The Causes of the Revolution of 1905
The Russo-Japanese War |
Poor Living Conditions |
Bloody Sunday |
A war fought in the early 1900s over territory, Korea and Manchuria, with both imperial powers wanting to settle there. Despite the trans-Siberian railroad built by Russia prior to the war, the country was unable to transport necessary troops and supplies. There were reports of soldiers being told to take wepaons from their dead companions, or being sent into the field with sticks as weapons. Japan had more ground troops in the Far East, and were ready to fight. Russia lost the war. This was the first time a non-European territory had defeated a great European power in warfare. Many Russians resented Czar Nicolas for his poor tactics and great losses.
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Nicolas II did his best to initiate several industrial reforms. Unfortunately, they didn't help remove poverty from the lower classes. They did, however, bring rise to a new middle class that worked in the factories. This class was relatively small and just as impoverished as the others. Just like in all European nations, it took a long time after industrialization occurred before reforms to protect and enrich the lives of workers were finally set in place. This brought about unrest of the peasants and people in the newly established upper class. To make matters worse, the new middle class disrupted traditional Russian order, which angered nobility.
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On January 22, 1905 workers took to the streets to protest the humiliating military defeats in China and Manchuria, and their horrible work and life conditions. Approximately 200,000 workers marched on their peaceful protest to the Winter Palace. Strangely enough, and probably due to the country's history of violence, the czar's guards didn't believe in peaceful protest. As a result, they opened unprovoked fire on the civilians, killing 300 and injuring hundreds more. This massacre became known as 'Bloody Sunday,' and marked the official beginning of the Revolution of 1905, as horrified peasants began to riot.
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The Revolution
The Revolution of 1905 itself wasn't too long, only lasting a couple of months. It was mainly composed of a series of strikes, peasant revolts, naval and troop mutinies, assassinations, and minority uprisings. The main event was a mass strike across the country in October of that year.
October Manifesto
Nicolas II attempted to solve the issue of revolution by issuing the October Manifesto, a document that answered many of the civilian's complaints. The manifesto provided them with full civil rights, including the right to elect a Duma (representative body). However, right before the Duma met for the first time, the Czar issued the Fundamental Laws, which returned many of his old power back, taking much of it from the Duma. Different ideas and opinions on how to proceed caused fighting and indecision in the Duma. This led to unrest, along with many members spreading liberal ideas, which caused the czar to dissolve the organization and call for re-elections. However, the second election was rigged, so more conservative people ended up in power. Each time Nicolas II was unhappy with a decision of the Duma, he'd dissolve it. He'd continue to undermine the power of the representative body for the next few years, until anger led to a greater revolution.
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