Yemelyan Pugachev (Емелья́н Пугачёв) Lindsey Fisher

Background When Catherine the Great refused to emancipate the serfs living along the Volga, they took liberation into their own hands. Yemelyan Pugachev was a Cossack merchant who helped the serfs revolt by leading a revolution to overthrown Catherine the Great.

Yemelyan Pugachev was able to lead his revolution because he pretended to be Catherine’s dead husband, Tsar Peter the 3 rd. He attracted a following of peasants, Old Believers, Ural mineworkers, and non- Russians such as Bashkirs and Kalmyks. With his power, he issued many edicts for change in Russia.

Yemelyan Pugachev’s Goals Kill the officials and land lords End taxation Free the serfs Divide up the land *His ideas were supported because the majority of the Russian population was peasants.

Result Despite the efforts of nearly 100,000 peasant men fighting along the Volga, Catherine’s army defeated them and captured Yemelyan Pugachev. Catherine had him executed, and his peasant revolt died with him.

Legacy Although Yemelyan Pugachev’s rebellion was shut down, it had a lasting effect on Russia. It is said that the “horrors of the revolt caused [Catherine] to drop other reforms... and her regime became increasingly reactionary”

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