How Far Was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 Responsible for the Outbreak of the 1905 Revolution?

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How far was the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 revolution? Yes, it was responsible : * The Russians, although a great nation, greatly underestimated the power of the Japanese * Ended up suffering a great deal of defeats with the worst defeat being at the battle of Tsushima * These defeats were seen as national humiliation and created a great deal of unrest against the government and added to the anger of the revolutionaries * The humiliation in the Russo Japanese war greatly undermined the tsar’s authority and led to an even greater loss of support for him * The Russo Japanese war helped prolong the revolution as many of the events of the war took place during the revolution and particularly after it begun * This made any further defeats in the war make the government and the tsar especially look even weaker and fuelled the revolutionaries even more so therefore was to a huge extent the source from which the revolution came from No, it was not responsible: * The Russo Japanese war was simply the spark that fuelled the revolution as the people were already discontent and in resentment of the tsar’s regime * The war alone could not have been the main cause for the outbreak of revolution * Simply assisted in prolonging it as many of the events took place after the revolution itself had begun Other factors Bloody Sunday * Peaceful demonstrations of 150,000 workers outside the winter palace with a petition to the tsar to expand their suffrage, an end to the Russo Japanese war, and an 8 hour working day * Troops panicked and used violence to disperse the demonstration and in the process killed almost a thousand demonstrators * This removed all the trust the people had in the tsar who they once referred to as ‘little father’ * Felt like the tsar simply was not on
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