Narodnaya Volya
Encyclopedia
Narodnaya Volya was a
Russian left-wing terrorist
organization, best known for the successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
. It created a centralized and well disguised organization in a time of diverse liberation movements in Russia
. Narodnaya Volya was led by its Executive Committee: Alexander Mikhailov, Aleksandr Kvyatkovsky
, Andrei Zhelyabov
, Sophia Perovskaya, Vera Figner
, Nikolai Morozov
, Mikhail Frolenko, Lev Tikhomirov
, Alexander Barannikov, Anna Yakimova, Maria Oshanina and others. Vladimir Lenin
's elder brother, Alexander Ulyanov was also a member of Narodnaya Volya, and led a cell that plotted to assassinate another tsar.
The Executive Committee was in charge of a network of local and special groups (composed of workers, students, and members of the military). In 1879–1883, Narodnaya Volya had affiliates in almost 50 cities, especially in Ukraine
and the Volga region
. Though the number of its members never exceeded 500, Narodnaya Volya had a few thousand followers.
of the Constituent Assembly
(for designing a Constitution
); introduction of universal suffrage
; permanent people’s representation
, freedom of speech
, press
, and assembly
; communal self-government; exchange of the permanent army with a people’s volunteer corps; transfer of land to the people; gradual placement of the factories under the control of the workers; and granting oppressed peoples of the Russian Empire the right to self-determination
.
Narodnaya Volya's Program was a mix of democratic and socialist reforms
. Narodnaya Volya differed from its parent organization, the narodnik
Zemlya i volya, in that its members had come to believe that a social revolution
would be impossible in the absence of a political revolution; the peasantry could not take possession of the land as long as the government remained autocratic. Given Zemlya i Volya's failures in its propaganda efforts among the peasants in the movements "to the people" in the early 1870s, Narodnaya Volya turned its energies against the central government. However, unlike Marxists, they continued to believe that Russia could achieve socialism
through a peasant
revolution
, bypassing the stage of capitalism
.
The members of Narodnaya Volya were not in complete agreement about the relationship between the social and political revolutions; some believed in the possibility of achieving both simultaneously, relying on the socialist instincts of the Russian peasantry, as demonstrated in the traditional peasant commune. Other members believed that a political revolution would have to take place first and, after the autocracy
had been overthrown and democratic liberties established, revolutionaries would prepare people for the socialist revolution. The Liberal
faction of Narodnaya Volya (which had no real influence) proposed to limit their demands to getting a Constitution from the tsarist government.
Narodnaya Volya spread its propaganda through all strata of the population. Its newspapers, "Narodnaya Volya" and “The Worker’s Gazette”, attempted to popularize the idea of a political struggle with the autocracy. Their struggle to topple autocracy was crowned by the slogan “Now or never!” Narodnaya Volya did not succeed in enlisting the peasantry in its work, which would later lead Soviet
historians to charge it with Blanquism
; these historians would argue that Narodnaya Volya understood political struggle only in terms of conspiracy
and, therefore, looked more like a sect
.
too became increasingly more important. A special place in the history of Narodnaya Volya belongs to its “Terrorist faction”, whose members — including Aleksandr Ulyanov
(Lenin
's older brother) — are also known as Pervomartovtsi
. Narodnaya Volya prepared seven assassination
attempts on the life of Tsar Alexander II
(until they finally killed him), and later on that of Alexander III
. Its terror frightened the government and persuaded it to make a few concessions. However, the regime soon realized that the people would not rise up in support of the revolutionaries, and this encouraged the Russian government to counterattack. In 1879–1883, there were more than 70 trials of N.V.’s members with about 2,000 people brought to trial (see Trial of the Fourteen
). Narodnaya Volya's members were imprisoned or exiled. This was the end of the organization. The great irony of the Narodnaya Volya is that their aim was to save Russia from the autocracy, yet their assassination of Alexander II on March 1st (old standard) 1881 perpetuated autocratic oppression. Alexander III would take no chances with reform or with liberal ideas. In many ways the Narodnaya Volya convinced the tsar that he must use an iron fist, not an unclenched hand, to save the monarchy.
(1883–1884), Boris Orzhikh, Vladimir Bogoraz
, Lev Sternberg (1885), and Sofia Ginsburg (1889). Organizations similar to Narodnaya Volya in the 1890s (in St. Petersburg and abroad) largely abandoned the revolutionary ideas of Narodnaya Volya.
Narodnaya Volya’s activity became one of the most important elements of the revolutionary situation in the late 1879–1880. However, ineffective tactics of political conspiracy and preference for terrorism
over other means of struggle failed. At the turn of the century, however, as increasing numbers of former members of Narodnaya Volya were released from prison and exile, these veteran revolutionaries helped to form the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which revived many of the goals and methods of the former narodniki, including peasant revolution and terror.
was created under the name Party of National Revival "Narodnaya Volya". Later Narodnaya Volya joined Rodina
coalition which performed surprisingly well in the 2003 State Duma
elections. Narodnaya Volya is seen by many as the most nationalist element in mostly leftist Rodina
and a number of its members in the past were associated with Russian far right
movements. When Rodina merged into the new party Fair Russia
, Narodnaya Volya left the Rodina coalition instead.
Russian left-wing terrorist
Left-wing terrorism
Left-wing terrorism, sometimes called Marxist-Leninist terrorism or revolutionary/left-wing terrorism is a tactic used to overthrow capitalism and replace it with Marxist-Leninist or socialist government.-Ideology:...
organization, best known for the successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. It created a centralized and well disguised organization in a time of diverse liberation movements in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Narodnaya Volya was led by its Executive Committee: Alexander Mikhailov, Aleksandr Kvyatkovsky
Aleksandr Kvyatkovsky
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kvyatkovsky was a Russian revolutionary and member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya....
, Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov , Russian revolutionary, member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya....
, Sophia Perovskaya, Vera Figner
Vera Figner
Vera Nikolayevna Figner was a Russian revolutionary and narodnik born in Kazan, Russia.-Biography:...
, Nikolai Morozov
Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov
Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov was a known Russian revolutionary who spent about 25 years in prison before turning his attention to various fields of science.- Revolutionary activities :...
, Mikhail Frolenko, Lev Tikhomirov
Lev Tikhomirov
Lev Alexandrovich Tikhomirov , originally a Russian revolutionary and one of the members of the Executive Committee of the Narodnaya Volya, following his disenchantment with violent revolution became one of the leading conservative thinkers in Russia...
, Alexander Barannikov, Anna Yakimova, Maria Oshanina and others. Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's elder brother, Alexander Ulyanov was also a member of Narodnaya Volya, and led a cell that plotted to assassinate another tsar.
The Executive Committee was in charge of a network of local and special groups (composed of workers, students, and members of the military). In 1879–1883, Narodnaya Volya had affiliates in almost 50 cities, especially in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and the Volga region
Volga Region
Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...
. Though the number of its members never exceeded 500, Narodnaya Volya had a few thousand followers.
Program
Narodnaya Volya’s Program contained the following demands: convocationConvocation
A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....
of the Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
(for designing a Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
); introduction of universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
; permanent people’s representation
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
, freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, press
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, and assembly
Deliberative assembly
A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the English Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the basic term for a body of...
; communal self-government; exchange of the permanent army with a people’s volunteer corps; transfer of land to the people; gradual placement of the factories under the control of the workers; and granting oppressed peoples of the Russian Empire the right to self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
.
Narodnaya Volya's Program was a mix of democratic and socialist reforms
Reform movement
A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes...
. Narodnaya Volya differed from its parent organization, the narodnik
Narodnik
Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...
Zemlya i volya, in that its members had come to believe that a social revolution
Social revolution
The term social revolution may have different connotations depending on the speaker.In the Trotskyist movement, the term "social revolution" refers to an upheaval in which existing property relations are smashed...
would be impossible in the absence of a political revolution; the peasantry could not take possession of the land as long as the government remained autocratic. Given Zemlya i Volya's failures in its propaganda efforts among the peasants in the movements "to the people" in the early 1870s, Narodnaya Volya turned its energies against the central government. However, unlike Marxists, they continued to believe that Russia could achieve socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
through a peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, bypassing the stage of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
The members of Narodnaya Volya were not in complete agreement about the relationship between the social and political revolutions; some believed in the possibility of achieving both simultaneously, relying on the socialist instincts of the Russian peasantry, as demonstrated in the traditional peasant commune. Other members believed that a political revolution would have to take place first and, after the autocracy
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
had been overthrown and democratic liberties established, revolutionaries would prepare people for the socialist revolution. The Liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
faction of Narodnaya Volya (which had no real influence) proposed to limit their demands to getting a Constitution from the tsarist government.
Narodnaya Volya spread its propaganda through all strata of the population. Its newspapers, "Narodnaya Volya" and “The Worker’s Gazette”, attempted to popularize the idea of a political struggle with the autocracy. Their struggle to topple autocracy was crowned by the slogan “Now or never!” Narodnaya Volya did not succeed in enlisting the peasantry in its work, which would later lead Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
historians to charge it with Blanquism
Blanquism
In left-wing discourse, Blanquism refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui which holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. Having taken power, the revolutionaries would...
; these historians would argue that Narodnaya Volya understood political struggle only in terms of conspiracy
Conspiracy (political)
In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
and, therefore, looked more like a sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
.
Resort to terrorism
As time went by, terrorismTerrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
too became increasingly more important. A special place in the history of Narodnaya Volya belongs to its “Terrorist faction”, whose members — including Aleksandr Ulyanov
Aleksandr Ulyanov
Aleksandr Ilyich Ulyanov was a Russian revolutionary and a terrorist, convicted of attempted assassination of Alexander III. He was an older brother of Vladimir Lenin.- Life :...
(Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's older brother) — are also known as Pervomartovtsi
Pervomartovtsi
Pervomartovtsy were the Russian revolutionaries, members of Narodnaya Volya, planners and executors of the assassination of Alexander II of Russia and attempted murder of Alexander III of Russia .The assassination in 1881 was planned by Narodnaya Volya's Executive Committee...
. Narodnaya Volya prepared seven assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempts on the life of Tsar Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
(until they finally killed him), and later on that of Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
. Its terror frightened the government and persuaded it to make a few concessions. However, the regime soon realized that the people would not rise up in support of the revolutionaries, and this encouraged the Russian government to counterattack. In 1879–1883, there were more than 70 trials of N.V.’s members with about 2,000 people brought to trial (see Trial of the Fourteen
Trial of the Fourteen
The Trial of the Fourteen was a trial of fourteen members of Narodnaya Volya. It took place on September 24-28 , 1884 in Saint Petersburg's district military court. Vera Figner - the last member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya to remain in Russia - was the principal defendant...
). Narodnaya Volya's members were imprisoned or exiled. This was the end of the organization. The great irony of the Narodnaya Volya is that their aim was to save Russia from the autocracy, yet their assassination of Alexander II on March 1st (old standard) 1881 perpetuated autocratic oppression. Alexander III would take no chances with reform or with liberal ideas. In many ways the Narodnaya Volya convinced the tsar that he must use an iron fist, not an unclenched hand, to save the monarchy.
Aftermath
After the assassination of Alexander II, Narodnaya Volya went through a period of ideological and organizational crisis. The most significant attempts at reviving Narodnaya Volya are associated with the names of Gherman Lopatin (1884), Pyotr YakubovichPyotr Yakubovich
Pyotr Filippovich Yakubovich was a was a Russian revolutionary, revolutionary poet and member of Narodnaya Volya during the 1880s. He graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Petersburg University . After graduating, he entered the Petersburg Department of Narodnaya Volya...
(1883–1884), Boris Orzhikh, Vladimir Bogoraz
Vladimir Bogoraz
Vladimir Germanovich Bogoraz , best known under literary pseudonym N.A. Tan was a Russian revolutionary, writer and anthropologist, especially known for his studies of the Chukchi people in Siberia....
, Lev Sternberg (1885), and Sofia Ginsburg (1889). Organizations similar to Narodnaya Volya in the 1890s (in St. Petersburg and abroad) largely abandoned the revolutionary ideas of Narodnaya Volya.
Narodnaya Volya’s activity became one of the most important elements of the revolutionary situation in the late 1879–1880. However, ineffective tactics of political conspiracy and preference for terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
over other means of struggle failed. At the turn of the century, however, as increasing numbers of former members of Narodnaya Volya were released from prison and exile, these veteran revolutionaries helped to form the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which revived many of the goals and methods of the former narodniki, including peasant revolution and terror.
Modern usage of the name
In December 2001, a small nationalist party led by a veteran Russian nationalist politician Sergey BaburinSergey Baburin
Sergey Nikolayevich Baburin is a Russian nationalist politician and is Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma and leader of the Party of National Revival "Narodnaya Volya". He was elected for the Rodina bloc. He is a member of the Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitral and Procedural Law.Baburin...
was created under the name Party of National Revival "Narodnaya Volya". Later Narodnaya Volya joined Rodina
Rodina
Rodina or Motherland-National Patriotic Union was one of the four parties that controlled seats in the Russian legislature in 2003-2007...
coalition which performed surprisingly well in the 2003 State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
elections. Narodnaya Volya is seen by many as the most nationalist element in mostly leftist Rodina
Rodina
Rodina or Motherland-National Patriotic Union was one of the four parties that controlled seats in the Russian legislature in 2003-2007...
and a number of its members in the past were associated with Russian far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
movements. When Rodina merged into the new party Fair Russia
Fair Russia
A Just Russia, , also translated as Fair Russia, is a social democratic political party in Russia currently holding 38 of the 450 seats in the State Duma. It was formed on October 28, 2006, as a merger of Rodina, the Russian Party of Life and the Russian Pensioners' Party. Later, 6 further minor...
, Narodnaya Volya left the Rodina coalition instead.
External links
- People's Will, from Spartacus educational encyclopedia