Revolt Against the Tsar: The Decembrists

Overview

This is the story of the Decembrist revolt of 1825, in which a group of army officers tried to change the course of Russian history by overturning the country's traditional systems of autocratic government and serfdom. In St.Petersburg, the chaos of the interregnum following Emperor Alexander's death was exploited by the Decembrists, who attempted to launch a military coup. While in Ukraine, the Decembrists' Southern Society planned its own military revolt. This video follows the course of both risings, the aftermath, and how future Russian reformers and revolutionaries viewed the Decembrist revolt.