<P> Pugachev 's Rebellion ( Peasants ' War 1773 - 75 , Cossack Rebellion ) of 1773 - 75 was the principal revolt in a series of popular rebellions that took place in Russia after Catherine II seized power in 1762 . It began as an organized insurrection of Yaik Cossacks headed by Yemelyan Pugachev , a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Russian Imperial army , against a background of profound peasant unrest and war with the Ottoman Empire . After the initial success , Pugachev assumed leadership of an alternative government in the name of the assassinated Tsar Peter III and proclaimed an end to serfdom . This organized leadership presented a challenge to the imperial administration of Catherine II . </P>
<P> Pugachev 's Rebellion ( Peasants ' War 1773 - 75 , Cossack Rebellion ) of 1773 - 75 was the principal revolt in a series of popular rebellions that took place in Russia after Catherine II seized power in 1762 . It began as an organized insurrection of Yaik Cossacks headed by Yemelyan Pugachev , a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Russian Imperial army , against a background of profound peasant unrest and war with the Ottoman Empire . After the initial success , Pugachev assumed leadership of an alternative government in the name of the assassinated Tsar Peter III and proclaimed an end to serfdom . This organized leadership presented a challenge to the imperial administration of Catherine II . </P>
who led the russian peasant rebellion of the 1770s
who led the russian peasant rebellion of the 1770s
Yemelyan Pugachev , a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Russian Imperial army
Yemelyan Pugachev , a disaffected ex-lieutenant of the Russian Imperial army