The
death of this cruel tyrant thrilled the world. In February, 1905, Ivan
Kaliaiev executed the death sentence which had been passed upon the
ruthless Governor-General of Moscow, the Grand-Duke Serghei Alexandrovich.
There was war in Russia--war between two systems of organized terrorism.
Sometimes the Czar and his Ministers weakened and promised concessions, but
always there was speedy reaction and, usually, an increased vigor of
oppression. The assassination of Von Plehve, however, for the first time
really weakened the government. Czarism was, in fact, already toppling. The
new Minister of the Interior, Von Plehve's successor, Prince
Svyatpolk-Mirski, sought to meet the situation by a policy of compromise.
While he maintained Von Plehve's methods of suppressing the radical
organizations and their press, and using provocative agents to entrap
revolutionary leaders, he granted a certain degree of freedom to the
moderate press and adopted a relatively liberal attitude toward the
zemstvos. By this means he hoped to avert the impending revolution.
Taking advantage of the new conditions, the leaders of the zemstvos
organized a national convention. This the government forbade, but it had
lost much of its power and the leaders of the movement ignored the order
and proceeded to hold the convention.
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