"Tsar of All the Russias" cartoon. Document Analysis & Bloody Sunday Historiography

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The Tsar of All the Russias – SAC Practice Questions

  1. Identify two symbols of the Tsar’s autocratic power in the representation
  • His jewelled crown
  • The Romanov double-headed eagle image

  1. Identify two features (not listed in response a) above) shown in the representation which symbolise the Bloody Sunday massacre in January 1905.
  • The worker lying dead
  • The petition in his hands

  1. Using your knowledge, explain what this portrayal of the Tsar suggests about the events of January 1905.

On the 22nd of January 1905 a huge crowd of 100,000 – 150,000 Russians attempted to peacefully march to the Winter Palace to present the Tsar with a petition that 135,000 workers had signed. This petition asked for their selves and all other Russians in their situation to be granted basic human rights and given the right to elect their own leader to represent them politically. This march resulted in approximately 200 marchers’ deaths and the wounding of 800 others. This caricature shows the Tsar as having an attitude of death towards his people, represented by his skeleton body, still clutching his sceptre and wearing his royal garb. The artist has also drawn the petition the marchers aimed to present to the Tsar abnormally large, suggesting it was of great importance. The event of Bloody Sunday was important because it was a turning point in the relationship the Tsar had with the people of Russia. Their view of him changed from their “Little Father” to “Nicholas the Bloody” and their trust and respect for their leader was forever damaged. The system of Tsardom began to be questioned.

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  1. Explain to what extent the representation presents a reliable view of the Tsar’s in the events of January 1905. In your response refer to different views of “Bloody Sunday”.

This representation of the events of January 1905 portrays the Tsar as a bringer of death, if not Death itself. To show this opinion they have drawn him as a skeleton, noticeably the Tsar because of the skeleton’s royal uniform, throne and the Romanov coat of arms in the background. Historian Michael Lynch contends that even though the Tsar wasn’t even there at the time of the ...

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