Yemelyan pugachev biography books

revolutionist

Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev was a pretender to the Russian throne who led a great popular insurrection during the reign of Catherine II.

Background

Emelyan Pugachev was born in the village of Zimoveiskaya. Pugachev, the son of a small Don Cossack landowner, was the youngest son of four children.

Career

He signed on to military service at the age of 17.

Yemelyan pugachev biography books

In 1770, during a Russo-Turkish conflict in which he was serving, he was given a temporary leave and, at its expiration, refused to return to his regiment. Arrested, he managed to escape, thus beginning his life as a strong-willed fugitive.

In the course of his subsequent wanderings Pugachev was struck by the bitter unrest he found among the lower classes in Russia. What he saw convinced him that the time was ripe for revolt, and being a rebel by nature and having a bent toward leadership, he took upon himself the task of