What Led To The Pugachev Rebellion?

Pugachev Rebellion: Although Catherine scorned violence outside of the battlefield and believed in peaceful ideals, such as prevention over punishment and anti-torture, there was an occasion where she contradicted herself. This occurred when dealing with one of the greatest peasant revolts of Russia. She initially wanted to improve the lives of the lower classes, but later came to the realization that Russia wasn’t ready for those changes yet and doing so would upset the people she relied on most to keep her position on the throne secure, the nobility. They helped place her there and were her biggest supporters; their power was also the greatest potential threat to her authority. The only peasant revolt that was big enough to cause Catherine any worry was the Pugachev Rebellion, led by Yemelian Pugachev, who pretended to be Tsar Peter III. Although he bore absolutely no resemblance to Peter, few peasants knew how Peter looked like and people suspected that the death certificate was fabricated (this is when her lie got back at her). He slowly became a serious threat to her. This was because it was personal due to who he
Massie, author of Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman considers Pugachev’s revolt “the most serious challenge to Catherine’s authority during her reign”. This rebellion became a turning point in her rule, as she gave up on freeing the serfs and focused on the nobility, who didn’t try to overthrow her. She was still against serfdom, but realized that a multitude of other changes, including educating the nation, had to be made before Russia was prepared. Although her decision to ignore Pugachev in the early stages allowed for the rebellion to turn into the disaster it was, she redeemed herself in the choices she made after his arrest. She stuck with her ideals against torture and encouraged the nobles to treat their serfs and peasants humanely. Therefore, this crisis is one of the reasons why she deserves the title “the