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were closely connected with the well-known revolutionist narodovoletz Zheliabov.
VII. The "Narodnaya Volia" and the first signs of Revolution in the Officer Class.
Our people should know more especially about Zheliabov. Who was A. F. Zheliabov? He was the son of a peasant, a serf. He succeeded in getting some education, as his master found him apt, and somehow, by a fortunate piece of luck, the boy entered school. We now have a detailed biography of Zheliabov. While still a boy he had opportunities to observe the iniquities of the servile social order. In his presence the master ravished his mother and sisters. This outrage sank deeply into the boy's soul; he swore that when he was old enough, he would without fail kill that man. But when he grew up and was an educated man he thought to himself: „What is the use of my killing this most commonplace member of the landlord class? If I do kill, let it be the First Landlord of Russia“ meaning the Tsar. And Zheliabov became a revolutionist, the head of the first revolutionary groups (so-called „circles“) and organized the assassination of Alexander II (March 1881).
And so this Zheliabov, risen from the lowest depths out of the serf peasantry, became the
