Das radikale Milieu im vorrevolutionären Russland

This article traces the networks in the Russian revolutionary underground from the 1860s untill 1917 and subsumes them under the term radical milieu. Though there existed ideological differences all Russian radicals shared a common identity as „anti-society“ against the tsarist regime. In the radical milieu with its own values the participants tried to create their own reality, where all members regardless of their social origin or sex were seen as equal. The radical milieu was backed by a sphere of sympathisers that constituted the main source of material support and the main recruiting field. But the radicals were very careful when selecting new members for their underground world. Applicants had to fulfil defined criteria. The radical milieu in Russia was in a permanent danger to be infiltrated by the secret police. This situation between fear and hope was the background where ideas of solidarity but also visions of violence and revenge against the “traitors” were ripening and then became realised.