Dissatisfaction was rife in southern Russia: the Turkish War caused heavy taxation and increased military recruitment; the conditions in factories were horrendous; free peasants worried about the encroachments of serfdom; Cossacks resented the encroachments of the state on their way of life; Old Believers wanted freedom from discrimination. Emil'ian Pugachev (ca. 1742–1775) started an uprising of the disgruntled population. He declared himself the dead Peter III (r. 1761–62), established a court, and began issuing decrees that called for the extermination of landlords and officials along with the end of taxation, military service, and serfdom. All of South Russia went up in flames, but the rebellion fell at the hands of Catherine's better-organized army.