Georgy Bovt Death to the reformer-savior II. About how Alexander gave birth to those who killed him 13.03.2023, 08:12

Fate, the savior Tsar II. It turned out to be extremely unfair for Alexander. In terms of its impact on Russian society, its transformations can be compared with the reforms of Peter the Great and Catherine the Second. However, in gratitude, he took eight attempts on his life (this is an absolute record for the Romanov dynasty), the last – on March 13, 1881 – became fatal for him.

And after all, all those who took the initiative agreed that they did not want to go back to the past, like some kind of reactionary-conservative-ignorant. They did not avenge him for his reforms and transformations. They wanted “freedom” in general, and the sovereign-emperor seemed to them to be the one standing in the way of these freedoms. He was killed for being an “incompetent savior”.

Yes, his reforms, as Soviet historiography would later insist, were inconsistent, half-hearted, and there were many setbacks. But Alexander, after all, did not claim to be a revolutionary, but wanted to change society when the “collective West” evolutionarily handcuffed the reactionary regime of Nicholas I in the Crimean War – “on the European model” in general. and, according to him, what is ready for Russian society, and most importantly for the ruling class. He could not go against his interests. And then who to trust? To illiterate peasants? But this kind of populism already dates from the days of universal suffrage.

The Social Democrats will later say that the abolition of serfdom did not solve the land question in Russia, and that is true. However, the solution to the agrarian problem was generally moving in the right direction, albeit very slowly. And when combined with the Stolypin reforms of the early twentieth century, it could bring the desired results.

Also, II. Alexander carried out a series of other reforms that paved the way for the rapid development of capitalism in Russia. By the end of the 19th century, they had radically changed Russian society. During the First World War, the country was on the rise, with no chance of joining a number of “second wave of industrialization” countries without any Stalinist five-year plans and even more so without massive human losses. Pressures on Stalinism. During the reign of Alexander, military settlements were abolished, fiscal, zemstvo, judicial (jury trials), military reform (abolition of conscription in favor of military service), all local self-government was rebuilt. Medicine in the broadest sense of the word gave a great impetus to the development of education and culture in the Russian provinces.

Finally, higher and secondary education was radically restructured. Perhaps the latter greatly contributed to the eventual murder of the king. Whatever kind of connection it is, it seems…

The first two assassination attempts against the king are somewhat out of the general series, but not by much. It was Dmitry Karakozov, who was expelled from Moscow University for participating in the riots, who shot Alexander during a march in the Summer Garden on April 4, 1866. He allegedly took revenge for “offending his Majesty the villagers”. The second assassination attempt took place in Paris in June 1867, as Alexander was returning from a military parade with Napoleon III. The pole shot Anton Berezovsky – revenge for the suppression of the next Polish uprising.

Then there was a recession every 12 years. And here, again, unguarded, on a march in no way cordoned off near his palace: on April 4, 1879, the teacher Alexander Solovyov, who had read books on socialism and revolution, shoots. Kidnapped.

Then the Narodnaya Volya organization comes into play. Three times they tried to blow up the royal train. Once – the Winter Palace itself, when Stepan Khalturin (do you know the name in the names of the streets? After all, almost all Narodnaya Volya terrorists are immortalized in Soviet place names) when during the repair of the basements tried to lay a mine. royal dining room. We note that he carried around the guards in small portions a total of half a cent of explosives. But the emperor was late for dinner, only the guards died.

And finally, on March 13, 1881, under the leadership of Sophia Perovskaya, first one bomber (Nikolai Rysakov, failed), and then the second (Ignatius Grinevitsky, who blew up the tsar, who got out of the car, with himself ) succeeded.

Almost all of the conspirators (with the exception of the special case, Pole Berezovsky), who began to act as a terrorist group in the late 1870s, were representatives of the so-called intelligentsia. Many, raznochintsy, ended in universities in the 1860s and 70s – just in time for World War II. Thanks to Alexander’s reforms. They also followed (and participated in) heated debates in the literature and journalism of that period – on how to make the oppressed Russian people in general better off. Give him freedom.

Perhaps then the idea arose in the Russian intelligentsia that they are the only ones who know how to make people better.

Thanks to the reform of public education and the adoption of the most liberal university charter in Russian history in 1863, new universities, academies, real gymnasiums (for ordinary people) and public schools began to open en masse. Higher education became possible for those who were previously barred from this path. At the same time, by the way, such a phenomenon as the eternal disciple appeared. These lifeless people hung out from one university to the next, constantly searching for themselves. All sorts of new-fashioned nonsense climbed into their heads. It was the universities that became the “home of free thought”. After all, there were no specialty stores, and lists of banned literature were nothing more than a convention. In general, students of Russian critical realism read a lot and were inflamed with lofty ideas.

An important stage in the 1870s was “going to the people”. For example, it is necessary to open the eyes of ordinary people to the obvious (for intellectuals) path to happiness. And the raznochintsi intellectuals went to preach to incite the peasants and raise them against the authorities. So in this period, “populists” bet on peaceful methods of agitation to ignite the desired revolution in this way.

They thought that reading aloud under the torch of smart books would open people’s eyes. A particularly large-scale action was organized in 1874-76. They often went from village to village disguised as tradesmen and merchants. In the second stage, the Narodniks began to settle down for a long time, to find work as teachers or doctors, and to continue their agitation in this way.

They called for acts of civil disobedience (for example, non-payment of taxes), as they would say now, inciting not only against the landlords, to whom the peasants were still attached after the abolition of serfdom, but also against the peasants. sovereign-emperor. However, for some reason, the people did not want to revolt and even respected and favored the czar-priest. Thereupon, the villagers did not like the anti-state speeches, so they handed over the agitators to the gendarmerie in groups. In total, more than 4,000 populist propagandists were arrested, but the vast majority were quickly released. Only 770 people were prosecuted, 193 defendants were tried, only 99 of them were sentenced to hard labor, imprisonment and exile.

The Bolsheviks, who have already come to power, will, of course, take into account all these mistakes of the “bloody tsarist regime” – both in terms of punishing anti-regime speeches, starting with the simple form of agitation (and literature). , journalism, arts and culture in general) and ending with a completely different level of security for specially protected persons. They also took the course into account in terms of liberal university statutes.

After all, only to neglect the sovereign-emperor guard and hope that divine providence will keep him, St. Petersburg and other cities of his empire, he could afford to wander openly. So he kept it as well but still failed the 8th time. But the Soviet leaders did not believe at all in divine providence and relied only on the Cheka-NKVD-KGB, etc.

The transition of the “Narodnaya Volya” to terror took place precisely because, as a result of their going to the public, the raznochintsy intellectuals were disappointed with these people. As they say, a great country does not rise. This means that one must be elevated by the power of one’s own example and success. That is, to kill the sovereign-emperor and thus start a popular revolution that will give freedom to the unreasonable people.

This mood is well described by Fyodor Dostoevsky in his work “Demons” in the form of a formula – “with an iron hand we will lead humanity to happiness.”

The paradox of history, II. The literal assassination of Alexander, just as he was about to give final approval to the draft constitutional reform of the Minister of the Interior, Loris-Melikov. According to European customs at the time, it was very limited, but still a step towards a constitutional monarchy. Although the right to legislative initiative remained with the emperor, it was proposed to create some kind of legislative advisory bodies based on the principle of election, including representatives of the so-called third class. The point is that the peasant reform was proposed to continue and develop, removing its most acute contradictions. On March 13, the emperor informed Loris-Melikov that his draft would be submitted for discussion by the Council of Ministers within four days, after receiving the prior approval of the tsar himself. Alexander II was killed two hours after this message. The new emperor immediately canceled all these reformist plans, switching to so-called counter-reforms.

An assassination attempt was made on Alexander III, in which Vladimir Ulyanov’s older brother Alexander was directly involved. Attack, II. It was timed to coincide with March 13, 1887, the anniversary of Alexander’s murder. But security was already working better, the attack was prevented, the main defendants in the case were hanged. Apparently, Vladimir Ulyanov, impressed by the execution of his elder brother, would then always support counter-terrorism methods against the tsarist regime. And the regime he established as a result of the revolution was far from being called humanist. Having seized power, the Bolsheviks began to lead humanity to happiness with an iron fist. How they understood.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.