Would Emelian Pugachev had been a good emperer?

[The_Ferret]

I say he could not have been worse than the Romonovs. At least the serfs would have been liberated a lot sooner.

[HerrKaiser]

Hmmmm. I doubt he'd have been much better. His form of dictatorship/anarchy may have freed serfs sooner, but freed into what? More slavery likely. His actions actually made life worse. Well intended brutes usually end up dead or no better than what they hoped to fix.