Opposition groups Flashcards
Westernisers
An educated group who believed in the adoption of Western customs/ideals.
Slavophiles
Favoured a traditional Russia, thinking that its values were superior and would lead Russia on a better path if unchanged.
Radical thinkers
People who wanted extreme change and reform, usually revolutionary ideas.
The Tchaikovsky circle
A 1872-onward literary society that organised the printing, publishing and distribution of scientific and revolutionary literature. They were a small group of people (100 or so)
Populists/Narodniks
Members mainly from the nobility/intelligentsia. They wanted to convince the peasants that the future of Russia depended on the development of the peasant commune. They did this by ‘going to the people’.
Land and Liberty
A group formed in 1877 who continued the populist traditions. They tended to be less obtrusive than the populists in their methods.
They split into two groups in 1879
Black partition
They believed in promoting revolution by peaceful means.
They believed Marxism would eventually transform Russia into a socialist society.
People’s Will
Also known as Narodniks.
1870s.
They believed in a socialist society that revolved around the peasant commune.
They decided to ‘go to the people’ to spread their message, integrating themselves into villages (despite many being well off intellectuals).
When they arrived dressed in peasant clothes they were treated with suspicion and incomprehension.
They were reported to authorities and subsequently mass arrested and/or sent to Siberia.
