Bolshevism | Page 4

of Napoleon the Third." The paper had a very brief life, and
Herzen himself was soon expelled from France, going to Switzerland,
of which country he became a citizen.

In 1857 Herzen settled in London, where he published for some years a
remarkable paper, called _Kolokol (The Bell)_, in which he exposed
the iniquities and shortcomings of Czarism and inspired the youth of
Russia with his revolutionary ideals. The paper had to be smuggled into
Russia, of course, and the manner in which the smuggling was done is
one of the most absorbing stories in all the tragic history of the vast
land of the Czars. Herzen was a charming writer and a keen thinker,
and it is impossible to exaggerate the extent of his influence. But when
the freedom of the serfs, for which he so vigorously contended, was
promulgated by Alexander II, and other extensive reforms were granted,
his influence waned. He died in 1870 in Switzerland.
II
Alexander II was not alone in hoping that the Act of Liberation would
usher in a new era of prosperity and tranquillity for Russia. Many of the
most radical of the Intelligentsia, followers of Herzen, believed that
Russia was destined to outstrip the older nations of western Europe in
its democracy and its culture. It was not long before disillusionment
came: the serfs were set free, but the manner in which the land question
had been dealt with made their freedom almost a mockery. As a result
there were numerous uprisings of peasants--riots which the government
suppressed in the most sanguinary manner. From that time until the
present the land question has been the core of the Russian problem.
Every revolutionary movement has been essentially concerned with
giving the land to the peasants.
Within a few months after the liberation of the serfs the revolutionary
unrest was so wide-spread that the government became alarmed and
instituted a policy of vigorous repression. Progressive papers, which
had sprung up as a result of the liberal tendencies characterizing the
reign of Alexander II thus far, were suppressed and many of the leading
writers were imprisoned and exiled. Among those thus punished was
that brilliant writer, Tchernyshevsky, to whom the Russian movement
owes so much. His Contemporary Review was, during the four critical
years 1858-62 the principal forum for the discussion of the problems
most vital to the life of Russia. In it the greatest leaders of Russian

thought discussed the land question, co-operation, communism, popular
education, and similar subjects. This served a twofold purpose: in the
first place, it brought to the study of the pressing problems of the time
the ablest and best minds of the country; secondly, it provided these
Intellectuals with a bond of union and stimulus to serve the poor and
the oppressed. That Alexander II had been influenced to sign the
Emancipation Act by Tchernyshevsky and his friends did not cause the
authorities to spare Tchernyshevsky when, in 1863, he engaged in
active Socialist propaganda. He was arrested and imprisoned in a
fortress, where he wrote the novel which has so profoundly influenced
two generations of discontented and protesting Russians--_What is to
Be Done?_ In form a novel of thrilling interest, this work was really an
elaborate treatise upon Russian social conditions. It dealt with the
vexed problems of marriage and divorce, the land question,
co-operative production, and other similar matters, and the solutions it
suggested for these problems became widely accepted as the program
of revolutionary Russia. Few books in any literature have ever
produced such a profound impression, or exerted as much influence
upon the life of a nation. In the following year, 1864, Tchernyshevsky
was exiled to hard labor in Siberia, remaining there until 1883, when he
returned to Russia. He lived only six years longer, dying in 1889.
The attempt made by a young student to assassinate Alexander II, on
April 4, 1866, was seized upon by the Czar and his advisers as an
excuse for instituting a policy of terrible reaction. The most repressive
measures were taken against the Intelligentsia and all the liberal
reforms which had been introduced were practically destroyed. It was
impossible to restore serfdom, of course, but the condition of the
peasants without land was even worse than if they had remained serfs.
Excessive taxation, heavy redemption charges, famine, crop failures,
and other ills drove the people to desperation. Large numbers of
students espoused the cause of the peasants and a new popular literature
appeared in which the sufferings of the people were portrayed with
fervor and passion. In 1868-69 there were numerous demonstrations
and riots by way of protest against the reactionary policy of the
government.

It was at this time that Michael Bakunin, from his exile in Switzerland,
conspired with Nechaiev to bring about a great uprising of the peasants,