but no land was to be assigned to the enfranchised peasantry, so that the enormous majority of the population would have no electoral rights.
The strongest intelligence among the decabrists and the man with the fullest political culture was Pestel, and his program was the most advanced and the most democratic. The force of Pestel's personality and his influence upon the opposition movement were recognised by the government through the imposition of a death sentence, although Pestel had neither led nor directly prepared the revolt.
Of German descent, Pestel was educated in Dresden, and subsequently had a distinguished military career, not merely showing his bravery in numerous actions (he was wounded at Vilna), but proving himself an energetic and efficient army organiser. Pestel was one of the founders of the Welfare Union, and was subsequently the soul of the Southern Section. He expounded his views in the comprehensive work Russkaja Pravda (Russian Truth, the title of the old collection of laws) and in various lesser writings. His magnum opus remained incomplete, but was designed to furnish guidance for the provisional government during the reconstruction period. It is significant of the decabrist political outlook that in Pestel's view this reconstruction period was to last ten years.
In opposition to the reactionary judgments of the revolution that were then current Pestel proved from a study of the Bourbon restoration that the revolution had been beneficial and necessary, for the restored monarchy had left intact the institutions created by the revolution. On the other hand, as Pestel pointed out, in states where no revolution had taken place the old evils persisted. The existence of Russian absolutism made him a convinced revolutionary and republican. Pestel's analysis of political evolution had led him to the view that constitutionalism is a mere half-measure, a mask for absolutism. Frank autocracy seemed to him preferable to parliamentary government, because absolutism, with its open use of force, leads by the reaction it provokes to speedier and more radical reforms, whereas under constitutional parliamentary government evils are more enduring. It was therefore Pestel's opinion that constitutional monarchy would be a temporary affair, and he-considered that the political task of the day was not the constitutionalisation but the democratisation of the state. "The leading endeavour of our time is to be
