Struggle in Russia

The scariest thing in this world is not that there is no way out or being bullied and unable to stand up, but that there is no hope in my heart. Without hope, there is no purpose, even if you are alive, it is no different from death.

And from the beginning of the 19th century, when the world gradually entered a new period of rapid development with the advancement of productivity. For Russian aspiring young people, it is extremely unfriendly!

The era of Catherine the Great disappeared with her death, and the succession of Paul I was nothing to talk about. Compared with the more and more developed Western European powers, Russia was standing still.

There is no way out, no hope, and the country's conservative and backwardness is suffocating. Finally, the French Revolution brought a ray of light, which made the Russian youths of that era see hope. It became the fashion of Russian youths to learn from France or to follow the Great Revolution.

It can be said that Russian youths who have just entered the new century fell in love with the free and open new France in an instant, and Napoleon has also become their idol. Perhaps in their hearts, they also hope that one day they can cut a piece of land with a sword like an idol. Xintiandi.

It's just that this ray of light came and went faster. As the relationship between France and Russia took a turn for the worse, especially as Napoleon became Russia's enemy, the young people in Russia who admired him suddenly felt embarrassed.

Especially when Napoleon led an army of 500,000 troops into Russia and became invincible, the progressive youths in Russia almost split their personalities. The idols of the past have become the enemies of today. So what's the point of worshiping and learning from him?

For the first time, the spiritual world of Russian progressive youth collapsed, and they had to choose the motherland between their idols and the motherland.

Then the idol was defeated, but the young Russians who admired him were not so happy. The light brought by the French Revolution and Napoleon was extinguished, and Russia was once again drawn into the boundless darkness, without any hope in sight.

For more than ten years, Russian youths have been struggling in pain, and then in the winter of 1825, they vented all their long-suppressed depression, hoping to change everything through a coup d’état——go all out!

And then, failed! Exile, hang! With a stricter censorship system and more severe social suppression, the dark cloud hanging over the head has not only not dissipated, but has become thicker!

By this time Dmitry was no longer blocked by dark clouds, but a solid black wall. Nicholas I blocked the country with an iron fist, and all the citizens could only live according to his will and the way he wanted, otherwise they would be jailed for hard labor or exiled to death.

Nicholas I was so arrogant, in Russia he had to either live the way he liked, or die.

Such a high-pressure policy naturally aroused the high dissatisfaction of a large number of young talents including Dmitry.

It's just that Nicholas I is too powerful to win for the time being, so they can only choose to swallow their anger, but they always have a will in their hearts-sooner or later, they will change everything.

Sooner or later, it may be regarded as Ah Q-style self-consolation, but for the Russian youths of this era, they can only swallow this kind of chicken soup and endure silently. Although they don't know when one day will come sooner or later, they firmly believe that this day will come!

It's just that Dmitry is different from others. Before that, he firmly believed that "sooner or later there will be this day" and he even knew in his heart that this day might come, that is, after Nicholas I died.

He felt that maybe as long as Nicholas I, the devil king, left, the dark clouds hanging over Russia would dissipate. So he joined the crown prince, because the young crown prince was very different from his domineering father at first.

Alexander was more sympathetic than his father, more gentle than his father, and had a better and more complete modern education than his father. The crown prince was no longer a Romanov or a mad or bloodthirsty brutal man.

Such a crown prince should be able to bring something completely different from the past, and lead the country to a brand new road of prosperity, right?

With such hope, Dmitri happily became an aide-de-camp to Crown Prince Alexander, ready to assist the Crown Prince in his career.

But this excitement gradually faded as the crown prince grew up. The crown prince was indeed very different from his father, but he was too cautious and dared not go beyond the rules. Not to mention trying to shake the inhumane and extremely conservative rules set by his father, it is really disappointing to let go of one's hands and feet to do something tremblingly!

This is not what makes Dmitry most desperate. What makes him even more desperate is that whenever he tries to talk about reforms or changes with the crown prince, the crown prince will immediately stop talking. At first he thought it was because the crown prince was too cautious, but later he found out that the crown prince was really not interested in it!

Their handsome, unrestrained and talented crown prince is actually a person who is unwilling to make troubles in his bones. If he can be a monk and beat the clock for a day, then he will live like this. How hard it is to change!

When Dmitry discovered this, one can imagine how mad and desperate he was. Because when you pin all your hopes on that point, and inexplicably find that point is hopeless at some point, then your inner world will naturally collapse!

Dmitry thought Crown Prince Alexander was hope, but in the end he found that to be an illusion. Naturally, his inner world collapsed, but he was unwilling to face this desperate fact, so he could only paralyze himself by deceiving himself and others, telling himself that there is still hope for Crown Prince Alexander, maybe it will change after he ascends the throne?

It has to be said that the progressive youths in Russia survived step by step in this way. Through self-paralysis, prevent yourself from collapsing too early, otherwise you will really not be able to survive that day.

Of course, there will be a day when this kind of self-paralysis cannot be fooled. At that time, you will either kill yourself, go hysterical, or completely crazy, and there is no other way.

History also goes like this. Alexander II, who was once devastated by the Crimean War, was forced to start reforms, which once gave hope to progressive youth in Russia. But in the end, he personally destroyed these hopes. When he thought he was at ease and didn’t need to continue to carry out any reforms, those desperate Russian progressive youths would naturally vent their anger on him. .

Look at the assassination of the Tsar in the middle and late period of Alexander II's reign, and you will find how terrible it is for people who are driven crazy by despair! And now Dmitry, who was forcibly awakened from self-paralysis by Count Rostovtsev, is in a very bad state...