7 facts about the participants in the legendary December uprising of 1825

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On December 26, 1825, an uprising of Russian noble revolutionaries against the autocracy took place, which went down in history as the uprising of the Decembrists. This uprising, on the one hand, caused an even more serious demarcation between the noble intelligentsia and the government, and on the other hand, it was not understood by the peasantry. Many facts of those events remain controversial for historians today.

The uprising of the Decembrists - the most massive uprising of that time

The uprising of the Decembrists in St. Petersburg, in contrast to earlier attempts to seize power, became the most massive. More than 3,000 soldiers came out to Senate Square. Killed in the mutiny 1271 people, among whom, as follows from the message of the Police Department, - 1 general, 1 staff officer, 17 chief officers of different regiments, 282 lower ranks of the Life Guards, 39 people in tailcoats and greatcoats, 150 minors, 903 rabble. Almost immediately, 62 sailors of the Marine crew, 277 soldiers of the Grenadier regiment and 371 of the Moscow regiment were arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The arrested Decembrists were taken to the Winter Palace, where Emperor Nicholas I himself acted as the investigator.

Decembrist Zavalishin was exiled from Siberia back to Europe

In 1856, when the exiled Decembrists were pardoned, many of them decided to return to Moscow. Dmitry Zavalishin, who lived in Transbaikalia, once a naval officer, was in no hurry to return. He exposed abuses by local authorities and published extensively on political topics. In this regard, Governor-General Muravyov sent a petition to the emperor and by royal decree Zavalishin in 1863 was exiled from Chita back to the European part of Russia.

Decembrist Lutsky fled from penal servitude twice, and after pardon remained in Siberia

Alexander Nikolaevich Lutsky, a cadet of the Life Guards of the Moscow regiment and a direct participant in the Decembrist uprising, made an attempt at a stage to change names with one of the criminals. The attempt was successful, and he was settled under the name of Agafon Nepomniachtchi in a village near Irkutsk. However, the situation cleared up in February 1830. The case file says that he paid 60 rubles for the exchange, which at that time was more than a solid amount. For his act, Lutsky was sentenced to 100 blows with rods and sent to the Novozerentui mine of the Nerchinsk penal servitude, where he was shackled.

After a while, the administration became convinced of Lutskiy's "blameless" behavior. He was allowed to live outside the prison, although the hard labor remained unchanged. The Decembrist took advantage of this and escaped. They caught him, punished him with rods again, and this time kept him in prison, chained to a wheelbarrow.

Lutskiy spent a total of 20 years in hard labor and left for the settlement only on April 10, 1850. They settled him at the Kultuminsky mine. By that time, he had a family, and his noble origin and good education allowed Lutskiy to find a job with a salary of about 300 silver rubles a year. In 1857, by imperial decree, he and his legitimate children were given back the rights of origin.

Decembrist Pestel wrote a denunciation against a comrade for freethinking

The famous Decembrist Pavel Ivanovich Pestel commanded a regiment even before the uprising and was known for his extremely cruel attitude towards soldiers. He believed that such a conversion would cause a revolt against the king. It is also known that the Decembrist Pestel made a denunciation of his comrade Gnoevoy, where he accused him of freethinking. By the way, Pestel is the only one of the Decembrists who was brought to trial not only under a political article, but also under a criminal one - for embezzlement. It may seem rather strange today, but if the uprising succeeded, Pestel was going to expand the secret police, which under Nicholas I had 40 people, up to 50 thousand.

The plan of Chita was drawn by the Decembrist, remembering Petersburg

In exile, the Decembrists missed St. Petersburg, therefore, when the Decembrist Dmitry Zavalishin was offered to work on the urban construction plan, he planned everything out exactly in the cells, as in St. Petersburg. Therefore, there are many straight streets in Chita to this day. By the way, this city is also famous for the largest city square beyond the Urals.

It is worth noting that the exiled Decembrists subscribed to a lot of books, in foreign languages as well. The commandant, General Stanislav Romanovich Leparsky, was instructed to monitor what exactly the exiled Decembrists read. At first, he tried to read everything that the exiles ordered, but he knew only four languages, so it was difficult for him to figure it out, and he left this thankless task.

Decembrists increased the agrarian culture of the population

In exile, the Decembrists shared their progressive knowledge in agriculture with the population and even showed by their own example what “agrarian culture” means. The Decembrist Thorson, for example, built a threshing machine. Zavalishin raised breeds of dairy cows and kept more than 40 horses. He subscribed to the seeds by mail and distributed them to the peasants.

In Olekma, the Decembrist Andreev built a flour mill, Muravyov-Apostol in Vilyuisk taught the locals to plant potatoes, and Bechasnov built an oil mill near Irkutsk. The Decembrists taught local residents to set up greenhouses and lay gardens and flower beds near their houses. By the way, Raevsky's garden has survived to this day.

Siberian exile of husbands divided by 11 women

11 women decided to share the Siberian exile of their Decembrist husbands. Most of them are women from noble families - daughters of Russian princes, counts and barons. Nicholas I gave each of them the right to divorce her husband, but the women openly supported the disgraced. Even the fact that Tsar deprived them of all property and inheritance rights, allowing only beggarly living expenses, moreover, women were obliged to report their expenses to the head of the mines.

It is known that when Trubetskaya, having arrived in Siberia, saw her husband in a tattered sheepskin coat and in shackles through the crack of the prison fence, she lost consciousness.

Of the 11 women, 9 survived to the amnesty after 30 years of exile. Alexandra Muravyova, Kamilla Ivasheva and Ekaterina Trubetskaya remained in Siberia forever.