The sovereign, who went down in history with the epithet "Liberator", who fulfilled the centuries-old dream of the people to abolish serfdom, became a victim of people from the same people, to the arrangement of whose life he put so much effort. His death raises many questions among historians. The name of the terrorist who dropped the bomb is known, and, nevertheless, the question "Why was Alexander 2 killed?" and to this day does not have a clear answer.
Reforms and their consequences
State activity can serve as an illustration of the well-known proverb "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Having ascended the throne at the age of thirty-six, he made a number of radical transformations. He managed to end the Crimean War, disastrous for Russia, hopelessly failed by his father, Nicholas I. Canceled Established universal military duty, introduced local self-government and carried out. In addition, he managed to mitigate censorship and facilitate travel abroad.
However, the result of all his good undertakings, which went down in the history of Russia as the "Great Reforms", was the impoverishment of the peasants, freed from slavery, but deprived of their main source of livelihood - land; the impoverishment of their former owners - the nobles; corruption that has engulfed all spheres of state power; a series of unfortunate mistakes in foreign policy. Obviously, in the aggregate of all these factors, one should seek the answer to the question of why Alexander 2 was killed.
The beginning of a series of assassination attempts
In Russian history, there was no monarch whom they so consistently and inexorably tried to kill. There were six attempts on Alexander 2, the last of which turned out to be fatal for him. Even before the "Narodnaya Volya" - the organization that killed Alexander 2 - fully declared its existence, the list of assassination attempts was opened by a lone terrorist Dmitry Karakozov. On April 4, 1866 (all dates in the article are given according to the new style), he shot at the sovereign, who was leaving the gates of the Summer Garden on the Neva embankment. The shot was unsuccessful, which saved Alexander's life.
The next attempt was made on May 25, 1867 in Paris by the Polish emigrant Anton Berezovsky. This happened during the visit of the sovereign to the World Exhibition. The shooter missed. He subsequently explained his act by the desire to take revenge on the Russian monarch for the bloody suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863.
This was followed by an assassination attempt on April 14, 1879, committed by a retired collegiate assessor Alexander Solovyov, who was part of the Land and Freedom organization. He managed to lie in wait for the sovereign on Palace Square during his usual walk, which he made alone and without protection. The attacker fired five shots, but all to no avail.
Debut of Narodnaya Volya
On December 1 of the same year, the Narodnaya Volya, who killed Alexander 2 two years later, made their first attempt. They tried to blow up the tsar's train on its way to Moscow. Only a mistake prevented the implementation of the plan, thanks to which the wrong train was blown up, and the sovereign remained unharmed.
And, finally, a series of failed assassination attempts is completed by an explosion that thundered on February 17, 1880 on the first floor of the Winter Palace. It was produced by a member of the organization "Narodnaya Volya" This was the last case when fate saved the life of the sovereign. This time, Alexander 2 was saved from death by being late for the dinner scheduled that day, and the infernal machine worked in his absence. A week later, a special government commission was appointed to combat terrorism and maintain order in the country.
Blood on the canal embankment
Fatal for the sovereign was March 13, 1881. On this day, as usual, he was returning from the disengagement of troops in the Mikhailovsky Manege. Having visited Grand Duchess Alexander along the way, continuing his journey, he drove to the embankment of the Catherine Canal, where terrorists were waiting for him.
The name of the one who killed Alexander 2 is now well known to everyone. This is a Pole, a student of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute Ignaty Grinevitsky. He threw the bomb after his comrade Nikolai Rysakov, who also threw the infernal machine, but to no avail. When, after the first explosion, the sovereign got out of the damaged carriage, Grinevitsky threw a bomb at his feet. The mortally wounded emperor was taken to the Winter Palace, where he died without regaining consciousness.
Court opposition
In 1881, when Alexander 2 was assassinated, the work of the state commission, although outwardly it gave the impression of vigorous activity, nevertheless seemed very strange. Historians have reason to believe that the death of Alexander was the result of a conspiracy of the court elite, firstly, dissatisfied with the liberal reforms carried out by the emperor, and secondly, fearing the possible adoption of a constitution.
In addition, the circle of senior dignitaries included former landowners who lost their serfs and thereby suffered significant losses. They had a clear reason to hate the sovereign. If we consider the issue from this angle, then it may be quite understandable why Alexander 2 was killed.
Strange inaction of the security department
The actions of the Gendarme Directorate cause legitimate bewilderment. It is known that in the period preceding the murder, they received several reports of an impending terrorist attack, and even indicated a possible location for it. However, there was no response to this. Moreover, when the guards of the law received information that on Malaya Sadovaya - this is not far from the place where Alexander 2 was killed - the path of his possible passage was being mined, they limited themselves to only a cursory inspection of the premises from which the digging was carried out.
Not noticing anything (or not deeming it necessary to notice), the gendarmes allowed the terrorists to continue preparing the attack. It seemed that someone was deliberately untying the hands of the criminals, wishing to carry out their plans with their help. It is also suspicious that when the tragedy happened, and the emperor, who had such a powerful opposition in the palace, died, all the participants in the assassination attempt were arrested with amazing speed. There is no doubt that the gendarmes knew exactly which organization killed Alexander 2.
Problems of succession
In addition, in the question of who killed Alexander 2 (more precisely, became the real organizer of the murder), one should also take into account the dynastic crisis that erupted in the palace. His son and heir to the throne, the future autocrat had every reason to fear for his future. The fact is that at the beginning of the year when Alexander 2 was killed, the sovereign, having barely survived the prescribed forty days after the death of his legal wife Maria Alexandrovna, married his favorite, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova.
Considering that his father had repeatedly expressed a desire to remove him from the palace, Alexander Alexandrovich could well assume that he planned to transfer the crown not to him, but to a child born from a new marriage. Only an unexpected death could interfere with this, and given the previous assassination attempts, it would not have aroused suspicion in anyone.
The first terrorist organization in modern history
The one who killed Tsar Alexander 2 (terrorist Ignaty Grinevitsky) was a member of the underground union "Narodnaya Volya". It is generally accepted that this was the first in modern history. She specialized exclusively in political assassinations, in which she saw the only possible way to change the existing system.
It consisted of people belonging to the most diverse strata of society. For example, Sophia Perovskaya, who directly led the assassination attempt on the Catherine Canal, was a noblewoman and even the daughter of the St. Petersburg governor, and her comrade-in-arms and heartfelt friend Zhelyabov came from a family of serfs.
Sentence to the king
Having chosen terror by achieving political goals, at their first meeting, held in 1879, they unanimously sentenced Alexander 2 to death and in subsequent years were engaged in the implementation of their decision. It was important for them to destroy the autocrat, no matter where it happens and in what year. Alexander was killed by 2 fanatics who did not spare their lives, much less those of others, for the sake of utopian revolutionary ideas.
However, in that ill-fated spring, they had reason to hurry. The terrorists knew that the adoption of the constitution was scheduled for March 14, and could not allow this, because, according to their calculations, the adoption of such an important historical document could reduce the level of social tension in the country and deprive their struggle of popular support. It was decided to put an end to the king at all costs as soon as possible.
Reassessment of historical realities
The name of the one who killed Alexander 2 went down in history, throwing an infernal machine under his feet, but historians are unlikely to be able to prove the validity or inconsistency of the suspicion of involvement in the conspiracy of court circles and the heir to the throne himself. There are no documents that shed light on this issue. It is generally accepted that the initiators of the assassination attempt and its perpetrators were young people, members of the underground union "Narodnaya Volya".
During the years of Soviet power, all organizations that fought against the autocracy were extolled as spokesmen for historical truth. Their actions were justified regardless of how much and whose blood was shed. But if today we ask the question: "Who are the Narodnaya Volya people who killed Alexander 2 - criminals or not?", Then in most cases the answer will be in the affirmative.
Monument to the Tsar-Liberator
History has proven that the end does not always justify the means, and sometimes a fighter for a just cause turns out to be among the criminals. Therefore, the one who killed Alexander 2 did not become the pride of Russia. The streets of cities are not named after him, and no monuments were erected to him in the squares. Many will answer the question of the year in which Alexander 2 was killed, but it will be difficult to name the killer.
At the same time, on the site of the death of the murdered emperor-liberator, a magnificent temple was built, popularly called the Savior-on-Blood and which became his eternal monument. During the years of atheistic obscurantism, they repeatedly tried to demolish it, but each time an invisible force took the hand of the vandals away. You can call it fate, you can call it the Finger of God, but the memory of Alexander 2, who broke the chains of serfdom, still shines with the gold of domes, and his killers have forever gone into the darkness of history.
Instead of a preface:
Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881) entered the history of Russia as the Liberator. So they called him among the people and not only Russian. In Bulgaria, monuments were erected to Emperor Alexander II and streets and even cities were named after him, in gratitude for the liberation from the Ottoman yoke.
In the reign of Alexander II, there was not a single sphere of life left that would not have been affected by reforms aimed at the dismantling of feudal society: education, the army, administration (zemstvo reform), courts, but most importantly, of course: the abolition of serfdom of peasants from landlords and, finally, the restriction of the most autocratic authorities.
In my opinion, Emperor Alexander II deservedly should be on a par with such historical figures as Ivan the Terrible, Catherine II, Peter the Great, for he did no less for Russia, pulling her out of the swamp of feudal reaction.
However, both for contemporaries and for posterity, Emperor Alexander II was and remains the object of criticism.
The liberal intelligentsia called him the Reformer, thus expressing their ambiguous attitude towards the actions of the king, due to the half-heartedness of the reforms.
The revolutionaries believed that the tsar had deceived the people by giving them freedom and not giving them land (Moreover, according to the Reform on the abolition of serfdom, he entangled the peasants with enslaving debts to the landowners).
But if we take into account the conditions in which the Russian emperor carried out these reforms, then what he did, if not a feat, then at least history.
The murder of Alexander II is customary, in the historical tradition, to attribute to the revolutionaries.
However, the Russian emperor had other enemies, much more powerful, and their account with the emperor was much more serious.
Conservative nobles and landowners saw in his half-hearted reforms a mortal threat to themselves and to the system of autocracy with which they identified themselves.
The zemstvo reform gave the peasants, albeit nominally, their own representation in the authorities, albeit nominally, but the right to vote. The king prepared the constitution. Let me cut it short, but even this was unacceptable for the most conservative circles of tsarist Russia.
And here is an interesting coincidence: the attack on the royal cortege takes place two hours before the royal decree on the Constitution.
Coincidence?
But there are too many such coincidences.
Since the tsar entrusted his faithful assistant, Loris-Melikov, with the development of the Constitution, a whole series of assassination attempts has been made against the tsar.
Also a coincidence?
The king did not flinch, he continues what he started.
The authorities, in modern terms, demonstrate at this time, the time of real persecution of the king, complete helplessness.
It demonstrates, in my opinion, because the tsarist secret police had extensive experience in suppressing the revolutionary movement since the time of Nicholas the First: the defeat of the Butashevich-Petrashevsky circle, for example.
And here, at the peak of terror, it can be said that there were real freemen for the terrorists. And this is in a country where every janitor was an informant to the police. Until now, the tsarist secret police very successfully suppressed any pockets of resistance back in the time of Nicholas the First.
And here, under the noses of the Okhrana, a radical, well-organized group, or rather, an entire organization, is operating.
After unsuccessful assassination attempts, a significant part of the revolutionaries remain at large. Significant enough that they
plan and carry out all new assassination attempts. Moreover, the organization itself did not suffer at all or almost at all.
For example, the conspirators calmly enter the Winter Palace and set off an explosion on the first floor of the palace.
The protagonist of this event: Stepan Khalturin. From the Wikipedia article it follows that Khalturin's passport was stolen and he lived for a long time under false names in St. Petersburg. Then he meets with the Narodnaya Volya and makes a rapid career in the revolutionary movement.
At the same time, it penetrates into the Winter Palace, freely carries the necessary amount of explosives into the holy of holies of the autocracy, and also unhinderedly produces an explosion.
I wonder how a person using fake documents gets into the Winter Palace? Does everyone immediately and unquestioningly trust him, this newcomer? How did such an amount of explosives end up in Zimny?
By the way, they hang Khalturin for the murder of the Odessa prosecutor, and then they hang an explosion in Zimny on him.
In short, there are too many ambiguities.
Further, the people of Narodnaya Volya plant a bomb on the road along which the tsar must travel without hindrance, and before that, in broad daylight, they shoot at the tsar and only by a lucky chance, the bullet will not reach the target. And then, in the same way, without opposition from anyone, they throw two bombs at the royal cortege.
Moreover, the tsar's brother, Michael, lingers at the reception of his aunt on that fateful day for the emperor, the tsar travels alone. In the truest sense of the word, one.
Where did the revolutionaries get such information both about the train and about the movements of the royal cortege?
And why, neither in the reign of Nicholas the First, nor in the reign of the successors of Alexander II, such attempts on the royal person do not occur? Were their predecessors and successors better guarded?
Or it's something completely different.
By the way, about the revolutionaries.
A radical group of revolutionary terrorists set itself the goal of assassinating the tsar. Note, not the overthrow of the autocracy, namely the murder of the reigning person, who had no shortage of successors.
As Wikipedia writes: “Supporters of terror created the Narodnaya Volya organization.” In a short time, within a year, the Narodnaya Volya created an extensive organization headed by the Executive Committee. It included 36 people, including Zhelyabov, Mikhailov, Perovskaya, Figner, M F. Frolenko. The Executive Committee was subordinate to about 80 territorial groups and about 500 of the most active Narodnaya Volya in the center and in the regions, who, in turn, managed to unite several thousand like-minded people. Narodnaya Volya members made 5 attempts on Alexander II (the first - on November 18, 1879). 1 March 1881 the emperor was killed by them.
Just a year and such power. Where? Absolute historical record. Well, perhaps, help from outside, from powerful structures.
Who are these structures?
I think it's not hard to guess three times.
Terror in Russia did not in the least contribute to the cause of the liberation of the peasants, as much as it freed the hands of the most reactionary circles and its main executor, the Okhrana.
After the assassination of Alexander II, the terrorist organization very quickly ceased to exist, and a regime of state terror was established in the country for many years.
It is hardly possible today to find the customers and executors of this political assassination.
But the main question of justice: who benefits?" can still shed light on this assassination, which, in my opinion, is on a par with the assassinations of Kennedy or Chavez.
Yes, Alexander II was not a revolutionary. But even what he did looked in the eyes of the elites as undermining the foundations, as Pobedonostsev openly called it.
In any case, the most significant and extraordinary political figures are being killed. Alexander II was one of them. It is easy to condemn him from the outside, and even more so, after one hundred and fifty years.
In any case, this, in my opinion, is one of the most significant and mysterious pages of Russian history.
Reviews
If we draw a parallel with the assassination of Stolypin by the student Bogrov, then we should note the similarity - the evolutionary reforms being prepared were suppressed by revolutionary reforms. There was disagreement about the reform pace.
The following idea emerges - "according to Humboldt, the elements of the landscape, repeating themselves in endless variations, have an important influence on the character of the peoples living in certain regions of the globe."
The nature of Russia, free, open, calm, moderate in its coldness, brought up a people corresponding to it.
Russia, calm in character, was influenced by more ardent peoples, neighbors, brought up by a different nature, and the temperament of these peoples did not correspond to the temperament of Russia. They were in conflict with each other.
In this case, the influences of warm, in relation to the state-forming Russian ethnos, and hot, collided.
I will not go into the national characteristics of these influences, it is revealed on the example of the student Bogrov and Stolypin
Assassination of Alexander II.
The eldest at 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 "military man in his soul", and at the same time under the guidance of Zhukovsky, who sought to educate in the future monarch an enlightened person who bestows reasonable laws on his people, a monarch-legislator. Both of these influences left a deep mark on the character, inclinations, worldview of the heir and were reflected in the affairs of his reign.
In the center of the lithograph is the heir to the crown prince, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich (future Emperor Alexander II), and at his feet - Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich.
Khud.Vasilevsky Alexander Alekseevich (1794 - after 1849)
Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of a cadet
Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Ataman regiment.
Upon assuming the throne in 1855, he received a difficult legacy.
None of the cardinal issues of the 30-year reign of his father (peasant, eastern, Polish, etc.) was resolved; Russia was defeated in the Crimean War. Not being a reformer by vocation and temperament, Alexander became one in response to the needs of the time as a man of a sober mind and good will.
The first of his important decisions was the conclusion of the Peace of Paris in March 1856.
Paris Congress of 1856
With the accession of Alexander, a “thaw” began in the socio-political life of Russia. On the occasion of his coronation in August 1856, he declared an amnesty for 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 primary importance of solving the peasant question, he showed a steady will in striving to abolish serfdom for four years (from the establishment of the Secret Committee to the adoption of the Manifesto on March 3, 1861).
In 1857-1858, adhering to the “Ostsee version” of the landless liberation of the peasants, at the end of 1858 he agreed to the peasants buying allotment land into their property, that is, to the 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 and others).
With his support, Zemstvo Regulations (1864) and City Regulations (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 succumbed to the demands of advancing 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 assassination attempt by D.V. Karakozov on 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 assassination attempt on Alexander II was made on April 4, 1866, during his walk in the Summer Garden. The shooter was 26-year-old terrorist Dmitry Karakozov. Shot almost point blank. But, fortunately, the peasant Osip Komissarov, who happened to be nearby, took the killer's hand away.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov
The reforms continued, but sluggishly and inconsistently, almost all reformers, 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 inclined towards the introduction in Russia of limited public representation in the State Council.
Attempted D.V. Karakozov on Alexander II
Hood Griner
Several assassination attempts were made on Alexander II: D.V. Karakozov, Polish emigrant A. Berezovsky in 1867 in Paris, A.K. Solovyov in 1879 in St. Petersburg.
In 1867, the World Exhibition was to be held in Paris, which was attended by Emperor Alexander II. 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 a direct 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 (along with the tsar, his two sons, Vladimir Alexandrovich and Alexander Alexandrovich, that is, the future emperor Alexander III, and also Emperor Napoleon III). The pistol exploded from too strong a charge, as a result, the bullet deviated and hit the horse of the ringmaster accompanying the crew. Berezovsky, whose hand was severely injured by the explosion, was immediately seized by the crowd. “I confess that today I shot the emperor during his return from the review,” he said after his arrest. “Two weeks ago I had the idea of regicide, however, or rather, I have been feeding this idea since I began to realize myself, meaning the liberation of my homeland.”
Anton Iosifovich Berezovsky
The Sovereign Emperor deigned to leave the Winter Palace on April 2, at the end of the ninth hour of the morning, for his usual morning walk and went along Millionnaya, past the Hermitage, around the building of the guards headquarters. From the corner of the palace, His Majesty walked 230 steps to the end of the headquarters building, along the sidewalk, on the right side of the Millionnaya and to the Winter Canal; turning to the right, around the same headquarters building, along the embankment of the Winter Canal, the Sovereign reached the Pevchesky Bridge, taking another 170 steps. Thus, the Sovereign Emperor walked from the corner of the palace to the singing bridge 400 steps, 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 room for an overnight stay, with a stove and a storehouse for a small amount of firewood. The policeman himself was not in the booth at that time; he was at his post not far away, in the square. Turning around the headquarters building, from the Winter Canal and the Pevchesky 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 against the fourth window of the headquarters, the Sovereign noticed a tall, thin, dark-haired man with a dark blond mustache, about 32 years old, walking towards Him, dressed in a decent coat and a cap with a civilian cockade, and both hands of this passer-by were in his pockets. coat. Paramedic Maiman, who was standing at the gate of the headquarters building, shouted at the passer-by, who dared to go straight to meet His Majesty, but he, not paying attention to the warning, silently walked on in the same direction. At 6-7 paces, the villain quickly took out a revolver from the pocket of his coat and almost point-blank shot at the Sovereign.
Assassination attempt by 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 headed across the platform of the headquarters of the guard troops, in the direction of the entrance of Prince Gorchakov. The offender rushed after the retreating Monarch and followed Him with three more shots, one after the other. The second bullet hit the cheek and exited at the temple of a state gentleman, a native of the Baltic provinces, by the name of Miloshkevich, who was walking behind the Sovereign.
Solovyov's assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II on April 2, 1879. April 2, 1879, an attempt to assassinate the king, undertaken by Solovyov. Drawing by G. Meyer.
The wounded Miloshkevich, covered in blood, rushed at the villain who shot at the sacred person of the Sovereign Emperor. Having fired two more shots, and the bullet hit the wall of the headquarters building, the villain saw that his four shots at close range did not hit the Sovereign, and rushed to run along the square of the guards headquarters, heading for 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 Sovereign, by 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 throw the criminal to the ground. Defending himself, the offender bit the hand of one woman, the wife of a court servant, who, along with others, rushed at the villain. The fled people tried to tear the villain to pieces. The police arrived in time to save him from the hands of the indignant crowd and, surrounding him, took him under arrest.
The Sovereign Emperor retained complete peace of mind. He took off his cap and reverently made the sign of the cross. Meanwhile, from the headquarters building ran out in what they were, without coats and caps, the highest military ranks living there, and the Sovereign was given a private carriage that accidentally drove up to the entrance; but the Sovereign got into it only when the villain had already been captured and disarmed. Asking NCO Nedelin, near the palace district, whether the criminal had been arrested and whether he was safe, the Sovereign got into the carriage and slowly returned to the palace, among the crowd enthusiastically seeing him off. The bullet hit the headquarters building, breaking the plaster down to the bricks. Miloshkevich was first taken to the palace for bandaging, then placed in the court hospital (Konyushennaya Street), and all the necessary benefits were provided to him with remarkable speed.
The passage of Emperor Alexander II through the streets of St. Petersburg after the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Solovyov.
The offender was immediately tied up, put into a randomly found carriage and sent to the mayor's house, on Gorokhovaya Street. He was brought there, as they say, already almost completely insensible. The senior police doctor, Mr. Batalin, who was immediately invited, at first mistook this state of the criminal for arsenic poisoning, especially since he developed terrible vomiting, as a result of which milk was poured into the mouth of the poisoned person; but other doctors who arrived at the same time, including a well-known connoisseur of poisons, a former professor of the Medical and Surgical Academy, Privy Councilor Trapp, determined cyanide poisoning, wherefore, without wasting time, he was given the appropriate antidote. It is not known exactly when the perpetrator took the poison, before or after the shots. There is reason to believe that he swallowed the poison a few moments before the shots, or immediately after the first shot, because after the 4th shot the criminal was staggering, and after the fifth he had foam at the mouth and convulsions. During the search, another ball of the same poison was found in the criminal's pocket, enclosed in a nutshell and filled with wax. Potassium cyanide, belonging 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 underwear of the assassin did not at all correspond to the upper vestments. He was wearing a worn black frock coat, the same trousers and a dirty white shirt, but for that the outer dress was distinguished by an 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 purse and in his pocket was the number one Petersburg German newspaper.
Alexander Konstantinovich Solovyov
The Executive Committee of the People's Will Party put an end to the emperor's political activities and his life. He also put an end to the hopes of the people of Russia for the introduction of a constitutional monarchy in the country.
What did the party "People's Will" provide? It was a centralized, deeply conspiratorial organization. Most of its members were professional revolutionaries who were in an illegal position.
The charter of the party 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 could participate in the organization. Before accepting a new member, his character was discussed at length. Only those who did not cause any doubts were accepted. Personal failings were not considered secondary."
The activities of the "Narodnaya Volya" were divided into propaganda and terrorist. Propaganda work at the first stage was given great importance, 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 set about organizing revolutionary circles among the workers.
In the fight against the revolutionary movement, the government either tried to turn to society for support, or placed this society under wholesale suspicion. The liberal press was severely punished. The inconsistent and erratic actions of the authorities brought no reassurance. They aroused opposition even in previously well-intentioned noble circles.
Meanwhile, the growing internal political crisis in the country inspired hopes for the success of the People's Will, which turned political assassination 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.
8 assassination attempts were prepared on Alexander II. The first terrorist act was attempted by D. Karakozov at the Summer Garden on April 4, 1866. On April 2, 1879, during the emperor's walk along Palace Square, A. Solovyov fired five shots almost point-blank.
In the same year, three attempts were made to crash the royal train.
Explosion in the Winter Palace (18:22; February 5, 1880) - a terrorist act against the Russian Emperor Alexander II, organized by members of the Narodnaya Volya movement. Khalturin lived in the basement of the Winter Palace, where he carried up to 30 kg of dynamite. The bomb was set off with a fuse. Directly above his room 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, who was meeting the prince, in the Small Field Marshal's Hall, far from the dining room. The explosion of dynamite destroyed the ceiling between the basement and first floors. The floors of the palace guardhouse collapsed down (the modern hall of the 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 hurt in the mezzanine, but the explosion raised the floors, knocked out a lot of window panes, and the lights went out. In the dining room or the Yellow Room of the Third Spare Half of the Winter Palace (the modern hall of the Hermitage No. 160, the decoration has not been preserved), a wall cracked, a chandelier fell on the set table, everything was covered with lime and plaster.
Stepan Khalturin (1856-1882)
As a result of an explosion in the lower floor of the palace, 11 servicemen who were on guard duty in the palace of the lower ranks of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment stationed on Vasilyevsky Island were killed, 56 people were injured. Despite their own wounds and injuries, the surviving sentries remained 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 places to those who arrived until they were replaced by their breeding corporal, who was also wounded in the explosion. All the dead were heroes of the recently ended Russian-Turkish war.
Explosion in the Winter Palace on February 05, 1880
In the autumn of 1880, the hunt for the emperor continued with amazing persistence. Andrey Zhelyabov was the main organizer of the preparation of the assassination, but on February 27 he was arrested, and he could not take part in the last terrorist act.
Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov
The assassination attempt on 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 had to throw bombs into the carriage of the king. If the tsar had remained alive after that, then Zhelyabov, armed with a dagger, would have killed him.
The movement of the king was constantly monitored. S. Perovskaya wrote down his results. When turning onto the Catherine Canal, the coachman held the horses. Perovskaya noticed that this was the most convenient place for an explosion. Mikhailov, Grinevitsky, Yemelyanov were appointed as the perpetrators of the terrorist act.
Timofei Mikhailovich Mikhailov Ivan Payteleimonovich Emelyanov
Usually, preparations for the passage of the king began at 12 noon, by which time mounted gendarmes appeared at both ends of Malaya Sadovaya. Traffic stopped, traffic 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 guard units in the Mikhailovsky Manege in a different way - along the Catherine Canal. Perovskaya quickly reacted 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 seat on the opposite side of the canal, in order to give a signal to action at the right time.
Sofia Lvovna Perovskaya
The judgment describes the event as follows:
“... When the sovereign's carriage, accompanied by an ordinary convoy, drove past the garden of the Mikhailovsky Palace, at a distance of about 50 sazhens (11 meters), an explosive shell was thrown under the horses of the carriage from behind the corner of Inzhenernaya Street. The explosion of this projectile injured some people and destroyed the back wall of the carriage, but the sovereign himself remained unharmed.
The man who threw the projectile, although he ran along the canal embankment towards Nevsky Prospekt, was detained a few sazhens and initially introduced himself as the tradesman Glazov, and then testified that he was the tradesman Rysakov.
Nikolay Ivanovich Rysakov
Meanwhile, the emperor, having ordered the coachman to stop the horses, deigned to get out of the carriage and go to the detained criminal.
When the king was returning back to the site of the explosion along the canal panel, a second explosion followed, as a result of which several extremely serious wounds were inflicted on the king, with fragmentation of both legs below the knees ...
Peasant Pyotr Pavlov testified that the second explosive shell was thrown by an unknown person who was leaning against the grating of the embankment, he waited for the tsar to approach at a distance of no more than two arshins and threw something on the panel, which was why the second explosion followed.
The man indicated by Pavlov was raised at the scene of the crime in an unconscious state and, when taken to the court hospital of the Stable Department, died there after 8 hours. During the autopsy, it turned out to have many wounds 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 his senses before his death and having answered the question about his name - “I don’t know”, lived, as it was discovered by the inquiry and the judicial investigation, on a false passport in the name of the Vilna tradesman Nikolai Stepanovich Elnikov and between his accomplices was called Mikhail Ivanovich and Kotik (I.I. Grinevitsky) ".
The assassination of Emperor Alexander II divided Russian society into two periods: before March 1 (13), 1881 and after it.
Sovereigns were killed before (Peter III, Paul I). But these were murders as a result of secret conspiracies committed by the top group of the highest nobility. Even the mention of the true circumstances of the death of these monarchs was completely taboo. Only the official version was allowed: Emperor Pyotr Fedorovich died of hemorrhoidal colic, and Emperor Pavel Petrovich died of apoplexy.
The murder of March 1, 1881, could not fit into these explanations. The Russian Tsar was not killed somewhere in a palace bedroom by a bunch of conspirators, but in the center of the imperial capital, after a long-term hunt by terrorists, he was killed in public, insolently and cynically. There were seven assassination attempts on Emperor Alexander II, the last one was fatal. Naturally, the question arises: why was Alexander II killed? The murders of Peter III and Paul I were heinous atrocities, but their reasons are clear: both emperors interfered with certain influential groups of the highest circles of the nobility, who, in the name of their interests, went on a palace coup.
But Alexander II was killed not as a result of a palace coup and not by representatives of the nobility, but by a declassed, raznochinny element. Yes, among him was Sofya Perovskaya, the daughter of the former governor of St. Petersburg, a real state councilor, a member of the Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs L.N. Perovsky, but she broke off all ties with him from the age of seventeen. Therefore, her participation in the "Narodnaya Volya" cannot in any way give the assassination of the Emperor the character of a "noble" conspiracy. But, nevertheless, we cannot fail to understand that the assassination of Emperor Alexander II, as well as the existence of "Narodnaya Volya", could not be the result of the initiative of individual fanatics. Behind them should have been some influential forces for which the assassination of the Sovereign was extremely necessary.
One of the widespread versions of the villainous murder on March 1, 1881 was the assumption that "reactionaries" and "obscurantists" were behind it, the main one being K.P. Pobedonostsev, who thus sought to prevent the "constitution" that Alexander II supposedly planned to sign on March 1, 1881. Here, for example, is an example of such pseudo-historical paperwork:
"The murder of Alexander II is customary, in the historical tradition, to attribute to revolutionaries. However, the Russian Emperor had other enemies, much more powerful, and their account with the Emperor was much more serious. Conservatives from nobles and landowners saw in his half-hearted reforms a mortal threat for themselves and the system of autocracy with which they identified themselves. Zemstvo reform provided the peasants, albeit nominally, but their own representation in government bodies, albeit nominally, but the right to vote. The tsar prepared the Constitution. Russia was unacceptable. And here is an interesting coincidence: the attack on the royal cortege takes place two hours before the royal decree on the Constitution. Since the tsar entrusted his faithful assistant Loris-Melikov with the development of the Constitution, a whole series of assassination attempts has been committed against the tsar. "
Let's start with the fact that Emperor Alexander II never thought of any "constitution". Moreover, he considered it extremely dangerous for Russia. When it came to talking about the constitution, Alexander II said: “I give my word that now, on this table, I am ready to sign any constitution you like, if I were convinced that it would be useful for Russia. But I know what, do I am today, tomorrow Russia will fall to pieces."
Alexander II wanted to introduce popular representation in Russia, which would correspond to the old Russian traditions, and not to the Western model. “Emperor Alexander II,” wrote General N.A. Yepanchin, “realized that it was necessary to arrange so that the voice of the people reached the Tsar not through the bureaucracy.”
But Alexander II did not have exact plans and ideas in this regard, and he seized on the proposal of his minister, Count M.T. Loris-Melikov, who proposed the creation of commissions whose duties "would be to draw up bills within the limits that they will be indicated by the Highest Will with the call of elected representatives from the provinces, as well as from some of the most significant cities. Moreover, in the form of attracting really useful and knowledgeable persons, provincial zemstvo assemblies and city dumas should be given the right to elect such assemblies not only from among the vowels, but also from other persons belonging to the population of the province or city.
Thus, members of the commissions could only have an advisory vote, that is, discuss draft laws, and all legislative initiative and approval of laws had to belong exclusively to the Supreme Power. At the same time, Count Loris-Melikov repeatedly, energetically and ardently spoke out before the Emperor "against the organization of popular representation in Russia in forms borrowed from the West, alien to the Russian people, capable of shaking all its basic political views and bringing complete confusion to them."
The creation of such a body, if it offended the interests of the small Russian top bureaucracy, then to the smallest extent. Of course, the convening of commissions could not be the reason for the assassination of the Emperor. Moreover, the new Emperor Alexander III, while still a Tsesarevich, was a supporter of the convening of the Zemsky Sobor, based on "old Russian principles." Under the leadership of the Tsesarevich, a regulation on the Zemsky Sobor was worked out.
In addition, the first attempt on Alexander II was committed by Dmitry Karakozov in April 1866, that is, 15 years before the so-called "constitution". In addition to Karakozov, the Pole Berezovsky shot at the Tsar in Paris in 1863. Then there are the assassinations of members of two related organizations "Land and Will" and its "subsidiary" "Narodnaya Volya". In 1879, A. Solovyov, a member of the Land and Freedom, unsuccessfully fired at the Sovereign on Palace Square, later in the same year, the People's Volunteers blew up the imperial train, thinking that the Emperor was following it. Then Narodnaya Volya member Stepan Khalturin detonated a bomb in the Winter Palace, where he got a job as a carpenter, killing and injuring 90 soldiers and servants instead of the Tsar. Then the Narodnaya Volya prepared an assassination attempt on March 1, 1881, which was crowned with success.
There is another "version" voiced by the former French ambassador to St. Petersburg (Petrograd) M. Paleolog, one of the sponsors of the February Revolution of 1917. For some reason, this visionary is considered a great specialist in the history of Russia, although contemporaries of that era openly laughed at him deep "knowledge" of the life of Russian Emperors. So, Paleolog believed that the future Alexander III and the same demonized Pobedonostsev were behind the assassination of Alexander II. They were afraid that the Tsar would take the throne from his son, the Tsarevich, and betray him to his son George, born of the second morganatic wife of the Most Serene Princess E.M. Yurievskaya.
In his opus "The Romance of the Emperor. Alexander II and Princess Yuryevskaya", Paleolog writes that Count Loris-Melikov, trying at all costs to convince the Tsar to sign the "constitution", decided to use for this the "secret marriage of the Tsar", in which Loris was dedicated. “For this, it was necessary,” continues Palaiologos, “to indicate to the Sovereign that the granting of a constitution to the country can give him the right to elevate his morganatic wife to the rank of empress and justify this act in the eyes of the people ... But if the Tsar hesitated to speak out about the volume and formulation of liberal innovations, acceptable to him in principle, he, however, clearly took into account how useful they would be in order to legitimize in the eyes of the people the elevation of his morganatic wife to the rank of Empress.
In one of his conversations with the Tsar in Livadia, Loris-Melikov told him: "It will be a great happiness for Russia to have, as in the old days, the Russian Empress." And he reminded him that the founder of the Romanov dynasty, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, was also married to Dolgoruky. Loris-Melikov said about George, turning to the Sovereign: “When the Russian people recognize this son of Your Majesty, they will enthusiastically say:“ This one is truly ours. ”The emperor thought deeply about the words of the minister, who seemed to have guessed one of his most secret thoughts ".
All this, of course, is the fruit of Palaiologos' fantasies. As we saw above, Loris-Melikov did not propose any constitution, Alexander II himself categorically did not want it, and as for the “elevation” of Georgy Alexandrovich to the throne, this was in no way possible either according to the legislation of the Russian Empire or according to church laws. After the death of Alexander II, his son Tsesarevich automatically ascended the throne by virtue of his natural legal right to the throne, who by that time also had a son, Nicholas, whom Alexander II loved very much. Therefore, only lovers of ladies' novels can seriously consider the Paleolog's nonsense. By the way, after the assassination of Alexander II, his second family did not need anything, and the children from Princess Yuryevskaya freely played with the children of Alexander III.
Nevertheless, recognizing the absurdity of the above hypotheses, it should be noted that Narodnaya Volya could not act on its own, without any financial and organizational assistance. And there was such help. Otherwise, "Narodnaya Volya" would not have been able to publish "newspapers": "Narodnaya Volya", "Rabochaya Gazeta", "Narodnaya Volya" Bulletin, "Narodnaya Volya" Calendar and "Appendices" to them. Moreover, all issues of these publications were printed in St. Petersburg, in Narodnaya Volya printing houses in Saperny Lane, on Podolskaya Street (two printing houses), on Troitskaya Street ("Working Newspaper"). In 1879 - 1883. it united up to 25 circles (student, gymnasium, workers) operating in 50 cities, had 10 underground printing houses in Russia and one abroad.
"Land and Freedom" and then "Narodnaya Volya" were excellently thought out and structured. They were based on the principle of centralization and the strictest secrecy. Each member of the organization knew only the work entrusted to him, but he was forbidden to delve into the peculiarities of the work of other members. And this despite the fact that the organization had only registered members of 3 thousand people. Here is what the former populist L.A. wrote about these organizations. Tikhomirov, who later broke with the socialists:
"In appearance," Land and Freedom "represented an organization as strong and harmonious as it had not yet been in Russia. It absorbed everything that was somehow large in the revolutionary environment. The number of members was significant, and, in addition to the main participants, many people joined him according to a system of subgroups, on each particular case ... Thus, a man of 20 members united quite a lot of forces around him, not to mention the fact that the organization had influence on many private circles, had diverse and good connections throughout Russia.
"Land and Freedom" had a name and trust, as a result of which it received money from sympathizers ... Thanks to the founding of the printing house, the "Land and Freedom" circle did not need emigrants at all and got out of all dependence abroad. This was a new phenomenon. Finally, "Land and Freedom" had no competitors... In terms of all-Russian influence, only one Executive Committee of "Narodnaya Volya" subsequently surpassed "Land and Freedom".
It is clear from the texts and appeals of Narodnaya Volya that its members themselves could not write them. In all of them the social democratic hand is visible. It is precisely at first that the demands of the Constituent Assembly, the Provisional Government, and so on, that is, what the revolutionaries will demand in February-March 1917, first appear in Zemlya i Volya, and then also in Narodnaya Volya. The main program requirements of the "Narodnaya Volya" were:
1) Permanent People's Representation, i.e. parliamentary democratic republic.
2) Complete freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, conscience, election campaigning.
3) Universal suffrage without class and property restrictions and electivity of all posts from top to bottom.
4) Land - to the peasants, factories and plants - to the workers.
5) National equality and the right of nations to self-determination.
6) Convocation of the Constituent Assembly.
7) Replacing the standing army with a territorial one.
We will find these demands later both among the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Social-Democrats.
The activities of the "Narodnaya Volya" and the regicide of March 1, 1881, as its result, cannot be considered in the context of the destruction of the monarchical statehood, which was adopted by European and then American Freemasonry. Created in 1850, the International almost openly took up the solution of the problem worked out almost 100 years ago by the Illuminati - "the destruction of altars and thrones." Immediately after the assassination of the Tsar-Liberator, the French writer and Freemason F. Pia wrote to D. Garibaldi: "My old friend, the last attempt on the all-Russian despot confirms your legendary phrase: "The International is the sun of the future." Everything from the first Monarch to the last President of the Republic must disappear whether they like it or not. The French territory must be inviolable for the exiles, who, like us, seek by force of arms to establish a world democratic and social republic."
There is no doubt that some powerful forces were behind all the assassination attempts on Emperor Alexander II. But here is what the members of Ishutin's "Organization" and "Ada", who were behind the preparations for the assassination of Alexander II, showed during interrogations about their goals and tactics:
The first and main goal is the destruction of the government, whatever it may be, from the monarchical to the revolutionary, to induce panic both in the people and in the government, and with the help of means known to them, by spreading only extremely socialist convictions in the main cities of Russia, by establishing societies , - to seize control in their own hands in order to achieve another goal - to arrange a state on extreme social principles, like Fourier's ideal.
Means: propaganda of socialist convictions among the people, establishment of societies in the main cities of Russia, associations, rapprochement with the workers, getting money in all possible ways, even if it were necessary to resort to theft and murder, taking state places in the post office, where theft was easily possible big money, for example, when sending taxes, and, finally, the nearest regicide. Charter. Society is organized, that is, replenished with members, in the most cautious way: the newcomer must be known for being a person of social convictions and bind himself with a readiness to do something for the benefit of the society or a promise to do something. As for the members themselves, each of them has a certain duty, the failure to fulfill or evasion of which entails death, for which there is a close circle in the society itself, secret, called "hell" or "mortus", which, in addition to official duties, there is still a direct duty - regicide. One can become a member of "hell" only by lot, i.e. take out one of the two tickets, and if death is written on it, then the test subject must immediately die or the testers will kill him, but if he takes out a ticket with the inscription life, then he becomes a mortus member.
On February 28, 1881, Emperor Alexander II, who always fasted on the first week of Great Lent, took communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. On March 1, 1881, the Emperor went to visit his cousin, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna, and after drinking tea with her, began to return to the Winter Palace. At about 3 pm, those present at the Anichkov Palace heard two powerful explosions from the side of the Catherine Canal. They were followed by terrible news: the Sovereign was seriously wounded by some villains. As it was later established, they were members of the Narodnaya Volya terrorist organization Nikolai Rysakov and Ignaty Grinevitsky. Rysakov threw the first bomb. From its explosion, Alexander II was not injured, but the coachman, the Cossack and mortally wounded - a random passer-by boy.
The king, getting out of the carriage, was worried about helping the wounded, and then wanted to see the detainee. Approaching the captured Rysakov, who gave himself a false name, the Tsar said to him: "Good!" and went to the fence of the Catherine Canal - to where the terrorist Grinevitsky stood. He threw a second bomb under the Sovereign's feet. In the evening, the message of the Minister of the Interior, Count M.T. Loris-Melikova:
Today, March 1, at 1:45 am, during the return of the Sovereign Emperor from a divorce, on the embankment of the Catherine Canal, near the garden of the Mikhailovsky Palace, an attempt was made on the sacred life of His Majesty, by means of thrown two explosive shells: the first of them damaged the crew of His Majesty, the rupture of the second inflicted severe wounds on the Sovereign.
Emperor Alexander II, bleeding, said: "to the palace, die there ...". The wounded Sovereign was taken to the Winter Palace, carried on a carpet into his office and laid on a bed, near the desk at which he usually worked. Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich, Tsesarevna Maria Feodorovna and their eldest son Grand Duke Nikolai immediately arrived at the dying father. The great uncle of Nicholas II, a friend of his youthful games, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich recalled:
Emperor Alexander II was lying on the sofa at the table. He was unconscious. Three doctors were near him, but it was obvious that the Sovereign could not be saved. He had a few minutes left to live. His appearance is terrible: his right leg was torn off, his left was broken, countless wounds covered his face and head. One eye was closed, the other stared straight ahead without any expression.
Subsequently, Nicholas II himself recalled how he, a 13-year-old teenager, witnessed the painful death of Grandfather: “When we climbed the stairs, I saw that everyone I met had pale faces. There were large blood stains on the carpets. My Grandfather was bleeding from terrible wounds received from the explosion while being carried up the stairs. My parents were already in the office. My uncles and aunts were standing near the window. Nobody spoke. My grandfather lay on the narrow camp bed on which he always slept. He was covered with a military overcoat, served as his dressing gown.
His face was deathly pale. It was covered with small wounds. His eyes were closed. My father led me to the bed: “Papa,” he said, raising his voice, “your ray of sunshine is here.” I saw the flutter of eyelashes, my grandfather's blue eyes opened, he tried to smile. He moved his finger, but he could not raise his hands, nor say what he wanted to say, but he certainly recognized me. Protopresbyter Bazhanov came up and gave Him communion for the last time. We all knelt down and the Emperor passed away quietly. So the Lord pleased."
The last minutes of the life of the Tsar-Liberator were also captured by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich:
The life surgeon, who was listening to the Tsar's pulse, nodded his head and lowered his bloodied hand. “The Sovereign Emperor is dead!” he said loudly. Princess Yuryevskaya screamed and fell, as if knocked down, on the floor. Her pink and white robe was soaked with blood. We all got down on our knees."
At 3:35 p.m. March 1, 1881 The Imperial standard over the Winter Palace slowly crawled down. A huge crowd, silently standing on Palace Square, mostly common people, took off their hats and knelt down: the Tsar-Liberator was gone. The reign of Emperor Alexander III began.
Emperor Alexander II, who went down in history with the nickname "Liberator" for the abolition of serfdom, was far from popular among his contemporaries. In particular, he was especially disliked by representatives of radical revolutionary democratic organizations. He became the first Russian emperor to have so many assassination attempts - before the tragic day of March 1, 1881, there were five of them, and together with the last two explosions, the number of assassination attempts increased to seven.
The executive committee of the organization "Narodnaya Volya" in 1879 "sentenced" the emperor to death, after which he made two attempts to assassinate him, both ended in failure. The third attempt at the beginning of 1881 was prepared with particular care. Various options for the assassination attempt were considered, two of them were most actively prepared. Firstly, it was supposed to blow up the Stone Bridge across the Catherine Canal: this was the only bridge through which the emperor's carriage could get to the Winter Palace when Alexander II was returning from the Tsarskoselsky railway station. However, this plan was technically difficult to implement, was fraught with numerous casualties among the townspeople, moreover, in the winter of 1881, the tsar practically did not go to Tsarskoye Selo.
The second plan provided for the creation of a tunnel under Malaya Sadovaya Street, along which one of the tsar's permanent routes ran, with a subsequent explosion. If the mine suddenly did not work, then four Narodnaya Volya were supposed to throw bombs into the royal carriage, and if Alexander II remained alive after that, then the leader of the People's Will, Andrei Zhelyabov, personally had to jump into the carriage and stab the king. To implement this plan, house No. 8 on Malaya Sadovaya had already been rented, from which they began to dig a tunnel. But shortly before the assassination attempt, the police arrested many prominent members of Narodnaya Volya, including Zhelyabov on February 27. The arrest of the latter prompted the conspirators to take action. After the arrest of Zhelyabov, the emperor was warned of the possibility of a new assassination attempt, but he reacted calmly to this, saying that he was under divine protection, which had already allowed him to survive 5 assassination attempts.
After Zhelyabov's arrest, the group was headed by Sophia Perovskaya. Under the leadership of Nikolai Kibalchich, 4 bombs were made. On the morning of March 1, Perovskaya handed them over to Grinevitsky, Mikhailov, Emelyanov and Rysakov.
On March 1 (13, new style) March 1881, Alexander II left the Winter Palace for the Manege, he was accompanied by a rather small guard (under the conditions of a new assassination attempt). The emperor was present at the dispensation of the guards in the Manege. And then he went to the Mikhailovsky Palace for tea with his cousin.
