Peasant revolt of Stepan Razin (briefly). The uprising led by Stepan Razin: Important aspects The nature of the uprising of Stepan Razin

PEASANT WAR UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF STEPAN RAZIN(1670–1671) – protest movement of peasants, serfs, Cossacks and urban lower classes in the 17th century. In pre-revolutionary Russian historiography it was called a “rebellion”, in Soviet it was called the Second Peasant War (after the Uprising under the leadership of I.I. Bolotnikov).

The prerequisites for the uprising include the registration of serfdom ( Cathedral Code 1649) and the deterioration of the life of the social lower classes in connection with the Russian-Polish war and the monetary reform of 1662. The ideological and spiritual crisis of society was aggravated by the reform of Patriarch Nikon and the church schism, the desire of the authorities to limit the Cossack freemen and integrate them into state system added tension. The situation on the Don also worsened due to the growth of the golutvenny (poor) Cossacks, who, unlike the “domovity” (rich Cossacks), did not receive a salary from the state and a share in the “duvan” (division) of fish production. The harbinger of a social explosion was the uprising of 1666 under the leadership of the Cossack ataman Vasily Us, who managed to reach Tula from the Don, where he was joined by Cossacks and fugitive slaves from the surrounding counties.

Cossacks mainly took part in the unrest of the 1660s, and the peasants who joined them tried to protect the interests not of their class, but of their own. If successful, the peasants wanted to become free Cossacks or service people. The Cossacks and peasants were also joined by those from the townspeople who were dissatisfied with the liquidation of “white settlements” free from taxes and duties in the cities in 1649.

In the spring of 1667, a detachment of six hundred “golytba” men appeared near Tsaritsyn, led by the “homely” Cossack of the Zimoveysky town S.T. Razin. Having brought the Cossacks from the Don to the Volga, he began a “campaign for zipuns” (i.e., for booty), robbing caravans of ships with government goods. After wintering in the Yaitsky town (modern Uralsk), the Cossacks raided the property Shah of Iran– Baku, Derbent. Reshet, Farabat, Astrabat, having gained experience in the “Cossack war” (ambushes, raids, flanking maneuvers). The return of the Cossacks in August 1669 with rich booty strengthened Razin's fame as a successful chieftain. At the same time, a legend was born that ended up in a folk song about the ataman’s reprisal against a Persian princess captured as war booty.

Meanwhile, a new governor, I.S. Prozorovsky, arrived in Astrakhan, carrying out the tsar’s order not to let the Razins into Astrakhan. But the Astrakhan residents let the Cossacks in, greeting the successful chieftain with volleys of cannon from the only ship, the Eagle. According to an eyewitness, the Razins “camped near Astrakhan, from where they went to the city in crowds, dressed luxuriously, and the clothes of the poorest were made of gold brocade or silk. Razin could be recognized by the honor that was shown to him, because they approached him only on their knees and falling on their faces.”

Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva

Enslavement of peasants according to the Council Code of 1649;

There is an excess of runaway peasants on the Don;

Dissatisfaction of the peoples of the Volga region with state oppression.

driving forces uprisings: Cossacks, peasants, serfs, townspeople, archers, peoples of the Volga region.

The Crimean Khanate blocked the river. The Don is in chains, the Don Cossacks have lost access to the Sea of Azov, and “hikes for zipuns” in this direction have stopped. In 1666 Cossack chieftain Vasily Us with a detachment he headed to Moscow, plundering estates and estates. Us reached Tula, but retreated to the Don in front of the tsarist army.

Cossack ataman, native of the village of Zimoveyskaya Stepan Razin(c. 1630–1671) in 1667–1669 made a daring campaign “for zipuns” in Persia, devastated the coast of the Caspian Sea, defeated the Persian army and navy. Then Razin captured the Yaitsky town, plundered the caravan of ships of the Tsar, the Patriarch and the merchant V. Shorin. in spring 1670 Mr. Razin attacked Russian lands. Vasily Us joined him. Razin sent out " lovely letters"(propaganda messages) calling for a campaign against the boyars and nobles. To attract the people, Razin spread a false rumor that in his army were Tsarevich “Alexey Alekseevich” (the Tsar’s son, who had already died in 1670) and the disgraced Patriarch Nikon. The main goal of the campaign was Moscow, the route was the Volga. The rebels took Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara, and besieged Simbirsk. Destroying the boyars and nobles, they introduced Cossack self-government. In Astrakhan, all noble and rich people, the elderly governor I. Prozorovsky thrown “from the rampart” (the fortress wall), his 12-year-old son was hung upside down on the wall. The movement spread to Solovki and Ukraine, where Stepan’s younger brother was active. Frol Razin.

To suppress the uprising, the king sent a 60,000-strong army of governors Yu. Dolgoruky And Yu. Baryatinsky. They severely punished the rebels; there were gallows with hanged people everywhere. In October 1670, near Simbirsk, the Razins were defeated. The wounded chieftain fled to the Don, to the town of Kagalnitsky. However, the homely Cossacks, led by the ataman Kornila Yakovlev, fearing the royal wrath, they handed over Razin. After severe torture in the summer of 1671, he was quartered in Moscow. Frol Razin, seeing his brother’s torment, shouted in horror, “The sovereign’s word and deed!” He was taken away from under the executioner's ax, tortured to find out where the looted treasures were hidden, and executed five years later in 1676.

Reasons for the defeat of Stepan Razin :

Tsarist character of the uprising. The peasants believed in the possibility of a better life under the new “good king” ( naive monarchism);

Spontaneity, fragmentation and locality of movement;

Weak weapons and poor organization of the rebels.

Thus, the popular movements of the 17th century, on the one hand, played the role of limiting the exploitation of feudal lords. But, on the other hand, the suppression of these uprisings led to the strengthening of the state apparatus and the tightening of legislation. Now there is a rethinking of the meaning of peasant wars, their Cossack, free-rebellious content is noted. The negative impact of peasant wars, and, in essence, Cossack-peasant revolts, on the fate of Russia is emphasized. Even if the Razins had managed to capture Moscow (in China, for example, the rebels managed to take power several times), they would not have been able to create a new, just society. After all, the only example of such a fair society in their minds was the Cossack circle. But the entire country cannot exist by seizing and dividing other people's property. Any state needs a management system, an army, and taxes. Therefore, the victory of the rebels would inevitably be followed by new social differentiation. The victory of Stepan Razin would inevitably lead to great casualties and would cause significant damage to Russian culture and the development of the state.

In the history of Russia there are not many uprisings that lasted for a long time. But the uprising of Stepan Razin is an exception to this list.

It was one of the most powerful and destructive.

This article provides short story about this event, the reasons, prerequisites and results are indicated. This topic studied at school, in grades 6-7, questions are included in exam tests.

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin

Stepan Razin became the Cossack leader in 1667. He was able to gather several thousand Cossacks under his command.

In the 60s, separate detachments of fugitive peasants and townspeople repeatedly committed robberies in different places. There were many reports of such detachments.

But the gangs of thieves needed an intelligent and energetic leader, with whom small detachments could gather and form a single force that would destroy everything in its path. Stepan Razin became such a leader.

Who is Stepan Razin

The leader and leader of the uprising, Stepan Razin, was a Don Cossack. Almost nothing is known about his childhood and youth. There is also no exact information about the place and date of birth of the Cossack. There are several different versions, but all of them are unconfirmed.

History begins to become clearer only in the 50s. By that time, Stepan and his brother Ivan had already become commanders of large Cossack detachments. There is no information about how this happened, but it is known that the detachments were large, and the brothers had great respect among the Cossacks.

In 1661 they made a campaign against the Crimean Tatars. The government didn't like it. A report was sent to the Cossacks reminding them that they were obliged to serve on the Don River.

Discontent and disobedience to the authorities in the Cossack detachments began to grow. As a result, Stepan's brother Ivan was executed. This was precisely the reason that pushed Razin to revolt.

Causes of the uprising

The main reason for the events of 1667 - 1671. in Rus' was that a population dissatisfied with the government had gathered on the Don. These were peasants and serfs who fled from feudal oppression and the strengthening of serfdom.

Too many dissatisfied people gathered in one place. In addition, Cossacks lived on the same territory, whose goal was to gain independence.

The participants had one thing in common - hatred of order and authority. Therefore, their alliance under the leadership of Razin was not surprising.

Driving forces of the uprising of Stepan Razin

Various groups of the population took part in the uprising.

List of participants:

peasants;
Cossacks;
Sagittarius;
townspeople;
serfs;
peoples of the Volga region (mostly non-Russian).

Razin wrote letters in which he urged the dissatisfied to carry out campaigns against nobles, boyars and merchants.

Territory covered by the Cossack-peasant uprising

In the first months, the rebels captured the Lower Volga region. Then most of the state fell into their hands. The map of the uprising covers vast areas.

Cities that were captured by the rebels include:

Astrakhan;
Tsaritsyn;
Saratov;
Samara;
Penza.

It is worth noting: most cities surrendered and went over to Razin's side voluntarily. This was facilitated by the fact that the leader declared all people who came over to him free.

Rebel demands

The rebels presented several demands to the Zemsky Sobor:

Cancel serfdom and completely free the peasants.
Form an army of Cossacks, which would be part of the tsarist army.
Decentralize power.
Reduce peasant taxes and duties.

The authorities, naturally, could not agree to such demands.

Main events and stages of the uprising

The Peasant War lasted 4 years. The rebels' performances were very active. The entire course of the war can be divided into 3 periods.

First campaign 1667 - 1669

In 1667, the Cossacks captured the Yaitsky town and stayed there for the winter. This was the beginning of their actions. After this, the rebel troops decided to go “for zipuns,” that is, booty.

In the spring of 1668 they were already in the Caspian Sea. Having ravaged the coast, the Cossacks went home through Astrakhan.

There is a version that upon returning home, the chief governor of Astrakhan agreed to let the rebels pass through the city on the condition that they give him part of the loot. The Cossacks agreed, but then did not keep their word and avoided fulfilling their promises.

The revolt of Stepan Razin 1670-1671

In the early 70s, the Cossacks, led by Razin, undertook a new campaign, which had the character of an open uprising. The rebels moved along the Volga, capturing and destroying cities and settlements along the way.

Suppression of the uprising and execution

The uprising of Stepan Razin dragged on too long. Finally, the authorities decided to take more decisive action. At a time when the Razins were besieging Simbirsk, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich sent a punitive expedition to them in the form of a 60,000-strong army to suppress the uprising.

Razin's troops numbered 20 thousand. The siege of the city was lifted and the rebels were defeated. Comrades carried the wounded leader of the uprising from the battlefield.

Stepan Razin was captured only six months later. As a result, he was taken to Moscow and executed on Red Square by quartering.

Reasons for the defeat of Stepan Razin

The uprising of Stepan Razin is one of the most powerful in history. So why did the Razinites fail?

The main reason is the lack of organization. The uprising itself had a spontaneous character of struggle. It mainly consisted of robbery.

There was no management structure within the army; there was fragmentation in the actions of the peasants.

Results of the uprising

However, it cannot be said that the actions of the rebels were absolutely useless for the dissatisfied sections of the population.

introduction of benefits for the peasant population;
free Cossacks;
reduction of taxes on priority goods.

Another consequence was that the beginning of the liberation of the peasants was laid.

At the end of the 17th century. The largest Cossack-peasant uprising broke out in Russia. The reasons that people took up arms and stood up against the authorities were different for each layer - peasants, archers and Cossacks had their own reasons for this. The uprising led by Stepan Razin consisted of two stages - a campaign against the Caspian Sea, which was of a predatory nature, and a campaign against the Volga, which took place with the participation of peasants. S.T. Razin was a strong, intelligent and cunning man, which allowed him to subjugate the Cossacks and gather a large army for his campaigns. You will learn about all this in more detail from this lesson.

Historians of the 20th century Most often the uprising of Stepan Razin was assessed as the second peasant war in Russia. They believed that this movement was a response to the enslavement of the peasants in 1649.

As for the reasons for the uprising led by Stepan Razin, they were complex and quite complex. Behind each factor of the uprising there was a certain social type of the rebel people. Firstly, they were Cossacks (Fig. 2). When in 1642 the Cossacks abandoned the conquest of the Azov fortress, they could no longer go on predatory campaigns in the Black Sea region and in the Azov region: their path was blocked by Azov, the Turkish fortress. Therefore, the size of the Cossacks’ military booty decreased significantly. Due to the difficult situation in Russia (Russian-Polish War) and the enslavement of peasants, the number of fugitive peasants to the south of the country increased. The population grew, and there were fewer and fewer sources of livelihood. Thus, tension arose on the Don, which explains the participation of the Cossacks in the uprising of Stepan Razin.

Rice. 2. Don Cossacks ()

Secondly, the archers (Fig. 3), who made up the bulk of the garrisons in southern Russia, took part in the uprising. That is, the main military force of the country went over to the side of the rebels. Financial difficulties They were not allowed to pay full salaries to service people, which the archers did not like. This was the reason for their joining the uprising.

Rice. 3. Sagittarius ()

Thirdly, the peasant movement could not do without the peasants themselves (Fig. 4). The formal enslavement of the peasants according to the Council Code of 1649 did not yet mean the establishment of a complete serfdom regime, but still greatly limited the rights of the peasants. This was the reason for their participation in the uprising of Stepan Razin.

Rice. 4. Peasants ()

Thus, each social type had its own reason for dissatisfaction with the Russian government.

The Cossacks were driving force uprising led by Stepan Razin.Towards the middleXVIIV. Among the Cossacks, a top group stood out - the homely Cossacks. If the main part of the Cossacks were mostly poor people, former peasants and serfs, then the homely Cossacks were rich people with personal property. Thus, the Cossacks were heterogeneous, and this became evident during the uprising.

As for the personality of Stepan Timofeevich Razin (c. 1631-1670), he was an amazing person with extensive life experience. Several times the Cossacks elected him as their chieftain. Razin knew Tatar and Turkish languages, since on the Don the leader of the Cossacks needed to know the languages of his opponents. Stepan Razin crossed the Moscow state twice - he went to Solovki in the White Sea. S.T. Razin was an educated man with a broad outlook. He also had a strong-willed character, and he kept all the Cossacks in obedience.

On the eve of Stepan Razin's uprising, a social explosion occurred - a harbinger of a formidable uprising. Several hundred Cossacks, led by Vasily Us, moved towards Moscow. They wanted to be recognized as servicemen and paid. However, near Tula they were stopped and forced to turn back.

In the spring of 1667, Stepan Razin decided to go with the Cossacks on a predatory campaign to the Caspian Sea. Having sailed along the Volga, Razin’s army approached Astrakhan. Here the royal governor tried to detain the “thieves’ army,” but the Razins managed to slip along one of the branches in the Volga delta (Fig. 5) and entered the Caspian Sea. Then they moved up, then to the East along the river. Yaik. On this river there was a royal fortress called Yaitsky town with the Yaitsky Cossacks living there. Stepan Razin and his Cossacks used a trick: they dressed in simple clothes and, having entered the city, killed the guards at night and allowed their army into the city. The entire leadership of the Yaitsky town was executed by Razin’s Cossacks. Most of the service people in this fortress went over to the side of the rebels. Then Stepan’s entire army took part in the duvan - dividing the looted property equally between the Cossacks. After Razin and Duvan joined the army, the archers became full-fledged Cossacks.

Rice. 5. Crossing ships by portage ()

In the spring of 1668, the Cossack Razin army descended down the river. Yaik and went to the western coast of the Caspian Sea - the Persian shores. The Cossacks subjected the coast to a devastating defeat. They captured and plundered Big City Derbent, as well as a number of other cities. An episode occurred in the town of Farabat that showed the truly predatory intentions of Razin’s army. Having agreed with the residents of the city that Stepan Razin’s army would not plunder their city, but would only trade, after all the trading, it attacked the residents and plundered the city.

In 1669, the Razin Cossacks plundered the eastern Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea. Finally, the Persian Shah sent his fleet against the Cossacks. Then Razin resorted to a trick. Again using cunning, the Razin fleet pretended to flee, and then, gradually turning their ships, defeated the Persian ships one by one.

Burdened with booty, the Razins moved home in 1669. This time, Razin’s army could not slip past Astrakhan unnoticed, so Stepan Razin confessed to the Astrakhan prince Prozorovsky. In Astrakhan (Fig. 6) the Razinites stopped for some time. Stepan Razin’s Cossacks went on a campaign “for zipuns” as ordinary people, modestly dressed and not rich, and returned with money, in expensive clothes with magnificent weapons, thus appearing before the people of Astrakhan, including servicemen. Then a doubt crept into the minds of the Tsar’s serving people: whether it was worth serving the Tsar further or joining Razin’s army.

Rice. 6. Astrakhan in the 17th century. ()

Finally, the Razins sailed from Astrakhan. Before leaving, Stepan gave his expensive lip to Prozorovsky. When the Cossacks sailed from Astrakhan, Stepan Razin threw, according to one version, the Persian princess, according to another, the daughter of an influential Kabardian prince overboard his ship, since his legal wife was waiting for him at home. This plot was used as the basis for the folk song “Because of the Island to the Rod”. This episode shows the essence of Stepan Razin’s predatory campaign to the Caspian Sea. Having walked between the Volga and Don, the Razinites returned home. But Razin did not disband his army.

In the spring of 1670, a royal messenger arrived on the Don in Cherkassk. Stepan Razin arrived here with his army. A general Cossack circle took place (Fig. 7). Razin proved to his Cossacks that the messenger came not from the tsar, but from the traitorous boyars, and he was drowned in the river. Thus, the bridges were burned, and Stepan decided to go with his Cossack army to the Volga.

Rice. 7. Cossack circle led by Stepan Razin in Cherkassk ()

On the eve of the campaign against the Volga, Stepan Razin sent out lovely letters to people (Fig. 8) - propaganda for his army. In these letters, Razin called on “to remove the worldly bloodsuckers,” that is, to destroy all the privileged classes in Russia, which, in his opinion, interfere with the lives of ordinary people. That is, S.T. Razin spoke not against the tsar, but against the shortcomings of the then existing system.

Rice. 8. Lovely letters from Stepan Razin ()

Stepan Razin did not want to leave the strong Astrakhan fortress in his rear, and his army first moved down the Volga. Voivode Prozorovsky sent a large rifle detachment to meet the Razinites, but he went over to the side of the rebels. When Razin's army approached Astrakhan, the first assault on the fortress was unsuccessful. But then most of the archers went over to the side of the rebels, and the Razins took the fortress. Voivode Prozorovsky and the authorities of Astrakhan were executed.

After the capture of Astrakhan, Stepan Razin's army moved up the Volga. One after another, the cities were captured by Razin’s troops, and the Streltsy garrisons went over to the side of the rebels. Finally, the best Moscow infantry - the capital's archers - was sent against Razin's army (Fig. 9). The Razins captured the Volga region city of Saratov, but the Moscow archers did not yet know about it. Then S.T. Razin once again resorted to cunning. Some of Razin’s troops imitated an assault on the fortress, and some settled in the city. As soon as the Moscow archers landed near Saratov, all the Razins attacked them, and then the tsarist troops laid down their arms. Most of the Moscow archers joined the Razin army, but the Razins did not really trust them and put them on the oars.

Rice. 9. Capital archers ()

Next, Razin’s army reached the city of Simbirsk (Fig. 10). The fortress stood, and the government army approached it. However, Razin gained the upper hand and forced government troops to retreat. Near Simbirsk, the peasant nature of the uprising became more apparent. In this area, peasants joined the rebels en masse. But they acted within the boundaries of their region where they lived: they killed landowners, stormed fortresses and monasteries, and then returned to their farms.

Rice. 10. Stepan Razin’s troops storm Simbirsk ()

In September 1670, newly formed and trained government regiments approached Simbirsk, which this time defeated Stepan Razin’s army. He was wounded and with several Cossacks fled down the Volga and to the Don. On the Don, the homely Cossacks handed Razin over to the authorities because they were saving their lives.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin and his brother Frol were taken to Moscow. Razin endured all the torture and in the summer of 1671 was executed by quartering. Razin's brother, Frol, was executed a few years later, because at first he said that he knew where the treasures of the Razins were hidden, but this turned out not to be the case.

After the execution of Stepan Razin, the core of the rebel army - the Cossacks - was defeated, but the uprising did not stop immediately. In some places, peasants also came out with weapons. But the peasant movement was also soon suppressed. Boyar Yuri Dolgoruky hanged 11,000 peasants during punitive campaigns.

Theoretically, if Razin’s army had won, the structure of the Moscow state would not have changed, since it could not be structured in the image of the Cossack circle; its structure was more complex. If the Razins had won, they would have wanted to take the estates with the peasants and settle down. Thus, the political system would not have been changed - the movement had no prospects.

Bibliography

Baranov P.A., Vovina V.G. and others. History of Russia. 7th grade. - M.: “Ventana-Graf”, 2013.
Buganov V.I. Razin and the Razins. - M., 1995.
Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. Russian history. 7th grade. The end of the 16th - 18th centuries. - M.: “Enlightenment”, 2012.
The Peasant War under the leadership of Stepan Razin: in 2 volumes. - M., 1957.
Chistyakova E.V., Solovyov V.M. Stepan Razin and his associates / Reviewer: Dr. ist. sciences, prof. IN AND. Buganov; Design by artist A.A. Brantman. - M.: Mysl, 1988.

Protown.ru ().
Hiztory.ru ().
Doc.history.rf ().

Homework

Tell us about the reasons for the uprising led by Stepan Razin.
Describe the personality of S.T. Razin.
To what type can the first stage of the uprising be classified - the predatory Cossack or the peasant?
What contributed to the continuation of Stepan Razin's uprising after the first stage? Name the reasons for the defeat of the Razins. Comment on the consequences of this uprising.

Period: XVII century.

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin in 1670-1671

The most powerful popular uprising of the 17th century. there was a peasant war of 1670-1671. led by Stepan Razin. It was a direct result of the aggravation of class contradictions in Russia in the second half of the 17th century.

The difficult situation of the peasants led to increased escape to the outskirts. The peasants went to remote places on the Don and the Volga region, where they hoped to hide from the oppression of landowner exploitation. The Don Cossacks were not socially homogeneous. The “homely” Cossacks mostly lived in free places along the lower reaches of the Don with its rich fishing grounds. It was reluctant to accept new newcomers, poor (“golutvennye”) Cossacks, into its ranks. “Golytba” accumulated mainly on the lands along the upper reaches of the Don and its tributaries, but even here the situation of fugitive peasants and slaves was usually difficult, since the homely Cossacks forbade them to plow the land, and there were no new fishing grounds left for the newcomers. The Golutvenny Cossacks especially suffered from the lack of bread on the Don.

A large number of fugitive peasants also settled in the regions of Tambov, Penza, and Simbirsk. Here peasants founded new villages and hamlets and plowed up empty lands. But the landowners immediately followed them. They received letters of grant from the king for supposedly empty lands; the peasants who settled on these lands again fell into serfdom from the landowners. Walking people concentrated in the cities and earned their living by doing odd jobs.

The peoples of the Volga region - the Mordovians, Chuvash, Mari, Tatars - experienced heavy colonial oppression. Russian landowners seized their lands, fishing grounds and hunting grounds. At the same time, state taxes and duties increased.

Stepan Razin. From an English engraving of 1672.

A large number of people hostile to the feudal state accumulated on the Don and Volga region. Among them were many settlers exiled to distant Volga cities for participating in uprisings and various protests against the government and governors. Razin's slogans found a warm response among Russian peasants and the oppressed peoples of the Volga region.

The beginning of the peasant war was laid on the Don. The Golutvennye Cossacks undertook a campaign to the shores of the Crimea and Turkey. But the homely Cossacks prevented them from breaking through to the sea, fearing a military clash with the Turks. The Cossacks, led by ataman Stepan Timofeevich Razin, moved to the Volga and, near Tsaritsyn, captured a caravan of ships heading to Astrakhan. Having sailed freely past Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan, the Cossacks entered the Caspian Sea and headed to the mouth of the Yaika River (Ural). Razin occupied the Yaitsky town (1667), many Yaitsky Cossacks joined his army. The following year, Razin’s detachment on 24 ships headed to the shores of Iran. Having ravaged the Caspian coast from Derbent to Baku, the Cossacks reached Rasht. During negotiations, the Persians suddenly attacked them and killed 400 people. In response, the Cossacks destroyed the city of Ferahabad. On way back At Pig Island, near the mouth of the Kura River, the Iranian fleet attacked the Cossack ships, but suffered complete defeat. The Cossacks returned to Astrakhan and sold the captured booty here.

A successful sea voyage to Yaik and to the shores of Iran sharply increased Razin’s authority among the population of the Don and Volga region. Fugitive peasants and slaves, walking people, the oppressed peoples of the Volga region were just waiting for a signal to raise an open rebellion against their oppressors. In the spring of 1670, Razin reappeared on the Volga with a 5,000-strong Cossack army. Astrakhan opened its gates for him; Streltsy and townspeople everywhere went over to the side of the Cossacks. At this stage, Razin’s movement outgrew the scope of the campaign of 1667-1669. and resulted in a powerful peasant war.

Razin with the main forces went up the Volga. Saratov and Samara greeted the rebels with ringing bells, bread and salt. But under the fortified Simbirsk the army lingered for a long time. To the north and west of this city, a peasant war was already raging. A large detachment of rebels under the command of Mikhail Kharitonov took Korsun, Saransk, and captured Penza. Having united with the detachment of Vasily Fedorov, he headed towards Shatsk. Russian peasants, Mordovians, Chuvash, Tatars rose to war almost without exception, without even waiting for the arrival of Razin’s troops. The peasant war was getting closer and closer to Moscow. Cossack atamans captured Alatyr, Temnikov, Kurmysh. Kozmodemyansk and the fishing village of Lyskovo on the Volga joined the uprising. Cossacks and Lyskovites occupied the fortified Makaryev Monastery in the immediate vicinity of Nizhny Novgorod.

On the upper reaches of the Don, the military actions of the rebels were led by Stepan Razin’s brother Frol. The uprising spread to the lands south of Belgorod, inhabited by Ukrainians and called Sloboda Ukraine. Everywhere “men,” as the tsar’s documents called the peasants, rose up in arms and, together with the oppressed peoples of the Volga region, fought fiercely against the serf owners. The city of Tsivilsk in Chuvashia was besieged by “Russian people and Chuvash.”

The nobles of the Shatsk district complained that they could not get to the tsarist governors “due to the instability of the traitorous peasants.” In the Kadoma region, the same “traitorous men” set up an ambush in order to detain the tsarist troops.

Peasants' War 1670-1671 covered a large area. The slogans of Razin and his associates raised the oppressed sections of society to fight, the “charming” letters drawn up by the differences called on all “enslaved and disgraced” to put an end to the worldly bloodsuckers and join Razin’s army. According to an eyewitness to the uprising, Razin said to the peasants and townspeople in Astrakhan: “For the cause, brothers. Now take revenge on the tyrants who have hitherto kept you in captivity worse than the Turks or the pagans. I have come to give you freedom and deliverance.”

The ranks of the rebels included Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks, peasants and serfs, young townspeople, servicemen, Mordovians, Chuvash, Mari, and Tatars. All of them were united by a common goal - the fight against serfdom. In cities that went over to Razin’s side, the voivode’s power was destroyed and city management passed into the hands of elected officials. However, while fighting against feudal oppression, the rebels remained tsarists. They stood for the “good king” and spread the rumor that Tsarevich Alexei, who at that time was actually no longer alive, was coming with them.

The peasant war forced the tsarist government to mobilize all its forces to suppress it. Near Moscow, a review of the 60,000-strong noble army was carried out for 8 days. In Moscow itself, a strict police regime was established, as they were afraid of unrest among the city's lower classes.

A decisive clash between the rebels and the tsarist troops took place near Simbirsk. Large reinforcements from the Tatars, Chuvash and Mordovians flocked to Razin’s detachments, but the siege of the city dragged on for a whole month, and this allowed the tsarist commanders to gather large forces. Near Simbirsk, Razin's troops were defeated by foreign regiments (October 1670). Hoping to recruit a new army, Razin went to the Don, but there he was treacherously captured by homely Cossacks and taken to Moscow, where in June 1671 he was subjected to a painful execution - quartering. But the uprising continued after his death. Astrakhan held out the longest. It surrendered to the tsarist troops only at the end of 1671.