The Plague Riot in Moscow

The Plague Riot in Moscow was a riot in 1771 between Semptember 15 and Semptember 17 caused by the outbreak of the bubonic plague. The first signs of the outbreak appeared in the late 1770, which turned into a major epidemic in the spring of of 1771. The authorities of the city had taken action and were setting up quarantaines and the destruction of property without compensation. This caused anger and fear among the people. The city's economy froze and there werer food shortages everywhere. The city's nobility and the rich fled the cityto protect themselves from the riots to come. Rumors had spread by now and huge masses of people started to riot. The  Archbishop Ambrosius of Moscow had tried to stop the citizens from gathering up at the Icon of the Virgin Mary of Bogolyubovo as a quarantine measure. This proved to be the immediate cause of the Plague Riot. On September 15, people started to rush to the Red Square when they heard the sound of the alarm bell. They pushed aside the military resistence and destroyed the archbishops home and wine cellars. The Archbishop barely managed to escape to the Donskoy Monastery. On September 16, the riot gained strength and the sngry citizens captures the Donskoy Monastery and murdered the Archbishop Ambrosius. They also destroyed two other quarantine areas. The crowd continued on to Kremlin's Spassiye Gates where they where attacked by the city's military. The crowds were forced to disperse. On the morning of September 17, about 1,000 ctizens gathered in front of the gates once more to try to force the military down, but the army succeeded in supressing the army once again and stopping the riot. About 300 people were put on trial and it took much time for the government to give the people food and shelter. In cold weather, the outbreak began to die down. More than 20,000 people died during the plague.

 "Plague Riot." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 14 Aug. 2010. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_Riot>.