History

In the afternoon the revolt had been put down bloodily and many people had been arrested. The revolt of the Decabrists was the first revolutionary movement in Russia. Czar Nikolaj I had no mercy with them. It was a revolt with far-reaching political demands, so Nikolaj had to show his power. A number of 579 persons were called to account as relatives of the nasty society, 131 were judged by the court of St. Petersburg. Five leaders of the movement - Kondratij Ryleev, Pavel Pestel', Sergej Murav'ev-Apostel, Michail Bestueev-Rjumin and Petr Kachovskij - were executed. Some death sentences were changed into forced labour. 121 members had to go to Siberia. At the same time a law was decided, that said women of exiles are regarded as widows. They could marry again without divorce. Nethertheless eleven wives, among them two French women, followed their husbands to Siberia and annoyed the czar once more. These women became the real heroines of history, because they put up with loss of their state and possession.

Beyond, they had to except that their children, born in Siberia, are serfs of the state of Russia. In 1826, deportation took place. Silver mines of Nercinsk and Akataj east of lake Baikal were the first destination for the Decabrists. The following year they were transfered to the prison of the fortress Cita, where they influenced the planning of the city very strongly. The next stop was Petrovskij Zavod. Countless petitions and obedience to warders in prison resulted in the possibility to have a certain influence on the choice of the exile. Usually they wanted to go to Irkutsk and its neighbourhood. Prince Sergej Trubeckoj (1790-1860) was one of the founders of the first secret alliance "union of rescue". He was one of the thinkers of the revolt and at the same time author of the manifest of the Decabrists. If the revolt would have been successful he should have been temporarily the leader of the state. His death sentence was changed into forced labour for life, because he didn't take part in any armed conflict. His wife Ekatarina Trubeckaja (1800-1854) followed her husband as the first of all wives. After 20 years in different cities and mines they got the permission to move to Irkutsk. Prince Sergej Volkonskij (1788-1865) descended from an old Russian nobility. At first he also should have been killed, but later he was amnestied to 20 years of forced labour. His wife Maria Volkonskaja (1805-1863) was the granddaughter of the scientist Michail Lomonosov. She followed her husband against the will of her family. Between these two families a close friendship developed. It was forbidden for exiles to join public life. That's why they took the public life home. Their houses became centres of high standing in the society of Irkutsk. They organized meetings, readings, concerts and theatrical performances.Thirty years later, Czar Alexander I amnestied the Decabrists in 1856. Sixteen of Nineteen Decabrists, who were still alive returned to European Russia. Nethertheless admittance to Moscow and St. Petersburg was refused to them by Alexander I. The Decabrists became the epitome of the spirit of freedom towards czaristic absolutism.