Alexander’s Assassination
nThe intelligentsia wanted radical political change and
deep social reform while
preserving a distinct Russian culture.
•Some of the intellectuals became anarchists who hoped to
triumph by winning peasant support.
•When peasants were not interested, some turned to
terrorism.
nThe government reaction was to pull back from reform, introduce censorship, and exile dissidents to Siberia.
nAlexander II was assassinated in 1881
nHis successors opposed reform and continued political, religious, and ethnic repression.
