The main theme of the Russian history in the late 19th century to the early 20th century is that the non-noble classes asked for an improvement in their wretched and poor conditions of life in the main event known as the ‘bloody Sunday’ in 1905.
A huge peaceful gathering of ordinary people marched to the Tsar’s winter palace in St Petersburg. They trusted the Tsar and carried a petition calling upon him to make their lives better. Troops guarding the palace panicked and opened fire on the marchers, killing and injuring hundreds. The Tsar was not there, but the Russian writer Gorky wrote: ‘I believe this is the beginning of the end of the bloodthirsty Tsar.’
The march was led by priest Father Gapon. However, he had actually been a police agent and when this was discovered he was later murdered by revolutionaries.
After this incident, the Tsar lost all respect of the ordinary Russian people. For the next ten months, it seemed that the Tsar may lose control of Russia. In September general strikes began and paralyzed Russian industry. Then revolutionaries such as Lenin and Trotsky returned from exile to join the growing revolutionary spirit.
Yet the Tsar managed to keep control and he crushed the revolution by offering his people a Duma, free speech, the right to form political parties, and even financial help. And significantly, the police and the army stayed loyal to the Tsar. Anyone known to be against or plotting against the Tsar was put to death. The army-especially the Cossacks- were terrifying. People were so scared that they ended up supporting the Tsar; no one wanted to or dared to over-throw him. Police were ordered to arrest opponents of the Tsar’s regime. So long as the army stayed on the Tsar’s side, there would be no successful revolution and all the leaders of the 1905 attempted revolution were arrested and exiled.
The is what was known as the 1905 ‘revolution’ and though defeated, the uprising acted as a ‘Dress Rehearsal’ and was rich in lessons that fed into the strategy and tactics of the overthrow of the Tsar and lead directly to the successful seizure of power by the Soviets in 1917.
Some of the key lessons that were learned through the uprising included:
• the development and role of workers’ Soviets
• How to harness the power and understand the limitations of the tactic of the General Strike
• the goals of the workers’ struggle - what sort of government and what sort of society should the workers aim to create?
• The critical importance of getting the army and police loyal and on the side of the revolutionaries
In 1917 there were actually two revolutions in Russia. The first was the February Revolution, in which the Tsar abdicated his throne and the Provisional Government took power. The second was the October Revolution, in which the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks.
In 1917 Russia was again at war (WWI) and they were losing to the Germans, mainly due to their lack of modern industry to support the war effort and the in adequate railroad system used to get supplies to the front. As in 1905, when revolution broke out, confidence was not very high in the Tsar Nicholas II.
The situation in Petrograd (formerly St Petersburg) was dire for most of the population. Because of the war, food supplies were low, unemployment was high, and inflation was out of control. Because of the appalling conditions, many workers became politicized and joined revolutionary organizations known as soviets.
In January, many strikes broke out in Russia, and they spread throughout the country in February. The strikers were supported and even joined by members of the army. The Tsar’s best troops lay dead on the battlefield and so the soldiers in Russia were recent conscripts and had more in common with the strikers than their officers.
The miserable conditions, coupled with 385,000 workers on strike in Petrograd, led to a combustible situation. "It was the lack of bread that provided the spark to light the dry tinder of revolution, in a city whose military garrison sided with the insurgents at the crucial moment (Kirby 245).” Fed up with the Tsarist regime, the workers, peasants, and soldiers rose up and demanded the redistribution of land.
On February 28, 1917 Nicholas II abdicated his throne, tsarist forces surrendered, and the Tsar’s ministers were arrested. This was to be the end of the last tsarist regime in Russia. Put in its place was the Provisional Government which consisted of a coalition of conservative, moderate, and liberal socialists. More specifically, the Provisional Government was made up of Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. Aleksandr F. Kerensky, the minister of justice, was one of the key people of the Provisional Government.
This became known as the “1917 Russian Revolution”.
By Cara James 10T