powerful means of struggle, dictated by our revolutionary
past and present, is political terrorism, consisting of the annihilation
of the most injurious and influential personages of Russian autocracy in
given conditions. Systematic terrorism, in conjunction with other
forms of open mass-struggle (industrial riots and agrarian risings,
demonstrations, etc.), which receive from terrorism an enormous,
decisive significance, will lead to the disorganisation of the enemy.
Terrorist activity will cease only with the victory over autocracy
and the complete attainment of political liberty. Besides its chief
significance as a means of disorganising, terrorist activity will serve
at the same time as a means of propaganda and agitation, a form of open
struggle taking place before the eyes of the whole people, undermining
the prestige of Government authority, and calling into life new
revolutionary forces, while the oral and literary propaganda is being
continued without interruption. Lastly, the terrorist activity serves
for the whole secret revolutionary party as a means of self-defence and
of protecting the organisation against the injurious elements of spies
and treachery."

In accordance with this theory a "militant organisation" (Boevaga
Organisatsia) was formed and soon set to work with revolvers and
bombs. First an attempt was made on the life of Pobedonostsef; then the
Minister of the Interior, Sipiagin, was assassinated; next attempts were
made on the lives of the Governors of Vilna and Kharkof, and the
Kharkof chief of police; and since that time the Governor of Ufa, the
Vice-Governor of Elizabetpol, the Minister of the Interior, M. Plehve,
and the Grand Duke Serge have fallen victims to the terrorist policy.*

* In this list I have not mentioned the assassination of M.
Bogolyepof, Minister of Public Instruction, in 1901, because
I do not know whether it should be attributed to the
Socialist-Revolutionaries or to the Narodovoltsi, who had
not yet amalgamated with them.

Though the Social Democrats have no sentimental squeamishness about
bloodshed, they objected to this policy on the ground that acts of
terrorism were unnecessary and were apt to prove injurious rather than
beneficial to the revolutionist cause. One of the main objects of every
intelligent revolutionary party should be to awaken all classes from
their habitual apathy and induce them to take an active part in the
political mov