Attracts the attention of historians. A huge amount has been written scientific articles and even dissertations on this topic. What explains this interest? The whole point 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 causes of the uprising in Senate Square and his defeats. Due to 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. The uprising influenced the fate of talented poets. So, A. S. Pushkin, because of the connection with the participants secret societies, was sent into exile.

Who are the Decembrists

Who are the Decembrists? They can be briefly described in the following way: 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 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 common people, communicating with him, 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 outbreaks broke out in the country. peasant uprisings. The apotheosis was the rebellion against Colonel Schwartz Semenovsky guards regiment in 1820. His cruelty towards ordinary soldiers crossed all boundaries. Activists 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 instilled in most of the participants Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum: for example, its graduates were I. Pushchin, 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 (1918). 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 there is new organization, 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.

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. Pages are personally acquainted with all members 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.

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 had many high awards, including gold. 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 and soon joins it. Begins revolutionary life Pavel. In 1821, he headed the Southern Society - in this he was helped by his magnificent eloquence, wonderful mind and gift of persuasion. Thanks to these qualities, in his time he achieved unity of views of Southern and Northern societies.

Pestel's Constitution

In 1923, 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:

1. Russia must become a republic, united and indivisible, consisting of 10 districts. Public administration will be People's Assembly(legislatively) and the State Duma (executively).
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 (leader), Kondraty Ryleev (deputy), princes Obolensky and Trubetskoy. Not last role Ivan Pushchin played 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.

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, does brilliant career during battles.

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, it organizes its 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:

1. Russia should become a constitutional monarchy: legislature- The Supreme Duma, consisting of two chambers; executive - emperor (part-time - supreme commander). 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.
2. 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.
3. Suffrage is only for land owners. Women, nomads and non-owners stayed away from him.
4. 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, Nikolai decides to take the oath on December 14, 1925.

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. That's exactly what I wrote to my 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:

1. Appoint Prince Trubetskoy as commander.
2. Borrow Winter Palace And Peter and Paul Fortress. A. Yakubovich and A. Bulatov were appointed responsible for this.
3. Lieutenant P. Kakhovsky was supposed to kill Nikolai. This action was supposed to be a signal to action for the rebels.
4. Conduct propaganda work among the soldiers and win them over to the side of the rebels.
5. 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 are lined up in battle formation 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 actions that were 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 created 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 dishonorably demoted to 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 a 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, 1926. The place of execution of the Decembrists took a long time to be equipped: a gallows with a special mechanism was built. However, there were some complications: three people fell from their hinges and had to be re-hanged.

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

Their names are carved on the monument.

On July 13, 1826, five conspirators and leaders of the Decembrist uprising were executed on the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress: K.F. Ryleev, P.I. Pestel, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and P.G. Kakhovsky

In the first quarter of the 19th century. originated in Russia revolutionary ideology, the bearers of which were the Decembrists. Disillusioned with the policies of Alexander 1, part of the progressive nobility decided to put an end to the reasons, as it seemed to them, for the backwardness of Russia.

Attempt coup d'etat, held in St. Petersburg, the capital Russian Empire, December 14 (26), 1825, was called the Decembrist Uprising. The uprising was organized by a group of like-minded nobles, many of them were officers of the guard. They tried to use the guards units to prevent Nicholas I from ascending the throne. The goal was the abolition of the autocracy and the abolition of serfdom.

In February 1816, the first secret political society, the goal of which was the abolition of serfdom and the adoption of a constitution. It consisted of 28 members (A.N. Muravyov, S.I. and M.I. Muravyov-Apostles, S.P.T Rubetskoy, I.D. Yakushkin, P.I. Pestel, etc.)

In 1818, the organization “ Welfare Union”, which had 200 members and had councils in other cities. The society propagated the idea of ​​abolishing serfdom, preparing a revolutionary coup using the forces of the officers. " Welfare Union"collapsed due to disagreements between radical and moderate members of the union.

In March 1821, arose in Ukraine Southern Society led by P.I. Pestel, who was the author policy document « Russian Truth».

In St. Petersburg, on the initiative of N.M. Muravyov was created " Northern society", which had a liberal plan of action. Each of these societies had its own program, but the goal was the same - the destruction of autocracy, serfdom, estates, the creation of a republic, the separation of powers, and the proclamation of civil liberties.

Preparations for an armed uprising began. The conspirators decided to take advantage of the complex legal situation that had developed around the rights to the throne after the death of Alexander I. On the one hand, there was secret document, confirming the long-standing refusal of the throne by the brother next in seniority to the childless Alexander, Konstantin Pavlovich, which gave an advantage to the next brother, extremely unpopular among the highest military-bureaucratic elite, Nikolai Pavlovich. On the other hand, even before the opening of this document, Nikolai Pavlovich, under pressure from the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count M.A. Miloradovich, hastened to renounce his rights to the throne in favor of Konstantin Pavlovich. After the repeated refusal of Konstantin Pavlovich from the throne, the Senate, as a result of a long night meeting on December 13-14, 1825, recognized legal rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich.

The Decembrists decided to prevent the Senate and troops from taking the oath to the new king.
The conspirators planned to occupy the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace and arrest royal family and, if certain circumstances arise, kill. Sergei Trubetskoy was elected to lead the uprising. Next, the Decembrists wanted to demand from the Senate the publication of a national manifesto proclaiming the destruction of the old government and the establishment of a provisional government. Admiral Mordvinov and Count Speransky were supposed to be members of the new revolutionary government. The deputies were entrusted with the task of approving the constitution - the new fundamental law. If the Senate refused to announce a national manifesto containing points on the abolition of serfdom, equality of all before the law, democratic freedoms, and the introduction of mandatory for all classes military service, the introduction of jury trials, the election of officials, the abolition of the poll tax, etc., it was decided to force him to do this forcibly. Then it was planned to convene a National Council, which would decide the question of choosing a form of government: a republic or constitutional monarchy. If the republican form were chosen, royal family should have been expelled from the country. Ryleev first proposed sending Nikolai Pavlovich to Fort Ross, but then he and Pestel plotted the murder of Nikolai and, perhaps, Tsarevich Alexander.

On the morning of December 14, 1825, the Moscow Life Guards Regiment entered Senate Square. He was joined by the Guards Marine Crew and the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. In total, about 3 thousand people gathered.

However, Nicholas I, notified of the impending conspiracy, took the oath of the Senate in advance and, gathering troops loyal to him, surrounded the rebels. After negotiations, in which Metropolitan Seraphim and Governor General of St. Petersburg M.A. Miloradovich (who received mortal wound) Nicholas I ordered the use of artillery. The uprising in St. Petersburg was crushed.

But already on January 2 it was suppressed by government troops. Arrests of participants and organizers began throughout Russia. 579 people were involved in the Decembrist case. Found guilty 287. Five were sentenced to death (K.F. Ryleev, P.I. Pestel, P.G. Kakhovsky, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol). 120 people were exiled to hard labor in Siberia or to a settlement.
About one hundred and seventy officers involved in the Decembrist case were extrajudicially demoted to soldiers and sent to the Caucasus, where Caucasian War. Several exiled Decembrists were later sent there. In the Caucasus, some, with their courage, earned promotion to officers, like M. I. Pushchin, and some, like A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, died in battle. Individual participants in the Decembrist organizations (such as V.D. Volkhovsky and I.G. Burtsev) were transferred to the troops without demotion to soldiers, which took part in the Russian-Persian war of 1826-1828 and Russian-Turkish war 1828-1829. In the mid-1830s, just over thirty Decembrists who served in the Caucasus returned home.

The verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court on the death penalty for five Decembrists was executed on July 13 (25), 1826 in the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

During the execution, Muravyov-Apostol, Kakhovsky and Ryleev fell from the noose and were hanged a second time. There is a misconception that this was contrary to the tradition of inadmissibility of the second execution of the death penalty. According to military Article No. 204 it is stated that “ Realize death penalty before the onset final result ", that is, until the death of the convicted person. The procedure for releasing a convicted person who, for example, fell from the gallows, which existed before Peter I, was abolished by the Military Article. On the other hand, the “marriage” was explained by the absence of executions in Russia over the previous several decades (the exception was the executions of participants in the Pugachev uprising).

On August 26 (September 7), 1856, the day of his coronation, Emperor Alexander II pardoned all the Decembrists, but many did not live to see their liberation. It should be noted that Alexander Muravyov, the founder of the Union of Salvation, sentenced to exile in Siberia, was already appointed mayor in Irkutsk in 1828, then held various responsible positions, including governorship, and participated in the abolition of serfdom in 1861.

For many years, and even nowadays, not infrequently, the Decembrists in general and the leaders of the coup attempt were idealized and given an aura of romanticism. However, it must be admitted that these were ordinary state criminals and traitors to the Motherland. Not for nothing in the Life St. Seraphim Sarovsky, who usually greeted any person with exclamations of " My joy!", there are two episodes that sharply contrast with the love with which Saint Seraphim treated everyone who came to him...

Go back where you came from

Sarov monastery. Elder Seraphim, completely imbued with love and kindness, looks sternly at the officer approaching him and refuses him a blessing. The seer knows that he is a participant in the conspiracy of the future Decembrists. " Go back where you came from ", the monk tells him decisively. The great elder then leads his novice to the well, the water in which was cloudy and dirty. " So this man who came here intends to outrage Russia “, said the righteous man, jealous of the fate of the Russian monarchy.

Troubles will not end well

Two brothers arrived in Sarov and went to the elder (these were two Volkonsky brothers); He accepted and blessed one of them, but did not allow the other to approach him, waved his hands and drove him away. And he told his brother about him that he was up to no good, that the troubles would not end well and that a lot of tears and blood would be shed, and advised him to come to his senses in time. And sure enough, the one of the two brothers whom he drove away got into trouble and was exiled.

Note. Major General Prince Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky (1788-1865) was a member of the Union of Welfare and Southern Society; convicted of the first category and, upon confirmation, sentenced to hard labor for 20 years (the term was reduced to 15 years). Sent to the Nerchinsk mines, and then transferred to a settlement.

So, looking back, we must admit that it was bad that the Decembrists were executed. It’s bad that only five of them were executed...

And in our time, we must clearly understand that any organization that sets as its goal (overtly or covertly) the organization of disorder in Russia, the arousal public opinion, organizing protest actions, as happened in poor Ukraine, armed overthrow of power, etc. - subject to immediate closure, and the organizers to trial as criminals against Russia.

Lord, deliver our fatherland from disorder and civil strife!

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 pillars, 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 knocked over battle formations 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 “in depth” 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 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 to death by beheading, 17 to death. political death"(imitation execution), and then to exile in 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, a long line of carriages with members of the court pulled into the fortress from the Senate building. 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 scaffold was erected 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 sandbags 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 time 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, last hours managed to write a letter to his wife: “At these moments 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 soldiers of the Pavlovsk Guards Regiment were already located. On the square against Mint the soldiers were placed in a square. At about three o'clock in the morning, all 120 convicts, except 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. Those who were destined for hard labor or exile to the active army in the Caucasus had their uniforms torn off and thrown into the fire, their swords 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 were sent to the execution center under escort:

“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. Passing by a scaffold under construction in close range, although it was dark, it was heard that Pestel, looking at the scaffold, said: “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. a short time».

Another witness claimed that Pestel, seeing the gallows, said: “Don’t we deserve it? 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 Reinboth.

The last "sorry"

The carpenters' axes were clattering, there was a strong smell of smoke in the air: forests were burning near St. Petersburg. 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 officer Knyazhnin, police chiefs Posnikov, Chikhachev, Derschau, head of the police department 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 final words: “Hang for such atrocities!”

After which the poet Kondraty Ryleev, turning to his comrades, said: “Gentlemen! I have to give it back last duty" They knelt down and crossed themselves, looking at the sky. “Ryleev alone spoke - he wished for the well-being of Russia,” wrote one “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, don’t 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 that time, while new loops were being prepared, mercilessly scolded the executor of the sentence... He scolded him as no commoner had ever sworn: 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 convey to your Majesty most submissively.”

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 of Police B. Knyazhnin wrote: “I ordered the dead bodies to be taken out of the fortress to the distant rocky shores Gulf of Finland, dig one big hole in the coastal wooded bushes and bury everyone together, leveling them to the ground, so that there is no sign 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. New king ordered the paper to be hidden more securely until another time.

Decembrists. S.I. Levenkov. Mid-20th century

1826 On July 25 (July 13, old style) the execution of five participants in the Decembrist uprising took place

“All defendants were divided into 11 categories of punishment: 1st (31 defendants) - to “cutting off the head”, 2nd - to eternal hard labor, etc.; 10th and 11th - to demotion to soldier. The court placed five out of rank and sentenced to quartering (replaced by hanging) - this is P.I. Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and the murderer of Miloradovich P.G. Kakhovsky. Of the entire court, only Senator N.S. Mordvinov (admiral, first naval minister of Russia) raised his voice against the death penalty for anyone, writing special opinion. Everyone else showed ruthlessness in trying to please the king. Even three clergy (two metropolitans and an archbishop), who, as Speransky assumed, “according to their rank will renounce the death penalty,” did not renounce the sentence of the five Decembrists to quartering.

Five were executed on July 13, 1826 on the crown of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The execution was carried out barbarously. Three - Ryleev, Muravyov-Apostol and Kakhovsky - fell from the gallows and were hanged a second time. Rising to the scaffold for the second time, Muravyov-Apostol allegedly said: “Unhappy Russia! They don’t even know how to hang properly...” More than 100 Decembrists, after replacing the “beheading” with hard labor, were exiled to Siberia and - demoted to the ranks - to fight in the Caucasus against the highlanders. Some of the Decembrists (Trubetskoy, Volkonsky, Nikita Muravyov and others) were voluntarily followed to hard labor by their wives - young aristocrats who had barely managed to get married: princesses, baronesses, generals, 12 in total. Three of them died in Siberia. The rest returned with their husbands after 30 years, burying them in Siberian land more than 20 of their children. The feat of these women, the Decembrists, is sung in the poems of N.A. Nekrasov and the Frenchman A. de Vigny"

History in faces

Johann Heinrich Schnitzler:
On July 13 (25), 1826, near the ramparts, opposite the small and dilapidated Church of the Holy Trinity, on the banks of the Neva, at two o’clock in the morning they began to build a gallows of such size that five could be hanged on it. At this time of year, St. Petersburg night is a continuation of the evening twilight, and even in the early morning hour objects can be distinguished completely. Somewhere in different parts city, a faint beat of drums was heard, accompanied by the sound of trumpets: from each regiment of local troops a detachment was sent to attend the upcoming deplorable spectacle. They deliberately did not announce exactly when the execution would take place, so most of the inhabitants were asleep, and even an hour later only a very few spectators had gathered at the scene of action, no more than the assembled army that placed itself between them and the perpetrators of the execution. Deep silence reigned, only in each military detachment they beat drums, but somehow dully, without disturbing the silence of the night.

About three o'clock the same drum beat announced the arrival of those sentenced to death, but pardoned. They were distributed in groups on a fairly large area in front of the rampart, where the gallows stood. Each group turned against the troops in which the convicts had previously served. The verdict was read to them, and then they were [S. 341]they are forced to kneel. Epaulets, insignia and uniforms were torn off from them; Each one has a broken sword. Then they were dressed in rough gray overcoats and led past the gallows. A fire was burning right there, into which their uniforms and insignia were thrown. They had just entered the fortress when five men condemned to death appeared on the rampart. Due to the distance, it was difficult for spectators to recognize their faces; only gray overcoats with the tops raised were visible, which covered their heads. They ascended one after another onto the platform and onto the benches placed side by side under the gallows, in the order as prescribed in the sentence. Pestel was on the far right, Kakhovsky on the left. Each had a rope wrapped around his neck; the executioner stepped off the platform, and at the same moment the platform fell down. Pestel and Kakhovsky hung, but the three who were between them were spared death. A terrible sight presented itself to the spectators. Poorly tightened ropes slipped along the top of their greatcoats, and the unfortunate people fell down into the gaping hole, hitting stairs and benches. Since the Emperor was in Tsarskoe Selo and no one dared to give an order to postpone the execution, they had, in addition to terrible bruises, to experience the death throes twice. The platform was immediately straightened and those who had fallen were lifted onto it. Ryleev, despite the fall, walked firmly, but could not resist a sorrowful exclamation: “And so they will say that I couldn’t do anything, not even die!” Others claim that he also exclaimed: “ Cursed land, where they don’t know how to plot, judge, or hang!” These words are also attributed to Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, who, like Ryleev, cheerfully ascended to the platform. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, who probably suffered more severe bruises, could not stand on his feet, and they carried him up. They tied ropes around their necks again, and this time successfully. A few seconds passed, and the beating of drums announced that human justice had been served. It was close to five o'clock. The troops and spectators dispersed in silence. An hour later the gallows were removed. The people who crowded around the fortress during the day no longer saw anything. He did not allow himself any expressions and remained in silence.

The accession to the throne of Nicholas I was marked by an uprising on Senate Square on December 14, 1825, its suppression and execution of the Decembrists.

It was the strangest rebellion that has ever risen against the existing system. In any case, it started out as the most bloodless.

More than three thousand guardsmen under the command of noble officers gathered on Senate Square in the capital. The Moscow Guards Regiment was the first to enter the square. He was inspired to revolt by the revolutionary speech of officer Alexander Bestuzhev. The regimental commander, Baron Frederick, wanted to prevent the rebels from entering the square, but fell with a severed head under the blow of the saber of officer Shchepin-Rostovsky.

Soldiers of the Moscow Regiment came to Senate Square with the regimental banner flying, loading their guns and taking live ammunition with them. The regiment formed a combat square near the monument to Peter I. St. Petersburg Governor-General Miloradovich galloped up to the rebels and began to persuade the soldiers to disperse and take the oath.

Pyotr Kakhovsky mortally wounded Miloradovich. Under the command of naval officers Nikolai Bestuzhev and Arbuzov, rebel sailors came to the square - the Guards Marine Crew, followed by a regiment of rebel life grenadiers.

“It was necessary to decide to put a quick end to this, otherwise the rebellion could have been communicated to the mob, and then the troops surrounded by it would have been in the most difficult situation,” Nikolai later wrote in his “Notes.”

After three o'clock in the afternoon it began to get dark. The Tsar ordered the cannons to be rolled out and shot point-blank with buckshot.

The arrested began to be taken to the Winter Palace.

Justice over the Decembrists was not supposed to be administered by the highest judicial body of Russia - the Senate, but by the Supreme Criminal Court, created by circumventing the laws on the orders of Nicholas I. The judges were selected by the emperor himself, who feared that the Senate would not carry out his will. The investigation established that the conspirators wanted to raise an armed uprising among the troops, overthrow the autocracy, abolish serfdom and popularly accept a new state law- revolutionary constitution. The Decembrists carefully developed their plans.

First of all, they decided to prevent the troops and the Senate from taking the oath to the new king. Then they wanted to enter the Senate and demand the publication of a national manifesto, which would announce the abolition of serfdom and the 25-year term of military service, the granting of freedom of speech, assembly, and religion.

If the Senate did not agree to publish the revolutionary manifesto, it was decided to force it to do so. The rebel troops were to occupy the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the royal family was to be arrested. If necessary, it was planned to kill the king.

The trial of the Decembrists took place with many procedural violations. The death sentence was imposed on 36 Decembrists. The verdict determined the method of application of the death penalty: quartering. Nicholas I approved only five death sentences.

For the rest of those sentenced, the death penalty was commuted to hard labor.

In pursuance of the tsar's decree, the Supreme Court had to choose punishment for the five condemned to quartering.

By his decree, the emperor seemed to leave it to the Supreme Court itself to decide the fate of the five main convicts. In fact, the king clearly expressed his will here too, but not for general information. Adjutant General Diebitsch wrote to the Chairman of the Supreme Court regarding the punishment of five people placed outside the category: “In case of doubt about the type of their execution, which may be determined by this court for criminals, the Emperor Emperor deigned to order me to preface Your Grace that His Majesty does not deign in any way only to be quartered, as a painful execution, but also to be shot as an execution typical of military crimes, not even to a simple beheading and, in a word, not to any death penalty involving the shedding of blood...” The draft of this letter was compiled by Speransky . The Supreme Court, therefore, had only one option left - replacing quartering with hanging, which it did.

In general, Nikolai did not allow the outcome of the trial without the death penalty. “Concerning the main instigators and conspirators exemplary execution it will be fair retribution for them for violating public peace,” Nicholas I admonished the members of the court long before the verdict was pronounced.

The verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court, after approval by the emperor, entered into legal force. On July 13, 1826, the following were executed on the crownwork of the Peter and Paul Fortress: K.F. Ryleev, P.I. Pestel, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and P.G. Kakhovsky.

The five Decembrists, sentenced to hanging by the will of the tsar, like all the other convicts, did not know the sentence. The announcement of the verdict took place on July 12 in the premises of the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress. A long line of carriages with members of the court moved here from the Senate building. Two gendarmerie squadrons accompanied the carriages. In the designated room, the judges sat at a table covered with red cloth. The prisoners were brought from the casemates to the commandant's house. The meeting was unexpected for them: they hugged and kissed, asking what it meant.

When they found out that the verdict would be announced, they asked: “What, were we judged?” The answer was: “Already tried.” The convicts were placed according to the categories of the sentence in separate rooms, from where they were brought into the hall in groups to hear the verdict and its confirmation. They were taken out of the hall through other doors into the casemates. The condemned bravely met the verdict, which was read to them by the chief secretary, while the judges examined them through lorgnettes.

This calmness of those sentenced to death did not leave them, as we will see below, even during the painful hours of execution.

The story of an anonymous witness about the execution was published in Herzen's almanac "Polar Star".

“... 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 the 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, to dismantle the scaffold piece by piece, and send it to the place of execution at different times from 11 to 12 o’clock at night...

At 12 o'clock at night, the Governor General, the chief of gendarmes with their staffs and other authorities arrived at the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the soldiers of the Pavlovsk Guards Regiment also arrived, and a square of soldiers was made on the square opposite the Mint, where they were ordered to be taken out of the casemates where they were kept criminals, all 120 convicted, except five sentenced to death... (These five) at the same time at night were sent from the fortress under the escort of Pavlovian soldiers, under the police chief Chikhachev, 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 forward 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 a close distance, even though it was dark, you could hear that Pestel, looking at the scaffold, said: “C"est trop” - “This is too much” (French). They were immediately seated on the grass at a close distance, where they remained for the shortest time. According to the recollection of the quarterly overseer, “they were completely calm, but only very serious, as if they were pondering some important matter.” When the priest approached them, Ryleev put his hand to his heart and said: “ Do you hear how calmly it beats?” Convicted in last time hugged.

Since the scaffold could not be ready soon, they were taken into the guardhouse into different rooms, and when the scaffold was ready, they were again taken out of the rooms, accompanied by a priest. Police Chief Chikhachev read the maxim of the Supreme Court, which ended with the words: “... hang for such atrocities!” Then Ryleev, turning to his comrades, said, maintaining all his presence of mind: “Gentlemen! We must pay our last debt,” and with that they all knelt down, looking at the sky, and crossed themselves. Ryleev alone spoke - he wished for the well-being of Russia... Then, getting up, each of them said goodbye to the priest, kissing the cross and his hand, moreover, Ryleev said to the priest in a firm voice: “Father, pray for our sinful souls, do not forget my wife and bless your daughter "; Having crossed himself, he ascended the scaffold, followed by others, except for Kakhovsky, who fell on the priest’s chest, cried and hugged him so tightly that they took him away with difficulty...

During the execution there were two executioners who first put on the noose and then the white cap. They (that is, the Decembrists) had black skin on their chests, on which the name of the criminal was written in chalk, they were in white coats, and there were heavy chains on their legs. When everything was ready, with the pressing of the spring in the scaffold, the platform on which they stood on the benches fell, and at the same instant three fell: Ryleev, Pestel and Kakhovsky fell down. Ryleev’s cap fell off, and a bloody eyebrow and blood behind his right ear were visible, probably from a bruise.

He sat crouched because he had fallen inside the scaffold. I approached him and said: “What a misfortune!” The Governor-General, seeing that three had fallen, sent adjutant Bashutsky to take other ropes and hang them, which was done. I was so busy with Ryleev that I did not pay attention to the rest of those who had fallen from the gallows and did not hear if they said what something. When the board was raised again, Pestel’s rope was so long that he could reach the platform with his toes, which was supposed to prolong his torment, and it was noticeable for some time that he was still alive. They remained in this position for half an hour, doctor, former here, announced that the criminals had died."

Governor General Golenishchev-Kutuzov officially reported 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.” But he added: “Due to the inexperience of our executioners and the inability to arrange gallows the first time, three, namely Ryleev, Kakhovsky and Pestel, fell through, but were soon hanged again and received a well-deserved death.” Nikolai himself wrote to his mother on July 13: “I am quickly writing two words, dear mother, wanting to inform you that everything happened quietly and in order: the vile ones behaved vilely, without any dignity.

Chernyshev is leaving this evening and, as an eyewitness, can tell you all the details. Sorry for the brevity of the presentation, but knowing and sharing your concern, dear mother, I wanted to bring to your attention what has already become known to me.”

The day after the execution, the king returned with his family to the capital. On Senate Square with the participation senior clergy A cleansing prayer took place with the sprinkling of the land “desecrated” by the uprising.

The Tsar issued a Manifesto about consigning the whole matter to oblivion.