Following his death his son Alexander III became the new Tsar. He did not agree with his father’s way of thinking and believe his reforming policies were what led to his murder so he intended to reinstate Tsarist ideology in Russia with help from his tutor Pobedonastev. By His actions Alexander III imposed social suffering on the people of Russia. In 1889 he abolished the Zemstvas. The peasants were alienated due to the redemption payments which were increasing along with taxes and prices. Trial by jury was next to be abolished as Pobedonastev told Alexander it was a Liberalist idea and provided a platform for political opposition. Furthermore censorship was tightened once again. However the most repressive policy was Russification, which was said to be ‘one of the greatest mistakes made by Russia’s last two Tsars’. This stripped minority groups of their identities cultures, traditions and language now had to be Russian.
The Rural situation in Russia was dire. The Peasants were uneducated and most were illiterate so they didn’t know how to help themselves. Their way of farming was backward compared to the rest of the world due to lack of technology. A huge percentage of the population were disillusioned by these redemption payments and the pressure from industrialisation meant that they were responsible for growing foods to feed a whole new class, the subdivision of the land made things even worse and if peasants worked they worked long hours for very little pay. They were suffering severely and discontent amongst the peasants was increasing by the minute.
Nevertheless Alexander III was a progressive Tsar, introducing the policy of industrialisation. This was established to increase Russia’s economic output. This policy however did not help anyone in the urban population of Russia, many of them continued to live in deprivation and poverty. As a result the relationship between the people and the Tsar deteriorated. They blamed the Tsar for their poor working and living conditions. Subsequently they were amenable to the idea of revolution. Therefore the discontent caused by industrialisation was a contributory factor to the 1905 revolution.
In a state where Tsarist ideology was in place politics were not really present. In the 19th century where there was much suffering and discontent, various groups opposed to Tsarist ideology came into being. The Social Democrats were established in 1898. Their emphasis was placed on the proletariat as the agents of revolution. However in 1903 they split into two different groups, the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. The Mensheviks were prepared for an evolutionary type of revolution whereas the Bolsheviks felt an educated group of revolutionaries could speed up the process. The Social Revolutionaries were another revolutionary group, formed in 1901. They aimed their ideology at peasants. They believed in a socialist society based on the collective ownership of land, and wanted to work to get benefits for the peasants and the industrial workers. They often used terrorist methods and assassinated key political figures. However the majority of political opposition was that of the Liberals. They were opposed to Tsarist authority but not to the Tsar himself. They wanted a democracy similar to that of Britain so that the voice of the people would be heard. The forming of these various political groups showed how despondent the people of Russia were with Russian politics and their autocratic Tsar.
Further discontent stemmed from the economic depression at the start of the 20th century. Mass strikes took places between 1902 and 1903. In the countryside, the situation also worsened. Rent strikes and attacks on private land became very common. The cost of an average peasants landholding increased by 20%. 1901 saw serious crop failure and many peasant uprisings resulted in 1902.
The relationship between the people and the Tsar deteriorated further during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II. He was very weak and politically naive. The death of his dog was more important to him that the shooting of innocent civilians on Bloody Sunday. He was a true patriot of Russia and believed fully in Tsarist autocracy. Nicholas was very much prepared to brutally respond to anyone who challenged his authority. He read with satisfaction his officer’s inhumane treatment of strikers, rioters and dissidents. He fully defended the actions of his officers and praised them to a certain extent. It was his firm belief that autocracy finally resulted in his downfall.
To take the Russian people’s attention away from the problems at home, Russia went to war with Japan in 1904. They never thought for one second that this war would result in military defeat so they went in very confident of a victory. The Russian ambition to expand into the Far East brought her up against Japan who also wanted to do that same thing. After much discussing, disagreeing and conflict, The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed by Japan in 1905. Japan got Port Arthur and Korea was recognised as it ‘sphere of influence’. Russian then evacuated Manchuria; there was little loss of Russian territory. Yet the Treaty could not cover up the fact that the war was a disaster and that Tsarist Ideology was to blame.
The Tsar then set his sights on getting Russia back to the way it should be, unaware of what was going on around him. January the 9th 1805 saw 200,000 people taking part in a demonstration at St Petersburg to present a petition, put together by the Liberals, to the Tsar. The people expected their ‘Little Father’ to help them during this desperate time. The people were turned away but refused to go resulting in complete and total anarchy in Russia. The strikers were fired at and the death toll was 200. A further 800 were seriously wounded and this day became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. The state of Russia from then onwards was absolute chaos.
The revolution of 1905 was brought about by many different reasons. Alexander III took away any freedom the people had following the death of his father. Also the policy of industrialisation did nothing to help the people and made social suffering worse for the people. The economic slump at the beginning of the twentieth century saw the Russian people suffer more. Then Nicholas II ruled Russia. He had no interest in politics whatsoever but believed in autocracy, which no doubt would further add to social suffering of the people. To divert the people’s attention away from the problems war was declared on Japan which only made the situation worse as the war was not won. ‘Bloody Sunday’ was the worst thing the Russian people had to endure as so many people lost their lives due to the careless antics of the ruling Tsar and the Russian military. Therefore social suffering was an important factor in causing the 1905 revolution but other factors also contributed.
