The 1905 Revolution

Question 1

Who was Father Georgy Gapon?

Answer 1

> A devoted orthodox priest who preached in the workers’ districts of St. Petersburg.

> According to Figes, “He saw himself as a man of destiny sent by God for the deliverance of the workers.”

> Created a ‘police union’ called the Assembly of Russian Factory and Mill Workers, in hoped that he could help express the worker’s grievances and improve their lives.

Question 2

What triggered the Putilov Strike?

Answer 2

3rd January 1905: four workers were fired from the Putilov Steelworks.

> Rumours spread that it was because they were members of Gapon’s union.

Question 3

How many people went on strike after the Putilov incident?

Answer 3

> Fri 7 January: 82,000 workers on strike

> Sat 8 January: 120,000 workers on strike

Question 4

How many people joined marches organised by Gapon “to seek truth and justice” from the Tsar?

Answer 4

150,000 workers

Question 5

When was Bloody Sunday?

Answer 5

9th January 1905

Question 6

How many were killed/wounded on Bloody Sunday?

Answer 6

200 killed, 800 wounded.

Question 7

What were the effects of Bloody Sunday?

Answer 7

> It undermined the image of the Tsar as a benevolent leader

> It served as a catalyst for resistance to the regime, because it was viewed as such an extreme response that it was justified for people to resist the regime through protests, strikes and breaking the law.

Question 8

What did Gapon say in the attack’s aftermath?

Answer 8

“There is no God, there is no Tsar for us now.”

Question 9

How many workers went on strike in January following Bloody Sunday?

Answer 9

400,000 workers.

Question 10

How did the regime respond to Bloody Sunday?

Answer 10

18 February 1905: Nicholas issued a Manifesto which called on “all well-meaning people” to submit ideas for “the improvement in the state organisation”. (Figes)

Question 11

What did Tsar Nicholas believe caused the events of Bloody Sunday?

Answer 11

> He believed that the only reason anger was growing is because the Russian people were not coming to their father-Tsar for help

Question 12

What were the three liberal ideas that arose as a result of the Manifesto?

Answer 12

> The creation of a legislative Duma

> Universal franchise

> Civil rights

Question 13

When was the Union of Unions founded?

Answer 13

8th May 1905

Question 14

What was the Union of Unions?

Answer 14

An unofficial political party, founded by Pavel Milyukov.

Question 15

What was the Union of Unions’ goal?

Answer 15

To spread discussion of liberal ideas & pressure the Tsar to make changes:

They did this by:
> Encouraging strikes by workers
> Printing newspapers to spread liberal ideas
> Issued a program of reforms

Question 16

What was the Tsar’s response to the Union of Unions and the introduction of a legislative Duma?

Answer 16

“I will never agree to the representative form of government, because I consider it harmful to the people whom God has entrusted to me.”

Question 17

What was the ‘revolution on the land’?

Answer 17

Peasants engaged in peaceful protests to make their anger towards the gentry known:

> They would collectively refuse to pay rent or taxes
Individual peasants would steal from the gentry’s land

Peasants later became emboldened by the lack of response from the Tsarist authorities.

Question 18

What was the result of the peasant rebellions?

Answer 18

> Russian nobility fled the countryside

> 15% of noble manors were destroyed

Question 19

When was the Russo-Japanese War?

Answer 19

Began on February 1904: when the Japanese launched an attack on the Russian stronghold Port Arthur

Question 20

When did Port Arthur surrender?

Answer 20

December 1904

Question 21

How many men did Russia lose?

Answer 21

25,000

Question 22

How many men did Russia mobilise in response to the damage the Pacific Fleet faced?

Answer 22

1 million

Question 23

What were two of Russia’s defeats in the Russo-Japanese War?

Answer 23

> Battle of Mukden

> Battle of Tsushima

Question 24

When was the Battle of Mukden?

Answer 24

February 1905

Question 25

When was the Battle of Tsushima?

Answer 25

May 1905

Question 26

What was the Battle of Mukden?

Answer 26

> Headquarters of the Russian army in Manchuria fell to Japan

Question 27

What was the Battle of Tsushima?

Answer 27

> In the attempt to reach Port Arthur, the Russian fleet used the Tsushima strait, however, the Japanese navy intercepted and crushed them.

> Only 3 battle ships reached Vladivostok.

Question 28

What was the impacts of Russia’s defeats?

Answer 28

> It weakened Russia’s military

> Emboldened critics of the Tsarist regime back in central Russia.

Question 29

When was the Treaty of Portsmouth signed?

Answer 29

5th September 1905

Question 30

Why was the Treaty damaging?

Answer 30

> Russia became the first European power defeated by an Asian power in modern history, proving that the Tsarist regime’s belief in racial superiority was incorrect.

> Russia was forced to accept nearly all Japanese demands, including giving up control of Manchuria and the expensive railways Russia had built there.

Question 31

What did Orlando Figes say about mutinies in the army?

Answer 31

“There were over 400 mutinies between the autumn of 1905 and the summer of 1906. The army was brought to the brink of collapse.”

Question 32

When was the Potemkin Mutiny?

Answer 32

June 1905

Question 33

What happened in the Potemkin Mutiny?

Answer 33

> Sailors refused to eat maggot-infested meat, and murdered the captain and officers when sailors were ordered to execute their comrades

> Sailed to Odessa on 14-15 June where a general strike was occurring

> This galvanised the protests against the Tsarist regime

Question 34

How many people were killed/wounded in the Odessa massacres?

Answer 34

2000 killed, 3000 wounded

Question 35

What was the impacts of the Potemkin mutiny?

Answer 35

> It became a powerful symbol to revolutionaries

> The trivial cause of the mutiny highlighted the cruelty of the Tsarist military discipline

> The fact that the regime lost an entire battleship highlighted the impotency of the regime

> The massacre at Odessa showed that the regime was afraid of the growing revolutionary movement and did not know any way to deal with other than through force.

Question 36

Richard Pipes asserts that by October…

Answer 36

“Russia stood on the edge of an abyss.”

Question 37

How did each social group contribute to the revolutionary situation?

Answer 37

Workers: Ongoing strikes and protests since Bloody Sunday

Liberals: Organised into groups like the Union of Unions to demand reforms

Peasants: Began seizing land in the breakdown of law and order in the city.

Soldiers: Many soldiers have mutinied and refuse to obey orders

Question 38

When did the October General Strike begin?

Answer 38

On 6th October 1905, when a railway strike spread across the whole railway network

Then on 8th October, the Union of Unions called for a nationwide general strike.

From 13th October, a general strike paralysed the cities.

Question 39

What did Figes say on the “spontaneous uprising of the working class”?

Answer 39

“Millions of workers…came out in support of what had become in effect a national strike against the autocracy.”

Question 40

When did the St. Petersburg Soviet form?

Answer 40

On 13th October 1905, 562 striking workers met to form a democratic council representing the city’s workers.

Question 41

What did Orlando Figes say about the St. Petersburg Soviet?

Answer 41

“From the beginning it assumed the status and form… of a worker’s government and an alternative source of power to the Tsarist authorities.”

Question 42

By 17th October 1905, worker’s soviets had been set up in …

Answer 42

50 other cities.

Question 43

What was written in Witte’s memo?

Answer 43

“The idea of human freedom will triumph, if not by way of reform, then by way of revolution.”

Question 44

When was Witte’s memo written?

Answer 44

9th October 1905

Question 45

When was the October Manifesto signed?

Answer 45

17th October 1905.

Question 46

What was the impact of the Manifesto?

Answer 46

It was met with jubilation by strikers and protestors who were filled with enthusiasm that their efforts had culminated in a successful, peaceful, political revolution.