AH Challenge...Nihilism instead of Communism Wins Out in Russia

How could we arrange things so that Nihilism rather than Bolshevik Communism wins out during the Russian Revolution? What would a Nihilist Russia be like? What would the impacts be on the history of the world?
 
Wouldn't it have the same disadvantage as anarchists IOTL? Any nihilist who tried to rule Russia would promptly be blown up by the other nihilists.

kaBOOM, bye, bye nihilism. At least he'd go out with a bang, though. :eek::D:eek::D
 
How could we arrange things so that Nihilism rather than Bolshevik Communism wins out during the Russian Revolution? What would a Nihilist Russia be like? What would the impacts be on the history of the world?

Nihilist version of Lenin:

We must show the peasants ... that the ... organization of industry ... on the basis of modern ... [audible yawn] ... advanced technology ... [trails off into silence]
 
Jokes aside, when you believe in no authority in a society, assasinating the odd Tsar is as far as you're going to get. "Going to the people" failed utterly. To take over Russia, you want a movement who are willing to "go to the people" with guns, take their grain to feed the support base in the cities, and conscript them into a standing hierarchical army full of ex-Tsarists to crush opposition to the new regime. You need Bolsheviks.
 
You probably need to moderate it first.

After all chaos is not going to be popular, people will flock to any institution or movement that promises order, and security.

YOu need a military and police for that.

You need money for finiacial transactions.

Judges, or all disputes either translate into violence or people spontanously form courts to negotiate disputes, which then immediately become political institutions.
 
You probably need to moderate it first.

After all chaos is not going to be popular, people will flock to any institution or movement that promises order, and security.

YOu need a military and police for that.

You need money for finiacial transactions.

Judges, or all disputes either translate into violence or people spontanously form courts to negotiate disputes, which then immediately become political institutions.

Thing is, Nihimilism basically arose from a series intellectual impulses beginning with the Napoleonic Wars. Politically, it was purely negative in scope (thus the name) and that it wasn't going to replace the Tsarist state with anything was the whole point. As soon as you come up with an actual plan to change the Russian state, you're a Kadet or a Social Revolutionary or whatever.
 
Thing is, Nihimilism basically arose from a series intellectual impulses beginning with the Napoleonic Wars. Politically, it was purely negative in scope (thus the name) and that it wasn't going to replace the Tsarist state with anything was the whole point. As soon as you come up with an actual plan to change the Russian state, you're a Kadet or a Social Revolutionary or whatever.

If Nihilism became a serious force, could some other group, initiate nihilistic reforms to try to coopt their popularity?

THus you could have a goverment structure with a society shoot through with nihilistic elements.

Probably the closests you could come to the OP and have it last more than a couple of years.
 
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