The martyr cult of Grand Duke Sergei Aleksandrovich

Abstract

This article explores the creation of a martyr cult which followed the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei, uncle to tsar Nicholas II, murdered by a terrorist from the Socialist Revolutionary party in February 1905. The article contests that voices sympathetic to Russian autocracy tried to inculcate broader public support for the tsarist cause by presenting the slain Grand Duke as a suffering martyr, victim and altruist who had in his lifetime been a friend of the Russian people (narod). Whilst late imperial-era Russian conservatism has received much recent attention, most of these studies focus on conservative texts and the words of key thinkers or states people. In comparison there is a dearth of scholarly literature on the public presentation of conservative values, an oversight considering the important role this played in the operational remit of Russian autocracy in an era in which mass politics and public engagement increasingly became live issues. Furthermore, whilst several spectacular instances of terrorism in the late imperial period have been closely scrutinized, much less has been said on what follows – the afterlives of victims, which provide ample space to explore and reveal chosen values. The mobilization of conservative opinion following Sergei’s death can be evidenced through ritual, art, spectacle and the construction of a memorial in 1908, all of which were particular displays of carefully selected religious and political themes. This reading contends that efforts to commemorate Sergei showed a desire to raise support for autocracy amongst both wider conservative opinion and the public at large. The article concludes by considering the re-animation of nationalism, Orthodox religiosity and statecraft related to Sergei’s assassination in Russia today.

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