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| | Imperial Russia |
 | | In 1772 a Cossack named Emelian Pugachev deserted from military service, wandered to the Ural River, and claimed to be Tsar Peter III; he said that he never really died, but had spent the last ten years hiding from his enemies, including Catherine, by traveling abroad. |
 | | Pugachev did not resemble the late tsar in any way, but the Cossacks, desparate for any sort of liberator, supported him enthusiastically. |
 | | Soon the entire Urals (both the river valley and the mountains) were in revolt, as Pugachev's band was joined by workers from Russia's first factories, and by Moslem tribesmen who resented the government's heavy-handed attempts to convert them at gunpoint. |
| xenohistorian.faithweb.com /russia/ru02.html (10547 words) |
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