Nihilist movement

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This article is about the Russian cultural and political movement. For other uses, see Nihilism (disambiguation).

The Nihilist movement was an 1860s Russian cultural movement which rejected existing authorities and values. It is derived from the Latin word "nihil", which means "nothing". After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, the Nihilists were known throughout Europe as proponents of the use of violence as a tool for political change.

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[edit] History

The Nihilists were outraged by the relative backwardness of life in Russia in comparison with Western countries such as England and France. Although the term Nihilist had been used before, its widespread usage began with the 1862 novel Fathers and Sons by the Russian author Ivan Turgenev. The main character of the novel, Bazarov, who describes himself as a Nihilist, wants to educate the people. This "go to the people — be the people" campaign reached its height in the 1870s, during which underground groups such as Circle of Tchaikovsky, People's Reprisal and Land and Liberty were formed. This became known as the Narodnik movement. The Russian State attempted to suppress them. In actions described by the Nihilists as propaganda of the deed many government officials were assassinated. In 1881 Alexander II was killed on the very day he had approved a proposal to call a representative assembly to consider new reforms.

[edit] Historical context

Beginning with the reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725), many in the Russian elite were fascinated by the technological, artistic, and intellectual achievements of Western Europe: "During the 1820s and 1830s Russian thought was influenced powerfully by several waves of German Romantic idealism and then the philosophy of Hegel, both of which raised...the concept of distinct national identity and of “inevitable” historical progress…" (Wasiolek, 3)

After the Crimean War (1853–56) however the Nihilists rejected the German-influenced liberals of the 1830–40s generation, decrying previous reforms as ineffective. Both sets of reformers were opposed by the conservative Slavophiles, who sought to defend established traditions and values.

[edit] Political philosophy

Nihilist political philosophy saw existing religions, political institutions, and morality as opposed to freedom. Unlike anarchists, the Nihilists did not reject the State; they believed that the right sort of rulers would make the right sort of changes to society. The Nihilists did not advocate belief in nothing, they believed in liberating human beings from existing creeds and practices via an appeal to objective values. Although this critique is accompanied by an endorsement of the findings of modern science[citation needed], it is also accompanied by attacks upon the assumption that we can discover truths about the universe.

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