Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich: regicide or romantic of the revolution?

Today, the question of who Dmitry Karakozov is and how this person is famous is unlikely to be answered by a simple school graduate. And yet the name of this man remained in the history of our country. True, he glorified himself in a dubious way.

Let us briefly consider the life path of this man, who died quite young.

Milestones of biography

Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov was born in Saratov province in 1840. His family belonged to the poor nobility.

However, the young man had all the privileges that a noble family could count on. He graduated from a male gymnasium in Penza, which would allow him to serve in the rank of an official of an average hand.

However, the young man dreamed of continuing education. He enrolled in Kazan University, then transferred to Moscow University. However, due to lack of funds, he had to leave his studies.

His active nature was looking for the unexplored and untested, and a modest post as a clerk at a magistrate could not satisfy ambitious plans.

And then Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich is fond of revolutionary ideas, which literally pierced a certain part of the youth of that time.

Revolutionary activity

In 1865, at the age of 25, a young man enters an underground organization whose goal was to create conditions for the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia and the subsequent social revolution.

The head of this organization is Dmitri's cousin N. A. Ishutin. Young people think of themselves as the new Robespieres and Marat, dreaming of a radical transformation of Russian life. The method of this transformation was chosen individual terror, which, in the opinion of community members, could awaken the revolutionary forces in Russia.

In fact, this organization was preparing people, whom we would today call "suicide bombers," they agreed to the murder of eminent figures of the Russian empire, including the ruling persons. Their goal was to generate a huge public response, as a result of which the socio-political situation in the country would change, and the authorities received revolutionary elements.

Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich agrees to become such a "suicide bomber".

In 1866 he went to Petersburg. The young man was planning a terrible thing - he was preparing for regicide.

Attempt on regicide

Note that Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov, whose biography will be cut off at the age of 25, was fully aware of his actions. Only going to Petersburg, he wrote for his friends a kind of testament, which he called "Friends-workers!". In this text, the youth with some naivety explains the motives of his future action. He says that he wants to kill the villain-king, so that the simple Russian people will not suffer under his oppression. The revolutionary believes that other people will follow him, who will finish the business that he started.

The attempt, which the revolutionary planned, took place on April 4, 1866. On this day, Tsar Alexander II was walking in the Summer Garden.

The terrorist aimed, however, according to the version of the investigation, he was pushed by the nearby peasant Osip Komisarov (later the action of this peasant was highly appreciated by the authorities).

Karakozov missed, the king saw him and ran away from the killer, trying to save his life. The revolutionary tried to make a few more shots, they ended unsuccessfully. Soon he was seized.

Court and sentence

The trial of the terrorist has attracted universal attention. The investigation was headed by a prominent ally of the king, Count M.N. Muravyov.

First, Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich refused to give evidence, he called himself a peasant son Petrov. However, the investigation established the place of his residence in Petersburg, his letters to his cousin were found, and his comrades in secret organization were arrested.

Only thanks to these arrests, it was possible to establish the real name of the terrorist.

As a result, in October 1866 the court sentenced Karakozov to death.

The execution took place on September 3 of the same year with a large crowd of people. Despite the nervous state, the young revolutionary behaved calmly.

The artist Repin even left a picture of the condemned to hanging a young man. This picture has survived to our days, because Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich, whose photo can be found with difficulty, lived on the ground too little, and was poor enough to leave behind artistic portraits.

Posthumous memory

After the execution of the terrorist in the place of his attempt on the tsar, a chapel was erected in memory of the miraculous rescue of the sovereign.

However, this did not help the emperor survive eight more attempts, the last of which ended for him death.

Young Karakozov was right: he had loyal followers who believed that the death of one person can make others happy.

At that time the country was changing, the existing ideology of monarchism, which chose the formula for itself: Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality, no longer suited many people. As a result, this led to the fact that "Karakozov's syndrome" hit the minds and hearts of more and more people. The crisis of the relationship between the people and power, the loss of faith in the old ideology, led our country to the catastrophe of 1917.

But this is a completely different story.