1905 Revolution

Causes of the Revolution

Immediate spark: Bloody Sunday, 22 January 1905. A peaceful march of 150,000 St Petersburg workers hoping to bring a petition to the Tsar. Led by Father Gapon, a priest with connections to ‘police socialism’, the protesters petitioned against harsh working conditions and high taxes. Non-violent and loyal to the Tsar, this was the last occasion the Russian people approached the Tsar in his role as ‘father’ of the people. Cossack troops fired on the protestors killing an estimated 1,000 people.

Short-term catalyst: defeat in war against Japan, in 1905, led to increased opposition to the Tsar, who was viewed as incompetent. The war was also important in intensifying and worsening longer term social and economic problems, as it caused food shortages, high prices and unemployment - the factors which motivated many to take part in the march on the Winter palace that resulted in Bloody Sunday.

Long term social and economic problems: Witte’s industrialization drive had led to greater pressure on workers and peasants, in terms of higher taxes and low wages. This worsened long-standing problems and caused resentment which resulted in tension, violence and riots.

Long term political problems: refusal of Nicholas’s regime to make any political concessions towards representative government and a less oppressive rule meant there was growing political opposition to the regime - from both middle class liberals, the more revolutionary socialists.

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After the events of Bloody Sunday, over 400,000 workers were on strike in St Petersburg by the end of January, and this spread to other cities and the countryside.

June 1905, and mutiny aboard the Battleship ‘Potemkin’, when sailors refused their captain’s orders to shoot protesting sailors took control of the ship. This mutiny spread to other units in the army and navy, though the majority remained loyal to the regime.

Local peasant disturbances spread across Russia, with over 3,000 of these needing the army to control them and causing almost 30 million roubles of damage.

By the end of the year 2.7 million workers had been on strike, with the railway workers’ strike in October almost bringing the economy to a standstill.

Various national minorities within the Russian empire called for greater independence from the Tsar's rule - including the Finns, Poles and Ukrainians.

Politically, various opposition groups believed that the time had come to force the autocracy to change. Middle class liberals, many involved in the zemstvo at a local level, established the ‘Kadets’ party and demanded universal suffrage to a national assembly

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Loyalty of the army retained. Regime able to use state instruments of oppression - police, army and strikebreakers - to restore order: Trotsky was arrested, a strike in Moscow was crushed killing 1,000, and other riots across Russia were brutally crushed.

Rebels lacked unity and direction. Peasants, workers and middle class liberals all wanted different things - liberals scared by revolutionary cries of the workers! Most wanted concessions from the Tsar, not outright revolution. The Left lacked leadership, as Lenin was in London and Stalin in Siberia. Uprisings largely spontaneous and uncoordinated.

Concessions granted to liberals and peasants, thus dividing the opposition. Following advice from his advisers, Nicholas made political concessions in the ‘October Manifesto’, which promised a legislative duma and liberal freedoms of expression. This helped split the moderate liberals from the revolutionaries, and secure the loyalty and support of these liberals for the regime. Nicholas also made concessions to peasants by cancelling redemption payments, and this helped to restore order in the countryside.

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Loyalty of the army retained. Regime able to use state instruments of oppression - police, army and strikebreakers - to restore order: Trotsky was arrested, a strike in Moscow was crushed killing 1,000, and other riots across Russia were brutally crushed.

Rebels lacked unity and direction. Peasants, workers and middle class liberals all wanted different things - liberals scared by revolutionary cries of the workers! Most wanted concessions from the Tsar, not outright revolution. The Left lacked leadership, as Lenin was in London and Stalin in Siberia. Uprisings largely spontaneous and uncoordinated.

Concessions granted to liberals and peasants, thus dividing the opposition. Following advice from his advisers, Nicholas made political concessions in the ‘October Manifesto’, which promised a legislative duma and liberal freedoms of expression. This helped split the moderate liberals from the revolutionaries, and secure the loyalty and support of these liberals for the regime. Nicholas also made concessions to peasants by cancelling redemption payments, and this helped to restore order in the countryside.

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