Change Demands Radical Action

The assassination of a reformist czar by anarchists highlights the tension between gradual reform and the desire for radical change. The czar's efforts to modernize Russia and establish a constitutional government were seen by anarchists as insufficient to dismantle existing social hierarchies, which they believed needed to be abolished entirely for true equality to be achieved. This event illustrates how differing interpretations of progress can lead to extreme actions when reform is viewed as a threat to existing power structures.