Narodnaya Volya

For other uses, see Narodnaya Volya (disambiguation).. people” in the early 1870s, Narodnaya Volya turned its energies against the central government. However, un- like Marxists, they continued to believe that Russia could Narodnaya Volyaya ((Russian: ННаарр оодндная вово ля;ля; IPA: ́ ́ achieve socialism throughaa peasant revolution, bypassing [nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə],, The People’s Will oror The People’s the stage of capitalism.. Freedom[1]) was a Russian revolutionary left-wing or- ganization in the late 19th century, best known for the The members of Narodnaya Volya were not in complete successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Rus- agreement about the relationship between the social and sia. It was founded in 1879 and created a centralizedd political revolutions; some believed in the possibility of and well-disguised organization in a time of diverse lib- achieving both simultaneously, relying on the socialist in- eration movements in Russia. Narodnayaya Volylya was stincts of the Russian peasantry, as demonstrated in the led by its Executive Committee: Alexander Mikhailov,, traditional peasant commune. Other members believeded Aleksandr Kvyatkovsky,, Andrei Zhelyabov,, Sophia Per- that a political revolution would have to take place first ovskaya,, Vera Figner,, Nikolai Morozov,, Mikhail Frol- and, after the autocracy had been overthrown and demo- enko,, Lev Tikhomirov,, Alexander Barannikov,, Anna cratic liberties established, revolutionaries would prepare Yakimova,, Maria Oshanina and others. Vladimir Lenin's's people for the socialist revolution. The Liberal faction of elder brother, Alexander Ulyanov was a later member of Narodnaya Volya (which had no real influence) proposed a subsequent incarnation of Narodnaya Volya, and led a to limit their demands to getting a Constitution from the cell that plotted to assassinate Tsar Alexander III.. tsarist government. The Executive Committee was in charge of a network of Narodnaya Volya spread its propaganda through all strata local and special groups (composed of workers, students, of the population. Its newspapers, “Narodnaya Volya” and members of the military). In 1879–1883, Narod- and “The Worker’s Gazette”, attempted to popularize the naya Volya had affiliates in almost 50 cities, especially ideidea of a politictical struggle with the autocracycy. Theirir inin Ukraine and the Volga region. Though the number of struggle to topple autocracy was crowned by the slogan its members never exceeded 500, Narodnaya Volya had “Now or never!” Narodnaya Volya did not succeed in en- a few thousand followers. listing the peasantry in its work, which would later lead Soviet historians to charge it with Blanquism; these histo- rians would argue that Narodnaya Volya understood po- litical struggle only in terms of conspiracy and, therefore, 1 1 PProgrammmee looked more like a sect..

Narodnaya Volya’s Program contained the following de- mands: convocation of the Constituent Assembly (for 2 Resort to teterrrrorisismm designing a Constitution); introduction of universal suf- frage; permanent people’s representation,, freedom of speech,, press, and assembly; communal self-government;; exchange of the permanent army with a people’s volun- teer corps; transfer of land to the people; gradual place- ment 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 VoVolylya differed fromm its parent organization, the narodnik Zemlya i volya, inin that its members had come to believe that a social rev- olution would be impossible in the absence of a polit- ical revolution; the peasantry could not take possession of the land as long as the government remained auto- The assassination of Alexander II of Russia, 1881 cratic. Given Zemlya i Volya’s failures in its propaganda efforts among the peasants in the movements “to the As time went by, terrorism (by contemporary defini-

11 2 6 REFERENCES tions) too became increasingly more important. A spe- State Duma elections. Narodnaya Volya is seen by many cial place in the history of Narodnaya Volya belongs as the most nationalist element in mostly leftist Rodina to its “terrorist faction”, whose members — including and a number of its members in the past were associated Aleksandr Ulyanov (Lenin's older brother) — are also with Russian far right movements. When Rodina merged known as Pervomartovtsy. Narodnaya Volya prepared into the new party Fair Russia, Narodnaya Volya left the seven assassination attempts onthe life ofTsar Alexander Rodina coalition instead. II (until they finally killed him), and later on that of In Assassin’s Creed: The Fall (an American comic book Alexander III. Its terror frightened the government and mini-series set in the fictional universe of the histori- persuaded it to make a few concessions. However, the cal action-adventure video game series called Assassin’s regime soon realized that the people would not rise up Creed), the Narodnaya Volya were the Russian branch of in support of the revolutionaries, and this encouraged the the Assassin Order. They were responsible for a number Russian government to counterattack. In 1879–83, there of actsof sabotageandmurder; their most wellknown be- were more than 70 trials of NV’s members with about ing the assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia with 2,000 people brought to trial (see Trial of the Fourteen). a bomb, after five separate attempts on his life. [2] Narodnaya Volya’s members were imprisoned or exiled. This was the end of the organization. The great irony of In episode nine, season four, of the televised show the Narodnaya Volya is that their aim was to save Russia Warehouse 13 a tatouage referencing Narodnaya Volya from the autocracy, yet their assassination of Alexander appears throughout the episode. II on 13 March [O.S. 1 March] 1881 perpetuated auto- cratic oppression. Alexander III would take no chances with reform or with liberal ideas. In many ways the Nar- 5 In Fiction odnaya Volya convinced the tsar that he must use an iron fist, not an unclenched hand, to save the monarchy. The assassination of Alexander II by Narodnaya Volya has been fictionalized several times: 3 Aftermath • Les Vies parallèles de Nicolaï Bakhmaltov by Sébastien Doubinsky (1994), p. 41 and ff. After the assassination of Alexander II, Narodnaya Volya went through a period of ideological and organizational • The People’s Will by Eric Berbig (2010) crisis. The most significant attempts at reviving Naro- dnaya Volya are associated with the names of Gherman • To Kill a Tsar by Andrew Williams (2011) Lopatin (1884), Pyotr Yakubovich (1883–1884), Boris • The People’s Will by Jasper Kent (2013) Orzhikh, Vladimir Bogoraz, Lev Sternberg (1885), and Sofia Ginsburg (1889). Organizations similar to Narod- naya Volya in the 1890s (in St. Petersburg and abroad) largely abandoned the revolutionary ideas of Narodnaya 6 References Volya. Narodnaya Volya’s activity became one of the most im- [1] “Narodnaya Volya” is sometimes translated as People’s Freedom, according to another common meaning of the portant elements of the revolutionary situation in the late Russian word Воля; see Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terror- 1879–1880. However, ineffective tactics of political con- ism, “Defining Terrorism”, however some claim that the spiracy and preference for terrorism over other means intended meaning was “People’s Will”, see Yarmolinsky, of struggle failed. At the turn of the century, however, Avrahm, Road to Revolution: A Century of Russian Radi- as increasing numbers of former members of Narodnaya calism, 1956. Chapter 12. The People’s Will. Volya were released from prison and exile, these veteran revolutionaries helped to form the Socialist Revolution- [2] WildStorm | Comics ary Party, which revived many of the goals and methods of the former narodniki, including peasant revolution and • Berlin, Isaiah, “The Populists’ Moral Condemnation terror. of Russia Political and Social Systems,” in Problems ofEuropean Civilization: Imperial Russia after 1861, Arthur E. Adams, ed. D. C. Heath and Company, 4 Modern usage of the name 1965.

• Maynard, Sir John, Russia in Flux: Before the Octo- In December 2001, a small nationalist party led by a vet- ber Revolution, Collier Books, 1962. eran Russian nationalist politician Sergey Baburin was created under the name Party of National Revival “Nar- • Yarmolinsky, Avrahm, Road to Revolution: A Cen- odnaya Volya”. Later Narodnaya Volya joined Rodina tury of Russian Radicalism, 1956. Chapter 12. The coalition which performed surprisingly well in the 2003 People’s Will. 3

7 External links

• “Official website of modern Russian political party named “Narodnaya Volya"" (in Russian). Retrieved May 6, 2006.

• “Memorial plaque in Odessa, Ukraine for members of Narodnaya Volya”. 2odessa. Retrieved May 6, 2006.

• People’s Will, from Spartacus educational encyclo- pedia 4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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