The seventeenth century in Russian historical science was called the “rebellious” one, and not in vain: the blooms of bloody events colored the whole of the seventeenth century, and the Cotton rebellion opened up this troubled time for the country.
A Brief Background to the Uprising
The turn of the XVI-XVII centuries was a test of strength for Russia, the state in some periods was on the verge of losing sovereignty. The clash of interests of social groups occupying different positions in society reached the implacable destruction of each other. The purely socio-economic reasons for such a stormy discontent among the lower classes also include the current political situation in Russia. More recently, the cruel and merciless autocrat Ivan the Terrible died , the mistaken policy of which caused a deaf murmur of all sections of the population. The death of the king, on the one hand, caused a sigh of relief, and on the other, plunged the country into decades of the Time of Troubles. The fact is that the children of Ivan IV did not differ in health (this was Fedor Ivanovich, who died shortly after his father). The last remaining offspring of the once mighty Rurikovich family was a minor, and therefore could not rule, moreover, he died under mysterious circumstances. Here, the noble boyar clan of Godunov enters the political scene, who occupied the throne, arguing their act by kinship with the last king.
Reasons for the uprising
However, the new sovereign was disastrously unlucky. Of course, much of what happened in the early years of Boris’s reign was a consequence of the previous reign. Gradually, one layered on the other and caused an unprecedented rise in popular indignation. One of its manifestations was the revolt of the Slam. The reasons for this event lay in the policy of oppression and further enslavement of the peasants. Many of them escaped from the estates of the landlords, thus, an increasing number of protest populations accumulated in the south-east of the country. One of the first clear signals to the new government can be considered 1602, when large-scale robberies led to the loss of control of some territories. I had to send military teams to suppress them. In 1602-1603 as a result of the early frosts, mass famine ensued, giving rise to poverty and rampant robbery. At the end of the summer of 1603, one of the largest riots of the first third of the 17th century broke out, which in history was called the Cotton Rise.
Course of the uprising
The most important highway connecting the central and western parts of the country, the Smolensk Road, turned out to be completely paralyzed. The units of runaway serfs under the command of Cotton Kosolap acted here. The authorities, which initially did not attach much importance to this, soon realized their mistake. A large military force had to be used against the rebels, and on the orders of Boris Godunov, a regiment of Moscow archers under the direction of I.F. Basmanova. The uprising led by Khlopko covered all new territories, it is noteworthy that they did not put forward political and economic demands, but purposefully and with great cruelty engaged in ordinary robbery and robbery. The tsar's governor regarded the combat capabilities of runaway slaves and their leader with neglect, for which he soon paid. In the battle, which was lengthy and fierce, Basmanov was mortally wounded.
The results of the uprising
After the death of the commander of the tsarist forces, the confrontation did not stop, but broke out with renewed vigor. The course of the battle more than once forced the archers to retreat. However, combat training and equipment had a role, by the end of the day the rebels could no longer restrain the pressure of government units and began to retreat, but, unfamiliar with military tactics, they opened their rear, which was used by their opponents. The general destruction of the rebels began; even those lackeys who did not show resistance and were captured were soon executed without any trial. The leader of the uprising himself was seriously wounded and was captured by the royal troops. His fate was a foregone conclusion. In Moscow, Khlopko was executed.
Civil War Forerunner?
The revolt of the Slam of 1603 showed contradictions reigning in Russian society. Even in the privileged part there was no unity regarding the future of the country. Many noble officials and clans of the state were directly hostile to the new Tsar, considering him a usurper and murderer of Dmitry Uglichsky. Such disagreements could not but affect the lower classes, for the boyars and nobles were the conductors of public opinion at that time, and the absence of solidarity among them caused various social indignation. Many researchers consider the Time of Troubles the first civil war, citing the fact that all layers of the then Russian society took part in the mentioned events to one degree or another. A peculiar pioneer in this matter was the revolt of the Slam, which preceded a series of bloody acts.