Narodnism arose in Russia after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 (under Alexander II), which signalled the end of feudalism in Russia. Arguing that freed serfs were being sold into wage slavery, in which the bourgeoisie had replaced landowners, Narodism aimed to become a political force opposed to the phenomenon. Narodniks viewed aspects of the past with nostalgia: although they resented the former land ownership system, they opposed the uprooting of peasants from the traditional obshchina (the Russian commune).

Narodniks focused upon the growing conflict between the peasantry and the so-called kulaks (i.e. the more prosperous farmers). The groups which formed shared the common general aims of destroying the Russian monarchy and the kulaks, and distributing land among the peasantry. The Narodniks generally believed that it was possible to skip capitalism and enter straight into socialism.

The Narodniks saw the peasantry as the revolutionary class that would overthrow the monarchy, and perceived the village commune as the embryo of socialism. However, they also believed that the peasantry would not achieve revolution on their own, insisting instead that history could only be made by outstanding personalities, who would lead an otherwise passive peasantry to revolution (see Great man theory). Vasilij Voroncov called for the Russian intelligentsia to "bestir itself from the mental lethargy into which, in contrast to the sensitive and lively years of the seventies, it had fallen and formulate a scientific theory of Russian economic development".[1] Some of Narodnik intellectuals however called for immediate revolution that went beyond philosophical and political discussion.

In the spring of 1874 the Narodnik intelligentsia left the cities for the villages, "going to the people", attempting to teach the peasantry their moral imperative to revolt. They found almost no support.

Given the Narodniks social background, generally middle and upper middle class, they found difficulty relating to Russian peasants and their culture. They spent much of their time learning peasant customs, such as clothing and dancing. On arriving into some villages Narodniks were viewed with suspicion by Russian peasants who were completely removed from the more modernized culture of the urban sphere. The Imperial secret police responded to the Narodniks' attempt with repression: revolutionaries and their peasant sympathizers were beaten, imprisoned and exiled. In 1877, the Narodniks revolted with the support of thousands of peasants. The revolt however was swiftly and brutally crushed.

In response to this repression Russia's first organized revolutionary party formed: Narodnaya Volya ("People's Will"). It favoured secret society-led terrorism, justified “as a means of exerting pressure on the government for reform, as the spark that would ignite a vast peasant uprising, and as the inevitable response to the regime's use of violence against the revolutionaries” [2].

The attempt to get the peasantry to overthrow the Emperor was unsuccessful, due to the peasantry's idolisation of the latter as someone "on their side". Narodism therefore developed the practice of terrorism: the peasantry, they believed, must be shown that the Emperor was not supernatural, and could be killed. This theory, called "direct struggle", was meant to show an "uninterrupted demonstration of the possibility of struggling against the government, in this manner lifting the revolutionary spirit of the people and its faith in the success of the cause, and organising those capable of fighting".[3] On March 1, 1881, they succeeded in assassinating Tsar Alexander II. This success led to short-term failure, because the peasantry were generally horrified by the murder, and the government had many Narodnaya Volya leaders hanged, leaving the group unorganized and ineffective.[4].

These events however did not mark the end of the movement, and the later Socialist-Revolutionaries, Popular Socialists, and Trudoviks all pursued similar ideas and tactics to the Narodniks.[5] The philosophy and actions of the Narodniks therefore helped prepare the way for the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917.