The story
On December 26, 1825 (December 14 in the old Russian calendar), about 3,000 soldiers led by liberal officers gathered on Senate Square in St. Petersburg, refusing to swear allegiance to the new tsar, Nicholas I. Tsar Alexander I had died suddenly in November, and confusion over the succession gave the plotters their chance. They called for a constitution and an end to serfdom, and the soldiers had been told that they were defending the rights of Nicholas's elder brother Constantine. Nicholas had loyal troops fire cannon at the square, and the revolt was over in hours. A smaller uprising in Ukraine also failed.
The conspirators were mostly young nobles in the guards who had fought in the campaigns against Napoleon and seen France and Germany. They formed secret societies with different aims, a constitutional monarchy in the north and a republic in the south. Five leaders, among them Pavel Pestel and Kondraty Ryleyev, were hanged in July 1826, and more than a hundred others were exiled to Siberia, followed by many of their wives. Nicholas I became a strict autocrat, creating the Third Section, a political police, and tightening censorship. The Decembrists became martyrs for later Russian radicals. They are remembered as the first modern Russian revolutionary movement, honored by Pushkin and Herzen.
Why it mattered
- Nicholas I's reign of censorship, secret police and conservatism was shaped by his experience of the revolt.
- The Decembrists became an inspiration for Russian radicals, from Alexander Herzen to later revolutionaries.
- The wives who followed their husbands to Siberia became symbols of devotion in Russian culture.
Sources
- The Decembrists: Russia's First Revolution History Today
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