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Product Description: Alexander II's Great Reforms of the early 1860s unleashed hopes among Russians for a true civil society resulting in increased political freedom. An attempt on the Tsar's life in 1866 put an abrupt end to these hopes, trapping Russian political life within a vicious circle of political reaction, growing disillusionment with government, and intensifying political dissent which increasingly manifested itself in acts of terrorism against Tsarist officials...read more