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Demons (The Possessed) serialised as an anti-radical novel, 1871–1872

Besy ran in 1871–72, using the Nechaev murder of Ivanov as a template for a cell that kills its own. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Read the full account

Besy ran in 1871–72, using the Nechaev murder of Ivanov as a template for a cell that kills its own. It is not a court transcript of Nechaev and not Underground. Polarisation path: public hatred of radicals as possessed.

Context

Mixed: it also diagnoses a real conspiracy-style murder. Shared with Katkov’s conservative journal. Bakunin’s name sits in the wider anti-nihilist air; he is not a co-author. Later uses as a police-minded classic are reception.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Why it matters

Demons is a polarisation path of high confidence and moderate weight. It is not a unique 1870s arrest series. Mixed warning-value is why it is not stored as a pure justice gain.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.36 · verified

    Named author of Demons. Katkov printed it. Direct on the novel as a public attack on radicals.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactDemons (The Possessed) serialised as an anti-radical novel, 1871–1872
    2. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
    3. weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 1 January 1872 · verified

    A novel that treats revolutionary cells as demonic contagion is a polarisation path, mixed as warning and as denunciation.

    • Having a say in government

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Project Gutenberg — Fyodor Dostoyevsky author pageProject Gutenberg · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — Fyodor DostoyevskyEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Gutenberg author page at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/314 (opens in a new tab) locates English Demons neighbourhood. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-Dostoyevsky (opens in a new tab) independently dates 1871–72. Goslitmuz is the archival neighbourhood.

Established: Demons completed 1872. Not established: that it caused a unique crackdown. Distinct from the Diary’s later civic essays. Nechaev-template novel, Russkiy Vestnik 1871–72, anti-cell polarisation, not a trial transcript. Official https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/314 (opens in a new tab) is not independent https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-Dostoyevsky (opens in a new tab).

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Demons is not the Diary’s antisemitic pages and not Underground. Mixed effects of Demons (The Possessed) serialised as an anti-radical novel, 1871–1872 are separate paths.

Shared responsibility is part of Demons (The Possessed) serialised as an anti-radical novel, 1871–1872. Naming Fyodor Dostoyevsky does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1872-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorFyodor Dostoyevsky
  2. contributed toFactDemons (The Possessed) serialised as an anti-radical novel, 1871–1872
  3. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Demons (The Possessed) serialised as an anti-radical novel, 1871–1872. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/dost-demons-1872

https://factrail.ai/facts/dost-demons-1872

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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