6 attempts on the Tsar's life, or how the People's Will hunted Alexander II the Liberator

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Alexander II is undoubtedly one of the most prominent Russian monarchs. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the liberal reforms carried out by him, the main of which is the abolition of serfdom. It was for this that the people began to call the autocrat the Liberator. However, the fate of Alexander II is a kind of historical paradox: the ruler, who gave his subjects unprecedented freedom until now, became the “record holder” not only of domestic, but also world history in terms of the number of assassination attempts committed against him and ultimately fell victim to terror.

What turned out to be for Ishutin and Karakozov unsuccessful attempt on the life of the "Tsar-villain"

The hunt for the emperor started in April 1866 with a revolver shot by former student Dmitry Karakozov. The death sentence to the emperor was passed by the secret society "Organization", headed by the revolutionary conspirator Nikolai Ishutin. The assassination attempt took place when the crown bearer and his nephews left the Summer Garden after a daily walk without security. A commoner, a certain Osip Komissarov, saved the emperor from the fatal outcome.

He instinctively hit the terrorist who was next to him on the arm, so the bullet did not hit the target. The people around helped to detain Karakozov. After a personal search and interrogation, he was sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The court sentenced Dmitry Karakozov to death by hanging. After the assassination attempt, "Organization" was liquidated, and its leader was sentenced to be hanged. In the last minutes before the execution, death was replaced by life-long penal servitude. For more than a year Ishutin was held in solitary confinement in the Shlisselburg Fortress, where he lost his mind, after which he was sent into exile.

How did the Parisian attack on the tsar end

The danger lay in wait for the Russian emperor not only at home. A year later, the autocrat was attacked abroad - while visiting the French capital. Two shots were fired in the area of the Bois de Boulogne, when the Russian tsar in an open carriage was returning from a military inspection at the hippodrome. The tragedy was averted by the guard of the French ruler, who was sitting next to the Russian tsar. The latter saw the armed man in time and took the appropriate action - he managed to push his hand away. The bullets hit the horse, the "king hunter" was detained.

The French quickly established the identity of the attacker - it turned out to be a Pole, Anton Berezovsky, a member of the national liberation movement. He stated that the motive for his action was revenge for the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863 by the Russian Empire. Upon the verdict of the court, Berezovsky went to New Caledonia to do hard labor.

The result of the third assassination attempt on the Liberator - five inaccurate shots

For more than ten years after the Paris incident, Alexander II lived relatively calmly. And in April 1879, Alexander Solovyov, a student of St. Petersburg University, was on the lookout for the sovereign during a morning walk at the Winter Palace and fired five bullets at him from a revolver. Fortunately, the attacker did not have good experience with firearms. The emperor noticed the danger in time and managed to dodge the shots. But the guards reacted only after the terrorist had completely discharged the weapon.

During the arrest, Solovyov tried to commit suicide, but he failed. In the course of the investigative actions, he said that, despite belonging to the secret revolutionary society "Land and Freedom", he made the decision to commit regicide on his own, on his own initiative. The life of Alexander Solovyov ended on the gallows.

Results of attempt # 4 - blown up train

In the autumn of the same year, Narodnaya Volya carefully planned the elimination of the sovereign. Taking into account the sad experience of their predecessors, the members of this organization developed a plan to blow up the train on which the royal family usually returned from the Crimean peninsula.

The first attempt stopped halfway: a mine was laid on the railway, but the train changed its route. The second failed due to a technical malfunction of an explosive device. The third group, led by Sophia Perovskaya, planted a bomb on rails near Moscow. The conspirators were informed that the royal motorcade consisted of two trains: the first was a luggage train, the second was a passenger train, which was blown up.

But fortune was again on the side of the monarch. There was a malfunction in the freight train, so the passenger train was allowed in first. Thanks to chance, none of the crowned family was hurt.

Dynamite under the dining room - attempt # 5

Members of "Narodnaya Volya" did not abandon their intentions to destroy the "evil tsar", so in the winter of 1880 they made another attempt. After receiving information that the renovation of the basements had begun in the Winter Palace, the terrorists developed a new plan: it was decided to install the bomb in the wine cellar, which was located under the dining room.

One of the Narodnaya Volya members, Stepan Khalturin, was introduced into the repair brigade, and he carried explosives into the basements, which he masked among the building materials. The explosion thundered exactly at the appointed time, when all members of the royal family were supposedly in the dining room. But to the great disappointment of the attackers, the gala dinner in honor of the Prince of Hesse began later due to the delay in his train. This time the soldiers of the guards became the victims of the conspirators.

Bomb in the carriage and under the feet of the king

A series of failures prompted the People's Will to prepare for a terrorist attack more thoroughly. They carefully studied the routes of the royal cortege, developed several options and chose the best one. It consisted in the following: to mine the roadway on the route of the emperor; if the mine does not work, throw bombs at the carriage; if Alexander II still remains alive, in the confusion, stab him with a dagger. The action was scheduled for March 1, 1881. To the conspirators' horror, on the appointed day, the emperor set out on a different path.

After adjusting the plan, the four terrorists changed their positions. The first bomb thrown did not reach its target: Alexander II remained unharmed, and the thrower was captured. At this moment, the emperor made a fatal mistake: instead of leaving the scene as soon as possible, he decided to look at the criminal and approached the detainee. Then a second bomb flew under the feet of the Liberator, from which he could no longer escape.

But the tsarist secret police for these reasons she missed all the assassination attempts on the king.