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Why were the Decembrists called the Decembrists?
The conspirators, known as the Decembrists because they tried to act in December 1825 when the news of Alexander I’s death became known and there was uncertainty about his successor, were defeated and arrested; five were executed, and many more sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in Siberia. Nicholas I,…
What was the Northern Society's reaction to the death of Alexander I?
The Northern Society, taking advantage of the brief but confusing interregnum following the death of Tsar Alexander I, staged an uprising, convincing some of the troops in St. Petersburg to refuse to take a loyalty oath to Nicholas I and to demand instead the accession of his brother Constantine.
How many decrepits were executed in the Chernigov Regiment?
Another insurrection by the Chernigov regiment in the south was also quickly defeated. An extensive investigation in which Nicholas personally participated ensued; it resulted in the trial of 289 Decembrists, the execution of 5 of them (Pavel Pestel, Sergey Muravyov-Apostol, Pyotr Kakhovsky, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin, and Kondraty Ryleyev), the imprisonment of 31, and the banishment of the rest to Siberia.
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Where was the Decemberists formed?
Formed in 2000 in Portland, Oregon, The Decemberists (with drummers Ezra Holbrook to 2002 and Rachel Blumberg from 2002 to 2005) initially hewed to a primarily folk-pop sound built around acoustic guitarmelodies. Their first album, however, Castaways and Cutouts(2002), featured the baroque instrumentation and narrative song structures (as well as Meloy’s idiosyncratically nasal voice) that would become the band’s hallmarks.
What is the Decemberists song?
The Decemberists, American indie-rock group known for its highly stylized, literate songs, notably ‘The Mariner’s Revenge Song,’ an eight-minute epic in the style of a sea shanty, and the ballads on The Crane Wife. Learn more about The Decemberists’ background, music, side projects, and career.
What was the first album of the Decemberists?
However, the group’s first album with Capitol, The Crane Wife (2006), assuagedthose fears. It featured elegant ballads about a man falling in love with and marrying a wounded crane that temporarily takes the form of a woman, alongside sprawling progressive-rock-infused jams, and was atop many critics’ lists of the year’s best albums.
When did the Decemberists sign with Capitol Records?
After The Decemberists signed in 2005 with major label Capitol Records, some observers speculated that the band might be required to make artistic compromises for the mainstream label. However, the group’s first album with Capitol, The Crane Wife (2006), assuaged those fears.
What was the name of the band that Meloy wrote?
During that time Meloy wrote (and his wife, Carson Ellis, illustrated) a trio of children’s books, the Wildwood Chronicles, while the other members toured and recorded as part of the alternative folk band Black Prairie.
Who were the Decemberists?
Pavel Pestel speech at the meeting of the Northern Society of the Decembrists in Petersburg
What did the Decemberists do to Nicholas?
The Decemberists planned to interrupt the swearing of allegiance in St. Petersburg. The officers were to incite the soldiers of the royal guards to revolt, take the Winter Palace, arrest Nicholas and his family, and declare a Provisional Government. Prince Sergey Trubetskoy was chosen as the “dictator”, the revolt’s leader.
How did the Decemberists plan to execute the coup d’etat?
Since 1814, the future Decemberists created several secret societies that had proclaimed their goals as: eradicating social vices, fighting corruption and aiding the enlightenment of the masses. The Union of Salvation (1816-1817) was transformed into The Union of Prosperity (1818-1821). It had over 200 members and about 15 regional “branches”, but only the upper 30 members knew they had a constitutional coup d’etat planned in the future. By 1821, the Union of Prosperity became so widely known among the nobility, it had to be dissolved. It split into the more radical Southern Society in Kiev, led by Pavel Pestel, and the more liberal Northern Society in St. Petersburg, under the command of Nikita Muravyov.
Why did the Decemberists revolt happen?
After Alexander died , Russia spent two weeks at an interregnum. According to the Russian laws, Konstantin was the next in line to the throne; but in 1823, Konstantin signed an abdication from the throne – secretly, in order not to cause a stir in the society. The throne was to be transferred to Nicholas, but he didn’t know it – only three people in the Empire, Alexander’s trusted officials, knew about the abdication.
What punishment and sentences did the Decemberists receive?
The investigation was very thorough: all members of the Decemberist conspiracy were interrogated, some of them by the Emperor himself. Their statements, including their explanations of their goals, their critique of the government and their constitutional plans were recorded into several volumes. Nicholas later repeatedly referred to these materials during his rule. He even ironically called the Decemberists “my friends of the 14th”.
How many Decemberists were there in Russia?
In total, there were over 600 Decemberists and their sympathizers. Among them were members of the Empire’s highest aristocratic families: royal guards Alexander Muravyov and Nikita Muravyov, Prince Ilya Dolgorukov, Prince Sergey Trubetskoy, and many other young noblemen.
What happened in 1825?
By autumn 1825, both societies had come to an agreement that the coup d’etat was to be executed in summer 1826 – Emperor Alexander and both his brothers Konstantin and Nicholas were to be arrested during major military training in the southern parts of Russia, and at the same time, a military uprising was to be organized in St. Petersburg. But on November 27, 1825, news had reached St. Petersburg that Alexander had suddenly died on November, 19, while on wellness holidays in Taganrog, Russia. Because of the new circumstances, the Decemberists’ plans had to again be changed in a hurry.
Where were the Decembrists exiled?
Other Decembrists were exiled to Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Far East. Suspicion also fell on several eminent persons who were on friendly terms with the Decembrist leaders and could have been aware of their clandestine organizations, notably Alexander Pushkin, Aleksander Griboyedov, and Aleksey Yermolov.
How did the Siberian people meet the Decembrists?
The Siberian population met the Decembrists with great hospitality. Natives played central roles in keeping lines of communication open among Decembrists, friends, and relatives. Most merchants and state employees were also sympathetic. To the masses, the Decembrist exiles were "generals who had refused to take the oath to Nicholas I." They were great figures that had suffered political persecution for their loyalty to the people. On the whole, indigenous Siberian populations greatly respected the Decembrists and were extremely hospitable in their reception of them.
What is the meaning of the december wife?
Wives of many Decembrists followed their husbands into exile. The expression Decembrist wife is a Russian symbol of the devotion of a wife to her husband. Maria Volkonskaya, the wife of the Decembrist leader Sergei Volkonsky, notably followed her husband to his exile in Irkutsk. Despite the spartan conditions of this banishment, Sergei Volkonsky and his wife Maria took opportunities to celebrate the liberalising mode of their exile. Sergei took to wearing an untrimmed beard (rejecting Peter the Great 's reforms and salon fashion), wearing peasant dress and socialising with many of his peasant associates with whom he worked the land at his farm in Urik. Maria, equally, established schools, a foundling hospital and a theater for the local population. Sergei returned after 30 years of his exile had elapsed, though his titles and land remained under royal possession. Other exiles preferred to remain in Siberia after their sentences were served, preferring its relative freedom to the stifling intrigues of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and after years of exile there was not much for them to return to. Many Decembrists thrived in exile, in time becoming landowners and farmers. In later years, they became idols of the populist movement of the 1860s and the 1870s as the Decembrists' advocacy of reform (including the abolition of serfdom) won them many admirers, including the writer Leo Tolstoy.
What were the Decembrists' goals?
To some extent, the Decembrists were in the tradition of a long line of palace revolutionaries of 1725–1825 who wanted to place their candidate on the throne, but many Decembrists also wanted to implement either classical liberalism or a moderate conservatism contrary to the more Jacobin, centralizing program of Pavel Pestel or the pan-Slavic confederation-advocating revolutionaries of the "Society of United Slavs". The majority of Decembrists were not members of illegal organizations similar to the participants of palace revolutions. Some were members of the Union of Prosperity only, sympathetic to an official, pro-governmental fairly conservative program. But their revolt, unlike previous Romanov palace revolutions, has been considered the beginning of a revolutionary movement. The uprising was the first open breach between the government and reformist elements of the Russian nobility, which would subsequently widen.
When did the Decembrists arrive in Siberia?
Decembrists in Siberia. On 25 July [ O.S. 13 July] 1826, the first party of Decembrist convicts began its exodus to Siberia. Among this group, were Prince Trubetskoi, Prince Obolensky, Peter and Andrei Borisov, Prince Volkonsky, and Artamon Muraviev, all of them bound for the mines at Nerchinsk.
How many decrepits were sent to exile?
Fifteen out of 124 Decembrists were convicted of "state-crimes" by the Supreme Criminal Court, and sentenced to "exile-to-settlement." These men were sent directly to isolated locales, such as Berezov, Narym, Surgut, Pelym, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, and Viliuisk, among others. Few Russians inhabited these places: The populations consisted mainly of Siberian aborigines, Tunguses, Yakuts, Tartars, Ostiaks, Mongols, and Buriats.
What was the first open breach between the government and reformist elements of the Russian nobility?
But their revolt, unlike previous Romanov palace revolutions, has been considered the beginning of a revolutionary movement. The uprising was the first open breach between the government and reformist elements of the Russian nobility, which would subsequently widen.
What is the Decembrists?
The Decembrists ( Russian: Декабристы) is an unfinished novel by Leo Tolstoy, who finished three chapters. Its hero was to have been a participant in the abortive Decembrist Uprising of 1825, released from Siberian exile after 1856. It was intended as a sequel to War and Peace, and the second part of a planned trilogy, whose third part would be set in 1856.
What is the significance of the final chapters of the Decembrists?
Its final chapters carry the action up to the period of the Decembrists. It is known that he conducted research into the Decembrist movement with much the same thoroughness that he had approached the Napoleonic wars. Tolstoy sought access to the Decembrists' court proceedings but was denied.
What was Tolstoy's goal in the Decembrist story?
Tolstoy's aim, however, was not just to idealize the Decembrists, but to present a balanced view, similar to his other work.