The Okhrana arresting a narodnik propagandist, 1892
The Narodniks ("Populists") were middle-class radical revolutionaries who fought for the abolition of the capitalist system and the overthrow of the Russian Empire during the 1860s and 1870s. The Narodniks were influenced by Marxism and other leftist ideologies that developed in Europe at the time, and the Russian government's Okhrana secret police began to exile and imprison peasants and revolutionaries affiliated with the group. Because of their origin among the middle class and upper-middle class, the Narodniks failed to connect with the peasants, who lacked the modernization and wealth that many Narodniks enjoyed. The Narodnaya Volya movement and Land and Liberty movement would grow from the Narodnik movement, and the Narodniks would continue to influence politics in Russia for years to come.