Decembrist revolt

The Decembrist revolt took place in Saint Petersburg after Tsar Alexander I died without a direct heir and confusion arose over the succession between his brothers Constantine and Nicholas. Several thousand soldiers led by liberal-minded aristocratic officers assembled on Senate Square and refused to swear allegiance to Nicholas I. Inspired by Western liberalism after the Napoleonic wars, the plotters wanted a constitution or a republic and the abolition of serfdom, but they were poorly coordinated, and their chosen leader failed to appear. Nicholas ordered artillery fire, and the revolt was crushed within hours, followed by a smaller rising in the south. Five leaders were hanged and over a hundred others were exiled to Siberia, where some of their wives followed them. The Decembrists became a symbol of Russian opposition, and Nicholas's reign was strongly conservative.

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