Yaitsky town is a settlement on the territory of Western Kazakhstan, located on the Ural River. Currently it is called Uralsk, it is the administrative center of the West Kazakhstan region, more than three hundred thousand inhabitants live in it. This is a medieval city in which the Cossacks originally lived, it was from there that Emelyan Pugachev began his uprising, which ended in his defeat.
Base
The first settlement on the site of the Yaitsky town appeared around the 13th century. On a hill called Svistun a small settlement of nomads formed. Its remains were found during archaeological excavations of the settlement Zhayik. In the name Yaitsky town, the stress falls on the first syllable, that is, on the letter I.
The first mention of it dates back to 1584. But the official date of its foundation is 1613. The Yaitsky town was founded on a small peninsula located between the Chagan and Yaik rivers.
It is believed that for the first time the local Yaik Cossacks entered the service of the Russian Tsar in 1591. At the same time, before Peter I came to power, they were almost completely in an autonomous position.
Cossack rebellion
In 1772, this settlement thundered throughout Russia when the Yaitsk Cossack Uprising took place here. It was a spontaneous performance of the Cossacks. The immediate reason for him was the arrests and punishments carried out by the commission of inquiry under the leadership of Generals Traubenberg and Davydov.
It is worth noting that the Yaitsk Cossacks for a long time enjoyed relative autonomy, largely due to the Moscow kingdom. Finally, in the XVIII century it was in conflict with the leadership of the Russian Empire. The authorities of St. Petersburg began to consistently limit the independence of the local Cossacks. The tightening of nuts, the abolition of democratic rule, the free election of foremen and chieftains led to the division of the troops into two irreconcilable units.
Most of the Cossacks advocated a return to the old order, while the smaller, which began to abuse power due to the abolition of elections, supported the decisions of the government.
Government Commission of Traubenberg
In the period from 1769 to 1771, the Cossacks at first refused to go to serve in the regular troops of the Russian Empire, and then did not go in pursuit of the rebellious Kalmyks who left the borders of Russia. As a result, an investigative government commission arrived in Yaitsky town to sort out what had happened.
The perpetrators did not agree with the penalties determined by the commission. At the beginning of 1772, this resulted in an open riot, which led to the rebellion of the Yaits Cossacks. The head of the commission, Traubenberg, ordered firing on rioters, who demanded that their demands be considered. As a result, more than a hundred people were killed, among whom were women and children. In response, the Cossacks attacked the government detachment sent. Traubenberg was killed, many of his soldiers and officers were killed.
The uprising in the Yaitsky town quickly enough swept the entire village. The power passed to the selected representatives of the Cossacks. However, they could not come to a common opinion on their further actions. The unit was temperate, suggesting a compromise with the government. The radical group suggested insisting on the complete independence of the troops.
Freiman's operation
Representatives of Catherine II, making sure that through negotiations they would not succeed in bringing the army to submission, were sent on an expedition to suppress the uprising in the town of Yaitsky. She was commanded by General Freiman. The decisive battle took place on the Embulatovka River in early June 1772. The Cossacks suffered a crushing defeat. Freiman continued to act decisively, having returned the majority of the Cossacks, along with the families planning to leave. At the same time, some of the instigators of the uprising managed to hide on remote farms between the rivers between the Volga and Yaik, as well as in the steppe. In the town of Yaitsky, a garrison of government troops was stationed. The investigation began, which lasted about a year.
The draft verdicts against the main instigators of the uprising turned out to be so harsh that the rebellious mood among the Cossacks stirred with renewed vigor. Despite the fact that later the Empress Catherine II significantly softened them, the Cossacks did not want to put up with their defeat, starting to look for a reason for a new speech, which they introduced very soon.
Don Cossack
The troublemaker this time was Emelyan Pugachev. In Yaitsky town, dissatisfied with the decisions of the central government, he found many supporters and like-minded people.
Pugachev was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in 1742. By the time his uprising began, which was included in the textbook of Russian history as the Peasant War, he was 31 years old. He skillfully took advantage of the rumors that Emperor Peter III was actually alive, becoming one of a dozen impostors posing as grandson of Peter the Great.
It is known that Pugachev was born on the territory of the modern Volgograd region. He was the youngest son in the family of the Don Cossack Ivan Pugachev. Although most of the Yaitsky and Don Cossacks were Old Believers, the Pugachevs adhered to the Orthodox faith. At 17, he signed up for service instead of his father, who resigned. A year later, he married the Cossack Sofya Nedyuzheva.
Participation in the Seven Years War
He was not destined to enjoy the joys of family life for a long time. A week later, Yemelyan was sent to the Seven Years War. He fought in the division of Count Chernyshev. Colonel Ilya Denisov had orderlies. He participated in a number of battles in Prussia, avoiding injuries.
In 1763, Pugachev returned to his homeland. He had two children - Trofim and Agrafena. During this period, he also visited Poland with the team of Yesaul Yakovlev, looking for escaped Old Believers.
Disease
With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war in 1769, he was seconded to the team of Colonel Kuteynikov in the rank of cornet. He distinguished himself by taking Bender. In 1771 he fell ill, so he was sent back. After a month of treatment, Pugachev went to Cherkassk to ask for his resignation.
However, he was refused, in return the officer who examined the request advised him to be treated in a hospital. However, the Cossack refused. It is further mentioned that for several days he applied a mutton lung to his legs, after which he felt better.
Emelyan went to visit the sister of Feodosia. He learned from her husband that he and his comrades were thinking of an escape, being dissatisfied with the position of the soldiers. Pugachev not only decided to help his son-in-law, but also went on the run with him. Having reached the village of Zimoveyskaya, he announced his intention to his wife and mother, who dissuaded him from escaping. He obeyed, helped his brother-in-law with his comrades cross the Don, and then returned home, where he was treated for about a month.
The fugitives who were heading to the Terek did not tarry getting to their destination on their own. Having lost a few weeks, they returned. Surrendering to the authorities, they said that it was Pugachev who helped to organize the escape, the idea came from him to go to the Terek. Cossack was taken into custody. Two days later, he fled, having decided nevertheless to realize the original plan. So he settled in the village of Ischer, saying that he wants to be a Cossack in the family army.
However, as a result, he was exposed and detained. True, in this case he managed to escape.
Meeting with the egg Cossacks
The appearance of Pugachev in the Yayitsky town was received with enthusiasm by many. At that time, he was a runaway Cossack who posed as Emperor Peter III.
The Yaitsky Cossack army, which was dissatisfied with the actions of the authorities, eagerly supported Pugachev. In fact, a new speech that marked the beginning of a full-scale peasant war began on September 17, 1773. Very soon, it covered almost the entire Urals, Orenburg Territory, Bashkiria, Prikamye, the Middle Volga region, and part of Western Siberia.
The uprising of Pugachev in the Yayitsky town began, and soon it spread far beyond its borders. The first period was marked by the military successes of the rebels, they were based on the participation in the uprising of the experienced regular units of the Cossack army. The opposing government troops were small and partially demoralized.
The rebels managed to capture many small cities and fortresses, besiege Ufa and Orenburg.
Counterattack
Only after realizing the seriousness of the situation, the government decided to pull troops from the outskirts of the empire. At the head was General-General Chef Alexander Ilyich Bibikov.
In the spring of 1774, rebels began to suffer defeat everywhere on all fronts. Most rebel leaders were killed or captured. However, after Bibikov’s death in April, for a while the initiative was again in Pugachev’s hands. He managed to unite the scattered detachments, continuing to move along the Prikamye and the Urals, despite serious defeats and notable losses. In July, Kazan was taken.
On the side of the rebels were foreign yasash and serf peasants. At the same time, militarily, the rebels significantly weakened, could no longer provide decent resistance. The Cossack core was destroyed in battles, the peasants replenishing the army did not have weapons and combat experience.
Defeat Pugachev
After losing in a three-day battle near Kazan, Pugachev crossed the Volga. In July 1774, after the end of the war with Turkey, new forces were sent to suppress the riot, led by General-General Chef Peter Panin.
Pugachev was hiding on the Lower Volga, where he was not supported by the Don Cossacks, on whom he counted. Despite the defeat of the main forces, in Bashkiria and the Volga region the rebels did not give up until the end of 1774.
Pugachev was captured on September 8 near the Bolshoi Uzen River by his own supporters, who thus expected to earn a pardon. On September 15, having received what they wanted, they delivered their leader back to Yaitsky town, where it all began. The first interrogations took place there.
The main investigation took place in Simbirsk. To transport the rebel, a cage was specially made on a two-wheeled arba, in which he was chained hand and foot.
Execution
Pugachev was executed on January 10, 1775 in Moscow on Bolotnaya Square. Researchers note that until the very end he held himself with dignity. Having appeared on the frontal place, he crossed the Kremlin cathedrals, bowed, asked for forgiveness from the Orthodox people.
Pugachev was sentenced to a quartering. At the same time, his head was chopped off at the request of Empress Catherine II. On the same day, his comrade-in-arms Perfiliev was quartered; the other captive leaders of the uprising were hanged.
Implications for the city
Having become the cradle of several uprisings at once, the city from which Pugachev came out caused strong discontent in St. Petersburg. After the rout of the rebels, the empress ordered him to be renamed. As a result, it was only until 1775 that it was called the Yaitsky town. Since then it was known as Uralsk. The river flowing there, from Yaik to the Urals, was also renamed.
It is noteworthy that the Cossack unrest in these places did not stop. Already in Uralsk, the Cossacks revolted in 1804, 1825, 1837 and 1874. All of them were brutally suppressed.
Since 1864, Uralsk has become a major trading center. During the Civil War, the Bolsheviks occupied it in 1919. Then, for a long time, he was besieged by the Ural army, formed from parts of the Ural Cossacks.
During World War II, Uralsk became an air defense point, a front-line zone. Industrial enterprises working for the front, military units and military hospitals were evacuated here.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uralsk ended up on the territory of Kazakhstan.