Kief an attempt was made on the life of the Public Prosecutor, and an officer of gendarmerie was stabbed; in St. Petersburg the Chief of the Political Police of the Empire (General Mezentsef) was assassinated in broad daylight in one of the central streets, and a similar attempt was made on his successor (General Drenteln); at Kharkof the Governor (Prince Krapotkin) was shot dead when entering his residence.  During the same period two members of the revolutionary organisation, accused of treachery, were “executed” by order of local Committees.  In most cases the perpetrators of the crimes contrived to escape.  One of them became well known in Western Europe as an author under the pseudonym of Stepniak.

Terrorism had not the desired effect.  On the contrary, it stimulated the zeal and activity of the authorities, and in the course of the winter of 1878-79 hundreds of arrests—­some say as many as 2,000—­were made in St. Petersburg alone.  Driven to desperation, the revolutionists still at large decided that it was useless to assassinate mere officials; the fons et origo mali must be reached; a blow must be struck at the Tsar himself!  The first attempt was made by a young man called Solovyoff, who fired several shots at Alexander II. as he was walking near the Winter Palace, but none of them took effect.

This policy of aggressive terrorism did not meet with universal approval among the revolutionists, and it was determined to discuss the matter at a Congress of delegates from various local circles.  The meetings were held in June, 1879, two months after Solovyoff’s unsuccessful attempt, at two provincial towns, Lipetsk and Voronezh.  It was there agreed in principle to confirm the decision of the Terrorist Narodovoltsi.  As the Liberals were not in a position to create liberal institutions or to give guarantees for political rights, which are the essential conditions of any Socialist agitation, there remained for the revolutionary party no other course than to destroy the despotic autocracy.  Thereupon a programme of action was prepared, and an Executive Committee elected.  From that moment, though there were still many who preferred milder methods, the Terrorists had the upper hand, and they at once proceeded to centralise the organisation and to introduce stricter discipline, with greater precautions to ensure secrecy.

The Executive Committee imagined that by assassinating the Tsar autocracy might be destroyed, and several carefully planned attempts were made.  The first plan was to wreck the train when the Imperial family were returning to St. Petersburg from the Crimea.  Mines were accordingly laid at three separate points, but they all failed.  At the last of the three points (near Moscow) a train was blown up, but it was not the one in which the Imperial family was travelling.