Today, a simple graduate of the school is unlikely to answer the question of who Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov is and what this person is famous for. Meanwhile, the name of this person remained in the history of our country. True, he glorified himself in a dubious manner.
Consider briefly the life path of this man who died very young.
Milestones Biography
Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov was born in the Saratov province in 1840. His family belonged to poor nobles.
However, the young man had all the privileges that a noble offspring could count on. He graduated from the men's gymnasium in Penza, which would allow him to serve as a middle-ranking official.
However, the young man dreamed of continuing his education. He entered Kazan University, then transferred to Moscow University. However, due to lack of funds, he had to leave school.
His active nature was looking for the unknown and untried, and the modest position as a clerk under the magistrate could not satisfy ambitious plans.
And then Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov is fond of revolutionary ideas that literally permeated a certain part of the youth of that time.
Revolutionary activity
In 1865, at the age of 25, a young man joined an underground organization whose goal was to create conditions for the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia and the subsequent social revolution.
The cousin of Dmitry N. A. Ishutin becomes the head of this organization. Young people think of themselves as new Robespiers and Marats, dreaming of a radical transformation of all Russian life. An individual terror was chosen as the method of such a transformation, which, in the opinion of the community members, could awaken the revolutionary forces in Russia.
In fact, this organization trained people whom we would call “suicide bombers” today, they agreed to kill prominent figures of the Russian empire, including the reigning people. Their goal was to cause a huge public outcry, as a result of which the socio-political situation in the country would change, and revolutionary elements would gain power.
Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich agrees to become such a "suicide bomber."
In 1866 he went to Petersburg. The young man conceived a terrible thing - he was preparing for regicide.
Regicide attempt
Note that Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov, whose biography will break off at the age of 25, was fully aware of his actions. Only going to St. Petersburg, he wrote for his friends a kind of testament, which he called "Friends of the workers!" In this text, the young man with some naivety explains the motives of his future act. He says that he wants to kill the villain-tsar so that ordinary Russian people do not suffer under his oppression. The revolutionary believes that other people will follow him to complete the work that he has begun.
The attempt, which was conceived by the revolutionary, took place on April 4, 1866. On this day, Tsar Alexander II walked in the Summer Garden.
The terrorist took aim, however, according to the version of the investigation, he was pushed away by the nearby peasant Osip Komisarov (later the action of this peasant was highly appreciated by the authorities).
Karakozov missed, the king saw him and fled from the killer, trying to save his life. The revolutionary tried to take a few more shots, they ended unsuccessfully. Soon he was captured.
Court and sentence
The terrorist trial has attracted widespread attention. The investigation was led by a prominent ally of the tsar Count M.N. Muravyov.
First, Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov refused to testify, calling himself the peasant son Petrov. However, the investigation established his place of residence in Petersburg, his letters to his cousin were found and his comrades in a secret organization were arrested.
Only thanks to these arrests, it was possible to establish the real name of the terrorist.
As a result, in October 1866, the court sentenced Karakozov to death.
The execution took place on September 3 of the same year with a large crowd of people. Despite the excited state, the young revolutionary behaved calmly.
The artist Repin even left a drawing of a young man convicted of hanging. This drawing has survived to the present, because Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov, whose photo can hardly be found, lived on the earth too little, and was poor to leave behind art portraits.
Posthumous memory
After the terrorist was executed, a chapel was erected on the site of his assassination attempt on the king in memory of the miraculous salvation of the sovereign.
However, this did not help the emperor survive another 8 assassination attempts, the last of which ended in death for him.
Young Karakozov was right: he had loyal followers who believed that the death of one person could make others happy.
At that time, the country was changing, the existing ideology of monarchism, which chose a formula for itself: Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality, did not suit many people. As a result, this led to the fact that “Karakozov’s syndrome” affected the minds and hearts of an increasing number of people. The crisis of the relationship between the people and the authorities, the loss of faith in the previous ideology led our country to the disaster of 1917.
But this is a completely different story.