Bloody Sunday 1905
By 1905 there had been an increased discontent within the industrial workers, shown by the 120,000 industrial workers that were on strike by early January 1905. The discontent was due to the falling wages, which had decreased by 25% between October 1903 and October 1904, combined with the rising cost of living, industrial recession, terrible working conditions and poor harvests. The central figure in the Bloody Sunday Massacre was Father Georgei Gapon, from peasant background in rural Russia Gapon associated himself with those who were discontent with the Tsarist government. Gapon established the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers in 1904, which was “designed to support local workers and pursue industrial reforms.”(Reinventing Russia) By the end of 1904 this group had 6000 to 8000 members and was supported by the Ministry for the Interior as it channelled all the discontent workers away from other “politically motivated organisations.”(Reinventing Russia) On Sunday 9th January 1905, Gapon planned to inform the Tsar of the grievances of the people of St Petersburg, by marching upon the Tsar’s home, the Winter Palace, and holding a peaceful protest to request political, economic and social reforms. Tsarist troops were sent to guard the palace as a result of a meeting between the police department, the Chief of Staff and the Justice Minister, who was informed of the protest by Gapon on the 8th January 1905. On the Sunday, 150,000 peaceful protesters, including industrial workers and their families, met at four points on the outskirts of St Petersburg and marched upon the palace. During their march some protesters carried portraits of the Tsar, indicating that they still supported his leadership, they just wanted changes to the way he ruled. Before the protesters were unable to reach the palace, as there was a panic among the troops, resulting in them firing upon the crowd. It is estimated that 200 were killed and 800 were wounded. The blame for the massacre was placed heavily on the Tsar, his image changed from ‘Little Father’ to ‘Nicholas the Bloody’. The official history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) states that “on that day the workers received a bloody lesson. It was their faith in the tsar that was riddled by bullets on that day.” The Bloody Sunday Massacre was the first time there was widespread contempt for the Tsarist regime, meaning autocracy was on the verge of collapse, thus leading to a revolutionary situation. The massacre sparked further strikes, with 400,000 workers going on strike in January 1905, and terrorism which spread to the rural areas of Russia, demonstrating the discontent was widespread across the country.
Book: Reinventing Russia, Lauren Perfect, Tom Ryan, Scott Sweeney
Website: http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/bloody-sunday-1905/
SEAN
Book: Reinventing Russia, Lauren Perfect, Tom Ryan, Scott Sweeney
Website: http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/bloody-sunday-1905/
SEAN
Due to the long lasting poor conditions and appalling low wages, thousands of industrial workers marched to The Winter Palace. With conditions only worsening due to the war and economic recession, the protestors were aggressively motivated. In January 1905 workers at the Putilov plant, led by Georgy Gapon, drafted a petition intended for the Tsar, and the march began. However, the protestors, once arrived, were fired upon by the Tsar’s soldiers. The Tsar’s officials recorded 96 were killed with 333 injured, although these numbers are quite uncertain, with some estimating thousands dead. This event is now known as one of the very first signs of a revolutionary ideology spreading amongst the people of France.
The beginning of the 1905 Revolution in Russia started with Bloody Sunday, which took place on January 22nd. Those who marched in Bloody Sunday had the intention to present a loyal petition to the Tsar; begging him to use his royal authority to relieve their desperate conditions. Although this event was not intended to create violence by the marchers; it had induced panic in police forces and so marchers were fired upon and charged. Up to 200 people were killed and hundreds of marchers left injured as this was depicted as ‘a deliberate massacre of unarmed petitioners’. The immediate reaction of Bloody Sunday was a widespread outbreak of disorder; with the fear of government repossessing homes of families who fail to pay mortgage, peasants seized land and properties. It was during this time that Father Gapon believed that ‘there is no God any longer. There is no Tsar. It was this that people started to lose faith and created a build up to the Revolution.
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SONYA
The Famine and recession of the 1800’s, and the rapid migration to the cities, resulted in significant shortages of food and housing. Both crises were compounded by the economic impact of the losses of in the war against Japan. Economic distress drove workers to action. The sacking of five men for the Putilov Steel Works resulted in massive strikes of sympathy throughout the city, growing to 105 000 workers by Friday 7 January 1905. On January 22, 1905, a group of workers led by the radical priest Georgy Apollonovich Gapon marched to the Tsar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to make their demands. Imperial forces opened fire on the demonstrators, killing and wounding hundreds. Strikes and riots broke out throughout the country in outraged response to the massacre, resulting in the October manifesto and the people beginning to lose faith, creating tension and revolutionary ideals.
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