Jordan Ash

In November 1772, a mysterious figure emerged from the Russian wilderness and quietly descended upon a peasant village.  His name was Emelian Pugachev, a Cossack, and he was about to set in motion what would become perhaps the biggest con in recorded history.

Pugachev was an army deserter who had been playing cat-and-mouse with Russian authorities.  He soon grew weary of the constant cycle of pursuit, capture, escape, and recapture, so he hatched a bold plan that, if successful, would’ve had him rise from lowly fugitive to Emperor of Russia.  It was a plan so brilliant in its simultaneous simplicity and audacity: Pugachev, the youngest son of a modest Cossack landowner, decided to begin convincing people that he was in fact the Holy Russian Emperor.

Emperor Peter III to be exact.  Over a decade before, Russia had been rocked by the violent coup that saw the overthrow and murder of Peter III.  Peter III’s assassination was partially due to his expressed wish for the emancipation of the serfs and greater equality for peasants.  For this reason he became very popular among the lower masses, but much less so amongst the elite. However a rumor began to spread around the empire that Peter III was not dead, but in fact wandering around the wilderness disguised as a peasant waiting for the right time to reveal himself and lead the serfs and peasants in what would’ve been something of a revolution. 

Pugachev sensed the popular desire for a “benevolent” tzar like Peter III, and he manipulated this desire.  It seems that all that was needed for Pugachev to amass a following of over 30,000 serfs, peasants, Cossacks, Muslims and others almost as simple as striding into that first village exclaiming: “I am Peter III.”   This simplification would not be too far from the truth, although his popular appeal was also reinforced by Pugachev’s promises to give all the marginalized groups exactly what they wanted.  His many proclamations were tailored to fit the specific desires of his particular audiences. 

Of course, for those skeptics, Pugachev had a few tricks up his sleeve.  Despite the fact that he was completely illiterate, Pugachev convinced the other illiterate peasants of what was supposed to be his elite education by confidently drawing lines of scribbles on paper and calling them decrees.  He had also managed to obtain a stamp roughly resembling an official imperial seal to reinforce his image. 

Russian troops were eventually diverted from battling the Ottoman Empire to put down the revolt.  Pugachev was arrested, tortured, made to confess, and then brutally executed.  His severed head was put on display in St. Petersburg to warn others against such ambitious plans of deceptive insurrection.   

Yes, Pugachev ultimately failed in his “big con”, but he must be given some form and degree of credit for the sheer scale of confidence it would take to lead thousands almost entirely on the basis of a lie.