The Last Decree of the Czar

The last decree czar alexander the second signed was approval for reforms that he himself acknowledged were the first step towards a political constitution. He wasn't going to live to see of those possible reforms enacted, nor would they ever be enacted. The age of great reform died with the czar liberator in 18 81. Now would be a time of ruthless reaction. But in secret corners of the empire, and most especially abroad, in the salon of exiled russian radicals, the candle of revolution would be kept flickering. Next week we will follow our now threading threads of nineteenth century revolutionary philosophy and the course of russian history as they combine into a single narrative.