Decembrist occurred on date 26 of the year 1825, and its main aim was to protest the reign of Tsar Nicholas, who took the throne after his father death (Nowak, Andrzej, and Jaime 77). The successor was to be Constantine, who was Alexander's elder brother but instead he declined the role in public. Many officers did not believe that he could decline; this made his younger brother, Nicholas, to step forward. He was not popular, and this made officers take action. One of the main causes of Decembrist revolt was that early in the reign of Alexander 1, he had promised to carry out many changes including reforms of the autocracy and serfdom (Nowak, Andrzej, and Jaime 77). Another factor was the policy of Alexander that favored Poland. This made the Russian conspirators to “elaborate plans of putting the ungrateful Tsar to death” (Nowak, Andrzej, and Jaime 77). Europeans liberal movements also played a vital role in the formation of the Decembrist movement this is because they inspired the Russians movement making the Russian to feel that they are also for the same struggle.
Another factor that led to Decembrist revolt was the feeling of Russians officer that they had liberated Europe from tyranny. It made them think of the other idea was now a reform at home. This was after conquering the Napoleon. The invasion of the French army in Russia made Russia officers to feel that they were treated as slaves even after conquering the Napoleon policy. Alexander became more and more authoritative and repressive and thus “the Decembrist uprising served as an inspiration to Russians resisting tsarist oppression” (Noble, Thomas, Duane Osheim, and Barry 669). The fact that favorable conditions were essential in constitution reform also facilitated the rising of Decembrist movement. The main idea was to improve the spiritual and moral movement of the society and the elite. In conclusion, due to poor management, the movement became easily suppressed; Trubetskoy, who was to be the provisional dictator, fled away (Walicki 69).
Work Cited
Noble, Thomas F. X, Duane Osheim, and Barry S. Strauss. Western Civilization: Beyond
Boundaries. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2008. Print.
Nowak, Andrzej, and Jaime Ashworth. History and Geopolitics: A Contest for Eastern Europe.
Warsaw: Polish Institute of International Affairs, 2008. Print.
Walicki, Andrzej. A History of Russian Thought: From the Enlightenment to Marxism. Stanford:
Stanford U.P, 1979. Print.
