Section 5 - Radical Thinkers + Populist Opposition

• Ideas of radical thinkers influenced young people and the view of socialism was promoted.
• Chernyshevsky was Editor of The Contemporary and he wrote the book "What is to be done?" in 1863.
• Chernyshevsky believed that peasants had to lead the revolution for it to be successful.
• Herzen was Editor of The Bell and he advocated a peasant-based revolution.
• Bakunin was anarchist and he promoted collective ownership.
• Bakunin translated Marx's Communist Manifesto and he believed in a struggle of working and middle class would lead to a perfect society.
• Lavrov encouraged a populist movement in 1874 called "Go to the People"
• 2,000 Narodniks joined "Go to the People" and they acted as peasants and spread socialist ideas
• Peasants rejected Narodniks due to fears that they secret police, ignorance and loyalty to the Church.
• The second Narodnik movement took place in 1876 and it failed because people were arrested.
• The remaining Narodniks established Land and Liberty in 1877 which was committed to assassinations.
• Land and Liberty wanted to assassinate Mezemstev who was leader of the Third Section as well as Alexander II.
• Land and Liberty split into the Black Partition and The People's Will in 1879.
• The Black Partition was organised by Plekhanov with the aim of "partitioning the black soil".
• The Black Partition worked peacefully among peasants and spread radical materials to students and workers.
• The Black Partition became weakened by arrests in 1880-81 and Plekhanov later became a Marxist.
• The People's Will was led by Mikhailov and it was larger than the Black Partition.
• The People's Will advocated violence with their biggest success being the assassination of Alexander II.
• Opposition spread because of government failures and demand for "reforms from below".