The Decembrists' Uprising

Anti-authoritarian sentiments burst into open demonstration when Alexander died in December 1825. The throne passed to his younger brother, Nicholas I, who had a reputation as an autocratic hard-ass. A group of disgruntled army officers gathered in Senate Square, proclaimed their loyalty to Nicholas' older brother, Constantine, and demanded such outrageous things as representation in the government and an end to serfdom. Nicholas responded by bringing in loyal troops and forcing the rebels (later known as the Decembrists) to surrender. They were sent to the dungeons at the Peter and Paul Fortress, the ringleaders were hanged, and that was the last Russia heard of reform for a while.

There is no question that this revolt, combined with the waning of autocracy across Europe, profoundly affected Nicholas I's way of thinking. Fearing revolution in any shape or form, his reign became intensely repressive with censorship heavily enforced, education abroad curtailed, and a system of secret police and internal spies put into operation. Nonetheless Petersburg was buzzing with underground discussion groups working out alternative ideas and philosophies, and Russia experienced a golden age of literature with Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol writing their seminal works and Dostoevsky and Turgenev launching their literary careers.