The Decembrist Uprising
Another important year for the 19th-century Russia is 1825. It was the year when Alexander I
died having left no direct heir to the throne. According to the law, his brother Constantine
should have become an emperor, but he abdicated in favor of his younger brother Nicholas who
accepted the throne. But it was the time when a revolutionary movement sprang up in the upper
layers of the society. High rank officers and liberal aristocrats inspired by the ideas of the
French Revolution of 1789 and being against serfdom in Russia, wanted to establish a republic
and abolish serfdom. So they refused to swear allegiance to the new emperor and arranged an
uprising in front of the Senate building. It took place in December of 1825 and the people
who took part in it were called the Decembrists. Among these people there were outstanding
personalities who were the friends of Alexander Pushkin, greatest Russian poet ever.
The Decembrist Uprising was severely suppressed but it greatly influenced the minds of the
Russian people and gave a push to further development of revolutionary movements in Russia.
This uprising took place in the Senate Square, and in 1925 to the centenary of the event it
was renamed to the Decembrist Square.
It is the place where the Bronze Horseman is situated which is the most famous and the most
poetic monument of our city (it is a monument to Peter the Great and it was created to the order
of Catherine the Great and unveiled in 1782). Another notable fact is that it is the first
monument ever put up in St. Petersburg!
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