"Copper" riot: reasons for the copper riot. Copper riot Popular unrest 1662

The Copper Riot of 1662, like the Salt Riot of 1648-1649, was an anti-government protest based on financial reasons. After the start of the war between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1654, the country needed a lot of money, but it did not have its own silver, and the Russian government, led by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, decided to introduce copper money instead of silver. The latter began to actively depreciate, which did not please the majority of the Russian population. In 1662, several thousand Muscovites rebelled against the government's monetary policy. However, this uprising was suppressed. But after this, copper money was nevertheless withdrawn from circulation. You will learn about all this in more detail from this lesson.

The need to change the monetary system of the Moscow StateXVIIV. was obvious. At this time, the main coins used in circulation were silver kopecks (Fig. 2). For example, in order to pay the salaries of the Russian army, half a million of these kopecks were needed. In addition, such pennies were inconvenient due to their small size. The idea was ripe to introduce a larger coin or denomination that could be correlated with the main monetary unit of Europe at that time - the thaler (Fig. 3). In Russia, such money was not used in circulation. They were melted down and made into silver pennies.

Rice. 2. Silver penny of the 17th century. ()

Rice. 3. Thaler - the monetary unit of Europe in the 17th century. ()

In 1654, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his government began conducting monetary reforms in Russia. It began with the introduction of the silver ruble (Fig. 4). In weight it was equal to a thaler (approximately 30 g). The population of the country very willingly accepted these coins. The difficulty of the reform at this stage was that the thaler actually weighed 64 Moscow kopecks, and the ruble was launched at the forced exchange rate of 100 kopecks.

At first, this drawback did not greatly affect the residents of the Russian state - the need for large coins was very great.

The next stage of the reform was due to the fact that it was not possible to mint a large number of rubles, since the minting equipment quickly broke down.

Then the Russian government took a different path - they took ordinary efimkas (as thalers were called in Russia) and minted them in a special way. They were called “yefimki-sprizniki”. They were released at a more reasonable rate - 64 kopecks for one such monetary unit. XVIIThen Alexey Mikhailovich decided that it was time to mint copper money (Fig. 5). This need for minting copper money was due to the fact that in Russia until the end V. there was no silver.

All this metal was imported, and there was clearly not enough of it. The minting of copper money began at the Moscow Monetary Court. The reason for minting copper money was the discovery of copper ore near Kazan, which they decided to put into production. They minted altyns (3 money), half rubles (50 kopecks) and kopecks. All this money was released at the price of silver circulation. This was a time bomb of the entire monetary reform, since the price of copper was 50 times less than silver. However, at first the population of Russia perceived the royal decree as a guide to action.

Rice. 5. Copper money in Russia in the 17th century. ()

Problems of monetary reform The problem of monetary reform was the following.

The reform began in 1654 - at the time when the Russian-Polish war began. Therefore, more and more money was required to run it. More and more copper money began to be issued. This money was sent to the active army, and the war took place on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, whose population was distrustful of the new money. As a result of these events, a difference in exchange rates arose. This was called crap - an additional payment when accepting low-value currency. This difference grew more and more over time.

It was in this atmosphere of monetary disorganization and the collapse of the Russian financial system that the Copper Riot arose (Fig. 6). On July 25, 1662, in Moscow, people went to the market and in different places found glued sheets that contained information that a number of Duma people were cheating on the tsar. Among these people were those who were suspected of carrying out monetary reform in the country. The population was agitated not only by the fact that copper money was falling in price, but also by the fact that many abused the introduction of copper money. Officials secretly bought silver and, in agreement with the masters of the money courts, minted money. At the same time, they sold them at a forced rate, receiving huge profits for this.

Rice. 6. Copper riot of 1662 in Russia ()

After people saw the names of these counterfeiters, it immediately caused a spontaneous explosion. People began to gather in crowds and read letters of appeal against the counterfeiters indicated in the advertisements among the people. At one point, thousands of Muscovites moved with such a letter to Kolomenskoye, the residence of the Moscow Tsar near Moscow, where Alexei Mikhailovich was at that moment.

The rebels arrived in Kolomenskoye at the moment when the tsar was listening to mass in the Church of the Ascension. Having learned about the arrival of the rebels, the king ordered the so-called “traitors” to hide, and he himself went out to the crowd of people and promised them to sort everything out. The rebels spoke rudely to the king, asking whether his words could be trusted. Then Alexey Mikhailovich promised to correct the situation with the financial sector of the state.

Alexey Mikhailovich already wanted to go to Moscow, but then several thousand rebels appeared at the sovereign’s court, who were more determined. They demanded the extradition of the traitors, and otherwise, they threatened, they would seize them themselves. But at that moment the tsar was informed that the Streltsy regiments loyal to him had entered through the rear gate of the residence. After this, the king spoke to the rebels differently - he shouted at them and ordered his troops to kill them. People scattered. About 200 people drowned in the Moscow River, and about 7,000 people were killed and captured. Some were immediately hanged around Kolomenskoye and in Moscow as a warning, and then after a detailed investigation, 12 more active instigators of the uprising were identified and executed. Those who remained were exiled to Astrakhan, Siberia and other cities.

This is how the Moscow uprising of 1662, called the Copper Riot, was suppressed. Despite the suppression of the uprising, it became quite obvious that copper money would have to be abolished. In 1663, copper money was banned, and the government bought it from the population at a very low price - 5 kopecks in silver for a copper ruble.

The Copper Riot of 1662 in Moscow clearly showed that financial reasons were the main ones in the anti-government protests of the 17th century. The treasury was always short of funds for several reasons. The bureaucracy grew; the medieval noble militia was replaced by regiments of a foreign system; the number of the sovereign's court grew. All this required a lot of money. Thus, the country was preparing for the changes that subsequently came in the era of Peter the Great - at the beginning of the 18th century. But these changes had to be paid a high price throughout the 17th century.

Bibliography

1. Baranov P.A., Vovina V.G. and others. History of Russia. 7th grade. - M.: “Ventana-Graf”, 2013.

2. Buganov V.I. Copper riot. Moscow “rebels” of 1662 // Prometheus. - M.: Young Guard, 1968.

3. Uprising of 1662 in Moscow. Collection of documents. - M., 1964.

4. Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. Russian history. 7th grade. The end of the 16th - 18th centuries. - M.: “Enlightenment”, 2012.

5. Moscow uprisings of 1648, 1662 // Adaptive radio communication line - Object air defense / [under the general. ed. N.V. Ogarkova]. - M.: Military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1978.

Homework

1. Tell us about the financial situation in Russia in the middle of the 17th century. What changes have matured in it by this time?

2. How was the monetary reform carried out in Russia in 1654? What consequences did it cause?

3. Tell us about the course of the Copper Riot of 1662. What was the main reason for the uprising? What consequences of this event can you identify?

Before Moscow had time to forget the consequences of the salt riot, a new riot occurred in the country, a copper one, this time more widespread and bloody. The reasons for the Copper Riot began to take shape back in October 1653, when Tsar Alexei Romanov accepted Ukraine into Russia, which led the country to a new protracted war with Poland. Starting in 1653, this war lasted until 1667. At the same time, in 1656-1658, Russia also had to fight with Sweden.

Prerequisites for the riot

Wars depleted the country's treasury, and the tsar and his officials looked for new opportunities to replenish the treasury. Officials saw one of the ways to replenish the royal treasury in minting new money. In 1654, an additional 1 million rubles worth of silver coins were minted. At the same time, copper money was also introduced into circulation. In total, 4 million rubles were minted. These actions, or rather the consequences of these actions, created the main reasons for the copper riot in Moscow. New money, due to its huge quantity, began to fall sharply in price. If in 1660 1 silver coin was worth 1.5 copper coins, then already in 1661 1 silver coin was worth 4 copper coins, in 1662 already 8 copper coins, and in 1663 up to 15 copper coins. Petty officials who were paid in new money, army people, as well as merchants refused to accept such coins for payments. As a result, prices for almost all goods increased several times. In addition, cases are often mentioned when money was very easily counterfeited not only by counterfeiters, but also by tsarist officials. As contemporaries claim, the initiator of the introduction of such money was the boyar I.D. Miloslavsky, who was also the head of the government. The reasons for the copper riot that hung over Russia seemed to overlap each other like a lump.

The beginning of popular discontent

The Copper Riot began on July 25, 1662 at 6 a.m. At this time, a gathering of people dissatisfied with the tsarist officials took place on Sretenka. Kuzma Nagaev spoke to the people, calling on people to rise up in rebellion and oppose the tyranny of the boyars and officials. After this, the crowd went to Red Square. Literally within an hour, the uprising swept the entire city. People who considered the reasons for the Copper Riot to be just, actively opposed the tsar's policies. In addition, some rifle regiments went over to the side of the rebels.

From Red Square people went to the village of Kolomenskoye, where the tsar was. In total, about 4-5 thousand people moved to the village. The rebels approached Kolomenskoye village at 9 o'clock in the morning. The king and his retinue were taken by surprise. The tsarist troops did not offer serious resistance to the rebels, despite the fact that they numbered almost 1 thousand people. People, having made their way to the tsar, demanded the extradition of individual boyars and their execution. The king had to personally enter into negotiations with the people. The Tsar managed to convince the rebels that the boyars they disliked would be removed from the government and would be prohibited from visiting Moscow. People, believing the tsar, went back to Moscow.

Completion

At the same time, a new wave of rebels set off from Moscow to Kolomenskoye. Both groups of rebels met at 11 o'clock in the morning and together again went to the king. This time their number was 9-10 thousand people. They again entered into negotiations with the tsar, demanding the extradition of the boyars they disliked. Tsar Alexei Romanov delayed the negotiations in every possible way. The king did this so that on his orders they would have time to transfer the active army to the village. In total, about 10 thousand archers arrived at Kolomenskoye. At the king's command, they entered into battle against the unarmed rebels. A bloody battle began. In total, about 1 thousand rebels were killed. About 2 thousand people were injured and arrested. The Tsar harshly punished the rebels and at the initial stage did nothing to soften the anger of the people. It was only by mid-1663 that copper money, hated by people, was abolished.

These were the reasons for the copper riot in Moscow and its consequences.

The Copper Riot of 1662 occurred almost after the Salt Riot, but unlike its predecessor, it was more widespread and bloody.

The Copper Riot is an uprising of the poor against the policies of Alexei Mikhailovich on July 25, 1662. The people were dissatisfied with the increase in taxes during the war with Poland and the replacement of silver coins with copper ones, since they were quite devalued, unlike silver money.

Causes

The main cause of the copper riot was the minting of copper coins. This decision was made because the Russian treasury was depleted from the war with Poland of 1653-1667 and the war with Sweden of 1656-1658. In order to somehow correct the financial situation in the country, the authorities decided to mint new coins: 1 million silver and 3 million copper.

But, despite the authorities' promises about the equal value of money, after some time, 17 copper rubles cost the same as 6 silver ones, which, of course, was not good for the lower strata, who received their salaries in copper coins. Also, cases of counterfeiting were noticed more than once, not from ordinary people, but from tsarist officials. This could not but worsen the situation in the country.

Rise of the people

On July 25, 1662, at 6 am, people gathered on Sretenka, dissatisfied with the new money. Kuzma Nagaev actively called on citizens to take part in a new riot. On the same day, sheets were found in Lubyanka on which accusations of secret relations with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were written. The charges were brought against Prince I.D. Miloslavsky, Vasily Shorin, members of the Boyar Duma and had no justification.

Several riot participants went to the country palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in the village of Kolomenskoye. Under pressure from people demanding lower prices and taxes, the tsar promised to look into the situation, and the rioters left. But it didn’t end there; thousands of rioters went back to the royal palace, demanding that the traitors be handed over for execution.

However, by this time, archers and soldiers had already arrived in Kolomenskoye and were forced to use force against the rioters because of their refusal to disperse peacefully. The result was thousands of killed and arrested people participating in the riot. Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to collect handwriting samples of all Muscovites who could write in order to find the instigators of the riot, but this was to no avail.

Results of the copper riot

The rebels nevertheless achieved their goal, and gradually the minting of copper coins was abolished. Already in 1663, the minting of silver coins was resumed, and the copper yards that existed in Novgorod and Pskov were closed. All copper money was melted down into other copper items.

Lessons from the Copper Riot

The rebellion, which ended about 350 years ago, is still relevant in the modern world. Several rules that can be used in Russia in the 21st century and that came to us straight from 1662.

• Think and then do;
• Be more active;
• Selective fight against bureaucracy;
• Strength pacifies power;
• The pointlessness of rebellion.

All this can be found in the modern world, where the fight against bureaucracy is selective; in order to achieve something you need to try, and unorganized uprisings will still not bring any benefit. In conclusion, we note that since the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, little has changed in the world and the events of the past find their response in the present.

On August 4, 1662, 10 thousand unarmed Muscovites went to the Tsar to demand the truth and were beaten by archers. The events of this day went down in history as the Copper Riot. Let's find out what the uprising 350 years ago can teach us.

Think - then reform

The introduction of the copper coin into circulation in 1654 is a sure lesson for all projector reformers, the lesson is that when developing a reform one should think not only about the immediate consequences, but also about the long-term ones. Otherwise, immediate benefit threatens to turn into distant disaster.
This happened in the middle of the 17th century during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. At the beginning of the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 20 million copper money was thrown onto the market, which had the same denominations as silver money. This measure did not inspire confidence among the people. In addition, the government sought to remove silver money from circulation as quickly as possible and concentrate it in its own hands, which only increased popular discontent. As a result, there was more copper money than was needed, leading to inflation that grew exponentially. By 1662, even continuing the war turned out to be impossible, since the army had nothing to eat. Cases of desertion have become more frequent.

Rebellious people

The people were driven to despair. If initially 1 copper ruble was almost equal to 1 silver ruble, then by 1662 10 copper rubles had to be given for a silver ruble. Accordingly, prices increased and, first of all, the price of bread. Over five years, in some areas of the country they have increased 50 times.
The second aspect in which we should learn from our ancestors who lived in the 17th century is a more active civic position. In the 17th century there was no talk of long-suffering as a trait of the national Russian character. On the contrary, the Austrian Augustin Meyerberg, who was in Moscow on the eve of the Copper Riot, writes: “So we have always been afraid that the people, forced by despair, however, always ready to rebel due to their inclination to revolt, would raise a rebellion that would not be easy to cope with.” In their rebellious age, Russians were considered a rebellious people.

Bureaucracy and rebellion

It is not hunger, but injustice that pushes people to revolt. The Copper Riot was not only a search for bread, but also a search for truth. After all, the main demand of the rebels was: not to abolish copper money and return silver money - no. The main thing that thousands of Muscovites asked for was to deliver into their hands the perpetrators of their troubles, high-ranking bureaucrats who profited from the common misfortune.
With the advent of copper money, many counterfeiters appeared in the country: it was much easier to counterfeit new coins than the old silver ones. And, despite cruel punishments and torture, the number of those who counterfeited money grew. Many were caught. But bribery and bureaucracy were the murky waters in which the criminals hid. The king's father-in-law was one of the country's first bribe-takers. There were rumors that he stole up to 120 thousand rubles. The king, knowing about the abuses, spared his associates, always finding scapegoats.
A similar situation sometimes occurs today: the fight against bribery is carried out selectively, demonstrative arrests are made, but the situation does not change fundamentally. Alexey Mikhailovich’s experience is an edification for today’s fighters against abuses in the field.

Power listens only to force

Since the Time of Troubles and over the 50 years of Romanov rule, the people have become accustomed to the fact that they need to talk to the authorities only from a position of strength. Otherwise, it’s pointless, they won’t hear you, they won’t meet you halfway. Therefore, as Meyerberg predicted, the people prone to rebellion, realizing that there would be no end to the robberies (shortly before the Copper Riot, a “fifth of the money” was collected throughout the country, that is, 20% of the property), rebelled. Some of the rebels ravaged the houses of the main (in their opinion) culprits of their troubles, the other - five thousand people - went to Kolomenskoye, where the tsar was on August 4, so as not to ask him - to demand traitors. Years earlier, during the Salt Riot, young Alexei Mikhailovich made concessions to the crowd.
And now the leaders of the rebels forced the sovereign to swear an oath that he would investigate the matter. Someone even held him by the button. Someone else (which is also unthinkable), as a sign that an agreement had been reached, shook hands with him as an equal.

Don't trust the king

But, calming the crowd, the tsar had already sent for three rifle detachments loyal to him, a kind of personal guard. Believing the word given by Alexei Mikhailovich, people returned to the capital, and at that time the punitive forces were already rushing to Kolomenskoye. The second wave of dissatisfied people, another 4-5 thousand people, representatives of almost all (with the exception of privileged) classes, heading towards the king, turned around the first - and this whole mass flowed to meet the archers. The majority of people were unarmed. The crowd was seething, but many walked by inertia, without slogans, without categorical demands.

Violence begets violence

The violence began on the morning of the 4th in Moscow, when the houses of wealthy merchants were destroyed, when they called for reprisals against high-ranking officials, those who were guilty of the copper reform. The belief has become established among people that copper money was invented by the enemies of Russia, Polish spies, who in this way want to ruin people and destroy the country's economy.
Those who called for violence, and those who followed the calls, themselves became victims in the tragic outcome of the Copper Riot. The archers pushed the crowd back to the river. More than a hundred people died. Several thousand were arrested. The next day, 20 participants in the campaign against Kolomenskoye were hanged without investigation. All participants were tortured. Many had their arms and legs cut off, their fingers cut off, their tongues torn out. Many had the mark “Buki” - that is, “Rebel” - burned into their cheeks.

Riot is senseless

As often happened in Russian history, the Copper Riot did not bring positive results. A year later, the king abolished copper money. People handed them over, receiving, relatively speaking, 1 kopeck per ruble. But it is incorrect to connect the counter-reform with the Copper Revolt: the rise in prices continued after August 1662, the situation in the country worsened, and preparations for the abolition of the coin apparently began back in 1660, when the government began to look for ways to saturate the treasury with new silver, so that later replace them with copper.
Even in their rebellious time, the people were unable to organize themselves, turn an almost spontaneous explosion into a systematic campaign and achieve their goal. The revolt was pacified, popular indignation subsided, people burned out and began to patiently wait for the royal mercy.

The Copper Riot took place in Moscow on July 25, 1662. The reason was the following circumstance. Russia waged a protracted war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the annexation of Ukraine. Any war requires huge funds to maintain an army. The state was sorely short of money, then it was decided to introduce copper money into circulation.

This happened in 1655. From a pound of copper, worth 12 kopecks, coins worth 10 rubles were minted. A lot of copper money was immediately thrown into use, which led to the population’s distrust of it and inflation. It is worth noting that taxes to the state treasury were collected in silver money and paid in copper. Copper money was also easy to counterfeit.

By 1662, the market price of copper money had fallen by as much as 15 times, and the cost of goods had increased significantly. The situation worsened every day. The peasants did not transport their products to the cities because they did not want to receive worthless copper for them. Poverty and hunger began to flourish in the cities.

The Copper Riot was prepared in advance; proclamations appeared throughout Moscow, in which many boyars and merchants were accused of conspiring with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruining the country and betrayal. The proclamation also contained demands to reduce taxes on salt and abolish copper money. It is significant that the discontent of the people was caused by almost the same people as during the salt riot.

The crowd split into two parts. One, in the amount of 5 thousand people, moved to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, the second smashed the courts of the hated nobles. The rioters caught Alexei Mikhailovich at a prayer service. The boyars went to talk to the people, but they were unable to calm the crowds. Alexei Mikhailovich himself had to go. People beat their foreheads in front of the king, demanding to change the current situation. Realizing that the crowd could not be calmed, Alexei Mikhailovich spoke “quietly,” and persuaded the rioters to be patient. People grabbed the king by the dress and said, “What to believe?” The king even had to shake hands with one of the rebels. Only after this did the people begin to disperse.

The people were leaving Kolomenskoye, but on the way they met the second part of the crowd, which was going to where the first was leaving. The united, dissatisfied crowd of 10 thousand people turned back to Kolomenskoye. The rebels behaved even more boldly and decisively, demanding the boyars be killed. Meanwhile, the Streltsy regiments loyal to Alexei Mikhailovich arrived at Kolomensky and dispersed the crowd. About 7 thousand people were subjected to repression. Some were beaten, some were sent into exile, and some were branded with the letter “B” - rebel.

Only people from the lower strata of society - butchers, artisans, peasants - took part in the copper riot. The result of the copper riot was the gradual abolition of the copper coin. In 1663, the copper yards in Novgorod and Pskov were closed, and the printing of silver money resumed. Copper money was completely withdrawn from circulation and melted down into other necessary items.