Founders of the Union of Salvation 1816 1818. Southern Society of Decembrists

Origins of the movement

In the first decades of the 19th century, part of the representatives of the Russian nobility understood the destructiveness of autocracy and serfdom for the further development of the country. Among them, a system of views is being formed, the implementation of which should change the foundations of Russian life. The formation of the ideology of the future Decembrists was facilitated by:

Russian reality with its inhuman serfdom;
Patriotic enthusiasm caused by the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812;
Influence of the works of Western Enlightenment: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu;
The unwillingness of the government of Alexander I to carry out consistent reforms.

At the same time, it should be noted that the ideas and worldview of the Decembrists were not unified, but they were all aimed at reforming, were opposed to the autocratic regime and serfdom.

"Union of Salvation" (1816-1818)

The charter of the society, the so-called "Green Book" (more precisely, its first, legal part, provided by A.I. Chernyshev) was known to Emperor Alexander himself, who gave it to Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich to read. At first, the sovereign did not recognize political significance in this society. But his view changed after the news of the revolutions in Spain, Naples, Portugal and the rebellion of the Semyonovsky regiment ().

The political program of the Southern Society was Pestel's Russkaya Pravda, adopted at a congress in Kyiv in 1823. P. I. Pestel was a supporter of the idea of the supreme power of the people, revolutionary for that time. In Russkaya Pravda, Pestel described the new Russia - a single and indivisible republic with a strong centralized government.

He wanted to divide Russia into regions, regions - into provinces, provinces - into counties, and the volost would be the smallest administrative unit. All adult (from the age of 20) male citizens received the right to vote and could participate in the annual volost "people's assembly", where they would elect delegates to "local people's assemblies", that is, local authorities. Each volost, uyezd, gubernia and oblast had to have its own local people's assembly. The elected "volost leader" became the head of the local volost assembly, and the elected "posadniks" became the heads of the county and provincial assemblies. All citizens had the right to elect and be elected to any state body. authorities. Pestel proposed not direct, but two-stage elections: first, the volost people's assemblies elected deputies to the county and provincial assemblies, and the latter, from their midst, elected representatives to the highest bodies of the state. The supreme legislative body of the future Russia - the People's Council - was elected for a period of 5 years. Only the People's Council could legislate, declare war and make peace. No one had the right to dissolve it, since it represented, by Pestel's definition, the "will" and "soul" of the people in the state. The supreme executive body was the Sovereign Duma, which consisted of five people and was also elected for 5 years from the members of the People's Council.

In addition to the legislative and executive authorities, the state should also have a “vigilant” authority that would control the exact implementation of laws in the country and would ensure that the People’s Council and the State Duma did not go beyond the limits established by law. The central body of vigilant power - the Supreme Council - consisted of 120 "boyars" who were elected for life.

The head of the Southern Society intended to free the peasants with land and secure all the rights of citizenship for them. He was also going to destroy the military settlements and transfer this land to the free use of the peasants. Pestel believed that all the lands of the volost should be divided into 2 equal halves: into “public land”, which will belong to the entire volost society and cannot be sold or mortgaged, and “private” land.

The government in the new Russia should support entrepreneurship in every possible way. Pestel also proposed a new tax system. He proceeded from the fact that all kinds of natural and personal duties should be replaced by monetary ones. Taxes should be "levied on the property of citizens, and not on their faces."

Pestel emphasized that people, completely regardless of their race and nationality, are equal by nature, therefore a great nation that has subjugated the small ones cannot and should not use its superiority to oppress them.

Southern society recognized the army as the mainstay of the movement, considering it the decisive force in the revolutionary upheaval. Members of society intended to take power in the capital, forcing the king to abdicate. The new tactics of the Society required organizational changes: only the military, connected mainly with the regular units of the army, were accepted into it; discipline within the Society became tougher; all members were required to submit unconditionally to the leading center - the Directory.

In the 2nd Army, regardless of the activities of the Vasilkovskaya Council, another society arose - Slavic Union, better known as Society of United Slavs. It arose in 1823 among army officers and consisted of 52 members, advocated a democratic federation of all Slavic peoples. Having finally taken shape at the beginning of 1825, in the summer of 1825 it joined the Southern Society as the Slavic Council (mainly through the efforts of M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin). Among the members of this society there were many enterprising people and opponents of the rule do not hurry. Sergei Muravyov-Apostol called them "chain mad dogs."

It remained before the start of decisive action to enter into relations with the Polish secret societies. The details of these relations and the subsequent agreement have not been clarified with due clarity. Negotiations with a representative of the Polish Patriot Society(otherwise Patriotic Union) Prince Yablonovsky was personally led by Pestel. Negotiations were held with the Northern Society of Decembrists on joint actions. The unification agreement was hindered by the radicalism and dictatorial ambitions of the leader of the "southerners" Pestel, who were feared by the "northerners").

Pestel developed a policy document for the “southerners”, which he called “Russian Truth”. The conceived reorganization of Russia Pestel intended to carry out with the assistance of the indignation of the troops. The death of Emperor Alexander and the extermination of the entire royal family were recognized by members of the Southern Society as necessary for the successful outcome of the entire enterprise. At the very least, there is no doubt that there were conversations in this sense between members of the secret societies.

While the Southern Society was preparing for decisive action in 1826, its plans were revealed to the government. Even before the departure of Alexander I to Taganrog, in the summer of 1825, Arakcheev received information about the conspiracy sent by Sherwood, non-commissioned officer of the 3rd Bug Lancers Regiment (to whom Emperor Nicholas later gave the surname Sherwood-Verny). He was summoned to Gruzino and personally reported to Alexander I all the details of the plot. After listening to him, the sovereign said to Count Arakcheev: "Let him go to the place and give him all the means to discover the intruders." On November 25, 1825, Mayboroda, the captain of the Vyatka infantry regiment, commanded by Colonel Pestel, reported various revelations regarding secret societies in a most submissive letter.

Northern society (1822-1825)

The northern society was formed in St. Petersburg from two Decembrist groups led by N. M. Muravyov and N. I. Turgenev. It was made up of several councils in St. Petersburg (in the guards regiments) and one in Moscow. The governing body was the Supreme Duma of three people (originally N. M. Muravyov, N. I. Turgenev and E. P. Obolensky, later - S. P. Trubetskoy, K. F. Ryleev and A. A. Bestuzhev (Marlinsky) ).

The northern society was more moderate in its goals than the southern one, but the influential radical wing (K. F. Ryleev, A. A. Bestuzhev, E. P. Obolensky, I. I. Pushchin) shared the provisions of P. I. Pestel’s Russkaya Pravda.

The program document of the "northerners" was N. M. Muravyov's "Constitution". It envisioned a constitutional monarchy based on the principle of separation of powers. Legislative power belonged to the bicameral People's Council, executive power - to the emperor.

Insurrection

Amid these disturbing circumstances, the threads of the conspiracy began to emerge more and more clearly, covering, like a net, almost the entire Russian Empire. Adjutant General Baron Dibich, as chief of the General Staff, took over the execution of the necessary orders; he sent Adjutant General Chernyshev to Tulchin to arrest the main figures of the Southern Society. Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, the members of the Northern Society decided to take advantage of the interregnum to achieve their goal of establishing a republic with the help of a military mutiny.

execution

More than 500 people were prosecuted as a result of the investigation. The result of the work of the court was a list of 121 "state criminals", divided into 11 categories, according to the degree of fault. P. I. Pestel, K. F. Ryleev, S. I. Muravyov-Apostol, M. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, and P. G. Kakhovsky, sentenced to death by quartering, were placed outside the ranks. Among the thirty-one state criminals of the first category, sentenced to death by beheading, were members of secret societies who gave their personal consent to regicide. The rest were sentenced to various terms of hard labor. Later, the death penalty was replaced by the death penalty for the "first-rate" members, and for the five leaders of the uprising, the quartering was replaced by the death penalty by hanging.

Notes

Literature

Troyat Henri (literary pseudonym Lev Tarasov) (b. 1911), French writer. Fictionalized biographies of F. M. Dostoevsky, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, L. N. Tolstoy, N. V. Gogol. A series of historical novels ("The Light of the Righteous", 1959-63) about the Decembrists. Novel-trilogy "Family Aigletière" (1965-67); short stories; plays on it. language: Vinsey "Brothers of Christ in Russia" (2004) ISBN 978-3-8334-1061-1
E. Tumanik. Early Decembrism and Freemasonry // Tumanik EN Alexander Nikolaevich Muravyov: the beginning of a political biography and the foundation of the first Decembrist organizations. - Novosibirsk: Institute of History SB RAS, 2006, p. 172-179.

Sources on the history of the Decembrists

"Report of the Commission of Inquiry".
"Report of the Warsaw Investigative Committee".
M. Bogdanovich, "History of the reign of Emperor Alexander I" (volume six).
A. Pypin, "Public movement in Russia under Alexander I".
bar. M. A. Korf, "The Accession to the Throne of Emperor Nicholas I".
N. Schilder, “Interregnum in Russia from November 19 to December 14” (“Russian Antiquity”, city, vol. 35).
S. Maksimov, "Siberia and penal servitude" (St. Petersburg,).
"Notes of the Decembrists", published in London by A. Herzen.
L. K. Chukovskaya "Decembrists - explorers of Siberia".

Notes of the Decembrists

“Notes of Ivan Dmitrievich Yakushkin” (London,; the second part is placed in the Russian Archive);
"Notes of the book. Trubetskoy "(L.,);
"The Fourteenth of December" by N. Pushchin (L.,);
"Mon exil en Siberie. - Souvenirs du prince Eugène Obolenski "(Lpts.,);
“Notes of von Vizin” (Lpts., abridged printed in Russian Antiquity);
Nikita Muravyov, "Analysis of the report of the commission of inquiry in the city";
Lunin, "A look at the secret society in Russia 1816-1826";
"Notes of I. I. Gorbachevsky" ("Russian Archive");
“Notes of N.V. Basargin” (“The Nineteenth Century”, 1st part);
“Memoirs of the Decembrist A. S. Gangeblov” (M.,);
"Notes of the Decembrist" (Baron Rosen, Lpts.,);
“Memoirs of a Decembrist (A. Belyaev) about what he experienced and felt, 1805-1850.” (SPb.,).

Links

Draft constitutions by P. I. Pestel and N. Muravyov
Summary (synopsis) of Shaporin's opera "The Decembrists" on the site "100 operas"
Nikolai Troitsky Decembrists // Russia in the 19th century. Lecture course. M., 1997.

The Development of Opposition Ideas in Tsarist Russia XIX - early XX centuries
1810s-1826	Decembrist movement Bestuzhev (Marlinsky) A. A. \| Bestuzhev-Ryumin M.P. \| Volkonsky S. G. \| Glinka F. N. \| Davydov V.L. \| Dolgorukov I. A. \| Kakhovsky P. G. \| Lunin M.S. \| Muravyov N. M. \| Muravyov-Apostol M.I. \| Muravyov-Apostol S.I. \| Obolensky E.P. \| Pestel P.I. \| Pushchin I.I. \| Ryleev K.F. \| Trubetskoy S.P. \| Turgenev N.I. \| Yushnevsky A.P. \| Yakubovich A. I. \| Yakushkin I.D. \| List of Decembrists "Union of Salvation" \| "Union of prosperity" \| Northern society \| Southern Society \| Society of United Slavs \| Decembrist revolt "Constitution" N. M. Muravyov \| "Russian Truth" by P. I. Pestel
1826-1850s	"Contemporary" \| "What to do?"
1880s-1905	Party of Socialist Revolutionaries \| Russian Social Democratic Labor Party
1905-1917	Bolsheviks \| Mensheviks \| Constitutional Democratic Party

Chronology

1816 - 1817 Activities of the Union of Salvation.
1818 - 1821 Activities of the Union of Welfare.
1821 Formation of the "Southern Society".
1821 - 1822 Formation of the "Northern Society".
December 14, 1825 Decembrist uprising in St. Petersburg.
December 29, 1825 Uprising of the Chernigov regiment.

Social movement in Russia in the XIX - early XX centuries.

In the history of social and political thought in Russia, the 19th century occupies a special place. During these years, the destruction of the feudal-serf system and the establishment of capitalism proceeded at an especially rapid pace. As Herzen wrote, at the beginning XIX century, “revolutionary ideas were almost never encountered, but power and thought, imperial decrees and humane words, autocracy and civilization could no longer go side by side.”

In Russia, an internally free layer of the intelligentsia is gradually moving into the political arena, which will play an outstanding role in the 19th century. Awareness of the need for change was also in the government camp. However, the views of the autocracy and various political forces on the paths of change differed significantly. In accordance with this, in the history of Russia, three main trends in the development of socio-political thought stand out in relief: conservative, liberal and revolutionary.

The conservatives sought to preserve the foundations of the existing socio-political system. Liberals put pressure on the government to force it to reform. The revolutionaries achieved profound changes in various ways, including by forcibly changing the political system of the country.

A feature of the social movement at the beginning of the 19th century was the dominance of the nobility. This is primarily due to the fact that in the nobility an intelligentsia was formed, which began to realize the need for political transformations in the country and put forward specific political doctrines.

The Russian bourgeoisie did not take an active part in the social movement in those years because it was absorbed in accumulation, profiting in the conditions of primitive accumulation. She needed not political reforms, but administrative and legislative measures that contributed to the development of capitalism. The Russian bourgeoisie was quite satisfied with the economic policy of tsarism, aimed at the development of capitalism. The political capacity of the Russian bourgeoisie lagged far behind its economic might. It entered the economic struggle at a time when the Russian proletariat, which had created its own political party, was already playing an active role in the socio-political struggle.

In the years when the authorities refused to reform, a revolutionary political trend clearly manifested itself. It was Decembrist movement. The main factor in its emergence was the socio-economic, in particular, political conditions for the development of Russia.

In 1825, the most far-sighted nobles already understood that the fate of the country and the nobility itself was not limited to royal benefits and favors. The people who came to Senate Square wanted to free the peasants and establish representative bodies of power themselves. Sacrificing their destinies and lives for the people, they could not sacrifice their privilege to decide for the people without asking them.

“We are the children of 1812,” wrote Matvey Muravyov-Apostol, emphasizing that the Patriotic War became the starting point for their movement. Over a hundred Decembrists participated in the war of 1812, 65 of those who would be called state criminals in 1825 fought to the death against the enemy on the Borodino field. Acquaintance with the advanced thought of the French and Russian enlighteners strengthened the desire of the Decembrists to put an end to the causes of Russia's backwardness and ensure the free development of its people.

Academician M.V. Nechkina, a well-known researcher in the history of the Decembrist movement, called the crisis of the feudal-serf, autocratic system, i.e., the main reason for its emergence. Russian reality itself, and secondarily noted the influence of European ideas and impressions from the foreign campaigns of the Russian army.

His first secret society Union of Salvation” Guards officers A.N. Muravyov, N.M. Muravyov, S.P. Trubetskoy, I.D. Yakushkin, founded in 1816. in Petersburg. The name was inspired by the French Revolution (Committee of Public Safety - the French government of the era of the "Jacobin dictatorship"). In 1817 P.I. joined the circle. Pestel, who wrote his Statute (charter). A new name appeared - "The Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland." The revolutionaries planned, at the time of the change of the monarch on the throne, to force him to accept the Constitution, which would limit royal power and abolish serfdom.

Based on the "Union of Salvation" in 1818 in Moscow was created "Prosperity Union" which included more than 200 people. This organization set itself the task of promoting anti-serfdom ideas, supporting the liberal intentions of the government, creating public opinion against serfdom and autocracy. It took 10 years to solve that problem. The Decembrists believed that the conquest of society would help to avoid the horrors of the French Revolution and make the coup bloodless.

The government's rejection of reformist plans and the transition to reaction in foreign and domestic policy forced the Decembrists to change tactics. In 1821 in Moscow, at the congress of the Union of Welfare, it was decided to overthrow the autocracy by means of a military revolution. From the vague "Union" it was decided to move on to a conspiratorial and well-formed secret organization. AT 1821 — 1822 gg. arose" Southern" and " Northern” society. AT 1823 organization was created in Ukraine Society of United Slavs”, by the autumn of 1825 it merged with the “Southern Society”.

In the Decembrist movement throughout its existence, there were serious disagreements on the ways and methods of implementing transformations, on the form of the state structure of the country, and so on. Within the framework of the movement, one can trace not only revolutionary (they were especially pronounced), but also liberal tendencies. The differences between the members of the “Southern” and “Northern” societies were reflected in the programs developed by P.I. Pestel (“ Russian truth”) and Nikita Muravyov (“ Constitution”).

One of the most important questions was the question of the state structure of Russia. According to the "Constitution" N. Muravyova Russia was turning into constitutional monarchy where the executive power belonged emperor, and the legislative one was transferred to the bicameral parliament, - People's Council. The Constitution solemnly proclaimed the people as the source of all state life, the emperor was only "the supreme official of the Russian state." The suffrage provided for a rather high electoral qualification. Courtiers were deprived of voting rights. A number of basic bourgeois freedoms were proclaimed - speech, movement, religion.

By " Russian truth” Pestel Russia announced republic, in which power until the implementation of the necessary bourgeois-democratic transformations was concentrated in the hands of Provisional supreme government. Further, the supreme power was transferred to the unicameral People's Council out of 500 people, elected for 5 years by men from the age of 20 without any qualification restrictions. The supreme executive body was State Duma(5 people), elected for 5 years by the People's Council and responsible to it. Became the head of Russia the president. Pestel rejected the principle of a federal structure, Russia remained united and indivisible.

The second most important question is the question of serfdom. Both N. Muravyov's "Constitution" and Pestel's "Russian Truth" resolutely spoke out against serfdom. “Serfdom and slavery are abolished. A slave who touches the Russian land becomes free,” said § 16 of the Constitution of N. Muravyov. According to Russkaya Pravda, serfdom was immediately abolished. The liberation of the peasants was declared the "most holy and indispensable" duty of the Provisional Government. All citizens were equal in rights.

N. Muravyov suggested that the liberated peasants should keep their homestead land “for kitchen gardens” and two acres of arable land per yard. Pestel considered the liberation of the peasants without land to be completely unacceptable and proposed to solve the land issue by combining the principles of public and private property. The public land fund was to be formed through the seizure without redemption of the lands of the landowners, the size of which exceeded 10 thousand acres. From land holdings of 5-10 thousand acres, half of the land was alienated for a fee. From the public fund, land was allocated to all those who wanted to cultivate it.

The Decembrists associated the implementation of their programs with a revolutionary change in the existing system in the country. Taken as a whole, Pestel's project was more radical and consistent in terms of the development of bourgeois relations in Russia than Muravyov's. At the same time, both of them were progressive, revolutionary programs for the bourgeois reorganization of feudal Russia.

Representatives of the "Northern" and "Southern" societies planned a joint performance in the summer of 1826. But the unexpected death of Alexander I, which happened on November 19, 1825 in Taganrog, led to a dynastic crisis, forced the conspirators to change their plans. Alexander I did not leave an heir, and according to the law, the throne passed to the middle brother Constantine. However, back in 1822 Constantine signed a secret abdication. This document was kept in the Synod and the State Council, but was not made public. On November 27, the country swore allegiance to Constantine. Only on December 12 did the answer come about the abdication of Constantine, who was in Poland. On the On December 14, the oath to Nicholas was appointed, younger brother.

The plan of the Decembrists was to withdraw troops to the Senate Square (where the buildings of the Senate and the Synod were located) and prevent the senators from taking the oath to Nicholas I, to force them to declare the government deposed, to issue a revolutionary “ Manifesto to the Russian people y”, compiled by K.F. Ryleev and S.P. Trubetskoy. The royal family was to be arrested in the Winter Palace. Dictator, i.e. The leader of the uprising was elected Colonel of the Guard Prince S.P. Trubetskoy, chief of staff - E.P. Obolensky.

Several companies of the Moscow regiment came to Senate Square at 11 am. Governor-General M.A. addressed the rebels. Miloradovich with a call to return to the barracks and swear allegiance to Nicholas I, but was mortally wounded by a shot from Kakhovsky. The number of rebels gradually reached three thousand, however, having no leadership (Trubetskoy never appeared on Senate Square), they continued to stand in anticipation. By this time, Nikolay, seeing that "the matter was becoming serious," pulled about 12 thousand people to the square and sent for artillery. In response to the refusal of the Decembrists to lay down their arms, grapeshot fire began. By 18 o'clock the uprising was crushed, about 1300 people died.

December 29, 1825. under the leadership of S. Muravyov-Apostol spoke Chernihiv regiment, but already on January 3, 1826, the uprising was crushed.

316 people were arrested in the case of the Decembrists. The defendants were divided into 11 categories depending on the degree of their guilt. 5 people were sentenced to death by quartering, replaced by hanging (P.I. Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, P.G. Kakhovsky, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin).

On July 13, 1826, the execution took place in the Peter and Paul Fortress. During the execution, the ropes of Ryleev, Kakhovsky, Muravyov-Apostol broke, but they were hanged a second time.

Trubetskoy, Obolensky, N. Muravyov, Yakubovich, Yakushkin and others went to hard labor in Siberia. bonfire).

Only in 1856, in connection with the coronation of Alexander II, an amnesty was announced. A whole generation of young, educated active people was torn out of the life of the country. From the “depth of Siberian ores” Decembrist A.I. Odoevsky wrote to Pushkin:

“Our mournful work will not be wasted,
A spark will ignite a flame…”

The forecast turned out to be accurate. Having dealt with the Decembrists, the government of Nicholas I could not kill free thought and the desire of the progressive part of society for change.

In March 1816, guards officers (Alexander Muravyov Nikita Muravyov, Captain Ivan Yakushkin, Matvey Muravyov-Apostoli Sergey Muravyov-Apostol, Prince Sergey Trubetskoy) formed the first secret political society, the Union of Salvation (since 1817, the Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland). It also included princes. A. Dolgorukov, MajorM. S. Lunin, ColonelF. N. Glinka, Adjutant of Count Wittgenstein (Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Army), Pavel Pestel and others.

The charter of the society ("Statute") was drawn up by Pestel in 1817. Its goal is expressed in it: to strive with all his might for the common good, to support all the good measures of the government and useful private enterprises, to prevent all evil and to eradicate social vices, denouncing the inertia and ignorance of the people, an unjust trial, abuses of officials and dishonorable acts of private individuals, extortion and embezzlement, cruel treatment of soldiers, disrespect for human dignity and non-observance of individual rights, the dominance of foreigners. The members of society themselves pledged to conduct themselves and act in all respects in such a way as not to deserve the slightest reproach. The hidden goal of the society was the introduction of representative government in Russia.

At the head of the "Union of Salvation" was the Supreme Council of the "boyars" (founders). The rest of the participants were divided into "husbands" and "brothers", who were supposed to be grouped into "districts" and "uprava". However, this was prevented by the small size of the society, which numbered no more than thirty members.

OfferI. D. Yakushkin to carry out regicide during the stay of the imperial court in Moscow caused disagreements among the members of the organization in the fall of 1817. Most rejected this idea. It was decided, having dissolved the society, to create on its basis a more numerous organization that could influence public opinion.

[Edit] "Prosperity Union" (1818-1821)

In January 1818, the Welfare Union was formed. The existence of this formally secret organization was widely known. In its ranks, there were about two hundred people (men over 18 years old). The Union of Welfare was headed by the Root Council (30 founders) and the Duma (6 people). They were subject to "business councils" and "side councils" in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tulchin, Poltava, Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod, Chisinau; there were up to 15 of them.

The goal of the Union of Welfare was proclaimed moral (Christian) education and enlightenment of the people, assistance to the government in good undertakings and mitigation of the fate of serfs. The hidden goal was known only to members of the Root Council; it consisted in the establishment of constitutional government and the abolition of serfdom. The Welfare Union sought to spread liberal and humanist ideas widely. For this, literary and literary and educational societies (“Green Lamp”, “Free Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, “Free Society for the Establishment of Schools on the Method of Mutual Education” and others), periodicals and other publications were used.

At a meeting in Petersburg in January 1820, when discussing the future form of government, all participants spoke in favor of establishing a republic. At the same time, the idea of regicide and the idea of a provisional government with dictatorial powers (proposed by P. I. Pestel) were rejected.

The charter of the society, the so-called "Green Book" (more precisely, its first, legal part, provided by A. I. Chernyshev) was known to Emperor Alexander himself, who gave it to Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich to read. At first, the sovereign did not recognize political significance in this society. But his view changed after the news of the revolutions of 1820 in Spain, Naples, Portugal and the rebellion of the Semyonovsky regiment (1820).

Later, in May 1821, Emperor Alexander, after listening to the report of the commander of the Guards Corps, Adjutant General Vasilchikov, told him: “Dear Vasilchikov! You, who have served me from the very beginning of my reign, you know that I shared and encouraged all these dreams and these delusions (vous savez que j'ai partagé et encouragé ces illusions et ces erreurs), and after a long silence added: - it is not for me to be strict (ce n'est pas a moi à sévir)." Notes from Adjutant General A. H. Benckendorff, in which information about secret societies was presented as completely as possible and with the names of the main figures, also remained without consequences; after the death of Emperor Alexander, she was found in his office in Tsarskoye Selo. Only a few precautionary measures were taken: in 1821 an order was made to establish a military police at the Guards Corps; on August 1, 1822, the highest command was followed to close Masonic lodges and secret societies in general, under whatever names they may exist. At the same time, a signature was taken from all employees, military and civilian, that they did not belong to secret societies.

In January 1821, a congress of deputies from various departments of the Union of Welfare was convened in Moscow (from St. Petersburg, from the 2nd Army, and also several people who lived in Moscow). On it, due to the aggravated disagreements and the measures taken by the authorities, it was decided to dissolve the society. In fact, the society was supposed to be temporarily closed in order to weed out both unreliable and too radical members, and then recreate it in a narrower composition.

Decembrists- participants in the Russian noble opposition movement, members of various secret societies of the second half of the 1810s - the first half of the 1820s, who organized the anti-government uprising on December 14, 1825 and were named after the month of the uprising.

In the first decades of the 19th century, part of the representatives of the Russian nobility considered autocracy and serfdom to be disastrous for the further development of the country. Among them, a system of views was formed, the implementation of which was supposed to change the foundations of Russian life. The formation of the ideology of the future Decembrists was facilitated by:

Russian reality with its serfdom;

The patriotic upsurge caused by the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812;

The influence of the works of Western enlighteners: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, F. R. Weiss;

The unwillingness of the government of Alexander I to carry out consistent reforms.

The ideas and worldview of the Decembrists were not united, but they were all directed against the autocratic regime and serfdom.

"Order of Russian Knights" (1814-1817)

In 1814, in Moscow, M. F. Orlov and M. A. Dmitriev-Mamonov created a secret organization called the Order of Russian Knights. It set as its goal the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in Russia. According to N. M. Druzhinin, “The Dmitriev-Mamonov project goes back to the Masonic-mystical revolutionism of the era of the Great French Revolution.”

"Union of Salvation" (1816-1818)

In March 1816, guards officers (Alexander Muravyov and Nikita Muravyov, Captain Ivan Yakushkin, Matvey Muravyov-Apostol and Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy) formed the secret political society "Union of Salvation" (since 1817 "Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland" ). It also included Prince I. A. Dolgorukov, Major M. S. Lunin, Colonel F. N. Glinka, adjutant of Count Wittgenstein (commander-in-chief of the 2nd Army), Pavel Pestel and others.

The charter of the society (“Statute”) was drawn up by Pestel in 1817. It expressed its goal: to strive with all his might for the common good, to support all good government measures and useful private enterprises, to prevent all evil and eradicate social vices, exposing the inertia and ignorance of the people, unfair court, abuses of officials and dishonorable acts of individuals, extortion and embezzlement, cruel treatment of soldiers, disrespect for human dignity and non-observance of individual rights, the dominance of foreigners. The members of society themselves pledged to conduct themselves and act in all respects in such a way as not to deserve the slightest reproach. The hidden goal of the society was the introduction of representative government in Russia.

I. D. Yakushkin's proposal to carry out regicide during the stay of the imperial court in Moscow caused controversy among the members of the organization in the autumn of 1817. Most rejected this idea. It was decided, having dissolved the society, to create on its basis a more numerous organization that could influence public opinion.

"Union of Welfare" (1818-1821)

At a meeting in St. Petersburg in January 1820, when discussing the future form of government, all participants spoke in favor of establishing a republic. At the same time, the idea of regicide and the idea of a provisional government with dictatorial powers (proposed by P. I. Pestel) were rejected.

The charter of the society, the so-called "Green Book" (more precisely, its first, legal part, provided by A. I. Chernyshev) was known to Emperor Alexander himself, who gave it to Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich to read. At first, the sovereign did not recognize political significance in this society. But his view changed after the news of the revolutions of 1820 in Spain, Naples, Portugal and the rebellion of the Semyonovsky regiment (1820).

Later, in May 1821, Emperor Alexander, after listening to the report of the commander of the Guards Corps, Adjutant General Vasilchikov, told him: “Dear Vasilchikov! You who have served me since the beginning of my reign, you know that I shared and encouraged all these dreams and these delusions ( vous savez que j'ai partagé et encouragé ces illusions et ces erreurs), - and after a long silence he added: - it is not for me to be strict ( ce n'est pas a moi a sévir)". A note by Adjutant General A.Kh. after the death of Emperor Alexander, she was found in his office in Tsarskoye Selo. Only a few precautionary measures were taken: in 1821 an order was made to set up a military police at the Guards Corps; August 1, 1822 was followed by the highest command to close Masonic lodges and secret societies in general, under whatever names they may exist. At the same time, a signature was taken from all employees, military and civilian, that they did not belong to secret societies.

The origin of the noble stage of the liberation movement………………………………………………………….3

Union of Salvation and Union of Prosperity, their programs...4

Northern and Southern Society……………………………………6

Society of United Slavs……………………………….8

The place and role of the Decembrists in the history of Russia……………….15

THE ORIGIN OF THE NOBLE STAGE OF THE LIBERATION MOVEMENT

The first secret organization of the Decembrists was Union of Salvation(February 1816), renamed after the adoption of the statute (charter) in February 1817 in Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland. It was initiated by a young colonel of the General Staff A.N. Ants. The organization consisted of no more than 30 people. It consisted of officers of the guards regiments and the General Staff. Masonic ritual influenced its structure. The conspiratorial nature of the activities of the society was clearly manifested in the Moscow conspiracy of 1817. A plan for regicide was adopted during the Moscow celebrations on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the victory over Napoleon. The idea was not implemented due to the lack of strength of the conspirators. At the same time, it was decided to liquidate the society and start creating a broader organization.

In Moscow in January 1818 was created Welfare Union(active until 1821). It consisted of up to 200 members and had a detailed charter - the "Green Book". Its participants initially decided to create an advanced public opinion in Russia within 20 years, favorable for reform plans and a revolutionary upheaval. The activities of the Decembrists until 1820 were indeed of an educational nature: they published literary almanacs, scientific works, bought talented self-taught people from serfdom, helped starving peasants, made critical speeches in salons, and conducted direct anti-government propaganda in the army. The situation within the movement began to change radically in connection with events within the country and abroad in 1820-1821. The leaders of the organization, inclined towards "decisive action", insist on a change in tactics: instead of a long-term activity, raise a military uprising without the participation of the masses in the name of preventing Pugachevism and anarchy in the country. Disagreements led to the self-dissolution of the Welfare Union. It was a maneuver in order to free from fellow travelers and remove the suspicions of the government from the members of the union.

"UNION OF SALVATION" and UNION OF WELFARE, their programs

« Union of Salvation » (1816-1818)

In March 1816 guard officers ( Alexander Muravyov and Nikita Muravyov, captain Ivan Yakushkin, Matvey Muravyov-Apostol and Sergey Muravyov-Apostol, prince Sergei Trubetskoy) formed the first secret political society "Union of Salvation" (with 1817 The Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland. It also included the prince I. A. Dolgorukov, major M. S. Lunin, colonel F. N. Glinka, adjutant count Wittgenstein(Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Army), Pavel Pestel other.

The charter of the society ("Statute") was drawn up by Pestel in 1817 . Its goal is expressed in it: to strive with all his might for the common good, to support all the good measures of the government and useful private enterprises, to prevent all evil and to eradicate social vices, denouncing the inertia and ignorance of the people, an unjust trial, abuses of officials and dishonorable acts of private individuals, extortion and embezzlement, cruel treatment of soldiers, disrespect for human dignity and non-observance of individual rights, the dominance of foreigners. The members of society themselves pledged to conduct themselves and act in all respects in such a way as not to deserve the slightest reproach. The hidden goal of the society was the introduction of representative government in Russia.

Offer I. D. Yakushkina carry out regicide during the stay of the imperial court in Moscow caused by autumn 1817 disagreement among the members of the organization. Most rejected this idea. It was decided, having dissolved the society, to create on its basis a more numerous organization that could influence public opinion.

"Union of Welfare" (1818-1821)

In January 1818 The Welfare Union was formed. The existence of this formally secret organization was widely known. In its ranks, there were about two hundred people (men over 18 years old). The Union of Welfare was headed by the Root Council (30 founders) and the Duma (6 people). They were subject to "business councils" and "side councils" in Petersburg, Moscow, Tulchin, Poltava, Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod, Chisinau; there were up to 15 of them.

The goal of the Union of Welfare was proclaimed moral (Christian) education and enlightenment of the people, assistance to the government in good undertakings and mitigation of the fate of serfs. The hidden goal was known only to members of the Root Council; it consisted in the establishment of constitutional government and the abolition of serfdom. The Welfare Union sought to spread liberal and humanist ideas widely. For this, literary and literary and educational societies were used (“Green Lamp”, “ Free Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, “Free Society for the Establishment of Schools by the Method of Mutual Teaching” and others), periodicals and other publications.

At a meeting in Petersburg in January 1820 when discussing the future form of government, all participants spoke in favor of establishing a republic. At the same time, the idea of regicide and the idea of a provisional government with dictatorial powers were rejected (proposed P. I. Pestel).

The charter of society, the so-called " green book”(more precisely, its first, legal part, provided by A. I. Chernyshev) was known to Emperor Alexander himself, who gave it to the Tsarevich to read Konstantin Pavlovich. At first, the sovereign did not recognize political significance in this society. But his view changed after the news of the revolutions. 1820 in Spain, Naples, Portugal and rebellion of the Semyonovsky regiment (1820 ).

Later in May 1821 , Emperor Alexander, after listening to the report of the commander of the guards corps, adjutant general Vasilchikov, said to him: “Dear Vasilchikov! You who have served me since the beginning of my reign, you know that I shared and encouraged all these dreams and these delusions ( vous savez que j'ai partagé et encouragé ces illusions et ces erreurs), - and after a long silence he added: - it is not for me to be strict ( ce n'est pas a moi a sévir)". Adjutant General's note A. H. Benckendorff, in which information about secret societies was presented as completely as possible and with the names of the main figures, also remained without consequences; after the death of Emperor Alexander, she was found in his office in Tsarskoye Selo. Only a few precautions were taken: 1821 an order was made on the organization of the military police at the guards corps; August 1 1822 followed by the highest order to close Masonic lodges and secret societies in general, under whatever names they may exist. At the same time, a signature was taken from all employees, military and civilian, that they did not belong to secret societies.

In January 1821 in Moscow a congress of deputies was convened from various departments of the Union of Welfare (from Petersburg, from the 2nd Army, also several people who lived in Moscow). On it, due to the aggravated disagreements and the measures taken by the authorities, it was decided to dissolve the society. In fact, the society was supposed to be temporarily closed in order to weed out both unreliable and too radical members, and then recreate it in a narrower composition.

Southern Society (1821-1825)

Based on the "Union of Welfare" in the spring 1821 2 large revolutionary organizations arose at once: the Southern Society in Kyiv and Northern Society in Petersburg. The more revolutionary and determined Southern Society was led by P. I. Pestel, Northern, whose installations were considered more moderate - Nikita Muraviev.

The political program of the Southern Society became "Russian Truth" Pestel adopted at the congress in Kyiv in 1823.

Southern society recognized the army as the mainstay of the movement, considering it the decisive force in the revolutionary upheaval. The members of the society intended to take power in the capital, forcing the emperor to abdicate. The new tactics of the Society required organizational changes: only the military, connected mainly with the regular units of the army, were accepted into it; discipline within the Society became tougher; all members were required to submit unconditionally to the leading center - the Directory.

In March 1821 on the initiative of P. I. Pestel, the Tulchin administration “Union of Welfare” restored a secret society called the “Southern Society”. The structure of society repeated the structure of the Union of Salvation. Only officers were involved in the society and strict discipline was observed in it. It was supposed to establish a republican system through regicide and a "military revolution", that is, a military coup.

The Southern Society was headed by the Root Duma (chairman P. I. Pestel, guardian A. P. Yushnevsky). To 1823 There were three councils in the society - Tulchinskaya(under the direction of P. I. Pestel and A. P. Yushnevsky), Vasylkivska(under the direction of S. I. Muravyov-Apostol and M. P. Bestuzheva-Ryumina) and Kamenskaya(under the direction of V. L. Davydova and S. G. Volkonsky).

In the 2nd Army, regardless of the activities of the Vasilkovskaya Council, another society arose - Slavic Union, better known as Society of United Slavs. It originated in 1823 among army officers and numbered 52 members, advocated a democratic federation of all Slavic peoples. Completed at the beginning 1825 it's already summer 1825 joined the Southern Society as the Slavic Council (mainly through the efforts of M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin). Among the members of this society there were many enterprising people and opponents of the rule do not hurry. Sergei Muravyov-Apostol called them "chain mad dogs."

It remained before the start of decisive action to enter into relations with the Polish secret societies. Negotiations with a representative of the Polish Patriot Society(otherwise Patriotic Union) Prince Yablonovsky was personally led by Pestel. The purpose of the negotiations was to recognize the independence Poland and transfer to her from Russia the provinces Lithuania, Podolia and Volyn. , as well as accession to Poland Little Russia. .

Negotiations were also held with the Northern Society of Decembrists on joint actions. The unification agreement was hampered by the radicalism and dictatorial ambitions of the leader of the "southerners" Pestel, who were feared by the "northerners".

While the Southern Society was preparing for decisive action in 1826 his plans were revealed to the government. Even before the departure of Alexander I in Taganrog, summer 1825, Arakcheev received information about the conspiracy sent by a non-commissioned officer of the 3rd Bug Lancers Regiment Sherwood(to whom Emperor Nicholas later gave the surname Sherwood-Verny). He was called to Gruzino and personally reported to Alexander I all the details of the plot. After listening to him, the sovereign said to Count Arakcheev: "Let him go to the place and give him all the means to discover the intruders." November 25 1825 Mayboroda, the captain of the Vyatka infantry regiment, commanded by Colonel Pestel, reported various revelations regarding secret societies in a most submissive letter.

Northern society (1822-1825)

Northern society was formed in St. Petersburg in 1822 of two Decembrist groups led by N. M. Muravyov and N. I. Turgenev. It was made up of several councils in St. Petersburg (in the guards regiments) and one in Moscow. The governing body was the Supreme Duma of three people (originally N. M. Muravyov, N. I. Turgenev and E. P. Obolensky, later - S. P. Trubetskoy, K. F. Ryleev and A. A. Bestuzhev [Marlinsky]).

The northern society was more moderate in goals than the southern one, but the influential radical wing (K. F. Ryleev, A. A. Bestuzhev, E. P. Obolensky, I. I. Pushchin) shared the provisions of P. I. Pestel's Russkaya Pravda.

Society of United Slavs

Society of United Slavs, a secret revolutionary organization founded in early 1823 in Novograd-Volynsk officers brothers A.I. and P.I. Borisov and the political exiled Polish gentry Yu. K. Lyublinsky (originated from the Society of First Consent). The society included poor officers, petty officials and employees. The program documents of the society (“Rules”, “Oath Promise”) contained the idea of a voluntary union of the Slavic peoples and the demand for a struggle against serfdom and despotism. The ultimate goal of the society was the creation of a republic of a federation of Slavic and neighboring peoples (Russia, Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Hungary, Transylvania), in which the supreme power belongs to the assembly of representatives from all republics. Each nation was to have a constitution based on democratic principles, taking into account its national characteristics. The members of the society considered the immediate goal to be the elimination of autocracy and serfdom in Russia, the establishment of a republic and the restoration of Poland's independence. By the autumn of 1825, the society had about 50 members, among whom were Russians, Ukrainians, and Poles. The most active of them were, in addition to the Borisov brothers, I. I. Gorbachevsky, V. A. Bechasnov, Ya. M. Andreevich, M. M. Spiridonov, V. N. Soloviev, A. D. Kuzmin, M. A. Schepillo and others. The lack of specific tasks in the program did not satisfy a significant part of the members. Society of United Slavs In September 1825, at the suggestion of members Southern Society of Decembrists S. I. Muravyov-Apostol and M. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin united with this society on the basis of its program. Many former members Society of United Slavs actively participated in the preparation of the armed action of the Decembrists and in the uprising of the Chernigov regiment (see. Chernihiv regiment uprising ).

It is impossible to understand what happened on December 14, 1825 on Senate Square, if you do not know what exactly the Decembrists intended, on what plan they stopped, what exactly they hoped to accomplish.

Events overtook the Decembrists and forced them to act ahead of the dates that they had determined. Everything changed dramatically in the late autumn of 1825.

In November 1825, Emperor Alexander I died unexpectedly away from St. Petersburg, in Taganrog. He had no son, and his brother Konstantin was the heir to the throne. But married to a simple noblewoman, a person not of royal blood, Constantine, according to the rules of succession to the throne, could not pass the throne to his descendants and therefore abdicated. The next brother, Nicholas, was to be the heir of Alexander I - rude and cruel, hated in the army. The abdication of Constantine was kept secret - only the narrowest circle of members of the royal family knew about it. The renunciation, which was not made public during the life of the emperor, did not receive the force of law, therefore Constantine continued to be considered the heir to the throne; he reigned after the death of Alexander I, and on November 27 the population was sworn in to Constantine.

Formally, a new emperor appeared in Russia - Constantine I. His portraits have already been put up in stores, and several new coins with his image have even been minted. But Constantine did not accept the throne, and at the same time did not want to formally renounce him as emperor, to whom the oath had already been taken. An ambiguous and extremely tense situation of the interregnum was created. Nicholas, fearing popular indignation and waiting for the performance of a secret society, about which he was already aware of spies-informers, finally decided to declare himself emperor, without waiting for a formal act of renunciation from his brother. A second oath was appointed, or, as they said in the troops, “re-oath”, this time to Nicholas I. The re-oath in St. Petersburg was scheduled for December 14th.

The Decembrists, even when creating their organization, decided to act at the time of the change of emperors on the throne. That moment has now arrived. At the same time, the Decembrists became aware that they were betrayed - the denunciations of the traitors Sherwood and Maiboroda were already on the emperor's table; a little more - and a wave of arrests will begin.

Members of the secret society decided to speak.

Prior to this, the following action plan was developed at Ryleev's apartment. On December 14, on the day of the swearing-in, revolutionary troops under the command of members of a secret society will enter the square. Colonel Prince Sergei Trubetskoy was chosen as the dictator of the uprising. Troops refusing to swear allegiance must go to Senate Square. Why precisely on the Senate? Because the Senate is located here, here the senators on the morning of December 14 will swear allegiance to the new emperor. By force of arms, if they do not want good, it is necessary to prevent the senators from taking the oath, force them to declare the government deposed and issue a revolutionary Manifesto to the Russian people. This is one of the most important documents of Decembrism, explaining the purpose of the uprising. The Senate, thus, by the will of the revolution, was included in the plan of action of the insurgents.

The revolutionary Manifesto announced the "destruction of the former government" and the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government. The abolition of serfdom and the equalization of all citizens before the law were announced; freedom of the press, religion, occupation, the introduction of a public jury trial, the introduction of universal military service were announced. All government officials had to give way to elected officials.

It was decided that as soon as the insurgent troops blocked the Senate, in which the senators were preparing for the oath, a revolutionary delegation consisting of Ryleev and Pushchin would enter the Senate and demand that the Senate not swear allegiance to the new Emperor Nicholas I, declare the tsarist government deposed and issue a revolutionary Manifesto to the Russian people. At the same time, the guards marine crew, the Izmailovsky regiment and the cavalry pioneer squadron were supposed to move on the Winter Palace in the morning, capture it and arrest the royal family.

Then the Great Council was convened - the Constituent Assembly. It had to make a final decision on the forms of liquidation of serfdom, on the form of the state structure of Russia, and resolve the issue of land. If the Great Council decided by a majority vote that Russia would be a republic, a decision would be made on the fate of the royal family at the same time. Some of the Decembrists were of the opinion that it was possible to exile her abroad, some were inclined towards regicide. If the Great Council comes to the decision that Russia will be a constitutional monarchy, then a constitutional monarch was planned from the royal family.

The command of the troops during the capture of the Winter Palace was entrusted to the Decembrist Yakubovich.

It was also decided to capture the Peter and Paul Fortress, the main military stronghold of tsarism in St. Petersburg, and turn it into a revolutionary citadel of the Decembrist uprising.

In addition, Ryleev asked the Decembrist Kakhovsky early in the morning of December 14 to enter the Winter Palace and, as if committing an independent terrorist act, kill Nikolai. At first, he agreed, but then, having considered the situation, he did not want to be a lone terrorist, allegedly acting outside the plans of society, and early in the morning he refused this order.

An hour after Kakhovsky's refusal, Yakubovich came to Alexander Bestuzhev and refused to lead the sailors and Izmailovites to the Winter Palace. He was afraid that in the battle the sailors would kill Nicholas and his relatives and that instead of arresting the royal family, regicide would result. This Yakubovich did not want to take on and chose to refuse. Thus, the adopted plan of action was sharply violated, and the situation became more complicated. The conceived plan began to crumble even before dawn. But it was impossible to delay: dawn was coming.

On December 14, the officers - members of the secret society were still in the barracks at dusk and were campaigning among the soldiers. Alexander Bestuzhev spoke to the soldiers of the Moscow Regiment. The soldiers refused the oath to the new king and decided to go to the Senate Square. The regimental commander of the Moscow regiment, Baron Frederiks, wanted to prevent the insurgent soldiers from leaving the barracks - and fell with a severed head under the blow of the saber of officer Shchepin-Rostovsky. With the regimental banner fluttering, taking live ammunition and loading their guns, the soldiers of the Moscow regiment (about 800 people) were the first to come to Senate Square. At the head of these first revolutionary troops in the history of Russia was the staff captain of the Life Guards Dragoon Regiment Alexander Bestuzhev. Together with him at the head of the regiment were his brother, the staff captain of the Life Guards of the Moscow regiment Mikhail Bestuzhev and the staff captain of the same regiment Dmitry Shchepin-Rostovsky.

The regiment lined up in battle order in the form of a square (combat quadrangle) near the monument to Peter I. It was 11 o'clock in the morning. The governor-general of St. Petersburg, Miloradovich, galloped up to the rebels and began to persuade the soldiers to disperse. The moment was very dangerous: the regiment was still alone, the other regiments had not yet approached, the hero of 1812 Miloradovich was widely popular and knew how to talk with the soldiers. The uprising that had just begun was in great danger. Miloradovich could greatly shake the soldiers and succeed. It was necessary at all costs to interrupt his agitation, remove him from the square. But, despite the demands of the Decembrists, Miloradovich did not leave and continued persuasion. Then the chief of staff of the rebels, the Decembrist Obolensky, turned his horse with a bayonet, wounding the count in the thigh, and the bullet, fired at the same moment by Kakhovsky, mortally wounded the general. The danger looming over the uprising was repelled.

The delegation chosen to address the Senate - Ryleev and Pushchin - went to Trubetskoy early in the morning, who had previously visited Ryleev himself. It turned out that the Senate had already sworn in and the senators had left. It turned out that the rebel troops had gathered in front of the empty Senate. Thus, the first goal of the uprising was not achieved. It was a hard failure. Another conceived link broke away from the plan. Now the capture of the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress was coming.

What exactly Ryleev and Pushchin were talking about during this last meeting with Trubetskoy is unknown, but, obviously, they agreed on some kind of new plan of action, and, having then come to the square, they were sure that Trubetskoy would now come there, to the square, and take command. Everyone was impatiently waiting for Trubetskoy.

But there was no dictator. Trubetskoy betrayed the uprising. A situation was developing on the square that required decisive action, but Trubetskoy did not dare to take them. He sat, tormented, in the office of the General Staff, went out, peered around the corner, how many troops had gathered on the square, hid again. Ryleev looked for him everywhere, but could not find him. The members of the secret society, who elected Trubetskoy as a dictator and trusted him, could not understand the reasons for his absence and thought that he was being delayed by some reasons important for the uprising. Fragile aristocratic revolutionary Trubetskoy easily broke when the hour of decisive action came.

The failure of the elected dictator to appear on the square to the troops during the hours of the uprising is an unprecedented event in the history of the revolutionary movement. By this, the dictator betrayed both the idea of an uprising, and his comrades in a secret society, and the troops that followed them. This failure to appear played a significant role in the defeat of the uprising.

The rebels waited a long time. Several attacks, undertaken on the orders of Nicolas, by the horse guards on the square of the rebels, were repulsed by rapid rifle fire. The protective chain, isolated from the square of the rebels, disarmed the tsarist policemen. The “mob” who were in the square also did the same.

Outside the fence of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which was under construction, there were dwellings of construction workers, for whom a lot of firewood was prepared for the winter. The village was popularly called the "Isaac's village", from there a lot of stones and logs flew to the king and his retinue.

We see that the troops were not the only living force of the uprising on December 14: there was another participant in the events on Senate Square that day - huge crowds of people.

Herzen's words are well-known - "the Decembrists did not have enough people on Senate Square." These words must be understood not in the sense that there were no people on the square at all - there was a people, but in the sense that the Decembrists were unable to rely on the people, to make them an active force in the uprising.

The impression of a contemporary about how “empty” it was at that moment in other parts of St. Petersburg is curious: “The farther I moved away from the Admiralty, the less people I met; it seemed that everyone had fled to the square, leaving their houses empty.” An eyewitness, whose last name remained unknown, said: “All of Petersburg flocked to the square, and the first Admiralty part contained 150 thousand people, acquaintances and strangers, friends and enemies forgot their personalities and gathered in circles, talked about the subject that struck their eyes ".

The “common people”, “black bone” prevailed - artisans, workers, artisans, peasants who came to the bars in the capital, there were merchants, petty officials, students of secondary schools, cadet corps, apprentices ... Two “rings” of the people were formed. The first consisted of those who came early, it surrounded the square of the rebels. The second was formed from those who came later - their gendarmes were no longer allowed into the square to the rebels, and the “late” people crowded behind the tsarist troops who surrounded the rebellious square. Of these who came "later" and formed a second ring that surrounded the government troops. Noticing this, Nikolai, as can be seen from his diary, realized the danger of this environment. It threatened with great complications.

The main mood of this huge mass, which, according to contemporaries, numbered tens of thousands of people, was sympathy for the rebels. Nikolai doubted his success, "seeing that the matter was becoming very important, and not yet foreseeing how it would end." He ordered to prepare crews for members of the royal family with the intention of "escorting" them under the cover of cavalry guards to Tsarskoye Selo. Nicholas considered the Winter Palace an unreliable place and foresaw the possibility of a strong expansion of the uprising in the capital. In his diary, he wrote that "our fate would be more than doubtful." And later, Nikolai told his brother Mikhail many times: “The most amazing thing in this story is that you and I were not shot then.”

Under these conditions, Nicholas resorted to sending Metropolitan Seraphim and Metropolitan Eugene of Kiev to negotiate with the rebels. The idea of sending metropolitans to negotiate with the rebels occurred to Nicholas as a way to explain the legitimacy of the oath to him, and not to Konstantin, through clergy who were authoritative in matters of the oath. It seemed, who better to know about the correctness of the oath than the metropolitans? The decision to grasp at this straw was strengthened by alarming news from Nikolai: he was informed that the life grenadiers and the guards marine crew were leaving the barracks to join the “rebels”. If the metropolitans had managed to persuade the rebels to disperse, then the new regiments that came to the aid of the rebels would have already found the main core of the uprising broken and could themselves run out of steam.

But in response to the metropolitan’s speech about the legality of the required oath and the horrors of shedding fraternal blood, the “rebellious” soldiers began to shout to him from the ranks, according to the testimony of deacon Prokhor Ivanov: “What kind of metropolitan are you, when you swore allegiance to two emperors in two weeks ... We do not believe you, go away!..”

Suddenly, the metropolitans rushed to the left at a run, hid in a gap in the fence of St. Isaac's Cathedral, hiring simple cabs (while on the right, closer to the Neva, a palace carriage was waiting for them) and returned to the Winter Palace by a detour. Why did this sudden flight of the clergy happen? Two new regiments approached the rebels. On the right, on the ice of the Neva, the life-grenadier regiment (about 1250 people) was rising, making its way with weapons in hand through the troops of the tsar's encirclement. On the other hand, ranks of sailors entered the square - almost the entire guards marine crew - more than 1100 people, no less than 2350 people in total, i.e. forces arrived in total more than three times compared with the initial mass of the rebellious Muscovites (about 800 people), and in general the number of rebels increased fourfold. All the rebel troops were armed and with live ammunition. All were foot soldiers. They didn't have artillery.

But the moment was lost. The gathering of all the rebel troops took place 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, the chief of staff of the uprising. He tried three times to convene a military council, but it was too late: Nikolai managed to take the initiative into his own hands. The encirclement of the rebels by government troops, more than four times the number of the rebels, had already been completed. According to G.S. Gabaev, against 3 thousand rebel soldiers, 9 thousand infantry bayonets, 3 thousand cavalry sabers were assembled, in total, not counting the artillerymen called later (36 guns), at least 12 thousand people. Because of the city, another 7 thousand infantry bayonets and 22 cavalry squadrons were called in and stopped at the outposts as a reserve, i.e. 3 thousand sabers; in other words, another 10 thousand people were in reserve at the outposts.

The short winter day was drawing to a close. It was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and it was getting noticeably darker. Nicholas was afraid of the onset of darkness. In the dark, the people gathered in the square would have behaved more actively. Most of all, Nikolai was afraid, as he later wrote in his diary, that “the excitement would not be communicated to the mob.”

Nikolay ordered to shoot with buckshot.

The first volley of grapeshot was fired above the soldiers' ranks - precisely at the "mob" that dotted the roof of the Senate and neighboring houses. The rebels responded to the first volley with buckshot with rifle fire, but then, under a hail of buckshot, the ranks trembled, hesitated - a flight began, the wounded and killed fell. The tsar's cannons fired at the crowd running along the Promenade des Anglais and Galernaya. 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-form the soldiers in battle order and go on the offensive. The troops lined up. But the cores hit the ice - the ice broke, many drowned. Bestuzhev's attempt failed.

By nightfall it was all over. The tsar and his slanderers in every possible way underestimated the number of those killed - they talked about 80 corpses, sometimes about a hundred or two. But the number of victims was much more significant - buckshot mowed down people at close range. According to the document of the official of the statistical department of the Ministry of Justice, S.N. Korsakov, we learn that on December 14, 1271 people were killed, of which 903 were “mob”, 19 were minors.

At this time, the Decembrists gathered at Ryleev's apartment. This was their last meeting. They agreed only on how to behave during interrogations. The despair of the participants knew no bounds: the death of the uprising was obvious.

Summarizing, it should be noted that the Decembrists not only conceived, but also organized the first in the history of Russia action against the autocracy with weapons in their hands. They performed it openly, on the square of the Russian capital, in front of the assembled people. They acted in the name of crushing the obsolete feudal system and moving their homeland forward along the path of social development. The ideas in the name of which they rebelled - the overthrow of the autocracy and the elimination of serfdom and its remnants - turned out to be vital and for many years gathered subsequent generations under the banner of the revolutionary struggle.

Place and role of the Decembrists in the history of Russia

In 1825 Russia saw for the first time a revolutionary movement against tsarism, and this movement was represented almost exclusively by the nobility.

The Decembrists not only put forward slogans to fight the autocracy and the serf system, but for the first time in the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia organized an open action in the name of these demands,
Thus, the Decembrist uprising was of great importance in the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia. This was the first open action against the autocracy with arms in hand. Until that time, only spontaneous peasant unrest had taken place in Russia.

Between the spontaneous peasant uprisings of Razin and Pugachev and the performance of the Decembrists, a whole strip of world history lay down: its new stage was opened by the victory of the revolution in France at the end of the 18th century, the question of the elimination of the feudal-absolutist system and the establishment of a new - capitalist - rose to its full height before Europe. The Decembrists belong to this new time, and this is the essential side of their historical significance. Their uprising was politically conscious, set itself the task of eliminating the feudal-absolutist system, and was illuminated by the progressive ideas of the era. For the first time in the history of Russia, we can talk about a revolutionary program, about conscious revolutionary tactics, and analyze constitutional drafts.

The slogans of the struggle against serfdom and autocracy put forward by the Decembrists were not slogans of an accidental and transitory meaning: they had great historical meaning and remained effective and relevant in the revolutionary movement for many years.
With their bitter experience, the Decembrists showed the next generations that the protest of an insignificant handful of revolutionaries is powerless without the support of the people. With the failure of their movement, with all their, according to Pushkin, "mournful work", the Decembrists, as it were, bequeathed to subsequent revolutionaries to build their plans based on the active participation of the masses. The theme of the people as the main force in the revolutionary struggle has since become firmly established in the minds of the leaders of the revolutionary movement. “The Decembrists did not have enough people on St. Isaac’s Square,” said Herzen, the successor of the Decembrists, “and this idea was already the result of assimilation of the experience of the Decembrists.

This is the point of view of the Soviet historical school.

However, there are other approaches and assessments.

A shallow assimilation of the revolutionary teachings of the West and an attempt to apply them in Russia, according to Solovyov, constituted the main content of the Decembrist movement. Thus the whole revolutionary tradition of the end
In the 18th and the first quarter of the 19th centuries, it was presented as an introduced phenomenon, alien to the organic development of Russia. Eliminating its revolutionary core from social thought, Solovyov tried to present history as a struggle between two principles - Russophile-patriotic and Western-cosmopolitan.

Solovyov did not leave any special works dedicated to the Decembrists. But a number of statements quite definitely characterize his views. The Decembrist ideology seemed to him an echo of the revolutionary ferment in the West, on the one hand, and a reaction to the miscalculations of government policy, on the other (the anti-national Peace of Tilsit, indifference to the fate of the rebellious Greeks, the costs of the Alexander system of alliances). However, pointing to the objective historical roots of the Decembrist uprising, Solovyov was far from justifying it. The very ideals and goals of the movement seemed to him the stillborn fruit of armchair studies. “Thinking Russian people,” he wrote in Zapiski, “Russia seemed to be a tabula rasa *, on which you could draw anything you wanted, draw what you thought about or even not yet thought about in your office, in a circle, after lunch or dinner.” Figures he accused Decembrism of a tendency to dangerous political adventurism.This assessment was applied to the promise of P. I. Pestel to restore an independent Poland within the borders of 1772, given in negotiations with the Poles.He even admitted that such a recklessly broad gesture could puzzle sober and prudent politicians - The immaturity of Decembrist thought, in his words, was expressed in the fact that "Bestuzhev, for example, proposed the introduction of an American form of government in Russia and Poland."

But at the same time, the official defamation of the Decembrist movement during the years of the Nikolaev reaction was also disgusting to his convictions. In the distortion of the lessons of the Decembrist speech, Solovyov saw another confirmation of the isolation of the ruling stratum from the people. The most annoying thing was that this vice, in all its unsightly essence, manifested itself precisely when, in his opinion, special sensitivity to public opinion was required from the government. Civil society, which matured in the 19th century, demanded more flexible and delicate treatment from the state authorities. Solovyov was not alone in this conviction. Other historians of the bourgeois-liberal direction also talked about the same, seeking from the government the favor of new amateur public formations (in the person of the so-called "private unions" in the concept of Solovyov and V. O. Klyuchevsky, the non-estate intelligentsia - in the concept of A. A Kornilov, "thinking society" - A. A. Kizwetter). Studying with the grand dukes, Sergei Mikhailovich tried to get them to solidify the rule: "It is necessary to support collegiate institutions, the elective principle, not to constrain, but at the same time vigilantly monitor so that the unions that are not strong do not allow themselves to be sloppy and abused."
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