Who was on the Senate Square 1825. Literary and historical notes of a young technician. Who are the Decembrists

Briefly? The coup attempt is surrounded by so many events and is characterized by so many nuances that entire books are devoted to it. This was the first organized protest against serfdom in Russia, which caused a huge resonance in society and had a significant impact on the political and social life of the subsequent era of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. Nevertheless, in this article we will try to consecrate the Decembrist uprising briefly.

general information

December 14, 1825 in the capital of the Russian Empire - St. Petersburg - there was an attempted coup d'état. The uprising was organized by a group of like-minded nobles, most of whom were guards officers. The goal of the conspirators was the abolition of serfdom and the abolition of autocracy. It should be noted that in terms of its goals, the uprising differed significantly from all other conspiracies of the era. palace coups.

Union of Salvation

The War of 1812 had a significant impact on all aspects of people's lives. There were hopes for possible changes, mainly for the abolition of serfdom. But in order to eliminate serfdom, it was necessary to constitutionally limit the monarchical power. The history of Russia of this period was marked by the massive creation on an ideological basis of communities of guard officers, the so-called artels. Of the two such artels, at the very beginning of 1816, its founder was Alexander Muravyov, Sergey Trubetskoy, Ivan Yakushkin became, later Pavel Pestel joined. The goals of the Union were the liberation of the peasants and the reform of state administration. Pestel wrote the charter of the organization in 1817, most of the participants were in Masonic lodges, because the influence of Masonic rituals was reflected in the everyday life of the Union. Disagreements among members of the community over the possibility of assassinating the tsar in the course of a coup d'etat caused the Union to be dissolved in the fall of 1817.

Welfare Union

At the beginning of 1818, the Welfare Union, a new secret society, was organized in Moscow. It included two hundred people who were preoccupied with the idea of forming an advanced public opinion, creating a liberal movement. For this, it was supposed to organize legal charitable, literary, and educational organizations. More than ten union councils were founded throughout the country, including in St. Petersburg, Chisinau, Tulchin, Smolensk and other cities. “Side” councils were also formed, for example, the council of Nikita Vsevolzhsky, the “Green Lamp”. Members of the Union were to actively participate in public life, try to take high positions in the army, government agencies. The composition of the society changed regularly: the first members started families and retired from political affairs, they were replaced by new ones. In January 1821, for three days, a congress of the Welfare Union was held in Moscow, due to disagreements between supporters of the moderate and radical movements. The activities of the congress were led by Mikhail Fonvizin and it turned out that the scammers informed the government about the existence of the Union, and it was decided to formally dissolve it. This made it possible to get rid of people who got into the community by accident.

Reorganization

The dissolution of the Welfare Union was a step towards reorganization. New societies appeared: Northern (in St. Petersburg) and Southern (in Ukraine). The main role in the Northern society was played by Sergey Trubetskoy, Nikita Muravyov, later - Ryleyev Kondraty, famous poet, who rallied the fighting Republicans around him. The head of the organization was Pestel Pavel, the officers of the guard Mikhail Naryshkin, Ivan Gorstkin took an active part, naval officers Chizhov Nikolai and the Bodisko brothers, Mikhail and Boris. Brothers and Alexander) and brothers Bobrishchev-Pushkin participated in the Southern Society: Pavel and Nikolai, Alexey Cherkasov, Ivan Avramov, Vladimir Likharev, Ivan Kireev.

Background of the events of December 1825

The year of the Decembrist uprising has come. The conspirators decided to take advantage of the difficult legal situation that developed around the right to the throne after the death of Alexander I. There was a secret document according to which Konstantin Pavlovich, the brother of the childless Alexander I, next in seniority to him, renounced the throne. Thus, the next brother, Nikolai Pavlovich, although he was extremely unpopular among the military bureaucratic elite, had an advantage. At the same time, even before the secret document was discovered, Nikolai hastened to renounce in favor of Konstantin from the rights to the throne under the onslaught of M. Miloradovich, the governor-general of St. Petersburg.

Change of power

On November 27, 1825, the history of Russia began a new round - a new emperor, Constantine, formally appeared. Even a few coins were minted with his image. However, Constantine did not officially accept the throne, but he did not renounce it either. A very tense and ambiguous position of interregnum was created. As a result, Nicholas decided to declare himself emperor. The oath was set for December 14th. Finally came the change of power - the moment that members of the secret societies have been waiting for. It was decided to start the Decembrist uprising.

The uprising on December 14 was the result of the fact that, as a result of a long night meeting on the night of 13 to 14, the Senate nevertheless recognized the legal right of Nikolai Pavlovich to the throne. The Decembrists decided to prevent the Senate and the troops from taking the oath to the new tsar. It was impossible to hesitate, especially since the minister already had a huge number of denunciations on the table, and arrests could soon begin.

The history of the Decembrist uprising

The conspirators planned to occupy the Peter and Paul Fortress and Winter Palace, to arrest royal family and, if certain circumstances arise, to kill. Sergei Trubetskoy was elected to lead the uprising. Further, 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 nationwide manifesto containing items on the abolition of serfdom, the equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms, the introduction of mandatory for all estates military service, the introduction of a jury trial, the election of officials, the abolition, etc., it was decided to force him to do this forcibly.

Then it was planned to convene an All-People's Council, which would decide on the choice of the form of government: a republic or If a republican form were chosen, the royal family should have been expelled from the country. Ryleev at first suggested sending Nikolai Pavlovich to Fort Ross, but then he and Pestel conceived the murder of Nikolai and, perhaps, Tsarevich Alexander.

December 14 - Decembrist uprising

Let us briefly describe what happened on the day of the coup attempt. Early in the morning, Ryleyev turned to Kakhovskiy with a request to enter the Winter Palace and kill Nikolai. He initially agreed, but then refused. By eleven in the morning the Moscow guards regiment, Grenadier Regiment, sailors of the Guards naval crew. In total - about three thousand people. However, a couple of days before the Decembrist uprising of 1825 began, Nikolai was warned about the intentions of members of the secret communities by the Decembrist Rostovtsev, who considered the uprising unworthy of noble honor, and the chief of the General Staff, Dibich. Already at seven in the morning, the senators took the oath to Nicholas and proclaimed him emperor. Trubetskoy, appointed leader of the uprising, did not appear on the square. The regiments on Senatskaya continued to stand and wait for the conspirators to come to a common opinion on the appointment of a new leader.

Climax events

On this day, the history of Russia was being made. Count Miloradovich, who appeared before the soldiers on horseback, began to say that if Constantine refused to be emperor, then there was nothing to be done. Obolensky, who had left the ranks of the rebels, urged Miloradovich to leave, and then, seeing that he did not react, he lightly wounded him in the side with a bayonet. Kakhovsky at the same time shot the count with a pistol. Prince Mikhail Pavlovich and Colonel Stürler tried to bring the soldiers into obedience, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the rebels twice repulsed the attack of the horse guards, led by Alexei Orlov.

Tens of thousands of residents of St. Petersburg gathered on the square, they sympathized with the rebels and threw stones and logs at Nicholas and his retinue. As a result, two "rings" of people were formed. One surrounded the rebels and consisted of those who came earlier, the other was formed from those who came later, the gendarmes did not let them into the square, so people stood behind the government troops that surrounded the Decembrists. Such an environment was dangerous, and Nicholas, doubting his success, decided to prepare the members royal family carriages in case of need to escape to Tsarskoye Selo.

Unequal Forces

The newly-made emperor understood that the results of the Decembrist uprising might not be in his favor, so he asked the metropolitans Eugene and Seraphim to turn to the soldiers with a request to retreat. This did not bring results, and Nikolai's fears intensified. Nevertheless, he managed to take the initiative into his own hands, while the rebels chose a new leader (Prince Obolensky was appointed to him). Government troops outnumbered the army of the Decembrists by more than four times: nine thousand infantry bayonets, three thousand cavalry sabers were assembled, later artillerymen were called (thirty-six guns), in total - about twelve thousand people. The rebels, as already noted, numbered three thousand.

Defeat of the Decembrists

When guards artillery appeared from the side of Admiralteisky Boulevard, Nikolai ordered a volley of grapeshot to be fired at the "mob" that was on the roofs of the Senate and neighboring houses. The Decembrists responded with rifle fire, and then, under a hail of buckshot, they fled. Shots continued after them, the soldiers rushed onto the ice of the Neva in order to move to Vasilyevsky Island. On the Neva ice, Bestuzhev made an attempt to establish battle order and go on the offensive again. The troops lined up, but were fired upon by cannon balls. The ice cracked, people drowned. The plan failed, hundreds of corpses lay on the streets and squares by nightfall.

Arrest and trial

Questions about the year in which the Decembrist uprising took place and how it ended will probably not be answered by many today. However, this event largely influenced the subsequent history of Russia. The significance of the Decembrist uprising cannot be underestimated - they were the first in the empire to create a revolutionary organization, develop a political program, prepare and implement an armed uprising. At the same time, the rebels were not ready for the trials that followed after the uprising. Some of them after the trial were executed by hanging (Ryleev, Pestel, Kakhovsky and others), the rest were exiled to Siberia and other places. A split occurred in society: some supported the tsar, others supported the failed revolutionaries. And the surviving revolutionaries themselves, defeated, shackled, captured, lived in deep spiritual anguish.

Finally

How the Decembrist uprising took place was briefly described in the article. They were driven by one desire - to oppose the autocracy and serfdom in Russia in a revolutionary way. For enthusiastic young men, outstanding military men, philosophers and economists, prominent thinkers, the coup attempt became an exam: someone showed strengths, someone weak, someone showed determination, courage, self-sacrifice, and someone began to hesitate, could not save the sequence of actions, retreated.

The historical significance of the Decembrist uprising lies in the fact that they laid the foundations of revolutionary traditions. Their speech marked the beginning of the further development of liberation thoughts in serf Russia.

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 gone out of control of its initiators, the uprising brought with it a large number of casualties that could have been avoided. It exacerbated the split in the noble society that had emerged even after 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 you know, 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 the “constitution” of Muravyov, a parliamentary monarchy and large landowners were to be preserved. Pestel's program ("Russian Truth") included demands for the establishment of a republic and the transfer of land to communal ownership. They agreed on only one thing - the abolition of serfdom.

At first, the Decembrists themselves declared that the protest would be peaceful. Its only purpose is to draw the attention of the future king to the problem of serfdom. But, as is clear from the revelations of the surviving Decembrists that followed many years later, it was planned to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new tsar, to announce 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, the granting of freedom of speech and assembly. If the Senate did not agree to promulgate the people's manifesto, it was decided to force it to do so. The insurgent 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) killed. A dictator, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy, was elected to lead the uprising. For regicide - retired lieutenant P.G.Kakhovsky.

The buzzword "revolution" entered the lexicon Russian nobility thanks to the influx of emigrants from revolutionary France and the war of 1812, was spinning in tongues, but did not fit into general concept planned actions. The plan of the uprising itself, as we see, is too reminiscent of the scenario of an ordinary palace or “military” coup. Such events were successfully and almost annually carried out both in Russia in the 18th century and in other European countries (for example, Spain or Portugal).

Let's move on to the facts. Absolutely nothing of the "revolutionary" plans was done during the uprising. The main conspirators (Ryleev and Trubetskoy) actually refused to participate in the speech. The dictator Trubetskoy (intentionally or not?) overslept the main action and appeared on the square already, as they say, "for a hat analysis." The rebels did not occupy any palaces or fortresses, but simply stood still, 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?" - "It must be the wife of Konstantin. The queen, therefore."). The Decembrists did not consider it necessary to dedicate the direct perpetrators of the rebellion to their plans. If it had 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 plenty of opportunities to arrest or kill the future Tsar Nicholas I. He himself was present on the square and did not hide from anyone. However, no attempt has been made to do so. 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 Stürler, but did not dare to kill the future king.

This time, the conspirators were not lucky. Piercing the future tsar in the throat with a fork or knocking on the head with a snuffbox in the dark chambers of the Winter Palace would be much easier than starting an uprising, but the conspirators who breathed the air of freedom in the foreign campaign of 1813, 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 Konstantin and Nikolai started a comedy with mutual renunciations in favor of each other. For more than a month, they threw the Russian throne to each other, like a ball in a child's game. The Senate, after long disputes, recognized the rights of Nikolai Pavlovich, who was unpopular among the military bureaucracy, and the Decembrists did not fail to take advantage of this confusion.

In the face of the new emperor, the Decembrists faced a decisive and tough Guards colonel. Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich was neither a weak woman nor a good-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.

The troops that swore allegiance to the new emperor quickly surrounded the rebels. Nicholas I, having recovered from the initial confusion, led them himself. Guards artillery appeared from the side of Admiralteisky Boulevard. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. After that, the artillery hit the rebels with buckshot, their ranks scattered. It could have been limited to this, 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 curious crowd headed. As a result of the rebellion, 1271 people died, of which 39 were in tailcoats and overcoats, 9 were females, 19 were young children and 903 were blacks.

Pre-revolutionary historiography gave the December uprising an ambiguous assessment. Representatives of the so-called "noble" historiography (Bogdanovich, Schilder, and others) called it both a rebellion and an unsuccessful attempt at a "palace coup", but often they simply hushed it up.

The civil courage and self-sacrifice of the Decembrists aroused great respect in the democratic circles of the Russian intelligentsia of the 19th century. Much attention was paid to them by historians of the bourgeois-liberal trend (Pypin, Kornilov, Pavlov-Silvansky, Dovnar-Zapolsky, Klyuchevsky, and others). The Decembrist movement also found a response in the serious works of prof. Semevsky, who wrote about them with a populist tinge. “They were terribly far from the people,” but the Russian educated society traditionally considered the Decembrists victims of arbitrariness and violence, openly calling them “the conscience of the nation.” Dvoryanin N.A. Nekrasov considered it his duty to dedicate two poems to these "heroes" ("Grandfather" and "Russian Women").

On the day of the 75th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising in 1900, Plekhanov, the founder of Marxism in Russia, dedicated a special speech in which he analyzed in detail the nature of this movement.

Of the general mass of enthusiastic populist-Marxist apologies for the Decembrist movement, only the novel by the symbolist D.S. Merezhkovsky "December 14". This is the look of a man who survived all the horrors of the revolution and civil war in Russia, who observed with his own eyes "the experience of the practical incarnation 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, Gunpowder, Pigarev, etc.) the December uprising of 1825 It was customary to associate 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 singled out three stages of the revolutionary movement in Russia. His phrase that "the Decembrists woke up Herzen" became the talk of the town and the seed for a mass of folk anecdotes.

That's just what the "revolutionary" performance of the Decembrists consisted of - historians argue to this day. The highest gift of civil liberties, the abolition of serfdom and the implementation of land reform - the main ideas expressed by the Decembrists were in the air even during the time of Catherine II and Alexander I.

With their attempt at a "coup" the Decembrists frightened and resolutely pushed the authorities away from even thinking about the possibility of their implementation. The energetic “crackdown” 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. "Nikolaev reaction" contributed to the implementation of mediocre external and domestic policy 1830-40s, predetermining the subsequent defeat of Russia in Crimean War. She allowed Herzen, awakened by the Decembrists, to hit the "Bell" and lead the best part of Russian society with him. We still hear the echoes of this bloody alarm to this day ...

And the subsequent foreign campaigns of the Russian army had a significant impact on all aspects of life. Russian Empire, gave rise to certain hopes for a change for the better and, above all, for the abolition of serfdom. The elimination of serfdom was associated with the need for constitutional restrictions on monarchical power. In -1814, communities of guards officers appeared on an ideological basis, the so-called "artels". Of the two artels: "Holy" and "Semyonovsky Regiment" at the beginning of 1816, the Union of Salvation was formed in St. Petersburg. The creator of the Union was Alexander Muravyov. The Salvation Union included Sergei Trubetskoy, Nikita Muravyov, Ivan Yakushkin, later Pavel Pestel joined them. The goal of the Union was the liberation of the peasants and the reform of government. In 1817, Pestel wrote the charter of the Union of Salvation or the Union of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland. Many members of the Union were members of Masonic lodges, so the influence of Masonic rituals affected the everyday life of the Union. Disagreements among members of the society over the possibility of regicide during a coup d'état led to the dissolution of the Salvation Union in the autumn of 1817. In January 1818, a new secret society, the Welfare Union, was created in Moscow. The first part of the charter of the society was written by M. N. Muravyov, P. Koloshin, N. M. Muravyov and S.P. Trubetskoy and contained the principles of organizing the Union of Welfare and its tactics. The second part, secret, contained a description of the ultimate goals of society, was compiled later and has not been preserved. The union lasted until 1821, it included about 200 people. One of the goals of the Welfare Union was to create an advanced public opinion, the formation of the liberal movement. For this, it was supposed to establish various legal societies: literary, charitable, educational. In total, more than ten departments of the Union of Welfare were formed: two in Moscow; in St. Petersburg in the regiments: Moscow, Jaeger, Izmailovsky, Horse Guards; councils in Tulchin, Chisinau, Smolensk and other cities. There were also "side councils", including the "Green Lamp" by Nikita Vsevolozhsky. Members of the Welfare Union were obliged to accept Active participation in public life, strive to take positions in government agencies, the army. Compound secret societies constantly changing: as their first members “settle down” in life and start families, they moved away from politics; their place was taken by younger ones. In January 1821, the congress of the Welfare Union worked in Moscow for three weeks. Its necessity was due to disagreements between supporters of the radical (republican) and moderate movements and the strengthening of the reaction in the country, which complicates the legal work of society. The congress was led by Nikolai Turgenev and Mikhail Fonvizin. It became known that through informers the government was aware of the existence of the Union. A decision was made to formally dissolve the Welfare Union. This made it possible to get rid of random people who got into the Union, its dissolution was a step towards reorganization.

New secret societies were formed - "Southern" (1821) in Ukraine and "Northern" (1822) with a center in St. Petersburg. In September 1825, the Society of United Slavs, founded by the Borisov brothers, joined the Southern Society.

In the Northern society, the main role was played by Nikita Muravyov, Trubetskoy, and later the famous poet Kondraty Ryleev, who rallied the fighting republicans around him. Colonel Pestel was the head of the Southern Society.

Guards officers Ivan Nikolaevich Gorstkin, Mikhail Mikhailovich Naryshkin, naval officers Nikolai Alekseevich Chizhov, brothers Bodisko Boris Andreevich and Mikhail Andreevich took an active part in the Northern Society. Active participants in the Southern Society were the Decembrists-Tulaks, the Kryukov brothers, Alexander Alexandrovich and Nikolai Alexandrovich, the Bobrishchev-Pushkin brothers Nikolai Sergeevich and Pavel Sergeevich, Alexei Ivanovich Cherkasov, Vladimir Nikolaevich Likharev, Ivan Borisovich Avramov. One of the active figures of the "Society of United Slavs" was Ivan Vasilyevich Kireev.

As is clear from the revelations of the surviving Decembrists that followed many years later, they wanted to raise an armed uprising among the troops, overthrow the autocracy, abolish serfdom and popularly adopt a new state law- revolutionary constitution.

It was planned to announce the "destruction of the former government" and the establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. The abolition of serfdom and the equalization of all citizens before the law were announced; freedom of the press, religion, occupation, the introduction of a public jury trial, the abolition of compulsory military service were announced. All government officials had to give way to elected officials.

It was decided to take advantage of the difficult 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 next brother after childless Alexander in seniority, Konstantin Pavlovich, which gave an advantage to the next brother, extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite 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.

The state of uncertainty lasted for a very long time, and the right to choose a new emperor, in fact, passed to the Senate. However, 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, reluctantly recognized the legal rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich.

However, the Decembrists still hoped to change the situation by bringing armed guards to the streets to put pressure on the Senate.

Plan

The Decembrists decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new tsar. 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, the granting of freedom of speech and assembly.

The deputies had to approve a new basic law - the constitution. If the Senate did not agree to promulgate 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, the equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms (press, confession, labor), the introduction of a jury, the introduction of compulsory military service for all classes, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax. The insurgent troops were to occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress, the royal family were to be arrested. If necessary, it was supposed to kill the king. A dictator, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy, was elected to lead the uprising.

It is characteristic that the leaders of the future interim government were supposed to be the leaders of the Senate, Count Speransky and Admiral Mordvinov, which makes the Senate suspect in connection with the conspirators.

The plan of the uprising has to be judged hypothetically, because absolutely nothing of the above was done:

the main conspirators (Ryleev, Trubetskoy) actually refused to participate in the uprising;
contrary to the plan, the rebels did not occupy palaces and fortresses, but stood still;
in fact, instead of the abolition of serfdom and the introduction of various rights and freedoms, the rebels demanded only Emperor Konstantin Pavlovich and a constitution;
during the rebellion there were plenty of opportunities to arrest or kill the future Tsar Nicholas I, but no attempts were made to do so.

Events December 14

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, already 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 unified decision on the appointment of a new leader. Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Mikhail Miloradovich, appearing on horseback in front of the soldiers lined up in a square, “said that he himself willingly wished Constantine to be emperor, but what to do if he refused: he assured them that he himself I saw a new renunciation, and persuaded me to believe it.” E. Obolensky, leaving the ranks of the rebels, urged Miloradovich to leave, but seeing that he did not pay attention to this, he wounded him with a bayonet in the side. At the same time, Kakhovskiy fired at Miloradovich. The soldiers unsuccessfully tried to bring to obedience Colonel Stürler, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich and Metropolitan Seraphim of Novgorod and Petersburg. The attack of the horse guards led by Alexei Orlov was repulsed twice. The troops, who had already sworn allegiance to the new emperor, surrounded the rebels. They were led by Nicholas I, who had recovered from the initial confusion. Guards artillery under the command of General Sukhozanet appeared from the side of Admiralteisky Boulevard. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. After that, the artillery hit the rebels with buckshot, their ranks scattered. “It was possible to limit this already, but Sukhozanet fired a few more shots along the narrow Galerny Lane and across the Neva to the Academy of Arts, where more of the curious crowd fled!” (Shteingel V.I.)

End of the rebellion

By nightfall, the uprising was over. Hundreds of corpses remained on the square and streets. Most of the victims were crushed by the crowd, which rushed in panic from the center of events. An eyewitness wrote:

The windows on the facade of the Senate up to the top floor were spattered with blood and brains, and the walls were left with marks from buckshot.

371 soldiers of the Moscow Regiment, 277 of the Grenadiers and 62 sailors of the Naval Crew were immediately arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The first arrested Decembrists began to be brought to the Winter Palace.

Uprising of the Chernihiv Regiment

In the south of Russia, the matter also did not go without an armed rebellion. Six companies of the Chernigov regiment released the arrested Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, who marched with them to Bila Tserkva; but on January 3, overtaken by a detachment of hussars with horse artillery, the rebels laid down their arms. The wounded Muravyov was arrested.

In the case of the uprising, 265 people were arrested (excluding those arrested in southern Russia and Poland - they were tried by provincial courts)

Investigation and trial

The main fault of the rebels was the murder of high-ranking civil servants (including the St. Petersburg Governor-General Miloradovich), as well as the organization of riots, which led to numerous victims.

Mordvinov and Speransky were included in the composition of the Supreme Criminal Court - precisely those high-ranking officials who were suspected of behind-the-scenes directing of the failed rebellion. Nicholas I through Benckendorff, bypassing investigative committee, tried to find out whether Speransky was connected with the Decembrists. HELL. Borovkov, in his notes, testified that the question of involvement in the plans of the Decembrists Speransky, Mordvinov, Yermolov and Kiselev was investigated, but then the materials of this investigation were destroyed.

Place of execution of the Decembrists

During the execution, Muraviev-Apostol, Kakhovsky and Ryleev fell off the noose and were hanged a second time. This was contrary to the tradition of secondary actuation death penalty, but, on the other hand, was explained by the absence of executions in Russia over the past several decades (the exception was the execution of participants in the Pugachev uprising).

In Warsaw, the Investigative Committee for the opening of secret societies began to operate on February 7 (19), and submitted its report to Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich on December 22. (Jan 3, 1827). Only after this did the trial begin, which acted on the basis of the Constitutional Charter of the Kingdom of Poland, and treated the defendants with great leniency.

On December 14 (old style), 1825, an attempted coup d'etat was carried out in the capital of the Russian Empire, which was organized by guards officers who were members of secret societies banned by Sovereign Alexander I.The purpose of the speech was to prevent the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas I and to abolish the tsarist autocracy.

The general outline of this event is well known. After the foreign campaigns of the Russian army, some of the officers-nobles were infected with the ideas of reorganizing Russia in a Western way, which meant limiting, or even completely eliminating, monarchical power. In this regard, already in 1813-1814, the first circles (artels) of guards officers appeared, of which, by 1816, the first Decembrist organization, the Union of Salvation (“Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland”), was created in St. which included A. Muravyov, S. Trubetskoy, I. Yakushkin, P. Pestel and others. Many members of the Union were members of Masonic lodges, which was reflected in the rituals and program of the organization. The Union did not last long - due to disagreements on the issue of regicide (it was planned that Yakushkin would kill Emperor Alexander I), in 1817 it was decided to dissolve the organization.

However, already in January 1818, a new secret society was created in Moscow - the Welfare Union, the charter of which proclaimed a liberal program and consisted of two parts - for all members and for "initiates", who alone could know the ultimate goals of the Union. Representing a Masonic organization, members of the society sought to actively participate in public life in order to widely disseminate their ideas and promote their candidacies for key positions in the army and public institutions. Two wings formed within the Union - a radical one, adhering to republican views, and a "moderate" one, advocating the transformation of Russia into a constitutional monarchy. When it became known that the government was aware of the activities of the society, it was decided to reorganize the Union through a formal dissolution, which at the same time allowed the organization to get rid of random fellow travelers. As a result, in 1821 the Welfare Union ceased to exist, and instead of it, the "Northern" (1822) and "Southern" (1821) secret societies were created. The first of them was headed by N. Muravyov, S. Trubetskoy, K. Ryleev, and the second - Colonel P. Pestel. In the program of the Northern Society, called the "Constitution", the future of Russia was presented in the form of a constitutional monarchical entity dependent on parliament, which is Russian Federation consisting of 14 states and 2 regions; in the program of the Southern Society, called "Russian Truth", a republican reorganization of the state with a strong centralized authority was proposed. Each of these programs also proclaimed liberal freedoms and the abolition of serfdom.

"A handful of young madmen, ignorant of the needs of the Empire, or of the spirit and true needs of the people, boldly dreamed of a transformation state structure; soon the blasphemous thought of regicide joined the thought of transformation., - Baron M.A. Korf, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, noted in his work.

Taking advantage of the difficult situation of the interregnum that developed in 1825, when after the death of Emperor Alexander I, difficulties arose in the issue of succession to the throne, and both candidates for the throne, Grand Dukes Konstantin and Nikolai Pavlovichi, refused it in favor of each other, the conspirators, realizing that such a chance should not be missed, they decided to speak on December 14 - the day when, after the decision of the Senate, the oath to Emperor Nicholas I was appointed. Using the fact that no one had formally sworn allegiance to the new Sovereign, the Decembrists planned to prevent the Senate from carrying out this procedure, to raise troops to rebellion, capture the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress, arrest the Royal Family. After that, it was supposed to publish a national manifesto on the "destruction of the former government" and establish a Provisional Revolutionary Government. The issue of the form of government (constitutional monarchy or republic) was to be decided by the All-People's Council (Constituent Assembly) and in the event of the triumph of republican sentiments, the Royal Family was planned to either be sent abroad or physically destroyed. Prince Sergei Trubetskoy was appointed "dictator" of the rebellion.

However, as you know, the Decembrist uprising failed ingloriously. Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich was ahead of the rebels, who had gathered on Senate Square by 11 o'clock in the morning. Being warned about the intentions of the Decembrists, Nicholas I postponed the oath to 7 o'clock in the morning and by the beginning of the rebellion had already been proclaimed the legitimate Emperor of All Russia. “If I am Emperor for even one hour, I will show that I was worthy of it”, - said the Sovereign that day, addressing the heads of the guards regiments assembled before him. Meanwhile, the "dictator" Trubetskoy did not appear on the square, and the rebel regiments, deceived by their officers, did not take any action, as disagreements began among the conspirators. Later it was said that, urged on by their officers, the soldiers shouted out "their" demands: "Long live Constantine, long live the Constitution," explaining that the Constitution is "Constantine's wife."

"The leaders of the secret organization felt miserable and helpless, - noted the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. – (…)“A Standing Revolution!” – breathed someone's voice behind. And this now historic phrase was met with an outburst of laughter..

The attempts of the Sovereign to avoid bloodshed, unfortunately, were not crowned with success. A hero sent to the rebels Patriotic War In 1812, the governor-general of St. Petersburg, M.A. Miloradovich, whose ardent words led to hesitation among the rebels, was mortally wounded by the Decembrist Kakhovsky. Since the rebels were not going to come to obedience, it was decided to disperse them with cavalry. But the attack of the horse guards, who acted indecisively and did not seek to cut down their own, was twice repulsed. The actions and convictions of Metropolitan Seraphim did not take place. When it became clear that there was no other way out, Emperor Nicholas I took the initiative and, surrounding the rebels with government troops, without waiting for darkness, when the unrest could be supported by the city mob, after a warning shot with a blank charge, ordered the rioters to be shot with grapeshot from artillery guns. Responding to the first shot with rifle fire, the rebel regiments faltered under a hail of buckshot and fled, rushing in crowds onto the Neva ice in order to cross to Vasilyevsky Island. However, artillery fire on the ice prevented them from doing so. By nightfall, the uprising was over. The "standing revolution" is over, and all its leaders have been arrested. According to official figures, during the events of December 14, 1,271 people died, including casual onlookers-townspeople, among whom were women and children.

The trial and the sentences passed by it on the Decembrists, which are often presented as “bloody repressions of tsarism,” were surprisingly lenient, given that they were trying state traitors who planned regicide. 579 people were involved in the investigation, of which 289 people were found guilty, divided into 11 categories according to the severity of guilt. Initially, 36 people were sentenced to death, but Emperor Nicholas I commuted the sentence in almost all categories - only in relation to five Decembrists, the sentence to death by hanging was upheld. The rest, depending on the severity of the guilt, were sentenced to various terms of hard labor, exile to Siberia, imprisonment from six months to four years, demotion to soldiers and transfers to the active army in the Caucasus. Ordinary participants in the riot were sentenced to flogging with rods and gauntlets. At the same time, the terms of punishment for many began to be reduced already in 1828, and in the 1830s, most of those sent to "eternal penal servitude" were transferred to a settlement and consisted of public service. Having isolated the most dangerous, Emperor Nicholas I tried to localize the conflict, narrowing the circle of the accused as much as possible, so as not to incur the discontent of the nobility. It is also worth noting that none of the relatives of the convicts were subjected to any persecution, moreover, the children of the Decembrists, whose fathers were punished, were given to cadet corps and others educational establishments to the state account. Wishing to demonstrate to the public that punishment befell only the guilty, the Emperor expressed "royal gratitude" to the brother of the condemned Pestel, for being on the side of the government troops on December 14, and before his brother's execution, he appointed him as his adjutant wing.

It is worth saying a few words about the assessment of the speech on December 14th. IN Soviet time a cult of the Decembrists was created - "knights without fear and reproach", who were perceived as the first revolutionaries who "woke up" Herzen, who wrote about them: "A phalanx of heroes who deliberately went to their deaths to wake up a new generation". Such an assessment is often found today in historical literature. So, for example, one of the modern researchers of the Decembrist movement writes: “The Decembrists are people of high morality, which singled them out from the rest of the nobility, forced them to rise above their class privileges given to them by origin and position in society. To become “Decembrists” meant sacrificing all one’s fortune and even life itself in the name of lofty and noble ideals – the liberation of Russia from serfdom and the despotism of autocratic power.”. However, such a pathos-filled statement gives rise to a number of questions. Doesn't it seem absurd to say that belonging to secret anti-state societies that allowed regicide made their members more moral than nobles who were not involved in this activity? Did the Decembrists arrange their rebellion in order to “sacrifice all their fortune and even their very lives,” or did they nevertheless go to seize power over the country in their own hands? If the Decembrists dreamed of liberating Russia from serfdom, then what prevented most of them from taking advantage of the decree of Emperor Alexander I “on free cultivators” and setting their peasants free?..

But there are other assessments of the December events of 1825. So, a prominent Russian monarchist of the early XX century. N.E.Markov wrote: “Only the outstanding courage and determination of the young Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich saved Russia from the bloody horrors of the revolution, which, of course, would have swept away all these nobles of the Decembrists and would have turned into Pugachevism and the extermination of all “masters”, which, in fact, was included in the calculations of the true leaders of Freemasonry , - these eternal destroyers of thrones and altars. It has been documented that the Decembrists conspired not only to kill Emperor Nicholas I, but also to kill the entire Royal Family... examples of virtue. In fact, the true face of the Decembrist Freemasons should cause nothing but disgust and indignation.

Indeed, what could the victory of the Decembrists bring to the country, besides the Westernization and liberalization of Russia? Although history does not know the subjunctive mood, it is reasonable to assume that the result of such a victory would be unrest, rebellions, the struggle of parties and groups for power, a monarchist counter-revolution and, as a response to it, a “liberal dictatorship”. And the result of all this, regardless of the final triumph of this or that force, is a river of shed blood. Thus, it is impossible not to admit that Emperor Nicholas I not only saved his family and the throne, but also kept Russia from plunging into the revolutionary abyss.

Everyone from school times remembers the textbook lines of the young A.S. Pushkin about the Decembrists: “In the depths of the Siberian ores / Keep proud patience, / Your mournful work will not be lost / And thoughts of high aspiration ...”, but few people remember the poetic lines of another famous Russian poet F.I. Tyutchev, with which we will end this short essay:

The people, shunning treachery,
Swears your names -
And your memory is from posterity,
Like a corpse in the ground, buried.

Prepared Andrey Ivanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences

Decembrist uprising, Decembrist uprising of 1825
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire date Cause

Interregnum of 1825

Basic goals

the abolition of autocracy and the abolition of serfdom

Outcome

Suppression of the uprising

driving forces

northern secret society
Moscow Life Guards Regiment
Grenadier Life Guards Regiment
Guards crew

Number of participants

more than 3000 people

perished

1271 people

Decembrist revolt- an attempted coup d'état, which took place in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, on December 14 (26), 1825. The uprising was organized by a group of like-minded nobles, many of them were guard officers. They tried to use the guards to prevent the accession to the throne of Nicholas I. The goal was the abolition of the autocracy and the abolition of serfdom. The uprising was strikingly different from the conspiracies of the era of palace coups in its goals and had a strong resonance in Russian society, which significantly influenced the socio-political life of the era of the reign of Nicholas I that followed him.

1 Decembrists
2 Preconditions for an uprising
3 Rebellion plan
4 Events December 14
5 Victims
6 Arrest and trial
7 Notes
8 Museums of the Decembrists
9 Cinema
10 Literature
11 See also
12 Links

Decembrists

Main article: Decembrists

The events of the war of 1812 and the subsequent foreign campaigns of the Russian army had a significant impact on all aspects of the life of the Russian Empire, gave rise to certain hopes for change and, first of all, for the abolition of serfdom. The elimination of serfdom was associated with the need for constitutional restrictions on monarchical power. In 1813-1814, communities of guard officers appeared on an ideological basis, the so-called "artels". From two artels: "Sacred" and "Semyonovsky Regiment" at the beginning of 1816, the Union of Salvation was formed in St. Petersburg.

The creator of the Union was Alexander Muravyov. The Salvation Union included Sergei Trubetskoy, Nikita Muravyov, Ivan Yakushkin, and later Pavel Pestel joined them. The goal of the Union was the liberation of the peasants and the reform of government. In 1817, Pestel wrote the charter of the Union of Salvation or the Union of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland. Many members of the Union were members of Masonic lodges, so the influence of Masonic rituals affected the everyday life of the Union. Disagreements among members of the society over the possibility of regicide during a coup d'état led to the dissolution of the Salvation Union in the autumn of 1817.

In January 1818, a new secret society, the Welfare Union, was created in Moscow. The first part of the charter of the society was written by M. N. Muravyov, P. Koloshin, S. P. Trubetskoy and contained the principles of organizing the Welfare Union and its tactics. The second part, secret, contained a description of the ultimate goals of society, was compiled later and has not been preserved. The union lasted until 1821, it included about 200 people. One of the goals of the Welfare Union was to create an advanced public opinion, the formation of a liberal movement. For this, it was supposed to establish various legal societies: literary, charitable, educational. In total, more than ten departments of the Union of Welfare were formed: two in Moscow; in St. Petersburg in the regiments: Moscow, Jaeger, Izmailovsky, Horse Guards; councils in Tulchin, Chisinau, Smolensk and other cities. There were also "side councils", including the "Green Lamp" by Nikita Vsevolozhsky. Members of the Welfare Union were required to take an active part in public life, strive to take positions in government institutions, the army.

The composition of secret societies was constantly changing: as their first members “settle down” in life and start families, they moved away from politics; their place was taken by younger ones. In January 1821, the congress of the Welfare Union worked in Moscow for three weeks. Its necessity was due to disagreements between supporters of the radical (republican) and moderate movements and the strengthening of the reaction in the country, which complicates the legal work of society. The congress was led by Nikolai Turgenev and Mikhail Fonvizin. It became known that through informers the government was aware of the existence of the Union. A decision was made to formally dissolve the Welfare Union. This made it possible to get rid of random people who got into the Union, its dissolution was a step towards reorganization. New secret societies were formed - "Southern" (1821) in Ukraine and "Northern" (1822) with a center in St. Petersburg. In September 1825, the Society of United Slavs, founded by the Borisov brothers, joined the Southern Society.

In the Northern society, the main role was played by Nikita Muravyov, Trubetskoy, and later the famous poet Kondraty Ryleyev, who rallied the fighting republicans around him. The leader of the southern society was Colonel Pestel.

Prerequisites for an uprising

Main article: Interregnum of 1825

The conspirators decided to take advantage of the difficult 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, Konstantin Pavlovich, who followed the childless Alexander in seniority, which gave an advantage to the next brother, extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite 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 was sworn in to Constantine. Formally, a new emperor appeared in Russia, several coins with his image were even minted. Constantine did not accept the throne, but he did not formally renounce it as emperor. An ambiguous and extremely tense situation of the interregnum was created. Nicholas decided to declare himself emperor. On December 14, the second oath was appointed - "re-oath". The moment that the Decembrists were waiting for came - a change of power. The members of the secret society decided to speak, especially since the minister already had a lot of denunciations on the table 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.

Rebellion plan

The building of the Senate and Synod in St. Petersburg

The Decembrists decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new tsar. The insurgent troops were 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 that, it was planned to require the Senate to publish a popular manifesto, which would proclaim the "destruction of the former government" and the establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. It was supposed to make Count Speransky and Admiral Mordvinov its members (later they became members of the court over the Decembrists).

After that, the 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 sent abroad. in particular, Ryleev offered to send Nikolai to Fort Ross. However, then the plan of the "radicals" (Pestel and Ryleev) assumed the murder of Nikolai Pavlovich and, possibly, Tsarevich Alexander.

Events December 14

Ryleyev 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, the officers - members of the secret society were still in the barracks at dusk and were campaigning among the soldiers. By 11 a.m. on December 14, 1825, Decembrist officers brought about 800 soldiers of the Moscow Life Guards Regiment to Senate Square; later they were joined by units of the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Regiment and sailors of the Guards Naval Crew in the amount of at least 2350 people.

However, a few days before this, Nikolai had been warned about the intentions of 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). Senators already at 7 o'clock in the morning 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 unified decision on the appointment of a new leader.

Infliction of a mortal wound on M. A. Miloradovich on December 14, 1825. Engraving from a drawing by G. A. Miloradovich

Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, the 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 Konstantin to be emperor, but what to do if he refused: he assured them, that he himself saw a new renunciation, and persuaded him to believe him. E. Obolensky, leaving the ranks of the rebels, urged Miloradovich to leave, but seeing that he did not pay attention to this, he easily wounded him with a bayonet in the side. At the same time, Kakhovsky fired a pistol at the Governor-General (the wounded Miloradovich was taken to the barracks, where he died the same day). Colonel Stürler and Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich unsuccessfully tried 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 residents of St. Petersburg gathered on the square and the main mood of this huge mass, which, according to contemporaries, numbered tens of thousands of people, was sympathy for the rebels. Nicholas and his retinue were thrown logs and stones. Two “rings” of the people formed - the first consisted of those who came earlier, it surrounded the square of the rebels, and the second ring was formed from those who came later - their gendarmes were no longer allowed into the square to the rebels, and they stood behind the government troops that surrounded the rebellious square. Nikolai, as can be seen from his diary, understood the danger of this environment, which threatened with 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 carriages for members of the royal family for a possible flight to Tsarskoe Selo. Later, Nikolai told his brother Mikhail many times: “The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I were not shot then.”

Nicholas sent Metropolitan Seraphim and Metropolitan Eugene of Kyiv to convince the soldiers. But in response, according to the testimony of Deacon Prokhor Ivanov, the soldiers began to shout to the metropolitans: “What kind of metropolitan are you when you swore allegiance to two emperors in two weeks ... We don’t believe you, go away! ..” The metropolitans interrupted the soldiers’ persuasion when the Life Guards appeared on the square Grenadier Regiment and Guards crew, under the command of Nikolai Bestuzhev and Lieutenant Anton Arbuzov.

But the gathering of all the rebel troops took place only more than two hours after the start of the uprising. An hour before the end of the uprising, the Decembrists chose a new "dictator" - Prince Obolensky. But Nikolai managed to take the initiative into his own hands and the encirclement of the rebels by government troops, more than four times the number of the rebels, was already completed. In total, 30 Decembrist officers brought about 3,000 soldiers to the square. According to Gabaev's estimates, 9,000 infantry bayonets, 3,000 cavalry sabers were assembled against the rebel soldiers, in total, not counting the artillerymen called later (36 guns), at least 12,000 people. Because of the city, another 7,000 infantry bayonets and 22 squadrons of cavalry, that is, 3,000 sabers, were called in and stopped at the outposts as a reserve, that is, in total, another 10 thousand people were 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 be active in the dark. Guards artillery under the command of General I. Sukhozanet appeared from the side of Admiralteisky Boulevard. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. Then Nikolai ordered to shoot with buckshot. The first volley was fired above the ranks of the rebellious soldiers - on the "mob" on the roof of the Senate building and the roofs of neighboring houses. The rebels responded to the first volley with buckshot with rifle fire, but then, under a hail of buckshot, the flight began. According to V. I. Shteingel: “It could have been limited to this already, but Sukhozanet fired a few more shots along the narrow Galerny Lane and across the Neva to the Academy of Arts, where more of the curious crowd fled!”. Crowds of rebellious soldiers rushed to the Neva ice to cross to Vasilyevsky Island. Mikhail Bestuzhev tried on the ice of the Neva to again form soldiers into battle formation and go on the offensive against the Peter and Paul Fortress. The troops lined up, but were fired from cannons with cannonballs. The cores hit the ice and it split, many drowned.

Victims

By nightfall, the uprising was over. Hundreds of corpses remained on the square and streets. Based on the papers of the official of the III Department M. M. Popov, N. K. Schilder wrote:

Upon the cessation of artillery fire, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich ordered the Chief of Police, General Shulgin, that the corpses be removed by morning. Unfortunately, the performers ordered the most inhumane way. night on the Neva from St. Isaac's Bridge to the Academy of Arts and further to the side of Vasilyevsky Island, many holes were made, into which not only the corpses were lowered, but, as they argued, 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, being afraid to open themselves to doctors, and died without medical help.

Arrest and trial

Main article: Trial of the Decembrists Obelisk at the place of execution of 5 Decembrists in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg and Memorial plaque on it (below)

371 soldiers of the Moscow Regiment, 277 of the Grenadiers and 62 sailors of the Naval 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.

On December 17, 1825, a Commission was established by decree for research on malicious societies, chaired by Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev. On May 30, 1826, the commission of inquiry submitted to Emperor Nicholas I a report compiled by D. N. Bludov. The Manifesto of June 1, 1826 established the Supreme Criminal Court of the 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. Found guilty 287. Five were sentenced to death and carried out (K. F. Ryleev, P. I. Pestel, P. G. Kakhovskiy, M. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, S. I. Muravyov-Apostol). 120 people were exiled to hard labor in Siberia or to a settlement.

Notes

Fedorov, 1981, p. 8
Fedorov, 1981, p. 9
Fedorov, 1981, p. 322
Fedorov, 1981, p. 12
Fedorov, 1981, p. 327
Fedorov, 1981, p. 36-37, 327
From the notes of Trubetskoy.
Fedorov, 1981, p. 13
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Decembrist revolt. Reasons for the defeat
1 2 3 V. A. Fedorov. Articles and comments // Memoirs of the Decembrists. northern society. - M.: MGU, 1981. - S. 345.
Fedorov, 1981, p. 222
From the memoirs of Steingel.
Fedorov, 1981, p. 223
Fedorov, 1981, p. 224
N. K. Schilder. T. 1 // Emperor Nicholas the First. His life and reign. - St. Petersburg, 1903. - S. 516.
V. A. Fedorov. Articles and comments // Memoirs of the Decembrists. northern society. - Moscow: MGU, 1981. - S. 329.

Museums of the Decembrists

Monument to Lenin and a monument to the Decembrists at the Petrovsky Zavod station (Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky city), photo 1980.

Irkutsk Regional Historical and Memorial Museum of the Decembrists
Yalutorovsk museum complex
Novoselenginsky Museum of the Decembrists (Buryatia)
Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky Museum of the Decembrists (Petrovsk-Zabaykalsky)
Kurgan Museum of the Decembrists (Kurgan city)
Museum "Church of the Decembrists" (Chita)
Museum of the Decembrists (city of Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory)

Movie

Decembrists (1926)
Captivating Happiness Star (1975)

Literature

Academic documentary series "North Star"
Gordin Ya. Rebellion of the Reformers. December 14, 1825. L.: Lenizdat, 1989
Gordin Ya. Rebellion of the Reformers. After the rebellion. M.: TERRA, 1997.
Memoirs of the Decembrists. Northern Society / Ed. V. A. Fedorov. - Moscow: Moscow State University, 1981.
Olenin A.N. Private letter about the incident on December 14, 1825 // Russian archive, 1869. - Issue. 4. - Stb. 731-736; 049-053.
Svistunov P. A few remarks about latest books and articles about the event of December 14 and about the Decembrists // Russian archive, 1870. - Ed. 2nd. - M., 1871. - Stb. 1633-1668.
Sukhozanet I. O. December 14, 1825, the story of the chief of artillery Sukhozanet / Soobshch. A. I. Sukhozanet // Russian antiquity, 1873. - T. 7. - No. 3. - S. 361-370.
Felkner V. I. Notes of Lieutenant General V. I. Felkner. December 14, 1825 // Russian antiquity, 1870. - Vol. 2. - Ed. 3rd. - St. Petersburg, 1875. - S. 202-230.
Decembrists in Ukraine: reference materials / Emphasis. G. D. Kazmirchuk, Yu. V. Latish; Sciences. ed. prof. G. D. Kazmirchuk. T. 7. K., 2013. 440 p.
Latish Yu. V. Decembrists in Ukraine. Historical studios. Kiev, 2014. - 237 p.