Peasant rebellions in Russia were, in large part, caused by the cruelties of serfdom, and peasants fervently prayed for a “good tsar,” one who would emancipate them. Pugachev claimed to be Peter III, that long-awaited ruler.

We, Peter III, by the Grace of God Emperor and Autocrat of All-Russia, etc. This is given for nationwide information. By this personal decree, with our monarchial and fatherly love, we grant [freedom] to everyone who formerly was in serfdom or in any other obligation to the nobility; and we transfer these to be faithful personal subjects of our crown; [to the Old Believers] we grant the right to use the ancient sign of the Cross, and to pray, and to wear beards; while to the Cossacks [we restore] for eternity their freedoms and liberties; we [hereby] terminate the recruiting system, cancel personal and other monetary taxes, abolish without compensation the ownership of land, forest, pastures, fisheries and salt deposits; and [finally] we free everyone from all taxes and obligations which the thievish nobles and extortionist city judges have imposed on the peasantry and the rest of the population. We pray for the salvation of your souls and wish you a happy and peaceful life here [on earth] where we have suffered and experienced much from the above-mentioned thievish nobles. Now since our name, thanks to the hand of Providence, flourishes throughout Russia, we make hereby known by this personal decree the following: all nobles who have owned either pomesties [estates granted by the state], or votchinas [inherited estates], who have opposed our rule, who have rebelled against the empire, and who have ruined the peasantry should be seized, arrested, and hanged; that is, treated in the same manner as these unchristians have treated you, the peasantry. After the extermination of these opponents and thievish nobles everyone will live in a peace and happiness that shall continue to eternity.

Pugachevshchina: Iz arkhiva Pugacheva. Manifesty, ukazy i perepiska [The Pugachev Affair: From the Pugachev Archive. Manifestoes, Decrees, and Correspondence]. Moscow: Tsentarkhiv, 1926. Vol. 1. Translated by Basil Dmytryshyn. From: Basil Dmytryshyn, ed. Imperial Russia: A Source Book, 1700–1917. Gulf Breeze, Fla.: Academic International Press, 1999.
Reprinted courtesy of Academic International Press