Murder of the Liberator

The struggle between the Winter Palace and the revolutionary populists was coming to an end, and its sad end was inevitable, despite the fact that the conservatives tried to accept own measures against terrorists. At the beginning of 1881, thirteen figures, whose names remained unknown to contemporaries and historians, united in the Secret Anti-Socialist League (TASL) “Our motto,” wrote one of these figures, “God and the Tsar,” our the coat of arms is a star with seven rays and a cross in the center. Now we ... there are about two hundred agents, and their number is constantly growing in all corners of Russia. " As for the number of TASL agents, two hundred is a clear exaggeration, although we know that the league was patronized by Princess Yuryevskaya herself, who tried to save her crowned husband at any cost. In general, amateur legionnaires were unable to play on a foreign field (conspiracy, terror) with real professionals. Apparently, therefore, the emperor never received any real help from the League.

Meanwhile, around the monarch, not only was the ring of "hunters" shrinking, but semi-mystical clouds of omens and omens were also gathering. Two weeks before his death, Alexander Nikolaevich began every morning to find dead and torn pigeons on the windowsill of the bedroom. It turned out that a huge predatory bird settled on the roof of the Winter Palace, but all attempts to catch her were in vain. Finally, we set a trap. The bird still did not manage to cope with it in flight and collapsed onto the Palace Square. The predator turned out to be a kite of such gigantic size that a stuffed animal of it was placed in the Kunstkamera. Later, the epic with the predator will be remembered as a gloomy and last omen of the reign of Alexander, but all this will be later ...

Once a fortune teller predicted to Alexander II that he would have a difficult life full of deadly dangers. In general, one does not need to be a seer to prophesy to the autocrat the difficulties and dangers on his life path. However, a lady who was fortune-telling to Alexander Nikolaevich told him that he would die from the seventh attempt on his life. If you have a desire, count how many assassination attempts the emperor survived, including Rysakov's bomb, and it turns out that the fortune-teller was not mistaken. True, she could not (or did not want) to tell him about the attempts that were being prepared, but for one reason or another did not take place. But there was something like that ...

Alexander Mikhailov has long been attracted by the Stone Bridge, which is thrown across the Catherine Canal. The imperial carriage, following from the Tsarskoye Selo railway station to the Winter Palace, could not pass this bridge in any way. When Mikhailov shared his observations with his comrades, the idea arose to mine this bridge and blow it up under the tsar's carriage. The implementation of this plan was entrusted, of course, to Zhelyabov.

The experience of underground work taught the People's Volunteers, first of all, to be thorough. An entire expedition set out on reconnaissance about the mining of the bridge: Makar Teterka at the steering wheel of the boat, Zhelyabov at the oars. Besides them, Barannikov, Presnyakov, Grachevsky. We examined the powerful supports, measured the bottom under the bridge. It turned out that dynamite must be laid in the supports of the bridge, which can only be done under water. It is most convenient to blow up from the walkways on which the washerwomen rinsed the linen. Kibalchich calculated that seven pounds of explosives are needed for a successful assassination attempt. He also invented a shell for her - four gutta-percha pillows. They were lowered from the boat to the pillars of the bridge, wires were brought under the gangway of the laundresses. However, later they decided to abandon the explosion of the bridge pillars, since there was no one hundred percent confidence in the success of the assassination attempt, and the Narodnaya Volya did not need any extra victims. However, this did not mean that the radicals once and for all refused from explosions in crowded places.

Malaya Sadovaya Street, the house of Count Mengden, in which a semi-basement is rented. On January 7, 1881, a cheese shop was opened there by the "peasant family of the Kobozevs" - members of the IC "Narodnaya Volya" Anna Yakimova and Yuri Bogdanovich. Undermining again, a narrow gallery-half-grave, fear of a possible collapse, the threat of an unexpected visit to the apartment by the police. The latter is the most real. The wrong police were in St. Petersburg, and the janitors were not the same. They have become more fearful, more alert, more experienced. So, at the end of February, the janitor brought the Kobozevs an audit: the district police officer and the well-known technician, Major General Mravinsky, a police expert.

The smell of cheese, which had accumulated in the basement, was so strong in the nose that the general did not expect to get out into the fresh air as soon as possible. Apparently, therefore, he inquired only about the wall cladding, tapped in several places with his heel on the floorboards and asked about the origin of the damp stain in the pantry. “Sour cream has been spilled, your honor,” Bogdanovich answered. And here were cheese barrels filled with earth from the tunnel, a pile of earth lay on the floor against the wall, covered with matting and tattered rugs. The general had no time to delve into these "little things". However, the terrorists did not need the digging.

On March 1, 1881, Alexander Nikolaevich told his wife how he intends to spend the current day: in half an hour he went to the Mikhailovsky Manege to divorce the guards, from there he was going to see his cousin, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna, who lived near the arena. At a quarter to three, the monarch promised to return home and take his wife for a walk to the Summer Garden.

The emperor left the Winter Palace at three quarters of the first in a carriage, accompanied by six Terek Cossacks. The seventh was sitting on the box, to the left of the coachman. Three policemen, led by Chief of Police A. I. Dvorzhitsky, followed the carriage in a sleigh. At the end of the divorce of the guards, the sovereign, together with the Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, went to his cousin, and at two o'clock ten minutes he left her and got into the carriage, saying to the coachman: "The same way home." Having passed Inzhenernaya Street and turning to the Ekaterininsky Canal, he greeted the guard from the 8th naval crew returning from a divorce. The coachman set the horses at a trot along the embankment, but did not manage to drive even a hundred meters when a deafening explosion was heard, damaging the emperor's carriage. We will not try to fictionalize further events and give the floor to Chief of Police Dvozhitsky as the main witness of what happened.

“Having passed a few more meters after the explosion,” he wrote, “His Majesty's carriage stopped, I immediately ran to the Emperor’s carriage, helped him get out and reported that the criminal had been detained. The Emperor was completely calm. To my question about the state of his health, he replied: "Thank God, I am not injured." Seeing that the Emperor's carriage was damaged, I decided to invite His Majesty to go in my sleigh to the palace. To this proposal, the emperor said: "Okay, just show the criminal." , who was on the box of His Majesty, behind Mochaev - 4 dismounted Cossacks with horses. After walking a few steps, the emperor slipped, but I managed to support him.

The tsar went up to Rysakov. Having learned that the criminal was a bourgeois, His Majesty, without saying a word, turned and walked slowly towards the Theater Bridge. At this time, His Majesty was surrounded on one side by a platoon of the 8th fleet crew, and on the other by escort Cossacks. Then I again allowed myself to turn to the Emperor with a request to get into the sleigh and leave, but he stopped, delayed a little, and then replied: "Okay, just show me the place of the explosion first." Fulfilling the will of the sovereign, I turned obliquely to the place of the explosion, but did not manage to take even three steps when I was stunned by a new explosion, wounded and thrown to the ground.

Suddenly, amid the smoke and snow fog, I heard the faint voice of His Majesty: "Help" Assuming that the sovereign was only seriously wounded, I lifted him from the ground and then with horror I saw that his Majesty's legs were crushed and blood was streaming from them strongly ... " Let's face it, the protection of the emperor was carried out very badly, and this was not a secret for the highest ranks of the then police. One of them said that the Governor-General of St. Petersburg was always obliged to personally accompany the emperor and not allow him to leave the carriage in such a critical situation. However, since the time of A.E. Zurov (late 1870s) it was considered that it was indecent for a Guards officer to follow the sovereign, and this task was entrusted to the chief of police. Dvorzhitsky, in the opinion of the same source, "looked at his main duty as a matter that would happen by itself" - he flaunted more in front of passers-by than thought about the safety of the sovereign.

Alexander II, like his murderer Ignatius Grinevitsky, died at the same time, one in the Winter Palace, the other in a prison hospital. Alexander Nikolaevich sacredly fulfilled one of the behests of his father. “The head of the monarchical state,” Nicholas I told him, “loses and disgraces himself, yielding one step to the uprising. It is his duty to uphold the rights of his own and those of his predecessors by force. It is his duty to fall, if destined, but ... on the steps of the throne ... ”At 15 hours 35 minutes on March 1, 1881, a black and yellow imperial standard crept down from the flagpole of the Winter Palace. And at the coffin of his grandfather stood a 12-year-old Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich, who was to become the last emperor of Russia and meet no less martyrdom ...

And everything got confused in the Russian state. According to the newspaper Novoye Vremya, about 200 innocent citizens were arrested on the Vyborg side of St. Petersburg alone. In the provinces, crowds of commoners beat up landowners and intellectuals, saying: "Ah, you are glad that the tsar was killed, you bribed to kill him because he freed us." It was proposed to lay anti-mine discharging cables near the most important buildings of St. Petersburg, slingshots were installed around the residence of the new emperor and patrols were constantly on duty. Panic at the "top" really reached its climax. From this point of view, the instructions given to Alexander III by his longtime mentor K.P. Pobedonostsev are characteristic: the following rooms, right up to the weekend. A trusted person must keep a close eye on the locks and see that the internal latches of the swing doors are closed. "

The turn has come and fantastic descriptions of the activities of insidious and cunning, like Ulysses, revolutionaries. They talked about the mysterious poison pills allegedly sent to the emperor from abroad; about three young men who ordered the caftans of the court choristers from a tailor and who apparently intended to enter the Winter Palace not to sing a serenade to the maids of honor; about millions of sums of money allegedly found with Zhelyabov during his arrest. However, some of the plans of the People's Will overtook the wildest imaginations of the inhabitants.

Since the twenties of March, the IK has been developing an operation to free the comrades who were arrested and convicted "in the March 1 case". They were supposed to be recaptured on the way to the place of execution by 200-300 workers, divided into three groups. The workers were to be supported by all the St. Petersburg and Kronstadt officers who were members of the military organization "Narodnaya Volya". The groups of attackers were planned to be placed on three streets facing Liteiny Prospekt.

When the cortege with regicides would pass the middle group, all three - at a signal - had to rush forward, dragging the crowd with them. The side groups should have used noise to distract the attention of a part of the troops so that the officers in the middle group could get to the convicts and hide with them in the crowd.

It is not known whether Narodnaya Volya had the required number of workers at their disposal, but as for the officers, they agreed to participate in the attack on the motorcade with the convicts. The Executive Committee abandoned its plan at the last moment, since five convicts were surrounded by an unprecedented convoy (in total, from 10 to 12 thousand soldiers were involved in cordoning off the execution site). On April 3, A. Zhelyabov, S. Perovskaya, N. Kibalchich, A. Mikhailov and N. Rysakov were hanged on the Semenovsky parade ground. This was the last public execution in Russia.

In general, from the very beginning of the reign of the new emperor, his relations with "Narodnaya Volya" and other populist circles took on the character of irreconcilable military actions, and victory in them more and more clearly leaned towards the side of the government. Yes, the terrorists managed to force the monarch to move from the Winter Palace to Gatchina, but this can hardly be considered a significant success for the revolutionaries. The reason for the emperor's change of residence was not so much fear (personal courage Alexander III showed not only before, during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, but will also show it later, say, during the crash of the royal train in Borki), how much a desire to save the country from the upheavals that would be inevitable in the event of a second successful attempt on head of state.

Yes, and Alexander Alexandrovich in Gatchina was not at all considering the projects of constitutional reform, as the People's Will continued to threaten him, but proposals for the complete eradication of sedition and the establishment of peace and order in the empire. Gendarme Lieutenant Colonel G.P. Sudeikin recommended fighting the revolutionaries with their own weapons, responding to the creation of an anti-government underground by an underground institution operating under police control (later, the famous S.V. Zubatov used similar tactics). The Lieutenant Colonel's project was approved by the Highest, and soon the People's Will themselves who remained at large could not say with certainty which of the circles they had formed and which was controlled by Sudeikin.

By the spring of 1882, revolutionary populism was over: all the members of the “great IK” were either arrested or forced to emigrate. This did not mean that the life of the emperor was not threatened by the attempts of revolutionaries, the infection of political terror penetrated deeply into the radical movement and over the years gave ugly shoots again. However, the assassination attempts for some time lost their organized party character, becoming, as in the 1860s, an individual matter, that is, quite accidental. For the next twenty years, the danger of the assassination of the monarch sharply decreased, later it disappeared altogether, as the militant groups of the socialist revolutionaries concentrated fire against the prominent ministers of Nicholas II.

Let's go back, however, to 1881. Immediately after the assassination of Alexander Nikolaevich, Loris-Melikov turned to the new monarch with a question: should he, according to the instructions received the day before from the late emperor, order the publication of the Manifesto on the convocation of the commission and elected officials? Without the slightest hesitation, Alexander III replied: “I will always respect the will of my father. Order to print tomorrow. " However, late at night from March 1 to March 2, Loris-Melikov received an order to suspend the printing of the Manifesto. A new reign began, the star of the emperor rose, who professed completely different methods than Alexander II for solving the urgent problems facing Russia.

Who is to blame for the tragedy that happened on the Catherine Embankment? Who is to blame for the failures that befell Alexander II in the second half of his reign? Who is guilty? - any work devoted to the history of Russia can hardly do without this question. The problem can be formulated more gently: why did this become possible? The essence of this will not change. It is unlikely that my interlocutors will be satisfied if the initiator of the conversation gets off with a simple statement of the fact that Alexander Nikolaevich's loneliness is to blame for everything. You can, of course, try to blame some public camp for what happened. But such attempts were scoffed at by G. Heine when he wrote:

This is all the fruit of the revolution,

This is her doctrine.

Jean Jacques Rousseau is to blame

Voltaire and the guillotine ...

Well, let's try to give a more intelligible, although not final, summary.

To begin with, the uniqueness of the post of monarch led to the struggle of revolutionaries not with reactionaries or conservatives, but with the emperor, as a symbol of the old Russia, hated by the "progressives". Opportunities for a compromise in this struggle were very rare, in particular, a peaceful settlement of issues, theoretically possible in the early 1860s, was left far behind. Now the parties absolutely did not understand each other, and they could not understand, since they carefully concealed from the enemy the true goals of their actions.

The Winter Palace sincerely believed that it benefited the peasantry, took care of introducing a modern judicial system in the country, strengthened the military power of the state, raised its education and culture to a new stage of development, not forgetting about the interests of the first estate. However, the "upper circles" diligently concealed the fact that they considered the reform activities to be basically completed. The reform of the highest bodies of power, a change in the way of governing them was not planned and could only happen by chance, under the pressure of extraordinary circumstances. The revolutionaries, on the other hand, seemed to proceed from the fact that tsarism deceived the peasantry, ruined it and did not in fact equalize it in rights with other estates; from their point of view, he got rid of society with pitiful handouts, keeping his power intact.

These accusations lay on the surface, served, so to speak, as a slogan for the actions of revolutionary organizations. The main thing was that the Narodniks saw the ideal of equality and justice in a free communal system. future Russia, outside the community, this ideal did not exist. The emperor, on the other hand, with his reforms, perhaps unwittingly, gave a signal for a more rapid development of capitalism, which was destroying primarily the peasant community. Therefore, in the clash of revolutionaries and the authorities, it was not just about deceiving the people and society, but about depriving them of a bright future - what kind of compromises are there !?

As for the terrorist method of struggle chosen by the Narodniks, everything is not so simple here either. Let's put aside all the talk about special bloodthirstiness or other pathologies allegedly characteristic of Russian revolutionaries. Otherwise, we will have to turn not to historians, but to psychiatrists. By the way, don't you think that the attempts on the life of the crowned heads were not started by the radicals? Justifying the removal from the throne of Ivan Antonovich, Peter III, Paul I, their successors created a dangerous precedent for the dynasty. After all, the unlawful murders of monarchs in these cases were interpreted as "correct", logical and therefore seemingly legal. After that it was hardly possible to seriously count on the fact that society will constantly adhere to the principle proclaimed by the ancient Romans: "What is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to a bull." But it's not only that. It would be interesting to know why individual assassination attempts committed on specific occasions (Karakozov - deceiving the peasants by the reform of 1861; Berezovsky - the defeat of the Polish uprising of 1863, Soloviev - the government's reprisal against peaceful propagandists) became for the populists of the late 1870s a matter of principle, by the method of rebuilding the country?

Is it because the emperor and members of his government at one time did not want to heed not even just demands, but the proposals of society (including its revolutionary part)? After all, the same populist terror in the 1870s went through a number of stages and at some of them it could be easily and painlessly stopped. Trepov suffered because he violated the laws Russian Empire; the highest police ranks - because the rules for keeping arrested and convicted persons were not observed in prisons and exile; police agents and traitors were killed, as "Land and Freedom" and "Narodnaya Volya", being underground organizations, were forced to defend themselves against the failure that threatened their members with many years of imprisonment in very remote places. Could the government at these stages help to end the revolutionary terror? Of course, it could, but it didn’t want to, didn’t dare, didn’t believe in the romantic idealism of opponents. When terror became for the Narodniks a method of reorganizing society, no agreements between them and the authorities were already possible.

The reasons for the "hunt for the king" or "for the red beast" organized by "Narodnaya Volya" were not only that the emperor was a unique figure, a symbol of something ... Stop! Let's ask ourselves: what was the symbol of Alexander II in the late 1870s? Among other things, he was also a symbol of the underdevelopment of Russian political life, of its insufficient civilization. For any country going through a period of fundamental reforms and rapid changes in all spheres of life, the most important thing in public life becomes the political center, and the most reasonable line of behavior is the policy of centrism. This is not at all because this policy is perfect and meets the interests of all sectors of society. The fact is that without the creation of a center protected by all social camps, an essentially unproductive clash of the extreme right and extreme left forces occurs very quickly. The most hopeless thing with such a development of events is that even a seemingly final victory of one or another does not lead to the establishment of calm in the country. Sooner or later, a "crushing" victory is followed by an equally crushing defeat, which brings the country into a new political crisis.

On the other hand, true centrism cannot be throwing from side to side in an attempt to unite the incompatible. It is a search from the right and the left for acceptable constructive solutions capable of leading society to its intended goal and at the same time reconciling in specific work opposing sides. The political center becomes a shield against extremism, irrepressible social fantasies that are not supported and cannot be supported by sane forces. In the political battles that raged in the empire, Alexander II tried to occupy an exceptional, unique position - he wanted to personify the center of public life, which is designed to amortize the actions of the extreme right and extreme left forces.

As a result, he was subjected to harsh and, as it turned out, deadly attacks from both sides. The political position, in contrast to the sacred post of the monarch, is by no means sacred, and Alexander Nikolaevich, having tried to become, in addition to the autocrat, also one of the political figures of Russia, became in fact a target for his opponents. First, a target in a figurative sense of the word, and then ... And again, back to the personal life of our hero. His stubborn desire to emphasize the rights of his human "I", the desire to be seen not only as an autocrat, but also as a person, bore fruit. For wide strata of society, it has really become closer, clearer and, I would say, more accessible in every sense of the word. Time, of course, takes its toll. For many Decembrists, say, raising a hand against the monarch meant waving at something sacred, at least consecrated by a centuries-old tradition. For the populists, such problems no longer existed, after all, half a century has passed, and what half a century! .. However, the feeling does not leave that it is not only the past years, but also the constant desire of our hero to distance himself from what separated him from simple personal happiness , distinguished from ordinary subjects ...

Alexander Nikolaevich, of course, was not a doctrinaire, over the years of his reign he had to give up a lot, to reconsider the established views and positions. At the end of his life, the emperor, it seems, became convinced that a person, no matter what level and scale his personality or the post he holds, cannot alone be the political center of social forces. Even such a generally external thing as the gradual crushing of his own environment pushed him to this conclusion. Princess Yuryevskaya is difficult to compare with Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna; Shuvalov, Tolstoy, Plehve - with an inspired and professionally trained cohort of figures from the late 1850s - early 1860s.

The emperor was changing. It seemed that quite a bit more, and a means of establishing, if not a union, then normal civilized relations between power and society, would be found. It's not meant to be. The loneliness that surrounded Alexander Nikolaevich with three almost impenetrable rings, perhaps, is not alone to blame for the tragic death of the monarch, but it was it that made the fate of this person unique.

Tsar-Liberator. The Hanging King. Unhappy king ...

Notes (edit)

2. In addition to Alexander II and Grinevitsky, twenty people were injured from the explosion on the embankment of the Catherine Canal. Two of them died of their wounds.

3. In the early 1880s. both the government and the revolutionary camp found themselves at the next crossroads. The authorities could try to do something that Alexander II did not dare to do for so long - to bring the socio-economic and political order in the country into conformity. A different path assumed a final return to the attempts of Nicholas I to stabilize the situation in the country using traditional authoritarian methods, which ultimately led to a distortion of the historical meaning of the transformations of the 1860-1870s. The Russian press also felt the sharpness, the turning point of the moment. In the editorial of Moskovskiye Vedomosti of January 1, 1881, the previous year was called "the year of crisis and transition ... the year that did not say its word and will now pass on an unknown legacy to its successor." The legacy turned out to be so unpredictable that the journalist of Moskovskiye Vedomosti could hardly imagine such a thing even in a nightmare.

The revolutionary camp also had two options. further action... He could remain on the same populist positions, trying to raise the countryside to a socialist revolution. However, in 1882-1883, after the final defeat of the populist circles, this option turned out to be unviable. The second path was associated with changes in the ideological foundations of the radical movement, its tactics with an orientation towards the proletariat as the main force of the revolution. The choice of government and revolutionary camps is as well known as its results, which did not bring Russia either prosperity or peace.

4. Cursing revolutionaries for being revolutionaries, or demanding that revolutionary organizations be banned (if they are not trying to crush the foundations of a correct civil society) is a completely useless exercise. The revolutionary movement is only the most acute manifestation of the clearly felt discontent of society, it is the most sharp reaction to the lack of rights of society, the blatant social insecurity of the masses, violation of individual rights, etc. It is possible to demand that the revolutionary movement take more or less adequate forms only if the country has a correct civilized political life. The Russia of Alexander II did not even begin to approach civil society, and therefore political terror turned out to be quite adequate to the framework of the system that existed in the state.

5. The greatest misfortune from the rampant terror in Russia was that both government and revolutionary terror became a destructive force for the moral health of society. They merged into a single chain of increasing repression and assassination attempts, accustoming people to blood, violence, and the cheapness of human life. They stopped shaking people with their inhumanity, uncivilizedness. As a result, the sense of the uniqueness of the human person atrophied, let alone the value of her rights ...

A source Leonid Lyashenko. Alexander II, or the story of three loneliness

MOSCOW, YOUNG GUARD, 2002

Alexander II Nikolaevich (born on April 17 (29), 1818 - death on March 1 (13), 1881) - All-Russian Emperor, from. 1881, March 1 - the tsar was mortally wounded on the embankment of the Catherine Canal in St. Petersburg by a bomb. Regicide - Narodnolet I.I. Grinevitsky.

During the reign of Alexander II, large-scale reforms were carried out, including the peasant reform, and as a result serfdom was abolished. For this, the king was called the Liberator. At the same time, the era of Alexander II was characterized by an increase in public discontent. The number of peasant uprisings increased, and many protest groups arose among the intelligentsia and workers. As a result, many assassination attempts were made against the emperor.

All attempts on Alexander II

For the first time, the sovereign's life was attempted in 1866. It was Dmitry Karakozov, a member of a secret revolutionary organization. The Emperor walked with his nephews in the Summer Garden. A large crowd of onlookers watched this through the fence. When the walk was over, and the monarch was getting into the carriage, a shot rang out. The crowd nearly tore the gunman to pieces. To the king's question "why did you shoot me?" Karakozov boldly answered: "Your Majesty, you have offended the peasants!" And yet, it was the peasant, Osip Komissarov, who pushed the hapless terrorist by the arm and saved the emperor from certain death. Karakozov was executed.

1867, May 25 - in Paris, Alexander II and the Emperor of France rode in an open carriage. Suddenly a man jumped out of the jubilant crowd and shot twice at the Russian emperor. Past! Pole Anton Berezovsky attempted to take revenge for the suppression of the Polish uprising by Russian troops in 1863. A French court sentenced Berezovsky to life in prison in New Caledonia.

1879, April - Soloviev was selected by a group of populists to carry out a terrorist attack. For several days he went to the corner of Nevsky and Admiralty Square to observe the emperor, who, as always, walked from the right entrance of the Winter Palace around the building of the Agricultural Museum and back. An attempted assassination attempt was made by Soloviev in 1879, on April 2, after 8 o'clock in the morning - as he approached, he shot several times at the sovereign, but missed. He was captured by the guards. He was executed at the Smolensk field.

1879, summer - the organization “Narodnaya Volya” decided to undermine the tsarist train on the way between St. Petersburg and the Crimea, where the emperor rested every year. The terrorists, under the leadership of Sophia Perovskaya, knew that a freight train with luggage would go first, and the sovereign and his retinue would follow in the second. However, fate again saved the tsar: 1879, November 19 - the locomotive of the "truck" broke down, so the imperial train went first. Unaware of the replacement, the terrorists let him in and blew up another train.

I learned that the cellars are being renovated in the Winter Palace, including the wine cellar, which is “aptly” located right under the royal dining room. And soon a new carpenter appeared in the Winter Palace - Stepan Khalturin from Narodnoye. Taking advantage of the carelessness of the guards, every day, for several months, he carried dynamite into the cellar (3 pounds!) 1880, February 5 - in the evening in the palace a gala dinner was planned in honor of the arrival of the Prince of Hesse in St. Petersburg. Khalturin set the bomb timer at 18.20. However, chance intervened again: the prince's train arrived half an hour late, dinner was postponed. A terrible explosion took the lives of 10 soldiers, another 80 (according to other sources, 56) people were wounded, but the monarch was not injured. As if some unknown force averted death from him.

Committee of "People's Will"

1880, autumn - the Narodnaya Volya began preparations for the next, and as it turned out, the last assassination attempt on Alexander 2. They monitored the movements of the sovereign: S.L. Perovskaya, I.I. Grinevitsky, A.V. Tyrkov, P.V. Tychinin, E.N. Olovennikova, E.M. Sidorenko, N.I. Rysakov. A dynamite workshop was set up on the Obvodny Canal, where a technical group consisting of Kibalchich, Isaev, Grachevsky, Sukhanov made explosives.

Considered two options for the assassination attempt: the use of a mine or the use of projectiles. On Malaya Sadovaya, no. 8, a tunnel was dug from the basement of a rented shop under the street. This involved: Bogdanovich, Barannikov, Zhelyabov, Trigoni, Langans, Frolenko and others, 10 people in total.

The mine was supposed to be blown up when the emperor was passing. If this does not work, the throwers should have come into play, if the sovereign remains alive even then, Zhelyabov, whom Trigoni duplicated, had to kill the tsar with a dagger. On the eve of the planned assassination attempt, Trigoni and Zhelyabov were arrested. 1881, February 28 - the terrorists who remained at large decided to act on their own. Sophia Perovskaya took over the leadership of the operation.

The last attempt on Nicholas 2

1881, February - Prime Minister Loris-Melikov reported to the emperor that, according to the police, the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya was preparing another attempt on his life, and the plans for this attempt could not be revealed. March 1, morning - Loris-Melikov once again warned the tsar about the impending danger. He persuasively asked the sovereign not to go to the parade in the arena that day, which was traditionally held on Sundays. Alexander 2 did not obey.

On the way back, when the carriage with an escort was passing along the embankment of the Neva, under the carriage of the sovereign, reinforced with a dugout, the sovereign Rysakov from Narodnoye threw a bomb. The carriage was damaged, several Circassians from the convoy were wounded by shrapnel, but the king was not injured. The coachman urged the emperor not to get out of the carriage, he swore that he would be able to take the king to the palace in a damaged carriage. And yet the king went out.

Alexander inquired about the health of the wounded. Then he approached the terrorist, looked at him, and calmly said - "Well done." After, he headed towards the carriage, at this time another terrorist Grinevitsky approached him, who was standing on the embankment with a bundle in which a bomb was hidden, and threw it between himself and the emperor so that both were killed.

The second explosion sounded stronger than the first. The tsar and his murderer, both mortally wounded, sat almost side by side in the snow, their hands resting on the ground, their backs on the canal lattice. The confusion of all those who were nearby led to the fact that the sovereign was not provided with assistance on the spot. For some time there was no one with him at all!

The monarch's clothes were partially burned or torn off by an explosion, Alexander was half naked. His right leg was torn off, the left one was crushed and almost separated from the body. The face and head were also wounded.

Then the cadets who were returning from the parade ran up to him, the gendarme captain Kolyubakin ... Those who ran up helped to transfer the sovereign to the sleigh. Someone suggested bringing the king into the first house. Alexander 2 heard this and whispered:

To the palace ... to die there ...

In the same state of panic they carried him out of the sleigh into the palace, not on a stretcher, not even on an armchair, but on his hands. It was difficult for the crowd to squeeze into the palace door. The door was broken down, still holding a half-naked, burnt, dying man in his arms. Along the marble steps of the stairs, then along the corridor, the sovereign was carried into his office.

There, after some time, he died. March 1 (13 in a new style), 1881, shook the whole of Russia. On this day, the life of the reformer Tsar Alexander 2 was cut short.

The trial of the Narodnaya Volya

The organizers and perpetrators of the assassination attempt were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. The verdict was carried out on April 3, 1881. The execution was carried out on the Semenovsky parade ground in St. Petersburg. Perovskaya, Zhelyabov, Mikhailov Kibalchich and Rysakov were hanged. Standing on the scaffold, the People's Will bid farewell to each other. Subsequently, the executed began to be called the First Martyrs, since the assassination attempt was committed on March 1.

Land and Freedom was superbly thought out and structured. It was based on the principle of centralization and the strictest secrecy.

An unprecedented organization for Russia

During these years, the police successfully declassified other circles, but Land and Freedom was never caught. Any member of the organization knew only the business assigned to him, but he was forbidden to delve into the specifics of the work of other members. And this despite the fact that the organization had only registered members - 3,000. Here is the recollection of its member Lev Tikhomirov: “In appearance,“ Earth and Freedom ”represented an organization as strong and harmonious as it had never been in Russia. She has absorbed everything that is of any importance in a revolutionary environment. The number of members was significant, and, in addition to the main participants, many people adhered to him according to the system of subgroups, in each private case ... Thus, about 20 members united quite a lot of forces around themselves, not to mention that the organization had an impact on many private circles, had various and good connections throughout Russia. Zemlya i Volya had a name and trust, as a result of which she received money from sympathizers ... Thanks to the founding of the printing house, the Zemlya i Volya circle did not need emigrants at all and emerged from all dependence abroad. This was a new phenomenon. Finally, Zemlya i Volya had no competitors ... In terms of all-Russian influence, only one Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya subsequently surpassed Zemlya i Volya.

Two poles

"Land and Freedom" from the very beginning was not homogeneous, but, as it were, consisted of two categories of people: people of deep thought and people of quick action. In the first years of the organization's existence, the main emphasis was on the education of the peasants. The main forces were put on to explain in an accessible form to them the disadvantage of their position and to raise them to fight. The program "Land and Freedom" featured the transfer of land to peasants for ransom, the idea of ​​replacing government officials with elected officials and a number of other essentially liberal proposals. Chernyshevsky, for example, was arrested as an educational journalist who talks too much and does not want to take the line of power, and not as a revolutionary calling for an open fight with arms in hand.
Other leaders believed more in blood and revolution than in articles and conversations. Their number increased over time, and this is what a member of "Earth and Freedom" O.V. Aptekman: “... the revolutionary became more and more aggressive ... He had a dagger in his belt, and a revolver in his pocket: he would not only defend himself, but also attack ... The inexorable logic of events drew the revolutionaries into his whirlpool, and they, in order not to choke, seized on terror, like a drowning man at a straw. "
Later, "Land and Freedom" split into two organizations - the terrorist "Narodnaya Volya" and the populist "Black Redistribution".

Undercover police agent

"Earth and Freedom" had its own secret agent in the police - counterintelligence officer Nikolai Vasilyevich Kletochnikov. This man had an ideal background for getting a job in the Third Section, he even had experience working as an official. Soon, for diligent work, Kletochnikov was given the opportunity to rewrite "top secret notes and papers, which included lists of persons noticed for unreliability and who were supposed to have searches and encrypted documents." A little later, the agent was initiated into all the political searches carried out not only in St. Petersburg, but throughout the empire. Thanks to Kletochnikov, the revolutionary center learned about the impending arrests almost daily in time, and also knew which of the revolutionaries gave the police evidence that was dangerous to the rest. In November 1880, Kletochnikov was still declassified and arrested, but until his death he did not change his convictions and even starved in favor of his cellmates.

Paramedic revolutionaries

The organizers of "Land and Freedom" took into account the experience of "going to the people", but considered it insufficient. Therefore, these city dwellers acted even more boldly: they went to live among the people and sometimes spent several years in the villages. The revolutionaries who settled in the village worked as medical assistants, clerks, teachers, communicating with local residents and gradually promoting new ideas. These settlements lasted less than the "Land and Freedom" itself, which after some time returned from the village to the city. Yet the scale of the propagandists' actions is impressive.

Kazan demonstration

In 1876, on December 6, in St. Petersburg, on the square near the Kazan Cathedral, the populists-landowners staged a demonstration. It was on this day that "Earth and Freedom" first openly declared its existence. This demonstration was the first political demonstration in Russia with the participation of advanced workers. About four hundred people gathered in the square where the revolutionary red flag was unfurled. The well-known revolutionary GV Plekhanov spoke to the audience. The demonstrators, of course, did not want to surrender to the police, and suffered heavy losses: 31 of them were arrested, 5 were later sentenced to 10-15 years of hard labor, 10 were sentenced to exile in Siberia and three workers, including Y. Potapov, unfolding a red flag, to imprisonment for 5 years in a monastery.

Clandestine dynamite laboratory

At the end of May 1879 the landowners, or rather the super-secret terrorist group "Freedom or Death", created within the society "Land and Freedom", organized their first underground dynamite laboratory in house No. 6 on Baskovy Lane in St. Petersburg. It is formed by Stepan Shiryaev, who studied in Paris with the famous inventor of the "electric candle" Yablochkov. It was also led by the inventor Nikolai Kibalchich, who, by the way, was the first in the world (15 years before K.E. Tsiolkovsky) to develop a project of an aircraft with a jet engine. Until March 1, 1881, Inna Vasilievna Yakimova, a tall blonde with a long braid, whose first arrest was at the age of 17, and the last one in her sixties, was the unchanging mistress of all dynamite workshops until March 1, 1881.

Assassination attempts on the king

The landowners believed that “the tsar will fall, tsarism will also fall, new era, the era of freedom ". During the summer of 1879, about 96 kilograms of dynamite were produced in the dynamite workshop. It was used in the fall of 1879 to prepare three assassination attempts on the emperor on his way from the Crimea to St. Petersburg. All three assassination attempts were unsuccessful, but left the government at a loss. After that there was an explosion in the Winter Palace, which also did not hurt the emperor. The police tried, but could not find the culprit and did not arrest anyone. “A terrible feeling took possession of all of us,” the heir to the throne wrote in his diary. - What should we do?" Fantastic rumors about the expected explosions were creeping through the capital, the townspeople were stocking up on water in case of an explosion in the water supply system. The last attempt on the life of Alexander II was committed by the People's Will on March 1, 1881, the emperor was mortally wounded and died on the same day.

In the 70s, the ideology of the populist movement was finally formed. Considering the peasant community as the cell of the future socialist system, the representatives of this movement differed in the ways of building it. The Russian radical intelligentsia of the 70s of the XIX century was divided according to the directions of their views into three directions: 1) anarchist, 2) propaganda, 3) conspiratorial.

A striking exponent of anarchism was M.A. Bakunin, who outlined its basic principles in the work "Statehood and Anarchy". He believed that any, even the most democratic, state power is evil. He believed that the state is only a temporary historical form associations. His ideal was a society based on self-government and a free federation of rural communities and industrial associations based on collective ownership of tools. Therefore, Bakunin sharply opposed the idea of ​​conquering political freedoms, believing that it was necessary to fight for the social equality of people. The revolutionary, in his opinion, had to play the role of a spark that would kindle the flame of the popular uprising.

The ideologist of the propaganda direction was P.L. Lavrov. He shared Bakunin's thesis that the revolution would break out in the countryside. However, he denied the readiness of the peasantry for it. Therefore, he said that the task of a revolutionary is to conduct systematic propaganda work among the people. Lavrov also said that the intelligentsia, which itself must go through the necessary training before starting the propaganda of socialist ideas among the peasantry. His famous book "Historical Letters", which became very popular among the youth of that time, was devoted to the substantiation of these ideas. In the early 70s, circles of propaganda and educational nature began to appear in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Among them were the "Tchaikovsky circle" founded by a student of St. Petersburg University Nikolai Tchaikovsky, the "Big Society of Propaganda" founded by Mark Nathanson and Sophia Perovskaya, and the circle of technology student Alexander Dolgushin.

WALKING TO THE PEOPLE

In the 1873-1874 years of the XIX century, under the influence of Lavrov's ideas, there was a massive “going to the people”. Hundreds of young men and women went to the countryside as teachers, doctors, laborers, etc. Their goal was to live among the people and to promote their ideals. Some went to raise the people to revolt, others peacefully promoted socialist ideals. However, the peasant turned out to be immune to this propaganda, and the appearance of strange young people in the villages aroused the suspicion of the local authorities. Mass arrests of propagandists soon began. In 1877 and 1878. high-profile trials took place over them - "Trial of the 50s" (1877) and "Trial of the 193s" (1877-1878). Moreover, as a result of the trials, many of the accused were acquitted, including the future regicide Andrei Zhelyabov and Sofya Perovskaya.

CONSPIRACY DIRECTION

The ideologist of the conspiratorial trend was P.N. Tkachev. He believed that the revolution in Russia could be realized only through a conspiracy, i.e. the seizure of power by a small group of revolutionaries. Tkachev wrote that the autocracy in Russia has no social support in popular masses, is a "colossus with feet of clay" and therefore can easily be overthrown by conspiracy and tactics of terror. "Not to prepare a revolution, but to make it" - that was his main thesis. A close-knit and well-conspired organization is needed to achieve these goals. These ideas subsequently found their embodiment in the activities of "Narodnaya Volya"

"LAND AND WILL". "THE PEOPLE'S WILL".

Failures of the propaganda campaign of the populists in the 1870s. again forced the revolutionaries to turn to radical means of struggle - to create a centralized organization and develop a program of action. Such an organization, called "Land and Freedom", was created in 1876. Its founders were G.V. Plekhanov, Mark and Olga Natansons, O. Aptekman. Vera Figner, Sofya Perovskaya, Lev Tikhomirov, Sergei Kravchinsky (known as the writer Stepnyak-Kravchinsky) soon joined it. New organization declared itself a political demonstration on December 6, 1876 in St. Petersburg, on the square near the Kazan Cathedral, where Plekhanov made a passionate speech about the need to fight despotism.

Unlike the previous populist circles, it was a clearly organized and well-conspiratorial organization, led by the "Center", which constituted its core. All other members were divided into groups of five according to the nature of their activities, and each member of the five knew only its members. Thus, the most numerous were the groups of "village breeders" who were working in the village. The organization also published illegal newspapers - "Land and Freedom" and "Leaf" Land and Freedom ".

The "Land and Freedom" program provided for the transfer of all land to the peasants on the basis of communal use rights, freedom of speech, press, assembly and the creation of productive agricultural and industrial communes. Propaganda among the peasantry and workers was chosen as the main tactical means of struggle. Soon, however, disagreements arose among the leading echelons of Land and Freedom on tactical issues. A significant group of supporters of the recognition of terror as a means of political struggle has come forward in the leadership of the organization.

A key moment in the history of Russian terrorism was the attempt on the life of St. Petersburg mayor F.F. Trepova, committed on January 24, 1878 by Vera Zasulich. However, the jury acquitted the revolutionary, who was immediately released from custody. The acquittal gave the revolutionaries hope that they could count on public sympathy.

Terrorist attacks began to follow one after another. On August 4, 1878, in broad daylight, on Mikhailovskaya Square in St. Petersburg, S. Kravchinsky was stabbed to death with a dagger by the chief of the gendarmes, Adjutant General N. Mezentsov. Finally, on April 2, 1879, "landowner" A. Soloviev fired at the tsar on Palace Square, but none of his five shots reached the target. The terrorist was captured and soon hanged. After this assassination attempt, by order of the tsar, Russia was divided into six governors-general, with the governors-general granting emergency rights up to the approval of death sentences.

The split within "Earth and Freedom" was growing. Many of its members strongly opposed terror, believing that it would lead to increased repression and ruin the cause of propaganda. As a result, a compromise solution was found: the organization does not support the terrorist, but its individual members can assist him as individuals. Differences in approaches to tactical means of struggle made it necessary to convene a congress, which took place on June 18-24, 1879 in Voronezh. The disputing parties realized the incompatibility of their views and agreed to divide the organization into "Black Redistribution", headed by G. Plekhanov, who held the previous positions of propaganda, and "Narodnaya Volya", headed by the executive committee, which set as its goal the seizure of power by terrorist means. This organization included the majority of the members of "Earth and Freedom", and among its leaders stood out A. Mikhailov, A. Zhelyabov, V. Figner, M. Frolenko, N. Morozov, S. Perovskaya, S.N. Khalturin.

The main business of the party leadership was the assassination of Alexander II, who was sentenced to death. The real hunt for the tsar began. On November 19, 1879, an explosion of the tsarist train near Moscow thundered when the emperor returned from the Crimea. On February 5, 1880, a new daring assassination attempt took place - an explosion in the Winter Palace, carried out by S. Khalturin. He managed to get a job at the palace as a carpenter and settled in one of the basements located under the royal dining room. Khalturin managed to carry dynamite into his room in several tricks, hoping to carry out an explosion at the moment when Alexander II was in the dining room. But the king was late for dinner that day. The explosion killed and wounded several dozen security soldiers.

"Dictatorship of the Heart"

The explosion in the Winter Palace forced the authorities to take extraordinary measures. The government began to look for support in society in order to isolate the radicals. To fight the revolutionaries, the Supreme Administrative Commission was formed, headed by a popular and authoritative general at that time. M.T. Loris-Melikov, actually received dictatorial powers. He took harsh measures to combat the revolutionary terrorist movement, while at the same time pursuing a policy of rapprochement between the government and the "well-meaning" circles of Russian society. So, under him in 1880, the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was abolished. Police functions were now concentrated in a police department formed within the Ministry of the Interior. Loris-Melikov began to gain popularity in liberal circles, becoming Minister of the Interior at the end of 1880. At the beginning of 1881, he prepared a project to attract representatives of zemstvos to participate in the discussion of reforms necessary for Russia (this project is sometimes called the “constitution” of Loris-Melikov), approved by Alexander II.

Alexander II: "I approve of the main idea regarding the benefits and timeliness of involving local leaders in deliberative participation in the preparation of bills by central institutions."

P.A. Valuev: “In the morning, the Tsar sent for me to hand over the draft announcement drawn up in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with instructions to say my opinion about it and, if I have no objections, to convene the Council of Ministers for Wednesday 4th. I have not seen the Tsar in such a good spirit for a long, long time, and even in appearance so healthy and kind. At 3 o'clock I was at the gr. Loris-Melikov (to warn him that I returned the project to the Emperor without comment), when the fatal explosions were heard. "

Alexander II to Princess Yuryevskaya: “The deed is done, I have just signed the manifesto (“ Draft notice on the convocation of deputies from the provinces ”), it will be published on Monday morning in the newspapers. Hope it makes a good impression. In any case, Russia will see that I have given everything that is possible, and will know that I did it thanks to you. "

Prince Yurievskaya - to Alexander II: “There are terrible rumors. We must wait. "

REGICIDE

However, the executive committee of "Narodnaya Volya" continued to prepare regicide. Having carefully traced the routes of the tsarist exits, the Narodnaya Volya possible way following the autocrat, on Malaya Sadovaya Street, they rented a shop for the cheese trade. From the premises of the shop, a tunnel was made under the pavement and a mine was laid. The unexpected arrest of one of the leaders of the party A. Zhelyabov at the end of February 1881 forced to accelerate the preparation of the assassination attempt, the leadership of which was taken over by S. Perovskaya. Another option was being developed: hand-held shells were urgently made in case Alexander II followed a different route - along the embankment of the Catherine Canal. Throwers with hand bombs would have been waiting for him there.

On March 1, 1881, the tsar drove along the embankment. The explosion of the first bomb thrown by N. Rysakov damaged the tsar's carriage, wounded several guards and passers-by, but Alexander II survived. Then another thrower, I. Grinevitsky, came close to the tsar, threw a bomb at his feet, from the explosion of which both were mortally wounded. Alexander II died a few hours later.

A.V. Tyrkov: “Perovskaya later gave me a little detail about Grinevitsky. Before going to the canal, she, Rysakov and Grinevitsky sat in Andreev's pastry shop, located on Nevsky opposite the Gostiny Dvor, in the basement, and waited for the moment when it would be time to leave. Grinevitsky alone could calmly eat the portion served to him. From the confectionery they went apart and met again on the canal. There, passing by Perovskaya, already in the direction of the fatal place, he quietly smiled at her with a slightly noticeable smile. He showed no trace of fear or excitement and went to death with a completely calm soul. "

N. Rysakov: “When I met Mikhail (I. Emelyanov), I learned that the Tsar would probably be in the arena, and, therefore, would pass through the Catherine Canal. Owing to understandable agitation, we didn't talk about anything else. After sitting for a while, I left. Mikhail, as I said, also had something in his hands, I don't remember what it was wrapped in, and since the thing in his hands was quite similar in shape to my shell, I concluded that he received the same shell earlier or later than me , - I was expecting him in a pastry shop for about 20 minutes. ... Walking along Mikhailovskaya Street ... we met a blonde (Perovskaya) who, at the sight of us, blew her nose into a white kerchief, which was a sign that we should go to the Catherine Canal. Leaving the pastry shop, I walked the streets, trying to be on the canal by 2 o'clock, as Zakhar had said before on my date with him and Mikhail. About two o'clock I was at the corner of Nevsky and the canal, and until that time I walked either along the Nevsky, or along the adjacent streets, so as not in vain not to attract the attention of the police stationed along the canal. "

The assassination of the tsar did not bring the results expected by the Narodnaya Volya, the revolution did not take place. The death of the "Tsar-Liberator" caused grief among the people, and the Russian liberal society did not support the terrorists whom it had recently admired. Most of the members of the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya were arrested. In the case of the "First Martyrs", a trial took place, according to the verdict of which S. Perovskaya (the first woman in Russia executed for a political crime), A. Zhelyabov, N. Kibalchich, who made explosive devices, T. Mikhailov and N. Rysakov were executed.

Moskovskie vedomosti, March 29: “We will not hide the fact that the trial, which is now taking place over the perpetrators of regicide, makes a heavy, unbearable impression, because it allows revolutionaries to be presented as a party that has the right to exist, to testify of their triumph, to be heroic martyrs. Why this parade, which only confuses the minds and public conscience? .. The court cannot compete in painting, in poetry of a kind that Zhelyabov and Kibalchich discovered. How can it be seriously asserted that all this is devoid of a certain temptation? "

Alexander III: "I would like our gentlemen lawyers to finally understand the absurdity of such courts for such a terrible and unheard-of crime."

G.K. Gradovsky: “In the case of March 1, 1881, there were many reasons for replacing the death penalty with another grave, but still correctable punishment: Zhelyabov was arrested even before the regicide, Perovskaya, Kibalchich, Gelfman and Mikhailov did not kill the tsar, even Rysakov (who threw the first bomb into the royal carriage) did not kill him; I. I. Grinevitsky was the direct killer, but he himself was killed by the second bomb that struck the tsar. "

By 1883, "Narodnaya Volya" was defeated, but some of its factions still continued their activities. So, on March 1, 1887, an unsuccessful attempt was made to assassinate the new emperor Alexander III, which was the last act of the struggle. The case of the "second first March" also ended with five gallows: P. Andreyushkin, V. Generalov, V. Osipanov, A. Ulyanov (elder brother of Ulyanov-Lenin) and P. Shevyrev were executed.

However, despite the defeat of the "Narodnaya Volya", the experience of their struggle and especially the regicide had a tremendous impact on the subsequent course of the revolutionary movement in Russia. The activities of "Narodnaya Volya" convinced subsequent generations of revolutionaries that with insignificant forces it was possible to really resist the repressive apparatus of a powerful empire, and terrorism began to be regarded as a very effective means of struggle.

ALEXANDER BLOCK (POEM "RETURN")

“… An explosion burst

From the Catherine's channel,

Covering Russia with a cloud.

Everything from afar foreshadowed

That the fateful hour will come true,

That such a card will fall out ...

And this century is the daytime hour -

The last one is called the first of March "

The assassination of Alexander II.

The assassination of Alexander II.

The eldest first of the grand ducal, and from 1825 the imperial couple of Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna (daughter of the Prussian king Frederick William III), Alexander received a good education.

Alexander II

His mentor was V.A. Zhukovsky, educator - K.K. Merder, among the teachers - M.M. Speransky (legislation), K.I. Arseniev (statistics and history), E.F. Kankrin (finance), F.I. Brunov (foreign policy).

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky

Mikhail Nestorovich Speransky

The personality of the heir to the throne was formed under the influence of his father, who wanted to see in his son a "soldier in his soul", and at the same time under the leadership of Zhukovsky, who sought to educate in the future monarch an enlightened person who would give his people reasonable laws, a monarch-legislator. Both of these influences left a deep imprint on the character, inclinations, worldview of the heir and were reflected in the affairs of his reign.

In the center of the lithograph is depicted the heir to the crown prince, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich (future Emperor Alexander II), and at his feet is the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich.

Hood Vasilievsky Alexander Alekseevich (1794 - after 1849)

Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the form of a cadet

Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Ataman regiment.

When he ascended the throne in 1855, he received a difficult legacy.

None of the cardinal issues of his father's 30-year reign (peasant, eastern, Polish, etc.) were resolved, Russia was defeated in the Crimean War. Not being a reformer by vocation and temperament, Alexander became them in response to the needs of the time as a man of sober mind and goodwill.

The first of his important decisions was the conclusion of the Paris Peace in March 1856.

Paris Congress of 1856

With the accession of Alexander, a "thaw" began in the social and political life of Russia. On the occasion of the coronation in August 1856, he announced an amnesty to the Decembrists, Petrashevites, participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, suspended recruiting for three years, and in 1857 liquidated military settlements.

Coronation of Alexander II

Partisan detachment of Emilia Plater

Realizing the paramount importance of solving the peasant question, for four years (from the establishment of the Secret Committee to the adoption of the Manifesto on March 3, 1861) he showed unswerving will in an effort to abolish serfdom.

Adhering in 1857-1858 to the "Eastsee version" of landless emancipation of the peasants, at the end of 1858 he agreed to the peasants' purchase of allotment land, that is, to a reform program developed by the liberal bureaucracy, together with like-minded public figures (N.A. Milyutin , Ya.I. Rostovtsev, Yu.F. Samarin, V.A. Cherkassky, etc.).

With his support, the Zemsky Statute (1864) and the City Statute (1870), Judicial Charters (1864), military reforms of the 1860-1870s, reforms of public education, censorship, and the abolition of corporal punishment were adopted. Alexander II was unable to resist the traditional imperial policy.

Decisive victories in the Caucasian War were won in the first years of his reign.

He yielded to the demands of moving to Central Asia (in 1865-1881, most of Turkestan became part of the Empire). After a long resistance, he decided to go to war with Turkey (1877-1878).

After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 and the attempt on the life of D.V. Karakozov for his life in April 1866, Alexander II made concessions to the protective course, expressed in the appointment of D.A. Tolstoy, F.F. Trepova, P.A. Shuvalov.

The first attempt on the life of Alexander II was made on April 4, 1866 during his walk in the Summer Garden. The 26-year-old terrorist Dmitry Karakozov was shooting. Shot almost point-blank. But, fortunately, the peasant Osip Komissarov, who happened to be nearby, withdrew the killer's hand.

Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov

Reforms continued, but sluggishly and inconsistently, almost all reform leaders, with rare exceptions (for example, Minister of War D.A. Milyutin, who believed that "only consistent reforms can stop the revolutionary movement in Russia") were resigned. At the end of his reign, Alexander tended to introduce limited public representation in Russia at the State Council.

The attempt on the life of D.V. Karakozov on Alexander II

Hood Griner

Several attempts were made on Alexander II: D.V. Karakozov, the Polish emigrant A. Berezovsky in 1867 in Paris, A.K. Soloviev in 1879 in St. Petersburg.

In 1867, the World Exhibition was to be held in Paris, to which Emperor Alexander II also came. According to Berezovsky himself, the idea of ​​killing the tsar and liberating Poland by this act originated in him from early childhood, but he made the immediate decision on June 1, when he was at the station in the crowd watching the meeting of Alexander II. On June 5, he bought a double-barreled pistol for five francs, and the next day, June 6, after breakfast, he went to seek a meeting with the king. At five o'clock in the afternoon, Berezovsky at the Longchamp hippodrome in the Bois de Boulogne shot at Alexander II, who was returning from a military review (together with the tsar, his two sons, Vladimir Alexandrovich and Alexander Alexandrovich, i.e. the future emperor Alexander III, were in the carriage) also Emperor Napoleon III). The gun burst from too strong charge, as a result, the bullet deflected and hit the horse of the equestrian accompanying the carriage. Berezovsky, whose arm was severely injured by the explosion, was immediately captured by the crowd. “I confess that I shot the emperor today during his return from the inspection,” he said after his arrest. “Two weeks ago the idea of ​​regicide was born in my mind, however, or rather, I have been nourishing this thought ever since I began to realize myself, meaning the liberation of my homeland.”

Anton I. Berezovsky

The Tsar Emperor deigned to leave the Winter Palace on April 2, at the end of the ninth hour in the morning, for his usual morning walk and walked along Millionnaya Street, past the Hermitage, around the building of the Guards headquarters. From the corner of the palace, His Majesty walked to the end of the headquarters building 230 steps, along the sidewalk, with right side Millionth and up to the Winter Groove; Turning to the right, around the same headquarters building, along the Zimnyaya Kanavka embankment, the Tsar reached the Pevchesky Bridge, taking another 170 steps. Thus, the Sovereign Emperor walked 400 steps from the corner of the palace to the singing bridge, which requires an ordinary walk of about five minutes. At the corner of the Winter Canal and the square of the guards headquarters there is a policeman's booth, that is, a policeman's lodging room, with a stove and a storage for a small amount of firewood. The policeman himself was not in the booth at that time; he was at his post not far off, in the square. Turning around the building of the main headquarters, from the Winter Canal and Pevcheskogo Bridge, to the Alexander Column, that is, back to the palace, the Sovereign Emperor took another fifteen steps along the narrow sidewalk of the headquarters.

Here, standing opposite the fourth window of the headquarters, the Tsar noticed a tall, thin, dark-haired and dark-blond mustache, 32 years old, walking to meet Him, dressed in a decent civilian coat and a cap with a civilian cockade, and both of this passerby's hands were in his pockets. coat. Paramedic Maiman, who was standing at the gates of the headquarters building, shouted at a passing person who dared to go straight to meet His Majesty, but he, ignoring the warning, silently walked on in the same direction. At 6-7 paces, the villain quickly took a revolver out of his coat pocket and almost point-blank shot at the Emperor.

The assassination attempt of A.K. Solovyov on Alexander II

The villain's movements did not escape His Majesty's attention. The Sovereign Emperor, leaning forward a little, then deigned to turn at a right angle and with quick steps went through the platform of the headquarters of the guard troops, towards the entrance of Prince Gorchakov. The offender rushed after the retiring Monarch and after Him fired three more shots, one after the other. The second bullet hit on the cheek and came out at the temple of the state gentleman who was walking behind the Tsar, a native of the Ostsee provinces, by the name of Miloshkevich.

Solovyov's assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II on April 2, 1879. April 2, 1879, attempted assassination of the tsar by Solovyov. Drawing by G. Meyer.

The wounded Miloshkevich, bleeding, rushed at the villain who was shooting at the sacred person of the Sovereign Emperor. Having made two more shots, and the bullet hit the wall of the headquarters building, the villain saw that his four shots at point-blank range did not hit the Emperor, and rushed to run across the square of the guards headquarters, heading towards the sidewalk of the opposite building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fleeing, the villain threw off his cap and coat, apparently to hide unrecognized in the crowd. He was overtaken by chance, not far behind the Tsar, a young soldier of the 6th company of the Preobrazhensky regiment and a retired sergeant-major, Guardsman Rogozin. They were the first to grab and knock the criminal to the ground. Defending himself, the criminal bit the hand of one woman, the wife of a court attendant, who, along with others, rushed at the villain. The people who fled tried to tear to pieces the villain. The police arrived in time to save him from the hands of the indignant crowd and, having surrounded him, took him under arrest.

The Emperor retained complete peace of mind. He took off his cap and reverently overshadowed himself sign of the cross... Meanwhile, senior military officials living there ran out of the headquarters building in what they were, without coats and caps, and the Tsar was given a private carriage that accidentally drove up to the entrance; but the Emperor sat in it only when the villain had already been captured and disarmed. After asking the district police station, NCO Nedelin, whether the criminal was arrested and whether he was safe, the Emperor got into a carriage and slowly returned to the palace, amid the enthusiastic crowd that accompanied Him. The bullet struck the headquarters building, knocking back the plaster to the bricks. Miloshkevich was first taken to the palace for dressing, then placed in the court (Konyushennaya street) hospital, and he was provided with all the necessary benefits with remarkable speed.

The passage of Emperor Alexander II through the streets of St. Petersburg after the unsuccessful attempt on the life of Solovyov.

The offender was immediately tied up, put in a carriage that came across by chance and sent to the mayor's house, on Gorokhovaya Street. He was brought there, as they say, already almost completely insensible. The immediately invited senior police doctor, Mr. Batalin, at first took this state of the criminal for arsenic poisoning, especially since he developed terrible vomiting, as a result of which the poisoned person began to pour milk into his mouth; but other doctors who arrived at the same time, including the famous expert on poisons, a former professor of the Medical and Surgical Academy, Privy Councilor Trapp, determined the poisoning potassium cyanide why, without wasting time, he was given the appropriate antidote. It is not known exactly when the offender took the poison, before or after the shots. There is reason to suppose that he swallowed the poison a few moments before the shots, or immediately after the first shot, because after the 4th shot the criminal staggered, and after the fifth he had foam at the mouth and convulsions. During a search, in the pocket of the criminal, another ball of a similar poison was found, enclosed in a nutshell and drenched in wax. Potassium cyanide, which belongs to the group of hydrocyanic acid, the poison of bitter almonds, is one of the most terrible poisons that can kill a person in a few moments due to paralysis of the heart and lungs. The batter's underwear did not match the upper garment at all. He was wearing a worn black frock coat, the same trousers and a dirty white shirt, but for that outer dress it was distinguished by its impeccable appearance. The cap that was on his head is completely new, and the elegant gloves, they say, are not made here. Several rubles were found in his wallet and in his pocket number one of the St. Petersburg German newspaper.

Alexander Konstantinovich Soloviev

The Executive Committee of the Narodnaya Volya Party put an end to political activities emperor and in his life. He also put an end to the hopes of the Russian people for the introduction of a constitutional monarchy in the country.

What did the Narodnaya Volya party provide? It was a centralized, deeply conspiratorial organization. Most of its members were illegal professional revolutionaries.

The party charter obliged its members to be ready to endure hardships, prison, hard labor. They made a commitment to sacrifice their lives. Peter Kropotkin wrote: “It was believed that only morally developed people can participate in the organization. Before accepting a new member, his character was discussed at length. Only those who did not raise any doubts were accepted. Personal flaws were not considered secondary. "

Narodnaya Volya's activities were divided into propaganda and terrorist ones. At the first stage, great importance was given to propaganda work, but soon more and more attention was paid to terror.

"Narodnaya Volya" played a certain role in the social movement in Russia, but, moving from political struggle to conspiracy and individual terror, it made a gross miscalculation. The Narodnaya Volya members did not set themselves the goal of creating an independent workers' party, but they were the first in Russia to start organizing revolutionary circles among the workers.

In the struggle against the revolutionary movement, the government either tried to appeal to society for support, then it put this society under indiscriminate suspicion. Liberal press organs were severely punished. The inconsistent and disorderly actions of the authorities did not bring comfort. They aroused oppositional sentiments even in formerly well-meaning noble circles.

Meanwhile, the growing internal political crisis in the country inspired hopes for the success of Narodnaya Volya, which turned political murder into the main weapon of its struggle. The death sentence, conditionally handed down to the tsar at the Lipetsk Congress, was finally approved on August 26, 1879, and in the fall of 1879 the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya began to implement its plan.

Eight attempts were prepared on Alexander II. The first terrorist act was attempted by D. Karakozov near the Summer Garden on April 4, 1866. On April 2, 1879, while the emperor was walking along the Palace Square, A. Soloviev fired five shots almost at point-blank range.

In the same year, three attempts were made to crash the Tsar's train.

The explosion in the Winter Palace (18:22; February 5, 1880) is a terrorist act directed against the Russian Emperor Alexander II, organized by members of the People's Will movement. Khalturin lived in basement The Winter Palace, where they carried up to 30 kg of dynamite. The bomb was detonated with an ignition cord. Directly above his room there was a guardroom, even higher, on the second floor, a dining room in which Alexander II was going to dine. The Prince of Hesse, brother of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, was expected for dinner, but his train was half an hour late. The explosion found the emperor, meeting the prince, in the Small Field Marshal's Hall, far from the dining room. A dynamite explosion destroyed the ceiling between the basement and first floors. The floors of the palace guardhouse fell down ( modern hall Hermitage No. 26). Double brick vaults between the first and second floors of the palace withstood the impact of the blast wave. No one was injured in the mezzanine, but the explosion lifted the floors, knocked out many window panes, and the lights went out. In the dining room or Yellow room The third spare half of the Winter Palace (modern Hermitage Hall No. 160, the decoration has not survived) cracked a wall, a chandelier fell on the set table, and everything was covered with lime and plaster.

Stepan Khalturin (1856-1882)

As a result of the explosion in the lower floor of the palace, 11 servicemen were killed, who were on guard that day in the palace of the lower ranks of the Life Guards of the Finland Regiment, stationed on Vasilievsky Island, 56 people were wounded. Despite their own wounds and injuries, the surviving sentries remained all in their places and even upon the arrival of the called shift from the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, they did not give up their seats to the newcomers, until they were replaced by their breeding corporal, who was also wounded in the explosion. All the victims were heroes of the recently ended Russian-Turkish war.

Explosion in the Winter Palace 02/05/1880

In the fall of 1880, the hunt for the emperor continued with amazing persistence. The main organizer of the preparation of the assassination attempt was Andrei Zhelyabov, but on February 27 he was arrested and he could not take part in the latest terrorist act.

Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov

The attempt on the life of Alexander II on March 1, 1881 was planned as follows: an explosion on Malaya Sadovaya; if he did not give a result, then four throwers should have thrown bombs into the king's crew. If the tsar remained alive after that, then Zhelyabov, armed with a dagger, would have stabbed him.

The movement of the king was constantly monitored. S. Perovskaya wrote down his results. When turning to the Ekaterininsky Canal, the coachman held back the horses. Perovskaya noted that this is the most comfortable spot for an explosion. Mikhailov, Grinevitsky, Emelyanov were appointed perpetrators of the terrorist act

Timofey Mikhailovich Mikhailov Ivan Paiteleimonovich Emelyanov

Usually, preparations for the tsar's passage began at 12 noon, by which time mounted gendarmes appeared at both ends of Malaya Sadovaya. The traffic stopped, the passage along the street stopped. However, on March 1, under the influence of rumors about the danger of this route, the tsar went to the traditional Sunday review of the guards in the Mikhailovsky Manege in a different way - along the Catherine Canal. Perovskaya reacted vividly to the changed situation and gathered the throwers in one of the pastry shops on Nevsky Prospekt. After receiving instructions, they took up new positions. Perovskaya took a place on the opposite side of the canal to give a signal for action at the right time.

Sofia Lvovna Perovskaya

The verdict describes this event as follows:

“... When the Emperor's carriage, accompanied by an ordinary convoy, drove past the garden of the Mikhailovsky Palace, an explosive shell was thrown under the horses of the carriage at a distance of about 50 sazhens (11 meters) from around the corner of Inzhenernaya Street under the horses of the carriage. The explosion of this projectile injured some people and destroyed back wall carriages, but the emperor himself remained unharmed.

The man who threw the shell, although he ran along the canal embankment, towards Nevsky Prospekt, was detained several yards and identified himself initially as a philistine Glazov, and then showed that he was a tradesman Rysakov.

Nikolay Ivanovich Rysakov

Meanwhile, the sovereign, having ordered the coachman to stop the horses, deigned to get out of the carriage and go to the detained criminal.

When the tsar was returning back to the site of the explosion along the canal panel, a second explosion followed, the consequence of which was inflicted on the tsar several extremely serious wounds, with the fragmentation of both legs below the knees ...

Peasant Pyotr Pavlov testified that the second explosive shell was thrown unknown person standing leaning against the lattice of the embankment, he waited for the approach of the king at a distance of no more than two arshins and threw something on the panel, which is why the second explosion followed.

The person indicated by Pavlov was raised unconscious at the scene of the crime and, upon being taken to the court hospital of the Stables Department, died there after 8 hours. Upon autopsy, it turned out to be a lot of injuries caused by an explosion, which, according to experts, should have occurred at a very close distance, no further than three steps from the deceased.

This man, having come to himself a little before his death and answered the question about his name - "I do not know", lived, as it was discovered by the inquiry and the judicial investigation, according to a forged passport in the name of the Vilna tradesman Nikolai Stepanovich Elnikov and among his accomplices was called Mikhail Ivanovich and Kotik (II Grinevitsky) ".