Decembrist revolt
Prerequisites
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.
On November 27, the population swore an oath to Constantine. Formally, a new emperor appeared in Russia; several coins with his image were even minted. But Constantine did not accept the throne, but also did not formally renounce it as emperor. An ambiguous and extremely tense interregnum situation was created. Nicholas decided to declare himself emperor. The second oath, the “re-oath,” was scheduled for December 14. The moment the Decembrists had been waiting for had arrived - a change of power. The members of the secret society decided to speak out, especially since the minister already had a lot of denunciations on his desk and arrests could soon begin.
The state of uncertainty lasted for a very long time. 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 the legal rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich.
The plans of the conspirators. Southern and Northern societies negotiated on coordination of actions and established contacts with the Polish Patriotic Society and the Society of United Slavs. The Decembrists planned to kill the Tsar at a military review, seize power with the help of the Guard and realize their goals. The performance was scheduled for the summer of 1826. However, on November 19, 1825, Alexander I suddenly died in Taganrog. The throne was supposed to pass to the deceased’s brother Konstantin, because Alexander had no children. But back in 1823, Constantine secretly abdicated the throne, which now, according to the law, passed to the next senior brother - Nicholas. Unaware of Constantine's abdication, the Senate, guard and army swore allegiance to him on November 27. After clarifying the situation, they re-sworn the oath to Nikolai, who, due to his personal qualities (pettiness, martinet, vindictiveness, etc.) was not liked in the guard. Under these conditions, the Decembrists had the opportunity to take advantage of the sudden death of the tsar, the fluctuations in power that found themselves in an interregnum, as well as the hostility of the guard towards the heir to the throne. It was also taken into account that some senior dignitaries took a wait-and-see attitude towards Nicholas and were ready to support active actions directed against him. In addition, it became known that the Winter Palace knew about the conspiracy and arrests of members of the secret society, which in fact had ceased to be secret, could soon begin.
In the current situation, the Decembrists planned to raise the Guards regiments, gather them on Senate Square and force the Senate “good” or at the threat of arms to publish a “Manifesto to the Russian People,” which proclaimed the destruction of the autocracy, the abolition of serfdom, the establishment of a Provisional Government, political freedoms, etc. Some of the rebels were supposed to capture the Winter Palace and arrest the royal family, and it was planned to capture the Peter and Paul Fortress. In addition, P.G. Kakhovsky took upon himself the task of killing Nikolai before the start of the speech, but never decided to carry it out. Prince S.P. was elected leader of the uprising (“dictator”). Trubetskoy.
Uprising plan
The Decembrists decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new king. The rebel troops were supposed to occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress, the royal family was planned to be arrested and, under certain circumstances, killed. A dictator, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy, was elected to lead the uprising.
After this, it was planned to demand that the Senate publish a national manifesto, which would proclaim the “destruction of the former government” and the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government. It was supposed to make Count Speransky and Admiral Mordvinov its members (later they became members of the trial of the Decembrists).
Deputies had to approve a new fundamental law - the constitution. If the Senate did not agree to publish the people's manifesto, it was decided to force it to do so. The manifesto contained several points: the establishment of a provisional revolutionary government, the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms (press, confession, labor), the introduction of jury trials, the introduction of compulsory military service for all classes, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax.
After this, a National Council (Constituent Assembly) was to be convened, which was supposed to decide on the form of government - a constitutional monarchy or a republic. In the second case, the royal family would have to be exiled abroad. In particular, Ryleev proposed exiling Nicholas to Fort Ross. However, then the plan of the “radicals” (Pestel and Ryleev) involved the murder of Nikolai Pavlovich and, possibly, Tsarevich Alexander. [source not specified 579 days]
Progress of the uprising. From the early morning of December 14, officers-members of the “Northern Society” campaigned among soldiers and sailors, convincing them not to swear allegiance to Nicholas, but to support Konstantin and “his wife “Constitution”.” They managed to bring part of the Moscow, Grenadier regiments and the Guards naval crew to Senate Square (about 3.5 thousand people in total). But by this time the senators had already sworn allegiance to Nicholas and dispersed. Trubetskoy, observing the implementation of all parts of the plan, saw that it was completely disrupted and, convinced of the doom of the military action, did not appear on the square. This in turn caused confusion and slowness of action.
Nicholas surrounded the square with troops loyal to him (12 thousand people, 4 guns). But the rebels repulsed the cavalry attacks, and Governor-General Miloradovich, who tried to persuade the rebels to surrender their weapons, was mortally wounded by Kakhovsky. After this, artillery was brought into action. The protest was suppressed, and in the evening mass arrests began.
Uprising in Ukraine. In the South, they learned about the events in the capital belatedly. On December 29, the Chernigov regiment led by S. Muravyov-Apostol rebelled, but it was not possible to raise the entire army. On January 3, the regiment was defeated by government forces.
In details
Ryleev asked Kakhovsky early in the morning of December 14 to enter the Winter Palace and kill Nikolai. Kakhovsky initially agreed, but then refused. An hour after the refusal, Yakubovich refused to lead the sailors of the Guards crew and the Izmailovsky regiment to the Winter Palace.
On December 14, officers - members of the secret society were still in the barracks after dark and campaigned among the soldiers. By 11 a.m. on December 14, 1825, the Moscow Guards Regiment entered Senate Square. By 11 a.m. on December 14, 1825, 30 Decembrist officers brought about 3,020 people to Senate Square: soldiers of the Moscow and Grenadier regiments and sailors of the Guards naval crew.
However, a few days before this, Nikolai was warned about the intentions of the secret societies by the chief of the General Staff I. I. Dibich and the Decembrist Ya. I. Rostovtsev (the latter considered the uprising against the tsar incompatible with noble honor). At 7 o'clock in the morning, the senators took the oath to Nicholas and proclaimed him emperor. Trubetskoy, who was appointed dictator, did not appear. The rebel regiments continued to stand on Senate Square until the conspirators could come to a common decision on the appointment of a new leader.
Inflicting a mortal wound on M. A. Miloradovich on December 14, 1825. Engraving from a drawing belonging to G. A. Miloradovich
Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, St. Petersburg military governor-general, Count Mikhail Miloradovich, appearing on horseback in front of the soldiers lined up in a square, “said that he himself willingly wanted Constantine to be emperor, but what to do if he refused: he assured them that he himself saw the new renunciation and persuaded them to believe it.” E. Obolensky, leaving the ranks of the rebels, convinced Miloradovich to drive away, but seeing that he was not paying attention to this, he easily wounded him in the side with a bayonet. At the same time, Kakhovsky shot the Governor General with a pistol (the wounded Miloradovich was taken to the barracks, where he died that same day). Colonel Sturler and Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich tried unsuccessfully to bring the soldiers into obedience. Then the rebels twice repulsed the attack of the Horse Guards led by Alexei Orlov.
A large crowd of St. Petersburg residents gathered on the square and the main mood of this huge mass, which, according to contemporaries, numbered in tens of thousands of people, was sympathy for the rebels. They threw logs and stones at Nicholas and his retinue. Two “rings” of people were formed - the first consisted of those who came earlier, it surrounded the square of the rebels, and the second ring was formed of those who came later - their gendarmes were no longer allowed into the square to join the rebels, and they stood behind the government troops who surrounded the rebel square. Nikolai, as can be seen from his diary, understood the danger of this environment, which threatened great complications. He doubted his success, “seeing that the matter was becoming very important, and not yet foreseeing how it would end.” It was decided to prepare crews for members of the royal family for a possible escape to Tsarskoye Selo. Later, Nikolai told his brother Mikhail many times: “The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I weren’t shot then.” [source not specified 579 days]
Nicholas sent Metropolitan Seraphim and Kyiv Metropolitan Eugene to persuade the soldiers. But in response, according to the testimony of Deacon Prokhor Ivanov, the soldiers began shouting to the metropolitans: “What kind of metropolitan are you, when in two weeks you swore allegiance to two emperors... We don’t believe you, go away!..” The metropolitans interrupted the soldiers’ conviction when the Life Guards appeared on the square Grenadier Regiment and Guards Crew, under the command of Nikolai Bestuzhev and the Decembrist Lieutenant Arbuzov.
But the gathering of all the rebel troops occurred only more than two hours after the start of the uprising. An hour before the end of the uprising, the Decembrists elected a new “dictator” - Prince Obolensky. But Nicholas managed to take the initiative into his own hands, and the encirclement of the rebels by government troops, more than four times larger than the rebels in numbers, was already completed. In total, 30 Decembrist officers brought about 3,000 soldiers to the square. According to Gabaev’s calculations, 9 thousand infantry bayonets, 3 thousand cavalry sabers were collected against the rebel soldiers, in total, not counting the artillerymen called up later (36 guns), at least 12 thousand people. Because of the city, another 7 thousand infantry bayonets and 22 cavalry squadrons, that is, 3 thousand sabers, were called up and stopped at the outposts as a reserve, that is, in total, another 10 thousand people stood in reserve at the outposts.
Nikolai was afraid of the onset of darkness, since most of all he feared that “the excitement would not be communicated to the mob,” which could become active in the dark. Guards artillery appeared from the Admiralteysky Boulevard under the command of General I. Sukhozanet. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. Then Nikolai ordered to shoot with grapeshot. The first salvo was fired above the ranks of the rebel soldiers - at the “mobs” on the roof of the Senate building and the roofs of neighboring houses. The rebels responded to the first volley of grapeshot with rifle fire, but then they began to flee under a hail of grapeshot. According to V.I. Shteingel: “It could have been limited to this, but Sukhozanet fired a few more shots along the narrow Galerny Lane and across the Neva towards the Academy of Arts, where more of the curious crowd fled!” Crowds of rebel soldiers rushed onto the Neva ice to move to Vasilyevsky Island. Mikhail Bestuzhev tried to again form soldiers into battle formation on the ice of the Neva and go on the offensive against the Peter and Paul Fortress. The troops lined up, but were fired at by cannonballs. The cannonballs hit the ice and it split, many drowned.
Arrest and trial
Main article: Trial of the Decembrists
By nightfall the uprising was over. Hundreds of corpses remained in the square and streets. Based on the papers of the official of the III Department, M. M. Popov, N. K. Shilder wrote: After the cessation of artillery fire, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich ordered the Chief of Police, General Shulgin, that the corpses be removed by morning. Unfortunately, the perpetrators acted in the most inhumane manner. On the night on the Neva, from the Isaac Bridge to the Academy of Arts and further to the side of Vasilievsky Island, many ice holes were made, into which not only corpses were lowered, but, as they claimed, also many wounded, deprived of the opportunity to escape from the fate that awaited them. Those of the wounded who managed to escape hid their injuries, afraid to open up to doctors, and died without medical care.
371 soldiers of the Moscow Regiment, 277 of the Grenadier Regiment and 62 sailors of the Sea Crew were immediately arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The arrested Decembrists were brought to the Winter Palace. Emperor Nicholas himself acted as an investigator.
By decree of December 17, 1825, a Commission was established for research into malicious societies, chaired by Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev. On May 30, 1826, the investigative commission presented Emperor Nicholas I with a report compiled by D. N. Bludov. The manifesto of June 1, 1826 established the Supreme Criminal Court of three state estates: the State Council, the Senate and the Synod, with the addition of “several persons from the highest military and civil officials.” A total of 579 people were involved in the investigation. On July 13, 1826, Kondraty Ryleev, Pavel Pestel, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin, and Pyotr Kakhovsky were hanged on the roof of the Peter and Paul Fortress. 121 Decembrists were exiled to Siberia for hard labor or settlement.
Reasons for the defeat of the Decembrist uprising
Narrow social base, orientation towards military revolution and conspiracy.
Insufficient secrecy, as a result of which the government knew about the plans of the conspirators.
Lack of necessary unity and coordination of actions;
The unpreparedness of the majority of educated society and the nobility for the elimination of autocracy and serfdom;
Cultural and political backwardness of the peasantry and the rank and file of the army.
Historical meaning
Having been defeated in the socio-political struggle, the Decembrists won a spiritual and moral victory, showed an example of true service to their fatherland and people, and contributed to the formation of a new moral personality.
The experience of the Decembrist movement became the subject of reflection for the fighters against autocracy and serfdom that followed them, and influenced the entire course of the Russian liberation movement.
The Decembrist movement had a huge impact on the development of Russian culture.
However, based on the specific historical situation, the defeat of the Decembrists weakened the intellectual potential of Russian society, provoked an increase in government reaction, and delayed, according to P.Ya. Chaadaev, development of Russia for 50 years.
The cavalry guard's life is short-lived,
And that's why he's so sweet.
The trumpet is blowing, the curtains are thrown back,
And somewhere you can hear the sound of sabers... (B. Okudzhava)
As you know, the Decembrists took advantage of the interregnum situation for their speech: Emperor Alexander I died without leaving an heir. The throne was supposed to pass to his younger brother Constantine, but he had long ago renounced the succession to the throne, but almost no one knew about this. In this situation, the next oldest brother, Nikolai, should have taken power, but he did not dare to do this, because. many had already sworn allegiance to Constantine, and in the eyes of the people Nicholas would have looked like an impostor, especially since he was not particularly popular. While Nicholas was negotiating with Konstantin, who did not confirm his abdication and did not accept power, the Decembrists decided to start a speech.
Uprising plan
Of course, members of secret societies had it. They had been preparing for the uprising for about 10 years, carefully thinking through all the options and gathering forces, but they did not have a specific date for their performance. They decided to use the ensuing situation of interregnum to realize their plan: “...now, after the death of the sovereign, there is the most convenient time to put into action the previous intention.” However, the heated discussions that began about the situation, which took place mainly in K. Ryleev’s apartment, did not immediately lead to coordinated actions - there were disputes and differences of opinion. Finally, a somewhat unanimous opinion emerged, supported by the majority. They also came to the decision that the uprising should be led by a dictator, who was appointed S. Trubetskoy.
The main goal of the uprising was the crushing of the autocratic serfdom, the introduction of representative government, i.e. adoption of the constitution. An important point of the plan was the convening of the Great Council (it was supposed to meet in the event of a coup). The cathedral was supposed to replace the outdated autocratic serf system of Russia with a new, representative system. This was the maximum program. But there was also a minimum program: before the convening of the Great Council, act in accordance with the manifesto drawn up, gain supporters and after that identify issues and problems for discussion at this council.
This manifesto was written down by S. Trubetskoy, in any case, it was found in his papers during the search, it appeared in his investigative file.
Manifesto
- Destruction of the former government.
- The institution is temporary until a permanent one is established.
- Free embossing, and therefore the elimination of censorship.
- Free worship of all faiths.
- Destruction of property rights extending to people.
- Equality of all classes before the law, and therefore the abolition of military courts and all kinds of judicial commissions, from which all judicial cases are transferred to the departments of the nearest civil courts.
- Declaration of the right of every citizen to do whatever he wants, and therefore a nobleman, merchant, tradesman, peasant still have the right to enter into military and civil service and into the clergy, trade wholesale and retail, paying the established duties for trading. Acquire all kinds of property, such as: lands, houses in villages and cities; enter into all kinds of conditions among themselves, compete with each other before the court.
- Addition of poll taxes and arrears on them.
- Elimination of monopolies, such as: on salt, on the sale of hot wine, etc. and therefore the establishment of free distillation and salt extraction, with payment for. industry from the production of salt and vodka.
10.Destruction of recruitment and military settlements.
11. Reducing the length of military service for lower ranks, and determining it will follow the equation of military service between all classes.
12. Resignation of all lower ranks, without exception, who have served for 15 years.
13. The establishment of volost, district, provincial and regional boards, and the procedure for electing members of these boards, which should replace all officials hitherto appointed from the civil government.
14.Publicity of courts.
15.Introduction of juries into criminal and civil courts.
Establishes a board of 2 or 3 persons, to which all parts of the top management, that is, all ministries, are subordinated. Council, Committee of Ministers, army, navy. In a word, the entire supreme, executive power, but by no means legislative or judicial. - For this latter there remains a ministry subordinate to the temporary government, but for the judgment of cases not resolved in the lower instances, the criminal department of the Senate remains and a civil department is established, which decides finally , and whose members will remain until a permanent government is established.
The temporary board is entrusted with the enforcement of:
- Equal rights of all classes.
- Formation of local volost, district, provincial and regional boards.
- Formation of the internal people's guard,
- Formation of the trial with the jury.
- Equation of conscription between classes.
- Destruction of the standing army.
- The establishment of a procedure for electing electors to the House of People's Representatives, who must approve for the future the existing order of government and state legislation.
It was supposed to publish the Manifesto to the Russian people on the day of the uprising - December 14, 1825. The troops were supposed to remain on Senate Square until negotiations were underway with the Senate, to convince the Senate (if the Senate disagreed, the use of military force was allowed) to accept the Manifesto, and disseminate it. Then the troops had to withdraw from the city center to protect St. Petersburg from possible actions by government troops.
Thus, according to the plan, on the morning of December 14, the rebel regiments were to gather on Senate Square and force the Senate to issue a Manifesto. Guardsmen - capture the Winter Palace and arrest the royal family, and then occupy the Peter and Paul Fortress. The Constituent Assembly was supposed to establish the form of government in the country and determine the fate of the king and his family.
In case of failure, the troops had to leave St. Petersburg and reach the Novgorod military settlements, where they would meet support.
Senate Square December 14, 1825
But already early in the morning the well-thought-out plan began to crumble. K. Ryleev insists on the murder of the tsar, which was not included in the immediate plans, due to the interregnum. The murder of the tsar was entrusted to P. Kakhovsky, it was supposed to mark the beginning of the uprising. But Kakhovsky refuses to commit murder. In addition, Yakubovich, appointed to command the guards during the capture of the Winter Palace, also refused to carry out this task. In addition to everything, Mikhail Pushchin refused to bring a cavalry squadron to the square. We had to hastily rebuild the plan: Nikolai Bestuzhev was appointed instead of Yakubovich.
At 11 o'clock in the morning, the Moscow Life Guards Regiment was the first to arrive on Senate Square and was lined up in the shape of a square near the monument to Peter. People began to gather. At this time, St. Petersburg Governor General Miloradovich arrived on the square. He persuaded the soldiers to disperse, convinced them that the oath to Nicholas was legal. It was a tense moment of the uprising, events could have gone according to an unforeseen scenario, because the regiment was alone, the others had not yet arrived, and Miloradovich, the hero of 1812, was popular among the soldiers and knew how to talk to them. The only solution was to remove Miloradovich from the square. The Decembrists demanded that he leave the square, but Miloradovich continued to persuade the soldiers. Then Obolensky turned his horse with a bayonet, wounding the governor-general, and Kakhovsky fired and inflicted a mortal wound on him.
Ryleev and I. Pushchin at this time went to Trubetskoy; on the way they learned that the Senate had already sworn allegiance to the Tsar and dispersed, i.e. the troops had already gathered in front of the empty Senate. But Trubetskoy was not there, nor was he on Senate Square. The situation in the square required decisive action, but the dictator did not appear. The troops continued to wait. This delay played a decisive role in the defeat of the uprising.
The people in the square clearly supported the rebels, but they did not take advantage of this support, obviously fearing the activity of the people, a “senseless and merciless” riot, according to Pushkin. Contemporaries of the events unanimously note in their memoirs that tens of thousands of people who sympathized with the rebels gathered in the square. Later, Nikolai told his brother several times: “The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I weren’t shot then.”
Meanwhile, government troops, on the orders of Emperor Nicholas, were drawn to Senate Square, mounted troops began to attack the Moscow regiment stationed in a square, but were repulsed. Then Nicholas called on Metropolitan Seraphim for help in order to explain to the soldiers the legality of the oath to him, and not to Constantine.
But the Metropolitan’s negotiations were fruitless, and troops supporting the uprising continued to gather in the square: the Life Guards of the Grenadiers, the naval crew. Thus, on Senate Square there were:
- Moscow regiment led by brothers A. and M. Bestuzhev.
- The first detachment of life grenadiers (Sutgof company).
- Guards naval crew under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Nikolai Bestuzhev (elder brother of Alexander and Mikhail) and Lieutenant Arbuzov.
- The rest, the most significant part, is the life grenadier under the command of Lieutenant Panov.
V. Masutov "Nicholas I in front of the formation of the Life Guards Sapper Battalion in the courtyard of the Winter Palace on December 14, 1825"
Due to the continued absence of the dictator S. Trubetskoy, already in the middle of the day the Decembrists elected a new dictator - Prince Obolensky, who was the chief of staff of the uprising. And at that time Trubetskoy was sitting in the office of the General Staff and periodically looked around the corner, watching what was happening on Senate Square. He simply chickened out at the last moment, and his comrades waited, thinking that his delay was due to some unforeseen circumstances.
But by this time government troops had already surrounded the rebels. At three o'clock in the afternoon it was already getting dark, soldiers from the imperial troops began to run over to the rebels. And then Nikolai gave the order to shoot with buckshot. But the first shot was delayed: the soldiers did not want to shoot at their own, and then the officer did it. The rebels had no artillery; they responded with rifle shots. After the second shot, the square trembled, the soldiers rushed onto the thin ice of the Neva - the ice split from the falling cannonballs, many drowned...
The uprising was suppressed.
Late in the evening, some of the Decembrists gathered at Ryleev’s apartment. They understood that arrests awaited them, so they agreed on how to behave during interrogations, said goodbye to each other, worried about how to inform Southern society that the case was lost... that Trubetskoy and Yakubovich had cheated...
In total, on December 14, 1825, government troops killed 1,271 people, of which 9 were women and 19 children, 903 were “mobs,” the rest were military.
The speech of the Decembrists has attracted close attention among scientists for almost 200 years. This happens because the Decembrist society greatly influenced the further course of Russian history. According to scientists, largely similar processes that took place at that time in the Russian world are still happening now, in our time.
The Decembrists have been the object of study for many years - information collected and analyzed by many scientists totals more than 10,000 different materials. The first to study the movement were the Decembrists themselves, who were personally present during the speech on Senate Square and could conduct a more accurate analysis of what happened.
The essence and causes of the Decembrist uprising
At the beginning of the 19th century, most of the progressive nobility expected Tsar Alexander I to continue democratic changes in society. Under the influence of the progressive nobility's close acquaintance with Western countries and the way of life of Europe, the first revolutionary movements were formed. The point is that the Decembrists wanted rapid progress in Russia, they wanted to end its backwardness, in particular with serfdom, which, in their opinion, delayed the economic development of the Russian Empire. After the end of the War of 1812, a rise in patriotic sentiment began in society; reforms and fundamental changes within the authorities themselves were expected from the tsarist government. Thus, the views of the Decembrists were influenced by the fact that the tsarist government participated in the suppression of revolutionary movements in Europe, but these attacks on the spirit of freedom became an incentive for the Decembrists in their own struggle.
The history of the Decembrist movement
The first secret political society, the Union of Salvation, consisted of 28 people. It was organized in 1816 by then-famous representatives of Russian society A.N. Muravyov, S.P. Trubetskoy, P.I. Pestel and others, having set themselves the goal of destroying serfdom in Russia, achieved the adoption of a constitution. But after some time, the Decembrists realized that due to the small size of the group it would be very difficult to realize their ideas. This prompted the creation of a more powerful and broader organization.
From left to right: A.N. Muravyov, S.P. Trubetskoy, P.I. Pestel
By 1818, a new “Union of Welfare” had been organized. Geographically, it was located in Moscow, it included more than 200 people, it also had a separate specific program of action, which was reflected in the Decembrist document “Green Book”. The Union was under the control of the Root Council, which also had its branches in other cities. After the formation of the new union, the goals remained the same. To achieve them, the Decembrists planned to carry out propaganda work over the next 20 years in order to prepare the people of Russia for a non-violent revolutionary coup with the direct help of the military. However, by 1821, a decision was made to dissolve the “Western Union” due to the aggravation of relations within the group due to disagreements between radical and neutral members of society. In addition, over the 3 years of its existence, the “Union of Welfare” acquired many random people, whom it also needed to get rid of.
Meeting of the Decembrists
In 1821 P.I. Pestel headed the “Southern Society” in Ukraine, and N.M. Muravyov, on his own initiative, organized the “Northern Society” in St. Petersburg. Both organizations considered themselves parts of a single whole and interacted with each other on an ongoing basis. Each organization had its own program of action, enshrined in documents called the “Constitution” in the Northern society and “Russian Truth” in the Southern society.
Political programs and the essence of the Decembrist society
The document “Russian Truth” was more revolutionary in nature. He envisioned the destruction of the autocracy system, the elimination of serfdom and all classes. "Russian Truth" called for the founding of a republic with a clear division of power into legislative and supervisory. After liberation from serfdom, peasants were given land for use, and the state itself was to become a single body with centralized management.
The “Constitution” of the Northern society was more liberal, it proclaimed civil liberties, abolished serfdom, the functions of power were divided, while the constitutional monarchy was supposed to remain as a model of government. Although the peasants were freed from serfdom, they did not receive the land for use - it remained the property of the landowners. According to the plan of the Northern Society, the Russian state was to be transformed into a federation of 14 different states and 2 regions. As a plan for implementing such a task, all participants in society were of the same opinion and assumed the overthrow of the current government, relying on the uprising of the army.
Speech of the Decembrists on Senate Square
The uprising was planned for the summer of 1826, but the Decembrists began preparations back in 1823. In the late autumn of 1825, Emperor Alexander I died suddenly and after his death, the legal heir to the throne, Constantine, renounced his title. But Constantine’s abdication was hidden, and therefore the military and the entire state apparatus were nevertheless sworn in to the crown prince. After some time, his portraits were hung in store windows, on the walls of government buildings, and the minting of coins with the appearance of the new emperor on the obverse began. But in fact, Constantine did not accept the throne - he knew that the text of Alexander I’s will would soon be made public, in which he transfers the title of emperor to the crown prince’s younger brother, Nicholas.
Coin with a portrait of Constantine on the obverse. There are only 5 coins left in the world with a denomination of 1 ruble, its price reaches 100,105 US dollars.
The “re-oath” to Nicholas I, as they joked among the military, was supposed to take place on December 14. It was these events that forced the leaders of the “Northern” and “Southern” societies to speed up the process of preparing the uprising, and the Decembrists decided to take advantage of the moment of confusion to their advantage.
The key events of the Decembrist uprising took place on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. Some of the military, who did not want to swear allegiance to the new Emperor Nicholas I, lined up at the monument to Peter I. The leaders of the Decembrist speech hoped to prevent the senators from taking the oath of allegiance to Nicholas I and intended, with their help, to announce the overthrow of the tsarist government, and then appeal to all Russians with the published revolutionary manifesto to the people. After a short time, it became known that the senators had already taken the oath to Emperor Nicholas I and soon left the square. This caused confusion in the ranks of the Decembrists - the course of the speech had to be urgently reviewed. At the most key moment, the main “conductor” of the uprising - Trubetskoy - never came to the square. At first, the Decembrists waited on Senate Square for their leader, after which they spent the whole day choosing a new one, and it was this pause that became fatal for them. The new Emperor of Russia ordered troops loyal to him to surround the crowd of people, and when the army cordoned off the square, the demonstrators were shot with grapeshot.
Speech of the Decembrists on Senate Square
Almost 2 weeks later, under the leadership of S. Muravyov-Apostol, the Chernigov regiment began an uprising, but by January 3 the rebellion was also suppressed by government troops.
The uprising seriously worried the newly-crowned emperor. The entire trial of participants in the Decembrist movement took place behind closed doors. During the proceedings, more than 600 people were held accountable for participating in and organizing the performance. Key leaders of the movement were sentenced to quartering, but later it was decided to soften the type of execution and abandoned medieval torture, replacing it with death by hanging. The death sentence was carried out on the summer night of July 13, 1826, and all the conspirators were hanged on the crown of the Petropavlovsk fortress.
More than 120 participants in the performance were sent to hard labor and settlement in Siberia. There, many Decembrists collected and studied the history of Siberia and became interested in the folk life of the locals. In addition, the Decembrists actively contacted the residents living in these territories. Thus, in the city of Chita, at the expense of the wives of exiles, a hospital was built, which was visited, in addition to the Decembrists, by local residents. Medicines prescribed from St. Petersburg were given to locals free of charge. Many of the Decembrists exiled to Siberia were involved in teaching Siberian children to read and write.
Wives of the Decembrists
Before the uprising on Senate Square, 23 Decembrists were married. After the death sentence, the wives of the Decembrists I. Polivanov and K. Ryleev, who died in 1826, remained widows.
Following the Decembrists, 11 wives went to Siberia, and 7 other women - sisters and mothers of members of the Decembrist movement sent into exile - also followed them north.
The events that took place in St. Petersburg on December 14, 1825 and later called the “Decembrist uprising” were planned and took place as a classic “chamber palace coup”, but in terms of their goals and objectives they were not a palace coup. Having escaped the control of its initiators, the uprising suffered a large number of accidental casualties that could have been avoided. It aggravated the split in noble society that had emerged since the War of 1812, causing a government reaction in almost all areas of the country’s cultural, political and social life.
Neither the “Northern” nor the “Southern” Decembrist society, as is known, had either a clear program or any agreed-upon ideas about what they would do in the event of a successful outcome of their dangerous enterprise. According to Muravyov’s “constitution,” the parliamentary monarchy and large landownership were to be preserved. Pestel's program (“Russian Truth”) included demands for the establishment of a republic and the transfer of land into communal ownership. They agreed on only one thing - the abolition of serfdom.
At first, the Decembrists themselves declared that the protest would be peaceful. His only goal is to attract the attention of the future king to the problem of serfdom. But, as is clear from the revelations of the surviving Decembrists many years later, it was planned to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new tsar, declaring the “destruction of the former government” and the establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. Then they wanted to enter the Senate and demand the publication of a national manifesto, which would announce the abolition of serfdom and the 25-year term of military service, and the granting of freedom of speech and assembly. If the Senate did not agree to publish the people's manifesto, it was decided to force it to do so. The rebel troops were to occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress. The royal family was to be arrested, and the king himself (if necessary) was to be killed. A dictator, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy, was elected to lead the uprising. For regicide - retired lieutenant P.G. Kakhovsky.
The fashionable word “revolution,” which entered the vocabulary of the Russian nobility thanks to the influx of emigrants from revolutionary France and the War of 1812, was on the tip of their tongues, but did not fit into the general concept of the planned actions. The plan of the uprising itself, as we see, is too reminiscent of the scenario of an ordinary palace or “military” coup. These were carried out successfully and almost every year both in Russia in the 18th century and in other European countries (for example, Spain or Portugal).
Let's get down to the facts. Absolutely nothing of what was specified in the “revolutionary” plans was done during the uprising. The main conspirators (Ryleev and Trubetskoy) actually refused to participate in the speech. Dictator Trubetskoy (intentionally or not?) slept through the main action and appeared on the square, as they say, “for a preliminary examination.” The rebels did not occupy any palaces or fortresses, but simply stood in place, lined up in a “square” and listened to the persuasion of the generals sent to them. Instead of abolishing serfdom and introducing rights and freedoms, the soldiers were ordered to shout “Emperor Konstantin Pavlovich and the Constitution” (“Who is the Constitution?” - “Must be the wife of Constantine. The Queen, therefore.”). The Decembrists did not consider it necessary to involve the direct perpetrators of the rebellion in their plans. Even if it occurred to them to do this, they would not have met with either understanding or sympathy even among the guards officers. During the rebellion, there were many opportunities to arrest or kill the future Tsar Nicholas I. He himself was present in the square and did not hide from anyone. However, no attempts were made to do this. P.G. Kakhovsky, appointed “regicide,” mortally wounded the hero of the War of 1812, General Miloradovich, and the commander of the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment, Sturler, but did not dare to kill the future tsar.
This time the conspirators were unlucky. Piercing the future tsar in the throat with a fork or hitting him on the head with a snuffbox in the dark chambers of the Winter Palace would have been much easier than starting an uprising, but having breathed the air of freedom in the foreign campaign of 1813, the conspirators, inspired by Western ideas, did not look for easy ways. Moreover, for a long time it was unclear: who would have to be killed? After the mysterious death of Alexander I, the Grand Dukes Constantine and Nicholas started a comedy with mutual renunciations in favor of each other. For more than a month they tossed the Russian throne at each other like a ball in a children's game. After much debate, the Senate recognized the rights of Nikolai Pavlovich, who was unpopular among the military-bureaucratic circles, and the Decembrists did not fail to take advantage of this confusion.
In the person of the new emperor, the Decembrists encountered a decisive and tough guards colonel. Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich was neither a weak woman nor a beautiful-hearted liberal. The future tsar was informed in advance about their plans and knew no worse than other guards officers how to deal with the rebels.
Troops who swore allegiance to the new emperor quickly surrounded the rebels. Nicholas I, having recovered from the initial confusion, himself led them. Guards artillery appeared from Admiralteysky Boulevard. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. After this, the artillery hit the rebels with grapeshot, their ranks scattered. This could have been enough, but the emperor ordered a few more shots to be fired along the narrow Galerny Lane and across the Neva, where the bulk of the crowd of curious people headed. As a result of the rebellion, 1271 people died, of which 39 were in tailcoats and greatcoats, 9 were women, 19 were young children and 903 were mobs.
Pre-revolutionary historiography gave the December uprising an ambiguous assessment. Representatives of the so-called “noble” historiography (Bogdanovich, Schilder, etc.) called it both a rebellion and an unsuccessful attempt at a “palace coup,” but often simply kept silent.
The civil courage and self-sacrifice of the Decembrists aroused great respect in the democratic circles of the Russian intelligentsia of the 19th century. Historians of the bourgeois-liberal school (Pypin, Kornilov, Pavlov-Silvansky, Dovnar-Zapolsky, Klyuchevsky, etc.) paid a lot of attention to them. The Decembrist movement also found a response in the serious works of Prof. Semevsky, who wrote about them with a populist tint. “They were terribly far from the people,” but Russian educated society traditionally considered the Decembrists victims of tyranny and violence, openly calling them “the conscience of the nation.” Nobleman N.A. Nekrasov considered it his duty to devote two poems to these “heroes” (“Grandfather” and “Russian Women”).
The founder of Marxism in Russia, Plekhanov, dedicated a special speech on the day of the 75th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising in 1900, in which he analyzed in detail the nature of this movement.
Of the total mass of enthusiastic populist-Marxist apologies for the Decembrist movement, only the novel by symbolist D.S., written in 1918, stands out. Merezhkovsky “December 14th”. This is the view of a man who experienced all the horrors of the revolution and civil war in Russia, who observed with his own eyes “the experience of the practical embodiment of the Kingdom of God on earth as in Heaven.”
With the light hand of V.I. Lenin, in all subsequent historiography of the Soviet period (M.N. Pokrovsky, Presnyakov, M.V. Nechkina, N.M. Druzhinin, Syroechkovsky, Aksenov, Porokh, Pigarev, etc.) the December uprising of 1825 was usually associated with the beginning of the “revolutionary movement” in Russia.
In his article “In Memory of Herzen,” which was once memorized in all Soviet schools, the leader of the world proletariat identified three stages of the revolutionary movement in Russia. His phrase that “the Decembrists woke Herzen” became the talk of the town and the seed for a mass of popular jokes.
But what was the “revolutionary nature” of the Decembrists’ speech? Historians still argue to this day. The highest grant of civil liberties, the abolition of serfdom and the implementation of land reform - the main ideas expressed by the Decembrists were in the air back in the times of Catherine II and Alexander I.
With their attempt at a “coup,” the Decembrists frightened and decisively pushed the authorities away from even thinking about the possibility of their implementation. The energetic “tightening of the screws” that followed the December uprising did not positively change anything in the life of the country. On the contrary, it threw Russia back several decades, artificially slowing down the natural historical process. The “Nicholas reaction” contributed to the implementation of the incompetent foreign and domestic policies of the 1830s and 40s, predetermining the subsequent defeat of Russia in the Crimean War. She allowed Herzen, awakened by the Decembrists, to ring the “Bell” and lead the best part of Russian society with him. We hear echoes of this bloody alarm to this day...
The first attempt in Russian history to change by force not a specific ruler, but the form of government and social system, ended in a devastating 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 states in all major indicators, except military power. Absolute monarchy, serfdom, noble land ownership and class structure led to this. The liberal reforms announced by Alexander I were quickly curtailed, and their results 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 visited abroad during the Napoleonic wars and saw with their own eyes that the French “Jacobins” under the rule of the “Corsican usurper” lived objectively better than the majority of the 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 its 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. Thus, P.I. Pestel saw the future Russia as 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 freedoms in Russia.
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 office of the Senate, contribute to the capture of the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace, the arrest of the 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.
