Tsarist reaction and radical opposition in 1881

• This effectively ended the populist movement as it had been known ,although some of its supporters managed to meet in secret and commit acts of terrorism.
• Self education circles such as the Muscovite society of Translators and Publishers, which translated and reproduced the writings of foreign socialists, continued underground and contact with radicals in exile and in the West was maintained.
• From Switzerland, Georgi Plekhanov established the 'Emancipation of Labour' in 1883 which not only translated and arranged for Marxist tracts to be smuggled into Russia but also sought to demonstrate that Marxism was fully applicable to Russia.
• Emancipation of Labour had a limited impact at the time and the group received a setback when its German contact, Deich, responsible for the smuggling of materials into Russia, was arrested by the German police (advised by Tsarist agents) in 1884.