant snatched the fuse from him and fired the first shot himself. He was followed by a second, a third... The ranks of the rebels wavered and ran.
At 6 pm it was all over. They picked up the corpses of the rebels in the square. According to official figures there were 80, but this is clearly a reduced figure; Senator P.G. Divov counted 200 dead that day, Ministry of Justice official S.N. Korsakov - 1271, of which "rabble" - 903.
Late in the evening at Ryleev's last time participants in the uprising gathered. They agreed on how to behave during interrogations, and, having said goodbye to each other, went their separate ways - some went home, and some went straight to the Winter Palace: to surrender. The first to show up in the royal palace to confess was the one who was the first to come to Senate Square - Alexander Bestuzhev. Meanwhile, Ryleev sent a messenger to the South with the news that the uprising in St. Petersburg had been suppressed.
Before St. Petersburg had time to recover from the shock caused by December 14, it learned about the Decembrist uprising in the South. It turned out to be longer (from December 29, 1825 to January 3, 1826), but less dangerous for tsarism. By the beginning of the uprising, on December 13, based on Mayboroda’s denunciation, Pestel was arrested, and after him the entire Tulchin government. Therefore, the southerners were able to raise only the Chernigov regiment, which was headed by Sergei Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol - the second most important leader of Southern society, a man of rare intelligence, courage and charm, “Orpheus among the Decembrists” (as the historian G.I. Chulkov called him), their common favorite The commanders of other units, on which /95/ the Decembrists were counting (General S.G. Volkonsky, Colonels A.Z. Muravyov, V.K. Tizengauzen, I.S. Povalo-Shveikovsky, etc.), did not support the Chernigovites, but the Decembrist M.I. Pykhachev, commander of a horse artillery company, betrayed his comrades and took part in suppressing the uprising. On January 3, in a battle near the village of Kovalevka, approximately 70 km southwest of Kyiv, the Chernigov regiment was defeated by government troops. Seriously wounded Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, his assistant M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and brother Matvey were taken prisoner (the third of the Muravyov-Apostolov brothers, Ippolit, who vowed to “win or die,” shot himself on the battlefield).
The reprisal against the Decembrists was carried out brutally. In total, according to the calculations of M.V. Nechkina, over 3 thousand rebels (500 officers and more than 2.5 thousand soldiers) were arrested. V.A. According to documents, Fedorov counted 316 arrested officers. The soldiers were beaten with spitzrutens (some to death), and then sent to penal companies. To deal with the main criminals, Nicholas I appointed a Supreme Criminal Court of 72 senior officials. He instructed M.M. to manage the work of the court. Speransky. This was the king's Jesuit move. After all, Speransky was under suspicion: among the Decembrists there were people close to him, including his secretary S.G. Batenkov, who paid the heaviest punishment of all the non-executed Decembrists (20 years in solitary confinement). The Tsar reasoned that Speransky, despite all his desire to be gentle, would be strict, because the slightest leniency towards the defendants on his part would be regarded as sympathy for the Decembrists and proof of his connection with them. The king's calculations were completely justified.
121 Decembrists were put on trial: 61 members of the Northern Society and 60 members of the Southern Society. Among them were the stars of the Russian titled nobility: 8 princes, 3 counts, 3 barons, 3 generals, 23 colonels or lieutenant colonels, and even the chief prosecutor of the Governing Senate. Of the major figures in the movement, only General M.F. was not convicted. Orlov - his brother Alexei, the tsar’s favorite, the future chief of the gendarmes, begged the tsar’s forgiveness (he seized the moment when he found himself in the church with the tsar, fell at his feet and, calling on all the saints for help, persuaded him to have mercy on his brother). Pardon M.F. Orlov surprised everyone, and shocked those close to the tsar. Grand Duke At the coronation of Nicholas I, Konstantin Pavlovich approached A.F. Orlov and (to quote an eyewitness) “with his usual courtesy told him: “Well, thank God! Everything is fine. I'm glad my brother was crowned. It’s a pity that your brother wasn’t hanged!”
The behavior of the Decembrists during the investigation and trial, perhaps, somewhat brings them down in our eyes. M. Lunin behaved heroically, I. Pushchin, S. Muravyov-Apostol, N. Bestuzhev, I. Yakushkin, M. Orlov, A. Borisov, N. Panov behaved with dignity. /96/
However, almost everyone else (not excluding Pestel and Ryleev) repented and gave frank testimony, revealing even persons not identified by the investigation: Trubetskoy named 79 names, Obolensky - 71, Burtsev - 67, etc. Here, of course, there were objective reasons: “fragility,” as M.V. put it. Nechkin, noble revolutionism; lack of social support and experience in fighting the punitive power of the autocracy; a kind of code of noble honor, obliging the vanquished to humble themselves before the victorious sovereign. But, without a doubt, the subjective qualities of such different people, such as, for example, Trubetskoy, instinctively devoted to honor and daring, independent Lunin.
All defendants were divided into 11 categories of punishment: 1st (31 defendants) - to “cutting off the head”, 2nd - to eternal hard labor, etc.; 10th and 11th - to demotion to soldier. The court placed five out of rank and sentenced to quartering (replaced by hanging) - this is P.I. Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and the murderer of Miloradovich P.G. Kakhovsky. Of the entire court, only Senator N.S. Mordvinov (admiral, first naval minister of Russia) raised his voice against death penalty to anyone by writing down a dissenting opinion. Everyone else showed ruthlessness in trying to please the king. Even three clergy (two metropolitans and an archbishop), who, as Speransky assumed, “according to their rank will renounce the death penalty,” did not renounce the sentence of the five Decembrists to quartering.
Five were executed on July 13, 1826 on the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The execution was carried out barbarously. Three - Ryleev, Muravyov-Apostol and Kakhovsky - fell from the gallows and were hanged a second time. Rising to the scaffold for the second time, Muravyov-Apostol allegedly said: “Unfortunate Russia! They don’t even know how to hang themselves properly...”
More than 100 Decembrists, after replacing “beheading” with hard labor, were exiled to Siberia and - demoted to rank and file - to the Caucasus to fight against the highlanders. Some of the Decembrists (Trubetskoy, Volkonsky, Nikita Muravyov and others) were voluntarily followed to hard labor by their wives - young aristocrats who had barely managed to get married: princesses, baronesses, generals, 12 in total. Three of them died in Siberia. The rest returned with their husbands 30 years later, having buried more than 20 of their children in Siberian soil. The feat of these women Decembrist, sung in the poems of N.A. Nekrasov and the Frenchman A. de Vigny.
The new Tsar Alexander II amnestied the Decembrists in 1856. By that time, out of 100 convicts in Siberia, only 40 survived. The rest died in hard labor and in exile.
Could the Decembrists have won? This question, first posed by Herzen, is still being discussed, and even today some historians (following Herzen) answer it positively, believing that the Decembrists “were not alone” and could rely on “a number of individuals and figures” from the nobility and even the government . However, it is difficult to agree with this version: the totality of all the pros and cons of it forces us to admit that the Decembrist uprising was doomed to defeat.
The point is not only that the rebels were small in number, acted passively and scatteredly, and some of them (Trubetskoy, Yakubovich, Volkonsky) even avoided any action, and not that the Decembrists on Senate Square, as Herzen emphasized, “didn’t there were enough people" - in the sense not of presence, but of interaction. The main thing is that at that time in Russia the autocratic serfdom system had not yet exhausted itself, the conditions for its violent overthrow had not developed, the revolutionary situation had not matured, and the people remained unreceptive to the ideas of the revolution for a long time. Therefore, the Decembrists, with all their connections with people from the nobility and the government itself, could not count on any broad support on a national scale; they represented an insignificant handful of their class. It is estimated that all officers and generals - members of secret societies, as well as participants in the Decembrist uprisings who were not members of the societies, then accounted for only 0.6% of total number officers and generals of the Russian army (169 out of 26,424). All the nobles in Russia were almost a quarter of a million. This means that at that time a more rational means of transforming Russia than an armed uprising was the evolutionary path - pressure on the government from those noble and military circles to which the Decembrists belonged.
Nevertheless, the historical merit of the Decembrists is undeniable. They went down in Russian history as pioneers liberation struggle against autocracy and serfdom. Their uprising, for all its weaknesses, was an act of international significance. It hit European reaction, the system of the Holy Alliance, the stronghold of which was tsarism. In Russia itself, the Decembrists awakened the freedom-loving spirit of the nation. Their names and destinies remained in memory, and their ideas remained in the arsenal of subsequent generations of freedom fighters. The prophecy of the Decembrist poet A.I. came true. Odoevsky: /98/
Our sorrowful work will not be wasted,
A spark will ignite a flame.
Historiographical information. The literature about the Decembrists is colossal: 12 thousand titles, i.e. more than about any other phenomenon of Russian pre-revolutionary history, except the War of 1812.
The first in the historiography of Decembrism was the protective concept, formulated already in the manifesto on the accession of Nicholas I dated July 13, 1826 (the day of the execution of the leaders of Decembrism): “This intention was not in the properties and not in the morals of the Russians.”<...>The heart of Russia was and will always be inaccessible to him." Classic sample this concept is the book of Baron M.A. Korf "The Accession to the Throne of Emperor Nicholas I" (St. Petersburg, 1848). The Decembrists are presented here as a bunch of madmen, “alien to our holy Rus',” and their conspiracy is “a purulent growth on the magnificent body of autocratic Russia,” “without roots in the past and prospects for the future.”
The guardians were opposed by a revolutionary concept. Its founders were the Decembrists themselves (M.S. Lunin and N.M. Muravyov), and A.I. became a classic. Herzen, who in his brilliant works “On the Development of Revolutionary Ideas in Russia” (1851) and “The Russian Conspiracy of 1825” (1857) showed national roots, the greatness and significance of the Decembrists as the first Russian revolutionaries, revealed the main source of their weakness (separation from the people), but in general idealized them (“phalanx of heroes”, “heroes forged from pure steel”, etc.).
Simultaneously with the revolutionary one, a liberal concept was formed and soon prevailed in the historiography of Decembrism. Its founder was the Decembrist N.I. Turgenev, sentenced in the case on December 14 “to beheaded.” He was then abroad, rejected the invitation of the tsarist authorities to return to his homeland and have his head cut off, but for the purpose of self-justification he began to portray all the Decembrists as harmless liberals. This concept was developed by academician. A.N. Pypin (cousin of N.G. Chernyshevsky), who viewed the program guidelines of the Decembrists as a continuation of the reforms of Alexander I, and the uprising of December 14 as an “explosion of despair” due to denunciations and the threat of reprisals.
The most outstanding in pre-revolutionary literature about the Decembrists is the work of V.I. Semevsky, where the views, programs and plans of the Decembrists as a pan-European phenomenon were thoroughly studied, although the foreign influence on their ideology was somewhat exaggerated.
Soviet historians studied all aspects of Decembrism: its origin (S.N. Chernov, S.S. Landa), ideology (B.E. Syroechkovsky, V.V. Pugachev), Northern society (N.M. Druzhinin, / 99/ K.D. Aksenov) and Yuzhnoye (Yu.G. Oksman, S.M. Faiershtein), the Decembrist uprising (A.E. Presnyakov, I.V. Porokh), reprisal against them (P.E. Shchegolev, V.A. Fedorov). Published whole line biographical works, the best of which are books by N.M. Druzhinin about Nikita Muravyov and N.Ya. Eidelman about Lunin. The largest generalizing work belongs to academician. M.V. Nechkina. Along with its advantages (the broadest coverage of the topic, a colossal source base, amazing scrupulousness, a vivid form of presentation), there are also disadvantages characteristic of the Soviet historiography of Decembrism as a whole - mainly, emphasizing the revolutionary spirit of the Decembrists and hushing up weaknesses that are unacceptable for a revolutionary (for example, unstable behavior many of them during investigation and trial).
A more modern (although not as detailed) overview of the Decembrist movement was given by V.A. Fedorov in the book “The Decembrists and Their Time” (M., 1992). IN Lately We have a tendency to revise the traditionally Soviet view of Decembrism, but it is unproductive, judging by the fact that its enthusiasts tend to consider the main factors in the origin of Decembrism not internal, Russian, but external, European factors[16. Cm.: . See for example: Pantin I.K., Plimak E.G., Khoros V.G. Decree. Op. P. 87.
Translated into Russian: Yosifova B. Decembrists. M., 1983, 0"Mara P. K.F. Ryleev. M., 1989.
Cm.: Mauri A. La conspiration descemtmstes. R., 1964.
Russia won in Patriotic War, but what did this victory bring to society? After 1812, the Russian Empire, represented by the emperor, organized foreign trip against the remnants of Napoleon's army, which ended in 1815. The campaign was successful, Napoleon's army was defeated.
But for Russian society the campaign brought something else. He gave an understanding that life is better in Europe, that there is a concept of civil law, which is absent in some countries serfdom, and most importantly, the officers saw in reality that the autocratic form of government is not the only one that can exist in the state. The December uprising, which took place on December 14, 1825 on Senate Square, was the result of precisely this foreign campaign.
Causes of the Decembrist uprising
The reasons for the Decembrist uprising can be considered secret societies that began to emerge in Russia after 1815. The very first such society was the “Union of Welfare”, which arose in 1818 in St. Petersburg. It included radical young officers and nobles: Pestel, Muravyov-Apostol, the Muravyov brothers, Trubetskoy, etc. This organization had its own charter - the “Green Book”.
The main goal of the organization is to spread education in order to prepare society for the adoption of the constitution by the emperor. But members of society could not decide how society should achieve a constitution. Studying public opinion on this issue, many members of society became disillusioned with the Union of Welfare.
They understood that society was completely unprepared for peaceful ways to achieve such goals; an uprising was needed. Therefore, the Union gradually turned into just a revolutionary gang, where they studied in detail the Spanish revolution and anti-monarchist movements in European countries. At the same time, society participants understood that the participation of the peasantry and any mob in such an uprising was impossible. The coup must be carried out by advanced officers in the name and good of the people. Due to disagreements, the society was dissolved in 1821.
Participants in the Decembrist uprising of 1825
After the collapse of the Union of Welfare, two new societies were created, which became the main organizations that took part in the Decembrist uprising - the Northern and Southern societies.
Pavel Pestel became the head of southern society. He adhered to the idea of revolution in the country and the creation of a republic. He wrote down his ideas in the society’s program - “Russian Truth”. Nikita Muravyov became the head of the Northern Society. He developed his “Constitution” program, which involved limiting the monarchy by introducing a Constitution in the country. Northern society was not as radical as Southern society, but both societies adhered to the same position regarding serfdom - they treated it negatively. If you take general provisions program for the future uprising, it assumed:
- Abolition of serfdom;
- Civil rights and freedoms for the population;
- Introduction of representation in governing bodies.
The most important thing that interested the rebels was the transformation of government. This problem became long overdue in society and inevitable, which is why it led to the Decembrist uprising of 1825.
The course of events of the uprising on Senate Square
Open actions were scheduled for December 14. The main task The Decembrists disrupted the oath to the future emperor. It was expected that he would be arrested, and then the form of government in the country would be changed.
In the morning, the rebels arrived at Senate Square, but almost immediately they learned that the oath to Nicholas had already taken place that night. This happened because the preparations for the uprising took place under poor secrecy, and he already knew about the plans of the conspirators. Standing in the square, the rebels did not know what to do and were inactive for a long time. This played into the hands of the government, which began to gather troops. The Emperor took active action. Most of the guard obeyed him and this decided the outcome of the uprising on Senate Street.
First, Governor General Miloradovich M.A. tried to persuade the rebels to disperse in order to avoid bloodshed. But the Decembrist Kakhovsky P.G. shot him and the general died. This was the last straw and he ordered the massacre to begin. Not wanting much bloodshed, he ordered grapeshot to be fired over the heads of the rebels, and the uprising was defeated.
Mass arrests of participants in the Decembrist uprising began throughout the city. Using the example of punishment of the Decembrists of the uprising, the emperor showed his determination in such matters. He believed that the source of the Decembrist uprising was the constitutional ideas of his brother the emperor, which he considered erroneous. All those arrested were brought to the Peter and Paul Fortress, where they were interrogated in detail. Many of the participants and indirectly involved persons were officers, therefore, following officer's honor, they answered frankly, without hiding anything.
The Supreme Court convicted 121 people. Five people were sentenced to hanging: Pestel, Kakhovsky, Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Ryleev. The rest of the Decembrists went to hard labor, and from some of the soldiers they created a special regiment, which was sent to the Caucasus. The severity of the sentences shocked society and forever ruined the moral character of the new emperor. And the uprising on Senate Square remained in history as a failed revolution.
Decembrist uprising video
On July 13, 1826, five conspirators and leaders of the Decembrist uprising were executed on the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress: K.F. Ryleev, P.I. Pestel, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and P.G. Kakhovsky
In the first quarter of the 19th century. A revolutionary ideology arose in Russia, the bearers of which were the Decembrists. Disillusioned with the policies of Alexander 1, part of the progressive nobility decided to put an end to the reasons, as it seemed to them, for the backwardness of Russia.
Attempted coup d'état that took place in St. Petersburg, the capital Russian Empire, December 14 (26), 1825, was called the Decembrist Uprising. The uprising was organized by a group of like-minded nobles, many of them were officers of the guard. They tried to use the guards units to prevent Nicholas I from ascending the throne. The goal was the abolition of the autocracy and the abolition of serfdom.
In February 1816, the first secret political society, the goal of which was the abolition of serfdom and the adoption of a constitution. It consisted of 28 members (A.N. Muravyov, S.I. and M.I. Muravyov-Apostles, S.P.T Rubetskoy, I.D. Yakushkin, P.I. Pestel, etc.)
In 1818, the organization “ Welfare Union”, which had 200 members and had councils in other cities. The society propagated the idea of abolishing serfdom, preparing revolutionary coup by the officers. " Welfare Union"collapsed due to disagreements between radical and moderate members of the union.
In March 1821, arose in Ukraine Southern Society led by P.I. Pestel, who was the author of the policy document " Russian Truth».
In St. Petersburg, on the initiative of N.M. Muravyov was created " Northern society”, which had a liberal plan of action. Each of these societies had its own program, but the goal was the same - the destruction of autocracy, serfdom, estates, the creation of a republic, the separation of powers, and the proclamation of civil liberties.
Preparations for an armed uprising began. The conspirators decided to take advantage of the complex legal situation that had developed around the rights to the throne after the death of Alexander I. On the one hand, there was a secret document confirming the long-standing renunciation of the throne by the brother next to the childless Alexander in seniority, Konstantin Pavlovich, which gave an advantage to the next brother, who was extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite to Nikolai Pavlovich. On the other hand, even before the opening of this document, Nikolai Pavlovich, under pressure from the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count M.A. Miloradovich, hastened to renounce his rights to the throne in favor of Konstantin Pavlovich. After the repeated refusal of Konstantin Pavlovich from the throne, the Senate, as a result of a long night meeting on December 13-14, 1825, recognized legal rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich.
The Decembrists decided to prevent the Senate and troops from taking the oath to the new king.
The conspirators planned to occupy the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace, arrest the royal family and, if certain circumstances arose, kill them. Sergei Trubetskoy was elected to lead the uprising. Next, the Decembrists wanted to demand from the Senate the publication of a national manifesto proclaiming the destruction of the old government and the establishment of a provisional government. Admiral Mordvinov and Count Speransky were supposed to be members of the new revolutionary government. The deputies were entrusted with the task of approving the constitution - the new fundamental law. If the Senate refused to announce a national manifesto containing points on the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms, the introduction of mandatory for all classes military service, the introduction of jury trials, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax, etc., it was decided to force him to do this forcibly. Then it was planned to convene a National Council, which would decide the choice of form of government: a republic or a constitutional monarchy. If the republican form was chosen, the royal family would have to be expelled from the country. Ryleev first proposed sending Nikolai Pavlovich to Fort Ross, but then he and Pestel plotted the murder of Nikolai and, perhaps, Tsarevich Alexander.
On the morning of December 14, 1825, the Moscow Life Guards Regiment entered Senate Square. He was joined by the Guards Naval Crew and the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. In total, about 3 thousand people gathered.
However, Nicholas I, notified of the impending conspiracy, took the oath of the Senate in advance and, gathering troops loyal to him, surrounded the rebels. After negotiations, in which Metropolitan Seraphim and the Governor-General of St. Petersburg M.A. Miloradovich (who was mortally wounded) took part on the part of the government, Nicholas I ordered the use of artillery. The uprising in St. Petersburg was crushed.
But already on January 2 it was suppressed by government troops. Arrests of participants and organizers began throughout Russia. 579 people were involved in the Decembrist case. Found guilty 287. Five were sentenced to death (K.F. Ryleev, P.I. Pestel, P.G. Kakhovsky, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol). 120 people were exiled to hard labor in Siberia or to a settlement.
About one hundred and seventy officers involved in the Decembrist case were extrajudicially demoted to soldiers and sent to the Caucasus, where Caucasian War. Several exiled Decembrists were later sent there. In the Caucasus, some, with their courage, earned promotion to officers, like M. I. Pushchin, and some, like A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, died in battle. Individual participants in the Decembrist organizations (such as V.D. Volkhovsky and I.G. Burtsev) were transferred to the troops without demotion to soldiers, which took part in Russian-Persian war 1826-1828 and Russian-Turkish war 1828-1829. In the mid-1830s, just over thirty Decembrists who served in the Caucasus returned home.
The verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court on the death penalty for five Decembrists was executed on July 13 (25), 1826 in the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
During the execution, Muravyov-Apostol, Kakhovsky and Ryleev fell from the noose and were hanged a second time. Exists erroneous opinion, that this was contrary to the tradition of inadmissibility of the second execution of the death penalty. According to military Article No. 204 it is stated that “ Carry out the death penalty until the end result occurs ", that is, until the death of the convicted person. The procedure for releasing a convicted person who, for example, fell from the gallows, which existed before Peter I, was abolished by the Military Article. On the other hand, the “marriage” was explained by the absence of executions in Russia over the previous several decades (the exception was the executions of participants in the Pugachev uprising).
On August 26 (September 7), 1856, the day of his coronation, Emperor Alexander II pardoned all the Decembrists, but many did not live to see their liberation. It should be noted that Alexander Muravyov, the founder of the Union of Salvation, sentenced to exile in Siberia, was already appointed mayor in Irkutsk in 1828, then held various responsible positions, including governorship, and participated in the abolition of serfdom in 1861.
For many years, and even nowadays, not infrequently, the Decembrists in general and the leaders of the coup attempt were idealized and given an aura of romanticism. However, we must admit that these were ordinary state criminals and traitors to the Motherland. It is not for nothing that in the Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov, he usually greeted any person with exclamations " My joy!", there are two episodes that sharply contrast with the love with which Saint Seraphim treated everyone who came to him...
Go back where you came from
Sarov monastery. Elder Seraphim, completely imbued with love and kindness, looks sternly at the officer approaching him and refuses him a blessing. The seer knows that he is a participant in the conspiracy of the future Decembrists. " Go back where you came from ", the monk tells him decisively. The great elder then leads his novice to the well, the water in which was cloudy and dirty. " So this man who came here intends to outrage Russia “, said the righteous man, jealous of the fate of the Russian monarchy.
Troubles will not end well
Two brothers arrived in Sarov and went to the elder (these were two Volkonsky brothers); he accepted and blessed one of them, but did not allow the other to approach him, waved his hands and drove him away. And he told his brother about him that he was up to no good, that the troubles would not end well and that a lot of tears and blood would be shed, and advised him to come to his senses in time. And sure enough, the one of the two brothers whom he drove away got into trouble and was exiled.
Note. Major General Prince Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky (1788-1865) was a member of the Union of Welfare and Southern Society; convicted of the first category and, upon confirmation, sentenced to hard labor for 20 years (the term was reduced to 15 years). Sent to the Nerchinsk mines, and then transferred to a settlement.
So, looking back, we must admit that it was bad that the Decembrists were executed. It’s bad that only five of them were executed...
And in our time, we must clearly understand that any organization that sets as its goal (openly or hidden) the organization of disorder in Russia, the arousal of public opinion, the organization of actions of confrontation, as happened in poor Ukraine, the armed overthrow of the government, etc. - subject to immediate closure, and the organizers to trial as criminals against Russia.
Lord, deliver our fatherland from disorder and civil strife!
First in Russian history an attempt to change by force not a specific ruler, but a form of government and social order, ended in a crushing defeat for the revolutionaries. But the glory, the attention of history and the respect of both contemporaries and descendants, went not to the winners, but to the vanquished.
European experience
At the beginning of the century, Russia objectively lagged behind the leading European countries in all main indicators, except military power. This was led to absolute monarchy, serfdom, noble land ownership and class structure. Liberal reforms, announced by Alexander I, quickly collapsed, and their result tended to zero. By and large, the state remained the same.
At the same time, the top of Russian society for the most part was highly educated, and strengthened patriotic sentiments in it. The first Russian revolutionaries were mainly officers, since officers during Napoleonic wars We visited abroad and saw with our own eyes that the French “Jacobins” under the rule of the “Corsican usurper” live objectively better than the majority Russian population. They were educated enough to understand why this was so.
At the same time, the European experience was perceived critically. Mainly supporting the ideas of the Great french revolution, the Decembrists did not want mass executions and bloody uprisings in Russia, which is why they relied on the action of an organized ideological group.
Freedom and equality
There was no complete ideological unity among the first revolutionaries. So, P.I. Pestel saw future Russia a unitary republic, and N.M. Muravyov – a federal constitutional monarchy. But everyone generally agreed that it was necessary to abolish serfdom, create an elected legislative body, equalize the rights of classes and ensure basic civil rights and freedom.
The discussion of such ideas and the creation of secret organizations that sought to implement them began long before the uprising. In 1816-1825, the Union of Salvation, the Union of Prosperity, the Society of United Slavs, the Southern and Northern societies and other organizations operated in Russia. The date of the uprising (December 14, 1825) was due to a random reason - the death of childless Alexander I and the problem of inheriting the throne. The oath of allegiance to the new king seemed a good reason for a coup.
Senate square
The plan for the uprising mainly belonged to the Northern society. It was assumed that its members-officers, with the help of their units, would interfere with the oath of the Senate, contribute to the capture of the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace, and the arrest royal family and the creation of a temporary government body.
On the morning of December 14, 3,000 soldiers were brought to Senate Square in St. Petersburg. It turned out that the Senate had already sworn allegiance to the new Tsar Nicholas I. The dictator of the uprising did not appear at all. The soldiers and the assembled people listened to the declarations of the leaders of the uprising, but did not understand them well. St. Petersburg residents generally reacted kindly to the rioters, but their support was expressed only by throwing garbage at the new tsar’s motorcade. A significant part of the troops did not support the uprising.
At first, government officials tried to end the matter more or less peacefully. Governor General Miloradovich personally persuaded the rebels to disperse, and almost persuaded them. Then the Decembrist P.G. Kakhovsky, fearing the influence of Miloradovich, shot him, and the governor-general was popular in the army. The power switched to a power scenario. The square was surrounded by loyal troops, and grapeshot shooting began. The soldiers under the command of Decembrist officers successfully resisted for some time. But they were pushed onto the ice of the Neva, where many drowned after the ice was broken by cannonballs.
Several hundred people died (rebels, government soldiers and residents of the capital). The leaders and participants of the uprising were arrested. The soldiers were kept in terrible conditions (up to 100 people in a cell measuring 40 square meters). Five leaders of the movement were initially sentenced to death by quartering, and only later, having cooled down, Nicholas I replaced this Middle Ages with simple hanging. Many were sentenced to hard labor and imprisonment.
On December 29, the Chernigov regiment rebelled on the territory of Ukraine. This was another attempt to implement the conspiracy scenario. The regiment was defeated by superior forces on January 3, 1826.
Briefly speaking, the Decembrist uprising was defeated due to their small number and reluctance to explain their goals to the broad masses and involve them in the political struggle.