When was Gorky's play written at the bottom? The history of the creation and fate of the play “At the Lower Depths”

“Ah! Mon Prince, vous avez fait bien du mal à la Russie, vous l"avez reculée de cinquante ans!" (“Ah, Prince, you have done a lot of evil to Russia, you have pushed it back fifty years!”) General Levashov - to Prince Trubetskoy

190 years ago, on the morning of December 26, 1825, guard officers (staff captains, lieutenants, lieutenants...) and several civilians were taken to Senate Square There are about three thousand soldiers in St. Petersburg. This is how the famous Decembrist uprising began. Subsequent events shocked the entire country and largely determined its fate for decades to come.

For a real king

The pretext for the uprising was the death of Emperor Alexander I on November 19. Inherit the throne Russian Empire his brother Konstantin should have, but he, like Alexander, was childless. Moreover, he was married to a Polish noblewoman - and his future children would still not be able to inherit the throne. Therefore, back in 1822, Constantine abdicated the throne, and the following year, Alexander I secretly drew up a manifesto on transferring the throne to the next most senior brother, Nicholas.

The unsuspecting society continued to consider Constantine as the heir. Nikolai was not loved in the army either. And on November 27, the oath to Constantine began - Nikolai had to be the first to swear allegiance. But then the will of Alexander I was revealed - and a two-week interregnum began. As a result, Constantine renounced power; on December 14, a manifesto on Nicholas’s accession to the throne was to be published. The Decembrists decided to take advantage of this chance to “wedge themselves” between two legitimate monarchs - and withdrew the troops subordinate to them under the pretext of protecting the “correct” king - i.e. Constantine, who was being kept in chains.

If we compare the recollections of the participants in the events, a noticeable difference in the behavior of the parties catches the eye. The Decembrists lead their troops to the square, but then hour after hour they passively stand in place and, at best, defend themselves - and then they do it belatedly. All the energy of the conspirators was enough for single strikes with a saber, bayonet or shot at officers trying to talk to soldiers. And the soldiers shoot from the hand and without aiming, most often - upwards, or even blanks.

Nicholas and his supporters - for example, the chief of artillery Ivan Sukhozanet, who fought from Pultusk to Paris - although they do not know what exactly is happening, they do not lose control of the soldiers at hand. And they act. The Senate and Synod manage to swear allegiance to the new emperor around eight o'clock in the morning. The generals and regimental commanders of the guard also swore allegiance to Nicholas and went to their units - even before the rebels entered the square at the eleventh hour. The Winter Palace is occupied by sappers personally loyal to Nicholas. Orders are given loudly and confidently, troops actively move behind their commanders. Nikolai himself leads the Preobrazhensky battalion. The cavalrymen are attacking. Parliamentarians are sent out. And, as a decisive argument, artillery is located (and used). Even before the uprising, an operation to arrest the leader was thought out and carried out Southern Society Decembrists Pavel Pestel.

Four cannons were fired to suppress the uprising. According to Sukhozanet, “there was no need to aim the guns, the distance was too close.” By the third salvo there was no one left on the spot. In total, at least seven buckshot shots were fired on the square - and some of them, according to some historians, could have been fired upward.

Kakhovsky's shot at Miloradovich. Lithograph from a drawing by A. I. Charlemagne. 1861
borodino2012–2045.com

Information about human casualties differs tenfold - from several dozen to more than a thousand killed. IN Soviet era The data of the police official Sergei Nikolaevich Korsakov was considered the most reliable. According to his note, a total of 1,271 people were killed, including 39 “in tailcoats and greatcoats,” 903 “rabbles” and 9 “women.” 1 general (Miloradovich) and 1 staff officer (probably Colonel Sturler) were mortally wounded by the Decembrist Kakhovsky. The lower ranks of the Life Guards of the Moscow Regiment were killed 93, although, according to the calculations of the regimental historian, no more than 29 people were killed, wounded and missing. The same discrepancies between the notes and the archives of the units are found in other cases - in total, another 189 lower ranks were killed versus 27 along with the missing.

Layout of regiments on Senate Square
http://www.runivers.ru/

What did the Decembrists want?

And until now, almost every participant in those events, their actions and behavior are assessed extremely emotionally and contradictorily. The Decembrists were either rebels and traitors, or practically holy “heroes forged from pure steel” (Herzen). Nicholas I is either a bloody despot and gendarme of Europe, or a wise and generous ruler. Alas, the length of the article does not allow us to reveal all aspects of the Decembrist movement (and this is impossible) - only to raise some questions.

“Fighters against centuries of slavery?” But the intended dictator was to become Prince Trubetskoy - Gediminovich. One of the most active participants in the uprising was Rurikovich, Prince Obolensky. Representatives of such ancient and noble families technically, even the Romanovs could be viewed as rootless upstarts.

Colonel Pestel, the first in the Corps of Pages to be awarded five military orders, was called a “fanatical doctrinaire” a century ago, who allegedly screwed up his soldiers “to teach them to hate their superiors” - which is refuted by the documents of the regiment. At the same time, the future Republican revolutionary loved his father, the Governor-General of Siberia, and often consulted with him. Some relatives cursed the Decembrists - but not Pestel Sr. (the story about the last conversation of the Pestels was invented by Herzen). Another paradox - in 1821, Pestel compiled unfavorable reports about Greek rebels - allegedly members of a worldwide revolutionary conspiracy.

Portrait of Pavel Pestel
www.rosimperija.info

“The desire to see a representative structure in your Fatherland”? But this did not at all mean a desire to immediately overthrow royal power- moreover, after foreign trips The Russian army looked at Alexander I as the liberator of Europe from Napoleon. And the first idea to kill the emperor arose in 1817 - after the message that “the sovereign intends to return to Poland all the regions we have conquered and retire to Warsaw with the entire court.”

Liberation of the peasants main goal? But the first Main Rule of “Russian Truth” read: “ The liberation of Peasants from Slavery should not deprive the Nobles of the income they receive from their Estates"The second point is no less significant: “This liberation should not cause Unrest and Disorder in the State, for which reason the Supreme Government is obliged to use merciless severity against any Violators of the general peace.” In this case, the peasants would not be freed immediately and, most importantly, without land. And according to the Decree on free cultivators, the Decembrists already had the opportunity to release their own peasants.

In general, the plans of the Decembrists are best characterized by the phrase: “The distribution of the People among the Volosts combines all Benefits and all Conveniences, averting all Injustices and all Difficulties”. In other words, it is literally a struggle for all that is good against all that is bad. Despite the fact that among the Decembrists themselves there was not even close to a unity of views. Even proposals for a political structure ranged from a constitutional monarchy headed by a federation of thirteen powers and two regions (Nikita Muravyov, Northern Society) to a unitary republic (Pestel, Southern Society).

Pestel defended the legal equality of all people. But in practice, this would result in the confiscation of land from the landowners, the deportation of those who had separated from all Jews to Asia Minor - in case of disobedience, resettlement Caucasian peoples to the central provinces, etc. etc. Any national identity would destroy the principles of equal opportunity, “uniformity, uniformity and like-mindedness.”

Results of the failed uprising

The Decembrists, like their opponents, were people of their era. An era at the turning point of the romance of the 18th century and the cynical pragmatism of the 19th century. When secret societies grew, like today's hobby groups, and the Freemason socialite became in his youth, in the intervals between card games, drinking wine and other pleasant pastimes. An era when the conspirator, businessman and poet Ryleev could be friends with the poet and secret police agent Bulgarin. The era of enlightenment - many Decembrists received not just a good, but an elite education, but in closed establishments, which leaves a certain imprint on the personality. Although Ryleev, on the contrary, was self-taught. Eras of many conspiracies and revolutions, from Spain to Greece - when even generals intrigued and fought duels. And every young military man could see the career of artillery lieutenant Napoleon, and in 1820 - the success of the battalion commander Riego, who transformed Spain into constitutional monarchy and became president of the Cortes. “The mass is nothing, it will be what the individuals, who are everything, want,” said Sergei Muravyov, one of the most active participants in the Southern Society of Decembrists.

But time passed. Former enthusiastic youths became adults statesmen. Many of the founders and active figures of Decembrism (the founder of the Union of Salvation, Alexander Muravyov, Lunin, who proposed to kill Alexander I) had already moved away from their previous ideas by the time of the uprising. Quite a few participants secret societies done safely successful careers. Some of the former Decembrists generally took part in suppressing the rebellion. Trubetskoy, being near Senate Square, does not participate in the uprising - for which he is either accused of cowardice and even meanness, or praised for his sober assessment of what is happening. Colonel Moller, commander of the battalion guarding the Winter Palace, directly refused to participate in the uprising.

To a person of the 21st century, it may seem incredible, for example, such a situation - the emperor personally, almost alone, “point-blank” interrogates the most dangerous conspirators, many of whom spent many years in the army, and even fought bravely. It is worth noting that some of the conspirators had previously proposed solving the problem by killing Nikolai. However, the participants in the events themselves were brought up in the traditions of society back in the 18th century, in which chivalrous behavior was first and foremost required of the nobles. This probably also explains another “unthinkable” behavior from our point of view - almost all participants in the secret society (except for Lunin and Pestel) did not hide anything during interrogations - including about other members. And earlier, the Decembrists indignantly rejected Pestel’s ideas about conspiracy and the creation of their own secret police, “the office of impenetrable darkness.”

The state of secrecy of “secret societies” is best described by Pushkin’s phrase: “But who, besides the police and the government, did not know about him? they were shouting about the conspiracy in all the alleys.”. And the fact that back in 1823, Alexander I made an unambiguous hint to General Sergei Volkonsky (by the way, the only real general among the Decembrists) to deal with his brigade, and not governing the Russian Empire, shows that the government had long been aware. Subsequently, some contemporaries were outraged not so much by the fact of the conspiracy as by Volkonsky’s forgery of the state seal for opening government papers. It is not surprising that during the entire period of the Decembrist movement, integral organizations practically did not exist, and the strictly developed, detailed rules were not implemented in practice. Some societies generally existed only in words. In St. Petersburg, almost every Decembrist had his own program of action. Pestel, a theorist and practitioner of the secret police, will be betrayed by the person whom he himself introduced into the secret society.

According to the 19th military article, “if any subject arms an army, or takes up arms against His Majesty, or intends to captivate, or kill, or inflict any kind of violence on the said Majesty,” then he and everyone who helped him should be quartered with confiscation of property. That is, strictly according to the letter of the law in force at that time, five hanged and a hundred sent to Siberia for two uprisings, including the Chernigov regiment in Ukraine, is extremely soft. Especially by the standards of subsequent eras, when the number of deaths during the “ social experiments"was measured in tens of thousands, or even millions. But, on the other hand, in an age of hopes for enlightenment and all kinds of progress, the arrests and execution of the untouchable elite of society - nobles and officers - looked like an unheard-of crime. And the fate of the soldiers, who were first taken to the square under buckshot and then sent to the Caucasus, did not particularly worry anyone then.

Nicholas I
http://www.bibliotekar.ru/

Now it is difficult to say whether the Decembrists had a chance of victory, and even more so, what path Russia would have taken then. In our reality, the saddest consequence was the mutual bitterness of both the authorities and the opposition for many decades. From the first hours of his reign, Nicholas I became convinced by his own example of the existence of a huge and cruel conspiracy - threatening both the lives of Nicholas himself and his family. Equally, the opposition decided that with such a bloody government it was impossible to do otherwise.

Pushkin, hot on his heels, noted extreme ambition and distortions in upbringing younger generation: “He enters the world without any solid knowledge, without any positive rules: every thought is new to him, every news has an influence on him. He is unable to believe or object; he becomes a blind follower or an ardent follower of the first comrade who wants to exert his superiority over him or make him his tool.” Pushkin proposed reform as an antidote public education. Alas, both supporters and opponents of the authorities usually preferred more radical methods.

Sources and literature:

1. Gordin Ya. A. Revolt of reformers: When the fate of Russia was decided. St. Petersburg, Amphora, 2015.
2. Kersnovsky A. A. History of the Russian Army. - M.: Voice, 1993.
3. Kiyanskaya Oksana. Pestel. M., Young Guard, 2005.
4. Lomovsky E. The most tragic day // Science and life. - 2014. - No. 6.
5. Margolis A.D. On the question of the number of victims on December 14, 1825 // Margolis A.D. Prison and exile in Imperial Russia. Research and archival finds. M., 1995.
6. Memoirs of the Decembrists. Northern society // Comp. V. A. Fedorova. - M.: Moscow University Publishing House, 1981.
7. Pushkin A. S. O public education. Quote via http://rvb.ru/
8. Sukhozanet I. O. December 14, 1825, story of the chief of artillery Sukhozanet / Communication. A. I. Sukhozanet // Russian antiquity, 1873. - T. 7. - No. 3.

The patriotic rise of the people's consciousness after the victorious Patriotic War of 1812, the influence of the educational works of Western philosophers and writers, the desire for the speedy implementation of reforms in the country, including the peasant one, created the basis for the start of the activities of the Decembrists in the Russian Empire.

Causes of the Decembrist uprising

The Decembrists were a collection of various societies, whose goal was to overthrow serfdom in Russia and reorganize the structures of state power.

The Decembrist movement got its name because of the large-scale uprising that was carried out by its active members in December 1825.

Initially, the Decembrists planned to carry out the uprising in the summer of 1826. However, the death of Emperor Alexander I (or his mysterious disappearance) significantly accelerated the planned uprising.

Immediately after the death of the Emperor, the country was in a short stage of confusion and confusion: it was not decided for a long time what date to choose for the oath of allegiance to the new Emperor of Russia, Nicholas I. Ultimately, December 14 was chosen as the date for the oath.

How did the uprising happen?

The Decembrists decided to take advantage of the unstable situation in the country. They decided to prevent the oath of office to Nicholas and demand that members of the government have the right to publish the “Manifesto to the Russian People,” in which the Decembrists set out the main demands for power.

And the demands were the following: abolish serfdom on the territory of the Empire, introduce universal military service, and provide all residents of Russia with a guarantee of political rights and freedoms.

Trubetskoy, the main organizer of the uprising, planned to persuade the garrison officers to renounce their oath to Nicholas.

The St. Petersburg garrison and members of the Senate were able to swear allegiance to the new Emperor, despite the efforts of members of the Decembrist Society. The rebellion was suppressed, and the officers were dispersed from Senate Square.

An attempt by the Chernigov regiment to carry out an uprising in Ukraine, two weeks after the events in St. Petersburg, was also suppressed. Nicholas I personally headed the investigation of active members of the Decembrists.

Participants and significance of the Decembrist uprising

The organizers of the uprising: Bestuzhev-Ryumin, P. Kakhovsky, P. Pestel, S. Muravyov - Apostle were sentenced to death penalty by hanging. More than a hundred Decembrists were exiled to Siberia, some officers were demoted in rank and sent to fight in the Caucasus.

The Decembrist movement played a huge role in social life countries, even despite their defeat. The first noble revolutionaries could not resist the gendarmerie machine of Nicholas I, but they sowed in the minds of people the ideas of revolution, the struggle for their civil rights and freedom.

The Decembrist movement inspired many figures of art and literature. Many writers in their works, as if between the lines, conveyed to people educational ideas Decembrists. And although only a few decades later, their followers were still able to achieve the abolition of serfdom and directed the course of development of the state towards liberalism.

Revolutionary ideas appeared in Russia in the 1st quarter of the 19th century. The progressive society of that time was often disillusioned with the reign of Alexander 1. However best people countries sought to end the backwardness of society in Russia.

During the period of liberation campaigns, having become familiar with Western political movements, the advanced Russian nobility realized that serfdom was the most important reason for the backwardness of the fatherland. Tough reactionary policy in the field of education, Russian participation in the suppression of European revolutionary events only strengthened confidence in the urgent need for change. Russian serfdom was perceived as an insult national dignity everyone who considered himself an enlightened person. The ideas of Western national liberation movements, Russian journalism and educational literature. Thus, we can highlight the following most important reasons for the Decembrist uprising. This is the strengthening of serfdom, the difficult socio-economic situation in the country, Alexander 1’s refusal to carry out liberal reforms, the influence of the works of Western thinkers.

The first political secret society was formed in St. Petersburg in February 1816. His goal was to adopt a constitution in the country and abolish serfdom. It included Pestel, Muravyov, S.I. Muravyov-Apostles. and M.I. (total 28 members).

Later, in 1818, a larger organization, the Union of Welfare, was created in Moscow, which numbered up to 200 members. It also had councils in other cities of Russia. The purpose of the secret society was the idea of ​​promoting the abolition of serfdom. The officers began preparing for a coup. But the “Union of Welfare”, having never achieved its goal, disintegrated due to internal disagreements.

“Northern Society”, created on the initiative of N.M. Muravyov. in St. Petersburg, there was a more liberal attitude. Nevertheless, for this society, the most important goals were the proclamation of civil liberties, the destruction of serfdom and autocracy.

The conspirators were preparing for an armed uprising. And the opportune moment for implementing the plans came in November 1825, after the death of Emperor Alexander. Despite the fact that not everything was ready, the conspirators decided to act, and the Decembrist uprising took place in 1825. It was planned to carry out a coup, seize the Senate and the monarch, on the day Nicholas 1 took the oath.

On December 14, in the morning on Senate Square there was the Moscow Life Guards Regiment, as well as the Life Guards Grenadier and Guards Marine Regiments. In total, about 3 thousand people gathered in the square.

But Nicholas 1 was warned that a Decembrist uprising was being prepared on Senate Square. He swore in the Senate in advance. After this, he was able to gather the remaining loyal troops and surround Senate Square. Negotiations were started. They did not bring any results. From the government side, Metropolitan Seraphim and Miloradovich M.A., the governor of St. Petersburg, took part in them. Miloradovich was wounded during the negotiations, which became fatal. After this, by order of Nicholas 1, artillery was used. The Decembrist uprising of 1825 failed. Later, on December 29, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol was able to raise the Chernigov regiment. This rebellion was also suppressed by government troops on January 2. The results of the Decembrist uprising turned out to be far from the plans of the conspirators.

Arrests of participants and organizers of the uprising took place throughout Russia. 579 people were charged in this case. 287 were found guilty. Five were sentenced to death. These were S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, K.F. Ryleev, P.G. Pestel, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, P. G. Kakhovsky. 120 people were exiled to hard labor or to settlement in Siberia.

Decembrist uprising summary which is stated above, failed not only because of the inconsistency of the actions of the conspirators, the unpreparedness of society for such radical transformations, and the lack of support from the broad masses. Nevertheless, historical significance The Decembrist uprisings are difficult to overestimate. For the first time, a fairly clear political program, an armed uprising took place against the authorities. And, although Nicholas 1 called the conspirators only crazy rebels, the consequences of the Decembrist uprising turned out to be extremely significant for further history Russia. And the brutal reprisal against them aroused sympathy in wide sections of society and forced many to awaken advanced people that era.

• Punishment
• Causes of defeat
• Meaning

The results of the Decembrist uprising turned out to be very far from planned. The rebels failed to achieve any of their goals. Serfdom was not canceled, and the power of the emperor in Russia not only did not disappear, but became even stronger.

Punishment
In the first days after the uprising, more than 300 people who participated in it and were suspected of organizing it were arrested. 298 of them were found guilty. More than a hundred people are devoted Supreme Court. As a result of the investigation, five participants in the uprising were executed, the rest were sent to Siberia to hard labor or to the Caucasian War.

Causes of defeat
Historians and researchers in different times Various reasons were given for the failure of the December uprising of 1825. However, the main ones can be considered that, having set the well-being of the people as their highest goal, they did not consider it necessary to rely on the masses.
In addition, due to the lack of coordination and indecisiveness of a number of members of the secret organization, the rebels were unable to fully implement their plan of action. So, they intended to prevent the new autocrat from taking the oath. However, Nicholas I, warned in advance, changed his plans. By the time the uprising began, the Senate had already sworn an oath to him, and he was already de facto emperor.
At the same time, a number of the organizers of the uprising at the last moment refused to carry out their actions, and S. Trubetskoy, who was chosen as the leader of the uprising, did not appear at Senate Square at all.

Meaning
Despite such a bleak outcome and the unenviable fate of the rebels themselves, this performance had great importance in the life of Russia and its people.
This was the first open opposition to the monarchical system of power, and it had strong impact on the consciousness of the public. Having brutally suppressed the uprising, the government achieved the opposite effect - the struggle for the abolition of serfdom and the overthrow of the autocracy only intensified. Thus, the Decembrists contributed to the emergence and development revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire.
The uprising and the personalities of the Decembrists also played a significant role in cultural life countries. A whole galaxy of Russian poets, writers and artists were brought up on their ideas.
Another result of the Decembrist uprising was that the imperial authorities finally realized the need for reforms, which served as the beginning for a number of political transformations in Russia.

April 5th, 2015

I'm almost done posting more topics. This is already the ninth and penultimate topic. There were practically no volunteers to cover the second ten topics in the post, but the authors of the topics, in principle, can present them in the next vote.

So today our topic is alternative history from a friend kisyha_74. The concept may not be entirely accurate, but there is certainly a certain current and direction that casts doubt on the official version of many historical events. History in general has always been a complex matter. And the further it goes into the depths of centuries, the more complicated it is. All these are just serifs and outlines for further independent study for those interested.

What claims are made against the well-known official version? On December 26, 1825, the Decembrist uprising broke out in St. Petersburg.

If you peel away the shavings of Soviet mythology, you can see a lot of interesting things.

1. The king is not real

In fact coup d'etat occurred not on December 26, but on November 27, 1825. On this day in St. Petersburg, the death of Emperor Alexander in Taganrog was announced and Konstantin Pavlovich, 2nd in seniority after the childless Alexander, was declared the new emperor. The Senate hastily swore the oath to him, State Council and the entire capital. True, Constantine had no rights to the throne, since back in 1823 he abdicated the throne in favor of Nicholas, which was also formalized in Alexander’s spiritual will. Nikolai also took the oath to Konstantin under pressure from the military governor Miloradovich.

However, on December 3, Constantine renounced the crown. Either in St. Petersburg everyone decided to replay the game, or because Konstantin was afraid to share the fate of his father Paul I, he allegedly said: “They will strangle you, just like they strangled your father.” Nicholas was declared the legal heir to the throne. Everything that happened, of course, took place in an atmosphere of strict secrecy and gave rise to a lot of rumors.

2. Who is pulling the strings?

The oath of office to the new emperor was scheduled for December 14 (26). The Decembrists, who had previously not identified themselves in any way, timed their performance to coincide with the same date. They did not have a clear program, the idea was this: to bring the regiments to Senate Square that day in order to prevent the oath of allegiance to Nicholas. The main conspirator, Prince Trubetskoy, who was appointed dictator, did not come to the square at all; it is quite possible that the appointment happened retroactively. There was practically no coordination, Ryleev rushed around St. Petersburg, “like a sick man in his restless bed,” everything was done at random. It looks quite strange for a secret society that has been operating for several years, covering a significant part of the military elite, and having an extensive network throughout the country.

3. Orange technologies

Classic technologies were used to withdraw troops; today they would be called orange. So Alexander Bestuzhev, having arrived at the barracks of the Moscow regiment, already ready to take the oath, began to assure the soldiers that they were being deceived, that Tsarevich Konstantin had never abdicated the throne and would soon be in St. Petersburg, that he was his adjutant and was sent ahead by him on purpose, etc. . Having captivated the soldiers with such deception, he led them to Senate Square. In the same way, other regiments were brought to the square. At this time, thousands of people gathered on the square and near the embankment of St. Isaac's Cathedral. WITH common people they worked more simply, they spread a rumor that the legitimate Emperor Constantine was already on his way to St. Petersburg from Warsaw and was taken under arrest near Narva, but soon the troops would free him, and after some time the excited crowd shouted: “Hurray, Constantine!”

4. Provocateurs

Meanwhile, regiments loyal to Emperor Nicholas arrived on the square. A confrontation arose: on the one hand, the rebels and the incited people, on the other, the defenders of the new emperor. Trying to persuade the rebels to return to the officers' barracks, the crowd threw logs from a dismantled woodpile near St. Isaac's Cathedral. One of the rebels is a hero Caucasian War Yakubovich, who came to Senateskaya and was appointed commander of the Moscow regiment, cited a headache and disappeared from the square. Then he stood in the crowd near the emperor for several hours, and then approached him and asked permission to go to the rebels to persuade them to lay down their arms. Having received consent, he went to the chain as a parliamentarian and, approaching Kuchelbecker, said in an undertone: “Hold on, they are severely afraid of you,” and left. Today on the Maidan he would be considered a titushka.

5. “Noble” shot

However, soon it came to clashes. General Miloradovich went to the rebels for negotiations and was killed by a shot from Kakhovsky. The hero Kakhovsky, if you look at him through a magnifying glass, turns out to be very interesting personality. A Smolensk landowner, lost to smithereens, he came to St. Petersburg in the hope of finding a rich bride, but he failed. By chance he met Ryleev and he pulled him into a secret society. Ryleev and other comrades supported him in St. Petersburg at their own expense. And when the time came to pay the benefactors’ bills, Kakhovsky, without hesitation, fired. After this, it became clear that it would no longer be possible to reach an agreement.
6. Pointless and merciless

In Soviet times, a myth was created about the unfortunate sufferers - the Decembrists. But for some reason no one is talking about the real victims of this senseless riot. While few were killed among the members of the secret societies who stirred up this mess, the full charm of buckshot was felt by the common people and the soldiers drawn into the massacre. Taking advantage of the indecision of the rebels, Nikolai managed to transfer artillery, shot at the rebels with grapeshot, people and soldiers scattered, many fell through the ice and drowned while trying to cross the Neva. The result is deplorable: among the mob - 903 killed, minors - 150, women - 79, lower ranks of soldiers - 282.

7. Everything is secret...

IN lately The following version of the reasons for the rebellion is gaining momentum. If you look closely, all the threads lead to Konstantin, in whom you can see the true customer. The Decembrist revolutionaries, who kept papers in their desks about the reconstruction of Russia, the adoption of a constitution, and the abolition of serfdom, for some reason began to force the soldiers to swear allegiance to Constantine. Why did people opposed to the monarchy do this? Maybe because they were directed by someone who benefited from it. It is no coincidence that Nikolai, having launched an investigation into the uprising, and he was personally present during the interrogations, said that they should not look for the guilty, but give everyone the opportunity to justify themselves, since he probably knew who was behind it, and did not want to wash dirty linen in public. Well, one more conspiracy theory and eloquent fact. As soon as Konstantin left Warsaw after the next Polish uprising and ended up in Vitebsk, he suddenly fell ill with cholera and died a few days later.

What other points are not only in doubt, but maybe in to a greater extent“not for discussion”?

First of all, regicide.

Moreover, as S. G. Nechaev, the head of the “People’s Retribution” society, later said, “with the entire great litany” (today they would say “the entire payroll”) the august family, including the grand duchesses extradited abroad and their offspring, had to die. So that no one can lay claim to the throne.

The thought of the immorality of such a step, of course, occurred to the leaders of the conspiracy. And if they themselves were ready to step over mental anguish, then neither the crowd, nor numerous ordinary participants, nor even a number of high-ranking colleagues, for example, Prince S.P. Trubetskoy, shared bloodthirsty aspirations.

Therefore, the so-called “act of retaliation” had to be carried out. “doomed cohort” - a detachment of several people who knew in advance that they were sacrificing themselves. They undertook to kill representatives of the royal house, and then the new government of the republic would execute them, dissociating itself from the bloody massacre. So, A.I. Yakubovich promised to shoot Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, and V.K. Kuchelbecker - Mikhail Pavlovich. As the latter later told his brother: “The most amazing thing is that they didn’t kill us.”

The logic is well known: what is the death of one family compared to the happiness of millions? But the extermination of the reigning house seems to give a free hand for bloody atrocities in the rest of the country. Punitive authorities, the creation of which was envisaged by Pestel, should have numbered 50 thousand people. Later, 4 thousand served in the Corps of Gendarmes, including the lower ranks - essentially internal troops. Why did Pestel need so much? In order to “persuad” compatriots who do not agree to a republic. So the royal family would be followed not by great, but numerous families. Is it only nobles? Experience of the beginning of the 20th century. shows that it is not far away.

How they handed over their

Historians are now studying internal strife in the circle of conspirators and know that at the Moscow Congress of 1821, for the first time in Russian history, the question of predatory expropriations - money for the revolution - was raised. That spying on each other and opening letters were not alien to the heroes of December 14th. Their behavior after their arrest in the fortress is so shocking to novice researchers that they had to come up with two mutually exclusive myths. The nobleman answers according to the first request, so the arrested did not hide anything, called their comrades, and told everything they knew.

Another option: the Decembrists wanted to give the impression of a large organization so that the government would be scared and make concessions. Thus, Prince S.G. Volkonsky, at the very first interrogation, listed the names of 22 members of the society, some of whom turned out to be completely uninvolved. That is, he slandered people.

Letters of repentance were written to the emperor, services were offered to reveal “all the hidden sides of the conspiracy.” In the hope of saving themselves, they confessed almost in a race. Perhaps K. F. Ryleev showed more than anyone. Although no methods of physical coercion were used against those arrested. I would very much like to find similar facts in early Soviet historiography. But alas...

And torture was prohibited by law. And the sovereign and the investigators are not cut out for this. Of course, people are not sinless, but there is a line beyond which the authorities at that time did not go. As they wrote then:

"IN Peter and Paul Fortress there were frightened boys who had been grabbed by the hand after the “festival of disobedience” and who were now repeating: we won’t do it again.”

Here are excerpts from the book by Prof. Gernet "History of the Tsar's Prison", published by the Bolsheviks.

The Decembrists did not need anything financially. During the 10 years of their stay in hard labor, the prisoners received from relatives, not counting countless parcels of things and food, 354,758 rubles, and their wives - 778,135 rubles, and this is only through official means; undoubtedly, they managed to receive money secretly from the administration.”

A new building with 64 rooms was waiting for them in Petrovskaya. Singles - one, married - two.

They woke up Herzen

It is to A.I. Herzen, a talented journalist who worked in England, that we owe the Decembrist myth. Later painting It only became more complicated, but did not change in essence.

The printing house of “The Bell” and “The Polar Star” was located in London. England after Napoleonic Wars- the largest heavyweight player on the European stage. The most dangerous enemy of the Russian Empire. Therefore, support for the opposition journalist was always provided. For example, Nikolai Turgenev, one of the then “Decembrist” defectors, was hiding in London. Master of high dedication. The man whom Alexander I was afraid to arrest at home, simply writing to him: “My brother, leave Russia” (by the way, this phrase is disputed). But Nicholas I demanded extradition.

Where would we be without the Masons?

Here is another version:

All ideological basis as the first Russian secret political unions that arose after Patriotic War and later ones - not Russian, alien. All of them are copied from foreign samples. Some researchers of the history of the Decembrist uprising claim that the charter of the “Union of Welfare” was copied from the charter of the German “Tugendbund”. But most likely, the origins of the political ideas of the Decembrists must be sought in the political ideas of European Freemasonry and in the ideas of the “Great” french revolution, which again lead us to Masonic ideas about “universal brotherhood, equality and freedom.”

From the same letter from Count Boileconte we learn who the instigators of these rebellious sentiments were. These were the Freemasons, of whom, as we remember, the army abounded.

Many of the Decembrists passed through Masonic lodges. In the charter of the Union of Salvation, Tseitlin rightly points out, “Masonic features are clearly visible, and subsequently one can trace the secret underground streams of Freemasonry in the political movement of those years”. Tseitlin is a Jew and he knew what he was writing.

N. Berdyaev also admits that the Decembrist conspiracy grew ideologically from Masonic ideas.

There is no way to list the names of everyone who, after the end of World War II, were members of Masonic lodges of all kinds. Freemasonry pursued, as before, two goals: to undermine Orthodoxy, the basis of the spiritual identity of the Russian people and the source of its spiritual strength, and to completely undermine the autocracy.

In order to overthrow the autocracy, officers who were in Masonic lodges, began preparations for the destruction of the autocracy. The Decembrist uprising was the realization of the plans of the Freemasons, for which it had been preparing for decades. The Decembrist uprising is essentially an uprising of the Freemasons.

Here is another series of versions for those who might be interested: "Murka" from MUR. Two versions, here it is. Many people argue, is it really? and here it is. Let's also remember about, as well as The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -