Decembrists hanged on Senate Square. Execution turned into sophisticated torture

THE DECEMBRISTS OPENED THE BLACK PAGE OF OUR HISTORY

The execution of the Decembrists is one of the darkest pages in Russian history. But who discovered it? Isn't it the same ones who brought troops to Senate Square in December 1825? And their motives - either revolutionary romantics or palace conspirators - are no longer important. The uprising did not lead to the horror of a Russian riot, but it did end in the horror of execution.

Somewhere here they were executed...

“The first cannon boomed, the grapeshot scattered; Some bullets hit the pavement and ricocheted up snow and dust in columns, others tore several rows out of the front, others rushed overhead with a squeal and found their victims among the people clinging between the columns of the Senate house and on the roofs of neighboring houses. The broken windows rang as they fell to the ground, but the people who flew down after them stretched out silent and motionless. From the first shot, seven people near me fell; I didn’t hear a single sigh, I didn’t notice a single convulsive movement... The second and third knocked down a bunch of soldiers and mobs that had gathered in crowds near our place.” So Nikolai Bestuzhev began counting the number of victims of the uprising on Senate Square on December 26 (14), 1825. Six shots of grapeshot from three guns overturned the battle formations of the rebels.

How many were there - victims of the uprising? Who counted the soldiers and commoners who remained on the ice of the Neva and fell into the ice holes?

For some reason, in the statistics of losses, memory stubbornly records only the five who were hanged and, to some extent, sent “into the depths of the Siberian ores.” Probably because of the well-known epigram on the new Emperor Nicholas I: “He reigned for a short time, but performed many miracles: he exiled 125 to Siberia, and hanged five.”

Judicial investigation

In total, more than 3 thousand people were arrested. 579 people were involved in the investigation and trial of the Decembrists.

On June 13 (1), 1826, the secret trial over the Decembrists - without their participation. According to the degree of guilt of the defendants, the Supreme Criminal Court divided them into 11 categories. Outside the ranks were the leaders of the Southern and Northern societies Pavel Pestel and Kondraty Ryleev, who led the uprising of the Chernigov regiment Sergei Muravyov-Apostol and Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin, as well as Pyotr Kakhovsky, who mortally wounded the St. Petersburg Governor-General Mikhail Miloradovich.

In early July, the court sentenced five Decembrists to death by “quartering”, 31 people to death by “cutting off their heads”, 17 to “political death” (imitation execution), and then to exile to eternal hard labor, two to “eternal hard labor." On July 22 (10), Nicholas I approved the court's verdict, making changes to it. Five “out of rank” were “pardoned” and instead of being quartered they were sentenced to hanging, 19 people to exile, 9 officers were demoted to soldiers.

Announcement of the verdict

None of the convicts knew their fate. By the will of the tsar, the rebels had to learn about the trial and the decision on the eve of the execution, in the premises of the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The organizers staged the announcement of the verdict no less gloomily than the execution of the rebellious Queen Mary Stuart. The day before, he reached the fortress from the Senate building long row carriages with members of the court. Two squadrons of gendarmes guarded the dignitaries. In the house of the commandant of the fortress, the judges sat at a table covered with red cloth.

The prisoners were brought to the commandant's house from the casemates. They hugged at an unexpected meeting and asked what it meant. When they found out that the verdict would be announced, they asked: “What, were we judged?” It turned out that yes.

The Decembrists were placed according to the categories of the sentence in separate rooms, from where they were led in groups into the hall to hear the verdict. They were taken out of the hall through other doors. In the room next to the hall there were a priest, a doctor and two barbers with bloodletting preparations in case of need to help convicts who had survived the horror of the sentence. But she wasn't needed. The chief secretary read out the verdict to the rebels.

Rehearsal for death

On the eve of the execution, a rehearsal took place. In Herzen’s almanac “Polar Star,” an anonymous witness to the execution wrote: “The construction of the scaffold was carried out in advance in the St. Petersburg city prison. On the eve of this fateful day, the St. Petersburg military governor-general Kutuzov carried out an experiment on the scaffold in prison, which consisted of throwing bags of sand weighing eight pounds on the very ropes on which the criminals were supposed to be hanged, some ropes were thicker, others thinner. Governor General Pavel Vasilyevich Kutuzov, having personally verified the strength of the ropes, decided to use thinner ropes so that the loops would tighten faster. Having completed this experiment, he ordered Police Chief Posnikov, having dismantled the scaffold piece by piece, to send it to different times from 11 to 12 o'clock at night to the place of execution..."

This testimony was supplemented by the head of the police department of the Peter and Paul Fortress, Vasily Berkopf: “The highest order was: to carry out the execution by 4 o’clock in the morning, but one of the dray horses with one of the gallows posts got stuck somewhere in the dark, which is why the execution was delayed significantly...”

Final preparations

While the final preparations were underway, the tsar allowed the sister of Sergei Muravyov-Apostol to meet with her brother. The doomed man was calm. Another convict, Kondraty Ryleev, managed to write a letter to his wife in the last hours: “At these minutes I am busy only with you and our baby; I am in such a comforting peace that I cannot express to you.” The letter ends with the words: “Farewell, they tell you to get dressed...”

At 12 o'clock at night, Governor General Pavel Kutuzov, the newly appointed chief of gendarmes Alexander Benkendorf with their staffs and other commanders arrived at the Peter and Paul Fortress, where Pavlovsky's soldiers were already located guards regiment. On the square opposite the Mint, the soldiers were placed in a square. At about three o'clock in the morning, all 120 convicts, except for five sentenced to death, were taken out of the casemates into the center of the rectangle of bayonets.

According to an eyewitness, “the weather was wonderful” and the orchestra of the Pavlovsk regiment played almost without interruption. From those who were destined for hard labor or exile in active army in the Caucasus, uniforms were torn off and thrown into the fire, swords were broken over their heads. After dressing them in gray mantles, the prisoners were sent back to the dungeons.

The path to the place of execution

The same anonymous witness, who left his notes in Herzen’s almanac “Polar Star,” completed the picture of the latest preparations. According to him, the five doomed soldiers of the Pavlovsk regiment under escort were sent to the Kronverk to the place of execution:

“The scaffold was already being built in a circle of soldiers, the criminals were walking in chains, Kakhovsky walked in front alone, behind him Bestuzhev-Ryumin arm in arm with Muravyov, then Pestel and Ryleev arm in arm and spoke to each other in French, but the conversation could not be heard. Walking past the scaffold under construction at close range, even though it was dark, Pestel, looking at the scaffold, was heard to say: “C’est trop” - “This is too much” (French). They were immediately seated on the grass at a close distance, where they remained for the most part. short time».

Another witness claimed that Pestel, seeing the gallows, said: “Don’t we deserve a better death? It seems that we have never turned our heads away from bullets or cannonballs. They could have shot us.”

Archpriest Myslovsky of the Kazan Cathedral approached the doomed to strengthen their spirit. Ryleev put his hand to his heart and said: “Can you hear how calmly it beats?” The convicts hugged each other.

Carpenters, under the leadership of military engineer Matushkin, quickly prepared a new crossbar with hooks. The old crossbar got lost somewhere along the way during the night transportation from the city prison to the fortress. Since the cavalry guard colonel Count Zubov refused to attend the execution (“these are my comrades, and I will not go”), for which he lost his career, rumor later saw the loss of the pillar as a sign of deliberate, silent sabotage. They also said that a certain poor lieutenant refused to accompany the five. “I served with honor,” he said, “and I don’t want in my declining years to become the executioner of people I respect.” Is this a legend or a confirmed fact, the sources are silent.

According to the recollections of another anonymous witness, whose memoirs were found a hundred years later in a private archive, “they were ordered to take off their outer clothing, which they immediately burned at the stake, and gave them long white shirts, which they put on, and tied quadrangular leather breastplates on which It was written in white paint - “criminal Kondrat Ryleev...” (according to another version - “Regicide” - V.K.), and so on.”

Then those sentenced to execution were escorted to Safonov’s dacha, “about 100 steps” from the gallows, and taken to different rooms to await the completion of construction. It was later said that the convicts noticed five coffins in the house, their mouths opening to swallow their victims. In the house of the prisoners they received communion: four Orthodox Christians - priest Myslovsky, Pestel - pastor Reinbot.

The last "sorry"

The carpenters' axes were clattering, there was a strong smell of smoke in the air: forests near St. Petersburg were burning. It was cloudy, it was raining, and a weak wind slightly swayed the ropes of the gallows. It was cool - 15 degrees. Sunrise broke at 3:26 am. The king ordered in advance to finish the job by four, so the executioners were in a hurry.

Those sentenced to death were again taken out of their rooms. They could only take small steps: their feet were tied. The doomed were accompanied by a priest. Pestel was so exhausted by the protracted, terrible procedure that he could not cross the high threshold. The guards were forced to lift him and carry him over the obstacle.

The final journey of the doomed was observed by the high authorities, crowded at the scaffold: Golenishchev-Kutuzov, generals Chernyshev, Benkendorf, Dibich, Levashov, Durnovo. And also Chief Police Chief Knyazhnin, Police Chiefs Posnikov, Chikhachev, Derschau, Chief of the Kronverk Berkopf, Archpriest Myslovsky, Paramedic and Doctor, Architect Gurney, five assistant quarter wardens, two executioners and 12 Pavlovian soldiers under the command of Captain Pohlman.

Police Chief Chikhachev once again loudly read the verdict Supreme Court, with the final words: “Hang for such atrocities!”

After which the poet Kondraty Ryleev, turning to his comrades, said: “Gentlemen! We must pay our last debt." They knelt down and crossed themselves, looking at the sky. “Ryleev alone spoke - he wished for the prosperity of Russia,” wrote a certain “who was present at the execution.” According to other recollections, “God save Russia...” said Muravyov.

Archpriest Myslovsky overshadowed them with a cross and read a short prayer. Then, rising to their feet, each of them kissed the cross and the priest’s hand. Ryleev asked the archpriest: “Father, pray for our sinful souls, do not forget my wife and bless my daughter.” And Kakhovsky fell on the priest’s chest, cried and hugged Myslovsky so tightly that they took him away from him doomed to death with difficulty.

Execution of the sentence

The executioner, who was supposed to carry out the sentence, according to the testimony of Knyazhnin, when he saw the faces of these people point-blank, fainted. Therefore, his assistant agreed to do his job - the convicted Stepan Karelin, a former court postilion who was serving a sentence for stealing a cloak (top women's clothing– a warm cape, common in the first half of the 19th century – V.K.).

Vasily Berkopf, the head of the control department of the Peter and Paul Fortress, recalled further: “Under the gallows, a hole of considerable size and depth was dug into the ground; it was covered with boards; criminals should have become criminals on these boards, and when the loops were put on them, the boards should have been taken out from under their feet... but due to the haste, the gallows turned out to be too high, or, more accurately, its pillars were not dug deep enough into the ground , and the ropes with their loops therefore turned out to be short and did not reach their necks. Near the shaft on which the gallows was built, there was a dilapidated building of the Merchant Shipping School, from where, on Benckendorff’s own instructions, the school benches were taken ... "

The executioners placed nooses around the necks of the doomed. “Then, according to the testimony of the assistant quarter warden, they put these bags on them... They really didn’t like the bags,” writes the warden, “they were unhappy, and Ryleev said: “Lord! What is this for?

IN last minutes The victims were in white coats, and heavy chains hung on their feet. The drummers beat an alarming beat, the flutists struck a squeaky note that threatened to end along with the lives of the doomed. Vasily Berkopf continued to testify: “The benches were placed on boards, the criminals were dragged onto the benches, nooses were put on them, and the caps that were on their heads were pulled over their faces. When the benches were taken away from under their feet, the ropes broke and three criminals fell into the pit, breaking through the boards laid over it with the weight of their bodies and shackles.”

Re-hung

Ryleev, Kakhovsky and Muravyov fell down. The executioners later suggested that the ropes had broken because they had gotten wet in the rain. Ryleev’s cap fell off, and a bloody eyebrow and blood behind his right ear were visible. He sat huddled in pain.

There are slight discrepancies in the descriptions of further details that have come down to us in the retellings of other Decembrists. Decembrist Ivan Yakushkin wrote: “Sergei Muravyov was brutally killed; he broke his leg and could only say: “Poor Russia! And we don’t know how to hang properly!” Kakhovsky swore in Russian. Ryleev didn’t say a word.”

The shocked executioners tried to straighten the collapsed boards. At the same time, it turned out that Pestel’s rope was so long that he reached the platform with his toes stretched out like a ballerina’s. He clung to life, which only prolonged his torment. It was noticeable that life was still glimmering in him under the hood for some time. Pestel and Bestuzhev-Ryumin remained in this position for another half hour, after which the doctor announced that the criminals had died.

Golenishchev-Kutuzov’s adjutant Bashutsky, who was present at the execution, recalls other details: “The bloodied Ryleev rose to his feet and, turning to Kutuzov, said: “You, general, probably came to watch us die. Please your sovereign that his wish is being fulfilled: you see, we are dying in agony.”

The head of the police department of the Peter and Paul Fortress, Vasily Berkopf, further recalled: “There were no spare (boards), they were in a hurry to get them in the nearest shops, but it was early in the morning, everything was locked, which is why the execution was delayed.”

The Governor-General sent Adjutant Bashutsky to obtain other ropes to re-hang the condemned.

There was a terrible pause. The doomed now knew exactly what they were about to experience again.

The Decembrist I. Gorbachevsky conveys to his descendants: “Kakhovsky, at this time, while new loops were being prepared, mercilessly scolded the executor of the sentence... He scolded as no commoner had ever scolded: scoundrel, scoundrel, you don’t even have a strong rope; give your aiguillette to the executioners instead of a rope.”

After which the whole procedure was repeated for the three unfortunates. Later, the governor-general wrote to the tsar: “The execution ended with due silence and order, both from the troops who were in the ranks and from the spectators, of whom there were few. Due to the inexperience of our executioners and the inability to arrange gallows the first time, three, namely: Ryleev, Kakhovsky and Muravyov, fell through, but were soon hanged again and received a well-deserved death. Which I most submissively report to your Majesty.”

After the execution

After examination by doctors, the corpses were removed from the gallows, placed on a cart and covered with canvas. The cart with the bodies was taken to the destroyed building of the merchant shipping school. And the next night, as chief police chief B. Knyazhnin wrote: “I ordered the dead bodies to be taken out of the fortress to the distant rocky shores of the Gulf of Finland, to dig one large hole in the coastal wooded bushes and to bury everyone together, leveling them to the ground, so that there would be no indication of where they are buried..."

In the evening after the execution, the officers of the cavalry regiment, from which many Decembrists emerged, gave a holiday in honor of the reigning empress on Elagin Island with a magnificent fireworks display. And the military engineer Matushkin was later demoted to the ranks of soldiers for poor construction of the scaffold. The Tsar issued a manifesto about consigning to oblivion the entire cause of the Decembrists.

And two months later, in the papers of Catherine II’s late grandmother, the emperor discovered a draft constitution drawn up by Catherine’s advisor, Count Nikita Panin. The document spoke of granting the people the freedoms for which the Decembrists fought. The new king ordered the paper to be hidden more securely until another time.

“Hang for such atrocities,” ended the verdict of the Supreme Court, which was read by the chief of police on the night of July 25, 1826, in one of the fortifications of the Peter and Paul Fortress. A few minutes later, five ideologists and participants in the Decembrist uprising were executed - some not even on the first attempt: Pestel, Ryleev, Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Kakhovsky.

Ryleev, like his comrade Kakhovsky, left with military service in order to fully devote himself to literature - the first examples of so-called “civil poetry” belong to his pen. In addition to poetic tasks, he also had to fulfill the duties of an official in various government departments: for example, Ryleev served in the chamber of the criminal court and the office of the Russian-American Trading Company.

Several years before the uprising, Ryleev headed the Northern Society of Decembrists. He, as it turned out later, was one of the main organizers of the riot, since he “participated in all plans for outrage and gave instructions on how to excite the lower ranks and act in the square.”

It is no coincidence that during interrogations Ryleev took all the blame on himself - he tried to justify his comrades and relieve them of at least part of the responsibility. In the prison fortress, the poet scrawled his last quatrain on the wall: “Prison is an honor to me, not a reproach / I am in it for a just cause, / And should I be ashamed of these chains, / When I wear them for the Fatherland!”

“Father, pray for our sinful souls, don’t forget my wife and bless your daughter,” they were last words Ryleeva. However, according to one version, having fallen from the rope due to an error by the executioner and falling inside the scaffold, Ryleev managed to add: “An unfortunate country where they don’t even know how to hang you.”

On the eve of the Decembrist uprising, Kakhovsky, who had retired from service and was left without friends and connections, succumbed to radical ideas for those times: he traveled around Europe, inspired by the revolutionary ones in Spain, Portugal and Spain, and did not let go of books about the formation of democracy in Ancient Greece.

Having become a staunch republican, Kakhovsky became friends with Kondraty Ryleev, through whom he got into the Northern Society of Decembrists. Kakhovsky faced a difficult choice: to participate in political activities in Russia or to leave to fight for the independence of Greece. Still, the former lieutenant remained in his homeland and began, together with his comrades, to hatch plans to overthrow the autocracy. Kakhovsky, by the way, although he was considered radical at that time, he did not try on the role of a regicide - when he was offered to get into Winter Palace and kill Nicholas I, he did not hesitate, but still refused.

On December 26, the day of the uprising, Kakhovsky went around the barracks and agitated the soldiers to join the rebellion. Already on Senate Square, Kakhovsky wounded - as it turned out later, mortally - the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Miloradovich, who was trying to persuade the rebels to disperse. As a result, the court named him one of the main criminals: the quartering was replaced by hanging, but due to the inexperience of the executioner it had to be carried out several times - Kakhovsky fell from the noose.

During the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was still listed as a second lieutenant, which allowed him to conduct widespread agitation among the troops. Bestuzhev-Ryumin also took an active part in the compilation of the revolutionary “Catechism”, which was read out to the rebel soldiers.

The military man, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, was convinced that the revolution in Russia would take place without a single drop of blood, similar to the Spanish one, since it would be carried out by the army without the participation of the people. Perhaps that is why, having met government troops during the uprising of the Chernigov regiment, Bestuzhev-Ryumin did not use weapons, but simply allowed himself to be arrested, relying on the mercy of the authorities.

After his execution, he, as well as the other four hanged men, were presumably buried on Goloday Island, which is now called Decembrist Island.

Like many other Decembrists, Ant-Apostol was a member of the Masonic lodge. Perhaps from there he developed a love for secret societies, which he subsequently joined. Muravyov-Apostol was among the co-founders of the “Union of Prosperity” and the “Union of Salvation”, and was also responsible for establishing connections with foreign secret societies.

Among the Decembrists, Muravyov-Apostol was one of the most radical: he carried out active propaganda work in the ranks of the army (where, by the way, like everyone else, he had previously served) and even agreed to personally kill the tsar, but it was never possible to develop a plan.

Muravyov-Apostol did not participate in the general performance on Senate Square, but after that he headed the Chernigov regiment in the Kyiv province. He was executed along with four other comrades; Muravyov-Apostol became one of those who had to be put on the scaffold again.

Of all the Decembrists, Pestel was perhaps one of the most honored military men: the discipline in his regiments was praised by Emperor Alexander I himself. Pestel participated in countless battles, in the Patriotic War of 1812 he was even wounded, which, however, did not prevent him from speaking out against the existing state system.

One of the founders of the “Union of Welfare” and the Southern Secret Society, Pestel even compiled “Russian Truth” - this is a constitutional project, the main expression of the ideas of the secret society, written in a clearly republican spirit. Actually, for the most part, Pestel paid for it. The charges of the investigative commission against Pestel were built precisely around this document. History also includes the last words of Pestel, spoken before his execution: “What you sow must come back and will certainly come back later.”

The thing is that historically the Decembrists in Russia were the first who dared to oppose the power of the Tsar. It is interesting that the rebels themselves began to study this phenomenon; they analyzed the reasons for the uprising on Senate Square and its defeat. As a result of the execution of the Decembrists, Russian society lost the very flower of enlightened youth, because they came from families of the nobility, glorious participants in the War of 1812.

Who are the Decembrists

Who are the Decembrists? They can be briefly characterized as follows: these are members of several political societies fighting for the abolition of serfdom and the change state power. In December 1825 they organized an uprising, which was brutally suppressed. 5 people (leaders) were executed, shameful for officers. Decembrist participants were exiled to Siberia, some were shot in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Causes of the uprising

Why did the Decembrists revolt? There are several reasons for this. The main one, which they all, as one, reproduced during interrogations in the Peter and Paul Fortress - the spirit of freethinking, faith in the strength of the Russian people, tired of oppression - all this was born after the brilliant victory over Napoleon. It is no coincidence that 115 people from among the Decembrists were participants Patriotic War 1812. Indeed, during military campaigns, liberating European countries, they did not encounter the savagery of serfdom anywhere. This forced them to reconsider their attitude towards their country as “slaves and masters.”

It was obvious that serfdom has outlived its usefulness. Fighting side by side with the common people, communicating with them, the future Decembrists came to the idea that people deserve a better fate than a slave existence. The peasants also hoped that after the war their situation would change in better side, because they shed blood for the sake of their homeland. But, unfortunately, the emperor and most of the nobles firmly clung to the serfs. That is why, from 1814 to 1820, more than two hundred peasant uprisings broke out in the country.

The apotheosis was the revolt against Colonel Schwartz of the Semenovsky Guards Regiment in 1820. His cruelty towards ordinary soldiers crossed all boundaries. Activists of the Decembrist movement, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol and Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin, witnessed these events, as they served in this regiment. It should also be noted that a certain spirit of freethinking was instilled in most of the participants at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum: for example, its graduates were I. Pushchin, V. Kuchelbecker, and the freedom-loving poems of A. Pushkin were used as inspired ideas.

Southern Society of Decembrists

It should be understood that the Decembrist movement did not arise out of nowhere: it grew out of world revolutionary ideas. Pavel Pestel wrote that such thoughts go “from one end of Europe to Russia”, even covering such opposite mentalities as Turkey and England.

The ideas of Decembrism were realized through the work of secret societies. The first of them are the Union of Salvation (St. Petersburg, 1816) and the Union of Welfare (1818). The second arose on the basis of the first, was less secretive and included larger number members. It was also dissolved in 1820 due to differences of opinion.

In 1821, a new organization emerged, consisting of two Societies: Northern (in St. Petersburg, headed by Nikita Muravyov) and Southern (in Kyiv, headed by Pavel Pestel). Southern society had more reactionary views: in order to establish a republic, they proposed killing the tsar. The structure of the Southern Society consisted of three departments: the first, along with P. Pestel, was headed by A. Yushnevsky, the second by S. Muravyov-Apostol, the third by V. Davydov and S. Volkonsky.

Leaders of the Decembrists: 1.Pavel Ivanovich Pestel

The leader of the Southern Society, Pavel Ivanovich Pestel, was born in 1793 in Moscow. He receives an excellent education in Europe, and upon returning to Russia begins service in the Corps of Pages - especially privileged among the nobles. The pages are personally acquainted with all members of the imperial family. Here the freedom-loving views of young Pestel first appear. Having brilliantly graduated from the Corps, he continues to serve in the Lithuanian Regiment with the rank of ensign of the Life Guards.

Pavel Pestel

During the War of 1812, Pestel was seriously wounded. Having recovered, he returns to service and fights bravely. By the end of the war, Pestel received many high awards, including a golden award weapon. After World War II, he was transferred to serve in the Cavalry Regiment - at that time the most prestigious place of service.

While in St. Petersburg, Pestel learns about a certain secret society (the Union of Salvation) and soon joins it. Paul's revolutionary life begins. In 1821, he headed the Southern Society - in this he was helped by magnificent eloquence, a wonderful mind and the gift of persuasion. Thanks to these qualities, in his time he achieved unity of views of Southern and Northern societies.

Pestel's Constitution

In 1823, the program of the Southern Society, compiled by Pavel Pestel, was adopted. It was unanimously accepted by all members of the association - future Decembrists. Briefly it contained the following points:

• Russia must become a republic, united and indivisible, consisting of 10 districts. Public administration will be carried out by the People's Assembly (legislatively) and the State Duma (executively).
• In resolving the issue of serfdom, Pestel proposed to immediately abolish it, dividing the land into two parts: for peasants and for landowners. It was assumed that the latter would rent it out for farming. Researchers believe that if the 1861 reform to abolish serfdom had gone according to Pestel’s plan, the country would very soon have taken a bourgeois, economically progressive path of development.
• Abolition of the institution of estates. All the people of the country are called citizens, they are equally equal before the law. Personal freedoms and inviolability of person and home were declared.
• Tsarism was categorically not accepted by Pestel, so he demanded the physical destruction of the entire royal family.

It was assumed that "Russian Truth" would come into force as soon as the uprising ended. It will be the fundamental law of the country.

Northern Society of Decembrists

Northern society begins to exist in 1821, in the spring. Initially, it consisted of two groups that later merged. It should be noted that the first group was more radical in orientation; its participants shared Pestel’s views and fully accepted his “Russian Truth”.

Activists of the Northern Society were Nikita Muravyov (leader), Kondraty Ryleev (deputy), princes Obolensky and Trubetskoy. Ivan Pushchin played not the least role in the Society.

The Northern Society operated mainly in St. Petersburg, but it also had a branch in Moscow.

The path to uniting Northern and Southern societies was long and very painful. They had fundamental differences on some issues. However, at the congress in 1824 it was decided to begin the process of unification in 1826. The uprising in December 1825 destroyed these plans.

2. Nikita Mikhailovich Muravyov

Nikita Mikhailovich Muravyov comes from a noble family. Born in 1795 in St. Petersburg. Received an excellent education in Moscow. The War of 1812 found him in the rank of collegiate registrar at the Ministry of Justice. He runs away from home for the war and makes a brilliant career during the battles.

Nikita Muravyov

After the Patriotic War, he begins to work as part of secret societies: the Union of Salvation and the Union of Welfare. In addition, he writes the charter for the latter. He believes that a republican form of government should be established in the country; only a military coup can help this. During a trip to the south he meets P. Pestel. Nevertheless, he organizes his own structure - the Northern Society, but does not break ties with like-minded people, but, on the contrary, actively cooperates.

He wrote the first edition of his version of the Constitution in 1821, but it did not find a response from other members of the Societies. A little later he will reconsider his views and release new program, offered by the Nordic Society.

Muravyov's Constitution

The Constitution of N. Muravyov included the following positions:

• Russia should become a constitutional monarchy: the legislative branch is the Supreme Duma, consisting of two chambers; executive - the emperor (also the supreme commander in chief). It was separately stipulated that he did not have the right to start and end the war on his own. After a maximum of three readings, the emperor had to sign the law. He had no right to veto; he could only delay the signing in time.
• When serfdom is abolished, the landowners' lands will be left to the owners, and the peasants - their plots, plus 2 tithes will be added to each house.
• Suffrage– only to land owners. Women, nomads and non-owners stayed away from him.
• Abolish the institution of estates, level everyone with one name: citizen. The judicial system is the same for everyone. Muravyov was aware that his version of the constitution would meet fierce resistance, so he provided for its introduction with the use of weapons.

Preparing for the uprising

The secret societies described above lasted 10 years, after which the uprising began. It should be said that the decision to revolt arose quite spontaneously.

While in Taganrog, Alexander I dies. Due to the lack of heirs, the next emperor was to be Constantine, Alexander's brother. The problem was that he secretly abdicated the throne at one time. Accordingly, the board passed to the younger brother, Nikolai. The people were in confusion, not knowing about the renunciation. However, Nicholas decides to take the oath on December 14, 1825.

Nicholas I

Alexander's death became the starting point for the rebels. They understand that it is time to act, despite the fundamental differences between Southern and Northern societies. They were well aware that they had catastrophically little time to prepare well for the uprising, but they believed that it would be criminal to miss such a moment. This is exactly what Ivan Pushchin wrote to his lyceum friend Alexander Pushkin.

Gathering on the night before December 14, the rebels prepare a plan of action. It boiled down to the following points:

• Appoint Prince Trubetskoy as commander.
• Occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress. A. Yakubovich and A. Bulatov were appointed responsible for this.
• Lieutenant P. Kakhovsky was supposed to kill Nikolai. This action was supposed to be a signal to action for the rebels.
• Conduct propaganda work among the soldiers and win them over to the side of the rebels.
• It was up to Kondraty Ryleev and Ivan Pushchin to convince the Senate to swear allegiance to the emperor.

Unfortunately, the future Decembrists did not think through everything. History says that traitors from among them made a denunciation of the impending rebellion to Nicholas, which finally convinced him to appoint the oath to the Senate in the early morning of December 14.

The uprising: how it happened

The uprising did not go according to the scenario that the rebels had planned. The Senate manages to swear allegiance to the emperor even before the campaign.

However, regiments of soldiers in order of battle lined up on Senate Square, everyone is waiting for decisive action from the leadership. Ivan Pushchin and Kondraty Ryleev arrive there and assure the imminent arrival of the command, Prince Trubetskoy. The latter, having betrayed the rebels, sat out in the royal General Staff. He was unable to take the decisive action that was required of him. As a result, the uprising was suppressed.

Arrests and trial

The first arrests and executions of the Decembrists began to take place in St. Petersburg. An interesting fact is that the trial of those arrested was not carried out by the Senate, as it should have been, but by the Supreme Court, specially organized by Nicholas I for this case. The very first, even before the uprising, on December 13, was Pavel Pestel.

The fact is that shortly before the uprising he accepted A. Maiboroda as a member of the Southern Society, who turned out to be a traitor. Pestel is arrested in Tulchin and taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

Mayboroda also wrote a denunciation against N. Muravyov, who was arrested on his own estate.

There were 579 people under investigation. 120 of them were exiled to hard labor in Siberia (among them Nikita Muravyov), all were disgracefully demoted from military ranks. Five rebels were sentenced to death.

Execution

Addressing the court about possible way execution of the Decembrists, Nikolai notes that blood should not be shed. Thus, they, the heroes of the Patriotic War, are sentenced to the shameful gallows...

Who were the executed Decembrists? Their surnames are as follows: Pavel Pestel, Pyotr Kakhovsky, Kondraty Ryleev, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin. The sentence was read on July 12, and they were hanged on July 25, 1826. The place of execution of the Decembrists took a long time to be equipped: a gallows was built with special mechanism. However, there were some complications: three convicts fell from their loops and had to be hanged again.

In the place in the Peter and Paul Fortress where the Decembrists were executed there is now a monument, which is an obelisk and a granite composition. It symbolizes the courage with which the executed Decembrists fought for their ideals.

Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg

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190 years ago, Russia experienced events that, with a certain convention, can be considered an attempt to carry out the first Russian revolution. In December 1825 and January 1826, two armed uprisings took place, organized by the Northern and Southern secret societies of the Decembrists.

The organizers of the uprising set themselves very ambitious goals - changing the political system (replacing autocracy with a constitutional monarchy or republic), creating a constitution and parliament, and abolishing serfdom.

Until that moment, armed uprisings were either large-scale riots (in terminology Soviet period- peasant wars), or palace coups.

Against this background, the Decembrist uprising was a political event of a completely different nature, hitherto unprecedented in Russia.

The large-scale plans of the Decembrists crashed into reality, in which the new emperor Nicholas I managed to firmly and decisively put an end to the action of the fighters against the autocracy.

As you know, a failed revolution is called a rebellion, and its organizers face a very unenviable fate.

A new court was established to consider the “case of the Decembrists”

Nicholas I approached the matter carefully. By decree of December 29, 1825, a Commission was established to investigate malicious societies under the chairmanship of the Minister of War Alexandra Tatishcheva. The manifesto of June 13, 1826 established the Supreme Criminal Court, which was supposed to consider the “case of the Decembrists.”

About 600 people were involved in the investigation of the case. The Supreme Criminal Court sentenced 120 defendants in 11 different categories, ranging from the death penalty to deprivation of ranks and demotion to soldiers.

Here we must keep in mind that we are talking about nobles who participated in the uprising. Soldiers' cases were considered separately by so-called Special Commissions. According to their decision, more than 200 people were subjected to being marched through the gauntlet and other corporal punishment, and more than 4 thousand were sent to fight in the Caucasus.

“Guning” was a punishment in which the condemned man walked through the ranks of soldiers, each of whom struck him with a spitzruten (a long, flexible and thick rod made of willow). When the number of such blows reached several thousand, such punishment turned into a sophisticated form of death penalty.

As for the Decembrist nobles, the Supreme Criminal Court, based on the laws of the Russian Empire, handed down 36 death sentences, of which five involved quartering, and another 31 - beheading.

“An exemplary execution will be their just retribution”

The emperor had to approve the verdicts of the Supreme Criminal Court. Nicholas I commuted the punishment for convicts in all categories, including those sentenced to death. The monarch spared the lives of everyone who was supposed to be beheaded.

It would be a gross exaggeration to say that the Supreme Criminal Court decided the fate of the Decembrists independently. Historical documents, published after February 1917, show that the emperor not only followed the process, but also clearly imagined its outcome.

“As for the main instigators and conspirators, an exemplary execution will be their fair retribution for the violation of public peace,” Nikolai wrote to the members of the court.

The monarch also instructed the judges on exactly how criminals should be executed. Nicholas I rejected quartering, as provided for by law, as a barbaric method, unbecoming European country. Execution was also not an option, since the emperor considered the convicts unworthy of execution, which allowed the officers to maintain their dignity.

All that remained was hanging, to which the court eventually sentenced the five Decembrists. On July 22, 1825, the death sentence was finally approved by Nicholas I.

The leaders of the Northern and Southern societies were subject to the death penalty Kondraty Ryleev And Pavel Pestel, and also Sergey Muravyov-Apostol And Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who directly led the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. The fifth person sentenced to death was Pyotr Kakhovsky, who mortally wounded the Governor General of St. Petersburg on Senate Square Mikhail Miloradovich.

Inflicting a mortal wound on Miloradovich on December 14, 1825. Engraving from a drawing owned by G. A. Miloradovich. Source: Public Domain

The execution was carried out on sandbags

The news that the Decembrists will ascend the scaffold, for Russian society came as a shock. Since the time of the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna Death sentences were not carried out in Russia. Emelyan Pugacheva and his comrades were not taken into account, since we were talking about rebel commoners. The execution of nobles, even if they had encroached on the state system, was an extraordinary event.

The accused themselves, both those who were sentenced to death and those who were sentenced to other types of punishment, learned about their fate on July 24, 1826. In the house of the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress, judges announced sentences to the Decembrists, who were brought from the dungeons. After the verdict was announced, they were returned to their cells.

Meanwhile, the authorities were busy with another problem. The absence of the practice of executions for a long time led to the fact that in St. Petersburg there were neither those who knew how to build a scaffold, nor those who knew how to carry out sentences.

On the eve of the execution, an experiment was conducted in the city prison in which a hastily made scaffold was tested using eight-pound bags of sand. The experiments were personally supervised by the new Governor-General of St. Petersburg Pavel Vasilievich Golenishchev-Kutuzov.

Considering the results satisfactory, the Governor-General ordered the scaffold to be dismantled and taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Part of the scaffold was lost along the way

The execution was scheduled in the crownwork of the Peter and Paul Fortress at dawn on July 25, 1826. This dramatic act, which was supposed to put an end to the history of the Decembrist movement, turned out to be tragicomic.

As the head of the control department of the Peter and Paul Fortress recalled Vasily Berkopf, one of the cabbies transporting parts of the gallows managed to get lost in the dark and appeared on the spot with a significant delay.

From midnight in the Peter and Paul Fortress there was an execution of those convicted who escaped execution. They were taken out of the dungeons, their uniforms were torn off and their swords were broken over their heads as a sign of the so-called “civil execution”, then they were dressed in prisoner mantles and sent back to their cells.

Meanwhile, the police chief Chikhachev with an escort of soldiers of the Pavlovsk Guards Regiment, he took five people sentenced to death from their cells, after which he escorted them to the prison camp.

When they were brought to the place of execution, the condemned men saw how the carpenters, under the guidance of an engineer Matushkina They are hastily trying to assemble the scaffold. The organizers of the execution were almost more nervous than the convicts - it seemed to them that the cart with part of the gallows had disappeared for a reason, but as a result of sabotage.

The five Decembrists were seated on the grass, and they discussed their fate with each other for some time, noting that they were worthy of a “better death.”

“We must pay our last debt”

Finally they took off their uniforms, which they immediately burned. Instead, the condemned were put on long white shirts with bibs on which the word “criminal” and the name of the condemned were written.

After this, they were taken to one of the nearby buildings, where they had to wait for the construction of the scaffold to be completed. In the house on death row they received communion: four Orthodox Christians - a priest Myslovsky, Lutheran Pestel - pastor Rainbot.

Finally the scaffold was completed. Those sentenced to death were again brought to the place of execution. The Governor General was present when the sentence was carried out Golenishchev-Kutuzov, generals Chernyshev, Benckendorf, Dibich, Levashov, Durnovo, Chief of Police Knyazhnin, police chiefs Posnikov, Chikhachev, Derschau, head of the control department Berkopf, archpriest Myslovsky, paramedic and doctor, architect Gurney, five assistant quarter wardens, two executioners and 12 Pavlovian soldiers under the command of a captain Pohlman.

Police Chief Chikhachev read the verdict of the Supreme Court with the final words: “Hang for such atrocities!”

“Gentlemen! We must pay our last debt,” noted Ryleev, addressing his comrades. Archpriest Peter Myslovsky read a short prayer. White caps were placed over the heads of the convicts, which caused dissatisfaction among them: “What is this for?”

Execution turned into sophisticated torture

Things continued to go wrong. One of the executioners suddenly fainted and had to be urgently carried away. Finally sounded drum roll, nooses were placed around the necks of those being executed, the bench was pulled out from under their feet, and a few moments later three of the five hanged men fell down.

According to the testimony of Vasily Berkopf, the head of the Peter and Paul Fortress's crown guard, initially a hole was dug under the gallows, on which boards were placed. It was assumed that at the moment of execution the boards would be pulled out from under the feet. However, the gallows were built in a hurry, and it turned out that the death row prisoners standing on the boards did not reach the loops with their necks.

They began to improvise again - in the destroyed building of the Merchant Shipping School they found benches for students, who were placed on the scaffold.

But at the moment of execution, three ropes broke. Either the executors did not take into account that they were hanging the condemned with shackles, or the ropes were initially of poor quality, but three Decembrists - Ryleev, Kakhovsky and Muravyov-Apostol - fell into the pit, breaking through the boards with the weight of their own bodies.

Moreover, it turned out that the hanged Pestel reached the boards with his toes, as a result of which his agony stretched out for almost half an hour.

Some of the witnesses to what was happening felt sick.

Muravyov-Apostol is credited with the words: “Poor Russia! And we don’t know how to hang properly!”

Perhaps this is just a legend, but we must admit that the words were very suitable at that moment.

Law versus tradition

The leaders of the execution sent messengers for new boards and ropes. The procedure was delayed - finding these things in St. Petersburg early in the morning was not such an easy task.

There was one more nuance - the military article of that time prescribed execution before death, but there was also an unspoken tradition according to which the execution was not supposed to be repeated, because this meant that “the Lord does not want the death of the condemned.” This tradition, by the way, took place not only in Russia, but also in other European countries.

Nicholas I, who was in Tsarskoye Selo, could make a decision to stop the execution in this case. From midnight, messengers were sent to him every half hour to report on what was happening. Theoretically, the emperor could have intervened in what was happening, but this did not happen.

As for the dignitaries who were present at the execution, it was necessary for them to complete the matter so as not to pay with their own careers. Nicholas I banned quartering as a barbaric procedure, but what happened in the end was no less barbaric.

Finally, new ropes and boards were brought, the three who fell, who were injured in the fall, were again dragged onto the scaffold and hanged a second time, this time achieving their death.

Engineer Matushkin answered for everything

Engineer Matushkin, who was demoted to soldier for poor quality construction of the scaffold, was made the worst offender for all the omissions.

When the doctors confirmed the death of the hanged men, their bodies were removed from the gallows and placed in the destroyed building of the Merchant Shipping School. By this time it was dawn in St. Petersburg, and it was impossible to remove the corpses for burial unnoticed.

According to Chief Police Chief Knyazhnin, the next night the bodies of the Decembrists were taken out of the Peter and Paul Fortress and buried in a mass grave, on which no sign was left.

There is no exact information about where exactly the executed were buried. The most likely place is considered to be Goloday Island, where state criminals were buried since the time of Peter I. In 1926, the year of the 100th anniversary of the execution, Goloday Island was renamed Dekabristov Island, and a granite obelisk was installed there.

A company of young nobles who dreamed of changing the state of affairs in Russia. In the early stages, quite a lot of people participated in the Decembrist secret societies, and later the investigation had to think about who to consider as a conspirator and who not. This is because the activities of these societies were limited exclusively to conversations. Whether the members of the Union of Welfare and the Union of Salvation were ready to take any active action is a moot point.

The societies included people varying degrees nobility, wealth and position, but there were several things that united them.

Decembrists at the mill in Chita. Drawing by Nikolai Repin. 1830s Decembrist Nikolai Repin was sentenced to hard labor for 8 years, then the term was reduced to 5 years. He served his sentence in the Chita prison and in the Petrovsky Factory. Wikimedia Commons

They were all nobles

Poor or wealthy, well-born or not, but they all belonged to the nobility, that is, to the elite, which implies a certain standard of living, education and status. This, in particular, meant that much of their behavior was determined by the code of noble honor. Subsequently, this confronted them with a difficult moral dilemma: The noble's code and the conspirator's code obviously contradict each other. A nobleman, being caught in an unsuccessful uprising, must come to the sovereign and obey, the conspirator must remain silent and not betray anyone. A nobleman cannot and should not lie, a conspirator does everything that is required to achieve his goals. It is impossible to imagine the Decembrist living in an illegal position using forged documents - that is, the ordinary life of an underground worker in the second half of the 19th century.

The vast majority were officers

The Decembrists are people of the army, professional military men with the appropriate education; many went through battles and were heroes of wars, had military awards.

They were not revolutionaries in the classical sense

All of them sincerely considered their main goal to be service for the good of the fatherland and, had circumstances been different, they would have considered it an honor to serve the sovereign as state dignitaries. The overthrow of the sovereign was not at all the main idea of ​​the Decembrists; they came to it by looking at the current state of affairs and logically studying the experience of revolutions in Europe (and not all of them liked this idea).

How many Decembrists were there in total?

Nikolai Panov's cell in the Petrovsky Zavod prison. Drawing by Nikolai Bestuzhev. 1830s Nikolai Bestuzhev was sentenced to hard labor forever, kept in Chita and in the Petrovsky Plant, then in Selenginsk, Irkutsk province.

In total, after the uprising on December 14, 1825, more than 300 people were arrested, 125 of them were convicted, the rest were acquitted. It is difficult to establish the exact number of participants in Decembrist and pre-Decembrist societies, precisely because all their activities boiled down to more or less abstract conversations in friendly circle young people not bound by a clear plan or strict formal organization.

It is worth noting that the people who participated in the Decembrist secret societies and directly in the uprising are two not too intersecting sets. Many of those who participated in the meetings of the early Decembrist societies subsequently completely lost interest in them and became, for example, zealous security officials; in nine years (from 1816 to 1825), quite a lot of people passed through secret societies. In turn, those who were not members of secret societies at all or were accepted a couple of days before the rebellion also took part in the uprising.

How did they become Decembrists?

“Russian Truth” by Pavel Pestel. 1824 Program document of the Southern Society of Decembrists. The full name is the Reserved State Charter of the great Russian people, serving as a testament for the improvement of Russia and containing the right order both for the people and for the temporary supreme government, which has dictatorial powers.

To be included in the circle of Decembrists, sometimes it was enough to answer the question of a not entirely sober friend: “There is a society of people who want the good, prosperity, happiness and freedom of Russia. Are you with us? - and both could later forget about this conversation. It is worth noting that conversations about politics in the noble society of that time were not at all encouraged, so those who were inclined to such conversations, willy-nilly, formed closed circles of interests. In a certain sense, the Decembrist secret societies can be considered a way of socializing the then generation of young people; a way to get away from the emptiness and boredom of officer society, to find a more sublime and meaningful way of existence.

Thus, the Southern Society arose in the tiny Ukrainian town of Tulchin, where the headquarters of the Second Army was stationed. Educated young officers, whose interests are not limited to cards and vodka, gather in their circle to talk about politics - and this is their only entertainment; they will call these meetings, according to the fashion of that time, secret society, which, in essence, was simply a way characteristic of the era to identify oneself and one’s interests.

In a similar way, the Salvation Union was simply a company of comrades from the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment; many were relatives. Returning from the war in 1816, they organized their life in St. Petersburg, where life was quite expensive, according to the artel principle familiar to soldiers: they rent an apartment together, chip in for food and prescribe the details of general life in the charter. This small friendly company will subsequently become a secret society with the loud name of the Union of Salvation, or the Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland. In fact, this is a very small - a couple of dozen people - friendly circle, the participants of which wanted, among other things, to talk about politics and the ways of development of Russia.

By 1818, the circle of participants began to expand, and the Union of Salvation was reformed into the Union of Welfare, in which there were already about 200 people from Moscow and St. Petersburg, and all of them had never gathered together and two members of the union might no longer know each other personally. This uncontrolled expansion of the circle prompted the leaders of the movement to announce the dissolution of the Union of Welfare: to get rid of unnecessary people, and also to give the opportunity to those who wanted to seriously continue the business and prepare a real conspiracy to do so without unnecessary eyes and ears.

How were they different from other revolutionaries?

The first page of Nikita Muravyov's constitutional project. 1826 The Constitution of Nikita Mikhailovich Muravyov is a program document of the Northern Society. It was not officially accepted by the society, but was widely known and reflected the sentiments of the majority of its members. Compiled in 1822-1825. Project “100 Main Documents of Russian History”

In fact, the Decembrists were the first political opposition in the history of Russia, created on ideological grounds (and not, for example, as a result of the struggle of court groups for access to power). Soviet historians habitually began with them the chain of revolutionaries, which continued with Herzen, Petrashevists, Narodniks, Narodnaya Volya and, finally, the Bolsheviks. However, the Decembrists were distinguished from them primarily by the fact that they were not obsessed with the idea of ​​revolution as such, and did not declare that any transformations were meaningless until the old order of things was overthrown and some utopian ideal future was proclaimed. They did not oppose themselves to the state, but served it and, moreover, were an important part of the Russian elite. They were not professional revolutionaries living within a very specific and largely marginal subculture - like everyone else who later came to replace them. They thought of themselves as possible assistants to Alexander I in carrying out reforms, and if the emperor had continued the line that he had so boldly begun before their eyes by granting the constitution to Poland in 1815, then they would have been happy to help him in this.

What inspired the Decembrists?

The Battle of Moscow at Borodino on September 7, 1812. Painting by Albrecht Adam. 1815 Wikimedia Commons

Most of all, the experience of the Patriotic War of 1812, which was characterized by a huge patriotic upsurge, and Foreign trip Russian army of 1813-1814, when many young and ardent people saw another life up close for the first time and were completely intoxicated by this experience. It seemed unfair to them that Russia lives differently from Europe, and even more unfair and even savage - that the soldiers with whom they won this war side by side are entirely serfs and the landowners treat them like a thing. It was these topics - reforms to achieve greater justice in Russia and the abolition of serfdom - that were the main ones in the conversations of the Decembrists. No less important was the political context of that time: transformations and revolutions after the Napoleonic Wars took place in many countries, and it seemed that Russia could and should change along with Europe. The Decembrists owe the very opportunity to seriously discuss the prospects for a change of system and revolution in the country to the political climate.

What did the Decembrists want?

In general - reforms, changes in Russia for the better, the introduction of a constitution and the abolition of serfdom, fair courts, equality of people of all classes before the law. In details, they diverged, often radically. It would be fair to say that the Decembrists did not have any unified and clear plan for reforms or revolutionary changes. It is impossible to imagine what would have happened if the Decembrist uprising had been crowned with success, because they themselves did not have time and could not agree on what to do next. How to introduce a constitution and organize general election in a country with an overwhelmingly illiterate peasant population? They did not have an answer to this and many other questions. The Decembrists’ disputes among themselves only marked the emergence of a culture of political discussion in the country, and many questions were raised for the first time, and no one had answers to them at all.

However, if they did not have unity regarding the goals, they were unanimous regarding the means: the Decembrists wanted to achieve their goal through a military coup; what we would now call a putsch (with the amendment that if the reforms had come from the throne, the Decembrists would have welcomed them). The idea of ​​a popular uprising was completely alien to them: they were firmly convinced that involving the people in this story was extremely dangerous. It was impossible to control the rebel people, and the troops, as it seemed to them, would remain under their control (after all, most of the participants had command experience). The main thing here is that they were very afraid of bloodshed and civil strife and believed that a military coup would make it possible to avoid this.

In particular, this is why the Decembrists, when bringing the regiments to the square, had no intention of explaining their reasons to them, that is, they considered it unnecessary to conduct propaganda among their own soldiers. They counted only on the personal loyalty of the soldiers, to whom they tried to be caring commanders, and also on the fact that the soldiers would simply follow orders.

How did the uprising go?

Senate Square December 14, 1825. Painting by Karl Kohlman. 1830s Bridgeman Images/Fotodom

Unsuccessful. This is not to say that the conspirators did not have a plan, but they failed to carry it out from the very beginning. They managed to bring troops to Senate Square, but it was planned that they would come to Senate Square for a meeting of the State Council and the Senate, which were supposed to swear allegiance to the new sovereign, and demand the introduction of a constitution. But when the Decembrists came to the square, it turned out that the meeting had already ended, the dignitaries had dispersed, all decisions had been made, and there was simply no one to present their demands to.

The situation reached a dead end: the officers did not know what to do next and continued to keep the troops in the square. The rebels were surrounded by government troops and a shootout occurred. The rebels simply stood on Senate Street, not even trying to take any action - for example, to storm the palace. Several shots of grapeshot from government troops scattered the crowd and put them to flight.

Why did the uprising fail?

For any uprising to succeed, there must be an undoubted willingness to shed blood at some point. The Decembrists did not have this readiness; they did not want bloodshed. But it is difficult for a historian to imagine a successful rebellion, whose leaders make every effort not to kill anyone.

Blood was still shed, but there were relatively few casualties: both sides shot with noticeable reluctance, if possible over their heads. Government troops were tasked with simply scattering the rebels, but they fired back. Modern calculations by historians show that during the events on Senate Street, about 80 people died on both sides. The talk that there were up to 1,500 victims, and about the heap of corpses that the police threw into the Neva at night, is not confirmed by anything.

Who judged the Decembrists and how?

Interrogation of the Decembrist Investigative Committee in 1826. Drawing by Vladimir Adlerberg Wikimedia Commons

To investigate the case, a special body was created - “the highly established Secret Committee to find accomplices of the malicious society that opened on December 14, 1825,” to which Nicholas I appointed mainly generals. To pass a verdict, a Supreme Criminal Court was specially established, to which senators, members of the State Council, and the Synod were appointed.

The problem was that the emperor really wanted to condemn the rebels fairly and according to the law. But, as it turned out, there were no suitable laws. There was no coherent code indicating the relative gravity of various crimes and the penalties for them (like the modern Criminal Code). That is, it was possible to use, say, the Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible - no one has canceled it - and, for example, boil everyone in boiling tar or cut them on the wheel. But there was an understanding that this no longer corresponds to the enlightened 19th century. In addition, there are many defendants - and their guilt obviously differs.

Therefore, Nicholas I instructed Mikhail Speransky, a dignitary then known for his liberalism, to develop some kind of system. Speransky divided the charge into 11 categories according to the degree of guilt, and for each category he prescribed what elements of the crime corresponded to it. And then the accused were classified according to these categories, and for each judge, after hearing a note about the strength of his guilt (that is, the result of the investigation, something like an indictment), they voted on whether he corresponds to this category and what punishment to assign to each category. There were five outside the ranks who were sentenced to death. However, the sentences were made “with reserve” so that the sovereign could show mercy and mitigate the punishment.

The procedure was such that the Decembrists themselves were not present at the trial and could not justify themselves; the judges considered only the papers prepared by the Investigative Committee. The Decembrists were only given a ready verdict. They later reproached the authorities for this: in a more civilized country they would have had lawyers and the opportunity to defend themselves.

How did the Decembrists live in exile?

Street in Chita. Watercolor by Nikolai Bestuzhev. 1829-1830 Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Those who received a sentence of hard labor were sent to Siberia. According to the verdict, they were also deprived of ranks, noble dignity and even military awards. More lenient sentences for the last categories of convicts include exile to a settlement or to distant garrisons where they continued to serve; not everyone was deprived of their ranks and nobility.

Those sentenced to hard labor began to be sent to Siberia gradually, in small batches - they were transported on horses, with couriers. The first batch, of eight people (the most famous included Volkonsky, Trubetskoy, Obolensky), were especially unlucky: they were sent to real mines, to mining factories, and there they spent the first, really difficult winter. But then, fortunately for the Decembrists, in St. Petersburg they realized: after all, if you distribute state criminals with dangerous ideas among the Siberian mines, this also means with my own hands scatter rebellious ideas throughout the penal servitude! Nicholas I decided, in order to avoid the spread of ideas, to gather all the Decembrists in one place. There was no prison of this size anywhere in Siberia. They set up a prison in Chita, transported there those eight who had already suffered at the Blagodatsky mine, and the rest were taken immediately there. It was cramped there; all the prisoners were kept in two large rooms. And it just so happened that there was absolutely no hard labor facility there, no mine. The latter, however, did not really worry the St. Petersburg authorities. In exchange for hard labor, the Decembrists were taken to fill up a ravine on the road or grind grain at a mill.

By the summer of 1830, a new prison in Petrovsky Zavod, more spacious and with separate personal cells. There was no mine there either. They were led from Chita on foot, and they remembered this transition as a kind of journey through an unfamiliar and interesting Siberia: some along the way sketched drawings of the area and collected herbariums. The Decembrists were also lucky in that Nicholas appointed General Stanislav Leparsky, an honest and good-natured man, as commandant.

Leparsky fulfilled his duty, but did not oppress the prisoners and, where he could, alleviated their situation. In general, little by little the idea of ​​hard labor evaporated, leaving imprisonment in remote areas of Siberia. If not for the arrival of their wives, the Decembrists, as the tsar wanted, would have been completely cut off from their past life: they were strictly forbidden to correspond. But it would be scandalous and indecent to prohibit wives from correspondence, so the isolation didn’t work out very well. There was also the important point that many still had influential relatives, including in St. Petersburg. Nicholas did not want to irritate this layer of the nobility, so they managed to achieve various small and not very small concessions.

Internal view one of the courtyards of the casemate of the Petrovsky Plant. Watercolor by Nikolai Bestuzhev. 1830 Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

A curious social collision arose in Siberia: although deprived of nobility and called state criminals, for local residents the Decembrists were still aristocrats - in manners, upbringing, and education. Real aristocrats were rarely brought to Siberia; the Decembrists became a kind of local curiosity, they were called “our princes,” and the Decembrists were treated with great respect. Thus, that cruel, terrible contact with the criminal convict world, which happened to exiled intellectuals later, did not happen in the case of the Decembrists either.

U modern man, already aware of the horrors of the Gulag and concentration camps, there is a temptation to treat the exile of the Decembrists as a frivolous punishment. But everything is important in its historical context. For them, exile was associated with great hardships, especially in comparison with their previous way of life. And, whatever one may say, it was a conclusion, a prison: for the first years they were all constantly, day and night, shackled in hand and leg shackles. And to a large extent, the fact that now, from a distance, their conclusion does not look so terrible is their own merit: they managed not to give up, not to quarrel, maintained their own dignity and inspired real respect in those around them.