Everything about The Nihilist Movement totally explained
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.
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'd approved a proposal to call a representative assembly to consider new reforms.
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.
Political philosophy
Nihilist
political philosophy saw existing
religions,
political institutions, and
morality as opposed to
freedom. Unlike
anarchists, the Nihilists didn't reject the
State; they believed that the right sort of rulers would make the right sort of changes to society. The Nihilists didn't 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, it's also accompanied by attacks upon the assumption that we can discover truths about the universe.
Further Information
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