The 17th century in Russia entered under the name "rebellious". Indeed, the territory of a large state was literally covered by a wave of popular uprisings and riots. One of the most numerous city performances was the Salt Riot of 1648 (History of Russia, Grade 7), which will be discussed today.
Causes of the Salt Riot
Riots don't happen in a vacuum. They are preceded by a series of events that ultimately lead to an explosive situation in the state.
The following reasons led to the popular uprising in Moscow in 1648:
- Unbearable customs duty on the import of salt into the country : in 1646, direct taxes, which were levied directly from a person, were replaced by indirect taxes included in the price of goods. The consequence of this decision was an unprecedented increase in food prices by several times. The main consequence is the rise in the price of salt. The fact is that in those distant times, salt was the only preservative - a substance that allowed food to be stored for a sufficiently long period, and thus helped to survive crop failures. In 1647 the customs duty on salt was abolished;
- Increasing taxes for "black" settlements : the introduction of customs duties on goods actively used in everyday life did not bring the desired result. But its abolition in 1647 did not solve the economic problems of the country. To compensate for significant losses, the government embarked on a new adventure - to return the previously canceled direct taxes and increase them for the "black" settlements (petty employees, merchants, artisans and others);
- Ill-conceived economic and social policy of the government, arbitrariness of the authorities
: the Russian government under the command of the boyar B.I. Morozov, in an effort to increase the revenues of the treasury, went to abuse (reducing salaries for service people, burdensome taxes, increasing prices for goods).
Thus, in the minds of the common people there were several "offenders": the main confidant of the tsar and his tutor boyar Morozov, responsible for the "black" settlements of the city of Pleshcheev and the author of the "salt" tax Nazariy Chistoy.
Rice. 1. Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich
Course of events
Briefly about the Salt Riot tells the following table. It presents the main dates, description and participants of the urban uprising.
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Event date |
Description of the event |
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A small group of townspeople decided to convey a complaint to the tsar - a petition. Alexei Mikhailovich was stopped by a crowd on Sretenka at the moment when he was returning from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The common people had several demands: to convene a Zemsky Sobor, stop arbitrariness and corruption, expel the guilty boyars. However, the crowd was dispersed by archers on the orders of Morozov. About 16 people, among them leaders, were arrested. |
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The arrest did not calm the people, on the contrary, they gathered again and went to the Kremlin to hand over the petition to Alexei Mikhailovich. They were not allowed, and the boyars publicly tore the paper. Such neglect caused a real storm that swept through all of Moscow, destroying the houses of the boyars, setting fire to Bely and Kitay-gorod, and wanting only one thing - to tear apart the main "culprits" of their troubles - Morozov, Pleshcheev and Chisty. Streltsy were sent to put an end to the unrest. But they supported the rebels, so their salaries were significantly reduced. |
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For several days, the frenzy of the crowd did not stop. The case was not limited to robberies and arson. A huge mass needed sacrifices. The first to fall into the hands of the rebels was the clerk Nazariy Chistoy, whom the people executed with their own hands, without waiting for the trial. The tsar was forced to make concessions to the rebels: Morozov's brother-in-law, the roundabout Trakhanionov and Pleshcheev, were sentenced to death. The main culprit of all the "ills" of the Russian people - the boyar Morozov, he could not give to be torn to pieces: he was his favorite and relative - the husband of the queen's sister. Alexei Mikhailovich promised people to excommunicate him from all state affairs and exiled him to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery. |
Rice. 2. “Salt Riot”, artist Ernest Lissner.
The main demands of the rebels were satisfied, so the rebellion lasted a few more days and, having boiled away, on June 10-12, 1648, came to naught.
Rice. 3. Map of Russia in the 17th century
In August of the same year, there were separate outbreaks of a popular uprising in other cities of Russia.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the uprising was crushed, the leaders were arrested and executed, it led to certain results:
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- The attitude of the king towards the people has changed: certain circumstances, events force people to unite, and this crowd can grow into a huge force capable of demanding, fighting and winning in defending their rights;
- In September 1648, the Zemsky Sobor was convened, at which the most important laws that were in force in the Russian state for the next two centuries were adopted;
- Excessive taxes have been abolished.
What have we learned?
The salt riot was an uprising of urban residents (artisans, archers, courtyards) against the introduction of a duty on the import of salt, which caused the price of the product to increase several times. The article examined the main causes of the rebellion, the course of events and the results, as well as the year in which the popular unrest occurred - in June 1648 during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
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In 1648, there was a popular uprising in Moscow, called the Salt Riot. The salt riot in Moscow was the reaction of the people to the internal policy of the government of the boyar Boris Morozov. Under him, corruption increased in Russia, arbitrariness developed, and taxes increased significantly.
Discontent grew in different layers. Boris Morozov, wanting to somehow change the current situation, decides to replace some direct taxes with indirect ones. In 1645, goods that were of the greatest importance in everyday life were subject to duties. Salt was also on the list of goods that are now subject to duty.
A pood of salt has risen in price from five kopecks to a pood, its consumption has sharply decreased. Salt immediately turned from an essential commodity into a “not for everyone” product. Many, despite the need for salt, simply could not afford to buy it.
Salt at that time was a preservative. Reducing salt intake has shortened the shelf life of many foods. Merchants and peasants were the first to suffer from this salt duty. In 1647, the salt duty was abolished due to the growing discontent of the population. In connection with the abolition of the salt tax, “holes” appeared in the treasury, which were closed by collecting the abolished direct taxes.
On June 1, 1648, he was returning from pilgrimage from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. A large crowd stopped the carriages, and began to submit petitions to the tsar against Boris Morozov and other influential officials, about whom there was a bad rumor. Alexey Mikhailovich listened to the people and went on. The crowd, not finding understanding with the king, tried to turn to the queen, but the royal guard dispersed the petitioners. Stones were thrown at the royal retinue from the crowd, 16 people were arrested.
On June 2, 1648, Alexei Mikhailovich took part in the procession. Despite the triumph, a group of active people surrounded the king and asked him to release their comrades. Alexei Mikhailovich demanded clarification from Boris Morozov. After listening, the king promised the people to sort it out, but after the prayer service.
Alexei Mikhailovich sent a delegation of several officials to negotiate, but some of them behaved disrespectfully towards the people, for which they knew his wrath. Participants of the salt riot set fire to the white city, China - the city, smashed the yards of the most hated boyars. The initiator of the salt tax Nazariy Pure was killed. Peter Trakhaniotov, Morozov's brother-in-law, suffered the same fate.
Boyar Boris Morozov was removed from power and sent into exile. Popular unrest continued until February 1649 in Kozlov, Kursk, Salt Vychegodskaya, and other Russian cities.
The result of the rebellion was the convening of the Zemsky Sobor, the abolition of the collection of tax arrears. The people got their way.
Historians believe that the 17th century was a "rebellious" century. At this time, a large number of popular uprisings, uprisings and riots took place in the country. Among many, the Salt Riot of 1648 stands out, a distinctive feature of which was the large number of its participants.
Reasons for the rebellion
Riots, like other similar unrest, do not occur in a vacuum. So the rebellion of 1648 had its reasons.
First of all, it was associated with customs changes that affected the import of salt into the country. The government replaced direct taxes with indirect ones, embedding them in the price of goods. As a result, food prices have risen several times, and the main consequence was the rise in prices for salt. Here it is necessary to note the special place of salt in a number of food products. At that time, it was the only preservative used by the population to preserve food for a longer period.
Alexey Mikhailovich
Increased taxes for the "black settlements". Since the new customs rules for everyday goods only exacerbated economic problems, the government returned the previously abolished direct taxes and significantly increased them for the "black settlements", where the main population were small employees, merchants, artisans and others.
An important factor was the abuses of the government under the leadership of the boyar B. I. Morozov. Trying to increase the revenues of the treasury, the government did not take into account the interests of the taxable population. The people, of course, quickly developed an image of offenders and those responsible for the deterioration of their lives.
Course of events
It all started when the townspeople decided to go to the king and file a complaint with him. The moment for this was chosen when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was returning from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. On June 1, 1648, the crowd stopped the royal train and tried to pass a petition. In their petition, the people asked to convene the Zemsky Sobor, reason with corrupt officials and get rid of the guilty boyars. Streltsy were involved in the dispersal, who dispersed the crowd and arrested 16 instigators.
On June 2, the unrest continued. The people gathered and moved to the Kremlin to the tsar. On the way, the crowd smashed the houses of the boyars, set fire to Bely and Kitay-Gorod. The people blamed the boyars Morozov, Pleshcheev and Chisty for all their troubles. Streltsy were thrown into dispersal, but they, in fact, sided with the rebels.
The outrages of the crowd continued for several days. The rebels wanted blood, they needed sacrifices. First, Pleshcheev was extradited to them, who was killed without trial or investigation. The head of the Ambassadorial Department, Nazariy Chisty, was also killed. Trakhaniotov tried to escape from Moscow, but was captured and executed at the Zemsky yard. Only Morozov escaped, whom the tsar himself promised to remove from all affairs and exile him to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, which was done on the night of June 11-12. The nobles who did not participate in the uprising took advantage of the general discontent. They demanded the convening of the Zemsky Sobor.
The results of the uprising
The uprising was put down. The instigators were captured and executed. But it was one of the largest popular uprisings since the Troubles, and the authorities had to take measures to calm the disgruntled people:
On June 12, a special royal decree was issued, which postponed the collection of arrears and thereby relieved the general tension.
It was decided that it was necessary to convene the Zemsky Sobor and draw up a new code of laws.
The Council Code was adopted in 1649.
The king realized that circumstances and certain conditions can force people to unite, fight and win, defending their rights.
The 17th century in Russian history gained a reputation as "rebellious". Indeed, it began with the Troubles, the middle of it was marked by urban uprisings, the last third - by the uprising of Stepan Razin.
The most important reasons for such a scale of social conflicts, unprecedented before in Russia, were the development of serfdom, the strengthening of state taxes and duties.
In 1646, a duty was introduced on salt, which significantly increased its price. Meanwhile, salt in the XVII century. was one of the most important products - the main preservative that allowed the storage of meat and fish. Following the salt, these products themselves have risen in price. Their sales fell, unsold goods began to deteriorate. This caused discontent, both consumers and merchants. Growth in government revenues was less than expected as salt smuggling developed. Already at the end of 1647, the "salt" tax was abolished. In an effort to compensate for the losses, the government cut the salaries of service people "according to the instrument", that is, archers and gunners. General discontent continued to grow.
On June 1, 1648, the so-called "salt" riot took place in Moscow. The crowd stopped the carriage of the tsar, who was returning from pilgrimage, and demanded that the head of the Zemsky order, Leonty Pleshcheev, be replaced. Pleshcheev's servants tried to disperse the audience, which only provoked even more bitterness. On June 2, pogroms of boyar estates began in Moscow. The clerk Nazariy Chistoy, whom Muscovites considered the inspirer of the salt tax, was killed. The rebels demanded that the closest associate of the tsar, boyar Morozov, who actually led the entire state apparatus, and the head of the Pushkar order, boyar Trakhaniotov, be handed over for reprisal. Not having the strength to suppress the uprising, in which, along with the townspeople, servicemen "according to the instrument" participated, the tsar yielded, ordering the extradition of Pleshcheev and Trakhaniotov, who were immediately killed. Morozov, his tutor and brother-in-law (the tsar and Morozov were married to sisters) Aleksey Mikhailovich "prayed" from the rebels and sent him into exile to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery.
The government announced the cessation of the collection of arrears, convened the Zemsky Sobor, at which the most important demands of the townsman's population to ban the transition to the "white settlements" and the nobles - to introduce an indefinite investigation of the fugitives were satisfied (for more details, see below). topic 24). Thus, the government satisfied all the demands of the rebels, which indicates the relative weakness of the state apparatus (primarily repressive) at that time.
2. Uprisings in other cities
Following the Salt Riot, urban uprisings swept through other cities: Veliky Ustyug, Kursk, Kozlov, Pskov, Novgorod.
The strongest were the uprisings in Pskov and Novgorod, caused by a rise in the price of bread due to its deliveries to Sweden. The urban poor, who were threatened by famine, expelled the governor, defeated the courts of wealthy merchants and seized power. In the summer of 1650, both uprisings were suppressed by government troops, although they managed to enter Pskov only due to strife among the rebels.
3. "Copper Riot"
In 1662, a major uprising again took place in Moscow, which went down in history as the "Copper Riot". It was caused by an attempt by the government to replenish the treasury, devastated by a difficult long war with Poland (1654-1667) and Sweden (1656-58). In order to compensate for the huge costs, the government put copper money into circulation, equating it with silver in price. At the same time, taxes were collected in silver coins, and goods were ordered to be sold with copper money. The salaries of servicemen were also paid in copper. Copper money was not trusted, especially since they were often forged. Not wanting to trade for copper money, the peasants stopped bringing food to Moscow, which caused prices to skyrocket. Copper money depreciated: if in 1661 two copper rubles were given for a silver ruble, then in 1662 - 8.
On July 25, 1662, a riot followed. Some of the townspeople rushed to smash the boyar estates, while others moved to the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow, where the tsar was in those days. Alexei Mikhailovich promised the rebels to come to Moscow and sort things out. The crowd seemed to calm down. But in the meantime, new groups of rebels appeared in Kolomenskoye - those who had previously broken the courtyards of the boyars in the capital. They demanded that the tsar extradite the boyars most hated by the people and threatened that if the sovereign "does not give them back the boyars," then they "will begin to have them themselves, according to their custom."
However, during the negotiations, archers called by the tsar had already arrived in Kolomenskoye, who fell on the unarmed crowd and drove it to the river. Over 100 people drowned, many were hacked or captured, and the rest fled. By royal order, 150 rebels were hanged, the rest were beaten with a whip and branded with iron.
Unlike the "salt", "copper" rebellion was brutally suppressed, as the government managed to keep the archers on its side and use them against the townspeople.
One of the largest uprisings in Russia in the middle of the 17th century was the mass uprising of the middle and lower strata of the townspeople, artisans, townspeople, courtyards and archers, which was called the "Salt Riot".
This was the reaction of the population to the policy pursued by the government of the boyar Morozov, who was the tutor, and later the brother-in-law of Tsar Romanov A., was the de facto ruler of the Russian state, together with Prince I. Miloslavsky.
Carrying out social and economic policy, during the reign of Morozov, arbitrariness and corruption became widespread and developed, taxes increased significantly. Many sectors of society demanded revision and changes in public policy. In order to slightly relieve tension in society, the Morozov government decided to partially replace the direct lines. This led to a decrease and even the abolition of some of them, while an additional duty was imposed on goods that were widely in demand, which were used in everyday life.
The salt riot of 1648 has its own chronology that can be traced. It began with the fact that in 1646 salt was taxed. A large jump in prices led to a reduction in its consumption and the emergence of a sharp indignation on the part of the population, because salt at that time was the main preservative. Many products began to deteriorate faster, and this caused general discontent among merchants and peasants. Thus, a salt riot was provoked, the causes of which lay in exorbitant taxes.
The tension grew and in 1647 the tax was canceled, but it was necessary to cover the arrears at the expense of something. She began to recover again from which were canceled for a short time.
The immediate reason for the uprising called the "salt riot" was the unsuccessful delegation of Muscovites to the king, which took place on 01/06/1648. The petition was directed against the dignitaries. The people demanded to convene a Zemsky Sobor and approve new legislative acts. Having ordered the archers to disperse the crowd, Morozov thereby provoked the townspeople to break into the Kremlin the next day, where they also failed to hand over the petition to the tsar.
Thus began the salt riot, the reasons for which were unwillingness to listen to the requests of the people. The city was at the epicenter of a great turmoil, which was perpetrated by angry citizens. The next day, a large number of archers joined the protesting citizens. The people again broke into the Kremlin, where they demanded that the chief who was in charge of the police service be extradited to him, and a demand was also put forward for the extradition of the Duma clerk, who was the initiator of the salt tax, as a result of which the salt riot of 1648 and the boyar Morozov, together with his brother-in-law, were formed.
The rebels set fire to the White City, and the courts of the hated merchants, boyars, devious and clerks fell under the rout. They killed and tore to pieces Chisty and Pleshcheev, who were sacrificed by the tsar. The people also considered the culprit of the duty on salt, the consequence of which was a salt riot, the devious Trakhaniotov, who fled from Moscow. He was caught up, returned and executed.
The tsar removed from power the boyar Morozov on 11/06/1648, who was sent into exile in a monastery, and uprisings continued in other cities until February 1649.
Alexei Romanov made concessions to the insurgent population. The Zemsky Sobor was assembled, the purpose of which was the adoption of a new Code and the abolition of the collection of arrears. This brought some peace to the community. In addition, the salt riot had other consequences. for the first time in such a long time he could independently make state and political decisions. The archers were given a double bread and cash salary, there was a split in the ranks of the opponents of the government, as a result of which repressions took place, and the most active participants and leaders were executed. Morozov returned to Moscow, but no longer participated in government.
