Stepan Khalturin, whose short biography will be presented later, is known for participating in the organization of the explosion in the Winter Palace in 1880. In addition, he was one of the leaders of the North Russian Workers Union movement.
Stepan Khalturin: biography
The future revolutionary was born in the village of Khalevinskaya in 1856, on December 21, in the family of a wealthy peasant. In 1871, Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich graduated from the district school in the Oryol region of the Vyatka province. In 1874 he entered the zemstvo teacher's seminary, but the next 1875 he was expelled for poor performance.
First work
In 1875, along with several like-minded people, Stepan Khalturin wanted to go to America to create his own commune there. However, on the way to Moscow, his fellow travelers stole his passport from him and went abroad through Petersburg. Khalturin tried to catch them, but could not. Arriving in St. Petersburg, he was engaged in a wide variety of work to feed himself and get a job at least for the night. In the fall of 1875, he managed to establish contact with the Narodnik revolutionaries, among whom was G.V. Plekhanov. After some time, Stepan Khalturin met by chance with Kotelnikov - a teacher of the Zemstvo school. The latter moved to St. Petersburg and participated in clandestine organizations. He helped Khalturin get a job as a joiner in the railway workshops. Subsequently, Kotelnikov recommended him to the political circles of St. Petersburg.
Revolutionary activity
Having entered into an underground political movement, Stepan Khalturin quickly gained popularity among members of the circle. Here his propaganda talents showed up. He participated in the formation of the first workers' organization in Russia. Later, V. G. Korolenko told in his memoirs (from the words of Alexander Pavlov) that Khalturin “with tears in his eyes convinced his followers not to embark on the path of terror”, saying that there was no return from this road. In the last quarter of the 19th century, many capitalist industrial enterprises were concentrated in St. Petersburg. In the city, the number of proletarian population increased rapidly. Through the port, literature of Russian emigrant revolutionaries penetrated the city. In December 1878, the charter and program of the Northern Russian Workers Union were adopted. The organizers of the movement were A. E. Gorodnichy, D. N. Smirnov, S. I. Volkov, V. I. Saveliev. The society gathered on the 15th line of Vasilievsky Island, 20. After some time, the movement was led by Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich and Obnorsky Victor Pavlovich. In 1879, the approved program and charter were published in the form of leaflets with the slogan "To the Russian workers!" It is worth noting that the organization of the Union was quite archaic - it was not a party, but rather a secret society. Nevertheless, his education is a significant step forward for socialist propaganda among the working people.
Organization structure and work
The Union began to expand rapidly. Soon his branches began to form in the working districts of St. Petersburg. Each of them was led by a worker who was a member of the Central Circle. Inside the association, there was its own illegal library, a loan and savings bank worked . In February 1880, members of the Union managed to design and launch a printing press. It began to be used to make leaflets. It also printed the first issue of the "Work Dawn" (revolutionary newspaper). In total, there were about 200 people in the Soyuz. They strove to create an all-Russian organization, tried to lead political strikes. Branches of the organization operated in Helsingfors and Moscow. In 1880, the movement was defeated by the authorities. Parts of its members managed to escape.
Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich: massacre against tsarism
In September 1879, the revolutionary, using fake documents, got a job as a carpenter in the Winter Palace. He was settled in the basement. By early February of next year, he was able to transfer to the room where he lived, dynamite made in an underground laboratory. The guardhouse was located directly above the room where Stepan Khalturin settled. The terrorist hoped that the force of the explosion would reach the dining room, where the dinner of Alexander II and the Prince of Hesse was planned. It was located on the second floor, above the guardhouse. However, the prince’s train was 30 minutes late. The explosion occurred when the emperor met a guest in the Field Marshal's Hall, far from the dining room. The shock wave destroyed the floors between the first and basement floors. The floors of the guardhouse (the modern hall of the Hermitage No. 26) collapsed. Between the second and first floors were double arches of brick. They resisted the explosion. People in the mezzanine were not injured, but the shock wave raised the floors and knocked out windows. In the dining room (160th hall of the Hermitage today), a crack went along the wall.
As a result of the explosion, 11 soldiers were killed, who on that day carried a guard in the palace, 56 people were injured. The surviving sentries, despite their injuries and injuries, continued to remain in their posts. They did not give up their seats even after the change of the Life Guards of the
Preobrazhensky Regiment arrived
, until they were replaced by a distributing corporal who was also wounded in the explosion. All the soldiers who died that day were the heroes of the Russian-Turkish war, which ended very recently. Sentinels were buried in a mass grave in St. Petersburg, at the Smolensk cemetery. A monument to the Finnish Heroes was erected on a granite-lined platform. By decree of the emperor, all the dead were presented for cash payments, awards and other incentives. Families of those killed were transferred by the same order "to an eternal boarding house." Despite the frost and the threat of a new terrorist attack, on February 7, Alexander I went to a funeral. After 5 days, the Supreme Administrative Commission was established - an extraordinary state agency to combat revolutionary aggression. After the explosion in the Winter Palace, Stepan Khalturin was sent by the Volunteers to Moscow.
The murder of the public prosecutor Strelnikov
In 1882, on March 18, Stepan Khalturin, together with N. A. Zhelvakov, was in Odessa. Here he participated in the murder of the prosecutor. Zhelvakov inflicted a mortal wound on Strelnikov with a shot from a pistol. Khalturin was supposed to take him away from the scene of the crime, having disguised himself as a cabman. However, they failed to hide: they were detained by passers-by. Having given other names to the investigation, Khalturin and Zhelvakov, on the orders of Alexander III, were put on trial and hanged unidentified in 1882, on March 22.
Conclusion
During the years of Soviet power, Khalturin was ranked among the most revered revolutionaries. Lenin spoke very well of him and his work to create clandestine organizations. In 1923, a monument to Stepan Khalturin was erected in Kirov. In addition, the sculptures of the revolutionary are present in the city of Orlov, p. Zaton (Kirov region). The steamboat is also named after Stepan Khalturin.