THE AFTERMATH OF ASSASSINATION

The assassination of Alexander II on 1 March 1881 was perhaps the major triumph of revolutionary Populism, for a long and determined campaign had been crowned with success and an example provided of what could be achieved by revolutionaries with boldness and dedication. And yet at the same time it also represents a failure and marks the beginning of Populism's long decline.

Initially, of course, supporters of the régime were hardly disposed to draw comfort from the events of March 1881, nor were revolutionaries inclined to view them pessimistically. Court circles feared further attempts at tsaricide. Pobedonostsev, the new Tsar's former tutor and now his mentor and close adviser, urged Alexander III to lock the door of his bedroom at night and to look under the furniture before retiring. Fearful for his safety in the capital, Alexander tended to immure himself in the austere royal palace at Gatchina some thirty miles to the south-west of St Petersburg. And such was the fear of further acts of terrorism that Alexander's coronation did not take place until May 1883, more than two years after his accession to the throne. The Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya, for its part, made the extravagant claim that the assassination had been greeted with sympathy and even with glee by an ‘enormous’ number of people. Mikhaylovsky is said to have believed that revolution was now at hand.