Countering terrorist manifestations in the Russian empire in the final period of its existence

Crimes of a terrorist nature in the modern understanding of the term “terror” in the Russian Empire began to be interpreted from the second half of the 19th century. Then these criminal acts had a political background, and the persons who committed them had their own justification for such acts, which was associated with the need for radical (revolutionary) changes in the state system for the purposes they understood. However, the state authorities qualified terrorist acts as serious crimes. These two approaches (terror as a crime and terror as a means of changing society) reflected the deepest contradictions that took place in Russian society. The article examines the socio-political characteristics of terrorism in Russia before the October Revolution of 1917, including the program provisions of radical (revolutionary) organizations and decisions of government authorities to combat terrorism.