How Successful Was Opposition to the Tsarist Regime Between 1861 and 1881 in Achieving Its Aims?
How successful was opposition to the tsarist regime between 1861 and 1881 in achieving its aims?
There was a great deal of opposition to the tsarist regime between 1861 and 1881 and many were successful. The opposition came from the liberal minded intelligentsia who were determined to change what they believed to be outmoded and inhibiting Russian ways. The Populists, who aimed to win over the peasantry to their socialist ideas by stirring up their resentment of the Tsarist Autocracy.
Although there were very few intelligentsia, their size and influence grew in the 1970s due to the development of the law courts, as a result of reform. These courts produced an unexpected crop of professionally trained lawyers, who were ready to question and challenge Russian autocratic practices. They were determined to change what they believed to be outmoded and inhibiting Russian ways. Some of the younger generation, who were influenced by the Nihilists, wanted to sweep away everything from the past so a new society could be born. The St Petersburg Zemstvo almost immediately demanded a central body to co-ordinate the regional zemstva, but the tsar disagreed with the proposal. However, the increase in repression from 1866 onwards only increased the zemstva demands for constitutional change and heightened student idealism and determination. This shows that they were successful in challenging the tsar even when he stood firm against the proposal and they were able to put pressure on for change. This ideology was thereafter aimed to persuade the peasants and fuel their resentment towards the Russian autocracy by the Populists.
Sergei Nechyev, a radical of peasant extraction inspired a circle of young revolutionaries, the “Chaikovsky circle”, which produced many pamphlets and smuggled in books officially banned in Russia. This, in turn, led Pyotr Lavrov to lead a group of around 2000 young men and women, mainly from the nobility and intelligentsia in 1874 and “go to the people”.
There was a great deal of opposition to the tsarist regime between 1861 and 1881 and many were successful. The opposition came from the liberal minded intelligentsia who were determined to change what they believed to be outmoded and inhibiting Russian ways. The Populists, who aimed to win over the peasantry to their socialist ideas by stirring up their resentment of the Tsarist Autocracy.
Although there were very few intelligentsia, their size and influence grew in the 1970s due to the development of the law courts, as a result of reform. These courts produced an unexpected crop of professionally trained lawyers, who were ready to question and challenge Russian autocratic practices. They were determined to change what they believed to be outmoded and inhibiting Russian ways. Some of the younger generation, who were influenced by the Nihilists, wanted to sweep away everything from the past so a new society could be born. The St Petersburg Zemstvo almost immediately demanded a central body to co-ordinate the regional zemstva, but the tsar disagreed with the proposal. However, the increase in repression from 1866 onwards only increased the zemstva demands for constitutional change and heightened student idealism and determination. This shows that they were successful in challenging the tsar even when he stood firm against the proposal and they were able to put pressure on for change. This ideology was thereafter aimed to persuade the peasants and fuel their resentment towards the Russian autocracy by the Populists.
Sergei Nechyev, a radical of peasant extraction inspired a circle of young revolutionaries, the “Chaikovsky circle”, which produced many pamphlets and smuggled in books officially banned in Russia. This, in turn, led Pyotr Lavrov to lead a group of around 2000 young men and women, mainly from the nobility and intelligentsia in 1874 and “go to the people”.