Kolokol (newspaper)

[1] Initially the publishers viewed Kolokol as a supplement (прибавочные листы) to a literary and socio-political almanac, Polar Star, but it soon became the leader of the Russian censorship-free press.

Besides the articles by Herzen and Ogaryov, Kolokol published a variety of material on people's living conditions, social struggle in Russia, and information about abuses and secret plans of the authorities.

The newspaper began publishing texts of proclamations, articles by Herzen and Ogaryov condemning and exposing problems with the reform, and other material from the Russian revolutionary underground.

After the 1861 reform, Kolokol lost most of its liberal readers due to Herzen's and Ogaryov's active support of the January Uprising in Poland.

While retaining its previous orientation, it was now published in French as "Kolokol (La Cloche)" with the aim of introducing Russia to Western European readers.