Moscow plague riot of 1771
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{{noref, date=July 2012 Plague Riot (''Чумной бунт'' in
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
) was a riot in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
in 1771 between 15 and 17 September, caused by an outbreak of bubonic plague.


History

The first signs of plague in Moscow appeared in late 1770, which would turn into a major
epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...
in the spring of 1771. The measures undertaken by the authorities, such as creation of forced
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
s, destruction of contaminated property without compensation or control, and closing of
public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
caused fear and anger among the citizens. The city's economy was mostly paralyzed because many markets, stores, and administrative buildings had been closed down. All of this was followed by acute food shortages, causing deterioration of living conditions for the majority of the Muscovites.
Dvoryane The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire. Up until the February Revolutio ...
(Russian nobility) and well-off city dwellers left Moscow due to the plague outbreak. The first outbursts of mass protest against the measures undertaken by the authorities took place on 29 August and 1 September in a neighborhood of Lefortovo. By early September, the rumors of an imminent uprising had already been circulating. An attempt by the Archbishop Ambrose of Moscow to prevent the citizens from gathering at the Icon of the Virgin Mary of Bogolyubovo ( Икона Боголюбской Богоматери) in
Kitai-gorod Kitay-gorod ( rus, Китай-город, p=kʲɪˈtaj ˈɡorət), also referred to as the Great Possad () in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow in Russia, defined by the remnants ...
as a quarantine measure served as an immediate cause for the Plague Riot. On 15 September, huge crowds of Muscovites began to flow towards
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
at the sound of the alarm bell. Pushing aside a military unit, they burst into the Kremlin and destroyed the
Chudov Monastery The Chudov Monastery (russian: Чу́дов монасты́рь; more formally known as Alexius’ Archangel Michael Monastery) was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. The monastery was dedicated to the mi ...
( archbishop's residence) and its
wine cellar A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system ...
s. Archbishop Ambrosius managed to escape to the
Donskoy Monastery Donskoy Monastery (russian: Донско́й монасты́рь) is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from the threat of an invasion by the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey. Commanding a highway to ...
. On 16 September the riot gained in strength. Angry citizens captured the Donskoy Monastery, killed Archbishop Ambrosius, and destroyed two quarantine zones (
Danilov Monastery Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; Данилов монастырь, Свято-Данилов монастырь in Russian) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. ...
and the one beyond the Serpukhov Gates). In the afternoon, most of the rebels approached the Kremlin and were met by a number of military units. The crowd demanded the surrender of
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Pyotr Yeropkin, who had been overseeing the affairs of Moscow after
Pyotr Saltykov Count Pyotr Semyonovich Saltykov (russian: Пётр Семёнович Салтыков) (11 December 1697/1698/1700 – 26 December 1772) was a Russian statesman and a military officer, promoted to the rank of Field marshal on 18 August 1759. ...
's departure. As soon as the Muscovites tried to attack the Kremlin's Spasskiye Gates, the army opened fire with
buckshot A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired thro ...
, dispersing the crowd and capturing some of the rebels. On the morning of 17 September, around 1000 people gathered at the Spasskiye gates again, demanding the release of captured rebels and elimination of quarantines. The army managed to disperse the crowd yet again and finally suppressed the riot. Some 300 people were brought to trial. A government commission headed by
Grigory Orlov Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (russian: Князь Григорий Григорьевич Орлов; 6 October 1734, Bezhetsky Uyezd – 13 April 1783, Moscow) was a favourite of the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. He became a leade ...
was sent to Moscow on 26 September to restore order. It took some measures against the plague and provided citizens with work and food, which would finally pacify the people of Moscow. The commission improved services in quarantines, put an end to the burning of property, reopened public baths, permitted trade, increased food deliveries, and organized
public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
. At the same time, the commission was engaged in prosecuting those who had taken part in the Plague Riot. Four of them were executed; 165 adults and twelve teenagers were subjected to punishment. With the onset of cold weather, the outbreak began to subside. Around 200,000 people died in Moscow and its outskirts during the plague. There was another unlikely convict: the church bell that was used to start the alarm. By the order of
Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
, an executor cut the tongue from the bell. For more than thirty years, the silent bell hung on the bell tower. Eventually, in 1803, it was removed and sent to the Arsenal and, in 1821, to the
Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin Armoury,Officially called the "Armou/ory Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armou/ory Palace", the "Moscow Armou/ory", the "Armou/ory Museum", and the "Moscow Armou/ory Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. ( ...
.


See also

* Black Death *
Copper Riot The Copper Coin Riot, also known as the Moscow Uprising of 1662 (russian: Медный бунт, Московское восстание 1662 года) was a major riot in Moscow, which took place on . Background The riot was preceded by a gradu ...
*
Salt Riot The Moscow uprising of 1648 (Russian: Соляной бунт, Московское восстание 1648), sometimes known as the salt riot, started because of the government's replacement of different taxes with a universal salt tax for the p ...
* 1770–1772 Russian plague Politics of the Russian Empire 18th century in Moscow Riots and civil disorder in Russia Second plague pandemic 1771 riots 1771 in the Russian Empire 1770 in the Russian Empire Epidemic riots