Decembrist Uprising Against Tsar Nicholas

Decembrists were Russian revolutionaries and majority of them were army officers that returned to Russia with liberal ideas picked up in France following Napoleonic Wars (lecture, 10/5). Decembrists made a mistake of thinking that Nicholas I would be receptive to their ideas. However, he was a conservative. This one of the reasons to why the Decembrist uprising against the tsar Nicholas. Catherine's Legislative Commission of 1767 also played an important in this uprising. One of the commissions was to create national schools (Cracraft 203). Catherine believe national schools because she had a vision of new bread mean educated citizens and strong military. The Decembrists were Catherine’s vision since they were primarily members of the upper classes who had military backgrounds and “had received a good education” (Riasanovsky and Steinberg, 216). With education the citizens were capable of making good decisions about what is best for Russia and its people. …show more content…
The Decemberists wanted to establish a liberal government because they believed it would benefit the people. So, the uprising against Tsar Nicholas was the result of two different beliefs, liberal and conservative. The Decemberists were liberals and they wanted: constitutional government, “defend the rights of individuals, abolish serfdom, advance education and social welfare, and ensure basic civil rights, especially freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly” (Riasanovsky 316). On the other hand, Nicholas was a conservative. He interested in military affairs, but did not taking much interest in the humanities. This was the main cause of the