Events on the palace square 1825. Decembrist uprising (briefly)
In the first quarter of the 19th century. A revolutionary ideology arose in Russia, the bearers of which were the Decembrists. Disillusioned with the policies of Alexander 1, part of the progressive nobility decided to put an end to the reasons, as it seemed to them, for the backwardness of Russia.
The attempted coup that took place in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, on December 14 (26), 1825, was called the Decembrist Uprising. The uprising was organized by a group of like-minded nobles, many of them were officers of the guard. They tried to use the guards units to prevent Nicholas I from ascending the throne. The goal was the abolition of the autocracy and the abolition of serfdom.
In February 1816, the first secret political society arose in St. Petersburg, the goal of which was the abolition of serfdom and the adoption of a constitution. It consisted of 28 members (A.N. Muravyov, S.I. and M.I. Muravyov-Apostles, S.P.T Rubetskoy, I.D. Yakushkin, P.I. Pestel, etc.)
In 1818, the organization “ Welfare Union”, which had 200 members and had councils in other cities. The society propagated the idea of abolishing serfdom, preparing a revolutionary coup using the forces of the officers. " Welfare Union"collapsed due to disagreements between radical and moderate members of the union.
In March 1821, arose in Ukraine Southern Society led by P.I. Pestel, who was the author of the policy document " Russian Truth».
In St. Petersburg, on the initiative of N.M. Muravyov was created " Northern society”, which had a liberal plan of action. Each of these societies had its own program, but the goal was the same - the destruction of autocracy, serfdom, estates, the creation of a republic, the separation of powers, and the proclamation of civil liberties.
Preparations for an armed uprising began. The conspirators decided to take advantage of the complex legal situation that had developed around the rights to the throne after the death of Alexander I. On the one hand, there was a secret document confirming the long-standing renunciation of the throne by the brother next to the childless Alexander in seniority, Konstantin Pavlovich, which gave an advantage to the next brother, who was extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite to Nikolai Pavlovich. On the other hand, even before the opening of this document, Nikolai Pavlovich, under pressure from the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count M.A. Miloradovich, hastened to renounce his rights to the throne in favor of Konstantin Pavlovich. After the repeated refusal of Konstantin Pavlovich from the throne, the Senate, as a result of a long night meeting on December 13-14, 1825, recognized the legal rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich.
The Decembrists decided to prevent the Senate and troops from taking the oath to the new king.
The conspirators planned to occupy the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace, arrest the royal family and, if certain circumstances arose, kill them. Sergei Trubetskoy was elected to lead the uprising. Next, the Decembrists wanted to demand from the Senate the publication of a national manifesto proclaiming the destruction of the old government and the establishment of a provisional government. Admiral Mordvinov and Count Speransky were supposed to be members of the new revolutionary government. The deputies were entrusted with the task of approving the constitution - the new fundamental law. If the Senate refused to announce a national manifesto containing points on the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms, the introduction of compulsory military service for all classes, the introduction of jury trials, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax, etc., it was decided to force him do this forcibly. Then it was planned to convene a National Council, which would decide the choice of form of government: a republic or a constitutional monarchy. If the republican form was chosen, the royal family would have to be expelled from the country. Ryleev first proposed sending Nikolai Pavlovich to Fort Ross, but then he and Pestel plotted the murder of Nikolai and, perhaps, Tsarevich Alexander.
On the morning of December 14, 1825, the Moscow Life Guards Regiment entered Senate Square. He was joined by the Guards Marine Crew and the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. In total, about 3 thousand people gathered.
However, Nicholas I, notified of the impending conspiracy, took the oath of the Senate in advance and, gathering troops loyal to him, surrounded the rebels. After negotiations, in which Metropolitan Seraphim and the Governor-General of St. Petersburg M.A. Miloradovich (who was mortally wounded) took part on the part of the government, Nicholas I ordered the use of artillery. The uprising in St. Petersburg was crushed.
But already on January 2 it was suppressed by government troops. Arrests of participants and organizers began throughout Russia. 579 people were involved in the Decembrist case. Found guilty 287. Five were sentenced to death (K.F. Ryleev, P.I. Pestel, P.G. Kakhovsky, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol). 120 people were exiled to hard labor in Siberia or to a settlement.
About one hundred and seventy officers involved in the Decembrist case were extrajudicially demoted to soldiers and sent to the Caucasus, where the Caucasian War was taking place. Several exiled Decembrists were later sent there. In the Caucasus, some, with their courage, earned promotion to officers, like M. I. Pushchin, and some, like A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, died in battle. Individual participants in the Decembrist organizations (such as V.D. Volkhovsky and I.G. Burtsev) were transferred to the troops without demotion to soldiers, which took part in the Russian-Persian War of 1826-1828 and the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829 . In the mid-1830s, just over thirty Decembrists who served in the Caucasus returned home.
The verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court on the death penalty for five Decembrists was executed on July 13 (25), 1826 in the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
During the execution, Muravyov-Apostol, Kakhovsky and Ryleev fell from the noose and were hanged a second time. There is a misconception that this was contrary to the tradition of inadmissibility of the second execution of the death penalty. According to military Article No. 204 it is stated that “ Carry out the death penalty until the end result occurs ", that is, until the death of the convicted person. The procedure for releasing a convicted person who, for example, fell from the gallows, which existed before Peter I, was abolished by the Military Article. On the other hand, the “marriage” was explained by the absence of executions in Russia over the previous several decades (the exception was the executions of participants in the Pugachev uprising).
On August 26 (September 7), 1856, the day of his coronation, Emperor Alexander II pardoned all the Decembrists, but many did not live to see their liberation. It should be noted that Alexander Muravyov, the founder of the Union of Salvation, sentenced to exile in Siberia, was already appointed mayor in Irkutsk in 1828, then held various responsible positions, including governorship, and participated in the abolition of serfdom in 1861.
For many years, and even nowadays, not infrequently, the Decembrists in general and the leaders of the coup attempt were idealized and given an aura of romanticism. However, we must admit that these were ordinary state criminals and traitors to the Motherland. It is not for nothing that in the Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov, he usually greeted any person with exclamations " My joy!", there are two episodes that sharply contrast with the love with which Saint Seraphim treated everyone who came to him...
Go back where you came from
Sarov monastery. Elder Seraphim, completely imbued with love and kindness, looks sternly at the officer approaching him and refuses him a blessing. The seer knows that he is a participant in the conspiracy of the future Decembrists. " Go back where you came from ", the monk tells him decisively. The great elder then leads his novice to the well, the water in which was cloudy and dirty. " So this man who came here intends to outrage Russia “, said the righteous man, jealous of the fate of the Russian monarchy.
Troubles will not end well
Two brothers arrived in Sarov and went to the elder (these were two Volkonsky brothers); he accepted and blessed one of them, but did not allow the other to approach him, waved his hands and drove him away. And he told his brother about him that he was up to no good, that the troubles would not end well and that a lot of tears and blood would be shed, and advised him to come to his senses in time. And sure enough, the one of the two brothers whom he drove away got into trouble and was exiled.
Note. Major General Prince Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky (1788-1865) was a member of the Union of Welfare and Southern Society; convicted of the first category and, upon confirmation, sentenced to hard labor for 20 years (the term was reduced to 15 years). Sent to the Nerchinsk mines, and then transferred to a settlement.
So, looking back, we must admit that it was bad that the Decembrists were executed. It’s bad that only five of them were executed...
And in our time, we must clearly understand that any organization that sets as its goal (openly or hidden) the organization of disorder in Russia, the arousal of public opinion, the organization of actions of confrontation, as happened in poor Ukraine, the armed overthrow of the government, etc. - subject to immediate closure, and the organizers to trial as criminals against Russia.
Lord, deliver our fatherland from disorder and civil strife!
Capital of the Russian Empire, December 14 (26). The uprising was organized by a group of like-minded nobles, many of them officers of the Guard. They tried to use guard units to prevent Nicholas I from accessing the throne. The goal of the conspirators 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 subsequent era of the reign of Nicholas I.
Decembrists
Prerequisites for the uprising
The conspirators decided to take advantage of the complex legal situation that had developed around the rights to the throne after the death of Alexander I. On the one hand, there was a secret document confirming the long-standing renunciation of the throne by the brother next to the childless Alexander in seniority, Konstantin Pavlovich, which gave an advantage to the next brother, who was extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite to Nikolai Pavlovich. On the other hand, even before the opening of this document, Nikolai Pavlovich, under pressure from the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count M.A. Miloradovich, hastened to renounce his rights to the throne in favor of Konstantin Pavlovich.
On November 27, the population swore an oath to Constantine. Formally, a new emperor appeared in Russia; several coins with his image were even minted. But Constantine did not accept the throne, but also did not formally renounce it as emperor. An ambiguous and extremely tense interregnum situation was created. Nicholas decided to declare himself emperor. The second oath, the “re-oath,” was scheduled for December 14. The moment the Decembrists had been waiting for had arrived - a change of power. The members of the secret society decided to speak out, especially since the minister already had a lot of denunciations on his desk and arrests could soon begin.
The state of uncertainty lasted for a very long time. After the repeated refusal of Konstantin Pavlovich from the throne, the Senate, as a result of a long night meeting on December 13-14, 1825, recognized the legal rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich.
Uprising plan
The Decembrists decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new king. The rebel troops were to occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the royal family was planned to be arrested and, under certain circumstances, killed. A dictator was elected to lead the uprising - Prince Sergei Trubetskoy.
After this, it was planned to demand that the Senate publish a national manifesto, which would proclaim the “destruction of the former government” and the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government. It was supposed to make Count Speransky and Admiral Mordvinov its members (later they became members of the trial of the Decembrists).
Deputies had to approve a new fundamental law - the constitution. If the Senate did not agree to publish the people's manifesto, it was decided to force it to do so. The manifesto contained several points: the establishment of a provisional revolutionary government, the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms (press, confession, labor), the introduction of jury trials, the introduction of compulsory military service for all classes, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax.
After this, a National Council (Constituent Assembly) was to be convened, which was to decide 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 proposed sending Nikolai to Fort Ross. However, then the plan of the “radicals” (Pestel and Ryleev) involved the murder of Nikolai Pavlovich and, possibly, Tsarevich Alexander.
Events of December 14
However, a few days before this, Nikolai was warned about the intentions of the secret societies by the Chief of the General Staff I. I. Dibich and the Decembrist Ya. I. Rostovtsev (the latter considered the uprising against the tsar incompatible with noble honor). At 7 o'clock in the morning, the senators took the oath to Nicholas and proclaimed him emperor. Trubetskoy, who was appointed dictator, did not appear. The rebel regiments continued to stand on Senate Square until the conspirators could come to a common decision on the appointment of a new leader. . .
A large crowd of St. Petersburg residents gathered on the square and the main mood of this huge mass, which, according to contemporaries, numbered in tens of thousands of people, was sympathy for the rebels. They threw logs and stones at Nicholas and his retinue. Two “rings” of people were formed - the first consisted of those who came earlier, it surrounded the square of the rebels, and the second ring was formed of those who came later - their gendarmes were no longer allowed into the square to join the rebels, and they stood behind the government troops who surrounded the rebel square. Nikolai, as can be seen from his diary, understood the danger of this environment, which threatened great complications. He doubted his success, “seeing that the matter was becoming very important, and not yet foreseeing how it would end.” It was decided to prepare crews for members of the royal family for a possible escape to Tsarskoe Selo. Later, Nikolai told his brother Mikhail many times: “The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I weren’t shot then.”
Nicholas sent Metropolitan Seraphim and Kyiv Metropolitan Eugene to persuade the soldiers. But in response, according to the testimony of Deacon Prokhor Ivanov, the soldiers began to shout to the metropolitans: “What kind of metropolitan are you, when in two weeks you swore allegiance to two emperors... We don’t believe you, go away!..” The metropolitans interrupted the soldiers’ conviction when the Life Guards appeared on the square Grenadier Regiment and Guards Crew, under the command of Nikolai Bestuzhev and the Decembrist Lieutenant Arbuzov.
But the gathering of all the rebel troops occurred only more than two hours after the start of the uprising. An hour before the end of the uprising, the Decembrists elected a new “dictator” - Prince Obolensky. But Nicholas managed to take the initiative into his own hands, and the encirclement of the rebels by government troops, more than four times larger than the rebels in numbers, was already completed. . In total, 30 Decembrist officers brought about 3,000 soldiers to the square. . According to Gabaev’s calculations, 9 thousand infantry bayonets, 3 thousand cavalry sabers were collected against the rebel soldiers, in total, not counting the artillerymen called up later (36 guns), at least 12 thousand people. Because of the city, another 7 thousand infantry bayonets and 22 cavalry squadrons, that is, 3 thousand sabers, were called up and stopped at the outposts as a reserve, that is, in total, another 10 thousand people stood in reserve at the outposts. .
Nikolai was afraid of the onset of darkness, since most of all he feared that “the excitement would not be communicated to the mob,” which could become active in the dark. Guards artillery appeared from the Admiralteysky Boulevard under the command of General I. Sukhozanet. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. Then Nikolai ordered to shoot with grapeshot. The first salvo was fired above the ranks of the rebel soldiers - at the “mobs” on the roof of the Senate building and the roofs of neighboring houses. The rebels responded to the first volley of grapeshot with rifle fire, but then they began to flee under a hail of grapeshot. According to V.I. Shteingel: “It could have been limited to this, but Sukhozanet fired a few more shots along the narrow Galerny Lane and across the Neva towards the Academy of Arts, where more of the crowd of curious people fled!” . Crowds of rebel soldiers rushed onto the Neva ice to move to Vasilyevsky Island. Mikhail Bestuzhev tried to again form soldiers into battle formation on the ice of the Neva and go on the offensive against the Peter and Paul Fortress. The troops lined up, but were fired at by cannonballs. The cannonballs hit the ice and it split, many drowned. .
Arrest and trial
By nightfall the uprising was over. Hundreds of corpses remained in the square and streets. Based on the papers of the official of the III Department M. M. Popov, N. K. Shilder wrote:
After the artillery fire ceased, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich ordered Chief of Police General Shulgin to remove the corpses by morning. Unfortunately, the perpetrators acted in the most inhumane manner. On the night on the Neva, from the Isaac Bridge to the Academy of Arts and further to the side of Vasilievsky Island, many ice holes were made, into which not only corpses were lowered, but, as they claimed, also many wounded, deprived of the opportunity to escape from the fate that awaited them. Those of the wounded who managed to escape hid their injuries, afraid to open up to doctors, and died without medical care.
S. N. Korsakov from the Police Department compiled a certificate on the number of victims during the suppression of the uprising.
During the indignation on December 14, 1825, the following people were killed: generals - 1, staff officers - 1, chief officers of various regiments - 17, lower ranks of the Life Guards - 282, in tailcoats and greatcoats - 39, females - 79, minors - 150, rabble - 903. Total - 1271 people.
371 soldiers of the Moscow Regiment, 277 of the Grenadier Regiment and 62 sailors of the Sea Crew were immediately arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The arrested Decembrists were brought to the Winter Palace. Emperor Nicholas himself acted as an investigator.
By decree of December 17, 1825, a Commission was established for research into malicious societies, chaired by Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev. On May 30, 1826, the investigative commission presented Emperor Nicholas with an all-submissive report compiled by D. N. Bludov. The manifesto of June 1, 1826 established the Supreme Criminal Court of three state estates: the State Council, the Senate and the Synod, with the addition of “several persons from the highest military and civil officials.” A total of 579 people were involved in the investigation.
Notes
- , With. 8
- , With. 9
- , With. 322
- , With. 12
- , With. 327
- , With. 36-37, 327
- From Trubetskoy's notes.
- , With. 13
- Decembrist revolt. Causes of defeat
- [Vladimir Emelianenko. California dream of the Decembrists]
- , With. 345
- V. A. Fedorov. Articles and comments // Memoirs of the Decembrists. Northern society. - Moscow: MSU, 1981. - P. 345.
- , With. 222
- From Shteingel's memoirs.
- , With. 223
- , With. 224
- N. K. Schilder T. 1 // Emperor Nicholas the First. His life and reign. - St. Petersburg, 1903. - P. 516.
- Mikhail Ershov. Repentance of Kondraty Ryleev. Secret materials No. 2, St. Petersburg, 2008.
- V. A. Fedorov. Articles and comments // Memoirs of the Decembrists. Northern society. - Moscow: MSU, 1981. - P. 329.
Museums of the Decembrists
- Irkutsk Regional Historical and Memorial Museum of the Decembrists
- Novoselenginsky Museum of Decembrists (Buryatia)
Movie
Literature
- Academic documentary series "North Star"
- Gordin Ya. Revolt of the reformers. December 14, 1825. L.: Lenizdat, 1989
- Gordin Ya. Revolt of the reformers. After the mutiny. M.: TERRA, 1997.
- Memoirs of the Decembrists. Northern society/ Ed. V. A. Fedorov. - Moscow: MSU, 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 comments on the latest books and articles about the event of December 14 and the Decembrists // Russian Archive, 1870. - Ed. 2nd. - M., 1871. - Stb. 1633-1668.
- Sukhozanet I.O. December 14, 1825, story of the chief of artillery Sukhozanet / Communication. A. I. Sukhozanet // Russian antiquity, 1873. - T. 7. - No. 3. - P. 361-370.
- Felkner V.I. Notes of Lieutenant General V. I. Felkner. December 14, 1825 // Russian antiquity, 1870. - T. 2. - Ed. 3rd. - St. Petersburg, 1875. - P. 202-230.
see also
Links
Decembrist revolt- attempted coup that took place in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, on December 14 (26) of the year.
Prerequisites for the uprising
The conspirators decided to take advantage of the complex legal situation that had developed around the rights to the throne after the death of Alexander I. On the one hand, there was a secret document confirming the long-standing renunciation of the throne by the brother next to the childless Alexander in seniority, Konstantin Pavlovich, which gave an advantage to the next brother, who was extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite to Nikolai Pavlovich. On the other hand, even before the opening of this document, Nikolai Pavlovich, under pressure from the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count M.A. Miloradovich, hastened to renounce his rights to the throne in favor of Konstantin Pavlovich.
Uprising plan
The Decembrists decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new king. The rebel troops were supposed to occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress, the royal family was planned to be arrested and, under certain circumstances, killed. A dictator was elected to lead the uprising - Prince Sergei Trubetskoy.
After this, it was planned to demand that the Senate publish a national Manifesto, which would proclaim the “destruction of the former government” and the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government. It was supposed to make Count Speransky and Admiral Mordvinov its members (later they became members of the trial of the Decembrists).
Deputies had to approve a new fundamental law - the constitution. If the Senate did not agree to publish the people's manifesto, it was decided to force it to do so. The manifesto contained several points: the establishment of a provisional revolutionary government, the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms (press, confession, labor), the introduction of jury trials, the introduction of compulsory military service for all classes, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax.
After this, a National Council (Constituent Assembly) was to be convened, which was supposed to decide on the form of government - a constitutional monarchy or a republic. In the second case, the royal family would have to be sent abroad. In particular, Ryleev proposed sending Nikolai to Fort Ross.
Events of December 14 (26), 1825
It is worth noting that, unlike their brother, Alexander I, who regularly received reports about the growth of the spirit of freethinking in the troops and about conspiracies directed against him, Konstantin and Nicholas did not even suspect the existence of secret army societies. They were shocked and depressed by the events of December 14 (26). In his letter to Nicholas on December 20, 1825 (January 1, 1826), Konstantin Pavlovich wrote:
Great God, what events! This bastard was unhappy that he had an angel as his sovereign, and conspired against him! What do they need? This is monstrous, terrible, covers everyone, even if they are completely innocent, who did not even think about what happened!
However, a few days before this, Nikolai was warned about the intentions of the secret societies by the chief of the General Staff I. I. Dibich and the Decembrist Ya. I. Rostovtsev (the latter considered the uprising against the tsar incompatible with noble honor). At 7 o'clock in the morning, the senators took the oath to Nicholas and proclaimed him emperor. Trubetskoy, who was appointed dictator, did not appear. The rebel regiments continued to stand on Senate Square until the conspirators could come to a common decision on the appointment of a new leader.
Colonel Sturler and Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich tried unsuccessfully to bring the soldiers into obedience. Then the rebels twice repulsed the attack of the Horse Guards led by Alexei Orlov.
A large crowd of St. Petersburg residents gathered on the square and the main mood of this huge mass, which, according to contemporaries, numbered in tens of thousands of people, was sympathy for the rebels. They threw logs and stones at Nicholas and his retinue. Two “rings” of people were formed - the first consisted of those who came earlier, it surrounded the square of the rebels, and the second ring was formed of those who came later - their gendarmes were no longer allowed into the square to join the rebels, and they stood behind the government troops who surrounded the rebel square. Nikolai, as can be seen from his diary, understood the danger of this environment, which threatened great complications. He doubted his success, “seeing that the matter was becoming very important, and not yet foreseeing how it would end.” It was decided to prepare crews for members of the royal family for a possible escape to Tsarskoye Selo. Later, Nikolai told his brother Mikhail many times: “The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I weren’t shot then.”
Nicholas sent Metropolitan Seraphim and Kyiv Metropolitan Eugene to persuade the soldiers. But in response, according to the testimony of Deacon Prokhor Ivanov, the soldiers began to shout to the metropolitans: “What kind of metropolitan are you, when in two weeks you swore allegiance to two emperors... We don’t believe you, go away!..”. The metropolitans interrupted the soldiers' conviction when the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment and the Guards crew, under the command of Nikolai Bestuzhev and Lieutenant Anton Arbuzov, appeared on the square.
But the gathering of all the rebel troops occurred only more than two hours after the start of the uprising. An hour before the end of the uprising, the Decembrists elected a new “dictator” - Prince Obolensky. But Nicholas managed to take the initiative into his own hands and the encirclement of the rebels by government troops, more than four times 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 calculations, 9 thousand infantry bayonets, 3 thousand cavalry sabers were collected against the rebel soldiers, in total, not counting the artillerymen called up later (36 guns), at least 12 thousand people. Because of the city, another 7 thousand infantry bayonets and 22 cavalry squadrons, that is, 3 thousand sabers, were called up and stopped at the outposts as a reserve, that is, in total, another 10 thousand people stood in reserve at the outposts.
Nikolai was afraid of the onset of darkness, since most of all he feared that “the excitement would not be communicated to the mob,” which could become active in the dark. From the side of Admiralteysky Boulevard, guards artillery appeared under the command of General I. Sukhozanet. A volley of blank charges was fired at the square, which had no effect. Then Nikolai ordered to shoot with grapeshot. The first salvo was fired above the ranks of the rebel soldiers - at the “mobs” on the roof of the Senate building and the roofs of neighboring houses. The rebels responded to the first volley of grapeshot with rifle fire, but then they began to flee under a hail of grapeshot. According to V.I. Shteingel: “It could have been limited to this, but Sukhozanet fired a few more shots along the narrow Galerny Lane and across the Neva towards the Academy of Arts, where more of the crowd of curious people fled!” . Crowds of rebel soldiers rushed onto the Neva ice to move to Vasilievsky Island. Mikhail Bestuzhev tried to again form soldiers into battle formation on the ice of the Neva and go on the offensive against the Peter and Paul Fortress. The troops lined up, but were fired at by cannonballs. The cannonballs hit the ice, and it split, many drowned.
Victims
By nightfall the uprising was over. Hundreds of corpses remained in the square and streets. Based on the papers of Section III official M. M. Popov, N. K. Shilder wrote:
| After the artillery fire ceased, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich ordered Chief of Police General Shulgin to remove the corpses by morning. Unfortunately, the perpetrators acted in the most inhumane manner. On the night on the Neva, from the Isaac Bridge to the Academy of Arts and further to the side of Vasilievsky Island, many ice holes were made, into which not only corpses were lowered, but, as they claimed, also many wounded, deprived of the opportunity to escape from the fate that awaited them. Those of the wounded who managed to escape hid their injuries, afraid to open up to doctors, and died without medical care. |
Arrest and trial
371 soldiers of the Moscow Regiment, 277 of the Grenadier Regiment and 62 sailors of the Sea Crew were immediately arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The arrested Decembrists were brought to the Winter Palace. Emperor Nicholas himself acted as an investigator.
By decree of December 17 (29), a Commission was established for research into malicious societies, chaired by the Minister of War
The Decembrist uprising was a forceful attempt by young representatives of the highest aristocracy of the Russian Empire, mainly active and retired officers of the guard and navy, to change the political system. The uprising took place on December 14 (therefore Decembrists) 1825 in St. Petersburg, on Senate Square and was suppressed by troops loyal to the authoritiesCauses of the Decembrist uprising
- Disappointment of noble intellectuals with the failure of the liberal reforms declared by Emperor Alexander I upon his accession to the throne.
- Dissatisfaction with the gradual return of power to a reactionary, protective domestic policy
- European education and upbringing received by representatives of the St. Petersburg Light, which made it possible to more sensitively grasp liberal Western ideas.
Most of the Decembrists studied in cadet corps, land, sea, page, and cadet corps were then hotbeds of general liberal education and were least of all similar to technical and military educational institutions *
- The difference in the orders of European and Russian, learned from their own experience by officers who returned from foreign anti-Napoleonic campaigns
- The unjust structure of Russian society: slavery, disrespect for individual rights, contempt for public interests. savagery of morals, rigidity of the people, the difficult situation of the Russian soldier in military settlements, indifference of society
Kuchelbecker, during interrogation by the investigative commission, admitted that the main reason that forced him to take part in the secret society was his grief over the corruption of morals discovered among the people as a consequence of oppression. “Looking at the brilliant qualities with which God has endowed the Russian people, the only one in the world in glory and power, I grieved in my soul that all this was suppressed, withering and, perhaps, would soon fall, without bearing any fruit in the world *”
Decembrists
- Prince, colonel, duty staff officer of the 4th Infantry Corps S. Trubetskoy (1790 - 1860)
- Prince, Major General, commander of the 19th Infantry Division S. Volkonsky (1788 - 1865)
- Collegiate assessor I. Pushchin (1798 - 1859)
- Officer (retired) of the Guards Jaeger Regiment M. Yakushkin (1793 - 1857)
- Poet K. Ryleev (1795 - 1826)
- Commander of the Vyatka Infantry Regiment, Colonel P. Pestel (1793 - 1826)
- Retired lieutenant Pyotr Kakhovsky (1799-1826)
- Second Lieutenant of the Poltava Infantry Regiment M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin (1801 - 1826)
- Lieutenant Colonel S. Muravyov-Apostol (1796 - 1826)
- Captain of the Guards General Staff N. Muravyov (1795 - 1843)
- General A. Muravyov (1792 - 1863)
- Poet W. Küchelbecker (1797 - 1846)
- General M. Fonvizin (1787 - 1854)
- Retired Lieutenant Colonel M. Muravyov-Apostol (1793-1886)
- Lieutenant Colonel of the Life Guards M. Lunin (1787 - 1845)
- Ruler of the chancellery under St. Petersburg Governor General F. Glinka (1786 - 1880)
- Scientist V. Steingel (1783 - 1862)
- Naval officer, director of the museum at the Admiralty N. Bestuzhev (1791 - 1855)
- Naval officer, galleon commander K. Thorson (1793 - 1851)
Konstantin Petrovich Thorson participated as a midshipman in the battle with the Swedes in the Gulf of Finland in 1808. As a lieutenant on the sloop "Vostok" he circumnavigated the world. In 1824 he was promoted to captain-lieutenant - a brilliant career, a favorite of the fleet, close to the highest circles of the empire. After the defeat of the December uprising, in 1826, he was sentenced to hard labor. In the Nerchinsky mines, in the Petrovsky casemate, he pondered a program for the development of the productive forces of Siberia. While in eternal exile in Selenginsk, he set himself the goal of being useful to the region by introducing machines, and he himself built a threshing machine. He was engaged in melon growing. During his voyage to Antarctica on the sloop Vostok, Bellingshausen named the island after him, which was then renamed Vysoky
- Lieutenant of Railways G. Batenkov (1793 - 1863)
- Naval officer V. Romanov (1796 - 1864)
- General Staff Officer N. Basargin (1800 - 1861)
- Naval officer, teacher of the Naval Cadet Corps D. Zavalishin (1804-1892) ………
Goals of the Decembrist uprising
Among its leaders they were vague. “When going out into the streets, (the leaders) did not carry with them a specific plan for government; they simply wanted to take advantage of the confusion at court in order to call society to action. Their plan is this: if successful, contact the State Council and the Senate with a proposal to form a provisional government... The provisional government was supposed to manage affairs until the meeting of the Zemstvo Duma... The Zemstvo Duma, as a constituent assembly, was supposed to develop a new state structure. Thus, the leaders of the movement set themselves the goal of a new order, leaving the development of this order to the representatives of the land, which means that the movement was caused not by a specific plan for the state structure, but by more boiling feelings that encouraged them to somehow direct the matter along a different track.”*
Chronology of the Decembrist uprising of 1825
- 1816 - A secret society was formed in St. Petersburg from guards officers of the general staff under the leadership of Nikita Muravyov and Prince Trubetskoy. Called the “Union of Salvation”, it had a vague goal - “to assist the government in good endeavors in eradicating all evil in government and in society.”
- 1818 - the “Union of Salvation” expanded and took the name “Union of Welfare”; the goal is “to promote the good endeavors of the government”
- 1819, March - The author of liberal ideas M. Speransky was sent as governor of Siberia
- 1819 - summer - riots in military settlements in Ukraine
- 1820, January 17 - Alexander approved instructions for managing universities. The basis is religion and education of obedience
- 1820, June - a commission was created to develop new censorship rules
- 1821 - due to the diversity of opinions of the participants, the “Union of Welfare” broke up into two revolutionary societies. The Southern Society in Kyiv was headed by P. Pestel; Northern, in St. Petersburg - Nikita Muravyov.
- 1822, January 1 - decree banning secret societies in Russia
- 1823, January - a political program was adopted at the congress of southern society. called by its author Pestel “Russian Truth”
According to Russkaya Pravda, Russia was supposed to become a republic. Legislative power belonged to the unicameral People's Assembly. Executive power was exercised by the State Duma. control functions belonged to the Supreme Council, the complete abolition of serfdom was assumed
- 1825, December 14 - uprising on Senate Square
- 1825, December 29 - 1826, January 3 - uprising of the Chernigov regiment, led by S. Muravyov-Apostol and M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin
- 1825, December 17 - a Commission was established to investigate malicious societies.
- 1826, July 13 - In the morning, at the very time when physical execution was carried out over those condemned to death, civil execution over other Decembrists, convicted sailors - two captain-lieutenants - K. P. Thorson and N. A. Bestuzhev, eight lieutenants, three midshipmen were sent from the Peter and Paul Fortress to Kronstadt.
At the fortress pier they were loaded onto two twelve-oared whaleboats, on which they could pass under the low St. Isaac's Bridge. The schooner "Experience" was waiting for them behind the bridge. The Emperor personally ordered that the sailing schooner be doubled by a steamship, “so that in the event of adverse winds there could be no interruption in delivering the criminals to Kronstadt to the admiral’s ship without fail at the appointed time.”
At six in the morning on July 13, 1826, the convicts were lined up on the deck of the flagship "Prince Vladimir", where, by a signal shot, representatives from all ships of the squadron (both officers and sailors) were called, who were also lined up on the deck of the flagship, on the mast of which a black flag was raised . The convicts wore uniforms with epaulettes. Above them they broke their swords, tore off their epaulettes and uniforms, and threw it all overboard to the beat of drums.
Many of the officers and sailors standing in the square around cried without hiding their tears …
Why did the uprising happen on December 14, 1825?
“Emperor Alexander was childless; the throne after him, according to the law on April 5, 1797, should have passed to the next brother, Konstantin, and Konstantin was also unhappy in his family life, divorced his first wife and married a Polish woman; since the children of this marriage could not have the right to the throne, Constantine became indifferent to this right and in 1822, in a letter to his elder brother, renounced the throne. The elder brother accepted the refusal and, with a manifesto of 1823, appointed the brother next to Konstantin, Nikolai, as heir to the throne. (However) this manifesto was not made public or even brought to the attention of the new heir himself. The manifesto was placed in three copies in Moscow in the Assumption Cathedral, in St. Petersburg in the Senate and in the State Council with the sovereign’s own inscription: “Open after my death”*.
On November 19, 1825, Alexander traveled to the south of Russia and died in Taganrog from typhoid fever. This death led to confusion: Grand Duke Nicholas took the oath to Konstantin, and in Warsaw the elder brother, Konstantin, took the oath to the younger, Nicholas. Communication began, which took a lot of time given the roads of that time.
The Northern Secret Society took advantage of this interregnum. Nicholas agreed to accept the throne, and on December 14 the oath of troops and society was appointed. The day before, members of the secret society decided to act. The initiator was Ryleev, who, however, was confident in the failure of the business, but only insisted: “we still need to start, something will come of it.” Prince S. Trubetskoy was appointed dictator. Members of the Northern Society spread in the barracks, where the name of Constantine was popular, the rumor that Constantine did not want to give up the throne at all, that a violent seizure of power was being prepared, and even that the Grand Duke had been arrested.”
Progress of the uprising. Briefly
- On December 29, 1825, the uprising of the Chernigov regiment began, led by S. Muravyov-Apostol and M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. On January 3 it was suppressed. 121 members of secret societies were sentenced in various ways: from execution to exile to Siberia for hard labor, to settlement, demotion to soldiers, deprivation of ranks, and deprivation of the nobility.
Pestel, Ryleev, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Kakhovsky were sentenced to death and hanged on July 13 under Art. Art. 1826 in the Peter and Paul Fortress
The significance of the Decembrist uprising
- “The Decembrists woke up Herzen. Herzen launched revolutionary agitation. It was picked up, expanded, strengthened, and strengthened by raznochintsy revolutionaries, starting with Chernyshevsky and ending with the heroes of “Narodnaya Volya.” The circle of fighters became wider and their connection with the people became closer. “Young navigators of the future storm,” Herzen called them. But it was not yet the storm itself. The storm is the movement of the masses themselves. The proletariat, the only fully revolutionary class, rose at their head and for the first time raised millions of peasants to open revolutionary struggle. The first onslaught of the storm was in 1905. The next one begins to grow before our eyes."(V.I. Lenin. From the article “In Memory of Herzen” (“Sotsial-Demokrat” 1912)
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The historian V. Klyuchevsky believed that the main result of the Decembrist uprising was the loss by the Russian nobility and, in particular, the guard, of political significance, political power, the power that it had in the 18th century, overthrowing and elevating Russian tsars to the throne.
*IN. Klyuchevsky. Russian history course. Lecture LXXXIV
Brilliant officers, heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. Today we involuntarily imagine the participants of the December uprising through the heroes of the film “Star of Captivating Happiness” about the fate of the Decembrists and their wives, filmed by director Vladimir Motyl. The magnificent Igor Kostolevsky, Alexey Batalov and Oleg Strizhenov forever created positive and heroic images of noble revolutionaries of the 19th century. Their protest on Senate Square left behind the main question: “What made the scions of famous noble families, darlings of fate, sacrifice everything and publicly oppose their emperor?” On the anniversary of the Decembrist uprising on December 26 (14 old style) 1825, the site recalls the history of the protest of young nobles against the autocracy.
"Firstborn of Freedom"
The question "Why?" This question was also asked by the one against whom the representatives of the nobility spoke out - Nicholas I, who had just ascended the Russian throne. This question haunted him all his life and left a serious imprint on his reign. Nikolai Romanov personally conducted the first interrogation of the arrested, acting as an investigator. He tried to understand how those who just a few years ago gave their lives on the battlefields (more than 100 Decembrists took part in the Patriotic War of 1812), loyally served the throne and the crown, could betray him in such an insidious way? Those arrested responded that they defended the future of Russia with arms in hand - then saving the country from Napoleon, and now from autocracy.
To understand when protest sentiments appeared in the minds of the emperor’s closest circle, it was necessary to look back at the liberal era of Nicholas’s brother, Alexander I, and pay attention to what Russia was like in the first quarter of the 19th century. Some representatives of the Russian nobility, already from the second half of the 1810s, considered autocracy and serfdom to be the greatest evil in the country. Young nobles, brought up on the works of European classics, who spoke French better than their native Russian, sincerely believed that in order to save Russia it was necessary to abolish serfdom and limit the power of the emperor by constitution.
The war only intensified their political protest. Saving Russia from conquest, noble officers fought shoulder to shoulder alongside ordinary peasants. For the first time in their lives, they encountered the common people so closely and were comrades-in-arms with them, “sharing one trench and a plate of porridge.” The impact of the War of 1812 on the future Decembrists intensified during the foreign campaigns of 1813-1815, when they saw with their own eyes what they had previously known only from European literature and hearsay: the life of people without serfdom.
Nicholas I personally conducted the first interrogation of those arrested. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Secret societies
The first organization of future Decembrists will appear shortly after the end of the war - in 1814. It was the “Order of Russian Knights”, created in Moscow. Its members dreamed of establishing a constitutional monarchy in Russia. Already in 1816, Alexander and Nikita Muravyov, Ivan Yakushkin, Matvey and Sergey Muravyov-Apostles, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy created a secret society “Union of Salvation” in St. Petersburg. In January 1818, the Union of Welfare was formed.
Sergei Trubetskoy. Watercolor by Nikolai Alexandrovich Bestuzhev Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Its “side councils” were located in 15 cities in the European part of Russia. The main goal of society was the establishment of constitutional government (only here the majority leaned towards a republic) and the elimination of serfdom. The main tactic is a military revolution - a coup d'etat by the army without the participation of the people. But only a select few - the “indigenous government” - knew about such bold plans. The remaining members believed that the main mission of the Union of Welfare was the moral education and enlightenment of the people, helping the government in good endeavors and mitigating the plight of the serfs.
Due to disagreements, the Union of Welfare disintegrated in 1821, and on its basis two large revolutionary organizations arose at once: the Southern Society in Kyiv and the Northern Society in St. Petersburg. Each society had its own charter and program document with plans for reforms in Russia. The more revolutionary and decisive Southern Society was headed by Pavel Pestel. His plans included using a military coup to force the emperor to abdicate the throne and establish a republic in Russia. Northern society was more moderate in its views. It was created in St. Petersburg in 1822 on the basis of two Decembrist groups led by Nikita Muravyov and Nikolai Turgenev. Members of society believed that the absolute monarchy in the country should be limited by the constitution, while carrying out all the necessary liberal reforms - the abolition of serfdom, the equalization of everyone before the law.
Senate square
In 1825, the Decembrists came to Senate Square with the “Manifesto to the Russian People.” It was the third program document that was drawn up right before the coup. It was assumed that the Senate would approve this document and in this way declare liberal freedoms - the abolition of serfdom, the poll tax, and transfer power to a temporary dictatorship of 4-5 rebels. The uprising was supposed to begin in the summer of 1826. However, in November 1825, childless Alexander I unexpectedly died in Taganrog. Due to confusion in the oath to the new emperor, an interregnum was established in the country. The re-oath to Emperor Nicholas I was scheduled for December 26 (14), 1825. The Decembrists decided to take advantage of the situation that had arisen - to withdraw troops to Senate Square, prevent the oath of office to Nicholas I and demand that members of the Senate and State Council publish a “Manifesto to the Russian People.”
On the morning of December 26 (14), 1825, supporters of the coup and loyal troops who swore allegiance to Nicholas gathered on Senate Square. In total, about 3 thousand soldiers and sailors, several dozen officers (some of them were not members of the secret society and joined the uprising at the last moment) gathered in the square. For some time the rebels waited for the arrival of the dictator of the uprising, Sergei Trubetskoy, but he never appeared on the square. The uprising was left without a leader. The time for a coup was lost.
Emperor Nicholas I on Senate Square on December 14, 1825. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Before government troops were drawn to the square, Nicholas I tried to influence the rebels with persuasion. The Governor-General of St. Petersburg, the beloved hero of the Patriotic War, Mikhail Miloradovich, was sent to them. But he was met by a shot from Pyotr Kakhovsky. Nicholas I, fearing that with the onset of darkness “the riot could be communicated to the mob,” at about five o’clock in the evening he gave the order for the artillery to fire. By 6 pm the uprising was defeated. The rebels are arrested. All night, by the light of fires, they removed the wounded and dead, and washed away the spilled blood from the square. It is estimated that more than a thousand people died.
Already on December 29 (17), an investigative commission was established under the chairmanship of Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev. A total of 579 people were involved in the investigation. Five of the rebels were sentenced to death by hanging (Pavel Pestel, Kondraty Ryleev, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Pyotr Kakhovsky). Others received more lenient sentences - exile to Siberia for hard labor, imprisonment in a fortress, some were sent to fight in the Caucasus, and the soldiers who took part in the uprising were driven through the cane system.
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