@aviationdoctor.eth

Last month marked the 200th anniversary of the Decembrist revolt, a failed coup d'état in Saint Petersburg against the new Russian Emperor Nicholas I, just as he was being sworn in following the sudden death of his brother, Emperor Alexander I. The uprising of approximately 2,000 soldiers was led by 121 officers who, despite their loyalty to the Russian Empire while fighting the Napoleonic troops a few years prior, had been inspired by the Western republican standards of governance. They longed to abolish Russia's autocratic regime, which had begun three centuries prior with Ivan the Terrible (Russia's first Tsar), and replace it with either a constitutional monarchy or even a republic, while ending serfdom and enshrining freedom of expression. Had the revolt succeeded, it could have been on par with the French Revolution in terms of historical importance. Instead, it fizzled out, and all 121 insurrectionists were sent into exile to Siberia. I wonder what the world would be like had the coup succeeded and Russia turned into an open and progressive society. It is plausible that the Bolsheviks would not have gained any traction a century later, negating the need for a Cold War and completely rewriting the second half of the 20th century. There is an alternate universe where Russia would remain, to this day, a democratic beacon of Enlightenment values, and where Russkiy Mir would be admired rather than feared. Clio is a fickle muse. She weaves those almost imperceptible and yet pivotal knots in the fabric of History, where the fate of the world hinges on almost nothing — Franz Ferdinand's driver taking a wrong turn, Luther nailing a church door in Wittenberg, Lord Balfour sending a short letter. Like as many Big Bangs starting from a singularity.

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