Populism + The Narodniks

• Pyotr Lavrov aimed to mobilise the peasantry into a revolutionary force by inspiring them with the messages of socialism and anarchism.
• In 1874, Lavrov led a group of over 2,000 young people who were mainly students from well-off noble families into the countryside to raise peasants’ awareness of how despite emancipation, they were still being exploited and oppressed.
• The "going to the people" attempt to educate and inspire the peasants was an abject failure.
• Many peasants did not understand the ideas that the Populists were trying to relate to them.
• Around 1,600 Populists were arrested by the police, often handed over by the peasants who remained blindly loyal to the Tsar.
• A second attempt to “go to the people” was made in 1876 but was no more successful.