2. 1905 Flashcards
Timeline
January 9th - Bloody Sunday
January 18th - The Tsar meets with the industrial workers to “forgive” them
March 18th - Universities in Russia are shut down to help prevent the spread of revolution
September 5th - The Treaty of Portsmouth is signed (THE END OF THE RUSSO-JAP WAR)
Timeline 2
October 10th - Entire railway network comes to a halt by Russian workers
October 12th - Strikes in St Petersburg results in a general strike (2.8 million workers)
October 17th - The October Manifesto is signed by the Tsar to general approval.
October 21st - St. Petersburg Soviet calls for an end to the general strike
December 7th - Moscow’s industry is completely frozen by a general strike
December 15th-19th - The uprising in Moscow is ultimately quelled at the cost of hundreds of lives
Bloody Sunday
Jan 9th, 1905
Bloody Sunday’, as it became known, eroded respect for tsarism and contributed to a wave of general strikes, political demands and violence that became the 1905 Revolution.
The day after the killings, around 150,000 in the capital showed their disgust by refusing to work
Estimated 130 were killed and around 300 were wounded (Ascher)
Bloody Sunday - Quotes
Figes (1997) - “…the popular myth of a Good Tsar…[was] destroyed.”
Extracts from the Petition (1905) - “[We seek our] last salvation”`
Bloody Sunday - St Petersburg correspondent of Le Matin (Paris newspaper)
“more than a hundred and fifty [were] killed”
“whole crowd [was] unarmed”
“there had been no disturbances to speak of”
“[not] a single threat”
“shoot[ing] down [of] the unfortunate people”
Russo-Jap War
8 Feb 1904 – 5 Sept 1905
Russians: 26,500 killed and 25,000 wounded
20,000 Russians as Japanese prisoners-of-war.
Japanese: 75,000 killed
Capture and destruction of two thirds of the Russian Baltic fleet
The tsar’s government increased military spending by 50 per cent, at a time when production levels and government revenues were both falling.
Russia was forced to negotiate peace terms, which resulted in the Treaty of Portsmouth in September 1905. The war worsened Russia’s already recessed economy and its disastrous management further discredit the tsar and his advisors.
Russo-Jap War - Historians
Corin - “…a catalyst to existing problems”
Corbett - “…most decisive and complete naval victory in history”
Ascher - “[the war made the autocracy appear] irresponsible, incompetent and reckless”
Trotsky - “The Russo-Japanese War had made tsarism totter”
Von Plehve - “…short, victorious war”
October Manifesto
Oct 17th, 1905
October 17th, 1905 - Major changes enacted by the manifesto included the formation of a state Duma and the country’s conversion from unlimited autocracy to constitutional monarchy.
April, 1906 - Fundamental Laws passed, which meant all laws had to be approved by Tsar Nicholas II before being enacted.
Article 87 gave the Tsar the right in ‘exceptional circumstances’ to pass his own laws without consulting the Duma at all.
Ponomarev - “….the Manifesto was a trick by the Tsar”
October Manifesto - Quotes
gave the “population the essential foundations of civil freedom”
“inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association
“admit[ted] to participation in the duma [the] classes of the population that are now completely deprived of voting rights”
““elected representatives of the people… [to] participate in the supervision of the legality of the actions of Our appointed officials”
October Manifesto - Tsar
“crush the rebellion by sheer force”
“That would mean rivers of blood, and in the end we would be where we had started”
“Almost everybody I had an opportunity of consulting, is of the same opinion”
“This terrible decision”
“ I had no one to rely on except honest Trepov.”
“There was no other way out but to cross oneself and give what everyone was asking for.”
1905 Revolution
400,000 workers strike in January 1905
Potemkin mutiny June 1905, 2000 casualties
Peasant uprisings, 3000 manors seized
Other Historians
Pipes - “The revolution of 1905 was an uprising without a cause; it was only after it had failed that it acquired one.”
Figes - “The 1905 Revolution was a turning point in Russian history, marking the awakening of a politically conscious working class and a new era of mass politics.”
Fitzpatrick - “While the revolution of 1905 did not immediately bring about significant political change, it laid the groundwork for future revolutionary movements and exposed deep-seated grievances within Russian society.”
Corin - “…[1905 was] a genuine but uncompleted revolution.”
Waldren - “…the year relatively unscathed”
