Popular unrest 1662. Copper riot. Copper riot: aftermath
Copper riot took place in Moscow on July 25, 1662. The reason was the following. Russia waged a protracted war with the Commonwealth for the annexation of Ukraine. Any war requires huge funds to maintain the army. The state was sorely lacking money, then it was decided to introduce copper money into circulation.
It happened in 1655. From a pound of copper, worth 12 kopecks, coins were minted for 10 rubles. A lot of copper money was immediately thrown into use, which led to the distrust of the population in them, inflation. It is worth noting that taxes to the state treasury were collected in silver money, and paid in copper. Copper money was also easy to counterfeit.
By 1662, the market price of copper money had fallen by as much as 15 times, and the value of goods had increased dramatically. The situation was getting worse every day. The peasants did not take their food to the cities because they did not want to receive worthless copper for them. Poverty and hunger began to flourish in the cities.
The copper revolt was being prepared in advance, proclamations appeared throughout Moscow, in which many boyars and merchants were accused of collusion with the Commonwealth, the ruin of the country and betrayal. Also in the proclamation there were demands to reduce taxes on salt, to abolish copper money. It is significant that almost the same people caused the people's discontent as during the salt revolt.
The crowd split into two. One, in the amount of 5 thousand people, moved to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, the second smashed the courtyards of the hated nobles. The rebels caught Alexei Mikhailovich at a prayer service. The boyars went to talk to the people, but they could not calm the crowd. Alexei Mikhailovich himself had to go. People beat their foreheads in front of the king, demanded to change the situation. Realizing that the crowd could not be pacified, Alexei Mikhailovich spoke in a quiet custom, persuading the rioters to be patient. People grabbed the king by the dress, and said What to believe? The Tsar even had to shake hands with one of the rioters. Only after that did the people begin to disperse.
The people left Kolomenskoye, but on the way they met the second part of the crowd, which was going to where the first one left. The united, dissatisfied, 10 thousandth crowd of people turned back to Kolomenskoye. The rebels behaved even more boldly and decisively, demanding the boyars to kill. Meanwhile, the loyal regiments of Alexei Mikhailovich arrived in time to Kolomenskoye and dispersed the crowd. About 7 thousand people were subjected to repressions. Someone was beaten, someone was sent into exile, and someone was burned with a stigma with the letter B - a rebel.
Only people from the lower strata of society, butchers, artisans, and peasants participated in the copper riot. The copper revolt resulted in the gradual abolition of the copper coin. In 1663, the copper courtyards in Novgorod and Pskov were closed, and the printing of silver money was resumed. Copper money was completely withdrawn from circulation and melted into other useful items.
Copper riot of 1662
In 1662, a copper riot broke out in Russia. The reasons for the revolt must be sought in the severe impoverishment of the population as a result of the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667. The Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, fulfilling the conditions of the Stolbovsky Peace of 1617, was forced to send bread and money to the Swedes through Pskov and Novgorod. The indignation of the population by sending grain abroad was suppressed. The treasury was empty, and the tsarist government was forced to start minting copper money in order to pay the troops. The currency reform directly provoked the copper riot. The reasons for the riot can also be seen in the plague epidemic of 1654-1655. The disease has undermined not only an already frustrated economy, but also reduced human resources. Cities were deserted, trade weakened, hostilities had to end, and the plague was the indirect cause of the copper riot of 1662. As a result of the weakening of trade, the influx of foreign silver dried up, foreign merchants could not get to Russia beyond Arkhangelsk. The minting of a small-denomination copper coin that replaced the small silver coin, amid general disasters, caused a sharp jump in inflation. If at the beginning of the monetary reform, 100, 130, 150 copper kopecks were given for one hundred silver kopecks, then subsequently the rise in inflation caused the small copper coin to fall to 1000 and 1500 per one hundred silver kopecks. There were rumors among the population that some boyars minted copper money themselves. The government issued copper money in an unreasonable amount, which spurred the copper revolt of 1662. The main mistake of the tsarist government was the order to make any payment to the treasury in silver. Having thus abandoned the monetary policy being pursued, the government only intensified the popular unrest.
The course of the riot
The revolt began with the fact that on the morning of July 25 in the center of Moscow anonymous letters appeared in which it was said about the betrayal of the boyars. The names of the Miloslavskys were named, the okolnich F. Rtischev, who was in charge of the Order of the Grand Palace, the okolnich B. Khitrov, who directed the Armory. A crowd of starving and impoverished townspeople went to the tsar in Kolomenskoye and asked to hand over to them the boyars responsible for the national disasters. The king promised and the crowd left. The government brought up the rifle regiments to Kolomenskoye. The people could no longer see the king. The fact that the tsar closed down and did not hear popular complaints prompted the inhabitants of Moscow to transfer the expression of indignation at the policy of Alexei Mikhailovich to the streets of the city. The courtyards of the boyars Zadorin and Shorin were destroyed. A crowd of townspeople, armed only with sticks and knives, moved to Kolomenskoye, where they were attacked by the archers. They not only killed people, but also dumped them into the Moskva River. About 900 people died. The next day, about 20 more instigators of the riot were hanged in Moscow. Several dozen people were deported from Moscow to remote settlements.
The copper revolt of 1662 ended with the fact that in Russia, drained of blood in all respects, by the Tsar's Decree of April 15, 1663, silver money was returned into circulation, for which the silver reserve of the treasury was used. Copper money was not only withdrawn from circulation, but also banned.
Russia in the 17th century
Most historians call the 17th century a rebellious century for Russia. This name was not chosen by chance, this century was marked by many uprisings and riots, which significantly undermined the development of the state and the position of its power. The situation escalated during the reign of Alexei, the son of Tsar Mikhail.
Salt and Copper Riot
Discontent was aroused by the governors and clerks, indignation over taxes gradually increased in the cities, and the emergence of a new salt tax exacerbated the position of the authorities. In 1648, the Salt Riot took place in Moscow, the population of the city attacked the royal retinue.
Muscovites wanted to be given two clerks and boyar Morozov, who was the tsarist educator. He managed to hide from the angry people, and Muscovites lynched the orders Trakhaniotov and Pleshcheyev.
This affected the government, and the salt tax was abolished, at the same time increasing the collection of direct taxes. Soon the situation began to escalate again, the state demanded more money from the population. They began to take tax not on land, but on households, tax on income was taken several times, copper coins were issued, which cost like silver.
The next mutiny took place in 1662 and was called the Copper Riot. By then, prices had risen sharply again, and many refused to believe copper coins and only demanded silver coins. The revolt was suppressed, but the minting of coins was stopped.
People's war by Stepan Razin
But the people of Russia did not stop there. The rebellious movement of Stepan Razin, a Cossack who managed to lead all the people of the lower class, went down in history. The movement began in 1667 and covered a significant part of the territory of the Lower and Middle Volga regions, a huge part of the Ukrainian lands.
Under the leadership of Razin, impoverished people plundered the royal and wealthy ships on the Lower Volga and the Caspian Sea, and attacked Persian cities. Even more people followed him, a real army of seven thousand people appeared.
The movement continued its revolutionary path, and in 1670 it again found itself on the Volga and plundered Tsaritsyn. The next city was Astrakhan. It is noteworthy that the population of the cities supported the Cossack, and many went over to Razin's side.
In the captured cities, Cossack administration was introduced, and the next cities on the way of the Razins were Saratov and Samara. Then the movement of the Cossack Razin acquires the scope of a real people's war, and it can no longer be called a simple Cossack revolt of the disaffected and disadvantaged.
The actions of Razin and his followers arouse sympathy among the people and a desire to support them, and over time they attract them as thousands of ordinary people, peasants and townspeople go over to Razin's side and help the movement achieve its goal. Stepan Razin creates lovely letters - appeals, which are entailed by a simple people, burdened with constant, unfair taxes.
The next city to be captured was Simbirsk, but Razin's army was completely defeated. Their leader had to flee to the Don, but soon - in 1671 - wealthy and influential Cossacks handed him over to the Russian authorities.
Thus, the most famous and powerful uprising, which turned into a real action against state power, was suppressed. And the Russian people did not succeed in repeating such an anti-government statement in the 17th century.
Sources: www.ote4estvo.ru, www.syl.ru, 900igr.net, www.calend.ru, www.nado5.ru
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On August 4, 1662, 10 thousand unarmed Muscovites went to the tsar to demand the truth and were beaten by the archers. The events of this day went down in history as the Copper Riot. Let's find out what the uprising of 350 years ago can teach us.
Think - Then Reform
The introduction of a copper coin into circulation in 1654 is a true lesson for all reformers-projectors, the lesson is that when developing a reform, one should think not only about the immediate consequences, but also about the long-term ones. Otherwise, the immediate benefit threatens to turn into a distant disaster.
This happened in the middle of the 17th century during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. At the beginning of the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 20 million copper money was thrown into the market, which was equal to silver denominations. This measure did not inspire confidence among the people. In addition, the government sought to withdraw silver money from circulation as soon as possible, to concentrate it in its own hands, which only increased popular discontent. As a result, there was more copper money than was required, which led to an exponential inflation. By 1662, even the continuation of the war turned out to be impossible, since the army had nothing to eat. Cases of desertion have become more frequent.
Rebellious people
The people were driven to despair. If initially 1 copper ruble was almost equal to 1 silver, then by 1662 10 copper had to be given for a silver ruble. Correspondingly, the prices and - first of all - the prices of bread grew. In five years, in some regions of the country, they have increased 50 times.
The second aspect in which we need to learn from our ancestors who lived in the 17th century is a more active civic position. In the 17th century, there was no talk of patience as a trait of the national Russian character. On the contrary, the Austrian Augustine Meyerberg, who was in Moscow on the eve of the Copper Riot, writes: “So we have always feared that the people forced by despair, however, always ready to be indignant over their inclination to revolt, would not raise a revolt that would not be easy to cope with”. In their rebellious age, the Russians were considered a rebellious people.
Bureaucracy and revolt
Not hunger, but injustice is pushing for an uprising. The copper riot was not only a search for bread, but also a search for truth. After all, the main demand of the rebels was: not to cancel the copper money and return the silver - no. The main thing that thousands of Muscovites asked for was to deliver into their hands the perpetrators of their troubles, high-ranking bureaucrats who profited from the common misfortune.
With the advent of copper money, many counterfeiters appeared in the country: it was much easier to forge new coins than the old ones, silver ones. And, despite severe punishments and torture, the number of those who counterfeited money grew. Many were caught. But bribery and bureaucracy were the murky waters in which the criminals hid. The king's father-in-law was one of the country's first bribe-takers. There were rumors that he had stolen up to 120 thousand rubles. The king, knowing about the uses, spared his entourage, always finding scapegoats.
A similar situation sometimes occurs today: the fight against bribery is carried out selectively, demonstrative arrests are carried out, but the situation does not radically change. The experience of Aleksey Mikhailovich is for the edification of the current fighters against abuses on the ground.
Power only listens to power
Since the Time of Troubles and during the 50 years of the Romanovs' rule, the people have got used to the fact that one should speak with the authorities only from positions of strength. Otherwise, it’s pointless, they won’t hear, they won’t go to meet him. Because, as Meyerberg predicted, the people inclined to rebellion, realizing that there would be no end to the robberies (shortly before the Copper Riot, the “fifth money” was collected in the country, that is, 20% of the property), rebelled. Some of the rebels ravaged the houses of the main (in their opinion) perpetrators of their troubles, another - five thousand people - went to Kolomenskoye, where the tsar was on August 4, so as not to ask him - to demand traitors. Years earlier, during the Salt Riot, young Alexei Mikhailovich made concessions to the crowd.
And now the leaders of the rebels forced the sovereign to take an oath that he would investigate the case. Someone even held him by the button. Someone else (which is also unthinkable), as a sign that an agreement was reached, beat him on the hands, as an equal.
Don't trust the king
But, calming the crowd, the tsar had already sent for his loyal three rifle detachments, a kind of personal guard. Believing the word given by Alexei Mikhailovich, the people returned to the capital, and at that time the punishers were in a hurry to Kolomenskoye. The second wave of dissatisfied, another 4-5 thousand people, representatives of almost all (except for the privileged) estates, heading to the king, deployed the first - and all this mass flowed to meet the archers. Most of the people were unarmed. The crowd was seething, but many walked by inertia, without slogans, without categorical demands.
Violence breeds violence
The violence began on the morning of the 4th in Moscow, when the houses of wealthy merchants were smashed, when they called for reprisals against high-ranking officials, those who were guilty of the copper reform. Among the people, there was a conviction that the copper money was invented by the enemies of Russia, Polish spies, who thus want to ruin the people and destroy the country's economy.
Those who called for violence, and those who went to the calls, themselves became victims in the tragic denouement of the Bronze Riot. The archers pushed the crowd back to the river. More than a hundred people died. Several thousand were arrested. The next day, without investigation, 20 participants in the campaign to Kolomenskoye were hanged. All participants were tortured. Many were cut off their hands and feet, cut off their fingers, and pulled out their tongues. Many were burned on their cheeks with the “Buki” brand - that is, “Rebel”.
The rebellion is meaningless
As often happened in Russian history, the Copper Riot did not bear fruit. A year later, the king canceled the copper money. People handed them over, receiving, relatively speaking, 1 kopeck per ruble. But it is wrong to associate the counter-reform with the Copper Riot: the rise in prices continued after August 1662, the situation in the country worsened, and the preparations for the cancellation of the coin apparently began as early as 1660, when the government began to look for ways to saturate the treasury with new silver, so that later replace copper with it.
Even in their rebellious times, the people could not organize themselves, turn an almost spontaneous explosion into a planned campaign and achieve their goal. The revolt was pacified, the popular indignation subsided, the people burned out and patiently began to wait for the royal mercy.
The copper riot took place in Moscow on July 25, 1662. The reason was the following. Russia waged a protracted war with the Commonwealth for the annexation of Ukraine. Any war requires huge funds to maintain the army. The state was sorely lacking money, then it was decided to introduce copper money into circulation.
It happened in 1655. From a pound of copper, worth 12 kopecks, coins for 10 rubles were minted. A lot of copper money was immediately thrown into use, which led to the distrust of the population in them, inflation. It should be noted that taxes to the state treasury were collected in silver money, and paid in copper. Copper money was also easy to counterfeit.
By 1662, the market price of copper money had fallen by as much as 15 times, and the value of goods had increased dramatically. The situation was getting worse every day. The peasants did not take their food to the cities because they did not want to receive worthless copper for them. Poverty and hunger began to flourish in the cities.
The copper revolt was prepared in advance, proclamations appeared throughout Moscow, in which many boyars and merchants were accused of collusion with the Commonwealth, the ruin of the country and betrayal. Also in the proclamation there were demands to reduce taxes on salt, to abolish copper money. It is significant that almost the same people caused the people's discontent as during the salt revolt.
The crowd split into two. One, in the amount of 5 thousand people, moved to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, the second smashed the courtyards of the hated nobles. The rebels caught Alexei Mikhailovich at a prayer service. The boyars went to talk to the people, but they could not calm the crowd. Alexei Mikhailovich himself had to go. People beat their foreheads in front of the king, demanded to change the situation. Realizing that the crowd could not be pacified, Aleksey Mikhailovich spoke "in a quiet custom", persuading the rioters to be patient. People grabbed the king by the dress and said "What to believe?" The Tsar even had to shake hands with one of the rioters. Only after that did the people begin to disperse.
The people left Kolomenskoye, but on the way they met the second part of the crowd, which was going to where the first one left. The united, dissatisfied, 10 thousandth crowd of people turned back to Kolomenskoye. The rebels behaved even more boldly and decisively, demanding the boyars to kill. Meanwhile, the loyal regiments of Alexei Mikhailovich arrived in time to Kolomenskoye and dispersed the crowd. About 7 thousand people were subjected to repressions. Someone was beaten, someone was sent into exile, and someone was burned with a stigma with the letter "B" - a rebel.
Only people from the lower strata of society participated in the copper riot - butchers, artisans, peasants. The copper revolt resulted in the gradual abolition of the copper coin. In 1663, the copper courtyards in Novgorod and Pskov were closed, and the printing of silver money was resumed. Copper money was completely withdrawn from circulation and melted into other useful items.
On August 4, 1662, an uprising of the urban lower classes took place in Moscow. The reasons for the riot were the release of depreciating, in comparison with silver, copper coins, and higher taxes, which had to be paid only in silver.
In the 17th century, the Moscow state did not have its own gold and silver mines, and precious metals were imported from abroad. On Money yard from foreign coins minted Russian coins: kopecks, money and polushki.
The protracted war with the Commonwealth (1654-1667) required huge expenses. To find money for the continuation of the war, the head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, boyar Ordin-Nashchokin, proposed issuing copper money at the price of silver money. Taxes were collected in silver, and salaries were distributed in copper.
At first, small copper coins really were in circulation on a par with silver kopecks, but soon the excessive issue of unsecured copper money led to their depreciation. For 6 rubles in silver they gave 170 rubles in copper. Despite the tsar's decree, all goods rose sharply.
The financial catastrophe that broke out primarily affected the townspeople associated with small and medium trade, and the civil servants who received a monetary salary.
On the night of August 4, 1662, "thieves' sheets" were pasted in Moscow, which listed the names of the perpetrators of the financial crisis: the Miloslavskys boyars, who headed the orders of the Big Treasury, the head of the Grand Palace order, okolnichy Rtishchev, Armory okolnichy Khitrovo, clerk Bashmakov, guests Shorin, Zadorin and others.
Early in the morning of that day, an uprising began, in which the townspeople, part of the archers, serfs, peasants took part. In total, the performance was attended by from 9 to 10 thousand people. The rebels went to the village of Kolomenskoye, where Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was staying, and demanded the extradition of the "traitors."
The tsar and the boyars promised the rebels to reduce taxes and to investigate their petition. Believing the promises, the participants in the uprising headed for Moscow. At the same time, after the pogroms of the courtyards of the "traitors", a new wave of rebels was sent to Kolomenskoye. Two counter streams merged and moved towards the royal residence. They renewed their demands, threatening, if the boyars were not handed over to them for reprisal, to take them to the palace themselves.
But during this time, the tsar managed to collect the archers. On his orders, they attacked the crowd, armed only with sticks and knives. In the course of the battle, about 900 citizens were killed, the next day, about 20 people were hanged.
The Copper Riot is a significant event in the history of Russia, the uprising of the urban poor and the lower classes that took place in Moscow during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The very concept of "copper riot" has become a household name. It is used whenever it is necessary to comment on the depreciation of money and the bankruptcy of the state.
The Copper Riot: Causes and Historical Situation
The Moscow state waged a long war for Ukraine against what was spent great amount monetary resources. There was a shortage of money. Russia did not yet have its own deposits of precious metals, from which money was minted, so they were imported from abroad. used foreign money to make Russians out of them - pennies, polushki and money.
The situation came to the point that the boyar Ordin-Nashchokin proposed a very controversial solution: to mint copper money at the face value of silver. At the same time, taxes were still collected in silver, but the salary was issued already in new copper coins. Beginning in 1654, copper money was officially introduced into circulation instead of silver.
At first, everything went as the government intended: it was accepted at the price of the old silver money. But soon they began to produce an incredible amount, because there were no problems with copper. Embossed yards in Moscow, Pskov, Novgorod worked at full capacity. The flow of unsecured money supply swept Russia, so very soon the demand for silver began to skyrocket, and copper money fell.
Slow inflation began at first, and then precipitous inflation. The government refused to accept copper money as taxes, so the old ones jumped sharply in price: for one old silver ruble they gave from 15 to 20 new copper ones. Merchants went to the market and carried copper money literally in wagons, while copper depreciated every day. The townspeople panicked: nothing could be bought, and there was nowhere to take silver.
But the government did not want to admit the erroneousness of its actions and out of habit began to look for the guilty on the side. Counterfeiters were blamed as the cause of the collapse in inflation. Demonstration courts began to be set up throughout the country. There was only one verdict for the production of "left" coins: a cruel execution. According to the Code of Laws, the guilty were poured red-hot metal down their throats.
The problem was that almost anyone who knew at least a little bit of metal could make coins from copper. "Kotelniki and pewter" at that time got rich en masse, they were able to build stone houses for themselves, bought expensive goods. After all, everyone had their own small mint. There were more than half a million fake copper coins in Moscow alone.
Copper Riot Events
On the morning of June 25, 1662, according to the old style, an incriminating letter was pasted at the pillar on the Lubyanka in Moscow, where Rtishchev, Miloslavsky and their guest Vasily Shorin were called traitors. In fact, they were charged with a connection with the Commonwealth, with which the war was still going on. This accusation was completely unfounded, but the people already needed any reason to start unrest.
A crowd of several thousand people, having read this message, went to the village of Kolomenskoye - the Tsar's summer residence. The guards were crushed, and the people broke into the royal court without hindrance. Alexei Mikhailovich ordered Rtischev and Miloslavsky to hide in the Tsarina's chambers, and he himself went out to the people. And then a scene occurred that violated all the foundations and canons of society. Commoners surrounded Alexei Mikhailovich, and literally holding on to the buttons of the tsar's dress, asked: "Where is the truth?" The conversation was quite peaceful, and the emperor promised to restore order to the people. One of the rebels even "beat hands with the king." After that, the crowd calmed down and began to disperse. The incident seemed to be over. But this day was destined to end differently.
Another crowd at that moment smashed Shorin's house, and forced his young son to write a confession that his father allegedly sold himself to the Poles and specially arranged a venture with copper money to help the hated enemy. With this "confession" in hand, the rebels rushed to Kolomenskoye, dragging back those who had already returned from there. At this time, the tsar was already going to go to Moscow to investigate the case. However, new threats from the rioters pissed him off. Archers and soldiers had arrived from Moscow by that time. And Alexei Mikhailovich gave the order to Artamon Matveyev to cut the rioters.
The real massacre began. The crowd was unarmed. People were crushed, drowned in the river, stabbed and chopped. More than a thousand people died that day. Over the next days, they strenuously searched for participants in the campaign to Kolomenskoye, arrested, hanged, cut off their arms and legs, branded them, and sent them from Moscow to an eternal settlement. Many of those arrested were forced to write dictation in order to compare the handwriting with that ill-fated leaflet. However, the true instigators were never found.
The Copper Riot of 1662 was a performance of the real urban lower classes - artisans, peasants, butchers, and the local poor. No one from merchants and people of a higher class took part in it. Moreover, they also contributed to the subsequent arrests of the rioters.
As a result of the riot, about three thousand people suffered, and most of them were just a curious crowd.
Copper riot: aftermath
The king kept his promise and dealt with the problem of copper money. In 1663, the minted factories in Novgorod and Pskov were closed, and copper money was completely withdrawn from circulation. The minting of silver money was resumed. And from copper coins it was ordered to smelt boilers or hand them over to the treasury. Exchanged copper cash for new ones silver coins at the previous inflation rate of twenty to one, that is, the state officially recognized that the old copper rubles were not backed by anything. The salary was soon again paid in silver.