People's will.

"People's Will"- a revolutionary populist organization that arose in 1879, after the split of the Land and Freedom party and the collapse of the terrorist group Freedom or Death, which set the main goal of forcing the government to democratic reforms, after which it would be possible to fight for the social transformation of society. Terror became one of the main methods of political struggle of Narodnaya Volya. In particular, members of the terrorist faction of the People's Will hoped to push political change with the execution of Emperor Alexander II. The name of its participants is derived from the name of the organization - Narodnaya Volya. The most famous members of the organization are A. I. Zhelyabov, A. D. Mikhailov, S. L. Perovskaya, V. N. Figner, N. A. Morozov, S. N. Khalturin, N. I. Kibalchich, Yu. N. Bogdanovich, German Lopatin, N. S. Tyutchev, Alexander Barannikov, N. V. Kletochnikov, Ya. L. Yudelevsky.

The Narodnaya Volya party was organized at the Lipetsk Congress in June 1879. In contrast to Land and Freedom, from which Narodnaya Volya emerged, the latter emphasized political struggle as a means of conquering the socialist system. The theoretical worldview of the revolutionary populists (participants in “going to the people”), expressed in the magazines “Forward”, “Nachalo”, “Land and Freedom”, was also adopted by the Narodnaya Volya party. Like Land and Freedom, the Narodnaya Volya party proceeded from the conviction that the Russian people “are in a state of complete slavery, economic and political... They are surrounded by layers of exploiters created and protected by the state... The state constitutes the largest capitalist force in the country; it also constitutes the only political oppressor of the people... This state-bourgeois growth is maintained exclusively by naked violence... There is absolutely no popular sanction for this arbitrary and violent power... The Russian people are completely socialist in their sympathies and ideals; its old, traditional principles are still alive in it - the people’s right to land, community and local self-government, the beginnings of a federal structure, freedom of conscience and speech. These principles would be widely developed and would give a completely new direction, in the spirit of the people, to our entire history, if only the people were given the opportunity to live and arrange themselves as they want, in accordance with their own inclinations.” In view of this, the Narodnaya Volya party considered its task to be “a political revolution with the aim of transferring power to the people.” As an instrument of the coup, the party put forward a constituent assembly elected by free universal vote. Pledging to completely submit to the will of the people, the party nevertheless put forward its program, which it had to defend during the election campaign and in the Constituent Assembly:

1. permanent people's representation, which has full power in all national issues;

2. broad regional self-government, ensured by the election of all positions, the independence of the world and the economic independence of the people;

3. independence of the world as an economic and administrative unit;

4. the land belongs to the people;

5. a system of measures aimed at transferring all plants and factories into the hands of workers;

6. complete freedom of conscience, speech, press, meetings, associations and election campaigning;

7. universal suffrage, without class and any property restrictions;

8. replacement of the standing army with a territorial one;

[edit]History

All Act of terrorism, which followed Solovyov’s attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander II, came from the Narodnaya Volya party. The party, insignificant in its numbers, relying on the sympathy of only a small part of the intelligentsia and having no basis among the broad masses, showed such energy that it believed in its own strength and made people believe in it. Due to the policies of Count Loris-Melikov, a part of society that had previously sympathized with Narodnaya Volya was pushed away from it. When the party, not softened by concessions, assassinated Emperor Alexander II on March 1, 1881, this murder caused not only a government reaction, but also a public reaction on a much wider scale than the People's Will expected. Nevertheless, in the following years the party continued its activities (the murder of Strelnikov, the murder of Sudeikin). In 1884, the arrest of Lopatin and many people associated with him completely weakened the party.

In 1886, a new Narodnaya Volya group arose (with Ulyanov and Shevyrev at the head), on March 1, 1887, intending to make an attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander III. Then, several more Narodnaya Volya circles arose that had no genetic connection with the old “Narodnaya Volya”; they were not successful, and Narodnaya Volya finally left the stage. Subsequently, it was revived in the form of the People's Law party with a slightly modified program.

Causes of the crisis

Popular opinion sees the reason for the fall of Narodnaya Volya in the public reaction caused by the assassination of Alexander II. S. Kravchinsky, in his book “Underground Russia,” offers, however, another explanation for this fact. In his opinion, “People's Will” was very strong after 1881, but it set itself unrealistic plans for a broad state conspiracy, through which it could immediately seize power and set up a provisional government; having set out these plans, she abandoned attempts that could increasingly undermine government power and feed the Narodnaya Volya party with new strength. Among the acts committed by Narodnaya Volya, it is necessary to note the theft in a Kherson bank in 1879 through undermining, which was not successful, since almost all the money taken from the bank (over a million rubles) was very soon found by the police. This fact, which took place back in the heyday of the party, undoubtedly made a negative impression on significant circles of society, having a detrimental effect on Narodnaya Volya. Even more destructive was the activity of the gendarme colonel G.P. Sudeikin, who was already in last period history of Narodnaya Volya, he introduced his agent S.P. Degaev into the party, who later killed him.

[edit]Party publications

The “Narodnaya Volya” party published in secret printing houses in St. Petersburg and in the provinces a newspaper of the same name (11 issues were published, 1879-1885) and leaflets of “Narodnaya Volya” (a significant number of them were published from 1880 to 1886); then separate leaflets published by various Narodnaya Volya groups were issued in 1890-92, 1896 and other years. In addition, a magazine was published abroad: “Bulletin of the People’s Will”, ed. P. L. Lavrov, the most prominent theoretician of “Narodnaya Volya”; 5 of its volumes were published in 1883-86. In 1883, the “Narodnaya Volya Calendar” was published in Geneva. In these literary works the theory of “People's Will” was developed. Socialist ideals gradually moved into the background and the party acquired a purely political character. Believing in the nearness of revolution, the party was afraid that Russia would have its own Vendée, from which reactionary forces would launch a campaign against the triumphant revolution; therefore, she put forward centralist demands, not noticing their contradiction with the demand for self-government of communities and regions. Thus, the People's Will could finally be considered a Jacobin party; her magazines often resembled Tkachev’s “Alarm”.

The magazine “Narodnaya Volya”, leaflets and some proclamations of the party were reprinted in the collection of Bazilevsky (V. Ya. Bogucharsky) (“Literature of the Party of Narodnaya Volya”, 2nd supplement to the collection “Crimes of the State in Russia”, Paris, 1905). A very severe criticism of “Narodnaya Volya” is given on the one hand by Plekhanov’s “Our Disagreements” (Geneva, 1884), on the other by Drahomanov’s “Historical Poland and Great Russian Democracy” (Geneva, 1883; reprinted in the collected works of Drahomanov, vol. I, Paris, 1905). A vivid description (sympathetic) of Narodnaya Volya can be found in Stepnyak’s “Underground Russia” (St. Petersburg, 1905) and in his own novel “Andrei Kozhukhov,” reprinted in St. Petersburg under the title “From the Past” (1905). A lot of valuable material for the history of the Narodnaya Volya party lies in reports about its processes, published at one time in legal and illegal newspapers. Of these, “The Case of March 1, 1881” (official, abridged and distorted report) reprinted in St. Petersburg (1906), with notes by Lev Deitch.

The St. Petersburg group "Gomon", consisting of Belarusian students affiliated with the "People's Will", published two issues of the hectographed magazine "Gomon" in 1884, calling for a fight against the autocracy in alliance with the Russian revolutionary movement, defining autonomy for the peoples of the Russian Empire.

Option 2:

Populist organization "People's Will".

"People's Will", a revolutionary populist organization in Russia in the early 80s. 19th century It was formed in August 1879, after the split of “Land and Freedom” into “People’s Will” and “Black Redistribution”. The founders of Narodnaya Volya were professional revolutionaries - supporters of the political struggle against the autocracy.
The Narodnaya Volya created a centralized, well-secret organization, the most significant for the raznochinsky period of the liberation movement in Russia. It was headed by the Executive Committee: A. D. Mikhailov, A. A. Kvyatkovsky, A. I. Zhelyabov, S. L. Perovskaya, V. N. Figner, N. A. Morozov, M. F. Frolenko, L. A Tikhomirov, A.I. Barannikov, A.V. Yakimova, M.N. Oshanina and others. A network of local and special (worker, student, military) groups was subordinate to him. In 1879-83 there were Narodnaya Volya groups in almost 50 cities, there were especially many of them in Ukraine and the Volga region. The number of members of the organization did not exceed 500; several thousand participated in the movement.
The Narodnaya Volya program contained demands for the convening of a Constituent Assembly, the introduction of universal suffrage and permanent popular representation, freedom of speech, conscience, the press, and gatherings; communal self-government, replacing the standing army with a people's militia, transferring land to the people, granting oppressed peoples the right of self-determination. Like previous populist programs, it mixed democratic and socialist tasks, but it was distinguished by a detailed definition of precisely democratic tasks. Recognizing the need for a political struggle against the autocracy, the Narodnaya Volya did, compared to the Narodniks of the 70s. step forward. However, they remained utopian socialists who shared the basic tenets of populist ideology and, above all, the belief in the possibility for Russia, bypassing capitalism, to come to socialism through a peasant revolution. Most of them believed in the possibility of directly merging political and socialist revolutions, relying on the socialist instincts of the peasantry. Others shared the political and social revolution in time, believing that after the overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of democratic freedoms, the revolutionaries would be able to launch preparations for a socialist revolution. The liberal wing (which did not enjoy significant influence) intended to be satisfied with receiving a constitution from the tsarist government.
"People's Will" carried out revolutionary agitation and propaganda in all segments of the population. The newspapers Narodnaya Volya and Rabochaya Gazeta sought to popularize the idea of ​​political struggle against the autocracy. The revolutionaries launched the struggle to seize power under the motto “Now or never!” In the preparation of the uprising, as well as in its implementation, Narodnaya Volya assigned the main role to the revolutionary minority, i.e., its organization. The masses had to play a supporting role. This reflected the Blanquist (see Blanquism) nature of the Narodnaya Volya program, which understood the political struggle as a conspiracy. With the development and intensification of the political struggle, terror became increasingly important. “Narodnaya Volya” prepared 7 attempts on the life of Alexander II. The People's Will terror frightened the government and forced it to make some concessions. However, seeing that the revolutionaries were not supported by the masses, the autocracy went on the offensive. In the terrorist struggle, the Narodnaya Volya members wasted their best forces and bled the organization dry. In 1879-83, over 70 political processes of the People's Will took place, in which about 2 thousand people were involved.
After the assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 1881, Narodnaya Volya experienced an ideological and organizational crisis. The most significant attempts to revive “Narodnaya Volya” are associated with the activities of G. A. Lopatin (1884), P. F. Yakubovich (1883-84), B. D. Orzhikh, V. G. Bogoraz, L. Ya. Sternberg (1885 ) and S. M. Ginsburg (1889). A special place in the Narodnaya Volya movement is occupied by the “Terrorist faction of Narodnaya Volya” by A. I. Ulyanova (1886-87), who sought to introduce certain Marxist provisions into the Narodnaya Volya program. Populist organizations of the 90s. (a group of Narodnaya Volya members of St. Petersburg, a group of old Narodnaya Volya members in exile) essentially abandoned many of the revolutionary principles of “Narodnaya Volya”.
The activities of Narodnaya Volya became one of the most important elements of the revolutionary situation of 1879-80. However, the inconsistency of its programmatic premises, the fallacy of the tactics of a political conspiracy, and the predominance of the terrorist method of struggle over other forms inevitably had to end in failure.

All the activities of Narodnaya Volya were aimed at accumulating forces to carry out a political revolution. At the same time, the program of the Executive Committee placed propaganda and agitation work in the foreground, and gave terrorist work second place. A.I. Zhelyabov said at the trial: “... the task of a violent coup was set, a task requiring enormous organized forces, we, and I, by the way, were concerned with the creation of this organization to a much greater extent than the assassination attempts.”

However, even the minimal effort required to prepare the assassination attempt required such great expenses that people had to be taken away from other “cases.”

Unlike their predecessors, the revolutionaries of the late 1870s, the Narodnaya Volya saw terror not simply as acts of revenge and self-defense, but as a means to achieving the goals of the party. In their opinion, the assassination attempts provided an opportunity to “terrify” the government and at the same time contributed to the “excitement” of the masses. Terror is a propaganda tool designed to raise the spirit of the people, they believed.

Not the entire Narodnaya Volya party participated in the terror, but only members and agents of the Executive Committee. Of the ordinary Narodnaya Volya members, only 12 people were involved in the assassination attempts on the Tsar.

Back in Lesnoy on August 26, 1896, the Executive Committee pronounced a death sentence on Emperor Alexander II. Three months later, on the occasion of the assassination attempt on the Tsar near Moscow, a leaflet was published containing the rationale for the verdict. It said: “Alexander II is an arrogant representative of the usurpation of the people’s autocracy, the main pillar of reaction, the main culprit of judicial murders. 14 executions weigh on his conscience, hundreds of tortured people and thousands of sufferers are crying out for vengeance... If Alexander II, having renounced power, transferred it to the national Constituent Assembly, then only we would leave Alexander II alone and forgive him all his crimes.”

The terrorist struggle required from the Narodnaya Volya not only enormous energy and contempt for human life, but also scientific knowledge and technical experience.

Work on the production of dynamite began even before the registration of “Narodnaya Volya”. The first known workshop, or rather laboratory, was located in house No. 6 on Baskov Lane in St. Petersburg. Its organizer Stepan Grigorievich Shiryaev lived here from May 26 to June 5, 1879. The owner of the apartment was A.V. Yakimova. Six months earlier, Shiryaev returned from abroad. For two years he studied the labor movement there and became acquainted with the activities of the 1st International. At the same time, wanting to learn a craft, he worked for the inventor of the electric candle P.N. Yablochkov, who was in Paris at that time, then in an electrical workshop in London, acquired scientific and technical knowledge, and mastered metalworking skills.

In St. Petersburg this knowledge was very useful. Shiryaev studied literature while visiting the Public Library. The first experiments carried out in Baskov Lane showed that the production of dynamite at home was possible.

Apparently, even earlier than Shiryaev and independently of him, he began experiments in the manufacture explosives N.I. Kibalchich, former student of the Medical-Surgical Academy. He took up practical chemistry, then re-read all the specialized literature and was finally able to obtain a small amount of nitroglycerin in his room.

From July to September 1879, a real dynamite workshop existed in St. Petersburg. At first, she was located in a house on Nevsky, in the same apartment where Morozov and Lyubatovich later settled, in early September. Here the owners of the apartment were G.P. Isaev and A.V. Yakimova. In August, the dynamite workshop was located in Troitsky Lane. This time the apartment was maintained by S.G. Shiryaev and A.V. Yakimova.

During the summer, the workshop produced about 6 pounds (96 kg) of dynamite. It was used in the fall of 1879 to prepare three assassination attempts on the Tsar along his route from Crimea to St. Petersburg. All three attempts were unsuccessful.

Shiryaev participated in these assassination attempts as a technician. Returning to St. Petersburg, he stayed in furnished rooms on Goncharnaya Street. On the night of December 3–4, a general search was carried out in the house. Two Narodnaya Volya members who stayed here independently of each other immediately fell into the hands of the police: Martynovsky with an underground passport bureau and Shiryaev.

The constant owner of all the dynamite workshops of Narodnaya Volya until March 1, 1881 was Lnna Vasilievna Yakimova. Already at the “trial of 193”, many people remembered this tall blonde with a long white braid.

Yakimova was first arrested at the age of 17, when she was a rural teacher and conducted propaganda. By the time of her last arrest, shortly before the October coup, she was already in her sixties.

Yakimova performed work related to the manufacture of explosives.

From January to the spring of 1880, the address of the dynamite workshop was: Bolshaya Podyacheskaya, building 37. From the street side it is a four-story building, but from the courtyard side it has five floors. Apartment 27, in which there was a workshop, is located on the fifth floor, partly in the front building, partly in the right courtyard wing. The apartment had three rooms, a kitchen, a corridor, a toilet, and an attic adjacent to it. Three windows of three rooms face the courtyard. The windows of the attic, the kitchen and the second window of one of the rooms – the living room – looked out into the light well. This apartment became known to the authorities 9 months after it was abandoned by Narodnaya Volya.

The owners of the apartment, A. Yakimova and G. P. Isaev, lived under the names of Davydova and Eremeev. T.I.Lebedeva, A.P.Korba, O.Slyubatovich helped the work of the workshop and delivered materials.

The main technicians here were Kibalchich and Isaev.

By his inclinations, the agent of the Executive Committee, Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich, was more of an armchair scientist than a practical revolutionary; As a rule, he had the general idea in solving technical problems. As a theorist, he had no equal; he could always propose and calculate several projects for certain conditions. In the role of a performer, he was not distinguished by dexterity.

The chief technician of Narodnaya Volya was a writer. Under the name "Samoilov" he published in the legal magazines "Slovo" and "Russian Wealth" and lived on earnings from literary work.

He also spoke in the underground press. He owns a theoretical article on the relationship between political and economic struggle in the revolution, published in the fifth issue of Narodnaya Volya, signed “Doroshenko”.

Focused on scientific ideas, he was very impractical in everyday life.

The main technical work fell to the share of Grigory Prokofievich Isaev. Two years of study at the natural sciences department of the university and one year at the Medical-Surgical Academy gave him the knowledge in chemistry necessary to work in the workshop. In the words of V.N. Figner, Kibalchich could be called “thought”, and Isaev “hands” of the Executive Committee in its terrorist activities. The natures are different and even opposite, they mutually complemented each other. Isaev immediately picked up the idea presented by Kibalchich. “Personal self-denial is not a renunciation of personality,” explained Isaev, “but only a renunciation of one’s egoism.”

Dynamite, made in a workshop on Bolshaya Podyacheskaya, was used for the assassination attempt on the Tsar in the Winter Palace in February 1880.

The organizer of this assassination attempt, Stepan Nikolaevich Khalturin, a carpenter by profession, one of the founders of the Northern Union of Russian Workers, enjoyed great influence among his party friends. At first, Khalturin was a determined opponent of terror. After each attempt, police repression increased, searches, arrests, and exiles multiplied. “It’s pure disaster,” Khalturin exclaimed, “as soon as things get better for us, bang! The intelligentsia gave up on someone, and again there were failures. If only you could give us a little strength!”

But the then widespread opinion that “the tsar will fall, tsarism will fall, new era, the era of freedom,” prevailed. When Khalturin heard from familiar workers about the opportunity to enter the Winter Palace and, therefore, prepare an assassination attempt on the Tsar, he made a choice: “... the death of Alexander II will bring with it political freedom... Then we will not have such alliances. With workers’ newspapers, there will be no need to hide.”

From September 1879, Khalturin already worked in the palace. He managed to settle in the basement of the side of the palace that faces the Admiralty. On the first floor above this and adjacent rooms there was a guardhouse, and on the second floor there was a “yellow room” - the royal dining room. The windows of all these rooms overlook the courtyard. Probably in January, when the dynamite workshop began working, Khalturin brought dynamite into the palace and stored it in a large chest, which he had prudently acquired in advance.

On February 5, 1880, a guest was expected at the palace - the Prince of Hesse. Lunch was scheduled for 6 o'clock in the “yellow room”.

In the evening, when there was no one in the basement, Khalturin lit the fuse, locked the door and left. Zhelyabov was waiting for him near the palace. “Ready,” said Khalturin. At the beginning of the seventh hour there was a deafening explosion. The guardhouse was destroyed. However, the goal was not achieved. There were double vaults between the first and second floors. The lower vault was broken, the upper one was only disturbed. The parquet flooring in the dining room lifted, cracks appeared in the wall, and the air-heating vents flew out. Moreover, the king was not yet in the dining room: the guest was late, and dinner had not begun.

Khalturin was taken to Bolshaya Podyacheskaya. Exhausted, he, barely standing on his feet, only asked: “Are there weapons here? There's no way I'm going to give up alive." “Oh, as much as you like,” answered Yakimova.

For some time, Khalturin took refuge in this apartment. Its owners, “Davydova” and “Eremeev,” maintained an acquaintance with the senior janitor for the purpose of secrecy. They allowed him to celebrate his name day in their apartment and they themselves were invited as guests. Everything suspicious was hidden in the apartment. Khalturin, dressed in a fur coat, was placed in the attic. Isaev and Yakimova were “having fun” with the guests, among whom was a police officer, and from the attic window, located opposite the living room window, Khalturin, who was wanted by the police, looked at them through the light well.

Soon Khalturin moved to Moscow and acted among the workers there. In the spring of 1881 he became a member of the Executive Committee.

The explosion in the Winter Palace shocked public circles in Russia and abroad. "Narodnaya Volya", created just six months ago, has gained enormous popularity. None of the participants in the attempt were arrested. The executive committee seemed powerful and elusive.

The government was at a loss; the ruler of 70 million was within reach of terrorists in his own palace.

“A terrible feeling took possession of us all,” the heir to the throne wrote in his diary. - What should we do?" Fantastic rumors about expected explosions spread throughout the capital. Janitors advised townspeople to stock up on water in case of a water pipe explosion. Panic fear forced some to leave St. Petersburg, and others to transfer capital abroad.

The stagnation of business was noted on the stock exchange, the rate fell.

The authorities expected an open speech by February 19 - the day of the abolition of serfdom and the 25th anniversary of the reign of Alexander II.

General, Count M.T. Loris-Melikov was called to power. As the head of the High Commission, he was given dictatorial powers to suppress terrorists. The Count took a new line - not naked violence, but a combination of brutal measures against it with the attraction of the “well-meaning” to the side of the government.

Preparations for assassination attempts on Alexander II continued. In the spring of 1880, preparations were started, but then curtailed in Odessa. In the summer of the same year in St. Petersburg it was planned to blow up the Stone Bridge across the Catherine Canal on Gorokhovaya Street. The Tsar passed over this bridge on his way from the Winter Palace to Tsarskoe Selo and back. The assassination attempt did not take place.

In the fall of 1880, preparations began for the assassination attempt, which became the last.

This time a dynamite workshop was set up on the Obvodny Canal. The workshop was not opened by the police. The apartment was maintained by P.I. Kibalchich and A.V. Yakimova, F.A. Moreinis acted as a poor relative of the “owners”. IN last weeks Yakimova practically no longer lived in the workshop, since she was given another task. But sometimes she looked in so that the janitor, who brought firewood in the morning, could see her. The visiting workers were A.I. Barannikov and NASablin. Isaev could no longer work at full capacity. Once - it was in Odessa - he was cleaning a tube received from the Okhotino Powder Plant, and it contained fulminate of mercury. An explosion occurred and Isaev lost three of his fingers.

A disaster almost occurred in a workshop on the Obvodny Canal. It was in the evening. Being alone at home, Moreinis heard a crash, a hiss, and then acrid yellow vapors appeared from the room where the laboratory was. The kerosene lamp in the kitchen went out. In her excitement, Moreinis would jump up the stairs, then return to the kitchen and stick her head out the window to take a breath of air. An explosion could happen any minute, and she didn’t know what to do.

The chance came to the rescue. Yakimova arrived at an inopportune hour. She rushed into the workshop and removed the caps from the quarter (3 liter) bottles of acids. The bottles were closed by mistake, so they got hot and one of them burst. The window sill was charred, the curtain had decayed. The next day a janitor came to inspect the room: some liquid had spilled into the lower floor, which had turned the cornice green. Moreinis quickly came up with an idea: she was preparing a bath for the sick housewife, spilled medicine, she was scolded a lot, if the janitor entered the room, she would be scolded again, etc.

Her pleas and good relations with the janitor saved the situation: he left without entering the room.

In December, the work was completed, the apartment was cleaned and many Narodnaya Volya members, including A.I. Zhelyabov, S.L. Perovskaya, A.V. Yakimova, N.A. Sablin, G.M. Gelfman, P.S. Ivanovskaya, M.R. Langans, L.D. Terentyeva, M.F. Grachevsky, N.I. Kibalchich, G.P. Isaev, F.A. Moreinis - 15 people in total - celebrated the New Year of 1881 here.

Over the last year before March 1, this was probably the only holiday. Guests were warned: “Gentlemen, today is an evening without business.” Confusion appeared on their faces: what is there to talk about?

They sang in chorus. There were toasts to the death of the tyrants. Then the dancing began. Isaev, Sablin and Zhelyabov danced so that the lower residents, despite New Year, they sent to find out what was going on with them.

In the fall of 1880, members of the People's Will created a group that began to monitor the tsar's departures from the Winter Palace to determine the time and routes of his trips. The group consisted of student youth, it included six people: I.I. Grinevitsky, A.V. Tyrkov, P.V. Tychinin, E.N. Olovennikova, E.M. Sidorenko and N.I. Rysakov, and was led by by S.L. Perovskaya, who herself participated in the observations. Every day two people took turns on duty. Group members met weekly, informed Perovskaya about the results of observations and received a duty schedule for the following days. Their meetings took place at Tychinin's, on Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya, 8, at E. Olovennikova's, who lived in one of the houses in the courtyard of house N58-60 on the Moika Embankment.

The Executive Committee formed a group of technicians to develop the most the right way assassination attempts. In addition to M.I. Kibalchich and G.P. Isaev, it included M.F. Grachevsky and N.E. Sukhanov. Of the methods she proposed, the Committee settled on two: a mine explosion and projectiles.

The location of the upcoming events was to be Malaya Sadovaya Street. It is according to her Sundays Alexander II often passed by on his way to the Mikhailovsky Manege. And on it I found L.I. Barannikov basement, convenient for constructing a mine tunnel.

The adopted plan was as follows: to lay a mine on Malaya Sadovaya Street and detonate it as the Tsar passed by; if he turns out to be unharmed, the throwers stationed at the ends of the street will take over; Zhelyabov became the leader of the throwers; if this did not lead to the goal, Zhelyabov had to act with a dagger.

The basement on which the Committee chose was located in Mengden's house, on Malaya Sadovaya Street, 8. This is the second house from the corner of Nevsky Prospekt. The building has survived to the present day, but in the 1900s it was partly rebuilt by the owner G.G. Eliseev, a sixth floor appeared, the façade of the house was enriched, the windows of the first floor were expanded, and a granite base covered the basement windows.

The basement, vacated due to renovations, was intended for trade. This is what attracted the Narodnaya Volya members: they could open a store here.

Having concluded a contract with the manager of the house in early December 1880, the future owners of the shop began to wait for the renovation to be completed. The Executive Committee instructed A.V. Yakimova and Yu.N. Bogdanovich to maintain the store.

Yuri Nikolaevich Bogdanovich participated in the Narodnik movement from the early 1870s. V.N. Figner, who knew Bogdanovich well, recommended him for the role of a merchant, keeping in mind his practicality, resourcefulness and suitable external characteristics. He was broad-faced, red-bearded, good-natured, always ready for a joke. Yakimova was a match for him, with her Vyatka accent on “o” and a completely democratic appearance. But both of them understood little about trade, and the neighboring shopkeepers immediately saw that the newcomers were not a hindrance to them.

At the beginning of January 1881, Yakimova and Bogdanovich settled on Malaya Sadovaya Street. A sign appeared at the entrance to the basement: “Warehouse of Russian cheeses by E. Kobozev.” They had three rooms: a shop, a living room next to it and a warehouse facing the courtyard. The outer wall of the living room was covered with an ash-like wooden panel, supposedly to protect against dampness. At night, the panel under the window was removed and they began to dig an underground gallery. It was necessary to act quietly, since there was a policeman's post nearby. They worked two people per shift in the most difficult conditions. By candlelight, sitting or lying down, the digger loosened the earth with a hand auger, selected it and put it in a bag. He could not stand up, since the gallery was only 80-90 centimeters in diameter, subsoil water protruded from below, and the sidewalk and pavement could collapse from above. The partner pulled the bag of earth by the rope into the room. The earth was poured into empty cheese barrels, into a corner of the warehouse, covered with coal and hay, into a sofa in the living room, but it was not taken outside.

Bogdanovich, Zhelyabov, Trigoni, Langans, Frolenko, Barannikov, Kolodkevich, Sukhanov, Isaev, Sablin took part in constructing the tunnel. They worked under enormous stress. And, although their names were kept secret, others recognized them by their tired, haggard faces. Even Zhelyabov’s heroic health began to fail: insomnia appeared and fainting occurred.

Despite night work and other preparations for the assassination attempt, he still continued to visit students, agitated workers, and met with the military.

In the second half of February, the digging was completed. Kibalchich, Grachevsky and Isaev worked a lot on the shells. By mid-February, the design of the bombs had been fine-tuned, and their tests took place in Pargolovo. In addition to Kibalchich and Zhelyabov, they were attended by throwers.

The group of metal workers formed by Zhelyabov included four people: students I.I. Grinevitsky and N.I. Ryskov, worker T.M. Mikhailov and graduate of a vocational school I.P. Emelyanov. Their preparation was short-lived. In a specially arranged apartment, which was maintained by G.M. Gelfman and N.A. Sablin, in house No. 5 on Telezhnaya Street, N.I. Kibalchich explained the design of the projectile to the throwers.

On February 28, the fuses were subjected to the last test; Kibalchich, Grinevitsky, Mikhailov and Rysakov traveled outside the Smolny Monastery. In a deserted place, T. Mikhailov threw a shell filled with sand instead of explosive jelly onto the road. There was a soft bang and the shell cap bounced off: the charge was fired.

So, by the end of February 1881 everything was ready.

By that time, the ranks of members of the Executive Committee had thinned significantly. Almost half of them - 13 out of 29 - were out of action. A.A. Kvyatkovsky was executed, S.G. Shiryaev, N.K. Bukh, A.I. Zundelevich, SAIvanova were convicted, V.V. Zegs von Laurenberg died, O.S. Lyubatovich and NAMo-rozov went abroad.

On November 28, 1880, A.D. Mikhailov was arrested. A guardian of order in the organization, a master of conspiracy, he was captured due to his own carelessness. Having given the cards of the convicts for re-shooting in several photographs, he went into one of them to inquire about the order. It seemed to him that his visit was met with suspicion. Mikhailov told his friends about this, and they categorically forbade him to appear in photographs. Nevertheless, a few days later, just by being nearby, he thought that he had been mistaken in his suspicions, and nevertheless decided to receive the order.

When he left Taube's photograph, the policeman followed him. Mikhailov tried to escape through the entrance yard but failed. At the corner of Kolomenskaya and Razyezzhaya, when he tried to get into a cab, he was arrested. “Sorry, darlings. Forgive me for the risk that cost me so much,” Mikhailov wrote in the first letter sent illegally from prison.

In January 1881 there was a wave of arrests.

On February 27 at 5 pm, Perovskaya and Zhelyabov left the house together, took a cab and drove to the Public Library. From here they went their separate ways.

When Zhelyabov did not return home on the evening of February 27, Perovskaya realized that he was under arrest. The next day, all the organization’s valuable property was taken from the apartment, and Perovskaya left it.

Perovskaya and Zhelyabov met a month later, in the courtroom.

At the beginning of 1881, the main safe house of the Executive Committee was located in a three-story building number 25/7, on the corner of Voznesensky Prospekt and the Catherine Canal. This time the arrangement of the central apartment was entrusted to V. Figner and Isaev. On January 9, they registered in apartment number 8 under the name “Kokhanovskikh”.

From an apartment on Voznesensky Prospekt the last attempt on the life of the Tsar was carried out.

The liquidation of the apartment was caused by the arrest of Isaev. On April 1, he did not return home - he was picked up on the street. Figner was sure that he would not give his address, and was in no hurry to leave the apartment. The next day she began to tie up the valuable committee things they had accumulated, the typeface, the passport office, dynamite, and chemical laboratory equipment. Those who came at her call took away most of things. The last two knots were carried away by Ivanovskaya and Terentyeva. Figner spent another night here. On the morning of April 3, Isaev was identified by the janitors of the house. When the police came to the apartment, the samovar and the coals in the stove were still warm.

(Baranova A.I., Yamshchikova E.A., Narodnaya Volya in St. Petersburg. L., 1984).

Ideas

The People's Will party was organized at Lipetsk Congress in June. In contrast to “Land and Freedom,” from which “Narodnaya Volya” emerged, the latter emphasized political struggle as a means of conquering the socialist system. The theoretical worldview of the revolutionary populists (participants in “going to the people”), expressed in the magazines “Forward”, “Nachalo”, “Land and Freedom”, was also adopted by the Narodnaya Volya party. Like Land and Freedom, the Narodnaya Volya party proceeded from the conviction that the Russian people “are in a state of complete slavery, economic and political... They are surrounded by layers of exploiters created and protected by the state... The state constitutes the largest capitalist force in the country; it also constitutes the only political oppressor of the people... This state-bourgeois growth is maintained exclusively by naked violence... There is absolutely no popular sanction for this arbitrary and violent power... The Russian people are completely socialist in their sympathies and ideals; its old, traditional principles are still alive in it - the people’s right to land, community and local self-government, the beginnings of a federal structure, freedom of conscience and speech. These principles would be widely developed and would give a completely new direction, in the spirit of the people, to our entire history, if only the people were given the opportunity to live and arrange themselves as they want, in accordance with their own inclinations.” In view of this, the Narodnaya Volya party considered its task to be “a political revolution with the aim of transferring power to the people.” As an instrument of the coup, the party put forward a constituent assembly elected by free universal vote. Pledging to completely submit to the will of the people, the party nevertheless put forward its program, which it had to defend during the election campaign and in the Constituent Assembly:

1. permanent popular representation having full power in all national issues;
2. broad regional self-government, ensured by the election of all positions, the independence of the world and the economic independence of the people;
3. independence of the world as an economic and administrative unit;
4. ownership of the land by the people;
5. a system of measures aimed at transferring all plants and factories into the hands of workers;
6. complete freedom of conscience, speech, press, meetings, associations and election campaigning;
7. universal suffrage, without class or any property restrictions;
8. replacing the standing army with a territorial one.

Story

All Act of terrorism following the assassination attempt Solovyova on the life of Emperor Alexander II, came from the Narodnaya Volya party. The party, which was insignificant in its composition, relied on the sympathy of only a small part of the intelligentsia and had no basis among the broad masses, showed such energy that it believed in its own strength and made people believe in it. Count's politics Loris-Melikova part of society, which previously sympathized with the People's Will, was pushed away from it. When the party, not softened by concessions, killed Emperor Alexander II on March 1, this murder caused not only a government reaction, but also a public reaction on a much wider scale than the People's Will expected. Nevertheless, in the following years the party continued its activities (murder Strelnikova, murder of Sudeikin). Arrest in the city Lopatina and many people associated with him, completely weakened the party.

Release of the leaflet “Land and Freedom!”

Originated in new Narodnaya Volya group(With Ulyanov And Shevyrev headed), on March 1, intending to make an attempt on the life of the emperor Alexandra III. Then, several more Narodnaya Volya circles arose that had no genetic connection with the old “Narodnaya Volya”; they were not successful, and Narodnaya Volya finally left the stage. She was subsequently reborn as Socialist Revolutionary Party, with a slightly modified program.

Causes of the crisis

Popular opinion sees the reason for the fall of Narodnaya Volya in the public reaction caused by the assassination of Alexander II. S. Kravchinsky, in the book “Underground Russia,” offers, however, another explanation for this fact. In his opinion, the People's Will was very strong after 1881, but it set itself unrealistic plans for a broad state conspiracy, through which it could immediately seize power and establish a provisional government; having set out these plans, she abandoned attempts that could increasingly undermine government power and feed the Narodnaya Volya party with new strength. Among the acts committed by Narodnaya Volya, it is necessary to note the theft in a Kherson bank in the city through undermining, which was not successful, since almost all the money taken from the bank (over a million rubles) was very soon found by the police. This fact, which took place back in the heyday of the party, undoubtedly made a negative impression on significant circles of society, having a detrimental effect on Narodnaya Volya. Even more disastrous was the activity of the gendarme colonel Sudeikin, who already in the last period of the history of “Narodnaya Volya” introduced his agent into the party Degaeva, who later killed him.

Party publications

The People's Will party published in secret printing houses in St. Petersburg and in the provinces a newspaper of the same name (11 issues were published, 1879-1885) and leaflets of Narodnaya Volya (a significant number of them were published from 1880 to 1886); then separate leaflets published by various Narodnaya Volya groups were issued in 1890-92, 1896 and other years. In addition, a magazine was published abroad: “Bulletin of the People’s Will”, ed. P. L. Lavrova, the most prominent theoretician of “Narodnaya Volya”; 5 of its volumes were published in 1883-86. In 1883, the “Narodnaya Volya Calendar” was published in Geneva. In these literary works the theory of “People's Will” was developed. Socialist ideals gradually moved into the background and the party acquired a purely political character. Believing in the nearness of revolution, the party was afraid that Russia would have its own Vendée, from which reactionary forces would launch a campaign against the triumphant revolution; therefore, she put forward centralist demands, not noticing their contradiction with the demand for self-government of communities and regions. Thus, the People's Will could finally be considered a Jacobin party; her journals often resembled " Alarm» Tkachev.

The magazine “Narodnaya Volya”, leaflets and some proclamations of the party were reprinted in Bazilevsky’s collection (“Literature of the Party of Narodnaya Volya”, 2nd supplement to the collection “Crimes of the State in Russia”, Paris, 1905). On the one hand, “Our Disagreements” give very severe criticism of “Narodnaya Volya” Plekhanov(Geneva, 1884), on the other - “Historical Poland and Great Russian Democracy” by Drahomanov (Geneva, 1883; reprinted in the collected works of Drahomanov, vol. I, Paris, 1905). A vivid description (sympathetic) of Narodnaya Volya can be found in Stepnyak’s “Underground Russia” (St. Petersburg, 1905) and in his own novel “Andrei Kozhukhov,” reprinted in St. Petersburg under the title “From the Past” (1905). A lot of valuable material for the history of the Narodnaya Volya party lies in reports about its processes, published at one time in legal and illegal newspapers. Of these, “The Case of March 1, 1881” (official, abridged and distorted report) reprinted in St. Petersburg (1906), with notes by Lev Deitch.

Literature

• Tun A.“History of revolutionary movements in Russia” St. Petersburg, 1906.
• Troitsky N. A. "People's Will" before the royal court (1880-1891). Saratov: Saratov University Publishing House, 1971; 2nd ed., rev. and additional Saratov: Saratov University Publishing House, 1983.
• Troitsky N. A. Tsarist courts against revolutionary Russia (Political trials of 1871-1880). Saratov: Saratov University Publishing House, 1976.
• Troitsky N. A. . M.: Mysl, 1978.
• Troitsky N. A. Tsarism on trial by the progressive public (1866-1895). M.: Mysl, 1979.
• Troitsky N. A. Political processes in Russia 1871-1887. A manual for the special course. Saratov: Saratov State University named after. N. G. Chernyshevsky , 2003.

Links

• People's Will. Article in Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron.
• Insarov M. People's will
• Troitsky N. A. “People's Will” // Russia in the 19th century: Course of lectures
• Troitsky N. A. "People's Will" and its "Red Terror"
• Troitsky N. A. “The feat of Nikolai Kletochnikov”
• Troitsky N. A. “The madness of the brave. Russian revolutionaries and the punitive policy of tsarism 1866-1882.” (monograph)
• Yochelson V.“The first days of Narodnaya Volya”
• The Tsar's prison in the memoirs of Narodnaya Volya member M. P. Orlov: “About Akatui from the time of Melshin”
• People's Will (organization) on Kronos

Wikimedia Foundation.

2010.

Activities of Narodnaya Volya

The ideology of the organization has repeatedly become the subject of research by domestic and foreign historians. The paradox is that, in principle, terror did not occupy the main place either in program documents or, with the exception of certain periods, in the activities of the party. And yet, “People's Will” entered history thanks to a series of assassination attempts on the emperor, ending with the regicide on March 1, 1881, primarily as a terrorist organization. All subsequent terrorist organizations in Russia started from the Narodnaya Volya experience, taking it as a standard or trying to modify it in some way to suit other conditions. All subsequent ideologists of political terrorism passionately studied documents relating to the activities of Narodnaya Volya, trying to understand the reason for the defeat of the party - whether in external circumstances, or in the very system of views of the Narodnaya Volya members.

A three-year study of the life of the people, their needs and history led in 1876 to the development of the so-called populist program, which formed the basis for all subsequent activities of the revolutionary party and was only supplemented in 1879 by the newly organized Narodnaya Volya faction, but, according to essentially no longer changed. Its main principles are as follows: the natural path of progress lies in the constant satisfaction of the urgent and already recognized needs of the people. Any system that does not correspond to the prevailing ideas of the people, their mental and moral nature, does not serve to improve their lives, therefore they must strive for such state forms in which the people could not only express their understanding of life and their needs, but satisfy them and go further along the path of development. Based on this basic principle, the program sets only such requirements as mandatory, which have already been recognized by science and the history of all peoples as necessary conditions for progress, without which comprehensive development is impossible, just like breathing without oxygen, namely: freedom of thought, conscience and speech, the abolition of all class privileges, the right of everyone to land and tools of labor and freedom of societies and associations without clearly harmful purposes, which will be determined by law. These are the only regulated demands of the party; As for other economic and political issues, the party does not recognize the right and competence to raise them as mandatory, since the truth in this case can only be told by the people themselves. In view of this, the party finds it necessary to convene a Zemsky Sobor to resolve all national issues.

The basis of this program was the idea that the Russian people, like any other people at a certain stage of historical development, has its own original worldview, corresponding to the level of moral and mental concepts that could be developed in it under the conditions among which it lived. The popular worldview includes, as part, the well-known attitudes of the people towards issues, both political and economic. In the ordinary course of life, without changing the institutions surrounding people's life, reforming once established views on these issues is an extremely difficult thing. Therefore, it is necessary to make an attempt during revolutionary activity among the people - to start from the attitudes, aspirations and desires inherent in them at the moment and to put on their banner the ideals that the people themselves have realized. Such an ideal in the economic field is land and labor as the basis of property rights. Regarding the land, the people cannot and do not want to come to terms with the idea that it could belong to someone other than him, its sower and zealot; he looks at it as a gift from God, which should only be used by those who work on it; on the current situation of land ownership - as on the temporary captivity of his water-maid and wet-nurse; but sooner or later, this land will all go to him.

1. We believe that, as socialists and populists, we must set our immediate task to remove the oppressive oppression of the modern state from the people, to carry out a political revolution with the aim of transferring power to the people. With this revolution we will achieve, firstly, that the development of the people will henceforth proceed independently, according to their own will and inclinations, and secondly, that in our Russian life many purely socialist principles common to us will be recognized and supported and the people.

2. We believe that the will of the people would be sufficiently expressed and carried out by a Constituent Assembly, elected freely by universal suffrage, with instructions from the voters. This, of course, is far from an ideal form of manifestation of the people's will, but it is the only one currently possible in practice, and we therefore consider it necessary to dwell on it.

3. Our object, therefore, is to take away the power from the existing government and transfer it to a Constituent Assembly, constituted, as is now said, which shall review all our state and public institutions and reconstruct them according to the instructions of its constituents."

In the "Program of the Executive Committee" terror was given a modest place in section "D". “Destructive and terrorist activities” were deciphered in subparagraph 2) as “consisting in the destruction of the most harmful persons of the government, in protecting the party from espionage, in punishing the most outstanding cases of violence and arbitrariness on the part of the government, administration, etc., with the goal of undermining the charm of government power, to provide continuous proof of the possibility of fighting against the government, thus raising the revolutionary spirit of the people and faith in the success of the cause, and, finally, to form forces fit and accustomed to battle.”

However, such “disorganizational” activity increasingly resembled a political struggle, and terror seemed less and less like an auxiliary means.

Terrorist activities of "People's Will"

First of all, it is worth defining what political terrorism, which was a key component of the activities of Narodnaya Volya, actually is. I would define terrorism as follows: it is a political tactic associated with the use and promotion of those forms of armed struggle that are defined as terrorist acts that represent the destruction of one, or less often several, individuals who impede progress, the people's good and the people's will; terrorist acts are carried out with the aim of influencing the authorities.

Turning to terror is a rejection of attempts to logically convince society of the correctness of one’s way of thinking, a transition to polemics with it at a level deeper than the political teachings existing in society, at the level of the national psyche.

The key year in the history of Russian terrorism was 1878, which politically began with the shot of Vera Zasulich. The Zasulich case highlighted another motive for the radicals’ transition to terrorism - in the absence of guarantees of personal rights and, of course, democratic freedoms in Russia, weapons seemed to those people who could not look at human history from the point of view of eternity, the only means of self-defense and fair retribution.

After Zasulich’s shot, a number of terrorist acts followed, the most notorious of which was the murder of landowner S. M. Kravchinsky; August 1878 in St. Petersburg, the chief of the gendarmes, Adjutant General N.V. Mezentsev. By coincidence, this happened the day after the execution in Odessa of revolutionary I.M. Kovalsky, who was sentenced to death for armed resistance to arrest; and although Mezentsev was killed as a mark for the fact that he convinced the emperor not to commute the sentences of those convicted in the “193” trial and insisted on the administrative expulsion of those released from prison, in the eyes of society Mezentsev’s murder looked like an immediate response to the execution of the Revolutionary, by the way, the first after the execution of Karakozov.

The first terrorists do not even set this goal - extermination, physical destruction of the objects of their attacks. For them, the sound of the shot itself is more important than its consequences, because the main thing here is to attract the attention of society, awaken its activity, and clearly, tangibly express protest.”

Over time, having become convinced that the greatest successes of the party, the growth of its authority in the revolutionary environment and in society are associated primarily with terror, the Narodnaya Volya members place ever greater hopes on it. Already in the “Preparatory Work of the Party” (spring 1880), terror is considered as the most important element in the seizure of power: “The party must have the strength to create for itself a favorable moment of action, to begin the work and carry it through to the end. A skillfully executed system of terrorist enterprises that simultaneously destroy 10 - 15 people - the pillars of a modern government, will lead the government into panic, deprive it of unity of action and at the same time excite the masses: that is, it will create a convenient moment for an attack, taking advantage of this moment, gathered in advance. fighting forces they begin an uprising and try to take over the main government institutions. Such an attack could easily be crowned with success if the party ensures itself the opportunity to move any significant masses of workers to the aid of the first skirmishers.”

Meanwhile, party members in the cities came to the same conclusion. Vera Zasulich, acquitted by a jury, was almost arrested; while all of Russia applauded the court's verdict, members of the royal family paid visits to Trepov. When, according to the “trial of 193”, the Senate recognized the possibility of mitigating the punishment, the tsar increased it; he responded to every curb on the arbitrariness of his servants with increased reaction and repression; martial law was the consequence of several political assassinations. It became strange to beat the servants who did the will of the one who sent them, and not to touch the master; political assassinations fatally led to regicide.

In the fall of 1879, the Narodnaya Volya members launched a real hunt for the Tsar. They were not embarrassed by the number of possible victims, even accidental ones. At the end of 1879 - beginning of 1880, in the program and tactical guidelines of Narodnaya Volya, the line of A. I. Zhelyabov and A. D. Mikhailov prevailed - to prepare a conspiracy and uprising on a broad front, combining terrorist acts with propaganda and organizational work among workers, officers and students.

A network of safe houses, a number of printing houses, a “passport bureau”, dynamite workshops were organized, the party had its own intelligence service, the work of a powerful working group, an extensive network of student circles and a strong military organization was established. At the head of this entire complex organism stood the famous Executive Committee of the People's Will.

On April 2, 1879, member of the People's Will A. Solovyov made the first attempt on the life of the emperor. Solovyov waited for Alexander II on the palace square and unsuccessfully shot him with a revolver several times. After the 4th shot he was grabbed by security. Alexander remained unharmed; only the sleeve of his overcoat was hit by the bullet. In response, the Third Department made hundreds of arrests and expulsions from the capital in one holy week. Some organizations have been terribly destroyed. The "Northern Russian Workers' Union", which had barely gotten back on its feet, was defeated.

In the fall of 1879, three attempts were made to cause the collapse of the Tsar's train on the possible routes for the Tsar's return from the Crimea by exploding the railway track. Undermining was carried out in three places at once: near Odessa, Aleksandrovsky, Ekaterinoslav province. and on the outskirts of Moscow . At the same time as the railways, preparations were underway in the Winter Palace for the assassination attempt carried out by Stepan Khalturin on February 5, 1880. However, other than world fame, these assassinations did not bring anything else to Narodnaya Volya.

The Executive Committee, in the minds of everyone - democratic youth, ordinary people, officials of various ranks, etc. - began to seem like an omnipotent mysterious force, which some sympathized with (mostly, however, passively), while others, fearing, did not passively resist. In such a tense atmosphere, refusal from further attempts became psychologically impossible for the Narodnaya Volya members - it meant a loss of prestige, a collapse of hopes and high expectations. Regicide became the main goal, everything else became secondary. There simply wasn’t enough strength for the rest. We even had to abandon the preparation of planned terrorist attacks against the Odessa, Kyiv and St. Petersburg governors general - Totleben, Hesse and Gurko, and some other prominent officials. Everything focused on the king. In the summer of 1880, another assassination attempt was organized - this time a mine was placed under the Stone Bridge across the Catherine Canal. The result is the same - unsuccessfully.

Since the autumn of 1880, he has been under constant surveillance. All of Alexander II’s trips around St. Petersburg are monitored by a special group led by Sofia Perovskaya.

The desperate struggle between the Narodnaya Volya and the autocracy, which was approaching its apogee, was accompanied by heavy losses in the ranks of the revolutionaries. On November 4, 1880, A. A. Kvyatkovsky and A. K. Presnyakov, convicted in the “trial of 16,” were executed. On November 28, A.D. Mikhailov became a victim of his own negligence. In January 1881, literally one after another, G. M. Fridenson, A. I. Barannikov, N. N. Kolodkevich, N. V. Kletochnikov, L. S. Zlatopolsky were arrested.

And finally, on March 1, 1880, “People’s Will” achieved the goal that it had so persistently strived for. At four o'clock in the afternoon on March 1, a funeral flag was raised over the Winter Palace - a sign of the death of the emperor. This was the apogee of their activities, which became the beginning of the end of Narodnaya Volya. The March 1st events were certainly a blow to the autocracy. But a single terrorist act was not supported and supported by a broad popular movement. At the decisive moment, the Narodnaya Volya found themselves commanders without an army and were defeated in the assault on the autocracy using only their own organization.

Collapse of "Narodnaya Volya"

In the first weeks after the death of Alexander II, the 36-year-old son of the Tsar, who became Alexander III, ascended the throne, and the entire dignitary of Petersburg were in a state of confusion, close to panic. Alexander III was afraid to drive through the streets of his capital and tried not to leave the palace. The Winter Palace was dug into a trench in search of mine tunnels, like the one discovered near Malaya Sadovaya. On March 27, Alexander III secretly left for Gatchina.

Meanwhile, the confusion that initially struck the ruling elite passed rather quickly, especially since the police managed to make a number of important arrests. On the second day after the arrest, the morally broken Rysakov began to give detailed testimony. They allowed the gendarmes to seize an apartment on Telezhnaya Street on March 3, and G. M. Gelfman was arrested. N.A. Sablin shot himself. T. M. Mikhailov was ambushed. On March 10, S. L. Perovskaya was identified and detained on Nevsky Prospekt. On March 17, N.I. Kibalchich was arrested. It's time to react.