Decembrist revolt

Decembrist Revolt
Part of the Revolutions during the 1820s
Decembrists at Peter's Square (Georg Wilhelm Timm, 1853)
Date 26 December [O.S. 14 December] 1825 Location Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire Result Government victory Decembrists executed or deported to Siberia
Belligerents
Northern Society of Decembrists	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sergei Trubetskoy Yevgeny Obolensky Nikita Muravyov Pavel Pestel  Pyotr Kakhovsky  Kondraty Ryleyev	Nicholas I Mikhail Miloradovich †
Strength
3,000 soldiers	9,000 soldiers

The Decembrist Revolt (Russian: Восстание декабристов, romanized: Vosstaniye dekabristov, lit. 'Uprising of the Decembrists') was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on 26 December [O.S. 14 December] 1825, following the sudden death of Emperor Alexander I.

Alexander’s brother and heir-presumptive Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich privately renounced his claim to the throne two years prior to Alexander’s death on 1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1825. The line of succession therefore fell to their younger brother Nicholas, who would ascend to the throne as Emperor Nicholas I.^[1] Neither the Russian government nor the general public were initially aware of Konstantin’s renouncement, and as a result, parts of the military took a premature oath of loyalty to Konstantin.^[1] A general swearing of loyalty to the true emperor Nicholas was scheduled for 26 December [O.S. 14 December] 1825 in Senate Square, Saint Petersburg.

In the midst of this confusing transition into Nicholas' reign, the Northern Society, a secret society of liberal revolutionaries, nobles, and military officials, organized a conspiracy to replace the Russian Empire's autocratic regime with a constitutional monarchy.^[1] To seize control of the government and implement a regime change, it sought to convince the military that Nicholas was usurping the throne from Konstantin.^[2] On December 26th, Northern Society members led a force of approximately 3,000 troops into Senate Square to prevent the loyalty-swearing ceremony and to rally additional soldiers to their cause. This group of rebels, although disorganized due to indecision and dissension among their leaders, confronted troops loyal to Nicholas outside the Senate building in the presence of a large civilian crowd.^[1] A standoff ensued, during which Nicholas' envoy, Mikhail Miloradovich, was assassinated. The loyalists eventually opened fire with heavy artillery, scattering the rebels.^[3] In the aftermath of the coup attempt, many of the rebels were sentenced to hanging, imprisonment, or exile to Siberia. The individuals who participated in the conspiracy and coup attempt became known as the Decembrists (Russian: декабристы, romanized: dekabristy).