ABSTRACT
The history of Russia since the beginning of the nineteenth century may be represented as a succession of revolutionary waves and interrevolutionary troughs. Each of these waves rose higher than the one that preceded it. The first wave broke in 1825, in the entirely unsupported and unsuccessful mutiny of the Decembrists. It was followed by the long reaction of the reign of Nicholas I, during which the second wave rose. Gradually and slowly developing, it was at once held back and powerfully seconded by the liberal reforms of the sixties, reached its climax in the activity of the People’s Will Party, and broke in 1881 in the assassination of Alexander II. The succeeding calm was neither so long nor so complete as that which preceded it. The Revolution regained strength by the nineties (largely owing to the effect of the hunger year 1891-2), rose to an unprecedented height, and broke with a terrible crash in 1905. The movement was again suppressed, only to reappear during the first World War and finally to triumph in 1917. The third of these waves was the first to be supported by a widespread popular movement, and its crest is known by the name of the First Revolution.
