Opposition

• The easing of censorship allowed radical literature to spread, and liberalization in higher education produced more independent-minded students.
• The establishment of zemstva and dumas provided a platform for intellectuals to challenge tsarist policies, while judicial reforms created skilled lawyers ready to question autocratic practices.
• Opposition came from various groups, from the intelligentsia to student radicals and socialist organizations.
• The moderate liberal opposition, though small, gained influence as literacy and education grew in late nineteenth-century Russia.
• the Westernisers, who advocated adopting Western ways to catch up with the West,
• Slavophiles, who believed in a unique Russian path to progress
• Ivan Turgenev represented the Westernisers,
• while Leo Tolstoy was a prominent Slavophile.
• Slavophiles upheld Russia’s distinctive culture and peasant society, emphasizing Orthodox Church principles as integral to the country’s identity, even as it modernised.
• Westernisers advocated for Russia to shed its Slavic traditions and embrace Western values. They pushed for economic, military, and social reforms, including the establishment of representative assemblies, reducing the Orthodox Church’s influence, and promoting civil liberties.
• Socialism: the political and

  economic theory that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned by the community as a whole and that people would work cooperatively together; the Bolsheviks were committed to socialism through Marxist ideology
• Anarchism: self governed institutions; the state is unnecessary or even harmful
• Alexander III’s reduction of zemstva powers in 1889-90 disappointed liberal factions within the zemstva.
• The influence of Slavophiles decreased in the 1890s as industrialization progressed, leading to a divide among the intelligentsia. Some embraced Marxist socialism, while others pursued moderate liberal reforms.
• The 1891-92 famine highlighted the failings of the tsarist government and fueled demands for change. This experience, along with zemstva-led relief efforts, strengthened calls for reform and the establishment of a national advisory body by the mid-1890s.
• In June 1862, a wave of fires ravaged St Petersburg, gutting over 2000 shops. Young Russia was blamed, leading to an investigation. The following year, ‘The Organisation’ formed at Moscow University, demanding reforms. Growing repression and radical socialist writings fueled student activism.
• Nikolai Chernyshevsky, author of The Contemporary and What is to be done?, advocated for peasant-led revolutionary change while confined in St Petersburg’s Peter and Paul Fortress in 1862.
• Aleksandr Herzen, editor of The Bell, promoted a new social structure centered on peasants. Despite being produced abroad and smuggled into Russia illegally, The Bell gained followers.
• Mikhail Bakunin, an anarchist and socialist, proposed replacing private land ownership with collective ownership and tying income to hours worked. Forced into exile, he translated Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto into Russian in 1869, paving the way for Marxism’s introduction into Russia.
• In 1869, Bakunin and Sergei Nechaev, a radical activist, penned the Catechism of a Revolutionary. Published in Switzerland and smuggled into Russia, it urged opponents of autocracy to be relentless in their pursuit of revolution, urging them to forsake all personal ties, including family, friends, and honor, to achieve their revolutionary goals.
• In 1871, Nechaev used underground contacts to return to Russia, determined to go to the people and carry out a revolution. However, he was soon forced to flee again, after the murder of a student who disagreed with him.
• The Tchaikovsky Circle, led by Nikolai Tchaikovsky, emerged in St Petersburg around 1868-69.
• The Thchaikovsky Circle:

  it focused on printing and spreading revolutionary literature, including Marx’s Das Kapital. Although small, with about 100 members across major cities, it aimed for social change. By 1872, it started organizing workers to engage with peasants in rural areas.
• The idea of going to the people, known as Narodnyism or Populism, gained momentum in 1874 when Pyotr Lavrov encouraged around 2000 young nobles and intellectuals to persuade peasants about Russia’s future
• Populist:

  Many were arrested, and a second attempt in 1876 also failed. Despite initial setbacks, Narodnyism shifted radical opposition from underground meetings to the countryside, making the government more aware of dissent.
• Populist:

  They aimed to capitalize on peasant dissatisfaction with land and tax issues following emancipation.
• Mikhail Romas attempted to implement his populist ideas by establishing a cooperative store selling affordable fruit and vegetables to peasants.
• Populist in practice:

  However, suspicion arose among peasants due to the low prices, leading to conflict with wealthier peasants who had their own agreements with urban merchants. They sabotaged Romas’ efforts by placing gunpowder in his firewood log, resulting in an explosion
• ‘Land and Liberty’ (Zemlya i Volya) emerged in 1877, following the populist approach.
• Land and Liberty:

  Its members integrated into peasant communities as doctors, teachers, or workers, adopting a less conspicuous approach. Some resorted to political assassinations, such as the killing of General Mezemtsev in 1878, which garnered public sympathy.
• There were attempts to engage in dialogue between zemstva and Land and Liberty to push for constitutional reform.
• Land & Liberty

  However, the tsarist government remained unresponsive, with Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin being among the few who recognized the urgent need for change, but his warnings fell on deaf ears in the court circles.
• In 1879, Land & Liberty split into the Black Repartition and The Peoples Will
• Black Repartition (Cherny Peredel) led by Georgi Plekhanov aimed to peacefully redistribute the black soil provinces among peasants. It focused on educating peasants and workers and publishing radical materials to stimulate social change without violence.
• Black Repartition:

  However, it was weakened by arrests in 1880-81 and eventually dissolved. Plekhanov and other leaders turned to Marxism.
• The People’s Will (Narodnaya Volya) led by Aleksandr Mikhailov advocated violent methods, including assassinations, to undermine the government.
• Peoples Will:

  It successfully planted a spy in the Tsar’s Third Section to evade harassment. Despite offering to withdraw threats if the Tsar agreed to a constitution, their attempts to assassinate Tsar Alexander II eventually succeeded in March 1881.
• After Alexander II’s assassination, security measures intensified, and the new Tsar retreated to the fortified castle of Gatchina for safety. This effectively ended the Populist movement, although some supporters continued to meet in secret and engage in acts of terrorism.
• Underground self-education circles, like the Muscovite Society of Translators and Publishers, persisted. They translated foreign socialist writings and maintained contact with radicals in exile and abroad.
• Georgi Plekhanov established the Emancipation of Labor group in 1883 from Switzerland