In Russia between the 16th and 18th centuries there were many popular uprisings. They all have various reasons. However, such speeches can be divided into two broad categories - religious and economic.

Peasant and urban protests were directed against the power of the boyars, rising prices, and increasing serfdom. And the performances of the Old Believers were exclusively of a religious nature.

What is the difference between the performances of the Old Believers

To understand how the performances of the Old Believers differed from peasant and urban riots, we need to understand their situation in Russia at that time:

• After the church reform of the 17th century, the Old Believers found themselves outlawed. They did not accept this reform and remained faithful to the previous religious dogmas. In fact, they found themselves in opposition to the power of the king himself. Therefore, the religious leaders of that time and state power were united in the fight against the Old Believers;
• the performances of the Old Believers represented a struggle for the right to follow their canons. This right was not recognized by anyone. Therefore, the Old Believers resisted the royal power, they did not recognize the power of the clergy;
• the performances were accompanied by mass self-immolations. They were exiled to distant monasteries, executed, and tortured.

Thus, the performances of the Old Believers are religious. They did not pursue economic or political goals. It was a struggle for religious values. This is precisely why their performances differ from the riots of peasants and townspeople. After all, they wanted relief from economic oppression from the state.

How the Old Believers fought for their faith

They burned themselves or fled from tsarist power to remote regions of Russia. For example, there were many Old Believer villages in the Russian north. There they were free and the royal officials or clergy simply could not get to them.

Many Old Believers moved to the Don and replenished the Don quality. At that time, the Cossacks were only formally subordinate to the Moscow kings. Therefore, there was no religious persecution on the Don. There are known cases of Old Believers leaving for the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Task 1. In speeches of various categories of the population in the 17th century. the most different shapes protest. Write them down in the table.

Task 2. Mark the wrong answer.

The reasons for popular uprisings in the 17th century were:
a) the growth of feudal duties;
b) securing the peasants;
c) increasing the tax burden;
d) weakening of royal power;
e) waging continuous wars;
f) attempts to limit Cossack freedom;
g) church reform;
h) reprisals against Old Believers.
Note. Waging continuous wars, leading to increased taxes or other unpopular measures (coinage copper coin), is one of the most important, but “hidden” reasons, because in none of the popular speeches do we see the conditions “down with the war”.

Task 3. Fill out the table “The Rebellion of Stepan Razin.”

Task 4. Fill out the comparison table.

Task 5. On the contour map:
a) use green arrows to indicate the movement of I. Bolotnikov’s troops in 1606-1607, mark the places of the main battles;
b) indicate the territory covered by the uprising in 1670-1671;
c) use red arrows to mark the campaign of Stepan Razin in 1667-1669;
d) arrows blue indicate the campaign of Stepan Razin in 1670 and the retreat to the Don;
e) use a special icon to mark the places of the largest armed uprisings of the Old Believers (Cherkassk, Moscow).

First stage The performances of Razin's troops (1667-1669) are usually called the “campaign for zipuns.” This was a campaign of the rebels “for booty.” Razin's detachment blocked the main economic artery of southern Russia - the Volga, and captured merchant ships of Russian and Persian merchants. The rebels captured the Yaitsky town, and then defeated the Persian fleet. Having received rich booty, in the summer of 1669, Razin returned to the Don and settled with his detachment in the town of Kagalnitsky.

Thousands of disadvantaged people began to come here from everywhere. Feeling strong, Razin announced a campaign against Moscow, where he promised “to beat all the princes and boyars and all the Russian nobility.”

in spring 1670 started second stage Razin's performances. The rebels immediately captured Tsaritsyn and approached the well-fortified Astrakhan, which surrendered without a fight. Having dealt with the governor and nobles, the rebels formed a government in a circle led by atamans Vasily Us and Fedor Sheludyak.

The success of the rebels served as a signal for the population of many Volga cities to go over to Razin’s side: Saratov, Samara, Penza and others. Among the participants in the performance were not only Cossacks and Russian peasants, but also representatives of many peoples of the Volga region: Chuvash, Mari, Tatars, Mordovians. Most of them were attracted to Razin by the fact that he declared each participant in the performance to be a Cossack (i.e., a free person). The total population of the rebel lands was about 200 thousand people.

In September 1670, the rebels besieged Simbirsk, but were unable to take it and retreated to the Don. The punitive expedition against Razin was led by the voivode prince Yu. Baryatinsky. Fearing reprisals, wealthy Cossacks captured Razin and handed him over to the authorities. After torture and trial, the leader of the rebels was quartered.

However, the uprising continued. Only a year later, in November 1671, the tsarist troops managed to occupy Astrakhan and completely suppress the uprising. The scale of reprisals against differences was enormous. In Arzamas alone, up to 11 thousand people were executed. In total, up to 100 thousand rebels were killed and tortured. The country has never known such massacres.

Speech by Old Believers

For the first time in Russia, a church schism led to mass religious protests. The Old Believers movement united representatives of various social strata, who understood in their own way adherence to the traditions of their faith. The forms of protest were also varied: from self-immolation and starvation, refusal to recognize Nikon’s reform, evasion of duties and disobedience to authorities to armed resistance to the tsarist governors. For peasant Old Believers and townspeople, this was a form of social protest.

In just 20 years (1675-1695), up to 20 thousand Old Believers died during mass self-immolations.

The largest armed uprisings of fighters for the old faith were: the Solovetsky uprising of 1668-1676, the schismatic movement during the Moscow uprising of 1682, and the uprising on the Don in the 70-80s.

The uprising of the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery was especially brutally suppressed. The bloody massacre committed by the governors against his defenders was the last event of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, who died in 1676.

However, performances by the Old Believers took place until the end of the century, already under Tsar Peter I.

Task 1. Mark the wrong answer.

The reasons for popular uprisings in the 17th century were:

d) weakening of royal power;

The list of reasons can also include increased administrative red tape.

Task 2. On the contour map.

a) use green arrows to indicate the movement of I. Bolotnikov’s troops in 1606-1607, mark the places of the main battles;

b) indicate the territory covered by the uprising in 1670-1671;

c) use red arrows to mark the campaign of Stepan Razin in 1667-1669;

d) blue arrows indicate the campaign of Stepan Razin in 1670 and the retreat to the Don;

e) use a special icon to mark the places of the largest armed uprisings of the Old Believers (Cherkassk, Moscow).

Task 3. Based on the text of the textbook and additional literature, fill out the table “The Rebellion of Stepan Razin.” Using the textbook text and additional materials, write down the main decisions.

Task 4. Graphically reflect the reasons and features of popular uprisings of the 17th century. Choose the form for presenting the material yourself.

Task 5. Using the textbook text and additional materials, fill out a comparison table.

Task 6. Which historical characters are the main ones in the painting by B.M. Kustodiev “Revolt of the townspeople in the 17th century”? Is it possible to judge by any details the nature of the event depicted in the picture?

The painting depicts townspeople, archers and boyars. In the foreground you can see a frightened boyar, and around him are indignant townspeople and service people. The indignation of the crowd shows that they are aggressive and ready to destroy everything in their path, which indicates a popular revolt.

Occurred due to an attempt by the state to replenish the treasury by introducing additional taxes on salt. 1 June 1648 Alexey Mikhailovich was returning to the Moscow Kremlin. Muscovites tried to file a complaint with him against the head of the Zemsky Prikaz, L.S. Pleshcheev. Under the pressure of the townspeople, the tsar was forced to give in: he “gave up his head” (gave him over to the crowd for reprisals) not only Pleshcheev, but also the head of the Pushkarsky order. After this uprising, similar ones broke out in many other cities: Tomsk, Ustyug Veliky, Yelets, Kursk, Kozlov. Taking advantage of the unstable situation, the nobility demanded that the tsar streamline the laws and judicial system and prepare a new conciliar code.

Copper Riot

The reason was the fact that coins began to be minted not from silver, but from copper. This in turn was caused by the depletion of the treasury. The cost of the new coins was 12-15 times less than the old ones, and traders refused to use them. In July 1662 Crowds of rebels rushed to the royal palace in the village of Kolomenskoye. The king was forced to enter into negotiations with them and promised to return the old order. The satisfied people retreated, but on the way they met a new crowd, and the procession resumed. During that time, Alexey Mikhailovich gathered troops, and the unarmed people were defeated. Brutal reprisals began against the participants in the procession: the instigators were hanged, someone's hand was cut off, someone's leg, someone's tongue. Others were sent into exile and whipped. Nevertheless, copper money was still abolished.

The uprising of Stepan Razin

The largest public performance of the century; uprising of Cossacks and peasants. The Council Code of 1649 led to the fact that many people moved to the outskirts of the country, primarily to the Don. The cause of the uprising was the miserable existence that the Cossacks and peasants led there. As a result in 1666 700 Don Cossacks under the leadership of Vasily Us headed to Moscow with a request to accept them into the royal service. As a result of the refusal, the peaceful campaign grew into an uprising, which the peasants also joined. Soon the rebels retreated back to the Don, where they joined the detachments led by Ataman Stepan Razin. First stage their performances are called a “campaign for zipuns”; it was a campaign “for prey.” The detachment blocked the main trade routes and robbed ships; The rebels captured the Yaitsky town and defeated the Persian fleet. Having received good loot, Razin summer of 1669 returned to the Don and settled with the troops in the town of Kagalnitsky, where the dispossessed and poor began to gather. Feeling confident, Razin went to Moscow, wanting to kill all the nobility. Started second stage Razin's performances. The detachment took Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan; A government was formed headed by Vasily Us and Fyodor Sheludyak. The population of many Volga cities went over to the side of the rebels: Samara, Penza, Saratov and others; each of those who joined was declared a Cossack. There were already 200,000 people in the detachment. In the meantime, an expedition against Razin was organized (it was headed by Yu. Baryatinsky). The rich Cossacks, fearing for themselves, betrayed the ataman. Stepan was drawn and quartered, but the uprising continued. Only in November 1671 A year later, the tsarist troops completely suppressed the uprising. In total, up to 100,000 rebels were killed and tortured; The country has never known such massacres.