1861

On February 19, 1861, the relatively young Tsar Alexander II did something none of his predecessors had found the courage to do: he signed a manifesto liberating the serfs.

Ninety-nine years earlier, on February 18, 1762, another royal manifesto was signed, relieving the nobility of mandatory military or governmental service and allowing them to travel abroad. As the great historian Vasily Klyuchevsky joked, the next step was to sign a manifesto liberating the serfs, but since Russians are perpetually late, it took 99 years and one day to get around to it.

On March 5, the 1861 manifesto was read aloud in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and two days later it was proclaimed across the country. This marked the dawn of a new era of representative assemblies, independent courts, the abolition of censorship, and reforms of the military.

Twenty years later, on March 1, 1881, a not-so-young Tsar Alexander II perished when a terrorist bomb tore off his leg. This was the last in a long series of attempts to assassinate the “Tsar Liberator.” Young, ideologically driven men and women bent on “saving” Russia had been making attempts on his life for most of his reign. A month later, on April 3, 1881, the leaders of the People’s Will revolutionary group that was behind the tsar’s assassination were hanged.

Sitting on the tsar’s desk at the time of his death was a signed order to convene commissions to prepare further reforms. It is safe to assume that these commissions would have proposed creating an elective body, albeit one that probably would have transitioned gradually from an advisory role to full legislative powers.

The tsar’s son and successor, Alexander III, shaken by his father’s murder, decided not to pursue further reforms. In his view, the wave of terror that had brought about his father’s death called for tighter control, not liberalization.

Thus, it would be another 25 years before Russia had its first parliament. The First State Duma, established in April 1906, lasted a little over two months, not the five years it was supposed to. It was disbanded for advancing demands that were excessively revolutionary.

Successive Dumas functioned with varying degrees of success until 1917. In late February 1917, the fourth and final Duma sent a delegation to the tsar demanding that he relinquish power. On March 1, 1917 members of this Duma formed the Provisional Government that was supposed to ensure a wonderful new life for democratic Russia. Just a few months later, the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks.

Who is to blame for this unfortunate chain of events? The tsars who were too slow to institute reforms? A society thirsting for radical changes and refusing to settle for incremental ones? The terrorists? The Bolsheviks?

“Lord, how sad our Russia is,” Pushkin once lamented. He, of course, never saw this tragic chain play out, but, like many of the words he penned, these resonate across the ages.