Explain whythere was an attempted revolution in Russia in 1905.

Explain why there was an attempted revolution in Russia in 1905 (8)

There were lots of reasons why there was an attempted revolution in Russia in 1905. There were long-term causes, short-term causes and immediate causes.

One of the long-term causes was that the peasants were very dissatisfied with their living conditions and how the land in the countryside was divided up. When the serfs (labourers who could not leave their land on which he or she worked on) were freed in the previous century by Alexander II, he did not provide any land for them. They had to buy the land. They had little rights and industrialisation in Russia was not very great. The previous serfs now had to buy the land they had been working on. They did not have enough money to pay taxes and still make a living. The peasants blamed the Tsar for not speaking for his people as the peasants felt that he was not doing anything for them

Another long-term cause for the attempted revolution was that the government’s polices to develop industry, led by Sergi Witte, had disastrous effects on the Russian people. This circumstance was made worse by poor harvests and an industrial slump. The workers and peasants felt that the Tsar was not giving them enough support.

At that time, everybody thought that the Tsar was an ineffective ruler and incapable of making important decisions. This is because the Tsar used to personally reply the letters that were sent to him, about complaints, from the Russian people. People felt he should be doing better things like solving problems and managing his Council of Ministers rather than writing letters to people, acknowledging they points of concern. This is another long-term cause.

The middle class was outraged because the Tsar would not share some of his power with his people. The middle class felt that the Tsar wanted to ...

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The middle class was outraged because the Tsar would not share some of his power with his people. The middle class felt that the Tsar wanted to keep all his power for himself. This was a major long-term cause on their part of the revolution

One other long-term cause of the revolution was the food shortages because of the freedom of the serfs and the lack of people to work the farms as people flocked to the cities to work. People felt that the Tsar wasn’t giving enough funding to the farmers so that they could provide food for all the new workers in the city.

The overspending of the Tsars and the poor financial position of the empire was another long-term cause of the 1905 revolution. The Russian people felt that he wasn’t spending wisely and felt that he could have spent more on his people. Alexander II tried to make reforms but they were not enough for the Liberals and too much for the Conservatives. Terrorists groups were formed because there were no avenues for expression in the Autocratic Russia. Groups called Nihilists formed that wanted to do away with the whole political and social system and start all over. People blamed the Tsar for the terrorists forming as they felt that it was due to the Tsar’s appalling effectiveness of power.

A short-term cause of the attempted 1905 revolution was the loss of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. This caused problems within the military that caused people to believe that the military would back the revolution. The people of Russia blamed the Tsar for losing the war with Japan. The war made already bad conditions in the cities worse and brought the entire working community to breaking point.

The final straw or the immediate cause of the attempted revolution was “Bloody Sunday”. It all started when 5 men were sacked from a factory in St Petersburg. Other workers went on an unofficial strike to try and get the 5 workers their jobs back (the strike couldn’t be official as yet because trade unions were banned). The news of the small strike spread through to other factories in the city very quickly. By Friday 7th January 1905, workers throughout the city had refused to work as sympathy for the 5 sackings. Two days later, on Sunday 9th January 1905, a large demonstration was organised by one Father Gapon, who was the head of the assembly of Russian Factory and Mill workers. The police had officially banned the march but Gapon refused to stop it. The crowds met together and marched to Winter Palace to give the Tsar a petition previously signed by thousands of workers. The workers felt that this was their last hope in trying to change the way they lived their lives. However the Tsar was not in the Palace when the marchers arrived in front of gate. At the centre of the city, the marchers came across lines of armed troops who tried peacefully to disperse the crowd. Finally in the end, the army shot on the crowd. Only 75 people were reported dead but it was feared by the workers that thousands died. The industrial workers who marched felt distraught as they thought they have been led for worthless cause. They felt that they could never improve their lives unless they tried to overrule the Tsar.

News of the massacre spread around the country initiating small strikes all around the country because people were devastated by what they heard and eventually peasants and workers alike tried to attempt a revolution.

There were lots of reasons for the attempted Russian Revolution in 1905, but there was not one reason that solely caused it. All the reasons put together and in those circumstances would have caused a revolution to have been attempted at that time.

By Andrew Riddell – 5P