The Decembrist Revolt as Resistance to Autocracy

• In Event: 200 Years of Dissent: From the Decembrists to Navalny

Abstract

December 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the Decembrist revolt. This was the first Russian attempt to overthrow an autocratic regime by a liberal opposition movement acting on a structured political programme. The revolt failed but became a source of inspiration for all subsequent Russian political opposition. This paper deals with the political thought of the Decembrists. It argues that Decembrist political thought is best understood when placed in the context of the Age of Revolutions. The Decembrists saw themselves as Europeans and Russia as part of Europe. Yet, they were patriots in the sense that they sought the common good of the Russian people. They were influenced by a combination of contemporary currents of thought such as liberalism, republicanism, romanticism and civic nationalism. The paper shows how liberal ideas are generally expressed in the political documents of the Decembrists, while republican ideas are more often conveyed in civic literature and poetry. These ideas are not contradictory, but complement each other and together form a comprehensive political programme. The paper concludes that the Decembrists should not be dismissed either as Romantic dreamers or as extreme revolutionaries. They held mainstream liberal ideas and their thinking was consistent with a Western tradition of liberalism and republicanism. This is not to say that the Decembrists or their political programmes are irreproachable.

Author

• Susanna Rabow-Edling, Uppsala U (Sweden)