Populist radicalism of A. Herzen and N. Chernyshevsky as a controversial idea

The article covers questions of populist radicalism and role of A. Herzen and N. Chernyshevsky in it. The author disputes their participation in the radicalism movement and substantiation of the populist terror of 70-80-s of the 19 th century. Despite widespread opinion neither A.I. Herzen nor N.G. Chernyshevskiy ever called to “take an axe", i.e. peasant wars. Narodnik movement established by them arose, for the most part, as a social ideology; it was irrepressible followers of Bakunin (but not all of them) who called to take an axe, ironically, together with monarchists. Bolsheviks also paid attention to this interesting idea, which was described by Plato and Chinese mohists as well. The populism founders didn’t think revolution may answer all the questions of life and resolve all the social issues.