Cossack-peasant movement against serfdom under the leadership of the famous Cossack ataman is the most powerful and ambitious in the XVIIcentury in the history of Russia. The uprising of Stepan Razin began on the Don and spread to the Caspian and Volga regions, covering large territories and affecting many nations.
The dramatic change in the social situation in the Cossackareas on the Don caused the uprising of Stepan Razin. Year after year, the situation of the peasants deteriorated. Runaway peasants flocked to the Don and Volga lands, striving to get rid of enslavement. But here, too, their position remained difficult, as the indigenous Cossacks reluctantly accepted them on their lands. This forced the "golubvennyh" Cossacks to unite and engage in robbery and looting.
Stepan Razin’s uprising began aspredatory raid of the Cossacks on the Volga lands. In 1667, Razin seized Yaitsky town on the Volga, where he was joined by many Cossacks. In 1668, the Razints ravaged the Caspian coast, and then entered into a confrontation with Iran. The Cossacks captured the city of Verakhabad, won a major victory over the Iranian fleet and in 1669 returned to the Don. The successes of Razin dramatically increased his authority among the inhabitants of the Don and Volga region, which allowed him to compensate for the losses and recruit a new army.
The peasant uprising itself Stepan Razinstarted in 1670. In the spring he moved to the Volga. His campaign was accompanied by elemental rebellions and unrest of serfs who sought to break free from enslavement. In May, Tsaritsyn was captured. Astrakhan, Saratov and Samara opened the gates to the Cossacks, where many archers and posad people passed under its start.
In autumn, the army of Stepan Razin laid siege to the fortifiedSimbirsk city. At this time, many local peoples joined the uprising: Tatars, Chuvash, Mordovians. However, the siege was delayed, which allowed the royal voevods to gather large troops. In a hurry, the tsarist government mobilized all forces to suppress the uprising and sent 60 thousand troops to Simbirsk. On October 3, 1670, under the Simbirsk between the Cossacks and the royal forces, a decisive battle took place, in which the rebels were defeated.
Wounded Stepan Razin loyal Cossacksbrought to the Don, where he was going to recruit a new army, but the homely Cossacks captured him and gave him to the royal commanders. On June 6, 1671, Stepan Razin was quartered in Moscow. However, with his death, the uprisings did not stop, many Cossack chieftains continued to struggle for another half a year. Only in November 1671, the royal troops managed to take the last stronghold of the Razintsi - Astrakhan.
Uprising led by Stepan Razin 1670-1671 unlike his previous campaigns, he was already wearingacutely social in nature, and many historians call the “peasant war”, because the population of the Don and Volga region opposed the royal power and serfdom, fighting against the dominance of power and the lawlessness of the peasantry.
Thus, the uprising of Stepan Razin began.with the Cossack robberies and gradually turned into a full-scale peasant movement, the purpose of which was to weaken taxes and duties and improve the lives of the peasantry.
