Loris-Melikov: Russia, 1880-1

In February 1880 the Emperor Alexander II, to the astonishment of his advisers, delegated virtually dictatorial powers over the Russian Empire to General Loris-Melikov, an officer of modest seniority, undistinguished parentage and limited entrée to St Petersburg society.

This extraordinary step had been prompted by an unusual situation; for the previous two years had seen a series of revolutionary attacks on senior Tsarist officials, several in daylight in the streets of St Petersburg; armed resistance by revolutionary groups when arrests were attempted; and no fewer than four attempts on the Tsar’s own life, culminating in a massive explosion beneath the dining room of the Winter Palace on February 5th, 1880.

Alexander II had travelled a long way from the reforming years of 1860-65; but, even so, the past fifteen years of his reign had seen some solid achievement, and the Tsar was at first disconcerted and then embittered by public indifference to the ordeals of himself and his ministers.