The Russian Situation

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 5, 1879

The Russian Situation.

The situation in Russia is one of suspense. If the imperial government is content to count as a victory the present cessation of political assassinations, of the posting of disloyal placards and the circulation of the violent and seditious “Land and Liberty,” at St. Petersburg and the great provincial capitals, then its plan of repression has been a success. The streets of St. Petersburg, lined night and day with watchmen, the troops at all times under arms, the powers of arrest and punishment placed in the hands of a military commander, who has not hesitated to employ them upon the least suspicion, have proved to be barriers which the Nihilist conspirators could not well surmount, and hence for the moment there is peace. In one way, to the emperor, it must be satisfactory to know that a means exists by which the plotters against his government can be prevented from boldly carrying out their design, for the ease with which they outwitted his secret police led to the belief that they were superior to any form of repression. But, looked at from another point of view, this very absence of violence, in the face of extreme military despotism, is not an encouraging feature. With all their efforts, the police and the soldiers have not been able to uncover the slightest root of this mysterious conspiracy. The ramifications of its system lie buried out of sight and knowledge as effectually now as they did eight months ago, when the wide-spread agitation virtually began. The men who have been arrested and banished to Siberia were either innocent and could not tell, or cunning and would not. Certain it is, that the government is no nearer capturing the ringleaders now than it was before the military governors were appointed.

If this was an ordinary revolt against oppression, the methods employed to suppress it would, in all probability, have been attended with different results. It is commonly the case that increased repression brings out increased resistance, and, in their determination not to be put down, the revolutionists grow fool-hardy and boldly take risks which lead to their easy discovery and arrest. In communistic outbreaks, all the world over, it has usually happened that the leaders and their followers have exposed themselves when the liability to seizure was greatest. They have been worked up to a pitch of excitement which could not be readily abated, and, hence, when vigorous opposition has been offered, they have surged up against it, as the water in a rapid river does when it encounters an unexpected obstacle.

The Nihilists have shown that they possess a wonderfully well-disciplined organization, as well as shrewd and far-sighted leaders. A few weeks ago they were everywhere; their posters were in all of the main streets and squares, and their papers and pamphlets were in some way distributed in the restaurants, the barracks, the government offices, and even in the Emperor’s palace. Now, as if by some signal, all demonstrative action has ceased, and the Nihilists have sunk out of sight like the band of Roderick Dhu. The effacement has been complete, and the arrests that have been made during the past three weeks have been due to general suspicions rather than to any definite knowledge on the part of the authorities.

But has the conspiracy been stamped out? The Emperor and his advisers must be unwisely sanguine if they venture to entertain such a thought. It is proverbial that it requires much less power to raise a storm than to abate it; but, in this instance, the leading Nihilists have shown that they possess the means of accomplishing both of these results. The inhabitants of the great Russian cities cannot live forever under military control, and in a few months hence, when a relaxation in watchfulness has taken place, in all probability there will be a renewal of Nihilist agitations.