Food shortages were everywhere due to the freedom granted to the serfs by Alexander II. No land had been provided for the serfs upon their freedom and now there was a severe lack of people working on farms.
Some people believed that violent revolution was the only cure for Russia’s injustices. The Liberals in particular still hoped that the Tsar would reform the Empire and establish a parliament.
The events of 1905 were mainly caused by revolutionary action groups.
Strikes began as early as the 16th January in the Putilov Steelworks. This was caused by the dismissal of a few men who were part of the Assembly of Russian Workers. Father George Gapon, Russian Orthodox priest, had founded this union with the approval and assistance from police.
St Petersburg was hit by a general strike on the 20th January, led by Father Gapon. Most factory workers in the city were on strike. Father Gapon organised about 150 000 people to participate in a protest march to be held on the 22nd. The petition which they were protesting for was asking for civil liberties, measures to be taken against poverty and better working conditions, such as the 8-hour day.
On the 22nd January 1905, Father Gapon led a huge, peaceful march in St Petersburg to present the petition to the Tsar. The Tsar’s troops were nervous when the march came near and responded with gunfire, killing several hundred people.
‘It was quite clear the authorities had made a terrible mistake; they had totally misunderstood the intentions of the crowd…the workers went to the palace without evil intent’ –Alexander Kerensky.
This terrible and tragic event became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. The Tsar also lost his reputation of being the peoples’ ‘Little Father’, they now called him ‘Nicholas the bloody’.
After Bloody Sunday peasants were encouraged by Social revolutionaries (SRs) to riot in the countryside and many landlords were murdered in the process.
Liberals openly criticised the Tsar in the regional councils and published their complaints in illegal pamphlets. Terrorists assassinated hundreds of government officials including the Tsar’s Uncle, Grand Duke Sergei, who was blown to pieces by an SR bomb.
After a year of disturbances the Tsar gave way to revolutionary demands. He issued the October Manifesto, which gave Russia a constitution and stated basic civil liberties for all citizens. This then lead to establishment of the Duma the following year.
The revolutionaries in Russia achieved their aim by the end of the year to a certain degree. Although their ultimate goal of overthrowing Tsarism from Russia was not reached some significant amendments occurred.
For the first time in Russian History, millions of people in the cities and villages took part in a revolutionary movement. This was the beginning of ‘the people’ standing up to their rulers.
The biggest triumph achieved by the revolutionaries was the October Manifesto. This was issued by the Tsar, after revolutionary groups insisting upon it. The October Manifesto was introduced to give the people of Russia freedom of speech, assemble, person, conscience, knowledge, and union. It also granted the general right to vote. But the people did not have total freedom, Leon Trotsky commented on this issue ‘A Constitution is given, but the autocracy remains. Everything is given and nothing is given’.
After the revolution, the Duma was established. This Liberals soon dominated the parliament, so they achieved much of their aims. The Duma did not have a major influence over the Tsar but it was still a step forward.
The SRs wished to create a new Russian society based on the traditional community of the peasant village. Their main aim was the redistribution of land to the peasants. Their aims were not substantially met by the end of the year.
The main reason the 1905 Revolution failed to overthrow Tsarism from Russia was because each of the political parties were divided from one another. Each party had different political programs and had a diverse range of minor goals and aims too. All the parties had the ultimate goal of politically overpowering the Tsar, but their minor goals made the parties contest against each other rather than work together against their main opposition, the Tsar. Therefore the Tsar and his government could restrain each party one by one. Clearly, the Tsar could not tolerate any extreme political groups that aimed to destroy his power. He used a group of secret police to handle the extremists. The secret police handled the revolutionary groups through imprisonment, execution or exile. This fact shows that many revolutionaries did not achieve their aims by the end of year.
Russia was going through a difficult time in 1905 with the Tsar being in a poor financial situation. The revolution that broke out because of these difficulties brought about many strikes and protests against the Tsar. The revolutionaries only achieved their aim to a small degree by the end of the year, their biggest accomplishment being the October Manifesto. Many events contributed to revolution of 1905, and Russia had reached a tough stage at which it would take a long time to regain stability and true freedom amongst all again.
