Friday, December 15, 2006

Nihilism

Another great measure concluded during this reign, the emancipation of the serfs, by which nearly 45,000,000 of men were delivered from hereditary bondage, was perhaps the vastest act of philanthropy which it ever fell to the lot of an individual man to accomplish. (See section Tenure of Land, &c.) Russia under Alexander has taken an active part in European politics, but her chief efforts have been directed towards the East. For some time her progress in this direction was arrested by the results of the Crimean war, but the Caucasian tribes were subdued in 1864, and a war with Bokhara, begun in 1866, ended in 1868 with the conquest of Samarkand. During the Franco-German war Russia seized the opportunity of the isolation of Great Britain to denounce those articles of the Treaty of Paris which prohibited her from fortifying Sebastopol and maintaining an armed fleet on the Black Sea. On the remonstrance of several of the European powers a conference was held in London, which led to a treaty abrogating the Black Sea clauses, signed 13th March, 1871. Since that date the most important events in the history of Russia are the expedition to Khiva and the outbreak of war with Turkey. The expidition to Khiva (1873) rose out of the detention by the Khivans of some Russian subjects as prisoners, and resulted in the annexation to Russia of the whole of the Khivan territory on the right bank of the Amu Darya. The war with Turkey was one of the remote consequences of the insurrection in Herzegovina that began in the summer of 1875. This insurrection brought to light the continued misgovernment by Turkey of her Christian subjects; and other risings having followed, Russia, acting as champion of the Christian provinces of Turkey, crossed the Turkish frontier on the 24th of April, 1877. The war ended early in 1878 with the complete overthrow of Turkey, and on the 3d of March a treaty of peace was signed before the gates of Constantinople at San Stefano. In this peace Russia obtained the cession of a portion of Armenia in Asia Minor, including the fortress of Kars, and the retrocession of the portion of Bessarabia which she had ceded to Roumania after the Crimean war. By the treaty of Berlin concluded in July following the portion of ceded territory in Armenia was reduced, but Russia was allowed to retain Kars and Bessarabia. Since the conclusion of this war Russia has been more than ever disturbed by the Nihilist movement. (See NIHILISTS.) After various attempts at assassination made on the emperor and persons in high authority, and believed to be due to the Nihilists, and after an attempt to blow up the whole imperial party in the winter-palace in 1880, the Emperor Alexander was assassinated by means of a bomb in St. Petersburg, March 13, 1881.
- from "Russia", in Charles Annandale, M.A. (ed.), The Popular Encyclopedia; or, Conversations Lexicon. Being a dictionary of science and arts, literature, biography, history, and general information, new and revised edition, vol. XII: Randers-Seleucia, c. 1895?

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