Executed Decembrists. How many people died during the Decembrist uprising & nbsp. Decembrists become atheists

190 years ago, on July 13 (according to the new style - July 25), 1826, five participants in the famous Decembrist uprising were executed in the Peter and Paul Fortress - Kondraty Ryleev, Pavel Pestel, Pyotr Kakhovsky, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Sergei Muravyov-Apostol.

On December 14, 1825, an armed uprising with the aim of a coup d'etat took place on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. In less than a day, it was suppressed by troops loyal to the proclaimed emperor Nicholas I. According to official data, 1271 people died, 150 of them were children, and 79 were women. Moreover, many victims accidentally ended up at the scene.

But who knows where the grave of the five executed Decembrists is? Now we will find out ...

Puppets and villains

After the well-known events, three days later, a Commission for Investigations on Malicious Societies was established under the chairmanship of Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev.

Most of the arrested conspirators were kept in the Peter and Paul Fortress, but some ended up in other prisons, for example, in the Vyborg Castle. During interrogations, they behaved differently. For helping the investigation, the rioters were promised to ease their fate. And some took advantage of this. For example, the appointed dictator of the uprising, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy, who never appeared on Senate Square, was frank with the investigators, gave evidence and, in the end, escaped the death penalty. Sergei Petrovich, deprived of all ranks and nobility, was sent to hard labor in Siberia, where his wife Catherine soon followed him.

For a long time Ivan Yakushkin persisted and did not want to give any evidence. However, in the end he made a detailed confession, which he later assessed as "a consequence of a series of transactions with himself." Mikhail Lunin behaved in a similar way.

Kondraty Ryleev, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol and Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin did not renounce either their convictions or their role in organizing the uprising. But they did not want to betray the other participants in the riot. Kondraty Ryleev in written testimony asked to "spare the young people" who, according to him, were involved in what is happening by other persons. By the way, after the execution, Nicholas I ordered to provide material assistance to the Ryleev family from the state treasury.

But Pavel Pestel, on the contrary, at first claimed that he did not know about any conspiracy and about any secret societies. However, realizing that the investigation already knew a lot, he began to testify. The emperor, personally communicating with the main persons involved in the conspiracy, gave Pestel an expressive description: "Pestel was a villain in all the power of his word, without the slightest shadow of remorse."

Under the royal supervision

It must be said that the sovereign closely followed the course of the investigation, personally participated in interrogations. Some historians claim that this gave Nicholas I great pleasure. Although his statements are known about how bitter and hurtful it was for him to hear the confessions of treason to the Fatherland from representatives of the Russian elite - officers who bravely fought Napoleon. And the tsar participated in the process in order to be sure: the materials that will be brought to him for approval are not rigged or falsified.

I also read about the cruel methods of interrogating the Decembrists, that physical measures were used against them. Those arrested were indeed shackled. But at that time it was a common practice throughout Europe. As for torture, they were not used against the Decembrists.

On May 30 (June 11, new style), 1826, the commission presented a report to Nicholas I. The Supreme Criminal Court was soon established. The cases of 579 persons under investigation were transferred for his consideration. More than 250 of them were found guilty, and only 121 were punished. The guilt of the rest, according to the judges, was not significant.

The Supreme Criminal Court handed down harsh sentences. Five - the death penalty by quartering, another 31 - through beheading. However, Nicholas I significantly commuted the sentences. He replaced the quartering by hanging, and instead of cutting off the head he sent the rebels to hard labor. According to eyewitnesses, enlightened Europe was then struck by the mercy and humanism of the Russian monarch. Indeed, as it turned out during the investigation, the plans of some of the conspirators included the elimination of all members of the imperial family, including small children.

Ends in the water?

On July 13, 1826, Ryleev, Pestel, Kakhovsky, Bestuzhev-Riumin and Muravyov-Apostol were hanged in the courtyard of the crownwork of the Peter and Paul Fortress. There are many legends about this execution to this day. One of them says that Muravyov-Apostol, Kakhovsky and Ryleev fell off their hinges, they were hung again. However, there is not a word about this in the memoirs that were left by the Chief of Police of St. Petersburg, Boris Knyazhnin, who led the process.

The prince described not only the execution, but also the procedure for burying corpses. However, he did not indicate a specific location. Historians suggest that the chief of police received such an order from the emperor himself, who feared that the grave would become a place of pilgrimage.

In the first half of the 19th century, it was believed that the executed were buried on the Golodai Island, which is now called the Decembrists Island. Someone even knew the exact coordinates: there is indirect evidence that Ryleev's widow came to her husband's grave. But then the burial place was mysteriously forgotten. And there were various versions that are still alive.

The first is Petrovsky Island. Here, on the territory of the Almaz shipbuilding company, there is a memorial sign to the executed Decembrists. The hypothesis that they might be buried on this island was put forward by the writer Andrei Chernov during the years of perestroika. He relied on the assumption made by Anna Akhmatova. The poetess, in turn, referred to Pushkin, who allegedly described the burial place in his poems. And it is very similar to Petrovsky Island.

After the publication of Chernov's article, excavations began on the island, in which soldiers, employees of the Almaz association and simply enthusiasts took part. Some bones were indeed found, but so decayed that it was impossible to determine who they belonged to. Nevertheless, the sign was placed.

According to the second version, the bodies of the executed were wrapped in sacks, which were then sewn up and thrown from the ship into the Gulf of Finland. Where this version came from is hard to say. Its supporters claim that Nicholas I sought to completely erase the memory of the Decembrists and wanted their grave to never be found. But neither documents nor eyewitness accounts confirming such an exotic massacre of the dead have survived.

There is a similar hypothesis that the bodies of the hanged were immediately thrown into the Kronverksky channel. Although in this case, after some time, the remains would surface, which, of course, would become known to the whole city.

Island "Starve"

For example, the Decembrists Zavalishin and Stein-gel knew that the bodies of their dead comrades "... the next night they were secretly taken to the island of Golodai, and buried there secretly." Bestuzhev said: "They were buried on Golodav, behind the Smolensk cemetery ..." Another contemporary, Shchukin, stated the same thing: "... the hanged were taken to Golodai Island and buried in one pit at the end of the island in a deserted place behind a German cemetery." ...

Reference:

Until 1775, the island was named Galladai, and then for over 150 years - Golodai.

There are several versions of the origin of the name. First of all - the foreign origin of the word (from the Swede, "ha-laua" - "willow" or English holiday - "day off", "holiday").
According to another, completely implausible hypothesis, the name of the island at the beginning of the 18th century was given by starving peasants - the builders of the city, who lived here in dugouts and barracks.

Most likely, the name of the island comes from the surname of the English doctor Thomas Golliday (Holliday), who owned a land plot here. And the name "Galladai" is explained by the inaccurate pronunciation of a little-known and obscure surname. Later, the inhabitants of the island turned the incomprehensible name "Galladai" into the close to them "Hunger".

There were many other people who pointed out Golodai as the final resting place of the Decembrists. The most reliable of them is the testimony of an anonymous assistant to the quarter warden - a funeral participant: “Do you know the Smolensk cemetery? .. There is a German cemetery, and behind it an Armenian one. If you go out to the seaside, there you are. Here they were all buried. At night they were taken out with an escort, and here we went ... There then stood guard for four months. "

And if ordinary people walked in droves to the burial place of the Decembrists, then the relatives of those executed even more so. Ryleeva's widow often came to her dear grave. Kamenskaya, who, being an 8-year-old girl, accompanied her there in 1826, spoke about this: “I remember what our people said in my presence that Ryleev's widow, by some kind of special grace to her, was allowed to take her husband's body and bury him herself in Golodai, only so that she did not put a cross over the place where he would be placed and did not make any notes by which one could suspect that someone was buried here. And exactly, in the place where we went, a cross But the unfortunate woman could not resist, so as not to drag a bunch of simple cobblestones to the ground under which lay her earthly happiness with her own hands and not to sprinkle them with simple herbs and wildflowers ... For a prying eye, this pile of pebbles was completely invisible , but she and I saw her from afar and went straight to her. "
Rumors that the body of the executed Kondraty Ryleyev was handed over to his widow for burial have no confirmation. On the contrary, something else is known. Bibikova, the sister of the executed Decembrist Muravyov-Apostol, asked to give her brother's corpse, to which Nicholas I replied with a resolute refusal. Probably, Kamenskaya took the burial of Ryleev for a common grave of all five Decembrists.

So, for example, a close friend of Natalia Ryleeva, Miller in 1827 went to Golodai with his daughters to pray over the ashes of the dead. The artist Zhemchuzhnikov often walked around Vasilievsky Island with the painters Fedotov and Beidemen in the late 1840s - early 1850s. He said: "... in the distance the Smolensk cemetery was seen in the form of a forest, behind the cemetery there was a mound known to us over the bodies of the executed Decembrists." Information about the location of the grave of the Decembrists is available in the diaries of Pushkin's acquaintance, Gendre. He visited their grave shortly after the execution, in the summer of 1826, and saw a military guard posted there. Apparently, Gendre's companion was Griboyedov.

In 1862, after the announced amnesty to all Decembrists, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Suvorov decided to refine the famous grave. However, over time, this place began to be flooded with the waters of the Neva, and the relatives of the executed "five" themselves moved to another world. So the last refuge of the Decembrists was forgotten ...

as suggested by the common grave of the five executed Decembrists

Accidental find

In June 1917, Petrograd newspapers exploded with headlines: "The grave of the executed Decembrists has been found!" Since the February Revolution that recently took place in Russia appeared to be a continuation of the Decembrist cause, the message about this find aroused unprecedented interest in the widest circles of the public.

Back in 1906, the city authorities decided to develop the Golodai Island with a complex of buildings called "New Petersburg".

The owner of the construction company, Italian Richard Gualino, heard that the Decembrists were buried somewhere on the site of the current construction site, and tried to find the grave. However, in 1911, the police learned about the activities of the Italian and forbade him to excavate. After the February Revolution of 1917, he left for Turin, leaving in place of himself the manager of the engineer Gurevich, whom he asked to continue the search. A similar request was made to him by the newly created Society for the Memory of the Decembrists in Petrograd.

On June 1, 1917, Gurevich informed the secretary of the society, Professor Svyatlovsky, that while digging a trench for a water supply behind the garrison wing, someone had found a coffin. The next day, at the request of the professor, General Schwartz allocated a soldier of the 1st automobile company for further excavations. As a result, 4 more coffins were dug from the ground, which lay in a common grave along with the first. Thus, a total of 5 human skeletons were found, which corresponded to the number of executed Decembrists.

In the first, best-preserved coffin, a skeleton was found, dressed in an officer's uniform from the time of Alexander I. The coffin was rich, once upholstered with brocade, had wooden legs in the form of lion's paws. The rest of the dominoes were much more modest in manufacture and were worse preserved. Therefore, the bones in them were only fragments of human skeletons. Judging by the remnants of clothing, three of the people buried here were military, and two were civilians. This was fully consistent with the truth - Pestel, Muravyov-Apostol and Bestuzhev-Ryumin were military, and Ryleevi Kakhovsky were civilians. According to members of the Society for the Memory of the Decembrists, the best-preserved skeleton in military uniform belonged to Colonel Pestel.

All the human remains found were put into one, the best-preserved coffin, and placed in the deceased room of the Smolensk cemetery for "transfer to the Academy of Sciences for the purpose of study and subsequent ceremonial burial."
A discussion immediately arose as to whether the remains found at Golodai really belonged to the executed Decembrists. Opinions were divided. Some argued that the number of skeletons found corresponded to the number of the hanged rebels, the uniform also confirms this, the buttons on one of the uniforms were made no earlier than 1808, and leather belts were found in the coffins, which were usually used to tie the hands of convicts before execution.

Other Petrograd people doubted strongly. From the stories of contemporaries it was known how the Decembrists were executed and buried. Before the execution, they took off their clothes and burned them at the stake, and then changed them into the shrouds of the suicide bombers. For this reason alone, they could not be buried in military uniform. Some witnesses generally claimed that they were buried naked, as the funeral team took these shrouds for themselves. According to other sources, the bodies of the executed were buried without coffins, and then covered with quicklime, so that nothing could be preserved either from the form or from the skeletons themselves.

Finally, the pieces of leather found in the coffins, mistaken for leather belts, are simply the remains of boots, from which, by the way, heels have also survived. But the buttons found in the "Pestel's grave" corresponded to the samples of the reign of both Alexander I and Nicholas I. In general, the number of human bones found in Goloday could hardly belong to five - there are too few of them.

And what about Pushkin?

Anna Akhmatova showed another interest in the grave of the Decembrists. Investigating Pushkin's work, she came to the conclusion that the poet was looking for the grave of his friends, visited it and even left in some of his works a kind of guide to it. First of all, it was Pushkin's work "A secluded house on Vasilievsky", in the poem "When sometimes remembered ..." the burial place of the Decembrists, Pushkin allegedly described as follows:

I see an open island there,
A sad island and a wild coast
Lined with winter lingonberries,
Withered tundra covered
And washed away with cold foam

In the poem "The Bronze Horseman", Anna Andreevna found the following lines on this score:

Small island.
Visible at the seaside.
Sometimes Moors with a seine there
The fisherman on the boat is belated
And he cooks his poor supper ...

Akhmatova believed that Pushkin depicted in these lines the island of Golodai, where the bodies of the Decembrists were secretly buried. However, Akhmatova's discovery did not cause any sensation then, especially since her conclusions were disputed by historians Tarkhov and Izmailov. In their opinion, Pushkin was describing some other island, and not Golodai. And they added that it is not difficult to pick up quotes from any works of the poet for a pre-drawn scheme, as long as they fit the meaning.

Nevertheless, in 1985 the Pushkinist Nevelev went even further. Alexander Sergeevich often made various sketches in the margins of his manuscripts. So, on the pages of the draft manuscript of "Poltava" he depicted several hanged: first two hanged men, then a gallows with five hanged, then one hanged and, finally, three dead on the gallows. Nevelev decided that Pushkin displayed "historical information about the execution of the Decembrists" here.

Researchers Belyaev and Tsyavlovsky gave an answer to these baseless assumptions: Pushkin's drawings are just illustrations for "Poltava". It is known that after the Battle of Poltava, a number of supporters of the traitor Mazepa were publicly hanged, and instead of the escaped hetman himself, a scarecrow was hanged on the gallows.

Convinced that he was right, Nevelev suggested that among many other drawings by Pushkin, there is certainly also an image of the grave of the Decembrists.

The Leningrad poet Chernov in 1987 decided to find the grave of the executed Decembrists, guided by the instructions of Pushkin (or rather, Akhmatova and Nevelev). In the third "Masonic notebook" of the poet, he discovered a drawing of a broken tree under a rock and a large stone lying at its foot. According to Chernov, it was the same stone brought to the grave by Natalia Ryleeva's hands in 1826. Then Chernov finds in Pushkin's workbooks and on the pages of the Bronze Horseman manuscript, seven drawings, which depict some rocks, bushes, cliffs, trees, a fisherman's hut. There is nothing like this in Golodai. Therefore, the researcher suggested that the burial place of dacabristosis is located on the island of Honoropulo, separated in the past from Golodaya by a narrow channel.

Search for the truth for the centenary

Another surge of interest in the grave of the Decembrists arose in 1925 in connection with the upcoming 100th anniversary of their execution. Then the search for truth was headed by an organization engaged in the study of the history of the party and the revolutionary movement in Russia.

The remains found in 1917 at Goloday were kept in the basements of the Winter Palace, which in those years became the Museum of the Revolution. Research proceeded in two directions. At the site of the discovery of five coffins, it was decided to carry out new excavations, and medical experts from the Military Medical Academy, Vikhrov and Speransky, were instructed to give an opinion on the skeletons themselves. An expert from the Glavnauka Gabaev was invited as a specialist in military uniform.

The first sensational detail of the search in 1925 was the news of the sixth coffin found at the same time, eight years ago, next to five alleged Decembrists' domina.

Four excavations were laid in the same place on Golodai Island. In the first one, workers stumbled upon a half-rotted human skeleton, buried without a coffin. Deeper still, the diggers discovered a rotten coffin with another skeleton without signs of any clothing. In the second, third and fourth excavations, one dilapidated coffin with fragments of human bones was found. It became clear that there was a cemetery here, and the discovery of five coffins (according to the number of executed Decembrists) in 1917 was pure chance.

The medical examination of the skeletons has yielded sensational results. It turned out that they belonged not to five, but only to four people: three adults and one teenager aged 12-15! Historical examination of the uniform found in one of the coffins showed that it belonged to an officer of the Life Guards of the Finland Regiment, model 1829-1855.

The Istpart commission came to the conclusion that the remains found in Golodai "cannot belong to the executed Decembrists." Nevertheless, given that Golodai Island, according to all evidence, is the place where they were nevertheless buried, the authorities decided to erect a monument on one of the squares, which was done in 1939, and the island itself was renamed the Decembrists Island.

Thus ended the saga of the search for the grave of the Decembrists in 1917 and 1925.

But if all the versions listed are wrong, then which one is correct? Opposite the island of the Decembrists, on the banks of the Smolenka River, there is an Orthodox Smolensk cemetery - one of the oldest in St. Petersburg. Many famous people are buried here. In the 19th century, two sites adjoined it: for suicides and pets. Most serious researchers are inclined to believe that, most likely, the remains of the executed Decembrists lie in just one of these areas.

However, finding them now is an almost impossible task ...

sources

General of infantry, hero and count paid for loyalty to the emperor with his life

The glorious military general Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich (1771-1825) has always remained an example of selfless service to Russia, and his unexpected death at the hands of the Decembrists was a bitter reproach to the Russians for internal strife. Mikhail Andreevich came from a Serbian family that moved to Russia under Peter I. His father was a participant in the Russian-Turkish wars of the Catherine era, reached the rank of lieutenant general and the post of governor in Little Russia, as Ukraine was then called. His son Mikhail, in addition to home education, had the opportunity to study abroad.

There he attended classes at a number of universities and military schools.

As a child, Miloradovich was enlisted in the Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment, in its ranks he began his combat career - he participated in the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790, in 1796 he already had the rank of captain. A smart, dashing and executive officer safely survived parade trials and drills during the reign of Paul I, in 1798 he became a major general and commander of the Absheron Musketeer Regiment.

An important role in the formation of Miloradovich as a combat commander was played by his participation in the Italian and Swiss campaigns of Alexander Suvorov in 1799. At the very beginning of the Italian campaign, the commander of the Absheron regiment showed resourcefulness, quickness and contempt for death in the battle at Lecco, and Suvorov brought him closer to him, made him his duty general. Miloradovich mastered Suvorov's prowess, enterprise and a kind attitude towards the soldier, which later brought him popularity and fame. In the battle of Novi, the troops under the command of Miloradovich and Peter Bagration made a decisive contribution to the victory, defeating the French units defending in the center of the position. The blow of Miloradovich's detachment predetermined the defeat of the French troops defending the approaches to the Saint-Gotthard Pass near Lake Aubert-Alps.

General Miloradovich in his youth

One curious episode is connected with the march through Saint Gotthard. While descending the steep mountain into the valley occupied by the French, Miloradovich's soldiers hesitated. Noticing this, Mikhail Andreevich exclaimed: "Look how your general will be taken prisoner!" - and rolled on his back from the cliff. The soldiers who loved their commander followed him in unison ...

Mikhail Andreevich took an active part in the battles for the Alps, helping the Suvorov army to leave the encirclement. For the campaigns in 1799, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anne, 1st degree, St. Alexander Nevsky and the Order of Malta.

During the Russian-Austro-French war of 1805, Miloradovich commanded a brigade as part of the army of Mikhail Kutuzov. During the retreat of the Russian army from Braunau, he distinguished himself in a hot battle with the French at Amstetten and in the battle at Krems. In the latter, he was entrusted with a frontal attack of the enemy position. For courage and valor in a battle that lasted all day, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree and the rank of lieutenant general.

Miloradovich proved his bravery in the campaigns of Suvorov

Always dapper and exquisitely dressed, Mikhail Andreevich, under the bullets, could calmly light his pipe, correct orders and joke. Surrendering to the music of the battle, he succeeded everywhere, roused the troops by his personal example: before everyone else he mounted a horse and dismounted last, when everyone was arranged to rest.

In 1806, with the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war, Miloradovich at the head of the corps crossed the Dniester, entered the Danube principalities and, having occupied Bucharest, saved Wallachia from ruin. Continuing to act as part of the Moldavian army of Ivan Michelson, distinguished himself at Turbat and Obilesti; was awarded a golden sword with the inscription: "For the bravery and salvation of Bucharest." In 1809, for the battle at Rasevat, Mikhail Andreevich was promoted to general from infantry, becoming a full general at the age of 38. Then he was engaged in administrative activities, acting as governor-general in Kiev ...

With the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Miloradovich was entrusted with the formation of reserve and reserve troops in the Kaluga-Volokolamsk-Moscow region. On August 18, with 15,000 reinforcements, he joined the main army at Gzhatsk. In the Battle of Borodino, Mikhail Andreevich, acting as part of the 1st Army of Mikhail Barclay de Tolly, commanded three infantry corps on the right flank and successfully repulsed all attacks of the French troops. On August 28, two days after Borodino, Kutuzov appointed him head of the rearguard of the Russian army, and from that day on, the brave general became the guardian of the army, and, if necessary, its spearhead.

Battle of Prague

The commander of the Russian rearguard managed to wrest the consent of Marshal Joachim Murat, who was in charge of the vanguard of the French troops, to the unhindered advance of the Russian army through Moscow. "Otherwise," Miloradovich said to Murat, "I will fight for every house and street and leave you Moscow in ruins." When the Russian troops crossed over to the old Kaluga road, Miloradovich's rearguard, with its energetic attacks on the enemy, unexpected and ingenious movements, ensured the covert conduct of this strategic maneuver. In hot battles and skirmishes, he more than once forced the French units rushing forward to retreat.

When, near Maloyaroslavets, the corps of Nikolai Dokhturov and Nikolai Raevsky blocked the path of the French army to Kaluga, Miloradovich from Tarutino made such a rapid march to their aid that Kutuzov called him "winged." Napoleon, after the failure at Maloyaroslavets, was forced to retreat along the Smolensk road, and Kutuzov instructed Mikhail Andreevich to directly pursue the enemy. In the battle near Vyazma (October 28), Miloradovich's vanguard, with the support of the Cossack detachment of Matvey Platov, defeated four French corps and occupied the city. On the shoulders of the French, he captured Dorogobuzh, and then distinguished himself in the battle at Krasnoye, forcing the French troops to turn along the country roads to the Dnieper. In Vilna (Vilnius), Alexander I personally presented the brave general with diamond insignia for the Order of St. George, 2nd degree. On the instructions of the tsar, Miloradovich was sent to occupy the Duchy of Warsaw, where he managed to drive out the Austrians almost bloodlessly and captured Warsaw. The Patriotic War of 1812 made Miloradovich's name extremely popular and famous.

Mikhail Andreevich did not lose his military glory in the overseas campaigns of the Russian army in 1813-1814. After the battle of Lutzen (April 1813), he covered the retreat of the Russian-Prussian troops for three weeks, preventing Napoleon from building on his success. In the Battle of Bautsen, Miloradovich bravely withstood all the attacks of the French troops on the left flank, and more than once he himself went over to counterattacks, admiring Alexander I, who was watching the battle. Under the command of Barclay de Tolly, the valiant general successfully operated in the famous battle of Kulm (August 1813) , where the allied Russian-Austrian troops surrounded and defeated the French corps of Domenik Vandam.

And then the Decembrist uprising happened ...

After the Leirzig "battle of the peoples", in which Mikhail Andreevich was entrusted to command the Russian guard, Alexander I promoted him to the rank of count. Miloradovich chose the motto of his coat of arms: "Directness supports me." In addition, the tsar allowed him to wear the soldier's St. George medal - a silver cross on the St. George ribbon, saying: "Wear it, you are a friend of the soldiers." In 1814, Miloradovich commanded the guard and grenadier corps, took part in the battles of Arsy-sur-Aub, Brienne, Fer-Champenoise, Paris.

After returning to Russia, Count Miloradovich headed the color of the army - the Guard, and in 1818 he was appointed Governor-General of St. Petersburg. Knowing for himself only one worthy occupation - war, he did not have the satisfaction of being a mayor. Only in all sorts of incidents, especially during flood days, was the general seen as managerial, courageous and energetic. Affordable and condescending, he tried to observe justice and humanity in all matters. Regarding his merits in peacetime with skepticism, Mikhail Andreevich wrote to the Tsar: "I earnestly ask your Majesty not to reward me ... For me, it is better to beg others for ribbons than to receive them sitting by the fireplace" ...

... The revolt of the Decembrists in 1825 turned into a disaster for Miloradovich. Of the two possible successors of the deceased Alexander I - Konstantin Pavlovich and Nikolai Pavlovich, he preferred Konstantin, with whom he participated in the Suvorov campaigns back in 1799. Perhaps that is why the governor-general of the capital did not take vigorous measures to prevent the rebellion on Senate Square. Arriving on December 14 at the Horse Guards regiment, whose chief was Konstantin, Miloradovich did not want to lead him against the rebels, sparing Russian blood. "I'll go myself," he said, and galloped to Senate Square. There he, having raised himself on the stirrups and took out a golden blade, turned to the soldiers: "Tell me, which of you was with me at Kulm, Lutzen, Bautzen?" It became quiet in the square. "Thank God," Miloradovich exclaimed, "there is not a single Russian soldier here!" Confusion began to appear in the ranks of the rebels, and then the fatal shot of retired lieutenant Pyotr Kakhovsky sounded: the mortally wounded general fell from his horse into the snow ...

Pyotr Kakhovsky - the killer of the hero-general ...

... When Mikhail Andreevich was dying in the barracks of the Horse Guards Regiment and saw a bullet removed from his body, he said with relief: "Thank God, this is not a rifle bullet, not a soldier's bullet." At 3 o'clock in the morning on December 15, he was gone. For almost three decades Miloradovich was in military campaigns and battles, endangered countless times, but survived. Death in the middle of the capital at the hands of a compatriot became a reproach for Russia ...

Nikolay KOVALEVSKY, "History of the Russian State"

The uprising of the Decembrists in Senate Square is one of the greatest and tragic events in the history of Russia. The emergence of revolutionary trends began long before the beginning of the overthrow of the imperial dynasty. This was the first time people gathered on such a scale to attack the imperial dynasty. This uprising was supposed to lead to a change of government. To the destruction of the Russian Empire and the construction of a new, liberal-democratic state. We will consider the reasons for the Decembrist uprising, its course and results.

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Background

After the Patriotic War in 1812, the people did not calm down and began to organize an uprising. Then various secret societies began to form, which should have led sometime to the emergence of a new revolution. This is what happened in December 1825.

The revolution could not begin without preparation, and the revolutionaries began to prepare in advance. They worked a careful plan, the result of which was not something, but the formation of a new state.

According to their plan, Nicholas I was to renounce the throne. After that, a provisional government would ascend to the throne, which was to be headed by Count Speransky.

After that, the reorganization of state power would begin. The Russian Empire was to become a Constitutional monarchy or a republic. The entire royal family was planned to be killed or sent abroad to Fort Ross

But none of this was destined to happen, the uprising was suppressed by the power of the imperial army. How did it all happen?

Reasons for the uprising

The reasons for the December uprising of 1825 include the following factors:

Prerequisites

Various alliances with insurgency have been organized... They were actively growing and developing. Despite numerous arrests and counterintelligence resistance of the imperial soldiers, many revolutionaries died or abandoned the idea of \u200b\u200bseizing power, however, new ones came to their place. They were waiting for the perfect moment to begin the advance of their troops. Such a moment was the ambiguous situation of the ascension to the throne of Nicholas, the brother of the emperor after the death of Alexander I.

Interregnum

Konstantin Pavlovich, elder brother of Alexander, had to inherit the throne after him, since he had no children. But there was a secret document that confirmed Constantine's renunciation of the throne. He signed it while Alexander was still alive. This gave a chance for the throne to his younger brother Nikolai Pavlovich. However, he was extremely unpopular among the higher ranks and those close to the royal family.

There was a twofold situation in the reign, when Constantine was persuaded to ascend the throne, while Nicholas was also persuaded to sign his renunciation. What happened: Nicholas, under pressure, abdicates the throne, giving his place to the legitimate ruler Constantine. But he still refuses the offered place and re-signs the abdication of the throne, explaining his decision in favor of his brother at the meeting.

Only on December 14, after long deliberations, the senate recognized the rights to the throne of Nikolai Pavlovich, after which he immediately took the oath.

This situation led to the fact that the throne was, as it were, passed from hand to hand, which shook the social strata of society and the revolutionaries could not help but take advantage of this, since this was the ideal moment for an uprising.

Rebellion plan

At this time, the participants in the December uprising were already planning their attack. Their first priority was to prevent Nicholas from ascending the throne. And for this, all methods were used. The Winter Palace had to be captured by killing the soldiers guarding it. They planned to transfer those close to the royal family to their side, and if they refused, they would be sent abroad or killed. It was decided to imprison or kill the royal family.

Sergei Trubetskoy became the head of the uprising... Active politician and Grand Duke. After the capture, it was necessary to create a new provisional government. And its main legislative body is a special assembly. The main legal act is the Constitution.

On the night of December 14, according to the plan, an assassin was to enter the palace to eliminate the new emperor Nicholas. However, Kakhovsky, appointed to the role of the murderer, refused to carry out the order to assassinate the king. It was also planned to attack the Izmailovsky regiment on the Winter Palace, but Yakubovich refused to lead his troops.

Thus, by the morning of December 14, Emperor Nicholas was alive, and the revolutionaries managed to bring only about 800 agitated soldiers to the square to the winter palace. And their plan of uprising was not fully realized, but only partially.

Participants

Of the famous personalities who were in the conspiracy, it can be noted:

Senate Square Uprising

Nicholas I was warned of a possible planned attack... The plans of the Decembrists were laid out to him by one of the members of the secret society, who considered participation in the uprising against the tsar unworthy of a noble title. Yakov Ivanovich Rostovtsev was a man of honor and told the tsar about the event planned by the revolutionaries, which could lead to the end of the Russian Empire.

At seven in the morning, Nicholas was already proclaimed emperor... At this time, the Senate Square was completely occupied by the soldiers of the rebels. In addition, seeing the events taking place on the streets of St. Petersburg, the common people came out and happily joined the uprising. People were turning into an unbridled crowd of angry residents.

When the emperor and his troops rode up to the palace, stones were thrown into it with curses and threats. The rebels were surrounded by a ring of soldiers near the palace, and with the second ring they stood at the entrance to the square, preventing newly arrived citizens from joining the uprising, who had already crowded and tried to get to the center of events.

Members of the imperial dynasty took refuge in the palace, but when the tsarist troops were defeated, a retreat plan was prepared and a carriage was prepared that would take the emperor to shelter in Tsarskoe Selo.

Nicholas sent an ambassador to offer peace and negotiate a treaty on the conditions for ending the uprising. Metropolitan Seraphim became him. However, the people did not listen to him, saying that he had taken an oath of allegiance to two kings this week. Another person who tried to put things in order was governor-General Mikhail Miloradovich.

During the negotiations, he was badly wounded, and later he died. After the revolutionaries opened fire on the people sent for negotiations, the soldiers of the imperial army opened fire with buckshot at the revolutionaries. The crowd was dispersed.

The rebels were surrounded by government troops, four times the number of revolutionaries gathered in the square. When, under a hail of shots, the assembled rushed to flee, they realized that they could not break through the ring of government troops. They rushed to the Neva to cross the ice to Vasilievsky Island. However, the ice collapsed, many died in the water. Those who managed to get closer to the island were already met by artillery fire from its shores. By nightfall, the uprising was completely suppressed.

Outcome

On this day, St. Petersburg doused with the blood of its citizens. The corpses of rebellious soldiers, ordinary people united in a mad crowd, and tsarist guardsmen, bravely defending Senate Square from the offensive, were scattered everywhere in the streets.

The wounded insurgents were afraid to go to the hospital for help, since they could be arrested and tried for revolutionary activities. Many died from gunshot wounds already at home, deprived of help and hope of salvation. Others went to the bottom while crossing the Neva, trying to swim to the shore of Vasilevsky Island in the icy water, many died of frostbite.

In total, 277 soldiers from the Grenadier Regiment and 371 from the Moscow Regiment were arrested. And also more than fifty sailors from the sea crew were put on trial. They were taken to the royal palace, where the emperor himself acted as a judge.

The trial was conducted by the highest judicial body in criminal matters. The five main participants in the uprising were sentenced to death. It was decided to send the rest into exile to hard labor in Siberia, where the most difficult living conditions were.

On December 17, Nicholas I decided to establish a new commission, the main goal of which was to identify secret societies, find hiding revolutionaries, and eliminate underground anti-government movements. The Minister of War Alexander Tatishchev became the leader of the new commission.

Briefly about the uprising: dates

• 1816 - the emergence of secret organizations with revolutionary trends (Trubetskoy and Muravyov).
• 1818 - transformation of the organization into the Welfare Union of staff expansion, increasing the size of the organization.
• 1819 - poisoning of Speransky, the leader of liberal movements.
• June 1819 - riots in military settlements.
• January 17, 1820 - university reform. The introduction of religious beliefs into the strata of society, the education of humility.
• June 1820 - Reform of the rules for publishing literary works. Increased censorship.
• January 1, 1825 - a ban on any secret organizations in Russia. Harassment and persecution of various communities.
• 1823 - The Southern Society, led by Pestal, publishes a new program, Russkaya Pravda.
• December 14, 1825 - Decembrist uprising.
• 1825 - the uprising of the Chernigov regiment.
• 1825 - Creation of a special commission to persecute revolutionaries underground.
• July 13, 1826 - the trial of the revolutionaries. Execution of the verdict.

The uprising of the Decembrists is of great importance in the history of Russia. This is one of the largest revolutionary movements in history. Despite the failure of the rebels, one cannot ignore the factor of danger to which the Russian Empire was exposed.

The Decembrists lost this war, but the idea of \u200b\u200bchanging society to a new system did not subside in the minds of people. Only a century later, in 1917, it can be said that the plans of the Decembrists were fully implemented. After all, their followers took into account all the mistakes and shortcomings of the 1825 uprising. Thus, we can say that it was at that time that the real Civil War began, which lasted more than one century and led to very tragic consequences.

The history of the Decembrists in Russia is known to almost every person. These people, who dreamed of changing the world and seeing their country differently, laid down their heads for their ideas. But their uprising shook society and caused a whole series of subsequent reforms, which nevertheless changed the socio-political life in the country. From our article you will learn about the uprising itself, as well as about the execution of the Decembrists, which was accompanied by many rumors.

Dissatisfaction with the tsarist regime in Russia

The war of 1812 made it possible for officers to see the true state of affairs in the country and understand the need for large-scale political reforms. Many of the military, having visited the countries of Europe, realized how much serfdom hinders the development of the Russian Empire, which none of the tsars dared to abolish. The hostilities revealed the ineffectiveness of the existing legislative and executive power, so most of the officers had a glimmer of hope for the limitation of the monarchy, which was to begin with the liberation of the peasants. These ideas penetrated deeply into Russian society, therefore, in the middle of the nineteenth century, secret groups began to form in St. Petersburg, which actively developed a reform program.

The first secret societies

The first serious and massive group was the Union of Salvation, which managed to exist for two years. This society saw its main goal as the abolition of serfdom and the implementation of reforms. During their work, the leaders of the Union of Salvation wrote several versions of the program, which was supposed to serve as the basis for political transformations. However, many historians are inclined to believe that most of the members of the secret society belonged to the Masonic lodge. In this regard, disagreements constantly arose within the group, which led to the dissolution of the Union of Salvation.

Instead, in the eighteenth year of the nineteenth century, the "Union of Prosperity" was formed, the leaders of which stepped further than their predecessors. According to the written program, members of the secret society worked to change public consciousness, forming a liberal-minded stratum of the intelligentsia. For this purpose, library circles, educational societies and other organizations were created, which aroused great interest among young people in large cities of Russia. In general, the "Union of Welfare" consisted of more than two hundred people, but the main staff changed all the time. Passionate about politics and hot young people found their own families, had children and moved away from the once interesting and fashionable ideas. Over time, several branches of the secret society appeared in the country, and some of them were very radical. Naturally, such ideas could not but arouse interest from the state. The Union of Welfare came under the supervision of the authorities and was disbanded three years after its creation.

Southern and Northern Society of Decembrists

The disintegrated "Union of Welfare" became the basis for the emergence of two new secret groups, which later became the focus of the uprising. The Northern Society of Decembrists was formed one year after the collapse of the previous secret organization. St. Petersburg became its center; in parallel, the Southern Society operated in Ukraine. The members of both groups were quite active and managed to take a large number of people into their ranks. They hoped that the written programs of the Decembrists could be implemented and the time of a new regime would come in Russia. By 1825, a very unstable political situation had developed in the country, which members of secret organizations took advantage of.

Prerequisites for the uprising

Before moving on to the story of the uprising, which resulted in the exile and executions of the Decembrists, it is necessary to explain why the conspirators decided to act in this particular period of time. The fact is that after the death of Tsar Alexander I, the question of succession to the throne arose in Russia. According to the law, his brother Constantine was to rule the empire after the childless king. However, he had long since renounced the throne, about which there was an official document. Therefore, the next oldest brother, Nikolai, could claim his rights, but it was he who did not enjoy the support of the people and the military elite.

On the twenty-seventh of November Constantine was sworn in and became the rightful emperor. The newly-made ruler did not seek to delve into state affairs, recalling his previous abdication. However, Konstantin made no attempts to file a second refusal. Tension in all strata of society was growing, and at that moment Nicholas decided to take advantage of the situation and proclaimed himself the only legitimate emperor. His brother immediately signed the abdication, and a second oath was scheduled for the fourteenth of December. This fact caused great discontent among the aristocracy and the high military command. This was the most convenient moment for the performance of the Decembrists and their associates.

Action plan

After analyzing the situation, the leaders of the uprising decided to prevent the tsar from taking the oath. For this purpose, this plan has been developed, taking into account all the details. The performance was supposed to begin on Senate Square. The Decembrists, at the head of several regiments, planned to seize the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress. The royal family in its entirety was subject to arrest, while the leaders of the uprising took into account the option with the assassination of the king. However, this decision was not supported by all the participants in the uprising. Many were in favor of expelling the imperial family safe and sound outside Russia.

The Decembrists planned to form a new government, publish a Manifesto on Rights and Freedoms, which would include a clause on the abolition of serfdom, as well as a reform program. The form of government was to be a republic or a constitutional monarchy.

The beginning of the uprising

Historians say that on the fourteenth of December, in the morning, everything did not go as planned. Peter Kakhovsky, who was supposed to enter the Winter Palace and kill the emperor, which would have served as the beginning of the uprising, refused to do so. The plan to bring the sailors to the palace also failed. The performance of the Decembrists, planned as a powerful and unexpected seizure of key points of St. Petersburg, was losing its surprise and strength literally before our eyes.

However, with the light hand of Kondraty Ryleev, who is the leader of the conspirators, at least three thousand people came out to Senate Square, waiting for a command to attack. But the rebels seriously miscalculated, Nicholas I was aware of the conspirators' intentions in advance and took the oath of office from the senators early in the morning. This discouraged the Decembrists, who could not make a decision on their further actions.

Bloody pages of rebellion

More than once people loyal to the tsar came out to the regiments lined up on the square, trying to convince the soldiers to return to their barracks. Gradually, more than ten thousand citizens came to the palace. The people formed two rings around Senate Square, government troops were also surrounded, which threatened with very serious problems. The people sympathized with the Decembrists and shouted hard-hitting slogans against Nicholas I.

Darkness was approaching, and the emperor understood that the problem must be solved before the common people nevertheless joined the rebels. Then it will be quite difficult to stop the conspirators. And the Decembrists all hesitated and could not decide on active actions. As historians say, this predetermined the outcome of events. The king took advantage of the prolonged pause and pulled about ten thousand soldiers loyal to him to the city. They surrounded the rebels and began to shoot at the Decembrists and the curious crowd with grapeshot. This was followed by rifle fire, which forced the ranks of the Decembrists to falter. Many rushed to run towards the city, others descended onto the icy Neva. Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin tried to line up troops on the ice to capture the Peter and Paul Fortress, but they were fired at with cannonballs. The ice was crumbling, and dozens of people went under the water.

Rebellion victims

After the suppression of the uprising, the streets of the city were littered with corpses, eyewitnesses of the events wrote in their memoirs that in total several hundred Decembrists were destroyed. The emperor ordered to dispose of the bodies until morning, but his order was taken literally. They made ice holes in the ice and threw the bodies of all the dead there. Many said that the wounded also went under the ice, who could still be helped. A large number of soldiers and ordinary people who were injured and wounded did not turn to doctors for fear of ending up in prison. It is known that at least five hundred people died from wounds in the city.

The conspirators' trial

The next morning, after the bloody events, mass arrests began. In total, about six hundred people were in the dungeons. The Decembrists were arrested one at a time and secretly brought to the Winter Palace, where the interrogations were led by the emperor himself. One of the first was Pavel Pestel. It is known that his interrogation lasted for several hours. It was not easy for Muravyov-Apostol, who distinguished himself during the uprising itself and took an active part in its preparation.

The formed commission of inquiry worked under the clear leadership of Nicholas I. He knew about every step of the investigators, and all the interrogation protocols were sent to him. Many understood that the trial of the Decembrists was just a formality. Indeed, based on the results of the investigative actions, the decision had to be made by the emperor himself. He carefully studied the programs of the Decembrists and found out the circumstances of the conspiracy. He was especially interested in those persons who personally gave their consent to the assassination of the king.

During the trial of the Decembrists, they were all divided into eleven categories. Each meant a certain degree of guilt, depending on the severity of the crime committed, punishment was also assigned. About three hundred people were found guilty.

It is interesting that the emperor himself saw in the uprising a terrible ghost of "Pugachevism", which almost shook the Russian monarchy. This forced Nicholas I to impose a very harsh punishment on the conspirators.

Sentence

As a result of court hearings, five organizers of the uprising were sentenced to death, among them were Pavel Pestel, Ryleev, Bestuzhev and Kakhovsky. The emperor decided that state criminals should be quartered, despite their high social status. SI Muravyov-Apostol, who also had to accept such a terrible death, was numbered among the persons already mentioned.

Thirty-one Decembrists were sentenced to death by beheading, while the rest were to go to Siberia to hard labor. So Nicholas I decided to deal with those who made an attempt to oppose him and the monarchy as a whole.

Change of sentence

In connection with numerous requests for clemency of criminals, the emperor relented and replaced the execution of the Decembrists through quartering by hanging. The beheading was also changed to life-long penal servitude. However, most of the convicts believed that it was simply impossible to survive in Siberia in the mines, and by his decision the tsar simply prolonged the torment of the rebels. After all, it is known that convicts in their general mass rarely survived three years of daily hard work. Most of them died after a year of hard labor.

The date of the execution of the Decembrists was set for the night of the thirteenth July of the twenty-sixth year. Nicholas I feared that the people who saw the execution would rebel again, and therefore ordered the execution to be carried out in the dark in the presence of casual spectators.

Execution

The place of execution of the Decembrists was chosen for security reasons. The authorities were afraid to take the convicts somewhere far from the Peter and Paul Fortress. After all, reports came to the emperor's table that disparate groups of conspirators were planning to recapture Bestuzhev-Ryumin and other organizers of the uprising on the way to the scaffold. As a result, the gallows was built on the crownwork of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the execution itself took place.

According to historical sources, even in the dark, the prisoners were taken outside in white coats. On the chest of each hung a black leather plaque with the name of the convict; after the noose was put on the head of the Decembrists, a white linen cap was put on. Before climbing the scaffold, Kondraty Ryleev turned to the priest and asked him to pray for the souls of the Decembrists and his family. Eyewitnesses recalled that his voice was firm and his gaze was clear.

Two executioners took part in the execution, who, after the announcement of the verdict, knocked the benches out from under the feet of the Decembrists. It was at this moment that three loops broke, and the convicts fell onto the scaffold. Pyotr Kakhovsky addressed the leader of the execution with an angry speech. There were accusations in his words, accompanied by undisguised contempt for his tormentors. Contrary to all the rules, the second execution of the Decembrists, who had already fallen from the gallows, took place. This caused a murmur of the crowd, because in such a case, the condemned miraculously saved had to be pardoned. However, the sentence was still carried out.

The funeral of the Decembrists

Due to the unpleasant incident, the execution dragged on until dawn. Therefore, it was planned to bury the Decembrists only the next day. The bodies were taken by boat to Golodai Island, where they were buried.

But until now, some historians doubt the reliability of this information. Many argue that no records have survived to certify the burial of the executed conspirators. According to an alternative version of events, the corpses of the Decembrists were simply thrown into the river so that no one would ever even remember their existence.

Secrets of execution

It should be mentioned that all the circumstances of the execution of the conspirators are still unknown. Immediately after the execution of the sentence, rumors spread throughout St. Petersburg that the dead bodies of the Decembrists were already in the noose. Many talked about strangling the conspirators while still in their cells, so that no one could save them during the execution. This fact has never been confirmed or refuted.

There were also many rumors that the bodies of the conspirators were still quartered after being hanged. By this, the newly made emperor wanted to assert his strength and power, erasing the memory of the December uprising in the people.

Results and consequences of the uprising

Despite the fact that the conspiracy against the tsarist government was not completed, it had serious consequences for Russia. First of all, such a large-scale protest against the autocracy sowed doubts in the minds of ordinary people about the inviolability of the tsarist regime. The people deeply sympathized with the Decembrists, so the liberation movement in the country began to gain momentum.

Many interpreted the uprising as the first stage of the revolutionary movement that led to the events of 1917. Without the Decembrists, history could have taken a completely different turn, this is recognized by almost all historians.

The events on Senate Square shook not only Russia, but also Europe. Many newspapers began to publish articles about the weakness of the tsarist government and draw a parallel between the Decembrist uprising and the revolutionary movement that captured many countries. This interpretation made it possible for new secret societies to contact their like-minded people in Europe. Some historians believe that the further development of events in the country was coordinated by a more progressive European revolutionary movement. Usually, this formulation refers to England, which had very close ties with the Russian revolutionaries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Memory of the Decembrists

The alleged burial of the conspirators did not go unnoticed by people who considered their uprising a real feat and the first serious attempt to change the life of the common people in the country.

A hundred years after the execution of the Decembrists, an obelisk was erected on the island of Golodai. Black granite was used to make it, and the island itself was renamed in honor of the rebels against the monarchy. Streets, squares and bridges of St. Petersburg were named after the conspirators. It also received a new name and a place where the rebel regiments stood all day. From that time on, it became known as the Decembrists' Square.

After another fifty years, an obelisk with a bas-relief and an inscription arose at the place of execution of the conspirators. It is dedicated to the five executed Decembrists, their faces in profile are depicted on a black bas-relief. The monument itself is made of light granite, and on the pedestal there is a composition of wrought iron. It is interesting that in the process of clearing the place for the obelisk, the builders came across a half-rotted wooden post with shackles covered with rust.

Now the area around the monument has turned into a beautiful and ennobled park. Many trees have been planted here, beautiful wrought-iron lanterns and fences have been installed. The townspeople often walk near the obelisk, enjoying the beautiful surrounding views.

Every year, on the day of the execution of the Decembrists, many Petersburgers come to the obelisk with flowers and lighted candles. Often, the day of remembrance is accompanied by reading the memoirs of participants and witnesses of those bloody events, letters and various works devoted to this topic. Memories of the feat of the Decembrists still live in the hearts of not only the residents of St. Petersburg, but also other Russians who are ready to come to the obelisk on the thirteenth of July to simply lay flowers in honor of the executed heroes of the uprising.

Here, on the eastern earthen rampart of Kronverk, on the night of July 13 (25), 1826, the leaders of the Decembrist uprising P.I.Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin were executed and P. G. Kakhovsky.

Nicholas I ordered every half hour through horse couriers to report to him in Tsarskoe Selo the situation in the Peter and Paul Fortress and near it during the execution of the sentence.

At three o'clock in the morning, a civil execution of the Decembrists, who had been sentenced to various terms of hard labor, took place at the crownwork. After that, five people sentenced to death by hanging were taken out of the fortress.

Pestel Pavel Ivanovich (1793-1896)

In the last report of the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Nicholas I, it was reported: “The execution ended with due silence and order both on the part of the Weisk who were in the ranks and on the part of the spectators, who were few in number. Due to the inexperience of our executioners and the inability to arrange the gallows, the first time three, namely: Ryleev, Kakhovsky and Muravyov-Apostol, broke loose, but were soon hanged again and received a well-deserved death. What I am most faithfully reporting to Your Majesty.

Due to an unforeseen delay, the execution ended later than the scheduled time ... It was already daylight, passers-by appeared. The funeral of the executed Decembrists had to be postponed. The next night, their bodies were secretly taken away and buried, it is believed, on the island of Golodai.

In connection with the centenary of the execution of the Decembrists, on July 25, 1926, a monument-obelisk made of black polished granite was erected on the site of the supposed burial of the Decembrists, and the island of Golodai was renamed the Island of the Decembrists. Senate Square, where the rebel regiments were built on December 14, 1825, was renamed into the Decembrists' Square. The names of the leaders of the uprising - Pestel, Ryleev, Kakhovsky, are immortalized in the names of streets, lanes, bridges of St. Petersburg.

In 1975, in connection with the 150th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising, a granite obelisk was erected on the shaft of the kronverk - a monument to the five best representatives of the first generation of Russian revolutionaries. It was designed by architects V. Petrov, A. Lelyakov and sculptors A. Ignatiev and A. Dyoma. (During excavation work on the construction of the monument, the remains of a decayed pillar and shackles rusted from time were found.)

On the front side of the monument there is the date of execution and a bas-relief with the profiles of the Decembrists. Such a bas-relief was first made at the request of Herzen and placed on the cover of the magazine "Polar Star" he published in recognition of the freedom-loving ideas of the Decembrists.

Under the bas-relief on the monument there is an inscription: "At this place on July 13/25, 1826, the Decembrists P. Pestel, K. Ryleev, P. Kakhovsky, S. Muravyov-Apostol, M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin were executed." On the other side of the obelisk the fiery words of A.S. Pushkin are carved:

Comrade, believe: she will rise,
The star of captivating happiness
Russia will rise from sleep
And on the wreckage of autocracy
They will write our names!

In front of the obelisk, on a square granite pedestal, there is a forged composition: sword, epaulettes, broken chains.