SUN MI (STEPHANIE) LEE, EUN J I (AMY) PARK, SOPHIE RUSTEIN

The 1905 Revolution

Short-Term Causes

Outbreak of Russo-Japanese War, February 1904 Attack on Port Arthur: Feb 1904 – Sep 1905 Russia was defeated by Japan, both on land and at sea Shortages of food and fuel Poor conditions for soldiers “War is the vehicle of Revolution” – Trotsky

Unpopularity of the Tsar High food prices and other resources High unemployment rate Incompetent government

Long-Term Causes

Various existing revolutionary Socialist Revolutionaries, The Social Democrats (Marxists), Liberals

Poor living standards of peasants and workers Abject poverty; not enough land to farm on High taxes Famines, starvation, population density problem No political power

Rigid hierarchy – repressive government Continuous rejection of repressive government

Controlled life for the peasants Blocked media Could not participate in politics Problems with land distribution

Protests were simply repressed instead of making concessions Continuous famine – 1897, 1898 and 1901 especially Growth of a middle class

However, it was politically impotent

Bloody Sunday

January 1905 – protests in Putilov Munitions Works in St. Petersburg (later spread to other factories around Russia)

Father Gapon lead 150,000 protesters to the Winter Palace

Men, women and children, petitions in hand

Carried religious photos as well as photos of Nicholas

Police officials and militia order the protest to a halt When this didn’t work they panicked and shot at

the protesters Estimated number of deaths vary from

100 – 1000 Thousands injured

Massacre made people believe that the Tsar was a murderer – from ‘Little Nicolas’ to ‘Bloody Nicholas’

Father Gapon

Birth: February 17th, 1870Was not a revolutionary

The organizer of a police-sponsored unionLed Bloody Sunday – 150,000 marchers Popular appeal afterwards Leading political and radical groups sought

his supportSymbol of freedomLess of a priest –more of a gambling popular

leader Joined the Social Revolutionaries in 1905 Hanged by them for maintaining his police

contacts (April 10th, 1906)

Potemkin Mutiny

Mutiny of the Imperial Navy against the tsarist regime on board of Potemkin, the battleship lasted from June 14 to 25 in 1905

Long-term Causes : o Successive defeats by the navy of Japano Brutal treatmento Poor food

Short-term Causes :o The death of a delegate by the commander

of the ship, sent to him in order to express discontent about poor quality of their food

o A group of sailors dedicated to revolution killed seven of the Potemkin's eighteen officers in order to arouse a massed mutiny of the Black Sea Fleet

Soviet poster portraying the 1905 revolution. The caption reads "Glory to the People's Heroes of the Potemkin!"

Potemkin Mutiny

Key Events :o More than 5000 demonstrators gathered at the spot of the

funeral of the crew killed by the commander in support of the sailors

o Demonstrators were one-sidedly fired by the loyal troopso The crews of Potemkin fired two shells at the headquarters of

the imperial military authorities on the next day as wello The Imperial military sent reinforcements in order to suppress

their actions but they refused to fire at the battleship as wello Ended as its crews safely settle down at Romania

Significance :o The first attempt to create a revolutionary armyo One of the important causes of the revolutionary in 1905 o Having an influence on the revolutionizing process in the

Russian army and fleet in 1917

Consequences

October ManifestoDumaSoviets Peasants’ Manifesto Paved way for 1917 revolution

Revolution?

Not a revolution Did not result in the overthrow of the Russian

monarchyThe soldiers remained loyal to the Tsar

Cossack troops suppressed mutinies

Foreign governments helped Russia’s government

Lacked planning and leadership“A dress rehearsal for the real revolution of

1917” – Leon Trotsky

Bibliography

Bibliography : "Potemkin Mutiny." Wikepedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2010. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_mutiny>.

1894-1914 Nicholas II – The Last of the Tsars, by Philip Cummins

Heinemann Advanced History – Tsarist Russia, 1856-1914

“Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin” by Chris Corin and Terry Fiehn