The uprising on Senate Square was the result of the penetration of enlightenment ideas from Europe to Russia. The reactionary policy of the tsarist government strengthened the tendency towards freethinking that had arisen among the thinking part of society. After the Patriotic War of 1812, the national economy of Russia was in ruins.
However, over the course of several post-war years, the government did not bother to carry out the necessary reforms that would alleviate the lot of the general population. As a result, spontaneous popular uprisings rose throughout the country. They became especially frequent in the hungry years of 1820-1822. The main demand of the peasants was the abolition of serfdom - a relic of the feudal era, which had long since disappeared in Western Europe. There were painful problems in the army as well. Especially hated by the people was the state commissioner of Alexander I in this area, Count A. Arakcheev. His activities to create the so-called military settlements, where the soldiers themselves had to work in the fields and provide for their own needs, not forgetting the military drill, met with fierce resistance from the latter. The despotic rule of Alexander I did not arouse sympathy among the liberal-minded nobles, who looked with interest at examples of democratic transformations and the modernization of society in Europe. Actually, it was the nobles who prepared the uprising on Senate Square.
Secret societies
In the second decade of the 19th century, among the liberal-minded aristocrats, the understanding was finally formed that the current reactionary policy of the tsarist government hinders the development of the country and ensures that it lags behind the advanced states of Europe and North America. In 1816, the first secret society arose, called the Union of Salvation. It had about 30 members, almost all of them were young army officers. The main goals of the illegal community were the abolition of serfdom and the elimination of the tsarist autocracy in the country. However, two years later the conspirators were exposed by the government. The next such organizations were the "Union of Welfare" and the "Southern Society" and "Northern Society" that appeared as a result of its split. These secret clubs had common global goals, but different views on how to achieve them and on the subsequent administrative-territorial and political arrangement of Russia. However, sudden deathautocrat in November 1925 pushed the conspirators to a unified decision: it is necessary to act without delay already this year - 1825. The uprising on Senate Square was prepared in just two weeks.
Failed coup
The oath of the new Tsar Nicholas I was scheduled for December 14th. On the same day, the rebels scheduled their uprising in Senate Square. The main events unfolded on the morning of the day of the royal oath. The troops, led by opposition officers, were supposed to take control of the senators and force them, instead of taking a solemn royal oath, to announce that the tsarist government was overthrown.
After that, the participants in the uprising on Senate Square planned to announce a manifesto addressed to the entire Russian people about the revolution that had taken place. However, banal inconsistency and indecision led to the collapse of all plans. At the decisive moment, it turned out that Nicholas I had already managed to take the oath to the Senate early in the morning. The decisive actions of the Decembrists could still save the situation. However, at the decisive moment, Trubetskoy, the main military leader of the uprising, did not appear on the square, leaving his like-minded people without support. This hitch gave the government the opportunity to take control of the situation, gather military forces, surround the conspirators and crush the uprising in Senate Square.
