Assassination of Alexander II of Russia

• 1. The People's Will Committee

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  On the 25th and the 26th of August 1879, a group of twenty-two revolutionaries gathered to make a fateful decision. They belonged to the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya, also known as the People's Will. Their goal was to kill Emperor Alexander II of Russia. This meeting occurred on the anniversary of his coronation. The committee believed that removing the Tsar would spark a wider revolution across the empire. Over the next year and a half, their earlier attempts had failed repeatedly. Dmitry Karakozov tried to shoot him in 1866. Alexander Soloviev attempted another shooting in 1879. A plot to blow up the imperial train in Aleksandrovsk also collapsed. Even a bombing of the Winter Palace in February 1880 did not succeed. The group decided to target the Tsar during his routine Sunday visit to the Mikhailovsky Manège. They studied his movements for months. They knew he usually returned home via Malaya Sadovaya Street or along the Catherine Canal. Andrei Zhelyabov became the chief organizer of this new plan. He coordinated four bomb-throwers who volunteered for the mission. Ignacy Hryniewiecki, Nikolai Rysakov, Timofey Mikhailov, and Ivan Yemelyanov prepared to act. The conspirators opened a cheese store inside the Eliseyev Emporium on Malaya Sadovaya Street. From there they dug a tunnel under the street to plant dynamite. Nikolai Kibalchich designed and built the hand-held bombs used in the attack. Vera Figner, one of seven women on the Executive Committee, helped assemble the explosives the night before the strike.

• 2. The Two Explosions

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  At 2:15 PM on the afternoon of the 13th of March 1881, the Tsar's carriage turned onto Bolshaya Italyanskaya Street. This route avoided the mine planted under Malaya Sadovaya Street. Sophia Perovskaya signaled the assassins by taking out a handkerchief and blowing her nose. She directed them toward the Catherine Canal instead. Nikolai Rysakov walked up to the carriage carrying a bomb wrapped in a handkerchief. He threw it under the vehicle as it moved about 150 yards down the quay. A Cossack named Alexander Maleichev was mortally wounded by the blast. A fourteen-year-old peasant boy named Nikolai Zakharov also suffered injuries. The bulletproof carriage sustained damage but remained intact. Emperor Alexander II stepped out unharmed though shaken. He expressed concern for the victims and told his entourage that he was untouched. Police Chief Dvorzhitzky offered to drive him back to the palace in his own sleigh. The Tsar agreed but decided first to inspect the scene and speak with the culprit. While he stood there examining the damage, Ignacy Hryniewiecki approached closely. Hryniewiecki made a sudden movement and threw a second bomb at the Emperor's feet. The explosion shattered the air and brought both men to the ground. Alexander II lay bleeding from shattered legs below the knee and an open abdomen. His face was mutilated by debris. About twenty people nearby received wounds of varying severity according to police reports. Ivan Yemelyanov held a briefcase containing another bomb ready if needed. He and others rushed to help the dying monarch. Alexander whispered barely audible words asking to be taken to the palace. He died at 3:30 PM when his personal flag was lowered for the last time.

• 3. The Special Tribunal

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  Ignacy Hryniewiecki lingered in agony at a military hospital until evening before dying without naming anyone. Nikolai Rysakov cooperated with investigators after being captured at the scene. His testimony helped police raid the group headquarters on March 15, two days after the attack. Helfman was arrested while Sablin fired shots at officers before killing himself. Timofey Mikhailov was caught the next day following a short gunfight. Sophia Perovskaya was apprehended on March 22. Nikolai Kibalchich was seized on March 29. Ivan Yemelyanov was taken into custody on April 14. Six conspirators including Zhelyabov, Perovskaya, Kibalchich, Helfman, Mikhailov, and Rysakov faced trial as State criminals. The Special Tribunal of the Ruling Senate heard their case from March 26 through March 29. All six received death sentences by hanging. The executions took place on the 15th of April 1881, on the parade grounds of the Semyonovsky Regiment. Hesya Helfman's execution was delayed due to her pregnancy. Alexander III later changed her sentence to forced labor for an indefinite period. She died from post-natal complications in January 1882. Her infant daughter also passed away shortly afterward. Ivan Yemelyanov received life imprisonment instead of death. He served twenty years before receiving a pardon from the Tsar. Vera Figner remained free until the 10th of February 1883. During that time she orchestrated another assassination targeting General Mayor Strelnikov in Odessa. In 1884, Figner was sentenced to hang but had her punishment commuted to penal servitude. She served twenty years until Nicholas II granted freedom following a plea from her dying mother.

• 4. The Church of Blood

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  A temporary shrine appeared immediately at the site where the first bomb exploded. Plans began quickly to build a permanent memorial structure. Construction started in 1883 under Emperor Alexander III. The project finished in 1907 during the reign of Nicholas II. The resulting building became known as the Church of the Savior on Blood. An elaborate shrine called a ciborium stands opposite the altar at the exact location of the attack. This shrine contains topaz and lazurite among other semi-precious stones. These gems create a striking visual contrast with the simple cobblestones exposed in the floor below. Those same cobblestones mark the old road where the carriage stopped after the initial blast. Iron railings line the edge of the quay where the tragedy unfolded. The church serves as both a place of worship and a historical monument. It preserves the memory of the event through its architecture and interior design. Visitors can still see the original street surface beneath the sacred space today.

• 5. Pogroms and Laws

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  Alexander II had been viewed as relatively tolerant toward Jewish citizens during his rule. Special taxes imposed on Jews were eliminated while he was alive. Graduates from secondary schools gained permission to live outside the Pale of Settlement. They also became eligible for state employment positions. Many educated Jews moved rapidly to cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg following these changes. His successor Alexander III reversed this policy immediately after taking power. The assassination led to new legislation known as the May Laws. These laws restricted Jewish rights and increased persecution. Retaliatory attacks against Jewish communities erupted across the empire. Thousands of homes were destroyed during these pogroms. Large numbers of men, women, and children suffered injury or death. Poverty spread among many families affected by the violence. The riots occurred in 166 towns located in the south-western provinces of the Russian Empire. Some sources claimed that Jewish members played a central role in the plot. About one-third of all female members of Narodnaya Volya were Jewish. Ignacy Hryniewiecki was rumored to be Jewish though he was actually an ethnic Pole. The Jewish Chronicle reported on the 6th of May 1881, that the role of Jews in the act was often exaggerated.