The Dekabrist Uprising: A Milestone to Russian History

As the effects of the French Revolution spread to the Russia of the time.

What it is?

It is the failed coup attempt of officers and intellectuals who wanted to limit the authority of the tsar to a constitution, influenced by the ideas of the French revolution during the reign of the Tsar Nikolai The First in Russia (1825 - 1855). Some of those who supported this movement were hanged and the rest were exiled to Siberia.

Let's Detail It

The decabrist uprising is a key insurrection in Russian history that occurred in the Russian Empire in 1825. The reason the uprising is called the "decabrist uprising" is that it took place in December.

An important factor causing the uprising is the Napoleonic wars. In this process, the Russian intelligentsia will be under the influence of French enlightenment and liberal thinkers, and officers will begin to doubt the current order in their hometown. ubi dubium ibi libertas, which means freedom where there is doubt, is a Latin phrase that expresses this situation very well.

Before the uprising, I. Nikolai's older brother Constantine refused to take the throne. Succeeding his brother I. Nikolai is an autocrat. He does not tolerate dissenting voices in the country but for a russian nationalist or an orthodox I. Nikolai is a great figure.

 I. Nikolai

I. Nikolai not only helped to establish an independent Greek state, but also during the Ottoman-Russian war of 1828-1829, which resulted in the Edirne Treaty, where Russian ships were granted the right to pass through the Bosphorus, autonomy was given to many regions within the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire had to accept the independent Greek state. It has achieved great success.

In domestic politics, the fact that I. Nikolai is very sensitive and cautious against possible conspiracies may be due to the assassination of his father, Pavel Petrovich, in a conspiracy

The uprising, powered by reformist ideas, is described in some sources as coup d'état. indeed, the uprising is too haphazard and full of uncertainty. Although there are some goals based on liberal goals, a common decision has not been reached on what kind of system will be established as a result of the revolution. Nevertheless, the most important demands of the rebel decabrists can be summarized as an egalitarian legal system draft, constitution, and an end to slavery.

Masonic lodges were also influential in the development of liberal and enlightenment ideas in Russia. The union of salvation, of which decabrists are members, is a secret organization that includes important officers in the army and carries the traces of Freemasonry.

It is said that Pestel and Murakiev, one of the most important ideologues of the movement, were also masons.

The most obvious reason for the failure of the rebellion is the lack of strategy. Rebel soldiers are only a third of the number of loyal soldiers, not to mention the leaders who disappeared during the rebellion.

Despite the setbacks and defeat it suffered, the decabrist revolt was accepted as the beginning of the Russian revolutionary movement even by Lenin.