Maria
Spiridonova was
born in Tambov in 1885. While training as a nurse she joined the
Socialist Revolutionary Party.
During the 1905 Revolution
the police brutally suppressed a peasant uprising. In January, 1906,
Spiridonova assassinated Police Inspector Luzhenovsky who had ordered
the attack. After her arrest she was beaten, tortured, and sexually
assaulted.
Found guilty of murder she was sent to Akatui
in Siberia. On her release she once again became active in the Socialist
Revolutionary Party.
Maria
Spiridonova
1.
Was highly critical of Nicholas
II
and the autocracy.
2.
Wanted Russia to have universal suffrage.
3. Wanted the
Russian government to allow freedom of expression and an end to
political censorship of newspapers and books.
4.
Believed that democracy could only be achieved in Russia by the
violent overthrow of Nicholas
II
and the autocracy.
5.
Was strongly opposed to Russia going to war with Austria-Hungary
and Germany.
6. Believed
that if Russia did go to war with
