1905 Revolution Flashcards
How did the world recession impact Russia? (Long-term cause of 1905 revolution.)
World price of grain fell, affecting value of exports.
Caused unemployment and rising prices (mainly affected urban workers).
Rising tax in grain affected rural areas.
Crowded conditions in large factories meant unrest was easier to organise.
Famines, land shortages and redemption payments remained sources of peasant discontentment.
How did the alienated intelligentsia and lack of political reform impact Russia? (Long-term cause of 1905 revolution.)
Added tension.
SRs and SDs resorted to terror tactics.
How did the policy of Russification impact Russia? (Long-term cause of 1905 revolution.)
National minorities rebelled against it.
How did the Russo-Japanese War impact Russia? (Short-term cause of 1905 revolution.)
They had wanted an ice-free port for its navy. Initially, the war began on land but running a war 6,000 miles from the capital proved difficult; organisation was chaotic; ammunition was in short supply; troops undertook a 6 day journey via the Trans-Siberian railway. A long siege of Port Arthur and a series of defeats followed.
The war exacerbated the issue of recession as wheat exports to the Far East stopped.
How did Bloody Sunday impact Russia? (Short-term cause of 1905 revolution.)
22nd January, Father Gapon led a peaceful March of 150,000 workers including wives and children to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to present a petition to the tsar, to improve their living and working conditions.
The police and Cossacks panicked and fired on the marchers. Around 200 people were killed, with hundreds more injured.
Disorder spread as a result - destroyed Nicholas’ image as ‘Little Father’. Gapon said ‘There is no God any longer. There is no tsar.’
Half a million workers went on strike in protest. By the end of the year, it had risen to 2.7 million.
What were the events of the 1905 revolution?
Illegal unions formed, strikes spread and political meetings escalated.
18th February, tsar created a committee to consider reform.
All-Russian Union of Railway Workers was established in March and soviets of elected factory workers were formed.
Potemkin naval mutiny in June.
Peasants rioted and in August formed a Peasant’s Union.
6th August, tsar promised a state Duma but revolutionaries saw this as too restrictive and weak.
23rd September printers’ strike spread to St Petersburg and other cities - led to general strike.
What was the strike process in October 1905?
6th October - railway strikes began.
10th October - Moscow railways brought to a halt, general strike began in the city.
12th October - general strikes spread to St Petersburg. Kadet party established by Union of Unions and Zemstva groups.
13th October - St Petersburg Soviet set up to direct strikes.
What was the Potemkin mutiny, June 1905?
Began as a protest over naval conditions.
Sailors took over the ship after their leader Vakulenchuk was shot after requesting better conditions.
Sailed to Odessa where an anti-government strike was occurring but authorities were ordered to disperse crowds that had gathered in the harbour. Soldiers trampled civilians and used bayonets to drive hundreds into the sea. Civilian death toll ran into the thousands.
How did national minorities respond to the 1905 revolution?
Georgia declared itself an independent state.
Poles demanded autonomy.
Jews pressed for equal rights.
Was the tsarist regime ever seriously under threat in 1905?
+ Waves of strikes, terrorism and unrest, which affected many sections of society.
+ Tsar’s reputation was called into question after Bloody Sunday.
+ Defeat in war/mutiny by navy undermined regime.
+ Bitter legacy of hatred and mistrust was left.
- Tsar’s troops remained mainly loyal and rebellions were put down.
- No other major crisis threatened the tsar.
- Unrest wasn’t coordinated and lacked united leadership.
- Tsar was prepared to compromise.
What did Williams from ‘History Today’ say about the 1905 revolution?
‘The monarchy didn’t fall and there was little real social or economic change’.
What were the main promises of the October Manifesto?
Freedom of speech and right to form political parties.
Established a Duma.
No new laws could be introduced without the consent of the Duma.
What were the main limitations of the October Manifesto?
Votes for the Duma were weighted towards those most likely to be loyal to the tsar.
Minority groups not addressed.
No improvements to workers’ rights.
No promise of a constituent assembly.
What did the government do in December 1905?
3rd December - Okhrana and police arrested leaders of the St Petersburg Soviet and hundreds of its deputies.
15th December - troops bombarded the worker’s district of Presna in Moscow, the centre of resistance in an armed uprising. There was a brutal crackdown with mass arrests, beatings and summary executions.
From mid-December, the government decided to move against any civilians defying authority. In the cities, the Okhrana and police arrested hundreds of people.
How did Nicholas’ reputation change after 1905?
Became known as ‘Nicholas the Bloody’.
Wore the Union of Russian People’s badge.
Supported the attacks on the Jews.
Gave his full support to the punitive expeditions and executions.
In 1906 he approved of the field court materials and officials were instructed to make sure no pleas for clemency were sent to the tsar.
Which groups accepted the October Manifesto?
Moderate left-wing liberals and the Octobrists (led by Guchkov) fully supported the proposals.
Kadets (led by Milyukov) offered temporary acceptance (supported government’s actions in ending radical revolution) but looked towards creating a constituent assembly.
Which groups rejected the October Manifesto?
SRs and SDs encouraged supporters to join another general strike.
Workers were sceptical about the promises that had been made.
Soldiers and sailors continued to mutiny over pay/conditions.
Peasant risings grew as they demanded land reform.
Nationalists continued their protests as they believed the Manifesto did little for their situation.
What was the Kronstadt Mutiny in October 1905?
26th-27th October, 26 men were killed and 107 injured when the rebellion over pay and conditions was crushed.
What did the peasants do after the October Manifesto?
Risings grew - saw it as an opportunity to seize land they believed to be rightfully theirs - peasant uprisings peaked in November/December.
What did the Bolsheviks do in November/December 1905?
Trotsky publicly declared the star’s promises worthless.
8th November - Lenin returned to St Petersburg, hoping to win more support for a revolution.
November saw a second general strike in St Petersburg, but the Soviet was unable to sustain it.
In December, there was a Bolshevik-led uprising in Moscow, leading to over 1000 deaths.
What was the Union of Russian People and what did it do?
Main monarchist organisation calling for a complete restoration of the autocracy.
Had 1000 branches by the end of 1906.
Formed the Black Hundreds - paramilitary gangs who marched streets carrying the tsar’s portraits, intimidating/beating-up anyone suspected of being on the left.
Mainly blamed the Jews for 1905 - carried out pogroms including physical attacks, burning houses and Jewish businesses, rape and looting.
Over 3000 Jews were murdered in the last 2 weeks of October 1905.
How many major cities in the Empire were out of control by November 1905?
10/19 of the largest cities were out of control and outbreaks of mutiny continued through December.
What happened as soldiers were returning from the Russo-Japanese War?
In the east, the Trans-Baikal railway fell into the hands of strikers’ committees and demobilised the soldiers returning from war. The tsar had to send a special detachment of loyal troops via the Trans-Siberian railway to restore order. However, the government couldn’t rely on the armed forces and often had to turn to the Cossacks and Black Hundreds to restore order.
What were the main reasons why the tsar was able to survive the 1905 revolution?
Army remained loyal.
Groups opposing the tsar weren’t united.
October Manifesto split the liberals and socialists.
Middle class feared the continuation of violence and disorder.
Government used brutal, repressive measures to re-establish control.
Witte secured a huge loan (largely from French bankers in April 1906) which relieved the deep financial trouble from war and falling tax revenues. It stabilised the economy, government has money to pay for its functions for a year and paid for troops needed to restore order.
