The uprising led by Pugachev in 1773-1775 is the largest peasant uprising in Russian history. Some scientists call it the usual popular revolt, others - a real civil war. We can say that the Pugachev uprising looked different at different stages, as evidenced by the issued manifestoes and decrees. And this is not surprising, because in the course of time the composition of the participants has changed, and therefore, the goals.
At the initial stage Emelian Pugachev's rebellion was aimed at restoring the privileges of the Cossacks. The peasants, who participated in it, demanded for themselves freedom from the landlords. Already in 1774 the July Manifesto came out, in which the main attention is paid precisely to the peasants who were to be exempt from all taxes and endowed with land. Nobles were declared the main outrageous empire. It was at this time that the Pugachev uprising assumed a vigorous anti-serfdom and anti-state character, but it still lacks any constructive content, so many historians call it an ordinary riot.
Pugachev declared himself a resurrected Tsar Peter III and called the Cossacks to his service. He managed to build an army, which, in its combat capability, could compete with the government. Beginning on September 17 with the appearance of the Cossack detachment, the uprising swept the huge territory: the Urals, the Lower and Middle Volga and the Orenburg region. After a short time, the Bashkirs, Tatars, and Kazakhs decided to join the Cossacks. Of course, factory workers and landlord peasants from the provinces in which military operations took place usually greeted Pugachev with joy and joined his army. After the capture of factories in the Urals, the army of rebels moved to Kazan, but was defeated by the troops of Michelson. It seemed that Pugachev's insurrection was over, but in reality everything was not quite like that. Replenishing its forces on the right bank of the Volga, Pugachev turned south in the hope of raising the Don Cossacks. But these plans were not destined to come true, and Pugachev's insurrection was finally suppressed by Mikhelson's troops. In January 1775, the instigator was executed in Moscow. In his last hours Pugachev, according to eyewitnesses, behaved courageously and with dignity.
During 1773-1775 there were many peasant revolts. For the disobedience of the peasants brutally punished landowners, but the troubles did not stop. To suppress them, the government created a special punitive detachment, which was given the power to judge and punish the peasants at its own discretion. Particularly distinguished by the cruelty of measures to eradicate the riots, Count Panin, who ordered the hanging of every three hundred people. It should be noted that even without his orders, blood flowed like a river, and often whips beat both the right and the guilty. Only with the help of cruelty, Pugachev's uprising was suppressed, and the abolition of serfdom in Russia was postponed for almost another 100 years.