ABSTRACT
In considering revolutionary politics in late-imperial Russia, historians tend to take for granted that radical behaviour was principally a response to oppressive socio-economic and political conditions under the autocratic regime. Accordingly, scholars traditionally accept the extremists’ justifications for subversive activities and focus on ideological viewpoints and controversies within the anti-government camp. They also typically ascribe primary importance for the growth and development of the opposition movement around the turn of the twentieth century to theoretical polemics regarding the most befitting revolutionary tactics.
