1905 Revolution Flashcards
Intro
Background and LofA
Widespread social and political unrest by c20th
Father Gapon, crowd of 150k through st Ps to tsars palace,
Petition: end to war, 8 hour day, elected duma, less taxes
Hundreds killed when guards open fire
National riots and some towns establish soviets
Bloody Sunday most important
Discontent amongst the peasantry
KAKAKA+E
take over land and burn landowners estates when gov threaten to repossess those behind with redpay since 1902
Discontent boiled over in 1905 and spiralled into widespread
E Decree of 1861 generations of debt with interest to gov
Burden of taxation and gov disinterest created anger
But almost half a century ago! Had gotten used to payments
Can’t have been that angry then or would’ve immediately rebelled
T Corfe: “Sometimes there were outbreaks of resentment and violence… yet most peasants worked on steadily.”
Bloody Sunday
KAKAE
Brutal massacre, Damaged image of tsar as ‘little father’ and guardian of Russians
People no longer looked up to him and blindly followed him
SRs organise strikes, terrorism against gov officials and landlords, nationwide disorder following BS
shows how BS sparked widespread outrage and violence was direct reaction to BS
M Ferro: “Bloody Sunday snapped the ‘sacred bond’ which had united the people with their Tsar”
Russo-Japanese War
KAKAKA+E
Heavy losses, low troop morale and poor pay and conditions
Tsars incompetent leadership causes discontent
Potemkin mutiny in June, battleship crew rebelled against officers
Shows the intense anger at disastrous war, leading to revolution
However most troops loyal, planned general mutiny didn’t follow
Tsar maintained loyalty of army on the whole
M Lynch: “these events… gravely damaged the traditional image of the tsar as the ‘little father’”.
Political problems
KAKAKAKA+E
Russian nobles assassinated by politically unhappy students
Undermined security of ruling class
Russification alienated 50% minorities, language customs religion ignored
Baltic states want independence (Estonia and Latvia), unhappy with discrimination
Liberals wanted political reform, eg Zemstva called for duma
Released propaganda to persuade revolution
However zem existed since 1861, campaigns long unsuccessful
No sudden change in campaign shows politics wasn’t priority of riot
D Floyd: “the day on which loyal people lost faith in the monarchy”
Working class discontent KAKA
1900s industrial recession, low pay, long hours and crampes living conditions
Helped cause 1905 petition for shorter hours better pay and less tax
Oct 1905 - 2.5M workers on strike in towns, soviets established
Cohesive opposition to tsardom, political demands expressed
