December uprising in Senate Square. Uprising in Senate Square

The cavalry guard is short-lived,
And that's why he's so sweet.
The trumpet blows, the canopy is thrown back,
And somewhere a saber ring is heard ... (B. Okudzhava)

As you know, the Decembrists took advantage of the interregnum situation for their speech: Emperor Alexander I died without leaving an heir. The throne was supposed to pass to the younger brother Constantine, but he had long ago renounced the succession to the throne, but almost no one knew about this. In this situation, the next oldest brother Nikolai was supposed to take power, but he did not dare to do this, because. many had already sworn allegiance to Konstantin, and in the eyes of the people, Nikolai would have looked like an impostor, especially since he was not very popular. While Nikolai was negotiating with Konstantin, who did not confirm his abdication and did not accept power, the Decembrists decided to start a speech.

Rebellion plan

Of course, members of secret societies had it. They had been preparing for the uprising for about 10 years, carefully considering all the options and gathering forces, but they did not have a specific date for the performance. They decided to use the ensuing situation of interregnum to implement their plan: "... now, after the death of the sovereign, there is the most convenient time to put into action the previous intention." However, the heated discussions of the situation that began, which took place mainly in the apartment of K. Ryleev, did not immediately lead to coordinated actions - there were disputes and a range of opinions. Finally, a somewhat unanimous opinion was formed, supported by the majority. They also came to the decision that the dictator who appointed S. Trubetskoy should lead the uprising.

The main goal of the uprising was the crushing of the autocratic serf system, the introduction of representative government, i.e. adoption of the constitution. An important point the plan was to convene the Great Council (it was supposed to meet in the event of a coup). The cathedral was supposed to replace the outdated autocratic-serf system of Russia with a new, representative system. It was the ultimate program. But there was also a minimum program: before the convocation of the Great Council, act in accordance with the drafted manifesto, acquire supporters, and only after that determine issues and problems for discussion at this council.

This manifesto was written down by S. Trubetskoy, in any case, it was found in his papers during the search, it appeared in his investigative file.

Manifesto

1. Destruction former board.
2. Establishment of a temporary, until the establishment of a permanent one.
3. Free embossing, and therefore the destruction of censorship.
4. Free worship for all faiths.
5. Destruction of the right of property that extends to people.
6. Equality of all estates before the law, and therefore the abolition of military courts and all kinds of judicial commissions, from which all judicial cases go to the departments of the nearest civil courts.
7. The declaration of the right of every citizen to do what he wants, and therefore the nobleman, merchant, tradesman, peasant still have the right to enter the military and civil service and the clergy, to trade wholesale and retail, paying the established duties for bidding. To acquire all kinds of property, such as: land, houses in villages and cities; conclude all kinds of conditions among themselves, compete with each other before the court.
8. Addition of per capita taxes and arrears on them.
9. The destruction of monopolies, such as: on salt, on the sale of hot wine, and so on. and therefore the establishment of free distillation and the extraction of salt, with payment for. industry with the amount of extraction of salt and vodka.

10. Destruction of recruitment and military settlements.

11. Reduction of the term of military service for the lower ranks, and the definition of it will follow the equation of military service between all classes.

12. The resignation of all lower ranks without exception, who have served 15 years.

13. Establishment of volost, county, provincial and regional boards, and the procedure for electing members of these boards, which should replace all officials, hitherto from civil government appointed.

14. Publicity of courts.

15.Introduction of juries to criminal and civil courts.

Establishes a board of 2 or 3 persons, to which he subordinates all parts of the higher administration, that is, all ministries. Council, Committee of Ministers, armies, navy. In a word, the entire supreme, executive power, but by no means legislative, and not judicial. - For this last there remains a ministry subordinate to the provisional government, but to judge cases not resolved in the lower instances, the criminal department of the Senate remains and a civil department is established, which decide definitively , and whose members will remain until the establishment of a permanent board.

The Provisional Board is entrusted with the enforcement of:

1. The equalization of the rights of all classes.
2. Formation of local volost, county, provincial and regional boards.
3. The formation of the internal people's guard,
4. Formation of the judiciary with the jury.
5. The equation of recruitment duty between estates.
6. Destruction of the standing army.
7. Establishment of the procedure for electing those elected to the House of Representatives of the People, who must approve for the future the existing order of government and the state statute.

It was supposed to publish the Manifesto to the Russian people on the day of the uprising - December 14, 1825. The troops were supposed to be on Senate Square as long as negotiations with the Senate were underway, to convince the Senate (if the Senate did not agree, it was allowed to use military force) accept the Manifesto, distribute it. Then the troops were to withdraw from the city center to protect St. Petersburg from possible actions of government troops.

Thus, according to the plan, on the morning of December 14, the rebel regiments were to gather on Senate Square and force the Senate to issue a Manifesto. Guards - capture the Winter Palace and arrest royal family, and then take the Peter and Paul Fortress. The Constituent Assembly was to establish the form of government in the country and determine the fate of the king and his family.

In case of failure, the troops were to leave Petersburg and reach the Novgorod military settlements, where they would meet with support.

Senate Square December 14, 1825

But already in the early morning, the well-thought-out plan began to crumble. K. Ryleev insists on the assassination of the king, which was not envisaged in the immediate plans, in connection with the interregnum. The assassination of the king is entrusted to P. Kakhovsky, it was supposed to start an uprising. But Kakhovsky refuses to commit murder. In addition, Yakubovich, who was appointed to command the guards during the capture Winter Palace also refused to do so. In addition to everything, Mikhail Pushchin refused to bring an equestrian squadron to the square. I had to hastily rebuild the plan: instead of Yakubovich, Nikolai Bestuzhev was appointed.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, the Moscow Life Guards Regiment was the first to arrive on Senate Square and was lined up in the form of a square near the monument to Peter. People began to gather. At this time, the St. Petersburg Governor-General Miloradovich drove up to the square. He persuaded the soldiers to disperse, convincing them that the oath to Nicholas was legal. It was a tense moment in the uprising, events could go according to an unforeseen scenario, because the regiment was alone, the others had not yet arrived, and Miloradovich, the hero of 1812, was popular among the soldiers and knew how to talk to them. The only way out was to remove Miloradovich from the square. The Decembrists demanded that he leave the square, but Miloradovich continued to persuade the soldiers. Then Obolensky turned his horse with a bayonet, wounding the governor-general, and Kakhovsky fired and inflicted a mortal wound on him.

Ryleev and I. Pushchin at that time went to Trubetskoy, on the way they learned that the Senate had already sworn allegiance to the tsar and dispersed, i.e. the troops had already gathered in front of the empty Senate. But Trubetskoy was not there, nor was he on Senate Square. The situation on the square required decisive action, but the dictator did not appear. The troops continued to wait. This delay played a decisive role in the defeat of the uprising.

The people on the square clearly supported the rebels, but they did not take advantage of this support, apparently fearing the activity of the people, a rebellion "senseless and merciless", according to Pushkin. Contemporaries of the events unanimously note in their memoirs that tens of thousands of people gathered on the square, sympathizing with the rebels. Later, Nikolai told his brother several times: ““The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I were not shot then.”

In the meantime, government troops, on the orders of Emperor Nicholas, were drawn to the Senate Square, the cavalry troops began to attack the Moscow regiment, which was stationed in a square, but were repulsed. Then Nicholas called for the help of Metropolitan Seraphim in order to explain to the soldiers the legality of the oath to him, and not to Konstantin.

But the metropolitan's negotiations were fruitless, and the troops supporting the uprising continued to gather on the square: the life guards of the grenadiers, the marine crew. Thus, on the Senate Square were:

• The Moscow regiment led by the brothers A. and M. Bestuzhev.
• The first detachment of the Life Grenadier (Sutgof company).
• Guards marine crew under the command of Lieutenant Commander Nikolai Bestuzhev (the elder brother of Alexander and Mikhail) and Lieutenant Arbuzov.
• The rest, the most significant part of the Life Grenadiers under the command of Lieutenant Panov.

V. Masutov "Nicholas I in front of the formation of the Life Guards of the Sapper Battalion in the courtyard of the Winter Palace on December 14, 1825"

In connection with the continued absence of the dictator S. Trubetskoy, already in the middle of the day, the Decembrists elected a new dictator - Prince Obolensky, who was the chief of staff of the uprising. And Trubetskoy at that time was sitting in the office of the General Staff and periodically peeking around the corner, watching what was happening on Senate Square. He just chickened out at the last moment, and the comrades waited, thinking that his delay was due to some unforeseen circumstances.

But by this time, government troops had already surrounded the rebels. At three o'clock in the afternoon it was already beginning to get dark, soldiers from the imperial troops began to run across to the rebels. And then Nikolai gave the order to shoot grapeshot. But the first shot was delayed: the soldiers did not want to shoot at their own, and then the officer did it. The rebels did not have artillery, they answered with rifle shots. After the second shot, the square trembled, the soldiers rushed onto the thin ice of the Neva - the ice broke from the falling cannonballs, many drowned ...

The uprising was put down.

Late in the evening, some of the Decembrists gathered at Ryleyev's apartment. They understood that arrests awaited them, so they agreed on how to behave during interrogations, said goodbye to each other, worried about how to notify the Southern Society that the case was lost ... that Trubetskoy and Yakubovich changed ...

In total, on December 14, 1825, 1,271 people were killed by government troops, of which 9 were women and 19 children, 903 “rabble”, the rest were military men.

In terms of its goals, it had the strongest resonance in Russian society, which significantly influenced the socio-political life of the era of the reign of Nicholas I that followed him.

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  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 was next to the childless Alexander in seniority, which gave an advantage to the next brother, extremely unpopular among the highest military and 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.

  Rebellion plan

  The Decembrists decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new tsar. The rebellious 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 a 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).

  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.

  After that, the All-People's 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 suggested that Nikolai be sent to Fort Ross.

  Events December 14, 1825

  It is worth noting that, unlike his brother, Alexander I, who regularly received reports about the growth of the spirit of freethinking in the troops and about conspiracies directed against him, Constantine did not even suspect the existence of secret army societies. He was shocked and depressed by the events of 14 (26) December. 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 a sovereign, and plotted against him! What do they need? This is monstrous, terrible, covering everyone, even if they are completely innocent, who did not even think about what happened!

  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.

  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. They threw logs and stones at Nicholas and his retinue. 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 crews for members 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 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 persuasion of the soldiers when the Life Guards, the 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 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 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 estimates, 9,000 infantry bayonets, 3,000 cavalry sabers were assembled against the rebel soldiers, in total, not counting the later artillerymen (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. From the side of Admiralteisky 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 Nikolay 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 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!” . Crowds of rebellious soldiers rushed to the Neva ice to cross to Vasilyevsky Island. Mikhail Bestuzhev tried on the ice of the Neva to re-arrange the soldiers in battle order 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 an official of the III Department of 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. On the 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 corpses were lowered, but, as they claimed, 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 the doctors, and died without medical care.

  Arrest and trial

  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 (29), a Commission was established by decree for research on malicious societies, chaired by Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev. On May 30 (June 11), the commission of inquiry submitted to Emperor Nicholas I a report compiled by D. N. Bludov. The Manifesto on June 1 (13) of the year 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. 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.

  Museums of the Decembrists

  • Irkutsk regional historical-memorial museum of the Decembrists
  • Novoselenginsky Museum of the Decembrists (Buryatia)

  Secret societies

  The first Russian revolutionaries wanted to raise an armed uprising among the troops, overthrow the autocracy, abolish serfdom and popularly adopt a new state law - a revolutionary constitution. It was decided to speak at the time of the change of emperors on the throne. After the death of Alexander I, an interregnum arose - a government crisis that was beneficial to the revolutionaries.

  The day of December 14 was the day of the oath to the new emperor -. His older brother - had just died childless, the brother following him renounced the throne (Alexander left a copy of his refusal in the Assumption Cathedral in a closed package, so almost no one knew about the refusal of the throne), and here is the third brother, Nikolai - rude and ignorant serf-owner and tormentor of soldiers - has already put his foot on the step of the throne ...

  Plan

  The Decembrists carefully worked out their plans. First of all, they decided to prevent the troops and the senate from taking the oath to the new king. Then they wanted to enter the Senate and demand the publication of a national manifesto, which would announce the abolition of serfdom and 25 - summer term soldier's service, the granting of freedom of speech, the assembly of deputies elected by the people.

  The deputies had to decide what system to establish in the country and approve its 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 rebellious 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. In the meantime, as the Decembrists thought, deputies elected from the provinces would come to St. Petersburg from all sides. Autocracy and serfdom will collapse. Will begin new life liberated people.

  A dictator was elected to lead the uprising - a longtime member of the society, one of its founders - Guards Colonel Prince Sergei Trubetskoy.

  The beginning of the uprising

  More than 3,000 soldiers of the guards under the command of revolutionary officers - nobles gathered on the Senate Square of the capital, raised by the heated speeches of their teachers. The first to march on the square was the Moscow Guards Regiment. He was raised to rebellion by the revolutionary speech of the officer Alexander Bestuzhev. Colonel Commander Baron Frederiks wanted to prevent the rebels from entering the square, but he fell with a severed head under the blow of the saber of officer Shchepin-Rostovsky. Soldiers of the Moscow Regiment came to Senate Square with a fluttering regimental banner, loaded their guns and took live ammunition with them. The regiment lined up in a battle square (quadrilateral) near the monument to Peter I.

  End of the rebellion

  By nightfall, the first Russian uprising was over. Dozens of corpses remained on the square. The police covered the pools of blood with snow. Fires were burning everywhere. There were guard patrols. The arrested were taken to the Winter Palace.

  Not everything that was planned came true. It was not possible to raise all the planned regiments for the uprising. There were no artillery units among the rebels. The dictator Trubetskoy betrayed the uprising and did not come to the square. The rebel troops lined up in front of the empty Senate building - the senators had already taken the oath and dispersed.

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

  Investigation and trial

  By decree, a Commission was established for research on malicious societies, chaired by Minister of War Tatishchev. The Commission of Inquiry submitted to Emperor Nicholas the most submissive report compiled by D. N. Bludov. The Manifesto of the city 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." The following were put on trial: from the Northern Society - 61 people, from the Southern Society - 37 people, from the United Slavs - 23 people. The court established eleven categories, highlighting five people in particular, and sentenced: death penalty- five by quartering, 31 - cutting off the head, 17 - to political death, 16 - to exile forever in hard labor, 5 - to exile in hard labor for 10 years, 15 - to exile in hard labor. work for 6 years, 15 - to exile to the settlement, 3 - to the deprivation of ranks, nobility and to exile in, 1 - to the deprivation of ranks and nobility and writing to the soldiers until the length of service, 8 - to the deprivation of ranks with writing to the soldiers with length of service . Emperor Nicholas by decree

  Decembrist revolutionary secret uprising

  The uprising of December 14, 1825 is the starting date for the beginning of the revolutionary liberation struggle in Russia. Before the Decembrists, spontaneous uprisings of peasants took place in Russia, or performances of single revolutionaries, the most prominent of which was A.N. Radishchev. For the first time in the history of Russia, the Decembrists created revolutionary organizations, developed political programs, prepared and carried out an armed uprising. It was the culminating event and at the same time the result of the Decembrist movement. All the previous activities of the Decembrists, beginning with their first secret organization of the Union of Salvation, were subordinated to the ideological and organizational preparation for a revolutionary action against the autocratic-feudal system in Russia. The uprising of December 14 was a serious test for the Decembrists, a test of their revolutionary capabilities. In it, as in a focus, reflected all the strong and weak sides their noble revolutionary nature: courage, courage, self-sacrifice of the Decembrists, but at the same time the hesitations characteristic of a noble revolutionary, the lack of decisiveness and consistency in actions, the ability to master the “art of insurrection”, but most importantly, the lack of connection with the masses of the people, even the fear of the revolutionary initiative of the masses. The Decembrists were frightened by the “riot of the crowd”, “senseless and cruel”.

  Consider these events in chronological order.

  In the first quarter of the 19th century in Russia, a revolutionary ideology was born, the bearers of which were the Decembrists. Disillusioned with the policy of Alexander I, part of the progressive nobility decided to put an end to the causes of Russia's backwardness.

  Acquainted with political movements West during the liberation campaigns, the advanced nobility understood that the basis of backwardness Russian state is serfdom. The reactionary policy in the field of education and culture, the creation of military settlements by Arakcheev, Russia's participation in the suppression of revolutionary events in Europe added confidence in the need for radical changes, serfdom in Russia was an insult to the national dignity of an enlightened person. The views of the Decembrists were influenced by Western European educational literature, Russian journalism and the ideas of national liberation movements.

  In February 1816, the first secret political society, the purpose 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. Trubetskoy, I.D. Yakushkin, P.I. Pestel, etc.)

  In 1818, the Union of Welfare organization was created in Moscow, which had 200 members and had councils in other cities. The society promoted the idea of ​​abolishing serfdom, preparing a revolutionary coup by the officers. The Welfare Union collapsed due to a disagreement between the radical and moderate members of the union.

  In March 1821, the Southern Society arose in Ukraine, headed by P.I. Pestel, who was the author of the program document Russkaya Pravda.

  In St. Petersburg, on the initiative of N.M. Muravyov, the "Northern Society" was created, 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, the proclamation of civil liberties.

  Preparations began for an armed uprising.

  The death of Alexander I in November 1825 prompted the conspirators to take more active steps. It was decided on the day of taking the oath to the new Tsar Nicholas I to seize the monarch and the Senate and force them to introduce a constitutional system in Russia.

  The political leader of the uprising was Prince Trubetskoy, who at the last moment refused to participate in the uprising.

  On the morning of December 14, 1825, the Moscow Life Guards Regiment entered Senate Square. He was joined by the Guards Naval Crew and the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. In total, about 3 thousand people gathered.

  However, Nicholas I, informed of the impending conspiracy, took the oath of the Senate in advance and, having pulled the 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 Petersburg was crushed.

  But already on January 2, it was suppressed by government troops. Arrests of participants and organizers began all over Russia.

  In the case of the Decembrists, 579 people were involved. 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.

  The reasons for the defeat of the Decembrist uprising were the inconsistency of actions, the lack of support from all sectors of society, which was not ready for radical transformations. This speech was the first open protest and a threatening warning to the autocracy about the need for a radical reorganization of Russian society.

  Figure 1 shows a brief chronology of events that took place in this period of time.

  Picture 1 - a brief description of Decembrist uprisings

  Ah! mon Prince, vous avez fait bien du mal à la Russie, vous l "avez reculée de cinquante ans!" (“Ah, prince, you did a lot of evil to Russia, you pushed it back fifty years!”) General Levashov - to Prince Trubetskoy

  190 years ago, on the morning of December 26, 1825, guard officers (headquarters captains, lieutenants, lieutenants ...) and several civilians led about three thousand soldiers to Senate Square in St. Petersburg. Thus began the famous Decembrist uprising. Further events shook the whole country and largely determined its fate for decades to come.

  For a true king

  The pretext for the uprising was the death of Emperor Alexander I, which happened on November 19. His brother, Konstantin, was supposed to inherit the throne of the Russian Empire, but he, like Alexander, was childless. In addition, he is married to a Polish noblewoman - and his future children would still not be able to inherit the throne. Therefore, back in 1822, Constantine abdicated the throne, and the following year, Alexander I secretly draws up a manifesto on the transfer of the throne to the next oldest brother, Nikolai.

  The unsuspecting society continued to regard Constantine as the heir. In the army, Nikolai also did not enjoy love. And on November 27, the oath to Constantine began - the first had to swear allegiance to Nicholas. But then the testament of Alexander I was revealed - and a two-week interregnum began. As a result, Constantine renounced power, on December 14 a manifesto on the accession to the throne of Nicholas was to be published. The Decembrists decided to take advantage of this chance to "wedged" between two legitimate monarchs - and withdrew their subordinate troops under the pretext of protecting the "correct" king - i.e. Constantine, who is kept in chains.

  If we compare the memories of the participants in the events, then a noticeable difference in the behavior of the parties catches the eye. The Decembrists withdraw troops to the square, but then hour after hour they passively stand still and, at best, defend themselves - and even then they do it belatedly. All the energy of the conspirators was enough for single blows with a saber, a bayonet, or a shot at officers trying to talk to soldiers. And the soldiers shoot from the hand and aimlessly, most often - up, and even blanks.

  Nikolai and his supporters - for example, the chief of artillery Ivan Sukhozanet, who fought from Pultusk to Paris - although they do not know what exactly is happening, they do not lose control of the soldiers at hand. And they act. In the Senate and Synod, they manage to swear allegiance to the new emperor at about eight o'clock in the morning. The generals and regimental commanders of the guards also swore allegiance to Nicholas and went to their units - even before the rebels reached the square at the eleventh hour. The Winter Palace is occupied by sappers personally devoted to Nicholas. Orders are given loudly and confidently, the troops are actively moving behind the commanders. Nikolai himself leads the Preobrazhensky battalion. The cavalry attack. Parliamentarians are sent out. And, as a decisive argument, artillery is (and used). Even before the uprising, an operation was thought out and carried out to arrest the head of the Southern Society of Decembrists, Pavel Pestel.

  During the suppression of the uprising, four guns were fired. According to Sukhozanet, "there was no need to point the guns, the distance was too close." At the third salvo, no one was left on the spot. In total, at least seven buckshot shots were fired on the square - and some of them, according to some historians, could have been fired upwards.

  Kakhovsky's shot at Miloradovich. Lithograph from a drawing by A. I. Charlemagne. 1861
  borodino2012–2045.com

  Information about human casualties differs by dozens of times - from a few dozen to more than a thousand killed. AT Soviet time the data of the police official Sergei Nikolaevich Korsakov were considered the most reliable. According to his note, a total of 1271 people were killed, including 39 "in tailcoats and overcoats", 903 "blacks" and 9 "female". 1 general (Miloradovich) and 1 staff officer (probably Colonel Stürler) - were mortally wounded by the Decembrist Kakhovsky. The lower ranks of the Life Guards of the Moscow Regiment - 93 were killed, although, according to the estimates of the regimental historian, no more than 29 people were killed, wounded and missing. The same inconsistencies between the note and the archives of the units are also found in other cases - in the aggregate, 189 more lower ranks were killed against 27 along with the missing.

  
  Layout of regiments on Senate Square
  http://www.runivers.ru/

  What did the Decembrists want?

  And until now, almost every participant in those events, their actions and behavior are evaluated extremely emotionally and contradictory. The Decembrists are either rebels and traitors, or practically holy "heroes, forged from pure steel" (Herzen). Nicholas I is either a bloody despot and gendarme of Europe, or a wise and generous ruler. Alas, the volume of the article does not allow revealing all aspects of the Decembrist movement (and this is impossible) - only to raise some questions.

  "Fighters against age-old slavery?" But the supposed dictator was to be Prince Trubetskoy - Gediminovich. One of the most active participants in the uprising was Rurikovich Prince Obolensky. Representatives of such ancient and noble families technically could even look at the Romanovs as rootless upstarts.

  Colonel Pestel, the first in the issue of the Corps of Pages, awarded five military orders, a century ago was called a "fanatic-doctrinaire" who allegedly stole his soldiers "to teach them to hate their superiors" - which is refuted by the documents of the regiment. At the same time, the future Republican revolutionary loved his father, the Governor-General of Siberia, and often consulted with him. Some relatives cursed the Decembrists - but not Pestel Sr. (the story of Pestel's last conversation was invented by Herzen). Another paradox - in 1821 Pestel makes unfavorable reports about the Greek rebels - allegedly members of the worldwide revolutionary conspiracy.

  Portrait of Pavel Pestel
  www.rosimperija.info

  “The desire to see a representative structure in your Fatherland”? But this did not at all mean a desire to immediately overthrow the royal power - moreover, after the foreign campaigns of the Russian army, Alexander I was looked upon as the liberator of Europe from Napoleon. And the first idea to kill the emperor arose in 1817 - after the message that "the sovereign intends to return to Poland all the areas conquered by us and retire to Warsaw with the whole court."

  The liberation of the peasants the main objective? But the very first Main Rule of Russkaya Pravda read: " The liberation of the Peasants from Slavery should not deprive the Nobles of their income from the Estates they receive". The second point is no less significant: “This liberation should not produce Unrest and Unrest in the State, for which the Supreme Board is obliged to use merciless severity against any Violators of the general peace.” At the same time, the peasants would not be freed immediately and, most importantly, without land. And according to the Decree on free cultivators, the Decembrists already had the opportunity to release their own peasants.

  In general, the plans of the Decembrists are best characterized by the phrase: “The distribution of the People among the Volosts unites all Benefits and all Comforts, averting all Injustices and all difficulties”. In other words - in the literal sense, the struggle for everything good against everything bad. Despite the fact that among the Decembrists themselves there was not close unity of views. Even proposals for political structure ranged from a constitutional monarchy headed by a federation of thirteen powers and two regions (Nikita Muravyov, Northern Society) to a unitary republic (Pestel, Southern Society).

  Pestel defended the legal equality of all people. But in practice, this would result in the confiscation of land from the landowners, the expulsion of those who separated themselves from all Jews to Asia Minor - in case of disobedience, the resettlement of the Caucasian peoples in the central provinces, etc. etc. Any national identity would destroy the principles of equal opportunities, "uniformity, uniformity and like-mindedness."

  Results of the failed uprising

  The Decembrists, like their opponents, were people of their era. Epochs at the turn of the romanticism of the 18th century and the cynical pragmatism of the 19th century. When secret societies grew, like today's hobby groups, and a secular person became a Freemason in his youth, in between card games, drinking wine and other pleasant pastimes. The era when the conspirator, businessman and poet Ryleev could be friends with the poet and secret police agent Bulgarin. The era of enlightenment - many Decembrists received not just a good, but an elite education, but in closed institutions, which leaves a certain imprint on the personality. Although Ryleev, on the contrary, was self-taught. Ages of many conspiracies and revolutions, from Spain to Greece - when even the generals intrigued and fought duels. And every young military man could see the career of Napoleon's artillery lieutenant, and in 1820 - the success of the battalion commander Riego, who remade Spain into a constitutional monarchy and became president of the Cortes. “The mass is nothing, it will be what the individuals who are everything want,” said Sergey Muravyov, one of the most active participants in the Southern Society of the Decembrists.

  But time passed. Former enthusiastic youths became adult statesmen. Many of the founders and active figures of Decembrism (the founder of the "Union of Salvation" Alexander Muravyov, Lunin, who proposed to kill Alexander I) had already departed from their previous ideas by the time of the uprising. Many members of secret societies have gone on to successful careers. Some of the former Decembrists generally took part in the suppression of the rebellion. Trubetskoy, being near Senate Square, does not participate in the uprising - for which he is either accused of cowardice and even meanness, or praised for his sober assessment of what is happening. Colonel Moller, commander of the battalion guarding the Winter Palace, flatly refused to take part in the uprising.

  It may seem incredible to a person of the 21st century, for example, such a situation - the emperor personally, almost alone, "point-blank" interrogates the most dangerous conspirators, many of whom spent many years in the army, and even fought bravely. It is worth noting that some of the conspirators had previously proposed to solve the problem by killing Nikolai. However, the participants in the events themselves were brought up in the traditions of society as early as the 18th century, in which chivalrous behavior was primarily required from the nobles. Probably, this also explains another “unthinkable” behavior from our point of view - almost all members of the secret society (except Lunin and Pestel) did not hide anything during interrogations - including about other members. And earlier, the Decembrists indignantly rejected Pestel's ideas about conspiracy and the creation of their own secret police, "the office of impenetrable darkness."

  The state of the conspiracy of "secret societies" is best described by Pushkin's phrase: “But who, besides the police and the government, did not know about him? about the conspiracy shouted in all lanes ". And the fact that back in 1823 Alexander I makes an unambiguous hint to General Sergei Volkonsky (by the way, the only real general among the Decembrists) to deal with his brigade, and not management Russian Empire, shows that the government has long been in the know. Subsequently, some of his contemporaries were outraged not so much by the very fact of the conspiracy as by Volkonsky's forgery of a government seal to open government papers. It is not surprising that during the entire period of the Decembrists' movement there were practically no integral organizations, and the strict rules elaborated in detail were not followed in practice. Some societies generally existed only in words. In St. Petersburg, almost every Decembrist had his own program of action. Pestel, the theoretician and practitioner of the secret police, will be betrayed by a man whom he himself introduced into a secret society.

  According to the 19th military article, “if a subject armies an army, or takes weapons against his majesty, or intends to capture the aforementioned majesty, or kill, or inflict some kind of violence on him,” then he and all those who helped him should be quartered with confiscation of property. That is, strictly according to the letter of the law then in force, five hanged and a hundred sent to Siberia for two uprisings, including the Chernigov regiment in Ukraine, is extremely mild. Especially by the standards of subsequent eras, when the number of deaths in the course of "social experiments" was measured in tens of thousands, or even millions. But, on the other hand, in the age of hopes for enlightenment and all kinds of progress, the arrests and execution of the inviolable elite of society - nobles and officers - looked like an unheard-of crime. And the fate of the soldiers, who were first taken to the square under buckshot, and then sent to the Caucasus, did not particularly worry anyone then.

  Nicholas I
  http://www.bibliotekar.ru/

  Now it is difficult to say whether the Decembrists had a chance of winning, and even more so - which way Russia would have gone then. In our reality, the most sad consequence was the mutual exasperation for many decades of both the authorities and the opposition. From the first hours of the reign of Nicholas I to own example convinced of the presence of a huge and cruel conspiracy - threatening both the life of Nicholas himself and his family. Equally, the opposition decided that with such a bloody government, it could not be otherwise.

  Pushkin, in hot pursuit, noted the extreme ambition and distortions in the upbringing of the younger generation: “He enters the world without any solid knowledge, without any positive rules: every thought is new to him, every news has an influence on him. He is unable to believe or object; he becomes a blind adherent or ardent follower of the first comrade who wants to exert his superiority over him or make him his tool. As an antidote, Pushkin proposed a reform of public education. Alas, both supporters and opponents of the authorities usually preferred more radical methods.

  Sources and literature:

  1. Gordin Ya. A. The rebellion of the reformers: When the fate of Russia was decided. St. Petersburg, Amphora, 2015.
  2. Kersnovsky A. A. History of the Russian Army. - M.: Voice, 1993.
  3. Kiyanskaya Oksana. Pestel. M., Young Guard, 2005.
  4. Lomovsky E. The most tragic day // Science and life. - 2014. - No. 6.
  5. Margolis A.D. On the issue of the number of victims on December 14, 1825 // Margolis A.D. Prison and exile in Imperial Russia. Research and archival finds. M., 1995.
  6. Memoirs of the Decembrists. Northern Society // Comp. V. A. Fedorova. - M.: Moscow University Publishing House, 1981.
  7. Pushkin A.S. On public education. Cit. by http://rvb.ru/
  8. 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.