Pugachevshchina

Pugachevshchina refers to a period of popular uprising and rebellion in 18th-century Russia, which lasted from 1773 to 1775. Led by Yemelyan Pugachev, a Cossack captain who claimed to be Peter III, the deposed Tsar of Russia, the uprising was an attempt to overthrow Catherine the Great and her administration.

Pugachev, who rose to prominence during the Russo-Turkish War, began mobilizing his followers in the Volga region. He claimed that the resurrected Peter III had entrusted him with the task of leading a national revolution against Catherine's rule, which he claimed was tyrannical and corrupt. As Peter III had been overthrown and executed by Catherine's supporters in 1762, Pugachev's claim was a fabrication.

The Pugachevshchina movement attracted significant support from peasants, merchants, and Cossacks, many of whom were dissatisfied with Catherine's reforms and policies. Pugachev's forces were known for their cruelty, pillaging, and massacres of nobles and their families. The uprising also received support from Tatar and Bashkir tribes, who had long been dissatisfied with Russian rule.

However, the Russian government and military eventually suppressed the uprising with great difficulty. Pugachev was captured and executed in 1775. The aftermath of the rebellion saw the implementation of more severe laws and regulations, particularly the penal code, to deal with serf uprising and banditry. The Pugachevshchina, as a phenomenon, highlighted the unrest, discontent, and frustration that Catherine's policies had instilled in the Russian population at the time.