Land and Liberty (Zemlya I volya)
Land and Liberty was the first populist group to exist in Russia and was created in 1876 as a secret
society led by Mark Natanson- who took inspiration for his ideas from Mikhail Bakunin and Sergi
Nechayev who published a book on revolution in Russia. The group was then taken over by George
Plekhanov in 1877 who became one of the main leading members. Land and Liberty was only a smaller
group and at its peak, it had around 200 members. The group was split after undercover agents of the
Okhrana had infiltrated the organisation and the members had begun to be arrested and imprisoned.
Aims:
The group wanted to dissolve the autocracy of
Russia and believed that at least two thirds of
the land should be transferred to the peasants
in order to organize themselves into self-
governing communes.
Supporters: Key Terms:
The Land and Liberty group was supported by the 1. Zemlya I Volya: Land and Liberty
peasantry, workers, and students as the group aimed 2. Chernyi Peredel: The Black
to improve the lives of each group- especially the Repartition
peasantry of Russia due to the focus of the group being 3. Narodnaya Volya: The People’s
primarily on them and their communes. Will
Methods:
Propaganda was published illegally and was directed at the educated classes in the form of leaflets,
books, memoirs, and posters. The party also had members who settled among peasants and
encouraged them to attempt to improve their condition by changing the social system of Russia- i.e.
the autocratic rule needed to be dissolved. In addition to this, the party had groups operating among
the intelligentsia, urban workers, and administrative and ‘disorganizing’ sections where all its
activities were coordinated by a central, basic circle.
Key influences:
- Mark Natanson: the original founder of the group
- George Plekhanov: one of the leading members of Land and Liberty from 1876
George Plekhanov was exiled from Russia in 1880, fled to Geneva and began studying
the values of Marxism and was branded the status of the ‘Russian Father of Marxism’ as
a result.
- Mikhail Bakunin and Sergi Nechayev: published the book ‘Catechism of a Revolutionist’ that
detailed revolutionary ideas opposing the autocracy and promoting freedom and democracy
which was one of the factors in which led to the creation of the Populist group.
Achievements by 1881:
Members of the group went out in the Russian countryside, concentrating on the ‘Volga’ region, as
there had been consecutive peasant uprisings in the past within this region. They began to agitate
rebellious students in the winter of 1877 to 1878 and in the late 1870s, the group opted to disrupt
the Russian state by carrying out terrorist acts targeting landowners, the police, and government
officials- so mainly those who were considered the elite groups of the societal hierarchy who were
the dominating force when suppressing the progression of Russia. When the state responded by
restricting and arresting the members, Land and Freedom split into two groups, The People's Will
and Black Repartition in which carried on the will of the group separately as the result of differing
opinions in terms of the methods used to achieve their common goal.
Land and Liberty was the first populist group to exist in Russia and was created in 1876 as a secret
society led by Mark Natanson- who took inspiration for his ideas from Mikhail Bakunin and Sergi
Nechayev who published a book on revolution in Russia. The group was then taken over by George
Plekhanov in 1877 who became one of the main leading members. Land and Liberty was only a smaller
group and at its peak, it had around 200 members. The group was split after undercover agents of the
Okhrana had infiltrated the organisation and the members had begun to be arrested and imprisoned.
Aims:
The group wanted to dissolve the autocracy of
Russia and believed that at least two thirds of
the land should be transferred to the peasants
in order to organize themselves into self-
governing communes.
Supporters: Key Terms:
The Land and Liberty group was supported by the 1. Zemlya I Volya: Land and Liberty
peasantry, workers, and students as the group aimed 2. Chernyi Peredel: The Black
to improve the lives of each group- especially the Repartition
peasantry of Russia due to the focus of the group being 3. Narodnaya Volya: The People’s
primarily on them and their communes. Will
Methods:
Propaganda was published illegally and was directed at the educated classes in the form of leaflets,
books, memoirs, and posters. The party also had members who settled among peasants and
encouraged them to attempt to improve their condition by changing the social system of Russia- i.e.
the autocratic rule needed to be dissolved. In addition to this, the party had groups operating among
the intelligentsia, urban workers, and administrative and ‘disorganizing’ sections where all its
activities were coordinated by a central, basic circle.
Key influences:
- Mark Natanson: the original founder of the group
- George Plekhanov: one of the leading members of Land and Liberty from 1876
George Plekhanov was exiled from Russia in 1880, fled to Geneva and began studying
the values of Marxism and was branded the status of the ‘Russian Father of Marxism’ as
a result.
- Mikhail Bakunin and Sergi Nechayev: published the book ‘Catechism of a Revolutionist’ that
detailed revolutionary ideas opposing the autocracy and promoting freedom and democracy
which was one of the factors in which led to the creation of the Populist group.
Achievements by 1881:
Members of the group went out in the Russian countryside, concentrating on the ‘Volga’ region, as
there had been consecutive peasant uprisings in the past within this region. They began to agitate
rebellious students in the winter of 1877 to 1878 and in the late 1870s, the group opted to disrupt
the Russian state by carrying out terrorist acts targeting landowners, the police, and government
officials- so mainly those who were considered the elite groups of the societal hierarchy who were
the dominating force when suppressing the progression of Russia. When the state responded by
restricting and arresting the members, Land and Freedom split into two groups, The People's Will
and Black Repartition in which carried on the will of the group separately as the result of differing
opinions in terms of the methods used to achieve their common goal.
